Catholic News

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY — Pope Leo XIV told EWTN News he "cannot comment" on Jimmy Lai, the Catholic founder and publisher of the outspoken pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, who was sentenced Feb. 9 on charges Chinese authorities say violate national security laws.

The sentence came after his conviction in December, a case his supporters have denounced as a politically driven show trial.

Pope Leo XIV met with Lai's wife and daughter before the sentencing in October 2025. The pope has not talked about Lai directly but has spoken about imprisoned journalists and the importance of press freedom.

"The Church recognizes in these witnesses — I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice, and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices," he said. "The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press."

The Vatican maintains a delicate relationship with the government of the People's Republic of China including a provisional agreement regarding the appointment of bishops.

Last year U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to do "everything" to "save" the Lai.

Call for peace

The pope also renewed a call for peace and disarmament in remarks outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome, before returning to the Vatican.

"Let's pray for less hatred and more peace. And work for authentic dialogue," he said.

Leo has made it his custom to spend Tuesdays at the country residence and has occasionally taken questions from reporters at the end of his stay. This was the Leo's first such exchange with the press since Dec. 23.

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ROME — United States Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch has defended President Donald Trump's deportation policies amid criticism from Pope Leo XIV and the U.S. bishops.

"The larger question of immigration is something that will constantly be a source of debate and conversation between the U.S. and the Holy See," the ambassador acknowledged in an interview with EWTN News' Colm Flynn and Hannah Brockhaus.

He added that Trump "had the courage to do something very difficult. I think people sometimes underestimate the difficulty of unwinding the chaos that had occurred" in the U.S. immigration system.

Leo has called for migrants to be treated with dignity, using the word "inhuman" to refer to the immigration crackdown in the U.S. He has also supported the U.S. Catholic bishops in their statements opposing the indiscriminate mass deportation of immigrants who lack legal status.

Burch pushed back on widespread criticism in the U.S. of immigration enforcement, especially following violence in Minneapolis, including the killings of two U.S. citizens.

"The thing that frustrated me is there was a lot of accusations that somehow this was borne out of some xenophobia or hate when I know this administration, this president, is deeply committed to protecting the safety and security of our country," Burch said.

From advocacy to diplomacy

Burch, 50, presented his credentials to Pope Leo on Sept. 13, 2025, beginning his term as ambassador after he was nominated by Trump in December 2024.

From 2005 to early 2025, Burch was president of CatholicVote Civic Action and the CatholicVote Education Fund, organizations dedicated to promoting Catholic engagement in political life.

During his time with CatholicVote, he became a nationally recognized figure in Catholic political advocacy.

When asked about being a so-called MAGA Catholic, he said: "I'm proud of it."

"I'm proud to have worked to elect this president. I'm proud to have represented [Trump during] what I think was a very important inflection point in our country," Burch said.

Asked if it was difficult to transition from political advocacy to diplomacy, Burch said while being a diplomat does mean restraining his long-held love for debate, it "doesn't mean you check your beliefs or your principles at the door."

"I always liked political debates. I was probably more of a troublemaker sometimes, getting involved in debates and clubs at school … Now I'm a provocateur of a different sense, hopefully in a better way. But I always enjoy the public debate around politics and issues," he said.

Noting that the Holy See and the U.S. have had full diplomatic relations since 1984, he added that he was stepping "into a position that was bigger than me."

"Part of my job here is to build consensus, to help the Holy See to understand the policies and aims of the administration, and to build bridges between the two sovereign states," he said.

He acknowledged the controversy surrounding some of Trump's foreign policy efforts as well as his immigration policies. But he denied that his job as ambassador is "explaining Trump" to the Vatican. 

"For me, it's about a set of ideas. It's about a set of priorities that this president is advancing," he said.

"It's explaining why what we're doing is necessary, is right, is good for the United States, is good for the world. I don't see a conflict there. I think people want to make it into a personality fight between the pope and the president. That's not what it's about," Burch added.

