Catholic News

The results of staggered elections in four key Indian states held in April have drawn diverse reactions from the Christian community following the May 4 counting of the votes.

While the poll outcomes from the two southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been soothing for Christians, the results from West Bengal and Assam in eastern and northeastern India have come as frustrating for Christian communities.

Kerala: A 'clear verdict' against propaganda

In the southern Christian heartland of Kerala, the ruling communist alliance was decimated to 35 seats while the opposition Congress-led alliance won 102 seats in the 140-member assembly of Kerala, a state of 35 million people, 18% of whom are Christian.

"The result has shown that the people cannot be misled by propaganda and they have given a clear verdict against it," Father Thomas Tharayil, deputy secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, told EWTN News on May 6.

The remark came against the backdrop of anti-Christian propaganda by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with prominent Christians in the BJP even attacking Church leaders for the Church's protest against the draconian amendment to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Christians in Kerala were relieved after four prominent Christians who had allied with the BJP lost the polls despite making much noise against church leadership: P.C. George, a seven-time Kerala legislator; his son Shone George; federal Minister of State for Minority Affairs George Kurian; and Anoop Antony, son of veteran Congress party leader and former Kerala chief minister A.K. Antony.

Half a dozen other Christian candidates the BJP fielded in Christian pockets under its lotus symbol also lost, while the party won just three seats with its Hindu candidates.

Tamil Nadu: A 'genuinely historic' TVK upset

In neighboring Tamil Nadu, with a population of 77 million, the new political party TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam — Victory Party of Tamil Nadu), founded by Catholic actor Joseph Vijay, stunned the Dravidian parties that had held power for nearly six decades between them.

Under Vijay's leadership, the TVK he founded in 2024 won 108 of the 234 seats in the state legislature, with the ruling DMK reduced to 73 and the opposition AIADMK left with 53 seats.

Describing the TVK victory that stunned even poll forecasts as "genuinely historic," Father Charles Antony, editor of the Catholic fortnightly New Leader based in Chennai, told EWTN News: "Vijay's victory is real, consequential, and disruptive [of the] bipolar politics" in the state, which has more than 5 million Christians.

"He visited churches, temples, and mosques alike during the campaign, successfully projecting himself as a leader for all communities. This secular messaging helped his party distance itself from identity-based polarization," he added.

While Vijay is "Catholic," Antony emphasized that "his Christian identity is incidental to his politics. Attacks from the BJP [on his Christian identity] with 'minority' tag against him, paradoxically, may have helped consolidate minority votes."

West Bengal: 'A terrible result many had feared'

The likely outcome in West Bengal — the state bordering Bangladesh — had been the subject of much conjecture even before voting, due to the controversial, hurried action of the Election Commission of India that disenfranchised more than 9 million, or 12%, of its 76 million voters under a Special Intensive Revision of the voter list.

The Trinamool Congress, which had ruled the state since 2011 across three consecutive terms, lost the election badly — as many had feared — winning a mere 80 seats while the BJP captured power in the state for the first time, with 205 seats in the 294-seat state assembly.

"This is a terrible result many had feared," Sunil Lucas, former president of Signis India, told EWTN News, while prominent Church leaders declined to comment on the results that bring the Hindu nationalist BJP to power in West Bengal — with Kolkata as its capital — for the first time.

"Decoding BJP's Bengal sweep: 77 seats won in 2021 retained, 129 wrested from TMC," Indian Express summed up the results, which were flayed by the ruling party and the opposition parties other than the BJP.

On May 5, the national news channel NDTV carried a similar report with graphic details on how the ruling Trinamool Congress party "performed in seats with high voter deletions." In constituencies where more than 25,000 voters had been disenfranchised, the BJP had won 95 of 147 seats, the report pointed out.

Assam: 'Democracy becomes a failure'

In Assam state in the northeast, the BJP improved its tally with allies to 102 of the state's 126 seats, securing a third consecutive term.

"When the ruling party with over two-thirds majority has no member of the minorities in the legislature, democracy becomes a failure," Allen Brooks, a Catholic and spokesperson for the ecumenical Assam Christian Forum, told EWTN News.

While none of the 82 BJP winners are from the Muslim community, which accounts for 34% of Assam's population, Brooks also lamented that "there is not a single Christian in the Assam Assembly now, though Christians account for 3.7%" of the state's 31 million people.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on the documents of the Second Vatican Council at his Wednesday general audience, reflecting on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium and the Church as "pilgrim in history towards the heavenly homeland."

Speaking May 6 in St. Peter's Square, the pope said that "the Church, in fact, journeys through this earthly history always looking towards her final destination, which is the heavenly homeland."

"This is an essential dimension which, however, we often overlook or downplay, because we are too focused on what is immediately visible and on the more concrete dynamics of the life of the Christian community," he said.

