ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI

Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota (left), and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, speak at the National Catholic Prayer breakfast on Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: EWTN News

Washington D.C., Feb 28, 2025 / 19:30 pm (CNA).

Speakers and attendees at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday prayed for Pope Francis amid his ongoing ailments, emphasized a message of hope, and called attention to ongoing pro-life policy efforts.

“The Holy Father is still in precarious circumstances, but thanks be to God [and] thanks be to the prayers of Catholics throughout the world,” Monsignor Roger Landry, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, told EWTN News at the breakfast.

During his remarks at the event, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, said Pope Francis is thankful for the prayers as he remains in critical — but stable — condition in the hospital amid his battle with pneumonia and other respiratory ailments. 

“[Pope Francis] cares for the people of this country and he values our unity with him in faith and in hope,” Pierre said, adding: “He wants to encourage us in prayer and action for the common good.”

The annual event included a prayer for the Holy Father’s health led by Vice President JD Vance and a Divine Mercy Chaplet prayed for the pontiff, for the leaders of the country and the world, led by Mexican actor and activist Eduardo Verástegui.

Alessandro DiSanto, co-founder of the Catholic prayer application Hallow, recited the final novena prayer for the country. 

The organizers also bestowed several service awards during the event, including to Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, who was given the Christifidelis Laici Award for his consistent defense of the right to life and religious freedom. Smith also spoke during the breakfast. 

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and San Diego businessman Terry Caster were given “Heroes of Hope” awards for their promotion of the Catholic faith.

A message of hope

The theme of the 2025 breakfast was centered on the theological virtue of hope, which is also the theme of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

During his opening remarks Mark Randall, chairman of the breakfast, said that “even as we acknowledge our concern” for Pope Francis’ health, “we’re uplifted by the theme of this milestone gathering: hope.”

“Hope is the anchor that binds us to faith and guides us to love,” Randall said. “As Pope Francis has so beautifully written: ‘Hope is not something distant or elusive. It is already within us. It is simply ours to strengthen through God’s grace and to share with the world.”

Delivering the event’s keynote address, Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in North Dakota, said that “without hope, everything falls apart for us.”

“Without hope, human beings are miserable and unhappy creatures. It doesn’t matter — you can give us wealth and health and prosperity of every kind, but eventually without hope, we’ll tire of it.” 

Shea explained that the Christian hope in everlasting life in heaven helps guide faithful people to do good things here on Earth. 

“Our citizenship is in heaven and we need to know that the efforts that we place upon this world, all of our exertions for the good and the true and the beautiful have an effect in time and eternity because God is working alongside of us, giving strength and wisdom, fortitude to our smallest and even our meager and failing efforts,” Shea stated.

Smith defends life 

Upon accepting his award for his efforts in defense of life and religious liberty, Smith spoke at length about abortion and religious persecution around the world.

“Even though at times we get tired and grow weary — I know I do — none of us have the luxury of growing weary,” Smith said. “The existential threats to life and human dignity today have entered a new phase that absolutely begs our time, our talent, and our intervention.”

Smith called surgical abortions a form of “brutally dismembering helpless babies” and chemical abortions as “poisoning babies” and said the dangers posed to women “must be exposed as well.” 

The congressman thanked President Donald Trump for executive actions to reinstate the Mexico City policy, which prohibits federal funding for the promotion of abortion overseas. He also criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration for using the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to “push the abortion issue and change laws all over the world.”

Smith, who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, referred to abortion as “a weapon of mass destruction” during his speech. 

“We all have very deep concerns about nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, but abortion is a weapon of mass destruction,” he added. “More than 66 million babies were aborted in the U.S. since 1973, a numbing death toll of children.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance waves to the crowd at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Washington D.C., Feb 28, 2025 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance led attendees at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in a prayer for Pope Francis’ health after speaking about his own conversion to the Catholic faith and the goals of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Almighty and generous God, we thank you for your charity,” Vance began his prayer during his address Friday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

“Please grant your mercy upon Pope Francis so he may be restored from sickness and guide us in watchful care,” he continued. “We pray that you bless our Holy Father’s doctors, nurses, and medical staff with wisdom and capabilities so you may work through them to renew the health of your shepherd. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.”

