Holy Cross Catholic Church

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska. / Credit: Diocese of Lincoln

CNA Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, this week slammed a so-called “drag Mass” performance put on by a University of Nebraska student, calling it an “offensive” display marked by “lies, evil, and ugliness.” 

The higher education news website the College Fix first reported on the performance on May 30. The LGBT-centric demonstration was hosted by a local Lutheran church; its creator, music doctoral student Joseph Willette, said the event was meant to “bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality.”

Explicitly describing the performance as an “appropriation of the traditional Mass,” Willette said the display “blurs the lines between the sacred and the profane.” The College Fix said the incident “imitated various parts of the Mass, including the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.” It reportedly featured a chamber orchestra and singing along with drag performances.

In a June 24 statement, Conley called the event a “blatant public display of faith-based discrimination,” one that led to Willette himself earning a doctorate. 

The profane performance “reflects poorly on the University of Nebraska, its faculty, and our community,” Conley said.

“There is no redeeming value in such a display of ignorance,” the prelate wrote. “Such discrimination would not be tolerated if directed at other religions, so why is it tolerated if the target is the Catholic faith?”

“It’s offensive and should be condemned by the university, not applauded or rewarded,” he said. “Education should strive for the true, the good, and the beautiful — not lies, evil, and ugliness.”

The mockery of the Mass generated significant pushback and criticism, including from the Catholic League, which the College Fix reported sent a letter to the University of Nebraska demanding the school “[hold] accountable” the professors who sanctioned the display.

In a video response posted to Instagram, Willette said he felt “no need to defend myself or my work.”

Stating that he would not be “bullied” into “submission,” Willette vowed that he would “continue to make unabashedly queer music.”

Conley, meanwhile, called on the university “to do more than ignore such a vile display of hatred.” 

“Have the courage to stand up and declare your institution will not tolerate or reward such inappropriate behavior and take action against the faculty who encouraged it,” he said.

Father Francesco Ielpo, a Franciscan friar, on June 24, 2025, was appointed the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion. Previously, since 2022, he was president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces. / Credit: Custodia Terræ Sanctæ

ACI MENA, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

In a decision carrying both spiritual and humanitarian significance, Pope Leo XIV on June 24 approved the election of Father Francesco Ielpo, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, as the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion, succeeding Father Francesco Patton, who concluded nine years of service in this sensitive role.

The appointment followed an election conducted by the minister general of the Franciscan order and his council, in line with a long-standing tradition that reflects the historical continuity of the Franciscans’ mission in the land where Jesus Christ walked.

Born in Lauria, Italy, in 1970, Ielpo made his solemn profession in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. His service has spanned education, administration, and pastoral care. He taught religion, served as the head of the “Franciscanum Luzzago” Institute in Brescia, and held ecclesial responsibilities as the commissary for the Holy Land in Lombardy and later in northern Italy. Since 2022, he has been president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces.

Ielpo assumes his new role at an extremely complex moment, both regionally and spiritually. The Holy Land is enduring growing political and military tensions, a sharp decline in pilgrimage, a shrinking local Christian population, and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

In this context, the responsibility of the new custos goes far beyond protecting sacred sites; it encompasses pastoral presence, humanitarian support, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and the safeguarding of Christianity’s roots in its birthplace. The late Pope Francis had once stressed that “serving the Holy Land is a mission of peace amid conflict, a space for humility and spiritual courage.”

Ielpo succeeds Patton, who served from 2016 to 2025. During his tenure, Patton faced significant challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the near-total halt of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Despite these trials, he sustained major restoration projects, took part in humanitarian efforts such as support for children in Gaza, and documented his experience in a spiritual memoir titled “Like a Pilgrimage: My Days in the Holy Land.”

The Franciscan Custody, which began more than 800 years ago with St. Francis of Assisi’s arrival in the Holy Land, is not merely a religious duty. It is a living witness to the Catholic Church’s enduring commitment to the holy sites, to the people who dwell around them, and to the pilgrims who yearn to visit.

