Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Charitable organizations distribute food to displaced people in shelter tents in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on June 9, 2024. / Credit: Anas-Mohammed/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 14, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

As U.N. agencies issue dire warnings of humanitarian collapse in Gaza, the Catholic arm of an organization that promotes Christian engagement in the Near East has announced a nine-day novena prayer for peace in the Holy Land to begin on July 16.

The Philos Project’s “Nine-Day Novena to Pray for Peace in the Holy Land” comes as Israel has intensified its bombardment of Gaza, and eight U.N. agencies have indicated that “without fuel, their lifesaving work may soon come to a halt.” Over the weekend, BBC reported the deaths of 10 people, including six children, who were killed in a July 13 Israeli airstrike while waiting to fill their containers of water in central Gaza. 

Fifty Israel hostages remain in Hamas captivity, including the bodies of at least 28 that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed dead, according to a Times of Israel report. Twenty hostages are believed to be alive, while “grave concerns for the well-being of two others” remain. 

The novena will begin July 16 on the feast of Our Lady of Carmel and end on July 24, the feast of St. Charbel of Mount Lebanon. A similar novena was held last year. This year, according to the Director of Philos Catholic Simone Rizkallah, participants will “dare to ask for more,” lifting up their prayers for an end to the conflict. 

“This jubilee year [of hope] reminds us that God’s promises are never revoked,” Rizkallah said, adding: “Let’s pray boldly together.”

The novena’s intentions are for a complete end to the conflict in the Holy Land, the return of all hostages, the rebuilding of devastated communities, the healing of deep wounds and the restoration of trust, and a prophetic sign of peace: that one day soon, Christians may walk safely on pilgrimage from Mount Carmel to Mount Lebanon, two sacred peaks tied by faith, history, and hope.

Last year, the Philos Project’s “emergency novena,” which was prayed by more than 1,000 people, centered on prayers for peace between Israel and Lebanon. 

“We began on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, asking that Lebanon be spared from imminent war,” Rizkallah recalled. “Against all odds, peace has held. Dialogue, not destruction, has taken root between Lebanon and Israel. It was almost unimaginable a year ago.” 

At the time, the novena was in response to ongoing clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed, Shiite Muslim militant group based in Lebanon.

A map of Nigeria. / Credit: SevenMaps/Shutterstock

ACI Africa, Jul 14, 2025 / 14:28 pm (CNA).

Three seminarians were kidnapped and a security guard was killed in an armed attack on Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in the Diocese of Auchi in Nigeria on the night of July 10.

In a statement issued July 11, Father Peter Egielewa, the director of communications of the Auchi Diocese, provided details about the attack. He said the 9 p.m. attack on the Catholic institution located in Ivhianokpodi, Etsako East Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo state, involved “several gunmen.”

“In the process, the Nigerian Civil Defense Security official, Mr. Christopher Aweneghieme, stationed at the seminary was killed, and three minor seminarians were abducted and led into the bush,” Egielewa said.

The other seminarians have been moved to what Egielewa described as “a safe area until security measures around the seminary are tightened.”

“Unfortunately, no communication has been had with the abductors yet,” he said, adding that the leadership of the diocese “sympathizes with the family of the deceased security official and prays for the repose for his soul.”

In his statement, Egielewa also appealed for “prayers for the quick release of our seminarians.”

He said the bishop of the Auchi Diocese has denounced the attack and called on security agencies to “do more to secure the lives and properties of our people.”

Bishop Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia directed all priests of the diocese to celebrate a Votive Mass of the Precious Blood of Jesus on Saturday, July 12, and in morning Masses on Monday, July 14. 

According to Egielewa, the bishop has also directed all parish priests to “ensure the continuous recitation of the holy rosary and Sunday evening Benediction for divine protection for all faithful of the diocese, Edo state, and the country of Nigeria until further notice.”

He appealed to all people of goodwill to “join the faithful of the diocese to pray for the repose of the soul of Aweneghieme and for the speedy release of the abducted seminarians unharmed.”

Dunia, who has been at the helm of the Diocese of Auchi since February 2003, established Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in 2006 for the training of future priests. Over 500 minor seminarians have so far successfully graduated from the institution.

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

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

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

Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) have repeatedly denounced the reported killings and abductions in the West African nation and challenged the government to prioritize the safeguarding of human life.

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

St. Peter’s Chapel and Native American Museum at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda, New York. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site

Chicago, Ill., Jul 14, 2025 / 09:20 am (CNA).

Shrines to various saints can be found in every part of the world, including every state in the U.S. Each one is dedicated to faith and prayer, but one shrine in the northeastern United States also has a distinct mission of connecting pilgrims with Native American culture and sharing the fascinating history of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized a saint.

The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda, New York, honors not only the life of St. Kateri, whose feast day is July 14, but also the life and history of the local Indigenous people to whom she belonged.

“We have cultivated strong ties to both the Catholic Mohawk community and the traditional Mohawk community,” said Melissa Miscevic Bramble, director of operations at the Saint Kateri Shrine, in an interview with CNA. “We see it as our mission to educate about her Mohawk culture as well as her Catholic faith.”

Who was St. Kateri?

Called the Lily of the Mohawks, Kateri Tekakwitha was the child of a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother but was orphaned at age 4 when the rest of her family died of smallpox. Her own early bout with the illness left lasting scars and poor vision.

