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Britain’s King Charles III stands with Britain’s Princess Michael of Kent (left); Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent (second left); Britain’s Lord Frederick Windsor; Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales; Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales; Britain’s Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh; and Britain’s Princess Anne, Princess Royal, following a Requiem Mass for the late Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral in London on Sept. 16, 2025. / Credit: JORDAN PETTITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).

For the first time since the Protestant Reformation, a reigning British monarch and a pope will pray together publicly during a royal state visit to the Vatican.

King Charles III will join in ecumenical prayer presided over by Pope Leo XIV for the care of creation inside the Sistine Chapel on Oct. 23, beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, during the king’s first state visit to the Vatican with Queen Camila. 

The Sistine Chapel Choir will sing together with England’s Choir of St. George's Chapel and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal for the historic ecumenical prayer which will focus on praising God the Creator, Vatican officials said. 

Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican Archbishop of York, will also participate.

The visit will mark the first meeting between King Charles and Pope Leo XIV. The two will first meet privately in the Apostolic Palace in the morning and will later be joined by business leaders in the palace’s Sala Regia for a discussion on care for creation and environmental sustainability. 

During the state visit, Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the archpriest of the basilica, will confer upon King Charles the title of “Royal Confrater” of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls during an ecumenical service at the tomb of St. Paul in the basilica on the same day. The pope is not expected to attend. 

The title, granted with the approval of Pope Leo XIV, is a gesture of “hospitality and ecumenical welcome,” Archbishop Flavio Pace, the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 17. 

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls has a historic connection to England’s monarchy. After the arrival in England of Roman monk-missionaries such as St. Augustine of Canterbury and St. Paulinus of York in the 6th and 7th centuries, Saxon rulers including Kings Offa and Æthelwulf contributed to the upkeep of the apostles’ tombs in Rome. 

By the late Middle Ages, the kings of England were recognized as “protectors” of the Basilica of St. Paul and abbey, and its heraldic shield came to include the insignia of the Order of the Garter. That tradition was interrupted by the Reformation and the ensuing centuries of estrangement. 

It was King Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See, meeting with John XXIII in 1961. A few years later, Pope Paul VI met with Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury in 1966 in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, launching formal dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans for the first time since the 16th century.

“Without establishing a formal role for King Charles and his successors, the title of ‘Royal Confrater’ is to be understood as a gesture of hospitality and ecumenical welcome that bears witness to these historical ties and the progress that has been made since 1966,” Pace said. 

The basilica will also install a specially commissioned chair for the monarch, decorated with his coat of arms and a verse from the Gospel of John in Latin,  “Ut unum sint” (“That they may be one”). The chair will remain in the basilica for Charles and his heirs to use during future visits.

The ecumenical service in the Basilica of St. Paul on Oct. 23 will be presided over by Father Donato Ogliari, the abbot of the basilica, with the participation of Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York and the Rev. Rosie Frew, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 

​​The service will conclude with a hymn composed to a text by St. John Henry Newman — the English cardinal and convert from Anglicanism whom Pope Leo XIV will declare a Doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. King Charles attended Newman’s canonization in 2019 and recently became the first monarch to visit the Birmingham Oratory, the priestly community founded by Newman in 1848.

The president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy (PAMI), Franciscan friar Stefano Cecchin, OFM. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, (PAMI by its Italian acronym), which reports directly to the Roman Curia, said in a recent interview that the Church faces persistent challenges regarding truths about the Virgin Mary. 

Cecchin told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that PAMI encounters challenges every day from Protestants as well as certain groups within the Catholic Church, both openly and indirectly, who deny the dogma of the virginity of Mary established at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 and the Lateran Council of 649.

“There are theologians and biblical scholars who are saying that the virginity of Mary is a myth, and this is very dangerous because the … Fathers of the Church, and even the Quran, defend the virginity of Mary,” the priest stated.

Devil is behind attacks on Immaculate Conception

Cecchin is an expert in Mariology and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which refers to Mary’s preservation from original sin from the moment of her conception in her mother’s womb and was officially defined by Pope Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1854.

Mary has always been the target of attacks from the devil, Cecchin explained, especially because of her role in the economy of salvation.

“The devil works hard; I’ve seen it a great deal, especially against the Immaculate Conception,” he said. “I see how he continues to attack the figure of Mary, and right now he’s attacking her within the Church with those who, for example, say that Mary is not a virgin.” 

