Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Window at the top of the south façade of the Cathedral in Seville, Spain,. / Credit: o_andras/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC, by its Spanish acronym) is calling on Spain’s Ministry of the Interior to strengthen security at the country’s cathedrals after a threat against the sacred structures was issued by the Islamic terrorist group Daesh (ISIS).

According to a recent report by Memri, a publication specializing in Islamist terrorism, a poster with the label “Let’s slaughter” is being disseminated online in which a terrorist armed with a knife and an image of a Spanish cathedral can be seen.

According to the Spanish newspaper La Razón, the poster is accompanied by the incitement to “make the next news yourself and show your anger at what is happening to Muslims. Follow in the footsteps of your brothers who preceded you and sowed fear in the hearts of unbelievers.”

These threats come as major events are being held in some Spanish cathedrals, for example in Madrid and Seville, to pray for the health of Pope Francis, where a large number of faithful are expected to attend.

In response to the threats, the OLRC has launched a petition to ask the minister of the interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to increase security in the nation’s cathedrals.

The petition states that “jihadism is asking its ‘lone wolves’ to attack our churches. The security of Catholics is in danger. Have we forgotten that two years ago a jihadist murdered sacristan Diego Valencia in Algeciras and injured a priest?”

The organization, which advises the Spanish government’s Monitoring Commission for the Action Plan to Combat Hate Crimes, recalled that last New Year’s Eve “two jihadist minors planned to attack the basilica in Elche” and that in January threats were made against the Palencia cathedral via Telegram.

The president of the OLRC, María García, pointed out in a statement that “the safety of believers is in danger. We cannot ignore the threats of Daesh. We know what they are capable of, and we are seeing it these days in Europe.”

García also recalled that last year “a record number of arrests were made for jihadism in Spain.”

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

Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime during his homily at the Mass of St. James the Apostle in the Spanish church in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 24, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The Salesian Congregation is in the midst of its 29th General Chapter, during which it will elect the successor of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as rector major. The cardinal has had to resign in order to take up his new duties in the Vatican Curia at the request of Pope Francis.

The proceedings began Feb. 16 in Turin, Italy, and are scheduled to conclude on April 12. Participating in the chapter are 227 representatives of the more than 14,000 Salesians present in 136 countries.

The assembly is usually held every six years, but on this occasion the time frame was shortened by one year due to the appointment of Fernández Artime, their superior general, as cardinal in September 2023 and his episcopal ordination in April 2024.

On Aug. 16, 2024, the Spanish cardinal resigned from his position as superior of the Salesians, who were placed under the authority of his vicar, Don Stefano Martoglio.

The theme of the Salesians’ general chapter is “Passionate About Jesus Christ, Dedicated to Young People” and aims to develop its work around three areas of reflection: caring for vocational life, the joint work of the Salesians with young people, and the reorganization of the government of the congregation.

The person chosen as rector major will become the 11th successor of St. John Bosco and will have a new general council.

The meeting is taking place in Valdocco, the Turin district where the mother house of the congregation is located and where Don Bosco first began his ministry to youth. Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, offered the opening Mass held in Mary Help of Christians Basilica in the Piedmontese capital.

In his homily, the prelate invited participants to have “God’s way of looking at the world, at society,” pointing out that there are “great challenges, but they must be faced in an evangelical way, trusting in Christ, in his strength, in his presence.”

In the opening ceremony, the vicar of the rector major emphasized that the mission of the chapter assembly is to “rethink the governance of the congregation at all levels” with an attitude of “allowing ourselves to be challenged, not being passive, and offering responses both personally and institutionally. This is the path of the whole Church, guided by Pope Francis.”

Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Vatican Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, also spoke. Referring to the Gospel passage on the road to Emmaus, she said: “The journey takes us far from Jerusalem, from the painful experience of the cross. But after the encounter with Jesus, [the disciples] start heading back, even in the night, but without fear, toward the community and life.”

The superior general of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, said that “this is an event of grace and synodality. It can radiate its strength into the daily life of the new generations and assure them a better future.”

Antonio Boccia, world coordinator of the Salesian cooperators, invited participants to “strengthen their interior life and discover reasons for improvement. Your duty is to keep alive the flame of Don Bosco’s charism, which is rooted in the spiritual community formed by the entire Salesian family.”