She went to live with an anti-Christian uncle and aunt, but at age 11 she encountered Jesuit missionaries and recognized their teaching as the beliefs of her beloved mother. Desiring to become a Christian, she began to privately practice Christianity. 

Beginning at about age 13, she experienced pressure from her family to marry, but she wanted to give her life to Jesus instead. A priest who knew her recorded her words: “I have deliberated enough. For a long time, my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen him for husband, and he alone will take me for wife.”

At last, she was baptized at about age 19, and her baptism made public her beliefs, which had been kept private up until then. The event was the catalyst for her ostracism from her village. Some members of her people believed that her beliefs were sorcery, and she was harassed, stoned, and threatened with torture in her home village.

Tekakwitha fled 200 miles to Kahnawake, a Jesuit mission village for Native Amerian converts to Christianity to live together in community. There, she found her mother’s close friend, Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo, who was a clan matron of a Kahnawake longhouse. Anastasia and other Mohawk women took Kateri under their wings and taught her about Christianity, and she lived there happily for several years until her death at around age 23 or 24. 

Although she never took formal vows, Tekakwitha is considered a consecrated virgin, and the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins took her as its patron. She is also the patron saint of traditional ecology, Indigenous peoples, and care for creation.

A shrine with a special mission

The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site has a unique mission of archaeological and historical research related to Kateri Tekakwitha and her people. Welcoming several thousand visitors per year, the shrine ministers not only to Christians but also to all Native American.

According to its website, the shrine and historic site “promotes healing, encourages environmental stewardship, and facilitates peace for all people by offering the natural, cultural, and spiritual resources at this sacred site.” Describing itself as a sacred place of peace and healing with a Catholic identity, its ministry and site are intended to be ecumenical and welcome people of all faiths.

In keeping with this mission, the shrine’s grounds include an archaeological site, the village of Caughnawaga, which is the only fully excavated Iroquois/Haudenosaunee village in the world. St. Kateri lived in this village, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can also visit the Kateri Spring, where Kateri Tekakwitha was baptized.

“The water from the Kateri Spring is considered holy water by the Catholic Church,” Bramble said. “People are welcome to come take the waters, and we regularly get reports of healing. We’ve sent that water all over North America to folks who have requested it.”

Besides the archaeological site, the main grounds of the shrine include St. Peter’s Chapel, housed in a former Dutch barn built in 1782; museum exhibits of Native American culture and history; St. Maximilian Kolbe Pavilion; a candle chapel dedicated to St. Kateri; Grassmann Hall and the shrine office; a friary; a gift shop; an outdoor sanctuary; and maintenance facilities. The 150-acre property includes hiking trails that are open to the public year-round from sunrise to sunset. 

Outside the candle chapel, which is always open for prayer, visitors can participate in a ministry of “Kateri crosses.”

“St. Kateri was known for going into the forest, gathering sticks, binding them into crosses, and then spending hours in prayer in front of crosses she created,” Bramble said. Sticks are gathered from the shrine grounds, and visitors are invited to make their own “Kateri crosses” and take them home to use as a prayer aid. Bramble shared that the shrine sends materials for Kateri crosses to those who aren’t able to visit, including recently to a confirmation group.

The feast day weekend

The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine hosts special events for St. Kateri’s July 14 feast day. The shrine usally welcomes several hundred visitors for these events, which include Masses and talks. (A listing of the schedule can be found here.)

This weekend’s Masses included a traditional purification rite, a solemn blessing with a relic of St. Kateri, and music of the Akwesasne Mohawk Choir, which “incorporates American Indian spiritual practices in keeping with the Catholic Church,” Bramble told CNA. “The Akwesasne Mohawk Choir is made up of descendants of St. Kateri’s community who lived in the area historically.”

“There is a reestablished traditional Mohawk community a few miles west of the shrine, and we feel very blessed that we’ve been able to cultivate a very cooperative and mutually respectful relationship with the folks there,” Bramble said.

The Saint Kateri Shrine is also a great place for families. Events often include activities and crafts for children, there is an all-ages scavenger hunt available at the site, and the shrine’s museum is “a phenomenal educational opportunity,” she said.

Bringing together Native American archaeology and history with the story of St. Kateri, the shrine and its programs shed light on the saint’s story and keep alive the traditions and history of her people.

This story was first published on July 13, 2023, and has been updated.

Pope Leo greets pilgrims during the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly on Sunday, June 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 14, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).

With less than a month to go before the Jubilee of Youth begins, the pope’s diocese is making final preparations to welcome tens of thousands of young people from around the world who will participate in this event of great spiritual significance. 

“Young people will never experience this in their lives again. I’m sure of it. In practice, it will be like a World Youth Day,” explained Father Alfredo Tedesco, director of youth ministry in Rome, the host diocese.

The Italian priest was 18 when he participated in the Jubilee of 2000 with St. John Paul II: “For our generation, it was an indelible mark. For them, it can be a new beginning.”

The truly great challenge for the Diocese of Rome is accommodations. The parishes of Rome and 10 dioceses in the Lazio region, those closest to the Italian capital, “are already mobilized to welcome young pilgrims into their facilities,” he explained. Furthermore, the religious institutes in Lazio closest to Rome “have also done their part.”

However, adapting these places has been a complex task: “We have had to refurbish these places. We have had to add bathrooms and showers, ensure breakfast service, organize the arrival of groups, distribute pilgrim kits, and coordinate transportation.”

In addition, the Italian Civil Protection Agency has also made 400 schools and state facilities available to meet this need, “especially gymnasiums with equipped restrooms,” Tedesco added.

