Catholic News

The Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, has been awarded more than $25 million in a dispute with a termite company after a panel found that the company provided "deficient treatments" against termites on archdiocesan property.

A press release from the law firm of Alabama attorney Tom Campbell said an arbitration panel ordered Terminix to pay $25,878,087.84 to the archdiocese over "clear and convincing evidence of fraud and systemic misconduct."

Terminix "knew it was required to provide additional termite treatment services" at archdiocesan properties but "failed to disclose or perform them," according to the press release.

Significant damage occurred at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, according to the panel. Over the course of eight years from 2018, the cathedral experienced "multiple termite infestations, causing substantial structural damage in multiple locations."

The damage was severe enough that the archdiocese closed a portion of the cathedral in April 2025. At the time the archdiocese said it was "in ongoing arbitration with a major termite control company regarding damage to the cathedral."

The eight-figure payout includes $8.6 million in punitive damages, the law firm said.

Campbell, known locally as "Termite Tom" for his specialty focus on termite litigation, said the ruling demonstrates a pattern in which consumers "paid for protection that was never properly delivered."

"If Terminix will cheat a church, it will swindle anyone," the attorney said.

The termite company, meanwhile, told EWTN News in a statement that it "acknowledge[d] the resolution of this long-standing case ... involving a unique, historic structure."

"While we respect the arbitration process, we are disappointed with the specific outcomes and maintain our position regarding these past events," the company said, adding that its "focus remains on supporting our team members and providing exceptional care to our customers."

Terminix says on its website that Alabama is among the worst states in the country for termite infestations, ranking 11 out of the 25 most termite-heavy states. Half of the top 10 worst states are in the southern U.S.

Full Article

ROME — A political science professor from the U.S. has used data analysis to show how Pope Francis differed from predecessors regarding policy, appointments, and papal trips, while notably omitting discussion of the deceased pontiff's doctrinal differences.

The University of Notre Dame in Rome hosted the lecture "Francis and His Predecessors: Quantifying Continuity and Change in the Modern Papacy," by Sean Theriault, on March 19.

Avoiding theological debate?

Theriault, a self-described sociologist and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told EWTN News that he became interested in studying Pope Francis' legacy two years ago after discussing the papacy with his students and fellow Catholics.

"I had heard people suggest that Pope Francis was different, and I thought I could bring data to help assess how different he was. In other words, as a social scientist, I could actually supply some facts to the question at hand."

He noted that his study avoids theological debate entirely, observing that while many theologians emphasize Francis' doctrinal shifts, his study focuses on quantifiable patterns in the data.

What do the numbers say about Francis?

Examining the data reveals that Pope Francis was vastly different from his predecessors. The first metric used in the study was papal policy.

To quantify policy, Theriault analyzed papal addresses to the diplomatic corps — the so-called "State of the World address" — dating back to St. John XXIII. By parsing the words of each speech, he found that Francis had the lowest statistical correlation to any of his predecessors, focusing more on issues like immigration and refugees than traditional diplomatic concerns.

"I parsed out these speeches going back to the early 1960s by sentence or quasi-sentence, categorizing them," Theriault said in his lecture. "If we separate international relations, Francis had the lowest correlation among his recent predecessors. For instance, in his 2025 address, though he did discuss the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, Francis touched on issues like artificial intelligence, respect for migrants, and the elimination of the death penalty."

Increased diversity in cardinals and saints

The next metric analyzed was personnel, chiefly the makeup of the College of Cardinals and the canonization of new saints.

Theriault noted that while St. Paul VI was the first to diversify the demographics of the cardinals significantly, Francis had accelerated this trend toward a less Eurocentric cardinalate.

"The conclave that elected Paul VI was dominated by Europe (55 out of 80 cardinals), but he spread the reach of the college to other parts of the world. John Paul II continued this, Benedict, a bit less so, but Francis did it by far the most by 55%. He brought in cardinals from places like Laos, Sweden, and Brunei, and passed over traditional sees like Paris and Milan."

