Catholic News

In the year since his pontificate began, Pope Leo XIV has come out strongly against the death penalty, repeatedly affirming the Catholic Church's relatively recent declaration that capital punishment is immoral and should be abolished.

In April, the Holy Father spoke out against executions several times, including to pro-life advocates in his hometown of Chicago, whom he urged to continue seeking the abolishment of the death penalty in the United States.

Earlier, speaking aboard the papal plane while returning from his apostolic trip to Africa, Leo also called for an end to the death penalty.

"I condemn the taking of people's lives," he said. "I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people — from conception to natural [death] — their lives should be respected and protected."

In September 2025, meanwhile, he argued that supporting the death penalty is antithetical to the pro-life position.

Can executions ever be permitted?

Leo's repeated entreaties against the death penalty articulate a relatively new but forceful magisterial teaching in the Catholic Church, one promulgated in 2018 by Pope Francis.

The revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges that while the death penalty was "long considered an appropriate response" to serious crimes, in the modern world there is "an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes."

"In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state," the catechism says, while also pointing to "more effective systems of detention" that "ensure the due protection of citizens" but "do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption."

The Catechism bluntly refers to the death penalty as "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."

The 2018 revision of the Catechism came after several decades of shifting views within the Catholic Church on the death penalty. In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II wrote that punishments for crimes "ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity," specifically "when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society."

"Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent," the pope wrote.

The most recent revision of the Catechism at that time stated that authorities must adhere to "bloodless means" of punishment if they are "sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor."

Pope Benedict XVI, meanwhile, continued advocating against capital punishment, urging in 2011, for instance, that society's leaders should "make every effort to eliminate the death penalty and to reform the penal system in a way that ensures respect for the prisoners' human dignity."

Though the teaching appears uncomplicated, it would ostensibly seem that the Church does leave at least some room for dispute over whether the death penalty can ever be morally applied — such as in cases where an "effective system of detention" does not exist and there is no other way of properly detaining a dangerous criminal.

Moral theologians told EWTN News that the issue is still somewhat in flux, though the teaching of the Church leaves little wiggle room at least in countries such as the United States.

Father Phillip Brown, the president and rector of St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, noted that "natural law ... acknowledges the right of self-defense," including "violence and killing to defend oneself."

But such extreme measures can only be used "as a last resort when other means to stop unjust aggression would not be capable of doing so."

Brown suggested that societies may "evolve" to the extent that "it is never necessary to kill a person to protect society from further harm, because modern societies have the means to protect themselves from such dangers in less egregious ways than killing the offender."

He noted, however, that such an understanding gives rise to "a concomitant duty on the part of society to deal with offenders in a humane way, and certainly ways that are not less humane than killing them."

Monsignor Stuart Swetland, the president of Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, said theologians are "still working to figure out" what "inadmissible" means in this context.

"We're in that transition stage where we have a true development of doctrine," he said.

Still, he argued, the moral implications of capital punishment itself leave little room for uncertainty.

"For the death penalty to be carried out, someone must have a will to directly kill another person," he said. "And I think it's always wrong to directly kill somebody — to intend death."

He distinguished between deliberately causing someone's death and inadvertently bringing about death when using violence to defend oneself or others.

"In war, and in police actions, the intent is to stop a perpetrator in carrying out unjust aggression," he pointed out. "If we capture [a soldier or a prisoner], we treat them humanely."

"We'd much rather deter than wound, wound than maim, and maim than kill," he continued. "With the death penalty we have to intend the death penalty. I think that intent is immoral."

He further drew a line between what he described as "prudential judgments" that reflect Church teaching on the one hand and the unambiguous teaching of the Church on the other.

He pointed out, for instance, that the U.S. bishops advocate "certain policies about immigration." The national bishops' conference has regularly petitioned the government to carry out "just immigration policies."

"Can you disagree with those? I think so," Swetland said. Yet the Church's recent promulgation on the death penalty is less ambiguous, he said.

"It says the Church 'teaches' this about the death penalty," he said. "I think the way it's presented, it's more than a policy."

Burden of proof for death penalty 'extraordinarily high'

Father Thomas Petri, OP, STD, a Dominican friar and theologian who served as the president of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, told EWTN News that the 2018 revision of the Catechism generated "a lot of confusion about the status of a state's authority to impose on the death penalty on a criminals who commit extremely grave crimes."

