St. Andrew Catholic Church

For decades, Father Chris Riley transformed thousands of lives through his Youth Off The Streets project in Australia. He died Aug. 1, 2025, at age 70 after a prolonged illness. / Credit: El Pics/ Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Aug 5, 2025 / 10:50 am (CNA).

Australians are paying tribute to a prominent priest who passionately cared for vulnerable young people. For decades, Father Chris Riley transformed thousands of lives through his Youth Off The Streets project. He died Aug. 1 at age 70 after a prolonged illness.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led national tributes to the Salesian father in a statement posted on X.

“Father Chris Riley had a heart as big as the country he served. He gave hope to young people doing it tough and never gave up on anyone. He was a good friend and his legacy will live on in the lives he changed,” the prime minister said.

Christopher Keith Riley was born Nov. 24, 1954, in rural Victoria and ordained as a Salesian priest in 1982 after growing up on a dairy farm, The Catholic Weekly reported.

His life’s work began in 1991 when he established Youth Off The Streets with a single food van serving homeless youth in Sydney’s inner-city Kings Cross area.

Under Riley’s leadership for nearly three decades, the effort expanded from its modest beginnings into a comprehensive organization employing over 220 staff and operating more than 30 programs across New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland. 

The organization now serves approximately 1,600 homeless youth annually, according to a media release from Youth Off The Streets.

NSW Premier Chris Minns in a statement expressed profound sadness at Riley’s death, describing him as a visionary whose work proved “that with compassion and opportunity, young lives can be transformed.”

Minns noted how the Salesian transformed “a single food van in Kings Cross into a lifesaving network of crisis accommodation, counseling, and other wraparound support services.”

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman (Liberal Party) praised Riley as “a quiet giant” who provided “tens of thousands of young people a sanctuary and a second chance,” CathNews reported.

The bipartisan recognition reflects Riley’s widespread respect across Australia’s political spectrum.

Anne Fitzgerald, chairperson of Youth Off The Streets’ board, remembered Riley as “a tireless advocate for homeless and disadvantaged youth” who “inspired and changed thousands of young lives.”

She emphasized the priest’s “compassion, tenacity, and unwavering belief that every young person deserves the chance to reach their full potential.”

Australian society recognized the Catholic priest’s work with multiple honors: The government appointed him a member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for service to disadvantaged youth. That same year, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission awarded him the Human Rights Medal.

Riley stepped down from active leadership in 2022 as his health declined but remained connected to the organization he founded. His death marks the end of an era for youth services in Australia, though his organization continues the work he began more than three decades ago.

Judy Barraclough, current CEO of Youth Off The Streets, in the organization’s statement said Riley’s “dedication to supporting and empowering young Australians in need has left a powerful legacy.”

His “vision, drive, and determination will continue to inspire our organization,” she added.

Entrance to St. Clare’s Monastery in Belorado, Burgos, Spain. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A Spanish court has ruled in favor of the Catholic Church in the eviction lawsuit against the former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado, ordering them to leave the monastery they are illegally occupying.

“The ruling upholds in its entirety the eviction lawsuit filed on Sept. 16, 2024, by the pontifical commissioner as major superior, administrator, and legal representative of the monastery of Belorado,” announced the statement from the office of the pontifical commissioner published Aug. 1.

The papal commissioner, Archbishop Mario Iceta, is also the archbishop of Burgos, where the monastery is located.

The text specifies that the ruling declares “that the eviction of the defendant [the schismatic former nuns] from the aforementioned property is warranted, the possession of which must be returned to the plaintiff, and orders the defendant to vacate, leave the aforementioned property free and clear, and at the disposal of the plaintiff, with the threat of eviction if they do not do so voluntarily.”

The ruling of the lower court, located in the town of Briviesca, follows the July 29 trial and states that “the defendant has not demonstrated, as was their responsibility, that it possesses any title that would justify and legitimize the use of the property” against the demand to vacate by the actual title holder, “which must lead to the full upholding of the claim.”

The ruling also emphasizes that the schismatic former nuns cannot acquire the property they occupy because it is merely “a gathering of individuals [as opposed to a juridical person] lacking the authority” to do so.

Carlos Azcona of the office of the pontifical commissioner said regarding the case that “it is important to note that this ruling addresses the substance of the matter,” stating that the former nuns’ “so-called conventual chapter” is nothing more than “a gathering of individuals lacking the authority to meet as such a chapter.”

