St. Mary Our Lady of the Rosary

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CNA Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 14:57 pm (CNA).

In nine states and in the nation’s capital, unborn life is not protected at any stage of life. Another 18 states do not protect unborn life until some point in the second trimester of pregnancy. 

But some states are leading the charge in defending unborn life, with a dozen states protecting life throughout pregnancy in most cases, and another seven states protecting unborn children at some point within the first trimester of life.

CNA is unveiling three new interactive maps to show where each state in the U.S. stands on life issues — the protection of unborn life, the death penalty, and assisted suicide. The maps will be updated as new information on each issue becomes available.

Below is an analysis of the map that shows where each state stands on abortion laws as of August 2025.

After the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion legislation returned to the states. But in 2024, Americans had more than 1 million abortions, according to the latest data.

When it comes to unborn human life, only 19 states in the U.S. protect unborn children from abortion during the first trimester of their lives.

Twelve states protect life throughout pregnancy with some exceptions. Soon after Roe was overturned, Texas prohibited almost all abortions, leading the charge alongside a few other states whose pro-life trigger laws went into effect.

Seven states protect unborn children within the first trimester, usually at the times when the child’s heartbeat can be detected, which is about five to six weeks. Ohio led the charge for heartbeat legislation — laws that protect unborn children once the heartbeat can be detected. 

Florida also passed a heartbeat law in 2023 under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Nebraska passed a pro-life constitutional amendment protecting life after 12 weeks. 

In 18 states, laws protect life after 18-24 weeks. Most of these states protect life only after “fetal viability,” the time when a baby can survive outside the womb with medical support. Viability is usually estimated to be between 22 and 23 weeks by most doctors, but it continues to advance thanks to improving technology. For instance, a baby born last year celebrated his first birthday after being born at 21 weeks. 

Unborn life is not protected up to birth in nine states and Washington, D.C. Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont have no protections for unborn children at any stage of development. In most of these states, taxpayer dollars also fund abortion. 

Several states have passed ballot measures in recent years declaring a “right to abortion” or “reproductive freedom” under the state constitution. These states include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, and New York. In states with a right to abortion, the constitutional amendments leave room to expand already existing laws. While California currently allows abortion up to viability and up to birth in cases of the mother’s life or health, pro-life advocates warn that the constitutional right to abortion could lead to an expansion of abortion in the state.

Where does your state stand on life? 

Alabama: Alabama has a constitutional amendment protecting “the sanctity of unborn life” and the right to life, approved in 2018. Abortion is only legal in Alabama if an attending licensed physician determines an abortion is necessary if the life of the mother is at risk.

Alaska: Alaska has no protections for life. Abortion is legal at any point in Alaska under the state constitutional right to privacy.

Arizona: Arizona has some protections for life. Voters there definitively approved Proposition 139, which provides constitutionally for a “fundamental right to abortion.” The measure says that the state cannot restrict abortion until the point of “viability,” at approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless it has a compelling reason and does so in the least restrictive way possible.

Arkansas: Arkansas protects life in all stages, with some exceptions. Abortion is only legal in Arkansas if the life of the mother is at risk.

California: California has some protections for life. Abortion is legal there until viability and until birth for the life or health of the mother. Californians approved a constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

Colorado: Colorado has no protections for life. In 2024, voters approved a constitutional right to abortion. In 2025, legislation passed to approve state funding of abortion.

Connecticut: Connecticut has some protections for life. Abortion is legal up until viability.

Delaware: In Delaware, life is protected after viability with some exceptions. Abortion is legal up until viability and after in cases of patient health risk or lethal fetal anomaly. The state funds abortion through Medicaid.

Washington, D.C.: Washington, D.C., has no protections for unborn life and abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy.

Florida: After implementing a heartbeat law in May 2024, Florida protects unborn children after six weeks. Voters rejected an abortion ballot measure in November 2024.

Georgia: Georgia protects unborn children at six weeks, when their heartbeats are detectable.