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

Pope Leo XIV speaks to bishops gathered for the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:24 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called bishops to be firm and decisive in dealing with scandal and sexual abuse, linking vigilance against abuse to living a chaste life.

Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop.

“Together with material poverty, the life of the bishop is also marked by that specific form of poverty, which is celibacy and virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,” he said during the June 25 meeting, the last part of a morning of spiritual activities for the Jubilee of Bishops.

Leo said celibacy is more than living as a celibate but includes “chastity of heart and conduct, and in this way, living a life of Christian discipleship and presenting to all the authentic image of the Church, holy and chaste in her members as in her head.”

Following his reference to their personal chastity, the pope asked the bishops, when dealing with abuse, especially abuse of minors, to fully respect the Church’s current regulations.

Pope Leo, before his election, spent two years as head of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican department responsible for assisting the pope in the appointment of new bishops around the world, providing formation for new bishops, and intervening when necessary in problems of governance within a diocese.

Evangelical poverty, as lived by the bishop, “is a simple, sober, and generous lifestyle, dignified and at the same time suited to the conditions of the majority of his people,” the pontiff said.

“The poor,” he continued, “must find in him a father and a brother, and never feel uncomfortable in meeting him or entering his home. In his personal life, he must be detached from the pursuit of wealth and from forms of favoritism based on money or power.”

On pastoral prudence, Leo underlined the need for synodality — “dialogue as a style and method” — in the bishop’s particular Church.

He encouraged bishops to be men of the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. And he cited the Second Vatican Council decree on priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis, which mentions the human virtues of “fairness, sincerity, magnanimity, openness of mind and heart, the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice and to suffer with those who suffer, as well as self-control, delicacy, patience, discretion, great openness to listening and engaging in dialogue, and willingness to serve.”

“These virtues,” the pontiff said, “can and must be cultivated in conformity to the Lord Jesus, with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

For the Jubilee of Bishops, members of the Roman Curia and bishops on pilgrimage to Rome began the morning by passing through the Holy Door. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, celebrated Mass for them at the Altar of the Chair before the approximately half-hour meeting with Leo.

After the pope delivered his spiritual message, which the bishops applauded, he led them in singing the Creed, the profession of the faith, in Latin. 

“At the very place where Peter gave witness to Christ, together with me, his successor, you renew your loyalty to the prince of pastors,” the pope said as he introduced the Creed.

Pope Leo, in his catechesis, also cited St. Augustine’s description of the priestly ministry as the “amoris officium,” or the “office of love” in English.

Here the theological life of the bishop, he said, “is expressed and shines forth in the highest degree. Whether preaching, visiting communities, listening to priests and deacons, or making administrative decisions, all that he does is inspired and motivated by the charity of Christ the Shepherd.”

The original face of Our Lady of Hope of Macarena. / Credit: Emilio Sáenz/Macarena Brotherhood

Madrid, Spain, Jun 25, 2025 / 10:54 am (CNA).

The recent changes made to the expression on the face of the iconic image of Our Lady of Hope of Macarena, a popular Spanish devotion, has sparked a wave of reactions among those who consider her an essential part of their faith.

The main focus of discontent has centered on the Virgin’s expression, as the addition of false eyelashes and other changes during recent conservation work visibly altered her expression, causing a negative reaction from numerous devotees who said they no longer recognized “their Virgin.”

“That is not my Virgin, it’s not the image we have venerated for generations,” is how many of the faithful have expressed their bewilderment in recent days at Our Lady of Hope of Macarena Basilica in Seville Spain, where the image known as the “Virgin of Macarena” is kept.

The statue was removed from public veneration for five days to undergo the conservation work and was returned to public view on June 21. The first change to the eyes was followed by another touch-up that same afternoon, and a third that evening, when the eyelashes were reduced, the eyebrows were retouched, and the complexion was darkened.

These modifications to one of the most emblematic images of Holy Week in Seville has led to a torrent of reactions, many of them expressing criticism and surprise — some with tears — flooding social media, and there have even been protests at the basilica.

