Ss. Joseph and Cabrini Parish

Pope Leo XIV sits next to Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Vatican's synod office, during the jubilee of synod teams and participatory bodies in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

There is no single model for what synodality should look like in all countries and cultures, Pope Leo XIV said in a discussion with synod leaders from around the globe, held at the Vatican on Friday.

“We have to be very clear, we’re not looking for a uniform model. And synodality will not come with a template where everybody and every country will say this is how you do it,” the pope said in the Paul VI Hall Oct. 24.

“It is, rather, a conversion to a spirit of being Church, and being missionary, and building up, in that sense, the family of God.”

Leo spoke about synodality in unscripted remarks in English, Spanish, and Italian during the opening session of a meeting for the jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies, taking place in Rome Oct. 24-26, part of the Church’s wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

Around 2,000 people are attending the synod-focused jubilee, which includes a two-day meeting “aimed at translating the orientations of the [Synod on Synodality’s] Final Document into pastoral and structural choices consistent with the synodal nature of the Church,” according to the Vatican’s synod office.

The pope joined part of the program on Friday evening to listen to representatives from different regions give reports on the implementation of synodality in their parts of the world, and to answer their questions about the synodal process. 

Synodality, Leo said, “is to help the Church fulfill its primary role in the world, which is to be missionary, to announce the Gospel.”

He added that synodality “is not a campaign. It’s a way of being and a way of being Church. It’s a way of promoting an attitude, which begins with learning to listen to one another.”

The pope recalled the value of listening, “beginning with listening to the Word of God, listening to one another, listening to the wisdom we find in men and in women, in members of the Church, and those who are searching who might not yet be members of the Church.”

He also addressed resistance to the synodal process, such as worry by some that it is an attempt to weaken the authority of the bishop.

“I would like to invite all of you … to reflect upon what synodality is about and to invite the priests particularly, even more than the bishops, to somehow open their hearts and take part in these processes,” Leo said. “Often the resistance comes out of fear and lack of knowledge.”

He emphasized the need to prioritize formation and preparation at every educational level.

“Sometimes ready answers are given without the proper, necessary preparation to arrive at the conclusion that maybe some of us have already drawn, but others are not ready for or capable to understand,” he said.

“We have to understand that we do not all run at the same speed. And sometimes we have to be patient with one another,” Leo said. “And rather than a few people running ahead and leaving a lot behind, which could cause even a break in an ecclesial experience, we need to look for ways, very concrete ways at times, of understanding what’s happening in each place, where the resistances are or where they come from, and what we can do to encourage more and more the experience of communion in this Church which is synodal.”

Asked if groupings of churches, such as regional bishops’ conferences, will continue to grow in the life of the Church, Leo said, “the brief answer is yes, I do expect that, and I hope that the different groupings of churches can continue to grow as expressions of communion in the Church using the gifts we are all receiving through this exercise if you will, this life, this expression of synodality.”

The pontiff also weighed in on the topic of women and their participation in the Church, though he set aside the most controversial questions, which he said are being examined in a separate study group.

“So leaving aside the most difficult themes,” he said, “there are cultural obstacles, there are opportunities, but there are cultural obstacles. And this has to be recognized, because women could play a key role in the Church, but in some cultures women are considered second-class citizens and in some realities they do not enjoy the same rights as men.”

“In these cases, there is a challenge for the Church, for all of us, because we need to understand how we can promote the respect for the rights of everyone, men and women,” he encouraged.

The Church can promote a culture in which there is co-participation of every member of society, each according to their vocation, Leo continued. “We have to understand how the Church can be a strength to transform cultures according to the values of the Gospel.”

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Oct. 24, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit (ASEAN), Japan, and to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Oct. 24 indicated that he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping about the possible release of long-imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai, suggesting he may bring pressure on the communist country's leadership to allow Lai to walk free ahead of his likely conviction in a national security trial.

Asked by EWTN News White House Correspondent Owen Jensen if he planned to speak with Xi on the topic of Lai, Trump — who was boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland — responded: “I might do that, yeah.”

Earlier in the day a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, published an open letter urging Trump to use his meeting with Xi to advocate for Lai’s release. Trump on Friday acknowledged that letter.

“Well, I have a lot of respect for Rick Scott. And a lot of them that are asking me to do that,” he said. “And it’s on my list. I’m gonna ask.”