According to preliminary estimates from the diocese, some 120,000 young people will descend upon Rome for the entire week of the event from July 28 to Aug. 3. Many others will pass through the capital only to participate in some of the planned events.

‘Registration is still open, and the number is growing’

One of the main highlights of the Jubilee of Youth will be the prayer vigil presided over by Pope Leo XIV at Tor Vergata, which will be preceded by several testimonies and musical concerts. This is a very large area located on the southeastern outskirts of Rome, known primarily as the site of the main universities in the Italian capital.

“Registration is still open, and the number is growing. Some even speak of a million people. But we don’t know if that figure will be reached. The Dicastery for Evangelization, the main organizer of the event, has the official data,” the Italian priest explained.

Since the young people will sleep at the same place as the event that night, the logistics for that event have been simplified for the Diocese of Rome: “We don’t have to worry about having to accommodate them elsewhere for that night.”

The Jubilee of Youth program, promoted by the Dicastery for Evangelization — the body responsible for the overall organization of the Holy Year of Hope — is in the last stages of finalizing various details.

However, according to the official jubilee website, several notable activities have already been confirmed. On Tuesday, July 29, at 6 p.m. local time, a welcome Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. In the following days, Rome will host numerous cultural, artistic, and spiritual initiatives throughout the capital under the title “Dialogues with the City.”

On Friday, Aug. 1, a Penitential Day will be held at the Circus Maximus, where young people will be able to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

On Saturday, Aug. 2, all participants will travel to Tor Vergata. Finally, on Sunday, Aug. 3, the pope will celebrate Mass at 9:30 a.m. before bidding farewell to the young pilgrims who will begin their journey back to their home countries.

4,000 young volunteers to assist the pilgrims

With registration still open, the final number of participants is yet to be determined. Nonetheless, what is certain is that they will be joined by approximately 4,000 volunteers from parishes in Rome and the Lazio region, who will donate their time and skills to welcome the pilgrims in the best possible way.

Regarding their countries of origin, Tedesco said there is a notable European majority: “France, Spain, Poland, Germany… and many even from Eastern Europe, despite the war. This will also be a sign of peace.”

There will also be a strong presence from the United States and Latin America. “Let’s not forget that we now have an American pope,” he pointed out. “This has also encouraged participation from the United States, where there is great veneration for the two young saints [Carlos Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati] who will be canonized in September,” the priest explained.

Asian participation, although more limited, will be significant. “We will have a significant Korean delegation — 1,000, 2,000, maybe 3,000 young people — which is quite a lot, considering the distance. Furthermore, the next World Youth Day will be in Seoul, so they are very motivated,” he noted.

Regarding Africa, the situation is more delicate: “Some countries haven’t been able to send delegations due to visa or diplomatic issues or armed conflicts. There will be African representation, but not as numerous. The dicastery and the Holy See have made arrangements to facilitate some visas.”

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

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi receives Joseph Aoun back in January 2024. / Credit: The Maronite Patriarchate

ACI MENA, Jul 14, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Six months ago last week, Lebanon broke a 14-month presidential deadlock by electing Joseph Aoun — an army commander backed by international powers and cautiously welcomed by Christian communities — to lead the country.

Aoun’s inaugural speech in January raised expectations, with firm promises to address sensitive and urgent issues like Hezbollah’s weapons and the refugee crisis. For many Christians, it sounded like a turning point. But half a year into his term, one question looms: Is Joseph Aoun fulfilling his promises, or are Lebanon’s Christians already losing faith in his leadership?

By constitutional requirement, Lebanon’s president must be a Maronite Christian. While the role is meant to serve the entire nation across sectarian lines, the Christian community traditionally sees the presidency as its highest political representation and a key channel for defending what it views as national priorities.

A young adult Christian’s perspective

Mark Elian, a Lebanese student pursuing a master’s degree in international security at Sciences Po Paris, said Aoun’s inaugural speech in January resonated deeply with him as a young Lebanese Catholic. He said he was relieved when Suleiman Frangieh, another serious contender for the presidency, lost. “He simply didn’t represent Christians. Aoun’s profile is much more reassuring.”

He added: “Joseph Aoun comes from a southern village that was the victim of a massacre perpetrated by Palestinians, so he understands very well the need to disarm the camps,” Elian said. “And as commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, he managed to keep the institution standing during Lebanon’s worst economic and financial collapse.”

Elian pointed to several achievements that, in his view, give Aoun credibility. “He’s succeeded in renewing ties with Arab and Western countries that had lost interest in Lebanon,” he said. “He also managed to organize the municipal elections on time and facilitated the formation of a government just weeks after the nomination of Nawaf Salam.” 

Still, Elian admitted, however, that the president has fallen short on key promises. “He hasn’t delivered yet on the state’s monopoly over weapons.’’

“He must also resolve the question of a state monopoly on arms and achieve the full Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon,” Elian said. “Last but not least, he has to address the issue of people’s money trapped in the banks and restructure the banking sector. President Joseph Aoun faces many challenges; the first one being the regime that elected him.”

The banking crisis Elian refers to is one of the deepest wounds in Lebanese society. Since 2019, banks have imposed informal capital controls, blocking most citizens from accessing their savings. Life savings vanished overnight. Depositors were left with restricted access to their own money, forced to withdraw limited amounts in local currency at steep losses. The collapse destroyed trust in the financial system, shattered the middle class, and sparked mass emigration. 

