Catholic News

The Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, this week officially closed its proceedings regarding the potential sainthood of Servant of God Sister Mary Thea Bowman, a Catholic convert whose work during the 20th century helped the U.S. Catholic Church refine its ministry toward Black American Catholics.

Jackson Bishop Joseph Kopacz celebrated a Mass on Feb. 9 as part of the closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of Bowman's cause for canonization.

The diocese, which opened Bowman's cause in 2018, officially sealed the documents and other materials it gathered over the course of that phase; the records will be sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.

"This moment marks an important milestone in the Church's careful and prayerful discernment of Sister Thea Bowman's witness to the Gospel,"  Kopacz said prior to the ceremony.

"Her life continues to inspire faith, hope, and joy, not only within our diocese but throughout the Church in the United States and beyond," he said.

Born Dec. 29, 1937, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Bowman — whose grandfather had been born into slavery — converted from Methodism to the Catholic Church when she was 9 years old.

She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at age 15, enrolling at the same time in Viterbo University, which was run by the Franciscan sisters. The school retains its Catholic identity in the present day.

While studying at The Catholic University of America — from which she earned a doctorate in English in 1972 — Bowman helped found the National Black Sisters' Conference. She would go on to teach for years in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

She was a major contributor to the development of "Lead Me, Guide Me," the Black Catholic hymnal first published in 1987.

She would eventually become known for her wide-ranging evangelization efforts; theology professor Christopher Pramuk wrote in 2014 that she "awakened a sense of fellowship in people both within and well beyond the Catholic world," in part because of her "willingness to speak the truth about racial injustice" both in the Church and in society.

Addressing the U.S. bishops' conference in 1989 and reflecting on "what it means to be Black in the Church and in society," Bowman famously sang several lines from the Negro spiritual "Motherless Child" while declaring: "Jesus told me that the Church is my home."

Regularly invoking laughter and applause from the bishops, Bowman during her talk reflected that the Church "teaches us that the Church is a family of families" and "the family got to stay together."

Bowman died on March 30, 1990, from breast cancer. She was buried at
Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside her parents.

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"I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15) is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for the sixth World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, which this year will take place on Sunday, July 26.

According to a Feb. 10 statement from the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, the verse chosen by the Holy Father "is meant to emphasize how God's love for every person never fails, not even in the frailty of old age."

Taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, the theme also aims to be "a message of comfort and hope for all grandparents and the elderly," especially those who live alone or feel forgotten.

The Vatican dicastery emphasized that it is also an invitation to families and ecclesial communities not to forget the elderly and to recognize in them "a precious presence and a blessing."

World Grandparents' Day was instituted by Pope Francis in 2021 and is celebrated every fourth Sunday of July. It is an opportunity to show the elderly the closeness of the Church and to value their contribution to families and communities.

This year, the date coincides with the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the maternal grandparents of Jesus Christ, on Sunday, July 26, and the Holy Father invited everyone to celebrate the day with a Eucharistic liturgy in the cathedral church of their diocese.

The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life also urged particular Churches and ecclesial communities throughout the world to find ways to celebrate the day in their own local contexts.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first World Day of Grandparents in July 2025, an occasion on which he encouraged the faithful to participate in the "revolution" of care for the elderly.

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

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A Pew Research Center report found that Catholics' support for President Donald Trump's agenda has not changed significantly over the past year.

The analysis examined how U.S. religious groups view Trump, including his plans and policies and his ethics. It focused on Protestants, Catholics, and religiously unaffiliated adults.

The report, "White Evangelicals Remain Among Trump's Strongest Supporters, but They're Less Supportive Than a Year Ago," includes information from a survey of 8,512 U.S. adults who are part of the center's American Trends Panel (ATP).

The survey was conducted Jan. 20–26 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

The report found only a slight change from February 2025 to January 2026 in the number of Catholic participants who said they support all or most of Trump's plans and policies.

