Saint of the Day

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), which works closely with the U.S. bishops, told EWTN News that it “hopes and prays” the U.S. Supreme Court will order President Donald Trump’s administration to keep protections in place for Syrian and Haitian migrants.

On March 16, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a lawsuit that challenges the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for migrants from Haiti and Syria.

The court ordered that the protections will remain in place for the time being, until the justices make a final decision. This prevents deportations while the case is litigated. The court will hear oral arguments in the last week of April.

More than 300,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians are protected from removal based on the TPS status but would lose the ability to live and work in the United States if it is ultimately terminated.

“CLINIC hopes and prays that the Supreme Court recognizes that the administration cannot abuse its executive authority and play with human lives,” Elnora Bassey, a policy attorney for CLINIC, told EWTN News.

Bassey said “this constant back-and-forth” between the administration and the courts has put migrants who rely on those protections “in a state of despair as their future remains unknown.”

“The administration’s lawless attempts to interfere with humanitarian protections for immigrants must come to an end, and they must adhere to the legal process set in place to ensure the integrity of that process remains intact,” Bassey said.

“Immigrants, just like all other human beings, ought to be treated with dignity and respect, and the administration must follow the law of the land and provide humanitarian protections rather than disregard the plain language of the statute to protect vulnerable human beings,” she said.

The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration seeks to revoke TPS status for migrants from nearly a dozen countries, action that has faced legal challenges. These moves are part of Trump’s broader efforts to restrict immigration and enforce mass deportations.

Andrew Arthur, former immigration judge and resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), told EWTN News he is “reasonably sure” the Supreme Court will ultimately side with the Trump administration in the lawsuit.

He said the court’s decision to allow the TPS designation to remain in place until the case is settled “keeps everybody in place until the decision is made.”

“It basically maintains the status quo until the case is completed, to err on the side of caution,” Arthur said.

He said he believes the Trump administration will prevail because law permits TPS designations to be offered in response to a “substantial but temporary disruption of living conditions” that prevents people from returning to their home countries safely. He said it’s “meant for a very short period of time.”

Arthur said conditions in Syria are more stable than amid the 2012 designation during the civil war. Haiti’s issues, he said, are more long-standing and Haiti is “no more dangerous … than it was 10 years ago.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) declined to comment on this specific development and referred to previous statements in which the bishops have urged the administration to keep TPS status in place.

Specifically regarding Haiti, USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Bishop Brendan Cahill and Committee on International Justice and Peace Bishop A. Elias Zaidan issued a joint statement in January that said “there is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people.”

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

A recent bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would regulate abortion pills due to their potential environmental impact.

The Clean Water for All Life Act would also require a physician to be present for the chemical abortion and a “catch kit” for contaminated blood and aborted tissue. It would also require an in-person exam to prescribe abortion pills.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, is designed to address claims that chemical abortion procedures may contribute to environmental contamination. Supporters say the bill would tighten disposal requirements, while critics question the science behind those concerns.

“The murder-for-profit abortion industry is not only ending innocent life but is also polluting our water, endangering women, and operating with virtually no accountability,” Miller said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on March 18. “Every year, more than 50 tons of chemically contaminated medical waste, including blood, placental tissue, and the remains of preborn children are flushed into America’s water systems as a direct result of chemical abortion pills.”

In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration did an environmental assessment of mifepristone tablets and found “no significant impact.”

The drug was first approved for chemical abortions in 2000, however, and mifepristone-induced abortions now account for more than 60% of abortions in the U.S., not including un-facilitated abortions, such as mail-order abortions in states where chemical abortions are illegal, many of which go unrecorded.

A Students for Life of America report claims that “more than 50 tons of abortion pollution and human remains enter our water system every year,” including endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) that affect hormones.

Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins spoke about the research on “EWTN News Nightly” on March 17.

“What we have found through our own research is that in three metropolitan areas where we tested the water, the three active metabolites that are only found in the chemical abortion drug mifepristone are actually in our drinking water,” Hawkins said.

Mifepristone, a synthetic hormone, blocks the reception of progesterone, a hormone essential for maintaining pregnancy. When mifepristone is taken during pregnancy, it prevents the unborn child from receiving vital nutrients, causing an abortion.

“Chemical abortions are the leading cause of infant death in our country,” Hawkins said. “You’re talking over 700,000 abortions a year are happening this way.”

