St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV addresses cardinals in the Sistine Chapel during his first Mass as Pope, Friday, May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 10, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV made history on Thursday when he became the first U.S.-born — and the first Augustinian — to assume the papacy, and many of his fellow Augustinians in the United States are expressing joy about the news and touting the Holy Father’s humility and kindness they encountered firsthand.

“He was Father Bob, [then] Bishop Bob, and now he’s Pope Leo XIV,” Father Barnaby Johns, the prior provincial of the Province of St. Augustine in California, told CNA while reflecting on his interactions with the new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost.

”It’s so beautiful for us to see our brother up there on that balcony,” Johns said.

Leo, born in Chicago in 1955, became a novitiate in the Order of St. Augustine at age 22 after graduating from Villanova University in 1977. He took his solemn vows in 1981 and was ordained a priest in 1982.

He spent 1985 through 1998 as an Augustinian missionary in Peru, where he was part of the leadership of the Catholic charity Caritas Peru.

Then-Father Prevost was the head of the Augustinian Province of Chicago from 1999 to 2001 and then served as the prior general of the Order of St. Augustine from 2001 through 2013. Pope Francis named him the bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015 and made him a cardinal in 2023.

Johns, who has known Leo for about 20 years, said the current pontiff is “very good at listening attentively” and has tried “to be supportive in my own journey,” calling the Holy Father “certainly very friendly.”

“He’s always been the most personable and friendly human being who would reach out to you,” Johns said.

Johns recalled meetings he had with Prevost around Easter 2024, shortly after Johns was named prior provincial of the Augustinians in California. Then a cardinal, Prevost “came up to me and asked how I was.” 

Johns said there is “something profound in his being down to earth,” noting the “humility” in a cardinal taking the initiative to check up on his well-being.

At the time, Johns, who is a native to the United Kingdom, was “struggling in [his] vocation” due to his assignment in California, outside of his home country. He said Prevost was “very easy to talk to and enjoyable company” and that “he gave me time, he listened to me, [and] he gave me good advice.”

“To me it felt that the personal interaction was something that he wants to give to those that he encounters,” Johns said, adding: “He’ll bring that touch to the Church.”

He said his fellow Augustinians in his province felt the selection of Prevost was “overwhelming and [we were] overjoyed,” adding that it “means so much on such a deep personal level.”

Father James Halstead, a member of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago, would often interact with Prevost in social and business situations. He first met the Holy Father before he had joined the novitiate, when Prevost was a senior in high school.

Halstead told CNA that after Prevost had entered the order, the young man would often interact with Halstead’s family, and Halstead recalled his mother would say: “They’re all nice guys, but that Bob Prevost is especially calm and respectful and kind.”

“My mother really liked him,” Halstead said. “My sisters liked him more than they liked me.”

He tearfully spoke about Prevost reaching out to him after Halstead was diagnosed with ALS. He said he had not reached out to Prevost about the diagnosis but that Prevost had found out and “sent a very nice email” providing “words of encouragement” and a “promise of prayer.”

“I just want to say that you are very much in my thoughts and prayers,” the now-pope said, according to a copy of the email provided by Halstead. “May you find the strength and courage to carry this cross.”

Halstead noted that there is “great joy and pride” among fellow Augustinians to whom he has spoken, adding that there is “great hope for Bob Prevost, our brother, and [we are] really proud of him and, oh, we’re just delighted.”

An Augustinian papacy

Unlike many orders, the Order of St. Augustine does not have a direct lineage to its patron but was rather established in 1244 by Pope Innocent IV, more than 800 years after Augustine’s death. 

Johns told CNA that the order follows the Rule of St. Augustine and its members seek to mirror his spirituality. He noted that it was “founded to be at the service of the Church by the pope.”

“We are a Christian community living together who are wanting to seek to be brothers and have a sense of fraternity that is contrary to any form of individualism, which is a challenge in today’s society,” Johns added.

Johns noted that in his first speech, Leo said he was a son of Augustine, and Johns referenced the pontiff’s line that paraphrased Augustine: “With you, I am a Christian, and for you, I am a bishop.”

“[His papacy] will have the Augustinian heart at the center of everything,” Johns said, adding that those words demonstrate “that profound sense of fraternity that I think Pope Leo will bring to his papacy.”