The prayer comes as the pontiff has spent the past two weeks in the hospital in a critical — yet stable — condition. The pope is suffering from pneumonia and other respiratory problems.

Vance, who is the second Catholic vice president, spoke about his admiration for Pope Francis, calling him “a great pastor,” and quoted at length from one of the pontiff’s homilies in March 2020 during the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic.

The vice president recalled the homily, saying: “I think all of us can remember that moment of the Holy Father standing in an empty St. Peter’s Square, holding the Eucharist above his head and giving a sermon that I return to consistently because it was incredibly meaningful to me at the time and remains meaningful today.”

During the homily, the pope spoke about the Gospel reading of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, which details Christ’s calming of a storm when he and his disciples were at sea. The Holy Father compared the storm described in the passage to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. 

“Like the disciples in the Gospel, we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm,” Vance quoted from the homily.

During his speech, Vance also acknowledged some disagreements the pope and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have expressed about the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He vowed that the administration “will always listen to people of faith and people of conscience” even when there are disagreements about policy.

“My goal here is not to litigate with [the pope] or any other clergy member about who’s right and who’s wrong,” he said. “You obviously know my views, and I will speak to them consistently because I think that I have to do it because it serves the best interest of the American people.”

“I think a lot of conservative Catholics are too preoccupied with their political criticisms of a particular clergy member or the leader of the Catholic Church,” the vice president said. “And, of course, I’m not telling you that you’re wrong, because sometimes I even agree with you. I think that what I would say is that it’s not in the best interest of any of us to treat religious leaders of our faith as just another social media influencer.”

Vance added that he and his children pray for the pope every day. 

“I believe that the pope is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership,” Vance continued. “And he’s a man who cares about the spiritual direction of the faith.”

Vance discusses his conversion

The vice president also spoke about his 2019 conversion to Catholicism and referred to himself as a “baby Catholic” who is still new to the faith, noting that “there’s a lot I don’t know.”

“I try to be humble as best I can when I talk about faith publicly because of course I’m not always going to get it right,” he said. “And I don’t want my inadequacies in describing our faith to fall back on the faith itself.”

Vance asked people to recognize that when he speaks about his faith, “it comes from a place of deep belief.” He said, however, to also recognize he does “not always [know] everything all the time.”

“What attracted me to the Christian faith and what attracted me to this Church in particular is the recognition that grace is not something that happens instantaneously,” the vice president added. “It’s something that God works in us over a long period of time, sometimes many years and sometimes many decades.”

Vance said grace is “very much a process,” which “makes us closer to him and makes us better people in the process.” He said the accountability of the sacrament of reconciliation has helped him become more consistent with attending weekly Mass.

“While I’m as imperfect a Christian as any person in this room, I really do feel that God is transforming me every single day, and that’s one of the great blessings of our faith and one of the great blessings of following the sacraments as I try to do,” the vice president said.

Vance also noted that he is in an interfaith marriage. His wife, Usha Vance, is Hindu but attends Mass with him and their children weekly. He said he is raising his children Catholic but has made an agreement with his wife to hold off on baptizing the children until they decide to get baptized on their own.

The vice president said his 7-year-old son’s decision to be baptized in November 2024 was one of his “proudest” moments as a father.

Trump administration goals

The vice president also said the goal of the Trump administration is ultimately to “promote the common good.”

“The real measure of health in a society is the safety and stability and the health of our families and of our people,” Vance asserted.

“Between protecting the rights of pro-life protesters, between ensuring that we have an opportunity to protect the rights of the unborn in the first place, and importantly protecting the religious liberty of all people — but in particular, Catholics — I think that we can say that President Trump, though not a Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America,” the vice president declared to loud applause.

Vance added that Trump has “pursued a path of peace” on matters of foreign policy. He said that American “foreign misadventures” have been an impediment to religious freedom globally but that Trump’s efforts “to bring peace” are oriented toward “saving lives and carrying out one of Christ’s most important commandments.”

Additionally, the vice president referred to the administration’s efforts of economic prosperity as a “means to an end,” with that end being “the flourishing, hopefully, of the life of every single citizen.”

“We care about prosperity so we can promote the common good of every citizen of the United States of America,” Vance said.

