The Church of St. Luke

Vienna Skyline with St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria. | Credit: mrgb/shutterstock

, Jan 8, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in Austria has launched a new program for late vocations that allows the priest to also maintain his current career.

An architectural rendering shows the planned Church of the Holy Trinity in Neratovice, Czech Republic. The Noah’s Ark-inspired design by architect Zdeněk Fránek features a green roof and may become the world’s largest 3D-printed church. | Credit: The Neratovice Community Center Foundation

, Jan 8, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The church tower will be constructed using 3D printing technology, but whether the entire church will be printed is to be decided soon.

Credit: Digital Storm/Shutterstock

Jan 7, 2026 / 15:04 pm (CNA).

A federal appeals court this week upheld a years-old principle of U.S. law that allows religious organizations to hire only like-minded believers as staff members.

Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington, will be permitted to hire only those employees who share the group’s religious beliefs about marriage and sexuality, according to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The court’s Jan. 6 ruling said the state of Washington would be forbidden from enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination against the Christian group.

The mission group originally brought suit against the state in 2023, arguing that the nondiscrimination law hindered its ability to hire solely workers who agree with the group’s Christian worldview.

The “ministerial exception” generally allows religious groups to be exempt from U.S. discrimination laws when hiring for ministry roles. But in its lawsuit Union Gospel Mission sought broader relief from the state discrimination law, arguing that it wanted to ensure even “non-ministerial” employees were adhering to the Christian faith.

In its ruling, the 9th Circuit said that the principle of church autonomy, as recognized by U.S. courts, “forbids interference” with “an internal church decision that affects the faith and mission of the church itself.”

“[I]n cases involving the hiring of non-ministerial employees, a religious institution may enjoy [church autonomy] when a challenged hiring decision is rooted in a sincerely held religious belief,” the court said.

Union Gospel’s hiring policy qualifies as an “internal management decision” protected by U.S. law, the court held. Allowing the state to enforce the discrimination policy “could interfere with a religious mission and drive it from the public sphere.”

The decision was hailed by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented the Christian group for nearly three years. Attorney Jeremiah Galus said the court “correctly ruled that the First Amendment protects the mission’s freedom to hire fellow believers who share that calling.”

“Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs,” Galus said.

In a phone interview with CNA on Jan. 7, Galus said the decision represents a “pretty significant victory.”

The ministerial exception is a “somewhat unremarkable principle,” he pointed out. Yet the Washington Supreme Court had earlier ruled for a narrower interpretation of that exception, creating uncertainty around the scope of the principle there.

The 9th Circuit ruling is the “first appeals decision of its kind that holds the First Amendment allows religious orgs to operate in this way,” Galus said.

The appeals court ruling upheld a lower court’s block of the state law.

It is unclear if Washington state will appeal the decision. The Supreme Court has previously ruled broadly in favor of ministerial exceptions, including in the 2012 decision of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, in which the high court unanimously ruled that the First Amendment “prevents the government from appointing ministers” and “prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own.”

The court expanded that principle in the 2020 decision Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru when it held that religious schools are permitted to hire and fire teachers as they please under the ministerial exception.

Galus, meanwhile, pointed out that the appeals ruling extends beyond Washington state to encompass the entirety of the 9th Circuit.

The decision “affirms what we have been saying all along, which is that the First Amendment protects this right regardless of a statutory exemption,” he said.

Confessional. | Credit: Paul Lowry (CC BY 2.0)

Jan 7, 2026 / 14:34 pm (CNA).

A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament.

The measure, HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4.

The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors.”

Failure to report a “reportable offense” could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment.

Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed it. She previously filed a similar bill in 2023.

Lawmakers in multiple U.S. states in recent years have moved to require priests to violate the seal of confession as part of mandatory reporting laws.

