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

Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah. / Credit: Ritu Manoj Jethani/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Salt Lake City on Thursday said it had deemed “credible” several allegations of sexual misconduct made against a Colombian-born priest, with the alleged misconduct dating to the 1990s. 

A press release from the diocese said that in December it had received allegations against Father Heriberto Mejia, a priest from the Diocese of Villavicencio in Colombia who served in Utah in the early 1990s. 

The diocese opened a formal investigation into the allegation, using an independent investigator who interviewed “numerous witnesses” connected to the case. The diocese received the report in July.

After reviewing the report and following a recommendation from the diocese’s review board, Bishop Oscar Solís “determined the victim’s allegation of abuse against Father Mejia is credible,” the press release said. 

The diocese said it offered counseling to the victim and family members and would also share the allegations with law enforcement. 

Mejia’s home diocese in Colombia “will be informed of the outcome of this investigation,” the diocese said; as well, the diocese said it would notify the two Utah parishes at which Mejia served during his time in the state. 

The report would be submitted to the U.S. papal nuncio in Washington, D.C., the diocese said, as well as Las Vegas Archbishop George Thomas. The Salt Lake Diocese is a suffragan diocese of the Las Vegas Archdiocese.

Solís in the press release said he “apologize[d] to [the victim] for the sexual abuse” inflicted by the priest. 

“No one should experience such trauma, especially from any member of the clergy,” the bishop said. “I personally pray and hope for your complete healing, peace, and that of your family.”

In its press release the diocese noted that Mejia “was permanently removed from ministry in the diocese” prior to leaving Utah in 1992. 

The diocese did not immediately respond to a query on Friday seeking more information about the removal of Mejia’s ministry privileges in the diocese in the 1990s. 

The Salt Lake Tribune, however, reported this week that Mejia had his faculties stripped in the diocese after an abuse allegation in August 1991.

The paper noted that Mejia had been included on a list of credibly accused priests in 2019.

The Tribune reported that Mejia’s victim, who had been considering the priesthood, said he felt “isolated [and] unsafe” for years after the abuse and that the traumatic event led him to turn away from the priesthood.

“I’m sure there are a lot of victims like me who are still devout Catholics with a complicated relationship to the Church because of this,” he told the paper, “who didn’t lose their faith over it and want to still stay connected.”

Google offices in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York. / Credit: MNAphotography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

A Florida woman has secured the last of her Google data after the tech company disabled her account following emails pertaining to pro-life advocacy.

With the help of the Thomas More Society, Trudy Perez-Poveda sued Google in 2024 when the company allegedly blocked her from her account after she sent an email attempting to plan a Catholic Mass and prayer event outside of a local abortion clinic.

The lawsuit claimed that “approximately one hour” after she sent the email, Google suspended Perez-Poveda’s account with no explanation. After several days of trying to recover her account, Google informed her that it had “permanently disabled” it for violating the company’s “acceptable use policy.”

Since filing the lawsuit in July 2024, Perez-Poveda has been able to retrieve some of her messages and data in small quantities with the help of third-party tech experts. But with no assistance from Google, the majority of it remained inaccessible.

In a July 31 press release, the Thomas More Society reported that the last of Perez-Poveda’s data suddenly became “inexplicably accessible for the first time since this controversy began,” within just days of a court-imposed settlement deadline in the lawsuit.

An IT expert confirmed that action taken on Google’s end allowed the data to return. Perez-Poveda recovered the data one year and 10 months after Google first locked her out of her account.

“Google claimed that certain tools existed online to allow her to retrieve the remaining data despite tech experts proving those tools to be unworkable,” the Thomas More Society said. “At another point, Google even falsely claimed the data never had been withheld from her at all.”

“Google has dragged Trudy Perez-Poveda through a land of smoke and mirrors, apparently  because she was a pro-lifer who had the fortitude to stand up to Google and demand what belonged to her,” attorney Matt Heffron said.

Trudy “was not going to let a big-tech behemoth shut down her lifesaving mission to protect the unborn,” Heffron said.

“I was able to regain access to more than a decade worth of personal data and continue my mission to save lives in our Jacksonville community,” Perez-Poveda said in the press release.

