Peter Flew, a lawyer and writer, says at a congressional briefing Nov. 20, 2025, that he collected evidence and witness statements regarding government persecution of the Apostolic Church in Armenia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of George Goss/Image Herder

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 21, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

Human rights advocates told members of Congress that the Armenian government’s crackdown on Christians has included the unlawful detentions of clergy, ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections in June 2026.

Tensions have escalated between Nikol Pashinyan, the sitting prime minister of Armenia, and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, reflecting the struggle over Armenia’s national identity and future direction. Government targeting of Christians has sparked concern for the loss of the country’s heritage as the oldest Christian nation in the world.

Peter Flew, a lawyer and writer, said at an event hosted by the National Democratic Alliance, the largest pro-Western center-right political party in Armenia, on Nov. 20 in the Rayburn House Office building that he collected evidence and witness statements regarding government persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Flew cited Pashinyan’s remarks in a recent press conference in which he said the Armenian Apostolic Church “has no Catholicos,” a supreme patriarch and head of the church, saying Karekin II is illegitimate. 

“The attacks on this front must end,” he said, calling for the release of political prisoners. 

“I have hope that if we bring this issue to greater prominence,” Flew told CNA, “there will be engagement to say that we support Armenia, we support Armenia’s future and its peace.” 

Flew said: “The situation on the ground is such that anyone countering it is ending up in jail. Churches are not represented here [at the event] because they’ve been scared, and that’s the challenge.” 

“I think with the international communities, civil society, international at home, if we can come together and allow people to feel that there’s a critical mass raising their voices, that might do something,” Flew said. “But at the moment, you’re not going to see the church do much because it’s under siege.” 

Joel Veldkamp, speaking for Christian Solidarity International’s mission of campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity, echoed similar concerns for members of the church in Armenia.

“The way I see it, the fact that there are parliamentary elections coming up means that the repression is going to increase,” Veldkamp said. “The assault on the church has to be seen as part of this effort to cut off dissenting voices before the election comes.”

Veldkamp said the U.S. State Department has been largely silent on Pashinyan’s crackdown on the Armenian Apostolic Church with the exception of Asif Mahmood, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. 

“Prime Minister Pashinyan visions a future Armenia where the church has no social or political influence independent of the state,” Veldkamp said. “An Armenia with a severely weakened international identity is not an Armenia that’s going to be helpful to the U.S. for very long. If the president wants to avoid this outcome, it’s time for the U.S. government to break the silence.” 

Bishop Bulus Yohana Dauwa of Nigeria’s Diocese of Kontagora. In an interview with ACI Africa on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, Dauwa described the recent kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls is a tragic reminder that the country is no longer “safe for its children.” / Credit: ACI Africa/Catholic Diocese of Kontagora

ACI Africa, Nov 21, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Bishop Bulus Yohana Dauwa of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has raised concern about the safety of children in the West African country following the Nov. 17 abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state.

In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Tuesday, Dauwa described the incident as a tragic reminder that the country is no longer “safe for its children.”

The bishop told ACI Africa that he had gathered eyewitness accounts of the attack from victims who endured horrific scenes for nearly five hours, from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m., on the day of the attack.

An eyewitness told Dauwa that trouble began on Sunday, Nov. 16, when a suspicious group of men believed to be soldiers entered the school premises. They entered the school at around 4 p.m. — about 15 of them — on motorcycles and a van, wielding guns.

The soldiers ransacked the place without telling anyone what was happening. Staff reportedly retired to their quarters after the soldiers left.

In the early hours of Monday morning, armed bandits stormed the school and began shooting into the air. The attackers proceeded to the residence of a staff member, Mallam Hassan Yakubu, whom they found praying. They shot him dead on the spot. After his wife refused to show them where the students were sleeping, the gunmen seized one of her daughters and forced her to lead them to the hostel.

The gunmen fired repeatedly for nearly five hours, from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m., and left before soldiers returned to the scene. 

It was only after the gunmen had fled that security personnel instructed teachers to conduct a roll call, during which the missing girls were discovered.

