ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI

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CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new Lifeway Research study reveals that a slim majority of Americans believe it is morally acceptable for terminally ill individuals to request physician-assisted suicide, while more believe physicians should be allowed to help patients who want to end their lives.

The study, titled “American Views on Assisted Suicide,” found that 51% of respondents consider it morally acceptable for someone with a painful terminal disease to seek a physician’s assistance in ending their life. Slightly more, 55%, believe physicians should be legally permitted to assist patients who request help in ending their lives. 

However, the support is not robust, according to the study: Only 1 in 5 Americans said they “strongly agree” that it is morally acceptable for patients to ask for help to end their lives, while 30% say they “somewhat agree.” 

A slightly higher number of Americans surveyed, 1 in 4, say doctors should be allowed to help patients to end their lives.

The study also found that 32% found physician-assisted suicide morally unacceptable, with 17% saying they are unsure.

Regionally, support varies, with urban and coastal areas showing higher approval (up to 60% in some places) compared with rural or Southern states, where opposition often aligns with faith-based values, according to Lifeway. The Lifeway study, conducted via online panels, sampled 1,200 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, an evangelical Protestant research firm, noted: “Half of Americans seek their own comfort and their own way even in their death, but that doesn’t mean they don’t think twice about the morality of physician-assisted suicide.”

CNA also spoke about the survey’s results with Jessica Rodgers, coalitions director at the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, a nonsectarian, nonpartisan group whose purpose is “to abolish assisted suicide laws.” The organization calls such laws “inherently discriminatory, impossible to safely regulate, and put the most vulnerable members of society at risk of deadly harm.”

Waning support, growing opposition

Rodgers told CNA these poll numbers actually show a decrease in public support.

“I certainly don’t see momentum on their side,” she said.

Indeed, a Lifeway Research study in 2016 found that 67% of those surveyed said the practice was morally acceptable, while 33% disagreed.

Rodgers said that as people learn more about how dangerous the policies surrounding legalizing assisted suicide are, they tend to oppose the practice, and “opposition cuts across the political spectrum.”

In New York, where the state Legislature recently passed a bill legalizing the practice, Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the legislation into law. 

“She hears daily from diverse advocates from across the political spectrum asking her to veto,” Rodgers said. “In fact, some of the most passionate opposition to the bill has been Democratic leadership.”

“I see people all over the spectrum who agree on nothing else,” she said.

Disability advocates, health care personnel, and members of multiple religious groups have united in their opposition to the laws, saying legalizing assisted suicide is bad for their communities and bad for patients. 

‘Dying in pain or in peace’ is a false choice

“Proponents often frame it falsely as “Do you want to die in pain or do you want a peaceful death?’” according to Rodgers, who said the practice actually targets people with disabilities. 

“It puts our vulnerable neighbors at risk, and as people learn more about it, they tend to oppose it,” she said, citing that physician-assisted suicide is now the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada.

Since Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide through the Death with Dignity Act in 1997, by 2025, 11 states and Washington, D.C., now permit the practice. Most legislation requires terminal diagnoses with six months or less to live, mental competency, and multiple doctor approvals. 

Physician-assisted suicide is different from euthanasia, which is the direct killing of a patient by a medical professional.

Voluntary euthanasia is legal in a limited number of countries including Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal. In Belgium and the Netherlands, minors can be euthanized if they request it.

Where does the Church stand on assisted suicide?

The Catholic Church condemns both assisted suicide and euthanasia, instead encouraging palliative care, which means supporting patients with pain management and care as the end of their lives approaches. Additionally, the Church advocates for a “special respect” for anyone with a disability or serious health condition (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2276). 

According to the catechism, “intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder” and “gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and the respect due to the living God, his Creator” (CCC, 2324).

Any action or lack of action that intentionally “causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator” (CCC, 2277).

Catholic teaching also states that patients and doctors are not required to do everything possible to avoid death, but if a life has reached its natural conclusion and medical intervention would not be beneficial, the decision to “forego extraordinary or disproportionate means” to keep a dying person alive is not euthanasia, as St. John Paul II explained in Evangelium Vitae.

This story was updated on Sept. 17, 2025, at 11:55 a.m. ET.

Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania lost their lives in a road accident in the country’s Archdiocese of Mwanza on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Suore Carmelitane Missionarie Italia Malta Romania

ACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania are among five people who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the country’s Archdiocese of Mwanza on Monday. 

The Sept. 15 accident in which the MCST superior general and secretary died alongside two other sisters and a driver happened in the Kaluluma-Bukumbi area. 

