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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 28, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Despite opposition from advocacy groups and Catholic leaders, multiple states and countries advanced legislation in 2025 to expand access to physician-assisted suicide.

Delaware 

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed a bill in May legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, allowing patients to self-administer lethal medication. 

After the bill was signed, several disability and patient advocacy groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware on Dec. 8 alleging that the law discriminates against people with disabilities. 

Illinois 

The House passed a bill in May to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Illinois, and it stalled in the Senate during the regular session. After it was taken up during the fall veto session, senators passed it on Oct. 31. 

The bill, which allows doctors to give terminally ill patients life-ending drugs if they request them, was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker on Dec. 12. The law "ignores the very real failures in access to quality care that drive vulnerable people to despair," according to the Catholic Conference of Illinois.

Illinois joined states that permit the practice including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

New York 

The New York State Assembly advanced an assisted suicide measure in May, which Cardinal Timothy Dolan called "a disaster waiting to happen." Despite calls from Catholic bishops, the New York Legislature passed the "Medical Aid in Dying Act" in June.

The legislation is expected to be signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Colorado

Assisted suicide has been legal in Colorado since 2016. In June 2025, a coalition of advocacy groups sued the state over its assisted suicide law, claiming the statute is unconstitutional for allegedly discriminating against those who suffer from disabilities. 

The suit was filed on June 30 in U.S. district court by organizations including Not Dead Yet and the Institute for Patients' Rights. It calls Colorado's assisted suicide regime "a deadly and discriminatory system that steers people with life-threatening disabilities away from necessary lifesaving and preserving mental health care." 

France

The National Assembly approved a bill in May that would allow certain terminally ill adults to receive lethal medication. The bill passed with 305 votes in favor and 199 against. 

In a statement released after the vote, the French Bishops' Conference expressed its "deep concern" over the so-called "right to assistance in dying." 

United Kingdom

British lawmakers in the House of Commons passed a bill in June to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in England and Wales. 

In order to become law, the bill must pass the second chamber of Parliament, the unelected House of Lords. The Lords can amend legislation, but because the bill has the support of the Commons, it is likely to pass.

Uruguay 

Legislators in Uruguay passed a bill in August to legalize euthanasia in the country. In October, Uruguay's Parliament approved the "Dignified Death Bill," making the bill law and allowing adults in the terminal stage of a disease to request euthanasia. 

Canada 

A Cardus Health report released in September found the legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada led to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups.

MAID passed in 2012 with safeguards and provisions that the report said Canada has not upheld. It said: "Those who died from MAID were more likely to have been living with a disability than those who did not die from MAID, even though both groups had similar medical conditions and experienced diminished capability."

People suffering from mental illness are also dying by assisted suicide at disproportionate rates, the report said. 

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Dec 28, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Monsignor Maurizio Gronchi, an expert consultant for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, clarified that the measure established last month regarding the use of the titles "Co-Redemptrix" and "Mediatrix" for the Virgin Mary is "not an absolute prohibition" and that these titles can still be used in popular piety, provided their meaning is understood.

"It's not an absolute prohibition, but it will no longer be used in official documents or in the liturgy. But if used in popular devotion, understanding its meaning, no one will be reprimanded for it," the expert said in an interview with "EWTN Noticias," the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.

The interview took place after the Nov. 4 publication of the doctrinal note " Mother of the Faithful People" in which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Cardinal Víctor Fernández, stated that the use of the title "Co-Redemptrix" is "always inappropriate" and encourages "special prudence" regarding the title "Mediatrix of All Graces." The text has sparked controversy among the faithful, especially among those who use these terms within the Catholic Church.

Gronchi explained that "the issue is an old one. This problem has been discussed for 99 years, since 1926. We have studied it on several occasions, and the dicastery has received numerous requests for clarification regarding these terms. These titles present a problem. There is a risk of obscuring, of not clearly explaining that the centrality of the paschal mystery of salvation lies in Jesus Christ."

