“Contrary to news reports, Pope Leo has not bestowed an exclusive special honor on the Iranian ambassador to the Holy See,” the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See said in a May 13 social media post. “This decoration is given to all accredited ambassadors to the Holy See after 2+ years of service and has been standard practice for many years.”

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The post comes after Iranian state media outlets reported that the Vatican honored Iran’s ambassador, Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari, with an award for “strengthening diplomatic ties and serving the cause of peace and dialogue.”

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Pope Leo XIV awarded the “Vatican’s highest diplomatic honor to Iran’s ambassador” for his “efforts to promote peace, dialogue, and bilateral relations.”

The report further claimed that “officials praised the Iranian embassy’s activities in advancing peaceful coexistence, wisdom, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue,” and that in the official decree, Leo “expressed appreciation for Ambassador Mokhtari’s services in strengthening ties with the Holy See." The Holy See has had diplomatic relations with Iran since May 1953.

The U.S. Embassy explained that the award given to Mokhtari “is a personal recognition and does not imply support or opposition to any policy or country.”

“Thirteen ambassadors were recently given this recognition. Previous U.S. ambassadors have all received the same,” the post noted. “Finally, the decoration was not given in person by the pope.”

Vatican News reported that Mokhtari was among 13 ambassadors to receive the recognition for completing two years of service. The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, substitute for general affairs at the Secretariat of State, who presented insignia and official parchments to the diplomats.

The Holy See Press Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles, a Catholic, described the incident as “a reminder about the ubiquity and power of propaganda, especially when we’re talking about the Iran war.”

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“It’s all propaganda,” Knowles said. “The Iranians are clearly making hay out of this rote procedure that the Vatican presented.”

“Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas is personally committed to delivering on President Trump’s pro-life and pro-family agenda at the FDA,” Andrew Nixon, deputy assistant secretary for media relations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told EWTN News.

“Both he and other administration officials will continue regularly interacting with stakeholders in this community to inform FDA decision-making,” he said.

Diamantas is serving as acting commissioner after the May 12 resignation of Commissioner Marty Makary, who faced criticism from within the pro-life movement for failure to impose stricter regulations on the  abortion drug mifepristone.

Some pro-life leaders celebrated Makary’s departure but grew concerned about Diamantas because court records show him serving as legal counsel for a Planned Parenthood affiliate while working at the Baker Donelson law firm. The case was related to a property dispute.

Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to President Donald Trump, dismissed the concern in a post on X, saying he was a junior associate assigned to the case but removed himself because of his pro-life beliefs.

Within the past two days, Diamantas has reached out to some pro-life advocates, including March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter. A spokesperson for Live Action confirmed he had scheduled a conversation with Live Action President Lila Rose as well.

“Within a few hours of being handed this big new job, he was getting on the phone with pro-life leaders and that in itself, I think, is a really encouraging sign of where his priorities are going to be,” Lichter told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” host Abigail Galván.

Lichter said she spoke with Diamantas about her concerns with mifepristone, specifically about “the lack of safety, the lack of guardrails, [and] its easy availability.”

Under Makary, the FDA launched a study to review the 2023 deregulation of mifepristone, but so far no action has been taken to increase restrictions. Rather, in that same month, the FDA approved a generic version of the drug.

Based on her conversation, Lichter said, “I think weʼre going to see real movement” on that study and “I think that the cause of life is going to have, you know, a real champion at the FDA” under Diamantas’ leadership.

“I feel really comfortable that he is bringing in strong pro-life commitments and a commitment to transparency and to moving with all deliberate speed to take a close look at mifepristone and then take decisive action based on what that study shows,” she said.

Mark Harrington, president of Created Equal, told EWTN News he had not received a call from Diamantas and expressed hesitations about his leadership of the FDA, saying his efforts “could just be viewed as nothing more than damage control.”

“Talk is cheap,” he said. “But personnel is policy, and the fact that Diamantas [reportedly] represented Planned Parenthood makes me skeptical that he will advocate for the full mifepristone safety study. We will trust but verify. Action needs to be taken now on the abortion drug.”

Marshall, who practiced as an obstetrician-gynecologist for more than 25 years, said he is naming the bill the “Bereaved Parents Rights Act.” Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Florida, who personally suffered an ectopic pregnancy, said she is sponsoring a companion version in the House.

Laws on the handling of fetal remains following a miscarriage or stillbirth vary state to state, and many states have no clear legal requirements regarding the disposition of remains, leaving hospitals to rely on internal policies and procedures, according to Marshall.

Students for Life Action backs the measure and is leading lobbying on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to back it, said Kristan Hawkins, the organization’s president.

The legislation would amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act “to say that the hospital that she is birthing her child into, whether the childʼs born stillborn or miscarried … has to notify the parents no less than six hours after the event or before discharge“ and ”how she can get her babyʼs body to the funeral home to have a funeral if she would like to,” Hawkins said.

A standardized form from the secretary of Health and Human Services would ensure a parent has the right to cremate the child after miscarriage or stillbirth, and it would apply in every state, Hawkins said.

The legislation “is a no-brainer,” Cammack said. “This is very simple in my mind. Any parent who has lost a child needs the space, opportunity, and resources to properly grieve that child.”

To “provide a burial for your child to recover the remains of your child” is “not a partisan issue,” she said. “I believe that is a human issue and something that, if we are serious about honoring life and protecting people, we really do champion and pass this legislation to give closure to so many families around the country.”

Bill sponsors said they have been trying to find a Democratic cosponsor for the bill without success.

“Thereʼs a culture around the issue that doesnʼt allow people to get to the facts. And while you are entitled, certainly, to your own opinion, you are not entitled to your own facts,” Cammack said.

“And the fact is that these are children, these are human beings that have heartbeats, and they deserve the same dignity that a child who was born and has been lost deserves," she said.

“It should be something very simple that every woman, regardless of where you are in the country, what hospital you find yourself in, is given the exact same rights as a woman who is in a state that values and protects life,” she said.

Personal testimonies

“I see tremendous value in women coming together and reaching across the aisle saying, ‘Weʼve all experienced loss in some form or fashion, whether yourself personally or you know someone who has,’” Cammack said.

A briefing by Students for Life Action on May 13 included numerous personal testimonials from women who have been affected by miscarriage and stillbirth who are urging lawmakers to advance the bill.

Sarah Wirtz said: “I could not go to the hospital. I actually waited three days to go to the hospital because I just was trying to research … if I was going to be allowed to have my son," she said. "He had passed away, but I still had him inside of me."

“I knew within at least the medical system, after 20 weeks I was afforded more protection” and “I was absolutely terrified what this meant legally for my baby,” she said.

Wirtz said she was asking: “Would I be given my baby? When I went in to give birth, would they take him from me?”

Wirtz said she risked her own health to spend time finding resources to ensure she was able to keep her sonʼs body. Once she found Heavenʼs Gain Ministries, a Catholic organization that helps families with pregnancy loss, she was told “Youʼre very blessed to be in Ohio,” because state law ensured she had the right to her baby.

“So I went to the hospital, I gave birth to my son Noah, and I was able to bury him,” she said. “But I was also told at the time, if [I] had been in California … I wouldnʼt be afforded the same rights under the law."

“He would have been deemed as his gestational size, which is under 20 weeks, and I wouldnʼt have been guaranteed right to disposition and ... what happened to his body,” she said.

Language of miscarriage

Hawkins also noted the importance of the language when discussing abortion and miscarriage, and ensuring women know the difference and understand the procedures.

“Something we saw in the fall of the Dobbs … was Planned Parenthood intentionally started changing the language around abortion, direct intentional abortion, and they started using the phrase ‘induced miscarriage,’” she said.

“Thatʼs largely because of the invention and the shifting of the abortion industry to the chemical abortion pill, where we know at least 70% of these abortions, that are still killing about a million children a year, are being committed using these pills,” she said.

“The way theyʼre framing these abortions to many young confused women, very scared women, is youʼre just going to ‘induce a miscarriage. Itʼs going to be just like a miscarriage,’” she said.

“We know those are two very different things. And I think apart from the evil of Planned Parenthood killing children and harming women … this is the third greatest evil theyʼve ever committed, which is trying to use the pain and the tragedy of a miscarriage to then justify and try to change the hearts of millions of Americans on their issue, which is the intentional destruction of a human being,” Hawkins said.

A civil action filed by the federal government in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on May 7 names the Diocese of Las Cruces in the eminent domain request.

The filing was made at the request of the Department of Homeland Security. It says it seeks the land “to construct, install, operate, and maintain roads, fencing, vehicle barriers, security lighting, cameras, sensors, and related structures designed to help secure the United States/Mexico border within the state of New Mexico.”

The disputed land is located northwest of El Paso, Texas. Government schematics show an extensive border wall planned for the site.

The government said it would compensate the defendants in the case with just over $183,000. The treasurer of Doña Ana County was also named in the filing.

The Las Cruces Diocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the dispute. But in a court filing on May 8 the diocese said the land seizure would “substantially burden” the religious freedom of both the diocese and “the other faithful who seek to commune with God on diocesan property.”

The disputed land parcel runs along the base of Mount Cristo Rey, the diocese said in its filing. Atop of that mountain is a 29-foot-tall statue of Christ, marking a shrine the diocese said is the “site of annual pilgrimages” that draw thousands to the mountain.

The diocese had earlier told the government that the land seizure would “constitute a significant infringement on religious freedom and the rights of worship” given the religious significance of the site.

The filing asked the court to halt the proceedings until the First Amendment dispute could be fully adjudicated.

“Weʼre in a battle today with the Chinese Communist Party and their authoritarian view, and their view that religion is an opium of the people, something that should be thrown out, discarded, persecuted, stomped on, and killed,” Brownback said at a May 12 event at the Hudson Institute. 

Brownback appeared at the event to promote his book “China’s War on Faith,” co-authored with journalist Michael Arkush.

The book, released May 12, highlights “three genocides” taking place in China against the Tibetan Buddhist, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners, as well as systematic persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

The event comes as U.S. President Donald Trump travels to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Additional speakers included Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow; former Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia; as well as individuals profiled in the book, such as Frances Hui, Hong Kong Foundation policy and advocacy manager; Mihrigul Tursun, a Uyghur woman once detained in Xinjiang; Arjia Rinpoche, Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center director; Falun Gong practitioner Wang Chunyan; and Chinese Christian “Born Again Movement” founder Peter Xu.

“Their stories really merit movies being made about them,” Brownback said. “Itʼs my prayer that this book is the clarion call, is the trumpet sound, into the fight against persecution of people in faith, of all faiths in China, and for us to stand up on American principles against that persecution.”

Brownback lauded the panelists for speaking out about their stories of persecution under the Chinese Communist Party, which he described as “a regime that has killed more of its own people than any other regime in the history of mankind; a regime that is at war with us, whether we realize we are at war with them or not.”

“I hope the president’s trip is very successful,” he said. “The president has done more than any president of modern times to push for religious freedom. He believes the world needs more religion. Thatʼs the direct opposite of what the Chinese Communist Party believes. It believes there should be no religion whatsoever in the world. And those two systems are clashing with each other.”

‘Critical’ international religious freedom post vacant

Brownback told EWTN News “it is critical right now” for Trump to nominate an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a post that has remained vacant since the start of the administration after Trump’s nominee, Mark Walker, saw his confirmation stall in the Senate.

“We need to have that voice and that representation inside the administration and talking about what China is doing, and we need it right now,” he said, adding that he hopes the Trump administration will nominate someone quickly and that the Senate will proceed with a swift confirmation.

“Iʼve talked to a person that theyʼre discussing, I understand, internally, and I think she would be excellent, but I donʼt know if that oneʼs moving forward or not, and Iʼm not at liberty to say,” Brownback said.

Brownback’s remarks come after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urged Trump to fill the position in a statement on May 11.

Makary, who resigned on May 12, drew the ire of the pro-life community throughout his tenure for inaction to reimpose regulations on the abortion pill mifepristone.

Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Kyle Diamantas will serve as the acting commissioner of the FDA until President Donald Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. Some pro-life advocates lamented Diamantas' elevation to acting commissioner, saying he once served as counsel for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando.

Court documents show that while he worked at the Baker Donelson law firm, he was part of the legal team that represented the Planned Parenthood affiliate in a property dispute. He was not an employee of Planned Parenthood, and a Trump administration adviser says it was just an assignment that he eventually backed out of due to moral objections.

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins posted concerns about Diamantas on X, saying: “Quite frankly, this is why our team at Students for Life did not call for Dr. Makary to resign, because I know the FDA is filled with pro-abortion leftists.”

“The new FDA commissioner must be 100% committed to protecting innocent children in the womb AND their mothers,” she said.

Live Action President Lila Rose posted on X that “we cannot allow someone who represented Planned Parenthood to oversee rules surrounding the deadly abortion pill mifepristone that has killed MILLIONS of babies.”

In response to the concerns, Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz said in a post on X that Diamantas was working as a junior associate “but he later removed himself from the case because of his personal beliefs.”

“Kyle is a good man, is pro-life, and he is focused on delivering on President Trump’s promise to MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN,” he said.

Makary’s tenure

During his tenure, Makary faced repeated criticism from pro-life advocates, who are expressing hope that Trump will nominate someone who will take stronger action against abortion.

Makary launched a study in coordination with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to review the safety of the abortion drug mifepristone in September 2025. No action has been taken to restrict the drug, but the FDA did move in the opposite direction by approving a generic version of mifepristone that same month.

The Department of Justice also filed a motion on behalf of the FDA in January asking a federal court to pause a lawsuit from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill that challenged the 2023 deregulation of mifepristone based on claims that it led to harm against residents.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, who has been one of Makaryʼs top critics for months, said on X that “we must return immediately to the [first] Trump administration standard of in-person dispensing to protect women from coercion and abuse and allow the enforcement of pro-life state laws.”

Live Action President Lila Rose similarly rejoiced about Makaryʼs exit, saying: “He tragically continued to allow sending the abortion pill through the mail and approved a new version of the abortion pill.”

“The abortion pill has killed over 7 million preborn American children and harmed countless mothers,” she said and appealed to Trump to appoint a pro-life commissioner who will “ban the abortion pill now!”

Some pro-life senators joined the voices cheering his resignation, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, who called the announcement “welcome news” in a post on X and accused Makary of being “uniquely destructive to the pro-life movement.”

Hawley, who initially supported Makaryʼs nomination in January 2025, has been publicly critical of his leadership since December. In his post, he said Makary “slow walked” the mifepristone review while approving a generic version in spite of safety risks.

The senator called Makary’s resignation “an opportunity for the FDA to reset.”

Sarah Zagorski, senior director of public relations and communications for Americans United for Life, told EWTN News the Trump administration “has the opportunity to demonstrate real moral leadership by appointing a commissioner dedicated to protecting women and girls from the harms associated with abortion drugs” upon Makary’s resignation.

“With these drugs increasingly available online, the risks of coercion, misuse, and medical complications have grown substantially. Strong oversight and patient safety must come first,” she said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, called Makary’s tenure “part of a broader symptom of an administration that has not paid attention to pro-life issues” in a post on X.

“I care deeply about life, and I anticipate the next FDA nominee shall as well,” he said.

Although many pro-life advocates see an opportunity for change, it’s unclear whether their criticisms contributed to Makary’s resignation, considering Trump himself committed during his campaign to ensuring the FDA would not threaten access to the abortion pill.

Trump did not reference the life issue when asked by reporters about Makary’s resignation and declined to say whether he asked him to step down.

“He was having some difficulty,” Trump said. “You know he’s a great doctor and he was having some difficulty, but he’s going to go on and he’s going to do well. We have — everybody wants that job, everybody.”

“My father, his fight, the rights and values that he stands for, and the urgency of his case is one that speaks to a lot of people,“ Claire Lai said in an interview with EWTN News. ”And weʼre just extremely grateful for the people who have taken his case to heart.”

Jimmy Lai, founder and publisher of the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 9 over what Chinese officials claim were national security violations. He has already spent more than five years in detention, much of which was in solitary confinement.

Trump is traveling to Beijing this week to meet with Xi Jinping about numerous topics including trade, Taiwan, and emerging technology issues. He has also said he will raise the release of multiple prisoners including Lai, whose case he  previously brought up to the Chinese president.

The U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote May 12 on a resolution that would condemn the People’s Republic of China for its prosecution and imprisonment of Lai and call for his immediate release. Catholic Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, sponsored the measure.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) jails people to silence their faith, speech, and conscience — and to scare their families here in America and beyond,” Smith said. “The CCP’s unacceptable and unfair practice of politically motivated detention must end.”

The push by lawmakers “absolutely does give more hope,” Claire Lai said. She also noted a May 7 letter to Trump spearheaded by Smith and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, and signed by more than 100 lawmakers “from both sides of the political aisle urging President Trump to bring up my father in the upcoming summit,” she said.

“There were 68 senators, which is over two-thirds of all senators, which we are so incredibly grateful for,” she said. “Someone said once, ‘Whenʼs the last time … two-thirds of senators agreed on anything?’ Itʼs such a privilege, and … we are just so extremely humbled that this is the one thing that they have agreed on.”

“President Trump and his administration have continuously mentioned my father, and they have continuously mentioned their commitment to freeing him,” Claire said. “At least speaking for myself, I am extremely confident that it will be this administration that does secure my fatherʼs freedom.”

Need for a humanitarian release

Lawmakers are urging a humanitarian release as Jimmy Lai’s health continues to worsen. While Claire Lai said her family has “basically stopped” receiving reports on her father and his health, they do “hear things here and there.”

“Heʼs lost weight, he still has heart issues, he still has high blood pressure,” Claire Lai said. It is becoming increasingly urgent as it is “getting close to summer,” as the weather in Hong Kong will reach extremely hot temperatures and humid and wet conditions.

“I heard that itʼs not too hot in Hong Kong yet, but every summer he gets heat rashes and theyʼre … painful red bumps,” she said. He also gets “frequent and pretty severe back pains and waist pains.”

His “infections that last for months are … just another sign of a compromised immune system,” she said. “He has nails starting to fall off. He has teeth that are rotting and just skin that is drying and just a lot, a lot, of things that are … just cascading health issues.”

“In terms of detailed reports — we just havenʼt received those without really any reason since January. Not because we stopped asking; weʼre still asking, but we havenʼt received those,” she said.

The feast of Our Lady of Fátima offers hope ahead of summit

“It would mean so much to have our father back,” Claire Lai said. “I think that tomorrow is when President Trump arrives and itʼs the feast day of Our Lady of Fátima.”

