The Church of St. Luke

Advent candles. / Credit: Romolo Tavini/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 30, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Advent begins this year on Sunday, Nov. 30. Most Catholics — even those who don’t often go to Mass — know that Advent involves a wreath with candles, possibly a “calendar” of hidden chocolates, and untangling strings of Christmas lights. But Advent is much more than that. Here’s an explainer of what Advent is really about.

What is Advent?

The people of Israel waited for generations for the promised Messiah to arrive. Their poetry, their songs and stories, and their religious worship focused on an awaited savior who would come to them to set them free from captivity and to lead them to the fulfillment of all that God had promised.

Israel longed for a Messiah, and John the Baptist, who came before Jesus, promised that the Messiah was coming and could be found in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Advent is a season in the Church’s life intended to renew the experience of waiting and longing for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply in our lives and to renew our desire for Christ’s triumphant second coming into the world.

Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating trees and gift giving, but they’re also intended to be spiritual.

During Advent, we’re invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church — all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah ... by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming.”

What does the word ‘Advent’ mean?

Advent comes from the Latin “ad + venire,” which means, essentially, “to come to” or “to come toward.” “Ad + venire” is the root of the Latin “adventus,” which means “arrival.”

So Advent is the season of arrival: the arrival of Christ in our hearts, in the world, and into God’s extraordinary plan for our salvation.

So, it’s four weeks long?

Advent is a slightly different length each year. It starts four Sundays before Christmas. But because Christmas is on a fixed date and could fall on different days of the week, Advent can be as short as three weeks and a day or as long as four weeks.

Does Advent mark a ‘new year’?

The Church’s feasts and celebrations run on a yearlong cycle, which we call the “liturgical year.” The “liturgical year” starts on the first Sunday of Advent. So it’s a new liturgical year when Advent starts. But the Church also uses the ordinary calendar, so it would probably be a bit weird to have a “New Year’s Eve” party the night before Advent starts.

What is the significance of the Advent wreath?

The Catholic Church has been using Advent wreaths since the Middle Ages. Lighting candles as we prepare for Christmas reminds us that Christ is the light of the world. And the evergreen boughs remind us of new and eternal life in Christ, the eternal son of the Father.

It is definitely true that Germanic people were lighting up candle wreaths in wintertime long before the Gospel arrived in their homeland. They did so because candle wreaths in winter are beautiful and warm. That a Christian symbol emerged from that tradition is an indication that the Gospel can be expressed through the language, customs, and symbols of cultures that come to believe that Christ Jesus is Lord.

One candle is pink on the wreath — why?

There are four candles on the Advent wreath. Three are purple and lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, which we call Gaudete Sunday. On that Sunday, in addition to the pink candle, the priest wears a pink vestment, which he might refer to as “rose.”

Gaudete is a word that means “rejoice,” and we rejoice on Gaudete Sunday because we are halfway through Advent. Some people have the custom of throwing Gaudete parties, and this is also a day on which Christmas carolers may begin caroling door to door.

The three purple candles are sometimes said to represent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — the three spiritual disciplines that are key to a fruitful Advent.

Is it wrong to sing Christmas songs during Advent?

No, but there are a lot of great Advent hymns and songs, such as “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “O Come Divine Messiah,” “Come Thou Fount,” and “Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding.”

When should the tree go up?

When to put up the tree is a decision that families decide on their own. Some people put up their tree and decorate it on the first Sunday of Advent to make a big transformation in their home and get them into “preparing for Christmas” mode.

Some put up the tree on the first Sunday of Advent, put on lights the next Sunday, ornaments the next, and decorate it more and more as they get closer to Christmas.

Some put up the tree on Gaudete Sunday, as a kind of rejoicing, and decorate it in the weeks between Gaudate and Christmas.

When the tree goes up and gets decorated is up to the individual and family, but having a Christmas tree is a big part of many people’s Advent traditions.

This story was first published in November 2019 and has been updated.

null / Lisa Missenda / Shutterstock

Denver, Colorado, Nov 29, 2025 / 12:36 pm (CNA).

The First Sunday of Advent 2025 is tomorrow, Nov. 30, less than four weeks before Christmas this year, and while the Church provides this time to allow you to be caught by the joy of the Incarnation, you can be easily caught by surprise that it is Christmas. To help remedy this surprise, the Church provides songs, signs, and symbols to enter into the season of Advent more fruitfully.