“The first attack against Christ was an attack on the virginity of Mary, who [supposedly] had slept with a Roman soldier, so Jesus was not the true son of God. If we question Mary’s virginity, we put into doubt all of Christianity,” he pointed out.

Cecchin recalled that, from a biblical and theological perspective, Mary occupies a unique place in the history of salvation as the mother of God and a figure of the Church. He explained that her role is not limited to the Incarnation in the past, but she continues to be active in the spiritual life of believers.

“The point is that it is not we who seek God, but he who seeks us. And that is why, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the angels said [the apostles] would not see him again until he returned on the glorious day. But Jesus entrusts the Church to Mary: ‘Behold, your mother.’ That is why Mary continues to care for us and tries to bring us back to him,” he explained.

‘God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell’

The director of PAMI, which is charged with coordinating all Mariological scholars and societies around the world, emphasized that Marian apparitions and calls to conversion must be understood as expressions of divine mercy, not as manifestations of fear or punishment.

“All the apparitions, the calls she makes regarding hell, are not to frighten us, but to convert us, because God doesn’t want to punish us; he wants to convert us. This is a fundamental point taught by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell, but if you don’t behave well, you will go to hell, because hell exists and is not empty,” he explained.

Cecchin also emphasized that the defense of Marian dogmas is not a secondary or devotional issue but a pillar of the Christian message. He recalled that, according to St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. Peter and one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, denying the virginity of Mary means jeopardizing the truth about the incarnation of the Son of God.

“St. Ignatius of Antioch speaks of Mary and of Mary’s virginity. That is why it is important to educate oneself,” Cecchin said, “and to see that our Franciscan vision, according to which God desires the salvation of all, compels us to evangelize. The evangelization we propose today is a Marian evangelization.”

The friar noted that throughout the history of the Church, controversies and heresies have also been opportunities to delve deeper into the truth.

“In the struggle for the Immaculate Conception, for example, there were those who thought one thing and those who thought another. The Church is always alive, and we normally see that, in history, heretics help us delve deeper into the truth. They are an incentive to delve deeper, but we must defend the truth,” he maintained.

Shrines as a place of healing

In 2023, the Vatican established, within PAMI, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena, whose mission is to study and discern without issuing judgments.

“Its only task is to study, not to give opinions,” emphasized the Italian Franciscan, who noted that apparitions have always existed throughout history. “All shrines have a story behind them, an experience of encounter with the divine.”

“We want shrines to be not only a place of prayer but also of healing,” he added.

Currently, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena is conducting a theological and historical analysis of Marian shrines.

“We are conducting a study of the sanctuaries from Nazareth, which is the shrine that housed the relics of the Virgin, which were then taken to Constantinople, to Blacherne ... We have seen that in the Middle Ages there are always minor apparitions that are at the origin of the shrines we have around the world,” he explained.

With Guadalupe, the great apparitions begin

Over time, these manifestations of faith took on an increasingly universal dimension. The great apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Indian St. Juan Diego in 1531 begins a long series of great apparitions, according to Cecchin.

“The first ones were a little more local, but with Guadalupe, the apparitions that interest nations, that interest continents, begin. Then come Lourdes, Fátima, Medjugorje, Kibeho… all these great apparitions that attract people because the shrine is always a special place where the Mother asks to see, as in all apparitions, the construction of a shrine,” he explained.

Cecchin pointed out that shrines, from a biblical perspective, are always a place of encounter.

“In the Old Testament, in the apparitions of God, there was always a place, a shrine. Therefore, the shrine becomes a moment of encounter with God through Mary, what Paul VI called the clinics of the spirit. That’s why we truly want shrines to be not only places of prayer but also of healing, of well-being, because Jesus told us: ‘Preach and heal,’” he emphasized.

PAMI’s work extends to the creation of study centers and the promotion of interreligious and ecumenical dialogue.

“Our task is to create centers and societies to study the figure of Mary in diverse cultures and also in dialogue with other Christian churches and other religions, because Mary plays this fundamental role in the history of the Church,” he explained.

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

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (left) shakes hands with now Archbishop-elect of Vienna Josef Grünwidl at the time of his appointment as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna on Jan. 22, 2025, and on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Vienna / Stephan Schönlaub

Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 06:02 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Josef Grünwidl to succeed Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, as head of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria’s most populous archdiocese.