Our Lady of Fátima presented herself to three shepherd children “during the first World War,” Claire Lai explained. “So it was a sign of hope. It was a sign of hope during a time of turmoil.”

“It reminds us of the power of prayer for the conversion of souls and just … that the Blessed Mother appears to the weakest among us. And my father is physically very weak right now,” she said.

Claire Lai also noted an incident when her father fell in the shower while imprisoned, which “happened actually three days right before the feast day of Our Lady of Fátima.” She added: “And he prayed to the Blessed Mother and suddenly he was able to get up again.”

“The Blessed Mother is watching over my father and … she continues to guide us under her mantle,” she said. “This month is dedicated to the Blessed Mother and Iʼm just extremely grateful that in times of doubt, in times where I have thoughts or emotions that I know donʼt come from God, I can turn to her.”

“My fatherʼs trust in the provisions of divine providence has never wavered. So … itʼs a reminder for mine not to either,” she said. “My fatherʼs story isnʼt really one of religious persecution per se, because heʼs not in prison because of his faith, but his faith is a huge driving force of why he had the courage for the things that he did.”

“As his physical conditions got from bad to worse, he came to know … the abundance of Godʼs mercy and Godʼs grace,” she said. “Itʼs something thatʼs almost limitless."

Father Jose Molina, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, was accused of engaging in “improper and inappropriate conversations and communications with minors and adult women,” Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a May 9 letter.

Cupich, in the letter addressed to parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Chicagoʼs Near West Side, said he had sent Molina back to the provincial house of the Institute of the Incarnate Word and had removed Molinaʼs faculties to minister in the archdiocese.

The letter also said the archdiocese has “reported the allegations to civil authorities,” while Molinaʼs accusers were “offered the services of the archdiocese’s Office of Assistance Ministry.”

The archbishopʼs letter did not offer any further details about the allegations against Molina and indicated the investigation was ongoing.

Priest in New Mexico also removed from ministry

A priest in New Mexico was also recently removed from ministry amid allegations of the theft of diocesan records.

In a May 8 letter to parishioners at the Basilica of San Albino, Las Cruces Bishop Peter Baldacchino said Father Chris Williams had been “relieved of all his duties” in the diocese and suspended as pastor of the basilica amid a controversy involving the reported theft of tens of thousands of diocesan files.

The bishop said a civil discovery process revealed that Williams and “certain employees” of the basilica allegedly conspired to steal “over 60,000 private diocesan records,” specifically financial records. The diocese has referred the theft to law enforcement, he said.

The alleged robbery “exposed the diocese and all parishes to a significant risk of misappropriation and theft,” the bishop said.

Williams' brother, Father Michael Williams, would serve as the temporary pastor of the basilica, Baldacchino said, noting he was unable to share further details due to the ongoing investigation.

A housing rule proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could cause families to lose federal housing assistance if some family members lack legal immigration status. Current rules allow families to receive assistance at a prorated rate, with money adjusted based on how many family members are in the country lawfully.

An employment rule proposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would establish a one-year waiting period for asylum seekers to receive work authorization and create stricter eligibility requirements. It also would pause new applications.

Both rules proposed by the Trump administration underwent the required 60-day comment period.

Housing rule

The bishops warned the proposed housing changes could lead to family separation by driving away family members who are in the country unlawfully, fearing the family’s housing assistance would otherwise be lost.

“The proposed rule would require these families to make a heartbreaking choice — endure family separation so that eligible members could continue to qualify for critical subsidized housing programs or stay together and forfeit any housing assistance,” the USCCB public comment states.

“This is a choice no family should be forced to make,” it adds.

For families who do stay together, the bishops warn the rule risks them all losing affordable housing and could drive up homelessness. They also fear unintended consequences, with eligible families being kicked off if they do not have the necessary documents to prove their citizenship or legal status.

“Denying subsidies to eligible individuals because of their membership in a mixed-status family is morally wrong, concerning from a fiscal perspective, and is in conflict with the underlying law,” the statement adds.

“The rule would have grave consequences for families, vulnerable communities, and the organizations that serve them,” it continues. “It will lead to family separation and create unnecessary housing instability amongst eligible applicants and their families.”

The bishops were joined by other Catholic organizations in objecting to the housing rule: the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Employment rule

The bishops argued the proposed employment rule violates the law as written and raises both economic and moral consequences.

“Catholic social teaching affirms the inherent dignity of every human person and the right of individuals to support themselves and their families through work,” the bishops said.

“Policies that deny asylum seekers the ability to meet their basic needs while pursuing protection effectively force individuals into destitution, exploitation, or abandonment of lawful claims,” they said. “Such outcomes are incompatible with the Gospel’s call to welcome the stranger and with long-standing principles of solidarity and the preferential option for the poor.”

The bishops warned the change would negatively impact a vulnerable population that is fleeing hardship and has limited resources. They said asylum seekers are often not eligible for government assistance and must work to provide for themselves.

“The changes … would undermine the common good by disregarding the dignity of work as well as the right of noncitizens to provide for themselves and for their families in a dignified way, subjecting them to an increased risk of exploitation,” they said. “They would also limit asylum seekers’ ability to contribute their God-given gifts and talents for the benefit of the community as a whole.”

There is “no dogma or formal teaching” promulgated by the Church on the question of extraterrestrial life, according to experts, but prominent Catholic scholars and philosophers have contributed to the discussion around the centuries-old question, one that remains unresolved amid intense public interest.

For decades “contactees” have claimed to have encountered alien life either in the form of purported alien spacecraft or direct contact with extraterrestrials themselves. But such sightings and experiences have never been “proven” or confirmed by scientific bodies or governments.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a topic that in more recent decades has been viewed as little more than an esoteric fad, the Church has never pronounced definitively on the topic of UAP and alien phenomena in general.

But Luke Togni, a professor of religious studies at Saint Maryʼs University in Nova Scotia, Canada, said the Churchʼs official silence on the matter is arguably a statement in and of itself.

“You might say that the Church hasn’t pronounced on it through a kind of silence around the topic,” he said. “But it has permitted speculation.”

There are some rare instances in Church history where leaders have briefly touched on the question, Togni said.

He pointed to the Medieval-era Pope Zacharyʼs condemnation of a theory that there could be human life on “another orb,” although Togni said the popeʼs remarks “probably had more to do with a race of humans not descending from Adam” than dispute over alien life in general.

He also noted the 15th-century Pope Pius IIʼs condemnation of a similar theory regarding other humans on “other worlds,” though the dispute again seemed to stem from whether or not the biblical Adam was to be considered the first human being.

Still, the overall debate, particularly in modern times, has never been deemed illicit by the Church, Togni said. “Into the Renaissance and more recent modernity there is a proliferation of speculation about alien life,” he said. “That’s never been condemned.”

The issue is increasingly drawing attention and commentary from Catholic philosophers and experts.

Catholic theologian Paul Thigpen, who passed away in February and who wrote the book "Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith: Are We Alone in the Universe with God and the Angels?", told the National Catholic Register in 2022 that he was “convinced” after years of study that a belief in extraterrestrial intelligence was compatible with the Catholic faith.

“Some Christian theologians of the past have asserted that there can be no intelligent species other than humanity and the angels (fallen and unfallen),” he told the Register.

“But their reasoning was most often flawed by a reliance on certain philosophical or scientific assumptions of ancient pagan philosophers that have proven to be wrong — such as the notion that planet Earth is the center of the universe.”

In 2024 the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame released a documentary examining “the boundaries for Catholic belief” in relation to extraterrestrial theories. The documentary spoke to numerous Catholic academics and researchers, including St. Johnʼs University philosophy professor Marie George.

George in the documentary disputed the belief that God would create a “teeny tiny Ptolemaic universe” as envisioned by thinkers and astronomers of earlier centuries.

“If Godʼs going to create a universe, heʼs going to create a really splendid universe,” she said. “... Itʼs going to be marvelous. Itʼs going to mind-blowing.”

In a May 2025 episode of “The Lila Rose Show,” meanwhile, Father Robert Spitzer — currently president of the Magis Center, which “seeks to answer the conflict of science and faith” through both research and Catholic theology — said that if aliens do exist, and if they meet certain criteria such as self-consciousness, free will, and conscience, then such beings would “have a soul.”

“[If] they would have a soul just like us, then they would be made in the image and likeness of God,” he said while agreeing that such beings would not contradict Scripture.

Diana Pasulka, a writer and professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington — who also appeared in the McGrath Institute documentary — told EWTN News that the Church “has not declared UFOs to be real, false, or anything else.”

“Historically and even recently, prominent Catholics have issued opinions about extraterrestrials, but these are not to be understood as official doctrine or dogma,” she said.

The early Church theologians St. Athanasius and St. Basil were aware of debates regarding the “plurality of worlds” theory, she said, “but they didn’t venture to make any pronouncements about whether these worlds were populated with extraterrestrial life.”

In later centuries some prominent leaders began to speak more directly about the issue. Pasulka pointed to St. Albert the Great, a 13th-century Dominican friar who referred to the “wondrous and noble” question about “whether there is one world or many.”

Around the same time, Parisian Bishop Étienne Tempier affirmed that God could make many worlds if he chose (though the bishop himself believed that Earth was the lone created world).

And the 15th-century Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa challenged the belief that “so many of the stars and parts of the heavens are uninhabited,” arguing instead that “in every region there are inhabitants, differing in nature by rank and all owing their origin to God.”

Both Togni and Pasulka disputed the conspiracy theories that claim the Vatican is hiding evidence of alien life or alien spacecraft. In a recent Substack post, Pasulka wrote: “I have spent most of my career studying Catholic history, and I have worked in the observatory archive myself. I did not encounter a crashed UFO there, and I do not believe the Vatican is hiding one.”

Togni said that for years theorists have speculated on the so-called “Magenta crash,” an alleged incident involving a downed UFO in Italy in 1933 that, according to conspiracy theories, the Vatican helped cover up.

“It does get a little bit sensationalized,” he said with a laugh. There is little evidence that the Vatican is concealing secret alien files, he acknowledged, but “that doesn’t mean there isn’t some level of discussion that hasn’t been held there.”

James Madden, a philosophy professor at Benedictine College who has written at length on the UAP phenomenon, suggested that it should not be assumed by default that aerial phenomena come from extraterrestrial life.

“There are a number of other possible explanations that do not dismiss the reality of what people have claimed to have experienced,” he said, arguing that the issue needs to be “explored with our most sophisticated scientific, philosophical, and maybe even theological tools.”

Madden, a practicing Catholic, said he would “not be surprised at all” if there were “other intelligent species” in the universe, arguing that such a revelation would not seem “troubling for Catholic theology.”

He warned, however, that the traditional Catholic “receptivity to the supernatural” could “render Catholics uniquely vulnerable to be taken in by UFO lore,” even if the lore itself is groundless.

“When someone has long believed in things that most people take as ‘weird,’ there might be a tendency to see other ‘weird’ beliefs entering the cultural mainstream as a kind of confirmation,” he said. “That could leave Catholics liable to accepting certain claims without fully exploring all the possibilities or really criticizing the evidence.”

Togni himself said he believes it is “not an impossibility” that intelligent life exists elsewhere, though he said he may hold that belief “just because I was a sci-fi kid.”

He admitted that itʼs been difficult to get the Church engaged on the question in a “measured, open way.”

“The Church should say: ‘This is something that is being thought about,’” he said. Amid ongoing public interest, he added: “I think weʼll see more and more conversation arise on this.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. government said in a press release Monday that the Trump administration was “focused on providing maximum transparency to the public, who can ultimately make up their own minds about the information contained in these files.”

Linda Carl spoke about the dangers of yoga and her newest book, “Yoga Unveiled: My Spiritual Journey from Darkness to Light," at a May 11 discussion at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C.

As a stay-at-home mom, Carl began to take yoga classes and eventually became a certified instructor. The practice led her into the chakras and Reiki, which “are New Age modalities” that claim to be energy healing techniques.

For nearly 20 years, much of Carl’s life revolved around yoga and other New Age philosophies. She taught yoga, practiced it, and promoted it, but after prayer and discernment, and an encounter with the devil, Carl said she left the practice entirely.

“I got swooped into the seduction, and it wasnʼt until I fully removed myself from yoga that I was able to even begin to understand what I was deeply involved in,” Carl said.

Yoga is “a fairly controversial issue, so I think when we armor ourselves, or when we arm ourselves with information, that helps us tell the truth,” Carl said. “Even priests and religious donʼt necessarily know or understand … yogaʼs dangers.”

In order to “arm” people, Carl drew from years of research, personal experience, Scripture, and the words of Hindu teachers themselves to write her book. The book explores how yoga’s postures, mantras, breathing practices, and techniques are not neutral but are acts of devotion to other gods.

The book draws “a side-by-side comparison ... of what yoga beliefs are and what Christian or Catholic beliefs are, and theyʼre very, very different,” Carl said.

What is yoga?

While many people practice and recommend yoga, Carl said many donʼt know exactly what it is or the meaning behind it. She posed the questions: “What is yoga?” and “Where did it come from?"

“Yoga is done in the language of Sanskrit,” she said. In Sanskrit, “yoga actually means to yoke or to unite. So what youʼre yoking to is not the Judeo-Christian God but the Hindu god Brahman. Brahman is their main god."

“Itʼs not the God revealed in the Bible. And Scripture cautions us not to be yoked to unbelievers. Christians, on the other hand, yoke to Christ,” she said.

“Yoga is actually a Hindu spirituality, which makes it an occult practice, and anything of the occult opens the door to Satan and evil spirits,” she said. “We learned in the very beginning of the Bible that in the garden, Satan was present but hidden. Itʼs really no different in yoga.”

“Yoga is not really what most people think,” Carl said. There are “four major Hindu scriptures, and … one of them, the Vedas, provides all liturgical sequences for their worship, and yoga is in there. So yoga is essentially a worship of their gods.”

“The moves that were created through this liturgical process were intended to honor and venerate Hindu gods and to adore them,” she said. “And we know that Hindu gods are not real. We know that demons hide behind Hindu gods. So yoga, through its practice, through doing it, youʼre opening a door to those demonic entities that hide behind,” Carl said.

Yoga is also “a gateway to the New Age,” including “crystals, numerology, astrology, channeling,” Carl said. “The New Age is an ideology that essentially replaces religion, which essentially replaces God.”

Yoga ‘misleading’ Christians

Carl warned that it is easy to enter into the darkness of yoga because terminology and actions can be “confusing or misleading.”

“When I would go to my teacher trainings, we learned everything in Sanskrit — the postures, the invocations,“ she said. Often in the trainings, ”nobody takes the time to tell you what the translation is or to tell you what it means.”

She gave the example of breaking in yoga, which is “an important component.”

“Itʼs called Ujjayi breath. Ujjayi means snake,” Carl said. “We were never told that. So the first type of yoga that I practiced was Kundalini. Kundalini is one of the most dangerous types of yoga. Kundalini is said to be an energy that resides at the base of your spine in the form of a serpent. We know who the serpent is, right?”

Carl further discussed a book she read on Kundalini that “talks about G-O-D,” which she believed to mean God. Carl said: "Well, itʼs generator, oppressor, and destroyer, and those are three main Hindu gods, and those are what they do. So itʼs not God as we know, itʼs a different god.”

“In yoga, they talk about the universe,” Carl said. “But thatʼs not God. People mistake the universe with God. God created the universe, but God is not the universe.”

In training they also “talk about the spirit,” Carl said. “Well, itʼs the snake spirit, not the Holy Spirit … So these kinds of things become confusing or misleading to people who are not well catechized.”

"Spirituality has to be tethered to something, and if itʼs not tethered to God, then itʼs tethered to something not of God, and thatʼs where the dangers come in,” Carl said. “So we have to be really careful when we think about that. As Catholics, we know and we believe that everything comes from God. God is the source of all, everything, all good, all challenges in our life.”

“In his encyclical instituting the solemnity of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI, drawing on the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, commended the pious custom of consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a way to recognize the kingship of Christ,” Sample said in the May 8 video message explaining the devotion.

“By celebrating this important national anniversary with this devotion, we have the opportunity to encourage all Catholics to honor Our Lord and to infuse the spirit of the Gospel into various communities and departments of life,” Sample said.

Sample’s message comes ahead of America’s 250th anniversary and after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted on Nov. 11, 2025, at the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The consecration will take place on June 11, according to the USCCB, which has released resources for local parishes across the U.S. to participate in the consecration in both English and Spanish.

“Devotion to the Sacred Heart has developed over the centuries following the experiences of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the apparitions she witnessed in the 17th century,” he said, highlighting several popes, including Pope Leo XIII, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV, who have “lauded” the devotion.

“As we reflect with gratitude on the blessings God has bestowed on our country, our devotion to the Sacred Heart demands that we consider how we might foster truth, justice, and charity in American life. We are called to bring our faith into the actions we take and the lives we lead in our communities,” Sample said. “This anniversary and consecration gives us a special opportunity to promote the beautiful devotion to the Sacred Heart and to encourage the laity to offer their lives in service to God and their country.”

Justice Samuel Alitoʼs order on May 11 extended access to the abortion pill mifepristone until at least 5 p.m. ET May 14 while the court considers next steps.

The drug will continue to be available at pharmacies or through mail, and it can be obtained without an in-person visit to a doctor.

The order follows the May 4 decision by the Supreme Court to temporarily block a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Alito to issue an administrative stay that restored mail‑order access until May 11.

The deadline prompted the extension as the court continues to weigh its decision, which could bring another extension, allow the restrictions to take effect, or prompt the justices to take up the case in full.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a review of the abortion drug mifepristone in May 2025, which is ongoing. Activists, lawmakers, and state attorneys general have also been calling on the FDA to do a safety review of the drug, citing severe risks to women’s health.

Medication abortions, which rely on mifepristone and misoprostol, accounted for 63% of U.S. abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The number of actual abortions might be higher due to underreporting, according to the organization, which was affiliated with Planned Parenthood until 2007.

“Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times greater than surgical abortion,” according to one study. Another report found that medication abortion complications are often underreported or misclassified.

A recent study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center also highlighted the dangers of lifting the requirement for an in-person visit with a doctor. It found that the removal of in-person visits led to an increase in adverse effects for women having drug-induced abortions.

Trump is set to travel to Beijing May 13–15 with a focus on trade, Taiwan, the Iran conflict, and emerging technology issues. Trump said the release of Lai, the jailed Catholic media tycoon and democracy advocate, also will be brought up.