The pope explained that "the Church lives in history in the service of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the world."

"She proclaims the words of this promise to all and always; she receives a pledge of it in the celebration of the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist; she puts its logic into practice and experiences it in relationships of love and service," he said.

Leo said Lumen Gentium makes an important affirmation about the nature and mission of the Church.

"The Church is the 'universal sacrament of salvation' (LG, 48), that is, the sign and instrument of that fullness of life and peace promoted by God," he said.

"This means that she does not identify perfectly with the Kingdom of God, but is its seed and beginning, for its fulfilment will be granted to humanity and the cosmos only at the end," the pope continued.

Because of this, he said, Christians journey through history "without being either deluded or despairing," guided by the promise of the One who will "make all things new."

The Church, Leo said, carries out her mission between the "already" of the Kingdom's beginning in Jesus and the "not yet" of its promised fulfillment.

"As the guardian of a hope that enlightens the path, she is also invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development, and to take a position in favour of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit," he said.

The pope emphasized that the Church must always point beyond herself to Christ.

"As the sign and sacrament of the Kingdom, the Church is the pilgrim people of God on earth who, drawing precisely on the final promise, reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and proclaiming, in word and deed, the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and His Kingdom of justice, love and peace," he said.

"The Church, therefore, does not proclaim herself; on the contrary, everything within her must point to salvation in Christ," he added.

From this perspective, Leo said, the Church must recognize "humbly the human fragility and transience of her own institutions," which, while at the service of God's kingdom, "bear the fleeting image of this world."

"No ecclesial institution can be treated as absolute; indeed, since they exist within history and time, they are called to continual conversion, to the renewal of forms and the reform of structures, to the continual regeneration of relationships, so that they may truly fulfil their mission," the pope said.

Leo also reflected on the communion between Christians still carrying out their earthly mission and those who have already completed their earthly lives and are in purification or beatitude.

He said Lumen Gentium affirms that all Christians form "a single Church" and that there is "communion and sharing of spiritual goods" founded on believers' union with Christ.

By praying for the dead and following the example of those who lived as disciples of Jesus, the pope said, Christians are strengthened on their own journey.

"Marked by the one Spirit and united in the one liturgy, together with those who have gone before us in faith, we praise and give glory to the Most Holy Trinity," he said.

The pope concluded: "Let us be grateful to the Council Fathers for reminding us of this most important and beautiful aspect of being Christian, and may we strive to cultivate it in our lives."

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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A street corner in Brooklyn, New York, is now honoring Catholic social activist and journalist Servant of God Dorothy Day.

The intersection of Pineapple and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights was renamed to "Dorothy Day Way" on May 2. Day was born nearby at 71 Pineapple St. in 1897.

Martha Hennessy, Day's granddaughter, and members of the Dorothy Day Guild attended the ceremony unveiling the new street sign.

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Hennessy called the ceremony "a beautiful moment" in an interview with The Tablet.

Alex Avitabile, a member of the guild, spearheaded the campaign to honor her by changing the street name. He recalled meeting her in 1970 after a talk she gave at the Catholic Worker House in Rochester, New York, saying he recognized that he was in the presence of a holy person.

"I knew," Avitabile shared. "She had a way about her — her eyes. There are a few people I've met who are saintly people. And I could just see that."

Kevin Ahern, board chairman of the guild, also attended the unveiling ceremony and said he believes the new street name can be an evangelization tool.

"By learning about her," he said, people "can be inspired by her to live their life a little bit different and make the world a better place."

"I truly believe that she will bring so much good to the Catholic Church and bring people back to the Church," Hennessy said.

Her cause for canonization opened in 2000, and she is now recognized as a servant of God, the first step in the process toward possible sainthood.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago, Day was baptized Episcopalian at the age of 12. From a young age she showed signs of caring deeply about religion and justice.

As a young woman, she was shaped by the social upheavals of the 1910s and influenced by works like Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle," which exposed the harsh realities of industrial labor. She left college and moved to New York, working as a reporter for a socialist newspaper and immersing herself in radical political and artistic circles, including a relationship with anarchist Forster Batterham.

In the 1920s, Day settled on Staten Island, where she raised her daughter, Tamar, and gradually deepened her spiritual life. Drawn to Catholicism, she began praying regularly and had her daughter baptized before entering the Catholic Church herself in 1927.

After becoming a single mother, her concern for the poor took on new urgency. In 1933, she partnered with Peter Maurin to launch the Catholic Worker Movement, combining direct service with a radical commitment to living out the Gospel through voluntary poverty.

Through the movement, Day helped establish houses of hospitality, soup kitchens, and farming communities, serving those in need throughout the Great Depression and beyond. A lifelong pacifist, she spoke out against war, including the Vietnam War, and supported labor rights and civil rights efforts. Day never took a salary for her work and remained committed to serving the marginalized for decades.

