null / Credit: felipe caparros/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order seeking to overturn Supreme Court precedents restricting capital punishment and expand states? access to lethal drugs used in executions.

Trump in his order describes the death penalty as an ?essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.?

The order directs the U.S. attorney general to actively pursue the death penalty in federal cases, particularly for murders of law enforcement officers and crimes committed by people residing in the country illegally and encourages states to do the same.

It also directs the attorney general to ensure that states have a sufficient supply of drugs for lethal injection and to seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of state governments to impose capital punishment.

?[E]fforts to subvert and undermine capital punishment defy the laws of our nation, make a mockery of justice, and insult the victims of these horrible crimes,? the order reads.

?The government?s most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abhorrent acts, and my administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorize capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens.?

The federal death penalty has been applied relatively sparingly since being reinstated in 1988 after a hiatus of several years. Since then, just 16 people have been put to death by the federal government ? 13 during the first Trump administration, which restarted federal executions after a lengthy hiatus  ? compared with nearly 1,600 people executed by the states during that time.

Trump?s Jan. 20 order is sharply at odds with Catholic teaching on the death penalty. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting a 2018 update promulgated by Pope Francis, describes the death penalty as ?inadmissible? and an ?attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person? (No. 2267). Because of this teaching, the Church ?works with determination for its abolition worldwide,? the catechism continues. 

Catholic leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere, while expressing compassion for the victims of crimes, often speak in support of lifelong prison sentences for those who have committed those heinous crimes rather than the death penalty.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), criticized Trump?s order Tuesday, saying in a statement to CNA that the order ?makes no sense.?

???What we know about the death penalty is that it does not deter crime or make communities safer. It?s immoral, flawed, and risky; arbitrary and unfair; cruel and dehumanizing. Both the state and federal death penalty systems are broken beyond repair and emblematic of a throwaway culture,? Vaillancourt Murphy said. 

She said despite Trump?s ?regrettable declaration,? CMN and other Catholics will continue to advocate and pray for an end to the death penalty at all levels of government in the U.S. 

?As faithful anti-death penalty advocates, we know lives hang in the balance. Our work will not be over until capital punishment has been completely abandoned at every level of government in the United States,? she said. 

Under Trump during his first presidential term, Attorney General William Barr in July 2019 announced that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons would resume federal executions after a hiatus of more than 15 years. All told, 13 inmates were executed in the final six months of Trump?s first term, including the first woman to be executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years.

In July 2021, under President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions while the Department of Justice conducted a review of its policies and procedures to ensure the death penalty is being applied ?fairly and humanely.? Despite overseeing the halting of new executions, the Biden administration sought to uphold the death sentences of several prisoners already convicted, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber.

In the waning days of the previous administration, Biden commuted the death row sentences of more than three dozen federal prisoners, noting that the order leaves in place the death sentences of three federal prisoners guilty of ?terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.?

Catholic advocates, including the U.S. bishops, had urged the president to commute the sentences of the 40 people currently on federal death row in anticipation of Trump?s second term. 

Regarding the 37 prisoners whose sentences were commuted, Trump?s order directs the attorney general to evaluate the conditions in which they are incarcerated to ?ensure that these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.? It also directs the attorney general to explore avenues for further punishment, potentially including state-level capital charges. 

Pope Francis in December had even joined the call for the prisoners to be spared, praying that ?their sentences may be commuted or changed.?

Sister Raffaella Petrini. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jan 21, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

In less than a month and a half, Pope Francis will install Franciscan nun Raffaella Petrini as head of the General Secretariat of the Government of the Vatican City State.

The change will take effect in March when Petrini, who currently serves as secretary in the same department, replaces Spanish Cardinal Fernando Vérgez, who will turn 80 in a month and a half.

The news was made public by the Holy Father during an interview on the Italian television program ?Che Tempo Che Fa? (?What?s the Weather Like??).

?We now have many women. For example, to select bishops on the commission there are three women selecting new bishops. The vice president of the Vatican Governorate, who will be governor in March, is a nun. In the Dicastery of the Economy, the vice president is a nun with two degrees ? Women know how to manage things better than us,? he said.

Petrini was born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969. She graduated with a degree in political science from the Guido Carli International University of Studies and obtained a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she currently works as a professor. She joined the Vatican Curia as an official in the former Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

This appointment follows others the pontiff has made to increase the profile of women in leadership positions in the Catholic Church. Earlier this month, Pope Francis appointed the first woman to head a Vatican department, Sister Simona Brambilla, former superior general in Italy of the Consolata Missionaries.

Brambilla currently heads the dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life together with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, who has been named pro-prefect.

In 2022, Pope Francis confirmed the nun Alessandra Smerilli as prefect and undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, a position she shares with Cardinal Michael Czerny. Both had already been interim directors of this body since Jan. 1 following the departure of Cardinal Peter Turkson.

Since 2016 the Vatican Museums have also been headed by a woman, Barbara Jatta, and in 2015 the pope appointed Mariella Enoc head of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital.

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

President Donald Trump speaks at the 47th March For Life rally on the National Mall on Jan. 24, 2020, in Washington, DC. / Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump is scheduled to be in California visiting areas significantly damaged by wildfires on Friday, Jan. 24, the day of the 2025 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

During his first term, Trump attended and spoke at the March for Life in person in 2020 and addressed the crowd through video calls in 2019 and 2018. Although he did not address the crowd during his first year in office in 2017, then-Vice President Mike Pence attended and spoke at the rally.

Trump was the first president to attend the March for Life in person, but previous Republican presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan all addressed the march remotely through a telephone or remote loudspeaker.

CNA reached out to the White House to ask whether Trump or anyone in his Cabinet or administration plans to address the crowd remotely or in person but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The March for Life has not announced a remote appearance of Trump or any appearances of members of his administration at this time. However, speakers will include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey.

Wildfires have devastated parts of Southern California over the past few weeks and Trump has criticized the government response thus far as inadequate. In a post on TruthSocial earlier this month, Trump said California Gov. Gavin Newsom should resign and asserted: ?This is all his fault.?

At a rally on Sunday, the day before his inauguration, Trump said while speaking about the wildfires: ?I?m going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back.?

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (left) arrives as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, DC.. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

At the interfaith prayer service held at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday morning, an Episcopal bishop challenged President Donald Trump, urging him to ?have mercy? on migrants and those who identify as members of the gay, lesbian, and transgender community.

?Let me make one final plea, Mr. President,? Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington said at the conclusion of her sermon.

?Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of [a] loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared,? Budde continued.

?There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families,? she said, ?some who fear for their lives.?

In a tradition that has been in place since the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, Trump and Vice President JD Vance attended the interfaith ?Service of Prayer for the Nation? along with their families, Cabinet members, and other dignitaries. 

Throughout her sermon, which lasted about 20 minutes, Budde underscored the importance of unity and the need to depart from ?the culture of contempt that has become normalized in this country,? which she described as ?worrisome.? 

?As a country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as people and nation. Not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and divisions,? Budde told the assembled dignitaries.

Budde, the first woman to be elected to her position, currently serves as a spiritual leader for 86 congregations and 10 Episcopalian schools across Washington, D.C., and Maryland, according to the Episcopal diocese?s website. She is described as ?an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.?

In her sermon, Budde was at times openly critical of the president. 

?Contempt fuels political campaigns and social media, and many profit from that,? she said, adding: ?It?s a dangerous way to lead a country.? 

Trump and Vance, who sat in the front row during the service, showed no reaction. 

?And the people who pick our crops, clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and who work the night shifts in hospitals,? she continued, ?they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals; they pay taxes and are good neighbors.?

?I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President,? Budde said, again addressing Trump directly, ?on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.? She also appealed to the president on behalf of migrants fleeing war zones and persecution in their home countries.

Other religious leaders, including those from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist backgrounds offered prayers during the service, which was interposed with music performed by Christopher Macchio, the Cathedral Contemporary Ensemble, and the Cathedral Choir. There were no Catholic leaders among those offering prayers.

Notably, in the months leading up to the election, both the National Cathedral and St. John?s Episcopal Church announced they would be paring back their pre- and post-Inauguration Day services to center them on prayer, as Religion News Service reported. St. John?s removed the homily from its program, opting to center the event on morning prayer and Scripture, interspersed with music. 

?While Episcopal in nature, the service will be intentionally accessible and open, with prayers aimed at speaking to all. It will be explicitly nonpartisan,? St. John?s Rev. Robert Fisher said in the report. 

For its part, Washington National Cathedral announced in an October press release that it would be hosting services from Election Day through Inauguration Day ?designed for quiet reflection, prayer, and spiritual support for the country.? 

?Regardless of who the president is or whether he or she attends, the liturgy will center on the country,? Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral, said in the release. 

?Whether voters choose Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, a large percentage of Americans will feel anxious, upset, or fearful,? he continued, adding: ?We need to find a way to heal what divides us, and prayer is an important part of that healing process.?

The National Cathedral further noted at the time that a draft of the January service had already been composed and that it would ?emphasize the need for healing and national unity? in addition to ?underscor[ing] the values of reconciliation, shared purpose, and the work required to bring the nation together.? 

Political commentator and writer Matt Walsh is seen at Turning Point USA?s Inaugural Eve Ball on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Migi Fabara/EWTN

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Numerous notable Catholic celebrities and public figures attended festivities surrounding Donald Trump?s swearing-in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday.

Trump has made headlines by choosing several Catholics to serve in his Cabinet and other parts of his administration, most prominently among them with the selection of Vice President JD Vance.

Among the other Catholics whom Trump has chosen for his Cabinet are environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., three-term Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, and former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy.

Over several days in Washington, including several inaugural balls that took place throughout the weekend, there were numerous well-known Catholic figures and celebrities in attendance showing their support for the new president.

Arguably the most notable Catholic name in attendance was Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, who led the opening prayer at Monday?s inauguration.

In his prayer, Dolan called on Americans to pray that the incoming administration be guided by and aligned with the will of God and for the new president to be instilled with wisdom.

?We, blessed citizens of this one nation under God, humbled by our claim that in God we trust, gather indeed this Inauguration Day to pray for our president Donald J. Trump, his family, his advisers, his Cabinet, his aspirations, his vice president,? Dolan prayed. 

?Please, God, bless America. You are the God in whom we trust, who lives and reigns forever and ever, amen,? he concluded. 

Brooklyn priest Father Francis Mann delivered the closing benediction at the inauguration.  

The retired diocesan priest, who was ordained in 1979, began a friendship with the president after he came across the grave sites of Trump?s parents in a Queens cemetery. The site was overgrown and the priest felt called to tidy it up. After Trump saw a photo of the grave site, he personally called Mann to thank him. The two have maintained regular contact for years.

