The measure is the culmination of a campaign led by President Emmanuel Macron since 2017 in which he has denounced anonymity on social media as a gateway to online abuse.

The law, presented as a child protection measure against all the risks associated with the use of social media, from addiction to bullying and abuse, has also reignited concerns about increased government oversight of internet users, as the age verification requirements — intended to target minors — entail identity checks for everyone.

“France is leading the way in Europe by becoming the first country to establish a ‘digital age of majority’ to better protect our children online,” said Anne Le Hénanff, minister delegate for digital sovereignty, following the vote.

The Senate adopted the compromise bill by a vote of 243 to 2, and the National Assembly followed suit a few hours later, paving the way for Macron to sign the measure into law, subject to review by the Constitutional Council.

The bill’s central provision bars minors under 15 from accessing “an online social network service.” Leading platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are expected to fall under the ban, though lawmakers left the precise scope undefined.

Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias, along with open-source software and educational platforms, are explicitly exempted. Responsibility for verifying users’ ages falls to the platforms themselves, which must offer at least two different verification methods.

Enforcement will unfold in two different stages. New accounts will be subject to age checks starting Sept. 1, while existing accounts belonging to minors under 15 will have until Jan. 1, 2027, before they are suspended.

The law also extends France’s existing smartphone ban in middle schools to high schools starting in the 2026 school year.

France’s move makes it the first EU member state to enact a blanket social-network age floor, though it follows Australia, which imposed a minimum age of 16 in December 2025.

Officials say a coalition of roughly 15 European countries is interested in adopting a similar standard. Le Hénanff confirmed Greece is ready to transpose the French model, with Spain expected to follow in the fall.

The European Commission is separately developing its own EU-wide age-verification tool, expected to be available to member states by the end of the year.

Under the model France has adopted — built around the “double anonymity” principle found in the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc’s main online-platform law — a trusted third party would verify a user’s age from an ID document or bank card and issue an anonymous token confirming only whether the user is over or under 15, without revealing the user’s identity or which platform requested the check. Le Hénanff has described this as a way of avoiding data collection by the platforms themselves. Critics, however, argue the system’s implementation is far less safe than officials suggest.

The underlying concern is that this child-protection measure could evolve into a broader mechanism for verifying and tracking the identity of internet users generally. Opponents of the law claim that the mechanics of age verification remain largely undefined barely a month before the law takes effect.

They also point to recent history of large-scale personal data breaches across government agencies as a reason for caution about centralizing age- or identity-verification data.

La Quadrature du Net, France’s leading digital-rights advocacy group, and the Conseil national du numérique, an official government advisory body, both warned that the law amounted to what they termed “generalized surveillance disguised as child protection.”

The European Center for Law and Justice, along the same lines, argues that France and the European Commission are each independently pushing to generalize identity checks across the EU under the banner of online safety policy.

Several digital-rights groups are reportedly preparing separate challenges before France’s Council of State and the EU’s Court of Justice, arguing the law violates free-expression and proportionality principles.

For now, all eyes are on Australia, the only country with a comparable ban already in force.

An early analysis of survey data from roughly 400 young social media users, published in The BMJ on June 24, found little evidence that Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Act had produced any substantial early drop in social media use among adolescents in its first three months — although researchers cautioned that legislative effects can take time to appear and called for longer-term evaluation.

A companion analysis reported that roughly 85% of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using restricted platforms, the most common workarounds being fake accounts and private browsers.

One year ago, Caritas Lithuania launched “Caritas Listens,” a free emotional support hotline aimed at combating loneliness among older adults. Staffed by trained volunteers, the helpline offers a compassionate listening ear, a need many callers say they lack.

While the initiative was started in Lithuania, its significance reaches far beyond the Baltic nation. Across Eastern Europe, declining birth rates, rising life expectancy, and decades of emigration by younger generations to Western Europe have left many elderly people living alone.

Similar demographic pressures are also reshaping societies in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China, raising concerns not only about healthcare and pensions but also about social isolation and mental well-being.

For the Catholic Church, Caritas Lithuania’s experience offers a practical example of how pastoral care can respond to an increasingly urgent social and spiritual crisis.

A year of great impact

After its first year, Caritas Lithuania says the hotline has recorded 67,308 minutes of conversations, which the organization sees as evidence of both the scale of loneliness among older people and the need for emotional support.

The initiative currently relies on 86 trained volunteers who provide confidential emotional support by phone. Their focus is on listening without judgment; accompanying callers in moments of loneliness, grief, or anxiety; and helping them rediscover a sense of connection.

For Erika Panova-Polikevičienė, the project’s coordinator, the need was already clear before the hotline began.

According to Lithuanian statistics, she said, 1 in 5 people aged 60 and over experiences loneliness, while adults over 60 make up almost one-third of the country’s population.

“For more than 37 years, Caritas Lithuania has been providing support to people in vulnerable situations, including older persons,” she told EWTN News. Yet despite those efforts, the organization realized that many elderly people remained beyond the reach of traditional services.

Some struggled with poor health or limited mobility. Others faced social isolation or lacked the confidence to seek help. For many, attending community activities or receiving in-person support was simply not possible.

“We saw a need to create an alternative way for them to receive emotional support and human connection,” Panova-Polikevičienė said.

With support from Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labor, Caritas expanded its network of assistance and launched the emotional support line in 2025.

Listening as a form of pastoral care

Callers frequently speak about grief after losing loved ones, strained family relationships, conflicts with neighbors, declining health, financial worries, and uncertainty about where to seek help.

Some, Panova-Polikevičienė said, simply need someone who will listen. “Sometimes the first step toward overcoming isolation is simply having someone on the other end of the phone who is ready to listen.”

The conversations have also challenged common assumptions about loneliness. “One of the key lessons we have learned is that loneliness is not always about being physically alone,” Panova-Polikevičienė explained.

Some callers live with family members or have relatives nearby yet still experience profound loneliness because they lack emotional connection or a sense of being understood. “A simple conversation can sometimes restore a feeling of connection and remind a person that they are not forgotten,” she said.

The hotline has also become a refuge for people facing moments of deep despair. Volunteers regularly receive calls from older adults coping with bereavement, hopelessness, or periods when they feel they have nobody else to turn to. In those moments, the immediate goal is not necessarily solving every problem.

“The most important first step is often not providing an immediate solution but being present, listening with compassion, and helping a person feel that their life and experiences matter.”

The volunteers behind the ministry

At the center of the initiative are the volunteers themselves. Panova-Polikevičienė described them as people who freely choose to accompany others through some of life’s most difficult moments.

“They want to be there for others, to listen with compassion, to offer their time and presence, and to accompany older people who may be experiencing loneliness or difficult moments in their lives,” she said.

Before answering calls, every volunteer undergoes a process of discernment with both a volunteer coordinator and a psychologist.

Caritas Lithuania believes that a desire to help is not enough on its own. Volunteers must also honestly evaluate whether they are emotionally prepared to accompany people through grief, isolation, and profound loneliness.

Those accepted into the program receive training in active listening, empathetic communication, and responding responsibly to emotionally difficult situations. They provide support in Lithuanian and continue to receive ongoing supervision and psychological support throughout their service.

Additionally, supervision sessions and consultations with psychologists help them avoid burnout and remain emotionally supported while accompanying vulnerable callers.

A model that could reach beyond Lithuania

“We believe that the experience of ‘Caritas Listens’ could be relevant for other Caritas organizations, as loneliness among older people is a growing challenge across Europe,” Panova-Polikevičienė said.

She stressed that every country would need to adapt a similar initiative to its own social realities and support systems. Nevertheless, she said Caritas Lithuania is ready to share what it has learned.

“We believe that exchanging good practices within the Caritas network can help us better respond to the growing challenge of loneliness among older people.”

As many nations grapple with aging populations, Caritas Lithuania’s experience suggests that responding to loneliness may not always require complex solutions.

Sometimes, the ministry begins with something far simpler: a listening ear and the reassurance that no one is forgotten.

Representatives of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) met with the queen to share the impact of their work over the past year, with a particular focus on advancing dignity, protection, and opportunities for vulnerable women and girls.

Anabel Inge, MVO, charge’ d’affaires ad interim of the British Embassy to the Holy See, commented on the impact of the stories on Queen Camilla at the meeting. 

“What struck me was how engaged Her Majesty was throughout the conversation,” Inge told EWTN News. “Many of the themes discussed clearly resonated. Her Majesty has consistently highlighted the importance of supporting women and girls, and this was a major focus.”

The meeting with the queen included conversations about efforts to accompany migrant women and strengthen communities in the U.K., education initiatives supporting children affected by conflict in Lebanon, antihuman trafficking work in Asia, and programs helping vulnerable women build livelihoods and improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Commenting on the meeting in a press release, the UISG said: “Her Majesty expressed deep admiration and humility regarding the global work Catholic sisters do to aid vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls.”

“This renewed exchange underlined the strong alignment between the mission of Catholic sisters and Her Majesty’s long-standing commitment to supporting women and girls.”

Sisters from a range of ministries around the world joined in the meeting with Queen Camilla at Clarence House, including Sister Lynne Baron, FCJ, area leader of the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus in Britain and archbishop’s delegate for Catholic social action in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Baron was joined by Sister Roxanne Schares, SSND, executive secretary of UISG; Sister Maamalifar M. Poreku, MSOLA, co-executive secretary of the UISG-USG Commission for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation; and Sister Abby Avelino, MM, international coordinator of Talitha Kum.

Avelino drew attention to the Young Ambassadors Against Human Trafficking Programme, initially supported by the U.K. government and now expanded globally, which equips young people with the tools to identify risks, raise awareness, and lead peer-based prevention in their communities.

Describing young people as “protagonists of change,’” Avelino said: “In many countries, they are helping to build a culture of prevention, supporting their peers in recognizing the risks of exploitation and trafficking, and promoting a vision of society rooted in dignity, freedom, and solidarity.”

The meeting between the sisters and the queen came nine months after King Charles III and Queen Camilla met with Pope Leo XIV in October 2025 in a historic ecumenical prayer service in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. The prayer service marked the first time an English sovereign had prayed with a pope in 500 years.

“The meeting during Their Majesties’ state visit to the Holy See in 2025 reflected the long-standing and positive relationship between the Crown and the Holy See,” Inge said.

Inge hailed the latest meeting with the queen as “a valuable opportunity to recognize the extraordinary contribution sisters make around the world, particularly in supporting women and girls affected by poverty, conflict, displacement, and exploitation.”

She added: “What is distinctive about the sisters‘ contribution is that they are deeply embedded in the communities they serve. The tea was an opportunity to hear firsthand accounts of that service, and the sisters’ personal stories helped to bring these important issues to life.”

A royal family post on X highlighted the visit with the sisters: “The Queen hosted Sisters from the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG) who shared the impact of their global work, particularly in support of vulnerable women and girls … The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the work of the Sisters to support women living in conditions of conflict, poverty, and displacement across the world.”

“The summer vacation time is perhaps always more conflict-ridden. This is because there is more free time and more opportunities [to fall into watching pornography]. The heat itself plays a role, too. There are many factors that make it easier to get hooked or stay hooked on pornography,” Jorge Gutiérrez, the organization’s director general, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Although vacations can increase the risk of falling into pornography use, a change in routine can also become an opportunity to leave the habit behind.

“It’s an ideal time to focus more on hobbies, your own family, and many enjoyable, pleasant activities rather than isolating yourself and ending up watching pornography,” Gutiérrez said. He explained that this addiction “has a lot to do with emotional factors such as tension and anxiety and the desire to escape unpleasant moods.”

The organization’s approach to freeing oneself from porn is based on two ideas: releasing “your best dopamine through activities and relationships that you genuinely enjoy and that help you become freer” and seeking the meaning of life.

“‘Know yourself, love yourself, better yourself’ is the best recipe for overcoming porn,” the organization advises.

‘Humanize the way you look’ at other people

For adults who have fallen into pornography use, the organization offers nine basic recommendations:

1. Identify triggers. Pinpoint the “situations, objects, places, or people” that spark the desire to consume pornography in order to anticipate them or replace harmful habits.

2. Learn from relapses. Make the most of your relapse by asking yourself questions that help you understand why and for what purpose you consume pornography.

3. Strengthen personal relationships. Devote time to social interactions, maintaining contact with friends or forging new connections.

4. Organize your day. Avoid letting your vacation days pass without a plan; pay attention to your diet, rest, and hobbies.

5. Avoid isolation. During vacations, be wary of the most secluded areas of the house, experts warn, noting that “pornography thrives on solitude and isolation.”

6. “Humanize the way you look at others.” Strive to “see beyond sexual pleasure,” recognizing the other person as “an individual with their own life story, family, problems, etc.”

7. Train your willpower. Delay any urge — whether it’s eating a sweet or watching pornography — by five minutes to strengthen your self-control.

8. Understand the reality of the pornography industry. Educate yourself on the dark reality of this industry, because that time spent is “invested in your recovery.”

9. Accept discomfort without giving in. When the urge to consume arises, “accept it without having to satisfy it; tolerate the discomfort,” remembering that it’s possible to experience a sense of lacking something and at the same time, be happy.

The ‘Bermuda Triangle of Porn’ for young people

In addition to these recommendations, Dale una Vuelta offers others specifically for young people.

Tips include seeking out screen-free leisure activities and getting at least a half an hour of exercise daily. It also helps to have three planned activities ready if faced with relapsing, with the rule that they must be “anything other than digital.”

Along with recommendations to avoid sleeping with a mobile phone in the room and to turn off notifications, the organization emphasizes the importance of planning one’s day, noting that “boredom, loneliness, and curiosity make up the ‘Bermuda Triangle of Porn.’”

Advice for parents and educators

For parents and educators, Dale una Vuelta recommends avoiding “long periods where your child spends hours not knowing what to do,” establishing guidelines for mobile phone use, getting to know their friends, and talking to them about sexuality.

The organization also urges parents to get their children into “action mode” to help “release tension and relax the mind and body” while simultaneously encouraging an “inner journey” through connecting with the beauty found in nature, art, and music.

Encouraging reading — “the best vaccine for almost everything,” including pornography as well as building mutual trust and promoting deep conversations — is also among the recommendations.

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

“The goal is the least important thing; right now, all I want is to grab that trophy and squeeze it as hard as I can, because I believe it represents the dream of the 47 million people we were representing on the pitch today — because I think we deserved it and we gave it our all,” said Ferrán Torres after the final.

Torres, who plays for Barcelona in Spain, also said that the goal brought him a sense of relief, given the heavy criticism he had faced during the World Cup. “Thank God, He always gives me the strength to keep going, and in the end — as I always say — God grants things to those who deserve them most,” the forward emphasized.

Days before the final, a video was released in which Torres spoke about the importance of God in his life. “I have a cross and an image of the Virgin Mary; ultimately, I think having such strong faith gives me great support — it is something very important to me,” remarked the Spanish forward, who was named the final’s Superior Player of the Match.

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Torres stands out for his Catholic faith within the Spanish national team, alongside coach Luis de la Fuente — who, at the press conference prior to the semifinal match where they defeated France 2–0, stated that he prays “every day, but not because I am at a World Cup or in order to get a result.”

“I give thanks every day — every day I wake up and find myself well, I look at myself and say: ‘Another day I can enjoy life.’ I give thanks for those little things. I pray—because I do pray every day — not to ask for more help,” the Spanish head coach explained at the time.

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

Speaking on his program “Sixth Continent” on Radio María Spain regarding the sporting event, the Spanish prelate noted that soccer “possesses values ​​that deserve to be recognized."

He said the Church “cultivates the spiritual values ​​of sport,” which unites families and friends, creates opportunities for social connection in an increasingly individualistic society, and offers a chance to share joys and disappointments, among other virtues.

‘Who holds first place in our hearts?’

However, Munilla pointed out that “precisely because soccer stirs the human heart so deeply, it also becomes a magnificent mirror of our contradictions. For enjoying the sport is one thing, but turning it into a religion is something else entirely.”

“Our era has a curious way of manufacturing saints, but without holiness,” he added, referring to the attention lavished on sports stars, particularly soccer players.

While “it’s not wrong to admire someone who has developed an extraordinary talent through effort and sacrifice,” Munilla suggested it’s worth asking, “Who holds the first place in our hearts?”

The saints, he emphasized, guided generations of Christians for centuries as “models of humility, self-giving, mercy, fortitude, and faithfulness. They weren’t perfect, yet they pointed the way to human fulfillment.”

At another point in his radio reflection, the prelate said: “We all need role models; we all need points of reference. We all end up resembling those we admire. That is why it’s worth asking whether our children are more familiar with the biographies of great soccer players than with those of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. John Paul II, or Blessed Carlo Acutis. It would be a tragedy, of course, not because one must choose between them but because the saints teach us the art of living.”

‘Idols are always made of clay’

Today, people are fascinated with certain athletes, and "when we turn someone into an idol, they will inevitably end up disappointing us. Idols are always made of clay," he added, because just as "today we raise them to the heavens, tomorrow we will tear them down on social media over a missed penalty kick, a bad season, or making some personal mistake, because idolatry always ends up being cruel."

This reveals “that we are not truly loving the people themselves but rather using their successes to fuel our own emotions.”

Munilla also pointed to “the enormous financial disproportion surrounding professional soccer,” reflecting that “the market tends to put a price on what we turn into something indispensable.”

“The problem is not merely about money. The problem lies in the heart. For wherever we place our admiration, that is where our time, our attention, and our resources ultimately go,” Munilla observed, recalling Pope Francis' words: “You roar for a goal, yet you are unable to praise God with that same intensity?”

‘Only God can fill the heart forever’

On a purely human level, the bishop of Orihuela-Alicante reflected on a lesson to be drawn from sports: “Not knowing how to accept defeat is a sign of immaturity. But the person who needs to humiliate others doesn’t know how to win, either.”

He argued that “true sportsmanship lies in discovering that the rival player is not an enemy but someone who made the game possible. Only those who respect the loser truly know how to win. And only those capable of acknowledging the victorʼs merit without resentment truly know how to lose.”

“Let’s never confuse a ball with the meaning of life,” Munilla concluded, emphasizing that “a championship can fill a public square for a night, but only God can fill the heart forever.”

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

Supported by pro-life group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Sarah Morse, 66, is taking Arbroath High School, run by Angus Council, to court on grounds of discrimination. The move comes after Morse was fired after telling a student, “I am a faithful Roman Catholic and I am against it,” when asked her opinion on abortion during a history lesson in November 2025.

“At no time did I attempt to persuade any student to adopt my position. To be ‘canceled’ and lose my livelihood because of my religious identity is a terrifying precedent for the teaching profession in Scotland,” Morse said.

“As a faithful Roman Catholic, Sarah Morse respectfully said she opposes [abortion]. Hours later she was sacked on the spot,” SPUC said. “We must all have the right to express our pro-life views without fear of losing our jobs.”

Attack on Christians in Egypt raises questions about hate speech

A new attack on Christians in Egypt’s Minya Governorate has renewed scrutiny of sectarian incitement and the deeper roots of anti-Christian hostility.

According to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Bishop Macarius, Coptic Orthodox bishop of Minya, said extremists attacked Copts in the village of al-Tal al-Qibliya, damaged a priest’s car, prevented worshippers from leaving a church, and cut off electricity. Security forces later arrived, arrested those accused of incitement and rioting, and began documenting the damage.

Egyptian senator Bassem Kamel said repeated incidents in Minya point to failures that cannot be addressed by security responses alone, calling for renewed religious discourse, educational reform, media policies that promote acceptance, and faster action on an independent antidiscrimination commission.

Apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia describes pastoral visits amid war

Apostolic Vicar Aldo Berardi, OSST, of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia revealed that he was able to carry out 11 pastoral visits throughout the region despite airport closures and ongoing conflicts.

“Despite the difficulties caused by the attacks and the closure of airports, we were able to carry out the program as planned,” Berardi said in a Fides News article, emphasizing the need to visit his flock “especially at a time marked by tension and fear.” 

