Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

A member of the Papal Foundation greets Pope Francis with a personalized New Orleans Saints jersey, Friday, April 12, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 5, 2025 / 20:11 pm (CNA).

Following the death of Pope Francis last month, the Papal Foundation’s annual distribution of humanitarian aid will be in memory of the Holy Father’s legacy, the organization said in a press release. 

This year, the Papal Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to serving the Holy Father’s wishes through donations to charitable initiatives of his choosing around the world — will channel $14 million in funding toward 116 projects across more than 60 countries. Projects include developing access to clean drinking water and housing, providing educational resources, restoring churches and seminaries, and constructing health care facilities in war-torn and impoverished areas. 

Customarily, representatives for the organization travel to Rome on the Friday after Divine Mercy Sunday to deliver the funding via check to the Holy Father, the president of the foundation’s board of trustees, Ward Fitzgerald, told CNA. This year, because their meeting was set to take place exactly one week after Pope Francis’ passing, they attended his funeral instead.

Fitzgerald said this year felt especially significant. “With [Pope Francis’] passing, we have a chance to be a voice for the poor — something he so powerfully embodied,” he said.

The average grant, according to Fitzgerald, is somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000. 

“We give them to schools, we give them to hospitals, we give them also to programs to help child trafficking issues or drug smuggling using children and abandoned children. We also are doing humanitarian aid relative to refugee situations and war situations in some of the poorest countries with some of the poorest people,” he said, noting that a portion of the grants often also go to clergy or religious communities whose buildings are in need of repair.

“It is well documented that [Francis] was a very loving, caring … sensitive Holy Father, and he had a heart for the poor,” Fitzgerald reflected. “He implored the laity to try to grow in their hearts to be more Christ-like, and specifically in their show of care for the poor. I think that that’s a big part of his papacy.”

“As we are all in anticipation of the next Holy Father,” he continued, “we don’t get to be Peter, but we can all be Paul … and hopefully, we are spreading the Gospel as well as spreading charity and caring for the poor around the globe as the early apostles and disciples did.” 

Grants have grown in steady increments for the past 20 years, Fitzgerald said. Since its inception in 1988, the Papal Foundation has distributed more than $250 million to over 2,800 projects designated by Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II. 

The foundation also announced this week its election of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, as chairman, and Edward Fitzgerald III, CEO and founder of the Catholic private equity firm ExCorde Capital, as president of its board of trustees. 

“The Gospel of Matthew teaches us: ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,’” Dolan stated in a press release on Monday. “In a world where the distance between wealth and need continues to widen, the Stewards of St. Peter of the Papal Foundation take seriously their responsibility to serve the poor and vulnerable with compassion and faith.”

President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 2025. / Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 5, 2025 / 14:57 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump dismissed the criticism he faced after sharing an AI-generated image of himself as the pope on social media, asserting that the controversy was drummed up by the news media.

“You mean they can’t take a joke?” Trump rhetorically asked a reporter after he was questioned about backlash to the image. “You don’t mean the Catholics; you mean the fake news media.”

Trump said “the Catholics loved it” and noted that his wife, Melania, who is Catholic, “thought it was cute” before commenting that — if he were the pope — “I would not be able to be married though.”

“To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they?” he said. “Not that we know of.”

Trump, who shared the image on Truth Social, said he “had nothing to do with” the picture, adding: “Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet.”

“That’s not me who did it,” the president continued. “I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening.”

Trump, who frequently shares memes of himself on social media, posted the image to Truth Social on Friday after joking that he would like to be chosen as the next pope. The White House subsequently posted the photo on its official X account.

The social media posts came just days after the president said he would “like to be pope” when a reporter asked him who he hopes is selected in the upcoming papal conclave.  As part of his response to that same question, he went on to say he actually had “no preference” while also touting Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York as a “very good” candidate.

Responses from Catholic bishops

Trump’s latest joke about the matter received pushback from some Catholic leaders, including Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, and the entire New York Catholic Conference. As of the time of publication, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) had not issued a statement nor responded to a request for comment from CNA.

Dolan, the archbishop of New York City and an appointee to Trump’s recently created Religious Liberty Commission, told a reporter in Rome that he hopes the president “had nothing to do with that” and said “it wasn’t good.”

Speaking in Italian, Dolan called the stunt “brutta figura,” essentially meaning that it was in bad form.

Barron, the bishop of Winona–Rochester, Minnesota, who was also appointed to the Religious Liberty Commission, told EWTN News that he thinks it was “a bad joke” and a “sophomoric attempt at humor.” 

