St. Andrew Catholic Church

null / Credit: Dzelat/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The Richmond office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spied on a priest because he refused to discuss private conversations he had with a parishioner who was converting to Catholicism, according to a July 22 report from the House Judiciary Committee.

According to the report, the Richmond FBI investigated the priest’s background, monitored his travel plans, and looked into his credit card information. This investigation was allegedly launched after the priest became uncomfortable with an FBI agent’s questions about a parishioner and said he would need to speak to the church’s leadership and an attorney before answering questions.

“There appeared to be no legitimate law-enforcement purpose for investigating this priest,” the report determined. “This new information suggests that the FBI’s religious liberty abuses were more widespread than the FBI initially admitted and led the public to believe.”

The report, provided to CNA by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s office, offers more details about the extent to which the FBI investigated so-called “radical traditionalist” Catholics. 

The FBI’s investigation into supposed “radical traditionalist” Catholic ties to “the far-right white national movement” was first revealed to the public through a leaked Richmond FBI memo in February 2023.

Although the FBI under former President Joe Biden quickly disavowed the document when it came to light and asserted it was a single product of a single field agency, information unveiled by the Judiciary Committee shows the investigatory efforts into Catholics was more widespread and that the national FBI headquarters was involved.

In the report, the committee states that the Richmond FBI was working with the national FBI headquarters to develop an agency-wide document on “radical traditionalist” Catholics, which was ultimately shelved. The headquarters and other field offices also coordinated with the Richmond FBI investigation of the previously mentioned priest.

The 2023 memo cited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for the definition of “radical traditionalist” Catholicism, but the new committee report says the field office relied on “several radical anti-religious materials” from organizations that “spewed radical, left-leaning ideology” to inform the agency apart from just the SPLC.

CNA reached out to the FBI for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Spying on a Catholic priest

Emails uncovered by the committee show that the Richmond FBI allegedly coordinated with the national FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, the Louisville FBI field office, and the international London FBI field office in its investigation of the Richmond-area priest who belongs to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

SSPX is a traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity that holds an irregular canonical status with the Catholic Church. Its bishops were excommunicated in 1988, though that order was lifted in 2009. The Vatican has worked with SSPX with the intent of eventually reestablishing full communion.

The committee report showed that a Richmond FBI employee interviewed the priest about a parishioner who had recently been arrested.

When the FBI employee asked the priest whether the parishioner had spoken about “desires and plans to commit violence,” the priest “became very uncomfortable and started incoherently stuttering,” according to an email that the employee sent to the counterterrorism unit.

The email stated that the priest “requested to speak with the church’s leadership and attorneys” before continuing. It said the priest then “refused to speak with us any further but has continued to speak with [the parishioner] while in prison, and even attempted to visit him.”

The FBI employee incorrectly asserted in the email that the priest’s communications with the parishioner were “not considered privileged” because he “has not completed his catechism or been baptized in the Church.” Virginia law protects priest-penitent privilege for any confidential communication with a member of clergy related to “spiritual counsel and advice.” 

“The priest-penitent privilege rightly protects communications between a clergy member and an individual seeking spiritual guidance,” the report notes. “It is not dependent on the individual achieving certain milestones in his or her spiritual life.”

In response to the priest’s refusal to disclose confidential information, the Richmond FBI opened a “formal investigative assessment” of the priest. This included an examination of the priest’s ordination history and coordination with the FBI’s London office to monitor the priest’s trip to the United Kingdom. 

In emailed communications, FBI employees discussed the priest’s location, travel plans, and credit card information. The Richmond FBI employee also sought information from other agents about the SSPX more broadly, including the priestly fraternity’s recruitment efforts.

“This new information demonstrates that the FBI not only used its federal law enforcement resources to surveil certain Catholic Americans, but it also used these resources to investigate a clergy member,” the report states.

Richmond FBI briefings on ‘radical traditional Catholics’

The new committee report also details Richmond FBI briefings on traditionalist Catholics and the questionable sources from which they drew their concerns. 

