St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church and Divine Infant of Prague Mission

The pontiff warned of the risk of a superficial spiritual life “in an age of hyperconnectivity” in which it becomes increasingly “difficult to experience silence and solitude,” emphasizing that without an encounter with God, “we cannot even truly know ourselves.” / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 24, 2025 / 16:37 pm (CNA).

On June 24, Pope Leo XIV urged hundreds of seminarians from around the world to bear witness to the “tenderness” and “mercy” of Christ in a “world where ingratitude and the thirst for power often prevail.”

He also asked that formation centers for future priests be “a school of affectivity” that teaches them to love as Jesus did.

“The seminary, whatever its form, should be a school of affectivity. Today, in particular, in a social and cultural context marked by conflict and narcissism, we need to learn to love and do so like Jesus,” the pontiff stated on June 24 in the catechesis he gave during his first official meeting with seminarians from the five continents.

As he entered St. Peter’s Basilica, where the encounter took place as part of the Jubilee of Seminarians, Bishops, and Priests, the pope was greeted with enthusiastic applause, and his address was interrupted several times by the seminarians chanting “Pope Leo!”

He even spoke a few words spontaneously in Spanish during the encounter with the future priests, who traveled to Rome this week to participate in the 2025 Jubilee Year.

“I’ll also say a few words in Spanish. Thank you for having courageously accepted the Lord’s invitation to continue being a disciple, to be courageous, to enter the seminary. And do not be afraid,” he said.

The Holy Father exhorted the seminarians to embrace “the sentiments of Christ, to grow in human maturity, especially affective and relational,” and to reject “all masks and hypocrisy.”

Don’t hide your limitations

“With our gaze fixed on Jesus, we must also learn to give a name and a voice to sadness, fear, anguish, and indignation, bringing it all into our relationship with God. Crises, limitations, and weaknesses must not be hidden but rather are occasions of grace and paschal experience,” he counseled.

The pope told the seminarians that the center of every journey of discernment must be the heart, although at times “it can be frightening, because there are also wounds there.”

“Don’t be afraid to care for them, allow yourselves to be helped, because precisely from these wounds will be born the capacity to be close to those who suffer. Without an interior life, a spiritual life is not possible, because God speaks to us precisely there, in the heart,” he emphasized.

The pontiff said that just as Christ loved with a human heart, priests “are called to love with the heart of Christ,” noting that the path toward this configuration with Jesus involves cultivating interiority, prayer, and discernment.

In this regard, he emphasized that they must “learn to recognize the movements of the heart.”

“Not only the quick and immediate emotions characteristic of young people, but above all your sentiments, which help you discover the direction of your life. If you learn to know your heart, you will become increasingly authentic and will no longer need to wear masks,” he added.

He also made it clear that the privileged path to interiority is “prayer.” 

The pontiff warned of the risk of a superficial spiritual life “in an age of hyperconnectivity” in which it becomes increasingly “difficult to experience silence and solitude,” emphasizing that without an encounter with God, “we cannot even truly know ourselves.”

The cry of the poor and oppressed

The Holy Father also asked the seminarians to listen, as Jesus did, to “the often silent cry of the little ones, the poor and the oppressed, and of so many — especially young people — who are searching for meaning in their lives.”

“Nothing of you must be discarded, but everything must be embraced and transformed into the logic of the grain of wheat, so that you may become happy persons and priests, bridges, not obstacles, to the encounter with Christ of those who approach you.”

He also acknowledged that today, engaging in “the fascinating adventure of the priestly vocation” is “not at all easy” and praised their decision to “become gentle and strong heralds of the Word that saves, servants of a Church that is open and has a missionary outreach.”

Witnesses of hope

“The wisdom of Mother Church always seeks the most appropriate forms for the formation of ordained ministers,” the pope noted, but he emphasized that this mission cannot be fulfilled without the active involvement of the seminarians themselves.

“Today you are not just pilgrims but witnesses of hope,” he told them, encouraging them to allow themselves to be molded by the Holy Spirit and to practice a lifestyle marked by “gratitude, tenderness, and mercy.”

On several occasions, Leo XIV took up the image of the heart of Jesus as a symbol of the priesthood according to God and quoted in this regard Pope Francis’ last encyclical, Dilexit Nos: “The heart of Christ is animated by immense compassion: He is the Good Samaritan of humanity.”