Miller called the issue “a growing and deeply alarming public health and environmental crisis.”

“Our water systems were never designed to filter these toxic substances,” Miller said. “The fact is, the abortion pill ingredients used to starve a preborn child remain active and unfiltered in our water treatments. That means families across the nation may be unknowingly ingesting abortion-related chemicals in their drinking water, exposing them to potential health risks like infertility and cancer.”

“Innocent life should never be discarded as waste; our environment should not be contaminated; and women deserve full transparency about the dangers of the abortion pill,” Miller said. “When women are fully informed of the harms of chemical abortion pills, I believe they are far more more likely to choose life, sparing not only the life of their unborn child but also preserving the health of our population.”

“This is more than about policy; it’s about protecting life, defending public health, and holding an industry accountable for its actions that has led to the death of millions,” Miller said.

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

Pope Leo XIV sent a video message to the participants of the sixth assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA, by its Spanish acronym). The region is the largest tropical rainforest on the planet, covering an area of ​​approximately 2.59 million square miles shared by nine South American countries. The pontiff lamented the “growing deterioration” of the natural environment.

“You have made me keenly aware of the sufferings and hopes of the region’s inhabitants, as well as the growing deterioration of their natural environment. To all those suffering from this situation, I wish to express my closeness,” the pope said in the message for the gathering, which is being held in Bogotá from March 17–19 and which marks a new step in the ecclesial journey of the Amazon region.

The gathering brings together pastors, men and women religious, and lay faithful from the Amazonian territories with the aim of laying the foundations to promote synodality within local Churches during the 2026–2030 period, foundations that could serve as an instrument to guide the evangelizing mission in the Amazonian territory.

The pontiff also referenced another key part of the meeting: the election of the presidency of the CEAMA for the 2026–2030 term.

He noted that the new team’s tasks will include continuing to advance the implementation of the Synod for the Amazon and preparing contributions drawn from the Amazonian experience for the ecclesial assembly scheduled to take place in Rome in 2028.

“Know that I accompany you with my prayers in this important step,” assured the pope, who also described the assembly as “a privileged time of listening to the Holy Spirit” to discern the path of Christian communities in the Amazon region.

In this regard, he cited Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonía, recalling that the Church’s mission is to proclaim “a God who loves every human being infinitely, a love he has fully manifested in Christ.”

‘Something new is being born’

The participants in CEAMA’s sixth assembly have chosen as their theme a verse from the prophet Isaiah: “I am about to do something new: It is already springing forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:19).

The pope revisited this image to highlight the process currently underway within the Amazonian Church. “It’s true: Something new is being born; it is still fragile, but it is already in process,” he affirmed.

To illustrate this, he drew upon the image of the “shihuahuaco” — known as the “giant of the jungle” — a tree that grows slowly but can live for over a thousand years and become an ecosystem in itself, serving as a sanctuary for numerous species.

Through this metaphor, the pope explained that the Church must “be a sign of unity in diversity and a safe haven that generates and protects life.”

Furthermore, he noted that the current context demands an “adequate response to the numerous social, environmental, cultural, and ecclesial challenges that persist in the Amazon — a region threatened by situations of abuse and exploitation.” In this context, he made reference to the passion flower, “whose distinctive shape makes a striking allusion to the passion of Christ” and which the participants have chosen as the symbol of the assembly.

“It represents the prophetic role of the Church and of all its members — each according to their own mission: to proclaim the ‘kerygma’ [Gospel message] and new life in Christ, to accompany those who suffer, and to safeguard creation and respect for life in all its forms, especially human life,” he stated.

A Church with an Amazonian face

Another objective of the ecclesial conference, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, is to advance toward the construction of a Church with an “Amazonian face,” one of the great aspirations that emerged during the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region.

According to the Holy Father, this process is achieved through the inculturation of the faith, which allows the Church to be enriched by new cultural expressions and to manifest the mystery of Christ with greater fullness.

However, he warned that it is a demanding path. “Inculturation is a difficult, yet necessary, path,” he affirmed, encouraging the participants to “courageously embrace the newness of the Spirit, capable of always creating something new with the inexhaustible treasure of Jesus Christ.”

At the conclusion of his message, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Amazonian communities to continue strengthening the identity of missionary disciples in the region, recalling the witness of so many men and women who gave their lives for the Gospel in those territories.

