ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI

Pope Leo XIV greets a baby during an audience with the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family at the Vatican on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 24, 2025 / 13:44 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV during a Friday audience at the Vatican reminded teachers and students from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family of their mission to both speak and live the “common witness to the truth.”

“Your specific mission concerns the search for and common witness to the truth: in carrying out this task, theology is called to engage with the various disciplines that study marriage and the family, without being content merely to speak the truth about them but living it in the grace of the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, who revealed the Father to us through his actions and words,” he said in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 24.

In Leo’s audience with the institute — controversially re-founded by Pope Francis in 2017 to include the study of social sciences in addition to moral theology — he said the faithful “cannot ignore the tendency in many parts of the world to disregard or even reject marriage.”

“Even when young people make choices that do not correspond to the ways proposed by the Church according to the teaching of Jesus, the Lord continues to knock at the door of their hearts, preparing them to receive a new interior call,” the pontiff said. “If your theological and pastoral research is rooted in prayerful dialogue with the Lord, you will find the courage to invent new words that can deeply touch the consciences of young people.”

He added that our time is marked not just by tension and confusing ideologies but also by “a growing search for spirituality, truth, and justice, especially among young people.”

“Welcoming and caring for this desire is one of the most beautiful and urgent tasks for all of us,” Leo said.

In May, Pope Leo made one of his first personnel appointments as pope when he named Cardinal Baldassare Reina grand chancellor of the John Paul II Institute, replacing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 20.

Reina, 54, has been vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. As part of that role, he is also grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University, the home of the John Paul II Institute.

Pope Leo’s appointment of Reina as grand chancellor appeared to be a return to the former practice of linking the leadership of the institute to the vicar general of Rome. This practice had been changed under Pope Francis, who named Paglia to the role in 2016.

In his address to students and teachers on Friday, Leo pointed out the institute’s commitment to deepening the link between the family and the social doctrine of the Church and urged them to let their studies of family experiences and dynamics enrich their understanding of the Church’s social teaching.

“This focus would allow us to develop the insight, recalled by the Second Vatican Council and repeatedly reaffirmed by my predecessors, of seeing the family as the first cell of society, as the original and fundamental school of humanity,” he said.

He also recalled Pope Francis’ encouragement to women expecting a child in his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. 

“[Francis’] words contain a simple and profound truth: Human life is a gift and must always be welcomed with respect, care, and gratitude,” Leo said.

Recalling that many women face pregnancy in situations of loneliness or marginalization, the pontiff called on the civil and Church communities to “constantly strive to restore full dignity to motherhood” through concrete actions, including “policies that guarantee adequate living and working conditions; educational and cultural initiatives that recognize the beauty of creating life together; a pastoral approach that accompanies women and men with closeness and listening.”

“Motherhood and fatherhood, thus safeguarded, are not burdens on society but rather a hope that strengthens and renews it,” he said.

null / Credit: Blue Mist Film Studios/Shutterstock

ACI Africa, Oct 24, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).

A Catholic priest in Burkina Faso has appealed for prayers for the safe release of an evangelical Christian missionary abducted in Niger on Tuesday, Oct. 21.

Kevin Rideout, an American missionary, was abducted from his home in the country’s capital, Niamey, by three unidentified armed men suspected to be jihadists, said a note shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

The note further said the American missionary is “dedicated to training missionary aviation pilots serving evangelical, medical, and church-planting ministries as well as providing emergency humanitarian air transport.”

“Preliminary findings from the investigation indicate that the kidnappers headed toward the Tillabéri region,” the note said.

In an interview with ACI Africa on Oct. 23, Father Etienne Tandamba, a member of the clergy of Burkina Faso’s Fada N’Gourma Diocese, appealed for prayers for the release of Rideout.

“We pray for his safe release. Burkina Faso just like Niger faces insecurity challenges due to jihadists’ presence,” Tandamba, the director of communications for the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma, told ACI Africa.