A group of U.S. and Mexican bishops from dioceses along the southern border participating in the biannual Tex-Mex Border Bishops meeting this week in San Antonio. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of San Antonio

CNA Staff, Feb 28, 2025 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

A group of U.S. and Mexican bishops from dioceses along the southern border said this week that migrants can be assured of the Church’s continued support and compassion, and that lawmakers on both sides of the border have a duty to reform their respective country’s immigration system.

The bishops issued the statement while participating in the biannual Tex-Mex Border Bishops meeting this week in San Antonio, which for 40 years has brought together priests, religious, and laypeople as well as invited representatives from other border dioceses in the U.S. and northern Mexico.

The bishops emphasized the Catholic Church’s commitment to aiding vulnerable populations and reiterated the Church’s willingness to work with governments in these efforts. The bishops had convened this week in San Antonio to discuss the growing migrant and refugee situation in light of new federal administrations in both the U.S. and Mexico.

“We are all together responsible in promoting the common good, simultaneously safeguarding the dignity of all by finding the right balance between various human rights, such as the right of workers and their families to have their situation regularized, the right not to be exploited, the right to migrate, the right not to need to migrate, and the right of all to have their government guarantee security in their own country,” the Feb. 28 joint statement reads.

“For decades, we have expressed our concern that in the United States we have a broken immigration system, which does not correspond to the present reality. We hope and strongly urge our political leaders to fulfill their duty to reform it.”

“In this task that concerns us all, we need God’s help and we count on the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” the statement concludes.

The statement was signed by 10 bishops from Texas including Mark Seitz of El Paso and Daniel Flores of Brownsville. Five Mexican bishops — the shepherds of Ciudad Juárez, Piedras Negras, Saltillo, and Matamoros-Reynosa — also signed. 

The bishops’ statement comes amid a major dispute between the federal government and the bishops over the Church’s efforts to aid migrants and refugees. Earlier this month, the USCCB sued the Trump administration over what the bishops say is an unlawful suspension of funding for refugee programs in the United States after Trump directed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance funds and grants. 

Just this week, the federal government canceled a contract with the U.S. bishops for refugee resettlement. In 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, the USCCB spent nearly $131 million on migration and refugee services, with nearly $130 million of that cost being covered by government grants. 

The bishops had already laid off dozens of staff members in its migration and refugee services office amid funding uncertainty. 

Pope Francis has long made care and concern for immigrants and refugees a major part of his papacy, regularly calling on wealthy nations to extend sanctuary and resources to those driven out from their homelands or migrants seeking a better life.

Trump, meanwhile, has run his presidential campaigns with a hard-line immigration enforcement message, vowing to expel millions of recent immigrants who entered the country illegally or with invalid asylum claims as well as through parole programs started under the previous administration.

Both Pope Francis and numerous American bishops in recent weeks have called for more generous U.S. immigration policies, urging leaders and advocates to support laws and regulations that allow immigrants in the United States to remain here whenever possible.

In a Feb. 10 letter, Pope Francis urged the U.S. bishops to stay the course in their support for generous immigration policies and called on Catholics to consider the justness of immigration laws and policies in light of the dignity and rights of people.

Following the letter, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) thanked Pope Francis for his “prayerful support” and asked for the Holy Father to pray for the U.S. to improve its immigration system.

“Boldly I ask for your continued prayers so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all,” the archbishop wrote to the pope.

Revellers gather for the 11:11 Fat Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) launch of the city's carnival celebrations on Feb. 27, 2025, in Cologne, Germany. / Credit: Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 28, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Here are some of the major stories of the Church around the world that you might have missed this past week:

German archdiocese criticizes carnival float

The Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, has issued a statement of condemnation after a carnival float associating Jesus with the sex abuse crisis was premiered at a parade in the city. 

The float featured a cartoon of a young boy wearing altar server clothes standing outside a confessional. An arm sticking out from the curtain beckons the boy, who pulls away, while a sign outside the confessional reads, “Jesus Loves You.”

In a statement addressed to the festival committee, Frank Hüppelshäuser, head of office at the archdiocese, condemned the float as “tasteless,” pointing out that its imagery “directly associates Jesus, the Son of God, with abuse.” 

