The Unites States carries our airstrikes on Islamic State‑linked militants in northwest Nigeria, striking several of the group's sites.

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Pope Leo XIV sends greetings to the 48th European Youth Meeting organized by the Taizé Community in France encouraging the participants to build peace among people and share humble and joyful hope with all those they encounter.

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CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2025 / 02:00 am (CNA).

Apps that promise to help re-create digital versions of deceased family members using AI pose a “spiritual danger” to Catholics and others who may use the technology in place of healthy grief, experts say.

The AI company 2wai ignited a controversy on social media in November after it revealed its eponymous app, which will allow users to fabricate digital versions of their loved ones using video and audio footage.

App co-founder Calum Worthy said in a viral X post that the tech could permit “loved ones we’ve lost [to] be part of our future.” The accompanying video shows a family continuously interacting with the digital projection of a deceased mother and grandmother even years after she died.

The reveal of the app brought praise from some tech commentators, though there was also considerable negative reaction. Many critics denounced it as “vile,” “demonic,” and “terrifying,” with others predicting that the app would be used to ghoulish ends such as using dead relatives to promote internet advertisements.

Tech ‘could disrupt the grieving process’

2wai did not respond to requests for comment on the controversy, though company CEO Mason Geyser told the Independent that the ad was deliberately meant to be “controversial” in order to “spark this kind of online debate.”

Geyser himself said he views the app as a tool to be used with his children to help preserve the memories of earlier generations rather than as a means to having a relationship with an AI avatar. “I see it … as a way to just kind of pass on some of those really good memories that I had with my grandparents,” he said.

Whether or not such an app is compatible with the Catholic understanding of death — and of more diffuse, esoteric topics like grief — is unclear. Father Michael Baggot, LC, an associate professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, acknowledged that AI avatars “could potentially remind us of certain aspects of our loved ones and help us learn from their examples.”

But such digital replicas “cannot capture the full richness of the embodied human being,” he said, and they risk “distorting the dead’s legacy” by fabricating conversations and interactions beyond the dead’s control.

Catholic leaders have regularly remarked on both the heavy burden of grief and its redemptive power. Pope Francis in 2020 acknowledged that grief is ”a bitter path,” but it can “serve to open our eyes to life and the sacred and irreplaceable value of each person,” while helping one realize “how short time is.”

In October, meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV told a grieving father that those mourning the death of a loved one must “remain connected to the Lord, going through the greatest pain with the help of his grace.”

The Resurrection, he said, “knows no discouragement or pain that imprisons us in the extreme difficulty of not finding meaning in our existence.”

Brett Robinson, the associate director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, warned that there is “spiritual danger” in technology that outwardly appears to bring loved ones back from the dead.

Technology is not a neutral product, he said, but one that “has a profound ability to shape our perception of reality, regardless of the content being displayed.”

“In the case of re-presenting dead loved ones we meet one such case where prior conceptions about identity, vitality, and presence are being reshaped along technological lines,” he said.

“If someone who no longer exists in human form, body and soul, can be ‘resurrected’ from an archive of the digital traces of their life, who or what are we actually engaging with?” he said.

Robinson argued that present modes of technology have echoes of earlier centuries “when the cosmos was filled with presence — the presence of God, of angels, of demons, and of magic.”

The problem at hand, he said, is that the “new magic” of modern technology “is divorced from the hierarchical, ordered cosmos of creation and the spiritual realm.”

Donna MacLeod has worked in grief ministry for decades. She first became involved in Catholic grief counseling after the death of her youngest daughter in 1988. The funeral ministry evolved into Seasons of Hope, a grief support program for Catholics that “focuses on the spiritual side of grieving the death of a loved one.”

MacLeod said the program is one of “hospitality and spirituality” that arises in an intensive community of individuals suffering from grief.

“It builds parish communities,” she said. “People discover they’re not alone. That’s a big deal to grieving people — a lot of people feel very alone in their loss.”