“I encourage you to press forward together — pastors and faithful alike — in strengthening the identity of missionary disciples in the Amazon. Continue sowing in the furrow that has been watered even with the blood of so many men and women who have preceded you, and who, united to the passion of Christ, have become the root of a ‘giant tree’ growing in the Amazon,” the pontiff 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.

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

When Beverly Jacobson first learned that her unborn daughter Verity would be born with the rare genetic condition trisomy 18, she “was filled with fear and anxiety” — but just a few weeks ago the family was able to celebrate Verity’s ninth year of “lots of smiles and giggles and pure joy.”

“Just a happy little girl,” Jacobson told EWTN News in a 2025 interview. “We love her.”

Verity just turned 9 on Feb. 28, less than three weeks ahead of Trisomy 18 Awareness Day, which is celebrated nationally on March 18. Her condition, also called Edwards syndrome, occurs when a person has an extra chromosome 18.

Her name, Jacobson said, derives from the Latin word “veritas,” which means “truth.” She and her husband had considered the name before the diagnosis, but Jacobson said the name choice “was just solidified once we knew that she had this condition” because they wanted her name to “speak truth to the value of all human life.”

“She also is made in the image of God just like every human being, and she’s worthy of life,” Jacobson said.

Some complications often caused by trisomy 18 include growth deficiency, eating difficulties, breathing difficulties, heart defects, facial malformations, skeletal deformities, and intellectual development delays, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

In Verity’s case, she is nonverbal, has developmental delays, cannot feed herself on her own enough to sustain herself, and needs help to move around. Yet, as Jacobson puts it, “she’s really thriving in her own special way.”

Although Verity is nonverbal, Jacobson said this “does not mean noncommunicative” and that it is easy to tell when she is happy or irritated. Like other children, she has her favorite toys, enjoys music, and “has a sense of humor,” Jacobson explained.

“She loves being outside, she loves the wind in her face,” Jacobson said. “It’s so cute.”

Verity also “loves having people in her face — the people she knows,” Jacobson added. She also recounted stories about how children at Verity’s school play with her and “completely accept her,” saying it’s good to know “she is a part of their lives.”

Jacobson noted her relationship with her daughter also helped provide a better understanding of God’s sacrificial love for humanity, noting that Verity is “never going to be able to serve someone else in that physical way and yet we love her so completely.”

“Going from that state of fear … and just depression to where I am today — it’s 100% God’s work in my life through Verity,” Jacobson said. “Verity is his vessel to teach me more about the gift to lay down your life and sacrifice for someone else.”

“I feel by far the joys and the blessings outweigh the difficulties because now we’ve grown and we’re all stronger,” Jacobson said. “We’re used to a new normal.”

She said her message to families faced with this type of diagnosis is to let them know “they’re not alone” and that their child “is not a mistake,” and that finding “a community that can help you is so, so important.”

Jacobson also launched the nonprofit Mama Bear Care to provide a community for families whose children are diagnosed with rare genetic disorders. The organization also helps the families connect with doctors and other resources to ensure those children receive necessary care.

“This baby is a gift and not a mistake,” she said. “I really think that Verity’s life has so much value and serves a greater purpose. … I’m selfishly grateful that I get to be her mom.”

Countercultural advocacy for recognition of human dignity

When Jacobson was still pregnant with Verity, a common phrase she heard from doctors was that trisomy 18 was “incompatible with life” and that if she did not die in the womb, they “just indicated she would pass away within five to 15 days,” Jacobson told EWTN News.

“[Verity is] very compatible with life,” Jacobson said, despite the doctors’ warnings. “Living a great life.”

A large percentage of unborn children diagnosed with trisomy 18 die in the womb, and the ones who survive to birth only have about a 5% to 10% survival rate after their first year. Tragically, many of the children who would be born are not given the opportunity to fight for their lives because the post-diagnosis abortion rate is higher than 85%, according to a 2012 study published in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told EWTN News that doctors should stop using phrases like “lethal diagnosis” and “incompatible with life,” calling those terms “disparaging” and saying they are “incredibly difficult for the newborn’s parents to hear and process.”

“Medical professionals should not view such a child as ‘less of a person’ because of his or her disability,” Pacholczyk said. “They need to remain resolute about treating such children with the same dignity and respect as any other child. It’s a travesty when some parents have to contend with a doctor who will not even address their child with a disability by his or her name.”

Jacobson said, like with other genetic conditions, “there’s often a spectrum” for how trisomy 18 will affect a child, adding that doctors “don’t know how this is going to present.”

