St. Mary Our Lady of the Rosary

Father Pedro Bismarck Chau was appointed as a new auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 16:23 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Nicaraguan-born Father Pedro Bismarck Chau as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.

The Holy Father also accepted the resignation of 77-year-old Newark Auxiliary Bishop Gregory J. Studerus.

Bishop-elect Chau is a priest of the archdiocese and currently serves as pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, according to a press release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I warmly welcome the Holy Father’s appointment of Bishop-elect Pedro Bismarck Chau as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark,” Newark archbishop Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin said in a statement.

“His deep faith, considerable pastoral experience, and love for the people of God will be a great blessing to our local Church. I look forward to his contribution as we continue our mission to witness to Jesus Christ,” Tobin said.

Chau was born on July 18, 1964, in Managua, Nicaragua, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. 

In 2004, Chau received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He then studied at Immaculate Conception Seminary there and was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 2008.

After his ordination, Chau worked as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Garfield, New Jersey, assisting the parish priest from 2008–2012. 

Chau became very involved in youth programs with the archdiocese, serving as an associate director of the archdiocese’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Catholic Youth Organization from 2012–2015.

From 2013–2016, Chau served as the assistant director of vocations for the archdiocese. He also worked as a campus minister at New Jersey Institute of Technology and at the Newman Center at Rutgers University from 2015–2020. During the same time period, he served as pastor at St. John’s Church and St. Patrick Pro-Cathedral.

Chau was appointed to the Priest Personnel Board for the archdiocese in 2017 and served on the board until 2020 when he began his current role as rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

The priest later returned to Seton Hall University to acquire a master’s degree in professional counseling in 2021.

Other ministry work of Chau’s includes serving as the chaplain for the pastoral ministry with the Deaf, working as a professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary, and assisting V Encuentro, an organization that carries out missionary work to benefit the Latino ministry in the United States.

The auxiliary bishop-elect will join auxiliary bishops Manuel A. Cruz, Michael A. Saporito, and Elias R. Lorenzo along with Tobin to serve the estimated 1.04 million Catholics in New Jersey.

Pope Leo XIV welcomes representatives of various peace movements to the Vatican on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 15:44 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday stated that authentic peace “takes shape from the ground up” when the differences and conflicts they entail “are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.”

Pope Leo began his address to members of various peace movements, whom he received May 30 at the Vatican, with the same words he greeted the faithful when he was elected on May 8: “Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you!”

The pontiff thanked them for launching the “Arena of Peace” meeting in Verona in May 2024. The event was chaired by Pope Francis and attended by some 300 delegates representing associations and movements that participated in the event.

Among the groups and movements present in the Clementine Hall on Friday were Mediterranea Saving Humans, Libera, the Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament, Catholic Action leaders, Doctors Without Borders, and the Focolare Movement.

The Holy Father recalled that, on that occasion a year ago, Pope Francis reiterated that building peace begins by “standing alongside victims, seeing things from their point of view.”

This approach, according to Leo XIV, “is essential for disarming hearts, approaches, and mentalities, and for denouncing the injustices of a system that kills and is based on the throwaway culture.”

Path to peace requires hearts and minds trained in concern for others

He particularly noted “the courageous embrace” between Israeli Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed by Hamas, and Palestinian Aziz Sarah, whose brother was killed by the Israeli army. Both were present at today’s audience.

“That gesture remains as a testimony and sign of hope,” he added. 

“The path to peace demands hearts and minds trained in concern for others and capable of perceiving the common good in today’s world,” the pope continued.

He pointed out that the path to peace involves everyone and that it “leads to the fostering of right relationships between all living beings.”

In an age like our own, “marked by speed and immediacy,” Leo XIV emphasized the need to “recover the patience required for this process to occur.”

In this context, he explained that “authentic peace takes shape from the ground up, beginning with places, communities, and local institutions, and by listening to what they have to tell us. In this way, we come to realize that peace is possible when disagreements and the conflicts they entail are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.” 

