Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 31, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recently sent a letter to federal senators and representatives urging them to defund Planned Parenthood and stop taxpayer money from funding services such as abortions and transgender procedures that “gravely violate human dignity.”

Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron and Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, the chairmen of the USCCB’s marriage and pro-life committees, respectively, wrote the letter last Thursday to “affirm our support for stopping taxpayer funding of the abortion and ‘gender transition’ industries.”

The letter was sent following the announcement that the Trump administration plans to freeze millions of taxpayer dollars from subsidizing abortion services via the federal Title X program.

The bishops addressed the senators on the same day hundreds of pro-life advocates went to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to cut the “funding of the abortion industry in the budget reconciliation process,” the prelates said.

“Necessary, long-standing, and historically bipartisan policies like the Hyde Amendment help prevent public funding for elective abortions themselves,” the bishops said, citing the decades-old rule that forbids federal funding of most abortions.

“Yet Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S. at over 390,000 preborn children killed per year (about 40% of the total), still receives nearly $700 million annually — about a third of its revenue — from taxpayers,” they noted.

The letter further argued that federal funds to Planned Parenthood must be cut not just to limit abortion but also the gender ideology the organization promotes.  

Planned Parenthood is “the nation’s ‘second-largest provider of hormone therapy’ for patients attempting ‘gender transition,’” the bishops said. 

“The off-label use of hormones and puberty blockers has proven to be a lucrative billion-dollar business in an ever-growing market,” they wrote. “Planned Parenthood offers ‘gender transition’ services at nearly 450 clinics across the nation, surpassing the number of its locations that perform abortions.”

Planned Parenthood itself has admitted that most of these patients leave their first visit with a hormone prescription, the bishops noted.

“As the rate of these destructive services has dramatically increased, so too has government funding,” the bishops said. They asked Congress to put the money toward supporting families in need rather than helping harmful services be carried out.

“As you consider how to best steward taxpayer resources in the weeks ahead, we call upon you to stop funding abortion and ‘gender transition’ industries that gravely violate human dignity. Instead, we urge you to prioritize the needs of struggling families so they can flourish,” the bishops said.

Panelists discuss the connection between Catholicism and feminism at a recent Notre Dame conference. From left to right, Rachel Coleman, Deborah Savage, Leah Libresco Sargeant, Erika Bachiochi, Melissa Moschella, Helen Alvare, Abigail Favale, and Angela Franks. / Credit: Jonathan Liedl/National Catholic Register

South Bend, Ind., Mar 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Should Catholics identify as “feminists?” A panel of prominent female Catholic thinkers explored the question at a recent conference at the University of Notre Dame dedicated to the Church’s teaching on women, with some speakers embracing the strategic use of the term while others expressed uncertainty.

Those in favor of using the feminist label described it as rhetorical tool for finding common ground with non-Catholic women who might support practices like abortion and contraception but are nonetheless open to pursuing what is good for women.

“It has an instrumental use if we want to establish that we are both on the side of addressing the needs of women,” said Helen Alvaré, a legal scholar and Church leader who has advocated for the need for a “new feminism.”

Philosopher Melissa Moschella offered a similar perspective, encouraging attendees, which included religious sisters and nursing mothers, to call themselves feminists if doing so is useful with a particular audience, “and if it’s not, don’t.”

Abigail Favale, a theologian and the conference’s organizer, said that although she uses the term strategically to connect with various audiences, she is “very ambivalent” about whether Catholics should continue speaking positively about feminism.

Part of that is due to how opposed mainstream secular feminism has become to several important elements of Church teaching, but Favale also cited her own personal experience as a reason for concern.

Raised an evangelical, Favale began identifying as a feminist in college while reading feminist literature and theology. Initially, she said, she engaged with the arguments grounded in her faith but soon found herself “adapting Christianity to secular feminism.”

“It switched so subtly, almost without a conscious decision,” Favale shared, noting that she has seen something similar with Christian students she has taught who strongly associate themselves with feminism.

But other panelists suggested that there is value in Catholics appropriating the feminist label precisely because of the rise of so-called “red pilled” anti-feminist views, including among Catholics. These views, speakers argued, not only reject secular feminism but also recent magisterial teaching on the dignity of women.

