Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Archbishop Georg Gänswein speaks at a conference on the Šiluva Declaration in Šiluva, Lithuania, on Sept. 4, 2024. / Credit: Juozas Kamenskas

Šiluva, Lithuania, Oct 29, 2025 / 15:59 pm (CNA).

Twenty years after then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned of a “dictatorship of relativism” on the eve of his election as Pope Benedict XVI, his former secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, echoed that warning at a recent conference in Lithuania.

The former prefect of the papal household and longtime personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, Gänswein drew deeply on the late pontiff’s philosophy as he delivered the keynote address at this year’s conference, which brought together academics, civic leaders, public intellectuals, and clergy to discuss the principles of the 2021 Šiluva Declaration. 

The declaration advocates the defense of fundamental human rights, the fostering of virtue, and the promotion of societal common good. It recognizes the importance of a society built upon the pillars of truth, family values, human dignity, and faith in God and has since become a moral reference point for Catholic social thinkers in Lithuania.

Gänswein’s lecture offered a rich philosophical and theological reflection on faith, reason, and relativism, aspects that he described as a “constant theme in Ratzinger’s work.” The archbishop, who now serves as nuncio to the Baltic states, warned that when either faith or reason is diminished, that inevitably leads to “pathologies and the disintegration of the human person.”

This is the third such conference dedicated to reflecting on the Šiluva Declaration, published on Sept. 12, 2021, during the town’s annual Marian festival. Šiluva is the location of a Marian shrine dedicated to one of Europe’s earliest approved apparitions.

Archbishop Kęstutis Kėvalas delivered the conference’s opening remarks, urging vigilance against temptations to experiment with human nature and dignity. He also reminded attendees that the Marian shrine at Šiluva symbolizes fidelity to God’s order in creation. 

“The holy place of Šiluva invites respect for the order that the Creator has given to this world,” he said.

Gänswein said that in the face of today’s great challenges, such as technical thinking and globalization, the first step must be to recover the full scope of reason. He described true reason as inherently truthful, contrasting it with relativism, which he called “an expression of weak and narrow-minded thinking … based on the false pride of believing humans cannot recognize the truth and the false humility of refusing to accept it.” 

“The truth sets us free,” he added, referencing John 8:32 and noting that truth serves as the standard by which humans must measure themselves and that embracing it requires humility.

Gänswein concluded by warning that relativism — the defining mindset of modernity, which he described as “a creeping poison” — ultimately undermines human freedom. Driven by self-sufficiency and amplified by social media, relativism blinds people to truth and their ultimate purpose.

Humanity’s true goal, he affirmed, is “to come to the knowledge of the truth, which is God, and thus to attain eternal life.” His address was met with sustained applause.

The conference also featured a range of thought-provoking talks on Lithuania’s moral and political identity, the challenges of liberal democracy, post-Soviet societal changes, and the role of faith and family in public life. It concluded with a panel discussion on Europe’s moral direction, freedom of speech, and the renewal of Christian values in society.

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius recalled Pope Leo XIV’s words that the Church “can never be exempted from the duty to speak the truth about man and the world, using, when necessary, even harsh language that may initially cause misunderstandings.” He stressed that all Christians, including those in public life, have a duty to defend the truth, which he described as “not an abstract idea but a path along which a person discovers true freedom.”

The conference was organized jointly by the Lithuanian civic group Laisvos visuomenės institutas (Institute of a Free Society), the Lithuanian Christian Workers’ Trade Union, and the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus University.

A new stamp issued by the Irish postal service honors Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who saved 6,500 news in Rome during World War II. / Credit: An Post

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 29, 2025 / 13:51 pm (CNA).

The Irish postal service has released a new postage stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the ordination of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, savior of 6,500 Jews in Rome during World War II.

O’Flaherty used his position in the Roman Curia to hide fugitives from Nazi forces for the duration of their occupation of Rome from September 1943 to June 1944. It is estimated that he saved 6,500 Jews by hiding them in monasteries, convents, Vatican living quarters, and even Castel Gandolfo before smuggling them to safety.

Every evening, he stood in defiance of the Nazis, taking up his position in the half shadows on the steps at St. Peter’s. The German occupiers, unable to cross into neutral Vatican soil, could only watch in frustration and anger as O’Flaherty audaciously and courageously greeted a succession of fugitives.

To the Germans, O’Flaherty was elusive, enigmatic, and provocative, becoming the most wanted man in the Eternal City. He used disguise and subterfuge to move outside the Vatican at night, visiting those he helped. He was never apprehended.

Col. Herbert Kappler, the SS commander in Rome, mounted several unsuccessful attempts to abduct and murder O’Flaherty. Once, a Gestapo hit squad was reportedly apprehended in St. Peter’s Basilica by a team of four Swiss guards who, together with some Yugoslavian refugees, put manners on the Germans before ejecting them, disheveled and bruised, from Vatican territory.

