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Father Ralph O’Donnell, bishop-elect of Jefferson City, Missouri.

Pope Leo XIV names new bishop for Jefferson City, Missouri

Aug 19, 2025

By CNA Staff

Pope Leo XIV has named Father Ralph O’Donnell of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, as the new bishop of Jefferson... Read more

The Catholic bishops are backing a suit by a coalition of Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans and their supporters, in their lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit argues that their freedom of religion was violated when the federal government announced its intention to sell formerly protected land in Arizona to a mining company.

Appeals court halts sale of Native American religious site defended by Catholic groups

Aug 19, 2025

By Daniel Payne

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said in a brief ruling on Aug. 18 that the Oak... Read more

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square from the popemobile during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 6, 2025.

14 things we learn about Pope Leo XIV from his brother’s latest interview

Aug 19, 2025

By Zelda Caldwell

In a new interview with NBC’s Chicago affiliate, 70-year-old John Prevost opened up about his brother, Pope Leo XIV.  Read more

Pope Leo XIV encouraged a mother to rely on the Virgin Mary as she raises her daughters in the faith.

Pope Leo XIV: Turn to Mary when temptations, uncertainties arise in family life

Aug 19, 2025

By Kristina Millare

Pope Leo XIV shared advice with a devout wife and mother in a letter published in the Italian monthly magazine... Read more

A federal district court in California ordered the Oakland Unified School district to grant equal access of school facilities to a Christian club.

Court says California school district must allow Christian club access to facilities

Aug 19, 2025

By Daniel Payne

A federal court said a California school district must grant a Christian club equal access to school facilities, arguing denying... Read more

Father Charles Gallagher, pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., with Auxiliary Bishop Juan R. Esposito-Garcia at the blessing of the Frassati Chapel on Aug. 9, 2025.

New Frassati Chapel aims to bring perpetual adoration to the nation’s capital

Aug 20, 2025

By Madalaine Elhabbal

The Frassati Chapel will serve as a place for Catholics in Washington, D.C., to pray throughout the day and to... Read more

Bishop Benedictus Hanno receives  the Our Lady of Persecuted Christians icon in Qaraqosh, Iraq, on Aug. 6, 2025, from Father Benedict Kiely of Nasarean.org.

English priest presents Our Lady of Persecuted Christians icon to Iraqi bishop

Aug 19, 2025

By Georgena Habbaba

On the anniversary of displacement, Father Benedict Kiely presented the Mosul, Iraq, archbishop with an icon for a shrine in... Read more

Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 13, 2025, at the Vatican. Due to the heat, the pope gave his address in Paul VI Audience Hall but also greeted pilgrims in other locations.

Pope Leo XIV to Amazon bishops: Nature is not to be worshipped but exists to praise God

Aug 19, 2025

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

Pope Leo XIV reminded the bishops of the Amazon region of the importance of caring for nature without becoming slaves... Read more

Young people walk the streets of Camagüey, Cuba.

‘Being a young Catholic is difficult’: The challenges facing young Cubans today

Aug 20, 2025

By Diego López Colín

Young Cubans live their Catholic faith in a country fraught with challenges.  Read more

Pope Leo XIV prays at the Marian shrine at Mentorella on Aug. 19, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV visits favorite Marian shrine of John Paul II outside Rome

Aug 19, 2025

By Edward Pentin

Pope Leo XIV made a private visit Tuesday to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Mother of Graces, near... Read more

The Kiruna Church on the move in northern Sweden, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.

Sweden saves historic Arctic church with massive move away from mine

Aug 20, 2025

By AC Wimmer

The mammoth move has seen the wooden structure, weighing over 600 tons, transported on specialized trailers traveling at about 1,600... Read more

Pope Leo XIV greets a young papal admirer in St. Peter’s Basilica during the general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Vatican.

Pope Leo XIV invites Church to pray and fast for peace on Queenship of Mary feast day

Aug 20, 2025

By Kristina Millare

The Holy Father urged his listeners to ask the Mother of God and “Queen of Peace” to intercede for those... Read more

Lebanese Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, gives a homily during the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 9, 2023.

Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, patriarch says

Aug 20, 2025

By Courtney Mares

Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, the leader of the country’s Maronite Catholics, Cardinal... Read more

The Arabian Peninsula.

Vatican approves new patron saints for entire Arabian Peninsula

Aug 20, 2025

By Andrés Henríquez

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved a new calendar granting new patron saints... Read more

Pope Leo XIV waves during his Wednesday audience Aug. 20, 2025. In a telegram dated the same day, he called moral theologians meeting in Colombia to  “find a balanced synthesis” between “the laws of God” and the “dynamics of man’s conscience and freedom” in the spirit of St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori.

Leo XIV calls theologians to find ‘balanced synthesis’ between God’s law, human freedom

Aug 20, 2025

By Kristina Millare

Pope Leo invited participants attending the 17th International Congress of Moral Theology in Colombia to reflect on the world’s challenges... Read more

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Federal court awards pro-lifers $1 over unconstitutional abortion clinic rule

Aug 20, 2025

By Daniel Payne

Pro-life activists in New York were awarded $1 this month after a court found that a county abortion clinic rule... Read more

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful at the gates of Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 19, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV looks to Ukraine with hope: ‘We must work hard, pray hard’

Aug 20, 2025

By Nicolás de Cárdenas

On Aug. 19, Pope Leo XIV expressed hope for an end to the war in Ukraine, noting that hard work... Read more

Bishop Giovanni Arana (right), secretary-general of the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference, seated beside Susana Inch, a lawyer and legal adviser to the bishops.

Bolivian bishops after elections: ‘A new chapter in the country’s political history opens’

Aug 20, 2025

By Julieta Villar

The Bolivian Bishops’ Conference expressed hope after Bolivia’s recent general election, which marked a change in the country’s political direction. Read more

Participants gather at the Aug. 18, 2025, launch event for a new digital app that will bring together 66 Catholic radio stations in east Africa. Father Don Bosco, editor-in-chief of ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, is pictured in the center.

New digital app to link over 60 Catholic radio stations in east Africa

Aug 21, 2025

By Agnes Aineah

The Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa recently celebrated the launch of a new digital app for Catholic... Read more

A view of a marijuana plant on Aug. 11, 2025, in San Anselmo, California. Cannabis company stocks surged by up to 10% on reports that the Trump administration is considering rescheduling marijuana on the federal level, from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. The move would step toward the decriminalization of the drug nationwide.

Catholic scholars urge caution as Trump considers rescheduling marijuana

Aug 20, 2025

By Tyler Arnold

The federal government considers marijuana — cannabis, the name of the plant that contains psychoactive compounds called cannabinoids — a... Read more