Beloved Disciple Parish

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 5, 2025. / Daniel Ibañez

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2025 / 07:50 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday condemned the resurgence of antisemitic hatred and appealed for renewed commitment to peace in the Middle East, while also assuring prayers for victims of a devastating earthquake in the Philippines.

“I express my concern about the rise of antisemitic hatred in the world, as unfortunately we saw with the terrorist attack in Manchester a few days ago,” the pope said from St. Peter’s Square, before leading the Angelus prayer. He added that he “continue[s] to be saddened by the immense suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

The pope said that “in the dramatic situation in the Middle East, some significant steps forward have been taken in peace negotiations,” and urged all leaders “to commit themselves to this path, to bring about a ceasefire and to release the hostages.” He also invited the faithful “to remain united in prayer, so that the ongoing efforts may put an end to the war and lead us towards a just and lasting peace.”

Turning to the Philippines, where a strong earthquake struck the central region on Sept. 30, Pope Leo expressed closeness “to the dear Filipino people,” and said he prays “for those who are most severely affected by the consequences of the earthquake.” “Faced with any danger,” he added, “let us remain united and supportive in our trust in God and in the intercession of our Blessed Mother.”

Call to pray for peace

The pope invited Catholics to join spiritually with those gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, for the traditional Supplication held each October. “In this month of October, as we contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ our Savior, let us deepen our prayer for peace: a prayer that becomes concrete solidarity with those people tormented by war,” he said. “Thank you to the many children around the world who have committed themselves to praying the Rosary for this intention. You have our heartfelt thanks!”

Pope Leo also greeted participants in the Jubilee for missionaries and migrants, thanking them for their witness. “The Church is entirely missionary and is one great people journeying towards the Kingdom of God,” he said. “But no one should be forced to flee, nor exploited or mistreated because of their situation as foreigners or people in need! Human dignity must always come first.”

‘A new missionary age opens in the Church’

Earlier that morning, the pope celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of the Missionary World and the Jubilee of Migrants in St. Peter’s Square, inviting Catholics to renew their missionary vocation through compassion and welcome.

“Today we celebrate the Jubilee of the Missions and of Migrants,” he began. “This is a wonderful opportunity to rekindle in ourselves the awareness of our missionary vocation, which arises from the desire to bring the joy and consolation of the Gospel to everyone, especially those who are experiencing difficult and painful situations.”

Recalling the prophet Habakkuk’s lament — “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” — the pope said that faith transforms lives and “makes of them an instrument of the salvation that even today God wishes to bring about in the world.” True faith, he said, “does not impose itself by means of power and in extraordinary ways,” but “carries within it the strength of God’s love that opens the way to salvation.”

Pope Leo said the missionary calling today means responding to suffering close at hand as well as far away. “If for a long time we have associated with mission the word ‘depart’ … today the frontiers of the missions are no longer geographical, because poverty, suffering and the desire for a greater hope have made their way to us,” he said.

“Those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!” he warned. “Mission is not so much about ‘departing’, but instead ‘remaining’ in order to proclaim Christ through hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity.”

The pope encouraged renewed cooperation among Churches, noting that migration from the Global South can “renew the face of the Church and sustain a Christianity that is more open, more alive and more dynamic.” He also called for “new missionary effort by laity, religious and priests who will offer their service in missionary lands,” especially in Europe.

Concluding, Pope Leo offered his blessing “to the local clergy of the particular Churches, to missionaries and those discerning a vocation,” and told migrants, “know that you are always welcome!”

Throughout his homily and his Angelus address, Pope Leo returned to a single message: faith expressed in prayer, compassion, and hospitality remains the seed of peace — whether in war-torn regions, along migration routes, or in the hearts of those who choose to welcome others.

Sister Norman Pimentel, “the immigrants’ nun,” participated in an Oct. 2, 2025, meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Sister Norma Pimentel is known as “the immigrants’ nun.” For over a decade, she has directed the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV) Humanitarian Respite Center, a humanitarian aid center located in McAllen, Texas, on the border with Mexico. From there, she has provided assistance to people who arrive in the United States seeking asylum.

According to Pimentel, the increase in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expel immigrants who lack legal status in the country has unleashed a climate of fear in communities.

