St. Callistus Roman Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV sits during the Jan. 21, 2026, general audience alongside a Swiss Guard at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 24, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV warned of the risks that go hand in hand with information in the digital age and urged journalists never to succumb “to the temptation of the trivial” or to fake news that creates confusion about what’s true or false.

The pope made his comments in a message sent on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of “Porta a Porta” (“Door to Door”), a program on RAI 1 Italian public television, in which he addressed to the show’s host, Bruno Vespa, the editorial team, and the viewers.

Leo XIV recalled the three decades of the “Porta a Porta” program’s history as a period marked by “wars and peace agreements, crises and recoveries, joyful and sad events.”

At the same time, he emphasized that the medium itself has also changed: television and, with it, all communication. “Today we have new tools and new possibilities for informing ourselves, learning, and interacting,” the pope wrote, “but along with them, new risks have also emerged.”

Among these dangers, the Holy Father listed the exchange of fake news for real news, “compulsive channel surfing” instead of attentive listening, “doom scrolling” instead of intentional reading, superficial curiosity instead of a genuine desire to learn, and monologues instead of dialogues in which no one truly listens.

‘Quality television’

In the face of these trends, the pontiff advocated patience and a long-term perspective as necessary conditions for building lasting relationships. He also urged that technological innovations not lead to the loss of “the uniqueness of our humanity.”

“Communication challenges us all never to succumb to the temptation of the banal,” Pope Leo XIV emphasized. Finally, he encouraged television professionals to “always offer the world, which thirsts for beauty and truth, quality television.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Father Bobbo Paschal from St. Stephen Parish in the Kaduna Archdiocese in Nigeria has been released after being abducted on Nov. 17, 2025, when gunmen attacked the parish. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Kaduna Catholic Archdiocese

Jan 24, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic news from around the world that you might have missed this week:

Kidnapped priest in Nigeria regains freedom after 2 months in captivity

Father Bobbo Paschal, who was abducted on Nov. 17, 2025, when gunmen attacked St. Stephen Parish in the Kaduna Archdiocese, has been released after spending two months in captivity, the Nigerian Metropolitan See has confirmed, according to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa.

In a statement on behalf of Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the chancellor of the Kaduna Archdiocese said Paschal was released on Jan. 17 and conveyed “profound gratitude” to all those who worked and prayed for the priest’s release.

Nigeria has been battling a surge of violence orchestrated by gangs, whose members carry out indiscriminate attacks, kidnapping for ransom, and in some cases, killing.

Church in Aleppo launches emergency home-repair initiative

More than 10 days after fighting subsided in parts of Aleppo, dozens of Christian families remain unable to return to their homes, according to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. Damage sustained during recent clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish Asayish units left entire residential blocks partially uninhabitable, triggering a new wave of displacement.

In response, the Council of Christian Churches in Aleppo launched an emergency housing rehabilitation project, led by Archbishop Youssef Tobji and supported by several local Christian organizations. The initiative focuses on rapid assessments and urgent repairs to make homes safe for return.

Church leaders are urging donors and humanitarian partners to accelerate assistance, warning that prolonged displacement could further erode Aleppo’s fragile Christian presence.

Iraqi Christian bloc seeks unified voice in Parliament

Christian political representation in Iraq entered a new phase this past week with the formation of the Soyana Bloc parliamentary bloc, now the largest Christian grouping in the Iraqi Legislature. This brings together three newly elected lawmakers who say the move is meant to end years of fragmented representation and external political influence over Christian quota seats.

Bloc leader Kaldo Ramzi Oganna told ACI MENA that the initiative responds to decades of displacement, demographic pressure, and marginalization faced by Christians since 2003. He stressed that the group’s goal is not symbolic presence but active participation in national decision-making as an equal partner within Iraq’s political system.

Among the bloc’s priorities are passing a dedicated Christian personal status law, revising provisions on the Islamization of minors in the national ID law, and reforming the quota system to ensure only Christian voters elect Christian representatives. The bloc also aims to translate political representation into tangible improvements in security, services, and investment in historic Christian areas to encourage return and long-term stability.

Archaeological evidence points to early Christianity in Hatra

New attention has turned to the ancient city of Hatra, where archaeological findings suggest Christianity reached the region far earlier than commonly assumed, ACI MENA reported. Located southwest of Mosul, the UNESCO-listed site once stood as a powerful trading kingdom between the Roman and Parthian empires.

