Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz gives a talk during his July 2024 visit to Santiago, Chile. / Credit: Courtesy of Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus De/Flickr

Madrid, Spain, Mar 13, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

In his latest pastoral letter, the prelate of Opus Dei, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, reflected on how Christians should live joyfully in the context of “difficult times.”

“Joy, in general, is the effect of the possession and experience of something good. Depending on the type of goodness, joy has a greater or lesser intensity and permanence. When joy is not the consequence of some particular experience of a good, but the consequence of one’s whole existence, it is usually called happiness,” explained the successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá.

The prelate, who noted that “these are difficult times in the world and in the Church (and the [apostolate] is a small part of the Church),” also reminded that “always and in every circumstance, we can and should be happy.”

In this regard, he recalled how St. Josemaría was happy during his final years, despite the difficulties: “All of us who saw and heard our [spiritual] father in Villa Tevere during the last seven or eight years of his life saw that he was truly content and happy, even though he suffered greatly during these years, both physically and, above all, because of the serious difficulties in the life of the Church.”

Ocáriz also addressed the question of Christian joy in relation to the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.

Regarding faith, he noted: “Our natural joy, elevated by grace, is found especially in union with God’s plans” and is related to being aware of God’s paternal love and so “it is good to renew the conviction of our faith in God’s love.”

The prelate pointed out that “faith in God’s love for us brings with it great hope” that “has as its specific object a future and possible good,” which fundamentally consists of “full happiness and joy in definitive union with God in glory.”

In the realm of charity, Ocáriz said that “love for God and for others is linked, along with joy, to faith and to hope.” Thus, the shared essence of the different expressions of love is “desiring — and to the extent possible, seeking — the good of the person who is loved, along with the consequent joy that comes from knowing that this good is finally present.”

Thus, the prelate continued, “love, as a source of joy, is manifested in a special way in giving ourselves to others,” and when it consists of taking up the cross for love of God, “is a source of happiness,” and this joy “has its roots in the shape of the cross.”

Invoking Mary as “the cause of our joy,” the prelate concluded with an invitation to “always be happy and to be sowers of peace and joy in all the circumstances of our lives. We ask her for this in a special way now in this Jubilee Year of Hope, closely united to the suffering of Pope Francis.”

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

Normally busy streets in Manhattan are deserted April 10, 2020, after officials imposed a COVID-19 lockdown. / Credit: George Wirt/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 13, 2025 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic five years ago this week, on March 11, 2020. 

Every diocese in the U.S. curtailed public Masses in some way during the ensuing lockdowns, many in response to state or local laws. Secular authorities varied widely in their treatment of houses of worship during the pandemic, with some imposing harsher rules on churches than on other entities deemed “essential.”

Legal protections afforded to churches have evolved considerably since the start of the pandemic, however. Many states have since passed explicit protections for houses of worship, ensuring either that they will not be forced to shutter again amid a future health emergency — or, at the least, that they will not be treated more harshly than other “essential services” allowed to remain open.

CNA compiled data on which states now protect houses of worship as “essential” and which do not. Peruse the map below and see where your state falls.

The Supreme Court ruled in late November 2020 that New York state restrictions, which included restrictions on the number of attendees at worship services during the coronavirus pandemic, constituted a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise.

This means there is now legal precedent at the federal level suggesting that states may never shut down worship entirely again and can limit indoor capacity at houses of worship to, at most, 25% of normal. 

Some bishops lifted the dispensations they had issued as early as late 2020, while a few held out until 2022 before lifting the dispensation and inviting Catholics back to Mass in person.

After years of uncertainty over whether in-person Mass attendance numbers would ever rebound after plummeting during the COVID-era lockdowns, recent data has suggested that Mass attendance levels — at least nationally — have quietly returned to 2019 levels.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, a premier Catholic research organization, found that between May 2023 and the first week of 2025 attendance has averaged an estimated 24% nationwide. 

By comparison, weekly Mass attendance in the U.S. averaged 24.4% prior to the pandemic in 2019.

Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik, S.J., with the official image of the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome. / Screenshot from Diocesi di Roma YouTube channel.

Rome Newsroom, Mar 13, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).