Postwar, Kappler was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Ardeatine Massacre. O’Flaherty was his only visitor in the Gaeta prison outside Rome, calling every month. O’Flaherty baptized Kappler into the Catholic faith in 1959.

Gregory Peck stars as Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in the 1983 movie “The Scarlet and the Black,” with Christopher Plummer featured as Kappler.

The Irish priest’s network was established without his ecclesiastical superiors’ permission, though Pope Pius XII eventually became aware that something was happening within the Vatican walls.

He earned the nickname “The Pimpernel of the Vatican” after the fictional character the Scarlet Pimpernel, a daring English aristocrat who rescued French nobles from the guillotine during the French Revolution using disguises and daring rescues.

O’Flaherty was born in County Cork, Ireland, and his family moved to Killarney, where his father was steward of Killarney Golf Club. There, the young O’Flaherty was a scratch handicap golfer. Following ordination in Rome in 1925, he served in Egypt, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Czechoslovakia as a Vatican diplomat before returning to Rome and a position in the Holy Office.

The “Dictionary of Irish Biography” says of O’Flaherty: “Despite his rough-edged demeanor, his skills at bridge and golf admitted him to the highest echelons of Roman society … After serving as secretary to the papal nuncio to Allied prisoner-of-war camps in northern Italy, O’Flaherty began to assist Jews, dissidents, deserting Italian soldiers, and others fleeing from the Italian fascist government.”

Once an “ordained” Satanic priest, Bartolo Longo underwent one of the most dramatic conversions in recent Church history. He was canonized a saint on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Oct 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

St. Bartolo Longo — a former Satanist “priest” whose remarkable conversion led him to create a Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary and spread devotion to the prayer — was canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19.

In addition to his example of faith and Marian devotion, Bartolo Longo (Bartholomew in English) can also be a model for those struggling with their mental health, Dominican Father Joseph-Anthony Kress told EWTN News.

Kress, the Dominican order’s promotor of the rosary, said Longo “continued to struggle with mental health, and he continued to struggle with suicidal ideations even after his conversion.”

“As a priest, I’ve seen many people that think that after they convert … that mental health shouldn’t be an issue anymore,” the Dominican said. “But [Bartolo Longo] is a great witness to somebody who struggles through that.”

Originally born into a devout Roman Catholic family, Longo fell away from his faith while studying law in Naples in the 1860s — a period in which the Catholic Church in Italy faced opposition from a nationalist movement fighting for Italian unification. Most of the main leaders of the “Unification” movement were Freemasons who held strong anti-Catholic ideas.

The Catholic Church was also fighting against the growing popularity of the occult, which had a strong presence in Naples at the time.

Longo himself became involved in a Satanist cult and eventually claimed to have been “ordained” as a Satanist “priest.”

However, after Longo struggled for several years with anxiety and depression, including suicidal thoughts, a university professor from his hometown, Vincenzo Pepe, urged him to abandon Satanism and introduced him to his future confessor, Dominican Father Alberto Radente.

Under the guidance of Radente, Pepe, religious sister (and now saint) Caterina Volpicelli, and the woman who later became his wife, Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco, Longo came back to his Catholic faith.

One defining moment in Longo’s reversion took place in October 1872, according to Archbishop Tommaso Caputo of Pompei, Italy.

“Longo arrived in Pompeii to take care of the properties of the countess [De Fusco] and, walking through those streets — dangerous because of the presence of bandits and malaria — he felt an inner inspiration: ‘If you seek salvation, spread the rosary. It is Mary’s promise. Those who spread the rosary are saved!’ That day, the young lawyer promised himself that he would never leave that valley [of Pompeii] without first spreading the prayer of the rosary,” Caputo told CNA’s Italian-language news partner, ACI Stampa.

“It all began that day,” the bishop continued. “Longo began by catechizing the peasants; he then renovated the small parish church of the Holy Savior and, on the advice of Bishop Giuseppe Formisano of Nola, Italy, decided to build a new church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary — this church became the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.”

Kress said that, despite turning away from the occult, Longo continued to struggle with his mental health: Whenever he would be “on the very brink of despair, he recalled the promise of our Blessed Mother to St. Dominic that anyone who promotes the rosary will be saved. And so it was the promises that gave him enough hope to persevere through those dark moments.”

After his conversion, Longo “began to actually go back to the exact places that he participated in these occult activities,” Kress said. “And now, being very firmly rooted in his faith and his devotion to the Blessed Mother would … stand up in these occult practices, seances and things like that, and stand up and with a rosary in his hand and claim these moments for the Blessed Mother and encourage all that were participating to reject their past, reject their ways, and turn to the Blessed Mother for protection and happiness.”

Longo, who became a Third Order Dominican in 1871, “is highly relevant today, because after his conversion, he lived his life deeply rooted in the Gospel,” Caputo said.

