We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

After Secularisation is a helpful reminder, exhibiting the genuine hopefulness of hard-nosed realism, that we are still in early spring, when violent winds and driving rains are never unexpected.

A claim by U.S. President Donald Trump that he has stopped the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been dismissed by the Director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute of the Southern Africa Bishops’ Conference, Johan Viljoen.

An Irish missionary has been released from captivity in Haiti, along with 6 orphanage staff and a 3-year-old child, following a kidnap ordeal that lasted nearly a month.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 29, 2025 / 18:52 pm (CNA).

News this week of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement sparked positive commentary from a wide cross-section of Catholics on social media, who anticipate a positive cultural shift from the marriage between the beloved pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end. 

“Expect a spike in marriage,” wrote marriage and family expert Brad Wilcox in a social media post. “Taylor and Travis put a ring on it.” 

“The Life of a Showgirl” singer announced her engagement to Kelce in an Aug. 26 Instagram post, captioned: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

Wilcox, the author of “Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” noted in another post the engagement came on the same day as a new study highlighting the value of marriage for women today.

The study, “In Pursuit: Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being,” found married women with children make up the majority of women ages 25 to 55 who describe themselves as “very happy.”

Swift’s engagement “as a sort of left-leaning pop celebrity could create a space where it’s OK again for center-left Americans, both elite and ordinary Americans, to publicly embrace marriage,” Wilcox also told the Wall Street Journal.

“Marriage is a beautiful thing,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins chimed in, reacting to the news on social media. 

She added: “I hope Taylor Swift’s engagement inspires young women to see the joy and purpose in getting married, starting a family, and committing to one person for the rest of their lives.” In another post, Hawkins expressed confidence that “America is heading into its ‘get married and have babies era.’”

Defending the singer against negative reactions on social media to the news of her engagement, CEO and founder of the Classical Learning Test Jeremy Wayne Tate wrote in a post on X: “I’m disappointed with some conservatives today … Boy proposed to girl to enter into the most traditional relationship in human history … marriage.”

“That’s a beautiful thing,” he added. “Just say congratulations.”

LiveAction President Lila Rose also congratulated the happy couple on social media and praised their decision to get married. 

“Marriage is the best and tons of women look up to Taylor,” Rose said. “So happy to see her embracing it.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 29, 2025 / 18:13 pm (CNA).

After a man fired over a hundred bullets into a Minneapolis Catholic Church killing two children and injuring 17 others, thousands of mourners packed into an archdiocesan vigil to pray for the victims and their families with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and other clergy members.

“We know that there are a lot of other things that need to be done [and] we need to be able to address these issues in civic society, but what we do together tonight is to pray,” Hebda told grieving Catholics at the Academy of Holy Angels, just two miles from Annunciation Church, where the tragedy occurred.

“And we look for the words that are able to express inexpressible grief,” he said. “We look for those symbols that might bring some hope. … We come together in our trials and we trust that God will answer us, that he will hear our pain, that he will hear our prayers.”

Catholics across the country held their own vigils or offered prayers for the victims, as did many Protestants and people of other faiths.

Yet as communities sought comfort and a connection with God amid the tragedy, some figures in the media and even politicians went in the opposite direction. On social media and in public statements, those individuals derided prayer and dismissed its role in addressing suffering and societal ills.

“I’m tired of being told this is normal — and you should be too,” Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colorado, said in a post on X. “Thoughts and prayers aren’t going to do anything to fix this.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost, co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, echoed that sentiment, stating on X that “these children were probably praying when they were shot to death at Catholic school.”

“Don’t give us your [expletive] thoughts and prayers,” Frost added.

Jen Psaki, an MSNBC host who served in the administrations of former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, wrote on X that “prayer is not freaking enough.”

“Prayers [do] not end school shootings,” she added. “Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.”

Why Catholics turn to God in times of need

Over the past few days, Catholics and other Christians have pushed back on the negative view of prayer promoted by some lawmakers and members of the media.

