St. Mary's Catholic Church

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CNA Staff, Jul 28, 2025 / 18:34 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication reiterated its long-standing call for recognition of Palestine statehood amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict after France announced last week it would recognize the region’s statehood.

The editorial manager for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Andrea Tornielli, called for a “two-state solution” and recognition of Palestine as a state in a July 27 editorial. 

In the editorial, Tornielli cited France’s recent movement toward recognition. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a post on X that France would recognize Palestine as a state — a plan that was quickly rejected by various Western countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Australia. 

In addition to affirming Palestine as a state, Macron called for the demilitarization of the terrorist group Hamas that runs the government of Gaza. He demanded the release of the hostages, called for humanitarian aid for Gaza, and said that Palestine must accept demilitarization and fully recognize Israel.

In 2015, the Vatican signed its first treaty with the “State of Palestine.” Tornielli recalled the “comprehensive agreement” between the two parties, noting that the treaty affirmed the right of the Palestinian people to an “independent, sovereign, democratic, and viable” state.

While Pope Francis was the first of the popes to use the term “State of Palestine” upon his 2014 visit to the Holy land, Tornielli pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI affirmed both that “the State of Israel has the right to exist and enjoy peace and security” and that “the Palestinian people have the right to an independent and sovereign homeland.”

Before Benedict, in the early 1990s, Pope John Paul II established relationships with both the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to Tornielli. 

“It is to be hoped that the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Resolution of the Palestinian Question and the implementation of the two-state solution, grasping the urgency of a common response to the Palestinian drama, will decisively pursue a solution to finally guarantee this people a state with secure, respected, and recognized borders,” Tornielli wrote in the editorial.

Notably, the Vatican’s support of the “two-state solution” runs counter to the stances of many Western countries. The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Australia rejected Macron’s Palestine statehood plan outright, while President Donald Trump dismissed Macron, telling reporters at the White House: “What he says doesn’t matter. It’s not going to change anything.” 

Macron said in his post that he plans to announce the recognition at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 

While U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected the plan, he explained in a statement he supported the “two-state solution” but said it must ensure “lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.”

On a local level, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France called the decision a moral failure and said it risks security for Jews worldwide, while top American Jewish groups declined to attend a meeting with the French government after his statement. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “strongly” condemned Macron’s decision, saying the move “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.” 

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it,” Netanyahu said. “Let’s be clear: The Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel. They seek a state instead of Israel.”

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 28, 2025 / 18:03 pm (CNA).

A federal judge blocked a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood and ordered the federal government to resume Medicaid reimbursements to the abortion giant while litigation over the law continues.

The legislation, signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, included a one-year freeze on some abortion facilities receiving Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortive services. Judge Indira Talwani ruled on Monday, July 28, that the provision likely targets Planned Parenthood, which violates the Constitution.

Per the order, federal agencies and employees must “take all steps necessary” to ensure that Planned Parenthood facilities receive Medicaid reimbursements “in the customary manner and time frames.” Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against the federal government is still ongoing, but the ruling is meant to prevent “irreparable harm” to the abortion giant while the matter is under review in court.

In her ruling, Talwani found that even though the bill does not mention Planned Parenthood “by name,” it is written in a way to ensure that the defunding provision only affects facilities that are affiliated with Planned Parenthood while leaving other entities untouched.

The ruling states the defunding provision is likely in violation of the bill of attainder clause in the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from writing bills that single out entities for punishment. It also found the rule likely violates the equal protection clause and the First Amendment right to freedom of association.

“This order … prevents [the government] from targeting a specific group of entities — Planned Parenthood Federation members — for exclusion from reimbursements under the Medicaid program where [Planned Parenthood has] established a substantial likelihood that they will succeed in establishing that such targeted exclusion violates the United States Constitution,” Talwani ruled.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill praised the ruling in a statement Monday.

“As this case continues, patients across the country can still go to their trusted Planned Parenthood provider for care using Medicaid,” she said. “We will keep fighting this cruel law so that everyone can get birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and other critical health care, no matter their insurance.”

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields criticized the ruling in a statement provided to CNA, saying the bill was “legally passed by both chambers of the legislative branch and signed into law by the chief executive.”

“The judge’s decision to grant the injunction on the basis that defunding an entity is an unconstitutional criminal punishment is not only absurd but illogical and incorrect,” he said. “It is orders like these that underscore the audacity of the lower courts as well as the chaos within the judicial branch. We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a statement provided to CNA that “we strongly disagree with the court’s decision.”