The school, a home to around 300 students and normally guarded by a combined team of soldiers and police, has been shut down indefinitely. It remains unclear whether the security personnel normally stationed there were present during the attack.

Dauwa described the abduction as part of an escalating wave of violence sweeping across Kebbi and parts of Niger state.

“It has never been this bad. People sleep in the bush because they have nowhere else to run,” he said.

He encouraged the parents of the abducted girls to remain prayerful and hopeful. 

“We are praying that God will guide and protect these girls wherever they are. The government must do everything possible to bring them back. All of them will come back alive,” he said.

Beyond the kidnappings, the 54-year-old bishop highlighted decades-long challenges Christian communities face in the region, including what he called “silent discrimination and persecution.” 

He said efforts by the Church to buy land, build parishes, or open schools are frequently resisted.

“Christians have been enduring what I call silent persecution. They stopped us from building our school and churches. They claimed our land was too close to their mosque, and every planting season, they would break the boundary,” Bulus said.

He revealed that in some instances, communities deliberately built mosques directly in front of donated church sites to frustrate Christian worship. 

“We suffered for more than 10 years trying to open one parish,” Dauwa told ACI Africa.

According to the bishop, a breakthrough eventually came after intense prayers to St. Padre Pio. The local emir, bedridden abroad, unexpectedly called and ordered that all withheld land documents be released to the Church. 

“It was a miracle,” Dauwa said, recalling the emir’s move, and added: “That very day, they gave us every paper they had denied us.”

The bishop described the security situation in his diocese as “terrible,” citing attacks across Kebbi, Magama, Mariga, and several communities along the River Niger.

“They entered one of our outstation churches, and everybody ran into the bush. There was no time to do anything,” he said.

Dauwa faulted government officials for focusing on political debates rather than taking decisive action to protect citizens. 

“If the government had done enough, we would not be where we are today. Instead of facing reality, they are debating whether Muslims or Christians are being killed. That is not the main issue,” the bishop said.

He warned that politicians appear more concerned about the 2027 elections than the ongoing violence. 

“They are more interested in 2027. Security is not their problem, but how to win the elections,” he said.

The bishop disclosed that he had recently met with the Niger state governor and urged him to tell the president that security must come before politics. 

“Let him do something about the insecurity. That is the best way he can campaign now,” Dauwa said.

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

Pope Leo XIV meets with the leadership and staff of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s global charitable network operating in more than 200 countries, on Nov. 21, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday met with the leadership and staff of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s global charitable network operating in more than 200 countries, asking them to be “pilgrims of hope” and “artisans of peace” in the world.

During the morning meeting held at the Vatican, the Holy Father thanked Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi and approximately 70 Caritas workers for their “steadfast service” within the Church and to people throughout the world.

“Caritas Internationalis has long been a luminous sign of the Church’s maternal love,” he said to the multinational delegation on Nov. 21. 

“The love we receive from Christ is never a private treasure but always a mission entrusted to our hands,” he added. “Love sends us forth; love makes us servants; love opens our eyes to the wounds of others.”

Repeating his papal predecessor’s desire that Caritas uphold Christ’s “preference for the poor, the least, the abandoned, and discarded,” Leo emphasized their mission, together with the “successor of Peter,” is to serve every person with dignity.

3 pillars that sustain the Church’s work in the world

“Your mission echoes the vision I shared in my first address to the diplomatic corps, where I spoke of the three pillars that sustain the Church’s work in the world: peace, justice, and truth,” he said. “These pillars are not abstract ideals.”

Besides asking Caritas to continue accompanying local churches and their various initiatives to support the poor, the pope also insisted they also work toward “strengthening the formation of lay leaders” and “safeguarding unity within your diverse organization.”

“The Church’s mission unfolds only when we walk together as companions along the way, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape our works of mercy,” he said during the private audience.

In 2022, Caritas Internationalis’ leadership was placed under temporary administration following a decree issued by Pope Francis to revise its statutes and regulations to “improve” its mission of charity and justice.