Rideout’s abduction in Niger comes amid worsening insecurity in the Sahel region, where Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have all fallen under military rule following coups in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.

Rideout since 2010 has lived in Niamey, where he worked as a pilot for the U.S.-based Serving in Mission organization.

In response to the abduction, the U.S. Embassy in Niger issued a security alert on Oct. 22, saying: “American citizens remain at a heightened risk of kidnapping throughout Niger, including in the capital city.”

“Due to heightened concern about the threat of kidnapping, the embassy has modified its security posture to require armored vehicles for all travel of embassy personnel and family members, restricted movements of embassy personnel and family members, and instituted a mandatory curfew and routine accountability,” the embassy said. 

It added that “all restaurants and open-air markets are off limits to U.S. embassy personnel and family members.”

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

Annunciation School shooting survivor Sophia Forchas in a photo before the incident and then posing with neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich at Gillette Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis on a very happy day as she goes home to be with her family on Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Forchas family

National Catholic Register, Oct 24, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).

Twelve-year-old Sophia Forchas is finally home after spending 57 days in the hospital with severe injuries sustained from the deadly shooting on Aug. 27 at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during the first school Mass of the year that claimed the lives of two students. 

Sophia received a fond farewell outside the hospital on Oct. 23. 

In a statement posted to the family’s GoFundMe page, Sophia’s parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, wrote: “Today marks one of the most extraordinary days of our lives! Our beloved daughter, Sophia, is coming home!!”

Speaking with gratitude for the team of doctors that worked diligently to save their daughter, the couple wrote: “We thank you from the depths of our hearts. We will never forget your world-class care that sustained her. Your commitment carried us through.”

Sophia still has a long road ahead with outpatient therapy, but her parents said “our hearts are filled with indescribable joy as we witness her speech improving daily, her personality shining through once more, and her ability to walk, swim, and even dribble a basketball. Each step she takes is a living testament to the boundless grace of God and the miraculous power of prayer.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner: “I celebrate with the Annunciation community the return to home of Sophia Forchas. It was very moving that she was able to join us last evening for the daily 9:00 rosary outside of the Church. She and her father thanked the community for the many prayers that they have received throughout the time that Sophia had been in the hospital and at the rehabilitation center. Please join me in continuing to pray for the ongoing recovery of all of those affected by the tragedy at Annunciation, and especially for the families and loved ones of Harper Moyski and Fletcher Merkel.”

In a news conference Sept. 5, neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich of Hennepin County Medical Center told reporters that in treating Sophia’s injuries he would attempt to “go through the normal brain to get there” and potentially cause more damage. Given the pressure in her brain, Sophia’s survival was extremely low.

The neurosurgeon led a team in performing a decompressive craniectomy, which removed the left half of her skull to allow the pressure in her brain to be relieved.

“If you had told me at this juncture that, 10 days later, we’d be standing here with any ray of hope, I would have said, ‘It would take a miracle,’” Galicich said tearfully to reporters back in September.

Sophia’s mother, who works as a pediatric nurse in the critical care unit at the hospital where the victims were taken, had no idea that it was her children’s school that had been attacked that fateful day. She initially had no idea that one of the three patients was her own daughter.

Sophia’s younger brother also witnessed the school shooting that day; by the grace of God, he was left unscathed, though he is still suffering from the trauma, given the horrific event and his sister’s dire injuries.

After Sophia’s 57-day stint in the hospital, Galicich gave his young patient a big hug as she walked out of the Hennepin County Medical Center to cheers and applause from her family and classmates. Even the city’s police chief was present, taking her on a ride through the city in a stretch limo to mark the occasion. 

Speaking to The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Police Chief Brian O’Hara called Sophia’s homecoming “nothing short of a miracle.”