She added: “Big tech companies cannot be allowed to decide what speech is acceptable.”

null / Credit: ivanko80/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2025 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Texas man files lawsuit against California abortionist who sent abortion drugs across state lines 

A Texas man filed a federal lawsuit against a California abortionist who shipped drugs across state lines, enabling his girlfriend to end the lives of two of their unborn children. 

The lawsuit takes place amid ongoing legal and political debate over the soundness of abortion shield laws — laws that protect abortionists in their home state even if they break abortion laws in other states. 

Legal experts have noted that this is the first lawsuit filed in a federal court to run up against the shield laws.

In the Texas lawsuit, California’s shield laws could protect the abortionist, Remy Coeytaux, who sent drugs to Jerry Rodriguez’s girlfriend, leading to the death of two of their unborn children. 

While California law protects Coeytaux, Rodriquez alleged that the abortionist broke Texas law by aiding the abortions in 2024. Abortion is largely illegal in Texas with narrow exceptions. 

Prominent pro-life lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, formerly the solicitor general of Texas from 2010 to 2015, is seeking an injunction in the suit on behalf of “fathers of unborn children.”

Texas attorney general files lawsuit over New York abortion shield laws

In a similar case, Texas Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton is taking legal action after New York employed its abortion shield laws to protect an abortionist who shipped abortion drugs into Texas.

The legal dispute began in December 2024 when Paxton sued New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter for sending abortion drugs to Texas. The drugs led to the death of an unborn child and serious medical complications for the mother.

A Texas judge ordered Carpenter to stop prescribing abortion pills to Texas residents and gave her a $100,000 fine. Paxton this week, meanwhile, filed a legal petition against Acting County Clerk for Ulster County Taylor Bruck to enforce the judge’s ruling in New York.

The Ulster County Clerk’s office “plainly rejected any attempt by Texas to enforce the judgment and authorize collection of the penalty,” Paxton’s office said in a press release. 

Paxton called Carpenter “a radical abortionist who must face justice.” 

“No matter where they reside, pro-abortion extremists who send drugs designed to kill the unborn into Texas will face the full force of our state’s pro-life laws,” Paxton said.

Oklahoma governor directs state agencies to withhold funding from abortion providers

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday issued an executive order directing state agencies to “cease all public funding” for abortion providers and affiliated organizations.

“Oklahoma is a pro-life state, and our policies should reflect that at every level of our government,” Stitt said in the release. “We won’t allow tax dollars to indirectly subsidize and flow into the abortion industry under the guise of women’s health.”

The directive will require providers who want to access state Medicaid dollars to affirm whether or not they are involved with any “abortion-related activities.” Providers who take part in such activities will see their state contracts terminated, the order says.

The measure “also prohibits all state agencies from providing grants, contracts, or funding of any kind to abortion-affiliated providers directly or indirectly.”

Thousands fill St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Youth welcome Mass on July 29, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed.

2 Syrian girls share ‘moving testimony’ at Jubilee of Youth event

During a vocation-themed evening in Rome, two young Syrian women, Olga Al-Maati and Christine Saad, moved hearts with their testimony about living faith amid war, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, ACI MENA, reported on Thursday. 

Representing the Marian youth of Damascus, they told fellow attendees that their presence wasn’t about recounting suffering but spreading hope. They spoke of growing up amid bombs and despair yet clinging to Christ and discovering deep meaning in faith. 

Their testimony, rooted in the Vincentian spirit of charity and perseverance, received a heartfelt response. “Love is stronger than death,” Saad declared, highlighting the role of Syrian youth in helping others find light in darkness through acts of service.

Thai diocese provides shelter to those displaced by border clashes with Cambodia

The Diocese of Ubon Ratchathani in northeast Thailand activated its emergency shelters on Tuesday for those fleeing ongoing border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, according to a report from Fides.

Despite a Trump administration-brokered ceasefire agreement on Monday, tensions between the two countries remain high, the report said, prompting the diocese to open its shelters, which took in roughly 200,000 displaced people. Bishop Stephen Boonlert Phromsena has opened donation sites across the diocese, while Caritas and other local Catholic agencies are providing food, water, clothing, and other basic necessities to refugees of the conflict.

