Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi (left), the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, meets with Latin patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa in the Holy Land during a Sept. 27–30, 2025, trip to the region. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Italian Bishops’ Conference

Rome Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 14:46 pm (CNA).

The secretary-general of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI, by its Italian acronym), Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi, has concluded a significant visit to the Holy Land, the CEI announced. The visit took place Sept. 27–30.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in the CEI statement said: “In this difficult moment of solitude and abandonment, closeness and presence are important: for this we wish to express our sincere gratitude. We know that these visits are not to be taken for granted, and we know, as we have said in recent days, that all this is true and heartfelt. We have perceived it in recent months from many Italian churches — a real closeness.” 

During the visit, Baturi had the opportunity to meet “some priests gathered on retreat: They told us they felt the need and were grateful for this empathy and closeness they have needed, more so than any projects,” Pizzaballa said.

In addition, during the same visit, Baturi announced a major joint project between the CEI and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem: the opening of a hospital in Gaza. The archbishop noted that “there is a very serious health problem, and we want to address it together with the patriarchate: It is a concrete commitment, which will take a great deal of effort,” Baturi explained.

The visit was also an opportunity to explore the possibility of a pilgrimage by representatives of the Italian episcopate, as has already happened with several regional bishops’ conferences, the statement added.

In this regard, Baturi said: “We want to relaunch pilgrimages as a practice capable of forging bonds with communities, not just visiting places. This appeal has come to us from many parish priests, both in Judea and Galilee. We will therefore make a pilgrimage as Italian bishops and promote many others: It is a concrete form of closeness and solidarity.”

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

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. / Credit: Joe Bukuras

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 14:16 pm (CNA).

As negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is urging Catholics to pray for a peaceful conclusion to the nearly two-year-long armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.

“As an international community and people of faith who deeply care for all our brothers and sisters who live in the land of Christ’s life, death, and glorious resurrection, we cannot lose this opportunity for peace,” Zaidan, who chairs the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, said in an Oct. 1 statement.

“I call on Catholics and all men and women of goodwill to, once again, pray ardently for an end to this devastating war,” the bishop implored.

Zaidan’s comments come in response to a 20-point peace plan unveiled by President Donald Trump last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the plan. Hamas, which operates the government in Gaza, is reviewing the plan but has not yet agreed to the conditions or provided a counteroffer.

The bishop noted that Pope Leo XIV expressed hope Hamas would agree and quoted the Holy Father’s comments in May, when he said the “deepest purpose of the Church’s social doctrine” is a “contribution to peace and dialogue in the service of building bridges of universal fraternity.”

“In this difficult context, any peace plan will involve challenges that will require the utmost effort and cooperation from all sides,” Zaidan said. “… May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, instill on all sides a sincere willingness to attain peace.”

The 20-point peace plan

If Hamas agrees, the war would immediately end, Israel would suspend all military operations, and the battle lines would be frozen. Israel would withdraw its troops once all conditions of the peace deal are met.

Hamas would release all Israeli prisoners, both dead and alive, and Israel would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas would need to demilitarize and agree to have no involvement in government operations, but all members who agree to decommission their weapons and peacefully coexist with Israel would be given amnesty and be permitted to either remain in Gaza or have safe passage out.

Governance would be transferred to a transitional government comprised of Palestinians and international experts and overseen by the United States president and other heads of state. No one would be forced to leave Gaza, Israel would not annex or occupy the territory, aid would resume, and participating countries would give Gaza a preferred tariff rate.

Arab and other international partners, including Egypt and Jordan, would develop a temporary International Stabilization Force to establish long-term security and train police. The plan would also establish an interfaith dialogue process focused on tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

“Crucially, this plan incorporates Israel’s and Palestine’s neighbors, including Jordan and Egypt, in a multilateral coordination for the plan’s implementation that recognizes the reality of the region’s interconnectedness,” Zaidan said.

“I am especially hopeful of the plan’s ‘interfaith dialogue process,’ which is intended to create a greater sense of community between Israelis and Palestinians,” the bishop added.

