Archbishop Dermot Farrell of the Dublin Archdiocese speaks at a Mass at St. Mary’s in Dublin on Nov. 14, 2025. Farrell spoke at a Mass on Jan. 1, 2026, the World Day of Peace, calling on politicians to promote peace. | Credit: John McElroy/Dublin Archdiocese

Jan 2, 2026 / 12:58 pm (CNA).

In his New Year’s Day homily at Newtownpark Avenue Church in Dublin, Archbishop Dermot Farrell called upon Ireland’s politicians to show leadership in promoting peace and in how they communicate and articulate it.

The archbishop was speaking at a Mass for the World Day of Peace where apostolic nuncio Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor and Archbishop Emeritus Diarmuid Martin were among the concelebrants.

His appeal comes at a time when Ireland’s traditional neutrality has come under scrutiny and as the country prepares to take over the EU presidency in the second half of 2026, where defense will be high on the agenda. The presidency of the Council of the European Union is a role that rotates among the EU member states every six months. Fifty European leaders are due to visit Ireland during its presidency.

“Yes, leaders are important; indeed, good leadership is vital. However, we need to take to heart that good leaders bring people with them,” Farrell said.

Speaking before a congregation that included government ministers and representatives of the Irish Defence Forces, Farrell quoted the late Nobel Prize winner John Hume.

“Many here this morning will remember the conviction and witness of the late John Hume. For John Hume, ‘political leadership [was] like being a teacher. It’s about changing the language of others,’ he said. ‘I say it and go on saying it until I hear the man in the pub saying my words back to me.’”

The archbishop continued: “Ireland has a proud record in international work for peace. Now, in our days, there is a need and opportunity for the Irish state to articulate how this tradition and the values which underpin it will be continued in a rapidly changing international situation.”

Farrell said there is a need as well as an opportunity for Ireland to articulate how this peace tradition and the values that underpin it can continue today.

“It is not enough to invest in defense capacity or to point to how the circumstances of our traditional military neutrality have changed,” he said. “Ireland’s commitment to promoting a sustainable peace needs a new articulation. We are not in an either-or situation. It is not them or us. When we invest in peace everybody wins.”

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris have made repeated statements on Ireland’s neutrality, but that has not prevented them from making the state’s views known on international conflicts.

On Ukraine and Gaza, for example, Ireland has taken a decisive political stance, which has aroused the ire of the Russian and Israeli governments.

Writing in the London’s Daily Telegraph, Barry O’Halloran voiced an opinion shared by some in the U.K. and Europe that Ireland needs to invest to defend itself irrespective of its neutrality: “Irish neutrality is a legacy of Éamon de Valera’s considerable antipathy to all things British and has been the lodestar of Irish foreign policy since the state was founded.”

The Irish state relies on the British Royal Navy to protect Irish coastal waters, and the country’s geographical position at the periphery of Europe makes it strategically of interest to Russia.

Russian submarines have been mapping the transatlantic cables in Irish waters, which carry about 75% of the data traveling between Europe and the United States.

“After decades of underfunding, the Irish Defence Forces have no idea what is going on in the seas around Ireland. The navy doesn’t have the ships, the personnel, or even the electronic equipment to monitor hostile activity in our waters,” Stephen Collins wrote in the Irish Times.

Martin has acknowledged concerns about economic security in terms of gas connectors and subsea cables and dismissed a statement by Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the European Union and Ukraine were attempting to interfere with Ireland’s neutral status.

In his homily on New Year’s Day, Farrell was unequivocal that governments clearly have a critical role to play in shaping the course of international events and the onerous responsibility of pursuing the path of peace even in the face of provocation.

“Enduring peace is born of compassion and respect; it is born of patience, of attention to the other, of the conviction that the one who presents themselves as different, as other, is actually like oneself, is a true sister or brother of mine. This is what our faith means when we say that peace is born of hope.”

A fire tears through the Vondelkerk church tower in Amsterdam on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: Remko DE WAAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images/Netherlands OUT

Jan 2, 2026 / 12:10 pm (CNA).

A Jan. 1 fire destroyed a historic Dutch former Catholic church building in Amsterdam, reducing the famed 150-year-old building mostly to ash in a matter of hours.

Firefighters reportedly responded to a fire at the Vondelkerk, or Vondel Church, around 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day, with the blaze ultimately consuming nearly all of the building and mostly leaving burned walls behind.

The historic church was built in 1880 by Pierre Cuypers, a famed Dutch architect known for designing dozens of churches in the Netherlands. Formerly of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, the building was sold in 1979 and deconsecrated, a formal act by the Church to remove the sacred character of the church so it is no longer considered a dedicated sacred space for divine worship. After a century of use as a sacred space, the building was eventually renovated for use as an event venue.