Here are three ways the Church teaches us about the meaning of the season:

Advent hymns

Many of the customary hymns for Advent highlight the movement of the soul toward what Pope Francis termed in a homily on Advent as a “horizon of hope.” No hymn epitomizes this better than “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” with its overtones of expectation and its mournful remorse over the state of man, captive to sin. The cultivation of hope and expectation is also seen in Advent hymns such as “O Come Divine Messiah” and “People Look East.” 

The commingled darkness and hope that God will fulfill his promises, a theme characteristic of Advent, deepens with songs like the Spanish carol “Alepun.” The lyrics of “Alepun” move the faithful into an experience of waiting with a pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary while the rhythm and percussion evoke donkey hooves clattering across the plains of Israel to Bethlehem.

Church decor

Advent is a season of penance marked by joy and, in many ways, a little Lent. This is why the colors of purple and pink — with their ties to penance and the Lord’s Passion, and the joy of Laetare Sunday when Lent is almost over — are the colors of Advent. But did you know that the deep purple of Advent has a blue hue to it to teach the faithful in symbol about the Marian heart of the season?

The lack of church decor also teaches about the penitential nature of the season. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the lack of flowers on the altar, the restrained use of instruments, and the absence of the resounding and angelic Gloria all lead to a deliberate emptiness.

The emptiness will first be filled on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and, later, flowers will be allowed on Gaudete Sunday as the first expression of the festivity of the coming Christmas.

Saints and solemnities 

Following the solemnity of Christ the King, Advent begins with echoes of the power of Christ coming in glory before it stretches forward to the humble beginnings of the mystery of the Incarnation.

This means there is a certain focus the Church helps people enter into even in the way the liturgical calendar is marked by very few memorials of saints: just five in the course of the four weeks, most of whom are deeply embedded in the celebration of and preparation for Christmas in various countries.

St. Nicholas is the best known of the five: the generous bishop whose gifts inspired generations of lore and giving. St. Lucy, whose desire to give charity to prisoners in the catacombs meant she wore candles in her hair to free her hands, is another well-known saint with connections to Christmas whom we celebrate in Advent.

The Church also shows forth the importance of Mary during this season, which places her Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, a solemnity and holy day of obligation, at the very beginning of the liturgical year. Combined with the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, the Church shows forth what God has wrought in a soul full of grace — a foreshadowing of the entire mystery of salvation in one soul.

Though there are many more signs and symbols that communicate the meaning of Advent, these can assist you as you enter the season of expectation, building anticipation for the celebration of Christmas so it doesn’t catch you by surprise.

This article was first published on Nov. 28, 2022, and has been updated.

The flights for Pope Leo XIV's first apostolic journey are taking place aboard an ITA Airways Airbus A320neo, one of thousands of Airbus planes affected by a computer issue, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News.

CNA Staff, Nov 29, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Around 6,000 Airbus planes were grounded this weekend after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers, according to the BBC.

Ireland West Airport in Knock, Ireland. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Ireand West Airport Knock

Dublin, Ireland, Nov 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Monsignor James Horan’s ambitious airport project is still transforming the west of Ireland 40 years later.

ISTANBUL (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV, like his two immediate predecessors, visited the so-called Blue Mosque in Turkey's capital; he spent about 20 minutes inside but did not appear to pause for prayer as Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis had done.

Instead, he listened to Askin Musa Tunca, the mosque's muezzin who calls people to prayer five times a day, explain the building, its construction and how Muslims pray. And the pope asked questions. 

Tunca told reporters afterward that the mosque is "the house of Allah -- it's not my house; it's not your house," and so he told Pope Leo he could pray if he wanted. "'That's OK,' he said, he wanted to see the mosque."

Reporters pressed Tunca, asking again if the pope prayed. "Maybe to himself, I don't know," he responded.

The Vatican press office said afterward that Pope Leo visited the mosque "in a spirit of reflection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer."

As is customary, Pope Leo removed his shoes in the courtyard before entering the mosque in white socks. 

Formally called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Muslim house of prayer was complete in 1617 and is known as the Blue Mosque because of the more than 21,000 blue tiles that decorate its walls, arches and domes. The tiles come from Iznik, site of the ancient Nicaea, which Pope Leo had visited the day before.

