Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Paul Badde. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Nov 10, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).

Paul Badde, author of many well-known books such as “Benedict Up Close,” “The Face of God,” and “The True Icon,” died early Monday morning at the age of 77 after a long illness. Badde was also a veteran contributor to EWTN and CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

Badde was born on March 10, 1948, in Schaag, Germany, a small village on the Lower Rhine. He studied philosophy and sociology in Freiburg as well as art history, history, and political science in Frankfurt. Before embarking on a journalistic career, Badde worked as a teacher for several years.

As a journalist, he was known for his work at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and later at Die Welt. Badde served for many years as a Jerusalem correspondent before moving to Rome. He was also one of the founding editors of Vatican Magazine.

As reported by Die Tagespost, Badde died in his beloved Manoppello in the Italian Abruzzo region. Paul and his wife, Ellen, had five children.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pro-life advocates participate in a prayer procession in Regensburg, Germany. / Credit: ADF International

Regensburg, Germany, Nov 7, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Bavarian city of Regensburg has withdrawn restrictions banning prayer vigils near an abortion clinic following court rulings that found the buffer zone violated constitutional freedoms, according to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

The Bavarian city lifted its 100-meter (328-foot) exclusion zone around abortion facilities on Oct. 24 after suffering setbacks before both the Regensburg Administrative Court and the Bavarian Administrative Court, according to a Nov. 6 press release from the international human rights organization.

The city established the buffer zone in summer 2025, effectively prohibiting prayer vigils held by the group Helpers for God’s Precious Children Germany in the immediate vicinity of the clinics, CNA Deutsch reported Nov. 7.

Courts counter claim of coercion

The Bavarian Administrative Court clarified in its ruling that Germany’s Pregnancy Conflict Law, amended at the end of 2024, does not permit blanket prohibition zones for expression of opinion or assemblies near abortion facilities.

The court found that the city failed to prove prayer participants were exerting impermissible coercion on women seeking abortions, as officials had claimed.

Felix Böllmann, director of advocacy at ADF International, characterized the outcome as “a clear commitment to the rule of law.”

“This victory protects peaceful protesters from partisan politics and prevents the misuse of amended legislation to suppress fundamental freedoms,” Böllmann said in the press release.

According to the legal organization, the city withdrew its restrictions because it likely would have lost the main proceedings. ADF International represented the prayer group in the case.

Persistent political pressure

The implementation of the buffer zone followed sustained political pressure on city officials, according to ADF International. A member of the German Parliament from the Social Democratic Party had reportedly urged municipal authorities to act against the prayer vigils.

The case marks the latest battle in Germany over peaceful pro-life witness near abortion facilities. In 2022, the Mannheim Administrative Court ruled in favor of prayer vigils organized by 40 Days for Life in Pforzheim after the city had banned the gatherings.

Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg has been a prominent voice for life protection in Germany, regularly participating in Berlin’s annual March for Life.

Blessed Clemens August von Galen. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Münster/Domkapitular Gustav Albers (CC BY 2.5)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Apostolic nuncio to Germany: ‘Lion of Munster’ Cardinal von Galen should be canonized

The apostolic nuncio in Germany is calling for the swift canonization of Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen, widely known as the “Lion of Münster,” renowned for his courageous opposition to Nazi persecution. 

Archbishop Nikola Eterović made the appeal during a memorial Mass marking 20 years since the cardinal’s beatification by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Around 400 faithful gathered for the commemoration, which celebrated the life and witness of one of Germany’s most outspoken Catholic voices during the Third Reich. 

“May this grateful remembrance also become a prayer for a swift canonization of the revered cardinal,” Eterović said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. 

Von Galen served as bishop of Münster from 1933 to 1946, earning his nickname after delivering three powerful sermons in summer 1941 that condemned Nazi euthanasia programs and attacks on the Church. His fearless defense of human dignity and religious freedom made him a target of the regime, yet he continued advocating for the vulnerable until his death in March 1946, just weeks after being elevated to cardinal.

New Vatican envoy for South Korea is hoping for peace with North Korea

South Korea’s new ambassador to the Holy See has expressed hope to serve the Vatican’s efforts to achieve peace between North and South Korea. 

