Saint Michael Parish

Pope Leo XIV visits the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, on Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV traveled to Assisi on Thursday to meet with Italian bishops and pay homage to St. Francis in a visit marked by silence and prayer, part of the celebrations for the eighth centenary of the death of the “saint of the poor.”

According to Vatican News, the pontiff traveled from the Vatican by helicopter and arrived in the Italian city shortly after 8 a.m. local time. He landed at the Bastia Umbra stadium and from there traveled by car to the heart of Assisi, where St. Francis was born in 1182.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio adopted his name upon becoming pope, while it was St. John Paul II who named St. Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology in 1979. 

Despite the rain and cold, a number of people waited for the Holy Father and greeted him with applause and cheers of “Long live the pope!”

His first stop was the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the burial place of the founder of the Franciscan order. Leo XIV was received by the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI by its Italian acronym), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and the custodian of the Sacro Convento (Franciscan friary) Friar Marco Moroni, who accompanied him to the crypt where the relics of St. Francis are kept.

Once in front of the tomb of the “Poverello” (“Little Poor Man”), the Holy Father paused for a few minutes in prayer. There he spoke his first public words of the day: “It is a blessing to be able to come to this sacred place today. We are approaching the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis; this occasion allows us to prepare to celebrate this great saint, humble and poor, while the world seeks signs of hope,” he said.

He also recalled the enduring legacy of St. Francis: “His witness continues to speak to us today, inviting us to keep hope alive and to look to the future with confidence.”

Afterward, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels) where he met with the bishops of the CEI, who are holding their 81st general assembly.

According to the Vatican Press Office, at the conclusion of the meeting with the bishops of the CEI, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the city of Montefalco, where he celebrated Mass in the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, which was erected in the 13th century.

It is one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region. It is linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Church. The pontiff had lunch there before returning to the Vatican by helicopter.

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 waves to pilgrims gathered at his general audience on Oct.25, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will hold a historic live digital conversation with American teenagers at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on Friday. The faithful across the globe can also tune in to watch the encounter.

The Holy Father will hold the digital discussion with young Catholics amid the Nov. 20–22 NCYC, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

The pope will speak at 10:15 a.m. ET on Nov. 21 and enter into dialogue with a group of high school students.

People attending NCYC in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium can watch the encounter at the event, but others across the world are able to join online from homes, schools, and parishes.

The exchange will be broadcast via a livestream available on EWTN YouTube. Viewers can also watch through the EWTN app or on EWTN’s cable channel.

This marks the first time that a pope will directly engage with U.S. youth in a live digital encounter at NCYC. More than 40 teens have participated in the dialogue planning process, and five of them will get the chance to speak directly with the Holy Father.

For other news about the pope’s discussion and NCYC, the faithful can stay informed on CNA’s live updates page.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance participates in a fireside chat with Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance called border security “humanitarian” in response to comments from Pope Leo XIV about immigration policy in the United States.

“Border security is not just good for American citizens,” Vance said in an interview with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle on Nov. 20. “It is the humanitarian thing to do for the entire world.”

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 18 asked Americans to listen to U.S. bishops’ message opposing “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and urged humane treatment of migrants.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” the pope said.

Vance said he has followed the Holy Father’s comments closely as “a devout Catholic.”

“You may not know it, judging purely from the comments of some people on social media, but the Catholic Church’s views on this are actually quite clear,” Vance said.

“It’s that, yes, you must treat immigrants humanely,” Vance said. “On the other hand, every nation has the right to control its borders. And obviously, how you strike that balance is very important, but there’s a lot of room there to actually control your own borders for the sake of your own people.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) special message affirmed that countries have a “responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” 

U.S. bishops said they lamented the conditions in detention centers and lack of access to pastoral care. Bishops also said they “are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”

Vance said “open borders” do not promote “[human] dignity, even of the illegal migrants themselves,” and cited drug and sex trafficking.

“When you empower the cartels and when you empower the human traffickers, whether in the United States or anywhere else, you’re empowering the very worst people in the world,” Vance said.

“My priority, my charge is to look after the people of the United States of America, and you cannot do that if you’re flooding the country with a ton of illegal immigrants and the drugs and the crime that they bring,” Vance said.

According to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem this year, as of October 2025, nearly half a million immigrants without legal status in the country had been arrested. “70% of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges,” Noem said.

