U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Dec. 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 18:09 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump honored the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, which appears to be the first time an American president formally recognized the Catholic holy day.

The presidential statement recognized the role Mary played in the salvation of humanity and the importance she has in American history. The statement does, however, contain one theological error about the Incarnation. It says God became man when Christ was born, although Catholic doctrine recognizes God becoming man at the Incarnation: when Mary conceived him.

“Today, I recognize every American celebrating Dec. 8 as a holy day honoring the faith, humility, and love of Mary, mother of Jesus and one of the greatest figures in the Bible,” the statement said. Trump, who is not Catholic and describes himself as a "non-denominational Christian," has forged strong bonds with a broad range of Christians and referenced religious holidays and symbols in ways that resonate with supporters.

CNA could not find similar proclamations on the Immaculate Conception from other presidents, including none from the only two Catholic presidents: John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden. Other presidents have spoken about Mary and the Immaculate Conception, sometimes in messages relating to Christmas or other topics, but not in a formal recognition of this feast.

“On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Catholics celebrate what they believe to be Mary’s freedom from original sin as the mother of God,” the statement read.

The feast day celebrates the miracle in which Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Every person — with the exception of Mary and Jesus Christ — receives the hereditary stain of original sin, which was brought onto humanity through the first sin of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Mary’s importance to humanity and the United States

The presidential statement said Mary’s agreement at the Annunciation to conceive and bear the child Christ was “one of the most profound and consequential acts of history,” and Mary “heroically accepted God’s will with trust and humility.” 

It cites Luke 1:38: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” 

“Mary’s decision forever altered the course of humanity,” the statement read, adding that Christ “would go on to offer his life on the Cross for the redemption of sins and the salvation of the world.”

President Trump's statement also describes the annunciation by the archangel Gabriel, who calls the Blessed Mother “favored one” and tells her “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.”

Later in the document, the presidential message says “we remember the sacred words that have brought aid, comfort, and support to generations of American believers in times of need,” and includes the text of the Hail Mary.

Trump's statement also acknowledges the “distinct role” Mary has played “in our great American story.”

The president's statement also specifically references Bishop John Carroll’s consecration of the United States to the Blessed Mother. Carroll was the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence. In addition, the statement references the annual Mass of Thanksgiving in New Orleans on Jan. 8, in which Catholics celebrate Mary’s perceived assistance to U.S. troops under the command of General Andrew Jackson in winning the Battle of New Orleans.

The message notes that “American legends” including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and Venerable Fulton Sheen “held a deep devotion to Mary” and that many American churches, hospitals, universities, and schools bear her name. It adds that many Americans will also celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12.

“As we approach 250 years of glorious American independence, we acknowledge and give thanks, with total gratitude, for Mary’s role in advancing peace, hope, and love in America and beyond our shores,” the presidential message reads.

The presidential message also recognizes Pope Benedict XV dedicating a statue of Mary, Queen of Peace, to encourage Christians “to look to her example of peace by praying for a stop to the horrific slaughter” occurring in World War I, which then ended just a few months later.

“Today, we look to Mary once again for inspiration and encouragement as we pray for an end to war and for a new and lasting era of peace, prosperity, and harmony in Europe and throughout the world,” Trump’s statement added.

Catholics react to Trump’s message

Chad Pecknold, a political science professor at The Catholic University of America, said he welcomed the president’s recognition of the feast day.

“The more America publicly honors Christian feast days such as Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, and the more we remember our greatest saints, as well as our national heroes, the better oriented our nation will be to God,” he said. “This is the spiritual key to raising up the Res Americana for the next 250 years.”

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), called the presidential message “a jaw-droppingly historic event.” For a president to celebrate Mary as “full of grace” and celebrate “the centrality of the Incarnation,” she said “goes beyond anything that Americans have ever heard in presidential public speeches.”

“This pronouncement, along with the first American pope in world history, marks a watershed moment in American cultural history,” Hanssen said. 

Caleb Henry, a political science professor at Franciscan University, told CNA Trump’s message appears to be an extension of the president’s America Prays campaign, which asks Americans to pray for the country ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year.

Henry said the initiative seeks to “reconnect America’s people of faith with ... the signing of the Declaration of Independence.” He said the Immaculate Conception statement appears to be “a message to America’s Catholic faithful,” that the country’s history “while complicated, is rooted in these truths of natural law, laws of nature, and of nature’s God.”

“We have a Marian tradition here in our country as well,” he said. 

The statement comes as the nation's Catholic bishops have welcomed some of Trump’s policies, such as regarding gender ideology. Bishops also have expressed dismay about indiscriminate immigration enforcement and a plan to expand in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a unified special pastoral message against “indiscriminate mass deportations” on Nov. 12.

Henry said a message like the one issued on the Immaculate Conception is “a typical Trump move” by “ignoring all existing hierarchies and going straight to the people.”

Theological error in the message

The statement contains a theological error. After discussing the Annunciation, the message states “nine months later, God became man when Mary gave birth to a son, Jesus.”

