Popular Catholic podcaster and religious sister announces discernment of new community
Popular Catholic speaker, podcast host, and author Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, announced on Sept. 21 that she is publicly discerning the establishment of a new religious community called Friends of the Bridegroom.
“After several years of private discernment, I would like to announce to you with great reverence and care that, with the blessing of my religious community the Sisters of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) and the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his Excellency Jeffrey S. Grob, I am officially entering into a time of public discernment of the foundation of a new religious community, Friends of the Bridegroom,” Heidland wrote in a post on X.
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The religious sister explained that her many years working in healing ministry and working with other religious sisters, priests, and bishops has allowed her “to see and experience the need and ache for the ongoing healing and renewal of our clergy and religious sisters.”
Heidland has served as the executive director of Friends of the Bridegroom alongside Father John Burns of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. According to its website, it is an apostolate that seeks to renew the Church through the healing, renewal, and expansion of consecrated life and the priesthood.
She called her time working with the apostolate “a profoundly blessed time” and added that “the Lord has continually stirred a desire in all of us in the apostolate to discern the foundation of a new community of priests, religious sisters, and laity who would work toward this important renewal.”
“During this time of public discernment, the Friends of the Bridegroom ministry and my public activities connected with this discernment will remain under the pastoral care and oversight of Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, Archbishop of Milwaukee,” she explained. “I am deeply grateful for his willingness to accompany and guide this discernment during this important time.”
Heidland will remain a sister in good standing with SOLT and will continue to wear the order’s habit.
“I am truly grateful for the support of so many people over the years and I continue to count on your prayers and support as we discern this very important step … Once again, I extend my tremendous gratitude to Sister Mary Aloysius of Jesus, SOLT General Sister Servant, her General Council, and Archbishop Jeffrey Grob,” she wrote.
Heidland was placed for adoption by her 17-year-old unmarried biological parents. After spending some time in foster care, she was adopted by a Catholic couple and raised in Woodland, Washington.
It was her adoptive parents who gave her a foundation in the faith. However, at age 11 she was sexually assaulted and at 13 she was raped. She has never publicly named her abuser.
During her teenage years, Heidland focused her time on sports. When she was a senior in high school she was offered a full scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Nevada, Reno. While she remained an important part of the team, she was an alcoholic by the age of 21 and embraced the partying lifestyle.
Completely estranged from her faith and feeling broken, a priest entered into her life and made a lasting impact. Heidland’s mother also began to pray and fast for her daughter, asking the Lord to guider her becoming a nun.
In 1998, Heidland entered the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity after she felt Jesus calling her to become his bride. Today, she speaks openly about the healing and restoration Jesus has done in her life and shares her powerful testimony with others around the world.
Bishop of Austin decries ICE shooting as federal officials say man fled arrest
Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, said he was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by an ICE officer’s shooting of a Venezuelan man in Austin, as federal officials described the encounter as an officer responding to the man’s attempt to flee arrest.
In a letter dated Sept. 20, the day of the shooting, Garcia wrote that people in the city are “living in terror and fear because of the increased activity of ICE agents on our streets.”
He asked for prayers for the man who was shot, his family, “all who have been involved and for our entire community,” and for federal, state, and city authorities to be “transparent and honest about what occurred.”
The New York Times reported that ICE agents were checking license plates in north Austin Sunday afternoon when they found a deportation order for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, pulled him over and told him that he would be arrested. Garces Perez then drove away, according to the Times, and a short chase followed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said ICE requested help about 12:50 p.m. with a vehicle pursuit of a blue Toyota Corolla. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said city police were not part of the ICE operation and that the shooting came before troopers arrived.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it is investigating, with FBI assistance, “the officer involved shooting of an illegal alien from Venezuela” who it said entered the country illegally and had a final order of removal.
DHS said the man’s condition is stable and that he is in federal custody pending removal.
Video showed the Corolla and an unmarked Ford SUV stopped under a highway overpass when an officer approached the Toyota, which was moving slowly. Witnesses reported multiple shots. Garces Perez, who his family said was making a DoorDash delivery, was shot in the upper torso, treated at Dell Seton Medical Center, then transferred to ICE custody.
His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said at a news conference Monday that he is at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. Garces Perez called his attorney during the conference, saying over speakerphone that a bullet remains near his spine, he is not receiving adequate medical care, and he slept on the floor at the facility.
“Iʼm not doing well because of the gunshot I received,” he said in Spanish.
Lincoln-Goldfinch disputed that her client knowingly fled identified agents. She alleged that an unmarked vehicle sideswiped him, he did not know it was ICE, and officers shot him after another collision.
Lincoln-Goldfinch also said her client entered the country legally and had a work permit.
“Many people are often being detained only due to the color of their skin or the language they speak,” Garcia wrote.