The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. “We gathered to pray for peace and organized special moments of encounter and fraternity,” he said. “No priest requested to return to his home country, a source of great consolation for the entire community.”

Vatican diplomat highlights HIV crisis among children

Monsignor Marco Formica, counselor of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, called for increased attention to HIV cases among children.

“My delegation would like to draw special attention to children, who remain particularly vulnerable to HIV. Gaps in both diagnosis and treatment mean that the 3% of HIV patients that are children account for 12% of deaths due to HIV,” Formica said in a statement following a U.N. meeting on HIV and AIDS.

“Quality antenatal as well as perinatal and postpartum care protects both mothers and their children. It is vital to ensure early testing and consistent access to treatment for children with HIV in child-friendly formulations,” he said.

Syriac lawmaker says Christians not sufficiently represented

Gabriel Moshe Kourieh, the only Syriac member of Syria’s Parliament and a leading figure in the Assyrian Democratic Organization, told ACI MENA that Christian representation in the new People’s Assembly remains below the community’s aspirations.

Christians currently hold about 3% of the seats, a figure Kourieh said does not properly reflect their historic role in Syrian public life or their place in the country’s national consensus. He argued that a future fair electoral law could allow broader Christian participation from different provinces while stressing that Syria’s transition must be judged by actions: the building of institutions, separation of powers, judicial independence, and equal citizenship.

Kourieh also placed constitutional recognition of the Syriac-Assyrian identity, language, and culture among his top parliamentary priorities while warning that economic hardship, poor services, and fading hope continue to push many Syrians toward emigration.

Catholic Social Services in Australia urges government to address housing crisis

Catholic Social Services Australia (CCSA) has asked the Australian government to conduct an audit of the country’s regulations on buying and building housing.

“Regulation is not inherently negative. It is introduced to address specific problems or market failures,” CSSA chief executive Jerry Nockles said in a Catholic News report on Thursday following the proposed audit. “Without regular reassessment, well-intentioned regulations can inadvertently constrain housing supply, driving up costs and limiting access — experienced most acutely by low-income households.”

Caritas South Korea named official channel for humanitarian aid

The South Korean Caritas will serve as the primary distributor of humanitarian aid from Caritas International for people north of the border, Asia News reported.

"On behalf of the Caritas Internationalis, we discussed the project of development and cooperation with Kim Seong-il, vice chairman of the National Economic Cooperation Committee of North Korea, who accepted our direct commitment. We also exchanged a letter of intent,” Father Lazzaro You Heung-sik, president of the bishops' aid committee, said following a five-day visit to North Korea in May, according to the report.

Under the agreement, Caritas will serve as the “only channel of aid from Catholics from all over the world,” Paul Jeremiah Hwang Yong-yeon, secretary of the South Korean Caritas, also said.

Filipino bishop calls for end to stigma around mental health

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines pledged to walk with members of the faithful struggling with mental illness and work toward breaking societal stigmas around mental health.

“Mental illness is not a sign of weak faith. It is not a punishment from God. Like any illness, it deserves understanding, appropriate care, and compassionate accompaniment. Every person, whatever his or her condition, is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inalienable dignity that no illness can ever take away,” the bishops said in a pastoral statement released on Monday. 

“As a Church, we commit to building communities of encounter, breaking the stigma, strengthening collaboration, and walking together in hope so that every person is welcomed, accompanied, and freed from stigma,” the bishops added.

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer on June 22, Burnham became the main contender to replace him.

Previous prime ministers have had connections to the Catholic faith, although none have begun their terms in office as practicing Catholics. Tony Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, converted to Catholicism after leaving office. Boris Johnson, prime minister from 2019 to 2022, though baptized a Catholic as an infant, entered Downing Street as an Anglican.

Burnham, who was sworn in on a Bible as a new member of Parliament on June 22, has described his Catholic faith as “unshowy,” telling The Guardian in 2009: “Three things are important in my life apart from family: Everton [Football Club], the Labour Party, and the Catholic Church — in that order.”

The appointment could also raise a constitutional question concerning his role in episcopal appointments.

At play is a landmark U.K. law known as the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (also called the Catholic Emancipation Act). It grants Roman Catholics the right to sit in Parliament and hold most public offices but does not allow them to advise the crown on Church of England episcopal appointments. How this provision may operate in modern constitutional practice remains contested.

Jon Tonge, a politics professor at the University of Liverpool, told EWTN News: “Legally, Burnham would be prohibited from advising the monarch on [Church of England] bishops. The law has not been repealed. The lord chancellor will provide the advice.”

An ‘a la carte’ Catholicism

Tonge continued: “Even though heʼs not a regular at Mass, [Burnham] sent his children to Catholic schools … It is an ‘a la carte’ Catholicism, which ignores the social conservatism (opposition to same-sex marriage or to abortion, as examples) and attempts to apply Catholic social teaching principles to policy. Equality, fairness, justice, and help for those with least are at its heart — hence Burnhamʼs commitment to tackle homelessness in Greater Manchester and donate some of his salary to the issue.”

Burnham has said he was raised with a "live and let live" approach, something that has shaped his stance on policy. He supports abortion and same-sex marriage and is in favor of assisted suicide for terminally ill adults, positions that are not in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told EWTN News: “I canʼt actually see anything thatʼs obviously Christian in his [Burnham’s] policies. A person that professes and confesses faith will always uphold marriage between one man and one woman, will not champion trans ideology into law and into policy … Heʼs pro-assisted suicide, heʼs pro-liberalization of abortion. So that doesnʼt actually match with his faith.”

In 2023, Burnham delighted Pope Francis at the Vatican when he gifted the pontiff a shirt signed by fellow Argentinian Lisandro Martinez, a player for Manchester United. Following Francis’ death, Burnham described the meeting as the “most moving” experience of his life — despite having previously pressured the pope to bring the Catholic Church “into the 21st century” on issues including LGBT rights.

Growing up in the 1980s in Warrington, Burnham attended St. Aelredʼs Catholic High School and was raised in his Irish mother Eileen’s Catholic faith. She said in a 2015 interview: “You should have seen the fights he and his brothers had on Sundays. They were all altar boys, but Andy had to be the one at the front holding the Communion plate.” 

Burnham married Marie-France van Heel in 2000 after meeting at Cambridge Universityʼs Fitzwilliam College in 1989, and they have three grown children.

This story was updated at 2:45 p.m. ET on July 17, 2026, with a change in the headline and first paragraph to reflect Burnham’s election as leader of the Labour Party.

The revised Federal Act on the Armed Forces, which took effect June 1, repealed Article 18, ending the automatic exemption that priests, monks, and other clergy had traditionally received because of their pastoral role in civilian society.

Clergy deemed fit for service are now required to complete the same compulsory military service as other Swiss men: an initial 18 weeks of basic training followed by refresher courses over nine years, amounting to a total of 245 days of service. Military service remains compulsory only for men.

Church response

In a July 8 letter to the Swiss Federal Council, four of the country’s largest Christian bodies criticized the government’s handling of the reform. The signatories included the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Switzerland, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland (Old Catholic), and the umbrella organization Freikirchen.ch, which represents Switzerland’s free churches.

Christian leaders said they had not been invited to participate in the consultation process that normally accompanies significant legislative changes in Switzerland, despite the fact that the reform directly affects the ministry of clergy during times of national crisis.

“We regret this procedural flaw,” said Peter Schneeberger, president of Freikirchen.ch, in a statement. “From our standpoint, this does not correspond to a proper legislative process.”

According to the organizations, they only became aware of the change indirectly after the legislation had already been adopted.

While acknowledging that the reform itself can be debated politically, Schneeberger argued that the deeper issue is what the decision says about the state’s understanding of religion.

By abolishing the exemption, he wrote, the government is abandoning the long-held assumption that pastoral care during wars, disasters, and other emergencies is a public service worthy of special protection. He described the move as a form of “state self-secularization” — not hostility toward religion but a reassessment of the churches’ role in society without any broader public discussion.

Government response

The Federal Council defended the reform by arguing that the exemption had become obsolete. It said the provision was originally intended to ensure civilians would continue receiving spiritual care during wars and national emergencies.

In its reasoning, the government stated that “the increasing secularization of society means that fewer and fewer people feel connected to the Church’s offerings,” concluding that pastoral ministry can no longer be regarded as “an activity essential to maintaining social life.”

Swiss military authorities similarly argued that the exemption no longer reflects the religious realities of modern Swiss society.

The government’s decision comes amid a marked shift in Switzerland’s religious landscape. According to official statistics, Catholics accounted for 42.3% of the population in 2000 but had fallen to 30% by 2024. Over the same period, the proportion of people with no religious affiliation more than tripled, rising from 11.4% to 36.8%, reflecting the country’s accelerating secularization.

Questioning the army’s response

Auxiliary Bishop Alain de Raemy of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, who previously served as chaplain to the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the Vatican, called the government’s decision “a lack of respect for society.”

Pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, de Raemy argued that moments of crisis often increase, rather than diminish, the demand for spiritual care.

“As we saw during COVID, or during the Crans-Montana disaster, there was a need for people available on a spiritual level as well. So how will we manage in times of war and future crises, if priests must serve in the army? What is the Federal Council’s plan?” he asked.

Collectively, the churches have appealed to the Federal Council to clarify how clergy will be able to continue providing pastoral care if they are called to military service and have urged the government to introduce flexible arrangements that preserve their ministry during future national emergencies.

"I have decided to file a complaint against the men who caused my daughter so much harm. I am doing this because I feel that is what she wanted,” said Yolanda Ramos, the mother of Noelia Castillo, in explaining her reasons for asking the public prosecutorʼs office to investigate two alleged rapes that appear to be at the root of her daughter’s case.

“Noelia spoke about the rapes on television, and on the very day she died, she gave me her diary,” Ramos said. “And when I read it, I understood many things."

In a recording released by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, Ramos explained how an intuition led her to take the step nearly four months after her daughter was euthanized via lethal injection.

“I feel that my daughter wanted the whole truth to be known someday. That is why I decided to go to the prosecutorʼs office, because I cannot simply stand by and do nothing. They can’t bring my daughter back, but neither do I want this to be forgotten. I am doing this for her, and also for other young women who have gone through the same thing but have not reported it,” she explained.

“It’s the only thing I can do for my daughter,” she said, “so that she is never forgotten.”

In April, Ramos called for the repeal of the euthanasia law via social media: “Please, let this law be abolished. I donʼt want there to be any more Noelias. I donʼt want this to happen again. This euthanasia law must be completely done away with.”

A written record of the assaults

Working with the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, Ramos filed two complaints with the provincial prosecutorʼs offices of Barcelona and Tarragona. She said she hopes the two alleged rapes her daughter suffered will be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.

The foundation said the complaints show that Noelia left, in writing, the story of both sexual assaults.

Regarding the first incident, it describes how she was forced to have sexual relations by her then-romantic partner, a young Pakistani man with whom she had been in a relationship for four years.

As for the second, it details how, after meeting a waiter in Salou, she was drugged, made to consume alcohol, and raped by three men. Three days after that assault, Noelia attempted suicide by throwing herself from the fifth floor of a building. She survived but was left paraplegic. Years later, she would request euthanasia.

According to the foundation, "the events could constitute two counts of rape”  under the penal code.

“The family was unable to report the incidents at the time due to a lack of sufficient evidence. However, following Noeliaʼs death, her mother has gained access to various documents that, according to the complaint, would make it possible to identify the alleged perpetrators,” the foundation stated.

Among the new evidence are handwritten entries “recounting both rapes, as well as conversations, identifying details, and other elements that would facilitate locating the alleged assailants."

Finally, the Christian Lawyers foundation pointed out that “the victimʼs death does not preclude criminal prosecution for these offenses” and called on the public prosecutorʼs office “to initiate the necessary proceedings to identify those responsible and hold them criminally accountable.”

The first euthanasia case to go to court in Spain

Noelia del Castillo was euthanized on March 26. She requested the procedure in April 2024 and it was granted in August of that year. Shortly after that, her parents initiated a legal battle to preserve her life.

This was the first case to go to court in Spain since the euthanasia law came into effect on June 25, 2021. Since then, 1,688 people have died from euthanasia, according to official statistics from the Ministry of Health.

In the legal proceedings, it was requested that the procedure not be carried out, as it was determined that Noelia had not received the necessary support to address her psychiatric issues — issues highlighted by her repeated suicide attempts, one of which caused her serious injuries.

“The Constitutional Court itself makes it clear that euthanasia cannot be applied when the origin of the suffering is a mental illness, and that the state has the obligation to protect these people against the risk of suicide,” Christian Lawyers explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, in March.

Separately, a complaint was filed against the doctor and the lawyer who initially assessed Noelia’s request, alleging that they “feigned disagreement in order to refer the decision to the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission and ‘force’ a supposedly higher level of assurance in the decision-making process,” a Supreme Court ruling noted.

Furthermore, a complaint was also lodged against seven members of the Guarantee Commission for conflict of interest and against the former Minister of Health for Catalonia, Josep María Argimón, for having appointed them.

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

“We regret that this briefing was uploaded to our website without going through the established internal review processes that are in place to ensure consistency, accuracy, and alignment with Amnesty International UKʼs positions,” an Amnesty International UK spokesperson said.

The statement comes after the organization removed a report titled “A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK” from its website following backlash from organizations that were categorized as “anti-rights” as well as conservative author J.K. Rowling.

“Because these groups challenge core human rights principles, Amnesty International UK uses the term ‘anti-rights’ to describe their aims and impact,” the report said of the 117 organizations it censured for restricting human rights, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), the Catholic Herald, the Catholic Medical Association, Right to Life UK, and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International.

“The Catholic Church works to uphold the God-given rights of all humanity, without exception,” the CBCEW said in a statement shared with EWTN News. “This includes the rights of those unjustly imprisoned, of refugees and migrants, of those who have been trafficked, and the right to life of all people from conception to natural death.”

“Furthermore,” the statement continued, “we uphold the right to freedom of religion, conscience, and expression as explained in the document of the Second Vatican Council Dignitatis Humanae. Our belief in the dignity of every person, from which a proper understanding of human rights comes, animates all our work in the field of social justice in England and Wales.”

The report also cited the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission at the U.N. General Assembly as playing a role in coining the term “gender ideology,” which the report said is used by “anti-rights actors.”

An image Rowling posted showed Amnesty’s website after the report was taken down that stated the briefing was “temporarily removed” and was being subject to internal review.

“Amnesty International UK has shown its true colors in releasing this report,” a spokesperson for ADF told EWTN News. “Though it has now been removed, the publication made it very clear the organization is strongly biased against Christian groups and their beliefs.”

“To smear a large, collective list of Christian organizations as ‘anti-rights’ is not only an inaccurate accusation but completely disregards the right each of these organizations has to freely and peacefully express their views,” the ADF spokesperson added.

Amnesty International UK said the report’s "use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK, which is why it was promptly removed.”

"We remain committed to defending human rights, including both the rights of women and the rights of trans people,” the statement said. "Human rights protections are strongest when they apply equally to everyone, and no community should be singled out for unfair treatment or denied their dignity and rights."

This story was updated at 10:20 a.m. ET on July 17, 2026, with the statement from ADF International.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels on July 15 during a discussion titled “Europe and Africa: In Conversation with Cardinal Robert Sarah,” the former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said international cooperation is increasingly undermined by a growing disconnect between language and reality.

“In the relationship between the European Union and Africa, words are today used not to reveal reality but to hide it, and even to distort it,” Sarah said.

Pointing to expressions such as “sexual and reproductive health,” “gender equality,” and “human rights,” Sarah argued that such language is sometimes used to advance concepts that many African societies neither share nor have chosen.

“If words no longer mean what they say, how can there be authentic dialogue?” he asked. “How can Africa trust a Europe that speaks with equivocal, double-meaning words?”

He warned that international agreements relying on ambiguous terminology risk becoming “instruments of perversion and of silent power” rather than genuine cooperation.

Lessons from the pope’s AI encyclical

Sarah also drew on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published in May, arguing that although it addresses the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), its warning against manipulative and deceptive language also extends beyond technology to diplomacy and international cooperation.

He said the encyclical calls on policymakers to ensure political, economic, and technological systems remain grounded in truth and always serve the human person. It also insists on human oversight and moral discernment so that AI remains at the service of the human person rather than becoming its master.

Warning against reducing individuals to “statistical categories or instruments of economic power” rather than recognizing their “transcendent dignity,” Sarah said the encyclical ultimately places the human person at the center.

“The question remains, and always will remain, anthropological,” he said, urging Europe and Africa to build their partnership on “the truth of the human person, of the family, and of peoples.”

Europe-Africa cooperation

Opening the conference, Paolo Inselvini, an Italian member of the European Parliament, said the gathering offered an opportunity to recover Europe’s Christian roots while promoting “a frank, equal dialogue” with Africa based on truth rather than ideology.

European Parliament Vice President Antonella Sberna pointed to the EU’s Global Gateway investment strategy and Italy’s Mattei Plan as examples of cooperation with Africa based on “respect, reality, and the identity of peoples.” She said such discussions help “translate our values into legislation and concrete change.”

Launched in 2021, Global Gateway is the EU’s flagship global investment strategy. As part of that strategy, the EU aims to mobilize up to 150 billion euros ($171.9 billion) in public and private investment across Africa.

A bridge between continents

Born in Guinea, Sarah was appointed archbishop of Conakry by Pope John Paul II in 1979 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest Catholic bishop in the world at the time.

Pope Benedict XVI named him president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum in 2010, and Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2014, a position he held until his retirement in 2021.

Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza, the apostolic nuncio to the European Union, who also spoke at the event, recalled his first meeting with the cardinal during reconstruction efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake. He described Sarah as someone whose life and ministry have spanned Africa, Europe, and the universal Church.

Sarah remains one of the Catholic Church’s most influential voices on evangelization, liturgy, religious freedom, and the relationship between faith, culture, and public life.

The 291-241 vote came three years after President Emmanuel Macron, who had made it one of his key campaign promises, first opened the question to national debate.

The vote ended an unusual parliamentary stalemate between the National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly passed the bill three times over the course of 14 months — most recently on June 30 by a vote of 295 to 232 — and senators rejected it just as many times.

On July 7, the Senate passed, by a narrow majority of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions, a preliminary motion to outright reject the bill rather than debate it, and this motion itself called on the government to end the legislative process. Rather than heeding this call, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu invoked Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the government to give the National Assembly the final say when repeated readings fail to produce an agreement between the two chambers. He then referred the bill back to the National Assembly for a fourth and final vote instead of a fourth reading in the Senate.

The July 15 vote, however, did not close the matter. On July 14, Lecornu announced he would refer part of the text to the Constitutional Council, a step Senate President Gérard Larcher had also urged, citing in particular how the billʼs conscience clause would interact with health and social care facilities built around end-of-life accompaniment that exclude assisted dying. The council must rule within a month, or eight days if the government asks for an expedited review, meaning the law cannot be promulgated until that review is complete even though the Assembly has now adopted it.

The end-of-life law covers both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance, under five cumulative conditions: A person must be an adult, a stable resident of France, diagnosed with a serious and incurable condition, in an advanced or terminal phase of that condition, and suffering in a way current treatment cannot relieve, while remaining able to express a free and informed decision. Self-administration is supposed to be the default rule, with the law providing for intervention by a healthcare professional only when the patient is physically unable to act.

A supporting measure aimed at expanding access to palliative care was adopted with much broader support, passing its first reading in the Senate by a vote of 307 to 17. To date, more than 20% of French departments still lack a palliative care unit, according to figures cited repeatedly by the Bishops’ Conference of France during the debate.

The push to legalize assisted dying traces back to September 2022, when the National Consultative Ethics Committee reversed its earlier opposition to assisted dying and endorsed an “ethical” application of the practice. A citizens’ panel Macron had convened spent the following winter weighing the question and backed legalization.

