Beloved Disciple Parish

The bishops issued their appeal in San Luis Río Colorado, in the Mexican state of Sonora, pictured here. / Credit: AyuntamientoSLRC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 17:13 pm (CNA).

Bishops and priests from several dioceses in the United States and Mexico have invited people to organize a Catholic vigil for migrants on Oct. 22 or another possible date as a way to express solidarity and call for adequate immigration policies.

San Bernardino, California, Bishop Alberto Rojas joined Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, and other bishops Oct. 12 at the Arizona-Sonora border for a binational pilgrimage and Mass.

The appeal for a vigil was made in the final message of the “Binational Encounter: Migrants, Pilgrims of Hope in Christ,” held in San Luis Río Colorado in the Mexican state of Sonora. The encounter included a pilgrimage and a Mass in the Mexican city.

In addition to San Bernardino and Tuscon, participants included representatives from the dioceses of Las Vegas, Mexicali, Matamoros-Reynosa, and Nogales, among others. 

In their final declaration, the signatories recalled that “in the Church, no one is a stranger, and the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere.”

In this regard, they expressed their closeness to those “who are living in fear, faced with dehumanizing rhetoric, policies designed to intimidate, and impossible choices.”

“The broken immigration systems of both countries deny us the chance to welcome them as new members of our community since there are few legal pathways for migration,” they stated.

Given this situation, they said: “This is not a moment for complacency or conformity, it is a moment to be all the more proactive in our pastoral and prophetic work of encounter and welcome with those forced to live in the shadows.”

Recognition of right to regulate immigration

The signatories recognized the right of nations to regulate immigration “consistent with the common good and respect for the dignity of all” as well as the right of people to migrate when conditions in their places of origin are not conducive to a decent life, while respecting the communities that host them.

The declaration recognizes “the inherent and inviolable dignity” of migrants “that no earthly authority can deny.”

In this regard, the signatories called for “resisting the temptation of apathy and instead, with courage and hope, acting to truly live out Christ’s love that transcends borders.”

Call for vigils

To this end, they called for “a Catholic vigil for migrants.” The declaration proposes “Oct. 22 [as] a Catholic day of action, or in the following weeks and months on a symbolic date.”

They also encouraged meetings between people with experience in migration and those “who are more distant from these realities,” reaching out to migrants and praying for authorities, asking them for “laws and policies that promote safety for people fleeing violence, respect the dignity of migrants and refugees, and uphold the sacredness of family unity.”

The text points out that “whatever our country of birth, we endeavor toward the same horizon, yearning for our true homeland.”

“At times, the obstacles before us may seem too great to overcome. But our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, points to a source of inspiration living within our midst: ‘Even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope,’” the statement affirms.

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

null / Credit: esfera/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) at an Oct. 16 hearing heard recommendations from lawmakers and advocates for addressing “severe violations of religious freedom” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“For decades the U.S. government has been a leader for combating China’s religious freedom violations,” said Asif Mahmood, vice chair of the commission. He said it “has sanctioned Chinese government officials” and “supported independent media and nongovernment organizations denouncing violations.”

USCIRF “urges the U.S. government to continue prioritizing religious freedom by designating China as a country of particular concern, raising religious freedom issues with Chinese officials, and supporting independent civil society,” Mahmood continued. He said the U.S. “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines on this issue” because “the lives and well-being of millions are at stake.”

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP imposed mandates that “reflect socialist core values and push to harmonize religion with party-approved Chinese culture.” 

“For a religious organization to even exist in China, that organization must apply for and obtain a permit from the government,” Risch said. But the government has “forcibly eradicated religious elements that are not in line with the CCP’s agenda.” 

This includes “destroying access [to] churches and replacing images of Jesus Christ with Xi Jinping,” Risch said. “China jails thousands of practicing Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians each year for their religious beliefs, with many subjected to forced indoctrination and torture.”

Risch said the aftermath of the country’s “phony” national security law meant “Hong Kong authorities targeted pro-democracy religious groups and activists like Jimmy Lai — a devout Catholic who has tragically been denied holy Communion in prison.”

Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, said American leadership must continue to be “critical in denouncing persecution of Christians and other religious groups around the world.” It is crucial because the CCP “has no interest in protecting freedom of religion … it continues to restrict religious practice, destroy churches, and imprison religious minorities,” Budd said.

“Every day, they torture and target Uyghurs, Thibetans, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners. The spirit of religious persecution is evidence of the CCP’s disregard for human life and natural law,” Budd said.

“Until China changes course, it should be the policy of the United States to hold them accountable for their severe violations of religious freedom,” Budd said. The U.S. should continue to designate China as a country of particular concern, he said.

Other speakers, including Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, said the U.S. must protect religious liberty within its own nation as it works to help other countries. He asked: “How can Americans expect to be taken seriously on the world stage if our leaders are failing to defend religious freedom here at home?” 

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said: “The CCP doesn’t just threaten American interests. It threatens the very idea that human beings are born free, the truth exists beyond the reach of the state, and that no government can claim ownership of the soul.”

“Under Xi Jinping, the CCP has declared war on faith itself. Across China today, the party is carrying out the most systematic campaign of religious persecution since the Cultural Revolution,” Moolenaar said. “They call it sinicization of religion, but what it really means is subjugation.”

Panelists and suggestions

Annie Boyajian, speaking on behalf of Freedom House, an organization dedicated to fighting for democracy and human rights, told the commission that “first and foremost,” Freedom House agrees that China should be redesignated as a country of particular concern when it comes to religious freedom threats.

“Individuals can face up to 14 years in prison for knowing that someone has committed so-called treason … meaning that priests could be forced to choose between going to jail or divulging information shared with them by parishioners during confession,” Boyajian said.

Freedom House maintains “a global database that documents direct physical incidents of transnational repression, and 22% of the cases … documented since 2014 were committed by the Chinese government,” Boyajian said. 

These instances include “unlawful deportations, assaults, and harassment in 30 countries as well as surveillance, intimidation, coercion of family members, mobility controls, detention, and interval abuse,” Boyajian said. “Religious and ethnic minorities are prime targets for transnational repression.”

“The U.S. government should work to expose transnational oppression by coordinating with allies to monitor, document, and counter China’s unlawful deportations, harassment of diaspora communities, and abuse of Interpol red notices, and take special care to not facilitate the perpetration of transnational repression,” Boyajian said.

Boyajian offered a number of other recommendations to the committee, including that the U.S. “work to enforce accountability” by “imposing targeted sanctions on officials and entities responsible for a severe religious persecution.” She also suggested that policymakers “strengthen asylum protections and humanitarian pathways” for those facing religious persecution.

Corey Jackson, a Presbyterian pastor from Kerry, North Carolina, who previously lived in China, recounted his experience: “The CCP attempts to control every aspect of life, including the freedom of religion of Christians.”

He explained that for Christians, “building or renting spaces for churches is prohibited, and Bibles cannot be sold in bookstores or made publicly available.” Leaders within unregistered churches “are particularly vulnerable,” he said, and are often placed under house arrest or imprisoned on broad national security charges such as subversion of power.

Jackson asked the commission and the U.S. government to “exert pressure on the CCP” to release political prisoners arrested for their faith including Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and the other 21 prisoners arrested last week at an underground church. He also recommended that Congress impose religious freedom tariffs on China alongside other economic tariffs. 

Boyajian said that “despite China’s religious persecution, millions of believers continue to practice their faith, often at immense personal risk.”

She added: “Their resilience reminds us that religious freedom is not a secondary concern. It is central to human dignity, to civil society, and to the defense of democracy worldwide.”

The discovery in southern Turkey of five small round loaves — probably intended for the Eucharist — more than 1,300 years old, one of which features an image of Jesus Christ, took place in Topraktepe, an ancient Roman and Byzantine center known as Irenopolis, located in the present-day Turkish province of Karaman. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Karaman Governorship

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA).

A team of archaeologists has discovered at a site in southern Turkey five small round loaves —  probably intended for the Eucharist — more than 1,300 years old, one of which features an image of Jesus Christ. 

The discovery took place in Topraktepe, an ancient Roman and Byzantine center known as Irenopolis — the “City of Peace” — located in present-day Karaman province in the historical region of Anatolia.

