St. Mary's Catholic Church

Michael Iskander as David in Prime Video's "House of David." / Credit: Jonathan Prime/Prime

CNA Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Michael Iskander, the actor known for playing the lead role of King David in the new hit Prime Video series “House of David,” announced Aug. 21 that he has become Catholic.

“Today is a very special day, that looking back has been a long time in the making. Today I joined the Catholic faith,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I’ve felt a calling to this Church for a long time, and as time went on, this calling became louder and louder.”

He added: “Eventually I ran into some really amazing people that helped me along the way. And rather than being the end of the road, this is the beginning of the journey. Please pray for me as I continue my walk with God, and thanks for celebrating this day with me.”

Iskander, 23, has shared in several interviews that he always dreamed of portraying King David but never thought it would happen. He was taking part in a Broadway production when he heard about the upcoming series focusing on Israel’s famous king. After his initial audition, Iskander was given a “no.” A couple weeks later, he was called to reaudition. Iskander was advised by his mother to pray and fast ahead of the second audition. Two months later, he was offered the role.

“For me, oftentimes God speaks with the softest voice and, for me, the softest voice was telling me ‘just hold out’ ... I don’t want to say that I knew this was mine — I really believe that God can choose anyone to accomplish his will,” Iskander said in an interview with Naomi Raine. “It’s not about me, it’s about him doing his will and it’s about someone who was willing to do his will.”

“So, I think in a way having that audition kind of not go through … I think it was God’s way of telling me: ‘Listen, there’s going to be rejection and there’s going to be a tough time and there’s going to be challenges, but the only way you get through is with me,’” he added.

Speaking at the Liberty University convocation, he shared that it’s easy for actors who have a role such as this to “make it about the human being rather than about God.”

“The show, for me, shouldn’t be called ‘House of David.’ It should be called ‘House of the Lord,’ ‘House of God,’ because it’s about him,” he said. “David’s heart was for the Lord and so that’s what I try to find in every scene, in every moment is where the Lord is and where the Holy Spirit can be found.”

Iskander has also spoken about the importance Scripture played while filming the series and portraying this famous figure.

“Keeping in mind the reverence for Scripture and what he means biblically, I found myself reading the Psalms and the Book of Samuel constantly just to be reminded of the true character of David and his heart and truly trying to find his heart in every single moment,” he told CNA in an interview.

He emphasized the importance of “focusing on the reverence for Scripture” in approaching his portrayal of David.

“House of David” is produced by the independent studio Wonder Project, which caters to faith-based and values-oriented audiences. The first season of the series — which aired exclusively on Prime Video — garnered over 40 million views worldwide and reached No. 1 on Prime Video in the United States.

In June, Wonder Project announced the launch of an exclusive subscription that will be offered on Prime Video that will allow subscribers to get early access to new original films and series produced by the production studio.

Season 2 of “House of David” will first be released on the Wonder Project subscription service this fall. It will then be available to all Prime Video users at a later date.

The Monument to Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic. In early August 2025, President Luis Abinader promulgated the Dominican Republic’s new penal code, one of the most significant aspects of which is that it maintains an absolute ban on abortion. / Credit: Soto.Creativo/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 15:42 pm (CNA).

In early August, President Luis Abinader promulgated the Dominican Republic’s new penal code, a law that replaces legislation more than a century old and will come into effect in August 2026.

The approved text incorporates crimes such as “femicide,” contract killings, cyberbullying, economic violence, pyramid schemes, kidnapping, crimes against humanity, and genocide. It also increases maximum prison sentences up to 60 years for serious crimes.

However, one of the most significant aspects is that it maintains the absolute ban on abortion, a milestone for the Dominican pro-life movement.

‘A code that enshrines the inviolability of life’

Father Mario de la Cruz Campusano, episcopal vicar for Family and Life Ministry of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, expressed his gratitude for the passage and promulgation of the new penal code.

“We want to recognize the great work of the [representatives] and senators in approving a code that enshrines the inviolability of life. Likewise, we thank President Luis Abinader for listening to us and enacting this law that the vast majority of the Dominican people requested and needed,” he stated in a video posted on social media.