Hawaii: Hawaii protects life after viability and funds abortion via Medicaid.

Idaho: Idaho protects unborn children at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk.

Illinois: Illinois protects life after viability, which it estimates to be at 24-26 weeks. State Medicaid funds abortion.

Indiana: Indiana protects life throughout pregnancy with some exceptions. The state also prohibits abortion based on the race, sex, or disability of the unborn child.

Iowa: Iowa protects life after the unborn child’s heartbeat is detectable (six weeks). After six weeks, there are exceptions to these protections in cases of a medical emergency; if the unborn child is a product of rape or incest; or if the child has an abnormality.

Kansas: Kansas protects life after 22 weeks, when the unborn child can feel pain; abortion is legal after if there is a threat to the life of the mother or to prevent irreversible physical damage to her body.

Kentucky: Kentucky protects life throughout pregnancy with exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk.

Louisiana: Louisiana protects life throughout pregnancy except to save the life of the mother or to prevent substantial impairment. Physicians are urged to attempt to save both lives.

Maine: Maine protects life after viability with exceptions for the life and health of the mother.

Maryland: Maryland does not protect unborn life at any stage. A constitutional amendment in 2024 created a right to “reproductive freedom” in the state. The state allows abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.

Massachusetts: Massachusetts protects life after 24 weeks, after which there are exceptions for the mother’s life or physical or mental health, and for lethal or grave fetal diagnosis. State Medicaid funds cover abortion.

Michigan: Michigan does not protect life at any point. The state approved a constitutional right to “reproductive freedom” in 2022. Abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy, though the constitutional provision allows the state to enact some regulations after viability.

Minnesota: Minnesota has no protection for unborn children. The state has a right to abortion under its right to privacy in the constitution and funds abortion. Gov. Tim Walz signed a law in 2023 that prevents local governments from regulating access to “reproductive health care.”

Mississippi: Mississippi protects life at all stages with exceptions for preservation of the mother’s life or cases of rape.

Missouri: Missouri’s abortion law is in flux. Voters approved a constitutional right to abortion in 2024, but how this right is enforced is still being determined in court.

Montana: Montana protects life after viability. The state approved a right to abortion in its constitution in 2024. A court in June 2025 struck down laws protecting life after 20 weeks of gestation. A pro-life group called Montana Family Foundation has filed a lawsuit alleging that the abortion rights ballot measure was invalid because it did not show the full text to voters.

Nebraska: Nebraska protects life after 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the unborn child can feel pain. In 2024, Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment protecting life in the second and third trimesters except in cases of medical emergencies, rape, or incest.

Nevada: Nevada protects life after 24 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions after for the health or life of the mother. State Medicaid covers abortions.

New Hampshire: New Hampshire protects life after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions after in cases of medical emergencies or fetal anomalies.

New Jersey: New Jersey does not protect life at any stage of pregnancy. Courts have recognized a right to privacy including abortion for decades, and the state funds abortion.

New Mexico: New Mexico does not protect life at any point of pregnancy, and the state funds abortion.

New York: New York does not protect life at any point during pregnancy, and state funding goes toward abortion. In 2024, New York created a constitutional right to abortion. Abortion was legal in New York in 1970, prior to the Roe v. Wade decision.

North Carolina: North Carolina protects unborn children after 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the unborn child can feel pain, as of 2023.

North Dakota: North Dakota protects unborn children after viability. A judge recently ruled that the state’s abortion law protecting unborn children throughout pregnancy was unconstitutional.

Ohio: Ohio protects life at 20 weeks from fertilization. In 2023, the state passed an amendment creating a constitutional right to abortion.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma protects life throughout all nine months of pregnancy except when the mother’s life is at risk.

Oregon: Oregon does not protect life at any stage of pregnancy, and the state funds abortion.

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania protects life after 24 weeks, with exceptions for the mother’s health or life.

Rhode Island: Rhode Island protects life after fetal viability under the Reproductive Privacy Act, passed in 2019. The state funds abortion.

