Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), called assisted suicide laws “abhorrent” during budget discussions this week.
During HHS budget discussions on Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, pressed Kennedy about assisted suicide, noting that in several states, disability groups have filed lawsuits saying that their assisted suicide laws are discriminatory.
“Disability groups are filing against some of the assisted suicide laws because it seems to target those with disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990: That act has worked to protect those with disabilities, not incentivize them to take their own life,” Lankford said.
“We’ve now seen a rise of people with eating disorders that are given access to assisted suicide, and this is just wrong a multitude of ways,” Lankford added.
“What is HHS doing to protect those with disabilities that may be targeted by those assisted suicide laws?” Lankford asked.
“To me, I think those laws are abhorrent,” Kennedy responded. “And we just see in Canada today, I think the No. 1 cause of death is assisted suicide, and as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives.”
In the United States, assisted suicide is legal in 12 states and Washington, D.C. A recently-compiled database found that at least 14,000 Americans have died by assisted suicide since 1997; the actual number is likely much higher because not all states provide data.
“I don’t think we can be a moral society — we can’t be a moral society around the globe if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society,” Kennedy told Lankford. “So, I am happy to work with you in whatever way we can.”
Three ongoing lawsuits allege that their state’s assisted suicide laws are discriminatory against people with disabilities.
The Delaware lawsuit maintained that “people with life-threatening disabilities” are at “imminent risk” because of the new law.
“Throughout the country, a state-endorsed narrative is rapidly spreading that threatens people with disabilities: Namely, that people with life-threatening disabilities should be directed to suicide help and not suicide prevention,” the lawsuit read.
“At its core, this is discrimination plain and simple,” the lawsuit continued. “With cuts in health care spending at the federal level, persons with life-threatening disabilities are now more vulnerable than ever.”
In another recent lawsuit in July 2025, United Spinal v. Colorado, a coalition of advocacy groups claimed that Colorado’s assisted suicide law is unconstitutional because it allegedly discriminates against those who suffer from disabilities.
In 2023, a similar California lawsuit challenged California’s assisted suicide law, saying it puts people with disabilities at greater risk.
As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the Cristero War in Mexico, the bishop of Zacatecas, Sigifredo Noriega Barceló, urged the faithful to deepen their knowledge of their Catholic faith in order to know how to defend it.
The Cristero War, also known as the “Cristiada,” was an armed conflict that erupted in 1926 after President Plutarco Elías Calles tightened the enforcement of the anticlerical articles contained in the 1917 constitution.
This was done through the so-called Calles Law, which imposed severe restrictions on religious life. In response, on July 31, 1926, the Mexican bishops suspended public worship throughout the country. Subsequently, the federal government responded with an intensified persecution of Catholics.
According to the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, there were “more than 200,000 martyrs who gave their lives defending their faith: children, young people, and the elderly; peasants, laborers, and professionals; priests, religious, and laypeople.”
‘Defend your faith by knowing it better’
During the 120th plenary assembly of the Mexican bishops, held from April 13–17, one of the topics addressed was the Cristero War.
In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, Noriega explained that the Catholic Church is currently engaged in a “plan to recover the memory” of the war, with the aim of reflecting on “the significance” of the Cristiada “at that time, and the implications it holds for our own time.”
The bishop recalled that many who died remained “faithful even to the point of risking their lives.”
He lamented that, 100 years later, it appears that for many Catholics “the religious principles governing our lives are not as solid” and therefore emphasized the need to strengthen formation in the faith and in the events that forged the Church in the country.
In that context, he said the call that those who defended the Catholic religion at that time would make today is: “defend your faith by knowing it better.”
He said Catholics should use this knowledge to reflect on how to prevent history from repeating itself so that “it will no longer be necessary to take up any kind of arms to defend religious freedom, to defend the principles and values that define us.”
Finally, the bishop called for the recognition — with admiration — of those “individuals who gave their lives, who confronted these situations that were touching and upending the very depths not only of a belief but of life itself.”
