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Nigeria Conference of Women Religious against Human Trafficking commemorate Bahkita Day
Posted on 02/8/2025 05:58 AM ()
8 February every year is earmarked as the feast of Saint Josephine Bahkita, the patron saint of victims of human trafficking. It is internationally known in the Catholic Church as the day Catholic Sisters, with their partners and collaborators, pray against human trafficking, sensitise people and reaffirm their stand against human trafficking.
Cardinal Czerny: Integrate migrant ministry in pastoral programmes
Posted on 02/8/2025 05:34 AM ()
Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has emphasized the importance of incorporating the Church’s ministry to migrants, refugees and displaced persons into local pastoral programmes.
Pope stresses importance of meaningful prayer within families
Posted on 02/8/2025 05:30 AM ()
Meeting with the Executive Committee of the II International Congress of Confraternities and Popular Piety that took place in Seville, Spain, in December, Pope Francis emphasizes the importance of prayer, especially within families, and of showing abounding love and respect for one another.
Lord's Day Reflection: There is always hope for each of us
Posted on 02/8/2025 04:06 AM ()
As the Church celebrates the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr Edmund Power offers his thoughts on the day's liturgical readings, focusing on the call of St Peter
U.S. bishops’ conference lays off 50 amid migrant funding ‘uncertainty’
Posted on 02/8/2025 02:55 AM (CNA Daily News)

Washington D.C., Feb 7, 2025 / 21:55 pm (CNA).
The U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference laid off 50 staff members in its migration and refugee services office Friday, citing a delay in reimbursements from the federal government.
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spokesperson Chieko Noguchi, in a statement shared with CNA, said the job cuts were due to “continuing uncertainty regarding refugee resettlement and the overall future of those programs.”
“Please pray for these dedicated men and women who have given so much of themselves in service to their sisters and brothers in need,” Noguchi said.
The layoffs, first reported by The Pillar website Friday night, mark an escalation of a deepening political and financial crisis for the USCCB and its affiliated charitable agencies, whose decades-long role providing essential services for migrants and refugees largely paid with federal funds has come under scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The USCCB directs the bulk of the more than $100 million in federal grants it receives annually to affiliate organizations that provide migration and refugee services such as Catholic Charities.
A large portion of funding comes from grants through the federal U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) to help resettle refugees who have been vetted by the federal government.
According to the USCCB’s audited financial statements, federal funding covered more than 95% of what the conference spent on refugee and migrant programs in recent years. The USCCB has spent slightly more on these services than what is covered by federal funding, according to the financial statements.
In 2023, the most recent year reported, the USCCB spent more than $134.2 million on these services with federal grants covering more than $129.6 million of the spending. In 2022, the USCCB spent nearly $127.4 million after getting nearly $123 million from the government.
According to the USCCB Committee on Migration, the Catholic refugee resettlement network includes more than 65 affiliate offices throughout the United States. The bishops self-report that the USCCB and its Migration and Refugee Services help resettle about 18% of refugees who enter the country every year.
The Pillar reported Friday night that a memo announcing the staff cuts was emailed to U.S. bishops by USCCB General Secretary Father Michael Fuller on Feb. 7.
The memo followed White House directives to freeze federal grants and loans to nongovernmental organizations, and statements by Vice President JD Vance criticizing the USCCB for receiving federal money to help “resettle illegal immigrants.”
Fuller informed the bishops in the memo that “to the best of my knowledge” no resettlement agencies or other nongovernmental agencies, including Catholic Relief Services, had received reimbursement from the federal government for their services since Trump took office on Jan. 20, The Pillar reported.
On its website, Catholic Relief Services, which provides aid to the poor and other people in need in more than 100 countries, is urging its supporters to contact their representatives in Congress to let them know that they are “deeply concerned about the administration’s recent decision to stop work on almost all U.S. foreign assistance programs.”
Super Bowl teams’ bishops renew rivalry with public wager
Posted on 02/8/2025 02:05 AM (CNA Daily News)

CNA Newsroom, Feb 7, 2025 / 21:05 pm (CNA).
On Super Bowl Sunday, players for the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are vying for a championship, a ring, money ($178,000 for winners versus $103,000 for losers), and a lifetime achievement.
The Catholic bishops of their respective dioceses have more modest things at stake: food, a $500 donation, and bragging rights.
Even so, the bishops are talking some clerical smack over their purportedly friendly wager.
It’s a rematch for Kansas City Bishop James Johnston and Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez, whose city’s teams played each other in the big game two years ago. (Kansas City won, 38-35, the first of two Super Bowl victories in a row. Philadelphia won the title in 2017, its only championship in the Super Bowl era.)
For years, the bishops of dioceses whose teams make it to the Super Bowl have been placing a public bet on the outcome. This year, if the Eagles win, Johnston is supposed to provide Jack Stack barbecue (famous in the Kansas City area) for Pérez. If the Chiefs win, Pérez will provide Philadelphia cheesesteak for Johnston.