In a Sept. 22 statement to EWTN News , García said that in his diocese, he is hearing from clergy and parishioners of “specific instances” where people “have been detained as they are going about the ordinary responsibilities of daily life. When good, hardworking people become fearful that they may be targeted because of their ethnicity or appearance, we all have a responsibility to listen and to speak to the human reality that exists within our communities.”
He told EWTN News he has dispensed those who are afraid from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, calling it an “extraordinary step.”
“Regardless of a person’s immigration status, every person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inherent dignity that must always be respected and protected,” Garcia said on Sept. 20. “We cannot allow differences of citizenship to diminish our recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human being.”
During National Migration Week, he added, “we are all brothers and sisters. When one person is harmed, all of us are affected.” He repeated the call for “comprehensive immigration reform” and “a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognizing the dignity of every person.”
Neither ICE nor DHS responded to a request for comment from EWTN News in time for publication.
Notre Dame theologian John Cavadini to receive 2026 Ratzinger Prize
John Cavadini, a professor of patristic theology at the University of Notre Dame, will receive the 2026 Ratzinger Prize.
The Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI announced Cavadini as the winner of the prestigious award at a press briefing in Rome on Sept. 22. The foundation also said Pope Leo XIV will present the award to Cavadini on Dec. 19 at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Present to announce the winner on Sept. 22 at the Holy See Press Office were Father Roberto Regoli, president of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, and Pierluca Azzaro, secretary of the foundation.
Cavadini will also be the third faculty member from the University of Notre Dame to receive the award, following Cyril O’Regan (2024) and Jesuit Father Brian E. Daley (2012). Since the award was established in 2011, the university has had the most winners of any institution.
In a press release from the foundation, Cavadini expressed gratitude for the award, saying he sought to conduct his theology “as a man of the Church and, at the same time, as a man of academia.”
The unique contributions of American theologians
Cavadini has been affiliated with the University of Notre Dame since joining its faculty of theology in 1990. He also served as the director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life from 2000–2026.
His research and teaching have focused on the theology of St. Augustine, an influential figure of the patristic era.
Regoli praised Cavadini’s work for the “rigor of his theological
publications, his commitment and zeal in university teaching.” Speaking to EWTN News on the sidelines of Tuesday’s press conference, he noted the unique contributions of theologians hailing from the United States.
“Undoubtedly, the cultural debates in the United States of America do not concern only America; they are followed around the rest of the world,” Regoli told EWTN News. “Our cultural traditions have been more influenced by the thought of the United States of America, and for this reason it is important to look toward the Anglo-Saxon world, because in the different fields of science it has taken on a leadership role for several decades.”
The renewed interest in the theology of Joseph Ratzinger
The 2026 Ratzinger Prize is part of numerous initiatives to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Ratzinger, who was later elected Pope Benedict XVI, in 2027.
Regoli also noted the renewed academic interest worldwide in Ratzinger’s life and theological legacy ahead of the anniversary year.
“The legacy of Ratzinger speaks for itself,” Regoli told journalists on the sidelines.
“If we look around us at an international level, even in recent years, Ratzinger chairs have been born everywhere: in Europe, in the United States, in Latin America, and in Africa. Many doctoral theses on him, books on him, or his books continue to be edited; they are numerous, and even for the centenary, many more will come out,” Regoli added.
One of the foundation’s focuses during the anniversary year will be Ratzinger’s legacy in Africa, with Azzaro telling EWTN News that, as pope, Ratzinger “strongly believed that Africa had the spiritual reserves necessary for the West to flourish again.”
Pope Leo XIV, in France, will bring Catholic social teaching to a secular Europe
Pope Leo XIV flies to France on Friday, where across four days in three cities he will proclaim Catholic teaching to the heart of secular Europe on matters that include end-of-life questions, immigration, and artificial intelligence.
The visit “will truly be a moment in which Leo’s project of making the Church’s social doctrine better known can take shape,” said Father Patrick Valdrini, a former rector of the Institut Catholique de Paris.
France is statistically more secular than it was in 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI made a pastoral visit to the country. The latest data on religious identity in France, in 2019-2020, found that 51% of adults in France say they have no religious affiliation, an 8% increase from a decade before. While 29% of the population identifies as Catholic, the survey found only 8% say they go to Church regularly, according to the Institut National D’Etudes Démographiques.
Yet according to Cyprien Viet, a journalist with the French agency I.Media, the country has become more open to Catholicism in recent years. The reasons for this shift include sympathy for Christianity following attacks on churches and the 2016 killing by Islamist terrorists of Father Jacques Hamel, enhanced appreciation for France’s Christian heritage after the 2019 burning of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and gratitude for the Church’s charitable service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, “Pope Leo’s encyclical on artificial intelligence [Magnifica Humanitas] has had a fairly strong impact in France, and people recognize that there is a need to explore these issues more deeply. The pope is helping greatly in providing points of reference,” Viet said.