Petri pointed out that the Catechism does not state that the death penalty is "intrinsically evil." However, such actions, he said, "are never moral, regardless of the times, circumstances, or intention of those who do them."

"The Church teaches that every person is created in the image of God and called to eternal communion with him," he said. "This is our fundamental human dignity that cannot be taken away. Our dignity can grow with good and holy actions but can also diminish with sinful actions, though it can never be destroyed. Our fundamental dignity always remains."

The priest argued that the "best way to understand the revision is that the Church is exercising a prophetic judgment about the moral direction of civil society."

"It is not simply saying that the state never had authority to impose capital punishment," he said. "It is saying that the conditions of punishment should now be ordered so that even the worst offender's fundamental dignity remains publicly recognized, society is protected, and the guilty are not definitively deprived of the possibility of repentance and redemption."

Under that teaching, he said, "one should not speak casually of circumstances in which the death penalty remains permissible."

"The burden of proof would be extraordinarily high," he argued. "At most, one could imagine a case in which no nonlethal means exist to protect innocent life. But that would be an exceptional breakdown of ordinary penal order, not a normal application of Catholic teaching today."

The U.S. is among the few developed countries in the world that still regularly carries out executions. The country's Catholic bishops, particularly state bishops' conferences, regularly appeal the government to halt executions, especially in states like Texas and Florida where capital punishment is frequent.

Still, a majority of U.S. Catholics are supportive of the death penalty, though polling indicates that Catholics who attend Mass regularly are much more likely to oppose the death penalty than Catholics whose attendance is less frequent.

In December 2025, meanwhile, a group of Catholics and other advocates formed the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network, which is taking part in the campaign, told EWTN News that the initiative represents "an exciting expression of the growing momentum and interest in ending capital punishment in the United States."

"The impressive range of organizations involved in [the campaign] represents the incredibly effective efforts happening across the country for this critical mission," she said.

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In preparation for the Solemnity of Pentecost, this year celebrated on May 24, EWTN will release daily recordings of the Holy Spirit Novena on its Live Mass & Devotions YouTube page beginning Friday, May 15.

"It's the oldest novena in the life of the Church, going back to the time where Jesus ascended into heaven, in that time where he promised the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, and where the apostles gathered together in the Upper Room with the Blessed Virgin," EWTN Chaplain Father John Paul Mary, MFVA, said. "You can read the exact account in the Acts of the Apostles itself, where they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit after our Lord ascended into heaven."

Father John Paul, who will lead the novena each day, explained that each day will feature a meditation on the Holy Spirit, along with a consecration prayer. "After the consecration prayer, there's a prayer for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit," he said, noting that there is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit connected with each day.

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear. The nine fruits associated with each day of the novena are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

"The Holy Spirit is really the way in which salvation is carried out in the life of the Church," Father John Paul said. "Christ is known through the power of the Holy Spirit and that nobody can really say Jesus is Lord, Saint Paul says, unless it is in the Holy Spirit."

Father John Paul emphasized the importance of praying to the Holy Spirit leading up to Pentecost as the disciples did with the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that "we can receive the Holy Spirit" like they did.

While some may regard the Holy Spirit as the "forgotten person of the Trinity," Father John Paul said "it's really the Holy Spirit that changes us, that conforms us into Jesus himself and makes us other Christs in the world."

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Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis released a pastoral letter to families on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the 10th anniversary of his installation as archbishop.

Titled "Only One Thing Is Necessary: How Catholic Families Can Strive To Be United in This Life and the Next", the letter emphasizes that strong Catholic families are essential to the future of both the Church and society.

The archbishop says he wrote the letter in response to parents who desire the Church's help in raising faithful families. Drawing from more than three decades of ministry, he notes the deep love and concern he has witnessed, recalling families "who want nothing more than to lead their families to Jesus" and who "instinctively understand and model what Jesus taught Martha in the midst of her anxiety: 'only one thing is necessary,' being with Jesus (Luke 10:42)."

Hebda emphasizes that the future of the Church and society depends on strong families, quoting St. John Paul II:

"The family is the first and vital cell of society. In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family ... As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live."

The archbishop outlines the urgent challenges facing modern families, such as "a general societal decline in religious practice and church affiliation," the prioritizing of money over relationships, increasing fatherlessness, mental illness, and addictions, loneliness, and declining marriage and birthrates.