"For this reason," the expert indicated, "now is the time to clarify these titles, so that when it is said that they have been used in the past, it will mean that it was done inappropriately. It doesn't mean that it was wrong, but rather that a definition of these titles was not yet mature and clear."

The consultant emphasized that the pontifical document is a doctrinal note that "deepens, clarifies, and states that these terms are not appropriate, they are not opportune, simply because Mary participates in the redemption, she collaborates in the redemption, but not in the same way as Jesus."

After noting that the Virgin Mary is like the moon reflecting the light of the sun, a symbol of Jesus, Gronchi said that "Mary gives birth to Jesus, but on the cross, Jesus dies, not Mary. Mary participates with her heart, with her affection, with all that she is, but it is a participation that the document calls dispositive, meaning that Mary disposes us to receive the grace of Christ, but she is not the source of grace, nor the mediatrix of all graces."

What does he say to those who are confused?

When asked what he would say to those who are confused by the new Vatican document, the expert stated that "they shouldn't feel any confusion. They should pray to Mary and they should pray to her with the holy rosary. The rosary contains the mysteries of the life of Jesus; therefore, one prays to Mary by meditating on the mysteries of the life of Jesus."

"This is the simplest, most popular devotion, the one that leads to heaven. The saints have already said it, and we pray to Mary with serenity. If we wish, we can also use the Litany of Loreto, which has very beautiful titles; there is no need to add anything else," Gronchi emphasized.

"What we must say about Mary," he concluded, "is that she is the mother of the Lord, the mother of God, the mother of the Church, the mother of the faithful people who accompany us and guide us with tenderness and great love."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 09:49 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged Christian families to "cherish the values of the Gospel" and protect the "flame of love" in their homes against modern myths of success, power, and comfort that he said often leave people isolated and divided.

Speaking to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square before the Angelus on Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the pope reflected on the Gospel account of the family's flight into Egypt and contrasted the trust of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with what he called the fear-driven cruelty of King Herod.

"It is a moment of trial for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Leo said, adding that "the bright image of Christmas is suddenly almost eclipsed by the disturbing shadow of a deadly threat."

The pope described Herod as "a cruel and bloodthirsty man" who is "deeply lonely and gripped with the fear of being deposed." After hearing from the Magi that the "king of the Jews" had been born, Herod "decrees that all children of the same age as Jesus should be killed," the pope said.

"In Bethlehem there is light and joy," Leo noted, recalling the shepherds who "have glorified God before the manger," but he said "none of this can penetrate the armored defenses of the royal palace, except as a distorted echo of a threat to be stifled with blind violence."

Against that backdrop, the pope said the Holy Family reveals "the only possible answer of salvation," namely, "God who, in total gratuitousness, gives himself to men without reserve and without pretension."

Leo pointed to St. Joseph's obedience in protecting Mary and Jesus, saying that "the gesture of Joseph is revealed in all its redemptive significance." He added: "In Egypt, the flame of domestic love, to which the Lord has entrusted his presence in the world, grows and gains strength in order to bring light to the whole world."

Turning to families today, the pope warned that "the world always has its 'Herods,' its myths of success at any cost, of unscrupulous power, of empty and superficial well-being" and said societies often "pay the price in the form of loneliness, despair, divisions, and conflicts."

"Let us not allow these mirages to suffocate the flame of love in Christian families," he said.

Instead, Leo urged families to cultivate "prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, especially confession and Communion, healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, and the simple and beautiful concreteness of everyday words and gestures." He said such family life can make homes "a light of hope for the places in which we live; a school of love and an instrument of salvation in God's hands."

After the Angelus, the pope greeted pilgrims from several Italian parishes and groups. He also renewed his appeal for peace, asking Catholics to remember those suffering because of conflict.