Leaving the mosque, Pope Leo noted to Tunca that they were going through a doorway with a sign that said, "No exit." The muezzin replied that the sign was for tourists but, if the pope preferred, "you do not have to go out. You can stay here."

Pope Benedict XVI had visited the Blue Mosque in 2006, and Pope Francis toured it in 2015. Both had paused for a moment of silence facing the mihrab, which indicates the direction of the Islamic holy city of Mecca. St. John Paul II was the first pontiff to visit a mosque when he went to the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria, in 2001. 

In late October Pope Leo had led Vatican celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's document on relations with other world religions. The bishops at Vatican II said Catholics have esteem for their Muslim brothers and sisters, who "adore the one God, living and subsisting in himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth," and "they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even his inscrutable decrees."
 

Co-founder Bob Hogan (left) and CEO and co-founder Daniel Cruz (right) are launching a pro-life health insurance plan that is in line with Catholic morality. / Credit: Courtesy of Presidio Healthcare

CNA Staff, Nov 28, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Two Texas pro-lifers are launching a health care plan that embraces Catholic life ethics, creating an ethical option for Christians.

Health insurance companies often cover things that are in tension with Catholic Church teaching or a Christian pro-life ethic, such as abortion, contraceptives, or assisted suicide.

Daniel Cruz and Bob Hogan founded the FortressPlan by Presidio Healthcare because they wanted a pro-life, Christian alternative. 

“FortressPlan,” which launched in November, does not cover any health care offerings that go against Catholic teaching. 

While making a start in Texas, the co-founders hope to expand across the U.S. 

Hogan, co-founder of Presidio and an alum of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, said that health care sharing ministries “are largely unregulated and are not legally required to pay families’ medical bills,” which can “cause tremendous financial stress for families.”

As a more realistic alternative, he and Cruz “set out to create a real insurance company,” Hogan said in a statement shared with CNA. 

Cruz spoke with CNA about the Catholic values behind the FortressPlan. 

CNA: What makes Presidio Healthcare’s FortressPlan unique among insurance options in the U.S.?

Daniel Cruz: The FortressPlan stands out as the only health insurance plan that aligns with the culture of life. Unlike other insurers, it does not cover abortifacients, contraception, transgender treatments or surgeries, euthanasia, in vitro fertilization, or similar practices.

What makes the Fortress Plan pro-life and Christian? What inspired you to align the plan with the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services”?

Presidio Healthcare Insurance Company is the first health insurer in the United States to be filed as a Catholic entity. Designed to respect the dignity of every person, the FortressPlan aligns with the “Ethical and Religious Directives [ERDs] for Catholic Health Care Services.”

The ERDs represent a formally recognized expression of Catholic moral doctrine, protected under federal conscience and religious-freedom laws, which allows us to operate in the private market with an authentically Catholic health plan. A major element of our mission is to promote life-affirming physicians and services, and the ERDs serve as a concrete guide to help us accomplish that aim.

What inspired you to launch the pro-life Christian health insurance option, the FortressPlan? What challenges have you faced in launching it?

I was approached by a former client to estimate the cost of an abortion for their health plan. This request ignited a passion to apply my skills as an actuary in a different direction. 

After discovering that no insurance companies were entirely pro-life or that sharing ministries fell short of offering true financial protection for families, I decided to establish the first pro-life Christian insurance company.

What are your future goals for the FortressPlan and this movement toward pro-life, Christian insurance? How do you hope it will impact people?

Our future objectives include expanding nationwide and entering both the ACA [Affordable Care Act] and employer markets, building a well-recognized brand that represents Christian health care.

Members of Iglesia ni Cristo take part in a protest against corruption on Nov. 16, 2025 in Manila, Philippines. A powerful Philippine megachurch, Iglesia ni Cristo, mobilized over half a million members to join growing protests over alleged corruption in multibillion-peso flood control projects. Catholic leaders in the Philippines have also mobilized Catholics to participate in similar marches. / Credit: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Nov 28, 2025 / 05:53 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed. 

Filipino archbishop asks Catholics to attend protests against government corruption

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, has invited Filipinos across the country to attend rallies this weekend in Manila to protest government corruption. The protest comes on the heels of the Trillion Peso March held on Sept. 21, which drew hundreds of thousands.

Thousands of Filipinos are expected to participate in the march Sunday, according to Herald Malaysia Online. The protests come amid a growing political crisis and rising public anger over scandals and abuses of government funds.