“I will do my best for peace on the Korean peninsula,” said Ambassador Stefano Shin Hyung-sik in an interview with UCA News. Shin, who was appointed on Oct. 29, also said he hopes a visit from Pope Leo XIV to South Korea during World Youth Day 2027 will be “a decisive diplomatic opportunity to revive the momentum for dialogue for peace on the Korean peninsula.” The event, he said, will not only serve as a gathering for the Church but also will be one “that can send a message of peace and solidarity to the world.”

Pope Leo receives credentials of Lebanon’s new ambassador to the Holy See

In a ceremony held at the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV accepted the credentials of Lebanon’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Fadi Assaf, reported ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. The meeting follows the pope’s recent audience with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and comes just weeks before the pontiff’s apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon, his first official visit to the region.

During his stay in Lebanon, the pope will deliver an address at the presidential palace in Baabda, visit the tomb of St. Charbel in Annaya, and meet clergy and consecrated persons at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.

The trip will also feature an interfaith gathering in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square and a youth encounter in front of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke.

Catholic Church in Pakistan celebrates 55th anniversary, opens theological college

The Catholic Church in Pakistan marked its 55th anniversary this week amid widespread Christian persecution in the Muslim-majority country. 

A thanksgiving and holy Communion service was celebrated by the moderator Bishop Azad Marshall alongside Multan Bishop Leo Paul to honor the occasion on Nov. 1, according to a Nov. 5 press release. The event also inaugurated the new St. Thomas Theological College in Khanewal.

Aleppo honors St. Ignatius Maloyan, saint of faith and loyalty

The Armenian Catholic community in Aleppo celebrated a thanksgiving Mass to honor the canonization of St. Ignatius Maloyan, bishop of Mardin, who was martyred during the Ottoman persecutions of 1915.

Presided over by Archbishop Boutros Marayati at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the service included the consecration of a new altar bearing the saint’s icon. Among the attendees were descendants of survivors of the Mardin massacres, whose ancestors perished alongside Maloyan, ACI MENA reported. 

Marayati described Maloyan as a “universal saint and a witness to faith,” recalling his refusal to renounce Christianity under threat of death. The bishop’s letter before martyrdom, read aloud during the Mass, emphasized loyalty to both faith and civic duty, urging his flock to remain steadfast and faithful. 

Many testimonies of miracles and healings attributed to Maloyan’s intercession continue to reach Church authorities in Lebanon and Armenia. 

Kenyan bishop offers spiritual comfort to landslide victims

Bishop Henry Juma Odonya of Kitale, Kenya, has offered his spiritual solidarity with victims of a landslide that has left more than 26 people dead in the neighboring Eldoret Diocese, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, reported on Wednesday. 

“We pray for the Christians of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret and those from the Chesongoch Parish and other parts of Kenya who have lost their lives or property,” the bishop said during a Nov. 5 homily during the annual Peace Mass bringing together the dioceses of Eldoret, Lodwar, and Kitale. May the God of peace bless them and give them comfort during this time of trial. We offer prayers for our departed loved ones, particularly in November, a month dedicated to honoring the deceased.”

Indian Supreme Court orders state government response to anti-conversion law challenge

The Supreme Court in India has directed the Rajasthan state government to file a response to challenges raised against its stringent anti-conversion laws, according to a Nov. 4 report from UCA News. 

The move comes after a division bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta accepted the petitions of Christian journalist and activist John Dayal and M. Huzaifa, a researcher and rights defender, who both called the courts to suspend the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2025, which criminalizes religious conversion. “This law is a chilling example of how the state seeks to bypass the judiciary entirely,” Dayal said, according to the report.

Thousands of European scouts make a pilgrimage to France. / Credit: Illian Callé

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 7, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A total of 3,500 scouts and adult leaders from 13 European countries made a pilgrimage to the French town of Vézelay to “rebuild the kingdom of God with their own hands” and receive the strength of the Holy Spirit as they trekked along the roads of the Burgundy region.

The event marked the 50th edition of the historic pilgrimage, held Oct. 30–Nov. 2, and the theme for this year was “Called to an Apostolate of Beauty.”

Thousands of Rover Scouts (typically 18-26 years old) from all over Europe set out on the pilgrimage from eight different churches located about 25 miles from Vézelay, according to the Catholic scouting program Guides and Scouts of Europe’s website.