‘Raids are taking place everywhere’

“People are extremely afraid ... they know that nowhere is safe, they pick you up anywhere, and you can’t even go to the supermarket because raids are taking place everywhere,” the religious explained.

Last year, the center received a legal request from the Texas attorney general’s office to compel a CCRGV representative to sit for a deposition regarding its immigrant assistance efforts, although the case was subsequently dismissed by a judge.

Pimentel said the sense of widespread fear has also spread to other residents of the Rio Grande Valley. Many now think: “If I help him, maybe something will happen to me too,” she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, shortly after participating in the Oct. 2 “Refugees and Migrants in Our Common Home” conference with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.

The initiative, part of the Jubilee of Migrants, is the first global meeting promoted by the Vatican to bring together religious institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and experts dedicated to addressing the challenges of migratory flows.

At the meeting, the pontiff asked all of the participants to promote a culture of “reconciliation and hope” to address the “urgent challenges” of migration.

‘You can’t say you’re pro-life if you don’t defend immigrants’

“The Holy Father strongly affirms that immigrants are human beings who must be recognized and treated with dignity. Therefore, you can’t say you’re pro-life if you don’t defend the lives of human beings and immigrants,” Pimentel pointed out.

Every so often, dozens of exhausted people knock on her door, their bodies reflecting the consequences of a hellish journey. Most travel hundreds of miles on foot to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pimentel, a sister of the Missionaries of Jesus, who works side by side with the bishop of Brownsville, Daniel Flores, always greets them with a warm welcome: “We are right on the border, there with the immigrants, with the migrant families, who are truly part of our Church.”

“We are very versed in how to be present, how to speak and encourage people to be good neighbors, to help each other, to not feel afraid that the government won’t allow us to live our religion, our faith, and to be present to help people when they need it,” she explained.

The most important thing is “that they don’t feel abandoned and alone” and that they realize that, despite the growing hostility, “they do matter in this life.”

This total commitment is born from the conviction that every person who suffers bears the face of Christ. In any case, Pimentel doesn’t hide the fact that she sometimes feels overwhelmed. “We don’t have enough resources,” she lamented.

She’s also convinced that giving these migrants a face and sharing the horror stories they endure is the best antidote to society being fed up with immigrants: “When I see a crying child who comes up to me and says, ‘Help me,’ with tears streaming down his face, [I want] to be able to share that with other people. That way, people can feel that pain, the cries of that child or that mother who is scared and afraid of how to protect her children.”

That’s why she never misses an opportunity to make known the pain of these people because “when you get close to a human being who is suffering, your heart connects and you change.”

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

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio. / Credit: After Elia Stelluto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For the first time in the United States, Catholics will have the opportunity to venerate the full-size habit worn by St. Pio of Pietrelcina, also known as Padre Pio.

The rare opportunity will take place from Oct. 11–14 at the National Centre for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Allentown.

A group of Italian Capuchin friars from Padre Pio’s friary — the Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary in San Giovanni Rotondo in southern Italy — will bring the habit to be displayed at the national center, which has been designated a jubilee site within the Allentown Diocese. 

“This unprecedented visit from the friars of San Giovanni Rotondo is an amazing opportunity for us to be able to share a rare and intimate relic of Padre Pio with his devotees,” Vera Marie Calandra, the vice president of the center, said on the group’s website. 

“We expect to have pilgrims visiting from throughout the United States, and we will be ready to make their visit a special time of veneration, prayer, and reflection.”

The weekend of festivities will open on Saturday, Oct. 11, with Mass celebrated by the Capuchin friars from San Giovanni Rotondo. Following the Mass, there will be a procession honoring Padre Pio. 

Mass will also be celebrated on Sunday, Oct. 12, with a procession following. On Oct. 13, Harrisburg Bishop Emeritus Ronald Gainer will celebrate Mass in English followed by a Mass celebrated in Italian by the friars. 

Allentown Bishop Alfred Schlert will celebrate Mass on Oct. 14 followed by a Mass celebrated in Italian by the friars. 