"In the light of the Nativity of the Lord, let us continue to pray for peace," he said. "Today, in particular, let us pray for families suffering because of war, especially for children, elderly, and the most vulnerable."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has sent three trucks carrying humanitarian aid to parts of Ukraine hit hardest by bombardments, where residents are facing severe shortages of electricity, water, and heat.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope's almoner, disclosed the delivery to Vatican media on Dec. 27, saying the convoy carried special food that can be dissolved in a small amount of water to produce energy-rich soups with chicken and vegetables.

Krajewski described the shipment as a small gesture of closeness from the pope to Ukrainian families on the feast of the Holy Family, celebrated Dec. 28.

The trucks, he said, arrived in the Vatican shortly before Christmas loaded with supplies donated by South Korean food company Samyang Foods. As had happened on previous occasions, including during the pontificate of Pope Francis, the aid was then redirected to war zones most severely affected by strikes, where basic utilities are often unavailable.

Krajewski said the delivery underscores that the pope not only prays for peace but also wants to be concretely present with families who are suffering.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2025 / 18:22 pm (CNA).

After launching an attack on ISIS militants in Nigeria, President Donald Trump vowed that the United States would wage more military strikes if the ongoing persecution of Christians persists in the country.

The U.S. military coordinated with the Nigerian government in the joint operation, which targeted camps in the Sokoto state, where military officials said ISIS militants were based. The state is a predominantly Sunni Muslim region in the northwestern corner of Nigeria, bordering Niger.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement that U.S. forces are "working with Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to ongoing violence and threats against innocent lives."

"Our goal is to protect Americans and to disrupt violent extremist organizations wherever they are," he said.

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Nigerian authorities cooperated with U.S. military, adding: "Terrorist violence in any form whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria's values and to international peace and security."

Trump began to publicly express concern about the persecution of Nigerian Christians in October and redesignated the country as a country of particular concern, which is reserved for countries with "particularly severe violations of religious freedom." The president threatened military action in November.

Following the Dec. 25 strike, Trump said in a statement that he "warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was."

"May God bless our military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues," the president said.

Nigeria is the most dangerous country in the world to be Christian, according to International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law reporting that more than 7,000 Christians were killed and another 7,800 were abducted for their religious faith in the first seven months of 2025 alone.

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa reported that from October 2019 to September 2023, nearly 56,000 people died from broader ethnic and religious violence, with the violence disproportionately affecting Christians.

AFRICOM reported that, based on its initial assessment, "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in the attack. However, local Nigerian officials, according to the Nigeria-based Vanguard News, did not find any evidence of injuries or deaths caused by the attack.

Douglas Burton, managing editor of Truth Nigeria, expressed doubt there were any casualties, based on the local reporting, and told CNA the military should "show us the photographs [and] show us the bodies" if anyone was injured or killed.

He said the attack may be "a warning shot" to demonstrate the ability of the United States to launch attacks inside Nigeria "if the Nigerian military establishment doesn't start protecting … Christians."

He noted the Nigerian government faces several Islamic insurgencies, which include affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIS that desire to "usurp or replace the existing elected government with caliphates." However, he accused the Nigerian military of turning a blind eye to Fulani militias — a separate force in Nigeria — which he said is responsible for "two-thirds of all the Christians that get killed every year."

"The U.S. government — if it is serious about ending the genocidal attacks — it must target the Fulani ethnic militia that are concentrated in the north-central states," Burton said.

He said the Fulani attacks are primarily in three states: Plateau, Benue, and Taraba, and said the militias are "wiping out Christian villages and forcing tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people into [internally displaced persons] camps."

According to the 2024 report from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, about 81% of civilians killed in Nigeria's ethnic and religious violence died in land-based community attacks. At least 42% of those attacks were carried out by Fulani herdsmen, but another 41% of those attacks fell into the "other terrorist groups" category, which mostly comprise Fulani bandits.

