St. John's Catholic Church

An aerial view of the papal palace of Castel Gandolfo near Rome. The apostolic palace is a complex of buildings served for centuries as a summer residence for the pope and overlooks Lake Albano. / Credit: Stefano Tammaro/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Two months into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV will leave Rome to spend two weeks on a pontifical estate in the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of the city, and sometimes known as the “second Vatican City.”

The pontiff will stay on the hilltop Vatican property “for a period of rest” from the afternoon of July 6 to the afternoon of July 20, the Vatican announced last month. Leo is scheduled to make public appearances from Castel Gandolfo on two Sundays, but otherwise, his public audiences and private audiences will be suspended during that time.

Leo will also spend three days in Castel Gandolfo over the holiday weekend for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary Aug. 15-17. 

Pope Leo’s stay on the 135-acre pontifical estate, which includes multiple properties, extensive gardens, and a working farm, marks the continuation of a centuries-old papal tradition of summer rest.

While Leo’s immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, opted not to use the triangle-shaped territory as a summer retreat, Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II famously escaped Rome’s intense heat by spending several months in recreation, study, and work in the hilltop town.

According to Vatican News, Pope Leo made a quick visit to Castel Gandolfo on the afternoon of July 3 to check up on the renovations to Villa Barberini, where he will be staying.

A tennis court has also been newly installed on the property for the tennis-loving pope, the New York Times reported. The pool is also reportedly receiving a refresh in anticipation of Leo’s arrival.

Previous popes lived during their retreats in the pontifical palace of the estate, which is situated on the border of the town of Castel Gandolfo and the gardens, opening up onto Liberty Square.

But in 2016, Pope Francis converted the papal palace of Castel Gandolfo into a museum. Two years prior he had opened the gardens to visitors.

The palace and gardens will remain open to the public during Leo’s stay, since he will be living in a different palazzo on the grounds — the Villa Barberini.

The ‘second Vatican City’

The papal ties to Castel Gandolfo date back to 1596; it became an official papal residence 30 years later. The Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini later added on to the property’s historic villa, first built by Emperor Domitian in the first century.

The territory was conceded to the Holy See as an extraterritorial possession under the Lateran Pact of 1929. 

Since that time, Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI all spent at least part of the summers there, where they would pray the Sunday Angelus and mingle with the townspeople.

The popes would also occasionally receive important visitors. And the quiet atmosphere and scenic gardens provided a restorative space for reading, writing, and taking walks — or in John Paul II’s case, a lap in the property’s swimming pool.

For Benedict XVI, the villa was a favorite summer getaway during his pontificate. He also chose to spend some time there after resigning the papacy.

“Since 1628, the popes have lived in Castel Gandolfo. Some more, some less, but their presence has been constant. This is a city accustomed to the daily life of the pope,” Mayor Alberto de Angelis told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, last month.

Pray with Pope Leo XIV

Part of the papal presence in Castel Gandolfo is the opportunity to pray the Sunday Angelus with Leo. The public can see Pope Leo in Castel Gandolfo during the Angelus messages on July 13 and on July 20, which he will deliver from Liberty Square (Piazza della Libertà) in front of the pontifical palace.

After nearly four weeks back at the Vatican, the pontiff will then return for three days to Castel Gandolfo, where he will recite the Angelus on Aug. 15 and Aug. 17.

Visit Castel Gandolfo

Tickets to visit the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo or its gardens (Borgo Laudato Si’) can be booked on the official website of the Vatican Museums for a weekend or weekday.

The town of Castel Gandolfo, which sits above the volcanic Lake Albano, is also a pleasant spot for a stroll. The town is part of the area south of Rome known as the Castelli Romani.

Pope Francis “did a lot for the city, opening the doors of the papal residence and the gardens... But now, Leo XIV will give back to the city its daily connection with the pope: the Angelus, the visits, the contact with the people. We want to experience all of that again,” Mayor de Angelis said.

From Rome, Castel Gandolfo can be reached by train or car.

null / Credit: A and I Kruk/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 5, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

As more Catholic parishes and notable Catholic figures become the targets of scammers, a new initiative has been launched to help Catholics spot a scam and avoid becoming victims.

Theresa Payton, CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House chief information officer, is spearheading the initiative, called “Protecting the Faithful.” The campaign is being actively rolled out in parishes across the country through bulletin announcements and the distribution of infographics, videos, and guides highlighting the red flags of a scam.

