Walter Sánchez Silva
Walter Sánchez Silva is a senior writer for ACI Prensa (https://www.aciprensa.com). With more than 15 years of experience, he has reported from important ecclesial events in Europe, Asia and Latin America during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. E-mail: walter@aciprensa.com
Articles by Walter Sánchez Silva
Vatican approves beatification cause of priest who pioneered monastic life in Korea
Oct 7, 2025 / 07:00 amThe Archdiocese of Seoul announced it has received authorization from the Vatican to initiate the beatification cause of the priest founder of Korean monastic life.
Pope Leo XIV receives detailed report on attacks against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua
Oct 4, 2025 / 09:00 amPope Leo XIV this week received a report that details attacks against and suppression of the Catholic Church by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship in Nicaragua.
The Church needs holy priests who defend the faithful from ‘the dragon,’ archbishop says
Oct 3, 2025 / 09:00 amThe archbishop of Arequipa ordained five new priests in southern Peru, encouraging them to be holy priests who give their lives for others and defend them from the devil.
Cardinal to catechists: If your faith isn’t meaningful to you, it won’t be to your students
Sep 30, 2025 / 18:02 pmCardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa told catechism teachers that if faith is not meaningful in their lives, then it will not be in the lives of their students either.
Pope Leo XIV responds to aspiring doctor who asks ‘What does the future hold for us?’
Sep 30, 2025 / 13:45 pmPope Leo XIV responded with a father’s heart to a 21-year-old Roman medical student who asked him “What does the future hold for us?”
Cardinal Mureşan, minister in secret before communism’s collapse in Romania, dies at 94
Sep 26, 2025 / 15:58 pmCardinal Lucian Mureşan carried out his ministry clandestinely until 1989. According to Vatican News, he died at his residence in Blaj, Romania, after several months of illness.
Peruvian bishop resigns after investigation for sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement
Sep 25, 2025 / 16:18 pmPope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop Ciro Quispe López of Juli, Peru, following a Vatican investigation initiated in mid-2024.
Gaza’s only Catholic priest: ‘For mercy’s sake stop this war and stop killing people’
Sep 25, 2025 / 15:48 pmThe only parish priest in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, pleaded in a video posted Sept. 23 for an end to the war, the killing, and the bombing.
Priest builds church with his own hands in Chiclayo, Peru, Pope Leo XIV’s former diocese
Sep 23, 2025 / 06:00 amFather Javier Cajusol Villegas is building a church with his own hands in a poor area of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where Pope Leo XIV was bishop.
Nicaraguan bishop denounces ‘real problem’ of region’s dictatorships and cartels
Sep 22, 2025 / 16:02 pmFrom his exile in the United States, Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Báez denounced what he considered the “real problem” of Latin American dictatorships: idolatry of money.
Catholic father murdered while on pilgrimage to Marian shrine in Pakistan
Sep 16, 2025 / 17:42 pmMen on motorcycles murdered a father and injured a 16-year-old boy while they were taking part in a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in Mariamabad, Pakistan.
Juan Dabdoub, tireless defender of life and family in Mexico, dies
Sep 14, 2025 / 06:00 amJuan Dabdoub Giacoman, a legendary and tireless defender of life and family in Mexico, passed away at the age of 71 on Sept. 11 in Mexico City after a long battle with cancer.
The spiritual testament of Cardinal Karlic, one of the authors of the catechism
Sep 13, 2025 / 08:00 amThe Archdiocese of Paraná in Argentina has published the spiritual testament of Cardinal Estanislao Karlic, one of the authors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
‘God is with Nicaragua!’ exclaims first Nicaraguan consecrated bishop in the U.S.
Sep 11, 2025 / 08:00 am“Do not forget: God is with us and God is with Nicaragua!” said newly consecrated Newark, New Jersey, Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau.
Bishop’s message to young people ahead of Acutis canonization: ‘Follow his example’
Sep 6, 2025 / 13:00 pm“Dear faithful and most beloved young people, let yourselves be guided by Carlo, follow his example, follow in his footsteps, walk his path,” the bishop said.
Priest shares his hopes for the Church in Nicaragua and describes his life in exile
Sep 5, 2025 / 09:00 amThe priest noted that Aug. 3 marked four years since he left Nicaragua to go into exile for being critical of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
Bishop at funeral Mass for priest who died by suicide: ‘Jesus is here and comforts us’
Sep 4, 2025 / 15:54 pmIn a heartfelt homily at the funeral Mass for Father Rafael Ciro on Sept. 3, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney recalled that Jesus “is here and comforts us.”
UPDATE: Pope Leo, patriarch in Lisbon pray for those killed, injured in cable car accident
Sep 4, 2025 / 15:03 pmThe patriarch of Lisbon offered his prayers for the dead and injured in an accident involving the Elevador da Glória, an iconic funicular that crashed on Sept. 3.
New Jersey bishop mourns for priest who died by suicide
Sep 2, 2025 / 14:53 pmThe bishop of Paterson, New Jersey, Kevin Sweeney, mourned the suicide of Father Rafael Ciro, a Colombian-born priest who served as pastor of St. Stephen’s Church.
Nicaraguan dictatorship banned more than 16,500 religious processions, new report reveals
Aug 29, 2025 / 10:24 amNicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have banned more than 16,500 religious processions in recent years.