In 2025, 51% of white Catholics reported supporting all or most of Trump's plans and policies, compared with 46% in 2026. The decrease was less among Hispanic Catholics, which was 20% in 2025 and 18% in 2026. Overall, there was an 8-percentage-point decrease in all U.S. adults surveyed, dropping from 35% to 27%.

The survey also found that confidence in Trump's ethics has declined in several religious groups, including among Catholics. In 2025, 39% of white Catholics reported they were extremely or very confident that Trump acts ethically in office. In January 2026, this number dropped to 34%. Hispanic Catholics also experienced a slight decrease from 22% to 14%.

According to the report, Trump approval is down among most religious groups compared with a year ago. Among white Catholics, there was a decrease from 59% to 52% who reported they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president. The number of Hispanic Catholics who approved decreased from 31% to 23%.

Other findings

One year into Trump's second term, white evangelical Protestants remain among the president's strongest supporters. They are the only large religious group that was found to have a clear majority approve Trump's job performance (69%). Roughly half of white Catholics (52%) and white Protestants who are not evangelical (46%) also approve of the way Trump is handling his job.

White evangelicals' views of Trump were found to be less positive than they were in the early days of his second term. There has been an 8-percentage-point decrease since 2025 in the number of white evangelicals who support all or most of Trump's plans and policies. There has also been a 15-point drop in the share who are confident Trump acts ethically in office.

Trump's approval rating among white evangelicals is also down compared with early 2025. It was 78% in 2025 and fell to 69% in 2026.

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Former Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller, a member of President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, said she doesn't embrace Zionism because of her Catholic faith, despite Catholic teaching that does not oppose Israel as a nation or the Jewish people.

"I am a Catholic, and Catholics don't embrace Zionism," Boller said at the fifth hearing of the Trump-appointed Religious Liberty Commission focusing on the topic of antisemitism in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 9.

Catholic teaching does not explicitly oppose Zionism, the movement supporting Jewish self-determination in a homeland in Israel. Israel is seen as God's chosen people through whom God revealed himself and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church universally condemns antisemitism. The Church recognizes Israel's fundamental right to exist.

Boller issued several social media posts after the hearing. She wrote: "Forcing people to affirm Zionism on a 'Religious Liberty' Commission is the opposite of religious freedom. I will not resign, and I will not be bullied for following my Catholic conscience."

The commission and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman said at the hearing that while one does not have to support the policies of the Israeli government, "by denying the rights of Jews to have their own state while not saying the same for any other people, that is a double standard hypocrisy and antisemitism."

Both Berman and Yitzchok Frankel, a law student and former defendant in a case against Regents of the University of California over anti-Jewish protests that took place in wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, said "anti-Zionism is antisemitism."

Boller, author of "Still Standing: The Untold Truth of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate, and Political Attacks," countered that "as a Catholic," she disagrees with the notion that "the new modern state of Israel has any biblical prophecy meaning at all." She repeatedly pressed the Jewish panelists on whether her views made her an antisemite before the commission's chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, halted the exchange.

Boller told EWTN News that members of the commission asked her to resign a few months ago but that she refused. She also said several members asked to meet with her before the hearing to discourage her from making her planned remarks. "They were seeing what I was going to say in the hearing, trying to silence me," she said. "I told them I won't be silenced."

Response from other Catholic members

Later in the hearing, panelist Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, joined the dialogue on Catholic teaching regarding the Jewish people and read passages from both Nostra Aetate and the writings of Pope Benedict XVI.

Anderson cited the following passage, which states that while "the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ," it is the case that "what happened in his passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today." The paragraph further states that the Jewish people should not be regarded as rejected by God "as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures."

Anderson called on Father Thomas Ferguson of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia, who sits on the panel's advisory board of religious leaders, to provide further analysis on the Catholic Church's position on Jewish-Catholic relations.

"About the responsibility for the death of Jesus," Ferguson said, "he's not dead. He's alive, he is risen."

