ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI

Pope Leo XIV waves at pilgrims from South Korea before the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth at the University of Rome Tor Vergata on Aug. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Aug 3, 2025 / 07:35 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday announced that the dates of the next World Youth Day, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, will be Aug. 3–8, 2027.

“After this jubilee, the ‘pilgrimage of hope’ of young people continues and will take us to Asia,” the pontiff said in a message before praying the Angelus at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where he had just celebrated Mass for 1 million participants from 146 countries.

“I renew the invitation that Pope Francis extended in Lisbon two years ago,” he added, referring to World Youth Day in Portugal in 2023.

This new edition of World Youth Day, he said, will mark an important stage in the faith journey of the new generations. The theme will be: “Take courage, I have overcome the world.”

Leo XIV concluded his Angelus address with a powerful missionary call: “You, young pilgrims of hope, will be witnesses of this to the ends of the earth! I look forward to seeing you in Seoul: Let us continue to dream together and to hope together.”

The 2027 World Youth Day will be the first to be held in South Korea and the second in Asia, following the historic gathering of young people in Manila, Philippines, in 1995.

The pontiff defined the Jubilee of Youth, held in Rome from July 28 to Aug. 3, as “an outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world!” He also thanked the 1 million pilgrims who attended for their witness and enthusiasm.

In English, the pope recalled the teens and young adults who suffer in “every land bloodied by war” and mentioned in particular the young people of Gaza and Ukraine, whose lives are marked by the violence and uncertainty of war.

Leo XIV also spoke in Spanish, telling those present they are “the sign that a different world is possible.” He concluded in Italian with the affirmation that with Christ, faith is possible: “with his love, with his forgiveness, and with the power of his Spirit.”

Mass at Tor Vergata

The pope could not contain his emotion at his second and final grand meeting with young people on the 237-acre grounds of Tor Vergata, where more than 1 million young pilgrims had spent the night following a prayer vigil and Eucharistic adoration led by Leo on Aug. 2.

A burst of joy swept through the area upon seeing the pontiff descend from the helicopter on the morning of Aug. 3. After an intense night of vigil, marked by a moving moment of silent Eucharistic adoration, Leo XIV told the young people that they are not made for a life that is “taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love.”

The Jubilee of Youth, part of the Catholic Church’s yearlong Jubilee of Hope in 2025, has served as a bridge between the American pope and young people, with whom he has been able to strengthen a relationship thanks to his ability to speak three languages.

In his homily, Pope Leo invited the pilgrims to open their hearts to God and venture with him “towards eternity.”

Most of the pontiff’s homily was delivered in Italian, with short paragraphs in English and Spanish.

The pope focused on the human desire for fulfillment and asked the young people not to satisfy the thirst of their hearts with “cheap imitations.”

“There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: What is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom, and mediocrity?” he said.

Thus, he invited everyone to turn their desire for more into “a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. We will then find ourselves before him, who is waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul.”

During the Mass, the pope also addressed the experience of the limits and finiteness of things that happen, saying that these topics should not be taboo or topics “to be avoided.”

“The fragility they speak of is, in fact, part of the marvel of creation,” he emphasized, after quoting from the reading from Ecclesiastes. 

“Think of the image of grass: Is not a field of flowers beautiful? Of course, it is delicate, made up of small, vulnerable stems, prone to drying out, to being bent and broken. Yet at the same time these flowers are immediately replaced by others that sprout up after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first ones as they decay on the ground,” he said.

He emphasized: “We too, dear friends, are made this way, we are made for this.”

Reflecting on the readings at Mass, the Holy Father made it clear that “buying, hoarding, and consuming are not enough.”

And he added: “We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above’ (Col 3:2), to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience’ (Col 3:12).”

Evoking St. John Paul II, the founder of World Youth Days, he proclaimed: “Jesus is our hope.”

“It is he, as St. John Paul II said, ‘who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives ... to commit … to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal,’” Leo said.

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

An image of the Catholic Mass Times app. / Credit: Mass Times

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 3, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

What if with a click you could find when the next Mass closest to your location will be?

That’s what Argentine computer science graduate Pablo Licheri envisioned. Eleven years ago, he made it possible for the faithful to participate in the Eucharist even when traveling and far from home by creating Catholic Mass Times, an app available in nine languages that instantly shows you the nearest Catholic churches with Mass, confession, and adoration times.

“If we are 1.3 billion Catholics, imagine what we can do if we also use our cellphones to get closer to God!” Licheri told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. He made the app using his own computer, programming it on weekends.

From zero to viral, without marketing or sponsorship

There is no company or major investors behind the technology. Not even advertising. “For almost 10 years, my wife and I financed everything,” Licheri said. To get the app up and running, “we worked really hard and used our own money, with time stolen from rest,” he explained.

Called Horarios de Misa in Spanish, the app surpassed 2 million downloads last week and has become the largest Catholic database in the world, with information on 125,000 churches.