Ecstatic parents Tom and Amy also noted how crucial prayer was in their daughter’s healing, writing in their statement: “Those prayers came from family, friends, and countless souls around the world; many of whom have never met Sophia, yet lifted her spirit with unconditional love. Your prayers have been a wellspring of comfort, hope, and healing for our entire family. We are certain that God heard every single one.”

The Forchases expressed condolences to the families who lost their children during the shooting, saying: “We continue to pray for those whose lives were tragically lost on that heartbreaking day. May their memory be eternal.”

“We also hold close those who were injured and bear lasting scars, and the families and loved ones forever changed,” the Forchases continued. “May God grant healing, consolation, and his peace to all who grieve. To those whose hearts are hardened in despair, may the grace of the all-Holy Spirit soften them. We pray that the Trinity fill the world with compassion and love.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

The state of Alabama on Oct. 23, 2025, executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead. / Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File

CNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).

The state of Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead.

Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die from the execution method, according to the Associated Press. The news wire said he “clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly, and began shaking,” after which he became still but continued with a series of “heaving breaths” for “at least 15 minutes.”

The Alabama man was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Huguley was taped up, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. 

Boyd proclaimed his innocence until the last minutes of his life. “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody,” he said on Oct. 23 prior to being executed. 

The protracted execution came on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider whether the execution by nitrogen gas violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. 

Nitrogen gas is a relatively new execution method in the U.S. In January 2024 Alabama executed Kenneth Smith with gas, the first time in U.S. history that such a method was used. 

Witnesses said Smith writhed for several minutes while being administered the gas and was observed breathing for a considerable amount of time during the execution itself. Advocates have warned that the process is drawn-out and painful for victims of execution. 

Boyd had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider requiring Alabama to execute him by firing squad. The Supreme Court declined to consider the case.

In a scathing dissent ahead of the execution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the high court of “turn[ing] its back” on Boyd and on the Constitution. 

Sotomayor, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pointed to several other executions by nitrogen gas, including Kenneth Smith’s, noting reports that inmates have been seen “violent[ly] convulsing, eyes bulging, [and] thrashing against the restraints” while they are killed. 

All condemned prisoners suffer “distress” ahead of their executions, Sotomayor said. But drawn-out methods of execution like that of nitrogen gas create suffering “after the execution begins and while it is being carried out to completion.”

Prisoners are not guaranteed a painless death under the Eighth Amendment, Sotomayor acknowledged.

“But when a state introduces an experimental method of execution that superadds psychological terror as a necessary feature of its successful completion, courts should enforce the Eighth Amendment’s mandate against cruel and unusual punishment,” she said.

Ahead of Boyd’s execution, the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network said capital punishment “remind[s] us how critically important it is that we include the abolition of the death penalty in our respect life advocacy.”

“May we see the dignity of [Boyd] and of every individual sentenced to death, remembering always that no person is defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done,” the group said.

Cardinal Ján Chryzostom Korec. / Credit: Nitra Diocese

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘He spilled blood and ink’

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

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis and Cardinal Korec

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

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

A member of the Tunisia’s national guard stops a fishing boat in the sea bordering Tunisia and Libya as they check vessels for illegal migrants trying to reach Europe, Tuesday, May 5, 2015. / Credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images

EWTN News, Oct 24, 2025 / 10:14 am (CNA).

The sinking of yet another migrant boat off the coast of Tunisia must spur leaders in Europe and Africa to address the root causes of migration that compel innocent people to embark on often deadly journeys, Archbishop Nicolas Lhernould of Tunis said.

In an interview with SIR — the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference — published Oct. 24, Lhernould said the Oct. 22 sinking of a migrant boat off the coast of Tunisia that killed 40 people, including several infants, cannot be viewed as just “one more shipwreck” but as a loss of “unique people” whose “lives were extinguished.”

“As Pope Francis has said, we must never get used to these things,” the French-born prelate said.

“Unfortunately, shipwrecks have been recurring for years, and this one has had a very high number of victims. But these are not just statistics: They are men, women, and children.”

