Catholic News

President Donald Trump vowed stronger military action against Iran in an address to the nation on Wednesday night, amid continued calls for peace and dialogue from Pope Leo XIV and other members of the Catholic hierarchy.

"We're going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong," Trump said in remarks from the White House on April 1, adding that "in the meantime, discussions are ongoing."

Trump said the military is "on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly," but said he also intends to "hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks."

"If, during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets," the president said, and threatened to escalate to attacking Iranian infrastructure.

"If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously," he said. "We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding."

Trump said the military's "core strategic objectives" are nearly complete, and noted that Iran's military has significantly deteriorated. Now, more than one month into the conflict, Trump said "we're getting very close."

As Iran continues to threaten ships that must pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said "countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage" and told them to "grab it" while promising "we will be helpful."

Trump's address was his first speech to the nation since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28. Trump has made remarks to reporters, given interviews, and posted statements, but had not delivered a formal, televised address to the nation.

Pope, bishops pray for peace

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, published a statement earlier in the day welcoming indications the war may soon end and calling for a ceasefire.

"The longer the conflict with Iran continues, including the risk of deploying ground troops to the region, the greater the risk of a dramatic escalation risking an ever-greater regional conflict," Coakley said.

Citing Pope Leo XIV's Palm Sunday homily of March 29, in which the pope proclaimed Christ the "King of Peace" who rejects war, Coakley encouraged Christians, renewed by Easter, to live out their vocation as peacemakers.

"Pope Leo XIV made clear: 'Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,'" Coakley said.

The pope separately addressed the conflict on March 31, telling reporters outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo: "Easter should be the holiest, most sacred time of the year."

"I'm told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war," the pope told reporters March 31. "Hopefully he's looking for an 'off ramp.' Hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that's being created and that's increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere."

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A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit that would have allowed churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status.

The case, which challenged the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law that prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits from endorsing political candidates, was filed in August 2024 by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), two Texas churches, and Intercessors for America.

The plaintiffs argued that the Johnson Amendment violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, is unconstitutionally vague under the Fifth Amendment, and infringes on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The U.S. Department of Justice attempted to dismiss the case in the last weeks of the Biden administration.

After President Trump took office in January 2025, however, his administration revived the case.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Justice shifted their positions and sided with the plaintiffs, arguing that the Johnson Amendment should be read narrowly when applied to churches.

Last summer, the IRS surprised some observers by agreeing to settle, reversing the 70-year ban prohibiting nonprofits from engaging in political campaigns.

On July 7, 2025, the government and plaintiffs filed a joint motion for entry of a consent judgment that would have allowed houses of worship to address electoral politics from the pulpit when framed in the context of religious faith and moral teaching and without risking loss of their tax-exempt status.

In an opinion issued March 31, however, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to approve the proposed consent judgment between the plaintiffs and the IRS or to grant the requested relief.

The case was dismissed without prejudice. Barker, a Trump appointee and former deputy solicitor general of Texas, said the plaintiffs could challenge the issue in other ways. They could sue after paying taxes or after their loss of tax-exempt status as a result of violating the Johnson Amendment.

The judge cited the Tax Anti-Injunction Act and restrictions in the Declaratory Judgment Act, which generally prohibit federal courts from issuing orders that would restrain the assessment or collection of taxes — including challenges to the conditions for maintaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

In the context of the Trump administration's support of last summer's settlement, NRB General Counsel Michael Farris said the organization was surprised by the ruling and plans to appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly cited this case's settlement as a victory by his administration for religious freedom," he said.

"The plaintiffs here have no other forum to challenge the free speech restrictions imposed by the Johnson Amendment's limitation on the right of nonprofits to speak about candidates, unless they first violate the law and then become subject to IRS enforcement action. No person should be forced to place themselves in legal jeopardy to protect their constitutional rights," Farris emphasized, saying the U.S. Supreme Court "has backed this conclusion on numerous occasions."

The USCCB's response

Last summer's proposed settlement prompted an immediate reaction from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). On July 8, 2025, USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs, indicated  that the Church would not, in any case, support or oppose political candidates.