Priest and security guard attacked in Trinidad 

A priest and a security guard at St. Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church in La Romaine, Trinidad, were the victims of an attack and robbery on Monday, Trinidad Express reported.

Five attackers cut the electricity, bound the security guard, entered the rectory, woke and tied up the priest Father Derek Anton, and stole various electronics and cash.

The crime is being investigated and the Archdiocese of Port of Spain has confirmed it. “At this time we ask you all for your prayers [for the victims] and for all victims of crime,” the archdiocese said in its statement.

Mozambique archbishop pleads for humanitarian support to aid displaced people

Archbishop Inacio Saure of Namula, Mozambique, has issued an urgent plea for humanitarian aid for more than 30,000 people who have been displaced in the Alua district of Memba.

Saure, who is also president of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique told Vatican News that the people have fled their homes “are currently sheltering in the administrative post of Alua” due to recent terrorist incursions in Nampula province. The archbishop said he has instructed Caritas in Nampula to respond to the crisis. 

Catholic Church rallies in Thailand to assist victims of historic flooding

Historic flooding in southern Thailand has impacted over two million people, causing death and destruction and stranding many tourists. According to Vatican News, in response to the disaster Bishop Paul Trairong Multree of the Diocese of Surat Thani called a meeting Tuesday of Church-led relief groups.

“Our relief team will get working tomorrow morning immediately with [the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees], bringing drinking water and essentials to the people affected,” Trairong reportedly told LiCAS News, adding that supplies are expected to arrive from Bangkok and other dioceses.

Tensions between Pakistanis and Afghans may erupt into new war, says Karachi priest

Escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have created fear that a new war may be on the horizon, according to Father Mario Angelo Rodrigues, a priest of the Archdiocese of Karachi and rector of St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in Karachi.

He told Fides that resentments and fears have built in the wake of the influx of Afghani refugees and recent terrorist attacks. 

“To re-establish a climate of mutual trust and embark on a path to peace, the Pakistani government should accept the situation and grant residency to Afghan refugees who are living peacefully and have no links to terrorism, in the spirit of an open and pluralistic society,” the priest said.

He also noted that “the government in Kabul should cooperate in combating terrorism, our common enemy. As Pakistani Christians, we support paths of acceptance and brotherhood so that we can live in true peace within our society and with our neighbors."

Nun who fights human trafficking reacts to new UN report on femicide

In the wake of a new UN report highlighting the high numbers of women killed by men and new forms of violence being caused by tech developments, Sister Abby Avelino, the international coordinator of Talitha Kum, an international group that fights human trafficking, told Vatican News that, “Digital violence is increasingly widespread, and the online world is now a major site of exploitation.” 

The UN report shows that more than 38% of women are estimated to have experienced online violence, while 85% have witnessed abuse directed at other women on digital platforms.

IZNIK, Turkey (CNS) -- Although the ancient city of Nicaea lies in ruins and the geographic center of Christianity has shifted West, Pope Leo XIV and Christian leaders gathered at an archaeological site in Turkey to celebrate the enduring faith set out in the Nicene Creed.

Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople hosted the ecumenical prayer service and the common recitation of the Creed Nov. 28 at Iznik, site of the ancient Nicaea, about 80 miles southeast of Istanbul.

With the Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem or their representatives and with representatives of other Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches, Pope Leo marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea -- the primary motive for his first foreign trip as pope. 

The joint recitation of the Creed did not include the phrase known as the "filioque" -- the statement that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" -- since the phrase is not used by the Orthodox because it was inserted into the Latin Creed by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.

Recent popes, including Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis and Pope Leo, have omitted the phrase at ecumenical prayer services.

Standing on a platform overlooking the remains of the Basilica of St. Neophytos, now partially submerged in Lake Iznik, the church leaders took turns leading the prayers -- in English, Greek and Arabic -- and lighting candles as a Catholic choir, singing in Latin, and an Orthodox choir, singing in Greek, alternated. 

Patriarch Bartholomew, welcoming the pope and other guests, noted that "despite so many intervening centuries and all the upheavals, difficulties and divisions they have brought, we nevertheless approach this sacred commemoration with shared reverence and a common feeling of hope."

"The power of this place does not reside in what passes away, but in what endures forever," he said.

Speaking after the patriarch, Pope Leo told his fellow Christian leaders that at a time when humanity is "afflicted by violence and conflict," the world "is crying out for reconciliation."