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.
A California man has been awarded a massive $16 million payout in a civil suit regarding allegations against a former priest from the Diocese of Oakland.
A jury in Alameda County Superior Court on April 22 awarded the eight-figure settlement to an unidentified John Doe amid ongoing bankruptcy proceedings brought by the Oakland Diocese.
The law firm Jeff Anderson and Associations said in a press release that the settlement was “the first case to reach a jury verdict under the California Child Victims Act.” The law, passed in 2019, opened a three-year window for alleged abuse victims to file claims outside of the standard statute of limitations.
The allegations brought by the John Doe in Oakland concerned Father Stephen Kiesle, a priest who has faced multiple abuse allegations dating from the 1970s. The victim said Kiesle abused him during that decade.
Kiesle pleaded no contest in 1978 to lewd conduct involving two boys, for which he received probation, while in the early 2000s he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading no contest on charges of molesting a girl near Sacramento.
Kiesle was charged in 2022 with vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving after a crash that killed a man in Rossmoor, California. He pleaded no contest to those charges in 2023 and was sentenced to more than six years in state prison.
The Diocese of Oakland says on its list of credibly accused priests that Kiesle was removed from ministry in 1978 and laicized in 1987.
The bankruptcy filing put nearly all abuse lawsuits against the diocese on hold, though several were allowed to proceed to trial, including the John Doe suit settled on April 22.
Toronto Cardinal Frank Leo has written to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and members of Parliament in the Toronto area, urging them to “choose life and not death” by supporting legislation that would block the planned expansion of assisted suicide for those with mental illness.
Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, introduced last year by Conservative member of Parliament Tamara Jansen, is a private member’s bill that would prohibit the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) to individuals whose sole underlying condition is mental illness.
Under current federal law, that expansion is scheduled to take effect March 17, 2027. Parliament was expected to debate the bill earlier this month, but its order of precedence in the House of Commons has been pushed back, and no new date has been set.
In the April 20 letters, Leo reminded the prime minister and parliamentarians that a society “is rightly judged” by how it cares for its most vulnerable members and said many Canadians are “increasingly troubled” by the expansion of MAID since it was legalized in 2016.
Since then, nearly 100,000 lives have been ended by medically assisted death as eligibility criteria have broadened beyond the original framework that restricted MAID largely to those facing a reasonably foreseeable death.
“Our Catholic faith opposes the taking of any life, and it is with great disappointment and anguish that we have seen our country expand MAID at a rapid and alarming rate,” Leo wrote.
Assisted suicide and euthanasia, he said, are “contrary to the dignity of the human person.”
Leo and the Archdiocese of Toronto are leading the nationwide Help Not Harm campaign, which is encouraging Canadians to write to their MPs in support of Bill C-218.
“We are encouraging parishes and the faithful to continue their efforts through the month of April and until a date for the vote is announced,” Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations and communications for the archdiocese, told The Catholic Register earlier this month.
By mid-April, about 5,000 letters had been sent through the Help Not Harm online portal.
“There is growing anxiety that the normalization and expansion of assisted suicide risks undermining a culture of compassion, weakening investments in palliative support, and diminishing the collective commitment to accompany those suffering,” Leo wrote.
He is also calling on Carney to allow Liberal MPs a free vote when C-218 comes before Parliament.
“This legislation raises profound questions of conscience that transcend partisan alignment and touch on deeply held moral, ethical, and spiritual convictions,” Leo wrote. “I ask you to choose life and not death; to help build a civilization that cares for those suffering and does not eliminate them, but instead surrounds them with dignity, compassion, and love.”
He also asked the prime minister and Justice Minister Sean Fraser to “consider measures that restrict any further expansion of assisted suicide in Canada and instead prioritize investments in palliative care, mental health support, and resources for those who are increasingly marginalized and isolated, especially seniors and Canadians living with disabilities.”
This story was first published by Canadaʼs The Catholic Register and is reprinted here with permission.