"It doesn't change how the Catholic Church engages in public debate," Noguchi said at the time. "The Church seeks to help Catholics form their conscience in the Gospel so they might discern which candidates and policies would advance the common good. The Catholic Church maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates."

The March 31 ruling leaves the provision intact for now, at least as enforced through the tax code.

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether President Donald Trump's executive order denying citizenship to children of parents without legal immigration status complies with the Constitution.

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to block children from automatically receiving citizenship if their parents were residing in the country unlawfully during the birth. It immediately faced legal challenges, based on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, which established birthright citizenship.

The amendment guarantees citizenship to any person born in the country and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The April 1 arguments, which Trump attended, focused on the meaning of the latter phrase and on Supreme Court precedent in the 1898 decision in the U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark case.

In February, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) petitioned the Supreme Court to consider the moral implications of Trump's order, saying it will determine "whether the law will protect the human dignity of all God's children."

Andrew Arthur, resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies and a former immigration judge, told "EWTN News Nightly" those questions "weren't really relevant" to the legal debate in court, which instead focused on the proper interpretation of the amendment and precedent.

The bishops' objections were "heavy on morality, on human dignity, but rather light on the law itself," he said.

Justices question Trump's authority

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who defended the government, noted the motivation for the 14th Amendment was to guarantee citizenship to "the newly freed slaves and their children" after the abolition of slavery.

He argued that the text is meant to protect those who are "domiciled" in the country, which he defined as those with a "lawful presence with the intent to remain." He said the "domicile of the child follows the domicile of the parents," and those who are meant to be temporarily present or not allowed to be present are "not covered by the clause."

Sauer referenced the Wong Kim Ark case, in which the Supreme Court said the man — born in the United States to two parents who were legal permanent residents but not citizens — was a citizen upon birth and referenced the parents' "domiciled" status.

Although the nearly 130-year-old decision held a broad view of birthright citizenship, he said the court at the time did not directly address the citizenship of those born to parents who were not "domiciled."

That decision, however, only listed a few examples for when birthright citizenship did not apply: those born to foreign diplomats, those born to occupying enemy forces, and certain Indigenous Americans.

Sauer added that there is a problem with "birth tourism," stating people have "flocked to give birth in the United States in recent decades," creating citizens with "no meaningful ties" to the country. He told the justices it is "a new world," which forces the justices to deal with questions that the previous court did not have to consider.

This prompted a response from Chief Justice John Roberts: "It's a new world, [but] it's the same Constitution."

It's a new world, [but] it's the same Constitution.

John Roberts

Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed heavy skepticism of the argument, saying: "You don't see 'domicile' mentioned in the debates" in Congress over the 14th Amendment, stating: "These concepts aren't discussed in them."

Justice Elena Kagan similarly said the "domiciled" element is "not what we think of when we think of the word jurisdiction" and accused him of "using some pretty obscure sources to get to this concept."

More concerns came from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who pointed out the historical distinction between "Jus soli" and "Jus sanguinis" citizenship, with the former guaranteeing citizenship based on the soil and the latter guaranteeing citizenship based on the parents.

She said it would be "puzzling" for the framers to word the amendment that way if they wanted to tie citizenship to the parents and that one would expect "more discussion" of that. She said the language doesn't "focus on the parents" but rather the child.

Justices leave door open to interpretation

In spite of the heavy skepticism of the government's position, several justices left the door open to a more restrictive interpretation of birthright citizenship.

Cecillia Wang, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and a beneficiary of birthright citizenship herself, argued that the framers of the amendment enshrined birthright citizenship in the Constitution to "put it out of the reach of any government official to destroy."

She argued that the 14th amendment embodies the English common law tradition, which did not consider "domicile" to be relevant to "Jus soli" citizenship and said the Wong Kim Ark case did not limit the ruling to the children of "domiciled" parents.

Rather, Wang argued the decision provides "a closed set of exceptions" to birthright citizenship, which cannot be expanded without overturning that precedent. She said it was written in a way "to foreclose new exceptions."

