Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).

As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.

The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled “Thou Shall Not Kill.”

On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.

Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph’s Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz’s work of Christian public art to the city.

The life-sized statue by Schmalz portrays Jesus weeping over a murder victim who has multiple gunshot wounds. 

The original piece was created in 2024 and is at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center, a hub for violence prevention programs in Chicago. The statue that will be placed in Baltimore is awaiting final approval of its designated location.

Schmalz is an internationally acclaimed Canadian sculptor known for his Christian works of art, including statues of saints, angels, and his well-known depictions of Jesus portrayed as a homeless man. 

More than 50 bronze works of “Homeless Jesus” are installed in locations around the world including Capernaum in Israel and Vatican City.

In April, a new Vatican-commissioned sculpture by the artist titled “Be Welcoming” was placed in St. Peter’s Square to inspire people to open their hearts to the poor. The bronze statue depicts a man seated on a bench who appears to be homeless, carrying a backpack on his shoulder and a stick in one hand.

In Baltimore, the goal for this year’s gun buyback program was to receive around 300 guns after buying nearly 160 in 2023 and 300 in 2024. By July the organizers had raised about $60,000 to fund the purchases of guns brought in. The 2025 buyback ultimately collected 410 firearms.

The latest buyback occurred as crime, including gun violence, has been dropping in Baltimore, though the city has long struggled with high levels of violent crime. 

From 2015–2022 the city recorded more than 300 homicides annually, including 348 in 2019, which almost equaled the record of 353 in 1993.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:24 pm (CNA).

The French bishops’ conference has issued a statement addressed to the archbishop of Toulouse, Guy de Kerimel, asking him to rescind the promotion of a priest who served time in prison for the rape of a minor boy.

In an Aug. 10 press release from the presidency of the Bishops’ Conference of France, the French bishops revealed they had “engaged in constructive dialogue” with Kerimel, “inviting him to reconsider the decision he made regarding the appointment of the chancellor of his diocese.”

“Such an appointment to such an important position, both canonically and symbolically, can only reopen wounds, reawaken suspicions, and disconcert the people of God,” they wrote.

The French bishops further recalled the Church’s efforts in the past several years to approach “the painful question of abuses committed within it.”

“It is very important to continue this work in all sectors of ecclesial life,” they said, emphasizing the need to reorient the Church’s approach by listening more attentively to the experiences of abuse victims, a process they described as “a long and demanding work of conversion, which we are resolute to continue.” 

The statement comes after Kerimel announced in June that Father Dominique Spina would be promoted to the position of chancellor and episcopal delegate for marriages, effective Sept. 1, for the Archdiocese of Toulouse. 

Spina was convicted in 2006 by the Tarbes Court of Appeals for raping a 16-year-old student in 1993 while serving as the boy’s spiritual director at Notre-Dame de Bétharram school. The court sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment, with four years to be served and one year suspended.

The decree announcing Spina’s appointment was published on June 2 but did not become public knowledge until July 7, when the regional newspaper La Dépêche du Midi broke the story. 

De Kerimel defended his controversial choice in a statement to Agence France-Presse, saying he had “taken the side of mercy” in promoting Spina, who had worked in diocesan archives for five years.

“It is true that Father Spina served a five-year prison sentence, including one year suspended, for very serious acts that took place nearly 30 years ago,” the archbishop said, according to Le Monde.

He justified the appointment by arguing that Church officials “have nothing to reproach this priest for in the last 30 years.” 

The archbishop added that Spina “no longer exercises pastoral responsibility, other than celebrating the Eucharist, alone or exceptionally for the faithful.”

London, England, Aug 12, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).

A bishop in the United Kingdom has expressed concern about a proposal to build a huge solar farm on the English stretch of the Camino de Santiago in the south of England.

The English leg of the highly popular and historic pilgrimage runs 68 miles from the city of Reading to the port of Southampton, which falls within the Diocese of Portsmouth and has been frequented by pilgrims for more than a thousand years.

The Camino de Santiago is made up of many different ancient routes across Europe that all lead to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.

English pilgrims would traditionally take a boat from Portsmouth and sail to Spain before continuing their pilgrimage.

In an email exchange with CNA, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth expressed his worries about the proposal.

“The proposal to build a large solar farm seems unfortunate and I can understand any villager, farmer, or lover of the South Downs feeling saddened at the loss of land and the potential blight on the landscape, even if there are several other areas of the South Downs given over to solar farms.”

The South Downs is a highly popular national park through which the historic route runs.

“Since I became bishop of Portsmouth in 2012, I have been very aware of this venerable Camino route from Reading to Southampton,” he said. “Our parish in Reading, dedicated to St. James and standing in the ruins of the pre-Reformation abbey, is the official starting point of the Camino.”

