ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 24, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has established himself as the most trusted public figure in Italy, according to a recent survey conducted by the Demopolis National Research Institute that analyzes trends in Italian society.

More than 3,000 Italians participated in the survey carried out in January, expressing their opinion on the challenges facing the Catholic Church in the country, their perception of the Jubilee of Hope, and their assessment of the pope.

The results of the study were presented to the Holy Father during an audience at the Vatican Apostolic Palace by the director of the institute, Pietro Vento, together with researchers Giusy Montalbano and Maria Sabrina Titone.

According to Vento, the pontiff “is today a trusted figure” for citizens, since the survey shows that 76% trust his leadership.

“Since the first year of his pontificate, he is the public figure that Italians trust the most: far beyond faith or religious practice. They like that he’s attuned to the real needs of families, the clarity and spontaneity of his words,” the director of Demopolis explained.

Also, two-thirds of Italians said the magisterium of Pope Francis is characterized by the incessant call for peace, fraternity, and his firm opposition to war. Of those surveyed, 60% of Italians highlighted the Holy Father’s attention to the weakest members of society and his continuous invitation to return to the Gospel.

The survey results also show that 4 out of 10 Italians are particularly struck by the importance the pope gives to young people and also pointed out his commitment to a welcoming Catholic Church as well as its ability to renew itself by listening to the signs of the times. In addition, 40% highlight his concern for the climate crisis.

Regarding the Catholic Church, 45% of Italians expressed their confidence in the institution. Although 72% identify as Catholic, just over 1 Italian in 6 (17%) is ​​a practicing Catholic and attends Mass regularly, according to the study.

The challenges of the Catholic Church in Italy 

The study shows that according to the perception of Italians, the main difficulty of the Catholic Church lies in “reconciling faith and history” with the challenges of the contemporary world. 

On one hand, less than a quarter made reference to the sexual abuse scandal. On the other hand, they showed interest in the crisis of vocations to religious life.

Global conflicts are also a cause for concern in Italy, where 70% expected that by 2025 the commitment to peace will grow and the fight against hunger and inequality will be strengthened.

In the context of the Ordinary Jubilee of Hope, 75% of Italians said there is a crisis of hope and hope that the holy year will give priority to social needs beyond its spiritual dimension.

The survey involved the participation of 3,008 Italians over 18 years of age, selected according to sex, age, and the area where they reside.

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

CNA Staff, Jan 24, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance on Friday addressed tens of thousands of people at the March for Life in Washington, D.C., speaking about his pro-life convictions as a Catholic father and promising that the newly minted Trump administration will continue to uphold pro-life policies. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a joyful crowd,” the newly sworn-in vice president said, looking out over the crowds huddled on the National Mall. Temperatures had climbed into the 30s by Friday in D.C. after dangerously cold temperatures earlier in the week moved Monday’s inauguration indoors. 

Vance praised the marchers in attendance for their conviction that “every single child is a miracle and a gift from God” and discussed the obstacles many families and single parents face in being able to afford to have children and raise them in a stable environment.

He said his goal as a government official is to do what he can to create a society that is pro-family “in the fullest sense of that word possible,” adding that the true “benchmark of national success” ought to be how easy it is to raise a family.

“Let me say very simply: I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vance said to loud cheers.

“I want more happy children in our country. And I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them. And it is the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids, to bring them into the world, and to welcome them as the blessings that we know they are here at the March for Life.”

Vance discussed the Trump administration’s proposal to increase the child tax credit and support for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act, which would require doctors to provide lifesaving health care to infants who are born after a failed abortion attempt.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill a day after Democrats blocked the bill from advancing in the Senate.

Vance also said pro-life protesters who have faced aggressive prosecution — specifically mentioning Catholic father Mark Houck, who was acquitted in 2023 — will not “ever have the government go after them ever again.”

Vance said becoming a father helped to solidify his convictions that “an unborn life is worthy of protection” and again encouraged the marchers to continue in their work.

