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CNA Newsroom, Feb 27, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis slept well overnight and his condition continues to improve as he undergoes treatment for a complex respiratory infection at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican announced Thursday morning.

The 88-year-old pontiff continues oxygen therapy "with high flow rates" and has begun physiotherapy treatment for his respiratory passages.

While the pope's condition shows signs of improvement, Vatican officials emphasized that "the prognosis remains cautious" as his hospitalization extends into its thirteenth day.

Pope's consolation to grieving mother

The Vatican, meanwhile, has revealed a moving letter the Holy Father wrote shortly before his hospitalization.

In the letter, set to appear in the monthly magazine "Piazza San Pietro," Pope Francis responded to a grieving Roman mother who lost her 21-year-old son.

"Jesus, who weeps with us, will sow in our hearts all the answers we seek," the pope wrote to Cinzia, whose son Fabrizio went out one evening in October 2019 and never returned home.

Meanwhile, the prayer vigils for the pontiff's recovery continue.

According to a Thursday announcement from the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the Holy Rosary will be prayed again this evening at 9:00 p.m. in St. Peter's Square, with Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, presiding over the prayer service.

The Vatican also confirmed that "due to the pope's continued hospitalization, the Jubilee audience scheduled for Saturday, March 1, has been canceled."

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Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

The Poor Clare abbess of the Monastery of Santo Cristo de Balaguer in Lérida province in northeast Spain is criticizing a 2018 rule established by Pope Francis that dissolves communities of women religious with fewer than five nuns, a rule that does not apply to male communities.

Sister María Victoria Triviño, OSC, made her critique in an article published by the magazine Catalunya Cristiana regarding the recent closure of the Monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes in Barcelona that had been in existence for 700 years.

Asked about the reason for the closure, "which people, hurt and perplexed, address to some of the Poor Clares every day," the nun explained that the Holy Father published the apostolic constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere in 2016 but emphasized that the document "did not affect monks."

Similarly, regarding the Cor Orans instruction, published in 2018 to implement Vultum Dei Quaerere, the Poor Clare nun pointed out that "it affects women's monasteries around the world, not men's."

This instruction establishes that "if a monastery has only five nuns, it loses its autonomy and must be affiliated with another monastery." Furthermore, if it falls below that number, it must be abolished, according to Triviño.

In such a case, an apostolic visitor is appointed who, if he issues a negative report to the Roman Curia, "the transfer of the sisters is ordered" and the building is closed.

In the opinion of the abbess, this rule "which in normal circumstances may be opportune, in a difficult time of a vocations crisis, a crisis of values, economic crisis, etc., has had an effect of the confiscation of Church property by the Church itself."

In her dissertation, the abbess noted that, just as the habit of the Poor Clares can be adapted "according to the cold regions" as stated in their rule, "each monastery acquires peculiarities 'according to the region' in which it lives."

"If the closure of a monastery always means the loss of its production of liturgical items, of the intercessory influence on the city, the loss of a presence that bears witness [in an environment], so often secular, to the fact that 'God exists and makes us happy,' to all this we must add distinctive characteristics such as the artistic legacy, the cultural, musical, artisanal influence, etc. After all this, there will always be regret for desacralizing a sacred place," she noted.

In this regard, the abbess also lamented the closure of other monasteries such as that of the Holy Trinity in Valencia (founded in 1242), the Monastery of St. Clare la Real in Toledo (founded in 1254), or the Monastery of St. Clare in Salamanca, founded by St. Clare of Assisi in 1238.

The abbess concluded that "much has already been lost. And only [by the intervention of] the Roman Dicastery for [Institutes of] Consecrated Life [and Societies of Apostolic Life] can we avoid further loss. How? By attenuating the instructions given for all women's monasteries."

In her opinion, it should be the nuns who "when the time comes, can take the options of continuing or closing according to their real situation, like men's monasteries, for which no limits are set."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Feb 26, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis' mild early-stage kidney insufficiency "subsided" on Wednesday, according to the Vatican.      

