“I think with some precautions, we can allow a greater access to the Mass and maintain unity within the Church,” Cordileone said in a July 30 interview on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”

Cordileone, who is one of seven new members of the Apostolic Signatura appointed by Pope Leo XIV, spoke about the Latin Mass restrictions following the excommunication of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) members involved in consecrating four bishops without the pope’s permission.

The SSPX consecrations manifest “a growing lack of trust that has been simmering for a very long time,” Cordileone wrote in a post to X.

“Let us pray that an ardent effort toward sincere and honest dialogue will soon start up, and that easier access to the traditional form of the Mass will be available to our people, so they will not feel as if they are constrained to seek spiritual nourishment outside of the family in union with Rome,” he said in the July 10 statement.

While Cordileone and other leaders have called for less restrictions on the TLM, Cardinal Arthur Roche, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said in an interview with The Tablet that Pope Leo has no intention of changing Pope Francis’ restrictions on the traditional liturgy.

Cordileone told Raymond Arroyo in response to Roche’s comments: “I donʼt know how well he knows the mind of the Holy Father. But I think one thing thatʼs clear to everyone is the Holy Father wants to bring everyone together. Heʼs all about unity.”

Cordileone said he is concerned that if the restrictions remain in place, people who want a traditional form of worship will feel they “have no choice” other than “to go outside of officially approved institutions and communities.”

“They will do that. So I think thereʼs concern for unity on both sides. One, if the restrictions are in place, people will then go to these other groups that are not in full communion with the See of Rome,” he said.

“But if theyʼre allowed generously, we have to make sure that the people who access the Mass are in full communion in terms of their belief and their acceptance of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council,” he said.

In the U.S. and other nations, Cordileone said that has, for “the most part,” been the case.

“So I think with some precautions, we can allow a greater access to the Mass and maintain unity within the Church,” he said.

Reconciliation of TLM restrictions not ‘realistic’

While Cordileone said he believes more access to the TLM is possible, he said he does not think itʼs “realistic” to reconcile the TLM restrictions following Pope Leoʼs message to the French bishops to be more inclusive of those who want to celebrate the traditional rite.

In March, Pope Leo XIV called for “concrete solutions” to heal divisions over the Mass in a message to the French bishops.

The Holy Father called for renewed unity in the Church’s liturgical life, urging French bishops to seek “concrete solutions” to include Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass while preserving communion.

“We look at the younger generation — they all love the tradition,” Cordileone said. “They love the more classical way that the Church worships, the traditional Mass, what we call the traditional Mass, the form of the Mass before it was changed after the Second Vatican Council.”

“But even the order of the Mass as we have now done in a more traditional way with the priest ad orientem, and the sacred music, and great solemnity, and reverence. Theyʼre desiring this deep tradition. It takes them to a very deep place,” he said.

“This is unstoppable. Itʼs whatʼs drawing young people in and will continue to do so,” he said.

The lawsuit had been brought earlier in July by four communities of religious sisters in the state. U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci on July 30 issued the consent order holding that the government is “barred from requiring that [the sisters]” participate in the assisted suicide process in any way while their lawsuit proceeds.

The suicide law itself is scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 5.

The decision was announced by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the sisters in the suit along with Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres.

Mother Mary Rose Heery, OCarm, the prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said in the legal group’s press release that families “entrust their loved ones to us” and that the sisters were “grateful that we can continue honoring that trust and remain beside every resident until the very end.”

“[The state’s] decision not to enforce this law against us means that we can continue our loving service to Christ’s poor,” Mother Marie Edward, OP, the superior general of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, said in the announcement.

Barres, meanwhile, called the consent order an “important first step toward protecting religious freedom” in the state.

“New York cannot force the Church to answer suffering with suicide or abandon the sick and dying when they need care most,” the bishop said.

“Until our legal fight is resolved, this temporary agreement keeps our ministries free to serve every patient according to the Gospel,” he said.

New York’s assisted suicide law has drawn pushback from Catholic advocates. In December 2025 the state’s Catholic bishops described assisted suicide as a “grave moral evil” and said the law signals the state government’s “abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens.”

New York cannot force the Church to answer suffering with suicide.”

Bishop John Barres

Diocese of Rockville Centre

New York’s assisted suicide law has drawn vigorous pushback from Catholic advocates. In December 2025 the Empire State’s Catholic bishops described assisted suicide as a “grave moral evil” and said the law signals the state government’s “abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens.”

The suicide law “[tells] people who are sick or disabled that suicide in their case is not only acceptable but is encouraged by our elected leaders,” the bishops argued.

In addition to the Catholic legal filing, disability advocates filed suit against the New York law earlier this year, arguing that it threatens the lives of people with disabilities there.

The suit, filed in federal court in June alongside a similar suit against a new assisted suicide regime in the state of Illinois, argued that the New York law does not require medical officials to “consider a patient’s psychiatric or psychological condition or how that may affect their suicidality” when they ask for help in dying, potentially leading to the euthanasia of patients who are not suffering from terminal conditions. A federal judge dismissed that suit on July 30.

When it legalized assisted suicide in February, New York became the 13th state in the U.S. to allow doctors to help kill patients.

Farther to the north, Canada has had nationally legalized assisted suicide for about a decade, during which about 100,000 people have taken their lives under the program.

Inspired by the retreats of Father Karol Wojtyła — later Pope John Paul II — the St. John Paul II Retreat House will offer Catholic group retreats in a prayerful setting.

The house, which is a pastoral initiative of the Knights of Columbus, will be unveiled and blessed on Aug. 26. The event will include Mass and a blessing by Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.

“Pope John Paul II’s deep spiritual life was the engine which drove everything else he did,” Stephen White, executive director of the St. John Paul II Shrine, said in a press release.

“Through prayer, he allowed God to make him a saint. The Retreat House is a way to invite guests to enter more deeply into the vocation we all share — answering God’s call to become saints,” White said.

As a young priest, then-Wojtyła led wilderness excursions for young people while teaching them about the faith. He used the quiet setting as a place for Mass, prayer, and discussion, which the center hopes to reflect.

The center strives to imitate the early home of Wojtyła, in the years prior to his election as pope, according to White. It houses a collection of the saint’s personal belongings including papal dishes, his rosary and cross, and handwritten letters and other items from his writing desk.

It also includes 40 rooms, a library, meeting spaces, a chapel, and a dining area.

The center invites parish ministries, young adult groups, college campus ministries, leadership teams, formation groups, pilgrimage groups visiting the shrine, and any other Catholic group hoping to gather in prayer.

The center also allows for immediate access to the St. John Paul II National Shrine, one of the nationʼs premier Catholic pilgrimage sites, offering a 16,000-square-foot exhibit, sacred spaces, daily Mass, confessions, and a first-class relic of the saint.

Father Vincent Paul Chávez, the pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Parish in Albuquerque, told EWTN News that the violent incident on July 22 came after several weeks of tension in the community stemming in part from the priest’s open support of a proposed 45,000-square-foot mosque that would be built several miles away from the parish.

Chávez said he spoke at a county meeting on July 1 in support of the construction of the mosque. In remarks he provided to EWTN News, the priest said at the meeting that he would “love” if the mosque were built next to the Catholic parish.

He referred to the Islamic religion as “noble Islam” and as “a religion of Abraham as are Christianity and Judaism.”

“Let us not be influenced by ignorance and racism,” the priest said at the meeting. “We have freedom of religion in these United States.”

Chávez said one attendee filmed his remarks and posted the video to social media; she reportedly urged local residents to contact Archbishop John Wester in protest.

The priest said he eventually responded via the parish’s marquee sign on which he has regularly posted topical messages throughout the years. Chávez said he posted the phrase “Racism is a grave sin against God’s love” on the marquee; two days later he added part of the woman’s name to the sign.

On July 22 Chávez said the woman came to the parish to take a video of the sign. The priest said he spoke briefly with her; he said he remarked to her that he was “living rent-free in her head.” Chávez then went inside the parish, at which point he directed the parish’s facilities manager to ask the woman to leave.

The woman appeared to leave, the priest said, but eventually returned with another man who was reportedly her boyfriend. Chávez said the pair approached the facilities manager in his car while the boyfriend allegedly “presented a gun.” The manager then sprayed both of them in the face with mace.

Chávez said he ran out to take video of the rest of the encounter, which subsequently “de-escalated” with the boyfriend leaving in his car. He was arrested the next day and charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault. The priest said he was told by authorities that the FBI may be investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Both news reports and Chávez himself identified the individuals in the dispute as local residents Katrina Griego and David Romero. Neither individual responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.

Several days after the violent incident at the parish, on July 27, Wester issued a statement in which he said that Muslim residents of Albuquerque “have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own.”

Citing the Second Vatican Council, the archbishop said the principle of freedom of religion “is not limited to Catholics or Christians; it extends fully to Muslims, Jews, and all people who seek to worship according to their conscience.”

In a July 30 statement the U.S. Council on American-Islamic Relations praised the assault charges brought against the suspect in the parish dispute, thanking law enforcement for “taking this alleged threat seriously.”

"No faith leader should face intimidation or violence for defending the constitutional rights and religious freedom of his neighbors,” the council said in its statement.

In a statement to his parishioners after the incident, meanwhile, Chávez said the altercation was “a sobering reminder that words matter.”

“When disagreements become fueled by anger, fear, or hatred, they can have real and dangerous consequences,” he said.

The priest urged the congregation to pray for “everyone involved,” including “those whose actions led to this painful event.”

Father Sylvester Okoh, who was serving in the diocesan hospital ministry under an R-1 religious worker visa, can remain in the country as he awaits government action. Yet, because the priest lost his work authorization amid the delays, he is unable to perform his duties in the diocese.

When reached for comment, Okoh referred EWTN News to his lawyer, Alexander Smith, who said his client has done everything by the book, has not broken any laws, and “just wants to get back to work.”

Smith said there “are no court orders as of yet,” and his application is still pending. He said “we are confident that the government and the court” will recognize the delay is “unreasonable” and ensure his application is processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

“Father Okoh meets the criteria for these forms of immigration benefits,” he said. “USCIS should have been able to make decisions on his applications within the time allowed. We hope that the government will respond favorably and we will be able to avoid further litigation. Father Okoh wishes to return to his important work as soon as possible.”

Okoh applied for permanent residency on Nov. 7, 2022 — nearly two years before his work authorization was set to expire on Aug. 30, 2024. Because of delays, USCIS extended his authorization until July 19 so he could continue working, and that extension has expired.

One reason for the delay is that USCIS adopted policies in December 2025 and January 2026 that put holds on applications from 39 “high risk” countries, including Nigeria. A federal court order in June requires that USCIS process these applications.

The lawsuit, which was filed shortly before his extension expired, warned that continued delays mean he “will be unable to perform his religious duties,” which will also “interfere with religious services for the diocese.”

It warned of “significant emotional hardship” to Okoh, the diocese, and his parishioners. The lawsuit alleges that USCIS failed to process the application in a “reasonable time,” which is required by law.

“The unreasonable delay in adjudicating [Okoh’s] application has resulted in [him] being stuck in limbo and has caused an extreme hardship on [him],” it adds.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for USCIS told EWTN News the agency generally does not comment on individual immigration cases. The spokesperson confirmed that USCIS is complying with the June court decision that requires these applications be processed.

Smith said he has not received a response from the federal government as of July 30.

The diocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The University of Michigan Health-West system will also create a religious accommodation for employees who do not wish to assist with transgender-related “transitions” or procedures or use LGBT pronouns in a way that violates their religious beliefs.

The legal group First Liberty Institute announced the settlement on July 29, revealing that Valerie Kloosterman and her attorneys would receive $410,000 in damages from the health institution.

Kloosterman, a Christian, had worked at the hospital for 17 years starting in 2004. She was fired in August 2021 after she refused to use LGBT pronouns and make referrals for transgender-related “transition” drugs and surgeries, according to a 2022 lawsuit filed in U.S. district court.

The suit alleged that hospital workers “denigrated [Kloosterman’s] religious beliefs” and “blamed her for gender dysphoria-related suicides” before firing her. The hospital “had no interest in working toward a cooperative, religiously tolerant solution,” the suit said.

Kloosterman on July 29 said in her work she had wished to “provide the best care possible to my patients without being forced to violate my Christian beliefs.”

The new policy “ensures that providers of faith and employees at UMHW will receive religious accommodations so that they can provide excellent care consistent with their medical judgment, because all patients are created in the image of God,” she said.

Numerous U.S. institutions in recent years have faced lawsuits and major payouts involving disputes over LGBT ideology. 

In 2025 the University of Louisville agreed to pay a former professor nearly $1.6 million after it demoted him and refused to renew his contract following off-campus expert testimony in which he spoke about the dangers of performing transgender operations on children.

The same year, United Airlines reached a settlement with a flight attendant who alleged that the airline fired him over expressing support for Catholic teachings on marriage and gender identity.

In 2022, meanwhile, a professor at Shawnee State University received $400,000 after he faced disciplinary action for refusing to use transgender pronouns for a student who identified as the opposite sex.

Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday was observed July 26, highlighting the Church’s call to remember those who are incarcerated.

William Hall, coordinator of Prison Ministry for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, and a member of the Buckingham Correctional Center ministry, said the work is rooted in Christ’s command in Matthew 25 to visit those in prison.

“We try to go in and provide sacraments, provide comfort to the men in prison,” Hall told Veronica Dudo in a July 29 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”

‘Just as much a part of the parish’

Hall said Catholics behind bars should not be defined solely by their crimes or convictions.

“The guys in prison might just say, ‘Donʼt think of me for what I did but of who I am,’” he said.

Many incarcerated Catholics, Hall added, have discovered a deeper spiritual life through the Church’s presence in prison.

For Hall, ministry begins with a simple approach: “Listen, listen, love, love.”

“You listen to the person, understand where they are in their life, and try to do what you can to make their life better,” he said.

That ministry can bear fruit in unexpected ways.

Hall recalled a recent example in which inmates learned that a young boy outside the prison had been seriously injured when his foot was run over by a lawnmower. Although the inmates earned less than $1 an hour for their prison work, they collected more than $1,000 to send to the boy.

“That got news coverage,” Hall said, adding that the response eventually led corporations to get involved and “became a really big thing.”

For Hall, the story demonstrated how the faith of incarcerated men can move beyond the prison walls.

‘We’re all sinners’

Bishop William Wack of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, in a July 29 interview with “EWTN News Nightly” emphasized that prisoners remain part of the bishop’s flock.

Shortly after becoming bishop, Wack received a letter from an inmate reminding him that those behind bars wanted to see their shepherd.

“We’re here, and we’re your flock as well,” Wack recalled the inmate writing. “We have needs. We want Communion. We want to see you in person, and time with our shepherd.”

The letter was a “wake-up call” for Wack and renewed his desire to visit prisons, listen to inmates, and celebrate the sacraments with them.

Wack said his own experience with prison ministry began during seminary, when he chose to work with juveniles in detention centers. He later ministered in jails and prisons, including spending an entire summer in a California prison.

Those experiences helped him develop “a love for just being with our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated.”

The bishop stressed that prison ministry does not excuse criminal behavior.

“We’re never saying what you did, what you’re accused of, or what you’re convicted of is OK,” he said. “That’s not what prison ministry is all about.”

Instead, the ministry recognizes a fundamental spiritual need shared by every person.

“We’re all sinners,” Wack said. “It’s just getting to the heart of what we all need: God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness.”

‘Prayer goes a long way’

Wack acknowledged that most Catholics cannot personally enter prisons to minister to inmates. But he said they can still participate in this corporal work of mercy.

“Prayer. That goes a long way,” he said, encouraging Catholics to pray both for those who are incarcerated and for those who minister to them.

Hall said he has also found that prison ministry transforms the volunteers who enter the facilities.

“One of the things people donʼt really realize is that we volunteers who go in get as much out of this as the men in prison,” Hall said.

The Church enters prisons not merely to provide services but to bring Christʼs mercy to people who may feel forgotten and to remind Catholics outside prison walls that they, too, are called to see Christ in those society can easily overlook.

Hall said the experience reveals the deeper reality of Catholic prison ministry: “It’s a large and profitable Christian community.”

For Catholics behind bars, the Church remains a place of sacramental life, community, forgiveness, and hope.

And for those who visit them, prison ministry can become a powerful reminder of Christʼs words in Matthew 25: “I was in prison, and you visited me.”

FCI, which brings policymakers together to infuse Catholic social teaching (CST) into their work, said it plans to make the event an annual gathering dedicated to preserving and advancing Carroll’s legacy.

The Charles Carroll Legacy Gala will be at Charles Carroll House in Annapolis, Maryland, on Aug. 2, the anniversary of Carroll signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Proceeds from the evening will support scholarships and the expansion of the FCIʼs CST Certification Course, which is working to equip policy workers to bring faith, reason, and the common good into civic leadership.

Carroll was “quite persecuted as a Catholic, but he chose to put his name on a piece of paper that was very dangerous to his career, his family, his life,” Jennifer Daniels, founder and president of FCI, told EWTN News.

He “chose to say, ‘I want to, and I will, sign this document.’ Now today weʼre trying to uphold that legacy in the same manner, saying, ‘If youʼre Catholic, you want to live your Catholic faith publicly,’” she said.

The event will include Mass and a reception on the grounds of Carroll’s birthplace. Upon his passing, the property was sold to the Redemptorist order, which also built St. Maryʼs Church on the property.

The event will feature tours of the grounds, and attendees will hear from Bradley Birzer, Hillsdale College history professor and author of “American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll.”

In the 250th year of the United States, the event will highlight Catholics in America and how “the Church approaches issues, which is not ideological and nonpartisan, very different from the way that the average policymaker in Washington does,” Daniels said.

“While the parties may argue about this and that, the first and foremost prime principle is human dignity,” she said. “If we just get Catholics … talking about human dignity as the prime principle, that translates into all kinds of policy areas.”

“If weʼre leading with human dignity and our result is the common good, weʼre certainly setting ourselves up for some better policy solutions,” Daniels said.

The Faithful Citizenship Institute

FCI, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., grew from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) teaching document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility,” calling for the faithful to understand political responsibilities as Catholics.

