St. Joseph Church

The Reichstag building in Berlin, where the Bundestag meets. / Credit: jan zeschky via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Newsroom, Jan 30, 2025 / 08:45 am (CNA).

The German Catholic bishops’ conference on Wednesday distanced itself from a controversial statement against tougher migration policies issued by its Berlin office just before Parliament approved a motion on stronger border controls with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

In a 348-345 vote on Jan. 29, Germany’s Parliament approved a nonbinding motion calling for stronger border and asylum rules.

The measure passed with support from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU), Free Democrats (FDP), and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

A source within the German bishops’ conference confirmed to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, on Wednesday evening that an internal letter from Beate Gilles, general secretary of the bishops’ conference, said majority opinion among bishops had been to avoid public intervention in the election campaign.

The letter distanced the bishops from a document issued by the Catholic office in Berlin on Jan. 28, which strongly criticized proposed migration legislation.

The revelation came after Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg publicly disavowed the Berlin document, telling Communio magazine: “The current position statement against a CDU/CSU draft law does not speak in my name. I distance myself from it in every way.”

CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who introduced the motion, said the move was “necessary” despite criticism from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called the cooperation with AfD an “unforgivable mistake.”

Merz now plans to propose binding legislation on Friday aimed at curbing illegal immigration numbers in the wake of the most recent fatal stabbing attack in Germany, one of a spate of violent crimes by migrants that have inflamed public debate.

Divisions within German Catholicism

The controversy has highlighted divisions within German Catholicism regarding migration policy.

While the Berlin Church office warned of ‘’damage to democracy,” others like theologian Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, recipient of the 2021 Joseph Ratzinger Prize, offered a different perspective.

“We are not obligated to do good to all people — simply because we cannot,” Schwienhorst-Schönberger told Cicero magazine, citing traditional Catholic moral theology principles about practical limits to charitable obligations.

Election context

With federal elections due on Feb. 23, polling has shown the AfD as Germany’s second most popular party. The party is variously described in the media as a populist, right-wing, or far-right extremist outfit.

The German bishops’ conference has previously declared the AfD “unelectable” for Christians, citing the party’s “ethnic nationalism” ideology — a finding the party has categorically rejected, according to CNA Deutsch.

Catholic members of the party have come under pressure.

The rise of the AfD reflects broader European trends, where parties critical of illegal migration, Islam, and leftist ideologies have gained significant ground, such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in the Netherlands.

A group of Templar volunteers in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Courtesy of Danilo Peviani

Vatican City, Jan 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Those making a pilgrimage today to any sacred place such as the major papal basilicas in Rome or the venerated sites in the Holy Land to obtain the graces of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope enjoy many conveniences. They have GPS as well as a complete guide downloaded on their smartphones; the roads are free of thugs and thieves and there are even volunteers on every street to kindly answer all their questions.

But in the past, traveling to Jerusalem or Rome was fraught with danger.

“In the Middle Ages, pilgrims were victims of looting, robbery, or all kinds of violence. Many died in the attempt. For example, if they arrived at night, they found [the gates to] the city walls closed and were exposed to all kinds of threats,” Daniele Borderi told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. Borderi is the secretary of Templari Oggi APS (Templars Today), a private association of lay faithful founded in March 2021.

The organization, present in 15 countries including South America and the United States, signed an agreement with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization to provide volunteer services in three of the basilicas in Rome where a plenary indulgence can be obtained: St. Peter’s, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. John Lateran.

“During the entire jubilee, every weekend, between 30 and 40 members of our organization will travel to Rome to serve the Catholic Church. Each one pays for the cost of the trip and, for its part, the Dicastery for Evangelization provides them with a place to sleep in addition to ensuring their lunch and dinner,” Borderi explained.

These volunteers — dressed in a white tunic and the unmistakable cross pattée — are like the heirs of Friar Hugone de’ Pagani, the first master of the ancient Order of the Poor Knights of Christ, commonly known as the Templars, whose origins date back to the 12th century. 

