A new mural painted by artist Adam Cvijanovic, the south and west panels seen here, was unveiled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in New York. The mural, which is the largest permanent artwork commissioned for the cathedral in its 146-year history, celebrates the 1879 Apparition at Knock, Ireland, the faith of generations of immigrants to New York, and the service of New York City’s first responders. / Credit: Diane Bondareff/AP Content Services for the Archdiocese of New York

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan has unveiled a 25-foot-tall mural honoring migrants to New York City. 

Housed in the entryway of the iconic New York church, the mural, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding,” portrays the apparition of Mary, Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist to the Irish village of Knock as well as immigrants from all over the world, including well-known figures such as Dorothy Day, Pierre Toussaint, and Alfred E. Smith. 

The mural also shows the first Native American saint, Kateri Tekakwitha.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is set to bless the mural this coming Sunday, said at a press briefing on Thursday: “This became not only an ode to Jesus and Mary and Joseph and St. John and the faith of the Irish people who were so instrumental in this archdiocese, it also became an ode to those who followed them and found in this city, this country, and yes, in this Holy Mother Church, an embrace of welcome.” 

Dolan, who will be joined for the official dedication by the rector of the Knock Shrine in Ireland, said he had intended the mural to go up with the last renovations at St. Patrick’s in 2012 but was advised to wait. 

“I’m kind of glad now, because it matured — it was like a Crock-Pot,” he said. 

Adam Cvijanovic, the mural’s painter, said: “I thought when I started making this painting that the important thing to do was to make it about people and portraits. So, everybody in this painting is an actual person. They’re all portraits. Even the angels.”

Dolan’s late mother, Shirley, was the model for one of the immigrants Cvijanovic portrayed. First responders are also depicted in the mural.

“That seemed to me to be a really, really important thing to do,” Cvijanovic continued, “to talk about the people of the city, all of them, and to have it in some place that people could go in New York and feel themselves recognized in the context of respect and hope.”

Major benefactors covered the cost of the mural, according to Dolan.

The cathedral’s rector, Father Enrique Salvo, an immigrant from Nicaragua, weighed in on the mural, saying: “If you would have told me that I was going to be the rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral when I came to this country, I would have never believed it. But with God, all things are possible, and hopefully it’s an inspiration for everyone that walks in, that we’re not only welcome, but we’re also invited to make a difference and to let God shine through us.”

Pope Leo XIV receives members of various religious congregations on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 15:31 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday highlighted the value of the vow of obedience in institutes of religious life as “a school of freedom in love” that lays the foundations of fidelity beyond “the ‘feelings’ of the moment.”

During a Sept. 18 meeting with participants in the general chapters and assemblies of various congregations and institutes, the pontiff reflected on “some unifying characteristics” of the legacy of the founders of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the Society of Mary (Marists), the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception, and the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate.

First, he emphasized the importance of community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate.”

In this regard, Leo XIV explained to those present that “it is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit inspired those who preceded you to join the sisters and brothers whom Providence placed on their path, so that goodness would multiply and grow through the communion of good people. This was the case at the beginning of your foundations and throughout the centuries, and the same continues to take place today.”

Second, Leo XIV emphasized the value of “obedience as an act of love” in the context of religious consecration.

Drawing on the words of St. Augustine, he recalled that obedience is the daughter of charity: “I do not trust what is stuck in the soil unless I can see what’s hanging from the branches. You have charity, do you? Show me its fruit. Let me see obedience,” the saint of Hippo said.

Leo: Talk of obedience ‘is not very fashionable today’

Leo XIV admitted that “talking about obedience is not very fashionable today,” because it is considered to involve a renunciation of one’s own freedom.

“But that is not the case,” he affirmed before explaining that “obedience, in its deepest meaning of active and generous listening to others, is a great act of love by which we accept dying to ourselves so that our brothers and sisters may grow and live.”

“When it is professed and lived with faith, obedience reveals a luminous path of self-giving that can help the world rediscover the value of sacrifice, the capacity for lasting relationships, and the maturity in community that goes beyond the “feelings” of the moment by establishing itself in fidelity. Obedience is a school of freedom in love,” he explained.