Many of these scams come in the form of emails sent to parishioners that look to be from their pastor asking them to donate to parish charities or ministries. Scammers are also targeting the fans of notable Catholic figures.

For instance, there have been several incidents where scammers impersonated Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie. The scammers have messaged Roumie’s followers on social media, pretending they are Roumie and promising a visit to the set of “The Chosen” or being the president of his fan club if they send a certain amount of money.

The Protecting the Faithful initiative is also being distributed on social media through official fan accounts of notable Catholic names in order to warn other fans as well as through podcasts and other Catholic news media outlets.

Payton told CNA that she was inspired to do something about the problem because of “how the faithful are being taken advantage of by criminals and fraudsters.”

“I’ve had victims on the other end of the phone, ashamed that they were a victim, crying, sending their hard-earned money to bad people, and I just had such a broken heart over this that I was like, something must be done,” she said.

“I’ve spent a whole career profiling criminals, and what people need to know is they play to our heart, they play to our human nature,” she added. “They know how to get us to act fast, they know how to get to our sympathies, to the best things about us, and they exploit the best things about us.”

Payton pointed out that with the recent technological advancements, specifically artificial intelligence, it is even easier for scammers to create voice clones, fake videos, and fake images, such as fake driver’s licenses and passports, which can be created “at speed and at scale.”

There are several red flags Payton warns individuals to be aware of in order to be able to spot a scammer, specifically when it comes to impersonators on social media. 

The first is receiving a message from an impersonator saying that the account the person is messaging from is his or her personal or backup account, not the person’s official account. Second is if the person asks to move the conversation over to WhatsApp or Telegram, which are encrypted apps used for communicating. The third red flag is when a scammer invites the individual to become the president of a fan club for a certain amount of money. Lastly, any kind of link that is sent should never be clicked on. 

Payton emphasized that those who’ve been a victim of a scam need to know that “you’ve done nothing wrong, you’re not dumb, you are a good person and because you’re a good person, somebody took advantage of you and you should not feel ashamed of that.”

She also urged individuals to report scams to their local police and IC3.gov, which is monitored by the FBI, and when a large trend is seen, an investigation is conducted and a public service announcement is released warning people nationwide of the scam that is taking place.

Another resource Payton mentioned for those who’ve been a victim is the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that offers free resources and guidance to help individuals take the proper steps to recover their identities and other information that may have been stolen.

Returning to the goal of the campaign, Payton said it is to “make sure that everybody around me in the Catholic faith, and even outside the Catholic faith, is as safe and secure as possible.”

She added: “I love being Catholic, and part of what we’re called to do is to take the talents God gave us and invest those in a way that is pleasing to him.”

“If my team and I can do something to avoid another victim, then every moment we spend on this initiative and on this campaign is worth it,” she said.

The Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in the Diocese of Pemba, Mozambique. / Credit: ACN

ACI Africa, Jul 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Armed robbers attacked a girls’ home in the Diocese of Pemba in northern Mozambique run by the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (HMSS) in early June. Violent incidents are reportedly on the rise there, according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International. 

In a report ACN shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on July 1, HMSS members recalled the traumatic experience of June 8 when the girls’ home under their care was broken into by a group of men armed with guns and machetes.

In a message to ACN, Sister Ofélia Robledo Alvarado described the terror they felt during the break-in. 

“A group of 18 men entered our mission, armed with machetes, iron bars, and weapons. Eight men came into the house, while the others stayed outside, controlling the gates and subduing the guards,” Alvarado said in the ACN report, published June 27.

She recalled the fear that gripped her and three others at the sight of the armed men, saying: “We were terrified when we saw them enter our rooms, demanding money and taking everything they could get their hands on. They stole our computers, cellphones, and what little money we had.”

She recalled the armed men getting the four sisters into their community chapel and ordering them to kneel.

“We thought they were going to set fire to the chapel with us inside, but instead they made Sister Esperanza kneel in the center of the chapel and raised a machete to cut off her head in front of us,” Alvarado recounted.

She recalled pleading with the armed men not to harm Esperanza. “They had already taken all we owned; I begged for mercy,” Alvarado recounted, adding: “These were terrible moments, but thank God, they released her.”

In the ACN report, the departure of the attackers from the Mercedarian Sisters’ premises did not calm their anxiety, and they did not know the fate of the 30 girls at the home.

“Thank God, we found them quiet and unharmed,” Alvarado said.