“It is suggested that Jesus himself is sitting in the confessional and wants to pull the altar boy into it with a wave of his hand; at the very least, Jesus is being instrumentalized here,” he continued. “If one assumes that the Son of God is partly responsible for the terrible acts of abuse that have also and especially occurred in the Catholic Church, a line has been crossed that cannot be justified for any reason in the world.”

Syria leaders host democratic conference

Syria’s new government put on a National Dialogue Conference this week with about 600 participants representing the diverse religious and social groups in Syria, including a number of priests and bishops of different Christian traditions. Lebanese and Iraqi bishops and other academic Christian figures were also present, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. 

The conference became a subject of widespread criticism, however, after its conclusion, with many expressing doubts about the transition government’s commitment to fostering democratic and pluralistic values. 

Conference organizers faced particular criticism for not extending proper invitations to representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church, the country’s largest Christian community, which has typically held a privileged seat at the table for discussions. 

At the same time, ACI MENA reported that the Catholic Church in Syria seems to be taking the role of being the representative of Christianity as the country’s Latin bishop, Hanna Jallouf, continues to foster close ties with the new government. 

Vatican Cardinal Michael Czerny visits Lebanon

The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, visited Lebanon last week, sharing Pope Francis’ closeness with the Lebanese people and visiting communities affected by the war and by the deadly port explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, in Beirut that killed more than 220 people.

Czerny also met with youth leaders from the Leadership Academy for Peace, a Catholic organization in Lebanon dedicated to fostering peace through leadership training. His discussions there centered on the Church’s role in promoting stability in the country, social justice, and youth empowerment. 

Grand imam of Al-Azhar offers prayers for Pope Francis

The grand imam of Al-Azhar, who holds the highest seat in Sunni Islamic education, has offered up his prayers for Pope Francis as the Holy Father continues to recover in Gemelli Hospital in Rome from double pneumonia. 

“I pray to Allah to grant my dear brother Pope Francis a swift recovery and to bless him with health and well-being so that he continues his journey in serving humanity,” said Sheik Ahmed Al-Tayeb. 

Religious leaders there have a friendly relationship, co-authoring a declaration of “fraternity” in 2019 that was recently held up in a U.N. Security Council briefing as “a model for compassion and human solidarity.”

Bishop, priests in Democratic Republic of Congo ‘narrowly’ escape death

Two Catholic priests and a bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) “narrowly escaped death” according to reports this week, as the central African country continues to experience waves of violence. 

According to a report from ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Bishop Sébastien Joseph Muyengo Mulombe of the Diocese of Uvira, Father Bernard Kalolero, and Father Ricardo Mukinwa were robbed at gunpoint on the morning of Feb. 20 by suspected members of the Armed Forces of the Central African nation (FARDC). 

“They robbed us, taking money, phones, and other belongings,” Mukinwa stated, according to the report. “They then locked us in our rooms and threatened to kill us at the slightest gesture so that they could search the whole house.”

“Thank God, they left, and we are still alive. The Missionary Sisters of Jesus Emmanuel came to our house without knowing what happened, and this is the only way we can communicate the incident. We are currently unreachable on our mobile phones,” he added.

The incident comes as latest reports say over 7,000 people have been killed in the DRC, where members of the March 23 Movement (M23), an armed rebel group allegedly backed by neighboring Rwanda, has taken over major cities in both North and South Kivu, along with numerous mining towns, since January. 

On Thursday, gunfire and explosions at an M23 rally in the eastern city of Bukavu left at least 11 people killed and 60 wounded, according to BBC News. 

This comes as news of the bodies of 70 people were found slain inside a church building on Sunday in a village in North Kivu, with many reports attributing the massacre to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist terror group. 

Church in Zimbabwe collaborates with government on prison programs

The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has offered to collaborate with the government to build rehabilitation programs for prisoners and former death row inmates in the wake of a recent decision to abolish the death penalty in the country late last year. 

“We recommend that the Church and the government work together to offer support and counseling services to the families of the victims. This is in line with the conviction that we must hate sin but not the sinner,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement to Agenzia Fides. 

Court sentences terrorist to life in prison for 2020 attack in France

A criminal court in Paris on Wednesday sentenced the perpetrator behind a terrorist attack in 2020 at Notre Dame de l’Assomption, a basilica in the southeast city of Nice, to life in prison without parole, the harshest possible sentence in the French penal code.  

