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The National Catholic Bioethics Center's Edward J. Furton speaks at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNAWashington D.C., Jul 4, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Ahead of the celebration of Independence Day, Edward Furton, publications director for The National Catholic Bioethics Center, spoke in a lecture in the nation's capital about the country's founders and their desire for a republic open to all faiths but one in which no citizen would be compelled to profess any particular religious doctrine.In a presentation titled "Natural Religion and the American Founding" at the Catholic Information Center, Furton referenced James J. Walsh's book "Scholasticism in the Colonial Colleges" to discuss church and state separation and how the Declaration of Independence is "the founding truth of the United States" and should be "at the center of American public life."Furton, who received his doctoral degree in philosophy from The Catholi...
Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran (left), and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Here's a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:Pope appoints Pizzaballa and Mathieu to Vatican's interreligious dialogue officePope Leo XIV on July 3 appointed two prominent cardinals, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran, to the Vatican's Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, according to ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner.Their appointment comes amid a broad reshuffle that also brought in cardinals from Japan and Canada as well as bishops and experts with experience in fostering relations among faiths. The two newly named members are already active in Vatican circles: Pizzaballa also serves in the Eastern Churches and Christian unity offices, while M...
USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio speaks at the bishops' spring meeting, Thursday, June 13, 2024. / Credit: USCCBCNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 18:38 pm (CNA).The U.S. House of Representatives passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" on Thursday, just in time for President Donald Trump to schedule his signing into law of the controversial bill on the Fourth of July.Following the bill's passage, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a statement lamenting "the great harm the bill will cause to many of the most vulnerable in society."Specifically, Broglio faulted the legislation for including "unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God's creation."Broglio also expressed disappointment over several "positive aspects" of the bill in the final version approved on Thursday that were ei...
Federal Reserve Bank of New York. / Credit: Velkiira, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).A federal appeals court has revived a Catholic worker's lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over the bank's having fired her for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in its Wednesday ruling partially reversed the findings of a district court, which had dismissed former Federal Reserve executive assistant Jeanette Diaz's lawsuit against the bank over her 2022 dismissal. Diaz had argued that the bank's policy requiring vaccination against COVID-19 would violate her Catholic faith, citing her opposition to vaccines "created using human cell lines derived from abortion." The worker had asked her pastor in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, to sign a letter on her behalf affirming her refusal on religious grounds, though her pastor "refused" to do so, ...
Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ (right), leads a press conference announcing the Mass for the Care of Creation at the Vatican on Thursday, July 3, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNAVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 12:18 pm (CNA).The Vatican on Thursday presented new Mass prayers and biblical readings to be used to support the Church's appreciation for God's creation.The "Mass for the Care of Creation," inspired by Pope Francis' environmental encyclical Laudato Si', has prayers and Mass readings designed "to ask God for the ability to care for creation," Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, said at a July 3 presentation."With this Mass, the Church is offering liturgical, spiritual, and communal support for the care we all need to exercise of nature, our common home. Such service is indeed a great act of faith, hope, and charity," the cardinal added.The "Mass for the Care of Creation" is part of the Catholic Church's Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions. It can be celebrated on a ...
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks during a press conference about a new Vatican document on human dignity on April 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 13:02 pm (CNA).Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Thursday that judges have been selected to hear the trial of Father Marko Rupnik, a former Jesuit accused of sexual abuse against women.The cardinal told journalists that the judges chosen are "independent and external" to the dicastery but did not indicate when the Slovenian priest's trial is set to take place in the Vatican."The idea was, if possible, to eliminate the idea that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Holy See had any interest or were subjected to pressure," he said.Rupnik, whose religious artworks can be found in shrines and churches around the world, has been accused by at least a dozen women, mostly f...
Sacred Heart Hall at Siena Heights University in Adrian Michigan. / Credit: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 3, 2025 / 13:32 pm (CNA).Siena Heights University will close at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 academic year following an assessment of the school's "financial situation, operational challenges, and long-term sustainability," the school said this week.The small Catholic institution of about 2,300 students located in Adrian, Michigan, reported that "despite the dedication of our board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters, continuing operations beyond the coming academic year is no longer feasible."In a June 30 announcement, the university's president, Douglas Palmer, said the school "has been a beacon of light in a world sometimes cast in darkness.""The spirit of Siena Heights will continue long after the institution itself closes its doors because it lives in every graduate, faculty member, and staff person who...
Pope Leo XIV receives a drawing from a girl participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vatican" summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV visited the Paul VI Hall on Thursday to meet with about 310 children and adolescents participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vaticano" (summer camp for kids at the Vatican).In addition, another 300 children and adolescents from Ukraine, hosted by Caritas Italy during the summer, participated in the encounter with Pope Leo XIV.Pope Leo XIV meets with children and adolescents participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vatican" summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThis is the sixth edition of this summer camp for the children of employees of the Holy See. The theme this year is "When the Other Person Is Everything."On July 3, shortly before noon, at the end of the audiences, the Holy Father continued with the tradition of visiting these l...
The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).A Vatican spokesman has played down the significance of recently leaked Vatican documents that appear to cast doubt on Pope Francis' rationale for restricting the Latin Mass, calling the documents "partial and incomplete."The documents appear to show that bishops had a more favorable outlook on the Traditional Latin Mass than Pope Francis suggested when he issued controversial restrictions on its celebration in 2021.Vatican journalist Diane Montagna published two excerpts from an internal Vatican report on the global consultation of bishops in a Substack newsletter July 1. The publication of the texts has sparked renewed controversy over Francis' decision to restrict the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass at a time when some liturgical traditionalists are voicing hopes that Pope Leo will reverse or moderate his predecessor's ...
Professor Michael McConnell speaks after winning the Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Casey Patrick/Notre Dame Law SchoolWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 3, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).During its recently concluded fifth annual Religious Liberty Summit, Notre Dame Law School recognized two scholars for their contributions to the promotion and protection of religious liberty around the world.The Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty, which is awarded to one person each year for his or her achievements in preserving religious liberty, was presented at last week's summit to former federal judge and constitutional scholar Professor Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School. Meanwhile, professor and author Dr. Russell Hittinger of The Catholic University of America (CUA) received the Religious Liberty Scholarship Award, which is given annually to an individual for accomplishments in advancing the understanding of how law protects freedom of religion.&n...