The property owner Stadsherstel Amsterdam (“Urban Restoration Amsterdam”) said in a statement that the fire caused the church’s tower to fall into the nave. Photos show the building completely gutted as of Jan. 2.

“The loss of this beautiful church touches us all,” the restoration group said. “Our thoughts go out to the local residents, the regular tenants of the church who have lost their workplace, and to the people who had booked the Vondelkerk for their wedding, company party, concert, or other special moments.”

“We are doing everything we can to see what we can do for them in the coming days,” the group said. The organization added it was launching a crowdfunding campaign to help restore the building.

It was not immediately clear what started the fire. No deaths or injuries were reported.

The news comes shortly after a deadly fire in Switzerland killed dozens at a ski resort in Crans-Montana.

Pope Leo XIV expressed mourning over the Swiss fire in a telegram to Sion Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey, offering prayers “to the Lord to welcome the deceased into his dwelling of peace and light, and to support the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”

Crowds gather at SEEK 2026 beneath a photo of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Gigi Duncan/EWTN News

Jan 2, 2026 / 11:21 am (CNA).

In Columbus, Ohio, college students are gathering this week for SEEK 2026, the annual conference hosted by the Catholic student ministry FOCUS. The conference is being held simultaneously in three cities — Columbus; Fort Worth, Texas; and Denver — with more than 26,000 students attending across all locations.

The unifying theme across all three sites is “To the Heights!” drawn from the life of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, the young Italian layman canonized this past September alongside St. Carlo Acutis by Pope Leo XIV.

Frassati, who cared deeply for the poor, received the Eucharist daily, and loved the outdoors, frequently used the phrase “Verso l’alto” and wrote it on photographs taken during mountain climbs as a sign of his lifelong pursuit of heaven.

Acutis, who died from acute promyelocytic leukemia at the age of 15 in 2006, became known for his devotion to the Eucharist and for using technology to share Eucharistic miracles online. Both saints show young Catholics today that holiness is possible in ordinary life.

The limitless love of God

On the conference’s opening night on Jan. 1, speakers began unpacking what the pursuit of “the heights” means in Christian life. Sister Josephine Garrett of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, one of the keynote speakers, framed the theme not as an abstract ideal but as a personal encounter with God.

“The heights that this conference speaks of is only one thing,” Sister Josephine told the Columbus crowd. “It’s the love of God — the love that he has for me, and the love he has for you.”

That love, she suggested, is the force that draws believers upward; not away from the world but rather deeper into it, transformed by God’s presence.

For Father Vincent Bernhard, OP, associate director of the Catholic Center at New York University, Frassati’s witness feels especially relevant for young Catholics today.

A Dominican friar for eight years, Bernhard has attended SEEK three times and recently led 15 young men in a pilgrimage following Frassati’s footsteps through Turin and up to the Rocca di Polona, ending in Rome to pray before his tomb on display for the Jubilee of Youth.

“People are looking for direction,” Bernhard told CNA. “When they come to the Church wanting to live the faith vibrantly, they’re often misunderstood. That was Frassati’s experience too.”

Bernhard described Frassati’s faith as “radical, complete, and holy,” noting that his total gift of self to God often set him apart from others — even within his own family. Yet it was that constant striving for “higher and better things,” he said, that gave Frassati his joy.

“At the end of his life,” Bernhard said, recalling Frassati’s death from polio at age 24, “he understood that his lifelong desire to go ‘to the heights’ meant he was heading toward the height of heights: heaven.”

‘We can be saints, too’

For many students at SEEK, Frassati’s canonization — alongside Acutis’ — has made sainthood feel newly attainable.

“’To the Heights!’ means striving for heaven every day,” said Gabrielle Nofal, 22, a student attending SEEK with others from the University of South Carolina. “Young people are often told we’re not good enough, but seeing saints canonized around our age shows us that we can be saints, too.”

She noted that witnessing their lives inspires her own faith: “It made me want to replicate their authentic joy; especially the way Frassati just loved people with his whole heart. Carlo, too, even evangelized his nanny and teachers at school. They really just radiated the light of the Lord.”

Sisters Carlie, 21, and Cassidy Foos, 20, who traveled from rural northwest Ohio with different campus groups, said the theme helps them reorient their focus toward eternity.

“This world isn’t it,” Cassidy said. “There’s something higher. It’s about connecting and focusing on eternity, not just what’s in front of us.”