The process of discernment and election of the new rector major and the general council will take place March 23–29, and the chapter members will travel to Rome April 11–12 to conclude their work and make a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s in this jubilee year.

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

The Reichstag building in Berlin, where the Bundestag meets. / Credit: jan zeschky via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Newsroom, Feb 21, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

As German voters prepare for federal elections on Feb. 23, the country’s Catholics find themselves navigating unprecedented divisions on issues that cut to the heart of Church teaching, from migration policy to gender ideology and the protection of life.

The elections come at a time when traditional party allegiances are being questioned and multiple Catholic voices are speaking with markedly different emphasis on key moral and social issues.

What do the current polls show?

Recent polls place the Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) at around 30%, followed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) at approximately 20%. The Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens are polling around 15% each, with the SPD holding a slight advantage. Other parties, including the FDP, the Left Party, and BSW face uncertainty about clearing the 5% threshold required for parliamentary representation.

How have Catholic organizations responded to party positions?

The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) — the country’s most prominent lay Catholic organization — has strongly criticized the CDU’s recent “paradigm shift” on migration policy.

According to an analysis by the Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost using artificial intelligence tools, the ZdK’s political expectations show the strongest alignment with Green Party positions, particularly on “climate protection” and “social justice.”

While taking a more nuanced view, the ZdK’s positioning has drawn sharp criticism from prominent Catholic politician and former defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), who left the ZdK over its approach to migration policy and its tone in debates about the CDU’s proposed changes.

“One holds one’s own position as the only correct one,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, criticizing what she called an “apodictic and condemnatory” tone taken by the ZdK.

“When our society becomes increasingly polarized until people face each other irreconcilably, extremist forces have an easy game,” she warned.

What is the bishops’ position?

In an ecumenical statement released this month, Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, along with Protestant and Orthodox leaders called on voters to support parties “committed to our democracy.” The statement explicitly warned that “extremism and especially ethnic nationalism are incompatible with Christianity,” reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

The German bishops’ conference has previously declared the AfD “unelectable” for Christians, citing the party’s “ethnic nationalism” ideology — a finding the party has categorically rejected, according to CNA Deutsch.

What are the key issues for Catholic voters?

Three major areas have emerged as particularly contentious:

Migration: CDU leader Friedrich Merz advocates for stronger border controls, while the bishops’ conference warns against compromising humanitarian obligations. A motion Merz introduced with AfD support has been called an “unforgivable mistake” by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of SPD. Meanwhile, the AfD calls for mass deportation of migrants.

Life issues: The CDU maintains support for Germany’s current abortion regulations as a “hard-won societal compromise,” while the SPD and Greens advocate for legalization. Germany currently permits abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with mandatory counseling at a state-approved center. The AfD calls for a “welcoming culture for children” while criticizing current policies.

Gender policy: Addressing a conference in Germany this week, just before the election, the Vatican’s doctrine chief delivered a pointed critique of gender ideology at a theological conference in Germany. The SPD and Greens support “gender mainstreaming” and changing family law to give various living arrangements and partnerships equal status. The CDU states it supports “diversity of sexual orientations” but rejects “gender as an ideological concept.”

The AfD says it wants to stop all subsidies for “research based on gender ideology.”

María Dolores Rosique, known as “Lola” by her family members and friends, is pictured here when she was hospitalized. A second-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis accompanied her at her bedside. / Credit: Courtesy of Lola Rosique

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 19, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

With a radiant smile, pediatric physician María Dolores Rosique, who goes by “Lola” among family and friends, recounted with renewed faith her testimony of healing after overcoming aggressive abdominal cancer. She testifies that her recovery began after visiting the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis in Assisi, Italy, and placing herself completely under his care.

“I always say that the illness I had has given me many more good things than bad. One of them is having reaffirmed my faith. Today I know that without the Lord I am nothing and can’t achieve anything,” she said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

In 2022 Rosique, a 44-year-old Spaniard and pediatrician by profession, was enjoying one of the best times of her life with her husband, Pablo, her three teenage daughters aged 17, 15, and 12, and her 7-year-old son. However, it was then, in the midst of a family trip to the Italian region of Tuscany, that her life took an unexpected turn, having to undergo a trial that would challenge her faith.