In response to Psaki’s comments, Franciscan University explained through its X account that “prayer is not an escape from reality” but is rather “the very place we meet Christ, who himself was unjustly slain.”

“We will continue to pray, not because we are passive, but because we know only God can bring true justice, healing, and peace,” the university added. “Evil wants us to stop praying and to despair. We will not. We cling to Christ, who has conquered death.”

Franciscan University held a prayer vigil Thursday night for the victims, which about 500 students attended.

University President Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, told CNA: “It makes sense that Catholics would come together and pray given that [the shooting] took place at a Catholic church.” He added: “One of the things that Catholics do is we pray.”

The insinuation of anti-prayer rhetoric, Pivonka said, is that “prayer isn’t doing something.” He rejected that notion, saying “prayer has a great impact.” In the midst of tragedy, he noted that many people are looking to help and offering prayers for “the Lord’s peace to be with them [and] the Lord’s presence to be with them” is a “beautiful way to do that.”

Pivonka said he also prays for public officials, “that God would give them courage, that God would give them wisdom” to address political issues. He said Catholics should also engage society, the culture, and the political world.

He noted that Minnesota’s Catholic bishops had been asking state lawmakers to provide funds for security, which was ultimately not given. He said: “That’s a very active thing that they were trying to do.”

“Yes, we’re praying, but yes we’re doing actions to try to bring about this change,” Pivonka said.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, wrote in an op-ed for the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that his diocese established a Mental Health Council to provide “guidance, responses, and resources to support those experiencing mental health issues as well as to their family members.”

He noted that Catholics can do “certainly, more than one thing,” such as security, mental health resources, engagement with public officials, and acts of charity and compassion.

“Above all, we can and must pray with daily fervency, calling out to the Lord, striving to remain close to him, and asking him to grant us all the peace only he can give,” Burbidge wrote.

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, told Fox News Digital that “prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, which strikes me as altogether appropriate precisely at times of great pain.”

“Prayer by no means stands in contrast to decisive moral action,” he said. “... This is not an either/or proposition.”

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, also joined the conversation, posting on X in response to Psaki that any criticism of prayer is “bizarre.”

“We pray because our hearts are broken,” he wrote. “We pray because we know God listens. We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways and can inspire us to further action. Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?”

ACI Stampa, Aug 29, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Kurt Koch and Patriarch Bartholomew I, Eastern Orthodox ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, addressed the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea being celebrated in 2025 during the Rimini Meeting held Aug. 22–27.

In his presentation, Koch, the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, highlighted the importance of the doctrinal issues addressed by the council.

“With it, the Fathers professed their faith in ‘one God, the Father almighty, creator of all things visible and invisible’ ... And in the letter of the Synod to the Egyptians, the Fathers announced that the first real object of study was the fact that Arius and his followers were enemies of the faith and opposed to the law, and therefore affirmed that they had ‘unanimously decided to condemn with anathema his doctrine contrary to the faith, his blasphemous statements and descriptions, with which he insulted the Son of God,’” he noted.

“These statements,” he added, “delineate the context of the creed formulated by the council, which professes faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, ‘consubstantial with the Father.’ The historical context is that of a violent dispute that erupted in Christianity at the time, especially in the eastern part of the Roman Empire; it follows that, by the beginning of the fourth century, the Christological question had become the crucial issue of Christian monotheism.”

The Council of Nicaea placed Jesus’ prayer to the Father at the center of the profession, Koch said, adding: “The Christological creed of the council has become the basis of the common Christian faith. The council is of great importance, especially because it took place at a time when Christianity was not yet torn apart by the numerous divisions that would later arise. The Nicene Creed is common not only to the Oriental Churches, the Orthodox Churches, and the Catholic Church, but also to the ecclesial communities born of the Reformation; therefore, its ecumenical importance must not be underestimated.”

Only in this way is unity in the Church possible, he continued: “In fact, to restore the unity of the Church, there must be agreement on the essential contents of the faith, not only among the Churches and ecclesial communities of today but also with the Church of the past and, in particular, with its apostolic origin. The unity of the Church is founded on the apostolic faith, which in baptism is transmitted and entrusted to each new member of the body of Christ.”