One such law in Washington state suffered a dramatic defeat in July 2025 after a federal court blocked the measure on First Amendment grounds. The rule had drawn rebuke from the U.S. bishops, the White House, Orthodox church leaders, and other advocates. The state backed off the law in October 2025.

Similar measures in Delaware, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Montana have been proposed over the past few years, though none have come to pass. One such law was also proposed in Hungary in October 2025. In 2019, California lawmakers proposed and then backed off of a similar bill.

Priests are bound to never divulge what they hear in confession on pain of excommunication. Multiple priests in Church history have been martyred after they were executed for refusing to break that seal.

Church canon law dictates that it is “absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”

St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. | Credit: Gastao at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

, Jan 7, 2026 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Scottish bishops have denounced a law establishing so-called “buffer zones” around abortion facilities.

Republican strategist Michael Reagan speaks at a get-out-the-vote rally for U.S. Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle featuring U.S. Sen. John McCain at the Orleans, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010, in Las Vegas. | Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Jan 7, 2026 / 10:07 am (CNA).

Michael Reagan, the adopted son of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and a longtime conservative activist who spoke publicly about his Catholic faith, died on Jan. 4 at 80 years old.

Reagan’s family announced his death on Jan. 6 via Young America’s Foundation, which operates out of the “Reagan Ranch” near Santa Barbara, California. The announcement said Reagan died in Los Angeles “surrounded by his entire family.”

“Michael was and will always remain a beloved husband, father, and grandpa,” the statement said, with the family expressing grief over “the loss of a man who meant so much to all who knew and loved him.”

He is survived by his wife, Colleen, his son Cameron and his daughter Ashley.

Born March 18, 1945, Reagan was adopted by Ronald Reagan and his then-wife Jane Wyman shortly thereafter. He was known throughout the 2000s as the host of “The Michael Reagan Show,” a nationwide radio program.

Reagan was a Catholic through Wyman, a legendary movie star who herself was a third order Dominican. In a 2024 interview with EWTN News’ ChurchPOP, he pointed out that “a lot of people don’t know” of Wyman’s Catholic background.

Joking when comparing his father’s Protestant beliefs with his mother’s Catholic faith, Reagan said: “When you get [to heaven], if you see my dad, look three floors above him [to see my mother].”

Reagan told ChurchPOP Editor Jacqueline Burkepile that a large part of his family is Catholic.

“My whole family is [Catholic],” he said. “My wife, Colleen, converted to Catholicism a few years ago. My son Cameron, his wife, Susanna, my daughter Ashley [are all Catholic].” His grandchildren have been baptized in the Church as well, he said.

“So we got everybody on the planet,” he joked.

In a Jan. 6 reflection, Reagan Ranch Director Andrew Coffin said Reagan “worked alongside Young America’s Foundation to share his father’s legacy and ideas with new generations.”

In a separate statement, Young America’s Foundation President Scott Walker said that Reagan “was such a wonderful inspiration to so many of us.”

Walker said that though Reagan had been optimistic about overcoming his recent health challenges, “unfortunately for all of us, the Good Lord decided to call him home sooner.”

“That said, he and I also discussed his faith and devotion to Jesus,” Walker said. “That should give us all comfort during this difficult time as he is with the Lord.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

, Jan 7, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Timothy Dolan introduced a series of brief mediations on the “things worth recovering” in the essentials of the Catholic faith and began with explaining the sign of the cross.

From left to right: Sister Catherine Joy, Sister Virginia Joy, and Sister Israel Rose of the Sisters of Life at SEEK 2026 in Denver. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News

Jan 7, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Hundreds of young women filled a ballroom on Jan. 4 at the 2026 SEEK Conference in Denver to hear Sister Virginia Joy Cotter, SV, discuss how to follow God’s call and determine one’s vocation.

“When we think about vocation, it’s ultimately a call to love and be loved,” Sister Virginia Joy said during her talk, titled “The Adventure of the Yes: Following God’s Call.”