The U.S. and the Catholic Church

Burch rejected the notion that the Vatican is anti-American. "The Holy See and United States share this common bond about truth and justice and human dignity and fundamental understanding of freedom. These are perennial things that transcend politics."

On the other hand, the ambassador noted that there are "areas of prudential judgment where we may agree on the end but disagree on the means."

"That's the case in a lot of different political questions. But I think on the fundamental questions, certainly the protection of life, the importance of the family, the right of parents to direct the education of their children, the need to advance peace and justice around the world, there's no disagreement between the Vatican and the United States," he said.

Burch dismissed the suggestion that the pope's decision not to visit the U.S. this year reflects any friction between the U.S. and the Vatican. The ambassador said he believes one factor was Leo's desire to avoid the appearance of "attempting to influence the midterm elections."

The ambassador said he thinks the pontiff will travel to his birth country the following year — "it will undoubtedly be one of the biggest trips he makes as the pope."

He said it is not just the U.S. that wants to collaborate with the Holy See; the Vatican also seeks out information from the U.S.

"Depending on the conflict, often the United States is at the forefront of trying to drive towards a solution," he said, explaining that when he meets with representatives of the Holy See, they want to know the latest news about negotiations and terms in countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, and Ukraine.

According to Burch, the Holy See wants to know "how can we help, how can the Holy Father help, can he speak into this, or what role can the Church play in that local conflict?"

How the local Church can help in conflict zones or areas of persecution is "a frequent topic of conversation," he added. 

"Venezuela is 70% Catholic; the bishops in Cuba are one of the most important voices for the people there. Certainly, the Church in Europe [is important], the Church in the Holy Land sits right between two populations that have been in conflict for centuries," he elaborated.

"The U.S. really does see the Church as this global actor that has such an important role to play and how we go about trying to solve some of the problems," he said.

Defending a civilizational idea

According to the ambassador, the current U.S. administration's project is about asking "What are we fighting for? What are we trying to defend?" as Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined in his Feb. 14 speech at the Munich Security Conference.

"I think [Rubio] made very clear that we're defending a heritage, a Western civilizational idea that has informed both the United States and Europe," Burch said, adding that the Church has guided this idea through its intellectual tradition, history, and moral teaching. 

"We are defending a way of life, a way of life informed by faith and formed by deep principles of human dignity and freedom, without which the world would be chaos," he opined.

"The Holy See and the U.S. are both aligned — in a larger historical sense — to both defend and recover this heritage that I think has made the world what it is today."

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St. Katharine Drexel was born in 1858 to a wealthy family in Philadelphia. Five weeks after her birth, her mother died. She and her two sisters were reared by their father, Frank, a successful international banker, and stepmother, Emma — whom Katharine always considered her mother. Both were devout Catholics and loving parents. The family was generous with the poor — three times a week they opened their lavish home to those in need, offering them food, clothing, medicine, and other necessities.

From the earliest ages, the Drexel children were taught to pursue personal holiness through daily Mass, meditation, the rosary, and other devotions as well as by acts of penance and sacrifice. Katharine kept notes on her efforts to grow in virtue. In 1878, she wrote: "I am resolved during this year to try to overcome impatience and give attention to lessons. I, Katie, put these resolutions at the feet of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph hoping that they will find acceptance there. May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph help me to bear much fruit in the year 1878."

When she was in her 20s, Katharine lost both of her parents and inherited a portion of the family's vast wealth. At this time, she became aware of the plight of the Native Americans, many of whom suffered from dire poverty and a lack of education. She would devote the remainder of her life to assisting them.

In two private audiences with Pope Leo XIII, she begged him to send more missionaries to the Native Americans. During one of these meetings, the Holy Father suggested to an astonished Katharine that she herself become such a missionary.

Although Katharine enjoyed an opulent lifestyle, she became disillusioned with the things of the world. She wrote a longtime friend, Bishop James O'Connor, of her desire to enter religious life.

