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

 Father José Giner, 94, says Mass twice a day. / Credit: Father José Giner

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 24, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

At age 94 and with seven decades of priesthood behind him, Catalan priest Father José Giner, who has lived in Ecuador for 70 years, said he doesn’t feel like a teacher but rather like a “disciple.”

“At this age, I don’t feel like a teacher at all: I’m still a disciple. I don’t want to be a ‘has-been priest’; that’s why I strive to keep up to date; I read a lot, and I ask young people to correct me,” he said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Giner surprises many with his vitality: He starts the day with a cold shower, does exercises, plays pingpong, watches sports, reads, and spends time woodworking, where he creates religious art. And, most importantly, he said he celebrates Mass twice a day.

“I’m a very ordinary man, but with something wonderful: Christ, who is the true sun. I’m a poor 94-year-old man — that’s my true description. The essential thing is that I am a priest for eternity, and everything else is secondary. I believe the goal of life is to work for God and allow his goodness to penetrate us completely,” he said.

“I think very little about myself because I was always taught to value and appreciate others. With these values, I say, ‘Lord, I contribute very little,’ but what matters is what I can give as a priest,” he explained.

The priest, a member of Opus Dei who belongs to St. Josemaría Church in Guayaquil, also highlighted the fraternity he shares with his brother priests. In total, he has 15-20 priest friends, all from the apostolate, who meet frequently to read, play guitar, sing, and share lunch. He emphasized that it is an atmosphere of unity and fraternity.

The secret to his health

Giner said he exercises every day. “It’s important, and doctors always recommend it. Also — although it may seem funny — I have an electric skateboard. Sometimes I use it near my house; people laugh when they see me, and I say, ‘Bye, bye!’ because I’m so happy,” he shared with a laugh.

“I also read a lot. I have a very sharp mind and I like to read scientists, important authors, and also novelists. I never say ‘I’m tired’; on the contrary, I think you have to walk and move. Thanks to that, I feel very agile: I walk calmly, I move without problems. Sometimes my body aches — it’s natural — but I feel that God gives me the grace to stay on my feet. That’s the strength that sustains me,” he explained.

However, he said the most important thing in his daily life is celebrating Mass and praying: “I celebrate Mass every day, always. The most important thing is that I have tried to pray a lot. I have prayers to maintain my inner peace, and God has given me a very contemplative life. I spend all day talking to the Lord.”

The priest said that when he raises his gaze to heaven, he asks God: “Give me, Lord, your light: Give it to this neighborhood, to these girls and boys, to all who need it. Grant them the fire of the Holy Spirit, because that is what sets us on fire and gives us life.” 

“Everything else is fleeting, something external,” he added.

St. Josemaría Escrivá invited him to become a priest

Giner, originally from Barcelona, ​​Spain, arrived in Ecuador 70 years ago and considers it his spiritual home. “Sometimes I travel, but my life is here, in Guayaquil. I have worked in schools like Torremar, always in contact with young people. That has been a wonderful part of my life, because being with young people gives you special strength.”

His vocation emerged in adolescence, when he discovered Opus Dei. “At 17, I asked to be admitted to the [apostolate]. Later, in Rome, I had the grace of meeting St. Josemaría Escrivá personally and lived with him for three years. He was a true father to me, and that helped me to make that final gift of myself to my priestly vocation.”

It was St. Josemaría himself who asked Giner if he wanted to be a priest and told him it was “the greatest celebration a man can experience in this world.” For Giner, that call meant serving God and contributing to making the world a better place.

“Then I came to Ecuador, where I have served for so many years. I am a theologian, I completed all my studies, but beyond academic knowledge, the important thing is the wisdom to live the faith day by day,” he said.

Priests, ‘a country’s treasure’

For 25 years, Giner was a judicial vicar in Ecuador, an experience he said he values ​​for his accompaniment of other priests. “That has given me great inner peace, because I deeply love and value my brother priests. For me, they are ‘a country’s treasure.’ If there are no priests in a country, we are facing an immense catastrophe.”

