Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Pope Francis greets His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales at the canonization of St. John Henry Newman at the Vatican on Oct. 13, 2019. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2025 / 18:35 pm (CNA).

King Charles and Queen Camilla postponed their visit to the Vatican at the advice of Pope Francis’ doctors, who say the Holy Father needs more rest time following his recent illness. 

The royal couple was set to visit the Vatican in early April to celebrate the 2025 Jubilee but announced the postponement of their visit on Tuesday due to Pope Francis’ health. Their audience with Pope Francis, now canceled, would have been on April 8. 

The postponement was mutual, according to a March 25 statement from Buckingham Palace.

“The king and queen’s state visit to the Holy See has been postponed by mutual agreement, as medical advice has now suggested that Pope Francis would benefit from an extended period of rest and recuperation,” read a post on X by the royal family.

The royal family also shared their good wishes for Pope Francis’ recovery.  

“Their majesties send the pope their best wishes for his convalescence and look forward to visiting him in the Holy See once he has recovered,” the statement continued.

Pope Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. More than a month later, he was discharged from the hospital, making his first public appearance in 38 days this past Sunday. 

The initial visit, according to the palace, was designed to “mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England.”

The visit would have included an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel focused on the theme “Care for Creation.”

As part of the visit, King Charles was also set to visit the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, “with which English kings had a particular link until the Reformation,” according to the palace press release.

King Charles would have also met with a reception of British seminarians, while Queen Camilla had been set to meet with Catholic religious sisters from the International Union of Superiors General, which highlights girls’ education, health care access, and prevention of human trafficking. 

The royal couple will go ahead with the other components of their April state visit to Italy.

Zachary Liberto, 30, was arrested March 22, 2025, and charged with commissioning an act of terrorism for allegedly sending an email to a member of the staff at St. Louis Catholic Church in Memphis, Tennessee, expressing his intent to “butcher” Catholics with a machete. / Credit: Shelby County Sheriff’s Office

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 25, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) last week arrested a 30-year-old man who is accused of sending a threatening email to a local Catholic parish expressing his intent to “butcher” Catholics with a machete.

Zachary Liberto, who lives in Memphis, was charged with commissioning an act of terrorism for allegedly sending the email to a member of the staff at St. Louis Catholic Church, which is on the eastern side of the city. If convicted, he could face between 15 and 60 years in prison.

According to a police report provided to CNA, Liberto is accused of sending an email to the parish’s music director on March 20 containing the threat against parishioners.

Liberto had reportedly requested video footage of an unrelated incident as part of the threat. “I need a video of [the unnamed person] getting slapped by you in 24 hours before I butcher people in that church with a machete,” the email sent to the music director read, according to the MPD report.

The music director forwarded the email to the unnamed person mentioned within it, who subsequently filed a complaint with the MPD.

According to the report, the complainant said Liberto is known to have a machete, which he allegedly nicknamed “chete.” The complainant also claimed Liberto has mentioned in the past that he owns a firearm.

The person who filed the complaint told police that Liberto lives in a homeless encampment in the city. The complainant and the music director both told police that Liberto has an unknown mental illness.

According to the police report, the music director said he and Liberto had communicated by email before. It also stated that neither the music director nor the unnamed person know what prompted Liberto to allegedly send the threatening email.

The suspect has a mental evaluation hearing scheduled for the morning of April 7, according to police.

Rick Ouellette, a spokesman for the Diocese of Memphis, told CNA that the parish also found garbage placed in the baptismal font on the same day as the threatening email. Both of these incidents combined prompted the parish to alert the authorities immediately.

Ouellette said Liberto was known to some members of the parish staff and that he had come to the church before.

“Our St. Louis staff notified authorities immediately of the incident,” Ouellette added. “The parish thanks the authorities for their quick response in apprehending a suspect. The incident is also a reminder to everyone that our St. Louis parish has a solid safety and security plan in place as does our 46 parishes and 13 schools in West Tennessee.” 

Ouellette said there were not any physical or verbal confrontations between Liberto and parish staff or parishioners.

