St. Andrew Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV greets residents of St. Martha Home for the Elderly in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, during a visit on July 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday morning visited St. Martha Home for the Elderly in Castel Gandolfo, the Italian town where he is spending his vacation.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff arrived at the residence on July 20 at 10:30 a.m. local time and was welcomed by the community of nuns who run the facility.

The Sisters of St. Martha religious order was founded in 1946 by Blessed Tommaso Reggio. The sisters aim to be “humble presences of peace and hope” for those most in need and to pay “the utmost attention to the quality of relationships and the well-being” of the nursing home’s residents, according to the order’s website.

After spending time praying in the chapel, the Holy Father personally greeted approximately 20 elderly people, all between the ages of 80 and 101.

He also greeted a young nurse and after prayer along with some songs, the pope addressed everyone, highlighting some themes from the songs and referring to Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke.

The pope emphasized how in every person there is a part of Martha and a part of Mary and invited those present to take advantage of this time of life to live the dimension exemplified by Mary: to listen to the words of Jesus and to pray.

Pope Leo emphasized the importance of prayer, saying it is “so important, much greater than we can imagine,” and told the residents that “age doesn’t matter: It is Jesus who wants to draw near to us, who makes himself a guest for us, who invites us to be witnesses, young and not so young.”

“You are signs of hope,” he added. “You have given so much in life” and “continue to be that testimony of prayer, of faith,” a family that offers to the Lord what it has.

After praying the Lord’s Prayer together, Pope Leo XIV spent a while longer visiting the residence and returned to Villa Barberini, where he is residing during his stay at Castel Gandolfo, shortly before 11:30 a.m.

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

The Muñoz family gives Pope Leo XIV a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope” after Mass in Albano, Italy, on Sunday, July 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

A Chicago family vacationing in Rome is making headlines after a video of their encounter with Pope Leo XIV on Sunday went viral.

Marcel and Ann Muñoz, along with their three children, met the pope after Mass on July 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome, and gifted him a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope,” — in reference to “Da Bears,” which stems from the old “Superfans” sketches on “Saturday Night Live.”

The Muñoz family were also wearing the custom T-shirts, which were, of course, in Bears colors — navy blue with white text and orange lines.

“He turned left, and he just kind of beelined towards us, so whatever it is, it’s like everyone else is, you know, very nicely dressed for a summer Mass except us — so we did kind of stick out,” Marcel Muñoz said, according to CBS News. “But you know, it’s one of those things where it’s like: ‘Hey, you’re going to be here once. Hopefully, you can catch his attention.’”

“How many people get this opportunity to be in front of the pope, to have his attention, to hold his hand? I kissed his ring, and you know, it’s such — you feel blessed,” Ann Muñoz said.

The family drove 45 minutes to Albano where the Holy Father was celebrating Mass at the cathedral near his vacation home at Castel Gandolfo. 

On Ann’s facebook page, she wrote: “We were late and just stood at the edge before a barricade was up. Then we planted ourselves in the hot sun until Mass was over. We watched it on a screen outside and even received Communion.”

“We were just hoping to catch a glimpse,” she added.

The Muñoz family are Chicago Bears season-ticket holders and said they hope the event kick-starts a winning season for the professional football team.

Over 200 Christians were murdered by Islamist militants in Nigeria on June, 13, 2025. / Credit: Red Confidential/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 13:14 pm (CNA).

A joint resolution introduced last week by Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, condemns the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries worldwide.

Introduced on July 17, the resolution follows a speech delivered by Moore in April on the House floor, where he addressed the “rampant violence and martyrdom” endured by Christians worldwide for “proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ.”

“Around the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ face rampant persecution for simply acknowledging the name of Jesus. That is unacceptable,” he said.

The measure calls on the Trump administration to leverage diplomatic tools, including trade and security negotiations, to advocate for religious freedom.

The resolution cites data from the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, which estimates that over 380 million Christians worldwide face significant persecution and discrimination, including targeted killings, church closures, forced conversions, denial of worship rights, kidnappings, and displacement in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, among others.

In Nigeria, more Christians are killed each year than in all other countries combined, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International. Islamist militants killed nearly 200 Christians in an attack in Nigeria’s Benue state in June.

“In Nigeria alone, more than 50,000 Christians have been martyred and more than 5 million have been displaced simply for professing their faith,” Moore said. “During a Divine Liturgy in Damascus last month, an Islamic jihadist opened fire on worshippers and detonated an explosive device — killing at least 30 and wounding dozens more. These examples illustrate the violence and death Christians face on a daily basis.”

