Parents await news of their children after a reported mass shooting at Annunciation Church on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. / Credit: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP

CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 11:13 am (CNA).

Authorities and media reports on Wednesday morning said a mass shooting had taken place at a Catholic parish and school in Minneapolis, one that police were reportedly treating as a “mass casualty” incident.

The local crime watch outlet Minnesota Crime said on Wednesday morning that police reported 20 victims of an “active shooter” at the site of Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, with emergency responders having initiated a “mass casualty response.” Annunciation Catholic School is located next to the parish.

Follow here for live updates.

null / Credit: CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 10:41 am (CNA).

At least two victims are reportedly dead, with multiple injuries reported, after a mass shooting incident at a Minneapolis Catholic church and school.

A massive police presence descended on Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning, with emergency responders having initiated a “mass casualty response” in response to a shooting incident. The K-8 Annunciation Catholic School is located next to the parish.

The active crime log on the city’s website showed dozens of responses to a “shooting” near the parish on Wednesday morning. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday confirmed the shooting, saying he had been briefed on the incident.

Media reports said at least two individuals had been killed at the shooting, with numerous injuries reported.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he had been briefed on the incident and the White House would “continue to monitor this terrible situation.”

And Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on Wednesday that he had received “reports of horrific violence” and was monitoring the situation as well.

A spokesman with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis declined to immediately comment on the shooting when reached via email.

This is a developing story.

Father Alan Sanchez with parishioners at St. Joseph Church in La Pryor, Texas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Alan Sanchez

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

A Mexican-born Catholic priest who has served in the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, for nine years must leave the United States because his application for residency was denied and his religious worker visa is expiring.

Father Alan Sanchez, the pastor of St. Joseph Church in La Pryor and St. Patrick Mission in Batesville, will return to his native country of Mexico on Wednesday, Aug. 27, amid the visa issues. He will be received into the Archdiocese of Monterrey in northeastern Mexico when he arrives.

“Originally, I was hopeful … [this would] be resolved,” Sanchez told CNA.

“I was sad [when I got the news] because of the community I was serving,” he said. “This is a very small and poor community in Texas and this was my first role as a pastor.”

Sanchez applied for residency two years ago but said the process was repeatedly delayed and then his application was eventually denied in November 2024. He appealed the denial and later applied for a different visa but said he ultimately “ran out of time.” He still hopes the matter can be resolved so he can return to his parish at some point.

“I spoke to my bishop about it and the attorney, but there’s nothing else that [I] can do except return to Mexico,” he said.

Sanchez said the delay was caused by a backlog of applicants and that he was denied because of a lack of available spots for visas. He noted that asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors were given priority and that priests cannot have a “change of status for residency, because the spots are already taken.”

He said the prioritization is “understandable” and “certainly fine” but added that many foreign-born priests also need to transition to residency.

“Because there is no availability, they are just denying it,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez explained that “I don’t think this is political” but rather “this is the process — this is what’s going on.”

“It’s just like the process, the way it is, and of course it’s heartbreaking to see that happening but it seems that it’s out of my hands,” he added.

Sanchez asked the faithful to pray for him and expressed hope that “this can be resolved.” He also said he hopes this raises awareness about issues with the current immigration system and warned that other priests are facing the same struggle, which could ultimately exacerbate the priest shortage if it is not addressed by Congress.

“It’s a call to make awareness that the immigration system needs to be expanded [to] a point and I think there is room for everybody as long as we can do it in a good way,” Sanchez said.

Bishop James Tamayo of the Diocese of Laredo appointed Father Heleodoro Lozano — who is the parochial vicar of St. Jude Church in Laredo — to take over Sanchez’s role beginning on Thursday, Aug. 28.

The diocese told CNA in a statement that Sanchez “will temporarily return to Mexico … until this process is resolved” and that the diocese helped him obtain legal counsel and will “continue to walk with him in prayer and assistance.”