“We’re praying for everybody involved,” Ouellette added.

null / Credit: Cassiohabib/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 25, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Catholic nurse practitioner Gudrun Kristofersdottir recently agreed to a settlement in a religious discrimination case against CVS, her lawyers have announced. 

Kristofersdottir initially filed a lawsuit in 2024 following her termination from a Florida CVS MinuteClinic after she refused to prescribe contraceptives or drugs that could cause abortions.

The nurse practitioner was originally granted a religious accommodation from 2014 to 2022 that allowed her to refuse to prescribe contraceptives and abortifacients.

First Liberty Institute, which represented Kristofersdottir in the suit, said that when patients sought out contraceptives from Kristofersdottir, she would simply refer them to a different provider who would prescribe the medication. 

In 2021, CVS announced it would revoke all such religious accommodations. Kristofersdottir was subsequently fired in April 2022. 

Upon filing the lawsuit, First Liberty Institute attorney Stephanie Taub described it as “illegal to issue a blanket revocation of all religious accommodations when CVS can accommodate its employees.”

“CVS is sending a message that religious health care workers are not welcome and need not apply,” Taub said at the time.

The pharmacy “could have accommodated Ms. Kristofersdottir in several ways,” the suit argued, including by “transferring her to a virtual position, a larger clinic, an education or training position, or a location specializing in COVID-19, or continuing to honor the religious accommodation that worked successfully for years.”

In her lawsuit, Kristofersdottir said she believes the teachings of the Church regarding human dignity and marriage, and therefore that “the procreative potential of intercourse may not be subverted by device or procedure.” 

“Further, Ms. Kristofersdottir believes that abortion constitutes a moral evil in violation of humanity’s obligation to protect life with the utmost care from the moment of conception,” the suit said.

On March 21, First Liberty announced a settlement between the two parties. “We are happy to announce that we were able to reach a resolution of the case,” Taub said. 

The details of the agreement have not been made public, but Taub said Kristofersdottir “is pleased with the settlement.”

This is not the only instance of a medical official suing CVS over religious accommodations. Robyn Strader, a Texas-based nurse, sued CVS in 2023 after losing her religious exemption from prescribing contraceptives or abortion-causing drugs.

Similar to Kristofersdottir, Strader also had a long-standing accommodation that was honored for more than six years before the company dismantled it. Her case was settled with CVS in 2024.

Bishop Mark Seitz speaks at a rally for immigrants and refugees at the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, on Monday, March 24, 2025. / Credit: Father Miguel Briseño, OFM

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 25, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of El Paso, Texas, held a march and vigil in solidarity with migrants and refugees in the city center on Monday evening, with Bishop Mark Seitz criticizing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement as a “war on the poor.” 

“I am very grateful that we have come together this evening as a borderland community,” Seitz said during remarks delivered at the vigil. “How wonderful it is to have moments when we can celebrate and recommit to who we are, and to do so in the presence of God.” 

The event fell on the 45th anniversary of the killing of St. Oscar Romero, an El Salvadoran bishop who was assassinated at a hospital chapel in 1980 amid a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the right-wing government that eventually left about 75,000 dead.

“We place ourselves and our community under [Romero’s] protection this night,” said Seitz, who also serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.

Several bishops from across the country and from Mexico and Canada attended the march and vigil, including Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico; Bishop Emeritus Noel Simard of Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada; Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio; Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky; and Cardinal Fabio Baggio, undersecretary for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Faith leaders of various other traditions were also present.

In his remarks, Seitz reflected on what he described as Romero’s Christ-like disposition of sacrifice for his country, quoting an interview the saint gave before his death, during which he said: “If they kill me, I will rise again in the people of El Salvador. If they manage to carry out their threats, as of now, I offer my blood for the redemption of El Salvador.” 

“We are here tonight to celebrate our community. Community is an exchange of gifts, where we gift our lives to one another, for the benefit of one another; we grow together, and we bear one another’s burdens,” Seitz said. “Jesus offered his life in sacrifice for that body. Romero offered his life in sacrifice for that body.”

