Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

U.S. Vice President JD Vance participates in a fireside chat with Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance called border security “humanitarian” in response to comments from Pope Leo XIV about immigration policy in the United States.

“Border security is not just good for American citizens,” Vance said in an interview with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle on Nov. 20. “It is the humanitarian thing to do for the entire world.”

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 18 asked Americans to listen to U.S. bishops’ message opposing “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and urged humane treatment of migrants.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” the pope said.

Vance said he has followed the Holy Father’s comments closely as “a devout Catholic.”

“You may not know it, judging purely from the comments of some people on social media, but the Catholic Church’s views on this are actually quite clear,” Vance said.

“It’s that, yes, you must treat immigrants humanely,” Vance said. “On the other hand, every nation has the right to control its borders. And obviously, how you strike that balance is very important, but there’s a lot of room there to actually control your own borders for the sake of your own people.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) special message affirmed that countries have a “responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” 

U.S. bishops said they lamented the conditions in detention centers and lack of access to pastoral care. Bishops also said they “are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”

Vance said “open borders” do not promote “[human] dignity, even of the illegal migrants themselves,” and cited drug and sex trafficking.

“When you empower the cartels and when you empower the human traffickers, whether in the United States or anywhere else, you’re empowering the very worst people in the world,” Vance said.

“My priority, my charge is to look after the people of the United States of America, and you cannot do that if you’re flooding the country with a ton of illegal immigrants and the drugs and the crime that they bring,” Vance said.

According to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem this year, as of October 2025, nearly half a million immigrants without legal status in the country had been arrested. “70% of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges,” Noem said.

The administration provides regular updates on “the worst of the worst” criminals they apprehend among the immigrant population without legal status in the country.

Meanwhile, multiple research studies have shown that overall, immigrants do not commit more crimes than U.S.-born people and are actually less likely to commit crimes. Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.

A study by the libertarian Cato Institute that reviewed more than a decade of data found that immigrants, including those who enter the country illegally, have a lower crime rate than the native-born population.

For example, in 2023, the incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,221 for every 100,000 people. For legal immigrants, it was 319 for every 100,000, and for immigrants in the country illegally, it was 613 for every 100,000.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation,” the U.S. bishops said.

Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler attend the Circus Krone Christmas Premiere at Circus Krone on Dec. 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany. The twin sisters ended their lives by assisted suicide at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images

CNA Deutsch, Nov 20, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

The Federal Association for the Right to Life, an umbrella organization for numerous pro-life organizations, has condemned the “glorification” of the assisted suicide of the 89-year-old Kessler twins.

Alice and Ellen Kessler were German singers and performers who were famous in Europe, especially in Italy, in the 1960s. The twin sisters decided to die together by assisted suicide at their home near Munich on Monday. 

Alexandra Linder, the pro life association’s chairwoman, said: “There is widespread media coverage of this, with many praising the ‘self-determination’ of choosing the time and manner of death oneself rather than waiting for death and perhaps suffering.”

This is “dangerous,” Linder emphasized, because it could cause “people in suicidal situations” to “to kill themselves or have themselves killed. This so-called Werther effect was sadly evident in the suicide of soccer player Robert Enke: After his suicide became known, the number of suicides rose sharply. The media should take much more responsibility when reporting on such incidents.”

On Nov. 17, Tagesschau in Germany reported: “The Kessler twins Alice and Ellen, who became internationally known as singers, actresses, and entertainers, are dead. A spokesperson for the Munich police confirmed an operation in Grünwald near Munich. He did not provide any background information.”

“It was a case of assisted suicide, the German Society for Humane Dying (DGHS) told Bavarian Radio,” the Tagesschau continued. “‘The Kessler twins had been considering assisted suicide for a long time,’ said a DGHS spokeswoman. ‘Alice and Ellen Kessler had been members of the association for some time and had set the date of death themselves as Nov. 17.’”

“A lawyer and a doctor had held preliminary talks with them and came to the sisters’ house in Grünwald on Monday to accompany them as they died,” it said.

The chairwoman of the Federal Association for the Right to Life called for “critical questions about ethics and background” to be asked: “Can a lawyer who does not know the individuals, without appropriate specialist training, assess their mental and physical condition, their history, and their autonomy? Did the two 89-year-old women make this decision without outside influence, without acute pain, without the influence of medication, without fear of loneliness, of the future, of suffering, etc.? Were alternative courses of action sufficiently explained to them, for example, palliative care, attention, therapy options? What role might the people in charge of the euthanasia association have played, given that their interest lies in promoting ‘positive’ examples of death, from joining the organization to deciding to die?”