She recalled that the June 8 attack was the first time in 17 years that the sisters’ mission had been attacked.

Alvarado attributes the attack to a “wave of terrorism that began in 2017” and “changed everything.”

“We are living a situation of insecurity all over the province of Cabo Delgado, and what is sad is that it seems that even the police and the military are involved in these bands of organized criminals, so we need to take measures to protect ourselves and the girls,” she said.

According to an ACN report shared with ACI Africa, Mercedarians Sisters “are now hoping to raise funds to install security cameras and bars on the windows.”

The cost will be relatively high considering that the bars have to be fitted on 70 windows of the building, which comprises the sisters’ residence, the home for the girls they care for, the chapel, the guesthouse and the study room, according to the report.

The attack on the residence of the Mercedarian Sisters happened just days after the La Salette Fathers in Mieze were also “robbed by men armed with machetes who attacked under the cover of darkness.” None of the religious were harmed, the ACN report indicated.

The attacks on the two Catholic institutions were not carried out by Islamist insurgents, according to ACN, but were the result of a “general breakdown in security — largely caused by the insurgency.”

This has resulted in a rise in armed violence affecting the entire province. In addition, severe poverty and lack of resources — also a consequence of the insurgency — have led to waves of theft and robbery,” the ACN report said. 

Sister Aparecida Ramos Queiroz, the contact for projects in the Pemba Diocese, confirmed to ACN that there is an urgent need for security measures to protect sisters’ convents.

ACN officials are working closely with the Mozambican diocese to support efforts to improve security for convents and other Church institutions. 

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

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Wukari. / Credit: Courtesy of Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein says displaced families and communities who daily face threats of violence in Nigeria are in great need of spiritual and material support.

Since being appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Wukari, located in Nigeria’s Taraba state, by Pope Francis in 2022, Nzukwein has seen the destruction of at least 325 Catholic places of worship by Islamic extremists.

“Christians here are really suffering,” the bishop told CNA in an interview. “The first thing we need from people is their prayerful support.”

“Secondly, definitely we need material support to help rehabilitate some of our people who are traumatized from the violence that has been very recurrent,” he added.

Reports released this year by the organizations Aid to the Church in Need and Open Doors have shown that violent attacks against unarmed victims, many of whom are Christians, are on the rise in the African nation.

According to the bishop of Wukari, the sense of fear and helplessness is a great suffering that impacts the physical and spiritual well-being of those to whom he ministers. 

“Over 300,000 people are displaced,” Nzukwein told CNA. “I go around to celebrate Mass for some of these communities who are staying in schools.”

“But on the other hand, we’re still happy that we are experiencing growth even in those IDP [internally displaced people] camps,” he said. 

“People are experiencing the joy of their faith,” he continued. “They know they are suffering but they know that God is also present and they know this will not last forever.”

In light of the ongoing multilayered crisis in Nigeria, Father George Ehusani from Kogi state collaborated with the country’s National Universities Commission to establish a new Psycho-Spiritual Institute campus in Abuja to educate Christian leaders and laypeople in trauma counseling.

“These things are very much needed, but we find it very difficult to raise funds to run those workshops and training,” he told CNA. 

Across the country’s Middle Belt region, an area often described as the “food basket” of the nation, several Christian families have witnessed their homes and farms being taken by force.   

Elizabeth, a member of the Church of Christ in Nations whose family is living in Jos, Taraba state, told CNA in a phone interview that international organizations should focus efforts to assist farmers whose “sources of livelihood” have been destroyed.

“A lot of Nigeria’s food comes from the north — from places like Plateau and Benue — and, due to the rising frequency of attacks, people are not able to go to the farms as usual,” she said. “Food is becoming really expensive [and] so this trickles down to everyone.”

Elizabeth told CNA many people have now become “accustomed” to violent attacks targeting Christian communities. 

Recalling when St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church in Jos was bombed in 2012, she said she was attending a Sunday service nearby at the time when she suddenly felt a “vibration in the ground” beneath her.

“You hear the sound of the blast, you know what is going on, and you just stay in church — I mean we are Christians, right?” she said. “You’re just thinking, ‘Well if my church is next it just means that I get to be with the Lord.’”

“This is the reality of Christians every day in the north [of Nigeria].”

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Wukari. / Credit: Courtesy of Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein says displaced families and communities who daily face threats of violence in Nigeria are in great need of spiritual and material support.