Pope Leo concluded by pointing out that seminarians must learn to “feed” the people of God, not only with words but also with the dedication of their own lives.

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

Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta. / Credit: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Jun 24, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Atlanta and Emory Healthcare have announced a new sponsorship agreement that will preserve the Catholic identity and mission of Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. 

Atlanta’s first hospital, founded in 1880 by the Sisters of Mercy, Emory Saint Joseph’s will continue to operate as a Catholic-sponsored institution committed to serve all people, particularly the most vulnerable, under the guidance of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.

Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, celebrated a mid-morning Mass of Thanksgiving in the hospital’s auditorium on June 23 in recognition of the agreement, which underscores a shared vision to uphold the hospital’s legacy of integrating science, faith, and mercy.

Heather Dexter, president of the Emory Healthcare Regional Hospital Division, emphasized the significance of the partnership: “This sponsorship ensures adherence to Catholic ethical directives, preserves robust chaplaincy services, and continues community outreach rooted in Gospel values. Emory Saint Joseph’s will remain a place where medicine and mercy walk hand in hand.”

Hartmayer expressed gratitude to the Sisters of Mercy for their 145 years of service, recognizing their enduring legacy.

“The archdiocese is honored to continue the mission they began. Emory Healthcare’s leadership in health care makes this partnership a promising step for our community,” he said in his homily. 

The Mass, concelebrated by hospital priest chaplain Father Patrick Scully, former chaplain Father Steve Yander, and Father Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez, was attended by hospital staff, volunteers, and Sisters of Mercy Peggy Fannon and Jane Gerety.

In his homily, Hartmayer reflected on the hospital’s role in serving those burdened by illness and fear.

“Within these walls, we encounter the suffering daily. Nurses, doctors, chaplains, and families embody Christ’s compassion, offering healing, and hope,” he said, drawing parallels to the disciples sent to serve the afflicted.

Gerety, chief mission officer of Mercy Care, spoke after Mass, expressing confidence in the continuity of the hospital’s mission.

“The sponsorship links us to the Church’s values of compassion and outreach to the vulnerable,” she said.

As the Sisters of Mercy transition their apostolate to Mercy Care, the hospital’s staff and leadership remain committed to the Mercy identity — compassionate care for the whole person, especially the most vulnerable, she said.

“Mercy isn’t something we overlay; it’s what we do,” Gerety affirmed, highlighting the hospital’s enduring dedication to Jesus’ teaching to love one’s neighbor.

Of the transition, she said she did not expect the new sponsorship would change the feel of the institution. “The spirit and culture brought by the Sisters of Mercy remain alive. This agreement ensures decisions are made through the lens of love and compassion,” she said.

The historic hospital is a 410-bed acute-care facility, serving 126,000 outpatients and 17,500 inpatients annually. Recognized as a Magnet-designated hospital since 1995, it has ranked as the No. 2 hospital in Georgia and metro Atlanta by “U.S. News and World Report” for eight consecutive years. 

Emory Saint Joseph’s, one of the Southeast’s top specialty-referral hospitals, is also a cutting-edge training center for robotic cardiothoracic surgery and home to Georgia’s only American Heart Association Mitral Valve Reference Center.

The scene outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after the court released its decision in the Dobbs abortion case on June 24, 2022. / Credit: Katie Yoder/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

Three years after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, American Catholic bishops are celebrating the anniversary of the pro-life victory but also reminding the faithful that more work is needed to foster a culture of life.

“Despite the good that Dobbs decision accomplished, the battle for life is far from over,” Bishop Daniel Thomas, the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-life Activities, said in a June 24 statement.

“I urge all Catholics to engage their elected officials on all issues that threaten the gift of human life, in particular the threat of abortion,” Thomas said.

Thomas noted that the Supreme Court’s decision on June 24, 2022, “ended nearly 50 years of virtually unlimited, nationwide abortion,” adding that “hope had never been lost in God’s power to right that wrong and accomplish what the world believed to be impossible.”

From 1973 until 2022, the Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion and prevented states from enacting pro-life protections for the unborn. Overturning that decision now allows both the states — and the federal government — to restrict or even prohibit abortion through legislation.

Thomas wrote that the decision also “paved the way for pro-life victories nationally,” pointing out that Congress is currently considering language in the budget bill to end federal Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for Planned Parenthood and “other organizations whose abortion profiteering harms women and babies.”