An official Richmond FBI presentation document titled “Traditionalist Catholicism Overview” discussed the “core ideology and beliefs” of traditionalist Catholics and what they view as being “radical-traditionalist Catholicism,” which they abbreviate as RTC. 

Some “core concepts” of traditionalist Catholicism, according to the Richmond FBI presentation, include the Traditional Latin Mass, “conservative family values/roles,” a “rejection of modernity,” and a “tendency toward isolationism.”

The Richmond FBI categorized “radical-traditionalist Catholicism” beliefs to include “belief that mainline Catholicism is illegitimate” and “hardline positions on abortion, LGBTQ matters, and interreligious dialogue.”

It also allegedly includes “apocalyptic overtones,” “rigid fundamentalism [and] integralism,” and an “undertone of antisemitism.”

Some of the sources that FBI analysts cited regarding their concerns include an article in the Atlantic titled “How Extremist Gun Culture Is Trying to Co-opt the Rosary” and another article in Sojourners Magazine titled “The Catholic Church Has a Visible White-Power Faction.” 

The report noted that some of the sources disparage Catholics and the pro-life movement. In the Atlantic article, the author states “the convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates.” 

“The FBI analysts who developed the Richmond memorandum relied on literature with an inherent prejudice against people of faith and those with widely-held, deeply personal views of the sanctity of life,” the report notes.

Richmond FBI employees also worked with the FBI national headquarters to develop a “Strategic Perspective Executive Analytic Report” for external use. It notes that the Richmond FBI interacted with the national office about the possibility as early as December 2022, just a month after the Richmond office began to produce the now-retracted memo. Ultimately, this effort was abandoned after the Richmond memo became public. 

The report stated that current FBI Director Kash Patel, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, provided the committee with the documents. It accused the Biden administration and former FBI Director Christopher Wray of withholding information from the public and misleading Congress about the extent of the investigation into Catholics. 

“Under the Biden-Harris administration, the FBI disrespected and potentially violated the constitutionally protected religious liberties of faithful Americans,” the report states. 

“Throughout the committee’s oversight in the 118th Congress, the Biden-Harris administration refused to provide relevant information to the committee,” it adds.

Jordan in a statement to CNA said lawmakers “knew the Biden-Wray FBI was targeting Catholics, but new documents obtained by the committee — thanks to the leadership of FBI Director Patel — shows that it was worse than anyone thought.”

“Contrary to Director Wray’s statements, the targeting of Catholics went beyond the Richmond Field Office and extended not to just offices across the country but around the world,” Jordan said.

Father Alphonsus Afina. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Fairbanks

CNA Staff, Jul 22, 2025 / 14:16 pm (CNA).

A Nigerian priest who served for years in the U.S. has been released after being held in captivity by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram for several weeks.

Father Alphonsus Afina was captured by Boko Haram in June while serving in the Diocese of Maiduguri in the Nigerian state of Borno.

The priest had previously worked in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, for six and a half years. 

The Fairbanks Diocese last month urged the faithful to “pray for [Afina’s] freedom from captivity and for his physical and spiritual strength” while he was in captivity.

In a Facebook post on July 21, the diocese announced that Afina had been freed.

“Praise God! We received word today that [Father] Alphonsus Afina is unharmed and has been safely released!” the diocese wrote. “Thank you to all who have been storming heaven for him.”

The diocese called on the faithful to “continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who continue to be held captive that they, too, will soon taste freedom.”

On July 21 the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need said the priest had spent 51 days in captivity. 

Maiduguri Auxiliary Bishop John Bakeni told the charity that the priest was “a bit frail and tired” but was “in good health” and emotionally stable.

“We are now arranging medical checkups and rest for him,” the bishop said, adding that he would be reunited with his family.

The prelate said the priest’s release “should be regarded as a true miracle,” according to the charity, with the bishop citing “the prayers and the intercession of Our Lady.”