“No one from any religious background should face persecution for their faith,” said Kelsey Zorzi, the director of global religious freedom at ADF International, which supports the resolution. “Yet year after year, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group worldwide, especially in many Muslim-majority countries. We applaud the resolution for recognizing this grave reality and urging U.S. action. When Christians are being killed, silenced, or driven underground, we cannot look the other way.” 

Moore also criticized past U.S. foreign policy. He cited the religiously-motivated violence in Iraq after America’s failure to stabilize the country after the 2003 invasion, stating: “Unfortunately, decades of U.S. foreign policy blunders have exacerbated this crisis.”

He then urged action, adding: “We as lawmakers cannot continue to sit idly by. I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the persecution of Christians across the globe.”

Hawley, who introduced the same resolution in the U.S. Senate, echoed Moore’s call, emphasizing the foundational importance of religious liberty.

“Our country was founded on religious liberty. We cannot sit on the sidelines as Christians around the world are being persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” Hawley said, urging colleagues to join him in condemning the persecution of Christians around the world.

The resolution has garnered support from several lawmakers, with original cosponsors including Reps. Greg Steube, Michael Guest, Glenn Grothman, Addison McDowell, Brandon Gill, Pat Harrigan, and Anna Paulina Luna.

It is also endorsed by prominent organizations including Heritage Action for America, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, In Defense of Christians, Global Christian Relief, CatholicVote, Advancing American Freedom, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), Family Policy Alliance, Christians Engaged, and Save the Persecuted Christians.

Bishop Robert Barron speaks to tens of thousands of young people at a World Youth Day gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 2, 2023. The event, hosted by the U.S. bishops’ conference, culminated in a Eucharistic procession and Holy Hour. / Credit: Nuria Chiccon/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 21, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron will deliver a keynote address to more than 3,500 young American pilgrims at a special event in Rome on July 30, part of the global Jubilee of Youth celebrations expected to draw more than 100,000 young people to the Eternal City.

The U.S. National Pilgrim Gathering at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is being organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and will include Eucharistic adoration, catechesis, and a procession with relics of 12 saints and blesseds significant to the American Church and Catholic youth.

Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, will speak on what it means to be a missionary witness in today’s world.

Pilgrims will have the opportunity to walk through the basilica’s Holy Door, opened as part of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year observances, and to pray before the tomb of St. Paul.

Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas, who is the committee’s chairman-elect, will lead a Eucharistic Holy Hour during the three-hour evening event, which begins at 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET). EWTN will broadcast the event and a livestream will also be available on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. U.S. dioceses are encouraging parishes to tune in with youth groups back home.

Barron, known for digital evangelization efforts through his Word on Fire media ministry, rose to prominence by leveraging online platforms like YouTube and Reddit to reach young Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated.

His keynote comes just one day after the close of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, a parallel event in Rome featuring Jesuit Fathers David McCallum and Antonio Spadaro as speakers. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will also offer a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on July 29 for the young digital missionaries.

The Jubilee of Youth, running from July 28 to Aug. 3, includes a slate of spiritual and cultural events. Among them: a penitential day at Circus Maximus on Aug. 1, a massive prayer vigil at Tor Vergata on Aug. 2 led by Pope Leo XIV, and a closing Mass celebrated by the pope on Aug. 3.

Pilgrims will also be invited to participate in walking pilgrimages to sites linked to young saints, aided by digital maps on the EWTN Travel App. Stops include the tombs of St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, and St. Philip Neri, as well as relics that have been brought to the Eternal City for the jubilee, including the relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Blessed Ivan Merz, and the tomb of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Other national groups are also marking the week with their own events. More than 1,000 South Korean pilgrims will gather for Mass at the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere on July 31, celebrated by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the archbishop emeritus of Seoul, with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee of Seoul preaching the homily. The Archdiocese of Seoul will host the next World Youth Day with the pope in 2027.

The Canadian National Pilgrim Gathering will take place on July 29 at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Pope Leo XIV on Monday, July 21, 2025, to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. / Credit: A Katz/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 11:47 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV spoke on the phone with President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, who called the pope on Monday morning regarding the conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. 

According to the Vatican, the Holy Father repeated his appeal for the protection of “civilians and sacred places” during his conversation with the Palestinian president. 

Besides reiterating his concern that international humanitarian law be “fully respected,” the pope specifically called for the prohibition of the “indiscriminate use of force” and the “forced transfer” of people in the region.