"The Holy Father's clinical condition over the past 24 hours has shown further slight improvement," the Holy See Press Office stated. "The mild renal insufficiency noted in recent days has receded."

Despite the improvement, the latest medical report stated the pope's "prognosis remains reserved." 

The 88-year-old pontiff had a chest CT scan Tuesday evening that showed a "normal evolution" of lung inflammation caused by pneumonia.

Blood tests taken Wednesday confirmed the pope, though fragile, is showing signs of recovery. 

"Today's hematochemical and hemacrocytometric examinations confirmed yesterday's improvement," the Vatican's evening statement said.

The pope did not experience an "asthmatic respiratory crisis" on his 12th day of treatment in Gemelli Hospital but continues to undergo "high-flow oxygen therapy" and respiratory physiotherapy to treat his pneumonia.

"During the morning, the Holy Father received the Eucharist. The afternoon was devoted to work activities," the Vatican report concluded.

Though the Holy Father met with Vatican officials at Gemelli Hospital earlier this week — including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State — the pontiff has not received any visitors today, the Vatican said.

In Rome, parishes and religious communities continue to offer Masses and prayers for Pope Francis, his health, and the leadership of the Church while the pontiff remains in the hospital for ongoing medical treatment. 

Since Monday, the Diocese of Rome and the Roman Curia have collaborated to organize nightly prayer events open to the public in St. Peter's Square to pray for the pope's recovery.  

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will lead Wednesday evening's rosary.

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Vatican City, Feb 26, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

Father Gabriel Romanelli, IVE, the pastor of Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip, was able to speak with Pope Francis on Tuesday despite the fact that the pontiff remains hospitalized in critical condition with bilateral pneumonia.

After the phone call, the parish priest shared how the entire community rejoiced "to hear his voice."

"As he did every day from the beginning of this terrible war, Pope Francis has called us once again to show his closeness, to pray for us, and to give us his blessing," Romanelli said in a video message posted on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

"As the Parish of the Holy Family of Gaza, which belongs to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, we rejoice to hear his voice," he added. 

At the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel, the parish complex was converted into an improvised shelter where 500 people now live.

The majority who live there are Christians, Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic, but they have also taken in more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities along with their families.

For Romanelli, Pope Francis' daily call, which was only interrupted last Saturday when he suffered a prolonged respiratory crisis that forced him to wear an oxygen mask, "is always comforting."

Especially "knowing that despite his delicate state of health, he continues to think and pray for everyone, for peace in Gaza," he said in the video recorded in English. He also thanked the pontiff for his "constant prayers."

"It gives us great joy even in the midst of so many trials," Romanelli said, adding that "we follow all the information about the pope's health, like all of you, from the official channels of the Holy See."

Finally, he asked for prayers for the end of the war and for "peace for the entire Holy Land and the entire Middle East."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Puebla, Mexico, Feb 26, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Faced with uncertainty about the impact of the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, especially regarding America's relationship with Mexico, the Mexican bishops are calling for the strengthening of "authentic national unity."

Last month, at the beginning of his second term in office, Trump announced various measures that directly affect Mexico, including the declaration of an emergency on the U.S. southern border, the designation of drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," and the threat of imposing 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports unless these issues are quickly addressed by those countries.

In this context, the Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM, by its Spanish acronym) published a message on Feb. 24 addressed to Mexican society stating that the actions announced by the U.S. government seek to "pressure our country to achieve very specific goals in government planning."

"Fighting the activities of organized crime dedicated to drug trafficking, addressing the immigration issue, and overcoming the disadvantages in economic relations between the two countries that, according to its criteria, are unfavorable for America" are the issues at stake, the bishops said in a statement.

However, they expressed their confidence that these challenges can be faced "in a climate of unity between the different Mexican political forces to promote a respectful dialogue and a prudent openness toward the American government to agree on mutual collaboration."

'The real enemy is in our own country'

The CEM also emphasized that, beyond foreign policy, "the real enemy is in our own country where we need authentic national unity to overcome our serious internal problems that have not been properly addressed for years and are becoming increasingly worse."

