Catholic News

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In Bahrain on Sunday morning, Pope Francis prayed with Catholics from the Arabian Peninsula and encouraged them to be bold in proclaiming the Gospel in their countries. “All who are baptized have received the Spirit and so become prophets. As such, we cannot pretend not to see the works of evil, so as to live a ‘quiet life’ and not get our hands dirty,” he said November 6 in Sacred Heart Church in Manama. “How is it possible for a Christian who wants to live his faith not to get his or her hands dirty?” the pope reiterated. “On the contrary, we received a Spirit of prophecy to proclaim the Gospel by our living witness.” Pope Francis met with Catholic priests, religious, and lay people on the last day of his historic visit to Bahrain, an overwhelmingly Muslim country. His November 3–6 trip included encounters with authorities, Muslim leaders, and the small Catholic community, including a Mass with around 30,000 people in Bahrain’s national soccer stadium — the first-ever public papal Mass in the country.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252742/pope-francis-tells-catholics-on-the-arabian-peninsula-to-be-bold-in-proclaiming-the-gospel

A new PG-13 version of Mark Wahlberg’s latest Catholic film, “Father Stu,” is coming back to the big screen December 9 with an aim at widening the audience to include more families with children, according to the movie’s director and screenwriter, Rosalind Ross. The film chronicles the life of Father “Stu” Stewart Long, a rough-around-the-edges Montana boxer turned Catholic priest in a riveting story of loss, suffering, and redemption. However, the new cut drops more than 100 swears and all religious profanity. “We wanted to remove that obstacle and open the experience up to the whole family. We really just listened to the audience and were blessed to have a chance to react to that,” the director said. “I think it’ll open a discussion about God and redemption and suffering and purpose and things that most of us probably don’t talk about enough with our kids,” she said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252736/father-stu-profanity-edited-out-new-version-in-theaters

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Peter Ou, one of the Martyrs of China. He was born to a non-Christian family in 1768. As a young man, he was outspoken with had a deep understanding of justice, and would eventually come to the defense of the poor and oppressed. He married and ran his own business, which was a large hotel. He was one of the first to convert to Christianity after missionaries arrived in his area, and he took the name Peter at his baptism. He enthusiastically preached Christianity to anyone who came by, later becoming a lay leader of the converts in his district. He also worked as a catechist. In 1814, he was imprisoned and tortured in a violent backlash against the faith. Under these conditions, he continued to inspire his fellow prisoners in the faith, and he led prayer services in the cells. He was sentenced to death for refusing to apostatize by stepping on a crucifix. Peter was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-peter-ou-648

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Pope Francis landed in the Kingdom of Bahrain on Thursday, becoming the first pope to visit the Muslim island nation located in the Persian Gulf. On the flight from Rome November 3, the pope told journalists aboard the papal plane it is “an interesting trip [that will] make us think about sharing good news.” Francis, who usually walks around the plane to greet media members, said he was in a lot of pain, and asked journalists to approach him where he was seated instead. Pope Francis is visiting Bahrain November 3-6. Located to the east of Saudi Arabia and west of Qatar, the country has a total population of 1.5 million. There are around 161,000 Catholics in Bahrain, many of whom are migrants from Asia, particularly the Philippines and India, according to 2020 Vatican statistics. There are two Catholic churches and 20 Catholic priests.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252716/pope-francis-becomes-first-pope-to-visit-bahrain

Synagogues in New Jersey should stay alert in light of a possible threat, the FBI said Thursday. “The FBI has received credible information of a broad threat to synagogues in NJ,” the Newark office of the FBI said on Twitter Thursday afternoon. “We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.” “Stay alert. In case of emergency call police,” the agency added. “We are taking a proactive measure with this warning while investigative processes are carried out.” In a report released earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League said there were at least 2,717 known anti-Semitic incidents across the US in 2021, a 34% rise over the previous year. In May 2021, leading US bishops decried a rise in anti-Semitic incidents.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252729/fbi-new-jersey-synagogues-face-credible-broad-threat

In recent days, residents of at least four U.S. states have received newspapers in the mail bearing variations of the name “Catholic Tribune” and featuring mostly pro-Republican articles along with quotes from U.S. bishops, among other Catholic-oriented content. Bishops in Arizona, Iowa, and Michigan have come out with statements in recent days denying any connection to the publications. The bishops have stressed that the papers are not affiliated with the Church and have reiterated that Catholics should vote based on their own well-formed consciences, and not necessarily for or against any particular person or political party.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252727/bishops-disavow-link-politically-oriented-catholic-tribune-newspapers