In 1976, barely a hundred young people participated in the first pilgrimage to Vézelay. Half a century later, this gathering of the Scouts of Europe has become an iconic event in the small Burgundy town.

The young pilgrims participated in Masses and camped outdoors as they passed through villages like Marigny, Cure, and Malassis, also inviting the locals to participate in the Masses.

For four days, the scouts hiked the roads in an atmosphere of silence, prayer, and fraternity, sharing the journey, Eucharistic adoration, community life, and listening to the advice of the leaders and chaplains on Christian commitment as they gathered around a campfire at night.

Coming to the event  from Switzerland, a youth named Grégoire told the Guides and Scouts of Europe that he experiences “something indescribable” every year and so he wanted to invite several friends to share the pilgrimage.

The scouts were able to visit the small town of Paray-le-Monial, where Jesus Christ revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque his Sacred Heart. In addition, on Oct. 30, 1,300 Rover Scouts gathered in front of the church in Anzy-le-Duc.

After four days of walking, the pilgrims arrived at St. Mary Magdalene Basilica in Vézelay to participate in the traditional vigil, followed by Eucharistic adoration, while several priests heard confessions by the pillars in the church.

Upon entering the basilica, the young Scouts of Europe knocked on the door of the church with their walking sticks, sang the “Kyrie des gueux” (“Poor hungry pilgrims begging for sustenance”), from a traditional song inspired by an old German military hymn “Wir zogen in das Feld,” composed in 1540. 

Finally, on Sunday, Nov. 2, Archbishop Pascal Wintzer of Sens-Auxerre sent the Rover Scouts out to bear witness to the strength they had received in Vézelay, even amid difficulties. “The Christian faith is not an insurance policy that protects us from life’s trials,” he exhorted during the closing Mass.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Then-Bishop of Verdun Jean-Paul Gusching speaks on the phone before the closing speech on the last day of the Conference des Eveques de France (French Bishops’ Conference), in Lourdes, southwestern France, on Nov. 8, 2022. / Credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

EWTN News, Nov 6, 2025 / 16:02 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has clarified that the resignation of Bishop Jean-Paul Gusching, former head of the Diocese of Verdun in eastern France, was prompted by reports of inappropriate relationships with women rather than solely by health concerns as initially stated at the end of September.

In a statement issued on Nov. 4, the apostolic nunciature in France said it had received “information concerning relationships toward women by Bishop Jean-Paul Gusching, then bishop of Verdun,” which was forwarded to the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome.

According to the communiqué, despite the bishop’s “persistent denials” and the “fragmentary and contradictory” nature of the reports, he had pledged to the dicastery “to avoid in the future any behavior toward women that could be interpreted as contrary to his priestly commitments.”

However, “given the persistence of the situation,” Pope Leo XIV solicited and accepted his resignation, which took effect  Sept. 27. The nunciature clarified that the “health reasons publicly invoked by the prelate are only one element among others” that led to the Holy Father’s decision to accept the resignation.

As a precautionary measure, the Vatican has imposed on Gusching “a retired life in a place located outside both his diocese of origin, Amiens, and that of Verdun” and instructed him “to refrain from any liturgical celebrations and public pastoral activities.”

A preliminary canonical investigation has been opened, entrusted to Pontoise Emeritus Bishop Stanislas Lalanne, assisted by Archbishop Philippe Ballot, the metropolitan of Metz and apostolic administrator of Verdun.

The nunciature also confirmed that a report has been submitted to the civil authorities. 

In a message to the clergy and faithful of Verdun, Ballot expressed “his closeness and support to all those who will be legitimately hurt by this information,” emphasizing the Church’s duty to act transparently.

“Doing the work of truth is necessary in order to maintain the habitual trust between the faithful of Christ and those who have received the mission to be their pastors,” he wrote.

Gusching, 70, had announced his resignation in late September, citing “a concerning situation requiring appropriate medical care.” At that time, no reference was made to disciplinary measures.

The apostolic nunciature’s statement confirms that the resignation was in fact requested by the Holy See following ongoing concerns about the bishop’s conduct.

“Faithful to the received tradition, the Church recalls that priests — and therefore bishops first of all — are called to live in conformity with the commitments made at the time of their ordination,” Ballot wrote in his pastoral letter, issued from Lourdes where the French bishops are currently gathered for their autumn plenary assembly.