After working in politics and policy for more than 20 years, Daniels started FCI in 2024.

“Our mission is to bring the beauty and wisdom of Catholic social teaching to policymakers and really help them to kind of infuse these foundational principles, so that they can lead with their faith in their policymaking,” Daniels said.

The institute started by “doing some briefings on Capitol Hill,” she said. “Weʼd bring in some great Catholic leaders from various Catholic national organizations that work in Washington, D.C.,” Daniels said.

“The more we started talking to people, the more we started learning that people wanted a deeper dive. They wanted a more comprehensive understanding, not just of the current political event or the current hot-button issue, but a better foundation for all the principles,” she said.

This led the institute to create its CST Certification Course — a graduate-level course designed for Catholic public policy professionals.

“We launched the course last year in the fall of 2025. We had 15 participants from basically all three branches of government, advocacy, think tanks,” Daniels said.

Over the seven-month course, “we walked through the four principles of Catholic social teaching, as well as a history of Catholic social teaching,” she said. The group worked to answer: “What is Catholic social teaching meant for within the context of civic engagement and public policy?”

The course grew into a partnership with The Catholic University of America (CUA). By completing the certification course, students become eligible for up to three credit hours toward a Master of Public Policy at CUA.

Almost all the professors are from CUA, who “do the theological and the academic course instruction, but we added something different … which is the public policy application,” Daniels said.

“With that, we brought in leaders — policy practitioners that work for groups like USCCB, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Health Association, Catholic Climate Covenant,” that discussed “in that nonideological, nonpartisan way, that we want to help to elevate the conversation,” she said.

The institute is going through its 2026-2027 applications and has double the number of applicants since the first year. Applicants include people from the executive branch, Capitol Hill staffers, advocacy workers, and people who work for Church organizations.

With the growing interest in the course, FCI is adding new aspects. For this yearʼs course, which will begin in September, “we are going to put a focus on Pope Leoʼs document Magnifica Humanitas,” Daniels said.

“Pope Leo went through so much of Catholic social teaching in the document. It wasnʼt just about AI. It was really a very comprehensive document about all kinds of elements of Catholic social teaching,” she said.

“Then weʼll end the course with a retreat on Magnificat Humanitas and Catholic principles regarding AI policy. That will be our last event at the end of the course,” she said.

Wenski’s meetings with lawmakers came one day after the expiration of the automatic work‑permit extension under temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration has the authority to terminate TPS, which ended their work authorization and could subject them to deportation orders.

“Haiti is a house on fire,” Wenski told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales before entering the office of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia.

The archbishop said TPS expiration and possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians is bad for the migrants — who would be sent back to an unstable country — and for the American communities in which the migrants live and work. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“To think that we can send 350,000 people back to Haiti without that having very bad consequences in Haiti — but also here because these people are working, they’re not on the dole, they’re working, and if they’re removed from their jobs, if they lose their work permits, that’s going to have a negative economic impact on the communities in which they live,” Wenski said.

As Haitian TPS status ends, some lawmakers have introduced bills to compel the DHS to extend the status. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has advocated strongly on behalf of Haitian migrants, asking the Trump administration and lawmakers to extend TPS. About two-thirds of Haiti is Catholic.

Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the USCCB, told EWTN News that Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, USCCB Committee on Migration chair, “has encouraged his brother bishops across the country to engage with their elected officials” on Haitian TPS status and broader immigration reform efforts.

“As pastors committed to upholding the common good, the bishops are actively engaging in this dialogue and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to do so, which they acknowledged in their special message last November,” she said.

In November 2025, the USCCB adopted a message in a 216-5 vote that opposed the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and policies that revoke the legal status of migrants, such as the terminations of TPS for various groups of migrants.

Kaine, an advocate for extending TPS, told EWTN News after meeting with Wenski that he was glad “to discuss the critical need for Congress to do what is right and protect TPS holders who have been in the U.S. legally for years” and looks forward to working with the USCCB to advocate for TPS holders.

TPS holders “have made countless contributions in important sectors such as healthcare and construction, and developed deep roots in our communities through their U.S. citizen families and businesses,” he added. “Many TPS holders, such as those from Haiti, should not be forced to return to the extremely dangerous conditions that made them seek safety in the United States.”

Status of Haitian migrants

On July 27, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reposted a DHS post on X, which said “temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY” and urged anyone whose TPS has expired to self-deport out of the U.S.

“For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time,” the post read. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

When asked whether DHS intends to specifically target Haitians for deportation amid the TPS expiration, a spokesperson told EWTN News that the department “does not discuss ongoing or future operations” but is conducting law enforcement activities daily.

“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told EWTN News that TPS was initially approved for Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake.

Although Haiti continues to face serious safety and political stability concerns, he said the effects of the earthquake no longer impact the country. He noted that Haitians can apply for permanent status under other programs, such as if they are eligible for asylum, but that TPS is not a permanent resettlement program.

Arthur said Haitians who are in the U.S. under temporary legal status “had the opportunity to work in the United States and make money” and learn skills, which they can take back “to Haiti and [it can] help them make Haiti a better country.”

The former judge said he expects immigration enforcement toward Haitians to be part of “the larger enforcement efforts” rather than a targeted campaign against Haitians, with a priority toward people who have been convicted of crimes.

“The response [now] is foreign aid on the part of the United States and aid from the Catholic Church toward making Haiti a better place,” Arthur said.

TPS status for Syrian migrants also ended on July 27. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.

The Texas bishop, who also serves as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), released a statement following Ugboaja’s July 28 ICE check-in, at which she was informed third-country removal was not off the table.

“We are grateful to God for Tuesday’s news that Sister Leticia ‘Letty’ Ugboaja will be able remain in our community while her case is allowed to move forward,” Flores said. While the Church feels “some relief” at the moment, he added, “we also remember that it is important to continue praying for and accompanying the many individuals and families who live in fear and anxiety as they seek a way to resolve their immigration status.”

“The prospect of deportation to a third country frightens many persons who, like Sister Letty, have violated no laws, and who have been granted permission to stay while conditions in their country of origin remain life-threatening,” Flores said.

Flores recalled the special message the USCCB issued in November 2025 in which the bishops urged meaningful immigration reform. “We can be a nation of both respect for law and of well-considered compassion for persons at risk in their own countries,” Flores pointed out, calling for political consensus that “defends the common good, protects the vulnerable, and treats all persons whose immigration status is being reviewed with humanity.”

“May God guide us in building a society reflecting both justice and mercy,” he emphasized.

Status of Sister Letty

On July 28, Ugboaja’s attorney, Carlos Garcia, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office where her check-in took place that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us ... That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.

She was released the same day after the intervention of several political leaders.

At a press conference last week, Garcia said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.

After Ugboaja’s July 28 check-in, her attorney expressed gratitude that the nun, who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has never missed an immigration appointment, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he had discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has distributed 97 grants, including the bicycle project, totaling more than $3 million in 2025 through its Africa Solidarity Fund, according to a July 21 press release. The fund also supports programs in Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and throughout the Horn of Africa.

Archbishop Thomas Zinkula, chair of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Church in Africa, said in a statement: “The gifts of Catholics in the United States to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa underwrite projects that build foundations for peace, as well as projects directed toward evangelization, vocations, environmental stewardship, leadership formation, and other facets of our faith.”

Bicycle ministry opens access to rural areas

One grant enabled the Marianist sisters to train “Gospel volunteers” and equip them with bicycles to distribute Bibles and rosaries, the USCCB statement said. Sister Amala Francis of the Society of Daughters of Mary Immaculate in the Central African Republic said the bicycle project proved highly valuable for young people, especially in rural communities where travel had previously been impossible.

“We crossed the river and preached the Word of God to the unreached places,” she said.

The sisters’ ministry includes the villages of Beagua, Cattin, and Samba, along with St. Philomena School, St. Abraham Parish, and St. Matthew Parish, all located in the rural southwest of the Central African Republic near the border with Cameroon and along the Lobaye River.

Francis described the bicycle project as a “very fruitful time,” noting that 30 sisters were provided with bicycles and carried out their ministry by “going out and distributing Mass pamphlet reflections and then going into schools and ministering.”

Francis said the sisters did not seek to teach merely the catechism in schools but to “bring peace” through the teachings of Jesus through “simple songs” and activities. They also visited families and communities on their bicycles.

Francis shared that another sister told her: “When I drive the bicycle, I see something different, I feel that Christ is coming with me. I feel that I drive this bicycle not just for reaching the place, but I am bringing Christ to the families.”

Confronting wounds of abuse 

Francis said she encountered many troubling trends among young people throughout the project, with 400 to 600 children who have not gone to school because they lacked basic services and spent much of their time idle, since neither nongovernmental organizations nor church workers could reach the area because of the river and dense forest.

“I observed during this project,” she said, “the youth are not knowing about Christ because young girls are carrying [children from] sexual abuse and early pregnancy.”

“Many girls are traumatized with their life. They are traumatized because I see that they are youth not formed in the right path,” she said. “So, we have many programs to help guide the youth on the right path.”

Women as ‘messengers’

The sisters have continued to follow up on their efforts funded through the USCCB’s grant and have continued to find ways to boost education and evangelization in the region.

“Since education is very poor in Central African Republic,” Francis said, “and we wanted to give more, we started our English school [and] we get a lot of books for that for the children and are teaching English, so now the children are also learning different languages.”

In addition to young people, Francis emphasized the sisters’ efforts to reach women in remote communities, whom she described as “messengers” who “change the mind of the family.”

“Mothers are also important,” she said. “So we are touching the heart of the youth, women, and the children.”

University of Notre Dame theology professor Joseph Capizzi will deliver the keynote address at the Nov. 9–11 event under the theme “Living and Serving Justly,” according to a July 28 archdiocese press release. The conference will be held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.

The U.S.-Iran conflict has entered its fifth month, and Catholic theologians have expressed concern over the impact of U.S. military force on civilian infrastructure in Iran. 

“The position of the Church,” Capizzi said in the release, “is that the use of force, including lethal force, is bound by the moral law, and even when countries resort to the use of force in conflict, it’s not anything goes. In fact, both sides remain bound to the requirements of moral international law regarding the treatment of civilian populations, the treatment of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers, among others, and this has been spelled out for a long time in Western tradition.”

Capizzi is the McGrath-Cavadini director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame and is the author of “Politics, Justice, and War: Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare.” His remarks will include reflections on the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and how they apply to modern warfare.

“Even when it’s resorted to, the use of force must be discriminatory or ‘distinct’ — the principle of distinction is what it’s called in international law, which means it has to distinguish between legitimate targets and illegitimate targets,” he said. “Civilian populations, civilian structures like schools, hospitals, desalinization plants and so on — they are not legitimately targeted. You must abide by this principle of distinction, and any uses of force must be proportional to the ends sought.”

Other speakers at the three-day event include Catholic radio host Katie McGrady, who will serve as emcee. The conference will feature additional keynote addresses and breakout sessions geared toward fostering “synodal” connections within the archdiocese, according to the release.

Individually, each of the three siblings has important lessons to teach. Martha, the oldest sibling, has a heart for service but is also anxious and worried about many things; Jesus encourages her to focus on the contemplation of Jesus himself, as her sister Mary has done. And Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead provides a powerful witness to the eventual resurrection of the body. Together, the siblings display admirable qualities of unity and love.

For one Catholic parish, Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Parish on the South Side of Chicago, the patronage of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus serves as a symbol of the unity that has come about through the merging of three previously distinct parishes into one new and diverse community.

Father Mark Thomas Ameh, the pastor when the parishes merged and a native of Nigeria, arrived at the parish in July 2023 after previously ministering in Las Vegas. He told EWTN News at the time that the church was built originally as St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, but amid an ongoing archdiocese-wide consolidation process, “Renew My Church,” the parish was merged in 2022 with two others and renamed to reflect the new community.

Ameh was not in Chicago when the renaming of the merged parish took place, but he said a person who was there told him the name was chosen to reflect the fact that the new parish was made of three former ones coming together.

Parish office manager Alfreda Rogers told EWTN News that it is the only parish in Illinois named for the sibling saints.

Despite its triple patronage, the church still has a statue of St. Margaret of Scotland on the high altar and is also known as “St. Margaret of Scotland Church.” In 2026, the church celebrates 150 years and the parish will hold a gala after a Mass on Aug. 2 to mark the occasion.

Abeh, a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, described the parish as a “vibrant” church of about 500 registered parishioners when it began. Today, according Rogers, the parish serves about 200 families and offers two Masses on Sundays. There is also a Catholic school associated with the church.

Rogers said in a recent interview with Fox 32 Chicago that the parish is focused on bringing youth back to the Church and continuing to serve the community.

Father Donatus C. Mgbeajuo, also a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, took over as pastor in July 2024, and Deacon Herbert D. Johnson just became parish pastoral director on July 1.

Chicago’s South Side has a reputation for being dangerous but perhaps now is even more famous for being near the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope.

A 2021 decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said Pope Francis had included Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in the General Roman Calendar “considering the important evangelical witness they offered in welcoming the Lord Jesus into their home, in listening to him attentively, in believing that he is the resurrection and the life.”

The memorial of St. Martha was already included on July 29 in the General Roman Calendar before the Second Vatican Council, but St. Lazarus and St. Mary had been originally left off due to uncertainty about the identity of Mary Magdalene.

So, why change the memorial to all three siblings instead of Martha alone?

The decree explained that these uncertainties “have been resolved in recent studies and times” and pointed out that Mary and Lazarus are already commemorated on July 29 in the “Roman Martyrology,” the Church’s official catalog of martyrs and saints.

This story was first published on July 29, 2023, and has been updated.

Police in Newport, Rhode Island, said in a July 24 press release that Tyquan Johnson was facing arrest for felony assault with a firearm in connection with a double shooting in Newport on July 19.

The police dispatch, which said Johnson was considered “armed and dangerous,” identified the suspect’s birthday as Jan. 14, 2007. That date is the same birthday as the Rhode Island-born “Tyquan” noted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in its information page on Blessed Salvador Valera Parra.

Valera was a 19th-century-born Spanish priest who carried out “many works of a spiritual and social nature,” particularly during cholera epidemics and earthquakes, according to the dicastery.

In considering his beatification, the dicastery said it reviewed the Rhode Island case, in which a pregnant mother was hospitalized after her amniotic sac ruptured. The baby was ultimately delivered via cesarean section, after which doctors “did not perceive any heartbeat.”

The attending physician at that point “invoked Salvador Valera Parra,” the dicastery said, after which the baby recovered his heartbeat without any external assistance and made a full recovery.

Pope Leo XIV approved the dicastery’s promulgation of the miracle on June 20, 2025. In a July 18, 2025, statement, Diocese of Providence Chancellor Father Timothy Reilly said the miracle was “a reminder of the power of prayer and the intercession of holy men and women.”

“God is indeed close to us. We are thrilled that this recognition will move the cause of beatification and canonization forward for Venerable Servant of God Salvador Valera Parra,” the priest said at the time. Reilly did not respond to requests for comment on the crime incident this month.

Rhode Island police said another individual was wanted in connection with the shooting, though it did not identify that suspect in its press release.

In the years following the miracle birth the Johnson family moved to Hampton, Virginia. Tyquan Johnson subsequently told local media that the promulgation of the miracle “changed my faith a lot because I’m destined to be in this world.”

“If God didn’t want me in this world, he would just let me die on that table. But he wanted to give me a second chance,” he said.

The Albuquerque Islamic Center received approval for the new mosque in North Valley in a 5-1 vote by the Bernalillo County Planning Commission on July 1. The hearing was about five hours long with comments from the community, and the commission ultimately approved the mosque but not the proposed school, to keep the project smaller and the expected traffic lighter.

Wester issued a six-paragraph statement on July 27 in support of the project, saying Muslims have a right to access worship services and religious freedom extends beyond Christians.

In his statement, the archbishop said he has heard “concerns from residents” about the planned mosque and felt “compelled to speak clearly and pastorally” about the tension.

“Our Muslim neighbors have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own,” he said and cited the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae.

Our Muslim neighbors have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own.”

Archbishop John Charles Wester

Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico

“[The document] taught that every person ‘must be free from coercion’ in matters of faith,” he said. “This principle applies universally. It is not limited to Catholics or Christians; it extends fully to Muslims, Jews, and all people who seek to worship according to their conscience. Supporting the construction of a mosque is therefore entirely consistent with our own tradition and moral commitments.”

Wester encouraged “respect, dialogue, and peaceful coexistence” among people of different religious beliefs. He added: “We do not need to share the same beliefs to share the same neighborhood. What we do need is a willingness to listen, to learn, and to recognize the face of a neighbor rather than a stranger.”

The archbishop said interfaith relationships “enrich our civic life and strengthen the social fabric we all depend on” and criticized “anti-Muslim sentiment.”

“Any hostility toward Muslims — whether expressed through rhetoric, suspicion, or opposition to their places of worship — is incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our neighbor without exception,” Wester said.

“Fear of the other is not a Christian virtue,” he added. “Hospitality is. Our Muslim brothers and sisters have faced discrimination and hostility in many parts of the country. When such prejudice arises, Catholics are called to stand beside them, not apart from them. Supporting their right to build a mosque is one concrete way to affirm their dignity and to reject the forces that seek to marginalize them.”

Yahuza Siba, director of outreach for the Albuquerque Islamic Center, told EWTN News that “religious tolerance is not about agreeing with every belief; it is about respecting the dignity and freedom of every human being.”

“We can disagree without hatred, criticize ideas without attacking people, and build bridges through understanding rather than fear,” he said. “Islamophobia, like prejudice against any faith, harms individuals and divides communities.”

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, welcomed the archbishop’s support in a statement.

“We welcome Archbishop Wester’s principled statement defending religious freedom and thank him for speaking out,” Hooper said. “The freedom to worship is a fundamental and inalienable right of every American and every human being,” he added.

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. ET on July 29, 2026, to include comments by Yahuza Siba, director of outreach for the Albuquerque Islamic Center.

From the battlefields of the Civil War to the prison camps of Korea, generations of Catholic chaplains risked their lives to celebrate the sacraments, comfort the wounded, and strengthen the faith of those serving far from home.