"Raising a Christian family has never been easy," he writes. "On top of those perennial challenges, today's families are faced with challenges particular to our time."

Of the ubiquity of screens, the archbishop asks: "What would our families and our society look like if we spent but a fraction of what we spend on screens looking at the faces of our family members?"

Despite the "uphill battle" families are fighting, he urges them not to lose heart: "Dear families, please take heart. You are not alone. The Church journeys with you, the Church loves you, and the Church needs you!"

In the letter, Hebda encourages sacramental marriage as the foundation, calling on parishes to become "families of families," and to help Catholic families by providing concrete support for passing on the faith.

In this context, the archbishop invites the entire archdiocese to read and discuss the document over the coming year (July 2026–June 2027) as a pastoral priority. 

Holy examples of family life

The archbishop draws on the examples of several holy couples, including the Ulma family, who along with their six children were killed by the Nazis in 1944 for giving refuge to Jews. Pope Francis beatified the whole family in 2023. 

He calls the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, who were the first married couple to be canonized together, relatable models of ordinary holiness.

He said the hardworking, middle class couple "made it a point to do three things very well: to love each other and their children unconditionally; to teach their children about God and the virtuous life; and to worship God at home and in the parish."

He encourages families to do the same.

Hebda commends the letter to Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, ending it with a prayer to the Holy Family of Nazareth composed by Pope Francis.

The full letter is available as a free PDF download, in addition to a Spanish-language version, an audio version and a printed keepsake edition. Parish resources and small-group guides are also provided on the website.

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It took almost 25 minutes for a crowd that organizers said was in the thousands to inch its way from Parliament Hill down Wellington Street to Elgin Street during the National March for Life in Ottawa.

Members of every ethnic background, young and elderly, priests, families and church groups carried pro-life signs and walked the streets of the Canadian capital to press for an end to abortion and euthanasia in Canada.

The day began with liturgies celebrated at Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Patrick's Basilica, and St. Clement. Ottawa-Cornwall Archbishop Marcel Damphousse was the main celebrant at the cathedral, joined by papal nuncio Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Bryan Bayda, and some 30 priests and deacons.

At a midday rally before the march, organizer Debbie Duval told the crowd, "We march on a Thursday, in Ottawa, because that's when our legislators are sitting in the House of Commons. We want them to hear us. We want them to know we're here."

Matthew Wojciechoski, Project Manager at Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), which organizes the annual event, told the crowd, "We are here to call upon the members of Parliament to enact legal protections for all human beings from conception up to natural death. To remind Parliament of four simple words, 'Thou shalt not kill.'"

The March for Life takes place in May to mark the month in 1969 when the omnibus bill that decriminalized abortion in Canada was passed.

This year's march fell on the very anniversary of the vote and adopted as its theme Jesus' command, "Follow me."

CLC national president Jeff Gunnarson asked the crowd to pray for founder and former president Jim Hughes who is in hospital with pneumonia and "not doing well."

"Jim devoted decades of his life to the unborn and building this movement in Canada. Many of us are standing here today because of sacrifices he made long before we arrived," Gunnarson said.

The featured speaker was Aleš Primc, co-founder of the Slovenian political party Voice for Children and Families that recently forced a referendum to overturn the country's assisted suicide law. He led pro-lifers in a series of loud "hellos" to people of all ages, from unborn children to "people with gray hair like me."

"Saying "hello" is the start of recognizing our shared humanity," he said.

Speaker Rebecca Kiessling, a U.S. lawyer and founder of the organization Save the 1 — a reference to the one per cent of babies conceived in rape — said she narrowly escaped "the death penalty" in the womb at two abortion clinics.

Kiessling, who was conceived in rape, has dedicated her legal career to advocating for the rights of mothers whose children were similarly conceived. She lobbies for abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Born four years prior to the landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, she said she survived only because "the (existing) law in Michigan protected me."

"I did not deserve the death penalty for the crime of the man who raped my mother. My mother chose abortion. I wasn't lucky: I was protected. The law matters."

Conservative MP Arnold Viersen brought his two toddler children to the stage with him, one of them amusing the crowd by peeking through the railing and jumping around loudly enough to be heard over the public address system.

