Councillor Robert Rigby will become a knight of St. Gregory in 2025. The news came as a shock to the lord mayor, who told CNA: “It’s a wonderful honor. I’m rather blown over by the whole thing. I didn’t ever expect anything like this.” / Credit: Photo courtesy of Westminster City Council

London, England, Dec 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The lord mayor of Westminster in London said he is “blown over” after being chosen to become a papal knight — the highest honor a lay Catholic can receive from the Vatican.

Councillor Robert Rigby will become a knight of St. Gregory sometime in 2025. 

The news came as a shock to the lord mayor, who told CNA: “It’s a wonderful honor. I’m rather blown over by the whole thing. I didn’t ever expect anything like this. It’s a great honor for me.”

Rigby, 63, has been vocal about how his faith impacts his role as lord mayor, pointing to the impact of his Benedictine education at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire. 

“I was educated by the Benedictines so there are two key strands to my life: listening and humility. I have taken them through to my public life,” he said.

“Listening to others and being humble, keeping my feet on level ground and respecting others, I think it’s important. Everyone talks about serving others, but I really do think it’s important that you recognize others and help where you can.”

Papal knighthoods are bestowed in recognition of an individual’s service to their faith, community, or the work of the Holy See on a local, national, or international level. 

Elected lord mayor in May, Rigby immediately spoke publicly about his faith during interviews for Catholic media. As a former chair of the Catholic Union and a member of the Catenians (a Catholic men’s association), he has strived to tackle the issue of homelessness in London by serving lunch to homeless people at the Central London Catholic Churches homeless lunch service.

Rigby nominated the Cardinal Hume Centre as one of his named charities to support. The center, which is named after Benedictine Cardinal Basil Hume (1923–1999), a former archbishop of Westminster, supports homeless people and looks after teenagers who have drifted from their families. The Cardinal Hume Centre also looks out for people who have arrived in the U.K. with no support.

“I’m concerned about the state of homelessness, of people coming to this country and not having a safety net,” Rigby said. “The Cardinal Hume Centre does great work in reaching out to those people. I also have a personal connection because I was educated by the Benedictines. The Cardinal Hume Centre is a good way to be able to promote my faith.”

Another example of his faith informing his public life came after the recent devastating floods in Valencia, Spain. 

The lord mayor reached out to London’s Spanish community by attending a special requiem Mass held at St. James’ Spanish Place Church. Also present was the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, and José Pascual Marco, Spanish ambassador to the U.K. 

“I wanted to be there to stress the city stands with Valencia during this traumatic time and the loss of life has been felt deeply here,” Rigby said.

Reflecting on his appointment, Rigby spoke of his connections with “remarkable Catholics” he has worked alongside. “As lord mayor, it has been my privilege to meet some remarkable Catholics who demonstrate their faith in action in a range of ways. I hope to keep doing the same, and this award really is a crowning accolade for me as a public and private person.”

Dedicating the award “to all those who I serve, whether that’s in public or private life,” Rigby defined his Catholic faith as a “guide” in his role as lord mayor of Westminster. 

“As lord mayor you are the first citizen for 210,000 people from a whole range of backgrounds, cultures, and faith,” he said.

“For me it was important to demonstrate how my own faith guides what I do, and why I think it is so important to be able to talk about my Catholic faith in public life.”

Rigby expects to be presented with the papal honor at a ceremony next year. 

“It will be a fantastic day and one that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” he said.

St. Benedict Classical Academy in Natick, Massachusetts, on its opening day, Dec. 2, 2024. / Credit: Adam Richins Photography

CNA Staff, Dec 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A group of home schooling moms in Massachusetts banded together more than a decade ago with a vision: a classical Catholic school for their children centered on Christ.

St. Benedict Classical Academy, which began in 2013 with 25 students, has since grown to more than 300 and until recently was operating out of a humble schoolhouse in Natick, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

But on Dec. 2, St. Benedict Classical Academy (SBCA) opened its new campus — a $20 million classical-inspired structure that the headmaster, Jay Boren, said is designed to “lift the hearts and minds of all who enter it to the contemplation of God.”

“Architecture is the first teacher of the student, so it was very important to our community that the new schoolhouse ‘teach’ the student the importance of what they do each day,” Boren told CNA.

The headmaster sees classical architecture as “the best-suited design to articulate the truths of God.”

The building was designed by architect Nic Charbonneau, director of the Sacred Architecture Studio, a group that for the last quarter-century has aimed to promote a return to the sacred in architecture by learning from the richness of ecclesiastical history.