He thus noted that “the agreement reached [by the schismatic nuns] regarding the transformation of the monastery into a civil association would be null and void and cannot serve as a justification for the right to continue occupying the monastery.”

Finally, Azcona clarified that “the ruling we learned of yesterday orders the eviction of the schismatic former nuns who do not belong to the monastic community. The older sisters [still in communion with Rome] are the only ones who constitute the Belorado monastic community, and at this time we should not make any statements regarding any action related to them.”

In a previous ruling, the Briviesca court had already set Sept. 12 as the date for the eviction.

The schismatic former nuns of Belorado

The former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado were excommunicated from the Catholic Church for the crime of schism in June 2024 after announcing in May 2024 that they were leaving the Catholic Church and placing themselves under the tutelage of a false excommunicated bishop.

On May 13, when they announced their departure from the Catholic Church, the nuns indicated in a letter and a declaration that they recognize “H.H. Pius XII as the last valid supreme pontiff,” a decision that was explained through an attached 70-page text titled “Catholic Manifesto” claiming that “the see of St. Peter is vacant and usurped.” 

At the time, the nuns stated that their community “is leaving the conciliar Church to which it belonged to become part of the Catholic Church.” They complained that in recent years there have been “contradictions, double and confusing language, ambiguity, and loopholes in clear doctrine have been coming from the chair of Peter.” 

In addition to the penalty of excommunication, the 10 former nuns were expelled from consecrated life, which meant they were supposed to leave the monastery. However, they did not do so and began a legal battle to remain in the building.

In mid-September 2024, Iceta, the pontifical commissioner appointed by Pope Francis, filed a lawsuit demanding that the schismatic former nuns leave the monastery. He had repeatedly stated that the former Poor Clares could no longer occupy the monastery, having expressed their decision not to remain in the Catholic Church.

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

null / Credit: Rohane Hamilton/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration may be walking back an earlier plan that would have required insurance companies to provide coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF), according to a report from the Washington Post.

The Post reported that “two people with knowledge of internal discussions” told the outlet that the White House does not plan to impose any IVF mandates on health insurance providers.

According to the report, a senior administration official said expanding IVF access is still “a huge priority” for the president but that any government-imposed mandatory coverage would need to come from legislation passed through Congress. The article reported that such a plan is not on the table at the moment.

CNA reached out to the White House for a response to that report and to ask whether religious liberty concerns for Catholics and others opposed to IVF are being weighed in the deliberations but did not get a response by the time of publication.

The Catholic Church opposes IVF because it separates the creation of life from the marital act and because the process results in the destruction of millions of human embryos, which ends human lives. The Southern Baptist Convention officially expressed opposition to IVF last year as well, but many Protestant denominations do not take a formal stance.

Trump first promised nearly a year ago during a campaign rally that the government would either subsidize IVF costs with taxpayer money or impose a coverage mandate on insurers. In October, Trump told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo that a religious exemption for those opposed to IVF “sounds to me like a pretty good idea” and that “we will look at that.”

As president in February, Trump signed an executive order directing the United States Domestic Policy Council to examine ways to expand IVF access, which sparked immediate concerns from the pro-life community and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). At this point, the administration has not imposed any rules related to IVF coverage.

Father Thomas Ferguson, who serves on the religious leadership advisory board for Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, told CNA the report suggesting a departure from an insurance coverage mandate is “welcome news” but that Catholics “must continue to remain vigilant” in opposition to IVF.

IVF, Ferguson said, is “an illicit medical procedure” and must not be portrayed as an “essential health benefit.”

“It is a matter of grave concern that there might exist the possibility that tax dollars would be used to pay for IVF procedures under federally funded insurance plans,” Ferguson said.

“An even more serious concern would be the prospect of the federal government attempting to mandate privately funded insurance plans to pay for IVF services in a manner that would be clearly contrary to the religious beliefs of individuals, business owners, or even churches themselves,” he added.

The Religious Liberty Commission has held one hearing so far, but concerns about potential IVF expansion were not on the agenda. Ferguson said that education will be the focus of the second hearing scheduled for Sept. 8. No other topics have been scheduled yet, but he said he expects Catholic leaders to raise the IVF issue within the context of the commission’s work.

“Catholic belief and teaching that IVF is a morally illicit means of conceiving human life is well known, so it should be no surprise that Catholic leaders and the Catholic faithful would be dismayed by the administration’s commitment to promote IVF as a part of its policy on marriage and family life,” Ferguson added.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), expressed optimism about the report, telling CNA that Trump’s advisers “thankfully seem to have gotten his ear and reminded him that the government ought not be subsidizing IVF in any manner.”