The Parliament Hill speeches and the march through Ottawa are the centrepoint of four days of events, from a candlelight vigil the night before to pray and remember babies lost to abortion, a banquet Thursday evening, and a youth summit on Friday.

Gunnarson summed up why the march continues each year. "Sometimes this work can feel difficult, sometimes we feel that no progress is being made, but then we gather here and we remember that truth does not expire, love does not quit, and courage inspires courage."

Pro-life supporters march in British Columbia

Across the country, ihundreds also gathered at the annual March for Life in Victoria, British Columbia's capital city, where participants marched through downtown streets carrying pro-life signs and banners before rallying at the legislature to hear speakers, including Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith.

The Victoria event drew families, clergy, students, and supporters from across the province for speeches, prayer, and music focused on the protection of unborn life and care for vulnerable people. Organizers also highlighted concerns surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide.

In his homily at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Victoria, Smith acknowledged that many pro-life advocates can feel discouraged by what he described as "a powerful juggernaut moving forward and expanding in a manner that appears irresistible," pointing to abortion and the expansion of euthanasia in Canada.

But he urged participants not to lose hope, saying, "God is at work, God is on the move, and God is an unstoppable force. His saving will simply cannot be thwarted by human iniquity."

"This is why we march," he said. "It is incumbent upon all of us to look for any and every opportunity to witness to the truth of God's own love for life."

Speaking later in front of the B.C. Legislature, Smith said the annual March for Life was part of a broader effort to build "a culture of life" through speaking, celebrating, and serving.

"Our march is a very peaceful event, and a great occasion for us to witness to the beauty of all life," he said, adding that every human being is "willed, loved and necessary."

He also said society needs "radically transformed human relationships, defined no longer by an extreme individualism and a false notion of freedom, but by a self-giving love that welcomes the other as gift."

Several other March for Life events are also scheduled across Canada later this month and into June.

The Toronto March for Life will take place Saturday, May 23 at 11 a.m. at Queen's Park North in Toronto. Organizers say a prayer service will be held beforehand at 9:30 a.m., along with workshops and educational events following the march.

The Halifax March for Life in Nova Scotia is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 at 1 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Halifax.

The Prince Edward Island March for Life will be held Saturday, June 6 at 2 p.m. at Central Christian Church in Charlottetown.

The Catholic Register with B.C. Catholic files

This article was orignally published by the B.C. Catholic and is reprinted here, with adaptations, with permission. 

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The U.S. State Department reiterated an offer of $100 million in aid for Cuba to be distributed by the Catholic Church and other humanitarian organizations.

In a May 13 statement, the State Department said the United States "continues to seek meaningful reforms to Cuba's communist system, which has only served to enrich the elites and condemn the Cuban people to poverty."

According to the statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. also made numerous private offers to provide assistance to the Cuban people, including support for free satellite internet and $100 million in direct humanitarian assistance.

"The regime refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people, who are in desperate need of assistance due to the failures of Cuba's corrupt regime."

"The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical life-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance," the department indicated.

The funds would go toward numerous programs and organizations, many run by the Church, that provide shelter, food assistance, safe water, and home repair throughout the nation.

Funds would require a 'regime change'

"The offer is $100 million, but it basically requires the Cuban government to surrender and undergo regime change," Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami told EWTN News. "The government doesn't seem to be willing to do that yet."

"Cuba right now is experiencing a total economic collapse because of the restrictions that the U.S. government has put on the importation of oil and fuel to the island," he said. "So throughout the island, people are undergoing extended periods of blackouts of no electricity. And no fuel to put in the cars."

The State Department previously "offered $3 million and then later on, another $6 million of assistance to Cuba," Wenski said. It was "directed through the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Relief Services of the United States Bishops Conference was the conduit."

Along with the Archdiocese of Miami, "they brought supplies – hurricane relief supplies, food, and supplies to the Caritas agency of the Catholic Church in Cuba," he said.

"It's still ongoing," he explained. "That total $6 million has not been spent yet because it takes a while to get the stuff distributed, because if you don't have any electricity and you don't have any gas and you're lacking transportation, it's hard to get stuff from the port to the affected areas."

"The $6 million or $3 million is a drop in the bucket," he said. "The $100 million is in the market of what Cuba really needs," but the funds "would imply that there would be serious fundamental changes in Cuban governance that would probably go to the state, or the state would be involved in it."

