St. Mary Our Lady of the Rosary

People stand past the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 28, 2025, after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people across Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok. / Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis sent his condolences to Church and civil authorities in Myanmar and Thailand after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people and caused widespread devastation in the region.

“Deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread devastation caused by the earthquake in Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar and Thailand, His Holiness Pope Francis offers heartfelt prayers for the souls of the deceased and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this tragedy,” said the message sent on the pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“His Holiness likewise prays that the emergency personnel will be sustained in their care of the injured and displaced by the divine gifts of fortitude and perseverance.”

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on March 28 at 12:50 p.m. local time. It was followed by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock. 

Myanmar’s government has reported at least 144 deaths and more than 700 injuries. In neighboring Thailand, at least eight people were killed in Bangkok, where a 33-story building under construction collapsed. Officials fear the death toll could rise, as at least 90 people remain missing in the Thai capital, according to Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.

The disaster comes amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and a worsening humanitarian crisis. The country’s military junta has declared a state of emergency in the capital, Naypyidaw, and five other regions, while appealing to the international community for humanitarian assistance.

Catholic communities in Myanmar were also affected by the quake. Several churches in Mandalay sustained damage, according to the Pontifical Mission Societies’ Fides News Agency. St. Michael’s Catholic Parish was reportedly the hardest hit, while St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, was also damaged. Local Church leaders have urged Catholics to support those left homeless.

Rescue operations are ongoing as emergency teams search for survivors amid widespread destruction. Authorities in both Myanmar and Thailand are assessing the full extent of the damage while coordinating relief efforts.

The Philippines has the highest adult Christian faith retention rate in the world, according to Pew Research. / Credit: icosha/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

Surveys in about three dozen countries compiled by the Pew Research Center found that most Christians who are raised in the faith hold onto it in adulthood. In fact, in every country surveyed the majority of people who are raised Christian still remain in the faith as adults.

However, the numbers vary widely, from a high of 99% Christian faith retention in the Philippines and 98% in Hungary and Nigeria to lows of 51% in South Korea and 53% in the Netherlands.

The United States was slightly lower than the average from the countries included in the research. About 73% of Americans who are raised Christian as children have kept the faith in their adult lives.

Pew’s data includes numbers from 10 European countries, 10 east and South Asian countries, eight countries in the Americas, five African countries, two west Asian countries, and one country in Oceania.

The broader report on religious retention rates included surveys from 36 countries, which polled nearly 40,000 Americans and slightly more than 40,000 people from other countries. However, the report only measured the Christian retention rate in 27 of those countries — the ones that had substantial Christian populations.

Based on the report, African and Eastern European countries surveyed had some of the highest retention rates for Christianity. Some of the lowest retention rates were in Western Europe, Canada, and Australia. 

Ghana, Kenya, Poland, and Sri Lanka all had retention rates between 92% and 97%. Peru had a retention rate of 89% and Greece was at 87%. Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa all had retention rates at 81%. Argentina’s retention rate was 80%.

Countries with Christian faith retention rates between 72% and 79% included Colombia, Singapore, Italy, the United States, and Chile. 

The following countries had retention rates between 57% and 61%: Canada, Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Sweden.

A large majority of the people in these countries who abandoned the Christian faith no longer identify with any religion at all. Only a small percentage switched to a different religion.

Numbers of those who fall away outpace incoming converts 

The surveys also reveal that in most countries the number of adults who have fallen away from the faith is substantially higher than the number of adults in those countries who convert to Christianity.

Some of the biggest losses for the faith are happening in European countries, with six countries on the continent surveyed seeing more than 11 adults leave the faith for every one who converts to it. This trend is also prevalent, yet less pronounced, in the United States and other countries in North and South America.

Pew’s surveys only measure the number of people who adhere to a different religious faith than the one with which they grew up. It does not measure broader national shifts in religious beliefs that are caused by other factors, such as immigration and birth rates.

The only countries that had more adult conversions to the faith than departures were Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Ghana, and the Philippines. Nigeria had a 1:1 ratio. 