Early Catholic chaplains in the Revolutionary era

Catholic priests were serving American troops long before the Civil War. During the Revolutionary War, Jesuit priest Father John Carroll — later the first Catholic bishop in the United States — accompanied American forces on the failed 1775 expedition to Canada, ministering to Catholic soldiers and seeking support from French Canadians.

In the decades that followed, as the nation’s Catholic population steadily grew, priests increasingly served military communities, laying the foundation for the larger and more organized Catholic chaplaincy that emerged during the Civil War.

Shepherds amid the carnage of the Civil War

The role of Catholic chaplains took a significant turn during the Civil War.

As Irish and German Catholic immigration dramatically increased the nation’s Catholic population, thousands of Catholic soldiers filled the ranks of both Union and Confederate armies. They needed priests who could celebrate Mass, hear confessions, administer the anointing of the sick, and offer hope in the midst of unimaginable suffering.

More than 100 Catholic priests served officially as military chaplains during the conflict, while many others ministered informally in hospitals and camps.

Among the best known was Father William Corby of the Congregation of Holy Cross, chaplain of the famed Irish Brigade.

Just before the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, Corby climbed onto a large boulder overlooking the brigade and offered general absolution to thousands of Catholic soldiers preparing for battle. Knowing many would soon die, he urged them to entrust themselves to God’s mercy before raising his hand in blessing.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, with casualties exceeding 57,000. Corby’s absolution of the troops stayed deeply in the minds and hearts of the survivors, becoming one of the most enduring images of Catholic military history.

Col. St. Clair Mulholland later recalled the extraordinary silence that fell over the brigade.

“While there was profound silence in the ranks,” Mulholland wrote, “over to the left, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and reechoed through the woods … I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt there in their grave-clothes.”

The witness of Corby established a model of Catholic chaplaincy that would be repeated in Americaʼs wars for generations.

Bringing Christ into the trenches of World War I

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, hundreds of Catholic priests once again offered their services. One Catholic chaplain, serving in New York’s famed 69th Infantry Regiment, came to embody the courage and compassion of those who ministered on the front lines: Father Francis P. Duffy.

Not long after the war began, Duffy’s regiment was redesignated as the 165th Infantry and sent to fight in France. It was there on the front lines that he gained his reputation as the “fighting chaplain.”

The trenches of France were places of constant shellfire, mud, disease, and uncertainty. Amid those harsh conditions, Duffy celebrated Mass wherever he could. He heard confessions from soldiers who faced certain death. He encouraged weary soldiers by reminding them that God does not abandon his children, even in the darkest moments of war.

Rather than remaining behind the lines, Duffy was regularly seen bringing the sacraments to the wounded and comforting the dying on the battlefield.

Over time, Duffy earned such widespread respect as a leader that he was considered a potential candidate for regimental commander. Because chaplains typically do not hold command authority, even being considered for such a position was unheard of.

By warʼs end, Duffy was widely respected by soldiers and civilians alike. He received numerous military decorations for his service and is remembered as one of the most decorated chaplains in U.S. Army history.

After the war, Duffy continued serving faithfully at Holy Cross Church until his passing in 1932. He was so beloved that his funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was attended by approximately 25,000 people.

Courage under fire in World War II

Millions of Americans served overseas during World War II, requiring the largest military chaplaincy in the nationʼs history.

Among the heroic men was Father Joseph T. O’Callahan, a Jesuit priest and Navy chaplain aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin.

On March 19, 1945, after the ship was devastated by Japanese air attacks, O’Callahan ignored exploding ammunition and raging fires to administer the sacraments, rescue wounded sailors, and encourage exhausted crew members.

For hours, OʼCallahan continued to organize firefighting and rescue efforts that ultimately saved the crippled carrier. Because of OʼCallahanʼs courage, leadership, and compassion, he became the first U.S. Navy chaplain to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Another heroic chaplain of WWII was Father John P. Washington. Washington was an Army chaplain and one of the legendary Four Chaplains.

When the troop transport ship USS Dorchester was torpedoed and sank in the North Atlantic on Feb. 3, 1943, Washington and three other chaplains (representing Jewish, Methodist, and Reformed faiths) worked to calm the frightened, tend the wounded, and guide the disoriented toward safety.

When there were no lifejackets left, the chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men. “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” said John Ladd, a survivor who saw the chaplains’ selfless act.

As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains — arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers.

Faith in captivity: Father Emil Kapaun

Another enduring witness came from Father Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain who served during the Korean War.

Although ordained before World War II, Kapaun’s greatest witness came after volunteering for service in Korea. During fierce fighting, he repeatedly ran onto battlefields to rescue wounded soldiers, anointing the dying, carrying them to safety under enemy fire, and remaining behind to care for those unable to retreat.

After the Battle of Unsan in November 1950, Kapaun was captured by Communist forces. Forced to march 60 to 100 miles to a prison camp at Pyoktong, he tirelessly encouraged fellow prisoners to carry the weak and wounded.

Once inside the dismal prison camp, Kapaun risked his life by sneaking through the camp after dark. He foraged for food, cared for the sick, and encouraged his fellow soldiers to hold fast to their faith and their humanity.

When the Chinese instituted a mandatory reeducation program, Kapaun patiently and politely rejected every theory put forth. One officer, Lt. Walter Mayo, later recalled the Communists taunting Kapaun. They argued that God must not exist since he was doing nothing to save them. Kapaun’s calm response: “God is as real as the air you breathe but cannot see; as the sounds you hear but cannot see; as the thoughts and ideas you have but cannot see or feel.”

Later, Kapaun openly flouted his captors by conducting a sunrise service on Easter morning, 1951.

Shortly after the service, Kapaun fell fatally ill. As he was being carried to the hospital, he asked Godʼs forgiveness for his captors, and to his fellow men he said, “I’m going where I always wanted to go, and when I get there, I’ll say a prayer for all of you.” He died in captivity on May 23, 1951, at the age of 35.

In 2013, Kapaun was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He is also being considered for sainthood; in early 2025, Pope Francis officially declared him venerable. 

Still serving those who serve

The work of Catholic military chaplains continues today. Priests celebrate Mass aboard ships, in hangars, at remote outposts, and in combat zones. They baptize children, prepare couples for marriage, hear confessions before deployments, and comfort grieving families when loved ones do not return home. Their mission remains what it has been since the Revolution: to bring Christʼs presence to those who serve.

“Today, Melania and I join with American Catholics and people of faith all across the world in honoring the towering legacy of Father Stanley Rother — an Oklahoma farm boy, the first American-born martyr beatified by the Catholic Church, and a champion of human dignity who heroically laid down his life to bring the light of Jesus Christ to a people plagued by horrific darkness,” President Donald Trump, who is not Catholic, said in the July 28 message.

Rother was an Oklahoma native who became a missionary priest in 1968, serving in “the war-torn highlands of Guatemala, then ravaged by conflict,” the message said.

“Though thousands of Catholics were forcibly disappeared and viciously murdered during the Guatemalan Civil War, Father Rother nonetheless spent 13 years bringing the Gospel to those devastated by poverty and violence — translating sacred Scripture and helping to build a school, a hospital, and the region’s first Catholic radio station — fearlessly embodying Christ’s commission to ‘make disciples of all nations,’” the message said.

In the late 1970s, Guatemalaʼs civil war intensified. Rother was surrounded by extreme poverty and saw parishioners murdered for their faith.

Amid the conflict, Rother’s name appeared on a hit list, which prompted him to seek refuge in Oklahoma. Despite the dangers, he insisted on returning to Guatemala, “refusing to abandon his flock in their hour of need.”

On July 28, 1981, three men entered Rother’s rectory and fatally shot him. He was 46 years old.

Rother was declared blessed by Pope Francis, and in 2017 a beatification Mass was said in Oklahoma City, which houses the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said in a homily July 28 at the Rother Shrine that he was surprised “to wake up to an email that contained a special message from the White House. I don’t know if you’ve seen it or heard about it, but the White House acknowledged this day in honoring the 45th anniversary of the death of Father Stanley Rother. I didn’t know we were on their radar screen.”

“But what a … tremendous honor it is for the Church, for Oklahoma, for our nation, to have this distinction and this recognition of this ordinary martyr, this parish priest, this missionary martyr: Blessed Stanley Rother,” said Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

A story of religious liberty

The presidential statement highlighted that Rother’s story is a reminder of “America’s rich tradition of religious liberty.”

“In his honor, we recommit to remaining vigilant so that our birthright of freedom endures in the face of every trial,” Trump’s statement said. “Above all, we pray that every soul of faith, every lover of freedom, and every seeker of truth will forever remember the name and treasure the story of Father Stanley Rother.”

Since his martyrdom, “Rother has stood as a living testament to the power of courage, sacrificial service, and fidelity to God,” the message said. “He has inspired widespread devotion among Catholics.”

“And every day, countless priests, pastors, chaplains, and spiritual leaders faithfully look to Father Rother as they strive to carry out his immortal legacy of fortitude, charity, humility, service, generosity, and perseverance.”

Marking Catholic observances

Trump has established a pattern of releasing White House statements addressing significant commemorative Catholic days, along with messages marking observances by other faith traditions such as Judaism and Islam.

Since Trump began his second term, the White House has released Catholic-focused celebratory statements on the feast of St. Joseph, the birthday of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and St. Patrick’s Day, acknowledging the saints’ lives and legacies.

It also released a message on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which appeared to be the first time a U.S. president formally recognized the holy day “honoring the faith, humility, and love of Mary, mother of Jesus and one of the greatest figures in the Bible,” the statement said.

The president also released a statement on the anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, calling him “one the fiercest defenders of human dignity to ever live” and encouraging “every American to keep the memory of Pope Saint John Paul II alive for generations to come.”

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the U.S., the president also released a statement regarding the USCCB’s Mass consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which the president called “a powerful moment in our national story.”

While releasing the formal presidential messages on Catholic matters, Trump has also criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” on his social media accounts amid the Iran conflict.

The president gained widespread attention in April when he made the comments.

Despite the online criticism and falsely suggesting that Pope Leo wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the president later told reporters he has “nothing against the pope.”

After a July 28 check-in with ICE officials in Harlingen, Texas, Carlos M. Garcia, Ugboaja’s lawyer, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us ... That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”

Garcia said he and his client have not yet decided on a specific legal path.

At a July 23 press conference, he said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.

After Ugboaja’s July 28 check-in, her attorney expressed gratitude that the nun, who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has never missed an immigration appointment, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.

“We’re happy that she’s continuing to be able to live her life the way she’s been living it, which is a life of service to the community and to her church family,” Garcia said.

“Today was just a check-in,” he said, and ICE officials “determined that [Ugboaja] was able to continue [living] based on the conditions that they had given her before, which is really released on her own word, her own recognizance.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at a church where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.

At a press conference last week, the only time she has spoken publicly, she described weeks of “stress, anxiety, and fear” since the detainment.

Though she has felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus’ admonition to “not be afraid, because I am with you always.”

The nun declined to speak with reporters after her check-in July 28.

Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and a member of the Missionaries of Jesus in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, told EWTN News this process has been very difficult for Ugboaja.

“She’s such a joyful, happy, and beautiful personality,” Pimentel said. “She goes to daily Mass, and receiving the Eucharist is so much a part of her strength and her force within her, but this disruption has scared her tremendously.”

Though Ugboaja was released the same day she was detained, in part through the efforts of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Pimentel said “it was a tough time for her to be in detention … it felt like an eternity for her.”

Pimentel said the nun “just broke down into tears, uncontrollably” upon her release.

Since then, the community has poured out its support, Pimentel said. During this morningʼs check-in at the ICE field office, Father Isaac E. Erondu, a priest in Mission, Texas, and Ugboaja’s first cousin, led a group of people, including the nun, in prayer before she entered the building with her lawyer.

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Supporters then prayed the rosary together as they awaited news of Ugboaja’s fate.

“She’s trying to be strong,” Pimentel said. “She wants to continue just being herself … In seeing the support, the love, and so many people that are here for her, she knows she’s not alone.”

We want her to know “we are here with you, and you’ll be OK,” she said.

We were all thinking this was about picking up criminals, but there’s no criminal sense in all of this.”

Sister Norma Pimentel

In a message to Catholics and other supporters concerned with Ugboaja’s case, as well as the nature of ICE’s recent immigration enforcement measures, Pimentel, who has worked on behalf of immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border for more than 20 years, said: “I think that we must stand together strong, supporting the defense of good people that are here in our community … and not only [Ugboaja], but everybody, so many families who are hurting.”

“We must speak up and ask for … a process that is more respectful to human life and to the goodness of people,” she continued. “So many people are here in the community and are really contributing in a positive, good way. This should not be happening.”

Of ICE’s enforcement measures, Pimentel said: “We were all thinking this was about picking up criminals, but there’s no criminal sense in all of this, you know? And so all of us must truly stand up and defend the right way of who we are as Americans here in the United States.”

Before finding his way to the Church in Tucson, Arizona, Martin served in Okinawa, Japan, and in the Philippines; he then spent 27 years as a police officer in Illinois.

Martin’s connection to Catholicism began with his late wife, Ann Marie.

When Deacon Jacinto “Jack” Trevino, a hospice chaplain and parochial associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in the Diocese of Tucson, met with Martin in December 2025, the two bonded over a shared background in law enforcement and spoke about his wife and her faith.

“Ray is an amazing person,” Trevino told EWTN News. “We hit it off from the beginning. We talked about the job a lot — and shared some laughs.”

It wasn’t all laughs, though. As they got to know each other, their conversations grew serious.

“Ray talked about his wife, who passed,” Trevino recalled. “He said she was Catholic and he would attend Mass with her and pray the rosary.”

“One day he mentioned that he was never baptized or had any of the sacraments and he wanted to be Catholic,” Trevino continued. “We began deeper discussions of the faith.”

Martin, it turned out, had a deep faith in Christ and in the Eucharist.

“He expressed true belief in Christ and the teaching of the Catholic Church,” Trevino said. “He expressed his belief in the Eucharist and the importance of baptism and confirmation. Ray said that even though he was not Catholic, he would always pray the act of contrition.”

At the edge of death, life

Trevino, along with Father Edson Elizarraras, pastor of St. Christopher in Marana, Arizona, had a sense of urgency in bringing those sacraments to Martin.

Martin has survived a stroke, multiple falls, and other health concerns in recent years, even bordering on the brink of death in May after he suffered another stroke.

“Remarkably, Ray pulled through,” Elizarraras told EWTN News. “It was after this stroke that he clearly expressed his desire to become Catholic and receive the sacraments of initiation.”

Trevino and Elizarraras approached the bishop about advancing Martin’s sacraments. Usually, would-be converts to Catholicism go through a one- to two-year Order of Christian Initiation of Adults before receiving the sacraments.

“Though he married a Catholic woman and faithfully attended holy Mass with her prior to her passing, Deacon Trevino noted that Ray always felt unworthy to receive the sacraments, despite believing in God,” Elizarraras said.

“Ray came to tears expressing his desire for the Catholic faith, sharing that throughout his life, he would pray the Act of Contrition and the rosary,” Elizarraras said. “The more Deacon Trevino visited him, the more questions Ray asked, showing he was fully convinced and willingly prepared to receive sacramental grace.”

One of the most important days

So the date was set for July 16; the location, the assisted living home where Martin resided. The facility manager had put up banners with crosses to prepare the living room for the celebration, according to Trevino.

On the day of the celebration, Elizarraras gave Martin the short-order form of OCIA, which is written for those in near danger of death.

“The moment I approached to greet him, he began to cry and smile; he knew this was one of the most important days of his life,” Elizarraras said.

Residents, caregivers, and Martin’s family attended the Mass.

“Beautifully, at the start of the liturgy, Mr. Raymond asked to be helped closer to the small, dignified altar we had prepared,” Elizarraras said. “He wanted to hear clearly and see God at work.”

“When I asked him, ‘Dear brother, Raymond, you have asked to be baptized because you wish, as Christians do, to have eternal life … This is the faith of Christians. Do you know this?’ He responded firmly, ‘I do, yes!’ and wept tears of joy,” Elizarraras recalled.

“Throughout the rite, he remained deeply attentive, smiling and occasionally meditating with his eyes closed,” Elizarraras continued. “When the moment came for his baptism, he opened his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, recognizing this supernatural encounter with God.”

Trevino described the day as “powerful.”

“I was so blessed to humbly participate and witness how Christ, the bridegroom, pours out his love and mercy through his bride, the Church, in the sacraments for his people,” Trevino said.

Afterward, they celebrated with cupcakes — and made plans for how Martin would practice his newfound faith from the assisted living home.

“First thing he asked me and my wife, Elena, was how he could receive Communion again since he can’t get around to go to Mass,” Trevino said. “We promised that we would bring him Communion directly and he could watch Mass on EWTN.”

Martin asked for a medal of St. Christopher; he’d “always wanted one,” he told Trevino, and St. Christopher was now, officially, his confirmation saint.

Encountering Christ

Elizarraras left the celebration that day “with immense joy and peace.”

“In Rayʼs response to grace, I saw a soul truly coming alive,” Elizarraras said.

The celebration brought to Elizarraras’ mind a line from Deus Caritas Est, “God Is Love,” an encyclical letter written by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction,” Elizarraras said, quoting Benedict.

“For Ray, at 98 years old, this sacrament was that very encounter, giving his final days a glorious new horizon,” Elizarraras said.

A week later, Trevino’s wife, Elena, a lay ecclesial minister, brought Martin Communion.

“She read the Gospel for the upcoming Mass, the parable of the buried treasure,” Trevino said. “She told Ray that he was the man in the parable who found the great treasure. He was very happy.”

The eight prelates — including Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Palm Beach Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, and several others throughout the state — issued the message amid large numbers of executions in Florida.

The state executed 19 condemned prisoners in 2025, helping drive a rise in capital punishment throughout the United States. Florida has executed 10 inmates thus far in 2026 and is scheduled to perform a rare double execution on July 28.

In their letter, Florida’s Catholic bishops, who regularly advocate on behalf of condemned prisoners there, urged Catholics toward a “renewed consideration” of capital punishment, one informed by “the teaching of the Church and her moral authority.”