According to the Associated Press, investigators were still working to determine the cause of the shipwreck. The Tunisian Coast Guard nevertheless rescued 30 survivors who were reportedly attempting to reach Europe.

The migrants hailed from sub-Saharan Africa, AP reported.

Lhernould told SIR that many of those arriving in Tunisia on their way to Europe “have already crossed the Sahara Desert, which has now become the world’s largest cemetery.”

“The reasons driving people to leave are many: poverty, insecurity, lack of prospects,” he said. “Some leave out of desperation, others out of naivety, because someone promises them a better future that does not exist.”

While relieved that rescuers had saved 30 people, Lhernould lamented the pain and fear felt by those who embarked on such a dangerous journey in search of a better life.

“The tragedy is that these departures happen completely clandestinely, and we only become aware of them after the tragedy has occurred. It is painful because no one should be forced to risk their life for a hope that is often just a mirage,” he said.

Acknowledging that the political issues European institutions face in addressing the migrant crisis are “complex,” the archbishop said the situation must be rooted in “the unconditional respect for the human person.”

“It is not enough to be moved by tragedies,” Lhernould said. “We must address the causes that push people to leave, with sincere collaboration between the North and South.”

“We also need to listen to the fears of European public opinion,” he added. 

“Only in this way can fear be transformed into a human and rational relationship, oriented toward the common good. Managing the emergency is not enough; we must build a shared future.”

The sun rises over the main gate with the renowned sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work makes you free”) of the Museum of Auschwitz/Birkenau German Nazi concentration and extermination camp on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. / Credit: Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 24, 2025 / 09:44 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday authorized decrees recognizing 11 new martyrs as well as four new venerables to be honored by the Church.

With this declaration, the pope has cleared the way for them to be declared “blessed,” but a date has not been set for their beatification.

During his Oct. 24 audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Holy Father approved the designation of 20th-century European martyrs killed “in hatred of the faith” under Nazi and communist regimes.

Polish Servants of God Jan Świerc, Ignacy Antonowicz, Ignacy Dobiasz, Karol Golda, Franciszek Harazim, Ludwik Mroczek, Włodzmierz Szembek, Kazimierz Wojciechowski, and Franciszek Miśka were killed in concentration camps in Auschwitz, Poland, and Dachau, Germany, between 1941 and 1942.

Victims of the Nazi regime following the 1939 German occupation of Poland, the nine religious priests — who belonged to the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco — were tortured and executed for being Catholic clergy.

Other martyrs approved by Pope Leo are Servants of God Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, diocesan priests from former Czechoslovakia who were executed between 1951 and 1952 following the communist takeover of the country in 1948.

On Friday, the Holy Father also approved decrees for four servants of God to be declared “venerable” by the Church in recognition of their “heroic virtues.” Among the new venerables, three are professed religious from Europe. 

Spanish Servant of God José Merino Andrés, OP, born 1905 in Madrid, was known for his missionary and pastoral zeal and faithfulness to the Dominican charism, and trained approximately 700 priests in Palencia, Spain, as a novice master for the Order of Preachers before his death on Dec. 6, 1968.

Before joining the Discalced Carmelites, Servant of God Gioacchino della Regina della Pace, OCD, was a custodian of the Sanctuary of the Queen of Peace in Liguria, Italy. He was a third-order Carmelite for 10 years before making his solemn profession in the order in 1967. He died at the age of 95 on Aug. 25, 1985.

Servant of God Maria Evangelista Quintero Malfaz, OCist, joined the Cistercian order as a religious sister in Spain in the early 17th century with a reputation for being a mystic. Through monastic life and intense prayer, she offered her life for the conversion of sinners and was revered by her religious sisters who sought her counsel. She died in Spain in 1648. 

Founder of the Missionary Institute of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Servant of God Angelo Angioni is the only diocesan priest among the four venerables approved by Pope Leo on Friday. 