The pope therefore urged the peace movement members to promote dialogue with all and to maintain “the creativity and ingenuity born of a culture of peace,” with projects that simultaneously inspire hope.

Nonviolence must characterize our decisions

The Holy Father lamented that “all too much violence exists in the world,” reiterating that, in the face of wars, terrorism, human trafficking, and widespread aggression, “our children and young people need to be able to experience the culture of life, dialogue, and mutual respect.”

“Above all,” the pontiff continued, they need the witness of men and women “who embody a different and nonviolent way of living.” He therefore noted that victims who reject revenge become “the most credible agents of nonviolent peacebuilding processes.”

“Nonviolence, as a method and a style, must distinguish our decisions, our relationships, and our actions,” he added.

He also proposed the Gospel and the Church’s social doctrine as the “constant source of support for Christians in this effort” and also as a “compass for everyone.”

“Because it is, in fact, a task entrusted to all, believers and nonbelievers, who must develop and carry it out through reflection and practice inspired by the dignity of the person and the common good,” Pope Leo emphasized.

In this way, he emphasized that peace rests in the hands of all institutions and therefore invited them to be present “within history as a leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity.”

“Fraternity needs to be recovered, loved, experienced, proclaimed, and witnessed,” the pontiff emphasized before encouraging members of the peace movements to act “with patient perseverance.”

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

2025 Bradley Prize recipient Jimmy Lai. / Credit: Courtesy of the Bradley Foundation

CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).

Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned pro-democracy advocate and Hong Kong entrepreneur, is the honorary recipient of the 2025 Bradley Prize for his unwavering commitment to free speech, democracy, and journalistic integrity. 

His son, Sebastien Lai, accepted the award on his father’s behalf at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The Bradley Prize recognizes Lai’s role as a Catholic human rights activist standing against one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.

Imprisoned for over four years and currently in solitary confinement, Lai, 77, faces potential life imprisonment under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, which has stifled dissent and suppressed free speech in Hong Kong. 

“Jimmy’s extraordinary courage and deeply held beliefs in journalistic integrity, human dignity, and democracy are an inspiration to all who value freedom,” said Rick Graber, president of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. “His sacrifice serves as a beacon of hope for those fighting against tyranny, and we are proud to award him with an honorary Bradley Prize.”

Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has become a global symbol of resistance against what Graber described as the “oppressive, authoritarian rule” of the Chinese Communist Party. 

The former stowaway and child factory worker turned billionaire’s entrepreneurial ventures spanned digital media and retail apparel, but it was his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government’s tightening grip on freedom and democracy in Hong Kong that led to his multiple arrests.

Sebastien Lai told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday that he and his family are worried about his father, a diabetic with little to no access to medical care, the sacraments, or natural light in his “more than 1,600 days” in solitary confinement.

“It’s just cruelty what they’re doing to him” in prison, Sebastien said, “and he needs to be released immediately.”

President Donald Trump has said he would include Jimmy Lai’s release as part of ongoing negotiations with China. Sebastien met with members of the Trump administration in March, telling Arroyo he is “hopeful” and is grateful for the president’s “moral clarity” regarding his father’s case.

Though the elder Lai is a British citizen and could have fled, he chose to remain in Hong Kong, advocating for his principles. Sebastien said he has not yet met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer but he is hopeful the British government will help bring about his father’s release.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, established the Bradley Prize in 2004 to honor individuals whose work strengthens the principles of American exceptionalism, limited government, free markets, and civil society. Each recipient receives a $250,000 to $300,000 stipend for contributions in areas such as constitutional order, education, and cultural vitality.

Past recipients include economist Thomas Sowell; journalists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer; Robert P. George; and Mary Ann Glendon, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus who also served as the first woman president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Sebastien asked EWTN viewers to write to their elected representatives in Washington asking for Jimmy’s release and to “say a little prayer and light a candle” for his freedom. He expressed hope that Pope Leo XIV, who asked for prayers for the people in China this past Sunday, would also call for Jimmy Lai’s release.