Carlie added: “When I think of saints, I usually think of people from long ago. Seeing ones from our time or around our age, like Frassati and Carlo, is so encouraging. They show that holiness is possible now, and that we can live faithfully and joyfully with heaven in mind, no matter what we’re experiencing.”

Jumping to ‘the heights’

The theme is highlighted in playful ways at Columbus’ “Mission Way,” a bustling area of vendors, stands, and activities. Students can try “Jump to the Heights,” sprinting and leaping to hit targets placed high above — an embodiment of the conference’s message of striving upward.

Students from Missouri University of Science and Technology described the theme using Frassati’s own imagery. “It’s like finding that mountain of faith and using SEEK as a stepping stone to grow,” said Blake Schreckenberg, 19.

His classmate Lane Jennings, 19, said SEEK has helped him move beyond a surface-level understanding of Catholicism. “I knew a lot about the faith before, but SEEK goes deeper and ‘to the heights.’ It’s not just answers; it’s understanding how to live faithfully.”

University of Louisville students, including David Deneve, 19, connected the playful activity and theme to a spiritual reflection. “To me, ‘to the heights’ means that God is above us, and we need to keep our eyes focused on him in everything that we do. His will is the best possible path.”

Thomas Davis, 23, added: “Although God meets us at our lowest points, through his love and through the Church, he raises us to something higher. Just like Frassati and Acutis.”

As the conference continues through the week, students will encounter the theme in Mass, confession, Eucharistic adoration, and speaker sessions. Shortly before the opening night Mass in Columbus, Father Kevin Dyer, SJ, offered only a brief glimpse of the excitement that lies ahead.

“We’re going to learn that phrase means together this week,” he said. “To the Heights!”

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful in Piazza della Libertà in August 2025. | Credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock

Jan 2, 2026 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV surprised attendees at SEEK 2026 with a videotaped message encouraging young people to seek after fulfillment they are looking for through personal encounter with Christ.

“‘What do you seek?’ Jesus asked the disciples this question because he knows their hearts,” the Holy Father said, reflecting on the Gospel of John.

Jesus knew the disciples were restless for God and longing for meaning, he said.

“Today, Jesus directs the same question to each one of you. Dear young people, what do you seek? Why are you here at this conference? Perhaps your hearts are also restless, searching for meaning and fulfillment and direction for your lives.”

“The answer,” Leo continued, “is found in a person.”

The pope’s video message was played at the end of opening Mass for the some 26,000 SEEK26 attendees gathered across Columbus, Ohio; Denver; and Fort Worth, Texas. The SEEK conference, Jan. 1 through Jan. 5, is organized by FOCUS.

“The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy and fulfills every one of our deepest desires,” the pope said, noting that just like the disciples, each SEEK participant has “the opportunity to spend time with the Lord,” whether for the first time or in a moment of deepening relationship with him.

“Be open to what the Lord has in store for you,” he said. “The two disciples were initially with Jesus only for a few hours, but that encounter changed their lives forever.”

Pope Leo further noted the Gospel showcases what it means to be a missionary, pointing out that “Andrew could not help but share with his brother what he had found” after meeting Jesus. “I pray that as you leave this conference, all of you will be moved by this same missionary zeal to share with those around you the joy that you have received from a genuine encounter with the Lord,’ he said.

The pope called on participants not to be afraid of the Lord’s calling, emphasizing that “he alone knows the deepest, perhaps hidden longings of your heart, the path that will lead you to true fulfillment.”

‘How many messages did you send?’

In Columbus, Bishop Earl Fernandes introduced Leo’s message after Mass on opening night with a joke about his various attempts to request the presence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S, to deliver a message on behalf of the Holy Father.

After numerous emails, written letters, and visits to the Vatican, Fernandes said he did not receive an answer till just before Christmas. “People say, ‘Well how many messages did you send?’ and I answered, ‘I don’t know, six or seven,” he joked, and was met with a burst of laughter.

“I did get a response, which we will show you now,” he said, and Pope Leo’s message appeared, to many cheers, across the screens in the auditorium.

The night also included keynote speeches by popular Catholic apologist Matt Fradd and Sister Josephine Garrett, CSFN.

Flowers and tributes line the promenade at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, following the Dec. 14, 2025, terrorist attack in which two gunmen killed 16 people during a Hanukkah celebration. | Credit: DaHuzyBru/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jan 2, 2026 / 09:33 am (CNA).

The president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference is calling for a dedicated national inquiry into antisemitism beyond the government’s recently announced security inquiry following the deadly Bondi Beach terrorist attack.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth said in a Jan. 1 statement that the Richardson Review into law enforcement and intelligence agencies was “an important step” but argued that Australia needs “some form of wider, national inquiry with sufficient authority and resourcing which can probe into the deeper issues which lie at the heart of antisemitism.”