The third characteristic highlighted by the pontiff is related to “being attentive to the signs of the times,” which he defined as “an open and perceptive gaze toward the real demands of our brothers and sisters,” without which the present congregations would not have existed.

“Your founders were capable of observing, evaluating, loving, and then setting out, even at the risk of great suffering and failure, to serve the real needs of their brothers and sisters, recognizing the voice of God in the poverty of their neighbors,” the pontiff noted, encouraging the participants “to move forward in the living memory of those courageous beginnings” to identify their potential, “perhaps still unexplored, in order to put them to good use in the service of the ‘here and now.’”

In his parting words to the religious, Leo XIV praised the hidden work they do: “Dear friends, I know how much good you do every day in so many parts of the world — good that is often unseen by human eyes but not by God’s! I thank you and bless you from my heart, encouraging you to continue your mission with faith and generosity.”

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

null / Credit: nito/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 14:31 pm (CNA).

This week the Patients Rights Action Fund, which works to “end the dangerous and discriminatory public policy of assisted suicide,” provided an update on current assisted suicide legislation in the United States, revealing the deadly practice’s ongoing expansion throughout the country.

In a Sept. 18 webinar, group coalitions director Jessica Rodgers explained that most states that allow assisted suicide follow the “Oregon model,” based on Oregan’s assisted suicide criteria. 

The model requires “the patient to be 18 years of age or older, have a terminal illness with six months or less to live, make two or more separate requests with a 15-day waiting period in between, and have two witnesses, which can include heirs to the estate or friends of heirs,” Rodgers said. 

“The drugs must be self-administered and all states do require the falsification of the death certificate,” Rodgers said, meaning the states list the underlying condition that qualifies the patient as the cause of death rather than the prescribed drug that ends his or her life.

States attempting expansions to assisted suicide laws

In 2025, new legislation was proposed in a number of states where assisted suicide is legal to advance its polices and limit some of the “safeguards” in place.

A New Jersey bill was proposed that would remove the 15-day waiting period and the second request if the prescriber thinks death will occur within the time period. The bill is still in play and has not been passed yet. 

In Maine, a 15-day waiting period was reduced to seven days in cases when it is “in the best interests of the patient” according to the judgment of the prescriber. The legislation was passed and signed by the governor after the original version was amended that would have allowed the whole waiting period to be waived.

A Delaware bill passed that allows for advanced practice nurses to prescribe the medication that kills the patients. The bill has no requirements for an in-person exam or a mental health evaluation. 

California proposed a major change that reduced the 15-day waiting period for assisted suicide to only 48 hours. The bill also removes the sunset date, which will keep the End of Life Option Act from expiring. The bill passed last week and is awaiting a signature by the governor.

Some states proposed expansions, but the legislation did not advance. In Washington, D.C., there was a public hearing on a bill that would remove the waiting period in certain cases, but no action was taken.

An Oregon bill was also not advanced that proposed nurse practitioners and physician assistants could prescribe to patients seeking assisted suicide. It also pushed for the waiting period to be reduced from 15 days to 48 hours and would waive the period completely if death is “expected imminently.”

Proposed legislation to legalize assisted suicide 

Assisted suicide is legal in 10 states and D.C., but a number of other states have active legislation to legalize it. 

In New York a bill to legalize assisted suicide was approved and is awaiting signature by the governor, which she must sign by the end of the year. The bill does not require the patient to be a resident of the state, has no waiting period, and does not require an in-person exam or a mental health evaluation.

In Rhode Island assisting a suicide is a felony, but there is proposed legislation to legalize assisted suicide that would require an in-person evaluation. The bill requires a 15-day waiting period between requests and an additional 48-hour waiting period that begins after the patient submits his or her signed request for the medication. 

Nevada does not authorize assisted suicide, but legislation pushing for it proposed advanced practice nurses to be allowed to prescribe the drugs, no in-person exam requirement, only one witness necessarily, and no requirement for the patient to be a resident of the state. 

The Nevada legislation does detail that the prescribed drugs would be the cause of death on the certificate rather than the underlying condition.