“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care,” the spokesperson added. “This ruling undermines state flexibility and disregards long-standing concerns about accountability.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), which has long urged the government to defund Planned Parenthood, condemned the ruling and referred to Talwani as “an activist judge.”

“Every day this order stands, Planned Parenthood continues to rake in millions of our tax dollars, fueling thousands of unborn lives ended daily and putting women at unacceptable risk of serious harm and even death,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.

“Women have better and more comprehensive alternatives with community health centers outnumbering Planned Parenthood facilities 15 to 1,” she said. “We look forward to the Trump administration swiftly stopping this lawfare and restoring the historic victory secured through the One Big Beautiful Bill.”

In recent months, more than two dozen Planned Parenthood facilities across the country announced they would shut down amid funding concerns. Several facilities made announcements earlier this year in anticipation of the defunding effort. Last week, another five northern California facilities announced they would shut down. On July 28, the organization announced the closure of two of its six clinics in the Houston area, including its Prevention Park location, which was known as the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere.

On July 1, ahead of the bill’s passage, Planned Parenthood Federation of America claimed the defunding provision could force 200 clinics — about 60% of its facilities — to close.

Planned Parenthood facilities take in hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money every year, a large portion of which stems from Medicaid reimbursements. According to Planned Parenthood’s annual report for July 2023 through June 2024, about 40% of its revenue came from taxpayer funds, which accounted for nearly $800 million.

Long-standing federal law prohibits taxpayer funding for most abortions. Yet, until the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law, Medicaid funds could broadly cover non-abortive services at abortion facilities.

The central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 28, 2025 / 17:33 pm (CNA).

The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) — the body responsible for managing the properties and investments of the small city state — presented on July 28 its financial statement for the 2024 fiscal year, with net profits of 62.2 million euros ($72.1 million), one of the highest figures recorded since these reports began being published.

In addition, it contributed 46.1 million euros ($53.4 million) to cover the Holy See’s deficit, 8 million euros ($9.27 million) more than in 2023.

“This is one of the best financial statements in recent years,” emphasized the president of APSA, Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, in a statement to Vatican media. He explained that these results not only reflect effective management but also a growing commitment to the Church’s mission, a strategic vision of patrimony, and a working model based on transparency, collaboration, and the common good.

An ecclesial vision of patrimony

“APSA is not limited to offering operational services,” Piccinotti explained in the report’s introduction, “but is configured as an organization at the service of the mission of the Catholic Church.”

The report reflects the fruits of a strategy focused on three guiding principles. The first is an ecclesial vision of patrimony: understanding that the assets managed are not ends in themselves but rather instruments to serve ecclesial communion and promote a sense of belonging to the Church. The second principle is collaboration and transparency: investments have been made in inter-institutional relations, in strengthening internal competencies, and in clear and traceable processes with defined responsibilities. The third is the common good as a guiding criterion: Management has been oriented toward decisions that respond to ethical and pastoral criteria, seeking to build synergies with other entities of the Holy See.

Record profitability: Ethics and strategy

The 2024 result represents a surplus of 16 million euros ($18.5 million) higher than that of 2023, when the profit was 45.9 million euros ($53.2 million).

Part of the profit was allocated to the Vatican budget (known as “fabbisogno”) of the Roman Curia, which totaled 170.4 million euros ($197.5 million). APSA’s contribution was divided between a fixed portion of 30 million euros ($34.7 million) and a variable portion equivalent to 50% of the residual net profit, thus reaching 46.1 million euros ($53.4 million).

Piccinotti explained that the increase is due to better management and valuation of assets. “We are doing our duty: We provide significant coverage for the Curia’s financial deficit. It’s not just about renting out empty properties. We have restructured property management, allowing rentals at market prices, which generates additional resources.”

Regarding financial investments, in 2024 the APSA adopted the guidelines of the Holy See’s Investment Committee, using separate management accounts (SMAs) similar to private investment funds. This allowed for sales at high points and strategic reinvestment, achieving a return of 8.51%, representing 10 million euros ($11.6 million) more than in 2023.

Stability in real estate management

Real estate management — which represents a fundamental part of the Holy See’s assets—generated stable revenues of 35.1 million euros ($40.7 million). This result was possible thanks to a “combined effect”: an increase in rental income (+3.2 million euros [$3.7 million] in Italy and +0.8 million euros abroad [$.92 million]) and an increase in expenses, especially in maintenance (-3.9 million [-$4.5 million], of which 3.8 million euros [$4.4 million] was allocated to upkeep).