What brings him the greatest joy when looking back on his life is knowing that in his 70 years of priesthood, “there have been so many people who have converted, so many people who have drawn closer to God… So many souls I have been able to accompany… And there are wonderful things that, I believe, remain between God and oneself.”

“They call me at any time, even if I’m having lunch or dinner, and I drop everything to hear a confession. Why? Because I believe that a soul is worth much more than anything we have around us. And that gives me great joy,” he added.

Message to the new generations

Amid his reflections, the priest had special words for young people. “I tell young people: Be faithful, because God gives you the grace.”

“I ask people, and especially priests, to be very faithful, very real, joyful, happy, and spiritual; to be steeped in the Bible and pedagogy, and to understand that they are a fundamental pillar of a country’s culture and tradition,” he noted.

Giner reiterated that if there were a lack of priests, the world would become “a dark, almost frozen place.” 

“That’s why I insist: The important thing is to be faithful. That fidelity is what sustains the Church and illuminates the world,” he said.

“The priesthood is forever: It brings joy, divine happiness, and, above all, a totally full life… People seek a full life; the priest embodies it because, in a certain sense, it is a participation in Christ, in the Holy Spirit; it is a vocation that lasts,” he added.

A critical moment for the Church

Giner said he believes a profound moral crisis began in 1968, symbolized by the Sorbonne University motto “It Is Forbidden to Forbid.” For him, the slogan paved the way for a cultural and spiritual decline that has deepened in recent decades.

“The change has been immense,” he said. “Young people today are often unpunctual, superficial, and lack a sense of responsibility. But I try to adapt to that world and, at the same time, elevate it.”

He emphasized that, despite the current challenges, he trusts in the Church’s fidelity: “God’s hands are not closed to his love or mercy. He continues to illuminate us like the golden rays of the sun.”

“Today we are at a critical moment for the Church, but it is also an opportunity that God gives us to draw closer to him. If there is anything that truly needs to be saved in the world, it is the Church and the peace of God. Everything else is fleeting, it goes away like smoke,” he said.

Regarding the future, he has confidence: “Many are afraid, but I say: ‘Why?’ Every century has had its own fears, but the future is in God’s hands. This gives fantastic sensibility and profound peace.”

Looking back and reflecting on his mission in life, he said: “Seventy years is like watching the leaves fall from a tree. You can’t stand still, because day by day God’s will is fulfilled.” 

He concluded: “The important thing, in the end, is to always seek the meaning of the life that God has given us.”

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

Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, on Sept. 24, 2025, was named coadjutor bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. / Credit: Leo Song, Seminarian, Pontifical North American College

Rome Newsroom, Sep 24, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday named Bishop James Checchio coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans, positioning him to head an archdiocese facing bankruptcy and a costly clergy abuse settlement.

The 59-year-old Checchio — bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, since 2016 — will assist Archbishop Gregory Aymond in the leadership of over half a million Catholics in southeastern Louisiana. Prior to becoming a bishop, Checchio was rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2006 to 2016. He has a doctorate in canon law.

As coadjutor, Checchio will automatically succeed Aymond, who turned 75, the age when bishops are required to submit their resignation to the pope, last year. Aymond, a New Orleans native, has led the archdiocese since 2009.

Checchio joins the leadership of New Orleans as the archdiocese moves to resolve yearslong bankruptcy negotiations with a settlement for over 600 clergy sexual abuse claimants. Earlier this month, the archdiocese announced a $230 million settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants, up from a previous offer of $180 million.

The settlement offer follows five years of negotiations in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where the nation’s second-oldest Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in May 2020.

Aymond, who has served as chairman of the child protection commission for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in May that the settlement gave him “great hope.”

The agreement “protects our parishes and begins to bring the proceedings to a close,” he said, adding: “I am grateful to God for all who have worked to reach this agreement and that we may look to the future towards a path to healing for survivors and for our local Church.”

The settlement represents one of the largest sums in the U.S. paid out to victims of clergy sexual abuse. 

Aymond was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1975. His priestly ministry focused on education — including serving as the president-rector of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans from 1986 to 2000 — and missionary work in Mexico and Nicaragua.

In 1996, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese and given oversight over its Catholic schools. 