Born in Italy on Jan. 14, 1915, Angioni was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ozieri in 1938. He spent several years supporting parishioners, seminarians, and other priests of the diocese before being sent as a “fidei donum priest” to serve the Diocese of São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, in 1951. 

Known for his love for the poor and the Gospel, Angioni’s reputation for his humble and serene holiness spread in Brazil and Italy before his death on Sept. 15, 2008.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the martyrs as “martyr saints.” They should just be referred to as martyrs. (Published Oct. 24, 2025) 

Marta Petrosillo, editor-in-chief of the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Religious Freedom Report. / Credit: Gael Kerbaol/Secours Catholique

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 09:14 am (CNA).

The author of Aid to the Church in Need’s 2025 Religious Freedom Report, Marta Petrosillo, is coming to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s defense after remarks he made regarding persecution of Nigerian Christians prompted pushback.

Parolin sparked pushback after stating at a press conference on Tuesday that ongoing violence and unrest in Nigeria is a “social conflict” rather than a religious one. He told Vatican reporters during the presser for Aid to the Church in Need’s 2025 Religious Freedom Report release event: “I think they’ve already said, and some Nigerians have already said, that it’s not a religious conflict but rather a social conflict, for example, between herders and farmers.”

“Let’s keep in mind that many Muslims who come to Nigeria are victims of this intolerance,” he continued.” So, these extremist groups, these groups that make no distinctions to advance their goals, their objectives, use violence against anyone they perceive as an opponent.” 

The remarks prompted immediate pushback, including from Sean Nelson of Alliance Defending Freedom International, who called them “particularly shocking.” Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute further characterized them as “repeating the Nigerian government’s talking points that obfuscate and downplay the persecution of the Catholic faithful and other Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt,” in comments to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. 

As author of the report, Petrosillo weighed in on the controversy in an Oct. 23 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” telling Arroyo: “Cardinal Parolin didn’t say [the conflict was solely between farmers and herders] in his speech in our conference. His speech was really strong, underlining the importance of religious freedom.” 

“I know that Cardinal Parolin is one of the most important people on religious freedom,” she continued. “He has a huge knowledge on this.” 

Regarding the controversy that has ensued over Parolin’s comments, Petrosillo said: “I can only suppose that … it was referring to the complex situation there.”

She added: “I think that this topic [is] too complex and too elaborate, just for one journalist to take one sentence outside a conference in a very rushed way. So I would not consider that as a statement from his eminence.”

Petrosillo further pushed back against claims that the focus of the ACN report was to highlight Christian persecution alone, stating: “No, the focus of our report is not that Christians are the only group affected.” 

“In our report, we [documented] a violation of religious freedom against all the religious groups,” she told Arroyo. “Of course, in the case of Nigeria, there are specific anti-Christian incidents, but we are not saying that only Christians are targeted in Nigeria, because as I also said before, in some cases, we have also many Muslims that refuse extremist ideology ... being killed.”

José Luis Bazán, legal adviser to the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) in Brussels. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 24, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The rise in violence and attacks against places of worship and believers, traditionally associated with regions of conflict, has seen a worrying upturn in recent years in Europe, South America, and North America.

According to the latest report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), in 2023, France recorded nearly 1,000 attacks on churches, and more than 600 acts of vandalism were documented in Greece.

Similar increases were observed in Spain, Italy, and the United States, where attacks not only target church property but also include disruptions of worship services and attacks on clergy.

“These attacks reflect a climate of ideological hostility toward religion,” said José Luis Bazán, one of the report’s authors, in a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

For Bazán, the incidents are no longer just isolated episodes: “Attacks or acts of vandalism against places of worship are pandemic.”

Bazán focused on a phenomenon that crosses continents: “I’m talking basically about Europe and the Anglo-Saxon world — Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia — and, by extension, also Latin America, particularly the Southern Cone: Chile and Argentina.”

