Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images

Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  

At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was “a sign of resistance and a desire for change.”

“The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation of ‘nothing will ever change,’” Isacchi said, according to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference.

Archbishop Corrado Lorefice of Palermo also attended the prayer service, which was held at St. Philip Neri Church, located in the Zen neighborhood, the same area where Taormina was murdered. 

Invoking the memory of Blessed Pino Puglisi, a parish priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, Lorefice urged the people of Monreale and Palermo to “take on the challenge” of protecting youth from the influence of the Mafia and gang-related organizations.

“We must shout to young people that criminal organizations do not want their happiness, and we must remember that the center of the city is wherever the person is,” the archbishop said.  

Taormina’s murder is the latest in a series of gangland-style shootings related to a perceived rise in youth violence and organized crime in Monreale and Palermo.

In April, three young men — Massimo Pirozzo, Salvatore Turdo, and Andrea Miceli — were shot and killed after four men — one of whom was 19 years old — shot at a crowd after an argument broke out. Two others were seriously injured in the shooting, which was dubbed “The Monreale Massacre.” 

Taormina’s alleged killer, 28-year-old Gaetano Maranzano, was the son of one of the area’s known drug kingpins and was caught with other firearms after he was arrested at his home.  

At the prayer service, Isacchi said that some may view their gathering to pray for an end to violence as “useless“ or perhaps look at it “with an air of sufficiency and superiority.” 

Nevertheless, “we choose to listen to the faint inner voice that whispers to us: ‘God is there, lying on the ground next to Paolo, Massimo, Andrea, Salvo, to all our sons and friends, victims of senseless armed violence,’“ he said. “It is a voice that calls us, asking us to do our part to stop the violence and restore dignity to every person and every environment.”

Father Giovanni Giannalia, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, told SIR that while many singled out the troubled Zen neighborhood as “trivial” and “violent,” there are still “many people willing to do good, and doing it here is more tiring than elsewhere.”  

“Youth violence is worrying: three deaths in Monreale, one in Palermo. The situation is out of control, it’s an emergency,” Giannalia said, adding that everyone, especially priests, who “encounter evil” must fight against it. 

The warnings from Church leaders highlighted concerns regarding escalating violence among young people, particularly in Sicily, where the local Mafia, known as “Cosa Nostra,“ has taken to recruiting young people. 

According to a February report by the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime,” a demographic analysis conducted after raids against the Mafia organization found that of 181 individuals arrested, 40 were under the age of 35 and 10 were under the age of 25.  

Following Taormina’s murder, Isacchi and Lorefice issued a joint statement Oct. 14 saying they had hoped that “The Monreale Massacre” would mark a turning point in the region that would end the wave of youth violence.  

“Today, we renew the same hope. We believe that change is possible,” the bishops wrote. “May Paolo’s life become a sign of the transformation of our cities: a seed of rebirth.”

“Let us entrust ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows,” the archbishops added. “Only she knows how to enter the pierced heart of a mother who holds her murdered son in her arms, but also into the heart of the mother of a son who is a killer. May the mother of Jesus teach us the way of rebirth, love for the little ones, the poor, the children, and for those who have no voice; the way of nonviolence and peace.” 

A view of the French Senate in Paris on Feb. 1, 2023. / Credit: Victor Velter/Shutterstock

Paris, France, Oct 20, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).

In an unprecedented initiative, 86 French senators have signed a public appeal denouncing the alarming rise of anti-Christian acts in France and urging the government to take concrete measures to protect believers and places of worship.

The statement, led by Sen. Sylviane Noël of Haute-Savoie (southeastern France) and published on the conservative website “Boulevard Voltaire,” paints a grave picture of growing violence against churches and Christians across the country — and of what the signatories describe as a culpable indifference from public authorities.

“Not a week goes by without the regional daily press or social media informing us of these attacks, ranging from desecration and arson to physical assault,” the appeal warns.

According to data cited in the text, 322 anti-Christian acts were recorded in the first five months of 2025 alone — a 13% increase from the same period in 2024. The theft of liturgical objects has also surged by more than 20% in two years, with 820 cases reported in 2024 compared with 633 in 2022.