“Look, they’re big enemies,” he said of Lai and Xi. “But we’ll see what happens, you know. Jimmy Lai, Jimmy Lai and President Xi are big enemies but it’s been a long time and I will be … it’ll be on my list.”

Lai ‘must be released immediately,’ senators say

In their Oct. 24 letter, the U.S. senators — including Republicans Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz along with Democrats Tim Kaine and Raphael Warnock — praised Trump’s “outspoken advocacy” for Lai. The president earlier this year vowed to do “everything [he] can” to “save” Lai, who has been imprisoned for years and convicted of numerous charges including fraud and unlawful assembly.

“The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai’s release is stronger and more dire than ever, which is why this must be addressed at the highest possible level,” the senators wrote. They noted reports of Lai’s ongoing poor health and the threat that he may die in prison.

“We have great confidence that, should you, as the leader of the free world, raise Jimmy Lai’s case, President Xi will understand the importance of releasing Jimmy Lai now, before it is too late,” the lawmakers said.

Advocates of Lai have for years called for his release from prison. A longtime activist and advocate of democracy, Lai was first arrested in 2020 under China’s then-new national security law and has been arrested and convicted on numerous other charges since then.

Supporters have argued that China is targeting Lai for his criticism of communist politics and his support for democratic values. Lai himself pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the national security law.

Lai, who converted to Catholicism in 1997, has received global support amid his imprisonment and trials. A congressional commission in 2023 urged the United States government to sanction Hong Kong prosecutors and judges if they failed to release Lai.

That same year a global group of Catholic bishops and archbishops called for his release, arguing that his legal trials under the communist government had “gone on long enough.”

Lai has received multiple awards and accolades for his advocacy, including this year the 2025 Bradley Prize.

New York and California are pouring taxpayer dollars into Planned Parenthood, joining several other states in counteracting the federal defunding of the abortion giant.  / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

New York and California are pouring taxpayer dollars into Planned Parenthood, joining several other states in counteracting the federal defunding of the abortion giant. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged $140 million to Planned Parenthood locations in California on Oct. 24. On the same day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul committed $35 million in funding to Planned Parenthood locations in New York.

Both states are known for their abortion shield laws, which protect abortionists who mail abortion pills into states where they are illegal. Several women are suing California and New York abortionists after being poisoned by or coerced into taking the abortion pill by the fathers of their children.

New York and California join several other states that have made similar moves in light of the yearlong federal defunding of Planned Parenthood. Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington have all taken similar steps to replace lost federal funding for Planned Parenthood over the past few months.

Newsom said on Thursday that California is “protecting access to essential health care” by providing funding for more than 100 locations across the state. 

“Trump’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood put all our communities at risk as people seek basic health care from these community providers,” Newsom said in a statement.

Hochul in a similar vein said she is putting funding toward the 47 Planned Parenthood clinics in New York, alleging that pro-life politicians will “stop at nothing to undermine women’s health care.”

“In the face of congressional Republicans voting to defund Planned Parenthood, I’ve directed the state to fund these vital services, protecting access to health care that thousands of New Yorkers rely on,” Hochul said in a Friday statement.

Hundreds of alternative clinics exist in both states 

A spokeswoman for Heartbeat International, a network that supports life-affirming pregnancy centers, told CNA there are many low-cost and even free alternatives to Planned Parenthood across the country — including hundreds of clinics and pregnancy centers in both New York and California. 

Andrea Trudden said that “women in California and New York already have access to a vast network of life-affirming care.” 

“California has more than 300 pregnancy help organizations and New York nearly 200,” Trudden said, citing Heartbeat International’s Worldwide Directory of Pregnancy Help.

“These centers offer practical support, compassionate care, and resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies, empowering them to choose life for their children and themselves,” she continued. 

For women who need health care not related to pregnancy, Trudden noted that both states are “well served” by Federally Qualified Health Centers, which are centers that provide “comprehensive, low-cost medical care for women and families.” 

As of 2024, California had more than 170 of these clinics, while New York had more than 60, Trudden said, citing a report by KFF, a health policy institute. 

“If leaders truly cared about women’s health, they would invest in these community-based organizations that meet the needs of women before, during, and after pregnancy — not in the nation’s largest abortion provider,” Trudden added. 

Kelsey Pritchard, a spokeswoman at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNA that in California, Planned Parenthood “is choosing to shutter primary care rather than give up profiting from abortions.”

In Orange and San Bernardino counties, Planned Parenthood will continue to offer abortions while closing primary care facilities. 