Three years after first receiving the divine inspiration to spread devotion to the rosary, Longo received the image of Our Lady of the Rosary that became the centerpiece of the Catholic shrine in Pompeii.

The image “was a worn, battered canvas. It arrived in Pompeii on a humble manure cart, but according to the man we now recognize as an ‘apostle of the rosary,’ who was immediately disheartened by the condition of the icon, it became more beautiful every day,” Caputo recounted.

The bishop of Pompeii recalled the many evangelical and charitable works in the town by Longo and his wife, including the foundation of a girls’ orphanage and institutions for children of prisoners.

“Around the shrine, whose first stone was laid on May 8, 1876, and which was consecrated in 1891, roads, squares, services, a tram line, the railway station, the post office, and workers’ houses sprang up. Longo did a lot, but he always considered himself, evangelically, a ‘useless servant.’ For him, everything was the work of Our Lady of the Rosary and her powerful intercession,” Caputo said.

“At the root of every achievement, at the foundation of the work in Pompeii, was always the holy rosary, a wonderful synthesis of the Gospel, contemplation of the face of Christ the Savior through the eyes of the heavenly Mother,” he added.

Longo died in Pompeii in 1926. His last words were: “My only desire is to see Mary who saved me and who will save me from the clutches of Satan.”

“Even today, in Pompeii, everything reminds us of his name and his teachings,” Caputo said.

Veronica Giacometti, a reporter for ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, contributed to this report.

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia expressed concern about the ongoing internal problem of “falling birth rates” in October 2025. / Credit: FotoField/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 27, 2025 / 17:08 pm (CNA).

Russian President Vladimir Putin is voicing concern about the ongoing internal problem of “falling birth rates” in his own country and suggesting state action to address the issue.

Putin said in an Oct. 23 meeting with the Council for the Implementation of State Demographic and Family Policy that drops in birth rates have become “a global trend and a global challenge in the modern world” that is especially affecting economically developed countries, “and Russia is unfortunately no exception.”

Russia, he noted, has had “demographic pitfalls” from losses in World War II and problems that coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Though he did not mention the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia has also lost between 137,000 and 228,000 soldiers in the war approaching its fourth year, according to an analysis by The Economist.

Putin said some countries respond to falling birth rates with “uncontrolled, and even chaotic migration to replace the native population” but that Russia’s approach would be different.

“Our choice is unequivocal,” the president said. “We support the family as the fundamental basis of Russian society and aim to protect and preserve genuine family values and traditions, which have united and strengthened our country for centuries.”

The country’s fertility rate is less than 1.5 children per woman — which is far less than the 2.1 births per woman that’s needed to simply maintain a nation’s population. It’s less than half of what Putin sees as his ideal, which is that “families with three or more children should be seen as a standard and natural way of life in our country.”

Russia is the ninth most populous country in the world, but it has dropped from 147.6 million people in 1990 to about 146.1 million today, according to The Independent. The latter number includes 2 million people gained from the annexation and occupation of Crimea.

Putin said “no pressure should be exerted” to force couples to have children, because it is “a private and personal matter.” Yet, he said Russia should ensure young people “would sincerely aspire to a happy motherhood, would aim to effectively raise their children, and that they would feel confident that the state will support them whenever necessary.”

“It is now very important … to promote and uphold the internal attitude that I have mentioned … so that the desire to create a family, to marry and to have many children becomes prevalent in the public mentality,” Putin said.

State solutions to incentivize families

Putin sees the government as an essential partner in addressing the falling birth rates. He noted Russia’s low-interest mortgages and flat-rate benefits for low-income families and an initiative scheduled for early next year to reduce income tax for low-income families raising at least two children.

Another concern Putin noted is that young people postpone starting families when they focus on studying or their early career. He said young people should “not have to choose one path over another” and highlighted the country’s increase in pregnancy and childbirth benefits for full-time students, along with some universities offering day care. 

“Fatherhood and motherhood are a source of joy, and there is no need to postpone happiness,” Putin said. “That is what truly matters.”

Putin noted that housing expansions and better infrastructure are also needed, along with the promotion of “fundamental value-based attitudes” and engagement with cultural figures and the mass media.

Concerns of Orthodox and Catholic leaders

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has similarly expressed concerns about the declining birth rates in the country. Last year, he highlighted the “tragedy” of abortion as a contributing factor.

Putin did not mention abortion at last week’s meeting. In Russia, elective abortion is legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, but the government has banned promoting “child-free propaganda,” and many regions have banned people from pressuring women to have abortions.

Last year, Kirill sent letters to encourage women early in their pregnancies to carry their unborn children until birth. He wished them “good health, peace of mind, and many blessings from Christ, the giver of life” and discussed the blessing of children.

Earlier this month, Pope Leo XIV expressed concern about declining birth rates in Italy when he met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. He urged a “concerted effort” to promote family and protect life “in all its phases.”

