Catholic News

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, calls for keeping the dignity of the human person, created in God's image, at the center of any discernment about emerging technologies.

Coakley spoke at a virtual panel June 2 held by Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.

The dialogue explored what the encyclical is asking, how technological changes can enhance humanity's relationship with God, and also what aspects of human creation technologies can never replace.

The group also addressed the Church's important role in the matter and why it must use its voice to speak about the emerging technologies.

Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, moderated the conversation with numerous panelists including Irish Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education and a leading Vatican expert on AI.

The discussion also welcomed Meghan Sullivan, founding director of Notre Dame's Institute for Ethics and the Common Good; Emilce Cuda, Argentinian theologian and secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America at the Holy See; and Daniel Daly, founding executive director of the Center for Theology and Ethics in Catholic Health.

"When dealing with something new and complex" as the faithful read the encyclical, Coakley reminded them to focus on "the main thing."

Magnifica Humanitas is being "proposed and discussed as an encyclical on artificial intelligence," Coakley said. "But I think the main thing is the need to keep the human person, made of the image and likeness of God, at the center of our discernment about these new technologies."

"So it's, not really, fundamentally … about the technologies. I think it's really about anthropology — having an adequate anthropology to really address the challenges that are being proposed by these developing and emerging technologies," he said.

Why the Church's voice on AI matters

In the encyclical, Coakley said, "it's significant that prior to beginning his reflections on AI, the Holy Father first answers a foundational question, which is 'Why does the Church have the ability to speak at all?'"

"In doing so, he affirms that it is central to the Church's mission to walk alongside humanity … and be responsive to the contemporary challenges that men and women in every age, and certainly today, are facing," Coakley said.

Pope Leo "connects with what all of us, whether we are believers or unbelievers alike, at our very core understand and know instinctively to be true, and that is that the human person possesses an ontological and infinite dignity and therefore must be at the center of all of our deliberations" about AI, Coakley said.

"That's the center and heart of it," Coakley said.

"I think people are concerned about what's happening now and what they envision or fear might happen in the future," he said.

Pope Leo is "bringing in this essential lens to the conversation, which has the ability, I think, to activate … the consciences of all — all who create, all who regulate, all who use or all who are impacted by artificial intelligence," he said.

The Church's voice on the matter goes back to "Vatican II, where the Church realized we shared our destiny with other people," Tighe said.

"We journeyed together on this world. We can't be exempt from the struggles of our fellow brothers and sisters. We live together," he said.

Since AI is "going to impact so much what it is to be human, how we live our lives" and "impact the destiny of so many of our brothers and sisters and of ourselves, we cannot but take it seriously," Tighe said.

The Church also has a voice when it comes to how AI affects jobs, as "Pope Leo has been deeply inspired by the first encyclical to ever come out in the Catholic social tradition, Rerum Novarum," which addresses "What does it mean to think that our work is part of our human dignity?" Sullivan said.

"The Church has an incredible teaching on this," she said.

The Church says "work is an essential part of our dignity, because work is nothing more and nothing less than our ability and call to serve the common good. And so we do not want to live in a society where AI has replaced work in that sense," she said. 

The Church also must help guide the conversation as technologies impact health care.

"Jesus invites his followers to proclaim the kingdom by healing the sick. So Catholic healthcare has to be a sign that God loves all persons, especially those who are poor, sick, disabled, suffering, rejected," Daly said.

"So this culture of encounter and accompaniment needs to be animated by Christ and is sacrosanct in Catholic healthcare," Daly said.

Healthcare professionals "must remain the norm," he said. "AI can augment the care that humans provide but must not replace them."

Artificial intelligences "can't care for patients, they can't do the works of mercy. They can't express empathy, as Leo writes. They cannot witness the healing ministry of Jesus."

Daly did note that AI may have benefits in healthcare despite its inability to replace human beings' care.

AI "could allow marginalized communities to access expert-level care in areas like radiology," he said. "AI translation services may help patients who speak languages other than the dominant language in the area to communicate and have their concerns be listened to."