The loaves, made with barley and dating from the sixth to eighth centuries, have been exceptionally well preserved thanks to their carbonization and the oxygen-free environment where they were found. According to researchers, they are the best-preserved examples of their type found to date in Anatolia.

One of the loaves depicts the figure of Jesus Christ accompanied by the Greek inscription “With our gratitude to the Blessed Jesus.” Others feature reliefs in the shape of a Greek cross.

According to the official statement from the Karaman government, the figure depicted corresponds to “Jesus the Sower” or “Jesus the Farmer,” a different image from the traditional Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of All), depicted in a majestic pose, holding the Gospel in one hand and the other raised in a gesture of blessing.

Giovanni Collamati, a professor of history at CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, Spain, who specializes in the Middle Ages, explained in conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, the significance of this discovery, pointing out that the iconography of Christ changes over time.

Collamati emphasized that the discovery took place in a city that was not important within the empire — such as Constantinople — so it may provide clues to a historically unknown form of liturgical worship of Christ, a “much more local liturgical worship that originates from people who do not belong to the elite but is a devotion much more of the common people.” 

The excavations were carried out under the direction of the Karaman Museum and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Experts will continue analyzing the loaves to further their study and gain more insight into their origin and use. 

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

Sister Anselimina Karimi was found dead on Oct. 12, 2025, in the Meru Diocese in Kenya. / Credit: Radio 47 Digital

ACI Africa, Oct 16, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).

A judge in Kenya has ordered the continued detention of a Catholic religious sister accused of involvement in the death of her colleague in the country’s Diocese of Meru, citing the seriousness of the alleged offense, the need to complete investigations, and concerns for her personal safety. 

According to Kenyan media reports, Senior Resident Magistrate Evalyne Ndegwa ruled on Oct. 14 that Sister Caroline Kanjiru of the Nazareth Sisters of the Annunciation will remain in custody for two weeks to allow investigators to conduct DNA testing and other forensic procedures related to the death of her colleague, Sister Anselmina Karimi, who was found dead on Oct. 12.

“In my opinion, it is necessary for the suspect’s own safety and protection and to prevent public outrage and retaliation to have her detained at this stage,” Ndegwa said.

The Kenyan Meru-based magistrate added that the extended detention would enable law enforcement officials “to escort the suspect to the government chemist for DNA analysis” and facilitate the completion of other critical investigative steps.”

“I therefore find merit in the application and direct that the suspect be detained for 14 days,” she said in response to a prosecution request to hold Kanjiru for two weeks pending further inquiry.

Sources told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, that Kanjiru had recently succeeded the late Karimi as head of Nkabune Children’s Home, an orphanage under the Diocese of Meru.

“The deceased had faithfully served for many years, running a children’s home. She was requested to transfer to allow another sister to take over, but she declined. [She had] shared a lot of personal and institutional information with her family,” according to a note ACI Africa obtained, suggesting the sister’s family was possibly involved in the apostolate, making her reluctant to hand over the project.

According to ACI Africa, the family of the late sister is claiming that the detained sister was involved in the death of their kinswoman.

The same note obtained by ACI Africa indicated that the late sister had “collapsed and passed away while alone,” adding that the suspect in custody “does not reside near her room.”

“Nonetheless, a postmortem will be conducted to establish the true cause of death,” the note said.

During the Oct. 14 hearing, the prosecution argued that the suspect faced “hostility from the public, poses a flight risk, and may interfere with witnesses.” 

The defense team, however, opposed the application, noting that Kanjiru had “voluntarily surrendered to authorities” and was “ready to comply with court conditions.”

Kanjiru’s lawyer further told the court that, contrary to the prosecution’s claim, “the area is not hostile.” He added that the Catholic Church was “willing to provide security” for the accused.

In her ruling, Ndegwa directed that Kanjiru, who has been in police custody since Oct. 12, remain detained at the Meru Police Station as investigations continue.

“Once the investigations are completed, either the suspect will be charged with the offense or she will be exonerated from custody,” the magistrate stated, expressing optimism that by the end of 14 days, “the society’s anger would have been quelled.”

The autopsy for Karimi was scheduled for Oct. 16.