One sister survived the tragic accident and was admitted to Bugando Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

In a statement obtained on Tuesday by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande of the Mwanza Archdiocese announced the passing of the four Carmelites, “who were serving at Bukumbi Girls’ Secondary School, together with their driver.”

“Further arrangements will be communicated later,” Nkwande said.

The four MCST members who died were Sister Lilian Kapongo, the superior general; Sister Nerinathe, secretary; and Sisters Damaris Matheka and Stellamaris. All of them had traveled to Ngaya in Tanzania’s Diocese of Kahama for the perpetual profession of three of their sisters over the weekend.

Their driver, Boniphase Msonola, who was reportedly taking them to the airport to return to Dar es Salaam, also died in the accident.

In the statement, Nkwande, on behalf the entire Kahama Diocese, expressed “deep sorrow” following the tragic accident.

“At this hour of 11 p.m., we have received news of the deaths of our beloved four sisters and their driver. They were involved in a car accident, colliding with a lorry [truck] in Mwanza while on their way to the airport for a journey to Dar es Salaam tonight,” the archbishop said.

The statement traced the final journey of the four sisters and their driver.

“They began their journey from here in Kahama heading to Mwanza, passing by the bishop’s residence to bid us farewell. Tonight, while traveling from their community in Bukumbi-Mwanza to the airport, they were involved in an accident and lost their lives,” Nkwande explained.

The statement also called for prayers — for the lone sister who survived the crash as well as the entire community and loved ones of those who died. 

“In this time of mourning and grief, let us pray for and console the community of the sisters of this congregation in Ngaya. This is truly a heavy loss for them and for all of us.”

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

St. Hildegard of Bingen. / Credit: Lettera43.it, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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

Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church.

Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.

Referring first to St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter “gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history.” He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago.

Born into a noble German family in the year 1098, Hildegard began her studies in human and Christian formation at a Benedictine convent in the town of Bingen, took her vows to cloistered life and, 30 years after she began her formation, became a mother superior.

Carrying out this role competently, she was able to found an additional convent nearby where she spent a great part of her life. The way she exercised authority there continues to be an example for religious communities today, Benedict said, explaining that she was able to create an atmosphere of “holy emulation in the practice of the good, so much so that ... the mother and daughters competed in respecting and serving each other.”

Benedict XVI also recalled her mystical visions, which she first shared with people in confidence, including her spiritual director, a fellow sister, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. “As always happens in the lives of the true mystics,” the pope said, “Hildegard also wished to submit herself to the authority of wise people to discern the origin of her visions.”

St. Bernard, whom Benedict said held “maximum esteem” in the Church at the time, “calmed and encouraged” the sister about the visions, and eventually Pope Eugene III gave her the authorization to write and speak about the visions publicly.

“This,” the former pope taught, “is the seal of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, source of every charism: the person (who is the) repository of supernatural gifts never boasts, does not flaunt them and, especially, shows total obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities.”

He added: “Every gift distributed by the Holy Spirit, in fact, is destined for the edification of the Church, and the Church, through its pastors, recognizes their authenticity.”

In 2012, Hildegard was canonized and named a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI. 

This story was first published on Sept. 1, 2010, and has been updated.

Priests throughout the country have mentioned assassinated conservative Christian activisit Charlie Kirk in their homilies this week. / Credit: ChoeWatt/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 18:24 pm (CNA).

Catholic priests around the country have discussed the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk during their homilies in the last week.

Kirk, 31, was shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The alleged shooter has since been apprehended and identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children.

“So many times it seems almost surreal how the Gospel passage for the day fits … a situation that we face as Christians in our daily lives,” Father Chris Alar at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, said during his homily on Sept. 11, referencing the day’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus instructs his disciples to love their enemies.

“That is what Charlie Kirk did. I was watching some of his videos last night, and he was saying of murderers that they are still children of God, and he prayed for them,” the priest reflected, noting that though Kirk was political, he had not been a politician.

“When one side realizes they can’t defeat the truth, they turn to violence,” he said, citing the emperor Herod, who he said “realized that he couldn’t defeat the truth, so he turned to violence.”

Father John Hollowell at All Saints Parish in Indianapolis also reflected during his homily on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that he had felt “a great welling up in my heart” to join the military in the aftermath of the tragic event 24 years ago. Ultimately, he said, “I felt God telling me that the way that I was supposed to respond to the tragedy that I was seeing unfolding 24 years ago today was to become a diocesan priest.” 

