St. James the Less Catholic Parish

A policeman stands guard at a checkpoint along a street in Srinagar on May 1, 2025. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the military “operational freedom” to respond to a deadly attack in Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on arch-rival Pakistan, a senior government said on April 29. / Credit: BASIT ZARGAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2025 / 15:14 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:

Catholic who refused to deny his faith shot by Islamic terrorists in India  

A 57-year-old Catholic man, Sushil Nathaniel, was among 26 people killed during a terrorist attack in Kashmir (also called Pahalgam), India, last week, according to an Asia News report. 

Nathaniel’s wife, who escaped with their two children, told AsiaNews that her husband was shot in the head by terrorists after refusing to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. 

While celebrating his funeral, Bishop Thomas Kuttimackal of Indore described Nathaniel as a “martyr” and praised his “courage in not hiding his faith even under threat of arms.” 

Lebanese Christians remember ‘special paternal love’ of Pope Francis

Lebanese Christians in the country and diaspora communities around the world have been taking the time to memorialize Pope Francis, remembering his “special paternal love” for Lebanon, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Bishops led solemn liturgies in Beirut, Zgharta, and Sidon, while Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, recovering from surgery, sent a heartfelt message praising the pope’s spiritual impact. In Rome, Bishop Youssef Soueif led a Mass at the Mar Maroun Church with members of the Lebanese diaspora. Even in Lomé, Togo, Maronite faithful gathered to honor the late pontiff in prayer.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis held a deep and fatherly affection for Lebanon. From backing youth-led protests in 2019 to calling for unity among political leaders, he remained attentive to the country’s struggles. Though a scheduled 2022 visit was postponed, Francis continued to speak out for Lebanon, notably urging the swift election of a president in 2024. In 2021, he convened Lebanese Christian leaders at the Vatican for a special day of prayer and reflection dedicated to the country’s future.

Conference on role of Christians in the future of Syria takes place in Aleppo

In Aleppo, the Catholic Education Association launched the first “Pentecost of a Nation” conference to highlight the role of Syrian Christians in shaping the country’s future, ACI MENA reported on Wednesday.

The event brought together 250 participants from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds to discuss constitutional reform, social justice, and national identity. Church leaders emphasized the Christian community’s historical role as active contributors — not passive observers — of Syria’s development while advocating for forgiveness, coexistence, and civic engagement.

Diplomats in Nigeria eulogize Pope Francis as ‘leader for truth, peace, equality’

Members of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria have paid glowing tribute to Pope Francis, describing the late pontiff as a global beacon of peace, truth, humility, and justice.

“Words will fail me on this one. He was a wonderful human being, a leader for truth, for peace, for equality, for solidarity, for unity, and for love,” the honorary consul of Colombia to Nigeria, Maricel Romero, told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Tuesday after a memorial Mass in Pope Francis’ honor. 

European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and Eurasia Gautier Mignot praised the late pope for his dedication to “the most humble, the most vulnerable, and the poorest.” 

Only 15% of South Korean Catholics attend Mass, according to latest study

A new study published by the Catholic bishops’ conference in Korea found that about 15 in every 100 Catholics in South Korea attended Mass regularly last year, UCA News reported. 

The study, titled “2024 Statistics on the Catholic Church in Korea” found that the total number of Catholics in South Korea in 2024 was almost 6 million, about 11.4% of the total population.

German cardinal describes ‘brotherly and cordial mood’ among cardinals in Rome

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, Germany, described the attitude among cardinals gathered in Rome for the conclave as “brotherly and cordial” in an interview with CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, on Tuesday.

“Most cardinals have not seen each other for a long time and many are happy and have been happy to see each other again,” he said. “That’s how I felt too.”

At the general congregations, the meetings of the cardinals in preparation for the conclave, which begins May 7, “a very concentrated, calm, objective working mood” prevails, Woelki explained.

“With all the differences and the different perspectives that are naturally brought in there, from the different partial Churches and with the different cultures and mentalities,” he said there is “simply a good togetherness.”

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, New Jersey. / Credit: Farragutful via Wikimedia (CC BY_SA 4.0)

CNA Staff, May 2, 2025 / 11:27 am (CNA).