Despite this, Jacobson said the doctor who provided the diagnosis for Verity “was very clinical” when explaining the condition and “referred to [Verity as] ‘the fetus’ and ‘it,’ instead of ‘the baby’ and ‘she.’” The family then met with a specialty doctor who told Jacobson and her husband that Verity would have a “futile life” and would be a “drain on the family” financially and emotionally.

“It took away from the humanity of my growing daughter who was kicking and very much alive inside of me,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson noted the specialty doctor callously referred to her daughter as “retarded,” which she said “was very hurtful,” adding: “I cried.” Yet, she said the coldness from the doctors motivated her to fight harder for Verity and give her “every opportunity to live.”

“When I heard those words, it was like mama bear woke up and I felt this fierce protectiveness that Verity’s life matters,” she added.

Pacholczyk said that many parents who face these diagnoses “quickly figure out they will have to become vigorous advocates for their children with disabilities.”

“Parents in these situations rejoice when they can link up with an exceptional team of physicians who are hopeful and positive about their disabled child’s life and possibilities,” he said.

Conditions like trisomy 18 have also been used by pro-abortion activists to justify expansions to the procedure in states that have enacted pro-life protections for unborn children, including ones with genetic conditions.

In December 2023, a woman named Kate Cox sued Texas because state law would not allow her to abort her preborn child who was diagnosed with trisomy 18 in the womb. She ultimately left the state to obtain an abortion elsewhere. Much of the media coverage at the time similarly portrayed the diagnosis as “incompatible with life.”

Jacobson said she felt “so much compassion for Cox,” adding: “I’m sure she’s experiencing a lot of emotional trauma and she’s not going to be able to talk about it honestly” because of how pro-abortion activists and the media used her story.

“Many families are experiencing that pressure to abort appointment after appointment,” she added.

Pacholczyk said that “discrimination against those with disabilities should never be allowed to gain a foothold in the medical profession, nor be allowed to guide public policy.”

“The true measure of the greatness of a society will always be in terms of how it treats its weakest members, and the authenticity of our own love will be measured by our compassion and acceptance of the disabled and the powerless,” Pacholczyk said.

“God seems to send us children with disabilities to help us grow, to remind us that every soul is of greater importance than its frail body, and to teach us how man’s highest calling is found in his God-like possibility of sharing unconditional love.”

This story was first published on March 18, 2025, and has been updated.

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

The outbreak of the latest confrontations in the Middle East has presented residents of several Gulf countries with unprecedented challenges as they face the whir of missiles, the roar of drones, and the sound of air defenses and explosions, which they have never known in countries long known to be safe havens.

Amid anxiety and uncertainty, prayer has emerged as a spiritual refuge and a source of peace and serenity for these Christian communities.

Speaking to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Catholic faithful living in Kuwait shared their moving experience of clinging to prayer and seeking shelter in it during difficult times.

Norma and Angela Fernandez recalled their shock at hearing news of the war’s outbreak on the evening of Feb. 28 as they were preparing to attend Mass after participating in a talk on the Seven Sorrows of Mary during a training course for catechism teachers at Our Lady of Arabia minor basilica in Ahmadi.

“We offered the Mass for the intention that the war would end quickly and that peace would return,” they said.

In the days that followed, “we were stunned and somewhat afraid, because in Kuwait we are not used to the sound of sirens, followed by the buzz of air defenses intercepting missiles and drones, and the frightening blasts and rumbling they leave behind.” Iranian missiles targeted American bases across Gulf countries, including Kuwait.

“But we witnessed the courage of the country’s leaders and its people in confronting the attacks, and their vigilance in protecting Kuwait’s security and the safety of all who live there, citizens and residents alike,” they said.

”The Church, too, kept watch over its faithful and worked hard to accompany them spiritually, doing everything possible to remain in contact with them. “Thanks to all the clergy, we were able to continue celebrating holy Mass online, with churches closed in the first days in response to the civil authorities’ instructions. What a great blessing. We are all blessed.”

The Fernandez sisters said that gathering in prayer for peace and seeking the intercession of the Virgin Mary, patroness of the apostolic vicariates of Northern and Southern Arabia, fills the hearts of the faithful with peace and strengthens their hope and trust in the Lord Jesus, “for he cares for us and protects us.”

Our Lady of Arabia Church reopened its doors on March 9 to worshippers praying for peace and for the safety of every human person.