The plan states that agreement could establish a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood, but does include a timetable or a guarantee. The Holy See recognized statehood for Palestine in 2015, and more than three-fourths of the countries in the world recognize its statehood. The United States and Israel do not.

However, the plan does not address ongoing Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. After several European countries announced recognition of Palestinian statehood, Israel approved new settlements in the West Bank to divide contiguous Palestinian land. According to the United Nations, Israeli settlement activities have accelerated since June.

The U.S. bishops meet for their 2022 annual fall general assembly in Baltimore. / Credit: Katie Yoder

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 13:46 pm (CNA).

Political and religious debate has continued to ferment in the wake of Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s withdrawal from a prominent Catholic award after backlash over his decades of support for pro-abortion politics. 

Durbin was scheduled to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award for support to immigrants” at a Chicago archdiocesan event in November. But criticism from numerous U.S. bishops led the senator to back out of the award ceremony on Sept. 30. 

Pope Leo XIV even weighed in on the controversy prior to Durbin’s decision, seemingly coming at least partly to the senator’s defense on Sept. 30 when during a press conference at the Vatican he argued that it was “important to look at the overall work that a senator has done [during] 40 years of service in the United States Senate.”

The Holy Father, a Chicago native, argued that such political disputes are “complex.”

“I don’t know if anyone has all the truth” regarding such issues, he said, urging those who disagree with each other to “have respect for one another” amid debates. 

Leo in that exchange argued in favor of a consistent ethic of life.

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,” the pope told journalists. “Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

‘A hierarchy of truths’

Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee, argued this week that there exists a “hierarchy of truths” regarding the sanctity of life. 

“There’s no question that people across the board are vulnerable, but who are the most vulnerable?” Thomas told OSV News. “Those are the innocent and completely vulnerable little children in the womb who cannot defend themselves.” 

Durbin himself, meanwhile, expressed surprise over the “level of controversy” surrounding his intended receipt of the award. 

The senator, who has served Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 1997 and previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, told NBC News that he withdrew from the award “because the reaction has been so controversial” against Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. 

“[I] see no point in going forward with that,” he told the U.S. network, though he said Pope Leo’s remarks were “amazing” and that he “didn’t expect” the pope to seemingly come to his defense.

Durbin has long been vocal in his support for abortion rights. He opposed abortion earlier in his political career but told the late Tim Russert in 2005 that he had come to change his mind on the matter, claiming that there are “certain times in the life of a woman” when an abortion is necessary. 

The senator was more outwardly supportive of abortion in 2022 following the repeal of Roe v. Wade when he said that the Supreme Court had “eliminate[d] a federally protected constitutional right that has been the law for nearly half a century.” 

“As a result, millions of Americans are waking up in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents,” he said. 

Durbin vowed to “keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices,” arguing against “[letting] our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in.

The senator has received praise from pro-abortion advocates. He has regularly been awarded a “100” score from the group Reproductive Freedom for All — formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America — for his years of favorable votes toward pro-abortion policies. 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, meanwhile, gives Durbin an “F” award for having “consistently voted to eliminate or prevent protections for the unborn and for children born alive after failed abortions,” among other pro-abortion positions. 

After days of backlash, various U.S. bishops expressed relief at Durbin’s backing out of the award. Similar to Thomas, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said after Durbin’s withdrawal that the Church’s “public witness to the Gospel” requires it to “show the hierarchy and unity of all truths.”

In announcing Durbin’s decline of the award, Cardinal Blase Cupich on Sept. 30 argued against “total condemnation” of Catholic political leaders who fail to espouse the entirety of the Church’s teaching. 

“[A] positive approach can keep alive the hope that it is worth talking to one another — and collaborating with one another — to promote the common good,” the prelate argued. 

Thomas, meanwhile, told OSV News this week that the “promotion of direct killing of infants in the womb” is “a very grave matter.”

