We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 3, 2025 / 14:49 pm (CNA).

After Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán, was assassinated Nov. 1, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference strongly condemned the act, calling for the government to address the root of the violence plaguing the country.

The murder occurred during the Day of the Dead celebrations in the city’s main square, when an armed man approached the mayor and shot him at point-blank range. The assassin was killed at the scene.

Manzo, who died minutes later, had repeatedly denounced the presence of criminal groups in the area and requested support from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch to curb organized crime.

In a September interview, Manzo had denounced the fact that the violence is caused not only by gangs but also primarily by “criminal groups, very powerful cartels.”

The mayor said at the time that he felt afraid. “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them. I don’t want the municipal police to continue becoming statistics, nor the honest and honorable working citizens who are victims of this social cancer,” he stated.

According to the Mexican new outlet Notus, 10 mayors have been assassinated in the country since Sheinbaum was elected on Oct. 1, 2024.

The security cabinet, headed by Harfuch, reported on Nov. 2 that the mayor had been assigned a security detail since December 2024; however, “the assailants took advantage of [Manzo’s]  vulnerability during a public event to plan the attack.”

Manzo’s murder follows that of Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, which occurred on Oct. 19. Bravo was president of the Citrus Growers Association of the Apatzingán Valley and had spoken out about the pressure exerted by organized crime on agricultural producers.

Combatting the roots of violence

In a Nov. 2 message, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference denounced the presence of “armed groups that control public life” in certain communities across the country.

“Gang-controlled checkpoints on roads, land seizures, and constant threats against producers, merchants, and government officials reflect a serious weakening of the constitutional order that governments at the municipal, state, and federal levels are obligated to guarantee,” they stated.

The bishops demanded “determination and astuteness” from the authorities to stop not only the murders of public officials but also the threats against the lives of “thousands of citizens whose freedoms are violated daily as they move about and carry out their commercial and recreational activities.”

They urged authorities to “confront the lack of rule of law” in the country. “Today, it is no longer enough to apprehend the murderer: We must combat with determination the cause of all these murders,” they stated.

The conference also expressed its solidarity with those who, “even amid contexts marked by violence, remain faithful to their mission of proclaiming the Gospel.” 

Their “silent and courageous dedication,” the statement continued, “is a living sign of Christ’s presence among his people, reminding us that light is never extinguished in the face of darkness.”

Finally, the prelates prayed that Our Lady of Guadalupe “would guide our hearts and intercede for us so that together we may achieve the peace, freedom, and development that our Mexico deserves.”

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

CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2025 / 11:37 am (CNA).

The Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, Oct. 31, making it the 41st U.S. diocese to seek court-supervised reorganization in the wake of clergy sexual abuse claims.

Bishop Robert Marshall Jr., who has led the 50-parish diocese in central Louisiana since 2020, announced the petition in a letter and video posted to the diocese’s website. 

“As your bishop, I apologize to abuse survivors for the harm, pain, and suffering they experienced and continue to experience in their lives,” Marshall wrote. “This action is occurring because some past priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, actions that are evil, sinful, and go against everything the Church and the priesthood represent.”

Eighty-five survivors have already filed claims, according to the diocese, with more expected after the court sets a bar date. More than half the allegations date to the 1970s or earlier; nearly every named perpetrator is deceased. 

A 2021 Louisiana law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations, triggering the surge in claims. The law allows victims to pursue civil damages indefinitely for abuse occurring on or after June 14, 1992, or where the victim was a minor as of June 14, 2021, with a three-year filing window (which ended June 14, 2024) for older cases.

The diocese lists $16.7 million in assets and $9.5 million in liabilities. It pledges $4 million plus limited insurance proceeds to a victim compensation trust. “The diocese believes it can contribute $4 million to a plan trust that will be used to compensate abuse survivors,” according to the frequently asked questions section of the diocese’s website.

Chapter 11 will freeze all pending lawsuits and funnel them into one court-supervised settlement. “Without a structured process of this kind, funds would be exhausted in the first settlements or cases that go to trial, leaving nothing for all the other claims waiting to be heard,” the diocese explained.