The Religious Institute of the Nazareth Sisters of the Annunciation recently expressed deep sorrow about the loss of one its members.

In a statement on Wednesday, the institute’s superior general, Sister Adelina M. Muguna, said the congregation “is also greatly saddened by the arrest and detention of their member, Sister Caroline Kanjiru Paul, on suspicion that she is connected with the Oct. 12 incident.” 

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

The Legislative Palace of Uruguay. / Credit: Coquimbo58, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 14:41 pm (CNA).

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, Uruguay’s Senate passed the Death with Dignity bill, which opens the door to euthanasia in the country.

Following a favorable vote by 20 senators (out of 31 present), the bill, which had previously been approved in August by Uruguay’s lower house, will go to the office of President Yamandú Orsi, a member of the Broad Front, the political coalition that promoted the legislative initiative.

Orsi can sign the bill into law or veto it, either entirely or partially. 

The measure approved by the Senate would allow any person over the age of 18 in Uruguay who “suffers from one or more chronic, incurable, and irreversible pathologies or health conditions that seriously impair their quality of life, causing unbearable suffering” to have access to euthanasia.

With this outcome, Uruguay would become the first country in South America to legalize euthanasia through a legislative process. Countries such as Colombia and Ecuador have opened the door to this practice through judicial mechanisms.

Bishops lament law that promotes ‘culture of death’

In a statement released after the Senate vote, the Uruguayan Bishops’ Conference said that “this law promotes the ‘culture of death.’”

“In a country with a high suicide rate, with serious difficulties in addressing the issue of mental health, this law goes against the value and dignity of human life and puts us on a risky path of normalizing the search for death as a solution to life situations that can be addressed in other ways,” the Uruguayan bishops pointed out.

Reiterating a message released in June of this year, the bishops asserted that “every human life appears before us as something unique, unrepeatable, and irreplaceable; its value is independent of health status, ethnicity, sex, culture, socioeconomic status, or any other circumstance.”

“Dying with dignity means dying without pain or other poorly controlled symptoms; dying in one’s natural time, without life being unnecessarily shortened or prolonged; dying surrounded by the love of family and friends; dying with the opportunity to have been adequately informed, choosing, if possible, the place (hospital or home) and participating in all important decisions that affect one; dying with the spiritual support one needs,” they emphasized.

The prelates said that “as the Church on pilgrimage in Uruguay, we want to continue working to protect life and its dignity, as is also recognized by our Constitution and the several international treaties our country has signed.”

“We are convinced that sharing our moments of greatest human weakness can become a great opportunity to discover together the transcendent and profound meaning of our lives,” the bishops noted.

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

The number of young Americans who are self-identifying as transgender or nonheterosexual declined in 2024 and 2025, according to an Oct. 10, 2025, report. / Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 14:11 pm (CNA).

The number of young Americans who self-identify as transgender or nonheterosexual declined in 2024 and 2025, according to a report from the Centre for Heterodox Social Science (CHSS), which compiled data from undergraduate student surveys and broader surveys of young people.

The Oct. 10 report, titled “The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity Among Young Americans,” found an overall decline in people who identify with the broader “LGBTQ+” community, with a bulk of the decline in those who identify as bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Eric Kaufmann, director of CHSS and a politics professor at the University of Buckingham, led the study.

The report noted a surge in young people identifying with those segments in the 2010s and the 2020s, which peaked in 2023. Since then, the report concluded that “trans, queer, and bisexual identities are in rapid decline among young educated Americans.”

It found that the number of young people identifying as “nonbinary” — neither male nor female — dropped significantly in three of five data sources reviewed in the report. Both of the other surveys, however, showed stability in “nonbinary” identification.

According to the report, the Andover Phillips Academy survey saw the total number of students identifying as “nonbinary” drop from 9% to 3% from 2023 to 2025. A much larger sample from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) saw a decline from 6.8% to 3.6% in the same time period. The Brown University student survey showed a drop from 5% to 2.6%.

The other data sources — the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) and the Cooperative Election Study (CCES) — alternatively found “nonbinary” identification to be stable.

