Prince of Peace Parish

Pope Leo XIV receives a video from the Hope Border Institute from Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino on Oct. 8, 2025. / Credit: Fernie Ceniceros/El Paso Diocese

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 17:13 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV became “visibly emotional” upon receiving messages on Oct. 8 from immigrants fearing deportation in the United States, a member of a U.S. delegation said.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino, and Dylan Corbett of Hope Border Institute gave the pope a collection of handwritten letters from migrant families expressing fear and faith. They showed the pope a video with immigrants’ voices saying mass deportations in the United States are breaking family bonds and stripping children of safety.

“We live in a state of constant anxiety, never knowing if tomorrow will bring separation,” an immigrant says in the video.

Corbett posted on X that Leo told the delegation, which included immigrants: “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me, and I stand with you.” 

One letter writer expressed fear of leaving the house, even to see a doctor, and asked for prayers for President Donald Trump that his heart may be filled with love, compassion, and empathy. The Trump administration is undertaking a massive expansion of enforcement, detention, and border control efforts.

‘You could see tears in his eyes’

Corbett, founding executive director of Hope Border Institute, described the 25-minute encounter with Pope Leo to CNA.

“Bishop Seitz spoke about the Church in the United States’ commitment to walking alongside immigrants and refugees in our country,” Corbett recalled, noting Seitz’s remarks had been unscripted. “And the Holy Father quickly said he wanted the Church in the United States to be more united and forceful on this issue, and that what’s happening right now is an injustice.” 

“We were then able to share from our perspective some of what we’re seeing across the United States right now in terms of the campaign of mass deportations,” he continued, adding: “The Holy Father grew visibly emotional about that.”

The group presented Leo with “over 100 letters from immigrants across the country who are at risk of deportation or who are in mixed families.” The delegation also presented the Holy Father with a video featuring “voices drawn from those letters that tell the story of the anxieties and fears, and also the hopes, right now of the immigrant community.” 

At this point, Corbett said Leo “became emotional and you could see tears in his eyes.” 

“He was very supportive and encouraging,” Corbett said, noting several representatives from the immigrant community were also present for the meeting and offered their testimonies. 

Fernie Ceniceros, a spokesperson for the El Paso Diocese, told CNA: “The Diocese of El Paso is thrilled to know that the Holy Father was able to meet with Bishop Mark Seitz and our Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino and a small delegation of local immigration advocates that included clergy from with the diocese.”

“We are blessed to know that the Holy Father expressed his support of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border along with migrants all over the world,” he added. 

Ceniceros shared several images of the letters given to Leo, including one in English and one in Spanish. 

One of the letters sent by an El Paso priest on loan from the Srikakulam Diocese in Andhra Pradesh, India, described “feeling a sort of insecurity … due to the immigration situation” and noted that many are “scared to move comfortably even with legal documentation.” 

The letter further appealed to the Holy Father for papal support in being “a voice for the voiceless” while also “uphold[ing]  the right of nations to regulate borders and the right of people to seek a better life.”

Another letter from an anonymous immigrant lacking legal status in California told Leo: “These days we are living with a lot of fear, confusion, and sadness.” The letter appealed to the Holy Father to “continue petitioning our God and to continue listening to the voice of the needy immigrant community, raising his voice alongside our brothers and sisters from separated families.” 

“Thank you for listening to us,” it concluded. 

Messages from migrants

One letter said:

“Dear Pope Leo, there are two members of my family without documents. I feel afraid to go out to work and that I could be separated from my family. I think that there should be demand for the immigration agents not to be allowed to get close to parishes, and the raids should stop, because they only create pain and fear. I think the pope should be openly against the raids, and the unjust treatment that’s affecting the community. Speaking clearly and concisely about the situation that we are in and condemning the way in which so-called Christians in power are acting.”

Another letter said:

“We are a mixed family. I am very sad, with a lot of pain and fear. I have not gone out for two weeks and when I do go out, I’m afraid, even when I have to go to the doctor. I think that the Church could help us in getting immigration lawyers to support us and all of those who have been detained. The Church could also give protection to families that remain here. Pope Leo, you know the whole situation that the world is living in, that there is a lot of pain and that we don’t have peace. We ask for your prayers and that you would speak to those who you should speak to. I also ask for prayers for Donald Trump for his heart to be filled with love, compassion, and empathy.”