“We could not be more excited about having the opportunity to have Padre [Francesco] Dileo and other friars from Padre Pio’s Our Lady of Grace friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, visit us with these rare and precious relics,” said Nick Gibboni, the executive director of the National Centre for Padre Pio.

“We continue to be enormously blessed to have a close relationship with Padre Pio’s brother friars, and we are excited about our continued relationship.” 

In addition to the habit’s visit at the national center, the friars will also be taking the habit to the Padre Pio Foundation of America in Cromwell, Connecticut. The habit will be available for veneration at St. Pius X Church in Middletown, Connecticut, from Oct. 15–18. 

Padre Pio was a Capuchin Franciscan friar, priest, and mystic of the 20th century. He is known for his deep wisdom about prayer and peace, having the stigmata, miraculous reports of his bilocation, being physically attacked by the devil, and mastering the spiritual life. 

His tomb can be found in the Sanctuary of St. Mary Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

Pope Leo XIV signs his first apostolic exhortation, 'Dilexi te', at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 14:39 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 4 signed the first apostolic exhortation of his pontificate, the text of which is expected to be released next week.

The Vatican said in a press release that Leo signed the exhortation "Dilexi te" in the library of the Apostolic Palace. The Holy See did not reveal the text of the document, which it said will be presented on Oct. 9 by the Holy See Press Office.

The focus of the document was also not officially announced, though it is reportedly expected to focus on the poor. It was signed on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

The signing of the document took place in the presence of Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, the Vatican said.

Pope Leo XIV greets a member of the Swiss Guard during a swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday attended the swearing-in of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican, the first time a pope has attended the pomp-filled ceremony since the pontificate of Pope Paul VI in 1968.

The event took place in the Vatican's San Damaso Courtyard. The Holy Father was joined by a crowd of spectators watching as the 27 new members were sworn into the ranks of the papal guard.

The swearing-in ceremony, when the new guards promise to protect the pope, if necessary with their lives, was postponed from the traditional date of May 6 due to the conclave that saw Leo elected.

The pope met the recruits and their families at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 3, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.

“From the first steps of my pontificate, dear Swiss Guards, I have been able to count on your faithful service,” the pope said on Oct. 3.

“The successor of Peter can fulfill his mission in service to the Church and the world in the certainty that you are watching over his safety," he added.

He encouraged the new guards to draw inspiration from the stories of the first Christian martyrs in Rome to deepen their relationships with Jesus and to cultivate their interior lives “amid the frenzy of our society.”

The centuries-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan is partially damaged following the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu, Central Philippines, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 / Credit: Santosh Digal

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

Catholic aid agencies in coordination with local dioceses and authorities are spearheading efforts to assist people affected by a major 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu, central Philippines this week.

Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian, development, and advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, is at the forefront of relief efforts in the affected areas.

“In the spirit of mercy, solidarity, and fraternal cooperation among Caritas Philippines' network, we stand with the people of Cebu,” Jeanie Curiano, the humanitarian head of Caritas Philippines, told CNA on Oct. 3.

“We are committed to supporting them, putting the affected communities at the center of our work — in rebuilding lives with dignity and hope,” she added.

On Sept. 30 a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 hit Cebu and surrounding provinces. Its epicenter was located 19 kilometers northeast, offshore of Bogo City. 

More than 300 recorded aftershocks were felt. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology subsequently issued a tsunami alert.

The Office of Civil Defense confirmed as many as 68 deaths following the earthquake. 

The earthquake has reportedly impacted more than 80,595 families and around 366,360 people, with aftershocks forcing many to sleep outside in unsafe conditions. Homes, schools, and parish buildings in Cebu have suffered severe damage, with electricity, water supply, and telecoms still unavailable.

There were reportedly 1,795 individuals staying in eight evacuation centers, while 75,227 others were temporarily staying outside of their homes due to fear of aftershocks.

Caritas Philippines has begun relief efforts, sending rice, drinking water, and shelter repair kits, while rapid assessment teams coordinate next steps.

According to the volcano institute, the earthquake in Bogo City is the strongest ever recorded in northern Cebu. It has affected 47,221 families and displaced 20,000 individuals there, Philippine officials said.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, meanwhile, reported the discovery of sinkholes in several locations. 