She died in 1990 and her legacy continues through Catholic Worker communities worldwide.

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The long-running controversy over the replacement of six 19th-century stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral appears to be entering a new — and potentially decisive — phase.

On April 20, the permit to remove and replace the windows in one of the nave's southern chapels, designed under Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the architect behind Notre Dame's iconic spire, was publicly posted on the cathedral's railings, triggering an almost immediate legal response. The heritage preservation group "Sites et Monuments," which watched helplessly as scaffolding was erected on April 27, announced that it would file an urgent legal appeal before the Paris Administrative Court targeting the authorization itself.

The plan to replace these windows with contemporary creations by French artist Claire Tabouret — unveiled to the public at the Grand Palais late last year — has drawn unusually broad opposition over the past two years, from heritage experts to Catholic figures.

A battle over the cathedral's identity

Included among the main arguments against the project are that the Viollet-le-Duc windows belong to the cathedral's 19th-century restoration and that introducing contemporary works in the nave would disrupt its balance. The proposed designs have themselves been criticized as overly figurative for the nave. For many, removing windows that survived the 2019 blaze — and have since been cleaned and restored — runs counter to the logic of the restoration itself.

Critics also point to the estimated cost of the project, around 4 million euros (about $4.7 million), as disproportionate, given broader heritage needs. The project has also faced opposition from France's National Commission for Heritage and Architecture, which issued a negative opinion in July 2024.

For the president of Sites et Monuments, Julien Lacaze, the issue touches the core of heritage protection. "The question is whether the Viollet-le-Duc windows that are to be removed have artistic and historical value or not," he said in an interview with Famille Chrétienne. "Viollet-le-Duc was not simply a restorer; he was a creator in the full sense. What matters is his vision of the Middle Ages and the freedom with which he approached it."

The association had already filed a previous legal challenge last year, contesting the authority of the public body overseeing Notre Dame's restoration to remove the windows. That case is still under appeal, while the new action goes directly to the substance of the decision. To support its legal efforts, Sites et Monuments has also launched a crowdfunding campaign.

Beyond the courtroom, the backlash continues to grow across France, with more than 340,000 people having signed a petition calling for the preservation of the Viollet-le-Duc windows.

The scale of public opposition has done little to slow the project, which many see as a reflection of President Emmanuel Macron's desire to leave a contemporary mark on the restored cathedral — a vision already tested after the 2019 fire, when his proposal to replace the spire with a modern design was ultimately set aside after intense controversy. Critics now see the stained-glass project as a renewed attempt to leave his mark on the monument.

More broadly, the controversy points to a deeper divide over how the past should be treated — preserved as an inherited whole or reinterpreted through contemporary artistic choices. Supporters of the project argue that historic monuments must remain open to new forms of expression; Tabouret, who designed the controversial windows in question, has warned against "freezing" a monument in time.

Priest's call to protest

While Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich has approved the current project, a position echoed by some within the Church who see contemporary art as a legitimate expression within historic monuments, the proposal is not enjoying unanimous support within Catholic ranks.

One of the most outspoken voices in recent days has been Father Michel Viot, a Paris-based priest who has called for a peaceful public protest.

In a message on social media, he said that Catholics in Paris, across France and abroad — particularly those who contributed to the cathedral's restoration — should be "warned of the day hands are laid on the windows." He urged them to gather on-site either with rosaries, or simply "to pray or protest," all to "demand respect for the law." He denounced what he described as an arbitrary decision and an attack on beauty that, in his words, serves a "culture of death."

The fact that the works were authorized despite repeated negative opinions from heritage authorities has reinforced the perception of a top-down initiative driven primarily by political considerations — a perception that has since ignited a broader wave of outrage across social media.

For now, all eyes turn to the administrative court, where the fate of the project may soon be tested.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) stated its unwavering support for legislation that advances "our nation's commitment to eradicating the sin of human trafficking."

In an April letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, and Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, expressed their support for the legislation (S. 2241 / H.R. 4307) on behalf of the USCCB's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Migration.

The bill, which the House passed in March, would require the Department of Labor to train its employees to detect human trafficking, identify suspected victims, and refer potential cases to the Department of Justice or other appropriate authorities.

"The Catholic Church is a steadfast voice against human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, as well as a longtime provider of services and pastoral care to victims of these crimes," the bishops wrote.

Under the bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, the Labor secretary would tailor training for the department's Wage and Hour Division by taking into account the needs of those operating in states where oppressive child labor has recently surged. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who is Catholic, introduced the Senate version of the measure with one cosponsor, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan. No committee action is scheduled.