There have been many challenges in compiling the information. Of the 3,000 dioceses worldwide, 70% don’t have a website. “I tried to contact the dioceses and parishes, but they often didn’t respond. Especially in the poorest countries. This reality is very different from what we see in countries like the United States, where dioceses operate almost like large companies,” he explained.

Consequently, he made a key decision to collect the data. He designed the app so that users can send information directly from it. “I personally uploaded all the churches in Buenos Aires, which were more than 200. Then people started traveling and sending information ... and that’s how it grew.”

The app has an internal team that updates the information. Through corrections provided by users, diocesan websites, or Google Maps, the Catholic Mass Times team fine-tunes any information that may have changed.

In fact, when you enter the app and select a Mass time, you can see the latest verification date.

The app also includes exotic destinations like the Maldives, where the public practice of any religion other than Islam is prohibited.

“I thought there wouldn’t be any churches there. But I found out that at the Italian consulate, if you’re a foreigner and ask for permission, you can attend Mass. So, there’s the only Mass there is in that country, and it’s on the app,” Licheri explained.

Available on Android and IOS, the app’s simple and intuitive interface makes it an indispensable tool, especially for those traveling for work, vacation, or moving to a new city.

In addition to its primary function, the app has a pastoral and educational dimension: For the past three years, a weekly newsletter on faith, devotions, and Eucharistic reflections has been sent every Saturday, reaching more than 52,000 subscribers.

“It’s a concrete tool for getting closer to God,” Licheri said.

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

The Augustine Institute’s new campus in St. Louis. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Augustine Institute

CNA Staff, Aug 3, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Most people don’t go to graduate school for the rich liturgical life. But that’s exactly what Adelyn Phillips has found at “Teachers for Christ,” a nascent Catholic master’s program in St. Louis, where she is one of 12 students this summer. 

Phillips said she has found a vibrant community, structured daily prayer, and solid theological formation. “My time in this program has already been incomparably rich,” she said of the program. 

“Never before have I experienced such a beautiful integration of my faith, studies, and friendships,” she said. “I have been encouraged and called higher by the good example of my peers and have been greatly nourished by the liturgical life on campus.” 

After nearly two months into the budding Catholic education graduate program, housed just north of St. Louis along the Missouri River, Phillips is not the only student to have found herself in a formative spiritual oasis.

“When I discovered the Teachers for Christ program, it was like a dream come true,” said Dylan Bufkin, another student of the program, which is run by two leading Catholic education organizations: Augustine Institute and Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE).

After a year of teaching, Bufkin knew that he “had a deep love for teaching and Catholic education.” But he felt a tension between “the modern vision of education” and “a more humanistic approach to curriculum.”

So, he came to St. Louis. There, he found that the “campus’ spirituality underlies and drives a rich community that is fundamentally about holy and intellectual friendship.”

“Here was a place that was partnering with master teachers through the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education to provide expert counsel and wisdom to its students and was dedicated to forming teachers in the educational tradition of the Church,” Bufkin said. “It only helped that my intellectual heroes, like St. John Henry Newman and St. Thomas Aquinas, were front and center in the program’s self-understanding.”

The two-year program centers on spiritual formation alongside theological studies and practical application.

Teachers for Christ, Phillips said, “places tremendous emphasis on our spiritual and human formation.”

“Our curriculum beautifully incorporates faith and reason, and our common life as students on campus is full of shared work and play,” Phillips said. “Everything is ordered toward bringing us closer to God, so that we can in turn bring others closer to him.”

For Bufkin, there’s one word for it: “blessed.”

“We are so blessed to have consistent opportunity for devotion and liturgical prayer that constantly feeds us with the grace needed to pursue holiness as a student, whether that means going back to the books after dinner or serving our classmates’ needs before our own,” Bufkin said.

“The rigor, the friendships, the grace are so life-giving, and I would be hard-pressed to find a better campus to be the background of all this wonderful growth,” Bufkin added.

Educational renewal 

Like a monastery, there is no rent or tuition. For the first 14 months of the program, graduate students live, study, and pray on scholarship as part of the debt-free program.

During the program’s second year, students have a practical year at one of ICLE’s member schools where the schools provide housing and financial support.

After graduation, the program offers placement assistance as well as a yearlong mentorship with ICLE staff and master teachers.

The debt-free, scholarship-based program is designed to give students “a firm theological foundation” while forming them as educators, according to Jeffrey Lehman, the Augustine Institute philosophy and theology professor who directs Teachers for Christ.

During the program, students receive what Lehman calls “whole person formation.” In addition to their studies, students live in community, attend daily Mass, and pray morning and evening prayer together. 

Theology classes, which make up a third of the program’s coursework, ground students in “the Church’s ongoing efforts to evangelize and to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel,” Lehman said.

Funded by donors with a passion for Catholic education, the program is part of an ongoing effort to revive classical teaching. Through the program, students receive accreditation from ICLE, which provides a national alternative to the state teacher licensure. 