APSA currently manages 4,234 real estate units in Italy, of which 2,866 are its own. It also owns assets abroad through affiliated companies in England, France, Switzerland, and Italy.

Transparency and service to third parties

The 2024 financial report is the fifth to be published publicly since this transparency practice began in 2020, following the economic reforms promoted by Pope Francis. APSA was created by Pope Paul VI in 1967.

In 2024, the organization paid 6 million euros ($6.9 million) in municipal property tax (IMU) and 3.19 million euros ($3.69 million) in corporate income tax (IRES), thus refuting rumors of widespread tax exemptions.

Furthermore, nearly 40% of APSA’s staff work in services provided to other Vatican entities, such as accounting or maintenance of apostolic nunciatures. “We not only contribute profits but also essential services for the mission of the Church,” Piccinotti explained.

Renewable energy and future prospects

Among the notable projects is Fratello Sole (Brother Sun, an allusion to St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun”), an initiative to install an agrovoltaic plant in the Santa Maria di Galeria area, geared toward the Vatican’s energy transition. The site was visited by Pope Leo XIV on June 19 as a sign of his support for integral ecology.

“The goal is to continue improving deficit coverage in 2025 as well,” Piccinotti said, summing up with a phrase inherited from his grandfather: “You can’t get more than 15 kilos [33 pounds] of cherries from a cherry tree. We are close to the limit, but there is still room for improvement. Management is already good, but we are not standing still,” he concluded.

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

Prevention Park in Houston was at one time the largest Planned Parenthood administrative and medical facility in the United States. / Credit: Hourick, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Houston, Texas, Jul 28, 2025 / 17:03 pm (CNA).

Planned Parenthood has announced the closure of two of its six clinics in the Houston area, including its Prevention Park location, which was known as the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere until the state’s near-total abortion ban in 2022.

Texas Right to Life President Dr. John Seago in an interview with CNA called the Prevention Park location’s closure an “unmitigated victory for life.”

At its peak, this center aborted 10,000 babies a year, up until 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to Shawn Carney, founder and CEO of the pro-life group 40 Days for Life, whose headquarters in Bryan, Texas, are located in a former abortion clinic near Texas A&M University.

“There just hasn’t been a more exciting time to be pro-life,” Carney told CNA, saying the clinic’s closure is one of “the greatest victories” in the history of the pro-life movement.

Seago called the 78,000-square-foot structure, which he said resembles a Central American pyramid where human sacrifices took place, a “symbol of Planned Parenthood’s height of power and influence.”

Carney said volunteers would get “overwhelmed” and “depressed” when they saw how big the abortion clinic was, sometimes feeling like “all hope was lost.”

“If you go from that moment to seeing the building closing, it is unbelievable,” he said.

Located alongside the busy Gulf Freeway in Houston’s East End, a Hispanic neighborhood near the University of Houston, which has 50,000 students, the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s Prevention Park location also houses the Gulf Coast administrative offices.

“The thousands of pro-lifers that have prayed outside of it” over the years “are celebrating,” Carney said.

“For so long the Church has been taught its teachings were archaic,” he said, but these closures show that the culture is finally waking up to “the teachings of natural law.”

The closure of the abortion giant’s largest clinic, which both Seago and Carney called “symbolic,” follows more than two dozen other Planned Parenthood clinic closures in recent months.

The latest closure comes after years of funding cuts by the Texas Legislature, which slashed funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in 2011, leading to 82 clinic closures statewide, and barred Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program in 2021 after a legal battle.

In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 22 prohibiting local governments from contracting with Planned Parenthood for any services, including non-abortion care.

The Trump administration’s recent signature legislative victory, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, includes a provision that ends Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. A federal judge blocked the provision on July 28, however, after issuing a partial preliminary injunction last week. 

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast President and CEO Melaney Linton said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle that “having to reduce [Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s] staffing and future footprint in Houston is heartbreaking, infuriating, and the direct result of these sustained political attacks.”

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which has been operating in the Houston area for more than 90 years, operates six clinics in Greater Houston and two in Louisiana. It will close its Prevention Park and Southwest clinics on Sept. 30. The four remaining Houston clinics will be acquired by affiliate Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.

Once the four remaining clinics in Houston are acquired, Planned Parenthood Greater Texas will operate 22 clinics in the state. Seven other clinics in the San Antonio area are operated by Planned Parenthood South Texas.