"Like the little girl who wept when she found that her doll was stuffed with sawdust and her drum was hollow, I, too, have made a horrifying discovery and my discovery, like hers, is true. I have ripped both the doll and the drum open and the fact lies plainly and in all its glaring reality before me: All, all, all (there is no exception) is passing away and will pass away," she wrote.

The bishop thought Katharine could do more for the Church in her position in society and worried she might have difficulty in renouncing her wealth. She responded: "The question alone important, the solution of which depends upon how I have spent my life, is the state of my soul at the moment of death. Infinite misery or infinite happiness! There is no half and half, either one or the other."

The bishop eventually relented and advised her to found a community to work among Native Americans and African Americans, declaring: "God has put in your heart a great love for the Indian and the Negroes." In 1891, joined by 13 others, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.

Mother Drexel went to work opening mission churches and boarding schools for Black and Native American children throughout the U.S.

At times, prejudice and racism hindered her work. She would often buy buildings to create schools through third parties — otherwise, when sellers learned Mother Drexel was buying them to educate Black or Native children, they wouldn't sell to her.

Once, when members of the Nashville, Tennessee, city council wondered if Blacks were capable of higher education, she responded: "I cannot share these views with regard to the education of the race. I feel that if among our colored people we find individuals gifted with capabilities, with those sterling qualities which constitute character, our holy mother the Church who fosters and develops the intellect only that it may give God more glory and be of benefit to others, should also concede to the Negro the privilege of higher education."

In 1915, Katharine founded a teachers' college in Louisiana, which would eventually become Xavier University of New Orleans and one of the first American colleges to admit Black students.

Throughout her life, Mother Drexel's chief motivation in addition to her missionary outreach was to help more souls know and love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She believed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was key to the success to her community's missionary work.

She died in 1955 at the age of 96 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Her community's motherhouse for decades was located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, which included a shrine — elements of which included Mother Drexel's remains and a museum dedicated to her memory. However, due to a lack of vocations, the motherhouse closed and the property sold at the end of 2017. The St. Katharine Drexel Shrine is now part of the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

St. Katharine Drexel is honored in the Church on March 3.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, a sister news service of EWTN News, on March 3, 2021, and has been updated and adapted by EWTN News.

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WARSAW, Poland — The Catholic Church in Poland introduced financial penalties as a disciplinary measure on March 1 for clergy and laypersons performing official Church functions who commit canonical offenses.

The move follows the 2021 reform of the Code of Canon Law by Pope Francis, which restored and clarified the Church's ability to impose financial penalties as expiatory sanctions.

The Polish Episcopal Conference adopted national norms implementing the reform on financial penalties during its 402nd Plenary Assembly in Gdansk on Oct. 14, 2025.

The decree subsequently received the required approval from the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome on Jan. 26, clearing the way for its promulgation. The Polish Episcopal Conference formally announced the measure on Feb. 26.

How the fines work

Under the new regulations, fines are calculated in relation to Poland's statutory minimum gross monthly wage at the time the penalty is imposed.

The decree specifies that the minimum fine cannot be less than half of the minimum gross monthly wage and that the maximum fine cannot exceed 20 times the minimum gross monthly wage.

With Poland's minimum gross monthly wage currently set at 4,806 Polish zloty — approximately $1,350 — this means fines would range from 2,403 zloty (approximately $680) to 96,120 zloty (approximately $26,900), depending on the gravity of the offense.

The sanction may also include partial or complete deprivation of Church remuneration. However, the decree states that penalties cannot deprive the punished person of the means necessary for "decent maintenance." In practice, this means the individual must retain income equivalent to the amount protected from wage seizure under Polish civil law.

The authority imposing the penalty determines the entity to which the fine is paid, provided it serves Church purposes.

The new norms apply not only to priests but also to laypersons holding ecclesial offices or carrying out official Church duties, including those employed in parishes or diocesan structures.

