St. Joseph Church

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.

Using Rembrandt’s oil painting “Return of the Prodigal Son” as a source of inspiration for his April 16, 2025, catechesis, the Holy Father said God’s love is like that of a father who goes out in search of his lost children. / Credit: Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2025 / 10:13 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Gospel is a “message of hope” founded on the belief that God is a merciful father and not a slave master.

Using Rembrandt’s oil painting “Return of the Prodigal Son” as a source of inspiration for his April 16 catechesis, the Holy Father said God’s love is like that of a father who goes out in search of his lost children. 

“In this we find the heart of the Gospel of Jesus, namely God’s mercy,” the pope said in his written reflection on the parable of the merciful father with two sons.

“The Gospel is intended to give us a message of hope, because it tells us that wherever we are lost, and however we are lost, God always comes looking for us!” he added.

In his catechesis, the Holy Father said the eldest son who “does not share his father’s joy” in the parable “represents those for whom the parable is told” — those who judge others and do not realize that they are also lost.

“He is the son who always stayed at home with his father yet was distant from him, distant in heart,” he said. “This son may have wanted to leave too, but out of fear or duty he stayed there, in that relationship.” 

“When you adapt unwillingly, however, you begin to harbor anger within you, and sooner or later this anger explodes,” he added. "Paradoxically, it is precisely the eldest son who in the end risks being left out.”

Reflecting on the situation of the younger son who “hits rock bottom” after squandering his inheritance, the pope said his father did not refuse to welcome him back home even though his son “got tired of being in a relationship that he felt was too demanding.”

In his written catechesis, the Holy Father added that it was the merciful father’s gratuitous love that freed his son from the “distorted belief” that he needed to earn back his father’s respect or beg for his affection when he returned home.

“Only those who truly love us can free us from this false view of love,” the pope said. “In the relationship with God, we have precisely this experience.”

“The young man’s head is shaven, like that of a penitent, but it also looks like the head of a child, because this son is being born again,” the Holy Father said, commenting on Rembrandt’s painting.

Asking his readers to “take a position” and ask “where am I in the story?” the pope prayed: “Let us ask God the Father for the grace that we too can find our way back home.”

American historian and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts (right) speaks with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Erik Rosales on April 15, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts is calling on Americans to become more open about their faith as a means to “revitalizing” religious belief in the United States. 

“I think it’s important, as we are on the brink of Easter during Holy Week, to encourage people of all faiths, whether they’re Christians like me or Jews or Muslims, to speak about their faith,” said Roberts during a Tuesday appearance on “EWTN News Nightly.”

“This is an opportunity here in the United States, not just for political and policymaking success, but more importantly, for the revitalization of our faith as individuals and also as a country,” he said. 

Earlier this week Roberts penned an op-ed for the Daily Signal in which the former Wyoming Catholic College president highlighted “the distinct importance that America’s Founding Fathers placed on Christianity, particularly Our Lord’s passion and resurrection.” 

Roberts in that op-ed called for the return of religious practice to the public sphere. 

“As Christians around the country reflect on that same story this Easter, we should resolve to transform our gratitude — for the political freedoms that our Founding Fathers fought for and the spiritual freedom that Christ died for — into action,” he wrote. 

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Roberts told EWTN News Capitol Hill Correspondent Erik Rosales that President Donald Trump has “done two things exceptionally well thus far.”

“The first is he’s been unabashed about speaking about America’s religious roots,” he said. “The second thing that he’s done — and it’s both in the State Department and across the administration and other agencies — is end the Obama-Biden-era practice of running roughshod over religious liberty.”

“It’s not that we want to establish one particular religion as the official one,” he said. “It’s that we, just as people of faith, want to be able to do more than just have private religious thoughts. We actually want to live out our faith in the public square.”

Roberts insisted that for America to experience a true “cultural awakening,” it must be willing to practice religion publicly. 