Linder explained that it is important to know “that the psyche, mood, and will to live can change almost daily, depending on circumstances, the level of pain, and the prospects for recovery. Even who comes to visit on a given day plays a role: a grumpy nurse or a granddaughter with a picture of the sun she painted for her grandmother.”

In Germany, as a wealthy country, “no one has to die alone, in severe pain or suffering, if they do not want to. It is inhumane to abandon people in difficult situations who are contemplating suicide to their fate and to declare their intention to commit suicide as autonomy.”

Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa, president of the German Caritas Association, also expressed concern that “the extensive reporting and romanticization of the sisters‘ assisted suicide reinforces a social pressure that we have been observing for several years: Older women in particular feel a responsibility not to be a burden on anyone and perceive offers of assisted suicide as a necessary option to consider.”

“Instead of promoting the supposedly easy way out, we need to improve suicide prevention and expand hospice places,” Welskop-Deffaa demanded. “We strongly call for the legal anchoring of suicide prevention measures, such as a ban on advertising for organizations that assist in suicide, along with other legal regulations on assisted suicide.”

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

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium starting Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 20, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service for Catholic teenagers.

The 2025 theme is “I Am,” and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and be empowered for discipleship. 

NCYC was created by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), an organization committed to advancing the field of pastoral ministry to young people in the United States. Founded with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization works to strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. 

The conference, from Nov. 20–22, will feature Catholic speakers, daily Mass and adoration, music and worship, breakout groups and workshops, and interactive exhibits with games, vendors, meetups, and live radio shows.

Attendees will also hear from the conference’s two emcees, Gian Gamboa​ and Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA. Gamboa​ is a Catholic speaker and musician who helps young people develop a personal relationship with Jesus so they can experience the fullness of the Catholic faith. 

Del Rosario, who has become known as “The Happy Nun,” is a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, or Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. She joined the Salesian Sisters in 2009 and serves as the vocations director for the eastern U.S. province. Passionate about engaging with youth, she shares encouragement to bring them closer to Jesus.

Digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV

Attendees can attend Mass on Nov. 20 and start to check out the interactive exhibits and stadium setup. 

Friday will feature the main attraction of the 2025 conference — a digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo will hold a 45-minute dialogue with young people from across the United States in Lucas Oil Stadium at 10:15 a.m. ET. A livestream of the discussion will be available on EWTN YouTube.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, is expected to attend NCYC along with several bishops including keynote speaker Bishop Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Other keynote addresses will be from author and missionary Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, host of the podcast “Abiding Together.”

Themed exhibits based on the sacraments will be available throughout the weekend and will include interactive projects and acts of service. Vendors tailored to the young audience will be present including Motherboards, a Catholic skateboarding company, and Catalyst Catholic, a ministry helping young disciples, that will help lead a service project aimed to aid the homeless population. 

Breakout sessions and workshops will start Friday and go through Saturday. Students will hear from and hold discussions with missionaries, social media personalities, and musicians.

Teens will talk about family life, social media, discovering God’s calling, and discernment. Sessions also will target an adult audience for ministry leaders and chaperones including discussions on mental health and handling burnout. 

To conclude the conference, attendees plan to gather for a closing Mass on Saturday evening.

St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, New York. / Credit: CiEll/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Advocates in New York state are petitioning a Catholic foundation there to help fund major pension shortages and church preservation efforts as well as to help support victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in New York City, representatives of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, sexual abuse victims, and pensioners of the former St. Clare’s Hospital asked the foundation to help the three communities with the “profound hardship” they are experiencing.

Numerous parishes in Buffalo have been fighting diocesan-mandated closures and mergers over the past year. Hundreds of former workers of St. Clare’s, meanwhile, saw their pensions reduced or eliminated starting in 2018 due to major shortfalls. The hospital itself closed about a decade before.

Abuse victims, meanwhile, have “been locked in a legal morass, denied the long-term healing resources and institutional acknowledgment of the harm they endured,” the letter said.

The foundation arose in 2018 after the Diocese of Brooklyn sold the health insurer Fidelis Care. The organization, whose roughly $3.2 billion in assets came from that sale, is named after Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American recognized as a saint, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The letter noted that Cabrini “devoted her life to the people others overlooked,” including immigrants and the poor.

“Guided by that legacy, we ask the foundation to explore emergency relief, stabilization funds, and community support initiatives” to help fund the three groups.

The letter-writers asked for a meeting with foundation leaders “to explore potential pathways for assistance aligned with both the foundation’s mission and the pressing needs of survivors, pensioners, and parish communities.”