“Indeed, only last year, I went out to greet four American bishops hiking the trail and who were staying in a farmhouse near Alton, Hampshire,” he continued. “Much of the central part of the route through Hampshire is idyllic; it is very rural, and you feel far away from the hectivity of modern life. As you walk along, it is easy to feel part of a spiritual exercise that goes back to medieval times.”

Egan said he hoped the ancient route would still be marked out in some way, adding: “I wonder too if they might install paneling and other measures to hide the solar cells and safeguard the most attractive views?”

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the proposed Stokes Lane Solar Farm will supply energy to 9,390 homes every year for 40 years.

A spokesperson for Solar2, the renewable energy company driving the proposal, said the plans were “necessary and urgent” in the context of the “the climate emergency, energy security, environmental degradation, and growing risks to U.K. food production,” the Telegraph reported.

But Professor Joseph Shaw, head of the U.K. Latin Mass Society — which organizes an annual pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Walsingham, England — said: “Solar farms already encroach on many areas of our countryside, including areas near where I walk regularly in Oxfordshire. It is no exaggeration to say that they have the power to turn an ancient pathway to a holy place into a track through an alien industrial wasteland. I hope that planners are mindful of this site’s status as a World Heritage Site and preserve it for future generations.”

The U.K. stretch of the Camino became the first pilgrimage route to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1993.

The area also boasts other gems of historic interest including the Grade-I-listed, 12th-century building of All Saints Church, located about a half a mile away. George Austen, brother to the author Jane Austen, is also buried there, adding further historic weight. 

The proposal has proved so controversial that the consultation period hosted by the local council has been extended by 20 days and will now close on Aug. 25.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says that more than 3 million people are facing hunger in northeastern Nigeria – and the UN warns that a total of 30 million could be at risk across the country.

Read all

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Stories about "the first 100 days" are standard fare at the beginning of a U.S. president's four-year term; the articles usually focus on how much the new president was able to accomplish and how quickly.

But a pope is elected for life and without having promised voters anything or having presented a platform.

Pope Leo XIV was elected May 8, making Aug. 16 the 100th day since he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the new pope. He will celebrate his 70th birthday Sept. 14.

While the first 100 days of a pontificate may hint at what is to come, the initial period of Pope Leo's ministry as the successor of Peter and bishop of Rome seemed mostly about him getting used to the role, the crowds and the protocol. 

According to canon law, the pope "possesses supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely."

In other words, he could have issued a slew of the canonical equivalent of executive orders in his first days in office. Instead, he lived up to his reputation as a person who listens before deciding -- holding a meeting with the College of Cardinals and individual meetings with the heads of Vatican offices.

Like his predecessors, Pope Leo confirmed the heads of Curia offices on a temporary basis a few days after his election. Some major nominations are expected in September or early October, starting with his own replacement as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. 

His choices for members of his team, and whether he decides to have an international Council of Cardinals to advise him will send signals not only about what he wants to do but also how he wants to do it. (Pope Francis set up the Council of Cardinals early in his pontificate to help him with the reform of the Roman Curia and to advise him on other matters, but he did not make the council a formal body.) 

September also should bring an announcement about where Pope Leo will live. Several cardinals have said that in the days before the conclave they encouraged the future pope -- whoever he would be -- to move back into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. The move would make security easier, saving the Vatican money and allowing the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis chose to live, to return to full operation as a guesthouse.

In his first public address, moments after his election, the new pope said: "We want to be a synodal church, a church that moves forward, a church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering."

Pope Leo went deeper when he spoke about the key objectives of his ministry -- in a pontificate that easily could last 20 years -- during a meeting with the College of Cardinals two days after his election.

He asked the cardinals to join him in renewing a "complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council."

That path had six fundamental points that, Pope Leo said, "Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth" in his first exhortation, "The Joy of the Gospel." 

The six points highlighted by Pope Leo were: "the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the 'sensus fidei' (the people of God's sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; (and) courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities."

Those realities include the widespread media attention focused on the election of the first U.S.-born pope as well as the fact that people of all stripes feel free to use social media to proclaim what Pope Leo "should" do, "must" or "must not" do.

According to a Gallup Poll conducted in the United States July 7-21 and published Aug. 5, Pope Leo was the most favorably viewed of 14 world leaders and major newsmakers; 57% of Americans said they had a "favorable opinion" of him and 11% said they had an "unfavorable" opinion.