South Carolina: South Carolina protects unborn children after six weeks under the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, with some exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies, or fatal fetal anomalies.

South Dakota: South Dakota protects unborn children throughout pregnancy except to save the life of the mother.

Tennessee: Tennessee law protects unborn children in all stages, with exceptions to save the life of the mother or prevent major bodily damage.

Texas: Texas protects unborn children in all stages except when the life or health of the mother is at risk.

Utah: Utah protects unborn children after 18 weeks of gestation.

Vermont: Vermont does not protect unborn life at any point during pregnancy. The state’s constitution was amended in 2022 to include a right to abortion. The state also funds abortion.

Virginia: Virginia protects life after 28 weeks of pregnancy, meaning that abortion is legal until the end of the second trimester, and after in cases of serious risk to the woman’s health or life.

Washington: Washington protects life after viability with exceptions if there is a threat to the life or health of the mother. State Medicaid covers abortion.

West Virginia: West Virginia protects unborn children in all stages of pregnancy except in medical emergencies, cases of rape or incest, or if the unborn child is deemed “nonviable.”

Wisconsin: Wisconsin protects unborn children after 20 weeks, with exceptions to save the life or health of the mother. The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently struck down an 1849 law protecting life.

Wyoming: Wyoming protects life after the unborn child is viable outside the womb. The state is engaged in legal battles over two abortion laws: one that protects life in most cases and another that bans chemical abortions via abortion pills. 

Where does the Church stand on abortion?

The Church opposes direct abortions in all cases, teaching that human life must be protected at all stages. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception” (CCC, 2270).  

“Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the catechism continues. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable (CCC, 2271). 

Notably, the Church does not teach that the life of the child must be preferred to the life of the mother but rather instructs doctors “to make every effort to save the lives of both, of the mother and the child.” The U.S. bishops encourage every Catholic parish to offer support to pregnant mothers in need.

Telley Sadia, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)’s country representative for Sudan. / Credit: CAFOD

ACI Africa, Aug 26, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

The current cholera devastation in Sudan, especially in the country’s Darfur region, is taking a toll on the population already battered by the world’s worst humanitarian crisis following two years of heavy fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

From Tawila in north Darfur where there is still heavy fighting, to relatively calmer regions such as Kosti in the White Nile, Sudan’s worst cholera outbreak is exacerbating the country’s humanitarian crisis.

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

The cholera outbreak was declared by Sudan’s Ministry of Health on Aug. 12, 2024, and since then 99,700 cases have been reported and more than 2,470 related deaths (as of Aug. 11, 2025). In the Darfur region alone, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have treated over 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in the week that ended on Aug. 12.

According to MSF, the situation is most extreme in Tawila, where 380,000 people have reportedly fled to escape ongoing fighting around the city of El Fasher.

In El Fasher, and in many other parts where fighting has been heaviest, infrastructure has been destroyed, making it impossible to pump water from the source to the people. The war has also blocked aid related to hygiene, further exacerbating the cholera crisis.

At the heart of intervention in this crisis, and navigating a dangerous terrain with a “skeletal manpower,” is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), which is innovating every day to find ways to deliver water, medicine, and different forms of aid to the people.

Where power plants have been destroyed, CAFOD, which is the official aid agency for the Catholic Church in England and Wales, is transporting water manually using trucks from the source to distribution points near the people, especially in camps for those internally displaced. 

In places where access is impossible for humanitarian organizations, CAFOD is working closely with the Federal Ministry of Health and with local leaders, supporting them with what they need because their challenge is lack of resources. 

ACI Africa recently spoke to Telley Sadia, CAFOD’s Country Representative for Sudan about the situation in north Darfur and the challenges CAFOD, which has maintained a presence in the country since the 1970s, faces in their work there. 

“This is one of the biggest humanitarian situations in the world which, unfortunately, has not received much international press. Sudan is not heard,” the Ugandan-born CAFOD official said. 

