St. James the Less Catholic Parish

Listeners of Spirit Catholic Radio sparked an initiative to place billboards featuring the Sacred Heart of Jesus along Interstate 80 through Nebraska “to share a message of love, hope, and faith with everyone who passes by.”  / Credit: Spirit Catholic Radio

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 2, 2025 / 15:44 pm (CNA).

Drivers heading through Nebraska this summer should expect to see more than just traffic and highways — they should also anticipate catching a glimpse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Listeners of Spirit Catholic Radio sparked an initiative to place billboards featuring the Sacred Heart of Jesus along Interstate 80 through Nebraska “to share a message of love, hope, and faith with everyone who passes by.” 

Spirit Catholic Radio, an affiliate of EWTN Radio network, announced that it is kicking off the campaign in June to mark the month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

“This campaign came straight from the hearts of our listeners,” Jim Carroll, executive director of Spirit Catholic Radio, said in the announcement. “They had the desire to share Christ’s love more publicly, and they made it happen through prayer and generous support.”

“Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back centuries,” Spirit Catholic Radio reported in a press release. “It’s rooted in the Christian belief that God’s love isn’t abstract — it’s personal. Saints like St. Gertrude the Great and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had deep spiritual experiences centered on this love, often describing the Heart of Jesus as a source of peace, mercy, and transformation.”

The Sacred Heart, depicted by a pierced heart on fire surrounded by a crown of thorns, has been an important image for Catholics as it represents Jesus’ love, compassion, and sacrifice.

The Nebraska billboards will have an image of Jesus with open arms and the Sacred Heart across his chest along with the words “June is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and “Jesus is king.” 

“We hope these billboards spark curiosity,” Carroll said. “Even if someone isn’t familiar with the Sacred Heart, we want them to know: This love is for you, too.”

The billboards will be visible in high-traffic areas including along I-80 and in the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas.

Whether people are commuting to work, driving home, or traveling through Nebraska, thousands are expected to see the billboards daily with the intent to offer them “reflection and spiritual inspiration.”

The Veil of Manoppello, which is kept in a church in Manoppello, Italy, known as the Santuario del Volto Santo. / Credit: Sonovision

CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2025 / 10:12 am (CNA).

Over the centuries, many people have asked: “What did Jesus look like?” A new documentary attempts to answer this question.

“The Face of Jesus” examines two acheiropoietic images of Christ — the Shroud of Turin and the Veil of Manoppello, both believed to be divinely created — as well as the Vilnius image of the Divine Mercy, one of the most extraordinary hand-painted depictions of Jesus.

Jaroslaw Redziak, the film’s producer and director, spoke to CNA about the inspiration behind the documentary and his hope that viewers, when they view these images, will come to see just how much Jesus loves them.

To discover what our Savior might have looked like, the film takes viewers back 2,000 years to Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem and then on to Rome and the small Italian village of Manoppello. 

The Polish filmmaker explained that the movie was inspired by the Veil of Manoppello. He and his wife have a personal devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and have visited the veil in Manoppello several times, he said.

“It’s a beautiful place. You can stand in this small, small church. There are only a few people inside and you … can almost touch the monstrance, which holds this image, and you can look at his face,” he told CNA. “It’s something incredible.”

The least known of the three images, the Veil of Manoppello gained popularity after Pope Benedict XVI’s 2005 visit to the remote village where it is preserved. Also known as the Veil of Veronica, it was discovered in the early 1900s and reveals an image of the face of Jesus, which, according to experts, corresponds to the face in the Shroud of Turin. 

Unlike the Shroud of Turin, however, the Veil of Manoppello has no bloodstains and the eyes are open, which, experts suggest, means the cloth shows the face of the risen Lord. Additionally, many believe that the veil is one of the burial cloths seen in the tomb by the disciples Peter and John as told in the Gospels.

Known throughout the world, the Shroud of Turin is an ancient linen cloth that shows the image of what many believe to be the face of Jesus Christ himself. The shroud is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, and has been the subject of extensive scientific study and public curiosity. The shroud has the imprint of the body of a man wearing a crown of thorns and is covered in bloodstains. 

The last time the shroud was publicly displayed was in 2015. While the Vatican does not have an official position on its authenticity, the shroud continues to attract pilgrims from around the world and remains the subject of public interest.