“In particular, I wish to emphasize the importance of guaranteeing all families the indispensable support of dignified work, in fair conditions and with due attention to the needs related to motherhood and fatherhood,” Leo said. “Let us do everything possible to give confidence to families — especially young families — so that they may look to the future with serenity and grow in harmony.”

Gertrude Detzel (1903–1971), born in the Caucasus region of the Russian Empire, was later deported to Kazakhstan and became a key figure in the underground Catholic community. / Credit: Diocese of Karaganda

Vatican City, Oct 27, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).

A small delegation from Kazakhstan has brought to the Vatican two sealed boxes containing more than 30 pounds of documents, testimonies, and accounts of miracles for the cause of Servant of God Gertrude Detzel — a laywoman who kept the Catholic faith alive through decades of Soviet persecution. The materials, delivered to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on Oct. 21, mark the start of the Roman phase of the cause of the first laywoman from Central Asia to reach Rome.

“It was a very warm welcome,” said Auxiliary Bishop Yevgeny Zinkovskiy of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, who accompanied the dossier to Rome as notary of the diocesan process. “Amid so many causes, it was moving to see how our distant story from Kazakhstan was received with open arms. The universal Church has now welcomed Gertrude — we have placed her in its hands.”

Detzel, born in 1903 into a family of ethnic Germans in the Caucasus region of Russia, was deported to Kazakhstan during Stalin’s regime. She endured forced-labor camps — sent there because of her ethnicity — but would be imprisoned again later for another reason: her missionary zeal in spreading the faith.

“Even in prison, she couldn’t stop speaking about God,” said Bishop Joseph Werth, who was born in Karaganda and personally knew Detzel before serving as bishop in Novosibirsk, Russia. “When Stalin died and the time came to release prisoners, the guards reportedly said, ‘Let her go first — otherwise she will convert everyone here.’ That was the impression she left — she could not help but evangelize.”

After more than a decade of forced labor and imprisonment — including four years in Soviet prison for her faith — Detzel settled in Karaganda in 1956, drawn by its strong Catholic community. “She didn’t think about where she could live better,” said Bishop Adelio Dell’Oro, who oversaw the diocesan phase of her cause in Karaganda. “She thought about where she could serve — she wanted to be where there was a Catholic community.”

Even as a child, Detzel’s life revolved around faith. Werth recalled: “When she was little, Gertrude was sad that she’d been born a girl and couldn’t become a priest. The priest told her, ‘One day you will understand.’ And indeed — thanks to her, the flame of faith remained alive in the camps and later in Karaganda.”

As an adult, Detzel became a catechist and leader among the faithful — baptizing children, preparing them for the sacraments, and leading prayers when priests were absent. Each gathering carried risk; discovery could mean another arrest.

“She formed a whole generation of believers — not only laypeople but also priests and consecrated men and women,” Werth said. “I myself was taught the faith by her.”

For Dell’Oro, Detzel’s story carries a message beyond Kazakhstan.

“During the Soviet regime, people were forced to live as if God did not exist,” he said. “Today, no one forbids us to believe — yet we often live as if God does not matter. Gertrude reminds us that faith must again become the center of life — in persecution or in freedom alike.”

Interest in Detzel’s holiness first surfaced during the bishops of Central Asia’s “ad limina” visit to Rome in 2019, when Pope Francis urged them to preserve the memory of those who kept the faith alive “in silence and suffering.” Her cause was opened in Saratov, Russia, in January 2020 under Bishop Clemens Pickel and transferred to Karaganda in August 2021, 50 years after her death in 1971.

The diocesan inquiry concluded earlier this year after collecting testimonies from across Kazakhstan, Russia, and Germany. 

Many witnesses were already advanced in age, making the gathering of reliable evidence a race against time. Even so, about 25 depositions were recorded — including those of Werth and several religious and laypeople who had known Detzel personally. 

Dell’Oro said the research team even gained access to the presidential archive in Almaty, where they located and photographed Detzel’s personal case file, confirming the years of imprisonment she endured for her faith.

“Each document felt like a small resurrection of memory,” he said. “It was as if the truth about her life was finally allowed to speak.”

Though no religious communities existed in Kazakhstan at the time, Detzel lived her vocation as a consecrated laywoman. Before her deportation, she is believed to have made private vows, later joining the Franciscan Third Order under Servant of God Bishop Alexander Chira — the underground bishop who also suffered exile in Karaganda. When her remains were exhumed, a ring and wreath were found — signs of a hidden consecration and of a life offered entirely to God as a consecrated virgin.

According to Werth, Detzel led Sunday Liturgies of the Word when priests were absent — proclaiming Scripture, offering brief reflections, and preparing children and adults for the sacraments. When priests could pass through secretly, Dell’Oro noted, they entrusted her with the Eucharist to bring to the faithful who could not be reached openly.