The physician confessed that earlier that year she had been feeling somewhat unwell: “I had digestive discomfort in my abdomen. I went to the doctor and had ultrasounds, they even asked me to have an endoscopy. I had those tests done and everything came out fine,” she related.

However, months later, one night during her family trip to Tuscany, Rome, and the Vatican, she felt pain in her abdomen and when she felt that area, she was immediately certain that she had cancer. “I knew it for sure from the first minute, because I have the sixth sense of my profession. I didn’t know if the cancer was in the liver, in the pancreas, but at that moment life took a sudden turn for us.”

“We went from being in paradise to feeling like we were falling into hell,” she said.

Rosique said that from that moment on, while it hasn’t been an easy road, it has been “a wonderful journey,” since they have felt “supported by the love and prayers of so many people, by our family and, of course, by the Lord himself.”

“It’s been a tough process: two very aggressive surgeries, intraperitoneal chemotherapy, many difficulties ... but it’s been two years since then, and thank God, I am now free of illness,” she said with a smile.

According to Rosique, she didn’t ask Blessed Carlo Acutis to grant her a miraculous healing but rather that her illness not be so serious so that she could see her daughters grow up.

“The real miracle is not just that I am alive — which of course is a blessing — but the spiritual impact that this has had on me, on my family, and on many of my women friends who were far from the Lord. As a result of this experience, many people have come back to God. And, of course, I couldn’t be happier, because that is the real miracle,” she explained.

Carlo Acutis and Rosique: the first meeting

When the disease appeared, Rosique remembered that they were experiencing “a super happy time” in their lives. Her daughters were growing up and “no longer required so much physical effort” to take care of their needs. “My job was stable and everything was working well, without any major setbacks,” she said.

When she told her husband about the cancer, Pablo remained calm and offered her two options: return to Spain immediately or wait for the boat to leave in three days. However, she made it clear that if they decided to stay, they should face it calmly, without letting themselves be overcome by sadness.

“The sensible thing was to wait. Three days were not going to change anything and, at least, we could enjoy ourselves together. So we tried to do the best we could. I swallowed hard more than once, but I asked the Lord to give us strength, to unite us even more, in case a difficult time awaited us, as we later found out it would be,” she recounted.

As they headed to the boat they were going to take from Tuscany to Rome, still with several hours to spare before setting sail, Pablo suggested stopping in Assisi, even though it was not part of their initial plans.

“Now I know it was not just a coincidence. Everything has a meaning. The providence of the Holy Spirit enlightens you when you least expect it. So, when visiting Assisi and the Church of St. Francis, I felt the presence of Our Lord, I knew that he was there, that he would not leave us,” Rosique recalled.

At that point her greatest concern was that her daughters would be left so young without their mother. Faced with that possibility, she prayed to God: “Lord, do it for them. Really I don’t want anything for myself.”

“It wasn’t healing that I sought for myself. I felt complete, with God, with everything he had given me. But I thought about my daughters, that they needed their mother. That was when an unexpected turning point came,” she said. 

While Rosique was thinking these thoughts, Pablo suddenly noticed that the shops in Assisi were full of photos, rosaries, and holy cards with the image of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a young man they had barely heard of at his daughters’ school. Intrigued, he did a little more research and searching on Google, discovered with astonishment that the body of the Blessed Carlo was only 300 meters away. 

Rosique felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and at that moment all she could think about was getting something to eat and going back to the car. At first, she didn’t want to go view the blessed’s remains, but her daughters insisted. “In the end, I think it was the Holy Spirit, or even Carlo, who through my daughters dragged me there, because on my own I would never have gone up” to see him, she confessed.

“We went to the Church of St. Mary Major, where Carlo’s body lies. We got there and found a side nave where his body rests. Right in front there is a bench to sit on and pray. I flopped down there exhausted, in the most difficult moment of our lives. I asked him for so many things… But above all for my four children. I told him: ‘Carlo, I don’t know what I’m doing here at this moment, I don’t know what I’m doing here, but God knows more and here I am.’ And then I made him two requests,” she said in the interview.

Rosique had the opportunity to write her intention on a little note and put it in the box provided for intentions. First, she asked Carlo that her children and the young people in her family would always be close to the Eucharist as he was, because she knew that this was his great love and his “highway to heaven.”

