Holy Name of Jesus

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday entrusted the ministry of catechist to 39 men and women in St. Peter’s Square, personally handing each one a crucifix as a sign of their mission during the Jubilee of Catechists.

The candidates, representing several countries, were called by name and responded “Here I am” before receiving the crucifix. The rite took place during a Mass that highlighted both the vocation of teaching the faith and the Church’s universal call to hand it on.

Among those commissioned was Catherine Miles-Flynn, an American mother of eight who has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 1995. For two decades she has served as director of Christian formation in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. “There is a lot of joy in my work because I get to talk about Jesus all day,” she told reporters ahead of the jubilee, noting that Catholic churches in Abu Dhabi are “packed all the time.”

The Jubilee of Catechists is one of several thematic celebrations taking place during the Holy Year 2025, which has as its central theme hope. More than 20,000 pilgrims from 115 countries traveled to Rome for the weekend gathering, which included a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica and pilgrimages to the Holy Door before Sunday’s Mass.

Preaching in his homily on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the pope said that “the words of Jesus convey to us how God sees the world, at every moment and in every place.” He warned that the passage remains “very relevant today” as “at the doorstep of today’s opulence stands the misery of entire peoples, ravaged by war and exploitation.”

The pope reminded the catechists that their ministry is rooted in witness: “The name of your ministry comes from the Greek verb ‘katēchein,’ which means ‘to teach aloud, to make resound.’ This means that the catechist is a person of the word — a word that he or she pronounces with his or her own life. Just as we learned our mother tongue, so too the proclamation of the faith cannot be delegated to someone else; it happens where we live, above all in our homes, around the family table.”

Leo also described the catechism as a “travel guidebook” that protects believers from “individualism and discord” because it expresses the faith of the entire Church. He urged Christians not to fall into greed and indifference, saying the “many ‘Lazaruses’ of today remind us of Jesus’ words” and serve as a catechesis of conversion, forgiveness, and hope.

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

ACI MENA, Sep 28, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Every day people from around the world visit Iraq — some to explore an ancient civilization, others as tourists drawn to its natural beauty, and still others seeking work opportunities. But for one group of young Americans, experiencing Iraq has been especially unique, “filled with lessons, encounters, and blessings.”

After joining St. Thomas Mission, an initiative run in partnership with the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Alex McKenna, along with fellow students from Ohio’s Franciscan University of Steubenville, arrived in Iraq to teach in the archdiocese’s schools and experience life and faith there.

At Mar Qardakh International School, the young adult missionaries engage in a wide variety of activities: teaching subjects like history and science, assisting in administration, and leading classes in English and religion.

“I didn’t know much about the Christians of Iraq or their lives beyond what the media reported about their suffering — especially during the ISIS invasion, when so many were forced from their homes to preserve their faith,” McKenna told ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

“In this mission, we work hard to strengthen Catholic education in a land that first received the Gospel in the first century, where Christians are still striving to hold on to their faith and identity despite many challenges. We pray that the light of Christ continues to shine in this holy land,” he said.

The St. Thomas Mission’s service emphasizes strengthening students’ faith first. Through their personal witness as committed Catholics, the missionaries hope their lives become a model of faith for the young people of Iraq.

“Some of my peers found the early days of teaching very difficult; it was a completely new experience for them, as it was for me. But over the years, I’ve learned from the children, from the teachers, and from the priests and bishop of the archdiocese how to draw closer to God,” McKenna said.

The missionaries’ service extends also to the Catholic University in Erbil, which McKenna called “a beacon of hope,” an institution fostering coexistence among religions and ethnicities in an environment of pluralism and dialogue, deeply rooted in Catholic values.

Living in Iraq has also brought unexpected joys. “We spent our holidays in what I would call educational trips more than tourism, where we experienced the generosity and hospitality of the Iraqi people,” McKenna said.

In Ankawa, the Christian neighborhood of Erbil, “the ringing of church bells calling people to prayer and Mass fills us with joy. Here, you truly sense the love, faith, and deep attachment to the Church.”

Although the Chaldean Church is in full communion with Rome, its liturgy is distinct from the Latin rite. For McKenna, attending Chaldean liturgies has been an unforgettable experience. 

