Some of the coffins of 73 Christians from Benue State, central Nigeria, massacred by Fulani jihadists in 2018. / Credit: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 29, 2025 / 16:53 pm (CNA).

Attacks against Christian communities, especially in northern Nigeria, are not an isolated phenomenon but rather a strategy to “annihilate them all and Islamize the country,” said Emeka Umeagbalasi, a criminologist and researcher.

The expert has spent 30 years denouncing human rights violations in his country and is clear that “this is not simply a case of violence.”

“We have documented the coordinated and systematic murder of an entire people; therefore we are clearly talking about a Christian genocide,” he told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Umeagbalasi, the director of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has just published a report with chilling data on the violence that extremists carry out every day against those who profess the Christian faith.

They can’t pray out loud so they do it in secret

The nongovernmental organization estimates that in the north of the country there are some 40 million Christians who “cannot pray out loud” because it is extremely dangerous. “They do it in secret, at night. No one dares to openly confess their faith. If you do, you risk being killed for ‘blasphemy,’” the expert said.

Thus, he warned against a “systematic strategy to achieve the extermination of Christians,” which, he alleged, is supported by the complicity of the state and the passivity of the international community.

“Today in northern Nigeria, it’s almost impossible to live as a Christian, and if the trend continues, within half a century we will no longer be a country with religious pluralism,” he affirmed.

One of the most serious issues documented by the organization he leads is precisely the “complicity” of the Nigerian state.

“Complicity is part of an expansive policy by the Nigerian government to Islamize the country,” he charged. According to Umeagbalasi, during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023), a former military officer of Fulani origin, Nigeria experienced a significant deterioration in internal security.

Although Buhari came to power with the promise of defeating jihadist groups and restoring stability, the truth is that both Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have consolidated their control over large areas of the northeast of the country in recent years.

There is a ‘national Islamization project’

“The jihadists have seized political power and have since launched a national Islamization project,” he stated.

To justify the Nigerian state’s inaction, Umeagbalasi cited the paradigmatic case of mass kidnappings in Kaduna state in the country’s north. In this area, various armed groups linked to radicalized Fulani herders frequently attack Christian villages, with security forces making no attempt to prevent them. In fact, according to the expert, the Nigerian government tends to downplay this violence, describing it simply as “community crime.”

“More than 850 Christians remain captive in several camps in the Rijana area, very close to a military base. This began in December 2024, and they remain held by jihadists to this day. Between December and August 2025, more than 100 prisoners were killed there. How is it possible that all this is happening just a few kilometers from military installations without anyone taking action?” the activist asked.

Parishes virtually empty for fear of attacks

According to the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference, at least 145 Catholic priests have been kidnapped since 2015. However, investigations by Intersociety raise that number to 250 Catholic clergy attacked, along with another 350 ministers of various Christian denominations.

“The Catholic Church and the bishops in Nigeria are doing what they can, but there are limits to what they dare to say publicly,” Umeagbalasi explained.

“They can’t openly acknowledge, for example, that many parishes in the north of the country are practically empty for fear of attacks. But we, however, can tell the truth, and we do it to help them,” he explained.

Violence has profoundly altered the religious balance in Nigeria. “The jihadists’ goal is to eliminate Christians,” the director of Intersociety warned.

The mass displacements to internally displaced persons camps — and beyond the country’s borders, to Cameroon or Chad — are further evidence of the magnitude of the problem. “When they destroy your church, attack your community, and threaten your life, you have no choice but to flee,” he pointed out.

The kidnapping business

In other research, the African security and strategy consultancy SBM Intelligence documented in its annual report, “Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry, 2025 Update,” that 4,722 people were kidnapped between July 2024 and June 2025 by extremist groups. Among the victims were 18 priests.

For the release of these thousands of hostages, people paid in Nigerian currency approximately 2.57 billion naira ($1.72 million), which is approximately 10% of what the kidnappers were demanding.