South Sudan bishop calls for end to protracted violence 

In a moving letter to the South Sudan government shared this week with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of the Tombura-Yambio Diocese pleaded for bold action to end the protracted violence occurring within his episcopal see. 

“Our people live under plastic sheeting, drink unsafe water, walk in fear, and bury their loved ones in silence,” he wrote, adding: “This is not a political inconvenience, this is a humanitarian tragedy and a moral failure.”

Ethnically-driven violence between the Azande and Balanda communities has plagued Tombura as conflicts over political representation, traditional authority roles, and land access continue to escalate.

In Rome, Lebanese youth kneel for peace in their homeland

Hundreds of Lebanese youth gathered at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome during the Jubilee of Youth to pray for peace in Lebanon, lifting their country in prayer, asking for strength, reconciliation, and a renewed spirit of responsibility among their fellow citizens.

According to ACI MENA, Bishop Jules Boutros, who heads the Syriac Catholic youth committee, urged participants to model their hearts after Christ’s and be beacons of unity and love. Also present, Armenian Catholic priest Father Bedros Haddad invoked prayers for Lebanon’s recovery from its many crises, remembering the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion and the country’s ongoing political and economic turmoil.

Kenyan bishop says government plan to end free education funding will cause crisis

Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe of the Kakamega Diocese called out the Kenyan government’s reported plans to scrap free education in the country, warning that the move would trigger a crisis in the education sector by shifting the financial burden to already struggling parents. 

Speaking to journalists on July 28, Obanyi said that should government capitation in schools in Kenya be removed, most learning institutions in the East African nation will not be able to operate, ACI Africa reported on Wednesday. “If capitation is removed from schools, there’s going to be a crisis. I’m aware that many of the institutions, even when they were not getting this capitation on time, some of them were taking overdrafts, awaiting the capitation,” he said.

Munich and Freising bishop encourages citizens to run in local elections in Bavaria

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany, has encouraged the people of Bavaria to vote in the next local election in the free state on March 8, 2026, and to run in the elections. 

Marx published the appeal together with the state bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Christian Kopp, on Friday, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

“The two Christian churches in Bavaria encourage all people to run for a local political mandate with a democratic party or association,” the appeal said. Even if federal and state politics often play a more prominent role in the media, Marx and Kopp emphasized the importance of local politics.

“It takes care of services of general interest, [including] water, energy, garbage disposal, or fire protection,” they continued. “It decides on the weighting of the areas of economic development, construction, social affairs, and education, sport, health, and care.” 

Catholic health giant pledges $500M to build hospital in the Philippines

Bon Secours Mercy Health, a U.S-based Catholic health care provider, has announced plans to invest up to $500 million to build a major hospital in the Philippines. 

“If realized, it would mark one of the largest private-sector health care investments by a U.S.-based system in the Philippines,” the Philippine government task force that oversees foreign investments said in a statement, according to an Inquirer.net report. 

According to its website, Bon Secours Mercy Health’s mission “is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities.” Commitment to “uphold the sacredness of life,” integrity, compassion, stewardship, and service are also listed as its core values.

The oratory in Cathedral High School, part of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, the principal church of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, in Houston. / Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA

Houston, Texas, Aug 1, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Members of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter celebrated with extra gusto the Vatican’s July 31 announcement that St. John Henry Newman will soon become the 38th doctor of the Church.

“St. John Henry Newman is part of our patrimony,” Bishop Steven J. Lopes, the first bishop of the ordinariate, wrote in a celebratory message email to its members. He called Newman “a treasure to be shared,” writing that his “doctrinal contribution to the life of the Church — his particular way of expressing the faith in English — does not belong to one specific time or culture or linguistic context.”

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which is the equivalent of a Roman Catholic diocese, has a special relationship with Newman. The ordinariate was established in 2012 after Pope Benedict XVI issued Anglicanorum Coetibus, which provided a pathway for Episcopalians and Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving some elements of their Anglican patrimony in their liturgies and ministries.

Before his conversion to Catholicism in 1845, Newman was an Anglican priest and academic and one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, a 19th-century religious revival within the Church of England that sought to renew Anglicanism by emphasizing its Catholic heritage.