Grünwidl has overseen the Vienna archdiocese on an interim basis since January, when the 80-year-old Schönborn concluded three decades at its helm following the acceptance of his resignation by Pope Francis.

The 62-year-old Grünwidl, born in lower Austria, was chairman of the Vienna Priests’ Council and episcopal vicar of the Vienna archdiocese’s southern vicariate before being named apostolic administrator.

A former concert organist, the archbishop-elect has served in numerous roles in the archdiocese since his ordination in 1988, including as a pastor and parish moderator. The priest was also secretary to Cardinal Schönborn from 1995 to 1998, at the beginning of Schönborn’s term as archbishop of Vienna.

According to Austria’s public broadcasting service, ORF, Grünwidl is a former member of the controversial “Pastor’s Initiative,” a dissident Catholic group founded in Austria in 2006 on a call to “disobedience” on certain Church issues. The group advocates for the ordination of women, optional priestly celibacy, and Communion for the divorced-and-remarried and members of other Christian faiths.

ORF reports that Grünwidl, who is not listed among current members of the “Pastor’s Initiative,” has “recently emphasized that celibacy is a consciously chosen way of life for him personally, but ‘not a matter of faith’ and should therefore not be a mandatory requirement for priests.”

“On the subject of women in the Church, he identified an ‘urgent need for clarification,’” ORF continued. “The diaconate for women should be discussed further, and Grünwidl also considers the admission of women to the College of Cardinals to be conceivable.”

Speaking on the broadcaster’s program “Orientation” early this year, Grünwidl said he left the “Pastor’s Initiative” because he felt that Pope Francis’ ideas had “overtaken” the group’s proposals, and he could no longer support a motto of “disobedience.” He emphasized “critical obedience,” and said he “can’t imagine an open opposition to the bishop in the Church.”

The Catholic news agency Kathpress describes the archbishop-elect as a “pastorally grounded leader, valued preacher, and insightful conversationalist.”

Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Schönborn

Schönborn, a theologian who led the Archdiocese of Vienna for 30 years, helped write the Catechism of the Catholic Church and chaired the Austrian bishops’ conference for 22 years.

The Church leader was born to a titled family in 1945 in Bohemia in what was then Nazi Germany and is now part of the Czech Republic.

He grew up in western Austria, close to the border with Switzerland, and joined the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, in 1963. 

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Vienna in 1970. He went on to study sacred theology in Paris and in Regensburg, Germany, under the then-Father Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI.

Schönborn was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology in the 1970s and was later made a member of the prestigious International Theological Commission of the Vatican.

He was editorial secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in 1991, Pope John Paul II named the theologian an auxiliary bishop of Vienna.

After being appointed coadjutor archbishop of Vienna in April 1995, he succeeded Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, OSB, as archbishop of Vienna on Sept. 14, 1995.

Schönborn was made a cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Churches in Jerusalem. / Credit: Amizor via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

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

Jerusalem church leaders welcome Gaza ceasefire

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem has hailed the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange, describing it as a “first real step toward ending the war,” CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, ACI MENA, reported Oct. 16. 

The statement thanked the international community, particularly mediators at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, for helping secure the deal and called for rapid humanitarian access to food, clean water, fuel, and medicine.

The church leaders also voiced alarm over growing violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank, insisting that peace talks must lead to an independent Palestinian state living in safety beside Israel. They praised Christians in Gaza for their steadfast faith, calling the communities of St. Porphyrius Orthodox and Holy Family Catholic churches “a living witness of hope amid suffering.”

Tokyo archbishop calls for end to death penalty

Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, is calling on Japan to abolish the death penalty and grant clemency to two men charged with murder, according to a report by Crux. 

“The Catholic Church in Japan opposes capital punishment, calling for the protection of all life as a gift from the Creator. The Church urges the government to abolish the death penalty and reform the Japanese criminal justice system,” the cardinal said, adding: “I fundamentally believe that if we uphold the value of human life and dignity, we must not employ the same method as the criminals by taking a life away.” 

Protests in Cameroon overshadow presidential election despite bishops’ call for peace

Despite repeated appeals by Catholic bishops for peace and transparency ahead of Cameroon’s presidential elections, protests reportedly erupted in some cities in the country, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, reported Oct. 16.