"We urge the committee to report the bill favorably to the full Senate and for the chamber to join with the House in passing this measure to bolster the U.S. Department of Labor's important role in combatting human trafficking," the bishops said.

"We appreciate the bill's specific mention of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, which plays such an instrumental role in detection and thwarting labor exploitation by unscrupulous employers, especially for children," the bishops said.

As Congress has begun the appropriations process for fiscal 2027 and funding for the Department of Labor, "we renew our previous calls for the long underfunded agency to receive increased support to address its pervasive staffing and resource shortages, particularly given its role in thwarting child labor exploitation, as S. 2241 acknowledges," they wrote.

Further support

The bishops also recently voiced support for H.R. 1144, a bill introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, that would reauthorize a 2000 anti-trafficking bill.

"This is another important, bipartisan anti-trafficking measure that warrants immediate action as a further step to counter the scourge of human trafficking in our country and beyond," the bishops wrote in a March letter to U.S. representatives.

The bill would update elements of the federal framework to prevent international trafficking, and establish and reauthorize anti-trafficking programs across the State Department, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Among other actions, the bill would authorize HHS to carry out a program to help victims of trafficking integrate or reintegrate into society. It also would require the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report to include information about trafficking for the purposes of organ removal.

"I … want to recognize and thank the amazing, heroic, and extraordinarily compassionate survivor-leaders who helped write this bill," Smith said at a press conference on April 23. "Their courage, strength, tenacity, wisdom, and, above all, their love for the vulnerable not only inspires but helped us get it right."

"This legislation is of, by, and for them — to help heal, restore, and empower," said Smith, who is Catholic.

Reauthorizing the bill "is essential to sustaining a comprehensive, prevention-focused response to human trafficking," Katie Boller Gosewisch, executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, an anti-trafficking organization founded and supported by U.S. Catholic sisters, told EWTN News.

"The bill strengthens the systems that protect those most at risk while ensuring survivors have access to the services and support needed for long-term stability and healing. The Alliance to End Human Trafficking urges Congress to act without delay to move this legislation forward in both the House and Senate and ensure its swift passage."

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Kian Tajbakhsh, a geopolitical expert and former political prisoner in Iran, shared his testimony regarding what life is like in Iran as well as his hopes for the future of the country, where he says "religious freedom does not exist."

Iran is a country with a population of over 90 million inhabitants, where only "between 10% and 15% support the current regime or government" amid the current war, the specialist stated in an interview with "EWTN Noticias," the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.

"Perhaps half of them are true believers — religious fanatics or even extremists — while the other half are people who depend on the regime for their livelihoods, their children's schools, hospitals, pensions, etc.; they depend on the government and the regime," he observed.

In his view, another 30% "are politically neutral," and their "primary interest is the safety of their children and families." The remaining 50% or 60%, he estimated, "oppose the regime and would like to live under a free, liberal, secular, and Westernized government."

Life for each of these groups is different, the expert explained.

"In the current war, those who support the regime are in the streets; they support the war, they support the fight against the United States, the continuation of nuclear programs, etc.," while opponents of the government "mostly fear speaking out because in doing so they are brutally repressed and even killed by the regime," much like the thousands of people who died in the January demonstrations.

Prisons in Iran

The Iranian political scientist said the country's prisons fall "somewhere in between" those in Europe and those in some parts of Asia where everything "is very dangerous, there are no medical facilities, and there is no access to the rule of law."

"The problem in Iran is that there are no civil rights; there's no access to lawyers. I lived in a cell barely 6 feet across, perhaps 2 meters by 3 meters [about 6 inches by 10 inches] for over a year in solitary confinement," he recounted.

Tajbakhsh pointed out that if one is in prison for "peaceful political activism" as happened to him, what happens is that "you don't have access to a lawyer until very, very late in the process. They interrogate you for many, many hours for many months." Consequently, "the biggest problem is that in Iran there is no fair judicial system for political prisoners."

Hope for Iran

The expert commented that since 1979, "the majority of the Iranian people have attempted to reform the government by transforming it into a freer, more liberal, and democratic government that respects all religious values, religious freedom, as well as political and social freedom."

"While it is deeply tragic that war and conflict are part of this process, I fear that it is the government of Iran that is waging a war not only against Americans and Israelis, but also against the majority of its own people, who long to live in a freer society," he said.

"Islam," he concluded, "is imposed as the state religion, and so my hope for the future of Iran is political, social, and religious freedom."

Edy Rodríguez Morel de la Prada contributed to this story.

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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STOCKHOLM — The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm has published a document urging Catholics and "all people of goodwill" to engage actively in Sweden's general elections on Sept. 13 in what observers describe as a notable intervention in a largely secular Nordic political climate.

The text presents political participation as a legitimate expression of Christian responsibility while encouraging the faithful to be informed, take part in public life, and vote in line with the principles of Catholic social teaching.