Researchers highlight a marble slab discovered near Hatra’s main temple bearing a carved cross and Syriac inscription reading “Shimona, son of the martyr.” Additional crosses etched into building stones, believed to be “masons’ marks” left by Christian craftsmen, reinforce the case for a Christian presence during the city’s later period.

Historians also cite early Syriac writings, including those attributed to Bardaisan, referencing Christian communities in Hatra. Together, the material and textual evidence points to a complex religious landscape in Mesopotamia, where Christianity took root alongside older traditions during the first centuries of the faith.

Macau Diocese in China celebrates 450th anniversary

On Jan. 23, the Diocese of Macau in China began a special jubilee year as it began a series of celebratory events to mark its 450th anniversary with a Mass in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.

According to Fides, the Diocese of Macau has played a key role in the evangelizing mission of the Church in the Far East. Today the diocese has “nine parishes, 28 educational institutions, Caritas centers, and a publishing house that also takes care of communication. Over 70 priests and seminarians together with about 130 nuns offer pastoral service to the approximately 30,000 baptized.”

Signature of leading Russian Catholic prelate left off new statement

A recent statement published on Jan. 15 signed by representatives of the Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical, and other churches condemning alleged persecution of Christians in Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, and Armenia was not signed by the leading Catholic prelate in Russia, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, FSCB, according to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU), and reported in the Tablet.

The spokesman for the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Father Kirill Gorbunov, said the archbishop “did not sign the statement because he has no authority to make official statements regarding other countries.”

Gorbunov said, according the Russian news agency RIA, that Pezzi “generally shares the position expressed in the statement, but the internal rules of the Roman Catholic Church do not allow him to make similar statements on his behalf.”

ProLife Europe volunteers staff an information table during an outreach in Freiburg, Germany. | Credit: ProLife Europe

Jan 24, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As European Union institutions and national governments increasingly advance policies expanding access to abortion, some observers have questioned whether the pro-life movement in Europe still exists or whether it has largely retreated from public life.

While large-scale demonstrations have become less common in some countries, pro-life advocates say a quieter, more grassroots movement is taking shape across the continent, driven largely by young people and focused less on political pressure and more on cultural engagement.

One organization at the center of this effort is ProLife Europe, a cross-border pro-life organization founded in 2019 and headquartered in Weißenhorn, Germany.

Operating on a far smaller budget than many U.S.-based pro-life organizations and funded primarily by individual donors, ProLife Europe has expanded rapidly across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, and Poland.

The organization focuses on training young people to engage in calm, one-on-one conversations about abortion, human dignity, and the value of life, particularly in university settings and public spaces where pro-life views are often marginalized.

A response to fragmentation and polarization

While many European countries already have local pro-life initiatives, the founders of ProLife Europe said they saw a need for something more coordinated and culturally focused. They point to what they describe as the “widespread misinformation, polarization, and social fragmentation surrounding abortion” and sought to build a professional, internationally-oriented student network capable of engaging the issue at a deeper cultural level.

The organization officially launched in March 2019 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely limited public gatherings and campus activity across Europe.

Despite those constraints, ProLife Europe adapted through online training and internal formation.

Leaders say interest among young people grew during this period, reinforcing their belief that many young Europeans are searching for new ways to think and speak about abortion beyond entrenched ideological positions.

By 2024, ProLife Europe had established 54 groups, trained 4,192 students, and conducted 285 outreaches.

A cultural, not political strategy

“Our focus is not on large demonstrations or political pressure,” said Maria Czernin, president of ProLife Europe. “It is on dialogue, meeting people where they are, and planting seeds.”

While the organization does not ignore political realities, Czernin said its work begins at a deeper level. “Laws follow culture, and without a cultural foundation, political victories remain fragile and reversible,” she explained.

Volunteers therefore prioritize personal encounters, often inviting passersby into respectful conversations that begin with open-ended questions — such as when human life begins or how society defines human dignity. Czernin explained that the aim is not to “win” arguments but to reopen moral reflection in a climate where abortion is frequently treated as unquestionable.

Addressing common misconceptions

According to its leaders, many conversations begin with assumptions that are rarely examined by most people.

“The most common misconception is that abortion is a woman’s right,” said Lucia Bardini, regional coordinator for southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. She noted that no such right has ever been declared by the United Nations.