The case comes at a delicate time for the French episcopate, which has committed to addressing issues of clergy accountability with greater transparency, particularly since the publication of the 2021 report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

The Church in France, long criticized for handling these issues discreetly, created the world-first National Canonical Criminal Court (TPCN) in 2022 to deal with canonical offenses.

Speaking to the regional newspaper L’Est Républicain, Gusching admitted having had a relationship for seven years, from around 2015 to 2022, which he described as consensual and with “a woman of age.”

Claiming that he is “not proud of it” and has made amends to the Holy See in this regard, he nonetheless denounced Rome’s handling of the affair as “disgusting” and claimed that “they want [his] head,” speaking of “jealousy” toward him in this case.

The canonical inquiry remains ongoing, and Church authorities have declined further comment “to preserve the serenity of the judicial process and in respect of the presumption of innocence,” the nunciature said.

The National Council of the Slovak Republic, the national Parliament of Slovakia, in Bratislava. / Credit: Peter Zelizňák via Wikimedia (Public domain)

EWTN News, Nov 6, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Bishops and educators have raised concerns about a major education overhaul signed into law by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, saying new funding rules could unfairly affect Catholic and private schools.

The changes include unified online registration of kids for a school year and compulsory pre-school education for 4-year-olds, and later for 3-year-olds. Less-qualified personnel will be allowed to teach to offset the shortage of teachers. Universities should reduce bureaucracy and adopt modern methods, including artificial intelligence, according to the changes.

Yet one of the main issues is the new financing of private and Church-run schools.

The Ministry of Education explained that such schools can receive full funding if they admit students in accordance with the new rules, provide free education, or clearly serve the public interest.

The Slovak Bishops’ Conference (KBS) will monitor the implementation of the changes. However, the conference said the education ministry did not take into account KBS’ numerous suggestions, the episcopate stated in September. Therefore, KBS was “fundamentally in conflict with the amendment to the School Act in the form in which it was submitted to Parliament.”

The Slovak Chamber of Teachers warned that the legislative process took place “without any professional discussion in a few hours, and not months.” However, it requires “high-quality, honest legislative and professional work.”

Former Minister of Education Ján Horecký, who was a principal at a Catholic school, said he thinks the effect on private and Church-run schools will be discriminatory and unfair. It will “reduce the availability of education” and “worsen conditions for children in the name of shifting decision-making about children from parents to the state.”

After the passing of the School Act, the principals of Catholic schools in the Košice Archdiocese went on a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of the World of Education. They attended the general audience with Pope Leo XIV. Auxiliary Bishop Marek Forgáč, who accompanied them, greeted the pontiff, saying they were “very encouraged” by the pope’s words.

It was important to be “with our supreme teacher, as we need to be formed and spiritually encouraged, too, to be a good example for those to whom we are sent — our pupils and students,” the bishop concluded.

Father Francisco José Delgado, a priest of the Archdiocese of Toledo, Spain. / Credit: Photo courtesy of “La Sacristía de la Vendée”

Madrid, Spain, Nov 6, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Father Francisco José Delgado, a priest of the Archdiocese of Toledo, Spain, and a member of the YouTube priests’ discussion group “The Sacristy of the Vendée,” has been declared innocent of the charge of “inciting hatred” against the Holy See, interfering in the investigation into the Sodality of Christian Life (SCV by its Latin acronym), and damaging the “good reputation” of layman José Enrique Escardó, one of the main promoters of proceedings against the SCV.

The Vendée is a region in France where priests refused to take the oath of loyalty to the revolutionary government hostile to the Catholic Church that had seized power in 1789. “The Sacristy of the Vendée” describes itself as “counterrevolutionary.” 

The verdict, announced on X Nov. 5 by the Spanish priest, closes the canonical penal investigation, which began in June 2024.

Months earlier, the Archdiocese of Toledo had received two complaints against the priest. In the first, dated Jan. 30, 2024, he was accused of “damaging the good name and slandering Mr. Escardó Stecjk, the alleged victim” of the SCV.

Two days later, on Feb. 1, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith officially notified the Archdiocese of Toledo of “its concern” regarding Delgado’s actions whom it accused of “interfering with the [Vatican’s] special mission to the Sodality of Christian Life.”