His intellectual rigor and spiritual openness led to Newman’s conversion, which shocked the Anglican establishment. A prolific writer of more than 40 books and thousands of sermons and articles, his most well-known works include “Apologia Pro Vita Sua,” a spiritual autobiography, and “The Idea of a University,” in which he outlines his vision for higher education.

When Pope Leo XIII made Newman a cardinal in 1879, Newman chose the motto “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“Heart speaks to heart”) because he realized we are saved through the Lord speaking from his heart to ours.

Newman is the patron of Cathedral High School, located at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, the principal church for the ordinariate located in Houston. The school shares his motto, which is inscribed throughout the school: on the entrance to the Gothic structure, in the gym, and on the school’s seal.

Dr. Alexis Kutarna, principal of Cathedral High School, upon learning of the honor being bestowed on Newman, told CNA that “we rejoice with the Church on this blessed occasion!”

Kutarna pointed out a portrait of a young Newman wearing an Oratorian collar (anachronistically stylized in that he would not yet have worn the collar at that age) that hangs on the wall near the school’s entrance. She said it was chosen because the school’s leadership wants the students to see that even as young people, great contributions like Newman’s are possible in their own lives and they too can do much for the Church.

She recalled with a smile that a student, J.P. England, asked her if they put the photo of a young Newman up “because we’re young too?”

After she said yes, he replied: “I like it.”

“St. John Henry Newman held a special love for students,” Kutarna said, adding that she hopes to inspire the students with “Newman’s commitment to the intellectual life and the pastoral love he had for his people.”

She told CNA that as the school was being formed, the curriculum committee studied Newman’s “The Idea of a University.”

“Our hearts must be open to the Lord, dialoguing with him in friendship, and with one another,” Kutarna told CNA. She described the mentoring that takes place between students and teachers at the school.

Newman was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. He was a member of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. He died on Aug. 11, 1890, and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2019. In his encyclical Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis spoke of Newman’s choice of his motto “Cor ad cor loquitur” — “Heart speaks to heart.” 

Francis wrote: “This realization led him, the distinguished intellectual, to recognize that his deepest encounter with himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection but from his prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present. It was in the Eucharist that Newman encountered the living heart of Jesus, capable of setting us free, giving meaning to each moment of our lives, and bestowing true peace.”

Kutarna said Cathedral High School’s mission is to teach its students “to love God above all things.”

“This is the most important thing,” she said.

A portrait of a young St. John Henry Newman hangs in Cathedral High School, part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, in Houston. / Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

English saint and convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism John Henry Newman was approved for the title “doctor of the Church” on July 31 — one of the highest honors a Catholic can receive from the Holy See.

Theologians, historians, priests, and other Catholic scholars expressed excitement about the announcement, citing Newman’s contributions to theology, philosophy, and education in the 19th century when the Church was combating the rise of modernism and Enlightenment-era rationalism.

Michael Sirilla, a professor of theology at Franciscan University, explained that “the broad sense of doctor in Latin — it just means ‘teacher,’” noting that the Holy See bestows the title on the “great and notable teachers in the Church.”

Newman, he noted, “did not write pure theology” in the sense of authoring theological treatises but provided significant contributions “refuting theological errors” of his time. The English saint, he said, “is a suitable doctor for the modern period of the Church.”

“Without question, Newman is either the best or the second-best writer of theology in the English language — second only perhaps to St. Thomas More,” Sirilla told CNA.

“He’s a champion,” Sirilla added. “He’s one of the heroes against early forms of modernism.”

Patrick Reilly, the founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, expressed joy in the announcement. His organization promotes strong and faithful Catholic education, a major priority of Newman’s during his life, highlighted in the saint’s book “The Idea of a University.”

“He is truly a most important saint for modern times: his fight against relativism and weak faith, his response to persecution of Catholics, and especially his vision for faithful Catholic education championed by The Cardinal Newman Society,” Reilly said in a post on LinkedIn.

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), noted that Newman’s writings and his conversion had a major impact on the English-speaking world in the 1800s. His conversion marked “a major cultural event in the Protestant English-speaking world,” she told CNA.

“It launched waves of English Protestant conversions to the Roman Catholic Church that have come to [be] called the second and third spring of English Catholicism,” she said. “This steady stream of Protestants coming ‘home’ to Rome continues to this day.”