Students also receive practical training, with classroom apprenticeship opportunities at Catholic schools in the surrounding area. For the second year of the program, students are placed at one of the more than 200 ICLE member schools in the U.S. 

Across the nation and the world, a “great renewal of Catholic education” is underway, Lehman said.

“In recent decades, a grassroots educational renewal, long referred to as ‘classical education,’ has been growing and maturing throughout the United States,” Lehman explained.

The revival of classical education stretches across denominations and religious affiliations. It can be found everywhere from Catholic parish schools to the Chesterton Academies to publicly-funded charter schools like Great Hearts Academies or even the Jewish prep school Emet Classical Academy in New York.

But classical education, Lehman said, is returning to its source — Catholic education.

“As the renewal grows and matures, it returns more and more to the theory and practice of Catholic education that stretches back from the present to the earliest encounter between Christianity and the pedagogical traditions of Greece and Rome,” Lehman said.

Classical Catholic K-8’s are growing in popularity across the U.S., with success stories from Massachusetts to Colorado. But while Catholic liberal arts education may be trending, it’s nothing new.

“From very early in her own history, the Catholic Church has been the greatest definer, defender, and provider of a truly liberal education,” Lehman said.

This classical Catholic emphasis makes the program unique among graduate programs.

“In a way that is unparalleled among other master’s in education programs, ours is grounded in a solid philosophy and anthropology,” Phillips said.

“We recognize that we cannot teach well without an understanding of the truth about the world around us, ourselves, and our Creator,” she added.

Pope Leo XIV greets thousands of youth and pilgrims ahead of a vigil at Tor Vergata, Rome, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025 / Credit: Mateusz Opila

Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV addressed the largest crowd of his pontificate in Rome’s outskirts on Saturday, telling an estimated 1 million young adults to “study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus” and to pray: “Stay with us, Lord.”

The pontiff was greeted Aug. 2 by joyous crowds on the 237-acre grounds of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where teenagers and young adults will stay all night in anticipation of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth on Sunday morning.

Pope Leo, who arrived at the largest event of his pontificate by helicopter, drove through the grounds before the prayer service waving to cheering young people from the popemobile as the sun set.

He then carried the pilgrim cross of the Jubilee of Hope on foot from the crowd up to the 15,000-square-foot stage for prayers and Eucharistic adoration. The pontiff will return to the outdoor venue to celebrate the jubilee Mass at 9 a.m. on Aug. 3.

Clare Fletcher, 29, from Omaha, Nebraska, told CNA she was so grateful she decided to come to Rome for the Jubilee of Hope during the Jubilee of Youth.

“I’ve never been to World Youth Day, but everyone I’ve talked to is comparing the two,” she said.

She described the crowd as singing along to the hymns and worship music with joy.

Fletcher’s 24-year-old brother, Paul, who attended the prayer vigil with her, said he had “never seen an event of this scale and with this level of reverence.”

During the first part of the prayer service, Leo answered questions from young adults about friendship and loneliness, making good choices, and how to truly encounter Christ.

In his answers to the questions, one in each of the three languages he speaks fluently — Spanish, Italian, and English — Leo encouraged youth to seek good relationships with others and with God.

“And we can say thank you, Jesus, for loving us,” he said in a moment of improvisation in the midst of his prepared remarks. 

“Each time we adore Christ in the Eucharist, our hearts will be united in him,” the pontiff added, and he recommended saying to the Lord: “Stay with us, because without you we cannot do the good we desire.”

Fletcher, who traveled to Rome with a group of young adult friends who work in Catholic schools, called the question-and-answers with Pope Leo “poignant and so relevant! Each spoke for us. Each spoke to our hearts.”

“This is a pope who knows the youth. His response was savvy, beautiful, and worth remembering, not to mention worth praying with for some time,” she said.

Leo’s advice to young people included having Jesus, “who always accompanies us in the formation of our conscience,” as a friend.

“If you truly want to encounter the risen Lord, then listen to his word, which is the Gospel of salvation. Reflect on your way of living, and seek justice in order to build a more humane world. Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbors,” he recommended.

“Adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the source of eternal life,” he said. “Study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus, the good Teacher who always walks beside us.”

Elodie, from France, told EWTN News at the prayer vigil that the Jubilee of Youth felt like “a huge family.”

“You feel the heart of the Church beating. I think, really, it’s beautiful,” she said.

The Jubilee of Youth, held July 28 through Aug. 3, is the most-attended event during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, with an estimated 1 million young adults, teens, and their chaperones flocking to Rome from 146 countries.

Leo left the vigil after 10 p.m., more than 30 minutes past the scheduled time. After Eucharistic adoration, the crowd broke out in loud chants of “Papa Leone,” Italian for “Pope Leo.”

Young Catholics began arriving at the site of the vigil as early as 3 p.m., where they braved sun, humidity, and temperatures in the upper 80s during an afternoon listening to live performances and the personal stories of young people from different countries.