“In California, New York, and across the country, Planned Parenthoods are outnumbered by far better options and the pro-life movement is happy to help women locate the care they need,” Pritchard said, citing reports by the Charlotte Lozier Institute on community care centers and pregnancy centers for women. 

Jennie Bradley Lichter, the president of the March for Life, criticized politicians for prioritizing abortion funding instead of care for women and children. 

“Political leaders who prioritize funding for Planned Parenthood leave no doubt where their priorities lie: and it is not with women and children,” Bradley Lichter told CNA.

“It’s a shame that the leaders of states like California and New York aren’t choosing to pour their resources into institutions that truly support moms, like the huge number of pregnancy resource centers located in each of those states,” she said.

Women deserve better than the “tragedy” of abortion, Bradley Lichter said.

“We at March for Life want women to know that when their state leaders fall short and leave them in the hands of Big Abortion, pro-life Americans will stand in the gap and help them find the love and care they need,” she continued.

Defunding Planned Parenthood: a ‘life-saving’ act 

A spokesman for Live Action called the defunding of Planned Parenthood “one of the most lifesaving acts Congress has taken in decades,” noting that the federal government stopped funding the organization that “kills over 400,000 children every year.”

“That victory must be made permanent when the one-year cutoff expires next July,” Noah Brandt told CNA. “Yet pro-abortion states like California and New York are working to undo that progress, using taxpayer money to expand abortion through all nine months and to ship abortion pills nationwide.”

“Federal funding for Planned Parenthood must never return, and states that promote abortion should be held accountable for enabling the mass killing and sterilization of American children,” Brandt said.

Pritchard added that although Planned Parenthood is “constantly scheming to grow their grip on taxpayer money,” the pro-life movement has seen wins around the nation — most especially, the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood.

“Make no mistake, they are losing big in Congress, in courts, and increasingly in the hearts and minds of Americans,” Pritchard said.

Sister Mary Amiya plays her Harmonium at Shanti Bhabon in Gazipur, Sept. 27, 2025. / Credit: Sumon Corraya

Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct 25, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Sister Mary Minoti still remembers the moment she first heard that voice in the convent — a melodious sound singing worship songs that captivated her immediately. The 63-year-old didn’t realize then that the singer was Sister Mary Amiya, whose hymns she had been singing since childhood during evening prayers and Sunday Mass.

Now, Minoti serves as house superior at St. Mary’s Convent in Toomilia, Bangladesh, and leads worship hymns herself, having once been Amiya’s student. She is a member of the Associates of Mary Queen of the Apostles congregation, known as the SMRA Sisters.

Sister Amiya, who also belongs to the congregation, spent 42 years as a teacher and has been a passionate composer of Christian hymns, writing lyrics for over 100 songs. Twenty of her compositions and melodies are included in Geetaboli, the official hymnbook used in Mass and other liturgical celebrations across Bangladesh.

The book, published by the Christian Communications Center under the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, contains over 1,000 songs. Amiya is the most prolific contributor among religious sisters.

“Amiya is a gifted songwriter and singer,” Minoti said. “Now, due to age, she sings and conducts less.”

Minoti remembered how Amiya taught songs to the young sisters. “Her mastery of Christian music amazed me. My respect for her grew. She is a treasure for the Catholic community and for Bangladeshi church music.”

Touching hearts through beauty

Amiya’s hymns are known for deepening devotion and inspiring love for God, Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She still writes music and is often invited to compose for occasions like jubilees or ordinations.

“I love singing Amiya’s songs,” said Swapna Gomes, a housewife who leads church singing in Dhaka. “Her lyrics and melodies are sweet and harmonious. That’s why many have become popular across the country.”

“Amiya has great musical talent, which she has used beautifully,” said Father Kamal Corraya, former director of the Christian Communication Center and editor of “Geetaboli,” a Bengali Catholic (and broadly Christian) hymn book used for liturgy and worship. He is also a songwriter and serves as the parish priest of Solepur Parish in Munshiganj.

He added: “Her songs touch hearts. As a religious sister, her music feels even more perfect. She meditates and practices deeply before writing and singing. Her long teaching career has helped her understand people’s emotions.”

“My parents encouraged me to write songs,” Amiya said. “I’ve written more than 50 songs for schools, associations, birthdays, and jubilees. After singing, people have hugged me. That means a lot.”

In addition to her work in “Geetaboli,” she published a solo songbook titled “Amritta Sangit” (“Tasty Song”) in 2009. It features 27 of her compositions with musical notation.