Parishes, which are separately incorporated from the diocese, remain untouched by the bankruptcy filing. Restricted donations, including the annual diocesan appeal and seminarian funds, are protected, and daily Masses, parish schools, and charities continue uninterrupted.

The bankruptcy filing comes as the diocese, experiencing declining numbers of priests, seminarians, and Mass attendance, is in the midst of a reorganization plan launched in 2024 titled “Together as One Church: Embracing the Future of Hope.” The plan will entail “closures and reconfigurations” of parishes and missions, according to the diocese.

In this context, Marshall, after consulting the priest council, finance council, and the Vatican, called the Chapter 11 filing “the most prudent course.”

The case, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana, is projected to last 18 to 24 months and cost $1 million to $2 million in fees — far less than larger dioceses.

In 2019, the diocese published names of credibly accused clerics and has adopted the U.S. bishops’ safe environment policy. “We remain committed to transparency,” Marshall said.

The Alexandria filing follows the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ $230 million settlement last week.

Vatican City, Nov 3, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday presided over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in suffrage for the late Pope Francis and for deceased cardinals and bishops.

One day after celebrating Mass for all the faithful departed at Verano Cemetery in Rome, the Holy Father led the Church’s commemoration for his papal predecessor and 142 other bishops who died in the past year.

In the presence of members of the Roman Curia and hundreds of Catholic faithful, the pope said his first Mass commemorating the Church’s deceased cardinals and bishops had the “savor of Christian hope” because their ministry had guided many “on the path of the Gospel.”

“Dear friends, our beloved Pope Francis and our brother cardinals and bishops for whom we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice today have lived, witnessed, and taught this new paschal hope the Lord called them to,” Leo said in his Nov. 3 homily.

“The Lord called them and established them as shepherds of his Church,” he said. “Through their ministry they — to use the language of the Book of Daniel — have led many to righteousness.”

Though saddened by their deaths, Leo said their guidance and teaching helped transmit Christ’s “wisdom, justice, sanctification, and redemption” to the Church’s faithful spread throughout the world.

“We are saddened, of course, when a loved one leaves us,” he told the congregation. “As Christians, we are called to bear with Christ the weight of these crosses.”

“But we are not saddened like those without hope, because even the most tragic death cannot prevent Our Lord from welcoming our soul into his arms and transforming our mortal body, even the most disfigured, into the image of his glorious body,” he said.

Entrusting the souls of Pope Francis and the deceased prelates to God, Leo prayed for their intercession and “spiritual encouragement” for Christians “who are still pilgrims on earth.”

Using the Book of Psalms, Leo at the end of his homily prayed: “Hope in God; I will still praise him, the salvation of my face and my God.”

Rome Newsroom, Nov 3, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia, Italy, reopened for worship this weekend after a four-year project to rebuild the 13th-century edifice leveled by an earthquake in 2016.

Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia dedicated the newly rebuilt church on Oct. 31, the eve of All Saints’ Day. The basilica marks the birthplace of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order and the father of Western monasticism. He is also a co-patron saint of Europe.

Nine years ago on Oct. 30, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake — the last in a series of deadly earthquakes to hit central Italy between August and October 2016 — almost completely destroyed the basilica, leaving only the facade standing.

An adjoining monastery of Benedictine monks, who were the caretakers of the basilica at the time, was also destroyed in the October 2016 earthquake.

The reconstruction of the basilica and crypt began in December 2021 and used as many of the original materials as possible while incorporating earthquake-resistant design and handicap accessibility. The project cost 15 million euros (about $17 million).

“The restoration of this important monument, of great historical and artistic value as well as a vibrant center of Benedictine spirituality, represents the visible sign of the demanding journey of religious rebirth undertaken in recent years by the entire diocesan community,” Pope Leo XIV said in a message sent for the basilica’s dedication.

In his homily at the Oct. 31 dedication Mass, Boccardo said: “The doors of the basilica open today to welcome all who come here to draw light and strength for the journey of Christian life.”

“As believers, we are well aware that a splendid building is not enough to make it God’s house among the homes of men,” he said. “Only a community that, as each day passes, passionately lives a sincere search for what is true, good, and just in his eyes will be able to have the Lord close to it.”