The priest called upon Trump?s parents, Fred and Mary, during his benediction.

?We lift our hearts in gratitude for the beloved parents of President Trump. Without Mary and Fred Trump this day would never be the miracle that has just begun,? Mann said. ?From their place in heaven may they shield their son from all harm by their loving protection and give him the strength to guide our nation along the path that will make America great again.?

Former ESPN ?SportsCenter? co-host Sage Steele also traveled to the nation?s capitol for the inauguration. Steele was taken off the air and removed from several high-profile assignments for 10 days in October 2021 after criticizing ESPN/Disney?s vaccine mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. She sued the network and its parent company in 2022 for violating her free speech rights and after successfully settling her case, she left the company after working there for 16 years.

?I?ve said this a lot recently ? I wouldn?t be standing today without my faith, which has become stronger than ever before,? Steele said in an interview with ?EWTN News Nightly? in September 2023.

Several Catholic media personalities also made an appearance at Turning Point's Inaugural-Eve Ball on Jan. 19, including political commentator, author, and YouTuber Michael Knowles; podcast host Matt Walsh; and Gen Z content creator Isabel Brown, who also recently partnered with the Catholic prayer app Hallow for the launch of a new young adults devotional.

Christine Yeargin, a Catholic mother, speaker, and founder of Be Their Village, a digital community that connects women in unplanned pregnancies to resources in their area and helps complete baby registries for women who choose life, also attended Turning Point's Inaugural-Eve Ball.

Although not a Catholic himself, renowned psychologist and author Jordan Peterson attended the Turning Point ball with his daughter Mikhaila. Peterson?s wife, Tammy, has become a well-known name among Catholics for her powerful story of conversion to Catholicism after her battle with a rare form of cancer.

In an interview with EWTN News Correspondent Colm Flynn, Peterson called his wife?s entry into the Catholic Church a ?miraculous thing to see.?

Pope Francis meets with an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Jan. 20, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Monday emphasized the ecumenical vocation shared by Christians during an audience held at the Vatican with Finnish representatives of various Christian denominations who have made a pilgrimage to Rome on the occasion of the feast of St. Henry, celebrated Jan. 19.

The Jan. 20 meeting took place in the Vatican Apostolic Palace and was attended by the head of the Finnish Orthodox Church, Archbishop Elia of Helsinki, as well as Catholic Bishop Raimo Goyarrola of the Diocese of Helsinki and Bishop Matti Salomäki of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Holy Father stressed that bearing witness to the incarnate love of Christ ?is our ecumenical vocation, in the communion of all the baptized.?

As part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the 2025 Jubilee Year, the pontiff stressed that St. Henry, the patron saint of Finland, represents an icon of hope ?that finds its sure and firm foundation in God.?

As a messenger of peace, he continued, St. Henry ?urges us to never cease lifting up our prayers for the precious and fragile gift of peace.?

At the same time, he pointed out that he is ?a symbol of the unity given by God,? since his feast day continues to unite ?Christians from different churches and ecclesial communities in the common praise of the Lord.?

He also applauded the fact that this pilgrimage is accompanied by the choir of the Sanctae Mariae Chapel, recalling that ?whoever sings, prays twice.?

He then referred to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed shared by Christians as an ?extraordinary musical score of faith? and a ?symphony of truth,? with Jesus Christ at the center.

?Whoever listens to this ?symphony of truth? not only with their ears but [also] with their hearts will be touched by the mystery of God, who bends down toward us, full of love, in his Son,? he said.

To express with confidence the ?filial vocation? of ecumenism, Pope Francis invited those present to pray the Lord?s Prayer.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Monday once again withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, backing the country out of the nine-year-old climate accord and billing the move as both an economic and environmental boon to the U.S. 

The president issued the executive order as part of a flurry of directives he signed within hours of taking the oath of office for the second time. 

The Paris Agreement, an international accord to limit carbon emissions in an effort to halt climate change, has been signed by nearly 200 countries since it was first proposed in 2016. The agreement aims to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. 

The U.S. first entered into the agreement in 2016, but Trump in his first term ordered the country to withdraw from it. Upon taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden directed that the U.S. would once again join the accord. 

Trump?s re-withdrawal from the compact on Monday was done in an effort to ?put the interests of the United States and the American people first in the development and negotiation of any international agreements with the potential to damage or stifle the American economy,? the president?s executive order said. 

The order directs the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to submit a withdrawal notice to the United Nations itself and for multiple U.S. departments to rescind policies related to the plan. 

Trump?s directive further abolishes the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan, a Biden-era program that offered funding to low-income nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

In the order, the White House said that the U.S. in recent decades ?has simultaneously grown its economy, raised worker wages, increased energy production, reduced air and water pollution, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.? 

?The United States? successful track record of advancing both economic and environmental objectives should be a model for other countries,? it said. 

The Paris Agreement has received the backing of the Vatican. 

Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in 2018 that implementation of the accord should be focused on ?easing the impact of climate change through responsible mitigation and adaptation measures.?

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has also expressed support for the accord. 

In 2017, ahead of the U.S.?s first withdrawal from the agreement, the USCCB said in a statement that the ?entire Catholic Church? has ?consistently upheld the Paris Agreement as an important international mechanism to promote environmental stewardship and encourage climate change mitigation.? 

?The president?s decision not to honor the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement is deeply troubling,? the bishops said at the time.

Ulrich Wastl shows copies of the abuse report for the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone at its presentation in Bolzano, Italy, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. The 635-page document, published in both Italian and German, details investigations into abuse cases spanning from 1964 to 2023. / Credit: Diocese of Bolzano/Jan Kusstatscher

CNA Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

A pioneering probe into clerical abuse in northern Italy?s Bolzano-Bressanone Diocese has uncovered 67 cases involving 59 victims over a nearly 60-year period, according to a study released Monday.

The 635-page report examined cases from 1964 to 2023 in the northern Italian region of Alto Adige-Südtirol and identified 41 clergy members as alleged perpetrators.

However, researchers could definitively confirm allegations against only 29 of the accused, while claims against the remaining 12 clergy could not be verified with sufficient certainty.

In what researchers called a ?surprising? finding, more than 51% of the victims were female, while only 18% were definitively identified as male. This pattern marks a significant departure from similar studies in Germany, where male victims predominated, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner.

The study, conducted by Munich-based law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, noted that the diocese?s handling of abuse cases has improved since 2010. Researchers particularly praised former Bishop Karl Golser (2008?2011) for establishing the diocese?s listening center ? described as ?an absolute novelty in Italy? ? though they noted that before 2010, diocesan leadership had ?mostly reacted inadequately or inappropriately.?

The report acknowledged sincere efforts by current leadership ? Bishop Ivo Muser since 2011 and Vicar General Eugen Runggaldier since 2018 ? to improve the diocese?s approach to abuse cases and support for victims. However, researchers identified 16 additional cases that remain unclear based on available documentation and witness statements.

?We want the Church to be a safe place, especially for children, young people, and vulnerable persons,? Muser said, according to ACI Stampa, CNA?s Italian-language news partner. 

?We need a change in mentality, a new culture of closeness. This is a first step in this journey.?

The bishop, who first viewed the report Monday alongside the public, added that every case was ?one too many,? acknowledging that the abuse of power had occurred ?at the expense of the victims.?

Muser announced he would provide a more detailed response to the findings on Friday.

Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, was murdered while she was jogging at the University of Georgia. / Credit: Courtey of the Riley family|Wikipedia|Fair Use

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

A bill that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain immigrants who entered the country illegally if they commit certain crimes passed the Senate as Catholic bishops reiterate their call for ?meaningful immigration reform.?

The Laken Riley Act would subject immigrants who entered the country illegally to detainment if they are charged with or arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault on an officer, or a crime that results in death or serious bodily injury. Those detentions could lead to subsequent deportation proceedings.

The House of Representatives passed a similar bill with the same name earlier this month but did not include assault on an officer or crimes that involve death or serious bodily injury in its version. House lawmakers can either pass the Senate version or offer their own amendments to the bill, which is expected to pass in some form.

Under current law, officials are allowed to detain immigrants who are in the country illegally when they commit those crimes but are not required to do so. The legislation is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old woman who was murdered by José Antonio Ibarra ? a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally and remained in the country after an earlier arrest for shoplifting.

Riley would have turned 23 years old on Friday, Jan. 10. 

The Republican-led bill received some bipartisan support, passing the House 264-159. The Senate version also received bipartisan support, passing the chamber 64-35. In both chambers, a minority of Democrats joined Republican lawmakers to advance the bills. No Republican in either chamber voted against their version of the bill.

?No family should have to go through what Laken?s has endured,? Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, who introduced the legislation, said on Jan. 7 after the House passed the bill.

?A secure border [and being] pro-immigration are fully compatible,? Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, said on X after joining the Republican majority to advance the bill. ?I proudly voted AYE on [the] final passage of the Laken Riley Act.?

Both bills would also allow states to file lawsuits against the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws if harm is caused to the state or its residents. Under the proposed law, states could file lawsuits over a decision to release a person from custody or a failure to detain someone who has been ordered to be deported, among other things.

Bishops take no formal stance on bill

Although the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) often takes a position on bills related to immigration, USCCB Spokesperson Chieko Noguchi told CNA that the American bishops have not taken a formal position on this legislation.

Rather, Noguchi said the bishops ?continue to urge Congress to pursue meaningful immigration reform that is consistent with the elements long promoted by the bishops.? She provided a link to a January 2025 USCCB document titled ?Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform.?

?This includes safeguarding American communities and upholding the rule of law through targeted, proportional, and humane enforcement measures that ensure due process and demonstrate respect for human dignity,? Noguchi said.

At least one prelate, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, has criticized the bill. Speaking to Crux, the bishop emeritus of Brooklyn called the bill and plans for mass deportation ?a vigilante approach to a mythical problem that these people are hurting us.?

?It?s an unfortunate situation where you?re not dealing with facts you?re dealing with a prejudice or an idea that once we get rid of all of these undocumented people that the country?s going to be in great shape,? DiMarzio said.

CNA reached out to several bishops who represent dioceses near the southern border to ask their perspectives on the bill, but none were available to provide a comment.

Julia Young, a historian and professor at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that this legislation ?doesn?t fundamentally change the immigration system? with systemic reforms. She said that immigration remains a polarizing issue but that ?both political parties now agree ? our current immigration system is very broken.?