The appeal briefly cites a few emblematic incidents to illustrate this alarming trend. In the Landes region, at least 27 churches have been vandalized or desecrated in a matter of weeks, while in Nice, the defilement of a cross on Boulevard de la Madeleine has shocked the local population. 

The most emblematic case in recent months was the murder of Ashur Sarnaya, a 45-year-old Assyro-Chaldean Christian refugee from Iraq with a disability, while livestreaming on social media Sept. 10. His story became a symbol of both Christian endurance and the tragic vulnerability of believers in today’s France.

“He had fled Iraq and persecution to find refuge in our country,” the senators note, underlining the human cost and moral urgency of these acts of violence. 

They also recall the tragic 2016 killing of Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered at the altar by a radicalized Muslim while celebrating Mass.

The senators denounce political and media circles for their indifference toward Christians. They observe that incidents involving other faiths often trigger immediate official reactions and extensive media coverage, while attacks on Christian sites frequently pass unnoticed.

To illustrate this imbalance, they compare the public outrage provoked by pig heads left outside several Paris mosques last month with the near silence following the burning of a Virgin Mary statue in Guingamp during a Mass for the feast of the Nativity of Mary on Sept. 8. 

While France has established reporting platforms and support systems for victims of antisemitic and anti-Muslim acts, no equivalent mechanism exists for anti-Christian incidents. 

“Today, we solemnly call on the government to act without delay,” the senators declare in the statement. “It is urgent to establish a national reporting and support system for victims of anti-Christian acts, accessible to the general public, clear, and effective.” 

“This disparity fosters among many believers the impression that some victims of religious violence are treated as less worthy of attention,” the appeal continues. “Amid this undeniable surge of hostility, many Christians in France feel increasingly abandoned.” 

The appeal insists that France’s motto — liberty, equality, and fraternity — must be applied equally to all believers.

“Liberty requires that every citizen be able to practice his or her faith without fear of threats or desecrations,” it says. “Equality demands that the state, at its highest level, deploy the same means of protection for all. Fraternity, finally, obliges us to consider that when a believer is wounded, it is the entire national community that is affected.” 

Without seeking to pit communities against one another, the senators conclude that protecting Christians is part of a broader effort to defend France’s unity.

“When a synagogue is desecrated, when a mosque is targeted, when a church is vandalized, it is always the same essential freedom that is threatened,” they write. “No hatred will ever be tolerated, no violence against a believer will ever be relativized.” 

This broader debate on the respect due to Christians in France has also been reignited by the controversy surrounding the film “Sacré Cœur,” which tells the story of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that began 350 years ago in Paray-le-Monial. Before its release, the film’s promotional posters were refused by national railway companies, citing “laïcité” (state secularism) and opposition to “proselytism.”

The decision sparked widespread backlash and underscored what many observers describe as a deeper hostility toward Christianity — an attitude that seeks to marginalize Christian presence and expression in the public sphere, even as faith continues to shape France’s moral and cultural identity. 

The All Ireland Rosary Rally has attracted increasingly larger crowds. This year’s rally included a youth conference and a prayer vigil in the basilica to welcome the feast of Pentecost on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the All Ireland Rosary Rally

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new poll commissioned by the Iona Institute has found a marked revival of interest in religion among young people in Northern Ireland. 

The results are a clear reversal of the previous continuous decline by age. The youngest age group polled, 18- to 24-year-olds, now say they are more likely to have a “very positive” attitude of Christianity (30% vs. only 4% with a “very negative” view) than any other age group, even those over 65.

David Quinn of the Iona Institute told CNA: “What we are seeing in both parts of the island is some kind of revival of interest in religion among a segment of the youngest adults, the 18- to 24-year-olds.” He said a significant number of these young people are men.

The new poll, commissioned by the institute, was conducted by Amárach Research, a market research agency in Dublin, and based on a representative sample of 1,200 adults in Northern Ireland. It revealed that 40% of Catholics in Northern Ireland are regular Massgoers — which is double the percentage of Mass attendees in the Republic of Ireland, which was similarly surveyed earlier in the year by the same research agency.

The Iona Institute was keen to compare the findings in both the north and south of Ireland especially given the higher percentage of Protestant churches in the north.