Before individually greeting each member of the delegation at the end of the meeting, Pope Leo entrusted Caritas’ work to “Mary, Mother of the Poor” and asked God to bless them with the “gifts of courage, perseverance, and joy.”  

“Quite sincerely, I thank you, each and every one of you, and the many people that you represent, those who work with you,” he said.

Before meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Friday, Kikuchi told EWTN News that the 162-member organization is more than a professional “goodwill” agency.

“We are the charitable arm of the Catholic Church,” he said in the Nov. 20 interview. “Why are we being charitable? Because we want to spread the Gospel message — the love of God.”

During the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, Kikuchi said Caritas’ “Turn Debt Into Hope” campaign is a response to Pope Francis’ call for the cancellation of developing nations’ international debt, outlined in the papal bull Spes Non Confundit.

“There are many countries who owe money to developed countries,” the cardinal said. “We want to turn debt into hope [and] to cancel that debt so people really have the hope to survive.”

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, meets Pope Leo XIV, along with a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers, at the Vatican on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, joined a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers forcibly taken to Russia during the war with Ukraine who met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Friday. The audience highlighted ongoing humanitarian and diplomatic efforts to secure the return of abducted civilians.

In a statement from her Senate office, Klobuchar said: “Pope Leo is a true moral force for peace and justice and a champion for children around the world. It was an honor to meet him as part of our mission to bring home the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and chart a path towards peace and healing for Ukraine.”

The senator added: “We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as hostages for negotiations. The United States must remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, and we should all heed Pope Leo’s example of serving those in need, pursuing the common good, and calling for peace.”

According to the official Vatican News outlet, the meeting took place in the Apostolic Palace around midday and lasted about half an hour. Participants included young people who had been forcibly transferred to Russia and recently returned to Ukraine, along with their family members. The Vatican has put a priority on diplomatic efforts to return the children, starting under Pope Francis.

Klobuchar’s office noted that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been confirmed as unlawfully deported or transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territory.

Archbishop Dermot Farrell of the Dublin Archdiocese holds up the decree on Nov. 14, 2025, that Pope Leo XIV sent him granting his request that St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Dublin be designated as the cathedral Church of the archdiocese. / Credit: John McElroy/Dublin Archdiocese

Dublin, Ireland, Nov 21, 2025 / 12:09 pm (CNA).

There was immense joy among Catholics in Dublin following a decree from Pope Leo XIV formally designating St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Dublin, ending 200 years of the cathedral’s “temporary” status and giving the capital its first official Catholic cathedral since the Reformation.

Speaking at Mass in the cathedral to mark the bicentenary on Friday, Nov. 14, Archbishop Dermot Farrell of the Dublin Archdiocese told the faithful of Dublin: “I am pleased to announce that the Holy Father, Pope Leo, has consented to my request and has approved by decree that St. Mary’s be designated as the cathedral church of our archdiocese.”

Farrell added that the timing could not have been better as it coincided with the cathedral’s bicentenary celebrations.

“It is appropriate that this announcement should be made in the context of our celebration of the exemplary service which St. Mary’s has given to our diocese over 200 years, but also at a time when we are renewing our focus on our mission as a diocesan family, ‘Building Hope and Proclaiming Good News,’ affirming the faith of our people and reaching out to the city and beyond,” the archbishop said.

The following Sunday, Auxiliary Bishop Paul Dempsey of Dublin warmly welcomed the news and told the faithful gathered in St. Mary’s: “In the Catholic tradition, over the centuries, many beautiful places of worship have been built. It is important to return to why they were built. They are not built as tourist attractions or museums; they are places where the Church community gathers to worship the Lord. The beauty and aesthetics are there to help raise our minds and hearts to God and to draw us into the mystery that is God’s love,” he said.

St. Mary’s opened on Nov. 14, 1825. From around that time onward and following Catholic Emancipation, the Irish Church entered a period of strong growth. Many of the churches, parochial houses, and religious houses in Ireland were built in the middle of the 19th century symbolizing the strong presence of the Catholic Church in Irish society. 

“It continued for about 150 years or so. Then we saw the beginnings of change, something that has escalated over the last two to three decades. We find ourselves in a very different place today,” he said.