“The priests and nuns have families who end up paying ransoms even though the Catholic Church officially refuses to negotiate. In addition, the kidnappers keep the cars used by the clerics, which they end up selling on the black market. A car stolen from a priest can fetch up to 10 million naira ($6,727) on the black market,” Umeagbalasi explained. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Zack McCarthy via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

ACI Africa, Sep 29, 2025 / 15:24 pm (CNA).

Members of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) marked the International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 with an appeal to the international community to cancel Zimbabwe’s debt, saying such a step would help revive the country’s economy, reduce poverty, and build lasting peace.

Zimbabwe is struggling with an $8.3 billion debt (in U.S. dollars), mostly in arrears, which blocks access to affordable international financing and slows economic recovery.

In a joint statement published on Twitter by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the ZHOCD body, which consists of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, and the Union for Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe Africa, the Christian leaders stressed that peace cannot be separated from social and economic well-being.

“On this International Peace Day, we urge international partners to consider debt cancellation to alleviate the economic burden on our nation and local leadership to alleviate the situation and arrest the social evils that threaten the very fiber of our society,” members of ZHOCD said in their collective Sept. 21 statement.

“Such a step could enable Zimbabwe to redirect critical resources towards vital sectors like health care, education, and infrastructure development, addressing poverty and inequality,” they added.

The Christian leaders reflected on the state of peace in the Southern African nation, saying that despite the country’s good security, the people of God are still experiencing injustices and inequalities.

They noted that while Zimbabwe is not embroiled in outright violence or war, the situation of the country can be characterized as a “negative peace,” a concept they said highlights the “absence of direct violence but presence of underlying structural injustices and inequalities.” They said the country is grappling with economic hardships, political polarity, and social injustices.

They specifically pointed out social ills like drug and substance abuse, widespread domestic violence, and armed robberies that they described as “a worrisome phenomenon” all impact the well-being of the people, particularly vulnerable groups like women, youths, and persons with disabilities.

The members of ZHOCD called upon all political leaders in Zimbabwe to prioritize peace, justice, and the human rights of Zimbabweans, especially the vulnerable.

“Let us work together to promote dialogue and understanding, address root causes of conflict, and protect human dignity and rights,” they said in their message.

The Christian leaders in Zimbabwe referred to the words of Mahatma Gandhi on poverty and stated their support for structural issues to be addressed to restore positive peace “marked by justice, equity, and human dignity for all Zimbabweans.”

“Let us work together to build a more peaceful, just, and stable society in Zimbabwe and contribute to global peace efforts,” they said.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the European Parliament’s Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue on Sept. 29, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2025 / 14:52 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday said European institutions need “people who know how to live a healthy secularism” while urging recognition that religion has value both on a personal and social level.

“When the religious dimension is authentic and well cultivated, it can greatly enrich interpersonal relationships and help people live in community and society. And how important it is today to emphasize the value and importance of human relationships!” he noted.

Leo XIV made his remarks on Sept. 29 when receiving at the Vatican the European Parliament’s Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue. The objective of this structure, an initiative of the European People’s Party (EPP) coalition, is to promote dialogue between different cultures, religions, philosophical beliefs, and nondenominational communities within Europe.

The pope also emphasized that participation in interreligious dialogue, by its very nature, “recognizes that religion has value both on a personal level and in the social sphere.”

“Being men and women of dialogue means remaining deeply rooted in the Gospel and the values ​​derived from it and, at the same time, cultivating openness, listening, and dialogue with those from other contexts, always placing the human person, human dignity, and our relational and communal nature at the center,” the pope explained in his address.

The Holy Father emphasized that promoting dialogue between cultures and religions is a “fundamental objective for a Christian politician” and cited as examples Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, and Alcide De Gasperi, considered the founding fathers of what eventually became the European Union, who also lived their faith as a sociopolitical commitment.

Thus, he urged the cultivation of a style of thought and action that affirms the value of religion, while “preserving its distinction — not separation or confusion — with respect to the political sphere.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Statue of St. Michael the Archangel in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies on Aug. 12, 2025. / Credit: Kayo Magalhães/Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sep 29, 2025 / 14:17 pm (CNA).