Assessing these numbers, Jimmy Akin, a senior apologist at Catholic Answers, told CNA that the Pew compilation is “not representative of global trends” as it only includes five African countries on a continent where “Christianity has been growing dramatically.” He also pointed out that “the Gospel is making progress in Muslim countries and in the communist world,” most of which are not included in these surveys and frequently undercounted due to repressive laws.

In the United States, about 73% of people who were raised Christian as children still identify as Christians as adults. However, about 23% no longer identify with any religion and another 4% identify with a non-Christian faith, which means 27% no longer call themselves Christian.

On top of this, conversion rates to Christianity in the country are quite low as a percentage. The surveys found that about 94% of current Christians were raised in the faith. Only about 4% of people who call themselves Christian were raised without any faith and just 2% were raised in a non-Christian household of a separate faith.

Multiple factors contribute to the religious makeup of a country. In spite of the net loss through “religious switching,” a separate Pew survey from May 2024 found that — in raw numbers — the percentage of Americans who identify as nonreligious has stabilized in recent years after a major surge in nonreligious identity through the 1990s and 2010s.

The data does not establish distinctions between Catholicism, Orthodoxy, or Protestantism. It does not categorize a change in Christian faith tradition or community as “religious switching.” 

For Catholicism specifically, data published by the Vatican earlier this month shows continued growth in the number of people in the world who are Catholic. According to the data, the total number of Catholics globally surpassed 1.4 billion people in 2023.

Father Augustine Deji Dada, a Missionary of Mercy priest, is seen at the Vatican in Rome, Thursday, March 27, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Mar 28, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Around 500 priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy are in Rome March 28–30 to take part in events for a special jubilee dedicated to their role, part of the wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

Pope Francis commissioned the Missionaries of Mercy in 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Missionaries of Mercy are priests with faculties to hear confessions all over the world and to absolve certain sins previously reserved to the Holy See.

The pontiff has twice extended their original mandate and the number of Missionary of Mercy priests continues to grow, now numbering more than 1,200 around the world.

There are about 100 Missionaries of Mercy in the U.S., and one of these said it has been “life-changing” to have this ministry of mercy be part of his priesthood.

“The life of a priest is a life going in all directions, different directions, all at the same time. Being a Missionary of Mercy has given my life so much focus,” Father Augustine Deji Dada of the Archdiocese of New York told CNA in Rome.

Dada, who is from the Nigerian Diocese of Ondo, has been serving at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Elmsford, New York, since 2017. 

“That is also the theme that draws me to the priesthood in the first place, to be able to help people, to be able to be there for those who need me, whether for the sacraments or just for support in their lives,” Dada added. 

“And now you have the Holy Father giving you the mandate to go … put this into the context of every other thing you do.”

The Jubilee for Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy began on Friday with morning and afternoon training sessions, which Dada said are lectures on theology, canon law, and best practices regarding the sacrament of confession. 

The sessions are also an opportunity for the priests to share with one another about what it is like to be a Missionary of Mercy in different parts of the world or in different contexts, like a parish or school.

“More or less it’s training on really how not to be the judge, but to be the kind father who … through the sacrament of reconciliation welcomes … the lost child back in the name of the Church and the name of God the Father, through the authority of Christ,” Dada explained.

This year’s edition of “24 Hours for the Lord,” taking place March 28-29, is part of the program for the Jubilee of Missionaries of Mercy. The night- and daylong event of confessions and Eucharistic adoration was started by Pope Francis during the Lenten season of 2013.

In Rome, the worldwide initiative will begin with a liturgy with the Missionaries of Mercy in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

The following morning, on March 29, the priests will make a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before praying a rosary in the Lourdes Grotto of the Vatican Gardens. The weekend will close with Mass on March 30 in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

“Mercy and hope share a very important link,” Dada said. He noted that hope is connected to waiting and expectation, while jubilees are about being freed from sin.

“I believe that’s part of the reason the celebration of the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy is also included in the Jubilee of Hope,” Dada said. “So that we can go out there and remind everyone of this connection: that while we wait, we must embrace God’s mercy.”

Pope Francis in Spes Non Confundit, his bull of indiction for the jubilee year, wrote that “during the coming jubilee, may [Missionaries of Mercy] exercise their ministry by reviving hope and offering forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with an open heart and a penitent spirit.”