At that time “they were friars, knights, and soldiers, and for 200 years they were the pope’s sword,” Borderi said. In fact, they were directly under the pontiff, enjoyed certain privileges such as not paying tithes, and were also the first bankers: “They invented what we know today as the bank check. In the documents they used for this function to lend money they cleverly placed a deliberate error to avoid fraud,” the Templar secretary added.

However, Philip IV of France tried to destroy them in 1307. “He also took their properties. It was a punishment imposed because he had contracted debts with the Templars that he could not pay off,” Borderi said.

Today the Poor Knights of Christ, called Templars, are laymen and laywomen from many countries who take up the original charism of accompanying and defending pilgrims who arrive at the holy places.

From fruit seller to Templar

Achille Ticini, 68, is a Templar who comes from the Italian region of Emilia Romagna, and before he retired he had a fruit stand at a local market.

He volunteers where the Via della Conciliazione starts, one of the busiest streets leading up to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Holy Door. When ACI spoke to him, a storm had already passed, but it had been raining all morning. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain anymore,” he said, looking at the still cloudy sky.

He had just assisted a group of pilgrims from the Philippines who asked him in English where they could get something to eat without having to pay too much. “Besides Italian, I am good at English and Spanish. In the end, [pilgrims] ask us very simple questions and almost always the same ones,” he explained.

Ticini also gives information to pilgrims about where they can obtain the jubilee cross to carry on their way to a Holy Door. The cross is kept at 7 Via della Conciliazione and is the official reference point for pilgrims and tourists.

“We have it easier than our predecessors. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims had to be defended with swords not only from bandits but also from the animals that roamed around. Now the Italian police and army take care of security issues,” he commented.

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

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CNA Staff, Jan 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday directing federal agencies to expand educational freedom and opportunity for families and end “radical indoctrination” in K–12 education.

The executive order to expand school choice is designed “to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children” by using federal funding “to support K–12 educational choice initiatives.”

“Parents want and deserve the best education for their children. But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K–12 school,” the executive order reads. “According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70% of eighth graders were below proficient in reading, and 72% were below proficient in math. Moreover, geographically based school assignments exacerbate the cost of housing in districts with preferred schools, straining the finances of millions of American families sacrificing for their children’s futures.” 

The order indicates that “education freedom” will be a “priority in discretionary grant programs” and proposes enabling “low-income, working families,” military families, and children eligible for the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools to use federal funding to attend the private, faith-based, or charter school of their choice.

An additional executive order to end “radical indoctrination” is designed to ensure that schools that receive federal funding “comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in various contexts and protecting parental rights.” 

It primarily addresses the issues of gender ideology and “critical race theory” in schools.

“In recent years … parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight,” read the order. “Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination.”

The order prohibits “discriminatory equity ideology” in public schools, which is defined as “an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations.”

The order also prohibits federal funding at public K–12 schools from supporting “social transition” of minors from one gender to another. 

“In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed,” the order continued. “These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.” 

The order specifically aims to eliminate federal funding or support “for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K–12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” 

“Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our nation’s children not only violates long-standing anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority,” the order reads. 

“For example, steering students toward surgical and chemical mutilation without parental consent or involvement or allowing males access to private spaces designated for females may contravene federal laws that protect parental rights,” the order reads. 

“Similarly, demanding acquiescence to ‘white privilege’ or ‘unconscious bias’ actually promotes racial discrimination and undermines national unity,” the order continues. 

The order also aims “to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible nation and the values for which we stand.” It promotes “patriotic education,” which it defines as “an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles.” 

For instance, the order reestablishes the “1776 Commission” in the U.S. Department of Education — made up of a maximum of 20 unpaid members — to develop “patriotic education,” mainly by developing lectures to honor the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Washington D.C., Jan 29, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

During his first confirmation hearing, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated at several points that he would implement President Donald Trump’s pro-life policies. 

