Catholic News

A man who arrived in Germany as a refugee after fleeing the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been ordained a Catholic priest, an exceptional case in that he was born into a Muslim family and embraced Christianity as an adult.

According to the Catholic Church's news site in Germany, 41-year-old Senad Mrkaljevic was ordained a priest a few weeks ago by the archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, at St. Hedwig's Cathedral.

"Many people fear that faith will take something away from them. My experience is exactly the opposite: God gives me much more. That is what I want to convey to others," the new priest stated.

Born in 1984 in Brcko in the former Yugoslavia, Mrkaljevic grew up in a Muslim family where religion did not play a central role.

"Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully alongside one another back then," he recalled. However, the outbreak of the war in Bosnia in 1992 forced his family to seek refuge, first in Austria and later in Germany.

"As a child, it was hard to grasp what fleeing meant, and I quickly felt like an outsider in Germany," he recounted.

Compounding these difficulties, Mrkaljevic has a congenital visual impairment, which made integrating into school life more challenging.

His journey toward the Catholic faith began around the age of 23, when he started reading the Bible and secretly visiting the church every Sunday morning. He felt afraid the first time he entered a church. "Going in there was quite a challenge for me. I kept asking myself, 'Is what you're doing right?'" he recalled.

Over time, he realized he no longer wanted to hide. "I didn't want to lead a double life," he explained. In 2009, he was baptized during the Easter Vigil, a decision his family initially found difficult.

"It was a problem for my mother; she tried to make me change my mind," he recounted. Even so, he decided to move forward.

After completing his theology studies at the Lantershofen seminary for adult vocations in 2023, he was assigned first as a deacon and later as a chaplain to St. Edith Stein Parish in Berlin's Neukölln district, an area with a significant Muslim population.

Mrkaljevic said he believes that, given his background, he can become a bridge-builder between Christians and Muslims.

He also noted that, over time, his decision was met with respect by his loved ones. "My conversion and my decision to become a priest were acknowledged by my Muslim family in Bosnia as well as by my siblings," he said. His mother even attended his priestly ordination.

Looking ahead to his new ministry, Mrkaljevic expressed his desire to provide spiritual accompaniment to people and "to proclaim the good news."

"It is never in vain, however few we may be. I myself have experienced how much it has enriched me, and that is what I want to share with others," he said.

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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The French National Assembly gave final approval on July 15 to a bill legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, making France one of the few European countries to legalize the practice along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain.

The 291-241 vote came three years after President Emmanuel Macron, who had made it one of his key campaign promises, first opened the question to national debate.

The vote ended an unusual parliamentary stalemate between the National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly passed the bill three times over the course of 14 months — most recently on June 30 by a vote of 295 to 232 — and senators rejected it just as many times.

On July 7, the Senate passed, by a narrow majority of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions, a preliminary motion to outright reject the bill rather than debate it, and this motion itself called on the government to end the legislative process. Rather than heeding this call, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu invoked Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the government to give the National Assembly the final say when repeated readings fail to produce an agreement between the two chambers. He then referred the bill back to the National Assembly for a fourth and final vote instead of a fourth reading in the Senate.

The July 15 vote, however, did not close the matter. On July 14, Lecornu announced he would refer part of the text to the Constitutional Council, a step Senate President Gérard Larcher had also urged, citing in particular how the bill's conscience clause would interact with health and social care facilities built around end-of-life accompaniment that exclude assisted dying. The council must rule within a month, or eight days if the government asks for an expedited review, meaning the law cannot be promulgated until that review is complete even though the Assembly has now adopted it.

The end-of-life law covers both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance, under five cumulative conditions: A person must be an adult, a stable resident of France, diagnosed with a serious and incurable condition, in an advanced or terminal phase of that condition, and suffering in a way current treatment cannot relieve, while remaining able to express a free and informed decision. Self-administration is supposed to be the default rule, with the law providing for intervention by a healthcare professional only when the patient is physically unable to act.

A supporting measure aimed at expanding access to palliative care was adopted with much broader support, passing its first reading in the Senate by a vote of 307 to 17. To date, more than 20% of French departments still lack a palliative care unit, according to figures cited repeatedly by the Bishops' Conference of France during the debate.

The push to legalize assisted dying traces back to September 2022, when the National Consultative Ethics Committee reversed its earlier opposition to assisted dying and endorsed an "ethical" application of the practice. A citizens' panel Macron had convened spent the following winter weighing the question and backed legalization.

The French president unveiled the outline of a bill in March 2024, but the initiative stalled when he dissolved the Assembly in June the same year. Deputy Olivier Falorni, who had filed an earlier and unsuccessful end-of-life bill, revived it in 2025.

