We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican on July 22 around 9 p.m. local time after spending more than two weeks at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Holy See Press Office officially confirmed the news to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, on July 23.

The pontiff spent a period of rest — July 6–22 — in the Italian town about 15 miles from Rome on the shores of Lake Albano. In addition to resting, the Holy Father also fulfilled several apostolic commitments.

One of the most significant events was the private meeting held on July 9 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made a special trip to Castel Gandolfo to meet with the pope. During the meeting — which took place within the context of the fourth International Meeting on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, held in the Italian capital July 10–11 — they discussed the humanitarian situation in the country and the role of the Holy See as possible mediator in the conflict. It was the first time a foreign president was received by a pope at this residence since the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

That same day, the pope celebrated Mass in the Castel Gandolfo gardens using the newly approved liturgy to promote global ecological awareness “for the care of creation.”

Pope Leo XIV also took the opportunity to rest, pray, and work on some personal texts.

The pontiff’s return to Rome coincides with the final preparations for the Jubilee of Youth, which will begin on July 28 as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

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

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 female athletes and we will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls,” Trump said when signing the order. “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.”

“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC said in its email this week. 

The committee said it had updated its policies to ensure “fair and safe competition environments for women.” 

All Olympic national governing bodies will be required to update their rules in line with the new guidance, the national committee said. 

The decision drew criticism from advocates of letting men who identify as women compete in women’s sporting events. The National Women’s Law Center described the move as a “cruel effort” to block men from women’s competitions. 

Trump had earlier vowed that his February executive order would block men’s participation in women’s Olympic sports in 2028, when the Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. 

“We’re just not going to let it happen,” the president said when signing the measure. 

The Trump administration has taken an aggressive approach to rolling back years’ worth of transgender policies throughout the country. In May, for instance, the White House launched an inquiry into hospitals that have provided transgender drugs and performed transgender surgeries on minors.

The administration in April also directed the U.S. National Institutes of Health to begin a research initiative to study “regret” among individuals who undergo so-called gender transition treatments.

The U.S. bishops earlier this year praised Trump’s efforts to keep men out of women’s sports. Catholic leadership in recent years has grown increasingly critical of transgender ideology, with Pope Francis in 2023 describing transgenderism as “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” of the present day. 

Republican officials have been similarly energized by the Trump administration’s moves on transgenderism. On Tuesday numerous attorneys general demanded that the National Collegiate Athletic Association “reinstate the records, titles, awards, and recognitions rightfully earned by top female athletes” that have been stripped by men allowed to compete in women’s leagues. 

“These women champions earned those records. They trained, competed, and won, only to have their victories stolen by male athletes,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a press release. 

“Biological reality matters,” the prosecutor said, describing men competing against women as “a grave injustice” that “undermines the integrity of women’s sports.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, said earlier this month that during its next term it will consider two cases addressing whether or not states can ban males from participating in female sports leagues.

Both cases arose from lawsuits brought by young men who identify as female and who sued Idaho and West Virginia over their respective bans on boys competing in girls’ sports.

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 23, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Constantine-Hippo, located in Algeria and a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Algiers, is proud to have had as its bishop — appointed in 395 — one of the most illustrious doctors of the Church: St. Augustine of Hippo.

Endowed with a fervent intellect, he transformed this vibrant port city, nestled on the coast of present-day Algeria, into a nexus of theological debates that forever shaped the Catholic Church. In this diocese, St. Augustine wrote some of his major works, such as “Confessions” and “The City of God.”

The city was besieged by the Vandals in 430, during which the saint died. The current seat of the diocese is in the coastal city of Annaba, near ancient Hippo. It is one of the four ecclesiastical districts of Algeria and was officially established on July 25, 1866.

After more than a year of vacancy — since the departure of the previous bishop, Nicolas Lhernould, who was appointed archbishop of Tunis in April 2024 — on July 11 Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Michel Guillaud to head the Algerian diocese.