The priest emphasized that the new legislation “resolves many problems needing attention with regard to the penal code, classifies new crimes, increases penalties where necessary, and introduces provisions not addressed in the previous legislation.”

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Damaris Patrocinio, president of the Forum of Women in Defense of Life and the Family, (FOMUDEVI by its Spanish acronym) stated that this victory “has been the fruit of a decades-long struggle.”

“They say that every era has its battles and every battle has its warriors. FOMUDEVI would not have been a key component in this phase for the passage of the constitutional penal code if the great warriors who preceded us more than 25 years ago had not laid the foundations for the defense of life,” she stated.

The pro-life leader recalled names such as Pelegrín Castillo, Mercy Núñez de Avilés, Bishop Víctor Masalles, the late Father Luis Rosario, and other advocates “who passed the generational torch to us.”

A joint effort by experts

Patrocinio explained that in January, FOMUDEVI called on five lawyers who “worked on amendments to the current penal code on a pro bono basis.” These jurists — Fabio Caminero, Carolina Moreno, Laura Félix, Katerine Gómez Hernández, and Martha Jáquez — drafted and revised articles to strengthen the protections for life and family.

Among the key provisions, she highlighted, “abortion was maintained, fully criminalized, as established by the constitution in Article 37.” At the same time, an exemption was added, stating: “The termination of pregnancy performed by specialized health personnel will not be punished if, to save the life of the mother, the fetus, or both in danger, all available means at the time of the event are exhausted.”

“What was done was to include in the law what was already addressed in a medical protocol of the Ministry of Public Health,” Patrocinio explained.

Regarding the family, the pro-life leader emphasized that “it remains untouchable, since the constitution establishes in Article 55 that marriage is between one man and one woman.”

Conscientious objection and new crimes

The leader also welcomed the inclusion of two paragraphs on conscientious objection.

“Conscientious objection entails important social and legal consequences. It is a person’s right to refuse to fulfill a legal obligation when said obligation profoundly contradicts their moral, ethical, or religious convictions,” she noted.

Regarding the inclusion of new crimes, Patrocinio acknowledged progress and nuances: Adding “‘contract killings’ was an achievement, as these crimes have been on the rise in the Dominican Republic. We believe that cyberbullying has room for improvement in its wording. Economic violence, on the other hand, is subjective and more susceptible to the manipulated gender agenda and the 2030 agenda,” she commented.

Criticisms and challenges

Regarding those in society who take issue with the prohibition of abortion, Patrocinio was emphatic: “For them, the only perfect code would be one that contains only three articles: first, unrestricted abortion in all its forms, including infanticide; second, sexual orientation for the purpose of indoctrinating children; and third, an article that eliminates our sovereignty,” she stated.

Facing the year of “vacatio legis” (the period of time between the publication of a law and its going into effect), the president of FOMUDEVI anticipates some challenges: “We have a great opportunity to improve what has already been passed; not to add anything new but to adapt penalties, eliminate articles, or improve wording.”

Asked about the risk of attempting to introduce changes, she pointed out that “this danger will always be latent, because pro-abortion groups continue to receive significant funding from international organizations.”

Along the same lines, Martharís Rivas, coordinator of 40 Days for Life in the Dominican Republic, emphasized that the group will continue “praying for this ‘vacatio legis’ so that life and family continue to be defended in the Dominican penal code.”

Finally, Patrocinio reiterated FOMUDEVI’s commitment to the transition process, saying the organization will remain “on high alert for any attempt to modify what was passed.” 

“This has been a severe blow to the head of the serpent of the groups involved in the industry of death, who were defeated and crushed to their shame,” she noted.

With the passage of the law in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) by a margin of 159-4 and with 27-1 in the Senate, the new Dominican penal code marks a before and after in the country’s legislative history.

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

Pope Leo XIV meets with a U.S. ecumenical group led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America on July 17, 2025, at the Vatican, encouraging them to “return to the roots of our faith” in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has issued an ecumenical appeal to all Christians to be architects of reconciliation and peace throughout the world on the occasion of Ecumenical Week, which is being celebrated in Stockholm Aug. 18–24.