Theriault also pointed out anomalies in Francis' selection of cardinals from suffragan dioceses — rather than major archdioceses as done before — and his approach to canonization. "When Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles retired, we all expected the red hat to be given to the new archbishop, José Gómez. Instead, he gave the red hat to Bishop [Robert] McElroy, the bishop of San Diego, a suffragan diocese of Los Angeles."

He added regarding canonizations: "Francis shortened the average time to canonization to 151 years. He canonized a vastly higher percentage of laypeople (18%) than his predecessors. He paired John XXIII with John Paul II for canonization, effectively blocking the canonization paths for Pius IX and Pius XII."

Pilgrimages to the margins

Papal travel was the third metric Theriault analyzed. He observed that while previous popes spent their time abroad ministering primarily to Catholic audiences, Francis preferred to spend time with the marginalized.

"John Paul II loved meeting with everyday Catholics during his travels, especially the Polish and Hispanic communities. Benedict XVI focused on meeting with the Church hierarchy. Francis chose rather to visit prisons and homeless centers, focusing on the marginalized rather than exclusively Catholic audiences," he said.

Looking ahead to Pope Leo XIV

Theriault concluded the lecture by predicting that Pope Leo XIV's pontificate would reveal far more about Pope Francis' time as pope than when he was still alive.

"Pope Leo is more of an institutionalist than Pope Francis, and significantly more reserved. In the long run, Pope Francis' legacy is going to be far more pronounced precisely because he was succeeded by Leo, who is bringing along the whole Church and institutionalizing that vision in a way Francis just did not know how to do," he said.

Full Article

News reports circulated this week claiming that a Georgia woman was charged with murder for having an illegal abortion, but Georgia's pro-life law doesn't criminalize women who have abortions — in fact, no U.S. state does.

EWTN News took a closer look at the matter and found that the woman, Alexia Moore, was arrested for allegedly ingesting illegal opioids into her system while pregnant, leading to the death of her infant an hour after the baby was born.

Why was Alexia Moore arrested?

"Baby Girl Moore," the infant daughter of Alexia Moore, died an hour after she was born, her system filled with oxycodone.

"I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die," Moore said of her newborn baby girl, according to the arrest warrant.

Moore took eight misoprostol pills and "introduced illegal oxycodone into the infant's system," the arrest warrant read.

"Moore unlawfully and with malice aforethought caused the death of Baby Girl Moore, a human being who was born alive and survived for one hour," the arrest warrant alleges.

The warrant defines personhood as occurring at the moment of birth, not conception or fetal cardiac activity.

"Under Georgia law, the victim became a person at the moment of live birth," the warrant stated. "Moore's intent to kill is established by her own verbal admission that she wanted the infant to die and her knowledge that the infant was suffering due to her actions."

"By intentionally ingesting high doses of misoprostol at 22-24 weeks of gestation and introducing illegal oxycodone into the infant's system, Moore committed an unlawful act that directly resulted in the infant's respiratory failure and death," the warrant read.

Survival rates are low for babies born prematurely, and her baby was born at 22-24 weeks' gestation, or about five-and-a-half to six months pregnant.

Moore allegedly acquired the misoprostol from Access Aid, an abortion pill provider that sends abortion drugs to anywhere in the U.S., according to the website. The pill bottle was not prescribed by a licensed physician, according to the arrest report.

The warrant said Moore said she'd had three previous abortions, two in recent years and one when she was 15 years old. Moore told staff she had taken the pills "so many times, I do not remember," according to the warrant.

Local pro-life group responds to 'misleading' reports

Under the headline "Woman charged with attempted murder under Georgia abortion law," a local news article claimed that the Baby Girl Moore story has to do with "the complex and fraught nature of Georgia's controversial law, known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act." Other outlets made similar claims.

Georgia's LIFE Act, a pro-life law passed in 2019, protects unborn children when their heartbeats are detectable. This law was not mentioned in the arrest report; instead, the arrest warrant cited Georgia's law that a baby is a person at the moment of live birth, prompting law officials to make an arrest for alleged murder.

The LIFE Act, which went into effect in 2020, defines an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat as a "natural person" under the law but did not repeal already-existing codes that bar the prosecution of women for having abortions. Claims that the Georgia LIFE Act, also known as a "heartbeat bill," would enable law enforcement to arrest women for having abortions have been repeatedly debunked.