Churches damaged or collapsed

The earthquake partially collapsed or damaged at least five churches in Cebu.

Parts of the centuries-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan fell during the earthquake. Notably, the retablo picture of Santa Rosa de Lima, the city's patron saint, was completely unharmed.

The Parroquia de San Pedro Apostol Church on Bantayan Island urged people to stay away from its property after debris fell in front of the church.

Some of the walls and ceilings in St. Martin de Porres Parish at Tabogon fell, while the earthquake broke an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and made cracks appear in the bell tower of San Sebastian Martyr Parish in Borbon.

The San Juan Nepomuceno Parish in San Remegio reported that several holy images have fallen, and there is clear damage inside the church.

Archbishop Alberto Sy Uy of Cebu instructed his staff to inspect the structures of churches and rectories. He also instructed parishes in northern Cebu to refrain from holding Mass in the churches until they are considered safe.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Caritas Philippines in Manila, the country’s capital, quickly activated the Emergency Operations Center at the national level and has been monitoring the ongoing situation in Cebu and nearby dioceses. Caritas Cebu deployed an assessment team to the most affected areas, awaiting initial findings and data.

Immediate needs

Immediate needs include emergency shelter, food and clean water, medical aid and trauma support, restoration of electricity and communication, debris clearing, and road access.

On Oct. 1, Archbishop Uy visited the affected communities to provide pastoral support and check damage to parish structures. A local appeal was issued for emergency support through the Adopt-a-Parish strategy. Other dioceses also launched local appeals to support response operations.

Caritas Philippines is preparing to launch a local emergency appeal through the Alay Kapwa Solidarity Fund, a flagship program of Caritas Philippines, to support the immediate needs of the most affected communities in Cebu.

Laity’s involvement

Besides Caritas Philippines’ involvement with relief, the Commission on the Laity of the Archdiocese of Cebu has begun providing immediate help like food, water, and hygiene kits, among others.

Fe Mantuhac Barino, who chairs the Commission on the Laity for the Archdiocese of Cebu, told CNA: “People’s donations have been delivered to the earthquake-affected families in the north of Cebu, bringing not just material support but also the comforting presence of our faith community.”

She thanked all supporters for living out the Gospel through their generosity.

Appeal for donations

The Archdiocese of Cebu, in partnership with LH Foundation Inc., launched “Hatag Paglaum” (Give Hope) to provide humanitarian aid.

“The Hatag Paglaum invites us to become living instruments of Christ’s love,” said Uy. “After the earthquake, many brothers and sisters have lost homes, churches, and livelihoods. What they need most is hope.”

“When we give help, we do not just share food, clothing, or money; we share Christ himself, for he is our true hope,” he added. “Every gift we extend becomes a sign of His presence, reminding the needy that they are not forgotten and that God walks with them.”

On Oct. 2, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited some affected areas of Cebu and held discussions with government agencies. 

Pope prays for Cebu quake victims.

Also on Oct. 2, Cebu Archbishop Uy said that Pope Leo XIV prayed and offered his condolences to the victims.

Leo also assured his spiritual closeness to people as they grieve over the loss of lives and move on to recovery.

Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles John Brown informed Uy that the pope expressed his “sympathies for all the survivors of the earthquake and his prayers for the eternal repose of the victims.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has announced a “National Day of Prayer and Public Repentance” to be observed nationwide on Oct. 7.

Pope Leo XIV receives the latest edition of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” by Martha Patricia Molina, on Oct. 2, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Muriel Saenz

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV this week received the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church” by researcher Martha Patricia Molina, which details the prohibition of more than 16,500 processions and acts of piety as well as more than 1,000 attacks against the Catholic Church by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo.

Activist Muriel Sáenz, a Nicaraguan by birth who fled the dictatorship in the 1980s and now works to help immigrants in the United States, presented Molina’s report to Pope Leo on Oct. 2 during the Holy Father’s audience with participants in a Vatican conference on migrants and refugees.

“I am happy to know that my friend Muriel Sáenz has personally delivered to Pope Leo XIV the study ‘Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,’ which is an expression of the Catholic Church and the Nicaraguan people that reflects the persecution of bishops, priests, and laypeople by the Sandinista dictatorship,” Molina told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“The repression continues daily, and it is important that the Holy See knows that everything is being documented,” she stated.