Nina Shea, the director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, told CNA that Fulani militias "pose the greatest threat to Nigerian Christians" but that "they are no doubt influenced, emboldened, and maybe armed in their jihad by their Muslim brothers who've joined Islamic State, JNIM, Boko Haram, and other Islamist terrorists operating in Nigeria's north."

"This Islamist ideology is the biggest root cause for their murderous acts, not climate change as we've long been told," she added. "Hopefully, the Nigerian government is feeling the pressure and will be spurred to do the necessary police work to curb the anti-Christian violence. It must disarm and prosecute the Fulani jihadis."

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ACI Africa, Dec 26, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).

In a country battered by violence, displacement, and fear, the 2025 Christmas message of Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of Sudan's Catholic Diocese of El-Obeid addressed the people of God in the midst of their suffering and the fragile hope still carried by the celebration of Christmas.

For Trille, the Christmas proclamation is rooted in God's fidelity, since "the birth of Christ is the manifestation of the glory of our God," revealing his promise of salvation and peace for the whole of creation.

Through Christ's birth, he explained, "the gate of heaven is opened for us" and reconciliation becomes possible because "the birth of Christ opens the way for our reconciliation with our Creator."

He drew a parallel between the manger and Sudan's humanitarian crisis, saying: "Seeing the baby Jesus in the manger describes the situation of all those of us in our country who remain without shelter and in fear."

"Our diocese in Kordofan has become the battleground after Darfur," he said, adding that a "number of its parishes are deserted and desecrated." The impact on pastoral life is severe, he lamented, noting: "There are no priests to celebrate sacred sacraments for the faithful."

Sudan's civil war broke out on April 15, 2023. The violent conflict is between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

It started in Sudan's capital city, Khartoum, before becoming a full-fledged civil war in the entire northeastern African nation. It has reportedly resulted in the death of "as many as 150,000 people"; well over 14 million people have been displaced, including to unstable countries such as Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, where they have reportedly overrun refugee camps.

With some 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Sudan, reportedly more than half of country's population, Sudan quite possibly has the highest number of people in need ever recorded and the highest number of internally displaced globally, more than 12 million having fled violence in the country in the last two years.

Sudan also has the highest number of people in emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger, "with over 600,000 people living in famine and 8 million others on the cliff edge," according to an April report.

As Sudan approaches the 70th anniversary of independence in 2026, Trille made a pastoral appeal rooted in compassion and faith. He called the people of God to see themselves as "brothers and sisters in solidarity, weeping with parents and relatives of those who mourn the killed," and to remember the words of Jesus: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."

Gathering testimony, prayer, and hope together, he exhorted, "let us make our hearts the manger where the baby Jesus can live to help us renew our lives and live peace."

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

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Dec 26, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

With the closing of the Holy Door of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, the Vatican began on Dec. 25 the gradual conclusion of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope convened by the Church.

The rite was presided over by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the Marian basilica, who emphasized that "it is not divine grace that is being closed but a special time for the Church, and what remains open forever is the merciful heart of God."

St. Mary Major is the first of the four papal basilicas in Rome to close its Holy Door. This Saturday, Dec. 27, the Holy Door of St. John Lateran will be closed by Cardinal Baldassare Reina; on Sunday, Dec. 28, that of St. Paul Outside the Walls by Cardinal James Michael Harvey; and finally, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV will close the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, officially concluding the jubilee.

During his homily, Makrickas noted that the 2025 Jubilee has been a unique event in the recent history of the Church, having unfolded under two pontificates.

"It has been a true testament to the life of the Church, which is never interrupted. The Lord does not abandon his Church, and today he firmly guides her through Pope Leo XIV," he said.

Referring to the liturgy of the day, the cardinal explained that the readings proclaimed are "three great doors that always remain open": the call of the prophet Isaiah to be messengers of peace, the invitation from the Letter to the Hebrews to listen to the Son, and the testimony of the Gospel of St. John about the light that shines in the midst of the darkness.