One big finding of the poll is that Northern Ireland can no longer be viewed as being simply divided between Catholics and Protestants. The “Nones” — that is, those who say they don’t belong to any religion — have become a major force as well. This finding challenges the traditional sectarian stereotypes in Northern Ireland.

Quinn said he believes that indications of some kind of revival of interest in religion among the youngest age group surveyed should encourage all the churches. The finding is not an outlier. The revival of interest among young adults is consistent with poll findings in the Republic of Ireland, Britain, and the United States. In Britain, the phenomenon has been termed the “Quiet Revival.”

Will this growth in interest in the Catholic faith translate into active participation? 

Quinn is wary of making premature or rash claims about the poll results. He sees them as a challenge for the Catholic Church in Ireland. 

“I think the churches will need to get a lot better at finding ways to respond to this kind of revived interest… people like the Dominicans are able to do it, and some of the evangelicals are good at it as well,” he said. “But I think it’s something that the churches are going to have to have a real hard think about, because we’re very much stuck in the ‘decline stage’ mentality that says we’re all getting older and so what’s the point?”

Quinn said he believes that in the future there will probably be fewer “cultural Christians” — those who “say they are Christian but don’t practice.” He said that instead, society could be divided between those who hold religious belief and those who don’t, with few people in between.

“The overall conclusion, however, is that religion is not disappearing, contrary to past predictions,” he said.

Quinn said that throughout Ireland there’s “a lot of outright disengagement from religion,” adding: “You’ve got a growing number of people who say ‘I don’t have any religion.’ Cultural Christianity is beginning to fade — you know, the sort of person who said ‘I used to go to Mass the odd time’ isn’t going at all. There’s a growing number of people who don’t even bother with the sacraments at all. So … this kind of nonpracticing … type of Christianity is failing, and the ‘no religion’ group is increasing.”

The Iona Institute research shows that while the 18- to 24-year-old group had the highest number of respondents with a “very positive” attitude toward the Catholic Church (17%), half said they are neither religious nor spiritual. Those in this age group, however, said they are more likely to pray and read or watch religious content than people in the 25- to 34-year-old age group.

Of those surveyed in the poll, 28% said they are Catholic, 14% said they are Presbyterian, 11% said they are Church of Ireland, and 36% said they don’t belong to any religion. The rest belong to other Christian churches or religions.

Nearly 50% of respondents said they view Christianity favorably, though percentages were lower when specifically asked about the Catholic Church (23%) and Protestant churches (30%). The most unfavorable attitudes toward religion in general are among the nonreligious.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents said they are religious and/or spiritual — a slightly lower percentage than in the Republic of Ireland. Of those surveyed, 51% said they pray, 44% said they attend religious services (which does not mean regularly), 33% meditate, and 38% read religious or spiritual books such as the Bible.

The poll also revealed that Catholics have more favorable views of Protestant churches than the other way around.

Not unexpectedly, the sex abuse scandals are a big driver of unfavorable attitudes toward the Catholic Church throughout Ireland.

Father Custodio Ballester, a Spanish priest, was acquitted of hate crimes along with another priest and a journalist. / Credit: Photo courtesy of HazteOir.org

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 18, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Two priests and a journalist who were tried for criticizing radical Islam have been acquitted by the Provincial Court of Malaga in Spain. 

The priests, Custodio Ballester and Jesús Calvo, along with the director of a digital media outlet, Armando Robles, were accused of committing hate crimes on a talk show in 2017.

The public prosecutor’s office had requested a four-year prison sentence for Robles along with a 10-year ban from teaching and a 3,000-euro ($3,500) fine. In the case of the priests, the prosecutor sought a three-year sentence.

According to Europa Press, the ruling, after verifying that the defendants had not retracted their words and writings, which were treated as proven facts, focused its analysis on whether the spoken and written words were crimes. 

Specifically, the court determined whether the men’s statements criticizing radical Islam qualified as hate crimes under the law or were merely protected instances of freedom of expression.

The court determined that the elements of a hate crime were not present, “no matter how despicable and perverse the message” or how “clearly offensive” or “unfortunate” the statements.

“Not only is there speech protected by freedom of expression, but we could even accept that there is intolerant speech that also exists within the scope of freedom of expression, even though it may be offensive, not only to the group or person to whom it is directed but even to the person listening to it,” the ruling stated.