By linking fines to the minimum wage, the Polish bishops aim to ensure that penalties remain proportionate and retain their real value over time, adjusting automatically to economic conditions.

What are canonical offenses?

Under Church law, a canonical offense is an external violation of a law or precept committed with sufficient freedom and intent. The revised Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, updated in 2021, outlines a range of punishable offenses.

These include abuses of ecclesiastical office, financial misconduct, violation of obligations attached to sacred ministry, disobedience to legitimate Church authority, and offenses against the sacraments. The law also provides penalties for more serious crimes such as sexual abuse, attempted ordination of women, or the unlawful administration of sacraments.

Not every mistake or moral failing constitutes a canonical crime. For a penalty to be imposed, the violation must be legally defined, externally verifiable, and imputable to the person responsible.

The introduction of financial penalties in Poland therefore applies to cases in which Church authorities determine that a cleric or lay official has committed a formal violation of ecclesiastical law while carrying out Church duties.

Basis of the reform

The Polish decree implements Pope Francis' 2021 revision of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which strengthened penal provisions within the Church. The reform clarified categories of offenses and reinstated financial penalties as legitimate canonical sanctions.

The Vatican reform was intended to promote greater accountability, consistency, and transparency in the application of Church discipline, particularly in response to concerns that canonical penalties had sometimes been applied unevenly.

In this way, the Polish Catholic Church implementing financial penalties for canonical abuses would be seen to strengthen internal accountability mechanisms while clearly outlining financial consequences for violations of Church law.

Intended effect

The new regulations aim to enhance clarity and deterrence in canonical discipline. By specifying financial consequences tied to objective civil benchmarks, the norms seek to make penalties more concrete and effective.

At the same time, the safeguards built into the decree ensure that sanctions remain proportionate and do not strip individuals of the resources necessary for basic living.

The decree was signed by the president of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Metropolitan Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdansk, and Bishop Marek Marczak, secretary-general of the conference.

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In a landmark decision on March 2, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state of California cannot keep student "transgender" identities secret from parents, with the justices ruling that the secretive policies likely violate the First Amendment rights of parents whose children believe themselves to be the opposite sex.

The 6-3 ruling was announced by the Thomas More Society, a religious liberty law firm that has represented parents and teachers through the legal fight, one that has spanned nearly three years and multiple courts.

U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez originally ruled in the class action lawsuit on Dec. 22, 2025 that parents "have a right" to the "gender information" of their children, while teachers themselves also possess the right to provide parents with that information.

Benitez issued an order at the time striking down California's secretive school gender policies. In January the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocked that order amid the ongoing lawsuit, which the plaintiffs then appealed to the Supreme Court.

On March 2 the Supreme Court blocked the appeals court ruling, holding in part that California's policies "substantially interfere" with the "right of parents to guide the religious development of their children."

Pointing to earlier precedent on parental rights, the court said that parents enjoy "the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children's mental health."

"Gender dysphoria is a condition that has an important bearing on a child's mental health, but when a child exhibits symptoms of gender dysphoria at school, California's policies conceal that information from parents and facilitate a degree of gender transitioning during school hours," the court said.

"These policies likely violate parents' rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children."

Thomas More Society attorney Paul Jonna called the ruling a "watershed moment for parental rights in America."

"The Supreme Court has told California and every state in the nation in no uncertain terms: you cannot secretly transition a child behind a parent's back," Jonna said.

"The Court's landmark reaffirmation of substantive due process, its vindication of religious liberty, and its approval of class-wide relief together set a historic precedent that will dismantle secret gender transition policies across the country."

In his December 2025 ruling, Benitez had ordered that parents have a right to transgender-related information regarding their children on grounds of the 14th and First Amendments.

Teachers, he said, can also assert similar First Amendment rights in sharing that information with parents.

"Even if [the government] could demonstrate that excluding parents was good policy on some level, such a policy cannot be implemented at the expense of parents' constitutional rights," Benitez wrote at the time.

