We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

Over the weekend, Pope Leo XIV speaking during the Saturday Jubilee Audience on 8 November 2025, in Saint Peter Square, reflected on the life of Blessed Isidore Bakanja, a young Congolese martyr. The testimony of Bakanja, “reminds us that we have much to learn from our persecuted brothers and sisters in Africa,” said Pope Leo XIV.

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Attending a conference on “Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness” at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith affirms the Holy Spirit's many different ways of manifesting God's presence throughout Church history.

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Even after seeing tidal floods destroy homes and livelihoods, Sr. Vincentia Sabarina, HK, and those around her continue to assist residents of the Indonesian coastal village of Sidodadi.

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The Vatican said Monday it was investigating a possible antisemitic incident, in which a Swiss Guard allegedly made a spitting gesture toward two Jewish women.

Following news that the Vatican has opened an investigation into sexual-abuse allegations that he denies, Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz and Ceuta, has stepped back from his duties to “clarify the facts.”

A bus carrying teens and young adults returning from a church camp in the Southern California mountains lost control and tipped onto its side Sunday night while on the way down a winding mountain road, sending 20 people to the hospital, authorities said.

The Catholic Church in Tanzania condemned the killings of protesters and warned that there would be no peace without justice, as the government calls for dialogue following a disputed general election.

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 10, 2025 / 18:32 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has revealed the names of Pope Leo XIV’s favorite films, including “The Sound of Music” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” upon announcing the Holy Father’s upcoming meeting with the world of cinema on Saturday, Nov. 15.

In total, the Vatican shared four titles of the “most significant films” for Leo XIV:

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946) by Frank Capra

The Christmas classic stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has sacrificed his dreams because of his sense of responsibility and generosity but feeling like a failure, he contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. This prompts the intervention of his guardian angel (Henry Travers), who shows him all the good he has done for many people. 

‘The Sound of Music’ (1965) by Robert Wise

The film tells the story of a postulant at a convent in Austria in 1938.  After discerning out, the postulant (Julie Andrews) is sent to the home of Captain Von Trapp, a widowed retired naval officer (Christopher Plummer) to be the governess of his seven children. After bringing love and music to the Von Trapp family, she eventually marries the captain. As Von Tapp refuses to accept a commission in the Nazi navy, the family is forced to leave Austria in a dramatic escape. 

‘Ordinary People’ (1980) by Robert Redford

The film tells the story of the breakdown of a wealthy Illinois family after the death of one son in an accident and the suicide attempt of the other. It stars Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, and Timothy Hutton.

‘Life Is Beautiful’ (1997) by Roberto Benigni

In this film, Benigni — whose father spent two years in a prisoner-of-war camp — plays Guido Orefice, an Italian Jewish bookstore owner who uses his imagination to protect his young son from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

Nov. 15 meeting with the world of cinema 

The meeting will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 11 a.m. Rome time in the Apostolic Palace of Vatican City, according to a statement from the Dicastery for Culture and Education, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums.

The event follows previous meetings with the world of visual arts (June 2023), comedy (June 2024), and the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture in February of this year.

The Vatican statement highlights that Pope Leo XIV “has expressed his desire to deepen the dialogue with the world of cinema, and in particular with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values.”

Actors and directors the pope will meet

Among those who have already confirmed their participation are the Italian actresses Monica Bellucci, famous for her role as Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and Maria Grazia Cucinotta (“Il Postino” and “The World Is Not Enough.”)

Also joining the Holy Father will be, among others, American actress Cate Blanchett (“The Lord of the Rings,” “The Aviator”), the African-American director Spike Lee, the director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “Elephant”), the Australian director George Miller, creator of the Mad Max saga, and the Italian Giuseppe Tornatore, director of “Cinema Paradiso,” for which he won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1989.

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 10, 2025 / 18:12 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request to overturn its 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage. 

Kim Davis, a Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk from 2015 through 2019, petitioned the Supreme Court in July to reconsider the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which legalized same-sex civil marriages nationally.

Davis requested the court also hear her case 10 years later after she made headlines for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She served multiple days in jail for contempt of court for violating a judicial order to issue the marriage licenses.