The clinics rely on donor support now that so much of their funding has been cut, according to a spokesperson for the Gulf Coast affiliate.

Mollie Keen and her baby, Nash, the world’s youngest premature baby. Nash was born more than four months early and celebrated his first birthday this month. / Credit: University of Iowa Health Care

CNA Staff, Jul 28, 2025 / 16:33 pm (CNA).

The world’s youngest premature baby, who was born more than four months early, celebrated his first birthday this month.

Nash Keen’s first birthday was much like any other baby’s — cake with extra whipped cream, a gathering of family and friends, and stacks of gifts — except that his birthday made him the holder of the Guinness World Record for the most premature baby to survive.

Nash was born at 21 weeks’ gestation, 133 days early. At only about 10 ounces, he weighed less than grapefruit and was a little over eight inches long. He was so lightweight that when his mother, Mollie Keen, held him, she could barely feel his weight. 

The impossibly small baby was born July 5, 2024, at the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital — one of the most advanced in the nation for neonatal care.

There was effectively no chance of survival for Nash as no one born this young had survived.

‘I never lost hope’ 

His parents, Mollie and Randall Keen, were terrified when they discovered that due to a condition Mollie had, Nash would be born early. 

At a 20-week scan for the baby, the doctor found that Mollie was already two centimeters dilated. Mollie had felt that something was wrong and had asked for the closer examination. 

The couple had already lost a baby. Their first baby, a girl named McKinley, was born at 18 weeks’ gestation about two years before Nash’s birth. 

They were terrified they would lose another child. 

“We were devastated. We thought we were going through the exact same thing, and we thought we were going to lose this baby,” Mollie said in the hospital press release. 

Mollie had been diagnosed with cervical incompetence, a condition where the cervix begins to open too early, often leading to premature birth or miscarriage. To further complicate things, she has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — a relatively common condition that can make it difficult to conceive a child due to inconsistent ovulation.

“At that point, I didn’t know what I could do to turn things around,” Mollie said.

In spite of the odds, the couple pursued all the treatment they could find for their unborn baby. 

“I never lost hope for Nash,” Mollie said.

That same evening, after her 20-week scan, Mollie had already begun to feel mild cramping. The couple rushed to the emergency room, where Mollie was told to go on bed rest and try to delay labor.

If the baby could hold out to the 21-week mark, the hospital would have the resources to treat him. 

While different NICUs (neonatal intensive care units) have different levels of care they are able to offer premature babies, the University of Iowa NICU has recently begun offering lifesaving care for babies born at 21 weeks’ gestation. According to the hospital, its own NICU was one of only a “few places in the world equipped to potentially save Nash.” 

In the early hours of the morning, Mollie and Randall rushed to Iowa City. Mollie’s water broke, increasing the chances of complications, and the hospital tried to delay labor. After two days — just hours after the 21-week mark — Mollie’s delivery began. Less than 10 hours later, Nash was born. 

The first hours and days after delivery have the highest jeopardy, according to Dr. Amy Stanford, the neonatologist who supervised Nash’s resuscitation. Extremely premature babies need care around the clock.

The baby’s size can determine if he or she will live or die. If the baby is too small, even the smallest tubes won’t be able to fit.

“Sometimes babies born at 21 weeks are just too small for even our tiniest breathing tubes and intravenous lines,” Stanford said. 

But Nash was lucky — he was just big enough for the tubes. After Stanford placed the breathing tube, his condition began to stabilize.

During the 189 days that Nash was in the hospital, a team of more than 30 staff members cared for him. Doctors watched Nash closely, using hemodynamics, an ultrasound-based technique to check on the baby’s blood flow and heart function. 

“Around the one-month mark, we all began to breathe a little easier,” Stanford said. “While we knew Nash still had a long journey ahead, that was the point when we started to feel more confident that he had a real chance of going home.” 

But Nash still had more challenges. His vital signs dropped for several nights because of his immature lungs and heart, and he underwent a surgery for a perforated bowel that had a 30%-40% mortality rate. 

“He can be doing well for several days and then have one to two bad days in between, but I’m starting to understand that’s part of the journey that most NICU parents go through and that we’re not alone,” Mollie wrote online during Nash’s NICU stay, according to the hospital press release.

After 189 days in the hospital, at the beginning of 2025, Nash went home.

Going home: A ‘victory’

In Ankeny, Iowa, the Keen family celebrated Nash’s first birthday with a small gathering of family and close friends, who showered the birthday boy with presents — 70 new outfits as well as plenty of toys and diapers. 