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea — Pope Leo XIV celebrated the final Mass of his Africa trip on Thursday, urging the Church in Equatorial Guinea to continue proclaiming the Gospel “with passion” and to bear witness through lives shaped by faith, service, and solidarity.
The Mass at Malabo’s stadium, where about 30,000 faithful were expected, marked the pope’s last major public event in Equatorial Guinea, the fourth and final African nation on his 11-day journey.
After riding through the crowd in the popemobile, Leo began Mass amid flags, songs, and colorful hats, with music and dance accompanying the liturgy.
Before delivering his homily, the pope greeted the Archdiocese of Malabo and offered condolences for the recent death of its vicar general, Father Fortunato Nsue Esono, who died unexpectedly April 17 at age 39.
“We remember him in this Eucharist,” Leo said. “I invite you to live this moment of sorrow with a spirit of faith, and I trust that full light will be shed on the circumstances of his death.”
In his homily, preached in Spanish, the pope reflected on the day’s Scripture readings, especially the account in the Acts of the Apostles of the deacon Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
“When the deacon Philip approached a traveler who was returning from Jerusalem to Africa, he asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’” the pope said. “The pilgrim, a eunuch of the Queen of Ethiopia, replied immediately with humble wisdom: ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ His question is not only a search for truth, but also an expression of openness and desire.”
Leo said the figure of the eunuch reveals both human suffering and the liberating power of the Gospel.
“Yet, as he returns to his homeland of Africa, which for him has become a place of servitude, the proclamation of the Gospel sets him free,” the pope said. “Through his encounter with Philip, a witness of the crucified and risen Christ, the eunuch is transformed from a mere reader — a spectator — of Scripture into a protagonist in the very story that captivates him, because it now concerns him personally.”
“This African man thus enters into Scripture, which welcomes every reader who seeks to understand God’s word,” Leo continued. “He steps into salvation history, which embraces every man and woman, especially the oppressed, the marginalized and the least among us.”
The pope said Christians today, like the Ethiopian eunuch, read Scripture not in isolation but within the life of the Church.
“Together we read Scripture as the shared heritage of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, who inspired its composition, and by Apostolic Tradition, which has preserved and transmitted it throughout the world,” he said. “Like the eunuch, we too can come to understand the Word of God with the help of a guide who accompanies us on our journey of faith.”
Turning to the Gospel of John and Jesus’ teaching on the bread of life, Leo said Christ fulfills God’s saving work in history and leads every people out of slavery.
“Through Jesus’ Passover, the definitive exodus, every people is set free from the slavery of evil,” he said.
The pope also stressed that Christian faith does not erase suffering but illuminates it with hope.
“Our problems do not disappear in the Lord’s presence, but they are illuminated,” he said. “Just as every cross finds redemption in Jesus, so too the story of our lives finds its meaning in the Gospel.”
Quoting Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, Leo warned against spiritual self-absorption and called the faithful to keep making room for the poor, for God’s voice, and for the quiet joy of his love. He said it is precisely the Lord’s love that sustains Christians in the service of justice and solidarity.
He concluded by encouraging the local Church to continue its evangelical mission with joy.
“For this reason, I encourage all of you, as the living Church in Equatorial Guinea, to carry on the mission of Jesus’ first disciples with joy,” Leo said. “As you read the Gospel together, proclaim it with passion, just as the deacon Philip did. And as you celebrate the Eucharist together, bear witness through your lives to the faith that saves, so that God’s word may become good leaven for all.”
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
In light of a recent law legalizing assisted suicide in New York, Catholic bishops urged Catholics to make end-of-life decisions prayerfully and with guidance from the Church.
In a recently published updated end-of-life guidebook, the Catholic bishops of New York state outlined the Catholic Church’s teaching on assisted suicide as well as what care is morally obligatory or morally optional.