He continued: “Since unity can be found only in the common faith, the Christological confession of the Council of Nicaea is revealed to be the foundation of spiritual ecumenism.”

“The ecumenical movement,” the cardinal noted, “has been a movement of prayer from its origins. It was prayer for Christian unity that paved the way for it. The centrality of prayer highlights that ecumenical commitment is, above all, a spiritual task, undertaken with the conviction that the Holy Spirit will complete the work he has begun and show us the way.”

Ecumenism can only progress “if Christians return together to the source of faith, which is found only in Jesus Christ, as the Council Fathers of Nicaea professed... Christian ecumenism can be nothing other than the adherence of all Christians to the Lord’s priestly prayer, and it materializes when Christians deeply embrace the firm desire for unity,” Koch said.

The importance of the Council of Nicaea was also underscored by Patriarch Bartholomew, who emphasized: “It is evident that this council played and continues to play a primary role in strict adherence to holy Scripture, and the Orthodox Church remains firmly anchored in it; a cornerstone for proclamation in the 17 centuries that followed.”

The patriarch of Constantinople addressed current issues such as synodality and a common date for the celebration of Easter.

“To be credible as Christians,” he noted, “we must celebrate the Savior’s resurrection on the same day. Together with Pope Francis, we have appointed a commission to study the issue. However, there are differing sensitivities among the Churches, and we must avoid new divisions, not fuel more divisions.”

The Orthodox leader said this requires a joint effort: “The effort to find a common date for Easter is an important pastoral objective, especially for couples and families of different faiths, and given the great mobility of people, especially during the holidays.”

“With a common Easter date,” Bartholomew continued, ”the profound conviction of the Christian faith could be expressed even more credibly: that Easter is not only the oldest but also the most important feast of Christianity, and that the Christian faith stands or falls with the Paschal Mystery, as the early Church summed up this fundamental conviction with the phrase: ‘Take away the Resurrection, and you instantly destroy Christianity.’ The fundamental importance of Easter would be highlighted by a common date, which would also give new impetus to the ecumenical journey toward restoring the unity of the Church in East and West in faith and love.” 

“Indeed, ecumenism also advances on the path toward recomposing the unity of the Church only if it is carried out jointly and, therefore, synodally. The fundamental importance of synodality for ecumenical commitment is clearly demonstrated by two important documents, such as the study ‘The Church Toward a Common Vision,’ which aspires to a multilateral and ecumenical vision of the nature, purpose, and mission of the Church,” the patriarch stated.

Bartholomew concluded by affirming the importance of the joint study: “This vision is also shared by the International Theological Commission in its programmatic document ‘Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church,’ which notes that ecumenical dialogue has progressed to the point of recognizing synodality as a ‘revelatory dimension of the nature of the Church.’”

“This historical overview helps us understand that the development of synodality in the life of the Church and of ecumenism must be implemented with theological accuracy and pastoral prudence. This lesson can also be learned by studying the Council of Nicaea,” the Orthodox patriarch concluded.

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

ACI MENA, Aug 29, 2025 / 14:36 pm (CNA).

Each year on Aug. 29, the Church commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist, as recounted in the first three Gospels. The actual resting place of the saint remains uncertain, particularly the fate of his head, which became a focal point of devotion in the Middle Ages, with several sites claiming to possess it.

Today, four places are most often associated with the relic: the Residenz Museum in Munich; San Silvestro in Capite in Rome (upper part of the skull); Amiens Cathedral in France (the front portion of the head, from the forehead to the upper jaw, excluding the teeth); and finally, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, according to both Muslim and Christian tradition. However, there is no conclusive evidence that the head rests in any of these locations.