“It is only by shining a light into the dark corners of our society — including its political, business, academic, media, religious, and cultural institutions — that we can hope to unmask the antisemitism which might otherwise go unseen, unacknowledged, and unaddressed,” Costelloe said.

Islamist attackers killed 16 people

The archbishop’s call comes 18 days after Islamist gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 40 others. Among the dead were a 10-year-old girl, two rabbis, and a Holocaust survivor.

Australian authorities declared the massacre a terrorist incident and identified the attackers as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram. The elder Akram was killed by police at the scene, while his son remains in critical condition under police guard.

Federal police confirmed the attackers were inspired by the Islamic State, had pledged allegiance to ISIS, and traveled to an Islamist hotspot in the Philippines in November 2025 for what security sources believe was military-style training, though investigators found no evidence of a broader terrorist cell.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the Richardson Review on Dec. 21 to examine the performance of federal law enforcement and intelligence-sharing bodies charged with preventing terrorist attacks.

Pope Leo condemned the violence

“A society that protects its Jewish community is a society that protects everyone,” Costelloe said.

“To fight antisemitism is to commit to a shared humanity in our country that seeks to ‘ advance Australia fair.’”

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney condemned what he called a “festering” atmosphere of antisemitism in Australia and called for an end to “blind prejudice and hatred.”

Fisher, who has Jewish heritage through his great-grandmother, said any attack on Jews “is an attack on all of us” and announced that the Catholic community would “redouble its efforts” to combat antisemitism through education and preaching.

Pope Leo XIV also condemned the violence, entrusting the victims to God in prayer and calling for an end to “these forms of antisemitic violence.”

Nigerian security officers during a military operation ahead of the gubernatorial elections in Benin City, Edo, Nigeria, on Sept. 17, 2020. | Credit: Oluwafemi Dawodu/Shutterstock

Jan 2, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Following U.S. military strikes on Christmas, targeted sanctions and further U.S. action to end persecution of Christians is expected in Nigeria in 2026, according to members of Congress and advocates familiar with the situation. 

Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, has said he will present a report to U.S. President Donald Trump that “outlines concrete ways the United States can partner with Nigeria to bring an end to this bloodshed and protect our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Moore’s office said the congressman would meet with Trump sometime in January and present him a report including 30 possible ways the administration could act to end the persecution of Christians in Nigeria in accordance with Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC).

“During my trip to Nigeria, I met many who had endured unimaginable suffering — women who had watched their children and loved ones brutally murdered in front of them,” Moore said in a statement. “At the same time, our engagement with Nigerian leaders was productive, and we are close to establishing a strategic security framework to confront both ISIS and Boko Haram in the northeast and to stop the targeted violence against Christians in the Middle Belt by Muslim Fulani radicals.”

“I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with leading this official House investigation,” he said. “The report I will present to the president outlines concrete ways the United States can partner with Nigeria to bring an end to this bloodshed and protect our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Trump had threatened military action against Nigeria shortly after announcing the designation. He said in a social media post Nov. 1 if the Nigerian government fails to stop the killing of Christians, “the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.” He has since threatened further military action following the Christmas Day strikes.

After the Dec. 25 strike, Trump said in a statement that he “warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”

Moore’s forthcoming report follows his travel to Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, where he met with Christians who fled from persecution and are living in camps of displaced people. The president had charged Moore with looking into the situation in Nigeria and reporting back to him.

Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow, said she hopes the recent strikes on ISIS will further embolden the Nigerian government to police Islamist Fulani militants in the region, including by confiscating their AK assault weapons.

“These Fulani have observed the free rein given to the terror groups until now and act as though they too have a license to massacre and kidnap Christians,” she said. “Trump now has the attention and cooperation of the Nigerian government in addressing this crisis before it’s too late.”

The president can choose from a menu of sanctions for a CPC-designated country under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, ranging from diplomatic measures to economic sanctions.

Under the IRFA, the U.S president must designate countries that engage in or tolerate “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as CPCs. Violations include torture, prolonged detention without charges, and forced disappearance, according to the State Department.

Shea said she expects the outcome of the CPC designation in 2026 to entail the return of Middle Belt Christians to their homelands with ongoing protection from “an effective security force.” Shea said she further expects to see the U.S. government assist Nigeria in its border security “to stop the influx of Islamist terrorists and weapons from the Sahel,” and for the U.S. government to impose visa sanctions against “Nigerian officials and individuals who are complicit in the atrocities linked to religious freedom violations.”