Since being appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Wukari, located in Nigeria’s Taraba state, by Pope Francis in 2022, Nzukwein has seen the destruction of at least 325 Catholic places of worship by Islamic extremists.

“Christians here are really suffering,” the bishop told CNA in an interview. “The first thing we need from people is their prayerful support.”

“Secondly, definitely we need material support to help rehabilitate some of our people who are traumatized from the violence that has been very recurrent,” he added.

Reports released this year by the organizations Aid to the Church in Need and Open Doors have shown that violent attacks against unarmed victims, many of whom are Christians, are on the rise in the African nation.

According to the bishop of Wukari, the sense of fear and helplessness is a great suffering that impacts the physical and spiritual well-being of those to whom he ministers. 

“Over 300,000 people are displaced,” Nzukwein told CNA. “I go around to celebrate Mass for some of these communities who are staying in schools.”

“But on the other hand, we’re still happy that we are experiencing growth even in those IDP [internally displaced people] camps,” he said. 

“People are experiencing the joy of their faith,” he continued. “They know they are suffering but they know that God is also present and they know this will not last forever.”

In light of the ongoing multilayered crisis in Nigeria, Father George Ehusani from Kogi state collaborated with the country’s National Universities Commission to establish a new Psycho-Spiritual Institute campus in Abuja to educate Christian leaders and laypeople in trauma counseling.

“These things are very much needed, but we find it very difficult to raise funds to run those workshops and training,” he told CNA. 

Across the country’s Middle Belt region, an area often described as the “food basket” of the nation, several Christian families have witnessed their homes and farms being taken by force.   

Elizabeth, a member of the Church of Christ in Nations whose family is living in Jos, Taraba state, told CNA in a phone interview that international organizations should focus efforts to assist farmers whose “sources of livelihood” have been destroyed.

“A lot of Nigeria’s food comes from the north — from places like Plateau and Benue — and, due to the rising frequency of attacks, people are not able to go to the farms as usual,” she said. “Food is becoming really expensive [and] so this trickles down to everyone.”

Elizabeth told CNA many people have now become “accustomed” to violent attacks targeting Christian communities. 

Recalling when St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church in Jos was bombed in 2012, she said she was attending a Sunday service nearby at the time when she suddenly felt a “vibration in the ground” beneath her.

“You hear the sound of the blast, you know what is going on, and you just stay in church — I mean we are Christians, right?” she said. “You’re just thinking, ‘Well if my church is next it just means that I get to be with the Lord.’”

“This is the reality of Christians every day in the north [of Nigeria].”

Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire, a media apostolate focused on evangelization. / Credit: Word on Fire

CNA Newsroom, Jul 4, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron on July 4 urged a federal court to strike down a Washington state law that would force priests to violate the seal of confession, telling the court that the law is "manifestly" disrespectful of the ancient and vital Church practice.

Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester and a member of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, made the argument in a proposed amicus brief filed in U.S. district court in Washington State.

The filing comes on behalf of the bishops of Washington State, who in May of this year sued the state government over its new mandatory reporting law that requires priests to report child abuse learned during the sacrament of confession or face jail time and fines. 

The law has drawn criticism from religious liberty advocates who say it unjustly targets Catholics. The Department of Justice and a coalition of Orthodox churches have also sued the state government over the rule.

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, representing over 500 Roman Catholic priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom, last month issued a statement defending the inviolability of the seal of confession, arguing against laws like Washington State's and pointing out that child protection "can be lawfully and morally done without violating religious liberty.”

Barron's brief stressed to the court what it described as the "oft-misunderstood theological underpinnings of the seal of Confession."

"Few religious practices are more misunderstood than the sacred seal of Confession in the Catholic Church," the bishop wrote in the document.

Since Catholics believe that penitents who seek the sacrament of confession are "speaking to and hearing from the Lord himself" via the priest, then "absolutely nothing ought to stand in the way of a sinner who seeks this font of grace," Barron wrote.

"If a penitent is aware the priest might (let alone must) share with others what was given in the most sacred confidence, he or she would be reluctant indeed to ever approach Confession," he said.

The bishop argued that the state law is "manifestly premised on a disrespect for the confessional seal," in part because it explicitly exempts clergy from an otherwise-broad exception for privileged communications.

The law violates longstanding precedent on religious freedom, the bishop wrote, as well as established legal rules regarding religious neutrality.

Barron urged the court to grant an injunction against the law barring it from being enforced. The law is scheduled to take effect July 27.

A hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for July 14.

Attorney and columnist Andrea Picciotti-Bayer was named the winner of the Religious Freedom Impact Award by the Religious Freedom Institute on July 2, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Picciotti-Bayer

CNA Staff, Jul 4, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is the 2025 recipient of the Religious Freedom Impact Award, the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) announced July 2.

The Religious Freedom Impact Award honors leaders who demonstrate “consistent, effective, and innovative leadership in advancing religious freedom” through law, policy, or culture. It will be presented at the RFI Annual Dinner on Nov. 6 in Washington, D.C. 

Picciotti-Bayer is an accomplished attorney, policy expert, political commentator, and mother who has spent her career defending the conscience rights and religious liberty of individuals and institutions, particularly in the areas of education, parental rights, and health care.

A Catholic mother of 10, Picciotti-Bayer told CNA that she sees God’s hand in her life and credits him with her success, saying Christians, especially young women navigating careers and motherhood, should trust that “we can never outdo God in generosity.” 

She said motherhood has played a vital role in informing her work. 

“Having children made me a better lawyer,” she told CNA. “It allowed me to understand firsthand the concerns of parents fighting for their ability to raise their children according to their consciences.” 

After more than a decade focused on raising her children, she returned to the legal world “ready to roll up my sleeves.” 

Picciotti-Bayer is the director of the Conscience Project, where she works with intellectuals and legal scholars to craft public arguments and file amicus briefs in significant religious freedom cases at the appellate level as well as at the U.S. Supreme Court. 

She fights against government overreach, helping individuals and institutions to exercise their faith without unjust interference.

“Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is a tenacious advocate for religious Americans threatened by government intrusion into their public and private lives,” said Religious Freedom Institute President David Trimble. “Her voice brings clarity to the confusion that so often surrounds some of the most charged religious freedom conflicts in American law and culture today.”

Picciotti-Bayer began her career in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as a trial and appellate attorney. 

She later advised the Catholic Association and worked as a strategic consultant for the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America, authoring amicus briefs in pivotal religious freedom and free speech cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts.

Beyond the courtroom, Picciotti-Bayer is a prominent voice in the media, serving as a legal analyst for EWTN News and a weekly guest on “Ave Maria in the Afternoon.” She also writes a column for the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been published in multiple other news outlets. 

Her impactful journalism recently earned her the 2025 Catholic Media Association Award for Best Coverage of Religious Liberty Issues.

Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran (left), and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Pope appoints Pizzaballa and Mathieu to Vatican’s interreligious dialogue office

Pope Leo XIV on July 3 appointed two prominent cardinals, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran, to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Their appointment comes amid a broad reshuffle that also brought in cardinals from Japan and Canada as well as bishops and experts with experience in fostering relations among faiths. The two newly named members are already active in Vatican circles: Pizzaballa also serves in the Eastern Churches and Christian unity offices, while Mathieu is part of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Pope Leo turns attention to St. Augustine’s Algerian roots

In a personal reflection on his Augustinian roots, Pope Leo XIV this week expressed his heartfelt desire to visit Algeria, homeland of St. Augustine of Hippo, whose writings profoundly shaped Christian thought, ACI MENA reported.

Speaking of Augustine as a spiritual father, the pope shone a spotlight on the saint’s birthplace in Tagaste (modern-day Souk Ahras) and the historic church that bears his name in the coastal city of Annaba.

The Church of St. Augustine, completed in the early 20th century on a hill overlooking the ruins of ancient Hippo, remains a symbol of North Africa’s rich Christian heritage. Recently restored with the help of the Algerian government and international partners, the church combines diverse architectural styles and houses a monastery, school, and library.

Palestinian churches urge global action against Israeli violations

Christian leaders in Palestine issued a strong call this week for churches worldwide to speak out against what they described as systematic violations by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, particularly Christians, ACI MENA reported.

They lamented in a statement the increasing attacks on Christian clergy and property, citing incidents such as vandalism, harassment, and denial of worship permits during Easter. The statement also drew attention to recent strikes on sacred sites in Gaza and threats to church assets in Jerusalem over disputed tax claims. “What Christians here are facing is no longer an exception but a growing pattern of targeted oppression,” the committee warned, calling on global churches to exercise moral leadership and uphold human dignity.