“We have to defend women’s full rights and dignity,” said legal scholar Erika Bachiochi, who has argued that 19th-century feminism was motivated by Christian principles. “We have to tell young women today, ‘I’m with you, not with them.’”

And although “trad wife” influences are popular with young Catholic women right now, theologian Angela Franks said staking out a Catholic feminism now will be important in the event of widespread disillusionment with the anti-feminist turn.

“There’s going to be a backlash, and those women or their kids are going to be right back in the radical feminist camp” unless an alternative is provided, Franks said.

Whether the term “feminism” is employed or not, all panelists at Notre Dame agreed about the value of the Church’s ongoing focus on the unique mission of women and the need to promote justice for women in society.

“Women are equal in dignity, and they need specific advocacy because they are different,” said writer and policy analyst Leah Libresco Sargent, who added that the world treats women “like defective men.”

Another point of agreement was on the evangelical value of women embracing their femininity. Theologian Rachel Coleman underscored the importance of “living a joyful Catholic life and being happy you are a woman,” while Deborah Savage, director of the Institute for Men and Women at Franciscan University of Steubenville, encouraged attendees to “not apologize” for being women and to be proud of the gifts they “bring to the table.”

The panel took place in the aftermath of a somewhat contentious exchange of views on the merits of “Catholic feminism” in the Wall Street Journal. 

The debate was kicked off on March 13 when Bachiochi wrote a piece describing St. John Paul II as a “feminist pope.” Carrie Gress, who like Bachiochi is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, responded on March 20 that John Paul II’s teaching on women has nothing to do with feminist ideology, while Margaret McCarthy, a theologian at the John Paul II Institute, wrote a March 24 letter arguing the Bachiochi had reduced the Polish pontiff to “sound bites.”

At Notre Dame, the panel discussion brought to a close the three-day conference, which was titled “True Genuis: The Mission of Women in Church and Culture.” Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of John Paul II’s 1995 “Letter to Women,” the conference explored topics like “The Female Body and the Culture of Life” and “The Feminine Genius and Catholic History.” Perspectives on complementarity between the sexes and the development of the Church’s doctrine on women were also presented.

Participants in the closing panel also discussed other topics like the importance of women receiving education about their bodies and turning to Mary as a model of femininity and a protective mediator. They also addressed challenges like the rise of gender ideology, social norms that suggest children are oppressive, and anxiety over body image.

The thinkers also spoke about the need for Catholic women to have good mentors and draw inspiration from female saints throughout the Church’s history, from mystics to mothers, foundresses to theologians.

“We need to open up this world of holy women who lived radical lives of service to the Church,” Favale said. “We need a lot of different models of holy femininity.”

Catholic Charities USA President Kerry Alys Robinson. / Credit: Catholic Charities USA

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 09:02 am (CNA).

Catholic Charities USA President Kerry Alys Robinson will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2025 Laetare Medal, the university announced on Sunday, with the school bestowing the prestigous award for her “boundless compassion” and “faith-filled service” at the helm of the national charity. 

Established in 1883 and granted annually, the school’s Laetare Medal is named after the fourth Sunday of Lent, “Laetare Sunday,” the date on which its recipient is announced. It is “the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics,” the school says. 

It is awarded to an American Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church, and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

Robinson joined the national Catholic charity organization as president and chief executive officer in 2023. She previously served as the founding executive director of Leadership Roundtable, a group that brings together clergy and laity to address the Church’s abuse crisis. 

“I have always loved the Church and held its potential in the highest esteem,” Robinson said on Sunday. “The Church’s explicit religious mission has formed the person I am.”

She noted that Catholic Charities is “the largest humanitarian network in the world” and described herself as “forever committed to its health and vitality.”

The award comes as Catholic Charities affiliates in states around the country have been struggling to maintain services and retain staff amid major budget cuts by the Trump administration. 

Multiple Catholic Charities agencies have been forced to lay off workers and roll back programs amid the budget cuts. Catholic Charities Fort Worth, meanwhile, sued the federal government at the beginning of March after the Trump administration froze tens of millions of dollars in grants for refugee services in Texas. The charity subsquently dropped the lawsuit after the Trump administration began paying out its grants again. 