Based on both complaints, the archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro, opened an investigation in June 2024 and its report was submitted a month later.

Prior to these events, Cerro imposed precautionary measures on Delgado to “prevent any presence on social media or posts on social media and any type of written publication intended for dissemination.”

This decision stemmed from the controversy sparked by a comment about Pope Francis in the priests’ discussion group he coordinates. One of the participants, Father Gabriel Calvo Zarraute, spoke of praying for the pontiff “so that he may go to heaven as soon as possible.”

The ecclesiastical tribunal’s ruling, dated July 28, established that Delgado did not commit any of the canonical offenses of which he was accused.

Regarding Escardó’s good reputation, the tribunal stated that “the facts point to the complete opposite. That is to say, the one who has truly damaged the reputation of the Church and its priests is none other than Mr. Escardó.”

Furthermore, it is stated that “at no point has it been demonstrated that he was a victim of abuse,” “nor is it proven at any point that he felt revictimized,” and his attitude “is merely an excuse to defame and slander the Church.”

“We must give full credence to what Father Francisco José Delgado and the witnesses have declared, and not to what Mr. Escardó supposedly says and accuses,” the ruling stated.

Delgado didn’t impede the investigation into the SVC

Regarding the accusation made by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of interfering in the investigation into the Sodality of Christian Life, the tribunal stated that “it is not proven that the comments and actions” of the priest from Toledo “impeded the special mission carried out by the Holy See,” which concluded with the dissolution of the Sodality of Christian Life.

This decision by the dicastery is in fact the main proof the tribunal’s recognition of Delgado’s innocence: “It is necessary that there be a complete impossibility of exercising the authority’s discretionary act, and in the present case, the resolution of the aforementioned dicastery with respect to the sodality proves the contrary.”

Delgado tried to correct the alleged joke about Pope Francis

When analyzing the accusation of “inciting aversion or hatred toward the Apostolic See,” the tribunal found that Calvo had made “a regrettable and inappropriate joke” during “The Sacristy of the Vendée” YouTube discussion.

The tribunal described how “Father Francisco José immediately and repeatedly attempted to divert the course of the discussion, fully aware of the seriousness of the statements,” and added that he was “fully aware of the implications of the supposed joke ... and tried to correct what had been said.”

Toledo Archdiocese issues statement

“We regret that the statement issued by the Archdiocese on February 28, 2024, may have generated erroneous interpretations that damaged the good name and reputation of Father Francisco José Delgado Martín,” states a Nov. 5  press release issued by the Archdiocese of Toledo.

“Likewise, we regret that the imposition of disciplinary measures, such as the prohibition on using media outlets or social media, has been interpreted as a condemnation imposed by the Archdiocese or the Holy See, which is categorically false,” the text clarifies.

The statement also highlights “the good attitude of Father Francisco José Delgado Martín who, since the aforementioned measures were imposed, has always shown obedience and scrupulous respect for the canonical process and his superiors, remaining in full ecclesial communion throughout the entire process.”

Finally, the text states that “once the sentence has been handed down and is final, in order to ensure the truth of the facts and reaffirm the commitment to justice to the affected party and to the Christian community, we consider that the good name and reputation of the Rev. Francisco José Delgado Martín as a priest of this particular Church of Toledo has been restored.”

‘The Sacristy of the Vendée’ returns to the internet

A few days before the verdict was announced, the priestly discussion group “The Sacristy of the Vendée” announced its return to the internet on Nov. 6 after months of intermittent broadcasts. The group released a video in which they decried “18 months of lies, hatred, silence, and darkness.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Empty wheelchairs were used during a Nov. 4, 2025, anti-assisted suicide event in Rome. / Credit: Photo courtesy of ProVita & Famiglia

Rome, Italy, Nov 5, 2025 / 17:03 pm (CNA).

The Piazza del Popolo (People’s Square), one of Rome’s most iconic and monumental spaces, became the stage on Nov. 4 for a powerful campaign against a bill currently under consideration in the Italian Senate to decriminalize assisted suicide. 

Two hundred empty wheelchairs with a rose-colored balloon floating above each one were arranged in meticulously ordered rows in the center of the Italian capital’s expansive urban space by the pro-life ProVita & Famiglia association as part of a flash mob with a direct and unsettling message: “Non mi uccidere” (“Don’t kill me”).