“That awakening is not going to come from politics and policy, it’s going to come from each of us,” he said. “We can make [politicians’] jobs easier as it relates to policymaking if we live out our respective faiths with zeal, with a real passion, with a persuasiveness to bring people to the truth.”

Ultimately, he said, the “golden age of America” will not be ushered in merely by economic policies or by reforming Washington.

“Most importantly, it’s going to be because each of us plays a role in revitalizing the religious institutions in our lives and our communities,” he said.

Credit: iweta0077/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new initiative is trying to shift the narrative on the Catholic priesthood by shining light on stories of heroic virtue, courage, and selfless acts from modern-day priests and bishops in an effort to strengthen the appeal of the vocation.

The Philadelphia-based nonprofit International Institute for Culture (IIC) launched the first pillar of its “Shepherding Future Shepherds” program, which is the creation of ThankAPriest.com. It showcases positive stories with the hope of inspiring young Catholic men to consider vocations to the priesthood.

“By sharing stories of priestly heroism and compassion, we hope to inspire young men to recognize the priesthood as a profound and fulfilling vocation,” IIC President John M. Haas said in a statement.

“Our goal is to bring to light the countless untold stories of the good and virtuous work priests do every day,” he added. “This effort is critical not only to restoring confidence in the priesthood but also to inspiring future vocations.”

An IIC news release notes that the number of active Catholic priests globally has dropped from about 60,000 to only 35,000 from 1970 to 2020, even though the number of Catholics has risen by 20 million people within that time frame. 

The nonprofit warned that within the next five years, some regions will only have one priest for every 6,000 Catholics.

Matthew Haas, the project director of the initiative and son of the IIC president, told CNA the drop in overall priests is further complicated by the average age of priests increasing.

“In the next 10 years, 20 years, we’re going to see a dramatic dropoff of priests who are able to remain active,” he said.

Our culture “is becoming more secular, just overall,” he noted, but the declining trend in priests is more severe.

“It’s not a 1:1 ratio that would explain the priesthood,” Haas said. He argued there is a negative perception about the priesthood among many young people rooted in Church scandals but that those scandals reflect a “very small group of people — bad actors.”

Haas added that a major part of the initiative is to “start changing perception” because there are “so many good priests doing noble, heroic … things.”

“We’re sharing all kinds of stories, but one of the things we want to make sure we’re doing is there’s going to be a wide representation,” he added.

The heroism of Bishop Christian Carlassare

The first profile on ThankAPriest.com tells the story of Bishop Christian Carlassare, who was the bishop of the Diocese of Rumbek in South Sudan and is now the bishop of the Diocese of Bentiu in the same country.

Carlassare was shot by two unknown assailants when he was bishop-elect of Rumbek.

“Two gunmen broke into his house during the night, burst into his bedroom, and shot him several times,” the profile notes. “There was speculation it was a targeted assault. Bishop Carlassare sustained numerous gunshot wounds to his legs, but miraculously none of the injuries were life threatening.”

The profile shares the message to his diocese that Carlassare recorded while in the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, in which he tells them: “I want you to be at peace, to know that I’m well here in the hospital.” 

“I’m being taken care [of] and I’m improving,” he said. “It will take some time for my legs to be able again to walk, but I assure you that I will be back and I will be with you. Please let us be united in prayer, let us be united with all our hearts to uphold forgiveness in our community and be able to seek for justice with the same heart of God. It is a merciful heart.”

Carlassare, who is a native of Italy, spent months in his home country to rehabilitate himself before returning to serve his diocese in the East African nation. On his decision to return to the diocese, the bishop said: “I clearly could not turn my back to this call … and abandon the sheep when witnessing Christ becomes demanding.”

The profile notes that Carlassare hoped his return would signal “reconciliation, forgiveness, and new beginnings,” which is “a message that defines his ministry, and one he hopes to share with the divided nation.”

Prior to his appointment as a bishop, Carlassare served the Church as a missionary priest with the Comboni Missionaries religious order. He served South Sudan as a missionary priest for 15 years before his appointment.