In a message published Aug. 22 by the Vatican press office, the pontiff recalled that this initiative, in which Christians of different denominations participate, coincides with the centenary of the Christian Conference on Life and Work held in Stockholm in 1925 and the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

Regarding the council held in 325, Leo XIV explained that with the formulation of the Creed, the Council Fathers “articulated the faith that continues to bind Christians together,” making that occasion “a courageous sign of unity amid difference — an early witness to the conviction that our shared confession can overcome division and foster communion.”

Regarding the meeting convened in Stockholm 100 years ago, the pope emphasized that its proponent “the pioneer of the early ecumenical movement, Archbishop Nathan Söderblom, Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala,” held the conviction that “service unites” and proposed joining forces in “‘practical Christianity’ — to serve the world together in the pursuit of peace, justice, and human dignity.”

Leo XIV noted that, although the Catholic Church was not present at that first meeting, “we stand with you today as fellow disciples of Christ, recognizing that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.”

He emphasized that since the Second Vatican Council, “the Catholic Church has wholeheartedly embraced the ecumenical path,” reflected in the decree Unitatis Redintegratio, which called “dialogue in humble and loving fraternity, grounded in our common baptism and our shared mission in the world.”

“We believe that the unity Christ wills for his Church must be visible and that such unity grows through theological dialogue, common worship where possible, and shared witness in the face of humanity’s suffering,” the pontiff said in his message.

Leo XIV also highlighted the theme of this year’s meeting, “Time for God’s Peace,” as a message that “could not be more timely” as we contemplate “the deep scars of conflict, inequality, environmental degradation, and a growing sense of spiritual disconnection.”

Peace, the Holy Father emphasized, “is not merely a human achievement but a sign of the Lord’s presence with us. This is both a promise and a task, for the followers of Christ are summoned to become artisans of reconciliation: to confront division with courage, indifference with compassion, and to bring healing where there has been hurt.”

In reference to the ecumenical work carried out by his predecessors, Leo XIV said he is pleased that during the ecumenical meeting “my delegation is able to be present as a sign of the Catholic Church’s commitment to continuing the journey of praying and working together, wherever we can, for peace, justice, and the good of all.”

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

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate former Rep. Abigail Spanberger speaks during an Everytown for Gun Safety rally on April 10, 2025, in Alexandria, Virginia. / Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 14:08 pm (CNA).

Years-old video that surfaced this week showed Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger endorsing assisted suicide and appearing to suggest that even religious hospitals should be required to perform the procedure.

The footage, which shows then-U.S. House candidate Spanberger at a 2018 campaign event, depicts the Democrat being asked about her position on “legislation that would legalize medical aid in dying,” a common euphemism for assisted suicide.

“I support and I would support legislation that legalizes the right to die with dignity of a person’s choosing,” Spanberger responded. “That would include allowing for medical providers to provide prescriptions for life-ending prescriptions.”

Spanberger at the same time was asked to speak on “permitting religious health care institutions to dictate what their physicians are allowed to discuss with their patients.”

“I oppose the ability of religious institutions to put their religious-based ideas on individuals and their health care choices and options,” she responded in the video.

“I believe that we should trust people to have relationships with their health care providers that lead them to make strong decisions based on their medical practices, and I do not believe that people should have the option to allow their own personal beliefs to dictate the type of medical care that they are providing their patients,” she said.

The Democrat is running against current state Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Friday morning asking if she still supports assisted suicide or forcing individuals and hospitals to perform it.

The resurfaced video generated backlash online this week. Republican State Del. Geary Higgins wrote that Spanberger’s remarks were “absolutely unbelievable.”

“Not only will religious organizations that do not believe in assisted suicide have to talk about it, they will have to make it available,” he said.

The National Right to Life Committee, meanwhile, described the Democrat’s position as “a window into how far some are willing to go to prioritize ideological consistency over constitutional rights.”

“Voters and lawmakers should take her at her word and reject the premise that the state may dictate the moral framework of faith-based institutions,” group outreach director Raimundo Rojas said.

State lawmakers in Virginia last year voted down an effort to legalize assisted suicide there. Nearly a dozen states and the District of Columbia presently allow the practice. 