Distinguishing between moral absolutes and matters of prudence

The document's approach rests on a crucial distinction between two categories of values. On matters of "practical wisdom," including policy issues such as the economy, climate, crime, and migration, the document acknowledges legitimate disagreement among believers. Democracy, it explains, functions as "not a community of opinion but a system for the peaceful resolution of conflicts of values." On these contested issues, Catholics are encouraged to apply principles such as solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good while ultimately retaining freedom of judgment.

However, the document takes a different stance on what it identifies as nonnegotiable moral issues. It asserts that "every human being's right to life from conception to natural death" constitutes a foundational "absolute value," describing abortion and euthanasia as "serious violations of human dignity."

The timing of this moral clarity is significant. In Sweden, several political parties have proposed a constitutional amendment to guarantee access to abortion. Because constitutional changes in Sweden require approval by two successive parliaments with a general election in between, the proposal's future depends on whether the next Riksdag maintains support. If adopted, the amendment could take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. Simultaneously, the government is modernizing the nation's abortion framework by updating its language, adding advances in abortion procedures, and expanding access to at-home chemical abortion.

While acknowledging that abortion enjoys broad political support across parties, the document frames euthanasia as a still contested issue, positioning it as part of a wider cultural struggle against what Church teaching describes as a "culture of death."

A careful balance between conviction and pluralism

Despite these firm moral positions, the document concludes with a call for restraint and pluralism among believers. It cautions against equating any particular political stance with Catholicism itself, noting that "two equally good Catholics, who have allowed their practical wisdom to be guided equally by faith, may and can therefore arrive at entirely different party-political conclusions in all fields of practical wisdom." This nuanced approach reflects an attempt to guide conscience without dictating votes.

EWTN News spoke to Father Thomas Idergard, SJ, chairman of the commission. He framed the document as a response to a recurring pastoral need rather than a political intervention. "With elections approaching, the faithful request some guidance on how to apply faith in their choices as voters," he explained. Beyond pastoral concern, he noted a broader social rationale: Christians must be equipped with the "necessary tools to participate in public life," doing so in a way that employs "secular language and secular arguments for universality" while remaining transparent about faith as a "driving force."

Idergard said the document's framework for discernment operates in two stages. "The first step considers the effect my vote will have on legislation in matters regarding absolute values," particularly those concerning life and death, "where faith binds the conscience." The second step, he added, "considers all issues for practical wisdom where faith informs," while allowing room for personal and secular judgment.

Within this framework, Idergard identified euthanasia as the primary pro-life issue where voters may have tangible impact in the next parliamentary term, noting that "there are different positions among the political parties" across the spectrum that could influence legislation. Regarding abortion, by contrast, "all are on the same line," he observed, a reality that highlights the document's significance in a political landscape where the issue has achieved unusual consensus.

Idergard said the document does not signal a new direction for the Catholic Church in Sweden but rather reflects an ongoing commitment. "The Catholic Church in Sweden has always been visibly active on pro-life issues," he noted, citing initiatives such as the annual "Respect for Life Sunday."

A bold voice in secular Sweden

Benedicta Lindberg, secretary-general of Respekt, the pro-life organization of the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm, described her reaction to the document as reflecting "a significant and, in the Swedish context, a rather bold step." She pointed to the country's political and cultural landscape, where abortion is widely regarded as a settled matter beyond political contestation.

Lindberg noted that Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius had observed in 2024 that no parliamentary parties currently seek to challenge what is commonly referred to as a "right" to abortion in any substantial way. This consensus, she suggested, has contributed to hesitation among Swedish Catholics to engage visibly in party politics.

"Issuing such a document in an election year is meaningful because it makes a distinctly Catholic voice more visible in public debate," Lindberg said. She added that the guidance "could help encourage a more visible pro-life presence, although probably not a mass political movement in the short term."

The document's release arrives as Swedish society confronts fundamental questions about the scope of abortion access and the legal status of euthanasia. By grounding its argument in Catholic social teaching while respecting democratic pluralism, the Diocese of Stockholm has attempted to offer guidance that is both morally clear and pastorally sensitive, a balance that may prove instructive for Catholic communities navigating secular political contexts elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

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LAHORE, Pakistan — Catholic groups have joined victims of one of Pakistan's deadliest church attacks in voicing concern over delayed compensation, even as authorities begin disbursing aid more than 12 years later in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The reactions followed a May 2 ceremony by the provincial Department of Endowments, Hajj, Religious and Minority Affairs, which distributed checks to 37 victims from minority communities affected by terrorism in the province bordering Afghanistan.

The beneficiaries included 11 widows, 24 orphaned children, and two persons with disabilities, who received payments ranging from 1 million to 2 million rupees ($3,588 to $7,175).