Her home became a refuge for believers — a place of prayer and catechesis. Only as a laywoman could she have entered homes and sustained families in faith when priests could not.

“She didn’t try to replace priests,” Dell’Oro said. “But when they were absent, she did what was needed.”

“Gertrude formed consciences,” Werth added. “She taught us that holiness begins with fidelity in small things — and from that, everything else flows.”

The spiritual fruit of Detzel’s witness continues to grow in the Church — among priests, religious, and laypeople whose vocations were shaped by her example.

On Dec. 22, 1989, the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR officially rehabilitated her, acknowledging that she had committed no crime. Not long after, the Soviet system that had tried to silence the faith collapsed, and Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty on Oct. 25, 1990 — a moment now marked each year as Republic Day. This year marks 35 years since that declaration.

Her cause is now in Rome under the postulation of Father Zdzisław Kijas, OFM Conv, who has guided major causes, including those of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and the Ulma family.

Father Vladimír Jukl who was born 100 years ago, was a secretly ordained Catholic priest in communist Czechoslovakia, and endured imprisonment and torture. He was a key figure in the underground Catholic resistance and inspired thousands through faith, courage, and quiet leadership. / Credit: Karol Dubovan

Rome, Italy, Oct 27, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A hundred years ago, Vladimír Jukl was born — a secretly ordained Catholic priest in communist Czechoslovakia who endured imprisonment and torture yet helped bring down the regime. A key figure in the underground Catholic resistance, he inspired thousands through faith, courage, and quiet leadership.

In 2022, a film titled “The Free Men: A Story of Friendship That Changed Slovakia” told his story. Among those who viewed it were then-Prime Minister Eduard Heger and President Zuzana Čaputová. The following year, former dissident František Mikloško published “Vladimír Jukl: In the Front Line of a Great Story.”

Born in Bratislava in 1925, Jukl was accused of “treason” — that is, of forbidden religious activity — during the communist era. He was tortured, imprisoned, and held in solitary confinement.

“The greatest crime of all was Catholic religious activity. Everyone suspected of it was, after some time, placed in maximum isolation called ‘The Vatican’ in various prisons,” wrote fellow dissident Silvester Krčméry in “Truth Against Power.”

“I was sentenced to 25 years in prison [and observed that] many people without faith touched electric wires to be killed by the current or found another way to disappear from life. I believed the Lord would help me and prayed,” Jukl recalled.

After his release, he continued his mission — this time underground.

The ‘general’ of the secret Church

Bishop Ján Korec, a Jesuit who was secretly ordained a bishop and was later named a cardinal, approved a plan to build a network of small prayer communities at every university faculty and even in individual classes in Bratislava, now Slovakia’s capital. Jukl and Krčméry oversaw the network.

The two regularly met with coordinators to foster spiritual formation and organize activities such as retreats and excursions outside the city — nicknamed “feasts.” Their leadership earned them the nickname “Generals of the Secret Church.”

These communities nurtured a generation of Catholics whose mature faith became a quiet force for cultural and spiritual renewal under the communist regime.

Bestselling author Rod Dreher later highlighted Jukl and Krčméry in “Live Not by Lies,” his book about Christian resistance under totalitarianism. Citing accounts from other dissidents, Dreher wrote that the pair were “like a magnet for the young idealists ready to absorb whatever they offered.”

Their clandestine activities required great caution. To protect one another, participants would never arrive or leave meetings all at once, and many knew only each other’s first names.

A mathematician by training, Jukl also wrote for samizdat publications and served as secretary of the Union of Slovak Mathematicians and Physicists. Korec later secretly ordained Jukl a priest — expanding his means of spiritual formation and ministry.

Contact with Karol Wojtyła

During a mountain trip near the Polish border, Jukl and Krčméry met a young priest named Karol Wojtyła. When he later became archbishop of Kraków, they visited him in Poland as travel restrictions eased.

After Wojtyła’s election as Pope John Paul II in 1978, Jukl reportedly told friends: “You cannot imagine what this will mean for us.” 

Many later noted that the Polish pope’s moral and spiritual influence profoundly encouraged those resisting communism throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

Through Wojtyła’s close friend Wanda Półtawska, the pope remained informed about the Church’s situation in communist Czechoslovakia. After the fall of the regime, he invited Jukl and his collaborators to the Vatican.

The ‘Candle Manifestation’

Jukl also co-organized the famous “Candle Manifestation,” a 1988 public prayer for religious freedom held in Bratislava’s Hviezdoslav Square.

On that rainy evening, thousands gathered with candles under umbrellas only to be dispersed by water cannons and police batons as loudspeakers ordered them to leave. The event became a symbol of nonviolent resistance that foreshadowed the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

“Our goal is not only the good of the Church but also of the whole of society. Christianity is misunderstood by those who see it as something passive, an escape from the world. The opposite is true. Christianity encourages action — lively participation in everything that creates true values,” Jukl said, as quoted in Mikloško’s book.