The administration provides regular updates on “the worst of the worst” criminals they apprehend among the immigrant population without legal status in the country.

Meanwhile, multiple research studies have shown that overall, immigrants do not commit more crimes than U.S.-born people and are actually less likely to commit crimes. Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.

A study by the libertarian Cato Institute that reviewed more than a decade of data found that immigrants, including those who enter the country illegally, have a lower crime rate than the native-born population.

For example, in 2023, the incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,221 for every 100,000 people. For legal immigrants, it was 319 for every 100,000, and for immigrants in the country illegally, it was 613 for every 100,000.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation,” the U.S. bishops said.

Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler attend the Circus Krone Christmas Premiere at Circus Krone on Dec. 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany. The twin sisters ended their lives by assisted suicide at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images

CNA Deutsch, Nov 20, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

The Federal Association for the Right to Life, an umbrella organization for numerous pro-life organizations, has condemned the “glorification” of the assisted suicide of the 89-year-old Kessler twins.

Alice and Ellen Kessler were German singers and performers who were famous in Europe, especially in Italy, in the 1960s. The twin sisters decided to die together by assisted suicide at their home near Munich on Monday. 

Alexandra Linder, the pro life association’s chairwoman, said: “There is widespread media coverage of this, with many praising the ‘self-determination’ of choosing the time and manner of death oneself rather than waiting for death and perhaps suffering.”

This is “dangerous,” Linder emphasized, because it could cause “people in suicidal situations” to “to kill themselves or have themselves killed. This so-called Werther effect was sadly evident in the suicide of soccer player Robert Enke: After his suicide became known, the number of suicides rose sharply. The media should take much more responsibility when reporting on such incidents.”

On Nov. 17, Tagesschau in Germany reported: “The Kessler twins Alice and Ellen, who became internationally known as singers, actresses, and entertainers, are dead. A spokesperson for the Munich police confirmed an operation in Grünwald near Munich. He did not provide any background information.”

“It was a case of assisted suicide, the German Society for Humane Dying (DGHS) told Bavarian Radio,” the Tagesschau continued. “‘The Kessler twins had been considering assisted suicide for a long time,’ said a DGHS spokeswoman. ‘Alice and Ellen Kessler had been members of the association for some time and had set the date of death themselves as Nov. 17.’”

“A lawyer and a doctor had held preliminary talks with them and came to the sisters’ house in Grünwald on Monday to accompany them as they died,” it said.

The chairwoman of the Federal Association for the Right to Life called for “critical questions about ethics and background” to be asked: “Can a lawyer who does not know the individuals, without appropriate specialist training, assess their mental and physical condition, their history, and their autonomy? Did the two 89-year-old women make this decision without outside influence, without acute pain, without the influence of medication, without fear of loneliness, of the future, of suffering, etc.? Were alternative courses of action sufficiently explained to them, for example, palliative care, attention, therapy options? What role might the people in charge of the euthanasia association have played, given that their interest lies in promoting ‘positive’ examples of death, from joining the organization to deciding to die?”

Linder explained that it is important to know “that the psyche, mood, and will to live can change almost daily, depending on circumstances, the level of pain, and the prospects for recovery. Even who comes to visit on a given day plays a role: a grumpy nurse or a granddaughter with a picture of the sun she painted for her grandmother.”

In Germany, as a wealthy country, “no one has to die alone, in severe pain or suffering, if they do not want to. It is inhumane to abandon people in difficult situations who are contemplating suicide to their fate and to declare their intention to commit suicide as autonomy.”

Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa, president of the German Caritas Association, also expressed concern that “the extensive reporting and romanticization of the sisters‘ assisted suicide reinforces a social pressure that we have been observing for several years: Older women in particular feel a responsibility not to be a burden on anyone and perceive offers of assisted suicide as a necessary option to consider.”

“Instead of promoting the supposedly easy way out, we need to improve suicide prevention and expand hospice places,” Welskop-Deffaa demanded. “We strongly call for the legal anchoring of suicide prevention measures, such as a ban on advertising for organizations that assist in suicide, along with other legal regulations on assisted suicide.”

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

The world's tallest monument of Our Lady of Fatima was inaugurated in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. / Credit: Courtesy of Prefeitura do Crato/Screenshot

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:48 pm (CNA).

The world’s tallest monument dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima was inaugurated and blessed on Nov. 13 during the closing Mass of the Marian Jubilee in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil.