“As our architect, Nic Charbonneau says, ‘Classicism is a form of human art which is most deeply in touch with divinity and uncreated truths, through the lens of the human mind, as it seeks understanding of creation,’” Boren said.

“Beauty and truth are inseparable — they are two sides of the same face,” Boren explained. “As the students seek to know the truth in their studies it is only fitting that they do it in a building whose beauty turns their minds to God.”

Growing through community

It’s no small effort to build a school that lifts the hearts of students and teachers to the contemplation of God.

But St. Benedict’s passionate community of families, alumni parents, and supporters around the world all came together to fund the undertaking.

“Both current community members as well as friends of SBCA spanning the globe have stepped up financially in truly humbling, awe-inspiring ways,” Boren said, noting that nearly 100% of parents have given to St. Benedict’s annual fund. 

Families don’t just give their treasure to ensure their children attend St. Benedict’s — they also put in time, support, and gas money.

Families commute from more than 40 towns to attend St. Benedict’s, sometimes coming across state lines.

When asked what contributed to the school’s growth over the years, Boren cited the enthusiasm of parents as well as the success of students and graduates.

“It is very clear that the parents of MetroWest Boston are looking for a school focused on faith, intellect, and character and given how consistently SBCA has delivered on all those fronts for 12 years, we only see the interest continuing to rise,” he said. 

But it’s not only the mission — it’s also the people. 

“From the moment it was conceived of, SBCA has been a school made up of people who see this place and the work it takes to bring it to fruition as the Lord’s work,” Boren said. “This means that there is little our community will not do to ensure its success — and with great joy to boot!”

Boren credits the hard work of parents early on in the school’s founding — a close involvement that continues today. 

“In the early days, parents did herculean work to ensure SBCA’s success — authoring our very mission statement, recruiting board members and faculty and even filling in staffing gaps,” he continued. “They went so far as to support student supervision during lunch and recess to ensure faculty got the breaks and planning time they needed in the first three years we were open.”  

Boren said that this “SBCA tradition” of strong support for faculty still continues today. 

“No detail is too small,” he said, noting that on the first Friday of every month, families “bring in a parade of treats and snacks, our cherished ‘first Friday treats,’ just to give the whole team a little boost.”

But that’s not the only SBCA tradition. Families also jump in to support teachers and staff when their families grow.  

“Another beloved tradition is that each time a faculty member has a new baby, they are showered with meals for weeks,” Boren said. 

Teachers and staff also go above and beyond. 

“On their end of things, faculty reciprocate freely, going above and beyond to attend to their own students as well as frequently volunteering to coach, lead enrichment activities after school or just offering a helping hand to [a] student or parent that needs some extra encouragement,” Boren said. 

Building saints for heaven 

At St. Benedict’s, the goal is to make saints and citizens. 

When asked how Catholic identity is central to St. Benedict’s, Boren responded: “In short, we are here to build scholars for our republic and saints for heaven.” 

“Our most important, core goal, is to help each student advance on their journey to heaven while they are with us,” he continued. “All else flows from our joy in this work, all else is inspired by our total commitment to reaching this high bar, each day.” 

SBCA keeps Christ at the center through a variety of practical ways, from weekly Mass to monthly adoration and confession, as well as daily theology classes. For younger students, SBCA offers Catechesis of the Good Shepherd — a Montessori-inspired theology program — for its early learning, pre-kindergarten program. 

“Our primary identity as an institution is our Catholicism,” Boren explained. “It is with immense joy that we embrace and do not take for granted the freedom our educators and school leaders have to place Christ at the center and the teachings of his holy Church at the forefront of all teaching and learning at SBCA.” 

This involves “a rhythm of prayer, work, play in the daily life of the school,” the headmaster said. 

St. Benedict’s brings together academic rigor with its “primary identity” as a Catholic institution. As a classical K–8, it follows the grammar and logic phases of a classical education. 

“If we always begin with prayer, then invite full focus on calm, orderly work, and afterwards provide open-ended time for true play — not facilitated activities but true playtime outdoors, in nature, supervised but not micromanaged — we find that our broad array of students are able to reach for the high bar we set,” Boren said. 

St. Benedict’s also prioritizes creating “a culture of vocations” through inviting religious and priests to visit and speak with students, Boren explained. 

But every day, mission-oriented teachers “provide a living witness” of prayer and faith to students at St. Benedict’s. 

