St. Joseph Church

Palestinians stand on the rubble and debris of the Latin Patriarchate Holy Family School after it was hit during Israeli military bombardment in Gaza City on July 7, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 18:36 pm (CNA).

An ecumenical Palestinian Christian organization doubled down on criticism of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) this week, accusing the body of dismissing concerns of Palestinian Christians and portraying opposition to the Israeli government as antisemitic.

The organization, Kairos Palestine, is led by Catholic Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah and is composed of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christian Palestinians. The group supports “nonviolent resistance” to Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which includes boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel.

“As Palestinian Christians living through one of the darkest periods in our history, we are compelled to speak the truth,” Kairos Palestine’s leaders wrote in an April 14 letter to the USCCB.

The dispute between the two groups is rooted in the USCCB’s partnership with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to create a Catholic edition of AJC’s “Translate Hate” document, which is meant to condemn antisemitism and educate Catholics on antisemitic phrases and beliefs.

Defining antisemitism

Kairos Palestine affirmed in a March 25 letter to the American bishops that “our criticisms of Israel’s policies and the actions of its leaders are not directed at Jewish communities or Judaism itself,” but it expressed disapproval of a few elements of the “Translate Hate” document related to Zionism and the State of Israel.

The document adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which states that manifestations of antisemitism “might include the targeting of the state of Israel” and lists as examples any claim that “the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor” and the application of “double standards” against Israel. It notes that not all criticism of Israel, however, is antisemitic.

According to the “Translate Hate” document, the IHRA definition was used because alternative definitions defend “anti-Israel and anti-Zionist expressions” as not being forms of antisemitism.

Zionism refers to the political movement founded in 1897 aimed at creating a Jewish national homeland and a Jewish state in the Holy Land; international recognition was achieved in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, followed by the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

The “Translate Hate” document refers to anti-Zionism as “the belief that the Jewish people do not have the right to a national home in their ancestral homeland” and states that it is widely believed to be “a form of antisemitism.”

Additionally, the document states that calling Zionism inherently racist is antisemitic and alleging that Zionism is a form of “settler colonialism” with the mission of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinian people is antisemitic and “categorically false.” It states that Jews are “native and indigenous to the land” and that Zionists “never had the goal of eliminating the Arab population living in the region.”

In its March 25 letter to the USCCB, Kairos Palestine referenced these aspects of the “Translate Hate” document as the reasons for their objections, asserting it “dangerously equates Zionism with Judaism” and ignores “overwhelming evidence” of an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

“It equates Palestinian resistance with antisemitism, a dangerous conflation that distorts reality and undermines legitimate criticism of Israeli racist laws and policies,” the Palestinian Christian group argued. “We categorically reject all forms of antisemitism, just as we reject any attempt to use this charge to justify oppression and to criminalize our legitimate struggle for our basic rights and our right for self-determination.”

Kairos Palestine’s letter says the USCCB “has alienated the indigenous Christians of the Holy Land, causing deep pain to a community struggling for survival” by signing onto this document and is “ignoring their unalienable rights to live in their ancestral homeland and offering the State of Israel a justification for their forced displacement.”

USCCB’s answer and Kairos Palestine’s response

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the USCCB, provided a response less than one week later on March 31, telling Kairos Palestine in a letter that the USCCB “partnered with the Jewish community … to develop a Catholic commentary on the Translate Hate educational resource authored by [AJC]” in response to rising antisemitism, the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza.

“Here in our country, there are some who stand with Jewish Israelis and others who stand with Palestinians,” he continued. “Too often, people of a side or camp do not want to hear that our hearts are broken for all the lives that have been lost, all the worlds that have been destroyed. Empathy has thus become a further casualty of this war.”

Broglio wrote that the USCCB is also working on a document to combat Islamophobia with Muslim partners. He added that the USCCB does not try “to speak on behalf of Palestinian Christians” but rather speaks “to and on behalf of the Catholic community in the United States.”

“I know that, as Christians who have experienced great suffering yourselves, you understand the imperative to stand with all who suffer and to combat hatred wherever it is expressed,” he wrote.