Young, whose work primarily focuses on historical migration, said ?concern and fear around immigration in the United States has been present throughout the [country?s] history? and that ?concern around immigrant crime has been persistent? as well. 

She said concern about crime has been invoked against Catholic immigrants historically, particularly against Irish immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries who were ?accused of being inherently more criminal.?

The influx of Catholic immigrants spurred the Church?s involvement in helping newcomers navigate the immigration system and led to the Church wading into American immigration policy debates, according to Young. At first, she said the Church?s focus was on helping Catholic immigrants, but over time, ?they began focusing on immigrants from all over the world; not just immigrants who are Catholics.?

?The history of the Catholic Church in the United States is really linked to the history of immigration to the United States,? Young said.

Chad Pecknold, a professor of historical and systematic theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNA ?the Church has traditionally taught that the immigration issue is downstream from the right of nations to safeguard their common good? and that it?s ?reasonable to legislate? how certain crimes will affect a person?s immigration status.?

?The Catholic Church has a balanced view of what is essentially a prudential matter in which the common good takes precedence in considering who may or may not enter a country,? Pecknold added. 

?Criminal activity should weigh heavily for lawmakers who should use their regnative prudence in arriving at decisions about immigration which are first and foremost right and just for their own people,? Pecknold said.

President Donald Trump, who assumed office on Jan. 20, campaigned on a hard-line approach to illegal immigration, which includes a plan for the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally, starting with those who have committed crimes while in the United States.

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who heads the USCCB Committee on Migration, has said he is ?concerned? about the incoming president?s deportation plans and that bishops will ?raise our voice loudly? if the administration advances plans that violate human rights.

Asylum seekers wait for their CBP One appointments with U.S. authorities before crossing through El Chaparral port in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a series of executive orders on immigration, including several that put into motion his campaign promise to carry out mass deportations of people residing in the U.S. illegally ? a plan numerous Catholic leaders, including Pope Francis, have criticized as unjust.

Among the orders Trump signed Jan. 20 were a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, a reinstatement of the controversial ?Remain in Mexico? policy from his previous term, and a designation of drug cartels as ?foreign terrorist organizations.? 

The president also signed an order setting in motion a process to end birthright citizenship for individuals born within U.S. territory irrespective of the legal status of their parents, an action Trump has repeatedly promised despite birthright citizenship being provided for by the 14th Amendment.

There are an estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to July 2023 statistics from the Center for Migration Studies.

Trump?s platform proposed to begin efforts at ?the largest deportation operation in American history? by prioritizing the deportation of ?the most dangerous criminals? and working with local police.

In his inauguration speech, Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 ? most recently used, infamously, to intern Japanese Americans during World War II ? to remove any gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members who are in the U.S. illegally.

Trump?s immigration plans have attracted criticism from some Catholics even as far away as the Vatican.

In an Italian television interview on Sunday, Pope Francis strongly condemned Trump?s mass deportation plans in the United States, saying ?if this is true it is a disgrace,? highlighting the unfairness of punishing the most vulnerable.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November issued a statement that urged the American government to reform the immigration system with ?fair and humane treatment? of immigrants. Ahead of Trump?s signing of the orders Monday night, the USCCB released a brief statement saying the ?conference will be carefully reviewing the executive orders? and that the bishops ?will work with the Trump administration as well as the U.S. Congress to advance the common good for all, which will include instances of agreement as well as disagreement.?

?The Catholic Church?s foundational teaching calls us to uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person. This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly, and the infirm,? the statement reads.

Several U.S. bishops have also indicated they would ?speak out forcefully? if Trump?s immigration plans are implemented in a way that undermines human dignity.

In addition, Catholic and other Christian leaders have spoken out with ?grave concern? over Trump?s plans to end a long-standing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy requiring ICE agents to seek their superior?s approval before arresting people at ?sensitive locations? such as churches, hospitals, or schools.

Paul Hunker, a Catholic and an immigration attorney, told CNA that Trump?s promise to invoke the Alien Enemies Act 1798 concerns him as it could be used to ?round up people without due process.? He also opined that Trump?s order declaring an emergency at the border is ?illegal.?

?President Trump justifies his authority by claiming there is an ?invasion? of the United States. However, irregular immigration does not constitute an invasion by a foreign power,? he told CNA. 

Hunker said he thinks it is likely that Trump?s attempts to end birthright citizenship will be rebuffed by the courts due to conflict with the 14th Amendment. 

He further argued that Trump?s reinstatement of the ?Remain in Mexico? policy ? whereby immigrants with legitimate asylum claims will have to wait in Mexico for long periods, often in poor conditions ? may backfire as Mexico will need to cooperate with such a policy. 

Apprehensions at the southern border are already down significantly due to policies put in place by former President Joe Biden, he noted, and the fact that Trump has effectively shut down the ability for refugees to seek asylum ? including the halting use of the CBP One mobile app, which asylum seekers can use to schedule appointments ? will likely lead to fewer people attempting to cross. 

?Some of the orders seem almost, legally or practically, to end a person?s ability to claim asylum at the border,? Hunker said. 

?This contradicts our nation?s legal responsibility to consider a noncitizen?s claim that he fears persecution. I hope soon a federal court strikes this down.?

Chicago archbishop slams planned deportations

Chicago is rumored to be the epicenter of the first of the ICE raids under Trump. Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago on Sunday strongly condemned the new administration?s impending mass deportations targeting Chicago?s immigrant population. 

While emphasizing the moral imperative for faith communities to defend the vulnerable, Cupich described mass deportations as a violation of human dignity and a betrayal of American ideals, echoing Pope Francis? call for humane migration policies.

?Government has the responsibility to secure our borders and keep us safe. We support the legitimate efforts of law enforcement to protect the safety and security of our communities ? criminality cannot be countenanced, when committed by immigrants or longtime citizens,? the prelate said.

?But we also are committed to defending the rights of all people and protecting their human dignity,? he said.

?Millions of migrants flee their homelands for safer shores precisely because it is a life or death issue for them and their children. For members of faith communities, the threatened mass deportations also leave us with the searing question: ?What is God telling us in this moment???

?People of faith are called to speak for the rights of others and to remind society of its obligation to care for those in need,? Cupich said. 

?If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out, this would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American,? he concluded.

Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan Anderson. / Credit: ?EWTN Pro-Life Weekly? screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).

As the newly-installed Trump administration hit the ground running, several high-profile Catholic intellectuals in the United States anticipated and celebrated a number of changes that are coming to the country.

For Trump?s second term in office, author and associate professor of history at the University of Dallas Susan Hanssen noted to CNA that Trump is now ?better prepared than his first entry into federal government and unhampered by the need to seek reelection.?

?Trump?s base will be watching hopefully for deep structural changes that cannot be easily reversed or rolled back, particularly to the Department of Justice and FBI so that it cannot be so easily used to target political enemies,? she said.

Hanssen also predicted decisive measures at the Department of Education, with more control being turned back to the states ?and ultimately, to the parents.?

?Parental rights over the education of their children is a fundamental issue of social justice, and this includes allowing parents the right to choose religious education for their children,? she indicated. 

An end to ?lawfare? and tyranny of gender ideology

?We have been living under a lawless regime for quite some time,? said political theorist and University of Notre Dame professor Patrick Deneen in two Jan. 20 posts on X lambasting the outgoing Biden administration and praising the new president for emphasizing a ?common sense? approach to public policy.

News that the country?s new president would kick off his administration by signing a tsunami of executive orders, including one that mandates adherence to the biological reality of two sexes, was particularly welcomed by Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan Anderson.

Responding to Trump?s inaugural address declaration that ?as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,?? the author of the book ?When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment? posted ?Thank you @realdonaldtrump? and added: ?Does this mean Amazon will be selling my book again??

Anderson underscored his point by also quoting Martin Luther King Jr., who said: ?A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with moral law. To put it in terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.?

Chiming in, Catholic columnist and editor Sohrab Ahmari noted that the crowds gathered at the Capital One Arena to hear Trump?s inaugural address ?roared loudest at the pledge to uphold two sexes.?

President Donald Trump holds an executive order he just signed during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order billed as ?defending women from gender ideology extremism,? one that the White House says restores ?biological truth to the federal government.?

Trump, who centered the transgender issue during much of his 2024 presidential campaign, signed the order on Monday, the first day of his return to the U.S. presidency.

?Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women?s domestic abuse shelters to women?s workplace showers,? the executive orders states. ?This is wrong.?

The executive order is sweeping in nature. Its application will include removing gender ideology guidance, communication, policies, and forms from governmental agencies. It explicitly affirms that the word ?woman? means ?adult human female.? And it orders that government identification like passports and personnel records must reflect biological reality and ?not self-assessed gender identity.? 

The order establishes a government-wide acknowledgement of the reality of biological sex, including the explicit assertion that there are only two sexes, male and female. 

It also puts an end to the practice of housing men in women?s prisons and brings an end to the use of taxpayer money to fund ?transitions? for prisoners. 

Additionally, the order directs that the U.S. attorney general shall ?issue guidance to ensure the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces in workplaces and federally funded entities covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.?

At a rally in Washington, D.C., on Sunday prior to his inauguration, Trump told the crowd he also intends to ?keep men out of women?s sports.?

Trump reverses Biden?s LGBT directives

The move is a stark reversal from former President Joe Biden?s directives on gender on his first day in office four years ago. 

At that time Biden ordered the federal government to ?review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs, or other agency actions? in an effort to bolster transgender ?rights.? Trump on Monday also formally rescinded Biden?s order.

Trump on Monday also rescinded rules set by Biden that withheld federal money from schools, including colleges, that failed to adhere to the government?s gender ideology. 

The directives were hailed by conservatives on Monday. 

?In a shocking return to normalcy, Trump?s first executive orders will rescind all of Biden?s orders promoting gender ideology and revert to regular human recognition of male and female,? wrote Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on X ahead of the signing of the order.

Two senior administration officials framed the executive order in terms of protecting women, telling The Free Press: ?Women deserve protections, they deserve dignity, they deserve fairness, they deserve safety. And so this is going to help establish that in federal policy and in federal laws.?

Trump made issues surrounding transgenderism central to his campaign, often remarking on the stump his desire to get ?the transgender insanity? out of schools and other areas of public life. 

?Just take a look at the polling,? an administration official told The Free Press. ?The public is broadly in favor of the president?s and of the Republican Party?s stance on gender. That there are two biological sexes is something that the public is supportive of.?

A New York Times/Ipsos poll, conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 10, found that 49% of respondents said that ?society has gone too far in accommodating transgender people,? compared with 28% who believe society has struck a reasonable balance on the issue and 21% who believe society has not gone far enough.