Camden, New Jersey, Bishop Joseph Williams this week said he will do right by abuse victims in his diocese amid an ongoing legal dispute over a potential grand jury inquiry into clergy abuse there. 

The Camden Diocese has been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state over whether the government can empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse by priests and other Church officials. The diocese has argued that the abuse in question would not fall under the purview of a grand jury. 

The state Supreme Court said in March that it would consider whether or not to allow the grand jury to be convened to consider the allegations. 

The high court heard arguments from both the diocese and the state this week, with news outlets reporting that some justices sounded “skeptical” over the diocese’s arguments against a possible grand jury. 

‘I will do the right thing by survivors’

In a letter in the Catholic Star Herald on Thursday, Williams said he was “new to being a diocesan bishop and new to the complex legal arguments and proceedings involved” in the ongoing case. The prelate was made bishop of the Camden Diocese earlier this year, having previously served as coadjutor bishop there. 

“[P]lease be assured that I am diligently studying our current legal position and am consulting survivors, fellow bishops, legal experts, and diocesan officers — as well as my own conscience — so that I will do the right thing by the survivors, the Church, and [the] state of New Jersey,” the bishop said. 

“I ask [for] your prayers for all involved,” he added. 

Williams in his letter also noted a Monday report in the Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the controversy, one that reported that the bishop had declined to comment to the newspaper.

“I was completely unaware of any invitation on behalf of the Philadelphia Inquirer to speak about the case currently being presented to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and I thought the journalists had made a mistake,” the bishop said. 

“They had not,” he continued, writing that the mistake “was on our end” and that the bishop himself had “never received” the request for comment from the paper. 

The prelate said he reached out to the Inquirer journalists “to apologize for this miscommunication and to offer to meet with them in person at their earliest convenience.”

“I have always had a deep respect for the vocation of journalists and would have been eager to sit down with him to discuss this important matter,” Williams wrote.

Tens of thousands of young pilgrims, who took part in Jubilee of Teenagers festivities from April 25-27, 2025, were also present at the Divine Mercy Mass dedicated to the late pontiff. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/Vatican Media

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

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is launching a new initiative this summer to address the crisis of disaffiliation among young people in the Church through a proactive missionary “lab” program. 

“The impetus behind it is really giving tools to young people who notice things and have great ideas about how to respond to needs or opportunities in their community, and giving it a structure that allows them to practice listening, practice prayerful discernment, and implement whatever project they’re working on,” the archdiocese’s coordinator of missionary discipleship, Rena Black, told CNA. 

“When a young person is the driving force behind something, that lights a fire under people in a way that nothing else can,” she said. “So we’re trying to harness that a little bit.” 

According to Black, the Archdiocesan Youth Missionary Protagonism Lab (AYMP Lab) will serve as a “space of experimentation to discover something new” and will consist of gathering up to 10 teams of two to four young people and one to two adults from across the archdiocese who will meet monthly to work through the stages of designing projects that fill a need in their communities. 

Young people in these teams will also be assisted by their parishes and other adult mentors as they carry out their projects. 

Participation will include a special missionary discipleship training as well as monthly “synodal-style advising” among the teams via Zoom, according to the website. 

While most of the program’s meetings will take place remotely, Black emphasized that young people will “not just be passive recipients” but rather “actively engaging in the process of giving and receiving feedback to one another, sharing things they’ve learned, and things that have come up in their own prayer and reflection that might be relevant to others and other projects.” 

The purpose of the meetings, Black said, is to accompany the teams in a “synodal” style process, rather than a merely instructional one, and to incentivize young people to spearhead the initiatives while providing necessary guidance and feedback. 

The teams will also partake in an in-person retreat and send-off liturgy at the end of the program. 

The AYMP Lab was partially inspired by a program in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia called the Youth Co-Leadership Protagonism Initiative, as well as by the work carried out by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

Black emphasized the importance of bringing “the wisdom of prayerful design thinking into the process” and listening to the needs of the community as a key component of the program. 

Black said that to date she has received applications from “a handful” of teams but is hoping to draw in even more, particularly from underserved areas in the archdiocese. 

The program has received about $6,500 in grants from the Mark D. Pacione Foundation to kickstart its local efforts, Black said, although she said she hopes to secure more funding as the program grows.

“That’s part of my hope,” she said, “that we prepare them not just for the local micro grant but give them skills to be able to apply for even more funding.”