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At the Wednesday general audience at the Vatican on June 3, Pope Leo XIV called Catholics to be open to an "encounter with God by rediscovering the signs and symbols of the sacred liturgy."

"We need to let ourselves be educated by the rites of the liturgy, tending to the beauty of our celebrations with a delicate hand and without arbitrariness," Leo said to the faithful.

Liturgy as rite, sign, and symbol

Leo's remarks were part of his catechesis on the liturgy, focusing on the Second Vatican Council's document Sacrosanctum Concilium. In his remarks, the pope explained the council's teaching about participation in the liturgy through its signs and symbols.

"In the liturgy, we are invited to participate — body, mind, and heart — and enter into a dimension inhabited by the Holy Spirit. In order to enter into this dimension, the liturgy is woven with signs and symbols that have a performative and transformative dimension," Leo said.

He also called on Catholics to recall the meaning of the various gestures associated with the liturgy, such as the sign of peace and kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. He explained that these symbols and signs are not arbitrary gestures, but are important for helping Catholics experience "the presence of God through Jesus Christ."

"The rites of the Christian liturgy are not an outward covering of the sacramental mystery or a set of arbitrary ceremonies," Leo said. "Rather, they are the ecclesial mediation through which the divine gift reaches us. Through the sacred rite, we are thus formed in listening to the Word of God, in thanksgiving and adoration, in fraternal sharing, and in ecclesial communion."

Encouragement for Catholics to join Corpus Christi processions

In an appeal at the end of the general audience, Leo invited Catholics to bear public witness to the mystery of the Eucharist during the upcoming eucharistic processions for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.

"The processions with the Blessed Sacrament that take place in the streets of many towns are an expression of popular eucharistic piety; in this regard, I encourage you to keep alive this beautiful manifestation of public witness to the faith," Leo said.

He also gave a special greeting to priests serving in the Middle East amid continuing armed conflicts in the region.

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Amid steadily rising incidents of anti-Christian violence in India, Christian and secular groups came together in a "People's Tribunal," titled "Caravan of Love," that has urged the Indian government to end "impunity for non-state actors."

"A recurring concern throughout the proceedings was the alleged role of state institutions. Participants described instances in which police officers failed to protect victims, registered cases against those who had been attacked, delayed investigations, or pressured communities into so-called compromise agreements," the tribunal said in a statement released June 2.

More than 200 leaders and delegates of Christian networks and action groups, lawyers, researchers, and members of Hindu and Muslim groups took part in the June 1 tribunal in New Delhi.

The event also heard testimony from 20 survivors of anti-Christian violence, "documenting a disturbing escalation of violence and discrimination targeting Christians."

"The Tribunal [proceedings] examined attacks on places of worship, pastors and priests, social and economic boycotts, denial of burial rights, expulsions from villages, the role of Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) organizations, and the conduct of political leaders, police and judicial institutions," the statement said.

"The constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, religion and equal citizenship are increasingly under threat," said John Dayal, a senior journalist and outspoken Catholic activist who organized and coordinated the tribunal.

"We want the state governments to obey Supreme Court directions in this regard to end the rampant impunity. Then only, the atrocities will go down," Dayal told EWTN News June 3.

A sharp rise since 2014

Sporadic anti-Christian violence turned endemic after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, with incidents of anti-Christian violence shooting up from 127 in 2014 to 834 by 2024.

In the run-up to the national tribunal, Dayal said, the investigative team visited troubled spots in Chhattisgarh state in central India in April and neighboring Odisha state in May, as these BJP-ruled states had reported a higher number of violent and oppressive incidents of late.

"There is systematic denial of burial rights — one of the gravest forms of humiliation inflicted upon Christian communities," said Father Ajay Singh, former director of the Odisha Forum for Social Action of the Catholic Church.