“The stakes for Christians are very high,” Shea said.

Sean Nelson, senior counsel for global religious freedom with Alliance Defending Freedom International, said he’s “cautiously hopeful” for the outcome of the CPC designation in 2026. “This is really the most I’ve ever seen in terms of D.C. action in order to really try to resolve and fix what is one of the worst persecutor situations in the world,” Nelson said.

For his work with ADF, Nelson said his focus regarding Nigeria in 2026 will be ADF’s challenge of blasphemy laws at the Supreme Court of Nigeria that allow punishment by death.

Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

Jan 2, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Many people who receive assistance through anti-poverty programs faced disruptions in 2025, and Catholic Charities’ wish list for 2026 includes government support for food assistance and housing.

The largest disruption came in October when food stamps received through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were delayed amid the government shutdown. Funding for rental and heating assistance were also disrupted.

Confusion about how to implement a memo in January from the Office of Management and Budget calling for a grant freeze also caused delays in funding related to health care, housing affordability, and food assistance.

Luz Tavarez, vice president of government relations at Catholic Charities USA, said “people get nervous and scared” amid disruptions.

Many Catholic Charities affiliates saw an influx in clients, especially during the shutdown, but Tavarez said there are “very poor people who rely on SNAP subsidies for their meals” and who “can’t get to a Catholic Charities [affiliate] or other food pantry for assistance” when it happens.

Long-term eligibility and funding changes to SNAP were also approved in the tax overhaul signed into law in July. Previous rules only included a work requirement up to age 54, but the law extended those requirements up to age 64. It added stricter and more frequent checks for verifying the work requirements.

It also shifted some funding responsibilities away from the federal government and to the states.

Tavarez expressed concern about some of the SNAP changes as well, saying the government should end “burdensome requirements for individuals and states.”

Under the new law, there are stricter rules for verifying a person’s immigration status for benefits. It also limited which noncitizens could receive SNAP benefits, which excluded some refugees and people granted asylum.

Tavarez expressed concern about such SNAP changes, encouraging the government to permit “humanitarian-based noncitizens” to receive those benefits.

Overall the 2025 tax law gave the biggest boost to the richest families while poorer families might get a little less help than before, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The bill added a work requirement for Medicaid recipients, and this will not take effect until 2027. Under the previous law, there was no work requirement for this benefit. It also shifts some Medicaid funding requirements onto the states.

Tavarez said Catholic Charities has “concerns with how [work requirements are] implemented” moving forward but does not oppose the idea outright: “There’s dignity in work so the Church isn’t necessarily opposed to people working as long as there’s some opportunities for people to do other things and other issues are taken into consideration.”

She also expressed concerns about funding shifts: “We know that not every state views things like SNAP and Medicaid as a good thing. We don’t know how states are going to balance their budget and prioritize these programs.”

2026 wish list

Looking forward to 2026, Tavarez said Catholic Charities hopes the government will restore full funding to the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks and bulk food distribution programs and ensure that funding is protected for school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made policy changes in November that would focus its homelessness funding on “transitional” housing instead of “permanent” housing. This move is facing legal challenges.

President Donald Trump’s administration initially sought to cut federal housing assistance and shift much of those costs to states, but this was ultimately not included in the final version of the 2025 tax law.

In December, Trump promised an “aggressive” housing reform plan that focuses on reducing costs. At this time, the specifics of that proposal have not been announced. The increased cost to buy a new home has outpaced the growth in wages for decades.

Tavarez said Catholic Charities is focused on housing affordability in 2026 and that the solution must be multifaceted. This includes “building and developing affordable housing,” “a tax credit for developers,” “more affordable housing units,” and subsidies and Section 8 vouchers for low-income Americans, she said.

“We recognize that there’s a real crisis — I think everybody does in a bipartisan way — but there needs to be a real bipartisan approach and it’s going to require money,” Tavarez said.

Tax credits and economic trends

Some changes to the tax code included in the 2025 tax law are geared toward helping low-income Americans.

Specifically, the law reduced taxes taken from tips and overtime work. It also increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,200 and tied the credit to inflation, meaning that it will increase each year based on the rate of inflation.

Tavarez characterized the changes to the child tax credit as a “win” and hopes it can be expanded further.

The economy has been a mixed bag, with November unemployment numbers showing a 4.6% rate. In November of last year, it was slightly lower at 4.2%.

Inflation has gone down a little, with the annual rate being around 2.7%. In 2024, it was around 2.9%. The average wage for workers also outpaced inflation, with hourly wages increasing by 3.5%, which shows a modest inflation-adjusted increase of 0.8%.