Then, she begged him that her situation not be “too serious.”

“I didn’t ask him to have nothing [wrong] but that it not be too serious, so that I could see my daughters grow up and accompany them during those years. I surrendered myself completely and told him: ‘Carlo, I am here in your hands. I have to ask for intercession through you, because you brought me here,’” Rosique said. 

Rosique and her family then prayed together. Her children lifted up their prayers and her husband also stood for a moment in front of Carlo’s body. Shortly after, they left the church.

As she walked through the door, something changed. On the one hand, she felt an immense spiritual peace. “When you say: ‘This is no longer up to me, Carlo, I’m leaving it here with you,’ you feel a profound sense of relief,” she recalled. But she also experienced something physical.

Suddenly, Rosique felt better, like she hadn’t in months. She was pain-free, her body strong. “It was an amazing feeling of well-being,” she explained. And in that instant, she understood. “I think it was a caress from the Lord, telling me: ‘Be calm, you are not alone. Whatever happens, you are not alone.’”

At that moment, Rosique knew with certainty that she was going to be cured.

Return to Spain, diagnosis, and healing

Returning to Spain, Rosique and her family prepared for the medical tests and everything that would come next. The first test indicated that she had a tumor in her ovary. “It was very widespread throughout the abdomen,” she explained. It affected the peritoneum, the membrane that covers the inside of the abdomen, and there were tumorous growths everywhere. Although the doctors confirmed that it had not reached the lung or the brain, in the abdomen, it was practically everywhere.

The diagnosis was clear: a malignant and very advanced tumor. Lola had to face the difficult task of breaking the news to her family, since she had been given between six months and a year to live. However, after an initial surgery, they discovered that the tumor was not in the ovary but in the appendix.

This new diagnosis changed everything, since appendix cancer, although aggressive within the abdomen, has a much better prognosis, Lola explained. It does not spread to vital organs such as the brain or lungs and its malignancy is less lethal. Despite the extent of the tumor, the news turned out to be much more hopeful.

“When we told them about it, my sisters asked us if they could spread the news so that people would pray,” she recalled. Without hesitation, she said yes, and thus began an amazing prayer chain.

“That is the communion of saints: When one person cannot do it alone, suddenly the whole Church — in earth and in heaven — unites in prayer. It was incredible to see the power of prayer and how it reached different places in the world. I know that there were people praying for me in many countries, people who did not even know me,” Rosique related.

That same afternoon, Rosique’s parents went to the church next to their house, where they attend daily Mass. They asked the pastor, Father Leandro, to pray for their daughter. He, in addition to committing to do so, suggested that Rosique receive the anointing of the sick the next day.

“I am quite docile, so I decided to go,” Rosique said. For her, this sacrament has a deep meaning when it is received with an open heart.

In the sacristy, in a private moment with her husband and the priest, Father Leandro began with some readings and then asked her to kneel. “He placed his hands on my head and, while I was praying, I felt the Lord himself anointing me. It was a moment of indescribable grace,” she recalled. At that moment, completely surrendered, she prayed within herself: “Lord, if you have been able to cure paralytics, lepers, have converted prostitutes and sinners… well, if you want, you can cure me, right?”

When they finished, as they were saying goodbye, her husband mentioned that they had been in Italy. Suddenly, Father Leandro seemed to remember something and asked them to wait. He returned with an object in his hand and asked them: “Do you know who Carlo Acutis is?”

Rosique and her husband were in shock. Then the priest showed them a second-class relic: a piece of cloth from Carlo Acutis’ clothes. “I’ll leave this with you until you are cured,” he told them. 

At that moment, Rosique felt that Carlo would accompany her on her journey. “I thought, ‘Carlo, you and I are going to make a great team,’” she recalled. Since then, she has asked for everyone’s intercession in prayer for her healing.

“Before people began to pray, my husband and I felt like we were holding hands in a completely dark place, not knowing where to go. But when they began to pray for us, it was as if a carpet of light was rolled out in front of us, showing us the way. At that moment, I knew without a doubt that I was not alone, that I was not lost, that we were with him,” Rosique said.

On this difficult journey, Rosique had to undergo two aggressive surgeries, receive chemotherapy, and deal with difficulties. However, two years later, her reality is very different. Now, with gratitude, she can say that she is in remission.

