1+ week, 5+ day ago (556+ words) By'Amira Abuzeid for CNA November 17, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA). The Archdiocese of Detroit has announced a restructuring process that will lead to church closures and parish mergers as a result of declining church attendance, its archbishop said. Archbishop Edward Weisenburger announced in a letter over the weekend that due to a shrinking Catholic population in the archdiocese, a two-year restructuring process will see some parishes close while others will be collected into groupings called "pastorates," led by one pastor and his team. He said the "struggle to care for buildings and parish structures where there are very few people" is preventing the Church there to focus on "areas where the Church is growing." Weisenburger said that currently there are 900,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, and fewer than half of those attend Mass regularly. Many…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (527+ words) By'Andy Drozdziak for CNA November 21, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print London, England, Nov 21, 2025 / 06:00 am A new report reveals that significant numbers of Anglican clergy have converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom since 1992. Speaking to CNA, co-author Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary's Catholic University, London, said he was "really quite surprised" by the high numbers, "especially the [convert] ordinations as a proportion of all ordinations." "The numbers," Bullivant added, "are much larger than most people would imagine. It was a much bigger phenomenon than a lot of people thought." He called the "steady stream" of former Anglican clergy converting "a very major source of Catholic vocations." Bullivant, who is also director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary's, identified two "big waves" as major factors in…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (612+ words) November 18, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Nov 18, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV said immigrants must be treated with dignity, and he encouraged all people in the United States to heed the bishops" message on immigration. "No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter," Pope Leo XIV said Nov. 18 outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to Rome after a daylong stay there. "But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least " and there"s been some violence, unfortunately " I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said. I think that I would…...

4+ day, 15+ hour ago (610+ words) November 25, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Nov 25, 2025 / 15:31 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday suggested that people "say thank you to someone" this Thanksgiving and he addressed concerns about violence in Lebanon ahead of his trip there later this week. Speaking two days before Thanksgiving, the first U.S.-born pope celebrated what he called "this beautiful feast that we have in the United States, which unites all people, people of different faiths, people who perhaps do not have the gift of faith." The pope urged all people, not just Americans, to take the occasion "to recognize that we all have received so many gifts, first and foremost, the gift of life, the gift of faith, the gift of unity " and to give thanks to God for the many gifts we've been given." Pope Leo answered questions from…...

1+ week, 20+ hour ago (592+ words) November 22, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 09:00 am "A moment of great familiarity" is how Abbess Maria Cristina Daguati of the Augustinian convent in Montefalco, Italy, described Pope Leo XIV's visit on Thursday. After'visiting the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi'and meeting with the Italian bishops on Nov. 20, the pope traveled to the Italian city of Montefalco to celebrate Mass at the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, erected in the 13th century and one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region. After meeting with the Italian bishops in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Augustinian monastery of St. Clare of Montefalco, where he wished to spend some time with the cloistered nuns. The Holy Father spoke informally with the community, celebrated Mass, and shared lunch with the nuns. The pope arrived…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (706+ words) By'Amira Abuzeid for CNA November 13, 2025 David Kilby News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 13, 2025 / 07:00 am According to a new survey, engagement among U.S. adults who identify as Catholic is strong, especially among the youngest adults, and there is growing trust in the Church after the fallout of the clergy sexual abuse crisis of the early 2000s. In July, Leadership Roundtable commissioned a polling firm to'conduct a national survey'of Catholics in the U.S. in order to inform Church leaders of problems as well as strengths within the Catholic Church since the sexual abuse crisis came to national attention in 2002 and the'Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People'was composed to address it. Researchers composed a 72-question survey and divided respondents into three groups: the Faithful (1,541 respondents), the Occasional (472 respondents), and the Disengaged (1,020). The Faithful said they attend Mass at least monthly, the Occasional said…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago (579+ words) November 14, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:34 am (CNA). In a move to renew a "long-lost tradition," the U.S. bishops confirmed the next National Eucharistic Congress will take place in the summer of 2029. At the plenary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore on Nov. 12, the bishops voted to confirm the date for the country's second National Eucharistic Congress of the 21st century. Last year's National Eucharistic Congress, the first to take place on American soil since World War II, attracted tens of thousands of people for several massive sessions of Eucharistic adoration in Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. The event also featured numerous talks and workshops related to the Catholic faith and a 60,000-participant Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis. Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who chaired the first congress, said it was "a time of great…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (529+ words) November 20, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 20, 2025 / 11:34 am The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service for Catholic teenagers. The 2025 theme is "I Am," and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and be empowered for discipleship. NCYC was created by'the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry'(NFCYM), an organization committed to advancing the field of pastoral ministry to young people in the United States. Founded with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization works to strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. The conference, from Nov. 2022, will feature Catholic speakers, daily Mass and adoration, music and worship, breakout groups and workshops, and interactive exhibits with games, vendors, meetups, and live radio shows....

2+ week, 4+ day ago (562+ words) November 12, 2025 CWR Staff The Dispatch 0 Print The DDF's Strange Fixation " "It is disturbing that a few online trolls could prompt an official statement from a Vatican dicastery" a statement that dismays and offends so many loyal, faithful Catholics " The Vatican and the trolls (Phil Lawler's Substack) Confusion Over Co-Redemptrix Title " "This week's announcement by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that we should not use "Co-redemptrix' as a title of the Virgin Mary has left observers with several questions, among them: "Why this?' and "Why now?'" New document about "Co-redemptrix' opens hornets' nest in Church (Crux) Holy Relics Map " "A new apostolate brings the "saints back into the heart of the Church's life' on the feast of the Veneration of the Holy Relics." Calling All Relic Hunters: World's First Map of Relics Unveiled by Anthony Di Mauro (National…...

2+ week, 20+ hour ago (624+ words) November 15, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA). The Archdiocese of Denver and a coalition of Catholic preschools are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to access a Colorado universal preschool program. The petition to the high court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in September that Colorado may continue to exclude Catholic preschools from its Universal Preschool Program because of their religious beliefs. Catholic preschools in Denver ask teachers and families to sign a pledge promising to uphold their religious mission, including teachings on sexuality and gender identity. The Colorado preschool program's nondiscrimination clause, however, requires schools to uphold provisions on sexual orientation and "gender identity." Two Catholic parish preschools and the Denver Archdiocese first filed suit in August 2023 against the requirement. In a Nov. 14 press release, the Becket Fund…...