The letter did not directly respond to the specific objections about the definition of antisemitism or the examples that Kairos Palestine criticized.

Kairos Palestine followed up with the USCCB this week, sending another letter calling Broglio’s response “unacceptable,” stating that “nowhere in the bishop’s letter is there any indication that the USCCB intends to ‘stand with’ their Palestinian siblings to prepare a document describing the extent of the suffering we are experiencing.”

“We are grieved and disheartened by the complete erasure of the Palestinian Christian voice in their response,” the Kairos Palestine leaders wrote.

“The Palestinian people in Gaza and in the West Bank are enduring what can only be described as a war of extermination, a genocide and ethnic cleansing,” they continued. “Entire families have been annihilated. Homes, churches, and hospitals have been destroyed. Over 50,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, have been killed. This is not a conflict between equals. It is a campaign of destruction carried out by a powerful apartheid state, supported militarily and financially by the United States and a number of European countries.”

The follow-up letter accuses the Catholic Church in the United States of being “silent about this devastation” and asserts “it shares in the responsibility for our suffering.” It adds: “It is not enough to condemn hate. You must also condemn the systems and powers that perpetuate injustice.”

“We categorically reject the conflation of our legitimate struggle for freedom, dignity, and human rights with antisemitism,” they added. “We are not anti-Jewish, anti-Judaism, or anti-Semitic. We are a people resisting occupation, apartheid, and dispossession. Equating this with hatred is both theologically and morally wrong.”

CNA reached out to the USCCB for comment on Kairos Palestine’s April 14 response but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Simone Rizkallah, the director of Philos Catholic at The Philos Project, told CNA the “Translate Hate” Catholic edition “is pastoral in nature and shows that the bishops are not tone deaf to the sufferings of our fathers in faith.” The Philos Project is a pro-Israel nonprofit that also works to support persecuted Christians in the Middle East and “a revival of Western values rooted in the Hebraic origins of our faith.”

“Antisemitism was on the rise before the war, and certainly now after the war,” Rizkallah said. “In no way is protecting American Jews dismissing the right of Palestinians to live in safety and security. We are praying for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, we are praying for the release of the 59 remaining hostages and their families who recently visited the United States, the release of which would end the war immediately but which the Hamas terrorists refuse to do.”

Rizkallah said the document does not dismiss “the suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters” and that the intended audience is “American Catholics who are picking up a dangerous anti-Jewish and antisemitic spirit.”

“The aggressors in this conflict hate not only Jews and Israel, but Christians and Americans and the West,” she added. “We categorically reject the conflation of fighting an American pastoral issue with the war in Israel and Gaza.”

Kairos Palestine’s ‘open call’ to the USCCB

In the April 14 letter, Kairos Palestine issued an “open call” to American bishops to “see and stand with us,” adding that “we demand to be seen” and “we demand to be heard.”

Kairos Palestine asked the USCCB to “recognize the suffering of Palestinian people including Palestinian Christians and publicly denounce the illegal Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide against our people.” They also asked the bishops to urge the United States government to halt military funding for Israel “until it complies with international laws.”

The Palestinian Christian organization urged the USCCB to engage with them to create a resource that “reflects the experience of Palestinian Christians under the Israeli occupation and apartheid.” They also requested that the USCCB revisit Kairos Palestine’s foundational document and “respond theologically and practically to our messages and calls.”

Additionally, Kairos Palestine requested that the bishops meet with Palestinian Christians in Gaza or the West Bank, adding “we will be happy to be your host.”

“While we are approaching Easter, we continue to hold firm to our faith and to the hope of resurrection,” they added. “We call on our brothers and sisters in Christ to act now, not only in prayer, but in prophetic witness.”

The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France on Wednesday announced the recognition of the 72nd miracle at the Catholic pilgrimage site, one involving an Italian woman who was cured of a rare neuromuscular condition more than 15 years ago.

Father Michel Daubanes, the rector of the sanctuary, made the announcement on Wednesday following the completion of a rosary at the French shrine, according to a tweet issued by the directors of the holy site.