Sadia, who has worked in Sudan for many years, echoed the sentiments of CAFOD’s executive director, Christine Allen, who told ACI Africa on Aug. 2 that in the U.K., “trying to get coverage on the media or political interest in Sudan has just been almost impossible.”

Sadia appealed to journalists, saying: “My message is to the media: Sudan needs a voice. I look forward to the day when the world will be made aware of what is actually happening in this country.”

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

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 13:53 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced a new initiative that will “meet families where they are” as it helps them reclaim the Sabbath as a day dedicated to prayer and rest. 

The initiative, “Reclaiming Sundays: Recover Sunday as a Day for the Lord and Family,” includes both a video series and an online print edition that will “share ideas for building lasting habits to anchor our weeks in a joyful, prayerful, and restful observance of Sunday,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a video announcing the initiative.

The print guide called “Guide to Reclaiming Sundays for the Lord” lays out monthly themes and practical suggestions for families to begin this September and through August 2026. The guide kicks off with its first month focused solely on “Prayer” but includes months dedicated to a number of other topics including “Screen-free Sundays” and “Music and Prayer.”

The video series will also begin in September and be uploaded to the archdiocese’s social media accounts. Viewers can expect to hear from parents, grandparents, fellow parishioners, and Catholic leaders about “what has worked, and hasn’t” when trying to “keep holy the Sabbath” and about how “to make meaningful connections with their families and communities as God intended,” the archbishop said.

The initiative focuses on a proposition of the Archdiocesan Synod 2022 process: “Form and inspire parents to understand and fulfill their responsibility as the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith.”

The guide was carefully tailored to what works best for parishioners and families as it grew out of recommendations made to the archbishop by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Parents as Primary Educators — a group made up of clergy, religious, educators, parents, and grandparents that works to create practical resources for parents.

“Sunday is essential for keeping family life centered and balanced, and yet so many families are struggling with a frantic pace of life and daily demands that keep them from experiencing the joy, peace, and renewal that God desires for all families,” Hebda said.

“The intent of this initiative is not just another activity to add upon already over-scheduled calendars of parishes, schools, and families. Rather … this effort is designed to meet families where they are and help them take meaningful steps to reorient their Sundays (and their entire lives) to reflect the gift of the Lord’s Day,” he said.

Parish groups, school communities, and Catholic families are encouraged to watch the videos and follow the guide together.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, announced in a video message Aug. 20, 2025, that he will soon open the sainthood cause of Sister Annella Zervas, OSB, making it the first sainthood cause ever opened in the northerly Minnesota diocese. / Credit: Diocese of Crookston; Joanne Zervas

National Catholic Register, Aug 26, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).

When Anna Zervas entered religious life and chose her religious name, Mary Annella, her mother reportedly objected to the choice. “There’s no St. Annella,” her mother pointed out. To which the young woman answered: “Then I shall have to be the first one.”

Zervas’ goal — sainthood — is now closer than ever, as Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, announced that he will soon open her sainthood cause, making Zervas’ the first sainthood cause ever opened in the northerly Minnesota diocese. 

Zervas died in 1926, aged just 26, after suffering from a debilitating skin condition. After her death, people began to report receiving favors and miracles through the holy Benedictine nun’s intercession. 

In a video message posted Aug. 20, Cozzens announced that he will open Zervas’ cause with a Mass on Oct. 9 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston; “everyone” is invited. Doors will open at 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m., Patrick Norton, a local Catholic who has worked to spread devotion to Zervas in recent years, will share his story.

An organ recital will take place at 6 p.m., followed by Mass at 6:30. 

Cozzens said in his video message that he had received a “nihil obstat” from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, affirming that nothing stands in the way of opening Zervas’ cause. Once opened — giving Zervas the title “Servant of God” — the cause will first gather testimonies and information to determine if Zervas lived a life of “heroic virtue.”

“Sister Annella is a daughter of the Diocese of Crookston, who was born and died in Moorhead, Minnesota. And she offers all of us an extraordinary example of deeply lived Catholic faith and deep trust in God,” Cozzens said. 