He also emphasized “the urgent need to provide assistance to those most vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid,” according to the Holy See Press Office. 

The Monday phone call between Leo and Abbas comes one day after Palestine’s president launched an international contact campaign to world leaders and international organizations to stop the destruction of Gaza and end the “crime of starvation” against its people.

In his statement published on Palestine’s official X account Monday, the president called for an end to “settler terrorism” and “attacks on Christian and Islamic holy sites in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.” 

The Vatican said the 10th anniversary of the “Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine,” signed on June 26, 2015, was also discussed at the end of the conversation.

This month, religious leaders and diplomats representing 20 countries denounced acts of violence against Christians in the West Bank village of Taybeh after Israeli settlers set fire to the cemetery of the fifth-century Church of St. George Al Khidr on July 7.

Last week, an Israeli military operation led to the deaths of three people and wounded many others at the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza. Israel said the city’s only Catholic church was “mistakenly hit” and regretted the “unintentional damage” to the parish.

Both the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III Jerusalem led an ecclesiastical delegation to Taybeh on July 14 and Gaza on July 18 as a sign of solidarity with local communities.

According to the Palestinian government, approximately 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 18,000 children and 10,000 women since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

During a press conference held in Ramallah, West Bank, on Monday, Palestine’s prime minister Mohammad Mustafa said “Gaza has been turned into a graveyard for children.” 

“Our children are being targeted, killed, injured, starved to death, and deprived of the most basic rights: food, clean water, shelter, safety, and education,” Mustafa said. “Israel continues to use starvation as a weapon of war.”

The Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center in Anaheim, California, is a first-of-its-kind Filipino Catholic center set to open in Anaheim, California, on July 21, 2025, offering a new spiritual and cultural landmark for Filipino Catholics in America’s most populous state. / Credit: Ian Tran/Diocese of Orange

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

A first-of-its-kind Filipino Catholic center is set to open in Anaheim, California, offering a new spiritual and cultural landmark for Filipino Catholics in America’s most populous state.

Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange is scheduled to bless the opening of the Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center Monday evening, marking the launch of what the diocese says is the only such dedicated Filipino Catholic center operating in the United States.

“I feel blessed and excited that so many people are taking part in our mission to bring the people closer to Our Lord with Mary at the foot of the cross,” said Father Peter Lavin, a priest affiliated with the Philippines-based Alagad ni Maria (Disciples of Mary) institute who will serve as director of the center.

Alagad ni Maria currently has eight priests ministering in the Diocese of Orange, where they have been present since 2005 at the invitation of then-Bishop Tod Brown.

The center occupies a 1.4-acre site previously used by a Vietnamese-language congregation of the Southern Baptist Convention. It includes a 180-seat chapel where Mass will be offered in English and Tagalog as well as classrooms, offices, a music room, a fellowship hall, and a kitchen. Plans are also underway to build a rectory for priests on site.

According to a statement from the diocese, the center will provide the Filipino Catholic community in Southern California with a dedicated space for faith formation and cultural education. 

“Having the center will grant the local Filipino Catholic community dedicated spaces to engage in promoting education on their cultural heritage and traditions, including dance and song,” the diocese said in a press release.

While part of the Diocese of Orange, the Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center will be owned and operated by Alagad ni Maria. Its primary mission will be to serve as a cultural and spiritual hub for the estimated 90,000 Filipino Catholics in the region.

Alagad ni Maria acquired the property for $5.2 million, raising $2.1 million from about 500 donors. Two individuals each contributed $500,000, and the Diocese of Orange assisted in securing the loan.

“For many years, it has been a heartfelt dream of the Filipino community here in the Diocese of Orange to have a center of their own — a sacred space where they can gather in faith, grow in spiritual fellowship, and pass on the richness of their heritage, language, and customs to future generations,” said Father Angelos Sebastian, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Orange. “The recent decision to guarantee the loan for the purchase of their property in Anaheim was a tangible expression of the diocese’s deep gratitude and esteem for their ongoing ministry and presence.”

“Bishop Kevin Vann, together with the entire Diocese of Orange, joins in celebrating this historic milestone: the opening of the only Filipino Catholic center in the country,” he continued. “With heartfelt joy, we offer our warmest congratulations, our prayers, and our full support as this long-cherished vision becomes a reality.”

The Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center will be the sixth cultural center within the Diocese of Orange. The other five are a Polish center in Yorba Linda, a Vietnamese center in Santa Ana, and Korean centers in Irvine, Westminster, and Anaheim. 