Critics argue the newly adopted framework is among the most permissive of its kind in the world. Grégor Puppinck, a Catholic lawyer and director general of the European Centre for Law and Justice, has published a point-by-point analysis contending that the entire process rests on the judgment of a single physician, who may meet the patient for the first time on the day of the request and need not be the one already treating them.

The two additional professionals that physician must consult are chosen by the same person, are not required to examine the patient in person, and may be consulted by videoconference.

Puppinck noted the statute sets no minimum interval between the decision and the act itself beyond a two-day reflection window, relatives have no guaranteed right to be informed beforehand, and they cannot challenge the outcome in court.

Doctors who object in conscience must still refer patients to a colleague willing to proceed, and private and religious institutions, including nursing homes, must accommodate mobile euthanasia teams under threat of administrative penalties. Oversight, in Puppinck's account, comes only after death, based on a report filed by the same clinician who carried it out.

The founders of the ethics collective Democracy, Ethics, and Solidarity, Laurent Frémont and Emmanuel Hirsch, wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche that the law's eligibility criteria — primarily a "serious and incurable condition" causing "unbearable suffering," are defined vaguely enough that a strict medical interpretation could make more than 1 million people eligible, including patients with chronic illnesses, psychiatric disorders, or advanced age, without requiring a prior written request, a peer review by medical colleagues, or a psychiatric evaluation.

A 2025 study by the Fondation pour l'innovation politique estimated the measure could save the state around 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) a year in health, eldercare, and pension spending, a projection critics have cited as evidence of the pressures vulnerable and elderly patients could face once the law takes effect.

The French bishops' conference called the text a threat to "the most fragile" among French citizens in a statement issued in May 2025 ahead of the Assembly's first vote on the bill. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, has repeatedly urged lawmakers to reconsider their position, asserting that true solidarity is built through caring for others rather than through death. "More than assistance in dying, our society needs assistance in living," he has repeatedly stated.

In a video appeal to lawmakers released before the vote, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours invoked François Rabelais' centuries-old warning that "science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul." What is underway, he said, is "an anthropological shift," a new way of viewing life and its end that will gradually reshape the country, touching caregivers, families, people with disabilities, and the relationship between generations.

He pointed to the Netherlands, where regulators had layered on safeguards for two decades and where health officials confirmed in June that a child under 12 had been euthanized for the first time, under a 2024 expansion of the law to children between the ages of 1 and 12.

Making a law, Jordy said, is also opening doors toward things "one had perhaps not imagined" when it was written.

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As the sun set behind the hills of Huancavelica in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, the final match ended in a draw. The outcome was decided by a penalty shootout. Cusco took the first kick, and everything came down to the fifth attempt. The Huancavelica goalkeeper managed to block Cusco's final penalty kick, leaving the outcome in the hands — or rather, at the feet — of Father Santiago Salazar of the Huancavelica home team.

The priest took his run-up, waited for the whistle, and placed the ball right next to the goalpost. With that match-winning goal, the crowd broke out in euphoria: Dozens of seminarians rushed onto the field as priests from seven dioceses in southern Peru celebrated Huancavelica's title win in the 2026 Clergy Champions playoffs.

On July 2, more than 150 priests from the dioceses of Puno, Cusco, Abancay, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Huancayo, and Tarma participated in the soccer tournament. For a decade, the event has strengthened priestly fraternity, promoted vocations, and served as a reminder that sports can be a means of evangelization.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, Father José Raúl Ayuque Tornero, a priest of the Diocese of Huancavelica and one of the event's organizers, explained that the initiative grew out of the friendship among priests who attended the major seminary in Abancay.

Its origins are deeply rooted in "fraternity and friendship among the priests," Ayuque said. "At first, it was simply a get-together of friends."

The event has since become a tradition for the dioceses in the southern part of the country.

A cliff-hanger final decided by penalty kicks

Ayuque excitedly recalled the final match, which was attended by families, priests, and seminarians.

"The atmosphere was extraordinary. Our minor seminarians kept spirits high throughout the day. We had marching bands performing from St. John Vianney Minor Seminary and the Teresa de la Cruz educational institution run by the Canoness Sisters," he told ACI Prensa.

The bands provided musical accompaniment and cheered equally for both Huancavelica and Cusco as the teams faced off in the final match, which began around 5 p.m.

In Huancavelica, the sun sets early due to the area's geography, making the match even more exciting. Fans followed each play closely, waiting for a goal.

The end of the match could not have been more suspenseful: Cusco failed to get a penalty kick past the Huancavelica goalie, and all eyes were then on Salazar, who skillfully placed his shot out of reach of the Cusco goalkeeper and won the championship.

A celebration immediately began on the field. The priests sang the St. John Mary Vianney hymn composed by the late bishop emeritus of Huancavelica, William Molloy.