Aymond came under fire in the late 1990s for allowing the coach at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Norco, Brian Matherne, to remain in his role for several months after Aymond received information about alleged abuse of a minor boy by Matherne.

Matherne was later arrested and is now serving a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to the molestation of 17 children over a 15-year period ending in 1999.

Aymond later admitted his mistake in keeping Matherne in his post and called the case a “painful experience — I will never forget it. It helped me to understand the complexity of pedophilia better.”

He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Austin, Texas, in June 2000 and succeeded Bishop John E. McCarthy as bishop of Austin in January 2021.

In that position, Aymond strengthened the diocese’s sex abuse policies, though clerical abuse activists from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) have criticized the archbishop’s record, claiming he only “postures as someone who takes clergy sex crimes seriously.”

Credit: Ivanko80/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Abortion pill complications go underreported in abortion industry studies and mainstream media, according to a recent report by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).

Abortion industry studies claim that serious complications are incredibly rare — occurring in less than half a percent of cases, according to the report “Missed, Misclassified, and Minimized: Why Abortion Pill Complications Are Underreported.”

But a study last year found that more than 1 in 10 women who took the abortion pill experienced serious complications such as hemorrhaging, infection, failed abortions, and surgical follow-up.

The author of the report, Randall O’Bannon, set out to investigate the discrepancy.

O’Bannon, director of education and research for the National Right to Life, found several factors contributing to the discrepancies. For one, he found that abortion providers often encourage women to conceal negative side effects and tell doctors they are symptoms of a miscarriage. O’Bannon also observed what he called a “contemptible lack of curiosity in the media” toward stories of women hurt by abortion drugs. Finally, serious complications are often categorized as “minor,” O’Bannon found.

O’Bannon said the “flawed or slanted industry studies” are “not good enough.”

“The public — and policymakers — deserve accurate, transparent reporting on the dangers of chemical abortion,” he said in a statement.

Dr. Ingrid Skop, vice president and director of medical affairs for Charlotte Lozier Institute and a board-certified OB-GYN, said she has encountered these medical complications in her own career as a medical provider.

“I have cared for dozens of women presenting to the ER with abortion drug complications, and they are told by abortion advocates there’s no need to report the use of abortion drugs,” she told CNA.

“When I see a woman in the ER with continued pain and bleeding sometimes weeks or even months after taking abortion drugs, she usually has retained pregnancy tissue and/or the dead baby, which the drugs have failed to expel,” Skop continued. “An unaware ER doctor is likely to give her more of the drugs that already failed rather than expediting the surgical aspiration she needs.”

“As a researcher and practicing OB-GYN, I can attest that the lived experience for many women reflects the data documented in this report,” Skop said.

“So where are all the women some of these later reports and studies say have been injured and abused by these drugs and their prescribers?” O’Bannon asked. “Once again, we see that they have been silenced and minimized, told their pain and blood and trauma are ‘minor complications’ that somehow just don’t rise to the level worthy of being noticed. But they suffer and bleed just the same.”

Looking at the numbers  

Michael New, assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business for The Catholic University of America, noted that “the FDA’s own data shows that there are a number of health risks involved with chemical abortions.”

“Since the FDA approved the chemical abortion pill in 2000, the FDA’s own data indicates that there have been 32 deaths, 4,218 adverse events, 1,049 hospitalizations, 604 cases of blood loss requiring a transfusion, 418 infections, and 75 severe infections,” New, a senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, told CNA. 

The FDA figures “are underreported” due to a change in the reporting requirements implemented nearly a decade ago, according to New.

“In 2016, the FDA quit requiring that health care professionals report complications from chemical abortion drugs,” New said. “Since 2016, the reporting of complications has been voluntary.” 

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA removed the requirement for women to have an in-person medical exam before being prescribed chemical abortion drugs.

Since then, “the number of complications has almost certainly increased,” New said.

Without a medical exam, abortion providers may unwittingly provide abortion drugs to women whose pregnancies are further along than is recommended for chemical abortions, as well as women who have ectopic pregnancies (a life-threatening condition where the embryo implants outside the uterus). 