After the fall of communism, Jukl continued to lead prayer groups in democratic Slovakia until his death in 2012.

Cardinal József Mindszenty in 1974. / Credit: Mieremet, Rob/Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, via Wikimedia Commons

Rome, Italy, Oct 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Hungarian Church leaders recently gathered in Rome to commemorate Venerable Cardinal József Mindszenty, the persecuted prelate who died in exile 50 years ago and became an enduring symbol of resistance to totalitarian regimes.

“Rome and the homeland — these are the two stars, and two goals, which also indicate to me the direction to take.” This quote from Mindszenty is featured at an exhibition currently on display at the Hungarian Academy in Rome, highlighting the cardinal’s fidelity to the Holy See and his country during a time of brutal repression in Central Europe.

Mindszenty was imprisoned under multiple regimes in Hungary. He served as bishop of Veszprém during World War II and was later appointed archbishop of Esztergom before being elevated to the College of Cardinals. After the communist takeover in Hungary in 1948, he was arrested on charges of “anti-government activity,” tortured, and imprisoned.

“Before his arrest in 1948, he naturally sought connections with other prelates in neighboring communist-dominated countries,” said Cardinal Péter Erdő, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, in comments to CNA.

He named Cardinal Josef Beran of Prague, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński of Krakow, and Blessed Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac of Zagreb as part of what he called a “great symphony” of episcopal leadership during a time of persecution under communism.

“This is why Pius XII, in a solemn letter, mentioned all these witnesses to the faith. It was a powerful phrase that acknowledged their testimony,” Erdő added.

‘Witnesses of Faith — Ray of Hope’

The Embassy of Hungary to the Holy See paid tribute to Mindszenty at an event titled “Witnesses of Faith — Rays of Hope,” held in the context of the Jubilee 2025, the theme of which is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

“It is no coincidence that this event is part of the jubilee,” said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. “Cardinal Mindszenty honored the dignity of the cardinalate through his life and willingness to sacrifice.”

“He was imprisoned under both Nazism and communism. This means he stood firm and challenged the mainstream,” emphasized Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, who also revealed that he carries a relic of the cardinal with him.

During the 1956 Hungarian uprising, Mindszenty was freed and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, where he remained for 15 years. In 1971, he was permitted to leave the country and began traveling extensively, primarily to visit Hungarian communities in the diaspora, including in the United States.

“After forced isolation, meeting people and living my vocation through active engagement brought me joy,” Mindszenty once said.

He died in exile in Vienna, Austria, in 1975.

Anti-communist or good shepherd?

While some critics viewed Mindszenty as overly political in his anti-communism, Hungarian Church leaders emphasized his pastoral mission.

“He was a good shepherd who, while not loud, spoke clearly against communism,” Bishop György Udvardy of Veszprém told CNA.

Erdő and Udvardy, both of whom took part in the Rome commemoration, noted that Mindszenty has been declared venerable — the Church’s recognition of his heroic virtues.

“History is complex, but we pray for his beatification,” Udvardy said.

During his years in exile, Mindszenty reportedly disagreed with Pope Paul VI’s decision to declare the Archdiocese of Esztergom vacant.

However, Erdő clarified: “The media exaggerated the disagreement. He was never disobedient. Once the Holy Father made his decision, Cardinal Mindszenty accepted it without resistance.”

A display at the exhibition features a quote from the cardinal: “Whatever happens, never believe that a priest can be the enemy of his faithful. The priest belongs to every family, and you belong to the big family of your pastor.”

Cardinal Ján Chryzostom Korec. / Credit: Nitra Diocese

Rome, Italy, Oct 24, 2025 / 10:44 am (CNA).

Cardinal Ján Korec, a Jesuit and secret bishop during the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, died 10 years ago on Oct. 24, 2015. He was 91. Even nonbelievers have recognized his life as a heroic testimony of faith.

Born in democratic Czechoslovakia in 1924, Korec witnessed the imposition of communism in 1948. He joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest. In 1951, at age 27, he was secretly consecrated a bishop — making him, for a time, the youngest bishop. Later in his life, he would become the oldest serving bishop in the world.

Under communism, the regime worked to suppress the traditionally strong Catholic Church in the country systematically. Bishops were imprisoned or silenced, many priests jailed, religious orders dissolved, and Church property confiscated. Religious publications were banned or censored. Public ministry for bishops such as Korec was impossible.

Once his identity was discovered, Korec was arrested and accused of “treason” for his religious activity. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. After his release, he was permitted only to work in manual labor, earning him the nickname “the bishop in overalls.” Despite surveillance and constant threats, he clandestinely ordained approximately 120 priests.

Korec took extraordinary precautions. When meeting guests in his apartment, he sometimes spoke in a whisper through a plastic tube — one person speaking at one end, the other listening at the other — to avoid detection by listening devices. He would also turn on the television and radio to mask their voices.