“There can be a temptation to look to the past with rose-tinted glasses when the churches were full, but as we know not all was well and serious issues needed to be faced. This process has been disconcerting for some who have a nostalgia for the past and want to go back to the way it was. However, nostalgia could be described as a looking into the past with the pain taken away.”

He continued: “So today, as we reflect upon 200 years of St. Mary’s we are left with a choice: Do we lament the past and wish for its return or seek ways of looking forward with hope-filled hearts, responding to the new questions we face in a complex and changing culture? When I reflect upon the life of Jesus in the Gospels, I see someone who was always looking forward! As his disciples we need to do the same, while always learning from the past.”

As the penal laws persecuting Catholics were relaxed in the later 18th century, the Pro Cathedral site was bought in 1803. The completed building was dedicated 200 years ago on Nov. 14, 1825, the feast day of St. Laurence O’Toole, who was canonized 800 years ago and who is the Dublin Archdiocese’s patron.

The Pro Cathedral was always a “provisional” cathedral; the intention was to build a “proper” one when time and money allowed. In the past, both the Church of Ireland and Catholic archbishops extended claims of ownership over St. Patrick’s and Christ Church — the city’s two other cathedrals that, since the Reformation, have not been Catholic places of worship. 

Pope Leo XIV laughs during his dialogue with young people on Nov. 21, 2025, at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/National Catholic Register

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2025 / 09:10 am (CNA).

The 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference will feature prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers from Nov. 20–22 in Indianapolis. Follow CNA’s live coverage of the event below.

Watch the evening session of Day 2 below:

Lucy Snipes, Anne Young, and Presley Hilderbrand from Columbus, Georgia tour exhibits during the first night of NCYC 2025 on Nov. 20, 2025, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini / CNA

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Teenagers piled into the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday in Indianapolis to start the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). 

Young Catholics from across the country have traveled to Indianapolis to take part in NCYC for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service. The 2025 theme is “I Am,” and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and form discipleship. 

On the evening of Nov. 20 exhibits opened to help students gain a deeper understanding of the sacraments and to encourage them to interact with one another. Teens with themed hats packed into the convention center and began to exchange the caps as a way to meet new people at the start of the weekend.

Exhibits open

The interactive exhibits opened Thursday night with themes based on the seven sacraments. Aaron Frazita, the director of the interactive exhibits for NCYC, shared with CNA how they wanted to help the teens “think in a new way, and in a very practical way.”

“About a year and a half out from every NCYC, we have a small group of folks that have gotten together for the better part of 20 years. And we brainstormed some ideas with themes, and this year we really wanted to connect what was going on in the interactive exhibit with the whole of what was going on with the main stage,” he said.

“This year we decided to really focus on the sacraments,” Frazita said. “So we added a few of our own sacraments, like being joyful with games and things like that.”

“The whole idea with all the interactive places we put together is to create crafts and games and conversation and catecheses, really trying to help young people engage with them and meet them where they are,” he continued.

“We have so many young people who maybe just started faith journeys, who are really deep in their experience,” he said. The team created games, service projects, and exhibits on ideas including discernment and vocations to “really engage” the students. 

Teens anticipate NCYC activities

As teens began to play the games with one another, look at exhibits, and meet with students from other cities, they shared with CNA what they are looking forward to most during the NCYC experience. 

Miriam Stebel, Catherine Downer, and Addi Kandel from the Diocese of Cincinnati told CNA they are looking forward to growing in their faith. Stebel said she hopes to “get a better understanding of the Church and the Catholic faith.” 

She added: “I also think it’s pretty cool that the pope is deciding to connect with the youth more and I think it’s a good opportunity to get everyone engaged.”

“I am hoping to meet new people and just be able to talk to other young people,” Downer said. “I’m excited to learn more about Catholicism and to understand it on a deeper level.”

She said she is also looking forward to the daily breakout sessions. “There’s a few about missions and learning your faith plan,” Downer said. “So I’m excited to go and learn more about what I’m being called to do.”

Kandel, meanwhile, said she hopes to learn what she can work on in her own life.