In the country’s capital of Douala, angry demonstrators accused authorities of electoral fraud in the Oct. 12 vote. This comes after members of the Cameroon bishops’ conference called on authorities to address any electoral insecurities they said could possibly mar the country’s presidential elections. 

“Every human life is sacred and must be protected. It is everyone’s duty to ensure that the sanctity of human life is preserved before, during, and after the upcoming elections,” they said, adding: “We call on the competent authorities of the Republic to use their powers to prevent electoral insecurity and ensure a favorable environment, free from fear and intimidation.” 

Results for the election are expected by Oct. 26. 

Pope Leo XIV meets Jordan’s King Abdullah II: a renewed friendship

Pope Leo XIV welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania to the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City this week, their first meeting since the pope’s election earlier this year, ACI MENA reported Oct. 14. 

The encounter reaffirmed the long-standing friendship between the Holy See and the Hashemite Kingdom, centered on interfaith dialogue and shared concern for peace in the Middle East. The visit comes as King Abdullah tours Europe, including Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia, for talks on regional stability. 

Observers note that the strong personal rapport once shared between Pope Francis and the Jordanian monarch is likely to continue under Pope Leo, whose pontificate has already signaled continuity in humanitarian outreach and mutual respect.

Korean Catholics call on government to protect workers under new law

Catholic officials are welcoming a change to Korea’s labor laws that will help protect workers by strengthening unions and adding protections for workers in Korea’s segmented labor market, according to an Oct. 15 report from UCA News. 

“Nothing is more important than the happiness, well-being, and protection of the lives of workers and their families, so it is natural for the Church to stand on the side of workers,” said Father Alexander Lee Young-hoon, the Bishops’ Conference of Korea’s secretary of labor.

“When the Church speaks out on labor and social issues, many believers perceive it as a political stance,” said John Park Young-ki, attorney and member of the Seoul Archdiocese Labor Ministry Committee. “The path of a Church that stands with the poor and the vulnerable, as Pope Francis has said, is not to follow secular logic but to show concern for the vulnerable.”

Germany names its head of foreign intelligence service as ambassador to Holy See

Pope Leo XIV received Bruno Kahl, Germany’s new ambassador to the Holy See, on Oct. 11, according to a Vatican press bulletin. 

Kahl presented Leo with his credential letters during the meeting, marking the official start of his post. The new ambassador has been in Rome for several weeks, according to reports, and previously met with Leo during a private audience with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. During his stint as head of German intelligence, Kahl was in Ukraine when Russia invaded at the start of the war and had to be evacuated by special forces from the country via car, according to several reports.

St. Ignatius of Antioch with the child Jesus. / Credit: Lorenzo Lotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Oct. 17, the Roman Catholic Church remembers the early Church Father, bishop, and martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose writings attest to the sacramental and hierarchical nature of the Church from its earliest days.

Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate his memory on Dec. 20.

In a 2007 general audience on St. Ignatius of Antioch, Pope Benedict XVI observed that “no Church Father has expressed the longing for union with Christ and for life in him with the intensity of Ignatius.”

In his letters, the pope said, “one feels the freshness of the faith of the generation which had still known the apostles. In these letters, the ardent love of a saint can also be felt.”

Born in Syria in the middle of the first century A.D., Ignatius is said to have been personally instructed — along with another future martyr, St. Polycarp — by the apostle John. When Ignatius became the bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed leadership of a local Church that, according to tradition, was first led by St. Peter before his move to Rome.

Although St. Peter transmitted his papal primacy to the bishops of Rome rather than Antioch, the city played an important role in the life of the early Church. Located in present-day Turkey, it was a chief city of the Roman Empire and was also the location where the believers in Jesus’ teachings and his resurrection were first called “Christians.”

Ignatius led the Christians of Antioch during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, the first emperor to proclaim his divinity by adopting the title “Lord and God.” Subjects who would not give worship to the emperor under this title could be punished with death. As the leader of a major Catholic diocese during this period, Ignatius showed courage and worked to inspire it in others.

After Domitian’s murder in the year 96, his successor, Nerva, reigned briefly and was soon followed by the emperor Trajan. Under his rule, Christians were once again liable to death for denying the pagan state religion and refusing to participate in its rites. It was during his reign that Ignatius was convicted for his Christian testimony and sent from Syria to Rome to be put to death.