"Jimmy Lai, he caused lots of turmoil for China,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office on May 11. “He tried to do the right thing, he wasn’t successful, went to jail, and people would like him out, and I’d like to see him get out too, so I’ll bring him up again. I have brought him up.”

Trump said asking the Chinese president to release Lai would be akin to Xi Jinping asking him to release indicted former FBI Director James Comey if he was imprisoned. Comey was indicted on April 28 by a federal grand jury in North Carolina for posting seashells on Instagram arranged to show “86 47,” which prosecutors claim is a threat to kill or harm the president.

“Itʼs like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ This might be a hard one for me,” Trump said. “Because he’s a dirty cop. But Jimmy isn’t that way.”

Lai “caused a lot of bedlam” and “turmoil” for China, Trump said.

More than 100 U.S. lawmakers have urged Trump to prioritize Lai’s release on humanitarian grounds due to his failing health in prison. Lai was charged with violations of Hong Kong’s national security law and sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 9.

“There’s another gentleman, a pastor, as you know, with a beautiful daughter and son-in-law that would like to see him get out,” Trump said, referencing Jin.

Trump has previously vowed to raise both Lai and Jin’s cases.

Families, advocates rally

Frances Hui, policy and advocacy manager at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, was the primary speaker at a rally May 11 near the White House co-hosted by the Luke Alliance, the International Campaign for Tibet, the Campaign for Uyghurs, and the Uyghur Human Rights Project. She described to EWTN News the stakes of Trump’s upcoming visit.

“In a matter of days, President Trump will get on a plane and go to China, and this will be the first time that he meets Xi Jinping after Jimmy Lai gets sentenced to 20 years in prison, and actually the first time in this presidency,” she said. “So, it’s an important trip.”

“There are so many hundreds and thousands of Christians in China being imprisoned for their faith,” she said, highlighting other religious minorities including Muslims and other “ethnic communities that are being imprisoned simply for holding their faith.”

“So, we are here to just call their names, say their names, and remind President Trump this is the time to turn his commitment into action,” she said.

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Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, also rallied outside the White House.

In her remarks, delivered in the pouring rain, Drexel thanked Trump for previously pledging to take up her father’s cause and reiterated calls for him to advocate for her father’s release alongside other political prisoners.

“My father, Pastor Ezra Jin, has been detained for more than 200 days today,” Drexel told EWTN News after the event. “We hope and pray that with this trip, upcoming summit, that my father will be able to rejoin his family members in the U.S. as soon as possible. We pray for a miracle.”

“We hope that the president will be able to bring back my father,” she said.

Gao Pu, son of detained Chinese pastor Gao Quanfu, and his wife, Pang Yu, also delivered remarks at the rally on his parents’ behalf. The Chinese government detained Pu’s father on May 17, 2025, and his mother less than a month later on June 7.

Pu said the Chinese government detained his parents “simply because they’re Christians.”

“My father’s church has been around for 40 years. It’s one of the most influential underground house churches across the country,” he said. “And my mom, just because she’s the pastor’s wife, she also got detained as well.”

Pu said his mother was initially charged with “using superstition to undermine the implementation of the law” but that in early January, his parents’ cases were both submitted separately to the Chinese courts as “fraud.”

“They’re treating donations and tithes and all that stuff as illegitimate because the church refuses to conform to their rules,” he said, noting that their cases have seen continuous delays. “Less than a month ago their case was delayed again, so we’re looking at mid- to late-July.”

Pu said the Chinese government has been “attacking” his parents’ lawyers. “So many lawyers had their licenses either revoked or suspended,” he said, noting his mother has had three separate lawyers.

“Given the overall situation that, you know, the political environment in China, it is actually very difficult to find lawyers who are actually still willing to take on cases like this because their own livelihood could also be at risk,” Pu said.

Pu said his father and Jin had both shared the same lawyer, Zhang Kai, whom he described as “a famous Christian lawyer who is known for defending cases like this.”

“His whole firm just got basically dissolved because he chose to defend my dad and also Pastor Ezra Jin.”

Members of Congress including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon; Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan; and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, also sent statements to be read at the rally.

“After consulting the Council of Priests, Most Rev. Bruce A. Lewandowski, CSsR, bishop of Providence, approved the requests of the pastors, trustees, and finance councils of several parishes in the Diocese of Providence,” read a statement from the diocese issued May 11.

St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Warren will merge into St. Mary of the Bay Parish, but the St. Thomas building will remain open as a worship site.

“Declining Mass attendance, limited sacramental activity, and the dearth of parish activities indicated the broader mission for which these parishes were established demands a new configuration to better meet the needs of the Catholic faithful in Warren,” the statement read.

In East Providence, St. Brendan Parish and St. Martha Parish will merge into a combined “Sts. Brendan and Martha Parish,” though both current worship sites will remain part of the newly created parish.

In a statement to EWTN News, Michael Lavigne, Diocese of Providence secretary for evangelization and pastoral planning, said the merging of “SS. Brendan and Martha is a good news story in that they have been working together with a shared pastor for three years and collectively came to the conclusion they would be stronger together for mission if they merged.”

“St. Thomas was a struggling Portuguese parish that will now be anchored within a vibrant parish,” he said.

Additionally, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church, which was established as a quasi-parish in 2008 by Bishop Thomas Tobin, has been “canonically suppressed” due to limited Mass attendance and sacramental activity following the retirement of its priest-administrator.

Lavigne said the diocese will “try to repurpose the property for mission.”

The diocese says sacramental records from St. Kateri’s will be “faithfully maintained” by St. Bernard Parish.

Lavigne said the diocese is “trying to answer: ‘What is God calling us to do in each area ... so that we are serving the Churchʼs mission more faithfully and effectively?’”

Citing "a shortage of available priests and deteriorating buildings and resources," he said "the mission remains the same: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our brothers and sisters throughout Rhode Island.”

Michael Kieloch, director of communications and public relations for the Diocese of Providence, told EWTN News: “These changes to parish structures ... will result in stronger parishes built for mission and growth."

“It is not so much a factor of decline but rather populations have shifted and some apostolates come and go with time yet the Church’s mission remains strong,” Kieloch said.

"The Diocese of Providence recently saw a significant increase in people entering the Church at this year’s Easter Vigil, and we see across many parishes the growth in young people and young families. We will continue to evaluate how and where best to shift the Church’s resources to be where there is growth and need,” he added.

According to an HHS news release, the website is meant to help families manage pregnancies in a healthy way and explain resources available to expectant parents navigating unexpected or otherwise difficult pregnancies. It includes information on nutrition recommendations, healthcare options, and dangers about substance abuse.

The website is part of broader efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration on fertility. The website does not reference in vitro fertilization (IVF), while the Labor Department proposed regulations May 10 to expand health insurance coverage options to IVF.

“This Motherʼs Day, the Trump administration is strengthening its commitment to Americaʼs families by equipping mothers and fathers with the resources and information they need to build healthy, prosperous lives,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a news release.

“Moms.gov delivers critical tools and support to help parents foster healthy pregnancies, strengthen young families, and create brighter futures for their children,” he said. “This is how you make America healthy again.”

The website directs people to PRCs, which often offer pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, classes for childbirth, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and support for parenting and supplies for childcare. These organizations oppose abortion.

It also directs people to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which offer healthcare to low-income Americans. Most do not perform abortion, but many do provide contraceptives and are not ideologically opposed to abortion.

The website links to dietary guidelines for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children. It offers information on breastfeeding and how health conditions could affect pregnancy along with resources on mental health. It provides information about federal savings accounts available for children and information on low prices for prescription drugs.

Additional information on the website provides resources to fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), which are designed to help women recognize signs of health conditions that could be causing difficulties for getting pregnant.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told EWTN News the website “seems to be a creative use of government resources that strives to provide potentially useful information on a range of issues relevant to those who are pregnant or interesting in starting a family."

He said it “largely avoids direct promotion of abortion, contraception, and in vitro fertilization, though it does link to certain outside CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] website resources that promote condoms, spermicides, sterilization, and other forms of contraception.”

“Still, it is refreshing to see a government-curated website mentioning fertility awareness-based methods as a way of promoting preconception health and assisting in situations of apparent infertility,” Pacholczyk said.

Dr. Monique Yohanan, director of the Center of Better Health at Independent Women and a medical doctor, told EWTN News she thinks the website is about “supporting pregnancy, supporting women in a holistic way” and “about supporting parenthood, supporting life.”

She noted that many of the resources refer people to information that is available elsewhere but that the website “does put it all together in a single place” and refers them to “practical help.”

“This is about offering real choice for women,” Yohanan said. “Real choice means real support.”

IVF rule proposal

The Labor Department separately announced a proposed rule that would create a category of limited excepted benefits that covers fertility-related healthcare, including IVF.

The proposed rule — which is undergoing the mandatory 60-day comment period — does not impose any mandates but instead creates more options for employers to provide coverage for IVF and other fertility-related treatments.

Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill to require IVF coverage in insurance plans offered by employers, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly spoke out against. Supporters of the bill claim that existing religious freedom exemptions would apply, but opponents warn that such exemptions are not expressly stated in the bill.

The Catholic Church opposes IVF because it separates fertilization from the marital act and results in the destruction of millions of human embryos that are never implanted.

In 2023 Helsel’s daughter, Mary Catherine, was stillborn. The experience and grief was ultimately “a huge catalyst to me going back to school,” Helsel told EWTN News.

“I think death has an interesting way of snapping your priorities in line,” she said. “And through the death of our daughter, I understood that tomorrow was not promised. And I had been holding this dream very closely for 17 years, just trusting,” she said.

“Much of my healing process after the stillbirth of our daughter was helped along by solid Catholic counseling,” she said. “So I just felt a whisper at first, and then I felt like, ‘I can turn around and be this for someone else in need.’ And so I did.”

Path back to school

A native of Arizona, Helsel met her now-husband, Doug, in high school. She then attended Northern Arizona University to receive a bachelorʼs degree in psychology with the hopes of becoming a counselor, but motherhood ultimately became her first priority.

“My firstborn … was born during finals week of my bachelorʼs degree,” Helsel said. “I actually had a positive pregnancy test the day before I was scheduled to take the GRE [Graduate Record Examination].”

“I just knew that motherhood was the priority and that Godʼs timing would take care of things. So I stayed at home,” she said.

Helsel decided to put her plans of working as a counselor on the side and focus on her growing family. She and her husband had seven children over the next 17 years, but after the loss of their sixth child she felt called to switch her plans and return to school.

“We just started taking one step in front of the other,” she said. Helsel started by applying to the University of Mary’s master’s program for counseling about six months after her daughter’s passing but was thrown an unexpected “curveball” during the process.

“On the feast of the Annunciation, I got in. But then I also had a positive pregnancy test with my daughter, Isabel, on the very same day.”

“I remember standing in the bathroom with my husband with my phone in one hand with an acceptance letter, and on the counter was a positive pregnancy test with our seventh baby.”

Motherhood provided ‘the skills to be a fantastic student’

Despite navigating grief, welcoming a new baby, and continuing to care for the rest of her family, Helsel not only decided to return to school but also opted for a five-semester accelerated program.

She graduated on April 25 with a 4.0 GPA and her whole family by her side. It was all possible not in spite of her 17 years as a stay-at-home mom but because of the experience.

“I actually think that motherhood, 17 years of motherhood, gave me the skills to be a fantastic student,” she said. “I learned time management. I learned prioritization. I learned how to ask for help. I learned all kinds of things in the trenches of motherhood that gave me the opportunity to really thrive at UMary.”

“I guess the loss of my daughter really showed me that like all things are ‘figure-out-able,’” she said. “When youʼve gone through something like that, it makes you unafraid to do really big things.”

“I knew that I could just cannonball into the deep end and we could do this. And my husband was an amazing support throughout the program. But, Isabel was the curveball of all curveballs,” she said.

“She was born during Christmas break and I just jumped back in in January. I didnʼt take any time off,” she said. "I would be in a rocking chair breastfeeding her, and my laptop is sitting next to me and Iʼm listening to a lecture.”

“I became a pro at using the dictation tool on Microsoft Word” so “I could hold my baby and dictate a paper,” she said. “It was just a really wild time. I learned to be extremely flexible and gentle with myself ... But I just knew God was like, ‘go, go right now.’”

“It was super bumpy at some points,“ she said. ”But I chose the University of Mary because I feel like [University of Mary president] Monsignor [James] Shea and the university really put their money where their mouth is in terms of supporting nontraditional students — especially mothers.”

“All of my professors were extremely accommodating with extensions if I needed one. A few professors gave me early finals because Isabel was born right at the end of that first semester,” she said. “So the University of Mary was really crucial to my success because everyone was behind me.”

Helsel noted that her professors, especially counseling professor Olivia Wedel, and other facility members and students were champions in cheering her “all the way to the finish line.”

Waddell “would always remind me that ‘Iʼm surrounded by support,’” Helsel said. “When youʼre super tired and youʼre on your fourth Crock-Pot meal of the week and you donʼt have anymore bandwidth left, I just thought, ‘I am surrounded by support.’”

“Jesus is real and his promises are too,” Helsel said. “I just remember really having to trust the Lord in a new way and also having to be very open to my dream not looking exactly like I wanted.”

“So yes, I went back to school and I got a masterʼs degree, but it looked absolutely nothing like I thought it was going to, but it was also better, just like he had promised me.”

“Your dreams matter to him,“ she said. ”Trust him, and especially Our Lady, with your dreams. Because he wants both. He wants your motherhood and your dreams.”

Catholic counseling offers ‘the keys to real human flourishing’

Officially a licensed counselor, Helsel is ready to jump in headfirst to help others in need by utilizing the guidance offered by the Catholic Church.

“I believe very deeply that the Catholic Church has the keys to real human flourishing,” she said. “So I knew I wanted to become a mental health professional with those guardrails in place, because I benefited so much from Catholic counseling.”

“I want to turn back around and help the next woman or couple or … anyone in line that needs to hear the good news, coupled with solid mental health formation. Like St. Thomas Aquinas says, ‘faith and reason.’ We need both.”

With her “perinatal mental health training,” Helsel hopes to primarily work in the womenʼs health category “to support other women, pregnant women, postpartum women,” she said. “And obviously I have a love for people who may have lost a child in a particular way.”

Helsel is interested in helping those discerning vocations, as her oldest son plans to apply to the priesthood. She is also hoping to support the vocation of marriage as it is “under a particular attack at this time.”

To accomplish all of this, Helsel has already started her own private practice called Concordia Counseling.

“I chose Concordia because Mary Catherine had a congenital heart condition,” she said. “Concordia means heart to heart or to bring two hearts into harmony. I wanted to honor my baby in heaven and Our Lord with my work. And so I started Concordia Counseling.”

“Iʼm just getting it started. I have a caseload of about 10 clients, but Iʼm hoping to accept more,“ Helsel said. ”I know that the work I want to do most of all involves not just mental health but the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

“I just think the framework needs to be formed properly, and that is the Catholic understanding of the whole person. And from there we can jump off anywhere,” she said.

Michael New, assistant professor of social research at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 8: “The Supreme Court may extend the stay if they need more time to deliberate; they may simply uphold the 5th Circuit Courtʼs decision that bans tele-abortion, and the ban will go into effect; or they may want to do a full hearing [and] conduct oral arguments.”

The Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Justice Samuel Alito to issue an administrative stay that restores mail‑order access until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET while the court weighs the request.

Although Alito instructed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the state of Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on May 7, the Justice Department failed to do so.

New described the development as “odd,” saying the failure by the Justice Department, which represents the FDA, to meet the filing deadline could be that “they don’t want to defend the FDA’s position any longer” or that it may signal a policy change.

“Sometimes when people think theyʼre going to lose a case, they change public policy because theyʼd rather change policy than, you know, lose a court case,” New said. “Itʼs really hard to say at this point.”

Ultimately, New said the Supreme Court should “absolutely” reinstate in-person requirements to obtain abortion pills, saying: “Thereʼs some real serious public health issues at play here.”

Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino gave context for the latest developments in a May 7 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noting that the FDAʼs ongoing approval of nationwide mail-order abortion effectively circumvents Louisiana law protecting unborn human life.

“The court should decide hopefully by the 11th, because thatʼs when the stay expires,” she said. “If they donʼt make any decision, then the 5th Circuit ruling goes back into effect and the FDA will have to disallow mailing of these pills, at least during the pendency of litigation,” said Severino, who is also a former Supreme Court clerk.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to carry out a review of the abortion drug in May 2025, which is still ongoing.

Ultimately, Severino said, the Supreme Court will not be ruling on “what the FDA needs to do at the end of the day” but on whether abortion drugs will be allowed to be mailed into Louisiana or not.

“Eventually, you know, then itʼs going to go back and the district court and the 5th Circuit are going to have to reconsider it,” she said. “It could well return to the Supreme Court ultimately, but thatʼs going to be a ways down the litigation.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out against the dangers of mail-order abortion drugs for women and urged the FDA to restore in-person visits to screen for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies as well as abuse and human trafficking.

Lai, founder and publisher of the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 9 over what Chinese officials claim were national security violations. The sentencing followed Lai’s conviction, which ended what Lai’s defenders described as a politically motivated show trial.

In October 2025, Trump spoke with Xi Jinping about Lai. In the letter sent to the White House on May 8, lawmakers urged Trump to advocate for Lai again by asking for his humanitarian release.

Catholic Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, both longtime advocates of Laiʼs, circulated the bipartisan letter that was signed by 105 other members of Congress.

“We know the president wants to do this,” Smith said in a May 8 interview with “EWTN News Nightly." “We want him to know — President Trump — that weʼre solidly behind him about what he might be able to accomplish.”

“And he could use that, frankly, more effectively, with Xi Jinping, and say, ‘Look, donʼt just do it for the executive branch. The legislative branch is asking you, as well, from a humanitarian point of view,’” Smith said.

The president has “an ability to persuade” like “no other president Iʼve ever known,” Smith said. “And I hope he can persuade Xi Jinping to let this great man go.”

The letter notes that Trump’s “direct engagement is critical to securing Mr. Laiʼs immediate release on humanitarian parole” and the case for his freedom “is urgent and undeniable.”

“He is a devout Catholic and successful entrepreneur who has already spent five years in detention, much of it in solitary confinement,” lawmakers wrote.

“His family, his friends, and supporters have indicated that if he is released, he will leave Hong Kong and withdraw from public life,” they wrote. “It is a clear, practical path forward that reunites a family and prevents this case from becoming an irreversible tragedy — and an enduring symbol of repression that will echo far beyond Hong Kong.”