Republican and Democrat senators on the Senate Finance Committee pressed Kennedy on his views on abortion and “reproductive health,” asking him how he would approach the issue of life while carrying out his duties as head of HHS.

In the three-hour hearing, Kennedy fielded questions on his interpretation of Title X, late-term abortions, mifepristone, stem cell research, and medical conscience rights. 

“I’m going to support President Trump’s policies on Title X,” Kennedy said in his first exchange regarding abortion with Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.

“I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy stated. “I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions per year, I agree with him that the states should control abortion.”

“I’m going to serve at the pleasure of the president,” he continued. “I’m going to implement his policies,” he said, revealing that Trump had expressed his desire for Kennedy to end late-term abortions, enact protections for conscious exemptions, and end federal funding for abortions in the U.S. and abroad. 

On medical conscience exemptions, Kennedy said: “What patient would want somebody doing a surgery on them that, you know, believes that that surgery is against their conscience and is being forced to perform that? I don’t know anybody who would want to have a doctor perform a surgery that the doctor is morally opposed to.”

“Forcing somebody to participate in a medical procedure as a provider that they believe is murder does not make any sense to me,” he continued, adding: “We need to welcome diversity in this country, we need to respect diversity, and we need to respect each other when we have different opinions and not, you know, not force our opinions on other people.” 

Kennedy also answered questions on his views regarding chemical abortions, stating that his approach to the drug would mirror that of Trump, who, he noted, has yet to adopt an official position on whether he supports the use of chemical abortion drugs such as mifepristone. The HHS nominee did, however, criticize the Biden administration for deregulating the abortion drug and for ending reporting requirements. 

Mifepristone is a drug used to induce a chemical abortion by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients. The Food and Drug Administration’s label estimates that about 1 in 25 women who take mifepristone “will visit the emergency room.” 

“It should be reported; I mean, it’s against everything we believe in in this country, that patients or doctors should not be reporting adverse events,” Kennedy said, adding: “I think it’s immoral to have a policy where patients are not allowed to report adverse events or doctors are discouraged from doing that.” 

Several members of the committee questioned Kennedy on his past pro-abortion views, including Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, who quoted Kennedy as saying: “I don’t think the government has any business telling people what they can or cannot do with their body” during a campaign visit to New Hampshire in 2023. 

Kennedy responded simply: “I agree with President Trump — every abortion is a tragedy.” 

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, questioned Kennedy about his support for stem cell research at the University of Washington, which the senator said had conducted “groundbreaking” research using fetal heart tissue. 

Kennedy responded by saying: “I will protect stem cell research, and today stem cell research can be done on umbilical cords.” 

“You don’t need fetal tissue,” he said. 

In November, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kennedy to serve as the United States secretary of the HHS, a position that requires Senate confirmation. HHS oversees 10 agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Kennedy is a former Democrat. He ran for president as an independent in 2024 before dropping out and endorsing Trump. Kennedy is set to have another hearing tomorrow before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 29, 2025 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

A study published last week found that the active ingredient used in a common morning-after “emergency contraceptive” can be used to induce a chemical abortion at least up to the ninth week of pregnancy.

The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Jan. 23, found that ulipristal acetate is an “effective” drug for causing an abortion. This drug is the active ingredient in the morning-after pill commonly marketed as “ella” or “ellaOne,” which is advertised as a non-abortive contraception used only to prevent pregnancy.

Researchers gave 133 pregnant women from Mexico City each a dosage of 60 milligrams of ulipristal acetate to induce an abortion. The women were then given misoprostol, which expels an unborn child from the mother by inducing contractions.

The study was conducted by Gynuity Health Projects and the National Autonomous University of Mexico and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Mexico City Health Secretariat. 

Gynuity Health Projects — an organization that seeks to increase access to chemical abortions — has in the past been criticized by pro-life groups for conducting clinical trials on pregnant women around the world to test the effectiveness of second-trimester chemical abortions. 

The organization has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and many other wealthy donors.