The pilgrim who received the miracle was identified as Italian woman Antonietta Raco, who “suffered from primary lateral sclerosis” and who was “cured in 2009 during her pilgrimage to Lourdes,” the tweet said.

Bishop Vincenzo Carmine Orofino of Tursi-Lagonegro in Italy, where Raco lives, likewise announced the recognition of the miracle on Wednesday.

After bathing in the waters at Lourdes in 2009, Raco “began to move independently” after which “the effects of the infamous illness immediately and definitively disappeared,” the Italian diocese said on Wednesday. 

“After a long period of accurate investigations, the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, in turn, declared the medically unexplained character of the scientific knowledge of the lady’s recovery,” the diocese said. 

The bishop subsequently “provided for the establishment of a medical-theological commission and the appointment of an episcopal delegate in order to make the necessary ecclesial discernment about the alleged miraculous healing.”

“Thank God, who with this divine sign has once again manifested his presence among his people,” the diocese said. 

The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported on Wednesday that Raco’s doctor described the healing as “a scientifically inexplicable phenomenon.”

Raco herself reportedly described experiencing “an unusual feeling of well-being" after bathing in the Lourdes spring in 2009.

Pope Francis on Feb. 11, 2025, named Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, as the new archbishop of Detroit. / Credit: Archdiocese of Detroit

CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2025 / 16:48 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit announced Wednesday that parish churches in the archdiocese that offer the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be unable to do so after July 1, citing the Vatican’s 2023 clarification that diocesan bishops do not possess the authority to allow the TLM to be celebrated in an existing parish church.

A prominent Detroit shrine will still be able to offer the TLM, however, and Weisenburger said he intends to identify at least four non-parish locations in the archdiocese where the TLM can be celebrated.

In an April 16 announcement, the archdiocese said Weisenburger, who was appointed in February and newly installed as archbishop last month, recently told his priests that he is unable to renew the prior permissions given to parish churches to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, and thus those permissions will expire on July 1.

At issue is Pope Francis’ consequential apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes, issued in July 2021. Among other provisions, the letter directed bishops to designate one or more locations in which priests can celebrate the TLM but specified that those locations could not be within an existing parish church.

Following Traditionis Custodes, bishops in some dioceses that already had thriving Latin Mass communities within parish churches — in places like Denver; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Springfield, Illinois — granted broad dispensations that allowed parishes to continue offering the Latin Mass as before.

In February 2023, however, the Vatican issued a clarification to Traditionis Custodes to halt this approach, stating that bishops alone cannot dispense these parishes and that such an action is reserved “to the Apostolic See.” Bishops in other dioceses who received Vatican approval to dispense certain parishes from Traditionis Custodes were only granted that permission for a temporary period. 

“The Holy See has reserved for itself the ability to allow the Traditional Latin Mass to be celebrated in parish churches. Local bishops no longer possess the ability to permit this particular liturgy in a parish church,” the announcement from the Detroit Archdiocese reads. 

“With this in mind, the prior permissions to celebrate this liturgy in archdiocesan parish churches — which expire on July 1, 2025 — cannot be renewed.” 

The ministry of St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit, which offers daily Traditional Latin Masses under the care of the canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), will continue, Weisenburger said. ICKSP, an institute whose priests celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass and live according to the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, has been offering the TLM at the St. Joseph Shrine since 2016. 

“In addition to the exception referenced above, the Traditional Latin Mass may be permitted by the local bishop to be celebrated in non-parish settings (typically chapels, shrines, etc.),” the archdiocesan announcement continues. 

“It is the archbishop’s intention to identify a non-parish setting where the Traditional Latin Mass may be celebrated in each of the archdiocese’s four regions. As noted above, and in accordance with recent decisions by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, these locations will not be parish churches. Once these locations are determined, they will be shared with the faithful.”

Former Detroit archbishop Allen Vigneron, who led the archdiocese from 2009 until his resignation at the customary age of 75 in February, issued guidelines following Traditionis Custodes allowing parishes to request permission to continue to offer the TLM within certain limits. Those guidelines came into force on July 1, 2022. 

