Arthur Brooks at SEEK 2026: 'Your job isn't to win arguments, it's to win a soul'

Arthur Brooks gives a keynote address at SEEK 2026 on Jan. 4, 2026. | Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNAJan 4, 2026 / 23:20 pm (CNA).New York Times bestselling author and Harvard professor Arthur Brooks encouraged attendees at SEEK 2026 to resist the temptation as missionaries to "fight fire with fire."In his Jan. 4 keynote speech in Columbus, Ohio, Brooks said the world "is not just a cold world," but "a world that attacks you." In this context, he said, it can be challenging not to fight back.However, he said, "your job isn't to win arguments, it's to win a soul."Brooks teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Business and has written multiple books on finding happiness and meaning in life, including From Strength to Strength and Build the Life You Want, which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey. He also writes a column in The Atlantic called "How to Build a Life."Some 26,000 attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Denver and Fort Worth, Texas for the SEEK 2026 confe...

'Two pennies and a bunt': Catholic athletes explore faith at SEEK

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Trevor Williams delivers against the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park on May 2, 2023. | Credit: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images.Jan 4, 2026 / 18:00 pm (CNA).Catholic college athletes attending the SEEK 2026 conference in Columbus, Ohio, considered how holiness is built: Not through spotlight moments, but through quiet sacrifice, daily fidelity, and offering what little they have to God.Some 26,000 attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas for the conference organized by  FOCUS, a Catholic group that sends missionaries to college campuses and parishes to invite students and young adults to a relationship with Jesus Christ.The message about holiness anchored a Varsity Catholic event, a branch of FOCUS ministry for college athletes. The session featured Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams and recently retired Atlanta Braves pitcher J.J. Niekro, who shared personal s...

Pope says Christian hope doesn't depend on human calculations

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on January 4, 2026. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Jan 4, 2026 / 10:20 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV said Christian hope "is not based on optimistic forecasts or human calculations," but on God's decision to share humanity's path so that no one is alone on life's journey.Speaking Jan. 4 from the window of the Apostolic Palace to hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square despite the rain, the pope said the foundation of Christian hope is "God's Incarnation," pointing to the day's Gospel reading from the Prologue of St. John: "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (Jn 1:14).On the Second Sunday after Christmas, before reciting the Angelus, Leo urged believers to rethink their faith and avoid an abstract or distant spirituality. "He is not a distant deity in a perfect heaven above us, but a God who is nearby and inhabits our fragile earth, who becomes present in...

Ahead of U.N. Venezuela meeting, world powers respond to Maduro extraction

United Nations Headquarters in New York City. - UN Photo/John Isaac.Jan 4, 2026 / 00:15 am (CNA).The U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has drawn divergent international reactions, with European leaders calling for restraint ahead of an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Monday.Pope Leo XIV has not yet commented on Saturday's operation, though observers expect him to address the situation during his midday Angelus address Sunday. The pope warned in December against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, urging President Trump to seek dialogue rather than force.The Vatican's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, led its Saturday edition with coverage of the "sudden escalation," describing the situation in Caracas as "highly volatile."European leaders stress international lawEU High Representative Kaja Kallas said on X she spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the EU ambassador in Caracas. Ackn...

Vatican newspaper leads with U.S. attack on Venezuela

A highway sits empty in Caracas after U.S. strikes in the area and the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. | Credit: FEDERICO PARRA/Getty ImagesJan 3, 2026 / 11:56 am (CNA).The Vatican's daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano opened its Saturday edition with news of U.S. airstrikes against Venezuela, reporting attacks in the capital, Caracas, as well as on several military bases around the country.The main image on the paper's front page showed a dense column of smoke rising over an urban area, reflecting what the paper described as the impact of the military offensive and the sudden escalation of the regional crisis.The newspaper said air raids hit Caracas overnight and several military installations, and it referred to a claim by U.S. President Donald Trump that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and removed from the country.The paper said the situation remains "highly volatile," with growing uncertainty about the political,...