Afina was released alongside 10 women who were being held in captivity at the same time, Aid to the Church in Need said.

Church property sits vandalized at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 19, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Pittsburgh

CNA Staff, Jul 22, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).

Federal agents are investigating a vandalism incident at a church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, according to Bishop Mark Eckman.

Eckman said in a July 19 statement that St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, had been desecrated with “anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic messages.” 

The vandalism “wounded not only the people of this parish but every member of our diocesan family,” the bishop said. 

“This holy place, meant for prayer, community, and the merciful presence of God has been violated in a deeply painful way,” he added. 

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are leading the inquiry into the incident, the bishop said. 

On Monday the diocese released photos of the vandalism “with the hope that it will prompt someone in the community to come forward with information that may assist investigators in identifying those responsible.”

Images showed a statue of the Virgin Mother defaced with spray paint as well as a door marked with graffiti and a wall tagged with profanity and a swastika.

The diocese is “heartbroken over this hateful act,” Eckman said on Monday, adding that he was urging the faithful to “[pray] for comfort and peace.”

Bradford Arick, a spokesman for the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, confirmed to CNA on Tuesday that the agency “has been made aware of the reported vandalism and is investigating.”

The Family Research Council said in a report last year that vandalism against churches — especially Catholic places of worship — has increased significantly in the U.S. since 2018.

Arielle Del Turco, the director of the group’s Center for Religious Liberty, said last year that “our culture is demonstrating a growing disdain for Christianity and core Christian beliefs, and acts of hostility against churches could be a physical manifestation of that.”

Many of those acts of violence appear to have been in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which allowed abortion to be regulated by the states for the first time in decades.

Then-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, last year demanded that then-President Joe Biden protect Catholic churches from the “growing number of attacks” they suffered in the wake of that repeal. 

A Catholic church in Wichita, Kansas, was vandalized in March, including damages to statues and hateful graffiti. President Donald Trump at the time described the incident as “terrible” and vowed that the government would “take a look at it.”

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (left) and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on July 22, 2025. / Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 09:38 am (CNA).

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa spoke on Tuesday about the devastation of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, emphasizing that the Church “will never abandon” the city’s long-suffering people.

Describing the extent of the destruction in Gaza at a press conference held at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre, Pizzaballa said he and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem witnessed during their July 18 pastoral visit the inadequate living conditions families have been forced to live in.

“We walked through the dust of ruins, past collapsed buildings and tents everywhere: in courtyards, alleyways, on the streets and on the beach,” he told journalists on Tuesday. “Tents that have become homes for those who have lost everything.”

“The Church, the entire Christian community, will never abandon them,” he said.

While expressing particular solidarity with Christian communities in Gaza, the cardinal emphasized that the Church’s “mission” in Gaza is open to all people.

“Our hospitals, shelters, schools, parishes — St. Porphyrius, the Holy Family, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Caritas — are places of encounter and sharing for all: Christians, Muslims, believers, doubters, refugees, children,” he said.

Reiterating Pope Leo XIV’s July 20 Sunday Angelus appeal to the international community to observe international humanitarian law and protect civilians, the cardinal said delaying humanitarian aid to Gaza is “a matter of life and death.”

“Every hour without food, water, medicine and shelter causes deep harm,” he said.

“We have seen it: men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal,” he continued. “This is a humiliation that is hard to bear when you see it with your own eyes.”

Calling the deprivation of basic necessities “morally unacceptable and unjustifiable,” Pizzaballa said he and Theophilos III support the work of all humanitarian actors — “local and international, Christian and Muslim, religious and secular” — to help the people of Gaza.

Besides highlighting the horrors of war, the cardinal said he also witnessed testimonies of faith and “the dignity of the human spirit” in those he and the Greek Orthodox patriarch encountered during their pastoral visit. 

“We met mothers preparing food for others, nurses treating wounds with gentleness, and people of all faiths still praying to the God who sees and never forgets,” he recalled at the press conference.