“And society expects everybody to move on,” she continued. “But grief has its own timetable. Those who are grieving start to understand that the Lord is with them and that he really cares about them. There’s hope and healing at the end of it.”

“It’s doing what Christ asks us to do — walking with each other in hard times,” she said.

Regarding the AI avatar technology, MacLeod acknowledged that those who have lost a loved one make it a “very high priority” to “seek connection” with the deceased.

“People will say, ‘I’m not taking my loved one’s voice off of my answering machine,’” she said. “Or we have people taking out videos of family gatherings so they can see their loved ones again.”

“Everyone seeks to still be connected with their loved ones,” she said. “It’s related to our Catholic faith and the communion of saints — people feel this spiritual connection with their loved ones.”

MacLeod described herself as “on the fence” about how people could be affected by AI avatar apps. There could be “emotional and psychological risks interacting with AI versions of loved ones,” she admitted, though she said that many users “might look at it, but not get hung up on it,” unless they have underlying mental health issues.

But “where the difficulty arises is that some people get stuck in the denial stage,” she said. Those suffering from grief can get desperate in such circumstances, she said, and sometimes resort to means such as mediums or psychics, which MacLeod pointed out the Church explicitly forbids.

Whether or not AI avatars fall under that forbidden category is unclear. The Catechism of the Catholic Church expressly outlaws any efforts at “conjuring up the dead.” The use of mediums or clairvoyants “all conceal[s] a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings,” the Church says.

Baggot said apps like 2wai’s “assemble data about the deceased without preserving the person.”

He further argued that AI avatars “could also disrupt the grieving process by sending ambiguous signals about the survival of the departed person.”

Robinson, meanwhile, acknowledged that it is “good to want to connect to deceased loved ones,” which he pointed out we do “liturgically through prayer and memorials that honor those souls that are dear to us.”

He warned, however, against “technocratic creators of complex computational machines that are becoming indistinguishable from magic.”

Such technology, he said, alters “the spiritual order” in ways “that are disordered and disembodied from the ritual forms that sustain religion and our belief that our eternal destiny rests with God in heaven and not in a database.”

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar General of Rome and Archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, presides over the closing of the Holy Door and the subsequent Mass and invites the faithful to manifest the presence of God in the places where there is no fraternity, justice, truth and peace.

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The two South-Asian countries agreed on Saturday to stop weeks of intense conflict over disputed borders, which has caused the death of just over 100 people and the displacement of more than half a million people.

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CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2025 / 01:00 am (CNA).

Some women, forced into prostitution by violence, desperation, or false promises, line the streets of Rome and Abruzzo at night — until they see a nun, dressed in a habit, offering them a way out.

“Ten years ago, I felt a calling within a calling,” Sister Carla Venditti told CNA. “I felt that God was calling me to something beautiful. I had to go out onto the streets because he was waiting for me there in the faces of the least among us.”

Venditti, of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, lives in Avezzano, Italy, and is known as the “anti-trafficking nun.” She goes out into the streets, ministering to women and girls who are being trafficked. Along with her fellow sisters and other volunteers, Venditti helps victims rebuild their lives.

Starting anew with love

“I look forward to Friday evenings so I can enter the world of nightlife,” said Sister Lucia Soccio, another Italian nun from the same order who has worked with Venditti on the streets for about 10 years.

“Bringing light, love, and hope to places where it is difficult to talk about these things is a very profound mission that changes you from within,” Soccio said.

Together, along with other nuns and volunteers, Venditti and Soccio offer a home for women in need.

Wearing a habit helps, they said, but it takes time to build trust — and escaping human trafficking is difficult as exploiters manipulate, threaten, blackmail, and harm victims, even taking away their passports and documents.

The women who are ready to accept support are brought to a shelter in Abruzzo, the “Oasi Madre Clelia,” or the Oasis of Mother Clelia.