Lai’s ‘deteriorating health’

The group is calling for a humanitarian release due to Lai’s “deteriorating health condition.” They wrote: “His health has declined in custody, and prolonged isolation and inadequate prison conditions only increase the risk of permanent harm.”

“From a humanitarian point of view, weʼre hoping the president will look Xi Jinping in the eyes and say, ‘Let this guy go. Do it now. Itʼs a good gesture. It means a lot to us as Americans,’” Smith said.

“Jimmy Lai spoke truth to power. He did it with grace, eloquence,” Smith said. “His newspaper … was just a beacon of hope and [truth], and for that, heʼs got a life sentence — 20 years. Heʼs 78. Itʼs probably a life sentence, and heʼs very sick.”

“Iʼm very concerned,” Smith said. “Weʼve known for decades that when somebody is a political prisoner, and thatʼs what Jimmy Lai is, or religious prisoner, and you get sick, they let you die. They do not attend to your needs.”

Lai “has a number of very serious ailments,” Smith said. “Type 2 diabetes is just one of them. Heʼs got a lot of other problems, and they all are compounding, cascading. He needs good medical attention, and he needs it now.”

“Otherwise itʼll be a blight on the Chinese Communist Party added to the other blights that theyʼve accumulated over the years. But break that mold of letting people just die in prison through neglect,” Smith said.

“No one can do it better than Trump, and I think he will,” Smith said. “And if it does fail, it wonʼt be on Trumpʼs back. Itʼll be, sadly, that Xi Jinping again has decided to stay with being cruel.”

Saphier, a radiologist who specializes in treating breast cancer, earned her medical degree and completed a Mayo Clinic fellowship after giving birth to her son in high school.

Saphier, a practicing Catholic, has shared that she had a deep connection to her Catholic faith while she was pregnant as a teen, even though she faced many challenges because she kept her son, even being asked to stop attending the teen Mass in her area.

“I lost a lot of friends when I made the decision to have the baby,” she recalled in a CBN News interview about her pregnancy.

“I was reading my teen Bible a ton during that time and I was trying to draw strength from my Bible,” Saphier said.

Her son would go on to be present at all of her graduation ceremonies going forward, and as an adult, went to flight school.

The announcement came at the end of April after Trump announced he was withdrawing the nomination of Dr. Casey Means, whom many pro-life activists saw as not solid on pro-life issues.

Live Action President and Founder Lila Rose celebrated Saphier in a post on X after the appointment, calling her “inspiring.”

The National Right to Life Committee called Saphier an “excellent choice,” noting that her story makes the appointment “especially meaningful.”

Spokesperson Raimundo Rojas noted how Saphier “has spoken openly about the fear, uncertainty, judgment, and pressure that surrounded that moment [pregnancy].”

“Many young women in that situation hear one message from the culture: abortion will fix this. Motherhood will ruin your future. Your child stands between you and your dreams,” Rojas said. “Dr. Saphier chose life. She chose her son. She chose courage. She chose what the culture deems the harder road, and that road did not destroy her future. It helped shape it.”

Oklahoma criminalizes distribution of abortion drugs

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill that criminalizes the distribution of abortion drugs in the state.

The law makes it a felony to provide abortion drugs to women knowing they are seeking abortion. Violators may be fined up to $100,000 and/or receive 10 years in prison.

The law does not apply to drugs used to treat ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.

The measure, authored by state Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, and state Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, will go into effect 90 days after lawmakers end the legislative session.

Oklahoma law protects unborn children from abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with an exception if the mother’s life is at risk.

Kentucky judge strikes down state’s definition of unborn children as human beings

A circuit court struck down part of Kentucky’s pro-life law that defined human life as beginning at conception.

The law had defined a human being as “an individual living member of the species homo sapiens throughout the entire embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child from fertilization to full gestation and childbirth.”

The case is related to the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Because of the judge’s ruling, unborn babies will no longer be considered human beings and IVF will no longer be in a legal gray area in the state.

IVF is a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb. To maximize efficiency, doctors create excess human embryos and routinely destroy undesired embryos.

Sister Paesie was born Claire Joelle Phillipe in Lorraine, France. Raised in a faith-filled Catholic home, she felt called to religious life at a young age.

Inspired by Mother Teresa’s dedication to serving those most in need, Sister Paesie was drawn to the Missionaries of Charity. With a strong desire to spend her life loving Jesus through loving the poor, she made her final vows in 1996.

Sister Paesie chose her name in connection to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and a woman who showed great repentance. In St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s autobiography, “Story of a Soul,” “she refers to a woman who was known as a sinner and who converted and died of love,” Sister Paesie said. The woman, known as Paesie, was detailed in “the lives of the fathers of the desert,” which tells her story of repentance and salvation.

After various missions around the world, Sister Paesieʼs service as a Missionary of Charity took her to Haiti in 1999, where she worked for several years.

“I had been a Missionary of Charity … for about 30 years, but in 2017, I founded a new community under the bishop of Port-au-Prince,” Sister Paesie told EWTN News during a recent visit to the U.S. “My inspiration for that actually came from Mother Teresa, from one of her visions she had before founding the Missionaries of Charity: She saw Jesus on the cross showing her a group of children in the dark. Then Jesus told her, ‘Do you see those children? They do not love me because they do not know me. So go bring my light to them.'”

Sister Paesie continued: “When I was in Haiti … I saw all the children wandering about in the streets. These words of Jesus really came back to me strongly, and I felt the Lord was asking me to do something to protect them from the dangers of the streets, and then to bring his light to them.”

“I spoke about it with the bishop, and he encouraged me,” she said.

Sister Paesie left the Missionaries of Charity to begin the Kizito Family, a religious community named in honor of St. Kizito, a 14-year-old Ugandan martyr known as a protector of children, especially those facing danger, moral trials, and educational challenges.

On June 3, 2018, the Kizito Family received approval from the archbishop of Port-au-Prince as a pious association of the faithful — the first step in establishing a religious community at the diocesan level.

Sister Paesie then established the Kizito Family as a nonprofit organization to begin her ministry. Today, it runs seven houses for orphaned, abandoned, and in need children as well as eight schools and numerous centers to provide education and catechism in Cité Soleil, Haitiʼs biggest and most notorious slum.

Combating the ‘chaos’ in Haiti

Sister Paesieʼs mission has become even more dire as the state of the nation “has been … sinking deeper and deeper into chaos on the political level,” she said.

Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Children suffer from cholera without clean water to drink, and nearly 2 million people face emergency levels of hunger. Conflict and natural disasters have displaced approximately 1.4 million people — over half of them are children.

Many children are used to perpetual gang violence; they are trafficked and are victims of daily assaults. Grave violations against children surged 490% between 2023 and 2024, according to a World Vision report.

“The gangs are just becoming stronger and stronger as time goes by,“ Sister Paesie said. ”The gang violence before was limited to the slum areas. But then they began attacking and taking over other areas of the country [and] of the city … which had been peaceful places before.”

The gangs “burn houses, they kill people, they rape women. And people, they just run away and then they donʼt come back because the gang members settle there. They just steal everything from the houses, from the shops. And then after a while, they go attack another place," Sister Paesie said.

“On Easter Sunday, there was a little Protestant church in the countryside which was attacked and everyone was killed in that church. It was 80 people — women, children. And then they burnt it.”

While Sister Paesie was traveling in the U.S. in April, the area where her organizationʼs homes and schools are located fell under attack.

“My staff members … called me and we had to remove all the children from there because they were scared. They went over to another place. So this is going on, all the time,” she said. “I spoke to some of my teachers, and they told me for a week they had been locked inside the house because the gang members just told people, ‘Donʼt come out.’”

“They are ruling, they are deciding everything,” she said. “So this is the dark side of it. But there are other sides also.”

Offering children ‘a safe place’

Despite the increasing violence, Sister Paesie, other sisters, and staff members remain committed to their mission.

In the Kizito Family schools, there are 3,000 children, 1,700 of whom attend school daily, and 1,000 are in the Sunday schools and catechism centers. The schools offer much more than education but are primarily for safety and to ensure the children receive meals.

“We have our teachers [who] are local staff members,” she said. “They are young people who live there — right there in the slum area.”

“This is what makes it possible for the schools to operate even when there is violence because they are ... not far from the schools. We have 210 staff members altogether — teachers, cooks, drivers, all kinds of people, all Haitians.”

The Kizito Family also prioritizes guiding the children to the faith by providing catechism to 800 children and ensuring they are able to receive the sacraments. They often spend time offering prayer intentions and visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

“The country was largely Catholic, because it had been a French colony. But then, like 40 years back, the evangelicals began coming down a lot from the United States and converting many people. So now itʼs maybe half and half," Sister Paesie said.

She said itʼs very important to instill the Catholic faith in the children to combat the practice of voodoo, which is common in the nation. “There are people who are Christians and donʼt practice voodoo at all, but many people are kind of one leg in both sides.”

Full-time care

The Kizoto Family staff cares for another 200 children who live with them in the homes full time. They “are kids who were completely on the streets, cut off from their families, or orphans,” Sister Paesie said.

“The adoption process has been nearly stopped completely … because of the violence and because [of] the high level of corruption,“ she said. ”So most countries have just decided to stop.”

“The children who are with us, they are mostly bigger children because they had been on the streets and then they came to us,” she said. But “now, in the last few months, we did receive little ones.”

“We have a group of them, 2 to 6 years old. Most of their parents have been killed in these gang attacks, or some [of] their moms died in childbirth because … the women are not eating properly.”

“So those little ones actually could be adopted, but the situation of the country now is such chaos that you cannot really think of adoption right now.”

Despite adoption being currently closed, the children still receive love and care each day. With the Kizito Family, children in Cité Soleil are able to play, laugh, and worship with a community, Sister Paesie said. Even amid the mayhem, they sense God’s presence, which offers “joy.” What they really need, Sister Paesie said, are prayers.

“We see all these Catholic communities that are separated from each other, and so the idea behind the happy hour is to bring as many of them as we can in one room and to build that community,” said Fady Antoon, the founder and organizer of the event, citing the Acts of the Apostles as his main inspiration for the event.

“It’s like in the Book of Acts, when you read the disciples not only broke bread together, but also they prayed together and cared for the people in their community,” he said, underscoring the event’s charitable aspect.

Attendees are invited to make an optional donation, which Antoon said goes to a local charity. “For example, usually we always donate to the Cathedral of St. Matthew Homeless Ministry,” he said, estimating the group to have donated around $1,000 to the D.C.-based ministry since the happy hour started in June 2025.

The most recent happy hour, hosted at a rooftop venue in Arlington, Virginia, called Top of the Town, drew 190 attendees despite a lack of formal advertising, according to Antoon. During Lent, Antoon organized a holy hour that was attended by more than 120 people.

The location of the happy hour — though always in Washington, D.C., or Virginia — changes from month to month, depending on where Antoon can find a venue willing to host the event for free. The Emmaus Hour always begins with a prayer led by a local priest but otherwise bucks additional structure. 

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“The idea is to bring people together who share the same faith and values, but also to support each other, whether its professionally or on a social level,” he said, describing the gathering as a “support system” and place “to come after hours and socialize.”

Indeed, according to Antoon, the Emmaus Hour has served as the meeting place for 15 couples, while three others have landed jobs through connections made there.

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Beyond this, Antoon emphasized that the happy hour has also acted as space for evangelization, particularly for fallen-away Catholics.

“If some people have fallen away from the Catholic Church, it might be harder for them to go to the church,” Antoon said. “But if they showed up to the happy hour and if the happy hour is a gate for them to get into the Catholic Church again, then thatʼs one of the purposes of it.”

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Antoon shared that during one of the happy hours, hosted in an event room at a local bar, a military serviceman came up to the Dominican priest who had led the prayer and asked for a blessing.

“He said, ‘Father, would you just lay a hand on me and pray? I’m going to get deployed, and I haven’t been practicing my Catholic faith,’” Antoon recalled.

For those who leave the happy hour inspired to grow in their faith, foster deeper connections, or even delve into classic literature, Antoon has developed a reading list, posted to the event’s website.

The next happy hour will take place on May 20. Further information about the time and location of the event can also be found on the website.

Noting that he is “the proud son of a World War II veteran who served as a gunner on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater,“ Conley offers a concise primer on what he calls “Just War Theory 101,” writing that while the Catholic Church “is not inherently pacifist and does not mandate the renunciation of all violence,” it is also “adamantly skeptical of war.”

He recalls Pope Leo XIV’s recent and many calls for peace, saying that because “of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it.”

However, he writes, the “Church teaches one has a right to self-defense against an unjust aggressor, even to use lethal defense if necessary,” a right that “also applies to nations when faced with an unjust aggressor-nation.”

Conley lays out the “strict and imposing” conditions that the Church teaches must be met for a war to be considered just; namely, “war be a last resort, declared by a proper authority, have a just cause, and be proportional.”

These four conditions are known in Latin as the “‘jus ad bellum,’ the justification or reason for waging war.”

In addition to these, he references the "‘jus in bello’ — the law that governs the way in which warfare is conducted."

The prelate notes that two requirements govern the means of war: “Noncombatants and civilians must not be deliberately targeted” and “the harm inflicted must be proportionate to the legitimate military objective.”

In his assessment, Conley takes into account the current Iranian regimeʼs evil actions, including the killing of tens of thousands of its own citizens engaging in peaceful protests earlier this year and sponsorship of terrorism by proxy over decades, along with its efforts to build a nuclear weapon.

Conley holds that a country does not “have to wait until an enemy is on the brink of attacking” before it can act.

Nevertheless, he maintains there “remain serious moral questions about several aspects of the Iran conflict” and cites, among other concerns, the use of AI-directed autonomous weapons.

“The Church is clear that such weapons could not be used justly, even in a just war,” Conley observes, going on to approvingly cite the position of Catholic moral theologian Charlie Camosy that deadly actions in war “require human beings to be the ones morally responsible — and to take moral responsibility — in order for actions in a war to be just.”

Haunting memory of Enola Gay chaplain

Conleyʼs reflections on the subject are sandwiched between his recollection of the haunting story of Father George Zabelka, the Catholic priest who gave a blessing of safety to the crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

Zabelka regularly blessed the airmen before their missions. After speaking with one who had flown a reconnaissance flight over Nagasaki, Japan, after the atomic bomb was dropped, however, the priest thought: “My God, what have we done?” The airman “described how thousands of scorched, twisted bodies writhed on the ground in the final throes of death, while those still on their feet wandered aimlessly in shock — flesh seared, melted, and falling off.”

Zabelka eventually concluded that “he had denied the very foundations of his faith by lending moral and religious support to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

In a speech Zabelka gave 40 years after the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs, he said: “War is now, always has been, and always will be bad, bad news. I was there. I saw real war. Those who have seen real war will bear me out. I assure you, it is not of Christ. It is not Christ’s way.”

Conley concludes by saying he stands “in solidarity with Pope Leo and Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in urging Catholics and all people of goodwill to pray for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Iran.”

“More destruction will only lead to more innocent lives being killed in the crossfire,” he writes. “Please pray that those in leadership positions can find a way forward without more destruction and bloodshed.”

In a joint letter April 28, the bishops and Catholic aid organizations warned that rising food insecurity, cuts to nutrition assistance, and instability in international food aid programs are placing vulnerable families at greater risk both in the United States and abroad.

The letter was signed by leaders from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and Catholic Rural Life.

“It is difficult to make ends meet for many, and families need help,” the organizations wrote, citing U.S. Department of Agriculture data showing that 13.7% of American households experienced food insecurity at some point in 2024. The letter also noted that grocery prices are expected to continue rising in 2026 despite slower inflation than in previous years.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, chair of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said in a statement that the USCCB should “spend time suggesting how to pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars in additional spending they are recommending in their letter.”

“Do they have an opinion on the ‘moral dimension’ of leaving future generations to pay the added cost of a $2 trillion deficit and $37 trillion federal debt?” he continued. “What is the ‘human dimension’ of advocating for able-bodied adults (who aren’t caring for others but choose not to work even 20 hours a week) to receive welfare benefits, with the cost to be borne by others who choose to work?”

He asked why the bishops aren’t “advocating for states to take a larger role in these issues, consistent with federalism?”

Food is a ‘human right’

The Catholic leaders framed the issue not simply as a political or economic debate but as a moral responsibility rooted in Catholic social teaching.

Quoting Pope Leo XIV, the letter stated that “only through sincere and constant cooperation can we build fair and accessible food security for all.”

The appeal comes during a month in which Pope Leo has focused the Church’s attention directly on hunger. The pontiff’s prayer intention for May is “that everyone has access to quality food every day,” calling Catholics worldwide to pray and work toward an end to hunger and food insecurity.

Speaking to EWTN News, Julie Bodnar, policy adviser in the USCCB Office of Domestic Social Development, described access to food as a “human right.”

“We need to make sure that we are giving people the kind of tools to live out their human dignity,” she said. “The pope’s prayer intention this month ties into this appeal perfectly. The bishops have always advocated … to protect the poor and vulnerable and make sure that everyone has a right to adequate nutrition.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, healthcare, basic education, employment, and social assistance.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA (SVdP), which operates thousands of food pantries, meal sites, and food programs across the country, highlighted the growing need for assistance.

The organization said in a statement that it has seen an increase in requests for support as “more than 47 million people in the U.S. struggle to put food on the table, and rising food costs only exacerbate their financial strain.”

“The Vincentian perspective can inform better policymaking as a result of our more than 80,000 volunteers’ direct and daily experience with people in need,” the statement continued. “We echo the Holy Father’s message on World Food Day in which he stated that ‘No one can remain on the sidelines in the fight against hunger.’”

Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, and Catholic Rural Life did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The coalition urged lawmakers to maintain — and in many cases increase — funding for federal nutrition programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), among others.

SVdP said: “At a minimum, Congress should provide level funding for these life-sustaining programs and oppose any proposed funding cuts.”

Bodnar noted WICʼs assistance to families in need. “The bishops are extremely grateful that WIC has continued to be funded over the past several years by lawmakers, even when it looked like it was going to be very difficult to do so,” she said.

Maintaining full funding for WIC, she added, would help preserve the program’s fruit and vegetable benefit, which she said would be affected under the House proposal.

The letter also called for continued support for rural housing programs, conservation initiatives, and international food efforts such as Food for Peace Title II and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program.

Particular concern was expressed over recent reductions and structural changes to SNAP enacted through the tax overhaul enacted in July 2025 as well as over administrative actions affecting school meals, food banks, conservation efforts, and international aid.