The updated pamphlet, “Now and at the Hour of Our Death,” is designed “to simply explain the moral principles of Catholic teaching with regard to end-of-life decision-making and to outline the options that exist in New York state for advance care planning,” according to its introduction. The pamphlet also encourages Catholics to appoint proxies who are informed on their values to make medical decisions should they be unable to make them.
“Medical advances bring with them new and complex questions with regard to medical treatments and moral decision-making,” the introduction to the guidebook reads.
The guidebook specifically addresses the moral problem of assisted suicide but also goes into detail about other important end-of-life decisions.
“Assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one’s own life using physician-prescribed chemicals or drugs that will cause death. It is considered active euthanasia,” the guidebook reads. “Our Church warns us in no uncertain terms that this practice is objectively immoral and must be avoided, despite the false veil of compassion with which it is sold.”
What types of medical interventions are morally required for Catholics?
Basic lifesaving medical interventions, such as feeding tubes, are generally considered morally obligatory by the Catholic Church, according to the bishops’ guidebook.
The bishops distinguish between these morally required “ordinary” medical interventions and “extraordinary” or morally optional interventions. Determining which is which requires “the weighing of benefits and burdens expected for each individual.”
“This is not just a pragmatic decision of costs and benefits but a moral decision that affects our spiritual health,” the bishops say of end-of-life decisions.
The bishops note that “we must always accept (and others must provide) ordinary medical means of preserving life.”
“Ordinary means are those that offer us a reasonable hope of benefit and would not entail excessive burden on us, our family, or the community,” the bishops continue.
The pamphlet goes into the distinction between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” treatments and its connection to assisted suicide.
“The immorality of directly intending and bringing about our own death or of assisting in the death of another by intentional action is self-evident,” the bishops state. “Decisions can become much more complex, however, when we contemplate the removal or withholding of medical treatment, such as a ventilator or dialysis.”
“Withholding ordinary care with the intention of causing death is considered passive euthanasia and is always gravely contrary to God’s will,” the bishops continue. “But Catholics are not morally bound to prolong the dying process by using every medical treatment available. Allowing natural death to occur is not the same as killing.”
But the bishops note that “extraordinary treatments” are “considered morally optional.”
“For example, it would be permissible for a cancer patient to forego a particularly aggressive and expensive treatment if the patient judged the survival rate too low and the pain of the treatment too great a burden,” the bishops say.
The bishops emphasize that the distinction can be complex and encourage Catholics to seek guidance in these decisions.
“Weighing the burdens and benefits of particular medical treatments for each individual requires us to apply the virtue of prudence, using practical reason to discern the true good and choose the right path,” the bishops say. “Because such decisions are often sensitive and complex, Catholics may wish to seek guidance from a priest, chaplain, or ethicist whose counsel is informed by Church teaching.”
For instance, the bishops note that there is an obligation “in principle” to always provide patients with food and water, including when patients require medical assistance or have irreversible conditions. The bishops also note that this moral standard can have exceptions in extreme cases, such as “when death is imminent” or if the gastric tube causes severe side effects; even then, hydration and nutrition should be provided to the extent possible.
“It is never permissible to remove a feeding tube, or any other form of life-sustaining treatment, based on a belief that the patient’s life no longer holds value or with the intention to terminate the patient’s life,” the bishops state.
How should Catholics make important medical decisions?
The bishops emphasize that the guide “is by no means a substitute for prayer.”
“Determining if and when a particular treatment can morally be withheld or withdrawn should be done collaboratively with the patient or surrogate, family members, health care providers, and spiritual adviser,” the bishops say.
The bishops encourage Catholics to plan in advance and ensure that surrogate decision-makers, a legal standard in New York, will honor “your values and beliefs.”
The bishops recommend the health care proxy as “the most morally appropriate advance care planning tool in New York state.” The New York State Catholic Conference referred New York Catholics to fill out a government form that enables citizens to appoint a trusted loved one to make health care decisions and also to include instructions for their proxy.
Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, noted that the original issue of the guidebook has been a useful tool “for more than 15 years.”