Groups of teens are currently invited to apply with their adult mentors to participate in the program until the application deadline on May 19.

“Special consideration will be given to applicant teams from communities without full-time paid youth ministry staff as well as teams who represent urban, rural, and culturally-shared pastorates,” the site notes. 

“It’s a wild time in our archdiocese right now,” Black said, noting the lowering of the confirmation age and the loss of its Auxiliary Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, who has been appointed to serve as bishop of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. The archdiocese has also been bankrupt since 2023 following an influx of civil lawsuits that came after a state law passed ending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases, some of which stretched back decades. 

“It’s the time where we’re going, ‘Holy Spirit, tell us what comes next,’” Black said, “and the Church is telling us, ‘Don’t forget to listen to young people’ in that question of what comes next, because they’re the churches now, but they are also the Church of the future.” 

“So if we fail to listen to them now,” she concluded, “we are not preparing for the future.”

CatholicVote president Brian Burch speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination for to be ambassador to the Holy See on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. / Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

In a party-line vote on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced Brian Burch’s nomination for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See to the full Senate for final confirmation. 

All 12 Republicans on the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, voted in favor of Burch, while all 10 of the committee’s Democrat members voted against him. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, now has to bring the nomination to the full Senate floor for a final vote. 

The action comes more than three weeks after Burch’s hearing before the committee, during which he fielded questions on foreign aid, the Vatican-China deal, and the Holy See’s role in securing a lasting peace in the Middle East. 

If confirmed by the full Senate, Burch, who is president of CatholicVote, will step down from his position at the organization, CatholicVote indicated.

During his hearing earlier this month, Burch emphasized his support for the Trump administration’s foreign spending cuts, which have had a widespread impact on Catholic aid organizations, saying: “I think the partnership with the Holy See can be a very good one, but I think those partners have to understand that our foreign aid is not endless, that we can’t fund every last program.”

On China, Burch said he intended to encourage the Vatican to apply pressure on the communist regime concerning its human rights abuses and reported violation of its deal with the Vatican regarding the appointment of bishops. 

“I would encourage the Holy See as the United States ambassador, if I’m confirmed, to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution,” he said.

Burch stated his intentions to support Vatican diplomacy to end the Israel-Hamas war, telling the committee he believed the Holy See “can play a significant role” by being “a partner in that conversation and [delivering] the necessary moral urgency of ending this conflict and hopefully securing a durable peace.”

President Donald Trump last December nominated Burch to serve as ambassador to the Vatican, writing in a Truth Social post that “he represented me well during the last election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any presidential candidate in history!” and adding: “Brian loves his Church and the United States — he will make us all proud.”

CatholicVote is a political advocacy group that endorsed Trump in January 2024 and ran advertisements in support of Trump during his campaign. The organization says it spent over $10 million on the 2024 elections.

Burch, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, is a graduate of the University of Dallas, a private Catholic school. In 2020, he wrote a book titled “A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good.” 

According to his biography on CatholicVote, Burch has received the Cardinal O’Connor Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus International and the St. Thomas More Award for Catholic Citizenship by Catholic Citizens of Illinois.

Bishop Robert Barron speaks alongside President Donald Trump (right) during a National Day of Prayer event on May 1, 2025, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. / Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 16:53 pm (CNA).

Two members of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States — Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron — have been tapped to serve on a new presidential commission on religious liberty created by President Donald Trump on Thursday, May 1.

Trump signed an executive order creating the Religious Liberty Commission in the White House Rose Garden surrounded by faith leaders from various traditions. The announcement coincided with the country’s National Day of Prayer.

“As we bow our heads this beautiful day in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer, we once again entrust our lives, our liberties, our happiness to the Creator who gave them to us and who loves us,” said Trump, a self-described “nondenominational Christian,” before signing the order. 

The new Religious Liberty Commission is tasked with creating a report on current threats to freedom of religion and strategies to enhance legal protections for those rights. The report will also outline the foundations of religious liberty in the United States and provide guidance on how to increase the awareness of peaceful religious pluralism in the country.

Some of the commission’s key areas of focus will include parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, free speech for religious entities, institutional autonomy, and attacks on houses of worship. It was created due to concerns that federal and state policies have infringed upon those rights. 