Regarding Ballester’s statement, the court determined that “no matter how despicable and perverse the message or its author may be, if it is not accompanied by a clear and manifest promotion of hatred toward one of the groups protected by [the existence of] such a crime,” it is not criminal.

In the case of Calvo, the court noted that his statements “could well be classified, at least in large part, as delirious,” in the sense of “a verifiable reality resulting from the delirious ideas and psychological ailments suffered by the accused.”

In 2017, the Association of Muslims Against Islamophobia filed a complaint with the Special Service for Hate Crimes and Discrimination of the Barcelona prosecutor’s office. The petition requested an investigation into comments made by the three men during a television talk show.

Since the program in question was located in Málaga, the case was transferred to that province. There, prosecutor María Teresa Verdugo not only evaluated the comments made during the discussion but also considered an article published in 2016 by Ballester. The text, titled “The Impossible Dialogue with Islam,” was written in response to a pastoral letter from the then-archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Cardinal Juan José Omella, titled “The Necessary Dialogue with Islam.”

The trial, initially scheduled for September 2024, had to be postponed because Ballester’s lawyer had another trial that took priority. The hearing was ultimately rescheduled for Oct. 1 of this year.

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, shortly before the trial, Ballester said he felt at peace: “As Jesus Christ says, they will take us to the synagogue and the courts, and there the Holy Spirit will give us wisdom that our adversaries cannot counteract.”

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

St. Ignatius of Antioch with the child Jesus. / Credit: Lorenzo Lotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Oct. 17, the Roman Catholic Church remembers the early Church Father, bishop, and martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose writings attest to the sacramental and hierarchical nature of the Church from its earliest days.

Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate his memory on Dec. 20.

In a 2007 general audience on St. Ignatius of Antioch, Pope Benedict XVI observed that “no Church Father has expressed the longing for union with Christ and for life in him with the intensity of Ignatius.”

In his letters, the pope said, “one feels the freshness of the faith of the generation which had still known the apostles. In these letters, the ardent love of a saint can also be felt.”

Born in Syria in the middle of the first century A.D., Ignatius is said to have been personally instructed — along with another future martyr, St. Polycarp — by the apostle John. When Ignatius became the bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed leadership of a local Church that, according to tradition, was first led by St. Peter before his move to Rome.

Although St. Peter transmitted his papal primacy to the bishops of Rome rather than Antioch, the city played an important role in the life of the early Church. Located in present-day Turkey, it was a chief city of the Roman Empire and was also the location where the believers in Jesus’ teachings and his resurrection were first called “Christians.”

Ignatius led the Christians of Antioch during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, the first emperor to proclaim his divinity by adopting the title “Lord and God.” Subjects who would not give worship to the emperor under this title could be punished with death. As the leader of a major Catholic diocese during this period, Ignatius showed courage and worked to inspire it in others.

After Domitian’s murder in the year 96, his successor, Nerva, reigned briefly and was soon followed by the emperor Trajan. Under his rule, Christians were once again liable to death for denying the pagan state religion and refusing to participate in its rites. It was during his reign that Ignatius was convicted for his Christian testimony and sent from Syria to Rome to be put to death.

Escorted by a team of military guards, Ignatius nonetheless managed to compose seven letters: six to various local Churches throughout the empire (including the Church of Rome) and one to his fellow bishop Polycarp, who would give his own life for Christ several decades later.

Ignatius’ letters passionately stressed the importance of Church unity, the dangers of heresy, and the surpassing importance of the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality.” These writings contain the first surviving written description of the Church as “Catholic,” from the Greek word indicating both universality and fullness.

One of the most striking features of Ignatius’ letters is his enthusiastic embrace of martyrdom as a means to union with God and eternal life.

“All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing,” he wrote to the Church of Rome. “It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ than to reign over all the ends of the earth.”

“Now I begin to be a disciple,” the bishop declared. “Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: Only let me attain to Jesus Christ.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch bore witness to Christ publicly for the last time in Rome’s Flavian Amphitheater, where he was mauled to death by lions.

“I am the wheat of the Lord,” he declared before facing them. “I must be ground by the teeth of these beasts to be made the pure bread of Christ.”