Media reports say the Vatican may be getting closer to making a decision in the case of Father Marko Rupnik, the artist and former Jesuit who has been accused of the sexual and spiritual abuse of women under his spiritual care.

Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations on the case on Oct. 27, 2023, allowing it to be tried by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).

More than 500 days later, reports say Rupnik continues to travel while reportedly living in a monastery an hour outside of Rome — and will be tried under the canonical crime of “spiritual abuse.”

The head of the DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said in an interview at the end of January that the dicastery had finished gathering information in the case, had conducted a first review, and was working to put together an independent tribunal for the penal judicial procedure.

A lawyer for some of Rupnik’s victims released a book in March detailing the accusations of three women against the priest. Laura Sgrò told EWTN News she is looking forward to receiving updates in the case.

Here’s a timeline of known facts about the Rupnik case, including the knowledge and response of the Jesuits and the Vatican: 

2018

October: Jesuit Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, Rupnik’s superior, receives allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of Rupnik and an allegation that Rupnik gave absolution in confession to an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment. A preliminary investigation is set up.

2019

May: The 2018 allegations are deemed credible; a file is sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

June: Precautionary restrictions are imposed on Rupnik by his superior, Guerrero. What the specific restrictions were is unknown.

July: The CDF asks Father Arturo Sosa, the Jesuits’ superior general, to set up a penal administrative process for the Rupnik accusations. Sosa appoints a delegate and two assessors who are not part of the order.

2020

January: The delegate and assessors assembled by Sosa unanimously find that Rupnik did commit the canonical crime of absolution of an accomplice. The order knows that Rupnik had incurred an automatic excommunication for that crime.

May: The CDF also formally declares the excommunicable act (the absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment) happened and that Rupnik is in an excommunicated status. The excommunication is lifted by CDF decree later the same month. Rupnik ceases to be director of the art and theological center he founded in Rome, the Centro Aletti, and administrative restrictions are imposed for three years.

October: Bishop Daniele Libanori, SJ, an auxiliary bishop of Rome, is appointed extraordinary commissioner of the Loyola Community following a canonical visit that identified governance problems in the religious institute. 

2021

Libanori, in conversations with current and former members of the Loyola Community in early 2021, uncovers allegations of abuse against Rupnik, who had split from the institute in 1993 after co-founding the community with current head Sister Ivanka Hosta in the late 1980s. Libanori, according to the Associated Press, urges the women to file their complaints with the Vatican.

June: The CDF contacts the Jesuit general curia about allegations concerning Rupnik and some members of the Loyola Community.

July: Sosa asks Father Johan Verschueren, who succeeded Guerrero in January 2020 as Rupnik’s superior, to set up a preliminary investigation into the allegations with a person outside the Jesuits.

2022

January: An investigation concludes that there was enough evidence for a case; the results are sent to the CDF with a recommendation for a penal process. Pope Francis has a meeting with Rupnik at the Vatican on Jan. 3.

February: Verschueren imposes new, unspecified restrictions on Rupnik’s ministry.

October: The CDF (now called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) says the statute of limitations has expired on the alleged criminal acts and there can be no trial. Rupnik’s ministry continues to be under restrictions.

December: Sometime during this month, Verschueren imposes new restrictions on Rupnik. On Dec. 18, the Jesuits publish a statement asking anyone who has suffered abuse to contact them to lodge a new complaint or to further discuss any complaints that were already made. The statement also includes a basic timeline of when the Jesuits learned of accusations against Rupnik and what actions were taken.

On Dec. 17, Verschueren tells the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that Rupnik’s early restrictions were to “avoid private, in-depth spiritual contacts with persons, forbidden to confess women, and to give spiritual direction to women specifically in the context of Centro Aletti. In 2020, these restrictions were widened geographically to include anywhere.” In further comments to the Register on Dec. 20, Verchueren says Rupnik had been able to continue certain public activities while under restrictions because “a few exceptions” were made for him. “The local superior had the right to allow exceptions,” Verschueren said, and “could judge whether they were opportune or not.” He added: “I admit that this did not work well. We made these rules ‘absolute’ after complaints reached my ears.”

