Our Lady of Czestochowa

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2025. | Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Jan 15, 2026 / 15:57 pm (CNA).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. government is working with the Catholic Church to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba after a late-October hurricane.

“The U.S. is sending the first humanitarian shipment to Cuba to help people in need as they continue to recover from Hurricane Melissa,” Rubio said in a Jan. 14 post on X. “We are working with the Catholic Church and partners to ensure aid reaches the Cuban people directly — not the illegitimate regime.”

U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Brian Burch also reposted the message.

“The Trump administration stands with the Cuban people,” Rubio added.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Oct. 28, 2025. The storm’s high winds left a path of destruction and affected millions across the Caribbean, including Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Floodwaters and damaged water systems created conditions for disease outbreaks in Cuba, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The State Department said Jan. 14 the Trump administration “is following through on our commitment to deliver $3 million in much-needed disaster relief to the Cuban people” with the first of a series of direct humanitarian aid shipments to Cuba.

The next aid shipment is set to be delivered from Miami on Jan. 16 and could reach an estimated 6,000 Cuban families in the “hardest-hit provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, and Guantanamo,” according to a State Department press release.

The statement said the State Department is “working closely” with the Catholic Church on delivering the assistance “without regime interference.”

Aid will take the form of food kits, including rice, beans, oil, and sugar; hygiene and water treatment kits; kitchen sets with pots and cooking utensils; and other household items such as sheets and blankets, solar lanterns, and more, the State Department said.

Catholic nongovernmental organizations in Cuba play a significant role in providing humanitarian aid on the island, with Caritas Cuba functioning as “the largest independent nongovernmental organization on the island, with more than 40 staff and a network of some 12,000 volunteers,” according to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which works in partnership with Caritas Cuba.

Caritas Cuba provides emergency response and humanitarian aid as well as programs for HIV and AIDS, elderly people, human development, and other educational programs, according to its website.

Working in tandem with Caritas, CRS Cuba has distributed more than $32 million in medical emergency supplies for hospitals, elderly homes, and victims of natural disasters since 1993. CRS provides emergency shelter support, food assistance, clean drinking water, home repair, and assistance to farmers and small businesses recovering from natural disasters.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See. | Credit: Santosh Digal

Jan 15, 2026 / 13:37 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See, described the practice of surrogacy as a “new form of colonialism” in which the interests of adults prevail over the rights of children.

The Italian Embassy to the Holy See hosted the Jan. 13 event “A Common Front for Human Dignity: Preventing the Commodification of Women and Children in Surrogacy” with the aim of fostering international debate on this practice and raising awareness of its ethical, legal, and social implications.

The event, held at the Borromeo Palace in Rome, is part of an awareness campaign promoted by the Italian Ministry for Family, Birth Rate, and Equal Opportunities together with the Holy See at the United Nations.

In his address, Gallagher stated that surrogacy is an issue that concerns all of humanity and therefore urged a united front to stop “the commodification of women and children.”

The Vatican official emphasized that this practice “exploits bodies and takes any meaning out of relationships,” reducing the person to a mere product, as Pope Francis has denounced. He also noted that Pope Leo XIV recently warned that surrogacy sacrifices the rights of children.

During his address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the pontiff denounced that “by turning gestation into a negotiable service, the dignity of both is violated: that of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and that of the mother, by exploiting her body and the generative process and altering the original relational vocation of the family.”

In this context, Gallagher warned that surrogacy — although presented as “an act of generosity” — reduces the person to an “object of transaction.”

“It’s the sale of a child, handed over to the buyers by virtue of a contract that places the interests of the adults at the center, and not those of the children,” he said emphatically.

He also stated that it reduces women’s bodies to a “mere reproductive instrument,” affecting the social conception of motherhood and human dignity.

After recalling that feminist groups also reject surrogacy, Gallagher emphasized that it is “a new form of colonialism” that exploits the most vulnerable people and pointed out that women’s consent is often the result of “financial pressures.”

Finally, the Vatican official argued for the “total abolition” of surrogacy and expressed its opposition to the creation of an international regulatory framework, which, in his view, would lead to “more children destined to be sold.”

