St. Luke's Catholic Church

Catholic News

Courtesy of CNA (Catholic News Agency)

‘Everybody’s had it’: Backlash to Charlotte bishop’s ban of altar rails, kneelers

After delaying restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass for three months, Bishop Michael Martin said in a Sept. 26, 2025, letter that the Chapel of the Little Flower in the St. Therese Parish in Mooresville, North Carolina, which was recently renovated by the diocese and can seat just over 350 people, will have two Masses each Sunday and on holy days of obligation, / Credit: Diocese of Charlotte CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 16:55 pm (CNA). Priests as well as the lay faithful are voicing criticisms after Bishop Michael Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, issued a pastoral letter last week prohibiting the use of altar rails and kneelers in the reception of Communion in the diocese.In the Dec. 17 letter, Martin said that by Jan. 16, 2026, the use of altar rails, kneelers, and prie-dieus (movable kneelers) will no longer be permitted in the diocese, and any “temporary or movable fixtures used for kneeling for the reception of Communion” must be removed.In

Catholic federation denounces withdrawal of EU funds due to ideological bias

The Berlaymont building in Brussels, seat of the European Commission. / Credit: EmDee/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA). The European Commission has decided to withdraw funding from the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE), an organization founded in 1997 to promote and defend the family, based on marriage between a man and a woman, before European institutions.The decision comes at a time when the European Union has recently given the green light to initiatives that promote so-called abortion tourism financed by European funds and the imposition of the recognition of homosexual unions on all member states.In contrast, funding is being denied to this Brussels-based Catholic federation, which brings together 33 associations from 20 European countries and is currently active with EU institutions, the Council of Europe, and the U.N.At the end of November, the EU froze the funds allocated to projects submitted by FAFCE

Trafficking victims rise worldwide as experts, survivors call for stronger action

Rome’s International Conference on Human Trafficking was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Dec. 10, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2025 / 15:55 pm (CNA). Fifty million people are currently being trafficked around the world, according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, driving over $236 billion into the hands of criminals, with numbers continuing to rise.The 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report documented that between 2019 and 2022 the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 25%, forced labor rose by 47%, and the number of child victims rose by 31%, with a dominating 38% increase in girls. Earlier this month, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Praeveni Global, the Santa Marta Group, and the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University organized an international conference in Rome to discuss prevention efforts, strengthen collaboration, and promote comprehensive action plans.&

130 students and teachers kidnapped from Catholic school in Nigeria released

null / Credit: hyotographics/Shutterstock ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 15:25 pm (CNA). Nigerian authorities have confirmed that 130 students and teachers kidnapped in November from a Catholic school in Nigeria have been released.According to the Associated Press (AP), Wasiu Abiodun, a police spokesperson for Nigeria’s Niger state, said “the remaining batch of the abducted students” were released, in addition to the first 50 who managed to escape shortly after the abduction and another 100 who were freed in early December.At least 303 students and 12 teachers were kidnapped on Nov. 21 at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools.Sunday Dare, spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stated on X that with the 130 released, there are “none left in captivity.”However, Abiodun said there are still 35 students and teachers unaccounted for and “further details will be communicated” concerning them.According to Ba

UPDATED: Pope asked Illinois governor to veto assisted suicide bill

Pope Leo meets with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in November 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of the Office of Gov. JB Pritzker Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Dec 23, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV appealed to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to veto a bill legalizing assisted suicide during a Vatican meeting last month, the pope told reporters Tuesday.The pope, responding to a question from Rudolf Gehrig of EWTN News, said he made his opposition to the bill clear in the November conversation with the governor. Leo told Pritzker it was important to defend the value of life and that every life is sacred, the pope told reporters outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before his return to Rome.The Vatican had not earlier provided details of the meeting.Pritzker signed the assisted suicide measure, ardently opposed by Catholic leaders, into law Dec. 12.“I spoke very explicitly with Gov. Pritzker about that,” the pope said, and he said Cardinal Blase Cupich also expressed his views

Vice President Vance presents a Christian vision of politics

U.S. Vice President JD Vance. / Credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 14:27 pm (CNA). U.S. Vice President JD Vance, America’s second Catholic vice president, laid out a distinctly Christian vision for American politics in a speech this week, declaring that “the only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been and, by the grace of God, we always will be a Christian nation.”Speaking to more than 30,000 young conservatives at Turning Point USA’s AmFest 2025 some three months after the death of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, Vance called for a politics rooted in a Christian faith that honors the family, protects the weak, and rejects what he described as a decades-long “war” on Christianity in public life.The Christian faith has provided a “shared moral language” since the nation’s founding, the Yale-trained lawyer argued, which led to

Nigerians must stop ‘trading future for crumbs’: Catholic official on security crisis

The secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Father Michael Banjo. / Credit: Ijebu-Ode Catholic Diocese ACI Africa, Dec 23, 2025 / 11:37 am (CNA). The secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged Nigerians to safeguard their future by making informed choices especially during elections and amid the country’s security crisis.In his message for Christmas delivered during the festival of Lessons and Carols at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Father Michael Banjo highlighted vices such as dishonesty, corruption, and exploitation as major obstacles to peace, warning of the dangers of ungodliness.“If we want peace in Nigeria, we must stop trading our future for crumbs and begin to give glory to God by voting for leaders of integrity, compassion, and proven character, leaders who fear God and truly serve the common good,” Banjo said during the Dec. 14 event.He added: “When lead

Amid security concerns, Vatican sister meets Bangladesh religious

Sister Tiziana Merletti meets with nuns and aspirants at Mary House in Tejgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in December 2025. / Credit: Father Apu Rozario, CSC EWTN News, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:52 am (CNA). Sister Tiziana Merletti, SFP, secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, visited Bangladesh Dec. 16–21, meeting with religious men and women across the country during a five-day program on consecrated life.Merletti told CNA she was impressed by the vitality of Bangladesh’s small Catholic community but also heard concerns about the security situation, including reports of three recent explosions near Catholic facilities.“We feel a sense of concern in the air for the future of society,” she said, adding that upcoming national elections will be important for the Church’s ability to continue its work freely and peacefully.Sister Tiziana Merletti, SFP, secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life

Federal judge strikes down rules allowing schools to hide gender ‘transitions’ from parents

null / Credit: sergign/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA). A federal judge in California this week issued a permanent block against the state’s “gender secrecy policies” that have allowed schools to hide children’s so-called “gender transitions” from their parents.U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued the ruling in the class action lawsuit on Dec. 22, holding that parents “have a right” to the “gender information” of their children, while teachers themselves also possess the right to provide parents with that information. The order strikes down secretive policies in school districts across California that allowed schools to conceal when a child began identifying as the opposite sex or another LGBT-related identity. Benitez had allowed the legal dispute to proceed as a class action lawsuit in October. School districts in California “are ultimately state agents under state cont

Caritas says new UK asylum rules are ‘incompatible with Gospel values’

A protester holds up a St. George’s cross flag with the slogan “Get Off My Land” outside the High Court in London on Aug. 29, 2025, as the government seeks to challenge a High Court ruling that will stop asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping beyond Sept. 12. / Credit: CARLOS JASSO/AFP via Getty Images London, England, Dec 23, 2025 / 09:37 am (CNA). The domestic agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has strongly criticized recent announcements by the U.K. government concerning asylum seekers’ rights to remain in the country.Following the publication of the government’s new proposals last month, Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) released a statement on Dec. 17 saying that new rules surrounding those seeking asylum were “incompatible with the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church.”Under current U.K. law, people who are facing persecution in their own country are entitled to

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