"In Huancavelica, we have a very young clergy, with an average age close to 35, and that is also reflected in the enthusiasm with which we experience these gatherings," Ayuque said.

The awards ceremony followed. Abancay took fourth place, Ayacucho third, and Cusco second, while Huancavelica received the cup.

The Archdiocese of Huancayo was announced as the venue for the next championship matches.

"Beyond the competition, I saw joy in everyone — the joy of sharing the mission God gives us as priests," Ayuque commented.

For his part, referee Daniel Jorge Cruz Olarte remarked that the most gratifying aspect of being part of this tournament was "seeing how they respect one another."

"They are wholesome people; they respect the referee, they respect their teammates and opponents, and they experience the sport with a spirit of fraternity."

A championship born of friendship

Although it now brings together priests from seven jurisdictions and even the region's bishops, the Clergy Champions League began quite simply.

"It started about 10 years ago. At first, only Abancay, Ayacucho, and Huancavelica — the closest ones — participated. Gradually, it took shape and we can now say that this gathering has become an established tradition in the Peruvian Andes," Ayuque explained.

He said in the future, the league would also like to include the dioceses of Ica, Arequipa, and Tacna "so that it truly represents all of southern Peru."

Much more than soccer

For the priest, the Clergy Champions was never just a sports tournament.

"These gatherings strengthen our own sanctification as priests. We meet older, younger, and newly ordained priests from different backgrounds, and we see how the Lord continues to call each one amid varying circumstances," he said.

Ayuque said the sport can become an authentic tool to awaken vocations. "It helps us learn to live as a team, to understand that life must be built seeking communion, knowing how to share, show solidarity, and always feel the presence of our brother," he said.

Father Doroteo Borda López, one of the participants, highlighted to ACI Prensa that the league is an experience of communion.

"It's a way for us to participate as priests of a local Church and to come together. Getting together with nearly 150 priests and seeing that sport unites, heals, and is also part of spirituality is something very valuable," he said.

For Borda, the Clergy Champions shows young people that the Church remains alive and "that we are just as normal people as anyone else."

"On the field, we get angry, we play, we run, and we have our differences, but afterward, we continue sharing our lives."

Ayuque said he believes the league's greatest lesson for young people is "to show them that the priest's mission is not limited solely to piety or prayer."

"All the realities of life can and must be offered to God. The priest is called to bring God's grace to all people and to all human endeavors. That's why more laborers are needed for the harvest, more young people who will dedicate their lives," he stated.

'Sport is absolutely essential'

The priest also advocated for sports as a necessary part of holistic formation. "In our seminaries, we strive to dedicate at least one hour a day to sports, since the human person is both body and soul," he said.

"Sport disciplines the body, makes it more agile, and helps eliminate the body's toxins. When our physical condition is well cared for, it also becomes easier to engage attentively in prayer and the encounter with God," he said.

"A neglected body ends up influencing one's spiritual life as well … Pope Francis frequently spoke of acedia, that kind of spiritual sloth that often stems from a body that is overly comfortable," he added.

"Sport prepares our nature for a personal encounter with the Lord and helps us view the world with greater joy and optimism," he concluded.

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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WASHINGTON — Catholic sisters, survivor advocates, and lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge Congress to quickly pass bipartisan legislation they say would strengthen protections for victims of human trafficking and help prevent future exploitation.

Hosted by the Alliance to End Human Trafficking and the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the July 14 congressional briefing focused on the need to reauthorize federal anti-trafficking programs through fiscal 2029 and pass legislation to impose requirements on social media platforms to reduce harms to minors.

Sponsor Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, titled his human trafficking bill the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 1144), and the measure is next up for House consideration. A separate bill, named the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748) by sponsor Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, has not yet seen action in the Senate Commerce Committee.

Smith's legislation would reauthorize federal anti-trafficking programs while expanding prevention initiatives, survivor services, and law enforcement training.

Catholic advocates emphasize prevention

Advocates at the briefing argued that prevention must become the centerpiece of the nation's anti-trafficking strategy.

Sister Ann Scholz, SSND, a founding member of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, said the time has come for Congress to move beyond simply raising awareness about trafficking.

"We believe this Congress has the opportunity to enact two pieces of bipartisan legislation that will move us closer to ending the scourge of human trafficking," Scholz said, describing both bills as measures that emphasize prevention and protect vulnerable populations.

Fran Eskin-Royer, executive director for National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, said Congress has allowed the legislation to languish despite bipartisan backing. She said reauthorization would strengthen prevention efforts while updating federal responses to evolving forms of exploitation.

"Both bills are not new. They've been around, and they are not moving … We need everyone to contact their members of Congress and urge that this bill pass," Eskin-Royer told "EWTN News Nightly" host Veronica Dudo.