The flag of the European Union. / Credit: U. J. Alexander/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 8, 2025 / 16:43 pm (CNA).

The representatives of the Catholic bishops to the European Union reiterated their call for the bloc to act firmly against anti-Christian persecution around the world by reinstating the position of the special envoy for religious freedom.

At the conclusion of its autumn assembly, the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE, by its acronym) noted that “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is an inalienable human right enshrined in Article 10 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” that continues to be “seriously threatened in many regions of the world.”

In a statement, the bishops expressed their “growing dismay” at “the discrimination and persecution suffered by individuals, religious minorities, and faith communities — mostly Christian — who are “targeted for their beliefs.”

At the same time, COMECE recognized that the EU “has consistently affirmed its commitment to human rights as a central pillar of its external action.” However, it noted that “existing mechanisms are in themselves very valuable but lack the authority and visibility necessary to address this crisis with the necessary vigor and coherence.”

“The gravity of the situation demands a more firm, dedicated, and institutionalized response,” the bishops continued, maintaining that the EU “has a particular responsibility to defend these values ​​beyond its borders.”

In this regard, they emphasized that “the position of EU special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU was created in 2016 and has been instrumental in promoting this cause on the world stage.” They also emphasized that “having someone in this position improves the EU’s ability to monitor, report on, and respond effectively to violations of religious freedom around the world.”

Therefore, they warn: “We are deeply concerned that this important position has remained vacant for a prolonged period, which sends a worrying signal to persecuted communities around the world and to those who violate religious freedom with impunity.”

The prelates representing the Catholic Church in the countries of the European Union denounced that keeping the position vacant “suggests a diminishing priority of this fundamental right within EU foreign policy precisely at a time when its defense has become more urgent than ever.”

Consequently, the COMECE bishops urged the European Commission “to appoint a new EU special envoy without further delay, strengthening their mandate and allocating adequate human and financial resources to fulfill their mission.”

This is not the first time the position has become vacant since its creation in 2016. The first to fill the post was Slovakian Ján Figel, who served until 2019.

The position remained vacant for a year and a half until May 2021, when Cypriot Christos Stylianides was appointed. However, Stylianides left the post just six months later. Italian Mario Mauro was then proposed but did not receive sufficient support.

It wasn’t until December 2022 that the European Commission appointed Belgian Frans van Daele, whose term has now expired without the European Commission having proposed a replacement to date.

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

St. Matthew's Cathedral, Washington, D.C. / Credit: Marcos Carvalho/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Police said the man arrested outside of a Washington, D.C., cathedral Oct. 5 had hundreds of explosives and papers suggesting he planned to target Catholics and Supreme Court justices. 

Louis Geri was arrested outside of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle before the annual “Red Mass” that welcomes Supreme Court justices and lawmakers. Police reported Geri had potential explosives on his person and in his tent set up near the church’s entrance.

When police approached him in the tent, he told police: “You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives/bombs,” court documents show.

Police officers and the bomb squad conducted a further search and said they found Geri had paperwork that “revealed his significant animosity towards the Catholic Church, members of the Jewish faith, members of SCOTUS, and ICE/ICE facilities.” The search also “revealed a large cache of handmade destructive devices recovered from [his] tent,” police said. 

Geri also threatened to throw an explosive into the street and said he had “a hundred plus of them,” police said.

Papers found in Geri’s tent were titled: “Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives,” police said. The suspect confirmed to police they were his papers. 

A business manager for St. Matthew’s provided police with paperwork showing the Metropolitan Police Department barred him from the location and that Geri had earlier been at the cathedral Sept. 26 when he had set up his tent on the steps and refused to leave.

Police said Geri told them: “Several of your people are gonna die from one of these,” referring to the explosives. 

Geri was charged with unlawful entry; manufacture, transfer, use, possession, or transportation of molotov cocktails or other explosives for unlawful purposes; threats to kidnap or injure a person; assault on police officer; possession of destructive device; manufacture or possession of weapon of mass destruction (hate crime); and resisting arrest. He is being held in jail without bond.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 8, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday warned against the claim that true joy “must be without wounds” or “trials,” saying pain is not the denial of God’s promise of love for his people.