'The door that truly matters is the door of the heart'

"Today we have seen the Holy Door close, but the door that truly matters is the door of the heart," Makrickas pointed out, encouraging the faithful to open it by listening to the word of God, welcoming their neighbor, and offering forgiveness.

"Having crossed the Holy Door was a gift; now becoming doors open to others is our mission," he added.

In the final part of his message, the archpriest of St. Mary Major recalled a central teaching of Pope Leo XIV during this holy year: that Christian hope "is not evasion but decision," a hope that translates into concrete love, even in the midst of difficulties, and that inspires believers to give their lives for others.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA's Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by ACI Prensa/CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett says her Catholic faith "grounds her" and gives her "perspective."

During an interview with Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Barrett tackled a number of topics including free speech, the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and her law career. The U.S. Supreme Court justice also opened up about her Catholic faith, including how she prays and her relationship with the saints.

A 'love for the saints'

When asked which spiritual figures have influenced her, Barrett shared about her relationships with the saints, specifically her love for St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

"My favorite was Thérèse of Lisieux. We have a daughter named Thérèse," Barrett said. "I was captivated when I was young by how young she was when she just completely gave her life over to the Lord."

"Her Little Way is so accessible to so many," she said. "I minored in French and I studied in France. It was actually Lisieux, where I was … that's where I decided to go that summer. So I spent a lot of time in the gardens of the Martin home. I think those examples of faith were important to me."

"One thing that we've tried to do with our children is really cultivate in them a love for the saints, because I do think they are great examples that can inspire our love of the faith."

Barrett said she has "prayed in different ways at different phases" of her life. As a law professor, she often prayed a "lectio divina." Now as a judge, she said she tends "to do more reading reflections" and will "read the daily 'Magnificat.'"

A "personal struggle in these last couple of years has been an ability to quiet my mind so that I can pray in a very deep and focused way," she said. Listening to reflections "helps me, if my mind is wandering, to be able to focus on reading something and the task at hand."

The Constitution and the common good

Despite her faith, Barrett also discussed how it is not what can influence her decisions as a judge. "The Constitution distributes authority in a particular way," she said. "The authority that I have is circumscribed."

"I believe in natural law, and I certainly believe in the common good," Barrett said. "I think legislators have the duty to pursue the common good within the confines of the Constitution and respect for religious freedom."

"You have to imagine, 'What if I didn't like the composition of the court I was in front of, the court that was making these decisions, and they view the common good quite differently than I do?' That's the reason why we have a document like the Constitution, because it's a point of consensus and common ground."

"And if we start veering away from that and reading into it our own individual ideas of the common good, it's going to go nowhere good fast."

Roe v. Wade

Barrett said both people who agreed with the Dobbs decision and those who did not "may well assume" she cast her vote based on her "faith" and "personal views about abortion."

"But especially given the framework with which I view the Constitution, there are plenty of people who support abortion rights but who recognize that Roe was ill-reasoned and inconsistent with the Constitution itself," she said. 

Barrett further discussed "the trouble with Roe." 

"There's nothing in the Constitution … that speaks to abortion, that speaks to medical procedures," she said. "The best defense of Roe, the commonly thought defense of Roe, was that it was grounded in the word 'liberty' and the due process clause, that we protect life, liberty, and property and it can't be taken away without due process of law."

The "word 'liberty' can't be an open vessel or an empty vessel in which judges can just read into it whatever rights they want, because otherwise, we lose the democracy in our democratic society," Barrett said. 

The problem with Roe "is that it was a free-floating, free-wheeling decision that read into the Constitution."

The reason why it's difficult to amend the Constitution is because "it reflects a super-majority consensus," she said. "The rights that are protected in the Constitution, as well as the structural guarantees that are made in that Constitution, are not of my making. They are ones that Americans have agreed to."

"Roe told Americans what they should agree to rather than what they have already agreed to in the Constitution."

Free speech and freedom of religion 

"I think the First Amendment protects, guarantees, forces us to respect one another and to respect disagreement," Barrett said. "There's a tolerance of different faiths, a tolerance of different ideas … we can see what would happen if you didn't have the guarantee to hold that in place."