The French president unveiled the outline of a bill in March 2024, but the initiative stalled when he dissolved the Assembly in June the same year. Deputy Olivier Falorni, who had filed an earlier and unsuccessful end-of-life bill, revived it in 2025.

Critics argue the newly adopted framework is among the most permissive of its kind in the world. Grégor Puppinck, a Catholic lawyer and director general of the European Centre for Law and Justice, has published a point-by-point analysis contending that the entire process rests on the judgment of a single physician, who may meet the patient for the first time on the day of the request and need not be the one already treating them.

The two additional professionals that physician must consult are chosen by the same person, are not required to examine the patient in person, and may be consulted by videoconference.

Puppinck noted the statute sets no minimum interval between the decision and the act itself beyond a two-day reflection window, relatives have no guaranteed right to be informed beforehand, and they cannot challenge the outcome in court.

Doctors who object in conscience must still refer patients to a colleague willing to proceed, and private and religious institutions, including nursing homes, must accommodate mobile euthanasia teams under threat of administrative penalties. Oversight, in Puppinck’s account, comes only after death, based on a report filed by the same clinician who carried it out.

The founders of the ethics collective Democracy, Ethics, and Solidarity, Laurent Frémont and Emmanuel Hirsch, wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche that the law’s eligibility criteria — primarily a “serious and incurable condition” causing “unbearable suffering,” are defined vaguely enough that a strict medical interpretation could make more than 1 million people eligible, including patients with chronic illnesses, psychiatric disorders, or advanced age, without requiring a prior written request, a peer review by medical colleagues, or a psychiatric evaluation.

A 2025 study by the Fondation pour l’innovation politique estimated the measure could save the state around 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) a year in health, eldercare, and pension spending, a projection critics have cited as evidence of the pressures vulnerable and elderly patients could face once the law takes effect.

The French bishops’ conference called the text a threat to “the most fragile” among French citizens in a statement issued in May 2025 ahead of the Assembly’s first vote on the bill. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, has repeatedly urged lawmakers to reconsider their position, asserting that true solidarity is built through caring for others rather than through death. “More than assistance in dying, our society needs assistance in living,” he has repeatedly stated.

In a video appeal to lawmakers released before the vote, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours invoked François Rabelais’ centuries-old warning that “science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.” What is underway, he said, is “an anthropological shift,” a new way of viewing life and its end that will gradually reshape the country, touching caregivers, families, people with disabilities, and the relationship between generations.

He pointed to the Netherlands, where regulators had layered on safeguards for two decades and where health officials confirmed in June that a child under 12 had been euthanized for the first time, under a 2024 expansion of the law to children between the ages of 1 and 12.

Making a law, Jordy said, is also opening doors toward things “one had perhaps not imagined” when it was written.

According to the Catholic Churchʼs news site in Germany, 41-year-old Senad Mrkaljevic was ordained a priest a few weeks ago by the archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, at St. Hedwigʼs Cathedral.

“Many people fear that faith will take something away from them. My experience is exactly the opposite: God gives me much more. That is what I want to convey to others,” the new priest stated.

Born in 1984 in Brčko in the former Yugoslavia, Mrkaljevic grew up in a Muslim family where religion did not play a central role.

“Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully alongside one another back then,” he recalled. However, the outbreak of the war in Bosnia in 1992 forced his family to seek refuge, first in Austria and later in Germany.

“As a child, it was hard to grasp what fleeing meant, and I quickly felt like an outsider in Germany,” he recounted.

Compounding these difficulties, Mrkaljevic has a congenital visual impairment, which made integrating into school life more challenging.

His journey toward the Catholic faith began around the age of 23, when he started reading the Bible and secretly visiting the church every Sunday morning. He felt afraid the first time he entered a church. “Going in there was quite a challenge for me. I kept asking myself, ‘Is what you’re doing right?’” he recalled.

Over time, he realized he no longer wanted to hide. “I didn’t want to lead a double life,” he explained. In 2009, he was baptized during the Easter Vigil, a decision his family initially found difficult.

“It was a problem for my mother; she tried to make me change my mind,” he recounted. Even so, he decided to move forward.

After completing his theology studies at the Lantershofen seminary for adult vocations in 2023, he was assigned first as a deacon and later as a chaplain to St. Edith Stein Parish in Berlin’s Neukölln district, an area with a significant Muslim population.

Mrkaljevic said he believes that, given his background, he can become a bridge-builder between Christians and Muslims.

He also noted that, over time, his decision was met with respect by his loved ones. “My conversion and my decision to become a priest were acknowledged by my Muslim family in Bosnia as well as by my siblings,” he said. His mother even attended his priestly ordination.

Looking ahead to his new ministry, Mrkaljevic expressed his desire to provide spiritual accompaniment to people and “to proclaim the good news.”

“It is never in vain, however few we may be. I myself have experienced how much it has enriched me, and that is what I want to share with others,” he said.

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

“A Catholic engaged in public life cannot ignore” the Church’s constant teaching against euthanasia, Aillet told France Catholique in a July 7 interview. He highlighted that the Christian faith engages a person’s whole existence and that every lawmaker must examine in conscience whether the acts they take align with the faith they profess.

A public vote for a law gravely contrary to the Church’s moral teaching, he said, creates “a real problem of ecclesial coherence,” and Catholic lawmakers who support the bill need to weigh the consequences of that choice. If they are aware of the inconsistency, he said, “they will no longer be able to receive Communion,” adding that the Church has the authority to remind them of this, just as some bishops have already done in the United States.

Aillet said he wanted to invite lawmakers to a sincere examination of conscience and raised the question of whether society has the right to make the deliberate ending of a human life its answer to suffering.

The National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, is scheduled to hold the decisive vote on the bill Wednesday, July 15. Barring a last-minute reversal, the measure is expected to pass by a wide margin, as it has in each of its three previous readings in the lower chamber, most recently by 295 votes to 232 on June 30.

The bill has been rejected three times by the Senate, most recently on July 7 by a narrow vote of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions.

Under Article 45 of the French Constitution, the government can give the Assembly the final word once the two chambers remain deadlocked after repeated readings, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to invoke that procedure Wednesday.

The bill, titled a “right to aid in dying,” legalizes both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance. Access is restricted to adults who are stable residents of France, suffer from a serious and incurable condition in an advanced or terminal phase, experience suffering that cannot be relieved by treatment, and remain able to express their will freely and with full understanding throughout the process.

Aillet also grounded his warning in the Vatican’s 2020 letter Samaritanus Bonus, which he said had reaffirmed that euthanasia is intrinsically evil regardless of circumstance. He distinguished true compassion from what St. John Paul II called a “false mercy,” arguing that a genuinely fraternal society answers suffering with palliative care and accompaniment rather than the elimination of the person who suffers.

The bishop also called for a fully guaranteed conscience clause for health workers and defended the right of Catholic-run care institutions to refuse to participate, warning that without it, some might be forced to close or relocate abroad.

The French bishops’ conference has opposed the bill since its earliest stages, issuing formal statements opposing the bill after the Assembly’s first vote in May 2025, again after the second reading in February, and a third time on Ascension Day in May, when it warned of “moral imprudence” and “democratic disrespect” given the absence of political and social consensus.

On the eve of the June 30 vote, the Church released a video appeal to lawmakers, with Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours saying the testimony of caregivers, jurists, and associations involved in end-of-life care had been “painfully ignored” during the debates.

The Christian social network Hozana has separately called on believers to join a prayer chain addressed to French lawmakers ahead of Wednesdayʼs vote, an appeal that has drawn more than 58,000 participants.

The bill’s critics are not confined to religious circles. The Société française d’accompagnement et de soins palliatifs and other caregiver federations have opposed the text, arguing that palliative care should be made a real, accessible alternative before any shift toward assisted death and that the bill’s clinical framework and oversight remain unclear.

Asked about the pending visit of Pope Leo XIV to France, whose chosen motto for the trip is “So that the world may have life,” Aillet said he hoped the pope would reaffirm the inalienable dignity of every human life regardless of how the vote turns out.

“The placement of a replica mosque atop a bonfire is grossly offensive and raises tensions so soon after the unrest that destroyed property and severely impacted the lives of individuals and families,” the archbishops said.

Bonfires are traditionally lit in loyalist areas of Northern Ireland on the night before July 12 — a holiday referred to as “The Twelfth” — marking the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, which saw the defeat of Catholic King James II. The mosque replica placed on top of a bonfire was reported to depict a person holding a knife and a flag.

The incident follows weeks of civil unrest and targeting of migrant communities throughout Northern Ireland after a brutal knife attack in Belfast carried out by a Sudanese national.

Little Sisters of the Poor set up field hospital for Venezuela earthquake victims

The Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor of Maiquetía has set up a field hospital following the destruction of San José Hospital during the earthquakes in Venezuela last month.

The sisters are continuing their health ministry operations across the street from the damaged hospital, Sister María Yraida Mora Sánchez, vicar general of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, told Vatican News.

"We are also making regular visits to three emergency shelters, and the situation is extremely difficult. It is especially challenging because Venezuela was already facing a severe economic and humanitarian crisis, as much of the world already knows,” she said. 

Abuse survivors seek damages from entity tied to Christian Brothers’ asset transfers

Survivors of clergy abuse at the hands of the Congregation of Christian Brothers are seeking to transfer their compensation claims to Edmund Rice Education Australia, a Catholic entity that received over $50 million worth of property from the Christian Brothers over the course of a decade in symbolic $1 transfers.

The move comes after the Christian Brothers said in court that they could not afford to pay survivors’ claims in full but that they would sell off their remaining 36 properties valued at $217 million to divide among creditors and abuse survivors, according to a report from The Guardian on Friday.

Indonesia bishops speak out against killing of American mission pilot

Catholic bishops in Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province, have condemned the murder of an American pilot on July 2 by an armed group.

“We strongly condemn this brutal act,” Archbishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Merauke said, according to Licas News, noting that the plane that was set on fire by the group was an Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) aircraft owned by five dioceses in Papua. AMA has served Papua for 67 years, delivering humanitarian aid to areas difficult to reach by land.

“For decades, we have faced risks from weather and technical problems. However, a criminal act involving the burning of an aircraft and the murder of a pilot is extremely difficult to accept. It is a barbaric and inhumane act,” Bishop Yanuarius Theofilus Matopai of Jayapura in Papua said.

Pakistan archbishop declares child abuse a national, moral crisis

Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in Pakistan has designated 2026 the “Year of Children” amid what he described as “deep concern over the growing number of child abuse cases in society.”

"The issue of child sexual abuse in Pakistan remains widespread and requires urgent attention,” the archbishop said in an interview with Fides News Agency on July 8.

“Crimes against children are among the most shameful and intolerable violations of human dignity. No society can call itself just, peaceful, or civilized as long as its children live under threat, fear, and insecurity. Children are a sacred gift from God and must be protected with the highest level of moral, social, legal and institutional responsibility,” he said, calling for action from the Pakistani government. 

New Zealand marks near-50% surge in euthanasia deaths in 3 years

A report has recorded a 48.17% increase in deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide in New Zealand over the past three years.

The Registrar (assisted dying) Annual Report to the Minister of Health June 2026 report found there was a total of 486 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide in New Zealand from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. In 2023-2024, there were 328 cases nationwide.

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference has repeatedly spoken out against euthanasia and assisted suicide laws in the country.

Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, celebrates centenary of Latin Vicariate of Port Said

Hundreds of pilgrims gathered in Port Said in Egypt to celebrate 100 years after the establishment of the apostolic procurator there, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Sunday.

Bishop Claudio Lurati of the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria presided over the Mass celebrating the anniversary at the Regina Mundi Cathedral.

Beyond the anniversary itself, the celebration brought together the history of the local Church, the legacy of generations of Christians, and a remarkable example of ecumenical cooperation, with Regina Mundi Cathedral serving both Latin Catholic and Coptic Orthodox communities.

Thailand Catholic schools launch program to combat food insecurity

In the wake of catastrophic flooding across southern Thailand, the Catholic Foundation of the Surat Thani Diocese has launched a program to transform schools into food hubs.

The “Promoting Nutrition and Sustainable Food Production for Children and the Poor” project is funded by Pope Leo XIV through the apostolic nuncio to Thailand, according to a report from Licas News on Wednesday.

The project is designed to ensure that students receive balanced meals every day by enabling schools to become agricultural food production zones. The program will also establish health monitoring systems to track body mass index (BMI) of students suffering from food insecurity.

The public prosecutor asked the relevant authorities to carry out an investigation into the archives and, based on the outcome, found the initiative reasonable. He has already submitted a proposal for the judicial rehabilitation of Trochta over the illegal deprivation of his personal freedom. A date for consideration of the proposal has not yet been set.

“I firmly believe that the name of Štěpán Trochta, my predecessor in Litoměřice, will be cleared through the courts,” said Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, who is also apostolic administrator of Litoměřice.

The verdict that sent Trochta to prison, handed down in a political trial for “treason and conspiracy,” was overturned in 1968, but the Czech courts have not dealt with his earlier illegal internment. The initiative for full rehabilitation came from Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian Exile of the 20th Century, and the lawyer Lubomír Müller.

It is “important to clean his name in this way as well,” said Kratochvil, whose family was friends with the prelate.

Salesian, prisoner, cardinal

Štěpán Trochta (1905–1974) was one of the first Czech members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the so-called Salesians. He studied in Turin, Italy, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. He returned to Czechoslovakia, and when Nazi Germany occupied the country, he was arrested for his contacts with and support for the resistance and was sent to several concentration camps.

He was “ready to work, full of energy, enthusiasm, and willing to work hard.” Trochta was also a good organizer and a gifted speaker and writer who “enjoyed being among the boys, even though he gradually had to spend more time in administration,” according to “Life and Legacy,” a booklet published by the Salesians on the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s death.

Shortly before the communists took over in Czechoslovakia, he was appointed bishop of Litoměřice. He became the spokesman for the episcopate of Czechoslovakia in difficult negotiations with the new government. In the end, the regime interned him in his residence and later imprisoned him. Although he was released sooner than expected, he was not allowed to continue as a bishop and had to work as a manual laborer.

In 1969, when he was already back in the Diocese of Litoměřice, Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal “in pectore” — that is, secretly.

When Trochta died five years later, the funeral was attended by many of the faithful, including cardinals from Berlin, Krakow, and Vienna. Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II, reportedly asked to concelebrate but was not permitted to do so. Wojtyła then defied the ban on foreign participants speaking, delivering a short address over the coffin in which he called the deceased prelate a martyr. The funeral Mass was celebrated by the Czech bishop and future Cardinal František Tomášek.

A series of Czech rehabilitations

The case may become one more in a recent series of rehabilitations in the Czech Republic.

In February, the District Court of Prague recognized the unjust treatment of Cardinal Josef Beran, the former archbishop of Prague, who was interned in several locations. Last month, the District Court in Olomouc rehabilitated Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha of Olomouc, also over his internment.

In 2024, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové rehabilitated Father Josef Toufar, who was illegally arrested and tortured to death.

These are some of the attacks that St. Benedict, whose feast the Catholic Church celebrates on July 11, endured throughout his life.

Benedict even had to use force to manifest his authority as abbot over his monks oppressed by the enemy, as related in Father Robert Nixon’s book “The Cross and Medal of Saint Benedict: A Mystical Sign of Divine Power” (TAN, 2024):

“Benedict found this monk outside wandering around aimlessly when he should have been in the oratory in prayer. With a certain degree of paternal severity and charitable discipline, he reprimanded him for his lack of wisdom and discernment and struck him with his staff. At this, the monk fell down, motionless. And after that, the devil ... never troubled him again. It was as if the staff of Benedict had not struck the hapless monk but had rather driven away the wicked tempter himself!” (p. 14).

St. Benedict has come to be recognized for the power of his actions against the enemy, alongside St. Michael the Archangel, as a major protector against evil — particularly through the medal that bears his image.

Nixon’s book offers an overview of how the medal rose to prominence as a Catholic devotion and received papal approval, couching it within the story of St. Benedict’s life and the rise of his order of monks.

The St. Benedict medal

If you’ve seen the back of a St. Benedict medal, you may have noticed a series of letters. The first set is arranged in and around the shape of the cross: C S P B C S S M L N D S M D. The next set is arranged in a circle around the cross: V R S N S M V S M Q L I V B.

This arrangement first came to serious attention in the year 1647 in relation to the Benedictine Abbey of Metten in Bavaria, Germany, when it was believed to have prevented a series of diabolic attacks.

Although some of the laity already had medals with these letters engraved, no one at the time understood their meaning. It was only in researching the library’s manuscripts that a 15th-century illustration of St. Benedict pointed to the full prayer they abbreviated:

“Cross of our Holy Father Benedict. May the cross be light to me. May the dragon not be a leader to me. Get behind me, Satan: Never persuade me to vain things. What you like is evil; may you yourself drink your venom!”

Due to a widespread story of the medal preventing the effect of curses and bringing about exorcisms and healings, which Nixon details in his book, its use spread across Europe, with Pope Benedict XIV approving an official blessing for it and granting it indulgences in 1741.

The great father of modern Benedictine monasticism, Dom Prosper Guéranger, speculated why God would grant so many favors to those who invoke his help through St. Benedict’s medal. In an age when “rationalism is so rife,” God has deigned to offer help to those “who put their confidence in the sacred signs marked on the medal” with “strong and simple” faith (Guéranger, “The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict,” author’s preface). It’s as if to laugh at the devil and his plans to pull people away from God through the alleged sophistication of the modern world, overcoming them with simple signs pointing us to the cross and the protection of a holy monk.

Of course, the medal should not be used in a superstitious way. It expresses our faith and confidence in God, which conquers the power of the enemy through the blood of Christ. Within God’s plan of salvation, there are certain key defenders of God’s people. St. Benedict proved himself as one over his own monks in spiritual combat. Through the efficacy of his medal, he has manifested himself as a fatherly defender of all who invoke his help.

Throughout history, the monastic life has served as a constant beacon calling us to greater conversion of life and prayer. Turning to St. Benedict can lead us to embrace some of his spiritual principles, such as humility, obedience, stability, hospitality, the prayerful reading of Scripture in “lectio divina,” and viewing our work as a means of honoring God.

While St. Benedict faced trials in his life as a monk, we all face trials and attacks from the enemy in the Christian life. Sacramentals can help us in our journey of faith, including our efforts to keep evil far away.

St. Benedict medals and rosaries with the medal affixed can be purchased at religious gift stores and can be blessed after purchase. Medals are also available at EWTN’s Religious Catalogue site.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

The long-serving British politician, who converted to Catholicism in the early 1990s, was found dead on July 9 at her home in Dartmoor in southwestern England.

Initial reports suggested she may have died from a fall in her home. But in a statement on July 10 Devon and Cornwall Police said it had launched a murder investigation into her death. The police said July 13 that Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation.

“Specialist officers from across the CTP network have been working alongside colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police since a murder investigation was launched last week,” the July 13 statement said. “A 28-year-old white British man from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Saturday 11 July.”

An earlier statement by Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Inspector Ilona Rosson said investigators were performing forensic examinations. At that time, the event was not being treated as terrorism, authorities said July 10.

A member of the U.K.’s Conservative Party, Widdecombe served in various government roles for decades, including as a member of Parliament and as prisons minister under Prime Minister John Major.

She famously converted to Catholicism in 1993 after the Church of England began ordaining women. In an interview with The New Statesman, she described the English church as “a huge bundle of straw,” with women’s ordination “the last straw.”

“For years I had been disillusioned by the Church of Englandʼs compromising on everything. The Catholic Church doesnʼt care if something is unpopular,” she told the outlet.

Throughout her life as a Catholic she was a vocal defender of the Church and its teachings, especially on the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.

She herself never married; she lived with her widowed mother, Rita, in London until 2007 when her mother died at the age of 95.

In one of her last interviews before her death, she told EWTN News’ Colm Flynn in September 2025 that the “great thing about Catholicism is it doesn’t compromise.”