They pointed to problems such as "corruption that continues to invade all our environments," "insecurity that spreads its bloodthirsty fury in ever-widening territories," "institutional deterioration to the point where the law no longer governs but rather the will of whoever prevails," among others.

Despite the numerous challenges, the bishops indicated that many problems can be overcome "through inclusive government strategies that take into account the different political forces, organized civil society, religious associations, and citizen participation in general."

They called on all Mexicans to join in prayer for their country, to be peacemakers in their daily lives, and to actively commit themselves to the search for the common good.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 26, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a federal court decision that ordered the government to resume foreign aid grants by late Wednesday evening as many Catholic groups that receive those grants are still without funds.

The attorney general's office filed an appeal late Tuesday night after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to supply those funds by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. The same judge, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, had ordered the government to resume its foreign aid funding on Feb. 13. However, the Trump administration has not complied with that order.

Numerous Catholic organizations have lost grant money due to the foreign aid funding freeze, including Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Relief Services.

Ali ruled in his decision that Trump's blanket freeze on foreign aid funding likely violates the Administrative Procedure Act and violates the separation of powers because Congress approved the money to be used in foreign aid programs.

In its appeal, the administration asserts that the judge's order forces the government to "pay arbitrarily determined expenses on a timeline of the district court's choosing" and claimed the court "creates a payment plan" that is contrary to the president's obligations under Article II of the Constitution and the principles of "federal sovereign immunity."

The court filing also argues that United States Agency for International Development (USAID) leadership has determined that the court's order to resume funding "cannot be accomplished in the time allotted by the [court]."

"The district court has ordered the federal government to pay nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars within 36 hours, without regard to payment-integrity systems that would ensure that the monies claimed are properly owed, without regard to the federal government's meritorious arguments to the contrary, and without so much as addressing the government's sovereign-immunity defense," the court filing states.

Additionally, the administration claims in its appeal that the judge's order will cause "grave and irreparable harm to the government" because it "has no practical mechanism to recover wrongfully disbursed funds that go out the door to entities that have complained that they are near insolvency."

On his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order to pause all foreign aid grants for 90 days. He argued in the order that the funding was not aligned with the interests of the United States and worked to "destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries."

During Biden's administration, some foreign aid programs were leveraged to promote LGBTQI+ policies in other countries and to pressure governments into ending discrimination based on a person's "gender identity and expression." One priority was to combat so-called "conversion therapy practices," which include therapies that discourage a person from adopting a "gender identity" inconsistent with the person's biological sex.

Some programs also include humanitarian assistance provided by faith-based organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Relief Services, which offer food, shelter, health care, and other services to people in foreign countries. 

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Department of State would exempt certain programs from the foreign aid funding freeze.

A spokesperson for Jesuit Relief Services (JRS) told CNA that Trump's stated mission to make the world "respect and admire America … has been obscured by a slapdash ban on foreign assistance carried out by people without the institutional expertise or constitutional authority to do so." 

"Making matters worse, these bureaucrats are doing this despite orders from President Trump and Secretary Rubio to grant waivers to restore funding for lifesaving projects," a spokesperson said. 

"Weeks later, few, if any, of these are back online, in obvious contradiction to the White House's directives. The result includes things like American-grown food rotting at ports and already-purchased vaccines not being administered — literally hundreds of millions of dollars wasted," the spokesperson said.

The representative from JRS said that those who report to Trump and Rubio must "follow their directives" and court orders "to resume funding these initiatives obligated by our federal government and already paid for by American taxpayers."

"If they do, we and other Catholic organizations should shortly be able to resume providing food assistance, shelter, and medical care in parts of the world like Ethiopia and Iraq, where there have been lengthy and devastating displacement crises," the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Catholic Relief Services declined to comment. 

CNA reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

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Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

The Poor Clare abbess of the Monastery of Santo Cristo de Balaguer in Lérida province in northeast Spain is calling out for criticism the 2018 rule established by Pope Francis according to which communities of women religious with less than five nuns must be dissolved, a rule that does not apply to male communities.