St. Michael the Archangel’s feast day was officially incorporated into Brazil’s national calendar following the enactment of a law approved by acting President Geraldo Alckmin and published on Sept. 25 in the official government gazette.

The date established is Sept. 29, the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates the holy archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and in particular St. Michael, venerated as the protector and defender of the faith.

“The date established by this law aims to pay tribute to St. Michael the Archangel, recognizing his historical importance and relevance to the Catholic faith of the Brazilian people,” Law No. 15.219 states.

The website of the presidency of the republic noted that St. Michael is “a symbol of protection and defense of the faith, and patron saint of the military police and various Brazilian cities, such as Uberaba, Nova Iguaçu, São Miguel do Oeste, and São Miguel do Iguaçu.”

A deeply rooted devotion in Brazil

St. Michael is celebrated in Brazil with Masses, processions, and religious festivals in various regions. The institution of the date in the national calendar, the authorities explained, has a symbolic and cultural character, has no budgetary impact, and officially recognizes a devotional practice already widespread in Brazilian society.

In recent years, the practice of St. Michael’s Lent has grown, which begins on Aug. 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and concludes on Sept. 29. Thousands of faithful participate in this devotion, especially through online broadcasts led by Friar Gilson Azevedo of the Carmelite Messengers of the Holy Spirit and the Hesed Institute.

A national pilgrimage

Since late July, a statue of St. Michael the Archangel from the Mount Gargano shrine in Italy has been on a pilgrimage through Brazil. The statue has traveled through the five regions of the country and will conclude its journey on Sept. 29.

On Aug. 12, during a solemn session in the national congress, the pilgrim statue was presented, and St. Michael was proclaimed spiritual commander of the Brazilian nation.

This story was first published by ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by ACI Prensa/CNA.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered for the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists on Sept. 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2025 / 10:50 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has put a spotlight on the risks of artificial intelligence in his choice of theme for next year’s World Day of Social Communications, as the Vatican emphasizes the important role of Catholics in media and AI literacy.

The pope’s choice of theme for the 60th World Day of Social Communications 2026, published Monday, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.” The day is celebrated every year on Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers.

The Vatican’s explanatory note emphasizes the risks of AI, including that it “can generate engaging but misleading, manipulative, and harmful information, replicate biases and stereotypes from its training data, and amplify disinformation through simulation of human voices and faces.”

The theme of the World Day of Social Communications was released as the Vatican’s communication department is struggling to stem the tide of “deepfakes,” false images and videos of Pope Leo XIV saying and doing things he did not say or do.

Pope Leo XIV signaled at the beginning of his pontificate that the challenge of AI would be a significant theme of his teaching.

The Vatican announcement on Monday urged the introduction of media and artificial intelligence literacy into educational systems to combat the risk of misinformation.

“As Catholics we can and should give our contribution, so that people — especially youth — acquire the capacity of critical thinking and grow in the freedom of the spirit,” the document says.

The Vatican message underlines that “public communication requires human judgment, not just data patterns.”

“The challenge is to ensure that humanity remains the guiding agent,” it says. “The future of communication must be one where machines serve as tools that connect and facilitate human lives rather than erode the human voice.”

“EWTN News Nightly” welcomed its new anchor, Veronica Dudo, on Sept. 8, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

“EWTN News Nightly” welcomed its new anchor, Veronica Dudo, on Sept. 8 to a role in which the veteran journalist said she hopes “to spread the word about what’s happening in the world through a Catholic lens.”

In an interview with “EWTN News In Depth,” Dudo told President and COO of EWTN News Montse Alvarado that she wanted to be a journalist “to give a voice to those who would otherwise go unheard.”

“I have always been a very curious person about others and the world around me,” Dudo said. “So I knew very early I enjoyed storytelling. Being a journalist was a great way to be able to do that.” 

