Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

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 Conv

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.”

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico. / Credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

National Catholic Register, Mar 25, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Annunciation. It’s typically celebrated on March 25, unless it falls during Holy Week, by which it is superseded.

The day celebrates the appearance of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce the incarnation. Here are eight things to know and to share about the feast day and its significance.

1. What does the word “annunciation” mean?

The word is derived from the same root as the word “announce.” Gabriel is announcing the incarnation of Christ — God becoming man in the person of Jesus.

“Annunciation” is simply an old-fashioned way of saying “announcement.”

The term can be applied to other events also. For example, in his book “Jesus of Nazareth 3: The Infancy Narratives,” Pope Benedict XVI has sections on both “the annunciation of the birth of John” and “the annunciation to Mary,” because John the Baptist’s birth was also announced in advance.

2. When is the Annunciation normally celebrated and why does it sometimes move?

Normally the solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated March 25.

This date is used because it is nine months before Christmas (Dec. 25), and it is assumed that Jesus spent the normal nine months in his mother’s womb.

However, March 25 sometimes falls during Holy Week, and the days of Holy Week have a higher liturgical rank than this solemnity.

Still, the Annunciation is an important solemnity, and so it doesn’t just vanish from the calendar. Instead, as the rubrics in the Roman Missal note: “Whenever this solemnity occurs during Holy Week, it is transferred to the Monday after the second Sunday of Easter.”

It is thus celebrated on the first available day after Holy Week and the Octave of Easter (which ends on the second Sunday of Easter).

3. How does this story parallel the birth of John the Baptist?

As noted above, John the Baptist’s conception was announced in advance also. In both stories there are multiple parallels:

• The angel Gabriel makes the announcement.

• He announces to a single individual: Zechariah in John the Baptist’s case and Mary in Jesus’ case.

• He announces the miraculous conception of an individual who has a prominent place in God’s plan.

• He is met with a question in both cases (Zechariah asks how he can know this will happen; Mary asks how it will happen).

• A miraculous sign is offered as evidence (Zechariah is struck dumb; Mary is told of Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy, which is in its sixth month).

• Gabriel departs.

4. How is Mary’s reaction different from Zechariah’s?

At first glance, Mary’s reaction to Gabriel can appear like Zechariah’s unbelieving reaction, but it is fundamentally different.

Like Zechariah, she asks a question, but it is a question of a different sort:

• Zechariah asked how he could know what the angel says would be true. His attitude was one of skepticism.

• Mary does not ask for proof. Instead, she asks how the angel’s words will be fulfilled. She accepts what he says and wants to understand specifically how it will take place. Her attitude is thus one of faith seeking understanding, not a lack of faith.

5. What does Mary’s reaction say about her perpetual virginity?

Mary’s question is translated in the RSVCE translation of the Bible as “How shall this be, since I have no husband?”

This is not a good translation, because she does, in fact, have a husband: Joseph. Luke has already told us that she is betrothed to Joseph, which means that they were legally married (thus Joseph would have had to divorce her, not just “break the engagement” as one might today; cf. Matthew 1:19).

What the text literally says in Greek is “since I do not know man.”

This relies on the common biblical euphemism of “knowing” for sexual relations. Mary’s question indicates that she understands the facts of life, and it is surprising since she is legally married and awaiting the time that she and Joseph would begin to cohabit.

If she were planning on an ordinary marriage then the most natural interpretation of the angel’s statement would be that, after she and Joseph begin to cohabit, they will together conceive a child, whom the angel is now telling her about.

The fact that she asks the question indicates that this is not her understanding, and it has often been taken as a sign that she was not planning on an ordinary marriage.

Early Christian writings from the second century onward, beginning with the “Protoevangelium of James,” indicate that Mary was a consecrated virgin who was entrusted to the care of Joseph.

6. How does Gabriel respond to Mary’s question?

Gabriel informs her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

Here Gabriel indicates the involvement of all three Persons of the Trinity: Through the action of the Holy Spirit, the Father causes the Son to be conceived in human form. There will be no human father, making clear the fact that the child will be the Son of God.

As a further illustration of God’s power, he points to the fact that Elizabeth, though old and apparently barren, has miraculously conceived a son and is in her sixth month of pregnancy. “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

7. Is Elizabeth Mary’s cousin?

This question sometimes comes up in discussions of Mary’s perpetual virginity, because it is sometimes thought that the “brothers” of the Lord were his cousins and that they are described as brothers because Aramaic has no word for “cousin.”

Yet the New American Bible described Elizabeth as Mary’s cousin.

Who Jesus’ “brothers” were has been understood in different ways. The earliest sources that comment on the question (including the second-century “Protoevangelium of James”) say they were stepbrothers through Joseph. They also, hypothetically, could have been adopted (adoption was very common in the ancient world since people often died early). So they need not have been cousins.

While it’s true that Aramaic does not have a word for cousin, Greek does (“anepsios”), but that is not the word used here.

Despite the well-known mistranslation in the NAB (later corrected in the NABRE), Elizabeth is not described as Mary’s “cousin.” The Greek word in this passage (“sungenis”) indicates a female relative — a kinswoman — not a cousin in particular.

8. Why is Mary’s “fiat” important?

Mary’s acceptance of this role is momentous and will entail suffering. It is momentous because she will be the mother of the Son of God himself. It will entail suffering in ways that she cannot yet foresee (e.g., witnessing the Crucifixion), but some she can foresee.

In particular, she will be regarded as having been unfaithful to Joseph, and that involves not only public shame but also, as Matthew records, endangering her relationship with Joseph and her future livelihood and social position. Yet she places herself completely at the service of God’s will.