Perhaps more well known than the Shroud of Turin is the Vilnius image of the Divine Mercy, a divinely inspired, hand-painted image based on visions and messages from Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska. 

In 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw him clothed in a white garment with his right hand raised as if giving a blessing. His left hand touched his chest, near his heart. From there emanated two large rays, one red and the other white. 

Eugeniusz Kazimirowski painted the image under the guidance of St. Faustina and her confessor, Blessed Michael Sopocko. The Divine Mercy image gained popularity in the 1930s thanks to St. Faustina’s writings and in 2000, the Vatican declared the second Sunday of Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday.

Redziak called the four-year process of making the documentary a “spiritual adventure.”

He explained that the documentary was initially going to be a 20-minute short film that would be shared online only. However, as he traveled, researched, and spoke to more people, it became clear he needed to make it a full-length documentary.

During the making of the film, Redziak said he had the opportunity to see the Shroud of Turin, which is not often on public display. He said that while everyone is familiar with the photos and copies of the shroud, seeing the original “is very painful.”

“You can see there is a lot of blood, a lot of bruises — it’s something very, very hard, and you see that Jesus Christ suffered a lot for us,” he said.

Redziak said he hopes this film will leave viewers feeling closer to God.

“I think this is a chance for people to sit in the theater and look at the face of God, the face of Jesus, into his eyes. So this is a chance to be, for an hour and a half, closer to Jesus.”

He added that while the film tries to show what Jesus may have looked like, the film also tries to answer the question: Why did Jesus show us his face?

For Redziak, the answer is: “Because he loves us and he wants us to be closer to him.”

“The Face of Jesus” will be in theaters across the United States for one night only on Tuesday, June 3.

Father Robert Bedard – more commonly known as Father Bob – was a priest for the Diocese of Ottawa in Canada and the founder of the Companions of the Cross. / Credit: Companions of the Cross

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

Father Bob Bedard, a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa in Canada, was teaching his Grade 13 religion class on Oct. 27, 1975, when a lone gunman — another Grade 13 student — entered the classroom and opened fire.

Students began to throw themselves onto the floor in order to hide. Bedard immediately jumped in front of the students and began to shield them with his body. After about 10 seconds of shooting, the gunman backed out of the classroom and went back into the hallway where he took his own life. Six students were injured and one student, whom Bedard was unable to shield, was fatally shot. 

Bedard survived the shooting and went on to become the founder of the relgious order Companions of the Cross in 1985. He began hosting a weekly, evangelistic, Catholic television broadcast called “Food for Life” in 1992 alongside Father Roger Vandenakker. In 2009, Bedard’s health began to decline and he was diagnosed with Miller Fisher Syndrome, a rare autoimmune neurological disorder, and dementia. On Oct. 6, 2011, Bedard died peacefully surrounded by members of his community.

The story of this beloved and heroic priest is now being told in a new documentary, scheduled to be released June 8. The film, “Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church,” directed and produced by Kevin Dunn, looks at the life and ministry of Bedard. 

The new film delves into Bedard’s humble beginnings as a child growing up in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, his calling to the priesthood, his time spent as a high school teacher, and his creation of the Companions of the Cross, which currently has 59 members including priests and seminarians. The film features interviews with Bedard’s past students, fellow priests from his order, close friends, and colleagues. 

CNA spoke with Dunn about what inspired him to make the documentary.

Dunn grew up hearing Bedard’s name due to his mother’s involvement in the charismatic movement. However, it wasn’t until later in life when Dunn was asked to help with a mini documentary for the Companions of the Cross that he was left inspired by Bedard’s story. 

While doing research and interviewing individuals for the mini documentary, “everybody spoke about this passion for this priest who changed their lives,” Dunn told CNA in an interview. “And not just in a small way, but we’re talking about people who went into ministry, people who went into priesthood, people who changed their lives, turned their lives around from addiction. The stories are endless, and it just blew me away.”

“I thought, ‘Here’s a hero of the Church that has not been celebrated,’” he added.  

Dunn said the school shooting Bedard lived through and how he dealt with it further inspired him to make the film. 

