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A sermon on Romans 12 and the Holy Spirit’s gift of Knowledge.

After the number of people detained by the U.S.’ immigration enforcement agency hits record high, U.N. High Commissioner Volker Türk says "demonizing migrants and refugees collectively as criminals, threats, or burdens on society – based on their origin, nationality or migration status – inhuman, wrong".

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The constant strikes on the energy distribution network have caused operational damage far worse than expected, leaving thousands of households without heating or electricity.

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Jan 24, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV warned of the risks that go hand in hand with information in the digital age and urged journalists never to succumb “to the temptation of the trivial” or to fake news that creates confusion about what’s true or false.

The pope made his comments in a message sent on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of “Porta a Porta” (“Door to Door”), a program on RAI 1 Italian public television, in which he addressed to the show’s host, Bruno Vespa, the editorial team, and the viewers.

Leo XIV recalled the three decades of the “Porta a Porta” program’s history as a period marked by “wars and peace agreements, crises and recoveries, joyful and sad events.”

At the same time, he emphasized that the medium itself has also changed: television and, with it, all communication. “Today we have new tools and new possibilities for informing ourselves, learning, and interacting,” the pope wrote, “but along with them, new risks have also emerged.”

Among these dangers, the Holy Father listed the exchange of fake news for real news, “compulsive channel surfing” instead of attentive listening, “doom scrolling” instead of intentional reading, superficial curiosity instead of a genuine desire to learn, and monologues instead of dialogues in which no one truly listens.

‘Quality television’

In the face of these trends, the pontiff advocated patience and a long-term perspective as necessary conditions for building lasting relationships. He also urged that technological innovations not lead to the loss of “the uniqueness of our humanity.”

“Communication challenges us all never to succumb to the temptation of the banal,” Pope Leo XIV emphasized. Finally, he encouraged television professionals to “always offer the world, which thirsts for beauty and truth, quality television.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

As the Church celebrates the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr. Luke Gregory, OFM, reflects on the theme: “The here and now significance of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum.”

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Jan 24, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

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

Kidnapped priest in Nigeria regains freedom after 2 months in captivity

Father Bobbo Paschal, who was abducted on Nov. 17, 2025, when gunmen attacked St. Stephen Parish in the Kaduna Archdiocese, has been released after spending two months in captivity, the Nigerian Metropolitan See has confirmed, according to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa.

In a statement on behalf of Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the chancellor of the Kaduna Archdiocese said Paschal was released on Jan. 17 and conveyed “profound gratitude” to all those who worked and prayed for the priest’s release.

Nigeria has been battling a surge of violence orchestrated by gangs, whose members carry out indiscriminate attacks, kidnapping for ransom, and in some cases, killing.

Church in Aleppo launches emergency home-repair initiative

More than 10 days after fighting subsided in parts of Aleppo, dozens of Christian families remain unable to return to their homes, according to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. Damage sustained during recent clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish Asayish units left entire residential blocks partially uninhabitable, triggering a new wave of displacement.

In response, the Council of Christian Churches in Aleppo launched an emergency housing rehabilitation project, led by Archbishop Youssef Tobji and supported by several local Christian organizations. The initiative focuses on rapid assessments and urgent repairs to make homes safe for return.

Church leaders are urging donors and humanitarian partners to accelerate assistance, warning that prolonged displacement could further erode Aleppo’s fragile Christian presence.

Iraqi Christian bloc seeks unified voice in Parliament

Christian political representation in Iraq entered a new phase this past week with the formation of the Soyana Bloc parliamentary bloc, now the largest Christian grouping in the Iraqi Legislature. This brings together three newly elected lawmakers who say the move is meant to end years of fragmented representation and external political influence over Christian quota seats.

Bloc leader Kaldo Ramzi Oganna told ACI MENA that the initiative responds to decades of displacement, demographic pressure, and marginalization faced by Christians since 2003. He stressed that the group’s goal is not symbolic presence but active participation in national decision-making as an equal partner within Iraq’s political system.

Among the bloc’s priorities are passing a dedicated Christian personal status law, revising provisions on the Islamization of minors in the national ID law, and reforming the quota system to ensure only Christian voters elect Christian representatives. The bloc also aims to translate political representation into tangible improvements in security, services, and investment in historic Christian areas to encourage return and long-term stability.

Archaeological evidence points to early Christianity in Hatra

New attention has turned to the ancient city of Hatra, where archaeological findings suggest Christianity reached the region far earlier than commonly assumed, ACI MENA reported. Located southwest of Mosul, the UNESCO-listed site once stood as a powerful trading kingdom between the Roman and Parthian empires.

Researchers highlight a marble slab discovered near Hatra’s main temple bearing a carved cross and Syriac inscription reading “Shimona, son of the martyr.” Additional crosses etched into building stones, believed to be “masons’ marks” left by Christian craftsmen, reinforce the case for a Christian presence during the city’s later period.

Historians also cite early Syriac writings, including those attributed to Bardaisan, referencing Christian communities in Hatra. Together, the material and textual evidence points to a complex religious landscape in Mesopotamia, where Christianity took root alongside older traditions during the first centuries of the faith.

Macau Diocese in China celebrates 450th anniversary

On Jan. 23, the Diocese of Macau in China began a special jubilee year as it began a series of celebratory events to mark its 450th anniversary with a Mass in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.

According to Fides, the Diocese of Macau has played a key role in the evangelizing mission of the Church in the Far East. Today the diocese has “nine parishes, 28 educational institutions, Caritas centers, and a publishing house that also takes care of communication. Over 70 priests and seminarians together with about 130 nuns offer pastoral service to the approximately 30,000 baptized.”

Signature of leading Russian Catholic prelate left off new statement

A recent statement published on Jan. 15 signed by representatives of the Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical, and other churches condemning alleged persecution of Christians in Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, and Armenia was not signed by the leading Catholic prelate in Russia, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, FSCB, according to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU), and reported in the Tablet.

The spokesman for the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Father Kirill Gorbunov, said the archbishop “did not sign the statement because he has no authority to make official statements regarding other countries.”

Gorbunov said, according the Russian news agency RIA, that Pezzi “generally shares the position expressed in the statement, but the internal rules of the Roman Catholic Church do not allow him to make similar statements on his behalf.”

Following a tradition begun with his predecessor, Pope Leo meets with a small group of business leaders from the energy and critical minerals sectors operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. Their focus ranges from building bridges to territorial needs and aspirations for care of our common home and decent work.

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In his message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, Pope Leo XIV highlights the importance of ensuring that technological innovation, particularly artificial intelligence, serves the human person rather than replacing or diminishing human dignity.

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Jan 24, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As European Union institutions and national governments increasingly advance policies expanding access to abortion, some observers have questioned whether the pro-life movement in Europe still exists or whether it has largely retreated from public life.

While large-scale demonstrations have become less common in some countries, pro-life advocates say a quieter, more grassroots movement is taking shape across the continent, driven largely by young people and focused less on political pressure and more on cultural engagement.

One organization at the center of this effort is ProLife Europe, a cross-border pro-life organization founded in 2019 and headquartered in Weißenhorn, Germany.

Operating on a far smaller budget than many U.S.-based pro-life organizations and funded primarily by individual donors, ProLife Europe has expanded rapidly across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, and Poland.

The organization focuses on training young people to engage in calm, one-on-one conversations about abortion, human dignity, and the value of life, particularly in university settings and public spaces where pro-life views are often marginalized.

A response to fragmentation and polarization

While many European countries already have local pro-life initiatives, the founders of ProLife Europe said they saw a need for something more coordinated and culturally focused. They point to what they describe as the “widespread misinformation, polarization, and social fragmentation surrounding abortion” and sought to build a professional, internationally-oriented student network capable of engaging the issue at a deeper cultural level.

The organization officially launched in March 2019 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely limited public gatherings and campus activity across Europe.

Despite those constraints, ProLife Europe adapted through online training and internal formation.

Leaders say interest among young people grew during this period, reinforcing their belief that many young Europeans are searching for new ways to think and speak about abortion beyond entrenched ideological positions.

By 2024, ProLife Europe had established 54 groups, trained 4,192 students, and conducted 285 outreaches.

A cultural, not political strategy

“Our focus is not on large demonstrations or political pressure,” said Maria Czernin, president of ProLife Europe. “It is on dialogue, meeting people where they are, and planting seeds.”

While the organization does not ignore political realities, Czernin said its work begins at a deeper level. “Laws follow culture, and without a cultural foundation, political victories remain fragile and reversible,” she explained.

Volunteers therefore prioritize personal encounters, often inviting passersby into respectful conversations that begin with open-ended questions — such as when human life begins or how society defines human dignity. Czernin explained that the aim is not to “win” arguments but to reopen moral reflection in a climate where abortion is frequently treated as unquestionable.

Addressing common misconceptions

According to its leaders, many conversations begin with assumptions that are rarely examined by most people.

“The most common misconception is that abortion is a woman’s right,” said Lucia Bardini, regional coordinator for southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. She noted that no such right has ever been declared by the United Nations.

Bardini added that abortion is often framed as a women-only issue, even though many of those involved in performing or enabling abortions are men, including physicians, hospital administrators, and partners of pregnant women.

Among male students, she said another recurring assumption is that they have no role in abortion decisions. “This relieves them of the responsibility that comes with being future fathers,” Bardini explained.

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She also noted that some students view abortion as the only viable option when pursuing a university degree, particularly when academic demands, financial pressure, or time constraints seem incompatible with parenthood, an assumption she said overlooks available forms of support and alternative paths forward.

Responding without alienation

Asked how pro-life advocates can address the belief that abortion is a settled right without alienating people, Pedro Líbano Monteiro, regional coordinator for Portugal, discussed the importance of respectful questioning.

“Many rights that once seemed ‘settled’ in history were later questioned when society recognized that they involved the harm of others,” Monteiro noted.

He mentioned that conversations should begin by asking who is affected and whether the dignity of all involved is being considered. “Being pro-life is not about condemning women or ignoring hardship,” he said, but about recognizing that “both lives matter” and that society should offer better solutions than abortion, including practical support and solidarity.

Rather than accusations, Monteiro said, asking questions invites openness. Laws and social norms may change, he added, but the moral reality of human life does not.

A quiet but growing presence

While ProLife Europe does not claim to represent the entirety of Europe’s pro-life movement, its leaders see their work as part of a broader shift toward long-term cultural engagement in a highly secularized continent. “Our work is slow,” Czernin acknowledged. “But cultural change always is.”

Benjamin Famula, regional coordinator for northern Germany, said the pro-life movement’s future depends on a greater willingness to engage openly with difficult questions.

“We need more people from all walks of life who are aware of the abortion crisis not to look away but to speak out,” Famula said, adding that young people must have the courage to address these issues wherever they can.

He noted that pro-life views are often dismissed as marginal or extremist, a perception he said discourages active engagement and allows misconceptions to persist unchallenged. Famula also called for stronger leadership in public debate, urging advocates to move beyond a purely defensive posture and to highlight the social and economic pressures faced by women in crisis pregnancy situations.

For ProLife Europe’s leaders, the aim is neither immediate political change nor public visibility but something more incremental: reopening moral reflection in a culture where abortion is often treated as beyond question, one conversation at a time.

The Vatican Secretary of State is visiting Denmark as Papal Legate for the 1,200th anniversary of the beginning of Saint Ansgar’s mission. His programme also includes diplomatic meetings, among them visits with King Frederik X and Foreign Minister Rasmussen.

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The Season after Epiphany

The Season after Epiphany continues the mysteries of the Epiphany, and we are still reflecting on the three mysteries of the Epiphany: the coming of the Magi, the Baptism of our Lord, and the Wedding at Cana.

During the eight days of Epiphany, the visit of the Magi predominated in the Church’s Liturgy. In the East, the Epiphany (or “Theophany”) is especially the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the West, the Baptism of the Lord is certainly present, but as an undercurrent, and it rises to the surface especially on 13 January, the eighth day of Epiphany.

Last Sunday, the second Sunday after Epiphany, lifted our minds to the mystery of the Wedding at Cana. Over the next few Sundays, we will continue to marvel at the Lord’s manifestations, for Epiphany means manifestation. 

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

We do well, in contemplating the various manifestations of the Lord that the liturgy lingers, on in these weeks to continue to recall that first manifestation to the Gentiles, the manifestation to the Magi. For the Benedictines of Perpetual Adoration, this manifestation has a special meaning, which Mother Mectilde commentated upon in her Epiphany Conference.

The visit of the Magi offers a striking moment of adoration of the God Who is hidden from the world, the God Who rests upon the bosom of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary to Whom she shows the way.

The adoration of the Magi is demonstrated in a tangible way. They offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Many meanings have been given to the three gifts the Magi brought our Lord, and doubtless more than one of them were directly intended by the Holy Spirit when He wrote His story in deeds and in words. Perhaps the most common meaning — one given by the Church during the Matins lessons — is that gold recognizes that Christ is King, frankincense that He is God, and myrrh that He took on mortal flesh and will die for us men and for our salvation.

One can, bearing this in mind, consider the gifts from the perspective of the invitation they extend to us.

When the Lord manifests Himself to us through faith, how are we to give Him our gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

If gold signifies that He is King, we give Him gold when we acknowledge His Kingship over us by submitting ourselves, all we have, and all we are to His Kingship, as it is written: Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is Thine: Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head over all (1 Para 29:11). We give Jesus our gold by our obedience.

We give Him incense when we adore Him, worship Him, glorify Him, proclaim Him as King, as it is written:

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and His train filled the temple. Upon it stood the seraphim: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of His glory. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke (Is 6:1-4).

We give Him myrrh when we join Him on the Cross and offer Him our bodies as living sacrifice, our spiritual worship, as the Bride says of Him in the Canticle of Canticles, referring to her heart’s union with the Passion: A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts (Cant 1:13).

All the Offerings are Due Him

God requires all three of these offerings from each of us. It is not enough to recognise Him as God with our incense if we do not obey Him with our gold, and even if we keep His commandments, but flee from union with His sufferings, how can we hope to share in His resurrection? For it is written, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom 8:17f); and, If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. (2 Tim 2:12)

By our life in our bodies, then, we must offer God the gold of our submission to His Holy Will, the myrrh of our union with His sufferings, and by this means offer our bodies as incense to the God-man.

An Objective Order to the Offering

All three must be offered to Him by every Christian, and yet there is an ordering to the three. All three are united into one through the worship of God in charity. The height of worship is to become one sacramental victim with Christ, and in this union with the Christus Passus, with Christ who has suffered, we offer Him, in union with Him and through Him, the incense of our worship, all our sufferings, and the obedience of faith (for the law is written in the heart of those that love, or, as St John of the Cross put it, Here [on the height of the mountain] there is no longer any way, because for the just man there is no law, he is a law unto himself).

Faith, Hope, and Charity

In the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification (Chapter 6), the Holy and Ecumenical Council decreed that justification begins by faith (for one must first believe that God exists, and that He rewards and punishes), which inspires fear of divine justice and then proceeds to hope in the mercy of God, and this is raised to charity, because sinners discover in the mercy of God that God loves them and wishes to have mercy on them. But charity changes hope and faith, making them alive, transforming them so that faith and hope become a living faith and hope, animated by the love of God, the fount of all justice, such that, at long last, perfect love casts our fear.