Christ became man at the moment of the Incarnation, when Mary conceived him, not when he was born. 

Father Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, told CNA that although early councils clarified this teaching, the misunderstanding “endures today.” He said: “Even among Christians, sadly. It remains a favorite of poets.” 

He noted that even in “Silent Night,” the verse that says “Jesus, Lord, at thy birth” falls into this error because: “Jesus is Lord before his birth. He is Lord at his conception.”

“Wherever it appears, the error may be pious and well-intentioned but it remains theologically inaccurate,” Guilbeau said.

Spectators gather in Nativity Square during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem on Dec. 6, 2025. / Credit: HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 17:39 pm (CNA).

For the past two years — while the war in Gaza has been taking place — all Christmas celebrations have been canceled in Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born. However after the recent ceasefire, the famous town decided to have its Christmas celebrations return, starting with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in front of the historic Church of the Nativity on Dec. 6. 

“It’s been a bad two years of silence; no Christmas, no jobs, no work,” Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati said in an interview with the BBC. “We’re all living here from tourism, and tourism was down to zero.” 

He added: “Some may say it’s not appropriate and others say it’s appropriate, but deep inside my heart, I felt that this was the right thing to do because Christmas should never be stopped or canceled. This is the light of hope for us.”

Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, two neighboring towns, will also be having Christmas tree lightings in the coming days. Hotels are also receiving more bookings from tourists as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Despite the ceasefire, actions of war continue in the area. Father Gabriel Romanelli, the priest at Holy Family Church in Gaza, the only Catholic church in the area, shared on X that on the same day of the Bethlehem tree lighting a bomb went off approximately 200 meters (650 feet) from his parish. No one was injured.

On July 17, Romanelli sustained an injury to his leg during a bombing on his parish that left three dead and 15 injured, including himself. 

“Thanks be to God more people weren’t harmed,” Romanelli said in an exclusive interview with EWTN on July 24. 

He called the experience “shocking.”

“That iconic cross you’ve seen — it’s about 2 meters [6.5 feet] tall — was heavily damaged,” the priest said of the crucifix fixed atop the church structure.

“Shrapnel flew in all directions,” he recounted. 

“The area is quite small, and while we hear bombings daily and metal fragments often fall, there hadn’t been such a severe incident since the war began,” Romanelli continued, adding: “The recent strike has left a deep mark.”

The Blessed Mother and the Child Jesus. / Credit: Zwiebackesser/Shutterstock

National Catholic Register, Dec 8, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA).

One of the Catholic Church’s foremost associations of Mariologists has issued a strongly critical response to Mater Populi Fidelis, a recently published Vatican doctrinal note that has been criticized for its diminution of some long-established devotional Marian titles.

In a 23-page document published Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the International Marian Association Theological Commission (IMATC) points to various elements of Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People of God”) that it calls erroneous, “unfortunate,” and says are in need of “substantial clarification and modification.” 

They describe a significant element of the document as resembling Protestant rather than Catholic theology and urge, “in a spirit of true synodal dialogue,” for Mater Populi Fidelis to be reevaluated.

Published on Nov. 4 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mater Populi Fidelis teaches that Mary’s unique cooperation in salvation must always be understood as entirely dependent on, and subordinate to, Christ’s one mediation and universal redemptive sacrifice, rejecting any formulations that would blur this asymmetry.

The doctrinal note reaffirms approved Marian titles such as Mother of God and Mother of the Church but judges the titles “Co‑Redemptrix” and certain uses of “Mediatrix of All Graces” pastorally and theologically ambiguous, discouraging their use in official teaching or liturgy, while not denying the truths they seek to express. 

In Catholic theology, the title “Co‑Redemptrix” expresses Mary’s unique and entirely subordinate cooperation in Christ’s one redemptive work, above all through her fiat at the Incarnation and her union with his sacrifice, without adding a second redeemer alongside him. The title “Mediatrix of All Graces” signifies that every grace won by Christ the sole mediator is distributed by God through Mary’s maternal intercession, so that she participates as a secondary, dependent channel in the communication of Christ’s grace to humanity. 

The 2010 edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia states that the title Co-Redemptrix first appeared in Catholic literature toward the end of the 14th century and that “Catholics no longer question its legitimacy” as the title has been used at various times in the intervening centuries, including by the Holy See in the 20th century. The encyclopedia says the genesis of the title Mediatrix of All Graces is “rather obscure” but dates back to eighth-century saints and “was applied to Our Lady with ever-increasing frequency until it became generally accepted in the 17th century.” 

The DDF’s diminution of the titles has drawn considerable criticism from Mariologists concerned that it adopts a minimalist view of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in salvation. The concern is that it could lessen popular devotion to her and risks ending new Marian dogmas related to these titles after decades of Mariological work. Still, others have praised it as a clarifying and ecumenically unifying move, re-centering Marian language clearly on Christ and discouraging titles they believe can be easily misunderstood. 

The International Marian Association comprises theologians, bishops, clergy, religious, and lay leaders who seek to promote full Marian truth and devotion throughout the world.