For Guillaud, St. Augustine is a “living” figure who continues to speak to the entire country today. “All of Algeria was thrilled when Pope Leo XIV said, ‘I am the son of Augustine.’ Many even wondered, ‘Could he be Algerian?’ Some even told me, ‘I knew Mohamed Prévost, his grandfather,’” the bishop jokingly told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Bishop-elect Guillaud — who has served as a pastor in several Algerian cities: Batna (2006–2014); Constantine (2014–2016); and Skikda (2016–present) as well as vicar general of the Diocese of Constantine-Hippo (2020–2024) — does not consider himself an expert on St. Augustine but recognizes that the saint offers a clear model of life and mission.

“He was a tireless truth-seeker. Although he received a Christian education from his mother, that was not enough for him. He sought other answers through philosophy but returned to the faith with solid convictions. Today, where so much fake news and manipulation circulate, Augustine’s passion for the truth is very important,” he noted.

As could not be otherwise, the teachings of St. Augustine continue to resonate in the daily life of this small and humble Church, yet one filled with spiritual vigor and desire for communion. In times of division, the shepherd of Hippo speaks again of unity.

Making mercy prevail over rigorism

“When he became bishop in 395,” the French priest related, “the Church was divided by the Donatist schism. The Donatists [who believed the validity of sacraments depended on the moral purity of the clergy administering them] outnumbered the Catholics. But with theology, spirituality, and mercy, he managed to reunite the Church. This effort for unity and to make mercy prevail over rigorism seems fundamental to me in a society marked by mistrust and polarization.”

Guillaud, who is the secretary-general of the Bishops’ Conference of the North African Region (CERNA, by its French acronym), emphasized the way in which, as early as the fifth century, St. Augustine embodied fraternity: “He did not live alone. He wanted to live with his brother priests. This fostered a simple, pure, and active life. Many congregations today follow his rule. I love this call to shared life among those who have a common mission.”

A future trip by Leo XIV to Algeria?

After his appointment, Guillaud sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV thanking him for his “trust” in him and extended an invitation to “make a pilgrimage to Algeria in the footsteps of Augustine.”

“I know that the Algerian authorities have also let you know that you would be well received,” he added, although he clarified that, for the moment, there is no official confirmation. The pontiff will receive Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Vatican on July 24, and Tebboune will likely extend an official invitation.

A small but vibrant Church

The Catholic community of the Diocese of Constantine-Hippo in Algeria is a small but vibrant presence. “It is a fraternal presence that is inserted into the Algerian Muslim world. Creating ties, we recognize ourselves as children of God, called to bear witness to his name together, to live in peace and mutual respect. This is what we experience on a regular basis,” the bishop-elect emphasized.

But it wasn’t always this way. During the French colonial period (1830–1962), the Catholic Church grew considerably. However, after Algeria’s war of independence from France, which ended in 1962, most French Catholics left, fearing violence.

According to its website, in 2019 the diocese had approximately 620 Catholics, mostly foreign university students from sub-Saharan Africa. “They represent perhaps 80% of our faithful. So we have a young Church, made up primarily of students,” Guillaud explained.

The Diocese of Constantine-Hippo represents the entire northeast of the country and encompasses seven cities: Annaba, Skikda, Bejaïa, Constantine, Sétif, Batna, and Tébessa. As Guillaud explained, Catholics seek above all to live the Gospel through service, friendship, and dialogue.

Fraternal coexistence with Muslims, albeit with adjustments

However, coexistence with Muslims has required some adaptation. “For example, we don’t celebrate Sunday Mass on Sunday, because it’s a workday. We celebrate it on Friday or Saturday, when it’s a day of rest, because otherwise, no one would come,” he explained.

The bishop-elect emphasized that dialogue with Islam is not a sporadic initiative but a daily reality. 

“Eight or nine out of 10 people who enter our communities are Muslims. They come to bring us some of the couscous they’ve prepared, to ask us how we are doing, to ask for our help, to share something personal. The vast majority of those we meet every day are Muslims,” he noted.

There is a spiritual openness that profoundly influences the mission.

“Algerians have a very strong spiritual and religious sensibility. It’s more pleasant to live here than in a country where religion is marginalized. For us, interreligious dialogue is, above all, a daily experience,” he emphasized.

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

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A longtime Vatican diplomat now dedicated to aiding Christians in the Holy Land recently offered reflections on the Church’s mission in conflict zones and its roots in the Middle East. 