Mary Pruski, who leads the Save Our Buffalo Churches group, told CNA that advocates in New York City would be following up with the foundation this week.

“This is a complex project and will bring much peace and healing across [New York state],” she said.

Pensioners with St. Clare’s Hospital are currently in the midst of a lawsuit brought by New York state against the Diocese of Albany for what the state attorney general’s office says was “[failure] to adequately fund, manage, and protect hospital employees’ hard-earned pensions.”

The prosecutor’s office alleges that the diocese “[failed] to take adequate measures” to secure the pension fund, including “failing to make any annual contributions to the pension for all but two years from 2000 to 2019 and hiding the collapse of the pension plan from former hospital workers who were vested in the plan.”

Parishioners in Buffalo, meanwhile, have challenged the diocesan parish merger and closure plan, with advocates securing a reprieve against the diocese at the state Supreme Court in July.

The state high court ultimately tossed the lawsuit out in September, ruling that the court had no jurisdiction over the dispute.

EWTN Spain President José Carlos González-Hurtado. / Credit: Nicolás Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).

José Carlos González-Hurtado, president of EWTN Spain, has published a new book, “The Scientific Evidence that Jesus Is God,” following the success of his first book on the existence of God, which has already gone through eight editions.

While his first bestseller offered scientific arguments supporting the existence of God, his new work uses scientific arguments to address the five possible options regarding Jesus Christ: myth, manipulated figure, liar, maniac, or Messiah.

In a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, González explained how he became a successful writer talking about science and faith and the providential meaning this has today before going through some aspects of the book.

ACI Prensa: You say in the book that despite considering yourself Catholic and being a practicing Catholic, for a time “faith was not a priority, nor did it serve as a foundation” in your life.

González: I was Catholic, as most Spaniards are, but in the sense that it wasn’t one of the things that defined me. Now, with complete certainty, when I define myself, I say, “I am Catholic.”

What does that mean? That it’s part of your life, that it’s not a jacket or a tie that you put on one day and not the next. That idea of ​​putting on and taking off faith is more Protestant than Catholic. We Catholics believe in the unity of life.

For me, it was a jacket that I put on and took off, and that, at certain times, I didn’t wear.

However, you have reflected and prayed a great deal to be able to distill a wealth of thought and heartfelt reflection on God, his existence, and Christ in two books. What happened?

Living in Israel changed me. I was the CEO of an American company. I was there when the second Palestinian “intifada” [uprising] took place, when the suicide bombings began. My family left, and that’s when I came to the conclusion that we all have to die.

Much later, I began giving lectures on the scientific evidence for the existence of God. One of those lectures became popular online, and then a publisher asked me to [write a book] on it. Neither of us thought it would be a top seller.

Providentially, one of the questions that always came up in the lectures I’ve given about the other book — more than 200 of them — is: “OK, fine, you’ve convinced me that God exists. Now, is Jesus Christ God? Is there evidence that Jesus Christ is God?”

And yes, there is evidence that Jesus Christ is God. Plenty of it. In fact, I often say that the most reasonable thing to believe is that Jesus Christ is God.

Of all those lectures, there seems to have been a special connection with young people. What has that experience been like?

I say what I say. I say it for everyone. Look, whether it gets through more or less, I don’t know. But I don’t have a special message for young people. In fact, I think that’s a mistake, because young or not, we all have a soul and we all have to save it, and each of us is responsible for our own.

What do I think is happening? That people my age, many of us are already entrenched in our ideas. I’m talking, for example, about atheism, about atheists. Atheists don’t just think that God doesn’t exist, but they’ve built their lives around the nonexistence of God. The difference is that I have evidence to support my faith, and they don’t.

Now, for a person that’s 50, 60, 70, or 40 years old, who has built his life around that, it’s very difficult to do a 180: What does that mean for my life? What do I have to change in my life? What will people say about me?

Older people have more inertia to make them not want to change. And young people don’t. So, often, what happens with young people is: “Hey, I’m an atheist, or I’m agnostic, because nobody has told me what you’re telling me.”

The book is proposing in the strongest way that faith is reasonable. That’s audacious, isn’t it?

I’ve noticed that many Catholic scientists are afraid to take the step of acknowledging the evidence that proves their faith. They suffer from learned alienation syndrome, or what’s called learned helplessness. Their heads are spinning with what science has discovered: that they are right, coming from a faith perspective.

These are scientists who lack the boldness to recognize what Nobel laureates have recognized. Max Planck says: “Science imposes God” [leads to the unavoidable conclusion that he exists]. Amfinsen says: “Only an idiot can be an atheist.” Barton says: “Science demonstrates [the existence of] God.”