Legislation in Maryland would not require a mental health evaluation and has a broad meaning for “terminal illness” that can include treatable conditions. The bill has provisions that allow a patient to communicate through someone else “familiar with the individual’s manner of communicating.” 

Proposed legislation in Massachusetts also has a broad definition for “terminal illness” that can include treatable conditions. There was a public hearing in Massachusetts in the state Joint Public Health Committee, which then moved the bill to a second committee on the state House side where it is still active. 

In New Hampshire, a bill is pushing for no residency requirement, no in-person examination requirement, a broad “terminal illness” definition, and no mental health evaluation. The legislation also proposed a 48-hour waiting period and would allow for advanced practice nurses and physician assistants to prescribe the drugs. 

A Tennessee House bill pushing the legalization of assisted suicide primarily follows the Oregon model. It does have a broad meaning for “terminal illness” that can include treatable conditions. On March 4, the first committee hearing was held on the matter, but it was rejected.

In Illinois, a 2025 bill to legalize assisted suicide in the state stalled and will cross over to the 2026 session. The bill had a five-day waiting period, no requirement for mental health evaluation, and broad terminal diagnosis language.

As legislation continues to be proposed and advances in assisted suicide expand, Patients Rights Action Fund highlighted the lack of mental health evaluations across states and noted that waiting periods are being quickly reduced after the initial passing of legislation.

“Ultimately, assisted suicide laws are inherently discriminatory,” Rodgers said on Sept. 18. 

“They take a segment of our neighbors and say: ‘You get a lower standard of care than everybody else,’” she said. “The patients that qualify for assisted suicide are already inherently in a more vulnerable state because of their diagnosis and because of the financial costs that they’re facing with health care and the cost of treatment.”

Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).

Slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was reportedly strongly considering becoming Catholic just prior to his assassination, according to a bishop who spoke to him shortly before his killing. 

Robert Brennan, a Los Angeles-based writer and the brother of Fresno, California, Bishop Joseph Brennan, said in a Sept. 18 column in the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper Angelus that Kirk had a “personal exchange” with the California prelate about a week before Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. 

The writer Brennan, who said Bishop Brennan gave him permission to share the story, wrote that Kirk had spoken to the prelate at a prayer breakfast in Visalia. The conservative activist “told the bishop about his Catholic wife and children and how he attended Mass with them.” 

Kirk acknowledged “speculation” about his possible interest in becoming Catholic, Brennan wrote in Angelus; he subsequently told Bishop Brennan: “I’m this close” to converting. 

In his Angelus column Brennan pointed to a recent video Kirk made in which he acknowledged some “big disagreements” with Catholicism but claimed that Protestants “under-value” the Blessed Mother. 

“We don’t talk about Mary enough. We don’t venerate her enough,” Kirk said, arguing that Mary is “the solution” to “toxic feminism” in the U.S. 

“[H]ow fitting one of Charlie Kirk’s last videos was about the preeminent mediatrix of all time and space,” Robert Brennan wrote in Angelus. “In his own way he was reaching out to her, and now, I am convinced, she is returning the favor.”

Kirk was fatally shot while taking questions from audience members during a stop at Utah Valley University as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” He is survived by his wife, Erika Frantzve, and their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

Prominent Catholics around the world have joined in the chorus of voices mourning Kirk’s death in the days since he was killed. German Catholic Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller referred to Kirk this week as “a martyr for Jesus Christ” and condemned the “satanic celebration” of his death by some of his detractors.

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action and a close friend of Kirk’s, said on Sept. 13 that the activist’s death “will be a turning point” for the country. 

And Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said Kirk’s activism “restored optimism about the American future for millions of Americans.”

St. Januarius and the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood contained in a relic. / Credit: Louis Finson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Photo2023, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Stampa, Sep 19, 2025 / 11:10 am (CNA).

The miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius was announced in Naples on Sept. 19, with the centuries-old relic once again offering what Abbot Monsignor Vincenzo De Gregorio called an “invitation to stake everything” on trust in God.