The doctors gave the 1-year-old a special dispensation — he could have birthday cake for the special occasion. 

The couple has nicknamed their son “Nash Potato” and they describe him as “determined, curious, and the happiest baby you’ll meet,” according to the Guinness World Records press release. 

Mollie described the last year as “surreal.” 

“A year ago, we weren’t sure what the future would look like, and now we’ve celebrated his first birthday,” she said. “It’s emotional in so many ways: pride, gratitude, even some grief for how different his journey has been. But above all, it feels like a victory.”

Nash still has ongoing health issues, including a minor heart defect, but his doctors say the defect should resolve as he gets older. While he has been delayed in reaching typical baby milestones, Nash didn’t experience any brain bleeds while in the NICU, so doctors hope his cognitive function won’t be affected. 

Mollie said she hopes Nash will “see his story as a source of strength.”  

“I just hope that Nash realizes just how loved he is and how many people have cheered him on from the very beginning,” she said. “I want him to grow up and be healthy, happy, and confident in who he is.”

Warsaw, Poland Archbishop Adrian Galbas. / Credit: SILESIA FLESZ TVS, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 28, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Adrian Galbas of Warsaw, Poland, has asked the Vatican to laicize a priest accused of murdering a homeless man. The prelate said he was “devastated” by the news of the murder.

“Due to the gravity of the crime and the great public outrage, the metropolitan of Warsaw, Archbishop Adrian Galbas, immediately requests the Holy See to impose the highest penalty provided for in canon law for a cleric: dismissal from the priesthood,” reads a July 26 statement from the Archdiocese of Warsaw.

The text indicates that the request is based on the provisions of sections 1 and 3 of Canon 1397 of the Code of Canon Law, which stipulate that if a cleric commits homicide or kidnapping, “he must be dismissed from the clerical state.”

According to the news site of the German Bishops’ Conference, the accused priest has already been arrested by Polish police and has confessed to the crime.

After noting that this is “the highest possible sanction in relation to the clerical status,” the Archdiocese of Warsaw stated that the Church will cooperate with the authorities “to clarify all the circumstances of this crime and awaits a just and appropriate punishment imposed by the state court.”

The archdiocese also stated that as of July 25, Father Miroslaw M., the priest accused of murder and identified as such under Polish privacy laws, has been replaced as pastor of the parish in the village of Przypki.

Prosecutor’s office explains events

According to the Associated Press, the prosecutor’s office charged the priest with “murder with particular cruelty” following the death of a 68-year-old homeless man. The priest faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

The priest and the victim, Anatol Cz., were in a car the night of Thursday, July 24, when they argued, according to Aneta Góźdź, a spokeswoman for the Radom District Prosecutor’s Office. The argument stemmed from an agreement in which the priest had agreed to provide assistance to the man.

In the midst of the argument, the priest allegedly hit the victim in the head with an axe and then set him on fire. “The autopsy showed that the victim suffered burns covering 80% of his body and head injuries caused by a sharp-edged heavy object,” Góźdź said.

‘The blood of our murdered brother cries out to God’

“Today I have no words of comfort for you, much less an explanation or justification. I am devastated by the news that one of my priests brutally murdered a poor, homeless man. I have no answer to any question that begins with ‘why?’”, the archbishop of Warsaw said in a July 25 statement.

“I ask all the priests of the Archdiocese of Warsaw to begin their personal penance and prayer of atonement today. Next Sunday, let us do this together, after every Mass throughout the archdiocese,” the prelate added.

“The blood of our murdered brother cries out to God. Let us beg God for forgiveness and let us beg for the forgiveness of others. I myself beg for this.”

After requesting prayers for the victim and his loved ones and reiterating that the archdiocese will cooperate with authorities to clarify what happened, the Polish prelate said that as the local archbishop, he feels “morally responsible for everything that happens in this Church — both good and the bad. Including this terrible crime. I apologize.”

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

Actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in “The Chosen.” / Credit: Screenshot EWTN News/Colm Flynn

CNA Staff, Jul 28, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his portrayal of Jesus in the hit series “The Chosen,” sent a video message on Monday to those gathered in Rome for the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers in which he called their work “incredibly important.”

The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries, which is taking place July 28–29, seeks to unite the Church’s efforts “to celebrate, train, and inspire those called to evangelize on digital platforms.” The two days will consist of prayer services, workshops, and talks from Church leaders. The event, with the participation of over a thousand popular Catholic social media users from around the world, will culminate in a music festival. Pope Leo XIV is also expected to make an appearance.