The center will house an official replica of the Poong Jesus Nazareno statue. The original statue, brought from Mexico to Manila in 1606, has millions of devotees worldwide. 

The center will also serve as the U.S. headquarters for Alagad ni Maria, which has maintained a presence in the Diocese of Orange since 2005.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. / Credit: Archdiocese of Cologne

CNA Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 09:32 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Cologne has dismissed as “obviously baseless” a canonical complaint filed against Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki by German abuse survivors to Pope Leo XIV, calling the allegations unfounded and built on “false assumptions.”

The archdiocese’s response came after the “Betroffenenbeirat” (Affected Advisory Board) of the German Bishops’ Conference submitted a formal Church law complaint to Pope Leo XIV on Friday.

The complaint claimed the cardinal violated his pastoral duties regarding sexual abuse cases, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

“The accusations are obviously baseless and build — certainly unintentionally due to lack of better knowledge — on a series of false assumptions and claims,” the archdiocese stated in a response obtained by CNA Deutsch.

‘Retraumatizing’ for abuse survivors

The survivors’ advisory board said Woelki misled abuse victims about proper procedures and handled cases negligently. However, the archdiocese countered that recent investigations “were not conducted to clarify the handling of reports of possible sexual crimes, the reporting of perpetrators, and certainly not to work through abuse cases.”

The archdiocese also challenged the canonical complaint’s legal basis, arguing that since civil cases did not address abuse-handling procedures, “the application of the Church law norms mentioned in the letter is therefore completely out of the question.”

The statement also said that under German law, only courts — not prosecutors — can issue legally binding determinations and that no such findings had been made against Woelki.

The Betroffenenbeirat asserted it had “lost all confidence that under Cardinal Woelki’s leadership, abuse cases would be investigated without regard for the perpetrators.”

The board also described Woelki’s behavior as “retraumatizing” for abuse survivors.

The archdiocese dismissed additional allegations about negligent file handling and deception of survivors as vague accusations presented without documentation.

“These are also obviously baseless and decidedly to be rejected,” the statement concluded.

Advisory board structure and role

The complaint was submitted to Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann, the senior bishop in Cologne’s ecclesiastical province, and addressed to Pope Leo XIV. The archdiocese noted that Woelki would have preferred the authors to engage in direct and open discussion with him.

The Betroffenenbeirat operates as an official advisory body to Germany’s bishops, established in 2019 to institutionalize survivor participation in Church abuse policies.

The 12-member board comprises individuals directly or indirectly affected by clerical sexual abuse and serves as an “expert committee” advising the German Bishops’ Conference on matters of sexual violence, according to its founding documents.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

A rendering of the interior of Whistler’s Our Lady of the Mountain’s newest church, as designed by Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design Inc. The grand opening of the new parish design is slated for later in the fall 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design Inc.

Vancouver, Canada, Jul 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Nestled within Whistler’s many snow-covered peaks, Our Lady of the Mountains Parish finds itself just months away from the grand opening of its newly renovated church, a multimillion-dollar restoration project five years in the making, which is set to embrace the town’s historic alpine atmosphere.

As the only Catholic church in the popular British Columbia resort town in the Coastal Mountains north of Vancouver, Our Lady of the Mountains’ transformation will see what was once no more than a quaint multipurpose hall become a fully functional sacred space for prayer, service, and evangelization as well as a visual testament to the community’s steadfast faith and perseverance.

Whistler is part of the Diocese of Kamloops but has long been a spiritual home for many Catholics in the wider region who flock there for vacation.

Whistler welcomes around 3 million visitors each year — about 45% in winter and 55% in summer — so thousands of Catholics are served by the parish during ski weekends and summer getaways.

In early 2020, Our Lady of the Mountains launched an ambitious campaign to build a larger church, beginning with a vision that pastor Father Andrew L’Heureux called “a dream.” From the start, parishioners said they felt God walking with them through each challenge and triumph.

The project was spearheaded by Andy Szocs, a parishioner since the late 1970s and fundraising lead for the project. Szocs took on much of the fundraising himself, leveraging his network and experience from renovating a 250-year-old church in Hungary in 2010 to contribute toward the project’s $6.7 million target.

“I know the value of building a church up, and I saw this as a similar opportunity back at home,” the 85-year-old said. “It has been quite the challenge, and we had to rely on the Holy Spirit a lot. I would go to bed at night with all these challenges about where I would find this money, and I said to the Holy Spirit that I needed some answers. It happened so many times, it has to be divine providence.”

