The Church of St. Luke

Timothy Schmalz’s latest sculpture, soon to be installed at Ave Maria University in Florida, depicts Jesus covering the fatal wound of slain Christian activist Charlie Kirk. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Ave Maria University

CNA Staff, Oct 3, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, renowned Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz began working on a sculpture no one had commissioned: Jesus comforting the slain conservative Christian activist, the fatal wound to his neck covered by Christ’s pierced hand. 

“Shocked and devastated” upon hearing of the Turning Point USA founder’s assassination, Schmalz told CNA in an interview that he entered his studio at 4 a.m. the following day and began building up the sculpture with his hands as “a form of prayer.” 

“I had an audio recording of the Old Testament playing in the background and Charlie’s voice debating at the same time as I sculpted,” he said. 

When he first formed the face of Jesus, Schmalz said it was screaming with rage, reflecting the rage he himself felt at the time. 

“This was the murder of a human being. It was also a violent attack on the premise that we can have discussions as decent human beings,” said Schmalz, who had listened to Kirk regularly and admired him for his courage and energy. “When he was murdered, it was like our freedoms were murdered as well.”

“Another reaction I had was horror at seeing the murder on video over and over again,” he said. “Can you give this person some dignity? Not only are people absolutely barbarically rude when it comes to social media, but now you have this other layer of removing things that are sacred: the idea that a human life should not be murdered.”

Seeing it posted everywhere made it “seem more barbaric and animalistic,” he said. 

“All of this really compelled me to do something positive within this horrible situation,” Schmalz said. “I wondered, how would Charlie, who loved Jesus, want to be represented?”

“As I worked, Jesus’ face became less angry and more compassionate,” he said.

“Hopefully, that will be how our society becomes. Hopefully, like my sculpture of the face of Christ, it will change. I had him enraged and then it turned. I hope our world will also turn from that rage.”

“My hope with the sculpture is that it gives some dignity to the human life of Charlie and to all of us. We are slowly moving away from this dignity in culture today,” he lamented, saying he wanted to do what he could to make the world “more kind and peaceful.”

‘If we are in a culture war, we have to fight it with culture’

“We are in a culture of nihilism, and our secular society has to be challenged,” he said. “If we are in a culture war, we have to fight it with culture.” 

“I have spent my life doing sculptures like my piece ‘Angels Unawares’ that presents the truth that all human life is sacred,” he said.

The day after Kirk’s death, Schmalz and his 16-year-old daughter, who he had been unaware also followed Kirk, began talking about “important issues like abortion.” She told Schmalz she had joined the high school debating club because of Kirk.

“It was the first time I had such a conversation about deep issues with my daughter,” he said.

A fortuitous meeting

Schmalz told CNA that after showing Ave Maria University President Mark Middendorf photographs of the sculpture, which was still in its early stages, at a fortuitous meeting in Orlando in mid-September, Middendorf told him “that belongs on our campus” and asked if the school could receive the first bronze casting.

Schmalz agreed, and the sculpture will soon be installed at the Catholic school in southwest Florida. 

Middendorf told CNA that the Ave Maria University community, which has had an active Turning Point USA chapter for years, responded immediately to news of Kirk’s passing. An on-campus Mass was offered for the repose of Kirk’s soul on the evening of his death.

“I admired Charlie’s search for truth,” Middendorf said. “Engaging in peaceful dialogue with others who believe things contrary to ourselves is profoundly needed in our current climate. My hope is that our students will continue to engage our culture with courage, sharing the truths of our faith.”On Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Middendorf said Deacon Mark Miravalle in his homily recalled one of Kirk’s own remarks: “When asked, ‘Why does God allow suffering or evil?’ Kirk had once responded: ‘Wrong question. The right question is: What did God do about it? The answer: the cross.’”

Statue to stand as ‘lasting tribute to Charlie Kirk’s fearless witness’

Middendorf said the sculpture will serve as a “profound and lasting tribute to Charlie Kirk’s fearless witness, bold defense of life, and unwavering love for Jesus Christ.”