Davis was ordered to pay more than $360,000 in damages and legal fees for violating a same-sex couples’ right to marry. After lower courts rejected her claim that the the Constitution’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion protected her in the case, she appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Trump administration did not weigh in on the case as the Supreme Court considered whether to take up the matter. The Supreme Court made the decision to reject the request on Nov. 10 and has made no comment on the matter. 

The issue with claiming violation to religious freedom is that Davis “was not acting as a private citizen, exercising her right to … religion, she was acting as a public official,” said Thomas Jipping, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. 

“The First Amendment applies differently with regard to the actions of public officials than private individuals,” said Jipping in a Nov. 10 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.” Davis “was acting in her official capacity as a county clerk, and that’s a very different legal question.” 

Jipping said Davis’ situation was not the “right case” to reach the Supreme Court and reverse Obergefell v. Hodges because it was not a case in which someone challenged a state legislature’s law in conflict with the precedent.

Mary Rice Hasson, Kate O’Beirne senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA she agreed the case was not the right vehicle to reconsider the Obergefell decision.

“As Catholics, our energies will be better spent explaining and promoting the truth about marriage and sexuality to our children and fellow Catholics rather than hoping for a reversal of Obergefell,” Hasson said.

Many American Catholics support the legalization of same-sex civil marriages at about the same rate as the broader population. According to a 2024 Pew poll, about 70% of self-identified Catholics said they support same-sex marriage, which was slightly higher than the population as a whole.

Hasson said: “It’s a scandal that 70% of self-described Catholics support so-called same-sex ‘marriage.’”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 10, 2025 / 17:52 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will select its president and vice president Nov. 11 during the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore.

Bishops will choose both positions from a slate of 10 candidates nominated by their fellow bishops. The incumbent president and vice president — Archbishop Timothy Broglio and Archbishop William Lori — will step down from their roles as their three-year terms expire.

To be elected, the bishop must receive a majority of the voting bishops. After the president is selected from the 10-person slate, the vice president will be chosen from the nine remaining candidates. Candidates for president include:

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Archbishop Paul Coakley already holds a leadership role in the USCCB, serving as the secretary.

Although the USCCB vice president is usually the front-runner, the 74-year-old Lori is ineligible for the role because he reaches retirement age next year. This was also the case for the vice president in the previous election in 2022, when the bishops chose then-Secretary Broglio. 

Coakley is 70 years old and has served in his archdiocese for nearly 15 years. He has been a bishop since 2004. He has a licentiate in sacred theology. 

The archbishop has defended a culture of life, speaking out against both abortion and the death penalty. In 2023, he wrote a pastoral letter in which he expressed concerns with the rise in gender dysphoria and the promotion of gender ideology. In February of this year, he criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and also said countries have a right to protect their borders.

Bishop Robert E. Barron, Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota

Bishop Robert Barron may be the most well-known contender, particularly due to his media presence and Word on Fire ministry.

Barron chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth. He also serves on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. He has a master’s degree in philosophy and a licentiate in sacred theology.

Much of Barron’s career has focused on evangelizing the public and helping catechize Catholics, including youth. He has condemned the growing secularism and relativism in modern society and has called for Christianity to be more present in the public square. He has criticized gender ideology and abortion.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores, Diocese of Brownsville, Texas

Bishop Daniel Flores, former president of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine, is the only southern-border bishop in contention for the role of president, serving the southernmost diocese in Texas.

Flores, who is 64 years old, holds a doctorate in sacred theology and is a former theology professor. He has been a bishop since 2006. He was one of 12 bishops to serve on the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod on Synodality and is a strong promoter of synodality in the Church. 

In 2017, Flores said support for mass deportations is “formal cooperation with an intrinsic evil,” similar to driving someone to an abortion clinic. He has expressed concern about polarization in the Church and urged “civil conversation … to seek what is good and make the priority how to achieve it and how to avoid what is evil.”

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana

Bishop Kevin Rhoades is the chair of the USCCB Committee on Religious Liberty and serves on an advisory board for Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. He has been outspoken on religious freedom issues and opposition to abortion.

Rhoades, who is 67 years old, became a bishop in 2004. He holds a licentiate in sacred theology and a licentiate in canon law. 