The briefing featured survivor leaders, legal experts, clinicians, and service providers who argued that preventing trafficking requires greater investment in education, technology safeguards, and long-term support for survivors.

Gina Cavallo, president of the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking and a survivor of trafficking, told attendees that legislation such as H.R. 1144 could have dramatically changed the course of her life.

"Had these bills been put in place, this would not have happened to me," she said. "My life could have been dramatically different."

Cavallo recounted being failed by multiple institutions during her childhood, including family, schools, and law enforcement, leaving her vulnerable to exploitation. Rather than being recognized as a victim, she said, she was criminalized.

"I had my childhood taken, my dignity, my dreams — everything," she said, urging lawmakers to continue treating human trafficking as a bipartisan issue centered on protecting human dignity.

Katie Boller Gosewisch, executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, told "EWTN News Nightly" that the crime remains vastly underreported worldwide.

"According to the Global Slavery Index, on any given day, about 50 million people are caught in human trafficking," she said, noting that the figure includes forced marriage, organ trafficking, sex trafficking, and forced labor.

Smith calls for House vote

Smith told attendees the bill's consideration has been delayed despite broad bipartisan support.

"It was supposed to be up yesterday," Smith said, explaining that House leadership had postponed floor consideration. "Delay is denial. We need to get this bill on the floor."

Smith, who authored the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, said the legislation has led to thousands of prosecutions over the past two decades but argued that reauthorization is needed to strengthen prevention efforts, expand survivor services, and address emerging forms of exploitation.

Catholic leaders warn delay leaves greater risk

Advocates called on Congress to approve the legislation without further delay, arguing that every day of inaction leaves vulnerable people at greater risk.

"The reauthorization of this essential law has been delayed for too long," the Alliance to End Human Trafficking said in a statement. "Every day it's delayed is another day we fall short of our commitment to those affected by one of the most egregious violations of human dignity."

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LOS ANGELES — One of the largest Norbertine communities in the world, St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County, California, has elected Father John Caronan as its third abbot since its founding in 1961, succeeding Abbot Eugene Hayes, who led the community for 31 years.

Caronan will serve for a 12-year term, overseeing both the pastoral care and the governance of the community.

"I was certainly surprised that my confreres chose me to fill this important fatherly role," Caronan said. "I know that God's grace will sustain me every step of the way, and I pray that he will help me to be the kind of father that our community desires me to be. Already in the first few weeks since my election, I can see just how much his grace is helping me to undertake this task."

Born Edgar Caronan in Manila, Philippines, in 1964, he immigrated to the United States with his family in 1975 and arrived at St. Michael's Abbey a decade later, making his solemn profession in 1992. He was ordained a priest in 1994.

Caronan is a canon lawyer and spent much of his career working in the marriage tribunals of the Diocese of Orange, in which the abbey is located, and the neighboring Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He has served as the judicial vicar of both the Diocese of Orange and the Maronite Tribunal of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon. He has also been the regular celebrant of the Tridentine Mass at St. John the Baptist Parish in Costa Mesa, which is staffed by the Norbertine Fathers.

900 years

The Norbertine order was founded 900 years ago by St. Norbert, archbishop of Magdeburg, Germany, and vice chancellor for the Holy Roman Empire. The community's charism, according to St. Michael Abbey's first abbot, Ladislas Parker (1915–2010) in a Diocese of Orange newspaper from 1995 on the occasion of his retirement, is "to combine the contemplative life of a monk with the active life of a parish priest, and to tie this work to community in an abbey."

The Norbertines are easily recognized by their traditional white cassock — which, according to pious belief, was given to St. Norbert by the Blessed Virgin Mary as a sign of her protection and favor — and their motto, "Prepared for every good work." The essence or "heartbeat" of the order is fervent devotion to the Eucharist, which is central to Norbertine spirituality, Parker said.

The original members of the community were seven Norbertine priests who fled an oppressive communist government in Hungary in 1950. They made their way to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1957 (the Diocese of Orange would be established in 1976), when Cardinal James McIntyre invited them to teach at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.

By 1960, Parker and his fellow Norbertines had collectively earned $46,000 and purchased a remote strip of cattle-grazing land at the base of the Saddleback Mountains. They established St. Michael's Priory, named for the abbey in Csorna, Hungary, and in 1984, Pope John Paul II approved the conferral of abbey status on St. Michael's.

In contrast to many religious communities, St. Michael's Abbey has enjoyed an abundance of vocations, with 68 priests and 32 men currently in formation. The growth necessitated the moving of the community from the former cow pasture to a 320-acre site nine miles away in 2021 with ample space for the community, its apostolates, and future growth.