The Catholic organizations asked Congress to “safeguard programs that Congress has authorized and funded in the past from harmful administrative actions and protect against further cuts that harm those who are hungry and the farmers who feed them.”

The groups additionally advocated for increased flexibility in SNAP work requirements, stronger support for food banks, expanded access to nutrition assistance for immigrants and refugees lawfully present in the U.S., and increased funding for sustainable agriculture initiatives.

At the same time, the letter reaffirmed the Church’s pro-life teaching, arguing that support for women, children, and families cannot be separated from broader efforts to promote human dignity. The coalition urged Congress to “protect the dignity and sanctity of human life in all conditions and stages” while opposing policies that expand access to chemical abortion.

The U.S. House is next expected to take up the agriculture appropriations bill after the House Appropriations Committee approved it on April 29 in a 35-25 vote.

According to the committee, the legislation would provide about $26.27 billion in discretionary funding, slightly below fiscal 2026 levels. Republican leadership has described the bill as fiscally responsible legislation that prioritizes farmers, rural communities, and nutrition programs. Democratic members of the committee, however, have criticized the proposal, arguing it would increase costs for U.S. farmers and reduce aid supporting rural communities.

Separately, lawmakers are considering the farm bill with overlaps in nutrition and agriculture policies.

Courage International said in a May 8 press release that the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod was guilty of “calumny” against the group when it published an annex to a final report of a synodal study group on May 5.

That report, titled “Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues," included testimonies from two men in putative civil "marriages," one of whom attended Courage meetings in the past.

Since the early 1980s Courage has been offering ministry to men and women who experience attraction to the same sex. The testimony offered by the unnamed man in the synodal report alleged that the Courage meetings he attended were “secretive and hidden” while the people in it were “lonely, hopeless, and often depressed.”

In its response on May 8, Courage said it considered the report “to be both calumny and detraction against the organization and its members.”

The group said it disputed the implication that it engages in “reparative therapy” for homosexual attraction. It further said the synod was “unjust” in its presentation of Courage meetings.

The report “characterizes the meetings [the man] attended as ‘secretive and hidden.’ Courage members understand those meetings to be confidential and secure — precisely so that they can speak candidly and vulnerably without fear of someone reporting about them,” the statement said.

The statement acknowledged that those experiencing same-sex attraction are indeed often “lonely, hopeless, and depressed,” but it argued that Courage “bring[s] them together for support and insist[s] on the confidentiality that enables them to speak freely about their struggles.”

“Courage has suffered calumny and detraction before, but usually from secular outlets,” the group said. “It is a great sadness and an additional wound to our members to have this false and unjust depiction in a Vatican document.”

The statement invited synod officials to meet with group leaders to learn more about the ministry.

The Connecticut-based organization traces its earliest roots to an effort started by New York archbishop Cardinal Terence Cooke, who in 1978 conceived of a same-sex attraction ministry and asked Father John Harvey, OSFS, to lead the effort.

Harvey, who died in 2010, authored the 1979 pamphlet “A Spiritual Plan to Redirect One’s Life,” offering a program for “homosexually-oriented persons” to “achieve a chaste, productive, and happy life.”

The apostolate held its first official meeting the following year on Sept. 26 at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Manhattan.

Father Brian Gannon, the executive director of Courage, told EWTN News on the occasion of the groupʼs 45th anniversary that its members “want to follow exactly what the Church is teaching.”

“The secular world has a twisted view of sexuality,” he said. “This is such a needed ministry. It helps people find peace.”

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal group representing the counselor, Frank Canepa, filed the lawsuit on May 1 at the Oregon Court of Appeals, asking for the order to be overturned.

According to ADF, Canepa had treated the client at least 44 times in over two years and had never mentioned his religious views on same-sex relationships. In one session, however, Canepa’s client insisted for 20 minutes that he “personally bless” her same-sex relationship.

Canepa said he tried to politely redirect the client’s repeated demands for him to disclose his personal views on her same-sex relationship but because she persisted, he finally told her he could not affirm it.

By doing so, according to the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists, he violated state law as well as the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics.

The board ordered Canepa to attend six hours of continuing education and pay for his own hearing, which cost $89,636.

“The government can’t target counselors for their views and can’t force people to say things that go against their core convictions,” said Jonathan Scruggs, ADF senior counsel and vice president of litigation strategy.

Scruggs referred to the recently decided Chiles v. Salazar case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision on March 31, ruled that the state cannot silence counselors’ personal or professional viewpoints during talk therapy sessions with clients.

The court held that such counseling conversations are protected speech under the First Amendment and that Colorado’s law targeting certain viewpoints on sexual orientation and gender identity constituted unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

ADF lawyer Logan Spena, one of Canepaʼs attorneys, told EWTN News he is hopeful the Oregon appeals court will follow the U.S. Supreme Courtʼs reasoning in Chiles, which Spena said was “so strong.”

“Counseling is speech, which is protected by the First Amendment,” Spena said. “Oregon law says counselors can’t impose their values on their clients. Canepa did not do that. He answered the client’s question when she demanded to know his personal view.”

“In the context of a counseling relationship, people want to know about their counselors,” he continued. “Transparency and authenticity are required for a good counseling relationship,” which, in Canepa and the clientʼs case, lasted two and a half years.

Terry Braciszewski, president-elect of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, which submitted an amicus brief in the Chiles vs. Salazar case, told EWTN News that Canepa “is not cited for being malicious or non-therapeutic but rather for refraining from abandoning his beliefs ... he was being ethical and moral in adhering to his therapeutic approach and care for the person.”

“These personal therapeutic qualities likely contributed to why the client continued seeing Canepa for two and a half years,” he said.

Canepa did not “endorse a position that was in opposition to his faith and beliefs,” Braciszewski said. Instead, he “chose to affirm his rights” to free speech and the free exercise of his religion.

“The Supreme Court recently took Colorado to task for censoring counselors and mandating orthodoxy in the counselor’s office,” Scruggs said. “Now, Oregon needs to learn the same First Amendment lesson. We are urging the Oregon appellate court to overturn the board’s unlawful demand, restore First Amendment sanity, and halt the state’s attempt to weaponize its licensure system.”

The Wheeling-Charleston Diocese said in a statement that Bransfield “passed away peacefully.” It urged the faithful to pray for his family and friends.

“As it is the tradition in our Church to pray for the dead as well as for the living, we pray for the repose of his soul, asking God’s mercy upon him,” the diocese said.

A native of Philadelphia, Bransfield was ordained in that archdiocese in 1971. He served as the first rector at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., after it was named a basilica in 1990.

Pope John Paul II appointed him to lead Wheeling-Charleston in 2004. He served there until 2018 when he reached the customary retirement age of 75.

After Bransfield retired, Pope Francis ordered Baltimore Archbishop William Lori to investigate claims that Bransfield had engaged in sexual harassment of adults. The investigation ultimately uncovered a wide-ranging series of scandals, including a “consistent pattern” of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Bransfield bestowed financial gifts on several bishops, Lori said, adding he received $7,500 worth of gifts from Bransfield and subsequently returned the funds.

The inquiry also found instances of financial mismanagement and impropriety, including what were reportedly huge amounts of money spent on alcohol and millions of dollars spent on a home renovation.

The bishop “adopted an extravagant and lavish lifestyle that was in stark contrast to the faithful he served and was for his own personal benefit,” the report found.

Pope Francis subsequently banned Bransfield from participating in public celebration of the Mass, while Bransfieldʼs successor, Bishop Mark Brennan, ordered him to pay nearly $800,000 in restitution to the diocese.

Brennan also barred Bransfield from being buried in the diocesan cemetery. The diocese said on May 7 that his funeral and burial would “not take place in West Virginia.”

Ahead of the papal visit, Seek What Is Above, an initiative encouraging “people to lift their minds and hearts to God,” has released a new version of the Fifteen Saturdays with the hopes of reintroducing “the forgotten Marian devotion."

The devotion is a series of 15 meditations on the mysteries of the rosary derived from the writings of Longo, who promoted the prayer by publishing a book with the same title in the late 1800s.

Longo, canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19, 2025, developed a powerful devotion to the Blessed Mother after he was brought back to the Catholic faith following many years as a Satanic “priest.”

Following his intense conversion, Longo devoted his life to spreading the fruits of the rosary and played an instrumental role in establishing the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.

“Bartolo really popularized the Fifteen Saturdays devotion through the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii,” Dominican Father Joseph-Anthony Kress told EWTN News. “It started when he met a noblewoman who had a … pamphlet translated from French that discussed the Fifteen Saturdays.”

Using the mysteries of the rosary, the devotion encourages “a 15-week spiritual journey,” Kress, the promoter of the holy rosary for the Province of St. Joseph, explained. “Every Saturday you dedicate to one of the 15 mysteries of the rosary, and you meditate on that mystery for the rest of the week.”

Inspired by it, Longo then expanded on the original pamphlet in his book.

“He compiled all of the Scripture quotations and citations pertaining to each of the mysteries so that they would be collected in one place for … the individual praying, so itʼd be easier for them to enter into the mysteries in their totality,” Kress said.

Seek What Is Above’s new edition provides both written and image-based meditations with a series of paintings from St. Paul’s Church, a historic Dominican church in Antwerp, Belgium.

The 15-week-long devotion “encourages us to approach the rosary focused on the mysteries themselves,” Kress said. It also “encourages the reception of the Eucharist on each Saturday as well as confession as a part of the structure to make sure that youʼre spiritually prepared.”

St. Bartolo: ‘Apostle of the Rosary’

On the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii, Pope Leo will visit the Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary and the Chapel of Blessed Bartolo Longo, which houses Longo’s relics and remains. The Holy Father will also celebrate Mass in the city’s central square — Piazza Bartolo Longo.

While there is now a lasting presence of the saint in Pompeii, Longo was not always a strong example of the Catholic faith. He lived during the late 19th century when the Church was fighting to combat the growing popularity of the occult.

Born into a devout Catholic family, Longo fell away from the faith while studying law in Naples. He began to visit some of the cityʼs infamous mediums who introduced him into the occult. His interest in the supernatural led him into Satanism and he began to preside over Satanic services, preaching blasphemously against God and the Church.

Simultaneously, Longo was struggling with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. A university professor, Vincenzo Pepe, urged him to abandon Satanism and introduced him to his future confessor, Dominican Father Alberto Radente.

With guidance from Radente and others, Longo repented and returned to the Church but still couldn’t forgive himself or see how God could ever forgive him.

One day in Pompeii Longo despaired over his past with Satanism, but God helped him to see how he could be saved and how he could save others.

“I heard an echo in my ear of the voice of Friar Alberto repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘One who propagates my rosary shall be saved,’” Longo wrote.

“Falling to my knees, I exclaimed: ‘If your words are true that he who propagates your rosary will be saved, I shall reach salvation because I shall not leave this earth without propagating your rosary,'” he wrote.

From then on he helped others “not just in their physical poverty but also in deep spiritual poverty” by “promoting the rosary,” Kress said.

“He extended himself to care for the most vulnerable in his own city, and he put his professional skill set to work for the good of the poor — being a lawyer by trade and offering free legal services to the poor who were being taken advantage of.”

Longo devoted himself to works of charity by starting orphanages and institutions for children of prisoners.

“His conversion from the spiritualisms of the day in which he lived in the occult to rejecting all of that to follow Christ and being devoted to the mother of Christ is such a moving conversion,” Kress said.

“It really speaks to the hope that we as Christians cling to, that thereʼs never a situation, never a particular life circumstance, that eliminates the hope of a conversion and union with Christ,” Kress said.

Longo became a Third Order Dominican and would return to the exact places he once participated in occult activities. There, with a rosary in his hand, he would encourage those present to reject their ways and turn to the Blessed Mother for protection.

His love for the rosary and the Blessed Mother not only led to the establishment of Marian shrines and lasting devotions but also served as inspiration for Pope John Paul II’s addition of the luminous mysteries to the rosary.

“As a true apostle of the rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo had a special charism,” St. John Paul wrote in his 2002 apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae proposing the new mysteries.

“By his whole lifeʼs work and especially by the practice of the ‘15 Saturdays,’ Bartolo Longo promoted the Christocentric and contemplative heart of the rosary, and received great encouragement and support from Leo XIII, the ‘Pope of the Rosary.’”

Why pray the Fifteen Saturdays devotion?

The Fifteen Saturdays is a unique devotion to pray and meditate on, as it is both devotional and sacramental.

“Committing to a Fifteen Saturdays devotion may seem like a large chunk of time — itʼs a few months,” Kress said. “But it shows us that the rosary itself is, in a small sense, the summary of the Gospel thatʼs lived out over a time.”

“Itʼs treated as a presentation of the mysteries of the life of Christ and the Gospels, but … it also incorporates a sacramental life, as it incorporates the reception of the Eucharist, incorporates confession, alongside mental prayer,” Kress said.

It portrays “that our life with Christ isnʼt just this private secluded thing that we do in these interiors, but we join together in the public worship of the Church in the sacraments,” he said.

“The greater sacramental life that we live fuels our mental prayer and our contemplation” and “disposes us to a more worthy reception of the sacraments,” Kress said.

“Then on a human level, I think it helps us to live in the gift of perseverance.”

“This isnʼt just a quick fix. It takes a little bit of a commitment,” Kress continued. “But it slowly unfolds and allows the grace of God to nourish and nurture our souls over the course of time.”

“So we grow in the virtue of hope and grow in the grace of perseverance by pursuing such a devotion like the Fifteen Saturdays,” he said.

“When we were watching the white smoke come out of the chimney at the Vatican, the last thing that any of us were thinking of as we were watching on TV back in Chicago was that there would be a native of Chicago who was elected the Holy Father,” Auxiliary Bishop Robert Lombardo of Chicago said in a May 7 video message marking Pope Leo XIV’s first anniversary as pope.

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The message also included testimonies from Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Ronald Hicks of New York; Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Paul Etienne of Seattle; Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis; Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Cooke of Philadelphia; Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York; Bishop Robert McClory of Gary, Indiana; and Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, of Oakland, California.

Several bishops recalled their shock at learning the new pope was an American.

“When I heard of Pope Leoʼs election, I couldnʼt believe it. I really had to do a double take because conventional wisdom has been that there will never be a pope from the United States,” Rozanski said.

“I remember my reaction to his election being one of surprise because everybody said, ‘Well, it could never be an American,’” Lucia said. “So when his name was announced, I was actually in a diocesan admin meeting and everybody said, ‘Whoʼs that?’ And I go, ‘Itʼs an American.’”

McClory described his reaction as “a tremendous kind of excitement and joy” and echoed his brother bishops, saying: “Never in my lifetime did I think we would have a pope from the United States. I just didn’t think it was a possibility.”

Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Massachusetts, recalled “flying home” from the grocery store when he heard the news that a new pope had been elected, and that he “was so excited” when he made it to his computer to watch the results. 

“Being from Chicago, we also have a double sense of pride,” Cupich said. “After all, we like to say that Chicago produced a pope, and that we take great pride in.”

Leo was elected as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.

CNN’s Erin Burnett on her show “OutFront” on May 6 asked Prevost to talk about how the brothers, who have differing political views, can still “be brothers and family” and have love.

“Can you just talk about that, because I think so many people want to hear how they, too, can have that in their lives?” she asked.

Prevost told her that when the brothers talk, topics about which they disagree “may come up, but nothing” his brother might say “is going to change my opinion, and nothing I say is going to change his opinion, so why discuss it?”

“Families fight, but family is forever,” Prevost, who said he speaks to Leo every day, told her.

He said the brothers discuss “what we’re doing, what’s new in our lives, what we’re doing next … There is that brother connection. And really, what brothers do not fight? You know?”

“That’s fair,” Burnett said.

The CNN host also asked how Prevost rises above President Donald Trump’s recent accusation that Leo is “endangering a lot of Catholics; [is] terrible for foreign policy,” and asked how his “life has changed because of your brother’s role?”, mentioning the death threats Prevost has received.

“You just keep going,” Prevost said. “There is a matter of what is known as faith, and it deepens our faith, because we do what we’re doing because itʼs a role we’ve been put into, and we just go ahead and do it.”

Prevost told “EWTN News in Depth” in an April interview that faith “starts in the home,“ saying that ”periodically our dad would take the Bible out and read Bible stories. We always prayed before dinner. Our parents always, every evening after dinner, prayed the rosary.”

In April, police in New Lenox, Illinois, responded to a “reported bomb threat at a private residence” that local media said belonged to Prevost. After an investigation, the police determined the threat was “unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present.”

The hoax threat came several days after President Donald Trump praised Pope Leo XIVʼs eldest brother, Louis, in a Truth Social post in which he derided Pope Leo XIV as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after Leo repeatedly criticized the ongoing U.S.-led war in Iran.

Burnett also noted how Trump has talked about Louis, who visited the president at the White House last year, calling him “a supporter, a MAGA all the way.”

“I like [Leoʼs] brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” Trump said in April.

“Religious freedom in India is abysmal. Religious minority communities and their places of worship remain particularly vulnerable to discriminatory legislation, surveillance, and harassment,” U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Vice Chair Asif Mahmood said during a May 7 hearing. “Members of the clergy are also routinely arrested and released under accusation of conducting forced conversions.”

USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler also highlighted persecution in India on the national, state, and local level through discriminatory legislation, arbitrary detention of religious leaders, failure to intervene in attacks against religious minorities, anti-conversion laws in 13 out of 28 states, anti-terrorism laws targeting minorities, and citizenship laws. She described religious freedom in India as continuing in “a downward trajectory.”

The hearing comes as the commission warns of escalating attacks against Christians in India, including mob violence and property destruction. The Catholic population in India is about 23 million, about 1.6% of the countryʼs population, according to the Vatican.

Raqib Naik, founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, called for the State Department to designate India as a country of particular concern (CPC).

“I believe that acknowledging the problem is the first step,” Naik said. “I think the U.S. should designate India as a CPC. I think that should be the first step because you cannot have a solution without acknowledging the problem.” Naik further called for sanctions and heightened awareness of transnational repression, which he said poses a “national security threat.”

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp called for “methods that have a bite to them” to place pressure on the Indian government to end religious persecution in the country. Rapp encouraged heightened reporting of religious freedom violators to “build cases” against them so that it may be possible to prosecute them internationally in the future.

“Maybe many of the perpetrators may never travel, but basically you send a signal that if you commit crimes like these there will be no rest in this life,” Rapp said. “It’s not enough, but it’s something.”