“It was extraordinary to pray in the very language spoken by Christ and to witness a liturgy that traces back to the earliest centuries of Christianity,” he explained.

Now in its fourth year, the St. Thomas Mission continues to serve the schools of the Erbil Archdiocese. For McKenna, the past three years of service have been a treasure, an experience he now carries with him as he begins graduate studies in law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He said he hopes to return to Iraq one day. 

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints.

“I will confer the title of doctor of the Church on St. John Henry Newman, who gave a decisive contribution to the renewal of theology and to understanding Christian doctrine in its development, in the context of the Jubilee of the World of Education,” the pope said after celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists in St. Peter’s Square.

With the proclamation, Newman will become the 38th doctor of the Church, joining a select group of saints recognized for their enduring contribution to Catholic theology and spirituality. He is especially noted for his insights on the development of doctrine and the role of conscience.

A 19th-century English theologian, Newman was first a renowned Anglican priest before entering the Catholic Church in 1845 under the guidance of Blessed Dominic Barberi. Ordained a Catholic priest two years later, he founded the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England and was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

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

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sep 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A tradition dating from the 11th century has been brought to Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, extending an enduring symbol of faith and pilgrimage. A jumbo-sized thurible, commissioned by the college and made in Spain, now embellishes the college’s Christ the King chapel.

The connections between Christendom College and the Catholic culture of Spain date back to even before the college’s founding in 1977. Its first president and co-founder, Warren Carroll, took students to Spain on several visits to learn Spain’s history and experience life at El Escorial monastery near Madrid.

Among other works, Carroll, a historian, authored “Isabel of Spain: The Catholic Queen” and “The Last Crusade: Spain 1936” with an interest in defending Catholic faith and culture, said Timothy O’Donnell, the college’s president emeritus, in an interview with CNA.

Believed to be one of the largest thuribles or censers in the world, the famed Botafumeiro is a giant thurible used at the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in northern Spain, which has been a pilgrimage destination for centuries, rivaled only by Rome and Jerusalem.

According to tradition, it is the burial place of St. James the Greater, who evangelized the Iberian Peninsula. In a centuries-old tradition, the massive censer, which weighs hundreds of pounds, is swung from ropes when pulled by a team of eight men at the transept of the historic church on feast days. It weighs more than 176 pounds and is over 6 feet tall.

O’Donnell recalled that St. John Paul II said in a homily in 1982, as the first pilgrim pope to Santiago: “This place, so dear to Galicians and Spaniards alike, has in the past been a point of attraction and convergence for Europe and all of Christendom.”

According to O’Donnell: “I was so moved by that because that is the name of our college. So, on certain anniversaries, we would take pilgrimages to Santiago.”

Seeing the giant thurible there ultimately gave him the idea to reproduce such a symbol of faith. “I thought it would be awesome to have something like this in the new chapel.” He turned to Heritage Liturgical, which designed and realized the project.

“Now people need not go as far away as Spain to see this beautiful thing and incense going up to heaven like the prayers of the faithful and angels going to God on high,” he said. In a tradition dating back to the Old Testament, costly incense was a sacrifice; after the coming of Christ, it joins our prayers with his perfect prayer and sacrifice.

Instead of producing an exact reproduction of the Botafumeiro in Spain, Heritage Liturgical executed a censer that echoes the design of the chapel. Enzo Selvaggi, principal and creative director of Heritage Liturgical, told CNA that Christendom’s monumental thurible was “designed in a cogent and well-defined Gothic Revival mode to fit the architecture of the college’s Chapel of Christ the King.”

Emilio León, a silversmith of Córdoba, Spain, was selected for the project and helped restore the original Botafumeiro. Starting in 2021, León sculpted and chiseled for a year and a half to complete the work, which is silver-plated brass.

In an email to CNA, León wrote: “I incorporated my spiritual and religious values, just as I do in all my work, giving my best effort, knowing that it is for the glory of God.” León belongs to a royal fraternity that preserves Catholic traditions such as Holy Week processions and the dignity of sacred spaces.

León is also working on other projects for Heritage Liturgical to be installed in the U.S. For Catholics in Spain, he continued, the Botafumeiro represents “the grandeur of Christ the King and the apostle James.”