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Charles Borromeo, a cardinal and a prominent teacher and reformer of the Catholic faith. He gave of his considerable wealth generously to charity, and later gave of his own wealth and health to help plague victims at a time when many other authorities fled.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-charles-borromeo-645

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On All Souls’ Day, Pope Francis urged Christians not to “compromise with the Gospel” but to take Jesus’ words seriously when he says we will be judged by how we treat the poor. “Often, out of convenience or comfort, we tend to tone down Jesus’ message, to water down his words. Let’s face it, we have gotten pretty good at compromising with the Gospel,” the pope said in Saint Peter’s Basilica on November 2. Pope Francis offered Mass on All Souls’ Day for the repose of the souls of more than 150 deceased bishops and cardinals who died in the past year. In his homily, the pope reflected on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” The pope said that these words in the Gospel help prepare for death and the final judgment. “The best careers, the greatest achievements, the most prestigious titles and awards, the accumulated wealth and earthly gains, all will vanish in an instant, everything,” he said. The pope said that All Souls’ Day is a good occasion to ask “if our desires have anything to do with heaven.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252710/pope-francis-on-all-souls-day-do-you-desire-heaven-above-everything-else

England’s National Health Service (NHS) has issued new guidance for the treatment of children with gender dysphoria, warning that the condition is often a temporary “phase” and restricting the use of puberty blockers and sex-changing hormones. The NHS’s revised treatment policy was released last week after a review of existing policies found that gender transitioning may have “significant effects on the [child’s] psychological function.” The change follows the closing of what was the world’s largest child-gender clinic, Tavistock Clinic, due to concerns raised by an independent review and complaints from patient families. The NHS’ full guidance represents a shift away from a “gender-affirming care” model that encourages the medical and social transition of a child into the opposite sex, often with the use of puberty blockers and hormone drugs.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252706/england-s-health-service-puts-brakes-on-transgender-treatments-for-children

Today, the Church marks All Souls Day. Today and throughout the month of November, the Church makes a special effort to remember, honor and pray for the dead, especially those in purgatory. Purgatory is a place where the souls go who die in friendship with God but are still imperfectly purified, and he Church teaches that souls in Purgatory rely on the prayers of souls still on Earth to relieve some of their temporal suffering and speed their journey to Heaven. There are many different cultural traditions around this period, but one of the most consistently honored is the practice of visiting cemeteries.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/all-souls-day-41

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Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of November is for children who suffer, including war victims and orphans. “There are still millions of boys and girls who suffer and live in conditions very similar to slavery,” the pontiff said. “They aren’t numbers. They are human beings with names, with a face of their own, with an identity that God has given them. Let us pray for children who are suffering, especially for those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war,” the pope said in a video message published October 31.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252691/why-pope-francis-november-prayer-intention-is-for-children-who-suffer

More than 10,000 unborn babies are alive today because of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, a new report by a pro-abortion group suggests. Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount initiative reported Friday that there were 5,270 fewer abortions in July and 5,400 fewer in August after the court’s June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe and freed individual states to decide abortion policy. As the New York Times pointed out in an article on the #WeCount study, abortions declined almost to zero in states with bans, but they increased in many states where abortion remained legal. In August, fewer than 10 abortions were performed in each of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. #WeCount also identified some of the states with the largest increases in abortion as North Carolina (37%), Kansas (36%), Colorado (33%), and Illinois (28%). In the two months after Dobbs, the number of women getting abortions decreased by 10,670, or 6%, the group reported. If those numbers were to continue, more than 60,000 lives could be saved from abortion in one year alone. Pro-life research organizations applauded the finding.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252698/total-abortions-decreased-by-6-percent-in-the-us-after-roe-v-wade-was-overturned

Lawyers defending Cardinal Joseph Zen and five other Hong Kong democracy activists took the floor Monday in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, the same courthouse where a Protestant pastor was sentenced to one year in jail for sedition last week. In the third court date this month, Zen’s defense argued before Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee on October 31 that the charges against the trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund should be dismissed. The 90-year-old cardinal and the fund’s other trustees have been charged with failing to apply for local society registration for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund between 2019 and 2021. The fund helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees until it dissolved itself in October 2021. Cardinal Zen is the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong and a strong critic of the 2018 Vatican-China deal on the appointment of bishops.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252695/cardinal-zen-trial-update-defense-calls-for-charges-to-be-dismissed

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. It was instituted to honor all of the saints, both known and unknown, and, according to Pope Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/all-saints-day-40