Today, the community staffs two parishes, St. John's and Sts. Peter and Paul in Wilmington, California; administers a high school in San Pedro, California; operates a local summer camp; staffs the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin; and staffs Corpus Christi Priory in Springfield, Illinois. Additionally, each Sunday, individual Norbertines assist at more than 30 parishes throughout Southern California.

The order also operates a digital apostolate, The Abbot's Circle, which offers online resources to help viewers grow in their faith as well as provide news about the community.

The election for the new abbot began with a vote on the length of term the abbot would serve; Hayes was elected for life with a mandatory retirement age of 75. This time, the community opted for a 12-year term. Caronan's election followed via secret ballot; he is the first Filipino-born abbot in the history of the community.

"God has blessed our community so wonderfully in the past several decades," Caronan said. "I hope during my tenure as abbot to build upon this solid foundation in such a way that our Norbertine canonical life will flourish spiritually, that our apostolic work in the wider Church will grow, and that through the life and ministry of St. Michael's Abbey, Christ will draw many souls closer to himself."

'Patris Corde'

Caronan selected as his abbatial motto "Patris corde" ("With a father's heart"), reflecting the "fatherly governance and fatherly care" with which he hopes to lead the community, Father Ambrose Criste, director of The Abbot's Circle, shared with EWTN News. "It's representative of the type of man he is."

On Sept. 28, Caronan will receive an abbatial blessing at the abbey during a public ceremony expected to draw many prominent churchmen as well as civic officials.

Like bishops, abbots are prelates with authority over their communities, but unlike bishops they are "blessed" rather than "ordained"; hence they cannot ordain priests.

At the ceremony, Caronan will receive the traditional pontifical insignia of an abbot, including a ring, pectoral cross, miter, and crozier.

St. Michael's Abbey welcomes members of the public to join them daily for prayer as well as for special events, including the abbatial blessing and their celebration of the feast of St. Michael every Sept. 29.

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Monsignor Daniel Víctor Villalobos Ortiz has been appointed the new rector of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City by the primatial archbishop of Mexico, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes.

A canon of the basilica and episcopal vicar for the clergy since August 2024, he was named exorcist for the Marian shrine in February of this year.

In a July 12 statement, Aguiar announced the appointment "after hearing the proposals presented by the Venerable Chapter of Guadalupe and the Permanent Council of the Mexican Bishops' Conference."

The cardinal commissioned the rector to lead a "new phase of institutional and pastoral renewal, with the collaboration of all the priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and lay faithful who serve at this beloved shrine."

The cardinal also expressed his "gratitude for the service rendered" by the outgoing rector, Monsignor Efraín Hernández Díaz, whose resignation he accepted.

According to the Archdiocese of Mexico, the shrine receives around 35 million pilgrims each year. During the Guadalupe celebrations in December 2025 alone, some 13 million visitors came to the shrine, according to figures from the Mexico City Government Secretariat.

Who is the new rector of the basilica?

Born in Mexico City on Aug. 10, 1968, Villalobos was ordained a priest on July 12, 1998, at the basilica itself by the then-prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos.

From 1997 to 2008, he served as an assistant to the then-archbishop emeritus of Mexico, Cardinal Ernesto Corripio Ahumada.

Throughout his ministry, he has held various pastoral assignments in parishes in the Mexico City boroughs of Xochimilco, Tlalpan, Coyoacán, and Álvaro Obregón.

In August 2024, he was appointed a canon of the basilica and episcopal vicar for the clergy of the Archdiocese of Mexico.

Since February 2026, he has served as an exorcist at the basilica.

The start of 'a phase to update and improve'

The basilica, Aguiar noted in his statement, "holds a privileged place in the life of our local Church and in the hearts of millions of pilgrims"; therefore, "any decision regarding this sacred site must always have as its aim to strengthen its evangelizing mission and the service it offers to the people of God."

"We have begun a phase of updating and improving administrative, operational, and pastoral processes at the Basilica of Guadalupe," the cardinal added, taking "as a reference the updates promoted by Pope Francis for the papal basilicas of St. Mary Major in Rome and St. Peter in the Vatican."

In the case of the Marian shrine, which houses the tilma bearing the image of the Virgin Mary on which it miraculously appeared nearly 500 years ago, the renewal now underway "will help distinguish the pastoral mission from administrative operations," thereby consolidating an institution that is "more efficient and organized."

Aguiar also stated that, since last year, "various administrative and operational reviews" have been conducted at the basilica and that the Mexican Bishops' Conference, the apostolic nunciature, and the Holy See were all informed of them.

"These reviews, routine in the life of any institution, have made it possible to identify opportunities to strengthen evangelization efforts, internal organization, and the services provided daily to millions of pilgrims," continued the primatial archbishop of Mexico.