Georgia Life Alliance Executive Director Elizabeth Edmonds told EWTN News that the arrest involved "the application of laws that have existed for decades."

"Ms. Moore is not being charged with crimes under Georgia's LIFE Act," Edmonds said. "This innocent baby girl was born alive and under Georgia law, her death is being investigated and prosecuted like any other."

"Efforts to mischaracterize this case as an attack on women or as a consequence of pro-life laws are intentionally misleading and purposefully serve to create further fear and confusion," Edmonds continued. "This is about the death of a child who was born alive and the application of laws that have existed for decades."

"The death of this innocent newborn child is a tragic, deeply troubling, and criminal act," Edmonds said. "According to the arrest warrant, the baby was born alive and fought for her life for more than an hour before tragically dying."

"The evidence available shows her death was the result of respiratory distress caused by illegally-obtained oxycodone (a schedule II drug) taken by her mother shortly before giving birth," Edmonds said.

"We grieve the loss of this child and remain committed to advancing a culture where both women and their children are supported, valued, and protected under law," Edmonds said.

There are no states that criminalize abortion.

Marjorie Dannenfelser

president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America

The pro-life movement overwhelmingly opposes the criminalization of women who have abortions. After the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked, more than 70 pro-life leaders, including Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, who at the time led the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee, urged lawmakers to not criminalize women who have abortions.

When asked about criminalizing women who abort, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called that view "a hypocrisy."

"There are no states that criminalize abortion," Dannenfelser said. "There are some in the movement who are making a lot of noises about criminalizing women who have had abortions. Our approach has always been that we must fight for justice and mercy for women and justice and mercy for children."

"We've been living in a regime for decades that allowed unlimited abortion and to move to pro-life requires, I believe, an attitude not of criminalizing but of serving women and doing everything we can to meet them where they are," Dannenfelser said.

To women who have had abortions, Dannenfelser encouraged pro-lifers to say: "We will help you. We want to identify all the concerns you have in your life that are often very complicated and sticky and intertwined. We want to be there for you to help you."

"If you say to them, on the other hand, 'We're just going to put you in jail,' then there's a hypocrisy at the center of that message," Dannenfelser said.

Full Article

Father Jakob Rolland could face imprisonment in Iceland for defending Catholic doctrine regarding homosexuality and for providing support to individuals with the inclination who seek spiritual guidance within the Church.

The French-born priest, chancellor of the Diocese of Reykjavík, strongly maintained that his duty is to defend the truth and "fight for the Lord." In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he said his aim is to awaken citizens to what he characterizes as an "LGBT dictatorship" against which many are afraid to raise their voices.

The persecution begins

In early March, Rolland was invited to a radio program where the host asked him about the requirements necessary to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament. Specifically, she wanted to know whether homosexual individuals could receive Communion. The priest simply explained the Catholic Church's doctrine on the matter.

"If a person has a tendency or inclination toward homosexuality, that's not a sin. It becomes a sin when such an inclination is lived out in a sinful manner. First, one must undergo conversion, go to confession, and truly consider the possibility of changing one's life and living in chastity in order to receive Communion," he explained.

Rolland also noted that many people with same-sex attraction turn to the Church seeking help and that they "are in the process of changing their lives."

"Of course, we are there to help people," he added.

In response to questions from the host, the priest clarified that the Church does not speak of "conversion therapies" but rather of spiritual accompaniment. It was at that point that the controversy erupted.

Since 2023, Iceland's penal code has stipulated that anyone who attempts to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation may face prison sentences of up to three years.

Following the broadcast of the interview, LGBT groups across the country launched a vigorous campaign demanding that the priest be sanctioned. The case has garnered media attention and was even brought up for parliamentary debate.

The Samtökin '78 National Queer Organization of Iceland is leading the campaign against Rolland. According to its arguments, even if the measures the priest alluded to do not constitute "conversion therapy," the law would also prohibit providing support or assistance to homosexual individuals seeking spiritual guidance within the Church.

Socialist member of Parliament Sigmundur Rúnarsson denounced the priest's remarks before Parliament, emphasizing that Icelandic society "has nothing to do with the Catholic Church."