“Christ is not absent from Gaza,” he said. “He is there — crucified in the wounded, buried under rubble and yet present in every act of mercy, every candle in the darkness, every hand extended to the suffering.”

Zurich, Switzerland. / Credit: Gianfranco Vivi/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 08:42 am (CNA).

Swiss prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a Zurich councillor and former Green Liberal Party leader after she posted images of herself firing approximately 20 shots at a Christian image depicting the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus.

According to the Swiss news outlet 20 Minuten, the Zurich public prosecutor’s office accuses Sanija Ameti of publicly disparaging religious beliefs and disturbing religious peace under Article 261 of the Swiss Penal Code. 

The code penalizes anyone “who publicly and maliciously insults or mocks the religious convictions of others, and in particular their belief in God, or maliciously desecrates objects of religious veneration.”

The incident occurred in September 2024, when Ameti used an air pistol to shoot at a reproduction of the 14th-century painting “Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael” by the artist Tommaso del Mazza.

The politician reportedly fired from around 10 meters (about 33 feet), deliberately targeting the heads of Mary and Jesus.

Ameti, who identifies as a Muslim-born atheist, then posted photographs of the desecrated image on Instagram, captioning it with the word “abschalten” — a German term that means “switch off” but that, in the context of firing at the faces of Mary and Jesus, was understood by some as a symbolic act of erasure or elimination.

The images of the desecration, including a close-up of the bullet holes, sparked immediate and widespread outrage.

In total, 31 people filed criminal complaints. Ameti resigned from her leadership position in Zurich’s Green Liberal Party and quit the party entirely in January. She still serves as an independent member of Zurich’s municipal council, however.

At the time, Ameti reacted to the outrage on social media with a short post on X. 

“I ask for forgiveness from those hurt by my post,” she wrote, claiming that she had not initially recognized the religious significance of the imagery and then deleted the images upon realizing it.

According to the indictment, the Zurich public prosecutor’s office considers the act to have been a deliberate “public staging” that constituted a “needlessly disparaging and hurtful disregard” for the beliefs of Christians, with the potential to disturb religious peace.

Prosecutors are seeking a conditional fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately $11,500) and a 2,500-franc penalty (roughly $2,900), as well as legal costs.

The Swiss civic movement Mass-Voll, which filed one of the original complaints, described the incident as “a clear incitement to violence against Christians.”

Its president, Nicolas Rimoldi, noted that in light of rising violence against Christians across Europe, such acts “lower the threshold for further attacks,” Swiss media reported.

The former Green Liberal Party politician has so far not publicly commented on the indictment.

Reaction of Swiss bishops

The Swiss Bishops’ Conference at the time condemned the act as “unacceptable,” stating that it expressed “violence and disrespect toward the human person” and caused “deep hurt among Catholic faithful.”

The bishops emphasized that “even apart from the religious depiction of the Mother of God,” the act revealed “a fundamental lack of respect for human dignity,” the bishops said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

Bishop Joseph Bonnemain of Chur, Switzerland, said Ameti had written to him personally to express remorse.

In response, he publicly offered his forgiveness and urged Catholics and other believers to do the same.

“How could I not forgive her?” he said, according to CNA Deutsch.

The Mississippi state capitol building. The Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program connects mothers and families with assistance from state and faith-based organizations like Catholic Charities. / Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Mississippi is promoting family, motherhood, and pro-life policies through its Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program. 

Established under Senate Bill 2781 in 2023, the MAMA program leverages state funds to connect women and families with resources that support motherhood and family stability. Mississippi prohibits state funds from going to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, following the Dobbs decision. 

Faith-based organizations, however, play a strong role in the network of listed services. Catholic Charities of Southern Mississippi, Catholic Charities of Jackson, and Embrace Grace Ministry at Trinity Wesleyan Church are among the organizations that provide both spiritual and material assistance.

“The most important part about the MAMA program is it is comprised of public, private, and faith-based resources,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch in a recent interview on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.” Fitch oversees the program and played a prominent role in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.