Science doesn’t disprove God. How could it disprove him if God created science? How could he disprove himself? But that’s not it. It’s a path God has put there for us to reach him.

All I’m doing is presenting the evidence God has given us over the last 50 years. Why now? Because providentially, God has decided: “This is the path for humanity today.”

God has decided: Humanity today can reach him through science. And he provides us with evidence from physics, chemistry, mathematics, cosmology, and biology.

The book begins by demonstrating the historical existence of Jesus. Was that really necessary?

First, methodologically, I want to present all the options. What is Jesus Christ? The options are: He didn’t exist, in which case he’s a myth; he’s a manipulation — he didn’t say what we think he said; he was a liar; he was crazy; or, he’s the Messiah. What I do is present all the historical sources — non-Christian and, moreover, hostile to Christianity — that demonstrate that Jesus Christ exists.

Others say there is only the historical Jesus. In the book, you argue that anyone who says Jesus was “a good man” is taking refuge in “a fraudulent shelter.” In what sense?

Jesus truly challenges you. Once [you know] he exists, you read him or about him. And you say: This guy was special. Then you start looking for alternatives that won’t change your life. The comfortable alternative, like a cozy, dimly lit corner: “Jesus is a guru. He was a good guy.”

Jesus wasn’t a good guy. Jesus wasn’t. Because he didn’t want to be, either. He didn’t want to present himself as “I’m your buddy.”

That’s the fraudulent refuge, I’m sorry, because it’s the one that doesn’t help you take the step. It’s like agnosticism in the first book. Atheism is an affirmation. Agnosticism is the Sargasso Sea, a place where you’re stuck, there are no currents, no breezes. And you can come to the end of your life in that state. And that’s a shame.

Does rejecting him stem primarily from the implication that you’re going to have to change your life?

It depends on the person. I did think about it in the first book: Atheism often stems from pride. Also in the case of rejecting Jesus Christ. Then he’s no more than Socrates or Buddha.

Jesus’ teachings aren’t just about turning the other cheek. Jesus Christ speaks of hell many times. And I know that priests, bishops, and clergy don’t like to talk about it. None of us likes to talk about hell. But it’s true that it’s an integral part of the message of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ comes to save us. And if he comes to save us, it’s because we can be condemned. 

Science has been championed as something contrary to God. In the book, however, it’s shown to be practically God’s best ally, isn’t it?

This isn’t my own saying; I don’t remember who said it: “Science is opposed to religion as my thumb is opposed to my index finger. And, thanks to both of them, I can hold the spoon.” They are the two branches, two of the paths that lead us to God.

Science begins and develops in Christian environments. Virtually all universities have been founded by clergymen. So, to say otherwise, I think, is somewhat ignorant.

Science has evolved considerably since Voltaire, and, moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the origin of both philosophical and scientific thought lies in the same origin: What we call God.

You argue that miracles are evidence that Jesus is God. But one can counter that a miracle involves a leap of faith. How can we explain miracles as proof?

What is a miracle? It is a prodigious and surprising intervention of God in the causes of nature. What does it take to not believe in miracles? Not to believe in God. When someone tells you, “No, I don’t believe in miracles,” that is a proxy for “I don’t believe in God.”

If God exists, are miracles impossible? No. Are they contradictory? No. So, can they happen? Yes. The person who tells you, “God exists and miracles don’t,” is really saying, “I tell God what he can and can’t do.”

Since, as we have defined it, it is a prodigious intervention of God, only God can perform it. If Jesus Christ performs miracles in his own name, in his own name, “I tell you, get up,” then he is saying, “I am God.”

On the other hand, you propose that understanding faith as a gift can be counterproductive for Christians. In what sense?

This is very interesting. If it’s a gift and you lose faith, it means God has taken that gift away. It’s not just a gift. Faith, says St. Thomas Aquinas, is a movement of the intellect instructed by the will and assisted by grace. 

All three things are necessary. I maintain that God will always give grace to all those who have good understanding and an upright will.

St. Thomas Aquinas also said that unbelievers, normally, are not unbelieving due to a lack of understanding. It’s due to a lack of will; it’s because they don’t want to.

If you sincerely say, “I truly want to,” God will give it to you because he wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth and for everyone to be saved. And one of the things God does is not lie. When God says, “Ask and it will be given to you,” he’s not lying.

Yes, faith is not just a gift. It’s very dangerous [to say that it is] because it’s like, well, I didn’t get it. You know, it was the lottery, and I was like, ugh, what bad luck I didn’t win.