Escorted by a team of military guards, Ignatius nonetheless managed to compose seven letters: six to various local Churches throughout the empire (including the Church of Rome) and one to his fellow bishop Polycarp, who would give his own life for Christ several decades later.

Ignatius’ letters passionately stressed the importance of Church unity, the dangers of heresy, and the surpassing importance of the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality.” These writings contain the first surviving written description of the Church as “Catholic,” from the Greek word indicating both universality and fullness.

One of the most striking features of Ignatius’ letters is his enthusiastic embrace of martyrdom as a means to union with God and eternal life.

“All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing,” he wrote to the Church of Rome. “It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ than to reign over all the ends of the earth.”

“Now I begin to be a disciple,” the bishop declared. “Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: Only let me attain to Jesus Christ.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch bore witness to Christ publicly for the last time in Rome’s Flavian Amphitheater, where he was mauled to death by lions.

“I am the wheat of the Lord,” he declared before facing them. “I must be ground by the teeth of these beasts to be made the pure bread of Christ.”

His memory was honored, and his bones venerated, soon after his death around the year 107.

This story was first published on Oct. 14, 2012, and has been updated.

The Trump administration will expand access to in vitro fertilization drugs and procedures. / Credit: sejianni/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 18:53 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump is expanding access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments by partnering with pharmaceutical companies and expanding insurance options. 

According to a White House announcement on Oct. 16, the Trump administration is working with major pharmaceutical companies to bring IVF drugs to the U.S. at lower prices. The administration is also expanding insurance coverage for fertility care.

The agreement with leading pharmaceutical group EMD Serono will make IVF drugs available “at very, very heavily reduced prices — prices that you won’t even believe,” Trump said on Thursday in a livestream from the Oval Office. 

According to the announcement, women who buy directly from TrumpRx.gov, a website that will launch in January 2026, will get a discount equivalent to 796% of the negotiated price for GONAL-F, a widely used fertility drug.

The FDA will also be expediting its review of an IVF drug that is not yet available in the U.S., which Trump said “would directly compete against a much more expensive option that currently has a monopoly in the American market, and this will bring down costs very significantly.”

In addition, the Trump administration will enable employers to offer separate plans for fertility issues, comparable to the standard life, dental, and vision plans typically available from employers.

“This will make all fertility care, including IVF, far more affordable and accessible,” Trump said. “And by providing coverage at every step of the way, it will reduce the number of people who ultimately need to resort to IVF, because couples will be able to identify and address problems early.” 

“The result will be healthier pregnancies, healthier babies, and many more beautiful American children,” Trump continued. 

These fertility benefits will include both IVF and other fertility treatments “that address the root causes of infertility,” according to the Oct. 16 announcement. 

“There’s no deeper happiness and joy [than] raising children, and now millions of Americans struggling with infertility will have a new chance to share the greatest experience of them all,” Trump said. 

IVF is a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs in a laboratory to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb. To maximize efficiency, doctors create excess human embryos and freeze them. Undesired embryos are routinely destroyed or used in scientific research.

Lila Rose, a devout Catholic and founder of the pro-life group Live Action, condemned the administration’s action, noting that “IVF kills more babies than abortion.”

“Millions of embryos are frozen, discarded, or destroyed,” Rose said in a post on X on Oct. 16.

“Only 7% of embryos created survive to birth,” she said. IVF is “not a solution to fertility struggles.”      

In response to Trump’s announcement, the March for Life celebrated the White House’s focus on children and fertility, while cautioning the administration to protect human life at all its stages, even as embryos. 

“March for Life appreciates that President Trump has heard and is responding to so many Americans who dream of becoming parents,” the March for Life said in a statement shared with CNA. “The desire for parenthood is natural and good. Children are a blessing. Life is a gift. The White House’s announcement today is rooted in these core truths.” 

The March for Life noted that “every human life is precious — no matter the circumstances” and urged policymakers to protect human life. 

“We continue to encourage any federal government policymaking surrounding IVF to prioritize protecting human life in its earliest stages and to fully align with basic standards of medical ethics,” the statement read. 

The group also welcomed “the administration’s commitment to making groundbreaking advancements in restorative reproductive medicine more accessible and available to American women.”  