“The Virgin remains sad; she seems tired, her eyes speak for themselves,” said one post on X. Something has happened, and her expression has changed. Sad to see what has happened. Her children and Seville are demanding an explanation. It will come.”

Another post compared photos of the image from 2016, 2022, and on June 23:

Confusion and outrage among devotees

The restoration of the image has sparked a heated controversy among the Andalusian faithful and devotees.

“A very noticeable change for the worse in the characteristic expression of Our Lady of Hope,” another social media post stated. “I hope I’m mistaken, but knowing the repercussions of making changes to the image of the Macarena, it falls far short of what one would expect.” 

Another poster compared the Virgin of Hope Macarena of Seville image from one day to the next, asking: “Did the confraternity need this?”

Hundreds of faithful gathered the afternoon of June 23 around the basilica, which gives its name to the Macarena neighborhood, to protest the changes made to the statue.

The archbishop of Seville, José Ángel Saiz Meneses, spoke out regarding the incident. Early on the morning of June 24, he stated on X that “to err is human, to forgive is divine, to rectify is wise.”

“Our Lady of Hope Macarena wants us to be united, as brothers and sisters, as her children, looking to the future, walking in truth and goodness,” the prelate said.

Apology for ‘moral and devotional damage’

The controversy has led two top officials of the governing board of the Brotherhood of the Macarena to resign. In Spain, brotherhoods, also known as confraternities, are organizations that care for as well as carry in procession sacred images during Holy Week.

Following an emergency meeting, the Brotherhood of the Macarena issued an official statement on June 24 in which it apologized to “all members of the brotherhood and devotees for any moral and devotional damage that may have been caused by the decisions taken following the conservation and maintenance work carried out” on the Virgin of Macarena.

The organization noted that the conservation work was entrusted to Francisco Arquillo Torres, who has been doing this work since 1978. They also explained that the eyelashes were applied “moments before dressing her,” so “it’s possible that they shifted, closing part of her eyes because the adhesive was not completely dry.”

Given the confusion of the devotees and “the persistence of this unwanted aesthetic effect,” the statement said that Arquillo himself came to the basilica on June 21 with other experts to “analyze a possible solution,” making changes again that same afternoon and later that evening.

In order to restore the aesthetic appearance of the Virgin of Hope, the brotherhood has announced its decision to consult with other “renowned” specialists to analyze the situation and “act accordingly.”

The governing board has also approved the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage to carry out the technical supervision of the revision.

Once the entire process is completed, an extraordinary general council will be convened to determine any measures to be adopted based on the results.

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

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 25, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday addressed what he called the “fatigue of living” as one of the ailments afflicting modern society, and he urged the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to face reality with the grace of Jesus.

“A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: Reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face,” the pope said at his final Wednesday general audience before summer break, when he is expected to reduce his schedule and public engagements for all of July.

“And so we switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different. But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well,” the pope said.

The pontiff continued his cycle of catechesis on hope, focusing on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miraculous healings. He highlighted two specific miracles as “signs of hope”: the healing of Jairus’ daughter — Jairus being a synagogue leader who humbly begged Jesus to save his dying daughter — and the healing of the anonymous woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years. 

To illustrate his point, Leo recalled how Jairus, upon being told that his daughter had died and not to bother the master anymore, still held onto his faith and continued to hope. 

The Gospel of Mark tells how Jesus said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” and the child got up and began to walk. For the pope, this gesture by Jesus shows that he “not only heals every disease but also awakens from death.”

“Because for God, who is eternal life, bodily death is like sleep. The real death is the death of the soul — and that is what we should truly fear,” he added.

The pope also praised the great courage of the bleeding woman, who — despite being condemned to remain hidden and isolated — approached Jesus.

“At times, we too can be victims of the judgment of others, who presume to put a robe on us that is not our own. And then we suffer and cannot come out of it,” he said.

Leo emphasized the woman’s faith: “This woman, silent and anonymous, conquers her fears, touches the heart of Jesus with her hands, considered unclean because of her illness,” he told the thousands of pilgrims gathered in the square on Wednesday despite the scorching temperatures. 