“Children notice the attitude and behaviors of the adults around them, and we have a team who are all aligned in striving ardently to be as close to God as possible,” Boren said. 

Teachers and staff “constantly weave the teachings of Our Lord and his Church into our approach to forming our students’ characters and intellects,” Boren noted. 

“In every academic subject, especially art and music, we are free to explore Christ’s role and influence on any given age, and incorporate the truth about God’s role in inspiring so many great thinkers, makers, and doers in every age,” Boren continued.

“This stocks our students’ memories and imaginations with living, breathing examples of the great adventure it is to seek and follow Christ!” Boren said. 

Even as the curriculum, teachers, and staff are centered on Christ, the building itself is designed to influence students’ imaginations and raise them to Christ.  

“We wanted a beautiful classical school that would articulate to the world through its beauty the important work going on in the classrooms,” Boren said. 

“It stands as a testament to all who pass that we can still build beautiful things and the human search for the good, true, and beautiful never ends.”

Recently arrived seminarians in Burkina Faso with new cassocks. / Credit: Aid to the Church in Need

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Despite constant terrorist attacks suffered by Catholics in Burkina Faso from Islamic fundamentalists, vocations to the priesthood have increased in recent years, especially in dioceses located in “danger zones.”

Nearly 40% of seminarians come from these localities, which are the most affected by terrorism and violence.

According to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), just at Sts. Peter and Paul Seminary alone, the number of candidates for the priesthood rose from 254 in the 2019-2020 academic year to 281 in 2024-2025.

Terrorist violence began to wreak havoc in the African country in 2019. Father Guy Moukassa Sanon, the seminary rector, explained that during the holidays not all students can return home. Doing so would mean “mortal danger,” so they are taken in by diocesan centers, by host families, or are simply invited by their classmates to spend the holidays in safer areas.

The rector recalled a third-year philosophy seminarian who ignored warnings and took a route forbidden by the terrorists to visit his father. He never arrived and was never found. His family is convinced that he was murdered. “Other seminarians have had narrow escapes,” Moukassa added.

Despite the tragic cases, the rector emphasized that it has been diligent vocations work that has had a profound impact on the increase in candidates for the priesthood. He pointed out that the simplicity of life in Burkina Faso is ideal for young men to seriously consider consecrating their lives to the service of the Lord and his Church. 

Burkina Faso is not secularized like Europe so it is easier to inspire vocations than in a materialistic context, Moukassa said. The growth in vocations has led the seminary to accommodate 22 seminarians outside the main residence halls as well as send another 11 to a seminary in Mali, the rector added.

Stating that the local Church does everything in its power to offer seminarians a high-quality formation, Moukassa shared that “it’s crucial that future priests can give authentic witness to their faith.” 

Finally, he emphasized the great value of forming future priests to be apostles of fraternity and unity, especially in a context such as that of Burkina Faso, where before the terrorist attacks, the minority Catholic community had no problem with the majority Muslim population.

“Many seminarians have Muslim parents, and although that may initially have caused disappointment, at the end of the day it wasn’t a problem. However, today if you’re not careful, social cohesion can be threatened,” the rector noted.

“That is why it is crucial to form future priests who promote communion, because the Church, at the service of society, must work for unity,” he explained.

“Often, we only appreciate something when we have lost it. Here, if you ask someone what they wish for [at Christmas], they say peace. May the grace of the child Jesus reach all hearts,” Moukassa concluded.

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

null / Credit: Patrick Thomas/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 12:10 pm (CNA).

The activist group that led the push to legalize medical aid in dying (MAID) in Canada is now warning that additional government safeguards are needed to combat reports of abuse of the program. 

Liz Hughes, executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), told the National Post that the organization has become “aware of concerning reports of people being offered MAID in circumstances that may not legally qualify as well as people accessing MAID as a result of intolerable social circumstances.”

The BCCLA was a key figure in Canada’s legalization of euthanasia, having filed the suit Carter v. Canada that led to the Supreme Court of Canada’s striking down the government ban on the procedure. 

In the roughly nine years since euthanasia became legal in Canada in 2016, the practice has become increasingly popular. The latest government figures, released this month, showed another double-digit year-over-year increase in the procedure, with 15,343 Canadian citizens euthanized by medical officials in 2023, accounting for 1 in 20 deaths there. 

Yet a bombshell report in November revealed that out of hundreds of violations of the country’s controversial euthanasia law over the course of several years, none of them have been reported to law enforcement, with whistleblowers warning of numerous “issues with compliance” in reportage. 