According to the recent study, the drug combination of ulipristal acetate and misoprostol completed an abortion in 129 cases — a success rate of 97%. This is about equal to the success rate of the abortion pill mifepristone — which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to abort an unborn child up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy in conjunction with misoprostol to expel the child.

The 60-milligram dose of ulipristal acetate used in the study is double the dose recommended for using the same drug as an “emergency contraceptive.” The study did not test whether lower doses could induce abortions.

Gynuity Health Projects President Beverly Winikoff, the lead researcher, told CNA she believes “this is the first study that shows the possibility of using [ulipristal acetate] for abortion” but that “just looking at the chemical structure, it has a structure very similar to mifepristone,” which is already used for abortion.

Aaron Kheriaty, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that a similar chemical structure does not necessarily mean both drugs will have the same effect but added that “it should have been investigated” in the FDA approval process.

Ulipristal acetate, he said, “makes the environment in the womb inhospitable to continue life.” He said whether someone takes it shortly after sexual intercourse or several weeks later, “it is doing the same thing” and in the cases documented in the study, “causing an abortion rather than preventing the conception of a human being in the first place.”

Kheriaty noted that even if taken soon after sexual intercourse, the drug can prevent a fertilized egg, which is already “a new human being,” from attaching to the uterus, ensuring the “early embryo can’t survive.”

“It’s long been known that the mechanism of action of the morning-after pill … is to produce an early abortion,” Kheriaty said.

Joseph Meaney, a senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), told CNA that the study indicates that ella “can be abortifacient in its mode of action.”

“Ulipristal acetate clearly works as an abortion pill,” Meaney said. “The question is how often does it abort very early pregnancies when used as so-called ‘emergency contraception?’”

The Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have warned for years that emergency contraceptives could induce abortions in early pregnancies, which pharmaceutical companies have consistently denied.

Ella still marketed as a non-abortive drug

Pharmaceutical companies market ella or ellaOne as a non-abortive drug that only prevents a pregnancy and will not end an existing pregnancy or harm a child in the mother’s womb. It is prescribed for women up to five days after sexual intercourse.

Ellarx.com, operated by HRA Pharma America — a subsidiary of the Perrigo Company plc — claims ella is not an “abortion pill,” adding: “It won’t end an existing pregnancy.”

“Emergency contraceptives like ella [work] by delaying or preventing ovulation, which stops pregnancy from occurring in the first place,” the website states in its section for frequently asked questions.

Similarly, ellaOne.co.uk lists among its morning-after pill “myths” that “the morning-after pill is a form of abortion” and adds “if the morning-after pill is taken by someone who is already pregnant, emergency contraception will not interrupt this pregnancy.” This website is also operated by Perrigo. 

Perrigo issued a statement to the New York Times standing by that position, saying the study gave women a higher dose of ulipristal acetate than what is in one pill of ella, asserting “there continues to be no evidence to show that, on its own, ella causes an abortion.” One ella pill has 30 milligrams of ulipristal acetate, which is half of what the study used.

“Ella is an FDA-approved emergency contraception pill that acts before pregnancy can occur,” the statement added.

Winikoff, however, told CNA: “The study we published could make it possible for people to use [ulipristal acetate] for abortions,” adding that “the drug is FDA approved, and this is just another use for it.”

Kheriaty told CNA he believes the findings “place the medication in the same category as other drugs used for chemical abortions like mifepristone.” He said advertising it as a non-abortive drug is “clearly misleading, and it’s something the FDA should investigate.”

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, an NCBC senior ethicist, told CNA the study “reveals that [ulipristal acetate] can also be used in higher doses for the first step of a chemical abortion, again reminding us how closely connected contraception and abortion really are — ‘two fruits of the same tree,’” quoting St. John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae. 

“In broad terms, we can see how contraceptive acts enable a couple to ‘quench the possibility’ of a family by doing away with the prospect of a child even before that life is conceived,” Pacholczyk added.