Catholic institutes such as the Saint Paul VI Institute have pioneered a form of restorative reproductive medicine called NaProTechnology. “Naprotech” aims to discover and address the root cause of fertility issues via treatment and surgery if necessary. Some conditions that can affect fertility include endometriosis — which affects nearly 1 in 10 women — and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the leading cause of infertility.

“RRM aims to resolve rather than ignore underlying medical issues, increasing health and wellness while also restoring fertility, and responding to the beautiful desire for children while avoiding any collateral loss of human life,” March for Life stated.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri. / Credit: Office of Senator Josh Hawley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 18:12 pm (CNA).

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

Senator introduces bill to ban Obamacare-funded abortions

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, on Oct. 15 introduced a bill to protect unborn children from abortion and minors from so-called gender transition.

The bill would prevent taxpayer dollars from going toward abortions or transgender procedures for minors via Obamacare. While the Hyde Amendment already prohibits federal funding of abortion, Hawley’s bill would “write Hyde language directly into the federal coverage terms of health plans,” according to a press release from Hawley’s office.

Jamie Dangers, director of federal affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, expressed gratitude “to Sen. Hawley for recognizing that Obamacare funds abortion and must be fixed.”

“This bill would do what should have been done 15 years ago by applying the Hyde Amendment to Obamacare so that health care plans don’t pay for elective abortions with taxpayer dollars,” Dangers said. 

“Until a bill like this becomes law, however, Republicans must make Hyde protections nonnegotiable in any funding for Obamacare, which currently uses taxpayer dollars to fund abortion on demand,” Dangers concluded.

Louisiana woman sues FDA after boyfriend pressured her into a chemical abortion 

A Louisiana woman who was pressured into abortion by her then-boyfriend is joining the state of Louisiana in a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In October 2023, Rosalie Markezich, out of fear for her safety, took abortion drugs that her boyfriend at the time had obtained via mail from a doctor in California.

An in-person visit used to be a baseline requirement for obtaining abortion drugs, but under the Biden administration, the FDA removed the safeguard in 2023. 

“If the Biden FDA had not removed in-person dispensing, my then-boyfriend would not have been able to obtain abortion drugs and pressure me to take them against my will,” Rosalie said in a statement.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the “FDA’s reckless actions also opened wide the door for women to suffer reproductive coercion and assault.”

“We are simply asking the FDA to restore this basic safety standard for women’s health,” Murrill said in a statement. 

Florida bill would allow for wrongful-death lawsuits for unborn children 

A Florida bill could allow parents to file wrongful-death lawsuits for the death of an unborn child. 

Proposed by Vero Beach Republican Sen. Erin Grall, the bill defines an unborn child as “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.” 

The bill wouldn’t allow civil suits to be brought against medical personnel, such as in cases related to in vitro fertilization (IVF). 

In addition, Boca Raton House Democrat Kelly Skidmore filed a bill that would nix a Florida program that provides funding for crisis pregnancy centers.

Abortions are illegal in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, a time when many women do not yet know they are pregnant.

Referring to the crisis pregnancy centers, Skidmore asked: “What crisis pregnancies are they helping with?”

“When we live in a state that has a six-week ban, how many crisis pregnancies do you think there are that we still need to fund $29.5 million for these centers?”

The Florida Pregnancy Support Services Program reportedly helped provide more than 20,000 women with more than 130,000 counseling services and more than 18,000 pregnancy tests, according to recent data.

The bishops issued their appeal in San Luis Río Colorado, in the Mexican state of Sonora, pictured here. / Credit: AyuntamientoSLRC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 17:13 pm (CNA).

Bishops and priests from several dioceses in the United States and Mexico have invited people to organize a Catholic vigil for migrants on Oct. 22 or another possible date as a way to express solidarity and call for adequate immigration policies.

San Bernardino, California, Bishop Alberto Rojas joined Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, and other bishops Oct. 12 at the Arizona-Sonora border for a binational pilgrimage and Mass.

The appeal for a vigil was made in the final message of the “Binational Encounter: Migrants, Pilgrims of Hope in Christ,” held in San Luis Río Colorado in the Mexican state of Sonora. The encounter included a pilgrimage and a Mass in the Mexican city.

In addition to San Bernardino and Tuscon, participants included representatives from the dioceses of Las Vegas, Mexicali, Matamoros-Reynosa, and Nogales, among others. 