Sister María Victoria Triviño, OSC, made her critique in an article published by the magazine "Catalunya Cristiana" regarding the recent closure of the Monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes in Barcelona that had been in existence for 700 years.

Asked about the reason for the closure, "which people, hurt and perplexed, address to some of the Poor Clares every day," the nun explained that the Holy Father published the apostolic constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere in 2016 but emphasized that the document "did not affect monks."

Similarly, regarding the Cor orans instruction, published in 2018 to implement Vultum Dei Quaerere, the Poor Clare nun pointed out that "it affects women's monasteries around the world, not men's."

This instruction establishes that "if a monastery has only five nuns, it loses its autonomy and must be affiliated with another monastery." Furthermore, if it falls below that number, it must be abolished, according to Abbess Triviño.

In such a case, an apostolic visitor is appointed who, if he issues a negative report to the Roman Curia, "the transfer of the sisters is ordered" and the building is closed.

In the opinion of the abbess, this rule "which in normal circumstances may be opportune, in a difficult time of a vocations crisis, a crisis of values, economic crisis, etc., has had an effect of the confiscation of church property by the Church itself."

In her dissertation, the abbess noted that, just as the habit of the Poor Clares can be adapted "according to the cold regions" as stated in their rule, "each monastery acquires peculiarities 'according to the region' in which it lives."

"If the closure of a monastery always means the loss of its production of liturgical items, of the intercessory influence on the city, the loss of a presence that bears witness [in an environment], so often secular, to the fact that 'God exists and makes us happy,' to all this we must add distinctive characteristics such as the artistic legacy, the cultural, musical, artisanal influence, etc. After all this, there will always be regret for desacralizing a sacred place", she noted.

In this regard, the abbess also lamented the closure of other monasteries such as that of the Holy Trinity in Valencia (founded in 1242), the Monastery of St. Clare la Real in Toledo (founded in 1254) or the Monastery of St. Clare in Salamanca, founded by St. Clare of Assisi in 1238.

The abbess concluded that "much has already been lost. And only [by the intervention of] the Roman Dicastery for Consecrated Life can we avoid further loss. How? By attenuating the instructions given for all women's monasteries."

In her opinion, it should be the nuns who "when the time comes, can take the options of continuing or closing according to their real situation, like men's monasteries, for which no limits are set."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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St. Louis, Mo., Feb 26, 2025 / 12:05 pm (CNA).

A parish church in St. Louis that primarily serves the African American community was announced Feb. 24 as a recipient of a preservation grant to support the restoration of the historic building's stained-glass windows. 

St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church, known in the community as the "The Rock" because of the church building's rock-hewn appearance, was one of 30 Black churches throughout the country chosen to receive a grant this year from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, an independent nonprofit organization.

The parish, which is under the care of the Redemptorists and located in the Grand Center district of St. Louis, will receive $500,000 to help restore its stained-glass windows, which were created in Munich by the German firm Meyer & Company and installed at the church in time for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. 

Shannon Horstmann, a longtime parishioner and volunteer grant writer at The Rock, told CNA that she had been pursuing this particular "highly competitive" grant for several years. The church's 54 stained-glass windows all need to be cleaned, repaired, re-leaded, re-supported, and resealed, ensuring they are water and airtight. 

The windows "are irreplaceable works of art and are estimated at $15 million in total value," the grant application, which Horstmann shared with CNA, reads. 

"[These] 120-year-old iconic works of art have succumbed to the environment and need to be cleaned, repaired, and restored to continue to shed light on this active, Black congregation."

The parish itself dates to 1867, and the church building, built of quarry stone, was dedicated in 1872. 

Father Augustus Tolton, who was born into slavery in Missouri and later became the first African American Catholic priest, visited the parish and celebrated Mass there in 1887, having been ordained only the previous year. Tolton's sainthood cause is open and currently he has the title of "venerable."

