Bishop Nicholas Hudson was named the next bishop of Plymouth, England, by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 21, 2025. / Credit: @mikedavies

Plymouth, England, Oct 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 21 named Bishop Nicholas Hudson, an auxiliary bishop of Westminster, as the next bishop of Plymouth, England.

null / Credit: Shutterstock AI/Shutterstock

Rome, Italy, Oct 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Tech companies are offering increasingly realistic and immersive forms of AI-based life coaching, friendship, and romance through AI companions.

Thirty states have adopted some version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. / Credit: Leigh Prather/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

Protections for religious freedom in the U.S. have grown in recent years with multiple states adopting laws to strengthen the constitutional right to freely exercise one’s religion.

As of 2025, 30 states have adopted a version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or similar legislative protection for religious freedom. 

The most recent states to adopt those protections for state-level laws were Georgia and Wyoming in 2025 and Iowa, Utah, and Nebraska in 2024. West Virginia and North Dakota adopted them in 2023 and South Dakota and Montana did the same in 2021.

RFRA was first adopted in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law to expand religious freedom protections. Under the law, the federal government cannot “substantially burden” the free exercise of religion unless there is a “compelling government interest” and it is carried out in the “least restrictive” means possible.

Congress passed the law in response to the 1990 Supreme Court decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which asserted that the First Amendment was not violated as long as a law was “neutral and generally applicable.” The law was intended to provide a stronger safeguard for the free exercise of religion than what was provided by the highest court. 

Bipartisan consensus gone, but opposition weakening

When RFRA was adopted at the federal level in the 1990s, the protections had overwhelming bipartisan support. In the 2010s, that bipartisan consensus waned as most Democrats voiced opposition to the protections.

Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told CNA that in 2013, two states adopted RFRA with nearly unanimous support from Republicans and about two-thirds support from Democrats. However, the law became more divisive after the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favor of exempting Hobby Lobby from a mandate to provide abortifacient drugs based on RFRA.

“That [bipartisan support] seems like a million years ago,” Schultz said. “Now I would say Republican support is about the same as it was then. Democratic support is under 5%.”

Although Schultz did not express optimism that bipartisan support could return any time soon, he credited some cultural shifts for the strong success in Republican-leaning states over the past four years.

From 2014 through 2020, he said business groups and LGBT groups “were working together very strongly … in opposition to religious freedom bills” because they saw them as threats to certain anti-discrimination laws related to workplace policies from religious employers.

However, post-2020, he said, “the politics of RFRA are far more favorable,” and he noted there has been “far less opposition from business groups.”

One reason for this change, according to Schultz, was the widely-published story of NCAA championship swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who identified as a transgender woman and competed in women’s sports. This led polling to “change on every issue related to LGBT,” he noted.

Another reason, he argued, was the response to transgender-related policies by Target and the Bud Light ads, which led to “consumer anger at both of them.” He noted the money lost by the corporations “made business groups say ‘we are not going to have the same posture.’”

In spite of the partisanship that fuels the current debate, Schultz noted RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on a wide range of issues, some of which have pleased conservatives and others that have pleased progressives.

Although RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on issues related to contraception, abortion, gender, and sexuality, it has also been used to defend religious organizations that provide services for migrants. 

“[RFRA is] not politically predictable,” Schultz said.

Sister Reji Varghese began her three-year term as head of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood for the United States after her recent installation. / Credit: Joe Gigli/Diocese of Paterson

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA).

Sister Reji Varghese began her three-year term as head of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood for the United States after her recent installation presided over by Bishop Kevin Sweeney of Paterson, New Jersey, on Oct. 13.

Varghese will be the delegate for the Daughters in the U.S., leading three missionary communities that live out their charism by “caring for the youth and the elderly while reflecting in the day-to-day life that same sacrificial love that impelled Christ shed his blood for our salvation,” according to the statement from the Daughters.

The superior general of the congregation, who is based in Rome, appointed Varghese as the new delegate, an act that “renewed” the U.S. delegation, according to the Daughters. 

The Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood serve across the U.S., including in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. 

Originally founded in Italy, the community is found throughout Italy as well as in Brazil, East Timor, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The congregation ministers to orphans, vulnerable children, the sick, and the elderly as well as educating youth. 

In 1873, Father Thomas Maria Fusco, now a “blessed” in the Catholic Church, moved by the plight of an orphaned street girl, founded the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood in Pagani, Italy. 

Beginning with the seven orphans at their founding, the three original sisters had a “mission of spreading the devotion of the charity of the precious blood of Christ by which God’s infinite love for us is revealed,” the Daughters told CNA in a statement. 