Hughes told the National Post that the country’s federal and provincial governments “must put in place, actively review, and enforce appropriate safeguards to ensure that people are making this decision freely.”

The civil rights organization “will continue to hold the government accountable” for its policing of the euthanasia program, she said. 

At its launch, the country’s euthanasia regime was billed as a last-resort choice for terminally ill adults undergoing terrible suffering. In the years since, however, activists have called for its expansion to include much broader categories of applicants. 

An activist group sued the federal government earlier this month, calling for an immediate expansion of the country’s euthanasia program to allow physician-assisted suicide for those suffering from mental illness.

The federal government had earlier been set to expand the program to those with mental illnesses; that measure was delayed early this year and is now projected to take effect in 2027. 

The provincial government of Quebec last month began allowing assisted suicide for individuals who cannot consent at the time of the procedure, permitting “advance requests” by those who have “been diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity” such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The federal government, meanwhile, is actively soliciting citizen input for a proposal to legalize “advance requests” at the national level.

Pope Francis and Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. / Credit: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk/Олександр Гаврик via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

CNA Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 11:25 am (CNA).

Media reports about Pope Francis potentially visiting Ukraine have raised hopes the Holy Father could accept an invitation to visit the war-torn country in 2025.

According to a report by Ukrainska Pravda, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said in a recent interview that while no visit was confirmed, “Pope Francis sometimes likes to make surprises.”

The prospect of a papal visit to Ukraine has been discussed multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

In June 2022, speaking to children during the “Children’s Train” initiative in Rome, Pope Francis explained his approach to such a visit: “I would like to go to Ukraine. But, I have to wait for the right time to do it, because it is not easy to make a decision that could do more harm to the whole world than good.”

The new speculation about a potential visit follows the pope’s Christmas message on Dec. 25 in which he specifically mentioned the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, calling for its end and for negotiations toward a just peace.

“May the sound of weapons be silenced in Ukraine,” the pope urged on Christmas Day. “May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter.”

Shevchuk has long advocated for a papal visit to Ukraine. 

In April 2022, following Pope Francis’ comments during an in-flight press conference returning from Malta, the Ukrainian Catholic leader said he hoped the pope would visit Kyiv “as soon as possible.” 

At that time, Shevchuk noted that the local Catholic Church and government officials were “working to ensure that the Holy Father’s visit to Ukraine takes place.”

In his latest interview, the Ukrainian Church leader reportedly expressed hope for peace in the coming year. “We enter this new year with hope, with the hope that a just peace will eventually prevail in Ukraine,” he said.

null / Credit: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Little Sisters of the Poor welcomed a Christmas blessing earlier this week that could help them end their near-14-year religious liberty battle with the U.S. government. 

On Monday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a notice in the Federal Register stating that it has opted to withdraw rule changes to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraception mandate. 

Proposed by the Biden administration last year, the rule changes would have barred the nuns and other religious organizations from claiming exemptions to the ACA requirement that employers provide abortion and contraception coverage in their employee health plans.

HHS stated that it decided to withdraw the Biden administration’s proposed rules so the government could “focus their time and resources on matters other than finalizing these rules.” The health agency further cited extensive comments it received on the proposed changes as reasons to pump the brakes on imposing the alterations. 

The notice adds that “should the departments decide in the future that it is a priority to move forward with a rulemaking in this area,” it wants “to ensure that they will have the benefit of the most up-to-date facts and information on these important issues” while respecting religious objections to contraception.

The religious liberty law group Becket celebrated the win this week. “Christmas came a little early this year,” the organization, which has represented the nuns in court, declared in a social media post on Monday.

Becket pointed to a Wall Street Journal column by Catholic writer William McGurn, who wrote on Dec. 23 that the nuns were hoping for “an end to the lawfare against them.”

McGurn described religious liberty as both a historical “pillar of American liberalism” and “the heart of any liberal order and the key to civic peace.”

The sisters’ more than decade-long court battle dates back to 2011, when the Barack Obama administration required employers to provide cost-free coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations, and “emergency birth control” in employee health plans under the ACA.

Although the sisters have celebrated two Supreme Court successes, in 2016 and 2020, they are still fighting for their religious liberty in district courts in California and Pennsylvania, which have continued to pursue legal action to rescind the religious exemptions granted to the sisters by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“With the help of Becket, [the sisters] defeated the federal government at [the U.S. Supreme Court] not once but twice and are still in court defending their ministry against a group of states led by California and Pennsylvania,” Becket continued on X.