The challenge of laïcité
During his Sept. 25–28 visits to Paris, Lourdes, and Metz, Leo’s approach to sharing the Catholic Church’s teaching on political and social issues will draw wide attention, not least because of France’s tradition of “laïcité,” a strict legal separation of Church and state.
This policy has always involved a certain distrust, even hostility, toward the idea that faith can contribute something good to society, Valdrini said.
“The concept of ‘laïcité’ emerged especially during the French Revolution, rooted in the view that religion hinders freedom and reason, that it is something burdensome rather than liberating,” he said.
Among the most sensitive issues that the pope is expected to address are end-of-life questions. France legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia this summer, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. In addition, Switzerland and Austria permit assisted suicide.
Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a person’s life to relieve suffering. It differs from assisted dying, in which the patient takes life-ending drugs himself, under a physician’s guidance. Both practices are prohibited by Catholic teaching.
Charles Personnaz, France’s ambassador to the Holy See, says he expects the pope to speak out on the issue but to leave the political debate to the French bishops, who were already outspoken in their vigorous condemnation of the euthanasia bill before it passed in July.
“I think the pope will certainly repeat what is the Catholic doctrine: the preservation of life from the beginning to … the natural end,” the ambassador said. “But he will also leave to … the French Catholic Church the debate with the political parties in France and the institutions. That is the subsidiarity that is at the heart of Catholic doctrine as well.”
A message about human dignity
On a visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Leo is expected to deliver a message about the inherent dignity of every human person, even when suffering from illness or disability.
Meeting and praying with the sick and vulnerable at one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world, the Holy Father will give a concrete sign of faith in the value of every human life.
At the shrine he will also meet privately with victims of abuse in the Catholic Church in France and with the country’s bishops.
Leo is expected to address the global challenges posed by artificial intelligence when he speaks at the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, in Paris on Sept. 25. On his last day, he will reflect on interreligious dialogue and the future of Europe at meetings in Metz.
The pope’s visit to a migrant integration center run by the Archdiocese of Paris will touch on one of the most volatile political issues in Europe and beyond, and one closely tied to next year’s presidential election in France, in which the anti-immigration politician Marine Le Pen is the current frontrunner.
Personnaz said he expects the pope’s comments on immigration to be well received, calling the pontiff’s previous statements on the topic “very balanced” with a focus on the responsibility of nations to help people stay in their homeland.
State visit or apostolic journey?
Pope Francis visited France three times during his pontificate, but Leo will be making the first state visit by a pope to France since Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey in 2008.
The French Catholic newspaper La Croix has reported that the Holy See has refused some requests by the government, including a proposal that President Emmanuel Macron accompany the pontiff into Notre-Dame Cathedral for a prayer service on Sept. 25. The Holy See Press Office and the Élysée Palace, the official residence and office of the French president, did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
According to Valdrini, Leo is following in the tradition of St. Paul VI, who sought to emphasize the pastoral character of his travel — the visit to a local Church by the successor of Peter — rather than his role as a head of state.
“It will still be a state visit, and there will be official ceremonies, but it is clear that the pope wanted to emphasize, as previous popes did, this [apostolic] dimension of the journey,” Valdrini said.
Catholicism grows
Despite a lack of religious practice in France, enthusiasm for Pope Leo’s visit is high, as demonstrated by the response to his events with the public in France’s capital.
Adolescents and young adults have snapped up tickets for a prayer vigil in the 81,000-seat Stade de France and an open-air Mass in Place de la Concorde. Paris’ largest public square may draw some of the biggest crowds of his pontificate thus far, with 600,000 people expected to fill the square and a nearly two-mile stretch of avenue connecting to the Arc de Triomphe. This enthusiasm is also reflected in an atypical outpouring of donations to the dioceses to cover organizational costs.
Leo will address France’s Catholics at a critical juncture in their history, as they welcome rising numbers of converts. He is likely to encourage the nation traditionally known as “the eldest daughter of the Church” to rediscover her Catholic roots.
This Easter, France recorded more than 20,000 adult and adolescent baptisms, a 20% increase from the already record-high number in 2025, which saw a 45% increase from 2024 figures.
The phenomenon has prompted the bishops of Île de France, the ecclesiastical region that includes the Archdiocese of Paris, to convene a special council on how to respond to the huge influx of Catholic converts.
“Today people have not inherited their faith ... and so they are kind of ignorant about the Catholic heritage,” Personnaz said. “But when they discover it, they have no prejudices about it. And in a world where the youth are searching for a sense to [their] life, the Catholic proposal remains very interesting.”
Francis X. Rocca and Victoria Cardiel contributed to this report.
Fragments of medieval Gospel of St. Mark-turned-relic reunited after 7 centuries
For the first time in seven centuries, Aquileia, a city in northeastern Italy with a fascinating past, has reunited the three scattered fragments of a sixth-century manuscript that for centuries was venerated as if it were the Gospel written by St. Markʼs own hand.