“You remind us that the March for Life is not a single event that takes place on a frigid January day. The March for Life is the work of the pro-life movement every day from this point forward,” he said. 

“Go forth not with frustration but with joy. We are joyful to march for life. We are joyful to know that that picture on an ultrasound, that is a picture of a baby with hopes and dreams and potential to come. It is a joy and blessing to fight for the unborn, to work for the unborn, and to march for life.”

Immediately before Vance’s speech, the crowd watched a brief prerecorded video message from President Donald Trump, who is currently in California surveying the damage from the recent wildfires. Trump addressed the March for Life in person in 2020 during his previous term as president. 

Trump, who garnered criticism from some pro-lifers on the campaign trail by insisting that abortion policy should be left up to the states, promised in his video message to end the “weaponization” of law enforcement against pro-life Americans and highlighted his recent pardoning of 23 peaceful pro-life activists who had been convicted and imprisoned under the Biden administration.  

He also called Roe v. Wade “unconstitutional” and said his administration will “protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democrat push for a federal right to unlimited abortion on demand, up to the moment of birth and even after birth. Think of that, after birth. And some people want that, can you believe it?”

“In my second term, we will once again stand for families and for life,” Trump said, praising the marchers for their tenacity.

“Your mission is just very, very pure: to forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our creator,” he said.

CNA Staff, Jan 24, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the federal government to release classified records on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., directing recordkeepers to reveal the long-secret files as a matter of “public interest.”

Trump in his executive order said that though more than half a century has elapsed since the assassinations of the historical American figures — President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 — the federal government still “has not released to the public all of its records related to those events.” 

“Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,” the president said. “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”

Trump noted that the federal President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 ordered that all records related to the president’s murder be released by Oct. 26, 2017. 

Trump himself had accepted some redactions to those records in 2017 and 2018, he noted, but he had ordered an ongoing review of the redactions themselves. Former President Joe Biden had similarly given federal agencies more time to review the records. 

“I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue,” Trump said. 

Though Congress has not similarly mandated the release of records regarding the killings of King and the younger Kennedy, “I have determined that the release of all records in the federal government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest,” Trump said. 

The president ordered security officials to develop and present a plan to the White House for the release of the records.

John F. Kennedy made history in 1960 when he became the first Catholic president elected in U.S. history.

His assassination in Dallas in 1963 marked a seminal moment in U.S. and world history; then-Speaker of the House John McCormack said his death was a “personal tragedy” for “millions of persons throughout the world … as if one had lost a loved member of his own immediate family.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination five years later marked a flashpoint in U.S. racial tensions, with the civil rights leader’s 1968 murder touching off riots and violence in cities around the country. And Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination just eight weeks later left the nation reeling from one high-profile killing after another.

All three killings have been the subject of major conspiracy theories in the decades since. Rutgers University professor Ross Baker told the New York Times in 2018 that the assassinations “robbed the country of three of its most prominent and promising leaders, leaders who represented change.”

“I think the most immediate reaction was despair and a sense that perhaps the democratic experiment was in the process of failing,” Baker said.

Denver, Colo., Jan 24, 2025 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

Following President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration, Colorado’s Catholic bishops on Friday encouraged the U.S. to balance justice and mercy in its regulation of immigration to the country.

Colorado’s bishops called for reform of the “broken” American immigration system, criticizing both an “open border” immigration policy for being dangerous and unlawful while at the same time condemning mass deportations.

In a joint letter titled “Welcoming the Stranger, Protecting the Common Good,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez of Denver encouraged government officials to “welcome the stranger” while taking responsibility to “ensure the safety and well-being of local communities.”

The bishops noted that the country’s immigration system has “grown more unlawful” since 2020.

“The Catholic Church teaches that while individuals and their families have the right to migrate, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life is jeopardized,” the bishops indicated.

The state’s bishops specifically criticized what it called an “open border” policy that previously “restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ability to investigate, arrest, or deport spies, terrorists, and felons.”