The pastor emphasized the Church's view that Jesus gave up his life freely and sacrificially. He also noted that, in alignment with the passage cited by Anderson from Nostra Aetate, Jesus "made an atonement as an offering for the forgiveness of the sins of every person, every time and place."

"That's how Catholics understand who is responsible for the death of Jesus on the cross: It's all of us," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said: "If you are seeking to know God through the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament," it is not possible to be Christian and antisemitic, "because we have the same father and faith." The more Catholics embrace their responsibility to know God through the Scriptures, he said, "the more we will know our common patrimony."

Catholic reaction

"Carrie Prejean Boller does not speak for the Catholic Church," Simone Rizkallah, director of the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism and host of the "Beyond Rome" podcast, which seeks to reconnect Catholics to their roots in the Near East, told EWTN. "Her claim that Catholics do not embrace Zionism is not merely mistaken — it is reckless, historically uninformed, and deeply misleading to both Catholics and the wider public."

Rizkallah pointed out that the recognition of Israel's right to exist fundamentally amounts to "precisely what Zionism means," though Catholics themselves may not always be accustomed to using the word formally.

"Catholics who affirm Israel's right to exist and to self-determination — whether or not they personally use the label — are, in essence, affirming that same principle," she said. "The Church is therefore neither anti-Zionist nor, certainly, antisemitic; she explicitly condemns antisemitism and calls the faithful to reject it in all its forms."

At the same time, Rizkallah emphasized that the Catholic Church does not define Zionism using the same "theological frameworks found in some strands of Protestant Christian Zionism." Namely, she said, "Catholic theology does not teach that the modern state of Israel represents the direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy or a predetermined eschatological event."

Rizkallah described the Church's position as "both clear and nuanced," recognizing the modern state of Israel's political legitimacy, but not grounding it in prophetic claims.

Ultimately, she concluded, "precision matters. When public figures speak carelessly about the Church's teaching, they do not merely express a personal opinion — they create confusion, distort Catholic doctrine, and undermine serious efforts at Catholic-Jewish understanding. Catholics deserve better than slogans masquerading as theology."

The Religious Liberty Commission has had four previous hearings on protecting religious freedom in the U.S., religious freedom in education, and religious freedom in the military.

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Pope Leo XIV has strengthened his support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war by sending new humanitarian aid to areas hardest hit by winter bombings, including 80 electricity generators, along with food and medicine.

According to the official Vatican News outlet, the assistance was sent at the pope's request through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. Three trucks carrying the generators departed Rome to help communities facing severe cold after repeated attacks on energy infrastructure.

Nighttime temperatures in Ukraine have fallen as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius, forcing many families to leave their homes in search of warmth in shelters, often the only places where they can receive a hot meal. The generators are intended to ensure electricity and heating in these shelters during the harsh winter months.

Along with the generators, the pope also sent food and large quantities of medicine, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, supplements, and melatonin, which has been especially sought after to help people sleep amid constant fear and stress caused by ongoing attacks.

The vehicles departed from the Basilica of St. Sophia in Rome, the church of Ukrainians in Italy, and have already reached Fastiv and Kyiv, two areas particularly affected by recent bombings. Once in Ukraine, the aid is distributed through parish networks in the dioceses.

This is not the first time Pope Leo XIV's repeated appeals for peace have been accompanied by concrete action. On Dec. 28, 2025, he sent three other trucks with special food supplies designed to meet the most urgent needs of civilians in wartime conditions. At that time, the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, explained that the food dissolves in small amounts of water to become high-energy chicken and vegetable soups.

Pope Leo XIV has consistently condemned the war in Ukraine. Following the Angelus on Jan. 11, he lamented the impact of recent Russian attacks that left more than a million households without water or heating in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"New attacks, particularly serious ones, directed above all at energy infrastructure, precisely while the cold becomes harsher, are striking the civilian population heavily," the pope said.

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

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The Franciscan Friars of California have announced a $20 million settlement with alleged abuse victims, with the eight-figure payout coming after the group filed for bankruptcy several years ago.