“Through this cause,” he added, “we begin the process of gathering evidence to determine if her life is one of heroic virtue and whether imitation and formal recognition will be granted by the universal Church.”

Zervas was born Anna Cordelia Zervas in the Fargo, North Dakota-adjacent town of Moorhead in 1900. The second of six children in a devoutly Catholic family, Zervas showed a great devotion to her faith, especially to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. As a young girl, she would often walk to daily Mass, even in the extreme cold of the upper Midwest.

At age 15, she entered the Order of St. Benedict at the convent of the Benedictine Sisters in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She made her perpetual vows in July 1922.

After only one year as a sister, Sister Annella began experiencing what was later diagnosed as pityriasis rubra pilaris, a chronic and debilitating skin disease that caused extreme itching and other serious discomforts. Despite her condition, the musically talented sister persisted in her role as a music teacher at a Catholic school in Bismarck, North Dakota. 

Known for her positive attitude and good humor, she offered up her pain in unity with Christ’s suffering, trusting in Mary’s intercession and finding in the Eucharist her “greatest consolation.” She died on the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward her cause at its fall 2024 plenary assembly. 

As part of the buildup to the opening of her cause, the Zervas family has reportedly been cooperative, sharing photos and information to help tell her story. A nonprofit guild, made up of Catholic faithful, has been organized under the guidance of Cozzens to promote prayer for and awareness of her prospective cause as well.

Based on the evidence of the “positio,” the official document compiled by the Diocese of Crookston that is sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to determine if the Benedictine lived a life of heroic virtue, Sister Annella will be declared “venerable.” If the Vatican verifies that a miracle can be attributed to her intercession, she will be declared “blessed.”

“May God bless you, and may he continue to raise up saints in our midst,” Cozzens concluded.

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

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims during his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).

“Peace Be With You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace” will be the theme for the 2026 World Day of Peace, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced Aug. 26.

This theme, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office, “invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, to embrace an authentic peace, based on love and justice.”

The statement continues: “It is a peace that is unarmed — that is, not based on fear, threats, or weapons; and disarming, because it is capable of dissolving conflicts, opening hearts, and generating trust, empathy, and hope. It is not enough to invoke peace; it must be embodied in a lifestyle that rejects all forms of violence, visible or structural.”

“The greeting of the risen Christ, ‘Peace be with you’ (cf. Jn 20:19), is an invitation to all — believers, nonbelievers, political leaders, and citizens — to build the kingdom of God and to construct together a humane and peaceful future,” the statement concludes.

The World Day of Peace was instituted by Pope Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Church first celebrated it on Jan. 1, 1968, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The observance came amid the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts.

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

Bishop José Arturo Cepeda. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Detroit

Vatican City, Aug 26, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday appointed Detroit Auxiliary Bishop José Arturo Cepeda as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

The transfer marks the Mexican-born bishop’s return to San Antonio, the south-central Texas city where he served as a priest from his ordination in 1996 until his consecration as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 2011.

Born in San Luis Potosí in eastern-central Mexico, the 56-year-old bishop attended Catholic schools and the minor seminary. Cepeda immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 19.

In the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the auxiliary bishop will assist Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, also born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and two other auxiliary bishops in leading over 1.1 million Catholics. 

In an Aug. 26 statement, García-Siller said he is “particularly glad to offer a heartfelt welcome home to Bishop Cepeda. San Antonio is where he grew up and first heard the Lord call him and nurture his priestly vocation.”

The archbishop added that Cepeda will bring the Archdiocese of San Antonio “valuable perspectives that will assist us in our evangelization efforts to spread the Gospel with missionary zeal.”

Cepeda earned a licentiate degree and later a doctorate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical University of Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome in 2005. 

He also has a bachelor’s degree from the College Seminary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a master’s degree in biblical theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Before being appointed an auxiliary bishop, he spent four years as parochial vicar of the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, followed by a decade as a faculty member at Assumption Seminary and the Oblate School of Theology, also in San Antonio. 