In the three gifts of the Magi — as we have been understanding them as obedience, suffering, and worship — we see a similar order. At first we offer Jesus the gold of our obedience — of letting Him rule us — because we recognise His Kingship and that He has the power to rule, and to reward and punish according to His judgments. This gives birth to a certain fear within us of God’s just punishments for breaking His commandments, but also a certain hope for the promised rewards. We then discover that this requires the cross, death to self and suffering. We give Him the myrrh of our suffering, not at first without fear, but also with hope of reward. Yet this hope does not remain trapped within our own self-interest, for we are moved forward towards love of God, first because the gifts He lavishes upon us when we offer Him our gold and myrrh render lovable the Giftgiver, but then because we recognize the surprassing Goodness, worthiness, and intrinsic lovability of the Giftgiver and begin to love Him for Himself.

Then we are ready to fully give Him the incense of our self-immolation, fulfilling the words we heard from Saint Paul on the first Sunday after Epiphany: Brethren: I Beseech you, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service (Rom 12:1). We make of ourselves a sacrificial offering to Him, an odour of sweetness, an incense of worship. And this in turn transforms our obedience and our suffering, for our obedience becomes all love, and our suffering a union of love with the Christ the Victim. Our gold becomes, in a way, incense. Our myrrh becomes incense. We offer all three to the Lord, and yet all we offer is worship and adoration in utmost love.

The Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive Ways

There is a parallel between these three gifts and the three traditional stages of the interior life. It is easy to see the connection between the gold of obedience and the purgative way, for, on the purgative way, the soul is purified from sins and from disordered attachments creatures. The myrrh of union with the suffering Christ corresponds well to the illuminative way, for it is in the illuminative way that the Lord works in the soul, as if in a dark night, purifying the soul by infusing His own presence into the soul, uniting the soul to Himself mystically. Finally, the frankincense of divine worship corresponds to the unitive way, which takes up the obedience by which the soul purified herself, and the union with the Cross by which Christ purified her and identified her with Himself, and it transforms these through the transforming union whereby the soul becomes una secum hostia, one sacrificial victim with Him to the worship and adoration of God.

The Three Degrees of Surrender

The three gifts also correspond to the three degrees of surrender. We have written about abandonment, the highest degree of surrender (for instance here, here, and here, and also a text from Mother Mectilde about it).

The three stages of surrender are submission, adhesion, and abandonment. The first degree, submission, is epitomised by the phrase “I adore and I submit” used so frequently in the book Abandonment to Divine Providence. It corresponds to the gold of obedience, because in this stage the Will of God often seems contrary to one’s own and even harsh. To obey God’s commands requires effort and sacrifice and pain. Though it is done not without fear, with effort and suffering, submission nonetheless stems from faith in the God who rewards the good, as well as punishes the wicked, and it is an active form of hope and love.

But hope is expanded greatly in the second stage, adhesion, which is epitomised by what were nearly the last words of our Venerable Mother Mectilde de Bar, “I adore and I adhere.” To adhere is to cling fast to something, but that something is still outside of oneself and it still requires an effort. Adhesion corresponds to the sacrificial gift of myrrh because suffering is still experienced as difficult and one would still rather the hard and rugged ways not be part of God’s plan, yet one makes the offering nonetheless because of hope. Fear has been superseded and greatly diminished by hope. One adheres to the difficult and painful because one is confident that God will reward, that His plan will more than compensate for the difficulties, that it is, truly, for the best. And the experience of hope that does not disappoint gives birth to a love of Goodness of the Divine Gift-giver that leads one past the mere myrrh of suffering.

At this point one enters into abandonment. The phrase that best epitomises abandonment is simply the first part of the other two phrases: “I adore.” Abandonment is an immersion into the  into “the flowing current” of God’s grace, in the words of Don Dolindo. It is letting oneself “be carried along” and “rest in” Him. It is a belief in “His Goodness.” This is all summarised in Don Dolindo’s famous saying: “Jesus, I abandon myself in You, take care of everything”, and, again, there is also the saying of the Prophet Job, so dear to St Therese, “Even if He kill me, yet will I trust in Him.” It corresponds to the frankincense of adoration, for it is a total entrustment of one’s entire being such that one lives towards Jesus in a similar manner to how St John says that the Word was always towards the Father (John 1:1). With St Thomas Aquinas in the Adoro Te, this soul cries Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit, mine heart submits itself to Thee totally — no longer with struggle and with contrary wish, but with the latitude of love, according to the words of Psalm 118, Viam mandatorum tuorum cucurri cum dilatasti cor meum. “I have run in the way of Thy commandments whilst Thou hast enlarged mine heart.”

The Offering God Wants Right Now

We must give God all three at all times: gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Yet, as we progress through our lives, there will be time when God asks of us gold especially, times when He asks of us myrrh especially, times when He asks of us the pure incense of our loving immolation in adoration.

We must sometimes ask ourselves: What is God asking of me now? Is there something in particular I am denying Him, or failing to surrender, or is there a particular gift He seems to long for from me especially right now? Sometimes we will discover that we are wishing to live according to our own will and designs, and are not eager to give Him the gold of our obedience. Sometimes we discover that we are not willing to take up our cross and follow Him, and so are denying Him the myrrh of our union with His Passion. Sometimes we discover that we are eager for activity and gift-giving, but that in this we are striving to escape the total gift of ourself to Him, and what He is asking is the greater loving contemplation of adoration.

Other times we do not discover that we are lacking something, but we discover a thirst in Him for a particular gift. He cried from the Cross, “I thirst!”, and sometimes we are given to understand how to sate this thirst. Perhaps it is to sate His thirst to bring souls to Him through carrying out His Will in a loving obedience. Perhaps it is to do the same through our union with His suffering. Perhaps He is thirsty for our pure love, and He says: “I thirst for thee more than for what thou givest Me; for I love thee more than the treasures aquired by thy gifts.”

The Offering of This is Your Special Grace, Attraction, and Vocation

In the secret caverns of the depths of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God (cf Rom 11:33), where God dwells and works deep within the soul, where the waters rush and the voice of the waterfalls are heart (cf Ps 41(42):7), where the river of God brings refreshment, making bitter sweet (cf Ez 47), God has planted hidden treasures, brightshining gems that, hidden now, shall be revealed in the last day. These are the attributes of God, things such as His Wisdom, His Power, His Mercy; attributes that are all one in Him and identical with Him, but which are split up amongst the saints so that together the glory of God may shine radiant in the Church.

On the day when all that is hidden will be revealed (cf Lk 12:2), we shall see glittering from the depths of all the holy souls the gems of all the gold, frankincense, and myrrh that each elect soul offered in her life. Yet not all three will shine as brightly in every soul. Some souls will be marked more by the beautiful gold that they offered. Some will be bedecked more by the fragrance of their myrrh. Some will seem to rise even to the throne of God by the cloud of their incense. For God wishes to draw us by different paths, and every soul is truly different from every other soul, drawn individually to proclaim uniquely the glory of God.

Each Has Gifts Differing According to the Grace Given

The Epistle for this week is from Romans 12. As he does with similar words in I Corinthians 12, Saint Paul wants to remind us that we differ from one another as members of a body differ, for we are the Body of Christ. Yet we are also one, for the Holy Spirit gives to each differently, but in a way that is profitable for the whole.

The grace that differs among the various members of the Body includes the special attraction to offer a specific gift to God. There are souls marked especially by obedience — think of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, for instance, or Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to whom the Lord said: “Satan is enraged and will seek to deceive you. Therefore, do nothing without the approval of those who guide you; being thus under the authority of obedience, his efforts against you will be in vain, for he has no power over the obedient.” 

Others are especially marked by adoration. Saint Peter Julian Eymard comes to mind. He insisted the greatest veneration possible be shown to the Most Blessed Sacrament and would refer to the founding of a new community as “raising a new throne to the Lord.”

Our own Mother Mectilde may easily be counted amongst those whose charism is to offer incense to the Lord, and yet an argument could easily be made that the incense she offered was myrrh, for her whole bent was to become worthy of being counted a victim along with the Christus Passus. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Gemma Galgani, and a myriad of other saints can be counted amongst those who especially were called to offer myrrh, though, of course, all the saints offered all three.

By the Wine Our Lady Obtains

Even in our offering, how important it is to recall that without grace we can do nothing. Grace is the star that beckons us; our journey to Him is through grace; the offering we make is through grace. And when grace leads us to Him, we will always find Him with Mary, as now, indeed, he is forever enthroned with her, the Queen Mother by His side.

As we hear the Gospel this week, Mary is aware of our needs. To make our offering well, we need the wine of the wedding feast, the wine that she obtains from the Lord. It is the wine of the joy of the Holy Spirit that renders our offering of our obedience, our adoration, and our immolation acceptable to God and pleasant to us and our fellow men, for, as this week’s Epistle exhorts to cheerfulness, “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).

• Readings for the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1 2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 80:2-3, 5-7

Alleluia See Acts 16:14b

Gospel Mark 3:20-21

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Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

As you know, one of the most common complaints against my life is that "hermits shouldn't travel."  Besides the fact that my rule of life has 20 days contemplative and 10 days active life approved every month by my superiors, it's important to look at Catholic Church history on the life of contemplatives to see [...]

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:54 pm (CNA).

Thousands of pro-lifers attended the  53rd annual March for Life on Friday in Washington, D.C. The 2026 event’s theme was “Life Is a Gift,” to invite “all people to rediscover the beauty, goodness, and joy of life itself,” the March For Life reported.

As attendees marched on the National Mall, they held signs, prayed, and sang their way toward the U.S. Capitol.

Scroll above to see some of the best signs that EWTN News spotted at the march.

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:34 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday that it will stop funding research that uses fetal tissue of aborted babies.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director, said in a Jan. 22 statement that the agency has “reexamined its approach related to the use of human fetal tissue in federally funded research.”

“This decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease,” Bhattacharya added. “Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited ethical and scientific reasons for the change.

“HHS is ending the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions in agency-funded research and replacing it with gold-standard science,” Kennedy said in a Jan. 23 statement. “The science supports this shift, the ethics demand it, and we will apply this standard consistently across the department.”

The agency also will look to “potentially replace reliance on human embryonic stem cells,” according to Bhattacharya.

Embryonic stem cell lines are lab-grown cell lines used in research that come from aborted human fetal tissue.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a neuroscientist and senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, called the move “a very welcome development.”

“Biomedical research should not be built on the backs of directly-aborted human fetuses or embryos, and taking their bodily tissues for research necessarily involves a failure to obtain valid informed consent, a key ethical principle guiding all modern bioresearch,” Pacholczyk told EWTN News.

Pacholczyk welcomed the NIH “taking steps to rein in past abuses involving aborted fetal tissue and NIH funding.”

“Several previous U.S. administrations dropped the ethical ball when it came to allowing human fetal tissues from elective abortions to be used in NIH-funded scientific investigations,” he said. “In effect, they set up a situation where fetal-tissue research faced very few practical barriers or limitations.”

Funding control is “a critical mechanism to avoid unethical research practices,” Pacholczyk noted.

“The granting of funding, especially federal funding, is one of the highest forms of approbation and blessing a researcher can obtain in terms of his or her particular line of work,” he said. “Disbursement of funding needs to be directly linked to our vision of good, ethical science.”

“The rest of the world’s scientific community looks to the U.S., and to NIH-funded research in particular, as a kind of model and example when it comes to real excellence in science,” Pacholczyk continued. “Such excellence connotes much more than merely developing scientific breakthroughs while ignoring the means used to make those discoveries; it necessarily implies conscientious attention to ethics.”

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:14 pm (CNA).

A broad range of life issues from abortion to euthanasia and more were represented at the March for Life 2026 in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, expressed concern about a number of states across the country poised to legalize assisted suicide. “There are many states that the death lobby will be pushing for assisted suicide in 2026,” he said.

“In 2026 we are very concerned about Virginia, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Connecticut, and other states,” he said, adding: “2026 will require a unified effort to stop the expansion of killing by assisted suicide poisoning.”

Ashley Kollme, a mother of five children from Bethesda, Maryland, shared the story of her pregnancy with her youngest daughter, Sophia, who is 2 years old.

“Sophia was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart condition when I was 23 weeks pregnant,” Kollme said. “The first option that was presented to us was termination, and that was never an option that we would consider, and we chose life.” Sophia has had two open heart surgeries and lots of other procedures, her mother said, adding: “And she is the light of our lives.”

Kollme’s two sons, Otto and Max, stood by with signs featuring pictures of their little sister.

Gesturing to the posters, which featured a professional photo of Sophia, Kollme said the little girl is “one of the poster children for Johns Hopkins Hospital.”

Ultimately, Kollme said, “I think that we see a lot of ableism and abortion against people with disabilities, and I’ve become passionate about that because every child deserves a life.”

“Deserving life shouldn’t be conditional upon one’s health,” she said.

Mara Oswalt, a March for Life participant from Atlanta, held a sign saying “Unborn children die in ICE detention” and emphasized the need to recognize the dignity of all human life. “I’ve heard several instances of women having miscarriages because they are not eating well, they’re not being treated well in ICE detention,” Oswalt said.

Oswalt serves as creative director of Rehumanize International, an organization dedicated to fostering a culture of peace and life in accordance with the “consistent life ethic,” which calls for opposition to threats against human life including abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, unjust war, and torture.

“Those stories in particular really break my heart,” she said. “I know those women wanted their children. They wanted them to be cared for. And so I didn’t want them to be forgotten in this moment.”

Jan 23, 2026 / 15:29 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers defended President Donald Trump’s abortion-related policies at the 2026 March for Life on Jan. 23.

“You have an ally in the White House,” Vance said in his speech.

Vance was the first political speaker at the march, and he was followed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, the longtime leader of the House pro-life caucus.

Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune addressed the marchers in prerecorded video messages.

In his speech, Vance said: “One of the things I most wanted in the United States of America is more families and more babies,” and touted the recent announcement that he and his wife, Usha, are expecting their fourth child.

“So let the record show that you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” Vance said.

The vice president said Trump’s Supreme Court appointments were vital to overturning Roe v. Wade, which he called “the most important Supreme Court decision of my lifetime.”

He said the decision “put a definitive end to the tyranny of judicial rule on the question of human life” and allowed the people to settle these disputes democratically.

Vance spoke about some of the pro-life victories during the first year of Trump’s second term.

This included legislation that blocked Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements as well as reinstating and expanding the Mexico City Policy, which bans federal tax money from being used to support organizations that promote abortion abroad.

The vice president also spoke about the restoration of conscience protections for health care workers, the expansion of the child tax credit, and the pardoning of pro-life activists who were convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

“Building a culture of life requires persuasion,” Vance said.

“That effort is going to take a lot of time, it’s going to take a lot of energy, and it’s going to take a little bit of money,” he said.

The vice president briefly addressed some criticism the administration has received from members of the pro-life movement who have been unhappy with certain developments.

Some pro-life advocates have expressed concern about the lack of action on the abortion pill mifepristone, which is under review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Others have raised objections to Trump urging lawmakers to be “flexible” on taxpayer-funded abortions in negotiations about extending Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Vance asked people to look at the successes.

“Look where the fight for life stood just one decade ago and look where it stands today,” he said.

In his video message, Trump celebrated many of the same pro-life policies as Vance and thanked marchers for their efforts to “stand up for the unborn.”

“We will continue to fight for the eternal truth that every child is a gift from God,” Trump said.

Johnson said a shift in policy from the Trump administration is that success is not just measured by the economy but also “the strength of the American family.”