Father Dwight Longenecker, a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, echoed that sentiment.

“His progress through Anglicanism to the Catholic faith was an adventure that blazed the trail for many to follow,” he told CNA. “As such, his status as a doctor of the Church will advance his influence for non-Catholic Christians who are seeking the fullness of the faith in the Catholic Church.”

Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister who converted to Catholicism and leads the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, told CNA that Newman “has always been an inspiration to me” as well.

“He was a convert who told his story — a transparent account of the process of his struggles and discoveries,” Hahn said. “Newman was tireless in the apostolate at a time when most media were limited in range. He carried on correspondence with hundreds of people struggling along the way to Rome. He wrote with sympathy and understanding, but also with clarity and firmness.”

“When you do this work faithfully, as he did, you will be misunderstood,” he added. “People will question your motives. You will suffer. Newman chose to continue doing it anyway. He stands as a model and intercessor for anyone working in the apostolate, and presumably that means all of us! And he is still evangelizing. His books still change lives, as they did in the 19th century, when he inspired thousands of conversions.”

Jennifer Bryson — a fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center who recently translated German Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres’ book “John Henry Newman: A Life Sacrificed” — noted that Newman’s reach also extended substantially beyond the English-speaking world and in the aftermath of World War II was a particular source of inspiration for German Catholics.

Germans like Görres, who Bryson said were “coming out of a horror and breakdown of society,” saw Newman as “somebody who had understood the challenges of the modern world and remained Catholic and saw a Catholic way forward in the modern world.”

Noting Newman’s writings that challenged anti-Catholic philosophies of his day, Bryson said Newman was an example of what it meant “to be Catholic and remain Catholic in a world that was driving off ideological cliffs.”

Newman, who was born in London in 1801, spent his early adult life as an evangelical Anglican priest before shifting to a more traditional high-church Anglicanism. As an Anglican, he helped combat Enlightenment-era philosophies and liberalizing trends within Protestantism. He was a well-respected figure among Anglicans during that time.

As Newman delved deeper into the history of Christianity, he finally converted to Catholicism in 1845. In the year he converted, he wrote, “to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”

Newman was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal in 1879. He continued his theological writings throughout his life. During his time as an Anglican and a Catholic, Newman wrote about 40 books and more than 20,000 letters.

Sirilla said one of Newman’s most important contributions in his arguments with Protestants was his explanation of the development of doctrine in Catholicism. Sirilla said doctrinal development understood properly “preserves [tradition] and builds upon it” rather than adheres to the warped view that “the Church can teach something contrary to what it has taught in the past.”

“[It’s a] development of doctrine based on what has been revealed by God,” Sirilla said.

In the same year he converted, Newman published a nearly 450-page book titled “An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.” In it, he defended Catholic doctrines against Protestant attacks, including purgatory and original sin.

“Modern Catholicism is nothing else but simply the legitimate growth and complement, that is, the natural and necessary development, of the doctrine of the early Church, and … its divine authority is included in the divinity of Christianity,” Newman wrote.

Tom Nash, a staff apologist at Catholic Answers, told CNA that Newman’s “great contributions to our understanding of development of doctrine” is one of the first things that comes to his mind when thinking about the saint.

“Newman shows that authentic doctrinal development necessarily must be organic,” Nash said. “That is, if a change occurs, the basic structure of an organism or system remains.”

Another major contribution from Newman was his refutation of Enlightenment-era rationalism, which Sirilla described as a “view that man’s reason is a higher authority than God’s revelation.”

“Man’s reason must be … informed by God’s revelation,” Sirilla said.

Newman wrote numerous works against Enlightenment-era concepts, particularly the writings of Scottish philosopher David Hume, who died 25 years before Newman was born. In one letter, Newman wrote critically of Hume’s assertion that the belief in miracles is irrational.

“[Miracles] are presented to us, not as unconnected and unmeaning occurrences, but as holding a place in an extensive plan of divine government, completing the moral system, connecting man and his maker, and introducing him to the means of securing his happiness in another and eternal state of being,” he wrote. “That such is the professed object of the body of Christian miracles can hardly be denied.”

Pope Francis canonized Newman in 2019. Pope Leo XIV’s July 31 announcement will make Newman the 38th doctor of the Church.