During his remarks, the pope asked for prayers for two female pilgrims who died this week, a 20-year-old Spaniard, Maria, and an 18-year-old Egyptian, Pascale Rafic. He also asked the young people to pray for another Spaniard, Ignazio Gonzales, who was hospitalized in Rome.

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 20, 2024, that he has chosen CatholicVote President Brian Burch to be his ambassador to the Holy See. / Credit: Photo courtesy of CRC Advisors

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).

The Senate has confirmed former CatholicVote president and founder Brian Burch to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. 

In a 49-44 vote on Aug. 2, the Senate confirmed the Catholic father of nine from Chicago. 

“I am profoundly grateful to President [Donald] Trump and the United States Senate for this opportunity to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See,” Burch said in a statement shared with CNA reacting to news of his confirmation. “As a proud Catholic American, I look forward to representing President Trump, Vice President [JD] Vance, and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio in this important diplomatic post.” 

He added: “I ask for the prayers of all Americans, especially my fellow Catholics, that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead.”

News of Burch’s confirmation comes after Senate Democrats initially blocked it, along with more than 50 other nominations, in May ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s installation Mass. CatholicVote has since named Kelsey Reinhardt as its new president.

“I have the honor and fortune of serving in this role following the historic election of the first American pope,” Burch said in the statement, adding: “In a remarkable coincidence, or what I prefer to attribute to providence, Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago, which is also my hometown.” 

He continued: “The relationship between the Holy See and the United States remains one of the most unique in the world, with the global reach and moral witness of the Catholic Church serving as a critical component of U.S. efforts to bring about peace and prosperity.”

In a Saturday statement, CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said the organization "joyfully celebrates" Burch's confirmation.

"For the past 17 years, Brian has faithfully championed CatholicVote’s mission to inspire American Catholics to live their faith in public life," she said. "We are confident that he will similarly excel in this new role and are forever grateful for the foundation he laid and the impact he had on millions of Catholics across the Nation.”

Burch’s confirmation had been in limbo for several months after Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz placed a blanket hold on all State Department nominees, making good on a pledge he made in protest of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Senate majority leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, filed cloture on Burch’s confirmation on July 31, putting an end to the delay. 

Burch’s nomination had been previously advanced by the Foreign Relations Committee, with the committee’s 12 Republicans voting in favor and 10 Democrats opposed. During his confirmation hearing, Burch faced questions on foreign aid cuts, the China-Vatican agreement, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

At the time, Burch expressed his support for Rubio’s attempts at “recharging and refocusing our foreign aid on places that would make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” He further pledged to encourage the Holy See to push back against the Chinese government’s intervention in the election of Catholic bishops.

On the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Burch said he believed the Holy See “can play a very significant role” in permanently ending the conflict and bringing about the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd following his unexpected ride around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican following the Jubilee of Youth welcome Mass — which was celebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella (right) — on July 29, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday offered heartfelt prayers for Pascale Rafic, a Jubilee of Youth pilgrim from Egypt who died in Rome.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the pope privately met with the group of pilgrims traveling with Rafic at the Vatican on Saturday morning to give spiritual comfort to the young people left shaken by the tragic event.

“All of a sudden, we are reminded in a very powerful way that our life is not superficial nor do we have control over our own lives nor do we know as Jesus himself says, neither the day nor the hour when for some reason our earthy life ends,” Leo told the young people from Egypt.

“And so in a certain way, as we celebrate this Jubilee Year of Hope,” he continued, “we are reminded in a very powerful way how much our faith in Jesus Christ needs to be part of who we are, of how we live, of how we appreciate and respect one another, and especially of how we continue to move forward in spite of such painful experiences.”

The Italian religious news service Agensir reported Aug. 2 the young woman died from cardiac arrest. 

Prior to his meeting with the pilgrim group, Pope Leo contacted Greek Melkite religious leader Bishop Jean-Marie Chami of the Patriarchate of Antioch to express his spiritual closeness with Rafic’s family and her community.

“The Holy Father assures all of his heartfelt prayers and invokes the Lord’s comfort and consolation upon Pascale’s family members, friends, and all of those who grieve her loss,” the Vatican statement read.

Speaking to the pilgrims traveling with Rafic, Pope Leo recalled that while it is natural and human to cry at the pain of someone dying — as Catholics, we have hope in the Resurrection.

“Our hope is in Jesus Christ who is risen,” he said. “And he calls all of us to renew our faith, calls all of us to be friends, brothers and sisters to one another, to support one another, and he says you too must be witnesses to that Gospel message. And for all of you it has touched your lives in a very personal and direct way today.”

Bishop Stefano Russo of Velletri-Segni expressed his condolences to Rafic’s family on behalf of the diocesan community who hosted Rafic in the town of Artena during her jubilee pilgrimage.