2023

January: In statements to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Verschueren says he asked Rupnik to not leave Lazio, the Italian region where Rome is located, during ongoing preliminary investigations. 

February: The Society of Jesus says it will open a new internal procedure on Rupnik after receiving 15 abuse accusations with a “very high” degree of credibility.

A more detailed timeline of the developments in the Rupnik case, including notes on his public activities while under restrictions, can be read here.

June: Rupnik is dismissed from the Jesuits due to his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.” 

“Faced with Marko Rupnik’s repeated refusal to obey this mandate, we were unfortunately left with only one solution: dismissal from the Society of Jesus,” the order says in a June 15 statement.

August: Rupnik is accepted for priestly ministry in the Diocese of Koper in his native Slovenia.

October: In a statement to CNA on Oct. 25, the Diocese of Koper confirms that Rupnik is now incardinated there and says the local bishop accepted Rupnik’s request to be received into the diocese “on the basis of the decree on Rupnik’s dismissal from the Jesuit order” and “and on the basis of the fact that no judicial sentence had been passed on Rupnik.”

Two days later, on Oct. 27, the Vatican announces that Pope Francis has waived the statute of limitations, allowing the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to open a disciplinary case against Rupnik.

2024

February: Two former religious sisters, ex-members of the Loyola Community Rupnik co-founded, share their testimony and identities publicly for the first time at a press conference in Rome.

October: A year after the Vatican case against Rupnik was opened, a person working in the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), who asked not to be named, tells CNA the DDF does not usually comment on open cases but is looking at the merits of Rupnik’s case and examining the procedural steps that can be taken and “the mechanism by which justice can be served.” 

2025

January: The head of the DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, reveals in an interview that the dicastery had finished gathering information in the case, had conducted a first review, and was working to put together an independent tribunal for the penal judicial procedure.

March: A media report says a decision in Rupnik’s case could come “in the not too distant future,” as other reports say he is living in a monastery an hour outside Rome and continuing to travel internationally for his work. Rupnik does not respond to questions from an Italian journalist who confronts him at a Rome airport.

This story was first published on Feb. 26, 2023, and updated on Oct. 26, 2023, and March 13, 2025.

Massacre in Plateau, Nigeria, on Dec. 24, 2023. / Credit: Aid to the Church in Need

ACI Africa, Mar 13, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

Nearly 150 Catholic priests have been kidnapped in Nigeria over the past 10 years, a new report has indicated, unearthing the growing persecution of Christians in the West African country.

The report published March 12 by the information service Agenzia Fides shows that of the 145 Catholic priests kidnapped in Nigeria between 2015 and 2025, 11 have been killed and the whereabouts of four others remain unknown.

In the report, the highest numbers of abductions were in the provinces of Owerri and Onitsha in the southern part of the country and Kaduna in the northwest.

With 47 cases of kidnapping, Owerri was the most affected in Nigeria in the mentioned period, which, according to Agenzia Fides, indicates “a high-risk region for clergy.”

“Despite the high number, all but two priests were released safely, suggesting effective rescue efforts or ransom payments,” Agenzia Fides reported.

Onitsha province comes second with 30 cases of priest kidnappings. One of the kidnapped priests was killed, according to the report. This, Agenzia Fides said, “suggests a pattern of abductions primarily for ransom rather than targeted killings.”

In Kaduna, the report indicates that a total of 24 priests were kidnapped and that seven of them were killed.

Kaduna Province had the highest number of deaths of priests in the whole of Nigeria, which, according to Agenzia Fides, “could be due to terrorist activity, insurgent influence, or heightened religious tensions in northern Nigeria.”

“Kaduna represents the most dangerous province, where kidnappings frequently end in fatalities,” Agenzia Fides said, adding that the trend “suggests that kidnappers in this region are more aggressive, politically motivated, or less interested in ransom negotiations.”

Other provinces with the highest death tolls in the reported period of time include Abuja, where two priests were killed; Benin, where one priest was killed; and Onitsha, where one priest was killed.

On Abuja, Agenzia Fides said: “The Federal Capital region is also affected, showing that even security-presumed areas are not immune.”