“This has resulted in the loss of life and situations of unrest and violence, including in Aurora, Colorado, where 16 recent migrant members of the Venezuelan gang ‘Tren de Aragua’ were taken into custody in December following an armed home invasion and kidnapping.”

The bishops also condemned the harm recent federal policies caused to families and children.

“Since 2020,” the bishops stated, “the DHS has encountered 515,000 unaccompanied minors at the border — 75% of them were reportedly sexually abused by their smugglers,” the bishops noted.

In addition, the bishops took note of the fentanyl crisis, citing the statistic that U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 17,000 pounds of the deadly substance at the southern border from October 2022 to April 2023.

“Drug smuggling and human trafficking are on the rise because of the open border policy,” the bishops noted.

Respect for human dignity

“We are called to be both bold and balanced,” the bishops declared. “Immigration policies should balance mercy with justice, ensuring public safety while upholding the dignity of each person,” the bishops wrote.

The bishops underscored that “in times of crisis, justice dictates that the world community has an obligation to provide basic human needs, such as shelter, food, medical services, and the ability to work for those in urgent need. However, even when migration occurs without crisis, a nation’s limits on migration should be based on justice, mercy, and the common good.”

While recognizing the right of nations to enforce their borders, the bishops also condemned mass deportations.

“Mass deportation is not the solution to our present situation in the United States, especially when it may separate parents and children,” the bishops said.

Commitment to migrant families

“We understand the national conversation regarding mass deportations and raids on migrant families have created genuine fear for many we shepherd in our dioceses,” the bishops continued. 

“We commit to walking in solidarity with you, our migrant brothers, sisters, and families. We will shepherd you spiritually, gather information and resources, and continue to advocate for your dignity and family unity.”

The bishops noted that “the Gospel compels us to see Christ in those who seek refuge among us.”

“Each migrant bears the image of God and deserves our respect, compassion, and support,” the bishop said.

In the conclusion of their letter, the state’s bishops urged Catholics to “advocate for comprehensive immigration reform,” “support local initiatives that aid immigrants and refugees in their transition to life in our communities,” and to pray for “those who are displaced” as well as for local, state, and national leaders “to address the broken immigration system that has caused so much hurt and division.”

Rome Newsroom, Jan 24, 2025 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

A spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry has acknowledged the Vatican’s role in mediating the return of more than a dozen Russian soldiers in two recent prisoner exchanges with Ukraine.

In a Jan. 23 press conference, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press director, Maria Zakharova, praised Pope Francis’ position on the Russia-Ukraine War and the concrete humanitarian results of cooperation between Russia and the Holy See.

“With the active personal participation of the pope’s special envoy for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, Cardinal M[atteo] Zuppi, 16 wounded servicemen of our country’s armed forces returned to Russia as part of two recently completed Russian-Ukrainian prisoner of war exchanges,” Zakharova said.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged nearly 400 prisoners of war in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates in late December and mid-January. 

“We expect to continue constructive cooperation with the Vatican on humanitarian issues,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said. 

While criticizing “the West” for having “provoked” the conflict with Ukraine, Zakharova added that “the balanced, verified position of the Vatican and Pope Francis personally, who is striving to make his contribution to the settlement of this acute crisis, stands out favorably.”

Zuppi visited Moscow in October 2024 to meet with Russian authorities as part of the peace mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis beginning in May 2023.

It was Zuppi’s second trip to Moscow since the war in Ukraine began. Zuppi also visited the Russian capital for 48 hours in June 2023 in which he discussed humanitarian initiatives with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill as well as government officials, including Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

While serving as Pope Francis’ peace envoy, Zuppi has made several other diplomatic visits across the world to promote peace between Russia and Ukraine, including stops in Kyiv, Beijing, and Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C., Jan 24, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

More than 5,000 students, families, and other pro-life Catholics packed into the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for a vigil service Thursday on the evening before the national March for Life.

Attendees filled the pews in the upper church, which is designed to hold about 3,500 people. They crammed into the various Marian shrines along both sides of the basilica to worship at the vigil Mass during the National Prayer Vigil for Life. Hundreds more flowed into the basilica’s crypt, which is similarly adorned with shrines to the Blessed Mother. 