“‘EWTN News Nightly’ is the network’s flagship news show and the most-watched program on broadcast and across our digital platforms. We’re excited to see how Veronica will add to this award-winning team,” Alvarado told CNA. 

Dudo is an Emmy Award-nominated journalist and anchor with decades of experience in the field. As she assumes her new role for a global network, she brings skills from past work as a global communications expert and an international relations consultant. 

EWTN’s “unwavering mission to serve the faithful and also to be a voice of truth” is what drew Dudo to be a part of the network. The anchor position “seemed like an amazing opportunity … to tell stories through a Catholic lens, while also giving [people] information about what’s happening in the world around them,” Dudo said, adding that she is no stranger to EWTN. 

“I was of a generation that grew up watching EWTN. I remember being young and my grandparents and great aunts and uncles always had the network on. They had such a love for Mother Angelica.”

EWTN has “grown like a tree with so many branches, and it really has helped people. It’s not just the headlines. It does go beyond that,” Dudo said. “Each network has a unique mission and audience, but with EWTN, truth is always at the forefront.” 

She added: “Being able to help people understand what’s happening, in addition with their spiritual lives, is something that really sounds like a dream to be a part of. Right now, there is an outpouring of people who are very interested in faith-based programming. So I think the timing is really perfect.”

With the Catholic faith at the forefront of her work, Dudo detailed her love for praying the rosary and her affection for Eucharistic adoration, which she said helps her find “a quiet stillness.” She added: “It is an inspiration for me. It’s a regrouping of where I can stop and recalibrate, understand, especially when things are so busy in the world and chaotic.”

Dudo made her on-screen debut for “EWTN News Nightly” on Monday, Sept. 8. Now serving as the voice and anchor of the show, Dudo said she is looking forward to highlighting the “morals and the teachings” of the Church. “It’s amazing to be with EWTN that informs and inspires but also evangelizes.” 

“It’s a great joy to walk into a network where you can really be who you are,” Dudo said. She shared what sets the network apart: “You don’t have to apologize for your faith.”

“Veronica knows EWTN as a viewer and now gets to be a part of the team that brings news from a Catholic perspective to every soul we reach. She’s always been part of the EWTN family, only now she’s in the anchor chair weekdays at 6 and 9 p.m. Eastern,” Alvarado said.

null / Credit: maxuser/Shutterstock

Rome, Italy, Sep 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Many influential figures hope that developments in brain-computer interfaces, artificial general intelligence (AGI), and genetic engineering will usher in a new transhumanist era. But what exactly is transhumanism and how does the Church approach it?

The Transhumanist FAQ 3.0 describes transhumanism as “the intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.”

Although the number of members in official transhumanist organizations remains small, the movement’s mindset is widespread among prominent tech developers and influences key decisions about beginning-of-life and end-of-life decisions made daily.

Media sensation and technology investor Bryan Johnson embodies transhumanist ideals through his strict lifestyle regimen aimed at reversing his aging and buying him and his followers more time to avoid death through eventual scientific breakthroughs.

After optimizing his sleep, diet, and exercise routines, Johnson has turned to over 100 health supplement pills, light exposure therapies, and other experimental enhancements. For example, he uses rapamycin (an immunosuppressant drug given to organ transplant patients), receives blood transfusions from his fit college-aged son, and has traveled to the Caribbean island Roatán for follistatin (a muscle-building protein used to treat degenerative conditions like muscle dystrophy) gene therapy injections not approved by the FDA. 

The fallen-away Mormon has started his “Don’t Die” movement, which he is not afraid to call a new religion. 

Without claiming to start a new religion, other major tech figures are committed to technological solutions to aging and death. For instance, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has invested billions in Altos Labs to investigate slowing and reversing aging, and Google co-founder Larry Page started the radical life extension project Calico Labs.

Supporting human dignity

While it does not promote a biological solution to death, the Church is dedicated to using technological innovations to help patients live healthier and longer lives through its extensive health care system. The Church supports the adoption of promising CRISPR gene therapies for beta-thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and personalized treatments for rare metabolic conditions. 