The association’s theological commission comprises cardinals, bishops, and over 40 internationally respected theologians and Mariologists such as U.S. scholars Scott Hahn, Mark Miravalle, and Michael Sirilla.

It begins by praising some of the positive aspects of the DDF document. They like its strong emphasis in affirming Christ as the sole divine redeemer, important scriptural references to Mary’s cooperation in salvation history, and that it “affirms in general the cooperation of the faithful in the saving work of Christ,” and refers to “the singular and distinct cooperation of Mary.”

But the authors, recalling their canonical right to express their concerns to pastors, soon list a plethora of criticisms, noting from the outset that although an expression of the ordinary magisterium, the doctrinal note is on a “lower level” than direct pronouncements from the pope. 

Co-Redemptrix title 

On the title Co-Redemptrix, the theologians push back against the note’s warning that it is “always inappropriate” — or, according to some translations, “always inopportune” — to use the title to define Mary’s cooperation. The DDF note says that the title “risks obscuring Christ’s unique salvific mediation” and can therefore cause confusion. 

The IMATC counters that statement stating that if the title Co-Redemptrix is always inappropriate or inopportune to use, “then the popes who approved or used the title were acting in an inappropriate and imprudent manner.” They add: “If it is always inappropriate to use the title, then the saints and mystics who used this title were irresponsible and inappropriate.” 

The theologians welcome a later clarification from DDF prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández who told the journalist Diane Montagna on Nov. 25 that the title Co-Redemptrix is, “from now on,” “always inappropriate” to use in “official documents of the magisterium,” but it can still be used in discussions, prayer groups, and private devotion.

But the IMATC says the document still has a “substantial omission of the redemptive value of Mary’s unique active cooperation in objective redemption, as well as what we see to be an unnecessary prohibition of the legitimate Co-Redemptrix title from future official documents of the Holy See and from liturgical texts.” The move, they say, represents “an anti-development of doctrine.”

The theologians dismiss various other claims in the DDF note, including its argument that the Marian titles are best not used as they are “unhelpful” as they require “repeated explanations.” Many theological terms require perennial explanation, counters the commission, and cite as examples the title “Mother of God,” the Holy Trinity, transubstantiation, and papal infallibility. 

They note how, despite ruling not to use the term Co-Redemptrix, the DDF acknowledges the title has been used for centuries, and stress that Co-Redemptrix had been preferred instead of Redemptrix precisely to emphasize Mary’s subordination and dependency on Christ, the Redeemer.

The theologians cite how often popes have used the title and state that it is “unfortunate” these examples “are not given greater respect or presence in the actual text.” They also recall previous warnings against the contents of the DDF note, quoting Father Rene Laurentin, regarded as “one of the world’s foremost students” of Mariology, who wrote in 1951 it would be “gravely temerarious to attack the legitimacy” of the title Co-Redemptrix, and another respected Mariologist, Jesuit Father J.A. De Aldama, who wrote in 1950 that it is “not permitted to doubt its appropriateness.” 

Citing prominent theologians of the past, they dispute the DDF’s claim that the Second Vatican Council refrained from using the title, calling the claim “not entirely accurate,” as Lumen Gentium, especially No. 58, “explicitly affirms the doctrine of Mary as Co-Redemptrix without using the term.” 

They also stress that previous popes, such as Pius XI, Pius XII, and John Paul II, have explained the meaning of the title and taught that Mary is the “new Eve.” The DDF document, they conclude, “is not merely discouraging the Co-Redemptrix title; it is also failing to teach in a positive way Mary’s truly redemptive role with and under Jesus in redemption as put forth by the papal magisterium.” 

They further contend that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s negative response in 1996 to a dogmatic definition of Mary as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces “concerned the maturity” of the proposed dogma, “not a repudiation of the titles,” and he never forbade use of the term.

Mediatrix of All Graces

Concerning Mary’s title as Mediatrix of All Graces, the IMATC criticized the DDF note for seeking to reduce Mary’s maternal mediation only to intercession and for omitting the teaching of 12 popes, including Pope Francis, over four centuries, that upholds Mary’s universal mediation, each of which it lists. 

The Marian association also notes that the DDF failed to mention three pontifical commissions established by Pius XI that resulted in 2,000 pages of theological support in favor of the papal definition of Mary’s universal mediation of grace. After presenting further arguments in support of the title, the IMATC asks that the “long-standing doctrinal teaching” of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces be affirmed and celebrated. 

Mater Populi Fidelis states that Marian mediation should not be understood in terms of producing grace, but while the IMATC agrees that true grace only comes from God, it says the note “fails to affirm the active and causal secondary mediation of Mary in the distribution of graces” — something, it says, that previous popes such as Pius X clearly taught. It states that the DDF note “again does not appear reconcilable with papal doctrine.”  