As the Church celebrates the Jubilee Year of Hope throughout 2025, the bishop reminded Catholic parishes to continue efforts that “welcome, embrace, and accompany women facing unexpected or challenging pregnancies” and to share “Christ’s message of mercy with all who are suffering in the aftermath of an abortion.” He referenced two initiatives: Walking with Moms in Need and Project Rachel.

“As we move forward in hope, may we be united in our efforts to protect God’s gift of life, in every stage and circumstance,” Thomas concluded.

Arlington, Virginia, Bishop Michael Burbidge — a consultant to the USCCB’s pro-life committee and its former chair — in a June 24 statement similarly celebrated the anniversary as a “deliverance from the injustice” of Roe but also cautioned that “the tragic effects of Roe remain.”

“Abortion and other violations of human dignity continue to threaten the sanctity of life of millions of our brothers and sisters,” Burbidge said. “We pray and work for the day that American law truly upholds equal justice for all, which includes equal protection of the law for every member of the human family.”

Several states have adopted amendments to their state constitutions to establish a right to abortion after the Supreme Court decision, and there is currently an effort in Virginia to do the same.

“All Catholics in the Diocese of Arlington and others of goodwill are morally responsible for peaceful advocacy, virtuous political engagement, and fervent prayer that may save our Commonwealth from the social injustice of abortion,” Burbidge said. “If abortion is ever enshrined in Virginia’s constitution, we must humbly ask God for the courage, prudence, and wisdom necessary to overcome such an injustice by his amazing grace.”

Pro-life battles ahead

In the three years since Dobbs, 12 states have enacted laws prohibiting nearly all abortions and another seven states have put restrictions on abortion, outlawing the procedure at an earlier stage in pregnancy than Roe allowed.

Alternatively, some states have eased rules about abortion, with nearly a dozen adopting amendments to their state constitutions establishing a legal right to abortion. 

House and Senate Democrats held news conferences on the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision to convey their support for legislation that would legalize abortion nationwide and override state-level pro-life laws. Previous federal legislative efforts have been unsuccessful amid Republican opposition.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a news conference that “today marks a grim anniversary” and said Senate Democrats “will continue to stand together and fight back against Republicans in every single way” with efforts to legalize abortion nationwide and halt efforts to strip funding from Planned Parenthood.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries similarly called the 2022 decision “one of the most unconscionable and un-American decisions in the history of the United States of America” and said House Democrats “are here to fight back” with legislation to legalize abortion nationwide and other efforts.

Many pro-life organizations remain active on the state and federal level as these legislative battles over abortion continue. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), a national pro-life organization, held a news conference the day before the anniversary to discuss the ongoing efforts. 

“If you’d been living a couple of decades ago, you would never have predicted that anything close would come to where we sit right now, celebrating the overturn of Roe and the potential defunding of Planned Parenthood and the rest of the big abortion lobby,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said during the news conference on June 23.

Dannenfelser highlighted many of the state-level wins but noted that most states still allow abortion until the point of viability and several states permit abortion until the moment of birth for any reason. She said SBA field teams are supporting pro-life candidates in several swing states for the midterm elections.

“A human rights movement needs teeth,” Dannenfelser added. “It needs ground game. It needs to win elections.”

Over 3,000 Catholics filled the streets of Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, June 22, 2025, for a major Eucharistic procession led by Archbishop Alexander Sample. / Credit: Dylan Encarnacion

Portland, Ore., Jun 24, 2025 / 15:17 pm (CNA).

Over 3,000 Catholics filled the streets of Portland, Oregon, on Sunday for a Eucharistic procession led by Archbishop Alexander Sample.

To encourage broad participation from clergy and the faithful across the archdiocese, a special Mass was offered at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass was added to the regular Sunday Mass schedule to allow more local Catholics to participate in the procession after attending their own parish Masses. The procession through the streets followed immediately afterward.

Confessions were also offered from 1 to 3 p.m. in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. By noon, hundreds were already lined up, well before the scheduled start time. Though not part of the formal schedule, over a thousand of the faithful gathered in prayer inside the cathedral after the final Benediction.

St. Mary’s Cathedral is designated as a local pilgrimage site for the 2025 Jubilee Year, and this event was structured to allow the faithful to receive a full plenary indulgence by fulfilling all the necessary conditions in a single day.