The 177-foot-tall statue was created by the artist Ranilson Viana, inspired by the replica of the pilgrim image venerated in the cathedral of Our Lady of Penha, a work by the Portuguese sculptor Guilherme Ferreira Thedim.

“Our hearts overflow with joy and faith because in this blessed land of Crato, this magnificent image of Our Lady of Fátima stands thanks to the presence of the pilgrim image, coming directly from Fátima, in Portugal, a sign of our spiritual communion with that Marian shrine, a beating heart of prayer, penance, and hope for the whole world,” said Bishop Magnus Henrique Lopes of Crato, who celebrated the Mass.

The pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima arrived in Juazeiro do Norte on Nov. 10, 72 years after its first visit. Its pilgrimage concluded on Nov. 13 during the closing Mass of the Diocesan Marian Day.

In his homily, Lopes said that “from Fatima to Crato, we travel the same path of faith and tenderness.” He recalled that in Portugal “Mary appeared as a lady brighter than the sun” and that in Crato “she arrives as a loving mother who welcomes her suffering children. Poor, but full of trust.”

The bishop also noted that in blessing “this image of Our Lady of Fátima,” we can hear “the same maternal invitation” that Mary made at the wedding at Cana, when she said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”

‘Fátima is a school of listening and obedience to the Gospel’

“In this simple gesture” of Our Lady at Cana “is all the theology of Marian intercession,” he explained. “Mary does not take the place of Jesus. She reveals him. She does not create grace. Mary leads us to the One who is grace itself.”

As the bishop explained it, “Fátima is a school of listening and obedience to the Gospel.”

“Mary called the little shepherds Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta to conversion, to praying the rosary, to penance, and to trust in God’s love,” he added.

“Today, many Franciscos and many Lucias and countless Jacintas no longer listen to the call to prayer, to catechesis, to the sacred moment” but instead “so often listen to other voices” that “destroy dreams, families, and hope,” the bishop lamented.

“We live in times when faith, the sacred, are being snatched from the hands of children, from the hearts of our young people, from our sons and daughters,” he warned. “And this void manifests itself in violence, in self-destruction, in a loss of meaning, and in dehumanization at an early age.”

“We, laypeople, consecrated men and women, and authorities, are witnessing how these dreams are being stolen. We are perceiving with indifference, even contributing to it because it’s easier that way, to the destruction and disintegration of the future of our children,” he pointed out. “That is why the message of Fátima is so urgent here in our land, in our diocese, and in so many other dioceses where the faith of the people is profound and Marian devotion is an integral part of [their lives]. 

At the end of the Mass, Lopes imparted the apostolic blessing with a plenary indulgence to the faithful present and then went to the new monument in Crato with the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, where he blessed the new statue.

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

The priests’ release was credited in part to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, pictured here celebrating the seventh Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 2, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).

Two Catholic priests in Belarus will be released from prison in an act of “goodwill” after national leaders engaged in talks with the Vatican.

The state media organ BelTA reported on Nov. 20 that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko “pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of serious crimes against the state.”

The pardons of Father Henrykh Akalatovich and Father Andzej Yukhnevich came after “intensification of contacts with the Vatican, as well as the principles of goodwill, mercy, and the jubilee year proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church,” the government media organization said. 

A separate press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressed “gratitude to all those who contributed to the release of imprisoned priests.”

The bishops thanked both Vatican officials and Belarusian Church leaders for helping maintain “a positive dynamic of bilateral relations based on traditional values, brotherhood, tolerance, and respect for believers.”

Akalatovich had been sentenced on Dec. 30, 2024, to 11 years in prison for “high treason,” a charge that Lukashenko’s regime applies to political prisoners. The priest had reportedly already suffered a heart attack and undergone surgery for cancer before his arrest in November 2023.

Reuters, meanwhile, reported that Yukhnevich had been sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this year on charges of abusing minors. The priest denied those allegations. 

The human rights group Viasna reported on Nov. 20 that the release came in part “thanks to the visit of Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti,” who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

Akalatovich previously said his conviction of “spying on behalf of Poland at the Vatican” was a “gross provocation.” 

There was “not a word of truth in the case against him, not a single fact that implicates him in espionage, while the entire accusation is based on lies, threats, and blackmail,” the priest said, according to Viasna. 