“[W]e wish to remind Catholics of the teaching of our Church against the use
of the death penalty in situations — like our own — where bloodless means are sufficient to punish offenders and protect public safety,” the bishops said.

They pointed out that Jesus in his teaching revealed that “God desires to offer mercy to sinners who do not deserve it.”

While the prelates acknowledged that parts of Scripture “condone the death penalty at least in certain circumstances,” they argued that the “fullest development of God’s revelation of his will” points away from capital punishment.

In addition, they cited papal teachings such as Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, in which the now-sainted pope urged that modern secure penal systems have made it “very rare, if not practically nonexistent” for the death penalty to be justified.

At the same time, the bishops also acknowledged the horrific nature of crimes and the need for “deep sympathy and compassion” for family members who have lost loved ones to murder.

“We agree that the perpetrators of such crimes should be brought to justice, but we disagree that justice is best served by yet another act of killing,” they said.

The bishops said they will continue to work to abolish the death penalty; they further urged both Catholics and “fellow citizens of goodwill” to work to end the practice as well.

Though executions in the U.S. were up in 2025, data indicate a growing public opposition to the death penalty, both in poll numbers and in the declining number of prisoners condemned to death in the United States.

Data from the Death Penalty Information Center indicates that new death sentences were down in 2025, declining to 22 from 24, with “only 14 juries nationwide” reaching unanimous death verdicts.

A Gallup poll in 2025, meanwhile, found that public support for the death penalty reached a 50-year low of 52%, while 44% of Americans oppose the death penalty, the highest level recorded since 1966.

A college representative said the idea took shape after Jacob Imam, president and founder, began praying a novena and walking around the building each workday, often returning on weekends with his family “like the Israelites circling Jericho.” Spokesperson Wes Cimmarrusti said Imam’s daily prayer‑walks preceded an unexpected call from the Freemasons within a month, asking whether he would consider buying the property.

“We totally credit the favor and the opportunity to the intercession of St. Joseph and the power of prayer,” Cimmarrusti said.

The Catholic trade school has raised $1 million and signed a purchase agreement with the Freemasons of Steubenville to buy the property in January 2027. While no date has been set for the project’s completion, the college seeks to raise an additional $3 million to fully renovate the space.

The renovated building will include a 500-seat auditorium that will be open to the public for artistic performances, academic lectures, and civic ceremonies. The building will also feature a restaurant and a proposed shrine that will display a replica of the Shroud of Turin.

Franciscan University to host conference in Austria on Christian healing

Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, will host its sixth annual Truth of Love Conference in Gaming, Austria.

The Sept. 4–6 conference, “Toward a Theology of Healing,” will center on “wounds that touch the whole human person, including loneliness, mortality, physical suffering, and abuse and other sins.” Speakers will draw from Scripture to “explore how healing is found through encounters with others and ultimately with Jesus Christ,” according to a press release from the university.

“In the Gospel, Our Lord Jesus described himself as a physician and us, whom he saves, as the sick, whom he has come to heal (Matt. 9:12). And St. Ignatius of Antioch presented the Eucharist as the ‘medicine of immortality,’” said Stephen Hildebrand, provost and professor of theology at Franciscan University. “These are more than metaphors, for our ultimate salvation consists in the healing, the making whole, of the human person, body and soul, and the human community.”

“The Truth of Love Conference promises to be a rich exploration of this theme at the heart of the Christian message: Even in the midst of suffering and death, God will restore us and make us whole,” he said.

Catholic campus ministry group names centers for inaugural service and justice grants

The Catholic Campus Ministry Association has awarded three ministries its first‑ever Service and Justice Innovation Grant, created to “transform how Catholic campus ministries approach service and justice as expressions of evangelization, not just programming.”

The inaugural 2026-2027 grants will go to the Catholic Student Center at Washington University in St. Louis; the St. Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana; and to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Service and justice aren’t add-ons to the Catholic mission, they’re at its heart,” said Rosie Chinea Shawver, executive director of the association. “What they build this year will shape how campus ministers across the country form the next generation of Catholic leaders.”

Each recipient will receive a one-year $5,000 grant “to design, implement, and evaluate a new or revitalized service and justice initiative.” The grant stipulates that each recipient will “function as a national think tank, learning together, pressure-testing ideas, and building a shared body of knowledge that extends far beyond their own programs.”

The program will begin with a conference at the University of San Diego, where each campus will send two student leaders and one campus minister for formation and training.

As “widespread violence, political instability, economic collapse, and humanitarian suffering” continue in Haiti, Wenski said July 24 that the Caribbean nation remains unsafe as a place for migrants to return. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Miami’s archbishop said local ministries are “preparing for the consequences” of policy changes, including the termination of work authorizations for diocesan employees. Employment authorization documents (EADs) reached a court-extended expiration July 27.

TPS is an immigration status granted to eligible foreign nationals from designated countries that are unsafe to return to due to ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 ruled that DHS could end TPS for Haitians and Syrians. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 1689) in April that would add three more years of TPS for Haitian nationals. The legislation has stalled in the Senate.

Catholic Health Services (CHS), one of the Archdiocese of Miamiʼs largest ministries, which employs a significant number of Haitian workers who hold TPS, “is currently evaluating the effects of the recent federal changes affecting TPS work authorization, Wenski said.

“At this time, an estimated 40 to 50 valued employees may be affected, although the final number remains under review as the organization works individually with each employee based on his or her unique circumstances,” he said.

Haitian CHS workers “are more than employees — they are members of our Church and our community,” Wenski said. “They care for the sick, comfort the elderly, and serve some of the most vulnerable among us with compassion and dedication.”

Ahead of the deadline, Wenski said “our hearts are with our Haitian brothers and sisters who are living with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety about what the future may hold for themselves and their families.”

“The Church recognizes the right of nations to secure their borders and to establish just immigration laws. At the same time, our Catholic faith calls us to uphold the dignity of every human person and to accompany those who are vulnerable,” he said.

As “Haiti continues to endure profound hardship,” Wenski urged “elected leaders to pursue compassionate and humane solutions that protect family unity and recognize the extraordinary circumstances facing the Haitian people.”

“To our Haitian brothers and sisters: You are not alone. The Catholic Church walks with you,” he said.

Haitian workers in Ohio face uncertain future

Ohio bishops also have called for continued TPS protections for Haitians, especially as Springfield, Ohio, is home to a large Haitian population. The Catholic Conference of Ohio released a June statement urging action and continued TPS.

As the Supreme Court decision has left many families worried about losing their jobs, Ohio-based organizations are also preparing to aid those facing loss of TPS.

In an interview July 24 with “EWTN News Nightly,” Casey Rollins, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in Springfield, Ohio, said the organizationʼs team helps immigrants and nonimmigrants “while theyʼre enduring, or while theyʼre navigating … a crisis or a situation.”

“That would be, in this case, once they lost their jobs, we will help them take care of their rent and utilities if they now canʼt pay that,” she said.

For “over 60 years, weʼve helped Americans with rent and utilities and those kinds of necessities for independent living. Now weʼre doing that with Haitians and other immigrants whoʼve recently lost jobs,” she explained.

“We also are helping the families who, many of them, are certain to be deported,” she said.

Following the loss of workers in the Ohio community, “weʼre going to be in trouble,” she said.

For years, the area needed “more workers here,” and the Haitian community was “taking a lot of these jobs.”

According to U.S. authorities, Urbano Vázquez Ortega, 53, obtained U.S. citizenship in 2017.

“Vázquez Ortega was convicted of multiple counts of second-degree child sexual abuse while employed as a priest at a Washington, D.C., church,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a press release.

“In 2019, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The United States filed a five-count complaint seeking to revoke his citizenship, alleging he committed these crimes before, during, and after his naturalization,” the text indicates.

Vázquez Ortega is one of 10 individuals facing the revocation of their citizenship after being convicted of various serious crimes, including the sexual abuse of minors, fraud, and drug trafficking.

4 charges of abuse in 2019

In August 2019, a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia found Vázquez Ortega guilty of four counts of child sexual abuse involving two minors at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in northwest Washington, D.C., where he had been serving since 2014.

According to evidence presented during the trial, between April and May 2015, he molested a 13-year-old girl in a parish office.

Additionally, between June 2016 and August 2017, he abused another minor aged between 9 and 10 in various places on church grounds, according to the evidence.

A third adolescent also testified during the legal proceedings, stating that Vázquez Ortega kissed her in a church conference room.

Removed from ministry after first allegation

When the allegations came to light in 2018, the Archdiocese of Washington stated that this was the first allegation of sexual abuse received against Vázquez Ortega and that, “immediately upon learning of this serious allegation, the archdiocese immediately removed Father Vazquez from ministry and suspended his priestly faculties.”

In the same statement, the archdiocese reported that after reviewing the case, it determined that the then-pastor of the Sacred Heart Shrine, Friar Moisés Villalta, “failed to follow appropriate protocols related to reporting allegations of abuse to civil authorities and the Archdiocese of Washington” and for this reason, “has been removed as pastor.”

Additionally, the parish’s child protection coordinator was placed on administrative leave, according to the statement issued at the time.

In addition, a complaint was filed against Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz, 47, former Roman Catholic priest from Poland convicted of wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign country, crimes he committed as a priest and hid during the naturalization process.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The trailer offers viewers a glimpse into the scourging at the pillar, Jesus’ arrest and trials, the walk to Calvary, and his final, powerful words on the cross.

Season 6 of “The Chosen” will include six episodes — the first three of which will debut on Nov. 15 on Prime Video, followed by the release of a weekly episode through Dec. 6.

The season finale will be a stand-alone theatrical release on March 12, 2027.

The show’s star, actor Jonathan Roumie, has spoken about his experience portraying Jesus’ passion and crucifixion.

In an interview with EWTN News at ChosenCon on Feb. 20 he said: “For the first few months afterwards going to Mass — and even thinking about it now — I just get weepy. I get emotional. It’s hard. It’s left an indelible impression on me — mentally and emotionally sharing even just a percentage, a micron of a percentage, of the Lord’s passion; playing it and reenacting it has left me absolutely humbled and moved.”

The show’s cast spent three weeks filming the crucifixion in Matera, Italy, in June 2025. In a press conference held at the Vatican at the end of that time, the show’s creator, writer, and director, Dallas Jenkins, called the three weeks “the most challenging and difficult we had in filming,” requiring him to surrender everything to Christ.

Ahead of the release of Season 6, 5&2 Studios — the production company behind “The Chosen” — alongside Capitol Christian Music Group will release a new album this fall with original songs inspired by “The Chosen.” The first single, titled “All I Need Is You,” is performed by country star Tyler Hubbard and will be released on Aug. 7. The full artist lineup will be revealed in the weeks ahead.

“My wife, my three kids, and I have a nightly ritual of watching ‘The Chosen.’ We really got into it! Itʼs a show that I love and am connected to, so I was really excited to personally be a part of the show and part of the music,” Hubbard said in a press release.

“‘All I Need Is You’ is a song thatʼs out of my normal country music box. Itʼs a song that hits close to home. I think a lot of people can relate to the need for Jesus. To write a song about something that really matters is extra special,” he said.

Watch the full trailer for Season 6 below.

The study found that younger generations of ministry leaders are serving in increasingly complex roles and often balancing multiple ministries. They are also facing concerns about pay, role clarity, and long-term sustainability.

Despite the challenges, most continue to report that the ministry brings them joy.

Of the leaders MTS examined in the 2024 research study, 87% said their ministry “often” or “always” brings them joy, 80% said the ministry they do is “always” or “often” effective, and 65% said they “always” or “often” have community support and networking available.

The research was conducted by Charlotte McCorquodale, the president of MTS, a nonprofit that serves pastoral ministry organizations in the Catholic Church.

The group’s latest report, “Illuminating Trends: A Study of Pastoral Leaders Serving Catholic Youth and Young Adults 2000-2025,” synthesizes findings from five national studies. It includes interviews and surveys from a 2022-2023 qualitative study of 127 ministry leaders and a 2024 survey of 757 current ministry leaders and 49 former leaders.

In the report, the findings are also compared with previous studies conducted in 2000, 2008, and 2016.

‘Pressure points’ of pastoral leaders serving young Catholics

The research names three “pressure points” of pastoral ministers serving youth and young adults.

According to McCorquodale, these pressure points accumulate from the workload the leaders have and the challenges they face. The hope is that communities will use the research to analyze their ministries, pinpoint their own pressure points, and then improve them.

McCorquodale labeled the first point “More, More, More,” which was findings that demonstrate how leaders are doing more, explaining more, and carrying more with fewer volunteers and youth and young adults to engage.

When examining the overload of more work, the report found that today, ministers' roles include recruiting volunteers, sacramental preparation, running youth programs, hosting young adult gatherings, and aiding young people in crisis — all while trying to balance a personal life.

McCorquodale said the expanding scope of the position became clear during the research process.

“Identifying who this person is, who they serve, how they serve, and what their titles are … became a real challenge," McCorquodale told EWTN News. "A lot of people are doing multiple ministries."

“We asked: ‘What are the issues? What are the challenges that young people are facing right now that are coming into your ministry experience?’” she said.

In many parishes, youth and young adult ministers have become the Churchʼs primary source for young Catholics and “sometimes they are the only frontline leader that the Church has for ministry,” she said.

“I think their roles have expanded as the Churchʼs resources have shrunk in different places,” she said.

The second pressure point, “Shifting Realities,” comes from ministry changes. Leaders are responding to cultural changes and challenges, causing a call for innovation in the ministry.

“I think as culture has gotten more extreme, as our lives have experienced more challenges, that is part of the burden or the pressure that leaders are carrying in a lot of different fronts,” McCorquodale said.

Lastly, the pressure point McCorquodale calls “Testing Fit,” was findings that showed younger leaders are expecting more than ministers generations ago. They are weighing the time, pay, and work-life balance as they discern whether to stay or leave the ministry.

Other growing concerns

The report found that almost a quarter of the leaders reported that a lack of training has a significant impact on their job.

Since 2016, the share who said it is “not significant” has dropped by 10%, indicating a growing need for training and support.

Recruiting adult volunteers has also become “a major issue,” according to the report. “Finding adult leaders” was labeled as some level of a sufficient issue for most ministers, with only 6% saying it is “not significant at all.”

“Finding youth and young adults to participate” was also cited as some level of a concern among respondents (89%). Of the leaders, 62% reported they find it “significantly” or “very significantly" challenging to engage with youth.

Nearly all respondents (79%) said an “insufficient budget” for youth and young adults ministries is some level of a sufficient issue, with 20% detailing it is a “very significant” issue for them.

Many also cited personal challenges that come with the leadership role.

Nearly all ministry leaders said time demands are a sufficient burden, with only 12% reporting it is “not significant."

Many also said role ambiguity is an issue. Nearly 3 in 4 (72.5%) said they must “justify or explain their role at least sometimes,” including 32.5% who do so “often” or “almost all the time.”

The report noted that this pattern points to "ongoing issues of role clarity and recognition and may be a red flag for ministry identity, onboarding, and integration within parish or diocesan structures.”

Similarly, diocesan support is also perceived as inconsistent with only 30% reporting their diocese offers effective support “almost all the time” or “all the time.”

Concerns by generation

The study found notable differences between generations of ministry leaders. The report found that, overall, younger leaders have greater concerns about ministry demands than older generations.

In 2024, 17% of respondents were Baby Boomers, ages 60 and older; 30% were Generation X, ages 44 to 59; 41% were millennials, ages 28 to 43; and 12% were Generation Z, ages 21 to 27.

Almost all of Generation Z respondents (70%) said it is true "often" or "all the time” that ministry with youth and young adults needs to be “reinvented.”

The group showed the shortest expected tenure, with 72% anticipating they will remain in youth ministry for five years or less.

Among Generation Z respondents, the most common reasons for leaving were poor work-life balance (48%), inadequate pay (47%), and time demands (36%).

Millennials also showed signs of declining long-term commitment. While 57% expect to stay in the role for more than five years, the report noted their intentions have shifted from long-term careers toward mid-range.

Of millennials, 32% reported they expect to be in the position for more than 10 years, which is down 8% from the 2016 research.

Millennials cited inadequate pay and benefits (37%), time demands (29%), desire for greater work-life balance or family life (26%), and lack of support from pastors or supervisors (23%) as their primary reasons for leaving.

In contrast, 41% of Generation X and 75% of Baby Boomer respondents identified retirement as their primary reason for stepping away.

A much smaller number of Generation X ministers labels time required (24%) and inadequate pay and benefits (21%) as reasons for leaving the ministry, compared with younger generations.

Next steps

In order to address the pressure points that the research examines, McCorquodale offered three actions to combat them.

The report suggests communities “address the leadership gap, reimagine formation and effectiveness, and create leadership role clarity and sustainability.”

To help leaders in dioceses, parishes, and ministry teams, MTS created a resource package that includes the research and a conversation series that walks groups through the data and discusses what burdens leaders are experiencing.

“I want this to be just like how stained glass reflects sun and clouds,” McCorquodale said. “I want it to be a way for people to look through this research … and say: ‘Does this fit in our experience or does it not? What does fit? What are the pressure points?’”

Communities should use it as “a lens to examine the pressure points that theyʼre experiencing in youth and young adult ministry leadership,” McCorquodale said.

“There isnʼt a one size fits all. Thatʼs why conversation is central to change.”

“We have [start] to talk about these things that are important, and not just with the pastor and the ministry leader but with a group of people that will help ground that conversation for the future of the community, parish, diocese, movement, organization,” she said.

Rather, you must spray the figures with a “specialized conservation material” that subsequently dries into a “latex-like layer,” which is then “carefully peeled away,” thus preserving the statue’s original finish.

The process “is labor intensive and takes significant time,” according to staff at the Basilica of Saint Mary, a towering and historic minor basilica in downtown Minneapolis.

The massive church, which was dedicated in 1915 and became the first basilica in the United States when it was designated as such by Pope Pius XI in 1926, has been undergoing a major restoration project since 2025.