The Ministry of Justice came to the priest's defense, arguing that "never in Iceland's history has an accusation been leveled against an individual in Parliament, an institution whose mandate is to enact laws."

The priest maintains that from a legal standpoint, "there are no grounds for arrest."

A duty to speak the truth

In Iceland, between 8% and 10% of the population identifies as Catholic. "Most of the reactions to my statements have been positive; there are even people who have written to me because they wish to draw closer to the Church," noted the priest, 70, who maintains that he does not fear a potential prison sentence for his words: "I must fight for the Lord," he emphasized.

"If we don't speak up, no one does. Everyone is afraid to do so even if they disagree due to the laws and prevailing mindset here in Iceland; and because the country is so isolated, the outside world remains unaware of what is happening," he said.

The priest also lamented that the Church no longer has a place in schools to teach catechism, whereas LGBT ideology, he pointed out, is being introduced into classrooms at ages as young as 5.

"I believe we have a duty to speak the truth and to protect children. That's the great danger in Iceland: People are sleeping amidst a dictatorship. They don't dare to speak out," he lamented.

Rolland lamented that the prevailing mentality in the country "is destroying our youth," though he remains hopeful seeing that every year, more young people turn to the Church and wish to receive baptism.

The priest said that his faith and the support he has received from Catholics and other religious groups in the country keeps him going, as well as his love for the people of Iceland, his adopted homeland for over four decades.

"I want to bring the Church and the message of Christ to them, so that they may draw closer to the Lord. It's not easy, because this is a highly secularized country, but I see that it is yielding results," he noted.

"I thought it was necessary to speak the truth. People are being pushed toward a wrongful lifestyle, and we must help them wake up. I have always been this way since childhood. I have fought for the faith, so I see no reason to stop now," he stated.

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.

Full Article

As pressure grows on the Christian presence in Jerusalem, George Akroush, director of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem's Development Office and head of the Church's social and educational projects in the Holy Land, is warning that a series of Israeli measures affecting both land and education could reshape the city's Christian community and threaten its geographic and social continuity.

Akroush's comments come amid broader concerns recently voiced by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, over the consequences of Israeli land-registration measures and the nonrecognition of Palestinian academic qualifications.

In an interview with ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Akroush described a series of interconnected challenges facing Church institutions and the Christian community, especially in Jerusalem. These developments are unfolding within a complex legal and political environment in East Jerusalem, where residents and institutions face growing restrictions related to property, movement, and employment.

On the issue of land, Akroush expressed deep concern over the Israeli government's February decision to resume settlement and registration procedures for lands that had not been formally recorded since before 1967. He said the mechanism, which is used to define and consolidate ownership, goes beyond a routine administrative step.

"This is not just an administrative procedure but a legal tool that could reclassify large areas as state lands," he said, warning that it "opens the door to the seizure of private and Church properties, fundamentally altering the reality on the ground."

His remarks echoed concerns raised by Pizzaballa in a recent address in which the patriarch noted that many Palestinian lands have remained unregistered since before 1967, making their legal status "complex" and heightening the risks for local communities if that status changes.

Akroush said the policy could reproduce conditions seen in Hebron, where the introduction of settler groups into Palestinian neighborhoods has led to persistent tension.

"When settlers are placed in the heart of neighborhoods, permanent points of friction emerge, affecting daily life, the local economy, and gradually fragmenting the social fabric," he said.

Akroush added that such policies could further isolate Jerusalem from its natural ties to Bethlehem and Ramallah, with serious consequences for community cohesion and long-term continuity.

The Israeli authorities' refusal to recognize Palestinian university degrees for teachers in Jerusalem is also "a serious challenge to the identity of educational institutions," Akroush said, explaining that the decision leaves Christian schools facing painful choices.

"We face a reality in which schools may be compelled either to change their curricula or to lose qualified teaching staff," he said, emphasizing that these institutions serve a mission that extends well beyond denominational boundaries.

Pizzaballa has likewise highlighted the schools crisis, noting that hundreds of Christian educators from Bethlehem are no longer able to reach their schools in Jerusalem.