The author of the Gospel that bears his name was St. Peter’s interpreter and secretary. He followed the apostle to Rome, where he witnessed his preaching in the homes of the first followers of Christ, who dared to defy the Roman Empire’s laws governing worship.
St. Mark carefully recorded every courageous word of that early catechesis, and his notes became a firsthand source for the story of Jesus’ life.
Today, Aquileia, a small town of just over 3,000 inhabitants, treasures St. Mark’s memory as the founder of one of the most flourishing Christian communities of the Middle Ages.
After the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313, the city, situated at the crossroads of East and West and serving as a bridge between the Mediterranean world and Slavic culture, became a center for the spread of Christianity into Central Europe and the Balkans.
By the fifth century, it had even been honored with the title of apostolic city, and its bishop held the rank of patriarch. That privilege was reserved only for dioceses that traced their origins to the preaching of an apostle.
“We preserve extraordinary medieval frescoes in the basilica depicting St. Mark arriving here to found the city’s first Christian community. That is why we believe he truly came to Aquileia,” Aquileia tour guide Anna Sairu told “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.
The codex that became a relic
One of the principal witnesses to this tradition is the “Codex Forojuliensis,” also known as the “Cividale Gospel Book.” The sixth-century manuscript, written in uncial script, the calligraphy reserved for sacred texts, originally contained all four Gospels in St. Jerome’s Latin translation.
Scholars believe it was most likely produced in Ravenna, Italy. From there it arrived in Aquileia during the second half of the ninth century, where it was authenticated by the signature of Theodemar, patriarch of Aquileia.
The presence of the codex strengthened the tradition linking St. Mark to the evangelization of the region. Its significance became so great that in 827 the Synod of Mantua recognized Aquileia’s ecclesiastical supremacy over Grado.
Venice looked with suspicion on the growing religious prestige of its neighbor. Just a year later, in 828, Venetian merchants brought the relics attributed to the evangelist from Alexandria to the city on the lagoon. In doing so, “The Most Serene Republic” of Venice gained a patron of apostolic rank and strengthened the religious and political foundations of its power.
The fragmented Gospel
Between the 12th and 13th centuries, the seven quires — folded sheets of paper stitched into booklets — containing the Gospel of Mark were separated from the rest of the codex, rebound independently, and covered with an elaborate gilded silver binding that transformed the book into an object of veneration resembling a reliquary.
From that point on, the manuscript ceased to be viewed as merely an ancient copy and began to be regarded as an autograph written by St. Mark himself. Medieval inventories of the Patriarchal Treasury of Aquileia reflect this belief.
“The Gospel was fragmented when it was removed from the Gospel book containing all four Gospels and began to be regarded as an autograph of the evangelist himself. This is connected to the tradition that St. Mark evangelized this region of Italy, Aquileia, and its surrounding territory. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Gospel of Mark acquired a life of its own and came to be regarded as an extraordinary relic,” Cristiano Tiussi, director of the Aquileia Foundation and curator of the exhibition, told “EWTN Noticias.”
The emperor who wanted a piece of St. Mark
The fame of the supposed authentic Gospel of St. Mark quickly spread across Europe. In 1354, while traveling to Rome to receive the imperial crown, Charles IV of Luxembourg stopped in Aquileia. At the time, his half-brother, Nicholas of Luxembourg, served as patriarch there.
The emperor requested part of the revered manuscript and received two of the seven quires that comprised the Gospel of Mark. Those pages were taken to Prague, where they were deposited in St. Vitus Cathedral alongside the relics of St. Wenceslaus. Over the centuries, they became the oldest written document preserved in Czech libraries.
The exhibition even displays the original documents recording Charles IV’s request to the patriarch of Aquileia.
“Possessing part of the Gospel of St. Mark meant owning not only a religious relic but also a symbol of prestige, legitimacy, and power,” Tiussi noted.
The conquest of Venice
The remainder of the manuscript remained in Aquileia until May 30, 1420, when Doge Tommaso Mocenigo conquered the city. Venice then claimed the remaining fragments, arguing that they belonged beside the evangelist’s tomb in the Basilica of St. Mark.
Their transfer symbolized Aquileia’s definitive incorporation into the Venetian sphere.
The gesture also carried an unmistakable political significance. If Venice had claimed custody of the evangelist’s body since 828, it now also acquired part of the manuscript believed by tradition to have been written by his hand.
As a result, the Gospel of Mark became permanently divided among the cities of Cividale del Friuli, Venice, and Prague.
For the manuscript itself, however, the consequences proved devastating. Humidity from the Venetian lagoon gradually damaged the pages until they became almost illegible. Today, those remnants are preserved in a reliquary display case within the Treasury of St. Mark.