Molina said she also sent Leo XIV a letter stating that the Catholic Church in Nicaragua is “in total communion with the pope and united in prayer despite the adversity and repression.”

Sáenz, founder of Nicaraguans in the World Texas, Inc., an organization that helps people present their asylum cases before immigration courts in the U.S., told ACI Prensa that she also presented Leo with letters from victims of the dictatorship, including priests, and gave him Nicaraguan coffee.

“I hope the pope continues his support in the global denunciation [of the dictatorship], since remaining silent only allows criminals to continue causing more and more harm. My intention is also for the world to learn about what is happening in Nicaragua, where the criminals who make people call them president and co-president have an entire country — which has no weapons to defend itself — in their hands,” Sáenz said.

“If one does not obey their absurd demands, one is shamelessly imprisoned in inhumane conditions, enduring degrading treatment and torture. Priests and laypeople are not exempt from such treatment. I am sure that if we manage to force [the regime] to leave, the more than 1 million Nicaraguans scattered around the world would return tomorrow,” she added.

On Aug. 23, Pope Leo XIV received three bishops in an audience at the Vatican: Bishop Silvio Báez, who was confirmed by the Holy Father in his position as auxiliary bishop of Managua, although he has been in exile since 2019; Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna; and Bishop Carlos Herrera, president of the Nicaraguan Episcopate, who is in exile in Guatemala.

“He encouraged me to continue my episcopal ministry and confirmed me as auxiliary bishop of Managua. I sincerely thank him for his fraternal welcome and his encouraging words,” said Báez, who currently resides in the United States, regarding his meeting with the pope.

The seventh edition of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church” was released on Aug. 27.

Molina explained that the ban on processions has been intensified since 2022 and that the dictatorship imposed this measure annually throughout the country, but the report does not consider all parish churches or chapels, which number 400 in Managua alone.

“So the figure presented in the study could be at least three or four times higher than what is being recorded,” she pointed out.

In an interview with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News, Molina explained that so far in this year alone, 32 attacks against the Church by the dictatorship have been recorded, a figure that could be much higher, considering the increasing control of the Ortega-Murillo government.

“There is constant surveillance of priests and bishops. Some of them are even followed 24 hours a day,” Molina said, adding: “The clergy meetings held by bishops with priests continue to be constantly monitored by the police, who take photographs and videos of the religious who attend.”

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

The broken Virgin Mary statue Kevin Matthews found in a dumpster. / Credit: ODB Films

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Kevin Matthews was at the top of his game as one of the most famous on-air radio personalities in Chicago in the 1980s and ’90s. He was partying with professional athletes and celebrities and posting 10 million listeners a week at the peak of his popularity. 

All of that changed when he received a life-altering medical diagnosis. Yet the biggest change in his life happened when he found a broken Virgin Mary statue in the trash. 

“Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story” is a new documentary recounting Matthews’ true story of fame, brokenness, and finding redemption in Jesus Christ thanks to his devotion to the Blessed Mother. The documentary will be in theaters for one night only on Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Matthews was born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, in a Catholic household. As a child he struggled to read and write, though it wasn’t until he was an adult that he discovered he was dyslexic.

In order to prevent himself from getting beaten up by both kids in his neighborhood and his physically abusive father, he used comedy and making others laugh as a shield he could hide behind.

In college Matthews was first introduced to radio through his roommate’s hosting of a show at the student station. In 1987, he began his career with “The Loop” AM 1000 in Chicago. It was here that he rose to fame and became known for his edgy humor, sharp wit, and comedic characters — the most popular being “Jim Shorts.”

Yet after years of mega-success, his life began to unravel when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2008. It became more difficult to be on-air and new radio personalities were on the rise. But it wasn’t until 2011 that he had a life-changing experience.

Matthews told CNA in an interview that while driving on his way home from just having been fired from his job, he “heard the Holy Spirit say, ‘Go and get your wife some flowers.’” He pulled into a flower shop he happened to be passing at the time. 