“That for me in the story of his life was a pivotal moment that really could have taken him in a very different direction, but instead he called upon the Lord, called upon the Holy Spirit,” Dunn said. “So, when I read about those accounts of that horrific time in his life and how it kind of catapulted and strengthened his faith, I think for me that was a real poignant moment of his life and one that will speak to me especially as a father with six children.”

Dunn said Bedard lived his life by a simple motto: “Give God permission.” It’s these words that Dunn has also chosen to live his life by. 

“He’s taught me in my work and my life as a filmmaker, as a family man, as a speaker on Church issues to continually give God permission,” he shared. “That it is not my will, or my work for that matter, that really matters in the long run. It’s allowing God permission to work in my life wherever he takes me.”

“It’s calling on the Lord daily and saying, ‘Where do you want me to go?’ and he just keeps saying, ‘Just do the next great thing and give me permission, and I’m going to put you in places where you would never have dreamed of.’ That’s what he has done and continues to do and glory be to God for all that.”

As for his hopes for the film, Dunn said: “I hope people walk away feeling that the Church does have hope” and “I really pray that through watching this film, we can encourage prophets of hope to rise all over the world through the remembrance and the memory of Father Bob at his life and through the work of the Companions.”

“All we have to do is give God permission and when we do, all of a sudden despair turns to hope, and hope is active, and we can create this explosively alive Church.”

“Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church” will be available to watch on June 8 for free directly on the film’s website. 

The Ascension of Jesus Christ. Giotto di Bondone, 1305. / Credit: Public domain

National Catholic Register, Jun 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Christ’s ascension is meant to help us to grow to full stature in Christ as we respond to his confidence in making us his missionaries, together with the Holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth.

The celebration of the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is an annual opportunity for us not only to focus on heaven, where the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:1-6) and on the joy that “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor the human heart conceived,” which “God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9; Is 64:4), but also on the implications Jesus’ return to the Father means for each of his followers. 

Jesus could have stayed on earth until the end of time as the Good Shepherd, crisscrossing the globe after every lost sheep, saving them one by one. As he ascended, however, he placed his own mission in our hands, commanding us to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). 

He took the training wheels off our discipleship and removed any excuses we might have to pass the buck of sharing and spreading the faith. “You will be my witnesses,” he told us, “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

His confidence and trust in us, despite all our weaknesses, is astonishing. He wanted to incorporate us into — actually entrust to us — his mission of the redemption of the world. 

But he didn’t leave us orphans (cf. Jn 14:18). 

St. Luke gives us a beautiful image and detail, that Jesus “led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Lk 24:50-51).

Jesus departed in the very act of blessing us. Pope Benedict XVI in his trilogy “Jesus of Nazareth” commented on how the risen Jesus in heaven is perpetually blessing us. 

“Jesus departs in the act of blessing,” he states. “He goes while blessing, and he remains in that gesture of blessing. His hands remain, stretched out over this world … [which] expresses Jesus’ continuing relationship to his disciples, to the world. … That is why the disciples could return home from Bethany rejoicing. In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us. That is the lasting motive of Christian joy.” 

Jesus is continuously blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (cf. Eph 1:3). He’s seeking to transform us into his incarnate benediction of the world. 

The great manifestation of that blessing is the descent of the Holy Spirit, for whose renewed coming we pray in the annual decenarium from the 40th to 50th days of Easter. St. Luke recalls Jesus’ words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That’s the power, the blessing, that came down upon the Church on Pentecost.

During the Last Supper, Jesus said something startling: “I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). He was describing the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence as a blessing even greater than his own. That’s what the Church, huddling around the Blessed Virgin Mary, incessantly begs for after the Ascension.

The Holy Spirit helps us to fulfill, and not shirk, the awe-inspiring responsibility Christ has given us. This is the duty to give witness that Christ is alive, that he is the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection, and the Life, that he came to give us life to the full, so that his joy may be in us and our joy may be complete; he came to give and leave us the peace of his kingdom in a war-torn world; he came to help us and others to change our lives, to believe wholeheartedly in the good news, and to follow him, so that where he is we also may be and so that we might recognize that God the Father loves us just as much as he loves Jesus (cf. Jn 14:6; 11:25; 10:10; 15:11; 14:27; Mk 1:15; Jn 16:27; 15:9).

That’s a message and a mission that many no longer easily receive. 