Trump administration continues to implement ‘unwise policy’

“The Biden administration FDA and thus far the Trump administration FDA have continued with this unwise policy,” New said. 

Chemical abortions are sometimes falsely advertised as “safer than Tylenol.” But a chemical abortion is far less safe than even a surgical abortion, Skop noted. 

“Complications occur at least four times as frequently following drug-induced abortions compared to surgical abortions, causing at least 1 in 15 women to require emergency care when the drugs are used as the FDA recommends,” Skop said. “Even more women suffer when they are taken at advanced gestational ages.” 

“The abortion pill is being sold as safe, but independent data tell another story,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said in a statement. “Women are being harmed, and the dangers are being ignored or hidden.” 

“Abortion industry spin makes mifepristone abortions sound easy, but the truth is each abortion takes the life of a living preborn child and places the woman in danger,” Tobias said.

How can policymakers respond?

New noted that public officials could take several steps “to protect mothers and children” from these dangers, including requiring that “medical professionals report complications that arise from chemical abortions.” 

In addition, the FDA “could require that women obtaining chemical abortions first have an in-person medical exam,” a change that New said the Trump administration could make “right away.” 

“Thus far, it is disappointing that the Trump administration has not prioritized keeping women safe from unregulated chemical abortion drugs,” New said. 

Skop added that “policymakers need better abortion data.” 

“Extensive deficiencies affect abortion data collection in the U.S., including a lack of anonymized national reporting requirements,” Skop said. 

“Women also need to know the true risk of abortion and potential complications, which are both physical and mental,” she continued. 

Skop noted that “the majority of women with a history of abortion would have preferred to give birth if they had the necessary support.” 

“Women also should know there are 2,750 pregnancy resource centers that want to walk alongside women facing an unintended pregnancy to provide any support they need,” Skop said. 

Nonprofit organizations across the country exist to provide pregnant women and mothers with support — from baby clothes to ultrasounds to parenting classes. 

“The abortion industry’s goal is to promote all-trimester abortion on demand,” Skop noted. “And lawmakers, the public, and most importantly, women considering abortion, must understand abortion advocates will mislead them to achieve that goal.”

A Mass in recognition of all immigrants is celebrated at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 17:59 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched the “Cabrini Pledge” intended to help Catholics in “witnessing to the God-given dignity of every person, including the migrants and refugees in our midst,” as the Catholic Church in the U.S. observes National Migration Week. 

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, introduced the pledge in a video message, imploring U.S. Catholics to join the effort.

“With one voice, we proclaim every person, regardless of where they are born, is created in the image of God and has an inherent dignity that deserves respect,” Seitz said, noting this sentiment guided the ministry of Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants. 

“By signing this pledge, you make an intentional commitment to living out the Gospel, not an abstraction, but through acts of solidarity that affirm the inherent dignity of every person,” he continued. “Through prayer, encounter, and civic engagement, we can transform fear into compassion and create a world where no one feels less than human because of their immigration status.”

“The history of the U.S. Catholic Church, like the history of the United States itself, is very much intertwined with the phenomenon of migration,” the USSCB also stated.

In the “Cabrini Pledge: An Invitation to be Keepers of Hope,” the bishops invite America’s Catholics to follow the example of Cabrini, an Italian immigrant who “accompanied her fellow immigrants and others living on the margins of society with a great missionary zeal.”

The pledge includes seven parts, including a promise to affirm the human dignity of every person regardless of immigration status or country of origin, to encourage civic dialogue about policymaking grounded in the Church’s understanding of human dignity, and to join Pope Leo XIV in praying for all migrants and refugees. 

“As Catholics, we are called to recognize the face of Christ in each person we encounter, especially the poor and vulnerable,” the bishops said. “The Gospel and the social teaching of the Church continually affirm the equal dignity of every person, irrespective of race, nationality, or immigration status.”

“The Cabrini Pledge is both a reminder of our immigrant heritage and a call to deeper engagement with our faith in response to current events,” the USCCB added.

While “political divisions and reasonable disagreements about immigration policy” pervade across the country, the bishops continued, “by witnessing to the God-given dignity of every person, including the migrants and refugees in our midst, we pave the way for an approach rooted in mercy, justice, and the common good.”