"The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings," he said. "In the Nicene Creed, we profess our faith 'in one God, the Father.' Yet, it would not be possible to invoke God as Father if we refused to recognize as brothers and sisters all other men and women, who are created in the image of God." 

Though united by faith, the Russian Orthodox Church -- the largest of the world's Eastern Orthodox churches -- was not represented at the service. The Russian church broke relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the recognition in 2018 of the autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. 

Belief in God the father, Pope Leo said in Iznik, means "there is a universal fraternity of men and women regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion or personal perspectives."

With many of the Christian leaders, especially the Oriental Orthodox, coming from nations that recently faced or are facing war and persecution, Pope Leo said Christians must give concrete witness to their belief that all people are children of one God and therefore brothers and sisters to each other.

"Furthermore, we must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism," he said. "Instead, the paths to follow are those of fraternal encounter, dialogue and cooperation."

The pope also repeated a concern he had mentioned during a meeting with Catholic leaders earlier in the day: the risk that many Christians have departed from the Nicene Creed's firm belief in the divinity of Jesus.

"This question is especially important for Christians, who risk reducing Jesus Christ to a kind of charismatic leader or superman, a misrepresentation that ultimately leads to sadness and confusion," he said.

At the time of the Council of Nicaea, the pope said, Arius -- a priest from Alexandra in Egypt -- had denied the divinity of Christ, reducing him to "a mere intermediary between God and humanity, ignoring the reality of the Incarnation such that the divine and the human remained irremediably separated."

"But if God did not become man, how can mortal creatures participate in his immortal life?" Pope Leo asked.

The pope told the Christian leaders that sharing the same faith in Jesus and being able to recite the Creed together means there "is a profound bond already uniting all Christians."

"We are all invited to overcome the scandal of the divisions that unfortunately still exist and to nurture the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave his life," the pope said. "The more we are reconciled, the more we Christians can bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a proclamation of hope for all."

Patriarch Bartholomew told the leaders that with "the fervor of the faith of Nicaea burning in our hearts," they must "run the course" of Christian unity in fulfillment of Jesus' prayer for the unity of his disciples.

"And, finally," the patriarch said, "let us love one another that with one mind we may confess: Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- Trinity consubstantial and undivided."
 

Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2025. / Credit: VALERY HACHE/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 27, 2025 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life- and abortion-related news.

U.S. legislators introduce bill to protect medical residents from coercive abortion training 

U.S. legislators have introduced a bill to protect the conscience rights of medical students and residents who often feel pressured or even coerced into participating in abortions during their training. 

U.S. Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, Senator James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and others introduced the Conscience Protections for Medical Residents Act, designed to “ensure medical students and residents are never pressured or coerced into abortion training that violates their moral or religious beliefs,” according to a press release.  

The bill would establish federal protections for students, making abortion training an “opt-in” rather than “opt-out” system as “residents often fear that opting out could affect evaluations, recommendations, or future career opportunities,” according to the press release. 

“The first rule of medicine is to do no harm, yet for many aspiring doctors, coerced abortion training not only contradicts that oath but also violates their moral and religious beliefs,” Cornyn said in a statement. 

“By allowing medical residents to opt-in rather than opt-out of abortion training, this legislation would protect health care professionals’ convictions and give them the freedom to practice medicine without fear of retaliation.” 

Investigative videos find late term abortions performed in Canada without serious medical reason 

After a pregnant pro-life woman went undercover in abortion clinics across Canada, she discovered that late-term abortionists are easily accessible, even in cases where the woman isn’t having medical issues, according to recently released videos. 

Alissa Golob, co-founder of RightNow, went undercover when she was five months pregnant in 2023, obtaining videos in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and elsewhere that have been released to the public over the past two weeks.   

The videos show abortionists saying that women don’t need to prove that they are having serious medical issues in order to have a late-term abortion. 

“Canadians are often told that late-term abortions never happen in Canada and if they do, they are for extreme medical reasons, such as the life of the mother,” Golob said in a Nov. 19 statement. 

“Yet, as you will see in these videos, I was told numerous times that attaining a late-term abortion in Canada is relatively easy, it is legal, and that I did not need a reason, medical or otherwise, regarding myself or my pregnancy,” Golob continued. 

RightNow is calling on the Canadian government in a petition to protect unborn children by restricting late-term abortions after five months of pregnancy. 