“I think we have to say there is a moral hierarchy here of life,” he said. “[C]ertainly doing one thing or another may be wrong, but the direct killing of children in the womb is the gravest of these things.”

null / Credit: David Peinado Romero/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 13:16 pm (CNA).

The international community has a moral and legal responsibility to protect refugees fleeing religious persecution, according to a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

“While states are responsible for protecting the fundamental human rights of their own citizens, refugees by definition do not receive such protections from their own governments,” the report noted.

As the number of refugees has doubled over the last decade, there are growing challenges for neighboring countries to host them. Despite the growing numbers, the USCIRF report noted that it is not just a moral responsibility for countries to welcome refugees but a legal one. 

The International Religious Freedom Act, or IRFA, includes several provisions related to asylum seekers and refugees, especially for individuals who have fled severe violations of religious freedom. The IRFA was passed in 1998 to promote religious freedom as a foreign policy of the United States and to advocate on behalf of individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs. 

The report also detailed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which are “the main instruments that define legal obligations for refugee protection.” The 1951 Convention requires host governments to ensure the safety and human rights of refugees, including their rights to nondiscrimination, freedom of religion, and access to justice, housing, and work. 

More than 40 territories are not party to the 1951 Convention, its 1967 Protocol, or both, but the report explained they still have responsibilities to refugees residing within their borders through domestic law, customary international law, or other treaties.

According to the report, many countries have legal obligations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to seek asylum from persecution. Forceable return is also not permitted, prohibiting “all states from returning an individual to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture, threat to life, or other serious human rights violations.”

Several additional international treaties also enforce similar rules, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance of 2006. 

Treatment of refugees 

To further explain the necessary care for refugees from host countries, the report outlined “the mounting tensions surrounding vulnerable displaced populations across South and Southeast Asia.”

As of November 2024, Thailand hosted about 86,000 refugees from more than 40 countries. The majority of them arrived from neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and were mostly Muslim Uyghurs who attempted to escape from China to Turkey through Thailand in 2014. 

Thai authorities arrested around 300 of the members. Eventually, they sent 173 (mostly women and children) to Turkey, but deported another 109 (mostly men) back to China. The remaining 53 refugees were placed in immigration detention under inhumane conditions.

The Thai government repeatedly denied the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) permission to speak with them, prevented other human rights organizations from conducting prison visits, and limited inmates’ access to adequate legal consultation. Five reportedly died in detention, including two children. 

In 2024, the Pakistani government announced a strategy for the deportation of Afghan refugees, who were blamed for an increase in terrorist attacks. The announcement “prompted detainment, forced repatriation, violence, and intimidation against these refugees over the past year,” according to the report.

USCIRF said it “is particularly concerned that Pakistan has forcibly returned religious minorities who fled persecution.” This includes Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs who cannot freely practice their religious beliefs without fear of violent retribution in their home countries. 

Bangladesh has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, and therefore it “lacks specific national legislation governing refugee affairs.” According to the report, “it bases its refugee policy on humanitarian grounds and temporary accommodation.”

When a USCIRF delegation visited Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in November 2022, it witnessed “serious shortcomings in support from the Bangladeshi government and society toward the refugees facing severe hardships in finding livelihood, education, security, and social cohesion amid the desperation of the camps.” The group was primarily Muslims, Christians, and Hindus.

USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report found that religious refugee communities in Malaysia “have no legal protection,” facing “extortion, exploitation, arrests, and detention.” They also “struggle to access education, health care, and jobs amid widespread negative sentiment against them.”

“With the number of refugees increasing, these populations are likely to become even more vulnerable,” the USCIRF wrote. “Refugees are forced to flee their homes only to encounter extreme challenges in their new communities, such as discrimination, lack of services, poor living conditions, and untreated trauma.”

“Addressing the basic needs of refugee populations can reduce grievances and mitigate the risk of radicalization, which in turn promotes national, regional, and global security,” the report concluded.

null / Credit: angellodeco/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 12:46 pm (CNA).