A key component of the program is its mobile-friendly platform, mama.ms.gov, which centralizes information and referrals for essential services. 

The platform allows users to search for resources in their geographical area and is organized by categories that include health care, housing, parenting, mental health providers, and employment.

“What a God thing to have this available technology,” Fitch told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.”

Since its launch, the site has received “over 56,000 hits” and “served 23,000 women with their particular needs.”

In addition to medical and mental health services, MAMA also connects users with providers of material support like diapers and car seats.

The Bare Needs Diaper Bank Warehouse, for instance, distributes diapers, menstrual supplies, and adult incontinence products to families in mid-south Mississippi. Employment services and job training programs are also featured on the platform.

For parents in crisis, the platform provides information about Mississippi’s Safe Haven law, including a list of Safe Haven Baby Box locations where infants under 45 days old can be safely and anonymously surrendered for adoption.

The platform continues to grow its partner list and resource categories, helping ensure that families across Mississippi can locate and receive critical support at every stage of parenthood.

Sebastião Marques Panzo, director of the National Secretariat for the Apostolate of the Laity of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST). / Credit: ACI Africa

ACI Africa, Jul 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The upcoming Third National Congress of Catholic Laity in Angola will be a defining moment for the people of God in the southern African nation, the director of the National Secretariat for the Apostolate of the Laity of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST) said in a press conference July 16.

Addressing journalists, Sebastião Marques Panzo shed light on the July 24–25 congress, which marks the resumption of a four-year cycle of coordination of the laity that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panzo said the planned congress seeks to strengthen lay identity, promote social transformation, and renew the mission of Catholic laypeople in society.

“This congress is a decisive milestone in the history of the laity and the Catholic Church in Angola,” he said, adding: “This will be a moment for examining our conscience and planning the future. Without evaluation, there is no authentic progress.”

He noted that the congress’ four-year rhythm allows lay movements to assess their work, reaffirm their mission, and adapt to changing realities in the light of the late Pope Francis’ teachings and the Church’s social doctrine.

Panzo recalled the two previous congresses held in Luanda in 1992 and 2019, each shaped by its own historical context.

“The first congress came shortly after the transition to multiparty democracy and called laypeople to embrace citizenship and social responsibility,” he said. “By 2019, the focus had shifted to laypeople as ‘salt and light in the world,’ with emphasis on active citizenship, solidarity, and public witness of faith.”

He added: “We want to consolidate what we have learned and build a more structured and influential lay Church.”

The choice of Namibe Diocese for the 2025 event reflects the national character of the congress and the fact that laypeople in all regions are essential to the Church’s life and mission, Panzo said.

“This choice affirms that all parts of the Church can embrace this moment of reflection and action.”

The event, guided by the theme “Angola at 50 Years: The Role of Catholic Laity in the Political, Social, Economic, and Business Sectors,” will feature two main activities.

The first is a public conference open to all the baptized. The second is a session restricted to 150 delegates — three from each diocese of CEAST, including São Tomé. The delegates are to be responsible for drafting and approving strategic directions for the next four years.

According Panzo, the public session is designed to form and integrate laypeople, while the closed-door session will focus on decision-making and united forward movement.

“We expect this to be a space of networking, strategic debate, and effective use of lay resources and talents,” he said.

The program also includes prayer, biblical formation, and catechesis.

“This solid balance between faith and action is the great richness of the congress,” Panzo said, adding that it “will be a moment of deep listening, living memory, and celebration — an opportunity to learn from those who have helped shape the Church with fidelity and courage.”

To enhance participation, Panzo said a virtual parish platform is to livestream the entire congress, making it accessible to Catholics unable to travel to Namibe.

“This ensures the congress reaches even those in remote areas,” he said.

Delegates are tasked with engaging local movements, collecting testimonies, and bringing grounded insights to the discussions.

“They are not only called to listen but to carry forward the mission,” Panzo said.

After the event, he said two documents will be prepared for publication: a report with recommendations from the public conference and a strategic orientation document for the next four years, to be available on the official event website.