“You know, something’s either true or it’s false. It’s right or it’s wrong. It’s sin or it’s not,” she told Flynn. “[In the Catholic Church] there is none of the endless fudging that you got with the Anglican Church.”

She argued that the Church is “appealing to young people” in the modern era, pointing to an uptick of interest and an increase in the sale of Bibles. She also cited high levels of religious devotion in the Global South, including in Africa.

“We live in a surprisingly optimistic time,” she said.

This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. ET on July 10, 2026, with news of the arrest of a suspect in Ann Widdecombe’s murder. It was further updated at 1:45 p.m. ET on July 13, 2026, with information from Devon and Cornwall Police that Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation into the death of Widdecombe.

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The modern design seeks to express the journey’s theme, “So That the World May Have Life” (cf. John 6), through a visual language inspired by peace, the Eucharist, the heritage of French cathedrals, and Art Deco, one of France’s most iconic artistic movements.

The bishops’ conference highlighted on social media that it is “a striking symbol that combines the dove of peace, the bursting forth of life, and the spirit of our cathedrals' rose windows.” It also noted that “France’s tricolor hues blend with the orange of life and the green of hope, creating a universe that is decidedly joyful and radiant.”

The artwork was created by Atelier Argo, a French studio specializing in design and brand identity. Its founder, Ghislain dʼOrglandes, explained the creative process behind the logo, typography, and graphic elements.

“When the French Bishops' Conference came to present the project to me, they did so using the phrase the pope chose to express the meaning of his journey and visit. I studied it closely and wanted to get to the essence,” dʼOrglandes explained.

“That’s where the idea of ​​the dove with an olive branch, a symbol of a return to life, originated. I started with that initial sketch and then worked on the pope’s name as if it were a logo. It’s a short, memorable name. Those four letters [‘Leon’ in French], together with the Roman numeral, already formed a very powerful image,” he explained.

The result is a circular emblem reminiscent of a cathedral stained-glass window. Inside, it features a blue dove, a cross, an architectural shape evoking both a church and an open doorway, and an olive branch.

Inspired by the stained-glass windows of French cathedrals

Regarding the meaning of the symbols, the designer explained that “the dove naturally represents peace; the branch symbolizes the sprouting of life — rebirth. At the same time, the overall design adopts a stained-glass style, resembling a large rose window that evokes both the one at Notre Dame and those of the great cathedrals.”

In addition to the main logo, the accompanying images feature minimalist illustrations of three iconic locations from the papal visit: Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.

As part of the project, Atelier Argo developed an original typeface “following the same style as the logo.”

“It conveys stability and a timeless character, yet simultaneously possesses curves and a certain softness in its horizontal and vertical lines. These are letters with a commanding presence and full forms that can symbolize the Eucharist, because the Eucharist is fullness,” dʼOrglandes said.

A design conceived to convey joy

“And it is precisely here that the Mass with the pope on Sept. 26 will be celebrated,” the designer said in the video released by the French bishops, speaking from Place de la Concorde, where the pope will celebrate a Mass in Paris.

Finally, he expressed his hope that the logo and related imagery would help spiritually prepare for the pontiffʼs arrival in France.

“I hope my modest contribution also helps to beautify this event and succeeds in conveying a spirit of joy, the joy of welcoming the pope,” he concluded.

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

The bill was first introduced in June 2025 and completed its final stage on June 30 of this year.

The inquiry will investigate issues raised in the Truth Recovery Independent Report, which was also published this week.

Both the report and the bill focus on institutions that for over 60 years housed unmarried pregnant women who were sent to the homes by a variety of authorities — welfare, priests, family members — to have their babies. The children born there were typically adopted or sent to baby homes, while some returned home with their mothers.

Over 15,000 women and girls are estimated to have passed through mother and baby homes, as well as Magdalene laundries — institutions in both the north and south of Ireland operated by Catholic religious orders in which thousands of women and girls were confined and forced to perform unpaid hard labor. The last one closed in 1996.

The Truth Recovery Independent Panel report was commissioned to gather evidence in a nonconfrontational setting and includes the testimonies of over 300 survivors. Seventy recommendations were made, including the specific investigation of “Sister Z,“ a nun at the Good Shepherd Sisters-run Marianvale Mother and Baby Home in Newry, County Down, for sexual abuse.

The report highlights serious systemic failures of the state to exercise oversight in Magdalene laundries and other homes.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “Within their walls, women and girls were stripped of dignity, silenced, and shamed. Their children, now adults, are still living with that impact today, carrying unanswered questions and loss.”

Conor Brogan, who was born at Marianvale and placed for adoption as an infant, told EWTN News that the bill and the public inquiry are incredibly significant because they were developed with survivors' input.

“It has survivors at the forefront, and that is something that victims and survivors have campaigned for for a long time,” he said. “It is a massive step in the right direction to clearly understand where accountability lies and to ensure that those who are accountable are seen in the public eye as such.”

He continued: “Girls and women who went into these institutions were publicly shamed. It was barbaric in terms of how they were treated. Institutions themselves didnʼt exist in a vacuum. Society was, in those days, very ‘puritan,’ and the whole facilitation of these institutions was by the broader society. There isnʼt a single case of a mother or baby being connected to one of these institutions without some form of government involvement. They all played a part in it.”

Brogan’s birth mother, Geraldine, now deceased, was a resident at Marianvale. He was born there in February 1969 and adopted several weeks later. He says of the redress scheme: “For my mother itʼs getting back to lifting the shame off her shoulders. In todayʼs society, where shame doesnʼt exist, I think education and support for young girls who find themselves in this situation is the biggest legacy that could come out of it.”

Brogan was reunited with Geraldine in his 30s, and he said they established a good relationship. “She had never talked to anybody about it — not her own sisters and brothers. Her children didnʼt know about it. Her spouse did. The trauma that was associated with that weighed heavily on her,” he said.

Geraldine’s time in the Good Shepherd home from November 1968 to April 1969 was too painful for her to ever talk about to Brogan. “That was very hard for her to even sort of go near it at all. She just couldnʼt; it was too painful, too raw, even after all those years, 35 to 40 years later, she couldnʼt. She just said it wasnʼt very nice and didnʼt want to elaborate. Meeting me and having me in her life went some way to, to sort of easing that trauma; I donʼt think it ever fully healed the wound.”

Brogan always knew he was adopted and describes a happy childhood with his adoptive family. He told EWTN News that he, as a child, returned to visit the nuns in Marianvale with his adoptive parents. His brother and sister, also adopted, were born there too.

“There was the convent at the front, but there were other smaller outbuildings around the back, where, looking back now, I realize that’s where the women and girls were quartered.”

He recalled his dad putting money in the collection box there. “I have clear memories of that visit, but I had absolutely no understanding of the other side of it. The trauma of the birth mothers, knowing that youʼre giving up your baby as soon as itʼs born, of the baby being taken away, and then after that, I think, is the most impactful on peopleʼs lives.”

Brogan also embarked on a different journey to make contact with his birth father’s family. Unaware that he had a biological son who had been adopted, his biological father died in 1982.

Brogan said of both journeys: “You donʼt know where youʼre going to end up. You donʼt know if youʼre going to have an open door, a closed door, or visit a graveyard. When I found my fatherʼs family, the connection was fantastic. I did visit his grave, and that was quite tough. The realization that I would never meet my father.”

“I have met every sort of combination a survivor has gone through,” he said. “So, whether that’s a birth mother never able to meet her child, or one who found their child, but the child, now an adult, didnʼt want to have a relationship, and vice versa. Where the mother has locked that away, doesnʼt want it disturbed, hasnʼt told her family, and really doesnʼt want to acknowledge that it happened.”

He added: “I feel incredibly fortunate [that] Iʼm able to talk about it; Iʼm able to talk with others about it. And, you know, if my talking can help one other person, then itʼs worth it.”

He explained that “everybody will automatically think, ‘Oh, the Catholic Church is at fault again,’ but there were more accounts of women from a Protestant background who went through institutions than from a Catholic background. I think thatʼs important to state because the number of people who have come forward from the Protestant community is significantly less than the Catholic community. And I think there has to be some level of outreach to those people who feel that they canʼt come forward.”

Brogan said that beginning this journey was difficult. “But for me to have a better understanding of who I am, and where I came from, itʼs very, very important. And to be able to spend some level of time with my birth mother, and get an understanding of her and what she went through and everything else was pretty priceless.”

In a statement dated July 8 following the publication of the Truth Recovery Independent Report, the Good Shepherd Sisters said: “We respect the courage and strength of all who have come to share their experiences and have contributed to this research. We deeply regret the pain and hurt women in our care experienced, as outlined in their testimony to the panel.”

The statement continued: “We also acknowledge the women who expressed their appreciation to the Sisters they met while in our care in the past, even when they reflect on a time of deep crisis in their lives. We will continue to fully cooperate with the impending work of the public inquiry.”

Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo has moved to reassure Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass while warning of the grave ecclesial consequences of the society’s latest schismatic act.

In a letter issued after the illicit episcopal consecrations, Hansen said the four bishops along with their two consecrating bishops “removed themselves from ecclesial communion and from unity with the pope” by taking part in the consecrations without a papal mandate, thereby incurring “the most grave ecclesiastical penalty: ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication.”

The Norwegian prelate then expressed willingness to expand access to the traditional liturgy within the Diocese of Oslo for Catholics who may now find themselves disoriented by the SSPX crisis.

Keeping the old Mass within the Church

Hansen turned directly to Catholics in his diocese who have attended SSPX chapels because of their attachment to the preconciliar liturgy and spirituality. Acknowledging that “these are difficult and distressing days for you,” he urged them first of all to “hold fast to unity with our Holy Father, the bishop of Rome, and with me as bishop of Oslo.”

Rather than simply warning the faithful away from the SSPX, Hansen paired his appeal with a concrete pastoral offer. He pointed out that Mass according to the 1962 Missal is already celebrated every Sunday at St. Joseph Church in Oslo and added that “if there is a need for it, and if it would be for the good of the Church and of souls, I will also expand this form of Mass celebration in our local Church.”

This makes Norway one of the first places in Europe where a diocesan bishop has responded to the SSPX crisis not only by reaffirming Rome’s judgment but also by signaling greater provision for Catholics attached to the older liturgy within full communion with the Church.

Hansen also urged Catholics to pray rosaries for Church unity while reminding the laity to “refrain from participating in Masses and other activities run by the Society of St. Pius X.”

A wider Scandinavian response

In neighboring Denmark, speaking to CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, Bishop Czesław Kozon of Copenhagen strongly condemned the SSPX consecrations, calling them “tragic and completely pointless.”

“It also shows that this is about more than just the old Mass,” Kozon said. “People who previously praised the magisterium, emphasized obedience, and promoted the unity of the Church are suddenly doing something like this, which is a clear sign of disobedience and harms the unity of the Church.”

At the same time, Kozon defended continued space for the traditional liturgy within the Church. Having recently celebrated a pontifical Mass in the traditional rite, he said the older form “should be preserved as long as there are believers who love it and feel connected to it.”

Kozon also cautioned against framing the old and new rites as rivals. “There shouldn’t be any competition between the two forms of Mass,” he said, noting instead a pastoral approach that allows room for Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy while affirming the postconciliar liturgy as the Church’s ordinary form.

Hansen made the announcement during Mass on the island of Selja, off the west coast of Norway, on July 8. As pilgrims gathered on Selja to celebrate the feast of St. Sunniva — 100 years after Undset herself first visited the island — Hansen presented her not simply as a Nobel laureate or one of Norwayʼs greatest writers but as a Catholic convert whose life of faith, suffering, intellectual depth, and moral seriousness still speaks powerfully to the Church in a secular age.

The move is a notable one for Norwayʼs small Catholic minority. Undset, a literary giant of Scandinavian and Norwegian culture, lived a life of literary brilliance, personal turbulence reminiscent of St. Augustine, and opposition to totalitarianism — all while remaining an uncompromising witness to Catholicism.

Opening of her cause

Hansen framed Undset first and foremost not as a literary icon but as a model of Christian holiness. “She is far more than an author and Nobel Prize laureate,” he said. “For us, she is a model of Christian faith, of a life lived in virtue, and of the pursuit of holiness.”

Hansen situated the decision within the Churchʼs broader teaching that holiness is the calling of every Christian, stressing that sanctity is not reserved to a select few.

In Undset, he suggested, the Catholic Church in Norway has a concrete example of that calling lived out in public life, suffering, motherhood, and conversion.

He pointed to several aspects of her witness: her defense of the Catholic faith, her opposition to Nazism and her work for Norwayʼs freedom during the war, and her “constant and practical concern for the poor.” He also highlighted her care for her disabled daughter, which he described as part of her “commitment to life and to the sanctity of life.”

Undsetʼs books, Hansen added, have shaped generations of believers, inspiring them to live in Christ and keeping alive the witness of Norwayʼs medieval saints.

Observers have noted that Undsetʼs early life does not fit a conventional image of sanctity. Her path was marked by personal turmoil, public controversy, and choices that drew social scandal. Yet supporters of the cause point precisely to that complexity as part of her witness.

She did not lead a life of moral perfection from the outset. Rather, she walked a path of gradual conversion, repentance, and a growing commitment to Catholicism.

In that sense her story reflects the conviction that holiness is not the absence of weakness or mistakes but the work of Godʼs grace in a life, transforming it over time in the pursuit of holiness.

Undsetʼs story

Born in Denmark in 1882 and raised in Norway by largely atheist parents, Undset went to work as a secretary at 16 after her father died and the family fell into financial hardship. She began writing during these years.

At 25 she made her literary debut with “Fru Marta Oulie,” a novel about adultery whose opening line — “I have been unfaithful to my husband” — scandalized Norway even as it thrust her into the public eye.

Literary historians have noted that her life was unconventional for a woman of her time. Undset smoked, drank, swore, and was known for a sharp tongue and a strong personality.

While in Rome, she began a relationship with the painter Anders Castus Svarstad while he was still married, and later married him. Together they had three children, one of whom was disabled, and Undset also helped raise Svarstadʼs children from his first marriage.

In 1924, at the age of 42, Undset entered the Catholic Church, a decision that was controversial in overwhelmingly Lutheran Norway. Critics saw it as a step backward, but she embraced the faith publicly, later becoming a Lay Dominican and writing openly about her conversion in essays and fiction.

Some Norwegian critics dismissed her later works as “Catholic propaganda,” reflecting unease that one of the countryʼs most prominent writers had embraced Catholicism.

She also admired G.K. Chesterton; she reportedly met him and translated some of his work into Norwegian.

Four years after her conversion, in 1928, she won the Nobel Prize in literature, recognized for her depictions of medieval Scandinavia and best known for “Kristin Lavransdatter,” the historical trilogy that secured her international reputation.

The novels were steeped in medieval Christianity and its themes of sin, grace, suffering, and repentance — concerns that increasingly mirrored her own spiritual journey.

Undset used her writing and her standing as one of Scandinaviaʼs most prominent Catholic voices to defend Christian belief and to challenge the ideological currents reshaping Europe. An early critic of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, she fled Nazi-occupied Norway during the Second World War and eventually reached the United States, where she spoke out against totalitarianism and in defense of her homeland.

An inspiring figure for Norwayʼs Catholic future

Hansenʼs decision also comes as the Catholic Church in Norway continues to grow through immigration and adult conversions, even as it seeks deeper roots in the countryʼs own history.

If the cause advances, Undset could emerge not merely as a celebrated novelist under ecclesial study but as a singular model of holiness for the modern age: flawed, formidable, intellectually serious, and ultimately transformed by grace into a witness to Christ.

The diocesan phase of Undsetʼs cause is expected to formally open this fall, a step Hansen said is driven by his conviction that her witness reaches far beyond Norwayʼs literary history.

“I believe that Sigrid Undsetʼs life and work have much to offer both the Church in Norway and the universal Church,” he said — a judgment that now places Undset on the long path toward possible sainthood.

The available icons include fundamental Christian elements such as the cross and the Bible as well as liturgical references such as a chalice, a host, and an altar.

The library also includes imagery related to Jesus’ parables: wheat, fishing nets, and fish. It also has sacramental or devotional symbols such as a rosary and the Sacred Heart, and items linked to the sacraments or liturgical vestments, including a stole, a confessional, a clerical collar, and a mitre, among others.

As stated in a press release: “Christicons fills a gap that any designer or developer who has worked for a parish, a devotional app, or a publisher of religious books knows firsthand: There is a lack of high-quality, consistent, and free-to-use SVG [scalable vector graphics] icons that speak the visual language of the Christian world.”

The graphics scale to any size without losing quality and can be colored, resized, or modified with a single line of code.

Their use “is completely free for personal and commercial projects. No attribution is required … The only restriction, a clear and reasonable one, is that they cannot be redistributed as a standalone collection or used to train artificial intelligence models,” the statement specifies.

This Christian iconographic library is part of an ecosystem of digital ventures by Dimconex Media, which aims to “equip Catholicism — and Christianity in a broad sense — with the digital resources that the secular world takes for granted.”

Christicons.com joins the Catholic image library Cathopic; the online learning platform Holydemia; the digital tool supporting consecration to the Virgin Mary, Mater Coeli; and the digital Catholic magazine dedicated to culture, thought, and spirituality, Tolkian.

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

Late last month, Lourdes Grosso, director of the conference’s Office for the Causes of Saints, and Father Fernando del Moral, its deputy director, presented a report on the Spanish causes that are underway for heroic virtue  to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

The report complements the one presented in 2024 regarding causes based on martyrdom during the religious persecution in 20th-century Spain, both before and during the 1936–1939 civil war. The martyrdom causes are almost always group causes: One diocese or religious order bundles all its members killed in the same persecution episode into a single joint case rather than filing separate causes for each martyr.

Together, these reports made it possible to compile material that had previously been scattered, following a three-year process of research and inter-diocesan collaboration in which documentation from the dicastery was cross-referenced with that of each Spanish diocese.

Thus, a comprehensive overview of the causes in Spain has been presented for the first time, excluding those involving Spanish nationals that are being promoted by dioceses outside the country.

Of the 349 causes, 53 are based on martyrdom (48 occurring during the religious persecution in 20th-century Spain); 292 are based on the practice of virtues, one on the offering of oneʼs life, and one is an equivalent canonization, which, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, occurs when the pope, in an exercise of his infallibility, “bypassing the judicial process and the ceremonies, orders that a certain servant of God be venerated in the universal Church.” Fifty-seven dioceses are involved out of a total of 70.

Of these, 42 are still in the diocesan phase. Among those already in Rome, the heroic virtues of 148 candidates have been declared. This group represents the Church in its entirety: bishops, priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, laypeople, parents, young people, and children.

Also notable is that 82 are founders: 71 from religious institutes and 11 from secular institutes. The number of blesseds stands at 2,449, the vast majority of whom are martyrs of the religious persecution of the 20th century.

In addition, there are 45 causes concerning heroic virtue involving two cardinals, one diocesan bishop, seven diocesan priests, four religious priests, two male religious, 21 female religious, and seven laypeople.

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

The devastating fire that significantly damaged the iconic cathedral on April 15, 2019, led to an unprecedented wave of international solidarity to ensure its restoration.

Although the cathedral reopened for worship in December 2024, restoration work is not yet complete. French authorities recently unveiled a final phase of work to be carried out from 2027 to 2033, which will require a new fundraising campaign aiming to raise 130 million euros ($148.5 million).

The planned investment amounts to 150 million euros ($171.3 million). Of that sum, nearly 20 million euros ($22.8 million) has already been secured, while the remainder is to come from donations from individuals, companies, and partner organizations, following the funding model used to rebuild the monument after the fire.

“Our goal is to fully complete the cathedral’s restoration,” stated Philippe Jost, president of Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris (Rebuilding Notre Dame in Paris), in an interview with the French Catholic newspaper La Croix.