Ahead of the Virginia bill’s defeat in the state Legislature last year, Virginia’s Catholic bishops warned that the proposal would “[make] the most vulnerable even more vulnerable” and put them at risk of “deadly harm.”

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond called the bill a “lethal measure” and reminded voters that human life “is sacred and must never be abandoned or discarded.”

Sebastien Lai, son of imprisoned free speech advocate Jimmy Lai, speaks on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Aug. 21, 2025. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 22, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

Sebastien Lai, son of imprisoned Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, said this week his father is “still fighting” and “holding on” as closing arguments continue in his lengthy national security trial.

Jimmy Lai, the Catholic billionaire, human rights activist, and founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been on trial since 2023 in Hong Kong for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controlled Chinese government. He faces a life sentence if found guilty. 

“It’s a textbook example of a show trial, of the weaponization of the legal system,” Sebastien told EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday.

“He’s not going to see a fair trial … It’s an absolute kangoo trial.”

Sebastien said the evidence brought against his father “all turned out to be completely untrue,” adding: “My father is in prison because of his journalism and because of his courage. Because he stayed to defend his people, because he dared to campaign for democracy and for human rights in Hong Kong. And that didn’t sit well with the Hong Kong government.”

While closing arguments began on Aug. 18, they continue to be postponed. Sebastien said the issue is that “the national security law is so broad,” explaining that the “rule of law” in Hong Kong, which was once fairly enforced, “no longer holds.”

“Instead of the rule of law, it’s the rule of men,” he said. “My father got more than a year in maximum security prison in solitary confinement on one of the sentences, which was for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a Tiananmen Square massacre vigil.”

People can see it is “not just ridiculous, but how horrible it is to give someone a jail sentence over commemorating people who died, [but] who died for freedom and democracy in China.”

While “it’s an open trial” and people in Hong Kong can follow what is happening, “there’s no free press,” Sebastien said. “People are going to jail for liking social media posts or even writing on bathroom toilets … But foreign journalists can still go and local journalists can still cover parts of it. There’s at least that element of it.”

“My father said it best … when he was giving testimony: ‘My job as a journalist, as a publisher, is to hold a torch to the truth.’” 

Call for international support 

As leaders around the world rally to support Jimmy, Sebastien said his family is “incredibly grateful” for the help but that he thinks “it’s time to put action” behind words. 

President Donald Trump recently vowed to do everything he can to bring about Jimmy’s release.

“The fact that [Trump] is still keeping my father’s case close to heart is something that I’m incredibly grateful for,” he said.

“The U.S. government is much more effective and much stronger in terms of liberating people around the world. Now that both [the U.K. and U.S.] governments are so supportive, it gives us a lot of hope as a family, but … I think the U.K. government can do more to free my father,” he said.

“But I think we are in a situation now where my father dying in jail is not beneficial for any party. It’s not beneficial for Hong Kong. It’s not beneficial for China. It’s obviously not beneficial for anybody who enjoys freedom.” Jimmy would “essentially act as a martyr if he died in prison,” Sebastien said. 

Jimmy’s health concerns

“His health is not good,” Sebastien continued. “From my understanding, my father is much skinnier and much weaker, but still strong in spirit and still strong in mind.”

The Chinese government is “always trying to essentially break his spirit with all these multiple show trials. The government tells him that nobody cares about him and that he’s going to die for nothing.”

In solitary confinement, where Jimmy is most of the time, he is “in a little concrete cell, and there’s no air conditioning, so he bakes under the sun … never mind his diabetes,” the younger Lai said. Recently, Jimmy’s lawyers also shared that he is suffering from heart palpitations in prison.

As the trial continues, Sebastien said a statement his father made is what gives him hope: “‘The truth will come out in the kingdom of God, and that is good enough for me.’”

The Sydney Opera House in Australia. / Credit: Michele M via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

CNA Newsroom, Aug 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Amid rising tensions, Australia’s bishops have renewed their call for the compassionate welcome of migrants, marking the 75th anniversary of a landmark pastoral letter that helped shape the nation’s migration response.

The Bishops’ Commission for Evangelization, Laity, and Ministry released “Under the Southern Cross: A Journey of Faith and Unity” on Aug. 21.

