U.S. Vice President JD Vance participates in a fireside chat with Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance called border security “humanitarian” in response to comments from Pope Leo XIV about immigration policy in the United States.

“Border security is not just good for American citizens,” Vance said in an interview with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle on Nov. 20. “It is the humanitarian thing to do for the entire world.”

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 18 asked Americans to listen to U.S. bishops’ message opposing “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and urged humane treatment of migrants.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” the pope said.

Vance said he has followed the Holy Father’s comments closely as “a devout Catholic.”

“You may not know it, judging purely from the comments of some people on social media, but the Catholic Church’s views on this are actually quite clear,” Vance said.

“It’s that, yes, you must treat immigrants humanely,” Vance said. “On the other hand, every nation has the right to control its borders. And obviously, how you strike that balance is very important, but there’s a lot of room there to actually control your own borders for the sake of your own people.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) special message affirmed that countries have a “responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” 

U.S. bishops said they lamented the conditions in detention centers and lack of access to pastoral care. Bishops also said they “are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”

Vance said “open borders” do not promote “[human] dignity, even of the illegal migrants themselves,” and cited drug and sex trafficking.

“When you empower the cartels and when you empower the human traffickers, whether in the United States or anywhere else, you’re empowering the very worst people in the world,” Vance said.

“My priority, my charge is to look after the people of the United States of America, and you cannot do that if you’re flooding the country with a ton of illegal immigrants and the drugs and the crime that they bring,” Vance said.

Research consistently shows that immigrants do not commit more crimes than U.S.-born people and are actually less likely to commit crimes. Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.

A study by the libertarian Cato Institute that reviewed more than a decade of data found that immigrants, including those who enter the country illegally, have a lower crime rate than the native-born population.

For example, in 2023, the incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,221 for every 100,000 people. For legal immigrants, it was 319 for every 100,000, and for immigrants in the country illegally, it was 613 for every 100,000.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation,” the U.S. bishops said.

Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler attend the Circus Krone Christmas Premiere at Circus Krone on Dec. 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany. The twin sisters ended their lives by assisted suicide at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images

CNA Deutsch, Nov 20, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

The Federal Association for the Right to Life has criticized the “praise” many have voiced about the recent assisted suicides of the 89-year-old Kessler twins in Germany.

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium starting Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 20, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service for Catholic teenagers.

The 2025 theme is “I Am,” and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and be empowered for discipleship. 

NCYC was created by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), an organization committed to advancing the field of pastoral ministry to young people in the United States. Founded with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization works to strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. 

The conference, from Nov. 20–22, will feature Catholic speakers, daily Mass and adoration, music and worship, breakout groups and workshops, and interactive exhibits with games, vendors, meetups, and live radio shows.

Attendees will also hear from the conference’s two emcees, Gian Gamboa​ and Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA. Gamboa​ is a Catholic speaker and musician who helps young people develop a personal relationship with Jesus so they can experience the fullness of the Catholic faith. 

Del Rosario, who has become known as “The Happy Nun,” is a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, or Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. She joined the Salesian Sisters in 2009 and serves as the vocations director for the eastern U.S. province. Passionate about engaging with youth, she shares encouragement to bring them closer to Jesus.

Digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV

Attendees can attend Mass on Nov. 20 and start to check out the interactive exhibits and stadium setup. 

Friday will feature the main attraction of the 2025 conference — a digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo will hold a 45-minute dialogue with young people from across the United States in Lucas Oil Stadium at 10:15 a.m. ET. A livestream of the discussion will be available on EWTN YouTube.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, is expected to attend NCYC along with several bishops including keynote speaker Bishop Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Other keynote addresses will be from author and missionary Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, host of the podcast “Abiding Together.”

Themed exhibits based on the sacraments will be available throughout the weekend and will include interactive projects and acts of service. Vendors tailored to the young audience will be present including Motherboards, a Catholic skateboarding company, and Catalyst Catholic, a ministry helping young disciples, that will help lead a service project aimed to aid the homeless population. 

Breakout sessions and workshops will start Friday and go through Saturday. Students will hear from and hold discussions with missionaries, social media personalities, and musicians.

Teens will talk about family life, social media, discovering God’s calling, and discernment. Sessions also will target an adult audience for ministry leaders and chaperones including discussions on mental health and handling burnout. 

To conclude the conference, attendees plan to gather for a closing Mass on Saturday evening.

St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, New York. / Credit: CiEll/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Advocates in New York state are petitioning a Catholic foundation there to help fund major pension shortages and church preservation efforts as well as to help support victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in New York City, representatives of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, sexual abuse victims, and pensioners of the former St. Clare’s Hospital asked the foundation to help the three communities with the “profound hardship” they are experiencing.