“Those court battles have been on ice for years due to the new contraceptive mandate rule that the Biden administration kept promising to issue.”

In light of the latest development, Becket further called attention to the possibility that the sisters could potentially see a “final victory.”

“California and Pennsylvania have no business suing the Little Sisters when presidential administrations of both parties have given religious exemptions to the sisters,” the religious liberty firm added.

“One final thought: Suing nuns is never a good idea,” the group concluded.

null / Credit: Matthew D Britt via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), alleging that permitting men in women’s sports is a “false, deceptive, and misleading” advertising practice.

The NCAA, which is the largest collegiate sports association, allows biological men who identify as transgender women to participate in women-only sports competitions if they bring down their testosterone levels through testosterone suppressants.

Under the NCAA rules, each specific sport has a maximum testosterone level for a biological male to be eligible to compete in the women’s competition. Athletes are required to provide documentation several times per year to show their testosterone levels.

The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA is “advertising and selling goods and services” as women’s sporting events but are in reality providing “mixed-sex sporting events where men can compete against women.” It alleges that this practice is “designed to confuse consumers” and constitutes a deceptive trade practice in violation of state law.

In a statement, Paxton accused the NCAA of “intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and well-being of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions.”

“When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women — not biological males pretending to be something they are not,” Paxton said.

When reached for comment by CNA, a spokesperson for the NCAA declined to comment on the specific litigation but provided a statement that asserted its policies promote Title IX — a federal law that bans sex discrimination in K–12 schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. 

“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the statement read.

Paxton’s lawsuit, however, asserts that “most consumers know that a ‘woman’ means an adult human female,” adding that “most importantly, it is how Texas consumers understand the word.”

The lawsuit states that consumers who purchase goods and services related to women’s sports “enjoy watching women compete against women” rather than “men competing against women” and that they “make these purchases to support female empowerment and fair competition among women.” 

“The impact of women’s sports on the self-esteem, academic achievement, future employment, and development of women and girls is profound and enduring,” the lawsuit continues. “Men competing in women’s sports is inherently unfair and unsafe due to their physiological advantages.”

Paxton’s lawsuit further alleges that consumers do not support women’s sports “to watch men steal medals and records from female participants.” It adds: “When consumers have purchased goods and services associated with women’s sporting events only to discover a man competing, they have invariably reacted with revulsion and outrage.”

“The NCAA fails to disclose that some of its women’s sporting events are mixed-sex events with the intent to induce consumers seeking to support women’s sports to purchase the associated goods and services,” the lawsuit continues. “Many consumers would not purchase goods and services associated with NCAA women’s sporting events if they knew that biological males were participating.”

The lawsuit, filed in the district court of Lubbock, requests that the court prohibit the NCAA from permitting biological men in women’s sports for all sporting events that take place in Texas or involve Texas teams or to require the NCAA to stop marketing events with the word “women” if biological men are permitted to participate.

About half of the states in the country restrict high school and college girls’ and women’s athletic competitions to only biological girls and women, but many states permit biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s athletics if they self-identify as transgender girls or women.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) issued regulations in April that redefined Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination to include a ban on discriminating against someone’s self-asserted gender identity. The administration considered altering the rule further to explicitly require schools and colleges to allow biological males in girls’ and women’s athletic competitions — if they identify as transgender girls or women — but abandoned that effort.

Several state attorneys general sued the DOE over its April reinterpretation, asserting that the interpretation is inconsistent with the federal law that was adopted in 1972. Judges have blocked the enforcement of the DOE rules in 26 states. Some legal scholars have warned that the rules could have overruled state laws that restrict female sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, and dormitories to only biological girls and women.

Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, of the Catholic Territorial Prelature of Trondheim, Norway, at the vespers at Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, has announced a new collaboration with EWTN and Exodus 90 to produce “The Desert Fathers in a Year,” a podcast series launching Jan. 1, 2025, that aims to bring the wisdom of early Christian monasticism to modern audiences.

The series, with the first episodes recorded at the Cistercian monastery of Nový Dvůr in the Czech Republic, will explore the teachings of the desert fathers and mothers — the first Christian monks and nuns who retreated to the desert in the fourth century to seek God through prayer and asceticism.

“We live in a desert of distractions,” Varden told CNA. “The desert fathers show us how to find true joy and meaning through the love of Christ. They learned to master distractions and temptations through prayer and silence, and this can inspire us to find direction in life.”

The podcast’s launch coincides with the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, which Varden sees as particularly significant.