He also spoke about the actions taken to ban Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements, saying: “We finally defunded big abortion and it was a long time coming.”

“Every single child deserves the opportunity to fulfill their God-given potential,” Johnson said.

Smith referenced the recent Marist Poll commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, which showed most Americans supporting at least some restrictions on abortion and approving of the work of pregnancy resource centers.

He also spoke strongly against the chemical abortion pill mifepristone, which he called “baby poison that kills the unborn child by starving the baby boy or baby girl to death” and said it poses health risks to women.

“We must today recommit to protecting the weakest and most vulnerable,” Smith said.

In a video message, Thune called abortion an “evil that’s too often brushed to the side.”

He said Republicans “will continue to do everything we can in Congress to support moms and protect preborn children.”

After the speeches from lawmakers, March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter urged participants to contact their senators amid ongoing negotiations related to health care.

Lichter encouraged them to ask their senators to oppose any health care legislation that excludes the Hyde Amendment, which bans taxpayer funding for abortion.

Jan 23, 2026 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Pro-life speaker Sarah Hurm offered her testimony about facing her fourth unplanned pregnancy at a March for Life rally on the National Mall on Jan. 23.

“I am hear to tell you that abortion pill reversal can work. My life, and the life of my son, is living proof,” Hurm, who is a Catholic single mother of four, said at the rally.

Hurm described seeking an abortion. “The clinic had felt lifeless,” she said. After taking the abortion pill, she changed her mind and found the abortion pill reversal ministry.

“I realized ... I could fight for my child’s life. And so I did,” she said.

Abortion pill reversal (APR) is recommended or dispensed by pro-life pregnancy centers to prevent the completion of an abortion shortly after a woman takes mifepristone to achieve a chemical abortion. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not recommend the use of APR, citing insufficient evidence. Alternatively, the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs (AAPLOG) states the literature “clearly shows that the blockade is reversible with natural progesterone.”

Describing her son’s life as “one of the greatest joys,” Hurm encouraged participants to be intentional in helping women who are expecting.

“Saving a life can be as simple as answering a phone call, driving a friend to an ultrasound, or helping pick out a car seat,” Hurm said. “Small sacrifices can become enormous victories that support moms like me and children like mine. You have that power. Be that person that connects a woman to hope.”

Hurm further thanked the men in attendance at the March, saying: “Your voice carries weight, and we need you.”

“Join me in making a commitment of being living proof that life is a gift,” she concluded.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

After the public revelation that Tom Silvagni was convicted of abuse, many people remain less than certain about what is really true and false.

The woman making the accusation expressed outrage on social control media. The media reported her comments anonymously. Yet it feels unfair that the woman can use the media to spread her side of the story anonymously while the appeal is still in progress.

When her comments were reported, Channel 7 decided to show us footage of the young woman's feet as she was walking out of the court.

 

In other words, while the media is obliged to protect the woman's identity, they are encouraging anybody who knows the two parties to ask questions and check facts on both sides of the case.

A lot of these disputes involve questions of politics, status and humiliations. If you look at the cases in the Debian suicide cluster, some of the men wrote complaints about being tricked to work as unpaid volunteers while fellow "volunteers" really got paid all along. Some of these people wrote about feeling humiliated just as victims of rape and abuse feel humiliated. Why did Adrian von Bidder-Senn die on our wedding day?

Most fans of Australian football are familiar with the long-running saga of Stephen Milne. The accusation against Milne was similar in many ways as it involved a party with two footballers and two women. Yet the Milne accusation is even more serious than the accusation against Tom. Milne was only given a penalty of $15,000 and he never spent one day in prison. Tom, on the other hand, has been given six years in prison. In these circumstances, it is only natural for people to ask why Tom has received inconsistent treatment from the justice system.

Tom's father Stephen Silvagni has a saint-like status in Australian football. The Silvagni name resonates like the name of Roger Federer in tennis or Tiger Woods in golf.

Tom's grandfather played two premierships with Carlton. Tom's father, Stephen, played over three hundred games with Carlton and then went to work in club management. But due to internal politics in the club, Stephen Silvagni resigned and went to work for rival club Saint Kilda.

This is ironic because St Kilda are simply known as the Saints but there is nothing Saint-like in what has been alleged. Yet the irony doesn't stop there. Looking at the official list of Australians proposed for Sainthood, we find none other than the legendary Dr John Billings.

The Catholic Church teaches us against the use of contraception and abortion. Nonetheless, Dr Billings developed and promoted the Billings Method for Natural Family Planning and it is the only method of contraception or "planned parenthood" that is endorsed by the Church. Every Pope in the last fifty years has given personal praise to the work of Dr Billings. Here is a news report on the Vatican web site:

Pope Francis upholds "Billings Revolution"

In a message to participants in the WOOMB International Congress Rome on the Billings Method, Pope Francis highlights its ongoing contribution to the understanding of human sexuality and to a fuller appreciation of the relational and procreative dimensions of the couple, saying that use of methods based on the natural rhythms of fertility should be encouraged.

and from the original text of the statement from Pope Francis:

John and Evelyn Billings conducted careful scientific research and developed a simple method, accessible to women and couples, for natural knowledge of fertility, offering them a valuable tool for the responsible management of procreative choices.

In fact, Dr Billings, who is on track to join the other Saints, as in heavenly saints rather than St-Kilda saints, is also a former student of Melbourne's Xavier College, just like my father and I and also the convicted Tom Silvagni.

At the end of year 12, we all received a yearbook from the school with a letter from our school captain. He tells us:

we always had the opportunity to accept or reject all that Xavier offered us

According to the report by the Daily Mail:

both Silvagni and Ms Iaconis testified that they distinctly recalled Mr LoGuidice entering their bedroom to ask for a condom, contradicting his account.

The Herald Sun goes even further, claiming there is a text message about the condoms.

A text message asking for a condom, a doctored Uber receipt and a dark bedroom in the luxury home of one of Melbourne's most famous families ...

The implication is that all of these wealthy families are spending vast amounts of money to send their sons and daughters to these schools and as soon as they graduate, they forget everything. If all four people in the house had been using condoms at some point during the party and they admitted that in court then all four of them have admitted what the church regards as a sin.

Social media has been full of links to stories about Tom Silvagni and Alannah Iaconis having a secret baby. Fact checking web sites are making rival claims that it is a hoax or clickbait.

In fact, if they had a secret baby then the reference to secrecy can only imply they put the baby up for adoption. In that case, there would be no news stories about the baby. Wealthy families have a lot of experience maintaining secrecy around such pregnancies. Therefore, we can not say the rumour is true and we can not say the rumour is a hoax either. It is what Donald Rumsfeld once described as one of the "unknown unknowns".

For Catholic families, every unborn baby is considered to be alive and this implies that every abortion is considered to be a murder. When very young women have an unplanned pregnancy, if they keep it totally secret they may be able to obtain an abortion on their own. However, if their parents or their school discover the pregnancy the girl will be encouraged to have the baby in secret and give it up for adoption. Therefore, the secret baby/adoption rumour is plausible and that is one reason it spreads easily on social control media.

A famous jurist William Blackstone makes the statement:

It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.

With that in mind, it is important that people who support these football clubs are asking for evidence and asking for both sides of the story.

Carlton Football Club advertises open training sessions where fans can meet each other. They have a Run for Respect each year. The next one is on 8 February 2026. This provides a good place for fans of the club to ask questions.

Likewise, the Saints advertise open training sessions and community events where fans can meet in person and avoid the fake news on social control media.

Amid mounting geopolitical tensions, Fr. Tomaž Majcen, the Slovene Franciscan priest who leads the small Catholic community on the Arctic island, tells Vatican News that Greenlanders “want to be seen as a people with their own story, language, culture, and faith.”

Read all

 

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:34 pm (CNA).

On Jan. 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Servant of God Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, a Franciscan priest murdered in Guatemala in 1983, and the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi, foundress of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola in Italy.

Murdered in the street during the Guatemalan Civil War

Monasterio was last seen trying to escape his killers on one of the busiest streets in downtown Guatemala City. With his hands tied, he was crying out for help while dodging traffic going in the opposite direction. His desperate efforts were in vain: He was struck by eight bullets.

The future blessed thus joined the long list of priests murdered — apparently at the hands of Guatemalan security forces — during the 1960–1996 civil war that pitted the official security forces against the Catholic clergy, Marxist guerrillas, political dissidents, and the poor.

His murder was the culmination of months of persecution, death threats, and torture for refusing to break the seal of confession after hearing the confession of Fidel Coroy, a catechist and member of the Kaqchikel Maya people known for his involvement in peasant organizations such as the Committee of Peasant Unity and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor.

Accounts following Ramírez’s murder revealed that he had been tortured by his military captors, who stripped him naked and hung him by his wrists, subjecting him to beatings and burns and breaking several of his ribs.

At the time of his death, Ramírez was the superior of the Franciscans and a priest at St. Francis the Great Parish in the city of Antigua, known for its colonial churches. He was remembered as an exemplary priest and for his service to and protection of the poor of Guatemala.

Devotion of Maria Ignazia to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Following Thursday morning’s audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope also approved the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Maria Ignazia Isacchi, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola, Italy.

As highlighted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Isacchi distinguished herself by a profound life of prayer and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, demonstrating heroic virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and dedicating her life to educational services and to those in need. Her reputation for holiness remains alive within the congregation she founded.

Miracle attributed to her intercession

In 1950, at age 23, Sister Maria Assunta became seriously ill with tuberculosis and did not respond to medical treatment. After a novena of prayer invoking Isacchi and a medal with her image was placed on Sister Maria Assunta, she experienced a sudden and complete recovery from Sept. 27–29, 1950. The healing was medically confirmed and considered miraculous, becoming one of the steps toward Isacchi’s beatification. Maria Assunta lived to be 92 years old, passing away in 2018.

New venerables

The Holy Father has also recognized the heroic virtues of Servant of God Maria Tecla Antonia Relucenti, co-founder of the Congregation of the Pious Sisters Workers of the Immaculate Conception in Italy.

The pope recognized the heroic virtues of Italians Servant of God Crocifissa Militerni, a religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, and Servant of God Nerino Cobianchi, a lay member of the faithful and father of a family.

Pope Leo XIV also recognized on Jan. 22 the heroic virtues of Maria Immaculata of the Blessed Trinity, a Brazilian Discalced Carmelite and a key figure in the founding of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, in 1943.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:04 pm (CNA).

Ecumenical dialogue is especially important in a time when Christian belief and practice are on the decline, said one Catholic expert during the Jan. 18–25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

“What is happening today is that the secularization [of society] is incredibly strong … and the temptation among Christian traditions is to step back,” Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told EWTN News.

“But if [Christians] step back, we lose our identity, and we cannot be united,” he said. “That is a serious concern.”

Goyret said it is evident that the theological principles of “unity” and “communion” have become important policies of Leo’s pontificate, as summarized in his papal motto, “In Illo uno unum” (“In the one Christ we are one”).

“Leo, from the very beginning, has said that he wants to be the pope of unity, and that is extremely linked with ecumenism,” he added.

When Leo first stepped out onto the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica in May last year, he said humanity needs God and stressed the need for a “united Church” in Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward,” the pope said in his May 8 address. “We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light.”

Two months after his election, Pope Leo shed further light on his desire to forge the belief, identity, and mission of the Church.

“I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ and believe that that’s my priority, because I’m the bishop of Rome and successor of Peter, and the pope needs to help people understand, especially Christians, Catholics, that this is who we are,” the pope told the Catholic website Crux in July 2025.

Noting the Holy Father’s particular emphasis on Christian identity and witness as key to advancing ecumenical relations among churches, Goyret said Leo’s predecessors have also shown commitment to promoting unity among the faithful through different approaches.

Pope Francis placed great attention to engaging in dialogue with Eastern and Orthodox Churches, while Pope Benedict XVI is recognized for his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which structurally supported Anglicans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.

“Pope Francis presented himself as ‘bishop of Rome,’ and that’s very significant because that title is the way that Eastern non-Catholic Christians understand the Petrine ministry,” he said, recalling the late pope’s first urbi et orbi address in 2013. “It was an invitation for dialogue.”

By focusing on the Vatican II documents Unitatis Redintegratio (Restoration of Unity) and Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), Goyret said Pope Benedict’s approach to ecumenical dialogue encouraged academic study and the faithful living of Christian traditions.

“If you dig and dig into these different traditions, you will eventually discover the Church as Jesus Christ wished it,” he said.

Speaking on the theme of the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “One Body, One Spirit,” Goyret said there is a great need for Christians to be united in prayer and hope to strengthen faith in God in a secularized world.

“Pope Leo said that we have to pray in this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” he said. “The Church needs our prayers especially because the unity of the Church is a gift of God.”

“We don’t build it ourselves through negotiation. It’s not diplomatic and it’s not political,” he added. “If we want to restore unity to the Church, we have to ask God for it.”

In this week’s news from the Eastern Churches, produced in collaboration with L’Œuvre d’Orient, we go to the Ethiopia and Eritrea, where Christians are commemorating the Epiphany and the baptism of Christ.

Read all

 

Jan 23, 2026 / 11:34 am (CNA).

At around 10 weeks, an unborn baby is about the size of a gummy bear. Some mothers may find this out from pregnancy apps or conversations with friends.

Dora Esparza, an abortion drug survivor, found out when she saw her own child in the bathroom after she endured a chemical abortion.

Esparza almost died due to complications from the abortion drug. She made the decision to get an abortion with her boyfriend but quickly regretted it.

Many women have successfully reversed chemical abortions before taking the second pill by taking progesterone. But when Esparza told medical staff at the abortion clinic, they told her that her baby would be born with severe problems if she tried to keep it. So, she took the second pill.

“I saw my baby. No one warned me that that was even a possibility,” Esparza told reporters on Thursday. “Two weeks later, I almost died.” 

Amid claims of being the most pro-life president in history, President Donald Trump’s administration has yet to push through a promised review of the abortion drug mifepristone.

Though many studies have come out showing the danger that unrestricted chemical abortions pose to women, the Trump administration approved a generic version of the drug, further contributing to its spread.

“The push to normalize mail-order abortion drugs is so dangerous and so dishonest,” Esparza said. “Abortion drugs distributed to me in person at a facility almost killed me. How much more dangerous are they when they’re shipped through the mail with no ultrasound, no information of gestational age, no follow-up appointment, and no real accountability?”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of SBA Pro-Life America, said the Trump administration has the power to implement safety restrictions.

“The bottom line is, just as the policy that we seek was instituted in the Trump 1 [his first administration], it could be instituted today or tomorrow while they study,” Dannenfelser told reporters on Thursday.

“The only response that we have been given is: ‘It’s important to abide by scientific guidelines and we are going to study it,’” she said. “We’ve also heard, through a Bloomberg story, that there is a strong desire to wait until after midterms, which is a political, nonscientific reason to fail to do this study.” 

Dannenfelser said she hopes the Trump administration will announce a change in the abortion pill policy Jan. 23 at the March for Life.

“What an incredible thing it would be to address the most urgent and consequential issue in the pro-life movement right now — and that would be the reinstitution of Trump’s policy from his first administration.

“It would give states back their sovereignty,” she said. “States would be allowed to enforce their laws because as you should know by now, the abortion rate has gone way up, over a million, at least, as far as we can track. Abortion rates are going up in pro-life states.”

Chemical abortion drugs can be easily transported across state lines, stockpiled, or even slipped into women’s drinks.