“May they remain a source of reconciliation and an encouragement to look to the future with heartfelt hope inspired by the Father’s mercy,” the Holy Father said.

Cardinal George Pell. / Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney this week credited the apparently miraculous survival of an Arizona toddler to the intercession of Cardinal George Pell.

According to the newspaper The Australian, Fisher said at a book event on March 26 that he had learned that an 18-month-old boy had been discharged from a hospital in Phoenix after going 52 minutes without breathing following a fall into a pool.

The boy, named Vincent, “stopped breathing for 52 minutes,” Fisher said at the Australian launch of a new biography about Cardinal George Pell at Campion College near Parramatta.

“His parents prayed for the intercession of Cardinal Pell,” he continued. “The boy survived and came off life support free of any damage to brain or lungs or heart. He’s fine now and his doctors are calling it a miracle.”

The boy’s uncle, a Catholic priest, contacted Father Joseph Hamilton, Pell’s former secretary in Rome, to ask for prayers during the approximate 10-day hospitalization.

Hamilton told The Australian that the family had met the late cardinal when he visited Phoenix in December 2021 to promote his three-volume “Prison Journal,” written during his 13-month imprisonment for historic child sexual abuse, a conviction later unanimously overturned by Australia’s highest court. 

Pell had also celebrated a White Mass for medical professionals in Phoenix.

The cardinal died from cardiac arrest following a hip replacement surgery in Rome on Jan. 10, 2023. He was 81.

The Catholic Church usually waits a minimum of five years after death to consider opening a cause for beatification. Once a process — which can take years, decades, or longer — is open, one verified miracle is needed to declare a person “blessed,” the last step before he or she can be declared a canonized saint.

The Church subjects miracles submitted in a beatification cause to rigorous scrutiny and examination by medical professionals to exclude any natural or scientific reasons for healings before pronouncing them to be miracles received through the prayerful intercession of a virtuous man or woman.

null / Credit: sebra/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

A Texas Catholic charity group that sued the federal government this month over budget cuts says it will drop its lawsuit as payments from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) resume. 

Catholic Charities Fort Worth sued the agency at the beginning of March after the Trump administration froze tens of millions of dollars in grants for refugee services in Texas. 

Earlier this month the government said it was conducting a “program integrity review” of the Catholic charity. Last week the government said it had paid out more than $47 million to the charity after completing the review. 

In a “joint status report” filed earlier this week, the charity and the government said HHS has made continuous payments to the Catholic group since March 17 following the conclusion of the review. 

“As a result of [the government’s] representations and action, [the Catholic charity] will move to dismiss this case on or before April 2, 2025,” the filing said. 

The document noted that the charity would only dismiss the lawsuit so long as the group’s funding requests “continue to be paid in the normal course up until that date.”

The lawsuit’s pending dismissal will bring to an end just one of several suits filed in the wake of the major budget and funding cuts the Trump administration has enacted since January. The White House said the cuts were meant to bring federal policy and spending in line with the administration’s agenda.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sued the Trump administration in February over what the bishops said was an unlawful suspension of funding for refugee programs in the United States.

The State Department earlier this month canceled two multimillion-dollar refugee resettlement contracts with the USCCB, directing the bishops to “stop all work on the program[s] and not incur any new costs” and “cancel as many outstanding obligations as possible.” The bishops’ lawsuit is still playing out in federal court. 

Several other groups have sued the government over the funding freezes, arguing that the White House engaged in an overreach of its executive power in ending the large amounts of federal payouts.

Lawsuits have also been filed over other Trump White House policies. Multiple religious groups last month sued the administration over its policy allowing immigration officers to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in houses of worship and other “sensitive locations.”

The flag of the European Union flying in Rome. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

The bishops of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) held their spring assembly this week in Italy, a meeting in which they considered the European Union’s vocation in the face of current challenges.

From Nemi, a town outside Rome where the meeting took place behind closed doors March 26-27, COMECE secretary-general Father Manuel Barrios spoke with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and explained the foundations of the mission.