‘Carlo is like another member of the family’

Blessed Carlo Acutis occupies a special place in Rosique’s life today. “Carlo is one more [person] in my house. We talk about him as if he were here, like another member of the family.” 

Thanks to her testimony, many people have learned the story of this young blessed. “The Lord has used me as an instrument so that his story reaches many people.”

Rosique also keeps the second-degree relic of Carlo Acutis, although she doesn’t keep it only for herself: “On several occasions, in prayer, Carlo has made me feel that I should share it and not keep it for myself.” For this reason, she has shared it with those she believes he himself has arranged.

“I’m like, I don’t know how to tell you, an apostle of Carlo. I’m going to spread his message, his devotion,” she emphasized.

She also highlighted the testimony of love that this young man gave to the world: “You don’t have to be 40 years old to go to Mass every day. Carlo always had an unconditional love for the Eucharist and even today he teaches us how to live love and charity toward the poor, whom he helped so much.”

A new perspective on faith

One of the great changes in Rosique’s life, she said, is that her “love for the Eucharist” has intensified. “Now my life, Pablo’s life and mine, begins with Mass at 7:15 in the Murcia cathedral, asking for the grace to get through the day.”

“I’ve gone back to work, thank God, and I believe that, through my work, I can reach many people,” she said. Her mission is not only professional but also spiritual: “I can communicate the joy of the Gospel, even if in small doses, to patients and their families.”

From her experience, she has learned a key lesson: “The Lord has taught me that we don’t have the means to control everything.” She admits that she used to be a “quite controlling” person, but God showed her that “the most important things don’t depend on me. It’s a matter of letting him guide me.”

“I have learned to trust and to unload my worries on him. ‘Lord, You will know if it’s the right thing to do, if it’s not appropriate, if it should be done, if it should not be done… I trust in you,’” she continued.

In addition to her personal testimony, Rosique has begun evangelizing her women friends who were far from the faith. “For a few months now, I have been doing something we call ‘mini-catechesis.’ Once a month I give them a short catechism based on the catechism,” she explained.

Her mission in life is clear for her: “I know that, for the moment, the Lord is calling me to this: to share my testimony, which is helping some people. Wherever he may call me, I’m going.”

Since her physical healing, Rosique has also encouraged others to open their eyes to the presence of God in the midst of suffering: “Pay attention to the small details. See Our Lady and the Lord in the people who care for you: in those who accompany you, in the priest who brings you Communion. Behind all of them, there is the Lord. He does not leave us alone.”

“In the end, we are made for something much greater, and there are times when heaven cannot wait,” she concluded.

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

The Frauenkirche, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. / Credit: Diliff via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.5)

CNA Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Bishops in Germany and Austria have reacted to separate, deadly attacks that have shaken both countries, with Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg describing the violence as “bloodthirsty, godless terror.”

In Villach, Austria, a 14-year-old Austrian boy was killed Saturday, Feb. 15, by a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker in what authorities have classified as an Islamist attack. Five others were injured in the incident.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Feb. 13, in Munich, Germany, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a vehicle into a crowd attending a labor union demonstration. Thirty-seven people were injured, including children. A 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old child later succumbed to their injuries.

Urging solidarity over division, the president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference wrote on social media that the brutality witnessed in both Villach and Munich “has no nationality, no face, and no skin color,” reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language partner agency.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising led an interfaith memorial service Monday evening at Munich’s Cathedral of Our Lady. “We stand here today speechless in the face of this terrible act of violence,” the cardinal said during the service, which drew together representatives from multiple faiths.

The German prelate emphasized that the Cathedral of Our Lady should serve as “a house for all Munich citizens, especially for the frightened, the threatened, the injured, the doubting, and those seeking comfort.” 

The cardinal noted that the memory of the victims “will never fade, their light continues to shine among us” as candles were lit for the deceased mother and child, CNA Deutsch reported. 

Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder and Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter also addressed the gathering at the conclusion of the service.

The attacks have intensified debates over immigration and security in Austria and Germany. The politically contentious issues have also highlighted divisions within the Church in Germany, where voters will head to the polls for federal elections on Feb. 23.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican’s new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News

CNA Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 09:50 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s doctrine chief delivered a pointed critique of gender ideology at a theological conference in Germany on Monday.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed scholars at the Cologne School of Catholic Theology (KHKT) about gender ideology’s “claim to omnipotence.”