Amid some disagreements within the Church on topics such as blessings for same-sex couples and restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, Johns expects Leo can take “a reconciliatory [approach] as a leader and a brother,” which will “transcend some of these political labels.”

“[Leo will] speak more to the heart and from the heart and that message will — I pray — resonate with all of the divisions … that seem to be occurring within our world, and that’s not an easy [task],” Johns added.

Halstead said there are three primary elements of the Augustinian way of life, which he expects Leo to carry into the papacy: a deep spirituality, community life, and service to the poor and the marginalized. He said Augustinian spirituality teaches one how to cultivate his or her interior life, saying one must “be introspective so you can know yourself.”

“It starts when you enter the novitiate and hopefully it continues until you breathe your last,” Halstead added. 

“He’ll really be able to think deeply and be encouraged to think deeply about the issues that are before him,” he said.

Halstead also referenced some of the divisions within the Church on issues related to same-sex blessings, Communion for the divorced and remarried, and the Latin Mass, saying Leo will need “to deal with those, and not just dialogue about those things, but you’ve got to make a decision.”

“With what he has to handle, I shall pray for him,” Halstead said but expressed confidence in the leadership of the Holy Father.

“Can he deal with them? Yes,” he said. “Is it going to be very difficult? Yes.”

St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. / Credit: Attributed to Gerard Seghers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, May 10, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV, elected on Thursday, is the first pope from the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), also known as the Augustinians, an ancient religious order with thousands of members worldwide. 

The Order of St. Augustine first came together nearly 800 years ago, first composed of a union of a number of religious communities that were using the Rule of St. Augustine, a document written by the saint in the fourth century that continues to be highly influential among Catholic orders today. 

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

St. Augustine was an early Catholic bishop, theologian, and doctor of the Church whose ideas and writings shaped Catholic doctrine for over a millennium. 

As documented in his autobiographical work, the “Confessions,” Augustine was brought up Christian but later abandoned the faith for a life of worldly pleasure and revelry, while at the same time becoming an accomplished philosopher and rhetorician. 

After years following the Manichaean heresy (which posits that the world is in a constant struggle between dark and light), Augustine met St. Ambrose, a bishop and fellow doctor of the Church, who inspired Augustine through his preaching to seek the truth in the Christian faith he had rejected. Augustine returned to his Catholic faith, fulfilling the many years of fervent prayer of his mother, St. Monica. 

After returning to Africa, on a visit to Hippo, Augustine was proclaimed priest and then bishop against his will. He later accepted it as the will of God and spent the rest of his life as the pastor of the North African town, where he spent much time refuting the writings of heretics. 

Augustine’s written works, including the “Confessions” and “The City of God,” remain classics of Christian writing and philosophy. 

The order forms

As bishop — so reports the Catholic Encyclopedia — Augustine led a monastic community life with his clergy; vows were not obligatory, but the possession of private property was prohibited.

Many sought to copy his way of life, and Augustine wrote instructions during his lifetime to guide monastic communities, such as “De opere monachorum” (“On the Work of Monks”). The Lateran Synod in 1059 approved Augustine’s “rule” for canons — that is, clerics wanting to follow Augustine’s way of life — and the rule was steadily adopted by many communities, especially in Italy. 

The rule emphasizes love for God and neighbor as the primary commandment, stressing the importance of communal living and sharing, and the prioritization of humility over earthly status. 

Pope Innocent IV in 1244 later united all the disparate communities in Italy using the rule, thus forming the Hermits of St. Augustine, a mendicant order (meaning the friars take a vow of poverty and rely on the support of the faithful). A later pope, Alexander IV, further unified a number of other monasteries and communities in 1256 and also freed the order from the jurisdiction of the bishops. 

Within a century of the Grand Union, as the 1256 consolidation was known, there were already 8,000 friars established in many countries. They became involved in a variety of works as pastors, preachers, educators, scholars, theologians, and missionaries.

As prolific missionaries, the Augustinians ventured throughout Europe, as well as to North and South America, Africa, Japan, Persia, India, and China. The Augustinians have been present in Peru — where Leo XIV spent over two decades of his ministry — since 1551. 