The initiative aimed to denounce what the organization considers a “drift toward assisted suicide” in Italy.

Legislative background

Currently in Italy, anyone who “causes the death of a man with his consent” is punishable by six to 15 years in prison, according to Article 579 of the penal code.

However, in 2019 the country’s constitutional court partially modified this legislation, ruling that no one will be punished for killing “a patient who is kept alive by life-support treatments and suffers from an irreversible condition.”

This ruling came after the trial and subsequent acquittal of Marco Cappato, who was tried for accompanying producer Fabiano Antoniani, better known as DJ Fabo, to Switzerland to obtain assisted suicide in 2017. Antoniani had become quadriplegic and blind after an accident in 2014. 

Three years later, in 2022, Italy’s lower house passed a bill regulating a patient’s right to request medical assistance in dying based on certain conditions, such as being of legal age or suffering from an irreversible illness.

The legislation was then sent to the Senate, which has been debating the proposal for three years. The ProVita & Famiglia campaign aims to prevent its final passage.

According to the organizers, the 200 empty wheelchairs represent the sick, disabled, elderly, and vulnerable people who, in the association’s words, “are asking Parliament for more care, more rights, more dignity but are instead faced with cynical shortcuts to death.” 

“Only 33% of those entitled to palliative care” have access to it, according to data compiled by the organization, “with some Italian regions where coverage drops to as low as 4%-5%.” This figure leaves thousands of families without health care assistance.

Drifting toward assisted suicide

Italy has begun a “drift toward assisted suicide that could lead to a veritable state-sanctioned massacre of the sick, the elderly living alone, the depressed, and people with disabilities,” ProVita & Famiglia stated in a press release. 

“Any national law in this direction would only accentuate the process, reinforcing in public opinion the idea that the state can offer suicide as just another social and health care service,” the group warned.

Massimo Gandolfini, leader of the Family Day movement, also joined the Nov. 4 demonstration, reiterating his rejection of “any form of medically assisted dying.” In his address, he warned that “the experience of the 13 countries that have legalized it is devastating: From a few initial cases, it has grown to thousands every year, including young people with depression.”

Among the participants in the event was Emanuel Cosmin Stoica, a writer, activist, and disabled person. 

“In a moment of suffering,” he said, “I myself might think about death, but it is precisely then that society must help people live and not offer suicide as an escape from pain.” Instead, “the state must invest in assistance, psychological support, inclusion, and social networks that leave no one alone.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses of Seville, Spain. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Archdiocese of Seville

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 5, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Seville in Spain has announced that a young woman with Down syndrome who was initially prohibited from being a godmother at a baptism will be able to fulfill that role after “high-level” consultations with experts in canon law and pastoral care.

In late October, the offended family took their case to the media because a priest had refused to accept Noelia, a 19-year-old woman with Down syndrome, as a godmother.

In a Nov. 4 statement, the archdiocese explained that since the controversy broke out, it has gathered “all the relevant information and testimonies,” and “in agreement with the pastor and the family of the child being baptized, the archdiocese authorizes the celebration of the sacrament of baptism on the scheduled date, allowing the parents to put forward the godparents they had initially chosen.”

ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, confirmed through archdiocesan sources that one of the auxiliary bishops and the chancellor of the archdiocese participated in meetings with the family and the pastor.

The archdiocese reiterated that the Church wants to “foster the inclusion of all people in the ecclesial community, based on pastoral accompaniment and prudence,” saying it regretted “the harm caused by the handling of this situation” and calling “for harmony and dialogue based on the communion that should characterize the life of a parish community.”

At the initial meeting with Noelia and the baby’s parents, the pastor of Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Benacazón asked Noelia some questions about the baptism and the meaning of being a godparent.

Noelia, who was confirmed in the Seville cathedral by Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses, has “a serious difficulty expressing herself,” despite being independent in managing her daily life — for example, traveling to Seville by bus on her own.

The situation was also complicated because Noelia had not enrolled in the formation program for prospective godparents provided by the parish, which requires several biweekly sessions as well as Mass attendance there every Sunday, but had instead enrolled in another parish that offers a shorter preparation period.

The pastor, who, according to the same sources who spoke to CNA, “is not an expert in canon law but is very competent in pastoral care,” initially consulted the archdiocese. 