“When we look around the world right now, it is that sense of community for which Jesus and Romero gave their lives that is under attack,” the bishop continued. “This is what the denial of asylum and the threat of mass deportations represent. A fundamental attack on human community. On the body. On Jesus’ vision of a fully reconciled humanity.”

The bishop went on to describe the Trump administration’s border closure as a “war on the poor” and mass deportation efforts as “another tool to keep people afraid, to keep people divided, to extinguish the charity and love that keep a people alive.” 

“To my people here tonight and to all across our country who live in fear of deportation and family separation: know of our love and commitment, which like the love of Jesus, goes all the way down, to the limits. The Church stands with you in this hour of darkness,” he said. 

“And to those in a position of responsibility for our country, who steward our common good, I make this urgent plea: Stop the asylum ban! Stop the deportations!” 

Additional participating organizations and community leaders included the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande; Iglesia Delta; Trinity First United Methodist Church; Abara; Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino of the Diocese of El Paso; Ruben Garcia of Annunciation House; Melissa Lopez of Estrella del Paso; and other faith and civic leaders from El Paso.

A poster of “polysexual” flags is displayed at Upper Elementary School in North Hanover Township, New Jersey, and is plaintiff Angela Reading’s exhibit attached to the complaint of a now-federal lawsuit. / Credit: Screenshot/Thomas More Society

National Catholic Register, Mar 25, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

A New Jersey woman who complained about student-made posters with flags labeled “polysexual,” “pansexual,” “nonbinary,” and “genderqueer” at a public elementary school is suing state and federal agencies, saying they are punishing her by making it harder for her to travel by airplane. 

Angela Reading of North Hanover Township, New Jersey, said she lost her “trusted traveler status” that allowed her to avoid certain aspects of security screening at airports and that on seven domestic flights in 2023 and 2024, she was “subjected to repeated and unusual requests by TSA agents for additional identification and photographing.”

Reading, whose lawyers describe her as a devout Christian, said the agencies and certain individuals violated her First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion because she publicly opposed what she considers inappropriate material at the school. 

Her opponents say her actions undermined the safety of students and families by exposing them to what one called “right wing extremists.” 

Reading says in court papers that her problems began in November 2022 when she posted on a Facebook group page about posters she saw displayed on the wall. 

“Last night, I attended an elementary ‘Math Night.’ My 7 YO daughter, while reading posters at the school’s main entrance, asked me what ‘polysexual’ means. To say the least, I was livid,” Reading wrote in the Facebook post. “Why are elementary schools promoting/allowing elementary KIDS to research topics of sexuality and create posters? This is not in the state elementary standards (law) nor in the BOE [board of education]-approved curriculum. It’s perverse and should be illegal to expose my kids to sexual content.” 

The superintendent of schools confirmed the content in a December 2022 message to parents, saying that students made posters as part of grades 4–6 Upper Elementary School’s “Week of Respect” and that “some included content that was supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.” 

“On a couple of the posters, this included flags that were labeled for various groups like transsexual, bisexual, lesbian, pansexual, polysexual, etc., along with messages that all people were accepted at their school,” wrote Helen Payne, superintendent of North Hanover Township School District, according to court papers. 

At the time, Reading was an elected member of the Northern Burlington County Board of Education, which has oversight over a grades 7–12 regional school district that includes North Hanover Township, while her husband was an elected member of the local school board that has oversight over the elementary school. 

Both school districts include parents and children associated with a military facility known as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Email messages included as exhibits in Reading’s complaint show that officials who work at the base contacted local and federal authorities about Reading. The first was Maj. Christopher Schilling, a member of the United States Army Reserve, who said in one online post that Reading’s Facebook posts complaining about the posters had “caused safety concerns for many families.”  

“The Joint Base Security Forces are working with multiple law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation to ensure the continued safety of the entire community,” Schilling wrote in an undated online post included among the exhibits with Reading’s complaint. 

His efforts had an effect. 