"One big thing I also want to do is learn more about Scripture and how to interpret it and understand it, and just how I can deepen my relationship with the Lord," she said.

Lucy Snipes, Anne Young, and Presley Hildenbrand are all high school students from Columbus, Georgia. Snipes told CNA she came to NCYC to “meet new people and see how Catholicism has changed and inspired people.” 

She is looking forward to “seeing everyone all together, doing concerts, and praising together.”

“Adoration here is also always the best thing ever,” said Snipes, who is returning for her second time to NCYC. “It’s always so nice to be around a lot of other people that are feeling the same things as you.”

Young added she’s looking forward to the daily Masses for the same reason.

Hildenbrand said she is looking forward to being around other teens while they get to hear Pope Leo XIV speak. “I think it’s really cool to hear from the pope, especially since he’s the first American pope and he’ll talk in English.”

Amelia Horner and Maeve Wendiger showed up in their Indianapolis 500 race car hats to represent the famed racing city.

“It is really nice just being with so many young Catholics that are here,” Wendiger said. “And it has been really nice to reconnect with a lot of people from my middle school.”

Horner has never been to NCYC but said she’s “heard a lot of talk about it, and people who have so much in common can come together and just be who they are.” She said she is very excited to lean into the 2025 theme of “I Am.” 

The girls said they were “shocked” the event was going to be in their own backyard. While sometimes they feel big events don’t come to their hometown, they said: “Indiana is special.”

The city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, has been bombed several times by the Israeli armed forces. / Credit: Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon, scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, comes as a new wave of Israeli bombings have shaken several towns near the southern border.

“We have been experiencing continuous attacks like this for almost two and a half years. But we have never evacuated, we have never left our village,” said Maronite parish priest Father Tony Elias from the border village of Rmeich, a Christian village located just a few meters from Israel.

Rmeich, he explained, is one of the largest Christian villages in southern Lebanon. “We cannot leave, because if we did, there would be no one to rebuild, no one to protect our village,” he said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

The situation in neighboring villages confirms his fears: “The villages to the right and left are completely destroyed. Missiles were launched from there, and they were razed in retaliation.”

Rmeich, on the other hand, only suffered some structural damage during the recent attacks: “Some houses have been hit, projectiles have fallen on cars and roofs… but thank God we managed to protect our village,” he said.

The Lebanese still retain in their collective memory the devastation of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. That conflict, which lasted six weeks, left 1,300 Lebanese and 165 Israelis dead and destroyed entire villages and several neighborhoods of Beirut.

In October of last year, another Israeli siege in Lebanon resulted in hundreds of people crushed under the rubble.

In this climate of uncertainty, Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Lebanon — scheduled before this upturn in violence — will be like a balm for the Christian community and for the entire country, Elias said.

‘This first apostolic journey of the pope will be a sign of peace’

“I am convinced that this first apostolic journey of the pope will be a sign of peace for the whole world, giving a voice back to Christians and the Lebanese people, whose reality is often blurred or manipulated by politics,” he said.

Although the priest said the tension is constant, he insisted that the community is trying to maintain a certain degree of normalcy: “The roads to Beirut are open; we can get in and out. We’re not like in 2006, when they were completely blocked for weeks.” 

Several chartered buses will take Catholics from the south to the events the pope has scheduled during his apostolic visit to the country, such as the meeting with young people in the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké or the Mass at the Beirut Waterfront.

“Every parish has organized buses to attend the Mass and to greet the pope along the way. The schools are also mobilized,” confirmed Father Raffaele Zgheib, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon.

Zgheib, who lives in the port city of Jounieh, 11 miles north of Beirut, and is part of the team organizing the papal visit, does not deny that there is “fear that the violence could ruin the pope’s visit.” 

“We hope that the visit will be a call for dialogue instead of escalation, but I don’t deny that there is a real fear of a new war in southern Lebanon,” he said.

Last-minute preparations

Despite the limited time available, all Christian communities in the country have thrown themselves into the preparations. “All components of the local Lebanese Church, along with all the Eastern Churches in the country, are preparing to welcome the Holy Father,” Zgheib said.