“We are profoundly grateful for the generosity of spirit, pastoral care, and joy [Sanchez] has brought to the people of St. Joseph and St. Patrick,” the diocese said.

“His presence is deeply cherished, and we remain hopeful that he will soon return to continue his mission of faith and service among us,” the statement added. “Like all dioceses, we long to keep our priests serving their communities, and we will continue to pray and work diligently so that Father Sánchez may once again minister among the faithful of our diocese.”

Sanchez noted that some lawmakers are trying to address the concern with the bipartisan Religious Workforce Protection Act. The proposed legislation would ease the process for extending religious visas.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview earlier this month on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” that President Donald Trump’s administration is “committed” to fixing the backlog.

“I’ve been in touch with a number of our cardinals here in the United States and bishops about that as well,” Rubio said, “and it’s not only the Catholic Church — I mean there are other places that are being impacted, but we’re trying to streamline that process.”

Several bishops have endorsed the Religious Workforce Protection Act and have expressed concerns that without some type of action, the number of foreign-born priests being forced out of the United States will continue to increase.

Pilgrims reach out to Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 27, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

We find true hope when we give of ourselves freely and with love — encountering suffering, not running away from it, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience with the public on Wednesday.

Addressing thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope emphasized Jesus’ embrace of suffering, when he gave himself up to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion.

Jesus “is not the victim of an arrest but the giver of a gift,” Leo said on Aug. 27. “In this gesture, he embodies a hope of salvation for our humanity: to know that, even in the darkest hour, one can remain free to love to the end.”

The pontiff said Jesus’ actions show us what it is to be free.

“In life, it is not necessary to have everything under control. It is enough to choose to love freely every day,” he underlined.

Leo’s general audience message centered on the scene that begins Jesus’ passion: his arrest. Despite knowing what is going to happen to him, the Lord does not retreat but “gives himself up” out of love to the soldiers who have come to arrest him.

“In the middle of the night, when everything seems to be falling apart, Jesus shows that Christian hope is not evasion, but decision,” the pope said.

Speaking to a packed hall, he recalled that Jesus prepared every day of his life for the moment of his arrest and subsequent passion and death. “For this reason, when it arrives, he has the strength not to seek a way of escape. His heart knows well that to lose life for love is not a failure.”

“Jesus too is troubled when faced with a path that seems to lead only to death and to the end,” Leo continued. “But he is equally persuaded that only a life lost for love, at the end, is ultimately found.”

“This,” the pontiff said, “is what true hope consists of: not in trying to avoid pain but in believing that even in the heart of the most unjust suffering, the seed of new life is hidden.”

He asked those listening to reflect on their lives and to think about how often they defend themselves and their own plans, without realizing that it leaves them, ultimately, alone.

“The logic of the Gospel is different: Only what is given flourishes; only the love that becomes free can restore trust even where everything seems lost,” he said, adding that “this is true hope: knowing that, even in the darkness of trial, God’s love sustains us and ripens the fruit of eternal life in us.”

During his greeting to Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo recalled the Church’s Aug. 27 celebration of the feast of St. Monica and the Aug. 28 feast of St. Augustine, Monica’s son.

“Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of these beloved saints, that we may know — following the logic of the Gospel — how to love and give our lives freely and generously, as Christ, our hope, did,” he said.

At the end of the Wednesday audience, the pope added an appeal for the end of wars, especially the conflict in the Holy Land.

“I implore that all hostages be released, that a permanent ceasefire be reached, that safe access for humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that humanitarian rights be fully respected: in particular, the obligation to protect all civilian areas and the prohibition of collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force, and forced displacement of the population,” he said.

“We implore Mary, Queen of Peace, source of consolation and hope, to intercede for reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to us all,” Leo added.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington D.C., Aug 27, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As lawmakers prepare to return next week from their August recess, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) wants them to get to work on immigration reform and bolstering federal safety net programs, among other issues, framing its advocacy work around protecting human dignity and supporting the most vulnerable.

