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U.S bishops distribute $2.6 million to African churches, projects

null / Credit: Sergi Lopez Roig/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 13:35 pm (CNA). The U.S. Catholic bishops’ 2024 Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa has awarded $2.6 million to support 96 pastoral projects across 32 African countries and multinational regions.In a July 22 statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said the “boundless growth of the Catholic faith” throughout Africa “can challenge the Church as much as material poverty does.”The “gifts of American Catholics to the USCCB’s Solidarity Fund” help preserve a “spirit of unity” within the universal Church, the bishops said.Compared with the 2023 effort, funding has increased by $500,000, expanding grant projects by 28%. “The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa makes it possible for African Catholics to carry out vital spiritual and social ministries,” said Dubuque, Iowa, Archbishop Thomas Zinkula

Los Angeles Archdiocese launches aid program for immigrant families in crisis

Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles greets perpetual pilgrims of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles in Los Angeles, California, on June 22, 2025. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA). Archbishop José H. Gómez has announced a new initiative of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to support parishes in providing essential services to immigrant families affected by recent immigration enforcement policies. The archdiocese will partner with area businesses and philanthropists to administer the Family Assistance Program, which will ensure that “every dollar” will provide direct aid such as groceries, meals, and prescription deliveries to those in crisis.“Many of our friends and family, our neighbors and fellow parishioners, are afraid and anxious,” said Gómez, who unveiled the new program at a press conference at St. Patrick Church in South Los Ang

Federal bill would exempt pope from U.S. taxes, ‘safeguard’ his American citizenship

Pope Leo XIV waves as the popemobile passes by a crowd of American pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s general audience on June 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA). A new bill before Congress would “safeguard” the domestic citizenship of any American who is elected pope of the Catholic Church, including exempting him from paying taxes to the IRS.Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colorado, proposed the bill, saying it “ensures that any American who answers the call to lead more than a billion Catholics worldwide can do so without risking his citizenship or facing unnecessary tax burdens.”While the text of the bill is not yet available, Hurd said in a statement on his congressional website the bill is meant “to protect the citizenship of, and provide tax-exempt status to, any American elected as the supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.”“This legislation recogni

HHS investigation exposes ‘horrifying’ ethical failures in organ transplant system

Consultant Surgeon Andrew Ready and his team conduct a live donor kidney transplant at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham on June 9, 2006, in Birmingham, England. / Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images CNA Staff, Jul 23, 2025 / 18:17 pm (CNA). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a sweeping reform initiative of the nation’s organ transplant system after a four-year investigation by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) uncovered systemic ethical and safety violations. The violations discovered during the investigation, outlined July 21 in an HHS press release, showed “that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called this “horrifying.”“The organ procurement organizations that coordinate access to transplants will be held accountable,” Kennedy continued. “The entire sy

Bishop prohibits Catholic influencer from Church activities amid ‘grooming’ allegations

Catholic influencer Alex Jurado, who runs the social media ministry Voice of Reason (right), and Bishop Artur Bubnevych of the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Alexandro Jurado; photo courtesy of Father Artur Bubnevych CNA Staff, Jul 23, 2025 / 17:43 pm (CNA). A popular Catholic influencer has been barred from public events in his local Church amid investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct.Bishop Artur Bubnevych of the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix issued a statement prohibiting Catholic personality Alex Jurado — who runs the social media ministry Voice of Reason — from public events while he is under investigation for allegations of sexually grooming an underage teenage girl when he was 21 years old.CNA first reported on the allegations against Jurado on July 15. The Protestant website Protestia published a report alleging that “whistleblowers within the Catho

Report highlights which states are the best and worst at protecting religious liberty

Credit: Amanda Wayne/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 23, 2025 / 17:13 pm (CNA). In the past year Florida has been the most successful state at protecting religious liberty through safeguards in the state’s statutes or constitution, while West Virginia has been the least successful, according to the fourth annual Religious Liberty in the States report from First Liberty Institute.First Liberty — the largest legal organization in the U.S. dedicated solely to defending religious liberty — released its annual index ranking religious liberty protections for each of the 50 states. The report, conducted by the institute’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy (CRCD), focuses on select legal safeguards of religious exercise in laws and constitutions.The 2025 report was revealed on July 21 by the CRCD team at an event with Gov. Ron DeSantis to celebrate Florida holding the No. 1 spot for the first time since the research started.“Florida h

U.S. Olympics will ban men from competing in women’s competitions after Trump order

Algeria’s Imane Khelif (in red) punches Italy’s Angela Carini in the women’s 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena in Villepinte on Aug. 1, 2024. / Credit: MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images CNA Staff, Jul 23, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA). The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) will formally prohibit men from competing in women’s sports amid the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back transgender policies throughout the United States. USOPC said in an email to Olympic groups and stakeholders on Tuesday that leaders had “engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations” with federal leaders after President Donald Trump’s February executive order that moved to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports.”“Under the Trump administration we will defend the proud tradition of femal

EWTN launches EWTN Studios and EWTN Digital to expand global reach

Sean Graber, president of EWTN Digital (left), and Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios. / Credit: EWTN Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 16:47 pm (CNA). Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw has announced a new organizational structure to further EWTN’s mission in the digital landscape by enhancing its content creation and distribution methods under the leadership of two new presidents.EWTN will now align its operations around two new divisions: EWTN Studios and EWTN Digital. Led by Peter Gagnon, EWTN Studios will focus on content development, while Sean Graber will lead EWTN Digital, which will prioritize the network’s media distribution and broadening its audience. (Note: EWTN is the parent company of CNA.)“Under the leadership of our foundress, Mother Angelica, EWTN learned to constantly adopt new technology to reach souls,” Warsaw said. “Just as our major network peers in secular media have done,

Judge blocks abortion funding ban in ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 15:46 pm (CNA). Massachusetts federal judge Indira Talwani on Tuesday issued a ruling blocking the provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that stopped taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers.In the July 21 ruling, Talwani unilaterally decided that the law does not apply to abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood and granted the organization’s request for a temporary injunction while the lawsuit progresses.Planned Parenthood sued the administration in the Planned Parenthood v. Kennedy lawsuit challenging the provision in the recent reconciliation bill that sought to prohibit abortion centers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for one year. The case stated the “Defund Provision” violates the First Amendment, the equal protection clause, and the bill of attainder clause of the Constitution. Another affected abortion center, M

Judiciary Committee: FBI spied on Catholic priest for not divulging info on parishioner

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

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