Cepeda was vocation director and faculty member for the Transitional Ministry Formation Program for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. From 2010 to 2011 he was also rector of Assumption Seminary.

During his 14 years in Detroit, Cepeda was a leader in the Michigan archdiocese’s ministry to Hispanic and Spanish-speaking Catholics. He also served as director of the Department of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Schools from 2013 to 2017.

On the national level, he served as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ conference’s Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs and Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church. He was also one of the organizers of the Fifth National Encuentro (“Encounter”) of Hispanic/Latino Ministry. 

“I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me and for the opportunity I had to serve for 14 years in this archdiocese,” Cepeda said in an Aug. 26 message to Catholics of Detroit. “My episcopal ministry undoubtedly took shape here, my temporary home. As I begin my new mission, know that I hold you in my prayers and humbly ask that you keep me in yours.”

null / Credit: Aykut Erdogdu/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration has started to incorporate some elements of pro-life reproductive health care into its policy goals, which pro-life advocates argue are alternatives to in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures meant to address fertility problems.

So far the inclusion of these efforts has been limited and the president has remained consistent in supporting IVF as the major solution to fertility issues. Yet some Catholics and others in the pro-life movement have been urging these alternative approaches amid ethical concerns surrounding IVF, such as the millions of human embryos killed through the procedure.

Life-affirming options tend to focus on curing the root causes of infertility. This health care, which many practitioners call “restorative reproductive medicine,” can include charting one’s menstrual cycle, lifestyle and diet changes, and diagnosing and treating underlying conditions that lead to fertility struggles.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently considering grant applicants for an “infertility training center,” which is the most concrete plan to date to incorporate pro-life fertility care options within the administration’s policy goals.

The potential $1.5 million grant would use federal Title X family planning funds to help the recipient “educate on the root causes of infertility and the broad range of holistic infertility treatments and referrals available.” The money would also help “expand and enhance root cause infertility testing, treatments, and referrals.”

When reached for comment, an HHS spokesperson told CNA the agency could not comment on “potential or future policy decisions.”

Restorative reproductive medicine was also discussed at a recent event hosted by the MAHA Institute, named after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan. The institute is run by Del Bigtree, who is Kennedy’s former communications director.

“Traditional women’s health and fertility care has relied heavily on Big Pharma Band-Aids and workarounds that circumvent a woman’s reproductive system rather than working in harmony with it and doing the work of deeper investigation to find and treat underlying causes of infertility,” Maureen Ferguson, a commissioner on the Commission on International Religious Freedom, said at the event.

Ferguson introduced a roundtable of doctors who practice restorative reproductive medicine.

“Restorative reproductive medicine is effective, affordable, it leads to healthier moms and babies, and it’s far preferred by couples, most of whom wish to conceive naturally,” Ferguson said.

Reproductive medicine policy opportunities

Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told CNA there are several ways the government can promote restorative reproductive medicine.

“This needs to be a project that both states and the federal government prioritize,” she said.

Waters said current insurance coding “doesn’t account for the kinds of care that [restorative reproductive medicine] is offering” or “doesn’t cover each step.”

She noted that insurance will often cover surgeries to fix endometriosis, which often causes infertility, but will not cover the initial exploratory surgery needed to properly diagnose the condition.

She said this could be improved with broader coverage or a restorative reproductive medicine “bundle package for care,” similar to an OB-GYN bundle package for when a woman is pregnant, to “simplify the billing process.”

Additional policy options, Waters noted, include grant funding for research and training. 

Restorative reproductive medicine “is aiming to ensure that that man and woman’s body is the healthiest it can be for the pregnancy journey,” she said.

Waters noted that this health care “recognizes that infertility is not a disease but is a symptom of underlying conditions.” As opposed to IVF, restorative reproductive medicine focuses on “the root, rather than bypassing the body,” and helps ensure the body is healthy enough to “sustain that embryo through pregnancy and a live birth.”