“Let us build a Church that is more participatory, transparent, and missionary. May each layperson embrace their vocation with courage and wisdom,” Panzo said.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA. 

“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” by Alexander Ivanov, 1834-1836. / Credit: Alexander Ivanov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Not much is known about the life of St. Mary Magdalene, whose feast day is celebrated in the Church on July 22. She first appears in the Gospel of Luke as a follower of Christ from whom seven demons have been cast out. In the Gospels, she is sometimes associated with two other women in Scripture: the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with oil and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. 

Her most prominent position in Scripture occurs in the Gospel of John, where she remains with Jesus at the Crucifixion, keeps vigil at the tomb, and is the first to see him on Easter morning. Differing traditions have her evangelizing in Ephesus, while others place her in Marseille, France. 

Her body has never been found.

Apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps no other saint alive during the time of Christ appears to have been as deeply moved by Jesus’ death as this saint.

“How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who calls us by name,” said Pope Francis of the encounter in a 2017 general audience the year after upgrading her memorial to a feast day in 2016.

After this shocking encounter, the joy of Christ’s resurrection imbued her with the courage to spread this good news joyfully. “I have seen the Lord!” she proclaimed to the apostles and the whole world. Once known as a sinful woman, Mary Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the Resurrection, and the model of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ risen from the grave.

“God surprises her in the most unexpected way,” Pope Francis opined. “So that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus ... now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope.”

This story was first published on July 21, 2021, and has been updated.

William Jennings Bryan (seated at left) being interrogated by Clarence Seward Darrow, during the trial of the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, July 20, 1925. Because of the extreme heat, the proceedings were moved outdoors. / Credit: Smithsonian Institution from United States, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 19:05 pm (CNA).

Less than 70 years after Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, became the center of the American debate about human evolution, the interpretation of Genesis, and broader sentiments about Christianity.

On July 21, 1925 — a century ago today — substitute teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of violating a state ban on teaching evolution in schools. His $100 fine (equal to $1,837 today) was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Both then and today, the widely publicized trial has been portrayed as a microcosm of an asserted battle between “science” and “religion.”

Scopes was defended by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer Clarence Darrow, who was religiously agnostic. William Jennings Bryan, a Protestant Christian and three-time Democratic Party nominee for president, defended the state law and a literalist understanding of the first few chapters of Genesis.

During the trial, Darrow called Bryan to the stand as a Bible expert and proceeded to grill him on certain texts of the Bible and question their historical accuracy. That line of questioning allowed Darrow to use the trial as a proxy fight against Christianity itself. Although that portion of the trial was thrown out by the judge because it was not relevant to Scopes’ charges, it is remembered for its impact on 20th-century debates about human evolution and Christianity.

Most famously, the 1955 play and 1960 film “Inherit the Wind” played up the “science vs. religion” narrative, effectively solidifying that perception in American culture.

The reality of the conflict at the time, however, was much more nuanced than “science” against “religion.”

Dominican Father Thomas Davenport, a physicist and philosopher at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, told CNA it would be “wrong” to suggest that Catholicism was on the side against evolutionary thought during the trial.

“The trial was … more of a crisis and a conflict involving American Protestants than Catholics, in part because of a broader philosophical, theological, and scriptural traditions that Catholics have to draw on to understand God’s revelation and the natural world, and to put them in harmony,” said Davenport, who co-authored the book “Thomistic Evolution.”

Kenneth Kemp, a retired philosophy professor for the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, told CNA: “The trial is too often used by anti-religious polemicists as support for their idea that the relation between science and religion is fundamentally conflictual.”

Kemp, who authored two books on evolution and Christianity — “The War That Never Was” and “The Origins of Catholic Evolutionism” — said it’s important to learn “how easily history can be distorted in the service of ideology.”

“The ‘wars’ underlying the Scopes trial were in fact not between science and religion but rather one war between evolutionists and anti-evolutionists, with Christians on both sides, and another war between militant atheists and Christians, with evolutionists on both sides,” he said.