The report also lists Nigerian provinces where kidnapped priests are still missing. These include Kaduna, Benin, and Owerri.

The less-affected provinces in terms of kidnappings and murder of priests, which have been described as “low-risk,” include Ibadan with two cases of kidnapping, all of them released; Calabar with all the four kidnapped priests released; and Lagos, which didn’t have any cases of kidnapping.

Agenzia Fides noted that Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, appears to be the safest province for Catholic clergy.

“This could be due to better policing, urban security measures, or lower religious militancy in the region,” Agenzia Fides said.

Insecurity is rife in Nigeria, where kidnappings, murder, and other forms of persecution against Christians remain rampant in many parts of the West African country, especially in the north.

According to Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need International, a total of 13 Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024 alone.

Members of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) have condemned the incessant kidnapping and assassination of Catholic priests and religious in the West African region, describing the trend as an “abnormality.”

In a statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on March 11, RECOWA members described the violence meted against Catholic clergy in the entire West African region as “an evil that is gradually gaining ground,” noting that the trend is unacceptable.

In Nigeria in particular, RECOWA members noted that not a month passes by without news of the kidnapping of a priest or religious and a call for prayer made by the local ordinaries and superiors for their release. 

They appealed to Catholic priests ministering in hostile regions to remain committed to serving the poor and the marginalized without giving way to fear.

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

null / Credit: Syda Productions/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2025 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

An Ohio Catholic hospital has resolved a legal dispute in which it alleged that city authorities violated its constitutional rights in attempting to force it to perform a drug search on a patient.

Mercy Health, the city of Lorain, and Lorain County have reached “a fair and mutually satisfactory resolution of recent state and federal legal matters between them,” the three parties said this week, with the resolution coming after the hospital filed a lawsuit in January against the city.

The suit had alleged that police in August brought a “detainee” to the hospital’s emergency room and requested that doctors “perform a body cavity search” to determine if the suspect was in possession of drugs.

Doctors at the hospital refused, citing what they said was “an unjustifiably high risk of serious bodily injury or death” to the patient, specifically the risk that the search would release drugs into the patient’s system.

The police subsequently terminated an agreement with the hospital to provide policing services to its campus. In its suit, the hospital said the alleged retaliation violated its First Amendment rights, as the doctors had refused to risk the patient’s life in accordance with the hospital’s ethical and religious directives.

In their Wednesday joint statement, the hospital and government officials said the new agreements “establish a new policy that governs body cavity searches and the execution of search warrants as well as a new memorandum of understanding with the Lorain Police Chief, which allows the Mercy Health Police Department to employ commissioned police officers to perform police duties.”

The agreement “resolves all of the recent state and federal legal matters,” a hospital official told CNA. 

The hospital was founded in 1986 by the Sisters of Mercy. It has been sponsored at various times by the ​​Grey Nuns, the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor.

On its website, the hospital cites the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which stipulates that Catholic health facilities must be “rooted in a commitment to promote and defend human dignity.”

The “first right of the human person, the right to life, entails a right to the means for the proper development of life, such as adequate health care,” the bishops say. 

Father Marko Rupnik. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Rome

Vatican City, Mar 13, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).

A media report says the Vatican’s doctrine office could be close to a decision in the case of the ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik.

According to OSV News, a “sentence is expected in the not too distant future” in the canonical trial of the priest-artist accused of the sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of dozens of religious sisters under his spiritual care.

OSV News also said Rupnik would be tried for the crime of “spiritual abuse.” Last November, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said a Vatican working group was studying the possibility of making “spiritual abuse” a formalized crime in Church law rather than merely an aggravating circumstance of other crimes.

The report was published as some of Rupnik’s alleged victims shared their stories on the Italian television program “Le Iene” (“The Hyenas”), which aired on March 9. In the program, Italian journalist Roberta Rei confronted Rupnik at a Rome airport baggage claim but received no response to her questions about whether the abuse claims against him were true.

Bishop Jurij Bizjak, who retired Nov. 29, 2024, from the Diocese of Koper, told OSV News in January that Rupnik continues to travel internationally as part of his artistic career. Another recent media report said he is living in a religious convent about an hour’s drive from Rome called the Convent of Montefiolo, with some of his collaborators from the Centro Aletti art and theological center he founded in Rome.