In the introduction to that book, then-bishop of Dinajpur, Moses Costa, CSC — who later became archbishop of Chittagong — wrote that God had bestowed on Amiya “many gifts,” including the ability to compose and direct music. He recalled her musical direction at his priestly ordination with “gratitude and joy.” He hoped her work would enrich daily worship and foster personal prayer among the faithful.

Costa passed away from COVID-19 on July 13, 2020.

Advice for young musicians

When asked for advice from young musicians, Amiya said: “First, you must know whether you’re singing the song correctly. If you’re performing in public, practice it repeatedly before presenting it.”

She said she believes music can promote Christian values. “Songs are an art. They can win hearts and attract people. Sad songs can express sorrow and touch emotions. Joyful songs can uplift and draw attention.”

Inspired by her father

In Bangladesh, singing is a vital part of worship. Each Mass or prayer service includes six to 12 hymns. “Singing makes worship more lively. It enhances its beauty,” she said.

“Seeing my musical skills, Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC, added me to the worship committee in 1974.”

Ganguly was later declared a servant of God — the first from Bangladesh’s small Catholic community on the path to canonization.

Amiya was born in Tuital Parish, Dhaka. She passed her SSC (Secondary School Certificate, which is the nationwide Grade 10 public school-leaving exam) in 1964 and joined the SMRA congregation the same year. She took her final vows in 1973. From 1970 to 1972, she studied music at Sangeet College in Segunbagicha, Dhaka.

She served on the Christian Community Building Commission at the CBCB Center from 2009 to 2011. Her writing journey began in high school, where she contributed stories, poems, and articles to the school publication. Her father was her inspiration.

Her elder sister joined Mother Teresa’s community. At age 6, Amiya visited Kolkata. “Mother Teresa held me in her arms, stroked my hair, and caressed me,” she recalled.

Later, she studied at the SMRA Sisters’ boarding school. “I admired the sisters and began preparing myself to serve humanity. My religious life has been long and joyful. I’ve been a sister for 58 years,” she said.

A living legacy

Now retired due to illness, Amiya lives at Shanti Bhabon in Gazipur. She suffers from breathing difficulties and spinal pain, and walks only within the convent. Every two years, her relatives take her to visit her village home in Tuital.

“I’m waiting for death,” she said softly. “I won’t remain, but my songs will be sung in churches. My memory will live on. That is my greatest achievement.”

Amiya served as an assistant teacher and headmistress in schools across the Mymensingh Diocese and the Archdiocese of Dhaka. She received the T.A. Ganguly Award and an award from the Bangladesh Christian Writers Forum for her contributions to Christian music and writing.

“My greatest reward as a lyricist is the love of countless people,” she said with a gentle smile.

Father Burke Masters speaks to Veronica Dudo on "EWTN News Nightly" on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 / Credit: EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Father Burke Masters’ first dream was to be a major league baseball player, but after feeling a call from God to the priesthood he now uses the sport “to speak about Jesus and the Church.”

“I played college baseball at Mississippi State University, and then played briefly in the minor leagues,” Masters said. “That was my dream to be a major league baseball player, but that didn't work out.”

“God eventually called me to be a priest,” Masters said in an Oct. 24 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.” He added: “It really wasn’t what I wanted, but it was this persistent and gentle call from the Lord.”

“I went to seminary fully thinking I would go … not like it, and then go back to my plans,” Masters said. “Yet when I got to seminary I just felt this overwhelming peace, and that’s one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”

Masters was ordained in 2002, serving as priest in Illinois. Eventually though, baseball did become a part of his career when he was named the chaplain of the Chicago Cubs in 2013.

“God brought baseball back into my life in a way that I never expected,” Masters said. “Since then, people have called me the ‘baseball priest,’ because I love to connect faith with sports.”

While Masters’ “full-time job” was as a pastor in the Diocese of Joliet, he attended all the Cubs’ home games. As the “baseball priest,” Masters was chaplain when they won the World Series in 2016.

“One of my big messages to the players then and to the players now would be: ‘Just remember your identity, you’re beloved sons of God. Your identity is not in the sport of baseball.’ And what I find that helps players … relax to say: ‘Yes, this is a big game. Millions of people are watching, but in the end, it’s still just a game. And life goes on,’” he said.

Connecting faith and sports

In 2023, Masters published a book, “A Grand Slam for God: A Journey from Baseball Star to Catholic Priest.” He wrote about his childhood outside of Chicago, his success in baseball, his conversion to Catholicism, and his acceptance of his vocation.