“I got out of my car and I’m starting to walk towards the door and over by the dumpster, I see a statue of the Virgin Mary,” he recalled. “I walked over to it and there she is on the ground broken in half. She’s looking up at me. Her hands are broken. She’s sunk in the mud, so she’s been there for a while, she’s got garbage on her.” 

“And I’m a zombie Catholic at that point, I’m not religious,” he said, “but I knew at that moment, no one treats our Blessed Mother like that.”

“I just was appalled, but then I heard the voice of Christ say to me, ‘Will you deny me? Will you deny my mother?’ And I was like, ‘What do I do?’”

Matthews entered the store and told the store clerk that he wanted to buy the broken Mary statue out by the dumpster. Though the store clerk said it was not for sale, he recognized Matthews’ voice from the radio and allowed him to take the statue. 

The statue weighed 73 pounds and due to his MS and a recent snowstorm, it took Matthews nearly an hour to get the broken Mary statue from out of the ground and into the back of his car. 

“I remember I turned the heat up and I said, ‘Mary, I will take care of you for the rest of my life,’” Matthews shared.

He called a priest friend and told him about the broken statue. The priest told him about a sculptor who could fix her. Matthews took the broken Mary and was told that she could be completely restored.

“That was the first time I really cried in front of a total stranger and said, ‘Don’t you dare touch her.’ I said, ‘That is me.’ And I said, ‘She’s broken like me. Just keep her broken. Just put her together, keep her hands broken, don’t paint her — she’s broken Mary,” he said.

From then on, Matthews began to go back to Mass, he learned how to pray the rosary, and he completely left his life of luxury to instead take his broken statue of Mary to parishes across the country to share how his life was radically changed by the Blessed Mother. 

Matthews said he hopes the film will show “that we’re all broken, but we’re loved by God and just go to him … I’ve never been happier in my life.”

Young people listen to the stories of Christian youth with lived experience of mental health challenges as part of “The Sanctuary Youth Series” by Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Daniel Whitehead knew it was time for a change when his wife told him she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him smile. With the strain of constantly meeting with people who were struggling, the Christian pastor said he had “gone numb.”

“I realized in that moment, it had been well over a year that I’d felt any emotion,” he told CNA. “No laughter, no tears, just numbness.”

Then he discovered Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. At the time, it was a small, local ecumenical group creating resources for mental health in pastoral ministry. Nine years later, Whitehead has become its leader and Sanctuary has become a large-scale resource operating across the world. 

Working through burnout “was really confusing,” Whitehead said of his own experience.

“I didn’t have language, or self-permission, or a framework to really understand what I was going through,” he said. “But how I would describe it was a feeling of fear, anxiety, and feeling trapped.”

Looking back at his challenges in ministry, Whitehead said he was experiencing “emotional overwhelm” from “moving from meeting to meeting, feeling the weight of people’s expectations, having to be there for people when they’re at their worst, and not really having an outlet to process that with.” 

This experience helped him “realize the great need that exists in the church for support in this area,” he said. 

“From that moment throughout my recovery journey I was looking for a cause to give myself to, and Sanctuary was that cause,” he said. “I very much felt called to the work.” 

Reaching young people 

Whitehead told CNA that amid an ongoing mental health crisis, the church can be a great resource. 

“The church is so perfectly placed to offer hope, belonging, community, and purpose to people in crisis — all of which are vital components of a person’s recovery and all of which are areas that the church has a monopoly on,” Whitehead said.

In the United States, depression and anxiety rates rose by more than 50% from 2010 to 2019 and suicide rates for adolescents ages 10 to 19 rose 48%. 

“It really is an opportunity for the church to step in and offer Christ’s hope to people in crisis,” Whitehead said. 

Sanctuary’s resources guide both the church and people struggling with mental health. 

The ministry “creates high-quality resources that anyone anywhere can access,” which Whitehead said “makes us quite a unique proposition globally speaking.”

Resources include video courses designed to be taken in small-group settings.  

Since its launch, more than 365,000 Christians in 102 countries have participated in the Sanctuary Course, according to the organization. 

Sanctuary’s work “allows people who are experiencing crisis to feel seen and gives the church more confidence to know what its role is and what its role isn’t when walking with a person in crisis,” Whitehead explained. 