“Growing up, or even now, you’re probably asked, ‘What are you going to do when you grow up? What’s your major? What do you want to do with your life?’” she said. “I would guess no one has probably asked you, ‘What are you going to do with your love? How do you plan to make a gift of yourself?’ But these are the questions that sit behind a vocation.”

“For some, the word vocation might be completely foreign to you. For others, maybe it provokes a stream of emotions from wonder to anticipation to anxiety. Whatever it means to you, it’s good to take stock of where it sits with you right now and open your heart to whatever God wants to give you this morning.”

Sister Virginia Joy shared that “ultimately, our vocation is not a problem to be fixed or a riddle to be solved … Vocation is deeply relational, personal, and distinct. It comes from the Latin ‘vocare,’ meaning to call, to name, to summon. There’s one who calls and there’s one who responds. It’s a relationship between each individual and God.”

Here are seven ways a person can discern his or her vocation based on Sister Virginia Joy’s talk:

Pay attention to where and how you are called to love

Sister Virginia Joy shared that the questions behind one’s vocation are fundamentally about “what are you going to do with your love” and how you are called to “make a gift of yourself,” not merely what career or role you will have.

Receive God’s love first

She emphasized that the prerequisite for hearing God’s call is first receiving his love, since vocation flows from a relationship.

“When I think about a vocational call, I think of two things: First, God is the one who calls, and it is always a call of love. Second, we are the ones to respond to that call and to love in return. So first, the prerequisite to hearing God’s call is receiving his love,” Sister Virginia Joy said.

Develop a real prayer life and speak honestly to God

God makes himself known in prayer, especially when a person speaks from the heart — expressing longing, confusion, loneliness, or desire for meaning.

Sister Virginia Joy highlighted that “God is looking for a place to break in and make himself known. I trust you’ve experienced it here at SEEK. It’s real. He’s real. And he is in pursuit of your heart. He knows you and he desires that you come to know him. This happens in prayer.”

“But prayer can be challenging because we’re used to instant gratification. We want to see results. And yet relationships, they’re not about results,” she added. “Relationships take time, patience, and trust. Sometimes I think we settle or we allow ourselves to get distracted because real love means facing our weakness and searching for the Lord in times of loneliness, doubt, and even pain.”

Stay close to the sacraments, especially confession and the Eucharist

Sister Virginia Joy emphasized that living in grace and regularly receiving the sacraments helps ensure that a person does not miss God’s call and gains the strength to respond in his time.

She shared with those gathered that she has always found herself making life decisions after “a good confession — decisions to move across the country, decisions to become a missionary, decisions to accept a particular job or begin or end a dating relationship.”

“I know there can be a lot of fear about somehow missing what God is calling me to,” Sister Virginia Joy said. “And I just want to crush that fear because the truth is if you’re staying close to the sacraments, if you’re living in grace, you will not miss what God is calling you to. And because of the grace of the sacraments, you will have the strength to respond in God’s time.”

Live your call to love daily, even before knowing your definitive vocation

Sister Virginia Joy stressed that holiness and vocation are lived now, through everyday acts of love, even before one enters marriage, religious life, or another permanent state.

She asked those gathered: “Where are we called to love?”

“It’s not a complicated question. All the love happens right where God has you — with family, friends, roommates. We are each given so many opportunities to love every day. You might not be in your definitive vocation right now or five years from now, but your call to love is now. Your call to make a gift of yourself is now,” she said.

Recognize your unique gifts

Especially for women, discerning vocation involves recognizing the “uniquely feminine” capacity for receptivity, generosity, spiritual maternity, and leading others to God, Sister Virginia Joy explained.

“As women, we possess a unique capacity for love … Written into our very makeup by design, we as women have space for another, room for another. And the physical capacity — we’ve heard this over the days — the physical capacity to receive and carry life sheds a much deeper reality within the heart of each woman,” she said. “Our bodies and souls are intimately connected and together they tell us something — that our love is receptive, sensitive, generous, maternal.”