Christendom’s thurible is normally displayed near the image of the Virgin Mary in the chapel. On feast days of the Church, it is brought near the central altar where it is hoisted on chains and swung by senior students, much in the tradition of Spain. The next feast day for swinging the grand censer will be the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, on Nov. 23.

Selvaggi told CNA that in works produced by Heritage Liturgical, the Catholic principle of sacramentality applies at their conception so that designers and artists use matter, as do theologians, to “make a spiritual reality encounterable in the world.”

Both Selvaggi and León are working on other projects destined for the U.S., including helping to restore churches in Nebraska and Georgia, and designing mosaics for churches in Wisconsin. The message from the company affirmed that the new thurible at Christendom College is “captivating not only because of its size and beauty, but more importantly, because it reveals something that already exists: the love of God that causes us to send our prayers rising up to God.”

Reading 1 Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

Reading 2 1 Timothy 6:11-16

Alleluia Cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Gospel Luke 16:19-31

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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.

CNA Staff, Sep 27, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The New York Supreme Court has tossed out a lawsuit against the Diocese of Buffalo challenging a diocesan plan requiring payments to help settle the diocese’s abuse settlement.

Parishioners suing the diocese had won a reprieve in July when the state Supreme Court instituted a temporary halt on the payments.

The parishioners had argued that the diocese should await the Vatican’s ruling on a diocesan merger plan before requiring the parishes to pay the highest-level payment rate into the settlement.

But Judge John Delmonte, who had issued the injunction in July, said in his Sept. 26 ruling that the issue turned on whether the Supreme Court “has any measure of jurisdiction” to adjudicate the dispute.

“It has been repeatedly and consistently stated that the courts of this state ‘adhere to the long-recognized and sensible prohibition against court involvement in the governance and administration of a hierarchal church,’” he wrote.

The Buffalo Diocese told media in a statement that it was “pleased” with Delmonte’s ruling that the diocese “maintains the authority for decisions that clearly involve matters specific to the operations of parishes” in the diocese itself.

The advocacy group Save Our Buffalo Churches said in a statement that the plaintiffs in the suit “will be meeting with their attorneys” in the wake of the ruling.

The group said the lawsuit could move to an appellate court.

The Diocese of Buffalo, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020 amid a large number of abuse claims, announced earlier this year that its parishes would be required to pay up to 80% of their “unrestricted cash” to help fund the settlement for abuse victims.

Closing or merging parishes are required to pay the top-tier 80% rate, the diocese said. Bishop Michael Fisher called the required contributions “necessary to bring to a close this painful chapter of our diocese and achieve a level of restitution that is owed” to victims of sexual abuse.

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Bishop Giovanni Paccosi of San Miniato announced Sept. 27 that Pope Leo XIV has named Father Marco Billeri, a priest of the Italian diocese, as his second personal secretary.

Billeri, ordained in 2016, continued his studies in Rome where he earned a doctorate in canon law. He has served as a judge at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Tuscany, defender of the bond at the diocesan tribunals of San Miniato and Volterra, episcopal master of ceremonies, and secretary of the presbyteral council. Until now he has been associate pastor of the Parish of Sts. Stephen and Martin in San Miniato Basso.

In a statement, Paccosi called the appointment “a great gift” for the diocese. He recalled receiving a personal phone call from the pope the previous week asking his consent to release Billeri for this new mission.

“I felt both joy and a sense of vertigo, thinking that Father Marco will now be at the heart of the Church of Christ,” the bishop said. He invited the faithful to pray for Billeri and for the diocese, noting that closer ties with the pope and the universal Church should strengthen awareness of their own mission.

Billeri will work alongside the pope’s first personal secretary, Peruvian Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga.

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

• Readings for the Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest

Reading 1 Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15a

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ab, 13

Alleluia See 2 Timothy 1:10

Gospel Luke 9:43b-45

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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.

Reading I Haggai 2:1-9

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 43:1, 2, 3, 4

Alleluia Mark 10:45

Gospel Luke 9:18-22

• Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs

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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.

Reading 1 Haggai 1:1-8

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia John 14:6

Gospel Luke 9:7-9

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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.