Theresa Notare, who serves as the assistant director of the natural family planning program at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNA restorative reproductive medicine is often practiced in a way consistent with Catholic Church teaching, such as natural procreative technology and fertility education and medical management.

“You’re trying to basically healthfully address whatever problem a patient is having and you’re trying to restore them to the balance that they should have … to naturally conceive,” she said.

IVF alternatively violates Church teaching because it destroys human embryos and because “conception would be taking place outside of the marital embrace,” Notare said. 

She said marriage is a covenant in which “the man and the women are coming together in this one-flesh union.”

“That communion of persons — that environment — is where the Lord God gave husband and wife stewardship over the power of life and love,” Notare said.

Celebrations for the geast of the Virgin Mary, Assiut–Egypt, August 2025. / Credit: ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Aug 26, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Assiut, in southern Egypt, holds special significance. It is considered to be the final stop of the Holy Family’s journey in Egypt and includes an ancient cave where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are believed to have lived before beginning their return to the Holy Land.

In Upper Egypt, monastic life has flourished since the fourth century under St. John of Egypt — also known as John of Assiut in the Middle East and northern Africa. The monastery there continues its mission today, with daily Masses, baptisms, and pilgrim visits.

The well-known religious site also now hosts one of the largest annual religious celebrations in Egypt. Every year, from Aug. 7–22, during the feast of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Family’s visit to Assiut is celebrated.

The celebrations draw massive crowds of pilgrims, particularly on the feast day of the Virgin, with attendance exceeding 750,000 people, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

The monastery complex includes several churches, but the historic Cave Church is surrounded by particular reverence.

Oral tradition recounts that Joseph the Patriarch once used the cave to store grain and that the Holy Family later lived there. In subsequent centuries, the cave served as a refuge for Egypt’s Christians fleeing persecution, many of whom turned these shelters into churches.

It is unusual to find statues of Christ, the Virgin, or the saints in Coptic Orthodox churches, which traditionally venerate them through icons. Yet in 2023, the Assiut monastery witnessed the raising of Egypt’s largest statue of Mary, cast in bronze and modeled after the famous Our Lady of Lebanon statue, to coincide with the celebration of her birthday.

The Egyptian Mint also issued a commemorative series of 12 coins representing major sites along the Holy Family’s journey through Egypt, including the Assiut site, known as Durunka.

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

The Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to inaugurate on Sept. 5 Borgo Laudato Si’, a development dedicated to the care of creation inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. Located in Castel Gandolfo, the area will be open to the public. 

According to Vatican News, Borgo Laudato Si’ consists of “135 acres of gardens, villas, archeological sites, and farmland, [and] the project integrates history with a forward-looking commitment to education, sustainability, and community life.”

The site, which has been a summer retreat for popes for centuries, has been dedicated to Pope Francis’ initiative since 2023 to show “how care for creation and respect for human dignity can be made concrete and harmonious according to the principles of faith, through formation, work, and collaboration,” according to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office.

The center will be inaugurated in the year marking the first decade since the encyclical’s publication with a simple ceremony consisting of the Liturgy of the Word and a rite of blessing.

According to the information released by the Vatican, representatives of the Roman Curia, institutions, and those who have collaborated in launching the project will be present.

Singer Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo will join in the prayer with their artistic gift.

Beforehand, Leo XIV will visit the site, “touring its main spaces and meeting with employees, collaborators, their families, and all the people who, in different ways, animate the life of Borgo Laudato Si’: religious, educators, students, local communities, partners, and benefactors.”

The Vatican presents the event as “the fruit of a journey that intertwines spirituality, education, and sustainability with the aim of offering an open, accessible, and inclusive place for formation, reflection, and the experience of a more conscious and respectful relationship with creation.”

In May, a few days after the 10th anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si’, Leo XIV made his first visit to the site. The pontiff subsequently spent a good part of his summer break at Castel Gandolfo, resuming the tradition broken by Pope Francis, who stayed at the Vatican. 