The European Union, a project for peace with Christian roots

“The innate vocation of the European Union is to guarantee peace on the continent and in the world,” the Spanish priest said, noting that the EU was born as a project of reconciliation after the Second World War, so its mission is also to “defend and promote human rights, freedom, democracy, and the dignity of the person,” essential principles enshrined in its founding treaties.

Barrios also emphasized that Europe was evangelized and has Christian roots, a legacy that defines its identity. However, he warned that secularization is advancing strongly and that these values ​​are being eclipsed:

“With secularization, human beings distance themselves not only from transcendence but also from themselves, because the two are linked. We are in a time of rethinking many things, including the way human beings understand themselves,” he noted.

Values ​​eclipsed by secularization

While he acknowledged that many of the principles that inspire the European Union are currently upheld, he regrets that their origins are often lost sight of: “We are forgetting their Christian roots.”

For Barrios, this loss of awareness is, in some cases, intentional: “These values ​​are eclipsed because there is no awareness of them, and sometimes because people don’t want to be aware of them.”

Barrios emphasized that the values ​​that shaped the EU are not just a political construct but part of Europe’s cultural identity. “The European Union was not born solely from a geographical delimitation,” he pointed out.

To face this trend, the priest singled out the need for the personal witness of laypeople in Europe as well as “the witness of the Church and of ecclesial communities.“ He also emphasized the need for a new evangelization as well as “knowing how to dialogue with contemporary culture,“ a task he believes remains to be done despite being “foundational in Europe.“

Rearmament: ‘It’s legitimate for Europe to think about its security’

Regarding plans for rearmament in Europe, a topic Barrios indicated was part of the meeting’s agenda, he explained that the bishops’ position is that it is “correct, licit, and legitimate for Europe to think about its defense and security, especially in a world as turbulent as ours, with so much uncertainty.”

However, he pointed out that “we must not forget that the ultimate goal is peace and that this is Europe’s vocation. So, ‘yes’ to defense, but without losing sight of the fundamental human desire, which is the desire for peace.”

The priest also emphasized working with European institutions to “make the voice of the Church heard in Europe” in the face of challenges such as competitiveness, conflict, sustainability, and migration.

COMECE’s spring assembly brought together bishops, political leaders, and experts as well as representatives of the Vatican, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states.

Also attending was an observer from Ukraine (a non-EU member), members of the Greek Catholic Church, former Italian prime ministers Mario Monti and Paolo Gentiloni, and the EU ambassador to the Holy See, Martin Selmayr.

“The beauty of these meetings is that we hear the voices of different sensibilities and different concerns. The war in Ukraine, for example, is perceived very differently in Spain or here in Italy, in Lithuania, in Poland, and in other countries closer to [Ukraine]. So it’s also very good to listen to each other and see the different concerns,” Barrios noted.

Concluding pilgrimage of hope

The meeting concluded with a pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s and with a Mass in the basilica. Barrios expressed his enthusiasm for the pilgrimage: “The message of hope is very important in this time we are living in, because there is so much despair, so much uncertainty, and it is necessary to make it clear that our hope as Christians is founded on Jesus Christ.”

“Also in Europe, which has an aging population, and where the future often seems bleak, we as Christians must propose the good proclamation of the Gospel,” he said.

For Barrios, the holy year can bear many fruits, even with Pope Francis ailing. “Despite this situation, the Church continues to powerfully proclaim her message and continues to count on the successor of Peter,” he said.

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

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin (right) meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda on March 28, 2025, at the Vatican.  / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis continues to show gradual improvement as he recovers from bilateral pneumonia at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, according to an update provided Friday by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni.

The pontiff’s health remains stable, and his respiratory function, mobility, and speech have improved.

While still requiring supplemental oxygen, he has been able to reduce the high-flow oxygen therapy during daytime hours with a slight reduction also occurring overnight.

Blood tests conducted Wednesday indicate all hematological parameters are within normal range.

“The pope’s daily schedule includes physiotherapy sessions, which are helping improve his voice usage, along with periods of prayer, rest, and limited work,” Bruni said.

All dicasteries of the Roman Curia continue to send documents to inform him of ongoing activities.

ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, reported that Pope Francis concelebrates Mass daily in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta.

As with previous Sundays during his recovery, the Holy See Press Office will release this weekend’s Angelus reflection in writing.

The Holy Father has been informed about the recent earthquake in Myanmar and is praying for the victims.

In a sign that Vatican business continues despite the pope’s convalescence, the Holy See announced Friday that Pope Francis had appointed Archbishop Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi as the new archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church.

Pagazzi, elevated to archbishop of Belcastro in November 2023, previously served as secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

The 58-year-old prelate holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and has taught at numerous theological institutions across Italy.

Polish president meets Cardinal Parolin

In diplomatic developments, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, received Polish President Andrzej Duda in a cordial meeting Friday morning. 

The talks, which included Monsignor Mirosław Wachowski, undersecretary for Relations with States, took place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death and near the millennium of the coronation of Poland’s first king, Bolesław Chrobry.

According to the Vatican press office, the Friday discussion covered topics of mutual interest before focusing on international affairs, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine and broader concerns about European security and peace.

Parolin will also be celebrating the anniversary Mass for St. John Paul II on the date of the anniversary, April 2.

No decisions have been announced regarding the pope’s participation in upcoming Easter celebrations or the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. The next official update on the pope’s condition is expected Tuesday morning.

Lost at sea for 95 days, fisherman Máximo “Gatón” Napa says Jesus Christ literally came to his rescue. / Credit: Courtesy of “EWTN Noticias”/Screenshot

Lima Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

“I want everyone to know that God is great. God is beautiful. God wants us all to pray, to have love in our hearts, to help each other,” said Máximo Napa Castro — known as “Gatón” — a Peruvian fisherman who never lost his faith while being stranded at sea for 95 days until he was finally rescued off the coast of Ecuador.

Napa shared with “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News, his dramatic story, which made headlines around the world, but now in a more personal way, beginning with admitting that he has never read the Bible, which he now wants to do as soon as he has some money since he lost his boat, his means for making a living. 

Upbringing

“Gatón” (“Big Cat”) — as his friends call him because he could no longer be called “Gatito“ (“Little Cat“), as his mother affectionately called him when he was little — comes from a family of humble origins who worked the land growing corn and cotton, something he simply didn’t like to do.

One day, when he was 13, his father told him to go with a relative who was a fisherman. And that day everything changed.

“I loved it. I’ve been in love with the sea ever since. I love the sea. I converse with the sea,” he said, “but before heading out, I kneel. I go with you, my beautiful Father. Your will, always. I never stopped asking [God] to take me out and bring me back. Never, never. And praying for my children, for my mother.”

Napa now lives in Pisco, about four hours by car south of Lima, but on Dec. 7, 2024, he set out for sea from Marcona, three hours further south, where he began a saga he perhaps never imagined.

Stranded

Before setting out to sea on the eve of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Napa called his mother and asked for her blessing. “Never in my life did I think this would happen to me, because I’m used to [the sea], and I go out alone.”

The first few days, already about 60 miles out, he made a good catch and filled seven sacks with fish, hoping to make a good amount of money. On Dec. 17, he decided to return, but the engine wouldn’t start, and so he prepared for the worst, with food available for about a month.

“My God,” I said, “ugh. And at that moment, I began to ration my provisions, my water. One day I would eat, the next day I wouldn’t.”

He watched as he gradually drifted further away, until he was 150 miles from the mainland, and by the time New Year’s Day came around, he ran out of food. “And I knelt in the boat. I said, ‘Whatever may happen…’ But I believe in you. I’m going to get through this. I have to keep my mind focused, not despair, and remain calm.”

In January, while already drinking rainwater, his supplies ran out completely: “I had nothing. That’s when I started eating cockroaches,” yet he didn’t stop praying.

“I woke up praying. I slept praying. For almost two months, I don’t think I felt his presence. I thought, ‘Have you abandoned me? Why?’ And I cried, as you might expect. I cried a lot, because I knew the situation I was in.”