A medieval Facebook
The exhibition offers visitors a second surprise. Before it was dismantled, the manuscript served as a “Liber Vitae,” or “Book of the Living.” More than 1,500 names were entered into its pages by people who wished to be remembered in the prayers of the monastic community that safeguarded the codex.
“This is one of the features that makes this Gospel book exceptional. In Italy, we know of only two Carolingian-era ‘libri vitae.’ This is one of them. These inscriptions, written in a hand different from the original uncial script, were initially simple liturgical annotations. They are notes written on the Gospel between the seventh and eighth centuries indicating which passages should be read during particular periods of the year or providing other instructions for the book’s liturgical use,” said Luca Villa, another curator of the exhibition.
Beginning in the second half of the ninth century, the names of benefactors, nobles, pilgrims, and distinguished visitors were added.
Among them were figures as notable as Emperor Louis II the Younger and his wife Engelberga, the Moravian prince Svatopluk, and envoys from the newly Christianized Kingdom of Bulgaria.
“There are more than 1,500 important figures who wrote their names in the Gospel, not merely to leave a record of themselves but because they believed that by doing so they would share in the liturgical celebrations every time the book was used in the church where it was kept,” Villa told “EWTN Noticias.”
For historians, these lists provide an extraordinary window into medieval Europe. They reveal a network of contacts, pilgrimages, and cultural exchanges linking distant regions centuries before the emergence of modern nation-states.
A European story
Now, for the first time in roughly 700 years, the three surviving portions of the Gospel have been reunited.
The quires preserved in Prague have left the Czech Republic for the first time. The fragments kept in Venice have temporarily departed St. Mark’s Basilica. Together with the pages preserved in Friuli, they reconstruct a story that had remained fragmented since the Middle Ages.
Czech curator Martina Dlabajová said she believes the reunion also symbolizes the very essence of Europe.
“What is beautiful is that, while acknowledging that each fragment has had a different history and followed a different path, by bringing them together we have chosen to embrace that shared history. That is why the exhibition’s title speaks of ‘Seven Centuries, Three Fragments, One European Story,’ because the three fragments never ceased to be part of a common narrative, and that narrative is a European one,” she explained.
“I also like to emphasize that Europe itself should recognize differences, accept that distinct histories exist, and understand that those different histories from various countries enrich our shared history,” she added in comments to “EWTN Noticias.”
The exhibition, “The Gospel of Mark: Seven Centuries. Three Fragments. One European Story,” will remain open through April 2027. Due to the fragility of the parchment, however, restrictions are necessary. The original manuscripts will be on display only during the exhibition’s first six weeks. They will then be replaced by high-resolution digital reproductions.
This report was made possible thanks to the support of the Aquileia Foundation.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Thousands join Germany’s March for Life as activists attack pro-life stand
Thousands of pro-life demonstrators took to the streets of Berlin and Cologne on Saturday, Sept. 19, for Germany’s annual March for Life, which for the fourth time was held in both cities at once. Organizers put the combined turnout at about 6,000.
At the start of the Cologne rally on the Neumarkt square, counterdemonstrators threw paint at an information stand.
The Cologne rally, organized by Mona Schwaderlapp, a 27-year-old occupational therapist and mother of three, opened at 1 p.m. under the motto “The Right to Life Is a Human Right.” The route passed the Basilica of the Holy Apostles and ran along Zeughausstrasse through the city center before returning to the Neumarkt, where the march ended around 4 p.m.
Paint, smoke, and blockades in Cologne
The paint was thrown by two counterdemonstrators who had obtained the green vests worn by the pro-life marchers and moved unnoticed to the stand of the pro-life foundation Stiftung Ja zum Leben, according to the Catholic weekly Die Tagespost. CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, observed on the scene in Cologne that the attackers also set off purple smoke bombs.
During the stage program, several counterdemonstrators pushed to the front of the stage with a banner. One counterdemonstrator, who sprayed the banner with paint during the march, faces a criminal complaint for property damage.
Cologne police said the march had been registered for 3,000 people and that the “pro-choice” counter-event was likewise expected to draw 3,000. Police gave no figures for actual turnout.
CNA Deutsch observed officers using drones to monitor the march. Apart from two sit-in blockades, the procession through the city center passed without major disruption.
“We are here today because there are people who need our help,” said Ludwig Brühl of the federal board of the pro-life group Aktion Lebensrecht für Alle at the rally. He warned: “Surrogacy arrangements are being sold in the middle of Cologne.”
Brühl said he and fellow campaigners had gone undercover to track down people taking in large sums from the business. “They know how to get around our laws,” he said. “We have to stop these people.”
Surrogacy and Down syndrome in Berlin
The group’s federal chairwoman, Cornelia Kaminski, also spoke against surrogacy, in Berlin.