Bardini added that abortion is often framed as a women-only issue, even though many of those involved in performing or enabling abortions are men, including physicians, hospital administrators, and partners of pregnant women.

Among male students, she said another recurring assumption is that they have no role in abortion decisions. “This relieves them of the responsibility that comes with being future fathers,” Bardini explained.

She also noted that some students view abortion as the only viable option when pursuing a university degree, particularly when academic demands, financial pressure, or time constraints seem incompatible with parenthood, an assumption she said overlooks available forms of support and alternative paths forward.

Responding without alienation

Asked how pro-life advocates can address the belief that abortion is a settled right without alienating people, Pedro Líbano Monteiro, regional coordinator for Portugal, discussed the importance of respectful questioning.

“Many rights that once seemed ‘settled’ in history were later questioned when society recognized that they involved the harm of others,” Monteiro noted.

He mentioned that conversations should begin by asking who is affected and whether the dignity of all involved is being considered. “Being pro-life is not about condemning women or ignoring hardship,” he said, but about recognizing that “both lives matter” and that society should offer better solutions than abortion, including practical support and solidarity.

Rather than accusations, Monteiro said, asking questions invites openness. Laws and social norms may change, he added, but the moral reality of human life does not.

A quiet but growing presence

While ProLife Europe does not claim to represent the entirety of Europe’s pro-life movement, its leaders see their work as part of a broader shift toward long-term cultural engagement in a highly secularized continent. “Our work is slow,” Czernin acknowledged. “But cultural change always is.”

Benjamin Famula, regional coordinator for northern Germany, said the pro-life movement’s future depends on a greater willingness to engage openly with difficult questions.

“We need more people from all walks of life who are aware of the abortion crisis not to look away but to speak out,” Famula said, adding that young people must have the courage to address these issues wherever they can.

He noted that pro-life views are often dismissed as marginal or extremist, a perception he said discourages active engagement and allows misconceptions to persist unchallenged. Famula also called for stronger leadership in public debate, urging advocates to move beyond a purely defensive posture and to highlight the social and economic pressures faced by women in crisis pregnancy situations.

For ProLife Europe’s leaders, the aim is neither immediate political change nor public visibility but something more incremental: reopening moral reflection in a culture where abortion is often treated as beyond question, one conversation at a time.

Pro-lifers hold their signs up at the March for Life Rally on Jan. 23, 2026. | Credit: Tessa Gervasini/EWTN News

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:54 pm (CNA).

Thousands of pro-lifers attended the  53rd annual March for Life on Friday in Washington, D.C. The 2026 event’s theme was “Life Is a Gift,” to invite “all people to rediscover the beauty, goodness, and joy of life itself,” the March For Life reported.

As attendees marched on the National Mall, they held signs, prayed, and sang their way toward the U.S. Capitol.

Scroll above to see some of the best signs that EWTN News spotted at the march.

Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:34 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday that it will stop funding research that uses fetal tissue of aborted babies.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director, said in a Jan. 22 statement that the agency has “reexamined its approach related to the use of human fetal tissue in federally funded research.”

“This decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease,” Bhattacharya added. “Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited ethical and scientific reasons for the change.

“HHS is ending the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions in agency-funded research and replacing it with gold-standard science,” Kennedy said in a Jan. 23 statement. “The science supports this shift, the ethics demand it, and we will apply this standard consistently across the department.”

The agency also will look to “potentially replace reliance on human embryonic stem cells,” according to Bhattacharya.

Embryonic stem cell lines are lab-grown cell lines used in research that come from aborted human fetal tissue.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a neuroscientist and senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, called the move “a very welcome development.”

“Biomedical research should not be built on the backs of directly-aborted human fetuses or embryos, and taking their bodily tissues for research necessarily involves a failure to obtain valid informed consent, a key ethical principle guiding all modern bioresearch,” Pacholczyk told EWTN News.

Pacholczyk welcomed the NIH “taking steps to rein in past abuses involving aborted fetal tissue and NIH funding.”

“Several previous U.S. administrations dropped the ethical ball when it came to allowing human fetal tissues from elective abortions to be used in NIH-funded scientific investigations,” he said. “In effect, they set up a situation where fetal-tissue research faced very few practical barriers or limitations.”

Funding control is “a critical mechanism to avoid unethical research practices,” Pacholczyk noted.