Aoun has so far signaled a willingness to tackle the issue. His government passed amendments to banking secrecy laws and appointed a new central bank governor, but comprehensive banking sector restructuring remains elusive.

A lawyer’s call to action

Joy Lahoud, a Lebanese lawyer, takes a more skeptical view. He sees promising inaugural speeches as a recurring pattern in Lebanese politics, with every new president raising expectations that rarely translate into action. In his view, the failure isn’t always personal — it’s institutional. 

“Obviously most of them, if not all of them, were not capable of walking their talk because of the nature of the Lebanese constitution,” he explained. “The prerogatives of the president are limited. The executive powers are not vested with the president.”

Still, Lahoud said he believes Aoun has a historic opportunity to turn that momentum into meaningful change.

“The Lebanese president has a historical opportunity to accelerate the shift by doing more substantial actions on the ground,” he said. “The end of domination in Lebanon cannot be materialized by the mere removing of pictures but by removing the influence from the entire administration and by totally ending any military presence of the mercenaries and militias.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam recently stated that the Lebanese army had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” belonging to Hezbollah in the south. While the announcement was framed as a major achievement, Lahoud views it with cautious realism.

“This is obviously an effort by the Lebanese administration to demonstrate to the international community that it is making an effort,” he said. “There should be much more done, not only on the level of installations but also on the level of light weapons and the militiamen operating under civilian cover.”

Lahoud stressed that the real danger lies not only in the presence of missiles but also in the operational capacity of armed groups. “It’s more about the capability of those militiamen to create chaos, to threaten democracy and stability in Lebanon — and potentially to carry out assassinations and terrorist activities,” he warned.

Another issue that has resurfaced under Aoun is the question of disarming Palestinian refugee camps — which evokes one of the most painful chapters in Lebanon’s modern history. 

The presence of Palestinian militias in Lebanon triggered a long civil war in the 1970s bringing bloodshed, chaos, and massacres to Lebanese soil. In the face of the threat, Christian militias rose to defend their land and their people. Decades later, the weapons are still there, and the state has yet to reclaim full control.

Lahoud acknowledged the symbolic weight of the renewed efforts, especially following the Palestinian president’s visit to Lebanon and his reported agreement with Aoun that weapons in the camps are no longer needed. But Lahoud remains skeptical. 

“We haven’t seen any material progress on this front, and the only thing that would bring comfort to the Lebanese people is to see the Lebanese army entering the camps,” he said. 

While he recognizes the complexity of the situation, he said he believes in gradual but concrete steps. “There should be something done at least gradually. No one is asking for a large-scale operation, but the Lebanese army should advance step by step and take over those camps on the security level, at least gradually.”

Beyond security and sovereignty, Lahoud said he believes Aoun must also prioritize issues that directly affect Lebanon’s Christian presence — both inside and outside the country. 

“The president should be making sure that the Lebanese Christian diaspora plays a role in elections and is able to exercise its right to vote and choose its representatives,” he said.

Lahoud also warned of another looming threat: the erosion of a Christian presence in state institutions. “The president must ensure that Christians in Lebanon retain the key positions within the administration,” he said. “We’re already seeing maneuvers being plotted to take those positions away.”

Looking ahead, Lahoud said the real breakthrough will come only through deep constitutional reform. He also stressed the need for a complete overhaul of the state system.“

“Lebanon must move toward a federal system — ending the totalitarian rule of the centralized government,” he said.

Lahoud said he believes the current moment offers a rare chance — one the state cannot afford to waste.

A priest’s advice to Lebanon’s president

Father Dany Dergham, a Maronite priest, sees in Aoun a man closely tied to the Church, not just spiritually but personally and institutionally. 

“President Aoun is a son of the Maronite Church and of Bkerké,” he said. “He maintains deep and ongoing coordination with the Maronite Patriarchate. He has warm and respectful personal ties with the patriarch, as well as with several bishops he has known since childhood.” 

For Dergham, the alignment between the presidency and Bkerké (the episcopal see of the Maronite Church in Lebanon) is clear: “There is no doubt that their visions align; both are grounded in national principles, state sovereignty, and justice and equality among all communities.”

Dergham added that Aoun’s Christian identity is not performative but deeply rooted. 

“The president consistently expresses his Christian and ecclesial commitment through his visits. He is unashamed of his faith; rather, he sends a message that a leader — or a citizen — in Lebanon can be faithful and committed without being sectarian. There is a vast difference between sectarianism and faith.” 

Dergham noted that Aoun recognizes the Vatican as the “mother Church,” a central spiritual reference point for Eastern Christians, and underscored that he remains the only Christian president in the region. 

But Dergham said expecting too much from the presidency is not only unrealistic but it’s also unfair. 

“There is no doubt that President Aoun has good intentions and a strong desire to implement reforms within state institutions … However, intentions and desire are one thing; capabilities and authority are another. As everyone knows, the powers of the Lebanese president are limited — virtually nonexistent. Therefore, placing excessive hope in or blaming the president personally is misplaced,” he said.

Dergham stressed that what was promised in Aoun’s speech — no matter how sincere — cannot be delivered by the presidency alone.

“These are matters for the government and Parliament, not just the president. Lebanese experience shows that full harmony among the three branches of power is exceedingly rare.”

The priest had some final advice to Aoun: “Do not remain in office if the gap between what you wish to achieve and what you’re able to do becomes too wide.”