The letter commemorates the 1950 pastoral letter “On Immigration” that urged Catholics to exercise “great generosity” toward displaced Europeans seeking refuge after World War II.

“Their words remain just as applicable to us today,” the anniversary letter reads. “Once again, our nation serves as a sanctuary and refuge for thousands seeking a new life — whether fleeing hardships in their homelands or pursuing the opportunities, freedom, and prosperity that Australia offers.”

The original 1950 letter, read aloud in churches nationwide, called on Australian Catholics to extend “patience, kindliness, sympathy, and practical help” to new arrivals, particularly war refugees. It described Australia as becoming “a sanctuary, a shelter, a home for thousands of the homeless, stateless, persecuted peoples of the old world” through “divine providence.”

Archbishop Christopher Prowse, commission chair, said Catholics remain called to “welcome, support, and embrace” those arriving from other lands. “Migrants have made an enormous contribution to our nation,” Prowse said.

“All of us benefit from their diverse cultural traditions, stories, deep wisdom, and experience they bring.”

The anniversary letter notes that around a third of Australia’s population — 8.2 million people — were born overseas.

Australia’s diverse Catholic community

Over recent decades, migration to Australia has shifted, now differing markedly from the predominantly European influx of the 1950s. 

Official Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that in 2023-24, the country welcomed 667,000 arrivals from nations including China, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Myanmar.

These numbers reflect Australia’s continuing role as a destination for those seeking new opportunities.

The Catholic community itself reflects this diversity. 

According to the 2021 Australian Census, Catholics number 5,075,907 people — representing 20% of Australia’s total population. 

This marks a decline from 22.6% in 2016, confirms the National Center for Pastoral Research, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference research agency.

Significantly, 21.4% of Australian Catholics were born in non-English-speaking countries, according to the Catholic Church’s own statistical analysis. 

This cultural diversity reflects the bishops’ historical welcome, with Vietnamese, Arabic, Chaldean, and Italian among the 42 languages in which Mass is now celebrated across Australia.

The bishops acknowledge migration experiences have not always been positive and warn of bias against some communities.

“Despite significant progress in fostering a multicultural society, prejudice persists among some of us who view others as being ‘different’ or ‘other’ within our nation,” the letter states.

The anniversary comes amid contemporary tensions as “conflicts from abroad spill into our own nation,” creating “growing tensions, division, and unrest” threatening community harmony.

The bishops ground their call in Scripture, citing Matthew 25:40: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” They also reference St. John Paul II’s challenge: “How can the baptized claim to welcome Christ if they close the door to the foreigner who comes knocking?”

A ‘second spring’ 

Australia’s Catholic community is experiencing what Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher recently described as a “second spring” of faith, with the Archdiocese of Sydney welcoming a record 384 adult converts at Easter 2025, a 30% increase from the previous year. 

Many of these new Catholics come from migrant communities, particularly Chinese and Indonesian backgrounds.

The bishops emphasized migrants’ continuing contributions and the “diverse cultural traditions, stories, and deep wisdom” that have made Australia “a more welcoming, vibrant, and flourishing society.” 

The letter concludes by invoking Pope Leo XIV’s recent message calling Catholics to “become a living witness to hope” and build communities where migrants can “express their talents and participate fully.”

Washington Surgi-Clinic on F St. NW in Washington, D.C., on April 7, 2022. / Credit: Katie Yoder/CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

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

Late-term abortionist in DC faces complaint for ‘medical malpractice’

A pro-life group filed a formal complaint against late-term abortionist Cesar Santangelo this week, citing “a documented history” of medical malpractice and serious injury of patients.

Leaders of the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust group allege that Santangelo has “a pattern of injuring patients, endangering people’s lives, and prematurely ending at least one” in the complaint, which was addressed to members of the Washington, D.C., Board of Medicine.

The 12-page complaint details alleged medical malpractice by Santangelo that has led to the death or serious injury of patients. The letter is signed by The Survivors’ Director Timothy Clement and The Survivors’ D.C. Organizer Kristin Turner.

Pro-life activists associated Santangelo’s clinic with the discovery of the remains of five late-term unborn children. Pro-life activists said they found the children’s remains at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, an abortion center in northwest D.C. that is operated by Santangelo.