Briefing the tribunal on the situation in Odisha, Singh recounted cases in which "funeral processions were obstructed, burial in village graveyards was denied, and even the bodies of deceased Christians were allegedly removed and buried against the wishes of families."

"I was part of three fact-finding teams that visited troubled spots in Odisha this year. The situation has become so shocking that even [Christian] dead bodies are dug out" and subject to reconversion ceremonies, Singh told EWTN News.

'A systematic campaign of exclusion'

A.C. Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of the United Christian Forum, which monitors atrocities against the community, told the tribunal about the "growing normalization of hostility towards Christian prayer meetings and places of worship."

"Peaceful acts of worship are increasingly portrayed as threats to public order and national interest while there is no Christian representation in statutory minority institutions," Michael pointed out.

Despite rising violence against Christians, the quota for a Christian member on the autonomous National Commission for Minorities has not been filled for six years under the BJP government.

"Accusations of conversion have become a recurring pretext for violence," pointed out Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, who said that "recent violence has been justified through allegations of religious conversion."

Siju Thomas, director of Alliance Defending Freedom India, lamented the "social and economic boycotts, expulsions and ostracization of Christians, especially of newly converted families and members of independent congregations."

"Denial of access to community resources, social isolation, displacement and restrictions on burial rights have become instruments of coercion … [with] misuse of laws intended to protect Adivasi communities, to target Christian Adivasis and restrict their rights," he said.

Harsh Mander, one of the eminent social activists, concluded the tribunal, deploring that widespread anti-Christian violence "could not be understood as isolated acts of prejudice or spontaneous expressions of hostility."

"Rather, they revealed a systematic campaign of exclusion that threatened the constitutional promise of equal citizenship," said Mander, who quit the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to protest the 2002 carnage of Muslims in Gujarat state under Modi, who was then the state's chief minister.

The findings of the People's Tribunal, Dayal said, will be published in book form in two months. "What we have recorded are shocking and graphic, and these will run into around 300 pages," he said.

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A priest who formerly served in Louisiana and Texas has been handed nearly a century in prison after being convicted of several counts of sexual abuse.

Father Anthony Odiong received a 99-year sentence on June 2 for three counts of sexual assault after jurors in McLennan County, Texas, found him guilty on May 29, according to local news reports.

The priest reportedly served at Baylor University's St. Peter's Catholic Student Center in Waco, Texas, from 2007 to 2012 and later served in Luling, Louisiana, from 2015 to 2023. Prosecutors had said that Odiong used his position of authority as a priest to facilitate the sex crimes.

Odiong was arrested in July 2024 in Ave Maria, Florida. Authorities had been investigating an allegation of sexual assault committed by Odiong when they said they discovered child pornography in his possession. He was extradited to Texas after the arrest.

Upon arriving in Texas he was held on $2.5 million bond after authorities judged him a significant flight risk. Arrest warrants claimed that he had "access to immense amounts of money, contacts with money who follow him and provide heavily through financial means, and access to passports and multiple avenues to flee the country."

Prosecutors also pointed to DNA evidence indicating that Odiong had fathered a child during one of his sexual assaults. The state described him as "a calculated predator who exploited vulnerable parishioners for decades while hiding behind a collar."

In addition to the lengthy prison stretch, Odiong was also fined $10,000 for each charge as well.

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GOPALGANJ, Bangladesh — Twenty-five years after a bomb attack during Sunday Mass killed 10 Catholics and injured more than 50 at Most Holy Redeemer Church in Baniarchar, southern Bangladesh, the parish priest says his community has all but given up hope of seeing anyone brought to justice.

"We don't expect any more justice, because we, the minority, will not get justice in this country," Father David Gharami, parish priest of the church, told EWTN News. "We Catholics are a minority among the minorities. That's why no government pays attention to us."

On June 3, 2001, at least 10 people were killed and more than 50 injured when a bomb exploded during Sunday Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Church in Baniarchar, in Gopalganj district. A quarter of a century later, police have yet to file a full charge sheet in the case.