"Let us allow the words that have sustained our people's hope for nearly five centuries to resonate once more in our hearts: 'Am I not here, I who am your mother?'" he encouraged.

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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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and other Catholic organizations submitted public comments urging the Labor Department to reject a proposed regulation that would expand insurance coverage opportunities for in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Regulators will consider a rule change that would create a category of limited excepted benefits that covers IVF and other fertility-related treatments. It does not impose mandates but rather creates more opportunities for employers to offer the coverage.

In a 17-page letter submitted by the USCCB's legal counsel, the bishops expressed support for expanding fertility-related coverage that respects unborn embryonic human life and the natural procreation process — but strongly discouraged any inclusion of IVF.

"IVF, especially as practiced in the U.S., kills or freezes at least as many preborn children as abortion — at a magnitude of hundreds of thousands or perhaps over a million per year," the bishops' comment noted.

When a person receives an IVF treatment, "multiple fertilized eggs or zygotes — human beings — are produced" for every cycle, at which stage most die, according to the bishops' comment. For embryos that survive, some are implanted but "others [are] destroyed or put in inhumane cryopreservation."

The process for selecting which embryos are implanted and which ones are destroyed includes genetic screening, which the bishops' comment called a "dystopian form of modern eugenics that kills those children deemed genetically inferior." At times, when more than one embryo is implanted but the parents only want one child, the others are aborted through a process called "selective reduction," they explained.

"Promoting IVF," the statement said, "... stands in glaring contrast to this administration's other pro-life statements and actions."

The bishops said indefinitely freezing surviving embryos "is also a profound and terrible violation of their dignity and rights," adding: "Hundreds of thousands of our smallest brothers and sisters in the U.S. are experiencing this fate right now."

Additionally, the bishops warned IVF "commodifies our fellow human beings and treats them like products and property." They warned the technology violates "the exclusivity of the marriage bond in its most unique context and unnaturally [separates] the procreative aspect from the unitive aspect (that is, regarding the unity of the spouses) of the marital act."

The comment also cited practical concerns for the Labor Department, warning the inclusion of IVF could put the entire rule at risk because it may exceed the department's statutory authority and that it is arbitrary and capricious, which could be a problem in court.

If IVF is ultimately included, the bishops requested guardrails. This includes rules that prevent the destruction of embryos, prohibit genetic screening, and clearly communicate alternatives, such as restorative reproductive medicine (RRM).

Regardless of whether IVF is included, the bishops encouraged flexibility to ensure coverage of RRM is clearly included so employers "can make meaningful use of that flexibility by affording them the opportunity to know of the full range of possible fertility care that can identify and heal a patient's underlying conditions while safeguarding human life and dignity."

RRM healthcare focuses on addressing the underlying conditions that cause infertility and works toward helping the couple achieve conception naturally through the marital act.

More Catholics chime in

The bishops' concerns were echoed by other Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), and the National Association of Catholic Nurses, USA (NACN-USA).

"In the IVF process more babies die than are ever born," the CMA comment said. "The babies that are eventually terminated, after lengthy periods of cold storage, do not voluntarily sacrifice their freedom, their potential, or their lives."

The statement promoted RRM, which CMA called "more holistic, gentler, more respectful of human life, more compassionate, more empathetic, and more generous." It stated RRM is "devoid of violence or neglect or disdain toward viable beings denied access to being 'in utero.'"

CMA also joined NCBC and NACN-USA in a joint comment, which called the initiative to expand infertility care "a valuable opportunity to advance real solutions to infertility that respects the God-given dignity of parents and of children, born and preborn."

Yet they jointly encouraged the department "to refocus the rule on therapeutic, restorative treatments and to abandon its inclusion of IVF, which is profoundly flawed both legally, therapeutically, and morally, and does nothing to address the underlying pathology."

"If IVF is included in the final rule, regulations must limit the number of embryos being engendered by the number of embryos that can safely be implanted and gestated unto birth," the statement added.

"Engendering embryos with the intent to provide 'spares' for eugenic or research purposes is an [affront] to humanity and should be prohibited; and current practices of selective reduction, especially after there has been a deliberate engendering of more embryos than can safely be gestated is an egregious [affront] to human life and should be prohibited," it stated.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide up to $235 million through Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for emergency food and nutrition assistance in Sudan and Ethiopia amid widespread hunger.

"More than 110,000 metric tons of U.S.-grown agricultural commodities" will be delivered to the two East African countries under an agreement in principle between CRS and the USDA, according to a July 14 USDA announcement.

"American farmers feed, fuel, and clothe the world, and under President Trump's leadership, we're utilizing that bounty to serve those in need while ensuring that the benefits of U.S. food aid flow back to America's hardworking farmers, ranchers, and producers that make this assistance possible," Michelle Bekkering, USDA's deputy undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said in a statement. "We're also enforcing strict accountability so that aid goes to those who actually need it, safeguarding hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and delivering aid that builds self-reliance instead of long-term dependence." 