Multiple cases have been reported where the father of the unborn child has allegedly coerced or poisoned the mother with the abortion drug.

Dr. Ingrid Skop, a spokesperson for the Charlotte Lozier Institute and an OB-GYN, said the traumatic harm of the abortion drug shows a “lack of informed consent.”

“The pregnancy centers I work with have received frequent frantic calls from girls and women encountering the recognizable body of their child in the toilet about the size of a gummy bear at 10 weeks’ gestation,” Skop said. “What should she do now? Flush him? Bury him? The emotional harms of this experience can’t be quantified.”

“What these women experience and the trauma that follows demonstrate clearly they are not receiving adequate informed consent,” Skop said. “Many are genuinely shocked by the degree of pain, bleeding, and emotional distress they endure — proof that abortion drugs are being sold to women without honest counseling about what they actually do.”

“This lack of informed consent is made worse by the FDA’s deregulation of these abortion drugs,” she continued. “Today, no in-person exam or labs are required, no ultrasound is mandated, no physician must be present, no follow-up is considered necessary, and there is no federal requirement for complication reporting unless it results in a woman’s death.” 

Jan 23, 2026 / 11:04 am (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump this week said he would “always be a voice for the voiceless” and vowed to “never tire in fighting to protect the intrinsic dignity of every child, born and unborn,” delivering bold promises just ahead of the March for Life 2026.

The president’s message, published on Jan. 22, came on National Sanctity of Human Life Day, an observance first declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and pronounced by every Republican president since then.

In his message — delivered just hours before the 53rd annual March for Life — the president said the U.S. in marking the date “uphold[s] the eternal truth that every human being is created in the holy image and likeness of God, blessed with infinite worth and boundless potential.”

Urging Americans to take part in “honoring the dignity of every human life,” including unborn life, the president also called on Americans to offer support for women with unplanned pregnancies and to support both foster care and adoption “so every child can have a loving home.”

The president further urged Americans “to listen to the sound of silence caused by a generation lost to us and then to raise their voices for all affected by abortion, both seen and unseen.”

Pro-life activists have criticized the Trump administration after Trump indicated a willingness to allow for federal taxpayer funding of abortion, a practice largely outlawed. Trump asked Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment during negotiations about extending health care subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act.

The Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal tax money from being spent on abortion, has been included in spending bills since 1976, shortly after Roe v. Wade was decided.

In his message the Republican president touted what he said has been his “decisive action to protect the unborn” while in office.

He pointed to his reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy in January 2025 as well as his pardoning of nearly two dozen pro-life activists that same month after they had been targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice for protesting at abortion clinics.

Jan 23, 2026 / 10:34 am (CNA).

Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley said life is a “precious gift from a loving God” ahead of the 2026 annual March for Life.

O’Malley, archbishop emeritus of Boston, celebrated Mass on Jan. 23 before the March for Life, concluding the annual National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

“I know that many of you are tired and have made many sacrifices to be here,” O’Malley said. “I assure you, you could not be doing anything more important than being here today. And your presence is not by accident. The Lord in his providence has brought all of us here today.”

The Mass featured prayers for the pro-life movement and provided a moment to strengthen commitment to defending human life ahead of the march.

“Abortion is the greatest moral crisis faced by our country and by our world. It’s a matter of life and death in a very grand scale," O’Malley said. “It’s been a joy and a privilege for me to be at every March for Life here in Washington for the past 53 years.”

“It’s such a joy to be with you here today in this March for Life. This is a pilgrimage for life, and it begins with prayer, here in Mary’s shrine. I thank God for all of you,” he said.

‘Life Is a gift’

O’Malley spoke about the 2026 March for Life theme: “Life Is a Gift.”

“What a powerful theme,” O’Malley said. “Sadly, life is not always seen as a gift. For some, it seems a burden or a curse.”

The cardinal detailed a recent poll that found “for the very first time in the history of our nation, the majority of Americans say they do not want to have children.” O’Malley called it “an alarming statistic.”

“Life is a gift, a gift given by a loving God,” he said. “Life is beautiful, especially when it is received with gratitude and love.”

We must “love as God loves,” O’Malley said. “We must love first, forgive first, give first. That’s why we’re here in this Mass for life.”

“We’re here because life is a gift. God has given us this precious gift. We must be grateful and express our gratitude by proclaiming the gospel of life,” he said.

Future of the pro-life movement

O’Malley, who has been active in the pro-life movement for decades, said the opposition once believed the pro-life advocates would “die off,” but “we’re still here, proclaiming the gospel of life.”

“Our mission is not a political crusade. It’s a response to God’s command to love and to care for each other. And God bless us, the crowd is getting younger and younger. You are beautiful,” he said.

To end abortion, “our task is not to judge others but to bring healing,” O’Malley said. We must be “gentle” like Jesus was with “the Samaritan woman, the poor, the tax collector, the adulterous woman, the good thief,” he said.

“Our task is to build a society that takes care of everybody, where every person counts, where every life is important. Political polarization, racism, economic injustice will only continue to fuel abortion in a post-Roe v. Wade world,” O’Malley said.

“Our world is wracked by divisions and violence. Pope Leo is inviting us to be messengers of unity and of peace. But we do not want to get in the way of the message,” O’Malley said.

“Together, we can protect and nurture that gift of life. We must look for opportunities to be apostles of life, building a civilization of love and ethic of care,” he said.

“The antidote to abortion is love. Love manifests in community, compassion, and solidarity. Life is a gift. Every person is a gift. Every person counts. All are important. Our mission is to work so that no child be left behind. Every baby will be welcomed, loved, cared for, nurtured, and protected,” he said.

“Thank God for the gift of life. Thank God for love. Thank God for you,” O’Malley concluded.

EWTN News’ coverage of the 2026 March for Life can be found here.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

Jan 23, 2026 / 10:04 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will visit five Catholic parishes of Rome in February and March, in continuity with his predecessors, the Diocese of Rome announced Friday.

The visits, which will take place on Sundays during the penitential season of Lent, will include the celebration of Mass.

The pope will also meet with Rome’s priests for the second time on Feb. 19 at the Vatican. His first encounter with priests of the diocese took place one month into his pontificate.

The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop. A cardinal vicar general, vice regent (deputy), and auxiliary bishops are responsible for the ordinary running of the diocese.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, said last year there were 8,020 priests and deacons in the diocese, of whom 809 were permanent Rome diocesan priests, and most of the remaining were part of religious communities or doing advanced studies.

The first parishes selected for papal visits in 2026 are located in each of the five sectors of the diocese: north, south, east, west, and center. Leo reinstated the central sector in November 2025 after Pope Francis had eliminated it the year prior.

Pope Leo’s predecessors also visited parishes in the Diocese of Rome during their papacies.

John Paul II managed  to visit 317 of 333 parishes throughout his long pontificate. During his final years, when he was too ill to travel to them, he invited the remaining 16 parishes to come to the Vatican.

Pope Francis in his 12 years as pope made  20-some pastoral visits to parishes in Rome, mostly concentrated in the city’s outskirts, part of his great attention to the peripheries, which was also reflected in his visits to many of the city’s prisons and charitable entities.

Following prison riots and the killings of ten police officers, Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez, President of the Guatemalan Bishops' Conference, issues an appeal for unity and reason: “We must fight together for the good of the people.”

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Jan 23, 2026 / 09:34 am (CNA).

Young Catholics who traveled from across the country for the March for Life started their day singing and praying with the Sisters of Life early Friday morning.

Life Fest 2026 participants gathered at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, to get energized, sing songs, and receive the sacraments before heading to the National Mall for the March for Life 2026.

The event, organized by the Sisters of Life and Knights of Columbus, began at 6 a.m. with music, pro-life testimonies, and chances to go to confession and venerate the relics of numerous saints. Several nuns played music as a part of the All the Living Band alongside Father Isaiah Marie Hofmann, CFR, while participants in the crowd sang along and clapped.

The crowd included everyone from young children to elderly people, Sisters of Life, Dominican brothers and priests, and the Knights of Columbus, who sponsored the event.

Students from Lansing Catholic High School in Lansing, Michigan, waited in a line to venerate relics of St. Carlos Acutis and St. John Paul II.

The event featured pro-life testimony from women and families who experienced crisis pregnancies and chose life, including the Schachle family, whose son Michael McGivny Schachle, who helped make his namesake a “blessed” through the miracle of his birth.

Schachle’s parents, Michelle and Daniel, gave their testimony while he stood alongside them on stage.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

Pope Leo XIV will visit five parishes of the Diocese of Rome, meeting with parish groups and celebrating Mass each Sunday during Lent.

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Jan 23, 2026 / 06:50 am (CNA).

The Holy See’s labor office is pushing back on claims of widespread worker dissatisfaction after an internal survey by the Association of Vatican Lay Employees (ADLV) alleged distrust of leadership and instances of workplace bullying.

In an interview with the official Vatican News outlet, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, president of the Office of Labor of the Apostolic See (ULSA), said his office “always has its doors open” and stressed that its mission is to ensure “there are no situations in which employees’ rights are not respected or are violated in any way.”

“It doesn’t seem to me that the discontent is widespread,” Sprizzi said, noting that the survey sample was “very small,” amounting to “less than 5% of employees.”

According to the report, 250 people responded to the survey, with about 80% of respondents belonging to the ADLV. The Holy See has around 4,200 workers, though Vatican News estimated the overall figure at more than 6,000 when including retirees.

Sprizzi added that even a single complaint must be taken seriously. “We listen to everyone. We are a structure of dialogue,” he said.

New statutes, broader representation

Sprizzi also pointed to new statutes for ULSA approved in December 2025 by Pope Leo XIV, which he said strengthen the office’s mission of unity, representativeness, and the promotion of labor rights in line with the Church’s social teaching.

“Rowing in the same direction does not mean reducing the protection of workers but promoting it in a spirit of dialogue and mutual trust,” he said.

Sprizzi said ULSA remains in constant contact with employees, Vatican administrations, and the ADLV, describing the relationship as marked by “constructive and frequent” discussions. He said technical working groups and commissions have been created to examine solutions to specific situations “in the interest of everyone: the employees and also the Holy See.”

‘More positive’ overall — but wages still a concern

Against perceptions of general dissatisfaction, Sprizzi said that, in his experience, “the most widespread feeling is rather positive.”

He cited the Vatican’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic not to lay off employees or reduce salaries despite financial difficulties. He also pointed to employee family services such as a daycare center and summer camp, as well as recent measures by Pope Leo XIV aimed at improving accessibility for persons with disabilities.

At the same time, Sprizzi acknowledged areas that still need improvement, including aligning salary levels more closely with actual responsibilities. “In some cases the necessary adjustments have not been made, but we are working on it to do justice to those who have a right to it,” he said.

Harassment claims: ‘I am not aware of any case’

Asked about allegations of workplace harassment referenced in the survey, Sprizzi said: “Personally, I am not aware of any case.” He noted that legal mechanisms exist to report abuse and said that if such situations were present, “the first to intervene would be the Holy Father.”

“One thing is rumors, another is verifying the truth,” he said, adding that the moral demands of justice in the world of work have been a priority of the Church since Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII.

A path of dialogue

Sprizzi insisted the Vatican’s approach is dialogue rather than conflict, saying those who work for the Holy See share a common mission.

“We are like an orchestra in which each instrument must contribute to harmony,” he said, adding that ULSA aims to strengthen dialogue with workers — individually and through their associations — and to serve as a bridge with Vatican employers.

“The goal is for this dialogue to be increasingly constructive and serene, rooted in the light of the Gospel and the social magisterium of the Church, in a spirit of ecclesial communion and effective respect for workers’ rights,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Jan 23, 2026 / 06:27 am (CNA).

Archbishop Georg Gänswein says last year’s change of popes has brought a “whole new positive dimension” to the Vatican.

“Above all, there has been a change for the better in the atmosphere” with Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican’s nuncio to the Baltic states and Pope Benedict XVI’s former secretary told Rudolf Gehrig of EWTN News during a Jan. 20 interview in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Gänswein said he met Leo twice last year, most recently in mid-December.

“Both meetings went very, very well. And the intervening period has made it very clear to me that — to put it somewhat idiosyncratically — normality is slowly returning,” he said, calling it a sign for him that “faith and the Holy Spirit are indeed at work.”

“I used the term normalization. For me, it is important to see that Pope Leo has simply emphasized some matters that are not new but which have been completely overlooked in recent years.”

Gänswein has been nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, based out of Vilnius, since 2024. The archbishop’s diplomatic post follows 17 years as the personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI and 11 years as the Vatican’s prefect of the Papal Household.

The nuncio, originally from Germany, also praised Leo’s “clear line when it comes to proclaiming the faith,” which he does “joyfully and convincingly.”

“When you read his catechesis or sermons, you can sense that this is a man who lives and proclaims the faith with an Augustinian spirit,” Gänswein said.

German Synodal Way

The archbishop also addressed the Synodal Way in Germany, also known as the Synodal Path, which is set to hold its sixth and final assembly starting Jan. 29.

Gänswein expressed concern that the process will lead to deeper division in society and the Church, and underlined that any possible reforms must always adhere to established Church teaching.

“Anyone who has followed the events surrounding the Synodal Path from the beginning to the present day can see one important thing, namely that a number of the demands of the Synodal Path lead away from the faith,” he said.

“There is no doubt that there is indeed a need to change and reform certain things here and there. I agree with that,” the nuncio said. “However, what has been shown so far on the Synodal Path is, for me, clear evidence that this is not about a return to a deepening of the faith but about a watering down of the faith.”

He said any changes cannot differ from the Catholic Church’s position on morality, ethics, the sacramental structure of the Church, or the official authority of bishops.

“I can only hope and pray that this wrong path will simply come to an end soon,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV receives Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg with his wife, Grand Duchess Stéphanie, in the Vatican on Friday.

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In a message to the 2026 European Conference organized by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation in Luxembourg, Pope Leo XIV upholds the Church’s Social Teaching as showing societies a path to authentic respect and peaceful coexistence.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Advocating for unborn children is fulfilling the Lord's command to serve him in the most vulnerable, Pope Leo XIV told those taking part in the March for Life.

"I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages through appropriate efforts at every level of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders," he said in a written message released by the Vatican Jan. 22.  

"May Jesus, who promised to be with us always, accompany you today as you courageously and peacefully march on behalf of unborn children," he wrote. "By advocating for them, please know that you are fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters." 

The March for Life is held every year in January in Washington, D.C., to march on Capitol Hill to remember the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. While the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, abortion policy is now determined at the state and federal levels.

Addressing his message to all people taking part in the Jan. 23 March for Life, Pope Leo sent his "warm greetings" and expressed his "heartfelt appreciation."

He assured them "of my spiritual closeness as you gather for this eloquent public witness to affirm that 'the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right,'" quoting from his Jan. 9 address to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. 

"Indeed, 'a society is healthy and truly progresses only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it,'" he wrote.

"With these sentiments, I entrust all of you, as well as those who support you with their prayers and sacrifices, to the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of the United States of  America, and I gladly impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of abundant heavenly graces," his message concluded.

 

WASHINGTON - “As tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered for the annual March for Life this week, we were grateful to see the U.S. House of Representatives pass the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act and the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act,” announced bishop-chairmen of three committees of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday. 

