Jan 3, 2026 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

In 2018, Andrew Laubacher, a touring Catholic musician at the time, decided to quit social media completely. Despite his recording label telling him that he was making a terrible decision, he was exhausted from the impact it was having on his life and felt God calling him to make this change.

Fast-forward to today and Laubacher is now the executive director of Humanality, a nonprofit organization that “exists to help people discover freedom through an intentional relationship with technology” and offers individuals help to break their digital addiction through a 12-week digital detox program.

Speaking to hundreds of young Catholics at SEEK 2026 in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 2, he explained how social media can become addictive and have negative effects on the human person – including depression, anxiety, and body image issues – and offered tips on how individuals can use technology practically and intentionally.

Laubacher began by highlighting data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that the average U.S. life expectancy decreased for the first time between 2017 and 2019 and that “Americans are 10 times more likely to have a depressive illness than they were 60 years ago."

Citing the federal data as well as research in Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 book “The Anxious Generation,” Laubacher explained that in 2010 a new feature was introduced on smartphones which led to “drastic increases in anxiety and depression.”

What was this feature? The front-facing camera.

“When that front-facing camera came out, all of a sudden our lives became self-defining,” he argued.

Laubacher shared how he saw this play out in his own life – constantly comparing himself and his life to others, experiencing lust, feeling lonely, and wasting his time mindlessly scrolling through his feeds.

“These technologies affected me in many different ways,” he said, “And when I made that leap [off social media] everything got better. My friendships got better, my purity, my productivity, my prayer got better. Everything started to improve.”

“So you guys, the way that you've grown up with these technologies has literally changed everything… It's changed the way you think. It's changed the way you behave. It's changed the way you relate to one another. It's changed the way you sleep. It's changed the way you perceive reality,” Laubacher told those gathered.

“You have to understand algorithms are literally shaping your perception of what is true. And if you are living your life scrolling and getting stuck into these platforms like me you're not necessarily as you want to be.”

Laubacher said that the average 18-year-old in 2025 is on pace to have a 90-year life span. He then broke this down into how many months one might spend doing different activities such as eating, sleeping, going to school or work, and driving.

Over the course of one's life, the average person is left with “334 months of free time – this is where you fall in love. This is where you create music, this is where you write that book, this is where you go on the trip with your loved ones. This is where you discover your vocation,” Laubacher said.

“Right now, of those 334 months, 93% of that time is going to be spent on the screen,” he said. “At the end of your lives, you in this crowd will have looked at the screen for 27 years of your life."

"And friends, my mission is to help you get that time back into your life. So you can invest that time and attention into the things that matter most.”

Offering those gathered practical tools to gain more freedom from digital media, Laubacher highlighted three of the 11 ways Humanality’s digital detox program aims to help individuals gain a more human way to be – be light, be giving, and be present.

“Be light” focuses on individuals stopping the nighttime scrolling and beginning to acknowledge the difference between daytime and nighttime. Laubacher explained that people spend 90% of their time indoors versus 100 years ago when people spent 90% of their time outdoors.

Additionally, when people scroll on their phones at nighttime, the light from the screen tells the brain it’s daytime.

“So, our separation from light in the daytime — and you scrolling yourself to sleep in the nighttime — is a huge reason for our mental health slash sleep disorder slash fatigue and exhaustion,” he said.

“Be giving” turns the self-centered nature of social media to one where you “start to think outside of yourself,” which leads a person to be “more happy and more healthy when you live a life that is giving,” Laubacher explained.

The last way Laubacher highlighted was “be present,” which aims to simply teach people how to be present with themselves, with others, and with God. “Friends, I want to tell you right now, the scariest, best, most amazing adventure in your life is going to be learning to love God, your neighbor, and yourself,” Laubacher said.

“And if I'm honest, I can love people pretty easily, but it's really hard for me to love myself most of the time. And I found that my technologies were not allowing me to get to know the person that God has created me to be.”

“These three ways – there's a lot more – but these three ways I think if you start to implement in your day today you'll start to use technology as a tool and get out of these addictions.”

Jan 3, 2026 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Years ago, lay evangelist Gabriel Castillo physically battled demonic forces as he struggled against a pornography addiction, which he eventually won with the help of Our Lady’s intercession as he prayed the rosary.

Castillo spoke to EWTN News at the SEEK 2026 conference in Fort Worth, where he promoted his new book, “The Power of the Rosary.”

He said the rosary is "the greatest prayer for overcoming vice.”