This story was updated Aug. 1, 2025, at 11:44 a.m. ET with the comments from Scott Hahn.

Pope John Paul II blesses young faithful as he arrives at Tor Vergata campus to take part in World Youth Day on Aug. 19, 2000. More than 2 million young people turned out under a blazing sun to see the pope. / Credit: PAOLO COCCO/REUTERS POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Twenty-five years ago at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, youth gathered from around the globe for an all-night vigil during the 15th World Youth Day. Pilgrims stayed overnight on the open field with sleeping bags, with St. John Paul II presiding over the vigil.

Located on the outskirts of Rome, the university served as the historic site for the overnight vigil, chosen for its capacity to hold the massive influx of youth who descended upon Rome in August 2000.

Now, a quarter-century later, young Catholics from around the globe will descend upon Tor Vergata once again for an all-night vigil during the Jubilee of Youth, echoing the powerful spiritual encounter that took place on the same grounds during World Youth Day in 2000.

On the evening of Aug. 2, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., Pope Leo XIV will lead a vigil of prayer and reflection, inviting youth to open their hearts under the Roman sky.

‘What a blessing it was’

“John Paul II encourag[ed] all youth to not be afraid as we were called to be an active part of the Church,” Deacon Luke Oestman told CNA.

The 2000 vigil marked the turn of the millennium and the climax of the Great Jubilee declared by Pope John Paul II.

For many who attended the vigil, it became a defining moment in their faith journey. 

“It was at that all-night vigil that I first heard the oft-quoted ‘It is Jesus that you seek,’” Father Chas Canoy, who attended as a 27-year-old, told CNA. 

“That was an epiphany moment … especially in the context of the Great Jubilee and the new millennium, which highlighted that all of history was ‘His story’ with the humanity he loved and desired to redeem,” he said.

Lisa Wheeler, founder of Carmel Communications, recalled the 2000 World Youth Day in Rome as a spiritual turning point.

“Being at the World Youth Day Mass in Rome in 2000 during the Great Jubilee was a defining moment in my return to the Catholic faith,” Wheeler said. “It was my second World Youth Day since my reversion in 1996, and once again, Pope John Paul II spoke with a clarity and love that pierced my heart.”

CNA recently asked social media users for their memories of the event ahead of the vigil with Leo.

“I joined the World Youth Day in 2000 in Rome. It was also a jubilee year and [I was] so blessed to be able to hear and see Pope John Paul II and then to enter the jubilee door in St. Peter’s Basilica,” MylaDalle Buena-Marcial said.

The 2000 event was the first of four youth days Buena-Marcial attended, she said.

One attendee of the 2000 celebration, Trina Trusty, wrote on Instagram that she was overheated from the hike to the vigil site, but it was worthwhile.

“I cried when I first laid eyes on JPII. What a blessing it was to be a part of the prayer vigil and Mass with him and 2 million other people!” she wrote.

Elizabeth Canlas wrote that she attended World Youth Day in 2000 and is now watching her two daughters experience the same event this year.

Tricia Tembreull, meanwhile, said she attended the 2000 WYD and will again. 

“[I] can’t wait to do it again with [Pope Leo XIV] next Saturday and Sunday for the jubilee of young people,” she said.

Fifty-four Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Young People, where they are approaching young people one by one to invite them to spend time with Christ in all-day Eucharistic adoration and to learn about the mission and message of their founder, St. Teresa of Calcutta. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 1, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Just steps away from the exuberant crowds of Gen Z pilgrims chanting and taking selfies in St. Peter’s Square, religious sisters in white saris with blue stripes kneel barefoot in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

More than 50 sisters of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth offering a striking contrast to the vibrant festival atmosphere filling the Vatican’s streets. Their mission: “To give them Jesus,” said one 25-year-old sister from Spain, who declined to be quoted by name in accordance with the congregation’s rules.

The sisters, known for their vow of extreme poverty and life of service to “the poorest of the poor,” are praying for the souls and intentions of the thousands of young people gathered in the Eternal City. But they’re not stopping there.

In their no-frills style, the sisters are also taking to the streets, approaching young people one by one along the Via della Conciliazione — the broad avenue leading to St. Peter’s Basilica — inviting them to spend time with Christ in all-day Eucharistic adoration and to learn about the mission and message of their founder, St. Teresa of Calcutta.