His story discusses his doubts and personal loss, and how he learned to embrace his identity not as an athlete but as a son of God and spiritual leader. 

“Baseball taught me a lot of things, among them, discipline, hard work, and how to work with people of a lot of different backgrounds,” Masters said. “I find that to be so helpful in my life as a priest, as a vocation director, as a pastor, that I try to invest a lot of time in my spiritual life.”

“Also, baseball has given me a way to … reach people who are not close to God at the moment by bringing stories about baseball and my sports background,” Masters said. “It gives me an opening to speak about Jesus and the Church. It’s just been a great gift."

In homilies, Masters said he will “bring up the sport of baseball.” He added: “I can see some of the people who love the sport perk up and then can bring the Gospel message to them more easily.”

Ahead of the 2025 World Series on Oct. 24, Masters shared with EWTN his predictions for the outcome. He said: “If I go off my head, the Dodgers will win, but I love pulling for the underdog. So my heart is going with the Toronto Blue Jays.”

null / Credit: txking/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Bishops in multiple U.S. states are leading efforts to spare the lives of condemned prisoners facing execution — urging clemency in line with the Catholic Church’s relatively recent but unambiguous declaration that the death penalty is not permissible and should be abolished. 

Executions in the United States have been increasingly less common for years. Following the death penalty’s re-legalization by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, executions peaked in the country around the turn of the century before beginning a gradual decline.

Still, more than 1,600 prisoners have been executed since the late 1970s. The largest number of those executions has been carried out in Texas, which has killed 596 prisoners over that time period.

As with other states, the Catholic bishops of Texas regularly petition the state government to issue clemency to prisoners facing death. Jennifer Allmon, the executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, told CNA that the state’s bishops regularly urge officials to commute death penalty sentences to life in prison. 

“We refer to it as the Mercy Project,” she said. 

Though popular perception holds that the governor of a state is the ultimate arbiter of a condemned prisoner’s fate, Allmon said in Texas that’s not the case. 

“The state Board of Pardons and Paroles has the ultimate authority,” she said. “The governor is only allowed to issue a 30-day stay on an execution one time. He doesn’t actually have the power to grant a permanent clemency.” 

“We don’t encourage phone calls to the governor because it’s not going to be a meaningful order,” she pointed out. “The board has a lot more authority.”

Allmon said the bishops advocate on behalf of every condemned prisoner in the state. 

“We send a letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and copy the governor for every single execution during the time period when the board is reviewing clemency applications,” she said. “Typically they hold reviews about 21 days before the execution. We time our letters to arrive shortly before that.” 

“We research every single case,” she said. “We speak to the defendant’s legal counsel for additional information. We personalize each letter to urge prayer for the victims and their families, we mention them by name, and we share any mitigating circumstances or reason in particular that the execution is unjust, while always acknowledging that every execution should be stopped.”

Some offenders, Allmon said, want to be executed. “We do a letter anyway. We think it’s important that on principle we speak out for every execution.”

In Missouri, meanwhile, the state’s Catholic bishops similarly advocate for every prisoner facing execution by the government. 

Missouri has been among the most prolific executors of condemned prisoners since 1976. More than half of the 102 people executed there over the last 50 years have been under Democratic governors; then-Gov. Mel Carnahan oversaw 38 state executions from 1993 to 2000 alone. 

Jamie Morris, the executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, told CNA that the state bishops “send a clemency request for every prisoner set to be executed, either through a letter from the Missouri Catholic Conference or through a joint letter of the bishops.”

“We also highlight every upcoming execution through our MCC publications and encourage our network to contact the governor to ask for clemency,” he said. Individual dioceses, meanwhile, carry out education and outreach to inform the faithful of the Church’s teaching on the death penalty. 

What does the Church actually teach?

The Vatican in 2018 revised its teaching on the death penalty, holding that though capital punishment was “long considered an appropriate response” to some crimes, evolving standards and more effective methods of imprisonment and detention mean the death penalty is now “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

The Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the revision of which was approved by Pope Francis. 

The Church’s revision came after years of increasing opposition to the death penalty by popes in the modern era. Then-Pope John Paul II in 1997 revised the catechism to reflect what he acknowledged was a “growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that [the death penalty] be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely.”

The Death Penalty Information Center says that 23 states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment. Morris told CNA that bills to abolish the death penalty are filed “every year” in Missouri, though he said those measures have “not been heard in a legislative committee” during his time at the Catholic conference. 