During his Oct. 8 general audience at the Vatican, the Holy Father said “there is an obstacle that often prevents us from recognizing Christ’s presence in our daily lives: the assumption that joy must be free from suffering.”

Continuing his catechesis on the resurrection of Christ, the pope emphasized that God does not “impose himself loudly” but “waits patiently for the moment when our eyes will open to see his friendly face” in order to “transform disappointment into confident expectation.”

Before hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, he asked for the grace to be able to notice the “humble and discreet presence” of Christ and to discover that “very pain, if inhabited by love, can become a place of communion.”

The Holy Father began his catechesis on the Resurrection with the image of the disciples of Emmaus, who walked “sadly because they hoped for a different ending” and “for a Messiah who did not know the cross.”

Despite having heard that the tomb is empty, the pope said the two disciples were “unable to smile” because they were unable to recognize God’s close presence. 

“But Jesus walks alongside them and patiently helps them understand that pain is not the denial of the promise, but the way through which God has manifested the measure of his love,” Leo said in his Wednesday catechesis. 

“Brothers and sisters, Christ’s resurrection teaches us that no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope,” he added. “No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever.” 

“However distant, lost, or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the unfailing power of God’s love,” he continued.

In times of disappointment, Leo XIV invited people to not give into despair but “to discover that beneath the ashes of disenchantment and weariness there is always a living ember, waiting only to be rekindled.”

“Instead, the Risen One is close to us precisely in the darkest places: in our failures, in our frayed relationships, in the daily struggles that weigh on our shoulders, in the doubts that discourage us. Nothing that we are, no fragment of our existence, is foreign to him,” he said.

“Today, the risen Lord walks alongside each of us as we travel our paths — those of work and commitment, but also those of suffering and loneliness — and with infinite delicacy asks us to let him warm our hearts,” he added. 

Toward the conclusion of his address, the Holy Father asked people to pray for the grace to recognize Christ “as our companion on the road” in daily life. 

“And so, like the disciples of Emmaus, we too return to our homes with hearts burning with joy. A simple joy that does not erase wounds but illuminates them,” he said. “A joy that comes from the certainty that the Lord is alive, walks with us, and gives us the possibility to start again at every moment.”

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University confers a theology doctorate on Sister Orla Treacy. / Credit: St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth

ACI Africa, Oct 8, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland, has conferred an honorary doctorate to Sister Orla Treacy, whose work spanning 19 years in South Sudan has transformed the lives of hundreds of girls in the war-torn east African nation.

In attendance at the Sept. 27 ceremony was Archbishop Eamon Martin of the Archdiocese of Armagh; Archbishop Séamus Patrick Horgan, the pioneer resident apostolic nuncio to South Sudan; and representatives of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), popularly known as Loreto Sisters, where Treacy is a member. 

Conferring the doctorate was director of education programs at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Father John-Paul Sheridan, who lauded Treacy’s dedication at the Loreto boarding school in South Sudan’s Diocese of Rumbek, where girls are provided with a nurturing environment to learn, away from the dangers of the country’s decades of war and famine.

“It is a profound joy to stand before you today as we recognize and honor a person whose life, vocation, and work embodies the highest ideals of Catholic education and the tireless pursuit of human rights and the advancement of the students under her charge,” Sheridan told guests at the event, which included Treacy’s family members and friends.

He added: “In conferring upon Sister Orla Treacy the degree of doctor of theology, honoris causa, this university affirms not only the remarkable achievements of an individual but also the enduring values of faith, justice, and human dignity to which our university and the wider Church aspire.”

Sheridan observed that Catholic education, at its heart, “is not merely about the transmission of knowledge” but is about the formation of persons who can think critically, act compassionately, and “live with a conscience attuned to the voice of God.”

‘She has never buried her talents’

He observed that Treacy has embodied the vision of the founder of her institute, Mary Ward, who once said: “Do not bury your talents lent to you by God to be expended in service.”