The program consists of around a dozen projects aimed both at repairing damage done by the fire and at restoring elements of cultural heritage that were already in a fragile state of preservation prior to 2019.

The western rose window: The central focus

The planned works feature the complete restoration of the great western rose window, one of the most iconic examples of European Gothic architecture. This historic 13th-century stained-glass window has not undergone a complete restoration since the work directed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century.

The plans also include the restoration of the north transept façades, various medieval sculptures, and other architectural elements showing signs of wear. Project leaders believe these works will be crucial for ensuring the cathedralʼs long-term preservation.

A functioning cathedral, yet still under construction

The reopening of Notre Dame in late 2024 allowed the resumption of the cathedralʼs ordinary liturgical life. Since then, thousands of the faithful and tourists have once again passed through its doors each day.

However, the fire also made evident conservation issues that had accumulated over decades in a building with more than eight centuries of history. Consequently, the new phase of work aims not only to repair fire damage but also to address broader structural and heritage-related needs.

The reopening ceremony, held in December 2024, was considered one of the most significant cultural and religious events in Europe in recent years.

Furthermore, those responsible for the restoration hope to rekindle the spirit of solidarity that emerged following the 2019 tragedy. At that time, financial pledges totaling nearly 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) were secured, funds that made the reconstruction possible and left resources for future conservation work.

Debate persists over new stained-glass windows

The unveiling of this final phase does not put an end to one of the most notable controversies surrounding Notre Dame: the proposal, backed by President Emmanuel Macron, to replace six 19th-century stained-glass windows created by Viollet-le-Duc with contemporary works by French artist Claire Tabouret.

The project remains subject to a court ruling following challenges filed by various heritage preservation associations. Their representatives argue that the historic stained-glass windows sustained minimal damage during the fire and consider their replacement unjustified.

The issue has divided restoration experts, public officials, and figures from the world of culture. While some advocate for the complete preservation of the cathedralʼs historic legacy, others view the proposal as an opportunity to incorporate a new artistic expression into one of Franceʼs most recognizable monuments.

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

In a joint appeal issued June 29, three Polish prelates — Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, and Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz — together with two Ukrainian Church leaders, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Cardinal Mykola Bychok, urged both governments to pursue reconciliation, as EWTN News reported.

The bishops said they “are saddened to observe the growing tensions and resurgent hostility between Poles and Ukrainians.”

Echoing Pope Leo XIV, they called for a “disarmament of language,” arguing that words, symbols, and public gestures can either deepen divisions or foster peace.

The tensions revolve around wounded national sentiments over the contested memory of the Volhynia massacres during World War II.

Cause of diplomatic tensions

Poland and Ukraine have long-standing social and diplomatic tensions over their conflicting national narratives of World War II.

The current dispute began on May 26, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named a military unit after the “heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).”

The UPA was a nationalist partisan formation that waged guerrilla warfare in the mid-1940s against Nazi Germany, Soviet-backed forces, and the underground Polish resistance movement.

Ukrainians view the UPA as a symbol of resistance to foreign occupation in the fight for national independence.

In Poland, however, it is associated with the Volhynia massacres, in which the UPA led the targeted slaughter and ethnic cleansing of around 100,000 ethnic Polish civilians, mostly women and children, from 1943 to 1945.

The campaign was driven largely by a nationalist effort to secure territory for a future Ukrainian state by removing the minority Polish population from lands that had belonged to prewar Poland but were claimed by Ukrainian nationalists. In the chaos of World War II, the UPA sought to ensure that Poland could not reassert control over the region after the war on the basis of the Polish minority living there.

Poland has officially recognized the Volhynia massacres as a genocide, a label Ukraine has rejected.

Diplomatic aftermath

In response to Zelenskyy’s decision to name a unit after the UPA, Polish President Karol Nawrocki on June 19 stripped the Ukrainian president of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honor, which had been awarded to him in 2023.

An opinion poll published on the day Nawrocki announced his decision showed that 51% of Poles supported rescinding Zelenskyy’s honor, while only 36% were opposed. Among Nawrocki’s support base, 80% favored withdrawing the order.

In response and in solidarity with Zelenskyy, on June 21 three former Ukrainian presidents, along with various other government officials and diplomats, returned the state awards they had been given by Poland.

This was followed by Polish government officials on June 22 returning awards they had received from Ukraine.

Adding further fuel to the dispute were statements made in February, when Oleksandr Alfyorov, the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR), described the Volhynia tragedy as “one of Poland’s state myths.”

Poland’s own Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) replied by declaring that “the Volhynia genocide is a documented fact” while criticizing the Ukrainian state for building elements of its identity on “the cult of individuals and organizations responsible for these crimes.”

The path toward reconciliation

The Polish and Ukrainian prelates also invoked the memory of St. John Paul II, most notably his words marking the 60th anniversary of the Volhynia massacres in 2003, in which he called for “Ukrainians and Poles not to remain enslaved by their sad memories of the past.”

The Polish pontiff also noted that Christians are called to acknowledge the errors of the past while needing the strength to “ask forgiveness for their own shortcomings” and to “forgive one another for the wrongs they have suffered.”

In that spirit, the prelates urged Poles and Ukrainians to “humbly ask for forgiveness and to courageously forgive” while extending “a hand of reconciliation” despite wounds that remain raw.

They also warned against pursuing narrow national interests, saying true reconciliation requires both nations to seek the common good rather than impose their own vision of history on the other.

Future implications

A day before the Church’s joint appeal for peace, Zelenskyy declared that “no one will dictate” to Ukraine which heroes the country honors as he announced plans for a national pantheon celebrating notable Ukrainians.

This was widely read in Poland as a hardening of Kyiv’s position, prompting warnings from politicians across the spectrum that the issue could spill over into Ukraine’s European Union ambitions.

That matters because Ukraine’s path into the European Union ultimately requires the consent of every member state, including Poland.

In the long term, Warsaw is likely to seek a clearer acknowledgment from Ukraine’s highest political levels of the scale and character of the Volhynia massacres and of the role played by the UPA.

With Zelenskyy unwilling even to remove the UPA name from a military unit and Nawrocki escalating the issue in turn, any workable compromise now appears more difficult to reach.

The feast, July 5, is a public holiday in both countries. The main celebrations took place in Nitra, home to the oldest diocese in present-day Slovakia, founded in 880, and in Velehrad in the Czech Republic.

The Byzantine brothers, who devised an alphabet for the Old Slavonic spoken across Great Moravia, are believed to have been active in Nitra, Velehrad, or both in the ninth century.

Nitra’s national pilgrimage

In 2025, Cardinal Robert Prevost had been expected to preside over the Nitra Mass. He was instead elected Pope Leo XIV that May and was unable to attend.

This year, the Mass on Saturday, July 4, on the main square in Nitra was celebrated by Nemet, the archbishop of Belgrade, Serbia. Slovak bishops and the apostolic nuncio to Slovakia, Nicola Girasoli, concelebrated, while the current and former presidents of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini and Ivan Gašparovič, joined several thousand people for the liturgy.

Girasoli delivered the papal blessing. Citing Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the nuncio said Christians are called to “disarm” their words and temper aggression in public life and the media.

In his homily, Nemet said the feast is an opportunity to reflect on one’s own roots and on the mission of Christians today, who should not live in isolation but bear witness to the faith and values of the Gospel.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius were able to proclaim the Gospel in the mother tongue of the people of Great Moravia, which, the cardinal explained, opened the way to a deeper acceptance of the Christian faith among the Slavs.

“Culture must be respected and developed,” he said. “Culture is created by man, and therefore we have a calling to shape our own culture — to bear witness to how we believe in God and to live as good Christians in peace and cooperation with all.”

The mission, Nemet said, “belongs to every baptized person,” begins “where we are” in everyday life, and shows itself in “how we speak, how we forgive, how we live, how we love.”

During the traditional three-day celebration, which featured an artistic, cultural, and spiritual program, the local bishop, Viliam Judák, unveiled a milestone marker on the Sts. Cyril and Methodius pilgrimage route, which crosses Europe.

Organizers also set a national record when 32 people named after the saints gathered in one place. Each received a T-shirt reading “I am Cyril” or “I am Methodius.”

A concert by church choirs presented works inspired by the saints, and the bishop’s palace opened its doors to visitors as usual.

Across the border in the Czech Republic

In Velehrad, Czech Republic, Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague celebrated Mass on the feast itself, July 5. Alongside other Czech bishops, including one from Slovakia, organizers counted approximately 20,000 pilgrims.

The bishop of Brno, Pavel Konzbul, who was entrusted with the homily, pointed to the legacy of the learned St. Cyril, also known as Constantine. Konzbul quoted what he called a contemporary American journalist who said a nation that reads little knows little and makes poor decisions “at home, at the shop, in court, and at the ballot box.”

“St. Cyril knew that language and education are the means by which faith becomes a personal, comprehensible, and intimate matter,” Konzbul said.

The bishop advised pilgrims to take a book on holiday to help them enter “the realm of silence, about which St. Augustine wrote: ‘Entering silence means entering joy.’”

Konzbul said society is “facing individualism reinforced” by social media and “a crisis of values and meaning,” and that “many are beginning to realize again that freedom must be defended.” He acknowledged that it is hard not to be afraid at such a time, yet said fear need not paralyze people and can be turned into a driving force.

“Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to give us courage, as he did to St. Methodius, to make the right decisions even in the realm of fears and uncertainties.”

During the two-day celebration in Velehrad, Archbishop Josef Nuzík of Olomouc, president of the Czech Bishops’ Conference, presented the “Velehrad Appeal” for reconciliation and understanding. It responds, he said, “to the growing polarization, aggression, and mistrust in society” and calls on people of goodwill to respect one another “even if they think differently,” to look for what unites them, and to “strive for reconciliation, hope, and peace.”

The text stresses that “our country does not need more division” but “more people who will look for what unites them,” and it presents reconciliation, dialogue, and mutual respect not as a sign of weakness but as “a condition for a good future for our country.” The appeal was supported by the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic.

Karin Lejeune, his daughter, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that her father’s friendship with the Polish pontiff was key to maintaining hope during the most difficult moments of his life.

“It’s important to know that my father went through a real Calvary after the [French] abortion law was passed. He was ostracized by society and, I dare say, by the Church in France; the scientific community, and the entire French ‘political correctness’ establishment,” she said.

“They even withdrew research funding for his laboratory. So, it was a truly difficult time. And thanks to that friendship, I believe he held on, that he always kept hope alive,” she added.

“These two men shared a common desire to serve the poorest, those whom my father called the most disadvantaged in terms of intellect, namely, children with intellectual disabilities,” Karin noted.

The friendship was marked by the assassination attempt on the Holy Father in St. Peterʼs Square on May 13, 1981, just hours after the two men had lunched together at the Vatican.

“They spent two hours talking about respect for life, about support precisely for those poor, the disadvantaged. And at the end of those two hours, the pope said: ‘Now I have to go down to St. Peterʼs Square.’ So my parents took a taxi to go to the airport and, when they got off the plane, the taxi driver who was taking them to our house on Galande Street told them: ‘They have murdered the pope, he has died,’” Karin recounted.

At home, everyone wept as they waited anxiously, Jérôme Lejeune among them.

“We were all crying. My father was pale. We kept watching television for a while, clinging to the faint hope that he would undergo surgery. And at that moment, my father said, ‘I wish it were me,’" Karin recalled of the tragic moment.

That same afternoon, her father fell ill after giving a lecture. “We used to tell Dad: ‘That’s actually what empathy is — suffering with ... In fact, love and friendship are just that: suffering alongside the person who is suffering.’”

‘What I remember most is his gaze’

Jérôme Lejeune, a father of five, passed away from cancer in April 1994 at the age of 67. His cause for canonization was opened in 2007, with the diocesan phase concluding in 2012. In January 2024, Pope Francis approved the decree recognizing his heroic virtues and declared him venerable.

Karin described her father beyond his persona as a scientist and one of the pioneers of modern genetics, internationally recognized with numerous honorary doctorates: “He was a very tender, very understanding father, and above all, he always looked at us with an extraordinary gaze. And when I picture him today, what I remember most is his look. It was always a kind gaze.”

When he was interrupted, she recalled, “he was always available. I never heard him say, ‘Wait, Karin, Iʼm writing a letter.’ No, he would drop everything, push it all aside instantly, whatever he was doing, to be at our disposal.”

Together with his Danish-born wife, Birthe, they created a home characterized by its welcoming atmosphere: “At home, the door was always open; you could arrive with 10 friends or come back, I donʼt know, from a lecture or a pilgrimage. We would go home to get something to drink. In fact, we didnʼt go to a bar. The ‘bar’ for all our friends was at 31 Rue Galande in the French capitalʼs Fifth Arrondissement.”

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

Known as “Un cura de Toledo” (“A Priest from Toledo”) on social media — where he has thousands of followers — Aparicio shared his advice during an interview on the podcast “Se buscan rebeldes” (“Rebels Wanted”), hosted by fellow Spanish priest Ignacio Amorós.

During the conversation, Amorós defined the Bible as the “bestseller” that never goes out of style, a “fiery book that has changed history” and that tells the story of Godʼs love for humanity.

However, he also pointed out that many Catholics have difficulty understanding it and that some even become scandalized when reading certain passages of the Old Testament.

Considering this, Aparicio advised those who want to read and understand sacred Scripture: Start with the Gospel of Luke.

Reading this Gospel, which recounts the life of Jesus, followed by the Acts of the Apostles, helps one “gain a fairly clear and comprehensive idea of ​​what the New Testament is.”

“There are times when we do not understand the Bible, but it’s because of the cultural gap that exists. We must remember that some parts of the Bible date back roughly to the transition between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age,” Aparicio pointed out.

Due to that distance in time and culture “so immense and so wild,” in the words of the priest, “if someone doesnʼt take me by the hand, I donʼt know how to navigate it.” Because of this, he emphasized the importance of having guidance while reading and tools that facilitate understanding, such as those available on the internet.

The priest said his YouTube channel features a series of lessons in which he explains the chapters of Genesis.

He emphasized that reading the Bible is not merely about “stringing words together” but about discovering “what God wants to tell you there.”

He drew a comparison with cinema: “What makes a movie good or bad?” he asked. “If a movie is simply a collection of film frames, you end up bored, because you can’t put up with two hours of watching frames. You need a plot, a narrative, a common thread that connects all the frames.”

In his view, the same holds true for the Bible. Its various books are not isolated accounts but rather form part of a single story with profound internal unity. That unity, he explained, is defined by the Hebrew concept of “berit,” or covenant: God’s desire to establish a covenant of love with every human being.

“In the Book of Genesis, the first book, God begins by creating the world; and in the Book of Revelation, the last book, he culminates with a new creation, restoring his plan and returning us to the paradise we had lost. Throughout the entire Bible, we witness the reclaiming of that lost paradise,” he explained.

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

The statement, released June 29 from Rome and Kyiv, was signed by Cardinals Mykola Bychok, Konrad Krajewski, Kazimierz Nycz, and Grzegorz Ryś, together with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The appeal was issued while the cardinals were gathered in Rome for the recent consistory.

Opening their message, the Church leaders said they were speaking “in unity with Holy Father Leo XIV,” whose first year as pope “has been marked by persistent work to build peace based on the common good and by resolute opposition to war in all its dimensions.”

The signatories said the question of reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine extends beyond politics.

“We are aware that the question of reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians concerns not only relations between the two peoples but also the authenticity of our common Christian witness,” they wrote.

The appeal comes amid renewed strains in Polish-Ukrainian relations, particularly surrounding differing interpretations of World War II-era atrocities, even as Poland has remained one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Echoing Pope Leo XIV’s repeated calls for peace, the bishops urged both nations to avoid inflammatory rhetoric.

Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language.”

Catholic leaders from Poland and Ukraine

“Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language,” they wrote. “This applies not only to words but also to gestures, signs, and symbols. They can also wound, close the path to encounter, and generate fear.”

The statement also warned against allowing competing historical narratives to fuel division.

“When we impose our own vision of the past and the future on others, we succumb to the logic of a culture of violence and power,” the Church leaders wrote. Instead, they urged both peoples to seek “the common good, not only of particular interests.”

Quoting the Gospel’s call to mercy, they added: “The Gospel in which we believe teaches us that the remedy for sin is forgiveness, and the limit that God has set for evil is mercy.”

The bishops also invoked the legacy of St. John Paul II, who devoted significant efforts during his pontificate to fostering reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians.

“We feel the duty not to abandon the common path begun with the blessing of St. John Paul II but to walk it patiently and courageously,” they wrote. “Too much that unites our peoples for us to allow our common heritage to be wasted.”

While acknowledging the painful chapters of history shared by both nations, the Church leaders emphasized that Christians are called to pursue reconciliation rooted in truth, forgiveness, and charity rather than resentment.

Their appeal concluded with a call to resist the culture of division and instead offer a Christian witness to a world increasingly marked by conflict.

“Together with the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV,” they wrote, “we call on everyone to think primarily in terms of the common good and not only of private interests.”

The petition asks whether European institutions and member states are doing enough to protect women who wish to continue their pregnancies when they face pressure from partners, medical professionals, or difficult social circumstances.

Focusing on maternity protection and support for vulnerable pregnant women, her petition has drawn backing from pro-life civil society groups including the European Centre for Law and Justice as well as support across several political groups in Parliament, most notably the European People’s Party, the European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe, and Europe of Sovereign Nations.

Her petition also lands in a French context that suggests the issue merits closer scrutiny. According to a 2024 IFOP survey, 29% of French women who underwent an abortion said they felt pressure to abort from the health professional they consulted. Applied to France’s 251,270 abortions in 2024, that would suggest on the order of 72,900 women.

These figures give Bernard’s appeal broader relevance and raise the question of whether Europe’s institutions are doing enough to protect women who want to carry their pregnancies to term.

The personal story behind the petition

At 27, Charlène Bernard discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant and wanted to keep her child. However, instead of finding support, she encountered a chain of pressure that culminated in an abortion she never wanted.

“What still hurts so much is the absence of my child, who is the first victim in my story,” Bernard told EWTN News. “I am speaking out today so that what I have experienced has meaning, to protect other women from this painful ordeal, and to protect unborn children.”

Bernard said her partner repeatedly urged her to abort, despite professing to love her. “It was incomprehensible to me that someone would push the woman they love to destroy the fruit of their love,” she said.

She insisted that from the beginning, her intentions were clear: “I was happy to be pregnant, I already loved my baby, I wouldn’t have an abortion.”

Hoping to find help navigating this tension, the couple first consulted a doctor, who, Bernard said, reacted with incomprehension to her desire to continue the pregnancy. She then turned to a psychologist at a marriage and family counseling center affiliated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, seeking someone who could help her and her partner talk through the situation and support her wish to carry the pregnancy to term.

Instead, she said the pressure intensified. Staff repeatedly referred to her unborn child as “just a bunch of cells,” and a psychologist even arranged an abortion appointment “just in case” Bernard would change her mind. “I found myself trapped from the moment I walked through the door of the family planning clinic.”

The pressure reached its peak when her partner forced abortion medication into her mouth, leaving her unable to exercise her freedom.

She said the experience led to severe depression, the collapse of the relationship, and lasting trauma. “What hurt me terribly,” she said, “was constantly wondering how I could have let this happen — asking myself, ‘What kind of mother am I to have let this happen?’”

Her petition

Charlène Bernard said her petition is aimed at forcing European institutions to confront what she sees as a blind spot in the continent’s abortion debate: women who do not want an abortion but feel pressured into one.

“The normalization of abortion is such that pregnant women sometimes end up being pressured into having an abortion,” she told EWTN News. While abortion rights are strongly defended in France and across the EU, she said, lawmakers should also defend “the right to motherhood,” the right of women to carry a pregnancy to term without being subjected to pressure and with meaningful support.

Bernard said many women face social, familial, or spousal pressure to abort because they are considered too young, financially unstable, or at risk of losing their jobs. “Instead of supporting them in their motherhood, the only solution promoted to them is abortion,” she said.