“Throughout the last 12 hours,” he said, “some of your young adult children and young adult family and friends are having that same urge to join the military, to join the police.”

He continued: “We need to just take a minute to just calmly ask ourselves: ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with my life? How can I lay down my life more perfectly for other people, for my country, for my community, for my parish?’ And God will let you know.” 

“On Sept. 11, my prayers are with Charlie Kirk’s wife, with his children, but also in this tragic time in the United States of America,” said Father Jonathan Meyer, also of All Saints Parish. “My prayers are also with the family of the refugee from Charlotte, the families in Minnesota that ... grieve and mourn, but also for those 24 years ago who, due to acts of hate, still don’t have their grandparents, their parents, their sons.”

“Just this week we were reminded once again of how fallen our world is with the murder of Charlie Kirk,” said Father Eric Ayers of St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, during his Sunday homily. “He was the most recent in a long line in the last number of years of attempts at assassinations … [and] other acts of violence that occur in the political spheres.”

“These acts of violence of course are unconscionable and are a horrible tragedy for our nation,” he added. 

The priest stated “before we blame one side or another, we need to remember that those actions don’t represent the vast majority of people for whom politics is important.” 

Noting that “language over politics has gotten more extreme, more polarizing, more divisive," Ayers concluded his reflections by advocating for self-sacrifice and the abandonment of “ego” as ways to foster civility in political discourse in the U.S. 

In churches where Kirk’s death was not mentioned in the priest’s homily, prayers were offered for the repose of his soul, including on Sunday Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C, and at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill.

Father John Evans of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City told a local news outlet that people began gathering at the cathedral in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, with many coming to the church before Sunday Mass, “praying privately, some in groups, praying the rosary, and different prayers of different sorts.”

Several users on social media noted their priests offered homilies about Kirk’s death, with one account on X writing: “Today at my Catholic Mass the homily was about Charlie Kirk, what he stood for … It was about walking in Jesus’ shoes and bearing our cross.”

Another user reported that the homily at his parish centered on Kirk and said his church prayed a rosary for the late TPUSA founder after Mass. 

Catholic social media influencer Sachin Jose also noted the church where he attended Mass in New York “remembered Charlie Kirk in the priest’s homily.”

Marian shrine in Mariamabad, Pakistan. / Credit: Agenzia Fides, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 17:42 pm (CNA).

Men on motorcycles murdered a father and injured a 16-year-old boy while they were taking part in a pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine of the Virgin Mary in Mariamabad in Pakistan, an incident that has shocked Christians in the Muslim-majority country.

According to the Vatican news agency Fides on Sept. 12, Afzal Masih, a married father of four, was murdered on Sept. 7 while he was on a pilgrimage to the shrine located in the Archdiocese of Lahore.

“We are deeply saddened by the murder of Afzal Masih. He was a devout Catholic who was participating in a Marian pilgrimage to venerate and pray to the Virgin Mary. Today, we express our deepest condolences to his family,” Father Tariq George, rector of the shrine, told Fides.

The murder occurred while Afzal Masih was traveling with 15 other members of the faithful and several young men on motorcycles approached the minibus and began to provoke the group. 

When the pilgrims stopped at a gas station 19 miles from the shrine, a man identified as Muhammad Waqas opened fire with a rifle, killing Afzal Masih with a shot to the neck and wounding his 16-year-old cousin, Harris Masih, in the arm.

Afzal Masih was taken to the hospital but died. After his arrest, Waqas told police that he “had no intention of killing.”

Christians in Pakistan are calling for an investigation into the case and for justice to be done.

The Marian shrine celebrated its annual feast Sept. 5–8, bringing together some 500,000 Catholic and other Christian faithful as well as Muslims and Hindus.

Despite the rains and floods, said Father Qaisar Feroz, communications officer for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, the faithful weren’t stopped from coming to the Marian shrine.

Mariamabad, founded in 1893 by Capuchin missionaries, includes a Marian grotto inspired by the Lourdes grotto in France. It was declared a national shrine in 1949.

Pakistan, with a population of over 241 million, is 96% Muslim, while Christians make up just 1.4% of the country, or about 3.3 million people.

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

Reem Alsalem is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. / Credit: ADF International

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:44 pm (CNA).

The United Nations (U.N.) Expert on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem was joined by detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole last week in urging governments to support parents in protecting their children from “gender transition” medical interventions.