“As someone who’s been blessed to portray Jesus in ‘The Chosen,’ I’ve seen firsthand how a story shared online can touch a heart, soften a soul, even change a life. You’re doing the same,” Roumie said. “Whether it’s through a post, a reel, a comment thread, or a livestream, you’re showing up in these digital spaces with the heart of Christ — not to preach at people but to meet them, to listen, to engage, to start conversations that actually matter.”

He urged the attendees to not “grow weary” and to never “underestimate the power of what you’re doing … your presence online — authentic, prayerful, joyful — that’s part of God’s plan to keep us talking about Jesus.”

The actor explained that this work in digital media is what “evangelization looks like today — it’s not just pulpits and church walls — it’s Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, blogs, all of it. And you’re stepping into that world with love, creativity, and authenticity.”

“What you’re doing is mission. Period. You’re reaching people wherever they are, no matter what they believe or don’t believe, no matter how much they understand or don’t understand. And that openness, that willingness to connect without judgment creates space for real dialogue, for moments of grace, for Christ to move in surprising ways,” he said. 

Roumie encouraged the participants to “keep going. Keep showing up. Keep being that light in the feed.”

“You never know who’s watching or listening or scrolling, and whose life might be changed just because you shared a little hope,” he added. “God bless you. I’m praying for you all. I love you and seriously, thank you for being out there.”

The popular Catholic actor also takes to social media to share inspiring messages about the faith with those who follow him. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Roumie frequently prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet with his followers via livestreams. On Instagram alone, he has over 2.5 million followers. 

Pope Leo XIV is also an active social media user. He started a Twitter (now X) account back in August 2011, over a year before Benedict XVI earned the moniker of the “tweeting pope” with the launch of the official papal account @Pontifex on Dec. 3, 2012. 

Before becoming pope, then-Father Robert Prevost also frequently discussed social media’s potential for evangelization.

In a 2012 interview with Catholic News Service in Rome, Prevost said: “I think the Church needs to be sophisticated, if you will, also in terms of the use of the social networks that are available to us.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin speaks at an EWTN dinner in Frascati, Italy, Oct. 19, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 28, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Monday expressed his concern over the July 27 attack on a Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which killed at least 31 members of the Eucharistic Crusade, a prayer movement and an apostolate for children and young people focused on devotion to the Eucharist and personal sanctification.

“This is a dangerous sign,” Parolin declared, pointing to the growing threat from forces identified as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

For the Italian prelate, this group is a force “that in practice represents Islamic jihad and that imposes itself through force and violence.”

The attack has once again raised the alarm about the insecurity of Christians in the region: “This represents an additional problem in a region that already suffers from many conflicts of an ethnic, cultural, and sociopolitical nature. The addition of a religious aspect now further aggravates the situation,” Parolin told the media during a break at an event with Catholic influencers at the Via della Conciliazione auditorium a short distance from the Vatican.

According to initial reports, the terrorists stormed a Catholic church in northwestern DRC while they were participating in a prayer vigil.

According to the BBC, members of the ADF stormed a church in the town of Komanda, where they shot dead Catholic worshippers and then looted and burned nearby businesses.

Komanda is in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a mineral-rich area contested by several armed groups.

The Vatican cardinal was also asked about the attack earlier this month on Holy Family Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, which left three people dead, including two refugee women, and said that it is up to Israel to prevent such attacks.

“It’s up to Israel to find a way to ensure that these mistakes are not repeated. I believe that, if they want to, they can find a way,” he stated. 

Asked about the war between Israel and Hamas, he stated that “the solution lies in direct dialogue between the two parties, with a view to establishing two autonomous states.” 

The Holy See’s secretary of state acknowledged that “this is becoming increasingly difficult, also because of the situation that has been created and is being created in the West Bank.”

In his analysis, Parolin emphasized that “even in these months, Israeli settlements do not, from a practical point of view, favor the creation of the State of Palestine.”

The cardinal also referred to an upcoming attempt to revive the peace process: “Now it appears there will be a conference in New York — I don’t know if this week or exactly when — sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia to find the practical terms for the implementation of the State [of Palestine].” He added cautiously: “We hope it will bring something positive.”

Regarding communication between the Holy See and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Parolin said: “Of course, we are in constant contact. He [the patriarch] informs us of all the steps being taken; he also seeks our advice, and therefore there is very strong collaboration.”