His memory was honored, and his bones venerated, soon after his death around the year 107.

This story was first published on Oct. 14, 2012, and has been updated.

Apparition of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. / Credit: Alacoque, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — whose feast day is celebrated in the Catholic Church on Oct. 16 — was a French nun responsible for spreading the devotion of the Sacred Heart throughout the Western Church.

Born in July 1647, Margaret had a great love for God from a young age. Her father, Claude, passed away when she was 8 years old. From ages 9 to 13 she suffered a paralyzing illness. This, in addition to a struggle over her family’s property, made life difficult for Margaret and her mother. However, it was during her time suffering with the illness that she made the promise to enter religious life.

For some time during her adolescence, however, Margaret forgot about her vow and lived an ordinary life. It wasn’t until she had a vision one evening at age 22 that her life changed.

In the vision, Margaret saw Christ being scourged. She believed this meant that she had betrayed Jesus by living a worldly life instead of a religious one. It was then that she entered the convent.

In 1673, Margaret experienced Christ’s presence in a way she never had while praying. She heard Jesus tell her that he wanted to show his love for people by encouraging a special devotion to his Sacred Heart.

Christ revealed ways to venerate his Sacred Heart and explained the immense love he has for humanity, appearing with his heart visible outside his chest, on fire, and surrounded by a crown of thorns.

Christ told Sister Margaret Mary: “My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.”

These visions continued for 18 months. When Margaret told her superior, she did not believe her.

On June 16, 1675, Jesus told Sister Margaret Mary to promote a feast that honored his Sacred Heart. He also gave Sister Margaret Mary 12 promises made to all who venerated and promoted the devotion of the Sacred Heart.

Soon after, Father Claude La Colombiere, a Jesuit, became Margaret’s spiritual director. He believed what she had to say and began to write down her revelations. Colombiere has since been canonized, and many have read his writings on the Sacred Heart.

Thanks to Colombiere, Margaret had found inner peace about her revelations being doubted by others. However, her writings and the accounts of others faced a thorough examination by Church officials.

Margaret died in 1690 and was canonized by Benedict XV on May 13, 1920.

The Vatican was at first hesitant to declare a feast to the Sacred Heart. But as the devotion spread throughout France, the Vatican granted the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to France in 1765.

In 1856, Blessed Pius IX designated the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart for the universal Church.

This story was first published on Oct. 16, 2022, and has been updated.

Pope Leo and Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2025 / 15:43 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, the Holy See said on Wednesday. 

The Vatican made the announcement via a press release on Oct. 15. The commission functions as the legislative body of Vatican City. 

In addition to managing the many functions and activities of the Vatican City government — including security and public order, public health and the environment, economic activities, postal and customs services, and numerous other internal concerns — the commission also oversees the artistic complex of the Vatican Museums and their assets.

Laws proposed by the commission must be approved by the Holy Father. 

The Holy See said Leo also appointed to the commission Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general for the diocese of Rome. 

The pope on Oct. 15 further confirmed the commission’s existing membership for the current term.

Still serving as the commission’s president is Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, whom Pope Francis appointed earlier this year as the first woman to hold that role.

Pope Leo with ‘Proton’ / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 15, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

Before the general audience on Oct. 15, Pope Leo XIV was gifted with a 12-year-old purebred Arabian horse named Proton.

The white horse is a gift from Michalski Stables in Kołobrzeg-Budzistowo, and will reside in Castel Gandolfo, home to the Vatican's equestrian center. Several purebred Spanish horses are also kept at the facility located within the papal complex.

The horse belongs to one of the oldest and most esteemed equine breeds in the world, known for its elegance and endurance.

According to the Vatican, the Pole Andrzej Michalski, president of the Michalski horse farm, offered the beautiful specimen to the Holy Father, recalling that during his time as a missionary in Peru, Pope Leo XIV frequently rode horses.

"The pope was very pleased. Holding the reins, we led him off together, taking him for a short walk. He was very satisfied; we were very happy," Michalski told Vatican News.

The Michalski horse farm is not only a place for horse breeding and equestrian competitions, but is also a center for hippotherapy (also known as equine-assisted therapy), especially useful for children with motor disabilities.