According to the letter, Santangelo performs abortions up to 28 weeks, just at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy.

Texas attorney general demands halt to illegal abortion pill shipments

Following two cases of abortion drug poisoning, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a cease-and-desist letter calling on abortion organizations to stop illegally shipping abortion drugs into the state.

According to the Aug. 20 press release, Paxton demanded an end to “unlawful advertising, sale, and shipment of abortion-inducing drugs into the state of Texas.”

The letter ties in with recent cases in which abortion groups “facilitated men illegally purchasing abortion-inducing drugs,” according to the press release. The men then allegedly poisoned the mothers of their children with the drug, killing their unborn children.

“Texas will not tolerate the murdering of innocent life through illegal drug trafficking,” Paxton said. “These abortion drug organizations and radical activists are not above the law, and I have ordered the immediate end of this unlawful conduct.”

“This is a flagrant violation of both state and federal laws, and we are going to do everything in our power to protect mothers and unborn babies,” he said.

Catholic pro-life activists face charges after presidential pardon 

Pro-life activists, including two who were recently pardoned by President Donald Trump, are facing trespassing charges for their pro-life activism in Pennsylvania.

The six activists were participating in a Red Rose Rescue on July 31 in Upland, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia at the Delaware County Women’s Center in Crozer Chester Medical Center. Red Rose Rescue is a pro-life group that witnesses to life at abortion clinics and tries to stop abortions by offering roses to women.

The group, which included five Catholics and one evangelical, were charged with biosecurity trespassing (entering a medical treatment without following biosecurity protocols) and disorderly trespassing — misdemeanors that could lead to up to one year in jail and fines.

Two of the activists  — Joan Andrews Bell, 77, from New Jersey, and William Goodman, 55, originally from Wisconsin — had previously been pardoned by Trump after they were convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for blocking an abortion clinic entrance.

Several other activists were charged, including: ChristyAnne Collins, 70, from Texas; William Holmberg, 71, from Steubenville, Ohio; head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society Monica Miller, 72, from Michigan; and Patrice Woodworth-Crandall, 61, from Minnesota.

“The Knight” — which airs at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, on EWTN — highlights three historical events that had a decisive impact on the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe. / Credit: EWTN

Birmingham, Ala., Aug 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Most people think of St. Maximilian Kolbe as the heroic martyr who traded places with another prisoner in Auschwitz, resulting in a painful death by starvation, but there is much more of the story to tell. What would give someone the courage to do such a thing, and why was this sacrifice not the reason he was canonized? 

These are but a couple of the questions answered in “The Knight,” which airs at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 23, on EWTN.

This special program highlights three historical events that had a decisive impact on Kolbe’s life and his responses, which speak to us even today.

The first event was the 200th anniversary of Freemasonry. During the so-called celebration, “[t]he Vatican was besieged by thousands of people carrying banners depicting Satan knocking down Michelangelo and the inscription ‘Satan must reign in the Vatican, and the pope will be his servant.’”

What could a college student studying to become a Franciscan priest do? Kolbe asked his college rector’s permission to form an organization called the Knights of the Immaculata. Kolbe, who had been deeply impacted by the apparitions of Our Lady to St. Catherine Laboure, tasked his members with distributing Miraculous Medals, which Our Lady promised St. Catherine Laboure would transform the lives of those who wore them.

Kolbe said: “Distribute her medallion wherever you can to children, so that they always wear it around their necks, and to the elderly, and young people in particular, so that under her protection they have enough strength to fend off so many temptations and snares lurking in our times, and to those who do not go to the church, or who are afraid to go to confession, who scoff at religious practices, who laugh at the truths of the faith, who are bogged in moral mud, or who are outside the Church in heresy. To these, it is necessary to offer the medal … ask them to … wear it, and … earnestly implore the Immaculata for their conversion.”

The second event, which deeply impacted Kolbe, was the Soviet invasion of Poland. But for the Miracle on the Vistula, the Bolshevik army would have invaded Warsaw in August 1920. The battle helped now-Father Kolbe understand that “for Christian Europe, communism was a serious, if not more serious, threat than the Freemasons.”