Speaking via video link in German, the cardinal rejected the notion that gender and bodily identity could be subject to radical change based on individual wishes and claims to freedom. 

Transgender surgery, he argued, goes beyond mere external changes like cosmetic surgery, as it involves “the claim to a change of identity, to the desire to be a different person.”

Fernández criticized using technical means to “create an alternative reality at will.” While acknowledging the existence of severe cases of dysphoria that could lead to “an unbearable life,” he emphasized that such exceptional situations require careful evaluation.

“No anthropology regarding the human person equals that of the Church,” Fernández stated during the KHKT conference.

The Argentine cardinal referenced the dicastery’s recent document Dignitas Infinita on human dignity, explaining the concept inspired by Pope John Paul II’s words in 1980 in Osnabrück, Germany.

“God has shown us in an insurmountable way in Jesus Christ how much he loves each man and how immense is the dignity that he has conferred on him through him. Precisely those who must suffer from some physical or spiritual impediment must recognize themselves as friends of Jesus, as loved especially by him,” Fernández said, quoting St. John Paul II.

The conference, titled “The Catholic Foundation of Human Dignity,” aims to engage Catholic theology with other sciences and worldviews, KHKT Rector Christoph Ohly told Vatican News.

“With the topic of human dignity and human rights, we have a theme that concerns not just Christians but every human being,” Ohly said.

The multi-day gathering examines the nature of human dignity, its relationship to human rights, and current discussions about their expansion.

Concert at the Santa Maria dell'Olivo convent in Maciano, Italy, in July 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Amici della Nave Association

Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis received heartfelt letters from inmates at Milan’s San Vittore prison after his hospitalization forced the cancellation of a planned meeting where the prisoners were to perform in a special concert.

The Holy Father knows well that judicial sentences are served behind bars and, above all, in the heart. That’s where he intended to enter this Monday, Feb. 17, when he was scheduled to meet with a group of inmates from San Vittore prison at Rome’s historic Cinecittà studios.

However, the event was canceled following his hospitalization at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

“It was difficult for them to accept because it also represented an opportunity to get out into the fresh air, see sunlight, and breathe freedom for a few hours,” explained Eliana Onofrio, president of the Amici della Nave association.

Since 2018, the organization has worked with the La Nave project, which assists Italian inmates dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. In collaboration with the Santi Paolo e Carlo health care association, they run a rehabilitation program where music is a fundamental therapeutic tool.

“Music helps them relax and connect with themselves; it’s an essential part of the reeducation process that accompanies rehabilitation to help them overcome addictions,” Onofrio said.

Upon receiving official confirmation of the cancellation from the Vatican, some inmates decided to write letters to the pontiff. “It was a spontaneous gesture through which they wanted to express their affection,” Onofrio noted.

In one of the letters, an inmate expressed his sadness, saying that “everything had been organized in great detail” to offer Pope Francis a concert into which they had poured all their effort and affection. The inmate considers the pope a central figure, expressing his closeness and assuring his prayers.

Another detained person laments being unable to meet the pope but understands this is “a necessary pause due to his constant dedication and efforts.” Nevertheless, he emphasizes that the pope’s health is paramount and promises prayers for a swift recovery. He also asks Francis not to feel “distressed about the event’s cancellation” and wishes him a speedy return to strength.

The power of music and reintegration

For more than two decades, the Amici della Nave association has accompanied these inmates in various events outside prison. A notable highlight was their concert on April 9, 2019, at Milan’s prestigious La Scala theater.

“I still remember the journey and their faces of emotion as they got off the bus and stepped onto such an important stage,” Onofrio recalled.

Currently, 70 Italian prisoners form part of the choir, alongside volunteers and former inmates who have achieved complete reintegration after lives marked by crime.

The cells of San Vittore, small and cold, are filled with stories of stumbles and suffering. There, inmates await their final sentence. Once they reach the third grade, they are transferred to other prisons.

Some have committed serious crimes, but they have a right to a second chance. Sometimes, they just need “a shoulder to cry on to glimpse a new life,” Onofrio affirmed. Even in prison, goodness exists. Indeed, the light of hope and kindness can emerge after years of criminality when all seems lost, she said.