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The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., awarded Father Mike Schmitz, known for hosting "The Bible in a Year" podcast, and Bible scholar Jeff Cavins with its prestigious Pillar Award for Narrative on Feb. 20.

This was the fourth Pillar Awards, which, according to its website, celebrates "individuals who embody the Museum of the Bible's mission to invite all people to engage with the transformative power of the Bible through its history, narrative, and impact."

Cavins and Schmitz are the first Catholics to receive the award, joining past winners including Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the hit series "The Chosen," and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

The award recognized the global impact of Cavins' "The Bible Timeline" learning system and the reach it has had through the chart-topping "The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz" podcast.

Cavins received the award on behalf of himself and Schmitz and said in his acceptance speech he was "deeply honored" to receive the award.

He went on to share how he met his wife, Emily, and the impact she had on his life, as well as his time away from the Catholic Church as a Protestant pastor and his eventual return to the Catholic faith.

"I speak evangelical and Catholic with no accent on either," he said jokingly.

Cavins shared with those in attendance that there are a lot of people like him in the world "that when they hear the story of salvation history it changes our lives. It's the story that changes our lives. It's the word of God that changes our lives. It isn't our own skill, it isn't our own cleverness, but it is the word of God that transforms the human soul."

Carlos Campo, Museum of the Bible president and CEO, said in a press release: "We're honoring leaders, teachers, artists, and scholars who have carried the Bible into culture and changed lives with its truth."

"The Bible does not only inform us, but it also transforms us. It changes the way we love, changes the way we lead, changes the way we serve. We celebrate the truth of that Bible; preserved through history, proclaimed story and proven through changed lives," he added.

Honorees are selected by a committee of Museum of the Bible leadership and representatives of the board of directors. Nominees for the Narrative award bring the stories of the Bible to life through cultural mediums.

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Pope Leo XIV promulgated new statutes for the Pontifical Academy for Life, recalling that its objective is "the defense and promotion of the value of human life and the dignity of the person."

The new statutes, which introduce the role of "supporters," according to Vatican News, the Vatican's official media outlet, were signed by the Holy Father on Feb. 27 and were released in Italian by the Vatican Press Office on Feb. 28.

"Supporters, subject to approval from the Secretariat of State, are appointed by the board of directors for a three-year term and may be confirmed, upon resolution of the same body, for a maximum of two further consecutive terms," the new statutes state.

Supporters "are individuals who, identifying with the academy's institutional purposes, contribute to the advancement of its academic activities. They are persons who do not possess an academic profile but who wish to sustain the objectives promoted by the academy," the new statutes explain.

The Pontifical Academy for Life was established by Pope John Paul II in 1994 with his motu proprio Vitae Mysterium. In that document, the Polish saint emphasized that "the mystery of life, and of human life in particular, is attracting the increased attention of experts who are drawn by the extraordinary opportunities for investigation that scientific and technological advances offer their research today."

"This new situation opens up fascinating horizons for intervention at the sources of life itself; it also gives rise to a variety of new moral questions that man cannot ignore without the risk of taking steps that could prove irreversible," John Paul II warned.

The work on drafting the new document, which updates the statutes approved by Pope Francis in 2016, began "more than a year ago," the Vatican news outlet added.

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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Sara Carter, director of the U.S. government's Office of National Drug Control Policy, recently visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where she stated that with God's blessing, "the plague of the cartels and the poisons they inflict on us and our children" will be overcome.

On Feb. 26, Carter visited the basilica, the site that houses the original tilma of St. Juan Diego, upon which the Virgin of Guadalupe's image is imprinted.

Carter's visit last week follows the operation carried out on Feb. 22 in the state of Jalisco, which resulted in the capture and subsequent death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

At a press conference on Feb. 23, Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's secretary of security and citizen protection, indicated that the capture of the drug kingpin was also made possible thanks to information provided by U.S. authorities.