During the prosecution of his own case, meanwhile, Yukhnevich “denied all charges and tried to prove his innocence,” Viasna said. The human rights group claimed that the alleged victims who testified against him “may have given their testimony under pressure,” though it did not offer any further information. 

In a 2023 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious freedom conditions in Belarus “continued to trend negatively” as the government “persisted in exerting control over all aspects of society.”

The report highlighted the September 2022 closure of the Church of Sts. Simon and Helena in Minsk, which it described as ”a symbol of political opposition to the Lukashenko regime” during protests in 2020.

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium starting Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 20, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service for Catholic teenagers.

The 2025 theme is “I Am,” and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and be empowered for discipleship. 

NCYC was created by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), an organization committed to advancing the field of pastoral ministry to young people in the United States. Founded with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization works to strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. 

The conference, from Nov. 20–22, will feature Catholic speakers, daily Mass and adoration, music and worship, breakout groups and workshops, and interactive exhibits with games, vendors, meetups, and live radio shows.

Attendees will also hear from the conference’s two emcees, Gian Gamboa​ and Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA. Gamboa​ is a Catholic speaker and musician who helps young people develop a personal relationship with Jesus so they can experience the fullness of the Catholic faith. 

Del Rosario, who has become known as “The Happy Nun,” is a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, or Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. She joined the Salesian Sisters in 2009 and serves as the vocations director for the eastern U.S. province. Passionate about engaging with youth, she shares encouragement to bring them closer to Jesus.

Digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV

Attendees can attend Mass on Nov. 20 and start to check out the interactive exhibits and stadium setup. 

Friday will feature the main attraction of the 2025 conference — a digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo will hold a 45-minute dialogue with young people from across the United States in Lucas Oil Stadium at 10:15 a.m. ET. A livestream of the discussion will be available on EWTN YouTube.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, is expected to attend NCYC along with several bishops including keynote speaker Bishop Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Other keynote addresses will be from author and missionary Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, host of the podcast “Abiding Together.”

Themed exhibits based on the sacraments will be available throughout the weekend and will include interactive projects and acts of service. Vendors tailored to the young audience will be present including Motherboards, a Catholic skateboarding company, and Catalyst Catholic, a ministry helping young disciples, that will help lead a service project aimed to aid the homeless population. 

Breakout sessions and workshops will start Friday and go through Saturday. Students will hear from and hold discussions with missionaries, social media personalities, and musicians.

Teens will talk about family life, social media, discovering God’s calling, and discernment. Sessions also will target an adult audience for ministry leaders and chaperones including discussions on mental health and handling burnout. 

To conclude the conference, attendees plan to gather for a closing Mass on Saturday evening.

St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, New York. / Credit: CiEll/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Advocates in New York state are petitioning a Catholic foundation there to help fund major pension shortages and church preservation efforts as well as to help support victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in New York City, representatives of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, sexual abuse victims, and pensioners of the former St. Clare’s Hospital asked the foundation to help the three communities with the “profound hardship” they are experiencing.

Numerous parishes in Buffalo have been fighting diocesan-mandated closures and mergers over the past year. Hundreds of former workers of St. Clare’s, meanwhile, saw their pensions reduced or eliminated starting in 2018 due to major shortfalls. The hospital itself closed about a decade before.

Abuse victims, meanwhile, have “been locked in a legal morass, denied the long-term healing resources and institutional acknowledgment of the harm they endured,” the letter said.

The foundation arose in 2018 after the Diocese of Brooklyn sold the health insurer Fidelis Care. The organization, whose roughly $3.2 billion in assets came from that sale, is named after Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American recognized as a saint, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The letter noted that Cabrini “devoted her life to the people others overlooked,” including immigrants and the poor.

“Guided by that legacy, we ask the foundation to explore emergency relief, stabilization funds, and community support initiatives” to help fund the three groups.

The letter-writers asked for a meeting with foundation leaders “to explore potential pathways for assistance aligned with both the foundation’s mission and the pressing needs of survivors, pensioners, and parish communities.”

Mary Pruski, who leads the Save Our Buffalo Churches group, told CNA that advocates in New York City would be following up with the foundation this week.

“This is a complex project and will bring much peace and healing across [New York state],” she said.