Further criticisms of the DDF note the IMATC makes is that the document misses a “true presentation of Mary’s authentic motherhood” and Mary’s intimate union with Christ in the sanctification of souls — a teaching St. John Paul II espoused in his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater. Furthermore, it says the DDF note minimizes Mary’s merits and, it believes, therefore “undermines all human merit and cooperation in the work of redemption.” 

The IMATC expresses concern that by lessening the magisterial doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces, the DDF has thrown many Marian practices, such as those connected with the Miraculous Medal, the rosary, and scapular, “into unnecessary confusion and doubt.” It asks how religious communities who use the Co-Redemptrix title in their name are to proceed, and how the 10 million members strong Legion of Mary will respond given that the organization’s handbook has 10 references to Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces. 

More importantly, the theologians believe the document will undermine the faithful’s confidence in the papal magisterium, and notes “confusion and frustration” in this area “are already being voiced.” 

A week before the publication of the IMATC response, Mariologists launched a filial appeal to Pope Leo XIV, noting the “dismay and consternation” among many of the faithful following the publication of Mater Populi Fidelis and calling on Leo to restore the “honor, truth, and special veneration owed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.” 

Protestant more than Catholic 

The IMATC theologians contend that it is “precisely the teachings” of Mary as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix that “constitute the perpetual doctrine of the Church” as they have been taught from Scripture to the Patristic model of Mary as the new Eve, up to modern and contemporary popes. 

They believe the risks mentioned by the DDF “appear more theoretical than real” and add that, on the contrary, the titles become “excellent opportunities for authentic Catholic evangelization” along with other key Catholic truths that require appropriate explanations. 

Catholic theology affirms that God willed the Virgin Mary to have a role in the work of redemption, the theologians stress, and God wished to associate the contribution of an immaculate human woman and mother to his saving design. “To propose, instead, a redemption based on ‘Jesus alone’ bereft of any human redemptive value on the part of Mary, seems to resemble more a Protestant theology of redemption than that of the Catholic Church,” the IMATC says.

They close by stating it is their “sincere hope and prayer” that their response will contribute, “in a spirit of true synodal dialogue, to a reevaluation of Mater Populi Fidelis” and that such a reevaluation “will lead to a new expression of the magisterium concerning these critically important Marian doctrines and titles in greater consistency, development, and harmony with the doctrinal teachings of previous popes.” 

“Among such teachings,” it says, “are those that recognize the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces.”

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

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, former secretary of Pope Benedict XVI. / Credit: Alan Holdren/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, former secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, said he hopes the beatification process will begin soon for the German pontiff, who died on Dec. 31, 2022.

“Personally, I have great hopes that this process will be opened,” the archbishop and current apostolic nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia said in an interview with the television channel K-TV, which aired Dec. 7.

According to current Church regulations, a potential beatification process for Pope Benedict XVI could only begin five years after his death unless the current pope grants special authorization before then, as Joseph Ratzinger himself did with John Paul II, waiving this waiting period.

In the excerpt from the interview, published by the German Catholic media outlet Katholisch, Gänswein emphasized that one of Pope Benedict’s essential qualities for understanding the faith was joy.

The archbishop noted that, for the German pontiff, if faith does not lead to joy, “something is not right in one’s life of faith. Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, is a theologian of joy.”

Gänswein also said that another important lesson from the late pope is that “we must not compromise on the essentials; rather, we must allow ourselves to be shaped by the Lord, by the faith of the Church.”

In the interview, Gänswein also spoke about the tensions that arose after the publication of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes — with which Pope Francis restricted the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass — and encouraged efforts to overcome these tensions.

In 2007, Pope Benedict liberalized the opportunities to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass with his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

“I believe that Pope Benedict’s wise decision was the right one, and this path should be continued without difficulty or restriction,” Ratzinger’s former secretary said. 

On Oct. 25 of this year, Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura, celebrated a solemn Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, an event that seemingly demonstrated Pope Leo XIV’s openness to this rite.

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

Republican Gov. William Lee, pictured in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., in September 2025, should stop all executions and support an end to the death penalty, faith leaders said at a Dec. 8, 2025, press conference hosted by the Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP). / Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 15:58 pm (CNA).

Faith leaders called for the halt of state executions and a complete end to the death penalty in Tennessee.

“Together, the Catholics in Tennessee, led by the three bishops, the three dioceses of the Tennessee Catholic Conference, call for a halt to executions and call for an end to the death penalty in Tennessee,” said Rick Musacchio, executive director of the Tennessee Catholic Conference (TCC).

Tennessee faith leaders urged Republican Gov. William Lee to stop all executions and support an end to the death penalty at a Dec. 8 press conference hosted by the Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP). 

Opposition to the death penalty “is based on the Catholic Church’s long-standing Gospel foundation, our Catholic social teaching, which respects the dignity of human life from its beginning of conception until its natural land,” Musacchio said.

“The death penalty is simply an affront to that Gospel value. That has been a refrain of the last four popes of the Catholic Church,” he said. “St. Pope John Paul II … began calling the death penalty ‘simply unnecessary as a means to society reaching its goals.’”