Several justices took issue with this as well, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh asking whether there could be "additional exceptions, based on modern circumstances, reasoning by analogy," and Barrett raising the same point, stating: "The language doesn't say it's closed."

Kagan noted that the Wong Kim Ark case used the word "domiciled" several times to explain the ruling, and Justice Samuel Alito argued "domiciled" was used to distinguish permanent residents from migrant laborers who did not plan to remain.

Alternatively, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested the language for "domiciled" may have simply been used "to help the public accept the outcome of this case" rather than to limit the decision.

Gorsuch said the legal opinion following the Wong Kim Ark decision, about whether the ruling applied to the children of non-domiciled people, "remained opened" and scholarly opinion was varied and unclear, adding: "It seems to me it's a mess."

The Supreme Court has the option to simply rule on Trump's executive order or wade into the broader constitutional questions in its decision. The government is not asking the court to reject the birthright citizenship of people who have already received it but is seeking to have a different policy moving forward.

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NASA's Artemis II test flight launched into space on Wednesday evening for an expected 10-day lunar flyby mission.

The flight — which is the first crewed mission to orbit the moon since the Apollo 11 landing in 1969 — is a test for future missions hoping to return humans to the lunar surface in 2028.

Jesuit Father Richard A. D'Souza, director of the Vatican Observatory since September 2025, told EWTN News the Artemis II program is "a great development" that will hopefully lead to answers about the origin of the moon.

The astronomer said the Catholic Church has always supported space exploration but, noting the increased commercialization of spaceflight, warned that it should be for "the benefit of all."

D'Souza shared with EWTN News the significance of this launch and how the Church continues to view space exploration:

EWTN News: From the Vatican Observatory's perspective, what is the significance of Artemis II returning humans to the moon's vicinity after more than 50 years?

D'Souza: The Artemis program is a great development from the perspective of human spaceflight. Since the Apollo missions, our understanding of the moon and our scientific techniques to answer many of the unanswered questions have improved. A possible landing on the moon will allow us to answer several unanswered questions about the origin of the moon.

Furthermore, there is a growing awareness that the moon could host several scientific experiments which could not be possible from the earth due to the abundance of electromagnetic pollution. The far side of the moon remains shielded from various forms of electromagnetic pollutions from the Earth and is ideal to listen to faint signals from the cosmos.

How does the Catholic Church view human spaceflight today — has that perspective evolved since the Apollo era?

The Apollo program — lead by NASA — focused on human endeavor and making the impossible possible. Today, there are many more actors in space with the inclusion of many private companies focused solely on commercial benefit. The Catholic Church, while encouraging all forms of human progress, is particularly concerned that the benefits of such technologies should lead to the benefit of all and not to further inequality and injustice.

Furthermore, the Vatican is especially concerned about the pollution of pristine environments in space (e.g. the moon or other planets) and the great risk of increasing space debris.

Artemis II is a test mission rather than a landing — what does the emphasis on preparation and patience say about how we should approach exploration?

Artemis II is part of a long-term program to return humankind to the moon. While 50 years have passed since we were last on the surface of the moon, we now have a much better understanding of the risks involved. At the same time, much of the technology that will be used in the Artemis program has never been tested for this kind of enterprise. In any form of space mission which involves human persons, the highest forms of accountability and security are needed. Hence, the great caution on the part of NASA in doing all the preparation necessary before landing again on the moon.

Some critics argue that space exploration distracts us from addressing suffering and injustice on Earth. How does the Church respond to that concern?

The Catholic Church has long supported space exploration right from the initial days of the Apollo missions. It understands the symbolic value of space exploration and its effect on other dimensions of human life. Yet at the same time, it is very concerned that exploration of space should not lead to an increase in injustice here on Earth. For this reason, it has been particularly vociferous about international treaties and regulations of space use and travel that need to be put in place — to ensure peace, justice, and that its benefits reach all.

Looking ahead, what questions do you hope future space missions will help humanity explore?