“The invitation to change one’s life comes only after many encounters where friendship and trust are formed,” Soccio said.

The sisters commit to taking care of victims throughout their day-to-day lives as they heal and rehabilitate.

“We have chosen to be a family to the people who come to us, and so everything is more demanding,” Venditti said. “Let’s start anew with love — this is the driving force behind our mission.”

We give our simple lives

“What drives me to do everything is the awareness that human beings need to feel God’s mercy in their lives through our humanity and sensitivity and, above all, the need to not be judged,” Venditti said.

By night Venditti reaches out to trafficked women; by day, she helps those in the oasis readjust. Somehow, she still finds the time to sell handmade items at marketplaces to help fund their work.

“We have formed an association: Friends of the Oasis of Mother Clelia. We have a bank account where we receive donations,” Venditti said. “We entrust ourselves to providence and, with our work — markets, linens, and calendars — we strive to make a living out of it.”

Venditti has even written a book — “The Rebellious Narcissus” (“ Il narciso ribelle” in Italian) — for young people.

“What gives meaning to our mission is knowing that we do it for God,” Venditti said. “Every day we give our simple lives to give strength to those who do not have it.”

Since her calling 10 years ago, Venditti’s work has grown. The sisters have expanded their reach, working with many different kinds of people in need.

“Ten years have passed, and today we welcome anyone who wants to be welcomed and accompanied: from abused young women to trans people to the poor,” Venditti said.

“On the street we have met several people who are transgender and have become friends with them,” Soccio added.

The sisters help people in a variety of ways.

“Often they have asked me for practical help, such as taking them to the hospital, the police station, etc., because they have no one else to help them,” Soccio said.

“We help them in whatever way we can, but above all we have formed a relationship of friendship and trust that brings us joy and inspiration every time we meet,” Soccio continued.

God does not forsake his children

The violence, humiliation, and suffering that the people they work with have experienced “breaks my heart,” Soccio said.

“It is very painful to hear about these experiences and realize how we human beings can become evil and malicious if we have not experienced God’s mercy,” Soccio said.

To women who are suffering, Venditti says: “God does not forsake his children.”

“We must have the strength and courage to trust and to know that the sky is not always cloudy, but that there is sunshine for everyone,” Venditti said. “Life is wonderful, and we must embrace the new possibilities that God gives us.”

“There are many stories that accompany our mission, but what strikes me most about these girls is the transformation of their faces, of their lives: from despair to serenity,” Venditti continued.

Working with the women has helped strengthen Venditti’s faith.

“My faith has grown stronger ever since I have been close to them,” Venditti said. “They help me to live it because, after all, how can we live the Gospel if we do not confront ourselves with others — with the weaknesses and fragility of our brothers and sisters?”

National Catholic Register, Dec 26, 2025 / 23:00 pm (CNA).

St. John, both an apostle and an evangelist, played a very prominent role in many of the New Testament narratives. He was part of an inner-circle trio with his brother James (the Greater) and Peter, partaking in privileged incidents with Jesus: the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and the agony at Gethsemane.

John and his brother James were nicknamed “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus. Exactly why they were given this title is not explained. However, the two brothers did exhibit at least two instances of audacious behavior: wanting to bring fire from heaven down upon some Samaritans who refused to listen to the message of Christ and asking Jesus for special places of honor in heaven.

Within the Gospel of John, there are five different references to “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20). Over the centuries, the vast majority of biblical scholars have deemed this beloved disciple to be John himself. These mysterious references actually point to a less thunderous personality; for example, the beloved disciple resting his head on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper and Jesus requesting the beloved disciple to take care of his mother, Mary.

Tradition places John in Ephesus (in modern Turkey) after Pentecost, where he cared for Mary and perhaps wrote the fourth Gospel. John’s Gospel stands out from the other three, offering a unique portrayal of Christ and his message. This Gospel is symbolized with an eagle; its opening words urge the thoughts of readers to soar upward — sort of like an eagle — toward God (John 1:1).