The university president told CNA he also wants the sculpture “to serve as inspiration for students to live and share their faith with heroic courage and to use their God-given gifts to transform the culture and seek the salvation of souls, which is why Tom Monaghan built this university, and why I and all our faculty and staff are here.”

The bronze sculpture will not be the first piece of Schmalz’s work on campus. Monaghan commissioned him to make the university oratory’s crucifix. In addition, along the school’s rosary wall, Schmalz also made a sculpture depicting the Annunciation.

Art as a form of evangelization

The acclaimed artist attributes his success to seeing his work as a form of prayer and his studio as a chapel, in a sense. He also sees his work as a form of evangelization, which he said is “unique” in the current art world that does not value beauty or truth.

“If the truth of our faith were presented in an awesome way, you would have more people coming to Christ. People are spiritually starving out there. We need to reach out to them however we can,” including through beautiful art, he said.

“My mission is to use artwork to bring peace to the world,” Schmalz said. “We have to be better humans.”

Pope Leo-inspired statue in the offing

Earlier this week, the artist met with Pope Leo XIV to present his idea for a new sculpture titled “Peace Be With You,” inspired by the pope’s first message to the world upon being elected pontiff in May.

Schmalz’s works are on display all over the world. He created a sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary pregnant with Jesus that will be displayed on the grounds of the state capitol in Austin, Texas, after that state’s Legislature approved in May the installation of what it calls the “Texas Life Monument.”

Earlier versions of the 8-foot-tall statue were erected in Rome in 2022 at the Church of San Marcello al Corso and at the national seminary of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

The Canadian artist’s “Homeless Jesus” statue, inaugurated in March 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in Vatican City, is now installed in more than 50 locations around the world, including Hong Kong, the end of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and in Capernaum in Israel.

The bones and reliquary of St. Thérèse of Lisieux make their first stop at the Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Michigan, on Oct. 1, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Detroit Catholic

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oct 2, 2025 / 17:02 pm (CNA).

The faithful are gathering in Michigan, where the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux are on display at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, near Detroit. A Mass of installation was celebrated on Oct. 1 by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger and rector Father John Bettin as the beautiful, glass-encased reliquary was present near the altar. 

In an interview with CNA, Bettin said the saint’s bones and reliquary first visited the United States and the basilica named for her over a quarter of a century ago, in 1999. The 2025 tour is the first stop of 40 in 11 states. According to the StThereseusa2025.com website, her relics will go to California; Washington, D.C.; Texas; Wisconsin; and various Carmelite convents through December.

Bettin pointed out that the “simplicity and depth” of the saint’s spirituality has a growing appeal that transcends national boundaries. “She is a doctor of the Church and one of the most beloved saints of all time. The last time she was here, approximately 70,000 pilgrims visited the shrine in one day. We are planning for even bigger crowds,” he said.

Over 400 volunteers are supporting the shrine’s staff to accommodate the many pilgrims who will visit from Oct. 1–8. During a recent visit, volunteers could be seen signing up duty rosters while others were busy festooning the beautiful sanctuary with roses. 

Born in Alençon, France, on Jan. 2, 1873, Thérèse Martin was the daughter of Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin. When Zélie died, young Thérèse and her family moved to Lisieux in northern France. When her sisters entered the Carmel of Lisieux, she wished to follow them but was turned down because of her youth. But during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, she was granted permission. She entered the Carmel in 1888 and made her religious profession in 1890.

During her nine years in the Carmel, she was ultimately wracked with doubt. Even so, she wrote fervently about her love of God, much like the Carmelite saints Teresa de Avila and John of the Cross. Following her death from tuberculosis at the age of 24 in 1897, her Carmelite sisters gathered her writings, which have since formed the basis of “The Story of a Soul,” a book that has been translated into numerous languages and millions of copies.

Bettin spoke warmly of the special devotion that Chaldean Catholics, for example, have for the saint, and said he expects many to visit the relics. Father Patrick Setto, a priest of Iraqi origin of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the Detroit area, told CNA that he and his community are grateful for being able to celebrate their liturgy at the basilica. He noted that he recently held a silent retreat for adults, centering on the life of St. Thérèse and her Little Way. 