“It is such a clear case of a persecuted Christian,” Sebastien said of his father’s imprisonment. The pope’s support of Lai “would give the people in China hope. It would definitely give my father hope.”

He said his father’s faith is his “pillar,” and although he is physically weak, he is “spiritually and intellectually” strong. “He knows he is doing the right thing by God.” 

The Chinese government wants his father to think that “he’s fighting by himself in his little cell,” Lai said. “But he’s not. He’s fighting for everybody’s freedom.”

“A man’s courage to give up everything he has to fight for what is right reverberates through time,” he said.

Cardinal Willem Eijk. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Willem Eijk on Friday said the Pontifical Academy for Life should give more attention to the bioethical issues linked to “gender affirming” therapies and “transgender” treatments.

The Dutch cardinal, a physician and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, opened the third annual conference organized by the platform International Chair of Bioethics Jérôme Lejeune, taking place in Rome from May 30–31. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Splendor of Truth in Science and Bioethics.”

In an exclusive interview with EWTN Vatican News Director Andreas Thonhauser, the cardinal archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands, said that in addition to artificial intelligence, the Church needs to come together to discuss the impact of gender-affirming treatments.    

“They are now very popular and they are now well accepted in many countries,” he said in the interview. 

“I’m glad that now in the United States, this gender discussion is a little bit pushed back and it has also had a positive influence on Western European societies,” he added.

According to Eijk, the Pontifical Academy for Life has more opportunity to talk about the Church’s teachings on the relationship between sex and gender at a time when the appeal of “gender theory” appears to be now “less strong” than it was in the past.  

“So we see that the gender discussion was very strong, you know, a few years ago,” he said. “They were almost pushing gender theory in society, culture, and also educational programs at elementary schools.” 

“Now there is a lot of resistance and you can see that many people are now wondering should we do that with our young people?” he added. “So at least, you know, the question is coming up, is it right to do so?”

Although Eijk expressed dismay that “dualistic philosophies” — which fundamentally divide the mind and body as opposing forces — have more influence on scientific discourse and medical practice, he believes the Church can still speak about the intrinsic value of the human person as God’s creation that should be respected.  

“According to our Catholic view of man, biological sex is an intrinsic part of the dimension of the human being,” he said. “Transmitting the truth with regard to biological sex and relationship between gender and biological sex is an element of creation and it’s something that you’d respect.”

Though the cardinal noted that many people are inclined to view the body as an “exigent object” that you can use to express yourself or adapt to your taste, he said that a Church that is united in teaching can be very helpful for Catholic faithful who want to uphold the dignity of human life.   

“And when we proclaim this truth in an unambiguous way, in a clear way, I think that people will not be confused anymore but can start to rethink about the basic truths of life and especially basic truths concerning Christ and Christian morality,” he shared.

Earlier this week, Pope Leo XIV appointed Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro, a bioethicist with a medical degree, as the new president of the Pontifical Academy for Life succeeding Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia. Pegoraro has served as the Vatican academy’s chancellor since September 2011. 

St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. / Credit: Joonas Plaan via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

ACI MENA, May 30, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).

An appeals court in the Egyptian city of Ismailia has ruled that the monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula have the right to use the monastery and surrounding religious heritage sites. However, the court also reaffirmed that these sites remain the property of the state as part of Egypt’s public domain.

The ruling has sparked grave concern within the Greek Orthodox Church, which denounced what it described as “an attempt to alter a system that has been in place for 15 centuries.” 

In contrast, the Egyptian state issued reassurances regarding the monastery’s status. 

His Beatitude Ieronymos II, archbishop of Athens and All Greece, condemned the verdict as a grave violation of human — especially religious — freedoms, stating that the monastery is “undergoing a great trial reminiscent of darker times in history.”