The friars announced in 2024 that they had filed a Chapter 11 petition "to address 94 child sexual abuse claims."

The order said at the time that the dozens of claims came about due to California state laws that "allowed abuse survivors to file decades-old complaints that were otherwise time-barred or expired under the state's statute of limitations."

In a Feb. 4 filing, the friars said they had agreed to deposit $20 million into a trust for alleged victims of abuse. In a press release, the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler — which has represented the abuse victims in the case — said the settlement is "the culmination of over 13 months of mediation among roughly 15 parties."

The California friars are "the first California-based religious entity to have filed for bankruptcy after the California statute of limitations was revived ... to announce a settlement between the debtor and survivors of sexual abuse," the law firm said.

Most accused friars deceased; abuse occurred decades ago

The friars when announcing the bankruptcy said that all of the alleged abuse at issue in the settlement "occurred at least 27 years ago," with some dating back to the 1940s.

"Almost all of" the claims were filed in California, and "most of the friars named in the claims" are deceased.

"Of the six living friars, all have been long-removed permanently from all public ministry and ministerial environments and are living under strict third-party supervision," the friars said at the time.

The Chapter 11 filing was "the only viable path to ensuring just, equitable, and compassionate compensation for all abuse survivors," Father David Gaa, OFM, said in 2024.

"A process supervised by the bankruptcy court can resolve a multitude of claims efficiently, in a timely manner, and with equity," the priest added.

The Feb. 4 filing says that the friars will retain ownership of multiple real estate holdings, including the Gibson Mine, a historic copper ore site the Franciscans received as a donation in 1969. The friars engaged in an extensive environmental remediation effort at the mine in the early 2000s.

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Officials at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, have denounced what they have described as a "relentless wave of killings and abductions" across the West African nation, warning that continued violence and impunity are turning the country into "a field of grief" and eroding the foundations of governance.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Feb. 7, and shared with ACI Africa — the sister service of EWTN News in Africa — CSN Secretary-General Father Michael Banjo and National Director of Social Communications Father Michael Nsikak Umoh expressed "profound outrage and sorrow at the ongoing assault on human life and dignity."

"After years of repeated complaints and unfulfilled promises, violence persists unchecked, leaving more communities devastated and citizens weary of empty condolences that do not guarantee their safety," the CSN officials said.

They lamented that the renewed cycle of mass violence "has turned our country into a field of grief."

"Nigeria cannot afford to normalize bloodshed or treat mass killings as routine tragedies," they emphasized in their one-page statement titled "The Cry of the Innocent: Stop This Slaughterhouse in Nigeria!"

Citing recent attacks between late January and early February, the Catholic officials questioned how such atrocities could be allowed to continue. "How can it be justified that, outside of war, over 160 innocent civilians were slaughtered in one coordinated attack in Woro, Kwara state?" they wrote.

They also referred to "the repeated killings and abductions in Agwara and Tungan Gero in Niger state, the wiping out of entire farming communities in Katsina and Kaduna, and the ongoing violence in Borno."

"This is not 'instability' but a massacre allowed by silence and a betrayal of every Nigerian's right to live in peace," the Nigerian Catholic officials added.

They went on to remind politicians that "the constitution is not a lofty document of ideals but a binding covenant with the people" and warned that "when citizens are slaughtered with impunity and communities live in perpetual fear, the very foundation of governance is undermined."

They added that "a government that struggles unsuccessfully to safeguard its people risks diminishing its moral authority to lead."

The CSN officials cautioned that "silence in the face of such horror as we now have in Nigeria can hardly escape being labeled as complicit," noting that "every unaddressed attack, every unpunished crime, and every unfulfilled promise deepens the wound of mistrust between the people and those entrusted with their protection."

Recalling Nigeria's international obligations, the Catholic priests emphasized that the country is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which affirm the right to life as "fundamental and nonnegotiable."

Yet, they lamented that "the state continues to treat this right as optional, allowing bloodshed to persist unchecked."

The CSN officials also renewed their call to the federal government to revise its security strategy urgently.