IVF, he said, is “an unethical approach to satisfying parental desires and customer yearnings by erecting and subsidizing an enormous industry to replace what parents themselves are meant to do uniquely within the marital embrace. Human life is not respected in the process but is instead commodified and objectified.”

Rather than covering IVF, Pacholczyk said health insurance should cover “authentic therapies and treatments for infertility,” such as natural procreative technology and Fertility Education and Medical Management, which are pro-life alternatives that seek to address the root causes of fertility struggles.

NCBC past president and senior fellow Joseph Meaney told CNA the report is “highly welcome news” and noted that IVF is “extremely unethical and costly,” while the many pro-life alternatives are “ethically and financially” preferable.

He said the Church has consistently condemned IVF as immoral since 1987 in the document Donum Vitae and that the First Amendment would require that any potential insurance mandate have religious liberty exemptions.

“Religious freedom constitutional guarantees in the U.S. would make it illegal to impose IVF on Catholics and particularly on Catholic employers who might have been required to pay for IVF through their employee health insurance plans,” Meaney added.

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims during his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 18:02 pm (CNA).

In a new gesture of closeness to the victims of irregular migration, Pope Leo XIV expressed his “profound sorrow” for the sinking of a boat off the coast of Yemen in which at least 76 migrants on their way to Saudi Arabia died. Most of the passengers were Ethiopian nationals.

In a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pontiff entrusted “the many migrants who have lost their lives to the loving mercy of Almighty God.”

In the message, addressed to the apostolic nuncio in Yemen, Archbishop Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis, the pope also invoked “divine strength, consolation, and hope for the survivors, emergency workers, and all those affected by this tragedy.”

The tragedy occurred on the dangerous route through the Gulf of Aden, also known as “the route of death.” According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), this route is one of the deadliest crossings in the world, used by traffickers to transport migrants to Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, in search of job opportunities.

Despite the extreme conditions and the armed conflict that has ravaged Yemen — the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula — for more than a decade, thousands of people, especially from Ethiopia and Somalia, continue to risk their lives along this route. The IOM estimates that 157 people were traveling on the boat that sank on Aug. 3, of whom 76 were found dead, 32 survived, and dozens remain missing.

In 2024 alone, the IOM recorded at least 558 deaths on the route between Djibouti in East Africa and Yemen. However, many tragedies go unreported due to a lack of control and monitoring in conflict zones. In addition to shipwrecks, migrants face exploitation, sexual violence, forced labor, and torture, often at the hands of criminal networks.

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

Damage after the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut explosion. / Credit: Mehr News Agency, CC BY SA 4.0

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).

With a silent march, moving testimonies, and the symbolic planting of 75 trees in honor of the victims, Lebanon commemorated on Aug. 4 the fifth anniversary of the devastating explosion that rocked Beirut’s port in 2020, leaving 245 dead and 6,000 injured.

A day marked by tears, prayer, and remembrance of all those killed and injured also became a cry of hope in the midst of a prolonged crisis.

Pope Leo XIV extended his closeness to the Lebanese people through a message — as is customary in such cases — signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. In the text, the pontiff said that “Christ’s tears are joined with our own in the face of the loss and suffering of our loved ones.”

The pope thus wished to express “his compassion for all those whose hearts are wounded or who have lost everything due to this catastrophe.”

“Beloved and suffering Lebanon remains at the center of our prayers,” he said in the message read on Sunday evening, Aug. 3, at the vigil held in Beirut and presided over by the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia, according to Vatican News.

Speaking to Vatican News, the nuncio described it as a “deeply moving” moment.

The commemoration took place in Karantina in the square in front of Our Lady of Deliverance Church, one of the hardest-hit areas near the port, where the greatest number of rescue operations were concentrated in the hours following the explosion.

“There was a moment of prayer during which the families of victims and the injured came together. There were also some testimonies, followed by a silent march to a garden along the road to the port, where in recent days 75 trees bearing the names of victims were planted. More will be planted in the future,” Borgia explained. Furthermore, Lebanese Minister of Culture Ghassan Salamé announced that the silo that exploded on Aug. 4, 2020, has now been listed as a historical monument of the country.

“The wounds from that tragic explosion still run deep,” the apostolic nuncio noted. “Six thousand 500 people were treated in Beirut’s hospitals, the chaos, the dead on the streets — it’s all still vivid in the memory of the Lebanese people.”