In an interview, Setto said his relationship with St. Thérèse goes back to his childhood. When he was in the sixth grade in 1999, he and his mother waited for hours to venerate the relics. He recalled that when the reliquary came around in a procession, he wanted to reach out and touch it.

“But I was so short, I couldn’t get to it. So, a man — out of nowhere — lifted me out of the pew and I got to touch it,” Setto said. “Soon, 26 years later, I will celebrate a Mass in the shrine with her reliquary there.”

“It’s a very powerful, special blessing that God has bestowed on me,” he added. He never saw the man again, he said.

The priest said that Dominican and Redemptorist missionaries to Iraq spread devotion to St. Thérèse in the early 20th century. The Catholics in Iraq feel a connection to her amid their suffering during war and Muslim domination, and during their flight as refugees. In a 2014 video message, Pope Francis referred to Iraqi refugees as “the reeds of God,” in parallel to the saint’s spirituality of perseverance and faith despite adversity.

Bettin also has a special relationship with St. Thérèse. As the youngest of 11 children in his family, he was often chided as “spoiled,” much like the saint, who was also the youngest in her family. In her memoir, St. Thérèse recalled that when she was 14, she was tearful upon overhearing her father say that it would be the last Christmas she would receive gifts typical for children. 

“St. Thérèse’s spirituality began as a little girl when she was not sure that there was a world outside of herself. But she had an epiphany, if you will, on Christmas in 1886 when she experienced a profound conversion,” Bettin said. “She realized there was a world outside, and she gained a great devotion for God. It was not so much for herself, but for others.”

Both priests called on Catholics to come to the shrine to venerate the relics. When Bettin was asked what Christians can expect from venerating the relics, he said: “It’s interior for each pilgrim who comes, whether they are parishioners, from Detroit, or other countries.”

Some may even see miracles, said Setto, who cited the Old Testament, where in 2 Kings 13:21, a dead man was brought back to life after his body touched the bones of the prophet Elisha. “Come and see her,” he said. 

Dominican Sister Mercedes Torres, who serves as vocations director of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in nearby Ann Arbor, invited the world, especially young people, to visit with the saint while her relics are in the U.S.

In a video, Sister Mercedes said: “Faith is essential to who we are. But it’s really that call of love that we have all been called to live. St. Thérèse is making herself known to young people in the country right now. Go and see her as she is making herself known, and you can make yourself known to her. Make your intentions known to St. Thérèse. It is such a gift, and I want everyone to participate in that gift.”

Setto said that those who are discouraged in their search for closeness to God can go to the writings of the saint and experience renewal. When people experience shame and discouragement, he said St. Thérèse can help them “refocus on God’s mercy rather than their weakness, just as St. Paul says that in my weakness, God is able to be strong in me. She was able to flesh that out in a very human and practical way that is easy to understand.”

The FDA approved a new abortion pill this week made by a company seeking to “normalize abortion.” / Credit: Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 16:13 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved a new abortion pill made by a company that explicitly says it seeks to “normalize” abortion.

A Sept. 30 letter obtained from the office of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said the FDA approved the abbreviated new drug application for “mifepristone tablets” from Evita Solutions, a Virginia-based pharmaceutical company.

The FDA said in the letter that it had “concluded that adequate information has been presented to demonstrate that the drug meets the requirements for approval” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

On its website as of Oct. 2, Evita Solutions was advertising a “new generic mifepristone product” coming to the U.S. Mifepristone constitutes one of the major components of abortion pill prescriptions.

The company says it “assist[s] the medical community in recognizing the utility and freedom that medical abortion provides patients.”

“[W]e seek to normalize abortion care, and we commit to making care accessible to all,” it says. 

Evita Solutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oct. 2. The drug’s approval, meanwhile, was met with criticism and pushback from pro-life advocates. 

In an X post, Hawley called the approval “shocking.” 

He wrote that the approval came “when the evidence shows chemical abortion drugs are dangerous and even deadly for the mother. And of course 100% lethal to the child.” 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a media statement that the “reckless” approval by the FDA was “unconscionable.” 