“Every time we perform an act of faith addressed to Jesus, contact is established with him, and immediately his grace comes out from him,” he said.

Leo lamented that many people merely skim the surface of faith in Jesus “without truly believing in his power” while their hearts are elsewhere. Yet, he pointed out, “in a secret and real way,” grace reaches us and slowly transforms life from within.

Before beginning the catechesis, Pope Leo XIV greeted pilgrims for half an hour and blessed many infants.

He then issued a challenge: “When our children are in crisis and need spiritual nourishment, do we know how to give it to them? And how can we, if we ourselves are not nourished by the Gospel?”

He concluded with a powerful reminder: “In life there are moments of disappointment and discouragement, and there is also the experience of death. Let us learn from that woman, from that father: Let us go to Jesus. He can heal us, he can revive us. He is our hope!” 

Wednesday’s general audience began half an hour earlier than usual due to the pope’s busy schedule, which included delivering a catechesis to bishops and meeting with a group of seminarians from northern Italy.

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

Mourners gather at the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa, Damascus, on June 24, 2025, around white caskets of some of the worshippers who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria’s capital on Sunday, June 22, 2025. / Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai/ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Jun 25, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

In a scene marked by deep sorrow and righteous anger, churches across Syria held funeral services for the victims of the suicide bombing that targeted St. Elias Church in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday. The attack claimed the lives of 25 people and left dozens injured.

The main funeral service for the majority of the victims took place at noon on June 24 at the Church of the Holy Cross in the Qassaa district of Damascus. It was presided over by Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi, with Melkite Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi and Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan also in attendance, alongside numerous bishops, priests, and a large crowd from various denominations.

In his homily before the funeral prayers, Yazigi condemned the attack as a “heinous massacre,” stressing that “the prayer we lift today is not an ordinary funeral prayer but the special resurrection prayer we usually offer on Easter — because today is a day of resurrection.” 

He added: “This crime is the first of its kind in Damascus since 1860. We will not allow anyone to sow sectarian strife; Syrians are all committed to national unity. It is unfortunate that no government officials, aside from Minister Hind Kabawat [a Christian], came to the site of the attack.”

Following the funeral liturgy, the coffins were taken to St. Elias Church, the site of the bombing, for a special prayer before being buried in the Christian cemetery.

Later in the afternoon, the Vatican Press Office released a statement expressing that Pope Leo XIV was “deeply saddened by the attack.” The Holy Father extended his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by the tragedy, assuring prayers for the repose of the souls of the deceased, healing for the wounded, and divine consolation and peace for their families.

Christian outrage at official silence

The funeral services coincided with Masses offered for the repose of the victims and the recovery of the injured. Several Christian and civil society groups also organized prayer vigils and demonstrations in Christian neighborhoods, where participants chanted: “Christians do not fear death, for after death comes resurrection.”

However, amid these displays of faith and resilience, Syrian Christians have expressed mounting frustration at the government’s failure to declare a national mourning period, lower the flags, or refer to the victims as “martyrs” in official or media statements. Many view this as a grave injustice, feeling that the blood of Christian victims was not being honored equally.

In a poignant public message, Metropolitan Ephrem Maalouli of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo and Alexandretta addressed President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying: “We had hoped to hear from you, Mr. President, words of healing — words that would reach every free Syrian home and comfort every Christian ear. Words that would honor the martyrs, console the bereaved, and tend the wounds of those in hospital beds. Words that show us that the leader of free Syria stands equally with all components of its people.”

Similarly, Bishop Elias Dabbagh, Melkite Greek Catholic bishop of Bosra, Hauran, and Mount Druze, criticized the Syrian minister of information, stating: “We will not accept condolences that do not mention the word ‘martyrs.’ Those who died in this criminal bombing are martyrs — whether people like it or not.”

Several Christian journalists and activists argued that the government and state media’s reluctance to use words like “martyr” or “mercy” stemmed from ideological sensitivities and fear of alienating certain supporters.