During the interview, Borgia recalled the conversation Pope Francis had with the victims’ families last year. During that meeting, held at the Vatican, the pontiff called for justice and truth for the families who have been demanding it for years. On that occasion, the Holy Father stated that it was a “complicated and thorny” issue.

According to the apostolic nuncio, “there are conflicting interests at play, but truth and justice must prevail above all else.”

“Today, however, there’s a bit more hope. Some steps are being taken in the investigation phase,” the nuncio stated. In any case, the investigation is in its preliminary phase, and the deadly explosion has “no clear cause or explanation.”

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

Bishop Robert Barron delivers the keynote address at the Jubilee of Youth’s National U.S. Pilgrim Gathering on July 30, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Word on Fire announced Monday that a new documentary by Bishop Robert Barron is underway that will showcase the beauty of Catholic cathedrals and how they guide the faithful to the divine. 

In the announcement, Barron — who also serves as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota — explained that the inspiration for the documentary came after the tragic fire that destroyed part of the historic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. 

In April 2019, Notre Dame’s iconic roof and spire were engulfed by a fire, the causes of which have yet to be determined. Its main structure was saved, along with many of its priceless contents, but the restoration project was monumental, amounting to almost 700 million euros ($740 million). The historic cathedral reopened on Dec. 7, 2024.   

Barron recalled that the response from people all around the world was “intriguing” to him and he “had a sense that people knew the fire was threatening to destroy something of great spiritual value — even if they were not faithful themselves.”

After this, Barron wrote a script for a documentary that explored the idea of the spirituality of cathedrals and their ability to draw in even those who do not believe in God or practice any faith.

The documentary will take viewers to the French cathedrals of Amiens, Chartres, Notre-Dame, Reims, and Saint-Denis to explore these medieval cathedrals more in depth. It will combine history, theology, art, and Scripture to show the significance of cathedrals and answer the question: What is it about the beauty of a cathedral that is so transcendent?

Barron said he believes the documentary will have “great evangelical value.”

“My hope is that this film can have a similar impact by drawing people into the beauty of our faith through the intrigue of these impressive buildings,” he said.

Barron has released several documentaries over the years including the “Catholicism” series, which took viewers to 50 locations throughout 15 countries to reveal the fullness of the Catholic faith, and the “Pivotal Players” series, which dove into the lives of 12 of the most influential Catholic figures in history.

A release date for the new documentary has not been announced.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told a packed basilica of young jubilee pilgrims in Rome on Aug. 4, 2025, that holy relics are “not just a quirky Catholic thing — they are a quirky God thing.” / Credit: Ivanka Ranic/Archdiocese of Sydney

Vatican City, Aug 4, 2025 / 16:29 pm (CNA).

Standing before the casket containing the incorrupt body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena in Rome, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told a packed basilica of young jubilee pilgrims that holy relics are “not just a quirky Catholic thing — they are a quirky God thing.”

The Australian Dominican archbishop delivered the homily at the closing Mass of the weeklong public veneration of Frassati’s body during the Jubilee of Youth, a celebration that drew 1 million Catholic young people to the Eternal City.

“It’s a quirky thing, that Catholics so honor their dead and the remains of the dead,” Fisher said. “I was asked once by a radio host, ‘What’s this thing with Catholics and bones?’ I explained that the relics of saints are sacramentals: Sites where God imparts graces of healing and strength through the intercession of the faithful ones whose relics they are.”

“Through ‘this Catholic thing with bones,’” he added, “we honor the person who was and look forward to the person who will be again — but now purified, restored, glorified.” 

“In reverencing the remains of our loved ones and especially the saints, we proclaim our faith in the holy Catholic Church and the communion of saints, but also in the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting!” 

The Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva on Aug. 4 had standing room only, as young pilgrims crowded in for a chance to pray before the incorrupt body of Frassati, a 20th-century Italian layman whose body was found intact 60 years after his death, which is considered a miracle. 

“When Pier Giorgio’s mortal remains were transferred from Pollone cemetery to Turin Cathedral, they were found to be incorrupt after 60 years,” Fisher explained. “In miraculously preserving his body for so long, God was saying something powerful about the purity of this incorruptible man, about the significance of life in the flesh, and about the promise of resurrection to us all.”

Following the Mass, Dominican friars carried Frassati’s casket in a solemn procession down the basilica’s central aisle. Outside, pilgrims lined the steps, waving as the vehicle carrying Frassati’s body departed for the eight-hour drive back to Turin, where his tomb is located in the city’s cathedral.