"Authorized under Title II of the Food for Peace Act," the announcement said, "the agreement leverages Catholic Relief Services' operational footprints in East Africa, including the Sudan Emergency Project and the Joint Emergency Operation in Ethiopia."

CRS has faced a sharp drop in federal support after the Trump administration collapsed global-health and humanitarian functions of the U.S. Agency for International Development into the State Department in 2025. USAID earlier supplied roughly half of the agency's $1.5 billion budget.

CRS President and CEO Sean Callahan said in a July 14 press release that the agreement came "at a critical moment for struggling families in Sudan and Ethiopia."

"For decades, our partnership with USDA has connected the generosity and productivity of American farmers with some of the world's most vulnerable communities," Callahan said. "We are committed to ensuring these resources are managed responsibly and translated into meaningful support for families working to overcome crisis."

"We are hopeful fellow trusted organizations carrying out lifesaving work across the world are supported in their efforts to meet these critical needs for extremely vulnerable families and communities," he said.

Callahan told EWTN News that CRS tracks the delivery of food commodities "to the last mile and employs robust monitoring, verification, and financial oversight to help ensure assistance reaches the people it is intended to serve."

"We continually assess security conditions, adjust operations as needed, and work closely with local partners to help ensure assistance reaches the people it is intended to serve," he said.

Maura O'Brien, a former USAID official who led its Sudan and South Sudan office and serves as coordinator for the Michael B. Kim Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership at Haverford College, said CRS has been a trusted partner but USAID's absence will be felt.

"Not having any U.S. presence in the field makes any assistance more vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse — especially in a conflict environment. Oversight and coordination are essential to effectively delivering desperately needed relief to communities in East Africa," O'Brien said.

USDA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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Almost nine years after the earthquakes that shook central and southwestern Mexico in September 2017, St. John of God Church and Holy True Cross Church, both located in Mexico City, have reopened their doors for worship.

On July 8, a Mass was celebrated at Holy Cross Church, marking the community's return to their church and concluding a lengthy restoration process.

The earthquakes of Sept. 7 and 19, 2017, resulted in 468 deaths and caused damage to thousands of buildings.

In Mexico City alone, around 160 Catholic churches suffered structural damage of varying severity such as these two churches located just a short distance apart.

5 centuries of history

Holy True Cross Church is considered one of the oldest churches in the country.

According to tradition, the explorer and conquistador Hernán Cortés ordered the construction of a small chapel to commemorate the landing of the Spanish expedition at the port of what is now known as the state of Veracruz. Over time, that chapel gave rise to the parish as it is known today.

The church also houses important works of sacred art, such as the Christ of the Seven Veils, which is said to have been a gift from Pope Paul III to King Carlos V of Spain. Additionally, a relic of the true cross is preserved there, considered by Christian tradition to be a fragment of the cross on which Jesus Christ died.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, Father Juan Carlos Guerrero Ugalde, the pastor of Holy True Cross and St. John of God, stated that restoring the churches was a priority of "not only ecclesiastical but also civic interest."

"This church [Holy True Cross] was the third parish established in the city and, therefore, holds a tradition of faith dating back to the 16th century," he explained.

9 years to return

Guerrero described the restoration process as "meticulous and slow" due to the complexity of the damage.

Among other measures, the bell towers, which were at risk of collapse, were reinforced, cracks were repaired, the hydraulic piles supporting both structures were serviced, the roofs were waterproofed, and work was carried out to correct the effects of the ground settling.

The work was overseen by the National Institute of Anthropology and History, as both buildings are part of the nation's historical heritage.

In Mexico, religious buildings constructed prior to the 1992 constitutional reforms are state property, although they remain places of worship and are used by religious associations.

The restoration of the Holy True Cross church faced an additional challenge: a fire in August 2020 caused by individuals living on the street. Reports indicate that a campfire spiraled out of control, damaging the choir loft, the dome, and sacred art.

Today, those walking through the historic central part of Mexico City can once again enter the church. Marcela Eduardo, who works in the area and took a moment of free time to stop in and pray, did just that.

"It brought me great joy to see it open and to see that repairs are underway," she noted in an interview with ACI Prensa. She said that when she saw the parish church open, her first thought was to go in to see Christ and "greet him, make the sign of the cross, and ask him for something: that he give me more energy."

Much more than a church

These churches are surrounded by some of Mexico's most important cultural landmarks, such as the Franz Mayer Museum, the Palace of Fine Arts, and the Alameda Central, a large city park.