Detroit is not the first diocese to have announced an end to the TLM in parish churches as a result of the Vatican’s clarification. In 2022, Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia, announced his diocese’s cessation of Traditional Latin Masses by May 2023, saying the permission he had sought and received from the Vatican to allow two parish churches to continue offering the TLM had expired.  

Other dioceses, such as Albany, New York, in 2023, revoked the permission it had previously given for two parishes to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass in order to comply with the Vatican’s February 2023 clarification.

Susan Smith (left) and Marion Calder, co-directors of For Women Scotland, with campaigners celebrate outside the U.K. Supreme Court in London on Wednesday April 16, 2025, after the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act were ruled to refer to a biological woman and biological sex. / Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled on Wednesday that only biological women are protected under Britain’s Equality Act, contradicting prior statutory guidance by the Scottish government. 

Britain’s highest court found in the landmark decision that individuals who have obtained a gender recognition certificate (GRC) of legal transition from male to female are not considered women under the 2010 Equality Act. 

“The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” said Patrick Stewart Hodge, deputy president of the Supreme Court of the U.K., reading the decision.

“But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another,” he added. 

The U.K. court ultimately ruled that “the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man,” and that it would be “incoherent and impracticable” to allow persons with a GRC to be categorized as women under the Equality Act.

However, it also specifies that this does not mean persons who identify as transgender are stripped of legal protections as a protected class. Rather, it specifies that the “protected characteristic” of persons who identify as transgender is “gender reassignment” rather than “sex.” 

“It is not the role of the court to adjudicate on the arguments in the public domain on the meaning of gender or sex, nor is it to define the meaning of the word “woman” other than when it is used in the provisions of the [Equality Act] 2010,” the ruling notes. 

The decision follows a long drawn-out legal case between the Scottish government and For Women Scotland, a women’s rights organization dedicated to improving protections for women and children. 

The dispute began in 2018 after the passage of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which sought to counter gender imbalance on public sector boards and included transgender-identifying persons with GRC certificates in the quotas as women. 

For Women Scotland challenged the act in 2022, leading to a drawn-out battle in which the group filed two appeals that were both dismissed before the case ended up in front of the U.K. Supreme Court three years later.

“Today the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex, that sex is real and that women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women,” For Women Scotland co-founder Susan Smith told those gathered outside the courthouse, according to Reuters.

Author J.K. Rowling, who has been outspoken on the transgender issue, reacted to the ruling on social media: “It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the U.K.”

Father Frans Bouwen, a missionary with the African Missionary Society, has been in Jerusalem for over 50 years. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Bouwen

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).

Father Frans Bouwen, a missionary with the African Missionary Society — better known as the White Fathers for the color of their habit — and one of the most renowned Catholic voices in ecumenical dialogue, holds that “there are no real theological reasons” to justify Christians celebrating Easter on different dates.

Catholics and Protestants commemorate the resurrection of Jesus following the Gregorian calendar, while the Orthodox follow the Julian calendar. However, this year will be different. Thanks to the two calendars coinciding, all Christians will celebrate Easter together on Sunday, April 20.

“There are no real theological reasons for celebrating Easter on different dates, but sometimes the calendar seems to have become sacred,” the priest told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, noting that the desire to share the Easter holiday is especially felt in areas where Catholic and Orthodox communities coexist.

In Jerusalem, a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, there are currently some 591,000 Jews and barely 13,000 Christians. However, the small Christian community is made up of different churches: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian, and Protestant.

In this sense, in the Holy Land, “almost all Christian families are made up of Catholic and Orthodox faithful who wish to celebrate together and form a community united in witness, most often remaining small numerical minorities amid a majority of believers of other religions, Muslims, or Jews,” explained Bouwen, who was a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In fact, nowhere else in the world do Eastern and Western Christian traditions coexist as closely as in the small space that delimits the Old City of Jerusalem, the place where Christ died.