Faith, a 'cornerstone' against addiction

The released photographs show Carter at various points within the Marian shrine, accompanied by Father Martín Muñoz López, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Mexico City and canon of the basilica.

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The post was accompanied by a message in which the official stated that "faith remains a cornerstone in the fight against drug addiction — guiding prevention, healing, and recovery for communities everywhere."

In another image, in which she appears at the feet of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Carter affirmed that faith "is not only the cornerstone of my life, but our National Drug Control strategy."

"I pray for the people of the United States and Mexico who are under the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. With God's blessings and his providence, we will overcome the plague of cartels and the poisons they inflict on us and our children," Carter said.

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Bilateral security meetings

The day before, on Feb. 25, Carter met with Mexico's security cabinet, along with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson.

Those participating in the meeting included Secretary of National Defense General Ricardo Trevilla; Secretary of the Navy Admiral Raymundo Morales; Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch; Secretary of the Interior Rosa Icela Rodríguez; and Attorney General of the Republic Ernestina Godoy, as well as members of the U.S. delegation.

Following the meeting, Johnson stated that both governments are working "together to stop the scourge of fentanyl and dismantle the networks that are poisoning our communities."

It was also reported that the director met with Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and Undersecretary Roberto Velasco Álvarez as part of the bilateral agenda on cooperation and combating drug trafficking.

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 Pew Research Center released a report examining religious groups' levels of education in the United States.

The report "Which U.S. religious groups are most highly educated?" found that 35% of U.S. Catholics have received a bachelor's degree or higher education.

The report was based on Pew's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS). The RLS is a survey with 36,908 American respondents from all 50 states that examines their religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices and their social and political views. The margin of error is plus or minus 0.8 percentage points.

According to the research, 35% of U.S. Catholics are college graduates, which  matches the share for all U.S. adults. Catholics' education levels tend to vary by race and ethnicity, social and political views, and religious practices.

The research found Asian Catholics were most likely to be college educated, with 53% of the group holding a bachelor's degree or more education. About 43% of white Catholics and 20% of Hispanic Catholics are college educated.

The RLS did not include enough Black Catholics to show their results separately, but based on analysis of 2019-20 Pew Research Center survey data, Pew reported that 38% of Black Catholics (defined as those who report being one race and are not Hispanic) were college educated.

Findings among other religious groups

Based on the RLS, Pew found that Hindus and Jews are more likely to have a four-year college degree than Americans in other religious groups. Of the Hindu population, 70% hold a bachelor's degree or more education, and 65% of the Jewish population does.

Fewer evangelical Protestants (29%) and members of historically Black Protestant denominations (24%) hold college degrees.

Among the evangelical denominations Pew analyzed, those with the highest shares of college graduates were the Global Methodist Church (57%) and the Presbyterian Church in America (57%).

The research also concluded that about 40% of mainline Protestants are college graduates, which is slightly higher than U.S. adults overall.

Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, agnostics (53%) and atheists (48%) are more likely than U.S. adults overall to have completed college. In contrast, people who describe their religion as "nothing in particular" (29%) are less likely than Americans overall to hold a bachelor's degree.

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The Citizens' Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion in El Salvador announced its legal dissolution, stating that its work is "no longer compatible" with the country's current legislation for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The decision has been met with caution among pro-life advocates in El Salvador.

In a Feb. 23 statement, the abortion advocacy group stated that the Foreign Agents Law, enacted by the Salvadoran government in 2025, "limits the work of legally constituted associations by restricting freedom of expression and criminalizing social organizations that defend human rights."

"In this context, and given the structure of an NGO, our work is no longer compatible [with the new law], so we decided to dissolve and not register with the Foreign Agents Registry," they stated.

However, far from disappearing, they affirmed that they will become "a broad, activist movement" called "The Regional Movement for the Right to Abortion and Motherhood."