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Pope Francis prayed on Sunday that God may “convert the hearts of the violent” after an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist attack in Somalia. “As we celebrate Christ’s victory over evil and death, we pray for the victims of the terrorist attack in Mogadishu that killed more than 100 people, including many children. May God convert the hearts of the violent,” Pope Francis said on October 30. Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reported that at least 100 people were killed and nearly 300 other people were wounded by two car bombings in the country’s capital on Saturday. Al-Shabab, a Somali-based branch of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the Associated Press. The extremist group said that it targeted the country’s education ministry, calling it an “enemy” that is “committed to removing Somali children from the Islamic faith.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252689/pope-francis-prays-for-victims-of-deadly-islamic-terrorist-attack-in-somalia

Catholic bishops in South Korea have offered condolences to the bereaved families of the more than 150 people killed in a crowd surge during Halloween festivities in Seoul on Saturday night. The South Korean bishops’ conference released a statement on October 30 offering prayers for the immediate recovery of the injured and calling on civil authorities to “thoroughly examine” what led to the disaster. The bishops underlined that nothing in society should be put before human life and dignity and asked local authorities to respond accordingly to ensure that a disaster like this is never repeated. Police in Seoul announced on October 31 that they had launched a 475-member task force to investigate how the crowd surge developed. The Associated Press reported that an estimated 100,000 people celebrated in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood when the crowd surge occurred.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252690/south-korea-s-catholic-bishops-pray-for-halloween-crowd-surge-victims

Details are still emerging after a violent raid by Fulani herdsmen October 19 in Benue State, Central Nigeria, reportedly left dozens of Catholic villagers killed.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252688/dozens-of-catholic-villagers-reportedly-killed-in-central-nigeria-raid

Today the Church celebrates the Vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints, or all Hallows Eve, better known as Halloween.

The Church also celebrates Saint Wolfgang of Ratisbon, regarded as one of the greatest German saints of his time. The Benedictine monk and bishop served as a missionary to pagans and a reformer of the Church in southeastern Germany in the 10th century.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-wolfgang-bishop-39

The Church also celebrates Saint Foillan, who founded a monastery at Fosses in the Diocese of Liege, France, and served as its abbot. He was a well-loved preacher and spiritual director, successfully evangelizing the people in the area, which grew into the modern town of Le Roeulx, Belgium. He also served as the spiritual director at the house founded by Saint Gertrude. In 655, while traveling on Church business, Saint Foillan was murdered by bandits along with his three companions.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-foillan-641

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The Diocese of Mamfe in Cameroon has called for prayers of thanksgiving for the release on Saturday of nine people who were abducted in September from a local parish. The nine were released October 22. “I urge each of you to pray a decade of the rosary in thanksgiving to God for the safe release of our brothers and sisters who were kidnapped,” Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo of Mamfe said. On September 16, unidentified gunmen attacked St. Mary parish in Nchang, in Cameroon’s Southwest Region. Nine people were abducted and buildings on the parish premises, including the church, were burned down.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252644/cameroonian-diocese-urges-prayers-of-thanksgiving-for-release-of-captives

For the second time in less than two years, EWTN’s affiliate in Poland has had its YouTube channel suspended, reported Father Piotr Wiśniowski, general director of EWTN Poland. Without any warning or explanation, on Oct. 22 YouTube shut down the Catholic programming channel, which features a live broadcast from the adoration chapel in Niepokalanów Monastery in Teresin, Poland, which was founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. Almost one million viewers visit the channel each month for what is known as the world’s most popular televised eucharistic adoration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapel was a lifeline to the faith for those who could not leave their homes to go to Mass. Apart from the adoration chapel, the content of the channel is not unlike EWTN’s English-language programming. There is Catholic news along with 4,500 videos of devotional content, movies, lectures, and homilies. Wiśniowski and the staff at EWTN Poland appealed to get the channel started up again and were told confusing and contradictory reasons for the shutdown. The channel was restored three and a half days later.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252643/youtube-shuts-down-ewtn-s-polish-channel

Today the Church honors Saint Evaristus, the son of a Greek Jew originally from Bethlehem, who was the sixth Pope of the Catholic Church. He is traditionally considered a martyr, but there is no documentation of the event. He is buried in the Vatican, near Saint Peter.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-evaristus-pope-33

The Church also celebrates Blessed Damian of Fulcheri. Born the son of a wealthy Italian family, Damian was kidnapped as an infant by a man who suffered from a mental illness. His parents prayed fervently to the Virgin Mary for help, and searchers were led to the unharmed boy by a miraculous light. Damian later became a Dominican priest, and he was famous for his missions throughout Italy, during which hundreds of people were converted to the faith, and was also known for working miracles. Many miracles were reported at his tomb in Modena, Italy after his death in 1484.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-damian-of-fulcheri-636