Gharami said the parish has grown weary of seeking justice from the government. "For the past four to five years, no investigating officer has been looking into our case," he said. He believes the attack was carried out by a religious extremist group or for political or social motives.

"On this day, we offer a Mass for the souls of those who died and pay floral tributes at their graves," he said.

Nine of the 10 people killed in the bombing were between the ages of 20 and 25, and one was in his 40s, according to Premananda Halder, a local schoolteacher.

At the time of the attack, Sheikh Hasina's Awami League was in power; Gopalganj is Hasina's home district, and she visited the site after the bombing. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the parliamentary election held on Feb. 12 this year. Successive governments have come and gone, but no one has been brought to justice for the bombing.

Lalita Biswas, 46, a Catholic and mother of one, has sought justice for 25 years. Her husband, Satish Biswas, was among the 10 killed.

"I am tired of seeking justice, I don't want to seek justice anymore. If I get justice for my husband's murder, I will be happy," Biswas told EWTN News. "I will not get my husband back, or the son his father, but if we get justice, I will be able to see the punishment of those who killed him."

Twenty-five years later, Bangladeshi police have yet to complete their investigation. Some 38 suspected militants have been arrested over the years, but none has confessed, and the investigating officer has been changed at least 22 times in 25 years.

The current investigating officer could not be reached. A former investigating officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told EWTN News that police were still working on the case.

"The investigating officer has been changed repeatedly, and a lack of sufficient evidence is prolonging the inquiry. But I hope police will be able to submit a full report soon," he said.

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In November, the United Nations Human Rights Council will conduct its universal periodic review of Greece and Ireland, a process that holds every U.N. member state accountable for its human rights record roughly once every four and a half years.

Organizations working for the abolition of surrogacy are using this moment to challenge both countries' surrogacy frameworks. The practice was among 13 violations of human dignity condemned in the Vatican declaration Dignitas Infinita, issued in April 2024.

Among the groups raising concerns is Juristes pour l'Enfance, a French association of legal professionals dedicated to defending children's rights. The group has submitted two formal observations to the Human Rights Council, arguing that Ireland and Greece have repackaged what is fundamentally a commercial arrangement in the language of compassion and altruism, while children ultimately bear the consequences.

EWTN News spoke with Matthieu Le Tourneur, a French jurist with Juristes pour l'Enfance. He said the organization's central concern is that "a child must never be the object of a contract" since that commodifies them. He added that "surrogacy, whether commercial or presented as altruistic or regulated, involves treating a human being as goods. This is unacceptable."

'Children are not contracts,' advocates say

Of the European Union's 27 member states, 16 explicitly prohibit surrogacy and seven have no clear legal framework. Only four — Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, and Portugal — formally permit it.

Greece and Ireland are viewed as having the broadest legal openings for surrogacy, while both heavily describe their systems as "altruistic," meaning no direct payment is made to the surrogate mother for carrying and delivering the child.

Juristes pour l'Enfance disputes that characterization. Le Tourneur explained that under Ireland's Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, a surrogate may receive compensation for up to 12 months of lost income as well as reimbursement for a wide range of expenses. In Greece, fixed payments of 10,000 euros — rising to 15,000 euros for multiple pregnancies — are permitted as compensation for what the law calls "suffering" or "fatigue."

"Altruistic for whom?" Le Tourneur asked. "It is never altruistic for the child, who will carry for life the invisible mark of having been sold or given away, of having been the object of a contract. The term 'altruistic surrogacy' concerns only adults; it does not concern the child."

Advocates for abolition frequently cite the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically Article 7, which guarantees a child's right to know and be raised by its parents. They argue that surrogacy deliberately severs the child's maternal bond at birth and constitutes a form of child sale under Article 35 and its Optional Protocol, even when the arrangement bears no overt price tag.

