Aug. 8, 2025—In today’s historic peace deal—after decades of bitter conflict and tremendous suffering for both nations over the ethnically Armenian-Christian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave—Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a peace deal at the White House. Pashinyan hailed the moment as “opening a chapter of peace” and “laying foundations to a…
CNA—A reported strike on the only Catholic Church in Gaza killed three people and injured nine others July 17, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. Among the injured was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. Pictures showed damage to the church’s roof and windows. Amid the ongoing war in…
Pope Leo XIV received a phone call Friday from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, following yesterday’s Israeli army attack on Holy Family Church in Gaza. According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, the pope received the call at Castel Gandolfo, where he is on vacation. On July 17, the Israeli…
CNA—Following the March 28 earthquake that struck Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China, Cardinal Charles Bo, president of the Myanmar Bishops’ Conference, said the people of the Asian country now “need everything,” including peace to end the civil war. Vivid description of dire situation after earthquake “The people need food, shelter, medicine and all lifesaving materials,”…
ACI Prensa/CNA—The Cuban government’s announcement of the release of 553 prisoners has been described by an analyst and the opposition as “a swap” by the regime to obtain economic benefits from the United States, including removing the island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel reported on Monday, Jan.…
CNA—St. Francis Xavier lived the life of a missionary, baptizing tens of thousands in India and Japan. In death, he continues to give himself to Christ’s Church, as his relics offer pilgrims spiritual consolation in Italy and India. St. Francis Xavier body nearly entirely incorrupt, shown only every 10 years The saint’s right arm is…
The B.C. Catholic/CNA—If the faithful can’t go to the shrine, bring the shrine to the faithful. So it will be with the relics of the Canadian Martyrs, usually housed in their Midland, Ontario, shrine, which will make their first tour of western Canada as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. Innovative solution for…
CNA, London, England—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. Living his Catholic Faith as lord mayor The…
CNA—Bethelehem, West Bank—Being an artisan in Bethlehem isn’t just a job. It’s an art, almost a calling, a treasure handed down from father to son, but one that is now at risk of being lost. After two years of war… Younger generations are choosing other career paths, and after two years of war, fathers don’t…
Crisis—Our Lady of Guadalupe was there at Lepanto, hearkening to the Rosary recited by the soldiers processing round the decks, her quiet, pregnant power blazing at that apocalyptic battle with all the splendor of the star-crowned Woman of Revelation. Most Catholics wouldn’t consider the motherly image of Our Lady of Guadalupe a martial image. The…
More than 1,000 (some accounts report 2,000) construction workers, craftsmen and artisans — in five years — restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Better than ever. The cost of rebuilding Notre Dame is reported to be about $767 million, with a reported $928 million in donations pouring in from 340,000 donors in 150 countries,…
ACI Africa, CNA—A U.K.-based human rights foundation condemned the forced conversion of Christians to Islam in Sudan following the arbitrary arrest of 12 Christian men by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) military intelligence unit. The 12 men were part of a group of 26, most of whom are Christians and were reportedly detained at a…
VN—Amid the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Maronite Catholic Bishops discuss how the violence has led to thousands of people being forced to leave their homes. The Maronite bishops have expressed their “sorrow in the face of the horror of the disaster” in Lebanon following Israel’s recent attacks on the country, which have caused…
Ukranian Catholic University (UCU)—In memory of UCU student Daria Bazylevych, her mother, Yevhenia, and sisters Yaryna and Emilia, Ukrainian Catholic University, together with her father, Yaroslav Bazylevych, and Plast, the national scoutingorganization of Ukraine, has started an endowed scholarship fund. The goal is to collect $100,000, allowing UCU students to receive scholarships annually. The scholarship…
What can Catholic business professionals and diocesan priests learn from Trappist nuns in Muslim Indonesia? Quite a lot it turns out! CNA—As Pope Francis prepares to visit Indonesia, the founding superior of a monastery in Java shares what life is like for Catholics in a majority-Muslim country. Mary keeps her foot on the snakes When…
VN—Aug 6, 2024—Ten years after so-called Islamic State massacred Christians and Yazidis, the Patriarch of Baghdad tells Vatican News that suffering unites all Iraqis: “We are all responsible for each other, and when we die, God will not ask if I am a Christian or a Muslim, but ‘What have you done for your brother?’”…
CNA—As part of its Memorandum of Understanding agreement (MoU) and partnership with the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has successfully sent a second aid delivery to the people of northern Gaza. In a July 24 press release, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — a diocese that includes Jordan, Cyprus, Palestine, and…
CNA—For more than a year, the people of Sudan — one of the largest countries in Africa — have suffered under a brutal civil war that has reduced the capital, Khartoum, to a war zone. Amid the chaos and a complex set of competing political interests, children and the poor have been hit hardest. Just…
CNA—05-10-24—Construction is nearing completion on the St. Charbel Maronite Church in Doha, Qatar, with plans to open its doors to worshippers in 2025, coinciding with the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, according to Father Charbel Mhanna from Qatar’s Maronite parish. In an interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Mhanna explained that with a capacity…
CNA/ACI Prensa—Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, finally took possession on May 1 of his assigned titular church in Rome after having postponed the ceremony due to the war in the Holy Land. Part of the process of becoming a cardinal is being assigned a titular church in Rome known as his…