“A guest in our diocese, along with her group, on their way to Rome, Pascale left us in Christian hope, embraced by the Father’s mercy,” he said. “We are convinced of this, having accompanied her on the final leg of her earthly journey.”

“We pray for Pascale, her family, and her friends,” he said.

This story was updated Aug. 2, 2025, at 10:55 a.m. ET with Pope Leo XIV's words to the pilgrims from Egypt.

Health care professionals at the Colorado-based, pro-life Bella Health and Wellness health care clinic. / Credit: Bella Health and Wellness

CNA Staff, Aug 2, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A federal district court on Friday ordered that a Colorado medical clinic run by two Catholic nurses can continue its abortion-pill reversal ministry, partially blocking a state law that had sought to ban the practice.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said in his Friday ruling that Colorado’s abortion pill reversal ban interfered with the religious rights of nurses Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett.

The Catholic mother-daughter team runs the Denver-area Bella Health and Wellness clinic. Part of their services include administering the hormone progesterone that can counteract the effects of chemical abortions.

Colorado in 2023 banned abortion pill reversal alleging that it constitutes a “deceptive trade practice.” That same year the nurses sued the state over the ban, arguing that it impeded their religious beliefs and those of their clients.

Domenico in October 2023 issued a temporary block on the state’s ban. His ruling on Friday made the ban permanent.

It is “not disputed that by effectively prohibiting them from using a particular treatment for pregnant women, this law burdened [the nurses’] sincerely held religious beliefs,” the judge wrote in part.

And “while the clinical efficacy of abortion pill reversal remains debatable, nobody has been injured by the treatment and a number of women have successfully given birth after receiving it,” he said.

The state failed to show it had “a compelling interest in regulating this practice,” he ruled in making the injunction permanent.

The judge noted that Colorado in numerous other contexts allows “off-label” use of progesterone, The state, he said, did not provide compelling evidence that using progesterone to counteract an abortion pill “sets medication abortion reversal apart from other off-label uses of progesterone.”

Domenico said his ruling only prohibits action against the Bella clinic and does not impact the overall law itself.

In a press release from the religious liberty law firm Becket, which had represented the clinic in the suit, the nurses said the state “tried to deprive pregnant women of the life-affirming care that is best for them and their babies.”

“We are overjoyed that the court has recognized our constitutional right to continue offering this support to the many women who come to our clinic seeking help,” they said.

Becket attorney Rebekah Ricketts, meanwhile, said the ruling “ensures that pregnant women in Colorado will not be denied this compassionate care or be forced to have abortions against their will.”  

In addition to abortion pill reversal, the clinic also offers primary care, gynecology, infertility help, and surgery for women’s health, as well as pediatric care and men’s health care.

Mural of Pope Francis in La Plata, Argentina. / Credit: Municipality of La Plata, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 2, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Just a few meters from Immaculate Conception Cathedral in the Argentine city of La Plata stands the world’s largest mural dedicated to Pope Francis, painted by renowned artist Martín Ron. This work represented a great technical challenge and aims to be a message of peace, of union “between earth and heaven,” and — why not? — a place of prayer and pilgrimage.

Ron’s career spans both time and space, with more than two decades of painting and works that beautify cities around the world. In his native Argentina, a soccer-loving land par excellence, two of his most talked-about murals are those depicting star players Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, just a sample of the hundreds that bear his signature.

On July 26, in the presence of city officials and the archbishop of La Plata, Gustavo Carrara, a 50-meter-high (164-foot) mural depicting Pope Francis, another of the “popular idols” Ron was tasked with painting, was inaugurated and blessed.

“As muralists, beyond painting our own works, we are constantly identifying those figures that have a strong popular following,” because muralism “is still pop art,” the artist told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“Painting them in these dimensions and contributing to enhancing the collective memory of these figures, especially in places where art doesn’t reach, is very important,” he said.

In the case of Francis, “beyond the fact that he’s the pope, who is the most important person in Argentina, and his position in the Catholic Church, he still has the imprint of a pop idol — although the word ‘idol’ is, in this case, in quotation marks — because he has that reach, he’s still a healthy pop idol,” he noted, because there’s something about these idols “that has to do with how they become incarnated in the culture.”

The great challenge

Located at the intersection of 54th and 14th Streets, the mural of Pope Francis completes the already imposing landscape of La Plata Cathedral. Painting it there was a request from the La Plata City Council and represented a major technical challenge.

Although he had complete freedom to choose an image that represented the recently deceased Argentine pontiff, the limitations had to do with the “hardest aspect of the project, which is the dimensions, the format of the wall, and the angles from which it will be viewed.”

“In this case, the path was quite clear, because it’s right next to the cathedral, it overlooks the plaza, and it’s very central. But the only limitation I had, which is what can sometimes filter out the best photos, is the particular format of this building. While tall, it’s very narrow: 50 meters by 5 meters [164 feet by 16 feet].”