“We are delighted to announce that the relic has been found completely liquid,” said De Gregorio, the abbot of the Treasury Chapel of the Naples Cathedral.

As is tradition, the announcement was accompanied by the waving of a white handkerchief by one of the members of the Treasury of St. Januarius Deputation.

Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, the archbishop of Naples, presided over the morning Mass, then displayed the vial containing the patron saint’s blood before all present during the celebration. 

From the high altar, after showing the vial to the concelebrants, the archbishop descended among the faithful. Liturgical chants accompanied the demonstration. 

The cardinal himself was visibly moved at the beginning of the celebration. His words focused on the wars currently affecting the world and in particular on the situation in Gaza. 

During the Mass there was also a video message from Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, thanking the cardinal and the people of Naples for their spiritual and material support.

The archbishop in his homily touched on the ongoing war in Gaza. “It is the blood of every child of Gaza that is on display in this cathedral,” he said. “Today Naples stands still like the sea when the wind dies down. It is an inner calm, the feeling of a day of celebration, of faith, of identity.” 

“The streets become naves, the balconies become choirs, the city becomes an entire cathedral,” he said. “At the center, not an object, but a sign: a vial, a blood, a name — Januarius. Here we celebrate not a trophy but a living memory: that of the martyrs whom Love has not abandoned.”

Quoting the Gospel of Mark — “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it” — the archbishop said: “It is not a motto for a poster, it is a bridge between two shores. Januarius passed over that bridge in his entirety: His flesh surrendered, his fear conquered, his freedom restored to its Author.” 

“He did not choose to save himself: He chose to give himself,” he said. “And the blood, which the violent believed to be a seal of oblivion, became a voice: a voice that still preaches to the city and calls it to trust the Gospel more than any calculation, more than any prudence.” 

“Let us look at that sign not with superstition but as an invitation to stake everything on entrustment,” he said. 

The dried blood of St. Januarius, who died around A.D. 305, is preserved in two glass ampoules, one larger than the other, in the Chapel of the Treasury of the Naples Cathedral.

The saint’s blood traditionally liquefies three times a year: in commemoration of the transfer of his remains to Naples (the Saturday before the first Sunday in May), on his liturgical feast (Sept. 19), and on the anniversary of the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in 1631, when his intercession was invoked and the city was spared from the effects of the eruption (Dec. 16).

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

Lila Rose (left) debates Frances Kissling on Sept. 16, 2025, at Yale University. / Credit: Live Action via YouTube screenshot

National Catholic Register, Sep 19, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The news that pro-life activist Lila Rose was declared the winner by students attending a debate earlier this week with an abortion activist at Yale University — a campus not particularly known for its pro-life sentiment — lit up the pro-life corners of the internet.

Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, posted on X following Tuesday night’s debate, which was hosted by the Yale Political Union. She said the event’s organizer was “shocked” after those in attendance voted in favor of the pro-life argument by a margin of 60-31.

For defenders of the lives of unborn babies, it was heartening to see apparent evidence that arguments against abortion are making headway, even at one of the country’s most elite educational institutions. 

Rose’s opponent, Frances Kissling, the former head of Catholics for Choice and founding president of the National Abortion Federation, laid bare the diabolical essence of the “pro-choice” argument. An unborn baby may be human, according to Kissling, but a woman should be able to decide whether the child lives or dies.

“We need to begin to think about abortion as a conflict of values. I tend to favor more or think more about the value of women’s lives,” Kissling said.

“I’m not talking about whether they’re going to die or not,” she said. “I’m talking about the fact that they have decisions to make about how they are going to live that life,” Kissling clarified.

Kissling, who is Catholic and had spent two years as a religious sister in a convent, went on to say that abortion should be condoned by what she said is an ever-evolving Catholic Church.

“The idea that Catholicism never changes is not true, even in very serious decisions,” she said. “I was thinking about this. Whatever happened to limbo?”

“I’m in the group of Catholics who look at the idea that even the Catholic Church can change. We learn new things,” she said. 

Rose countered by describing what allowing “choice” to trump life really looks like, citing the recent case of a 21-year-old college student whose newborn baby was found dead, wrapped in a towel and stuffed in a closet.