Among other things, Bernard is calling for stronger medical, psychological, and social support, including access to counseling, maternity services, housing assistance, and other forms of aid for women who want to continue their pregnancies.

She also wants Brussels to review existing EU funding and health initiatives to determine whether they genuinely support women who carry pregnancies to term, or whether some policies and funding streams indirectly create pressure toward abortion rather than offering real alternatives.

“Today in France, who supports vulnerable pregnant women who want to keep their babies? No one,” Bernard said. “On the other hand, it’s very easy to find support when you want an abortion.”

Testing the EU’s abortion funding logic

A key backdrop to Charlène Bernard’s petition is the European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice,” which called on the EU to create a financial mechanism to facilitate cross-border access to abortion across the bloc.

In its Feb. 26 response, the European Commission declined to propose a new legal instrument but said member states could already draw on existing EU funding streams, most notably the 142.7 billion-euro ($162 billion) European Social Fund Plus, to support abortion-related services.

For legal scholars at the European Centre for Law and Justice, that position has direct implications for Bernard’s case. If Brussels accepts that existing EU funds can be mobilized to help women access abortion, they propose, then those same instruments should also be available to support women who wish to continue their pregnancies.

In practical terms, that could mean EU-backed funding not only for abortion access but also for maternity counseling, housing assistance, and other support services for vulnerable pregnant women facing pressure to abort.

For Dom Alois Brodersen, an Augustinian canon regular and parish priest of St. Paulʼs Catholic Church in Bergen, Norway, those words capture the reality of parish life.

Standing before a congregation representing more than 120 nationalities, he sees the fulfillment of a vision first imagined by the parishʼs founders nearly 150 years ago.

When St. Paulʼs was built in the 1870s, it seated more than 300 people despite serving a Catholic community of only a few dozen faithful. Its founders envisioned the church as a missionary bridgehead for Catholicism in Norway. Years later that vision has been realized.

Today, the parish is home to almost 20,000 Catholics from more than 120 nations.

“Experiencing all these people from all places in the world coming together and working for Christ, their piety and their faithfulness, thatʼs the greatest gift,” Brodersen told EWTN News.

That vision was given fresh significance on June 28, when Bishop Fredrik Hansen solemnly consecrated St. Paulʼs Church a century and a half after the building first opened for worship.

A church built on faith and foresight

The congregation dedicated to St. Paul was founded in 1858 with the blessing of Pope Pius IX. As the Catholic community steadily grew, parish leaders acquired land on what was then the outskirts of Bergen and began constructing a permanent church in 1864.

Designed by Italian architect Edoardo A. Mella, the church took 12 years to complete. Its construction was financed through an international fundraising effort led by parish priest Father Daniel Stub, who secured support from Pope Pius IX, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Queen Josephine of Norway and Sweden, and Catholics across Europe.

When the first Mass was celebrated on June 30, 1876, the newspaper Bergens Tidende described the new church as “one of the most beautiful houses of worship in the whole country.”

Yet one important ceremony never took place.

According to Brodersen, the church was not solemnly dedicated when it opened because the ceremony required a bishop assisted by 14 priests — more clergy than Bergenʼs fledgling Catholic community could provide. Although the altar was consecrated during renovations in 1972, the church itself remained undedicated for nearly a century and a half.

Completing a 150-year mission

That changed on June 28, when Hansen formally consecrated St. Paulʼs Church, entering the historic building accompanied by a traditional “buekorps,” one of Bergenʼs distinctive boys' marching corps whose drums have long been part of the cityʼs cultural heritage.

For Hansen, the consecration represented far more than correcting a historical oversight.

“It is about bringing to completion the work of so many, undertaken over so many years,” he told EWTN News. Quoting Christʼs words that “one sows and another reaps,” he said todayʼs Catholics continue building upon the work begun by earlier generations who planted the seeds of the Church in western Norway.

Looking ahead, Hansen expressed hope that the anniversary would inspire renewed evangelization. Describing St. Paulʼs as a parish of nearly 20,000 faithful served by 10 priests, seven religious sisters, two schools, numerous national communities, and a growing catechetical program, he said he hopes the celebration will strengthen its mission of “teaching the faith, celebrating the sacraments, and building the parochial community.”

For Catholics living in increasingly secular societies, he added, “our common and enthusiastic witness of Catholic faith is crucial. By this we fortify our own community and preach to society at large.”

The universal Church in 1 parish

By the churchʼs centenary in 1976, membership had reached around 1,100. Today it numbers nearly 20,000, with much of the growth driven by successive waves of immigration from Vietnam, India, Chile, the Philippines, Poland, Lithuania, and dozens of other countries.

“We have more than 120 different nations in the parish,” Brodersen said. “They all bring their piety, their traditions with them, and they are very active in the parish.”

Rather than dividing the parish, he explained that diversity has strengthened it. During Bergenʼs annual Corpus Christi procession, the parishʼs major national communities each prepare one of the outdoor altars.

“Everybody is working together on this great project,” he said.

The universal character of St. Paulʼs becomes tangible as the church celebrates Masses in Norwegian, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, Polish, Lithuanian, Tamil, and Tagalog, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of its parishioners.

Yet many parishioners regularly attend liturgies outside their own linguistic communities, including the Saturday evening Latin Mass. “Holy Mass is there for everybody,” Brodersen noted. “Itʼs not all about understanding the words spoken, because you know the Mass and you take part in it by heart.”

For him, St. Paulʼs demonstrates that cultural diversity need not weaken the Church but can deepen its witness.

“It is possible, by all differences in language, culture, and whatever, to work together,” he said. “It is possible to be one in Christ.”

“When people see this church so full that sometimes people have to stand outside because there is no room inside anymore,” Brodersen reflected, they encounter something increasingly uncommon across much of Western Europe.

And each time he stands at the altar and looks across a congregation drawn from every continent, he sees the vision the founders of St. Paulʼs Church had.

“I see the whole world united in adoration.”

The Nordic bishops, as well as the Church’s hierarchy, agree: A formal association with Freemasonry is incompatible with Catholicism.

But this issue, which has come up in public conversation among Catholics around the world, is often controversial in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, where some mistakenly believe that there is an exception to the Catholic Church’s instruction.

This week, the Nordic Bishops’ Conference clarified the teaching.

“We write to you at this time as shepherds to clarify a matter that for many years, if not decades, has generated uncertainty, speculation, and diverging opinions in our countries: the question of whether or not Catholic faithful in the Nordic countries may be Freemasons or belong to a Masonic lodge,” the bishops wrote.

In the June 29 letter to parish priests signed by Nordic Bishops’ Conference president Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim and others, the bishops stated that there is “no exception” for Catholics in Nordic countries from the “universal law of the Church” regarding Freemasonry.

The Nordic bishops had met with officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith during a plenary assembly in Rome from Sept. 1–5, 2025, to discuss the matter. The dicastery’s response was unequivocal.

The bishops said the Church’s teaching applies “in full and without exception in the territory of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference.”

The letter is not to detract Freemasonry but rather a clarification that its principles clash with those of the Church, according to the bishops.

“We wish to stress that the Catholic Church’s firmness on the question of adherence to Freemasonry is not a negative judgment on the goodwill or good works of individuals,” the bishops wrote.

“The Church’s position springs from awareness that the theological and philosophical principles of freemasonry are incompatible with confession of the Catholic faith,” the bishops said.

Nes told EWTN News the bishops’ statement helped give clarity on the issue in his home country of Norway.

“Their statement gives priests and lay faithful the clarity that many of us have needed for a long time,” he said.

Nes has seen confusion in his home country, largely because of “a myth developed that the Scandinavian form of Freemasonry was somehow an exception, and that Catholics in the Nordic countries could belong to a lodge without contradicting the teaching of the Church.”

Many prominent Catholics in Norway “have been associated with Freemasonry, including laypeople and clergy,” according to Nes.

“That has made the situation more confusing for ordinary Catholics,” he said.

Meanwhile, “public statements and pastoral practice have sometimes contributed to uncertainty,” Nes observed, citing a 2025 instance where Bishop Emeritus Bernt Eidsvig of Oslo, Norway, said “that he would not refuse holy Communion to Freemasons.”

“Many understood this as a softening of the Church’s position, even though the universal teaching of the Church had not changed,” he said.

“The bishops’ recent clarification is therefore very important,” Nes said. “It makes clear that there is no Nordic exception: A Catholic cannot be a Freemason.”

Why are Freemasonry and Catholicism incompatible?

Nes explained that Freemasonry is more than a social group because of its “religious character.”

“In my experience, Freemasonry in Norway was not simply a social network or a charitable association,” Nes told EWTN News. “It had a strong sense of fraternity but also a very clear spiritual profile. Its rituals, symbolism, and solemn ceremonies gave it something of a religious character. For that reason, I think Freemasonry must be treated as a religious and spiritual system, not merely as a club.”

Nes found good in Freemasonry but was ultimately drawn to Catholicism.

“I eventually realized that I wanted the real thing,” he said.

“There were elements in Freemasonry that I found beautiful: the seriousness, the brotherhood, the use of ritual and the sense of entering into something larger than oneself,” Nes said. “But as I gradually came to know the Catholic Mass and the Catholic faith, I began to see that much of what had attracted me in Freemasonry — its solemnity, ritual, and symbolism — was only an echo of something fuller and truer in the Catholic faith.”

Nes left Freemasonry behind with the help of a priest who mentored him.

“During my conversion process, the priest who guided me was very clear,” Nes said. “I could not become Catholic and remain a Freemason. I am deeply grateful for his clarity, and also for his courage in saying it plainly. That clarity helped me make a clean and honest decision.”

Now, Nes is spreading the word that the two groups are fundamentally irreconcilable.

“For the last seven or eight years, I have tried to explain publicly that one cannot be both a Catholic and a Freemason,” Nes said. “I have never wanted to speak badly of Freemasonry or of individual Freemasons. My point has always been doctrinal: Catholicism and Freemasonry are two different religious and spiritual systems, and they cannot be reconciled.”

In their letter to parish priests, the bishops provided several “pastoral and sacramental provisions” to be followed.

First, the bishops encouraged Catholics who are Freemasons to “relinquish this membership” with Masonic lodges and to abstain from the Eucharist and other sacraments until they do. Freemasons seeking to join the Catholic Church are instructed to “terminate this membership” first.

In addition, the bishops instructed Catholic groups not to collaborate with Masonic groups.

“No parish, no institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life, no Catholic organization or institution in our local Churches is to enter into agreements of collaboration with Freemasons or Masonic lodges or make use of properties belonging to Masonic lodges,” the bishops wrote.

The bishops encouraged the faithful to support one another in following Jesus.

“The call of Our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Come, follow me’ (Mt 4:19), presupposes readiness to leave behind other attachments that stand in the way of wholehearted discipleship,” the bishops wrote. “This has always been, and will always remain, a criterion of Christian authenticity. Let us help each other by word and example to live up to it, trusting in God’s grace.”

The document was signed June 25 by Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Bahaʼi, Orthodox, and evangelical leaders, including the Italian Bishops’ Conference, the Assembly of Rabbis of Italy, and various Islamic and Buddhist organizations.

Following the signing, representatives of the various faiths were received at the Quirinal Palace by the president of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to whom they presented a copy of the pact.

The document seeks to recognize religious freedom and share “the value and complexity of being believers and practitioners of different faiths in a postmodern, secularized, multicultural, and multireligious society, one wounded by conflicts and extremism, including those of a pseudo-religious nature,” the text states.

According to the Italian Bishops’ Conference, this agreement is the result of several years of meetings and collaborative work. Leaders from different religions have been meeting since 2023 to reflect on communion and peace.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, emphasized his desire to “reflect openly on shared values ​​in order to build a civil community that, even amid diversity, recognizes the sense of a shared commitment to a more just, welcoming, and inclusive society.”

The pact proposes nine commitments and lines of action to strengthen harmonious coexistence. Notable among these are the promotion of the equality of all religions before the state through constructive dialogue, the fostering of a culture of peace based on justice and compassion, the defense of the common good, and mutual respect and collaboration among the various religious communities.

Furthermore, the document aims to address the rise of polarization, extremism, and the instrumentalization of religion to justify hatred and conflict, and to “offer a serious and proven contribution to a society overly exposed to polarization and extremism, which drive people to view the other person who is different due to their faith or culture as an enemy.”

For its promoters, the pact represents a joint response to social challenges and the complex current geopolitical context, championing interfaith dialogue as a tool to strengthen social cohesion, foster harmonious coexistence, and promote a culture of peace in the service of the common good.

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

During his program “Sexto Continente” (“Sixth Continent”) on Radio María Spain, the bishop commented on the Congress of Deputies' passage of the amendment that penalizes activities grouped under that term, a term the prelate also rejects.

“So-called conversion therapy doesn’t exist,” he stated, asserting that it’s “an ideological construct of an anti-Christian lobby in an attempt to prevent pastoral accompaniment for individuals with homosexual inclinations who in conscience want to live chastely and are seeking help.”

The legislative proposal, which has yet to be sent to the Senate, stipulates that programs providing support to those with homosexual inclinations who wish to live in chastity and in accordance with the Catholic faith be classified as a criminal offense under Title VII, which deals with “torture and other crimes against moral integrity.”

The amended penal code would provide for prison sentences ranging from six months to two years and fines imposed for a period of eight to 24 months for anyone who “applies or carries out upon a person, even with their consent or that of their legal representative, acts, methods, programs, techniques, or procedures of aversion or conversion whether psychological, physical, pharmacological, or of any other nature intended to modify, suppress, eliminate, or deny their sexual orientation, sexual identity, or gender expression, resulting in harm to their bodily integrity or physical or mental health, or seriously impairing their moral integrity.”

Additionally, a person conducting the prohibited activities could be disqualified from practicing his or her profession or trade for up to five years.

‘It’s religious persecution’

Munilla argued that the result of this addition to the penal code is “that a homosexual cannot be Catholic, or if he is Catholic, he must be a Catholic who dissents from the teachings of the Church.”

“He has to be a dissident Catholic. He is persecuted so that he cannot be a faithful Catholic. Because, if he wants to live chastely and asks for help to live chastely, he is persecuted. We’re crazy,” he emphasized.

"Deep down it’s religious persecution," he asserted, and "an obvious demonstration that they don’t believe in the freedom they boast about so much.”

“We must obey God rather than men,” he added. “We will not stop accompanying homosexual persons who seek the Church’s accompaniment in order to live chastely.”

Infiltration of the Church by the LGBT lobby

Munilla said his greatest concern is that “within the Church we have unity and communion around faith and morals.”

“The LGBT lobby has infiltrated many sectors of the Church, and that is what should concern us,” he said.

“The worst thing is that within the Church there are many areas where we are afraid, we dodge the issue or even explicitly deny the Catholic faith with respect to the experience of sexuality,” he continued.

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

Attal, who announced his presidential bid in May and now leads President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, has called for a national debate on legalizing surrogacy, which remains prohibited under French law. He has openly linked the issue to his personal desire to have children with his partner, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, a former French foreign minister, through surrogacy.

The proposal places Attal at odds with Macron, who has repeatedly described the legalization of surrogacy as a “red line.”

With Macron constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, Attal’s position has emerged as one of the clearest bioethical dividing lines in the race to succeed him.

Cross-party opposition

Attal’s promotion of surrogacy was met with widespread criticism from both sides of the French political aisle. Elected officials, including former French justice and health ministers, published a cross-party op-ed in which they expressed their opposition to “making women’s bodies available to satisfy the desires of others.”

This initiative was started by Aurore Bergé, minister for gender equality and a member of Attal’s own party.

They also reject the notion that surrogacy offers a solution to declining birth rates, instead arguing that demographic challenges should be addressed through family support policies and adoption reform rather than what they describe as the commercialization of reproduction.

Matthieu Le Tourneur, a French jurist with Juristes pour l’Enfance, told EWTN News that such a public intervention from high-profile politicians would have been far less likely only a few years ago.

He sees this as evidence of a changing sociopolitical climate. While some polling suggests a narrow majority of French citizens support legalizing surrogacy, Le Tourneur noted that support becomes weaker when the issue involves same-sex couples. He also argued that public opinion has ceased moving in favor of surrogacy and may be shifting in the opposite direction, referencing growing activism from anti-surrogacy organizations.

Political hurdles and European implications

Le Tourneur said Attal’s proposal should be viewed within a broader French political pattern in which successive presidents have pursued major societal reforms, pointing to the legalization of same-sex “marriage” under François Hollande, the expansion of IVF, and the proposed euthanasia bill under Macron. In his view, a future Attal presidency “would make the legalization of surrogacy the societal goal of his five-year term.”

However, he noted that legalization would face significant political obstacles. “Opposition to surrogacy comes from both the left and the right,” drawing criticism from feminists, anti-capitalists, and conservatives, he said. As a result, Attal would likely need support from extreme-left LGBTQIA+ factions, liberal centrists, and individual lawmakers willing to break with their parties.

Observers have noted that France’s influence extends well beyond its borders, particularly on questions of culture and bioethics. In this context, Le Tourneur believes that any French move to legalize surrogacy would likely reverberate across Europe. He noted that legalization in France would almost certainly apply not only to heterosexual couples but also to same-sex couples and single individuals, potentially providing momentum to pro-surrogacy campaigners seeking similar reforms in other countries.

Organized resistance to surrogacy

Ludovine de La Rochère, president of Le Syndicat de la Famille, one of France’s leading pro-family organizations, said Attal’s endorsement of “ethical” surrogacy is partly an effort to distinguish himself in the 2027 presidential race.

Speaking to EWTN News, she explained that “it would be a humanitarian, social, and ethical disaster if France were to legalize” surrogacy. She noted that the practice is often “championed by LGBT organizations” and that supporters seek to normalize the matter culturally through “personal accounts in books, films, TV programs, and so on,” gradually shaping public opinion outside the political arena.

According to de La Rochère, pro-surrogacy campaigners are shifting their efforts from legislative reform to international legal proceedings aimed at securing recognition of children born through surrogacy.

Looking across the continent, she noted that “Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovakia, and Poland” are strongly opposed to surrogacy while “Germany remains a country that could change its stance on this issue.”

Despite this, de La Rochère said her organization is working with other nongovernmental organizations to push the European Union toward “an explicit condemnation of all forms of surrogacy.” If Attal ultimately includes surrogacy in his presidential platform, she said large-scale public mobilization remains a possibility, although any response would depend on what strategy is judged most effective at the time.

Growing pressure

Attal’s proposal comes amid growing international opposition to surrogacy. In her 2026 report, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem argued that surrogacy can expose women to exploitation, coercion, health risks, and psychological harm, while raising broader concerns about human dignity and the rights of women and children.

The issue has also gained momentum at the diplomatic level. On June 22, Italy, the Holy See, Chile, and Cameroon convened a side event at the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for an international moratorium on surrogacy as a first step toward its eventual abolition. The initiative followed separate condemnations of the practice by Pope Leo XIV and the Holy See earlier this year.

On June 29, Le Syndicat de la Famille, Juristes pour l’Enfance, and other anti-surrogacy advocates gathered in Geneva to argue that surrogacy constitutes a modern form of human trafficking and to advocate for a coordinated international response.

Taken together, these developments suggest that any effort to legalize surrogacy in France would likely face opposition not only from domestic political critics, including figures within Attal’s own political camp, but also from an increasingly organized international coalition of governments, U.N. human rights experts, and civil society organizations.

In a message shared across his active social media channels, where he has amassed thousands of followers, the former religious said that he made the decision “with immense gratitude for everything I have experienced.”

Montes acknowledged that the journey leading to this decision “has been very difficult at times,” though he said that he made it “at peace and with a clear conscience, having truly loved every mission entrusted to me, having blazed new trails, and having built necessary bridges of dialogue.”

“There are compelling reasons, which I am keeping to myself, that underpin this decision and made my missionary service enormously difficult,” Montes explained, adding that he views the future as being “in deep continuity with what I have lived.”