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, was the primary celebrant and homilist for the Mass. Four cardinals and 21 bishops concelebrated the Mass with Naumann, and 50 deacons and 300 seminarians were also in attendance.

“When we march tomorrow, we march as pilgrims of hope,” Naumann said during the homily after the Gospel reading, which was part of the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

“With the love of God revealed and the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, how can we not have hope?” Naumann said.

The Gospel reading teaches us that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” which the archbishop related to the importance of defending the sanctity of unborn life, saying during his homily that Christ “humbled himself to be an embryo in Mary.”

Naumann said during the homily that “culture is more significant than politics” and urged people to be “witnesses to your peers” to help transform people’s hearts. 

“To transform our culture, we must touch the hearts [with] efforts like Walking with Moms in Need, where we try to surround women in difficult pregnancies with a community of love and support,” the archbishop said.

Naumann added that Christ told his disciples that “if we’re going to follow him, we have to follow him all of the way to Calvary — that we have to be prepared to take up the cross.”

Speaking directly to the young people in attendance, the archbishop told them they have “a unique power to be that light” for others, telling them to “be as only young people can be like” and cited Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died at age 15 and will be canonized as the first millennial saint in April.

“My good young people here, you’re called to be witnesses to your peers, you’re called to help them to come to know what brought you here tonight,” Naumann said.

Naumann celebrated the Mass in place of Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, who could not attend because of a death in his family. Thomas is the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Naumann serves on the committee and is a former chairman.

The archbishop also read some of Thomas’ notes that he provided, which emphasized that “every human person, preborn and born,” is made in “the image and likeness of God.”

Matthew Montano, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, attended the vigil with fellow Catholic classmates. He told CNA he made arrangements to travel to the march at the last minute, adding: “It’s the grace of God that brought me here.” 

Montano, who is attending the March for Life for the second time, said he hopes to help “bring to light the atrocities that are going on” by marching in defense of life, adding that the right to life is the “most important thing we have.”

Brenda Alcanta took five buses to get to Washington, D.C., from Wisconsin. She told CNA she was encouraged by a friend to attend her first March for Life this year and plans to attend every year going forward. 

“So many people coming together for one cause … just makes you feel like you’re making a difference,” Alcanta said and emphasized the importance of the vigil to “pray for women who are considering abortion.”

Before the Mass, the congregants prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Following the Mass, clergy processed down the aisles of the upper church of the basilica with the Blessed Sacrament and held adoration. Congregants also prayed the luminous mysteries of the rosary during adoration.

Washington D.C., Jan 24, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).

The 52nd annual March for Life is taking place in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 24. Thousands of pro-lifers are coming together in our nation’s capitol to march in defense of the unborn.

Follow along here for live updates on the march. All times are in U.S. Eastern Standard Time:

The Jubilee of the World of Communication opens with the celebration of Mass marking the liturgical memory of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Read all

 

CNA Staff, Jan 24, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent abortion- and pro-life-related news:

U.S. government reproductive rights website shut down 

A federal government website promoting abortion has been taken down following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Reproductiverights.gov, launched in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, went offline around the time of the inauguration on Jan. 20. Based on archived pages, the site was available just days before Trump’s inauguration. 

The website formerly detailed information about accessing abortion and birth control via insurance providers. 

Pro-life physicians support challenge to FDA abortion pill safeguards 

A coalition of pro-life physicians shared its support of a recent decision granting three states access to challenge the FDA’s chemical abortion policies.

A federal judge in Texas ruled on Jan. 17  that three other states — Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri — can join a case challenging online prescriptions of the abortion pill mifepristone.

Dr. Christina Francis, board-certified OB-GYN and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), criticized the FDA’s lack of safeguards in a statement shared with CNA.

“For years the FDA has failed to provide basic protections for women and girls to lessen the serious health risks of abortion drugs,” Francis said. “The physicians of AAPLOG believe that women deserve better care than this. Reinstating the original safeguards, including requiring in-person medical care, is a step towards protecting women from these dangerous drugs.”