Matthew Haas told CNA there are many priests “putting their lives … at risk in some instances to serve God” and it’s important to tell the stories of “these men [who] are holy and serving the Church and trying to do good things,” expressing hope that “people see them as role models” and “aspire to live a life like that.”

The organization is also requesting that people share stories of priests who are living heroic and virtuous lives through their vocation.

Next steps for the initiative

The launching of the website represents the first pillar of the initiative, which intends to “elevate” the priesthood within society. The other three pillars are: educate, engage, and embark.

Matthew Haas told CNA that the second pillar, “educate,” will likely be launched this year and is designed to be “really reaching out, specifically to young men.” This will include efforts to show people the different roles priests can have and the distinctions between priests, deacons, brothers, and monks.

“We believe God has a calling for everyone,” he said. 

The third pillar, “engage,” is also supposed to be launched later this year and is designed to help young men navigate the discernment process and connect them to resources to help in that decision-making process, according to Haas. 

The fourth pillar, “embark,” is scheduled to begin in early 2026. This part is meant to provide the help of spiritual guidance. Haas said most men who enter the seminary “had either a spiritual director or a guide who helped them through the discernment process.”

“The work we’re doing now is laying the foundation for these priests who are going to be available in the next decade,” Matthew Haas added.

He noted that the discernment process and the priest formation process can take up to a decade to complete, which is why it’s “urgent to start now.”

“It will help to reverse the trend of secularism by bringing in new and young priests to help serve our Church,” he said.

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith in 2025, with particularly strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers, according to newly released statistics from the country’s Conference of Bishops (CEF). / Credit: French Bishops’ Conference

Paris, France, Apr 16, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A new survey in France illuminates the surprising pathways bringing young people to the Catholic faith in unprecedented numbers at the coming Easter vigil.

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith this weekend, with particularly strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers, according to newly released statistics from the country’s Conference of Bishops (CEF).

A survey of 900 French catechumens conducted by Catholic media outlets Famille Chrétienne and Aleteia has revealed that social media plays a crucial role in attracting young adults to Catholicism, with 78% saying social media played a role in the discovery or deepening of their faith, while 84% said they follow Christian content creators or “influencers.”

Examples given were Dominican Father Paul-Adrien d’Hardemare, who has 481,000 subscribers on YouTube, and Le Catho de Service, which features a lay apologist named Victor who says his goal is to “motivate a generation of saints to re-evangelize France.” He has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok.

However, 54% said it was a priest, a religious, or a catechist who “helped them the most in their faith journey,” while 32% said it was friends.

A striking finding was that 65% said they did not grow up in a religious family, with 50% claiming they had discovered the faith on their own. Catechumens said they came to the faith initially through personal research (40%), through family (23%), or through friends (14%). About 40% said they had a “founding spiritual experience that pushed them to take their journey further,” the report said.

The French bishops reported that 10,384 adults will be baptized this year on Easter Saturday evening, a 45% increase from the previous year. They will stand alongside more than 7,400 adolescents aged 11 to 17, also considerably higher than the year before.

This continues a trend of increased interest in the Catholic faith among young French people that was also seen over Easter 2024.

“These results, which further exceed the record figures collected last year, are the highest ever recorded since the CEF began this survey more than 20 years ago,” said a statement from the French bishops.

It added that 13 dioceses will more than double the number of baptized adults. As well as the surge in catechumens, the CEF said there had been an increase in the number of adults who were baptized as children and are now choosing to be confirmed in the faith.

The data revealed that the trend in adult baptisms is particularly strong in women and those under 40. The conference said 42% of catechumens this year are in the 18-24 age group and nearly two-thirds of catechumens are female. 

“We can already see it as encouragement from the Lord, reminding us that he is the master of the mission; he is the one who draws us to himself, touches hearts, and reveals himself,” said Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon, who is also member of the Commission for Initiation and Christian Life, in a statement.

“Let us give thanks to God,” he said, stressing the importance of discipleship for the new converts.  