“The granting of funding, especially federal funding, is one of the highest forms of approbation and blessing a researcher can obtain in terms of his or her particular line of work,” he said. “Disbursement of funding needs to be directly linked to our vision of good, ethical science.”

“The rest of the world’s scientific community looks to the U.S., and to NIH-funded research in particular, as a kind of model and example when it comes to real excellence in science,” Pacholczyk continued. “Such excellence connotes much more than merely developing scientific breakthroughs while ignoring the means used to make those discoveries; it necessarily implies conscientious attention to ethics.”

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, attends the March for Life on Jan. 23, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Alex Schadenberg

Jan 23, 2026 / 18:14 pm (CNA).

A broad range of life issues from abortion to euthanasia and more were represented at the March for Life 2026 in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, expressed concern about a number of states across the country poised to legalize assisted suicide. “There are many states that the death lobby will be pushing for assisted suicide in 2026,” he said.

“In 2026 we are very concerned about Virginia, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Connecticut, and other states,” he said, adding: “2026 will require a unified effort to stop the expansion of killing by assisted suicide poisoning.”

Ashley Kollme, a mother of five children from Bethesda, Maryland, shared the story of her pregnancy with her youngest daughter, Sophia, who is 2 years old.

“Sophia was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart condition when I was 23 weeks pregnant,” Kollme said. “The first option that was presented to us was termination, and that was never an option that we would consider, and we chose life.” Sophia has had two open heart surgeries and lots of other procedures, her mother said, adding: “And she is the light of our lives.”

Kollme’s two sons, Otto and Max, stood by with signs featuring pictures of their little sister.

Gesturing to the posters, which featured a professional photo of Sophia, Kollme said the little girl is “one of the poster children for Johns Hopkins Hospital.”

Ultimately, Kollme said, “I think that we see a lot of ableism and abortion against people with disabilities, and I’ve become passionate about that because every child deserves a life.”

“Deserving life shouldn’t be conditional upon one’s health,” she said.

Mara Oswalt, a March for Life participant from Atlanta, held a sign saying “Unborn children die in ICE detention” and emphasized the need to recognize the dignity of all human life. “I’ve heard several instances of women having miscarriages because they are not eating well, they’re not being treated well in ICE detention,” Oswalt said.

Oswalt serves as creative director of Rehumanize International, an organization dedicated to fostering a culture of peace and life in accordance with the “consistent life ethic,” which calls for opposition to threats against human life including abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, unjust war, and torture.

“Those stories in particular really break my heart,” she said. “I know those women wanted their children. They wanted them to be cared for. And so I didn’t want them to be forgotten in this moment.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at the March for Life rally on Jan. 23, 2026, in Washington, D.C. | Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Jan 23, 2026 / 15:29 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers defended President Donald Trump’s abortion-related policies at the 2026 March for Life on Jan. 23.

“You have an ally in the White House,” Vance said in his speech.

Vance was the first political speaker at the march, and he was followed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, the longtime leader of the House pro-life caucus.

Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune addressed the marchers in prerecorded video messages.

In his speech, Vance said: “One of the things I most wanted in the United States of America is more families and more babies,” and touted the recent announcement that he and his wife, Usha, are expecting their fourth child.

“So let the record show that you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” Vance said.

The vice president said Trump’s Supreme Court appointments were vital to overturning Roe v. Wade, which he called “the most important Supreme Court decision of my lifetime.”

He said the decision “put a definitive end to the tyranny of judicial rule on the question of human life” and allowed the people to settle these disputes democratically.

Vance spoke about some of the pro-life victories during the first year of Trump’s second term.

This included legislation that blocked Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements as well as reinstating and expanding the Mexico City Policy, which bans federal tax money from being used to support organizations that promote abortion abroad.

The vice president also spoke about the restoration of conscience protections for health care workers, the expansion of the child tax credit, and the pardoning of pro-life activists who were convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

“Building a culture of life requires persuasion,” Vance said.

“That effort is going to take a lot of time, it’s going to take a lot of energy, and it’s going to take a little bit of money,” he said.

The vice president briefly addressed some criticism the administration has received from members of the pro-life movement who have been unhappy with certain developments.

Some pro-life advocates have expressed concern about the lack of action on the abortion pill mifepristone, which is under review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Others have raised objections to Trump urging lawmakers to be “flexible” on taxpayer-funded abortions in negotiations about extending Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Vance asked people to look at the successes.