Members of the newly formed commission include the two Catholic prelates and Protestant leaders, such as Pastor Paula White, along with rabbis and imams. The Catholic president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Ryan Anderson, was also appointed to serve on the commission, as was psychologist and television personality Dr. Phil McGraw and renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.

The commission will be chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an evangelical Christian who Trump said gave him the idea to create the commission.

“No one should get between God and a believer,” Patrick said at the event. “No one should get between God and those seeking him.”

Bishop Barron: ‘We are indeed a nation under God’

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, was in attendance and delivered a prayer for the country and the president. Dolan, the archbishop of New York and a cardinal elector in the upcoming papal conclave, is in Rome.

“We know that the rights we enjoy to life, to liberty, to the pursuit of happiness are given not by government or popular consensus but by [God],” Barron said in his prayer, adding that “we are indeed a nation under God.”

Barron said religious liberty “has been reverenced from the very beginning of our republic as our first freedom” and prayed that God “might give us the grace to preserve it and strengthen it.”

He prayed that God will “bless our president” and that Trump will “strive always to please you in what he says and does, and may he govern under the direction of your providence.” He prayed that the president’s decisions will “always be particularly mindful of those who suffer and those who are most in need.”

Barron also prayed for the American people to always be “architects of justice and makers of peace” and asked God for a country that is “prosperous and strong, but above all righteous and docile to your will.”

In a post on X, Barron expressed gratitude toward Trump for appointing him to serve on the commission and said that religious liberty is a central concern of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I see my task as bringing the perspective of Catholic social teaching to bear as the commission endeavors to shape public policy in this matter,” he wrote. 

Barron added that he will try to model his service after Father Theodore Hesburgh, who was the president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952–1987 and served on 16 different presidential commissions in Republican and Democratic administrations.

Trump: ‘We have to trust our God’

At the event, Trump remarked that the National Day of Prayer is “a tradition older than our independence itself” and emphasized the importance of Americans putting their trust in God.

“We have to trust our God because our God knows exactly where we’re going, what we’re doing, knows every inch of our lives,” the president said. “And may he continue to hear our prayers to guide our steps and build up our beloved nation to even greater heights. We’re in the process of doing some great things.”

Trump, who earlier this year created the White House Faith Office and the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, said that activity in the Faith Office has been robust with “a lot of people going back and forth.” 

“That’s what we want: to defend and represent people of all faiths and their religious freedoms at home and abroad,” the president said. 

He suggested that because he created the commission on religious liberty with several faith leaders, “we’re probably going to be sued tomorrow” and said in a mocking voice: “Separation of church and state — can’t do that, right?” He asserted that Attorney General Pam Bondi “will win that suit.”

“The separation, is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Trump said. “I’m not sure. But whether there’s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be and you’re representing our country. And we’re bringing religion back to our country.”

During his speech, Trump also spoke about his efforts to combat antisemitism and the ongoing work to get the hostages held by Hamas returned home. He also discussed budget negotiations and the desire to prevent tax hikes, the reduced rate of illegal immigration, and potential trade deals with countries he has subjected to higher tariffs for trade with the U.S.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on May 1, 2020, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, May 1, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis, who died last month, was well known for his devotion to St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. 

The late pope announced a Year of St. Joseph in December 2020 in honor of the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph’s proclamation as patron of the universal Church. In making the announcement, Francis issued an apostolic letter, Patris Corde (“With a father’s heart”), dedicated to the foster father of Jesus. 

On today’s feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1), here are some of the most beautiful and powerful quotes from Francis’ document of personal reflections on St. Joseph.

Praise for the ordinary ‘hidden’ but vital people

“Each of us can discover in Joseph — the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet, and hidden presence — an intercessor, a support, and a guide in times of trouble. St. Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.”

“Our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. They understood that no one is saved alone.”

An invitation to courage

“Even through Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history, and his plan were at work. Joseph, then, teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties, and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture.”

“Just as God told Joseph: ‘Son of David, do not be afraid!’ (Mt 1:20), so he seems to tell us: ‘Do not be afraid!’ We need to set aside all anger and disappointment, and to embrace the way things are, even when they do not turn out as we wish. Not with mere resignation but with hope and courage. In this way, we become open to a deeper meaning. Our lives can be miraculously reborn if we find the courage to live them in accordance with the Gospel.”