"Together, we together (masculine, feminine, and neuter pronouns) will overcome authoritarian populism and anti-gender groups," they added.

In El Salvador, abortion is a crime, and according to Article 1 of its constitution, the country "recognizes every human being as a human person from the moment of conception."

To further its agenda in the country, the now-dissolved Citizens' Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion promoted on an international level controversial cases such as the Beatriz Case, the Manuela Case, and the Case of the 17.

New law 'will guarantee transparency'

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved the Foreign Agents Law on May 21, 2025, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele enacted it nine days later.

A statement from the legislative body emphasized that the new law "will guarantee transparency in the financial transactions that NGOs receive from foreign individuals or agents in the country and will allow citizens to know about the activities these agents carry out."

The assembly also noted that, according to the new law, a 30% tax will be applied to all financial transactions and imports received from abroad by Salvadoran NGOs.

In response to criticism from NGOs that charge that the law represses civil society organizations, in his Message to the Nation address to the Legislative Assembly on June 1, 2025, Bukele warned that "there are foreign organizations that claim to come to help but really come to engage in politics, to move millions for political campaigns, to operate in the shadows, without rules, without limits, without paying anything [as they are tax exempt]."

"The foreign agents law guarantees that those who truly want to come and help our people are able to maintain the great privilege of not paying taxes like everyone else does," Bukele said, adding that the law "also guarantees that those who come to look after political interests at least pay their tax obligations like everyone else."

Pro-life success measured by saved lives

While there is some joy among pro-life organizations in El Salvador, caution prevails regarding the news of the dissolution of the NGO that promoted the decriminalization of abortion.

Although "we are happy about any progress in favor of life," explained Norma de Milán, a member of the international fasting and prayer campaign 40 Days for Life in El Salvador, "we don't measure success by the number of institutions that have closed but rather by the lives and souls that have been saved."

De Milán, leader of the campaign at Gabriela Mistral Square — one of the places where people pray for the end of abortion in San Salvador, the country's capital — sees the legal dissolution of the pro-abortion platform as a "fruit of that silent, peaceful, and visible prayer" offered by 40 Days for Life in the face of the "vast structure" that promotes abortion. At times, volunteers ask themselves: "What can three people do on a street with a sign and a rosary against this entire structure?"

However, she emphasized that "not all the fruits of our prayer will be seen on earth."

For De Milán, the hope for the pro-life cause in El Salvador "remains that life be respected and defended in the country," as recognized in the constitution.

"We are convinced that any lasting transformation begins in the heart, and we contribute [to that end] through our prayer," she said, adding that "we give educational talks and respectfully accompany those who allow us to."

"Everything we do is not a political strategy, but rather it's basically our spiritual mission, and our primary mission is to awaken consciences," she stated.

Desperate measures

Julia Regina de Cardenal, president of the Yes to Life Foundation in El Salvador, said she sees the change adopted by the Citizens' Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion as "a new strategy to stay afloat."

"They're desperately flailing about drowning, trying to reinvent themselves, as they say, in what they deceptively call the defense of women's rights," she told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

She also stated that "the truth is that their fight is to legalize a very lucrative business that does the exact opposite of what they claim: a business that exploits women with difficult pregnancies, deceiving them, convincing them that killing their children in the womb is the only solution, putting their physical and mental health, and even their lives, at serious risk."

"This is the worst barbarity invented by humankind against women and their defenseless children. They need support, not violence and death," she emphasized.

The pro-life leader denied that the Citizens' Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion had "secured the freedom of 80 women who claim they were criminalized by the absolute criminalization of abortion."

"Forensic evidence shows that babies were struck with a rock, stabbed, strangled, and thrown alive into septic tanks," she said. "Each story is more horrific than the last."

"They even lie about that," she added, emphasizing that in El Salvador there are "several organizations where we provide free assistance to these pregnant women."

Faced with the tragedy of a high-risk pregnancy and abortion, she emphasized, "the answer should always be 'yes to 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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