Some recipients were linked to All Saints Church, where at least 96 people were killed and more than 150 injured in twin suicide bombings on Sept. 22, 2013.

Among them was Zubair Zafar, who lost his father in the attack claimed by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Now working as an office assistant at the civil secretariat, Zafar said he plans to use the 2 million rupees to support his siblings' education and arrange his younger sister's marriage.

"I wanted to join the military, but I could not leave my family as the eldest of five children," he said. "I started working after my grade 12 exams to support my mother, who works as a kitchen in-charge at an orphanage run by the Peshawar Diocese of the Church of Pakistan."

He said government officials, in their speeches, promised laptops, scholarships, and profit-sharing from minority funds for widows and orphans. "Given the pace, we have little hope," he added.

Delayed disbursements

While provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab provided compensation ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 rupees to victims soon after the attack, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government delayed disbursements despite court interventions and repeated appeals.

Frustration deepened after the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and the Auqaf Department converted an earlier 200 million rupee compensation package earmarked for Christian victims into a broader endowment fund for minorities, a move families say diluted targeted relief.

On April 1, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi approved increasing the fund's allocation from 200 million to 400 million rupees and directed authorities to expedite payments.

But survivors say the process remains opaque and slow.

Khuram Yaqoob Sahotra, who lost his right eye in the blast, returned from the distribution ceremony disheartened.

"I was told the compensation would be given before July 1. I expected the checks the same day. Now we are told to wait again for approval," he said.

The 40-year-old father of three, a former school clerk who lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic, still carries ball bearings lodged in his spine.

"Doctors have advised me against lifting heavy objects. I cannot sit or stand for long periods," he said, adding that his extended family now supports him.

He continues to undergo treatment for complications related to his artificial eye. "Initially, support came from across the country, but it later dried up. Now there is no clear plan. There is no transparency," he said.

Habib Khan, additional secretary of the Auqaf Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said at least 100 more minority victims would receive compensation this month.

"The data is being verified. Those with incomplete documents are being contacted. No one will be left out," he said, declining to comment on the prolonged delay.

'A mockery of justice'

Rights advocates say the payments come too late for many families.

The Cecil and Iris Chaudhry Foundation, a Catholic charity that provided vocational training to 80 orphaned girls and widowed mothers after the attack, said many victims died over the years due to inadequate medical care and financial hardship.

"More than a decade has passed, during which many injured victims lost their lives and families lost their sole breadwinners," said Michelle Chaudhry, president of the foundation. "Disbursing funds in installments now amounts to a mockery of justice."

She urged the government to release full compensation in a single payment "with dignity and respect."

All Saints Church

Built in 1883 inside Peshawar's Kohati Gate, All Saints Church is widely regarded as Pakistan's only church designed in a mosque-inspired architectural style, with domes, minaret-like towers, and Persian and Pashto biblical inscriptions. The Christian community rebuilt it at a cost of 4 million rupees ($14,349) without government support.

Peshawar remains on the front line of militancy in Pakistan.

In 2022, Church of Pakistan lay pastor William Siraj, 70, was shot dead and another pastor injured after Sunday prayers at Shaheedan (Martyrs)-e-All Saints Church in Peshawar.

In 2016, security forces foiled a suicide attack on a Christian neighborhood in the city's Warsak area after four suicide bombers attempted to enter the colony.

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Can a religious congregation survive after its founder turns out to have been a sexual abuser and a liar who lived a double life for years? The Legionaries of Christ have spent 20 years answering that question with actions.

They were pioneers in publishing the cases of their abusive priests — an unprecedented step in consecrated life — and in submitting 80 years of a dark history to public scrutiny. Today, they are an ecclesial reference point for transparency. Now, Father Carlos Gutiérrez López, 51, the new general director elected in February, speaks with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, about the road that still lies ahead.

It is a path of expiation that began in 2006 but reached a turning point in 2019 with the publication of the "1941–2019 Report," the first of its kind to include all cases from the congregation's founding to the present day and throughout the world. Since then, it has been updated each year through the "Truth, Justice, and Healing" reports.

"Since we began facing this reality, although it was very painful, it also opened our eyes: There was a lot of work to do," Gutiérrez López said. "In recent years we have been working hard to meet standards, following the documents issued by the Church, collaborating with canonical and civil authorities. We have been putting a certain order in place so we can attend to and respond to the needs of victims and provide comprehensive care in different areas."

His priestly vocation, marked by the wound left by Maciel

His own vocational story was marked by the scandal that shook the congregation because of its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, who was responsible for extremely serious sexual abuse. Gutiérrez López was ordained a priest in 2009, just as the magnitude of Maciel's crimes was coming to light: Maciel had sexually abused dozens of minors over several decades and had lived, as the Vatican confirmed in 2010, "a life devoid of scruples and genuine religious sentiment."