Bishops have thus focused their legislative efforts on advocating against a provision in the Missouri code that allows a judge to sentence an individual to death when a jury cannot reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty. 

Brett Farley, who heads the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said the state’s bishops have been active in opposing capital punishment there after a six-year moratorium on the death penalty lapsed in 2021 and executions resumed. 

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley and Tulsa Bishop David Konderla “have been very outspoken both in calling for clemency of death row inmates and, generally, calling for an end to the death penalty,” Farley said. The prelates have called for abolition via Catholic publications and in op-eds, he said.

The state’s bishops through the Tulsa Diocese and Oklahoma City Archdiocese have also instituted programs in which clergy and laity both minister to the condemned and their families, Farley said. 

The state Catholic conference, meanwhile, has led the effort to pass a proposed legislative ban on the death penalty. That measure has moved out of committee in both chambers of the state Legislature, Farley said. 

“We have also commissioned recent polls that show overwhelming support for moratorium among Oklahoma voters, which demonstrate as many as 78% agreeing that ‘a pause’ on executions is appropriate to ensure we do not execute innocent people,” he said. 

Catholics across the United States have regularly led efforts to abolish the death penalty. The Washington, D.C.-based group Catholic Mobilizing Network, for instance, arose out of the U.S. bishops’ 2005 Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. 

The group urges activists to take part in anti-death penalty campaigns in numerous states, including petitioning the federal government to end the death penalty, using a “three-tiered approach of education, advocacy, and prayer.”

Catholics have also worked to end the death penalty at the federal level. Sixteen people have been executed by the federal government since 1976. 

Executions in the states have increased over the last few years, though they have not come near the highs of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Allmon said Texas is seeing “fewer executions in general” relative to earlier years. 

The number of executions was very high under Gov. Rick Perry, she said; the Republican governor ultimately witnessed the carrying out of 279 death sentences over his 15 years as governor. Since 2015, current Gov. Greg Abbott has presided over a comparatively smaller 78 executions. 

“It still shouldn’t happen,” she said, “but it’s a huge reduction.”

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).

A federal judge struck down a regulation imposed by President Joe Biden’s administration, saying the administration was “redefining sex discrimination.” 

The Biden administration adopted the rule through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The ACA authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement rules that prohibit “sex” discrimination as understood through the 1972 Title IX Education Amendments.

Biden’s administration interpreted the ban on “sex” discrimination to also imply a prohibition on discriminating against a person on the basis of sex characteristics, including “sexual orientation; gender identity; and sex stereotypes.” Neither Title IX nor the ACA define “sex” in this way.

U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the Southern District of Mississippi ruled HHS “exceeded its authority” because when Title IX was adopted in the 1970s, “Congress only contemplated biological sex.”

The judge said the Biden administration was not implementing the prohibition as intended by the authors of the law.

The ruling states that Congress “was particularly concerned with inequality that female students experienced” but that “it did not at that time contemplate gender identity, transgender status, or ‘gender-affirming care.’”

“Neither [the HHS] nor this court have authority to reinterpret or expand the meaning of ‘sex’ under Title IX,” Guirola wrote.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who helped lead the multistate effort to sue the Biden administration over the regulation, praised the ruling in a statement.

“When Biden-era bureaucrats tried to illegally rewrite our laws to force radical gender ideology into every corner of American health care, Tennessee stood strong and stopped them,” Skrmetti said.

“Our 15-state coalition worked together to protect the right of health care providers across America to make decisions based on evidence, reason, and conscience,” he added. “This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach, and I am proud of the team of excellent attorneys who fought this through to the finish.”

At the time the “gender identity” rule was adopted, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) expressed concern that it advanced an “ideological view of sex.”

USCCB Religious Liberty Commission Chair Bishop Kevin Rhoades said at the time that “health care that truly heals must be grounded in truth,” but this rule “denies the most beautiful and most powerful difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”

Torture intersects with religious freedom violations worldwide, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says in an October 2025 report. / Credit: Sahana M S/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).

Governments around the world continue to violate religious freedom and breach international law by engaging in torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 

In an October USCIRF fact sheet, “Religious Freedom and the Prohibition of Torture and Ill Treatment,” the commission highlighted incidents of torture in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, and recommended the United States designate each of them as countries of particular concern (CPCs) as they “engage in or tolerate ‘particularly severe violations’ of religious freedom.”