The event also included speeches by the Italian ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto; the dean of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See and ambassador of Cyprus, George Poulides; and Italian Minister for Family, Natality, and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

Pope Leo XIV next to the new mosaic of him that will be added to St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica in Rome. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 15, 2026 / 12:54 pm (CNA).

A mosaic bearing the official portrait of Pope Leo XIV was presented to the pontiff on Jan. 14. The mosaic will be placed in St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica at the request of the basilica’s archpriest, Cardinal James Michael Harvey.

The artwork, which, according to ancient tradition, is created upon the election of each pope, was made in the Vatican Mosaic Studio of the Fabric of St. Peter, where the basilica’s mosaics are currently being conserved through restoration work and where artwork is also produced for sale to the public.

Thanks to the skill and experience of its mosaic artists, who still use ancient technical and artistic methods, mosaics are produced that are inspired by masterpieces of sacred and secular art.

The mosaic “tondo” — from the Italian word meaning “round” — of the Holy Father is 54 inches in diameter and was made with glass enamels and gold on a metal structure, according to the Vatican.

The mosaic is composed of more than 15,000 tesserae — the small pieces used to create the mosaic — including some that date back to the 19th century. These pieces were created using the ancient technique of cut mosaic and have been fixed with the traditional oil-based stucco of the Vatican tradition.

The mosaic will be placed in the space next to the portrait of Pope Francis, in the right nave of the papal basilica, at an approximate height of 43 feet.

The work is based on a pictorial sketch by the Italian artist Rodolfo Papa, an oil painting on canvas that will be preserved in the Fabric of St. Peter in the Vatican.

Also participating in the presentation were Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and Harvey along with the abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Donato Ogliari.

At the end of the presentation, the Holy Father invited all those present to join him in a moment of prayer.

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

Credit: Digital Storm/Shutterstock

Jan 15, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The attorney general of Ohio is moving to shut down a nursing home after a congregation of Catholic nuns sold it, amid reports that the facility’s “shockingly poor care” is placing elderly residents in “clear and present danger.”

House of Loreto, a nursing facility formerly run by the sisters of the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, has allegedly committed “widespread care failures,” Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said in a Jan. 13 press release.

The sisters were involved with the home from 1957, when then-Youngstown Bishop Emmet Walsh asked for the religious to run the facility. The current facility opened in 1963.

The Youngstown Diocese said in March 2025 that the home had been acquired by Hari Group LLC, a company based out of Ohio. In its press release announcing the sale the diocese did not note any troubles experienced by House of Loreto at the time. A diocesan spokesman said on Jan. 15 that the home was no longer under Catholic control after the sale.

In a court order request filed on Jan. 12, Yost’s office said that state inspectors have observed a “rapid deterioration of care” at the facility, with the filing claiming that “shockingly poor care” was putting residents in “real and present danger.”

Among the problems alleged by inspectors include the lack of a director of nursing, leaving the facility “spinning out of control” with repeated resident falls, improper medicine administration, denial of pain medication, and other alleged mismanagement issues.

The facility is “so dysfunctional” that the government “lacks any confidence that the current leadership ... will be able to right the ship,” the court filing says.

The attorney general’s office said it is trying to get the facility shut down and “relocate residents to safer facilities.”

In a statement to EWTN News, the Youngstown Diocese said it was “deeply saddened” at the imminent closure of the facility.

Youngstown Bishop David Bonnar in the statement said the sisters “poured their lives into creating a home where the elderly were cherished and protected.”

“Their ministry at the House of Loreto was a profound witness to the Gospel,” the prelate said. “It is painful to see their legacy overshadowed by the serious concerns that have emerged under the new ownership.”

The facility said it takes its name from the Holy House of Loreto in Italy, said to be the home at which the Annunciation occurred and the Word was made flesh.

The nursing home said it seeks to foster “an environment where seniors can experience the same love and respect they would find in their own homes —truly standing on the threshold of heaven as they navigate life’s later chapters.”

Correction: This story originally identified the House of Loreto as a "Catholic-run" facility based on information from the facility's website. The home is actually no longer under Catholic ownership. This story was updated on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. | Credit: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Jan 14, 2026 / 20:49 pm (CNA).

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called for finding peaceful solutions to the events unfolding in Iran, where he sees the population’s yearning to live in “peace, justice, and dignity.”