Whether they think erroneously that science has disproven faith, or the problem of evil has refuted the possibility of a good God, or the clergy sex-abuse scandals have invalidated the Church’s witness, or the frigidity with which so many secularized Christians live their faith has revealed its incapacity to inspire, or a score of other possible reasons people cite to deaden the appeal of Christian faith and life, it’s clear that proclaiming the Gospel effectively to every creature is challenging work — but so was trying to convince down-to-earth first-century pagans and Jews that a crucified carpenter had not only risen from the dead but also was the Savior of the world. The same blessing of the Holy Spirit that made their joint witness fruitful desires to give tandem testimony with us. 

One of the most effective ways to do so is through charity. 

Back in 1985, the future Pope Benedict XVI gave a radio address in which he focused on the “delightfully naive pictures” of the Ascension in which the disciples are looking upward as Jesus is passing through the clouds and all we see are Jesus’ feet, the same feet the women wanted to grasp onto after the Resurrection. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger commented that we need to recognize his feet and reverence them in disguise in the feet around us as we follow Christ’s example of washing the feet of others just as he cleansed the apostles’ feet in the upper room. 

“The true ascent of mankind,” he stated, “takes place precisely when a man learns to turn in humility to another person, bowing deeply at his feet in the position of one who would wash the feet of the other. It is only in the humility that knows how to bow down that can raise a person up.” 

In order to ascend, we need first to descend humbly in acts of corporal and spiritual works of mercy, including passing on the faith to those who don’t know it or who reject what they mistakenly believe it to be. 

Christ’s ascension is meant to lead us on an exodus not merely in the future, but here and now: an exodus from the self toward God and others, a journey from fear to trust, a passover from the flat earth of a world without God to the multidimensional reality of Christ’s kingdom. 

Christ’s ascension is meant to lift up our hearts as it helps us to drop to our knees. It is meant to help us to grow to full stature in Christ as we respond to his confidence in making us his missionaries, together with the Holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth. It is meant to fill us, even now, with lasting joy.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and then published by CNA on May 9, 2024. It has been updated.

The faithful march in the Drexel Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Tulsa, Friday, May 30, 2025. / Credit: 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrims

CNA Staff, May 31, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Eucharistic pilgrims in Oklahoma are being urged by leaders to respond to anti-Catholic protests during pilgrimages and processions with peace, humility, and prayer.

The Diocese of Tulsa this week was host to the St. Katharine Drexel Route of the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which launched in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on May 18 and is set to finish in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in late June.

On Friday, Eucharistic pilgrims marching through Tulsa were met at multiple points by counter-protesters shouting anti-Catholic rhetoric and slogans at the faithful, including through amplifiers.

At times protesters appeared to follow the crowd while chanting at them. Footage showed the faithful ignoring the demonstrations and continuing to follow the Blessed Sacrament. 

Organizers of the national pilgrimage said the protest began with a few demonstrators following the procession and slowly grew over time to a reported 50 people regularly walking alongside the route.

Jason Shanks, the president of National Eucharistic Congress, said in a statement: “We know that bringing Christ to the streets will be met with resistance, and our prayerful message to them is one of conversion and hope.”

Organizers estimated that between 17,000 to 20,000 participants have traveled the procession so far. Images of the procession shared on social media showed a large turnout in downtown Tulsa on Friday. 

“A beautiful evening in the [Diocese of Tulsa] as we welcomed pilgrims from the National Eucharistic Procession to the cathedral,” diocesan priest Father Brian O’Brien wrote on X. 

The procession will next head to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City before heading through Texas and then on through the Southwest. 

A shanty town in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in November 2013. / Credit: Ilona Budzbon/Aid to the Church in Need

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 31, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week:

Sierra Leone limits physical contact at Mass amid mpox outbreak

Freetown Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles has issued new directives in line with public health orders to guide public worship following a rapid increase in mpox cases in the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

“As a local Church, we need to do everything possible to protect ourselves from the disease and also contain its spread by carefully observing the guidelines announced by health authorities,” he said in a May 25 statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

Most of the directives limit physical interactions during public liturgical celebrations, including Mass.

The country has registered a total of 3,011 cases of the virus — formerly known as monkeypox — since the start of the outbreak in January, with 14 deaths reported. 