Trafficking, vulnerability, and the limits of regulation

The limits of surrogacy regulation became starkly visible in 2023, when Greek authorities uncovered an alleged criminal network operating out of the Mediterranean Fertility Institute in Crete. Investigators found evidence of trafficked migrant women, primarily from Eastern Europe, who had been recruited as surrogates. The case involved falsified documents, fraudulent embryo transfers, and what prosecutors described as industrial-scale handling of embryos.

"Legalizing a practice never eliminates trafficking outside the legal framework," Le Tourneur said. "In some cases, the existence of a legal market even strengthens illegal trafficking." He drew a parallel to debates around drug legalization, where legal supply has not always suppressed black markets.

He further noted that legalization can act as a pull factor for vulnerable women, since they know that for roughly 12 months they will receive financial support, care, and "sometimes accommodation."

These concerns have increasingly been echoed by U.N. experts. Le Tourneur pointed to the 2018 findings of former special rapporteur Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, a 2019 report by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and a 2025 report by Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem — all of which raised concerns about surrogacy as a form of exploitation affecting women and children.

A defining debate for Europe

This focus on surrogacy comes at a time when Europe is increasingly split on the topic. While surrogacy's proponents frame it as an act of generosity between willing adults, the majority of EU member states — including France, Germany, Spain, and Poland — continue to treat it as a form of exploitation incompatible with human dignity.

Italy has taken one of Europe's toughest stances, classifying surrogacy as a universal crime. Under a law that took effect in November 2024, Italian citizens can face prosecution for obtaining surrogacy services abroad, even in countries where the practice is legal. Convictions carry prison sentences of up to two years and fines ranging from 600,000 euros to 1 million euros.

Against that backdrop, Le Tourneur said Greece and Ireland matter not only for what is happening within their borders but also for the precedent they set. If the Human Rights Council issues recommendations against their surrogacy laws, it would send a powerful signal to other governments weighing similar legislation.

"We hope that, thanks to our alerts, the council will urge the countries concerned to amend their national legislation," Le Tourneur said. "Such recommendations may also deter other countries from adopting laws that the Human Rights Council would consider to be violations of human rights."

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Pope Leo XIV issued stark warnings against building "a new Tower of Babel" when developing artificial intelligence (AI) in his recently released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, at a time when many people are growing concerned with the impact of the new technology and the rapid data center expansion that supports it.

His encyclical, the title of which means "magnificent humanity," pleads for AI development that safeguards Earth's natural resources, preserves the dignity of work, builds up human solidarity, and does not concentrate power in the hands of a few but rather ensures all people benefit from the innovation.

As American companies move fast to expand AI data centers — with over 4,000 operating and thousands more under construction — projects face local protests and critics cite environmental concerns, noise pollution, lack of long-term employment, and broader skepticism of AI's impact on society.

Although a March Gallup poll of 1,000 Americans found 71% oppose local AI data centers and only 27% support them, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum promoted data center expansion on Fox Business on May 26, citing productivity benefits across many sectors of the economy.

The protests, he claimed, are "foreign-directed propaganda" campaigns from nations competing with the United States. He dismissed Leo's guidance while laughing and said: "I didn't know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope."

Yet AI skepticism is quite prominent among the American public. A June 2025 Pew survey of 5,000 people found 50% are more concerned than excited about AI, 38% are equally excited and concerned, and just 10% are more excited than concerned. An NBC poll of 1,000 people in March found that 57% believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits and 34% said the opposite.

David Cloutier, a Notre Dame theology professor and academic director of the Business Ethics and Society Program, told EWTN News: "I think the resistance to data centers is rooted in a larger suspicion of the technology itself."

"They are a really tempting symbolic target," he said, adding that data centers "symbolize a future that is all computer and machine and no people."

"I think people experience the arrival of this technology as something that they did not ask for and seems overwhelming to them," Cloutier added.