"It was definitely something very strong, something that left all of us very perplexed, frightened, and also disillusioned," he said in an interview with ACI Prensa. "And that meant for me a very deep process of reflection in which I had to ask why I was giving my life to God and also the question: Why remain here?"

Maciel died in 2008 without acknowledging his crimes or asking for forgiveness, even though a Vatican investigative commission had already revealed his criminal activity beyond any doubt.

After the scandal, Gutiérrez López explained, the figure of the founder ceased to be a reference point: "Definitely, the founder is no longer a spiritual reference point, a moral reference point for us. And for me, that reference point, I saw, had always been Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we seek to imitate and with whom we also seek to have that personal relationship."

Benedict XVI saw the light that was in them

Despite all the evil committed by the founder, Benedict XVI never failed to recognize in the Legionaries of Christ "a healthy community" made up of "young people who want to serve the faith with enthusiasm," as the pontiff himself emphasized in the book-length interview with Peter Seewald "Light of the World."

From the beginning, the Vatican established that the congregation's review should be built around three fundamental axes: the redefinition of its charism or spirituality; the review of the exercise of authority — whose abusive control of consciences allowed Maciel to live a double life for years — and the guarantee of adequate formation for seminarians and priests. In addition, to complete the long process of purification, a constant dialogue was opened with victims inside and outside the Legion.

"The Church accompanied us throughout a whole process of renewal. We reviewed constitutions, we reviewed many of the norms we had been living in the congregation, the style of apostolate we carried out — in short, it was an entire review that lasted many years," Gutiérrez López said.

For many Legionary seminarians and priests, the support of the Church was decisive; like a "mother," the Church "showed the way," he emphasized.

"Seeing how the Legion was responding, I said: Well, I also want to help the Church with my priesthood to move this congregation forward, because the congregation can also contribute and give much to the Church in evangelization. In the end, we are here to serve God Our Lord, in the Church, and in this call that he made to me. As I have gone step by step, I have felt very happy, and that has also been my experience," he said.

First meeting with Pope Leo XIV

During the audience the Legionaries had with Pope Leo XIV in February, the pontiff returned to several key points of the deep renewal they have carried out in fidelity to the Church. For example, he emphasized to them that authority in the Church must be lived as fraternal and spiritual service, not as a form of domination.

For the Mexican priest, this is a demanding but profoundly evangelical ideal.

"Yes, I really liked that part of the audience," Gutiérrez López said.

He especially highlighted the moment when the pope invited the Legionaries to approach people "with a respectful and compassionate gaze," aware that every encounter means entering "a sacred space."

Drawing on his own experience as a superior and as territorial director in northern Mexico and Colombia, Gutiérrez López said he has always been clear that authority is above all a service: "For my brothers, I am offering them a service. … What they share with me is something sacred, and I have to respect that sacredness," he said.

Gutiérrez López is not naive. He knows well that many people may wonder how it is possible to separate the deplorable actions of the founder, who was responsible for so many crimes, from the charism that the Legionaries of Christ embody today.

"It is a valid question," he said.

In this regard, he noted that it was the Church herself that "from the beginning," when she asked the Legionaries to "review our constitutions," placed the fundamental question before them: "What is your charism? What is the charism and the contribution that the Legion makes?"

"The charism, I believe, is something we have been discovering, and it is nothing other than forming apostles to transmit the love of Christ, to form apostles and also send them to evangelize the world and help the Church in this evangelization," he said.

According to the congregation's statistics, updated as of Dec. 31, 2025, the Legionaries of Christ have 1,327 members worldwide, including 52 religious with perpetual vows and 151 with temporary vows.

Despite the wounds of the past, they continue to attract vocations: Currently, 250 minor seminarians are being formed in vocational centers, reflecting the continued weight of initial formation within the congregation.

The Legionaries of Christ belong to Regnum Christi, which also includes the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, with 479 consecrated women in 53 communities around the world; the Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, with 47 lay consecrated men in eight communities; and lay members: 21,712 lay young people and adults older than 16 and 14,353 lay members younger than 16.

In Regnum Christi's educational work — 139 schools and 14 universities — 153,219 students are being educated.

The new general director explained that one of the keys to eradicating abuse from within the congregation has been swiftly applying standards for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults in the 23 countries where it is present.

"In recent years we have been very strict in applying these standards and in perfecting them so they can be lived well. In each of the countries where we are working, we have sought to have the necessary teams that can respond, made up of professionals. These are things that we priests cannot do alone. We need specialists — psychologists, lawyers, and so on — to help us truly be very serious in complying with these standards," he said.

An engineer-priest with broad international experience

Affable and approachable, Gutiérrez López is used to moving in international settings. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum as well as industrial and systems engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology. He also holds a master's degree in psychology from Divine Mercy University in the United States.