“We are not called to judge those who harm us but to ask God to purify their hearts, fill them with mercy, and forgive them, repeating the words of Our Lord: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’” the sisters said.

Another Kuwaiti Catholic, Sharan Diaz, said the difficult times the Middle East is living through are a powerful reminder of God’s grace, because they remind the faithful that Christ is present whenever they gather in prayer and in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Diaz said being unable to attend Mass in person and receive Communion during the period when churches were closed left an emptiness in her heart and reminded her of the importance of the Eucharist.

“As soon as the churches reopened, they were filled with faithful eager to celebrate the Eucharist and receive holy Communion. It is a great blessing,” Diaz said. “Despite all that is happening in our world, being able to visit the church, encounter Jesus, and receive him in holy Communion fills my heart with gratitude.”

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

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

Catholic bishops from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, along with others from Europe and Oceania, issued a manifesto this week urging world governments to abandon the use of fossil fuels because of “record global warming” that they say has increased the suffering of the poor. Catholic economists disagree with this assessment, however.

The document, titled “Manifesto of the Churches of the Global South for Our Common Home,” was guided by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, according to the bishops, who write that climate change as a result of the burning of fossil fuels is a “consequence of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and an ‘economy that kills.’”

The world, according to the bishops, again quoting Francis, “‘is crumbling and perhaps approaching a breaking point.’”

Catherine Pakaluk, an economist at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News this type of “the-sky-is-falling” language does not reflect reality.

While she lauded Pope Francis’ notion that human life is part of creation and both are gifts, she disputed the idea that the earth is on the brink of an environmental catastrophe and called a reduction of fossil fuel reliance the opposite of helping the poor.

On the contrary, she said, a “clear-eyed” view of economic development is one that acknowledges that “the No. 1 thing poor nations and poor people need” to be lifted out of poverty is “cheap energy.”

The West “became wealthy using these cheap fossil fuels. It is stingy and inhumane” to deny developing nations this same opportunity, she said, and to instead require the use of wind and solar energy, which “are costly and don’t work” as well as fossil fuels.

Patrick Fleming, a Catholic environmental and agricultural economist who evaluates public policies related to agricultural sustainability and poverty at Franklin and Marshall College, agreed.

“To get the horsepower for large-scale efficient farming, nothing can match the power of machinery that burns fossil fuels,” he told EWTN News. “Likewise, heating a home in winter can’t be done with battery power. You need something you can burn.”

Fleming, who also holds a degree in theological studies from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute, acknowledged that while wealthier countries have a greater responsibility to develop more sustainable practices, “poorer countries need to build roads, schools, hospitals; fossil fuels make the building of such infrastructure more affordable and feasible.”

“You can’t do a lot of that development work with renewable energy,” he said.

Fleming said that globally, “by far, the biggest source of emissions is land use change, or deforestation for agriculture.”

He advocated for regenerative agricultural practices, telling EWTN News that “agricultural soils could sequester all the carbon globally if they were managed with regenerative principles.”

“You fit farming to the place, you work in cooperation with the natural order, as opposed to extracting and getting as high of a yield as you can without an eye to the long-term health of the land,” he said.

The manifesto’s three principal signatories are Cardinal Jaime Spengler, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council; Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar; and Cardinal Filipe Neri, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

Additional signatories include Monsignor Ryan Pagante Jiménez, vice president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, and Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, vice president of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe.

U.S. bishops‘ letter does not call for fossil fuel ban

Last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued “An Invitation to Ecological Conversion for U.S. Catholics,” noting that “progress to slow climate change remains elusive” and emphasizing the need for personal and communal conversion, prayer, and action to protect the vulnerable and the earth as humanity’s common home.

Citing Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, the U.S. bishops’ Lenten letter described how “instances of extreme weather, wildfires, droughts, and floods are now common,” disproportionately affect vulnerable groups like refugees, farmers facing erratic patterns, children suffering hunger and dehydration, migrants fleeing lost livelihoods, and declining species in forests and coral reefs.

Everything is “interconnected,” with the “cry of the earth” linked to the “cry of the poor,” the bishops wrote.

In its letter, the USCCB promoted discernment and advocacy but did not call for treaty-level interventions or direct fossil fuel bans.

In their manifesto, however, the global south bishops praise an initiative called the Fossil Fuel Treaty as a way to address “the root of the problem.”