“Building a culture of life requires helping mothers to be able to welcome their new children,” they continued. “Too often, however, expectant and vulnerable women are essentially told that they have to choose either their child or their future. No one should have to make this ultimately false choice. The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act is needed legislation that would simply ensure that colleges and universities at least provide information about the resources, services, rights, and accommodations available for pregnant and parenting students. The Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act would help ensure that key public resources are available to pregnancy help centers, which compassionately accompany women in need with baby supplies, childcare assistance, health and parenting information, career services, and more. Amid great uncertainty and difficulty, such support can make a life-saving difference.”

The three bishops spoke as chairmen of their respective committees: Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Bishop David M. O’Connell, CM, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education, and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Bishops O’Connell and Thomas had also sent a letter to Congress on Thursday in support of the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on its own version of that bill next week.

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Reading 1 1 Samuel 24:3-21

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 57:2, 3-4, 6 and 11

Alleluia 2 Corinthians 5:19

Gospel Mark 3:13-19

• Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Marianne Cope, Virgin [in the dioceses of the United States]
• Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Vincent, Deacon and Martyr [in the dioceses of the United States]

- - -

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

John Allen, editor and founder of Crux, died in Rome after a long illness. The Vatican expert analyzed and recounted the events of the last quarter century in the life of the Catholic Church.

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On Sunday, 15 February, emeritus Archbishop Mark Coleridge, a renowned Scripture scholar, will give the opening lecture in a monthly series sponsored by the Australian Catholic Historical Society (ACHS).  

On its 60th anniversary, he will discuss how the influential Vatican II document, Dei Verbum, has influenced Biblical scholarship.  

The free lectures are held on third Sundays in the crypt of St Patrick’s, Church Hill at 2pm.  

Established in 1940, the ACHS promotes the study of how clergy, religious, lay persons and groups have shaped Australia’s Catholic history. It has its own online journal and YouTube channel.  

The topics of this year’s lectures range from events in the late 19th century to reflections on contemporary issues.  

They include the rise and fall of Catholic Scouting, the history of the Benedictine abbey at Jamberoo, and of Gregorian chant in Australia, the trauma suffered by frontline chaplains in World War I, and the work of the controversial Fr Ted Kennedy in Redfern.  

Daniel Canaris will analyse Pope Leo XIV’s canon law thesis on leadership in the Augustinian Order and Fr Frank Brennan SJ will reflect on how Catholic bishops responded to the referendum on The Voice.  

What’s the point of studying history, The Catholic Weekly asked the president of ACHS, Fr Brian Lucas, somewhat provocatively. We have to learn from the past to appreciate our heritage, Fr Lucas said.  

“Some of the stories, particularly about people, can be a source of inspiration and encouragement. A very good story that The Catholic Weekly did recently on Jan Ruff O’Herne would be an example – somebody not very well known at all, but by telling the story, people can find encouragement and inspiration.” 

The ACHS does not intend to present a sanitised, Pollyannish version of church history, Fr Lucas suggested.  

“Sometimes there are things that we would have preferred didn’t happen in the life of the  church. But we have to face the truth,” he said. “If things happen that we regret, then we should acknowledge that and not repeat the errors of the past.”  

In this, the ACHS is in sync with all the recent popes, who have urged Catholics to be aware of their past, both times full of light and splendour and times of darkness and shame.  

In 2024 Pope Francis wrote an open letter about the importance of church history in the formation of priests.  

“A great French theologian used to tell his students that the study of history protects us from ‘ecclesiological monophysitism’, that is, from an overly angelic conception of the  church, presenting a church that is unreal because she lacks spots and wrinkles.  

“Indeed the church, like our own mothers, must be loved as she is; otherwise we do not love her at all, or what we love is only a figment of our imagination.”  

The post Lectures on Australian church history begin in Sydney appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Jan 22, 2026 / 22:17 pm (CNA).

Thousands of young Catholics gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 22, to worship at a vigil Mass on the eve of the March for Life.

“Our goal is not only to make abortion illegal,” Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, Bishop James D. Conley said during the homily. “Our goal is to make abortion unthinkable.”

More than 5,000 people — many of them high school or college students — filled the upper church of the basilica to attend the Mass. Following Mass, many worshippers prayed at the National Holy Hour for Life, which was held in the crypt of the basilica during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which included praying the luminous mysteries of the rosary.

The Jan. 22 service marked the 47th straight National Prayer Vigil for Life held at the basilica, which it began hosting in 1979 — six years after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. The Thursday night event marked the fourth post-Roe vigil.

The first reading came from Isaiah 49, in which the prophet wrote: “Before birth the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.”

In his homily, Conley referred back to that reading a few times and expressed joy at the number of young people who attended the vigil with the goal to “build a culture of life and a civilization of love, where babies are protected in their mothers’ wombs and women are loved, heard, and cared for when they find themselves faced with very difficult and life-changing decisions.”

The bishop noted that there are many threats to the dignity of the human person prevalent in society, including euthanasia, gun violence, the death penalty, the suffering of the poor and of migrants, racism, and a lack of access to health care and education.

“But our brothers and sisters in the womb are the most vulnerable and the most voiceless,” he said, noting that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has labeled the issue its preeminent priority in terms of political concerns.

Even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Conley noted there are still over 1 million abortions annually. Yet, he expressed hope that the young people in front of him “are the pro-life generation” and will help bring an end to abortion in the United States.

“I firmly believe that 50 years from now when my generation will have gone to God, your grandchildren will ask you: ‘Is it true, that when you were my age, they put children to death in the womb?’” Conley said.

Conley was the main celebrant of the Mass, but it was concelebrated by Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington; Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Boston; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States; and other archbishops, bishops, and priests.

Pierre, at the start of Mass, read aloud a note offered by Pope Leo XIV to attendees of the vigil in which the pontiff assured participants of his “spiritual closeness” as they gather “for this eloquent public witness to affirm that the protection of the right to life [is the] ... indispensable foundation of every other human right.”

According to the note, Leo told participants they are “fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters” and bestowed an apostolic blessing on them.

Many attendees traveled from other parts of the country to worship at the Jan. 22 vigil and attend the Jan. 23 March for Life.

Miriam Ware, 16, flew from Idaho with a local group called Teens for Life and told EWTN she has become “very interested in becoming a pro-life advocate.”

She said she has attended the Idaho March for Life, but this is the first time she has come to the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., and enjoys seeing “how united we are” as a pro-life movement: “Just to see everyone here is awesome.”

Gus Buell, a Catholic high school junior from Traverse City, Michigan, told EWTN that he arrived on Thursday after a 13-hour bus ride and will be attending the March for Life for the first time on Friday.

He said the march helps build up the Catholic and pro-life community, and he commented on the large number of young people active in the faith and the movement, saying “kids are finally starting to be inspired” and many are “trusting God more than they trust themselves.”

The March for Life drew about 150,000 people last year. The 53rd March for Life is on Friday, Jan. 23. The March for Life rally will be held on the National Mall from 11 a.m. until about 1 p.m., after which attendees will march past the U.S. Capitol and conclude in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

US President Donald Trump has invited Pope Leo XIV to join his Board of Peace for Gaza. “We are considering what to do,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomat, told the media. “I believe it will be something that requires a bit of time for consideration before giving a response.” 

Here are a few things the Vatican ought to consider.  

In 416 BC, the city-state of Athens, the most powerful polity in Greece, was enraged at the intransigence of the tiny island of Melos. Athens was in the middle of a desperate struggle with Sparta. At stake was supremacy of the Greek world. Melos declared that it was going to be neutral. 

No way José, said the Athenians. Join us or be annihilated. The Melians refused. The Athenians were as good as their word. They annihilated them, slaughtering the men and selling the women and children into slavery.  

Their negotiations have gone down in history as the “Melian dialogue”. Realistic and merciless, the Athenian wolves told the Melian mice, as recorded by the Greek historian Thucydides: “you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” 

This is precisely the message that US President Donald Trump has been hurling at weaklings across the globe from Venezuela, to Iran, to Gaza, to Cuba, to Norway, to Denmark, and to France.  

His words at Davos about Denmark’s reluctance to hand Greenland over to the US shocked his listeners: “They have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember.”  

Channelling the sinister Athenian bullies, Trump also demanded a better deal on prescription drugs from French President Macron: “Here’s the story, Emmanuel. The answer is you’re going to do it. You’re going to do it fast. And if you don’t, I’m putting a 25 per cent tariff on everything that you sell into the United States. And a 100 per cent tariff on your wines and champagnes.” 

In his own speech at Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney referred to the Melian dialogue. The liberal world order has ended, he said bitterly. The world is witnessing “the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality, where geopolitics, where the large, main power, geopolitics, is submitted to no limits, no constraints”.  

On that point Carney might be wrong. Everybody has  limits. President Trump described what his are in a wide-ranging interview with four New York Times journalists in the Oval Office in January. 

 “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,” he said. “I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people.”  

Can the Vatican really work with someone who reasons like this? Someone who believes that “might is right” is the rule of international relations?  

Only a few days ago, Pope Leo gave a brilliant speech to diplomats at the Vatican. In a none-too-subtle reference to Trump’s foreign policy, he said: “In our time, the weakness of multilateralism is a particular cause for concern at the international level. A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies.”  

As he often does, the Pope quoted his beloved St Augustine, a man who lived through the chaotic collapse of the Roman Empire. With exquisite irony, Augustine pointed out that everyone wants peace, even warmongers: “They do not, therefore, wish to have no peace, but only the peace that they desire.”  

And Leo glosses these words: “It was precisely this attitude that led humanity into the tragedy of the Second World War.”  

The metaphor that comes to my mind is tasteless, but I’ll use it. Stick to your guns, Holy Father. Do not take the side of the Athenians. 

In any case, the fee for joining the Board of Peace is US$1 billion (A$1.5 billion). Should Peter’s Pence be splurged to tickle the vanity of an American Ozymandias?  

The post Should the Vatican take a seat of the ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza? appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Jan 22, 2026 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The abortion issue will likely be on the ballot in several states this November.

EWTN News took a look at which states have abortion-related measures in the works or on the ballot. 

Four states might vote to create a right to abortion this November. Only one state has a measure to protect life.

Virginian lawmakers add abortion to the ballot

This November, Virginians will consider an amendment to enshrine a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution. The amendment, if passed, could jeopardize already-existing laws protecting unborn children as well as Virginia’s parental notification law.

The proposed abortion amendment would create a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one’s own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.”

Virginia lawmakers approved the amendment for a second time earlier this month, guaranteeing that it will be on the ballot. Virginia Catholic bishops promptly condemned the amendment, saying they “will fight” against its passage.

Virginia protects life after 28 weeks of pregnancy, meaning that abortion is legal until the end of the second trimester and after in cases of serious risk to the woman’s health or life.

Nevada looks to confirm abortion amendment

Nevada is close to approving an abortion amendment that would recognize a right to abortion.

The amendment would establish a “fundamental right” to an abortion, “without interference by state or local governments” up to viability, and up to birth for the sake of the health or life of the pregnant mother.

In Nevada, the state constitution can be amended only after two affirmative public votes in consecutive even-year elections. About 64% of Nevadans voted in favor of the amendment in 2024, so a 2026 passage would enshrine the amendment. 

Abortion since the 1990s has been legal until the 24th week of pregnancy in Nevada. In addition to reinforcing pro-abortion laws, the new amendment could block other state laws including the parental notification requirement for minors seeking abortions.

Idaho gathers signatures for abortion ballot measure

In Idaho, a measure to create a right to abortion may appear on the November ballot.

Campaigners are gathering signatures for the measure to legalize abortion until viability, when the baby can survive outside of the womb.

The measure guarantees “a right to make and carry out reproductive decisions, including a right to abortion up to fetus viability.”

Idaho law protects unborn children at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk.

Oregon measure could reinforce pro-abortion laws

A measure to affirm a right to abortion in Oregon may be on the November ballot.

The measure states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged … on account of sex.”

If passed, it would also affirm a right to contraception, in vitro fertilization, medical “gender transition,” and same-sex marriage. The measure would repeal a vestigial code in the constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Oregon does not protect life at any stage of pregnancy, and the state funds abortion.

Potential ballot measure could repeal Missouri abortion amendment

In November, Missourians will have the opportunity to repeal a 2024 amendment that created a right to abortion in the state constitution. 

If passed, the measure would repeal the state’s constitutional right to abortion and allow for laws to regulate abortion. It would also codify parental consent for minors seeking abortion and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.

The amendment would not protect unborn children younger than 12 weeks in cases of rape or incest. 

Abortion laws have been in flux in Missouri as the 2024 amendment was enforced amid legal challenges.

Blocked from the ballot: Montana’s push for personhood 

A Montana measure defining unborn children as persons is not on the ballot this year, despite efforts to pass it.

Despite Montana voters’ move to approve a right to abortion in 2024, lawmakers came close to approving the subsequent pro-life measure, which would have stipulated that the word “person” applies “to all members of mankind at any stage of development, beginning at the stage of fertilization or conception, regardless of age, health, level of functioning, or condition of dependency.”

The amendment would have required that “no cause of action may arise as a consequence of harm caused to an unborn baby by an unintentional act of its mother.”

The measure narrowly failed to pass in both the Montana House of Representatives and the state Senate in early 2025, receiving just less than the two-thirds majority needed for a measure to be added to the Montana ballot.

Jan 22, 2026 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

As thousands gather for the March for Life — the largest annual pro-life event in the U.S. — supporters at home can “march” by sharing the pro-life message on social media.

The March Online for the Preborn encourages pro-lifers to post videos of an unborn baby as part of a “global statement for life,” according to a press release shared with EWTN News.

The goal? To get unborn babies trending.

“We know that thousands attend the annual March in D.C. but thousands more around the world can’t make it but still wish to make an impact,” Rachelle Mainse, a spokeswoman for the campaign, told EWTN News.

The campaign by Baby Life Begins invites social media users to post a specific video of an unborn baby in the womb.

“Every year there is a new March Online video that shares a strategic, powerful truth about the preborn that the world needs to hear,” Mainse explained.

“When pro-life advocates and organizations from around the world ‘march together,’ sharing this same video to their platforms, it’s effective in making a big statement online for life.”

“We want people to be scrolling their newsfeed and see it flooded with this same video,” she said.

The campaign is also meant to encourage people to speak up for life.

“We hope that this encourages many in their stand for life no matter where they live or what generation [they are],” said Robert Seemuth, founder and director of Baby Life Begins. “Knowing that you can be a voice for life brings encouragement; coaching how to do it shows it’s possible.”

“Part of the mission of Baby Life Begins is to equip the everyday person to be a voice for life,” Mainse said. “Being a part of the online march may be the first time someone is using their social media to be a voice for life.”

“Courage is imparted when you realize you can post to your God-given circle of friends a post about the sanctity of life that is professionally made,” Seemuth continued. “Fear is reduced when you know thousands of others are sharing the same post.”

“Pro-life work can feel lonely at times — so to feel the support of the global community is huge,” Mainse said.

“Through the internet we can march with advocates all around the world making a unified statement for life online,” Mainse said. “We have heard from people in Australia, Northern Ireland, and different parts of the States joining! Everyone can participate!”

One in 4 women have had an abortion, Mainse noted. “Chances are they have someone around them that has been affected by abortion or will face that choice,” she said.

“It is so important that everyone becomes a voice for the preborn — whether their circle of influence is thousands or just a few. Every voice matters and every person matters in the fight for life.”

“We hope this will inspire them to keep using their social media to share about the preborn,” Mainse added. “It is a powerful medium that changes hearts and lives.”