Kolbe used the monasteries he built in Poland to deliver an inexpensive newspaper to a largely uneducated and poor audience for whom printed materials were a luxury. His newspaper did not attack communism. Knight of the Immaculata, as it was known, presented a different vision of life — the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The newspaper helped readers discover the beauty they already had in their lives, whether they knew it or not. 

“Man’s heart is too big to be filled with money, sensuality, or the deceptive, though intoxicating, mist of fame,” he wrote. “It yearns for a higher good, boundless and everlasting, and such a good is only God.”

The first issue reached 70,000 people. A sister publication in Japan would be extremely significant after the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

Kolbe’s plans to broadcast the first Catholic radio program and to launch a television station were interrupted by the third and most well-known historic event in his life: World War II. During the war, 6 million Poles were murdered, and 3,500 were displaced. Kolbe brought aid and food to those in need and was allowed to publish one more issue of the Knight.

He wrote: “Happiness … founded not on truth, cannot be, like untruth itself, lasting. Only truth can be, and is, the unbreakable foundation of happiness for both individual people and humanity as a whole.”

Viewers of “The Knight” will learn that this is what probably got Kolbe arrested and sent to a variety of concentration camps along with 100,000 others. It was in Auschwitz that Kolbe traded his life for a man with a wife and children. The effect his action had on other prisoners and on those who learned of it was incalculable — and it continues to resonate with all who hear it.

As Pope John Paul II would say when canonizing his fellow Pole: “In this place of terrible suffering, Father Maximilian Kolbe won a spiritual victory, similar to that of Christ, voluntarily giving himself up to die in a starvation cell for his brother.”

Yet the pope did not canonize Kolbe for this courageous sacrifice but because he lived a life of heroic virtue. His voluntary death in the concentration camp was but the culmination of a life of sacrifice and walking with the Immaculata, who helped him know the will of God.

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

CNA Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Aug. 22 marks the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, an annual day of awareness to draw attention to human rights related to freedom of religion.

To mark the day, Marta Petrosillo, editor-in-chief of the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Religious Freedom Report highlighted the current challenges Christians around the world face.

While the idea of facing persecution for one’s beliefs may seem impossible to some, Petrosillo emphasized in a press release that “it is a reality for hundreds of millions of people all over the world.” She said having days that put a spotlight on people who have experienced violence because of their religion or beliefs is important because “there’s sometimes a tendency to overlook this phenomenon.”

Petrosillo explained that there are three different kinds of religious persecution: persecution perpetuated by the state, persecution caused by religious extremism — such as jihadist groups — and persecution caused by ethno-religious nationalism.

Currently, the continent Petrosillo sees as a main concern is Africa, where in recent years religious persecution has skyrocketed.

“We see many jihadist groups perpetrating more attacks, including in countries where interfaith relations were not a problem,” she said. “Take the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance. Historically, there have not been problems between faith communities, and it is majority Christian, but we just witnessed a major attack on Christian faithful.”

She added: “This is definitely something that is spreading in many parts of Africa, and it tends to spread from one country to another.”

Petrosillo also pointed out the situation in Burkina Faso: Where 10 years ago it was not among the countries of concern, “nowadays, it is unfortunately one of the places in the world where more jihadist attacks happen.”

Other areas with worsening situations include Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Petrosillo also sees concerns with religious freedoms being violated in the West.

“During the past years we saw an increase of attacks against some faith groups, vandalism against churches, and an increase of antisemitic and anti-Islamic episodes because of the war in Gaza,” she said.

“Then there is an effort to exclude religion from the public square, including what Pope Francis called ‘polite persecution.’ We are also concerned about disrespect for conscientious objections of people working in the health sector.”

Every two years ACN releases its Religious Freedom Report (RFR), which first began in 1999 with the aim of raising awareness and to report on violations of religious freedom. 

“What makes it special is that the RFR is the only report produced by an NGO [nongovernmental organization] that covers the situation in all the countries in the world and for all faith groups, because if religious freedom is denied for one group, sooner or later, it will also be denied to others,” Petrosillo explained. “And for ACN, it is important that religious freedom is granted equally to all.”

This year’s report, according to Petrosillo, continues to show the worsening trend of religious freedom violations in countries around the world. However, she said she remains hopeful, as she sees “improvements in the increasing awareness, both from civil society and some governments, of what is happening.”