However, in her commitment to intrinsic human dignity, the Church refuses to support techno-pronatalist projects that use IVF to create embryos and then screen them for desirable traits. Many in the transhumanism movement are especially eager to select for intelligence so that children will be equipped to innovate and correctly guide AI developments to avoid existential risks and foster a more prosperous society.

These projects are presented as “responsible parenthood,” giving children genetic advantages for their future pursuits. However, behind this benign rhetoric, dark shadows of neo-eugenics lurk. 

Numerous embryos created through IVF are deemed unworthy of life due to their genetic profile and are discarded or kept in perpetual suspension. These transhumanist projects tragically aim to create a superior future humanity at the expense of present humans. 

Moreover, while planning for future generations is a moral responsibility, focusing too much on long-term projects like space colonization can distract from urgent short-term efforts to address present societal injustices, such as poor access to basic health care and unchecked environmental damage.

Along with genetically engineering the next generation, many transhumanist thinkers are interested in bodily modifications that enhance capabilities through brain-computer interfaces. Elon Musk’s Neuralink company’s mission of restoring autonomy in patients who have suffered spinal cord injury or ALS is admirable. Hearing Noland Arbaugh talk about how easily he can connect with loved ones and study neuroscience using a thought-controlled computer is heartening. 

Yet the effort to boost mental capacity with millions of healthy implant users raises serious concerns about mental privacy, manipulating thoughts, and the mental health impacts of such rapid connectivity.

The boldest transhumanist projects aim for a posthuman, post-biological existence maintained through digital immortality. 

Ray Kurzweil, a longtime director of engineering at Google, predicts a singularity event marked by rapid technological growth, self-improving AI systems, and a merging of humans and machines that will bring unimaginable enhancements to human existence. Some hope that advances in AI will enable the preservation and transfer of human consciousness. 

However, these efforts can, at best, provide a copy of data about the deceased. They fail to preserve the embodied human person. Moreover, the misguided hope for digital immortality can discourage individuals from gracefully embracing their earthly finitude while setting their ultimate hope in the resurrection of the body.

Efforts to abandon the fragile, vulnerable body can also negatively affect how people facing illness or disability are treated. Furthermore, if one becomes convinced that the value of life mainly depends on physical and psychological fitness, the temptation to end life through assisted suicide and euthanasia during times of decline and distress becomes more tempting. 

Caring for bodily well-being is a Christian duty, but true dignity is not based on physical strength or mental sharpness. The vulnerable body is not just a problem to tolerate but is the reality through which virtues like care, patience, service, empathy, and courage are exercised. Safe and effective improvements in cognition, physical health, and emotional well-being through pharmaceuticals, genetics, or other biotechnologies can contribute to a good life if used wisely, but they cannot ensure moral or spiritual growth. 

‘Catholic transhumanism’

Catholics should dialogue with transhumanists who genuinely seek to improve the human condition via technological tools. Non-Christian authors recognize that the Catholic Church was once the Silicon Valley of its day. It was a well-networked, well-funded hub of innovation in astronomy, architecture, agriculture, engineering, health care, social welfare, and many other fields. Catholic clergy spearheaded Big Bang cosmology, genetics, geology, and internet hyperlinks. Together, they can work to improve health care while guiding biotechnological interventions in ways that uphold the fundamental human dignity of vulnerable patients.

Religious expressions of transhumanism include the Mormon Transhumanist Association and the Christian Transhumanist Association. These groups see emerging technologies as crucial tools for achieving traditional Christian goals of spiritual transformation. Nonetheless, many leading transhumanists consider their movement as a rational and scientific alternative to, and an improvement on, traditional religions.

For instance, Extropy Institute (a forerunner of the World Transhumanist Association) co-founder Max More claims that “apart from the sheer falsity and irrationality of religion it has had the unfortunate consequence (identified by Ludwig Feuerbach) of debasing humanity.” He proposes transhumanism as a liberating force for human ingenuity and ongoing progress. Yet the largely secular contemporary transhumanist movement has surprising Catholic roots. 