He attempted to resolve the matter according to the guidelines of the Instruction on Christian Initiation in effect in the diocese since 2015 with a unique proposal: Noelia could have a prominent role in the ceremony but would not be registered as the godmother. 

The decision displeased her family, however, and they appealed.

Now that the pastoral issue has been resolved, the outcome of the campaign undertaken by Noelia’s father, demanding the pastor’s removal “and a public apology,” remains to be addressed.

The archdiocese told ACI Prensa that the pastor is a “well-liked person who is doing very well and working very well with his team” in a social context where rules can be “difficult to understand.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino is the auxiliary bishop of Madrid. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 5, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Following the publication of his Spanish-language book on the 1934 revolution that took place in Asturias province in northwestern Spain, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino of Madrid noted that “if we know the history of the martyrs, we will recover evangelical strength.”

In “The 39 Martyrs of 1934 in Spain,” Martínez recounts the stories of those who were murdered out of hatred for the faith within a very specific context in the country’s history.

In October 1934, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE by its Spanish acronym) along with anarchist and communist groups launched an uprising against the legality of the Second Spanish Republic, hoping to emulate the revolution that triumphed in Russia in 1917.

Among those martyred in the conflict — 37 religious and two laypeople — were nine De La Salle Brothers, seven diocesan seminarians and three of their formators, three Vincentian missionaries, two Jesuits, one Carmelite, and one Passionist.

Most were killed in Asturias, but not all. A Marist brother and a diocesan priest were killed in Palencia; another priest in Barcelona; and a lay member of the National Catholic Association of Propagandists (Advocates) in Gipuzkoa.

The martyrs: A ‘living Gospel’

Just days before the liturgical memorial of the 20th-century martyrs in Spain on Nov. 6, the prelate told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that the book’s main motivation is to make the lives and final sacrifices of these martyrs known to new generations. He said he hopes that “a call to awaken our faith, perhaps dormant,” goes forth, as Archbishop Sanz Montes of Oviedo points out in the book’s prologue.

There is a second motivation for the book, he said, which is to denounce “a neo-pagan culture that frustrates the desires of human beings and of new generations; a culture that has been developing in Europe for two or three centuries and is now at its peak.”

This culture is characterized by being “closed to true life from God and is centered on the myth of self-salvation, on the myth of progress,” he explained.

Martínez emphasized that telling the stories of the martyrs is not “primarily to illustrate an already well-established Christian doctrine but rather to highlight the essence of Christianity, which is the history of Christ and his witnesses.”

The author said “the martyrs and saints are the living presence of Christ in the history of each era. They are, therefore, the first evangelizers.” 

“To read the lives of the saints and martyrs is to read the living Gospel,” he noted.

‘Martyrs of the revolution, not of the war’

The prelate explained that throughout all of Spain within a 15-year period (which extended beyond the time of the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War), 4,235 clerics were martyred, including 12 bishops. 

In addition, 3,500 male religious and friars and almost 300 nuns were killed. Added to these, some estimate that up to 10,000 laypeople may have been killed for their faith.

Of all the martyrs, some 3,000 are at different stages of the beatification process.

Martínez, who owes part of his vocation to the memory of his uncle, Lázaro San Martín Camino, who was martyred in 1936, states in the book that “they are martyrs of the revolution, not of the war.”

“Neither the republic nor the war, as such, were directly the cause of their martyrdom,” but rather “the cause of martyrdom in Spain is the anarcho-Marxist revolution,” which, like other totalitarian ideologies in the 20th century, “included in its program the annihilation of faith, religion, and the Christian Church.”

In the Jubilee Year 2000, St. John Paul II convened an ecumenical event held in the Colosseum of Rome in memory of the 20th century martyrs, which covered everything from the martyrdom of the Armenians in Turkey in 1915 to the waning years of communism at the century’s end.

Although crimes against religious freedom in Spain, and especially against Catholics, are increasing year after year and have even resulted in bloodshed, as in the case of sacristan Diego Valencia, according to reports prepared by specialists, Martínez warned against hasty interpretations.

“We must understand this lesson well to understand the present,” he said, alluding to the martyrdoms of the 20th century. “If we mix everything up, we understand nothing. We must proceed step by step. And we cannot conflate the martyrdom of the 20th century with the martyrdom of the 21st century.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.