St. Mary's Church

En una entrevista inédita concedida en 2024, el presidente electo de Chile, José Antonio Kast, abordó temas como la defensa de la vida, la historia de su familia, y la decisión de sus padres que le permitió vivir.

El Papa León XIV ha nombrado al Obispo Ramón Bejarano, actualmente obispo auxiliar de San Diego (Estados Unidos), como nuevo obispo de Monterey, en California. 

Jesús Garcés Lambert es el director del documental Honor in Armor dentro de la Guardia Suiza Vaticana que ya se puede ver en Famiplay. Sobre el film, comenta que una de las cosas que más le llamó la atención fue la pasión con la que los guardias suizos realizan su labor, para la que juran incluso dar la vida por el Pontífice.

León XIV mantuvo este miércoles por la tarde una conversación telefónica con el presidente del Estado de Israel, Isaac Herzog

Santa Teresita sentía una profunda devoción por este santo francés, ejecutado en Vietnam con tan sólo 31 años. A él se refería como “su amigo del cielo” o el “mártir angelical” y aseguraba que sus almas eran semejantes.

CNA Staff, Dec 17, 2025 / 12:34 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders in Illinois are backing a coalition of pro-life pregnancy centers and doctors suing the state government over a law that requires them to refer women to abortion providers even if they object to the procedure on religious grounds. 

The lawsuit, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Treto, challenges a 2016 Illinois rule that requires health care providers who refuse to perform abortions to nevertheless tout the “benefits” of the procedure and refer women to abortion clinics. 

In April the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois partly blocked the law, ruling that it violates freedom of speech in forcing providers to relay the alleged benefits of abortion. The court, however, held that the abortion referral requirement is legal. 

The case is currently at appeal from both sides in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Dec. 16, the Catholic Conference of Illinois and the Illinois Catholic Health Association joined several Orthodox advocates in an amicus brief urging the court to offer the “highest level of protection” to the religious speech of the pro-life plaintiffs. 

“Providing the highest level of First Amendment protection to religious institutions gives them the predictability they need to pursue their religious missions,” the filing said, arguing that forcing health care providers to refer abortions “could lead people to believe that such conduct is morally acceptable.”

First Amendment jurisprudence, the filing argues, leaves “no doubt that the abortion-referral requirement burdens core religious speech without proper justification.”

Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a press statement that “every life deserves protection and care, no matter how fragile or dependent.” 

“The Church in Illinois is standing up for that eternal truth against Illinois’ effort to deny it,” the prelate said. 

Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki similarly argued that Catholics “must be free to live according to the 2,000-year-old teachings of our faith without government intrusion.” 

“Illinois’ mandate threatens that freedom by forcing Catholic ministries and health care professionals to promote a practice we believe is gravely wrong,” he said. “We pray the court will put a swift stop to it.”

The amicus brief was filed by the religious liberty law group Becket. 

Lawyers for the pro-life plaintiffs have argued that the abortion referral requirement violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, which was brought by the same organization at the head of the Illinois dispute. 

The Supreme Court held in that decision that a similar California rule appeared to violate the First Amendment by “requiring [pro-life providers] to inform women how they can obtain state-subsidized abortions.”

Francesc Busquets, un técnico de sonido que se convirtió tras realizar el Camino de Santiago, lanza CristFM, una plataforma de música católica. 

El Papa León XIV ha elegido a Mons. Ronald Hicks, Obispo de la Diócesis de Joliet, Illinois, para ser el próximo arzobispo de Nueva York, el nombramiento episcopal más importante de su pontificado para Estados Unidos.

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 10:18 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ramón Bejarano, currently auxiliary bishop of San Diego, as the next bishop of Monterey in California. The appointment was publicized on Dec. 17 by the Holy See Press Office at the Vatican and by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bejarano succeeds Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, who led Monterey before being appointed bishop of Austin, Texas, on July 2 and installed there on Sept. 18.

Bejarano was born July 17, 1969, in Laredo, Texas, and completed ecclesiastical studies at the diocesan seminary in Tijuana, Mexico, and at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, the Vatican said. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Stockton on Aug. 15, 1998.

Named titular bishop of Carpi and auxiliary bishop of San Diego on Feb. 27, 2020, he received episcopal consecration on July 14, 2020.

The Diocese of Monterey is comprised of 21,916 square miles in California and has a total population of 1,042,464, of which 368,150 are Catholic, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

El año 2025 quedará inscrito en la historia reciente del Vaticano como uno de los más intensos y simbólicos del último medio siglo.