The Catholic Church and evolution

Catholic scholars considered the possibility of human evolution since the middle of the 19th century, around the time Darwin posited his theory, according to Kemp. In a lecture that he delivered at the Thomistic Institute, he said there were three distinct positions by the tail end of the 1800s.

One position, he pointed out, was that bodily evolution was simply a myth. The second position was that the human body evolved from an ape-like ancestor but that the human soul is directly created by God. A third position between the two suggested that an ape-like ancestor evolved toward a preparatory stage but that the final stage of the human body was formed by a direct act of God.

Some books promoting the second view were placed on the Vatican’s list of prohibited books in the 1890s, but the Church avoided making any proclamations on evolution at the time. The First Vatican Council in 1870 avoided the subject despite the widespread public discourse.

At the time of the Scopes trial in the 1920s, Kemp noted in the lecture, American Catholics “generally kept their distance from both sides of the controversy.”

In his lecture, Kemp cited a 1925 article in America magazine that said one side “wishes to establish Protestant fundamentalism as a state religion” while the other “aims at no less than an overturn of all of Christianity.” A 1925 Commonweal article characterized the trial as “the stirring up of a raucous and heated debate between … emotional extremists,” referring to the lawyers on both sides.

The Vatican issued a proclamation on the matter 25 years after the Scopes trial when Pope Pius XII published the encyclical Humani Generis. The pontiff stated that human bodily evolution was a permissible belief, as long as one accepts that God directly creates the human soul and all humans descend from Adam and Eve. It does not require that a Catholic believe in evolution.

About 62% of self-identified Catholic Americans believe in evolution today, according to a 2024 Gallup survey. This is higher than the broader American population, of which 58% believe in the theory.

Much of the theological debate surrounded the text of the beginning of Genesis, but Davenport told CNA that Catholics should be careful about assuming that the passages “are relating a simple historical chronology” but rather should “try to understand what the literary genre and intent of the text was.”

According to Davenport, one lesson a person should take from the Scriptures about the origin of man is that the creation of human beings was “very good” and a “special part of the created order.” Another is that humans are “partly like the bodily animal world, but partly separate from it.” A third is that humans “were not predetermined to sin, but we fell through our own fault.”

Daniel Kuebler, a biology professor at Franciscan University, told CNA that the Church recognizes there is a “material component” to humans but that the process by which that comes about “is something that the Church has not made definitive proclamations on,” which permits a belief in human evolution.

Some of the opposition to evolutionary thought, according to Kuebler, stems from the belief that evolution would suggest “man is just a material being.” Yet, he said that claim “goes far beyond what science can demonstrate.”

Kuebler argued that evolution on its own “can’t explain the totality of man” and noted that the Church clearly teaches that humans have “a spiritual component: a soul that does not evolve.”

Opposition to human evolution today

A century after the Scopes trial, a belief in evolution has increased among Catholics and the broader public. Yet some organizations, such as The Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation, oppose the concept of human evolution and continue to argue in favor of six-day creationism and the position that God created humans in their current form.

Hugh Owen, the founder and director of the Kolbe Center — a Catholic nonprofit — told CNA that his organization is faithful to Pius XII’s declaration on evolution, because the pontiff urged the faithful to consider the evidence for and against evolution. Owen said the Kolbe Center ensures the lay faithful have an “opportunity to look at both sides,” which he warned many young Catholics do not encounter.

Owen argued that Church tradition and the early Church Fathers are “completely on the side of six-day creation.” He said he believes it’s important to defend this position because “an error about creation is always reflected in an error about God” and that “the character of God is at stake.”

There were some Church Fathers, however, who did not believe in a strict six-day creation, such as St. Augustine of Hippo. Owen argued Augustine did not have access to a proper translation of Genesis.

Owen acknowledged that many Catholic intellectuals at the time of the Scopes trial believed in human evolution. Yet, he pointed to some of the evidence that was used before and during the trial that has since been proven fraudulent or inaccurate.