Caritas Angola launches initiative to combat gender-based violence

Caritas Angola launched a new “Women and Life” initiative on Thursday, aimed to empower and address the challenge of gender-based violence in the southern African nation, ACI Africa reported.

“This project extends Caritas’ mission — to promote, defend, and uplift the most vulnerable. It’s not just about immediate assistance; it’s about giving women the tools to be self-sufficient and become agents of transformation in their communities,” the organization’s national secretary, João Nicolau Manuel, told ACI Africa. 

The initiative is now being rolled out across the Angolan Catholic dioceses of Luanda, Viana, and Caxito. 

“We aim to form women not only with technical skills but with human and Christian values — love, hope, and peace. These are essential for building a just and compassionate society,” Manuel added.

Myanmar military junta strikes majority-Catholic refugee camp for third time 

Reports have emerged that the ruling military government in Myanmar has bombed a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), home to “hundreds of ethnic, mostly Catholic Karenni, who fled the armed conflict,” for the third time in less than a year, according to an AsiaNews report on Thursday. 

Two bombs were allegedly dropped on the Bangkok IDP camp on May 15, striking a school and several houses. 

While no casualties were reported in the latest attack, according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, the first attack in September 2024 killed nine civilians while the second in November killed one and caused “serious damage” to a church and its rectory. 

Church in Qatar concludes catechetical year with special Mass

The parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha, the capital of Qatar, concluded the 2024–2025 catechetical year with a “Harvest Mass” celebrated last Friday, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. 

The liturgy was presided over by Marian Father Charbel Mhanna, pastor of the Maronite community in Qatar, and attended by catechism students and their volunteer instructors.

The Catholic Church in Qatar provides catechetical instruction to nearly 1,000 Arabic-speaking students from various Catholic rites. The students receive weekly lessons throughout the academic year, taught by dedicated volunteer educators.

Syrian President Al-Shara meets with heads of churches in Aleppo

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Shara met with the heads of Christian communities and their representatives in the first meeting with bishops of the Syrian city since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, ACI MENA reported on Thursday. 

The Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Boutros Qassis, described the meeting as “frank, open, and far from complimentary,” noting that he made sure to bring the urgent concerns of Christians to the Syrian leader. 

Qassis said Sharaa told them that “establishing security and peace is his main concern in this period.”

Antonia Salzano Acutis speaks to the faithful in New York City on Thursday, May 29, 2025. / Credit: Sabrina Ferrisi

New York City, N.Y., May 31, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Antonia Salzano Acutis, the mother of soon-to-be canonized Carlo Acutis, spoke to a capacity crowd of more than 2,500 people at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Thursday, touching on several themes including the universal call to holiness, the importance of living the virtues, and the sacraments as a means of receiving grace. 

“We are here to speak about Carlo. As you know, the canonization was delayed. But it was a beautiful surprise because now we have an American pope!” Acutis said to applause.  

“Carlo loved America,” she continued. “And Italians love Americans because of what happened during the Second World War. We have many cemeteries full of Americans who gave their life for Italians, for the peace. So I am sure in the providence of God, this is not casual.” 

Even though the canonization of Carlo Acutis was suspended by the passing of Pope Francis, Carlo’s mother said she felt that Carlo was giving another message. 

“OK, so the canonization was suspended. But what about your canonization? You too! You are looking at me surprised. Maybe you forgot that God, for each one of us, has a special project. Jesus says, ‘You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world,’” she said. 

Acutis explained that each person is special in God’s eye. She said Carlo would regularly say that all of us are originals. 

“We will die as photocopies if we do not realize God’s project for us. We all have the seeds of sanctity inside of us,” she said. 

Carlo’s Eucharistic and Marian heart 

Acutis spoke about her son’s first holy Communion and how, from that day, he went to daily Mass. He also took part in Eucharistic adoration every day before or after Mass. 

“When Carlo was 6 years old, he began to pray the rosary every day. He used to say that to pray the rosary was like doing an exorcism on yourself every day,” she said. 

“At Fátima, the Virgin Mary always asked people to pray the rosary. She said that, through the rosary, we can stop wars. The rosary is very powerful. I know that not everybody can go to Mass every day, but through the rosary, we can help many people every day,” she said. 

Acutis also spoke about the importance of the Eucharist within the spiritual life. 