Brahim Aoussaoui, 25, a Tunisian migrant, was charged for brutally stabbing and killing Nadine Vincent, 60, Simone Barreto Silva, 44, the basilica’s sacristan Vincent Loques, 55, and for attempting to attack seven others. Aoussaaoui shouted “Allahu Akbar” during and after the attacks. 

Vincent was found almost completely decapitated, mirroring an attack that took place just 13 days prior in which a Islamist Chechen refugee beheaded a middle school history teacher, Samuel Paty. 

According to the French outlet Le Monde, the court stated after the ruling that it had made its decision based on the “absolute violence” of Aoussaoui’s attack in combination with his perceived lack of “desire to reintegrate or reform,” making him a threat to society. 

South Korea dioceses provide medical care for migrant children

Catholic dioceses in South Korea are banding together to help provide medical care for undocumented migrant children across the country in an initiative led by the Migrant Pastoral Committee of the Seoul Archdiocese. 

The project, also known as “Wings of Hope,” seeks to provide a national support system for medical costs for children of undocumented workers, according to UCA News. The project will continue until December of this year with the possibility of renewal in 2027.

Alcide De Gasperi delivers a speech in Bologna, Italy, in 1951. / Credit: Democrazia Cristiana, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Servant of God Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954), an Italian politician recognized as one of the “fathers of Europe,” was held Friday at the Lateran Palace in Rome.

Along with the former French minister of foreign affairs, Robert Schuman, already declared venerable by Pope Francis, and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, after the Second World War De Gasperi was one of the promoters of the project for a united Europe, inspired by the values ​​of Christian humanism. He was a leading figure in the Christian Democratic Party in Italy.

The Christian roots of the European project

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary-general of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), shared his enthusiasm by highlighting that two of the founders are in the process of canonization.

“De Gasperi was always a man of dialogue who also went through difficult times. I believe that this progress in his beatification process confirms that the roots of the European project are Christian roots,” he said.

The Spanish priest, who holds a doctorate in theology and a degree in clinical psychology, emphasized that “providence” allowed these three politicians to lay the foundations of a Europe “that respects human rights, promotes the dignity of the person and the sense of community, which was a fundamental theme for De Gasperi.”

For Barrios, the spiritual legacy of the Italian politician, who served as Italy’s prime minister from 1945 to 1953 — as already highlighted by Pope Pius XII and St. Paul VI — is based on the conviction that “politics is a high form of charity when it is carried out as a service,” a message that, according to the priest, “remains fundamental in today’s world.”

For the priest, who took office as COMECE’s secretary-general in 2019 and was reelected by the plenary assembly in 2023 for another four-year term, what makes a person holy is “living charity in a full sense.”

De Gasperi “worked to achieve the idea of ​​community and was truly an example of dialogue, even with his political adversaries, something for which he had to suffer,” he noted. In his opinion, the founders of the European project were inspired by the social doctrine of the Church, which influenced the first steps of a project that has now become the European Union.

The Italian politician “sought the common good of all: the dignity of the human being, the dignity of the family, and the dignity of the community but above all, the dignity of the human being as a fundamental principle of political action,” he said.

Although the Christian values ​​of the Europe that De Gasperi defended are sometimes not acknowledged or are not wanted, the priest said they continue to be the foundations of Europe. “What we as Christians must do is to promote them, especially in a difficult time like the present, when there are conflicts, a war in Europe, and geopolitical tensions,” he pointed out.

A common army for Europe

In the current European context, De Gasperi “would seek dialogue with everyone and the common good of Europe as well as unity in diversity,” Barrios said, emphasizing that “he was very committed to seeking a community of defense as well.”

“He wanted to promote a common defense, a common army for Europe, so that it could defend itself. The project ultimately failed, above all because France was not in favor, but it was something important to him. So, in the current context in which we live, with so many tensions, if he were alive, he would take it up again in some form.”

According to the priest, De Gasperi’s roots and culture, both Austrian and Italian, shaped his personality traits. He also stressed that the Italian politician was a family man “and truly a Christian with freedom of conscience.”