Credit: Ivan Galashchuk/Shutterstock

Jan 2, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The rate of married couples filing for divorce has begun to trend downward in recent years, but the rate of “gray divorce” — divorces of couples in their 60s or older — has continued to climb.

A July 2025 report from the Institute for Family Studies found that about 40% of today’s first marriages will end in divorce — much less than the oft-cited estimates of about 50%. This is partly because marriages are more selective and some younger people are waiting longer to marry or shunning marriage altogether.

In spite of that overall downward trend, the report explains that the 40% estimate is based on the assumption that divorce rates will remain stable. It acknowledges though that “prediction is no easy task,” and if later-year divorce rates continue to surge, the number of divorces may be higher.

A 2024 study by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University found that the divorce rate among married couples aged 65 or older nearly tripled over the past three decades, from about 5.2% in 1990 to 15.2% in 2022. Divorce among older couples is frequently called gray divorce.

Julia Dezelski, associate director of marriage and family life for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, told CNA the factors leading to gray divorce are often different from the factors that lead to divorce among younger or middle-aged married couples.

“The new challenges [are] faced by couples who find themselves newly ‘alone’ with themselves after their kids have left home for college, careers, etc.,” she said. “As empty nesters, the couple is faced with a new season of ‘rediscovery’ as a couple, and this can be a source of stress as well as disillusionment as they learn that the years of child-rearing and careerism may have changed them as individuals and as a couple.”

Dezelski said other factors include health and hormonal changes that come with age, and many couples are unprepared for changes that accompany perimenopause and menopause, and this can sometimes cause “greater tension between the couple.”

Gray divorce, she said, can exacerbate the feelings of “lowliness and social isolation” and can be “harder to navigate in some ways.” The impact on the couple’s grown children is different than it would be on young children but is “always significant and a form of trauma” regardless of the age of the children, she said.

“For the older children of divorce, it can be particularly hard to commit to a similar life journey with confidence if your own parents’ marriage is unraveling or to explain to their own children why their grandparents are separating,” she said.

What do Catholic experts suggest?

Although many of the root causes for gray divorce are distinct from the root causes of divorce for younger couples, Sheila Oprysko — who serves on the leadership team for the Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) — told CNA that many of the solutions are “very similar.”

WWME is a Catholic organization that offers retreats for married couples to help them build their connection with each other and with God.

For couples in their 60s, one issue can often be that they “really haven’t communicated with each other” properly in years, she said. This is often because their efforts focused on their children, their house, their jobs, and other things.

Her husband, Peter Oprysko, who also serves on the leadership team, told CNA gray divorce is often “because couples have lost track of each other — their life has been about everything but their relationship.”

Peter said: “We have seen an increase in the number of older couples attending the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend Experience.” He said a goal is to teach them “a form of communication that enables couples to connect at a different level — at a feeling level.”

Sheila added that “sharing your feelings is one of the tools,” as well as a need to “reevaluate where we spend our time [and] how do we even communicate to one another?”

“And when things go awry, we talk about the importance of healing and forgiveness,” she said. “... Not just saying ‘I’m sorry,’ but saying ‘please forgive me’ and the other person acknowledging that yes they are forgiven.”

She said the inability to communicate amid life changes can cause couples to “make judgments about each other,” adding: “It’s easier to blame your spouse for the change rather than look at what the change really was.”

In addition to better communication and hearing each other out, Sheila said married couples need to reflect on “the graces of the sacrament [of marriage and] the beauty of the sacrament.”

“A couple’s love is a reflection of God’s love for all to see,” she said.

They also emphasized the importance of not simply praying for each other but also praying with each other.

“God really enters into the relationship [through that process],” Sheila said. “So it becomes the three.”

Dezelski said for older couples it’s important to “begin with gratitude” and review the greatest blessings of the marriage and to “continue with hope” and “renew the reason for your love: Reflect on what drew you together by God’s grace on your marriage day.”

“Don’t let the sun set on your resentment, anger, [or] frustration: Give and ask for forgiveness,” she added. “The new year is a wonderful time to begin anew by seeking God’s mercy in the sacraments.”

The Opryskos pointed to their programs as options for married couples who are struggling with the thought of divorce. Dezelski also recommended seeking faith-based therapy through Alpha Omega Clinic or MyCatholicDoctor and other Catholic resources.

Micah Kim, the 5-year-old son of Catholic speaker and influencer Paul Kim, passed away Dec. 31, 2025. | Credit: Screenshot of Paul Kim’s Facebook page, last visited Jan. 1, 2026

Jan 1, 2026 / 16:24 pm (CNA).