Rhoades has been critical of government policies that impose mandates related to abortion and contraception on religious organizations and businesses. In 2024, he said: “No employer should be forced to participate in an employee’s decision to end the life of their child.”

This year, his committee laid out concerns about bills that promote gender ideology which could threaten religious liberty in its annual report. It also expressed concerns about immigration policies when religious organizations, such as Annunciation House, are put in the crosshairs.

Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon

Archbishop Alexander Sample, who has defended pro-life values and the Traditional Latin Mass, has served as a bishop since 2013. 

The archbishop, who is 65 years old, has a licentiate in canon law. 

Sample has been a staunch opponent of abortion and last year criticized Oregon’s governor for creating an “appreciation day” for abortionists. He criticized “the idea that those who make a living ending innocent, unborn life should be publicly honored. He has strongly criticized gender ideology as well. 

The archbishop has celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass and has sought to follow the Vatican guidelines on those celebrations without causing major disruptions to Latin Mass communities. He has praised efforts to revive reverence and focus on the Eucharist. 

Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez, Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Archbishop Nelson Pérez, who chairs the board of Catholic Relief Services, has sought to bring back lapsed Catholics, which includes outreach efforts to the youth and Latinos. 

Pérez is 64 years old and became a bishop in 2012. 

The archbishop this year announced a 10-year plan to bring lapsed Catholics back to Mass, which includes the creation of “missionary hubs” throughout the archdiocese. The hubs are meant to “address the distinct needs and priorities of the people living within the neighborhoods of that parish and beyond,” he said. 

Pérez has also called for solidarity with immigrants and expressed concerns about Trump’s mass deportation efforts. He strongly promotes pro-life values and criticizes abortion.

Bishop David J. Malloy, Diocese of Rockford

Bishop David Malloy, former chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, has promoted peace in international affairs and has been critical of abortion and euthanasia.

Malloy, who is 69 years old, became a bishop in 2012 and holds a licentiate in canon law and a doctorate in theology. 

The bishop has condemned the creation of and continued threat of nuclear weapons and urged the U.S. government to promote dialogue and peace amid conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. He has also expressed concerns about climate change and pollution. 

Malloy has consistently opposed abortion and praised the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He has vocally criticized legislative efforts to legalize euthanasia in Illinois.

Archbishop Richard G. Henning, Archdiocese of Boston

Archbishop Richard Henning, who serves on the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs in the USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, has promoted Eucharistic revival, criticized abortion, and called for Catholics to show solidarity with migrants.

Henning, who is 61 years old, became a bishop in 2018. He holds a licentiate in sacred theology and a doctorate in theology.

The archbishop celebrated a Mass at the National Eucharistic Congress last year and said the sense of unity with the Lord and with each other has been most powerful.

He has expressed concern about the increase in immigration enforcement and reiterated the USCCB’s call to show solidarity with migrants. In 2023, he urged Catholics to pray for the defense of unborn lives amid legislative efforts to support taxpayer funded abortion.

Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, Archdiocese of Detroit

Archbishop Edward Weisenburger, who has been a bishop since 2012, is vocal in support for migrants, has expressed concerns about climate change, and has restricted celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Weisenburger, who is 64 years old, holds a licentiate in canon law. 

The archbishop took part in a pro-migrant march this year that concluded at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. He authored an op-ed in America Magazine in which he criticized Trump’s plan for mass deportations and called for “a new approach to immigration policy must begin by recognizing the humanity of the immigrant.”

Weisenburger strongly promoted Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and wrote in an op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star: “We must not resign ourselves to just surviving a climate-disrupted world. We can and must stabilize the climate. But doing so will require the commitment of individuals as well as entire populations.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Archbishop Charles Thompson, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, has spoken out against same-sex civil marriage, gender ideology and abortion, and supports the Eucharistic revival.

Thompson, who is 64 years old, was made a bishop in 2011. He holds a licentiate in canon law. 

The archbishop in 2019 stripped a Jesuit Catholic school of the label “Catholic” after it defied his order to not renew a contract for a teacher who was in a same-sex civil marriage. He praised the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and urged governments to pass laws to protect unborn life.

Thompson has emphasized the importance of reverence and adoration for the Eucharist, saying “it’s so important for us to understand that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.”