This detail meant that in that place” maybe the best photo, the one with the best story to tell, isn’t compositionally suitable for the location.” The first requirement, then, was “to create a composition that gains height and progresses vertically to interpret it from the bottom up, or from the top down.”

“It’s the pope. One can fall into the commonplace of saying: ‘Well, Pope Francis, any photo will do, as long as he looks good in the photo, is photogenic, and we all recognize him.’ But it has to have something more; it has to tell a story,” he stated.

Knowing that the work ‘will transcend’

The chosen image was a well-known one from the first months of Francis’ pontificate, where he can be seen smiling and looking up, holding a dove in his hand as it begins to spread its wings.

“It’s a very tender photo. I think it’s one of the best. It’s very well known, and it says a lot because it connects with heaven, through all the symbolism of the dove within the Catholic faith,” he noted.

Furthermore, technically, “it solved the issue of verticality for me, because it begins with the cassock, the cross of the Good Shepherd, then the neck appears, the portrait, and then there’s the arm that emerges from the frame and reenters, and above it, a crown with the dove and the sky, which merges with the real sky. That’s it. In slang, we say we ‘nailed’ it.”

“When you have all those variables, you already know that the work will transcend, it will be talked about, and it will become a new landmark of the city of La Plata,” he summarized.

Ron said he anticipates that the mural will become a landmark in the city, “because of the power of the image, because it’s about who he is, because it’s the first, because it’s in such a central location, in Plaza Moreno, next to the cathedral,” he stated, emphasizing that “when things like this happen, you’re helping to generate new landmarks. There’s something else to see and discover in La Plata.”

A believer but not a practicing Christian, Ron said he felt it was a positive thing that his work “be crowned with a blessing,” because he believes that “beyond who paints it, the important thing is how it reaches people.”

“I’m the channel, the person responsible for a work, but when I sign it, the work belongs to the people,” he explained. “All of us artists who paint murals let go of the work,” he said, especially when traveling around the world, because “the place takes ownership of it, the people take ownership of it, and the artist may never see it again,” he explained. Therefore, each work “is like a gift, an opening.”

In this case, “the fact that a lot of things start happening around us, related to this personage, is the best thing that can happen, not only for me but for the people.”

“That the work is blessed and that, in the future, this even might become a place of pilgrimage, that for some it is an opportunity to be closer to the figure of Pope Francis, going to La Plata, going to the cathedral, saying a prayer, asking him for something there, would be fabulous.”

Francis transmits the peace the world needs

On a personal level, Ron noted that Pope Francis transmits peace to him. “He is a popular figure who made a certain symbolic rupture, by stripping away absolutely everything material.”

“Beyond his more political legacy, he is a person whom you listen to, and he transmits peace, beyond what he says, even from the look on his face,” he commented.

Therefore, “I wanted to capture that image, which, beyond the dove, is an image that greatly represents peace, and we need it at this time in the world,” he said.

Big turnout for the dedication 

The mural was inaugurated with a massive event attended by the mayor of La Plata, Julio Alak; representatives of the Catholic community; school representatives; members of political parties; and other institutions. In addition to artistic performances, the event included a blessing by the local archbishop, Gustavo Carrara.

“The city must be a place of encounter, of integration, where neighbors help each other walk together,” the prelate said, hoping “that the figure of Francis will inspire us in this city to work for a culture of encounter and inspire us on paths toward fraternity and social friendship.”

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

Pakistan minority rights campaigners protest the sentencing of a Christian man to death for sharing an allegedly blasphemous TikTok post in Karachi on July 2, 2024. / Credit: RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty Images

Brussels, Belgium, Aug 2, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pakistan’s Senate has passed legislation removing the death penalty for two specific crimes in what officials openly acknowledge is a calculated move to preserve billions in European trade benefits — while leaving untouched the blasphemy laws that have sent dozens of Christians to death row. 

The Criminal Laws Amendment Bill, which awaits National Assembly approval and presidential sign-off, eliminates capital punishment for publicly stripping women and harboring hijackers. Pakistani officials did not attempt to disguise their motivation: the changes were explicitly designed to satisfy European Union requirements under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) trade scheme, which demands that death sentences be “limited to the most serious crimes only.”

“This bill is aimed at aligning Pakistan’s laws with its international obligations under the GSP+ trade agreement with the European Union,” Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told senators, according to Pakistani media reports. 

Trade benefits trump human rights 

The GSP+ scheme grants Pakistan zero-duty access to European markets on 66% of its exports — benefits worth approximately $3 billion annually that Pakistani officials admit they cannot afford to lose. In return, Pakistan must implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labor protections, and good governance.

However, the selective nature of Pakistan’s compliance reveals the limits of European leverage when confronting the Islamic Republic’s treatment of religious minorities.

While Pakistan has eliminated death sentences for two relatively obscure crimes, it maintains capital punishment for over 100 offenses — including blasphemy charges that disproportionately target the country’s 3 million Christians and other religious minorities.