“I don’t think at all it represents some disdain for the Catholic Church or some attack on the Catholic Church,” he said. “President Trump has signaled in all sorts of ways his support for and affection for the Catholic Church. I think it was a bad joke that obviously landed very poorly and was seen as offensive by a lot of Catholics and I wish he hadn’t done it.”

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the conclave is “a very serious time” for the Catholic Church and expressed displeasure that “we’ve lost great respect for moments like this.”

Some Catholic leaders who criticized the president took stronger offense to the image.

The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, posted on X that “there is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President.”

“We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter,” the post added. “Do not mock us.”

Paprocki, who is the bishop of Springfield, Illinois, said on X that the photo “mocks God, the Catholic Church, and the papacy.”

“This is deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new pope,” Paprocki wrote. “He owes an apology.”

Other Catholic figures did not take such offense, however.

Vice President JD Vance, who is a convert to Catholicism, responded to criticisms of the image from commentator and writer Bill Kristol, who is not Catholic.

“As a general rule,” wrote Vance, “I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” referring to Kristol’s role in support of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

In a news release, Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, called the image “dumb, but not bigoted.”

“What Trump did was silly, but it was hardly an expression of bigotry,” Donohue said. “We deal with real cases of anti-Catholicism at the Catholic League, not junior-league pranks.”

CatholicVote’s vice president Joshua Mercer — whose organization ran advertisements for Trump in the last election — said in a statement that the image is “obviously intended to be humorous.”

“There is no need to imagine that he believes he could be pope, or that he intended to mock the papacy,” Mercer said. “Memes depicting famous people as the new pope have been playfully circulating on social media everywhere for the past week.”

Brian Burch, the president of CatholicVote and Trump’s nominee as the ambassador to the Holy See, declined to comment. 

This story was updated May 5, 2025, at 5:14 p.m. ET with Trump’s comments on the image.

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CNA Staff, May 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Dr. Christopher Stroud was a Catholic OB-GYN who prescribed birth control and gave referrals for in vitro fertilization (IVF) until a priest admonished him in the sacrament of reconciliation. Now Stroud runs a life-affirming fertility clinic that uses Natural Procreative Technology — a treatment model that embraces life-affirming Catholic ethics.

“It changed my life,” Stroud said of the confession. “Probably for all eternity, it changed my life.”

Stroud said he still “get[s] emotional” just talking about the impact of the clinic. Couples send him photos of their babies — it has grown into a wall of photos now.

Since his change of heart in 2012, his practice has “just exploded.” The clinic has grown so popular that there’s a six-month wait period.

“We are blessed with a busy, busy practice,” he told CNA.

While Stroud’s clinic is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he received his training in Nebraska at St. Paul VI Institute — an organization founded in 1985 that trains doctors in “NaProTechnology.”

And the demand for NaProTechnology? It’s “unlimited,” Stroud said.

What makes NaPro different? 

NaProTechnology is “a problem-based approach to fertility challenges,” Stroud explained.

The model is “a recognition, more than anything, that infertility is a symptom — it’s not a diagnosis,” Stroud explained.

Rather than jumping to IVF — which is often expensive, arduous, and carries ethical issues with the creation of unused embryos — NaProTechnology applies basic principals of contemporary medicine to fertility treatment.

“Everywhere else in contemporary medicine, we use symptoms to point to a disease state, and then we treat the disease state; then we ask, did the symptom go away?” Stroud said.

But with the advent of IVF in the late 1970s, doctors were taught to promptly refer clients for IVF, Stroud explained.

NaProTechnology is highly effective, Stroud has found. Fertility specialists can address the underlying health issues preventing conception “more times than not,” he said.

Teresa Hilgers, an OB-GYN at the St. Paul VI Institute, added that NaProTechnology often brings a couple’s fertility “back to life.” She said she has seen “so many” couples who, with the help of NaProTechnology, “no longer need medical support to achieve future pregnancies.”

Talking about IVF 

Stroud emphasized that while IVF is against Church teaching, IVF is a challenging issue to talk about. It’s important to acknowledge that the children created through IVF are created in God’s image, Stroud said.

“Any time we have a chance to say [it], we must say that the children created by IVF are children of God — created in his image and likeness,” Stroud said.

“We’ve got to remember that as Catholics, we’re not condemning, we’re educating,” Stroud continued. “And the people that we’re talking to often are very, very wounded and vulnerable.”