In a phone call from Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa to Bishop Romanos al-Hanata offering condolences, the bishop requested the president visit the church to personally comfort the families. Sharaa reportedly responded: “I will come to you as soon as possible.”

To this, Patriarch Yazigi responded: “With love, respect, and appreciation, Your Excellency, we thank you for the phone call — but it is not enough. What happened was too great for words alone.”

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

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations at the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed this week that there is an “ongoing investigation” into the deaths of “the D.C. Five,” the five late-term aborted babies recovered from a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic three years ago.

During a June 23 House budget hearing for the Department of Justice, West Virginia Rep. Riley Moore noted that, in 2022, the D.C. Metropolitan Police “recovered the remains of five unborn children, apparently from a D.C. abortion mill, which appeared to be the victims … of a brutal partial-birth abortion.”

Moore asked Bondi — who was at the hearing to present the White House’s Department of Justice budget — if the government would “commit to working with me and this committee to conduct a full and fair investigation into the deaths of these children to ensure justice is served for the D.C. Five?”

Bondi confirmed that the controversy is “an ongoing investigation,” adding that she “cannot discuss that in this forum.”

“The D.C. Five” were found at the home of Catholic convert and pro-life activist Lauren Handy. The group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising said it obtained the remains from reported whistleblowers who thought the killings may have violated federal laws against partial-birth abortion and infanticide.

Activists said the remains were from the Washington Surgi-Clinic, an abortion center in northwest D.C. operated by late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo.

Following the discovery of the babies, pro-life House members and U.S. senators demanded autopsies to investigate if any of the abortions were performed after the babies were partially born, which would have violated the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.

“Public reporting suggests that President Biden’s [Department of Justice] directed the D.C. chief medical examiner to destroy the remains of the children without performing an autopsy, which the [examiner] appears not to have done yet,” Moore said at the Monday hearing.

Though President Joe Biden’s DOJ did not apparently investigate “the D.C. Five” case, it did prosecute multiple pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Lauren Handy was one of the prosecuted activists and was charged for her role in a protest at an abortion clinic. 

She was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison until President Donald Trump pardoned her and 22 other pro-life activists in January. 

Although Bondi declined to share details about the open investigation, she noted that the “woman who retrieved those five fetuses was convicted and she was pardoned by President Trump, and they were basically unborn babies, is what is alleged … but I can’t discuss it any further.

The exchange between Moore and Bondi follows a May letter sent to interim Washington U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro by a coalition of nine pro-life organizations led by Advancing American Freedom. The letter urged Pirro to investigate the suspected infanticide of the D.C. Five.

The work of Association Meter, an organization that combats online pedophilia, was featured on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.” / Credit: “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly”/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2025 / 17:37 pm (CNA).

Research from the Association Meter, an Italian-based organization run by Father Fortunato Di Noto that operates the World Observatory Against Pedophilia, has found that online pedophilic videos tripled over the last year, rising from from 651,527 in 2023 to 2,085,447 in 2024.

Moreover, in its annual report for 2024, Association Meter identified over 8,000 links to pedophilic content, with U.S.-based servers hosting half the links.

“A reported link can lead to a single video or photo file, but also to mega-archives containing thousands of child pornography files,” the report indicated. “These links are often distributed via chats or group.”

In an interview with “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly,” Di Noto said “the seriousness of the problem has not been grasped.”

Association Meter identified and reported on 410 groups on social media, including 336 Signal groups and 51 Facebook pages, among others, that share illicit materials. 

Signal is a U.S.-based encrypted messaging app that keeps conversations secure. As Di Noto sees it, “Signal has become an accomplice to evil.”

“The current configuration of encrypted platforms prevents law enforcement from identifying those responsible and therefore hinders justice for victims. An urgent dialogue with digital platforms is needed to find technical and regulatory solutions that ensure both security of personal communications and protection of children from online abuse,” the report asserts.

According to the organization’s analysis of child pornography material found online, the 8- to 12-year-old age group is the most requested, with 1,589,332 minors photographed and 1,678,478 minors filmed on video. The 3- to 7-year-old age group follows, with 404,589 photos and 405,748 videos.