“St. Benedict wrote: ‘Never lose faith in God’s grace.’ This is a pillar for us as we navigate through challenges. By placing the love of Christ at the center, we can find strength and hope, even in difficult times,” the bishop said.

Drawing from ancient wisdom

The desert fathers and mothers were “a laboratory for Christian faith and practice,” according to Varden. Through simple and down-to-earth advice, they developed practical approaches to overcoming temptations and finding freedom in Christ.

Varden emphasized the relevance of these ancient teachings for modern Christians. “My first advice is always this: Start by clearing some space in your life. It’s not a myth that modern life can be less hectic than we think. We don’t always have to be trapped in busyness,” he said.

The bishop recommended beginning with a fundamental practice from the desert fathers: “Don’t give voice to every thought that enters your mind. Weigh it first. This can help us become more aware and present in our daily walk with God.”

Modern application

The podcast series aims to help contemporary listeners find stillness and balance in their daily lives. Each week’s episode will guide listeners through the desert fathers’ insights into prayer, asceticism, and community.

Varden noted how the teachings of the desert fathers have already inspired modern spiritual initiatives. “The founders of Exodus 90 [a 90-day challenge for men leading up to Easter Sunday] were captivated by the richness of the Church’s ascetic tradition. They saw that this wisdom was relevant to the times, and the response has shown that they were right,” he said.

“My role is simply to convey treasures I myself have received,” Varden added. Through the podcast, he hopes to demonstrate how the desert fathers provide practical tools for living a life in Christ. “They went out into the desert to learn what it means to live in Christ. That’s what it’s all about, and it’s just as relevant to us today.”

“The Desert Fathers in a Year” will be available on the Hallow app, YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms. Additional resources will be available at desertfathers.com.

Who were the desert fathers?

The desert fathers and mothers emerged in the fourth century as Christianity’s first monks and nuns. They established communities in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, dedicating themselves to lives of prayer, asceticism, and spiritual growth. Their teachings and practices have profoundly influenced Christian monasticism and spirituality for nearly two millennia.

A relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux (left) and a relic of St. Vincent de Paul (right) from the collection of relics housed at Manhattan University. / Credit: Archives of the De La Salle Christian Brothers

CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In a hilly section of the Bronx you will find Manhattan University, a private, Catholic university established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a lay order dedicated to education. The university has also become home to a large collection of holy relics.

Founded by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle in 1680, the Brothers of Christian Schools began to set up schools for poor boys to receive an education. The order quickly spread across France and other European countries and eventually spread around the world. The order is currently headquartered in Rome.

In recent decades, however, the order has been shrinking, with many of its schools and other institutions shutting down in North America. As a result, boxes of documents and objects — including an impressive collection of relics — from those facilities have made their way to Manhattan University.

Amy Surak, the archivist at the university, oversees this collection of relics on the college campus.

“I feel very blessed and incredibly fortunate to be around these honored, venerated objects that are so beloved and respected and hold so much power, really,” she told CNA in an email exchange.

While Surak doesn’t know the precise number of relics housed on the college campus, she said, “it’s easily in the hundreds.”

“I have photographed and inventoried at least over 200 thus far, but I am still opening boxes and finding them in our unprocessed collections,” she added.

One relic that particularly stood out to Surak is a relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

“I’ve always been a bit infatuated by St. Thérèse, since I was a child,” she shared. “There’s something unique or attainable about performing small, pedestrian chores or acts in everyday life that can express one’s piety — it makes faith a bit more practical and within reach, at least it did for me when I was young.”

“When I came across her relics I kind of fan-girled out a bit. I felt like she was there as a reminder that small acts can have profound results,” she said.

Another relic held in high esteem is that of the order’s founder — a piece of the hip bone of La Salle, the popular saint who was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900 and considered the patron saint of teachers.

Other valuable items in the collection include the vestments of a priest to be used for a canonization of a saint, papers with illustrations of seven La Salle Christian brothers martyred during the Spanish Civil War, and several thecas — small lockets containing little pieces of bone from the brothers.

At its peak in 1965, there were 16,000 Brothers of Christian Schools serving in 80 countries. Today, there are less than 3,000 in the order, though the number of countries they serve has not decreased. On the Manhattan University campus, there are 23 brothers, though many are now retired.

Jimmy Mitchell (front row, far left) leads a group of Jesuit students in a walking rosary after school. / Credit: Jesuit High School

CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Talking to the graduates of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, who are now pursuing priesthood, a familiar refrain emerges: Most of them didn’t have a strong Catholic faith before entering high school, at least not a faith that they considered their own. 