Built in the Beaux-Arts style — what was at the time a popular architectural form in the United States — the co-cathedral boasts a towering flèche-topped central dome and an 82-foot-high barrel vault.

Among its many adornments include the statues of the apostles, which were carved in Italy as half-scale replicas of statues at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the pope in Rome.

Church’s roots stretch back to 1860s

On its website, the basilica says its roots can be traced to 1868, when a simple “shed church” was constructed in Minneapolis. Years later another, more substantial Gothic Revival edifice was built, but burgeoning development in the neighborhood eventually pushed the parish to relocate to its present location on Hennepin Avenue. The cornerstone of the current structure was laid in 1908.

The church, designated a pro-cathedral, celebrated its first Mass in 1914; it was dedicated the following year. It was still being worked on when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

In 1926, Pius XI raised the pro-cathedral to the rank of minor basilica, after which it took on its present name. It would enjoy a vibrant parish life in the following decades, though the construction of adjacent freeways in the 1960s “took a heavy toll” on the building.

The 1980s and 1990s saw parishioners spearheading efforts at ongoing restoration. The latest restoration campaign, titled “Restoring Beauty, Inspiring Hope,” has aimed to raise a total of about $50 million in funding.

Among the project’s goals are masonry repairs, roof repairs, pew restorations with new kneelers, plaster restoration, and numerous other projects.

Johan van Parys, who has served as the basilica’s director of liturgy and the sacred arts since 1995, told EWTN News that the basilica has needed repairs almost from its inception.

“Even from the beginning, the building had issues with moisture intrusion,” he said. The architect who designed the church, Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, was French, and he “didn’t completely understand the challenges of Minnesota summers and winters.”

“He designed flat roofs over part of the building,” van Parys said. He jokingly described flat roofs as “the bane of our existence” due to their tendency to hold water. In existing photographs of the church taken in 1914, van Parys said, water damage is already visible.

“We’ve had to do work on the building ever since,” he said.

The church underwent a “somewhat major” restoration in the 1950s, van Parys said, during which for unknown reasons workers painted over intricate stenciling within coffers and other parts of the structure.

Along with those details, van Parys said, the restoration effort is “bringing back the original look of the basilica.”

The effort was formally launched in 2019 with a master plan for the entire church campus, but the COVID-19 pandemic the next year set the project back. The process resumed after a few years, and the restoration work itself formally began in 2025.

Van Parys said the basilica is being restored both inside and out from top to the bottom, including the plaster ceiling, which has suffered damage over the years and has to be replastered in parts.

Work is also being done on the church’s extensive stained-glass window arrangements. Such windows are generally held in place with a lead matrix, but over time the weight of the glass can weaken the metal frame, leading the glass to bulge outward.

A stained-glass specialist, however, told the restoration crew that the window fixtures were in “great condition,” meaning considerable amounts of work could be avoided. Some of the windows were still in need of repair, however, and were sent to a specialist in Newark, New Jersey.

Limestone throughout the building is also being restored, van Parys said. The visible stone throughout the building is bolstered by several inches of reinforced concrete and bricks; moisture often makes its way through this sandwiching of materials, leading to a buildup of salt crystals on the stone, what is known as “efflorescence.”

Removing this blemish beautifies the facade of the stone and also protects it from degradation. Crews use a spray-and-peel chemical similar to the process used on the statues of the apostles.

The restoration crews also removed the basilica’s pews in order to have them restored with cleaning, sanding, and shellac finishing.

“We opted to restore the original 1914 pews,” van Parys said. “One of our principles in terms of restoration is that we don’t want to over-restore. We didn’t want it to be a new church. People have worshipped in here since 1914. We want this presence of prayer and generations before us to remain.”

“So rather than have new pews we decided to restore the old ones,” he said. “In doing so we discovered that the people who built the pews in 1914 signed them. So we have the names of all the people who worked on the pews.”

Upon removing the pews, the work crews discovered that the flooring of the nave was not level. “One option was to put shims under all the pews,” van Parys said. “But that would have been a huge operation.”

Since crews were already removing the wood flooring to restore it, they also removed part of the old concrete subfloor and re-leveled it.

Numerous other restoration projects are ongoing, van Parys said, including restoring the church’s bronze doors, which were installed after it was designated a basilica. The church’s rector at the time, Monsignor James Reardon, had traveled to Rome and observed that the basilicas there had bronze doors. “He decided we needed bronze doors as well,” van Parys said.

Crews are aiming to be done with the massive project by Palm Sunday 2027. At the moment the parish holds Masses in the building’s undercroft beneath the structure.

“Every week at Mass, I tell people, for instance, ‘Last Sunday was Week 35, which means we have 34 weeks to go,’” van Parys said with a laugh.

He said the work is “quite expedited” and progressing quickly. Ultimately the effort is meant not just to restore the church but to develop a “manual of preservation” for future generations to help protect it.

“Our goal is to restore and to also make sure that everything is cared for in the best possible way, to extend the lifespan of the basilica as long as possible before another restoration is necessary,” he said.

He said the entire project is being conducted “not only with liturgical principles but also historical preservation principles.”

“It is really comprehensive,” he said. “Every square inch of the basilica will be restored.”

The Vatican is not a full member of the United Nations, but it enjoys permanent observer status. The international organization says permanent observers “have free access to most meetings and relevant documentation.”

Born in Beruit, El-Kassis previously served as apostolic nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. He also served as apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula.

He was ordained a priest in 1994 and consecrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in 2019. He is fluent in Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German.

In his role at the United Nations, El-Kassis will join Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, who serves as the Holy See’s permanent observer at the organization in Geneva.

The Vatican first joined the United Nations as a non-member observer in 1964. Palestine is the only other polity that enjoys permanent observer status at the international body.

The Preventing Forced Abortions Act of 2026 would prevent federal courts from forcing a woman to have an abortion because of a surrogate contract; the act also requires that surrogate mothers still be compensated.

“No woman should ever be forced to murder a child because of a provision buried in a contract,” Ogles said in announcing the measure. “The Preventing Forced Abortions Act ensures that federal courts cannot enforce these coercive clauses or allow intended parents to withhold promised compensation when a surrogate mother chooses life.”

The pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America expressed support for the bill. Spokeswoman Marilyn Musgrave voiced support for the bill, saying: “Women should never be forced or coerced into having an abortion.”

Hawley calls for investigation of abortion group ‘Plan C’

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is calling on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice to investigate Plan C, a group that has shipped abortion pills in the mail allegedly in violation of state and federal law.

In a July 17 letter, Hawley alleged that Plan C is “a left-wing dark-money operation that styles itself a ‘public health information campaign’ but functions, in practice, as the referral and logistics hub for shipping abortion drugs into states whose laws prohibit it.”

Hawley maintained that Plan C operates with abortion pill manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro.

“Plan C coaches its users on how to evade the law. Its website instructs users to protect their ‘digital footprint’ against investigations, recommending privacy-enabled browsers, virtual private networks, and encrypted email,” Hawley wrote.

Advocacy groups go to court over sidewalk chalk free speech violation

Groups that advocate for unborn babies are going to court because their free speech rights were allegedly violated in 2020 in the nation’s capital.

The Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America brought forward an opening brief July 16 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The federal free speech lawsuit was brought in a dispute over the right to chalk messages on the city sidewalk, as police in Washington, D.C., prevented advocates from writing messages in chalk in 2020.

Other protesters associated with the Black Lives Matter movement spray-painted messages outside the city’s Chamber of Commerce but were not apprehended, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit free speech law firm that is taking on the case.

“Washington officials can’t censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone,” attorney John Bursch said.

Advocacy group offers legal resources for abortion pill reversals

Amid an ongoing lawsuit over abortion pill reversals, the Thomas More Society is launching an online hub on abortion pill reversal litigation.

The Catholic legal group is currently litigating the case People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, in which California is demanding $20 million from the two pro-life groups because they offered abortion pill reversals.

The organization said its online hub “brings together everything supporters, pregnancy centers, movement partners, and the press need to follow this fight in one place.”

Judge blocks South Dakota abortion advertising ban

A U.S. district judge is temporarily blocking a South Dakota law prohibiting abortion groups from advertising abortion pills, which are largely illegal in the state.

U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking its enforcement, saying it is likely unconstitutional after New York-based abortion group Mayday Health filed a lawsuit.

Maryann Cusimano Love, chair of the politics department at The Catholic University of America and scholar of international relations and peace-building, discussed the Holy Father’s focus on the subject in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro.

She also discussed a new book published by the Vatican on July 21, which compiles Leo’s writings and speeches on peace. The pontiff authored his own forward for the book, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons globally.

Peace-building is “a theme that Pope Leo has been consistent with since the beginning of his papacy, and it really fits with the times that weʼre in right now,” Love said.

“Weʼre seeing expansion of war, weʼre seeing the expansion in the number of conflicts, the deadliness of these conflicts, and weʼre also seeing new ways in which new technologies are being used — AI drones, lethal autonomous weapons systems — that are very concerning,” she said.

“So heʼs being a voice of really the practical, and a voice of the people, saying: Look, peace is possible. Peace is practical and peace is our calling, as Catholics and people of goodwill. This is something we can do. Weʼve done it before and we can do it again,” she said.

Love was one of more than 200 academics who participated in the Vatican-hosted Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War from July 14–16. The assembly adopted the "Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” which laid out concerns about how technological advancement affects warfare.

“The Church has been advocating for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as long as there have been nuclear weapons, and whatʼs added to this in this last weekʼs activities and the Rome Declaration is the layer of artificial intelligence that increases the urgency with which we need to proceed to disarm nuclear weapons,” Love said.

“And it increases the ways in which we need to look at this interaction between AI and our and our military ecosystems,” she said. “So the call is specifically for the responsible use of AI, for there to be a slowing down in the integration of these systems, particularly into military systems, until we can be sure that theyʼre safe for the sharing of information between tech companies and the public about the vulnerabilities of these systems and the problem areas — the blind spots — these systems have.”

The summit was inspired by Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which offers guidance on how society should approach AI. The encyclical specifically raises concerns about AI making decisions about life and death in warfare.

Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state on July 4, 2025.

“I would say after a year, itʼs almost more difficult than it has been," RJ Harber said in an interview with host Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” alongside his wife, Annie Harber.

“The depth of the grief does not go away. It actually enhances, because this is your reality now, and you understand your children are actually gone,” he said.

“Now there is comfort knowing that they are in heaven, and we did our job as parents to prepare them to get them there. But our love for them was so deep that the grief that we have is just tremendous,” he said.

The family was vacationing with RJ Harber’s parents, Mike and Charlene Harber, on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, when the floods occurred.

The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away the sisters’ cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.

Harbers have ‘leaned heavily’ on Catholic faith

Annie and RJ Harber detailed the challenges of navigating such a profound loss. They shared how it tested their faith, while also relying on that same faith to carry them through the past year.

It was “really important to us to instill the Catholic faith and values in our girls,” Annie Harber said. “But … after all of this, I definitely questioned God and was angry at God” and “didnʼt understand why, or how, this could happen to us.”

“We have leaned on each other and our faith to get us up every morning,” she said. “I think for me, truly, when I wake up, I tell myself Iʼm one day closer to seeing the girls, because we know theyʼre in heaven and our goal is to ultimately get there. So we have to continue to live by the Catholic faith and our values that we taught the girls.”

“I think weʼre still alive because of our faith,” RJ Harber said. “God can accept anger, but he can also help us carry this cross. And the Church has rallied around us.”

“We found the girls on Saturday, July 5, and we went to Mass Sunday, July 6. It was probably the most difficult thing Iʼve ever done. But thatʼs because we want to follow the commandments,” he said, citing the Third Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath.

“So weʼve leaned heavily … on our Catholic faith,” he said.

RJ Harber, who also lost his parents in the disaster, said his “daughters were their greatest joy.” His parents attended “every single sporting event” of their granddaughters.

The girls “were their only grandchildren, so they just doted on them,” he said. “My father was suffering from Parkinsonʼs disease, but he would just want me to drive him to Brooke’s softball game and watch her pitch, or ask to watch Blair play soccer.”

“We find solace in the fact that theyʼre watching over our girls in heaven and are just thankful that theyʼre there with them now,” he said.

‘The faith was very important to our girls’

As Annie and RJ Harber have relied on their faith through their grief, they detailed the importance the Catholic faith played in their daughters’ lives as well.

“Not only did they go to Catholic school, but we would go to Mass every Sunday,” RJ Harber said. “It was instrumental in our lives.”

RJ reflected on his daughter Blair’s faith, sharing that she prayed the rosary “every single night.” Two weeks before the tragedy, “her rosary beads broke and she asked to borrow mine, which I received when I converted to the Catholic faith, and took those down to the river with her.”

“So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments,” he said.

So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments.”

RJ Harber

“We prayed every single night. And we still pray with them every single night,” RJ said.

“Prayer has been instrumental. We get messages from all over the world about people praying for us. And I think thatʼs helping us share the girls with the world. And honestly I think God, through the Holy Spirit, is using our daughters to bring people closer to the faith,” he said.

The couple said they have heard from several people who have returned to Mass and confession since hearing the sisters’ story.

“Weʼve received … messages about people converting to the Catholic faith because of Brooke and Blair. So their work is not done in this world — itʼs only beginning.”

The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund

Since losing their daughters, Annie and RJ have started a fund to continue to honor their daughters through The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund.

The fund, set up through The Catholic Foundation of Texas, supports flood and disaster relief efforts and aids Catholic after-school activities, including after-school education and Catholic sports.

Blair and Brooke “played lacrosse and there is a large barrier to entry into lacrosse,” RJ Harber said. “So weʼve been able to get hundreds of sticks donated, hundreds of goggles donated, and have allowed girls to come and try lacrosse for the first time who would otherwise never try it.”

“This February, we hosted an event. Over 200 girls came out and tried the sport for the first time. So these kindergartners, first graders, second graders are looking up to our girls and carrying their life forward. And I just think thatʼs a beautiful thing to see,” he said.

“Atlantic City exists at the edge of the world. In many ways it is a forgotten- about place on the periphery,” Jim Dessicino, who founded Cappella Studio, told EWTN News. “People go there to gamble away their fortunes or to disappear into vice, and with that comes desperation, homelessness, and poverty.”

“It is in places such as this that Christ is most needed,” he continued.

The abandoned convent there was going to be sold — and likely razed to the ground. But Dessicino saw that it could be something more.

“When I entered that chapel for the first time, I knew I had the opportunity to emulate St. Francis during his special jubilee year called by Pope Leo XIV,” Dessicino said.

“In 1205, kneeling in prayer and searching for his purpose in the crumbling Church of San Damiano, St. Francis heard the voice of God say: ‘Francis, go rebuild my church, which you see has fallen into ruin!’” he recounted.

“The chapel in the convent was literally crumbling,” Dessicino recalled. “There were holes in the walls and floor. The windows were broken, and the sanctuary lamp had been extinguished 10 years prior.”

Time for renewal

Cappella’s art program is a way to train artists, to bring beauty to the city, and even to evangelize artists.

“This city has always been about hospitality and welcoming people; it has just been dominated by the vice industry for so long that it is time for a renewal,” Dessicino continued.

“It is often difficult to see the beauty of the city through the poverty and corruption, but if you enter our churches … you are instantaneously transported and uplifted out of the mess and towards the heavenly realm,” Dessicino said.

The program is an invitation to artists of all faiths to meet Jesus.

“Weʼre inviting artists and the community into a third space; those who might not initially feel comfortable coming into a church are not dissuaded by coming to an art studio,” Dessicino said. “Because we have an adoration chapel at the studio, people are confronted with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, even if they donʼt know it. Amazing things come from these encounters.”

“We are set apart from other art studio experiences because we have the option to invite people to meet Jesus face-to-face in the Eucharist,” Dessicino said.

“As a catechetical leader, my experience is that I think itʼs easier to bring good artists who are not yet Catholic into the fold than it is to train an entire generation of artists,” Dessicino explained. “It is simpler in my experience to help a person who is sympathetic to Catholicism to convert than it is to spend 10 years training an artist to become proficient enough at their craft to create artworks for the Church.”

Cappella offers lodging for visiting artists as well as private studios for local artists. It also offers art classes and even space for communal activities like book clubs.

The art classes are taught by both Catholic and non-Catholic artists.

“The beauty of the Catholic tradition in the arts is that there is no official style,” Dessicino said. “The artworks must be instructive and clear. They can have layered meaning, like a Shakespearean drama, but they should be understood by the average parishioner.”

Father Robert Hughes, a parochial priest involved in the project, said refurbishing the adoration chapel was their first step.

“We took a leap of faith — focusing on the need to pray that God’s will be done by calling upon parishioners to pray for our parish, our city, and success of Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “Therefore, our first initiative was to open the Mercy Chapel.”

The daily adoration chapel, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., has been “well attended,” according to Hughes.

“The Eucharist is the source and center of our Christian lives and must be so for our parish life and mission as well as for Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “We hope the artist-in-residency program will give artists an opportunity to integrate prayer and meditation into their work while experiencing the vibrancy of Atlantic City and the beauty of the ocean just two blocks away.”

Water and boat imagery is an important part of Cappella Studio, especially as it’s located in a city on the ocean.

“The convent was built in the late 1930s and was conceived to look like a ship in honor of Our Lady, Star of the Sea — the name of this campus,” Hughes said. “The sisters' chapel is appropriately located in the bow.”

Dessicino sees Cappella Studio as a ship as well.

“Itʼs almost too easy to see how Cappella Studio will be a light for the city of Atlantic City: We’re connected to the church, Our Lady Star of the Sea (who is the lighthouse for this city), our convent building is shaped like a ship and inside that ship, people will be formed to go out and spread the Gospel to the world,” Dessicino said.

“There are precious few places where sacred artists can gather and focus specifically on the sacred. God is, of course, the master artist and he calls sacred artists to cooperate with him in serving the peopleʼs prayer and worship by creating beautiful works worthy of contemplation,” Hughes said. “Through art, we can touch the divine.”

At a July 23 press conference, she said she is still afraid of what may yet happen to her but is trusting in God.