On Dec. 28, 2025, protests erupted in the capital, Tehran, as Iranians demonstrated against rising prices of basic goods such as chicken and cooking oil, due to inflation. In the following days, the demonstrations spread to more than 180 cities.

These protests are considered the most severe that the Islamic Republic has faced since it came to power in 1979. However, authorities have responded with a crackdown that has resulted in more than 2,500 deaths, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Speaking to Vatican News, Pizzaballa said he sees in Iran “the yearning of the entire Iranian population, but also of us, for peace, justice, and dignity; and however much the authorities, politics, may want to draw a line, there is always a red line that cannot be crossed,” which is the people’s demand for a decent life.

“Where this is lacking, sooner or later this need explodes; that is what we are seeing there. I hope that peaceful solutions will be found, that things will not degenerate into violence, but surely no one can ignore the yearning for life and justice that is an integral part of every person’s conscience,” he said in a Jan. 13 statement.

During the interview, the Italian cardinal also addressed the situation in Gaza, noting that it “hasn’t changed much” because, although there is no longer a war, “there are still targeted bombings.”

“There is more food than before, but there is a shortage of medicine. People are dying not only from the cold but also from lack of medical care,” he said. “Everything is still very uncertain. There is much to be done, but it is clear that the situation remains one of total devastation.”

Pizzaballa explained that the conflict in the Middle East is affecting the faithful of the patriarchate in various ways, including those in Jordan, where the war is having both an emotional and economic impact.

Finally, the cardinal shared his experience at the recent extraordinary consistory. He said there was a “very positive atmosphere” and that it was important “because it was the first consistory in a long time.”

“The topics discussed didn’t produce anything sensational, but that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to initiate dialogue, get to know each other, and better define some methods for working together,” he said.

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

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services headquarters building in Washington, D.C. | Credit: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jan 14, 2026 / 20:46 pm (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied knowledge of reports that his administration has restored millions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood.

According to Jan. 13 report in Politico, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month restored Title X funding to Planned Parenthood. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday dropped a lawsuit against the administration related to this funding.

Planned Parenthood and some other clinics will be able to submit reimbursement receipts to the government for low-income patients who received birth control and other non-abortion services, according to the Politico report.

While the funding won’t directly cover abortion — the Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from doing so — the funding will subsidize an organization that performs hundreds of thousands of abortions yearly. 

When asked about the report on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “I don’t know anything about that.”

“I have not heard that,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. added.

The issue immediately stirred controversy in the pro-life movement. Many pro-lifers have spoken out against the move, calling on the administration to fully defund Planned Parenthood. Others have defended the Trump administration, saying it was their best legal option.

Live Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), two organizations that advocate for legal protections for unborn children, have been urging the Trump administration to completely defund Planned Parenthood.

“The Trump administration has quietly restored millions of dollars in Title X grants to Planned Parenthood that it had withheld since March of 2025,” said Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, in a statement shared with EWTN News. “PP kills 1,102 babies daily with your taxpaying dollars. We must fully defund abortion corporation Planned Parenthood!”

While the first Trump administration enacted a “Protect Life Rule” that stopped abortions from using Title X funding, the second administration has not yet done so.

SBA urged the administration to “immediately reinstate” this rule.

“The Protect Life Rule from the 1st Trump admin stopped Big Abortion businesses from using Title X taxpayer $$ as a slush fund. Biden canceled it,” read a statement shared with EWTN News. “The Trump admin must immediately reinstate it.”

Members of the country’s pro-life movement are set to rally at the annual March for Life on Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C. Leading voices in the movement have been calling for the complete defunding of Planned Parenthood and renewed safety restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone. Though the administration ordered a review of the pill months ago, the review has not been completed. In fact, the administration recently approved a generic form of the abortion drug mifepristone.

Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Jan 14, 2026 / 17:55 pm (CNA).

Twelve states filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 13, seeking to block what they call unlawful “gender conditions" imposed on billions of dollars in federal health, education, and research grants.

The plaintiff states — New York, Oregon, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington — challenge HHS’ requirement that grant recipients certify compliance with Title IX “including the requirements set forth in Presidential Executive Order 14168” effective Oct. 1, 2025.