In the United States today, there are three regional provinces of Augustinians: one based in Philadelphia, one in Chicago, and one in San Diego. The Philadelphia province was the first, founded after Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore invited Augustinians to come over from Ireland in the 1790s. 

The Order of Saint Augustine today includes some 2,800 Augustinians in 47 countries throughout the world, according to the order. 

Leo XIV is the first pope elected who is a member of the Order of St. Augustine. Five popes who came before him were canons regular — priests who followed St. Augustine’s rule — and one, Gregory VIII, was a member of the Norbertine order, which also follows St. Augustine’s rule.

There have, however, been several Augustinians canonized as saints, including St. Nicholas of Tolentino and St. Thomas of Villanova. 

An Augustinian pope

The future Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost, attended an Augustinian seminary high school near Holland, Michigan, which is now an event venue. He later earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Villanova University, which is sponsored by the Augustinians and located in Pennsylvania.

He made his solemn vows as an Augustinian in 1981 and was ordained to the priesthood in June 1982 after studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. After being ordained, he earned a doctorate in canon law from Rome’s Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas (also known as the Angelicum) in 1987.

Prevost returned to Chicago for a short time in 1987, serving as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Midwest Augustinians (Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel). He was then sent to Peru, where he served the Augustinians in various capacities including as a regional ecclesiastical judge and teacher of canon law in the diocesan seminary for Trujillo, Peru, for 10 years.

After being elected the head of the Augustinian Province of Chicago, Prevost returned to the U.S. in 1999. He was elected prior general of the Augustinians in 2001 and then reelected in 2007, serving as head of the order until 2013.

null / Credit: Kelleher photography/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 17:58 pm (CNA).

Before he was pope, he was a math major at a Catholic liberal arts university in Pennsylvania.

Pope Leo XIV is the 267th head of the Catholic Church. He’s also a class of ‘77 alumnus of Villanova University, which is run by the Order of St. Augustine.

When he was elected to the papacy on May 8, Pope Leo made history as the first pope from the United States. 

A campus abuzz

Amid a busy finals week, bells began to ring on Villanova’s campus Thursday afternoon. Helicopters circled above. Throngs of students hurried to the chapel.

The campus slowly began to discover that the newly-elected pontiff was an alumnus. 

“It was pure shock in the moment — there’s no other way to put it,” said Villanova student Drew Figge, a freshman from Missouri. “No one really expected it and it took a while for us to realize that we were on the same campus as a pope had been.”

Despite it being finals week, with many students having already started to move out, there was a “buzz” all around campus, Figge said. The church bells were “ringing for hours playing our alma mater,” and at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, “numerous people of all ages” had gathered. 

“It’s really cool to think that we are the only college in the country that had a pope graduate from it, so it really sets us apart,” Figge told CNA. 

The buzz even made its way online.

Pope Leo’s alumni status made the Trending page on X: “New pope’s academic background stirs online buzz,” it read on Thursday.  

“This is crazy!” one priest said, according to the university’s senior associate athletic director, Dana O’Neil, who described on X the scene on Thursday afternoon.

“Villanova has God’s divine approval. Is it ever a bad day to be a Wildcat?” quipped one user.  

Jaisy Joseph, an assistant professor of theology at Villanova, told CNA that everything has felt “surreal.”

“From the announcement onwards, the church bells were ringing nonstop in celebration,” Joseph said. “Students, faculty, and staff transition from shock to tears to joy.”  

“What an exciting time to be here at Villanova!” added Alex Dailey, a freshman from Raleigh, North Carolina. 

“Villanova has always been a big part of my family, and my Catholic faith is super important to me,” Dailey told CNA. “So seeing a Villanova alum leading our Church is really inspiring to the university community.”  

Dailey added that he “look[s] forward to this fresh new start for the Catholic Church, for my school, for my country, and for my classmates and myself.” 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, an alumnus of Villanova, said the news “overwhelmed” him with joy.  

“I think the Augustinians, Villanova, our country, believe that we’ve given, through the grace of God and the Holy Spirit, a great gift to the universal Church,” he told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro.  

With the papal election, Villanova has “lots of joy and every reason to be proud,” Burbidge said. 

The president of Villanova, Father Peter Donohue, reflected on the future of “this new chapter of Catholic leadership” and what it means for the school and the world. 