Pensioners with St. Clare’s Hospital are currently in the midst of a lawsuit brought by New York state against the Diocese of Albany for what the state attorney general’s office says was “[failure] to adequately fund, manage, and protect hospital employees’ hard-earned pensions.”

The prosecutor’s office alleges that the diocese “[failed] to take adequate measures” to secure the pension fund, including “failing to make any annual contributions to the pension for all but two years from 2000 to 2019 and hiding the collapse of the pension plan from former hospital workers who were vested in the plan.”

Parishioners in Buffalo, meanwhile, have challenged the diocesan parish merger and closure plan, with advocates securing a reprieve against the diocese at the state Supreme Court in July.

The state high court ultimately tossed the lawsuit out in September, ruling that the court had no jurisdiction over the dispute.

EWTN Spain President José Carlos González-Hurtado. / Credit: Nicolás Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).

José Carlos González-Hurtado, president of EWTN Spain, has published a new book, “The Scientific Evidence that Jesus Is God,” following the success of his first book on the existence of God, which has already gone through eight editions.

While his first bestseller offered scientific arguments supporting the existence of God, his new work uses scientific arguments to address the five possible options regarding Jesus Christ: myth, manipulated figure, liar, maniac, or Messiah.

In a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, González explained how he became a successful writer talking about science and faith and the providential meaning this has today before going through some aspects of the book.

ACI Prensa: You say in the book that despite considering yourself Catholic and being a practicing Catholic, for a time “faith was not a priority, nor did it serve as a foundation” in your life.

González: I was Catholic, as most Spaniards are, but in the sense that it wasn’t one of the things that defined me. Now, with complete certainty, when I define myself, I say, “I am Catholic.”

What does that mean? That it’s part of your life, that it’s not a jacket or a tie that you put on one day and not the next. That idea of ​​putting on and taking off faith is more Protestant than Catholic. We Catholics believe in the unity of life.

For me, it was a jacket that I put on and took off, and that, at certain times, I didn’t wear.

However, you have reflected and prayed a great deal to be able to distill a wealth of thought and heartfelt reflection on God, his existence, and Christ in two books. What happened?

Living in Israel changed me. I was the CEO of an American company. I was there when the second Palestinian “intifada” [uprising] took place, when the suicide bombings began. My family left, and that’s when I came to the conclusion that we all have to die.

Much later, I began giving lectures on the scientific evidence for the existence of God. One of those lectures became popular online, and then a publisher asked me to [write a book] on it. Neither of us thought it would be a top seller.

Providentially, one of the questions that always came up in the lectures I’ve given about the other book — more than 200 of them — is: “OK, fine, you’ve convinced me that God exists. Now, is Jesus Christ God? Is there evidence that Jesus Christ is God?”

And yes, there is evidence that Jesus Christ is God. Plenty of it. In fact, I often say that the most reasonable thing to believe is that Jesus Christ is God.

Of all those lectures, there seems to have been a special connection with young people. What has that experience been like?

I say what I say. I say it for everyone. Look, whether it gets through more or less, I don’t know. But I don’t have a special message for young people. In fact, I think that’s a mistake, because young or not, we all have a soul and we all have to save it, and each of us is responsible for our own.

What do I think is happening? That people my age, many of us are already entrenched in our ideas. I’m talking, for example, about atheism, about atheists. Atheists don’t just think that God doesn’t exist, but they’ve built their lives around the nonexistence of God. The difference is that I have evidence to support my faith, and they don’t.

Now, for a person that’s 50, 60, 70, or 40 years old, who has built his life around that, it’s very difficult to do a 180: What does that mean for my life? What do I have to change in my life? What will people say about me?

Older people have more inertia to make them not want to change. And young people don’t. So, often, what happens with young people is: “Hey, I’m an atheist, or I’m agnostic, because nobody has told me what you’re telling me.”

The book is proposing in the strongest way that faith is reasonable. That’s audacious, isn’t it?

I’ve noticed that many Catholic scientists are afraid to take the step of acknowledging the evidence that proves their faith. They suffer from learned alienation syndrome, or what’s called learned helplessness. Their heads are spinning with what science has discovered: that they are right, coming from a faith perspective.

These are scientists who lack the boldness to recognize what Nobel laureates have recognized. Max Planck says: “Science imposes God” [leads to the unavoidable conclusion that he exists]. Amfinsen says: “Only an idiot can be an atheist.” Barton says: “Science demonstrates [the existence of] God.”