These designations are based on information from the USCIRF’s Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, which is a database that tracks select victims targeted due to their religion. While the list does not necessarily reflect the exact accounts of torture abroad, at least 206 of the over 2,330 victims on the list have suffered torture or other ill treatment. 

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’s (CAT) definition of torture outlines three elements that, when combined, “reach the threshold of torture.” 

The definition states that torture is the “intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, for a specific purpose, such as to obtain information, as punishment, or to intimidate, or for any reason based on discrimination, and by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of state authorities.”

While 175 countries have enacted the CAT, the prohibition on torture is “a compulsory norm of international law,” the commission wrote. Torture methods vary and can be physical, sexual, or psychological including sleep deprivation or solitary confinement.

The CAT does not define ill treatment, but it requires states to prevent it. Acts that cause suffering or harm may be considered ill treatment and are still prohibited even if they do not meet the strict definition of torture. Examples of ill treatment might include “holding a prisoner in overcrowded or unsanitary conditions, public humiliation, verbal abuse, or denial of medical care.”

The U.S. government “should strengthen its advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in foreign countries on account of their religion or belief, including those who have suffered torture or other ill treatment,” USCIRF recommended.

Global case studies

The report highlighted previous findings to emphasize the instances of torture abroad and the need for designations of CPCs. In May, USCIRF reported “persistent reports of widespread torture and ill treatment in Turkmenistan, including severe beating and other serious abuse often used to extract confessions.” 

The committee further noted its concern regarding a pattern of “institutional impunity,” given the lack of investigations and prosecutions in Turkmenistan and across the Central Asia region. 

In Kyrgyzstan, USCIRF also documented alleged torture. Despite these allegations, the country recently abolished its independent torture prevention body.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban systematically imposes its interpretation of religion to restrict religious freedom. Authorities use corporal and capital punishment to penalize violations of their interpretation of Shari’a law. 

For example, in April, the United Nations reported four public executions in a single day for violations of religious edicts. It also found there were at least 213 corporal punishments carried out in the first half of 2025, including lashings, floggings, beatings, and acts of public humiliation. 

Taliban authorities also use torture as a tool for ideological punishment, often against detained religious minorities. USCIRF noted the “widespread methods include beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, simulated drowning, solitary confinement, sexual violence, and threats of execution,” often while authorities simultaneously use “religious insults.”

Cruel and degrading conditions have been reported including overcrowding, unsanitary environments, and insufficient access to food and medical care. 

Iran and Saudi Arabia were also found to impose the death penalty and corporal punishment based on religious interpretation. Religiously based capital crimes include “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth.” 

In China, under the Chinese Communist Party, basic religious practices are considered “extremist” and can be grounds for imprisonment. USCIRF wrote: “It is not surprising that detainees in the internment camps are not able to freely practice their religion in any way. Through political indoctrination, China intends to erase ethnic and religious identities.” 

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

Life-affirming organizations are calling on the Trump administration and Congress to permanently block funding to Planned Parenthood.

In an Oct. 22 letter, Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins and more than 50 signers asked President Donald Trump to debar Planned Parenthood from federal funding because of reports of the trafficking of baby body parts as well as possible fraud and failure to report sex crimes, among other complaints.

In another letter sent the same day, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and more than 100 signers asked Congress to remove the loophole created by the Affordable Care Act that enables government money to go to Planned Parenthood.

While the Trump administration cut funding to the abortion giant for one year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, pro-life advocates say Planned Parenthood should go through debarment, a significant legal process to block businesses from receiving government funding due to misconduct, fraud, or other concerns.

“Planned Parenthood’s track record shows that they should not be allowed to receive a single penny of taxpayer support,” Hawkins said in the letter. “They are unqualified to work for the American taxpayer.”

More than 50 organizations and legislators signed the Students for Life letter, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, Family Research Council, Family Policy Alliance, Concerned Women for America, Live Action, and Center for Medical Progress. 

“To debar Planned Parenthood — block them from all federal support — we simply need an honest look at their behavior and the kind of ‘service’ they are selling,” Hawkins said in a statement shared with CNA. 

“Think of this like a long overdue job review after many complaints all leading to one conclusion — Planned Parenthood should be fired,” she said.  

There are more than 5,300 federally qualified health centers that specifically provide women’s health services, while Planned Parenthood has less than 600 facilities in the U.S., according to Students for Life Action. 