“The death penalty currently applies to over a hundred offenses” in Pakistan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar acknowledged during Senate debates, defending the broader system while yielding minimal ground to European pressure.

Christians bear the brunt 

At least 34 members of religious minorities, including Christians, currently sit on death row in Pakistan’s Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to Lahore-based researcher Sarmad Ali. The overwhelming majority face blasphemy charges under laws that human rights advocates say are routinely misused to settle personal disputes and persecute religious minorities.

The case of Asia Bibi — a Catholic mother of five who spent eight years on death row before her 2018 acquittal — epitomizes the dangers facing Pakistani Christians. Bibi was convicted of blasphemy after Muslim co-workers refused to drink water she had touched because of her faith, leading to an argument that resulted in false accusations.

Her eventual vindication came at enormous cost: Two prominent Pakistani politicians who supported her — Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti — were assassinated by Islamic extremists. Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard while Bhatti, Pakistan’s only Christian cabinet minister, was killed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Even after the Supreme Court cleared Bibi of all charges, nationwide protests by Islamic hardliners forced her family into hiding before they eventually found asylum in Canada.

Government draws red lines 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has made clear that while it will make symbolic concessions to preserve European trade benefits, it will not touch blasphemy laws that remain sacred to the country’s Islamic identity.

Following European Parliament resolutions condemning Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in 2021, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government declared it would “not compromise on the country’s blasphemy law.” It argued that Pakistan’s agreements with the EU “did not include any condition concerning religion.”

The current government maintains this position. During a January visit to Pakistan, EU Special Representative for Human Rights Ambassador Olof Skoog warned that Pakistan “should not take its GSP+ status for granted” and highlighted concerns about blasphemy law abuse. Yet Pakistani officials continue to insist that religious laws remain beyond European influence.

European response falls short 

The European Union’s response to Pakistan’s selective compliance has been characteristically diplomatic but ineffective at protecting religious minorities. While European Parliament members have repeatedly called for reviews of Pakistan’s trade status over blasphemy law abuse, the European Commission has maintained the country’s preferential trading relationship. 

In 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution with 678 votes calling for immediate review of Pakistan’s GSP+ status over blasphemy laws, expressing particular concern about Christian couple Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, who were sentenced to death on blasphemy charges. Yet Pakistan retained its trade benefits. 

The 10th EU-Pakistan Political Dialogue held in Brussels this July saw both sides “reaffirm their commitment to deepening cooperation” despite what European officials acknowledge is “growing scrutiny over Pakistan’s human rights record.” 

Rising persecution goes unchecked 

Christian advocates report that blasphemy cases continue to rise in Pakistan despite European pressure. “Unfortunately, blasphemy cases continue to rise, and during this year alone, at least five Christians have been charged with committing blasphemy,” said Nasir Saeed of the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance, and Settlement.

The legal system remains stacked against religious minorities. “The whole burden of proof is laid on the victim to prove himself/herself innocent, and court hearings are very often adjourned,” Saeed explained. “As a result, victims of this law have to suffer several years in prison, sometimes longer than their punishment.” 

Several Christians remain imprisoned for years on blasphemy charges, including Sajjad Masih (nine years) and Zafar Bhatti (eight years). In comparison, others like Sawan Maish and Imran Ghafur Masih were released only after serving eight and 11 years, respectively. 

Economic calculations override faith 

Pakistan’s approach to the GSP+ requirements reveals a government willing to make minimal adjustments to preserve economic benefits while refusing to address the core issues that endanger religious minorities. The death penalty amendments target two crimes that are rarely prosecuted, allowing Pakistan to claim reform while maintaining the broader system of religious persecution.

According to Justice Project Pakistan’s 2024 report, the country handed down 174 death sentences last year — a significant increase from 102 in 2023 — with 6,161 prisoners currently on death row nationwide.

The GSP+ scheme has been extended until 2027, but European officials conduct reviews every two years. The upcoming renewal cycle will test whether Europe’s commitment to trade benefits outweighs its stated concerns for religious freedom and minority rights.

For Pakistan’s embattled Christian community, the recent death penalty amendments offer no relief from the blasphemy laws that continue to threaten their lives and freedom. As long as European trade policy prioritizes economic relationships over religious liberty, Pakistani Christians will remain vulnerable to a justice system that treats their faith as grounds for persecution.

Gabby is the Ecuador program’s mother representative on the Innovation Fund proposal selection committee. Standing before a photo of Unbound’s late co-founder Bob Hentzen, she proudly holds the certificate of recognition awarded to her by Unbound for her participation and valuable contributions in the selection process. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Unbound

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Once seen as only recipients of aid, mothers in underprivileged areas across the globe are becoming agents of change as the Catholic nonprofit Unbound empowers them to create paths out of poverty and serve as community leaders.

“From our founding in 1981, our mission, our reason of being, our approach from our founders, has been driven by a core belief in letting the people that we support make the decisions,” Ashley Hufft, president and CEO of Unbound, told CNA.