Tom McFeely contributed to this report.

null / Credit: Mehdi Kasumov/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Administrators, faculty, and students at The Catholic University of America (CUA) are in the throes of dealing with difficult decisions to eliminate a $30 million structural deficit revealed last month by the institution?s president, Peter Kilpatrick. 

During emotional meetings with faculty and students last week, CUA Provost Aaron Dominguez discussed a proposal, yet to be approved by the institution?s board of trustees, that among other changes could potentially close the university?s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art, and move that school?s existing academic programs into other schools of the university.? 

The proposal also calls for CUA?s National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS) to be merged into the Conwar School of Nursing.? Under the proposal, the deans of both the Rome School and NCSSS would remain on faculty but not in their capacity as deans. 

Dominguez told students Jan. 16 that if approved, the proposal to close the Rome School would take place at the end of the spring 2025 semester. In an email sent to faculty, staff, students, and parents on Jan. 17, Dominguez specified that under the proposal, the music and drama departments would be merged into the School of Arts and Sciences, while the art department will be moved to the School of Architecture and Planning.

Dominguez discussed the proposal in separate meetings with faculty members and students as part of the university?s protocol that dictates proposals of this nature go through a ?consultative phase.??? 

Proposal is ?administration?s recommended course of action? 

CUA spokeswoman Karna Lozoya explained that the proposed changes represent ?the administration?s recommended course of action, but these must go through established consultation and approval processes? including by CUA?s Academic Senate and Board of Trustees, whose next meeting is scheduled for March.

There are currently 238 music, drama, and art students at CUA. Dr. Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw, the dean of the Rome School, is the wife of Michael Warsaw, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of EWTN Global Catholic Network, the parent company of CNA. 

Both Leary-Warsaw and Dominguez emphasized that all students would graduate with the degrees they applied for and enrolled in.

Several students expressed frustration and anxiety over the proposal to close the school, citing fear over their program?s potential loss of integrity and not having access to the same classes or quality of education.

?Us being merged, us potentially losing our identity as an art school is not really what we paid for, is not what we applied for, is not what we wanted to come to school for at Catholic University,? CUA student Christiane Ensala, 19, told CNA in an interview after the student meeting on Thursday.

?Personally, I don?t feel too panicked,? a doctoral student of vocal accompaniment at the Rome School who identified himself as Xiao told CNA. He explained that he had experienced a similar process at his previous graduate school where he obtained his master?s degree.

Responding to the anxiety of students and faculty at the prospect of changes to their programs, CUA Board Chairman Robert Neal told CNA in a phone interview that the university is ?carefully assessing? as it undergoes its consultative process, ?whether as we integrate these programs into other schools, we can retain the named school.?

Lozoya told CNA that the dialogue around the Rome School ?continues to evolve? as the university works at ?refining the initial proposal? as part of the consultative process.

Lozoya pointed to a similar situation several years ago where deliberations at CUA lead to the creation of the Rome School itself.

?During that time, initial proposals underwent significant modifications through consultation and dialogue,? she said, noting that an initial proposal for a ?School of Music, Visual, and Performing Arts? eventually led to the creation of the Rome School.? 

?Additionally, the original proposal to move media and communication studies was amended based on community input, showing how these processes can and do change substantially through consultation,? she added. 

In December, Kilpatrick had cited significant decline in enrollment as a primary contributor to the university?s deficit, as well as inflation, the pandemic, and the ?poorly redesigned? federal aid (FAFSA) program.? 

Although the university has seen an uptick in enrollment in the past three years, Kilpatrick noted that it is still not enough to counter the 15% enrollment decline it experienced from 2012 to 2021.? 

Lozoya said the university ?must reduce its operating budget by $30 million to ensure long-term financial sustainability.?

?This fiscal reality will necessitate significant structural changes across the institution,? she acknowledged, while noting that the ?specific form of these changes continues to evolve through consultation.? 

Dominguez similarly told faculty during their meeting that while the proposal to close the performing arts school was ?definitely precipitated by a financial situation,? the move is ?not the solution that fixes all of our problems.??

?The benefit of moving [the programs] into a larger college is that it?s got more staff,? the provost said during his meeting with students. He also noted that the School of Arts and Sciences has more resources for students.? 

Dominguez declined to answer specific questions regarding staff eliminations communicated as effective during the meetings, changes to course offerings, and whether certain academic programs would also be cut, stating that a comprehensive plan regarding these details would not be announced until later in the semester.

?What is not on the table is not allowing you to finish your degrees; radically changing what?s going on in the Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art; firing tons of faculty; changing really what it is that you came here to do and why,? he told students.

?What we?re doing instead is trying to make that more viable,? he insisted, ?more viable financially, and more excellent academically, now and in the future for the friends that come behind you for the next 20, 30 years.?? 

?I want to reassure you that there?s nothing of your own education here that?s really going to be disrupted because of these changes,? Dominguez said.? 

The consultative phase will continue with presentations to the Academic Senate and the university president, according to the faculty handbook. The board of trustees is expected to take up and vote on the changes in March. The result of that vote is expected to be effective at the end of the university?s current fiscal year.

The U.S. Department of Education sign hangs over the entrance to the federal building housing the agency?s headquarters on Feb. 9, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: J. David Ake/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

During his campaign for the presidency, President Donald Trump said in a video posted in October 2024 that he would close the U.S. Department of Education and send education ?back to the states.? This would require an act of Congress. But as commentators and activists speculate on what the new Trump administration may bring, CNA took a closer look at how the Department of Education impacts Catholic education and what shuttering it might look like.

Though private education doesn?t receive government funding, private schools often work with the Department of Education to enable their students to receive benefits from the variety of taxpayer-funded programs the department offers.

Reestablished under President Jimmy Carter in 1978 to collect data, the Department of Education now manages funding for various programs for elementary and secondary students as well as federal student loans for higher education.

An estimated 10% of funding for public schools comes from the federal government, with the rest coming from state and local taxes.

The department?s two biggest programs for K?12 education are the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is meant to ensure that students with special needs have a free public education, and the Title I program, which is designed to help educate children from low-income families. 

For higher education, the department manages federal student loans as well as the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) program. The federal student loan program currently has an outstanding balance of more than $1 trillion.

In addition, the department tracks data about education through programs such as the Nation?s Report Card and the Civil Rights Data Collection program.

The Department of Education ? one of the smallest Cabinet-level departments in terms of employees ? has a staff of more than 4,000 people and a discretionary budget of $80 billion for 2025. 

The department?s role in Catholic education

The Department of Education plays a role in Catholic education by contributing funding to private-school students for various programs. While private K?8 schools don?t receive government funding, private-school students are eligible for several federal education programs following the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965.

The department?s Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE) ?is the liaison to the nonpublic school community including religious, independent, nonsectarian, and home schools,? spokesman for the Department of Education Jim Bradshaw told CNA.

?ONPE?s congressionally mandated mission is to foster maximum participation of nonpublic school students and teachers in federal education programs and initiatives,? Bradshaw explained.

?In general, the department does not regulate private elementary and secondary schools or home schools,? Bradshaw noted. ?Government regulation of private and home schools is limited and, if any regulation is made, it is usually enacted at the state level.?

?The department?s interaction with nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including Catholic schools, is primarily related to the participation of their students and teachers in federal education programs and initiatives,? Bradshaw continued.

?Catholic schools also actively participate in the National Center for Education Statisticssurveys and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation?s Report Card,? Bradshaw added. ?Important to note: Catholic private schools do not receive any funding under these programs. Rather, their students and teachers receive services.?

Sister Dale McDonald, PBVM, vice president of public policy at the National Catholic Educational Association, noted that for various federal and state programs, ?private schools participate differently from public schools.?

?Private schools have to follow what they call the ?child benefit theory? that only children in need get served,? McDonald explained. 

Through a consultation process, private schools can request aid for various needs such as professional development or technological assistance or direct aid to kids with learning needs, McDonald noted.

Students have access to various government programs, but not all of them are implemented by the Department of Education. For instance, the Obama-era National School Lunch Program is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while the early childhood education program Head Start is run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

What dismantling the Department of Education could look like 

Trump is not the first to call for the shuttering of the Department of Education. Closing it was a major goal of Ronald Reagan?s administration ? a goal it ultimately backed down on due to lack of congressional support.

While closing it is not a new idea, it has become more popular amid school choice debates and criticism of the public school system. Sen. Mike Rounds, R- South Dakota, recently proposed a bill in November 2024 to dismantle the agency.

Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow for the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, shared with CNA what reform of the department could look like on a practical level in his view.

Butcher, a proponent of dismantling the department, said there are many programs that would be better served if moved to other departments in the federal government.

?I think that the Department of Education is simply taking on roles and responsibilities that it?s not designed to do ? nor is it best at doing these things,? he told CNA.

For instance, the U.S. Department of Education?s data collectors ? the Institute for Education Science, the Nation?s Report Card, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress ? could be run by the Census Bureau, Butcher proposed.

?They collect data already. In fact, they already release reports about student enrollment in states around the U.S.,? he said.

Butcher proposed that the Department of Education?s Office of Civil Rights be moved to the Department of Justice ?for much the same reason.?

?The Department of Education?s main responsibilities ? what it was built to do ? is to facilitate the transfer of money from the treasury to districts and states,? Butcher said. ?Civil rights is an urgent issue; it should be handled by an agency that is dedicated to doing that.?

?We don?t want to get rid of it just because we?re getting rid of the Department of Education,? he noted. ?We just want to move it to a place where it?s more appropriate to operate.?

Shuttering the department would require an act of Congress, which currently has a narrow Republican majority.

Some legislators are hesitant to cut federal funding to public education, and others expressed concern that important programs would be cut.

Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank, told the Wall Street Journal that he doesn?t anticipate large budget cuts.

?I don?t think you?ll see enormous cuts because that?s super unpopular,? Petrilli said.

Some argue that practically speaking, it?s not feasible to close the Department of Education.

Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute said the Trump administration may need to keep it open to fulfill other commitments.

?It strikes me that a lot of the other promises Trump made about holding campuses accountable, about responding to antisemitism, or the excesses of DEI, require using some of the machinery at the [education] department,? Hess told National Public Radio in November.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) noted that the bishops are committed to education regardless of what happens with the Department of Education.

?We are aware of the various proposals and ideas being expressed by the [Trump administration] regarding education,? Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the USCCB, told CNA. ?The USCCB remains committed to upholding the education mission of the Catholic Church that is carried out locally in our parishes and schools, and we will engage appropriately when policies are put forth by the officeholders.?