“The logic behind ‘quenching our offspring’ can now be extended further, as the active ingredient in ella will now likely become part of the regimen for initiating many early chemical abortions around the globe and directly ending countless unborn lives,” he said.

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CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2025 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

The White House on Wednesday pulled back on a directive that had ordered federal agencies to pause federal grants and loans amid a flurry of executive actions from President Donald Trump.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had issued a memorandum on Monday that directed all federal agencies “to the extent permissible under applicable law … [to] temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance” that could conflict with recent executive orders from Trump.

The memo specified that funding for programs “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal” would be paused.

But on Wednesday OMB walked back the directive. Multiple news outlets reported that the office had “rescinded” the memorandum without comment. 

The apparent walkback added another layer of whiplash to what was already a chaotic week in Washington. On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan had temporarily blocked the order just minutes before it was scheduled to take effect, with the block scheduled to last until Monday. 

On Wednesday afternoon White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that the OMB walkback was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.” 

“It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo,” she wrote. “Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.”

“The president’s [executive orders] on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” she wrote.

AliKhan’s injunction against the freeze came after several states and nonprofits filed lawsuits against the Trump administration regarding the pause. 

On Tuesday Catholic Charities USA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson released a statement arguing against the proposed halt in federal financial assistance.

“For more than a century, the Catholic Charities network has worked with the government to care for poor and vulnerable people in every community in the U.S., and we continue to be eager to work with government to care for our neighbors in need,” Robinson said. “We strongly urge the administration to rethink this decision.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York addresses the audience at the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on July 18, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York strongly criticized comments Vice President JD Vance made on Sunday questioning the motives of U.S. Catholic bishops in their efforts to serve migrants and resettle refugees, in which Vance suggested financial incentives were their driving force rather than compassion.

Vance, a Catholic who took office last week, was asked Jan. 26 about the bishops’ criticism of the Trump administration’s various new directives on immigration, specifically the government’s rescinding of a policy that previously restricted immigration arrests at “sensitive locations” such as churches.

“I think that the [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Vance replied. 

Asked if he believed the U.S. bishops are “actively hiding criminals from law enforcement,” Vance argued that the USCCB has “not been a good partner in commonsense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they’ll do better.”

Dolan on Tuesday expressed frustration over Vance’s implication that the bishops’ pro-immigrant stance was merely a financial calculation, calling the comments “scurrilous” and “very nasty.”

“I was really disappointed with what he said on ‘Face the Nation’ the other day. And I don’t mind telling you, somewhat hurt. This was not only harmful, this was inaccurate. You heard what he said: ‘Oh, the bishops, they’re pro-immigrant because of the bottom line, because they’re making money off this.’ That’s just scurrilous. It’s very nasty, and it’s not true,” Dolan said, speaking on his weekly SiriusXM show “Conversations with Cardinal Dolan.”

Dolan said the Church’s involvement in migration and refugee services is frequently at the behest of secular leaders such as mayors and governors, who he said recognize the Church’s ability to manage resources efficiently and transparently.

“You want to come look at our audits, which are scrupulously done? You think we make money caring for the immigrants? We’re losing it hand over fist … we’re not in a money-making business,” he continued. 

Some political leaders and commentators have accused the U.S. bishops of complying with or facilitating illegal immigration through their refugee resettlement program, a charge the bishops have strongly denied. Critics have also scrutinized the large sums of money that the USCCB receives each year from the government to resettle refugees, which in recent years has been over $100 million a year.

The USCCB recently defended its long-standing refugee program as a “work of mercy,” pointing out that every person they help to resettle “is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States” and reiterating that despite the large sums of money involved, the costs of refugee resettlement often exceed the government’s reimbursement.

In 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, the USCCB spent nearly $131 million on migration and refugee services, with nearly $130 million of that cost being covered by government grants, primarily from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of State.

Despite his disappointment, Dolan expressed hope that Vance’s comments were uncharacteristic and not reflective of Vance’s usual thoughtful demeanor. Dolan also acknowledged, with appreciation, Vance’s supportive stances on Catholic family life and education.