This visit to Lebanon is “very important because Pope Leo XIV is coming in continuity with Pope Francis, who always wished to travel to Lebanon, although his health problems prevented him from doing so,” he continued.

The trip confirms, Zgheib pointed out, the value that the Holy See attributes to the country as a link between East and West, and as a place — currently fragile — of religious coexistence. Furthermore, the Holy Father will arrive in a country going through a difficult period with a rampant economic crisis.

“The pope is traveling to a wounded country. The last six years have been terrible. We lost all our savings in the banks, then came the pandemic, then the Beirut port explosion, and now there is also the war in southern Lebanon,” Zgheib explained.

“The pope is coming to a country that has been greatly weakened by all these crises,” he noted, but said the pontiff’s visit has awakened much hope: “All Lebanese people want it to be the beginning of a lasting and just peace in the Middle East.”

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

The ordination of Jonathan Goodall (former Anglican bishop) to the Catholic priesthood in Westminster Cathedral, London, March 12, 2022. / Credit: Mazur/CBCEW.org.uk

London, England, Nov 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A new report reveals that significant numbers of Anglican clergy have converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom since 1992.

The report, “Convert Clergy in the Catholic Church in Britain,” released Nov. 20, shows that approximately 700 clergy and religious of the Church of England, Church in Wales, and Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church since 1992. The number includes 16 former Anglican bishops. This equates to approximately a third of all Catholic priests ordained in England and Wales during this period.

Speaking to CNA, co-author Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary’s Catholic University, London, said he was “really quite surprised” by the high numbers, “especially the [convert] ordinations as a proportion of all ordinations.”

“The numbers,” Bullivant added, “are much larger than most people would imagine. It was a much bigger phenomenon than a lot of people thought.”

He called the “steady stream” of former Anglican clergy converting “a very major source of Catholic vocations.”

Bullivant, who is also director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary’s, identified two “big waves” as major factors in pushing Anglican clergy to convert. 

First was the Church of England’s general synod vote in 1992, which enabled women to be ordained as vicars, and second the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain in 2010. This high-profile visit was preceded by the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which permitted the creation of “personal ordinariates for those Anglican faithful who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner.”

The figures show a spike in the numbers after these events: Over 150 clergy entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in 1994, and more than 80 in 2011, the year after the papal visit, when the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was formally introduced. This ordinariate enabled former Anglicans to retain their Anglican heritage and customs when entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Explaining the moves prompted by these major events, Bullivant said: “You get this kind of big thing that forces the issue. There’s then strength in numbers because if there’s suddenly other people doing it, then it’s much easier to make it feel possible.”

The report was published by the St. Barnabas Society, which exists to support former clergy and religious of other Christian denominations and other world faiths. Its focus is on the numbers and experiences of former Anglican clergy who have become Catholic over the last 30 years. 

The numbers were found by referring to “extensive records” from Monsignor John Broadhurst, a Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop, as well as Bullivant and his team interviewing 36 clergy and religious converts, which included three former bishops.

Responding to the numbers in the report, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said: “It is fascinating reading, not only in its collating of facts and figures, but also in so many personal testimonies and insights.” 

Nichols highlighted the experience of Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church as “not so much a turning away or rejection of their rich and precious Anglican heritage but an experience of an imperative to move into the full visible communion of the Catholic Church, in union with the See of Peter.”

The report contains accounts of clergy who have made the decision to become Catholic, which is described as “a step into the unknown.” Many have received practical help from the St. Barnabus Society. Bullivant said: “If it hadn't been for the St. Barnabas Society, [the conversions] couldn’t have happened.” 

He also emphasized that the former Anglicans he interviewed were “very grateful for their Anglican period,” for the “background and what they learned from it and what it gave them.” He added: “They’ve looked at British Christianity from both sides now.”

“A lot of them are seeing [that] God had a plan for them. And part of that plan was for them to do this.” 

He also highlighted the “substantial ongoing contribution to Catholic life made by convert clergy/religious in this country.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV urged U.S. high school students to be "intentional" with their screen time, their prayer time and their involvement in a local parish.