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Today the Church honors Saints Crispin and Crispinian, brothers who together evangelized Gaul in the middle of the third century. They preached in the streets by day and made shoes by night. Their charity, piety, and contempt of material things impressed the locals and many were converted to Christianity.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-crispin-and-st-crispinian-32

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Pope Francis offered a prayer for Italy on Sunday as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni became the country’s first female leader. “And today, at the start of a new government, let us pray for unity and peace in Italy,” the pope said at the end of his Angelus address on October 23. Meloni has described herself in speeches as a Christian and has publicly expressed her admiration for St. John Paul II and her desire to meet Pope Francis in person.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252628/pope-francis-prays-for-italy-as-giorgia-meloni-becomes-first-female-prime-minister

Archbishop Charles Chaput, emeritus of Philadelphia, said on Saturday that President Joe Biden “is not in communion with the Catholic faith” and that “any priest who now provides Communion to the president participates in his hypocrisy.” Biden supports abortion, despite the Catholic Church’s teaching that abortion is a grave evil and that human life is sacred from the moment of conception. In his address, Chaput said many Catholics, “even many who regularly attend Sunday Mass, no longer believe in the Real Sacrifice or the Real Presence.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252624/archbishop-chaput-president-biden-not-in-communion-with-catholic-faith

On Friday, the police of the dictatorship in Cuba interrogated Adrián Martínez Cádiz, EWTN correspondent in Havana, and later fined him 3,000 Cuban pesos (about $125) for having criticized the regime on social media. In a statement to EWTN Noticias, Martínez said that he attended the summons at the Plaza de la Revolución Police Station around 10 a.m., where he was interrogated for an hour by a lieutenant colonel. Before being fined, the officer began to fill out an official written warning in order for the journalist to make a commitment to the Cuban State. The EWTN correspondent refused to “commit” and sign the document. The officer then allowed him to leave.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252617/cuban-dictatorship-fines-ewtn-correspondent-and-threatens-him-during-interrogation

Today the Church honors Saint Anthony Claret, a 19th-century missionary and Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-anthony-claret-634

Today the Church honors Saint Ursula and the Virgins of Cologne. In the year 383 Saint Ursula and her 11,010 companions were all found slaughtered for their purity and their Faith. This great martyrdom occurred in Cologne, Germany, and a shrine has been erected to them there, containing as many of their bones as could be rescued. A Religious Order of nuns in the Catholic Church was established by Saint Angela Merici in honor of Saint Ursula in the year 1535, known as the Ursulines.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-ursula-and-the-virgins-of-cologne-27

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A major study of US Catholic priests, released Wednesday, found that despite relatively high levels of personal well-being and fulfillment among priests as a whole, a significant percentage of priests have issues with burnout, distrust in their bishop, and fears of being falsely accused of misconduct. A large percentage of the priests and bishops surveyed reported high levels of well-being: 77% of priests and 81% of bishops can be categorized as “flourishing,” based on a measurement called the Harvard Flourishing Index. The report also says that 45% of priests surveyed reported at least one symptom of ministry burnout. Many fear that a single false allegation of sexual abuse could ruin them, the report states. Among the priests surveyed, a large majority — 82% — said they regularly fear false allegations. And many diocesan priests fear being abandoned by their diocese and bishop should they find themselves falsely accused, more so than religious priests. The priests surveyed also offered several recommendations for rebuilding trust between them and their bishops, which you can read about at catholicnewsagency.com.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252588/major-survey-of-catholic-priests-finds-trust-issues-burnout-fear-of-false-allegations

The Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement Wednesday defending the recent appointment of an outspoken advocate for abortion rights on the grounds that members are chosen to contribute to “fruitful interdisciplinary, intercultural, and interreligious dialogue.” An Italian-American economist and professor at University College London, Mariana Mazzucato, was among seven academics appointed by Pope Francis on October 15 to serve five-year terms with the academy. On several occasions Mazzucato shared her pro-abortion views online when Roe v Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court. The Pontifical Academy for Life was formed by Saint John Paul II in 1994, and originally members were required to sign a declaration affirming pro-life views. That requirement went away in 2016, but the academy’s new statutes still require members to conform with Church teaching.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252589/vatican-press-office-pro-abortion-pontifical-academy-for-life-member-contributes-to-dialogue

Today the Church celebrates Saint Irene, a Portuguese nun who was martyred in defense of her chastity in the year 653. Saint Irene’s body was miraculously recovered after being thrown into the river. She was canonized in part because of the great amount of miracles that occured at her tomb.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-irene-26

The Church also honors Saint Bertilla Boscardin, a sister and nurse who cared for Italian soldiers during World War One.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-bertilla-boscardin-630