“Parents and legal guardians must be part of these processes from the very beginning,” Alsalem said during a Sept. 8 panel coordinated by the Alliance Defending Freedom International at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Yet, in many countries, parents who do not want to endorse a ‘gender-affirmative’ approach to their children’s distress have too often been left unsupported at best, or vilified, ostracized, or even separated from their children,” said Alsalem, who opposes the “dangerous narrative” that children can make fully-informed adult-level decisions about their health.

The panel was part of a wider event titled “Empowering Parents to Protect Children’s Health and Well-Being,” which was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the U.N. in Geneva and ADF International. Sponsors for the event included the permanent missions of The Gambia, Algeria, Argentina, Qatar, Vanuatu, and Uzbekistan, along with nongovernmental organizations such as Juristes pour l’Enfance, Asociación la Familia Importa, Latter-day Saints Charities, the Center for Fundamental Rights, and the Heritage Foundation.

Cole, who detransitioned after having undergone gender transitioning procedures as a teenager, echoed Alsalem, stating: “I appeal to you: We must ensure these failures are never again repeated and that childhood is truly protected as the fragile and yet beautiful part of life that it is.” 

“My mom and dad have always advocated fiercely for my safety and health but were not empowered to fulfill their irreplaceable role as guardians of my well-being,” Cole told the U.N. representatives gathered in Geneva.

“On the contrary, their protective instincts were undermined by systems and professionals who claimed expertise but withheld the truth,” she said. “They stood no chance when doctors gave them the false ultimatum of choosing between losing a daughter to suicide or having a living ‘son.’”

Director of U.N. Advocacy at ADF International Giorgio Mazzoli also joined the panel, stating: “The family must not be viewed as a competitor to the state, nor parents as obstacles to children’s rights. They are the children’s first and best guardians — entrusted by nature and recognized by law.”

Mazzoli further called on governments to establish policies that protect parents’ rights regarding education, health care, and other identity-related decisions.

Flowers are seen on Sept. 3, 2025, outside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where a shooter killed two children and injured 21 other people on Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Alex Wroblewski/Getty

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:14 pm (CNA).

Less than three weeks after the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minnesota that killed two children and injured 21 during Mass, the parents of a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head say her progress has been “miraculous.”

When Sophia Forchas arrived at the hospital with a critical gunshot wound in her head, the doctors warned her parents that her life was in the balance.

“Doctors warned us she was on the brink of death,” Forchas’ parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, said in a statement. “In that darkest hour, the world responded with faithful devotion and fervent prayer.” 

As news of the shooting spread, people around the world offered prayers for the victims and the community in prayer services, online, and in the quiet of their own homes.

In the early days after the shooting, Forchas’ condition “was changing minute to minute,” according to a Sept. 5 update from her parents. 

A GoFundMe page organized by Michelle Erickson on the Forchas’ behalf has raised more than $1 million for Sophia’s recovery and to support her family with counseling services. 

Sophia’s younger brother was also inside the school during the shooting, according to Erickson. Sophia’s mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, “arrived at work to help during the tragedy, before knowing it was her children’s school that was attacked and that her daughter was critically injured,” according to the GoFundMe page.

Sophia’s parents asked the world for prayers — and the world responded. The Forchases say they have heard from people from Athens to Minneapolis who are praying for their daughter. 

In the wake of the tragedy, the Forchas family said that “rays of hope emerged” last week. 

Sophia’s doctor said she “was showing signs of resilience,” the family said. “Her progress to this point is being called miraculous. We are calling it a miracle.”  

“We thank you for all the prayers, love, and unwavering support from across the globe,” the Forchas family said. “The road ahead for Sophia is steep, but she is climbing it with fierce determination.” 

“She is fighting not just for herself, but for every soul who stood by her in prayer,” they continued. “Please continue to keep Sophia in your hearts and prayers. She is a warrior! And she is winning!!”

‘Shattered and heartbroken, but not lost’

This week, hundreds gathered to support the family of 10-year-old Harper Moyski, one of the two children killed in the shooting. Fletcher Merkel, 8, also died in the attack. Twenty-one other people, mostly children, were also injured.

Mike Moyski and Jackie Flavin, Harper’s parents, called her a “light” in their remarks at a celebration of life on Sept. 14 at Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis. 

“She taught us something profound, that light doesn’t always mean being strong on your own,” Flavin said, according to a report by CBS News. “Sometimes it really means being soft enough to let love in.”

“Harper didn’t do anything halfway. She was extra in the very best way,” Flavin said. “She just packed so much joy and imagination into her short 10 years, and thank God. Thank God she made it all count.” 