In 1932, when he was leader of the Italian Popular Party, he was arrested by the regime of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Although he was sentenced to four years in prison, thanks to the mediation of the Vatican he served 16 months. Barrios noted that the letters Gasperi wrote in prison, which in his opinion are “very inspiring,” will constitute a fundamental element for his beatification process.

Diocesan investigation

The closing rite took place the morning of Feb. 28 in the Lateran Apostolic Palace in Rome and was presided over by the vicar of Pope Francis for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, who noted that for De Gasperi “Christian charity was a concrete virtue that should be embodied in political life.”

The diocesan inquiry was initiated by the ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archdiocese of Trento, Italy. The prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, after having obtained the consent of both the archbishop of Trento and Reina, has transmitted the rescript, granting the transfer of competence to the Diocese of Rome.

The tribunal that conducted the diocesan inquiry in Rome is composed of Monsignor Giuseppe D’ Alonzo, episcopal delegate; Andrea de Matteis, promoter of justice; and Marcelo Terramani, notary. The postulator of the cause of beatification and canonization is Dr. Paolo Vilotta.

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

The chapel at Gemelli Hosptial in Rome bears the name and contains a relic of another pope who knew these corridors well: St. John Paul II. The Polish pontiff was hospitalized here multiple times, including after an assassination attempt in 1981. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2025 / 14:58 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis began noninvasive ventilation on Friday after experiencing a respiratory crisis that led to a “sudden worsening” of his condition, the Vatican said.

According to a Feb. 28 medical bulletin from the Holy See, after a morning spent in prayer, receiving the Eucharist, and doing respiratory physiotherapy, Pope Francis experienced in the early afternoon “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” — a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs, causing wheezing and coughing.

The incident led to “an episode of vomiting with inhalation” aggravating his breathing, the Holy See said.

After his airways were suctioned, the pope was put on a noninvasive mechanical ventilator “with a good response on gas exchange,” the communication said, adding that Pope Francis remained “alert and oriented” and cooperative throughout the procedures.

Friday marked two weeks in the hospital for the 88-year-old Pope Francis, who is suffering from double pneumonia, bronchitis, and other chronic respiratory conditions.

In the two weeks since Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14, doctors have continuously refrained from giving a prognosis, emphasizing that the situation is “complex.”

The Holy See Press Office had said on Thursday that the pope’s health was “improving” under oxygen and respiratory physiotherapy treatment. He continues to do work from the hospital.

null / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Friday urged liturgists to accompany bishops and the faithful communities of their dioceses with humility and discretion.

In a Feb. 28 message sent from Gemelli Hospital to liturgy professors and students of the Anselmianum — a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Order of St. Benedict — the Holy Father said dioceses should “foster a liturgical style that expresses the following of Jesus, avoiding unnecessary pageantry or prominence” in celebrations.

The Anselmianum, also known as the the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, held a five-day course in Rome from Feb. 24-28 for men and women responsible for episcopal liturgical celebrations.

“I am pleased to note that you have once again accepted the invitation formulated in the apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi,” the Holy Father said in his message written from Gemelli Hospital.  

“Worship is the work of the whole assembly,” the pontiff said. “The encounter between doctrine and pastoral care is not an optional technique but a constitutive aspect of the liturgy, which must always be incarnated, inculturated, expressing the faith of the Church.” 

In his message, the pope said a liturgist “is not just a teacher of theology” but has a distinct mission to accompany both the bishop and the community of his or her own diocese through liturgical action. 

“While humbly teaching the liturgical art, he must guide all those who celebrate, keeping the ritual rhythm and accompanying the faithful in the sacramental event,” he said. 

“Thus assisted, the pastor can gently lead the entire diocesan community in the offering of self to the Father, in imitation of Christ the Lord,” he continued.

The pope also invited Anselmianum students to follow the humble example of St. Benedict by discreetly carrying out their duties “without boasting” about results or successes.

“I encourage you to transmit these attitudes to the ministers, lectors, and cantors, according to the words of Psalm 115 quoted in the prologue of the Benedictine Rule: ‘Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name alone’ (cf. Nos. 29-30),” he said.

Pointing to the holy life of St. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, the pope said liturgists must not neglect their life of prayer when carrying out their diocesan ministries.