“Like many Catholics today, much of my faith was very lukewarm growing up,” said Austin Smith, a 2017 Jesuit graduate and current fifth-year seminarian at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. 

But following their high school experience — at a school marked by a culture of peer ministry, readily available Catholic sacraments including daily Mass and frequent confession, inspiring retreats, and mission trip opportunities — several young men in recent years have found that God is calling them to serve him in a way they couldn’t have imagined before: as priests. 

“I certainly didn’t have any desire to be a priest when I was going into Jesuit. I didn’t have any desire for a life of virtue in general … [but] I can say for my life, [God] has surprised me in so many wonderful ways, and fulfilled so many of my desires beyond my wildest dreams, just from being faithful to him and following him,” Smith said. 

Jesuit is an all-boys Catholic high school founded in 1899 with approximately 860 students. Jimmy Mitchell, director of campus ministry at Jesuit, has previously told CNA that the school’s emphasis on peer-to-peer Catholic ministry, whereby students are encouraged to share their faith with their classmates, fosters among the student body what Mitchell calls “a brotherhood with eternal consequences.”

Jesuit High School had 22 students convert during the 2020-2021 school year alone through its RCIA program — an unprecedented number that both continued and elevated a trend, with dozens of students choosing to accept the Catholic faith each year since. 

Easy access to the sacraments — especially Mass and confession — is a cornerstone at Jesuit. The school also prioritizes “beautiful, noble, dignified liturgies” at its Holy Cross Chapel, a Romanesque edifice built in 2018 and designed to encourage devotion. Students also participate in mission trips and local service opportunities whereby the school’s motto, “Men for Others,” is actively put into practice.

Speaking to CNA last year, Jesuit Father Richard Hermes, who recently stepped down as president of the school to take a sabbatical, said that there was “nothing more important” to him and to the school than promoting the faith and leading the young men to God.

Hermes led the school for 16 years, and between 2010 and 2023, over 100 students were baptized and received into the Church.

“They’re leaving here with a mentality of being at the service of the Church, and [their faith’s] not just dying here after they get the diploma,” Hermes said at the time.

‘Fall in love with God’

Smith, who graduated from Jesuit before the completion of the new chapel and before the arrival of Mitchell as campus minister, nevertheless described the school environment “like a womb of faith” that provided him “foundational steps along the path” to grow the seed of faith that he already had after first hearing a call to the priesthood at age 16. 

“I had an experience of God’s love in the sacrament of confession. It was at that time that I decided to start following God. I started going to confession pretty much every week as a personal commitment I had made to follow God,” he explained. 

He said the school provided him and other young men interested in the priesthood the opportunity to go on discernment retreats. The example of the Jesuit priests at the school, including Hermes, the former school president, helped to make the priestly lifestyle seem more like a possibility for Smith. 

“You had many priests there. You had daily Mass twice a day. You had solid theology. You had good retreats … it was a great place to grow in faith,” he said. 

And despite the school’s commitment to an orthodox teaching of the Catholic faith, inquiry wasn’t frowned upon in his theology classes, he added. Questions were encouraged as each student charted his own path — ideally toward a full acceptance of the Catholic faith. 

The peer ministry program under Mitchell grew significantly after Smith’s departure from the school, but Smith said it was still “extensive” during the years he attended. As part of the ministry, students lead one another in faith formation through small groups, engaging in vulnerable conversations, sharing testimonies, and discussing their faith. 

Smith said participating in the programs with his younger peers helped to foster “a fatherly heart” within him and a desire to bring Christ to the young men. 

“I want these guys to experience the love of God that I’ve experienced, to experience the mercy that I’ve experienced in the sacrament of confession, to experience the healing in different broken areas of their life that I’ve experienced. I think giving us abilities to be leaders in the faith, and take ownership of our faith, was huge,” he said. 

Smith said he wants to encourage other young men who may be trying to discern God’s call for their life to surround themselves with people that will help them grow in virtue. In addition, he advised, seek to “grow in relationship with God. Fall in love with God. Allow him to win your heart more and more through personal prayer every day, through the life of sacraments, and everything will flow from that.”

“Any life of holiness he calls us to, when we give God our ‘yes,’ you have no clue where he could bring you. I can promise anyone reading this, it will be much greater and more unique and more wonderful than anything you could ever imagine,” Smith said. 