A lamb is wreathed in flowers during a special Mass for the feast of St. Agnes at the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Wall on Jan. 21, 2014. / Credit: Paul Badde/CNA

CNA Staff, Jan 21, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The stories surrounding St. Agnes? life and death are varied. We know the place of her burial, her approximate age, and the place where she was martyred. Much less is known about her life, though there are many stories passed down since her martyrdom in the fourth century.

The Roman Catholic Church celebrates her feast day every Jan. 21, the day of her death. She was only about 12 or 13 year old when she was martyred in A.D. 304, but she has been honored by the Church for more than 1,700 years.

Today, the saint?s skull resides in a side chapel of the church Sant?Agnese in Agone in the Piazza Navona, Rome. Her body was buried in what is now known as the catacomb of St. Agnes, and her bones are still preserved in the Church of St. Agnes Outside the Walls, which was built over the catacomb where she was originally buried.

St. Agnes? name means ?chaste? in Greek and ?lamb? in Latin. Both meanings foreshadowed her death as a virgin martyr who died because she defended her chastity and refused to give up her faith. 

St. Agnes was born to noble Christian parents in A.D. 291 in the Roman Empire. She lived during a time of Christian persecution under the reign of Emperor Diocletian.

In the year 302, the emperor resolved to wipe out Christianity. While Agnes was growing up, in 303, Diocletian along with his co-ruler Galerius called for the destruction of churches and the burning of books. Clergy and laity were imprisoned and tortured for refusing to worship the emperor. 

There are accounts of her life going back to the late fourth and early fifth century, including one by the Roman Christian poet Prudentius called ?The Passion of Agnes.? St. Ambrose and Pope Damasus wrote accounts of her martyrdom as well. Though there are small differences across all, the general story is quite similar.

An anonymous author popularized her story through a biography, ?The Life of St. Agnes of Rome: Virgin and Martyr,? written in French in the 1800s and translated to English soon after.

The story goes that as she was returning home one day, Procopius, the son of Roman prefect Symphronius, fell in love with her and sought to marry her. He brought her many gifts and offered her riches, but she refused, saying she was bound to her spouse ? Christ.

When Symphronius learned that she was a Christian, he put her on trial.

?My life belongs to him who has chosen me first,? she insisted in response to his threats, refusing to betray her vow to Christ.

Though the prefect at first offered her a chance to preserve her virginity by becoming a priestess of the goddess Vesta, she refused, and so he sent her to a brothel. When he ordered her stripped of her garments, the story goes that her hair unbraided and grew to cover her. As she was paraded through the streets, the onlookers are said to have looked away. 

When she reached the brothel, an angel of the Lord surrounded her with a bright light, obscuring her from the eyes of those who intended to rape her. Though many in the brothel fell down in worship, when the son of the prefect approached her, calling the others cowards, he died.

The prefect blamed her for the death of his son, but when she defended herself against his accusations of witchcraft, the prefect said he would believe if she asked the angel to bring him back. After she prostrated herself on the ground in prayer, the son came back to life.

In another version, the son was struck blind, not dead.

Priests and authority figures became concerned about the attention Agnes was getting and condemned her to death. The prefect abandoned her, and she was thrown into a fire in a public area.

But the flame, the story goes, divided in half and did not touch her. In another version, the stake she was tied to would not burn. She praised God and then was executed by beheading.

Because of the nature of her martyrdom, the Church honors St. Agnes as the patron saint of girls, chastity, virgins, and victims of rape.

On the day of her feast day, two lambs are blessed. The lambs are then shorn, and the wool is used to make palliums, liturgical vestments worn by archbishops.

This story was first published on Jan. 21, 2024, and has been updated.

Credit: Thomas Lefebvre (CC0 1.0)

CNA Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 22:07 pm (CNA).

On Jan. 20 Catholic News Agency?s official X account, @cnalive, was compromised and used to publish scam-related posts on the platform. 

The EWTN News digital media team is actively taking complete control of the account.

EWTN News is working with the X support team. We will notify you when the problem has been resolved.  

In the meantime, all users are asked to refrain from clicking on any strange links or posts that may be made in this time. 

We apologize for the inconvenience.

This is a developing story.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ, takes possession of his titular church in Rome, the Church of the Gesù, on Dec. 8, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 20, 2025 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

The Sodality of Christian Life confirmed on Monday that Pope Francis has decided to dissolve the society of apostolic life without going into further details about how the process will be carried out.

The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV, by its Latin acronym) issued a statement following the news published on Saturday by Infovaticana, according to which Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda supposedly announced the dissolution to its members gathered for the general assembly that is taking place in Aparecida, Brazil.

The general assembly began on Jan. 6 and will end Jan. 31. Ghirlanda is attending in his capacity as consultant for the process of revising the constitutions of the Sodalitium and is its delegate for formation, a task entrusted to him by the Vatican in 2019.

In its statement on Monday, the SCV said: ?On Jan. 18 of this year, the website ?Infovaticana? published the news that the Holy Father had dissolved our society of apostolic life. The main information about what occurred was true, but it contained several inaccuracies.?

In its text, the Sodalitium does not indicate what the inaccuracies are but clarifies that the leak to the press of this ?confidential? information did not come from Ghirlanda but from two members of the sodality who violated ?the confidentiality of the case? and who have been expelled from the assembly.

?The assembly recognizes as its own only the news from its official communications; therefore, the assembly disassociates itself from all other news that has come out or may come out from the press related to the assembly, to the Sodalitium, to the Holy Father, in whom we trust and whom we obey, to Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu Farnós, and to Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ,? the SCV stated.

According to Infovaticana, the decree of dissolution ?refers to the immorality of the founder, Luis Fernando Figari, as an indication of the nonexistence of a founding charism, and therefore, the lack of ecclesial legitimacy for the permanence of the institution.?

Figari was expelled from the SCV by Pope Francis in August 2024. The Holy See had already sanctioned him in 2017 and banned him from having contact with any member of this society after it was proven that he committed sexual abuse and the abuse of power.

According to Infovaticano, the Vatican supposedly appointed Bertomeu, a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, as commissioner responsible for the dissolution process. The Spanish priest was part of the special mission that the pontiff sent to Peru in July 2023 to investigate the accusations against members of the Sodalitium.

The SCV was founded in Lima, Peru, in 1971 and currently is also present in Italy, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the the 47th president of the United States in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump credited God with his survival of two assassination attempts and promised to bring the United States into a ?golden age? that ?increases our wealth? and ?expands our territory? during his inaugural address on Jan. 20.

After referring to his inauguration day as an American ?liberation day? from the past four years of President Joe Biden, Trump expressed his hope ?that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country.?

The newly inaugurated president invoked God several times during his speech, including his belief that God saved him from the assassination attempts on his life.

?Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life,? Trump said.

?I felt then ? and believe even more so now ? that my life was saved for a reason,? the president said before invoking his campaign slogan: ?I was saved by God to make America great again.?

Trump vowed that ?the golden age of America begins right now? and outlined his plans for economic success, stronger border security, and American expansionism as part of his ?America First? agenda. 

?From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,? the president said. ?We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America First.?

Announces ?two gender? policy

Trump promised to immediately sign executive orders to expand immigration enforcement, permit businesses to drill for oil on American land, and end the government?s efforts to ?socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.?

The president said that under his leadership, the government will forge a ?colorblind and merit-based? society and promised that ?it will ? be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,? which received loud applause from most attendees. 

Trump said his executive orders will establish the ?complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.?

?We will not forget our country, we will not forget our Constitution, and we will not forget our God,? the president said.

In his speech, Trump vowed to end ?the vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government.?

During his campaign, the president has criticized the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the criminal and civil cases against him and his supporters. He has also criticized the Richmond FBI?s proposed spying on traditionalist Catholics and the DOJ prosecutions of pro-life protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

America First agenda

Trump contended that there is a ?crisis of trust? in the government due to high rates of illegal immigration, inflation-driven high costs of goods, dissatisfaction with the government response to recent hurricanes and wildfires, and ongoing foreign wars abroad.

However, he told Americans that ?from this moment on, America?s decline is over.?

?Our liberties and our nation?s glorious destiny will no longer be denied and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency, and loyalty of America?s government,? Trump said.

In one of his first acts, the president said he ?will declare a national emergency at our southern border,? which will ensure ?all illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.? 

Trump promised to send the military to the southern border to repel the ?disastrous invasion of our country,? said he would reinstate his ?Remain in Mexico? policy, end ?catch and release,? and designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The president said his administration will immediately work to ?rapidly bring down costs and prices? and blamed inflation on overspending by the government and energy policies. He said he will declare a national energy emergency to ensure businesses can ?drill, baby, drill? and ?export American energy all over the world.? He vowed to save ?our auto industry? by ending environmental regulations that mandate electric vehicle production.

Trump envisioned an American foreign policy that measures success not simply based on winning battles but by the ?wars that we end? and the ?wars we never get into.? He said he intends to be a ?peacemaker and a unifier? but also a leader who ?expands our territory.?

Trump has recently expressed strong interest in making Greenland a part of the United States in addition to sending American astronauts to Mars.

?Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation and right now our nation is more ambitious than any other,? Trump said when outlining his vision for the country.

?To every parent who dreams for their child and every child who dreams for their future: I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you. We?re going to win like never before,? Trump emphasized.

Flag of Mozambique. / Credit: hyotographics/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jan 20, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A major U.S. HIV/AIDS relief program is facing potential blowback amid reports that the program was used to fund abortions in southeast Africa.

Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch said in a statement last week that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revealed that funds for the President?s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) were spent on abortions in Mozambique.

PEPFAR was launched in 2003 during George W. Bush?s first term. The U.S. Department of State says the program is ?the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history.? It works to treat AIDS patients and prevent infections of HIV as well as supporting countries to achieve ?HIV epidemic control.?

The program says it has saved more than 25 million lives since its inception. But it is also barred from using funds to help procure abortions. The 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act bars federal funds from being used to bankroll abortion in foreign countries. 

Reuters reported that ?three U.S. officials? briefed Congress last week on reported violations of that rule in Mozambique. Specifically, ?four nurses performed a total of 21 abortions since January 2021,? according to the news wire. 

Risch in his statement said the ?future of the PEPFAR program is certainly in jeopardy? given the reported violations. 

?I will not support one dollar of American money going towards abortion anywhere in the world, and I will do all I can to ensure this never happens again,? Risch said. He called for the CDC to be investigated over the allegations. 

Risch was not the only congressional figure to call for an investigation. Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast in a statement described the reported violation as ?disgraceful and unacceptable.? 