“Look where the fight for life stood just one decade ago and look where it stands today,” he said.

In his video message, Trump celebrated many of the same pro-life policies as Vance and thanked marchers for their efforts to “stand up for the unborn.”

“We will continue to fight for the eternal truth that every child is a gift from God,” Trump said.

Johnson said a shift in policy from the Trump administration is that success is not just measured by the economy but also “the strength of the American family.”

He also spoke about the actions taken to ban Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements, saying: “We finally defunded big abortion and it was a long time coming.”

“Every single child deserves the opportunity to fulfill their God-given potential,” Johnson said.

Smith referenced the recent Marist Poll commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, which showed most Americans supporting at least some restrictions on abortion and approving of the work of pregnancy resource centers.

He also spoke strongly against the chemical abortion pill mifepristone, which he called “baby poison that kills the unborn child by starving the baby boy or baby girl to death” and said it poses health risks to women.

“We must today recommit to protecting the weakest and most vulnerable,” Smith said.

In a video message, Thune called abortion an “evil that’s too often brushed to the side.”

He said Republicans “will continue to do everything we can in Congress to support moms and protect preborn children.”

After the speeches from lawmakers, March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter urged participants to contact their senators amid ongoing negotiations related to health care.

Lichter encouraged them to ask their senators to oppose any health care legislation that excludes the Hyde Amendment, which bans taxpayer funding for abortion.

Sarah Hurm speaks at the March for Life on Jan. 23, 2026. | Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Jan 23, 2026 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Pro-life speaker Sarah Hurm offered her testimony about facing her fourth unplanned pregnancy at a March for Life rally on the National Mall on Jan. 23.

“I am hear to tell you that abortion pill reversal can work. My life, and the life of my son, is living proof,” Hurm, who is a Catholic single mother of four, said at the rally.

Hurm described seeking an abortion. “The clinic had felt lifeless,” she said. After taking the abortion pill, she changed her mind and found the abortion pill reversal ministry.

“I realized ... I could fight for my child’s life. And so I did,” she said.

Abortion pill reversal (APR) is recommended or dispensed by pro-life pregnancy centers to prevent the completion of an abortion shortly after a woman takes mifepristone to achieve a chemical abortion. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not recommend the use of APR, citing insufficient evidence. Alternatively, the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs (AAPLOG) states the literature “clearly shows that the blockade is reversible with natural progesterone.”

Describing her son’s life as “one of the greatest joys,” Hurm encouraged participants to be intentional in helping women who are expecting.

“Saving a life can be as simple as answering a phone call, driving a friend to an ultrasound, or helping pick out a car seat,” Hurm said. “Small sacrifices can become enormous victories that support moms like me and children like mine. You have that power. Be that person that connects a woman to hope.”

Hurm further thanked the men in attendance at the March, saying: “Your voice carries weight, and we need you.”

“Join me in making a commitment of being living proof that life is a gift,” she concluded.

If you’re attending the March for Life, don’t forget to use #ewtnprolife on all your posts across X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!

Want to relive interviews and special moments from the march? Visit ewtnnews.com/watch and subscribe to youtube.com/@EWTNNews for full coverage.

Franciscan Father Augusto Ramírez Monasterio is shown after his initial interrogation and torture; he is hiding the wounds on his hands and wrists. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ana Morales Ramirez

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:34 pm (CNA).

On Jan. 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Servant of God Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, a Franciscan priest murdered in Guatemala in 1983, and the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi, foundress of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola in Italy.

Murdered in the street during the Guatemalan Civil War

Monasterio was last seen trying to escape his killers on one of the busiest streets in downtown Guatemala City. With his hands tied, he was crying out for help while dodging traffic going in the opposite direction. His desperate efforts were in vain: He was struck by eight bullets.

The future blessed thus joined the long list of priests murdered — apparently at the hands of Guatemalan security forces — during the 1960–1996 civil war that pitted the official security forces against the Catholic clergy, Marxist guerrillas, political dissidents, and the poor.

His murder was the culmination of months of persecution, death threats, and torture for refusing to break the seal of confession after hearing the confession of Fidel Coroy, a catechist and member of the Kaqchikel Maya people known for his involvement in peasant organizations such as the Committee of Peasant Unity and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor.