“I was very much afraid, with cold sweat,” she said of her detainment by ICE officers as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, on June 28. “I did not expect [it]; on an ordinary Sunday morning, when people should be ready to go to Mass to worship the Lord, on the street here, just in front of the school, where I have walked … a countless number of times.”

“I will not pretend it did not hurt and it’s hurting me today,” she said, describing the two ICE agents as “armed, and Iʼm just a small woman, a nun, armless, with just my rosary, my key, and my phone.”

Though she felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus’ admonition to “not be afraid, because I am with you always.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, said it was “heartbreaking” to be told “no” by the ICE agents after she asked them if she could first attend Sunday Mass and receive Communion because “as we know, Sunday Mass is obligatory … it is mandatory.”

During the press conference, Carlos Garcia, her lawyer, gave more information about her immigration status.

He said an immigration judge denied her application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, saying it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though “as a technical matter,” she remains under a final order of removal.

Nevertheless, he said the religious sister and nurse, who has served in south Texas for more than a decade, is legally authorized to work in the U.S. and “has never missed an immigration appointment.”

Garcia said Ugboaja’s detainment by immigration officials is confusing: “People who’ve been granted this type of relief have generally for many years been under the impression they are OK as long as they complied … So it’s very confusing not only for her but for many others I’ve talked to as to what is going on.”

Of the way immigration enforcement actions are taking place, Garcia said “it’s hard to comprehend, because of the way it’s happening, without [people] being informed of any reasoning” by the government.

Not an isolated case

“I am not the only one,” Ugboaja said of others who are “languishing’ in the same situation in which she finds herself but who do not have the attention of the media on them.

They are “people who have been given some form of protection under our laws, who have followed every rule asked of them … who still live with uncertainty about where they might be sent and whether anyone will tell them before it happens.”

She said she is praying for them and is asking for something simple: “Before anyone is taken into custody, give them … the opportunity to be heard.”

Garcia said she has a check-in appointment with immigration officials on July 28, where Ugboaja could be detained or an ankle monitor could be placed on her.

The attorney said he hopes the appointment will be unnecessary, but if it does take place, “we are asking that she not be detained and that no ankle monitor be placed … she’s broken no rule, posed no danger, and given the country a decade of nursing and a lifetime of ministry.”

He said ICE detained her on June 28 in order to remove the nun to a third country, a practice that he said is “currently the subject of active litigation in federal courts nationwide.”

He suggested she is entitled to “notice and a meaningful opportunity to contest a proposed third country removal before she’s taken into custody and removed.”

The incident occurred amid heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, which has included operations near houses of worship.

The nun’s release June 28 was facilitated by lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who said his office communicated with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan to secure Ugboaja’s immediate release.

By Sunday evening, Ugboaja, who serves as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows, had been released from custody and returned home.

Cuellar told EWTN News at the time that “this is not the way they should have picked her up. If ICE had any questions, there would have been more appropriate ways to deal with her situation.”

“I have deep concerns that the war will widen and the greatest impact will be on the civilian populations of Middle East nations,” Joseph Capizzi, director of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, told EWTN News.

Charles Camosy, a moral theologian at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News that threats to civilian infrastructure are “absolutely not” consistent with moral conduct during war or Catholic just war doctrine.

“The dignity of the human person — including a commitment to Christʼs command to love oneʼs enemies — must be paramount,” he said. “Not winning a war. Not gaining political advantage. … Catholics are not consequentialists.”

A Pakistan‑mediated ceasefire that began April 8 ended on July 8. Last week, Iranian state media alleged that the U.S. struck a water desalination plant in the Hormozgan Province that supplies water to 30 villages, impacting thousands of people. U.S. officials confirmed military strikes in the province but have not confirmed a strike on the plant.

The U.S. has confirmed strikes in southern Iran that destroyed port infrastructure. Pro-regime media in Iran in Iran reported commercial and fishing piers were among the targets, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society. That report also alleged strikes on a wheat storage facility, roads, and bridges.

U.S. Central Command denied strikes on the wheat facility but has not addressed every specific allegation. U.S. military officials have repeatedly said they only target Iran’s military capabilities.

When reached for comment about the other specific allegations, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command told EWTN News "we refer you to our published releases" and "we have nothing further to add."

In response to these alleged attacks, Iran has repeatedly struck power plants and water facilities throughout Kuwait and Bahrain. Officials in Kuwait, which relies on water desalination plants for 90% of its drinking water, are urging people to conserve energy and water. Bahrain’s supply of drinking water is 100% reliant on water desalination plants.

On July 22, Trump escalated threats to civilian infrastructure, saying he would strike “one bridge or power plant” for every ship Iran strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in response that Iran’s doctrine is “an eye for an eye” and “those who contribute” to aggression “will also be considered as legitimate targets.”

When a reporter asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 23 whether he would rule out strikes on civilian infrastructure, he did not say. Rather, he pointed to Araghchi’s statement and said: “The president’s policy is a head for an eye — I mean, honestly, that’s what it’s going to be.”

Just conduct in war

Three Catholic moral theologians who provided comments to EWTN News — Capizzi; Camosy; and Taylor Patrick O’Neill, a theology professor at Thomas Aquinas College — all said it is not moral to intentionally target civilian populations in war.

“The prohibition against targeting civilian infrastructure is absolute in moral and international law,” Capizzi said. “States are prohibited from targeting civilian infrastructure.”

He urged caution about purported justifications for striking “dual use” infrastructure targets that may be used for both military and civilian purposes. He said “no party is allowed merely to claim targets are ‘dual use.’”

“When there is doubt as to the dual or single use of a target, international [law] stipulates the presumption begins with single use, and therefore the target is inadmissible to be targeted, unless proven to the contrary,” Capizzi said.

Camosy also said this is a moral absolute and there is no circumstance in which it is moral to target civilians. He said that “even in war, even when the stakes are highest,” Catholics do not adhere to the consequentialist moral philosophy of the ends justifying the means.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains a person can never engage in intrinsically evil acts — such as targeting innocent people for harm — regardless of the reason because “the end does not justify the means.” Acts also require “good intention,” so while “good intention” is not sufficient and does not justify evil acts, bad intention — such as intending to harm innocent people — always “makes an act evil,” it explains.

Camosy said: “Protection against the targeting of civilians is an absolute value in war. Catholics are called to be prepared to lose a war rather than violate exceptionless moral norms or commit intrinsically evil acts in this area.”

Sometimes an act, in war or elsewhere, can also have several effects. St. Thomas Aquinas explains in the “Summa Theologica” that it can be proper to engage in an act that is morally neutral in and of itself but has both good and bad consequences, so long as only the good consequence is the one that is intended. This is the principle of “double effect.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that proportionality is required in war. The evil inflicted through war cannot be more severe than the evil one is aiming to defeat.

“We need to ask if civilian harm is the intention and/or the mechanism of action in the military strike or [if] it is a merely foreseen side effect,” Camosy explained.

“If the rationale for hitting the electric grid or desalination plant is that widespread darkness, spoiled food, rampant disease, failed hospitals, and more will generate political pressure on the Iranian regime, then the suffering of peaceful civilians becomes the causal pathway to the advantage sought,” he said. “This then becomes the object of the act itself and not a merely foreseen side effect.”

Alternatively, Camosy added: “Attacking a generator dedicated to a command bunker, however, would likely not suffer the same kind of critique, however, even if one foresaw but did not intend that it would also have bad impacts on civilians.”

Similarly, O’Neill said the moral analysis of striking a facility that results in civilian harm is about intention and proportionality. It is never moral to intend the suffering of innocents or target them.

“You cannot intend or rely upon civilian death or fear to aid in your military effort,” O’Neill said. “In other words, the foreseen evil cannot itself be the means by which you attempt to achieve some good.”

A specific bridge that is “dual use,” such as one used by civilians but also used “to transport tanks from factory to battlefield,” he said could possibly be justified under double effect. The moral analysis would have to consider intention and proportionality and “you must also try to minimize the negative.”

“Will blowing up the bridge make civilian life uncomfortable or will it result in the loss of life, access to basic necessities, etc.? All of these things have to be taken into account just for double effect,” O’Neill said.

“Under double effect, itʼs theoretically possible to strike a dual-use target,” he added. “But any strike on merely civilian infrastructure (or even [a target] with indirect ties to the war effort) would be intrinsically unjust.”

“At that point, the attack would have more in common with an act of terrorism,” O’Neill said.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers’

St. Augustine, in a letter to the Roman general Boniface, emphasized that the intention of war must be to ultimately establish a just peace — not to simply to unleash destruction: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace.”

The fifth-century bishop and theologian cited the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

O’Neill explained that in the context of a just war, “the Christian always seeks war for the sake of peace and that of both his own people and the people of the enemy nation.”

“To consider the civilians of an enemy nation as the enemy is already to lose the necessary distinction of combatant from innocent,” he said.

Camosy noted that Trump, in his 2024 campaign, promised “to be deeply skeptical of war” and encouraged him to move back in that direction.

“Trump himself was aggressively pursuing the Nobel Peace Prize on this basis,” he said. “It would be much better to go back to this way of thinking about war. Think about becoming a peacemaker again.”

Trump told Axios on July 23 that he is “considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before” but did not say whether this includes the civilian infrastructure he has threatened. He said that Iranians want to negotiate, but “they havenʼt received enough pain yet.”

The Guttmacher Institute, a data group that openly supports abortion access, documented a decrease in people leaving their own state to get abortions in other states. Instead, abortion seekers turn toward mail-order abortions, which have seen a surge in recent years.

The group tracks abortions monthly, following trends “in the post-Dobbs era” since 2023, according to Guttmacher data scientist and study lead Isaac Maddow-Zimet.

The data indicated an overall increase in abortions from 2025 to 2026.

“In the first three months of 2026, there were 296,130 abortions as compared to 292,590 in the first three months of 2025,” data scholar Michael New told EWTN News. “This is an increase of just over 1%.”

New said this fact has gone underreported.

“Most media outlets that are reporting on the Guttmacher data have not reported on this, but the number of abortions continues to rise,” said New, who is a senior associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a group that studies data relating to the pro-life cause.

“These rising abortion numbers are an important reason why pro-lifers are frustrated with the Trump administration’s lack of action on telehealth abortions,” continued New, who also works as a professor at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.

The Trump administration has neglected to enforce various regulations — such as the Comstock Act or in-person prescription requirements — that could be groundbreaking for protecting unborn children from chemical abortions.

From 2024 to 2025, travel abortions declined by nearly 8%. Scholars agree that mail-order abortion is the reason for the decline in abortion travel.

“Currently, we are seeing a major shift in where and how people access abortion,” Maddow-Zimet said. “While travel remains a critical pathway to care, we have seen a decrease in people leaving their state of residence, likely due to both the growth of telehealth access and fewer options for in-person care in the South and Southeast.”

New also cited chemical abortions as the draw away from travel abortions.

“The main reason for this decline in out-of-state travel is because of the rising number of telehealth abortions,” New said. “The most recent data from the Society for Family Planning shows that approximately 27% of all abortions are done by telehealth.”

In Florida, the study also found a near tripling of abortion travel by Floridians after the state passed a heartbeat law to protect unborn babies; at the same time, fewer people traveled to Florida to obtain abortions due to this law.

“The national decline [in travel abortions] might have been even larger had Florida not started enforcing a Heartbeat Act in 2024,” New said. “Because of this strong pro-life law, far fewer women residing in southern states traveled to Florida for abortions.”

Texas has also seen a decline in Texans traveling to get abortions. 

“This trend is seen at the state level,” New continued. “Between 2024 and 2025 the number of Texas women obtaining abortions in other states fell by 19%.”

Mail-order abortion is pro-life priority

Advocates for unborn children highlighted the importance of opposing chemical abortions and protecting unborn children across state lines.

Abortion continues to rise with the increase in mail-order abortions.

Kelsey Pritchard, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America spokeswoman, called for protections of unborn children across state lines.

“We need a national minimum standard to ensure children across America have basic human rights and the chance at life, regardless of their zip code,” Pritchard told EWTN News.

“Nine states and the District of Columbia still have no gestational limits whatsoever on abortion, allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, with late-term abortion centers purposely located within range of pro-life state borders,” Pritchard said. “This is barbaric and extreme, and it places the United States in the same category as communist countries like China and Vietnam on abortion.”

“While stopping the ‘Wild West’ of unregulated abortion by mail is our immediate priority, both issues underscore the urgent need for national action to protect unborn children and their mothers,” Pritchard said.

“Abortion travel is down overall, but mail-order abortions are surging and driving the national total up to an estimated 1.1 million abortions per year — more than the day Roe was reversed,” Pritchard said. “Every single month, approximately 15,000 babies in the womb die from mail-order abortion drugs in states with pro-life laws, while women and girls are poisoned and coerced by abusers who obtain these drugs online without so much as an ID check.”

Kristi Hamrick, Students for Life spokeswoman, questioned the data, noting that there is no reporting requirement for abortion.

“I find it extraordinary that the abortion industry reports so much data that is accepted as gospel, despite the fact that we canʼt verify it,” Hamrick said. “We have no national abortion reporting law, and while this data will be broadly reported, every point of data from pro-life sources is treated as suspect.”

Guttmacher collects monthly data from brick-and-mortar facilities and telehealth providers, according to the study methodology.

The nature of mail-order abortion pills makes it harder to accurately track the number of the abortions in the U.S. as the pills are highly unregulated and some companies operate outside of the U.S. healthcare system.

“The landscape of abortion is shifting, from brick-and-mortar abortion vendor to online pill pushers, so less driving, if that is true, does not mean less abortion,” Hamrick said.

For Students for Life, “fighting chemical abortion pills” is a priority.

Through pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and other programs, the pro-life movement continues to encourage women to choose life.

“But what is happening in real time is that many are reaching out to women online and in their communities to encourage and support them in choosing life, while we also have to confront a new abortion cartel,” Hamrick said.

“The decision to stop having Sunday Mass at a church is amongst the most difficult decisions that have to be made,” said Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston in a video announcement.

“The parish church, as we know, is the center of life — the center of our faith life for so many people, often for generations,” he said. “Itʼs the place where we most frequently live our relationship with God. Itʼs the place where the Mass is celebrated, especially on Sundays.”

Four parishes in the Northeast Deanery of the diocese, including St. Francis Xavier in Oklee, St. Ann in Goodridge, St. Philip in Falun, and St. Mary in Badger, will celebrate their final Sunday Masses in August and September.

In October, parishes in the Northwest Deanery, including St. Mary in Euclid, St. Joseph in Oslo, and St. Francis of Assisi in Fisher, will hold their final Sunday Masses.

While the parishes will soon halt Masses, Cozzens explained the diocese has “not yet decided the merging of these parishes, nor have we decided anything about the future of the buildings.”

“Demographics” was a deciding factor, because throughout the diocese “the population has been decreasing,” Cozzens said in the video. “There are fewer and fewer family farms” and “schools have been combined.”

“When these churches were built, there were often many large farm families throughout the area. Now itʼs not the case,” he said.

“Some of these parishes have no young people in religious formation, or at least very few. Some have trouble finding volunteers to keep the parish going, relying on only a few dedicated parishioners,” he said.

The lack of priests in the diocese is another factor.

In a letter to the faithful, Cozzens explained the diocese continues “to experience a shortage of priests” and “there are limits to the number and locations of Masses they can celebrate on any given weekend.”

“We must ensure that they can provide sustainable pastoral care and remain true spiritual fathers to the communities entrusted to them,” Cozzens wrote.

“Suffering and death are real parts of our lives as humans and as Christians. And if your parish is going to cease having Sunday Mass, it feels like a death because it is,” Cozzens said.

“The pain is real, and itʼs a sign of how much you love your faith and how much your parish matters to you,” he said.

Discernment process

The bishop explained that the diocese came to the decision after undergoing “an extensive process.”

The diocese created committees made up of “at least three representatives from every parish, totaling more than 20 people” who “worked hard to discern and pray about how we might use our limited resources to fulfill the churchʼs mission,” he said.

Members of the Diocesan Planning Commission also worked to discern the best pathway to advance the mission of the Church.

“When parishes become too small, itʼs impossible to support a mission-centered parish life. We cannot do outreach. We cannot support opportunities for growth and faith and evangelization,” the bishop said.

Due to these reasons, the group made the recommendation to halt Sunday Masses at the parishes, which the bishop accepted.

“And I believe that although we have reached some difficult decisions, the Holy Spirit has guided this process,” he said

The bishop also offered a message to Catholics in the diocese “who are not losing Sunday Mass at your parish.”

“You have a special responsibility to show love to your neighbors. You can honor the sacrifice these others are making for our common faith. You can let them know that they are not alone and walk beside them in their grief,” he said.

“You can be the hands and feet of Christ by reaching out to them, and you can help us to form a new community in your church building as you invite new members to join you,” he said.

Voters in the state will decide on Aug. 4 whether to approve Amendment 5, which would reduce and eventually eliminate Missouri’s income tax.

The measure also would mandate the “[reduction of] personal property and other local taxes when local revenues increase.” The amendment would allow sales taxes to make up the difference in state revenue.

In a statement this month, Missouri’s four Catholic bishops urged voters to consider “the moral principles that should guide us in pondering any tax proposal.”

The Catholic Church, they pointed out, does not mandate that governments adopt “any particular tax model,” but the Church does teach that “every system of taxation must serve the common good” and be guided by justice.

The bishops warned that shifting to sales taxes, which are regressive, places a larger per-income burden on lower-income taxpayers and “should be approached with prudence.”

They acknowledged that supporters of the income tax repeal have “a sincere desire to promote the long-term prosperity” of Missouri. But such aims should be “weighed alongside the potential effects on those who are most vulnerable,” they argued.

The bishops further called on the government to preserve tax-based incentives for charitable giving.

The prelates urged voters to “thoughtfully” discern their vote on the amendment in light of the Church’s teachings. They also urged the government to “ensure the needs of the poor and vulnerable remain at the forefront of public policy.”

Polling has shown that a slight majority of Missouri residents favor eliminating the state income tax. An SLU/YouGov poll from February 2025 said 52% of voters there support eliminating the state income tax.

Just 29% of voters in a February 2026 poll, meanwhile, preferred income taxes to sales taxes.