In February, he again experienced the Lord’s presence with him. Around the 10th, he began eating the birds that swooped down on his boat. On the 20th, he managed to keep going with the fish that “he had given me. I told him, ‘I know you sent me this fish. Thank you, Father.’”

Despite this, even harder days came, and he began to complain to the Lord because the fish in his sacks had also spoiled, and he had to throw everything away. “I tossed overboard my entire catch, almost 800 kilos (about 1,765 pounds) that I had, more than 30,000 soles worth (about $7,000),” money with which he also wanted to buy something for his mother.

Napa promised to turn back to God if he saved him. “I’ve used drugs. And sometimes because of the drugs, I became very distant from my family. Since I live alone, fishing alone. And I never could. I never could... But I wanted to for my children, my brother, they were feeling bad” about his situation.

By early March, the situation seemed hopeless. “There was no more water, no more food, no more rain. March 11 came. I was already at the end, I was having trouble breathing. I was struggling. I had thrown myself onto my deck. Then I felt something hit my boat. What was happening? But then I looked, and it was a tortoise. Incredible.”

Napa took the tortoise, grabbed his knife, apologized to the creature, cut it open, and drank its blood, “and then I felt like my life was being restored. But throughout the whole process I was going through, I felt like he [God] was the one doing all of that.”

The rescue

The Peruvian fisherman was holding out in his boat, already exhausted, and suddenly he saw a helicopter, and there, he assured, he also saw Jesus. “And that’s when I started to see Wilson (the helicopter’s co-pilot). But when I saw Wilson like that, he was right next to Jesus’ face, looking at me.”

The day before, on March 10, Napa had said to God: “I know you’re going to take me away in a helicopter or a small plane. And when I saw the helicopter… you did it. And Wilson later said to me: Why were you pointing like that? Because I wanted you to turn around and see him. Jesus was right next to your cheek.”

“I saw him clearly. I saw his whites and his beautiful face. And I told him, ‘You did it, you did it. You, you did it.’ And I fell back and cried. I thanked him. Let the whole world hear this. I’m taking time to recuperate. I want to do it with all the love God gave me,” he shared emotionally.

Napa was then transferred to the Ecuadorian tuna fishing boat that had launched the helicopter, where everyone touched him in amazement and repeated: “It’s a miracle.” From there, he was able to make a video call to speak with his daughter and tell her he was still alive.

The next day, the fishing boat captain told him that the ship wasn’t supposed to pass the place it had gone to rescue Napa on March 11, and that the helicopter hadn’t been launched the previous two days, only on the 11th, and that everything had fallen into place for his rescue, including a dream the captain had about his mother, who asked him to “go out” and look around to see what was there.

When the helicopter was sent out to look for fish the panel detected many birds in one location, which usually indicates an abundance of fish, but it wasn’t that but Napa’s boat. “So Julio, the captain, is also convinced that it was all a chain of events and that God did it.”

Napa also said he has always prayed at the end of the day, to thank God for life and for putting food on the table for him. ”Thank you, Father, for being with me.” He added that in the medical checkups he’s had, everything appears normal: “I don’t have anything, I don’t have diabetes,” which he said the doctors can’t explain.

“Now we don’t know if cockroach, bird, or tortoise blood can cure diabetics,” he joked.

Reactions from his siblings

Flor Napa Castro, Napa’s sister, told the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News that “my brother hasn’t been a saint, and sometimes people ask why, why did he choose him? Truly, God always, I don’t know, suddenly sees his good heart, because he’s always had a good heart for everyone, not just for his family, for anyone who approached him. He always came, they came to ask, and he didn’t hesitate. He’d put his hand in his pocket right there, if he had food, he’d give it to them. He’s always been a very kind person. Maybe that’s why God chose him.”

For Alberto, Napa’s brother, surviving 95 days at sea demonstrates “the courage he has had to go through this entire journey. For me, he is a warrior as a person, because I believe few people can make it through that journey and survive. But I also want to thank the great Lord who has always held him close and never abandoned him, nor has he ever lost his faith.”

Napa had already survived other shipwrecks, including a fire when one of his sons was 13, from which both emerged safely. Despite everything, he confesses that he wants to return to the sea, where he finds the Lord.

