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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 12, 2025 / 15:18 pm (CNA).

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

Syrian Christians face ‘insecurity’ 1 year after political change

On the one-year anniversary of the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s Christians find themselves outside the scope of systematic persecution but still living in profound fragility, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, ACI MENA, reported.

While freedom of worship remains protected and some positive signs have emerged — such as the end of mandatory military service, restoration of Christian properties, and limited political representation — the overall environment remains unstable.

Christians continue to face insecurity marked by killings, kidnappings, and vandalism along with several major incidents including attacks on churches in Sweida and the bombing of St. Elias Church in Damascus.

Economic hardship persists despite the easing of Western sanctions, driving ongoing emigration and rising fears of continued demographic decline.

VP of Haitian bishops’ conference calls for ‘new moral leadership’

Haitian Bishops’ Conference Vice President Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne is calling for “new moral leadership” in the country plagued by violence and instability. 

Haitians are afflicted by “wounds of poverty, gang violence, insecurity, and the fragility of institutions that should be rebuilt,” the bishop said in an interview with Vatican News.

Dumas is currently living in the U.S. while recovering from wounds he incurred during an explosion in Port-au-Prince in February 2024. 

Asian bishops gather in Hong Kong to discuss pastoral impact of AI

Asian bishops gathered in Hong Kong for the Bishops’ Meet 2025 to discuss the pastoral impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and its use within the Church. 

The Dec. 11–12 meeting kicked off with an opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, bishop of Hong Kong, who encouraged bishops and communications leaders to embrace AI, stating: “I think AI is not from the devil. AI comes from God, who helps us,” according to Vatican News. 

Chow urged participants in the conference, organized by the Office of Social Communications of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, to discern AI with hope and moral clarity. 

“Otherwise, how can we call ourselves Catholic media?” he said. “When we put our hope in the Lord, we must first honor him, not funding agents or ideologies. We need to discern God’s will for our mission in this shifting context.”

Philippines bishop speaks out against societal breakdown and human rights violations

Caritas Philippines President Bishop Gerardo Alminaza is sounding the alarm over increased societal breakdown and human rights violations in the Philippines.

“Human rights violations and shrinking civic space in the Philippines are converging into one moral emergency,” he said, according to a local report, noting that “defending life, dissent, environmental stewardship, and democratic participation is becoming increasingly dangerous.” 

He continued: “As [the] Church, we affirm that human rights and civic space are sacred: We cannot preach peace and justice while ignoring the silencing of communities, the killings of organizers, the disappearances of activists, or the harassment of journalists.”

New Catholic church to be built in growing Australian diocese

The Diocese of Parramatta in Western Sydney has announced that it will build a new Catholic church and precinct in the heart of the rapidly-growing city of Blacktown, where a $2 million development called the Blacktown Quarter is also taking place. 

In a Dec. 8 pastoral letter announcing the decision, Bishop Vincent Long, OFM Conv, revealed the diocese purchased land within the Blacktown Quarter, “with a view to creating a Catholic presence.” 

It will include a new church called Mary Queen of the Family Parish situated in the heart of the Blacktown shopping precinct that will consolidate two preexisting parishes. “Being in the center of civic life is a providential opportunity for evangelization, mission, and service,” Long said. 

Christian group in India joins protest against designation of major religions as tribal 

The United Christian Forum of Dima Hasao in India has joined a tribal students’ group in protesting against the provincial government in the northeast state of Assam for designating six dominant religions as having ethnic tribal status. 

Rev. D.C. Haia Darnei, president of the forum, said the decision would “certainly prove a setback for genuine tribal people, including those who are Christians,” according to a UCA News report. 

“We are with the tribal students’ organization and other tribal groups as their demand is genuine, and we want betterment of the real tribal people in the state,” he said. According to the report, Christians make up about 3.74% of the state’s 31 million people, while tribal groups make up roughly 20%.

Pauline Sisters in Nairobi launch children’s literary event to foster love of reading

Members of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP/Pauline Sisters) in Africa are organizing their first-ever children’s literary event as they seek to nurture knowledge and foster a love for reading among children, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, reported. 

In an interview with ACI Africa ahead of the event scheduled to take place on Dec. 13 at the Daughters of St. Paul premises in Westlands, Nairobi, the directress of Paulines Publications Africa, Sister Praxides Nafula, said: “We are including all children because we aim to nurture knowledge and a love for reading.” 