By UCA News, OSV News

Indonesian Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor, who previously declined to become a cardinal, has resigned amid allegations of mismanagement in the diocese.

Bishop Syukur, 63, announced his resignation before the diocesan curial council 19 January, and the Vatican accepted it, according to sources in the diocese.

The Vatican has appointed Bishop Christophorus Tri Harsono of Purwokerto as the apostolic administrator until a new bishop is appointed.

Bishop Syukur said he resigned “not with a sense of loss but with freedom of heart,” and did not see it “as a human and worldly defeat.”

“I resigned not because I was guilty, but because I love the brotherhood and unity of the church, especially in the Diocese of Bogor,” he said.

The resignation followed investigations by a Vatican-appointed team led by Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunyamin of Bandung, president of the Indonesian bishops’ conference, to investigate several allegations against Bishop Syukur.

Bishop Bunyamin did not respond to UCA News’ requests for comment on the case.

In December, two diocesan priests – Bogor diocesan major seminary rector Father Yosep Sirilus Natet and staff member Father Yoseph Kristinus Guntur – published an article accusing Bishop Syukur of authoritarianism, abuse of power, financial mismanagement and of having personal relationships that influence all policies.

They cited the case of the bishop’s takeover of a hospital from the Franciscan Sisters of Sukabumi and its transfer to lay management, which was described as an “expulsion” of the sisters and an abuse of power.

They also questioned Bishop Syukur’s move to replace the diocesan curial officials in December, and accused him of carrying out the move secretly “without a spirit of synodality involving the old curia.”

Though the bishop’s decisions were later reversed following the Vatican investigation, they reportedly divided diocesan clergy, and Bishop Syukur became largely unpopular and sidelined.

Bishop Syukur, in a statement, defended his decisions as being made with “love for the Church and to avoid further confusion,” and “as a form of my moral responsibility.”

Regarding the issue of the hospital, he said that it was “a reorganisation effort for the sake of a healthier mission,” not an attempt to expel the sisters.

He also dismissed allegations of financial crisis and bankruptcy in the diocese and labeled the allegation of using diocesan funds for personal use as “baseness.”

The prelate also brushed off allegations of inappropriate personal relationships with certain people, claiming they were “based on professionalism for the advancement of the diocese.”

On the conflict between priests and the curia, he said, “Leadership is often a lonely path.”
He said in 2024, he was asked to decline cardinal’s red hat, “accused of allowing pedophilia to occur in the diocese.”

He also claimed he properly handled two cases of sexual abuse in his diocese and ensured the perpetrators ended up in jail.

A Church source told UCA News that, before resigning, Bishop Syukur had gone to the Vatican earlier in January to explain the accusations against him.

Born on the Catholic-majority island of Flores, Bishop Syukur, a Franciscan, has served as the Franciscan provincial of Indonesia twice since 2001.

He was appointed bishop of Bogor in 2013.

From 2021-2025, he served as the secretary general of Indonesia bishops’ conference. Pope Francis named him a cardinal on 6 October, 2024, but he declined it.

The post Indonesian bishop who renounced red hat resigns over ‘conflict’ appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German bishops’ conference, who spearheaded the controversial Synodal Way during his six-year term, announced that he will not seek reelection when the bishops meet for the spring assembly in February.

The Diocese of Limburg published excerpts of Bishop Bätzing’s letter to the German bishops’ conference 19 January, saying that he reached the decision “after consultation and mature reflection.”

According to the Vatican, Bishop Bätzing met with Pope Leo XIV in September. The meeting was held several months after the German bishop was criticised for comments he made about a debate regarding abortion in Germany, which, although technically illegal, permits abortions up to 12 weeks without punishment.

Asked to weigh in on the debate involving a candidate for the constitutional court’s support of abortion legislation, the bishop said the current abortion law represented a “wise balance.”

“Why abandon the clear compromise that exists on the issue of abortion and thus risk a possible social divide?” he asked in an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine.

In his statement, Bishop Bätzing said it was “a great honour and joy to perform this service in truly demanding times” and thanked those “who have supported me in the past six years in an appreciative and constructively critical manner.”

“It has been six intensive years in which we bishops, together with many others from the People of God, were able to move things forward and realise a viable future form for the Church in our country,” he wrote. “Now it is time to place this task, which is important for the work of the Bishops’ Conference, into other hands. And I am certain that things will continue well.”

Bishop Bätzing also prayed for “cooperation within the conference, continued courage for open dialogue, for constructive debate, and the willingness to reach out to one another – so that together we may bear witness to the joy of faith to the faithful in our country and many more.”

The German bishops’ conference confirmed Bishop Bätzing’s statement and said the election of a new president will take place during the 23-26 February spring plenary assembly in Würzburg.

During his tenure, Bishop Bätzing spearheaded the Synodal Way. Launched in 2019, the reform process began in response to the 2018 MHG study, a comprehensive investigation into clergy sexual abuse in Germany from 1946-2014.

The study, which was commissioned by the German bishops’ conference, revealed that 1,670 clerics sexually abused 3,677 minors during that period of time. The public outcry prompted bishops to discuss a path of reform.

The Synodal Way was established as a two-year reform process, but it was extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and concluded in 2023.

However, its push for revising established church teachings on homosexuality, women’s ordination and priestly celibacy prompted concerns by bishops around the world that it would set a dangerous precedent that would ultimately break German Catholics away from the universal Church.

In 2022, in an open letter signed by more than 70 bishops from four continents – 49 bishops from the US, four from Canada, 19 Africans, one Italian and one Australian – the prelates raised concerns that the Synodal Way was relying more on “sociological analysis and contemporary political, including gender, ideologies” than on Scripture and tradition, and being too focused on “power” and “autonomy.”

Bishop Bätzing expressed surprise and responded by saying that the church needed to speak openly about abuse of power in the church and that the “euphemistic dressing up, as you try to do in your letter, does not really help.”

That same year, the Vatican issued a rare statement, saying that “the ‘Synodal Way’ in Germany does not have the power to compel the bishops and the faithful to adopt new ways of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals.”

In a joint statement with Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, known as ZdK, Bishop Bätzing said the statement was a “source of astonishment” and that it was “not a good example of communication within the church.”

Among those most concerned by the direction the Synodal Way was taking was Pope Francis, who had criticised the path the German bishops were taking.

In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, the late pontiff said Germany’s synodal process was being led by the “elite” and warned that it was guided by ideological principles rather than the Holy Spirit.

“When ideology gets involved in church processes, the Holy Spirit goes home, because ideology overcomes the Holy Spirit,” he said.

The pope’s interview with AP prompted Bishop Bätzing to go on the defensive and openly criticise Pope Francis.

In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt just days after the AP interview of the pontiff, Bishop Bätzing said he viewed the pope’s way of leading the church “through interviews to be extremely questionable.”

Given its contentious relationship with Rome over the past six years, it will be now up to the German bishops’ conference to choose a president who will either continue the reforms spearheaded by Bishop Bätzing or one with a more diplomatic approach than his predecessor.

The post Controversial German bishop will not seek reelection as bishops’ conference president appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Jan 22, 2026 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

A new poll released one day before the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., found that fewer than 4 in 10 Americans identify as “pro-life” rather than “pro-choice,” but more than two-thirds of Americans still support some limits on abortion.

The survey, released on Jan. 22, was conducted by The Marist Poll at Marist University and was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization. Pollsters surveyed 1,408 adults from Jan. 12–13.

When respondents were asked whether they identified as either “pro-life” or “pro-choice,” only 37% subscribed to the label “pro-life” and 62% called themselves “pro-choice,” with just 1% of respondents saying they are unsure.

According to the poll, 44% of Catholics identified as pro-life and 55% identified as pro-choice, but practicing Catholics were far more likely to be pro-life.

The pollsters found that 58% of Catholics who identified as practicing were pro-life, compared with 41% who said they were pro-choice. Only 31% of nonpracticing Catholics said they were pro-life, compared with 68% who said they were pro-choice.

However, the poll also found that the “pro-choice” label does not normally translate to abortion without any limits. Rather, about one-third of Americans find themselves somewhere in the middle.

According to the poll, only 32% of Americans believe that abortion should be available at any time in pregnancy, up to the moment of birth.

Meanwhile, 37% believe most abortions should be illegal, with 6% saying it should not be legal in any circumstance, 10% saying it should only be allowed to save the mother’s life, and 21% only supporting abortion when the mother’s life is at risk or when the unborn child is conceived through rape or incest.

Twenty percent of those surveyed said abortion should be legal through the first trimester and 10% said it should be legal through the second trimester. Overall, 67% want at least some limits and 57% want restrictions at least by the end of the first trimester.

The poll also found that 59% of Americans believe an in-person visit with a doctor should be required to obtain chemical abortion drugs, which federal law does not currently require. Just 40% said it should not be required.

A small majority, 54%, oppose using taxpayer money to fund abortion in the United States, while 45% support it. About 69% of adults oppose using tax money to fund abortions overseas and 29% support it.

About 63% support conscience protections for health care workers, saying they should not have to participate in an abortion if they oppose it, and 36% do not support them. About 84% said they support the work of pregnancy resource centers, which do not perform abortions, and just 15% said they oppose it.

“Despite the publicly heated debates about abortion, there remains a consensus of opinion on this issue among Americans,” Barbara L. Carvalho, the director of the Marist Poll, said in a statement.

“Americans believe abortion should be limited yet include exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother,” she said. “Despite the changes in practice that have occurred since the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision, public opinion has remained consistent.”

Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in a statement that the poll shows “a majority of Americans support legal restrictions on abortion” and “a growing majority support pregnancy resource centers, which provide assistance to mothers and their children in their time of greatest need.”

“The Knights have supported vulnerable women and their children since our founding by Blessed Michael McGivney more than 140 years ago, and our commitment has never wavered. And now, we’re guided by the encouraging words of Pope Leo XIV, who recently mentioned in his ‘State of the World’ address, ‘life is a priceless gift’ and that, as Catholics, we have a ‘fundamental ethical imperative’ to ‘welcome and fully care for unborn life,’” he said. “The Knights of Columbus’ mission will continue to be guided by these principles until abortion becomes unthinkable.”

John Allen, the editor-in-chief of Crux whose decades-long career in journalism defined him as one of the authoritative voices on the Vatican and the Catholic Church, has died at the age of 61.

Allen passed away in Rome 22 January, after battling cancer since 2022. He is survived by his wife, Elise Ann Allen, Crux’s senior Vatican correspondent.

In February 2025, Allen updated readers on his cancer diagnosis and asked them to keep him in their prayers.

“Never in my life have I believed more in the power of intercessory prayer than I do right now,” he said.

Several months later, in a second update, he chronicled his treatment for stomach cancer and noted that “without the tireless daily support of my wife, Elise Allen, I’m sure I probably would have imploded.”

He also expressed his gratitude to doctors, friends he regarded as family, and Crux readers for their messages of support and prayers.

“Over the years, I’ve often used the term ‘the Crux family’ to refer to the extended network of people who read our site, who consume our other media, and who interact with our coverage,” he wrote. “I know that formula these days can often be a sort of corporate catchphrase, or a marketing ploy, but I’ve never been more convinced than I am right now that when it comes to Crux, it’s not just words.”

Born in Hays, Kansas, in 1965, Allen taught journalism and supervised the student-run newspaper at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. He was previously married to Shannon Levitt, a teacher and later Crux’s business manager and copy editor.

Among the students he inspired to pursue journalism was Stacy Meichtry, Paris bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal, who was on the school newspaper staff.

“John would spend long hours with us after school, putting the paper together in time for a weekly deadline,” Meichtry recalled. “I think this was actually his first taste of journalism as a teacher, which is interesting when you think about the role he would play much later.”

After establishing himself in Rome, Allen gained prominence in 2000 with the publication of his first major biography of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Meichtry recalled that before then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s ascension to the papacy, “it had been decades since anyone covered a conclave.”

“The internet was still in its infancy, so information on how exactly the Catholic Church went about picking a pope was very scarce. John changed all that. His book ‘Conclave’ became a must-read for any journalist, including myself, on how to prepare for a papal death and election,” he told OSV News.

And while Allen’s deep knowledge of the Vatican’s inner workings made him known as “the guy with his finger on the pulse,” for Meichtry, “he was a mentor like no other.”

“His knowledge was encyclopedic. He was both brilliant and generous, which is a rare combination. He taught me journalism, but he also taught me about life. I’m going to miss him,” Meichtry said.

After teaching journalism, Allen joined the National Catholic Reporter in 1997 and subsequently established its Rome bureau in 2000.

“He was a giant of specialized journalism,” said Marco Carroggio, professor at the School of Church Communications of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. “I think he is going to be a reference for future generations.”

Carroggio recalled meeting Allen in 1998. At the time, Carroggio was handling communications for a conference hosted by Opus Dei and received a call from someone speaking Italian in a heavy American accent.

That call, he said, was the starting point of their nearly three-decade-long friendship.

Carroggio noted that Allen was a consistent presence in many conferences in Rome and always interested in “understanding the depth of the debates and understanding the different positions.”

“What caught my attention was that many times, he didn’t publish anything from those conferences. But he broadened his view, so all this made his information and writings form a vision that was nuanced and profound, showing you all the polyhedral sides of reality,” he told OSV News.

That vast understanding of all things Catholic served Allen well at CNN as a Vatican analyst following the death of St John Paul II and the subsequent election of Pope Benedict XVI.

“John Allen was the best Anglophone Vaticanista in the business during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI,” said American theologian and author George Weigel. “We were friends and colleagues but never competitors, because we shared information and impressions freely, not least at ‘our table’ at the Taverna Giulia” in Rome, he told OSV News.

For Delia Gallagher, who worked alongside Allen at CNN for two decades, the most important thing about John was that he was “a loyal and real friend.”

“One thing I do think about John, in terms of his life, is that he was somebody who really found his vocation and really lived it with a passion, and that was, I think, a gift to him and a gift to Catholic journalism: to really love what you do and do it with joy and, therefore, be completely above any kind of competition or jealousy,” Gallagher told OSV News.

His passion for journalism, she added, was “inspiring” and what people saw “in John was that he really loved what he did 100% and felt called to it.”

“That’s why he was great at it. He was the best at explaining things in a fair way. Even in private conversations, he really didn’t show any signs of bias. He was very, very fair, always taking both sides, looking at it from different angles, and certainly always speaking to people,” Gallagher said.

Allen left NCR in 2014 and joined the Boston Globe, where he launched Crux. Two years later, after the Boston Globe ended its sponsorship of Crux, Allen relaunched the news site independently, becoming its president and editor-in-chief.

Gallagher, who was with Allen when he announced Crux’s relaunch in 2016 at the Pontifical North American College, said it was “a standout moment.”

“He was so proud; it was such a big moment for him,” she recalled. “I remember asking him once what would be his dream vision of his professional life. And he said it was starting Crux, because he could give younger journalists a launching pad. For him, that was his legacy.”

Among those whose careers in journalism began at Crux was Claire Giangravè, Vatican correspondent for Religion News Service.

Giangravè told OSV News that Allen hired her as Crux’s Faith and Culture correspondent in 2019, shortly after she graduated from college.

“Despite my inexperience, John immediately gave me the chance to meet, interview, and move among the people and prelates who shape life inside Vatican City,” she said.

“He impressed upon me, and on all of his colleagues, the absolute importance of fairness and balance, which he considered essential to journalism,” Giangravè told OSV News. “He urged us to cover the Holy See no differently than we would the White House: with rigor, without deference and with tough questions when they were warranted.”