This year, the organization is developing resources to reach young people. 

It recently launched “The Sanctuary Youth Series,” which is all about starting “important conversations” with youth in youth ministry, explained Bryana Russell, Sanctuary’s director of engagement and interim director of development.

The series, Russell told CNA, “targets the pressing questions young people are asking about mental health” and is designed “to raise awareness and reduce stigma” about mental health. 

“We know young people want to talk about the intersection of faith and mental health,” Russell said. “This series is one of the few resources available to help faith communities do so.”

“Our hope is that the next generation will experience the Church as a supportive place and that youth ministry leaders, parents and caregivers, and youth will all be equipped to have conversations about mental health,” Russell said.

The series is “designed to be used in groups” to help “young people connect with trusted adults in their church or school community,” Russell said, noting that being in community helps mental health.

“Young people benefit from the support of trusted adults, but few are having the conversations they need to,” she said.

Working together

The ecumenicism of Sanctuary is what drew Whitehead to the group nine years ago.

“Our staff represent a range of church traditions, the majority of which are Protestant, but I would suggest that the spiritual practices that many of us draw from both individually and corporately are often more liturgical in nature,” Whitehead said. 

“I think we all have a deep appreciation for the richness and vitality that different church traditions and denominations bring to the table,” Whitehead said.  

Sanctuary works with various churches, including Catholic dioceses and parishes.  

“Across the United States and Canada, many other dioceses are providing the leadership and support for mental health ministry,” Russell said. 

Sanctuary’s course for Catholics — designed specifically for Catholic parishes and in use in parishes around the world — features Catholic voices including Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver and Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver.

“The Sanctuary Course for Catholics plays an important role in opening the conversation and equipping parishes to begin such a ministry,” Russell said. 

This year, Sanctuary officially teamed up with the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which is formally launching a Mental Health Ministry with the help of Sanctuary. 

“We are delighted that our resources will be a part of their designed reach to build this ministry of presence,” Russell said. 

To kick off the event, Sanctuary and the archdiocese hosted Matt Maher, a Catholic contemporary Christian worship musician and Sanctuary’s ambassador.

“Through stories, conversation, and song, themes of psychology, theology, and lived experience were introduced, offering an accessible and inspiring call to this ministry,” Russell said of the launch event.

“What makes Sanctuary unique is our ability to bring psychology and theology together to really validate and sanctify peoples’ stories,” Whitehead said. “Which means that in order to hold mental health well we have to really take each of these disciplines seriously.”

He added: “I’m inspired to continue this work when I look at the great need and also the great opportunity we have for the church to step into a gap that exists in society.”

Boys swing on a rope during recess at Western Academy in Houston, Texas. / Credit: Courtesy of Western Academy

Houston, Texas, Oct 4, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

After years of boys (and their parents) repeatedly ignoring the rules, a private boys school in Houston is taking a novel approach to its smartphone and digital device policy: Bring it to school, and “we will destroy it.”

Western Academy, an independent, liberal arts school that states its goal is to educate young men “in the good, the true, and the beautiful,” has never allowed students to bring electronic devices to school.

In the past, if a boy was caught with a phone or other device at the school or a school-sponsored event, faculty would confiscate the device, which would be returned to the parents only after they had met with headmaster Jason Hebert. He would explain the harms to boys caused by smartphone use and why parents “should not put the phone back into your son’s hands.”

Under the new policy, which Hebert laid out in a four-page letter to parents last month, after the device is discovered and destroyed, the boy will be suspended. If it happens again, the boy will be automatically expelled. 

Along with its singular smartphone policy, the school, which has 230 students in third through eighth grade, takes a unique approach to education. The boys are free to play throughout the park-like, rambling grounds, where they climb and swing from trees, build forts, shoot Nerf guns, and care for (or chase) chickens before and after school and multiple times throughout the school day. 

The all-male faculty expects respect and responsibility from the boys at a young age, according to Hebert. The teachers have the boys rise when an adult visits a classroom and encourage parents to let their sons learn to endure hardship and experience natural consequences when they forget their homework or their lunch at home.

A Catholic priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei serves as chaplain to the school, which was founded in 2010, and oversees the religious education program.