In August 2023, Rupnik was accepted for priestly ministry in the Diocese of Koper, in his native Slovenia, after he was expelled from the Jesuit order for disobedience. In an October 2023 press release the Diocese of Koper stated that “as long as Rev. Rupnik has not been found guilty in a public trial in court, he enjoys all the rights and duties of diocesan priests.”

Regarding Rupnik’s case in the DDF, Fernández said in an interview at the end of January that the dicastery had finished gathering information, had conducted a first review, and was working to put together an independent tribunal for the penal judicial procedure.

CNA contacted officials of the DDF and others close to the case but received no answer by the time of publication.

In October 2024, one year after Pope Francis waived the statute of limitations, thus allowing the Vatican to investigate and try Rupnik’s case, a person working inside the disciplinary section of the DDF told CNA that they were examining the procedural steps that could be taken in the Rupnik case and “the mechanism by which justice can be served.” 

Rupnik, internationally recognized for his religious artistic works, has been accused of abusing adult women who were under his spiritual care as part of a religious community he helped found in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some of these accusations became public through the media in early December 2022, although the priest’s superiors and officials at the Vatican were aware even several years earlier.

St. Thomas University announced on Feb. 27, 2025, its plans for a 99,000-square-foot nursing college building. / Credit: Photo courtesy of St. Thomas University

CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Amid Florida’s nursing shortage, a Catholic university in the Archdiocese of Miami is expanding its nursing department following top test scores by its students.

St. Thomas University announced on Feb. 27 its plans for a 99,000-square-foot nursing college building. The archdiocesan-run university is seeking $3.5 million from the Florida Legislature to jump-start the project, which would eventually accommodate the 2,000 nursing students STU expects to have in 2026.

The university is expanding its nursing program amid Florida’s nursing gap. In 2024, Florida had the lowest scores in the nation on the National Council Licensure Examination — but in the same year, 100% of St. Thomas University’s nurses passed the exam. This was the second year in a row that the nursing program had a 100% pass rate.

The building will be home to the university’s newly created College of Nursing and College of Health Sciences and Technology, all part of an effort to close Florida’s widening nursing gap. 

Nashat Abualhaija, the dean of STU’s nursing college, noted that the project will help the state of Florida.

“Our future nursing education building and new nursing degrees will go a long way toward plugging the state’s nursing gap,” Abualhaija said in a statement. 

Henry Mack, STU’s vice president of strategy and innovation, said STU is asking the Florida Legislature for $3.5 million for operational costs to launch the nursing and STEM building.

“Legislative investments to improve private colleges benefit everyone because public universities alone can’t plug widening state and national labor gaps in critical health and STEM fields,” Mack told CNA. 

Florida’s nursing shortfall is expected to continue to worsen, according to projections by the Florida Hospital Association. But STU has projected that 2,000 students will be involved in the nursing program by spring 2026. 

Abualhaija highlighted elements of the nursing program that make it so successful.  

“St. Thomas University is leading Florida in the recruitment, retention, and professional readiness of nursing students, with a one-on-one nursing student coaching program, preparatory exit course, and higher GPA requirements for science prerequisites,” Abualhaija said in a statement. 

Abualhaija joined St. Thomas University in March 2024 and was instrumental in elevating STU’s nursing program from a department to a College of Nursing. 

The projection would make the university third in the state in terms of enrollment counts for nursing programs, after University of Central Florida College of Nursing and Galen College of Nursing. 

For Mack, $3.5 million is a great investment for Florida to make. 

“The ROI [return on investment] is obvious — a construction project potentially worth 16 times STU’s requested state appropriation, plus millions in future tax revenue and thousands of much-needed, good-paying nursing jobs for Floridians,” Mack said.

STU currently offers a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) with two tracks as well as a bachelor’s degree in natural science. The university also provides five graduate degrees and four post-master’s degree certificates to further training for practitioners. The university has a total of 7,660 undergraduate, graduate, and dual-enrollment students.

