St. Mary's Church

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

More than two-thirds of American Catholic voters have a favorable opinion of Pope Leo XIV during the first year of his pontificate, and only a tiny percentage view him in an unfavorable light, according to a poll conducted by RealClear Opinion Research and EWTN News.

A survey of 1,000 Catholic voters released by both organizations on Dec. 11 found that 70% of people said they have a somewhat or very favorable opinion of the pontiff. Just 4% reported an unfavorable view of Leo, and the remaining 26% said they were neutral.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11, which is about six months after his papacy began. Leo, who was born in Chicago, is the 267th pope and the first born in the United States.

It found that 43.6% of respondents said their view of Leo is very favorable and 26.7% said it was somewhat favorable. Only 1.1% of American Catholic voters said their view is very unfavorable and just 3.1% said it was somewhat unfavorable.

Those who attend Mass regularly were more likely than infrequent Mass attenders to say they hold a favorable view of the pontiff. Those who attend infrequently were more likely than regular Mass attendees to hold a neutral view.

Among those who attend Mass at least once per week, about 75% hold a favorable view, less than 4% have an unfavorable view, and nearly 21% are neutral. For those who attend less than once per week, nearly 66% hold a favorable view, less than 5% have a negative view, and just over 29% said they were neutral.

Leo’s favorability was slightly higher among registered Democrats than it was among registered Republicans and independents, and all three groups overwhelmingly hold a favorable view of the Holy Father.

Among Democrats, over 74% view Leo favorably, less than 5% view him unfavorably, and just over 21% are neutral. For Republicans, over 70% view him favorably, less than 5% said they had an unfavorable view, and more than 25% were neutral. Among independents, just under 63% had a favorable opinion, less than 4% held an unfavorable view, and nearly 34% said they were neutral.

In the past month, Leo has weighed in on U.S. politics a few times, but many comments were made after the poll was taken. The pontiff encouraged Americans to listen to a message by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that opposes “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and more recently said President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine would weaken the U.S. alliance with Europe.

According to Gallup polls, Pope Francis’ favorability rating stayed above 75% for most of his pontificate among Catholics. His lowest favorability number was 71% in July 2015. The number of Catholics with an unfavorable view remained relatively low throughout the pontificate but inched up to 17% by December 2023.

El Pontífice recibió en el Vaticano a los miembros del Pontificio Instituto de Arqueología Cristiana.

El Opus Dei reconoce que un sacerdote de la Prelatura en España fue apartado de su ministerio por abusos cometidos en los años 90 pero niega haber encubierto el caso como publicó el diario El País. 

Eduardo Moreno, misionero laico en el hogar Niño Dios de Belén, explica cómo para ellos es esencial renovar el patio de juegos: Se celebra todo, porque muchos niños no llegan a adultos. 

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

The White House’s Religious Liberty Commission held its fourth hearing on Dec. 10, focusing on reports of the suppression of the right to religious freedom in the U.S. military.

The commission — on which sit the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham; Ryan Anderson, head of the Ethics and Public Policy Center; and Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, among others — heard testimony from expert witnesses who served in the various branches of the military, many as chaplains. 

The commission, which met in Dallas, will present its findings from these hearings to President Donald Trump.

Retired Army chaplain and Maj. Gen. Doug Carver spoke to the commission about the importance of the chaplaincy in the U.S. military. He recalled that in 1775, George Washington asked Congress for a religious leader to serve the needs of the military because the president recognized the crucial role religious faith played in the founding of the new nation, and especially to men who were giving their lives to protect it.

Historian and activist David Barton gave a brief timeline of the history of religious freedom in the U.S. military, emphasizing that along with Washington, many presidents have considered it invaluable since the country’s founding. 

He argued that hostility against religious freedom started in earnest in 2009 under the Obama administration and continued under the Biden administration. There was no widespread suppression of religion in the military until this time, he said. 

In 2010, troops were directed to “scratch off and paint over” Bible verses that had been inscribed for decades on scopes and gun sights, he said. The Air Force in California stopped a decades-old practice of teaching just war theory to members in 2011, he said, because it was taught by chaplains and based on biblical principles and the teachings of St. Augustine.