It is probable that either John himself or a disciple of his wrote the three Epistles of John. Many claim that he also wrote the Book of Revelation, a work chock full of mystical imagery, during an exile on the island of Patmos (Greece).

John is believed to have lived to an old age and died of natural causes. A basilica in Ephesus reportedly held his remains for a time, but that church is now in ruins.

The feast of St. John the Evangelist is Dec. 27. He is the patron of many things including writers, booksellers, and friendships.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Dec 26, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

With the closing of the Holy Door of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, the Vatican began on Dec. 25 the gradual conclusion of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope convened by the Church.

The rite was presided over by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the Marian basilica, who emphasized that “it is not divine grace that is being closed but a special time for the Church, and what remains open forever is the merciful heart of God.”

St. Mary Major is the first of the four papal basilicas in Rome to close its Holy Door. This Saturday, Dec. 27, the Holy Door of St. John Lateran will be closed by Cardinal Baldassare Reina; on Sunday, Dec. 28, that of St. Paul Outside the Walls by Cardinal James Michael Harvey; and finally, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV will close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, officially concluding the jubilee.

During his homily, Makrickas noted that the 2025 Jubilee has been a unique event in the recent history of the Church, having unfolded under two pontificates.

“It has been a true testament to the life of the Church, which is never interrupted. The Lord does not abandon his Church, and today he firmly guides her through Pope Leo XIV,” he said.

Referring to the liturgy of the day, the cardinal explained that the readings proclaimed are “three great doors that always remain open”: the call of the prophet Isaiah to be messengers of peace, the invitation from the Letter to the Hebrews to listen to the Son, and the testimony of the Gospel of St. John about the light that shines in the midst of the darkness.

‘The door that truly matters is the door of the heart’

“Today we have seen the Holy Door close, but the door that truly matters is the door of the heart,” Makrickas pointed out, encouraging the faithful to open it by listening to the word of God, welcoming their neighbor, and offering forgiveness.

“Having crossed the Holy Door was a gift; now becoming doors open to others is our mission,” he added.

In the final part of his message, the archpriest of St. Mary Major recalled a central teaching of Pope Leo XIV during this holy year: that Christian hope “is not evasion but decision,” a hope that translates into concrete love, even in the midst of difficulties, and that inspires believers to give their lives for others.

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

ACI Africa, Dec 26, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).

In a country battered by violence, displacement, and fear, the 2025 Christmas message of Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of El-Obeid addressed the people of God in the midst of their suffering and the fragile hope still carried by the celebration of Christmas.

For Trille, the Christmas proclamation is rooted in God’s fidelity, since “the birth of Christ is the manifestation of the glory of our God,” revealing his promise of salvation and peace for the whole of creation.

Through Christ’s birth, he explained, “the gate of heaven is opened for us” and reconciliation becomes possible because “the birth of Christ opens the way for our reconciliation with our Creator.”

He drew a parallel between the manger and Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, saying: “Seeing the baby Jesus in the manger describes the situation of all those of us in our country who remain without shelter and in fear.”

“Our diocese in Kordofan has become the battleground after Darfur,” he said, adding that a ”number of its parishes are deserted and desecrated.” The impact on pastoral life is severe, he lamented, noting: “There are no priests to celebrate sacred sacraments for the faithful.”

Sudan’s civil war broke out on April 15, 2023. The violent conflict is between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

It started in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, before becoming a full-fledged civil war in the entire northeastern African nation. It has reportedly resulted in the death of “as many as 150,000 people”; well over 14 million people have been displaced, including to unstable countries such as Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, where they have reportedly overrun refugee camps.

With some 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Sudan, reportedly more than half of country’s population, Sudan quite possibly has the highest number of people in need ever recorded and the highest number of internally displaced globally, more than 12 million having fled violence in the country in the last two years.

Sudan also has the highest number of people in emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger, “with over 600,000 people living in famine and 8 million others on the cliff edge,” according to an April report.