What’s in your heart about this book that we can’t pass over without talking about it?

The other day I was also asked, “What evidence convinces you the most?”

One piece of evidence is the prophets, the fact it was prophesied 700, 600, 800 years before Jesus Christ what would happen with Jesus Christ and moreover, only happened with Jesus Christ. And we also have proof that they wrote it down centuries earlier. Because sometimes people say, “Oh, well, but that was done to make it all square.” No.

We have the complete Book of Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah was written in 750 B.C., but we have a complete copy from the fourth century B.C., where it mentions that the Messiah will be crucified.

So that we understand each other, Isaiah didn’t know what crucifixion was, because it didn’t exist in the Jewish world, and yet he has a vision: The Messiah will come and the Messiah will be crucified. And that’s exactly what happens with Jesus Christ.

The second piece are the Eucharistic miracles. This is a further step: It demonstrates the divinity of Jesus Christ. But it also demonstrates transubstantiation.

It has been scientifically proven by independent laboratories that the consecrated host has sometimes transformed into living, cardiac tissue that emanates type AB blood and also contains leukocytes.

Faced with this, the atheist, the agnostic, simply ignores it and says no, I’m sure there’s a trick. But look, it’s external universities, independent laboratories that have certified this.

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

Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gniezno, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference (left), and Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, embrace after signing the joint declaration “Courage of Extended Hands” at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wrocław, Poland, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the historic correspondence between the Polish and German Bishops’ Conferences. / Credit: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz/Rafael Ledschbor

EWTN News, Nov 20, 2025 / 09:10 am (CNA).

In 1965, Polish bishops sent a letter of reconciliation to their German counterparts. “We grant forgiveness and ask for forgiveness,” they wrote on Nov. 18. The German episcopate responded on Dec. 5, 1965, expressing the hope that “the evil spirit of hatred may never again separate our hands.”

It was a significant two-sided gesture of reconciliation after World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, killing many people and establishing concentration camps on Polish soil. Sixty years later, a commemoration took place in Wrocław on Tuesday, Nov. 18, with delegates of both episcopates including their chairs, German Bishop Georg Bätzing and Polish Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda. Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś and German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki were also present.

They gathered at the monument to Archbishop Bolesław Kominek — later cardinal — who had been behind the idea of the Polish letter and served as archbishop in Wrocław.

This Polish prelate showed how to “bind a prophetic voice with reality.” Neither was he “naive nor a dreamer,” nor “a highly pragmatic Church leader,” Bätzing acknowledged.

On the contrary, he was a Polish patriot who knew the German language and culture, so he “was predestined to be a bridge-builder.” He did the necessary work to achieve his goal, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference stressed.

“The Polish-German reconciliation was found in the person of Cardinal Kominek,” Bätzing underlined.

Current Metropolitan Archbishop of Wrocław Józef Kupny called the letter of the Polish bishops a “visionary step.” At the commemoration, he mentioned that the letter was attacked by communists who ruled in Poland 60 years ago. “Also today this message may arouse opposition, controversy, or misunderstanding,” he added.

Yet we must proceed with similar acts in “our daily choices, decisions, and attitudes” so as to create a “relay passed on by generations based on truth and real forgiveness,” the Polish prelate emphasized.

“True change does not begin with grand treaties, but with our hearts,” he said.

The participants then moved to the cathedral for a Mass. The commemoration was followed by an exhibition — “Reconciliation for Europe” — ecumenical prayer, and an international conference the day after.

The bishops’ representatives signed a declaration titled “Courage of Extended Hands.” The text affirms that the motto “We Forgive and We Ask for Forgiveness” is not history, as it guides us today and must do so in the future. Germany and Poland are co-responsible for Europe and the world nowadays and recognize the importance of “a European idea, a shared place of rights and peace,” the declaration said.

The churches in Poland and Germany want to “continue to work to break down and overcome enmities in Europe.”

The bishops are convinced that “Europe must stand together against violence,” referring to “the Russian war against Ukraine.” They encourage “countries to do everything to ensure the survival of the Ukrainian people” and to “contribute to the defense of fundamental values.”

“Practical solidarity with those under attack and compassion are needed,” the declaration reads.

null / Credit: OlegRi/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

After pushback from investors, Microsoft has signed a statement agreeing not to discriminate against religious or conservative nonprofit groups seeking a discount the tech giant offers to other nonprofits.

On Oct. 10, Microsoft and Boyer Research, a group of shareholders represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal group, signed the agreement. News of the agreement was published on Nov. 14.

The shareholders had planned to put forth a proposal asking Microsoft on Dec. 5 at its annual meeting for a report on the company’s discounting practices, according to Bloomberg News.   