When discussing IVF, Stroud noted that “we’ve got to remember the vulnerable, horrible pain that couples are experiencing.”

“I can’t think of another marital stress that could ever hold a candle to infertility because it forces couples to question what it means to be man and woman, what it means to be married, what it means to be intimate,” Stroud said.

“But children are a gift. They’re not a right,” Stroud said. “If they were a right, they’d be property, which is part of the problem with IVF — they do become property.”

The Catholic perspective

IVF is contrary to the Catholic Church’s teaching. But why?

There are several layers to understanding the Church’s teaching on IVF. Most obviously, there’s the high cost of life in IVF.

“IVF is very destructive,” Hilgers said. “Many babies are lost to create one new life.”

The remaining human embryos conceived via IVF often remain in frozen storage for an indeterminate amount of time — often never to grow up.

“[Couples] may have finished their fertility journey, but they do not know what to do with their remaining frozen embryos,” Hilgers said.

IVF also contradicts the Church’s understanding of the purpose of sexual intercourse within the union of marriage.

“The Church teaches that the act of sexual intercourse has two aspects: procreative and unitive. These are inseparable,” Hilgers said. “IVF separates the procreative and unitive acts of intercourse between a married couple.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2377) states that IVF is “morally unacceptable” because it separates the marriage act from procreation and establishes “the domination of technology” over human life.

But there’s also a biological and medical argument against IVF, both Hilgers and Stroud noted.

“Many do not realize that IVF is not good medicine,” Hilgers said.

“The success rates are lower than most think,” she said. “A lot of couples go through IVF and fail.”

IVF can bring with it additional risks, including higher complication rates with pregnancy, higher preterm labor, and even higher risk for birth defects, Hilgers added. 

When Stroud meets with patients who are considering IVF, he begins by asking them: “Why?” 

“The thing that I say to the couple is: Wouldn’t you like to know why you’re not getting pregnant — even if it means you’re never going to be pregnant — wouldn’t you like to know?” he said. “I’ve never had a couple say, ‘Actually, no, we don’t care.’” 

For couples with infertility

Both Hilgers and Stroud emphasized that IVF is far from the only option for couples struggling with infertility.

When asked what he would say to couples struggling with infertility, Stroud said: “Don’t settle.” 

“You don’t have to settle as a couple, and you don’t have to choose between the tenets of your faith and your fertility,” Stroud said. “Unexplained infertility is, more times than not, uninvestigated infertility.”

“Many couples who undergo IVF are never given a diagnosis for why they have infertility,” Hilgers added. “They are often told that their infertility is ‘unexplained.’”

But “their infertility is unexplained because a proper evaluation was never done,” Hilgers said.

When asked about the impact of NaProTechnology on families, Hilgers said that by respecting Church teaching on love and life, the human dignity of all involved is also respected.

“When these teachings are respected, then the dignity of everyone involved, the woman, her husband, and children are respected,” she said.

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Seattle, Wash., May 3, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

Texas on Saturday officially enacted one of the largest school choice programs in its history, with Gov. Greg Abbott signing the measure into law on Saturday afternoon as Catholic educators turn their attention to the ground-level work of growth and planning amid the new choice regime. 

The program’s $1 billion education savings account (ESA) program has led many to expect a noticeable shift in how — and for whom — Catholic education becomes financially accessible.

Catholic schools across the state are beginning to prepare for what may be a surge in applications. “Our Catholic schools in Texas are actively working to ensure capacity to add about 20,000 students when the ESA program opens in the 2026–2027 school year,” Jennifer Allmon, the executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, told CNA.

Under the new law, qualifying families will receive up to $10,000 per student to cover educational expenses such as private school tuition, transportation, and other services. 

Initially, the program will serve up to 90,000 students with potential for expansion. It also prioritizes low-income students and those with disabilities, two groups Catholic schools already serve extensively.

At Frassati Catholic High School in north Houston, where enrollment has grown significantly in recent years, Director of Enrollment Tim Lienhard sees this moment as a test of both the school’s mission and its infrastructure.

“We really are looking at this as a way to test what we’ve built,” Lienhard said. “We’re the only Catholic high school supporting families north of Houston’s Beltway 8, and we’ve already been growing steadily.”

Frassati opened in 2013 and expects its ninth graduating class this spring. Over the last four years, the school has refined its admissions process to focus on applicants who are genuinely seeking a Catholic environment. Lienhard emphasized that any future expansion won’t be for scale alone.