They press Miraculous Medals into open palms and quietly teach short prayers beloved by Mother Teresa, including: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me now.”

Jubilee pilgrims in Rome can visit the sisters near the Vatican at the Pius IX Pontifical School at Via dei Cavalieri del Santo Sepolcro, 1, where the Missionaries of Charity have set up a welcome center with a small exhibit featuring Mother Teresa’s sari, sandals, and other personal belongings.

Mother Teresa’s blood, preserved on a piece of cotton, is exposed for veneration as a first-class relic, and visitors are encouraged to leave handwritten prayer intentions in a shoebox. The sisters gather these daily and place them near the altar during Mass.

The exhibit also includes a video presentation of Mother Teresa’s life, with images and excerpts from her speeches, playing in an adjacent room. For some young visitors, this is their first encounter with the saint. One sister recalled a moment when a young pilgrim asked her: “Mother Teresa? Who is that?” — a question that underscored the importance of their presence at the youth jubilee.

The sisters — who usually avoid being photographed or quoted — have made an exception for this special outreach to young people. Still, the young Spanish sister, born after Mother Teresa’s death, said she prays that any photo taken of her would lead people not to her but to Christ.

She pointed to a favorite line from a prayer based on the words of St. John Henry Newman — whom Pope Leo XIV will soon declare a doctor of the Church — that the Missionaries of Charity recite daily after Communion: “Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!”

Together with the sisters at the jubilee is Father Sebastian Vazhakala, the co-founder of the contemplative branch of the order with Mother Teresa, who gave talks for some of the young pilgrims.

Vazhakala told CNA that he thinks the encounters taking place between the sisters and the young pilgrims could help more young people to discover their vocations, not only with the Missionaries of Charity but also with other congregations.

“Definitely God is the one that does the calling,” he said. “But we have to create an atmosphere for it … inspiring and instilling in the hearts of people the desire for God and the desire for commitment.”

“Not everybody can have the same vocation, but at least they can come to know God better, come to love God better, and so come to know the meaning of their life.”

Living memories of Mother Teresa 

Vazhakala also shared some of his favorite memories from working alongside Mother Teresa for more than 30 years.

He recalled one instance during their work together on the streets of Calcutta in the 1960s when a man, sick and homeless, was brought in for help — not for the first time. 

Vazhakala, then a young priest, told Mother Teresa: “There is no sense of taking this man. … This man has been here at least 10 times. Now when he gets well, he will go out to the street, and then they will bring him back again.” 

He remembers that Mother Teresa replied: “Are you living tomorrow and yesterday? Because it doesn’t matter whether he came yesterday or will come back tomorrow. But this man is in need of your help now. If he needs your help now, don’t ask questions. Do it.”

Vazhakala said Mother Teresa taught him to live in the present moment, which she saw as a gift from God. He remembered a time when after receiving the Nobel Prize she was asked by a journalist what she considered to be the most significant day of her life.

“Today,” was Mother Teresa’s reply.

“‘I can do something today. I can love people. I can help others. I can pray.’”

At this year’s Jubilee of Youth, the Missionaries of Charity quietly echo that message — in their prayers, their presence, and their patient invitation to pause and encounter the living Christ today.

Father Cosimo Schena is a priest at St. Francis Parish in the Diocese of Brindisi in southern Italy. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Aug 1, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

With more than a million followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms, Father Cosimo Schena has become one of the most recognizable faces of the so-called “digital missionary” phenomenon in Italy.

“The illness of this century is loneliness, and we listen to each other very little. I try to convey a simple message, because the Lord is simple,” Schena explained.

It was four years ago that the priest, philosopher, psychologist, and psychotherapy specialist decided to create a social media profile to proclaim the Gospel in a friendly, positive, and accessible way.

“I earned a doctorate in philosophy, then studied psychology and specialized in psychotherapy. And that’s precisely where the need to convey a beautiful message, a positive message, on social media arose. Because when I go online, when I turn on the television, everything is negative, everything is bad… The bad news is news, and the good news is relegated. So I said to myself, ‘Why not give it a try?’”, he explained in conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, just before participating in an event this week with other Catholic influencers at the Via della Conciliazione auditorium, a few steps from the Vatican.