In one email message dated Nov. 30, 2022, the local police chief, Robert Duff, said he contacted the administrator of a Facebook group page with “concerns about the post” from Reading and that the administrator “respectfully removed the post from Facebook” — after, according to court papers, he told the administrator of the page “that students could die if she did not remove the post, drawing parallels to the devastating incidents at Uvalde Elementary School and the Colorado Springs nightclub,” mass shootings that occurred in May 2022 in Texas and in November 2022 in Colorado, respectively. 

The same day as the police chief’s email message, the anti-terrorism program manager of the 87th Security Forces Squadron at the military base, Joe Vazquez, sent an email message saying he was contacting “our partners with N.J. Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness as well as the N.J. State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center,” explaining:  “Both agencies’ analysts keep an eye on far-right/hate groups.”

Reading resigned from the regional school board Dec. 7, 2022, during the uproar over her online posts about the posters. Her husband also resigned from the local school board. 

In March 2023, lawyers from the Thomas More Society, a conservative public interest law firm in Chicago, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Reading in U.S. District Court in New Jersey claiming civil rights violations and naming as defendants the township, the superintendent, the police chief, six officers at the base, and a civilian U.S. Air Force employee. 

Earlier this month, on March 12, Reading’s lawyers filed an amended complaint bringing federal agencies into the case. The newly named defendants, sued in their official capacity, are U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; Adam Stahl, the senior official performing the duties of administrator of the federal Transportation Security Administration; and Laurie Doran, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. 

The National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Friday contacted spokesmen for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the federal Transportation Security Administration, and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness but did not hear back by publication of this story. 

Lawyers for the other defendants — including Schelling, Vazquez, Payne, and Duff — also did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. 

The lawsuit is pending. In December 2024, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected Reading’s request for a preliminary injunction against several government officials to prevent them from censoring her speech but found that “much of the government actors’ behavior was beyond the pale.” 

“Reading’s allegations are serious and raise important questions under the free speech clause of the First Amendment,” the panel said in its decision. “Reading expressed concern about whether her 7-year-old daughter was being exposed to sexual topics that have no place in an elementary school. Regardless of whether one agrees with Reading’s concern, the record suggests that defendants’ response to her blog post was, to put it mildly, disproportionate.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, on March 24, 2025, and has been adapted by CNA.

“Let this cross guide you as it once guided Constantine,” said Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America upon presenting President Trump with a holy cross at the White House on March 24, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of the White House/Screenshot

Seattle, Wash., Mar 25, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America kicked off this year’s Greek Independence Day event at the White House on Monday by thanking President Donald Trump for protecting Christian communities in the Middle East.

Using Emperor Constantine’s famous vision of the cross, he presented Trump with a holy cross, calling it a symbol of “divine guidance” for the nation’s leaders.

“You remind me of the great Roman Emperor Constantine, who founded and built the magnificent city of Constantinople — my birthplace, known today as Istanbul,” the archbishop said.

“Let this cross guide you as it once guided Constantine,” he added. “May it make America invincible!”

The archbishop also praised the administration’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias — a February executive order — as a big step toward religious freedom at home and abroad.

“My prayer is that this task force will help ensure the law truly protects believers, so they can practice their religion in peace.”

Trump accepted the cross and cited his executive order to end government overreach and hostility toward Christians.

“We will not tolerate the targeting or intimidation of people of faith,” he said, referencing the language that says to eliminate “any unlawful anti-Christian policies” from the previous administration. The White House directive creates a Justice Department task force to review and fix alleged anti-Christian bias.

Immediately after, Trump signed a proclamation making March 25, 2025, “Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.”

He referenced Greece’s 1821 independence from the Ottoman Empire and how Hellenic ideals have shaped Western institutions. He also highlighted Greek Americans’ contributions to American culture, business, and public life.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Greece, was in attendance and said she looks forward to deepening the partnership between Washington and Athens. “This partnership has never been more important,” she said, “and we’re going to do even more.”

“Today, we celebrate and cherish our rich history and our enduring bond, the United States and Greece,” Guilfoyle said on Instagram.

Elpidophoros concluded by noting how the democratic roots of Greece and America both support their shared commitment to freedom. He thanked the president for having faith leaders through the White House Faith Office and said the new task force is a “real commitment to upholding America’s founding principle of religious liberty.”