Seminarian says 'God will give you the grace to say yes'

Xavier Polisetty, a seminarian for the Diocese of Fort Worth from Grapevine, Texas, attends SEEK 2026 on Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNAJan 3, 2026 / 12:26 pm (CNA).Xavier Polisetty, 25, a seminarian from Texas, encouraged men considering the priesthood to trust that God will give the grace to continue."I always felt the call at the back of my heart. It never went away," he said with a smile.Hundreds of seminarians are attending the SEEK 2026 conference being held in Grapevine, Texas, this week with thousands of other young Catholics from around the country.As a child, "I played Mass like a lot of other Catholic boys," said Polisetty, who grew up in Grapevine. He also noticed that his parents, whose faith he described as devout, admired the priests they knew, and he felt from the beginning that he wanted to be one of them.While studying computer science at Texas A&M University, he participated in several ministries through St. Mary's Catholic Center, including a w...

Trump says U.S. will 'run' Venezuela until 'transition' to new president

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a press conference after the capture of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, Washington, D.C., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. Credit: JIM WATSON / Getty ImagesJan 3, 2026 / 12:56 pm (CNA).U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 3 said the United States would "run" Venezuela until a replacement for President Nicolás Maduro can be found, with the U.S. leader vowing a "safe, proper, and judicious transition" after American forces arrested Maduro and brought him to New York State for indictment. The U.S. launched strikes in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Jan. 3 before capturing Maduro and transporting him to the U.S., where he was indicted on drug and weapons charges in a New York district court.In a press conference on Jan. 3, Trump revealed that the U.S. would "run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition." "We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get...

Breaking: Explosions rock Caracas and other cities in Venezuela

Breaking News - CNAJan 3, 2026 / 02:50 am (CNA).Multiple explosions rocked Caracas and several other Venezuelan cities early Saturday, Jan. 3, accompanied by the sound of apparent military aircraft flyovers.Residents reported shaking windows and columns of smoke rising from strategic locations, including military bases."The explosions were so strong they made the windows of my house shake. When we looked outside, numerous plumes of smoke were rising over Caracas," said Andrés Henríquez, a correspondent for ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner."There were many, countless. Then, videos and reports began to emerge of explosions in other cities."Regime calls on citizens to mobilizeIn a furious response issued Saturday, the Maduro regime denounced the blasts as "extremely grave military aggression" by the United States, alleging an attempt to seize Venezuela's strategic resources. Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto announced that President Ni...

Historic Dutch former Catholic church destroyed by fire on New Year's Day

A fire tears through the Vondelkerk church tower in Amsterdam on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: Remko DE WAAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images/Netherlands OUTJan 2, 2026 / 12:10 pm (CNA).A Jan. 1 fire destroyed a historic Dutch former Catholic church building in Amsterdam, reducing the famed 150-year-old building mostly to ash in a matter of hours.Firefighters reportedly responded to a fire at the Vondelkerk, or Vondel Church, around 1 a.m. on New Year's Day, with the blaze ultimately consuming nearly all of the building and mostly leaving burned walls behind.The burned walls of the Vondelkerk are seen in Amsterdam, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: KOEN VAN WEEL/Getty ImagesThe historic church was built in 1880 by Pierre Cuypers, a famed Dutch architect known for designing dozens of churches in the Netherlands. Formerly of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, the building was sold in 1979 and deconsecrated, a formal act by the Church to remove the sacred character of the church ...

Historic Dutch former Catholic church destroyed by fire on New Year's Day

A fire tears through the Vondelkerk church tower in Amsterdam on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: Remko DE WAAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images/Netherlands OUTJan 2, 2026 / 12:10 pm (CNA).A Jan. 1 fire destroyed a historic Dutch former Catholic church building in Amsterdam, reducing the famed 150-year-old building mostly to ash in a matter of hours.Firefighters reportedly responded to a fire at the Vondelkerk, or Vondel Church, around 1 a.m. on New Year's Day, with the blaze ultimately consuming nearly all of the building and mostly leaving burned walls behind.The burned walls of the Vondelkerk are seen in Amsterdam, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: KOEN VAN WEEL/Getty ImagesThe historic church was built in 1880 by Pierre Cuypers, a famed Dutch architect known for designing dozens of churches in the Netherlands. Formerly of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, the building was sold in 1979 and deconsecrated, a formal act by the Church to remove the sacred character of the church ...