In January, Robinson herself called on the White House to rethink its decision to slash aid budgets, arguing that Catholic Charities agencies provide “vital services” nationwide including “food pantries for those who can’t afford groceries, child care programs for low-income families, meal deliveries for homebound seniors, job training resources for veterans,” and other programs. 

Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, said in a statement on Sunday that Robinson has “dedicated her career to serving the Church, standing in solidarity with those on the margins so that they may experience the abundant love of God.”

Robinson “inspires us all to dedicate our lives more fully to answering the Gospel call,” he said. 

Past recipients of the Laetare Medal include Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, actor Martin Sheen, and Civil War general William Rosecrans, the latter known in part for his execution of the Middle Tennessee campaign in 1863. 

Robinson is scheduled to receive the award at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony on May 18. Adm. Christopher Grady, a Notre Dame alumnus and the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will give the commencement address, a choice that has stirred controversy on and off campus because of the university’s history of inviting the president or vice president to deliver the address.

A monumental cross towers above the Valley of the Fallen complex. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Mar 30, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In a statement published by the Archdiocese of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo defended his role as an interlocutor between the Vatican and the Spanish government in the process of resignifying the Valley of the Fallen, a massive monument dedicated to both sides of the Spanish Civil War.

The statement, issued after the recent change of the prior of the Benedictine community at the historic site, seeks to clarify the agreements reached and the scope of the planned modifications to the monument.

Released just after 10:30 p.m. local time on March 26, the Archdiocese of Madrid’s statement regretted “the leak and dissemination of some recently published information about the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, within an open process of dialogue.”

The concept of “resignification,” in the case of historical or symbolic spaces such as the Valley of the Fallen, seeks to reinterpret or redefine their meaning in order to adapt them to new contexts, perspectives, or purposes.

The statement from the Archdiocese of Madrid specifies that “to date, the only definitive agreement has been the permanence of the Benedictine community and the non-desacralization of the basilica, as well as respect for all religious elements located outside it.”

However, the statement admits that some type of modification to the church has been agreed upon, but it has not been specified: “Regarding any alterations within the church, they will be studied respecting the liturgical criteria and the purpose for which the basilica was built, guaranteeing independent access.”

The archdiocese also emphasized that “any other aspect related to the resignification is the exclusive responsibility of the Holy See and the government, which are the parties that conducted the negotiations.”

Furthermore, the statement emphasizes that the Spanish cardinal “has participated in this process as a designated interlocutor within an ecclesiastical commission,” which has entailed “an exchange of private notes on how to articulate the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, always ensuring respect for the religious elements and the permanence of worship in the basilica.”

Finally, the Archdiocese of Madrid emphasized that, “beyond pastoral activity,” Cobo’s role is one of “accompaniment, but without having jurisdiction over the basilica or the religious community residing there.”

The statement came just hours after El Diario published that an agreement had been reached between the Vatican and the Spanish government to achieve the intended political “resignification” of the monument.

This agreement, in whose process Cobo allegedly participated, was reportedly finalized in a meeting between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños on Feb. 25 in Rome.

In response to this statement, numerous X subscribers responded with accusations of treason and other forms of accusations against Cobo.

Changes to the interior of the pontifical basilica

The recent replacement of the prior at the Benedictine community, confirmed March 25, is reportedly part of the agreement reached. In addition, it is not ruled out that both the previous prior, Santiago Cantera, and one other monk may be transferred from the community because the Spanish government disapproves of them. 

According to the same information, only the altar and pews are expected to remain untouched, but changes may be made to the dome, vestibule, atrium, and nave, which are part of the Pontifical Basilica of the Holy Cross.

Brief history of the Valley of the Fallen

The Valley of the Fallen, inaugurated in 1959, is a monumental complex built after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and is located about 30 miles from Madrid. It consists of a basilica situated underground in an excavated space in the mountain, an imposing cross, a Benedictine monastery, a school, and a monumental Stations of the Cross.

Among the monument’s founding purposes are “to pray to God for the souls of those who died in the National Crusade, to implore the blessings of the Almighty for Spain, and to work for the understanding and establishment of peace among men, based on Christian social justice.”

The complex was commissioned by Gen. Francisco Franco, Spain’s longtime head of state and leader of the winning Nationalist side in the bloody conflict with leftist Republican forces.

The controversy over the monument is colored by the fact that Franco supported the Catholic Church, which was caught in the middle and was being severely persecuted by elements of the Republicans. 