“St. John Paul recognized that … modern American society has the ability to punish those who commit grave acts and yet achieve that goal of protecting society without resorting to executions,” he said.

Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis “also echoed that” message, Musacchio said. “Most recently, Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, spoke very clearly that one cannot call themselves ‘pro-life,’ opposing abortion, but allowing for the death penalty in executions. This is simply an incompatible arrangement, an inaccurate understanding of Gospel teaching.”

Capital punishment is legal in the state of Tennessee. TADP “works to honor life by abolishing the death penalty, preventing violence, and supporting those who experience harm,” organizers said. TADP accomplishes this through education, grassroots organizing, and public witness, organizers said at the ecumenical event.

Rev. Sherard Edington, executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee, said we must “seek reconciliation through the belief that all can be saved” rather than seek “vengeance.”

“I believe that our God calls us to reject brutality and instead strive to develop communities of compassion and mercy, communities that believe in restoration and salvation, communities that not only love their neighbors, but their enemies as well,” he said.

“A person may be in prison for life, but even there, their life has value. Even in prison, there remains the opportunity for change and salvation. But when we choose to impose the death penalty, that possibility is taken away forever and leaves no possibility for change,” Edington said.

Jasmine Woodson, director of Tennessee Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, detailed a number of risks of the death penalty. 

“The death penalty expands government power, risks irreversible mistakes, and consumes far more taxpayer dollars in alternative sentences, and cuts off the very possibility of repentance and rehabilitation that our faith teaches us to honor,” Woodson said.

Harold Wayne Nichols 

Faith leaders specifically called for halting the execution of Harold Wayne Nichols scheduled for Dec. 11. 

Nichols was convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of 21-year-old Karen Pulley, a student at Chattanooga State University. During the trial, he admitted to the crimes, expressed remorse, and said he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested. 

“For more than 35 years, Harold has demonstrated the very transformation we say our system should encourage,” Woodson said. “He took responsibility for his actions, pled guilty, and expressed genuine remorse. And in an extraordinary act of faith, the mother of Karen Pulley … forgave Mr. Nichols, gave him a Bible, and urged him to change his life, which he has worked to do every day since then.” 

Pastor Davie Tucker, a pastor of the Beach Creek Baptist Church, acknowledged the Pulley family and the “tragic loss over three decades ago of their loved one.”

“But what we know emphatically, clinically, universally, is that killing Mr. Nichols is not going to take away the loss, and the hole, and the pain, and trauma that not only Karen’s family, but the subsequent generations will have to deal with.”

J.R. Davis, Nichols’ spiritual adviser, shared an apology letter written by Nichols. He wrote: “I’m sorry for all the pain and hurt I’ve caused in my life. To each individual who became a victim of my hate, I’m sorry. You did not deserve to be hurt by me.”

“It has troubled me knowing that I caused you to have to live with this hurt that I caused. There was nothing you did or did not do that caused me to hurt you. It was me. I’m the only one responsible,” he wrote.

Call from bishops

In November, Tennessee’s three bishops, Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis, and Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville, issued a joint statement with the Tennessee Catholic Conference calling for Tennessee to end the death penalty. 

“The Catholic Church upholds the sacredness of every human life, even the life of one who is guilty of serious crimes,” the statement said. “To take a life in punishment denies the image of God in which every person is made. The Gospel calls not for vengeance but for mercy.” 

“The death penalty extinguishes the chance for repentance and redemption,” they continued. “It closes the door that mercy would open. True justice protects life, even as it punishes wrongdoing. A culture of life cannot coexist with the machinery of death.”

“The execution of Harold Wayne Nichols, who was convicted of raping and murdering 21-year-old Karen Pulley in 1988, is scheduled for Dec. 1,” they wrote. “We pray for Karen and for her family and friends. With even more executions planned for 2026, we call for a moratorium on the practice and for the abolition of the death penalty under state law.”

Pope Leo XIV receives Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (center), Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver (right), and Father Jean Vézina, secretary-general of the Canadian bishops (left), in a Nov. 15, 2025, meeting at which the Holy Father gifted dozens of artifacts that originated with Indigenous peoples of the North American country. Leo at the meeting donated 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums to the Canadian bishops. / Credit: Vatican Media

Montreal, Canada, Dec 8, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA).

Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith said the 62 Indigenous cultural items received from the Vatican marks “a gift freely given” and an important step in rebuilding trust between the Catholic Church and Indigenous peoples.

The artifacts, including a rare century-old Western Arctic kayak, were formally transferred to Indigenous leaders in Montreal as part of the Jubilee of Hope declared by Pope Francis. Before his death, the pope expressed his wish that the items be returned. Pope Leo XIV carried out that intention, gifting them from the Vatican Museums’ Anima Mundi collection to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) for immediate repatriation.

“This gesture is a gift freely given — an act of reconciliation rooted in the grace of the Jubilee Year of Hope,” said Smith, a member of the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council and one of the CCCB’s key representatives during the repatriation process. “A gift, unlike restitution, is offered in freedom and friendship, as a sign of renewed relationship and mutual respect between the Church and Indigenous peoples.”