Evangeline Jenan, 16, from Arizona, was one of the few who were able to reach out and touch the casket after it was processed outside of the basilica.

“Being able to touch his casket is just an absolutely powerful experience,” she told CNA.

“His love for God is just so inspiring and amazing to me. And I want to be like him.”

Fisher recalled how Frassati’s body was brought to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008. “To offer Mass again beside his casket is a real privilege,” he said, welcoming Frassati’s niece, Wanda Gawronska, who has played a vital role in sharing her uncle’s story with the world.

The liturgy coincided with the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, and Fisher reminded the youth that sainthood comes in many forms.  

“Male and female, tall and short, young and old, clerical and lay, alive or dead at the moment: Sainthood is not one-size-fits-all,” he said.

Frassati, who died at age 24 in 1925, has long inspired young Catholics with his deep piety, charity for the poor, and love of the outdoors. He famously said: “To live without faith is not living, but merely existing.”

Fisher described Frassati as someone who showed that “faith is fun.”

“Mountain climbing or skiing, study or socializing — all could be apostolate,” he said.

Young pilgrims in attendance said the encounter with Frassati’s relics and Fisher’s message left a deep impression.

Rebecca Calabrese, 27, from Sydney, traveled with 64 young Australians for the jubilee. “It really inspires a lot of young people who are searching for their vocation and looking for a deeper relationship with Christ,” she said, “to see someone so ordinary but also extraordinary… who lived out his faith with such zeal and joy and passion in the normal, everyday aspects of life.”

For Dylan Staub, 21, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the jubilee was a life-changing experience. “I’ve never even been out of the country before,” he said. “It’s just so many people, so many people filled with grace and on fire with their faith.” 

He added that the jubilee really makes one reflect on how “you’re here for a purpose, and you were created and chosen by God and loved by God.” 

In his final exhortation, Fisher urged the youth to ask Frassati’s intercession for courage and clarity in their vocations.  

“Ask Pier Giorgio to intercede for wisdom about your calling, for courage to embrace it, and for the holy joy of flourishing in that vocation in the years ahead,” he said.

The Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh, site of the July 25, 2025, arrest of two nuns. / Credit: Rajbhatt, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 4, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).

Two Catholic nuns who were arrested at a train station in central India have been released on bail after spending more than 10 days in prison. 

“The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has welcomed with relief the grant of bail to Sister Preethi and Sister Vandana by the NIA Court in Bisaspur,” the Indian Catholic bishops wrote in an Aug. 2 statement following the sisters’ release, which they said “has brought a sense of hope to the Christian community across the country.” 

Government Railway Police had arrested Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate congregation July 25 at the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh for human trafficking and forced conversion. 

The nuns had been accompanying three young women between the ages of 19 and 22 as well as a young tribal man from Narayanpur to Agra in Uttar Pradesh, where the young women had plans to work.

“We are grateful to the government for the support shown in this case,” CBCI President Archbishop Andrews Thazhath said in the statement, adding: “We hope this marks the beginning of renewed efforts to protect the rights and dignity of all religious minorities in our secular democracy.”

The bishops expressed gratitude to Christians across denominations and all “who stood in solidarity” with the nuns during their imprisonment and called on the government to “take concrete measures to curb the increasing incidents of intimidation against members of religious communities.”

News of their release comes after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delayed the process, prompting widespread protests across the country. The Indian Catholic bishops’ conference expressed “outrage and deep concern” over the arrests in a statement at the time, revealing that the nuns had been “subjected to harassment, false accusations, and fabricated cases.” 

“They were physically assaulted and the arrest took place despite written consent letters issued by the parents of each woman above 18 years of age,” the bishops said, describing the event as “a grave violation” of the country’s constitution. 

“It is absolutely shocking and sad that the two religious sisters have been illegally detained under false charges of human trafficking and forced conversion,” Sister M. Nirmalini, the president of the women’s wing of the Conference of Religious India, told CNA on July 30. 

“Shockingly, the charges have been made without ascertaining or verifying facts,” said the nun, who belongs to the Apostolic Carmel Congregation. She noted that some congregations have asked members not to wear their habits in public “to avoid harassment.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin. / Credit: Irish Jesuits, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

In a moving message, Eamon Martin, primate of Ireland and archbishop of Armagh, commemorated St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all priests and especially parish priests, whose memorial is celebrated Aug. 4.