“As a nonpartisan organization, the USCCB is engaged with members of Congress, their staff, and the White House and the administration to advance the common good for all and uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person,” Chieko Noguchi, the USCCB’s executive director for public affairs, told CNA.

“This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly, and the infirm,” Noguchi noted.

Addressing the conference’s ongoing public policy priorities, Noguchi referenced a letter to members of Congress earlier this year from USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio that in addition to immigration reform called for legislation that supports vulnerable communities, especially children and low-income families.

But following this summer’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending package, Broglio faulted that measure for including “unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.”

A recently emerging issue for the bishops is digital safety. In a joint letter this July with other faith-based and family organizations, the USCCB voiced support for the Kids Online Safety Act. The measure would place greater responsibility on technology companies to design platforms that protect minors from harmful content and addictive features. The bishops described the legislation as consistent with their commitment to safeguarding children and promoting environments where families can thrive.

This fall, immigration remains central to USCCB advocacy efforts. The bishops continue to press Congress to provide permanent protections for so-called “Dreamers,” referring to people who were brought to the U.S. as children.

“The continued uncertainty associated with the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program is untenable and unjust, depriving hardworking people the ability to be fully recognized members of our society,” the conference maintains.

The bishops also oppose changes to social safety net programs that would limit eligibility for mixed-status families (those with both legal and unauthorized members). They cite, for example, the Child Tax Credit, which currently only requires the benefiting child to have a Social Security number.

“This is consistent with the goals of such programs, which exist to empower families and to prevent them from falling into poverty,” the USCCB asserts.

Religious Workforce Protection Act

The bishops are also urging passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which as of Aug. 22 had 10 Democrat and three Republican lawmakers cosponsoring the House bill and would authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain religious workers affected by the current backlog for religious worker immigrant visas.

A similar bill in the Senate now has five Republicans and one Democrat cosponsoring. Numerous Catholic institutions such as parishes and schools depend on international clergy. In an Aug. 7 interview with EWTN, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is committed to fixing the ongoing backlog of religious worker visas.

Despite the fact that earlier this year the USCCB ended its decades-long partnership with the federal government to resettle refugees due to funding cuts and suspended agreements that made the program unsustainable, the bishops continue to call for generous resettlement policies and humane border enforcement.

Housing is also an increasing policy focus. In an Aug. 8 letter, the bishops pressed Congress to strengthen funding for affordable housing and community development in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.

Meanwhile, the USCCB’s advocacy around health care policy remains linked to the Church’s pro-life stance. The bishops have been strongly supportive of congressional efforts to ensure that federal programs such as Medicaid do not fund abortion. In July, a federal judge blocked a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood for one year and ordered the federal government to resume Medicaid reimbursements to the abortion giant while litigation over the law continues.

The USCCB also supports expanding access to maternal health services, pediatric care, and palliative care. Broadly on fiscal policy, the USCCB has called for a federal budget that prioritizes the poor and reflects Catholic principles of solidarity centered on the common good.

The bishops also continue to press for robust support for international humanitarian aid. As global crises intensify, the bishops have asked Congress to provide funding for humanitarian and development assistance in the fiscal year 2026 budget. Funding for the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The USCCB frames these legislative priorities as connected parts of a single mission. 

“The decisions you make in your important work on behalf of our nation will have a lasting impact on the well-being and common good of many people,” Broglio wrote. Congress returns from its summer break on Sept. 2.

St. Monica. / Credit: Luis Tristán, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Aug. 27, one day before the feast of her son St. Augustine, the Catholic Church honors St. Monica, whose holy example and fervent intercession led to one of the most dramatic conversions in Church history.

Monica was born into a Catholic family in 332 in the north African city of Tagaste, located in present-day Algeria. She was raised by a maidservant who taught her the virtues of obedience and temperance. While still relatively young, she married Patricius, a Roman civil servant with a bad temper and a disdain for his wife’s religion.