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 23, 2025 / 17:22 pm (CNA).

In one of his final acts as the bishop of Monterey, California, Bishop Daniel Garcia issued a letter terminating the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the diocese “in order to strengthen our unity with the universal Church” and “to support [Pope Francis’] goal of moving toward greater unity in the postconciliar Roman rite.” 

Garcia issued the letter to the Latin Mass community, located at Sacred Heart Church in Hollister, California, on Sept. 14, four days before he was installed as the new bishop of Austin, Texas.

In the letter, Garcia expressed his concern that the pastor at Sacred Heart, Father Stephen Akers, be “able to give his full attention to the entire parish rather than taking his limited time spent with a small group of individuals who are not worshipping according to ordinary (and one) rite of the Latin Church,” as the number of those who attend the “preconciliar” Mass is “very small.”

Garcia cited Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes as well as the “Letter to the Bishops of the Whole World” that accompanied it, which addressed “the rare situation” of the Church “having two liturgies being celebrated in the one Latin rite.”

Garcia said the Church is ”moving us to greater unity in worship,” saying St. Paul VI had “declared the new rite an expression of the Church’s unity” as reflected by the unanimity of the [Second Vatican] Council Fathers” as well as postconciliar documents.

He ordered Akers to stop celebrating the TLM after Oct. 13 at Sacred Heart Church. 

The bishop said he came to the decision after consulting with the chancellor, Deacon David Ford, and the director of the tribunal, Cecilia Brennan, who had visited the Latin Mass community in Hollister in the last few months.

He admonished the Latin Mass community to “join in unity with the parish … as they gather around the table of the Lord celebrating the rich Eucharistic sacrifice, each Sunday, which has been a great fruit of the Council” in order “to build the unity Pope Leo spoke about in the Mass he celebrated early in his pontificate,” which called the Church to become “a leaven of harmony for humanity.”

Garcia was named as the bishop of Austin on July 2 and installed on Sept. 18.

Bishop Slawomir Szkredka was named the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Monterey on Sept. 19. 

Earlier this year, the Vatican granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the TLM imposed by Traditionis Custodes. 

The exemption, requested by Bishop Michael Sis on Feb. 6, was granted to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.

No other such exemption by Pope Leo XIV has been reported since the start of his pontificate. 

Akers, the pastor at Sacred Heart Church, declined to comment.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).

Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich is defending his decision to honor pro-abortion Illinois Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin with an award at the archdiocese’s upcoming Keep Hope Alive immigration ministry fundraiser.

“Recently some have criticized the decision of the Archdiocese of Chicago to recognize Sen. Dick Durbin at our annual fundraiser for our immigration ministry,” Cupich wrote in a Sept. 22 statement, which came after several bishops spoke out against the move.

“Sen. Durbin informed me some years ago that he has taken up residence in Chicago, registered in a parish of the archdiocese, and considers me to be his bishop,” Cupich stated. “Accordingly, I have remained faithful to the May 2021 instructions of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, advising bishops to ‘reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their jurisdictions ... as a means of understanding the nature of their positions and their comprehension of Catholic teaching.’”

Durbin has been prohibited from receiving the Eucharist in what has been previously reported as his home diocese of Springfield — the state capital — since 2004. In a Sept. 23 article in First Things magazine titled “Sen. Durbin Is Unfit to Receive Any Catholic Honor,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, wrote that he was “shocked” to hear of the Chicago Archdiocese’s plan to honor Durbin with a lifetime achievement award.

“Because this decision threatens to scandalize the faithful and injure the bonds of ecclesial communion, it should be reversed,” he stated, noting Durbin’s pro-abortion voting record includes efforts to block legislation banning post-birth abortions and protections for babies who survive failed abortions. 

In light of Durbin’s record, Paprocki said “it is absurd that Sen. Durbin should be given an award from the office of ‘human dignity and solidarity.’” 