Proton's lineage is notable. His sire, the stallion Kahil, was born at the American branch of a stud farm in Qatar, while his dam, Pradera, comes from the historic Janów Podlaski stud farm. Proton's maternal grandsire was the stallion Hlayyil, bred for Her Royal Highness Princess Alia Al Hussein of Jordan.

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

Religious education teacher and author Andy Lewis, assistant principal at St. Bonaventure Catholic Secondary School in London, told CNA he believes the move to cut the bursary for religious education will have a “huge” impact on the ability of Catholic schools to recruit religious education teachers. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Andy Lewis

London, England, Oct 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A leading English Catholic religious education teacher has criticized the removal of a bursary for those training to become religious education teachers, warning that the cuts will affect both the mission and leadership of Catholic schools. 

Currently a person training to become a religious education teacher receives a bursary of 10,000 pounds (just over $13,000), but the U.K. government announced on Oct. 7 that the figure would be reduced to zero for the year 2026-2027.

Religious education teacher and author Andy Lewis, assistant principal at St. Bonaventure Catholic Secondary School in London, told CNA he believes the move will have a “huge” impact on the ability of Catholic schools to recruit specialist religious education (RE) teachers.

“There is huge concern about the impact of this decision,” Lewis said. “It now requires an even greater commitment to decide to train as an RE teacher — and for some, that will be a step too far financially. For Catholic RE, it further compounds the current issue that schools have: a lack of specialists in Catholic RE.”

In the Catholic schools of England and Wales, religious education is prioritized by the Catholic Education Service (CES) as “the core of the core curriculum,” and at least 10% of the curriculum is dedicated to the subject. The CES represents the national education policy of the bishops of England and Wales for the 2,169 Catholic schools, colleges, academies, and universities in England and Wales.

However, despite the high standards of teaching religious education, there are still some Catholic schools whose RE departments are not fully staffed and where the subject is taught by non-RE specialists.

Lewis, who has authored religious education textbooks and helped develop a new religious education qualification with support from the CES, told CNA that “a lack of bursary when recruitment challenges remain significant is detrimental to the RE community as a whole.”

“We are struggling to attract people into the teaching profession in general, and while there are real shortages in science and maths teachers, such disparity is a source of great frustration,” he said.

The cuts are also expected to affect both the mission and the leadership of Catholic schools. 

CES has proposed a vision for students in Catholic educational environments “to flourish,” stating in November 2024: “It is an understanding that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, gifted with an inherent dignity, and graced with a transcendent purpose to realize God’s love on earth. In the daily life of a school, this dignity and purpose is manifest in a pedagogical approach which seeks to engender a holistic formation of the person so we may realize life in all its fullness in mind, body, and spirit.”

Lewis believes the bursary cuts will affect this mission. “This makes the job of delivering the Religious Education Directory (RED) and meeting standards of the Catholic School Inspectorate (CSI) even tougher — while just attempting to fulfill our mission as Catholic schools and ensuring every student gets an authentic and high quality standard of RE.”

Meanwhile, Paul Barber, director of the Catholic Education Service, who blasted the government for its “failure to meet religious education teacher recruitment targets for most of the past decade” in an Oct. 10 statement, said he believes the cuts will harm leadership vacancies in Catholic schools. 

“Many Catholic school headteachers will have also begun their careers as RE teachers. Any national shortage of teachers, which would of course include in RE, therefore has a corresponding impact on the number of applicants for Catholic school leadership vacancies,” Barber said, adding: “This is a disheartening decision when there is a clear need for more RE teachers.”

Looking forward, Lewis called upon the entire “Catholic community” to work together to explore ways of finding more RE teachers. “It does feel there needs real action in this area,” he said. “But it is clear there just isn’t the funding. It is a question for the Catholic community: How do we seek those who are able to teach Catholic RE and encourage them to come and work in our schools?”

The CES is currently working to increase the number of religious education specialists by introducing a new postgraduate certificate in religious education — a collaboration between the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, London.

Opening of the silver tomb of St. Teresa of Ávila; portrait of St. Teresa of Ávila. / Credit: Order of Carmel

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 15, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Ávila in Spain reported on Aug. 28, 2024, that the body of St. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, was still incorrupt after her death on Oct. 4, 1582 — almost five centuries ago.