Observe where your heart becomes undivided and free

A key sign of vocation is interior freedom and unity of heart, where fear gives way to peace and clarity about where, as Sister Virginia Joy said, one is called “to make a gift of oneself in a total way.”

She shared that while discerning her own vocation her heart was divided — seeing the beauty in both married life and religious life. It wasn’t until she asked in prayer, “What do you want, Lord?” while on retreat with the Sisters of Life that she heard him say, “You. You. All of you for myself.”

“And in an instant, my heart was undivided,” she recalled. “I knew where I was being called to give my love and my life, and I felt more free than I ever had.”

“Your love story is going to be perfectly unique to you,” Sister Virginia Joy added. “God has been preparing something far beyond your expectations and he desires your freedom to respond with an undivided heart. Whether it be marriage, religious life, lay life, there is no doubt he wants you and your unique love. God loves you.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The teachings of the Second Vatican Council are still "the guiding star" the Catholic Church is meant to follow, Pope Leo XIV said.

Rereading all of its teachings "is a valuable opportunity to rediscover the beauty and the importance of this ecclesial event," he said Jan. 7, and because its work remains "a guiding principle for us today."

"We have yet to achieve ecclesial reform more fully in a ministerial sense and, in the face of today's challenges, we are called to continue to be vigilant interpreters of the signs of the times, joyful proclaimers of the Gospel, courageous witnesses of justice and peace," he said. 

Speaking to visitors gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall for his weekly general audience, the pope said that with the conclusion of the Holy Year Jan. 6, he was beginning a new series of talks dedicated to the Second Vatican Council.

The council, which convened for four sessions from 1962 to 1965, produced 16 documents, addressing everything from liturgy to Scripture, missionary activity to ecumenism and interfaith relationships, and the functions of clergy and laity to religious freedom.

"Vatican Council II rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children," he said in his talk.

The council looked at the Catholic Church "as a mystery of communion and sacrament of unity between God and his people; it initiated important liturgical reform, placing at its center the mystery of salvation and the active and conscious participation of the entire people of God," he said.

"At the same time, it helped us to open up to the world and to embrace the changes and challenges of the modern age in dialogue and co-responsibility, as a Church that wishes to open her arms to humanity, to echo the hopes and anxieties of peoples, and to collaborate in building a more just and fraternal society," he said. 

For the past six decades, the popes have repeatedly underlined the importance of Vatican II, its teachings and its fuller implementation.

However, since the council was held so long ago, that means that "the generation of bishops, theologians and believers of Vatican II is no longer with us," said the pope, who would have been 10 years old when the council ended in December of 1965.

"It will be important to get to know it again closely, and to do so not through 'hearsay' or interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its documents and reflecting on their content" directly, he said.

"Indeed, it is the Magisterium that still constitutes the guiding star of the Church's journey today," he said.

Pope Leo begins catechesis on Vatican II

A look at Pope Leo's general audience Jan. 7, 2026. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)

Catholic News Service produced a significant documentary in 2015 called, "Voices of Vatican II," in which twelve men who took part in the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) look back at that historic event. It features abundant archival footage of the council, much of it rarely seen, and exclusive interviews with those who recount the history they witnessed and helped to make.

All the voices heard in this film are of bishops and priests --including the late-Pope Benedict XVI-- who participated in Vatican II and who, in most cases, have played important roles in the life of the Catholic Church over the subsequent decades.

Length: 49 mins.

Voices of Vatican II

In Voices of Vatican II, twelve men who took part in the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) look back at that historic event, half a century after the fact. It features abundant archival footage of the council, much of it rarely seen, and exclusive...

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, 79, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Rochester, and has appointed Most Reverend John S. Bonnici, currently auxiliary bishop of New York, as his successor. 

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on January 7, 2026, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Diocese of Rochester is comprised of 7,107 square miles in the State of New York.

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