“Women and girls won’t miss Planned Parenthood,” Hawkins said. “Federally qualified health centers outnumber Planned Parenthood and can easily absorb their current traffic while providing women and families with the wide range of real health care they need.”  

In the Susan B. Anthony group’s letter to Congress, signers urged Congress “to unequivocally oppose any consideration of extending the COVID-era subsidies without Hyde [Amendment] protections.”

The Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from directly funding abortion, but a plan by Democrats could expand Obamacare-funded abortions, permanently extending what was initially a temporary welfare program. 

“Obamacare forces taxpayers to subsidize insurance plans that pay for abortion on demand,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. “And under the guise of COVID relief, President Biden took it even further, massively expanding those subsidies and the flow of taxpayer dollars to abortion.”

“Extending these subsidies without the Hyde Amendment is a vote to expand abortion on demand,” Dannenfelser said.

Rebecca Weaver, the policy director for the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, noted that abortion harms both the child and the mother. 

“Induced abortion is not health care,” Weaver told CNA. “It ends the life of our fetal patient and often causes significant harm to our maternal patient.”  

“As life-affirming medical professionals, we are joining the call against the renewal of the Obamacare subsidy for abortion (through the abortion surcharge) that forces American citizens to fund the harmful and deadly practice of induced abortion,” Weaver continued.

“We support, instead, life-affirming policies that improve the health care that all of our patients receive and their access to that health care,” Weaver said. 

“The more Washington funds abortion, the more unborn children lose their lives, and the more moms are hurt,” Dannenfelser added. “This pro-life Congress must not extend the Obama-Biden legacy of taxpayer-funded abortion that ends the lives of countless innocent babies.”

Pope Leo XIV greets a baby during an audience with the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family at the Vatican on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 24, 2025 / 13:44 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV during a Friday audience at the Vatican reminded teachers and students from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family of their mission to both speak and live the “common witness to the truth.”

“Your specific mission concerns the search for and common witness to the truth: in carrying out this task, theology is called to engage with the various disciplines that study marriage and the family, without being content merely to speak the truth about them but living it in the grace of the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, who revealed the Father to us through his actions and words,” he said in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 24.

In Leo’s audience with the institute — controversially re-founded by Pope Francis in 2017 to include the study of social sciences in addition to moral theology — he said the faithful “cannot ignore the tendency in many parts of the world to disregard or even reject marriage.”

“Even when young people make choices that do not correspond to the ways proposed by the Church according to the teaching of Jesus, the Lord continues to knock at the door of their hearts, preparing them to receive a new interior call,” the pontiff said. “If your theological and pastoral research is rooted in prayerful dialogue with the Lord, you will find the courage to invent new words that can deeply touch the consciences of young people.”

He added that our time is marked not just by tension and confusing ideologies but also by “a growing search for spirituality, truth, and justice, especially among young people.”

“Welcoming and caring for this desire is one of the most beautiful and urgent tasks for all of us,” Leo said.

In May, Pope Leo made one of his first personnel appointments as pope when he named Cardinal Baldassare Reina grand chancellor of the John Paul II Institute, replacing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 20.

Reina, 54, has been vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. As part of that role, he is also grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University, the home of the John Paul II Institute.

Pope Leo’s appointment of Reina as grand chancellor appeared to be a return to the former practice of linking the leadership of the institute to the vicar general of Rome. This practice had been changed under Pope Francis, who named Paglia to the role in 2016.

In his address to students and teachers on Friday, Leo pointed out the institute’s commitment to deepening the link between the family and the social doctrine of the Church and urged them to let their studies of family experiences and dynamics enrich their understanding of the Church’s social teaching.

“This focus would allow us to develop the insight, recalled by the Second Vatican Council and repeatedly reaffirmed by my predecessors, of seeing the family as the first cell of society, as the original and fundamental school of humanity,” he said.

He also recalled Pope Francis’ encouragement to women expecting a child in his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. 

“[Francis’] words contain a simple and profound truth: Human life is a gift and must always be welcomed with respect, care, and gratitude,” Leo said.

Recalling that many women face pregnancy in situations of loneliness or marginalization, the pontiff called on the civil and Church communities to “constantly strive to restore full dignity to motherhood” through concrete actions, including “policies that guarantee adequate living and working conditions; educational and cultural initiatives that recognize the beauty of creating life together; a pastoral approach that accompanies women and men with closeness and listening.”

“Motherhood and fatherhood, thus safeguarded, are not burdens on society but rather a hope that strengthens and renews it,” he said.