In 2012, the Air Force required the removal of the word “God” from the patch of the Rapid Capabilities office.

Both Democratic administrations tried to outsource military chaplains so they would no longer be embedded with the service members, Barton said. In addition, military chaplains were pushed out of their teaching positions and troops began to be educated in “an ardently secular manner with no tolerance for any religious expression.” 

“Fear and timidity” among the chaplains has become the norm as a result of the hostility against religion, according to Barton, who called for educational reform for service members that emphasizes the constitutionality of religious freedom and the important role religion has played since the nation’s founding.

Carver, who served as a chaplain for more than three decades, criticized the state of faith in the military and in the culture at large. When he entered the army in 1973, he said, chaplains taught character guidance classes and even gave soldiers “a duty day with God,” where one day a month they could spend a day in spiritual reflection. 

Those practices have long since ended, he said. Now, chaplains are called spiritual readiness coaches, values facilitators, and morale officers, Carver said.

“There is nothing wrong with chaplains taking on other duties,” he said, noting they are trained in handling crisis and trauma situations and serve as support for those struggling in family life. “But their primary role is as religious leaders, first and foremost.” 

“The role of chaplain has been diminished,” he said. 

“We are losing ground in the area of religious liberty. There’s a degradation of the Supreme Being having any input into our lives,” he said. “I am not sure how we can change direction without serious repentance.”

Marine veteran Mike Berry, now the executive director of external affairs and senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, a religious freedom law firm, also testified at the hearing.

Berry, like thousands of others, refused a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine on religious freedom grounds. He was placed on inactive status without being informed by his superiors, he said, and only found out when his family was told they were no longer eligible for Tricare, the military’s health insurance program.

He said during the hearing that religious liberty “isn’t merely an esoteric concept or a punchline. It’s a matter of national security.”

Since the military made the vaccine mandatory, more than 19,000 troops have either resigned or were pushed out, Berry said.

“Religious conviction is the source of America’s moral strength,” he said. “Highly religious young Americans are way more likely to join the military than nonreligious people.”

He warned that if religious freedom is not respected, young Americans will not enlist and the military “will become soft and weak.”

Berry made three recommendations that he hopes the commission will present to the president.

First, echoing Barton, Berry said that education and training must improve. Berry told the commission he received only one hour of training on the constitutional foundations of religious liberty as a new Marine. He also called for the elimination of “misguided” educational materials. 

“America is not evil, racist, imperialist, or fascist. Anything implying that, and any content hostile to religious liberty” should be removed, he said. 

Finally, Berry said religious liberty should be reaffirmed in national security strategy. Such liberty is a “first freedom” and should be a strategic priority.

Kelly Shackelford, First Liberty Institute CEO and chief counsel, who also sits on the commission, said in a press release after the hearing: “The testimonies at today’s meeting highlight the importance of ensuring that the religious liberty of our service members, chaplains, and veterans are upheld both now and into the future.”

“These men and women are risking their very lives for our freedoms. To stand for theirs is the very least we can do.” 

Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission, which is housed under the Department of Justice, through executive order on May 1 and appointed Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as chairman and Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as vice chair.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone serves on the commission’s advisory board, along with Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, and Father Thomas Ferguson. 

Con el fin de ayudar a 70 mamás y a los bebés que en Colombia fueron salvados del aborto, la Red Provida Latam está invitando a colaborar con el “Baby Shower del Niño Jesús” que tendrá lugar el 20 de diciembre de 2025. 

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

When Virginia father Tom Vander Woude’s 19-year-old son, a boy with Down syndrome, fell into a toxic sewage tank, Tom jumped into the tank with him, pushing him to the surface even as the toxic fumes filled his own lungs.

The father of seven, whose sainthood cause is now under investigation, will be posthumously awarded this year’s Walk for Life "Saint Gianna Molla Award for Pro-Life Heroism" on Jan. 24, 2026 at the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco. 