Micah Kim, the 5-year-old son of popular Catholic speaker Paul Kim, has passed away, Kim announced in a tearful social media post Thursday afternoon.

Micah died on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, after more than a week on life support following a rare medical emergency brought on by a severe case of the flu.

“Micah Joseph is beginning the new year basking in the never-ending glory, love, and peace of God,” Kim wrote in the post, which was accompanied by a two-part video. “Micah has been very busy already, as I see the Lord using him and sending him on missions to bring millions of people closer to God.”

Kim asked for privacy for his family as they grieve but said he felt he had to provide an update to the millions of people praying for Micah and his family throughout the ordeal. He shared that over the last week and a half, his social media account has been viewed more than 50 million times by people from all over the world offering prayers for the situation.

Micah was rushed to the hospital a week and a half ago after experiencing severe internal bleeding and other complications. Kim, a devoted husband and father of six known for his engaging talks on faith and family at Catholic conferences, first alerted followers via social media on Dec. 22: “My son Micah is having a medical emergency right now and headed to the hospital in an ambulance.”

By Dec. 24, Micah underwent emergency chest surgery to address the bleeding, which successfully stabilized his heart function. Kim shared on social media that after the surgery, his son’s heart began beating independently and his vital signs remained steady.

Doctors gradually reduced life support, with Micah’s lungs showing slow improvement on a ventilator. However, a subsequent MRI revealed severe brain damage, leading physicians to conclude there is “no medical possibility” of recovery.

“I couldn’t be a prouder father,” Kim said in his Jan. 1 post. “This reality gives me great joy and hope in the midst of sorrow. Our hearts are broken; but we trust in the Lord. Please pray for my family and me as we learn how to live by faith and not by sight.”

Cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, and laypeople — including many well-known Catholic media personalities — had messaged Kim and told him they were praying for his son, he said. Kim had prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet live with followers during the ordeal, and the family had asked for a miracle through the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen.

In addition to an outpouring of prayer for Micah, a GoFundMe campaign was begun to support the family amid mounting medical costs.

“Thank you for all the love, prayers, and compassion that a countless number of you have showed us,” Kim wrote. “May God truly bless you. Your prayers for Micah were answered, but in a different way than what we had all hoped for. God healed and welcomed him into eternal life. He is where we all want to be.”

Amira Abuzeid contributed to this story.

Caracas skyline. | Credit: Olga Berrios, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jan 1, 2026 / 10:00 am (CNA).

2026 dawned in Venezuela in an atmosphere of ambivalence: sorrows and joys, tensions and consolations, and more questions than certainties. The work of the Catholic Church goes on within the country’s turbulent reality, a task that is far from easy due to “the autocratic drift of national politics,” as the bishops stated at the beginning of last year.

This past December in their Christmas message, the Venezuelan bishops did not hesitate to reaffirm that the “joyful experience” of Jesus’ birth is “overshadowed” by the turbulent national reality. Thus, people go about their daily lives enveloped in a barrage of news, rumors, and hardships.

The collapse of the economy and basic services, which seems to have no solution, is causing great suffering for the most vulnerable. The latent threat of foreign military intervention on the national territory continues due to the severe tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The worsening political and ideological persecution by the socialist regime is evidenced by the hundreds of prisoners — men and women without distinction, including minors — who are being held in the most deplorable conditions. All of this looms over the new year and the Catholic Church, which has experienced firsthand the worst of the current situation in Venezuela.

So what does 2026 hold for Catholicism in Venezuela? ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, spoke with analysts and experts to consider what the coming months will bring.

Nicaragua, a model to follow?

In February, ACI Prensa asked Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate, archbishop of Valencia and president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, whether the episcopate believed the country was heading toward the type of persecution against the Catholic faith like what has been experienced in Nicaragua for several years under the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo.

González simply replied that the bishops pray and work so that the Church does not go through a similar situation. The president of the bishops’ conference said the bishops’ goal is for everyone in Venezuela to be able to “live in harmony and peace” and for the country to have “the conditions of freedom, work, and pluralistic religious expression” that the majority aspires to.

Today, following months of systematic harassment and abuse suffered by the Venezuelan bishops to the point of humiliation, those aspirations remain elusive.