He cited a 2018 study that found that 91% of men and 61% of women view porn regularly. To combat porn addiction, Castillo said praying the rosary is "essential.”

Asked how to pray well, he started by saying that “it’s ok to begin badly … Be satisfied doing it poorly, just get it done. The only bad rosary is the rosary you didn’t pray. As you pray, you will get better at prayer.”

“At the beginning of each mystery pause, recollect yourself, visualize the mystery as if you’re present. Imagine what it would have been like to be at the Nativity, to hold the beautiful baby Jesus in your arms, and realize that the baby is the Alpha and the Omega, and address your intention to the child Jesus as you’re visualizing,” he said.

“Visualize the mystery as if it’s happening in the place that you are,” he continued. “If you’re on a walk, and you see a tree, visualize Jesus hanging on that tree.”

When we pray the rosary in this way, Castillo says, it is “radically transformational.” He encouraged Catholics to pray the rosary throughout the day, and to pray it more often if one already prays every day.

“If you deny yourself twice a day, or more, and devote that time to prayer, what would happen to your life?” he asked. “If you make space for the voice of God, and allow it to penetrate your life and mind, the presence of Christ will be with you in those times when you’re not praying the rosary."

“Your growth, your transformation, will take place at a much greater rate,” he said.

Four tips for praying the rosary

Castillo offered practical tips for praying the rosary on a regular basis. First, he suggested carrying a rosary everywhere one goes, in the hand, a pocket, or purse. (He carried one wound around his hand while speaking to EWTN News.)

Second, he suggested having a good intention: “Always have your ‘Why?’ before your eyes. We will do any ‘What’ if we have a good ‘Why,’" he said.

He recommended giving yourself "a time limit, not because you'll stop praying when you reach it, but you’ll see it as a finish line, a goal.”

His third tip is: “Don’t be scrupulous. The rosary is a bouquet of roses to Our Lady and a weapon in the hands of the Christian. The devil will do anything to get you to stop praying, using distraction and discouragement,” he said.

“If you hear a voice in your head telling you to pray later, or ‘You’re not good at this’, that’s from the enemy.”

“St. Francis de Sales says if you spend all your prayer fighting off distractions that’s more meritorious than having fuzzy feelings after prayer. Constancy is a sign of spiritual maturity,” Castillo said.

The fourth tip is to make a plan: “If you’re going to be successful at anything, you have a rule of life,” he said. “When should you pray? First thing in the morning, get your prayers in. If a tragedy strikes, you've already prayed. We don’t know what Jesus is going to call us to. You have grace at your back already if you pray in the morning.”

Morally, ‘I was dead inside’

Castillo told EWTN News that he grew up without a father and without religion, and sought the meaning of life from the world, which led him to his sexual addiction in the form of pornography use.

After attending the University of St. Thomas in Houston, he became intrigued by the “reason” for Catholicism. Intellectually, he became convinced of the truth of the Catholic faith, but morally, “I was a dead man inside,” Castillo said.

Through the grace of a relationship with a religious sister, whom he called a “tough woman who told me to stop sinning,” and a devotion to the rosary, Castillo eventually healed from his addiction, but not before a physical struggle with the forces of evil.

The evening in college he first resolved to fight his porn addiction, he failed: “Within 30 miutes, I had no willpower,” he said.

However, “that evening, I had true contrition. I was crying, asking God for mercy, recognizing I was a slave to sin. As I was saying those words audibly, I heard a demonic voice mocking what I was saying.”

After an inspiration to pray to St. John Vianney, he told the religious sister the next day. She told him to pray the rosary, and gave him one, along with a pamphlet on how to do it.

When he tried to pray, he felt “a force choking me. It pinned me to the bed. I then heard another voice telling me to pray the rosary in my head. I wanted to cry out to my mom, who was in the other room, but I couldn’t.”

“I began to pray the ‘Hail Mary’ in my mind. I could feel the force on my throat let up. The second I said the word ‘Mary,’ the force left me and everything was back to normal.”

Castillo said that experience was just the beginning of a moral crisis he had to overcome, but after that, praying the rosary regularly felt like a wall of protection surrounded him, and he no longer felt hopeless, even though it was not easy to avoid sin.

“It took time and practice avoiding the near occasion of sin. I could still hear the devil, but the voice was distant, not on my shoulder,” he said.

A husband and father of four, Castillo serves as director of youth ministry at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, Texas.

Castillo is the founder of True Faith TV, host of the podcast Children of Mary, and host of the YouTube channel Gabi After Hours. He has garnered 50 million views across various social media platforms.