"They will no longer be able to attend, and this will create not only financial hardships for their families but also challenges for the schools that cannot find Christian teachers," the patriarch said. "These are just examples that illustrate how complicated the situation remains for all of us."

Akroush said roughly 300 Christian institutions provide a wide range of services — including education, health care, and social support — to a significant portion of the Palestinian population."

"These institutions are not solely for Christians; they serve everyone and are a vital part of the social fabric of the Holy Land," he said.

Akroush noted that these developments are taking place while international attention is divided by multiple regional crises, reducing global focus on Jerusalem. Recalling the 2018 closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in protest against similar measures, he said the current challenges "take a different form, extending beyond property to include the human resources themselves."

Regarding the education crisis, Akroush said barring 232 teachers from Bethlehem from reaching their schools in Jerusalem has directly affected 12 Christian schools.

"These teachers are the backbone of the educational process, and their sudden absence creates a gap that is difficult to fill," he said.

He added that estimates from the patriarchate and educational institutions suggest that replacing this loss of specialized teaching experience could take at least 15 years because of the unique expertise those teachers possess.

Akroush said the fallout extends beyond education into the social and economic spheres, particularly at a time of limited job opportunities and rising unemployment.

"When a teacher loses their job without alternatives, families face difficult choices, including migration," he said, noting that young families are especially vulnerable. He stressed that the Church in the Holy Land, as Pizzaballa has repeatedly said, "is not merely a guardian of sacred places but a living community serving people."

"Targeting schools is targeting the future," Akroush said, calling on the international community and Churches around the world to monitor developments closely, protect historic properties, and ensure teachers can reach their workplaces freely. He said the Church seeks only "to preserve its natural right to remain, serve, and educate in its sacred city."

Full Article

The Vatican on Friday helped launch a campaign encouraging Catholic organizations, bishops' conferences, and religious communities to divest from the mining sector for the sake of human ecology — one of several initiatives marking last year's 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', which called for greater care toward environmental issues.

Sister Nina Krapic, MVZ, in her first press conference since Pope Leo XIV appointed her deputy director of the Holy See Press Office, noted how institutions have responded to environmental crises by incorporating Pope Francis' teachings.

"In response to the reality of environmental crises, around 40 faith-based organizations have come together to launch the 'Platform for Divestment in the Mining Industry,'" she said. "This initiative promotes ethical finance within the framework of integral ecology and Church documents on technology and responsible investment."

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said that while the mining industry is necessary to access essential minerals, it has negatively impacted local communities.

"We know that minerals are necessary for many aspects of contemporary life. However, we also know that too often their extraction has been done without listening to local communities. It is important to listen to the voices of the communities that directly experience the challenges and conflicts due to both legal and illegal mining," he said.

Guatemalan Cardinal Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri recounted how he was personally affected by mining in his Diocese of Huehuetenango.

"A Canadian mining company came to buy land after discovering it had gold and silver. It promised our people jobs, but environmental damages soon began. Destruction of nature, indiscriminate use of water, and use of cyanide," he said. "Was it legal? Yes. Did it promote the development of these populations? No."

Yolanda Flores, an Indigenous leader from Peru, expressed with emotion the need for clergy, religious, and lay faithful to accompany Indigenous peoples.

"Our agriculture, and especially our waters, our rivers, our streams, and our high-altitude wetlands are burned and destroyed by mining," she said. "Why do these things happen? We want our bishops, our parish priests, not only to dedicate themselves to the sacraments but to be right there with us, guiding us, walking together to build new routes, new paths."

Full Article

The provincial government of Alberta, Canada, is considering new safeguards for its assisted dying program (known as medical assistance in dying — MAID) that would offer protections to underage citizens and those suffering from mental illnesses.

The measure, Bill 18, titled "Protecting Vulnerable Albertans Seeking MAID," would "increase oversight, introduce necessary safeguards, and provide greater clarity around eligibility requirements for medical assistance in dying," the legislation states.

The measure would limit assisted suicide in Alberta to patients 18 years old and over, and would prohibit the procedure for those who are suffering solely from a mental illness as well as "individuals without the capacity to make their own health care decisions."