As Sudan approaches the 70th anniversary of independence in 2026, Trille made a pastoral appeal rooted in compassion and faith. He called the people of God to see themselves as “brothers and sisters in solidarity, weeping with parents and relatives of those who mourn the killed,” and to remember the words of Jesus: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Gathering testimony, prayer, and hope together, he exhorted, “let us make our hearts the manger where the baby Jesus can live to help us renew our lives and live peace.”

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2025 / 13:22 pm (CNA).

After launching an attack on ISIS militants in Nigeria, President Donald Trump vowed that the United States would wage more military strikes if the ongoing persecution of Christians persists in the country.

The U.S. military coordinated with the Nigerian government in the joint operation, which targeted camps in the Sokoto state, where military officials said ISIS militants were based. The state is a predominantly Sunni Muslim region in the northwestern corner of Nigeria, bordering Niger.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement that U.S. forces are “working with Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to ongoing violence and threats against innocent lives.”

“Our goal is to protect Americans and to disrupt violent extremist organizations wherever they are,” he said.

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Nigerian authorities cooperated with U.S. military, adding: “Terrorist violence in any form whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security.”

Trump began to publicly express concern about the persecution of Nigerian Christians in October and redesignated the country as a country of particular concern, which is reserved for countries with “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” The president threatened military action in November.

Following the Dec. 25 strike, Trump said in a statement that he “warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”

“May God bless our military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” the president said.

Nigeria is the most dangerous country in the world to be Christian, according to International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law reporting that more than 7,000 Christians were killed and another 7,800 were abducted for their religious faith in the first seven months of 2025 alone.

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa reported that from October 2019 to September 2023, nearly 56,000 people died from broader ethnic and religious violence, with the violence disproportionately affecting Christians.

AFRICOM reported that, based on its initial assessment, “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in the attack. However, local Nigerian officials, according to the Nigeria-based Vanguard News, did not find any evidence of injuries or deaths caused by the attack.

Douglas Burton, managing editor of Truth Nigeria, expressed doubt there were any casualties, based on the local reporting, and told CNA the military should “show us the photographs [and] show us the bodies” if anyone was injured or killed.

He said the attack may be “a warning shot” to demonstrate the ability of the United States to launch attacks inside Nigeria “if the Nigerian military establishment doesn’t start protecting … Christians.”

He noted the Nigerian government faces several Islamic insurgencies, which include affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIS that desire to “usurp or replace the existing elected government with caliphates.” However, he accused the Nigerian military of turning a blind eye to Fulani militias — a separate force in Nigeria — which he said is responsible for “two-thirds of all the Christians that get killed every year.”

“The U.S. government — if it is serious about ending the genocidal attacks — it must target the Fulani ethnic militia that are concentrated in the north-central states,” Burton said.

He said the Fulani attacks are primarily in three states: Plateau, Benue, and Taraba, and said the militias are “wiping out Christian villages and forcing tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people into [internally displaced persons] camps.”

According to the 2024 report from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, about 81% of civilians killed in Nigeria’s ethnic and religious violence died in land-based community attacks. At least 42% of those attacks were carried out by Fulani herdsmen, but another 41% of those attacks fell into the “other terrorist groups” category, which mostly comprise Fulani bandits.

Nina Shea, the director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, told CNA that Fulani militias “pose the greatest threat to Nigerian Christians” but that “they are no doubt influenced, emboldened, and maybe armed in their jihad by their Muslim brothers who’ve joined Islamic State, JNIM, Boko Haram, and other Islamist terrorists operating in Nigeria’s north.”

“This Islamist ideology is the biggest root cause for their murderous acts, not climate change as we’ve long been told,” she added. “Hopefully, the Nigerian government is feeling the pressure and will be spurred to do the necessary police work to curb the anti-Christian violence. It must disarm and prosecute the Fulani jihadis.”