U.S. Catholic bishops are urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to scrutinize “false or unsupported claims” in advertisements that promote hormone therapy drugs and surgeries to Americans, and particularly to children.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) submitted a public comment to the FTC on Sept. 26. The FTC requested public comments in July after launching a formal inquiry into consumers possibly being exposed to false claims.

William Quinn, USCCB general counsel, and Daniel Balserak, assistant general counsel, wrote that “weak and increasingly questioned scientific evidence” used to support the use of hormone therapy drugs underscores the need for FTC scrutiny of promotional claims.

In one example, the USCCB noted that Planned Parenthood has publicly promoted such medical interventions as a “lifesaving service” on its website, advertisements, on social media, and in its Promotorx Program.

While the American Medical Association has said transgender minors should be allowed to “explore their gender identity” to improve physical and mental health, a Finnish study last year found no mental health benefits for minors receiving such interventions. An American doctor last year withheld the results of a government-funded study after it found no mental health benefits to puberty blockers, The New York Times reported.

A Mayo Clinic study last year also found that puberty blockers may cause irreversible harm to young boys, even though they are commonly marketed as reversible. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that found a “risk of significant harms” from these drugs and surgeries and “deep uncertainty about the purported benefits.”

The United Kingdom recently halted the drugs and surgeries for minors after issuing a report with similar findings. The author of the U.K. report alleged American medical groups have misled the public about the safety and efficacy of these interventions on children.

In the public comment, the USCCB noted that most of the drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the purpose of gender transition. Although the USCCB acknowledged that using off-label drugs is not necessarily misleading, any advertisements that imply FDA approval are deceptive, according to the comment.

‘The spiritual dimension’

The bishops said in addition to physical and psychological concerns related to hormone therapy drugs and surgeries, “it is important to also recognize the spiritual dimension,” which is “no less real and even more profound.”

“Rejection of our God-given bodies, such as by modifying them to appear as the opposite sex, is a grave matter, and when done with full knowledge and complete consent, is a grave sin,” the comment reads.

The bishops, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, said grave sin “deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life” without repentance. They note that “grave sin damages the soul, turning the soul away from God and toward further sin,” and the Church is “also deeply concerned for the spiritual welfare of the medical professionals who administer these drugs and procedures, as their participation likewise involves grave moral consequences.”

“Interventions that alter the body to reject one’s sex attempt to compromise the integrity of the body-soul unity and are thus damaging to the soul because they disregard the fundamental order of the human person, viewing the body as ‘an object, a mere tool at the disposal of the soul, one that each person may dispose of according to his or her own will,’” the bishops wrote.

“It must be remembered that ‘because of this order and [its unitive and procreative] finality, neither patients nor physicians nor researchers nor any other persons have unlimited rights over the body; they must respect the order and finality inscribed in the embodied person,’” they added.

An ongoing investigation

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January to restrict hormone therapy drugs and surgeries given to children, which he called “chemical and surgical mutilation.” 

The FTC received thousands of comments during the 60-day public comment period. The FTC did not respond to a request for comment from CNA about the status of the investigation.

Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that it’s “good news … that over a dozen hospital-based ‘gender’ programs have closed their harmful sex-rejection ‘services’ for kids and adolescents” following Trump’s executive actions.

“Kids who would have suffered disabling, disfiguring, and sterilizing ‘gender’ hormones and surgeries will be spared — for now,” she said. 

Hasson said the ongoing concern is still that “not one of these programs has acknowledged the harm done on their watch” and urged congressional action to pass laws that ban clinics from prescribing hormone therapy drugs and surgeries for children.

“They are shuttering these programs for fear of losing federal funds but have not repudiated the barbaric practices that masquerade as ‘gender care,’” she said. “Most of these hospitals are poised to resume these programs if the political winds shift leftward.”

Pope Leo XIV greets participants attending the Oct. 1-3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2025 / 11:10 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said a “culture of reconciliation” is necessary to support more than 100 million people affected by migration and displacement across the world during his Thursday meeting with participants attending the Oct. 1–3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome.