“Freedom, democracy, and the inalienable right of all people to practice their faith without fear — these are values shared by both our peoples,” the archbishop said in his closing remarks.

Many lawmakers, diplomats, and Greek American leaders were in attendance. The White House’s focus on Christian communities in the Middle East draws on a growing recognition of groups such as Copts (which Trump notably posted about last year), Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Maronites, whose increasingly active voting presence has captured attention in recent elections.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, speaks during a presentation of the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act, which protects pregnancy care facilities, at a March 24, 2025, press conference in the U.S. Capitol. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., Mar 25, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

U.S. Reps. Chris Smith, Claudia Tenney, and Michelle Fischbach and other pro-life leaders at a March 24 press conference at the U.S. Capitol unveiled the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act to protect pregnancy care facilities. 

Smith, co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, noted that “there are more than 2,700 pregnancy care centers throughout the United States. Each and every one of them [is] an oasis of love, compassion, empathy, respect, and quality care for both mothers and their precious children.”

“Yet,” he continued, “state governments like my own state of New Jersey and some lawmakers seek to discriminate against pregnancy care centers by violating fundamental conscience rights to compel complicity in abortion.”

The Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act of 2025 aims to “prohibit discrimination against entities that do not participate in abortion and to strengthen implementation and enforcement of federal conscience laws,” Smith explained. 

According to the text of the act, “the federal government and any individual or entity that receives federal financial assistance … may not penalize or retaliate against an entity because the entity offers life-affirming support and resources to women facing unexpected pregnancy, offers life-affirming alternatives to abortion, or refrains from abortion action.”

“For many women, finding out that they’re expecting comes with fear, and abortion feels like the only option, and that is exactly what the abortion industry wants those women to believe,” Fischbach said. “Crisis pregnancy centers offer women options and support.”

Fischbach highlighted how these centers help mothers, babies, and families. She said they “provide treatment, counseling, ultrasounds, parenting and prenatal education, diapers, clothing, referrals for housing and transportation, and so much more.”

“Make no mistake,” Fischbach continued, “conservatives are here for unborn babies, children, and their mothers, and we want to ensure that these mothers and their babies are supported. This bill helps to make sure that women have that opportunity.”

“The bill will also provide pregnancy care centers facing discrimination with a private right of action. I am proud to stand here today, supporting efforts to empower women with the knowledge and resources they need to choose life.”

Other pro-life leaders who work for or directly with the centers spoke to express their support for the bill and to detail the care the organizations provide. 

Jo Ann Gerling, chairwoman of the Life Choices Resource Center in Metuchen, New Jersey, shared that the organization also provides free pregnancy tests, a 24-hour hotline, breastfeeding consultations, adoption information, and abortion pill reversal information. 

It will even supply mothers with material aid including strollers, car seats, and cribs. “Whatever they need, we find it for them and we help them,” Gerling said.

Anne O’Connor, an attorney for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), said the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act “is absolutely essential at this time in history. We must halt the targeted harassment and abuse by governmental agencies against life-affirming pregnancy centers.”

She said NIFLA represents 1,800 centers across the nation and has “been fighting government harassment for decades.”

“If their tactics are successful and pregnancy centers cease to exist, abortion would literally be the only option for women in unplanned and unsupported pregnancies,” she continued. “At community-supported nonprofit and life-affirming centers, women receive free care and any support they need so no one ever feels like abortion is their only choice.”

“So let’s just let pregnancy centers serve. It’s that simple,” O’Connor concluded.

Lisa Bourne, managing editor of Pregnancy Help News and a writer at Heartbeat International, pointed out that in 2022 pregnancy care centers “provided families with material goods and services valued at $367 million, served nearly 1 million new clients, and maintained higher than a 97% client satisfaction rate.”

“No woman should ever feel alone, coerced, or so hopeless that she ends her child’s life through abortion,” she added.

“By ensuring these organizations are protected from coercive mandates and legal threats, the Let Pregnancy Center Serve Act of 2025 empowers them to continue offering compassionate care to women and families in need at no cost,” Bourne continued.

