World News

Father Manuel Chouciño. | Credit: ACI Prensa Madrid, Spain, Dec 23, 2025 / 07:00 am Father Manuel Chouciño, an expert in new evangelization who has surprised many by organizing an escape room in a Spanish monastery, is convinced that Catholics “are in vogue” because people “are tired of feeling so empty.” Having arrived just three ... read more

Pope Leo XIV said President Donald Trump’s plan to end Russia’s war against Ukraine threatens to break apart the alliance between Europe and the United States. The Pope commented to reporters after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Castel Gandolfo. ... read more

Florida's Catholic bishops appealed to President Donald Trump on Monday to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays. The White House, in response, said it would be business as usual. ... read more

null / Credit: sergign/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA). A federal judge in California this week issued a permanent block against the state’s “gender secrecy policies” that have allowed schools to hide children’s so-called “gender transitions” from their parents.U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued the ruling in ... read more

Visitors preview artist Claire Tabouret’s future contemporary stained-glass windows for Notre Dame Cathedral at Galerie 10.2 of the Grand Palais in Paris on Dec. 8, 2025. Critics say the emphasis on diversity and emotional expression risks translating a central mystery of the Church into the visual language of the present moment, weakening the ... read more

ACI Prensa Father Manuel Chouciño. Father Chouciño seems like a bottomless well of ideas for evangelization, and only his determination surpasses his enthusiasm. ... read more

Aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists about the role of the Holy See, which works “behind-the-scenes” in peace negotiations, so that all parties may lay down arms. Regarding Ukraine, the Pope underlines Europe’s involvement and the important role Italy could play ... read more

By Madeleine Teahan London, England, Dec 23, 2025 / 09:37 am The domestic agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has strongly criticized recent announcements by the U.K. government concerning asylum seekers’ rights to remain in the country. Following the publication of the government’s new proposals ... read more

People have a deep desire to return to their lives despite the dire and complex situation in Gaza following two years of war, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said at an annual Christmas press conference on Dec. 22. ... read more

Michael Taube: It’s long been a Christmas tradition in many households, including mine, to read Charles Dickens’ brilliant novella, A Christmas Carol. Interestingly, I read two Christmas stories by Dickens during the festive season. No, it’s not one of his well-known holiday stories like The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth. I’m referring ... read more

Father Francesco Ielpo, OFM, the custos (Franciscan provincial) of the Holy Land, has issued a Christmas message, “Fragility in Light.” “The holiest liturgy is celebrated on straw, with the sharp smell of manure, in the caresses of a mother and in the cry of a child,” he said. “Once again, Jesus is not afraid ... read more

Father Manuel Chouciño. / Credit: ACI Prensa Madrid, Spain, Dec 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). Father Manuel Chouciño, an expert in new evangelization who has surprised many by organizing an escape room in a Spanish monastery, is convinced that Catholics “are in vogue” because people “are tired of feeling so empty.”Having ... read more

Every child’s eyes focused on the altar, watching the annual Christmas pageant in rapt attention. Mary and Joseph entered, carrying Baby Jesus. The chorus of fourth and fifth grade girls sang, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” This poignant family scene was largely ignored, however, by the hundreds of boys and girls in the church. Rather, they ... read more

Pope Leo XIV, in a rescript, approved a new statute for the Labor Office of the Apostolic See (ULSA). Vatican News reported that the new statute has several innovations: These include a broader Council, with representation for the first time from the Secretariat of State, the Vicariate of Rome, the Vatican’s healthcare services (FAS, ... read more

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the 92-year-old president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has commemorated the 60th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council with a lengthy essay in the Vatican newspaper. “Conservative and progressive [interpretations of Vatican II] are not opposites, since, correctly understood, they are part of ... read more