But for Giangravè, Allen was above all a “genuine cheerleader” who “often showed more enthusiasm for uplifting others than for promoting himself.”

“He accepted interview requests from anyone, regardless of the size of the outlet, and always made time to speak with younger or lesser-known journalists,” she said. “In today’s highly polarised Church, John Allen’s balanced and nuanced voice – along with his ubiquitous sports references – leaves an unfillable void in the small world of Vatican reporting.”

Allen continued to appear on CNN as a Vatican analyst throughout the papacies of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, and in 2025, he served as a CBS News contributor during the election of Pope Leo XIV.

Throughout his career, he was a highly sought-after public speaker, speaking at conferences and events around the globe. He wrote 11 books on the Vatican and the Catholic Church, ranging in topics from the Benedict and Francis papacies to the persecution of Christians around the world.

For his accomplishments and expertise, he garnered attention and praise, with the London Tablet calling him “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language.”

But what some may not know, with the exception of his family, close friends and Crux readers, was that John was an avid home cook and an Italian food aficionado. So much so, that he once stated in an editorial piece that “a compelling history of the Catholic Church could be written in the form of an Italian cookbook.”

And among those who had a taste of his quasi-reverential treatment of Italian cuisine was none other than Pope Leo.

Following the pope’s election in 2025, Allen recalled inviting then-Cardinal Robert Prevost to his home, where he cooked him “a four-course Italian meal.”

“About halfway through this meal, I realised that this was a fairly prodigious feast we’re putting in front of this guy,” Allen told CBS News. “And I said, ‘Cardinal, don’t feel obligated to eat everything if you’re not hungry anymore.’ And he said, ‘Where I come from, when food is put in front of you, you eat it.'”

Those who had the privilege of knowing him say he wasn’t just an inexhaustible font of knowledge and wisdom on all things Vatican (as well as a connoisseur of the classic Roman pasta dish, bucatini all’amatriciana, although some argue his favorite was penne alla vodka), he was also sharp-witted, engaging, extremely funny and disarmingly humble.

And the home he shared in Rome with Elise and their two pugs was always ready to welcome whoever had the fortune of crossing its doors. Whether it was a lowly journalist itching to learn the ins and outs of the Eternal City or a future pope, there was always a seat at the table.

Rest in peace, John.

The post Crux editor, veteran Vatican journalist John Allen loses battle with cancer appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Pope Leo XIV sends a message to participants in the 2026 March for Life in Washington, D.C., encouraging young people “to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages.”

Read all

 

Jan 22, 2026 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV addressed the 2026 March for Life on Jan. 22, sending participants “warm greetings” and urging them to bring about a society that “safeguards the sanctity of human life.”

The Holy Father’s message was published ahead of the March for Life being held in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23. This is set to be the 53rd year the annual pro-life observance has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital.

Stressing that the protection of the right to life “constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right,” Leo said that society “is healthy and truly progresses only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it.”

“In this regard,” Leo continued, “I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages through appropriate efforts at every level of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders.”

The pope prayed that Jesus would “accompany you ... as you courageously and peacefully march on behalf of unborn children.” Such advocacy, the pope said, is “fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters.”

The pope extended an apostolic blessing to the march, saying he entrusted the advocates “to the intercession of Mary Immaculate,” the patron saint of the U.S.

The first pope from the United States of America, Pope Leo XIV — then Robert Prevost — was reportedly a marcher during at least one of the event’s earliest years.

Several other popes have addressed the U.S. March for Life in various forms such as via social media, though Leo’s message appears to be the first official letter directly from a pope and bearing his signature.

In 2023 Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Christophe Pierre expressed Pope Francis’ gratitude for “the faithful witness shown publicly over the years by all who promote and defend the right to life of the most innocent and vulnerable members of our human family.” Pope Benedict XVI sent a similar letter in 2013.

Francis also tweeted in support of the march, as did Benedict XVI.

EWTN News’ coverage of the 2026 March for Life can be found here.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

Jan 22, 2026 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Thousands of pro-lifers gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 53rd annual March for Life. Follow here for live updates on the march.

• Thousands of pro-lifers gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 53rd annual March for Life on Jan. 23.

Jan 22, 2026 / 15:59 pm (CNA).

Live Action has sent an urgent memo to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging him to take the chemical abortion drug mifepristone off the market after an investigative report revealed extensive noncompliance with safety regulations.

The leading pro-life organization showcased a new investigative video at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday morning about Planned Parenthood’s routine violations of safety regulations in its distribution of the chemical abortion drug.

The investigative video and accompanying letter show Planned Parenthood’s failure to consistently confirm the gestational age of unborn children before distributing chemical abortion pills, as well as its failure to screen for ectopic pregnancy, placing pregnant women at risk of severe hemorrhaging and even death.

“We’re here to call on the administration and the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] to remove these lethal drugs from the market,” Live Action President Lila Rose said at the press conference. “They don’t belong on our market; they don’t belong flooding the homes of American families, destroying the lives of American children and harming and sometimes killing American women.”

Chemical abortion drugs “were illegally fast-tracked under the Clinton administration,” Rose said. “There have been regulations that have been stripped away over the years, and now we are dealing with mass death on demand being sent via our postal mail system, and it must end.”

“Mifepristone, used as an abortive agent, should no longer be allowed in the United States if our FDA wants to do its job in protecting the American people and protecting American children,” she said.

Live Action’s letter, sent to Kennedy as well as FDA Commissioner Marty Makary immediately following the Capitol Hill briefing, states that about 7.5 million unborn babies have died as a result of the chemical abortion drug since its approval in 2000.

The group’s investigation found several instances of Planned Parenthood staff failing to verify gestational age or provide ultrasounds before distribution of the chemical abortion drug. The abortion giant also dispensed the pills without screening or follow-up care, and staff were also recorded in multiple instances “minimizing potential risks and treating key safeguards as optional or secondary in the provision of abortion pills.”

The Live Action letter also reveals that Planned Parenthood staff repeatedly failed to check Rh status and were caught sending abortion pills to fraudulent addresses in order to circumvent parental notice. Staff also failed to require a medical history before distributing the drugs or to provide transparent information about symptoms, downplaying the amount of bleeding that could occur when taking the drug as well as symptoms that mimic labor.

“Planned Parenthood even says that taking the abortion pill is safer for the mother than ‘carrying to term,’” the letter states.

Live Action cited research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in its letter, which found that “10.93% of women experienced sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days of taking mifepristone — an adverse event rate at least 22 times higher than the ‘less than 0.5%’ rate reported in the FDA‑approved clinical trials.”

EPPC President Ryan Anderson also delivered remarks at the press conference, urging the Trump administration to review his organization’s report, stating “FDA data is decades old” and is based on clinical studies with “an ideal parent under ideal conditions.”

“Our data is from the real world,” he said.

Several members of Congress attended the briefing, including Reps. Michael Cloud, R-Texas; Mark Harris, R-North Carolina; Troy Downing, R-Montana; Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; and Andy Biggs, R-Arizona.

Other speakers included abortion pill reversal protocol developer George Delgado and former Planned Parenthood clinic director Mayra Rodríguez.

“Today’s press conference and the release of this investigative video make clear that this issue warrants immediate and thorough review and action,” the letter stated. “Live Action requests that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration reevaluate the approval and current regulatory status of mifepristone, strengthen transparency and data collection, and remove this dangerous drug from the market.”

Back in the day, when The New Yorker set the standard for literary elegance among serious American journals, writers were driven to distraction by the fanatical fact-checking characteristic of the magazine’s gimlet-eyed editors. 

But the old New Yorker ain’t what she used to be. Evidence is readily at hand in Paul Elie’s recent, sprawling article, “The Making of the First American Pope,” which included this sentence about the last years of Pope Francis’ pontificate: 

The commentator George Weigel wrote a short book outlining the qualities conservatives wanted in the next pope, and in 2020, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, arranged for copies to be sent to all the cardinals who were expected to vote in the next conclave. 

With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning: How do I correct thee? Let me count the ways: 

1) How does a book calling for the pope to recognise the New Evangelisation as the Church’s “grand strategy” for the 21st century qualify as “conservative” Catholicism, rather than mainstream, living Catholicism? 

2) By the same token, how does the trigger warning about Catholic “conservatives” and their alleged longings adequately reflect the content of a book that calls on the papacy to promote Christian humanism, deepen the church’s appropriation of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, broaden the consultations through which bishops are selected, intensify seminary reform, empower lay men and women to be missionary disciples, undertake a root-and-branch reform of the Roman Curia, and deepen the theology of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue? 

3) How is it “conservative” to urge the Bishop of Rome to keep 1.4 billion men and women focused on the person of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God and the answer to the question that is every human life? 

4) As to specific fact-checking: If Paul Elie or his editors had bothered to contact me, Cardinal Dolan, or Mark Brumley, the president of Ignatius Press, he would have learned that my book, The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission, was sent to the members of the College of Cardinals by Ignatius Press; that Cardinal Dolan did not initiate that; and that the cardinal merely provided a cover note suggesting the book was worth reading.  

But no, one can only assume that the misrepresentations about this initiative concocted by Mr Elie’s progressive Catholic contacts, which have been corrected more than once, were left unexamined.  

Why bother fact-checking when the facts, if ascertained, might get in the way of a good trigger-warning or a slap at a leading American churchman? 

There were numerous other problems with Mr Elie’s article, including the usual, tiresome dismissals of John Paul II and Benedict XVI as rigorists and authoritarians; the author also seems quite ignorant of the Vatican’s febrile atmosphere during the latter years of Pope Francis.  

I can’t quarrel much with Elie’s conclusion, though: that Pope Leo’s “mission” might be to be “an American in a position of great power who is decent and humble – a no-drama pope whose very ordinariness is his message.”  

Except to offer two more corrections. 

First, Pope Leo has made it clear from the night he stepped out onto the central loggia of St Peter’s Basilica that his “message” is Jesus Christ, not himself.  

Elie’s description of Leo’s pre-papal career contains some interesting information (as well as some unfortunate distortions about Catholic movements and personalities in Latin America), but it tends to elide over something crucial: that the pope is a man of God, a man of prayer, and an evangelist who wants the world to know the Lord he loves and  serves.  

Second, it was clear to those of us in Rome during the 2025 papal interregnum that Cardinal Robert Prevost was not thought of primarily as “an American,” for if he had been, his election would have been quite unlikely.  

The Latin American cardinal-electors thought him one of their own, given his many years in Peru; others considered him a prominent figure in the universal church, with broad international experience. No one was focused on the fact that he was a White Sox fan from the south suburbs of the Windy City.  

Various scribblers and talking heads (and, of course, churchmen) have been spinning Pope Leo from the day of his election, the direction of the spin being dictated by the spinner’s position in Catholicism’s ongoing debates over identity and mission. Enough is enough.  

The Holy Father has a very tough job, and no one trying to capture him for any particular party or agenda is doing him, or the church, any good service.  

George Weigel’s column ‘The Catholic Difference’ is syndicated by the Denver Catholic, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Denver.

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Jan 22, 2026 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Legislation supporting pregnant and parenting college students, as well as pro-life pregnancy centers that serve them, is moving through Congress this week as the 2026 March for Life gets underway.

The U.S. House passed legislation that would allow states to use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other federal grant funds for pregnancy resource centers. The House passed the measure ( HR 6945) by a vote of 215 to 209 on Jan. 21. A Senate vote is possible next week.

Bill cosponsor Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, said: “In a pro-abortion culture of denial that dismisses unborn babies and trivializes the harm suffered by women, pregnancy centers affirm the breathtaking miracle of unborn life and the truth that women deserve better than abortion.”

Another measure scheduled for legislative action includes a bill ( HR 6359) sponsored by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, that would require U.S. colleges receiving federal student aid to provide students with information about how to choose to carry pregnancies without sacrificing their education.

“This is an opportunity for the GOP to expose Democrats’ extremist views on abortion to the American people as well as love them both — mother and preborn child,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, in a statement.

Newly introduced bills include a measure by Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, that would make it a crime to transport a minor across state lines to receive an abortion.

“Parents should not be kept in the dark if their kids cross state lines to receive an abortion. I’m proud to help introduce the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would take important steps to protect vulnerable minors and support parents,” Kennedy said in statement Jan. 21.

The bill would protect victims of child abuse as well as human trafficking, Kennedy said.

Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Florida; Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana; Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota; Steve Daines, R-Montana; Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska; James Lankford, R-Oklahoma; and Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, said they would cosponsor the measure.

A House version ( HR 4964) was introduced by Rep. Dave Taylor, R-Ohio, in August 2025. Taylor welcomed the introduction of the Senate measure and said: “This bill will hold all parties accountable and ensure children are not taken advantage of. As states like California and Illinois promote abortions for all and keep parents in the dark about their child’s health, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act will put parents back in the equation and protect the lives of both the child and the unborn.”

Lankford introduced a bill ( SB 6) on Jan. 15 that would set requirements for health care providers to provide care to babies born alive during botched abortions.

The bill says health care professionals must exercise “the same degree of care as would reasonably be provided to any other children born alive at the same gestational age” and that they must be immediately admitted to a hospital. If a health care professional is found guilty of failing to provide lifesaving care, he or she could face criminal penalties, up to five years in prison, or both under the measure.

“No child should be denied medical care simply because they are ‘unwanted.’ Today, if an abortion procedure fails and a child is born alive, doctors can just ignore the crying baby on the table and watch them slowly die of neglect. That’s not an abortion, that’s infanticide,” Lankford said in a statement.

Despite the action-packed start to the Australian Open, the moment that resonated with me most came the day before the Open began, after the women’s final of the Adelaide International. 

Eighteen-year-old Russian star Mirra Andreeva had started the match shakily, dropping the opening three games. But what followed was nothing short of a masterclass. 

Calm, composed and ruthless, she won 12 of the next 13 games to claim the title. It was impressive tennis from someone so young, but what struck me most came after the final point. 

As she always is, Andreeva was humble, gracious and classy in victory. She congratulated her opponent, thanked the tournament organisers, sponsors and fans, joked comfortably with the crowd, and expressed gratitude to her team and family. 

All standard, all well-mannered. What followed, however, genuinely caught me off guard. 

“Thanks to me,” she said, before going on to thank herself for the sacrifices she made, the work she put in, the perseverance she showed, and the belief she maintained when things were tough. 

What made Andreeva’s words even more striking was that this wasn’t a one-off moment of self-recognition – she mentioned it was part of her routine.  

She didn’t shy away from thanking herself, and she even wore a jacket that boldly quoted her saying, “I want to thank myself.” 

I’ll admit, I was taken aback. This felt strange, even jarring, coming from someone whose humility had always been so evident. 

It made me wonder whether, over the course of my life, I had built up a false understanding of humility in my own mind – one that I think many others share – where it meant denying compliments, downplaying your gifts, pretending you’re not good at anything, and constantly doubting yourself.  

To acknowledge one’s own effort or strength has felt dangerously close to pride. 

But the more I listened, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised Andreeva hadn’t violated humility at all.  

In fact, she showed me something closer to what true humility and self-love actually looks like. 

There was no false modesty, no attempt to hide or minimise her routine self-gratitude. Instead, it felt deliberate, disciplined, and reflective – a small, intentional way of acknowledging her own effort, perseverance, and growth. 