“Our hope is that many thousands more Catholics in the years to come will find ‘Now and at the Hour of Our Death’ to be a useful guide in what is by nature a very stressful time,” Poust said. “We urge Catholics to read the booklet and familiarize themselves with Catholic teaching on these issues and the options available in New York now, before they or their loved ones are facing a health crisis.”
In a video posted on social media, Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Javier Acero of the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico encouraged participation this Saturday, April 25, in the March for Life in Mexico City, which will begin at the Monument to the Revolution at 10 a.m. local time.
Acero emphasized that “our primary goal is to care for life, to love it, and, above all, to protect the most vulnerable,“ extending an invitation to ”take part in the march” in order to “show the beauty of life and continue protecting it.”
Traditionally held in April to commemorate the victims of the decriminalization of abortion on demand for up to 12 weeks' gestation, which was passed by Mexico Cityʼs government in 2007, the March for Life, organized by the Steps for Life platform for the past 15 years, attracts tens of thousands of people.
In an April 19 editorial of its weekly publication Desde la Fe (From a Faith Perspective), the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico described as “hope-inspiring” the “knowledge that a new generation has become convinced of the need to care for our common home and for our neighbor.”
“We affirm, grounded in science and anthropology, that the human being possesses inherent dignity simply by existing, regardless of its circumstances: from the moment life begins at fertilization, throughout all stages of life, and until death. Therefore, it is not licit to kill, enslave, capture, or torture any human being at any time,” the editorial emphasized.
The archdiocese said that “abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are scourges that attack our humanity, wearing the mask of being valid solutions in the face of suffering.”
Although the editorial stated, “We do not judge those who resort to any of these measures,” it emphasized that “neither can we, as a society, present these three issues as solutions, nor as rights.”
“Trivializing the importance of life contaminates society, making it easier to attack life and dignity through actions such as human trafficking, which constitutes the new slavery, as well as kidnapping and murder,” the editorial stated.
With the 19th anniversary of the decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks' gestation coming up, “there is nothing to celebrate,” the Archdiocese of Mexico pointed out, for “hundreds of thousands of human beings have been eliminated, while the health policy regarding abortion as a symbol of a capitulating state has demonstrated that it has not improved the situation of women but has instead turned pregnancy into a stigma from which one must seek to be liberated.”
“We entrust these new generations to Mary Most Holy, so that just as she while still very young gave her ‘yes’ to God and to life, she may continue to imbue them with courage and love, and that this may always be reflected in their service to the most vulnerable,” the editorial stated.
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.
MONGOMO, Equatorial Guinea — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday urged Catholics in this Central African country to help shape the nation’s future, saying there is “a need for Christians to take the destiny of Equatorial Guinea into their own hands.”
The second day of the pope’s apostolic journey in the country opened with the celebration of Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mongomo. The Immaculate Virgin is patroness of Equatorial Guinea.
The basilica is the largest religious building in central Africa and the second-largest basilica on the continent, after the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
Pope Leo XIV processes into Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Emotion and affection for the pope were palpable before the Mass.
“I feel great joy at the arrival of the Holy Father in our country,” said Emmanuel, a young man from Mongomo who came to attend the Mass.
“I am here with my fellow citizens, waiting for the pope’s arrival. And I am very moved,” added Pedro Ngema outside the basilica.
Before celebrating Mass, Leo greeted a group of children, and together they released balloons tied in the shape of a rosary into the sky. He then blessed the foundation stone for the future cathedral of Ciudad de la Paz. In brief spontaneous remarks, he thanked those present and said it was “wonderful” to be united in praising the Lord. He said he wanted to ask God’s blessing on those gathered, on their families, and on the foundation stone that would mark the beginning of the future cathedral.
Pope Leo XIV along with children releases balloons in the shape of a rosary into the sky outside the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
“We want to renew our faith,” the pope said. “We want to renew our commitment to follow Jesus Christ faithfully in his Church, in the Catholic Church.”