The 22nd March for Life took place in Berlin at the same time, drawing 4,200 people according to the German pro-life group Bundesverband Lebensrecht. Berlin police put the figure at about 2,200.
Five Bavarian bishops took part in the Berlin march, reported the Diocese of Regensburg. They were Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, Auxiliary Bishop Josef Graf of Regensburg, Auxiliary Bishop Florian Wörner of Augsburg, and Bishop Emeritus Gregor Maria Hanke of Eichstätt.
Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Dominikus Schwaderlapp took part in the march there. Several other bishops had sent written greetings to the organizers ahead of the marches.
“In all, well over 6,000 people (4,200 Berlin, 2,100 Cologne) of all generations set out today to take to the streets for the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death,” the Bundesverband Lebensrecht said.
The group’s chairwoman, Alexandra Linder, said: “Democracy means universal human dignity, the right to life from conception to natural death, and a prohibition on the killing of the innocent.”
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Brazilian Catholic family defends home schooling amid legal battle
The Vieira family from Blumenau, Brazil, has been home-schooling their seven children for over a decade, an approach that the parents, Diego and Patricia, view as an educational mission focused on human, spiritual, and academic formation.
“We have a well-structured routine. We value sound pedagogical planning. Each child has a plan tailored to their age, and we prioritize personalized education for each of them,” the family explained to “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language nightly newscast of EWTN News.
For the Vieiras, home schooling is not merely an academic alternative but a mission directly linked to Christ’s call to become holy.
“That is the goal of Catholic education: heaven, the pursuit of virtue, the pursuit of holiness, and the acquisition of wisdom to truly contemplate the truth,” they stated.
Personalized family-based education
The children’s daily schedule is organized according to their needs. In the mornings, they study the subjects in their educational plan, while in the afternoons, they engage in musical, athletic, and cultural activities, as well as practice chess.
However, this form of home schooling ended up in court.
In late July, a trial court judge ordered that four of Diego and Patricia’s children be enrolled in and attend a traditional school. Additionally, the couple was ordered to pay a fine of nearly $13,000.
The parents said they believe the decision is linked to their public role in advocating for home schooling.
“Because we are public figures and are actively pushing for regulation, we firmly believe this is a case of persecution against leaders of the movement, as the persecution has escalated with each passing year,” they stated.
They also noted that their Catholic identity has influenced how their stance is perceived.
“Because, whether we want to or not, we always uphold the banner of canon law, parental authority, and the family’s authority in the education of children. And when we demonstrate this, we encounter a great deal of prejudice in various situations,” they explained.
‘Home schooling is unstoppable’
Diego Vieira is the president of the Santa Catarina Association of Homeschooling Families and serves on the board of the National Association for Homeschooling. For years, he has supported other families facing legal challenges for educating their children at home.
Together with Patricia, he also spearheads the “Educating for Heaven” project, which offers guidance and materials to families interested in home schooling.
The couple has been promoting this educational approach for over a decade. Their eldest son, Igor, 19, was home-schooled and is currently studying literature and history at a university; he also teaches classes and is a national chess master.
The young man noted that being home-schooled allowed him to develop his abilities at his own pace.
“I was taught to read and write at home, and from a very young age, my parents encouraged me to study. Being able to study at home gave me the freedom to develop at my own pace and have a flexible routine; I could devote more or less effort to tasks I found difficult and truly focus on studying what I enjoyed most,” he stated.
A family active in their community
Despite criticisms leveled at home schooling, members of the Blumenau community highlighted the Vieira family’s social engagement.
City councilman Flavio José Linhares stated that the family maintains an active presence in the city, particularly through sports and culture.
“In chess, the family has already won over 300 medals representing the municipality in the game. So, they lead an active life in the community,” he noted.
The official also expressed his opposition to the court ruling against the family.
“When we saw the decision ordering the family to pay a fine equivalent to 40 minimum wages, we were outraged. We appreciate the quality, care, and love they show for their childrenʼs education,” he stated.
The debate on home schooling in Brazil
There are no official statistics in Brazil regarding the number of families who home-school. The National Association for Homeschooling estimates there are more than 75,000 families and 150,000 students, although these figures come from the organization itself rather than government records.
Currently, home schooling is not regulated by federal law.
In 2018, Brazilʼs Supreme Federal Court ruled that, for the time being, families do not have a recognized legal right to educate their children exclusively at home. However, the court also noted that the constitution does not prohibit home schooling and that it is up to the congress to establish regulations.
A bill to regulate home schooling was approved by the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and is proceeding through the Senate.
For Diego and Patricia, their defense is grounded in religious and legal principles as well as a matter of conscience.
“We base our position on our faith, our beliefs, Church law, natural law, and human rights. All treaties guarantee this freedom, as well as the primacy of parents,” they stated.
“We’re not doing anything wrong. Therefore, we have a clear conscience regarding this matter and will continue to fight. Home schooling is unstoppable,” they added.