“Standing inside the new church is awe-inspiring,” L’Heureux wrote in a letter to parishioners this month. “It offers more than beauty — it is a sign of hope, unity, and the bright future of our parish.”

The journey hasn’t been without obstacles. Unexpected soil conditions, design refinements, and inflation pushed the original budget from $5.5 million to $6.7 million. After reaching the initial goal, the parish needed to urgently raise an additional $1.2 million. In June, an existing donor, along with partners and friends, stepped forward to close the gap.

“We believe, without question, that the Holy Spirit guided their hearts, reminding us once again that we are not alone in this mission,” L’Heureux said in his letter.

The new spiritual home, including the use of the preexisting hall, will seat 500 people — more than triple of the current capacity of 160.

The $6.7-million price tag also affords the parish a completely new interior, including a sanctuary, a 15-foot choir loft with space for 25 choir members and instruments, and an an interior design featuring 23 sacred elements such as the altar, crucifix, statues, lighting, and a communion rail — with stained-glass windows and a pipe organ remaining as future goals when funds allow.

Unique to the sanctuary’s design by Oberto Oberti Architecture is the 40-foot timber-frame ceilings, a design reflective of Whistler’s distinct outdoor ethos. A nod to Whistler’s prominent winter and ski culture, the interior is reminiscent of an old-school wooden ski chalet.

“I don’t think you can help but connect to it and feel impressed. It’s what we set out to create, which is something sacred, attractive, and reflective of that Whistler-style look and feel,” Szocs said.

He also shared that through donors’ efforts, close to 90% of the project was funded externally, with local pride in the world-class resort destination and a strong Catholic belief being the main draw for those involved.

“This was possible with a strong fundraising strategy, but we knew from the start that we couldn’t do this without help from our major donors. Quite a number of them, like myself, had an attachment to Whistler,” Szocs said.

“We have the lakes and the valley trails, the ski mountains. It’s just one of God’s beautiful nature scenes. We raised the money with those donors strictly through the personal efforts of selling the vision. We used the motto: ‘If we build the church, they will come.’”

Still, Szocs knew the parish couldn’t solely depend on traditional methods.

“You can’t do something like this with bake sales and bingo,” he said with a laugh, emphasizing the importance of his continued targeted strategy for intriguing wealthy donors.

With the grand opening of the new church slated for October, the Catholic community in Whistler continues to work amid the anticipation. L’Heureux noted in the church’s latest newsletter that many parishioners have contributed both their time and labor by assisting in drywalling, painting, and donating needed tools. One parishioner donated pews, accounting for up to 250 seats in the new sanctuary.

Beyond worship, Szocs sees the church as a beacon for evangelization, potentially hosting Catholic conferences inspired by the Napa Institute to draw Catholics to Whistler’s new spiritual appeal.

“It’s not just a church; it’s a place for people to find God,” he said.

Szocs said the project’s success comes from a balance of divine trust and devoted human action, as often expressed by St. Augustine and St. Ignatius.

“Some would say, ‘Leave it to the Holy Spirit,’ but you can’t just pray and wait. It doesn’t always work that way,” he said. “God gave us gifts for a reason. So I like the saying, ‘Pray like everything depends on God, and act like everything depends on you.’”

This story was first published by The B. C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.

Pope Leo XIV speaks by video call with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Holy See Press Office

Rome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV marked the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a video call to U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a visit to the Vatican Observatory, located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, where he has been staying for two weeks.

According to the Vatican, the pontiff’s July 20 call with the 95-year-old Aldrin, the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, included reminiscing on the historic 1969 landing and meditating together on the “mystery, greatness, and fragility” of God’s creation as described in Psalm 8.

Earlier in the day, Leo visited the Vatican’s internationally-recognized observatory, called the Specola Vaticana, where he was able to look through the astronomical center’s historic telescopes.

The Vatican Observatory has been located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, around 18 miles southeast of Rome, since the 1930s, but the history of the institution dates to the 18th century. After several years of closure in the late 1800s, Leo’s predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, re-founded the observatory in 1891.

In 1993, the Vatican Observatory Research Group, which opened a second research center at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1981, completed construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Mount Graham, Arizona.

Pope Leo has been taking a break from the heat of Rome with a sojourn at the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, a revival of a tradition last observed by Pope Benedict XVI. The pontiff’s stay was originally expected to end July 20, but the Vatican announced Sunday that Leo had extended the two-week stay an additional two days, through July 22.