“May we be challenged to reexamine our role in fostering an academic environment that remains steadfast in faith yet boldly engages with the complexities of the modern world,” he said. 

The university is named for a 16th-century Spanish Augustinian friar, St. Thomas of Villanova. Nicknamed the “Beggar Bishop,” the saint is remembered for his simple life and inspiring preaching. 

What was the pope like on campus? 

As a child, Robert Francis Prevost already had an inkling that he might want to be a priest. Born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, he decided to attend a seminary school run by the Order of St. Augustine. After graduating from St. Augustine High School Seminary in Holland, Michigan, in 1973, he went on to attend Villanova University. 

While at Villanova, Prevost was an active member of the university’s long-standing pro-life club “Villanovans for Life,” the oldest pro-life college club, according to its website. Prevost was a close friend of the two founders of the group and attended various marches for life with the group. 

As a young college student, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine’s pre-novitiate, an early stage of preparation before becoming a religious. The year he graduated from Villanova, he joined the Order of St. Augustine as a novitiate. 

Prevost has stayed connected to Villanova over the years, usually stopping by campus whenever he returned to the United States, according to Donohue.

In 2014, Prevost returned to campus to receive an honorary doctorate of humanities. He also served as a board member at the university for a brief amount of time when he was the provincial for the Midwest province of the Augustinians. Last October, he said Mass in St. Peter’s Crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica for a group of visiting Villanova students. 

Now, Pope Leo XIV has become the first Augustinian friar to be pope. 

‘An Augustinian papacy’

As an Augustinian priest himself, Donohue reflected on what an “Augustinian papacy will mean to our university community and our world.”

“Villanova, built on the teachings of St. Augustine, has always been grounded in advancing a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationship between faith and reason — between spirituality and wisdom,” Donohue said in a statement shared with CNA.

The new pope’s educational background encompasses reason and faith — mathematics and theology — as it includes a bachelor of science degree in mathematics, a master of divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. 

But the new pope is also “known for his humility, gentle spirit, prudence, and warmth,” Donohue said. 

The earliest origins of the Order of Augustine trace back to St. Augustine of Hippo and his rule of monastic life in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, but it was Pope Innocent IV who officially founded the Augustinians in 1244. 

St. Augustine, a doctor of grace, is known for his countless theological contributions to the early Church, most famously his works “Confessions” and “The City of God.” He penned the line “our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God,” around the year 400, which still resonates with people today.  

“Something tells me … we’re going to be hearing a lot about St. Augustine,” Burbidge said. 

As a Villanova theology professor, Joseph said that “many of us are thinking about how to help our students deepen their understanding of the Augustinian charism.”

“This moment brings the Augustinian charism of unitas, veritas, and caritas [unity, truth, and love], which also happens to be the Villanova motto, to the centers of Rome,” she reflected.

Crowds of the faithful fill St. Peter’s Square awaiting smoke from the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 / Credit: EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 17:28 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:

Indian and Pakistani cardinals leave St. Peter’s Basilica together ahead of conclave

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of India and Cardinal Joseph Coutts of Pakistan were spotted leaving St. Peter’s Basilica together on Wednesday after the Mass “Pro Eligendo Romano” (“For the Election of a Pope”). “Cardinal Gracias, 81, leaned on Cardinal Coutts, 79, who extended his arm and conversed with his confrere,” Agencia Fides reported on Thursday. 

“In the general congregation before the conclave on May 6, the entire College of Cardinals issued a public appeal for peace, citing scenarios such as Ukraine and the Gaza Strip,” the pair reportedly told Fides, adding: “The appeal also includes the expression ‘in many other parts of the world,’ and this certainly includes the current situation between India and Pakistan, in which we implore the Lord for a just and lasting peace.” 

The display of unity between the two cardinals comes after a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 26 Indian civilian tourists, one of whom was a 57-year-old Catholic man, last week. 

Maltese government proposes discussion on legalizing assisted suicide  

The Maltese governement has launched a two-month-long “public consultation” on the prospect of legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients who have six months left to live, with Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality Rebecca Buttigieg insisting that the proposed reforms would have “strict” parameters, according to a Times of Malta report.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta is urging members of the faithful to engage actively with the government’s consultation process. “I suggest you participate in this consultation and tell the government you are not interested in killing yourself but you are very interested in being assisted and supported as you embrace death with dignity and support,” he said. 