The family has already filed an appeal against the ruling and stated that, if the decision stands, they will take the case to higher courts.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Catholic university works to preserve Lebanon’s Christian past
Lebanon’s successive crises have taken a visible toll on its economy and institutions, but they also endanger something less tangible: the memory, faith, and traditions through which a people understands its identity.
As emigration threatens both the continued presence of Christian communities in their homeland and the transmission of their heritage, the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) has made its preservation a mission for the future. Its work goes beyond protecting historical objects and documents: It safeguards the living witness of a people rooted in this land for nearly two millennia and ensures that this inheritance continues to shape Lebanon, inspire younger generations, and enrich the universal Church.
A mission rooted in Maronite history
Father Joseph Moukarzel, president of USEK, told EWTN News that preserving Christian heritage is not simply one of the university’s missions but lies at the heart of its identity.
USEK is the first university in Lebanon to be established by Lebanese citizens. Founded by the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1950, it continues the centuries-old role of Maronite monasteries as guardians of faith, knowledge, and culture. For generations, these monasteries protected manuscripts, liturgical traditions, sacred art, and the intellectual legacy of Christianity in the Middle East, including during some of the most difficult periods in Lebanon’s history.
Today, the university carries this mission forward through conservation, digitization, research, and education. Its library and archives hold thousands of manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, newspapers, and other collections documenting the religious, cultural, and intellectual history of Lebanon and the wider region.
Nearly 2,000 manuscripts are written in Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and Latin, many reflecting the spiritual and theological heritage of the Maronite Church and other Eastern Christian traditions.
A defining step came in 2002, when the Lebanese Maronite Order entrusted USEK with manuscripts gathered from nearly 30 monastic libraries. Moukarzel stressed that the university’s work extends beyond manuscripts. Its Conservation and Restoration Center treats icons, paintings, textiles, and archaeological objects, while the USEK Museum preserves collections tracing Lebanon’s spiritual and cultural journey.
The Phoenix Center for Lebanese Studies also houses political, ecclesiastical, artistic, musical, legal, and historical archives that shed light on the development of Lebanon and its Christian communities.
USEK also prepares future scholars, conservators, archivists, theologians, and heritage professionals, based on the conviction that heritage can survive only when transmitted to a new generation. It works with monasteries, dioceses, religious orders, patriarchal institutions, and international partners to preserve and promote these collections.
For Moukarzel, this mission is about far more than protecting historical objects; it safeguards the memory of a Christian people rooted in Lebanon for nearly 2,000 years. At a time of uncertainty and displacement across the Middle East, he described this work as both an act of faith and an act of hope.
Preserving heritage amid mounting challenges
Moukarzel added that financial instability has placed cultural and educational institutions under severe pressure. Conservation laboratories, digitization projects, archival preservation, and the specialized infrastructure needed to protect fragile collections all require sustained, long-term investment.
Yet the greatest challenge, he said, may be human rather than material. As Christian communities across the Middle East shrink and families leave in search of security and opportunity, the continuity of memory and tradition is also at risk. He also stressed that much of the Middle East’s Christian heritage remains little known beyond the region. Making it accessible through scholarship, conservation, and digitization is therefore not only a Lebanese responsibility but also an ecclesial mission requiring international solidarity.
Forming the next generation of custodians
On the role of younger generations, Moukarzel said Christian heritage should not be treated as something confined to museums and archives but as a living inheritance present in faith, liturgy, language, traditions, monasteries, and villages. USEK therefore encourages students to encounter it directly through research, archival work, conservation projects, field visits, and engagement with local communities. Students are also invited to use digital storytelling, documentary filmmaking, social media, and other technologies to share Eastern Christianity with wider audiences.
Through initiatives such as the AJYAL Lebanese Heritage Education Program, the university connects young people in Lebanon and the diaspora with their cultural roots. Moukarzel stressed that young Christians are not merely heirs to this history but its future authors, responsible for enriching it and passing it on. Whether they remain in Lebanon or build lives abroad, they can serve as custodians of memory and ambassadors of a heritage belonging to Lebanon and the universal Church.
Asked why preserving Christian heritage still matters in a country facing profound crises, Moukarzel said Lebanon’s recovery cannot be measured solely by the restoration of its economy and institutions. Rebuilding the country also requires safeguarding the values, history, and faith that have shaped its people for centuries.
“For Christians, this heritage is not simply a collection of monuments or ancient manuscripts. It is the living testimony of communities that have proclaimed the Gospel in this region since the earliest centuries of Christianity. Lebanon is one of the few places in the Middle East where this Christian presence has never been broken. Our monasteries, churches, liturgical traditions, sacred music, manuscripts, and the Syriac and Arabic Christian patrimony tell the story of generations who remained faithful to Christ despite persecution, conflict, and hardship.”