“Sister Orla has lived in South Sudan for 17 years embodying this sacred vision of education and has never buried her talents,” he said, adding that Treacy’s work has been a beacon of hope to countless students, teachers, and communities, “illuminating a path of justice, mercy, and intellectual rigor.”

“It is a well-known and often-quoted fact that the Catholic Church is the largest provider of education for women in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Sister Orla has been a tireless campaigner for girls in the pursuit of education,” the priest said.

Sheridan noted that Treacy’s vision for the school and her pupils does not stop at the boundaries of education. For Treacy, he said, the classroom is always connected to the wider world, “a world too often scarred by poverty, exclusion, and oppression.”

“With courage and conviction, Sister Orla extends her advocacy to the arena of human rights,” he said, adding that through her work the Loreto sister upholds the great Catholic witnesses to justice like Dorothy Day, who proclaimed that “our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.”

Sheridan described Treacy, who serves as director of the Loreto mission, as an inspiration, especially to the Irish university’s community. “Sister Orla … you are the best of us. You are an inspiration to our students, an encouragement to our graduates, and an affirmation to the university of its mission in the Church and the world,” he said. 

It is the first honorary doctorate for Treacy, who was also one of 10 recipients of the 2019 U.S. Department of State’s International Women of Courage Award — an annual honor recognizing women who have “demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.”

In announcing the awards, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Treacy’s work had become “a beacon of hope for girls who might otherwise be denied education and forced to enter early marriages.”

Treacy first traveled to South Sudan at the invitation of the late Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, who asked her to begin a girls’ boarding school. She has made the war-torn country her home ever since.

In his address at the Sept. 27 event, Archbishop Martin lauded Treacy’s commitment to bring faith, hope, and love into a world that “too often appears faithless, hopeless, and love-less.”

He noted that in the midst of “so much violence, destruction, suspicion, and recrimination,” Treacy and those who work with her seek to highlight the dignity and the vocation of every person, especially that of girls and women, “in the midst of a culture that often thinks differently.”

Describing the Loreto Sisters’ school in the Rumbek Diocese as “a beacon of hope,” the archbishop told Treacy: “You go where others have been reluctant to go before, and you are leaving a path behind for others to follow. To that end, Sister Orla, your work is prophetic. You plant seeds of hope that one day will flourish.”

He also lauded Treacy’s resilience, saying: “Despite being surrounded by suffering, you inspire your students to believe in themselves, to dream, to heal divisions, and to give back to their communities knowing that ‘Cruci dum spiro fido’— ‘In the cross, while I breathe, I trust.’”

Martin acknowledged the contribution of the Loreto Sisters to the lives and hopes of many girls and women in Ireland and beyond, especially in the work of education, social justice, and inspiring faith, hope, and love.

Following ‘a great visionary, missionary, and courageous leader’

In her remarks, Treacy joked about the honor conferred upon her, saying: “I was never a great student in school, so thanks for this doctorate.” She said that her award ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate the “legacy of Loreto education.”

Treacy spoke at length about the legacy of her institute, describing its founders, Mary Ward and Teresa Ball, as “women of exceptional faith” who “trusted all to God.”

She recalled that Ball opened 37 communities in seven countries. She was, Treacy said, “a great visionary, missionary, and courageous leader” who, though never having traveled beyond Ireland and England, followed the dream of Mary Ward that “women in time to come would do much.”   

Treacy recalled her arrival in 2006 into a region that had just come out of 20 years of civil war. “People were hungry, sick, traumatized from the war, and there were few services for the people.”  

“And here we were coming to open a girls’ boarding secondary school in a region where boys and girls weren’t even going to primary school. And where girls are forced to marry as young as 15, for their cow value,” she said.

She said her first years in South Sudan were challenging. “Over the years our mission has experienced insecurity, aggression, financial problems, health issues, but still we continue to trust, to endure, and to accompany our young women in South Sudan.”

Treacy said South Sudan is currently “on the verge of another civil war,” adding: “This doesn’t stop our young women dreaming of a better world, a more just society where women can be educated.”