Among their demands, the Catholic officials urged authorities to "intensify efforts in redeploying security forces strategically from ceremonial press centers to the actual front lines where citizens are under siege," to "identify, expose, and prosecute the sponsors and enablers of terror," and to "arrest and punish every perpetrator of violence; for impunity is nothing less than a license for further bloodshed."

They also called for concrete support for victims, urging the government to "provide urgent relief, psychosocial care, and compensation to victims and their families, while guarding and rebuilding destroyed communities to restore hope and dignity to the indigenes of the land."

"Nigeria stands at a crossroads. We cannot allow mass graves to define our national story. The blood of all innocent Nigerians cries out to heaven, and their memory must compel us to act with sincerity, courage, and compassion," the officials lamented.

Calling for unity, they appealed to "all leaders, political, religious, and community, to rise above division and work together to restore peace and dignity to our land," while urging Nigerians "to reject hatred and violence, and to stand firm in solidarity with one another."

"As a people of faith, we entrust our nation to God's mercy and pray for healing, justice, and reconciliation. May the sacrifice of the innocent not be in vain but inspire a renewed commitment to protect life and build a Nigeria where peace and justice reign," the officials said in their Feb. 7 statement shared with ACI Africa.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News English.

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What drove tens of thousands of young Mexicans to defy fatigue and weather conditions and walk for hours? On Jan. 31, the resounding answer was faith. An entire generation embarked on a pilgrimage to lay their joys, concerns, and hopes at the feet of Christ the King.

In the early morning of Saturday, Jan. 31, more than 1,700 vehicles crowded the roads leading to Guanajuato. They came from different parts of the country and had the same destination: John Paul II Valley, at the foot of Cubilete Hill, where the pilgrimage would begin.

The organizers later acknowledged that the pilgrimage's 70,000 participants surpassed all predictions: They had initially expected just over 45,000.

Testimonies

For the attendees, the ascent was not only a physical challenge but also a spiritual necessity. David Andrés, who traveled more than 230 miles from the state of Nuevo León, explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that he wanted to offer his effort as a gift to Christ.

He pointed out that if it is possible to take a weekend off for a vacation, it is also possible to "place yourself at the feet of the Lord, literally, and say: 'Here I bring everything, I offer you my life, what I have given, and everything that may come from you we will receive with much love.'"

For Norberto Ríos, a novice of the Missionary Disciples of Emmaus, this was the first time he had participated in this faith experience. In an interview with ACI Prensa, he expressed his joy at being able to witness that "there are still young people who want to respond to the Lord."

For him, the challenge now is "to help others encounter Christ. Without that encounter, it is difficult to get close to the Church. Our witness can open that path."

Living memory of the Cristero War

The pilgrimage also held historical significance. This year, the youth march was marked by the commemoration of the centenary of the beginning of the 1926–1929 Cristero War, an episode of religious persecution experienced by the Catholic Church in Mexico.

The memory of the war was present throughout the journey: posters with quotes from martyrs, images such as that of the teen martyr St. José Sánchez del Río, and reliquaries of saints and blesseds accompanied the ascent.

Discerning one's vocation

For some, the pilgrimage was also a time for silence and discernment. Antonio Centeno Cuarenta, a young man from Guanajuato, told ACI Prensa that he made the pilgrimage hoping to understand what Christ wants for his future.

He offered his effort so that the Holy Spirit would help him "to contemplate what the Lord is asking of me ... in one of the beautiful vocations he offers us: either in marriage, the priesthood, or religious life."

'Onward, dear young people'

At midday, the apostolic nuncio to Mexico, Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, celebrated Mass. His message was a call to overcome "apathy," "virtual appearances," and "challenges."

"Onward, dear young people. As Pope Leo XIV has told you many times already, the Church is grateful for your generosity and trusts in the strength of your witness, as sincere friends of Jesus, who want to build with him his kingdom of fraternity, respecting the life of every person and always promoting reconciliation and true peace," he said.