Virginia Senate backs abortion 

The Virginia Senate passed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to establish a right to abortion in the Virginia Constitution.

The Senate vote followed the House of Delegates, which passed its own version of the resolution. This is among the beginning steps of a long legislative process to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot in Virginia. The legislation must pass in both the House and Senate twice in two years, with an intervening election before the two sessions. Following this, the referendum can be put on the ballot for voters to decide. 

Both the Virginia Senate and House have a slim Democratic majority, while Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a staunch Republican. 

Republicans warned that the amendment could undermine current abortion-related laws in Virginia, including Virginia’s parental consent laws for minors seeking abortions. Abortion is currently legal in Virginia for the first and second trimesters of pregnancy as well as in the third trimester if the mother’s life or health is at serious risk, as verified by three physicians.

The Virginia Senate also passed a resolution to repeal a now-defunct law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. 

Texas defendant pleads guilty after vandalizing pregnancy clinic 

A Texan man who vandalized two pregnancy resource clinics in May 2022 recently pleaded guilty to a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. 

Ethan Skorick, 23, vandalized two Texas pregnancy resource centers with spray paint shortly after the leak of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The two clinics, the Loreto House and Woman to Woman, serve pregnant women in need in Denton, Texas. According to court documents, Skorick defaced the clinics with graffitied phrases including “NOT A CLINIC,” “FORCED BIRTH IS MURDER,” and “PRO BIRTH [does not equal] PRO LIFE.” 

Skorick pleaded guilty to a violation of the FACE Act, which has been used in the past to allegedly target pro-life activists for blocking clinic entrances. The FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a Jan. 16 statement that the DOJ “will enforce the FACE Act to protect all providers of reproductive health services and their patients.”

Birth rate in South Korea rises for first time in 9 years

South Korea has the world’s lowest recorded fertility rates, but the birth rate in that country has risen for the first time in nine years.

The number of newborns from January 2024 to November 2024 rose 3% from a year earlier, according to monthly government data. South Korea’s government last year encouraged young people to get married and have children. The now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a “national demographic crisis” and put forth a plan to create a new ministry to address low birth rates.

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

In his message for the 59th World Day of Social Communications on Friday, Pope Francis encouraged journalists to build communion in the world through sharing stories of goodness and hope.

“I dream of a communication that does not peddle illusions or fears but is able to give reasons for hope,” the pope said. “I encourage you to discover and make known the many stories of goodness hidden in the folds of the news, imitating those gold-prospectors who tirelessly sift the sand in search of a tiny nugget. It is good to seek out such seeds of hope and make them known.”

The Church celebrates the World Day of Social Communications every year on Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers.

In 2025, the World Day of Social Communications is also taking place during three days of events in Rome for a Jubilee of the World of Communications, part of the yearlong Church-wide Jubilee of Hope.

In his message, Pope Francis urged those who work in media and communications to “tell stories steeped in hope,” especially during these “troubled times,” and pointed to the special graces available during the 2025 Jubilee of Hope as a support to this work.

The pontiff said a good communicator “ensures that those who listen, read, or watch can be involved, can draw close, can get in touch with the best part of themselves and enter with these attitudes into the stories told.”

By sharing stories of goodness and hope, media professionals help the world to be a little less closed off and a little less indifferent to others, he noted. 

“May you always find those glimmers of goodness that inspire us to hope. This kind of communication can help to build communion, to make us feel less alone, to rediscover the importance of walking together,” he said.

Francis also had advice for journalists’ prayer lives.

“In the face of the astonishing achievements of technology, I encourage you to care for your heart, your interior life,” he said.

Some practical ways to do that, he advised, are to “be meek and never forget the faces of other people; speak to the hearts of the women and men whom you serve in carrying out your work.”

“To do this, though, we must be healed of our ‘diseases’ of self-promotion and self-absorption, and avoid the risk of shouting over others in order to make our voices heard,” he warned.