Leaders from the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), and the Métis National Council traveled to Montreal to receive the items. Local First Nations leadership held a ceremony to welcome the sacred items and bundles back to Canada.

For the Inuvialuit, the return of the rare kayak marks the culmination of a long-held hope.

“We are proud that after 100 years our kayak is returning to the Inuvialuit Settlement Region,” said Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, chair and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. “It is believed to be one of only five of its kind built more than a century ago… This is a historic step in revitalizing Inuvialuit cultural identity and values within our changing northern society.”

Indigenous leaders noted that Elders and Residential School Survivors have worked toward this moment for decades. A 2017 Assembly of First Nations resolution mandated efforts to secure the return of sacred items taken abroad, while the IRC has pressed specifically for the kayak’s repatriation.

“This step reflects the courage and persistence of the leaders, elders, and survivors who came before us,” said Victoria Pruden, president of the Métis National Council. “But this is not the end of the journey… Reconciliation is ongoing work, grounded in relationships, responsibility, and the continued pursuit of truth, justice, healing, and dignity for our peoples.”

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called the return “an important moment” for First Nations. “Our relatives are finally home,” she said. “For First Nations, these are not only artifacts. They are sacred, living items.”

Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said Inuit are grateful to the institutions and partners who helped bring the items home. “We are at the very early stages of our reconciliation journey,” he said, “but we are pleased to see these cultural items return to us.”

According to the CCCB, the artifacts will be housed temporarily at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, where national Indigenous organizations will lead the work to establish the provenance of each item and determine its final destination.

The handover in Canada follows a November audience in Rome, where Pope Leo XIV formally entrusted the artifacts to Bishop Pierre Goudreault, president of the CCCB; Archbishop Smith; and Father Jean Vézina, the conference’s general secretary. The items — including an Inuit kayak, masks, moccasins, and etchings — had been held in the Vatican Museums for more than a century.

Smith said in an interview last month the transfer was “a milestone in the long journey of reconciliation and healing,” and especially meaningful as the Jubilee Year of Hope draws to a close. “This jubilee, like previous jubilees, wants to emphasize the importance of healing relationships,” he told America magazine.

A statement from the Holy See and the CCCB in November said the gift marks “the conclusion of the journey initiated by Pope Francis,” who met Indigenous delegations repeatedly before his 2022 “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada and later directed that the items be returned. Pope Leo “desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect, and fraternity,” the statement said.

Smith said the bishops’ role “has really been a facilitating one, just working with the Holy See, working with the Indigenous leaders to make this happen.” He noted that the momentum “goes back to Pope Francis… it’s really something that grew out of his heart.”

Goudreault said Pope Leo’s decision to entrust the items to the bishops — rather than to a government or directly to an Indigenous body — was “a tangible sign of his desire to help Canada’s bishops walk alongside Indigenous peoples in a spirit of reconciliation during the Jubilee Year of Hope and beyond.”

The artifacts originated from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and were part of the ethnological exhibition organized for the Vatican Missionary Exhibition of 1925. Missionaries sent them to Rome between 1923 and 1925 for the display encouraged by Pope Pius XI, after which they were incorporated into the Vatican’s collection. Documentation certifying their origins and transport was transferred alongside the items.

Canadian ambassador to the Holy See Joyce Napier called the return “an important and a right step.” The Vatican has made similar gestures recently, including the return of three fragments of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in 2023.

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic, has been adapted by CNA, and is reprinted here with permission.

null / Credit: chayanuphol/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 8, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

Bishop Michael Duca has granted a dispensation from Sunday Mass attendance for immigrants fearing deportation in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the fourth U.S. diocese to do so.

News of the dispensation comes amid heightened presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Louisiana as part of the Trump administration’s “Swamp Sweep,” which has been reported to include the deployment of 250 Border Patrol agents to the region and plans to arrest 5,000 individuals across Louisiana and Misssissipi.

“With the recent publicized arrival of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers into south Louisiana and greater Baton Rouge, and since many of the faithful genuinely fear immigration enforcement actions, thereby making it untenable for them to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, I hereby grant a dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass for those Catholics rightfully afraid to participate in Mass because of their fear,” Duca said “with a heavy heart” in a pastoral letter dated Dec. 4.

The Baton Rouge bishop said the dispensation would remain “until the individual Catholic determines it is safe to attend Mass again” or until the dispensation is revoked. 

Duca instructed the faithful who chose to stay at home in accordance with the dispensation to gather as a family for prayer on Sunday. “Reading the daily Mass readings, praying the rosary, or reciting a novena for intercessory protection are all suitable alternative spiritual practices for those accepting this dispensation,” he said. 

Duca joins bishops in the dioceses of San Bernardino, California; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina, in granting such a dispensation in 2025.

“National security and the protection of human dignity are not incompatible,” Duca continued in his letter, calling for “a just solution to this difficult situation in our country.” He noted that deportation efforts have affected not only the Catholic Hispanic community but also refugees and immigrants across denominations. “These are our neighbors, coworkers, and parishioners,” he said.