In their final declaration, the signatories recalled that “in the Church, no one is a stranger, and the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere.”

In this regard, they expressed their closeness to those “who are living in fear, faced with dehumanizing rhetoric, policies designed to intimidate, and impossible choices.”

“The broken immigration systems of both countries deny us the chance to welcome them as new members of our community since there are few legal pathways for migration,” they stated.

Given this situation, they said: “This is not a moment for complacency or conformity, it is a moment to be all the more proactive in our pastoral and prophetic work of encounter and welcome with those forced to live in the shadows.”

Recognition of right to regulate immigration

The signatories recognized the right of nations to regulate immigration “consistent with the common good and respect for the dignity of all” as well as the right of people to migrate when conditions in their places of origin are not conducive to a decent life, while respecting the communities that host them.

The declaration recognizes “the inherent and inviolable dignity” of migrants “that no earthly authority can deny.”

In this regard, the signatories called for “resisting the temptation of apathy and instead, with courage and hope, acting to truly live out Christ’s love that transcends borders.”

Call for vigils

To this end, they called for “a Catholic vigil for migrants.” The declaration proposes “Oct. 22 [as] a Catholic day of action, or in the following weeks and months on a symbolic date.”

They also encouraged meetings between people with experience in migration and those “who are more distant from these realities,” reaching out to migrants and praying for authorities, asking them for “laws and policies that promote safety for people fleeing violence, respect the dignity of migrants and refugees, and uphold the sacredness of family unity.”

The text points out that “whatever our country of birth, we endeavor toward the same horizon, yearning for our true homeland.”

“At times, the obstacles before us may seem too great to overcome. But our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, points to a source of inspiration living within our midst: ‘Even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope,’” the statement affirms.

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

null / Credit: esfera/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) at an Oct. 16 hearing heard recommendations from lawmakers and advocates for addressing “severe violations of religious freedom” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“For decades the U.S. government has been a leader for combating China’s religious freedom violations,” said Asif Mahmood, vice chair of the commission. He said it “has sanctioned Chinese government officials” and “supported independent media and nongovernment organizations denouncing violations.”

USCIRF “urges the U.S. government to continue prioritizing religious freedom by designating China as a country of particular concern, raising religious freedom issues with Chinese officials, and supporting independent civil society,” Mahmood continued. He said the U.S. “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines on this issue” because “the lives and well-being of millions are at stake.”

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP imposed mandates that “reflect socialist core values and push to harmonize religion with party-approved Chinese culture.” 

“For a religious organization to even exist in China, that organization must apply for and obtain a permit from the government,” Risch said. But the government has “forcibly eradicated religious elements that are not in line with the CCP’s agenda.” 

This includes “destroying access [to] churches and replacing images of Jesus Christ with Xi Jinping,” Risch said. “China jails thousands of practicing Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians each year for their religious beliefs, with many subjected to forced indoctrination and torture.”

Risch said the aftermath of the country’s “phony” national security law meant “Hong Kong authorities targeted pro-democracy religious groups and activists like Jimmy Lai — a devout Catholic who has tragically been denied holy Communion in prison.”

Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, said American leadership must continue to be “critical in denouncing persecution of Christians and other religious groups around the world.” It is crucial because the CCP “has no interest in protecting freedom of religion … it continues to restrict religious practice, destroy churches, and imprison religious minorities,” Budd said.

“Every day, they torture and target Uyghurs, Thibetans, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners. The spirit of religious persecution is evidence of the CCP’s disregard for human life and natural law,” Budd said.

“Until China changes course, it should be the policy of the United States to hold them accountable for their severe violations of religious freedom,” Budd said. The U.S. should continue to designate China as a country of particular concern, he said.

Other speakers, including Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, said the U.S. must protect religious liberty within its own nation as it works to help other countries. He asked: “How can Americans expect to be taken seriously on the world stage if our leaders are failing to defend religious freedom here at home?” 

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said: “The CCP doesn’t just threaten American interests. It threatens the very idea that human beings are born free, the truth exists beyond the reach of the state, and that no government can claim ownership of the soul.”

“Under Xi Jinping, the CCP has declared war on faith itself. Across China today, the party is carrying out the most systematic campaign of religious persecution since the Cultural Revolution,” Moolenaar said. “They call it sinicization of religion, but what it really means is subjugation.”