Parish in DRC closed after tabernacle desecrated, hosts burned 

St. Francis of Assisi Luano Parish in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been closed down after a June 30 incident in which vandals broke into the building, desecrated the altar, and set all of the consecrated hosts on fire, according to a report by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

The vandals also “emptied the cupboard, taking liturgical vestments, the altar cross, the processional cross, the altar cloth, the mixer, drums, microphones, [and] liturgical books,” according to Father Emmanuel Mumba, vicar general of the Congolese Metropolitan See. “Prayer can no longer be organized in an environment or in a church that has been desecrated. It is the archbishop, who must come to celebrate the Mass here, in order to open the church for worship,” he added.

Togo bishops condemn police brutality after 7 killed in protest against government 

The Episcopal Conference of Togo (CET) issued a condemnation of police brutality after seven people were killed during a protest against the country’s President Faure Gnassingbé following constitutional changes that could extend his rule indefinitely. 

“Having followed with deep concern, distress, and sadness the painful events that marked the days of June 26, 27, and 28, in light of acts of unprecedented gravity, we strongly condemn these unacceptable and intolerable acts of violence, regardless of their origin, perpetrators, or justification,” they said in the statement shared with ACI Africa on July 2.

Head of Swiss abbey resigns in connection with abuse report

Abbot Jean César Scarcella, CRA, has resigned as abbot of the territorial abbey of Saint-Maurice in Switzerland in connection with an abuse report, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. The Holy See confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation.

Scarcella’s resignation came after the publication of a sexual abuse report that documented at least 67 cases of sexualized violence in the period from 1960 to 2024. Scarcella had previously resigned temporarily in November 2023 after sexual harassment allegations were made against him, but the Vatican never found any proof of misconduct.

German Catholics protest against ‘child protection congress’ 

Approximately 900 people demonstrated in Hanover, Germany, against a “child protection congress” of the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in the Lower Saxony state Parliament — including representatives of the Catholic Church, according to CNA Deutsch. At the event, the right-wing AfD party called for the protection of children from “early sexualization” and from unilateral “gender propaganda.”

“Hanover is colorful, diverse, democratic, and open. We want to preserve this for our children. We do not allow so-called ‘concerned citizens’ to pursue their right-wing extremist goals under the guise of the alleged care for our children,” the Catholic Church in Hanover said in a statement.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center’s Edward J. Furton speaks at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., Jul 4, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Ahead of the celebration of Independence Day, Edward Furton, publications director for The National Catholic Bioethics Center, spoke in a lecture in the nation’s capital about the country’s founders and their desire for a republic open to all faiths but one in which no citizen would be compelled to profess any particular religious doctrine.

In a presentation titled “Natural Religion and the American Founding” at the Catholic Information Center, Furton referenced James J. Walsh’s book “Scholasticism in the Colonial Colleges” to discuss church and state separation and how the Declaration of Independence is “the founding truth of the United States” and should be “at the center of American public life.”

Furton, who received his doctoral degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., highlighted the founders’ general, important distinction between two paths to religious truth: faith and reason.

“The truths of faith were indeed meant to be separated from public life,” Furton said in reference to the consensus position of America’s Founding Fathers, as “they were a cause of deep divisions,” Furton said, referencing the religious establishment differences among and clashes within the 13 colonies.

On the other hand, Furton affirmed, “the truths of reason were not to be separated. They were to be the source of our national unity.”

Among the colonial colleges, Furton said, the problem of sectarianism was largely solved by emphasizing “natural religion, a conviction that certain theological and moral truths can be known independently of supernatural revelation.”

Ultimately, Furton said, each college-educated founder ended up adding “his own faith to what they had learned in the college without any contradiction to his own beliefs.”

“Faith is added to reason just as grace is added to nature,” Furton said. “So this distinction between faith and reason is the key to understanding the proper place of religion within American public life.”

Furton continued: “Supernatural religion begins with faith … every proposition in Christian doctrine carries with it this note of belief in supernatural revealing, supernatural truth. Also, what is believed transcends rational understanding. So the various doctrines of the Trinity, for example, are taken on faith, and they transcend human reason.”

In contrast, Furton said, “natural religion … begins with the world around us, as it’s experienced by the senses, and seeks to understand nature on its own terms, independently of faith. Historically … the two approaches have been considered compatible and complementary.”

The founders aimed to develop “a republic that would be open to all religious faiths, but one in which no citizen would be compelled to profess any particular religious doctrine.”