Following the offer, Rubio said the U.S. will give Cuba "a chance," but he does not believe there will be a regime change.

"There is no economy in Cuba," he said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox on May 13. Any wealth in Cuba "doesn't go to the people" and "doesn't even go to the government."

Rubio said the wealth is controlled by a private company "owned by military generals. They take all the money."

"This is a country where people are literally now eating garbage from the streets, but they have a company that controls all of the moneymaking there that's sitting on $15-16 billion," Rubio said.

"I believe – it's my personal opinion – you cannot change the economic trajectory of Cuba as long as the people who are in charge of it now are in charge of it," he said.

"That's what's going to have to change because these people have proven incapable. I hope I'm wrong," he said. "But I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think we're going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime."

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Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner faced scrutiny from Democratic senators over the agency's failure to release legally required counts of homeless people, a lapse Catholic Charities USA says undermines efforts to address rising homelessness.

Turner testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development on May 14 about proposed decreases in HUD's budget from $84.2 billion to $73.5 billion for fiscal 2027.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, pressed Turner about the overdue 2025 Annual Homeless Assessment Report and the Point-in-Time Count, both of which provide yearly data on people experiencing homelessness and help lawmakers track trends and allocate aid.

Gillibrand acknowledged "shared goals" to stop funneling aid to programs that do not help people get out of homelessness but challenged Turner on his approach, especially in light of the missing reports.

"If your way, not funding all these programs, is better than the way this committee has tried to address homelessness over decades, I want to see the results," she said. "Where is the homeless data report? It is over a year late, and that would give us the data to see if your theory about how to address homelessness actually works."

Turner, a former NFL cornerback, pointed to rising homelessness under the Biden administration despite "record funding," and blamed the "unprecedented" government shutdown and the administration being in "constant litigation" for the lack of reports.

"Mr. Secretary, I think you're obfuscating. What way does litigation slow down your report?" Gillibrand said.

"I just want to know, did you get the number down? Do we have 700,000 homeless still, or is it a million or 1.5 million?" Gillibrand asked. She said the lack of reports "doesn't let this committee do our job."

Ranking member Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, also pressed Turner over decreases in HUD's Continuum of Care grants despite requirements mandated in fiscal 2026. "Mr. Secretary, our bill requires you to get this money out," she said. "All of the data, all of the research shows that economic factors are driving homelessness."

Federal grants from HUD's Continuum of Care directly support Catholic Charities' ability to provide services to homeless people.

"Access to safe, decent housing is a fundamental human right that should be attainable for all of God's children, and the Catholic Charities network remains committed to addressing the rising rates of homelessness and the severe lack of affordable housing around the nation," Kevin Brennan, vice president for Catholic Charities USA, told EWTN News.

"Catholic Charities USA and its 169 member agencies use the Annual Homeless Assessment Report and the Point-in-Time Count as tools in evaluating the level of homelessness locally and across the country, seeking to alleviate that urgent need," he said.

"Importantly, these reports also help state housing finance agencies set goals and priorities in Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs), including tax credits and set-aside programs," he said. "Catholic Charities agencies use this data to comment on local QAPs and advocate for directing resources to those with the greatest need," he said.

Housing rule change

Turner also faced questions on May 12 at a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing about a proposed HUD rule change that could cause families to lose federal housing assistance if some family members lack legal immigration status.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has voiced opposition to the rule change, warning it would "require these families to make a heartbreaking choice — endure family separation so that eligible members could continue to qualify for critical subsidized housing programs or stay together and forfeit any housing assistance."

At the hearing on May 12, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, asked Turner how the housing rule might impact mixed-status families.

Turner said, "Families have to make good decisions within the family. If you're making a decision that impacts your family negatively, then that's a decision that the family made, not the U.S. government."

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The U.S. Supreme Court will allow abortion by mail to continue to be available in the U.S.

The Supreme Court on May 14 blocked a lower court ruling that would have required in-person dispensation of mifepristone. Chemical abortions, which rely on mifepristone and misoprostol, are the most common form of abortion in the U.S., making up at least 63% of abortions in the U.S. according to the Guttmacher Institute.

A New Orleans federal appeals court had restricted the mail-order prescriptions, ruling that these undermined Louisiana state law. The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on enforcement of this ruling amid the ongoing lawsuit after abortion drug manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro made emergency requests.