“When we heard Tom's story years ago, we were touched by the love of a father for his child,” Dolores Meehan, co-chair of the West Coast Walk for Life, told CNA. “The fact that his son has Down syndrome made it all the more important to share his story of love and sacrifice and joy.”

Unborn children with Down syndrome often become victims of abortion.

The award named for St. Gianna Molla — an Italian doctor who chose to carry her child to term after a cancer diagnosis at the cost of her own life — honors those who show “heroic virtue in the defense of the unborn and their mothers and fathers, usually to the extent of profound sacrifice,” according to Meehan.

Chris Vander Woude, who is travelling the U.S. and promoting his father’s cause, told CNA that “Dad was deeply committed to honoring and safeguarding the sanctity of human life.”     

“He lived by these values right up to his last breath when he saved my brother Joseph’s life,” said Vander Woude. “Following St. Gianna’s example, Dad selflessly gave his life out of love for his child.” 

“In a world that often devalues people with Down Syndrome, Dad’s final act of love for my brother serves as a powerful testament to the sanctity and dignity of every human life,” Vander Woude continued. 

Openness to life 

“I don’t think Dad ever missed a March for Life,” Chris said. “It didn’t matter if it was snowing or super cold, Dad would take as many family members as possible because he understood the importance of standing up for innocent unborn babies and their right to life.” 

Tom, who worked as a farmer and a commercial pilot, made time for his family, faith, and pro-life beliefs. 

Held in late January, the March for Life is the pro-life movement’s annual march in Washington, D.C. to oppose abortion and defend human life.  

Tom and his wife also frequently prayed the Rosary outside of an abortion clinic  that has since closed and is now a life-affirming medical clinic that serves women in need, according to Vander Woude. 

Tom and his wife also taught Natural Family Planning (NFP), a life-affirming fertility-awareness method of family planning, to young couples.  

“He and Mom were always open to life in their marriage,” Vander Woude said. “Dad believed in the age-old saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ and he was quick to do his part in ‘the village’ to help,”

“They had many reasons not to have a large family, but they chose the courageous path of faith, hope, and openness to God’s will,” Chris said. 

When a woman tracks her cycle using an NFP method, NFP works with her fertility rather than against it. Because various NFP methods don’t obstruct conception like contraception does, the Catholic Church accepts it as a form of family planning that is open to life. 

Bob and Karen Fioramonti still remember going to NFP classes with the Vander Woude’s in the early 1990s as a young married couple. 

“We learned about NFP, but we learned even more about what it looked like to be a faithful couple who had been open to life,” Karen Fioramonti told CNA. 

“At that point, neither of us knew any big families and the Vander Woude’s were a joyful couple raising seven sons encouraging us to trust God’s plan for our family,” said Karen Fioramonti. “They shared what a blessing each child is and that a parents’ mission is to raise saints. In short, they shared their faith.”

“Years later, we have raised our own seven sons and two daughters, and we are so grateful for that message shared many years ago,” Bob Fioramonti said.  

A pro-life hero 

As Vander Woude has been sharing the story of his father’s self-sacrifice with parishes around the U.S., he has seen how his father’s story moves people of all ages. 

“I’ve seen the story move people to tears and motivate them to follow Dad’s sacrificial example,” Vander Woude said. 

Meehan said that she hopes Tom Vander Woude’s story will inspire men to take up the pro-life mantle. 

“Men are so in need of heroes,” said Meehan. “Our hope is that the men who hear his story will be encouraged, inspired, and motivated to emulate not just his final act of sacrifice, but his life of sacrifice and the joy he derived from his pro-life heart.” 

“Men need to hear that they, too, can be the pro-life hero to their family — to step up and be present day in and day out,” Meehan said. 

El Pontífice ha publicado este documento en el centenario de la fundación del Pontificio Instituto de Arqueología Cristiana

Los obispos españoles han presentado este jueves su memoria anual en la que se muestra que la Iglesia “está al servicio de toda la sociedad, no sólo de los creyentes”. 

El Papa León XIV ha escrito una carta apostólica sobre la importancia de la arqueología, asegurando que esta disciplina ayuda a mostrar que “la fe cristiana, en su esencia más auténtica, es histórica”.