In his homily at the Mass, Sample framed the day as a turning point for the archdiocese. 

“The Eucharist has to be at the forefront and center of evangelization and mission renewal. To see you all here today fills my heart with hope for the future. So many people see the Pacific Northwest as a center of darkness. I wish they could see this. I wish the Church across the United States could see this. I wish Pope Leo could see this,” the archbishop said.

“God is on the move here in western Oregon. The Holy Spirit is igniting a fire, and you’re all part of that. I predict that today is a turning point for the renewal of Christ’s mission in western Oregon.”

As the Blessed Sacrament was brought out after Mass, the cathedral’s bell tower rang out across the city. The sound could be heard up to a mile away and marked the beginning of the procession. Forty minutes later, the bells rang again to welcome the return of the faithful and the Eucharistic Lord.

This marked the first time the city of Portland has permitted a public Catholic procession through the main streets of downtown in several decades.

The crowd was striking in both size and diversity. More than half of the attendees came from Latino, Asian, and African communities.There was also a strong representation of more recent Catholic communities in the archdiocese such as Burmese and Swahili-speaking Catholics.

Hymns were sung in Latin, English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and more. At its full length, the procession filled four city blocks, moving through the Pearl District and drawing the attention of many onlookers who paused to watch in amazement and ask what was happening.

Many bystanders were visibly moved. Some knelt and prayed along the sidewalks, a powerful sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in a city often labeled secular or indifferent to faith.

“The Holy Spirit has chosen Portland, and he is doing something great here,” Sample said earlier this year at the archdiocese’s chrism Mass.

Joining the archbishop were more than 20 priests, eight deacons, over 100 altar servers and seminarians, 50 religious brothers and sisters, the Knights of Columbus, and the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher.

The event concluded with solemn Benediction on the cathedral steps, with the faithful filling the surrounding four blocks.

Visibly moved, the archbishop turned to the crowd and said, “Wow, this is amazing. What more can I say?” Then he exclaimed, “Viva!” and more than a thousand Latino Catholics joyfully responded, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!“)

The atmosphere throughout the event was filled with joy and reverence. People smiled and sang along the route, and at the conclusion, the crowd burst into applause along with local onlookers. Several attendees expressed their hope that this grand Eucharistic procession might become an annual tradition in Portland.

Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered for Mass on the solemnity of Corpus Christi on Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 24, 2025 / 14:47 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said he was “deeply saddened” by the terrorist attack on a church in Damascus, Syria, and assured his prayers for those mourning the 25 people who were killed.

On Sunday, June 22, the solemnity of Corpus Christi, eyewitnesses reported that two armed men stormed the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in Douailah on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

One of them remained outside, firing at worshippers and into the church’s stained-glass windows, eyewitnesses said, while the second tried to enter the church and detonate a grenade, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Two parishioners intervened and managed to wrestle the explosive device away from the second man, preventing an immediate detonation. However, while being dragged outside, the attacker activated his suicide belt, resulting in a massive explosion.

The attack left at least 25 dead and a total of 63 wounded.

The Holy See Press Office released a telegram of condolence from Pope Leo XIV on June 24 signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

In the message, the pontiff expressed his profound sadness after receiving news of “the loss of life and the destruction caused by the attack on the Greek Orthodox Church of Mar Elias in Damascus.”

In light of the brutal attack, the first since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the Holy Father also expressed “his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected.”

“In entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of our heavenly Father, His Holiness likewise prays for those who mourn their loss,” the telegram read.

Leo XIV also assured his prayers “for the recovery of the injured” and invoked “the Almighty’s gifts of consolation, healing, and peace upon the nation.”

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

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in an interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, emphasized that the Catholic Church in the Holy Land must remain “open”: “The Church must remain open and accessible to all. This is absolutely essential. Everyone must be able to reach us, we must be a point of connection for everyone.” / Credit: Cristian Gennari/OESSH (Anba Agency)

ACI MENA, Jun 24, 2025 / 14:17 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in an exclusive interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, emphasized that the Catholic Church in the Holy Land is “more active than people might think,” noting that many of its initiatives and efforts take place away from the spotlight “so that we can be more effective.”

His remarks came in response to the recent escalation of violence between Iran and Israel.