Between 33,000 and 50,000 Spaniards from both sides are interred there. In 1975, King Juan Carlos decided that Franco should be buried there. José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Spanish Falange political party, who was executed for sedition in the early months of the war, was also buried there. 

Since 2007, the government led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE, by its Spanish acronym) implemented a series of measures to resignify the site, which leftist parties decry as a monument to Franco and his dictatorship. 

These measures have been reinforced since 2018 when Pedro Sánchez, also of the PSOE, took office as prime minister in a coalition with communist and separatist parties and heirs of terrorist groups.

In October 2019, the government ordered Franco’s remains to be exhumed and moved to another cemetery, an event broadcast live on public television.

In 2023, the same procedure was followed with Primo de Rivera’s remains, but at the family’s request and in a discreet manner in anticipation of the government’s wishes.

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

The proposed restoration of the frontage of the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit. / Credit: Pulte Family Charitable Foundation

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A major U.S.-based initiative is providing tens of millions of dollars to Catholic parishes and organizations across the country to “restore and endow” Catholic communities around the country “for generations to come.”

The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation earlier this month announced the launch of the Catholic Initiative, described in a press release by the organization as “an innovative, Vatican-approved funding model” to help ensure the continuation of Catholic properties and parishes.

The unique model is “the first of its kind in the world in faith-based fundraising, one that “shifts ownership of church buildings and campuses to a newly created nonprofit organization” created solely for that purpose, the foundation said.

Kevin Doyle, the chief operating officer of the foundation, told CNA in an interview that the initiative plans to start with five projects, all of which share “some similarities” with each other. 

“We’re investing with organizations or parishes or schools where there is already a vibrant community, strong leadership, a strong ethos around the place, and where the community being served from our investment is under-resourced and underserved,” he said. 

The first major project for the initiative is the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit, a historic parish in that city that dates back to the late 19th century. It is among the oldest continually operated Catholic parishes in the United States. 

Doyle said the effort will be “probably about a three-year project.” 

“One aim is to restore this historic basilica,” he said. “We’re not calling it a ‘renovation,’ we’re calling it a ‘restoration,’ to bring back to life what is already a spectacular design.”

“We’ll be restoring the stained glass, fixing the pews, and restoring and modernizing the infrastructure itself,” he said, stressing that the architectural form of the building would not be altered.

“We’re also trying to create more of a campus feel on the property,” he said. “We’re building a plaza out front of the parish and creating more of a campus alongside the basilica with green space and walkways.”

“We want this to be a place where both Catholics and the local non-Catholic community will want to come multiple times a week, and not just for Mass,” he said.

The initiative is further investing in the historic Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. Similar to the Detroit basilica, the school dates to the late 19th century; it was founded by the Sisters of Christian Charity. 

“There’s a real opportunity for the school, like St. Anne’s, to become more of a community hub,” Doyle said. 

The program is also offering an endowment for Bulldog Catholic, Father Mike Schmitz’s youth ministry at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, that offers Mass, the sacraments and fellowship to Catholic students there. Schmitz is on the initiative’s board of advisers; the ministry is “dedicated to forming and inspiring the next generation of young Catholics,” the foundation said. 

“Other projects are planned,” Doyle said, adding that the foundation will wait for further endowments before it launches any more restoration and support programs. 

He said the first wave of projects includes a mix of recipients who requested the foundation’s support as well as recipients whom the foundation reached out to. 

In the future “we will have a process and selection criteria that we utilize to prioritize which ones to support,” Doyle said, though “we are probably a couple years away from launching that.”

The foundation is further backing some innovative housing initiatives, he noted. Among them are a southern Florida housing development for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and an affordable rental housing development in Immokalee, Florida, for the region’s low socioeconomic population.

All told, the foundation’s housing and Catholic initiatives so far have totaled more than $100 million in commitments.

Regarding the Catholic program, Doyle said earlier this month that the initiative is working at “pioneering a new model of investing in vibrant churches, schools, and parishes in underserved communities, ensuring their long-term sustainability.” 

“This model frees religious leaders and Catholic educators from their financial burdens,” he said, “and allows them to focus on their true mission: serving their parishioners and students.”