“We’ve developed a selection process based on our mission,” he said. “That means evaluating prospective students and families on their desire for our culture and identity. Growth only works if it flows from that.”

For the Texas bishops, Senate Bill 2 is the result of long-standing advocacy. Allmon, who has served the conference for two decades, described the new law as a breakthrough.

“This is a historic development,” she said. “All of the bishops of Texas are excited and ready to welcome new students and for some of our current students to get some financial relief with ESA.”

There are 66 Catholic high schools serving approximately 24,000 students in Texas. The average tuition is about $14,000, pricing out many working families. The ESA program could change that for a large segment of the population.

“We believe that parents who previously did not think they could afford Catholic school will be excited to have this option available,” Allmon said.

From a national perspective, the legislation is being hailed as a significant milestone.

“This is a historic victory for Texas families and the future of our nation. Revitalizing the Republic starts in the classroom,” Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said this week.

“Texas has created the largest Day 1 school choice program in the nation. ... This policy change isn’t just a win for Texas — it’s a win for every student, every parent, and every taxpayer who believes in the principle that education should be about serving the needs of kids, not entrenched systems,” Roberts said.

Not every element of the law was welcomed by Catholic leaders. A provision in the bill excludes undocumented students from participating in the ESA program — something the bishops oppose.

“We welcome students in our Catholic schools, regardless of immigration status, out of respect for the rights and dignity given by our Creator to each human person,” Allmon said. “While we may oppose such decisions, we still support the underlying public benefit programs.”

State lawmakers passed House Bill 2 alongside SB 2, boosting overall public school funding.

“HB 2 provides an increase in funding for public schools targeted toward special-needs programs, teacher pay raises, fine arts, and gifted and talented programs,” she explained. 

Critics, however, contend that the program will divert funds from public schools and primarily benefit families already able to afford private education. But “with more than $80 billion going to public education, it’s hard to see how a $1 billion ESA program serving about 80,000 students would do harm,” Allmon said.

Ryan Walker, the executive vice president of Heritage Action for America, called the bill part of a broader national shift.

“For too long, our education system has failed families across the country… Today, we are witnessing a wave of states adopting school choice policies, handing authority back to parents and increasing opportunities for students.”

Lindsey Burke and Jason Bedrick of Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy said this was more than a milestone. 

“It’s a tipping point. America is rapidly moving away from the district school model and toward an education system that empowers families to choose the learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children.”

For Lienhard, who oversees enrollment, marketing, and communications at Frassati, the conversations with families are ongoing — but still marked by uncertainty.

“Most families don’t yet know what they’ll qualify for,” he said. “There’s not a lot of clarity about how this will work, so people are waiting to see what the rollout looks like.”

Despite that ambiguity, there’s no lack of optimism at Frassati. The school is in the midst of a capital campaign to build a 20,000-square-foot academic facility. Its growth has been steady, and Lienhard attributes that not to programs or prestige but to something deeper.

“Our No. 1 asset is our Catholic identity,” he said. “We’re not growing just to grow. We’re trying to serve a community that is hungry for something real.”

He described the school’s efforts to balance mission and access as part of a longer-term vision. “We want to be a 100-year-old school,” he said. “That means building now for the families that are going to come later.”

As the law takes effect and the state prepares to implement the ESA program, many Catholic schools are watching closely. The policy may be new, but the core question for institutions like Frassati is one they’ve asked all along: how to remain faithful to mission while welcoming more families into the life of the Church.

“If this legislation helps more Catholic families access Catholic education, then we’ll be able to evangelize more boldly,” Lienhard said. “And that’s something we’re ready for.”

Cardinal John O’Connor attends the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City as grand marshal on March 17, 1995. / Credit: JON LEVY/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In 1975, Cardinal John O’Connor, the late former archbishop of New York, visited the Dachau concentration camp. His life-changing experience there eventually led him to found the Sisters of Life, a community of women dedicated to living out his mission: protecting and enhancing human life.

Today, 25 years after his death, more than a 100 of those sisters will gather with O’Connor’s relatives, friends, and those who have benefited from his ministry to celebrate his legacy.

Sister Maris Stella, vicar general of the Sisters of Life, reflected on that legacy and told CNA that throughout his life O’Connor “had great respect for the dignity of the human person” and always had the dream to work with people in need, specifically children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Finding a ‘spiritual response’ to a ‘culture of death’

O’Connor entered the priesthood when he was 25 years old in his home state of Pennsylvania. He began teaching high school students while continuing his own education receiving degrees in ethics and psychology and later a doctorate in political science.