In Chile, he explained, approximately 300 attacks of vandalism against churches have been recorded, some linked to far-left groups and associated with times of social tension, with examples such as fires being set and attacks in the country’s south.

“We have fragmentary elements here and there, but if you put them all together, you realize the upward trend,” he said.

Bazán also mentioned coordinated episodes of vandalism on occasions such as International Women’s Day on March 8 in various Latin American and European countries. He noted that in Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, “there are radical feminist attacks against churches.”

“Sometimes what they do is vandalize them with slogans, as in Spain as well, like ‘Get your rosaries off our ovaries,’ or an even harsher one, which said something like ‘You will drink the blood of our abortions.’ They put this in front of the Logroño co-cathedral,” he lamented.

Bazán also mentioned the case of artist Abel Azcona, who “stole from churches, attended more than 200 Masses, and stole the consecrated hosts,” writing the word “pedophilia” on the ground with them. 

“The case reached the European Court of Human Rights, which unfortunately doesn’t fully understand the meaning of consecrated hosts to Christians and thought it was simply an object like any other,” he explained.

The expert emphasized the seriousness of the fact that this judicial interpretation has given “room for desecration, and from now on, anyone can steal consecrated hosts.”

Most attacks go unpunished

Bazán, who is a legal adviser on religious freedom for COMECE (Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union), also decried the fact that most attacks go unpunished.

He noted that in the case of vandalism, “it is sometimes difficult to know who is doing it.”

“These are attacks that occur at night, in remote churches, without cameras,” pointing out just how vulnerable religious heritage is.

“We’re talking about tens of thousands of churches in Europe, many of them vulnerable and in areas with difficult access,” he explained, after noting that the large number of farflung churches, small shrines, and chapels in rural areas makes prevention and investigation difficult.

‘Soft persecution’

The ACN report also warns of growing pressure on freedom of conscience in Europe. To explain this, the expert echoed the definition given by Pope Francis: “He denounced this [soft] persecution. Basically, what’s happening is an attempt to hijack people’s consciences,” Bazán pointed out.

As he explained, this form of harassment “goes unnoticed, because in general, in the West, people can go to church, practice rituals, sacraments, and so on.” However, “the question is what also happens in social life.”

Freedom of conscience under pressure

The jurist offered concrete examples of these restrictions: “What happens, for example, in universities when there is a professor who defends a position in accordance with religious principles, or a doctor or nurse who decides not to perform an abortion and does not want to be, let’s say, subject to any victimization or sanction?” he explained, citing the example of Spain, where an attempt is being made to create a list of doctors who object to abortion, which would have practical consequences for their careers.

“They probably won’t be able to serve on the hospital’s ethics committee, they probably won’t ever be considered to head a department [of] for example gynecology. In other words, there are many consequences,” he explained, extending this to any professional field.

Self-censorship: The most sophisticated form

Another worrying area in the West is “indirect censorship or self-censorship” in which the person, on his or her own and without the intervention of censors, “understands that it’s better not to [speak out] because otherwise there will be consequences.”

Bazán identified these new forms of indirect censorship, which he characterized as the most sophisticated form of classic censorship, “through proxies, for example, or through online platforms that are forced to establish a content moderation policy that introduces prohibitive elements imposed by the state.” In these cases, “it’s not the state that censors, it’s the platform.”

The result, he explained, is that “the censored person will simply see that the message no longer appears because it has disappeared from the platform. And he may even receive a message stating that he will not be able to post anything on social media for x amount of time.”

In many cases, he added, “fact-checkers, who are often ideologically biased NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], simply try to censor certain types of messages that go against a particular way of understanding society.”

‘An invisible wall’ and restrictive European rules

Bazán pointed out that “dissent is avoided” and that Christians “can see how they find themselves up against a kind of invisible wall, which no one denounces. In many cases, the wall isn’t even established by the state but is rather a combination of state and non-state elements in which it is very difficult to determine who is ultimately creating this situation.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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