Accounts following Ramírez’s murder revealed that he had been tortured by his military captors, who stripped him naked and hung him by his wrists, subjecting him to beatings and burns and breaking several of his ribs.

At the time of his death, Ramírez was the superior of the Franciscans and a priest at St. Francis the Great Parish in the city of Antigua, known for its colonial churches. He was remembered as an exemplary priest and for his service to and protection of the poor of Guatemala.

Devotion of Maria Ignazia to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Following Thursday morning’s audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope also approved the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Maria Ignazia Isacchi, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola, Italy.

As highlighted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Isacchi distinguished herself by a profound life of prayer and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, demonstrating heroic virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and dedicating her life to educational services and to those in need. Her reputation for holiness remains alive within the congregation she founded.

Miracle attributed to her intercession

In 1950, at age 23, Sister Maria Assunta became seriously ill with tuberculosis and did not respond to medical treatment. After a novena of prayer invoking Isacchi and a medal with her image was placed on Sister Maria Assunta, she experienced a sudden and complete recovery from Sept. 27–29, 1950. The healing was medically confirmed and considered miraculous, becoming one of the steps toward Isacchi’s beatification. Maria Assunta lived to be 92 years old, passing away in 2018.

New venerables

The Holy Father has also recognized the heroic virtues of Servant of God Maria Tecla Antonia Relucenti, co-founder of the Congregation of the Pious Sisters Workers of the Immaculate Conception in Italy.

The pope recognized the heroic virtues of Italians Servant of God Crocifissa Militerni, a religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, and Servant of God Nerino Cobianchi, a lay member of the faithful and father of a family.

Pope Leo XIV also recognized on Jan. 22 the heroic virtues of Maria Immaculata of the Blessed Trinity, a Brazilian Discalced Carmelite and a key figure in the founding of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, in 1943.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Philip Goyret

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:04 pm (CNA).

Ecumenical dialogue is especially important in a time when Christian belief and practice are on the decline, said one Catholic expert during the Jan. 18–25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

“What is happening today is that the secularization [of society] is incredibly strong … and the temptation among Christian traditions is to step back,” Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told EWTN News.

“But if [Christians] step back, we lose our identity, and we cannot be united,” he said. “That is a serious concern.”

Goyret said it is evident that the theological principles of “unity” and “communion” have become important policies of Leo’s pontificate, as summarized in his papal motto, “In Illo uno unum” (“In the one Christ we are one”).

“Leo, from the very beginning, has said that he wants to be the pope of unity, and that is extremely linked with ecumenism,” he added.

When Leo first stepped out onto the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica in May last year, he said humanity needs God and stressed the need for a “united Church” in Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward,” the pope said in his May 8 address. “We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light.”

Two months after his election, Pope Leo shed further light on his desire to forge the belief, identity, and mission of the Church.

“I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ and believe that that’s my priority, because I’m the bishop of Rome and successor of Peter, and the pope needs to help people understand, especially Christians, Catholics, that this is who we are,” the pope told the Catholic website Crux in July 2025.

Noting the Holy Father’s particular emphasis on Christian identity and witness as key to advancing ecumenical relations among churches, Goyret said Leo’s predecessors have also shown commitment to promoting unity among the faithful through different approaches.

Pope Francis placed great attention to engaging in dialogue with Eastern and Orthodox Churches, while Pope Benedict XVI is recognized for his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which structurally supported Anglicans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.

“Pope Francis presented himself as ‘bishop of Rome,’ and that’s very significant because that title is the way that Eastern non-Catholic Christians understand the Petrine ministry,” he said, recalling the late pope’s first urbi et orbi address in 2013. “It was an invitation for dialogue.”

By focusing on the Vatican II documents Unitatis Redintegratio (Restoration of Unity) and Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), Goyret said Pope Benedict’s approach to ecumenical dialogue encouraged academic study and the faithful living of Christian traditions.

“If you dig and dig into these different traditions, you will eventually discover the Church as Jesus Christ wished it,” he said.

Speaking on the theme of the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “One Body, One Spirit,” Goyret said there is a great need for Christians to be united in prayer and hope to strengthen faith in God in a secularized world.

“Pope Leo said that we have to pray in this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” he said. “The Church needs our prayers especially because the unity of the Church is a gift of God.”

“We don’t build it ourselves through negotiation. It’s not diplomatic and it’s not political,” he added. “If we want to restore unity to the Church, we have to ask God for it.”