The stay expired at 5 p.m. ET May 14, and shortly after, the Supreme Court's order was released. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide the merits of Louisiana's challenge.

In May of 2025, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a review of the abortion drug mifepristone, which is ongoing. Activists, lawmakers, and state attorneys general have also been calling on the FDA to do a safety review of the drug, citing severe risks to women's health.

The American Association of Pro Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) said they will continue "to fight for life-affirming healthcare" in light of the decision.

"Mail-order abortions are bad for women's health, an abusive tool for predators, and lethal for our preborn patients," AAPLOG said in a statement shared with EWTN News.

"Today's decision from the U.S. Supreme Court sends a clear message to the American public: the profits of the abortion industry and unregulated abortion have taken priority over the health and safety of our patients," the statement read.

"We are confident that once a decision is made based on the merits of the case, common-sense safety regulations will be reinstated," AAPLOG declared.

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In a May 13 interview on Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reflected on his May 7 meeting with Pope Leo XIV, emphasizing the different vantage points and distinct roles of the Church and a nation-state.

In the interview, Rubio acknowledged the Catholic Church's longstanding position advocating for peace and the avoidance of war while drawing a clear distinction between the Church's role and the duties and responsibilities of nation states.

While saying the U.S. also seeks peace, Rubio affirmed that the country's position on war is "different," because it is "a nation state."

"For a nation state, which is different from a religious office, for a nation state there are threats to your security and to the well-being of your people that have to be addressed, ideally through diplomatic means, but there are conflicts and issues in the world that cannot be solved diplomatically, no matter how hard you try," Rubio said, pointing to years of failed diplomacy with Iran and other past examples.

He said there have not been "any results" despite "over a decade of work done to try to diplomatically solve Iran's desire and ambition to have a nuclear weapons program."

Recalling World War II, Rubio asked: "What was the diplomatic solution for … Adolf Hitler, as an example? There was none, right? And unfortunately, it led to real war. So that's where I think the realm of the geopolitical is different."

Nevertheless, he emphasized that Catholics, like himself, must balance their faith with their duty to their nation.

"We are obviously guided by our faith, and we're instructed by our faith. That's the compass by which we live our lives," Rubio said. "We also have an obligation to the national security of our country, and that has to be taken into account. That's our primary job — is to keep Americans safe. And that's why we're involved in Iran. That's why we're involved in anything we do around the world."

Rubio described his meeting with the American pontiff as positive and unusually straightforward.

"This is an American pope. We spoke for over an hour. We talked about a lot of topics," Rubio said.

Rubio's remarks come amid ongoing U.S. actions in Iran and public differences between the Trump administration and the Holy See on the conflict.

Ahead of Rubio's meeting with Leo, President Trump told EWTN News that the secretary of state's key message should be: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."

On May 5, Pope Leo XIV said "The Church has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there."

On May 8 the State Department posted a clip of Rubio on X following his meeting with the pope, in which he said "of course" he had wanted "to hear the perspective of the most important, far-reaching religious leader in the world … on what his bishops and others are hearing in the Western Hemisphere, the plight of Christians in Africa … and Lebanon."

On the subject of the U.S. position on the Iran war, Rubio said "We're capable of having that position and expressing that position clearly and also working cooperatively, as we have for decades, with the Vatican, with the Catholic Church."

"We were able to talk about these different areas of the world where they have a presence, where they are engaged, and we are as well," Rubio said.

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An ecumenical working group promoting "consensual BDSM culture" will again exhibit at Germany's Catholic Congress in Würzburg this week after organizers said its guidelines pose "no contradiction with the Catechism."

BDSM is an acronym that stands for "bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism."

"The Ecumenical Working Group BDSM and Christianity has been represented on the Kirchenmeile at several Catholic Congresses now," Cosima Jagow-Duda, head of press and marketing at the Catholic Congress, told CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, in response to an inquiry.

"All organizations with an explicitly Christian reference have this right in principle, provided they are not unconstitutional or hostile to specific groups." The group's guidelines, she added, contain "no contradiction with the Catechism."

The working group was founded in 1999, according to its own website. It also exhibited at the previous Catholic Congress in Erfurt in 2024.