The Belgian priest, who has lived in Jerusalem since 1969, emphasized that ecumenism “already exists as a primarily local reality,“ alluding to the “sensus fidei,“ that spontaneous instinct of the faithful that drives communities to seek unity naturally, without theological diatribes.

“Thanks to recent advances in ecumenical relations, the diversity of liturgical traditions is no longer seen as a scandal but as a living testimony that the Gospel has been able to reach many different languages ​​and cultures, which have been able to perceive, express, and celebrate the Christian faith and life according to their own innate genius,” he explained.

“The fact that they all gather around Calvary and the tomb of Christ manifests their common roots and fundamental belonging,” added the priest, who has served on international commissions for theological dialogue with Orthodox churches.

The Gregorian and Julian calendars coincide periodically. Thus, the Status Quo, the unwritten law governing holy sites shared by two or more Christian communities, also determines the scheduling of celebrations for Easter at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.

“It rigorously stipulates how liturgical celebrations should be carried out by the various churches, fully respecting the rights of each. The fraternal spirit that currently marks these celebrations shows that, also around the holy sites, there has been notable ecumenical progress in recent years,” he noted.

Attempts at a common celebration

In fact, both in Jerusalem and in other areas of the Holy Land, “there have been several attempts to achieve a common celebration of Easter at the local level,” due primarily to the influence of their neighbors.

“For several decades, in Egypt, Jordan, and Cyprus, Catholics have celebrated Easter with the Orthodox of these countries — that is, according to the Julian calendar,” he explained.

After noting the positive results of the common celebration of Easter, “many faithful and pastors in the Holy Land began to promote the desire to do the same in the Holy Land,” Bouwen added.

Specifically, there were two attempts in 1995 and 2016, thanks to a joint initiative of the Catholic bishops and the Anglican and Lutheran churches. However, the results were not as hoped for.

“Many international Catholic religious congregations preferred to continue celebrating Easter together with their brothers in Western countries. The Maronite community also did not join this initiative,” Bouwen explained.

These past attempts did not include a joint celebration at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher because there was no time to address the complexities imposed by the Status Quo.

In fact, as new divisions arose within the Catholic Churches, the idea of ​​celebrating Easter in the Holy Land together with other Christian churches “has been abandoned for the time being,” Bouwen said.

The holy places pose an obstacle

The presence of the holy places poses an additional obstacle. “Following the Julian calendar at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in years when the dates do not coincide with the Gregorian calendar would mean that Holy Week pilgrims from Western countries would not find any Holy Week celebrations in Jerusalem,” the Belgian missionary pointed out.

Thus a common celebration of Easter would impose “certain time and freedom of movement limitations on the celebrations of the different churches within the Holy Sepulcher.”

“Extending this arrangement to all years would require careful negotiations, as it would imply a change in the Status Quo. Therefore, a worldwide agreement would undoubtedly help enormously,” Bouwen commented.

Similarly, if the holy places were excluded, Catholics in the Holy Land would end up celebrating Holy Week on different dates at the Holy Sepulcher and in the rest of the parishes.

In any case, at this time, there are some parishes north of Jerusalem where Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans continue to celebrate Easter with the Orthodox, that is, according to the Julian calendar.

Possible joint celebrations for Pentecost

Furthermore, due to the difficult situation in the Holy Land, with the war between Hamas and the Israeli army, “it has not been possible this year to plan joint celebrations to rejoice together with the calendars coinciding.”

“Some plans had been considered, but the situation remains too volatile to organize extraordinary events beyond the traditional celebrations, which already require great efforts on the part of the churches. Joint celebrations, however, are being planned for the time of Pentecost,” Bouwen explained.

Nonetheless, Bouwen assured that local Christians are “happy and eager to show their joy at the opportunity to bear witness to their faith together and celebrate Holy Week and Easter together in their mixed faith families.”

The Council of Nicaea, held in 325, attempted to unify the calculation of the date of Easter with a single criterion, and in fact Easter was celebrated jointly for 1,300 years.

However, in the 16th century, the calendar reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII marked a new division among the Christian churches.