According to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the parish had undergone many years of declining membership until Father Maurice Nutt, an African American Redemptorist priest ordained in 1989, was made pastor in 1993. His preaching and an African American style of worship and music helped to swell the parish membership to over 1,500 households in just a few years. Nutt left the parish in 2002 and is now the diocesan promoter of Sister Thea Bowman's cause for canonization in New Orleans. 

The parish's membership declined after Nutt's departure. In addition, a 2007 fire in the church's roof — which did not damage the stained glass — necessitated two years of celebration of Sunday Mass in the church gymnasium. Though still the largest primarily African American parish in the archdiocese, parish membership has declined to about 600 households, the archdiocese says. 

The parish attracts worshippers from throughout the city and county. The area immediately surrounding the parish is low income, approximately 82% African American, and only 2% Catholic, one of the lowest percentages in the archdiocese. 

The parish still has additional fundraising to do before the project can start, as the complete restoration of the interior and exterior of all sanctuary windows will cost an estimated $1.5 million, the grant application says.

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Vatican City, Feb 26, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Wednesday announced that Pope Francis has created a fundraising commission to solicit donations from Catholics and bishops' conferences as the Vatican City State and the Roman Curia continue to face budgetary and funding challenges.

The "Commissio de Donationibus pro Sancta Sede," Latin for "Commission on Donations for the Holy See," has six members, "whose specific task will be to encourage donations" and find benefactors for special projects within the Vatican, according to a papal decree signed Feb. 11.

Pope Francis has been making cost-cutting decisions at the Vatican in recent years as he continues attempts to reverse the institution's struggling financial situation, including a pension fund facing a "serious prospective imbalance."

The donation commission's statutes, signed by Pope Francis, say the team will report directly to the pope with twice-yearly updates on their work, to be carried out with the help of an initial endowment of 300,000 euros (about $315,000).

In its fundraising campaigns, the commission should, according to the norms, emphasize the importance of donations for "the Holy Father's mission and charitable works" and ensure the will of the donor is respected when it comes to the destination of money for specific projects.

The first president of the commission is Father Roberto Campisi, assessor in the general affairs section of the Secretariat of State.

Members include Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Sister Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; and Sister Silvana Piro, FMGB, undersecretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which oversees the Vatican's real estate holdings and other sovereign assets.

The last appointee is Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, an Italian lawyer who on Tuesday was promoted from vice secretary to secretary of the Vatican City State Governorate.

The president and members of the commission are appointed for five-year terms.

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Vatican City, Feb 26, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday asked Catholics to have the wisdom to look for the presence of God in our midst like the elderly Simeon and Anna in the New Testament.

In his second catechesis since being admitted into Rome's Gemelli Hospital nearly two weeks ago, the Holy Father reflected on the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Lord's encounter with two elderly "pilgrims of hope."

"The song of redemption of two elders thus emits the proclamation of the jubilee for all the people and for the world," the pope shared in his written commentary on St. Luke's Gospel. 

"Hope is rekindled in hearts in the Temple of Jerusalem because Christ our hope has entered it," he continued.

The 88-year-old pontiff emphasized that both Simeon and Anna were people of prayer and worship, with "clear eyes" capable of recognizing God in the child Jesus and welcoming him into their lives. 

"Simeon embraces that child who, small and helpless, rests in his arms; but it is he, in fact, who finds consolation and the fullness of his existence by holding him to himself," the pope said. 

"Filled with this spiritual consolation, the elderly Simeon sees death not as the end but as fulfillment, fullness; he awaits it like a 'sister' that does not annihilate but introduces to the true life that he has already foretasted and in which he believes," he added.

Anna, a widow of more than 80 years of age who was devoted to prayer and service, could not contain her joy when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus at the Temple.

"Anna celebrates the God of Israel, who has redeemed his people in that very child and tells others about him, generously spreading the prophetic word," the Holy Father said.

Besides helping Jesus make his "first act of worship" in the Temple, the pope noted how Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, express the tenderness of a family and "do not simply embed Jesus in a history of the family, the people, of the covenant with the Lord God."

"They take care of his growth, and introduce him into the atmosphere of faith and worship. And they too gradually grow in their comprehension of a vocation that far surpasses them," he said.

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