‘Liturgical anomalies’

In a video message and accompanying letter, Bishop Thomas Paprocki’s new rules for the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, which went into effect on July 1, address what he described as “irregular practices” and “liturgical anomalies.”

Paprocki explained that his goal is to “ensure that Catholic funerals in our diocese will conform to the norms of the Catholic Church” and maintain the integrity of the three parts of the OCF: the Vigil for the Deceased (the night before the funeral liturgy), the funeral liturgy itself (Mass or liturgy outside Mass), and the Rite of Committal.

Among the “anomalies” the bishop addressed and prohibited was the practice of visitations in the church on the day of the funeral liturgy, as the vigil by definition must occur the night before. Priests or deacons will lead vigil prayers even without a public gathering, although family members are strongly encouraged to participate.

Families may still gather at the funeral home for the brief prayers of the transfer of the body to the church or to the place of committal, which can be led by a funeral director, parish staff member, or relative if clergy are unavailable. The procession to the church — whether on foot or by motorcade — is important, he said, as it serves as a “reminder of when the deceased person first entered the church” in baptism.

Paprocki said eulogies are not permitted during the funeral rite, but “words of remembrance” are, as long as the words “speak about the faith-life of the one who died and give praise to God.” Eulogies make “the person being praised the main focus of attention,” he wrote, while “the homily and the words of remembrance have God as the primary focus.”

Because those speaking at the end of a funeral Mass sometimes say things “that are very inappropriate” or are too overcome with grief, the bishop said all “words of remembrance must be submitted for approval to the pastor … at least three days prior to the funeral. Only the priest or deacon will then read the words of remembrance” at a time other than during or immediately after the funeral rite.

Families themselves may offer eulogies or remembrances at other gatherings, such as a meal after the Rite of Committal, provided they do not immediately precede or follow the liturgical rites.

On cremation, Paprocki reaffirmed the Church’s preference for burial of the body while permitting cremation when not chosen to deny the resurrection of the body.

All cremated remains must be interred intact following the Rite of Committal and ordinarily within 30 days.

‘The Order of Christian Funerals does not envision a viewing in a church building’

Meanwhile, Bishop David J. Bonnar of Youngstown, Ohio, issued a decree in October 2025 ending funeral visitations in church buildings effective December 2025.

Bonnar said holding a visitation or viewing in a church compromises the sacred space “by noise and activity unbecoming of the reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament.”

His decree created a uniform policy across the diocese, addressing growing requests for in-church visitations driven by convenience and cost.

The only exception the bishop permitted is for the funerals of priests or religious, where public visitation in the church or chapel continues as a long-standing tradition.

Families may still hold visitations at funeral homes or other appropriate locations.

‘It is the body whose hands clothe the poor and embrace the sorrowing’

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, issued a decree in May reinforcing the intact burial of cremated remains while emphasizing the Church’s preference for bodily burial.

“Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body,” the decree states. “The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in those rites.”

“The Churchʼs teaching in regard to the human body as well as the Churchʼs preference for burial of the body should be a regular part of catechesis on all levels,” McManus writes.

All of the cremated remains of a body must be interred following the Rite of Committal in a grave, mausoleum, or columbarium, according to the decree. The remains may not be divided and placed in multiple locations or scattered in any location. Neither may they be kept in private homes or placed into jewelry.

Interment of cremated remains should not be unduly delayed following the funeral rites. If the Churchʼs norms concerning cremation are not respected, the bishop says the celebration of public funeral rites may be denied, at the celebrating pastor’s discretion.

The decree’s pronouncements are “effective immediately.”

Cemeteries are ‘places of Christian hope’

In the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Martin promulgated the decree “Diocesan Norms for the Governance and Stewardship of Cemeteries and Columbaria” on March 19, the solemnity of St. Joseph, patron of the dying.

In a letter accompanying the revisions, Martin said he was “confident” the new norms would “serve the needs of the faithful as they reverently lay to rest the mortal remains of their loved ones.”

The updates set clear eligibility guidelines for interment. While Catholic cemeteries/columbaria are intended primarily for baptized Catholics, the decree states provisions can be made for others, including non-Catholics and even non-Christians.

Catholic cemeteries and columbaria are “extensions of the Church’s ministry … not merely functional places of burial” and are “sacred places set aside by the Church for the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead and for providing a final resting place for the faithful departed as a sign of their hope in the promise of resurrection,” the decree states.

Consequently, such places must be maintained and used in a way that reflects “reverence for the dead and care for nature.”

Burial costs must also remain affordable and accessible.

Parishes within the diocese have six months to align local policies with the new norms, while existing contracts will remain in effect.

‘Prayers after Death’ revised by USCCB

In a March newsletter, the Committee on Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced a revision of the “Prayers after Death,” which occur during the rite of the OCF.

According to the committee, the ritual structure, rubrics, and individual elements of the revised prayer are “nearly identical” to the previous edition, “with the exception of the concluding prayers at no. 314” in the Order of Christian Funerals.

“These prayers have been retranslated after the pattern of the Roman Missal and according to the principles of Liturgiam Authenticam,” the committee wrote.

The Liturgiam Authenticam (“Authentic Liturgy”) is a major Vatican instruction issued in 2001 that established precise norms for translating liturgical texts (and Scripture for liturgical use) from the official Latin editions into modern languages, its core principle being fidelity to the original text.

The Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center is “the only one of its kind in the world,” Maronite Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn said in an interview with EWTN News when it opened on Dec. 8, 2023. (Its official opening date was April 13, 2024.)

St. Sharbel, canonized in 1954, was a Lebanese Maronite priest and hermit who lived between 1828 and 1898. Although few words are recorded from his life and he lived in solitude, he is the patron saint of Lebanon and is famous for his miraculous healing intercession.

The Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center offers retreats, courses on spirituality, daily sacraments, Eucharistic adoration, Scripture studies, prayer, reading, and several other opportunities for growth.

Dr. Anne Borik, a Catholic medical doctor and founder of the worldwide prayer group the Saint Sharbel Global Prayer Net, is director of the center. According to the center’s website, Borik was the lead physician who investigated the miraculous healing of the blind woman who fully regained her sight through the intercession of St. Sharbel in 2016 at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Phoenix.

The center, which is adjacent to Our Lady of Victory Maronite Parish, also includes a library filled with more than 10,000 books on spirituality and a relic of St. Sharbel Makhlouf.

The saint’s relic that is housed in the center is the same first-class relic associated with the healing of Dafne Gutierrez, the Phoenix woman who was completely blind but healed after venerating the relic in 2016.

Mansour told EWTN News that the eparchy named the center after St. Sharbel “because people know and associate him mostly with miracles and with favors done and intercessions. But sometimes they don’t associate him with a deep and abiding spiritual life.”

“And that’s why we want to focus, of course, on his miracles and his favors and his intercessions, but also developing our love for the Eucharist, our love for Our Lady, our love for the Church, our love for asceticism, our love for silence, our love for solitude that Sharbel not only embodied but lived by extraordinary, heroic example,” he said.

Those visiting the 10,300-square-foot center can learn about St. Sharbel through books, periodicals, and videos, and can attend Mass, retreats, and workshops. The center also offers virtual programs.

In addition to its focus on St. Sharbel’s spirituality, the center also features both western and eastern saints, and has offered the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and a course in Syriac spirituality.

When it opened, the center was approved to build more than a dozen overnight housing units on the property so that retreatants can stay for a prolonged period of time. The center welcomes funding to continue to realize its mission and grow its programs.

This story was first published on July 25, 2024, and has been updated.

During a July 23 interview with the EWTN News program “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” Burch clarified that his July 9 comments to the Times were not meant to imply that Leo’s statements about Iran war policy should be seen as simply diplomatic — rather than spiritual — guidance.

“I think thereʼs a misunderstanding,” Burch explained. “... [The role of] the pope as the universal sovereign of the Holy See and as the universal pastor — a pastor of the universal Church — is inseparable.”

The controversy stemmed from a quotation in the Times article in which Burch said: “When the pope acts as the sovereign leader of the Holy See, he is coequal with world leaders.” The article also paraphrased Burch’s position by saying the ambassador argued that the pope’s comments about the Iran war were not made as the vicar of Christ but rather as the political leader of the Vatican City State.

Without naming Burch, the Editorial Director for the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Andrea Tornielli, subsequently wrote a July 13 op-ed saying that “even when he speaks about war and peace … the Successor of Peter remains, above all, a spiritual leader.” Even though Leo is a head of state, he wrote, this “does not mean that he acts or speaks as a politician when addressing issues concerning the affairs of humanity.”

In his interview with Arroyo, Burch disputed the Times’ characterization of his views, saying the outlet “doesnʼt exactly understand the nuances of Catholic social teaching and how to apply it.”

“The pope has this dual role,” Burch said. “He is both the head of the sovereign territory of the Holy See, which has diplomatic relations with the world, but inseparable from that is his role as the universal pastor of the Catholic Church. And when he acts, he certainly acts in such a way to call the world to these high moral principles, to the ideals of … how [humanity] ought to live together.”

At the same time, Burch insisted that “there are some very difficult, contingent, practical matters” that play into decisions about going to war, which he said are “the responsibility of the prudential wisdom of those responsible for the common good,” which are political leaders like President Trump.

“I tried to explain [to the Times] where there are certain prudential questions,” Burch said. “For example, what does the intelligence information tell us about the situation in Iran? Where is the dialogue at? What [do] the regional alliances look like? What [does] the war game scenario implicate?”

“These are very contingent, prudential questions that inform this question on the legitimate use of force,” he added. “And I think, to the Holy Fatherʼs credit, he is the universal shepherd that is calling humanity to this high ideal to try to resolve these sorts of conflicts without violence, without the use of force.”

Burch told Arroyo that he does not see disagreement between Trump and Leo on the intended end goal: “Thereʼs no disagreement on peace, on disarming Iran, on the need for interreligious dialogue, for religious freedom.”

“Where the challenge comes is the means to get there,” Burch said. He added that it’s not “a surprise, nor a shock, nor an unwelcome message from the Holy Father that we ought to seek peace, that we ought to seek ways to resolve these sorts of conflicts without the use of force.”

“But as you know, original sin exists, and there are evil people in this world with evil intentions that, if they arenʼt stopped, certainly could do enormous damage, catastrophic damage, in the world,” the ambassador emphasized.

Boelter, 58, was sentenced after pleading guilty to stalking and murdering former Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home on June 14, 2025.

Melissa Hortman was a Catholic who once taught Sunday school and volunteered in her parish’s children’s faith formation program.

She and her husband “had been a part of the St. Timothy Parish community,”  Father Joe Whalen, the pastor of the Blaine, Minnesota, parish, said in a statement following the murders.

U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim sentenced Boelter in federal court on July 23.

Boelter was also sentenced for the stalking and shooting of Sen. John Hoffman, D-Minnesota, and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, and the attempted shooting of their daughter Hope Hoffman, who all survived Boelter’s attack in their Champlin, Minnesota, home.

Boelter previously pleaded guilty June 11 to the six charges including two stalkings, two murders through use of a firearm, and two federal firearm-shooting offenses. Through his plea agreement, Boelter was able to avoid the possibility of the death penalty.

“Vance Boelter’s crimes rank among the most horrific this office has ever prosecuted,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said in a press release.

“Today, the United States ensured that Boelter will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of release. Those who commit political violence at any level should take heed that the Department of Justice will seek and obtain the longest prison terms available for their crimes,” he said.

In a statement following the attacks, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, recalled meeting both Hortman and Hoffman at the state capitol a few months before the shootings during a meeting of bishops with state leaders.

“I was deeply impressed by both,” Barron said in a statement. “Rep. Hortman listened to us with sharp intelligence and acute attention.”

Both lawmakers also met regularly with the local Catholic bishops, according to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

O’Neill, of Easton, Maryland, had leukemia as a child, and her cure was accepted for Seton’s path to sainthood in 1975.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore will serve as the principal celebrant for O’Neill’s funeral Mass on July 25 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Interment will follow on the grounds of the shrine.

“Ann O’Neill spent more than seventy years answering questions about a miracle,” Rob Judge, executive director of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, said in a statement following her death. “Yet, if you talked with her for any length of time, you discovered she wasn’t really interested in talking about miracles.”

“She wanted to talk about her mother’s faith. She wanted to talk about Mother Seton. Mostly, she wanted to talk about Jesus,” he said.

She wanted to talk about her mother’s faith. She wanted to talk about Mother Seton. Mostly, she wanted to talk about Jesus. That may be the clearest evidence of why God chose her life to become part of one of the most important stories in American Catholic history.”

Rob Judge

Executive director of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

“That may be the clearest evidence of why God chose her life to become part of one of the most important stories in American Catholic history,” he said.

“The saints are like our friends,” O’Neill said in an interview with the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Catholic Review in 2025. “Mother Seton was my mother’s friend. She’s my friend. And because we’re Catholic, we have a lot of friends in heaven.”

Born on Oct. 7, 1947, O’Neill was the daughter of the late Felixena OʼNeill and the late William Richard OʼNeill.

She is survived by her children, Joseph Hooe, Gerard Hooe, and Mary Alice Zawodny, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a funeral notice said. She was preceded in death by her son Robert Eugene Hooe Jr.

The miracle that helped Mother Seton become a saint

Born in Baltimore, O’Neill developed advanced leukemia as a young girl in 1952. Despite doctors trying every treatment, she grew more sick and her case was considered hopeless.

During Holy Week, it was expected that the 4-year-old girl would pass within a few weeks.

While her family prepared for her loss, Sister Mary Alice Fowler, supervisor of the children’s ward at St. Agnes Hospital, gave O’Neill’s mother prayers for Seton’s intercession and had her give them to relatives and friends.

She pinned a cloth that had touched Seton’s remains to O’Neill’s hospital gown. Family members, friends, and other religious leaders began a novena for O’Neill.

On Good Friday in 1952, with her daughter’s condition deteriorating, O’Neill’s mother took her to Mother Seton’s resting place in Emmitsburg — where Seton started the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, the first community for religious women established in the U.S., and the first Catholic school for girls.

Against doctors’ wishes, O’Neill’s parents drove her to Emmitsburg, laid her on Seton’s tomb in the cemetery, and took her inside Mother Seton’s house where the saint had died of tuberculosis in 1821.

Once her mother returned O’Neill to the hospital, doctors performed blood work and testing. On Easter Monday her blood count was normal. Constant tests over the following years showed her health to be normal.

O’Neillʼs cure was accepted for Seton’s path to sainthood. Pope Paul VI officially canonized Mother Seton on Sept. 14, 1975, the ceremony for which O’Neill attended in Rome.

The update, issued July 23, is the first revision to the guidance since 2017. It incorporates Supreme Court rulings issued after the earlier guidance, including rulings on church autonomy, equal access for religious entities to grants and government programs, and the right for parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

“Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a particular place,” the memorandum, sent by the attorney general’s office, states. “It also encompasses religious observance and practice as displayed in a person’s daily life.”

“Except in the narrowest circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law,” it says. “Therefore, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be reasonably accommodated.”

The guidance expands the DOJ interpretation of church autonomy for hiring and firing practices. Current statutes already give religious employers discretion to base employment decisions on a person’s adherence to the entity’s religious faith under Title VIII exemption.

The update adds: “Even in the absence of the Title VII exemption, both RFRA [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] and the principle of church autonomy under the Religion Clauses of the Constitution protect religious employers’ authority to make employment decisions consistent with their religious mission.”

Under the guidance, religious entities must have the opportunity to compete for government grants and contracts “on an equal basis with nonreligious organizations.” Government entities cannot force a religious organization “to choose between curtailing their government-funded mission and taking actions inconsistent with their religious beliefs” as a condition of a grant or contract.

This extends to school choice programs, stating religious schools “with curricula and activities that include religious elements” have the same right to participate in vouchers.

The guidance also explains that RFRA’s prohibition on burdening a person’s religious practice is not limited to individuals, citing the Supreme Court decision that allowed Hobby Lobby to refuse to cover abortifacient drugs in its insurance plans.

“RFRA protects the exercise of religion by individuals and by corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies,” it states.

“Constitutional protections for religious liberty are not conditioned upon the willingness of a religious person or organization to remain separate from civil society,” the guidance states.

“Although the application of the relevant protections may differ depending on the context, individuals and organizations do not give up their religious-liberty protections by providing or receiving social services, education, or healthcare; by earning or seeking to earn a living; by employing others to do the same; by receiving government grants or contracts; or by otherwise interacting with the federal government or with state or local governments,” it states.

Employers, the guidance notes, must also provide accommodations for employees to ensure employment does not interfere with religious practice “unless the employer cannot reasonably accommodate such observance or practice without incurring substantial hardship.”

The guidance further prohibits government interference in parental rights to direct the religious upbringing of their children, stating: “This right extends beyond a mere right to teach religion in the confines of one’s home and encompasses the choices parents make for their children outside the home.”

“Government policies that substantially interfere with the religious development of children violate this right,” it adds. “Government may not choose to condition the availability of public benefits, such as public schooling, upon parents’ willingness to surrender their religious freedom.”

Updated guidance includes instructions for departments and agencies to proactively consider potential burdens on religious exercise and possible accommodations during the rulemaking process. DOJ instructs them to develop a process for reviewing rules with this in mind and recommends consultation with the White House Faith Office.

The DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy will review potential rules for compliance. Agencies are asked to consider and respond to religious liberty objections to proposed rules that are raised during the public comment period.

Some of the guidance is also designed to protect the religious liberty of federal workers. It states federal employees can keep religious materials on their desks, can discuss religious topics, and can display religious clothing.

The hearing, titled “False Narratives: Exposing the Truth About ICE Detention Facilities,” focused on conditions at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, operated by the GEO Group under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The facility reopened in 2025 after the Trump administration expanded detention capacity to support increased immigration enforcement.

Fifty‑four people have died in ICE custody since the start of fiscal 2025, which is 125% more detainee deaths than occurred during all four previous fiscal years combined (24 deaths), according to ICE detainee death reporting data.

Republicans defend Delaney Hall

Subcommittee Chair Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-New Jersey, said: “We’re here today because of a narrative that has been told over and over again for weeks… that Delaney Hall, and by extension all of these detention centers, are places of cruelty. It’s just not true.”