Harper’s mother said the last few weeks “have felt like being dropped at the bottom of the ocean, where it is pitch dark, and the pressure is crushing and no human is really meant to survive it.” 

But in the midst of their suffering, Harper’s parents said they feel grateful for the support. 

“There’s just so much love and support lighting our path that we haven’t felt lost,” Flavin said. “Shattered and heartbroken, but not lost.”

“You’ve lifted us up during the hardest days of our lives, and we are so grateful,” Moyski said.

Aftermath of a tragedy 

Annunciation Catholic School students are returning to school with a modified schedule this week, according to an announcement by the school’s leaders. The school will have supportive activities as well as extra security and support staff. 

The church where the shooting took place will have to be reconsecrated, according to the archdiocese. 

Reconsecration is a Catholic ritual used to purify a sacred space after it has been desecrated. 

Father Matthew Crane, a canon lawyer in Minnesota, explained that as part of the rite, “the sanctuary is stripped in a manner consistent with Good Friday.” 

“After the procession, much like the rite for initially dedicating a church, the celebrant, usually a diocesan bishop, blesses holy water and then sprinkles the people and walls with it,” Crane said. “Penitential prayers are offered, and the altar is only dressed with cloth and candles after these rituals have concluded.” 

Crane said the “spiritual effects” include “purification and reparation.” 

Crane, who has attended a reconsecration in the past, said he “was surprised at how, by virtue of participating in that ritual, I felt connected to and comfortable in the building and place.” 

“I would hope that in Annunciation, or any Catholic community, the ritual of reconsecration would grant the community a profound sense of being once again at home in a house of God,” he said.

Silvia Toma before participating in the vigil with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Silvia Toma has a scar on her soul: Four years ago she buried her 34-year-old only son, who had two little daughters. “It was sudden leukemia. He was admitted on May 25, 2021, and died on June 3,” she said, still choked up by the pain.

At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic regulations allowed no visitors. Safety measures prevented her from caressing his hand in his slow agony.

“They never let us visit him. He was hospitalized in the coronary care unit completely alone,” she recalled. They could only communicate minimally through WhatsApp messages.

Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at his side

The day before he died, they let her in to see him. “His wife spent 15 minutes with him and I for another 15. I took the opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him.” The doctors then asked them to leave the room and a few hours later asked them to return to the clinic.

“When we arrived, they told us he had suffered three cardiac arrests. He had survived two, and he hadn’t survived the third,” Toma explained, her eyes welling with tears but with a big, maternal smile that communicated she would be all right. 

Holding on to faith is the only thing that kept her going in the most difficult moments. “We are not prepared to lose a son, but I am extremely grateful for the faith,” said Toma, who, the day after her son was hospitalized, knelt before the tabernacle in her parish church, St. John the Baptist, in the Diocese of Avellaneda Lanús, Buenos Aires province.

Once before the Blessed Sacrament, “I told him that he already knew what was in my heart, but that his will be done. And his will was for my son to be with him.”

Toma still doesn’t understand God’s reasons, but she’s not seeking answers either. On Sept. 15, she participated in the Jubilee of Consolation in Rome and testified that death doesn’t have the last word.

“I often break down and cry, but, thank God, never once did I utter a word of reproach. I believe he must know why, and one day I will understand,” she added.

She said that going through this soul-searing pain, for which there isn’t even a word to define it in the dictionary, “has been like sharing a little bit in what the Virgin Mary felt at the foot of the cross.”

“I ask her to always hold him close and kiss him for me,” she said.

Pope Francis prayed for her

Toma is divorced but maintains a good relationship with her ex-husband, who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Her son had received all the sacraments — baptism, Communion, confirmation — but in his adolescence, “he turned to Jehovah’s Witnesses,” she said.

“He even signed the document expressing his refusal to receive a blood transfusion, as required by that religious denomination,” she explained.

In 2019, she was able to share the suffering her son’s actions caused her with Pope Francis, whom she greeted after a general audience. “When he finished listening to me, he told me he would pray for Gabriel’s return to the Catholic Church,” she related.

And little by little, this began to take shape. For Toma, there is no doubt that it was a small gift the Argentine pontiff gave her.

“I believe God worked in him,” she said. “Before he died, he spoke with the priest from our parish, something he hadn’t done in a long time. They texted each other on WhatsApp, they chatted. I believe his heart was opening again,” she added.