Dignity of work and power concentration

Data centers often receive significant state and local tax incentives. At least 28 states offer tax incentives specific to data centers: Each waives certain sales tax, 14 offer energy subsidies, and 11 provide property tax reductions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In a small number of states with significant data center growth — such as Texas and Virginia — data centers are receiving more than $1 billion annually in tax incentives. Apart from temporary construction jobs, smaller data centers often employ fewer than 150 permanent workers, while larger ones may employ a few hundred.

Father Philip Larrey, a philosophy professor at Boston College, told EWTN News "it doesn't make sense to me" to offer those incentives because "you don't need many people to actually run these things."

"What advantage is there for the local people to have a data center in their city?" he questioned. "Probably none."

Cloutier noted the difference between incentives given to data centers and to factories, saying "the factory can only work if workers come to the factory," but "data centers don't employ people like factories do."

"The question is a question about power and who controls these very important entities and whether they share the wealth that is generated by these entities," he said, pointing to Leo's concern about the centralization of power and dignity of work.

In the encyclical, Leo contrasted the Tower of Babel with the Book of Nehemiah, which details the construction of new walls for Jerusalem. The Holy Father said AI development should mirror the priorities outlined in that text: "Safeguarding humanity and the common good."

Cloutier encouraged local government officials to question "Who's truly being benefited by these developments?" and "Is this really benefiting my local community?" when considering projects.

"Listen to the community and ask questions of the company in ways that attempt to make the project more like Nehemiah building the wall," he said.

The backlash to data centers also fuels concerns about AI replacing people in the workforce, with Cloutier noting "they're enormous but empty of people."

As the technology improves, Larrey expressed concern about the long-term impact on the labor force, saying it will be hard to convince a company to hire a person if it can achieve "the same result from an AI that you get from a human being and they cost almost nothing." Yet, he urged employers to consider the human impact and encouraged employees to incorporate AI into their work if it can help prevent replacement.

"Just because you can replace a person with AI doesn't mean that you should," he said.

Judith McGill, marketing and content specialist for DataBank — a data center developer — and a practicing Catholic, told EWTN News that she believes critics' objections about employment are misleading, because although the centers themselves do not employ "a lot of people," the services benefit "all of the employees of our customers" who use AI.

She said governments would not offer incentives if investments were not "a net economic benefit to those communities." Despite incentives, she said: "We pay taxes and, in fact, contribute to schools and roads."

For example, McGill said DataBank aligns itself with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises, which prioritizes issues like labor rights and the environment.

"Our focus is on those organizations which are building technical skills for students entering the workforce and for teachers," she said.

Environment and resources

In his encyclical, Leo warned of a "tendency to overlook the environmental impact" of AI and the "enormous amounts of energy and water" needed for data centers, which puts "heavy demands on natural resources" and influences carbon dioxide emissions.

A report from the Electric Power Research Institute found 4%-5% of national energy is consumed by data centers, but that will rise to somewhere between 9% and 17% by 2030, mostly because of AI. It could exceed 20% in seven states and be somewhere between 39% and 57% in Virginia. Many data centers use water to cool machines.

Cloutier said environmental concerns are "a very important point that is very easy to miss," adding that "the amount of computer work that has to go on in order for the AI company to answer [a] question is very, very large."

"The environmental impact is downstream from the way we use that technology," he said, noting that if AI progresses to be "completely embedded in our lives," it will exacerbate the concerns.

Larrey said water and energy are two concerns people have as data centers continue to be built: "They need huge data centers in order to run the servers that give us these large AI models that are only going to get larger and larger as time goes on."

Larrey said innovation can ease concerns and cited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's investments in small nuclear reactors that could increase opportunities to employ clean energy. He referenced Nobel-Prize winning AlphaFold as well, developed by DeepMind, which significantly reduced the time and energy needed for AI protein structure prediction.

"You need massive data centers in order to keep up with the competition," he said. "Now the companies have to come up with a way of making these more efficient and using less electricity. … It's becoming a real problem for the companies because people are protesting, actually in the street."

McGill, speaking for DataBank, said Leo's environmental concerns and broader concerns are "well taken" and even though data center developers are not religious organizations, it "doesn't absolve us from behaving responsibly."