God is greater than our hearts

“God can make flowers spring up from stony ground. Even if our heart condemns us, ‘God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything’ (1 Jn 3:20).”

God works in our weakness

“All too often, we think that God works only through our better parts, yet most of his plans are realized in and despite our frailty.”

The gift of one’s self

“Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust.”

Earthly fatherhood points higher

“In every exercise of our fatherhood, we should always keep in mind that it has nothing to do with possession but is rather a ‘sign’ pointing to a greater fatherhood. In a way, we are all like Joseph: a shadow of the heavenly Father who ‘makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust’ (Mt 5:45).”

Introducing children ‘to reality’

“Being a father entails introducing children to life and reality. Not holding them back, being overprotective or possessive, but rather making them capable of deciding for themselves, enjoying freedom and exploring new possibilities.”

“When fathers refuse to live the lives of their children for them, new and unexpected vistas open up. Every child is the bearer of a unique mystery that can only be brought to light with the help of a father who respects that child’s freedom.”

A prayer to St. Joseph

“Glorious Patriarch St. Joseph, whose power makes the impossible possible, come to my aid in these times of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protection the serious and troubling situations that I commend to you, that they may have a happy outcome. My beloved father, all my trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen.”

null / Credit: Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 1, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Sen. Hawley urges FDA to reinstate abortion drug safety regulations

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley issued a letter on Monday urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reinstate safety regulations for chemical abortion drugs. 

Citing a newly published study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Hawley urged the FDA to act, saying the “health and safety of American women depend on it.” 

The study, released this week, found that more than 1 in 10 women who use mifepristone experience adverse side effects including sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or an emergency room visit. 

Published on April 28, the study is the “largest known study of mifepristone to date,” according to Hawley. The study found that the rate of negative side effects is “at least 22 times greater” than the adverse effects rate on the drug label, which is approved by the FDA. 

In the letter, Hawley noted that Democratic administrations “have stripped away basic safeguards” surrounding the drug. The Obama administration reduced required in-person visits, removed the physicians prescription requirement, and ended mandatory reporting of adverse effects. 

The Biden administration, meanwhile, ended requirements for in-person visits and dispensing, meaning that mifepristone can be sent via mail without any medical supervision. 

Hawley urged the FDA to “reinstate safety regulations on the chemical abortion drug immediately.”

Catholic leaders fight assisted suicide as bill progresses in New York state

Catholic leaders in New York are speaking out as an assisted suicide bill, the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” progresses through the state Legislature this week. 

The assisted suicide bill passed the state Assembly on Tuesday. It was the first time such a bill has made it to the floor of either chamber since 2016. 

The bill allows anyone 18 or older to request drugs for assisted suicide if they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less and if they retain “decision-making capacity.”

Proponents maintain that there are safeguards against coercion and that the deadly drugs are self-administered.

Robert Bellafiore, a spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference, called the bill “state-sanctioned suicide” in a statement this week. 

Bellafiore described the measure a “Pandora’s box” that “cannot be controlled,” saying that it works against the governor’s suicide prevention efforts. He also criticized the bill for putting people with mental health issues at risk, arguing that the safeguards are “made of straw.” 

“It tells young people, who everyone knows are in the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis, that life is disposable and that it’s OK to end your life if you see no hope,” Bellafiore said.

Bellafiore called on the state to instead “strengthen palliative care, improve health care services and counseling for people in crisis, and show America what real compassion looks like.”

Local Catholic and pro-life organizations are banding together to oppose the measure. 

The bishops of New York wrote a letter last week urging the Legislature to reconsider the policy. The prelates cited concern for the vulnerable, who could be pressured into assisted suicide, as well as concerns about the quick expansion of assisted suicide in Canada.

On May 6, Feminists Choosing Life of New York and the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide will lobby against the legislation. The Diocese of Rochester partnered with the pro-life feminist group as well as the Finger Lakes Guild of the Catholic Medical Association to host a webinar on Thursday on physician-assisted suicide. 

Parental notification laws challenged in Missouri, Nevada

A pro-abortion group is suing Missouri over its law requiring parental consent for minors to have abortions. 