In 1969, he was allowed to travel to Rome, where Pope Paul VI received him. “He gave me his ring, golden pectoral cross, miter, and crosier that he had received as archbishop of Milan,” Korec later recalled. “I was told that was a historical event — it had never happened before.”

‘He spilled blood and ink’

Korec helped build a network of small student prayer groups in Bratislava, guided by lay Catholic leaders and fellow dissidents Silvester Krčméry and Vladimír Jukl. These communities nurtured young people’s faith under the hostile regime.

Despite severe restrictions, Korec became the most prolific Slovak author of samizdat (underground) literature, writing extensively on theology, philosophy, and society. “He spilled blood and ink,” said historian Ján Šimulčík. Korec managed to write numerous books despite the communist authorities’ attempts to block his access to information.

After the fall of communism in 1989, Korec continued to write — eventually authoring about 70 books, some of which were translated into other languages. He once visited a Christian bookstore to count how many of his books were in stock.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Nitra — the oldest diocese in the Slavic world — and made him a cardinal in 1991. In 1998, he was invited to lead the spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia, a high honor.

Reflecting on this, Korec said: “After 50 years of life in the catacombs, after years of civilian life as a worker in factories and prisons, I am not in a position to present either grand visions of the world or theologically elaborated reflections. I can only do what I have striven to do since 1951, through 48 years of episcopal vocation … to present some truths, mysteries, situations, ideas — to be a simple witness of faith and devotion to the One who has chosen us, who gathers us in the great family of his Church.”

Pope Francis and Cardinal Korec

On Jan. 22, 2024, Pope Francis received journalists accredited to the Holy See and when the pope was informed that it was the 100th anniversary of Korec’s birth, the Holy Father’s face lit up and he nodded in recognition.

Both men were Jesuits. In fact, Pope Francis quoted Korec during his 2021 apostolic journey to Slovakia: “I am always struck by an incident in the history of Korec. He was a Jesuit cardinal, persecuted by the regime, imprisoned, and sentenced to forced labor until he fell ill. When he came to Rome for the Jubilee of the Year 2000, he went to the catacombs and lit a candle for his persecutors, imploring mercy for them. This is the Gospel! It grows in life and in history through humble and patient love.”

The faithful pray before the altar at Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 24, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Seven pivotal priorities emerged from the Irish bishops’ Pre-Synodal Assembly meetings on Oct. 18 in Kilkenny, reflecting the hopes and concerns of the Irish faithful, drawing upon a series of gatherings held throughout the country from February to May.

The assembly brought together delegates from parish communities across Ireland to discern how the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church today.

Father Gerry O’Hanlon, SJ, one of the delegates, welcomed the process. “Building on the trust that has been established, we need to face difficult issues and embrace conflict and difference on the way,” he told CNA. “The Pre-Synodal Assembly was characterized by a constructive spirit of speaking and listening in a spirit of prayer. As we go forward, we probably need a more concrete focus, with input from theology and the other sciences. We have made a good start.”

Of the priorities under discussion, three emerged as particularly strong: healing, the role of women in the Church, and youth engagement. The assembly discernment process identified these as areas that demand urgent attention as the Church seeks to navigate the complexities of modern life while remaining true to its mission.

The focus on healing was emphasized as was the need to acknowledge wounds, especially those caused by abuse; committing to accountability, justice, and reconciliation; and ensuring safe spaces for survivors and all who carry pain. 

“The priority attached to healing all of the hurt caused by abuse in the Church, as part of the path to renewal, is welcome,” Aidan Gordon, another delegate, said. “A recognition that the healing must be authentic and rooted in a commitment to justice reflects a genuine listening to the voices of victims and survivors.”

The role of women in the Church and the importance of recognizing and including women’s gifts, leadership, and co-responsibility at every level of Church life as a matter of justice and credibility was also emphasized.

The assembly additionally recognized the importance of youth engagement, highlighting the need to connect with young people in authentic and meaningful ways. 

“These kinds of events really allow young people to have their voice heard, and that’s what gives a whole new energy and perspective to the Church in Ireland today,” Natalie Doherty, a delegate at the assembly, told CNA.

In addition to these three focal areas, the assembly identified several other significant priorities for the Irish Church: 

— Belonging: fostering a Church of welcome, inclusion, and safety where every person finds a home in community and in Christ

— Co-responsibility and lay ministry: empowering all the baptized, men and women alike, to share responsibility for leadership and mission through new models of ministry and decision-making

— Family: supporting the domestic Church as the primary place of faith transmission and strengthening its connection with parishes and schools

— Formation and catechesis: deepening faith through lifelong formation that is Christ-centered and equips the baptized for discipleship in today’s world

In embracing these priorities, the Irish Church hopes to not only address the needs of its members but also reaffirms its commitment to living out the Gospel in a way that resonates with the realities of today. 