Each bishop is also promising a $500 contribution to the other diocese’s Catholic Charities if his team loses.
The two bishops made a joint Feb. 7 appearance on “EWTN News In Depth.”
Johnston, whose Chiefs are looking for an unprecedented third Super Bowl victory in a row, expressed confidence in coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Pérez sounded hungrier, though, in support of the Eagles, affectionately called “the Birds” by their loyal fans.
“Well, I think the bishop and his Chiefs … are in for it. Because the Birds are hunting,” Pérez said.
Pérez made two things clear during the interview:
1. He’s totally confident the Eagles will win.
2. He wants the benefit of a point spread.
“Bishop Johnston, the bishops that I’m in retreat with asked me to ask you for two points since we’re the underdog,” Pérez said.
(In such a case, if the Chiefs won by one point, Pérez would still win the bet. If the Chiefs won by two points, it would be what’s known as a “push,” and neither side would win. The Chiefs would have to win by three or more for Johnston to collect.)
Johnston was having none of the retreat bishops’ suggestion.
“You tell them to go back to their prayer,” Johnston said.
Neither bishop can claim as much team spirit as Bishop Michael Burbidge, a Philadelphia native who had an Eagles emblem put into stained glass during a recent renovation of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in his Diocese of Arlington, Virginia.
Even so, the rival dioceses on Sunday have heavy-duty patron saints, as the bishops pointed out. Philadelphia has St. John Neumann (the fourth bishop of the city) and St. Katharine Drexel (a native of the city).
Johnston’s see is called the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, making for an obvious go-to saint.
“So we’re going to rely on good old St. Joseph, who’s the patron of the universal Church. So I think we’ve got him outnumbered there, with St. Joseph,” Johnston said.
The program’s host, EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado, pointed out that Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker is known for publicly expressing his Catholic faith, and she asked Johnston: “Do you think evangelizing in the end zone can bring fans to Christ?”
“Well, I’m really encouraged by the faith of so many of the players, and not just on the field, but even afterwards in interviews, how many of them speak about their faith,” Johnston replied. “And so I think it’s a great witness of, you know, not covering your lampstand, but putting it out to where it can give light.”
Next National Eucharistic Congress will be held in 2029
Posted on 02/7/2025 23:40 PM (CNA Daily News)

CNA Staff, Feb 7, 2025 / 18:40 pm (CNA).
The next National Eucharistic Congress will be held in 2029, CNA confirmed today.
“The National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. is thrilled to share that we have begun the initial steps in preparing for the 11th National Eucharistic Congress, in 2029,” said Jason Shanks, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, in an email to CNA.
“We look forward to reuniting as an American Church to celebrate our shared Eucharistic faith.”
The next iteration of the National Eucharistic Congress had last year been tentatively announced to take place in 2033, the “Year of Redemption” marking 2,000 years since Jesus’ crucifixion.
The location for the major Catholic event has not been shared, and Shanks said organizers will “provide more details about the 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the future.”
The news about the date was first reported by The Pillar on Friday.
Last July’s National Eucharistic Congress, the first such event to take place on American soil since World War II, attracted tens of thousands of people for several massive sessions of Eucharistic adoration in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, numerous talks and workshops related to the Catholic faith, and a 60,000-participant Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis.
Shanks said they are “eager to build on the grace we received during our gathering in Indianapolis this past summer.”
“We recognize that the success of the previous congress can be attributed to the countless individuals who prayed and interceded for the event. So, we invite the Church to join us in praying not only for the planning of this future congress but that we might continue to Walk with One through this year of missionary sending.”
The 2024 Congress was a major part of the National Eucharistic Revival, an ongoing initiative of the U.S. bishops that calls Catholics to share their rekindled love of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus.
This is a developing story.
Man attacks high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican
Posted on 02/7/2025 23:20 PM (CNA Daily News)

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 7, 2025 / 18:20 pm (CNA).
A man desecrated the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras that were on the altar to the ground, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
After throwing the candelabras, the man began to remove the altar cloth, as can be seen in a video posted on social media. The subject was then quickly detained by security agents.
Le Vatican… bordel LE VATICAN !!!!@F_Desouche @FrDesouche pic.twitter.com/O87ZSb4QNW
— Père Lapouque (@Boujoumapoule) February 7, 2025
According to ANSA, the suspect, of Romanian origin, was detained by the Vatican Police, after which he was identified and charged by agents of the Vatican Inspectorate.
“This is an episode of a person with a serious mental disability, who has been detained by the Vatican Police and then placed at the disposal of the Italian authorities,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told ANSA.
According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the man was arrested because the basilica’s alarm was activated when he stood on the altar.
In 2023 a similar incident was recorded when a man climbed the high altar and undressed, after which he was also arrested.