"Think about what's happening with respect to free speech rights in the U.K.," Barrett said. "Contrary opinions or opinions that are not in the mainstream are not being tolerated, and they're even being criminalized. Because of the First Amendment, that can't happen here."

If the United States were to have "an established religion, then it would be very difficult to simultaneously guarantee freedom of religion because there would be one voice with which the government was speaking," Barrett explained. 

An established religion would "sacrifice the religious liberty," she said. "But by the same token, the religious liberty, it would become self-defeating if the logical end to it was to force everyone to see things your way."

Discernment 

At the end of the conversation, Barron asked Barrett what advice she would give young Catholics who want to be involved in public life, law, or the government. 

"Discern first," Barrett said. Ask: "What are you called to do?" 

"If you do feel like this is a vocation and something you're called to do, I think it can never be the most important thing," Barrett said. "I think being grounded in your faith and who you are and being right in the Lord, so that you're not tossed like a ship everywhere because there are enormous pressures."

Faith "grounds me as a person," Barrett said. "Not because my faith informs the substance of the decisions that I make, it emphatically does not, but I think it grounds me as a person. It's who I am as a person."

"So it's what enables me to keep my job in public life in perspective and remain the person who I am and continue to try to be the person I hope to be despite the pressures of public life," she said.

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CNA Staff, Dec 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Amid heavy immigration enforcement by the Trump administration, several bishops in the U.S. have recently issued broad dispensations to Catholics in their dioceses, allowing them to refrain from attending Mass on Sundays if they fear arrest or deportation from federal officials.

Bishops in North Carolina, California, and elsewhere have issued such dispensations, stating that those with legitimate concerns of being detained by immigration agents are free from the usual Sunday obligation.

The Church's canon law dictates that Sunday is considered the "primordial holy day of obligation," one on which all Catholics are "obliged to participate in the Mass." Several other holy days of obligation exist throughout the liturgical year, though Sunday (or the Saturday evening prior) is always considered obligatory for Mass attendance.

The numerous dispensations issued recently in dioceses around the country have underscored, however, that bishops have some discretion in allowing Catholics to stay home from Mass for legitimate reasons.

Dispensation must be 'just,' 'reasonable'

David Long, an assistant professor in the school of canon law at The Catholic University of America as well as the director of the school's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, told CNA that bishops have the authority to dispense the faithful in their diocese with, as the Code of Canon Law puts it, a "just and reasonable cause."

"This generally applies when a holy day of obligation falls on a Saturday or Monday, during severe weather events (snowstorms, hurricanes, floods, etc.), when there is no reasonable access to Mass, or during public emergencies such as pandemics or plagues," he said. Once such circumstances end, he noted, the dispensation itself would cease.

By virtue of their office, diocesan administrators, vicars general, and episcopal vicars also have the power to issue dispensations, Long said.

Priests, however, normally do not have that authority "unless expressly granted by a higher authority, such as their diocesan bishop," he said.

Canon law, he said, dictates that a dispensation can only be granted when a bishop "judges that it contributes to [the] spiritual good" of his flock, for a just cause, and "after taking into account the circumstances of the case and the gravity of the law from which dispensation is given."

The lay faithful themselves can determine, in some cases, when they can refrain from going to Mass, though Long stressed that such instances do not constitute "dispensation," as the laity "does not have the power to dispense at any time" that authority being tied to "executive power in the Church" via ordination.

Canon law dictates, however, that Catholics are not bound to attend Mass when "participation in the Eucharistic celebration becomes impossible."

Long said such scenarios include "when [the faithful] are sick, contagious, or housebound, when they are the primary caregiver for someone else and cannot arrange coverage for that person, when traveling to Mass is dangerous, when there is no realistic access to Mass, or for some other grave cause."

"This is not a dispensation," he said, "but instead is a legal recognition of moral and physical impossibility at times."