Paprocki pointed out that bestowing an award on Durbin violates Church teaching and goes against what U.S. bishops have said on the matter as well as the Archdiocese of Chicago’s own policies regarding honors and awards, which state: “Any Catholic entity subject to the authority of the archbishop of Chicago … shall not give awards or honors or host presentations, speaking opportunities, or appearances by individuals or organizations whose public position is in opposition to the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church.”

The Springfield bishop further claimed Cupich “did not consult with me about this award or even notify me about his decision,” despite Durbin remaining under his care as a resident of Springfield.

“This failure to consult with a brother bishop concerning a member of his diocese is even more troubling given the fact that Cardinal Cupich knows that Sen. Durbin has not been permitted to receive holy Communion in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois since 2004,” Paprocki added.

Addressing criticism on Monday surrounding his decision, Cupich said: “At the heart of the consistent ethic of life is the recognition that Catholic teaching on life and dignity cannot be reduced to a single issue, even an issue as important as abortion.”

Cupich emphasized that Durbin would be honored for his efforts to advance Catholic social teaching in immigration, care for the poor, Laudato Si’, and world peace.

“The recognition of his defense of immigrants at this moment, when they are subjected to terror and harm, is not something to be regretted but a reflection that the Lord stands profoundly with both immigrants who are in danger and those who work to protect them,” Cupich said. 

In a social media post on X, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone expressed his solidarity with Paprocki and urged Cupich to “reconsider” granting Durbin a lifetime achievement award, “given his long record of supporting legal abortion.”

Cordileone described Paprocki as “Sen. Dick Durbin’s bishop” and stated that “he is correct that both clarity and unity are at risk” in giving Durbin the award.

“I hope this will be a clarion call to all members of the body of Christ to speak out to make clear the grave evil that is the taking of innocent human life,” Cordileone added.

Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, said on a post on X on Tuesday afternoon that he was “shocked and bewildered” when he learned of Cupich’s decision to award Durbin, saying the senator’s actions regarding abortion go “against the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church.”

“The senator’s public record has been consistently pro-abortion and he has opposed any protections or safeguards for unborn children in the womb, even to the point of rejecting legislation to protect children who survive failed abortions,” Conley wrote.

He said “there is still time to reconsider the decision” to award the pro-abortion politician. “I pray for the good of the Church this award is not given to Sen. Durbin and the scandal it will likely cause the faithful is avoided.”

Responding to Cupich’s latest statement, in an email to CNA Illinois Right to Life President Mary Kate Zander cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states: “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches a canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.”

“The killing of the defenseless child in the womb is a grave moral evil,” Zander told CNA. “Cardinal Cupich’s apparent indifference to this reality is scandalous in every sense of the word. His ambiguity poses a great risk to all persons who might be affected by a lack of clarity on this issue.”

According to Zander, Durbin’s record on immigration “simply does not matter so long as he refuses to acknowledge that it is evil to murder an unborn child.” Further, she said, Durbin’s support for abortion, especially partial-birth abortion, places his soul “at serious risk.”

“Our organization will proceed with our protest and we intend to work with local, state, and national pro-life organizations to bring clarity to this highly scandalous event,” she said. “Make no mistake: The Lord always extends his infinite mercy to those who seek it, but it is our hope that no person will be confused by the cardinal’s actions — abortion is a very grave sin.”

Archbishop Gallagher speaks at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 23, 2025. / Credit: Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 23, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Tuesday reaffirmed before the United Nations the Holy See’s commitment to promoting the dignity and equality of women but warned that these goals cannot be achieved without respecting dignity “from the unborn to the elderly.”

“Women’s equality cannot be achieved unless the dignity of all people is respected, especially the most fragile and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly,” the archbishop, a native of Liverpool, England, said Sept. 23.

Gallagher gave his address on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and the text was released by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.

The archbishop emphasized that the protection of the right to life “is essential, as it underpins all other fundamental rights.”

Gallagher also called for comprehensive, quality health care for pregnant women, noting: “Although maternal mortality rates have dropped significantly since 1990, progress has stalled in recent years. Access to prenatal care and skilled birth attendants as well as to health care systems and infrastructure must increase, while false solutions such as abortion rejected.”