For example, two fossils that were believed to show an intermediary between early humans and modern man — Piltdown Man and Nebraska Man — were later disproven. Some organs that were believed to have lost their original function through evolution, he pointed out, were later found to have a current function. 

Owen also pointed to the discredited embryonic recapitulation theory, which suggested that embryonic development went through various stages that resembled ancestral species.

“It’s been a gradual process, but there’s no doubt that already at the time of the Scopes trial, many Catholic intellectuals had already been deceived into thinking that bogus evidence … really did [prove human evolution],” Owen said.

Kuebler, alternatively, told CNA there are two main pieces of evidence that lead biologists to overwhelmingly believe that humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor. One is “a whole host of intermediary fossils that are not quite human” and fossil records that show “an increase in brain size over time and upright posture.” The other is “the genetic evidence” showing a similarity with chimps.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest at the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family who was wounded in a recent strike on the church, stands before the altar during a Sunday morning Mass held by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem at the church in Gaza City on July 20, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 16:43 pm (CNA).

The pastor of the only Catholic church in Gaza, Argentine priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, on Sunday described the current situation after the church was hit by Israeli fire on July 17, leaving three people dead and several injured, including a 19-year-old postulant who remains hospitalized.

In a video posted July 20 on his YouTube channel, Romanelli, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, began by sharing the bad news: “Unfortunately, the war continues,” he said. “Today there were many deaths, people who were even waiting in the north, where there is a great need for humanitarian aid. The numbers are terrible; there is no final figure yet, but they’re talking about dozens of deaths, many.”

Furthermore, he continued, “the heat is oppressive. Today the heat index was 42 degrees [Celsius; 108 degrees Fahrenheit], and they say it will remain that way for days to come. There have been more evacuations in different places throughout the Gaza Strip, and the bombardment continues unabated. We have had nearby bombardment with some shrapnel falling, and unfortunately, we have come to understand what shrapnel means, which is not just something that makes noise but something that damages, wounds, and kills.”

The priest mentioned that he, too, was injured on Thursday by shrapnel from Israeli fire, which was condemned by various Church leaders and by Pope Leo XIV himself, who spoke on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The good news from Gaza

Romanelli then said there is good news: “We are in God’s grace, we are persevering in the faith. Many have expressed their closeness in every way because of what has happened here: the attack on the Catholic Church here. The patriarchs have come to visit, as I told you.”

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, “is still here, so it’s a blessing for the people to have him, to pray with him, to see him pray, to ask for his blessing, to listen to him, to console him. That he can console us is very gratifying. Everyone’s gratitude is very good news.”

“Other good news is that Nayib, one of our young men in a wheelchair with a lung injury, is doing better. He prays; he’s always been a prayerful man, and he continues to pray and ask for prayers. He’s still hospitalized,” Romanelli said, although the situation at the hospital, so necessary now, “is deplorable.”

“Most of the hospitals in the [Gaza] Strip were destroyed, but Nayib is doing better. His situation is delicate, but he’s doing better,” the priest added.

“Suheil is doing better. He had a major operation and will need to be patient during his recovery,” he continued. “He’s our postulant, whom you know, a great guy. He’s 19 years old and very well-liked here. The young people, the teenagers, the children, the adults are all very moved by what happened, so, well, today we were able to have a conversation. He spoke on the phone, so he’s doing better.”

Praying and working for peace in Gaza and the entire region

The pastor of Holy Family Church also said that “people are still in shock: You can imagine how little time has passed since all of this. The good thing is that we prayed and sang. Although there were bombardments, there has been little flying debris these days, and the children wanted to go out, sing, and yell, so they were seen more in the yard, and they started playing with a soccer ball.”

“And well, we continue to ask you, thanking you for your prayers, and asking you to work, let us all work, and convince the world that peace is possible and necessary,” he continued.

The priest prayed “to the Prince of Peace, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the gift of peace, especially for Gaza and for the entire region.”

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