Panelists and suggestions

Annie Boyajian, speaking on behalf of Freedom House, an organization dedicated to fighting for democracy and human rights, told the commission that “first and foremost,” Freedom House agrees that China should be redesignated as a country of particular concern when it comes to religious freedom threats.

“Individuals can face up to 14 years in prison for knowing that someone has committed so-called treason … meaning that priests could be forced to choose between going to jail or divulging information shared with them by parishioners during confession,” Boyajian said.

Freedom House maintains “a global database that documents direct physical incidents of transnational repression, and 22% of the cases … documented since 2014 were committed by the Chinese government,” Boyajian said. 

These instances include “unlawful deportations, assaults, and harassment in 30 countries as well as surveillance, intimidation, coercion of family members, mobility controls, detention, and interval abuse,” Boyajian said. “Religious and ethnic minorities are prime targets for transnational repression.”

“The U.S. government should work to expose transnational oppression by coordinating with allies to monitor, document, and counter China’s unlawful deportations, harassment of diaspora communities, and abuse of Interpol red notices, and take special care to not facilitate the perpetration of transnational repression,” Boyajian said.

Boyajian offered a number of other recommendations to the committee, including that the U.S. “work to enforce accountability” by “imposing targeted sanctions on officials and entities responsible for a severe religious persecution.” She also suggested that policymakers “strengthen asylum protections and humanitarian pathways” for those facing religious persecution.

Corey Jackson, a Presbyterian pastor from Kerry, North Carolina, who previously lived in China, recounted his experience: “The CCP attempts to control every aspect of life, including the freedom of religion of Christians.”

He explained that for Christians, “building or renting spaces for churches is prohibited, and Bibles cannot be sold in bookstores or made publicly available.” Leaders within unregistered churches “are particularly vulnerable,” he said, and are often placed under house arrest or imprisoned on broad national security charges such as subversion of power.

Jackson asked the commission and the U.S. government to “exert pressure on the CCP” to release political prisoners arrested for their faith including Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and the other 21 prisoners arrested last week at an underground church. He also recommended that Congress impose religious freedom tariffs on China alongside other economic tariffs. 

Boyajian said that “despite China’s religious persecution, millions of believers continue to practice their faith, often at immense personal risk.”

She added: “Their resilience reminds us that religious freedom is not a secondary concern. It is central to human dignity, to civil society, and to the defense of democracy worldwide.”

The discovery in southern Turkey of five small round loaves — probably intended for the Eucharist — more than 1,300 years old, one of which features an image of Jesus Christ, took place in Topraktepe, an ancient Roman and Byzantine center known as Irenopolis, located in the present-day Turkish province of Karaman. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Karaman Governorship

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA).

A team of archaeologists has discovered at a site in southern Turkey five small round loaves —  probably intended for the Eucharist — more than 1,300 years old, one of which features an image of Jesus Christ. 

The discovery took place in Topraktepe, an ancient Roman and Byzantine center known as Irenopolis — the “City of Peace” — located in present-day Karaman province in the historical region of Anatolia.

The loaves, made with barley and dating from the sixth to eighth centuries, have been exceptionally well preserved thanks to their carbonization and the oxygen-free environment where they were found. According to researchers, they are the best-preserved examples of their type found to date in Anatolia.

One of the loaves depicts the figure of Jesus Christ accompanied by the Greek inscription “With our gratitude to the Blessed Jesus.” Others feature reliefs in the shape of a Greek cross.

According to the official statement from the Karaman government, the figure depicted corresponds to “Jesus the Sower” or “Jesus the Farmer,” a different image from the traditional Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of All), depicted in a majestic pose, holding the Gospel in one hand and the other raised in a gesture of blessing.

Giovanni Collamati, a professor of history at CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, Spain, who specializes in the Middle Ages, explained in conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, the significance of this discovery, pointing out that the iconography of Christ changes over time.

Collamati emphasized that the discovery took place in a city that was not important within the empire — such as Constantinople — so it may provide clues to a historically unknown form of liturgical worship of Christ, a “much more local liturgical worship that originates from people who do not belong to the elite but is a devotion much more of the common people.” 

The excavations were carried out under the direction of the Karaman Museum and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Experts will continue analyzing the loaves to further their study and gain more insight into their origin and use. 

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