“A child hidden in a closet, his humanity denied. If this does not grieve us, then what will? This is what choice over life looks like when the choice of adults is made supreme,” Rose said.

“What about the child’s choice? That has not been represented here yet tonight. And so let me ask the question here plainly: Should murder be legal? Of course not. Then why do we excuse abortion? Abortion is the direct and intentional killing of an innocent human being,” she said.

Rose called for more federal funding for pregnancy-resource centers, for government-funded cash credits for parents, and for making childbirth free.

“Instead of turning to violence against the most vulnerable as a solution to problems that we face, instead, we should be a society that uplifts, that makes life better for the vulnerable, that focuses our energy and our efforts and our organizations and our resources on supporting women and young families and children,” Rose said.

At the conclusion of the debate, Kissling revealed that at the heart of her position is a concession that an unborn child is, in fact, a human being. 

Kissling then presented the argument put forward by adherents of utilitarian moral theory that an action can be justified if it leads to the “happiness” of the greatest number of people.

The abortion activist suggested considering a “thought experiment” involving a situation in which there is a fire in a building, and one is faced with deciding whether to rescue a poor family of six or a doctor who was about to come up with a cure for cancer. 

“I’m asking you to think for yourself about how much you really believe and how much you act and how all our governments act within the principle of ‘every single life [has equal value],’” she said.

“The greatest good for the greatest number of people. Good principle. Do you save the family of six or do you save the doctor? That’s it,” she said.

Following the debate, Sabrina Soriano, a junior and art history major at Yale, said she thought Rose was the clear winner.

“I think Lila definitely just swept the floor and took the trophy prize because she came in with a sense of humility, and also with a deep sense of wanting to do justice to the Church in general, and also to the unborn.”

“I think regardless of if you were pro-choice, you understood that the argument [Kissling made] was weak, and it was based on more of a crowd-surfing or sentimentality rather than the facts,” said Soriano, who is Catholic and a member of the campus pro-life group, as were many students in attendance.

Kylyn Smith, a 19-year-old senior and double major in physics and economics, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that while there was a strong contingent of pro-life advocates in the audience, Rose bested Kissling in the debate fair and square. 

“Lila Rose valiantly defended the pro-life position with a secular, logical argument centered on the humanity of the unborn child. It was incredible watching her speak just as incisively and coherently live and in person as on her videos,” Smith said. 

“Passion from attendees of all opinions quite literally rang throughout the auditorium, from hissing in disagreement to stomping in support. Ms. Rose’s cogent reasoning stood in stark contrast to the often-contradictory statements of the other guest, solidifying Lila’s win.”

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

Pope Leo XIV greets the families of the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 19, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday said the Church and public institutions need to better support families in social and political life.

“Public institutions and the Church have a responsibility to seek ways to promote dialogue and strengthen the elements in society that favor family life and the education of its members,” the pontiff said Sept. 19 in reference to the encyclical letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis of St. John Paul II.

“In this context,” he continued, “we can understand the family as a gift and a task. It is crucial to foster the co-responsibility and protagonism of families in social, political, and cultural life, promoting their valuable contribution to the community.”

Leo addressed the participants of a Sept. 17–19 Rome meeting on the future of the family during an audience in the Hall of the Consistory in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

The Rome gathering used a synodal method “to listen, discern, and imitate processes of cultural and structural transformation in response to the challenges faced by families in the peripheries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, in dialogue with other regions of the world,” according to organizers.

“Living synodality in the family requires ‘walking together,’ sharing sorrows and joys, dialoguing respectfully and sincerely among all its members, learning to listen to one another and to make important family decisions together,” the pope told meeting participants.

Referencing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, he said threats to the dignity of the family today include “problems related to poverty, lack of work and access to health care, abuse of the most vulnerable, migration, and war.”

“In every child, in every wife or husband, God entrusts us with his Son, his Mother, as he did with St. Joseph, so that together with them we may be the foundation, the leaven, and the witness of God’s love among men,” the Holy Father said.