“[From] a guy who has struck me as a gentleman and a thoughtful man, and from whom I’m still expecting great things — I hope it was an uncharacteristic moment. I thought it was a letdown,” the cardinal concluded.

The work of the U.S. bishops and the major humanitarian agency Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) as related to migrants and refugees has been vigorously debated in recent days amid the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s new — and now-rescinded — spending freeze on federal grants to nonprofit organizations, first announced Jan. 27. 

Catholic Charities, which is composed of 168 diocesan agencies, serves millions of people in need each year across the country by providing affordable housing, food, and disaster relief, as well as immigration services. In addition to donations and other sources, some Catholic Charities agency programs are partially funded through federal aid. 

The president of CCUSA had this week urged the Trump administration to “rethink” its pause on federal funding, noting the “millions of Americans who rely on this life-giving support.”

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CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Dorothy Fink announced this week that the agency will review its budget to ensure that taxpayer funds are not being used to pay for or promote elective abortions.

In a Monday statement, Fink noted that the agency would ensure that the Hyde Amendment — which prevents taxpayer funding for abortion — is enforced.

“For nearly 50 years, the Hyde Amendment has protected taxpayer funds administered by the department from paying for elective abortion,” Fink said.

“The department will reevaluate all programs, regulations, and guidance to ensure federal taxpayer dollars are not being used to pay for or promote elective abortion, consistent with the Hyde Amendment,” Fink added.

The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order on enforcing the Hyde Amendment, an order that revoked two Biden-era orders that loosened restrictions around abortion funding.

For instance, Biden’s Executive Order 14079 recategorized abortion as “health care,” enabling Medicaid funding to pay for travel costs for abortions, according to a White House Jan. 25 “Fact Sheet.” Another Biden order “imposed a whole-of-government effort to promote and fund abortion and to politicize enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act,” the White House noted.

Fink also highlighted the importance of enforcing conscience rights and religious liberty.

“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office for Civil Rights, is tasked with enforcement of many of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious exercise,” Fink said. “It shall be a priority of the department to strengthen enforcement of these laws.”

“To this end, the Office for Civil Rights will reevaluate its regulations and guidance pertaining to federal laws on conscience and religious exercise,” Fink continued.

Fink also praised the Trump administration’s decision to rejoin “the historic Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family,” a pledge the U.S. withdrew from under the Biden-Harris administration that states there is no international right to abortion.

The declaration, Fink noted, promotes “better health for women,” “the preservation of human life,” and the “strengthening of the family as the foundational unit of society” as well as the protection of “every nation’s national sovereignty.”

“The Office of Global Affairs will support the secretary of state in restoring the United States’ leadership in the Geneva Consensus Declaration coalition,” Fink said.

The “review will be conducted consistent with guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget,” Fink noted.

The White House on Wednesday announced it had rescinded an OMB request to agencies to pause funding for all nongovernmental organizations to ensure they are in line with the president’s recent flurry of executive orders. The announcement followed a federal judge’s temporary block on the freeze on federal funding.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Majorie Dannenfelser welcomed Trump’s decision to rejoin the declaration in a Friday statement, saying that “thanks to President Trump, we are standing with the international community for life again.”

“The Geneva Consensus Declaration is a landmark achievement between the United States, spearheaded by President Trump during his first administration, and more than 30 nations affirming the right to life and rejecting abortion on demand,” Dannenfelser said. “One after another, President Trump’s great pro-life victories are being restored, and this is just the beginning.”

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Bangalore, India, Jan 29, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Church in the western Indian state of Gujarat has expressed “frustration” over the state High Court confirming the government’s power in appointing staff in Catholic high schools.

The Jan. 23 verdict “is frustrating for us. We are sad that it came just ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Indian Republic [on Jan. 26],” Gandhinagar Archbishop Thomas Macwan told CNA.

“Despite our legal team pointing out that appointment of staff is our fundamental right, it is disappointing that the judge approved the government takeover,” Macwan said.