According to the report, the number of students identifying as “gay” and “lesbian” was stable in the time period measured, but researchers found a decrease in other nonheterosexual identification, such as “questioning,” “asexual,” “pansexual,” and “other.”

The report noted the Andover survey showed nonheterosexual identification peak in 2023, when 63.5% of the student body identified as heterosexual.

In that survey, identification as bisexual peaked in 2023 at 17% of the student body and decreased to 12% by 2025. “Queer” and “other” identifications also peaked in 2023 to 17%, dropped to 9% in 2024, and went back up to 12% in 2025. 

According to the FIRE data, identification as heterosexual was at 68% in 2023 and increased to 77% in 2025, with strong decreases in the “queer” and “other” categories of sexual orientation.

The HERI data showed heterosexual identification drop to 77% in 2023 and increase to 82% in 2024, which is the most recent year data is available. The Brown survey found that heterosexual identification reached its low point of 60% in its 2022-2023 data and increased to 68% in fall 2025.

The General Social Survey saw heterosexual identification drop to its low point of 71% in 2022 and rise to 81% in 2024. The CCES survey alternatively showed a stable increase in nonheterosexual identification through 2024.

“To the extent that the youngest represent the leading edge of new trends, this suggests that trans, bisexual, and queer identities are declining in popularity with each new cohort,” the report noted.

The report concluded the decline is not likely related to political, cultural, or religious beliefs, but suggested a correlation with improved mental health, which “appears to be part of the explanation for the decline of BTQ+ identification.”

“Only time will tell if the substantial decline of BTQ+ identification will continue among young Americans,” the report’s conclusion read. “If so, this represents a momentous and unanticipated post-progressive cultural shift in American society.” 

Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA the research “is interesting and somewhat encouraging, but I wouldn’t pop the champagne corks and celebrate a victory yet.”

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a “troubling rise” in transgender identification among high schoolers, Hasson said.

“Even with a possible decrease, young Americans are still self-identifying as ‘trans’ in radically higher numbers than in past generations, when only a fraction of a fraction of a percent self-identified as ‘trans,’” she added. 

Even with the decrease in nonheterosexuality among college students, Hasson said “the ‘improvement’ still leaves nearly a quarter of our youngest generation as self-identified ‘nonheterosexuals’ … which means they reject the nature and truth of the body and human sexuality.”

“The overall concern remains — too many young people do not know the truth of ‘who they are’ and don’t accept the sexual identity God has given to them,” Hasson added. “So, it doesn’t change the work we do — we continue to pray and speak the truth, to reach those who are lost and searching for the truth and love that only God can give.”

Nigerian security officers during a military operation ahead of the gubernatorial elections in Benin City, Edo, Nigeria, on Sept. 17, 2020. / Credit: Oluwafemi Dawodu/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

Christian leaders delivered a letter to President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 urging him to redesignate Nigeria as a country of particular concern on the U.S. government’s international religious freedom watch list. 

“We fervently urge you to redesignate Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom [IRF] Act, as you did in your first term,” the letter states. “The last several years have seen a burgeoning of violent attacks specifically targeting rural Christians in the country’s Middle Belt, while the government in Abuja barely lifts a finger to protect them.” 

The letter’s signatories included San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone; Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow and director for the Center for Religious Freedom; Kelsey Reinhardt, CatholicVote president and CEO; Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing; and Luke Moon, executive director of the Philos Project. 

“The Nigerian government is directly violating religious freedom by enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty and harsh prison sentences against citizens of various religions,” the letter continued. “It also demonstrably tolerates relentless aggression uniquely against Christian farming families by militant Fulani Muslim herders, who appear intent on forcibly Islamizing the Middle Belt.”

In a statement to CNA on Monday, Shea said the Nigerian government “refuses to enforce the law against Fulani militants who are relentlessly and systematically invading rural Christian areas in the Middle Belt and massacring and driving out the civilians while crying the jihadi war cry “Allahu Akbar.” 

“Many Middle Belt Christian leaders are reporting that this is a concerted land grab from Christian communities in order to forcibly Islamicize Nigeria,” she added. The letter describes the Fulani herdsmen as “the biggest threat facing Nigeria’s Christians.” 