The bishop concluded: “For now, let us pray for those immediately affected, especially during this Advent season — a time in which we should be anticipating the joy of Christmas, surrounded by our family in celebration instead of the experience of anxiety and fear.”

“Through our prayers and actions, may those who are suffering know that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them,” he said.

Duca’s letter comes after the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a special message condemning “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” in November.

Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus prayer on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer Dec. 8 from the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the occasion of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Addressing the faithful and pilgrims in attendance in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff commented that on Dec. 8 we express our joy because the Father of heaven wanted her to be “preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

“The Lord has granted to Mary the extraordinary grace of a completely pure heart, in view of an even greater miracle: the coming of Christ the Savior,” he added.

The pope also noted that the gift of the fullness of grace in the young woman of Nazareth “was able to bear fruit because she in her freedom welcomed it, embracing the plan of God.”

He emphasized that “the Lord always acts in this way: He gives us great gifts, but he leaves us free to accept them or not.”

For the Holy Father, this feast also invites us to “believe as she believed, giving our generous assent to the mission to which the Lord calls us.”

In this way, he pointed out that the miracle that happened for Mary at her conception was “renewed for us in baptism: Cleansed from original sin, we have become children of God, his dwelling place and the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

“The ‘yes’ of the mother of the Lord is wonderful, but so also can ours be, renewed faithfully each day, with gratitude, humility, and perseverance, in prayer and in concrete acts of love, from the most extraordinary gestures to the most mundane and ordinary efforts and acts of service. In this way, Christ can be known, welcomed, and loved everywhere and salvation can come to everyone,” he emphasized.

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

The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), held Sept 25-28 outside of Toronto. / Credit: CCCB/CECC

Ottawa, Canada, Dec 8, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and Toronto’s Cardinal Francis Leo are urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to withdraw the Liberal Party’s reported agreement with the Bloc Québécois to remove religious-belief exemptions from Canada’s hate-speech laws.

In a letter published Dec. 4, CCCB President Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière warned that repealing Section 319(3)(b) of the criminal code — which protects good-faith expressions or opinions based on religious texts from hate-speech prosecution — would have a “chilling effect on religious expression.”

“The removal of this provision risks creating uncertainty for faith communities, clergy, educators, and others who may fear that the expression of traditional moral or doctrinal teachings could be misinterpreted as hate speech and could subject the speaker to proceedings that threaten imprisonment of up to two years,” Goudreault wrote.

The CCCB urged the government to retain the religious-text defense.

Alternatively, the bishops proposed two steps: a public assurance that “good-faith religious expression, teaching, and preaching will not be subject to criminal prosecution under the hate-propaganda provisions,” and mandatory consultation with religious leaders, legal experts, and civil-liberties groups before any changes affecting religious freedom.

Leo echoed the concern the next day in a letter to Toronto Catholics that he shared with members of Parliament (MPs) in the archdiocese. “As Catholics, we must always firmly reject all forms of hatred and discrimination,” he wrote. But “the ability to express and teach our faith freely — without fear that sincere, good-faith proclamation of the Gospel might be misunderstood as unlawful — is a cornerstone of a healthy, democratic Canada.”

Conservative MP Andrew Lawton welcomed the bishops’ intervention. He said he was “very happy to see” the letter and similar concerns raised “from members of the Jewish community, Muslim community, and Indian religious traditions such as Sikhs or Hindus. All people of faith need to understand that this will target everyone.”

Lawton had been scheduled to attend a justice and human rights committee meeting Dec. 4 on a proposed amendment to the Liberals’ Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9). The bill would criminalize intimidation or obstruction outside institutions used by faith-based groups and ban the public display of certain terrorism or hate symbols.

The meeting was canceled by Liberal chair James Maloney, who told media he wanted members “to regroup to find a path forward.” Maloney became chair after former chair Marc Miller was appointed minister of Canadian Identity and Culture on Dec. 1.

After the cancellation, Lawton told The Catholic Register the Liberals were “refusing to say on record where they stand on this amendment to strip away religious protection and freedom,” adding that the lack of clarity “leav[es] tremendous uncertainty surrounding people of faith and what the future looks like.”

Liberal MP Leslie Church, however, accused the Conservatives of “bad faith sabotage and delay dressed up as consultation,” claiming in the House on Dec. 4 that Lawton had been filibustering the committee.

“The Liberals are the ones controlling when the committee meets and for how long, so there is no argument that we are the ones obstructing here,” Lawton responded. “We have grave concerns with this bill, but the only way to deal with those is on committee.”

Lawton also pointed to comments Miller made Oct. 30 while chairing the committee: “Clearly, there are situations in these texts where these statements are hateful. They should not be used to invoke, or be a defense, and there should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.”

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet suggested the Liberals canceled the meeting because “the Liberals fear a backlash against them.” He repeated that Bloc support for Bill C-9 depends on removing the religious exemption.