Thanks to the mediation of the Vatican’s Department of Culture and Education, the letters will be delivered to the pontiff, who remains hospitalized.

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

Crowds at a town hall meeting on immigration in Los Angeles, January 2014. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Victor Aleman/vida-nueva.com

London, England, Feb 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The U.K. government is “choosing criminalization over compassion and protection” with its new asylum and immigration bill, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill is currently making its way through the U.K. Parliament and passed its second reading on Feb. 10. It comes as asylum and immigration have been highlighted as key priorities by both the current Labor government, elected in July 2024, and the previous Conservative government. 

Government statistics showed that, in 2024, 36,816 migrants arrived in the U.K. on 695 small boats, compared with 2018 when 300 people arrived on boats. Both Labor and Conservative administrations have advocated stringent measures to counter immigration. 

The new bill stipulates automatic refusal of U.K. citizenship to illegal immigrants to the U.K., no matter how much time has elapsed.

The new law would make it illegal to enter the U.K. without approval, even though the U.K. signed on to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, which states that neither asylum seekers nor refugees can be penalized for entering illegally.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for Migrants and Refugees, criticized the government for imposing “harsher measures” on those seeking asylum and for failing to provide safe and legal routes for those who need them.

“This bill seems to favor criminalization over compassion and protection,” McAleenan told CNA. “The new government has done little to address the lack of safe and legal routes — genuine alternatives remain unavailable. Instead, the government has proposed even harsher measures, such as expansion of detention powers and reduced protection for survivors of trafficking and modern slavery.”

Introducing the bill, the government said it was “inspired by the approach taken to counter terrorism,” adding: “The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill will strengthen the U.K.’s response to border security threats.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that people are smuggling gangs into the U.K. and this bill will give police more power to deal with the problem. Cooper told the BBC: “The gangs have been allowed to take hold for six years.” However, McAleenan commented that many coming to the U.K. have legitimate reasons for seeking asylum.

“It is difficult to see how measures that criminalize asylum seekers will achieve these aims,” he said. “A distinction must be made between victims and those who profit from their vulnerability.”

He added that “afflicted and persecuted” people affected by “wars, conflicts, and other factors” have no choice but “to risk dangerous journeys.” 

Referring to the words of Pope Francis regarding migrants, McAleenan called on the government to adopt a “new approach.” 

“I urge the government to reconsider its approach and instead focus on addressing the real drivers of forced migration, ensuring access to safe routes and upholding the fundamental principles of compassion,” he said, adding: “The words of Pope Francis are perpetual: ‘Every migrant has a name, a face, and a story.’”

U.K. Catholic social justice charity Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS UK) was also critical of the government bill for what it says is “punishing” refugees. 

JRS UK senior policy officer Sophie Cartwright told CNA: “For too long, our asylum system has treated people seeking sanctuary with hostility. Recent governments have doubled down on making it difficult for refugees to reach the U.K. and punishing them for traveling in the only way available.”

Cartwright added: “We need to build bridges for people seeking sanctuary and an asylum system that treats them with dignity … This government must have the courage to build a fair and humane alternative.”

Liam Allmark, acting deputy director of JRS UK, said the bill “misses a vital opportunity,” adding: “We should be focused on making it safer and easier for refugees to find protection rather than building a fortress.”

He also pointed out that “this jubilee year, Pope Francis has called us to offer welcome and hope for refugees and other displaced people.” 

“With the help of our supporters, JRS UK will continue advocating for just policies that protect the lives and dignity of all those who are forced to flee,” he said.

After passing its second reading, the next stage for the bill will be a public bill committee, which will meet on Feb. 27 and will hear written evidence submissions. 

Bishop Kevin Doran. / Credit: Catholic Communications Office

Rome Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Kevin Doran as new bishop of the Diocese of Achonry in addition to being bishop of the Diocese of Elphin in Ireland.

The announcement, published Feb. 16, means that the two dioceses of Achonry and Elphin are joined “in persona episcopi” or “in the person of the bishop.” 

On Sunday morning, the bishop of Achonry and Elphin addressed Catholics, expressing his gratitude for the support he has received from people in both dioceses. 