The cardinal also stressed the importance of openness. “The Church must remain open and accessible to all. This is absolutely essential,” he said. “Everyone must be able to reach us; we must be a point of connection for everyone.”

Commenting on the region’s complex political landscape, the cardinal sent a clear message to political leaders: “The path forward does not lie in military action but in dreaming of the future and building hope for it,” he said. “Force, violence, and war do not build anything. They destroy people, land, relationships, and wipe out hope in the future.”

As regional tensions escalate, the cardinal warned that the suffering in the Holy Land, especially in Gaza and the West Bank, risks being forgotten amid the noise of larger global crises. “We’ve been speaking out. Even yesterday, the pope said this war is making us forget about Gaza’s tragedy and that of the West Bank.”

“We must keep speaking, writing, and maintaining ties with churches around the world to remind them that the situation here is extremely complex and that we cannot forget the weakest and the poorest,” he said.

Addressing the daily challenges in the Holy Land, Pizzaballa highlighted the growing obstacles Christian families face in reaching their churches due to military checkpoints and repeated closures, which make pastoral activities nearly impossible.

“The first obstacle, above all else, is the state of emergency. Transportation has become a serious issue — no one knows when roads will be open or closed,” he said. With a sense of sadness, he added: “We invested so much effort and money to send our youth to Rome for the jubilee, and now everything has been frozen, suspended, and canceled.”

Despite these challenges, the cardinal affirmed the Church’s ongoing humanitarian work in both the West Bank and Gaza. “We’ve created hundreds of job opportunities, and we’re distributing food vouchers and aid. We’re present in a strong way, even in Gaza; we try to get in the essentials, despite how difficult it is,” he said.

When asked how, as patriarch of Jerusalem, he personally continues to cope with the crisis, Pizzaballa replied: “Most of the time lately, I feel helpless. I want to do so much, to write, to visit, to be present, but not everything is possible.” 

He continued: “Our primary concern is our community in Gaza: to support them, to be present for them, to not abandon them. This is of utmost importance.” 

Pizzaballa said the Christians in Gaza “have become a symbol of our Christian community.” 

“So too is the unity of the Church,” he said. “These geographic divisions, the separation, the barriers, they isolate us. So how can we preserve connection and unity? Because without unity, there is no true sense of belonging.”

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

Seminarian Thomas Hammen smiles in view of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Tuesday. June 24, 2025. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 24, 2025 / 13:47 pm (CNA).

More than 2,500 seminarians from 57 countries converged on Rome this week to pray at the tomb of St. Peter, receive a blessing from Pope Leo XIV, and celebrate their vocations in the Jubilee of Seminarians. 

“Thank you for courageously accepting the Lord’s invitation to follow him, to be disciples, to enter the seminary. You have to be courageous and not be afraid,” Pope Leo XIV told the young men gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 24. 

“As Christ loved with the heart of man, you are called to love with the heart of Christ!” the pope said in his catechesis to the seminarians, urging them to “love with the heart of Jesus.” 

Over two days, the jubilee pilgrims prayed the rosary together at the tomb of St. Paul, passed through the Holy Doors of the basilicas in Rome, and knelt before the Eucharist in adoration. Among them were seminarians from Albania to Argentina, India to Italy, and the United States to Ukraine — each carrying his own story of how God called him to the priesthood. 

Here are nine seminarians who shared how they heard the call to the priesthood: 

Thomas Hammen, 28, Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida 

“I think a key message is that we’re made to give ourselves away in love, while the culture says to only live for yourself… In my college years specifically, I experienced having everything the world told me that would make me happy and like Pope Leo has been saying over and over again, quoting St. Augustine, ‘my heart was restless.’

“Thankfully at Florida State University, I had an awesome friend who invited me on a retreat, and it was on that retreat where there was Eucharistic adoration that I heard the truth that my heart is made for God and when I live for him I come fully alive and I’m able to step into the mission that he has for me. 

“I’d say my vocation is a result of God showing me mercy … and from knowing that I’m loved, that comes a great conviction that I’m chosen for something great and that’s really the source of my entire vocation to be a priest.” 

Hammen hopes to be ordained in 2030. 

Joseph Mlawa, Archdiocese of Agrigento, Italy 

“I’m from Tanzania and now I’m a seminarian in Sicily.” 