“When we have a Eucharistic life, it heals you. It will change your life,” she said. “The Eucharist, as Carlo would say, is a highway to heaven. Why? Because it is the most supernatural thing in this life.”

“The essence of Jesus is love,” she said. “This is why, when we see Eucharistic miracles, they are always hosts that have become flesh from the myocardium; the heart. It is as if Jesus were sending us heart emojis from heaven. Jesus is sending us his heart.” 

She noted that when people lose their connection to the internet, they frequently become stressed out. But the same reaction does not often happen when losing a connection to God. 

“Carlo used to say that we are all mystics, because we all have the Holy Trinity inside of us that we received at the moment of baptism,” she said. “The problem is the connection. In what sense? If I do not pray or have any moments of silence and reflection during my day, I lose the connection with God.” 

“The sanctity of Carlo was that out of his ordinary life, he took little moments to pray, moments to thank God. How many times do we pray? We need to give a little space to God,” she said. 

Moving moments

During a question-and-answer session, when asked about Carlo’s death, his mother told the audience that, after his funeral, two of his friends were very upset and crying for weeks. Carlo appeared in a dream to both of these friends on the same night, she said, telling them to stop crying because he was very happy in heaven. 

In response to questions about a canonization date, Acutis stated that there is no set date yet, but that Vatican officials are again meeting about causes on June 13.  

Many audience members spoke about personal stories of miraculous healings and answered prayers they said came through the intercession of Carlo Acutis. Several audience members made it a point to thank his mother for her continued witness. 

The standing ovation at the end of her presentation lasted several minutes, with throngs of people holding up their smartphone cameras to take pictures before she left.  

“I was struck by the fact that it was her son, at a very young age, who fully brought her into the fold of the Church,” said Valentina Cook, a Bulgarian native who lives in Westchester County, New York, who attended the talk. “It sounded like before she had been a Catholic only nominally, and it was he [Carlo] who initiated her life of faith and her work as a catechist.” 

“I liked how Mrs. Acutis spoke and made it very easy to understand. She has a very lighthearted way of talking that allows you to understand very deep concepts and points that she was trying to make — along with a few smiles and laughter,” said Isabella Arena, a high school student from New York. 

“I was positively impressed by the multitude gathered in Church to listen to Carlo’s mom’s testimony. It is a confirmation to me of a ‘wake-up’ wave we are seeing these days,” said Maria Baldi, a native Italian who lives in New York.  

“There is a huge need for meaning, structure, discipline, and purpose. The need is stronger than ever amongst the younger generation,” she said, adding: “God is really using this young boy to ignite new faith where it is weak and lost.”

The garden created at Mepkin Abbey is a way to honor and recognize the enslaved who lived and died on the property for 100 years. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Mepkin Abbey

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On a piece of land in South Carolina where hundreds of Indigenous and African Americans were once enslaved, some Trappist monks, after discovering 20 unmarked graves, have installed a bronze sculpture of Christ and created a quiet prayer garden to encourage healing and reflection.

“We’ve been here 75 years, since 1949,” Father Joseph Tedesco, the superior of Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Berkeley County, told CNA. “The monks who were here at the beginning — everyone has been aware all these years that this was an enslaved property.”

The abbey sits on a former plantation that once belonged to slave trader Henry Laurens during the Revolutionary War and later to his son John Laurens, who joined the revolution and advocated for the freedom of the enslaved.

There were “300 enslaved people on the property,” Tedesco said. There were “on and off discussions around the memorial to slavery of [the] very historic piece of property; then a few years ago we were just at a moment of recognition … we had to do something, but we couldn’t figure out what.”

As if on cue, Mepkin Abbey then received a 640-pound bronze sculpture from a donor. The large work of art inspired the plan for the Meditation Garden of Truth and Reconciliation — an area on the property that would be dedicated to the slaves who once lived and worked on the property.

“As soon as I saw [the statue],” Tedesco said, “I realized that was the nucleus of the memorial to slavery.”

The sculpture, titled “Thy Father’s Hand,” features the crucified Christ in the hand of God. The figure is now the central point of the garden and is placed where some of those once enslaved on the property lie in 20 unmarked graves.

“I developed a committee of African Americans from around the state and together we created the garden,” Tedesco said. “We walked through together … what to do and how to do it. We created the garden, but it took us a couple of years to put it in place.”