Oriental Orthodox view changing the date of Easter as a ‘threat’

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, particularly in the Middle East, due to historical and political circumstances, “the different churches have often lived isolated from one another due to communication difficulties,” Bouwen explained.

Furthermore, he noted that “living as minorities and facing oppression or even persecution in certain periods, the churches were able to preserve their identity and faith thanks to their fidelity to traditions.”

For this reason, liturgical and popular traditions “have become markers of identity that kept the community united in a hostile environment.”

Both the date and the ways of celebrating Easter are an integral part of these traditions, which is why the Oriental Orthodox Churches have historically felt “that they must hold fast to them in order to remain faithful, as individuals and as communities.”

“Changing customs and dates has historically been perceived as a threat,” Bouwen pointed out.

According to the priest, the opportunity to celebrate Easter simultaneously, thanks to the Gregorian and Julian calendars coinciding, serves to strengthen the hope and commitment “for a growing communion in faith and life.”

He pointed out that the commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea constitutes “a symbolic and practical opportunity for rapprochement among the Christian churches,” recalling the foundations of the Christian faith.

Bouwen concluded that despite “many advances in ecumenical dialogues, most of the fruits of these dialogues still await effective acceptance by the churches.”

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

U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. / Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 14:31 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance and his family will travel to Italy at the end of Holy Week and through Easter, where they will meet with a top Vatican official, according to a news release from the White House.

Vance, who is a convert to Catholicism, will meet with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his time in Rome, according to the release. 

It’s unknown whether Vance will meet with Pope Francis, who is still recovering from an illness that recently required him to stay in the hospital for more than a month.

According to the news release, Vance will also visit India on the trip. In India, the vice president will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will visit New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra and participate in unspecified “engagements” at cultural sites.

During both stops, Vance intends to discuss shared economic and geopolitical priorities with the leaders of both governments. The full trip is scheduled from April 18 through April 24.

Vance last traveled to Europe in mid-February to address the Munich Security Conference in Germany, where he criticized several European governments over a lack of free speech and religious freedom.

After President Donald Trump was reelected in November, Parolin wished him “great wisdom because this is the main virtue of rulers according to the Bible.”

“I believe that, above all, he has to work to be the president of the whole country and so overcome the polarization that has occurred, which can be very, very clearly felt at the moment,” Parolin said last November.

Parolin also expressed hope that Trump could be a force for peace in the world: “To end wars, a lot of humility is needed, a lot of willingness is needed. It really is necessary to seek the general interests of humanity rather than concentrate on particular interests.”

The Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have both criticized the Trump administration for its plans of mass deportations for immigrants who are in the country illegally as well as for funding cuts to nongovernmental organizations that provide services to migrants in the United States and organizations that provide humanitarian services abroad. Numerous Catholic organizations lost funding due to the administration’s orders.

Vance has defended the administration’s immigration policies by invoking the Christian concept of “ordo amoris,” which means “rightly ordered love.” He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that one’s “compassion” belongs “first to your fellow citizens.”

“There’s this old-school — and I think a very Christian — concept … that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” the vice president said.

Pope Francis subsequently wrote a letter to the U.S. bishops, saying that “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

“The true ‘ordo amoris’ that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception,” the pontiff wrote.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0> via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 13:59 pm (CNA).

As work on budget reconciliation proceeds in Congress, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging lawmakers to protect programs that serve those most in need.

“The Church’s closeness to the poor informs our advocacy. We know firsthand that families are struggling,” the bishops said in an April 15 statement. “We implore [Congress] to protect programs such as Medicaid and SNAP and to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to the most vulnerable children.”

“This Lent,” the bishops continued, “we read the call to turn back to the Lord from the Prophet Isaiah: ‘Make justice your aim.’ (Is 1:17). It is for the sake of justice that the Catholic Church is committed to providing comfort, hope, and relief to those who are poor and suffering.”

The nation’s bishops call for the funding of Catholic Charities agencies, Catholic hospitals, and long-term care facilities and clinics so they can continue to help “our most vulnerable neighbors.”