The Loreto Sisters’ initiative in South Sudan had grown “from strength to strength,” she said, explaining that “our secondary school gave way to a primary school for boys and girls, a health clinic followed to support the local community, and then looking to the future and sustainability we added an education center, internship program, and university scholarship program.” 

The Loreto Sisters’ dedication to education in Rumbek has molded young people who are determined to restore peace in their country, Treacy said.

“Our youth are religious and spiritual, they love the Church, and over the past few years we have facilitated youth retreats and nine-day walking pilgrimages throughout our diocese, reaching hard-to-reach places, bringing a message of unity and hope,” she said. 

There are now over 600 young women “working, studying, marrying, becoming mothers,” Treacy said.

“All over the country, they are influencing change in their culture,” she said of the graduates, who have invited Loreto Sisters to establish a new mission in the town of Awei, located in the north of the country.

Awei has a population of 1 million people — over 90% of whom are Catholic, with no religious or missionary presence. “These graduates have called us to come and offer quality, Catholic education to the next generation,” she said. 

In her address, Treacy also highlighted the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, saying that young people all over the world are “beacons of hope, those who challenge us to step forward.”

“This is our Jubilee Year of Hope,” she said. “In the midst of the negativity that we hear it can be hard to hold on to hope. We do face diminishment in our Churches in Europe, but the message of Jesus continues to touch our young people, who call us to keep the vision, mission, and courage of our early foundress and to trust,” she said.

Treacy implored: “We pray for our fragile world that we can continue to discern new paths, keep the passion alive, and share the light of Christ in darkened places.”

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

On Oct. 6, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a rehearing of the case filed by Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans and their supporters, that would have prevented the sale of a Native American sacred site to a mining company. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Becket

CNA Staff, Oct 8, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

A Native American group working to stop the destruction of a centuries-old religious ritual site has lost a last-ditch appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the transfer and obliteration of the Arizona parcel.

The Supreme Court in an unsigned order on Oct. 6 said Apache Stronghold’s petition for a rehearing had been denied. The court did not give a reason for the denial.

Justice Neil Gorsuch would have granted the request, the order noted. Justice Samuel Alito, meanwhile, “took no part in the consideration or decision” of the order. 

The denial likely deals a death blow to the Apache group’s attempts to halt the destruction of Oak Flat, which has been viewed as a sacred site by Apaches and other Native American groups for hundreds of years and has been used extensively for religious rituals. 

The federal government is selling the land to the multinational Resolution Copper company, which plans to destroy the site as part of a copper mining operation. 

The coalition had brought the lawsuit to the Supreme Court earlier this year under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, arguing that the sale of the site would violate the decades-old federal statute restricting the government’s ability to encroach on religious liberty. 

The high court in May refused to hear the case. Gorsuch dissented from that decision as well, arguing that the court “should at least have troubled itself to hear [the] case” before “allowing the government to destroy the Apaches’ sacred site.”

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the May ruling as well, though he did not add his dissent to the Oct. 6 denial of the appeal. 

In a statement, Apache Stronghold said that while the decision was "deeply disappointing, the fight to protect Oak Flat is far from over."

The group vowed to "continue pressing our cases in the lower courts."

"Oak Flat deserves the same respect and protection this country has long given to other places of worship," the group said.

The coalition has garnered support from major Catholic backers in its religious liberty bid. Last year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined an amicus brief arguing that lower court decisions allowing the sale of Oak Flat represent “a grave misunderstanding” of religious freedom law. 

The Knights of Columbus similarly filed a brief in support of the Apaches, arguing that the decision to allow the property to be mined applies an “atextual constraint” to the federal religious freedom law with “no grounding in the statute itself.”

Though Apache Stronghold appears to have exhausted its legal options, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said on Aug. 18 that the Oak Flat site would not be transferred to Resolution Copper amid emergency petitions from the San Carlos Apache Tribe as well as the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition. That dispute is still playing out at federal court.

null / Credit: PIGAMA/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan has announced changes to the locations and celebrants of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the diocese, prompted by a clergy shortage exacerbated by the recent deaths of several priests.

“Bishop Brennan very much wants to meet the needs of the people and has developed an approach that will be more sustainable,” diocesan spokesman John Quaglione told CNA. 