“Since I was little, I wanted to become a priest. However, it was a bit difficult because my parents died in 2006. But in 2015, there were missionaries who came to my parish and they helped me to come here to Italy to fulfill the calling of my vocation … They helped to pay my tuition for the nine years.” 

Thomas Stanczak, 35, Archdiocese of Milwaukee

A recent convert from Protestantism, Stanczak said he “read” his way into the Church.  

“I think, as St. John Henry Newman says, ‘to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant,’” he said. 

“I really felt a very strong call from the Lord during Mass … and when the Lord says for you to do something, it’s hard to say no.” 

In Rome, he has had a “wonderful experience” going to the churches from “the different ancient martyrs and saints that we pray in the Roman canon, seeing Cosmos and Damien’s church, John and Paul, Agnes and Lucy.” 

“All these different wonderful saints have really helped me connect in a special way to the universal Church.”  

He hopes to be ordained in 2030. 

Pietro, 24, Diocese of Locri-Gerace, Calabria, Italy 

“I have to say that like St. Peter, I gave the Lord a lot of resistance. Finally, he somehow ‘pulled me by the ears,’ as we say… Slowly, with his strength, [the Lord] showed me day by day what is the meaning of my vocation, not only my vocation to the priesthood, but also to follow him with all my heart, as far as he will lead me, even to the point of giving my life.”

“There are so many challenges, as there always have been, and so I think if the Church continues to trust and rely on the Holy Spirit, then she will overcome them all.”

Carlos Bárcenas, 26, Archdiocese of Panama

“The restlessness was already within me from my mother’s womb,” Bárcenas joked. 

While studying mechanical engineering, he “realized that [God] was asking me for something more.

“I want to be above all credible, acceptable, and consistent with Christian life,” he said. 

Pepe Zinkewich, 26, Archdiocese of Los Angeles 

“I’m No. 9 of 10 kids. I grew up in a very heavily Catholic family … but I didn’t really feel called to the priesthood until I went away for college. It was there that I got in contact with a very holy priest who loved the Eucharist and would die for it. And that really inspired me to follow Christ and devote myself to his Church.”

“Through prayer and spiritual direction, I found my vocation to the diocesan seminary, and I’ve loved every minute of it. Ever since I entered, I thought the priesthood was going to be quiet and simple, but it has turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime!”

Zinkewich hopes to be ordained in 2029.

José Ylef Felicidad, 22, Diocese of Arecibo, Puerto Rico 

“I felt the call when I was 20 years old. It was through a priest friend of mine. Literally, the Lord was transfigured in him and he told me a phrase that moved me: ‘He needs you.’ His face changed to that of Jesus, but without ceasing to be him. It was extraordinary.” 

Felicidad’s greatest aspiration is to leave behind “everything for the Lord and for the holy people of God.”

Randy Marfo, 25, from Ghana 

Marfo discovered his vocation at a young age when he was serving as an altar boy. This experience motivated him to follow a vocation to the priesthood. 

“The biggest problem that my country is facing is that the population of Catholics is decreasing in these days because some of the priests are not doing what is expected of them, so Church members are leaving to other denominations, like Pentecostals or the Baptists.” 

He hopes to be ordained in 2030.

William Iván Sánchez Velázquez, Diocese of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 

“I have been in the seminary for seven years now,” he said. “I met with the bishop and, as soon as I finished school, I went straight to the seminary.”

His hope is to become a priest who resembles “the Good Shepherd” and to be “dedicated to serving my sheep.”

“The Lord himself said: ‘Pray to the Lord of the harvest.’ The Lord provides. I firmly believe that the Lord answers the people who kneel to pray. We should not stop praying for vocations. That’s the only thing to do: pray, pray, pray.”

The Rome Experience 

The American seminarians taking part in the jubilee are in Italy this summer for the “Rome Experience,” a six-week program to study, pray, and walk in the footsteps of the saints. These seminarians are taking classes on Church history and Christian art and architecture while also making pilgrimages to churches and holy sites throughout Rome.

“While I’ve been here, it’s been so amazing to encounter the saints — to visit where they are buried, to hear their stories,” Hammen said. “My hope is to return to the United States and share what I’ve experienced here.” 

The Jubilee of Seminarians is just one of many spiritual celebrations taking place in Rome during the holy year. Beginning Wednesday, the Vatican will also host a Jubilee of Bishops and a Jubilee of Priests.