The executive order, issued by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, and titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” defines sex as binary and immutable, grounded in reproductive biology, and directs agencies to reject interpretations recognizing gender identity.

The complaint alleges the conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), exceed statutory authority, and infringe on constitutional protections.

The complaint states: “The Gender Conditions acknowledge, and require recipients to acknowledge, ‘that [the Title IX] certification reflects a change in the government’s position.’”

It argues this imposes a “novel and ambiguous funding condition” on over $300 billion in annual grants, making funding contingent on adopting the EO’s definitions, which plaintiffs say exclude transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-diverse individuals.

Recipients must certify compliance, according to the complaint, with violations risking funding termination and liability under the False Claims Act or criminal statutes.

The complaint alleges HHS bypassed notice-and-comment rulemaking, treating the conditions as a legislative rule altering Title IX. They claim this reverses prior policy recognizing gender identity protections consistent with existing case law and earlier HHS guidance.

The plaintiffs are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against enforcement and argue the conditions are arbitrary, exceed authority, lack unambiguous notice, and risk irreparable harm to state programs and transgender communities.

Republicans say they are crafting a bill to permanently defund Planned Parenthood Jan. 13, 2026. | Credit: usarmyband, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jan 14, 2026 / 16:19 pm (CNA).

House Republican lawmakers unveiled a framework that outlines their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes permanently defunding large abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.

The Republican Study Committee, which is the largest Republican-aligned caucus in the House, published the framework on Jan. 13. The document is a starting point for crafting the budget but does not include any of the specific language that will ultimately be included in the bill.

According to the framework, House Republican leaders intend to “extend and make permanent” the temporary freeze on federal funds for abortion providers, which was included in the tax overhaul that President Donald Trump signed into law last July.

That bill included a one-year freeze on Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide abortions on a large scale. Although existing law had already blocked direct taxpayer funds for elective abortions, the change in law expanded the ban to include non-abortive services that are offered by organizations that perform abortions on a large scale.

If that provision is not extended or made permanent in the next fiscal year, Planned Parenthood would again be eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for its non-abortive services.

Many Republicans had initially hoped to implement a more long-term freeze on reimbursements for Planned Parenthood in last year’s bill, but that effort failed. The original House proposal last year planned a 10-year freeze, but it was reduced to only one year following negotiations and compromise.

A spokesperson for National Right to Life said the organization is “excited” by the framework, adding that “this proposal would benefit countless American families while also protecting unborn Americans by extending the current defunding of major abortion providers.”

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used to subsidize abortion providers, and we are encouraged to see this principle reflected in the reconciliation framework,” the spokesperson said.

The ongoing one-year freeze already had a major impact on Planned Parenthood. Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood facilities closed last year, caused in part by the revenue stemming from those provisions in the tax overhaul.

Republicans hold a narrow five-seat majority in the House and a six-seat majority in the Senate, which means a small number of Republicans defecting could ultimately sink certain provisions.

The framework for the budget proposal also suggests an extension on the long-standing ban on direct federal funding for elective abortions, which has been included in federal budgets since 1976.

It also extends a ban on funds for “gender transition/mutilation procedures,” which was included in the tax overhaul.

According to the framework, both of these rules would apply to Medicaid reimbursements and tax credits provided through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. According to the Republican Study Committee, the rules would save taxpayers about $2.9 billion in federal spending costs.

The framework for the budget priorities comes about one week after President Donald Trump asked Republicans to be “flexible” on language related to taxpayer-funded abortion in relation to negotiations surrounding extensions to health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act.

Trump’s comments prompted criticism from some pro-life leaders, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

In an Oval Office press conference Jan. 14, Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said they didn’t know anything about HHS funds being released to Planned Parenthood in December.

Veteran EWTN executive Edwin Lopez is the new executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Commission on Social Communications. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Edwin Lopez

Jan 14, 2026 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

Edwin Lopez, who for more than two decades has served as EWTN’s regional manager for Asia-Pacific, has been appointed as the new executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Social Communications.

Lopez’s appointment was announced during a recollection of CBCP personnel and volunteers in Manila. He is the first married layman to serve in the role.