?The State Department and CDC must investigate to ensure that not one penny of PEPFAR goes toward abortion,? Mast said. 

Democrats called for more oversight of the program while hailing its years of work in addressing the AIDS crisis. Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Lois Frankel said in a joint statement that the violation ?appears to be an isolated incident in Mozambique? and that it should not ?undermine the overwhelming success and integrity of PEPFAR?s mission.? 

?A commitment to compliance and transparency is an absolute requirement, and we have seen swift actions by program administrators to address this issue,? they said. ?By strengthening oversight and reaffirming our commitment to PEPFAR, we can protect the global progress this program has achieved.?

In a statement last week, meanwhile, PEPFAR said it identified the reported violation and ?took immediate corrective action with the partner? in Mozambique. 

The organization said it was ?implementing new, additional preventive measures, including requiring an annual signed attestation by PEPFAR-funded clinical service providers to ensure compliance with U.S. funding restrictions.? 

The group said it would work with both the Mozambique government and ?all PEPFAR partner countries? to ensure future compliance.

On its website, the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique says the country has the second-largest HIV epidemic in the world with upwards of 2.2 million Mozambicans infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. HIV is the ?leading cause of mortality for Mozambicans over the age of 5,? the embassy says. 

PEPFAR has ?managed to make significant progress towards the response to HIV/AIDS,? the organization says, with efforts including millions of HIV tests, the delivery of antiretroviral medication, and interventions with pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, among other measures.

Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan delivers the invocation during the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th U.S. president in the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Father Frank Mann of the Diocese of Brooklyn opened and closed the prayers of invocation and benediction, respectively, at the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Dolan kicked off the prayers of invocation and was followed by the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late renowned American evangelist Billy Graham and current head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In his prayer Dolan, who was also tapped to offer the invocation at Trump?s 2017 inauguration, called on Americans to pray that the incoming administration be guided by and aligned with the will of God and for the new president, especially, that he be instilled with wisdom.

?We, blessed citizens of this one nation under God, humbled by our claim that in God we trust, gather indeed this inauguration day to pray for our president Donald J. Trump, his family, his advisers, his Cabinet, his aspirations, his vice president,? Dolan prayed.

As the inauguration also fell on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the United States, Dolan also invoked the memory of the slain civil rights activist, stating: ?Observing the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, who warned: ?Without God, our efforts turn to ashes.??

Calling especially upon God for the gift of wisdom, Dolan prayed: ?If wisdom, which comes from [God] be not with him, he shall be held with no esteem. Send wisdom from the heavens that she may be with him, that he may know your designs.?

?Please, God, bless America,? he concluded: ?You are the God in whom we trust, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.?

Following Dolan, Graham centered his prayer on gratitude, saying: ?We come to say thank you, O Lord our God! Father, when Donald Trump?s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand.? 

Graham prayed in particular for continued safety for Trump and his wife, Melania. 

Notably, Graham also prayed for Vance, that he may stand beside Trump and ?hold his arms up like Aaron held up the arms of Moses in the midst of battle.? 

?We know that America can never be great again if we turn our backs on you,? he concluded. ?We ask for your help. We pray all of this in the name of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, your Son, my Savior, and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.? 

After Trump and Vance were sworn in, African-American Pastor Lorenzo Sewell and Rabbi Ari Berman offered two of the three prayers of benediction. 

Referencing Trump?s near-assassination, Sewell centered his benediction on gratitude, declaring: ?Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that you gave our 45th and now our 47th president a millimeter miracle.?

Also referencing Martin Luther King Jr., Sewell continued: ?We pray that you use our president so that we will live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.? 

Berman prayed that Trump and Vance would unite the nation ?around our foundational biblical values of life and liberty of service, of sacrifice, and especially of faith and morality, which George Washington called the ?indispensable supports of American prosperity.??

?May our nation merit the fulfillment of Jeremiah?s blessing,? he stated, ?that like a tree planted by water, we shall not cease to bear fruit; may all of humanity experience your love and your blessing, may it be thy will, and let us say amen.? 

Father Frank Mann offers closing benediction

Lastly, Mann of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, concluded the prayers of benediction, offering a particularly personal prayer for the new president, with whom he is personally acquainted.

?As our president and vice president embrace their newly appointed roles,? he said, ?we humbly implore that your everlasting love and wisdom will envelop them and grant them the clarity of mind to navigate the challenges that lie ahead and the compassion to serve all citizens with fairness and integrity.?

As CNA reported last week, Mann, who is a retired diocesan priest, originally struck up what the Tablet called an ?unlikely friendship? with Trump after he came across the grave sites of Trump?s parents in a Queens cemetery.

?It was slightly overgrown,? Mann told the Tablet. ?I thought this shouldn?t be. This is a historic site. So, I went and bought a weed whacker and some decorations and fixed up the plot.? The priest then sent a photo of the graves to the president.

When Trump learned of the priest?s actions, he called Mann personally saying the two should meet up. They have continued to remain in contact since, with Trump reportedly seeking Mann?s advice on winning the Catholic vote in this past election.

Mann concluded his prayer by giving special thanks for Trump?s parents, Mary and Fred Trump.

?Without [them], this day would never be the miracle that has just begun,? he reflected. ?From their place in heaven, may they shield their son from all harm by their loving protection and give him the strength to guide our nation along the path that will make America great again.? 

Imam Husham Al-Husainy, who had previously been scheduled to offer a Muslim benediction at the ceremony, did not appear at the event. The Dearborn, Michigan-based Husainy had generated controversy for his past expressions regarding Hezbollah and Iran.

Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi is bishop emeritus of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Mexico. / Credit: Mexican Bishops? Commission on Seminaries and Vocations

Puebla, Mexico, Jan 20, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Mexico, acknowledged the influence of organized crime in some areas of the country, thus partially backing recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump on the lack of security in the country.

?It?s disturbing that a foreigner claims that organized crime rules our country,? Arizmendi said in an article shared with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. ?Even though our authorities maintain the opposite, there are facts that confirm that this is what is happening in some places and sectors.?

The cardinal?s comment comes days after controversial statements by Trump, who earlier this month said that in Mexico ?they are basically run by the cartels.?

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected Trump?s claim, insisting that ?in Mexico, the people rule.?

Influence of organized crime

Arizmendi, who was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020 and led the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas from 2000?2017, alluded to several aspects that, according to him, reflect criminal influence.

In the area of ??local politics, the cardinal pointed out that public opinion is that in the last elections the criminals ?authorized who could run for office. And once their candidates are elected, they demand a million-dollar monthly fee or to hold strategic positions? in the government.

?Municipal presidents [similar to county executives], local police, and other low-ranking officials must submit to their orders. They are not collaborators or accomplices, but they are oppressed by those who govern the region,? he charged.

Regarding the economy, Arizmendi said he has ?firsthand data? that confirms that criminal groups ?impose the price of almost everything, from tortillas and eggs to construction materials. This makes everything more expensive, and there is no one who can avoid and control it.?

Livestock traders ?must buy the animals from whom these leaders order and at the price they impose,? he said, adding that something similar occurs in the timber industry, where members of organized crime ?determine which trees must be cut down, and they are the ones who market the wood, which passes freely along our roads.?

Regarding extortion, the cardinal explained that businessmen ?must pay them a fee; otherwise, they expose themselves to all kinds of reprisals, such as having their businesses burned down and those who refuse are murdered.? This widespread practice creates an atmosphere of fear and submission among local merchants and businessmen, according to the prelate.

Call to action

The cardinal urged the authorities, the Catholic Church, and civil society to ?attack the causes of this violence by offering education, work, and social supports.? However, he warned that for many criminals, ?what matters is to get as much money as they can.?

Arizmendi concluded by asking for prayer ?that our authorities may be enlightened and do something more effective for social peace.?

Mexico is in a period of transition as Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico?s new president on Oct. 1, 2024, replacing Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during whose six-year term 199,621 homicides were recorded, the highest level in the modern history of Mexico.

The surge in violence occurred under the previous administration?s controversial policy of ?hugs, not bullets? against organized crime. This approach attempted to combat drug cartel violence by addressing the root causes of the drug trade, such as poverty, and softened the use of force by the military and police. 

As the Sheinbaum administration begins, Arizmendi said ?there seems to be a change in the federal strategy to combat these crimes.? 

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

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: Morry Gash/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

In tandem with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., is preparing to offer visitors an up-close glimpse of a uniquely personal element used during the presidential swearing-in ceremony.

Museum of the Bible Chief Curatorial Officer Robert Duke told CNA that beginning Tuesday, Trump?s personal Bible, which First Lady Melania Trump held while Trump took the oath of office on Monday, will be added to the set of U.S. presidential inauguration Bibles currently on display at the museum.

Given to him in 1955 to mark his Sunday Church Primary School graduation, Trump?s personal Bible is a 1953 Revised Standard Version published by Thomas Nelson and Sons in New York, according to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

It is embossed with his name on the bottom corner of the front cover and is signed by church officials on the inside alongside an inscription with the details of when it was presented to him.

Trump was also sworn in with the revered Lincoln Bible, which he also used during his 2017 inauguration. The Lincoln Bible is unique in that Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, and Trump are the only presidents to have used it for their swearing-in ceremonies.

?The Bible?s played such a pivotal role in the history of presidential inaugurations,? Duke said. ?So we thought, for this year, it?d be great on our first floor to have a mini exhibit on the inauguration.?

In addition to the Trump and Lincoln Bibles, other Bibles featured in the exhibit include the one used by the late President Jimmy Carter. His Bible is opened to Micah 6:8: ?He has shown you, O mortal, what is good, / And what does the Lord require of you? / To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God,? which he quoted during his 1977 inaugural address.

?We also have on display the Grover Cleveland Bible,? Duke pointed out, noting that Cleveland ?was the only other president that had four intervening years between their two presidencies.?

Meanwhile, newly sworn-in Vice President JD Vance used a family Bible that belonged to his maternal great-grandmother, which had been given to him in 2003 on the day he left home for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina, according to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

Holy Name Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Chicago. / Credit: Edlane De Mattos/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jan 20, 2025 / 11:55 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed two priests from active ministry as it investigates sex abuse allegations leveled against both of them.

The archdiocese announced the development on Saturday, writing to 14 different parishes at which the two priests, Father Matthew Foley and Father Henry Kricek, served over a series of years.

The allegation against Foley involved claims of abuse when he was assigned to St. Agatha Parish (now renamed St. Simon of Cyrene Parish) ?approximately 30 years ago,? the archdiocese said, while those against Kricek concerned alleged abuse at St. John Bosco Parish ?approximately 40 years ago.?