Pope Leo XIV meets with the Order of Malta’s grand master, Fra’ John Dunlap, and members of the Order of Malta on June 23, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 24, 2025 / 13:12 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV in a message to the Order of Malta underlined the order’s religious character, stressing that without evangelization, the knights’ service to the poor is merely philanthropy.

“Do not limit yourself to helping the needs of the poor, but announce to them the love of God with words and testimony. If this were to be lacking, the order would lose its religious character and would be reduced to being an organization with philanthropic purposes,” Leo wrote in a message to the order on the feast of its patron saint, St. John the Baptist.

The pope also met for the first time with the order’s grand master, Fra’ John Dunlap, at the Vatican on June 23.

In his June 24 message, Leo pointed multiple times to the order’s important dual purpose of “tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum.” (Latin for “protection of faith” and “service to the poor.”)

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is both a lay religious order of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state subject to international law.

The order adopted a new constitution in 2022, after a long reform process, initiated by Pope Francis in 2017 and fraught by concerns of threat to the group’s sovereignty.

Pope Leo addressed the Order of Malta’s “path of renewal,” stressing that it “cannot be simply institutional, normative: It must first of all be interior, spiritual, because this gives meaning to changes in the rules.”

He supported changes to the order’s constitutional charter and law as “necessary, as several things needed to be clarified, especially the nature of the religious order.”

The Holy Father’s message also talked about the means — economic and personnel that the order relies on in order to carry out its charitable work — and the importance of these aligning with the group’s mission.

“To achieve a good goal the means must be good; but in this field temptation can easily present itself under the guise of good, as an illusion of being able to achieve the good goals that one sets out with means that could later prove not to be in accordance with the will of God,” he said.

The order’s international importance and position as a sovereign body, Leo continued, must never be a pretext for succumbing to temptations to worldliness.

The Order of Malta’s overhaul was also marked by years of changing leadership, beginning with the dismissal of Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager in December 2017.

The grand chancellor’s dismissal followed revelations that the order’s charitable branch, under Boeselager’s leadership, had been involved in distributing condoms in Burma to prevent HIV. The order said the reasons for Boeselager’s dismissal was “much more complex than just the point on contraception,” and one factor was the concealment of “severe problems” within the order during his tenure.

The grand chancellor is one of four high offices — grand commander, grand chancellor, grand hospitaller, and receiver of the common treasure. These positions, which hold five-year terms, make up part of the government of the order, together with councilors of the Sovereign Council, and the grand master, who is elected for 10 years.

Much of the leadership was renewed during elections held in an extraordinary chapter general convened by Pope Francis in January 2023.

Dunlap, a Canadian lawyer who was elected prince and 81st grand master of the Order of Malta in May 2023, had led the order as lieutenant grand master since the year prior when he was appointed by Pope Francis following the sudden death of his predecessor, Fra’ Marco Luzzago.

The Order of Malta had not had a grand master since the death in 2020 of Fra’ Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto.

null / Credit: Wolfgang Schaller/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 24, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA).

The Supreme Court this week said it will decide whether prisoners can sue individual prison workers — rather than merely the government itself — over violations of a key U.S. religious liberty law.

The high court on Monday granted certiorari in the case Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety. Oral arguments for the case are expected to take place this fall. 

The case concerns Damon Landor, a Rastafarian who as part of his religious belief took the “Nazarite Vow” to let his hair grow out. While incarcerated at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, Louisiana, a guard shaved Landor’s head, cutting off nearly two decades’ worth of hair. 

Landor sued the state government under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a law that the U.S. Department of Justice says requires states to “not place arbitrary or unnecessary restrictions on religious practice.” 

Notably, Landor also sued the facility’s warden, Marcus Myers, in the latter’s individual capacity as well as Louisiana Department of Corrections Secretary James LeBlanc.

Both a district court and the U.S Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit dismissed the personal lawsuits, citing precedent barring such actions. Individuals “cannot seek money damages from officials in their individual capacities,” the appeals court ruled.

The Supreme Court’s ruling could either affirm the lower court rulings or explicitly expand the religious freedom law to allow individual lawsuits.

In May, the federal government filed an amicus brief in support of Landor, citing earlier Supreme Court decisions that suggested the law allows for individual lawsuits. 