In the upcoming fall semester, STU plans to debut an online BSN to doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree track. The program enables students with a nursing bachelor’s degree to complete a master’s degree in nursing and a doctor of nursing practice in two and a half years.

STU will also launch an 18-month master of science in nursing with a nurse executive leadership track that focuses on human resources, budgeting, and health care outcomes.

The university is currently engaged in an intentional plan for growth, designed to make STU “the great Catholic university of the South.” The university’s president, David Armstrong, views the nursing program as an integral part of this plan.

“STU’s nursing program is a model for the university’s new ‘Pursue Excellence’ strategic vision,” Armstrong said in a statement. 

“St. Thomas University is fast becoming the South’s premier Catholic university as we prepare to celebrate our 65th anniversary next year,” Armstrong said.

St. John Paul II at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 21, 1981. / Credit: L’Osservatore Romano

Washington D.C., Mar 13, 2025 / 08:55 am (CNA).

According to St. John Paul II’s official biographer, George Weigel, living in Nazi-occupied Poland was “the most formative experience of Karol Wojtyla’s life,” shaping the future pope’s lifelong commitment to defending human dignity. 

Speaking at a conference, “Catholics and Antisemitism — Facing the Past, Shaping the Future,” on Monday, Weigel reflected on John Paul II’s “distinctly personal” relationship with the Jewish people. 

Sponsored by Philos Catholic, the event took place at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. Philos Catholic is a branch of the Philos Project, an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization that advocates for pluralism and Israel’s peaceful existence in the Middle East. 

Weigel’s keynote address followed panel discussions on the Catholic approach to antisemitism throughout history and since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Panelists included Catholic Answers apologist Trent Horn; Catholic author Mary Eberstadt; Jonathan Silver, chief programing officer of Tikvah and editor of the Mosaic; and Benedictine College history professor Richard Crane. 

Growing up in a small town outside Kraków, Karol Wojtyla had many Jewish friends and lived in an apartment owned by a Jewish family. He remained friends with some of them for the rest of his life, Weigel recounted. Many died in the Shoah. John Paul II’s father, Karol, imparted his belief in a free Poland that welcomed minority communities while retaining its cultural identity and integrity. 

“That cauldron of hatred and violence was, I believe, the most formative experience of Karol Wojtyla’s life,” Weigel said, referring to Poland during the war years. “Because of that experience, he came to dedicate himself to the defense of human dignity and freedom through the priesthood of the Catholic Church.”

“The years between 1939 and 1945 made Karol Wojtyła into a human diamond, whose cutting edge could break through the seemingly impenetrable, like the Berlin Wall,” he added.

Indeed, throughout his pontificate, Weigel described John Paul II as being “determined” to formalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the Holy See and to encourage Israel’s neighbors to recognize the “permanent reality” of the Jewish state. The pontiff visited the Western Wall and the Holocaust Remembrance Center, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem in March 2000.

“As a determined foe of antisemitism,” he stated, “John Paul would be appalled, sad, heartbroken, and very angry at the recrudescence of that ancient plague we have discussed today in the form of an exterminationist anti-Zionism the world has witnessed since Oct. 7, 2023. And he would want to name that evil for what it is.”

Ultimately, Weigel noted, John Paul II’s “wish” was that “Jews and Christians would be a blessing to one another,” focusing not only on the “pain of the past” but also “the possibilities of the future.”

“If we would honor his memory, let us commit our minds, hearts, and souls to advancing that collaboration,” he concluded.

The United Nations logo is seen at U.N. headquarters in New York on Oct. 4, 2023. / Credit: DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Mar 13, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).

The Holy See’s delegation to the United Nations is organizing a March 19 event in conjunction with the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women titled “The Scourge of Pornography in the Digital Age.”

This event will address the social impact resulting from the widespread availability of pornographic content on the internet and will take place at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

The conference will feature experts in law, psychology, and pastoral care who will analyze the social consequences of pornography, especially for women and children.

Speakers will include Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; Julia Dezelski, associate director for marriage and family life at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Maria Parker, assistant director for the laity at the secretariat; and Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan, vice president and director of public policy at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

Also participating will be Teresa Gerns Jiménez-Villarejo, representative of the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe; and Marissa Eckelkamp, policy adviser on marriage and family at the USCCB.