Religious freedom advocate David Curry called for the State Department to demand that its international partners uphold religious liberty as a preliminary requirement in all negotiations.

“The international religious freedom infrastructure within the State Department should be part of every discussion and negotiation,” Curry said. “Human rights and international religious freedom should be part of these discussions.” 

Indian anthropologist Angana Chatterji echoed Curry, urging the U.S. “to examine seriously the impossibility of economic benefit and profit from relations with India under the current extreme conditions.”

Georgetown Law professor Arjun Sethi noted that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was banned under the George W. Bush administration from entering the U.S. from 2005 to 2014. “And now he’s courted by this country,” he said.

“I think we should just have a much deeper understanding of who he is, what he stands for, and what he’s about,” Sethi said.

“There are various opportunities to expand the usage of targeted sanctions, particularly in countries that rank among the world’s worst violators of religious freedom,” the USCIRF document said.

In the fact sheet, the USCIRF recommended the U.S. federal government not simply sanction entire countries but impose targeted sanctions against individuals and entities directly responsible for the violations.

“While countrywide trade embargoes impose broad restrictions on countries to exert maximum pressure, these can cause collateral damage on civilian populations,” it states.

“In contrast, targeted sanctions focus narrowly on the individuals or entities responsible for abuses,” it adds. “Depending on the program, these measures can include banning visas, freezing assets, and blocking financial transactions.”

Specific perpetrators

The document lays out certain perpetrators who violate religious liberty in foreign countries, which was detailed in the USCIRF’s 2026 annual report published in March.

In Afghanistan, for example, the USCIRF recommends sanctions against high-ranked Taliban officials of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which is the body tasked with enforcing Sharia law.

People involved in Iraqi militias, like the Popular Mobilization Forces, are recommended for sanctions, as are non-state actors and those affiliated with transnational authorities in Syria, which perpetuate religious freedom violations. It also lists government and non-state actors in Libya.

It recommends targeted sanctions against government agencies and officials in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

Individuals in two sub-Saharan African countries are also included: Nigerian government and military officials who tolerate or are complicit in attacks on religious communities and Eritrean government officials, including those in the police, judiciary, and correctional system.

The fact sheet recommends targeted sanctions against Chinese government agencies, entities, and officials. It also suggests sanctions against individuals and entities in neighboring India, like intelligence officials and the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Two Latin American countries are included. It suggests sanctions against Nicaraguan officials who tolerate or are complicit in targeting religious communities. It encourages sanctions against Cuban officials, including Caridad Diego Bello, the head of the Office of Religious Affairs.

Russia is the only European country listed. It suggests sanctions against officials and state agencies, including the Federal Security Service, which is an intelligence agency.

Ways to sanction

The document notes that several policies can be used to implement targeted sanctions related to human rights abuses.

The policies permit economic sanctions and visa bans against any foreign individual or entity engaged in “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” and those involved in “serious human rights abuse.”

Other policies permit visa bans on individuals and — when appropriate — immediate family members for participating in religious freedom violations or gross violations of human rights.

“The primary goal of these programs is to drive behavior change by altering perpetrators’ cost-benefit calculations, reducing their sense of impunity, and publicly naming and shaming,” the document reads.

“These measures signal international expectations, restrict access to the resources needed to continue violations, and demonstrate solidarity with victims and survivors,” it adds. “Generally, visa sanctions are legally required to be issued confidentially, which can diminish some of the impacts from ‘naming and shaming’ and decrease transparency.”

In a May 5 presentation at the Catholic Information Center, Steven Notley, the academic director of the El Araj Excavation Project, said the excavation of the last town of apostolic times to be discovered, which began in 2016 and has been ongoing since then, has essentially confirmed that the site, known as El Araj, is indeed the location of the Galilean seaside town of Bethsaida, which is referenced several times in the New Testament.

Notley, who is also executive director of the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins, lived in Jerusalem with his wife and four children for 16 years and has been leading groups of students and laypeople to Israel and the eastern Mediterranean region for over 35 years.

Melissa Overmyer, a Catholic evangelist who has participated in the dig at Bethsaida, shared her own testimony at the event, saying being a part of such experiences in the Holy Land turns “Bible stories into Bible realities.”

Notley said excavations at the site in 2018 uncovered the remains of a Byzantine-era basilica and in 2023 a first-century house was located directly under its apse.

These remains, he said, match the historic account of Willibald, an eighth-century bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, Germany, who traveled to the Holy Land in 725 A.D. and wrote about a church in Bethsaida that was built over the home of Sts. Peter and Andrew.

Among the discoveries made at this basilica is a mosaic, uncovered in 2022, with the inscription “Chief of the apostles and keeper of the keys of heaven, intercede for him and his children George and Theophano."

Last year, the site also endured a wildfire, the results of which Notley said have subsequently allowed the team to uncover evidence of columns and other structures previously overlooked due to dense underbrush.

Notley told EWTN News that the archaeological team was able to identify a structure underneath the apse of the basilica by identifying pottery they discovered there as first-century pottery. The team also found first-century fishing weights.

“So, we have a first-century house wall under the apse. It doesnʼt have a plaque on it that says ‘Peter slept here,’ but from a perspective of archaeology, it doesnʼt get much better than that,” Notley said.

Notley said he welcomes volunteers to participate in the ongoing dig, which he said is entirely privately funded. Information about how to volunteer may be found on the excavation’s website.

"Well, I can tell you this, that as far as the pope is concerned, itʼs very simple, whether I make him happy or I donʼt make him happy, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told EWTN News' Toby Capion when asked what message he hopes Rubio delivers to Leo at the May 7 meeting.

“And he seemed to be saying that they can [obtain a nuclear weapon], and I say they cannot because if that happened, the entire world would be hostage, and weʼre not going to let that happen,” he said. “Thatʼs my only message.”

Trump has repeated the claim several times that Leo believes Iran should be able to obtain a nuclear weapon; however, the pontiff has never said those words and has spoken out against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and against nuclear weapons more broadly.

When speaking about the Israel-Iran conflict in June 2025, Leo said: “The commitment to creating a safer world, free from the nuclear threat, should be pursued through respectful encounter and sincere dialogue, to build a lasting peace, based on justice, fraternity, and the common good.”

On March 5, Leo spoke more broadly against nuclear weapons, saying: “May the nuclear threat never again dictate the future of humanity.”

During a news conference on May 5, Rubio told reporters that his May 7 meeting with Leo is not about the president’s criticism of the Holy Father. Rather, he said the meeting had already been scheduled.

“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them and other secretaries of state have done that in the past,” Rubio said, noting common interests in religious freedom, Christian persecution, and humanitarian aid to Cuba.

The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll surveyed 2,560 American adults between April 24–28. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Pollsters asked people whether they hold a positive or negative view about statements and actions by Trump, Leo, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

It found that 66% of people have a positive view of Leo asking Americans to contact members of Congress to work toward peace and reject war and only 30% view his words negatively.

Leo made that comment to reporters on April 7 after Trump threatened to annihilate the “whole civilization” of Iran if the country did not reach a peace deal with the U.S. The Holy Father called the threat “a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of.”

The pontiff also called the language “unacceptable,” and the poll found most Americans agreed with that assessment. Only 21% of people viewed the threat positively, and 76% viewed it negatively.

Americans also disliked Trump saying “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” which was one of the president’s reactions to the pope’s comments. It found just 38% of people viewing the retort positively and 57% viewing it negatively.

Leo never said Iran should have nuclear weapons but rather spoke against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East when Iran and Israel entered military conflict in 2025. The pontiff also spoke against nuclear weapons more broadly.

The poll found that Americans also overwhelmingly disliked Trump posting an AI-created image of himself resembling Jesus Christ amid his public disagreements with the Holy Father, finding that only 9% of people viewed it positively and 87% viewed it negatively. The president deleted the image and said he thought it portrayed him dressed as a doctor rather than Christ.

Americans also disliked a public prayer by Hegseth in which he asked God for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy” in relation to U.S. attacks on Iran. The poll found only 27% of Americans viewed those comments positively and 69% negatively.

Views on Trump and Leo

Trump’s approval among Catholics and Americans broadly has fallen in recent months amid the Iran war and the higher cost of gas and food and broader hikes in inflation and the cost of living that followed.

The poll found Trump’s disapproval from Americans rose to 62% and his approval rating was only 37%. On certain key issues, Trump’s approval is even worse, with 66% disapproving of the way he is handling Iran, 72% disapproving of his handling of inflation, and 76% disapproving of the way he has handled the cost of living.

It found 46% believe Trump’s attacks on Iran are inconsistent with his campaign promise to avoid foreign wars, 22% see it as consistent, and 30% are unsure. It found 36% of people believe military force against Iran was the right decision, and 61% view it as a mistake.

American views about Leo are much better, although many non-Catholics still do not have an opinion about the first American pontiff.

Only 38% of Catholics said they approve of Trump, and 61% said they disapprove. Among white Catholics, 49% approve and 51% disapprove. Among Hispanic Catholics, 25% approve and 72% disapprove.

The poll found that 41% of Americans have a favorable view of Leo, 16% have a negative view, and 43% have no opinion. Among Catholics, 61% have favorable views of the pope, 14% have unfavorable views, and 25% do not have an opinion.

Among Democratic or Democratic-leaning Catholics, 76% have a favorable view of Leo, 14% have a negative view, and 18% have no opinion. With Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics, 48% have a positive view, 23% have a negative view, and 29% have no opinion.

The poll found 60% of white Catholics have a favorable opinion of Leo and 15% have a negative view, with 24% holding no opinion. For Hispanic Catholics, 59% have a favorable view 12% have a negative view, and 29% have no opinion.

John White, professor emeritus of politics at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News the poll shows “the danger and absurdity” of Trump directly criticizing Leo when the president is facing bad poll numbers and when those who have an opinion about the pope mostly view him positively.

“Trump spent even more political capital with his false assertion that the pope favors a nuclear Iran,” he said. “As Pope Leo responded, this is simply not true. The teachings of the Catholic Church and of Pope Leoʼs predecessors have been consistent in this regard.”

Unlike Trump, White said Leo does not “think in terms of political capital but only to preach the Gospel.”

“In this, Pope Leo is fulfilling his mandate,” he said. “And the message of the Gospel has endured because billions of people have accepted it.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with Leo on May 7, although Rubio said this meeting was already planned and is not related to Trump’s comments.

For his part, Leo told reporters it’s “not in my interest at all” to debate with Trump: “So we go on the journey, we continue proclaiming the Gospel message.”

This story was updated at 5:15 p.m. ET on May 6, 2026, to include additional polling data related to favorability of the president and the pope among Catholics.

“The new species is dedicated to the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV,” authors Peter Huemer, Lauri Kaila, and Andreas H. Segerer wrote in a research article on the species. “The pontiff is a strong advocate of climate and environmental protection, and we hope that his voice may serve as an example for humanity.”

In the journal, Nota Lepidopterologica, the entomologists said the species was discovered on the Mediterranean island of Crete. It is a medium-sized species with a 2-centimeter wingspan, gold spots, and prominent white bands.

“Furthermore, due to its distinctive coloration and overall appearance, the new species belongs to a group of Pyralidae whose species names refer to high secular or ecclesiastical offices including Pyralis regalis, Pyralis imperialis, Pyralis princeps, and Pyralis cardinalis,” they wrote.

Butterflies are often named after external characteristics, geographical locations, or in honor of distinguished individuals, according to a press release from Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, or the Tyrolean State Museum, located in Innsbruck, Austria.

Within the Pyralis genus, a different tradition has emerged. As early as 1775, Austrian naturalists and Jesuits Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller described the first species of the group as Pyralis regalis, or "royal,” due to its coloration.

This prompted similar names including Pyralis princeps and Pyralis cardinalis, which belong to the superfamily Pyraloidea comprised of 16,000 described species worldwide.

In the Old Testament (Genesis 2), Adam is instructed to name all animals. According to the museum, this led to the action of taxonomy — the science of classifying, naming, and categorizing organisms — to often be considered, “in the biblical sense, the oldest task of humankind.”

According to Huemer, head of studies at the Tyrolean State Museum, the naming process is more than a scientific act but a symbolic gesture. For the Pope Leo moth, it is an appeal to the head of the Catholic Church and to draw attention to humanityʼs central responsibility for the preservation of creation.

“We are facing a global biodiversity crisis, yet only a fraction of the world’s species has been scientifically documented,” Huemer said in a statement. “Effective conservation of biodiversity requires that species are first recognized, described, and named.”

Huemer’s call echoes the pope’s "call for conversion” at a 2025 international conference on climate justice, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si’.

“It is only by returning to the heart that a true ecological conversion can take place,” the Holy Father said. “We must shift from collecting data to caring, and from environmental discourse to an ecological conversion that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles."

The intersection of Pineapple and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights was renamed to “Dorothy Day Way” on May 2. Day was born nearby at 71 Pineapple St. in 1897.

Martha Hennessy, Day’s granddaughter, and members of the Dorothy Day Guild attended the ceremony unveiling the new street sign.

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Hennessy called the ceremony “a beautiful moment” in an interview with The Tablet.

Alex Avitabile, a member of the guild, spearheaded the campaign to honor her by changing the street name. He recalled meeting her in 1970 after a talk she gave at the Catholic Worker House in Rochester, New York, saying he recognized that he was in the presence of a holy person.

“I knew,” Avitabile shared. “She had a way about her — her eyes. There are a few people I’ve met who are saintly people. And I could just see that.”

Kevin Ahern, board chairman of the guild, also attended the unveiling ceremony and said he believes the new street name can be an evangelization tool.

“By learning about her,“ he said, people ”can be inspired by her to live their life a little bit different and make the world a better place.”

“I truly believe that she will bring so much good to the Catholic Church and bring people back to the Church,” Hennessy said.

Her cause for canonization opened in 2000, and she is now recognized as a servant of God, the first step in the process toward possible sainthood.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago, Day was baptized Episcopalian at the age of 12. From a young age she showed signs of caring deeply about religion and justice.

As a young woman, she was shaped by the social upheavals of the 1910s and influenced by works like Upton Sinclairʼs book “The Jungle,” which exposed the harsh realities of industrial labor. She left college and moved to New York, working as a reporter for a socialist newspaper and immersing herself in radical political and artistic circles, including a relationship with anarchist Forster Batterham.

In the 1920s, Day settled on Staten Island, where she raised her daughter, Tamar, and gradually deepened her spiritual life. Drawn to Catholicism, she began praying regularly and had her daughter baptized before entering the Catholic Church herself in 1927.

After becoming a single mother, her concern for the poor took on new urgency. In 1933, she partnered with Peter Maurin to launch the Catholic Worker Movement, combining direct service with a radical commitment to living out the Gospel through voluntary poverty.

Through the movement, Day helped establish houses of hospitality, soup kitchens, and farming communities, serving those in need throughout the Great Depression and beyond. A lifelong pacifist, she spoke out against war, including the Vietnam War, and supported labor rights and civil rights efforts. Day never took a salary for her work and remained committed to serving the marginalized for decades.

She died in 1990 and her legacy continues through Catholic Worker communities worldwide.

Rubio was asked by a reporter during a news conference on May 5 whether the May 7 meeting is an attempt to “smooth things over” with Leo after Trump called him “weak on crime” and “weak on nuclear weapons” and falsely accused him of wanting Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

The secretary said this is not the reason for the meeting, but instead it is “a trip we had planned from before.” He acknowledged “we had some stuff that happened” but said there is “a lot to talk about with the Vatican.”

“The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the Church is growing very vibrantly, and we have shared concerns about religious freedom in different parts of the world,” Rubio said. “We’d love to talk to them about that.”

Rubio added that the U.S. gave $6 million of humanitarian aid to Cuba, which was distributed by the Church, and “we’d like to do more” with that partnership.

“We’re willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, by the way, distributed through the Church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it,” he said.

A reporter also asked Rubio about Trump’s more recent comment about Leo on May 4. On “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” the president again accused Leo of holding the view that “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and added: “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”

In response, Rubio said the president’s position is that “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics, including Christians and others for that matter.”

“[Trump] doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president, and I for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

Although Leo has urged diplomacy in Iran as opposed to war, the Holy Father has not said he supports Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. Rather, the pope has spoken out strongly against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

Rubio accused Iran of “holding the whole world hostage” by refusing to let ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatened to block all ships from passing through the strait without express permission from its government following the American and Israeli attack. The U.S. is now blockading every ship that coordinates with Iran.

“What do you think they would do if they had a nuclear weapon?” Rubio said. “They would hold the world hostage with that nuclear weapon.”

Rubio was also asked about the upcoming papal visit by an Italian journalist. He similarly said he plans to discuss “the destruction of religious liberty, the persecution of Christian minorities, and also the challenges that are being faced by Christians in Africa, where the pope just recently visited.”

“So we have a lot to talk about with them and I engage with them quite a bit on that front, so the trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them and other secretaries of state have done that in the past,” he said.

“The pope is obviously the vicar of Christ … but he’s also the head of a nation-state and it’s an organization that has a presence in over a hundred-something countries around the world and we engage with the Vatican quite a bit because they’re present in many different places,” Rubio said.

In a May 4 letter to Congress, Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, who heads the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. bishops, urged Congress “to advance appropriations that respect and affirm the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death.”

Addressed to the chairs and vice chairs for the committees on appropriations of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, Thomas in the letter voiced support for policies that support women and children, defund abortion providers, and support restorative reproductive medicine.

“We continue to call for policies that put children and families first,” he said. “Funding priorities, aligned in this way, must respond to mothers in need and their babies, born and preborn alike.”

Thomas urged Congress to invest in maternal and child health as well as fully fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

“In addition to such assistance, pro-family policies ought to support husbands and wives and the integrity of the family itself,” he continued.

Thomas noted that the bishops' priorities, such as “support for the poor, migrants and refugees, foreign assistance, environmental protection, health care, housing, nutrition, and more,” are founded in the “dignity and flourishing of the human person” through “the protection of innocent, preborn lives.”

Thomas urged Congress to continue upholding the Hyde Amendment, which protects taxpayer funding from being used for abortions, and to “oppose any bill that expands taxpayer funding of elective abortion.”

He also called for an extension of “last year’s historic, one-year defunding of the abortion industry in Medicaid within the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ (H.R.1),” which expires in July.

“We urge Congress not only to extend this prohibition of funding in the budget reconciliation process but complement this effort through other appropriations packages, such as by defunding major abortion providers in the Title X family planning program,” Thomas said.