We’re here today because of a narrative that has been told over and over again for weeks… that Delaney Hall, and by extension all of these detention centers, are places of cruelty. It’s just not true.”

Rep Jefferson Van Drew

ICE facilities are required to comply with federal detention standards governing medical care, nutrition, sanitation, recreation, religious accommodations, and access to legal counsel. Compliance is monitored through inspections and oversight conducted by ICE and other federal entities, although advocacy groups, government watchdogs, and a federal judge have questioned whether those standards are being adequately enforced.

Van Drew, who said he recently toured Delaney Hall, rejected allegations that detainees are being mistreated and said his firsthand observations contradicted criticism of the facility.

“I walked the facility. I met with the staff… and what I saw goes against all the narratives that you hear,” he said.

He described the detention center as clean and orderly, saying detainees receive “three meals a day,” access to medical, dental, and mental health care, recreation, and religious accommodations.

“The Department of Homeland Security has said plainly that ICE holds these facilities to higher standards than most American prisons, and that’s what I saw,” Van Drew said.

Democrats raise concerns over oversight and detainee care

Democrats on the panel sharply disputed that assessment, citing reports of overcrowding, inadequate medical care, poor sanitation, and deaths in ICE custody.

Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, questioned whether Republicans had presented a complete picture of conditions at Delaney Hall, noting that the committee did not invite Department of Homeland Security or ICE officials to testify.

“The ambiguous title of today’s hearing… naturally invites the question of whether the majority is seeking to debunk false narratives or entrench false narratives,” Raskin said.

Raskin said lawmakers should hear directly from officials responsible for operating the facilities and accused the administration of obstructing congressional oversight visits. He also cited reports from detainees and advocates alleging poor medical care, overcrowding, and unsanitary conditions.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said Republicans overlooked documented concerns at privately operated detention facilities.

“In the time since our last hearing on this topic, more than 50 people have died while in ICE custody,” Crockett said, adding that detainees at facilities operated by the GEO Group have reported “dangerously substandard conditions, including mold… and insufficient food and water.”

Crockett also criticized the absence of officials from ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the GEO Group among the witnesses, arguing that “if the Republicans really wanted to know what was happening at Delaney Hall… they would push for unannounced congressional and independent oversight.”

Witnesses offer competing perspectives

The hearing included testimony from former ICE New York Field Office Deputy Director Scott Mechkowski, Federation for American Immigration Reform Border Security Adviser Art Del Cueto, Center for Immigration Studies Resident Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur, and Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

Arthur, a former immigration judge, said he had not personally visited Delaney Hall but argued that ICE detention facilities operate under extensive oversight, including inspections, congressional review, internal watchdogs, and contractual detention standards. He said congressional oversight is appropriate but should be conducted in ways that do not interfere with facility operations or security.

Del Cueto, a former Border Patrol agent, said Delaney Hall had become a target because detention “works.” He said allegations against the facility were part of “a broader assault on immigration enforcement” and urged Congress to support ICE officers and Border Patrol agents.

Del Cueto also cited DHS statistics that he said showed increases in assaults and threats against ICE personnel during President Donald Trump’s second term, attributing the trend to increasingly inflammatory rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement.

Sinha countered that concerns about Delaney Hall were supported by accounts from detainees and their families. He testified that people held at the facility had described delayed medical treatment, inadequate food, unsanitary conditions, and retaliation after participating in hunger strikes. Sinha called for “independent, unannounced, uncensored oversight” of ICE detention facilities and urged Congress to allow broader access for lawmakers, the press, and advocacy organizations.

Rep. Henry “Hank” Johnson, D-Georgia, said not a single witness denied the claims of what is happening at Delaney Hall. “Not a single witness in here has testified that itʼs false,” Johnson said. “That whatʼs happening at Delaney Hall, the overcrowded cells crammed with inmates. Not a single Republican witness refuted that.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, along with more than 50 other GOP lawmakers, called on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to “comprehensively investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths.”

The lawmakers also requested DOJ ensure the “children receive a proper and respectful burial once the investigation is complete and all responsible parties have been brought to justice.”

In 2022, “the D.C. Five” were found at the home of Catholic convert and pro-life activist Lauren Handy. The group Progressive Anti‑Abortion Uprising, a secular organization that demonstrates against abortion, said it obtained the remains from a reported whistleblower who believed the circumstances might have violated federal prohibitions on partial‑birth abortion or the failure to provide care to infants born alive.

In the letter sent July 20, lawmakers said the babies’ remains are held by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C. Lawmakers are calling for autopsies to find out if the babies “were victims of the crimes of infanticide or partial-birth abortion.”

“For four years, members of Congress have remained alarmed at this clear violation of life and law, but the Biden Administration Department of Justice refused to act,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Under the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (1 U.S.C. § 8), these five children should have experienced equal protection under the law at any stage of development, including as abortion survivors,” they said.

According to the letter, doctors have estimated that at least one baby may have been aborted using the illegal partial-birth abortion method showing “deep lacerations to the posterior neck which presumably correlates to the method of abortion used to end her life.”

“If this baby girl was alive when the abortionist made these lacerations, then her death directly violated the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (18 U.S. Code § 1531), which criminalizes the partial deliverance of a living child for the purpose of performing an overt act that intentionally takes the life of the child,” they wrote.

The lawmakers also said doctors estimated that one baby boy was about 28 to 32 weeks’ gestational age. One doctor said the baby looked “like he should have been in the nursery” and was “about the same size as [her] granddaughter when she was born,” the letter said.

“We cannot undo the grievous, barbaric acts that killed these children in their most vulnerable stage, but we equally cannot allow such lawlessness and inhumanity to evade our justice system any longer,” the lawmakers said.

DOJ, in a statement to EWTN News, said it “is aware of the Senators’ request and takes these matters seriously.”

“As with all allegations of potential criminal conduct, the Department will review the information carefully and will investigate any credible allegations of criminal actions. The Department remains committed to following the facts and the law wherever they lead,” the DOJ said.

The DOJ also shared that it has gathered and reviewed documents regarding the case and will be turning it over to Congress once it is finalized. If there are any crimes Congress identifies, the department said it will “certainly investigate those matters.”

Previous calls for investigation

Following the discovery of the babies, Lee and Smith also led an April 8, 2022, letter signed by 69 members of Congress demanding that former Attorney General Merrick Garland conduct an investigation.

DOJ “never provided a substantive response or indicated that any investigation had occurred,” the lawmakers said in the most recent letter. “On the contrary, after two years of inaction, reports indicated that the Department of Justice advised the Chief Medical Examiner to discard the bodies of the infants.”

“Fortunately, members of Congress were able to intervene with the Chief Medical Examiner and urge him to preserve the bodies,” they said.

The lawmakers said they were “encouraged” when former Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed in a June 2024 House budget hearing that DOJ was conducting an “ongoing investigation” into this case.

The lawmakers also noted a report signed by President Donald Trump that encouraged DOJ to “provide a briefing to the Committees on all actions previously taken by the Department on this issue within 180 days after the enactment of this act,” which would be on July 22 of this year.

Ken Fulginiti, who represented the plaintiff identified as Jane Doe in the suit, told EWTN News on July 22 that a jury in Cape May County returned the seven-figure verdict for the “emotional trauma of abuse” endured by his client.

“There will be another $750,000 in prejudgment interest that we’ve sent in a motion for,” he said.

Fulginiti’s client said the abuse occurred in 1974; she filed suit against the retreat center in January 2021.

The retreat center attempted to convince the jury that it was not required to pay out for the abuse. “There were arguing that they were not liable to the extent that it happened; it was two employees of theirs that [they claimed they] didn’t know were like that,” Fulginiti said.

Fulginiti said the retreat center is facing several other lawsuits from alleged abuse victims.

The ruling in his client’s case, Fulginiti said, could impact the other lawsuits to some extent. The multiple lawsuits were consolidated for purposes of discovery, he said, but the trials themselves will be considered on an individual basis.

“If you are a participant in a hearing, and rulings are made against you, you’re bound to them,” he said. The plaintiffs in the other cases would not be bound in any way to the verdict in his client’s case, he said, but the retreat center would be.

The lawyer said it was “very challenging for any survivor of abuse to go through this process.”

“I’m grateful for the jury to have listened to all the evidence and provided their verdict in favor of Jane Doe,” he said.

In a statement to EWTN News, the Marianist Province of the United States said it “respects the judicial process and acknowledges the juryʼs careful consideration, which did not sustain a finding of negligence against the Province.”

“The Province unequivocally condemns sexual abuse and has comprehensive safeguarding policies in place designed to protect children and vulnerable adults across our ministries,” the statement said.

“We remain vigilant in our commitment to upholding those policies and continue to pray for all survivors of abuse.”

The multiple suits filed against the Marianist center allege that former priest John Sheehan and Brother Albert Koch had committed the abuse for years between 1974 and 1982.

Neither man is a defendant in the cases. Sheehan was laicized in 1997; Koch was reportedly active at the center into 2020.

The retreat center is located in the Diocese of Camden, which in February announced a massive $180 million abuse settlement to be paid out to more than 300 abuse victims.

The nine-figure payout represented a more-than-sixfold increase over an earlier proposed settlement of $87.5 million. Camden Bishop Joseph Williams at the time called the settlement a “milestone” that was “long overdue.” 

Since 2014, St. Katharine Drexel Parish has partnered with Yellow Springs Elementary School to provide weekend meals for students who depend on free or reduced-price lunches during the school week. Parish volunteers say the ministry grew out of a desire to ensure children would not go hungry when school was not in session.

This spring, the parish expanded that outreach by donating $11,800 to Frederick County Public Schools, paying off outstanding school lunch debt for every family in the district.

“We recognized that this is a bigger issue than just one elementary school,” Brian McCrohan, pastoral associate at St. Katharine Drexel Parish, told EWTN News. “With the cost of inflation and grocery budgets being stretched, families who may not qualify for free meals are still having a hard time making ends meet.”

The parish learned the total amount of unpaid lunch debt from the school system and brought the need before its Social Justice Ministry. Parishioners responded with generous financial support, making it possible to eliminate the debt.

The effort marks the second time St. Katharine Drexel Parish has paid off countywide school lunch debt. The parish first did so in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, after recognizing a similar need.

McCrohan said the donation was funded entirely through the generosity of parishioners rather than a special fundraising campaign.

“Our parish is really very generous when they understand there is a need,” he said. “People are passionate about living out Catholic social teaching and lifting up our neighbors, whether they’re right next door or much farther away.”

The school lunch initiative is one part of the parishʼs broader outreach. Parishioners also support ministries in Haiti, assist a parish in Baltimore with Christmas outreach, and respond to humanitarian crises around the world.

While parish leaders are not yet committing to making the school lunch initiative an annual effort, McCrohan said they hope it could become more sustainable through collaboration with other faith communities.

“If more communities get involved, it might be something that could be done on an annual basis,” he said. “We can do more together than any one parish can do alone.”

Although the parish initially debated whether to publicize the donation, McCrohan said they ultimately decided sharing the story could encourage others.

“People are in need of some good news,” he said. “We hope this inspires others — whether as individuals or as communities — to do what they can to help their neighbors.”

The parish’s latest effort reflects the Church’s long-standing commitment to the corporal works of mercy, offering practical assistance to families while witnessing to the Gospel through acts of charity.

Her most prominent position in Scripture occurs in the Gospel of John, where she remains with Jesus at the Crucifixion, keeps vigil at the tomb, and is the first to see him on Easter morning. Differing traditions have her evangelizing in Ephesus, while others place her in Marseille, France.

Her body has never been found.

Apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps no other saint alive during the time of Christ appears to have been as deeply moved by Jesus’ death as this saint.

“How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who calls us by name,” said Pope Francis of the encounter in a 2017 general audience the year after upgrading her memorial to a feast day in 2016.

After this shocking encounter, the joy of Christ’s resurrection imbued her with the courage to spread this good news joyfully. “I have seen the Lord!” she proclaimed to the apostles and the whole world.

Once known as a sinful woman, Mary Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the Resurrection, and the model of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ risen from the grave.

“God surprises her in the most unexpected way,” Pope Francis opined. “So that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus ... now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope.”

This story was first published on July 21, 2021, and has been updated.

In partnership with the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba, the kits of prepackaged food and hygiene kits for up to 700 Cuban families will be delivered by CRS — the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S.

“This partnership builds upon the success of the Department’s program last year with CRS and Caritas Cuba to deliver $9 million in direct support to the island following Hurricane Melissa,” according to a U.S. Department of State statement.

“Building on the success of the previous program, the direct delivery of humanitarian commodities by local parish representatives in the island will ensure critical U.S. assistance reaches everyday Cubans in need, without any opportunity for regime diversion or theft,” the department said.

CRS sent the flight on July 21 from Miami with Jeremy Lewin, Rubio’s senior adviser and director of foreign assistance, and Viviana Bovo, senior adviser for the department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

The supplies sent are the first humanitarian relief sent under Rubio’s commitment of $100 million in humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people, as they “are suffering from the consequences of the Communist regime’s kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence,” the statement said.

The aid is part of a $60 million award to CRS from the department’s $100 million fund for expanding humanitarian assistance to vulnerable families across Cuba.

“The award will enable CRS, in partnership with Caritas Cuba, to provide emergency food and hygiene supplies to nearly 200,000 households, or more than half a million people, across the country and essential household items — including mattresses and blankets — to another 7,000 people who need them,” CRS said in a press release.

“Families in Cuba are facing growing hardship as they struggle to put food on the table, access clean water and meet other basic needs,” said Sean Callahan, CRS president and CEO, in the press release.

“This support will allow CRS and our long-standing partner, Caritas Cuba, to significantly expand humanitarian assistance through the Catholic Churchʼs trusted network, reaching vulnerable families with the help they urgently need.”

The legislation (H.R. 9739) follows the Trump administration’s move to seize about 14 acres of land surrounding the base of Mount Cristo Rey — a prominent mountain in Sunland Park, New Mexico, overlooking the Texas and Mexico borders.

If enacted, the bill would recognize Mount Cristo Rey as a holy site and prohibit the use of federal funds to litigate against the Diocese of Las Cruces in its lawsuit challenging the federal attempt to seize the land.

It also would prohibit federal funds from being used “to construct, install, operate, or maintain roads, fencing, vehicle barriers, security lighting, cameras, sensors, or related structures” on or near the mountain, according to the bill, which lacks co-sponsors.

"Rather than working with border communities to advance effective border security, the Trump Administration continues to disregard the people, history, and culture that make our region special,” Escobar said in a press release.

“Mount Cristo Rey is a religious and cultural landmark that has been central to our community for generations," she said.

Owned by the Diocese of Las Cruces, Mount Cristo Rey welcomes visitors each year to the small mountain that houses a nearly-century-old statue of Jesus Christ that has been a pilgrimage site for decades.

The diocese has said that the government’s proposed border security at the base of the mountain would negatively affect pilgrims coming to the site.

Escobar’s legislation says: "The Federal Government’s attempt to seize the land around Mount Cristo Rey for the purposes of border wall construction infringes upon the religious liberty of the Catholic Church and all visitors to the holy site.”

Support from Catholic border bishops

The bill has received support from border bishops including Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces and Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas.

In a press release, Seitz said he will “support this bill which would call the federal government to set aside a heavy-handed abuse of power against this sacred place.”

“For the federal government to forcefully take this holy ground to build a tall barrier topped with razor wire would represent an overreach on the part of the government and create a sign that speaks, not of mutual respect and love, but of separation and rejection,” Seitz said.

“I am confident that through negotiation with the rightful owners of the property, the Church of Las Cruces, solutions can be found to provide for the deterrence of unauthorized entry into this country while at the same time preserving the integrity of Mount Cristo Rey,” Seitz said.

“For generations, the faithful from the cities, farms and villages of the borderland have climbed Mount Cristo Rey and united as a single community for prayer and celebration at the feet of Christ the King,” Baldacchino said.

Baldacchino previously defended the sanctuary “and devotion which has brought many people in our community to God” during the ongoing dispute by climbing Mount Cristo Rey and celebrating Mass at the mountain’s peak on June 28.

"In a world fractured by political, racial and economic divisions, Mount Cristo Rey stands out as both a powerful symbol of hope and peace and a literal pathway to unity,” he said in the press release.

The chapter, set to start in the fall, marks continued growth for the coalition, founded in October 2023 at a Franciscan University conference on “Nostra Aetate and the Future of Catholic‑Jewish Relations at a Time of Rising Antisemitism.”

“The CCAA is proud that Franciscan University serves as the founding Catholic home of the coalition,” Simone Rizkallah, founding member of CCAA and manager of Jewish-Christian partnerships at Tikvah, an influential Jewish think tank, told EWTN News.

She said CCAA is open to adding more chapters at other colleges and universities, to the extent student leaders elsewhere also take the initiative to do so.

“The launch of this new campus chapter is a sign of hope, born from the initiative of two Gen Z students: one, a former antisemite, whose perspective was transformed through friendship with the other, a Catholic Zionist,” she said. “Their story is a powerful witness to the possibility of conversion, dialogue, and authentic friendship.”

Colin Reitmeyer, president of CCAAʼs Franciscan University chapter, told EWTN News the chapter’s goals for the new academic year include starting conversations “with those under the sway of antisemitic propaganda, leading them to rethink their deeply flawed ideology.”

“We seek to befriend them, help them see why their ideology is flawed, and help them better embrace the Churchʼs position on the Jewish people,” Reitmeyer said.

He said the chapter also aims to “spread awareness to unaware students about the rise of antisemetism and how they can combat it” as well as foster greater appreciation of Jewish culture. This latter goal, he explained, involves “going beyond merely stopping antisemitism and cultivating philosemitism.”

Curt Stambaugh, an associate scholar at Franciscan University’s Veritas Center for Catholic Ethics in Public Life, will serve as the chapter’s sponsor.

Stambaugh traced the impetus for the organization of the chapter back to a campus debate on U.S.-Israeli relations. Students directed questions to him during the session, where he met Reitmeyer and learned students wanted a grassroots group to counter antisemitism.