Under the “Fundamental Rights” category of the India Constitution, Article 30 states: “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.”

The Church plans to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court of India. “We hope the Jubilee Year of 2025 will be a brighter one for us,” Macwan said.

“The right to appoint the staff is our fundamental right and also very crucial for proper management of our institutions,” Father Teles Fernandes, the secretary of the Gujarat Board of Catholic Educational Institutions, told CNA.

“We will certainly move the Supreme Court soon to challenge this verdict,” said Fernandes, who is also the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar.

The capital is named after Mahatma Gandhi, a native of Gujarat. 

In 2021 the Gujarat government amended the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act to take over the appointment of teachers and other staff at private schools that are aided by the government.

In India, most states have “aided schools” in which the government pays the salaries of the staff but the management enjoys the right to appoint the staff, both faculty and administrators. 

Fernandes noted that in Gujarat the government salary is given only to staff of higher secondary schools from ninth to 12th grades, while in most states “aided” schools cover the entire staff from first grade.

While the Catholic Church in Gujarat runs 57 aided schools in the state where Christians number less than 1% among its population of 64 million, other denominations also run such institutions including Jews, Jains, Muslims, Parsis, and scores of schools run by non-Gujarati language groups like the Sindhi and Hindi.

“After the 2021 amendment, the government is not giving approval to the staff we appoint. We have to find ways to pay them,” said Father James Varghese, the coordinator of the 10 schools of the Orthodox Church in Gujarat. 

“So, we decided to plead in the appeal filed by the Catholic Church but the verdict has been shocking to us,” Varghese told CNA from Vadodara City.

“The only option now before us is to appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court of India as it denies our fundamental rights,” he added. 

Austin Haeems, who coordinates the management of three Jewish schools with 6,000 students in Gujarat, also shared the same concern.

“The High Court verdict has come as a big shock to us. We will explore legal action in consultation with the Catholic Church,” Haeems told CNA.

Though at one point there were more than 2,000 Jewish residents in Gujarat, Haeems said that the “majority have migrated to Israel and now only [just] over 100 are left.”

Demonstrators rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments in a challenge to a Tennessee law banning transgender surgeries for minors. / Credit: Migi Fabara/CNA

CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening issued an executive order that restricts transgender surgeries and drugs for youth, with the president vowing that the United States “will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” the controversial procedures.

The order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” notes that throughout the U.S. “medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children” under the “radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.”

“This dangerous trend will be a stain on our nation’s history, and it must end,” the order states, arguing that children who undergo such procedures “soon regret” having mutilated their reproductive organs and other body parts. 

The order directs that every federal agency that offers “research or educational grants” to medical institutions must ensure that those institutions are not administrating transgender drugs to, or performing transgender procedures on, youth.

It further orders the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “take all appropriate action” to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children,” including via Medicare and Medicaid law and drug use reviews. 

As well, the directive moves to end the use of what it calls “junk science” promoted by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). That organization has come under fire for endorsing what critics have called the “pseudoscience” of transgenderism, with an internal leak last year revealing its members admitting that children are too young to fully understand the consequences of such procedures. 

Federal agencies “shall rescind or amend all policies” relying on WPATH’s guidance, Trump’s Tuesday order said. HHS, meanwhile, will perform and publish a review of “best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria.”

The directive comes directly after Trump on Monday signed an executive order to end “radical gender ideology” in the military, reversing former President Joe Biden’s directive that allowed soldiers who identify as transgender to serve in the armed forces.

In December then-President-elect Trump vowed to sign executive orders to end transgender surgeries for children, to prevent biological men from playing in women’s sports, and to end the promotion of gender ideology in schools and the military. 

The president last week signed an executive order billed as “defending women from gender ideology extremism,” one that the White House said restored “biological truth to the federal government.” 

Among other sweeping measures, that order established a government-wide acknowledgement of the reality of biological sex, including the explicit assertion that there are only two sexes, male and female.