“Congress should do all it can to defund this enterprise and, instead, ensure greater support for authentic, life-affirming health care providers who truly serve mothers and their children in need,” he continued.

Planned Parenthood performed an all-time high of 434,450 abortions of unborn babies in 2023-2024, according to the organizationʼs most recent annual report. Almost half of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from taxpayer dollars, even as abortion services increased and other services dwindled, according to the groupʼs 2024-2025 annual report.

Thomas also voiced support for restorative reproductive medicine to help couples experiencing infertility have families.

“We support funding and access to resources, such as training or research, for holistic and comprehensive restorative reproductive medicine, to help identify and treat underlying causes for those experiencing infertility,” he said.

The bishop voiced opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb. To maximize efficiency, doctors create excess human embryos and routinely destroy undesired embryos.

“IVF represents an underregulated industry that creates hundreds of thousands or even millions of preborn children who will be interminably frozen, lost in attempts to implant them within a mother, or discarded and killed (often in a selective, eugenic manner),” Thomas said.

“By turning the conception of children into a lucrative manufacturing process, IVF also violates their rights and treats them like property,” he continued.

Nevertheless, he said, “no one has any less worth because of being conceived through IVF. Every person has infinite, inherent dignity, which must be upheld through every stage and circumstance of life.”

“Society must make it easier to welcome and raise a new child and should promote life and hope for preborn children and their mothers and fathers,” Thomas said.

The long-lived prelate, who was ordained in 1959 and appointed a bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1971, was the bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi since his retirement in 1997. He was appointed to that diocese in 1983 and had previously served as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, and as an auxiliary bishop of Miami.

Born in New Orleans on June 9, 1923, Gracida said that as a young man he was captivated by the depiction of Jesuit martyrs in James Fenimore Cooperʼs 1826 novel "The Last of the Mohicans."

He told the journalist Jim Graves in 2016 that upon entering the Benedictine monastery he took the name of the Jesuit martyr Rene Goupil, who was tortured and martyred by Iroquois in 1642.

Among the dwindling number of World War II veterans still alive, Gracida served with distinction in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying multiple missions over Nazi-occupied Europe. In one mission over the Ruhr Valley his airplane lost two engines, leading him to nearly bail out over enemy territory before the craft recovered.

His flying career did not end after World War II. He told Graves that following a stint in the hospital in 1972 after he drove across Southern Florida performing dozens of confirmations, he acquired a pilotʼs license and a small aircraft, which allowed him to fly around the archdiocese rather than spend long hours on the road.

In several instances, he said, he blacked out during intense thunderstorms, waking up at different altitudes than when he lost consciousness. “It’s another example of God preserving my life,” he said.

Gracida said that he considered EWTN foundress Mother Angelica a friend. In his 2005 biography of Mother Angelica, Raymond Arroyo noted that when the U.S. bishops debated the extent of their collaboration with EWTN in 1988, Gracida “cinched the deal” by proposing that the bishops adhere to a secret ballot when voting on any disputes.

Gracida was among the signatories of the Aug. 11, 2017, “filial correction” addressed to then-Pope Francis over the Holy Fatherʼs apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

In his later years he was known for expressing a number of controversial views, including a claim that Pope Benedict XVIʼs 2013 resignation was invalid. He was a vocal supporter of the Traditional Latin Mass.

In announcing his death, the Diocese of Corpus Christi said that under his leadership it developed its communications arm and expanded ministries throughout the diocese.

A trained architect, the bishop reportedly reviewed all diocesan building proposals before they were sent to construction. The bishop in his retirement “remained active and was an avid hunter and fisher,” the diocese said.

Earlier this year, in a statement to the advocacy group Catholics for Catholics, he exhorted listeners to “keep the faith.”

“As long as your faith is a motivating factor in your life, guiding what you do, youʼre on the right track,” he said.

He told Graves in 2016 that his many brushes with death — including a near-fatal case of pneumonia in the 1950s — led him to believe that he was kept alive for a purpose.

“I have no doubt that the only reason I’m alive today ... is because God has work for me to do,” he said at the time. “I have a message to deliver; God has kept me alive to deliver it.”

In an April letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, and Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, expressed their support for the legislation (S. 2241 / H.R. 4307) on behalf of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Migration.

The bill, which the House passed in March, would require the Department of Labor to train its employees to detect human trafficking, identify suspected victims, and refer potential cases to the Department of Justice or other appropriate authorities.

“The Catholic Church is a steadfast voice against human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, as well as a longtime provider of services and pastoral care to victims of these crimes,” the bishops wrote.

Under the bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, the Labor secretary would tailor training for the departmentʼs Wage and Hour Division by taking into account the needs of those operating in states where oppressive child labor has recently surged. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who is Catholic, introduced the Senate version of the measure with one cosponsor, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan. No committee action is scheduled.

“We urge the committee to report the bill favorably to the full Senate and for the chamber to join with the House in passing this measure to bolster the U.S. Department of Labor’s important role in combatting human trafficking,” the bishops said.

“We appreciate the bill’s specific mention of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, which plays such an instrumental role in detection and thwarting labor exploitation by unscrupulous employers, especially for children,” the bishops said.

As Congress has begun the appropriations process for fiscal 2027 and funding for the Department of Labor, “we renew our previous calls for the long underfunded agency to receive increased support to address its pervasive staffing and resource shortages, particularly given its role in thwarting child labor exploitation, as S. 2241 acknowledges,” they wrote.

Further support

The bishops also recently voiced support for H.R. 1144, a bill introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, that would reauthorize a 2000 anti-trafficking bill.

“This is another important, bipartisan anti-trafficking measure that warrants immediate action as a further step to counter the scourge of human trafficking in our country and beyond,” the bishops wrote in a March letter to U.S. representatives.

The bill would update elements of the federal framework to prevent international trafficking, and establish and reauthorize anti-trafficking programs across the State Department, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Among other actions, the bill would authorize HHS to carry out a program to help victims of trafficking integrate or reintegrate into society. It also would require the Department of Stateʼs Trafficking in Persons Report to include information about trafficking for the purposes of organ removal.

“I … want to recognize and thank the amazing, heroic, and extraordinarily compassionate survivor-leaders who helped write this bill,” Smith said at a press conference on April 23. “Their courage, strength, tenacity, wisdom, and, above all, their love for the vulnerable not only inspires but helped us get it right.”

“This legislation is of, by, and for them — to help heal, restore, and empower,” said Smith, who is Catholic.

Reauthorizing the bill “is essential to sustaining a comprehensive, prevention-focused response to human trafficking,” Katie Boller Gosewisch, executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, an anti-trafficking organization founded and supported by U.S. Catholic sisters, told EWTN News.

“The bill strengthens the systems that protect those most at risk while ensuring survivors have access to the services and support needed for long-term stability and healing. The Alliance to End Human Trafficking urges Congress to act without delay to move this legislation forward in both the House and Senate and ensure its swift passage.”

“As people of faith, we are committed to policies rooted in justice and grounded in the promise of redemption,” the May 4 letter said.

“While we come from varied backgrounds and political stances, we stand together against state-sanctioned murder,” it said. “Instead, we are motivated by the restorative power of empathy and investments in transformation.”

The letter, led by the single-issue organization Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE), comes as Ohioans await a statement on the death penalty by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Last month, the governor said he would issue a statement in the week after the primary election, which is May 5.

DeWine, a Catholic, has delayed several executions as Ohio has had difficulty in obtaining the drugs needed to administer lethal injection.

In the letter, the faith leaders state that “now is the time for Ohio to rid itself of its outdated and immoral death penalty.”

“As people who are motivated by faith and sparked by profound love for the common good, we are calling on you to endorse the bipartisan, multi-faith effort to abolish the death penalty in Ohio,” they said.

The faith leaders affirmed they “hold deep care and respect for victims and co-victims of crime, and we most certainly are not opposed to accountability for rightfully convicted persons,” however: “We believe that the death penalty serves no moral purpose.”

“Instead, it is a hollow instrument of death that offers no redemption, no closure, and no transformation for anyone involved,” the letter said. “The death penalty monopolizes human and financial resources that would be better spent if applied to the co-victims whose glaring list of needs often goes unmet.“

The signatories included parish priests, Protestant pastors, and Catholic religious sisters. It also includes non-Christians, such as rabbis, Muslims, Zoroastrian, and unitarian universalists.

Marsha Forson, associate director of Social Concerns at the Catholic Conference of Ohio, spoke during a news conference to announce the letter, noting the continued celebration of the Easter season.

“What does this mystery grant us but the hope of life — life eternal,” she said. “Hope that one day all things will be placed in proper order by justice and peaceful reign and every tear will be wiped from our eyes.”

Forson said “each person’s fundamental identity and value is renewed not in the good or evil [that the person] has done but in the invaluable self-sacrificing love of one.” She said “there is no longer any value that can be placed on a human life other than the inestimable price of Christ’s sacrifice.”

The bishops did not sign onto the OTSE letter but instead sent their own separate letter in late March, which also urged Ohio lawmakers to abolish the death penalty.

Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said in a statement to EWTN News that lawmakers have “the unique opportunity” with House Bill 72, under consideration in a House committee.

That bill, he explained, would “end state-sanctioned death in Ohio by abolishing the death penalty while also ensuring state funds will not pay for abortion or assisted suicide.”

“We are actively meeting with Ohio legislators and urging them to stand against the culture of death and defend the sanctity of life in all stages and circumstances, as Pope Leo XIV continues to urge Catholics and all people of goodwill to do,” he said.

On April 24, Leo provided a message to activists at DePaul University celebrating the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, in which the Holy Father offered his “support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world.”

“I pray that your efforts will lead to a greater acknowledgement of the dignity of every person and will inspire others to work for the same just cause,” Leo said.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current policy undermined Louisiana state law. The court reinstated in-person dispensation for abortion pills, a restoration of FDA requirements revoked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two mifepristone manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, asked the Supreme Court to pause the lower court ruling, calling it “unprecedented” in their emergency request over the weekend.

In response, Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay, putting the lower court order on hold, and temporarily restoring mail-order abortion drugs while the justices consider the companies’ request. The temporary stay will expire May 11 at 5 p.m. ET.

Alito instructed the FDA and Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 7.

Chemical abortions, which rely on mifepristone and misoprostol, accounted for 63% of U.S. abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The number of actual abortions might be higher due to underreporting, according to the organization, which was affiliated with Planned Parenthood until 2007.

In 2024, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to mifepristone’s availability, declining to rule on the legality of relaxed regulations under the Obama and Biden administrations.

Activists, lawmakers, and state attorneys general have been calling on the FDA to do a safety review of the drug, citing severe risks to women’s health.

A recent study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that the removal of in-person visit requirements led to an increase in adverse effects for women having chemical abortions. This study is one among several pointing to a higher rate of serious problems.

Multiple other studies have shown high rates of hospitalizations for women taking the abortion pill. Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times that of surgical abortion, according to one study. Another report found that abortion pill complications are often underreported or misclassified.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who celebrated the initial ruling pausing abortion drug shipments, called the current situation a “five-alarm crisis for the pro-life movement and for the GOP.”

“The ‘states-only’ strategy, promoted out of fear after Dobbs, is an abject failure in the face of blue states brazenly violating state sovereignty and nullifying hard-won pro-life gains,” Dannenfelser said in a statement shared with EWTN News.

“The GOP cannot win without its base and simply will not get the enthusiasm that drives turnout without leadership from the top,” Dannenfelser said. “With one-third of the most engaged primary voters sidelined and unheard, the Trump administration’s inaction puts lives and voter morale at risk every day it goes on.”

Dannenfelser also called for FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to be “fired immediately,” citing recent comments he made about mifepristone.

“Abortions are up, not down after Dobbs, with at least 1.1 million deaths a year,” Dannenfelser said. “More than 90,000 abortions occur each year just in states that protect babies in the law throughout all nine months of pregnancy — a direct result of Biden’s COVID-era mail-order abortion drug rule, which the Trump administration inexplicably allows to continue.”

“Without basic in-person medical supervision, male buyers have a frighteningly easy tool to abuse women, like abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich, and their children,” Dannenfelser continued. “The Supreme Court will now decide whether this injustice ends here or whether it raises its ugly head over and over again.”

Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins called the situation “moral insanity.”

“The tragedy of chemical abortion pill distribution is that preborn babies die while we argue about how the abortion lobby and Big Pharma might be hurt,” she said in a statement shared with EWTN News.

“Enforcement of the Comstock Act is Step 1 for Trump administration’s Department of Justice, but we certainly hope they will fight more fiercely as Trump’s Food and Drug Administration has slow-walked a real review of deadly chemical abortion pills,” Hawkins said.

The American Association of Pro Life OB-GYNs (AAPLOG) expressed concerns for the safety of women and unborn children.

“Just when women and preborn children were about to receive bare minimum safety regulations, abortion manufacturers jumped in to save their bottom line,” the organization said in a statement shared with EWTN News.

“Women deserve real medicine, not a mail-order workaround that benefits only the abortion industry,” AAPLOG continued. “‘Telehealth distribution’ of mifepristone would actually provide medical oversight — instead there is none. No exam, no ultrasound, no screening for coercion and no doctor accountable when patients are harmed."

“This is a transaction, it’s not a medical interaction. Women and their preborn children deserve better,” AAPLOG stated. “The Supreme Court must allow the 5th Circuitʼs ruling to stand."

The conference held April 30 and May 1 was titled “Pope Leo XIV: From the Americas, For the World." It was the 17th annual World Catholicism Week conference organized by DePaul Universityʼs Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology in the popeʼs hometown.

Jesuit Father Philip Larrey, an associate professor of theology at Boston College and past dean of the philosophy department at the Vatican’s Pontifical Lateran University, said Pope Leo has a “fresh” and “humane” take on AI.

“Pope Leo XIV took his name because of Pope Leo XIII, who in the 19th century did for the Church in the industrial revolution what Pope Leo XIV wants to do for the Church and the world ... in what he calls the digital revolution,” Larrey said in his talk, “Pope Leo and the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence.”

Larrey, author of "Artificial Humanity: An Essay on the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence,” has collaborated with industry leaders, Vatican scholars, and the United Nations about the intersection of ethics and digital advancements.

The pope has a unique perspective as he is “very American, but heʼs also very Latin American,” Larrey said. “Heʼs very Peruvian. He loved his time as a missionary there.“

“Remember, Pope Leo is very, very savvy. He was the head of bishop[s] under Pope Francis, and so he knows a lot about politics within the Church,“ Larrey said. ”He knows a lot about … where the Church needs to go.”

“Heʼs a very complex person,” Larry said. In “his first message ... the day after he was elected pope, he says, ‘I want to help the world in this transition of artificial intelligence.’”

Then during the summer he wrote a series of messages, "when he referred to AI as ‘soulless machine,'" Larrey said. "It really conveys a profound message: ‘These machines do not have soul.’”

The matter of the soul

Larrey discussed the “urgent concerns” of AI replacing human interactions. As a professor on a college campus, he said “a lot of students have difficulties forming relationships.” They turn to AI rather than human connection.

“With an AI, itʼs artificial, itʼs not real,” Larrey said. Ultimately, it “does not have a soul.”

The Catholic Church “uses Aristotleʼs vision of the creation of a soul,” Larrey said. "Now I have to specify ... Aristotle, of course, was brought into the Catholic Church by Thomas Aquinas.”

“Now, Aristotle also believed that the man and the woman were not sufficient to cause a human being. You needed another principle, and that principle was the sun,” he said. “In ancient Greece, the sun was a divine entity. Look at how cool that translates into the Catholic theology, where you have the mother and the father, and then God.”

“Only God can be responsible for the creation of the soul,” Larrey said.

God “infuses the soul” in a new being, “and that is what distinguishes human beings from all other beings,” he said. “Aristotle said that all living beings have souls, but only the human being has an immortal soul.”

“Pope Leo has said machines can never have a soul,” Larrey said. At the World Day of Communications Pope Leo said: “If we fail in this task of preservation … digital technology threatens to alter radically some of the fundamental pillars of human civilization that at times are taken for granted.”

“By simulating human voices and faces … wisdom and knowledge, consciousness and responsibility, empathy and friendship — the systems known as artificial intelligence not only interfere with information ecosystems but also encroach upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relation.”

Consciousness and immortality

Larry detailed two matters Pope Leo has talked about “that are philosophical, but have profound ramifications in the area of AI” — consciousness and immortality.

With consciousness, “human beings are self-aware, which means that we know that we know,“ Larrey said. ”Other living animals are conscious, but theyʼre not self-conscious, which means they donʼt know that they know.”

“Now, some in … the tech industry are talking about consciousness with these machines. They are getting very good at simulating what we understand as conscious behavior,” he said.

“When a machine exhibits behavior we associate with consciousness, we will attribute consciousness to the machine,” he said. “That doesnʼt mean the machine is conscious. It just means that we will probably attribute consciousness to that machine.”

“The more sophisticated and the more complex these machines get, the more likely that is to happen,” he said.

Another issue is that there are many people who “are spending a lot of money for the search for immortality.”

Death “is part of life,” Larrey said. “Death is a meaningful part of it. And if you take that away… I think weʼre gonna lose a lot of meaning and purpose.”

Other panels at the DePaul conference discussed Pope Leoʼs connections across the globe, the future of the Church under his leadership, his recent papal trip to Africa, and his missionary work in Peru. Numerous speakers spoke about his perspective as the first American pope and a member of the Augustinian order.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April directing federal agencies to accelerate research, regulatory review, and limited patient access to psychedelic drugs as potential treatments for serious mental illnesses, including depression, PTSD, and other treatment-resistant conditions.

Titled “Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness,” the executive order defines serious mental illness as “having a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that substantially interferes with a person’s life and ability to function.”

“Despite massive federal investment into researching potential advancements in mental health care and treatment, our medical research system has yet to produce approved therapies that promote enduring improvements in the mental health condition” of the most complex patients, the order says.

“Innovative methods are needed to find long-term solutions for these Americans beyond existing prescription medications.”

The order promotes research into psychedelics such as ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychoactive alkaloid derived primarily from the root bark of an African shrub. It has shown promise in treating opioid addiction (by reducing withdrawal and cravings), as well as PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injury in treatment-resistant cases.

In addition to ibogaine, most classic psychedelics — including psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, DMT, and mescaline — remain illegal at the federal level. They are classified as Schedule I substances, meaning they have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use according to the Controlled Substances Act.