To ensure that all nations are held accountable for the dictates of the Fossil Fuel Treaty, the bishops claim a mandatory open-source Global Fossil Fuel Registry must be created to ensure “a just and equitable transition.” They do not explain who will monitor this registry or hold nations that fail to meet the treaty’s standards to account, however.

The treaty advocates for an immediate stop to all new coal, oil, and gas exploration and production, calling any new authorization of such endeavors “unethical.”

The bishops demand that wealthy nations reduce their energy consumption, promoting the values of “happy sobriety” and the “less is more” approach to “good living” promoted in Laudato Si’, emphasizing reduced consumption in wealthy nations to ensure access to “clean” energy as a fundamental right for all.

Pakaluk called such language “ignorant.”

“There’s a pattern: People continually think we will run out” of resources, she said, but the “laws of economics are well understood.”

“The bishops don’t understand the nature of economic growth. They are worried that the consumption of some takes away from the consumption of others,” she said. “This is patently false. When you consume, you have more opportunity. To consume, you have to work … My consumption doesn’t diminish yours; it contributes to it. It’s why anyone gets wealthy.”

Pakaluk said she is certain “the path these countries will follow will be what” the West followed as it became wealthy: as countries become richer, they will “start caring for the environment in various ways because they can now absorb that.”

As wealth builds, “people will switch to more electric power” and will develop a “renewed and sustained interest in nuclear power,” which, she said, is the “only way to sustain a technology-based future.”

The manifesto also strongly rejects what it calls “false solutions” such as “green capitalism,” neo-extractivism, carbon markets, and the creation of new sacrifice zones for critical mineral extraction in the global south.

The manifesto stresses equity and differentiated responsibilities, asserting that rich nations, which are, historically, responsible for fossil fuel-driven wealth and “bear an ecological debt to the global south,” must lead the phaseout by providing financial support, technology transfers, and compensation for poorer, fossil-fuel-dependent countries.

In this context, the bishops also call for a “fair distribution” of goods but do not give specifics for what this would look like practically.

The bishops also demand participatory, democratic processes that protect Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and marginalized communities and safeguard human rights.

Pakaluk blamed political and economic corruption and a lack of property rights, not greed in the West, for the slow development of the global south, calling developing countries’ “terrible monetary regimes” a “plague.”

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

Archbishop Josef Grünwidl of Vienna has called for a Church in which “renewal and change” are possible, telling Austria’s bishops that what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped by canon law.

Grünwidl delivered the sermon on March 11 at the Austrian Bishops’ Conference spring plenary in a Styrian parish church, Kathpress reported.

The Vienna archbishop said he was firmly convinced that “what comes from the Holy Spirit, canon law cannot hold back.” He said this applies also to the role of women in the Church.

Listening to women’s voices

Grünwidl addressed the recent Vatican report on “women’s participation in the life and leadership of the Church,” the final report of the synod study group, published March 10.

The document recalled the great female figures of Scripture and the example of Jesus, who in many ways did not conform to the patriarchal norms of his time, Grünwidl said.

Women were among Jesus’ followers, a publicly known sinner was permitted to touch him, and it was not an apostle but Mary Magdalene — a woman — who was the first witness of the Resurrection, the archbishop said.

“I trust that our Church will become more in keeping with Jesus and the Gospel when we walk together synodally, listen more to the voices of women, and include them in decision-making processes,” Grünwidl said.

“When we as a Church heed the demands of the Sermon on the Mount and look to the example of Jesus, renewal and change become possible,” the archbishop said. “When during Lent we try day by day not merely to serve by the book but to live love, then Easter will happen within us.”

Former member of controversial ‘Priests’ Initiative’

Grünwidl was a member of the controversial “Priests’ Initiative,” according to ORF, Austria’s public broadcasting service. The group issued a “call to disobedience” that explicitly advocated for the admission of women and married men to the priesthood.

The Austrian newspaper Der Standard also described him as a former member of the initiative who is “open to reforms.” Grünwidl’s name no longer appears on the group’s official membership list, but he was still presented as a “supporter” on a television broadcast as recently as 2023.

At the start of his tenure as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna in January 2025, Grünwidl addressed his former membership, Kathpress reported.

He said he had left the group for two reasons. He felt Pope Francis had “overtaken” the initiative’s proposals and ideas, and he could no longer support its banner slogan of disobedience. “Critical obedience” was important to him, he said, adding that he “cannot imagine open opposition to the bishop in the Church.”