“There would be complete freedom of religious expression among all sects, but unity would be forged under the rationally known truths of natural religion.” People were free to “profess their doctrines in private lives, in their private life, in their homes, in their churches, but none was allowed to join these supernatural beliefs to the federal government.”

“The Declaration of Independence was the first test of this approach, and it was successful. So the American founding rests on a commitment to religious truth that can be known by reason.”

Concluding his presentation, Furton said “religious truths that are agreeable to reason cannot be ruled out preemptively. The argument that the First Amendment obliges to privatize these truths is based on a misunderstanding between the distinction of faith and reason.”

“The same distinction between faith and reason tells us that the true line of separation today between church and state is: All religious claims that transcend reason must be separated from public life, but all those that are within the range of reason may remain,” Furton asserted.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations of States, and Laura Hochla, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, addressed the crowd at Villa Richardson on June 30, 2025, in Rome, where Fourth of July was celebrated this year with a special milestone: the recent election of the first pope born and raised in the United States. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

Vatican City, Jul 4, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Beneath a canopy of Roman pines, Americans in Rome celebrated the Fourth of July this year with something more than barbecue and fireworks: the historic election of the first pope born and raised in the United States.

“Let us celebrate the milestone of an American pope on the Fourth of July, in the spirit of friendship, freedom, and shared purpose,” said Laura Hochla, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, addressing the crowd at Villa Richardson, the U.S. ambassador’s residence.

The embassy’s annual Independence Day celebration, held June 30, commemorated not only the 249th anniversary of the United States but also the 41st anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Washington and the Holy See — ties that now find new resonance in the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican secretary for relations with states, said the election of Pope Leo XIV brought the contribution of the U.S. to the Church “to another level” as he gave an overview of the history of U.S.-Vatican relations in his speech at the party.  

“I have normally as an Englishman approached the celebration of the Fourth of July and American independence with a certain degree of liberty in humor rather than in independence,” Gallagher, a Liverpool native, said. “But now that we have an American pope, I have to recalculate my remarks.”

Tracing relations back to the earliest days of the republic, Gallagher noted that the Catholic Church’s presence in America began with humble missionaries and immigrants. “Catholics were sometimes viewed with suspicion in their adopted homeland. However, as their numbers grew, so did their contribution to American society,” he said.

“The first diplomatic contact [between the United States and the papacy] dates back to 1788, when Benjamin Franklin sent to Pope Pius VI a message from George Washington. In it he said that the newly independent state saw no need to be involved in the appointment of bishops, as the American Revolution brought not only freedom for the colonies but also religious liberty,” Gallagher recounted.

The United States maintained consular relations with the Papal States beginning in 1797 and diplomatic relations with the pope from 1848 to 1867, though not at an ambassadorial level.

Diplomatic ties lapsed in 1867 when Congress passed a ban on funding relations with the Holy See — a move fueled in part by anti-Catholic sentiment in the U.S. From then on, the Vatican and U.S. relied on personal envoys for over a century, including during World War II.

It wasn’t until 1984 that President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II established full diplomatic ties.

Gallagher emphasized how far the American Catholic Church has come, citing the rise of Catholics to high office — from John F. Kennedy to the current vice president — and the growing intellectual contributions of U.S. theologians including Father John Courtney Murray, whose ideas on religious liberty shaped Vatican II.

The Vatican diplomat described the new pope’s diverse family tree as “quintessentially American.” 

For many Americans gathered at Villa Richardson, the symbolism of Leo XIV’s election was deeply felt.

“The election of the first pope from the USA represents a coming of age for the American Catholic Church,” Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the embassy party, told CNA.

“A self-consciously immigrant Catholic community struggling with assimilation suddenly exploded with priestly vocations and prominent converts during the John Paul II revival. It was a fireworks display of confidence in the truth of the faith and its power to address the problems of modernity,” added Hanssen, who is currently teaching in the summer program for the University of Dallas, a Catholic university that has a Rome campus near Castel Gandolfo, the site of the pope’s summer residence.

“Pope Leo, with his embrace of Leo XIII as his patron, represents this moment of maturity,” she said.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, and a Marine color guard added American flavor to the evening. Despite the celebration, the embassy remains without a Senate-confirmed ambassador to the Holy See. President Donald Trump’s nominee, Brian Burch, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in May but faces a procedural roadblock in the full Senate after Democrats placed a hold on several State Department nominees over concerns about foreign aid funding. 

Until the Senate acts, the embassy continues under the leadership of Hochla, who took over as chargé d’affaires in July 2024.