The bishops said these programs and organizations are necessary to “provide food, shelter, counseling, health care, education, training, and other services.”

The country’s bishops specifically advocate for Medicaid, SNAP and the Child Tax Credit, saying these programs “are essential to helping many families meet basic human needs.”

Tax cut considerations

“Tax cuts that largely favor wealthier persons should not be made possible through cuts to health care and food for families struggling to make ends meet,” the bishops said.

The bishops’ latest statement follows a February letter sent to the congressional leadership focused on support for Medicaid. In that letter, the USCCB, Catholic Charities USA, and the Catholic Health Association asked lawmakers to “prioritize those most in need and working families and protect the Medicaid program.”

The organizations further specified that they support “prohibitions on federal funding of abortions” while maintaining support for aid programs that help “human flourishing.”

“The final budget reconciliation package should provide relief to low-income families and should not place additional burdens on those who are struggling. In responding to Isaiah’s call for justice, action is urgently needed: ‘Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord’ (Is 1:18),” the bishops concluded.

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Ill., mother church of the Archdiocese of Chicago. / Credit: Edlane De Mattos/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2025 / 13:28 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Chicago has reinstated a priest to full ministry after a monthslong investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against him. 

The archdiocese said in January that it had removed Father Matthew Foley from ministry after claims of abuse dating to around 30 years ago. 

Officials said at the time that civil authorities would investigate the allegations, after which the archdiocese would conduct its own inquiry. Foley “strenuously” denied the allegations at the time. 

On Monday, Cardinal Blase Cupich said in letters to parishioners at multiple parishes that the archdiocesan independent review board had completed its investigation into the allegations. Foley “fully complied” with the investigation, Cupich said. 

“After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the [review board] today determined that there is no reasonable cause to believe Father Foley sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cupich said. 

The board “recommended that Father Foley be reinstated to ministry and that the file be closed,” Cupich noted, adding that he “accepted their recommendation effectively immediately.”

In January, at the same time it announced the allegations against Foley, the archdiocese said it was also removing Father Henry Kricek from active ministry due to similar allegations. 

The accusations against Kricek involved alleged abuse that occurred “approximately 40 years ago,” the archdiocese said at the time. 

No decision on Kricek had been announced by the archdiocese as of Wednesday morning. 

Ordained in 1989, Foley is known for having befriended future actor Chris Farley at Marquette University in the early 1980s. He would ultimately preside over Farley’s funeral in 1997. 

The priest was the namesake for one of Farley’s most famous characters, “Matt Foley,” who was featured in several “Saturday Night Live” sketches prior to Farley’s death.

Pope Francis meets with doctors and staff from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, thanking them for their work during his recent stay, on April 16, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2025 / 12:57 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday morning met with medical teams who cared for him at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and thanked them for their work and prayers for his health and recovery.

In his first private group meeting held in the Vatican since being discharged from the hospital several weeks ago, the 88-year-old Holy Father greeted approximately 70 men and women representing leadership and staff from the A. Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation, the Sacro Cuore Catholic University, and Vatican City’s Directorate of Health and Hygiene inside a room near the Paul VI Audience Hall.

Entering the room in a wheelchair, the Holy Father blessed all those present before conveying his heartfelt gratitude to those who cared for him during the longest hospitalization of his 12-year pontificate.

“Thank you for your service in the hospital; very good, keep it up!” he said smiling, but with some breathlessness, toward the end of the 20-minute group meeting.

During the meeting, the Holy Father particularly addressed Sacro Cuore Catholic University rector Elena Beccalli, saying: “When women are in charge, things go well!”

Daniele Franco, chairman of the board of directors of the Gemelli Foundation, spoke with the pope on behalf of the group and conveyed his special greetings for Easter and his recovery to health. 

The pope was discharged from Gemelli Hospital more than three weeks ago, on March 23, after nearly 40 days of ongoing treatment for complex respiratory infections, including double pneumonia.

According to Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni, the pope uses supplemental oxygen at night and when needed and is showing signs of improvement with continued respiratory and physical therapies.