The event coincides with the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a resolution adopted by the United Nations on Sept. 15, 1995, at the conclusion of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

The document recognized the harmful effects of pornography on women and girls: fostering violence and reinforcing degrading portrayals.

However, the event organizers lamented that despite international efforts, “the proliferation of pornography in the digital age continues to represent a growing challenge, especially with the rise of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and social media.”

In addition to the exploitation of children in the production of pornography, the event will address emerging forms of abuse, such as “sextortion” and “virtual child pornography,” practices that violate human dignity and have serious psychological and social consequences.

Pope Francis has described pornography as a “brutality” that requires urgent attention.

In 2015, the USCCB published the pastoral document “Create in Me a Pure Heart,” a response to raise awareness about the destructive effects of pornography and to help those affected by it to heal.

In this context, the event, organized by the Holy See, seeks to promote a global dialogue on current challenges and discuss effective strategies to counter this form of violence.

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

Legatus President Stephen Henley speaks at the organization’s 2025 annual conference in February in Naples, Florida. / Credit: Courtesy of Legatus

Miami, Fla., Mar 13, 2025 / 07:20 am (CNA).

In today’s culture, often hostile to expressions of faith, many Catholics struggle with how to hold true to their values within the workplace. That’s why, in 1987, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan started the Catholic organization Legatus.

From the Latin word for “ambassador,” Legatus aims to empower Catholic presidents, CEOs, and managing partners to become what St. Paul coined “ambassadors for Christ,” explained Stephen Henley, president of Legatus.

Offering peer support groups, networking, speakers, pilgrimages, and an annual international summit, Legatus’ goal is to “inspire members to live out their faith in all aspects of their life.” There are currently about 90 Legatus chapters in North America.

Chapter meetings are held once a month, providing the opportunity for members and their spouses to participate in confession and Mass, the recitation of the rosary, a cocktail reception dinner, and a speaker’s presentation.

“All of this is to help fortify the members’ marriage, the peer support group, the networking of this group, and then embolden them to go out and live their faith,” Henley said. “Tom felt that if we can bring together these Catholic CEOs, how much more can we change society with these people that have high impact and high influence?”

Numerous renowned Catholic leaders are Legatus members and speakers, including Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life nonprofit Students for Life of America, and Dean Andrew Abela of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

In interviews with CNA, Hawkins, Abela, and Henley covered three tips for bringing the Catholic worldview into the workplace.

1. Commit to your priorities.

Abela’s Catholic faith wasn’t always as important to him as it is now. As a teenager, he even stopped practicing.

“I came back in my mid-20s, funnily enough, while I was in business school,” he recalled. As a student in 1991, he encountered Pope John Paul II’s new encyclical Centesimus Annus, and the pope’s reflection on economics changed the trajectory of his life.

“Just a few months after, I returned to the Church,” he said. “When I reverted to the faith, I wanted to know what my newly rediscovered Catholic faith meant for a life in business.”

After working for companies including Procter & Gamble, McKinsey & Company, and the Corporate Executive Board, in 2002 Abela eventually began teaching at The Catholic University of America. He is also a consultant to Fortune 100 corporations.

“The reason I left business and switched to academia was that I wanted to dedicate myself full time to studying questions about what it means to be a faithful Catholic in the workplace,” he explained. 

Recommitting to faith as his priority led Abela to new opportunities such as publishing “A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions and Insights from Catholic Teaching” and, more recently, “Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life.”

A member of Legatus since 2000, Abela mentioned that members can follow what the organization terms a “spiritual plan” to attend daily Mass, recite the rosary daily, and do monthly confession. 

Known as “Tres Magna,” or the “Big Three,” this plan was inspired by former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, who “attributed the perfect season to him going to daily Mass,” Henley explained. “Tom [Monaghan] thought, well, if he can go, there’s no reason why I can’t go.”

“Daily Mass, daily rosary, and monthly confession will align your life and priorities,” Henley added.

2. Find a supportive community.

When Hawkins first encountered Legatus, she was not Catholic. Hawkins was raised an evangelical. After Students for Life’s 2006 launch, she began speaking at Legatus events.  