Also outlawed would be "advance requests," a controversial policy in which patients agree ahead of time to be euthanized when they are unable to give consent for the procedure.

Under the new proposal, doctors would also be required to make a "reasonable effort" to review a patient's health history prior to approving assisted suicide.

And doctors would be forbidden from bringing up discussions about MAID with their patients, requiring the patients themselves to initiate the conversation.

The legislation "would help ensure MAID in Alberta is provided compassionately and in line with federal law, while protecting vulnerable persons, including those with a mental illness," the proposal says.

Suicide numbers have raised alarm

The proposal comes amid heightened concerns over Canada's assisted suicide program, which was first legalized in 2015 and has become widely popular in subsequent years.

The country's most recent report on its MAID program found that 16,499 people received assisted suicide there in 2024, a roughly 7% increase from the year before.

The report also said that the number of assisted suicides in the country — which Canada refers to as "MAID provisions" — may be "stabilizing" after years of double-digit growth, including a 36.8% jump from 2019 to 2020.

The vast majority of individuals who received MAID had what the government calls a "reasonably foreseeable death." Most of those individuals had cancer.

Advocates have raised alarms about the lack of safeguards in Canada's assisted suicide laws beyond the risk of suicide itself. An advocacy group in 2025 found that the country's laws have led to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups, including those who are suffering from mental illness.

The country for years has debated expanding the program nationally to individuals suffering solely from mental illness, though the government tabled that proposal in 2024 for three years.

Still, local expansions of the law have raised red flags with watchdog groups, including a Quebec measure in 2024 that allowed assisted suicide for individuals who cannot consent at the time of the procedure.

Catholic bishops and advocates in the country have worked for years to both roll back MAID and pass safeguards for existing programs. In February, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops urged support of a national measure to prohibit MAID for those suffering solely from mental illness.

On March 19 the Archdiocese of Edmonton said the newly proposed legislation in Alberta "marks an important moment for reflection" in the province.

"While public discussion continues, the Church remains committed to a vision centered on accompaniment, compassion, and care," the statement said.

"In every circumstance, Catholics are called to ensure that no one feels abandoned or without hope, affirming that each life is a gift worthy of dignity and love until natural death," the archdiocese added.

Full Article

Pope Leo XIV on March 12 appointed Spanish Augustinian Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín as papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, elevating him to the rank of archbishop at the same time.

Marín de San Martín replaces Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who will return to his native Poland as the new metropolitan archbishop of Lódz. Krajewski was named almoner in 2013, a cardinal in 2018, and prefect of the newly constituted charity dicastery in 2022.

The papal almoner is a key position in the Vatican, one that has played a vital role in the Church and its charitable undertakings for centuries. But what is the purpose of this office? What does an almoner do, and how does he fit into the complex structure of the Holy See?

Role emerged in earliest years of the Church

Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director of EWTN News, said the role of almoner dates back to the earliest days of the Church.

"This has always been a concern of the popes — to care for those most in need," he said. Popular history holds that Pope Gregory I, also known as Gregory the Great, who took control of much of the civil authority in Rome in the absence of civil government, wept upon learning that an indigent citizen of Rome had starved to death, leading the sixth-century pope to emphasize ministries to the poor.

The position of almoner fully emerged under Innocent III, whose papacy took place in the late 1190s and early 1200s. "Subsequent centuries gave it more form," Bunson said.

He noted that Pope Leo XIII sought more mechanisms for funding the charities overseen by the almoner. Among the fundraising mechanisms that emerged from his papacy was the custom of papal blessings; Catholics may be familiar with such blessings by seeing them framed and hung in the homes of the married couples to whom they are often given.

Though the papal alms office has for years headed global charity efforts at the behest of the pope, Bunson said Pope Francis during his papacy placed an "immense" amount of importance in the office, transforming it into a dicastery and making it what has been described as a "flagship initiative of the pontificate."

Krajewski utilized the office to offer assistance to Ukrainians after the Russian invasion of their country in 2022. Domestically, meanwhile, the office oversees major charity initiatives in Rome, including the Mother of Mercy Clinic and the San Martino Outpatient Center.