It showed that self-recognition and positive self-talk aren’t about ego. They can be a routine, prayerful practice of honesty about the gifts God has given us and the work we’ve done to nurture them. 

For many Christians, the idea of loving yourself can feel selfish, even contradictory. We’re called to a love that is merciful, sacrificial and outward-facing. 

Yet in the Gospel of Mark, Christ tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and then adds, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”  

Without turning this into an exegesis, Jesus clearly presumes something important: that we already know we are meant to love ourselves. 

So, what do Andreeva’s words teach us about loving ourselves properly? 

I’ve come to realise over time that many of us live with deeply negative self-talk. It’s almost ironic. Some of the harshest, most brutal things we would never dare say to our enemy, we say to ourselves daily. 

We tell ourselves we’re no good, that we’ve failed too often, that we’re undeserving of love, mercy or forgiveness. Then we wonder why, at times, we feel so unlovable. 

By thanking herself, Andreeva wasn’t inflating her ego or placing herself above others. She was being honest. 

She acknowledged the sacrifices she made, the discipline she showed, the courage it took to keep competing when momentum wasn’t on her side. That kind of self-reflection requires humility, not arrogance. It means recognising the good that is truly there. 

From a Catholic perspective, that matters deeply. Affirming what is good in us is not self-worship; it is truth-telling. 

Any real goodness we possess is not self-generated, but God-given. To recognise it is not to steal glory from God, but to acknowledge His work within us. 

True humility and self-love start with telling ourselves the truth about who we are: beloved children of God, created with purpose and dignity, worth the price of the cross in his eyes, and destined for eternal glory. 

The post Sinful pride or true humility? appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Jan 22, 2026 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

In her first year leading the March for Life, the organization’s president is reminding the pro-life movement that they “still have a lot of work to do” in the current political climate, three and a half years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“Taking down the Roe regime of abortion-on-demand across the country was incredibly important,” Jennie Bradley Lichter, who became president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund in February 2025, told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.”

“But there are still way too many abortions happening in this country,” she said. “So that’s the No. 1 reason why we’re still marching.”

Tens of thousands of pro-life activists are expected to gather in Washington, D.C., for the 53rd March for Life on Friday, Jan. 23. The march, which drew out about 150,000 people last year, has been held annually since Jan. 22, 1974, one year after Roe v. Wade was decided.

The speakers will include Lichter, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Rep. Chris Smith, among others. President Donald Trump provided a prerecorded message to the marchers, which will be played during the pre-march rally.

Lichter said in the interview that the annual march “accomplishes three really important things for the movement that cannot be accomplished any other way.”

The first, she said, is “forming young people for pro-life mission,” noting that many attendees are “teenagers and with college students and people in their 20s.” Second, she said, it is “also a really important moment of refreshment and being reenergized, and a lot of people have shared that with me this year.”

Third, Lichter said, is “the public witness impact of having this many people gathered in the heart of our nation’s capital.”

“When you stand at the March for Life, you have the Capitol dome behind the stage, and then the Washington Monument behind the marchers,” she said. “You are right in the heart of the most powerful and important city in the world, and the city shuts down every year on the day of the March for Life.”

“The Lord gives us a chance to show the nation what we’re made of, year after year,” she added. “It’s so powerful.”

Political climate

As pro-life advocates gather in Washington, D.C., 30 states and the nation’s capital still permit abortion up to the 22nd week or later, with nine states allowing elective abortion through nine months until the moment of birth.

In 13 states, nearly all abortions are illegal and in four states, most abortions are illegal after six weeks’ gestation. Two states prohibit abortion after 12 weeks, and one prohibits abortion after 18 weeks.

At the federal level, Lichter expressed some concern stemming from the Trump administration, which was mostly focused on his comment that asked Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment during negotiations about extending health care subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act.

The Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal tax money from being spent on abortion, has been included in spending bills since 1976, shortly after Roe v. Wade was decided.

“The response to the comment about being flexible on Hyde was swift and strong from everyone,” Lichter said, referring to criticism of the comments that came from the pro-life movement.

“The truth is, we’re not going to be flexible on Hyde,” she said. “We can’t be flexible with an issue that implicates human life — the preeminent issue — abortion.”

“The Hyde Amendment is Pro-Life 101,” Lichter said. “It’s a baseline policy that has been in place for 50 years and that every pro-life politician knows is just at the very heart of what it means to be a pro-life lawmaker. So of course, we’re not going to be flexible on Hyde.”

Lichter noted that some people think abortion “might be a losing issue in the midterms” for Republicans in November, but she believes “that’s completely wrong” and “misreads the electorate.”

“There’s no data, no examples to support the idea that pro-life politicians have been losing elections since [the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade],” she said.

“They just haven’t been,” she said. “And there’s a lot of counter examples, of course, of really strong pro-life politicians who have put life at the center of their work, who have continued to win reelection.”

The March for Life rally will be held on the National Mall from 11 a.m. until about 1 p.m., after which attendees will march past the U.S. Capitol and conclude in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Jan 22, 2026 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced policy actions to “affirm the dignity of life consistent with the Hyde Amendment.”

The enforcement “holds a state accountable for limiting the rights of conscientious objectors in a manner that violates federal law,” said Paula Stannard, director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in a Jan. 21 press release.

“To receive the benefits of Illinois’ liability shield, Illinois forces providers with conscience objections to refer patients for abortion — compelling them to participate in the very procedure they oppose,” she said.

The actions include a Notice of Violation from OCR to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker; Kwame Raoul, Illinois’ attorney general; and Mario Treto, secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. HHS’ notice said the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) violates law as it relates to abortion.

According to HHS, the state “engaged in impermissible discrimination when it amended the HCRCA to require providers with a conscience objection to certain services to counsel patients about, refer patients for, and/or make arrangements for, the performance of or referral for, such services.”

OCR reported the state is in violation of the Weldon and Coats-Snowe Amendments, which are federal protection laws prohibiting government entities from discriminating against health care workers, institutions, or insurance plans that refuse to provide, pay for, or refer abortions.

The “enforcement action holds a state accountable for limiting the rights of conscientious objectors in a manner that violates federal law,” Stannard said.

Other ‘comprehensive actions’

OCR also announced other actions the agency said would advance the rights of physicians, facilities, and health care personnel “to live out their professions without compromising their conscience regarding abortion and the dignity of human life.”

To “educate the public” on the matter, OCR released a nationwide “ Dear Colleague Letter” summarizing federal health care protection statutes, including laws specific to abortion, sterilization, and assisted suicide.

The letter highlighted the statutes that prohibit government discrimination against individuals and institutions that decline to participate in services, generally based on religious beliefs or moral convictions.

OCR also released three public notices describing how the actions align with the Trump administration’s presidential action, Enforcing the Hyde Amendment. The notices “describe OCR deregulatory actions that repudiate or rescind Biden-era documents that are outdated or inconsistent with the law.”

The announcement of the policy actions “builds on HHS’ recent efforts to safeguard conscience rights more broadly including investigations to protect health care workers, support whistleblowers, and reinforce adherence to religious and conscience exemptions in the Vaccines for Children Program,” according to the HHS statement.

Jan 22, 2026 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

John Allen Jr., the prolific author and longtime Vatican reporter hailed for his insightful coverage of the Holy See across multiple pontificates, died on Jan. 22 at 61 years old.

Allen passed away in Rome after a long struggle with cancer, EWTN News confirmed.

Born Jan. 20, 1965, Allen grew up in Hays, Kansas, and received a philosophy degree from Fort Hays State University, after which he obtained a master’s in religious studies from the University of Kansas.

After several years teaching journalism at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles, Allen joined the staff of the National Catholic Reporter, where he worked as a writer and a Vatican correspondent from 1997 to 2014.

In 2014 he joined the Catholic outlet Crux, which launched that year as a project of the Boston Globe. The newspaper transferred ownership of Crux to its staff in 2016, with Allen serving as its editor until his death.

He is survived by his wife, Elise, Crux’s senior Rome correspondent.

Praised by journalists and media figures for his years of coverage of the Holy See, he was described variously as “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language” and “the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever.”

He was also the author of multiple books, including two biographies of Pope Benedict XVI as well as a profile of Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Francis X. Rocca, the Vatican editor for EWTN News who knew Allen for two decades, said he “changed the way journalists cover the Vatican and the Catholic Church, enriching and enlivening what had been a stodgy beat.”

“He brought an insider feel and an unprecedented level of detail and nuance to his reports, drawing on his tireless engagement not only with cardinals and bishops, but with the mostly anonymous officials who make the Vatican and other Church institutions run,” Rocca said.

He was also “very effective on the air, a master of the thoughtful soundbite, which in his case was not an oxymoron,” Rocca added.

“His legacy includes the many younger journalists for whom he played the role of mentor over the years,” he said.

Crux notes that Allen’s work was “admired across ideological divides,” with his writing having appeared in a broad variety of outlets throughout his life, including the New York Times, NPR, and numerous others.

Known for years among newsmakers and leaders at the Vatican, Allen’s outsized reputation in Holy See media was perhaps best underscored in 2008, when he was offered the chance to ask Pope Benedict XVI the first question while flying aboard the papal plane to the United States.

“Holy Father,” the Vatican spokesman said at the time, “this man needs no introduction.”

Jan 22, 2026 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Catholic figures gathered in Los Angeles on Jan. 16 for the premiere of “Seeking Beauty,” the first original series from EWTN Studios airing exclusively on the network’s brand-new streaming platform, EWTN+.

Here are five things to know about the new series and its host, actor David Henrie.

What is ‘Seeking Beauty’?

“Seeking Beauty” is a first-of-its-kind adventure documentary series that explores culture, architecture, food, art, and music, and aims to point viewers to the beautiful — and ultimately to the divine.

The series follows Henrie’s journey into the heart of Italy to explore what makes Italian culture one of the most beautiful in the world. It not only looks at the physical beauty of the country but also its spiritual richness.

Where can I watch it?

“Seeking Beauty” is available to watch exclusively on EWTN+, a free digital streaming platform that offers faith-based content. EWTN+ is available on RokuTV, GoogleTV, AppleTV, AmazonFireTV, and on EWTN.com.

Where does ‘Seeking Beauty’ take place?

The first season of “Seeking Beauty” takes place in several cities across Italy including Vatican City, Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice.

Who is David Henrie?

Henrie is best known for his breakout role as Justin Russo on Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” He grew up in a Catholic household with Italian heritage; however, Henrie’s early adult years were marked by what he has described as a relativistic and agnostic period. He has also spoken about how the successes of early fame left him feeling unfulfilled and searching for deeper meaning.

Henrie’s return to the Catholic faith was a profound personal transformation that he says began around age 21 or 22.

A significant influence came while working on the movie “Little Boy,” where conversations with Catholic cast members Kevin James and Eduardo Verástegui, as well as a visit to St. Michael Abbey in Orange County, California — including his first confession since childhood — played a pivotal role in rediscovering his faith.

Since then, Henrie has embraced his faith publicly and personally, integrating his beliefs into his family life, creative projects, and charity work, including serving as a brand ambassador for Cross Catholic Outreach and participating in mission trips that reflect his commitment to living out his faith. He is married and has three children.

Will there be another season of ‘Seeking Beauty’?

Yes! The second season of the series was filmed in Spain and is scheduled to premiere this fall.

Jan 22, 2026 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Open Doors, an international organization dedicated to supporting Christians who suffer discrimination and persecution around the world, noted in its 2026 report that Christians in Nicaragua “are being increasingly silenced” under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo.

Earlier this month, Open Doors published its report titled “ World Watch List 2026,” which lists the 50 countries in the world where Christians suffer the most persecution because of their faith. Nicaragua is ranked 32nd.

“Believers who raise their voices against the government over issues including human rights violations have faced surveillance, intimidation, and imprisonment. Some even face exile and loss of citizenship,” the report states.

Meanwhile, “churches and other Christian institutions (e.g. schools and charities) are deemed a threat to the regime. They have had assets seized, activities disrupted and banned, and buildings vandalized. Rather than be seen as a valuable part of the country’s fabric, many Christians are viewed as ‘destabilizing agents,’” the text continues.

Open Doors also points out: “This growing suffocation of Christian freedoms goes back to 2018, when nationwide protests broke out against the government. This worsened following elections in 2021 and constitutional reform in 2025. Both have been used to make legal changes to further justify the crackdown on dissenting voices — and that includes further silencing the church.”

As the largest Christian community in Nicaragua, “ Catholics are a primary target for the regime. Clergy face imprisonment, exile, house arrest, travel bans, and legal threats,” the report states.

In fact, as Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “ Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, earlier this month, between 2018 and the end of 2025 a total of 43 properties had been confiscated from the Church, and the dictatorship has carried out 1,030 attacks against Catholics in addition to having banned 18,808 processions.

The newspaper Confidencial published at the end of 2025 a detailed report explaining how, between 2022 and 2025, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship confiscated 39 properties belonging to the Catholic Church, properties that are now being used for purposes other than those for which they were originally intended.

Molina also said that according to the running count there are “304 priests and nuns who no longer exercise their pastoral ministry in Nicaragua, 172 men and 132 women.”

Four bishops have been exiled from the country: Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, who celebrates Mass on Sundays at St. Agnes Parish in Miami; Bishop Isidoro Mora, bishop of Siuna; Rolando Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí; and Carlos Enrique Herrera, bishop of Jinotega and president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference. The other five Nicaraguan bishops still remain in the country.

Open Doors reports that “anyone who speaks out against the government is especially vulnerable, and that includes Christians from other denominations (e.g. Pentecostals and Baptists). Some also face pressure to show political loyalty to avoid further repercussions.”

“Those who preach the Gospel without censorship — proclaiming Jesus’ love and the freedom the Holy Spirit brings — are exactly the ones they want to silence,” says Pastora, a Christian quoted by Open Doors in its report.

“The situation in Nicaragua has changed very little. Even though the country fell two places from last year’s World Watch List, persecution remains difficult,” the report notes.

“Believers — especially pastors and church leaders — now face more suffocating surveillance, threats to restrict or shut down church activities, and constant interference in their ministries,” Open Doors explains.

In March 2025, the Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaico CSI reported that the dictatorship is monitoring priests, checking their cellphones, and demanding weekly reports on their activities, in addition to restricting their freedom of movement.

“For the priests who remain in Nicaragua, homilies must be entirely theological. They cannot speak about issues related to the social doctrine of the Church or offer social criticism,” the newspaper stated.

Open Doors also notes that “persecution is present throughout the country” but is more intense in “Bluefields, Chinandega, Estelí, Granada, Jinotega, Jinotepe, León, Masaya, Managua, Matagalpa, the South Atlantic Autonomous Region, and Rivas.”

Open Doors explains that in view of this situation, the organization aims to “strengthen the church in Nicaragua amid persecution, through livelihood support, legal assistance, persecution-survival training, and leadership care.”

The organization also offers a prayer for persecuted Christians in Nicaragua:

Heavenly Father, give our sisters and brothers wisdom, courage, and protection as they follow you in an increasingly hostile environment. Encourage those who’ve suffered loss and pain for their faith, provide for them, and heal their wounds. Soften the hearts of the regime and touch the hearts of the authorities as they monitor Christians. In these difficult times, strengthen your church in Nicaragua and shine brightly through them. Amen.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

During the week dedicated to praying for Christian unity, the director of the Ecumenical Department of the Mother of Holy Mary in the Armenian Apostolic Church speaks about how true unity means "there is no sense of inferiority."

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