Centuries before secular authors like Julian Huxley wrote about transhumanism as the human-driven technological evolution of the human species, Dante insisted that the transhumanizing experience of heavenly transfiguration is so sublime that even his poetic genius cannot capture it fully in words. In “Paradiso” Canto I, 70-71, he writes: “Trasumanar significar per verba, non si poria” (“Passing beyond the human cannot be expressed in words”).

Catholic transhumanism is rooted in the gift of grace and free collaboration with God. Transhumanizing theosis is concerned chiefly with growth in virtue and docility to the Holy Spirit. Catholic divinization is an elevation open to all people of all conditions and circumstances, not only the most physically fit and cognitively acute.

Archbishop of Philadelphia Nelson J. Perez speaks to members of his congregation at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul following a special Mass for Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. / Credit: Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez on Sept. 29 announced the designation of multiple “missionary hubs” throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese, part of a broad effort to help bring lapsed Catholics back into the Church while highlighting the “deeply positive impact” the Church has had on the region.

The rollout comes after Pérez earlier this year revealed the 10-year plan meant to bring Catholics back to the pews. The archdiocese said in January that the effort would be “phased in” across the region.

A “standout feature” of the campaign, the archdiocese said on Monday, is the creation of five “missionary hubs” at parishes in the region’s four major counties of Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester as well as Philadelphia County itself.

Those parishes will serve as “a new method of evangelization that will be instrumental in reaching out to Catholics who no longer attend Mass regularly and others seeking a spiritual connection in their lives and an outlet to serve those in need.”

“Following the example of Jesus Christ, we are moving to encounter all of our brothers and sisters where they are,” Pérez said in a press release. “I want everyone to know that they are not alone and that they will always have a home in the Catholic Church.”

The hubs will feature trained individuals under the leadership of the parish’s pastor, with teams working to “address the distinct needs and priorities of the people living within the neighborhoods of that parish and beyond.” The designation of the hubs came after “dozens of meetings” with hundreds of Catholics throughout the year.

The parishes will use pastoral, educational, and charitable ministries to “reach people who feel far from the Church,” according to the archdiocese.

‘Catholic. Every day’

In addition to the hub effort, the archdiocese will also be rolling out a marketing campaign, dubbed “Catholic. Every Day,” that will broadcast on local TV and radio stations. It will also be featured on displays such as billboards and bus shelters.

The archdiocese described the effort as an “extensive and privately funded marketing and advertising campaign covering Philadelphia and its suburbs.”

The donor-sponsored ads will feature “the many faces of Catholicism in the region” and will run in several phases through July 2026, coinciding with multiple major events in the region, including the FIFA World Cup and events marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S.

“This campaign will remind Catholics of their rich heritage of service to others in Philadelphia while introducing our message to new audiences in fresh and compelling ways,” Pérez said.

The archbishop said in the Monday press release that the Philadelphia Church “has 1.5 million Catholics, directly helps hundreds of thousands of people through our schools and charitable ministries, and has an economic impact of more than $1 billion a year.”

Organizers wanted to “highlight the broad scope of compassionate and dignified service we provide to people of faith traditions and diverse walks of life,” he said.

Archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin told CNA earlier this year that the entire effort will be funded primarily by “private philanthropic funding secured over time and hopefully endowed for long-term sustainability.”

“The archbishop recognizes the urgency of reaching out to the 83% of baptized Catholics not regularly practicing their faith while continuing to serve more effectively and efficiently the 17% who do attend Mass,” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Among the estimated 20,000 pilgrims in Rome for the Jubilee of Catechists, a group of three dozen from the United States had their own private audience with Pope Leo XIV.

The pilgrims -- an archbishop, volunteer parish catechists, diocesan employees, religious sisters and two staff members from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- met with the pope Sept. 27 before his Jubilee audience.