Though commentators and analysts regularly opine on the authority and prestige of various Vatican appointments, the almoner position, Bunson said, is less one of power and more one of "pastoral care and spiritual care."

The position's importance is illustrated by the fact that it is one of the few Vatican offices that remains wholly uninterrupted in the event of a pope's death or resignation.

Another such position is the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the so-called "tribunal of mercy," the dicastery concerned with the internal forum and indulgences, especially the forgiveness of sins.

That official always keeps his job to ensure every Catholic always has an opportunity for God's loving mercy. Similarly, the almoner retains his office because "everyone needs direct access to the Church's pastoral care," Bunson said.

He also noted that Marín de San Martín is an Augustinian. "Traditionally, the apostolic almoner is attached very closely to the papal household," Bunson said. "Leo is continuing to surround himself with Augustinians."

The charitable purpose of the position was perhaps best exemplified by a directive Pope Francis reportedly gave to Krajewski upon appointing him to the office. "You can sell your desk. You don't need it," the pope said, according to Krajewski himself.

"You need to get out of the Vatican," Francis told him. "Don't wait for people to come ringing. You need to go out and look for the poor."

Full Article

The Supreme Court will consider whether the federal government must inspect and process asylum seekers rather than turn them away to wait in Mexico.

The court is set to hear arguments March 24 on whether migrants who present themselves at a U.S. port of entry but are stopped on the Mexican side of the border are legally considered to have "arrived in the United States" and therefore have the right to seek asylum.

The plaintiffs in Noem v. Al Otro Lado argue turning away asylum-seekers violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops agrees with them.

The USCCB wrote in an amicus curiae brief: "The turnback policy is not just a flawed piece of statutory interpretation but an historical aberration — one that, during the period it was enforced, left vulnerable asylum seekers stranded in encampments on the border while lawfully trying to seek asylum at a port of entry."

Turning away asylum seekers meant they "suffered predation from gangs, malnutrition, and inadequate shelter, and some lost their lives. Blessing the government's reading of the INA — and thereby opening the door to reinstatement of the turnback policy — would therefore be a moral disaster, not just a legal error," the bishops wrote.

"It is unsurprising that care for refugees has been a cornerstone of the Church's teachings since its founding: Catholics believe refugees reflect the image of Christ and deserve the utmost charity. Even a sovereign state's power over its borders cannot abridge this fundamental duty of care — which, at the very minimum, requires that nations not put asylum seekers at even more risk of harm when they arrive at the border asking for relief," the bishops wrote.

Asylum seekers, to qualify, must be present in the United States and must be fleeing imminent persecution based on religious, political, or racial discrimination, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Seeking asylum for economic reasons is not an acceptable criterion, DHS says.

Supporters of DHS' position say that Section 208 of the INA states that asylum seekers must be in the United States, not at its border checkpoint, to apply.

'In' versus 'at'

Immigration author and former immigration judge Andrew Arthur said the case centers on a preposition: "in" versus "at." He said the "literalist Supreme Court" is likely to issue a unanimous decision on the case, because the language, specifically the use of the preposition "in," disallows asylum seekers to be processed on the other side of the border, because they are not "in" the United States.

"The long-term ramifications of this case are going to affirm DHS' authority and restrictions at the border," Arthur said.

U.S. bishops' special message on immigration approved at the 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly on Nov. 12 expressed the bishops' opposition to "the indiscriminate mass deportation of people."

"Human dignity and national security are not in conflict," the bishops said.

The bishops' message also addressed their concerns over the conditions of detention centers and prayed "for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement."

Full Article

A group of Catholic moral theologians and ethicists have filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief in federal court in support of Anthropic, an American artificial intelligence (AI) company that is suing the Department of Defense over the Pentagon's insistence that it should be free to use Anthropic's AI products without restriction, including for mass surveillance and autonomous weaponry.

Anthropic, creator of the widely adopted AI assistant Claude, ran afoul of the Pentagon's leadership late last month when its CEO, Dario Amodei, told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the company refused "in good conscience" to allow Claude to be used specifically for those purposes.