The Missouri state law requires a minor to receive parental consent from at least one parent to obtain an abortion. Minors may seek an exception in court. 

A pro-abortion nonprofit, Right By You, filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, alleging the notification laws “bully pregnant young people without parental support into giving birth.”

The lawsuit follows the passage of Missouri’s abortion rights amendment last fall. 

The advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said on Thursday that the lawsuit could “enable abusers and traffickers to exploit minors.”

“They’re suing so girls who aren’t old enough to get their ears pierced on their own can have an abortion without their parents,” said group spokeswoman Kelsey Pritchard.

A judge in Nevada, meanwhile, has blocked the state’s rule requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortion, a policy that was set to take effect this week. 

The 1985 law requiring one parent to be notified if a minor sought an abortion has never been enforced after it was found unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. 

After Roe was overturned, the law was scheduled to be enforced this month. But Planned Parenthood of Nevada challenged the law, calling it “unconstitutionally vague.”

U.S. District Court Judge Anne Traum granted Planned Parenthood’s request to pause the law’s implementation while it files a motion for stay.  

About 70% of U.S. states have some form of parental notification or permission laws for minors seeking abortion. 

null / Credit: lunamarina/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

The more often Catholics in the United States attend Mass, the more likely they are to oppose proposed changes to the Church, such as blessing same-sex marriages and allowing women to become priests, a new Pew Research Center study reveals.

Pew Research surveyed 1,787 Catholics nationwide from Feb. 3–9 and asked their views on a wide range of topics. Pew’s report specifically tracked and categorized the answers of Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly and those who don’t. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that participation in Mass “is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and his Church” (No. 2182) and that “on Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass“ (No. 2180). The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by attendance at Mass on Sundays or holy days, or on the evening of the preceding day.

According to the study, 53% of Catholics who attend weekly Mass said the Church should “stick to its traditional teachings” and limit change, while only 31% of those who attend less regularly affirmed the same position.

Between Catholics who attend Mass weekly and those who attend less regularly, the topic where the two groups differed the most was on the Church’s stance on recognizing gay marriages. 

Nearly two-thirds, or 66%, of Catholics who go to weekly Mass oppose Church recognition of gay marriages, while 58% of those who attend less frequently believe the Church should recognize same-sex marriages. 

Similarly, 56% of Catholics who go to weekly Mass oppose allowing women to become priests, while 67% of Catholics who attend less frequently are in favor of it. 

A majority of both weekly and non-weekly attendees, however, are in favor of women becoming deacons, with 54% of weekly attendees and 74% of non-weekly attendees supporting the proposal. 

According to the survey, Catholics who attend weekly Mass are sharply divided on the question of allowing priests to get married, with 49% in favor and 48% opposed. That is within the survey’s 3% margin of error. Non-weekly Mass-goers, meanwhile, clearly support such a change, with 69% in favor. 

Other issues surveyed showed less marked differences between the two groups. Large majorities of both weekly and non-weekly attendees believe the Catholic Church should allow the use of birth control (72% of weekly Mass-goers and 90% of less frequent participants). Seventy-one percent of weekly Mass attendees also believe the Church should allow couples to use in vitro fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant, a position also supported by 88% of non-weekly Mass attendees.

Pope Francis meets director Martin Scorsese in the Vatican on Nov. 30, 2016. / Credit: L’Osservatore Romano

CNA Staff, May 1, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is producing a feature-length documentary about Pope Francis and the educational movement the late pontiff founded.

“Aldeas, a New Story” will feature conversations between Scorsese and the pope, including what is reportedly Francis’ final in-depth on-camera interview for a film.

The documentary will highlight the work of Scholas Occurrentes, the nonprofit Pope Francis created in 2013 that aims to bring about what the pope called a “culture of encounter” through the education system. 

Part of the group’s work has included filmmaking under the Aldeas Initiative, which brings together film production with education and community building. The program encourages participants to make scripted short films highlighting their identities and histories. 

The documentary will show the short films of participants of the Aldeas Initiative from Italy, Gambia, and Indonesia. 

Aldeas Scholas Film and Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions announced the documentary on April 30. The two production companies said the film is “a testament to the enduring belief that creativity is not only a means of expression but a path to hope and transformation.”