At the end of September, TLM attendees at St. Cecilia Church in Brooklyn were informed the Mass will no longer be offered there after Oct. 12 but will continue to be offered about five miles away at Our Lady Queen of Peace in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn and St. Josaphat’s in the Bayside area of Queens.

Quaglione told CNA that the weekly attendance at the Mass at St. Cecilia’s was averaging between 25 and 35 people and was being served by a rotation of priests that can no longer continue because of the declining numbers of parish priests in the diocese.

In order to address the priest shortage, Brennan is employing a “site model.” The official site in Brooklyn will be Our Lady Queen of Peace, which has celebrated the TLM for more than 25 years, and the official site in Queens will be at St. Josaphat’s, which has also celebrated the TLM for years and which will now be run by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Priests will still rotate to say the Latin Mass at the Brooklyn site.

Quaglione told CNA that with the recent deaths of several priests in the Brooklyn Diocese, where priests already minister to two or three parishes each and where Masses have had to be cut as a result, “the bishop is taking the initiative here and seeing the writing on the wall. He does want to provide the TLM for the people.” 

“By cutting the Mass at the St. Cecilia site, we’re actually bettering our ability to provide the TLM with this model, which addresses staffing concerns and gives the assurance of the continuation of the Mass,” he said.

Average weekly Mass attendance at St. Josaphat’s is around 240 people, and at Our Lady Queen of Peace, it averages about 65 attendees, according to Quaglione.

Neither the revised official Mass schedule nor the exact date of the Christ the King Institute takeover of St. Josaphat’s has been finalized, according to the Brooklyn Diocese.

The Christ the King Institute priests will establish an oratory at St. Josaphat Parish, which other orders in the diocese have already done, according to the press secretary.

According to its website, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest “celebrates the classical Roman Liturgy, the ‘Latin Mass,’ in its traditional form according to the liturgical books promulgated in 1962 by Pope St. John XXIII.”

“During his pontificate, Pope St. John Paul II exhorted bishops to be generous in allowing its use. It was with his blessing that the Institute began to celebrate the Traditional Mass.”

The institute, based out of Chicago, did not respond to a request for comment.

null / Credit: Wolfgang Schaller|Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments on Oct. 7 scrutinized Colorado’s law banning counseling on gender identity with some justices voicing concern about possible viewpoint discrimination and free speech restrictions embedded in the statute.

Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson defended the law, which prohibits licensed psychologists and therapists from engaging in any efforts that it considers “conversion therapy” when treating minors. It does not apply to parents, members of the clergy, or others.

Nearly half of U.S. states have a similar ban. The Supreme Court ruling on this matter could set nationwide precedent on the legality of such laws. 

The Colorado law defines “conversion therapy” as treatments designed to change a person’s “sexual orientation or gender identity,” including changes to “behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex” even if the minor and his or her family has requested that care.

Under the law, permitted therapy includes “acceptance, support, and understanding” of a minor’s self-asserted transgender identity or same-sex attraction.

The law is being challenged by Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor who provides faith-based counseling to clients with gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction.

Free speech and viewpoint discrimination

Stevenson argued that Colorado’s law is not a speech restriction but instead a regulation on a specific type of “treatment,” saying that regulations cannot cease to apply “just because they are using words.”

“That treatment does not work and carries great risk of harm,” Stevenson said, referring to the practices the state considers to be “conversion therapy.”

She argued that health care has been “heavily regulated since the beginning of our country” and compared “conversion therapy” to doctors providing improper advice on how to treat a condition. She claimed this therapy falsely asserts “you can change this innate thing about yourself.”

“The client and the patient [are] expecting accurate information,” Stevenson said.

Justice Samuel Alito told Stevenson the law sounds like “blatant viewpoint discrimination,” noting that a minor can receive talk therapy welcoming homosexual inclinations but cannot access therapy to reduce those urges. He said it is a restriction “based on the viewpoint expressed.”

Alito said the state’s position is “a minor should not be able to obtain talk therapy to overcome same-sex attraction [even] if that’s what he wants.”

Stevenson argued Colorado is not engaged in viewpoint discrimination and said: “Counseling is an evidence-based practice.” She said it would be wrong to suggest lawmakers “reach[ed] this conclusion based on anything other than protection of minors.”