Commenting on this, Pope Benedict writes:

“In one of his Advent homilies, Bernard of Clairvaux offers a stirring presentation of the drama of this moment. After the error of our first parents, the whole world was shrouded in darkness, under the dominion of death. Now God seeks to enter the world anew. He knocks at Mary’s door. He needs human freedom. The only way he can redeem man, who was created free, is by means of a free ‘yes’ to his will. In creating freedom, he made himself in a certain sense dependent upon man. His power is tied to the unenforceable ’yes’ of a human being.

“So Bernard portrays heaven and earth as it were holding its breath at this moment of the question addressed to Mary. Will she say yes? She hesitates … will her humility hold her back? Just this once — Bernard tells her — do not be humble but daring! Give us your ‘yes’! This is the crucial moment when, from her lips, from her heart, the answer comes: ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’ It is the moment of free, humble yet magnanimous obedience in which the loftiest choice of human freedom is made (‘Jesus of Nazareth 3: The Infancy Narratives,’ chapter 2).”

This story was first published on April 7, 2013, at the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.

Eucharistic hosts. / Credit: L.A. Faille/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 24, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

Following an investigation into a possible Eucharistic miracle at a local parish, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis announced Monday that scientific analysis indicated that the cause was natural, not miraculous. 

Last month, a post on X drew attention to what the post called a “‘potential’ Eucharistic miracle” after a parish in southern Indiana discovered a host with red spots on it, which the parish sacristan thought could be blood. 

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis said in a statement shared with CNA that laboratory analysis of common bacteria had caused the discoloration. 

“A biochemical analysis of a host from St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris, Indiana, that was displaying red discoloration revealed the presence of a common bacteria found on all humans,” the statement read. “No presence of human blood was discovered.” 

The host had fallen and was later discovered with red spots, and biochemical analysis found that the discoloration was due to common bacteria and fungus.

“The host had fallen out of a Mass kit used at the parish, and when it was discovered, red spots were present,” the archdiocese stated. “Following policy established by the Holy See, the host was submitted for professional, biochemical analysis at a local laboratory. The results indicate the presence of fungus and three different species of bacteria, all of which are commonly found on human hands.” 

The archdiocese noted that there have been many carefully-reviewed miracles in the history of the Church. 

“Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, there have been well-documented miracles and apparitions, and each has been thoroughly and carefully reviewed,” the statement read.

Last year, the Vatican developed its practice regarding potential supernatural events, issuing new guidelines that give the Disastery for the Doctrine of the Faith the final say. 

Previous norms established by Pope Paul VI in 1978 left the discernment process for possible miraculous occurrences to local bishops. Under the new guidance, the task remains with the local bishop, but the dicastery must be consulted throughout the process.

null / Credit: Ulf Wittrock/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 24, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an abortion procedure.

A woman is suing an abortionist for allegedly leaving more than half of her unborn child inside her after an abortion.

The 32-year-old woman, identified as “Jane Doe,” was about five months pregnant with her fifth child when she traveled from Indianapolis to an abortion facility in Champaign, Illinois. 

Days later, she needed emergency care and surgery to remove remnants of her 22-week-old child from her body. 

Now, Doe is suing the abortionist for medical negligence.

Doe and her lawyers filed the lawsuit against Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle and his Equity Clinic last week in the Circuit Court of Champaign County. 

On April 1 and 2, 2023, Doe visited the Equity Clinic for a late-term abortion. The next day, she called the clinic to report heavy cramping. 

When Doe first reported something had gone wrong, the clinic told her to take Tylenol and laxatives, the lawsuit alleges. 

But by April 4, the clinic recommended she have an enema or go to the emergency room. That day, Doe checked into the Community Hospital South Emergency Room in Indianapolis. 

When Doe went to the emergency room soon after her abortion procedure, the days-old remains of the unborn child had to be surgically removed from her body, according to the suit. 

Reisinger-Kindle, the suit alleges, had perforated her uterus during the procedure, leaving a hole the size of a quarter. 

The emergency room surgeon found half of the remains of Doe’s unborn child in her right pelvis as well as pieces of the child’s skull adhered to her intestines, according to the suit. 

The lawsuit claims that on April 5, the emergency room general surgeon called Reisinger-Kindle, who refused to provide information about the abortion. 

The lawsuit alleges that Reisinger-Kindle did not adequately examine Doe after discharging her from the clinic. In a medical report included in the files, an obstetrician-gynecologist consulted on the matter said the remnants should have been obvious had the doctor performed an “adequate exam.” 

The lawsuit states that Doe “will continue to experience irreversible suffering and emotional damages” as a result of the events. 

Reisinger-Kindle founded the Equity Clinic in response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, according to a profile about the clinic published by the Chicago Tribune. 

According to the profile, Reisinger-Kindle has volunteered in abortion clinics as a medical assistant since he was 18.

“The only reason I went to medical school was to be an abortion provider,” he told the Tribune.

A large percentage of the clinic’s patients are out-of-state women, as abortion is legally considered a “fundamental right” in Illinois under the 2019 Reproductive Health Act.

The Equity Clinic provides surgical and chemical abortions as well as late-term dilation and evacuation abortions on unborn children in some cases up to 26 weeks old.

At 22 weeks, Doe’s baby was nearing the age of viability — the age when an unborn child can survive outside of the womb, usually determined to be about 24-26 weeks. In Illinois, abortions are allowed up until fetal viability.

In some cases, prematurely-born babies have survived as early as 21 to 22 weeks.