In his early 30s, O’Connor joined the United States Navy as a chaplain and wrote curriculum and leadership formation programs for Navy personnel, forming them in virtue and teaching them to have respect for the human person. His 27 years in the Navy greatly shifted his path. 

In the mid-1970s, he made a visit to Dachau in Germany, where thousands were killed during World War II. Sister Maris Stella told CNA that while he was there, he had a profound experience that changed his life.

“He went to the crematorium and placed his hands in the oven … and was pierced to the heart and cried out: ‘My God, how could human beings do this to other human beings?’”

“You could say that in placing his hand in the oven, he kind of placed his hand on the deepest wound in our culture, which he saw was this contempt for human life, this disregard for the dignity of the human person,” Sister Maris Stella said.

In that moment, O’Connor vowed to do everything in his power to protect human life.

In 1984 he was appointed the archbishop of New York, and just a year later he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. O’Connor became very active in the pro-life movement by preaching and advocating alongside other leaders. 

But despite his work, Sister Maris Stella said, “he wondered why there wasn’t greater progress being made on behalf of human life.” He began to pray and reflect on the Scriptures and the Gospel of Mark.

“There’s a story where Jesus sends out the apostles and they can do all these things in his name. But,” Sister Maris Stella said, “there was one demon they couldn’t cast out, and Our Lord says to them, ‘Some demons are only cast out by prayer and fasting.’”

“When Cardinal read that, those words … jumped off the page to him, and he understood that this contempt for human life was a demon in our culture.”

“It was a spiritual reality that demanded a spiritual response,” Sister Maris Stella said. It inspired  O’Connor to found the Sisters of Life to be the “response to the culture of death [and] to pray and fast on behalf of human life.”

In order to find women to join, O’Connor wrote an article for his weekly column in the Catholic New York newspaper highlighting his vision with the headline: “Help Wanted: Sisters of Life.”

Soon after, eight women reached out to be a part of it.

The Sisters of Life

Today, three decades since the Sisters of Life began in New York, there are almost 140 women in the community serving across the globe. 

The sisters “believe that every person is sacred, unique, and unrepeatable, and infinitely loved by God. Not for anything they can do, produce, or achieve, but simply because they exist and are created in God’s image,” Sister Maris Stella said.

The sisters work to ensure human dignity is protected and enhanced by serving pregnant women in crisis, hosting retreats, and spreading the message of the dignity of life.

At one of their seven convents in the New York area, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Convent in Midtown Manhattan, the sisters also run the Holy Respite, inviting pregnant women to live with them throughout their pregnancies. It has been open for nearly 27 years and hundreds of women and children have stayed there as their guests. 

The sisters also hold their Entering Canaan retreats to serve women who are suffering after the experience of abortion so the women “can receive God’s healing and mercy and come back to the life of the Church.”

Each year, the sisters host a number of weekendlong women’s retreats and a men’s retreat to take time for silent prayer, Eucharistic adoration, Mass, confession, and hearing conferences by the sisters. Occasionally, they will hold similar retreats for people with disabilities, continuing O’Connor’s love for and outreach to them.

Sister Maris Stella told CNA that for O’Connor, “the vulnerability of people with disabilities and the vulnerability of the unborn, to him, showed more than anyone the sacredness of human life.”

“The unborn and those who are weak and suffering in a way carry within them the glory of God in a more magnificent way, because their dignity doesn’t arise from what they can do, because in many cases their capacities are limited, but their dignity arises from the fact that they are held into existence by God’s love.”

Celebrating ‘a legacy of life and love’

In celebration of O’Connor’s legacy 25 years after his death, on May 3 the Sisters of Life is hosting a block party on John Cardinal O’Connor Way, a street in New York named after the pro-life champion. O’Connor’s family members, families the sisters have helped over the years, and supporters of the organization will gather with the sisters for food, music, and games.

Following the festivities, the attendees will go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a vigil memorial Mass to honor O’Connor and his “legacy of love and life” and his “entrance into eternal life.”

Confessional. / Credit: AS photo studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 3, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday signed a controversial state law that requires priests to report child abuse to authorities even if they learn of it during the sacrament of confession.

The measure, introduced in the state Legislature earlier this year, adds clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state but doesn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional.

A 2023 version of the proposal had offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned “solely as a result of a confession.” The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out and in fact explicitly notes that clergy do not qualify for a “privileged communication” exemption.