"One of my own personal heroes, one of my favorite saints, is St. Augustine of Hippo," the pope told 16,000 young Catholics meeting in Indianapolis. "He searched everywhere for happiness, but nothing satisfied him until he opened his heart to God. That is why he wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

With a livestream connection, Pope Leo spoke for close to an hour Nov. 21 with participants at the National Catholic Youth Conference meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The pope responded to questions from five high school students: Mia Smothers from the Archdiocese of Baltimore; Ezequiel Ponce from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Christopher Pantelakis from the Archdiocese of Las Vegas; Micah Alcisto from the Diocese of Honolulu; and Elise Wing from the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.

The questions were developed in meetings with other students and adults and were sent to the pope in advance. 

Pope Leo did respond to a question and comment posed by Katie Prejean McGrady, who was moderating the event. She mentioned that she had given the pope a pair of socks some time ago and said she wanted to know what he used as an opening word when he played Wordle each day.

"I just want to say I only wear white socks, and I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there's no set starting word," the pope said, before turning to the young people's questions.

Pantelakis asked for the pope's advice on balancing the use of smartphones and social media with "making faith connections outside of technology."

Pope Leo, using technology to address the students, listed many good things technology does. For example, "it lets us stay connected with people who are far away," he said, and there are "amazing tools for prayer, for reading the Bible, for learning more about what we believe, and it allows us to share the Gospel with people we may never meet in person."

"But even with all that, technology can never replace real, in-person relationships; simple things (like) a hug, a handshake, a smile -- all those things are essential to being human and to have those things in a real way, not through a screen," is important.

Pope Leo encouraged the students to follow the example of St. Carlo Acutis, who used technology to spread devotion to the Eucharistic but limited his time online and made sure he went to Mass, spent time in Eucharistic adoration and served the poor.

"Be intentional with your screen time," the pope told the young people. "Make sure technology serves your life and not the other way around."

Alciso asked for advice about using ChatGPT and other forms of artificial intelligence. 

While Pope Leo has continued to push AI developers and governments to formulate ethical guidelines and include controls to protect young people, he told the high school students that "safety is not only about rules; it is about education, and it is about personal responsibility. Filters and guidelines can help you, but they cannot make choices for you; only you can do that."

"Using AI responsibly means using it in ways that help you grow, never in ways that distract you from your dignity or your call to holiness," the pope said. "AI can process information quickly, but it cannot replace human intelligence -- and don't ask it to do your homework for you."

AI, he said, "will not judge between what is truly right and wrong. And it won't stand in wonder, in authentic wonder, before the beauty, the beauty of God's creation. So be prudent. Be wise. Be careful that your use of AI does not limit your true human growth."

"Use it in such a way that if it disappeared tomorrow, you would still know how to think how to create, how to act on your own, how to form authentic friendships," the pope said. And "remember, AI can never replace the unique gift that you are to the world."

Responding to Wing, who asked about the future of the church, Pope Leo told the young people they are an important part of its present. "Your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now, and the church needs you," he said.

But, looking ahead, he asked them to ask themselves: "What can I offer the church for the future? How can I help others come to know Christ? How can I build peace and friendship around me?"

Smothers asked the pope if he ever finds it difficult to accept God's mercy.

"All of us struggle with this at times," the pope said. "The truth is that none of us is perfect."

But, he added, it also is true that God always forgives.

"We may struggle to forgive, but God's heart is different," Pope Leo told the teens. "God never stops inviting us back. We experience this mercy of God in a special way in the sacrament of reconciliation; in confession, Jesus meets us through the priest. When we honestly confess our sins and accept our penance, the priest gives absolution, and we know with certainty that we are forgiven."

"Do not focus only on your sins. Look to Jesus, trust his mercy and go to him with confidence; he will always welcome you home," the pope said to applause.
 

Pope Leo’s advice for using AI, smartphones

During a livestreamed conversation with young people at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianaopolis Nov. 21, Pope Leo gave advice for using artificial intelligence and smartphones responsibly.