Numerous parishes in Buffalo have been fighting diocesan-mandated closures and mergers over the past year. Hundreds of former workers of St. Clare’s, meanwhile, saw their pensions reduced or eliminated starting in 2018 due to major shortfalls. The hospital itself closed about a decade before.

Abuse victims, meanwhile, have “been locked in a legal morass, denied the long-term healing resources and institutional acknowledgment of the harm they endured,” the letter said.

The foundation arose in 2018 after the Diocese of Brooklyn sold the health insurer Fidelis Care. The organization, whose roughly $3.2 billion in assets came from that sale, is named after Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American recognized as a saint, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The letter noted that Cabrini “devoted her life to the people others overlooked,” including immigrants and the poor.

“Guided by that legacy, we ask the foundation to explore emergency relief, stabilization funds, and community support initiatives” to help fund the three groups.

The letter-writers asked for a meeting with foundation leaders “to explore potential pathways for assistance aligned with both the foundation’s mission and the pressing needs of survivors, pensioners, and parish communities.”

Mary Pruski, who leads the Save Our Buffalo Churches group, told CNA that advocates in New York City would be following up with the foundation this week.

“This is a complex project and will bring much peace and healing across [New York state],” she said.

Pensioners with St. Clare’s Hospital are currently in the midst of a lawsuit brought by New York state against the Diocese of Albany for what the state attorney general’s office says was “[failure] to adequately fund, manage, and protect hospital employees’ hard-earned pensions.”

The prosecutor’s office alleges that the diocese “[failed] to take adequate measures” to secure the pension fund, including “failing to make any annual contributions to the pension for all but two years from 2000 to 2019 and hiding the collapse of the pension plan from former hospital workers who were vested in the plan.”

Parishioners in Buffalo, meanwhile, have challenged the diocesan parish merger and closure plan, with advocates securing a reprieve against the diocese at the state Supreme Court in July.

The state high court ultimately tossed the lawsuit out in September, ruling that the court had no jurisdiction over the dispute.

EWTN Spain President José Carlos González-Hurtado. / Credit: Nicolás Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).

José Carlos González-Hurtado, president of EWTN Spain, has published a new book, “The Scientific Evidence that Jesus Is God.”

Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gniezno, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference (left), and Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, embrace after signing the joint declaration “Courage of Extended Hands” at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wrocław, Poland, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the historic correspondence between the Polish and German Bishops’ Conferences. / Credit: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz/Rafael Ledschbor

EWTN News, Nov 20, 2025 / 09:10 am (CNA).

Polish and German bishops commemorated this week the 60th anniversary of the historic 1965 reconciliation letters that became a model for European peace.

null / Credit: OlegRi/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

After pushback from investors, Microsoft has signed a statement agreeing not to discriminate against religious or conservative nonprofit groups seeking a discount the tech giant offers to other nonprofits.

On Oct. 10, Microsoft and Boyer Research, a group of shareholders represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal group, signed the agreement. News of the agreement was published on Nov. 14.

The shareholders had planned to put forth a proposal asking Microsoft on Dec. 5 at its annual meeting for a report on the company’s discounting practices, according to Bloomberg News.   

The shareholders agreed not to move forward with the proposal after Microsoft signed the agreement, which stated that nonprofits no longer needed to affirm a nondiscrimination attestation. The company also said a categorical ban on pregnancy centers would be removed.

In a statement to CNA on Nov. 19, Microsoft said: “The broad and diverse array of nonprofits is one of America’s great strengths, and the purpose of this nonprofit program is to provide discounts to a broad group of organizations that qualify as nonprofits under the federal tax code. We don’t think it’s desirable to pick and choose among these organizations based on ideological orientation. In this instance, we found that a small number of organizations that should have been eligible for these discounts were not receiving them. We’ve fixed this and those organizations are now eligible.”

ADF attorney Alexandra Gaiser, who represented the shareholders, told CNA that the legal group and some pregnancy centers they represent are now in “wait-and-see mode.”

She said since the agreement was signed, one pregnancy center has applied for the discount and been denied, but “a couple have received the nonprofit discount.”

“We are looking forward to seeing more nonprofits get the discount,” Gaiser said.

Microsoft is not the only corporation alleged to have discriminatory practices against faith-based or conservative groups that ADF has contended with.

ADF filed two federal lawsuits this year, one against California-based software company Asana and the other against OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, who both agreed in settlements to give previously withheld nonprofit discounts to Holy Sexuality, a Christian nonprofit group that makes videos and courses that teach about biblical principles on human sexuality.

In the settlements, both tech companies said they would remove barriers to the discounts for religious organizations, according to ADF.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier shared a letter he sent to Microsoft on social media on Nov. 3 in which he said the state might take legal action against the company if discriminatory practices against religious groups continued.