In his homily, the pope began by reflecting on the Eucharist.
“The Eucharist truly contains every spiritual good of the Church: It is Christ, our Passover, who gives himself to us, he is the living Bread that nourishes us,” Leo said. “His presence in the Eucharist reveals God’s infinite love for the entire human family and the way he encounters every woman and every man even today.”
The pope said he was pleased to celebrate with the faithful and “give thanks to the Lord for these 170 years of evangelization in Equatorial Guinea.”
“It is a fitting occasion to recall all the good that the Lord has done,” he said, “and at the same time, I wish to express my gratitude to the many missionaries, diocesan priests, catechists, and lay faithful who have devoted their lives in service to the Gospel.”
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
He praised those missionaries for their witness, saying: “Through the example of their lives, they have played their part in bringing about the kingdom of God, unafraid of suffering for their fidelity to Christ.”
“It is a history that you must never forget,” the pope continued. “On the one hand, it links you to the universal and apostolic Church that came before you. On the other, it has made you protagonists in proclaiming the Gospel and bearing witness to the faith.”
Leo said Catholics in the country are now called to continue along that path.
“Each and every one of you is invited to make a personal commitment that encompasses your entire life, so that the faith — celebrated so joyfully in your communities and in your liturgies — may also nourish your charitable works and the sense of responsibility toward your neighbor, for building up the common good,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV incenses the altar during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
“Such a commitment requires perseverance; it demands effort and, at times, sacrifice. Yet it is the sign that we are truly the Church of Christ,” he added.
The pope acknowledged that personal, family, and social circumstances are not always favorable but urged the faithful to remain steadfast.
“Even when faced with personal, family, and social situations that are not always favorable, we can trust that the Lord is at work, making the good seed of his kingdom grow in ways unknown to us, including when everything around us seems barren, and even in moments of darkness,” he said.
“With such confidence, rooted in the power of his love rather than in our own merits, we are called to remain faithful to the Gospel, to proclaim it, to live it fully and to bear witness to it with joy.”
Pope Leo XIV greets Catholics during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Recalling the motto of his apostolic journey — “Christ, Light of Equatorial Guinea, Towards a Future of Hope” — Leo said the country’s deepest hunger today is “for a future imbued with hope that is capable of engendering a new sense of justice and producing fruits of peace and fraternity.”
“This is not an unknown future that we must passively await but rather one that we ourselves are called to build with God’s grace,” he said. “The future of Equatorial Guinea depends upon your choices; it is entrusted to your sense of responsibility and to your shared commitment to safeguarding the life and dignity of every person.”
The pope then called all the baptized to active participation in the Church’s mission and in the country’s development.
“It is therefore necessary for all the baptized to feel that they are part of the work of evangelization, and so become apostles of charity and witnesses to a new humanity,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV speaks during Holy Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
“The Creator has endowed you with great natural wealth: I urge you to work together so that it may be a blessing for all,” he continued.
Leo concluded with an appeal for a more just society, one in which all work “to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged.”
“May there be greater room for freedom, and may the dignity of the human person always be safeguarded,” he said. “My thoughts go to the poorest, to families experiencing difficulty and to prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions.”
Then came the line at the heart of the homily: “Brothers and sisters, there is a need for Christians to take the destiny of Equatorial Guinea into their own hands.”
Pope Leo XIV gives his homily during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
“For this reason, I would like to encourage you: Do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to it with your lives!” the pope said. “Be builders of a future of hope, peace, and reconciliation, carrying on the work begun by the missionaries 170 years ago.”
Among those reflecting on the pope’s visit was Ndende Njoya Soulemanou, founder and director of the Francophone Institute of Bata, who said Leo’s repeated emphasis on peace during his African journey had especially struck him.
“One word struck me above all during his passage through Cameroon, Angola, and here in Equatorial Guinea,” Soulemanou said. “That word is peace — peace in capital letters. Hearing that word went straight to my heart.”