Association Meter also found that technology advancements in AI are increasing demand for child pornography. “Although some contents generated by AI can be considered fakes, they still represent a serious danger because they fuel criminal networks that are already complex to monitor; they objectify minors, contributing to the normalization of abuse; [and] they increase the demand for child pornography content, pushing exploiters to commit real abuses.”

Last month, Association Meter posted a report finding that pedophiles are also starting to create minors with AI. “[Pedophiles] use tools based on artificial intelligence to generate deepfake images of minors, with the aim of virtually ‘undressing’ them.”

In May 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested a Wisconsin resident for the distribution, possession, and production of AI sexually explicit content of minors.

Addressing that case and the growing problem of AI-generated child pornography, the St. Thomas Law Review also published a policy paper last fall titled “Crafting New Boundaries,” which recommended updating existing laws and introducing new statutes to ban AI-generated sexually explicit content that represents minors.

This year’s report also warned about online video games, stating that “there is a growing risk of solicitation: Phone contacts are requested by pedophiles to move the conversation from the video game to a private dimension and requests for nude photos or attempts to establish emotional relationships with vulnerable minors.”

Mass at a cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan, after the U.S. dropped a nuclear weapon on the city in August of 1945. The Japanese bishops asked for international nuclear disarmament in a June 20, 2025, letter. / Credit: Nagasaki City Office (長崎市役所), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, as “the only bishops from a country to have suffered atomic bombings in war,” is urging the international community to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all in 2025.

“As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,” the bishops wrote in a June 20 statement, “[we] carry deeply engraved in our hearts the heavy history and pain that atomic bomb survivors and citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have suffered, and hereby declare our strong commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons.”

Hiroshima is the site of the world’s first atomic attack on Aug. 6, 1945, while Nagasaki was bombed three days later. The bombings resulted in the estimated deaths of 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 people in Nagasaki by the end of 1945 alone.

In the years that followed, many of the survivors in Japan faced leukemia, cancers, and other terrible side effects from radiation, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

In their “Declaration on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons 2025,” the bishops of Japan pledged their commitment to “convey the reality of the atomic bombings to the world and declare the inhumanity of nuclear weapons” as well as to “stand in solidarity with domestic and international movements for the abolition of nuclear weapons and promote actions to achieve this goal.”

The statement came amid rising tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s growing nuclear capabilities.

Two days after the statement’s release, the U.S. carried out airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, with President Donald Trump announcing that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites with bunker-busting bombs.

A ceasefire has since been reached between Israel and Iran, though the terms of the deal remain unclear and reports of initial violations have raised concerns over whether it will be possible to resolve the conflict in the near future.

“The existence of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to all life, as it degrades the dignity of human beings and the world that God created to be very good,” the bishops wrote, urging the international community to remember the lives lost during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. 

“This tragedy must not be repeated,” they said. 

The bishops pointed out that many still suffer the aftereffects of the bombings and that the environmental destruction caused by the explosions has continued to have “an enormous negative impact on global ecosystems.” 

The bishops further slammed nuclear deterrence as an “ineffective” tactic. 

“The concept of nuclear deterrence is not only an ineffective means of resolving conflicts, but it also plunges the world into a ‘security dilemma’ that in reality pushes the world toward the brink of nuclear war. We cannot tolerate this kind of thinking,” they wrote.

“The use of nuclear weapons as a means of intimidation in any conflict situation should never be tolerated under international law and norms,” they adding, stating: “As followers of the Gospel of Christ, we strongly urge the complete abolition of nuclear weapons in order to achieve peace through dialogue and to protect the life and dignity of all people.”

The pontiff warned of the risk of a superficial spiritual life “in an age of hyperconnectivity” in which it becomes increasingly “difficult to experience silence and solitude,” emphasizing that without an encounter with God, “we cannot even truly know ourselves.” / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 24, 2025 / 16:37 pm (CNA).

On June 24, Pope Leo XIV urged hundreds of seminarians from around the world to bear witness to the “tenderness” and “mercy” of Christ in a “world where ingratitude and the thirst for power often prevail.”