Conference in Jordan calls for unity and enlightenment amid rising extremism

A conference titled “Christians in the Arab East: Aspirations for Unity and Enlightenment” concluded in Amman, Jordan, gathering five patriarchs and religious leaders under the patronage of Prince El Hassan bin Talal, ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, reported. 

Organized by the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies, the conference addressed the rising tide of extremism and discrimination in the Middle East. 

Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan condemned violence committed in the name of religion, recalling the tragedies inflicted by ISIS, including the 2010 massacre at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. He called on religious leaders to present honest messages of love and coexistence, and urged governments to translate supportive words into policies that uphold justice, citizenship, and equal rights for all.

Prince El Hassan emphasized that freedom of belief is a cornerstone of modern societies and warned against sectarian and political divisions rooted in historical agreements like Sykes-Picot. He highlighted the Middle East’s rich cultural and religious diversity, calling for policies that promote unity, shared citizenship, and mutual respect. 

Tanzanian bishops’ conference vice president: Attack on secretary-general ‘horrific, evil’

Leaders of the Tanzanian Episcopal Conference (TEC) are calling on government security agencies to take action following a violent attack on the conference’s secretary-general, Father Charles Kitima. According to ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Kitima was left bleeding from the head and calling for help after he was ambushed by two assailants who struck him with a blunt object before fleeing the scene. 

“The Tanzania Episcopal Conference is deeply saddened and strongly condemns the evil act of assault and injury inflicted on the TEC secretary-general, Father Charles Kitima,” said TEC vice president Bishop Eusebius Nzigilwa in a statement. “We call upon the police force and other security agencies to take swift action to identify and apprehend all those involved in planning and carrying out this brutal crime and bring them to justice,” he said. 

Bishop Bätzing: Chancellor Merz should fall back on the ‘expertise’ of the Church

The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), Bishop Georg Bätzing, congratulated the new chancellor Friedrich Merz and encouraged him to fall back on the “expertise” of the Church in many politically relevant questions, CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported on Wednesday. 

“I sincerely wish you success in your work, necessary and courageous decisions, and, above all, God’s rich blessings,” Bätzing wrote in a statement. “You know that the Catholic Church is a reliable and constructive partner in many matters that affect your government program. Please draw on the expertise that we as a Church can bring to the political context.”

Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost speaking at St. Jude Catholic Church in New Lenox, Illinois, on Aug. 7, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of St. Jude Catholic Church in New Lenox, Illinois

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA).

Nine months ago, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost sat down for an interview at a parish in the Chicago area before celebrating Mass. Now that he is Pope Leo XIV, his words on the National Eucharistic Congress, Pope Francis, synodality, and more have taken on extra significance. 

Here are some highlights from the videotaped interview at St. Jude Church in New Lenox, Illinois.  

On the National Eucharistic Congress:

“I was not there, I watched it on the internet, but it was a magnificent experience.”

“There are dynamic, life-giving experiences that do fill us with hope, and we have to learn to share that message with others — it depends on all of us.” 

“There’s a lot of good things going on, a lot of hope-filled things that each and every one of us can take part in.” 

On Pope Francis:

Prevost recalled the homily at Pope Francis’ first public Mass about the passage where Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery. 

“That’s a big part of who Francis is: Justice in terms of seeking true justice for all people, especially for the downtrodden — reaching out to help the poor and the suffering and the immigrants and those who most need the mercy of God, who most need the Church, perhaps — that’s who Francis is.” 

“And all the other stuff has to be interpreted and placed in that context because he really believes deeply, and he really struggles to find the best way to express that message of the Gospel.”

On Francis being elected pope:

“I wasn’t there, but I truly believe that Pope Francis was elected by that College of Cardinals in 2013 because the Church at this time needs Francis. At a different time, we needed Pope Benedict, and at a different time, we needed St. John Paul II, et cetera, et cetera.”