Austrian broadcaster ORF reported in October 2025 that the new Vienna archbishop was “open to reforms.” He had recently emphasized that celibacy was for him personally a deliberately chosen way of life but “not a matter of faith” and should therefore not be a mandatory requirement for priests.

On the topic of women in the Church, Grünwidl identified “an urgent need for clarification,” ORF reported. He said the female diaconate should continue to be discussed and that admitting women to the College of Cardinals was conceivable.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage has opened registration for the 2026 pilgrimage and announced the schedule for its public events.

In celebration of the 2026 theme, “One Nation Under God,” and the nation’s 250th anniversary, many of the events will not only bring the faithful together in prayer but also will reflect U.S. history.

The journey will take place from Pentecost through Independence Day weekend. Pilgrims will travel the Eastern seaboard on the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route, named for the first U.S. citizen to be canonized.

A group of nine Perpetual Pilgrims will carry the Blessed Sacrament through several of the original 13 colonies, 18 dioceses, and two Eastern-rite eparchies. The faithful are invited to join the public processions and other events.

“In the past few years we’ve witnessed a powerful renewal of Eucharistic faith across the country,” said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress.

“The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is one of the most visible expressions of that renewal, as believers bring Jesus in the Eucharist out into our streets and communities and inviting people everywhere to encounter him,” he said.

Schedule highlights

The procession will pass through the dioceses of St. Augustine, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond and Arlington, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Camden and Paterson, New Jersey; Manchester, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Boston, Springfield, and Fall River, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia.

The events hosted by the dioceses will offer opportunities for Mass, prayer, and community service.

In St. Augustine, the faithful can walk the grounds at the Our Lady of La Leche Shrine, the oldest Marian shrine in the U.S., while learning about the Florida martyrs’ cause for canonization.

There will also be a testimony from Monsignor James Boddie Jr., the first Black diocesan priest ordained in Florida, at Christ the King Catholic Church.

In Savannah, the faithful can learn about the Georgia martyrs who will be beatified on Oct. 31. Father Pablo Migone will share the story of the martyrdom of Friars Pedro de Corpa, Blas, Miguel, Antonio, and Francisco during a bilingual presentation.

The faithful can attend Mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, celebrated by Bishop Barry Knestout. There will be a Holy Hour with prayers and songs of praise led by Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Grupo Carismatico.

There will also be a presentation on the theme of mosaics and the communion of saints at St. Bede Catholic Church. Attendees can learn about a few of the saints who are being highlighted in St. Bede’s mosaic project.

The nation’s capital will serve as the halfway point for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. On June 6, the pilgrimage will partner with the annual Catholic Information Center Eucharistic procession that brings the real presence through Washington, D.C., near the White House and past the U.S. Capitol.

Near Baltimore, there will be a procession and hymns on the grounds of the Washington Monument State Park, which has the country’s first monument to President George Washington.

There will be a Mass in the Basilica of the Assumption celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori. The basilica is the first cathedral constructed in the United States and was designed by architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe under the guidance of Bishop John Carroll, America’s first bishop.

The final mainland procession will be from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, Maine, to the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal. The diocese chartered a ferry to make multiple trips to Peaks Island so passengers can travel while adoring the Eucharist.

In Boston there will be adoration available at multiple historic sights including  Plymouth Memorial Park and Bunker Hill.

The pilgrimage will conclude over Independence Day weekend in Philadelphia. There will be 24 hours of Eucharistic adoration in the Cathedral Basilica, showings of the feature film “Cabrini,” and a solemn closing Mass and Eucharistic procession through the city.

“It’s my joy, and that of the Church in Philadelphia, to host the closing events of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which will be held in what I affectionately call the City of Saints,” Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia said in a press release.

“As the only diocese in the country that houses two saints, St. Katherine Drexel and St. John Neumann, this is the place that Catholics can reference to remember our history in this great country and the future we are building here,” Perez said.

For the full list of events and detailed schedule, those interested can visit the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage website.

Other prayer opportunities

For the faithful who cannot attend in person, people can participate by submitting prayer intentions and spending time in Eucharistic adoration. The pilgrimage aims to gather 250,000 Holy Hours of prayer for the renewal of the nation, which will be presented to national leaders.

People can also participate by utilizing the online lecture series. Every week, a new lecture will be released on the Manna app exploring the intersection of faith, culture, and what it truly means to be American.