The monk added: “It was really a wonderful experience because it was a lot of editing, a lot of wonderful discussion, and a wonderful group of people who were really committed to the process and to the commitment of building this garden in honor of slavery, but really in honor of being enslaved,” Tedesco said.

When the garden was complete, the first Catholic Black bishop in South Carolina, Jacques Fabre-Jeune, blessed it and discussed reconciliation at an opening ceremony on April 26. He also blessed each of the unmarked graves.

“We don’t have to be upset. Truth can always hurt,” Fabre-Jeune said during the blessing. “We don’t like when people tell us the truth. We feel uncomfortable. But after that experience, we know that it was good for us.”

The new garden is a way to honor and recognize the enslaved, but Tedesco said the monastery is really the memorial to them because of the “75 years of praying on [the] land to redeem it from the 100 years of the enslaved on [the] property.”

The garden is now open to visitors who can walk through its multiple stations that each reflect points of history. The monks hope the experience will encourage “empathy” and “understanding.”

Robert Royal discusses his new book “The Martyrs of the New Millennium” during the May 29, 2025, edition of “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.” / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 18:53 pm (CNA).

The whole nature of Chrisitian martyrdom has shifted in the 21st century, according to Robert Royal, author of the new book “The Martyrs of the New Millennium.”

Interviewed on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday, Royal said that since his last work on the subject, “The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century,” 25 years ago, the greatest threat to Christians in the world has shifted from totalitarianism to “radical Islam.” 

“This is a point of view that really seeks to create a worldwide caliphate. That’s the word that they use,” he said. “These radical Islamic figures, they think about it as establishing an Ottoman Empire, but not just restricted to Turkey and a few of the lands in the Middle East, but a total empire of Islam everywhere.”

He continued: “This is something that the West, in particular, needs to wake up to,” he said, because despite the defeat of ISIS, “it didn’t go away. It’s transferred itself to other parts of the world, and it will come back with a vengeance.”

Africa

Royal especially pointed to radical Islamism “all across Central Africa, across sub-Saharan Africa.” 

Discussing the plight of Nigerian Christians, he noted that since finishing the writing of his new book last November, he estimates that since then “something on the order of 2,000 and 3,000 Christians have probably been killed by radical Islam.” 

Just this past weekend, an attack by extremist Muslim herdsmen in Nigeria left dozens dead and resulted in the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and several nuns. Hundreds of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen gunned down nearly 40 people, more than half of them Christians, across several villages on Sunday, according to a report by Truth Nigeria, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that seeks to document Nigeria’s struggles with corruption and crime.

Latin America

“Surprisingly,” Royal said, “organizations that track the martyrdom of priests in particular say that Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world today to be a Catholic priest.” He said that today, persecution of priests in that country “is the result of cartels, human traffickers, drug traffickers, and anybody who steps in front of what those criminal organizations are trying to do puts themselves at risk.” 

In Nicaragua, he said, systematic persecution against Christians similarly stems from corruption from those seeking power. 

“Now it’s not so much a matter of Marxism as it is a matter of a family wanting to control a country in which the Church is the only effective opposition to their tyranny,” Royal observed, referring to the government of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo. “They’re closing down TV stations, radio stations, and have expelled bishops and priests. It’s an old playbook, but now it’s being used for the sake of a particular family rather than an ideology.”

The Ortega dictatorship has kidnapped, imprisoned, murdered, and forcefully expelled bishops, priests, and religious sisters from the country, shut down Catholic schools and organizations, and restricted religious practice nationwide. 

China

“The situation in China is very discouraging because our own Church made a very bad bargain with a totalitarian regime,” he said, pointing out that while overt persecution has declined in the country, the Chinese Communist Party has continued to restrict the Church. Ten bishops have also been reported missing, he noted. 

“We know that there are images of President Xi inside of churches. There are attempts to rewrite parts of the Gospels to point it in the direction of the Communist Party. They’re being more careful about creating martyrs because, of course, that raises the international temperature against China,” he said. “But they do it.”

“Now we have a pope who was head of the committee in the Vatican who appointed bishops,” Royal said, noting that Pope Leo XIV has also been to the country himself. “It’ll be very interesting to see if he is able to do anything.”

The Vatican renewed its agreement with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for four more years in October 2024. Originally signed in September 2018, the provisional agreement was previously renewed for a two-year period in 2020 and again in October 2022. 