Human space travel to Mars will require us to understand the long-term effect of space travel on the human person. The longest a person has been in space has been 437 days. Before we can undertake longer space missions, we need to understand how to deal with medical emergencies in space. The recent return of the astronauts from the space station due to a health emergency shows how difficult this can be.

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A lawsuit brought by several Catholic Charities affiliates in Michigan over that state's ban on so-called "conversion therapy" could see the controversial rule dismissed in the wake of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling on March 31.

In a near-unanimous ruling in the Chiles v. Salazar case, the high court found that Colorado violated the First Amendment by telling therapists that they could not help young people struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.

The Colorado law represented "an egregious assault" on U.S. free speech protections, the court said, holding that the rule "[struck] at the heart of the First Amendment's protections."

Michigan lawsuit challenges similar law

A similar lawsuit brought by several Catholic Charities affiliates in Michigan could be decided favorably for the charity groups after the Supreme Court decision, a religious liberty attorney told EWTN News on April 1.

Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said the lawsuit brought by Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale counties against the state of Michigan has been on hold since January.

U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering originally ruled in favor of the Catholic charity group in its challenge of a Michigan law prohibiting "conversion therapy" for minors.

The Catholic charities offer a variety of therapy services, including for "issues of gender identity and sexuality." Goodrich said the judge granted a temporary injunction against the Michigan law in January and then stayed the suit while awaiting the decision of the Chiles case.

Goodrich said the Supreme Court ruling in Chiles was "really helpful."

"We think it confirms that Michigan's law is unconstitutional," he said. "We're going to talk to Michigan and then we're going to try to get a final ruling from the district court."

Attorneys for the Catholic Charities groups emailed the Michigan government shortly after the Supreme Court ruling on March 31. "We're going to have a phone call next week and see what they plan to do," Goodrich said.

"When it paused the case, the court ordered the parties, within 14 days of the Chiles decision, to talk to each other and then jointly tell the court what we're going to do," he said.

Goodrich argued that the March 31 ruling "definitely" applies to the Michigan suit.

"The laws in Colorado and Michigan are almost verbatim identical, and Michigan itself has said that the laws and cases are nearly identical, and that whatever happens in Chiles will happen in Michigan," he said.

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in the Chiles case, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson the lone dissent from the ruling.

She argued that the First Amendment has "far less salience" where medical regulations are concerned, though the majority opinion said that the Colorado law's targeting of medical officials "changes nothing" regarding free speech precedent.

"The Constitution does not protect the right of some to speak freely; it protects the right of all," the majority wrote. "It safeguards not only popular ideas; it secures, even and especially, the right to voice dissenting views."

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Peruvian priest Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, personal secretary to Pope Leo XIV, said the Holy Father "hasn't changed" since his years as a bishop in Peru and is still approachable, serene, and possesses a great capacity for listening.

In an interview with the Spanish media outlet Alfa and Omega, the priest, who first met the pontiff when their paths crossed in Chiclayo, Peru, emphasized that despite his new responsibilities, the pope "remains the same."

"The only things that have changed are his attire, which is now white, and his responsibilities; otherwise, the man we have all come to know remains exactly the same: approachable, calm, an excellent listener, and always available," he said.

A discreet service alongside the pope

Rimaycuna explained that his role as personal secretary consists of accompanying the Holy Father in his daily life and ensuring he has the necessary time and space for rest.

"It means working alongside a friend, in my particular case, and also serving as the one who assists him in his daily work and protects him, so he is able to carry out his duties in a peaceful atmosphere," he noted.

The priest also said his role is defined by discretion, in which the spotlight always remains on the pope.

"No one teaches you how to be the pope's secretary, because it's an assignment that comes upon you quite suddenly," he remarked, explaining that he has found inspiration in St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist.

He highlighted St. Joseph's silence and his capacity to remain in the background and St. John the Baptist's attitude of humility, expressed in the phrase: "It is fitting that I decrease and that he increase."

"I believe that these are the two images that summarize the mission, the task, of a secretary: to take second place, and for the other person to be the center of attention," he noted.