“Woe to us,” he continued, “if we limit ourselves to offering him the beauty of this church if it does not correspond to the beauty of a people who are built around the Word and the Eucharist, who build fraternal relationships, who are committed to a more welcoming and merciful society toward all, who tirelessly seek the wisdom that distinguishes good from evil, who separates what builds from what destroys, what remains from what passes away, and who engage in a daily exercise of Christian love.”

A Benedictine monastery was built in Norcia in the 10th century but was shuttered by the Napoleonic Army in the 1800s. A group of American monks refounded the community in Norcia in 1999.

Following the 2016 earthquake, the monastic community moved to a former Capuchin monastery approximately 1.5 miles east of the town. They completed the rebuilding of the earthquake-damaged property outside of Norcia in mid-2024, and the community was elevated to the status of an abbey.

The Abbey of San Benedetto in Monte is known for its beer brewing and for being a vibrant center of Benedictine spirituality in the central Italian region of Umbria.

On his way to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray at the tomb of his predecessor and in front of the image of Salus Populi Romani.

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The Christian community in Kolkata, India, launch new initiative dedicated to providing everyone—no matter their economic background—a dignified burial.

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At least 20 people have been killed and more than 530 injured after a powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early Monday.

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CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Nov. 3, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian Dominican brother who lived a life of humble service and charity and became the first Black saint of the Americas.

Here are seven fascinating facts about this inspiring saint:

1. His father refused to acknowledge him.

De Porres was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. He was the son of a Spanish nobleman and former Panamanian Black slave. His father, Don Juan de Porres, refused to publicly acknowledge the boy as his own because Martin was Black, like his mother. Being biracial would prove challenging for Martin de Porres throughout his life. 

2. He started practicing medicine before he was 13.

De Porres served as an apprentice to a doctor, and before the age of 13 he began to learn the practice of medicine. He would eventually become a barber, which at the time performed minor medical and surgical procedures like pulling teeth or emptying abscesses. 

3. He faced discrimination as a Dominican.

De Porres entered the Dominican order in 1603. Becoming a Dominican brother proved to be challenging for de Porres because a Peruvian law at the time prevented people of mixed race from joining religious orders. Therefore, he lived with the community and did manual work, earning himself the nickname “the saint of the broom” for his diligence in cleaning the Dominicans’ quarters.

Eventually he was allowed to enter the order, despite the law, and worked in the infirmary tending to the sick and among the impoverished of Peru. “I cure them, but God heals them,” de Porres would say when curing the sick. He also had the task of begging for alms that the community would use to clothe and feed the poor. He also established an orphanage and planted an orchard from which those in need could freely take a day’s supply of fruit. 

4. He levitated and bilocated.

De Porres was deeply prayerful, so much so that many of the brothers witnessed him levitating in intense prayer and embracing the crucified cross. De Porres reportedly also had the gift of bilocation, and some of his contemporaries said they encountered him in places as far off as Japan even as he remained in Lima. Some claimed he had appeared to them supernaturally behind locked doors or under otherwise impossible circumstances. 

5. He refused to eat meat.

De Porres loved animals. He refused to eat meat and ran a veterinary hospital for sick animals that seemed to seek out his help. Portrayals of the saint often include cats, dogs, and even the rats to whom he showed compassion.

6. He is the patron saint of multiple manual labor occupations.

De Porres was known for the various assignments he carried out and which earned him the title of patron saint of barbers, the sick, and street cleaners. On the 50th anniversary of St. Martin de Porres’ canonization, Father Juan Anguerri, director of the St. Martin de Porres Home for the Poor, said: “These are often thankless tasks, but yet through his humble service, St. Martin sent a message to revitalize these jobs.”

7. He was canonized more than 300 years after his death.

Martin de Porres died on Nov. 3, 1639, at age 60. He was canonized by Pope John XXIII on May 16, 1962. At his canonization Mass, John XXIII called him “Martin of Charity.” 

This story was first published on Nov. 3, 2021, and has been updated.

The Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations will be in Sri Lanka from 3-8 November to strengthen the shared commitment of the Holy See and the country to peace and cooperation; and while there, will visit the sites of the 2019 Easter attacks.

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