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

Seminarian Josh Brooks. / Credit: Courtesy of Catholic Philly, official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 13, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

Josh Brooks, a native of Delaware County in metro Philadelphia, dreamed of following in the footsteps of his idol LeBron James and becoming a professional basketball player. However, God had other plans for him.

Today, Brooks is in his third year of university studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is preparing for the priesthood.

“I don’t want to just live for myself, but I want to bring the joy God gave me to other people,” Brooks said in a recent interview with Catholic Philly, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Raised in the Baptist faith, Brooks had his first contact with Catholicism when his parents enrolled him at St. Ignatius Loyola Elementary School in West Philadelphia. Later, at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, his interest in the Catholic faith grew.

“And really slowly, my attention was gravitating toward my Catholic theology classes, where I learned about the identity of the priest. What really attracted me was learning about how the Catholic Church is a universal family, ‘cause I didn’t have the best family growing up, so that just made me feel like I was called to be part of something special,” Brooks shared.

Although during his teenage years he spent a lot of time practicing in order to make the high school basketball team, he ultimately failed to achieve that dream. “So this left me wondering with the question of what I was going to do with my life if basketball, which was my big dream, was no longer an option,” he recounted.

In his search for meaning, he tried to fill the void with a romantic relationship but realized his heart longed for something deeper. Uncertain of his calling, he asked the young lady: “‘Would you be able to wait for me?’ She replied, ‘I’m not going to wait for you.’ So I looked up at the crucifix and I said to the Lord, ‘If she will not wait for me, then who will?’ And then I realized the whole time he was waiting for me, for me to accept his love. He said ‘You idiot, I have the best love to give you.’”

That moment marked a turning point. “I think I just reacted without thinking. And look what that brought me. It brought me so much joy, this intense fire to just want to be for God and just be for others,” Brooks reflected.

At St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he found not only a vocation but also brothers. “I never had any brothers, so I didn’t know what having one would be like. So when I entered seminary, you have different guys with different interests, different personalities. At the heart of it all, these guys are trying to build off each other,” he said.

Fellow seminarian Sean Barker highlighted Brooks’ fraternal spirit. At a “Come and See” retreat, “I walked right in and the first person I saw was Josh sitting in his cassock,” Barker recalled. “Just talking to him, getting to know him, I felt more at ease. He cares about and has a great respect and admiration for the deep historical spirituality of the Church.”

“He wants me to be better, he wants me to spend more time in chapel, to take prayer life more seriously, to take academics more seriously ... I think that’s just him as a role model is what inspires me most,” Barker added.

In the interview, Josh highlighted the “rich tradition and history” of the Catholic Church but also that it’s “one big family.” He also invited others trying to rediscover their faith to come closer: “We are an imperfect people, but we are being governed by a God who transcends all things and knows us better than we know ourselves,” he said.

What most defines this young seminarian is his deep prayer life and his desire to become a priest. Although his parents are not Catholic, they support his vocation, and he prays every day for their conversion.

“At the heart of our search for the highest form of love, we’ll find it here, where we gather at the altar of God and we’ll be able to make our dwelling in him,” he said.

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

Pope Leo XIV waves as he enters Liberty Square in Castel Gandolfo to give his first public Angelus address from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome on July 13, 2025. / Credit: Stefano Costantino/EWTN News

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Jul 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recited the Angelus before a diverse and enthusiastic crowd in Castel Gandolfo on Sunday — the first time in 12 years that a pope has led the Marian prayer from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome.

The Angelus, prayed on a warm but cloudy July 13, marked the midpoint of Leo’s two-week stay for a summer break on the pontifical estate of Castel Gandolfo, a custom eschewed by Pope Francis. 

Despite sporadic light rain showers, shoulder-to-shoulder pilgrims from around the world — including Brazil, Italy, Poland, and the United States — filled the town’s main square and lined the side streets as the pope greeted them with “Happy Sunday!”

The hope of eternal life, Leo said before leading the Marian prayer, “is described as something to be ‘inherited,’ not something to be gained by force, begged for, or negotiated. Eternal life, which God alone can give, is bestowed on us as an inheritance, as parents do with their children.”

Crowds of laypeople, priests, and religious sisters alternatively opened and closed umbrellas, the sun bursting through raindrops right as Pope Leo appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo.

“That is why Jesus tells us that, in order to receive God’s gift, we must do his will,” he continued. “It is written in the law: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

“When we do these two things, we respond to the Father’s love,” the pontiff said.

A married couple from the United States celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary said they came to Castel Gandolfo hoping for the pope‘s blessing. They were happy to have received a wave from Leo when he passed by on his walk from the local parish to the apostolic palace before the Angelus.

While the pontiff spoke, a father of four took turns lifting up each of his children so they could see Pope Leo over the crowd.

Pope Leo will publicly lead the Angelus again on July 20 before returning to the Vatican in time for a slew of events for the Jubilee of Hope, including jubilees of Catholic influencers and of youth.

Leo will also come back to Castel Gandolfo, found on the hills above Lake Albano, for three days over the Italian holiday weekend of “Ferragosto,” Aug. 15–17, which celebrates the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before the Angelus, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s Liberty Square.

Reflecting on the parable of the good Samaritan, the pontiff called for a “revolution of love” toward those who have been hurt by life, who are “stripped, robbed, and pillaged, victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives.”

“Are we content at times merely to do our duty or to regard as our neighbor only those who are part of our group, who think like us, who share our same nationality or religion?” he said. “Jesus overturns this way of thinking by presenting us with a Samaritan, a foreigner or heretic, who acts as a neighbor to that wounded man. And he asks us to do the same.”