In an official statement, the archbishop warned: “The monastery’s properties are being seized and confiscated. This spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing a genuine threat to its existence. With deep sorrow and indignation, I call upon the Greek government and international bodies to recognize the magnitude of this danger and to take urgent action to safeguard fundamental religious freedoms at the sacred monastery of Sinai.”

In response, Egypt’s presidential office reaffirmed the country’s full commitment to preserving the unique religious and sacred status of St. Catherine’s Monastery, stressing that this ruling only reinforces its importance. The statement also referenced recent assurances given by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his visit to Athens earlier this month.

A spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied allegations that the monastery or its surrounding lands had been confiscated. Speaking to the Middle East News Agency, the spokesperson clarified that the ruling merely formalizes the legal status of the monastery. 

“According to the court’s decision,” he said, “and in recognition of the monastery’s spiritual and historic significance, the monks will retain full use of the monastery and nearby religious and archaeological sites. Remote and uninhabited natural reserve areas without proven ownership documents will remain under state jurisdiction.”

On May 30 the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed deep concern regarding what it referred to as the “seizure of lands surrounding the monastery.” In a public statement, the patriarchate reaffirmed its full ecclesiastical authority and protection over the site. It also praised the official communications from Egyptian authorities, which emphasized respect for the sanctity and safety of the monastery and rejected any notion of encroachment.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is considered one of the most important Christian landmarks in Egypt, not only for its ancient heritage and biblical significance but also for its global spiritual and cultural symbolism. Founded over 1,500 years ago, the monastery remains active to this day and is home to a priceless collection of Byzantine icons and a library of rare and ancient manuscripts.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Library. the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City, is one of the oldest libraries in the world. / Credit: Checco2/Shutterstock

Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

More than 80,000 ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library will be restored and digitized thanks to an agreement with the Colnaghi Foundation. The initiative seeks to preserve unique documents and facilitate worldwide access to this treasure of the Church.

The shelves of the Vatican Library house a large part of humanity’s literary legacy. They include more than 82,000 manuscripts and 1.6 million printed books (more than 8,000 of them “incunabula,” which means those printed before 1501).

Among the gems in its catalog are a document with Botticelli’s illustrations for the “Divine Comedy” and the only nearly complete copy of Cicero’s “Republic” that has survived.

Humidity and the decomposition of the inks over time have turned their preservation into a major challenge for all popes.

“The preserved organic material is in a very deteriorated state and would disintegrate if we don’t take action to restore it in the best possible way,” Candida Lodovica de Angelis Corvi of the Colnaghi Foundation told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Lodovica just signed a five-year agreement with the Vatican precisely to prevent this deterioration.

The agreement includes an ambitious digitization project “that will allow scholars remote access to important documents that are currently only available in person,” she explained. The director of this prestigious commercial art gallery, founded in 1760, noted that this will have “a profound impact on the average person’s ability to access knowledge.” 

One of the main advantages of this project is that the Vatican Library will be able to use a special and unique scanner from the Factum company, a subsidiary of the Colnaghi group. “When you scan the surface, you can obtain more details, for example, determining the date of the [book or document] itself,” she explained.

Furthermore, this device also makes it possible to bring to light parts that are hidden from view. “There is a stratification relative to time within the paper itself. Beneath what we see is previous [writing, printing, or sketches]. There could be a secret message, or it could simply be the result of the need to reuse a piece of paper,” she noted.

In addition, the project also includes an architectural renovation of the library, to be carried out by the David Chipperfield firm, which was founded by the renowned London-based British architect 40 years ago.

The papal library, directed by the Italian Raffaella Vincenti since 2012, has enthusiastically embraced this collaborative effort. “We wish to express our profound gratitude to the Colnaghi Foundation for its generous support of several important library projects, which reinforce our commitment to the dissemination of culture,” said the institution’s prefect emeritus, Monsignor Cesare Pasini. 

Previously unseen works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Tintoretto, and Titian

To celebrate this collaboration between the art world and ecclesiastical institutions, the Codex exhibition opened May 26. It brings together 14 works from private collections that are not normally on view. In fact, visits to this exhibition are limited to a special permit that must be requested from the Vatican through the library. On June 2, the works will return to private collections.