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

null / Credit: Deemerwha studio/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 28, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has invited Americans to participate in a daily prayer to St. Joseph, defender of life, to stop federal funding of the abortion industry.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, and Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote in a joint statement: “History was recently made when Planned Parenthood and other big abortion businesses were banned from receiving federal Medicaid dollars for one year.”

The passing of the Trump administration’s controversial One Big Beautiful Bill Act halted tax dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions. But, the bishops noted in their statement, “Planned Parenthood immediately sued in a federal court and the judge swiftly granted part of a preliminary injunction, requiring the abortion giant’s taxpayer funding to continue.”

The ruling will allow the organization to continue to operate with millions of taxpayer funds as the case progresses. “Otherwise, children’s lives could be saved every day,” the bishops wrote.  

Broglio and Thomas are now “inviting Catholics to join a focused effort of prayer to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry.” The prayer invoking the intercession of St. Joseph should be prayed until Oct. 1, the beginning of Respect Life Month. 

“Americans should not be forced to pay for the killing of preborn children or fund the clinics that kill them,” the bishops said. “We ask Catholics to offer this prayer daily” to protect “innocent children and their vulnerable mothers from the evil of abortion.”

Prayer to St. Joseph

Dearest St. Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home. As God’s humble servant, you guided the Holy Family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both Mother and Child. We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you.

May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish, and safeguard God’s most precious gift of life. Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life — especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus address on July 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 28, 2025 / 13:09 pm (CNA).

The Vatican welcomes more than a thousand social media influencers to Rome this week for an event intended to shape a new generation of Catholic missionaries — those sharing Christ on the internet. An active social media user, Pope Leo XIV is ready to help the Church navigate the fraught world of internet evangelization.

Before becoming pope, then-Father Robert Prevost identified social media’s potential for evangelization, but he warned about the anti-Christian messages dominating Western media and the tendency to exalt exhibition over the mystical.

“I think the Church needs to be sophisticated, if you will, also in terms of the use of the social networks that are available to us,” Prevost said in a 2012 interview with Catholic News Service (CNS) in Rome.

The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers July 28–29 is two days of prayer services, workshops, and talks from Church leaders. The event, with the participation of over a thousand popular Catholic social media users from around the world, will culminate in a music festival. Pope Leo is also expected to make an appearance.

Father Lucio Ruiz, No. 2 at the Vatican’s communication department, told EWTN News that since 2018, the Vatican has recognized the activity of what they now brand “digital missionaries … people who loved Jesus and the Church and who dedicated themselves to seeking out suffering and spreading the Word [online].”

“They were alone, they had no training. The Church didn’t know or recognize them. And everywhere they asked for the Church’s accompaniment,” he said.

So the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication started organizing online prayer meetings with thousands of these so-called digital missionaries, Catholics with large social media followings, called “The Church Listens to You.”

And now, they are meeting in person for the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers for spiritual and academic preparation — what the Church calls formation — something Leo identified as an important need for the new evangelization.

From spectacle to mystery

In the 2012 interview with CNS, Prevost said he did not think “turning away from the media would be the answer.”

“I think our real challenge is in formation. Our challenge is in preparing people to become critical thinkers,” he said following the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, a gathering in which hundreds of Catholic bishops and others gathered to discuss how to share the good news of Jesus Christ in the modern era.

Prevost, who took part in the synod as the then-prior general of the Augustinian order, told CNS thinking about how the Church should evangelize in a media-saturated environment “is a complex question with a more complex answer.”

“Most people in the Church recognize today the need for the media,” he said. “So this isn’t meant as sort of a blanket elimination of the media in terms of the usefulness that the instruments of modern communication can have for the Church and for announcing the message. But one thing that was repeated numerous times in the synod was that the whole concept of the new evangelization needs to begin with a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.”

In his own short address to bishops at the synod, Prevost called out “mass media-produced distortions of religious and ethical reality,” including the normalization of “beliefs and practices at odds with the Gospel, for example: abortion, the homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia.” 

If the Catholic Church is going to successfully counter these messages, he said in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall, “pastors, preachers, teachers, and catechists are going to have to become far more informed about the context of evangelizing in a world dominated by mass media.”

“Evangelization in the modern world,” he concluded, “must find the appropriate means for redirecting public attention away from spectacle and into mystery.”

‘Digital missionaries’

Almost 13 years later, the popularity of social media has skyrocketed — giving almost anyone a public platform — and priests, religious, and laypeople talking about Catholicism on the digital stage are wrestling with some of the same issues identified by the future Pope Leo.