The Jubilee of Hope, he noted, includes an invitation to think about the roots of one’s faith as received from parents and grandparents: “The persevering prayer of our grandmothers as they prayed the rosary, their simple, humble, and honest lives which, like leaven, sustained so many families and communities.”

The family is called “to be a domestic Church and a home where the fire of the Holy Spirit burns, spreading its warmth, contributing its gifts and experiences for the common good, and calling everyone to live in hope,” he said.

The “Jubilee and Synodal Meeting for Hopeful Discernment on the Future of Life and the Family” was organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Latin American Episcopal Council, the Pontifical Academy for Life, and the  John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.

“Through this Jubilee and Synodal Meeting, the Church wishes to renew its commitment to defending life and the family, building bridges of fraternity and hope for the new generations,” organizers said in a press release.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke with Catholic journalist Diane Montagna in Rome this week, praising Pope Leo’s “Christ-centered proclamation of the Gospel.” / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

German Cardinal Gerhard Müller praised the “Christ-centered proclamation of the Gospel” throughout the first four months of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy in an interview with Rome-based Catholic journalist Diane Montagna.

“There is a more Christ-centered proclamation of the Gospel, greater order, and less emphasis on matters of secondary importance for the Church, such as migration, which is primarily the task of the state,” Müller said when asked about changes he’s seen in the Vatican amid Leo’s papacy.

“Certainly, the Church can assist through charitable works, but our first mission is to preach the Gospel to everyone and to evangelize those coming to Europe — not merely to provide material aid, but to give them the truth,” the cardinal said.

Müller expressed his belief that Leo “wishes to overcome this ideological polarization within the Church,” but added: “This cannot be achieved through compromise. We must speak the truth — and the truth inevitably divides people into those who follow the Word of God and those who do not.”

Montagna’s interview was published on Wednesday, Sept. 17, on Substack.

Müller’s comments came after Leo’s first sit-down interview as pope, with Crux senior correspondent Elise Ann Allen, was released this week.

“I don’t see my primary role as trying to be the solver of the world’s problems,” Leo said in the interview. “I don’t see my role as that at all, really, although I think that the Church has a voice, a message that needs to continue to be preached, to be spoken and spoken loudly.”

Müller’s concerns about ‘LGBT jubilee pilgrimage’

In his interview with Montagna, Müller expressed grave concerns about the LGBT jubilee pilgrimage in Rome earlier this month, led by American Jesuit Father James Martin. More than 1,000 pilgrims and about 30 priests attended the Mass concelebrated by Bishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

Montagna referenced a viral photograph of a homosexual couple holding hands, while one wore a backpack that read “[Expletive] the Rules.” The two walked through the Holy Doors with that message on display, which exacerbated the cardinal’s concerns.

Müller said this action “desecrated the temple of God,” and added: “The LGBT movement is absolutely against the will of God the Creator, who instituted marriage as a holy sacrament in Christ, and it is an absolute scandal that this occurred.”

“They abused the Catholic faith and the grace and symbol of the Holy Door — which is Jesus Christ — for the sake of propaganda, while living in open contradiction to the will of the Creator,” Müller said. “They denigrated the Church of God by obscene gestures and by their lifestyle.”

Müller cited St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.”

The cardinal encouraged Catholics to “consult the doctrine of the Church on matrimony and family” and referenced the first chapter of Part II of the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes.

“As a dogmatic theologian I don’t want to be diplomatic,” Müller added. “The Catholic Church must proclaim the truth but also contradict lies. That is, we must not only positively explain the faith but also actively refute error.”

This photo taken on Jan. 15, 2024, shows a Chinese flag fluttering below a cross on a Christian church in Pingtan in China’s southeast Fujian province. / Credit: GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

New regulations from the State Administration for Religious Affairs in China have enacted a ban on several major forms of online evangelization for religious clergy of all religions, including Catholic priests.

The new Code of Conduct for Religious Clergy on the Internet comprises 18 articles. Among stipulations that religious clergy must “love the motherland” and support Chinese leadership of the Communist Party of China and its socialist system, faith leaders are banned from preaching and performing other religious rituals through live broadcasts, short videos, or online meetings. 