Many arrived with different motivations, but at the end of the day, the 70,000 pilgrims descended from the mountain with tired feet and the conviction that faith continues to move their hearts.

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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EWTN+ recently launched "Seeking Beauty," a first-of-its-kind adventure documentary series that explores culture, architecture, food, art, and music, and aims to point viewers to the beautiful — and ultimately to the divine.

The show's host, David Henrie, who is best known for his role as Justin Russo on Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place," believes a show like this is needed right now as more and more people are searching for authentic, human experiences.

"We live in such a fast-paced society. Things are moving at 24, 30 frames a second. And then AI is on the horizon. We're just getting inundated with so much," Henrie told EWTN News on the red carpet at the premiere of the series on Jan. 16. "I think there's this deep craving for the human, for the real, for the natural."

The Catholic actor explained he believes that in order to provide authentic experiences, "you should go back and revisit cultures who have done beauty in a magnificent way — and there's always a theological component to it."

He added: "Beauty to me is the language of the divine. It's a fingerprint of God. And I think it'll continue to be more and more attractive the more society gets sucked into our devices. I think you're seeing a big rejection of that, so I think the timing is perfect for a show on beauty."

Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios, and EWTN CEO Michael Warsaw highlighted EWTN's desire to offer content portraying beauty through the faith and God's creation.

"EWTN has always wanted to present beauty. God is beautiful. His creation is beautiful, and there are many areas that you can see the divine in beauty," Gagnon shared. "So this series, when the concept was brought to us, fit in exactly with our new content strategy because it leads the viewer in that journey along with David. It's not David telling you. You're journeying with David to find beauty."

Warsaw added: "For us, with all we do at EWTN, it's really about introducing people to the beauty, the truth, the goodness of our faith as Catholics. So clearly this series about beauty that engages people with understanding, and being exposed to beauty in various forms — through the arts, through music, through culture — all of these things that really the Church has always been a patron of though the centuries and to bring that into this current moment so that people can really develop a deeper relationship with Our Lord, a deeper connection to the faith, a deeper connection to the Church."

Henrie said he hopes viewers will be left "curious about beauty and invite it into your life more."

"I think that even if you have a strong faith, especially growing up in America, beauty is not a part of the conversation. It's something superfluous, it's a cost that can be cut, but God never cut beauty," he said. "Learning about the old world and how they saw beauty will hopefully inspire you to bring it into your soul most importantly."

Gagnon echoed Henrie's sentiments in that he said he hopes viewers will be led to reflect on what they see in the show and to "not just see the beauty that they're watching on the screen but to then go back home and to see the beauty around them in their lives, a beauty they may not have seen or not realized it was there, and through seeing that and being inspired by that, be led to the divine."

"Seeking Beauty" is available to watch exclusively on EWTN+, a free digital streaming platform that offers faith-based content. EWTN+ is available on RokuTV, GoogleTV, AppleTV, AmazonFireTV, and on EWTN.com.

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Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore urged Catholics to foster a political culture grounded in Christ by prioritizing human dignity and genuine encounter amid partisan divisions.

"In Charity and Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture," released in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, is among the nine pastoral letters and reflections Lori has written as archbishop of Baltimore. The Feb. 9 letter explored how the anniversary can be "a moment of grace" and one of "responsibility."

The U.S. can both take pride in its achievements and "the vibrancy of our Catholic faith" while also recognizing "the fractures, wounds, and crises that mark both our national life and, sadly, even at times our ecclesial life," Lori wrote.

"As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we find ourselves invited into a moment of profound reflection and renewal," Lori said. "Anniversaries are not merely occasions for nostalgia or celebration. Authentic remembrance always orients us toward renewal; it calls us to consider not only who we have been and who we are becoming — but, by God's grace, who we are called to be."

The letter draws on teachings from the popes, the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution, and the lives of the saints.

Addressing political discourse from a Catholic view

The letter highlighted the U.S. political atmosphere, noting that "political discourse has become more vitriolic than usual." Lori called for synodal listening, civic virtue, and patriotic charity — as exemplified by Blessed Michael McGivney — to renew public life with truth, responsibility, and hope.

McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, served immigrant families and addressed their economic insecurity and exclusion. Lori said genuine charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotic love should guide how Catholics engage with migrants and support their dignity and inclusion.

Lori said ideological and cultural polarization "has produced an epidemic of loneliness and isolation — an aching sense of being unmoored, misunderstood, or unheard."

Lori wrote: "Synodality is, at its heart, a commitment to listening with humility, speaking with honesty, and discerning with the Holy Spirit — all while walking together, not apart."

"Such unity does not mean uniformity, nor does it eliminate disagreement," Lori said. "Rather, it reflects a deeper truth. Our communion in Christ precedes our differences."

Synodality "does not dissolve disagreement. It expects it, because diverse people will inevitably see the world from different angles," Lori said. The letter detailed what "synodality in politics looks like," including a renewed willingness to listen, a refusal to demonize, a commitment to discernment, and a shared journey.

Our world also needs "a new kind of politics — one that begins not with power but with the truth of the human person revealed in Jesus Christ," Lori said. "Christ, in his incarnation, affirms the goodness of the human body and the meaning of human history."

According to Lori, this new type of politics includes resisting the idolatry of ideology. It must also honor the inherent dignity of every human life from conception to natural death, protect the vulnerable and the marginalized, engage in dialogue rather than accusation, and place the common good above partisan loyalty.

A "mature Catholic political presence will" always defend human life in all its stages, advocate for the poor and the vulnerable, insist on racial and social justice, promote peace and reject violence, and uphold religious freedom for all, Lori said.

In order to build a better political culture, "we must learn once more how to encounter, by stepping outside our ideological comfort zones, seeking out conversations with those on the margins or those with differing points of view, healing the wounds that divide us, committing ourselves to forgiveness," Lori said.

Virtue in public life

Lori called on U.S. citizens to employ the cardinal virtues in public life to create a "healthy political engagement."

People can use prudence by "evaluating policies not by slogans or emotional appeal but by their actual impact on human dignity," Lori said. The virtue "helps us to see clearly, to judge wisely, and to act firmly."

Justice "is foundational to political life," Lori said. "It is the virtue that moves us to honor the dignity of every human person and to recognize that each person has rights that must be protected and responsibilities that must be fulfilled."

Fortitude "strengthens us to pursue what is right despite fear, intimidation, or difficulty," Lori said. "It empowers each of us to resist the pressure to conform to divisive rhetoric, to endure criticism when standing for truth, and to advocate for the vulnerable even when it is politically inconvenient."

Lastly, temperance "moderates our impulses and helps us resist the allure of excess," Lori said. "In political culture, temperance is perhaps the virtue most needed today. Temperance invites us to slow down, to choose words carefully, to avoid rash judgments, and to discipline the desire to 'win' at the expense of relationship, truth, or the common good."

Renewal

Lori called for renewal ahead of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. He invited all Catholics and all people of goodwill to commit themselves to a renewed political culture and to answer the call of hope.

The letter concluded by detailing "a path forward" on how to renew political culture, including: renewing prayer for the nation, practicing civil dialogue, rejecting hatred and violence, serving the common good, forming consciences, and encountering those different from oneself.

"In the midst of political upheaval, the Church does not withdraw from public life, nor does she align herself with any partisan identity," Lori said. "She remains what she has always been: a sacrament of unity, a beacon of hope, and a teacher of truth."

"Her mission is not to win elections but to form saints. Not to secure power but to proclaim the Gospel. Not to mirror the divisions of society but to heal them," Lori said.

"Our nation needs Catholics who embody this mission — women and men whose lives witness to the dignity of every human person, whose love bridges divides, whose courage resists hatred, and whose faith insists that despair does not have the final word. The civic landscape may look dark at times, but the Church has lived through darker times and emerged stronger, purified, and more faithful. So, too, can our nation," he said.

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