“We urge policymakers to stand for a true choice by prioritizing and passing this legislation to preserve the integrity and effectiveness of life-affirming pregnancy health services,” she concluded.

null / Credit: Tomsickova Tatyana/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 25, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In the context of the Day of the Unborn Child, March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, Archbishop Enrique Benavent Vidal of Valencia, Spain, issued a call to defend human life from conception to natural death and in all situations.

The Annunciation commemorates the Virgin Mary’s consent to the conception of the Son of God in her womb.

In this context, the prelate published a pastoral letter titled “Defending Life Is Sowing Hope” in which he noted that Christians are called “to be sowers of hope, fighting for life and the dignity of all people.”

Benavent invited the faithful to take advantage of the 2025 Jubilee to “sow hope in the hearts of the sick,” the young, migrants, exiles, the elderly, the poor, and families “who are afraid to welcome new life.”

The archbishop noted that “in our world there are many people who, humanly speaking, have no reason to live with hope.”

He said “these are those whose dignity is not respected and whose rights are violated: the victims of any attack on their lives,” those who have been physically harmed; “the victims of deportations, those living in inhumane living conditions, those subjected to arbitrary detention, those subjected to prostitution.”

Others affected include “the poor who are victims of the selfishness and injustices of our economic system, those who suffer the consequences of wars, those who suffer the consequences of gender ideology, victims of sexual abuse, women who suffer violence, etc.”

The archbishop pointed out that we can only “credibly proclaim the Christian hope in eternal life if we defend the dignity of human life for all people,” at all times and in all situations.

“It‘s not Christian,” he noted, “to defend life at its beginning or end and to justify, provoke, or ignore the tragedies experienced by those whose dignity is not respected. Nor does it correspond to a Christian vision of life to consider abortion and euthanasia as a right and justify them in society.”

The archbishop of Valencia called for the creation of “social conditions and a legislative framework that promote birth and create the conditions for people to face the end of this life with dignity, so that no one is tempted to desire death.”

“A society and a culture that lead people to view the beginning and end of life as a threat sows despair. Only a world that values, promotes, and defends human life and its dignity at all times and in all situations, from conception to its natural end, can live in hope,” he emphasized.

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

A Chase bank building in Wilmington, Delaware. / Credit: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Legislators in several states are moving to address the practice of “debanking” as part of an effort to stop what some critics say are anti-conservative measures employed by major U.S. financial institutions.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines debanking as “the act by a bank of closing someone’s account because they are regarded as a risk legally, financially, or to the bank’s reputation.” Critics have claimed that the practice is used by banks to antagonize certain groups, including conservatives and other political activists. 

For example, the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit earlier this month against one of the largest banks in the United States. President Donald Trump claims he was a victim of debanking after Capital One allegedly closed hundreds of his organization’s accounts soon after his supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

In her recently-released memoir, Melania Trump alleged that she and her son, Barron, were also debanked.

The Ruth Institute, a global coalition designed to equip Christians to defend the family, alleged it was debanked in 2017. Just two years ago, a Memphis-based Christian charity called the Indigenous Advance Ministries also claimed that it had been debanked by Bank of America.

In another high-profile case, in 2022 former U.S. senator and ambassador Sam Brownback announced that his nonprofit group the National Committee for Religious Freedom had been debanked.

Over the past decade, other high-ranking individuals and grassroots organizations have reportedly faced debanking, including Nigel Farage, who led the Brexit effort in the United Kingdom; evangelist and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic; Moms for Liberty, a parental rights advocacy group; Christian author and preacher Lance Wallnau; and Timothy Two Project International, a Christian ministry.

U.S. bishops ‘monitoring’ debanking; legislators move to address 

While it’s unclear to what extent debanking has affected U.S. Catholics, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops acknowledged the phenomenon in its 2025 religious liberty report. 

“In recent years, individuals have raised concerns that banks are discriminating on the basis of political and religious viewpoints,” the report read.