In that future, “education, literature, poetry, theater, and cultural creations will be the realms through which I try to bring some beauty, thought, and humanity to the world,” he added.

“I thank those who have walked with me throughout these twenty years of religious life. Thank you for your trust, your affection, and your presence especially during the hardest times. Wherever I make my home, its doors will always be open to you. I hope you will also want to accompany me in this new chapter of my life,” he concluded.

In a video, Montes reflected on his life as a missionary priest in various locations and acknowledged that the final years of his ministry were a “very sad and very difficult” time. He said he hopes for new opportunities in the future, including the possibility of starting a family.

Who is Damián María Montes?

Born in Granada in 1986, Damián María Montes entered the Redemptorist postulancy at the age of 18. He completed his novitiate in Ciorani, Italy, where he professed his temporary vows. After studying at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid, he was sent as a missionary to Kolkata, India, prior to taking his perpetual vows. He was ordained a priest in Granada in 2013.

In February 2024, it was revealed that he along with another Redemptorist religious had attended the irreverent show “La capital del pecado 2.0” (“Sin City 2.0”) hosted by actor Juan Dávila.

Laicization among ‘influencer’ priests and religious

The announcement of Montesʼs laicization is not the first of its kind among priests and religious figures who have risen to fame on social media or television.

This was the case with Cristina Scuccia, who won the Italian edition of “The Voice” in 2014. Despite making her perpetual vows with the Ursulines of the Holy Family in 2019, she requested a dispensation in 2022.

Instagram post

In October 2023, Daniel Pajuelo, then a Spanish priest of the Society of Mary (Marianists), announced that he was seeking a dispensation from his religious vows and priestly ministry, following a career marked by controversy. Along with Montes, Pajuelo was one of the founders of iMission, a platform for Catholic evangelizers.

The following month, Salvadoran Samuel Bonilla, known until then as Father Sam, shared with his followers that he had made the same decision less than eight years after his ordination. The dispensation was granted in December 2024.

Frenchman Matthieu Jasseron, ordained in June 2019 in the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre, announced in October 2024 that he was leaving the priesthood after a period of absence from his social media channels, platforms where he had engaged in controversial activity, including videos in which he pretended to be a disc jockey atop an altar while wearing an alb and chasuble.

In February 2026, the Italian Alberto Ravagnani explained why he decided to leave the priesthood, a decision linked to his inability to live a celibate life: “I really wasn’t able to live up to it,” he stated.

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

Six young people claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary for the first time on June 24, 1981, the feast day of St. John the Baptist, on Mount Podbrdo. Since then, some of those visionaries say they still receive messages from the Mother of God on a daily basis.

Following a lengthy investigation, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith approved a document in 2024 titled The Queen of Peace, which acknowledges the spiritual fruits that have been borne, finds no obstacles in the alleged messages received, and makes no pronouncement regarding the supernatural nature of the phenomena.

Assisted by young people from the Cenacolo Community, who carried the cardinal part of the way as he was seated on a litter, the Albanian cardinal traversed a portion of the rocky path on foot, though not without difficulty.

Along the way, he blessed those present who stopped to greet him. Upon reaching the summit of the mountain, he prayed the rosary beside the statue of the Virgin Mary and blessed the water with which he sprinkled the crowd before returning.

The footage of this pilgrimage, provided by María Visión Medjugorje, bears witness to the determination of the cardinal who, as a priest, endured the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the man who proclaimed Albania to be “the first atheist state in the world."

A priest twice sentenced to death

Born in 1928 in the village of Troshani, the young Simoni underwent formation with the Franciscans from 1938 to 1948, until a bloody religious persecution eliminated the communityʼs superiors and forced him to continue his formation in secret.

In 1956, he was ordained a priest at St. Stephenʼs Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult. Seven years later, after celebrating Christmas Eve Mass on Dec. 24, 1963, he was arrested by four agents and informed that he would be executed by hanging, accused of having celebrated a Mass for the repose of the soul of recently assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy at the behest of St. Paul VI.

According to his own account, an attempt was made to entrap him by placing another prisoner in his cell who began complaining about the Communist Party. News of his preaching about love for oneʼs enemies while in prison reached the dictator, who decided to commute his sentence to 28 years of forced labor. During those years, he continued to celebrate Mass and exercise his priestly ministry clandestinely.

In 1973, he was once again sentenced to death, accused of inciting a rebellion. However, exonerating testimony prevented the immediate execution of the sentence, and he remained in prison for another 18 years until his release in 1981.

He continued his pastoral work in secret for another nine years, until the fall of the communist regime in 1990.

“The Lord has helped me to serve so many people and to reconcile many, driving hatred and the devil away from the hearts of men,” he stated upon concluding his testimony before Pope Francis in October 2016.

A month later, Simoni was created a cardinal at the consistory held on Nov. 19, 2016.

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

“Over the past few weeks, we have been working on a project that sets many of the words spoken by Jesus himself during his public ministry to Gregorian chant,” siblings Nikolai, Lucía, and Mirjana Gerstner told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on June 24.

“These are very ancient chants that have evolved since the early centuries within the context of the liturgy, both in Holy Mass and in the breviary,” they said.

Why the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Latin?

While they sing in other languages ​​as well, the siblings said that “our focus and home as Roman Catholics is Gregorian chant. One of its fundamental characteristics is that its texts are exclusively in Latin.”

After highlighting that Latin serves “for the worship of God and, therefore, easily lifts us from the profane to the transcendent,” Harpa Dei said it hopes this chant will help “the faithful rediscover the beauty of Gregorian chant and the value of a sacred language as great treasures of the Church.”

The Gerstner siblings also noted that “the words of Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, possess great power and efficacy. They offer comfort, guidance, and strength; they invite conversion and reveal the Father to us just as he truly is.”

They said Gregorian chant makes it possible to “penetrate the soul deeply and gently, and to become imprinted upon the memory and the heart.”

The Prodigal Son video

They also said they hope to help “the ‘prodigal’ sons and daughters of this world realize that God, our Heavenly Father, is waiting for them, and that his great desire is for them to return to him, to their true home.”

The siblings said they filmed the video in the Danube Valley and at Lake Constance in southern Germany. “Throughout the filming process, we could clearly recognize God’s guidance in finding the right locations and managing all the logistics,” they said.

Since 2011, following a peace initiative, the siblings have felt called to evangelize through sacred music. Their mission has taken them to many countries around the world, such as Mexico, Israel, Germany, Russia, Ecuador, Lithuania, and the United States, among others.

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

Since its inception, the number of euthanasia procedures carried out in the country has risen steadily; from 75 in the second half of 2021 to 288 in 2022, followed by 334 in 2023, some 426 in 2024 and 565 in 2025.

The Madrid-based Professionals for Ethics Association has issued a report that points out that the progression of euthanasia over the past five years shows that “once approved, euthanasia becomes a slippery slope” with destructive effects.

In addition to accelerated year-to-year growth in the number of euthanasia cases, the ethics professionals cite the progressive expansion of the grounds for the procedure under the catch-all category of “severe suffering.”

Euthanasia procedures have been streamlined “even at the cost of reducing or eliminating safeguards,” according to the report.

Euthanasia is being promoted “as an altruistic choice, based on arguments regarding organ donation and bequests to pro-euthanasia associations.”

The report denounces the “imposition of the so-called ‘right to die’ and personal autonomy over good medical practice.”

The practice of euthanasia results in the “abandonment of clinical effort” in situations where it appears to be an “easier and less costly” option. The report also underscores that euthanasia “harms the relationship of trust” between patient and physician, as well as between the patient and their family members.

The "normalization of euthanasia" in society and among healthcare professionals has led to the "loss of the meaning of vulnerable life, of aging, and of the value of caring for and accompanying” such patients, the report finds.

Other destructive effects include “social pressure on dependent individuals based on ‘quality of life’ criteria and the perception of being a burden to others” and, finally, the fostering of individualism and “society’s indifference toward suffering.”

Recommendations

Beyond pointing out dangers and contradictions inherent in the advance of euthanasia in Spain, the Professionals for Ethics Association proposes five measures “to reverse the slippery slope of euthanasia upon which we have already embarked.”

The first recommended measure is to develop “the plan, organization, and resources necessary to provide nationwide palliative care coverage," which must include "home-based teams and specialized pediatric units."

The ethics professionals also recommend boosting support “for vulnerable individuals and their families,” specifically those facing dependency, mental illness, and unwanted loneliness. This requires both the allocation of resources to address these challenges and facilitating “family support through programs that balance work and family life in order to provide care” for the patient.

A third recommendation is to monitor official information regarding the euthanasia procedures performed in order to “ensure rigor in the processes for requesting and approving euthanasia,” as well as preventing lax interpretations of the law that make “euthanasia the easiest, most accessible, and quickest ‘solution’.”

Fourth, the association holds that “it is vital to preserve the mission and objectives of healthcare aimed at preventing, curing, and caring for health as well as professional ethics and practice.”

In this regard, the group emphasizes that “euthanasia runs counter to the essence of medicine, caring for human life, and should never be considered a medical act.” Thus, the association also advocates the right of healthcare workers to conscientiously object to participating in euthanasia procedures.

Finally, the association calls for halting the promotion of euthanasia, as its rise “is neither a social good nor a sign of progress in human rights, nor is it even a neutral matter.”

“The fact that an increasing number of people in Spain desire a lethal injection should be a cause for concern, not celebration,” the group emphasizes; and therefore advocates for “a euthanasia prevention plan” similar to those for suicide and, ultimately, the repeal of the euthanasia law and the enactment of legislation “that facilitates the care of human life until the very end.”

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

According to the Dutch governmentʼs 2025 annual report on late-term pregnancy termination and life-ending procedures, authorities received a report in late 2025 involving a child between the ages of 1 and 12. The case is the first known report since the Netherlands broadened its regulations to permit euthanasia for children in that age group under limited circumstances.

Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans confirmed in a June 22 letter to the Dutch House of Representatives, “At the end of 2025, the committee received its first report of life termination of a child between the ages of 1 and 12 years.”

Few details about the childʼs age, illness, or circumstances have been released. Under Dutch law, all such cases are reviewed by an independent committee to determine whether legal requirements were followed.

A medical-legal committee reviewed the death, evaluated it, and forwarded an advisory opinion to prosecutors who must independently decide next steps, Hermans’ letter said. The committee is expected to publish its opinion on its website.

Expansion of Dutch euthanasia policy

The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia for adults in 2002. Before the 2024 expansion, euthanasia was already permitted for infants under one year old in exceptional circumstances and for minors aged 12 and older, subject to parental consent requirements.

Dutch officials said the regulations were designed to address a small number of cases involving terminally ill children experiencing what authorities describe as “hopeless and unbearable suffering.”

Under the rules, euthanasia for children ages 1 to 12 may be permitted when a child is terminally ill, suffering unbearably with no prospect of improvement, and when no reasonable treatment or palliative care alternative exists.

The 2025 report recorded three late-term pregnancy terminations, no reported life-ending procedures involving newborns, and one reported life-ending procedure involving a child between the ages of 1 and 12.

Catholic bioethicists raise concerns

The reported case of the child under 12 has drawn criticism from Catholic and pro-life advocates, who argue that societyʼs response to suffering should be compassionate care and effective pain management rather than intentionally ending a human life.

“This is clearly a grave ethical violation,” said Joseph Meaney, senior fellow and director of international coordination at the National Catholic Bioethics Center. “The Church teaches that euthanasia and assisted suicide are intrinsically evil and so can never be morally justified actions. The case of euthanizing children is graver still since a child cannot give informed consent.”

Meaney said that while euthanasia may appear compassionate in cases of severe suffering, “it is a grave mistake,” emphasizing that “human persons have a special dignity” and that modern medicine offers ethical means of pain management and care for the seriously ill and dying.

He also warned that the Netherlands has often served as a bellwether for euthanasia policy worldwide.

“Expanding the limits of what is allowed by the law in terms of medicalized killing usually happens first in the Netherlands and then spreads to other countries,” Meaney said.

International implications

The case comes amid ongoing debates over assisted dying in several Western nations.

Meaney warned that jurisdictions often begin by legalizing euthanasia in limited circumstances before gradually broadening eligibility.

“After a few years of legalization, advocates push for limitations to be removed or the categories of persons with permission to be killed or kill themselves to be enlarged,” he said.

Matt Vallière, executive director of the Patient Rights Action Fund, expressed similar concerns.

“The further that they push the envelope, the more other countries will consider it, especially in the Euro-American West,” Vallière said. “Currently, bills are pending in France, the UK.”

He also pointed to developments in the United States.

“You see some of this going back and forth from here to the states, too. There are 12 states plus D.C. that have officially legalized assisted suicide,” he said.

The report comes as euthanasia continues to rise in the Netherlands. More than 10,000 euthanasia deaths were reported in the Netherlands in 2025, accounting for a growing share of annual deaths in the country.

The Netherlands remains one of only a handful of countries that permit euthanasia for minors. Belgium removed age restrictions on euthanasia in 2014, while assisted-dying proposals continue to be debated in several Western nations.

Bishop David James Oakley of Northampton was charged with two counts of rape against a female under the age of 16.

The diocese of Northampton confirmed that the bishop “has been charged after an investigation into non-recent safeguarding allegations.”

The diocese could not provide further comment.

“We understand that this will be very distressing for all concerned but cannot comment further on an active legal process,” the diocese said in its statement.

The statement provided direction to safeguarding resources.

“If you have any safeguarding concerns please contact either the diocesan safeguarding team or the police directly,” the diocese said.

Oakley was ordained in 1980 as a priest and became bishop of Northampton in 2020. In October of last year, he took a leave of absence for “personal reasons.” Oakley was an episcopal advisor for Catholic Charismatic Renewal in England and Wales and was rector of St. Maryʼs College, Oscott, the seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, from 2013 to 2020.

English news outlets reported that the bishop was a strong contender for bishop of Westminster in recent years.

Oakley will appear in court for an initial hearing August 14.

Among its many treasures, the cathedral features eight chapels where fragments of history, traces of the God-inspired actions of kings, cardinals, and archbishops, and the evolution of sacred art all intertwine.

1. Main chapel

The main chapel is the liturgical heart of the Toledo Cathedral. Its current layout is the result of an alteration initiated by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros in the 15th century, which involved relocating the original burial sites of the monarchs Alfonso VII, Sancho the Desired, and Sancho the Brave.

Also located there is the tomb of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, a pivotal figure in the history of the Catholic Church in Spain, who was closely linked to the evangelization efforts of the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in Spanish America.

The main altarpiece, made of gilded and polychromed wood, is considered a masterpiece of Hispano-Flemish Gothic art, created by some of the most renowned sculptors and polychromists of the era. It depicts numerous Gospel scenes, such as the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, Pentecost, and scenes from the Passion, all crowned by a large Crucifixion scene at the top.

2. Chapel of the Descent

Founded by Enrique II of Castile, this space stands on the site where tradition places the high altar of the Visigothic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the church that gave rise to the cathedral. Legend also attributes a miraculous event to this location: the Virgin Mary descended from heaven to place a chasuble on St. Ildefonso, archbishop of Toledo and a fervent defender of the mystery of her immaculate purity.

The altarpiece, restored by order of Cardinal Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, depicts this miraculous episode, among other scenes. Cardinal Baltasar Moscoso y Sandoval is buried here.

3. Chapel of St. Ildefonso

Located in the center of the churchʼs apse, this octagonal, Gothic-style chapel houses the tomb of Archbishop Gil Carrillo de Albornoz, a papal legate, a minister of Alfonso XI, and founder of the Royal Spanish College in Bologna.

Numerous archbishops from the 14th through the 21st centuries are also buried within its walls. The last to be interred there was Cardinal Marcelo González Martín in 2004.

4. Tabernacle Chapel

In the Tabernacle Chapel, in addition to the adoration of the Eucharist, the chapelʼs patroness, the Virgin of the Tabernacle, is venerated. The Virgin is represented by 12th-century wooden carving, overlaid with silver and seated upon an 18th-century gilded silver throne.

Tradition holds that the statue was hidden during the Muslim invasion in the early 8th century, and following the Reconquista of Toledo at the start of the second millennium, miraculously emerged from the well in the cathedral cloister, bearing a lit candle.

Clad in marble, the chapel’s dome features frescoes depicting the Evangelists, prophets, and Doctors of the Church. The chapel is also adorned with paintings dedicated to Sts. Bernard, Eugenius, Ildephonsus, and Leocadia.

It was inaugurated in 1616 in the presence of Felipe III.

5. St. Blaise Chapel

Located in the northeast corner of the cathedral cloister is the St. Blaise Chapel, commissioned in the late 14th century by Archbishop Pedro Tenorio to serve as his burial place.

The chapelʼs most notable features are its murals, which depict the articles of faith contained in the Creed and scenes of the Last Judgment, as well as numerous Gospel images and episodes from the lives of St. Anthony and St. Blaise, along with miracles attributed to St. Peter.

These works are considered among the most significant examples of the Spanish International Gothic style, inspired by the Italian genius Giotto and the Florentine school.

6. St. James Chapel

Built in the mid-15th century, the St. James funerary chapel is designed in the Toledan Gothic style and is located in the outer ambulatory. It was built by order of the royal favorite of Juan II of Castille, Constable Álvaro de Luna, who was ultimately executed, and his spouse Juana Pimentel, whose tombs of sculpted alabaster are situated in the center of the chamber.

Archbishops Juan de Cerezuela and Pedro de Luna, along with some of the constableʼs relatives, are buried along the side walls.

7. Chapel of the New Kings

The Chapel of the New Kings is one of the areas of the cathedral richest in history. It represents the merging of royal chapels originally established in the 13th century. With the authorization of Emperor Charles V, and to meet liturgical needs, the chapel was relocated to the ambulatory in the 16th century.

It houses the tombs of the Trastámara dynasty, showcasing a unique example of Late Gothic art evolving toward the Neoclassical style.

8. Mozarabic Chapel

Erected by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in 1502, this chapel was built to perpetuate the celebration of the Hispanic-Mozarabic rite — the oldest liturgy in Hispanic Christianity, which was preserved only in Toledo after the city was reconquered in 1085.

In 1500, Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros restored this rite; it is celebrated every morning thanks to a permission granted by Pope Alexander II at a time when the Roman rite, established in the 11th century, was spreading across the Iberian Peninsula.

It is located in the former chapter house, and its dome, damaged by a fire in 1622, was rebuilt by El Grecoʼs son. The altarpiece, remodeled in the 18th century, is crowned by an Ibero-American crucifix.

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

The discovery was made in April, when a parishioner noticed an unusual detail on the face of the saint from Pietrelcina: A reddish tear, resembling blood, appeared to be falling from its left eye.

The news quickly reached the parish priest, Father Girolamo Capuano, who went to the church to verify what had happened and attempt, without success, to clean off the stain. The statue of Padre Pio, which has stood at the entrance of this Italian church for two decades, has been removed for examination in order to determine the origin of the phenomenon.

Speaking to Mediaset Italia’s program Mattino Cinque, Capuano urged prudence and emphasized that bringing the matter to public attention to clarify the facts “does not stem from any desire for popularity.”

Furthermore, he insisted that such “signs” are “given to all so that they may be shared with prudence, love, and discernment,” while also stating that they should be made known “because many people begin a journey of faith” through them.

The Italian priest, who verified via security cameras that no one had tampered with the statue, reiterated that in his view, it is “an authentic sign that comes from God,” although he asked people to wait for the necessary verification.

“What convinces me the most is that we have a camera monitoring the statue day and night for more than 10 years. I have personally reviewed all the footage from April 1st to the 30th. The tear appeared on the 18th, or at least that was when we saw it. No one approached the statue, either by day or by night, to do anything to it. That reinforces my personal conviction and my faith in Padre Pio,” he said.