“Just as Pope Francis spoke of the culture of encounter as the antidote for the globalization of indifference, we must work to confront the globalization of powerlessness by fostering a culture of reconciliation,” Leo told summit participants gathered inside the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

“In this particular way of encountering others, we ‘meet one another by healing our wounds, forgiving each other for the evil we have done and also that we have not done, but whose effects we bear,’” he said, quoting his predecessor.

“This requires patience, a willingness to listen, the ability to identify with the pain of others and the recognition that we have the same dreams and the same hopes,” he continued.

Speaking to approximately 200 people from 40 countries taking part in the three-day conference, the Holy Father encouraged participants to create “action plans” based on the four core pillars of “teaching, research, service, and advocacy” to alleviate the sufferings of those impacted by migration and displacement.

During the meeting, the Holy Father emphasized the need for concrete “gestures and policies of reconciliation,” particularly in “lands where there are deep-seated wounds from long-standing conflicts.”

“I pray that your efforts may bring about new ideas and approaches in this regard, seeking always to put the dignity of every human person at the center of any solution,” he said. 

The international summit, organized by Villanova University’s Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration, aims to bring together educational institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and local groups through a three-year initiative to sustainably respond to the needs of vulnerable communities.     

In light of the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of Missions taking place over the Oct. 4-5 weekend, the Holy Father asked summit participants to integrate two themes in their action plans: “reconciliation and hope.”

“In formulating your action plans, it is also important to remember that migrants and refugees can be privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and through their trust in God,” he said.

“I encourage you to lift up such examples of hope in the communities of those whom you serve,” he added. “In this way, they can be an inspiration for others and assist in developing ways to address the challenges that they have faced in their own lives.”

The Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit is supported by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Dicastery for Culture and Education.

An armed police officer talks to a member of the local community outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, England, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. / Credit: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

EWTN News, Oct 2, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Bishop John Arnold of Salford has condemned a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur, calling for solidarity and prayer with the Jewish community.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales released Arnold’s statement on Thursday following the morning assault at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, where a knife-wielding assailant reportedly struck worshippers gathered for prayer.

“The local Catholic community stand united in our prayers for the Jewish community following the tragic attack on a synagogue in Manchester,” Arnold declared Oct. 2. “We condemn such acts and pray for the injured, emergency responders, and all affected.”

The British prelate emphasized the need for interfaith unity against extremism, stating: “Let us work together in hope to strengthen our community solidarity. We must remain united in our common beliefs against those who sow hatred and division. We also pray for peace and tolerance around the U.K. and the world.”

According to BBC News, police officers reported being alerted at 9:31 a.m. local time to a car-ramming and stabbing outside the synagogue. Armed officers shot a man believed to be the suspect at 9:38 a.m. 

Since the man was found with “suspicious items” strapped to his body, bomb disposal teams were called and later carried out a controlled explosion. 

The suspect is presumed dead, though official confirmation remains pending. Three additional victims remain in serious condition.

The timing of the assault during Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — has fueled fears of targeted religious violence. 

A large congregation had gathered for morning prayers when the attack commenced.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer abbreviated his attendance at the Denmark summit to chair emergency meetings, announcing enhanced police protection for synagogues nationwide.

“We will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe,” Starmer emphasized, calling the Yom Kippur timing particularly “horrific.”

King Charles III expressed being “deeply shocked and saddened” by the violence. The monarch commended emergency responders’ swift action.

The investigation continues with heavy police presence maintaining security around the synagogue.

null / Credit: maximino/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA).

After cutting ties with the Girl Scouts over the group’s endorsement of gender ideology, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said this week that it has struck up a renewed partnership with the more-than-century-old youth organization. 

Last year, the archdiocese ended a 110-year relationship with Girl Scouts of the USA due to the group promoting gender ideology contrary to Catholic teaching. 

The decision was spearheaded by then-Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, who now serves as archbishop emeritus. At the time, Schnurr endorsed a faith-based scouting group, American Heritage Girls, as an alternative.