“In response to incidents like these, some states have begun passing laws intended to prevent politically motivated debanking,” the bishops noted. “However, the U.S. government argues that these laws hamstring banks, who need to be able to account for potential customers’ exposure to foreign actors. The lack of transparency, though, makes it difficult to ascertain why someone like Ambassador Brownback would be debanked.”

According to the report, the USCCB is “monitoring this issue but has not taken a position on it.” 

Taking action against debanking 

Some lawmakers are moving to address the controversy via legislation.

An anti-debanking bill in Idaho was sent to the state governor for signature last week.

The Transparency in Financial Services Act would prohibit “large financial institutions from discriminating against customers based on their political or religious views” and would give customers the right to request the reason for denial from an institution.

Montana’s Republican-sponsored Equality in Financial Services Act and South Carolina’s anti-debanking bill — similar to Idaho’s bill — have made some progress in the state Legislature, while Georgia’s Freedom of Speech and Belief Act failed to pass at the beginning of March.

Some see changes in bank policy, or even legal changes, as potential solutions to debanking.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — a legal group committed to protecting religious freedom and freedom of speech — worked with Indigenous Advance Ministries to file a consumer complaint following its alleged debanking in 2022.

“No American should ever fear losing access to their bank account due to their religious or political beliefs,” Lathan Watts, ADF’s vice president of public affairs, told CNA.

In its 2023 Viewpoint Diversity Score Index, ADF found that 7 out of 10 of the largest commercial banks — including Chase — have “hate speech” or “reputational risk” policies that contribute to debanking.

JPMorgan Chase, a top American bank, recently adjusted its policy, agreeing to protect clients against political and religious debanking in its code of conduct after 19 attorneys general petitioned the bank to cease its debanking practices in 2023.

“Chase’s policy change is a significant step by our nation’s largest bank to uphold financial access for all Americans,” Watts said. “This change provides necessary protections for customers like Ambassador Brownback, whose account at the National Committee for Religious Freedom was unexpectedly canceled in 2022.”

Watts shared his hope that other banks will take similar measures.

“Alliance Defending Freedom actively engaged with Chase in these negotiations, and we are hopeful that other banks will follow suit in safeguarding fundamental financial freedoms,” Watts said.

Jennifer Roback Morse, the founder and president of the Ruth Institute — an organization dedicated to combating the effects of the sexual revolution — recalled her own experience allegedly being debanked.

“In 2017, the Ruth Institute was one of the first organizations to be attacked in the banking arena,” Morse told CNA. “In our case, our credit card processor cut us off with no notification, or explanation, except to say that we ‘violated its standards.’”

While there was no clear explanation, Morse believes it was due to a leftist law center labeling the organization as a hate group. 

“We surmised this was because we were listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s ‘Hate Map’ for our opposition to the redefinition of marriage and other LGBT-issues,” Morse said. “Thankfully, we were able to secure another credit card processor fairly quickly.” 

Morse told CNA that banking “is a highly regulated, semi-monopolistic industry, comparable in some respects to public utilities such as electricity and water.”

“I am in favor of banks being legally required to be transparent and even-handed in their standards,” she said.

“Alternatively, if banks are permitted to engage in viewpoint discrimination,” she argued, “I would urge that bakers, florists, therapists, and other professionals also be permitted to refuse service to potential customers for any reason they choose.”

“A disappointed customer can find an alternative photographer a lot easier than they can find an alternative bank,” Morse noted. “And it is a lot easier to participate in the business world without a photographer or florist than to survive without banking services.”

‘A balanced approach’ 

While conservative legislators are pushing these anti-debanking bills, support for this legislation is not entirely united within the conservative movement.

A recent poll found that while a majority of conservatives are concerned about debanking, nearly three-quarters of conservatives expressed support for banks having the right to choose their own clients. 

The poll by the Tyson Group found that conservatives “do not support broad government intervention that prevents financial institutions from making risk-based assessments when determining their customers.” 

“When informed that legislation could force businesses to provide services to customers at odds with their values and the conservative movement, many expressed hesitations,” the study noted.