The issue is “undeniably important,” the government said in its filing, arguing that the religious liberty law was meant to be “broadly interpreted to protect religious exercise to the fullest extent allowed.”

In addition to its protections for prisoners, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act — passed in 2000 — protects “individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws,” according to the Department of Justice. 

The measure “prohibits zoning and landmarking laws” that “substantially burden the religious exercise of churches or other religious assemblies or institutions.”

Any burdens in zoning laws should be accomplished with “the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest,” the government said.

Statue of St. John the Baptist with golden cross, Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. / Credit: Oldrich Barak/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Jun 24, 2025 / 11:13 am (CNA).

St. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, is one of only three people in history — after Jesus and Mary — whose birthday is celebrated in the Church’s liturgy.

In fact, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24 is a solemnity, meaning it is the highest form of Catholic feast day. And because it falls exactly six months before the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord, it is sometimes known as “summer Christmas.”

“The Church observes the birth of John as in some way sacred; and you will not find any other of the great men of old whose birth we celebrate officially. We celebrate John’s, as we celebrate Christ’s,” St. Augustine of Hippo said in his sermon 293. 

In the Mass for the solemnity, the priest prays to God in the preface that in Christ’s precursor, “St. John the Baptist, we praise your great glory, for you consecrated him for a singular honor among those born of women.”

“His birth brought great rejoicing; even in the womb he leapt for joy at the coming of human salvation. He alone of all the prophets pointed out the Lamb of redemption,” the prayer continues. “And to make holy the flowing waters, he baptized the very author of baptism and was privileged to bear him supreme witness by the shedding of his blood.”

St. Augustine explained that “John, it seems, has been inserted as a kind of boundary between the two Testaments, the Old and the New. That he is somehow or other a boundary is something that the Lord himself indicates when he says, ‘The Law and the prophets were until John.’ So he represents the old and heralds the new. Because he represents the old, he is born of an elderly couple; because he represents the new, he is revealed as a prophet in his mother’s womb.”

John’s connection to Christ

Father Mauro Gagliardi, a theologian and liturgist who teaches in Rome, wrote in a 2009 article on Zenit that it is important to emphasize John the Baptist’s role as “indicator.” John is “a prophet who refers back to Christ.”

The liturgy, Gagliardi said, does the same thing, and thus the June 24 solemnity “reminds us of this: The Christian liturgy is a powerful indicator of Christ to the peoples, like [John] the Baptist.”

John the Baptist’s feast day also has cosmic connections, the theologian pointed out. The fact that June 24 is close to the summer solstice demonstrates the fulfillment of the prophecy in John 3:30 that “he must increase; I must decrease,” since after John’s birthday the days get shorter, or “decrease,” while after Jesus’ birthday on Dec. 25, the days get longer, or “increase.”

“This interweaving between a figure from the history of salvation — John — and the cosmic rhythms (both guided by the same God) has found a fruitful development in the devotion and liturgy of the Church,” Gagliardi said.

Popular customs of ‘summer Christmas’

The Church’s liturgical commemoration of St. John the Baptist dates back to the fourth century.

Acknowledgement of the saint’s importance can also be noted in his shared patronage, together with St. John the Apostle, of Rome’s Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, which is also the seat of the bishop of Rome — that is, the pope.

The night of June 23 is known in some countries, including Italy, as “St. John’s Eve.” Due to the solemnity’s timing, shortly after the summer solstice, some of the practices connected to the feast have a pagan character, including that some refer to it as “the Night of the Witches.”

Modern-day secular festivities may include concerts and theatrical performances, while Catholics usually celebrate Mass and hold religious processions.

One of the most typical customs related to St. John’s Eve, both secular and religious, is the bonfire, called in some countries “St. John’s Fires,” which are lit in honor of the saint who “was not the light, but came to testify to the light (Jn 1:8).” Fireworks or candle-lit processions can also take the place of bonfires.

In an Angelus message on June 25, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI said the feast of St. John the Baptist “reminds us that our life is entirely and always ‘relative’ to Christ and is fulfilled by accepting him, the Word, the Light, and the Bridegroom, whose voices, lamps, and friends we are.”

“‘He must increase, but I must decrease’ (Jn 3:30): The Baptist’s words are a program for every Christian,” Benedict said.

This story was first published on June 24, 2024, and has been updated.