“But the Holy Spirit will never abandon the Church. And if we can live placing our trust in that, then we might be shaken up a bit. We might need to ask questions, and there’s a lot of people we can ask questions to. But we continue to walk placing our trust and our confidence in the Lord, whose Spirit is indeed with us.”

“Let’s relax a little bit and trust in the Lord.” 

On mercy: 

Prevost recalled Pope Francis showing him an image of a Gothic cathedral in France with a carving of Jesus holding the body of Judas in his arms after Judas had taken his own life. 

“Is it possible to think that God’s mercy can indeed reach out to the worst of sinners?” 

“And that message in Francis’ life … Some people get terribly upset. They say, ‘Well, he should speak stronger on this, and he should condemn that. Pope Francis says, ‘Everybody, there’s a lot of people who are condemning things already. We don’t need that. We need people, and especially ministers, who can live and express and offer to others the mercy and forgiveness and healing of God.’”

On the Synod on Synodality:

“Francis has a very keen mind and a very keen sense of the vision of where he wants to move the Church. And he recognizes that any large institution can become just as any person; we become very set in our ways. ‘We always did it that way. We don’t want to change. We’ve been doing it like this forever.’

“And one of the risks of that attitude, which is comfortable for us, it’s like we create a safety zone or security zone for ourselves, and that’s wonderful — but one of the risks of that is we miss the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“The synod is, you hopefully have heard, ‘synodos,’ Greek, means to walk together, following on an initiative that goes all the way back to the Second Vatican Council and Pope St. Paul VI.”

“But it really goes back to the early centuries of the Church. Pope Francis has, along with others, been looking for a way to help people understand that the Church is not Father up here on Sunday with a lot of spectators, but that rather all of us in different ways, and each one according to his or her vocation and ministry and calling —  we’re all called to be a part of this Church.” 

“It does not take away at all the authority or the ministry of those who are called to specific services in the Church, such as a bishop or a priest — but it does call the best gifts out of each and every one to bring them together.” 

“There’s the real synod, and then there’s the stuff you read on the internet and in different places. There’s a lot of key issues that are saying, ‘Well, what do they do about this? Or what do they do that? And who’s on this side? Who’s on that side?’ That’s not what the synod is about.” 

“There’s magnificent hope in this experience of bringing people together from around the world, literally, and saying, ‘We want to be a part of what the Church is and what the mission of the Church is in the world today.”

On the media:

“Media sites, nowadays, we’re all familiar with a lot of them. Some of them are very good and some of them are not. One of the difficulties that’s out there is the ordinary person who comes along and starts reading doesn’t know which one you can trust. That’s a big problem.”  

“You’ve got to learn to read with a very critical eye or mind, because it’s very easy to distort the truth or to mix the truth with absolute falsehood and to look for ways to do harm.”

On the Jubilee of Hope:

“But we can live jubilee right here, and we can live hope when in our hearts we recognize that everything does not have to be doom and gloom and the pessimism which sometimes comes over us; it can truly color our vision.” 

“Let’s go back to listening to the word of God. Let’s go back to understanding what it means to be [an] authentic community, communion, parish community, where we care about one another, where we recognize as the Lord promised, ‘Where two or three gathered in my name, there I am in, their midst,’ and we say, ‘We as believing Catholics have a magnificent message.’”

null / Credit: Taiga/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).

Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Boston who are in the United States on visas have been urged to avoid international travel amid the Trump administration’s immigration policies and deportations. 

“As many of you may be aware, recent policy changes by the U.S. government have significantly impacted foreign travelers coming into the United States,” the archdiocese’s Director of Clergy Personnel Father Paul Soper told priests in an email acquired by the Boston Globe. 

“While none of our priests have encountered significant issues to date,” Soper said, “we cannot predict if or when challenges may arise.”

It is unclear what “recent policy changes” the letter refers to. The Trump administration has pursued aggressive immigration policies since President Donald Trump took office in January, mostly involving the intended deportation of millions of illegal immigrants and the strengthening of border policies.

Soper said the archdiocese was “advising those of you holding visas or employment authorization documents (EAD) and currently serving in official assignments to consider refraining from international travel until further notice.”

“Our primary concern is minimizing the risk of any of our priests being unable to reenter the United States due to unforeseen circumstances, where we would be in no position to assist you.” 