Don’t focus on ‘divisive issues’

The prelate therefore stated that the Holy See hopes that, “instead of focusing on divisive issues that are not necessarily beneficial to women, states fulfill their commitments to ensure equality for women and respect for their God-given dignity.”

Gallagher recalled that the Beijing Declaration — the commitment adopted by 189 countries at the Fourth World Conference on Women, organized by the U.N. in September 1995 in China — was a decisive milestone in the promotion of women’s rights.

However, he pointed out that there are issues that “remain unaddressed.”

Specifically, he referred to “the higher extreme poverty rate among women,” the “obstacles” to accessing quality education — and even “exclusion from it” — and “lower wages in the workforce.”

Gallagher made it clear that these conditions “impede the full achievement of women’s equal dignity and ability to fulfill their potential in all spheres of life.”

Alarming level of violence against girls and women

The archbishop focused on the continued prevalence of “violence against women and girls,” which he said is “deeply alarming.”

“Wherever it occurs, at home, during trafficking, or in conflict and humanitarian settings, it constitutes an affront to their dignity and is a grave injustice,” he emphasized.

He also noted that technology is also being used to “exacerbate certain forms of abuse and violence.”

Gallagher pointed out that violence is not limited to “sexual exploitation and trafficking” but also includes “the practices of prenatal sex selection and female infanticide.”

“These acts, condemned in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, continue to result in the deaths of millions of ‘missing girls’ each year,” he stated.

The archbishop insisted that any form of violence against women and girls is “unacceptable and must be combated.”

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

Taiwanese Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min drew inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing to create this depiction of the Sermon on the Mount, which includes a large Chinese character of the word “blessing” at its center. / Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

Vatican City, Sep 23, 2025 / 14:42 pm (CNA).

Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min’s colorful art, currently featured in an exhibition near the Vatican, draws inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing and blends Eastern cultural motifs with biblical scenes.

“As a Catholic, I study the Bible. When I come across passages in the Bible that move me, I seek to create art inspired by them,” Hsieh said in an interview with CNA.

“I also ask priests about their interpretations of Scripture. I try to find in the Bible the passages that can be visualized — the ones that touch me — and then I attempt to create from them.”

The art exhibition, hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See, opened at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on Sept. 18. It includes around 30 original pieces, including some specifically created for the 2025 Jubilee. Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the pontifical delegate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and other Vatican officials attended the opening.

Hsieh, a professor of digital media design at Asia University in Taiwan, said his art draws on what he calls “Taiwanese Biblical Iconography,” a genre he said exemplifies how Christianity can take root in different cultural traditions. 

“We learn from others, because when we look back to the Ming dynasty, when Matteo Ricci and the missionaries first came to China, they immediately adopted Chinese clothing and learned the Chinese language, hoping that the Church could spread more widely,” he said. “In the same way, in Taiwan, I also use Taiwanese elements, hoping that most people in Taiwan will understand that this Western religion can, in fact, be integrated with Taiwanese traditions.” 

Among the works on display is a Chinese-style depiction of the Sermon on the Mount. “I am deeply moved by the Beatitudes found in the Gospel, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, because here Jesus identifies eight types of people as blessed,” Hsieh said. “The East also places great emphasis on blessings. Thus, we transformed the Eight Immortals of Eastern mythology — eight divine beings — into the eight figures of the Beatitudes. This truly represents a distinctly Chinese approach to spiritual interpretation.”

“This also represents the continuity of the Church’s tradition — from the earliest times of Peter, through later figures such as Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi — a single unbroken line of inheritance, which is also the tradition of the Church,” he added.

Another piece depicts the Virgin Mary in an Eastern style surrounded by scenes from the joyful mysteries of the rosary.

“Scripture verses are written directly into the artwork” in Chinese characters, Hsieh explained.  

Other works show Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and as the Good Shepherd.  

Hsieh’s work is inspired by traditional woodblock printmaking. He begins with brush outlines, layering colors one by one, and then digitally assembles and enlarges the images. He said he hopes that viewers will see in his art the “blessing that comes from the grace of God.” 

“This exhibition reminds me that art itself is a form of prayer, a form of pilgrimage,” he said. 

Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Anthony C.Y. Ho praised Hsieh’s work at the opening, saying it “reveals not only his personal faith as a Catholic but also his deep love for his homeland.”

The exhibition remains on display at the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See, just steps from St. Peter’s Basilica.

Father Matthew Eya, a parish priest in the Diocese of Nsukka in Nigeria, was shot and killed on the evening of Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, while returning to his parish after a pastoral assignment. / Credit: Diocese of Nsukka

ACI Africa, Sep 23, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Nsukka in Nigeria has denounced the murder of Father Matthew Eya, calling it a “senseless act of violence” and a “heinous crime.”

A statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Sept. 22 by Father Emmanuel Asadu, director of communications for the Nsukka Diocese, said the late parish priest of St. Charles Eha Ndiagu Parish was “tragically shot on the evening of Friday, Sept. 19, while returning to his parish after a pastoral assignment.”

“This senseless act of violence has left the entire diocese in deep sorrow,” Asadu said in the statement. “Father Matthew was a dedicated shepherd, known for his humility and unwavering commitment to his flock.

He added: “At this time, no concrete information has been received regarding the perpetrators or motives behind this heinous crime.”

The official further said that members of the diocese “strongly condemn this brutality and call on the government at all levels and security agencies to intensify investigations to ensure that the culprits are identified and brought to justice,” and he appealed for “calm and vigilance, trusting in God’s mercy to guide us through this darkness.”

“Our diocese remains committed to collaborating with stakeholders to advocate for peace and justice,” Asadu said. “We implore God to grant his soul eternal rest and console our diocese, his family, parishioners, and all who grieve this irreplaceable loss.”

He urged “all people of goodwill to join us in prayers for the peaceful repose of Father Matthew and for peace and security of life and property in our nation.”

Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of turning the country into an Islamic state.

Since then, the group, one of the largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been orchestrating indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious and political groups as well as civilians.

The insecurity situation in the country has further been complicated by the involvement of the predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen, also referred to as the Fulani Militia.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Credit: WoodysPhotos/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 13:27 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has joined legislatures, scientists, female athletes, the U.S. Department of Justice, and dozens of advocacy groups to support the protection of women’s sports. 

The bishops submitted an amicus brief on Sept. 18 urging the Supreme Court to uphold state bans on biological men participating in women’s sports. 

The submission was added to the more than 50 friend-of-the-court briefs put forward ahead of the upcoming State of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox cases. 

The brief is in support of the petitioners in the two court cases, which both arose from lawsuits by young men who identify as females and sued against the states’ bans on boys competing in girls’ sports.

In the brief, the USCCB reported it submitted it to address “the legal errors in the lower courts’ decisions and the disastrous practical effects those decisions could have on Catholic institutions.”

West Virginia v. B.P.J. arose from a lawsuit filed by a then-11-year-old boy against the state over its Save Women’s Sports Act after he was not allowed to join a female-only league. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the law, claiming its enforcement would harm the boy “on the basis of sex.”

The Little v. Hecox case included a male athlete who sued the state over its Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals similarly upheld a block on the law in 2023. Both cases will be heard by the Supreme Court starting in October to decide if states have the right to ban males from participating in female sports leagues.

“These cases ask whether the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX forbids the states to create female-only athletic competitions,” the bishops wrote. “Neither does, and any other answer could prove catastrophic to Catholic institutions.”

“Laws creating female-only sports pass muster. Because of the valuable lessons that sports impart, states advance an important governmental objective when they ensure that girls and women can compete.”

“These laws serve, and are substantially related to, that objective: Given the inherent athletic advantages that males possess, creating female-only teams ensures that girls and women can safely and fairly compete.”

Since Catholic organizations participate in many federal programs, they “may have to decline this funding if Title IX is interpreted to require allowing males to compete in female sports,” the bishops explained. “Forcing Catholic schools out of federal programs will harm students nationwide.”

“If Catholic schools were forced to allow males to compete on or against their female-only teams, they would need to abandon athletics programs or stop accepting federal funding,” the bishops continued. “That is because allowing such competition would undermine fundamental Catholic teachings regarding the immutable, God-given differences between the sexes.”