Little by little, he began posting inspirational quotes and then motivational and spiritual videos. The response he found online was surprising: “I’ve gained more than a million followers across different platforms, and the ages vary, from the youngest to the oldest.”

Not everyone who follows him is Catholic. “There are many people who don’t believe in God and follow me, and they say, ‘Look, even though I don’t believe, I like you as a priest because of what you say.’ What makes me smile in a positive way is that, after all, Jesus is for everyone,” he explained.

He felt the call to the priesthood in the parish, inspired by the credible witness of his pastor, “which made me wonder if I too could make that decision,” Schena related.

After years of discernment, he left his studies in computer engineering to enter the seminary. He was ordained a priest at 30, and at 40, he discovered that there is a mission to fulfill not only in the sacristy but also in the digital world.

The key, he insisted, is to not complicate the message: “I truly hope that this — experiencing the digital world — will be cleaner, more beautiful, conveying a simple message, without complicating it, because the Lord is simple.”

The face of a new pastoral ministry

He is now a priest at St. Francis Parish in the Diocese of Brindisi in southern Italy and has noticed that his online work has had a direct impact: “The number of people coming to my church has doubled. Not only thanks to the local faithful, but above all because of those who come specifically from other cities in Italy to hear the homily or confess.”

This phenomenon of digital missionaries has gained such strength that the Vatican celebrated July 28–29 the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, an official recognition — the first — of this new form of evangelization. “Until a few years ago, the higher-ups looked at us with suspicion,” Schena acknowledged.

‘Loneliness is the great disease of this century’

Beyond likes and algorithms, Schena perceives a profound need in those who follow him: “Now I receive, some days, even a thousand messages a day, between private messages and emails. Many people write me super-long emails, and at the end they say: ‘You don’t need to reply. The important thing is that someone has listened to me.’ That makes me feel good, because the illness of this century is truly loneliness. And we listen to each other very little.”

For Schena, behind all this lies a spiritual emptiness: “Unfortunately, this society has imposed individualism on us, and we have welcomed it with open arms. In this sense, the message of Jesus, of Christ, reaches these people and makes them feel better, even if they are not believers.”

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

St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credi: cinemavision/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Thursday that St. John Henry Newman will be declared a doctor of the Church. The 19th-century English saint — a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism — will join 37 other saints who have been given the same honor.

Born in London and baptized into the Church of England in 1801, Newman was a popular and respected Anglican priest, theologian, and writer among his peers prior to his conversion to Catholicism in 1845. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and later made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

As a Catholic, Newman deepened and contributed to the Church’s teaching, thanks to his broad knowledge of theology and his keen insight into modern times, grounded in the Gospel. His body of work includes 40 books and more than 20,000 letters.

He died in Edgbaston, England, in 1890. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 19, 2010, and canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 13, 2019.

What is a ‘doctor of the Church’?

The title “doctor of the Church” recognizes those canonized men and women who possessed profound knowledge, were superb teachers, and contributed significantly to the Church’s theology.

Traditionally, the title has been granted on the basis of three requirements: the manifest holiness of a candidate affirmed by his or her canonization as a saint; the person’s eminence in doctrine demonstrated by the leaving behind of a body of teachings that made significant and lasting contributions to the life of the Church; and a formal declaration by the Church, usually by a pope.

While their teachings are not considered infallible, being declared a “doctor” means that they contributed to the formulation of Christian teaching in at least one significant area and this teaching has impacted later generations. 

Not quite half of the saints revered as doctors in the Catholic Church are also honored in the Orthodox church since they lived before the Great Schism in 1054.

The most recent doctor of the Church to be named was St. Irenaeus of Lyon, with the title “doctor unitatis” (“doctor of unity”), in 2022. Pope Francis had previously in 2015 named as a doctor of the Church St. Gregory of Narek, a 10th-century priest, monk, mystic, and poet beloved among Armenian Christians.

Other notable saints who are doctors of the Church include St. Teresa of Ávila, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Francis de Sales, among others.

The Vatican has not yet confirmed the date of Newman’s formal proclamation as a doctor of the Church.