The priest wrote that he understood clergy could not completely give up travels, especially following trips abroad for Pope Francis’ funeral, but said “to avoid it whenever possible” and to alert him of any international trips. 

He asked that “any priests who are currently traveling outside the United States and are not U.S. citizens” to notify the archdiocese office “with details of their location and travel plans.”

Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, told the Globe that this request does not reflect the archdiocese’s view of the U.S. government and is not to be taken as a criticism but is  meant “to provide practical proactive guidance given recent policy changes.”

Soper said the plan is subject to change as they “learn more in the coming months,” but the archdiocese wanted priests to be aware since many of them travel abroad to see family or to serve at parishes, schools, and ministries.

Catholic advocates have been warning for months of a looming crisis in which many U.S.-based priests could be forced to leave their ministries and return to their home countries, after which they would be subject to lengthy wait times before coming back, due to changes in U.S. visa laws under the Biden administration. It’s unclear if the visa issue is related to the letter from the Boston Archdiocese.

In April a group of U.S. senators introduced the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which would allow some immigrants to “stay in the U.S. while waiting for permanent residency,” potentially addressing that issue. 

U.S. Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 13:32 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Justice says a recent data breach of a California consulting firm exposed data of Catholic clergy abuse survivors in nearly a dozen bankruptcy lawsuits. 

In a May 6 letter addressed to attorneys at law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, the Justice Department’s Nan Eitel, the associate general counsel for Chapter 11 practice in the Executive Office for United States Trustees, said that late last month multiple government trustees received notice of a data breach at Berkeley Research Group (BRG).

The Emeryville, California-based BRG offers corporate finance and economic consulting, including to Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy proceedings. The government’s letter said the data breach had occurred on March 2 but that trustees were only first informed on April 28. 

The breach “affected multiple Chapter 11 cases … and the security of data maintained by BRG in its role as a financial adviser to official committees in those cases,” the letter said. 

The breach included data associated with 10 Catholic bankruptcy cases, nine of which are diocesan or archdiocesan cases and one of which was filed by the Franciscan Friars of California. 

“Although such a large-scale data breach would be of concern to the United States Trustee in any bankruptcy case, that the breach occurred in archdiocesan and diocesan cases — where the claims information of sexual abuse survivors is the most sensitive and confidential of all information — is very concerning,” the government said. 

The “incident update” provided by the Berkeley Research Group “raised more questions than it answered about what transpired and what BRG has done and intends to do going forward to remediate the breach in each case,” the government said. 

BRG “file[d] a single generic notice on each affected case docket” and did not contact each affected party individually, the government alleged.

The company’s response appears “wholly deficient” to the scope of the breach, the Justice Department argued. It demanded the company provide information on each affected case as well as clarify why the company “delayed two months” before notifying trustees and whether or not the company has contacted federal law enforcement over the breach. 

Among the affected bankruptcy cases include those of the archdioceses of Baltimore and New Orleans as well as the dioceses of Albany and Rochester, among others.

New York-based law firm Proskauer Rose LLP did not immediately respond to an email from CNA asking if it was the legal representative of BRG.

An explosive device detonates at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 12:56 pm (CNA).

Police in a small Pennsylvania town have arrested a man they claim detonated an explosive on the altar of a small Catholic chapel this week. 

Father Kevin Gallagher, the pastor at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Mahanoy City, told CNA on Friday that on Tuesday, May 6, a man came into the parish chapel at around 9 p.m., “placed an explosive device on the altar, lit it, and then ran out.” 

The device subsequently exploded, damaging a monstrance, the altar, the ceiling, and some stained-glass windows.

Investigators thought the explosive might have been a quarter-stick of dynamite, Gallagher said.

Police arrested 32-year-old Kyle Kuczynski shortly after the incident. He was charged with multiple crimes including arson.

The priest said he wasn’t aware of what might have motivated Kuczynski to allegedly detonate the device, though he said the suspect had visited the chapel prior to the explosion and had disturbed the nuns who were there at the time. 

“The cops knew him. They said he’s a troublemaker,” Gallagher said. He speculated that mental issues could have played a role in the suspect’s behavior. 

“Luckily nothing caught fire” after the explosion, the priest said, adding that the parish would undertake repairs of the chapel soon. 