The terms of the agreement have not been made public, though the late Pope Francis had said it includes a joint commission between the Chinese government and the Vatican on the appointment of Catholic bishops, overseen by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The West

“We should not consider ourselves exempt from persecution,” Royal said of Christians living in Western countries. “We do have, of course, radical Islamic figures in Europe and in the United States, Australia, all the countries we normally think of as the West.” 

Royal cited the findings by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, which records hundreds of anti-Christian hate crimes per year.

“France alone loses about two religious buildings a month,” he said. He also mentioned the cases of pro-life protesters jailed in the U.K. for praying outside of abortion clinics. 

Royal also called for vigilance in the U.S., as sectors of American society also seek to pin “hate speech” labels on traditional Christian beliefs.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York urged state lawmakers to oppose euthanasia in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on May 29, 2025. / Credit: Peter Zelasko/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York is asking state lawmakers to oppose a bill that would legalize voluntary euthanasia, sometimes known as physician-assisted suicide.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Dolan wrote that lawmakers should strengthen efforts to “prevent” deaths by suicide rather than establishing a legal method to end one’s own life.

Dolan recounted an experience in which he saw a man on the George Washington Bridge who was “threatening to jump,” saying that onlookers prayed for him and rescuers tried “to coax him back to safety.”

“We all rallied on behalf of a troubled man intent on suicide,” he wrote. “That’s how it is when someone is thinking of taking his own life.”

Dolan noted that the archdiocese runs programs in its schools to help students who might be considering suicide and that the state “spends millions” of dollars on suicide prevention efforts and has bolstered mental health investments under the governorship of Kathy Hochul.

“Which is why I am more than puzzled, I am stunned, when I read that New York lawmakers are on the verge of legalizing suicide — not by leaping from a bridge but via a poison cocktail easily provided by physicians and pharmacists,” the cardinal added.

“I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief at the disparity in official responses,” he wrote. “Our government will marshal all its resources to save the life of one hopeless and despondent man. Yet it may conclude that some lives aren’t worth living — perhaps due to a serious illness or disability — and we will hand those despondent women and men a proverbial loaded gun and tell them to have at it.”

The proposed legislation passed the state’s lower chamber 81-67 last month with support from most Democrats and strong opposition from the Republican minority. More than 20 Democrats joined Republicans in opposition to the bill. The bill is now in the Senate, where some hesitancy within the Democratic Party is delaying a vote.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said two weeks ago that “more people have signed on in the Senate than had been over the past few years” and that if the proposal gets support from a majority of the body, “I’ll certainly bring it to the floor,” according to Politico.

In 10 states and the District of Columbia, euthanasia is legal in limited circumstances. Most of those states legalized the practice within the past decade. Euthanasia remains illegal in most of the country.

Under the New York proposal, euthanasia would only be legal for terminal illnesses, but Dolan noted in his op-ed that “many controllable illnesses can become terminal if untreated.”

“In a recent podcast, the Assembly sponsor conceded that diabetics could become eligible if they cease taking insulin, making their condition ‘terminal’ by definition,” the cardinal wrote.

He warned that even though the proposed New York law would have some limits, advocates of euthanasia in states where it is already legal “continue to push for expansion.” He also pointed to Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, which “initially looked very much like the New York bill” but has since greatly expanded.

When MAID was first enacted in Canada in 2016, a person needed to be terminally ill to qualify, but in 2021 the country expanded eligibility to include people who are chronically ill, even if their illness is not terminal. Although this only applies to physical illnesses, the program’s eligibility is set to expand in 2027 to include people who have chronic mental illnesses.

The use of MAID in Canada continues to rise annually and now accounts for nearly 5% of all of the country’s deaths.

Dolan noted that some of the Democrats who opposed the bill in the state’s lower chamber “cited fears about how poor, medically underserved communities would be targeted and the danger that unconsumed drugs could be sold on the streets of their districts.”

“The prospects of defeating the bill look bleak, and it’s tempting to give in to hopelessness,” the cardinal wrote.

“But those brave first responders on the bridge didn’t give in; they worked together to stop a tragedy,” Dolan added. “Will state senators or Ms. Hochul step up to protect precious human life? That is my prayer.”