Latin American warmth in the pontificate

Rimaycuna also said the pope's experience in Latin America has shaped his style of governance, particularly in his closeness to people.

"In Latin America, we are accustomed to physical closeness, close contact," he explained, noting that this characteristic is reflected by the pontiff in particular ways, such as "offering a greeting, smiling, offering a word of encouragement, or making a small gesture."

Some observers perceive Leo's pontificate as reserved, and Rimaycuna confirmed that this reservedness is part of the pope's personality: "He is reserved because that is simply his nature — always prudent, calm, and patient — but his years in Peru have also helped him maintain that closeness with the people."

In this regard, he added that the pope manages to integrate "prudence and practicality" with the "cordial, approachable, and affectionate" gestures characteristic of Latin America.

On the apostolic journey to Spain

Regarding the upcoming apostolic journey to Spain, the pope's personal secretary noted that its primary significance will lie in the closeness of the shepherd to his flock.

He also highlighted that the Holy Father seeks to acknowledge Spain's historical contribution to the Church.

"Throughout history, Spain has been characterized as a land that has produced many saints," he stated, emphasizing that the trip would also serve as a gesture of "gratitude for all that Spain has given to the world and to the Church in terms of faith and Christian life."

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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A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction allowing clergy to minister to people held at an Illinois immigration facility during Holy Week, citing Pope Leo XIV in his ruling.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered the Trump administration to allow clergy to enter the Broadview immigration facility from April 2–5 to offer religious services for those who wish to attend.

"The court takes 'at face value the claimant's stated belief' that ministering to detainees specifically at Broadview, who hail from local parishes and share a religious community with plaintiffs, is core to their religious practice," Gettleman's March 31 order said, citing November 2025 comments from Pope Leo XIV calling for detained migrants to have access to spiritual care. 

Gettleman wrote: "With reasonable notice and communication, addressing legitimate security and safety concerns, allowing plaintiffs to provide pastoral care to migrants and detainees does not pose any undue hardship on the government."

The order, which also allows people to pray outside the facility, followed a March 31 hearing.

The judge granted the injunction saying the plaintiffs — the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership with several priests and religious — had shown the government had "substantially burdened" their exercise of religion by blocking access to the facility and prohibiting prayer on its grounds.

The judge rejected the Trump administration's argument that it was not violating the plaintiff's religious exercise because it had provided clergy access to permanent migrant detention facilities elsewhere.

The Broadview facility is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office used to process detainees before being transferred to detention centers. Although detainees are only meant to be held there for a few hours, with the maximum being 72 hours, some alleged last year that they were held there for several days and even up to one week during ICE's Operation Midway Blitz, which detained about 3,000 immigrants illegally residing in the state.

DHS response

"ICE follows ALL court orders," according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. "The facility in Broadview, IL, is a field office, it is not a detention facility. Illegal aliens are only briefly held there for processing before being transferred to a detention facility. Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities. Even before the attacks on the Broadview facility, it was not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out."

While DHS' statement referred to a standard operating procedure, the judge's order noted that "Broadview allowed plaintiffs' religious visitation to Broadview for years before reversing course relatively recently" and that a previous preliminary injunction to allow clergy in the facility on Ash Wednesday had been "implemented without incident."

Clergy provided Communion and ashes to four detainees on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, when two priests and a religious sister were permitted to enter the facility at 3 p.m. Each of them — three men and one woman — received the ashes and took Communion. Three guards also received ashes.

Gettleman — appointed to the bench in 1994 by President Bill Clinton — issued a temporary restraining order in November 2025 directing DHS and ICE to improve living conditions at Broadview. Detainees alleged they were being held for several days in squalid conditions, with clogged, overflowing toilets, poor-quality food, inadequate sleeping arrangements, and a lack of access to basic hygiene supplies. The judge required detainees be provided with soap, towels, toilet paper, oral hygiene products (including toothbrushes and toothpaste), and menstrual products.