A pope close to science

On June 16, Pope Leo XIV, who holds a degree in mathematics from Villanova University, expressed his appreciation for astronomy when he received the participants of this year’s Vatican Observatory Summer School.

On that occasion, he asked the young scientists to never forget “that what they do is meant to benefit everyone.”

“Be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, to the best of your ability and in any way possible,” he added.

The pope also urged them not to hesitate to share “the joy and wonder born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ which, in the words of St. Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”

The summer program, held every two years, brings together young astronomers from different countries. The most recent edition hosted 24 students from 22 nations under the theme “Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope,” an instrument that has revolutionized astronomical observation since 2022.

During his meeting with astronomy students, Pope Leo highlighted the importance of the advances made by the telescope: “For the first time we can deeply observe the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where the planetary systems themselves are forming” as well as trace “the ancient light of distant galaxies, which speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”

Catholic images and crucifixes fill the walls in Times Square Tattoo. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Tommy Houlihan

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In the heart of New York City, nestled among the tall buildings of Times Square, sits a small tattoo shop with two 17-inch signs of the Miraculous Medal hanging outside the front door. Inside, walls of rosaries, crucifixes, and religious images greet visitors, while an old church pew serves as a place to sit and wait. A glass jar filled with blessed Miraculous Medals sits on the front desk. 

The tattoo parlor, Times Square Tattoo, is more than a tattoo parlor, according to owner Tommy Houlihan, who has a deep devotion to the Miraculous Medal and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The 55-year-old told CNA that he views his shop as a “ministry for the Miraculous Medal.”

Houlihan has been a tattoo artist since 1990. He grew up in a Catholic household in Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood on the west side of midtown Manhattan, and by the age of 18 began his career in body art.

In the early years of his tattoo career, Houlihan shared that he was making a lot of money — he wore expensive jewelry and tailored clothes, went to steakhouses every night, and “lived like a rock star.”

“That’s all gone now,” he said. “It’s all gone because I went and really cracked down on my faith.”

About five years ago, Houlihan returned to the Catholic faith. A big factor was the powerful testimony of Zachary King, a former Satanist who had a powerful conversion to Catholicism after an encounter with the Miraculous Medal, a sacramental based on the vision of a French nun in 1830. St. Catherine Labouré, a young sister at the time, was instructed in an apparition of the Virgin Mary to have a special medal cast. Originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, it became better known as the “Miraculous Medal.”

After hearing King’s testimony, Houlihan began digging deeper into his faith and praying about what he should do with his tattoo shop. He also spoke to several priests, some of whom were exorcists, about his struggle of wanting to keep his tattoo shop open but also honoring his faith.

In one of his conversations, Houlihan told the priest about the kinds of places around his shop — a Wiccan coven to his right, a Masonic temple to his left, and a church of Scientology across the street — describing it as being “in a den of vipers.” The priest told Houlihan that he was the “antivenom.” This response moved Houlihan to hand his shop over to the Blessed Mother.

“I work almost exclusively on tourists from all over the world,” Houlihan explained. “And every single person that comes in my shop gets a medal when they first walk in. And then they fly back to France, Germany, Argentina, Canada, wherever they’re going back to, so that makes us a worldwide ministry.”

Houlihan has implemented strict guidelines for the type of work he and his employees do.

Some of the images that Houlihan’s shop declines to do include Satanic symbols, zodiac signs, anything related to witchcraft or sorcery (including shows like “Wicked” or “Harry Potter”), anything that desecrates a sacred image, anything related to the LGBT “pride” movement, and other things. He says he will also not tattoo on places on the body that are primarily meant to sexualize the individual.

“I cannot attach myself to anything in the occult and I can’t put that image on you. One day I got to answer for that,” he said.

Despite turning down many requests and handing out Miraculous Medals to those who are religious or not, Houlihan pointed out that “almost everybody gives a positive reaction.”

“I think 60% of the people react really favorably; I’d say maybe 30% are indifferent. But I do get some that don’t want it or people [who] are outright hostile to it,” he said.

When asked how his guidelines have impacted the business, Houlihan said: “I definitely took a hit, but the Blessed Mother’s making sure that I make enough money to get by.”

Seeing his tattoo shop as a ministry, Houlihan said he hopes those he encounters experience a change in their lives and in their faith.

“I hope they have an instant conversion,” he shared. “And if they’re a bad Catholic, [that] they become a good Catholic, and if they’re a good Catholic, [that] they become a great Catholic.”

He added that not only has his shop helped to keep his own faith “in line,” but it has also given him a way to evangelize and to “give the word of God” to all those who visit.