The works on display comprise a visual and historical tour through sacred art and portraits from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, highlighting pieces by some of history’s greatest masters.

The exhibition opens with “St. Peter the Penitent” by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, depicting the apostle in tears with a profoundly human expression of repentance, featuring Baroque “chiaroscuro” (strong light and dark contrasts).

Next to the painting is the letter, preserved in the Vatican collection, with which the archbishop of Seville, Antonio Salinas, who commissioned the painting, granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful.

The exhibition continues with “The Triumph of Flora,” a mythological allegory by Mario Nuzzi, exuberant in color and symbolism, celebrating the fertility of nature with a festive and decorative spirit that contrasts with the gravity of other pieces.

Another work on display is Michelangelo’s preparatory sketch for “The Adoration of the Brazen Serpent,” a powerful scene from the Old Testament. The drawing demonstrates the artist’s anatomical and expressive intensity, which manages to condense drama and redemption into a single figure.

Another renowned piece is the “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini,” a work by Caravaggio painted around 1598. It depicts the future Pope Urban VIII when he was about 30 years old. The painting shows Barberini seated, emerging from the shadows, his face illuminated, and dressed modestly in a black robe and cap, holding a document in his left hand and pointing with his right, suggesting an interaction with a figure outside the field of vision. This portrait remained in a private collection in Florence for decades and was attributed to Caravaggio by historian Roberto Longhi in 1963.

The exhibition includes works by other of the most influential artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Titian’s “Portrait of Pope Paul III,” painted during his trip to Rome between October 1545 and May 1546. This painting, in which the pope appears with a shrewd expression and the traditional camauro (a red cap with white trim), a symbol of his authority, belongs to a private collection and is housed in Lisbon, Portugal.

Another portrait is that of “Clement VII,” painted by Sebastiano del Piombo. Of particular note by the artist Tintoretto is the “Portrait of Cardinal Marcantonio da Mula,” which demonstrates the painter’s ability to combine the cardinal’s dignified appearance with dynamism.

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

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CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

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

Peer-reviewed study debunks ‘baseless claim’ that abortion pills are safer than Tylenol

A recent peer-reviewed study challenges the abortion industry’s claim that medication abortion is “safer than Tylenol.”

The Charlotte Lozier Institute last week published its peer-reviewed article in the journal BioTech challenging the “heavily relied upon talking point” for the abortion industry that abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol.

Abortion giant Planned Parenthood on its website claims that medication abortion is safer than Tylenol — the brand name for acetaminophen, which is used for pain relief and to reduce fevers — and other common medicines. But this study found that the claim is not only unsupported and unprovable but also that it ignores “serious adverse events of abortion drugs, such as sepsis and hemorrhage.”

The study noted that the claim cannot be validated because not only does a controlled study not exist comparing the two, but “it would be impossible to do so because these drugs are used for entirely different purposes.” 

The study also notes that “while Tylenol-related deaths often result from misuse in a much larger user base, deaths from abortion drugs occur under prescribed use.”

“This oversimplification led to the creation of a catchy phrase aimed at reducing abortion drug regulations and minimizing concerns from women considering an abortion,” the institute said in a press release on Tuesday. 

Pro-life groups urge government to investigate suspected cover-up of federal abortion violations 

Pro-life leaders are urging the government to investigate the alleged Biden administration cover-up of the “D.C. Five,” a case in which the remains of five babies were discovered in Washington, D.C., in what advocates say indicated a violation of legal protections involving abortion and infants.

In a joint letter on Tuesday, nine organizations urged Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington Jeanine Pirro to investigate these “possible violations of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act” after the remains of the five babies were discovered by pro-life activists in 2022 in the nation’s capital. 

Pirro took office as interim U.S. attorney on Wednesday, replacing Ed Martin, who had been in the role since Trump appointed him in January.  