Newly-instated Archbishop Robert Casey has since made an agreement with the local Girl Scouts of Western Ohio to maintain Church moral teaching while operating in Catholic parishes.

Girl Scouts groups are “welcome” on Catholic campuses, so long as they pledge not to promote anything counter to the Church’s teaching on faith and morals, according to an archdiocesan press release. 

Casey said he is “proud” that the archdiocese and the Girl Scouts “focused on our shared desire for the flourishing of young women in virtue and faith, rather than being solely focused on our differences.”

“Girl Scouts is a secular organization, and as such, they do not share all of our views,” he said in a Sept. 30 statement. “As the Catholic Church we are called to uphold the Gospel and teach young people the truth of the Catholic faith.” 

“Despite these differences, we have reached a mutual understanding that allows us to fulfill our mission as Church in the faithful formation of young girls while also accessing all that is best about Girl Scouting,” he continued. 

Aimée Sproles, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, said that organization hopes to encourage girls in their faith journey.  

“At Girl Scouts, we believe that a part of girls’ healthy development is encouraging girls in their spiritual journey, through partnerships with their individual faith communities,” Sproles said in a statement. 

“Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have helped generations of girls to grow in their faith and develop the critical thinking and decision-making skills they need in order to act on the values of their faith in our complex world,” she said. 

“This renewed partnership allows our Catholic Girl Scouts to have the support of their family and the Catholic community as they grow in courage, confidence, and character,” she added. 

The agreement comes after “continued dialogue,” archdiocesan spokeswoman Jennifer Schack told CNA. 

“While this announcement highlights the renewed partnership, there has been ongoing dialogue, given the two agencies share a common interest to strengthen and support girls in our communities,” Schack said.

The agreement specifies that the Girl Scouts cannot promote anything that goes against Catholic faith and moral teachings, according to documents shared with CNA.  

Whether the renewal of the Girl Scouts will affect the archdiocese’s partnership with American Heritage Girls is unclear. 

When asked about the effect of the partnership renewal, American Heritage Girls told CNA that it looks forward to “deepening its relationship” with the archdiocese.

The interdenominational group has programs and activities designed for its Catholic scouting groups that promote the Catholic faith, including troop-led Stations of the Cross and Eucharistic Revival patches.

“Catholic families in Cincinnati and beyond have embraced AHG as a trusted youth ministry option,” the organization stated. “AHG looks forward to deepening its relationship with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as more Catholic families and parishes build communities where virtue and faith flourish.”

Schack affirmed that the recent announcement “has no impact on American Heritage Girls troops” in the archdiocese.

American Heritage Girls, which has been endorsed by Catholic dioceses across the country, features a National Catholic Committee headed by Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The group forms “girls of integrity through Catholic Faith Awards, troop life, service, outdoor adventure, and leadership,” the group stated. 

“American Heritage Girls is grateful for over 30 years of ministry rooted in a Christ-centered foundation, deeply aligned with the Catholic Church,” it added.

A 13th-century fresco of St. Francis of Assisi by the Florentine painter Cimabue, one of the earliest depictions of the saint, is located in the lower church of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy.  / Credit: Jacob Stein/Crux Stationalis

Rome Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Italy’s Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee, deliberating in session Wednesday, Oct. 1, approved a bill reinstating Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy, as a national holiday. The measure had been approved in first reading by the Chamber of Deputies last month, with only two votes against.

Oct. 4 will therefore be a public holiday starting in 2026, after having been a public holiday until 1977.

“I welcome with joy and satisfaction,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni commented, “the news of the Senate’s final approval of the parliamentary bill reintroducing, after 50 years, Oct. 4, the day on which we celebrate St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy, as a national holiday. The government has wholeheartedly supported the [legislative] process of the bill, which has taken up and made its own the appeal launched a year ago by Davide Rondoni, poet and president of the National Committee for the Celebrations of the Eighth Centenary of the Death of the Poverello [Poor Man] of Assisi.”