“We want the pages of the book to come alive, as if the book is talking to the children,” she said.

The event will cater to children from underprivileged communities throughout the Archdiocese of Nairobi, with some refugee children from Tanzania expected to attend.

CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Proposed U.S. law would require fathers to financially support pregnant moms

A Republican U.S. representative is sponsoring a bill that would require fathers to cover half of pregnancy-related costs for mothers carrying their children. 

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is sponsoring the Supporting Healthy Pregnancy Act, Fox News Digital reported. 

The bill would require the father of a child to pay for at least half of out-of-pocket medical expenses involved with pregnancy and delivery. This would become a legal requirement only after the mother puts in a request.

Hinson said she is working to “expand access to maternal care” and to “ensure women have resources throughout pregnancy and beyond.” 

Hinson has introduced other maternity-related bills including a bill requiring colleges to inform pregnant students of their rights and the resources available to them in their schools.

“I’m a mom on a mission to make life easier for my fellow moms and families,” Hinson said in a post on X. 

Lawmakers call on Congress to stop abortion funding for staff 

Two dozen U.S. legislators recently called on Congress to stop abortion funding for federal staffers. 

In a Dec. 5 letter addressed to Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, various Congress members and senators urged Kupor to stop using health insurance plans “that cover elective abortion.”

The letter argues that the insurance plans are a violation of the federal Smith Amendment, which prohibits funding for abortion in the U.S. Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

The lawmakers said the office is using an “accounting gimmick” to cover abortions in health care costs and that “only two health plans” offered to them do not cover abortion.

The letter requested “swift action” by Kupor and his office to ensure no health insurance plan offered to U.S. legislators is funded by taxpayer dollars.

Signees included Rep. Christopher Smith, R-New Jersey; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and others.

South Dakota attorney general orders abortion pill company to stop alleged false advertising

The South Dakota attorney general is ordering an abortion pill company to cease “deceptive” advertising or else face the threat of a lawsuit.

Attorney General Marty Jackley sent a Dec. 10 cease and desist to abortion pill advocate Mayday Health after South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden ordered an investigation into the company.

In a Dec. 10 statement, Jackley said that Mayday Health was instructing women to not seek medical care after taking the abortion pills, while also implying that the pills were legal in South Dakota. Abortion pills are illegal in that state with limited exceptions.

“Your advertisement directs South Dakota consumers to resources that insinuate abortion-inducing pills are legal in South Dakota, while also urging women not to seek medical care after taking abortion pills and to keep their abortion a secret,” Jackley wrote in the letter.

If South Dakota files a lawsuit, Mayday Health could face felony criminal consequences or a fine of $5,000 per violation, according to the letter.

Más de dos tercios de los votantes católicos estadounidenses tienen una opinión favorable del Papa León XIV durante el primer año de su pontificado, y sólo un porcentaje ínfimo lo ve de manera desfavorable.

El Papa León XIV recibió este viernes en el Vaticano al arzobispo Georg Gänswein, Nuncio Apostólico en Lituania, Letonia y Estonia; y exsecretario del Papa Benedicto XVI.

Los casi 500 años desde la aparición de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe han visto surgir diversidad de mitos en torno a la imagen plasmada en la tilma de San Juan Diego, como una supuesta temperatura humana o movimiento en los ojos de la Virgen. ¿Qué hay de cierto en esto?

Este viernes 12 de diciembre más de mil de alumnos de 25 colegios de Valencia (España) se han concentrado en los alrededores de la Catedral para cantar villancicos. 

Al culminar la 201.ª Comisión Permanente, los Obispos de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina enviaron un saludo de Navidad al Papa León XIV y agradecieron su reciente visita a Turquía y el Líbano. 

El Papa León XIV presidió este 12 de diciembre su primera Misa en la Solemnidad de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a quien encomendó su pontificado.

El Papa León XIV presidió en la Basílica de San Pedro la Santa Misa con ocasión de la Solemnidad de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Durante su homilía, resaltó que la Morenita “despierta en los habitantes de América la alegría de saberse amados por Dios”.

El Papa León XIV nombró hoy a Mons. Luciano Maza Huamán como nuevo Arzobispo de Piura y Tumbes (Perú), según informó la Oficina de Prensa de la Santa Sede, que también anunció el nombramiento de Mons. Juan Carlos Asqui Pilco como Obispo Prelado de Chuquibamba.