In a wide‑ranging interview with “EWTN News Nightly” on July 22, Cardinal Fernando Filoni underscored that the Middle East is not just part of Christianity’s past but remains an area of vital importance.

“Being there means not letting this vast region be considered only historically as the beginning of the Church, without living Christian communities,” he said. A portion of the interview was broadcast on Tuesday evening.

Despite waves of emigration and violence, Filoni insisted, the Church cannot forget her roots. “Jerusalem is the Mother Church. No one should forget their mother’s and father’s home,” he said.

Filoni recalled vividly his service as apostolic nuncio in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. Even as bombs fell and many left the country, he and the bishops agreed: “We remain. The people remain, we remain.”

At that time travel was perilous and telephones were quickly knocked out, but Filoni and an auxiliary bishop made parish visits to check on priests and laity. “We needed to show our faithful, even though we were a minority in a largely Islamic reality: We are with you,” Filoni said. 

Reminded of his own statement that “if a shepherd flees in difficult moments, the sheep scatter,” the cardinal described it as a biblically inspired call to action.

“Jesus himself, speaking of the good shepherd, recommended that those entrusted with the Gospel face difficulties with the same dignity that Christ himself showed,” the cardinal said.

“This remains a fundamental heritage of the Church,” he added.

As grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Filoni now leads a chivalric order that supports the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, headed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and assists Christians throughout the Holy Land.

The order provides financial aid, funds schools and parishes, and supports humanitarian efforts that allow Christians to remain in their ancestral homeland.

“We are not the main actors,” Filoni said, “but we are those who, behind the scenes, support the patriarchate and all its actions. This is the Church’s communion in action.”’

Filoni, a former prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, stressed the Church’s role as peacemaker in the region.

“Peace is not a secondary option but a primary one,” he said. “We cannot live always thinking of past injustices. The Church is there to remind everyone that a normal, serene life is what children, men, and women truly desire.”

The cardinal pointed to past Vatican efforts — such as an informal, indirect role in encouraging prisoner exchanges during the Iran-Iraq war — as examples of how even small gestures can open doors.

Today, amid the war in Ukraine, the Church is working to trace missing children, advocate for prisoners and the wounded, and deliver aid. “These actions create a platform for dialogue, starting from the concrete suffering caused by war,” he said.

Filoni warned, however, that such efforts are ultimately futile if warring powers don’t seek peace. “You can even offer a golden platform [for negotiations], but it won’t work because it’s the will of the people involved in the war who must accept or reject the possibility of dialogue, of discussion,” he said.

The cardinal praised Pope Leo XIV’s early reaffirmation of Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum, the foundational document on Vatican diplomacy issued by St. Paul VI, and observed how St. John Paul II expanded this mission through his extensive travels.  

“There is a centripetal and a centrifugal dynamic — one that brings in and one that reaches out,” Filoni explained. “In this exchange, the life of the Church is created.” 

Asked what could distinguish Pope Leo XIV’s approach, Filoni replied that a new pope “does not follow his predecessor — he follows Peter.”

“There is continuity, but also something new,” he said. He noted that the world has changed rapidly, with the revolution of artificial intelligence emerging in just the past decade. Leo XIV’s unusually varied background as a missionary bishop, head of his religious order, and superior of the Roman Curia has prepared him well for such challenges, the cardinal said.

Turning to Gaza, Filoni struck a somber note. “Sadly, there is no place in Gaza untouched by the violence of weapons, war, revenge, and killings. To keep kidnapped people in captivity is unacceptable. And to attack those searching for water or food is terrible,” he said.

“There is no justification,” the prelate added. He called for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to indiscriminate bombings. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, under Pizzaballa’s leadership, he said, works tirelessly to provide aid and remain present, supported by the Holy See and by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

The cardinal shared an image of the Church’s resilience he witnessed in Mosul, Iraq: After a bombing, a priest showed him a wall where the image of the pope remained intact amid the rubble. “Here, the cross did not fall,” the priest told him.

Filoni reflected: “That is the message. The cross is stronger than violence, because it is the instrument through which God made peace between heaven and earth.”

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In the context of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, which will be held in Rome July 28–29, Mexican priest Father Heriberto García Arias, author of the upcoming Spanish-language book “Digital Missionaries: Influencers or Witnesses of Christ Today?”, offered a reflection on the role of evangelizers on social media and the importance of their presence in the digital environment.