In 2014, Hawkins decided to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, “a pilgrimage Legatus had sponsored.”

“I was the only Protestant there,” she recalled. “I decided there that I was going to enter RCIA [the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults].”

She became a full-fledged member of Legatus soon after becoming Catholic.

“As a pro-life activist who starts a pro-life organization, I want to save babies, I want to end abortion, I want to help as many families and women. You don’t start a nonprofit because you’re necessarily a great business leader or have all these skills. You started this nonprofit, this mission, because you want to see this mission accomplished,” Hawkins said. “For me, that’s one of the powerful benefits of being in Legatus, having friends and mentors who were successful in the for-profit world who I can call on and ask questions.”

“It’s very powerful and important to have those relationships. For me, in the work I’m doing, it’s a constant spiritual attack,” she added. “One of the best things about Legatus is I can call any of my Legatus friends at any moment, and they’ll be there for you. They know the power of the work we do and the resistance we face.”

Abela also finds a sense of community in Legatus and also strives to build a supportive Catholic community at The Catholic University of America.

“We share with students the principles of Catholic social doctrine, things like human dignity and solidarity, and try to embed these principles into all of our classes,” he explained. “We’re also increasingly trying to give them opportunities to practice different virtues as part of their studies and schoolwork.”

For instance, Abela explained, “to teach graduate students about decision-making, we go through a couple of survivor simulations, where you crash-land in the north of Canada and you have to decide what you’re going to do. We have them go through decision-making exercises explicitly practicing the virtue of prudence or practical wisdom, the habit of making wise decisions. We break apart the components of practical wisdom, which include things like alertness, preparedness, and reasoning, and we have them try to exercise those as part of the decision-making process.”

These skills built in the classroom can be applied not only in business but also in students’ personal lives.

3. Model the behavior you expect from others and celebrate your coworkers’ integrity.

For Henley, giving authentic witness to the Catholic faith in the workplace can start with a simple “hello.”

“First, live the golden rule,” he said. “When you’re walking down the hall, say hello to the janitor, to the executive, and to everyone in between. It matters a lot.”

He added: “Another practical thing: Take the opportunity to pray before meals. If you’re going on business lunches, you’ll be surprised at how many people say, ‘Yeah of course, let’s pray.’ It’s more common than not for people to pray before meals. The fact that you’re doing it shows that you’re a bold leader and that you’re spiritual.”

Abela agreed that these types of habits make all the difference and were the subject of the presentation he made of his book “Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life” last month during the 2025 Legatus Summit.

“The main focus of the book is understanding that things like diligence, honesty, and resilience are not genetic characteristics. They are habits that anyone can acquire through practice,” Abela explained. “Companies can focus on one of the most important virtues and give employees opportunities to practice those virtues.”

For instance, Abela explained the GrowVirtue App, an AI-driven app “based on the work of the book” that organizations can use to evaluate which virtues their company has already made a habit of, which virtues they might target, and tips for how to make progress.

“The important thing is that the company would choose a virtue that they think would be directly beneficial to the company right now,” Abela said. “Although personal results are private, the whole company can see what employees as a whole are weakest in. So, if you’re trying to grow in customer service, you might encourage the virtue of friendship or friendliness.”

Abela discussed the value of recognizing virtue both inside and outside the company.

“See examples in action or read about examples,” he suggested. “You can have employees watch videos or you can share articles that demonstrate examples of a particular virtue in action. And you can make sure senior folks are role models for junior employees.”

“Most importantly, give the employees the opportunity to practice the virtues and give feedback,” he added. “When companies give awards, they tend to do this more with core values. They should shift to core virtues and give it to people who are exemplars of that virtue.” 

Ultimately, the goal for Catholics is to live authentic lives that draw others to Christ. 

“Stay true to who you are — don’t give in,” Hawkins said. “They’ll know you by your fruits. I think that’s very important. You don’t have to work in the pro-life movement or specifically in an apostolate to be a good Catholic, a faithful Christian in the workplace. You can do that in any job, in any position you have — in McDonald’s or in a Fortune 500 company.”