Patricius’ wife dealt patiently with his distressing behavior, which included infidelity to their marriage vows. But she experienced a greater grief when he would not allow their three children — Augustine, Nagivius, and Perpetua — to be baptized. When Augustine, the oldest, became sick and was in danger of death, Patricius gave consent for his baptism but withdrew it when he recovered.

Monica’s long-suffering patience and prayers eventually helped Patricius to see the error of his ways, and he was baptized into the Church one year before his death in 371. Her oldest son, however, soon embraced a way of life that brought her further grief. He fathered a child out of wedlock in 372 and a year later began to practice Manichaeism, a religion founded in the third century by the Parthian prophet Mani.

In her distress and grief, Monica initially shunned her oldest son. However, she experienced a mysterious dream that strengthened her hope for Augustine’s soul in which a messenger assured her: “Your son is with you.” After this experience, which took place around 377, she allowed him back into her home and continued to beg God for his conversion.

This would not take place for another nine years, however. In the meantime, Monica sought the advice of local clergy, wondering what they might do to persuade her son away from the Manichean heresy. One bishop, who had once belonged to that sect himself, assured Monica that it was “impossible that the son of such tears should perish.”

These tears and prayers intensified when Augustine, at age 29, abandoned Monica without warning as she passed the night praying in a chapel. Without saying goodbye to his mother, Augustine boarded a ship bound for Rome. Yet even this painful event would serve God’s greater purpose, as Augustine left to become a teacher in the place where he was destined to become a Catholic.

Under the influence of the saintly Bishop Ambrose of Milan, Augustine renounced the teaching of the Manichees around 384. Monica followed her son to Milan and drew encouragement from his growing interest in Ambrose’s preaching. After three years of struggle against his desires and perplexities, Augustine succumbed to God’s grace and was baptized in 387.

Shortly before her death, Monica shared a profound mystical experience of God with Augustine, who chronicled the event in his “Confessions.” Finally, she told him: “Son, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in anything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied, I do not know what more I want here or why I am here.”

“The only thing I ask of you both,” she told Augustine and his brother Nagivius, “is that you make remembrance of me at the altar of the Lord wherever you are.”

St. Monica died at the age of 56 in the year 387. In modern times, she has become the inspiration for the St. Monica Sodality, which encourages prayer and penance among Catholics whose children have left the faith.

This article was first published on Aug. 27, 2024, and has been updated.

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti is the keynote speaker at the 2025 National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors conference. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Monsignor Stephen Rossetti

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

This week hundreds of vocation directors, staff, and collaborators are gathering to draw closer to Christ, grow in brotherhood, and learn best practices for creating a culture of vocations at the annual National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD).

Every year members of the NCDVD organization travel from across the United States and from at least 10 different countries to gather for what many describe as “one of the highlights of their year.” They not only receive spiritual renewal and practical knowledge but also enjoy activities and community with brother priests.

The NCDVD is a fraternity of vocation directors who provide one another support as they help guide men discerning priesthood. The organization encourages priests to collaborate on projects and offer insights from their personal experiences. It also welcomes religious brothers and sisters, vocation office personnel, and laypeople to collaborate in the ministry.

NCDVD focuses on a number of key aspects including community, regional gatherings, the annual convention, fundraising, and its Vocare Institute for New Vocation Directors — an in-depth training held for new directors held before the conference.

Vocation directors have a tremendous responsibility that can often draw a lot of pressure. The overall goal of the conference is to provide knowledge to help them feel properly equipped to tackle such an important role.

This year the conference, held at the Retreat and Conference Center of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York, welcomed Father Stephen Rossetti as the keynote speaker on Monday, Aug. 25. The well-known exorcist, psychologist, and author held a talk titled “Deliverance Ministry for Priests.” He discussed how priests can “safely and effectively assist” the laity who come to them for guidance. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 26, priests also had the opportunity to hear from Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, about “the impact of the spiritual direction relationship on personal discernment and prayer.” The discussion tapped into the importance of the formative relationship between a spiritual director and directee.