“Now, more than ever, we need to talk to each other [and] listen to one another cross-culturally,” Scorsese said in a statement. “One of the best ways to accomplish this is by sharing the stories of who we are, reflected from our personal lives and experiences. It helps us understand and value how each of us sees the world.” 

“It was important to Pope Francis for people across the globe to exchange ideas with respect while also preserving their cultural identity, and cinema is the best medium to do that,” the filmmaker said.

Before his passing, Pope Francis said Aldeas “is an extremely poetic and very constructive project because it goes to the roots of what human life is, human sociability, human conflicts… the essence of a life’s journey.”

A release date for the film has not been announced. 

After Pope Francis’ passing, Scorsese called the Holy Father “a remarkable human being” in a statement shared with ABC News. 

“He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom. He radiated goodness. He had an ironclad commitment to the good. He knew in his soul that ignorance was a terrible plague on humanity. So he never stopped learning,” Scorsese said.

He added: “The loss for me runs deep — I was lucky enough to know him, and I will miss his presence and his warmth. The loss for the world is immense. But he left a light behind, and it can never be extinguished.”

Archivists show a handwritten book of the Rule of St. Augustine found in the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine’s archives, an example of the materials that will be preserved in WRAC’s future heritage center. / Credit: Courtesy of the Women Religious Archives Collaborative

CNA Staff, May 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A group of religious sisters in Cleveland is launching a multimillion-dollar archive center that will help collect, preserve, and share the stories of women religious in the United States. 

Sister Susan Durkin, OSU, told CNA that the Women Religious Archives Collaborative will ensure the preservation of the “tremendous stories of how sisters in the United States overcame insurmountable obstacles to serve the people in front of them.”

Durkin said that when she was serving as the president of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, the congregation undertook a project to downsize its motherhouse. 

“In our downsizing we had to make a decision about what to do with our archives,” she said, describing the storage option in the reduced space as “not a long-term strategy.” 

Leaders in the Cleveland Diocese expressed interest in a possible archive project. The Ursuline congregation, meanwhile, was working with an archival consultant on its own collection. 

Durkin said the archivist told them: “Look, this project is bigger than the Diocese of Cleveland. You might want to reach out further.” 

The sisters began inquiring in multiple states. The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, meanwhile, provided seed money to help launch the project. After undertaking sustainability modeling, the project became incorporated in 2022. 

“We’re incorporated in the state of Ohio and we’re in the Catholic directory,” Durkin said. “We have a board, a board committee, bylaws, codes, and regulations. We’re an official nonprofit. We’re looking to build this heritage center here in Cleveland.”

‘Really a unique and inspirational story’

The project has already amassed dozens of collections from around the country, Durkin said. 

“Right now we have 41 collections and continue to be in conversation with other congregations,” she said. “It grew from something that was regional to something bigger.”

The collections will include historical information about why a religious community served in a certain area and why it expanded to other places, Durkin said. “There will be individual sister stories, ministry stories, and then the sisters’ influence in the arts and music.” 

One particular area of focus, she said, will be in how many congregations, post-Vatican II, experienced a shift in ministry from more institutional systems like medical care and education to broader endeavors. 

“There are so many tremendous stories of how sisters overcame insurmountable obstacles to serve the people in front of them,” she said. “It’s not just that we’re preserving history. It’s about animating those stories. The sisters aren’t going away, and we need to manage these collections in a way that becomes useful and visible.”

The centerpiece of the project is a major facility in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland, which Durkin noted is “one of the poorest per capita in the U.S.” The sisters are aiming to have the archival center revitalize the neighborhood.

“We’re making an investment there,” Durkin said, calling the effort “not gentrification, but a renaissance.”

The archival project has launched a major capital campaign to that end with the goal of raising $24 million. The building itself will cost $22 million and the sisters hope to cover operational costs for the first year. 

The facility will include research facilities for archivists and other historians as well as an exhibit space with permanent and rotating exhibits, along with multipurpose rooms and other accommodations.

Ultimately, Durkin said, the goal of the project is to ensure that people will have access to the history and the stories of women religious in the United States, offering “examples for up-and-coming generations to show how our faith motivates us and how it’s important to us.”

“I think that resilience and that determination, and just total reliance on the providence of God, is really a unique and inspirational story,” she said. “And we need to continue to tell that.”