Science doesn’t disprove God. How could it disprove him if God created science? How could he disprove himself? But that’s not it. It’s a path God has put there for us to reach him.

All I’m doing is presenting the evidence God has given us over the last 50 years. Why now? Because providentially, God has decided: “This is the path for humanity today.”

God has decided: Humanity today can reach him through science. And he provides us with evidence from physics, chemistry, mathematics, cosmology, and biology.

The book begins by demonstrating the historical existence of Jesus. Was that really necessary?

First, methodologically, I want to present all the options. What is Jesus Christ? The options are: He didn’t exist, in which case he’s a myth; he’s a manipulation — he didn’t say what we think he said; he was a liar; he was crazy; or, he’s the Messiah. What I do is present all the historical sources — non-Christian and, moreover, hostile to Christianity — that demonstrate that Jesus Christ exists.

Others say there is only the historical Jesus. In the book, you argue that anyone who says Jesus was “a good man” is taking refuge in “a fraudulent shelter.” In what sense?

Jesus truly challenges you. Once [you know] he exists, you read him or about him. And you say: This guy was special. Then you start looking for alternatives that won’t change your life. The comfortable alternative, like a cozy, dimly lit corner: “Jesus is a guru. He was a good guy.”

Jesus wasn’t a good guy. Jesus wasn’t. Because he didn’t want to be, either. He didn’t want to present himself as “I’m your buddy.”

That’s the fraudulent refuge, I’m sorry, because it’s the one that doesn’t help you take the step. It’s like agnosticism in the first book. Atheism is an affirmation. Agnosticism is the Sargasso Sea, a place where you’re stuck, there are no currents, no breezes. And you can come to the end of your life in that state. And that’s a shame.

Does rejecting him stem primarily from the implication that you’re going to have to change your life?

It depends on the person. I did think about it in the first book: Atheism often stems from pride. Also in the case of rejecting Jesus Christ. Then he’s no more than Socrates or Buddha.

Jesus’ teachings aren’t just about turning the other cheek. Jesus Christ speaks of hell many times. And I know that priests, bishops, and clergy don’t like to talk about it. None of us likes to talk about hell. But it’s true that it’s an integral part of the message of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ comes to save us. And if he comes to save us, it’s because we can be condemned. 

Science has been championed as something contrary to God. In the book, however, it’s shown to be practically God’s best ally, isn’t it?

This isn’t my own saying; I don’t remember who said it: “Science is opposed to religion as my thumb is opposed to my index finger. And, thanks to both of them, I can hold the spoon.” They are the two branches, two of the paths that lead us to God.

Science begins and develops in Christian environments. Virtually all universities have been founded by clergymen. So, to say otherwise, I think, is somewhat ignorant.

Science has evolved considerably since Voltaire, and, moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the origin of both philosophical and scientific thought lies in the same origin: What we call God.

You argue that miracles are evidence that Jesus is God. But one can counter that a miracle involves a leap of faith. How can we explain miracles as proof?

What is a miracle? It is a prodigious and surprising intervention of God in the causes of nature. What does it take to not believe in miracles? Not to believe in God. When someone tells you, “No, I don’t believe in miracles,” that is a proxy for “I don’t believe in God.”

If God exists, are miracles impossible? No. Are they contradictory? No. So, can they happen? Yes. The person who tells you, “God exists and miracles don’t,” is really saying, “I tell God what he can and can’t do.”

Since, as we have defined it, it is a prodigious intervention of God, only God can perform it. If Jesus Christ performs miracles in his own name, in his own name, “I tell you, get up,” then he is saying, “I am God.”

On the other hand, you propose that understanding faith as a gift can be counterproductive for Christians. In what sense?

This is very interesting. If it’s a gift and you lose faith, it means God has taken that gift away. It’s not just a gift. Faith, says St. Thomas Aquinas, is a movement of the intellect instructed by the will and assisted by grace. 

All three things are necessary. I maintain that God will always give grace to all those who have good understanding and an upright will.

St. Thomas Aquinas also said that unbelievers, normally, are not unbelieving due to a lack of understanding. It’s due to a lack of will; it’s because they don’t want to.

If you sincerely say, “I truly want to,” God will give it to you because he wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth and for everyone to be saved. And one of the things God does is not lie. When God says, “Ask and it will be given to you,” he’s not lying.