He also asked that formation centers for future priests be “a school of affectivity” that teaches them to love as Jesus did.

“The seminary, whatever its form, should be a school of affectivity. Today, in particular, in a social and cultural context marked by conflict and narcissism, we need to learn to love and do so like Jesus,” the pontiff stated on June 24 in the catechesis he gave during his first official meeting with seminarians from the five continents.

As he entered St. Peter’s Basilica, where the encounter took place as part of the Jubilee of Seminarians, Bishops, and Priests, the pope was greeted with enthusiastic applause, and his address was interrupted several times by the seminarians chanting “Pope Leo!”

He even spoke a few words spontaneously in Spanish during the encounter with the future priests, who traveled to Rome this week to participate in the 2025 Jubilee Year.

“I’ll also say a few words in Spanish. Thank you for having courageously accepted the Lord’s invitation to continue being a disciple, to be courageous, to enter the seminary. And do not be afraid,” he said.

The Holy Father exhorted the seminarians to embrace “the sentiments of Christ, to grow in human maturity, especially affective and relational,” and to reject “all masks and hypocrisy.”

Don’t hide your limitations

“With our gaze fixed on Jesus, we must also learn to give a name and a voice to sadness, fear, anguish, and indignation, bringing it all into our relationship with God. Crises, limitations, and weaknesses must not be hidden but rather are occasions of grace and paschal experience,” he counseled.

The pope told the seminarians that the center of every journey of discernment must be the heart, although at times “it can be frightening, because there are also wounds there.”

“Don’t be afraid to care for them, allow yourselves to be helped, because precisely from these wounds will be born the capacity to be close to those who suffer. Without an interior life, a spiritual life is not possible, because God speaks to us precisely there, in the heart,” he emphasized.

The pontiff said that just as Christ loved with a human heart, priests “are called to love with the heart of Christ,” noting that the path toward this configuration with Jesus involves cultivating interiority, prayer, and discernment.

In this regard, he emphasized that they must “learn to recognize the movements of the heart.”

“Not only the quick and immediate emotions characteristic of young people, but above all your sentiments, which help you discover the direction of your life. If you learn to know your heart, you will become increasingly authentic and will no longer need to wear masks,” he added.

He also made it clear that the privileged path to interiority is “prayer.” 

The pontiff warned of the risk of a superficial spiritual life “in an age of hyperconnectivity” in which it becomes increasingly “difficult to experience silence and solitude,” emphasizing that without an encounter with God, “we cannot even truly know ourselves.”

The cry of the poor and oppressed

The Holy Father also asked the seminarians to listen, as Jesus did, to “the often silent cry of the little ones, the poor and the oppressed, and of so many — especially young people — who are searching for meaning in their lives.”

“Nothing of you must be discarded, but everything must be embraced and transformed into the logic of the grain of wheat, so that you may become happy persons and priests, bridges, not obstacles, to the encounter with Christ of those who approach you.”

He also acknowledged that today, engaging in “the fascinating adventure of the priestly vocation” is “not at all easy” and praised their decision to “become gentle and strong heralds of the Word that saves, servants of a Church that is open and has a missionary outreach.”

Witnesses of hope

“The wisdom of Mother Church always seeks the most appropriate forms for the formation of ordained ministers,” the pope noted, but he emphasized that this mission cannot be fulfilled without the active involvement of the seminarians themselves.

“Today you are not just pilgrims but witnesses of hope,” he told them, encouraging them to allow themselves to be molded by the Holy Spirit and to practice a lifestyle marked by “gratitude, tenderness, and mercy.”

On several occasions, Leo XIV took up the image of the heart of Jesus as a symbol of the priesthood according to God and quoted in this regard Pope Francis’ last encyclical, Dilexit Nos: “The heart of Christ is animated by immense compassion: He is the Good Samaritan of humanity.”

Pope Leo concluded by pointing out that seminarians must learn to “feed” the people of God, not only with words but also with the dedication of their own lives.

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