The shareholders agreed not to move forward with the proposal after Microsoft signed the agreement, which stated that nonprofits no longer needed to affirm a nondiscrimination attestation. The company also said a categorical ban on pregnancy centers would be removed.

In a statement to CNA on Nov. 19, Microsoft said: “The broad and diverse array of nonprofits is one of America’s great strengths, and the purpose of this nonprofit program is to provide discounts to a broad group of organizations that qualify as nonprofits under the federal tax code. We don’t think it’s desirable to pick and choose among these organizations based on ideological orientation. In this instance, we found that a small number of organizations that should have been eligible for these discounts were not receiving them. We’ve fixed this and those organizations are now eligible.”

ADF attorney Alexandra Gaiser, who represented the shareholders, told CNA that the legal group and some pregnancy centers they represent are now in “wait-and-see mode.”

She said since the agreement was signed, one pregnancy center has applied for the discount and been denied, but “a couple have received the nonprofit discount.”

“We are looking forward to seeing more nonprofits get the discount,” Gaiser said.

Microsoft is not the only corporation alleged to have discriminatory practices against faith-based or conservative groups that ADF has contended with.

ADF filed two federal lawsuits this year, one against California-based software company Asana and the other against OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, who both agreed in settlements to give previously withheld nonprofit discounts to Holy Sexuality, a Christian nonprofit group that makes videos and courses that teach about biblical principles on human sexuality.

In the settlements, both tech companies said they would remove barriers to the discounts for religious organizations, according to ADF.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier shared a letter he sent to Microsoft on social media on Nov. 3 in which he said the state might take legal action against the company if discriminatory practices against religious groups continued.

St. Patrick as depicted in Martin Scorsese’s “The Saints.” / Credit: Fox Nation

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The second season of Martin Scorsese’s docudrama series “The Saints” premiered on Fox Nation on Nov. 16. The series highlights the extraordinary lives of men and women who embodied their faith and became saints in the Catholic Church. The new season includes episodes on St. Patrick, St. Peter, St. Thomas Becket, and St. Carlo Acutis.

Created by Matti Leshem and developed by Scorsese, himself a Catholic, the show’s new episodes will be released weekly from Nov. 16 to Dec. 7. The first season included episodes on St. Mary Magdalene, St. Moses the Black, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joan of Arc, St. John the Baptist, and St. Sebastian.

Leshem, who co-founded a production company focused on Jewish history and Judeo-Christian dialogue, spoke to CNA in an interview about the inspiration behind the series and how his own Jewish faith has been impacted by diving into the lives of Catholic saints.

The filmmaker shared that he was introduced to the lives of the saints from a young age and was “really moved by them.”

From the ages of 10 to 15 Leshem attended a Catholic school in Copenhagen that was run by Assumptionist nuns. Despite his father being an Israeli ambassador and having a Jewish school available to them, his father “prized education over all things … and he sent me to a Catholic school because that was the best school.”

“I was really exposed to all those stories and I was really taken with it … And I think in adulthood, as I kind of became a filmmaker and told different stories, I thought these are incredible stories of humanity, the story of the saints, and what is it like to be someone who’s actually willing, in many cases, to die for the thing you believe in,” he said.

He added: “I also felt that there was a strong need at this moment, especially, to tell stories about faith. And that really is where the inspiration came from.”

Leshem explained that he believes a series like this is needed right now because “social media has really fragmented society in every way — spiritually, politically, I think especially for young people — I think we’re kind of suffering a spiritual crisis.”

“It’s really been a struggle for young people who are constantly being faced with the comparative ego on social media and this is a time for people to go inwards and to try to find their faith, and the great monotheistic faith traditions are really the thing that we’ve always gone back to time and time again,” he shared.

One saint who will be featured in the second season who Leshem believes is a relatable figure for many today is St. Carlo Acutis — the first millennial saint who was canonized on Sept. 7.

“I think what’s beautiful about Carlo is that he was a regular teenager in some ways, but he also had this deep, spiritual connection from a very early age. He knew that his relationship with Christ was very special,” Leshem shared.

The filmmaker recalled going to Assisi to visit the body of Acutis at the Sanctuary of the Renunciation and witnessing hundreds upon hundreds of schoolchildren lined up to see the beloved saint.

“It was an incredible experience to see that,” he added. “So, we wanted to tell the story of a relevant, modern saint. And I do think that Carlo is a really good example of that resurgence of faith that I hope that we’re seeing.”