The pope told them that all Catholics, by virtue of their baptism, are called to be teachers of the faith, said Marilyn Santos, associate director of the USCCB Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis.

The next morning, during Pope Leo's Jubilee Mass, he formally installed in the ministry of catechist Santos and David Spesia, executive director of the secretariat. The first reading at the Mass was proclaimed by another member of the pilgrimage: Robert Gallagher, a volunteer catechist at the Basilica of St. Edward in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis, chair of the bishops' Committee for Evangelization and Catechesis, led the pilgrimage.

"We are just being pilgrims of hope," the archbishop told Catholic News Service. The pilgrimage was an opportunity to "deepen our own our faith, our own sense of God's grace and presence in our lives and our own calling -- rooted in all of our baptisms, whether bishop or religious, consecrated, single, married, what have you -- to live out our call to holiness and mission and be witnesses of the faith."

The formal institution of some people in the ministry of catechist, a possibility opened by Pope Francis in 2021, shows "how important, how essential catechists are to the church," the archbishop said. "And I think it coincides beautifully with the synodality focus on co-responsibility, that we are all co-responsible for passing on the faith."

The U.S. bishops are working on a national directory on the three instituted ministries Pope Francis formalized: catechist, lector and acolyte. The directory aims provide a theological understanding of the ministries, the formation needed, age requirements, the duration of the ministry and their role in a parish and diocese. 

Spesia said that in the United States parish catechists are "the 'little engine that could' that drives the church and hands on the faith," and recognizing that with a special Jubilee celebration "is just a beautiful thing."

Asked about being chosen to be instituted a catechist by Pope Leo, Santos said, "I'm thrilled. I'm a little shocked. I'm honored."

Parish catechists "are priceless because they are the boots on the ground, so to speak," she said. Those instituted in the ministry of catechist answer to their diocesan bishop and are called to be an example and resource for others. 

Patrick Donovan, director of the Institute for Catholic Formation in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, also was part of the pilgrimage.

He told CNS he hoped no one would see the formal institution of catechists as somehow saying that only some Catholics are called to share and teach others the faith.

"I think oftentimes we mistakenly talk about catechesis as a chore, catechesis as a project, as a program. It begins and it ends," he said. But it is an ongoing process of growing in the faith and in one's ability to share it with others.

"For me, the perspective is all about what we can do to help mom and dad be the best witnesses of the faith," Donovan said, giving parents "the language to articulate the faith" and share it with their children each day.

"We have to do less of the hostage situation with young people" forced to attend religious education classes, he said, "and more of giving the language to articulate the faith to mom and dad and grandparents."
 

Pope Leo XIV to new catechists: Share the Gospel with zeal!

Pope Leo XIV installed 39 new catechists from around the world and urged them to share the Gospel with zeal.

A stained-glass window in St. Sulpice Church in Fougeres, France, depicts (from left to right) the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. / Credit: Tiberiu Stan/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Many Catholics can, at the drop of a hat, recite the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel — the famous petition to that venerable saint to “defend us in battle” and “cast into hell Satan.”

In the culture of the Church, Michael is often accompanied by his two fellow archangels — Sts. Gabriel and Raphael — with the three forming a phalanx of protection, healing, and petition for those who ask for their intercession. The Church celebrates the three archangels with a joint feast day on Sept. 29.

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel is hailed in the Book of Daniel as “the great prince who has charge of [God’s] people.”

Michael Aquilina, the executive vice president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio, described Michael among angels as “the one most often named — and most often invoked — and most often seen in history-changing apparitions.”

Devotion to Michael, Aquilina told CNA, “has been with the Church from the beginning. And Michael has been with God’s people since before the beginning of the Church.”

Michael’s history in the Bible is depicted through Daniel, in Jude (in which he battles Satan for possession of Moses’ body), and in Revelation as he “wag[es] war with the dragon” alongside his fellow angels. 

Michael, Aquilina said, was “a supremely important character who was there from the beginning of the story.” Rabbinic tradition holds that Michael was at the center of many of the great biblical dramas even if not explicitly mentioned. 