The letter called attention to “innocent Muslims and Christians alike” who have been “brutally victimized by Boko Haram and other Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked terror groups seeking religious and political domination within that country.”

Citing research from various groups, the letter noted that 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed since 2009. In addition, it said, thousands of Christians have been murdered and raped in 2025, and “over 100 Christian pastors and Catholic priests have been taken hostage for ransom.”

“We are concerned that your administration may be considering listing Nigeria on the IRF Act’s ‘Special Watch List’ instead of designating it as a CPC,” the letter said, noting the decision, likely influenced by the “misconception” that a CPC designation requires the U.S. to sanction Nigeria, would be a mistake.

“In fact, the IRF Act does not mandate automatic sanctions and, moreover, provides for a sanctions waiver and cites a range of other possible policy responses,” it stated.

“We believe that, after nearly five years of simply ‘watching’ the arrest of individuals on harsh blasphemy charges and the relentless massacre and persecution of defenseless Christians solely for their faith, assigning only Special Watch List status would be a weak and legally inadequate response,” the letter concluded. “Such a move would dishonor religious freedom as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy and further reinforce the previous administration’s downgrade and sidelining of the targeted killing of Christians.”

In November 2021, the Biden administration, through then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, removed Nigeria from the list of countries of particular concern.

Teresa Lai greets Pope Leo XIV after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 12:48 pm (CNA).

The wife and daughter of imprisoned democracy activist and Catholic Jimmy Lai met Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Oct. 15, greeting the Holy Father ahead of the expected verdict in Lai’s yearslong trial in Hong Kong.

Teresa and Claire Lai spoke to Leo after the general audience on Wednesday, appearing in the formal black attire traditionally worn by women greeting the pope.

The 77-year-old Lai has been imprisoned in Hong Kong for years on what advocates have argued are political charges including fraud and participation in unauthorized protests.

A longtime free speech activist and human rights advocate, Lai — who converted to Catholicism in 1997 and who has spoken publicly about his faith on numerous occasions — was first arrested just over five years ago, in August 2020, on charges related to Hong Kong’s then-new national security law.

The former media mogul’s national security trial commenced in December 2023. Closing arguments in the trial occurred in August, but Lai’s son Sebastian said earlier this year that Lai was “not going to get sentenced until either [the] end of this year or the start of next year.”

Lai’s imprisonment has drawn criticism and rebuke from advocates around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who earlier this year vowed to do “everything [he] can” to “save” the activist.

“[Lai’s] name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about,” Trump said in August.

Lai has also been the recipient of numerous accolades and awards since his imprisonment. In April the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation announced that he would be an honorary recipient of a 2025 Bradley Prize for being an “inspiration to all who value freedom.”

On Oct. 14, meanwhile, the International Press Institute named Lai a recipient of its 2025 World Press Freedom Hero award.

Statues of St. Florian (at left) and St. Michael the Archangel (at right) are currently barred from appearing on the planned public safety building of Quincy, Massachusetts. / Credit: Courtesy of Office of Mayor Thomas Koch

Boston, Massachusetts, Oct 16, 2025 / 12:18 pm (CNA).

A Massachusetts trial court judge has issued an order blocking the installation of statues of two Catholic saints on a new public safety building in the city of Quincy, setting up a likely appeal that may determine how the state treats separation of church and state disputes going forward.

The 10-foot-high bronze statues of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian, which were scheduled to be installed on the building’s façade this month, will instead await a higher court’s decision.

The statues cost an estimated $850,000, part of the new, $175 million public safety building that will serve as police headquarters and administration offices for the Boston suburb’s fire department.

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, a practicing Catholic, has said he chose St. Michael the Archangel because he is the patron of police officers and St. Florian because he is the patron of firefighters, not to send a message about religion.

But the judge said the statues can’t be separated from the saints’ Catholic connections.

“The complaint here plausibly alleges that the statues at issue convey a message endorsing one religion over others,” Norfolk County Superior Court Judge William Sullivan wrote in a 26-page ruling Oct. 14.

The judge noted that the statues “represent two Catholic saints.”

“The statues, particularly when considered together, patently endorse Catholic beliefs,” the judge wrote.