Father Heriberto García Arias, a young priest from Mexico with 2 million followers on TikTok, told EWTN News that social media is self-referential, because “that’s how social media works. If you want your message to get across, you have to do the same.”

But he said he tries to keep Jesus the focus of his content, even if it is a temptation to do otherwise: “It’s not something you overcome all the time,” he acknowledged. “It’s a struggle.”

García pointed out another potential stumbling block for online influencers, faith-focused or otherwise: the algorithm.

“If you say no, I’m not going to do this, I’m just going to do it differently, without filters, without music, without that, it won’t get through” to reach viewers, he said.

Ruiz, who has become the Vatican’s point person for digital evangelization, acknowledged social media’s limitations too: “The timing, the speed, the simplicity of the language.”

That’s why, the Argentinian priest said, it’s only a “first proclamation” — what St. Paul VI called “pre-evangelization,” or evangelization “at its initial and still incomplete stage.”

In the 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Paul VI already identified that the 20th century was “characterized by the mass media or means of social communication, and the first proclamation, catechesis, or the further deepening of faith cannot do without these means.”

The Church’s use of modern means of social communication is not new; it has embraced novel technologies from the printing press to the radio.

Likewise, Ruiz insisted that online evangelization is just the traditional missionary activity of the Church, only now, on the digital continent.

He cited a 2023 report from the Synod on Synodality that said: “It is up to us to reach today’s culture in all spaces where people seek meaning and love, including the spaces they enter through their cellphones and tablets.”

Human experience

In the 2012 CNS interview, Prevost pointed to St. Augustine, one of his sources of spiritual inspiration for advice on spreading the good news. “One of the reasons the ‘Confessions’ [of St. Augustine] continues to be one of the widest-read books in the history of the world is precisely because of Augustine’s insight into human experience,” he said.

“Human experience, [Augustine] says, is precisely where you can find God. And the humanity of Augustine is not something which leads into a kind of personalized, egoistic, it’s-all-about-me-and-only-me world, but quite the opposite.”

Sharing bits of humanity on the internet is what another digital influencer coming to the jubilee event said she tries to do in her work. 

Author, speaker, and radio host Katie Prejean McGrady shares snippets of her life as a wife and mom with over 40,000 followers on Instagram.

Catholic influencers get to be like the great missionaries of the Church “in the places and spaces where people are often trying to just dull their senses and be distracted,” she said in an interview with EWTN News.

In an email ahead of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, McGrady told CNA she hopes “Pope Leo, who isn’t unaware of the digital landscape, strikes an encouraging and hopeful tone in talking about how we go ‘on mission’ into these digital spaces.”

“A pope who is aware of how well (or poorly) these spaces can be used is one, I think, that will be encouraging to those missionaries who are willing to go onto the digital continent and share the Gospel there,” she added.

Pope Leo and Twitter

Leo has plenty of personal experience with social media. He opened a Twitter (now X) account in August 2011, over a year before Benedict XVI earned the moniker of the “tweeting pope” with the launch of the official papal account @Pontifex on Dec. 3, 2012.

Leo XIV’s account, with the handle @drprevost, was deleted within a week of his election to the papacy, but not before other X users had noted and screenshotted a number of the new pope’s replies and reposts, including a criticism of an interpretation of St. Augustine by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

As a prior general, and later bishop and cardinal, Leo’s over 400 tweets and posts (saved on a webpage) included many reshares of articles from Catholic news accounts, especially with pro-immigrant and pro-life content, information from the Peruvian bishops’ conference, and posts from the Augustinian order.

In fact, the now-pope seemed to have identified social media’s potential early on: One of his first tweets after opening the account was a reply to another user that “the news can be communicated very well here!”

Digital or real?

“In this culture where new generations come with a different way of thinking, where the digital world is real for them… these new places require testimony, witnesses, digital missionaries who are witnesses to the Gospel,” García said.

The priest underlined that the youngest generations are all on social media, so future priests, cardinals — even a future pope — are likely logging on to those platforms too. 

That is why, he added, it is important for Pope Leo to be informed: so he can guide the Church in this new challenge.

“I mean, a pope doesn’t come from Mars, and I’ve said it before … the next pope is watching TikTok right now.”

Paola Flynn, Vatican correspondent for EWTN News’ Spanish-language news program, “EWTN Noticias,” and Casey Mann, a summer 2025 intern for EWTN News in Rome, contributed to this report.