“Care for the liturgy is first and foremost care for prayer,” he said. “May this great master of spiritual life be an example to you.”

At the conclusion of his message, the pope shared: “I hope that every one of you will always have at heart the people of God, whom you accompany in worship with wisdom and love. And do not forget to pray for me.”

null / Credi: cinemavision/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s department for the interpretation of Church law has advised against publishing accusations damaging to someone’s reputation, such as abuse accusations, without legitimate and proportional reasons, especially if the person is deceased and therefore cannot defend his or her good name.

In a recently published letter, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts referenced Canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law, which prohibits slander and defamation, in arguing that “alleged reasons of transparency or reparation” or a “generic ‘right to information’” are not enough to justify the publication of unproven criminal allegations.

The letter to an unidentified monsignor responded to a question about “bona fama defuncti,” Latin for “good reputation of the deceased.” Dated Sept. 5, 2024, it was published on the dicastery’s website in a section with legal clarifications.

While the letter did not mention a specific crime or set of crimes, it did reference a statement of Pope Francis from a February 2019 Vatican meeting on the protection of minors from sexual abuse in the Church, that “it is necessary to prevent the publication of lists of the accused, even by dioceses, before the prior investigation and final conviction.”

It is a common practice of dioceses or independent abuse commissions to publish reports of credible accusations of sexual abuse listing the names of the accused priests and religious, including some who are deceased.

The dicastery disagreed with this approach, stating “the answer can only be negative with respect to the disclosability of hidden news concerning anyone, all the more so when it concerns deceased persons.”

The dicastery’s website said the letter does “not possess the formal value of an authentic interpretation” but answers individual questions about the application of canon law “deemed to be of general interest.”

The letter, signed by the dicastery’s prefect, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, OCarm, and secretary, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, said two highly-regarded canonical experts were consulted for the response.

Since Canon 220 of the Code of Canon law says “no one is permitted to harm illegitimately the good reputation which a person possesses,” the letter quoted, it means “in some cases the injury to good name may be legitimate, for example, to avoid any danger or threat to persons or the community.”

“Consequently,” it continued, “it would not be legitimate at all when such a risk is reasonably to be excluded, as in the case of alleged deceased criminals, where there can be neither legitimate nor proportionate reason for the injury to reputation.”

The Dicastery for Legislative Texts cited two principles of law: a person’s presumed innocence until judicially proven otherwise and “retroactivity,” which says someone cannot be convicted or charged for conduct that was not formally a crime at the time it was committed.

In the latter case, the letter said an example would be “so-called omissions of general duties of vigilance.”

The dicastery emphasized that these legal principles cannot be easily overridden to put in the public domain information, however credible, that would be to the “concrete detriment and existential harm of those personally affected, all the more so if it is inaccurate, or even unfounded or false, or completely useless such as that which concerns deceased persons.”

Pope Francis speaks on the phone during the weekly general audience at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on May 17, 2023. The Holy Father has called a Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza almost every evening since Oct. 9, 2023. / Credit: ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Feb 28, 2025 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has continued his daily call to the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip despite his continued hospitalization.

The pope was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 and is reportedly improving after medical staff initially said he was in critical condition.

Why does the pope call Holy Family Parish in Gaza?

Holy Family Parish in Gaza has become a refuge for the Christian minority in war-torn Gaza. The parish complex was converted into an improvised shelter at the beginning of the war between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel, which began nearly a year and a half ago when Hamas launched an invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The attack resulted in the brutal killing of men, women, and children, and the taking of more than 200 hostages.

The parish is a makeshift home to 500 people: mostly Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christians but also some Muslim children and their families. 

Pope Francis has called Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest at Holy Family, and his assistant, Yusuf Assad, almost every day since Oct. 9, 2023. 

The Holy Father called the parish earlier this week but has missed several days recently due to his health and hospitalization.

The calls are simple check-ins via WhatsApp, usually lasting about a minute. The parish has grown to expect the nightly calls. 

Children call him ‘the grandfather’

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa shared in December 2024 that Pope Francis is known by the children of Holy Family Church in Gaza as “the grandfather.” 

Gaza’s time zone is only one hour ahead of Vatican City, so the calls usually come at about 7 p.m. 