This is why this parable is so challenging for each of us, he underlined: “If Christ shows us the face of a compassionate God, then to believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings.”

“Looking without walking by, halting the frantic pace of our lives, allowing the lives of others, whoever they may be, with their needs and troubles, to touch our heart,” the pope added. “That is what makes us neighbors to one another, what generates true fraternity and breaks down walls and barriers.”

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada celebrates Divine Liturgy as part of the spiritual retreat for military chaplains in Lviv, Ukraine. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Bishop Scott McCaig

Ottawa, Canada, Jul 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada returned home recently after leading a spiritual retreat for military chaplains in Ukraine, saying that the weight of what he witnessed during his week in Lviv still looms large in his mind. 

“ I’m still processing it, to be honest,” McCaig told Canada’s Catholic Register. “On the Eastern equivalent of  All Souls’ Day, I visited the graves of thousands upon thousands of fallen soldiers and prayed with their families, little children, people all grieving their fathers, children, brothers and sisters. The grief and senselessness of it all were heart-wrenching and made vivid how the destruction is so unnecessary. It was a trip that truly left its mark.”

He added: “ These are people who just want to live in peace but have been illegally invaded by a foreign nation, regardless of the complexities of the history and the politics of the situation. Their houses are being bombed, and they are losing their children to a war they don’t want to fight.”

During a unique spiritual retreat from June 13–20, McCaig and Father Terry Cherwick, lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Canadian Division, walked alongside Ukrainian chaplains who have endured over three years of frontline service since Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, offering them spiritual tools to navigate the “unseen warfare” of faith, hope, and charity while serving a nation under siege.

Supported by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, the military bishop of Poland, the weeklong mission saw the two meet with roughly 40 military chaplains, many of whom have been dealing with constant frontline service and funerals.

Due to the reality many of them are facing, McCaig addressed the chaplains’ exposure to the horrible reality of war, offering a multitude of spiritual tools to combat growing despair while maintaining resiliency. 

“I spoke to them about this battle of faith in dealing with all of the death and how they can recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who triumphs over death. The Book of Revelation, which we took as a theme, talks about Jesus as dead, but now alive, as the Alpha and the Omega, the living one, and him holding the keys of death and Hades,” McCaig said. 

“We wanted them to truly grasp that there is something bigger going on here and to keep their eyes focused on the Lord, who is ultimately the one who has the last word. It is never death that has the last word, but Our Lord Jesus. That reminder alone was felt deeply.”

Through  a mixture of preaching at conferences, Divine Liturgy, times of personal reflection and plenty of table sharing, McCaig and Cherwick  explored the difference between optimism and theological hope, citing God working even amid a broken, fallen world that is all too full of sin, suffering, and death. 

McCaig also emphasized the importance of forgiveness and overcoming evil through good, with the bishop alluding to St. Augustine’s notion — “A Catholic soldier fights to secure a just and lasting peace.” 

“The goal is always peace and charity, and so even when the temptation to hate is so strong, we have to continue to remind ourselves of this. One can justly defend the country while at the same time forgiving our enemies,” he clarified during the trip.

“ Author G.K. Chesterton put it very succinctly when he said that a Christian soldier does not fight because they hate what is in front of them, they fight because they love what is behind them.”

While there wasn’t a lot of spare time to reflect himself, having been woken up on multiple occasions by air raid sirens signaling drone and missile attacks, McCaig said the journey reinforced the critical importance of Catholic chaplains and their resilience. He spoke to the importance of a strong, faith-rooted approach, drawing from the Catholic tradition’s emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, something he feels is far too valuable to be discredited or forgotten. 

“Chaplains are trained to provide a sort of generic role of assistance and counseling, but the conviction was very strong that while that is good and important, it’s simply not enough. What these chaplains were telling us was that they want and need to reach into the deepest places of meaning and purpose in their lives, and that is something that can only come from a relationship with the living God,” he said.

“Encouraging words and optimism are great, but they’re not enough in those sorts of situations. The risen Christ, who is alive, has power over death and the ultimate last word on everything; that’s what we need to receive — that’s how we get the spiritual resiliency that is necessary in those situations.”

Now back in Canada, he also shared his hopes that his insight on the military chaplain situation in Ukraine can serve as a reminder to Catholics on home soil. As there hasn’t been a wartime situation for Canada since the end of the country’s involvement in Afghanistan, McCaig fears Canadians have forgotten the critical importance of spiritual resilience in the military chaplaincy. That is the specific liturgical faith, hope, and charity that come from the depth of the Catholic faith.

And while most are unable to stand in the trenches, both proverbial and literal, with soldiers around the world as military chaplains do, they can support them through the vital act of prayer.

“ Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV are calling the country the martyred Ukraine. They truly do need our prayers. There’s a lot of pressure for them to just surrender themselves to Russian political and cultural domination, which is a reality they’re facing. [They are] begging for prayers not to forget them, and we can  remember them as we pray the rosary,” McCaig said.

This story was first published by the The Catholic Register in Canada and has been reprinted here with permission.

A high school camper venerates the Eucharist at Wednesday night adoration in 2024 at the Damascus main campus, Centerburg, Ohio. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Staff

CNA Staff, Jul 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When St. Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, his life was changed. A Catholic summer camp ministry based in Ohio — but expanding around the country — hopes to give young adults the opportunity to have a similar, life-altering encounter with Christ, but with the help of paintball, zip-lining, and Eucharistic adoration.