St. Patrick as depicted in Martin Scorsese’s “The Saints.” / Credit: Fox Nation

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The second season of Martin Scorsese’s docudrama series “The Saints” premiered on Fox Nation on Nov. 16. The series highlights the extraordinary lives of men and women who embodied their faith and became saints in the Catholic Church. The new season includes episodes on St. Patrick, St. Peter, St. Thomas Becket, and St. Carlo Acutis.

Created by Matti Leshem and developed by Scorsese, himself a Catholic, the show’s new episodes will be released weekly from Nov. 16 to Dec. 7. The first season included episodes on St. Mary Magdalene, St. Moses the Black, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joan of Arc, St. John the Baptist, and St. Sebastian.

Leshem, who co-founded a production company focused on Jewish history and Judeo-Christian dialogue, spoke to CNA in an interview about the inspiration behind the series and how his own Jewish faith has been impacted by diving into the lives of Catholic saints.

The filmmaker shared that he was introduced to the lives of the saints from a young age and was “really moved by them.”

From the ages of 10 to 15 Leshem attended a Catholic school in Copenhagen that was run by Assumptionist nuns. Despite his father being an Israeli ambassador and having a Jewish school available to them, his father “prized education over all things … and he sent me to a Catholic school because that was the best school.”

“I was really exposed to all those stories and I was really taken with it … And I think in adulthood, as I kind of became a filmmaker and told different stories, I thought these are incredible stories of humanity, the story of the saints, and what is it like to be someone who’s actually willing, in many cases, to die for the thing you believe in,” he said.

He added: “I also felt that there was a strong need at this moment, especially, to tell stories about faith. And that really is where the inspiration came from.”

Leshem explained that he believes a series like this is needed right now because “social media has really fragmented society in every way — spiritually, politically, I think especially for young people — I think we’re kind of suffering a spiritual crisis.”

“It’s really been a struggle for young people who are constantly being faced with the comparative ego on social media and this is a time for people to go inwards and to try to find their faith, and the great monotheistic faith traditions are really the thing that we’ve always gone back to time and time again,” he shared.

One saint who will be featured in the second season who Leshem believes is a relatable figure for many today is St. Carlo Acutis — the first millennial saint who was canonized on Sept. 7.

“I think what’s beautiful about Carlo is that he was a regular teenager in some ways, but he also had this deep, spiritual connection from a very early age. He knew that his relationship with Christ was very special,” Leshem shared.

The filmmaker recalled going to Assisi to visit the body of Acutis at the Sanctuary of the Renunciation and witnessing hundreds upon hundreds of schoolchildren lined up to see the beloved saint.

“It was an incredible experience to see that,” he added. “So, we wanted to tell the story of a relevant, modern saint. And I do think that Carlo is a really good example of that resurgence of faith that I hope that we’re seeing.”

In regard to how his Jewish faith has been impacted by delving into the life of Catholics saints, Leshem said: “I feel privileged to be having the most important conversation I think there is to have every single day because I work in the world of saints.”

“I revere the saints and I understand their holiness,” he added.

He pointed out that “a lot of our saints are Jews” — referencing Sts. Peter and Paul, for example —  and with this in mind he tries “to bring a kind of authenticity from my own tradition around that.”

“For me, I’m very comfortable living in a world where I understand the covenant of Judaism and I understand the expression of Christ’s message. It just all feels like a continuum,” he said.

As for what he hopes viewers will take away from the series, Leshem said: “I want believers to be reignited in their faith and I want every atheist that watches the series to be interested and to kind of lean towards the ability — everybody needs to believe in something. I think it’s really hard to be a believer, but I think it’s much harder to be an atheist. And so I am hoping that our series inspires everyone wherever they are on the spectrum of belief.”

Editor’s notes: Due to the content and context of the saints’ stories, including graphic violence and gory details of war, the series is recommended for an adult audience. Additionally, each episode ends with a short discussion between three panelists: Jesuit priest Father James Martin, author and poet Mary Karr, and author and senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Paul Elie.

WASHINGTON - Bishop Daniel E. Garcia has been appointed as the inaugural chairman of the newly established Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, which commenced its work on November 13. His appointment was made by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. The subcommittee’s work falls under the mandate of the domestic justice and human development committee, which includes Catholic social teaching on issues of domestic concern such as poverty, housing, the environment, criminal justice, and other challenges that often have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

The subcommittee was approved by the USCCB’s Administrative Committee in September and is a new, permanent structure replacing the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, which was formed in 2017 to address the sin of racism in the Church and in society. 