“It stems in part from their own faith, from Catholic social teaching, but those closest to the problem … make the decisions,” she said.

To further execute its mission, Unbound has implemented a number of programs including Poverty Stoplight and Agents of Change that keep the decision-making power in the hands of those who can “effectively improve their families best” — mothers.

Poverty Stoplight 

Unbound is “driven by empowerment, dignity of the person, [and] goal setting,” Hufft said.

The organization advanced this mission through a partnership with nonprofit Fundación Paraguaya and its coaching tool, Poverty Stoplight.

“What Poverty Stoplight has done with this partnership has brought us a tool … for the families to help better define what the goals are that tie to indicators of multidimensional poverty, help set their goals, and help see goal by goal achievement,” Hufft said.

Unbound works “in 16 countries and with over a quarter of a million families. So techniques and methods that work at a small scale don’t necessarily work at that scale,” Dan Pearson, chief international programs officer of Unbound, told CNA.

As of June, Unbound is the largest implementer of the Poverty Stoplight with more than 250,000 participants.

The first step of the program is for “the families themselves [to] determine the dimensions of poverty in their area,” Pearson said. “We know that poverty is not just about money. It’s about a whole range of lack of opportunities and lack of choices.”

They determine the most relevant indicators of poverty within their specific location. The families examine key indicators including income, employment, housing, education, and health to get a better idea of where they are at. 

Then the mothers and families themselves define what “poverty,” “extreme poverty,” and “no poverty” actually mean to them, which Pearson called an “eye-opening” step.

“It surprised us that most of the families we serve never had a clear picture of what they were trying to achieve. They see the wealthy people on TV, and they know that’s probably not where they’re going to get.” Pearson asked: “But, what are they trying to get to? What would that look like tangibly?”

“Then the third step is self-assessing,” Pearson said. Families decide what areas in their lives are “red” for extreme poverty, “yellow” for poverty, or “green” for no poverty. “With up to 50 indicators in each location, families found that they were already green in some areas.”

After finishing the assessment, families set priorities. They are given a “life map” that shows the “red, yellow, and green dots for each of the indicators, and they identify which of those they want to focus on now.”

They then receive a cash transfer from Unbound to aid their newly established goals. “Having the certainty of some income from us helps them do longer-term planning, because that decision-making horizon extends by weeks or months. And we make better decisions when we have a longer-term horizon like that,” Pearson said.

A June assessment found that since implementing Poverty Stoplight in 2020, Unbound “families have logged close to 300,000 achievements,” Hufft said. Meaning their indicators have moved “from extreme poverty to no poverty, or poverty to no poverty.”

Pearson attributed the success to the fact that “the families themselves retain control over the decisions that impact their lives.”

“Ultimately the families, and particularly the mothers … are the experts,” he said.

Agents of Change 

The mothers are “not doing it alone by any means,” Hufft said.

Unbound offers direct guidance through its local teams that provide training, support, and resources. But what is especially unique is that the families going through Unbound programs work together for assistance and encouragement.

In 2001, Unbound started its small-group model in India, placing 25 to 30 mothers in groups to meet monthly for extra support. Now, there are more than 11,000 groups across the globe.

“As we started to see some success with the Poverty Stoplight at the household level … we were trying to figure out then how [to] take that to the community level, again, without sacrificing the control that they have over these decisions,” Pearson said. “We looked to those small groups of women, and we created a program first called Agents of Change.”

The program places women who know their local challenges best at the forefront of coming up with solutions. They determine how funds are allocated to support community ideas that would improve lives and help break the cycle of poverty.

Unbound recently set aside a $500,000 innovation fund to fund larger approved projects. It will fund 10-12 grants ranging from $20,000 to $60,000, focused on addressing urgent needs identified by those experiencing them.

“The difference, though, is that they don’t submit those proposals to us, and they don’t submit those proposals to our donors or to our partners,” Pearson said.

“Our partners overseas work with the communities to select one representative from each country,” who then make up the committees that receive the program proposals. They decide which to fund, giving the women “the experience of being on the funder side, of having to weigh competing priorities within the community.”

The approved grants from the innovation fund will help thousands, including 600 families in San Marcos, Guatemala, that will receive access to clean water thanks to the “Sustainable and Accessible Water Supply System: Source of Life” program.

Another approved proposal is called “Disability Is Not Inability” developed in Tanzania that is “equipping a technical center for children with special needs” to help 100 Unbound sponsored and non-sponsored students.

Future of Unbound 

“We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible and that our responsibility in international nonprofits is to look for new ways to create a framework where the community itself can take control of their futures,” Hufft said. 

“One of our strategic goals is elimination of poverty. If you look overall at the state of our world and … at the numbers of people living in extreme poverty, it does seem overwhelming,” Hufft said. But “what Unbound is showing, with data now because of Poverty Stoplight, it is possible.”

“When you take it family by family, individual by individual, it’s possible,” Hufft concluded.