In a statement after the explosion, Allentown Bishop Alfred Schlert said the attack was “an act of darkest evil.”

“I thank God that no one was injured in the incident and that the suspect has been taken into custody by law enforcement,” the bishop said. 

“At the same time, I am heartbroken that such a heinous, hateful, and evil act occurred at St. Teresa of Calcutta. This act of religious hate is an affront to the long and devout history of faith among the people of Mahanoy City.”

“While offering forgiveness, I pray the person who perpetrated this crime will receive the help needed and the justice demanded for their actions,” the prelate added.

At a leper colony in the Kon Tum area in Vietnam in April 2025, Pontifical Missions Society USA President Monsignor Roger Landry celebrated Mass, brought Communion to people, and distributed food and sandals. / Credit: The Pontifical Mission Societies/Margaret Murray

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 11:47 am (CNA).

The American arm of the worldwide Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS) is celebrating yesterday’s election of Pope Leo XIV.  

“The Pontifical Mission Societies in the USA rejoices in the historic election of the first pontiff from the United States of America, Leo XIV, Chicago native Robert Cardinal Prevost, a missionary at heart who served for many years as a priest and bishop bringing Christ and his Gospel to the people in rural Peru,” said Monsignor Roger Landry, the organization’s national director since January.  

“Together with all of our fellow American Catholics and citizens, and with all those served in the 1,124 missionary dioceses and territories across the world,” Landry continued, “we commit ourselves to praying for him and his intentions as he continues the work of Peter as a fisher of men throughout the globe.”

Funded in large part by a special collection at Catholic parishes each October, TPMS includes the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Missionary Childhood Association, and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious.

The societies support missionary activity by building churches, helping to form present and future priests and religious, sustaining fledgling missionary dioceses, and erecting schools and catechetical centers.

Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was elected 267th pope on Wednesday evening, with white smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel at around 6:09 p.m. Rome time. The new pontiff then appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at approximately 7:25 p.m., where Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the protodeacon of the College of Cardinals and prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, announced in Latin: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus papam!” (“I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope!”)

Before appearing on the balcony, the newly elected pope spent time in the “Room of Tears,” a small chamber adjacent to the Sistine Chapel. This traditionally named room is where new pontiffs first don the papal vestments and have a moment of private prayer and reflection as they absorb the magnitude of their election to the chair of St. Peter.

Following the announcement, Pope Leo XIV addressed the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square and watching around the world, offering his first blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) as the new Roman pontiff.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia. / Credit: EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 10:12 am (CNA).

Pro-life activists in Australia this week protested against a bill that would force health care workers with conscientious objections to refer patients for abortions.

The Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Health Care Access) Bill 2025 comes six years after the southeastern Australian state decriminalized abortion and allowed doctors to perform the procedure up to 22 weeks’ gestation.

Controversially, the bill states that persons with conscientious objections may be exempted from performing abortions “only by giving information to the person on how to locate or contact a medical practitioner who, in the practitioner’s reasonable belief, does not have a conscientious objection.”

A broad coalition of pro-lifers, including Catholic clergy, participated in a rally that took place outside of the state Parliament on Wednesday night as the bill moved through the upper house.

“I was one of six bishops who attended the rally outside Parliament last night, with dozens of clergy and thousands of faithful of all religions, and none[s],” Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney wrote on Facebook. “They were united in their disgust regarding the radical Greens abortion bill currently before the state Parliament. I thank each one for their participation.”

The bill’s stated purpose is “to increase access to abortion health care.” It was introduced by Amanda Cohn, a member of Parliament and member of the progressive Australian Greens party, in February. 

If passed, the bill will also allow nurse practitioners and midwives to perform abortions.

“For a state with some of the most permissive abortion laws and highest abortion rates in the world to move to kill the bodies of even more babies is dumbfounding,” Fisher continued, adding: “But the determination to kill the souls of health professionals and institutions as well, by forcing their participation or by co-opting our nurses and midwives is truly fearsome, indeed hellish.”

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott also spoke at the rally, telling news outlets that the bill is “a fundamental assault” on freedom of conscience.

“It’s designed to force Catholic and other Christian hospitals … out of the health care system unless they are to sacrifice their principles. It’s really about cancelling faith in our public life.”