However, psychedelics are not known to produce the physical dependence, compulsive drug-seeking behavior or withdrawal syndromes seen with drugs like opioids, alcohol, stimulants, or nicotine. The potential for abuse comes from the recreational use of the drugs for their psychoactive effects.

Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin work mainly by activating certain serotonin receptors in the brain’s cortex, which can create chaotic, highly connected brain activity — producing vivid altered states, emotional breakthroughs, and ego dissolution. The experience is followed by days of heightened neuroplasticity that can rewire thinking patterns.

Ibogaine works through multiple brain systems at once. It affects glutamate, opioid, serotonin, and dopamine pathways while promoting brain repair in reward centers. This produces long dreamlike visions and a profound neurological “reset” that can dramatically reduce addiction cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

The Catholic response

Greg Bottaro, a psychologist and founder of the CatholicPsych Institute and creator of the CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism, told EWTN News he is “glad” the Trump administration is “bringing the conversation to the table.”

Bottaro has researched psychedelic drugs for a decade, has four years of professional training with psychedelics, and has a natural medicine license in Colorado, which along with Oregon is one of two states where some of the drugs are legal. He said he believes the therapeutic use of the drugs could make “real healing possible for people with deep suffering.”

Bottaro said he has seen “things are getting worse in many ways for some mental illnesses.”

The executive order notes that more than 14 million American adults now suffer from serious mental illness, a large rise from a decade ago, and suicide rates have rebounded after declining during Trump’s first term. Veterans are disproportionately affected, with a suicide rate more than double that of non-veteran adults.

Bottaro acknowledged, however, that new interventions such as psychedelics can be “dangerous if mishandled.”

“The world of the subconscious and interior life and psyche is uncharted territory,” he said. “Psychedelic drugs can activate neural pathways that give unqualified ‘certainty’ about a spiritual insight that isn’t measured against a person’s actual worldview.”

“You don’t want someone being treated to realize ‘love is all that matters’ and then leave his wife,” Bottaro said.

“A lot of protective factors need to be in place” to ensure “a Catholic anthropology” guides those treating patients.

Trump’s executive order instructs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue priority funding to psychedelic drugs that have received Breakthrough Therapy designation, speeding up reviews that could otherwise take months. The order says the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration must create a pathway for eligible patients to access investigational psychedelics under the Right to Try Act once basic safety requirements are met.

If any psychedelic drug completes Phase 3 trials and wins FDA approval, the attorney general must promptly review it for possible rescheduling under the Controlled Substances Act.

Justin Hendricks, a Catholic psychiatrist, told EWTN News that while he thinks Catholics can use drugs to treat serious mental illness, more research and time is needed regarding psychedelics. “Haste is not the best idea,” he said regarding pushing through FDA approvals. He said rushing to treat patients without more and thorough testing would be like “playing with fire.”

These drugs can “rewire” neural pathways affected by trauma, he said. “How do you standardize that? It’s tricky. We have to be careful. What are we ‘rewiring’ the brain to do?”

Terry Braciszewski, the president-elect of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, agreed, telling EWTN News he supports the careful use of psychedelics but cautions against speeding up reviews or clinical trials.

“If a neurochemical substance can help a person, I’m all for it,” he said. “But slowing things down so we can establish appropriate safety measures and controls is important.”

Ibogaine can cause serious side effects, including cardiac arrhythmias (heart rhythm problems), which have led to fatalities in unsupervised settings.

Still, he sees potential in the use of psychedelics such as ibogaine, citing a 2024 Stanford study showing a reduction in symptoms from traumatic brain injuries in veterans, which he called “very promising.”

“When we think of being created in the image and likeness of God, it is remarkable that everything is produced by neurochemistry,” he said.

“We know from Catholic theology, whatever we can do to maintain the temple of our body is an act of stewardship over our life, our health, involvement with loved ones, and our contribution to the greater body of the Church," he said.

“Sometimes when we think about mental health, and there could be a stigma, there could be fear, there could be shame in addressing wounds that we have, illnesses that we have,” Chylinski said in an April 30 video message on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to mark Mental Health Awareness Month, observed in May.

“But itʼs so important that God loves the whole person,” Chylinski said. “He loves us body and soul. And so, itʼs so important for us as members of the Church to reach out to those who are suffering, who are struggling, and to know that there is a great hope in the Lord.”

Know that no matter what you’re going through, no matter what you’re suffering, that in Christ there is always hope. You are never alone.”

Auxiliary Bishop Keith Chylinski

Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Chylinski, who studied clinical psychology as a priest, praised advances in medical science and psychotherapy over the past 50 years. He also encouraged those struggling with mental health challenges to seek resources offered by the Church.

“There is no shame in asking for help,” he said. “Because the Lord wants us to be healthy, mind, body, and soul, and the way that we live our spiritual lives affects us physically and vice versa, the way that we take care of our bodies, of our minds, affects us spiritually.”

“Know that no matter what youʼre going through, no matter what youʼre suffering, that in Christ there is always hope,” he concluded. “You are never alone.”

Several hundred supporters of this uniquely ecumenical think tank, which explicitly engages on pressing public policy questions within the context of the country’s historic Judeo-Christian moral framework, celebrated the milestone at an April 30 gala at the cavernous National Building Museum.

The event was headlined by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, a Catholic, as keynote speaker. In an interview with EWTN News just prior to the event, Douthat credited the EPPC for both its success and resilience in “maintaining a place for a serious religious conservativism in American political discourse.”

Douthat contrasted the influence of EPPC’s scholars and the American experience with that of Western Europe, which he said suffers severely from a “suffocating secular-liberal, social and cultural liberal consensus in which religious arguments don’t find any purchase and in which ethical norms are all basically utilitarian, in which abortion and increasingly euthanasia are sort of taken for granted.”

For his part, EPPC President Ryan Anderson, also a Catholic, told EWTN News the think tank is part of the “secret sauce” of a country whose founders, such as President John Adams, firmly held that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Citing the U.S. Declaration of Independence during his speech to the assembly, Anderson said EPPC stands for “the proposition that all men are created equal, that we’re endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights, and that amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Our guiding lights 50 years ago remain the same today: the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, the natural law tradition, Western Civilization in general, and the American constitutional order in particular,” Anderson said.

Anderson pointed out that as the country celebrates its 250th and EPPC its 50th, “EPPC is needed now more than ever, to bear witness to the truth about the human person.”

He said EPPC conducts its work in an “intentionally ecumenical way” as a community of Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic scholars “developing and deploying the Jewish and Christian traditions to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics.”

As they do in the country at large, Catholic scholars and related initiatives play a major role in the EPPC’s work. The institution runs ongoing programs in fields including bioethics, technology and human flourishing, and Catholic studies, and runs the Catholic Women’s Forum, the Person and Identity Project, and the Life and Family Initiative, among others.

In addition to Anderson, Catholic scholars who continue to occupy leadership roles at the EPPC include two of the institution’s former presidents, George Weigel and Ed Whelan, along with Mary Hasson, Stephen White, O. Carter Snead, Noelle Mering, Aaron Kheriaty, Theresa Farnan, Mary FioRito, Francis Maier, Jennifer Bryson, and Clare Morell, among others.

Toward the end of 2025, the diocese received the vehicle from Cody Coughlin, a drag racing and stock car driver from Delaware, Ohio. The race car driver “reverted” to the Catholic faith and entered into full communion with the Church a few years back at St. Paul the Apostle in Westerville, Ohio, and was eager to give back to the community.

“I’m deeply humbled and moved to be able to donate a vehicle to help nourish those in need throughout the Catholic Diocese of Columbus,” Coughlin said in the Catholic Times. “It’s a small way to support a mission that truly changes lives, and I’m grateful to be part of something that helps bring food and hope to families who need it most.”

From there, the diocese worked to come up with a plan on how the van could be properly used.

Deacon Dave Bezuko, director for Catholic Charities in the area and a permanent deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes in Marysville, Ohio, told EWTN News in an interview that they wanted it to be “something that would be useful for the parishes because … we didnʼt want to step on the toes of any of our established diocesan charities and our goal here was twofold: No. 1 letʼs equip parishes with something that they could use to support existing ministries, and [No. 2] take ministry off campus.”

Bezuko shared that it was important that the van also be covered in Catholic imagery so that it “could be like a rolling billboard of Catholicism and a sign of the Churchʼs presence out in the community, a sign of Christ’s presence in the community, a sign of hope.”

The van now features an image of Jesus at the feeding of the 5,000, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the divine mercy image, a portrait of Mother Teresa, and the words from Matthew 25:40: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

The mobile outreach van was then blessed by Bishop Earl Fernandes on March 8 outside of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster, Ohio.

In its first couple months of service, the van has been used for a trip to support Mary’s Mission, which serves the needs of the homeless population, and transported approximately 6,000 food items collected by Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption. The van was also used to transport furniture donated through a furniture ministry run by a deacon at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Logan, Ohio.

The diocese also hopes to use the van as an evangelization tool by taking it to the local Fourth of July parade, high school football games, visits to nursing homes, the annual county fair, and more.

“Thereʼs so many different opportunities to be an evangelization tool as well,” Bezuko said.

As for what he hopes the impact on the community will be, Bezuko said: “The hope on the impact of the community is No. 1, again, to share that Christ is present in our communities and not just where we have our churches and our schools and our properties.”

He added: “One of those things that happens at the end of Mass, the deacon says ‘Go forth, the Mass has ended.’ Weʼre sent out into the community to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world and to be his presence and to take that elsewhere. So, this is a literal opportunity to take Christ, to take our Church, to take that love, that compassion on the road and express it.”

The deacon said he hopes this mobile outreach ministry will continue to grow and that one day they will have a “whole fleet of these running around here before too long.”

Since its founding, the Papal Foundation has served the Catholic Church with collaboration of laity, clergy, and hierarchy. The United States-based organization is dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Church in developing countries.

The foundation has distributed more than $270 million in grants, scholarships, and humanitarian aid to more than 2,700 projects selected by Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II.

During his recent papal trip to Africa April 13–23, Pope Leo prayed at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, and he visited the restored Church of Notre Dame dʼAfrique. Both sites were restored through the generosity of The Papal Foundation, with investments of $90,000 each from the foundation in 2008.

This year, The Papal Foundation’s board of trustees approved $15 million, including $12,502,765 in current grants and an additional $3 million to be distributed in 2026 to further new projects.

The grants will fund initiatives across the globe including the construction and renovation of Catholic schools, classrooms, monasteries, orphanages, and medical clinics in numerous countries including Tanzania, the Central African Republic, and the Philippines.

“This year’s grants are a powerful testament to what can be accomplished through faithful stewardship and shared mission,” said Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation board of trustees, in a press release announcing the grants.

“Each project represents hope, meeting urgent needs and strengthening the resolve of the Catholic Church community in developing nations,” he said.

In Tanzania, the grant will aid the creation of a dormitory to rescue girls from early marriage, trafficking, and sexual abuse, and boys from school dropout. In India, a safe school for marginalized tribal children will be built.

The grants will fund the creation of a library and technology center in the Central African Republic and professional IT training for vulnerable women in the Philippines. Also, in the Republic of Guinea, a well and water tower will be built for the community.

“Supporting these life-changing grants is the core of the mission of The Papal Foundation,” Fitzgerald said. “The impact we have on the poor and most vulnerable is the organization’s gift to the Church and the Catholic Church’s gift to its people around the world.”

Requests for the grants come in from developing nations after local bishops identify the most urgent needs. They are then advanced by apostolic nuncios to the foundation’s grants committee.

The requests are then reviewed through the assessor’s office at the Vatican, led by its current assessor for general affairs of the secretariat Monsignor Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo.

Members of the foundation’s grants committee met with Ekpo this week to review proposals and begin building a working relationship.

“It was encouraging to meet Monsignor Ekpo at the start of his tenure and to hear his focus on expanding impact while strengthening efficiency and accountability,” Fitzgerald told EWTN News.

“Those are principles we take seriously. Our goal is to be the most highly disciplined and transparent steward of funds, and the most effective means to get resources to the most in need.”

Fitzgerald noted Ekpo’s work in Nigeria and in Australia, which he said has proven to be strength allowing him to bring "a clear understanding of the realities facing developing countries, along with firsthand experience in more advanced economies.”

“That perspective allows us to evaluate requests more effectively and align our resources with the priorities identified by the Holy Father,” Fitzgerald said.

Growing engagement

The Holy Father met with members of the Papal Foundation in an audience at the Vatican on May 2, where he said he was “deeply grateful” for the work of the foundation “to assist the Successor of Peter in his mission to care for the needs of the universal Church.”

“Your generosity has allowed countless people to experience in a concrete fashion the goodness and kindness of God in their own communities,” the pope said.

He pointed out that the charity workers “will probably never meet everyone who has benefitted from your kindness, so in their name I express heartfelt appreciation.”

The 2026 grants are the result of an evaluation process led by the foundation’s grants committee, chaired by Dr. Tammy Tenaglia of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with assistance from the foundation’s mission fund committee.

The work of The Papal Foundation has been accomplished with the help of the foundation’s Stewards of Saint Peter, which is made up of North American Catholic philanthropists committed to bringing the love of Christ to those most in need.

Since Pope Leo’s election, the community of Stewards of Saint Peter has welcomed 25 new families committed to supporting the Holy Father’s mission to serve the poor.

“The growth we’re seeing is incredibly encouraging, as it reflects a shared commitment to serve, to give, and to bring the Church’s mission to life in meaningful ways across the globe,” said David Savage, executive director of The Papal Foundation.

The foundation’s annual pilgrimage to Rome the week of April 27 brought together 56 of the Steward families. Led by The Papal Foundation’s chairman, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the trip included a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and an audience with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, May 2.

The Walk to Mary is an annual pilgrimage held on the first Saturday of May. The first walk took place in 2013 and over the years thousands of Catholics from around the world have participated. The 22-mile pilgrimage starts at the National Shrine of St. Joseph and ends at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, which is the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States, in which the Blessed Mother appeared to Adele Brise in 1859.

For Kym Allex, a Catholic home schooling mother; her husband, Preston; and their eight children — ranging in age from 17 to 4 — the pilgrimage has become an annual tradition.

The “Allex tribe” — as they’re referred to by their community — first participated in the Walk to Mary when the eldest child was only 8 years old. At the time, there were seven children in the family and they all took part in the two-mile version of the pilgrimage for their first several walks.

The pilgrimage includes several “join in” points along the route that allow participants unable to walk the entire distance the ability to participate.

“For that childrenʼs walk — the little two-miler — it was so great to have seven kids just tromping around, excited to walk for Mary,” Allex told EWTN News in an interview.

She added: “It didnʼt seem like a very long walk to be able to have a 2-year-old in a backpack or my 5-year-old running as fast as he could because he wanted to catch up to Mary, which I donʼt think he ever did, but it was just a beautiful experience for our family for the first time and every year after.”

After their first couple of years participating in the two-mile version of the walk, the Allexes began to expand on the length they completed. This year, for the first time, they plan to walk the entire 22-mile route. And it wasn’t mom and dad who made this decision — it was the two eldest children.

“My 17-year-old daughter and my 16-year-old son came to my husband and [me] after last yearʼs 14-mile and they said, ‘Next year we have some big prayer intentions,’” she shared. “Theyʼre on the cusp of looking at colleges and figuring out where they want to go and where the Lord is calling them and so theyʼve stated, ‘Mom, Iʼm going to do the 22 miles if youʼre OK with it. Iʼd like for our whole family to join.’”

The Allexes then sat down as a family to discern what God was calling them to do and what goals they needed to reach in order for everyone to feel comfortable doing the entire pilgrimage. With this in mind, the entire family has been preparing physically and spiritually for this event.

“Even our little 4-year-old has been walking and biking in the neighborhood every day that she can to be able to get her sweet little legs ready for this beautiful opportunity,” Allex said.

She added that it is her oldest children who want to make sure that taking part in the Walk to Mary is always a part of the family’s culture.

“They take off of work, theyʼve told their sports coaches, ‘We wonʼt be able to go and do this race’ … because our family really wants to keep this part of our family tradition,” Allex said. “And itʼs great that itʼs my teenagers who are the ones that want to continue to pass this on. Thereʼs no fight because weʼve grown into this together.”

Allex admitted that she was hesitant when her children first brought up the idea of doing the full pilgrimage.

“I will tell you, this 22-miler makes me a little nervous and yet my kids are the ones who are like, ‘We can do this mom. Weʼve done 18 miles at Disney. So we can do 22 miles for Mary.’ Iʼm like, ‘That is such a beautiful thought, right? If I can do this for pleasure, I can surely do this for Mary, for my faith,’” she shared.

When reflecting on how her familyʼs faith has been impacted by taking part in the Walk to Mary, Allex shared that it has reminded them that “the Blessed Mother is such an incredible spiritual mom for all of us.”

She added: “Especially for me as a mom in this world today, I can get lost sometimes in the worry, the anxiety, the stress of life. And so to know that our Blessed Mother will wrap me like a swaddling blanket into her mantle and bring me to Jesus is so consoling.”

“The fact that my kids have seen that I go to the Blessed Mother when Iʼm struggling and ask for her help to get closer to her son, then they see the humanness of their own mom and theyʼre like, ‘Wow, mom might not have it all together, but she knows someone who does and sheʼs going to lean in on that.’”

The Catholic mother pointed out that the pilgrimage has also taught her children how to pray for others. She recalled an instance when one of her sons went up to a man during the walk and asked him if he had an intention he could lift in prayer for him. The man was from Brazil and was walking the pilgrimage asking for healing for his wife.

“My hope is that they feel inspired to be those missionary disciples … and that theyʼre cultivating hearts of missionary discipleship — walking with people, being inspired to go and pray with people,” she said.

Allex added that each member of the family has a prayer journal and the children have already been “collecting peopleʼs prayers and theyʼve already been wrapping them in our nightly rosary that we do every night.”

When the Blessed Mother appeared to Brise in the woods of Champion, Wisconsin, one of the messages she gave the young woman was to “gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”

This is something that has deeply impacted Allex’s faith and a message she carries daily in her vocation of motherhood.

“Iʼve memorized it [the message] because that right there, that is the role for us as parents,” Allex said. “I think every one of our homes can feel like a wild country, you walk in and … for me sometimes it feels that way. It feels like a wild country. But if I can continue to gather my kids and teach them what they should know — I might not be preparing them for Harvard. Iʼm going to prepare them for heaven.”

Summarizing her experiences taking part in the Walk to Mary and how it has impacted the entire family, Allex concluded that “this walk truly is this pilgrimage of graces.”