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

The Catholic bishops are backing a suit by a coalition of Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans and their supporters, in their lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit argues that their freedom of religion was violated when the federal government announced its intention to sell formerly protected land in Arizona to a mining company. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Becket

CNA Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

“Arbitrary government interference.”

That’s what the Knights of Columbus warned will befall religious believers in the U.S. if a copper mining company is allowed to take possession of, and destroy, a centuries-old Native American worship site in Arizona.

That site, Oak Flat, has been the subject of years of dispute and litigation, with a coalition group of activists known as Apache Stronghold leading an effort to prevent the government from surrendering the ancient religious location to private interests.

For decades the federal government protected the parcel from development in the Tonto National Forest. But the Obama administration in 2014 began the process of transferring the land to the multinational Resolution Copper, whose mining operations will dig a massive pit at the site and end its status as a center of worship.

The Native American activists have drawn support from a wide variety of religious advocates and stakeholders in the U.S., including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Knights of Columbus.

Apache Stronghold lost its bid at the Supreme Court earlier this year to halt the sale. This month, as part of a different legal challenge, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit paused the sale just hours before it was to take effect, giving Native advocates likely their last chance to head off the destruction of the site.

Religious Freedom Restoration Act weakened

At issue in the main legal dispute is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a Clinton-era law that restricts how and under what conditions the U.S. government can impose burdens upon U.S. religious liberty.

RFRA states that laws “shall not substantially burden” an individual’s religion, ordering that the government must have both a compelling interest in burdening a religion and must achieve it via the least restrictive means. 

Joe Davis, an attorney with the religious liberty legal group Becket, told CNA that the law is what’s known as a “super statute,” one that “applies to all federal law and all federal actions under the law.” 

Becket has supported Apache Stronghold in its effort to halt the sale of the site. Davis said that Congress in passing RFRA aimed to ensure that “before the government really does anything, it’s supposed to think about the effects and implications on religion and religious practitioners.” 

“RFRA doesn’t actually stop the government from doing anything,” he said. “It just requires them to have a really good reason to do it.”

Prior to the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Apache Stronghold case, a lower court had decided that though RFRA generally prohibits the government’s “substantial burdening” of religion, that guidance does not apply in cases of “disposition of government real property,” as is the case with the Oak Flat parcel. 

Davis described that ruling as a “restrictive interpretation of RFRA.” The more narrow reading of the law, he said, “will filter down into other cases and be applied any time the government wants to avoid having to prove a burden on religious exercise.”

Indeed, the case has already had a demonstrable effect on religious liberty in the U.S., specifically involving a Knights of Columbus chapter in Virginia. 

The Knights Petersburg Council 694 had held a memorial Mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery for decades, but the National Park Service in 2023 moved to bar the Knights from any further Masses, claiming it constituted a prohibited “demonstration” due to its religious character. 

The government eventually relented in the face of litigation. But Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing in dissent earlier this year over the high court’s refusal to hear the Apache case, pointed out that the government in banning the Knights had explicitly cited the new RFRA standard brought about by the Oak Flat case.

Davis noted the diverse religious concerns raised by the case, pointing to filings in support of the Native Americans from the U.S. bishops, the Knights, and numerous other major faith groups.

The injunction issued this month by the 9th Circuit concerns three separate cases, one of which involves environmental claims. Briefs in the case will be due starting Sept. 8. Whether or not the more restrictive interpretation of RFRA can be reversed in those cases is unclear.

Davis, meanwhile, stressed that the statute “protects all religions and religious practitioners in this country.”

The U.S. bishops agreed last year, writing with other Christian groups that changing the parameters of RFRA made the law “a dead letter when applied to obliteration of an Indigenous sacred site on federal land.”

“Beyond that catastrophic harm, this approach defies the statutory text, misreads precedent, and would produce other unjust results,” they wrote.

Davis, meanwhile, argued that the restrictive interpretation “is really bad for all religions in this country.”

“It’s bad for the Apaches, and it’s bad for all people of faith,” he said.