In a recent letter to the faithful, Bishop Garcia reflected on his own experience of racism and the great need in both Church and society to recognize the image of God in all people. He noted, “It is my hope that as chair of this new subcommittee, I can help draw our attention as to what still needs to be done to heal the pain caused by the sin of racism that still exists today.” He also addressed the need for the Church’s witness against racism in his installation Mass in the Diocese of Austin. 

Bishop Joseph N. Perry, who recently concluded his term as chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, welcomed Bishop Garcia’s appointment saying, “On behalf of the bishop members, consultants, and staff of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, I wish to express gratitude to Bishop Garcia for accepting this important role as the ad hoc committee transitions to a standing subcommittee within the Conference. Bishop Garcia is well suited to carry on the work which has begun to convert the hearts of the faithful and the community at large, that the dignity of every person may be recognized.” 

The new subcommittee’s mandate centers on education and evangelization, aiming to deepen understanding of racism and promote healing and reconciliation. 

For additional information about the Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation and its work, please visit the USCCB’s racial justice webpage.   

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, bishops are called to be close to the people in their dioceses and peacemakers in a world marked by division and tension, Pope Leo XIV told the bishops of Italy.

Standing in front of the Porziuncola, the small church where St. Francis founded the Franciscan order, Pope Leo said bishops must be "artisans of friendship, fraternity and authentic relationships within our communities, where -- without reluctance or fear -- we must listen to and harmonize tensions, cultivating a culture of encounter and thus becoming a prophecy of peace for the world."

Pope Leo traveled to Assisi by helicopter Nov. 20 to speak at the closing session of the fall meeting of the Italian bishops' conference. The session was closed to the press, but the Vatican released the pope's text and some video clips of his speech a few hours later. 

Before joining the bishops in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which encloses the Porziuncola, Pope Leo prayed with dozens of friars at the tomb of St. Francis in the basilica named after him.

And after his meeting with the bishops, he flew by helicopter to Montefalco to celebrate Mass and have lunch with the cloistered Augustinian nuns at the Monastery of St. Clare of the Cross.

Pope Leo's talk to the bishops focused on the Italian church's ongoing synod process. But he also spoke of practical matters, including the need to continue combining smaller Italian dioceses and indicating that he would be accepting more bishops' resignations when they reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 than Pope Francis did.

The challenge of evangelization and the falling population of many Italian cities and towns "ask us not to go backward on the matter of merging dioceses," he told them. 

Italy, which has about 57.3 million Catholics, has 224 dioceses; 41 of those have been joined to another diocese "in the person of the bishop," without formally suppressing or uniting the dioceses. By contrast, the 75.5 million Catholics in the United States belong to 194 dioceses, the Archdiocese for the Military Services or the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

"A synodal church that walks along the furrows of history while facing the emerging challenges of evangelization needs constant renewal," the pope told the bishops. "We must avoid allowing inertia -- however well-intentioned -- to slow necessary changes."

As part of that, he said, "we must all cultivate that interior attitude Pope Francis had described as 'learning how to take our leave,' a precious disposition when one must prepare to step down from office." 

"It is good that the norm of age 75 for ordinaries concluding their service in dioceses be respected," Pope Leo said, "and only in the case of cardinals may the continuation of their ministry be considered, possibly for another two years."

As bishops and as a church, he said, "Fixing our gaze on the face of Jesus enables us to look into the faces of our brothers and sisters. It is his love that moves us toward them. And faith in him, our peace, calls us to offer everyone the gift of his peace." 

At a time "marked by fractures, both nationally and inter-nationally," the pope said, "messages and language steeped in hostility and violence often spread; the race for efficiency leaves the most vulnerable behind; technological omnipotence compresses freedom; loneliness consumes hope, while numerous uncertainties weigh on our future like unknowns."

Being a "synodal church," he said, means "walking together, walking with everyone," which requires "being a church that lives among the people, welcomes their questions, soothes their sufferings and shares their hopes."

That attitude, Pope Leo told them, must include special attention to the most vulnerable people "so that a culture of prevention of every form of abuse may also develop."

"The welcome and listening offered to victims are the authentic mark of a church which, in communal conversion, knows how to acknowledge wounds and strives to heal them, because 'where pain is deep, even stronger must be the hope that is born of communion,'" the pope said.

Pope Leo also encouraged the bishops to pay special attention to "the challenge posed to us by the digital world."

"Pastoral ministry cannot be limited to 'using' the media," he said, but it must "educate people to inhabit the digital sphere in a human way, without allowing truth to be lost behind the multiplication of connections, so that the internet may truly become a space of freedom, responsibility and fraternity."
 

Pope Leo: Bishops must lead in a divided world

Pope Leo arrived in Assisi by helicopter Nov. 20 for a meeting with members of the Italian bishops’ conference.