The Holy Father was prescribed a monthslong convalescence in his Casa Santa Marta home but continues to dedicate some time to work, prayer, and occasional meetings with Holy See officials.

Father Paul Murphy exits the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Thursday, April 10, 2025, after giving a victim impact statement in a sentencing hearing for a boy who stabbed him. / Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 16, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

An Irish priest whose arm was almost severed in an attack by a 16-year-old boy has publicly forgiven his attacker in a Dublin court. The attack happened as Irish Defence Forces chaplain Father Paul F. Murphy returned to his army barracks after an evening swim. 

During the victim impact statement, Murphy turned around to face the teenager, who told him: “I’m sorry.”

Speaking directly to his assailant during a sentencing hearing, Murphy said: “As a man of faith, I am in the business of forgiveness, and I offer to you, the young man standing accused before me, the forgiveness that will hopefully help you to become a better person.”

During the criminal court hearing in Dublin, Murphy publicly embraced his teenage attacker whose assault left him with life-changing physical and psychological injuries. 

The attack occurred on Aug. 15, 2024, as the priest returned to his barracks in Renvyle after an evening swim. The 16-year-old assailant, who could not be named for legal reasons, approached his vehicle, and when Murphy lowered his window, the teen stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, continuing as the wounded priest drove his car forward. The attacker was disarmed by on-duty members of the Defence Forces who fired warning shots at him.

In his victim impact statement, the chaplain said: “While I can remember each gory detail, I believe the attempted murder lasted only about 90 seconds.”

He continued: “I did not see or hear much news, nor read much online or in the ‘papers,’ but one angle proffered was that ‘the poor priest was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ Your Honor, if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else, and I am convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was the right person, in the right place, and at the right time. That night was filled with blessings.”

“Out of all the members of our Defence Forces, I was best placed to take the knife that night. I feel that I can contextualize the events of 15th August in my life in a way that would be much more difficult for a young soldier starting out in adulthood. And I thank God every single day that the knife tore through my skin, and not through the body of one of my comrades. I consider it an honor and a privilege to carry those scars until my dying day.”

Referencing the significance of the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption of Mary, Murphy said he felt the intercession of a World War I Irish army chaplain.

“That night was also the vigil of the anniversary of the death of the Irish Jesuit Father Willie Doyle, an army chaplain who was killed in battle in the First World War,” he said. “Investigations are ongoing to see if Father Doyle should be canonized as a saint, and we had been praying for his intercession in our Garrison Church, one hundred meters from where I was attacked. I felt his intercession that night.”

The Dublin Central Criminal Court heard testimony that the boy, who is now 17 years old, supported the Islamic State terrorist group and had been radicalized online. When questioned, the assailant admitted to the premeditated attack. However, he intended to target any member of the Defence Forces; Murphy was not targeted because he was a priest. He said he did it to “protest the Irish Defence Forces work in Mali and all the stuff for Islam.”

Subsequently, the boy apologized to Murphy, and the two embraced and spoke privately at the court hearing. 

Murphy said the incident has caused him to be more vigilant and he is undergoing counseling from a fellow priest who is also a psychotherapist. His left arm, which was almost severed in the attack, is not fully functioning. 

“The attack on me wasn’t personal, so I don’t feel particularly vulnerable, but, with good reason, I cannot rule it out from happening again. Sometimes, when one man fails in a mission, another takes up the mantle, and, with that in mind, I will probably never fully feel free,” he said.

Head chaplain to the Irish Defence Forces Father Paschal Hanrahan said Murphy is involved in every aspect of ministering to his troops. “He is very much a hands-on padre in terms of working with the troops in every aspect of their lives. He is absolutely revered by them,” he said.

As army chaplain, Murphy has made numerous overseas trips over the past decade, including to Syria and Lebanon to visit Irish troops, and is also centrally involved in organizing Defence Forces involvement in the annual international military pilgrimage to Lourdes, France.

“He would have an incredible reputation among the European militaries because of his involvement in that,” Hanrahan said.

Murphy plans to travel to Lebanon soon with the 126th Infantry Battalion.