Abel Camasca, a journalist for the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News, contributed to this article.

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

St. Hedwig Cathedral in Berlin, Germany. / Credit: Cedric BLN via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

CNA Deutsch, Mar 28, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

For the first time, fewer than 20 million Catholics live in Germany, according to the 2024 Church statistics published by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) on Thursday, March 27. Although the downward trend has slowed compared with the previous year, it is noticeable.

The total number of Catholics in Germany is 19,769,237, of which only 6.6% — just over 1.3 million Catholics — practice their faith and regularly attend Mass on Sundays. Last year, there were 20,345,872 Catholics living in Germany. 

With a population of 83.6 million, Catholics now make up less than a quarter of the population. Less than 2% of the population are attending Mass.

In 2024, the Church recorded more than 321,000 resignations (a formal process of leaving the Church by declaration after which the person pays no church tax and is provided a letter of excommunication), compared with only about 6,600 new members and readmissions. In addition, the DBK reported about 116,000 baptisms (the previous year there were more than 131,000) but also almost 213,000 burials.

In five dioceses, the percentage of Mass-goers is in the double digits. The smallest German diocese, Görlitz, leads the field, with 14.4% of Catholics attending Sunday Mass. Two other eastern German dioceses — Dresden-Meissen and Erfurt — also have double digits, as do the two Bavarian dioceses of Eichstätt and Regensburg.

The weakest dioceses in terms of Sunday Mass attendance are Aachen and Trier, each with only 4.5% of Catholics coming to church.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as Jesus Christ in “The Chosen,” speaks with CNA during a press junket interview on March 19, 2025, in Dallas at the Season 5 premiere of “The Chosen: Last Supper.” / Credit: EWTN screenshot/Francesca Fenton/CNA

CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Season 5 of the hit series “The Chosen” has officially been released in theaters across the country.

“The Chosen: Last Supper” focuses on the events of Holy Week, starting with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ending with Judas’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsamene. 

Part 1 of Season 5 was released in theaters on March 28, with Part 2 coming on April 4 and Part 3 on April 11. 

Actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the series, shared about his experience portraying historic events such as the Last Supper and the washing of the feet, especially as a Catholic who celebrates these moments every year during the Triduum.

“For me, it was living out liturgy,” he told CNA in a March 19 press junket interview at the premiere of Season 5 in Dallas. “I try to best replicate a level of authenticity for those scenes based on my experience of the liturgy.”

Speaking about these beautiful moments in salvation history, he said: “It’s going to be stunningly beautiful for people to see. And we sort of present it in a very unique way, but in a way that is super powerful.” 

He added: “I hope it lands the way it felt when we did it because there were moments where many of us were just kind of like wiping away the tears from our eyes right after the scene, or during the scene. It’s really truly beautiful.” 

The release of the new season comes during Lent, culminating in the Triduum and the celebration of Easter. Roumie hopes that Season 5 will provide viewers  “a more vibrant and saturated experience of Holy Week, a more vivid experience of Holy Week, that they can see and feel.” 

Roumie explained that during this time where we are reading about these important moments of Holy Week in Mass each week, viewers will now get to see “a full production of what this moment looked like. I don’t know if anybody has ever covered it in the detail that we have and I think for me it was so important to bring everything that I had to it, especially as a Catholic.”

The actor shared that he even flew his spiritual director out to be with him as they shot the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsamene. 

“I just wanted to be armed with as much spiritual firepower as possible,” he said. “He’s a priest so he said Mass for me that day. I felt prayed up, put it that way, before entering into the scene.”

Roumie is now preparing himself for another incredibly important scene — the Crucifixion, which will be shown in Season 6. 

The actor shared that he recently received the script and while Roumie has been traveling, he has been trying to read “different source material” regarding the Passion.

He has also been studying the Shroud of Turin in order to learn more about “the crucifixion techniques and what Jesus actually would’ve went through.”

“Learning from the markings on that shroud, what the crucifixion physically looked like and what I now have to prepare for mentally and spiritually to recreate — I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m confident that the Lord will bring me through it one way or another, and hopefully I’ll continue to learn more and fall deeper in love with Jesus as a result.”