The Bloc’s stance reflects a wider push for secularism in Quebec. Bill 9, introduced Nov. 27 by the provincial government, would ban prayer in public institutions and on public property, restrict religion-based meals, and forbid religious symbols in public communications.

Parliament is set to rise for the Christmas recess on Dec. 12 and sit again Jan. 26.

This story was first published in The B.C. Catholic from Canadian Catholic News, has been reprinted here with permission, and has been adapted by CNA.

Sister Lucia of Fátima, left, and Dr. Branca Pereira Acevedo, her doctor for 15 years. / Credit: Sanctuary of Fatima/ HM Television/Home of the Mother

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

“I was her doctor for her body, but she was my spiritual doctor,” said Dr. Branca Pereira Acevedo while describing her relationship with Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the visionaries of Our Lady of Fátima, whom she cared for during the last 15 years of Sister Lucia’s life.

Lucia — the only one of the three shepherd children still alive at the time — moved in 1925 to the Spanish city of Tui in Pontevedra province, where she lived for more than a decade before returning to Portugal and professing her vows as a Carmelite nun in 1949. In this city in northwestern Spain, the visionary received “a new visit from heaven” with apparitions of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus.

Dec. 10 marks the centenary of these apparitions, an occasion for which the Holy See has granted a jubilee year in the place where they occurred, the “House of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” in reference to the devotion that the little shepherdess of Fátima promoted until the end of her days.

A witness to that fervent testimony was her physician, Pereira, who shared her experiences Nov. 29 at the presentation of the short film titled “The Heart of Sister Lucia” at the archbishop’s palace in Alcalá de Henares. This film is a project of HM Television.

Pereira accompanied Sister Lucia at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, until her death on Feb. 13, 2005, at the age of 97, a time during which she experienced a profound conversion thanks to the example and witness of her patient. “It was a period of my life that is difficult to explain, due to the intensity of the experiences I had with her,” the Portuguese doctor said.

Sister Lucia’s humility and good humor

Pereira described the visionary’s personality in detail, like someone describing a dear childhood friend: “She was a person just like all of us; those who didn’t know her wouldn’t have distinguished her from anyone else. There was nothing proud or vain about her; she used to say that she was simply an instrument of God.”

The doctor particularly emphasized her humility and obedience, especially to God and to the Carmelite order, “which she loved so much.”

At that time, Pereira said her faith had grown cold: “I didn’t go to Mass, I didn’t receive the sacraments… my career, my work, and my family took up all my time, and I used that as an excuse not to go to church,” she explained.

Serenity and steadfastness in difficulties

“She taught me that through God and through the Church, we can do everything well. I experienced very close moments with her, I think even closer than with the sisters she lived with,” the doctor said.

One of the most significant moments she experienced alongside Sister Lucia was the publication in 2000 by the Vatican’s Secretary of State at the time, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, of the third part of the secret of Fátima, revealed on July 13, 1917, to the three shepherd children in Cova da Iria and transcribed by Sister Lucia in 1944.

The doctor witnessed what she called the seer’s serenity and steadfastness in the face of the insistence of those who claimed that part of the secret still remained to be revealed. “She told us that what mattered most was written in the word of God, in the Bible. She encouraged us to obey God, which was what was truly important, and that everything else was secondary.”

Even at these times, the doctor revealed, Sister Lucia maintained a cheerful disposition. “Her good humor was very constant. She lived in faithfulness and truth. And she remained that way, lucid and faithful until the hour of her death, at which I was present.”

“She received many insulting letters at the Carmelite convent, from various parts of the world. But she said that there was no problem, that we had to pray for those people, that they were children of God, so that they would convert,” she commented.

A beacon of light that illuminates all of humanity

Pereira shared that Sister Lucia prepared for the beatification of her cousins, the shepherd children Jacinta and Francisco Marto, “with an intensity and an indescribable joy.” Since that ceremony in 2000, presided over by Pope John Paul II in Fátima, Sister Lucia seemed “more joyful and more transcendent” than ever. “She was always aware of her physical limitations and fulfilled her duties, but she seemed totally detached from this world,” her doctor related.

In the final stages of Sister Lucia’s life, Pereira recounted, the visionary always remained cheerful, never ceasing to be attentive to those around her, despite her suffering. Up to her last days, she noted, Sister Lucia lived a life of prayer and penance “to spread the message that Our Lady had asked of her: the consecration to her Immaculate Heart on the first five Saturdays of the month.”

“The Virgin asked her to make reparation for offenses and outrages and that her Immaculate Heart be venerated,” the doctor recalled. She also had the mission of praying for the Holy Father: “She shared a very intense friendship and a real intimacy with St. John Paul II,” Pereira noted.

“The Heart of Sister Lucia” will premiere in Spanish on YouTube on Dec.10, the centenary of the apparitions in Pontevedra, at 9:30 p.m. local time in Spain. The film shows how the simple woman led an intense battle in which there was no shortage of adversities, “becoming for the popes and for the entire Church a beacon of light that will illuminate all of humanity.”

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