The sisters continue the founding legacy “by engaging in works of mercy through different apostolates such as assisting the poor, the sick, and the elderly as well as educating the children and young people, especially the most vulnerable,” the congregation said. 

In Paterson, the Daughters operate a residential home for senior women called St. Joseph’s Rest Home as well as a day care for young children. 

Sweeney celebrated the installation Mass on Oct. 13 along with five other priests including the sisters’ chaplain, Father Charles Waller. 

Varghese in response to her installation said she is relying on the grace of God in her new role. 

“As our father founder said: ‘To love God, great talents are not necessary ... it is enough to have a heart capable of loving,’” she told CNA. 

“I know my limits, but by the grace of God and Blessed Thomas Maria Fusco, and with the cooperation of all the sisters, God’s will shall be done,” she said.

“I am very happy for our sisters’ ongoing support, friendship, and prayers during these days,” Varghese continued. “My wish is that in whatever we do and say may the charity of the blood of Jesus keep us always united.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis. / Credit: Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 16:56 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis delivered letters from victims of the Annunciation School shooting to Pope Leo XIV during a recent visit to Rome. 

The letters from students and their family members thanked Leo for his prayers in wake of the deadly shooting that claimed two lives and injured dozens more on Aug. 27, according to a newsletter posted by Hebda on Oct. 20. 

Hebda said the opportunity to deliver the letters to Leo had made their first meeting Oct. 2 “particularly meaningful” for him. 

“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” Leo had said on Aug. 31 after leading the weekly Angelus prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

“The loss of life on that occasion was horrific and the impact on students, teachers, and their families traumatizing,” Hebda said, adding: “I asked Pope Leo for his continued prayers for Sophia Forchas and the other survivors who continue their recovery, and especially his prayers for those who might find it difficult to return to Annunciation Church or even to the celebration of Mass.”

Forchas, 12, was shot in the head during the attack and remains in an inpatient rehabilitation program after having been moved from critical care in September, according to an update from her parents on their GoFundMe. 

“Most of us would agree that the horror of the Aug. 27 shooting was magnified by the fact that it took place in the context of Mass, that most sacred of gatherings for our Catholic community,” Hebda continued. “It’s at the Mass where we come together to join in Jesus’ offering of himself to the Father and where we have the opportunity to be nourished by God’s word and the Eucharist. Like all of our churches, Annunciation is sacred because it has been set apart for divine worship. That’s clear from the very inscription we find on the façade: ‘This Is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.’”

Hebda’s meeting with Leo took place during the archbishop’s visit to Rome for the ordination of two seminarians as deacons. 

St. Paul Seminary posted a video of the archbishop with Leo, writing: “Our very own shepherd Archbishop Hebda had the great honor to meet Pope Leo XIV during his recent visit to Rome!”

Hebda can be seen in the video holding a folder while speaking with the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Square. 

The archdiocese did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, founder of the Magis Center, delivers the opening keynote address at the inaugural Wonder Conference on Jan. 13, 2023. / Credit: Word on Fire/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 16:26 pm (CNA).

Magis Center released this week an artificial intelligence (AI) app designed to provide instant, science-based answers to questions about the Church and Catholic moral teachings.

MagisAI was announced Oct. 20 by the Magis Center, an organization created by philosopher and author Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, to explore the relationship between science, philosophy, reason, and faith. The free app draws information from Spitzer’s 20 books including “Christ, Science, and Reason” and “Science at the Doorstep to God.”

The app provides spoken answers to users’ questions accompanied by the text and reference. If the answer is too technical or confusing, the app can provide simplifications as needed, the Magis Center reported.

“Whether you’re a teacher helping students navigate secular questions, a parent guiding your family, or anyone seeking clarity on faith, magisAI equips you with instant, credible answers grounded in reason, science, and Church teaching,” the organization wrote.

MagisAI covers a wide range of topics within the Church including Catholic doctrine, Christian life and morality, and Scripture and history. It provides evidence for God and Jesus with explanations rooted in science, philosophy, and history, the organization wrote. It also answers science-based questions from quantum cosmology to evolution.

Through its question-and-answer format, magisAI says it addresses “the real challenges Catholics face in today’s secular environment.” It combats issues including cultural pressure, faith formation gaps, accessibility of knowledge, and language barriers by offering answers in 40 different languages.

MagisAI follows a number of new Catholic AI tools created to provide prompt and accurate information to those hoping to further their understanding of Church teaching, including Longbeard, Magisterium AI, and Truthly.