She said DataBank is experimenting with hydrogenated vegetable oil for power. The company also designs the data centers with a closed-loop water cooling system, which means the water is continuously recycled through the system rather than consuming additional water.

McGill added that "data centers pay for their power." She acknowledged power consumption as a "legitimate concern" but criticized the narrative of the data center industry as "one big scary monster," making them "the scapegoat" for higher consumption and rate hikes. She noted that inflation and foreign policy in the Middle East have a major effect on energy costs.

"What we are doing toward responsible behavior, toward human beings, and toward the environment is absolutely in line with the pope's encyclical," she said.

Amid growing protests and guidelines coming down from the Vatican, McGill said a parishioner at the parish she attends asked her how a Catholic could work for a data center company, but she said this incorrectly "implied there was a disconnection."

"My conscience is clear," she said. "This is an industry that is not just avoiding doing bad things but actively seeking out ways to do the right thing."

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France's National Assembly approved for consideration on June 1 a bill aimed at preventing and combating violence in schools, a measure the country's bishops warn could put in jeopardy the seal of confession.

The French Bishops' Conference contends the legislative initiative infringes upon several fundamental freedoms, including freedom of conscience, freedom of education, and freedom of worship.

Although the bishops support the government's intention to combat psychological, physical, and sexual violence perpetrated against children and adolescents, they specifically expressed concern that the proposed legislation could compromise the seal of confession and the autonomy of Catholic education.

The bishops point to Article 9 of the bill, which mandates the obligation to report acts of violence against minors even if knowledge of such acts was acquired in the exercise of the priestly ministry and adds that no "seal of confession" may be invoked to override said obligation.

The prelates further warned that the measure would jeopardize the autonomy of Catholic schools, as it provides for an expansion of state control over government-subsidized private institutions.

The French bishops maintain that these new oversight measures could open the door to greater state intervention in areas such as moral formation, affective and sexual education, or even teaching Christian anthropology.

They point out that the state would also have the authority to impose administrative sanctions and even order the closure of schools that fail to comply with the established regulations.

What does the Church say regarding the seal of confession?

The sacramental seal is governed by canons 983, 984, and 1388 as well as No. 1467 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states: "Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him."

"He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents' lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the 'sacramental seal,' because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains 'sealed' by the sacrament," the catechism adds.

In July 2019, the Vatican's Apostolic Penitentiary published a note regarding the importance of the private nature and the inviolability of the sacramental seal in order to highlight the importance and foster a better understanding of these concepts, "which today seem to have become more alien to public opinion and sometimes to civil juridical systems."

"The inviolable secrecy of confession comes directly from the revealed divine right and is rooted in the very nature of the sacrament, to the point of not admitting any exception in the ecclesial sphere, nor, least of all, in the civil one," the note states.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Archbishop John Charles Wester urged continued international efforts toward nuclear disarmament in a speech Tuesday to a nonpartisan policy organization of arms control proponents.

"There is no such thing as a 'just' nuclear war," Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said in a live video address to those gathered for the annual meeting of the Arms Control Association on June 2 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The Arms Control Association, founded in 1971, encourages nonproliferation and disarmament efforts for nuclear, chemical, biological, and other weapons the organization says pose dangers to humanity. Wester has been one of the most outspoken bishops on this topic in recent years.

In his address, Wester quoted extensively from papal writings and speeches from recent popes, including Pope Leo XIV, who encouraged disarmament efforts from nuclear powers in his papal encyclical Magnifica Humanitas last month.

Leo called the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons a step in the right direction but warned it's "largely symbolic since the major nuclear powers have not agreed to it." He also voiced concern for "a new arms race," the development of miniaturized nuclear weapons, and the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make combat decisions.

Wester quoted from the text in which Leo said it is erroneous to believe nuclear deterrence is an "indispensable prerequisite for security." The archbishop noted "there had been progress" in the past with U.S. and Russian disarmament, but "whatever momentum we had is completely gone."