“These dangerous drugs take the lives of unborn children, place women and underage girls at serious risk, empower abusers, and trample the pro-life laws enacted by states across the nation,” she said. 

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, said in a statement that the Trump administration’s approval of the drug “represents a true failure.” 

“More babies will die; more women will be harmed; and more Americans [will be] exposed to abortion water pollution as a direct result of this unfathomable decision,” she said. “This is a stain on the Trump presidency and another sign that the deep state at the FDA must go.”

Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi (left), the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, meets with Latin patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa in the Holy Land during a Sept. 27–30, 2025, trip to the region. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Italian Bishops’ Conference

Rome Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 14:46 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi announced a major joint project between Italy’s bishops and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem: the opening of a hospital in Gaza.

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. / Credit: Joe Bukuras

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 14:16 pm (CNA).

As negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is urging Catholics to pray for a peaceful conclusion to the nearly two-year-long armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.

“As an international community and people of faith who deeply care for all our brothers and sisters who live in the land of Christ’s life, death, and glorious resurrection, we cannot lose this opportunity for peace,” Zaidan, who chairs the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, said in an Oct. 1 statement.

“I call on Catholics and all men and women of goodwill to, once again, pray ardently for an end to this devastating war,” the bishop implored.

Zaidan’s comments come in response to a 20-point peace plan unveiled by President Donald Trump last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the plan. Hamas, which operates the government in Gaza, is reviewing the plan but has not yet agreed to the conditions or provided a counteroffer.

The bishop noted that Pope Leo XIV expressed hope Hamas would agree and quoted the Holy Father’s comments in May, when he said the “deepest purpose of the Church’s social doctrine” is a “contribution to peace and dialogue in the service of building bridges of universal fraternity.”

“In this difficult context, any peace plan will involve challenges that will require the utmost effort and cooperation from all sides,” Zaidan said. “… May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, instill on all sides a sincere willingness to attain peace.”

The 20-point peace plan

If Hamas agrees, the war would immediately end, Israel would suspend all military operations, and the battle lines would be frozen. Israel would withdraw its troops once all conditions of the peace deal are met.

Hamas would release all Israeli prisoners, both dead and alive, and Israel would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas would need to demilitarize and agree to have no involvement in government operations, but all members who agree to decommission their weapons and peacefully coexist with Israel would be given amnesty and be permitted to either remain in Gaza or have safe passage out.

Governance would be transferred to a transitional government comprised of Palestinians and international experts and overseen by the United States president and other heads of state. No one would be forced to leave Gaza, Israel would not annex or occupy the territory, aid would resume, and participating countries would give Gaza a preferred tariff rate.

Arab and other international partners, including Egypt and Jordan, would develop a temporary International Stabilization Force to establish long-term security and train police. The plan would also establish an interfaith dialogue process focused on tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

“Crucially, this plan incorporates Israel’s and Palestine’s neighbors, including Jordan and Egypt, in a multilateral coordination for the plan’s implementation that recognizes the reality of the region’s interconnectedness,” Zaidan said.

“I am especially hopeful of the plan’s ‘interfaith dialogue process,’ which is intended to create a greater sense of community between Israelis and Palestinians,” the bishop added.

The plan states that agreement could establish a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood, but does include a timetable or a guarantee. The Holy See recognized statehood for Palestine in 2015, and more than three-fourths of the countries in the world recognize its statehood. The United States and Israel do not.

However, the plan does not address ongoing Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. After several European countries announced recognition of Palestinian statehood, Israel approved new settlements in the West Bank to divide contiguous Palestinian land. According to the United Nations, Israeli settlement activities have accelerated since June.

The U.S. bishops meet for their 2022 annual fall general assembly in Baltimore. / Credit: Katie Yoder

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 13:46 pm (CNA).

Political and religious debate has continued to ferment in the wake of Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s withdrawal from a prominent Catholic award after backlash over his decades of support for pro-abortion politics. 

Durbin was scheduled to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award for support to immigrants” at a Chicago archdiocesan event in November. But criticism from numerous U.S. bishops led the senator to back out of the award ceremony on Sept. 30. 