Pizzaballa said the phone calls from the Holy Father have been a “psychological, emotional, and spiritual” support for the small community. 

During the calls, Pope Francis has assured the parish of his prayers and support. 

Romanelli shared how he was able to speak with Pope Francis on Tuesday despite the pontiff’s continued hospitalization.

“As he did every day from the beginning of this terrible war, Pope Francis has called us once again to show his closeness, to pray for us, and to give us his blessing,” the parish priest said in a video message posted on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“As the Parish of the Holy Family of Gaza, which belongs to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, we rejoice to hear his voice,” Romanelli added. 

Pope Francis began calling the Church on Oct. 9, 2023, just days after the attacks. 

Romanelli said at the time that Pope Francis shared “his closeness and prayers for the entire Church community of Gaza and all the parishioners and inhabitants.”

Deir Mar Musa, also known as the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, is a centuries-old Christian monastery in al-Nabk north of Damascus, Syria. / Credit: LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Trinitarian Order was established in the Middle Ages to free Christian captives held by Muslims during the Crusades. Today, in a context of “modern crusades,” where Islamic fundamentalism continues to persecute Christians for their faith, the Trinitarians remain a beacon of hope for those who remain firm in their commitment to Christ.

“Ocho Siglos Después” (“Eight Centuries Later”) is a documentary that gives a voice to this suffering and puts a face on forgotten Christians in places like Syria, Nigeria, or northern India but who are not losing hope thanks to the “silent” help offered by Trinitarian International Solidarity (SIT, by its Spanish acronym), a nongovernmental organization founded by the Trinitarian family 25 years ago.

The documentary by Fascina Producciones was screened Feb. 25 at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid by the vicar general of the order, Father Antonio Aurelio, and the film’s director, Alfredo Torrescalles. The event was moderated by Spanish television host Ana Rosa Quintana and was also attended by the apostolic nuncio to Spain, Archbishop Bernardito Auza.

Persecuted Christians in Syria, Nigeria, and India

The documentary captures the apocalyptic atmosphere that looms over the Syrian city of Aleppo, where a small group of Christians abandoned to their fate, most of them elderly, have been struggling every day to survive since the war broke out in 2011.

The support of the Trinitarians reaches every corner of these humble homes, located in desolate neighborhoods destroyed by bombs, thanks to the help of other “angels” who are on the ground, such as Father Hugo Alaniz of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

A woman who has been bedridden for 13 years or a man who must raise his son with Down syndrome and who, clutching his little rosary, thanks God for his life, are some of those featured in the film, which first focuses on Syria.

In Nigeria, the devastating testimonies of the women who were able to escape the clutches of the terrorists of the jihadist group Boko Haram show how terror has been perpetuated in their communities and their hearts. These Christians find refuge and help in the midst of desperation thanks to the Catholic Church and the work of SIT.

From Africa, the documentary turns to northeastern India, where many young people are being forced to leave their homes as a result of clashes between the Hindu Meitei people and the Christian Kuki tribal people.

Trinitarians say the ethnic conflict has become a religious one and that the Christian community has no support from the government, which is determined to limit religious freedom and prohibit evangelization.

Aurelio emphasized that the documentary is not about the Trinitarians but about showing the reality faced by the people they help. “We are not altruists, we are Christians,” he said, noting that the Trinitarians are discreet and “work quietly.”

For Aurelio, “the help that can be given to persecuted Christians is very complex, because the problem these people have is not a matter of needing material aid but of their very existence. We want to inform people about their situation and their suffering, because what is not made known does not exist,” he emphasized.

“The message of this documentary is not for them, it is for us. They are Christians like us, why are they abandoned? Why aren’t we paying any attention to them? Why aren’t we helping them? Why aren’t we speaking publicly about this persecution? Why don’t we feel close to them? Our concrete objective as Trinitarians is for these people to not feel alone,” the vicar general of the Trinitarian Order underscored.

The documentary’s director, Alfredo Torrescalles, shared how much he was impacted by filming this documentary, especially in places like Syria. “I think the work that the Trinitarians do is essential, really shines, and is very necessary, but I fear that people will end up becoming desensitized to these tragedies. We have to make an effort to find a way to reach the population and touch their hearts,” he said.

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