Ferguson told reporters that as a Catholic he was “very familiar” with the sacrament of confession. “[I] felt this was important legislation,” he said on Friday.

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, meanwhile, said in a Friday statement that clergy there would not break the seal of confession even if required to by law.

“[S]hepherds, bishop and priests” are “committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” the bishop said.

“The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane,” he added.

The bishop noted that the Spokane Diocese maintains “an entire department at the chancery” dedicated to protecting children and that it employs a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse.

“As this matter continues to unfold, I intend on keeping you informed and updated,” the bishop wrote. “An important element to the greatness of America is our constitutional commitment to religious freedom.”

A bill proposed in Montana earlier this year similarly proposed to “eliminate clergy exemption in mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.” 

Clergy “may not refuse to make a report as required ... on the grounds of a physician-patient or similar privilege,” the Montana bill said. That measure stalled at committee in January.

In May 2023 Delaware legislators proposed a bill requiring priests to break the seal of confession in cases of reporting sexual abuse. A similar law was proposed in Vermont around the same time. Both bills failed to advance in their respective legislatures.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a report Thursday that outlines concerns about the use of life-altering drugs and surgeries on minors who struggle with gender dysphoria.

The HHS report notes that this model, sometimes called “gender-affirming care,” includes irreversible medical interventions on children who do not have any physical health conditions. The treatments are designed to feminize boys and masculinize girls, and the surgeries make the child’s body appear more similar to that of the opposite sex.

“Systematic reviews of the evidence have revealed deep uncertainty about the purported benefits of these interventions,” the foreword of the executive summary of the 400-page report notes.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order during his second week in office that directed HHS, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to produce a report on this subject. The order also directed all hospitals that receive federal funding to halt the practice of giving children drugs or performing surgeries on them to treat gender dysphoria.

According to the report, “these interventions carry risk of significant harms,” which can include infertility, sexual dysfunction, underdeveloped bone mass, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, and adverse cognitive impacts, among other complications.

The report notes that the purported benefit of these interventions is “to improve mental health outcomes” for children who identify themselves as transgender and desire certain physical changes. However, according to the report, systematic reviews of patients “have not found credible evidence that they lead to meaningful improvement in mental health.”

“When medical interventions pose unnecessary, disproportionate risks of harm, health care providers should refuse to offer them even when they are preferred, requested, or demanded by patients,” the report’s authors write.

The report finds “no evidence that pediatric medical transition reduces the incidence of suicide, which remains, fortunately, very low.” For this reason, the authors criticize organizations that frame these interventions as “medically necessary” or “lifesaving,” arguing that such characterizations are not supported by the evidence. 

Although the authors note that “the principle of autonomy” is important in medicine, they add that there is not a “right to receive interventions that are not beneficial” and that autonomy “does not negate clinicians’ professional and ethical obligation to protect and promote their patients’ health.” 

The report also discusses “regret,” particularly coming from so-called “detransitioners” who seek to reverse body-altering medical interventions they have received. It states that the “regret” rate is unknown and that more evidence is needed, but adds: “That some patients report profound regret after undergoing invasive, life-changing medical interventions is clearly of importance.”

There is little evidence concerning the benefits of psychotherapeutic interventions in the treatment of children with gender dysphoria, according to the report. However, there is evidence supporting psychotherapeutic interventions for children with other mental health problems, and there is no evidence psychotherapeutic interventions for gender dysphoria causes harm.

Mary Rice Hasson, the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that the report is “extremely well done” and provides an “in-depth and unbiased analysis” of the current medical literature related to treating children who have gender dysphoria.

Hasson said this guidance can serve as a resource for parents, physicians, and policymakers who are “seeking to help ‘gender-dysphoric’ minors.”

“Both evidence and ethics point to the better solution for treating identity-distressed kids: psychotherapy and time,” she said. “Let kids be kids, and let them grow up undamaged by drastic, disabling interventions.”

Jill Simons, a pediatrician and executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, told CNA that the Trump administration “should be applauded” for its work so far on this subject but added that “more has to be done” and called on pediatricians to “stand up to the organizations … that are still promoting … these harmful [procedures].”

Simons also noted that the report found no evidence that these medical interventions reduce the risk of suicide and warned that some doctors make that claim “to scare parents.” 

“Parents need to know that that is just simply not true,” she said.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a pro-LGBT group, criticized the HHS report.

“Trans people are who we are,” HRC Chief of Staff Jay Brown said in a statement. “We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.”