Over the English Channel in the United Kingdom, there is also evidence of a surge of interest in Christianity in young adults and suggestions that online content might be influencing them, too. 

A recent report from the Bible Society, a charity based in England that promotes reading Scripture, found that churchgoing had increased significantly in the youngest adult age group over the past six years, with 16% of 18- to-24-year-olds saying they are monthly churchgoers compared with 19% of those over 65. That makes young adults the second most likely age group to attend church in the U.K., and the trend is particularly strong in young men. 

This year across England there were increased numbers of catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election at the start of Lent. Anecdotally, many of these new entrants are young men, their interest sparked by social media such as content from U.S.-based Bishop Robert Barron and Father Mike Schmitz. 

Young adults in the U.K. are now twice as likely to attend Catholic churches than the Church of England, as only 20% of churchgoers identify as Anglican compared with 41% identifying as Catholic and 18% as Pentecostal, the Bible Society said.

Beds sit amid the debris in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli hospital, also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab hospital, in Gaza City on April 13, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 17:37 pm (CNA).

Church leaders in Israel are expressing outrage after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a wave of airstrikes on Palm Sunday, with two of its missiles targeting Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. 

The Anglican Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms” in a statement on Sunday, reporting that a child who had been suffering from a head injury had “tragically died as a result of the rushed evacuation process,” which reportedly took place in under 20 minutes. 

“The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023 — and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week,” the statement reads. “We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many.” 

While no other deaths were reported as a result of the bombing, the Anglican diocese reported that the “twin strikes” had destroyed the hospital’s two-story genetic laboratory and damaged its pharmacy and emergency department buildings. The diocese also noted collateral damage in the surrounding area, including a nearby church. 

Under international law, hospitals have special protection. “This hospital, already strained by months of siege, stood as one of the last beacons of medical hope in Gaza, where dozens of health care institutions have been systematically destroyed,” the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theopholis III, wrote in a statement on April 13. “The stripping away of such sanctuaries of life and dignity is a tragedy that transcends all boundaries of politics and enters the realm of the sacred.”

Al Ahli is the only Christian hospital in Gaza and one of the last remaining major hospitals still functioning in the northern part of the region, according to the Associated Press. 

The IDF wrote in a social media post after the strike that it had been targeting a “Hamas command and control center inside Al Ahli Hospital,” which it said Hamas had been using “to plan and execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”

“Despite the IDF repeatedly stating that military activity within medical facilities in Gaza must stop, Hamas continues to blatantly violate international law and abuse the civilian population,” the post continued. “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians or to the hospital compound, including issuing advanced warnings in the area of the terror infrastructure, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance.”

The new White House Faith Office is in high gear for Holy Week. / Credit: DJTechYT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).

The White House has announced plans for the Christian Holy Week leading up to Easter, which will include a Wednesday dinner and a Thursday religious service with Christians from a variety of communities.

President Donald Trump on Palm Sunday kicked off Holy Week with comments acknowledging Jesus Christ’s “excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross” and the gift of redemption and the forgiveness of sins merited through his suffering and death. He added that “through his resurrection, we have hope of eternal life.”

Trump urged prayers for “an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved nation” and for the intention that the United States will “achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in heaven.”

Jennifer Korn, director of the White House Faith Office, told CNA that Catholics and Christians from a variety of Protestant communities are expected to be in attendance for the Holy Week events.

To celebrate Holy Week, the White House on Wednesday will hold a dinner and prayer service, which will be livestreamed online. On Thursday, the White House will host a prayer and worship service, which will include Christian hymns performed by musicians associated with Liberty University, a private Christian school.

Korn said Trump is hosting these events to ensure that Holy Week is “honored with the observance that it deserves.” She said the various events are “engaging with America in the way that America celebrates Easter.”

Trump’s motivation for the celebrations

The 2025 Holy Week celebrations are also more robust than the events Trump held during his first administration. Korn noted that in his second administration, Trump has “a resolve that is really different [from] last time.”