In addition to Anthropic subsequently losing a $200 million contract with the Defense Department, Hegseth announced Anthropic would be designated a "supply chain risk" — a first for an American company. President Donald Trump has directed all government agencies to halt the use of Anthropic's products within six months. Fearing financial annihilation, Anthropic on March 9 filed two lawsuits against the Department of Defense, challenging the "supply chain risk" designation as an inappropriate retaliation.

The falling out between Anthropic and the Pentagon sparked a major debate on the ethics and morality of AI, with many commentators expressing appreciation for Anthropic's decision to make a principled stand against the government's demands.

In the brief filed March 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, the group of 14 Catholic scholars — including professors, authors, and at least one priest, Legionary Father Michael Baggot — said the teaching of the Catholic Church supports Anthropic's decision to reject the Pentagon's demands on its technology related to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.

"Anthropic, in the red lines it has drawn for the use of its products on domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons systems, sought to uphold minimal standards of ethical conduct for technical progress. In doing so, Anthropic was acting as a responsible and moral corporate citizen, not as a threat to the safety of the American supply chain," the authors of the brief wrote.

The substance of the brief was written by four scholars: Charles Camosy, an associate professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; Joseph Vukov, an associate professor of philosophy and the associate director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago; Brian J.A. Boyd, a moral theologian; and Brian Patrick Green, a lecturer in ethics at the Graduate School of Engineering at Santa Clara University, a Catholic institution in California.

'A threat for man and for the world'

In the brief, the scholars note that Anthropic has said it is not categorically opposed to the idea of autonomous weaponry or mass surveillance; rather, the company believes its systems are not yet "sufficiently reliable, interpretable, or controllable to be entrusted with decisions that directly take a human life without human oversight, or to conduct population-scale surveillance."

While the scholars indicated agreement with Anthropic on the criticisms of such systems' reliability, they stressed that the Catholic tradition has "consistently emphasized that decisions affecting human life, freedom, and dignity must remain the responsibility of human actors and that not every technically feasible or legally permissible use of a tool is therefore appropriate," and that "when technology is capable of violating life, dignity, and freedom, it is reasonable to draw clear boundaries around its use."

On the topic of mass surveillance, the scholars note that the Church's teaching on the right to privacy is rooted in the dignity of every human person. A widespread surveillance regime by the military would undermine the dignity of those being surveilled, the scholars argued.

Such a centralized surveillance system would also tread on the Catholic idea of subsidiarity — the idea that decisions and oversight should be handled by the smallest, most local competent body — by undermining state and local governments, which are not only more likely to understand context better than a distant AI but which must also live with the effects, the scholars continued.

On the topic of lethal autonomous weapons systems, or LAWS (sometimes called "killer robots"), the scholars firmly asserted that the use of weapons capable of making wartime decisions on their own violates the Catholic principle of "just war." In a just war, human judgment must be employed to ensure, for example, that a violent act is a proportionate use of force, or in the selection or avoidance of targets. Human involvement in such decisions is crucial, the scholars said, because "judgments of proportionality and discrimination are prudential — not mere pattern matching." This and other reasons are why the Vatican has repeatedly and forcefully expressed opposition to the idea of LAWS, going back as far as 2013.

"[LAWS] circumvent the kind of practical judgment and careful decision-making that should inform all human decisions, and especially those that involve matters of life and death," the scholars wrote.

The scholars conclude their brief by quoting Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi on the topic of technological progress. "If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man's ethical formation, in man's inner growth (cf. Ephesians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 4:16), then it is not progress at all but a threat for man and for the world," the encyclical states.

Green, one of the authors of the amicus brief, previously told the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, that Anthropic's principled stand, especially coming from a commercial company, is important.

"You can imagine an alternate universe where Dario Amodei just said, 'OK, we'll sign it. It's no big deal.' They would be doing fine as a business, and the rest of the world would not be talking about AI ethics right now. [But] this universe that we're living in is one that has been fundamentally changed in a lot of ways because somebody decided to take an ethical stand. I think that's important," Green said.

"I think this ethical stand is good, potentially — assuming that the government does not actually destroy Anthropic and reduce their value to zero," he added.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

Full Article