“There is no other motive going on to suppress viewpoint or expression,” Stevenson said.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Neil Gorsuch asked questions about how to handle issues where medical disagreement exists.

Gorsuch noted, for example, that homosexuality was historically viewed as a mental disorder and asked Stevenson whether it would have been legal for states to ban therapy that affirmed a person’s homosexuality at that time. Stevenson argued that at that time, it would have been legal.

Banning ‘voluntary conversations’

Alliance Defending Freedom Chief Counsel Jim Campbell argued on behalf of Chiles and her counseling services, telling the justices his client offers “voluntary speech between a licensed professional and a minor,” and the law bans “voluntary conversations.”

Campbell noted that if one of her minor clients says, “I would like help realigning my identity with my sex,” then the law requires that Chiles “has to deny them.”

“Kids and families that want this kind of help … are being left without any kind of support,” he added, warning that Chiles, her clients, and potential clients are suffering irreparable harm if access to this treatment continues to be denied.

Campbell argued that “many people have experienced life-changing benefits from this kind of counseling,” many of whom are seeking to “align their life with their religion” and improve their “relationship with God.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor contested whether the issue was about free speech, noting Colorado pointed to studies that such therapy efforts “harm the child … emotionally and physically.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson similarly objected to the claim, questioning whether a counselor acting in her professional capacity “is really expressing … a message for a First Amendment purposes.” She said treatment is different than writing an article about conversion therapy or giving a speech about it.

Campbell disagreed, arguing: “This involves a conversation,” and “a one-on-one conversation is a form of speech.” He said Chiles is “discussing concepts of identity and behaviors and attraction” and simply helping her clients “achieve their goals.”

FDA sign outside their headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 8, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. Catholic bishops sharply criticized the Trump administration’s recent approval of the generic abortion drug mifepristone, saying that women and children deserve better care. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug even as the administration is currently investigating the abortion drug for safety concerns. 

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously acknowledged concerns over the safety of the drug and said in a hearing last month that the investigation is ongoing. Even so, the FDA’s approval of the generic version will make the drug even more accessible. 

“Mothers in need and their preborn children deserve better,” said Bishop Daniel Thomas, who heads the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, in response to the FDA’s decision. 

In a statement, Thomas called the decision “jarring” and “contradictory.”

“At the same time that the Food and Drug Administration is conducting a much-needed review of the supposed safety of the abortion pill for women, it is nonetheless approving a new generic for this deadly drug,” Thomas said.

“The FDA took shortcuts in originally approving and loosening protocols for mifepristone, which enabled the killing of more children and placed the health of more women in danger,” he continued.

More than 1 in 10 women who take the abortion pill mifepristone to complete a chemical abortion will suffer a serious health complication within 45 days of taking the drug, a study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found.

The study also found that the rate of serious adverse side effects occurs at 22 times the rate that the FDA-approved drug label currently indicates.

“Even if it eventually had to be approved as a generic version of the same drug, to do so now and make it more available before a recently-announced safety study can be completed and potentially save lives, is a shocking inconsistency,” Thomas said. 

Dangers of drug 

Dr. Susan Bane, vice chair of the board of directors of American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, called the FDA’s decision “a serious misjudgment that will have deadly consequences.” 

Mifepristone poses a danger “not only to preborn babies but to unsuspecting pregnant women as well,” Bane, an OB-GYN with more than 25 years of experience in women’s health care, told CNA.

“When the side effects of this drug are already misreported and under-investigated, expanding access to it is the wrong course of action,” she said. 

Jennie Bradley Lichter, March for Life president, said she is “devastated” by the decision. 

“I’m devastated that this dangerous drug, which has serious adverse effects for 11% of women who take it, is getting a stronger and stronger foothold,” she said in a statement shared with CNA. 

Noting that the agency “has limited discretion under the law to decline approval for a generic that matches an approved name-brand drug,” Lichter expressed concerns for women and children.  

“Every day that mifepristone remains on the market, with very few safeguards in place around it, heaps danger upon danger for American women and results in more and more babies being killed,” Lichter said. 