Trump has publicly spoken about his belief that God saved him from being assassinated at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

“He’s been very transparent about that day — both publicly and privately — saying that it changed his life and he truly does believe that God spared his life to be president again and to really bring America back,” Korn said.

“We see that appreciation and humility that comes from a very near death experience,” she said, adding that, in private conversations, Trump speaks about that day in the same way he speaks about it in public: “He truly believes that.”

Korn also noted that Trump decorated the Oval Office with “two gold angels on two sides of the office.” During a meeting, she said the president told her to “look up at the ceiling” and said the angels are there “to guard over and look over the Oval Office” and his work and the work of his administration.

Trump in February established the White House Faith Office, which was created to help root out anti-Christian bias, defend religious liberty, and ensure that religious communities are part of the public policy discussions. The new office replaced the former White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Korn said the creation of the Faith Office was historic and that it is different from the initiatives of previous presidents, adding it has “never been done before in the West Wing.” In meetings with the president, she said he frequently asks her: “How are my pastors doing, how are my priests, how are my rabbis doing?”

The separation of church and state, Korn said, “doesn’t mean that people of faith don’t have a voice in the government.” She asserted that this office is “bringing that voice back” with efforts to promote religious liberty domestically and abroad, among other initiatives.

In addition to the Holy Week celebrations, Korn noted that the White House is also hosting a Passover event on Thursday afternoon. The Jewish celebration of Passover, which began on April 12 and ends on April 20, overlaps with the Christian Holy Week this year.

Illinois state capitol in Springfield. / Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 15:59 pm (CNA).

Illinois Catholic bishops are calling on people of faith to actively oppose proposed legislation “that seeks to legalize assisted suicide in Illinois.”

The Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) in a statement urged residents to contact their state senators to express opposition to the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (Senate Bill 9). The bill passed the Senate Executive Committee on April 9 and a vote on it could be held on the Senate floor between now and May 31.

The act states that it would allow “a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request that a physician prescribe aid-in-dying medication” to die “in a peaceful manner.”

The CCI said “legalizing assisted suicide goes against the Church’s teachings on the sanctity and dignity of human life. It undermines the value of each human person, particularly those who are vulnerable.”

This year, bills proposing the legalization of medical assisted suicide have been introduced in several other states and are continuing to move forward in the legislation process. 

Maryland introduced a bill titled the End-of-Life Option Act that would authorize “an individual to request aid in dying.” The 2025 bill follows a failed attempt to pass a 2024 version of it. The Maryland bishops urged action by asking legislatures “for an unfavorable report” of the bill. 

In Delaware, House Bill 140 was passed by the House in March to legalize medical assisted suicide. The bill states it would allow terminally ill patients to end their life “in a humane and dignified manner.” 

Oregon has active proposed legislation but aimed to extend its Death with Dignity Act to also allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners, not only licensed physicians, to prescribe drugs to facilitate assisted suicide. The bill follows an increase in lethal drug prescriptions in the state.

Illinois bishops said these “laws permitting assisted suicide pose significant risks to the poor, marginalized, and disabled, who may face pressure to end their lives rather than receive the care and compassion they need and deserve.”

“There are documented cases from states where assisted suicide has been legalized, where individuals with rare or life-threatening conditions were denied necessary medical treatment and were instead offered life-ending prescriptions,” the statement said. 

“Illinois does not need to legalize assisted suicide,” the bishops said, adding: “What we truly need is increased access to quality health care, enhanced palliative care options, and loving and compassionate support services for those at the end of their lives.”

The CCI created a pre-written message for Illinois residents to send to their senators.

“In Illinois, suicide is already a growing crisis,” the message states. “A person dies by suicide every five hours and 41 minutes, and the suicide rate rose by 7% from 2021 to 2022. With so many resources committed to preventing suicide, S.B. 9 would send a dangerous and conflicting message.”

“Protect the vulnerable. Promote real care. Please vote NO on S.B. 9,” the message concludes.