After Mass, the pope walked to the nearby Pope Francis Technical School for a brief visit to the training center named after his immediate predecessor. In the afternoon, his schedule was set to continue in Bata.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
A new automation system for the telescope at the Holy See’s astronomical observatory in Arizona will allow students from Jesuit universities to use it remotely for scientific research.
Mount Graham in Arizona is home to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), one of the most important observatories managed by the Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana).
According to a statement issued by the Governorate of Vatican City State, the robotization and automation of the telescope were recently completed successfully thanks to donations from the Thomas Lord Charitable Trust philanthropic foundation.
The automation was also made possible thanks to donations from Kim Bepler, who specifically supports various Jesuit initiatives and serves on the board of trustees of Fordham University.
Astronomers will now be able to operate the telescope remotely, without the need to be physically present on the mountain. In fact, astronomers from the Vatican observatory at Castel Gandolfo in Italy are already making use of this new feature.
The new automation system is named “Don” in memory of Donald Alstadt, a renowned figure in the field of philanthropy dedicated to supporting scientific research, particularly through the Thomas Lord Charitable Trust.
The idea to automate the telescope emerged following a meeting held last January between Bepler; the director of the Vatican Observatory, Father Richard D’Souza; and the president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, Brother Guy Consolmagno.
Their objective was to develop a program to connect the VATT with Castel Gandolfo and enable its use at Jesuit universities worldwide, particularly those that normally lack access to an advanced research telescope.
To launch the project, Bepler offered “a generous contribution in honor of Father Joseph M. McShane, president emeritus of Fordham University and a member of the development committee of the Vatican Observatory 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.
In a society where marriage and the family are constantly under attack, a new film is highlighting how St. Joseph can be a powerful intercessor for marriages and families facing hardships.
“Saint Joseph: Guardian of the Family” tells the story of a married couple facing a serious marital crisis. After the husband — a journalist — is assigned to investigate testimonies of people who claim to have experienced the intercession of St. Joseph, he begins to be personally impacted by the beloved saint and is inspired to become the guardian of his own family, striving to fix the struggles they face.
Based on true stories, the film shows how love can heal the deepest of wounds and highlights how St. Joseph is a model for fatherhood and marriage.
Made by the Polish production studio Rafael Film, “Saint Joseph: Guardian of the Family” was made through the crowdfunding efforts of more than 5,000 people in Poland and several other countries. After a successful run in theaters internationally, the film will be released in theaters across the United States on April 23.
Dariusz Regucki, the film’s director, told EWTN News in an interview that the film was inspired by Father Jacek Płota, custodian of the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Kalisz, Poland, and a “great devotee” of St. Joseph.
Before working on the film, Regucki was not very familiar with St. Joseph.
“I had no prior personal experiences with St. Joseph … It was only when I received the proposal to make the movie from Rafael Film — something I am still very grateful for — and began working on the script that I started discovering our protagonist for myself,” he shared.
He added that while making the film he “had to remain very careful not to create any caricature of St. Joseph — one that, for example, would merely fulfill our expectations. St. Joseph is a silent yet obedient man, and he simply does his work. He is very concrete. He does not complain, does not grumble, and does not feel sorry for himself.”
“This deeply moved me. St. Joseph inspires me as a father and as a husband. In the rush of everyday life, he makes me stop and, at times, look at myself — almost with embarrassment — as if in a mirror,” he said. “It confronts me with the truth and pulls me out of alienation and my comfort zone. St. Joseph shows me what true love really is.”
The Polish filmmaker said he hopes viewers “will leave the cinema moved and full of hope — holding the hand of his wife, partner, or fiancée, perhaps for the first time in many years. It’s simple, yet very difficult. But it is possible to look at one another with love and say, ‘I love you.’”
He added: “To my viewer — who is so often lost and lonely — I propose that through the story told in the film, and through St. Joseph, they look upward, stop dwelling on their sadness and suffering, and begin to affirm life. This is the message St. Joseph brings to us, and this is how I portray him in my film.”