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Damascus summer camps has grown from 63 campers in a parish-based effort to 7,000 campers across multiple locations — with a new location in Maryland opening soon. 

At the summer camps, youth spend six days away from their ordinary lives getting to know Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith better. For the organizers of Damascus summer camps, anything can be a vehicle for teaching about Christ — even rock climbing. 

But it’s not just one week, according to organizers. The “adventure” continues on long after the kids grow up. 

Dan DeMatte, co-founder and executive director of Damascus summer camps, told CNA that “high-adventure activities will lead to a high-adventure faith.” 

“We believe our faith is meant to be deep, contagious, and joy-filled,” DeMatte said. “Jesus Christ calls us to live a great adventure through the life of the Holy Spirit!”

From 60 to 7,000 

The idea for Damascus summer camps came about when many local kids in central Ohio would attend a nondenominational camp where they would have “a personal encounter with Jesus,” DeMatte said.

“As a result, many of them would come home wanting to leave the Catholic Church because that other church was ‘better,’” DeMatte said.

Damascus founders wanted to create something centered on the Catholic Church “where young people could have an encounter with Jesus through the very life of the Church, through the holy Eucharist, confession, lectio divina, and Mass,” DeMatte explained. 

“We wanted them to experience the fullness of the Catholic faith rooted in an encounter with the living God,” he said. “And it worked!”

“We created a high-adventure camp where young people had a true encounter with Jesus, and their lives were forever changed,” DeMatte said.

That was 25 years ago. Since its beginnings with about 60 campers, demand has grown rapidly. With an annual waitlist of more than 2,000 youth, Damascus struggles to keep up. This summer, it hosted nearly 7,000 campers total. 

Damascus also offers year-round retreats, conferences, off-site preaching, missionary opportunities, and worship events, enabling them to serve more than 30,000 youth, young adults, and families. Damascus has more than 250 missionaries who serve year-round in ministries for parishes, schools, families, and dioceses across the country.

“When parents saw how their children’s lives were changed, they too wanted an encounter, and that’s when we started offering adult retreats,” DeMatte said.

Damascus has locations in Ohio and Michigan, with a new location opening in Emmitsburg, Maryland — but DeMatte hopes to continue to expand. 

“We would like to see a high-adventure Catholic camp planted within an eight-hour driving distance of every Catholic young person in the nation,” he said. 

‘No one is alone’ 

Damascus doesn’t just offer an experience. It teaches young people to pray, fostering what DeMatte called “a hunger to attend Mass and Eucharistic adoration.” 

The goal is to “awaken a heart for adventure and foster courage and self-confidence as foundations for an abundant Christian life,” he noted. 

Damascus also emphasizes the Holy Spirit, encouraging young people to “start to recognize the promptings and convictions of the Holy Spirit in their everyday lives,” DeMatte said. 

“Our campers don’t just learn about the Holy Spirit, they become intimate friends with the Holy Spirit,” he said. “They know who he is and how he is our advocate.” 

What makes Damascus unique is the model of accompaniment.

“Our team models a spirit-filled life of joy, reflecting God’s individual love for each person through personal attention and accompaniment,” DeMatte said. “No one is alone.”

The adventure continues: A lingering effect 

When asked about the effect of the camp on youth, DeMatte quipped: “In these 25 years, what haven’t I seen?!”

“They not only hear the voice of God speak to them about their identities, but they are also filled with the Holy Spirit and sent forth on a mission, just like St. Paul,” he said.

Attendees often bring home with them a “missionary zeal,” DeMatte said. They start worship and adoration nights, host Bible studies, or get involved in social charities, “igniting a fire of greater conversion within their homes, their parishes, and their schools,” DeMatte said.

The fire continues into their adult lives, according to DeMatte.

“I’ve seen countless young faithful Catholics go into lay ministry, study theology, work full time as pro-life advocates, join ministries that serve the poor, the suffering, the sick, and those neglected by others,” he continued.

More than 51% of attendees say they are open to discerning a vocation after attending, DeMatte noted.

“I’ve seen young sixth graders hear the voice of God while sitting before Jesus in adoration on the sands of our beach, and now they are serving him at the altar as a holy priest,” he said. “I’ve seen young women fall in love with Jesus and grow up to become religious sisters.” 

“I’ve witnessed many vibrant happy Catholic marriages, coming forth from missionaries who met each other and fell in love while on mission,” he added.

The data support this.

More than 98% of campers last year said they believed in the Real Presence, compared with the national average of about 27%, DeMatte noted.

Daily prayer also becomes a bigger priority for campers.

“Before camp, 27% of campers incorporated daily prayer into their lives,” DeMatte said. “After camp, 82% of campers said they are extremely likely to incorporate daily prayer into their lives.”

In addition to the central Ohio and Michigan locations, Damascus Summit Lake is set to open for campers in the summer of 2026 in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

null / Credit: Tomsickova Tatyana/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

“The only males allowed in our meetings will be very young ones,” said Ruth Lewis, one of the founders of MoMa Breastfeeding, a newly launched support group for breastfeeding mothers. 

The group was founded by former trustees of La Leche League Great Britain (LLLGB), who say they were ousted from the group for their belief that only women can breastfeed. 

“As experienced breastfeeding counselors, we saw skills and knowledge being lost through changes in language and the abandonment of mother-centered practice,” says the website of MoMa Breastfeeding. 