The Code of Canon Law, the law that regulates the Catholic Church, establishes in canon 1210 that “in a sacred place” such as St. Peter’s Basilica, “only those things which serve the exercise or promotion of worship, piety, or religion are permitted in a sacred place; anything not consonant with the holiness of the place is forbidden.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Justice Department ends lawsuit against Tennessee law banning transgender surgeries
Posted on 02/7/2025 23:00 PM (CNA Daily News)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 7, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
President Donald Trump’s administration ended the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) support for a lawsuit that challenges the legality of a Tennessee law that prohibits doctors from performing transgender surgeries on minors and giving them transgender drugs.
In a letter written to the clerk of the United States Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General Curtis E. Gannon said the DOJ is no longer challenging the law. However, he asked that the court still issue a ruling on the matter because it will set precedent for the lower courts to follow.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill to prevent transgender procedures from being performed on minors in March 2023, which subsequently faced legal challenges from some residents in the state and President Joe Biden’s DOJ. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in October of last year and has already heard oral arguments.
Residents — represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump — and Biden’s DOJ argued that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Those lawyers made the case during oral arguments that a blanket prohibition on those procedures for minors constitutes a form of “sex” discrimination.
Lawyers representing Tennessee argued that the law is a simple health and safety regulation that protects all minors from risky procedures and does not discriminate on the basis of sex.
In the letter to the court, Gannon said Trump’s DOJ does not believe the law violates the Constitution.
“Following the change in administration, the [DOJ] has reconsidered the United States’ position in this case,” Gannon said. “The purpose of this letter is to notify the court that the government’s previously stated views no longer represent the United States’ position.”
The letter states that the new administration “would not have intervened to challenge” the law.
Gannon wrote, however, that the DOJ is not “seeking to dismiss its case,” adding: “The court’s prompt resolution of the question presented will bear on many cases pending in the lower courts.”
Because the DOJ will no longer argue against the law, Gannon urged the Supreme Court to continue the case with the private plaintiffs.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump issued a joint statement criticizing the administration’s decision, saying the “discriminatory and baseless ban continues to upend the lives of our plaintiffs — transgender adolescents, their families, and a medical provider.”
“These Tennesseans have had their constitutional right to equal protection under the law violated by the state of Tennessee,” the statement read. “This latest move from the Trump administration is another indication that they are using the power of the federal government to target marginalized groups for further discrimination.”
In the first few weeks of Trump’s second presidency, the president has taken several actions to curtail the imposition of gender ideology in the United States, including an executive order that affirms there are two genders determined by biological characteristics, an executive order that bans transgender drugs and surgeries for minors, and an executive order to keep men out of women’s sports.
U.S. bishops: Human trafficking is ‘rejection of the God-given dignity of every human being’
Posted on 02/7/2025 22:30 PM (CNA Daily News)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 7, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).
The U.S. bishops’ conference drew attention to the global crisis of “modern-day slavery” in a statement on the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking.
The day is annually observed by Catholics on Feb. 8 — the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of human trafficking victims.
Chairman of the bishops’ migration committee Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, cited the Holy Father in calling attention to the gravity of the issue.
“Human trafficking is not only a serious crime — it is a rejection of the God-given dignity of every human being. It is, as Pope Francis has said, an open wound on the body of Christ and on the body of all humanity, demanding an ongoing, united response,” Seitz said.
“The Catholic Church in the United States has long been at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking, and the U.S. bishops stand firmly alongside our Holy Father in his consistent efforts to shed light on this global injustice,” the statement continued.
Seitz urged Catholics to be vigilant, warning of the consequences of failing to protect the most vulnerable.
“For if we close our eyes and ears, if we become complacent, we will be held to account at the Last Judgment. As Catholics, we are called to face this issue with both courage and compassion, to initiate hard conversations, and to confront the harsh realities of trafficking and exploitation,” he said.
“At the same time, we will continue urging policymakers at all levels of government to pursue meaningful responses to this moral outrage — to bolster existing protections and expand services for survivors, including those made possible by the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”
Seitz criticized “proposals currently being discussed” that he said would “weaken or eliminate decades of bipartisan progress on this issue.”
“We must reject policies that lead to expanded opportunities for bad actors to prey on the vulnerable, whether within or beyond our country’s borders,” he said.
Last month, Seitz and USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio released a statement critical of the Trump administration’s plans to curb immigration.
“Preventing any access to asylum and other protections will only endanger those who are most vulnerable and deserving of relief while empowering gangs and other predators to exploit them,” the bishops said at the time.
The bishops ask St. Josephine to intercede “as we pray for an end to human trafficking and for the healing, protection, and safety of all victims and survivors alike, especially for children and those in our society who are afraid to seek help because they are marginalized.”
St. Josephine, who became a nun after being freed from slavery, is “a reminder that the fight against human trafficking is not just a social issue but a spiritual mission,” and her transformation is “a powerful testament to hope, healing, and unyielding resilience.”
“On her feast day, all are encouraged to pray for an end to modern slavery and recommit to building a world where every person’s dignity is respected and protected, from conception to natural death,” the statement said.