Organized by the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the German Catholic Congress (Katholikentag) is a biennial gathering led by laypeople and representing the country's main umbrella organization for lay Catholic associations. The 104th edition is taking place from May 13 to 17 in Würzburg under the motto "Have Courage, Stand Up!" Around 20,000 people are expected to attend the event, which features approximately 900 events across 50 venues.

The approved booth is listed in the official program as stand number MW-R-07 on the Kirchenmeile — a German term meaning "Church Mile" — an exhibitor area where approximately 300 organizations present themselves to attendees.

'Out of the taboo corner'

On its website, the working group describes itself as "Christians from various denominations who deal with eroticism and sexuality, particularly in the area of sadomasochistic sexual preferences."

Its published guidelines open with a "preamble on the relationship with God," affirm belief in "the love and salvation through Jesus Christ," and state that the group "accepts and lives the diverse and consensual BDSM culture." The group has also said it wants to take the topic "out of the taboo corner."

Jagow-Duda told CNA Deutsch that applications for the Kirchenmeile "follow clear rules and guidelines" and that the organizers do not admit, for example, "right-wing extremist or anti-democratic groups."

The printed program book states, on page 58, that "a diversity of opinions that encourages and enriches discourse on the cohesion of society is expressly desired," with limits "where discriminatory, racist, or antisemitic convictions are represented, expressions of group-related misanthropy, or an ideological distance from the free democratic constitutional order are to be expected."

"This concerns a booth where Christians are entering into conversation about their faith," Jagow-Duda said.

Other groups presenting on the Kirchenmeile whose positions stand in tension with Catholic teaching on sexuality include the Network of Catholic Lesbians, the LGBT initiative #OutInChurch, and the Ecumenical Working Group Homosexuals and Church.

The official program also lists a "Queer worship service" on May 16 under the title "Life is colorful — diversity in the Church?!" and a Bible workshop titled "Reading the Bible queerly. Why G*D is a fan of diversity."

Pro-life panels rejected, association still present

The event's panel program, meanwhile, turned down three proposals on surrogacy, abortion, and end-of-life care from the country's largest lay pro-life association, citing limited slots, even as the association maintains its own booth at the congress.

The proposals were submitted by the Action for the Right to Life for All (ALfA) in cooperation with the Association of Catholic German Teachers (VkdL).

The proposals' titles, according to the Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, were "Life Without a Child? Is Surrogacy the Solution on the Way to a Wished-For Child?", "Taboo Topic Abortion — 'I didn't want to abort, I had to,'" and "My Death and My Dignity — Autonomy and Human Dignity at the End of Life."

Britta Baas, a spokeswoman for the ZdK, told Die Tagespost that the rejections were made on "capacity grounds." Two-thirds of all applications had to be turned down because only 40 panel slots were available, she said.

The Catholic Congress leadership had set up a so-called "topic convention" before the nationwide call for proposals opened, which pre-selected the 40 panel themes. About three times as many applications were submitted as there were slots, Baas said, and "the panel working group commissioned by the Catholic Congress leadership then had to make a selection."

According to Die Tagespost, ALfA and VkdL had already secured several speakers for the proposed panels, including psychiatrist Christian Spaemann, surgeon and medical ethicist Kai Witzel, and the jurist Felix Böllmann of Alliance Defending Freedom International.

The Catholic Congress will, however, host one panel on assisted suicide, titled "Quo Vadis Assisted Suicide? General Regulations and Individual Wishes," with Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentarian Lars Castellucci and the president of the German Caritas Association, Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa, among the discussants.

ALfA itself will be present at the Catholic Congress with a booth on the Kirchenmeile, located in the "Social Cohesion" theme area.

In parallel to the official program, the association is holding its own events in cooperation with the VkdL and Die Tagespost, including a lecture on end-of-life autonomy by Witzel, a presentation on international surrogacy by ALfA national chair Cornelia Kaminski, and a panel discussion with Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the German pro-life movement.

"The commitment to the protection of human life belongs at the heart of the Church," Kaminski said in a May 8 statement. "The Catholic Congress is therefore an important place to enter into conversation with people, to present our work, and to make clear how many areas there are in which the right to life and human dignity are under threat — and how needed Church members are who commit themselves to this cause."

Catholic teaching on sexuality

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that sexual pleasure "is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes" (No. 2351).

Chastity, the Catechism teaches, "involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift" and is realized in "the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman" (No. 2337). It requires what the Catechism calls "an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom" (No. 2339).