Trump’s executive order to halt gender-altering drugs and surgeries for children has been subject to numerous lawsuits.

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CNA Staff, May 2, 2025 / 17:44 pm (CNA).

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) announced today a new memorandum of understanding with Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, which the organizations say solidifies their “long-standing commitment to the holistic development and spiritual growth of young people.”

“This agreement reaffirms [our] shared values and outlines collaborative efforts to provide enriching and character-building opportunities for Catholic youth through Scouting,” the organizations said in a May 1 joint announcement. The text of the memorandum was not immediately made available. 

The NCCS, founded in the early 20th century, is an advisory committee that utilizes all the programs and activities of the Boy Scouts of America but works with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to ensure alignment of Catholic Scouting programs with Catholic teaching, the organization says. The organization serves some 98,000 Catholic Scouts, according to its website.

Catholic organizations were early supporters of the Boy Scouts after its founding in 1910, with the earliest known Catholic-chartered troops established in St. Paul, Minnesota, that year. Today there are more than 3,270 Catholic-sponsored Scouting units across the nation, the groups say. 

The two organizations’ renewed partnership signifies “a continued dedication to working together to empower young people with strong moral compasses, leadership skills, and a commitment to service,” the announcement continues. 

“Today’s signing of the [memorandum] between Scouting America and the National Catholic Committee on Scouting reaffirms a long-standing partnership built on shared values of faith, service, and leadership,” said Bill Guglielmi, chair-elect of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. 

“Together, we celebrate over 100 years of collaboration in shaping young people of character guided by the values of the Scout Oath and Law, especially the principles of duty to God and reverence. Our actions today reaffirm our mutual commitment to continuing this important mission for generations to come.”

The May 1 announcement comes after a turbulent dozen or so years for the Boy Scouts, which rely heavily on religious organizations to run their local troops. 

The organization lifted a ban on members who identify as gay in 2013 and faced major backlash in 2015 over its decision to allow openly gay men to serve as troop leaders. The organization later opened its ranks to girls as well as to biological girls who identify as boys. 

After seeing its membership plummet due to the pandemic, the Boy Scouts declared bankruptcy in 2020 amid a flood of some 82,000 sexual abuse claims, later agreeing to a $2.4 billion settlement plan for victims in 2024.

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Washington D.C., May 2, 2025 / 16:38 pm (CNA).

A panel of scholars at The Catholic University of America (CUA) addressed what they believe the cardinals may be looking for when electing the next pope but acknowledged there is no way to know what direction the upcoming conclave — which begins May 7 — will go.

On Thursday, May 1, CUA chaplain Father Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, led a panel on the subject of Pope Francis’ legacy and the future of the Church that included CUA School of Theology dean and professor Joseph Capizzi, senior fellow for the Catholic Association Ashley McGuire, and Stephen White, executive director for the Catholic Project.

White said he believes that “at least some of the cardinals will be looking to make the case for a more regular application and appreciation for the significance of law in the Church.” He clarified: “What I’m not saying is that this past pontificate was lawless.”

“But,” he continued, “I think the rule of law and the equitable application of law is not simply about following the rules.”

“It’s a constituent of the common good of the Church. There’s a reason the Church has law, not just simply to be efficient. It helps to organize and maintain the common good of the Church, including the common good of the pope who wants to see that the Church’s law is not only being applied, but it’s being applied fairly. I think that would be of concern for some of the cardinals.”

McGuire said Pope Francis was “handed a couple of very difficult, acute crises that are still not fully resolved,” including abuse allegations and financial issues, and believes the next step is to put those to rest and focus on other issues. 

“I think … the Church has two different problems it has to deal with,” McGuire said. “It’s got in the West this march of secularization; what’s going on in Germany, we’re bordering on heresy. And the fact that even in a place like the United States, you have regular Mass attendees who aren’t really necessarily following Church doctrine.”

“But then you have in parts of the developing world, which is where the Church is growing the fastest, regular reports of slaughter… and parishioners going to church not knowing if they’re going to survive Mass.”

“The Church has to govern two very different lived realities of being Catholic,” McGuire concluded.

Capizzi said matters like these should not be at the forefront of how the pope should be selected but rather the focus should solely be on electing “a holy man” and “a good man.”

“We’re trying to pull as many people into the boat as possible to keep them on the boat. That’s the task,” he said.

White added that the cardinals need to ask “what is the office of Peter?” and “get back to the basics” when electing the next pontiff.