The model is popular: Even with middle-school tuition close to $28,000 a year, every grade has extensive waitlists, and the school may start wait-listing boys beginning as early as kindergarten. 

At the beginning of each school year, the boys are sorted into one of four houses that compete throughout the year in games such as capture the flag and “The Hero’s Race,” where the boys in each house choose one boy to race across campus, climbing over obstacles and crawling through mud. There is also a poetry recitation competition known as “The Bard.” One mother, Stephanie Creech, told CNA her sons are so happy at the school they “beg to get to school early and to stay afterward to play.”

Hebert sat down with CNA and discussed what brought about the change in the smartphone policy, saying he chose the words in his letter very carefully. 

Witnessing the damage 

“Smartphones are causing significant, unimagined damage to the students who have them,” Hebert wrote in his letter to parents, “as well as to the sons of those parents who have chosen not to give phones to their sons.” 

“The damage these phones have caused to our children,” he told CNA in the interview, “it literally has never been imagined.” 

“It’s not just pornography,” Hebert continued. “YouTube actors and other characters just trying to get clicks perform the most shameless actions on video. They just have zero respect for the dignity of their bodies and for life, zero. And these boys want to emulate these people.”

Hebert said the last straw came after a mother called him complaining her son saw a graphic, violent video on a smartphone at a school event. 

After that, Hebert said he and the other administrators agreed: “That’s it. We’re done.” 

Asked why the school did not just consider automatic expulsion after the first offense rather than the destruction of the devices, Hebert said with a laugh: “To be perfectly candid, I want to destroy the phone. I want to give the boys an opportunity to have life without it.”

He ordered a metal grinder for the purpose.

“Look, I am not an alarmist. I am not reactionary. But the bottom line is this: These devices are not neutral. The research is definitive: They are bad for our kids. I have dealt with hundreds and hundreds of boys over two decades in education and I have yet to see an exception to this,” he said.

Hebert said that over the years, he has noticed a degradation in the quality of the boys’ conversation. “You can’t imagine the level of shamelessness” among some of the boys,” many of whom are generally considered “good kids.”

“This type of behavior is unprecedented in my tenure as an educator, and even as a professional athlete,” he said. 

In the early 2000s, before beginning his teaching career, which included teaching at The Heights School in Maryland, he spent one year as a professional football player on practice squads for three NFL teams: the Chargers, the Titans, and the Raiders. 

“I never played in a regular-season game. This is what I tell people: I made it to the NFL. I did not make it in the NFL,” he said, laughing.

“Let me make it clear: I was an athlete around some of the most earthy human beings on the planet,” he said. “These men were not ashamed to say anything in the locker room. Yet these same men would have blushed if they heard some of the things these boys talk about! This is so unimaginable. Yet it is becoming more common now, thanks to these devices.”

Parents on board 

Asked if he was worried parents would leave over the school’s new policy, Hebert said if parents are not on board with the school’s values, it might be better if they left and one of the many others on the waitlist could take their spot.

In his letter to parents, Hebert wrote that the “school is a true partnership with parents. We say this not for poetic effect, but because it must be so for the authentic growth of your sons to become a reality.”

He told CNA parents should ask themselves: “How valuable is the phone to you? Are you willing to leave this place for it? This place where your son is so abundantly happy? Is your phone worth that? And if it is, well, it’s a mismatch of vision.”

Since the change in policy, however, Hebert said parental response has been “100% positive.”

After hearing about the school’s new policy, a mother whose son graduated from the school several years ago dropped off a financial donation at the front desk recently “for the phone grinder.”

“Everybody just knows it’s right. Parents might be frustrated because saying no to their sons makes their lives harder, but they know it’s right,” he said.

Hebert, a father of seven, said he and his wife do not allow their children to have smartphones or social media. “My children may not know a lot of the lingo or some of the jokes or about all the parties. They’re on the outside, to a degree.”

“And even though that’s a big deal,” he continued, “the alternative overrides that. It’s a bigger deal.”

“The alternative is not worth it,” he said.

“We all want the truth,” he said, “and the truth is these devices are severely hurting kids. I’m not a doomsday guy, but some day these kids will be in charge of society. Think about that.”