The plaintiffs did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

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Miriam Lancaster's story sparked "outrage" after she shared that she was offered medical assistance in dying (MAID) after arriving at a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hospital with back pain.

In 2025, 84-year-old Lancaster was taken to Vancouver General Hospital via ambulance after waking up with intense back pain. She was taken out of the ambulance and placed into the emergency room.

"The first person that I remember coming to speak to me was a young lady doctor. And this is where the story begins," Lancaster recalled in an interview with "EWTN News Nightly." "The very first thing she said to me was, 'I would like to offer you MAID.'"

MAID is the euthanasia and assisted suicide law in Canada that allows a physician or nurse practitioner to administer or provide a drug that causes death to the patient.

After the doctor offered MAID, "I said: 'No, thank you,'" Lancaster said. "I was certainly taken aback, and there were so many other things on my mind."

Lancaster said she was thinking: "Yesterday I was feeling fine. I got out of bed this morning, and suddenly I am not feeling fine. I am in horrendous pain. So I need to know what's causing the pain. Let's not talk about end of life please.'"

"My husband, three years previously, had also been offered MAID. He turned it down," Lancaster said. As "practicing Catholics, there is no way that we are going to take measures to end our life. That is in the hands of the Lord. So he turned down MAID when he was in hospital, and a few years later, there I am in the same hospital, and I gave the same response."

Later, Lancaster was moved to the UBC Hospital. "By this time they knew that I had a tiny crack in my sacrum. That's a little bone at the base of the spine," she said. "There's no surgery possible, so I was in bed, with some exercises of course, for three weeks."

"When I got home, I thought, 'Oh, I've been given a second chance here. I am going to make the most of whatever time is left,'" she said.

Lancaster said she and her daughter decided to travel to Cuba in the fall and to Mexico and Guatemala in the spring. While on her trip, Lancaster even went horseback riding on a volcano.

Offering MAID 'defeats a person's sense of self-worth'

Amanda Achtman, who works to humanize the conversation around suffering and death through the Dying to Meet You Project, told "EWTN News Nightly" she hopes Lancaster's story "emboldens other seniors to speak out too" who have had similar experiences.

"Your story has gone totally viral in media all around the world because people are rightly outraged at the suggestion that you could have been offered death when you have so much life to live," Achtman said to Lancaster.

People who are opting for MAID "are being killed by having a lethal injection administered by a doctor or nurse directly," Achtman said. "And now in Canada, 1 in 20 deaths is the result of this premature hastening of an end of life."

MAID "is the suggestion that is being made more and more often to Canadian seniors," she said.

Achtman also works with Canadian Physicians for Life on ethics education and she teaches a bioethics course for St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry. She was recently invited by the bishop of the Diocese of Victoria, Canada, to Vancouver Island, which she said is "literally the euthanasia capital of the world."

"And while there, I met Miriam, but also others who shared with me experiences about unsolicited offers of euthanasia within the health care system," she said.

One woman shared her story with Achtman about "having had euthanasia brought up by her family doctor, by a cancer specialist, and even by the funeral home."

"Now, bringing up euthanasia is not prohibited in Canada, according to the Canadian Association of MAID Providers and Assessors — the government-funded group that is promoting this," Achtman said. "There's no prohibition, and they stress that."

"However, what I would stress is that simply having euthanasia offered already kills a person, because it deflates and defeats a person's sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and of value," she said.

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The laity are not "a formless mass, but the body of Christ," endowed with dignity and responsibility in the Church and in the world, Pope Leo XIV said in his catechesis at the general audience on Wednesday.

After riding around a packed St. Peter's Square in the popemobile on April 1, the Holy Father recalled the nature and mission of the laity, who for centuries had been defined simply as "those who are not part of the clergy or the consecrated life" in a reflection based on the Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium.

Dignity and mission of the laity

The pope explained that Vatican II broke with the former understanding of the laity by affirming the equality of all the baptized and emphasizing both the dignity and the mission of the laity in the Church and in the world.

"Naturally, the greater the gift, the greater the commitment too," the pontiff said.