Consent does not, in Catholic moral theology, automatically change the moral character of an act.

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CHENNAI, India — The Catholic Church in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is celebrating after Joseph Vijay, an actor-turned-politician raised in the Catholic faith, was sworn in as the state's chief minister on May 10.

"This is a historic development. We hope it will lead to positive changes as the chief minister has already promised," Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras and Mylapore told EWTN News on May 13.

Vijay's new political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which translates to Victory Party of Tamil Nadu, was founded in 2024. In its electoral debut, the party stunned the Dravidian parties that had held power for nearly six decades between them, winning 107 seats in the 234-member state assembly.

Acknowledging the mandate, five smaller parties withdrew their support from the ousted DMK and opposition AIADMK coalitions to back TVK, pushing it past the 118-seat majority mark and prompting the state governor to invite Vijay to form the government on May 9.

The Vijay government won a crucial vote of confidence on May 13 with 144 votes, with a section of the AIADMK also voting in his favor.

'I won't touch public money'

"I won't touch public money," Vijay declared soon after his swearing-in on May 10, promising a "corruption-free" administration. Within hours, the new chief minister signed three orders subsidizing electricity for the poor, establishing a task force for women's safety, and setting up anti-narcotics units to curb the drug menace.

Welcoming "the steps the CM has promised," Antonysamy said, "We cannot judge a person in a few days. Everything will depend on the performance. Vijay himself is new to government administration, and his legislators too, as most of them hail from his fan base."

Catholic identity in the spotlight

"We are really rejoicing that we have a Catholic chief minister," Father Vincent Chinnadurai, spokesperson of the Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishops' Council, told EWTN News.

"Vijay is known as a popular actor. But his Catholic background came into public attention after the Hindu nationalists tried to polarize the voters, saying that Vijay is a Christian with the first name Joseph," explained Chinnadurai, who is also the rector of the Santhome Basilica in Chennai, adjacent to the archbishop's residence.

The Santhome Basilica is built over the traditional site of the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle, who according to tradition was martyred at Mylapore in present-day Chennai in A.D. 72. It is one of three basilicas in the world built over tombs traditionally associated with apostles, along with St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

"The people here are very happy, as we are privileged to be the first big state in India to have a Catholic chief minister, and at a time when Christians are facing troubles in different parts of the country," Chinnadurai added. He is a former chairman of the Minorities Commission of Tamil Nadu.

With approximately 77 million people, Tamil Nadu is the seventh most populous of India's 28 states.

The archbishop also acknowledged that "Vijay is not known much as a Catholic. But during the election time, it came out in a big way."

Hindu nationalists and the 'Joseph' factor

The name "Joseph" stood out prominently on the large stage at the Nehru Indoor Stadium during the swearing-in ceremony, which was broadcast live by major national television channels.

When Hindu nationalists tried to brand Vijay as a Christian in the run-up to the election held on April 19, Chinnadurai pointed out that "he did not back off."

Instead, Vijay publicized a Christmas program in which he made a speech linking himself to the Old Testament figure of Joseph, who looked after his brothers even after they had thrown him into a well, while he was the ruler of Egypt. In the speech, Vijay also asserted that "Tamil Nadu is a mother; all children are equal," promising to care for all, including those who opposed him.

In the state, where popular film actors have massive fan followings with organized clubs, The Hindu, a national daily based in Chennai, noted in its May 10 edition that although Vijay set up TVK only two years ago, the party was built on more than 80,000 fan clubs established from 2009 across the state, carrying out social work and social campaigns.

Faithful throng Marian shrine

Thousands of Vijay's fans thronged the Marian shrine of Vailankanni, known as the Lourdes of the East, about 200 miles south of Chennai, from the night of May 1, expecting him to visit the shrine on the morning of May 2 in thanksgiving after voting.

The fans waited through the night and loudly chanted "TVK, TVK" inside the church premises before church authorities asked them to calm down. Vijay canceled the visit after hearing about the commotion at the shrine.

"Vijay is an alumnus of our college, and his mother used to come to our college for Mass regularly," Professor Gladstone Xavier of Chennai's Loyola College told EWTN News.

With Vijay's Catholic identity now public, Xavier hopes that "Vijay's performance as the chief minister should make the community proud."

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