With a new pope to be elected soon, the panel also reflected on Pope Francis and his legacy.

Guilbeau said Pope Francis’ belief that “the Church’s intellectual tradition, the fullness of her spiritual, liturgical, sacramental tradition is meant for everybody and emphasis on the margins” will be remembered.

They specifically mentioned his dedication to the unborn, the poor, and immigrants, and highlighted his mercy. 

McGuire said she believes people will remember how Pope Francis would go out to be with the public, “physically hugging people.” In other words, “what you would picture Jesus doing.”

A policeman stands guard at a checkpoint along a street in Srinagar on May 1, 2025. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the military “operational freedom” to respond to a deadly attack in Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on arch-rival Pakistan, a senior government said on April 29. / Credit: BASIT ZARGAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2025 / 15:14 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:

Catholic who refused to deny his faith shot by Islamic terrorists in India  

A 57-year-old Catholic man, Sushil Nathaniel, was among 26 people killed during a terrorist attack in Kashmir (also called Pahalgam), India, last week, according to an Asia News report. 

Nathaniel’s wife, who escaped with their two children, told AsiaNews that her husband was shot in the head by terrorists after refusing to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. 

While celebrating his funeral, Bishop Thomas Kuttimackal of Indore described Nathaniel as a “martyr” and praised his “courage in not hiding his faith even under threat of arms.” 

Lebanese Christians remember ‘special paternal love’ of Pope Francis

Lebanese Christians in the country and diaspora communities around the world have been taking the time to memorialize Pope Francis, remembering his “special paternal love” for Lebanon, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Bishops led solemn liturgies in Beirut, Zgharta, and Sidon, while Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, recovering from surgery, sent a heartfelt message praising the pope’s spiritual impact. In Rome, Bishop Youssef Soueif led a Mass at the Mar Maroun Church with members of the Lebanese diaspora. Even in Lomé, Togo, Maronite faithful gathered to honor the late pontiff in prayer.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis held a deep and fatherly affection for Lebanon. From backing youth-led protests in 2019 to calling for unity among political leaders, he remained attentive to the country’s struggles. Though a scheduled 2022 visit was postponed, Francis continued to speak out for Lebanon, notably urging the swift election of a president in 2024. In 2021, he convened Lebanese Christian leaders at the Vatican for a special day of prayer and reflection dedicated to the country’s future.

Conference on role of Christians in the future of Syria takes place in Aleppo

In Aleppo, the Catholic Education Association launched the first “Pentecost of a Nation” conference to highlight the role of Syrian Christians in shaping the country’s future, ACI MENA reported on Wednesday.

The event brought together 250 participants from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds to discuss constitutional reform, social justice, and national identity. Church leaders emphasized the Christian community’s historical role as active contributors — not passive observers — of Syria’s development while advocating for forgiveness, coexistence, and civic engagement.

Diplomats in Nigeria eulogize Pope Francis as ‘leader for truth, peace, equality’

Members of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria have paid glowing tribute to Pope Francis, describing the late pontiff as a global beacon of peace, truth, humility, and justice.

“Words will fail me on this one. He was a wonderful human being, a leader for truth, for peace, for equality, for solidarity, for unity, and for love,” the honorary consul of Colombia to Nigeria, Maricel Romero, told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Tuesday after a memorial Mass in Pope Francis’ honor. 

European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and Eurasia Gautier Mignot praised the late pope for his dedication to “the most humble, the most vulnerable, and the poorest.” 

Only 15% of South Korean Catholics attend Mass, according to latest study

A new study published by the Catholic bishops’ conference in Korea found that about 15 in every 100 Catholics in South Korea attended Mass regularly last year, UCA News reported. 

The study, titled “2024 Statistics on the Catholic Church in Korea” found that the total number of Catholics in South Korea in 2024 was almost 6 million, about 11.4% of the total population.

German cardinal describes ‘brotherly and cordial mood’ among cardinals in Rome

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, Germany, described the attitude among cardinals gathered in Rome for the conclave as “brotherly and cordial” in an interview with CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, on Tuesday.

“Most cardinals have not seen each other for a long time and many are happy and have been happy to see each other again,” he said. “That’s how I felt too.”

At the general congregations, the meetings of the cardinals in preparation for the conclave, which begins May 7, “a very concentrated, calm, objective working mood” prevails, Woelki explained.

“With all the differences and the different perspectives that are naturally brought in there, from the different partial Churches and with the different cultures and mentalities,” he said there is “simply a good togetherness.”