The Umayyad Mosque’s history predates Christianity. About 3,000 years ago, it was a temple dedicated to Hadad, the fertility god of the Arameans and other civilizations of the Fertile Crescent. When the Romans took control of Syria, they erected a vast temple to Jupiter on the site in the first century A.D. Later, under Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity was firmly established, and by the late fourth century, part of the pagan complex was converted to a church.

Scholars debate whether the church was built in the southwestern section of the Roman temple or directly within the Cella (Holy of Holies). While it is uncertain if the church was originally dedicated to John the Baptist, sources suggest that by the time the Arabs entered Damascus in 635, the church was indeed named after him and was believed to house his head. The relic may have been preserved inside or near the main altar.

Muslims left the church standing for about 70 years before the Umayyad Caliph, al-Walid I, ordered its demolition in 705 to build a grand mosque worthy of Damascus — then the capital of the Caliphate. Despite Christian opposition, the project went forward, and construction lasted about a decade.

According to the 12th-century historian Ibn Asakir, during construction workers discovered the relic of Yahya ibn Zakariya (John the Baptist in Islamic tradition) in a cave beneath one of the mosque’s planned pillars. Al-Walid ordered the relic to be reburied in its place, marking the column above it distinctly. A shrine for John the Baptist was later incorporated into the mosque, a detail also confirmed by the Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubayr.

Muslims honor John the Baptist as a prophet mentioned in the Qur’an, revered for his piety and truthfulness.

Christian traces remain visible in the mosque complex. These include a baptismal font thought to date from the church period, a partially destroyed stone relief on the outer wall believed by some to depict Christ, and the two Roman towers (southeastern and southwestern), which may have once served as bell towers before becoming the Minaret of Jesus and the Qaytbay Minaret. 

Particularly notable are Greek Christian inscriptions on the lintel of the southern gate of the Byzantine church complex, one quoting Psalm 145:13: “Your kingdom (O Christ) is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.”

In modern times, the memory of John the Baptist at the Umayyad Mosque continues to bridge faith traditions. During his visit to Syria in 2001, Pope John Paul II entered the mosque and prayed at the shrine of the saint, highlighting its shared significance for Christians and Muslims alike.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Andres Ligot as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, California.

The bishop-elect is currently parish priest of St. Elizabeth of Portugal and vicar general of the San Jose Diocese.

Prior to his 2021 appointment to St. Elizabeth of Portugal, Ligot, 59, served as judicial vicar of the diocese from 2008 to 2021. 

Bishop Oscar Cantú expressed his gratitude for Ligot’s elevation to bishop in an Aug. 29 statement published on the diocesan website.

“His priestly heart, pastoral experience, and steady leadership will bless our parishes, schools, and ministries,” Cantú said. “I invite the faithful to keep him in prayer as he prepares for episcopal ordination.”

Ligot said he was “humbled” by the trust and support he has received from Pope Leo and Cantú and asked people to pray that he will continue to be a “faithful servant” within the diocese. 

“I renew my promise to serve Christ and his people with joy — especially those most in need,” he said in a statement published by his diocese. 

Ordained a priest in 1992 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome for the Diocese of Laoag City, Philippines, Ligot was incardinated into the Diocese of San Jose on March 30, 2004.

Before his incardination to the California diocese, Ligot served as parish vicar for St. John Vianney Parish, San Jose, from 2003 to 2005. He was also a chaplain at the Veterans Medical Center in San Francisco and a visiting priest at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park.

From 2005 to 2009, the bishop-elect was parish priest of St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Parish in Santa Clara.

Ligot attended San Pablo College Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, and later continued his priestly studies at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Navarra, Spain, where he obtained a master’s degree in theology. He later obtained a doctorate in canon law from the University of Navarra in Spain.

Ligot, who is fluent in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ilocano, will become the second auxiliary bishop appointed to the Diocese of San Jose and the sixth U.S. prelate from the Philippines.

In the Gospel reading for Sunday, Aug. 31, Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of God belongs to the humble — those who allow themselves to be refashioned by the hand of God. In this homily reflection for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Archbishop Weisenburger challenges us to trade the pursuit of honor for the grace of humility.