In regard to how his Jewish faith has been impacted by delving into the life of Catholics saints, Leshem said: “I feel privileged to be having the most important conversation I think there is to have every single day because I work in the world of saints.”

“I revere the saints and I understand their holiness,” he added.

He pointed out that “a lot of our saints are Jews” — referencing Sts. Peter and Paul, for example —  and with this in mind he tries “to bring a kind of authenticity from my own tradition around that.”

“For me, I’m very comfortable living in a world where I understand the covenant of Judaism and I understand the expression of Christ’s message. It just all feels like a continuum,” he said.

As for what he hopes viewers will take away from the series, Leshem said: “I want believers to be reignited in their faith and I want every atheist that watches the series to be interested and to kind of lean towards the ability — everybody needs to believe in something. I think it’s really hard to be a believer, but I think it’s much harder to be an atheist. And so I am hoping that our series inspires everyone wherever they are on the spectrum of belief.”

Editor’s notes: Due to the content and context of the saints’ stories, including graphic violence and gory details of war, the series is recommended for an adult audience. Additionally, each episode ends with a short discussion between three panelists: Jesuit priest Father James Martin, author and poet Mary Karr, and author and senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Paul Elie.

Police vehicles surround the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Oct. 31, 2025, in Broadview, Illinois. / Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images

Long Island, New York, Nov 19, 2025 / 18:38 pm (CNA).

A coalition of Catholic faith leaders filed suit Nov. 19 to seek access to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, where clergy have been denied entry to distribute Communion.

The complaint alleged that ICE’s refusal to allow clergy to pray with detainees or offer Communion violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Catholic spiritual leaders attempted to bring Communion to detainees at the ICE facility Nov. 1 after making formal requests to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, and officials denied entry.

“Despite the long history of religious access to the Broadview detention center established through the persistence and perseverance of the late Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM, and Sister Pat Murphy, RSM, recent months have brought shifting, contradictory, and often opaque communication from DHS and ICE officials. Faced with this lack of honesty and transparency, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” said Michael N. Okińczyc-Cruz, executive director of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, in a statement.  

Asked Nov. 17 whether it would take a judge’s order to get Communion to detainees at the Broadview facility, Nate Madden, DHS principal deputy assistant secretary for communications, told CNA: “I will not engage in hypotheticals about Broadview’s policies.” He suggested faith leaders contact ICE for entry. 

“What we say is that all religious leaders and religious people who want to come and take pastoral care, and they want to take Communion or Bible studies or anything like that, to come into our detention facilities, they can reach out to ICE,” Madden said. 

Federal court continues review of ICE facility

In another case, a Chicago-based federal judge postponed a hearing scheduled for Nov. 19 to assess whether ICE had improved living conditions for migrants detained at the suburban Broadview facility.

As reports of the number of people held at the facility sharply dropped this month, Judge Robert W. Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said he would conduct a hearing on conditions at the facility in December.

Earlier this month, Gettleman issued a temporary restraining order directing DHS and ICE to improve living conditions at Broadview. Detainees alleged they were being held for several days in squalid conditions, with clogged, overflowing toilets, poor-quality food, inadequate sleeping arrangements, and a lack of access to basic hygiene supplies. On Nov. 5, Gettleman — appointed to the bench in 1994 by President Bill Clinton — ordered that all detainees be provided with soap, towels, toilet paper, oral hygiene products (including toothbrushes and toothpaste), and menstrual products.

His Nov. 5 order further specified: “Defendants shall provide each detainee with at least three full meals per day that meet the U.S. recommended dietary allowance … Defendants shall provide each detainee with a bottle of potable water with each meal and bottled water upon request free of charge.” The court also directed that paperwork provided to detainees “should include an accompanying Spanish translation.”

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded to the lawsuit by noting that Broadview is technically a “field office,” not a “detention facility.” She said religious organizations are welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities.

Class action status

In a significant development for the plaintiffs, Gettleman this week granted the detainees’ request to proceed as a class action. The decision could allow the named plaintiffs to represent not only themselves but also potentially hundreds of current and future migrants processed at Broadview.

On Nov. 13, the ACLU of Illinois — one of the legal groups representing the detainees alongside the MacArthur Justice Center and the Chicago office of Eimer Stahl — said they had completed an inspection of the Broadview facility.

“We are grateful that the court gave us an opportunity to inspect the Broadview facility,” the group said. “We remain committed to ensuring that any detainees at Broadview are treated with dignity, have access to counsel, and are provided due process.”