Both allegations involved abuse of a minor, the archdiocese said. Both priests have been removed from ministry while the archdiocese investigates the claims.

The archdiocese has reported the allegations to civil authorities and has offered the accusers access to the diocesan victim assistance ministry.

?After the civil authorities have finished their work, the archdiocese will complete its investigation and report the results to our Independent Review Board,? the archdiocese told parishioners of the respective priests.

Both priests have ?strenuously? denied the allegations against them, the archdiocese said in its letters while noting that ?those accused are innocent until proven otherwise.?

In November the archdiocese announced that archdiocesan priest Father Martin Marren, who had previously been accused of abuse of a minor, had been restored to ministry after the archdiocesan Independent Review Board ?found that there [was] not a reasonable cause? to believe the allegations.

In September the archdiocese removed from ministry Father Martin Nyberg after allegations that he molested a child during a recent penance service that allegedly took place at a youth retreat. Nyberg denied the claims. That investigation is still underway.

Approximately 3,000 people came together for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? 11th annual OneLife LA event on Jan. 18, 2025. While previously held as a walk through the streets of Los Angeles, OneLife LA was moved to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A. due to unhealthy air caused by the region?s wildfires and the acute need of police in other parts of the city. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, Calif., Jan 20, 2025 / 10:15 am (CNA).

Approximately 3,000 people gathered for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? 11th annual OneLife LA on Saturday. While previously held as a walk through the streets of Los Angeles, the event was moved to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A. due to unhealthy air caused by the region?s wildfires and the acute need of police in other parts of the city.

Unlike the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, which has its exclusive focus on ending abortion, OneLife LA lists a wide range of focus areas: pro-life issues, homelessness, human trafficking, end-of-life care, foster care and adoption, the environment, the disabled, and ?racism immigration.?

The purpose of this year?s event, according to organizers, was to ?unite in a sacred space as a family of God in prayer, healing, and hope as the devastating wildfires continue through Southern California.?  

Speakers and performances began at 2 p.m followed by a Requiem Mass for the Unborn celebrated by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez.

Two families who lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires were featured at the event, joining the procession into the church. The Gonzalez family carried a cross and the Magallon family carried a statue of the Blessed Mother, which survived amid the rubble when their home burned down.

Diana and Rodrigo Gonzalez shared with attendees the story of how they lost their Altadena home they purchased just a year ago. ?I was proud of that house,? Rodrigo told CNA. ?It was on a large lot, a wooded, green area. It had a lot of history: I could show you the place nearby at JPL Laboratories where Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer walked and talked about the atom bomb.?

The family celebrated Epiphany on Jan. 7 and a local priest blessed the home. Due to its higher elevation, the property was swept by Santa Ana winds reaching 100 mph and authorities shut off the power in an effort to reduce the likelihood of sparking a fire. The couple fled with some of their belongings.

Rodrigo Gonzalez and his father-in-law made their way back to the Altadena home on the morning of Jan. 8. Rodrigo recalled: ?I have never seen anything like it. On multiple streets houses were on fire, downed trees and power lines. There was hardly a fireman around anywhere, but some residents were doing what they could to douse the blazes.?

The Gonzalezes tried to save their house ? ultimately 20 of 22 homes on their block would burn ? but with water pressure near zero and no fire department personnel to be seen, they ultimately had to surrender their home to the flames.

?We are stunned and shocked, but also moved by the generosity of so many who have offered to help. And our faith has played an invaluable role in helping us get through this,? they said.

They expressed gratitude to OneLife LA for offering them a venue in which to share their story, noting that before moving to Altadena, the cathedral had been their home parish.

?When the archbishop invited us to offer the gifts at the Requiem Mass, it was like I heard Jesus say, ?I didn?t abandon you.? That was a message I needed to hear,? Diana Gonzalez said.

Listen to his voice

Gómez, joined by the auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese, welcomed those in attendance in English and Spanish. He observed that while it was difficult ?trying to understand God?s will,? it was still ?our challenge to try to listen to his voice.?

?God loves us with a love beyond telling,? he assured those gathered, and despite the devastation, ?in everything God is working for the good of those who love him.? The fires are an important reminder, he continued, that ?life is fragile ? what we can lose, we can lose in a moment.? Our goal must be to ?support one another, sacrifice for one another, take care of one another.?

Among the other speakers was Sister Maria Goretti of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ, a religious community headquartered in Brazil. She, along with her other sisters and local volunteers, feeds and offers support to the homeless and immigrants in the Skid Row area of downtown L.A. While sister touched on her work on Skid Row, her central message was one of hope amid the fire devastation.

?The gift of hope gives us encouragement amid the most difficult circumstances,? she said.  

Sister Maria Goretti has been a regular OneLife LA participant for years but said this was her first time addressing the group.

?It continually amazes me how many people, particularly young people, turn out in support of life, especially that of the unborn,? she said. ?These participants are the light of Christ for those who are in darkness, this year especially those who have lost their homes.?

Another woman, Desiree Gentile, shared her story at OneLife LA of being abandoned by a 17-year-old mother, placed in foster care, and then adopted by a loving family. She described herself as an ?abortion survivor; my mom chose life.? That choice, she said, ?gave me a chance to fulfill my purpose. There is a reason for me.?

With her upbringing Gentile said she developed a strong Catholic faith, saying: ?You?re not always intended for the family that birthed you. You?re intended for God.?

Two religious items drew attention during the OneLife LA event. The first was the Magallon family?s Marian statue, and the second was a tabernacle from Corpus Christi Parish in Pacific Palisades. Although the entire church was destroyed by fire, the tabernacle remained largely unscathed.  

Also recognized at OneLife LA was Maryvale, a San Gabriel Valley charity that provides child and family services for the underserved of the region and was the recipient of a Dr. Tirsio del Junco 2025 grant.

The 11th OneLife LA can be viewed here.

Pope Francis on Jan. 20, 2025, named Austin, Texas, Bishop Joe Vásquez as head of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. / Credit: Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Vatican City, Jan 20, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In an important move for the Catholic Church in Texas on Monday, Pope Francis named Austin Bishop Joe Vásquez to replace 75-year-old Cardinal Daniel DiNardo as head of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

DiNardo, who was made a cardinal in 2007 and who led the U.S. bishops? conference as president from 2016?2019, turned 75 ? the standard retirement age for Catholic bishops ? in May 2024.

The 67-year-old Vásquez is returning to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, where he served as an auxiliary bishop from 2002?2010. The bishop is coming back to the archdiocese almost exactly 15 years after moving 160 miles to the northwest to lead the Diocese of Austin.

The Mexican-American bishop also served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Tyler from November 2023 to December 2024, after Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland. 

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston serves 1.7 million Catholics in 146 parishes across 10 counties in southeastern Texas. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the U.S.

According to the archdiocese, the local Church is multicultural, with members coming from every continent. Liturgies are held in 14 different languages.

Vásquez, whose seminary education included five years in Rome studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Angelo in 1984.

He grew up the oldest of six children in the small town of Stamford in west-central Texas.

Vásquez has served as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? Committee on Pro-Life Activities and as lead bishop for Region X for the V National Encounter for Hispanic/Latino Ministry (V Encuentro).

Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks on stage to deliver the keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition?s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024. in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 06:29 am (CNA).

Pope Francis sent a message to Donald Trump on the occasion of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, offering prayers for ?wisdom, strength, and protection? in the exercise of his duties and invoking blessings upon the ?beloved American people.?

In the message, released by the Holy See Press Office on Jan. 20, the pontiff expressed hope that under Trump?s leadership, the American people would ?prosper and always strive to build a more just society.?

?Inspired by your nation?s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination, or exclusion,? Francis wrote.

The pope acknowledged the ?numerous challenges? facing the human family, including ?the scourge of war,? and asked God to guide Trump?s efforts in ?promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.?

The message concluded with the Holy Father invoking ?an abundance of divine blessings? upon Trump, his family, and ?the beloved American people.?

One day earlier ? on Sunday ? Pope Francis criticized potential plans for mass deportations in the United States during a wide-ranging Italian television interview.

?If this is true it is a disgrace because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved,? the pope said on Italian broadcaster Nove?s ?Che Tempo Che Fa? program on Jan. 19, speaking about plans to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

We March with Selma event. / Credit: Via Flickr CC BY NC 2.0

Washington D.C., Jan 20, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Sister Mary Antona Ebo was the only Black Catholic nun who marched with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

?I?m here because I?m a Negro, a nun, a Catholic, and because I want to bear witness,? Ebo said to fellow demonstrators at a March 10, 1965, protest attended by King.

The protest took place three days after the ?Bloody Sunday? clash, where police attacked several hundred voting rights demonstrators with clubs and tear gas, causing severe injuries among the nonviolent marchers. 

Sister Mary Antona Ebo died Nov. 11, 2017, in Bridgeton, Missouri, at the age of 93, the St. Louis Review reported at the time.

After the ?Bloody Sunday? attacks, King had called on church leaders from around the country to go to Selma. Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter of St. Louis asked his archdiocese?s human rights commission to send representatives, Ebo recounted to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2015.

Ebo?s supervisor, also a religious sister, asked her whether she would join a 50-member delegation of laymen, Protestant ministers, rabbis, priests, and five white nuns.

Just before she left for Alabama, she heard that a white minister who had traveled to Selma, James Reeb, had been severely attacked after he left a restaurant and later died from his injuries.

At the time, Ebo said, she wondered: ?If they would beat a white minister to death on the streets of Selma, what are they going to do when I show up??

In Selma on March 10, Ebo went to Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, joining local leaders and the demonstrators who had been injured in the clash.

?They had bandages on their heads, teeth were knocked out, crutches, casts on their arms. You could tell that they were freshly injured,? she told the Post-Dispatch. ?They had already been through the battleground, and they were still wanting to go back and finish the job.?

Many of the injured were treated at Good Samaritan Hospital, run by Edmundite priests and the Sisters of St. Joseph, the only Selma hospital that served Blacks. Since their arrival in 1937, the Edmundites had faced intimidation and threats from local officials, other whites, and even the Ku Klux Klan, CNN reported.

The injured demonstrators and their supporters left the Selma church, with Ebo in front. They marched toward the courthouse, then were blocked by state troopers in riot gear. She and other demonstrators knelt to pray the Our Father before they agreed to turn around.

Despite the violent interruption, the 57-mile march drew 25,000 participants. It concluded on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery with King?s famous March 25 speech against racial prejudice.

?How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,? King said.

King would be dead within three years. On a fateful April 4, 1968, he was shot by an assassin at a Memphis hotel.