Pope Leo XIV even weighed in on the controversy prior to Durbin’s decision, seemingly coming at least partly to the senator’s defense on Sept. 30 when during a press availability at Castel Gandolfo he argued that it was “important to look at the overall work that a senator has done [during] 40 years of service in the United States Senate.”

The Holy Father, a Chicago native, argued that such political disputes are “complex.”

“I don’t know if anyone has all the truth” regarding such issues, he said, urging those who disagree with each other to “have respect for one another” amid debates. 

Leo in that exchange argued in favor of a consistent ethic of life.

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,” the pope told journalists. “Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

‘A hierarchy of truths’

Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee, argued this week that there exists a “hierarchy of truths” regarding the sanctity of life. 

“There’s no question that people across the board are vulnerable, but who are the most vulnerable?” Thomas told OSV News. “Those are the innocent and completely vulnerable little children in the womb who cannot defend themselves.” 

Durbin himself, meanwhile, expressed surprise over the “level of controversy” surrounding his intended receipt of the award. 

The senator, who has served Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 1997 and previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, told NBC News that he withdrew from the award “because the reaction has been so controversial” against Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. 

“[I] see no point in going forward with that,” he told the U.S. network, though he said Pope Leo’s remarks were “amazing” and that he “didn’t expect” the pope to seemingly come to his defense.

Durbin has long been vocal in his support for abortion rights. He opposed abortion earlier in his political career but told the late Tim Russert in 2005 that he had come to change his mind on the matter, claiming that there are “certain times in the life of a woman” when an abortion is necessary. 

The senator was more outwardly supportive of abortion in 2022 following the repeal of Roe v. Wade when he said that the Supreme Court had “eliminate[d] a federally protected constitutional right that has been the law for nearly half a century.” 

“As a result, millions of Americans are waking up in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents,” he said. 

Durbin vowed to “keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices,” arguing against “[letting] our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in.

The senator has received praise from pro-abortion advocates. He has regularly been awarded a “100” score from the group Reproductive Freedom for All — formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America — for his years of favorable votes toward pro-abortion policies. 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, meanwhile, gives Durbin an “F” award for having “consistently voted to eliminate or prevent protections for the unborn and for children born alive after failed abortions,” among other pro-abortion positions. 

After days of backlash, various U.S. bishops expressed relief at Durbin’s backing out of the award. Similar to Thomas, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said after Durbin’s withdrawal that the Church’s “public witness to the Gospel” requires it to “show the hierarchy and unity of all truths.”

In announcing Durbin’s decline of the award, Cardinal Blase Cupich on Sept. 30 argued against “total condemnation” of Catholic political leaders who fail to espouse the entirety of the Church’s teaching. 

“[A] positive approach can keep alive the hope that it is worth talking to one another — and collaborating with one another — to promote the common good,” the prelate argued. 

Thomas, meanwhile, told OSV News this week that the “promotion of direct killing of infants in the womb” is “a very grave matter.”

“I think we have to say there is a moral hierarchy here of life,” he said. “[C]ertainly doing one thing or another may be wrong, but the direct killing of children in the womb is the gravest of these things.”

An armed police officer talks to a member of the local community outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, England, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. / Credit: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

EWTN News, Oct 2, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales released Bishop John Arnold’s statement following the assault at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

A 13th-century fresco of St. Francis of Assisi by the Florentine painter Cimabue, one of the earliest depictions of the saint, is located in the lower church of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy.  / Credit: Jacob Stein/Crux Stationalis

Rome Newsroom, Oct 2, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Oct. 4 will therefore be a public holiday in Italy starting in 2026, after having been a public holiday until 1977.

Cardinal Daniel Sturla testifies before Uruguay’s Senate Health Committee on Sept. 30, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Senate of the Republic of Uruguay

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The archbishop of Montevideo, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, testified before a Sept. 30 hearing of the Uruguay Senate’s health committee, where euthanasia is being debated.

null / Credit: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

London, England, Oct 1, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

A bioethicist in the United Kingdom said legalizing assisted dying there could threaten hospices’ survival.