In light of Lumen Gentium, Leo affirmed that, by virtue of baptism, "the lay faithful participate in the very priesthood of Christ."

He recalled the apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, in which St. John Paul II emphasized that "the council, with its rich doctrinal, spiritual, and pastoral patrimony, has written as never before on the nature, dignity, spirituality, mission, and responsibility of the lay faithful." In this way, the saintly pope "relaunched the apostolate of the laity," Leo noted.

He also stressed that the vast field of the lay apostolate "is not confined to the Church but extends to the world" and that the Church is present "wherever her children profess and bear witness to the Gospel."

As examples, he cited workplaces, civil society, and all human relationships, "wherever they, through their choices, show the beauty of Christian life, which foretells here and now the justice and peace that will be accomplished in the kingdom of God."

Quoting Lumen Gentium, the Holy Father stated that "the world needs to be permeated by the spirit of Christ, and more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity, and peace." He added: "And this is possible only through the contribution, service, and witness of the laity!"

This, the pontiff explained, is the invitation to be the "outgoing" Church spoken of by Pope Francis: "a Church embodied in history, always open to mission, in which we are all called to be missionary disciples, apostles of the Gospel, witnesses of the kingdom of God, bearers of the joy of Christ whom we have encountered!"

During his greeting to pilgrims, Pope Leo XIV encouraged them to remain close to the tomb of Christ and to be faithful in the hour of silence and trial.

He also encouraged the faithful to strengthen their faith during Holy Week and to ask the Lord that the paschal mystery renew in them the grace to be joyful witnesses of the Risen One, confident that love and peace are stronger than death.

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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Leo XIV records his "Pray with the Pope" video each month, but how does he choose the intentions he wants the Church to pray for?

"They're absolutely the pope's intentions; however, he does it in a very synodal way," after gathering input from many sources, Father Cristo´bal Fones, SJ, international director of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN), told EWTN News.

The prayer network, established as a Vatican entity by Pope Francis in 2018, recently undertook a lengthy consultation process with its national directors in 94 countries and members of the Roman Curia.

"Last year, we received about 300 proposals in different languages," Fones said. "We categorized them, we summarized them, and then the [prayer network's] international office proposed 16 of them to the pope to facilitate his work."

"In December, I passed him these 16 proposals … he put another one that wasn't part of the [original] proposals and changed the order," he continued.

"He's quite involved in this process. For him it is critical," he said.

Every month, Pope Leo records three versions — English, Italian, and Spanish — of his monthly prayer intention.

"It's a lot of work," the PWPN director told EWTN News. "He's committed to this because he knows it is important and because he wants to pray with people."

According to Fones, Pope Leo is continuing the tradition of Pope Francis, who recorded the first video of the monthly intentions in 2016, but the current pope has put his own stamp on the practice.

"[Pope Leo] wanted to invite people not only to pray for the intention but to pray with him," he said. "So he wanted a video where he was praying and people could join him."

"He's teaching us how to pray at the same time," Fones said, "by saying 'hello' to the Lord, pausing a little bit, and meaning every single word."

Fones said Pope Leo asked the global network to help people cultivate a "friendship" with God through the various multimedia resources they offer.

"He said to me, 'Please teach people how to pray,'" Fones said. "He's very conscious that we may be Catholics but not have this kind of relationship with Jesus."

"Prayer is not something that we do or something that we say, but it's a relationship that we build up — not with something — but with someone," he added.

In addition to the "Pray with the Pope" campaign, the Vatican foundation also offers a nine-step spirituality program called "Way of the Heart."

At Leo's request, PWPN launched the "Pray with the Pope" campaign in January with the desire to teach people "intercessory prayer" that is focused on "Christ and the challenges of humanity."

"The closer we are to the heart of Jesus, the closer we are to the pains and sufferings of the world who are at the core of his heart," Fones said.

"The important thing is to be compassionate with so many challenges we are facing around the world, very critical, that obviously are in the heart of the pope, as [they are] in the heart of so many people who are suffering those problems, and … certainly in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ," he said.

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