Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children From the instant of his or her conception, God loves each human life. This life must be respected and protected, and we Catholics have affirmed the moral evil of abortion...

Day Seven Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Did You Know? “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a...

At the end of their annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Co-ordination of Bishops' Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land release a statement calling for the recognition of human dignity, praying that peace may prevail over violence.

Read all

 

Pope Leo XIV approves decrees for the causes of saints and recognizes the martyrdom of Guatemalan Fr. Augusto Rafael Ramírez Monasterio and Mother Maria Ignazia Isacchi, clearing the way for their beatification.

Read all

 

The Polish Military Ordinariate has awarded the Benemerenti Prize to the Polish-language section of Vatican Radio–Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano in recognition of their contribution to promoting the values of peace. The honor was also conferred on several units of the Polish Armed Forces: the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate, and the Air Force Orchestra.

Read all

 

Marking the fifth anniversary of the Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, several Bishops of Japan and the United States renew calls for nations to work toward a world free of nuclear arms.

Read all

 

As the humanitarian emergency intensifies for severe flooding across Mozambique, the UN Children's Fund illustrates that children are most affected, and that waterborne illnesses and malnutrition are a 'lethal combination.'

Read all

 

At a conference in Rome, Cardinal Kurt Koch and Metropolitan Job of Pisidia reflect on the thousand year-old rupture between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the 1965 Joint Declaration by Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Saint Paul VI which set them on the road to unity.

Read all

 

Jan 21, 2026 / 16:26 pm (CNA).

Christin Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a U.K.-based human rights organization, has called on Nigerian authorities to “secure the release” of 167 worshippers reportedly abducted during coordinated attacks on three churches in Kurmin Wali community, Kajuru local government area (LGA) of Kaduna state.

In a Tuesday, Jan. 20, report shared with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, CSW leadership condemned the mass abduction that reportedly took place on Jan. 18 while worshippers were attending Sunday church services.

According to the report, attempts by CSW Nigeria staff to access the community to verify the incident were blocked by the military, which reportedly cited standing orders barring entry into the area.

“CSW is highly concerned by the official efforts to obscure the abductions that took place in Kurmin Wali and to prevent residents from speaking to the press,” CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said in the report.

Thomas urged Nigerian authorities to “do everything in their power to secure the release of those abducted from Kurmin Wali on 18 January, as well as all other abductees currently held in terrorist captivity in Nigeria’s central and northern states.”

“The government of Nigeria at both state and federal levels must be transparent about the scale and severity of the security crisis the country is experiencing, and specifically about the asymmetry with which Christian communities are being targeted, in order to ensure an effective response to the terrorism that has blighted the lives of vulnerable citizens across central Nigeria for far too long,” Thomas said.

According to the CSW report, armed assailants believed to be Fulani militia stormed Kurmin Wali at around 9 a.m., arriving on foot and on motorcycles.

The attackers reportedly split into three groups, targeting the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Albarka Cherubim and Seraphim 1, and Haske Cherubim and Seraphim 2 churches.

Local sources told CSW that worshippers were rounded up and forced into nearby bushland. Elderly women and young children were later released, while 11 individuals managed to escape.

As of Jan. 20, CSW said 167 people remained in captivity.

The CSW report further indicated that the “Adara people of Kajuru LGA have been under sustained attack since their traditional ruler, the Agom Adara III, HRH Dr Maiwada Raphael Galadima, was abducted and murdered by Fulani assailants in 2018, despite payment of a ransom.”

“Kurmin Wali and surrounding communities have endured repeated attacks and abductions. For example, on Jan. 11, 2026, 21 people were abducted from the community and were only freed after paying around 7 million Naira (US$4,932) in ransom,” the report further indicated.

The report recounted that earlier, on Jan. 2, ECWA church leader Rev. Philip Adamu “was among four people abducted from Ungwan Danladi village in Kajuru LGA by assailants who spoke Fulfude, the Fulani language, and who called the community the following day, demanding ransoms of 20 million Naira [about $14,000] for Rev. Adamu, and 10 million Naira [about $7,000] for the other hostages.”

CSW described the repeated attacks as a failure of government responsibility, warning that rural communities are being driven deeper into poverty by ransom payments and forced displacement.

“While applauding the military successes recorded in the past few months, CSW condemns the repeated attacks on the vulnerable people in Kurmin Wali and surrounding communities,” said Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, the chief executive officer of CSW.

He urged the security agencies to “ensure the prompt release of those abducted and to enhance security for all other vulnerable areas.”

“We also call on the government to strengthen the local capacity of these villagers to serve as the first line of defense against terrorists who are increasingly emboldened by each unchallenged abduction,” Nmadu said.

The recent attacks come despite the Nigerian government’s designation of the Fulani militia and other armed groups as terrorist organizations in December 2025 under a new counterterrorism doctrine. CSW said the continued abductions raise serious concerns about the enforcement and protection of civilians.

Meanwhile, CSW reported that in neighboring Kogi state, 24 of 30 worshippers abducted in December 2025 have been released following the payment of a ransom, though six people remain in captivity and several others died while being held.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa. It has been adapted by EWTN News English.

Jan 21, 2026 / 15:49 pm (CNA).

A federal health spending bill would impose a long-enforced ban on using taxpayer funds for elective abortion, known as the Hyde Amendment.

The U.S. House is set to consider the bill this week, which would fund the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. Lawmakers would need to pass spending bills in both chambers and send them to the White House by Jan. 30 or the government could face another partial shutdown.

Republican President Donald Trump had asked his party to be “flexible” in its approach to the provision in a separate funding bill. According to a Jan. 19 news release from the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee, the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill includes the provision “protecting the lives of unborn children” known as the Hyde Amendment.

The Hyde Amendment, which is not permanent law, was first included as a rider in federal spending bills in 1976. It was included consistently since then although some recent legislation and budget proposals have sometimes excluded it. The provision would ban federal funds for abortion except when the unborn child is conceived through rape or incest or if the life of the mother is at risk.

Katie Glenn Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the amendment is “a long-standing federal policy that’s been included for the last five decades and is popular with the American people.”

“Americans don’t want to pay for abortion on demand,” she said.

Many Democratic lawmakers have sought to eliminate the rider in recent years, saying it disproportionately limits abortion access for low-income women. Former President Joe Biden reversed his longtime support of the Hyde Amendment in the lead-up to the 2020 election and refused to include it in his spending proposals, saying: “If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s zip code.” But Republicans successfully negotiated the rider’s inclusion into spending bills.

In January 2025, Trump issued an executive order directing the government to enforce the Hyde Amendment. A year later, Trump urged Republicans to be “a little flexible on Hyde” when lawmakers were negotiating the extension of health care subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act. A White House spokesperson also said the president would work with Congress to ensure the strongest possible pro-life protections.

The House eventually passed the extension without the Hyde Amendment after 17 Republicans joined Democrats to support the bill. The Senate has not yet advanced the measure, where the question of whether to include the Hyde Amendment has been a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats.

In mid-January, Trump announced a plan to change how health care subsidies are disbursed. There was no mention of the Hyde Amendment in the White House’s 827-word memo.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has consistently lobbied for the inclusion of the Hyde Amendment in spending bills. On Jan. 14, the bishops sent a letter to Congress “to stress in the strongest possible terms that Hyde is essential for health care policy that protects human dignity.”

“Authentic health care and the protection of human life go hand in hand,” the letter said. “There can be no compromise on these two combined values.”