With more than 2 million followers on his TikTok account @heribertogarciaar and more than 200,000 on Instagram, the young priest gave an interview to the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, “EWTN Noticias,” from the Eternal City emphasizing that the Catholic Church “is taking very important steps to be present throughout the digital context.”

The difference between a Catholic influencer and a digital missionary

Drawing on his experience and the recent publication of his book, García explained the difference between a Catholic influencer and a digital missionary, whose “purpose is different.” Although “both use media,” the influencer can offer and sell products in line with their values, while the digital missionary’s purpose is to bring his or her experience of Christ to social media.

He pointed to the amount of time younger generations spend on social media: “There are people who are searching for God, and so we have to be present there, being witnesses, but not with the goal of stopping there, but rather to move [the viewer] from the screen to the altar.” 

“So,” he added, “that’s only the path, not the destination.”

Moving from the screen to the altar

The Mexican priest pointed out that the Church “has always adapted to different cultures” to bring the message of Jesus Christ and affirmed that “now it’s our turn, in this culture where new generations come with a different way of thinking, where the digital world is real for them.”

For the priest, the celebration of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers — which also coincides with the Jubilee of Youth — represents “official recognition from the Church of all these missionaries.”

“Just three years ago, the term ‘digital missionary’ didn’t even exist,” he noted, adding that today there are more than 3,500 digital missionaries worldwide. Although he acknowledged that this new reality can elicit a certain “fear,” he assured that “the fruits are already being seen.”

According to the priest from Jalisco state in Mexico, being present on social media “is urgent and necessary,” since many young people “watch TikTok” but “aren’t going to cross the threshold of a church.” He therefore emphasized the importance of creating content that sparks their interest and helps them “come over to the Church.”

Regarding the risk of trivializing the message, he pointed out that the Church is experienced in different ways in each culture while emphasizing the need to form and accompany digital missionaries so that they are “united in the same truth.”

‘I’m not the one who’s speaking, it’s him’

Explaining the origin of his social media presence, García stated that it responds to “a pastoral urgency to address the needs of the young people who are there.”

“We have a very beautiful message, an incomparable philosophy, a transcendental proposal. But sometimes we don’t know how to convey it, we don’t know how to speak their language. I believe we need to convey this message that we have experienced, adapted to the new generations.”

The priest, who received his call to the priesthood when he was 15, confessed that as he began his vocation, he suffered from “stage fright.” However, his formation in the Church’s institutional communications helped him understand that “God has shown me that I’m not the one who’s speaking, it’s him.”

The young priest takes up his work on social media as a great responsibility, and faced with the temptation of becoming “self-referential,” he pointed out: “If you want the message to get across, you also have to deal with that temptation, because in the end, they’re following you, because they empathize with you and they like you.”

“But you do have to be vigilant. It’s not about being the center of attention and talking about Christ; he has to be the center of attention,” he added.

The priest acknowledged that his formation allowed him to understand that he is a “spokesman” for the Church: “You are not the protagonist; it’s about the Church, it’s about Christ, and you have to always keep that in mind, because the great risk is that the Church will not only lose its reputation but also lose its authority in the world. And that is in our hands.”

‘The Holy Spirit is acting through algorithms’

García shared that he has received numerous testimonies from people whose lives were transformed by his messages. 

“People who were about to have an abortion and ended up not having it, people who were perhaps a bit at odds with God because they had a child in the hospital and [then] received the message they needed to encourage them to carry on. Or even someone who wanted to commit suicide and a message stopped him and motivated him to persevere.”

“The Holy Spirit is acting through algorithms, reaching hearts that need his word, that need hope,” he emphasized.

Finally, he assured that his work has the support of the Church and his bishop, something that gives him peace and strength to move forward in this increasingly necessary evangelizing mission.

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

Pope Leo XIV assures Dominicans taking part in the General Chapter of Provincial Priors of his closeness in prayer, while inviting them to be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to strengthen their commitment to serving the Body of Christ.

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Returning to Rome on Tuesday night after a short stay in nearby town of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV called for an end to the arms trade “that goes behind every war.”

Christ is not absent from Gaza, says Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.