North Dakota reinstates law protecting unborn babies 

North Dakota’s Supreme Court reinstated a state law protecting unborn children in nearly all cases.  

In 2023, North Dakota made it a felony for abortionists to take the lives of unborn children except in cases of rape or incest and medical emergencies. After a lower court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, the law was put on pause. 

On Nov. 21, the state’s supreme court reversed the lower court’s ruling. A 3-2 majority of justices voted to uphold the lower court’s ruling, but the state’s constitution requires a minimum of four justices to declare a state law unconstitutional. 

U.S. senator calls on government to prevent taxpayer-funded abortions in 2026 funding  

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) this week urged his Republican colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure that the funding for the fiscal year 2026 does not fund abortions. 

In a Nov. 24 letter, Cornyn asked the senators “to hold the line against any Democratic efforts to subvert the Hyde amendment,” an amendment that prevents federal taxpayer dollars from directly funding abortions. 

Cornyn noted that the recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) defunded organizations that fund abortion, which he said “showed that even in the wake of the historic Dobbs decision, our fight is not over.” 

“Democrats shut down the government for 43 days in an unsuccessful attempt to undue the work Republicans accomplished in OBBBA, including the progress we made to stop forced taxpayer funding of abortion,” Cornyn said. “Now is not the time to give an inch on our pro-life values.”

Image from page 155 of “Young Folks’ History of the United States” (1903). / Credit: Public domain

St. Louis, Missouri, Nov 27, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

In 1621, lacking both the skills and the resources necessary to survive in the harsh territory of New England, European pilgrims encountered a miracle: a Native American who not only spoke English but who also used his skills and knowledge to help them adapt to their environment and survive the brutal winter.

This was Squanto, a man who occupies a special place in the hearts of many people who celebrate Thanksgiving because of his willingness and ability to help the newcomers to his land.

Squanto’s full name was Tisquantum, and he was a member of the Patuxet tribe, which lived in and around modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was probably born around 1585 in the area that is now Boston.

Little is known about Tisquantum’s early life, but what is known is that he was abducted from his homeland as a slave by an Englishman, Thomas Hunt, in 1614. He ended up in Malaga, Spain, where a group of Franciscans bought him in order to free him. It is apparently from these Franciscans that he received baptism and became Catholic, though it is not clear to what extent he was catechized and practiced his new faith.

Damien Costello, a Catholic historian and theologian, told CNA that the historical record portrays “a very skillful agent” in Tisquantum who was able to change his situation and engage with European culture. He was able to find employment as a translator in England and later convinced a wealthy financier to fund an expedition back to his homeland.

When Tisquantum finally made it back to where his tribe lived in present-day Massachusetts, his life took a tragic turn. He discovered that his entire tribe, while he was in Europe, had been wiped out by disease — he was the sole survivor.

The Pilgrims arrived in New England in 1620. They were far from the first Europeans to set foot on those shores — this was many years after Jesuit missionaries had started missionary activity in the area but hadn’t settled. When the Pilgrims arrived in what had once been Patuxet territory, the empty land made a good place to settle. Tisquantum, no doubt mourning the loss of his people, was nevertheless able to deftly reinvent himself as an intermediary between the Pilgrims and Native leaders.

In March 1621, the chief of the Wampanoag confederation, Massasoit, went to meet with the Pilgrims and brought Tisquantum along to translate. After negotiations fell apart, Tisquantum stayed with the Pilgrims and helped to facilitate what we now know as the first Thanksgiving — a meal between the Pilgrims and the Natives of the area. Tisquantum died the next year, in 1622.

So, was Tisquantum a Catholic? Costello says it is likely he was baptized and thus, theologically, he was indeed a Catholic. Native American culture was very spiritual, and Costello said he doesn’t think it unlikely that Tisquantum saw his baptism as a positive spiritual experience.

“Catholicism was a crucial ingredient in Squanto’s resiliency, the regenerative principle that gave spiritual power to sustain the disjunction of being a global citizen in a world forever turned upside down,” Costello later wrote in an article for U.S. Catholic.

As to whether Tisquantum continued to practice his Catholic faith for the rest of his life, there’s little evidence to say for sure. In a very real sense, God only knows.

This story was adapted from an episode of Catholic News Agency’s award-winning storytelling podcast, CNA Newsroom, and first published on Nov. 24, 2022. You can listen to that episode here.