He had asked to be taken to a Catholic hospital should anything happen to him, and he was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Memphis. At the time, it was a nursing school combined with a 400-bed hospital.

There, too, Catholic religious sisters played a role.

Sister Jane Marie Klein and Sister Anna Marie Hofmeyer recounted their story to The Paper of Montgomery County Online in January 2017.

The Franciscan nuns were walking around the hospital grounds when they heard the sirens of an ambulance. One of the sisters was paged three times, and they discovered that King had been shot and taken to their hospital.

The National Guard and local police locked down the hospital for security reasons as doctors tried to save King.

?We were obviously not allowed to go in when they were working with him because they were feverishly working with him,? Klein said. ?But after they pronounced him dead we did go back into the ER. There was a gentleman as big as the door guarding the door and he looked at us and said, ?You want in?? We said yes, we?d like to go pray with him. So he let the three of us in, closed the door behind us, and gave us our time.?

Hofmeyer recounted the scene in the hospital room. ?He had no chance,? she said.

Klein said authorities delayed the announcement of King?s death to prepare for riots they knew would result.

Three decades later, Klein met with King?s widow, Coretta Scott King, at a meeting of the Catholic Health Association Board in Atlanta where King was a keynote speaker. The Franciscan sister and the widow of the civil rights leader told each other how they had spent that night.

Klein said being present that night in 1968 was ?indescribable.?

?You do what you got to do,? she said. ?What?s the right thing to do? Hindsight? It was a privilege to be able to take care of him that night and to pray with him. Who would have ever thought that we would be that privileged??

She said King?s life shows ?to some extent one person can make a difference.? She wondered ?how anybody could listen to Dr. King and not be moved to work toward breaking down these barriers.?

Klein would serve as chairperson of the Franciscan Alliance Board of Trustees, overseeing support for health care. Hofmeyer would work in the alliance?s archives. In 2021, both were living at the Provinciate at St. Francis Convent in Mishawaka, Indiana.

For her part, after Selma, Ebo would go on to serve as a hospital administrator and a chaplain.

In 1968 she helped found the National Black Sisters? Conference. The woman who had been rejected from several Catholic nursing schools because of her race would serve in her congregation?s leadership as it reunited with another Franciscan order, and she served as a director of social concerns for the Missouri Catholic Conference.

She frequently spoke on civil rights topics. When controversy erupted over a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer?s killing of Michael Brown, a Black man, she led a prayer vigil. She thought the Ferguson protests were comparable to those of Selma.

?I mean, after all, if Mike Brown really did swipe the box of cigars, it?s not the policeman?s place to shoot him dead,? she said.

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis presided at her requiem Mass in November 2021, saying in a statement: ?We will miss her living example of working for justice in the context of our Catholic faith.?

A previous version of this article was originally published on CNA on Jan. 17, 2022.

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered for Mass on the solemnity of the Epiphany on Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Peter?s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Jan 19, 2025 / 22:26 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis criticized potential plans for mass deportations in the United States under President-elect Donald Trump during a wide-ranging Italian television interview on Sunday.

?If this is true it is a disgrace because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved,? the pope said on Italian broadcaster Nove?s ?Che Tempo Che Fa? program on Jan. 19, speaking about plans to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

The U.S. bishops said in November they would speak out forcefully if Trump does advance the proposal in a way that undermines human dignity.

There are an estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to July 2023 statistics from the Center for Migration Studies.

Pope announces female president for Vatican City

Francis also announced that Sister Raffaella Petrini will become the first female president of the Vatican City State governorate this March, elevating her from her current position as secretary-general.

?The work of women in the Curia has progressed slowly but effectively. Now, we have many,? Pope Francis said during the televised conversation.

The appointment of Petrini will take effect following the retirement of Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga from his current position as president of the governorate.

?Women manage better than we do,? he asserted, reported ACI Stampa, CNA?s Italian-language news agency.

The appointment follows that of Sister Simona Brambilla as prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life.

Call for peace and jubilee hope

The Holy Father also addressed ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel during the interview. ?War is always a defeat,? the pontiff proclaimed, emphasizing the vital importance of negotiations and peace-building efforts.

Reflecting on the current jubilee year, Pope Francis stressed that pilgrimages to Rome?s Holy Door must be undertaken with genuine religious intent: ?If you come to Rome and visit the Holy Door as a tourist, without a religious purpose, it serves no purpose.?

The interview marked the pope?s third appearance on the program.

During his Angelus address on Jan. 19, 2025, at the Vatican, Pope Francis thanked those who mediated the latest ceasefire in Gaza and expressed his hope that all hostages ?may finally return home and embrace their loved ones? and for the opening of humanitarian corridors into Gaza. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 19, 2025 / 10:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday thanked the mediators who brokered the latest ceasefire deal in Gaza, which came into effect on Jan. 19. 

After praying the Angelus with thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter?s Square, the Holy Father said the ceasefire is an ?important result? for the city, which has endured more than one year of fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. 

?In recent days it was announced that the ceasefire in Gaza will come into effect today. I express my gratitude to all the mediators. It is a good job to mediate so that peace is made. Thank you to the mediators!? the pope exclaimed on Sunday.

?I hope that what has been agreed will be respected immediately by the parties,? he added.

During his Angelus address, the Holy Father also expressed his hope that all hostages ?may finally return home and embrace their loved ones? and for the opening of humanitarian corridors into Gaza.    

?I pray a lot for them and for their families,? he told his listeners on Sunday. ?I also hope that humanitarian aid will reach the people of Gaza, who so urgently need it, even faster and in large quantities.?

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Francis has consistently called for the release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages and urged leaders to advance ?dialogue, reconciliation, and peace.?  

?Both the Israelis and the Palestinians need clear signs of hope: I trust that the political authorities of both of them, with the help of the international community, may reach the right solution for the two states,? he said. 

In addition to those suffering in Palestine and Israel because of war, the Holy Father also reminded people to ?pray always? for those in Ukraine, Myanmar, and other countries ravaged by conflict and violence. 

Speaking on the significance of the Jubilee Year of Hope and the recent release of more than 550 Cuban prisoners, the Holy Father also reiterated the need for ?gestures of great hope? to extend to those in jail.

?I hope that in the coming months, we will continue to undertake initiatives of this type, which instill confidence in the journey of people and populations,? he said on Sunday.

To mark the octave of Christian unity ? which began on Jan. 18 and concludes on the Jan. 25 feast of the conversion of St. Paul ? the Holy Father prayed: ?Let us not cease to invoke from God the precious gift of full communion between all the Lord?s disciples.?

On Feb. 3, 2025, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Father John Yongli Chen will celebrate an evening Mass in Mandarin, his native language, in recognition of the Chinese New Year. Chen is pastor of St. Ann Parish in Ortonville, Michigan. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Fr. John Yongli Chen

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jan 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

This year, Jan. 29 marks the Lunar New Year, a 15-day annual celebration in China and Asian communities that begins with the new moon and falls somewhere between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 on Western calendars. Many Chinese Catholics celebrate by attending Mass to thank God for blessings received and a parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is preparing to do just that.

On Feb. 3 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Father John Yongli Chen will celebrate an evening Mass in Mandarin, his native language, to welcome in the Chinese New Year. A dinner and live traditional Chinese music will follow at the parish, which is in the Diocese of Lansing.

Chen is pastor of St. Ann Parish in Ortonville, Michigan, and was invited by Father William Ashbaugh, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle, to celebrate the New Year Mass with the Chinese community there.

The symbols of the Lunar New Year, including the animals of the Chinese zodiac, are incorporated into Masses. Dance, gifts, and prayers for the dead also characterize the celebration.

Chen was ordained in China in 2011 and became pastor of St. Ann in 2023. He began his seminary studies in Xinjiang and completed them at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He holds a doctorate in theology from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, and taught theology and philosophy at the National Seminary in China.

In an interview with CNA, Chen said life for Catholics and other Christians in China can be difficult. Describing the process known as sinicization, or government control of Church functions, he said this means ?everything is under the guidance of communist ideology. My family must apply for a permit to go to church. Officials register them and decide whether to allow them permission.?

Chen recalled that in China, he and other students and faculty were forced to participate in a Mass celebrated by an illicitly ordained bishop of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which is controlled by China?s communist government but not recognized by the Catholic Church. When Chen refused to comply with communist mandates, his teaching career at the National Seminary in Beijing was terminated by the rector, who forced him to leave.

Recognizing the difficulties believers face in Xinjiang, his home province, and elsewhere in China, Chen lamented he cannot serve his countrymen. ?I came from the other side of the world where the government persecutes religion. But don?t feel sorry for me. Be thankful as we suffer with Christ and celebrate our faith and Church that we share,? he said.

Chen said his parents and grandparents were faithful Catholics even though churches were scarce in Xinjiang. ?We saw churches only in pictures while I was growing up,? he said, adding: ?We prayed as a family and celebrated Mass in our ?house church? at home about six times a year. There were no parish churches, but we would sometimes go to other homes for worship.?

?That is what made us what we are today, and I want to share my experiences and the understanding of my faith with others,? he said.

Dr. L. Gregory Bloomquist of St. Paul University, who directed Chen?s thesis at St. Paul University, lauded his former student, writing that because of the priest?s persecution, he came to embody St. Paul, ?becoming a child, as Jesus taught, in order to become like Christ and thus, in Father John?s case, a true father.?

Ann Arbor has a significant Chinese community, largely because of the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which attracts students and professionals from around the world. 

St. Thomas Parish sponsored an Alpha course for Chinese inquirers in the fall of 2024, which Chen attended in November. This will be followed by a course in Scripture and then confirmation of catechumens at Easter. 

St. Thomas parishioner Monica Cai, whose husband, Dr. Peter Cai, practices medicine in Ann Arbor, said she and her husband have celebrated the Lunar New Year with his Christian parents ever since they married 15 years ago. ?It?s a lot like Thanksgiving,? Cai said.

An American cradle Catholic and home-schooling mother, Cai said they always start the celebration and family reunion with prayer.

?Last year was the first time we celebrated a new year Mass with a large group of Chinese Catholics. Before the Alpha course, we didn?t know many Chinese people. We learned that there is a Chinese Catholic community that we didn?t know about. So we are really grateful to Alpha because it is a treasure trove of relationships that we wouldn?t have had otherwise.?

Chinese and Vietnamese expatriates, as well as other communities, celebrate the Lunar New Year. In Chinese neighborhoods in the U.S., including San Francisco, the day is marked by parades, feasting, and family reunions. Originally, what is also known as the Spring Festival was intended to honor ancestors and Chinese deities. This year will be the Year of the Snake.