The recent immigration-related controversy isn't the only large-scale dispensation in recent memory. Virtually every Catholic in the world was dispensed from Mass in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis, when government authorities sharply limited public gatherings, including religious gatherings, all over the world.

In 2024, on the other hand, the Vatican said that Catholics in the United States must still attend Mass on holy days of obligation even when they are transferred to Mondays or Saturdays, correcting a long-standing practice in the U.S. Church and ending a dispensation with which many Catholics were familiar.

'The most incredible privilege we could possibly imagine'

Though the obligation to attend Mass is a major aspect of Church canon law, Father Daniel Brandenburg, LC, cautioned against interpreting it uncharitably.

"This 'obligation' is sort of like the obligation of eating," he said. "If you don't eat, you'll die. Similarly, the Church simply recognizes that if we don't nourish our soul, it withers away and dies. The bare minimum to survive is Mass once a week on Sundays."

"Most people find the 'obligation' of eating to be quite pleasurable," he continued, "and I think anyone with a modicum of spiritual awareness finds deep joy in attending Mass and receiving the Creator of the universe into their soul. At least I do."

Like Long, Brandenburg stressed that the lay faithful lack the authority to "dispense" themselves from Mass. Instead, they are directed to follow their consciences when determining if they are incapable of attending Mass, particularly by applying the principle of moral theology "ad impossibilia, nemo tenetur" "(no one is obliged to do what is impossible").

Being too sick, facing dangerous inclement weather, or lacking the ability to transport themselves are among the reasons the faithful might determine they are unable to attend Mass, he said.

"Here, beware the lax conscience which gives easy excuses," Brandenburg warned, "and remember that the saints became holy not through excuses, but through heroic love."

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Vatican City, Dec 26, 2025 / 07:17 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged Christians to resist the temptation to treat others as enemies, saying the mystery of Christmas calls believers to recognize the God-given dignity of every person, even in their adversaries.

"Christians, however, have no enemies, but brothers and sisters, who remain so even when they do not understand each other," the pope said Dec. 26 during his Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace on the feast of St. Stephen, the Church's first martyr.

Leo acknowledged that "those who believe in peace and have chosen the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs are often ridiculed, excluded from public discourse," and sometimes even "accused of favoring adversaries and enemies." Yet, he said Christian joy is sustained by "the tenacity of those who already live in fraternity."

Reflecting on St. Stephen's martyrdom, the pope noted that early Christians spoke of the saint's "birthday," convinced "that we are not born just once," and that "Martyrdom is a birth into heaven."

Citing the Acts of the Apostles, Leo recalled that those who witnessed Stephen's trial and death "saw that his face was like the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15), calling it "the face of one who does not leave history indifferently, but responds to it with love."

The pope linked Stephen's witness to the meaning of Christmas, saying "the birth of the Son of God among us calls us to live as children of God," drawing believers through the humility of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds of Bethlehem.

At the same time, he said, the beauty of Christ and of those who imitate him can be rejected because it exposes injustice and threatens those "who struggle for power."

"To this day, however, no power can prevail over the work of God," Leo said, pointing to people around the world who choose justice "even at great cost," who "put peace before their fears," and who serve the poor.

"In the current conditions of uncertainty and suffering in the world, joy might seem impossible," he added, but insisted hope still "sprouts" and "it makes sense to celebrate despite everything."

The pope said Stephen's final act of forgiveness mirrors Jesus' own, flowing from "a force more real than that of weapons," a "gratuitous force" rekindled when people learn to look at their neighbor with "attention and recognition." "Yes, this is what it means to be reborn, to come once more into the light, this is our 'Christmas!'" he said.

After the Angelus, Leo renewed his Christmas wishes "for peace and serenity," greeted pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, and asked St. Stephen's intercession for persecuted Christians and communities suffering for their faith. He also encouraged those working amid conflict to pursue "dialogue, reconciliation and peace."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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