Víctor Maldonado, a Venezuelan political scientist, told ACI Prensa that the relationship between the socialist government and the Catholic Church is clearly “very bad,“ despite the fact that the bishops’ conference has tried to maintain a stance where “a certain moderation and self-censorship“ prevail in order to avoid “falling into a situation where they lose everything.“

“They are subjected to contempt and insults every time they speak out as a body,“ Maldonado explained, which is why they are currently focused on “holding their ground“ to try to avoid “the brutal persecution that has taken place in Nicaragua.“

Despite the prudence of the episcopate, in the last months of 2025 it was violently persecuted by the socialist government, which has been increasingly called into question and isolated internationally. Cardinal Baltazar Porras, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, was perhaps the most prominent voice in the Church criticizing the situation in Venezuela, and thus has earned the particular enmity of the Maduro regime.

“Its essence is totalitarian and atheist. Nicaragua is the testing ground for extreme measures. And a clear demonstration of what they are capable of doing. In this sense, Nicaragua has served as a showcase for intimidation,” Maldonado said, referring to the so-called “socialism of the 21st century,” which gained worldwide prominence when the late Hugo Chávez was president of the country.

Like Nicaragua, a persecuted Church

Martha Patricia Molina is a Nicaraguan lawyer and researcher, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” in which she compiled the prohibition of more than 16,500 processions and acts of piety as well as more than 1,000 attacks by the Nicaraguan dictatorship against the Catholic Church. Her report was delivered to Pope Leo XIV in October 2025.

Molina noted that when dictatorships like those of Ortega and Maduro identify a de facto power that is not supporting their policies, “they begin to attack it until it disappears.” When, in Venezuela, as in Nicaragua, all resistance by civil society disappears, then the socialist regime “will focus its fury and punitive power against the prelates.”

“It’s important that Venezuelans begin now to study and identify the patterns of repression that have been used in Nicaragua to attack religious freedom,” Molina said, emphasizing the urgency of “instilling in laypeople and clergy the importance of citizens protesting the government.”

Similarly, Maldonado noted that the Maduro regime has gradually incorporated “efforts to delegitimize the Catholic religion,” especially through the promotion of Santería and Protestantism, to “demonstrate that they, through the arbitrary use of resources and power, can determine religious hegemony at any given moment.”

Furthermore, the political scientist pointed out that the Maduro regime has also used “certain openly revolutionary priests” to promote its political agenda. Perhaps the most representative case is that of Jesuit Father Numa Molina, who “behaves like a committed party member, regardless of the interests and positions of the Church.”

“I believe that the bishops’ conference is still a respected voice that has a tradition of assuming the prophetic role that belongs to the Church. Like all Venezuelans, it is subject to the same threats of persecution and repression,” Maldonado said, although he noted that at this moment “it’s not a unified voice” and that “the close relationship of some pastors with those who violate rights and persecute with such ferocity” is causing scandal among believers.

“This struggle over what is the Church’s position weakens their moral authority, and Catholics probably don’t feel fully supported in their suffering and anguish,” he added.

Molina, however, emphasized that the episcopate has been “united and alongside the unprotected and persecuted people.”

“Of course, there will be instances — which also need to be identified — of priests backing the regime. In Nicaragua, we have identified all of them; they are bishops and priests (a few) who have gone so far as to claim that there is no religious persecution in Nicaragua,” she said.

The autocrat vs. the religious leader

In a statement to ACI Prensa, Marcela Szymanski, an expert on religious freedom at the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, stated that an autocrat “is a man thirsty for power who seeks by all means, especially with weapons and money, to increase his wealth and territorial control.”

Szymanski explained that the religious leader is the one most feared by the autocrat, who will try to co-opt him in any way possible. If unsuccessful, “the autocrat will eliminate him and his community using both violent and nonviolent tactics.” In Latin America specifically, autocratic regimes of a Marxist bent usually ally themselves “with organized crime to eliminate their opponents.”

“In countries where the rule of law has collapsed and human rights violations are increasing, this alliance of Marxist ideology with criminal organizations has become more evident,” she said.

In Nicaragua, Szymanski continued, the Ortega dictatorship “doesn’t care about world opinion,” only about its own survival. That is why it has decisively ramped up its persecution of the Church. In Venezuela, on the other hand, “where the alliance of left-wing parties with organized crime is clear, international reputation is still valued, but less and less.”

“The victim, in this case the Church in Nicaragua and Venezuela, cannot be blamed for having the wrong religion, or for being unwise for not obeying the autocrat,” she said. Their situation is precarious because “they do not have — and will not have — weapons or money, therefore they cannot stand on an equal footing with the autocrat.”

“The men and women who make up the Church must persevere in their faith, because reason cannot comprehend the motive behind such blatant aggression. Resilience, hope, and a life of prayer are what no one can take away from the faithful, even if they close churches and schools and take away hospitals and nursing homes,” Szymanski added.

“The priests and sisters who persevere alongside them are the pillars of this suffering Church,” she emphasized.

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