“I gladly accept my responsibility as bishop of the two dioceses to work with you as we grow together into that unity to which we are called and as we discover the gifts that God has given us to share,” he told the congregation at the Cathedral of the Annunciation and St. Nathy.  

Doran has served as bishop of the Elphin Diocese since 2014. He was appointed apostolic administrator of Achonry Diocese in April 2024, after the then-serving Bishop Paul Dempsy was appointed as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Dublin.

In a 2024 letter, Doran acknowledged that some Catholics may be “shocked” or “disappointed” by developments but that lower levels of religious practice and inadequate human and financial resources necessitated change.

“Both Achonry and Elphin are small by the standards of the Church around the world,” he wrote. “The hope is that, with our combined resources, we will be able to exercise our mission more effectively.”  

Doran, 71, was ordained a priest in 1977 for the Archdiocese of Dublin after completing his studies at Mater Dei College in Dublin. He also obtained a master of arts in philosophy from the National University of Ireland. 

Following his priestly ordination, Doran taught at Dublin’s Ringsend Vocational School from 1977–1983. He was also a member of the diocesan secretariat for education from 1980 to 1983.

In 1990, Doran continued his studies in Rome and was awarded a doctorate in philosophy at the Angelicum while serving as spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College.

In addition to his pastoral ministry in Dublin parishes, Doran also served as a vocations and formation director at a diocesan and national level between 1998 and 2006 and was general secretary for the preparatory committee for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress from 2008–2012. 

Before his episcopal ordination in 2014, Doran was secretary of the Commission of the Episcopal Conference for Bioethics from 1996–2014. From 2013–2014, he was a member of the management committee of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin and a consultant to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

An altar display of items associated with 17th-century English martyr St. Edmund Arrowsmith at the Church of St. Edmund and St. Oswald in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a former mining town midway between Liverpool and Manchester. / Credit: Joseph Kellaway Burnell

CNA Staff, Feb 12, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Though not yet near pre-pandemic levels, Mass attendance numbers are on the rise in England and Wales, according to figures from the national bishops’ conference. 

In 2023, an estimated nearly 555,000 people attended Sunday Mass in England and Wales, a roughly 50,000-person increase over 2022, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales told CNA via email. 

The spokesman described the figure as “not a full return to pre-COVID levels, but it is an improvement on recent years.” He also noted that the figure may be a “slight underestimation as some parishes may not have given their figures when their diocese requested them.”

Stephen Bullivant, director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, London, told CNA he is “tentatively hopeful that this trend for modest (re)growth will continue in subsequent years.”

He pointed to a 2024 article he wrote for the Tablet in which he noted that while Mass attendance in the U.K. has significantly decreased over the past several decades — leading to projections of a near-extinction of Catholicism — such dire projections seem unlikely due to signs of growth in some areas of U.K. Catholic life. 

That said, Mass attendance stood at roughly 829,000 across England, Wales, and Scotland on a “typical Sunday” in 2019, Bullivant wrote, meaning attendance still has a long way to climb before it reaches pre-pandemic levels, if ever. 

In addition, a late 2024 study showed that the sexual abuse crisis deeply affected Catholics in Britain, with a third of Mass-goers saying they have reduced their Mass attendance because of concerns about the child sexual abuse crisis.

In his article, however, Bullivant pointed to signs of renewed vigor and new growth in some areas in the Church in the U.K., such as anecdotal reports of increased attendance at Easter services and relatively large numbers of adult converts, thriving university chaplaincies, and vibrant diasporic and immigrant communities, suggesting that while secularization has deeply impacted the Church, it is unlikely to result in complete disappearance. 

“To put it frankly, rumors of the Church’s death — albeit four decades hence — have been very greatly exaggerated. There’s a big difference between ‘not dying out’ and ‘bursting with new life,’ however,” Bullivant wrote. “British Catholicism might be the former, but that needn’t mean it’s anything close to the latter.”

The news from the U.K. comes following recent estimates suggesting that Mass attendance numbers in the United States have recovered fully following the pandemic’s disruptions — though U.S. weekly attendance still stands at only 24%. 

The new analysis by the U.S.-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) used national surveys and Google Trends data to estimate attendance, which also revealed that attendance for important holy days like Easter and Christmas has recovered from the COVID crisis.