“Today the tomb of St. Teresa was opened and we have verified that it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914,” said the postulator general of the Discalced Carmelite order, Father Marco Chiesa of the Carmelite Monastery of Alba de Tormes, where the remains of the revered Spanish saint rest.

Father Miguel Ángel González, the Carmelite prior of Alba de Tormes and Salamanca of the Diocese of Ávila, explained how the procedure was carried out: “The community of Discalced Carmelite mothers together with the postulator general of the order, the members of the ecclesiastical tribunal, and a small group of religious moved the reliquaries with stringency and solemnity to the place set up for study. We did it singing the Te Deum with our hearts full of emotion.”

The diocese explained that the event took place as part of the canonical recognition of the remains of St. Teresa of Ávila, requested from the Vatican on July 1, 2024, by the bishop of Salamanca, Luis Retana, with authorization granted by Pope Francis through the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

The process of studying the body, the heart, an arm, and a hand, the latter of which is preserved in the Spanish town of Ronda and has been taken to Alba de Tormes for research, took place Aug. 28–31, 2024.

The diocese said that, in order to get to the body of St. Teresa, the marble slab of the sepulcher was first removed. Then — in the room set up for the studies and now only in the presence of the scientific medical team and the members of the ecclesiastical court — the silver coffin was opened.

The tribunal is made up of the Carmelite provincial of the Iberian Province of St. Teresa of Jesús in Spain, Father Francisco Sánchez Oreja; González; and the superior of the Daughters of Charity of Alba de Tormes, Sister Remigia Blázquez Martín.

The silver coffin was opened with the help of the goldsmiths Ignacio Manzano Martín and Constantino Martín Jaén, who will also be present on the last day of the work.

The Diocese of Ávila also revealed that 10 keys were used to open the tomb: “The three that are kept in Alba de Tormes, the three that the Duke of Alba lent them, and the three that the father general [a Discalced Carmelite] keeps in Rome, in addition to the king’s key. Three of these keys are to open the outer grille, three are to open the marble tomb, and the other four are to open the silver coffin.”

Chiesa pointed out that the images preserved from the 1914 examination are in black and white, so “it is difficult to make a comparison,” although “the parts uncovered, which are the face and the foot, are the same as they were in 1914.”

“There is no color, there is no skin color, because the skin is mummified, but you can see it, especially the middle of the face,” he noted. “The expert doctors can see Teresa’s face almost clearly.”

3 stages of the process 

The first stage was the opening and recognition which took place up until Aug. 31, 2024. In this phase, a team led by Dr. José Antonio Ruiz de Alegría from Madrid took photos and X-rays as well as properly cleaned the reliquaries.

The second stage took place in laboratories in Italy for a few months and resulted in various scientific conclusions. Finally, as a third stage, some interventions were proposed to better preserve the remains.

Before the final closure, a time was set aside so the relics of St. Teresa could be venerated.

The 1914 opening

The previous opening of the tomb of St. Teresa of Jesús took place from Aug. 16–23, 1914. At that time the Diocese of Ávila stated that the body remained “completely incorrupt,” as occurred at the opening in 1750.

According to Carmelite Father Daniel de Pablo Maroto, the tomb was opened in 1914 because the superior general of the Discalced Carmelites, Father Clemente de los Santos, wanted to take advantage of his visit to Spain to see the bodies of the founding saints: St. John of the Cross in Segovia and St. Teresa in Alba de Tormes.

The study conducted in 2024 with the remains of St. Teresa of Ávila was similar to that carried out in 1991 with those of St. John of the Cross in Segovia on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death.

Who was St. Teresa of Ávila?

The website of the general curia of the Discalced Carmelites explains that they recognize as their mother and founder St. Teresa of Jesús, also known as St. Teresa of Ávila, the first woman to become a doctor of the Church, who wanted to “preserve the continuity of Carmel” with the desire that “a new style of religious life would be born,” always “in fidelity to the Church.”

Born in Spain in 1515, St. Teresa of Ávila was also a mystic and writer of Jewish descent, recognized both for her contribution to Catholic spirituality and to Spanish literature.

A famous saying of hers is: “Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you. Everything passes, God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks for nothing. God alone is enough.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and was translated, adapted, and published by CNA on Aug. 29, 2024. It has since been updated.