The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit challenging the statues — 15 city residents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts — have amassed facts that “plausibly suggest that an objective observer would view these statues on the façade of the public safety building as primarily endorsing Catholicism/Christianity and conveying a distinctly religious message,” the judge wrote.

Rachel Davidson, staff attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts, who argued the case during a lengthy court hearing on Sept. 19, praised the judge’s decision.

“This ruling affirms the bedrock principle that our government cannot favor one religion above others, or religious beliefs over nonreligious beliefs,” Davidson said in a written statement. “We are grateful to the court for acknowledging the immediate harm that the installation of these statues would cause and for ensuring that Quincy residents can continue to make their case for the proper separation of church and state, as the Massachusetts Constitution requires.”

The mayor said the city will appeal.

“We chose the statues of Michael and Florian to honor Quincy’s first responders, not to promote any religion,” Koch said in a written statement provided to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, by a spokesman. “These figures are recognized symbols of courage and sacrifice in police and fire communities across the world. We will appeal this ruling so our city can continue to celebrate and inspire the men and women who protect us.” The lawsuit, which was filed May 27 in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, relies on the Massachusetts Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution, but there is a tie-in.

In 1979, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court adopted the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1971 three-pronged “Lemon test” when considering church and state cases — whether a law concerning religion has “a secular legislative purpose,” whether “its principal or primary effect … neither advances [n]or inhibits religion,” and whether it fosters “excessive entanglement between government and religion.” 

The state’s highest court also added a fourth standard — whether a “challenged practice” has “divisive political potential.”

But in June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ditched the Lemon test in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, a case involving prayers offered by a high school football coach in Washington state.

If the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which is the ultimate interpreter of state law, takes the Quincy statues dispute, it would be the first time the court has considered a case on point since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kennedy decision.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. / Credit: legacy1995/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).

A Missouri appeals court has ordered that an alleged victim of clergy sexual abuse can sue the Archdiocese of St. Louis, ruling that an arcane aspect of bankruptcy law does not negate the archdiocese’s potential liability for abuse that the plaintiff allegedly repressed for decades.

The case touches on both the complex character of U.S. bankruptcy statutes as well as the often-protracted nature of abuse allegations, which frequently only come to light years or decades after the abuse is alleged to have occurred. 

In its Oct. 14 ruling, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, said the alleged victim, John Doe, claims to have been abused at the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in the late 1980s. 

Doe alleges that Father Alexander Anderson, who was assigned as a counselor to the home, sexually abused him; the plaintiff said he “reported the abuse [but] no action was taken,” according to the court. 

Doe “alleged he repressed his memory of the abuse until 2016,” the court said. He ultimately filed suit against the archdiocese in August 2022. 

The archdiocese argued in response that Doe’s abuse claim was effectively negated by two bankruptcy claims he had filed in 2008 and 2009. U.S. law dictates that when debtors file for bankruptcy, they create “an estate that includes nearly all of the debtor’s legal or equitable interests in property,” including legal causes of action. 

The archdiocese claimed that since Doe did not list his abuse claims as “exempted assets” in his bankruptcy proceedings, they became part of that “estate” and can only be administered by the trustee that handled those proceedings. 

The appeals court rejected the archdiocese’s argument, reversing a lower court decision and holding that Doe’s “cause of action” only arose when he said he remembered the alleged abuse in 2016, “well after” his bankruptcy filings. 

Doe’s standing to sue “did not accrue [when] the sexual abuse was allegedly committed” but rather when it was “capable of ascertainment,” the court held. 

The court’s ruling cited Missouri Supreme Court precedent, which holds that, in some cases of abuse, “the victim may be so young, mentally incompetent, or otherwise innocent and lacking in understanding that the person could not reasonably have understood that substantial harm could have resulted from the wrong.”

The St. Louis Archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling on Oct. 16. 

This is not the first instance in which the archdiocese has been held accountable for abuse allegations that an alleged victim claimed to have repressed for decades.

In 2023 the archdiocese agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to a man who said he was abused by Father Gary Wolken in the mid-1990s but repressed the memories until he was an adult. 

Wolken was in prison from 2003 to 2015 for sexually abusing another boy in the St. Louis area from 1997 to 2000.