“As conservatives push for greater accountability from regulators, they also seek a balanced approach to debanking that avoids unintended consequences and protects the rights of both consumers and businesses.”

Some opponents of anti-debanking laws maintain that restrictions against debanking could have unintended consequences.

In South Carolina, for example, an anti-debanking bill under consideration, the Equality in Financial Services Act, would prevent financial institutions from discriminating when providing financial services.

But a Republican executive committeeman from Richland, South Carolina, is concerned that such an anti-debanking law could require pro-life banks to work with abortionists.

“Stopping abortion and protecting children requires winning hearts and minds but also cutting off the financial pipeline that enables these activities,” Eaddy Roe Willard, Richland GOP executive committeeman, told CNA. “Misguided legislation at the state level will only make it harder to do that.”

Cardinal Robert McElroy speaks at the conference “Catholic Social Teaching and Work with Migrants and Refugees at a Time of Uncertainty” on March 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA

Washington D.C., Mar 25, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Washington, D.C.’s newly minted archbishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy, made his first public appearance since his installment at a conference on immigration policy Monday, offering a “spiritual and moral” reflection on the “American situation at this moment.”

Appealing to the teachings of Pope Francis as articulated in his recent letter to the American bishops and his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, McElroy centered his remarks on the parable of the good Samaritan. 

“We’ve got to remember the call of Jesus is constant, to always be attentive to the needs and the suffering that lie around us, to perceive it, and then to act,” he said, comparing the plight of migrants to the robbers’ victim in the parable of the good Samaritan. 

Following the Holy Father’s reflection on the same parable, McElroy asserted that “each of us victimizes others consciously in a variety of different ways” and that “when we place our own interests and well-being ahead of others and cause harm, we must be in touch with that side of ourselves with the darkness, which is the robber inside every one of us.”

He continued: “That is one of the great calls of Christian conversion, to root out that darkness, to face it where it lies and to fight against it always.” 

The March 24 event, titled “Catholic Social Teaching and Work with Migrants and Refugees at a Time of Uncertainty,” was hosted in Washington, D.C., by Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) USA and the Center for Migration Studies of New York. 

Like numerous Catholic Charities organizations across the country, the Trump administration suspended aid to JRS USA’s refugee programs around the world, initiating a “total work stoppage” for the foreign aid programs at the beginning of last month. The State Department has since restored funding for two of JRS USA’s programs but has sought to terminate funding contracts for others. 

During his remarks, McElroy sharply criticized the administration’s foreign aid suspension as “unconscionable through any prism of Catholic thought.”

“If we look at the figure of the robber at this moment,” he stated, “I think we must say to ourselves quite clearly and categorically, the suspension of the U.S. Agency for International Development monies for humanitarian relief is moral theft from the poorest and the most desperate men, women, and children in our world today.”

He further condemned the administration’s mass deportation efforts, which he said victimizes migrants as in the parable and “generates fear ... which uproots everybody’s understanding of the bonds which so many undocumented men, women, children, and families have formed in our society in the often decades that they have been here.”

“The undocumented are the victims of this moment and of these policies,” he said. 

McElroy further called for solidarity among Catholics and migrants, saying that “we must not only advocate but also act in support of them in every way possible.” The archbishop gave an example of mothers he knew several years ago in the Diocese of San Diego, who he said would text each other if they saw an ICE truck in front of their children’s school.

While the archbishop acknowledged border security and the exclusion of criminals as “legitimate,” he said “we must always also understand the many themes that are supporting the effort to undermine the rights and dignity of the undocumented come from the blackest parts of our history.”

Ultimately, he concluded that there are two pathways forward for the U.S. on immigration. The first pathway, supported he said by Catholic social teaching, “is to change our laws so that they have secure borders and dignity for the treatment of everyone at those borders and a generous asylum and refugee policy.”

“The other pathway is a crusade, which comes from the darkest parts of our American psyche and soul and history,” he continued. “These are the two choices we have. We as a nation will have to make one choice. The pathway of crusade and mass deportation cannot be followed in conscience by those who call themselves disciples of Jesus Christ.”