Religious accommodations not addressed

Gettleman did not address detainee complaints concerning a lack of religious accommodations at Broadview, including the ability to receive holy Communion. The lawsuit alleges that detainees have been unconstitutionally denied access to clergy and faith leaders “who have provided religious services at Broadview for years but are now denied the ability to provide pastoral care under defendants’ command.”

“For many years, faith leaders and members of the clergy … provided pastoral care to individuals detained inside Broadview,” the detainees’ lawyers told the court. “Now, no one is allowed inside Broadview. Faith leaders seeking to provide religious services are blocked from providing Communion and spiritual support to detainees, even from outside.”

Catholic leaders in Chicago attempted to minister to detainees at Broadview on Nov. 1. Auxiliary Bishop José María García-Maldonado and others were not admitted, despite requesting access weeks in advance and attempting to follow DHS guidelines.

Pope Leo XIV said earlier this month that the spiritual needs of migrants in detention must be taken seriously by government authorities. “I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people,” he said. “Many times, they’ve been separated from their families for a good amount of time. No one knows what’s happening, but their own spiritual needs should be attended to.”

U.S. bishops likewise issued a special message Nov. 12 calling for the human dignity of migrants to be respected.

Sister of Mercy JoAnn Persch, a longtime immigrant rights advocate, died on Nov. 14, 2025, at age 91. / Credit: Kathleen Murphy/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 19, 2025 / 17:48 pm (CNA).

Longtime immigrant rights advocate Sister JoAnn Persch died on Nov. 14 at age 91.

Two weeks before her death, Persch attempted to bring Communion to detainees at the Broadview, Illinois, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility where for decades the Sisters of Mercy ministered to migrants and refugees. Officials denied her entry.

Persch and Sister Pat Murphy were founding members of the Su Casa Catholic Worker House in Chicago, serving refugees from Central America who were survivors of war, torture, and political persecution. From 1997 until 2002, the pair ministered at Casa Notre Dame in Chicago, a shelter for women fleeing domestic violence or recovering from addiction.

Beginning in January 2007, the two sisters attended prayer vigils every Friday morning outside the Broadview ICE facility where they encountered migrants scheduled for deportation and followed Murphy’s advice that “prayer is powerful, but you also have to put your body on the line.”

Through perseverance, Persch said she gained entry to the ICE facility during those years despite initial repeated refusals from government officials.

“Our motto is peacefully, respectfully, but never take no for an answer, so we kept working with ICE,” Persch said Nov. 1. “Finally, we got inside.”

‘It was so traumatic’

Persch said eventually she was allowed to ride the buses to the airport with detainees after working with ICE. The sisters took down names of detainees and their families’ phone numbers.

“Then we’d spend the morning at home calling the families,” Persch said.

“We always worked with the families,” Persch said. “It was so traumatic. But then we were finally able to go in, helping families, meeting those being deported, listening to them, talking, praying.”

“We had a good relationship with ICE. We’d talk to each other,” Persch said.

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, said: “These nuns were often the last to see these immigrants before they embarked on their life-changing journeys. Sister JoAnn’s passing is the end of a life of kindness and caring. But it is more. It is a reminder and a challenge to each of us to welcome the stranger and choose kindness over hate and fear.”

Because of relentless advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees, including lobbying for a law to provide spiritual care for migrants in state detention facilities, the two sisters were affectionately nicknamed “Rabble” and “Rouser” by friends and fellow advocates.

In 2018, U.S. Capitol Police arrested the pair during the Catholic Day of Action for Action for Dreamers in Washington, D.C., a nonviolent civil disobedience protest in support of immigrants.

Persch’s advocacy also won media attention such as from comedian and political commentator Samantha Bee on her television show, “Full Frontal.”

Looking for housing

In 2022, the two nuns cofounded Catherine’s Caring Cause in response to a request to help a family seeking asylum, a mother from Sierra Leone with five children, to resettle in the Chicago area. Catherine’s Caring Cause, named in honor of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, assists refugee families in finding shelter and providing basic necessities.

On Nov. 1, Persch said the organization had found homes for 15 families living in cars and they were looking for housing for a 16th.

Persch entered the Sisters of Mercy in Des Plaines, Illinois, 73 years ago. A native of Milwaukee, she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics from St. Xavier College (now University) in Chicago and a master’s in religious education from Loyola University. Persch professed her perpetual vows on Aug. 16, 1958.

Sister Susan Sanders, president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, said: “How will it be when we will miss JoAnn’s clear voice — quiet, insistent, regular, and respectful — about the new and daily injustices being perpetrated on already-suffering people? How will it be when we will miss her incisive questions, like those she posed to prison guards about why it would be unsafe to offer the Eucharist to imprisoned immigrants?”