At the beginning of his message, the prelate recalled his May visit to the tomb of St. John Vianney in the French town of Ars, where the saint served for more than 40 years. The archbishop visited on the occasion of the centenary of the saint’s May 1925 canonization.

Martin recounted that there at Ars he had given thanks to God “for the dedication and quiet commitment of so many good priests throughout Ireland; I remembered my classmates and the priests who inspired my own vocation, and I prayed especially for priests who are sick, struggling, or out of ministry.”

In this regard, he emphasized the importance of praying for priests: “It’s understandable that people are more used to asking priests to pray for them and might not realize how much we priests are ourselves in great need of prayer: that we might be conformed more and more fully to Christ.”

He also recalled that St. John Mary Vianney described the priesthood as “the love of the heart of Jesus” and used to say that “to be a missionary is to let your heart overflow.”

“We priests tend to be caught up in a multitude of demands and distractions,” Martin noted, lamenting that in recent times, like many others, “we have become vulnerable to isolation and loneliness, and sometimes to unhealthy or harmful influences that can steal away the joy of our vocation.”

“And we priests are not the best at accepting when we need help and support or finding guides and mentors to accompany us spiritually, pastorally, intellectually, and especially in our personal human development,” he noted.

He also observed that sometimes it is difficult to find moments of rest and renewal, “and spaces where we can cultivate interior silence, center ourselves on Our Lord Jesus Christ, to hear and understand what is God’s will for us at this particular moment, to renew the joy of our ordination and to pour out gratitude to God for calling us to this wonderful ministry.”

In this context, he emphasized that “one of the greatest challenges we face as priests is to be ‘good news’ for the world.”

Regarding the fragility of the priesthood and the great harm caused by abuse, he said this scourge “has caused immense damage and trauma to the lives of victims and their families, but it has also broken the heart and spirit of many priests, damaged priestly fraternity and credibility, and that precious trust between us and our people.”

He therefore emphasized that, more than ever, “we need to be open to God’s healing love within us, to know that we are loved and understood by God, despite all of our weaknesses and faults. And we need prayers, and intercession, not just as individual priests called by God, but also for the priesthood itself,” he added.

“Our greatest privilege is to be able to celebrate the Eucharist for our people and for ourselves. That is because in this troubled, confused, and often empty and superficial world, people quite simply want us to be men of God, who can point them to the transcendent, and lift up their hearts and minds to the beauty and truth of God,” he noted.

Finally, he clarified that the priesthood is not a job or profession like any other because “it is subsumed into our whole being.”

“Our priesthood is not our own. It is a share in the priesthood of Christ. It is a partaking in the love of the heart of Jesus,” he emphasized.

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

Rows of bunk beds line the interior of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in the Florida Everglades, a repurposed training center now designated for holding immigrants. President Donald Trump appears in the background during a July 1, 2025, visit to the site. / Credit: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 4, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).

As part of a new Catholic ministry, the Archdiocese of Miami celebrated its first Mass at the Florida detention center for unauthorized immigrants known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“I am pleased that our request to provide for the pastoral care of the detainees has been accommodated,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski said in an Aug. 3 statement. “Also, we were able to respond to a request to provide similar service to the staff who reside at the facility.”

In a July interview with “EWTN News In Depth,” Wenski said his “greatest concern” was the “health and care of the people that are being detained” at Alligator Alcatraz. He and other advocates were calling for “a minimum of standards” and said that “one of those standards should be access to pastoral care.”

At the time, Wenski explained his archdiocese was having difficulty arranging Masses and spiritual care for the immigrants being held because the Florida state government and the federal government were “arguing among themselves who is accountable” for the detention center.

After months of discussions between Florida bishops, archdiocesan leadership, and state correctional authorities, an agreement was finally reached. Chaplains and pastoral ministers from the Archdiocese of Miami will have “full access” to the facility to offer liturgical Masses for detainees and staff.

The first Mass was held on Aug. 2 and is just the start of the regular liturgical celebrations expected at the center. The archdiocese reported that it will continue the ministry “following the facility’s guidelines and the pastoral availability of our clergy.”

The archdiocese plans “to have a successful and consistent Catholic presence at Alligator Alcatraz that will depend on effective ordination and coordination.” The goal is to “ensure a stable schedule of sacramental care and pastoral ministry that meets the spiritual needs of both attendees and staff, with the support of clergy and committed lay volunteers.”

“The Church has ‘no borders,’ for we all are members of one human family,” Wenski said. “Our ‘agenda’ was always to announce the ‘good news’ to the poor.”