“As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation, this pilgrimage is a powerful reminder that the deepest foundation of our country is our dependence on God,” Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chair of the National Eucharistic Congress, said in a press release.

“By carrying the Eucharist across our nation and gathering in prayer, we are asking the Lord to renew the Church and to bless our country so that we may truly be one nation under God,” he said.

Saint of the Day – rosary.team

In a final vote, members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have rejected a bill that would have made assisted suicide legal — a dramatic turn of events that Scotland’s Catholic bishops are attributing to the power of prayer.

Reacting to the result immediately after its announcement on March 17, Scotland’s bishops told EWTN News: “Prayer is what moved hearts on this important issue. We are over the moon. Glory be to God that life has triumphed tonight!”

Bill sponsor Liam McArthur and his supporters were confident of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill becoming law. In the first vote in May 2025, Parliament voted 70 to 56 in favor of the bill progressing to Stage 2. The bill was then amended at Stage 2 before moving to Stage 3 for a decisive vote. in the end, however, MSPs rejected it, voting 69 to 57 against the bill.

After an emotional debate, 12 MSPs changed sides, moving from supporting the Bill at Stage 1 to opposing it. Notable MSPs who swapped sides included Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party), Daniel Johnson (Labour), and Brian Whittle (Conservative), who publicly announced their decisions during the debate.

This followed other notable announcements in the buildup to the vote by Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and Scottish National Party MSPs Audrey Nicoll and Collette Stevenson, who had initially supported the bill and then shared their decisions to vote against it.

Commending MSPs for voting against the legislation, Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said after the vote: “I would like to express my gratitude to all MSPs for their serious engagement with this issue and for the thoughtful and considered attention they have given to the bill. I am especially grateful to those who upheld the principle of human dignity and advocated on behalf of the vulnerable.”

The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide is inherently immoral. In advance of the final vote, Keenan commented that a vote against the bill would “protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.”

“Every human life possesses inherent value,” he said. “Genuine compassion is not expressed through ending a life but through accompanying those who suffer and ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual support that recognizes their dignity.”

Pro-life groups opposing the bill also highlighted the importance of the vote for the vulnerable. In a message to EWTN News, Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of pro-life charity Right To Life UK, called the result “a great and deeply significant victory for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.”

Hungerford-Morgan told EWTN News: “People nearing the end of their lives, no matter what their condition, need love and support, not a pathway to suicide, which is exactly what the Scottish assisted suicide bill would have done."

The vote followed an intense and long debate over five sessions, culminating in the final debate and vote on March 17.

Hungerford-Morgan said: “If this bill had passed in the Scottish Parliament and gone on to become law, it would have ushered in an irrevocable change that would have put the vulnerable at risk and seen the ending of thousands of lives through assisted suicide in Scotland.”

He added: “After two years of debate, and the most intense scrutiny that the question of assisted suicide has ever received in Scotland, Holyrood, which is widely regarded as one of the world’s most socially and politically progressive legislatures, has come to the conclusion that introducing assisted suicide is unsafe and dangerous.”

Paul Atkin, pro-life officer at the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, highlighted “the strength of engagement across our archdiocese” due to the fact that, from the 12 MSPs who changed their votes to opposing the bill, eight represent constituencies within the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.

Atkin told EWTN News: “The defeat of this bill is a welcome result, reflecting the strength of engagement across our archdiocese. From the archbishop’s leadership to parishes who organized hundreds of letters, this was a united effort which made the difference.”

Praising the “remarkable contribution” of the archdiocese, Atkin paid tribute to the “polite, persistent engagement from the Catholic community,” which helped “shape outcomes and protect the most vulnerable.”

Opponents of the bill called for attention to now move away from assisted suicide toward investment in palliative care. “Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it,” Keenan said.

Echoing this viewpoint, Hungerford-Morgan urged MSPs to “unite to focus on renewed efforts to promote and improve palliative care.”

Following the defeat of the bill, Hungerford-Morgan turned his attention to a separate bill currently being debated in the House of Lords in London that would legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales, initiated by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

Calling on the Leadbeater Bill’s sponsors to “reject assisted suicide,” he said: “This victory will have an impact far beyond Holyrood as the Leadbeater Bill is being debated in the House of Lords. Instead of pushing ahead with this dangerous bill, its sponsors should follow Scotland’s example and reject assisted suicide.”

Saint of the Day – rosary.team