Catholic candidates to shape 2026 gubernatorial races in 12 states
A dozen U.S. states could see Catholic governors elected in 2026, and in two states — Texas and Massachusetts — the outcome is nearly assured because both major-party nominees are Catholic.
Catholics are positioned to play a visible role in this year’s 36 gubernatorial contests, with at least 14 candidates across both parties publicly identifying as Catholic.
The number of Catholics has the potential to increase in governors’ mansions nationwide. If every Catholic candidate were to win, the number of Catholic governors would climb from 20 to 22.
About half of gubernatorial races are open races, with the incumbent either term-limited or retiring. According to The Eagleton Center on the American Governor, 20 U.S. governors publicly identify as Catholic.
In Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey faces Republican Michael Minogue, and in Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott faces Democrat Gina Hinojosa, meaning both states have Catholic nominees from each major party.
In a statement to EWTN News, Abbott, first elected governor in 2014, said: “My Catholic faith is integral to my work as Governor, especially the protection of life from the youngest to the oldest members of the Texas family. Specifically, Jesus and His Church’s teachings on abortion, euthanasia, justice for victims, and the dignity of workers inform every decision I make from the Governor’s desk. As Governor, I will continue to keep Texas the shining city on the hill for the rest of the world as we prioritize uniting all of Godʼs children in love of neighbor."
Meanwhile Hinojosa, who has served in the Texas House since her election in 2016, told EWTN News: “My faith is my moral compass. It grounds me in purpose and gives me the courage to do what is right regardless of obstacles or consequences.”
Several other gubernatorial candidates also shared with EWTN News how their Catholic faith either shapes or would shape their approach to governing.
Gov. Jim Pillen, R-Nebraska, who faces Democratic former state senator Lynne Walz in the November election, said: "My Catholic faith is the foundation of who I am and how I serve. I begin each day praying to do God’s will. As Governor, my faith shapes my commitment to protecting life, serving others with humility, respecting human dignity, and working to build safer, stronger communities.”
In Connecticut, Republican Ryan Fazio, facing Democratic incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont, said: “I am a Catholic who believes in Jesus Christ and a responsibility to glorify God and act in a morally upright way in the world to save our own souls and help others. As governor, I would carry the same ethos that our faith teaches us to serve others in a righteous way. Those in leadership must serve humbly and always reject the temptations of power.”
Meanwhile in Idaho, Democrat Terri Pickens Manweiler is challenging Republican Gov. Brad Little. She said: “I am a non-practicing Roman Catholic. My faith governs my personal actions and beliefs. I firmly believe in the separation of church and state. I would not impose my beliefs onto others, especially through the political process or governance.”
Vatican group to discuss AI, human dignity with world leaders at UN General Assembly
A Vatican-led organization is meeting with world leaders on artificial intelligence, human dignity, the common good, and other aspects of Catholic social teaching on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week.
The “Borgo Dialogues,” organized by the Vatican-run Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education, began on Sept. 20 and will continue until Sept. 23 in New York, in conjunction with the U.N. meeting.
According to a news release, the gathering will focus on the question “What are we building, for whom, and who will inherit it?” The invitation-only meetings include leaders in business, finance, academia, faith, healthcare, sports, civil society, and international institutions.
“The Borgo Dialogues represent an invitation to courageous leadership rooted in listening, encounter and shared responsibility,” Cardinal Fabio Baggio, director general of the Laudato Si’ Center and founder of the Borgo Dialogues, said in a statement.
“At a moment when many institutions face growing fragmentation and distrust, we need spaces where leaders can engage difficult questions honestly, build trust across differences and commit themselves to actions that uphold human dignity and advance the common good,” he said.
The Borgo Dialogues initiative began in June with a meeting at the Vatican. It is inspired by papal teachings contained in Pope Francis’ encyclicals Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti and Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.
According to the news release, the main focus of the talks is AI and work transformation, healthcare and human dignity, sustainable development, systems-level change across industries, and the evolving responsibilities of leaders navigating an increasingly interconnected world.
The news release states there is a shared commitment to designing technologies, institutions, and systems that recognize the inherent dignity of each person, with a focus on those who are most vulnerable.
“The world’s most urgent challenges require relationships that rise above institutions and ideologies,” said Father Daniel G. Groody, CSC, a member of the Laudato Si’ Center’s General Council.
“The Borgo Dialogues create a distinctive environment where intellectual rigor, moral purpose and practical leadership come together, helping diverse leaders transform reflection into responsibility and ideas into action,” said Groody, who is also the vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame.
The inaugural Borgo Dialogues were held in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Vatican State, from June 17–19. It included more than 80 participants. The Laudato Si’ Center is expected to present proposals to the World Economic Forum based on the discussions.
The 81st U.N. General Assembly began on Sept. 8 in New York. General debate meetings begin on Sept. 22 and end on Sept. 28.