"These figures closely match Pope Francis' ratings when he assumed the role in 2013, then viewed favorably by 58% and unfavorably by 10%, as well as Pope Benedict in 2005 -- 55% favorable, 12% unfavorable," Gallup said.

Among those surveyed, self-identified Catholics gave all three popes even higher ratings at the beginning of their pontificates, the polling group said, "with Leo viewed favorably by 76%, Francis by 80% and Benedict by 67%." 

As the weeks passed after his election, Pope Leo seemed to grow more comfortable with a crowd, spending more time blessing babies and enjoying his interactions with the thousands of people who came to St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audiences.

At his general audience Aug. 6 -- held outside on a very warm summer day -- the pope finished his formal program in less than an hour, then spent another two and a half hours shaking hands, posing for photos with pilgrim groups and having unusually long conversations with dozens of newlywed couples before offering them his blessing.

As a Curia official, the future pope had a reputation of being somewhat reserved, but Pope Leo has shown he has a special tool for connecting with a crowd: speaking English and Spanish as well as Italian, the Vatican's official working language.

His ability to switch between the three languages effortlessly was on full display at the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers July 28-29 and the related Jubilee of Youth July 28-Aug. 3. The young people roared with approval as he spoke to them in languages that most could understand.

While his U.S. roots and Peruvian missionary experience undoubtedly will impact his papacy, he has been very respectful of the Italian tradition of not making major announcements or changes during the summer holidays.
 

WASHINGTON - Four dedicated pro-life advocates were honored on August 11 at the 2025 People of Life awards during the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia. This year's honorees are Valerie Washington, Judy Haag, and the late Rita and Mike Marker. Approximately 100 diocesan Catholic pro-life leaders and guests attended the private awards dinner, including Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington.

The People of Life award recognizes Catholics who have answered the call outlined by Saint John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium vitae, 1995) by dedicating themselves to pro-life activities and promoting respect for the dignity of the human person. It is bestowed in honor of their significant and longtime contributions to the culture of life. 

For the past 25 years, Valerie Washington has led the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) organization as Executive Director—guiding its mission, shaping its programs, and nurturing partnerships that have strengthened the Church’s commitment to justice and evangelization, with a strong embrace of the pro-life cause. Through Valerie’s leadership, the NBCC has organized national congresses that gather thousands of Black Catholics to celebrate faith, confront challenges, and envision a Church renewed in spirit and mission, while ensuring that the rich faith traditions of Black Catholics are supported and sustained. Valerie has been deeply impactful in supporting and highlighting a culture of life within the Black Catholic community and is a source of inspiration in her compassionate, persistent witness to the Gospel of Life. 

Judy Haag has spent the last 30 years as a long-term care nurse and dedicated pro-life advocate. She served as chairperson of the New Ulm Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (NUDCCW) Reverence for Life Committee for several years, where she assisted in public education and advocacy on abortion, and was named the NUDCCW “Woman of the Year” in 2017. Judy has co-chaired her local 40 Days for Life campaign since its inception over 15 years ago; leads parish participation in commemorating the Roe v. Wade anniversary on January 22; and facilitates participation in the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) March for Life. Judy has also devoted herself to mentoring youth at her parish and sharing Catholic Social Teaching, forming the next generation of faithful pro-life leaders. 

In the early 1980s, seeing the need for public action against euthanasia and assisted suicide, Rita and Mike Marker co-founded the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force. This groundbreaking organization later become the Patients Rights Council. To aid in their advocacy, Rita obtained a law degree while working and raising their family, ultimately authoring the book “Deadly Compassion” and taking on speaking engagements while Mike ran the organization’s operations. Their tireless efforts helped many dioceses, state Catholic conferences, and the USCCB, and were instrumental in shaping the existing coalition on assisted suicide. Mike Marker passed away in 2021 and Rita Marker passed away in 2023, leaving a legacy of leadership, commitment, and grit. 

The awardees join 43 other People of Life award recipients since the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities established the award in 2007. To learn more about People of Life, the bishops’ pro-life action campaign in the United States, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/prolife/people-life.

###

After presiding over Mass on Sunday 17 August, Pope Leo will share lunch with some 100 people experiencing poverty from the Diocese of Albano, and the Director of Caritas Albano says 'they are all eager to speak with him, to share their stories and struggles.'

Read all

 

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin pays a visit to Burundi for the close of the Jubilee marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the East African nation.

Read all

 

The Diocese of Sumbe in Angola has concluded its 50th-anniversary Jubilee with the ordination of 28 new priests.

Read all

 

As famine steals lives in war-torn Gaza, parents face agonizing choices to secure food for their children, who increasingly go hungry amid rampant inflation and a dire lack of food and assistance.

Read all