St. Paul’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Mosul, Iraq. / Credit: France Yousif

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

Here are some of the major stories about the Church from around the world that you may have missed this week:

Cardinal calls on Iraqi Christians to vote for fellow Christians in upcoming elections

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Church, is urging Iraqi Christians to actively participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, emphasizing the importance of updating electoral records and obtaining voter cards, ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, reported. 

Sako stressed that the five parliamentary seats that are designated for Christians be confined to Christians alone to ensure accurate representation and underscored the crucial role that each individual can play in shaping Iraq’s future. 

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem promotes interfaith dialogue during historic visit to Bahrain 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, was received as an official guest of the Kingdom of Bahrain last week, marking a historic moment for the Catholic community in the Gulf country, with whom he expressed the Holy Land Church’s “spiritual ties,” ACI MENA reported. 

The cardinal met with Archbishop Aldo Berardi, the second apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia, along with various other religious leaders, parishioners, and representatives for the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence. He also presided over a pontifical Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest Catholic church in the Arabian Peninsula.

During the homily, he emphasised the importance of coexistence, tolerance, and mutual respect in light of the various challenges facing the Middle East and called for prayers for the Christian community and harmony among religions. 

Cameroon diocese suspends ‘all forms of worship’ for chapel after Blessed Sacrament stolen

The bishop of the Diocese of Bafang in Cameroon has directed that St. Augustine Famkeu Chapel remain closed after it was desecrated and thieves stole a ciborium containing consecrated hosts and other items, ACI Africa reported. 

“This place can no longer host Christian worship until reparation has been made for this offense against God,” Bishop Abraham Kome said in a statement. “Therefore, the chapel will remain closed until further notice for the necessary time of reparation.” 

Excavation reveals further evidence of Armenian Christians in Jerusalem

Excavations this week in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem uncovered four ancient Armenian inscriptions dating back to the sixth and seventh centuries, according to the Jerusalem Post. 

The inscriptions were discovered on a mosaic floor, tombstones, and a large pottery bowl. One inscription, discovered in the center of the “reception room,” is a dedication by an Armenian priest that reads: “I Ewstat the priest laid this mosaic. You who enter this house, remember me and my brother Luke to Christ.” 

Ethiopian bishop: Northern region could be ‘engulfed in a very bloody confrontation’

Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has issued a warning of rising tensions between Ethiopia and its northern bordering neighbor, Eritrea, ACI Africa reported. 

“Instability in our region continues to persist, tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea are increasing, and the country could be engulfed in a very bloody confrontation. God forbid that the factions involved start a new war in Tigray, which has already suffered enormously,” the bishop said Tuesday in a statement to Agenzia Fides. He noted that political instability and violence in the region, coupled with the “sudden interruption of USAID funding, is severely penalizing millions of people.” 

Pakistan court sentences 5 men to death for alleged ‘online blasphemy’ 

A court in Pakistan has sentenced five men — four Pakistani nationals and one Afghan — to death on Tuesday for allegedly violating the Muslim-majority country’s blasphemy laws online, according to an AFP report on March 26. A representative for the legal group that brought the case forward told AFP that “all five accused were sentenced to death for spreading blasphemous content against the holy prophet.”

The five accused have each been sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly desecrating the Quran and 10 years for “hurting religious sentiments.” The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended Pakistan be designated as a country of particular concern in its latest annual global watch report earlier this week.

The Kansas Capitol in Topeka. / Credit: Nils Huenerfuerst/Wikipedia| CC BY 4.0

CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

The organizer of a “black mass” that took place outside the Kansas state Capitol on Friday amid heavy Catholic protest was arrested shortly afterward in the Capitol building after punching a protester in the face. 

A video from local news outlet WIBW shows Michael Stewart raising his arms and chanting in the Capitol rotunda, surrounded by a number of protesters urging him to stop. A young man later identified as Marcus Schroeder attempted to snatch what appeared to be papers from Stewart’s outstretched hands. 

Video and images circulating on social media show Stewart punching Schroeder twice in the face before a half-dozen police officers tackled him and led him away.  

Upon reaching the Capitol building’s doors, law enforcement had greeted Stewart and told him he was welcome to enter but could not hold a demonstration. Gov. Laura Kelly had previously banned all protesters from entering the building. 