He was an early subject of veneration in the Church, though Aquilina noted that the Reformation led to a steep decline in devotion to the angels — until the end of the 19th century, when Michael began an “amazing comeback journey” in the life of the Church. 

Following a vision of Satan “running riot” on the planet, “Pope Leo composed three prayers to St. Michael, ranging from short to long,” Aquilina said. “The brief one, he commanded, should be prayed at the end of every Mass.” 

This was a regular feature of the Mass until the Vatican II era, after which it came to an end — though Pope John Paul II in 1994 urged Catholics to make the prayer a regular part of their lives.

“St. Michael is there for us in the day of battle, which is every day,” Aquilina said.

The St. Michael Prayer: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil / May God rebuke him, we humbly pray / And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the divine power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

St. Gabriel the Archangel

Gabriel appears regularly in Scripture as a messenger of God’s word, both in the Old and New Testaments. Daniel identifies Gabriel as a “man” who came “to give [him] insight and understanding,” relaying prophetic answers to Daniel’s entreaties to God. 

In the New Testament, Luke relays Gabriel’s appearances to both Zechariah and the Virgin Mary. At the former, he informs the priest that his wife, Elizabeth, will soon conceive a child; at the latter he informs Mary herself that she will do the same. The two children in question, of course, were respectively John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. 

Christian tradition further associates Gabriel with the apostle Paul’s reference in his First Letter to the Thessalonians to the “archangel’s call” and “the sound of the trumpet of God.”

“Judgment will begin with the archangel’s call and the sound of the horn,” Aquilina told CNA. “Thus we hear often of Gabriel’s trumpet.”

Media workers in particular have “good professional reasons to go to Gabriel,” Aquilina said.

“Since he is the Bible’s great communicator — the great teller of good news — he is the natural patron of broadcasters and all those who work in electronic media,” he said. 

“For the same reason, he’s the patron saint of preachers ... but also of postal workers, diplomats, and messengers.”

The St. Gabriel Prayer: O Blessed Archangel Gabriel, we beseech thee, do thou intercede for us at the throne of divine mercy in our present necessities, that as thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation, so through thy prayers and patronage in heaven we may obtain the benefits of the same, and sing the praise of God forever in the land of the living. Amen.

St. Raphael the Archangel

Lesser-known among the three great archangels, Raphael’s mission from God “is not obvious to the casual reader” of the Bible, Aquilina said. Yet his story, depicted in the Book of Tobit, is “something unique in the whole Bible.” In other depictions of angels, they come to Earth only briefly, to deliver a message or to help God’s favored people in some way. 

“Raphael is different,” Aquilina said. “He stays around for the whole story, and by the end he’s become something more than an angel ... he’s become a friend.”

In Tobit, Raphael accompanies Tobias, the son of the book’s namesake, as he travels to retrieve money left by his father in another town, helping him along the way and arranging for his marriage to Sarah. 

The biblical account “has in every generation provided insight and consolation to the devout,” Aquilina said. 

Notably, Raphael deftly uses the natural world to work God’s miracles: “What we would ordinarily call catastrophes — blindness, multiple widowhood, destitution, estrangement — all these become providential channels of grace by the time the threads of the story are all wound up in the end.”

“Raphael is patron of many kinds of people,” Aquilina said. “Of course, he’s the patron of singles in search of a mate — and those in search of a friend. He is the patron of pharmacists because he provided the salve of healing. He is a patron for anyone in search of a cure.” 

He is also the patron saint of blind people, travelers, sick people, and youth. 

“Raphael’s story,” Aquilina said, “remains a model for those who would enjoy the friendship of the angels.”

Prayer to St. Raphael: St. Raphael, of the glorious seven who stand before the throne of him who lives and reigns, angel of health, the Lord has filled your hand with balm from heaven to soothe or cure our pains. Heal or cure the victim of disease. And guide our steps when doubtful of our ways. Amen.

This story was first published on Sept. 29, 2023, and has been updated.