“The bipartisan and virtually unanimous support for the bill is an important sign of the unity found in politics around one of the most representative and distinctive figures of [our] national identity. A saint beloved by the entire Italian people and in whom all Italians identify. The national holiday will be an opportunity to celebrate an extraordinary man and remind us, every year, who we are and what unites us profoundly,” Meloni said.

The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, also released a comment following the Senate’s approval:

“We welcome with joy the news of the passage of the law restoring the national holiday of St. Francis of Assisi to Oct. 4. This decision offers an opportunity to rediscover the figure of the patron saint of Italy, who has profoundly shaped the character of our country. This is even more so in this time, torn by divisions, growing international tensions, and a dramatic escalation of global violence. St. Francis, whose primary goal was to proclaim peace, reminds us that a fraternal, unarmed world is possible, where everyone has their own space, starting with the poorest and most vulnerable.”

“His life and work,” the archbishop of Bologna continued, “can inspire political love and love for creation, so that the common good prevails over speculative logic and the logic of the strongest, over partisan interests and polarization.”

“By virtue of his faith,” the cardinal said, “he initiated a religious experience that, through his descendants, now eight centuries old, has contributed greatly to improving the history of humanity in our Italy and throughout the world. Celebrating the saint of Assisi, therefore, means believing that we can dialogue with everyone and that peace begins when we consider others as brothers and sisters. Francis of Assisi still encourages us today to be authentic Christians [wherever we may be in] the world.”

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

Cardinal Daniel Sturla testifies before Uruguay’s Senate Health Committee on Sept. 30, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Senate of the Republic of Uruguay

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The archbishop of Montevideo, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, testified before a Sept. 30 hearing of the Uruguay Senate’s health committee, where a euthanasia bill is being debated.

Presented by the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) party, the bill, which has already been passed by the Chamber of Deputies (lower house), provides that any person over 18 years of age “who suffers from one or more chronic, incurable, and irreversible pathologies or health conditions that seriously impair his quality of life, causing unbearable suffering,” may request assisted suicide. 

If the bill is passed by the Senate, Uruguay would become the third country in Latin America to allow euthanasia, in addition to Colombia and Ecuador.

In this context, the Catholic Church has spoken out on numerous occasions, maintaining a “firm no” to euthanasia.

After the hearing before the health committee where he presented the Catholic Church’s position, Sturla spoke to the media, stating that “the Church’s position is well known, which is in defense of life and is against the euthanasia bill,” according to Noticias 5.

Uruguay’s ‘main problem’

“What I presented [to them] is that Uruguay’s main problem, for me, as a bishop and citizen of this country, is a spiritual problem, which has to do with the meaning of life and the devaluation of human life that exists among us.”

This bill, the cardinal considered, “instead of contributing to valuing life, contributes to thinking that some lives are disposable, and that is why we believe it is fundamentally bad.” 

Regarding the possible passage of the bill, Sturla clarified that “other laws have also been passed that we disagree with.” However, “we presented our position, and it has been very well received by the health committee, with great respect, also due to the fact that the Church has come [in the person of] the archbishop to present its position,” he said.

“We still believe that there is still something in this law that needs to be changed, especially the name. I radically disagree with the fact that the euthanasia law is called death with dignity, because I think that confuses people, and then how do we classify other deaths?” he questioned.

“Obviously, there will always be very painful, very dramatic situations, which I fully respect,” the archbishop clarified, noting that “this law goes far beyond the most dramatic situations that are sometimes presented as arguments for its passage.”

A ‘slippery slope’

The euthanasia law, the cardinal explained, creates “a slippery slope,” where “many doors are opened that are sometimes not taken into account when defending the value of human life.”

The path to take for patients with terminal illnesses, he considered, is “palliative care: caring for, respecting, loving, attending to people.” 

As an example, Sturla mentioned an institution that was founded two years ago in the Catholic Church: “St. Joseph’s Hospice, where people whose families cannot care for them, who are in the last stages of dying, go and receive care, affection, and palliative care. They spend their final days, weeks, or months in peace, giving thanks for the care they receive.”

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