He frequently speaks at conferences, parishes, and events, including appearances on shows like The Catholic Gentleman, Pints with Aquinas, and The Catholic Talk Show.

Jan 3, 2026 / 16:07 pm (CNA).

“It is necessary, although difficult, to maintain serenity, peace, and above all, a climate of prayer,” is the appeal of Bishop Juan Carlos Bravo Salazar of Petare, Venezuela, following the U.S. law enforcement and military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.

In a statement released through the diocese's Instagram account, Bishop Bravo said that in the country, “we are experiencing moments of confusion, uncertainty, and pain, in which we do not clearly understand what is happening. Our strength and hope are in the Lord of Life and Peace.”

The prelate requested, “for the good of our people,” that no “calls for street protests” be made and that “unverified and unconfirmed information, or information from unreliable or unofficial sources,” not be disseminated.

“Let us stay in communication with one another, among pastoral zones and with our closest collaborators,” he urged.

Bishop Bravo, who has served as Bishop of Petare since January 2022, asked that “the Holy Spirit grant us the necessary graces to make a faithful interpretation of this historical moment and of our reality as disciples and shepherds of the faithful.”

“May God bless us all,” he concluded.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, a U.S. military operation in Caracas, Venezuela, led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The Venezuelan dictator has been transferred to New York, where he has been formally charged with, among other crimes, leading a corrupt government that facilitates drug trafficking and conspiracy.

U.S. President Donald Trump later announced that the United States would take over the administration of Venezuela “until a proper transition can be implemented.”

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

Sunday, January 4, 2026 | Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord  |  Matthew 2:1-12 Friends, the story of the Magi told in today’s Gospel is a summary of the principal dynamics of the spiritual life. Watching the night sky...

Jan 3, 2026 / 12:56 pm (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 3 said the United States would "run" Venezuela until a replacement for President Nicolás Maduro can be found, with the U.S. leader vowing a "safe, proper, and judicious transition" after American forces arrested Maduro and brought him to New York State for indictment.

The U.S. launched strikes in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Jan. 3 before capturing Maduro and transporting him to the U.S., where he was indicted on drug and weapons charges in a New York district court.

In a press conference on Jan. 3, Trump revealed that the U.S. would "run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition."

"We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in and [then] we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years," Trump said, emphasizing: "We are going to run the country."

The president alleged that the Maduro regime in Venezuela "emptied out their prisons [and] sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States."

He referenced the June 2024 killing of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was raped and strangled in Texas allegedly by two Venezuelan immigrants in the country illegally.

Asked how long the U.S. would be in charge of Venezuela, Trump said: "I'd like to do it quickly." He said such operations take "a lot of time."

He described the country’s infrastructure as in poor shape. “We’re going to take a lot of money out so that we can take care of the country,” he said

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the press conference praised the soldiers who carried out the Venezuelan operation early on Jan. 3, describing them as the "elite of America."

"Our adversaries remain on notice," Hesgeth said. "America can project our will anywhere, anytime."

National leaders in Latin America expressed condemnation of the U.S. operations in Venezuela on Jan. 3, with executives in Colombia, Brazil and elsewhere warning of U.S. aggression and regional instability after the strikes.

The bishops of Venezuela, meanwhile, said they are in prayer and communicating with each other amid the ongoing incident.

Jan 3, 2026 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

Xavier Polisetty, 25, a seminarian from Texas, encouraged men considering the priesthood to trust that God will give the grace to continue.

“I always felt the call at the back of my heart. It never went away,” he said with a smile.

Hundreds of seminarians are attending the SEEK 2026 conference being held in Grapevine, Texas, this week with thousands of other young Catholics from around the country.

As a child, “I played Mass like a lot of other Catholic boys,” said Polisetty, who grew up in Grapevine. He also noticed that his parents, whose faith he described as devout, admired the priests they knew, and he felt from the beginning that he wanted to be one of them.

While studying computer science at Texas A&M University, he participated in several ministries through St. Mary’s Catholic Center, including a weekend retreat called Aggie Awakening, which he said emphasized the importance of having a relationship with Christ. He said he also made several good friendships where a relationship with Christ was at the core.

After graduating in 2022, he entered seminary at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and is halfway through his seven years of seminary training.

Polisetty said he was inspired by Father David Michael Moses’ words on the first night of the conference: “Being a priest means that you are so close to Jesus Christ, when you say, at Mass, ‘This is my body,’ Jesus makes it become his body,” Moses said. “When a person walks into confession, when you say ‘I absolve you,’ you are so close to Jesus you speak for him.”

