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Catholic News

Courtesy of CNA (Catholic News Agency)

Trump honors Mary’s ‘freedom from original sin’ in Immaculate Conception message

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Dec. 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 18:09 pm (CNA). President Donald Trump honored the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, which appears to be the first time an American president formally recognized the Catholic holy day.The presidential statement recognized the role Mary played in the salvation of humanity and the importance she has in American history. The statement does, however, contain one theological error about the Incarnation. It says God became man when Christ was born, although Catholic doctrine recognizes God becoming man at the Incarnation: when Mary conceived him.“Today, I recognize every American celebrating Dec. 8 as a holy day honoring the faith, humility, and love of Mary, mother of Jesus and one of the greatest figures in the Bible,” the statement said. Trump, who is not Catholic and describes himself as a "no

Bethlehem lights Christmas tree again while conflict still echoes nearby

Spectators gather in Nativity Square during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem on Dec. 6, 2025. / Credit: HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 17:39 pm (CNA). For the past two years — while the war in Gaza has been taking place — all Christmas celebrations have been canceled in Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born. However after the recent ceasefire, the famous town decided to have its Christmas celebrations return, starting with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in front of the historic Church of the Nativity on Dec. 6. “It’s been a bad two years of silence; no Christmas, no jobs, no work,” Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati said in an interview with the BBC. “We’re all living here from tourism, and tourism was down to zero.” He added: “Some may say it’s not appropriate and others say it’s appropriate, but deep inside my heart, I felt that this was the right th

Mariologists publish scathing critique of Vatican note on Mary’s titles

The Blessed Mother and the Child Jesus. / Credit: Zwiebackesser/Shutterstock National Catholic Register, Dec 8, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA). One of the Catholic Church’s foremost associations of Mariologists has issued a strongly critical response to Mater Populi Fidelis, a recently published Vatican doctrinal note that has been criticized for its diminution of some long-established devotional Marian titles.In a 23-page document published Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the International Marian Association Theological Commission (IMATC) points to various elements of Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People of God”) that it calls erroneous, “unfortunate,” and says are in need of “substantial clarification and modification.” They describe a significant element of the document as resembling Protestant rather than Catholic theology and urge, “in a spirit of true synodal dialogue,” for Mater Populi

Benedict XVI’s former secretary hopes the pope’s beatification process will open soon

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, former secretary of Pope Benedict XVI. / Credit: Alan Holdren/EWTN News ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA). Archbishop Georg Gänswein, former secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, said he hopes the beatification process will begin soon for the German pontiff, who died on Dec. 31, 2022.“Personally, I have great hopes that this process will be opened,” the archbishop and current apostolic nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia said in an interview with the television channel K-TV, which aired Dec. 7.According to current Church regulations, a potential beatification process for Pope Benedict XVI could only begin five years after his death unless the current pope grants special authorization before then, as Joseph Ratzinger himself did with John Paul II, waiving this waiting period.In the excerpt from the interview, published by the German Catholic media outlet Katholisch, Gänswein emphasized that one of Pope Benedict&rs

Tennessee faith leaders call on Gov. Lee to stop executions

Republican Gov. William Lee, pictured in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., in September 2025, should stop all executions and support an end to the death penalty, faith leaders said at a Dec. 8, 2025, press conference hosted by the Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP). / Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 15:58 pm (CNA). Faith leaders called for the halt of state executions and a complete end to the death penalty in Tennessee.“Together, the Catholics in Tennessee, led by the three bishops, the three dioceses of the Tennessee Catholic Conference, call for a halt to executions and call for an end to the death penalty in Tennessee,” said Rick Musacchio, executive director of the Tennessee Catholic Conference (TCC).Tennessee faith leaders urged Republican Gov. William Lee to stop all executions and support an end to the death penalty at a Dec. 8 press conference hosted by the Tennesseans for Alterna

Indigenous artifacts from Vatican welcomed in Montreal ceremony

Pope Leo XIV receives Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (center), Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver (right), and Father Jean Vézina, secretary-general of the Canadian bishops (left), in a Nov. 15, 2025, meeting at which the Holy Father gifted dozens of artifacts that originated with Indigenous peoples of the North American country. Leo at the meeting donated 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums to the Canadian bishops. / Credit: Vatican Media Montreal, Canada, Dec 8, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA). Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith said the 62 Indigenous cultural items received from the Vatican marks “a gift freely given” and an important step in rebuilding trust between the Catholic Church and Indigenous peoples.The artifacts, including a rare century-old Western Arctic kayak, were formally transferred to Indigenous leaders in Montreal as part of

Baton Rouge Diocese announces Sunday Mass dispensation for migrants fearing deportation

null / Credit: chayanuphol/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA). Bishop Michael Duca has granted a dispensation from Sunday Mass attendance for immigrants fearing deportation in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the fourth U.S. diocese to do so.News of the dispensation comes amid heightened presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Louisiana as part of the Trump administration’s “Swamp Sweep,” which has been reported to include the deployment of 250 Border Patrol agents to the region and plans to arrest 5,000 individuals across Louisiana and Misssissipi.“With the recent publicized arrival of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers into south Louisiana and greater Baton Rouge, and since many of the faithful genuinely fear immigration enforcement actions, thereby making it untenable for them to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, I hereby grant a dispensation from the obligation t

On solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, pope encourages renewing our ‘yes’ to God

Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus prayer on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer Dec. 8 from the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the occasion of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.Addressing the faithful and pilgrims in attendance in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff commented that on Dec. 8 we express our joy because the Father of heaven wanted her to be “preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”“The Lord has granted to Mary the extraordinary grace of a completely pure heart, in view of an even greater miracle: the coming of Christ the Savior,” he added.The pope also noted that the gift of the fullness of grace in the young woman of Nazareth “was able to bear fruit because she in her freedom welcomed it, embracing the plan of God.”He emphasized that “the Lord always acts in

Canadian bishops ask prime minister to keep religious-text protection in hate-speech law

The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), held Sept 25-28 outside of Toronto. / Credit: CCCB/CECC Ottawa, Canada, Dec 8, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA). The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and Toronto’s Cardinal Francis Leo are urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to withdraw the Liberal Party’s reported agreement with the Bloc Québécois to remove religious-belief exemptions from Canada’s hate-speech laws.In a letter published Dec. 4, CCCB President Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière warned that repealing Section 319(3)(b) of the criminal code — which protects good-faith expressions or opinions based on religious texts from hate-speech prosecution — would have a “chilling effect on religious expression.”“The removal of this provision risks creating uncertainty for faith communities, clergy, educators, and others who may fear that the expression of

Fátima visionary Sister Lucia’s doctor shares moving conversion story

Sister Lucia of Fátima, left, and Dr. Branca Pereira Acevedo, her doctor for 15 years. / Credit: Sanctuary of Fatima/ HM Television/Home of the Mother ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). “I was her doctor for her body, but she was my spiritual doctor,” said Dr. Branca Pereira Acevedo while describing her relationship with Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the visionaries of Our Lady of Fátima, whom she cared for during the last 15 years of Sister Lucia’s life.Lucia — the only one of the three shepherd children still alive at the time — moved in 1925 to the Spanish city of Tui in Pontevedra province, where she lived for more than a decade before returning to Portugal and professing her vows as a Carmelite nun in 1949. In this city in northwestern Spain, the visionary received “a new visit from heaven” with apparitions of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus.Lucia dos Santos as a child. Credit: Public domainDec. 10

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