In this capacity, Lopez, who will continue in his long-standing Asia-Pacific management role at EWTN, will serve as the CBCP commission’s primary operational and coordinating leader, turning the bishops’ pastoral goals into practical projects and activities.

Commenting on the appointment, EWTN Chairman of the Board and CEO Michael Warsaw celebrated the fact that “Edwin will continue in his leadership role at EWTN while also supporting the CBCP in this important responsibility, further strengthening the Church’s communications at a critical time.”

“We are proud that he has been asked to place his experience and expertise at the service of Church leaders in this new capacity,” Warsaw continued, noting that Lopez is “a strong advocate for the Church in Asia and the Philippines who has served EWTN faithfully for more than 25 years, and his leadership continues to be an extraordinary gift to both the Catholic Church and our global mission.”

For his part, Lopez told CNA: “I hope to contribute what over 25 years in social communications across the Asia Pacific region has taught me: Digital tools can broaden contact and strengthen connection, but they cannot replace relational communion.”

“God did not merely send a message, he sent himself — in person. When we confuse means and end, we deepen the crisis of intimacy; when communion remains the end, even AI and digital media become faithful servants that lead people back to relationships, communities, and the Eucharist,” Lopez emphasized.

Lopez succeeds Father Ildefonso “Ilde” Dimaano, who was tapped by CBCP president Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa to serve as his spokesperson.

Lopez is also a professor in the philosophy and theology department of San Carlos Seminary in Makati City. He holds graduate degrees in business administration, international management, and development communication.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN

Jan 14, 2026 / 11:45 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s Court of Cassation has cleared the way for the appeal phase of the Secretariat of State funds trial — commonly tied in headlines to Cardinal Angelo Becciu — rejecting last-ditch procedural challenges and accepting the recusal of Vatican Promoter of Justice Alessandro Diddi from the case.

In two separate rulings — one brief and another running eight pages — the court closed the remaining disputes that had stalled the appeal proceedings over the Holy See’s investment in a luxury property on Sloane Avenue in London.

The Cassation decisions mean the appeal will proceed without Diddi, and they also uphold the appeal court’s earlier finding that the promoter’s office filed its own appeal improperly and outside required procedures and deadlines. As a result, the appeal phase will now focus primarily on defense appeals — which could at most lead to reduced sentences or even acquittals for some defendants.

The appeal trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 3.

What the Cassation court decided

The case reached the Court of Cassation after a series of procedural clashes in the appeal court, including:

— defense motions seeking Diddi’s recusal following intercepted communications suggesting contacts with individuals involved in the wider case;

— defense arguments that the promoter’s appeal was inadmissible because it failed to follow procedural rules and timelines; and

— a countermove from the promoter’s office seeking to challenge the appeal court itself — effectively attempting to halt proceedings by disputing the court’s authority to declare the promoter’s appeal inadmissible.

The Vatican’s Court of Cassation accepted Diddi’s decision to abstain from the case, a move that effectively ends the push to force a formal ruling against him. In its more detailed ruling, the court reaffirmed that the promoter’s appeal was filed incorrectly and that the appeal court acted properly in declaring it inadmissible.

The court is presided over by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, with Cardinals Matteo Zuppi, Augusto Paolo Lojudice, and Mauro Gambetti among the judges, alongside other members of the panel.

Background: London deal and first verdicts

The broader trial centers on Vatican financial management tied to the Secretariat of State and its London real estate investment. Vatican prosecutors argued that intermediaries worked together to extract money from the Holy See as control of the property shifted between financiers.

Becciu — the first cardinal tried by a Vatican civil tribunal following a decision by Pope Francis — was convicted in the first-instance verdict and sentenced to five years and six months in prison on charges including embezzlement and fraud. Other defendants received prison sentences as well, including Enrico Crasso (seven years), Raffaele Mincione (five years and six months), Cecilia Marogna (three years and nine months), and Gianluigi Torzi (six years). In total, first-instance convictions amounted to about 37 years of prison time, along with an order to confiscate 166 million euros ($193.6 million), though several defendants were acquitted on some counts.

The appeal phase has unfolded in a changed Vatican context after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, who has signaled he intends to let Vatican justice proceed without the kinds of papal interventions that marked earlier stages of the case.

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