Polisetty said he is sure he is called to the priesthood but does experience doubts “almost on a weekly basis. When I watch movies, or look at stories of people doing great things in business or in family life, it’s easy to be tempted.”

He said he dated a young woman in college with whom “there were miscommunications. It was hard.”

But, he continued: “That’s where the gift of God’s grace comes in.”

“God has used those desires to bring fruit to my ministry even now, and hopefully one day when I am ordained. The experience and empathy my journey has given me; though it’s been difficult at times, but God’s grace, every time; he’s given me the grace to continue.”

He encouraged young men to consider the priesthood even if they struggle with accepting the celibacy aspect. “Everyone has those desires,” he acknowledged. “I have those desires, all my brother seminarians have them. We’re open about them and talk about them.”

“It’s a greater gift to give God,” he continued, “to offer up those desires for the sake of a greater good.”

“When parents see their newborns, they often say they love more than they ever could have imagined they could. It’s the same thing in the priesthood. Being in environments like this SEEK conference, you see all these Catholics, and it gives me this great love,” he said.

“I want to be ordained so I can minister to them. They’re seeking. By being a priest, I can love them in that way. There’s sacrifices involved, but every lifestyle has that,” he said.

“Christ on the cross shows that sacrifice is our path to salvation,” Polisetty said. “It’s a great blessing. There are so many reasons to say no, but God will give you the grace to say yes. There will be so many gifts.”

Jan 3, 2026 / 11:56 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano opened its Saturday edition with news of U.S. airstrikes against Venezuela, reporting attacks in the capital, Caracas, as well as on several military bases around the country.

The main image on the paper’s front page showed a dense column of smoke rising over an urban area, reflecting what the paper described as the impact of the military offensive and the sudden escalation of the regional crisis.

The newspaper said air raids hit Caracas overnight and several military installations, and it referred to a claim by U.S. President Donald Trump that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and removed from the country.

The paper said the situation remains “highly volatile,” with growing uncertainty about the political, social, and humanitarian consequences of the attack.

Founded on July 1, 1861, L’Osservatore Romano — defined on its masthead as a “political-religious daily” — aims to report on and reflect the life of the Church and serves as a vehicle for disseminating the pope’s voice, rather than functioning as a direct public outlet for the Vatican.

The L’Osservatore Romano article, written in Italian, also reported the response of the Caracas government, which called the events a “most serious aggression” and denounced what it said was a direct violation of national sovereignty.

So far, there has been no official comment from the Vatican or from Pope Leo XIV regarding the incident, though the Holy Father could address the situation in Venezuela after praying the Angelus on Sunday.

On Dec. 2, 2025, returning from his first international trip — to Turkey and Lebanon — the pope voiced concern about the risk of a U.S. invasion of Venezuela.

The pontiff said at the time that he was closely following the situation, both through the Venezuelan bishops and through the apostolic nuncio in the country, Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martín.

“Regarding Venezuela, at the level of the episcopal conference, with the nuncio, we are looking for ways to calm the situation, above all seeking the good of the people, because so many times the ones who suffer in those situations are the people, not the authorities,” the pope told reporters on the return flight.

He added: “It is better to look for ways of dialogue — even pressure, economic pressure — but seeking another way to bring about change, if that is what they decide to do in the United States.”

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who served as apostolic nuncio in Venezuela from 2009 to 2013 and is well acquainted with the country’s situation, also denounced the existence of “unjust prisons” and “oppressed” people in Venezuela on Oct. 21, 2025.

In a homily during a Mass of thanksgiving for the canonization of Venezuela’s first two saints — St. José Gregorio Hernández and St. Carmen Rendiles — Parolin urged the faithful to imitate them and said: “Only in this way, dear Venezuela, will you pass from death to life!”

“Only in this way, dear Venezuela, will your light shine in the darkness, your darkness will become noon — if you listen to the Word of the Lord who calls you to open unjust prisons, to break the bars of the stocks, to set the oppressed free, to break every yoke,” Parolin said.

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

Jan 3, 2026 / 11:05 am (CNA).

A U.S. indictment brought against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accuses the politician of running a corrupt government facilitating drug trafficking and conspiracy, among other crimes.

Maduro was captured by American forces on Jan. 3 after U.S. strikes in the nation’s capital of Caracas.