He has carried out his ministry in Chile, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico.

"It has been a great richness to have that experience, to be in contact with different cultures, to know the needs of each country, to learn to listen, to adapt to what a society and a culture are like, to understand them in order to offer and bring them the message that leads to the Church, which is knowing Christ and living one's faith," he said.

"I believe that has also been personally enriching, now that my Legionary brothers have elected me to this role, so that I can respond and accompany the different territories," he added.

Until his election as general director, he served as territorial director of northern Mexico, a region deeply wounded by violence, poverty, organized crime, and migration flows toward the United States. The Legionaries also try to be a balm for migrants — many of them deportees — amid their suffering.

"The whole situation of migrants and organized crime truly causes suffering for many families affected by this reality. What we seek, above all, is to form young people and families, to instill values in them, precisely so they can begin to change their social environment," he said.

In this context, he explained that alongside the private schools the congregation operates in cities in northern Mexico, there are also the Mano Amiga schools, intended for families with limited resources and supported through subsidies and scholarships.

The goal is to offer these children an education that will allow them to enter a profession and pursue university studies — "a way to change the destiny of their lives, open horizons for them, and, above all, form them in values so they can transform their environment."

With his election at the most recent general chapter, the Legionaries of Christ have entrusted Gutiérrez López with the task of continuing the congregation's process of renewal and strengthening its evangelizing service, with special attention to the existential peripheries.

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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In southern Lebanon, the village of Yaroun has drawn widespread attention after images and video circulated showing the demolition, allegedly by Israeli forces, of a monastery and Catholic school belonging to the Salvatorian Sisters.

Yaroun's mayor, Adib Ajaka, rejected claims by the Israeli army that it did not know the buildings were religious places, and the Council of Melkite Greek Catholic Bishops in Lebanon urged the Lebanese government and the United Nations "to protect the property of civilians and religious institutions, citing in particular the village of Yaroun," according to the Associated Press.

Speaking to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Ajaka clarified that some media outlets have been recirculating images of a destroyed church as if they were from the latest incident, but the church itself had already been targeted multiple times since 2024. He stressed that the most recent incident concerns the demolition of the monastery and the school.

Responding to the Israeli army's claim that "there were no indications that it was a religious building," Ajaqa rejected the statement as unconvincing, noting that the site was clearly identifiable, bearing a cross and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

He also pointed out that the church had been targeted previously and that footage from 2024 showed the deliberate destruction of a statue of St. George.

Ajaka said images published by Israel showing the diocese and a nearby clinic were used to suggest that the monastery had not been destroyed, but in reality they referred to a separate building housing a clinic run by the Order of Malta. He suggested that the presence of the organization's flag may have contributed to it being spared so far.

According to Ajaka, the bulldozing operations took place after the ceasefire came into effect. At first, residents did not grasp the scale of what was happening, as they remained in contact with nearby towns such as Rmeish and Ain Ebel, where no strikes or shelling had been reported from Yaroun. This created the impression that the village had not been directly targeted. It later became clear, however, that what had taken place was not bombardment but the widespread bulldozing of homes.

Yaroun is home to about 60 Melkite Catholic families — all of whom fled at the outbreak of the war in 2024. Seventeen families returned during the initial ceasefire period, but many others were unable to do so due to the destruction of their homes. Today, residents remain unable to return, scattered between rented accommodations, monasteries, and relatives' homes, while some have relocated to nearby Christian villages in the south.

Ajaka noted that assistance to residents has so far been limited, emphasizing that the most urgent need is direct financial support to help cover rent. At the same time, he expressed gratitude for the support provided by the Vatican and for the continued efforts of the apostolic nuncio through regular visits and follow-up on the situation of displaced families.

He also recalled that during the pope's visit to Lebanon in December 2025, a historic stone from the village church dating back to 1872, engraved with an image of St. George, was presented to him in the hope of drawing attention to Yaroun and its people.

Today, the fate of this stone remains unknown, as the church has been destroyed and residents are unable to return to see what remains. Ajaka stressed that the destroyed homes of the Catholic families there are over a century old and are purely civilian properties.

Church vandalism across Lebanon

The alleged demolitions in Yaroun come amid recent and varied incidents of church vandalism in Lebanon, with multiple places of worship targeted and their contents deliberately damaged.

Among them, the Church of Mar Shalita in Qobeiyat was stormed and vandalized. And in Ajaltoun, the Church of Our Lady was targeted, with intruders stealing items, destroying furniture, and leaving bullets scattered on the floor.

Taken together, these incidents reflect a broader climate in which Lebanese Christians increasingly feel under pressure, facing different forms of intimidation and attack from multiple actors.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News English.

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