Throughout the week attendees also participate in workshops held by priests, sisters, and other Catholic leaders. They will address topics including how to operate an effective vocation office, strengthen campus ministries, and encourage younger generations to serve the Church.

Bishop Edward Lohse of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan, will also join to offer needed guidance for vocation directors as many often struggle to decipher “what can or should be asked of candidates and what should not.”

While many aspects of the conference focus on resources and roles of the directors, a number of workshops also tackle hot topics that are relevant to the changing times.

This year Tanner Kalina will lead a workshop called “Create Digitally, Connect Personally” focused on social media. Kalina, who stars in EWTN’s online series “James the Less,” will discuss how to utilize the tool of social media “in a way that Jesus would if he were in our shoes.”

Another workshop will be led by Miguel Naranjo, who is the director of the Religious Immigration Services section of Catholic Legal Immigration Network. He will address immigration issues in the United States with “attention to the religious worker immigration law programs.”

null / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned states and American territories that they must remove references to “gender ideology” from K–12 education materials or they will lose federal funding.

HHS sent letters dated Aug. 26 to 40 states and Washington, D.C., as well as five territories, that say any state or territory that fails to end the promotion of gender ideology in its implementation of the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) within the next 60 days will lose federal PREP funding.

The states and territories cumulatively receive more than $81.3 million from PREP annually, with most taking in a few million dollars and others receiving several hundred thousand dollars in funding.

The letters document numerous examples of “gender ideology” embedded in the curricula of several Democrat-led and Republican-led states.

For example, the letter to Vermont cites program materials that define gender as “the ideas in a culture or society about the appropriate ways for men and women to dress, behave, think, and feel.” It calls gender identity “peoples’ inner understanding of what gender they identify with,” which could be a man, a woman, or “something that doesn’t fit these labels.”

The letter to Washington points to course material that says a child’s “gender identity” may be different from “their sex assigned at birth.” It asserts that children begin to articulate aspects of their gender identity “between the ages of 18 months and 2 to 3 years” and “have a clear sense of their gender identity by age 4 or 5.”

In South Dakota, the HHS letter references a “frequently asked question” in one of the course materials, which asks: “Why would someone with a penis not identify as a boy/man?” This is answered with the assertion that body parts reference “sex assigned at birth, which is different than gender” and calls gender “how people identify and express themselves.”

Many of the examples cited in the letters are the same in dozens of states because several states use the same course materials.

In the letters, HHS acknowledges that these curricula and programs had previously been approved under President Joe Biden’s administration, which it says “erred in allowing PREP grants to be used to teach students gender ideology.” It states that these materials are now “out of compliance” with HHS regulations.

HHS instructed officials in each state that received a letter to modify their curricula and course materials by Monday, Oct. 27, for the department to review.

“Accountability is coming,” Acting Assistant HHS Secretary Andrew Gradison said in an Aug. 26 statement.

“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas,” he said. “The Trump administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”

The warnings come just five days after HHS ended $12 million in PREP funds to California for failing to halt its promotion of gender ideology through its curriculum. HHS had warned the state in June that it would lose funding if officials refused to make the necessary changes.

HHS is enforcing Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order on “ending radical indoctrination in K–12 schooling.” The administration defines gender ideology as a belief system that “replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity.” 

According to the administration, gender ideology permits “the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa.” It includes “the idea that there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one’s sex.”

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, leave the church after a visit to Holy Family Parish in Gaza on July 18, 2025. / Credit: Caritas Jerusalem

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 16:27 pm (CNA).

In a joint message released Aug. 26, the Latin and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchates of Jerusalem denounced the evacuation of Gaza City in the face of an imminent Israeli operation as “a death sentence.“

The text stated that, in light of the repeated announcement of “a massive military mobilization and preparations for an imminent offensive” by the Israeli army to take control of Gaza City, the first evacuation orders have been issued for civilians, including Christians, to be relocated to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The statement also denounced that in recent days, “there is more destruction and death in a situation that was already dramatic before this operation,” and noted that “it seems that the Israeli government’s announcement that ‘the gates of hell will open’ is indeed taking on tragic forms.”