Stewart had publicly announced on numerous occasions his intention to defy Kelly’s order and enter the Capitol rotunda, saying in a recent Facebook live video that he intended to enter the building and “read prayers.” 

According to the Kansas Reflector, after the area cleared, two other Satanists tried to pick up where Stewart left off and were taken into custody. 

It’s not yet clear what charges, if any, will be brought against members of the Satanist group. 

During the “mass” on the Capitol steps prior to the altercation inside the building, a protester attempted to throw himself on the unconsecrated “crackers” that Stewart was stomping on as part of the Satanic ritual. Stewart pummelled the man with his fists, and law enforcement took the man away, the Reflector reported.  

Catholic leaders in the state, while deploring the planned sacriligious “black mass” — which is designed to protest and mock the Catholic Mass — had called for peaceful and prayerful resistance. 

At the center of the Catholic reaction, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, led a session of Eucharistic adoration and Mass at a Catholic church directly opposite the Capitol. According to the Reflector, “as many as 400 people” showed up for the Mass at Assumption Church.  

Naumann, who settled a lawsuit earlier this month after the Satanic group testified under oath that it did not steal a consecrated host, had urged the faithful not to “succumb to anger and violence, as that would be cooperating with the devil.”

A large crowd of several hundred counterprotestors, primarily organized by the Catholic group the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, gathered on the south side of the Capitol to pray the rosary and demonstrate in defense of the Catholic faith. 

Meanwhile, “about 20 people” showed up in support of the “black mass,” WIBW reported. 

Credit: Ivanko80/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

A public official in Ulster County, New York, is refusing to cooperate with a ruling from a Texas judge ordering a doctor to pay a $113,000 fine for allegedly mailing abortion pills into the southern state. 

Acting County Clerk Taylor Bruck will not file the summary judgment ordered against abortion doctor Margaret Daley Carpenter for allegedly providing abortion pills to women in Texas via mail, a violation of the state’s laws.

The order was issued by Collin County, Texas, District Court Judge Bryan Gantt against Carpenter, a cofounder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access (ACT).

This is the first case, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, in which a court official in one state refused to cooperate with a judicial ruling from another state on a matter related to interstate abortion services.

Under Texas law, both surgical and chemical abortions are illegal in most circumstances and it is expressly illegal to supply abortion drugs to a person through the mail. The initial complaint against Carpenter, issued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, also noted that she is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas.

However, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill in 2023 that prohibits New York courts from cooperating with abortion-related court orders from out-of-state judges in pro-life states. The New York “Shield Law” is designed to create a “safe haven” for abortionists.

“I hold my responsibilities and the oath I have taken in the highest regard,” Bruck said in a statement after refusing to file the summary judgment.

“In accordance with the New York state shield law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office,” he continued. “Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation.”

Paxton issued a statement on X chastising the county clerk for blocking the summary judgment. 

“I am outraged that New York would refuse to allow Texas to pursue enforcement of a civil judgment against a radical abortionist illegally peddling dangerous drugs across state lines,” Paxton wrote. 

“New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from justice, and it must end,” he added. “I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas’ pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and mothers.”

Gantt, who was appointed to the district court in Texas by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2024, issued the ruling against Carpenter after she failed to appear at a court hearing in February. The order also prohibits her from mailing abortion pills into the state in the future.

According to Paxton’s lawsuit against Carpenter, the abortionist prescribed abortion drugs to a Texas woman after seeing the patient virtually via a telehealth appointment. The alleged drugs killed the unborn child and caused severe bleeding for the woman, which required her to seek medical attention at a hospital.

Carpenter is a co-medical director and cofounder of ACT, which advertises on its website that it makes abortion available “in all 50 states” and specifically offers “telemedicine care for patients in abortion-hostile states.” The organization supplies women with abortion pills up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

ACT was formed in 2022 in response to lawmakers in some states enacting pro-life laws after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In February, Carpenter was also indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly supplying abortion drugs to a minor in that state, in violation of state law. Hochul said at the time that the doctor would not be extradited to Louisiana, citing New York’s shield law.roba

“People need genuine compassion and choices, not the false choice of pain or poison,” says Jim Towey, founder and president of Aging with Dignity, the organization behind a new watchdog effort to monitor and oppose the expansion of assisted suicide throughout the United States. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/EWTN News screenshot

CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

A new watchdog effort has launched to monitor and oppose the expansion of assisted suicide throughout the United States. 

Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit group inspired by St. Teresa of Calcutta that provides guidance on end-of-life issues, on Thursday debuted Assisted Suicide Watch, which the group said will “challenge the well-funded effort to convince people that suicide-affirming care is a social good.”

Jim Towey, the founder and CEO of Aging with Dignity, previously served as legal counsel to Mother Teresa. He told CNA last year that he launched the nonprofit “to give people a hopeful vision for end of life that helps them practice their faith and that doesn’t treat dying like it’s just a medical moment.”

The organization has widely distributed its “Five Wishes” legal document, an advance directive that helps Catholics and others establish their wishes for care ahead of a serious illness. Last year it rolled out a new resource, “Finishing Life Faithfully,” a booklet that helps Catholics address end-of-life decisions in line with Church teaching. 

Assisted Suicide Watch, meanwhile, is meant to research and analyze “the consequences of suicide-affirming care,” the organization says.

“If we adopt suicide as a social norm, then we remove any motivation to try and correct the increasing rate of suicide in the country because it is no longer a problem worth fixing but rather a ‘solution’ worth celebrating and promoting,” the initiative points out. 

The new watchdog effort is already tracking the growing rate at which assisted suicide is claiming lives in the U.S. It says more than 2,300 Americans died from the practice in 2023, while more than 1,000 lethal prescriptions remain unaccounted for in the country.

Aging with Dignity said the watchdog will “track, expose, and oppose state and national efforts to expand physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.”

Towey in a press release said the group “fully support[s] patient self-determination.” But, he said, “killing yourself or forcing doctors to participate is not the answer” because “it cheapens human dignity.”

“Physicians are healers, not executioners,” he said. “People need genuine compassion and choices, not the false choice of pain or poison.”

In addition to the United States, assisted suicide has been on the upswing in other parts of the world, including in Canada, where the country’s national “medical aid in dying” program accounted for nearly 1 in 20 deaths in the country in 2023.

Aging with Dignity said assisted suicide is the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, with more than 96% of suicide requests granted. 

The group said that in order to counter assisted suicide it promotes “best practices in palliative care,” including pain management, timely hospital services, and spiritual and emotional support.

“If America’s health care system routinely offered such humane services,” Towey said, “public support for the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide would nearly vanish.”

Maryland State House. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Church in Maryland is urging the state Legislature to treat cases of child sexual abuse in state-run facilities equal to those in private institutions following a proposed bill that would “decrease the number of civil causes of action for child sexual abuse filed against the state.”

The Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) said in a statement on Thursday that the bill “greatly exacerbates an existing difference in treatment for victims abused in state institutions and those abused in private institutions.”

If passed, the bill would reduce the state damage cap for abuse victims to $400,000 while keeping the cap for private organizations at $1.5 million.

The “overtly unequal treatment in HB 1378 is not only poor policy for victim-survivors but also unfairly targets nonprofit and religious organizations that have long served children in this state and have implemented strong safeguards for youth protection,” the Maryland bishops said.

The bill is sponsored by state Del. C.T. Wilson, who spearheaded the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023, which abolished the statute of limitations on lawsuits against public and private entities involved in incidents of sexual abuse. That bill resulted in increased claims against the state.

“The Child Victims Act uncovered a terrible truth,” the Maryland bishops said. “The largest employer of abusers in the state of Maryland appears to be the state of Maryland itself.”

The MCC statement said the reports of abuse within state-led institutions, including Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services, are mainly from young men and women of color who are the majority of youth placed under the state’s care. 

The bishops called the harm done to them “heartbreaking.”

“As a Church that has faced its own painful reckoning,” the statement said, “we urge state leaders to be accountable and transparent.”

The statement calls for specific actions to be done by state leaders to ensure “abuse by state employees never happens again.”

The Church further instructs the government to “seek opportunities for an independent assessment to gain further insight into the history of abuse in state settings” as well as “implement reforms such as stringent safeguarding policies” and “provide survivor-centered support for those who suffered abuse by state representatives.”

But there is “no principled basis for treating victims of child sexual abuse in state institutions differently from those who suffered abuse in private institutions,” the conference said.