The situation became critical when he was admitted. “On the last day, the doctor told us that if they didn’t give him the transfusion, he would die. He was conscious. His wife, a Jehovah’s Witness, said, ‘I can’t sign.’ Then they asked me. I entered the room, looked him in the eyes, and asked him if he really wanted the transfusion, because I couldn’t override his personal decision either. He said yes.”

At that moment, mother and son signed the consent form together: “As I was signing, he touched his head and said to the doctor, ‘The thing is, my mother is a catechist.’”

For this mother, that decision, although it didn’t save her son's life, signified an inner reconciliation. “I believe God gave him the opportunity to return to him at the most important moment,” Toma said. For her, this final gesture was also a true consolation.

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

Pallbearers from The Royal Dragoon Guards carry Katharine, Duchess of Kent’s coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, into Westminster Cathedral for a Vigil for the Deceased with Rite of Reception and Vespers for the Dead ahead of her funeral on Sept. 15, 2025, in London. / Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).

The British Royal family held its first Catholic funeral in modern history on Tuesday for the duchess of Kent, the first senior British royal to be received into the Church since the 17th century. 

The duchess died on Sept. 4 at the age of 92 and asked that her funeral be held at Westminster Cathedral in London. She was raised Anglican but joined the Catholic Church in 1994. She described her conversion as a “long-pondered personal decision” but said she was attracted to the solace and clarity of the faith. 

Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, the duchess married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Her family said she should be remembered for her “lifelong devotion to all the organizations with which she was associated, her passion for music, and her empathy for young people.”

On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds gathered to honor the duchess’ life at the cathedral alongside the duke and their three children. King Charles III, Prince William, and Princess Kate Middleton were all in attendance; Queen Camilla was not present reportedly due to illness. 

King Charles’ presence marked the first time a reigning British monarch has attended a Catholic funeral in a formal capacity on U.K. grounds since the Reformation.

The Requiem Mass was celebrated by the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. The dean of Windsor joined the cathedral clergy during the Mass and presided over the burial of the duchess with the auxiliary bishop of Westminster. 

In a Sept. 16 telegram to King Charles, Pope Leo XIV said he “was saddened to learn of the death of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent.” The message was read by Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, at the funeral Mass.

“I send heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayerful closeness, to your majesty, the members of the royal family, and especially to her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their children and grandchildren at this time of sorrow,” Pope Leo wrote. 

“Entrusting her noble soul to the mercy of our heavenly Father, I readily associate myself with all those offering thanksgiving to almighty God for the duchess’ legacy of Christian goodness, seen in her many years of dedication to official duties, patronage of charities, and devoted care for vulnerable people in society.”

“To all who mourn her loss, in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I willingly impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the risen Lord,” the pope said.

null / Credit: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced an addition to its ongoing National Catholic Mental Health Campaign to amplify local engagement on mental health. 

The title for the initiative, “Healing and Hope,” was taken from the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign’s introductory statement, written by Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron.

“As pastors, we want to emphasize this point to anyone who is suffering from mental illness or facing mental health challenges: Nobody and nothing can alter or diminish your God-given dignity. You are a beloved child of God, a God of healing and hope,” the U.S. bishops said this week. 

The initiative “builds upon the goal of promoting healing and hope for all who struggle with mental illness and is inclusive of the people who accompany them,” the USCCB said in a Sept. 15 statement. 

“Healing and Hope” is intended to combat the present mental health crisis affecting people across the nation, especially younger generations. Pew Research found that as of April, 55% of parents report being extremely or very concerned about the mental health of teens. 

The U.S. bishops have added three new elements to the mental health campaign to strengthen Catholic engagement ahead of World Mental Health Day, including a revitalized digital campaign with reflections by bishops meant to “invite all people into deeper conversation on the realities and stigmas of mental health.”

The initiative will also launch state conferences on mental health beginning in early 2026 with a meeting in New Jersey. 

At the conferences, “bishops, clergy, religious, and laypeople in dioceses/eparchies and local groups will have an opportunity to gather for dialogue on local mental health realities.” 

Healing and Hope will also prompt parishes to host “Mental Health Sunday” on the weekend of Oct. 11–12. Parishes are encouraged to share at Mass about the national campaign and its mission, integrate petitions around mental health issues, offer a special blessing for caretakers, and consider launching a Catholic mental health initiative in the parish community.

All the faithful in the U.S. are encouraged to participate by praying the Novena for Mental Health from Oct. 10, World Mental Health Day, to Oct. 18, the feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of health care.