“This can be the game changer in order to act against the violation of religious freedom,” she said.

ACN’s most recent Religious Freedom Report, issued in June 2023, can be found here. The new report will be out Oct. 21.

Mary. Artist Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Museu da Casa Brasileira. / Credit: Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mundelein, Ill., Aug 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church annually celebrates the feast of the Queenship of Mary on Aug. 22. Most people, upon hearing of this celebration, would think of it as something rather sweet and sentimental, a quaint devotion for grandmothers with a taste for saccharine spirituality. But when we examine this feast as we should, through biblical eyes, a very different picture emerges.

The clearest scriptural indication that Mary of Nazareth is a queen is a remarkable passage in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation. The visionary author sees an extraordinary sign in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon at her feet, and a coronet of 12 stars on her head.

Twelve, of course, is a designation of the tribes of Israel, and the crown is a rather unambiguous indication that we are dealing with a royal figure. It soon becomes clear that this woman is not only a queen but, more precisely, a queen mother, for we hear that she is laboring to give birth to a king, one who is “destined to rule the nations with an iron rod.”

Both the queen mother and the infant king are involved in a terrible struggle. The visionary tells us that a fearsome dragon is poised to devour the baby as soon as it comes forth. But God sweeps the child up and brings him to the safety of the divine throne, while the mother flees to the desert where she finds refuge. In the wake of this, a war breaks out between “Michael and his angels” and the dragon and his angelic supporters. This image is, of course, symbolically rich and multivalent, but at the very least it indicates that the queen and her kingly son are protagonists in a spiritual warfare of some magnitude. They are, in a word, warriors.

Just before this passage, at the very end of Chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation (and remember that the chapter designations came many centuries after this text was originally composed), we find the vision of the heavenly temple. Amid flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, and a mighty hailstorm, the seer spies the Ark of the Covenant within the temple.

The ark, we recall, was the container of the remnants of the Ten Commandments, and hence the most sacred object for ancient Israel. Placed within the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple, the ark was understood to be the link between heaven and earth, the definitive bearer of the divine presence.

When King David brought the ark into the Holy City, he danced before it with reckless abandon. Moreover, at various points throughout its history, Israel brought the ark into battle, most notably when the priests marched with it seven times around the walls of Jericho, before those battlements came tumbling down.

Now the juxtaposition of the vision of the ark in the heavenly temple and the vision of the queen mother clothed with the sun cannot have been accidental. The author of the Book of Revelation is telling us that Mary, the bearer of the Word of God made flesh, was the Ark of the Covenant par excellence.

Indeed, when she visited her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with the unborn John the Baptist, he leapt in his mother’s womb for joy, a beautiful infant imitation of the dance of David before the true ark. Both ark and queen are associated with spiritual warfare.

In her Magnificat prayer, recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Mary speaks of the God “who has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.” Like her Son, Mary does not fight with the puny weapons of the world but rather with the weapons of love, forgiveness, compassion, and provocative nonviolence.

Those who have experienced a Jesuit retreat based upon the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius will recognize the “two standards” meditation. Ignatius asks the retreatant to imagine a great field of battle. Arrayed on one side, under the standard of the Church, is the army of Christ; and on the other, under the standard of Satan, is the army of the dark powers. Then Ignatius compels the retreatant to make a decision, indeed the most fundamental and important choice imaginable, the election that will determine everything else he will say and do for the rest of his life: Which army will you join?

Bob Dylan posed the same stark spiritual option in his 1979 song “Gotta Serve Somebody:” (“It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”) In other areas of life, a fair amount of nuance and subtlety is called for, but at the most basic level, where one determines the fundamental orientation of one’s life, things actually become quite simple and clear.

The feast of the Queenship of Mary has to do with this choice: Where do you stand in the great spiritual struggle? With whose army do you fight? Do you march under the banner of the Queen Mother and her Son, or with their enemies? Do you go out with the Ark of the Covenant or against it? Say what you want about those questions, but they are neither sweet nor sentimental.

This story was first published on CNA on Sept. 11, 2012, and has been updated.