Priests may only do so on “websites, applications, forums, etc. legally established by religious groups, religious schools, temples, monasteries, and churches” with approval from the Chinese government. Furthermore, whenever using social media accounts or messaging apps to send out information, religious clergy must provide “certificate of membership as registered religious clergy” to their internet service providers. 

Clergy are banned under the code from both the evangelization and education of minors on the internet, and from organizing educational opportunities, such as seasonal camps for minors on the internet. 

They are also banned from making money online and from raising money to build religious places or for holding religious activities. 

“If a religious clergy violates this standard, the religious affairs department shall order them to make corrections within a time limit,” the code of conduct states, adding: “If they refuse to make corrections, the religious affairs department shall … punish them in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations.” 

For “serious” offenders, the code recommends religious institutions suspend their teaching activities or revoke their religious status. 

“Religious teachers and officials who carry out online activities through overseas websites and platforms shall abide by this standard,” the code states.

Announcement of the new regulations comes after the publication on Thursday of an interview with Pope Leo XIV from July in which he indicated that he may be open to changes to the Vatican’s controversial deal with China and that he is in dialogue with persecuted Chinese Catholics as he weighs the future of Vatican policy toward Beijing.

Pope Leo said he is listening to “a significant group of Chinese Catholics who for many years have lived some kind of oppression or difficulty in living their faith freely” as he tries to get “a clearer understanding of how the Church can continue the Church’s mission.”

“I would say that in the short term, I will continue the policy that the Holy See has followed for some years now … I’m also in ongoing dialogue with a number of people, Chinese, on both sides of some of the issues that are there,” he said.

As the first pope to ever have visited mainland China, Leo — who traveled there years before his election — said he draws on his experiences with “government as well as religious leaders and laypeople.”

Leo’s comments indicate openness to a possible shift from the status quo on China since 2018, when the Holy See signed an agreement with Beijing described as managing the appointment of bishops. The agreement was renewed under Pope Francis three times in the past seven years despite objections from human rights activists and reports of increased persecution of the so-called underground Church in China, which rejects government control.

“It’s a very difficult situation. In the long term, I don’t pretend to say this is what I will and will not do,” Leo said.

Eucharistic edoration at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, in December 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli

ACI MENA, Sep 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The city of Gaza continues to reel as Israeli airstrikes pound multiple neighborhoods and the conflict there escalates. 

Days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a ground operation urging civilians to evacuate designated combat zones, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz has maintained that Gaza faces the risk of massive destruction unless Hamas releases Israeli hostages and surrenders its weapons.

Amid this turmoil, the Holy Family Catholic Church in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood of southern Gaza has become both a spiritual center and a refuge, sheltering about 600 people from both Christian and Muslim families. The church provides a measure of calm as shells continue to fall nearby.

In the same neighborhood stands the historic Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, which maintains its centuries-old presence in the territory. It too has served as a shelter, though for a smaller number of people. 

The two churches are in separate locations, not in the same compound, and are about 1.7 miles apart — roughly a 40-minute walk, according to Google Maps.

The relationship between Holy Family Church and the Church of St. Porphyrius is good and it has become even stronger since the war began. Both are close in mission and serve the Christian community in the area, but all Christians there right now rely heavily on Catholic aid being channeled through Catholic organizations.

Most people taking refuge in the Holy Family Church are Orthodox, as their community in Gaza is larger than the Catholic one and there are more resources available there. 

Sources from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have said they are closely monitoring the situation in Gaza and warned of the dangers of continued escalation. 

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem earlier stressed that another round of violence “will only bring more destruction and suffering,” urging the international community to act swiftly to stop the war and protect civilians.

These calls echo the Holy See’s position, with Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, repeatedly urging respect for civilians and secure passage for humanitarian aid — especially to areas with Christian communities. 

Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, has emphasized on multiple occasions that the church “will not abandon the people in this difficult time” and will keep its doors open to anyone in need of shelter and hope.”

As the war drags on and Gaza’s Christian community continues to shrink, concerns grow over collapsing infrastructure and worsening humanitarian conditions. Yet the church remains a witness to suffering and a beacon of hope.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.