For the Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchates of Jerusalem, the announced offensive and “the reports now reaching us from the ground show that the operation is not just a threat but a reality that is already in the process of being implemented.”

The patriarchates pointed out that the Greek Orthodox complex of St. Porphyrius and the Latin complex of the Holy Family are located in Gaza City, which have become “a refuge for hundreds of civilians,” including the elderly, women, and children. The Latin complex also houses people with disabilities, cared for by the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity.

The joint message stated that “the refugees living in the facilities will have to decide according to their conscience what they will do,” taking into account that “many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months.”

“Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence. For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds,” the statement confirmed.

Faced with the uncertainty surrounding the situation, the two patriarchates reiterated that “there can be no future based on captivity, displacement of Palestinians, or revenge” and echoed the words of Pope Leo XIV spoken Aug. 23: “All peoples, even the smallest and weakest, must be respected by the powerful in their identity and rights, especially the right to live in their own lands; and no one can force them into exile.”

“This is not the right way. There is no reason to justify the deliberate and forcible mass displacement of civilians. There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions,” the statement emphasized.

The Greek and Latin patriarchates emphasized that “it is time to end this spiral of violence, to put an end to war and to prioritize the common good of the people. There has been enough devastation, in the territories and in people’s lives. There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions. It is now time for the healing of the long-suffering families on all sides.”

Finally, they urgently called on the international community to act for an end “of this senseless and destructive war, and for the return of the missing people and the Israeli hostages.”

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

Palestinians gather outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Aug. 25, 2025, following Israeli strikes. / Credit: AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 15:57 pm (CNA).

Caritas Internationalis issued a statement on “the man-made famine and assault on Gaza City” following the Israel Defense Forces’ latest incursion into the embattled enclave, where the United Nations declared famine last week.

“This is not war. It is the systematic destruction of civilian life,” the renowned international Catholic aid organization wrote in its Aug. 25 statement. “The siege of Gaza has become a machinery of annihilation, sustained by impunity and the silence, or complicity, of powerful nations.”

“Famine here is not a natural disaster but the outcome of a deliberate strategy: blocking aid, bombing food convoys, destroying infrastructure, and denying basic needs,” the aid group declared. “Caritas Internationalis bears witness to this horror.”

The statement continued: “Civilians, mostly children and women, are being starved, bombed, and erased. Influential governments, corporations, and multinationals have enabled this catastrophe through military support, financial aid, and diplomatic cover.”

Caritas went on to condemn “hollow declarations and empty platitudes” offered by the international community in response to the plight of Gazans. 

“Caritas Internationalis sees in Gaza a deliberate assault on human dignity and the collapse of moral order, a failure of leadership, responsibility, and humanity itself,” the organization said. “In the light of the Spirit that guides us, Caritas Internationalis abhors all these acts and omissions in the strongest terms. They represent a blatant disregard for the values and fundamental principles of humanity and clearly violate international law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law, as well as numerous provisions of specific U.N. conventions, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

The statement comes after an Israeli strike hit Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday, “killing at least 20 people, including five journalists,” according to Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on social media after the strike: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians.” 

“The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation,” he added. “Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home.” 

Israel similarly issued a statement after striking Gaza’s only Catholic Church last month, saying “a deviation of munitions” had led to an accidental strike on Holy Family Catholic Church. Three people were killed in the strike and nine injured, including the parish’s pastor, Father Gabriel Romanelli. 

Caritas concluded its blistering statement with a list of demands, including a complete and immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages, and an end to “Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” 

“The famine in Gaza is a test of moral integrity, and too many have failed. To starve a population is to desecrate life. To remain silent is to be complicit,” the organization stated, concluding: “Caritas Internationalis calls on all people of faith and conscience to raise their voices, pressure their governments, and demand justice. The world is watching. History is recording. And Gaza is waiting, not for words, but for salvation.”