While Catholic companies are working to use the technology for good, it is important that Catholics remain aware of the harms of AI and potential threats to human dignity, the Vatican said. As AI has become a controversial topic, Pope Leo XIV has said that addressing the challenges of the technology will be a theme of his teaching.

In a September explanatory note on media, the Vatican wrote: “As Catholics we can and should give our contribution, so that people — especially youth — acquire the capacity of critical thinking and grow in the freedom of the spirit.”

“The challenge is to ensure that humanity remains the guiding agent,” the note said. “The future of communication must be one where machines serve as tools that connect and facilitate human lives rather than erode the human voice.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, meets with reporters in Baltimore on Nov. 15, 2022. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 13:37 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Army is reexamining canceled religious contracts after Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, Timothy Broglio lamented that cuts strained Catholic ministry to the armed forces.

Broglio criticized the cancellations of chapel contracts for religious educators, administrators, and musicians. He wrote in a letter to Congress that the contracts were essential to assisting Catholic priest chaplains in their duties.

A March memorandum by the U.S. Army Installation Management Command directed the cancellation of the chapel contracts, Broglio said. In his Oct. 17 letter, the archbishop wrote that he was assured directors of religious education and religious affairs specialists would “cover down” on the work of contractors, but “that has not happened” and is “impossible” because there are no requirements for workers on those contracts to be Catholic or have catechetical training.

Broglio said Catholics are disproportionately affected because only 137 of the over 2,500 Army chaplains are Catholic, despite Catholics accounting for about 20% of soldiers.

Four days after Broglio published the letter, a spokesperson for the Army told CNA that the Army will be reexamining its contract support for directors of religious education and religious affairs specialists “to mitigate any potential impact during this period.“

“These roles are vital in supporting the spiritual well-being of our community,” the spokesperson said on Oct. 21.

“The Army remains deeply committed to providing for the religious needs of all personnel, regardless of their faith background,” the statement continued. “We recognize the importance of religious support in maintaining morale, fostering resilience, and promoting the overall well-being of our force.”

The spokesperson added: “The Army is committed to ensuring the continued provision of comprehensive religious support for all our service members and their families.”

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

French Police officers seal off the entrance to the Louvre Museum after a jewelry heist on Oct. 19, 2025, in Paris. / Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

Paris, France, Oct 21, 2025 / 13:07 pm (CNA).

Empress Eugénie’s brooch — a piece of jewelery that reflected her religious faith — was stolen in a daring, daylight heist at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday morning.

null / Credit: Antonio Salaverry/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.

In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content “similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”

Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent’s permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.

Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said “any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate content from them is a positive step forward.”

“However, I am concerned because there is quite a difference between static content like a movie that can be thoroughly reviewed by a committee and very dynamic conduct that is performed in social media,” Baggot said in an Oct. 20 interview on “EWTN News Nightly.” 

Social media platforms include forms of cyberbullying, online predators, and artificial intelligence (AI) companions. “Those kinds of dynamic relationships are not necessarily regulated fully with a mere label,” Baggot said.

The updates follow feedback from thousands of parents worldwide who shared their suggestions with Instagram. After hearing from parents, Instagram also added an additional setting that offers even stricter guidelines if parents want more extensive limitations. 

“Parents have a unique responsibility in constantly monitoring and discussing with their children and with other vulnerable people the type of interactions they’re having,” Baggot said. “But I think we can’t put an undue burden on parents.”

Baggot suggested additional laws that hold companies accountable for “exploitative behavior or design techniques,” because they can “become addictive and really mislead guidance and mislead people.”

AI in social media 

Since Instagram recently introduced AI chatbots to the app, it also added preventions on messages sent from AI. The social media platform reported that “AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”

AI on Instagram must be handled with “great vigilance and critical discernment,” Baggot said. AI platforms “can be tools of research and assistance, but they can also really promote toxic relationships when left unregulated.”

Measures to restrict AI and online content are opportunities for parents and users “to step back and look critically at the digitally-mediated relationships that we constantly have” and to “look at the potentially dangerous and harmful content or relationships that can take place there.”

“There should be healthy detachment from these platforms,” Baggot said. “We need healthy friendships. We need strong families. We need supportive communities. Anytime we see a form of social media-related interaction replacing, distracting, or discouraging in-personal contact, that should be an … alarm that something needs to change and that we need to return to the richness of interpersonal exchange and not retreat to an alternative digital world.”

Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images

Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Two southern Italian archbishops have sounded the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people in Sicily.