“Support for mothers and children that protects the mother-baby dyad is needed more than ever.” 

Founded in 1956 by seven Catholic women in Illinois who named the group after the nursing Madonna and in response to a rise in formula feeding, La Leche League (“la leche” means “milk” in Spanish) originally supported natural family planning and other Catholic moral teachings, even though the group itself was formally nonsectarian.

It changed over the years, however. In recent years, the group in the U.S. and elsewhere has embraced gender ideology and so-called “inclusive” language, using terms like “chestfeeding” and allowing men who say they are women to participate in meetings. 

This pivot clashed with the convictions of many of the group’s leaders, including Marian Thompson, 95, one of the original founders who resigned from the board of La Leche League International in 2024 in protest.

The breaking point in Britain came in early 2024 when six trustees with the British group, including Lewis, a 17-year veteran La Leche League leader, were suspended after raising their concerns about the inclusion of males in women-only spaces and the confusing new language with the U.S.-based international board, on which sit members from all over the world.

The international group had issued an order in early 2024 for all affiliates in Great Britain to offer breastfeeding support to all nursing parents, regardless of their “gender identity” or sex.

La Leche League International shared correspondence it had about the trustees’ concerns with LLLGB leaders, which then got into the hands of journalists. The LLLGB trustees then shared the complete correspondence with LLLGB leaders and were suspended as a result of that. They then approached the British Charity Commission after being suspended, and after that they spoke to the media themselves. 

A spokesperson for the trustees said in 2024 that they had “exhausted every process available to us to defend sex-based services.”

“[La Leche League] International and a small number of fellow trustees at [the British chapter] have undermined our efforts and left us with no choice but to alert the Charity Commission … We would like to reassure group leaders and the mothers who benefit from LLLGB’s services that we are confident the law is on our side, as ‘mother’ is a sex-based term in U.K. law.”

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled in April that sex is determined by biology, a decision welcomed by both MoMa’s founders and advocates for biological reality worldwide.

“La Leche League International called us hateful bigots, but we were just trying to protect the mother-baby relationship,” Lewis told CNA. 

MoMa’s mission is to provide free, voluntary, mother-to-mother support from pregnancy through weaning, Lewis said, and the group insists on clarity. 

“The gender-neutral language is damaging,” Lewis said. “When you say ‘parent’ instead of ‘mother,’ it detracts from the relationship. It makes information harder to access, especially for mothers with dyslexia or whose first language isn’t English.”

Justine Lattimer is a lawyer specializing in child protection who is a co-founder and director of MoMa, and whose sister is a former trustee of LLLGB.

“The baby’s needs have been overlooked in all this talk of ‘chestfeeding’ and ‘parent,’” Lattimer said in an interview with CNA. “It’s all about what the parent wants. None of it is about the baby’s needs.”

“A baby is born expecting to breastfeed — it’s a biological imperative,” Lattimer said. “The mother is the complete answer to all the baby’s questions in those first moments.” 

Lattimer argued that breastfeeding is more than nutrition — it’s about comfort, bonding, and the tactile, emotional connection between a mother and her child. 

“Breastfeeding is part of mothering,” she said. “It’s part of a mother’s natural learning of being responsive in parenting.”

“A lot of things have happened over the course of the 20th century that have broken that relationship a little bit,” Lattimer continued. “Mothers have been disenfranchised.”

Lattimer said she hopes MoMa can help restore some of that brokenness by providing a place for mothers to talk about their common experiences.

“It’s also empowering for women” to have such a place, she said. “Women have been led to believe everything is technical and requires an expert,” she added. “We’re here to say, ‘You’re enough. You were made for this. You can do this.’”

Cynthia Dulworth agrees. The former La Leche League leader and Catholic mother of three told CNA that the “Catholic theology that my body could do this — to grow the baby in my womb, to give birth, and to breastfeed — completely changed my lifestyle and helped me connect with my children.”

“I truly believe that breastfeeding is not merely for nutrition but more importantly a relationship between a mother and a baby, which is irreplaceable,” said Dulworth, who resigned as a leader because she disagreed with the changes in language. 

“I didn’t want to confuse my daughters, who were often with me in meetings or when I took phone calls,” she said.

“Breastfeeding is a sex-based reality. It’s not about gender — it’s about mothers and their babies,” Paula Clay, a lactation consultant and longtime La Leche League leader in the U.S. who supports MoMa’s mission, told CNA.

For Clay, a Catholic who wears a crucifix and Miraculous Medal at her breastfeeding support groups, MoMa represents a return to “true north” — a focus on mothers and babies.

MoMa’s launch in May garnered immediate attention on social media, amplified by a “substantial” donation from famed author J.K. Rowling, an outspoken critic of men who call themselves women “invading” women’s spaces, who reposted the group’s announcement to her millions of followers. 

“We couldn’t have bought publicity like that,” Lewis told CNA, noting the donation covered critical startup costs like registering the company and setting up a website. The group has since received dozens of small donations, averaging £20 (about $27), often accompanied by heartfelt messages. 

The positive response has been overwhelming, Lewis said. 

“People write, ‘Sorry it’s not more,’ but we’re grateful for every bit,” she said. 

As MoMa grows, it aims to remain “small and perfectly formed,” Lattimer said. 

“We’re not here to police language or fight culture wars. We just want to help mothers breastfeed their babies. The world won’t end if we call mothers ‘mothers’ and say no to men occasionally,” she said.