Welcoming the attendees to the Kilkenny meeting, Bishop Niall Coll of Ossory said: “A synodal Church encourages a more open culture of debate, discussion, and discernment within the Church. Our presence here today means that there are voices in Ireland attuned to the need to read the ‘signs of the times’ and anxious to follow the direction for renewal and reform that Pope Francis charted.”

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III meet before their prayer together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting at the Vatican on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 23, 2025 / 18:04 pm (CNA).

King Charles III has acted contrary to the oath made at his coronation and should now “let someone else take his place, who is a true Protestant and who will take their vows seriously,” a prominent Free Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland said after the king prayed with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

Rev. Kyle Paisley, the son of firebrand Democratic Unionist Party founder Ian Paisley, made the statements in a letter to Newspapers in Northern Ireland and subsequently in an interview on BBC Radio as well as other media outlets. 

In the Sistine Chapel prayer service, King Charles, the supreme governor of the Church of England, accompanied by Queen Camilla, sat at Pope Leo’s left-hand side as the pope and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell led prayers.

The historic meeting and prayer service was also publicly lamented by the Orange Order, an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. The group decried the ecumenical prayers as a “sad day for Protestantism,” expressing “great sadness” and raising its objections in the “strongest possible terms.” 

In his comments, Paisley questioned whether the historic prayer in Rome was “cynical timing” coming 500 years after the printing of the New Testament in English by William Tyndale, something he claims still has the papacy “licking its wounds.”

“At his coronation, the king affirmed that he was a true Protestant and promised to uphold the religion of the established church in England as well as that of the Church of Scotland, which is historically Protestant,” Paisley said. “Our king has denied the Christian Gospel, flown in the face of holy Scripture, given the lie to his oath, and shown that he is not at all what he says he is — a true Protestant.”

He added: “Protestantism takes the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice. Romanism does not. Her rule of faith and practice is the Scriptures as interpreted by the Church — that is, by the Roman Catholic Church — and tradition. This effectively makes the Church the rule of faith and practice. God’s word on its own is not enough for her.”

Wallace Thompson of the Evangelical Protestant Society in Northern Ireland agreed with Paisley, though he did not call for the king’s abdication. He told the BBC: “The issues that were there at the time of the Reformation are still there — deep, deep doctrinal differences. The two churches are so far apart that you shouldn’t feel you can engage in joint prayer — conversation, yes. This is symbolic. The king gives certain values at his coronation to maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant reformed religion established by law. He is sending out a signal now that really deep down, he doesn’t want to do that.”

Paisley’s statements also took issue with King Charles and other British royals attending the recent Requiem Mass for the Duchess of Kent, herself a Catholic.

Doubling down on his views, Paisley posted a statement on social media ahead of the Sistine Chapel prayer: “It is a crying shame that no evangelical Christian MP [member of Parliament], or member of the House of Lords, has spoken out publicly about the king’s blatant compromise of his oath, evidenced in the planned act of corporate worship with the pope.”

He continued: “The chair in St. Paul’s Basilica, which has the king’s emblem on it, is not an empty ornament but is there for him to use on any occasion he visits.”

Seeing in this honor Rome’s long-term aim of a complete reversal of the Reformation, Paisley said: “The deadly beast has been licking the wounds inflicted on it by the Reformation and now sees her way to complete healing, aided and abetted by a king who is not true to his word and by a British government and foreign office, and a British prime minister, who are about as godless as they come.”

Paisley’s father, the late Rev. Ian Paisley — the fiery Ulster evangelical Protestant and politician — was virulently anti-Catholic. In 1959 following the visit of the Queen Mother, King Charles’ grandmother, and Princess Margaret, his aunt, with Pope John XXIII in Rome, he accused them of “fornication and adultery with the antichrist.” 

Upon the death of John XXIII, the senior Paisley proclaimed: “This Romish man of sin is now in hell.”

In 1988, Ian Paisley was physically ejected from the European Parliament for bellowing: “I denounce you, antichrist” at Pope John Paul II during his official visit. Pope John Paul II watched calmly as the Ulsterman was removed from the building. 

Afterward Paisley told reporters he had been “assaulted” by Roman Catholic deputies. He added: “The European Parliament is Roman Catholic dominated. Mary is the Madonna of the Common Market.”

Despite his similar views of the Catholic faith, Kyle Paisley on the death of Pope Francis offered his sympathy to “devout Roman Catholics who looked up to him as the head of their Church and the guide of their faith.”

King Charles III has met the last three popes — most notably meeting Francis shortly before his death in April. 

Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both traveled to Britain, but meetings with the members of the royal family did not include joint prayers.

Prince William, the heir to the throne, attended the funeral of Pope Francis, and Prince Edward, brother of the king, was present at Pope Leo’s inauguration Mass in May.