The priest noted several striking elements: “The statue is made of fiberglass, and the reddish color of the tear raises questions. Furthermore, the path of the tear is so perfect that not even a painter like Michelangelo could reproduce something like it.”

Regardless of the investigationʼs findings, which must determine whether the stain contains hemoglobin or another substance, Capuano insists that “they cannot take our faith away from us.”

In 2015, a reported case of an image of the Virgin Mary weeping circulated in the same town, although investigations concluded that the phenomenon was caused by rainwater seepage.

In accordance with the Vatican’s Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena, the bishop of the Diocese of Capua, Pietro Lagnese, will lead the preliminary investigation before submitting the findings to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).

According to these norms, published by the Vatican in 2024, it is up to diocesan bishop to examine cases in dialogue with his corresponding bishops’ conference and under the supervision of the DDF.

Once the facts have been investigated, the bishop must send the results to the dicastery, which analyzes both the material received and the procedure followed by the prelate. Until the DDF issues a definitive judgment, the bishop “will refrain from any public declaration regarding the authenticity or supernaturality of these phenomena.”

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

Representatives of the participating states presented a joint declaration calling for an international moratorium on surrogacy as a step toward its eventual global abolition. In this context, a moratorium refers to a temporary suspension of surrogacy arrangements pending further legal, ethical, and human rights review.

The event, titled “Building Momentum Towards a Moratorium on Surrogacy,” was motivated by concerns over the increasing physical, psychological, medical, and ethical harms associated with surrogacy. The rapid growth of the surrogacy industry, projected to hit nearly $100 billion by 2033, was another cause of concern.

The joint declaration presented reflects an abolitionist approach to surrogacy and calls on governments to adopt policies that safeguard human dignity and fundamental human rights.

The initiative follows previous criticism of the controversial practice by Pope Leo XIV, who condemned it in a January address. In March, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations also raised concerns about surrogacy, warning that it is an area in which “technology and practice have run laps around the law and ethics.”

A question of human dignity

Italy’s Minister for Family, Birth Rate and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, framed the surrogacy debate as a fundamental question about the status of the human person.

She asked whether society still recognizes human beings as persons “who must be respected” or is willing to accept a situation in which they become “a means to satisfy the interests or needs of others.”

Roccella described the declaration as establishing “a common political commitment” to support an international moratorium on surrogacy while laying the groundwork for “an international legal framework aimed at abolishing surrogacy worldwide.”

At the same time, she stressed that the initiative should be viewed as the beginning of a broader international effort rather than its culmination. Roccella urged governments, international organizations, and civil society actors to engage in a “serious and constructive dialogue” on how best to address surrogacy while protecting the rights and dignity of all those involved.

Serious human rights concerns

Among the keynote speakers was U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem, whose 2025 report to the U.N. General Assembly was widely praised as one of the most comprehensive examinations of surrogacy to date.

Alsalem told participants that her scrutiny of surrogacy arose not from ideological opposition but from her mandate to investigate violence against women and girls. She said she began examining the issue after identifying it as a “growing and emerging phenomenon” with “significant and serious consequences” for women and girls, yet one that had received comparatively little analysis through the framework of international human rights law.

Drawing on her findings, Alsalem described surrogacy as a system that “commodifies women and children,” turning women’s reproductive capacities into services to be purchased and children into objects of contractual arrangements.

She further argued that children born through surrogacy can face abandonment, statelessness, and separation from their birth mothers, circumstances she said may cause lasting emotional harm.

Welcoming the declaration, Alsalem endorsed calls for an international moratorium, explaining that a temporary suspension would allow governments to gather data, improve accountability, and better assess the human rights implications of surrogacy.

“We will no longer accept these abuses,” she said, expressing hope that additional states would join the initiative.

Her subsequent 2026 report on violence against women and girls reiterates concerns that surrogacy can facilitate exploitation, coercion, and other serious violations of the rights of women and girls.

Momentum beyond Geneva

Speaking to EWTN News, Giorgio Mazzoli, moderator of the event and director of U.N. advocacy for ADF International, explained that opposition to surrogacy is gaining traction among governments. He referred to Slovakia’s 2025 constitutional prohibition of surrogacy and current advancing legislation in Chile that would ban the practice as evidence of a broader shift.

According to Mazzoli, “states are increasingly aware of the need for a coordinated response to the harm surrogacy causes to women and children,” adding that the Geneva event was intended to “build and sustain that momentum.”

While supporters of surrogacy continue to advocate for its expansion in jurisdictions where the practice remains legal or unresolved, Mazzoli said governments that have not yet confronted the issue directly are nevertheless paying attention.

“Even countries which do not yet face the problem directly — or claim not to — are taking note,” he said. “They see where this is heading and want to be ahead of it.”

Mazzoli also highlighted Italy’s recent legislation extending criminal liability to Italian citizens who commission surrogacy abroad, describing it as a significant attempt to curb so-called “forum shopping,” whereby individuals travel to other countries to access services prohibited at home.

Nevertheless, he argued that national measures alone will not be sufficient. Given the increasingly cross-border nature of the surrogacy industry, Mazzoli said the long-term goal should be the development of an international legally binding instrument capable of addressing surrogacy across jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, Ludovine de La Rochère, president of Le Syndicat de la Famille, who attended the event as an observer, told EWTN News that public awareness of surrogacy varies significantly across Europe.

Countries where advocacy groups actively publicize scandals and ethical concerns tend to have a greater understanding of the issue, while in other countries “people are largely unaware of what surrogacy entails.”

She noted that most media outlets rarely scrutinize surrogacy practices in depth and that public discussion is often shaped by advocacy groups supportive of surrogacy.

According to De La Rochère, anti-surrogacy organizations defending mothers and children face an uphill battle because they often operate with limited resources. “Large-scale information campaigns are absolutely essential,” she said, but she noted that such groups generally lack the financial support available to progressive organizations.

She contended that public education efforts should focus on demonstrating why surrogacy constitutes “an exploitation of women and an objectification of the child,” while also drawing attention to cases involving international human trafficking.

On June 15, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Liz Kendall announced to the House of Commons that the government "will ban social media companies providing their services to under 16s.”

Kendall said that the UK would be following the same model as Australia, which was the first country in the world to ban social media for youth under 16. The UK ban is due to come into effect early next year.

In an email response to EWTN News on June 17 regarding whether bishops of England and Wales support the proposed ban, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference for England and Wales said: “Until the government publishes further details it’s hard to give a yes or no answer.”

But Bishop John Arnold, the lead bishop for communications for the conference, “is very keen to ensure that the safety and protection of the dignity of young people online is a central concern for all,” the statement said.

In a separate email to EWTN News, Bishop Arnold wrote that the “safety of children and young people in the digital world is paramount. Young people face many pressures today, which are often exacerbated by unrealistic and harmful material which they have accessed online.”

“When it comes to the responsible and appropriate use of technology, the protection of children and young people is a shared responsibility among parents, schools, government and society,” he said.

“I urge all people to work together to protect and place the dignity of the human person, especially children, the young and vulnerable, at the center of technological and legislative developments,” the bishop said.

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, meanwhile, said it would “prefer not to comment directly on the specific policy issue, but rather give a considered response to the noble principles behind online safety measures.”

“The bishops support the introduction of any new measures which increase online safety for children and young people,” the conference said.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that children and young people are protected from harmful and age-inappropriate content, and from online environments that can negatively affect their wellbeing, relationships and healthy development,” the statement continued.

The UK governmentʼs proposal includes banning youth usage of platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and X. They do not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the ban.

Livestreamers and strangers being able to contact children will also be restricted for those under‑16 on other online services like gaming.

“Who should take responsibility?”

Edwin Fawcett, a Catholic psychotherapist based in England and Wales, is also unsure about the benefits and drawbacks of the proposal.

“At this point the toll taken on mental and emotional health by social media, especially for developing brains, is virtually undisputed. Who should take responsibility for young peopleʼs formation and education?” he told EWTN News.

“The Churchʼs wise answer: parents. Yet in a busy, driven and fragmented society the tsunami of digital hyper-reality is almost impossible to avoid or withstand,” he said.

Fawcett argued that there is “a pandemic of relational wounds and deficits in the real world” which “has set the stage for widespread mental health issues, which are being activated and worsened by addictive online behavior — behavior chosen in an attempt to anesthetize the same wounds.”

He continued: “Whether the ban is designed to support the rights and responsibilities of the family is hard to say. But letʼs pray that a deep renewal of family life, communities and culture will begin filling the void which social media has falsely promised to do — a void which may now be exposed by the incoming ban.”

Lucy Marsh, a spokeswoman for the Family Education Trust — a secular research body which supports traditional family values — said that the ban has not been sufficiently “thought through.”

“Children should not have unsupervised access to social media, but the government’s rushed plan to ban under-16s from using certain platforms is the wrong way to go about it,” she told EWTN News.

“Rather than educating parents on how to restrict their child’s access to the internet and raising awareness about why young children should not have smartphones, the government is trying to introduce digital ID via the back door. This means using facial recognition and biometrics which involve giving even more information to tech companies. In the name of protecting children, those children will be under even more surveillance.”

The government “should focus on ensuring tech companies make phones for children which cannot access social media apps, including WhatsApp, which is used by predatory adults to share pornography and groom children,” she said.

“We could not agree more with the vision of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and with the need for a robust legal framework for AI,” Thomas Regnier, European Commission spokesperson for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, told EWTN News following a recent Commission dialogue bringing together EU officials, Church leaders, and experts to discuss AI’s ethical and social impact.

“In the EU, this is not just an aspiration. It is already what we are doing through the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the GDPR and much more,” Regnier said.

From Magnifica Humanitas to Brussels

The closed dialogue followed Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published May 25, and offered an early opportunity to gauge whether its themes are resonating with those implementing Europe’s AI rulebook. The discussions included senior officials from the EU’s AI Office, which oversees implementation of the Act.

The encyclical sets out Pope Leo’s vision for safeguarding human dignity, human agency, and the common good amid rapidly advancing technologies. Its presentation at the Vatican last month included Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, as the Holy See seeks to engage directly with frontier AI developers.

Responding to questions from EWTN News, Regnier said Pope Leo’s concerns closely align with existing European policies.

“What the Pope describes is what Europe is already doing,” Regnier said.

“We are protecting minors online. We have banned AI systems that exploit the most vulnerable. We are protecting women and children from non-consensual and sexual-abuse AI-generated content. We have prohibited social scoring.”

“His Holiness speaks of human dignity and the common good. These are exactly the European values.”

Parliament pauses high-risk AI requirements

Regnier’s comments come as the European Parliament approved amendments on Tuesday postponing certain obligations affecting high-risk AI systems under the Act, including systems used in health care, education, employment, and law enforcement, a move supporters say will provide legal certainty while harmonized standards are developed.

Irish MEP Michael McNamara, one of Parliament’s lead negotiators on the legislation, defended the postponement, arguing businesses need regulatory certainty without weakening the Act’s core safeguards.

“We live in an area of rule of law, and one of the things that is most important is regulatory certainty and clarity in what one’s legal obligations are,” McNamara said following Tuesday’s vote.

He said it was regrettable that implementation had to be delayed because harmonized standards had not yet been developed, but stressed that “the protections, the fundamental rights protections, the requirement that you have human beings in the loop, that you have a human override, these all remain in place.”

Referring to Pope Leo’s encyclical and Antiqua et Nova, a Vatican reflection on AI issued during Pope Francis’ pontificate, McNamara said it was essential to ensure “that AI systems work for the benefit of humanity” and that society does not “ever end up in a system where humanity is subjugated by AI systems.”

COMECE urges human-centered regulation

AI has been high on the EU agenda this month, with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) convening a seminar at the European Parliament examining AI’s impact on health, loneliness, and children’s well-being.

Speaking on behalf of COMECE, Monsignor Emmanuel Agius, professor of moral theology at the University of Malta, argued that the challenge was not simply whether digital environments require regulation, but whether regulation is guided by “an adequate understanding of the human person.”

While acknowledging AI’s promise in health care and research, he warned of growing risks linked to loneliness, addictive behaviors, disinformation, and the impact of digital environments on children and young people. Describing loneliness as a growing public health concern, he said technological innovation should complement rather than replace meaningful human relationships and care, particularly for vulnerable people.

AI rules must remain dynamic

In a recorded message to seminar participants, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned that “AI can move faster than our ability to understand it, let alone govern it” and stressed that rules must be “smart, proportionate, and able to work in the real world.”

In his response to EWTN News, Regnier similarly noted that “developments in the field of AI are advancing at an extremely high speed” and “the AI Act was designed as a dynamic and adaptable regulatory framework that is capable of evolving over time.”

He pointed to recently agreed prohibitions on so-called “nudification” applications that generate non-consensual sexually explicit content or child sexual abuse material, saying the updated rules seek to ensure that Europeans can benefit from AI while remaining protected from its harmful effects.

“The EU will continue to protect our values and the fundamental rights of every European,” Regnier said. “Within this robust legal framework, we now need to invest even more in the responsible uptake of this technology and in the use of AI as a benefit for humankind and a force for good.”

At this hospital, which looks like something out of a storybook, medical professionals work to ensure that children can keep smiling despite their illnesses.

This is the case for Carmen Molina, a nurse in the hospital’s pediatric comprehensive palliative care unit, who recently shared her testimony at a gathering organized for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Movistar Arena in Madrid.

Sitting near one of the play areas in the hospital, Molina shared with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, her experience accompanying seriously ill children and their families through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.

‘God’s hand is always there’

The vocation Molina chose is not an easy one. “There are things that are painful for you, too, when accompanying the patient through this process, knowing there is no option for a cure. But it changes your perspective and the way you care for them,” she said.

Since she first came to the hospital three years ago, she has had to face tough challenges marked “not only by physical exhaustion, but also by the emotional and spiritual pain” of sick children and their families.

Despite the hardships, she said faith sustains her every day and helps her to be aware of her own limitations and fragility. “You find meaning in many of the situations you experience, and you realize that, thank God, a lot of things don’t depend on you personally; that gives you peace of mind.”

“The hand of God is always there — always,” Molina said, convinced that his presence becomes visible in sick children and their loved ones. “Of course, everyone goes through it as best they can, but I see it in the way they face so many things in their day-to-day lives, in the way they look toward the future and ‘normalize’ so many aspects of their situation.”

With extensive experience in palliative care, the nurse pointed out certain recurring patterns among people in the final stage of life. “They want to feel loved and don’t want to be a burden to others. They wish to heal old wounds, ask for forgiveness, be forgiven, or find reconciliation.”

As they find themselves in the final stretch of their lives, Molina noted that many people “seek the meaning of their life” without concerning themselves with material things. Ultimately, she emphasized, “what counts is the love given or not given; that’s what matters at the end of life.”

Recognizing the person as someone unique

She emphasized that palliative care “is necessary for living with peace and dignity” and clarified that “we don’t focus on death, but on life,” so that patients live as well as possible. “What matters is how they live; it’s not so much about how long they will live, but rather how they will live.”

In her view, this is closely linked to the dignity of each person, which “depends neither on the time lived — whether long or short — nor on the health one enjoys or the illness one suffers.”

“Nor does it depend on success,” she added, “nor on the abilities one may possess; rather, it is something so intrinsic and so infinite that we are called to protect, care for, appreciate, and attend to the person in a holistic way.”

The nurse explained that palliative care aims to address every dimension of the person, focusing not only on the physical dimension but also on the emotional, social, and spiritual ones.

“We try not to reduce the person to their illness,” she said, “but rather to recognize that person as a unique individual with a story that deserves respect, someone who has value right up to the very last moment of their life.”

She further noted that hope is indispensable at this stage: “As long as there is hope, there is life and expectation."

She clarified that it’s not about “the hope of a cure, but the hope of living each day with meaning, being at peace, and saying goodbye properly.”

“If you are at peace with yourself and with others, I believe going to heaven is a joy.”

The cross: A companion in suffering

Molina also pointed out that accepting the illness is a key element: “When you take a step toward transcendence, toward peace, it is palpable, even if it isnʼt fully understood. I have been fortunate enough to witness how the sick person and their family, despite the hardships, experience moments of serenity, peace, intimacy, and inner healing. I believe that hope does not vanish; rather, it changes form.”

Throughout her journey as a palliative care nurse, she has witnessed how many patients and their loved ones have found “strength in faith, in prayer, and in the cross, understood as a companion in suffering.”

Ultimately, she emphasized that what helps the patient most “is knowing that their life matters to others and feeling accompanied by God.”

Drawing on her own experience, she encourages people “not to wait until they are sick to ask themselves about what is truly important and essential: loving and letting yourself be loved. It’s about living a life of integrity and caring for your family, friends, and those around you. Ultimately, life is not measured by success or productivity but by authenticity and love.”

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

According to historical accounts, Nicolazic, a deeply religious farmer from the village of Keranna, began experiencing a series of extraordinary events in August 1623. He reported seeing mysterious lights and hearing voices near his home. Eventually, he said the figure speaking to him identified herself as St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. Anne told Nicolazic that an ancient chapel dedicated to her had once stood in the area but had fallen into ruin centuries earlier. She asked that the sanctuary be rebuilt so that people could once again come there to honor God and seek her intercession.

According to tradition, the first chapel had been built nearly nine centuries before Nicolazic’s visitations. However, the original chapel was destroyed at the end of the seventh century. Still, the memory of it was kept alive by tradition, and the hamlet was called “Keranna”; i.e., “Village of Anne.” The visions culminated on the night of July 25, 1624, when Nicolazic followed a brilliant torch-like light to a field where workers later uncovered an old statue of St. Anne. The discovery was viewed as confirmation of Nicolazic’s claims and sparked widespread interest throughout Brittany.

Church authorities investigated the reported apparitions and eventually approved devotion at the site. Construction of a new chapel soon began, laying the foundation for what would become the Shrine of St. Anne d’Auray.

A center of Breton faith

The shrine quickly became a focal point for Catholic life in Brittany, a region known for its strong religious traditions and distinctive Catholic identity.

Pilgrims traveled long distances on foot to visit the sanctuary, seeking healing, spiritual renewal, and the intercession of St. Anne. Over time, annual pilgrimages grew into major religious gatherings that attracted thousands of faithful.

As devotion spread, St. Anne came to be regarded as a special patroness of Brittany. Families entrusted children to her care, sailors sought her protection before voyages, and generations of Catholics turned to her as a model of faith and family life.

Surviving revolution and conflict

The shrine’s history has not been without challenges.

During the French Revolution, Catholic churches and religious institutions across France faced suppression, confiscation, and destruction from revolutionists. Like countless Catholic sites throughout the country, St. Anne d’Auray experienced the same persecution. The original statue, which had lasted over nine centuries, was tragically destroyed by anticlerical forces. Today, a surviving, blackened fragment of the original head is securely preserved and venerated within a dedicated reliquary. Despite the revolution, devotion to St. Anne endured.

The sanctuary eventually recovered and entered a new period of growth during the 19th century. A larger basilica was constructed from 1865 to 1872 to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims. 

Papal recognition

The significance of St. Anne d’Auray has been recognized repeatedly by the universal Church.

In 1996, Pope John Paul II visited the shrine during his apostolic journey to France. During the visit, he prayed with pilgrims and highlighted the importance of family life, a theme closely associated with devotion to St. Anne and the Holy Family.

The papal visit marked a milestone in the shrine’s history and underscored its importance not only to Brittany but also to the broader Catholic world.

Today, the sanctuary remains one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations in France, behind Lisieux and Lourdes. Pilgrims arrive for major feast days, organized diocesan pilgrimages, and personal spiritual retreats.

A legacy that endures

Four hundred years after Nicolazic first reported seeing a mysterious light in the Breton countryside, the message associated with St. Anne d’Auray continues to resonate.

The bells that ring across the sanctuary grounds today echo a history stretching back centuries. They tell the story of a farmer who was entrusted with a mission, a community that responded in faith, and a shrine that remains a living witness to one of Catholicism’s most enduring traditions.