In a Jan. 3 unsealed indictment, the U.S. government alleged that Maduro — who has held power in Venezuela for over a decade — has “tarnished every public office he has held” with corruption and drug-running.

Maduro “allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members,” the indictment says.

The document alleges that Maduro has used a “corrupt, illegitimate government” to facilitate the drug trafficking, with the purported drug empire helping “violent narco-terrorists” run narcotics both in Venezuela and into the United States.

The indictment accuses Maduro and others of multiple violations of U.S. drug law, including “narco-terrorism conspiracy” and “cocaine importation,” as well as weapons charges.

The document was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Earlier in the day U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X that Maduro would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

Though the air strikes in Caracas are reported to have caused destruction there, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly said on Jan. 3 that there would be “no further action” after the arrest of Maduro.

Jan 3, 2026 / 10:05 am (CNA).

SEEK 2026 has drawn more than 26,000 attendees across three U.S. cities this year, setting an attendance record and marking a 24% increase over last year, organizers said.

Attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; and Fort Worth, Texas, for the SEEK 2026 conference organized by  FOCUS. As of early Friday, Columbus drew the largest crowd with over 16,100 registered, compared with 5,907 in Fort Worth and 4,503 in Denver.

Organizers reported growth across nearly every category of attendance. A total of 11,744 students from FOCUS-affiliated campuses registered this year, a 9% increase over last year when the conference was held simultaneously in Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C. An additional 2,752 students attended from non-FOCUS campuses — a 64% jump from 2025. 

The conference also is seeing record participation among Church leadership. Fifty-eight Catholic bishops are attending SEEK this year, the most in the event’s history, and up from 46 bishops last year. Attendance among seminarians has also grown by 43%.

‘Like a mini-World Youth Day’

Bishop Earl Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, who played a key role in bringing SEEK to Ohio, said the conference offers a visible sign of vitality in the Church — particularly among young adults in his diocese and beyond.

“I’m hoping this will be something like a mini-World Youth Day for our diocese,” Fernandes said. “Here we have seminarians, bishops, college and university students, and disciple-makers. Many people are very interested in becoming missionary disciples.”

Fernandes said the strong turnout at this year’s conference challenges claims that the Church is outdated or unable to engage younger generations.

“Sometimes the narrative is that the Church is old and that pews are empty,” he said. “In our diocese, the Catholic population has doubled in the past three and a half years, and it’s getting younger. We have many young adults who are on fire with the faith, and there’s a lot happening.”

The growth seen at SEEK, he added, reflects a deeper hunger among young people for meaning, community, and encounter with Christ.

“My hope is that, both here and around the country, young people are strengthened by seeing others who are enthusiastic about their faith, who have had a personal encounter with the Lord, and who are beginning to think about their vocation,” Fernandes said.

Creating space for young people

Fernandes highlighted the crucial role of Church leadership in making young people feel welcomed and empowered to serve.

“When younger generations say there is no room for them in the Church, part of the issue is the leadership,” Fernandes said. “Sometimes the same people serve in roles in their churches for decades without making space for young people. Our job is to create space for young people to say ‘yes.’”

Columbus’ central location in the eastern region of the U.S. situates it “within reach of a huge portion of the country,” only hours away from other major cities such as Cincinnati, Lexington, and Indianapolis. According to Fernandes, “that accessibility matters,” as organizers announced Jan. 2 that next year’s SEEK conference will return to Columbus and expand to a new location in San Antonio, Texas.

‘What do they have that I don’t?’

The conference theme “To the Heights!” draws inspiration from St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Catholic known for his joyful witness and service to others who was canonized this past September alongside St. Carlo Acutis. Fernandes said their example speaks directly to challenges facing young adults today, including loneliness and mental health struggles. 

“With those problems in mind, the question for those at this conference is how this fraternity built up spills over when they return home,” he said. 

He pointed to peer-to-peer evangelization as a key factor in sustained growth, citing the Ohio State University Newman Center in his diocese, where there has been an increase of students entering the Church each year. 

“When someone has a life-changing encounter with Christ, others notice,” Fernandes said. “They ask, ‘Why are they joyful? What do they have that I don’t?’”

Desiring for participants to maintain that Christ-like joy, Fernandes expressed his hope that SEEK will be “a catalyst.” 

“When these young people return to their campuses and communities,” he said, “they go back on fire with the faith.”

The Sistine Chapel Choir performs a Christmas Concert in the presence of Pope Leo, who recalls the angels of Bethlehem and entrusts the world’s children to the prayer of song.

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