"We're now in a nuclear arms race that's even more dangerous than the first," Wester said in reference to efforts in the U.S., Russia, and China to modernize nuclear arsenals.

Wester said "we've got to take a sober look at what's going on today" and take the "momentum of the past and harness it and move it forward" toward nuclear weapon abolition.

"We've done this in the past and we can do it again," he said.

Wester also referenced Leo's encyclical comments on fears that AI could be used in weapons of war, with the Holy Father urging leaders to "avoid a race to develop such arms." The archbishop referenced research that found that AI models would choose to use nuclear weapons in 95% of the researchers' simulated crisis situations.

The possibility that AI could hypothetically choose to "wipe out human civilization overnight is rather scary," the archbishop said, echoing the Holy Father's warnings.

In addition to citing Leo, Wester also cited Leo's predecessor Pope Francis, who also gave strong warnings against nuclear weapons, going so far as to say "the use of nuclear weapons, as well as their mere possession, is immoral." Wester called this "a huge, huge statement" that goes further than other popes.

"The pope has said it's immoral," he said, and added that his question to Catholics who do not focus on the issue is: "What are you going to do about that?"

The archbishop penned a 51-page pastoral letter on nuclear weapons in 2022 and said most of the feedback he received from fellow bishops was favorable, but "there's not a huge urgency" from most clergy because there are "so many other issues to deal with these days."

"How do we get people to look at an issue that, for many, it just doesn't seem that urgent?" he said.

Wester said he hopes for a stronger focus on nuclear disarmament from the U.S. bishops and intends to ask Leo to write an encyclical specifically about the threat.

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A grassroots movement to celebrate faithfulness to God is being recognized by state leaders during the month of June.

Several elected officials are recognizing "Fidelity Month," including the governors of Arkansas and Utah.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas recently announced her recognition of the month along with Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, the Kentucky Senate, and Mayor Jerry Weiers of Glendale, Arizona.

Fidelity Month was founded in 2023 by Professor Robert P. George, an American legal scholar and professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

"He was inspired by a WSJ [Wall Street Journal] poll that showed declining rates of commitment to patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement among Americans," Christopher Parr, a spokesman for the movement, told EWTN News.

"We believe that faith in God, our spouses and families, and our country and communities are the sources of America's unity and strength," Parr said. "Professor George thought that it would be fitting for Americans to take one month of the year to rededicate themselves to these basic values."

Parr described Fidelity Month as "a grassroots movement, not a top-down organization."

"We grow as individuals, congregations, and organizations find our mission compelling and join it each June," Parr said. "That's why we list numerous ways that people can celebrate Fidelity Month on our website and organize programs such as our webinars and high school essay contest."

"We give some direction on the website, but our emphasis is on Americans taking initiative to celebrate and promote Fidelity Month in their communities," Parr explained.

Parr said Fidelity Month has seen "steady growth in our social media and website engagement, event attendance, and the number of organizations and elected officials partnering with us" since its inception three years ago.

Those involved "seem to be from many different backgrounds and across the country," Parr added. "Our hopes are that each year, more and more Americans will come to celebrate June as Fidelity Month."

Sanders formally recognized June as Fidelity Month on May 29, saying that "Fidelity Month provides an opportunity for residents to reflect on and renew commitments to these shared values and institutions."

"The United States of America was founded on the values of faith, liberty, and patriotism as acknowledged in its founding documents and in the statements of its Founding Fathers," the proclamation reads.

"The commitment of Arkansas to spiritual and civic institutions is at the core of the state's collective identity," the proclamation continued. "Cultivating fidelity to God, family, community, and country contributes to human flourishing and supports a healthy, stable, well-ordered society."

"We are honored whenever elected officials choose to recognize June as Fidelity Month," Parr said. "We hope that people will recognize Fidelity Month as an opportunity to unify all Americans around what matters most."

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