‘Sinners, yet called’

Jeff Miraflor, a 2013 Jesuit graduate and current seminarian, is studying theology in the Philippines at Ateneo de Manila University. 

He told CNA that despite having and practicing his Catholic faith going into Jesuit High School, his faith lacked personal depth until it began to be shaped by Jesuit education. Miraflor said all of his teachers at Jesuit, clerical and lay, helped to model the faith for him and challenged him to grow in many ways. 

“All of these Jesuits who taught me in the classroom gave me a holistic picture of who priests and specifically Jesuits fundamentally are: sinners yet called. It was through them that I saw the human side of the priesthood … priests and scholastics who were highly intelligent, very demanding of their students yet reasonable and merciful, talented, and also had a sense of humor.”

Similarly to Smith, Miraflor said the opportunity to be a mentor to younger students as part of the peer ministry program helped him to strengthen his own faith while simultaneously building it up in other people. It was on one of the school retreats that he first began to consider the priesthood, he said. 

“Leading students as their peer really requires one to be confident in their own faith, which was tested in giving my own testimony in front of my peers during retreat talks and in small-group sharing,” he explained. 

Miraflor, a singer, was edified and inspired by learning at Jesuit about the Church’s tradition of sacred music from Jesuit Father Patrick Hough. He also mentioned Hermes as a formative presence at the school who modeled what Miraflor realized he wanted out of a priestly life. 

Hermes later offered Miraflor a personal invitation to join the priesthood, he said. 

“It was my first experience of what I now know as a Jesuit is called ‘ministry of presence,’ being there for the people even if we don’t have anything to ‘do.’ For [Hermes], it was more than just ‘being there’ but it’s experiencing the life of the school with the students and through that getting to really know the students,” Miraflor explained.

“This built a trust that made him less intimidating as the school president, which was important for when he would spontaneously join our school retreats or be the priest sitting in the confessional during lunch,” he said.

After studying for a time at the University of Central Florida following high school graduation, Miraflor later attended Fordham University after joining the Jesuits. He then taught for three years at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, also serving as choir director and director of campus ministry, before leaving for his Jesuit mission in the Philippines. 

“Although I definitely didn’t get the amount of sleep I needed, being there for students in the same way that the Jesuits were there for me as a high schooler is a very privileged position, because many of the students have trust in me knowing that I’m there for them not for money, not for my own gain, but at their service,” Miraflor said. 

“It’s also a joy to be with young people who are incredibly smart, talented, skilled in their own crafts, and who also know how to laugh and enjoy life.”

For other men feeling that God may be calling them to the priesthood, Miraflor’s advice was simple.

“There’s nothing to lose in going on a discernment retreat ... Even if you discern that God is calling you somewhere else, the growth that you get from knowing yourself better is incredibly valuable,” he concluded. 

‘Talking to the Lord every single day’

James Slack, a fellow Jesuit graduate and a freshman at the University of Dallas, is currently seriously discerning the priesthood. He told CNA that unlike some of his peers, he chose to attend Jesuit High School because he had recently begun to take his faith seriously and knew the school would provide him what he needed to grow in that faith. The school’s chapel was still relatively new when Slack arrived. 

“Seeing the beautiful chapel and the environment and the culture of the school, I knew that that’s where I could grow my faith the most, and I think that’s where the Lord wanted me to go,” he explained. 

“It took the seed, I think, that the Lord planted my heart of wanting to be a saint and wanting to be very intentional in my relationship with him and just gave it all of what it needed to grow.”

Slack said the priests at his high school were “some of the best men, in general, that I’ve ever been able to spend time with… incredible people who really made the faith personal and available to me.” He said he was particularly inspired by how available the priests made themselves in the confessional and said he has grown to desire to serve people in that way as well. 

As his discernment process continues, Slack emphasized that he is trying every day to draw near to God through personal prayer. For other men trying to discern God’s call for their lives, he emphasized the importance of seeking guidance from others and trusting in God’s timing. 

“The Lord can work in whatever way he wishes … and I’ve been really happy just patiently seeing if I can hear his voice day by day,” he said.  

“I think if if anyone’s discerning or feeling this call, I think the most important thing to do is to maintain a good prayer life, making sure that that every day you’re turning to the Lord with trust and with faith, but also with a certain sense of regularity and discipline … It’s really easy to get lost in our own thoughts, in our own plans, in our own feelings, and it can be really hard to distinguish them from promptings of the Holy Spirit if we don’t spend time just talking to the Lord really personally every single day.”