Yes, faith is not just a gift. It’s very dangerous [to say that it is] because it’s like, well, I didn’t get it. You know, it was the lottery, and I was like, ugh, what bad luck I didn’t win.

What’s in your heart about this book that we can’t pass over without talking about it?

The other day I was also asked, “What evidence convinces you the most?”

One piece of evidence is the prophets, the fact it was prophesied 700, 600, 800 years before Jesus Christ what would happen with Jesus Christ and moreover, only happened with Jesus Christ. And we also have proof that they wrote it down centuries earlier. Because sometimes people say, “Oh, well, but that was done to make it all square.” No.

We have the complete Book of Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah was written in 750 B.C., but we have a complete copy from the fourth century B.C., where it mentions that the Messiah will be crucified.

So that we understand each other, Isaiah didn’t know what crucifixion was, because it didn’t exist in the Jewish world, and yet he has a vision: The Messiah will come and the Messiah will be crucified. And that’s exactly what happens with Jesus Christ.

The second piece are the Eucharistic miracles. This is a further step: It demonstrates the divinity of Jesus Christ. But it also demonstrates transubstantiation.

It has been scientifically proven by independent laboratories that the consecrated host has sometimes transformed into living, cardiac tissue that emanates type AB blood and also contains leukocytes.

Faced with this, the atheist, the agnostic, simply ignores it and says no, I’m sure there’s a trick. But look, it’s external universities, independent laboratories that have certified this.

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

Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gniezno, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference (left), and Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, embrace after signing the joint declaration “Courage of Extended Hands” at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wrocław, Poland, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the historic correspondence between the Polish and German Bishops’ Conferences. / Credit: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz/Rafael Ledschbor

EWTN News, Nov 20, 2025 / 09:10 am (CNA).

In 1965, Polish bishops sent a letter of reconciliation to their German counterparts. “We grant forgiveness and ask for forgiveness,” they wrote on Nov. 18. The German episcopate responded on Dec. 5, 1965, expressing the hope that “the evil spirit of hatred may never again separate our hands.”

It was a significant two-sided gesture of reconciliation after World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, killing many people and establishing concentration camps on Polish soil. Sixty years later, a commemoration took place in Wrocław on Tuesday, Nov. 18, with delegates of both episcopates including their chairs, German Bishop Georg Bätzing and Polish Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda. Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś and German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki were also present.

They gathered at the monument to Archbishop Bolesław Kominek — later cardinal — who had been behind the idea of the Polish letter and served as archbishop in Wrocław.

This Polish prelate showed how to “bind a prophetic voice with reality.” Neither was he “naive nor a dreamer,” nor “a highly pragmatic Church leader,” Bätzing acknowledged.

On the contrary, he was a Polish patriot who knew the German language and culture, so he “was predestined to be a bridge-builder.” He did the necessary work to achieve his goal, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference stressed.

“The Polish-German reconciliation was found in the person of Cardinal Kominek,” Bätzing underlined.

Current Metropolitan Archbishop of Wrocław Józef Kupny called the letter of the Polish bishops a “visionary step.” At the commemoration, he mentioned that the letter was attacked by communists who ruled in Poland 60 years ago. “Also today this message may arouse opposition, controversy, or misunderstanding,” he added.

Yet we must proceed with similar acts in “our daily choices, decisions, and attitudes” so as to create a “relay passed on by generations based on truth and real forgiveness,” the Polish prelate emphasized.

“True change does not begin with grand treaties, but with our hearts,” he said.

The participants then moved to the cathedral for a Mass. The commemoration was followed by an exhibition — “Reconciliation for Europe” — ecumenical prayer, and an international conference the day after.

The bishops’ representatives signed a declaration titled “Courage of Extended Hands.” The text affirms that the motto “We Forgive and We Ask for Forgiveness” is not history, as it guides us today and must do so in the future. Germany and Poland are co-responsible for Europe and the world nowadays and recognize the importance of “a European idea, a shared place of rights and peace,” the declaration said.

The churches in Poland and Germany want to “continue to work to break down and overcome enmities in Europe.”

The bishops are convinced that “Europe must stand together against violence,” referring to “the Russian war against Ukraine.” They encourage “countries to do everything to ensure the survival of the Ukrainian people” and to “contribute to the defense of fundamental values.”

“Practical solidarity with those under attack and compassion are needed,” the declaration reads.