Signees include top pro-life leaders at Advancing American Freedom, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Students for Life of America, Live Action, and others. 

The letter alleged that “rather than investigate the incident properly, the Biden administration worked to sweep the allegations under the rug and silence the individuals involved by prosecuting them.” 

Additionally, the signees allege that the Department of Justice under former president Joe Biden “ordered” local police to “incinerate the evidence” even though pro-life congressional representatives called for preservation of the evidence.

Missouri Supreme Court temporarily blocks abortion statewide

The Missouri Supreme Court has reinstated pro-life laws protecting unborn children after the laws were earlier blocked due to the state’s recent abortion rights constitutional amendment. 

The Missouri Supreme Court ordered District Judge Jerri Zhang in Kansas City to lift the injunction blocking restrictions on abortion on Tuesday. That means pro-life laws can go into effect there while litigation over the protections plays out in court.

Zhang had earlier ruled that several abortion regulations were unconstitutional, including rules that only doctors can perform abortions and that surgical instruments must be sterilized, as well as regulations regarding informed consent, according to the pro-life group Missouri Right to Life. 

The state passed a pro-abortion constitutional amendment in November 2024. Voters there will vote on a repeal of the amendment next year.

Steve Rupp, president of Missouri Right to Life, welcomed the decision, saying it “will save lives of preborn babies and the health and safety of Missouri women.”

null / Credit: Evgeny Atamanenko|Shutterstock

Vatican City, May 29, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).

More than 60,000 pilgrims from 120 countries will be in Rome this weekend to participate in the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly taking place from Friday, May 30, to Sunday, June 1.

The event, which is part of the celebrations for the Jubilee 2025, will bring together three generations — parents, children, and grandparents — in one of the major events of the holy year. It will include pilgrimages and moments of prayer in a fun atmosphere under the theme of family unity.

According to the organizers, the largest delegations will come from Italy, Spain, the United States, Poland, and Portugal. Numerous participants are also expected from Latin America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Philippines, and several African countries. 

The presence of ecclesial movements will also loom large, and among them will be the Catholic Grandparents Association, an international organization founded in Ireland by Catherine Wiley in 2001 dedicated to supporting, promoting, and encouraging the spiritual and pastoral role of grandparents within the Catholic Church. 

Also participating will be the Neocatechumenal Way, founded in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández.

3 days of faith and celebration in the streets of Rome

The program will get underway on Friday, May 30, with many families making the pilgrimage to the Holy Doors of four major basilicas in Rome: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

One of the highlights of this jubilee event will take place on Saturday afternoon with a “Family Festival” in St. John Lateran Square from 6:30 to 8 p.m. local time, which will combine a musical concert with moments of prayer.

The event will be hosted by renowned Italian journalist Lorena Bianchetti. Since 1999 Bianchetti has hosted, on Italian public television, a program produced in collaboration with the Italian Bishops’ Conference that addresses current affairs from a Christian perspective. The event will also feature performances by Christian music groups The Sun and Gen Verde, and will conclude with the rosary.

Mass with Pope Leo XIV 

The Jubilee for Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly will conclude on Sunday, June 1, with a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. local time. 

During the ceremony, 10,000 copies of the new edition of the “Children’s Bible” will be distributed. This version, adapted and designed to introduce children to the holy Scriptures in an accessible and engaging way, will be offered by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need.

Since launching this edition of the “Children’s Bible” in 1979, the organization has distributed more than 51 million copies worldwide, and it has been translated into more than 190 languages ​​and local dialects.

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

President Trump’s administration sent a letter probing hospitals that provide transgender treatments to minors, seeking information on HHS rule compliance on May 28, 2025. / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 16:59 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration launched an inquiry into hospitals that have provided transgender drugs and performed transgender surgeries on minors, seeking information on the processes and outcomes — particularly “adverse events” — that result from the controversial medical interventions.

Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), sent a letter this week to the select hospitals inquiring about whether and how the hospitals have changed their protocols and procedures in response to new rules and guidelines issued by Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 that instructed HHS to end Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for transgender interventions on minors. On May 1, HHS issued a report detailing the lack of evidence to support such medical treatments.

CMS is giving the hospitals 30 days to respond to the letter and stated in a press release that it has “urgent concerns” related to procedures it described as “harmful.”

In the letter, Oz asked the hospitals what “changes to clinical practice guidelines and protocols” are being enacted in response to the HHS report, particularly surrounding “the adequacy of informed consent protocols for children with gender dysphoria,” such as “how children are deemed capable of making these potentially life-changing decisions.” 

The letter also asked hospitals to report “any adverse events related to these procedures,” especially regarding “children who later look to detransition.” It noted that CMS must “ensure baseline quality standards” at institutions that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Some of the medical interventions about which CMS is concerned include surgeries that remove sexual organs or “attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex” as well as prescriptions for cross-sex hormones and drugs that “delay the onset or progression of normally-timed puberty.”

“These are irreversible, high-risk procedures being conducted on vulnerable children, often at taxpayer expense,” Oz said in a statement. “Hospitals accepting federal funds are expected to meet rigorous quality standards and uphold the highest level of stewardship when it comes to public resources — we will not turn a blind eye to procedures that lack a solid foundation of evidence and may result in lifelong harm.”

CMS further requested information on financial data related to such interventions, including bills for transgender drugs and surgeries for minors that were funded with federal tax money and documents showing the revenue generated from the procedures and their profit margins.

Mary Rice Hasson, the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that CMS is essentially trying to find out: “What medical interventions have you performed on confused kids, how much money are you making from it, and how are those kids faring?” 

Hasson said “the gender industry” has falsely claimed to follow “evidence-based medicine” when providing these interventions and have “minimized concerns that these hormones and surgeries result in impaired fertility and sterility, sometimes before these kids are old enough to purchase alcohol.”

“Numerous substantive evidence reviews, plus the recent HHS umbrella evidence review, have found the opposite — that there’s very little evidence of benefit, most evidence is poor quality, and children are suffering permanent harm, including infertility/sterilization, cardiovascular risks, weakened bones, and likely changes to the brain,” she said.

Hasson expressed skepticism that many of the hospitals will be able to fully comply, stating that they have “done a terrible job following up on how kids are faring” and that the informed consent protocols “exaggerate the supposed benefits and minimize the harm.” She also contended that the hospitals likely “do not want to reveal how much money they are making, because it exposes their mercenary motives.”

“These hospitals are likely to enlist cadres of expensive lawyers to help them avoid being held accountable, but I don’t think this administration will back down,” Hasson added.

Cardinal Robert Sarah and Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Lima Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Robert Sarah as his special envoy for the celebrations taking place in France commemorating the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.

The Vatican stated that, as the papal special envoy, the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will preside over “the liturgical celebrations to be held July 25-26 at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, Diocese of Vannes (France), on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.”

In the early 1620s, Nicolazic experienced a vision of a radiant lady, later identified as St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She reportedly instructed him to rebuild a long-lost chapel dedicated to her on his land.

On its website, the Sainte-Anne-d’Auray Shrine states that this happened on July 25, 1624, the eve of the feast of St. Anne.

“The next 7th of March, following St. Anne’s call, Yvon Nicolazic discovered a statue of St. Anne in the ruins of a chapel in his field at Bocenno. It was the sign giving proof of the truth of the apparitions,” the website adds.

The shrine notes that “from that day forward, pilgrims came in droves to this place then called “Keranna,” or “the village of Anne,” proving that St. Anne was honored in this place even before the apparitions, a fact borne out by the presence of the old chapel stones among which the statue was found.”

The shrine notes that after four centuries, the pilgrimages “retain their vitality.” St. John Paul II visited the Shrine of Sainte-Anne d’Auray on Sept. 20, 1996.

As part of the fourth centenary of the apparitions, the shrine is also celebrating its jubilee year, holding a series of devotional and academic activities.

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