Evita Solutions, LLC, the pro-abortion company producing the generic drug, has said it seeks to “normalize abortion.” 

But Thomas highlighted the importance of support and care for women and children.

Mothers and children “deserve the fullest, most authentic care that we can offer in all respects,” the bishop said.

Thomas looked ahead to the FDA investigation of the abortion drug mifepristone.

“I pray that the forthcoming review of mifepristone will undo many of these tragic developments and that we may, instead, meet women with hope and meaningful support,” he said.

The Tomb of St. Francis. / Credit: Courtesy of Sacred Convent Press Office

Rome Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

For the first time, the body of St. Francis of Assisi will be visible to all, from Feb. 22 to March 22, 2026. This religious and historical event was announced on the memorial of the saint of Assisi (Oct. 4) and will coincide with the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis in 1226.

The announcement was made from the Loggia delle Benedizioni by Fray Giulio Cesareo, director of the press office of the Sacred Convent, following Mass celebrated in the Upper Basilica of the Umbrian city, presided over by Monsignor Camillo Cibotti, president of the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise, along with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, papal legate for the papal basilicas of Assisi, the bishop of Assisi, and the general and provincial ministries of the Franciscan families.

In his homily, Cibotti emphasized the “newness of life” that Francis presents to the world. “A new way of feeling, of thinking, of living Christ,” Cibotti noted. The mayor of L’Aquila, Pierluigi Biondi, lit the votive lamp of the Municipalities of Italy, representing the Italian people during the celebration.

The first part of the celebration for the feast of St. Francis, patron saint of Italy, concluded with speeches from the authorities from the loggia of the sacred convent. Reference was also made to the reinstatement of Oct. 4 as a national holiday in that country.

“In recent days, Parliament approved the law making Oct. 4 a national holiday,” declared the custos of the Sacred Convent, Friar Marco Moroni, OFMConv, at the beginning of the celebration in the basilica. “This is not just a tribute to the patron saint of Italy, but a recognition of values ​​that speak to everyone. For this celebration to be truly fruitful, everyone must draw concrete consequences from it: our communities with their daily lives; local governments with their choices for justice and inclusion; Parliament and the government with laws and policies consistent with what is proclaimed today; each of us with sober and fraternal lifestyle choices.” 

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also present at the celebration, addressed Italy from the loggia of the Sacred Convent: “The devotion of Italians to St. Francis is strong, authentic, and visceral, which can be seen in the faces of the pilgrims present here. Today the Italian people turn their gaze here, to Assisi, because St. Francis is one of the founding figures of the Italian identity. Francis of Assisi was a man of action, extreme but not extremist. Today we celebrate Francis not because he needs us, but because we need him.”

At the celebration the exposition of the remains of St. Francis in 2026 was also announced. The press release from the Sacred Convent of Assisi stated: “This exposition, rooted in the evangelical theme of the seed that dies to bear fruit in love and brotherhood, invites us to consider the life of the saint, who continues to bear fruit after 800 years and to inspire all humanity on the path of peace, brotherhood, service to the least, joy and care for creation.”

“The eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis, in 2026, is a time of remembrance and renewal. We do not celebrate death, but, recognizing it as a ‘sister’ to St. Francis, we celebrate the life that blossoms from the gift and offering of self,” the statement continued.

“It is in this spirit that, thanks to the approval granted by the Holy Father Leo XIV through the Vatican Secretariat of State, the public display of his mortal remains will take place,” the statement said.

The body of St. Francis will be moved from his tomb, located in the crypt, and placed at the foot of the papal altar in the lower church of the Basilica of St. Francis. The tomb’s history itself holds significant historical and religious significance: after the death of the Poverello saint, “the body was made inaccessible,” the press office of the Sacred Convent explained, “beneath the basilica’s high altar to prevent any possible theft. It remained hidden for centuries, until, after a long and arduous search, it was finally discovered on the night between Dec. 12 and 13, 1818.”

The first official recognition took place in 1819, confirming the identity of the remains of the saint of Assisi. There are also other recognitions, such as the one in 1978, in preparation for the 750th anniversary of his death, and the most recent one in 2015.

For more information: www.sanfrancescovive.org

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