Although Holy True Cross and St. John of God churches might go unnoticed by some tourists amid so many other buildings, Guerrero noted that their value has been "significant for both the faith and the city."

He explained that, following the 1985 earthquake, the area welcomed numerous families from various places, necessitating the construction of a new community identity. Pastoral work at the time "consisted of gradually integrating the way of life of longtime residents and that of those who were newly arriving."

Over the years, he added, violence, drug trafficking, and social breakdown affected life in the neighborhood, making the Church's presence even more necessary.

For Betsabé Jara, who visited the church after touring the Franz Mayer Museum, the reopening represents an opportunity to regain a place for encountering God.

"It brings peace of mind that the church is open, that one can enter and pray. Especially for people who couldn't go elsewhere because there wasn't a church nearby," she said in an interview with ACI Prensa.

Building the community

The priest noted that reactivating community life will be the next challenge. He explained that a "call has already gone out to neighborhood residents to come for formation as pastoral workers."

He also noted that they aim to develop social programs such as job training for individuals who did not complete their formal education as well as cultural initiatives in collaboration with nearby museums.

"We want the spaces we have in both churches to be truly utilized and filled with formation programs," Guerrero said.

As the community gradually restores life to these churches, Masses are currently held regularly on Sundays, whereas weekday Masses take place only upon the request of the faithful.

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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Catholic members of France's National Assembly who vote for the country's euthanasia and assisted-suicide bill will no longer be able to receive holy Communion, Bishop Marc Aillet of Bayonne, Lescar, and Oloron in southern France has warned ahead of the bill's decisive final vote on July 15.

"A Catholic engaged in public life cannot ignore" the Church's constant teaching against euthanasia, Aillet told France Catholique in a July 7 interview. He highlighted that the Christian faith engages a person's whole existence and that every lawmaker must examine in conscience whether the acts they take align with the faith they profess.

A public vote for a law gravely contrary to the Church's moral teaching, he said, creates "a real problem of ecclesial coherence," and Catholic lawmakers who support the bill need to weigh the consequences of that choice. If they are aware of the inconsistency, he said, "they will no longer be able to receive Communion," adding that the Church has the authority to remind them of this, just as some bishops have already done in the United States.

Aillet said he wanted to invite lawmakers to a sincere examination of conscience and raised the question of whether society has the right to make the deliberate ending of a human life its answer to suffering.

The National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, is scheduled to hold the decisive vote on the bill Wednesday, July 15. Barring a last-minute reversal, the measure is expected to pass by a wide margin, as it has in each of its three previous readings in the lower chamber, most recently by 295 votes to 232 on June 30.

The bill has been rejected three times by the Senate, most recently on July 7 by a narrow vote of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions.

Under Article 45 of the French Constitution, the government can give the Assembly the final word once the two chambers remain deadlocked after repeated readings, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to invoke that procedure Wednesday.

The bill, titled a "right to aid in dying," legalizes both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance. Access is restricted to adults who are stable residents of France, suffer from a serious and incurable condition in an advanced or terminal phase, experience suffering that cannot be relieved by treatment, and remain able to express their will freely and with full understanding throughout the process.

Aillet also grounded his warning in the Vatican's 2020 letter Samaritanus Bonus, which he said had reaffirmed that euthanasia is intrinsically evil regardless of circumstance. He distinguished true compassion from what St. John Paul II called a "false mercy," arguing that a genuinely fraternal society answers suffering with palliative care and accompaniment rather than the elimination of the person who suffers.

The bishop also called for a fully guaranteed conscience clause for health workers and defended the right of Catholic-run care institutions to refuse to participate, warning that without it, some might be forced to close or relocate abroad.

The French bishops' conference has opposed the bill since its earliest stages, issuing formal statements opposing the bill after the Assembly's first vote in May 2025, again after the second reading in February, and a third time on Ascension Day in May, when it warned of "moral imprudence" and "democratic disrespect" given the absence of political and social consensus.

On the eve of the June 30 vote, the Church released a video appeal to lawmakers, with Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours saying the testimony of caregivers, jurists, and associations involved in end-of-life care had been "painfully ignored" during the debates.

The Christian social network Hozana has separately called on believers to join a prayer chain addressed to French lawmakers ahead of Wednesday's vote, an appeal that has drawn more than 58,000 participants.

The bill's critics are not confined to religious circles. The Société française d'accompagnement et de soins palliatifs and other caregiver federations have opposed the text, arguing that palliative care should be made a real, accessible alternative before any shift toward assisted death and that the bill's clinical framework and oversight remain unclear.

Asked about the pending visit of Pope Leo XIV to France, whose chosen motto for the trip is "So that the world may have life," Aillet said he hoped the pope would reaffirm the inalienable dignity of every human life regardless of how the vote turns out.

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