Category Archives: U.S. News

Briefs

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NATION
INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Morris, Indiana, following an incident in late February. The archdiocesan Office of Communications confirmed the investigation aided by a professional scientific lab, but declined further comment. According to social media posts by the Catholic group Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace, a woman reported seeing blood on two consecrated hosts that had fallen on the floor. After being placed in water to dissolve, the next day, the hosts appeared to have a thin layer of skin with blood on it, according to the woman’s claims. Photos of the hosts, taken by the woman, were shared online. Father Terry Donahue, a scientific expert on Eucharistic miracles, explained that new Vatican guidelines require the local bishop to notify the Holy See and national episcopal conference at the beginning of an investigation and to ensure the specimens are carefully preserved for further examination.

A resident is seen at a site of an apartment building in Odesa, Ukraine, March 4, 2025, hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine. (OSV News photo/Nina Liashonok, Reuters)

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. bishops urged Catholics to answer Pope Francis’ call for prayer for the people of Ukraine in their Lenten reflection as that nation fends off Russia’s invasion. In a Lenten reflection released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on March 3, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the conference, wrote, “As we begin the holy Season of Lent, a time of prayer, penance, and charity, we join our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his solidarity with the ‘martyred people of Ukraine.’” “We pray and hope that the United States, in concert with the wider international community, works with perseverance for a just peace and an end to aggression,” Archbishop Broglio wrote. “As our Holy Father reminded us in 2024, courageous negotiations require ‘boldness’ to ‘open the door’ for dialogue.” Although the reflection did not mention either event, it was published shortly after Ukraine marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, and days after a tense Oval Office meeting between Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance about the future of U.S. aid in that conflict.

PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) – At the start of Catholic Relief Services’ 2025 Rice Bowl initiative – an annual Lenten program blending almsgiving, meal-making and prayer to provide aid to overseas and domestic aid – Rice Bowl founder Msgr. Robert Coll, a retired priest of the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reflected on the program as it marks its 50th year. He described how the initiative, which he launched as an Allentown pastor in 1975, rose to the national level as part of the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in 1976 and severe global famine at the time. “If there were grave problems in the world, to ignore them would itself be unacceptable as a Catholic and as a Christian,” he said. Rice Bowl “mixed the physical with the spiritual,” he said, adding that “it was never intended to be a collection,” but “an informative experience for the family.” Amid the U.S. government’s current suspension of foreign aid, Msgr. Coll said Rice Bowl could be in “its strongest moment, because the more funds you receive from the people, the greater pressure you put on governments to assist in a variety of ways.”

VATICAN
ROME (CNS) – The journey of Lent “unfolds amid the remembrance of our fragility and the hope that, at the end of the road, the Risen Lord is waiting for us,” Pope Francis wrote in his homily for Ash Wednesday. “Indeed, the ashes help to remind us that our lives are fragile and insignificant: we are dust, from dust we were created, and to dust we shall return,” said the pope’s text. Although the 88-year-old pope was still in Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 5, the day Latin-rite Catholics received ashes and began their Lenten observances, the Vatican released what it said was the homily he prepared for the occasion. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, who read Pope Francis’ homily prefaced the reading by saying, “We are deeply united” with Pope Francis, and “we thank him for offering his prayer and his sufferings for the good of the whole church and the entire world.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Despite her distress at losing the 12-year-old Jesus, Mary’s search for her son is a model of every Christian’s journey to deepen their relationship with Christ, Pope Francis said in a prepared message. In the catechesis prepared for his general audience March 5, the pope reflected on the episode from St. Luke’s Gospel in which Mary and Joseph lose Jesus during a pilgrimage and search anxiously for him for three days before finding him in the Temple engaged in discussion with the elders. “Throughout this journey, the Virgin is a pilgrim of hope, in the strong sense that she becomes the ‘daughter of her son,’ the first of his disciples,” the pope’s text said, emphasizing that Mary, though chosen as the mother of God, had to undertake her own journey of faith. During the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis’ general audience talks have been focusing on “Jesus Christ our hope,” starting with a look at the Bible stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood. Pope Francis has been hospitalized for treatment of bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14, but the Vatican has continued to publish the texts prepared for his general audience each Wednesday. The text for March 5 reflected on how Mary’s understanding of Jesus grew gradually, through moments of joy but also through hardship: She carried Jesus while pregnant to Bethlehem, fled with her family to Egypt to protect her son and ultimately stood by him at the foot of the cross.

WORLD
BRUSSELS (OSV News) – Catholic bishops in the European Union are calling for unity in support of Ukraine amid growing tensions between the U.S. and the war-torn country invaded by Russia Feb. 24, 2022. In a March 4 statement, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union emphasized the importance of EU solidarity, stating that Ukraine’s fight for peace and territorial integrity is critical not only for the nation but for the future of Europe and the world. The statement comes after a tense Feb. 28 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. EU leaders, however, rallied behind Zelenskyy during a London summit, where peace plans were discussed. COMECE reaffirmed its support for Ukraine, condemning Russia’s violation of international law and calling for accountability. The bishops emphasized the need for a peace agreement based on justice, international law and security guarantees, while urging EU membership for Ukraine. “As the contours of a new global security architecture are currently being redrawn, it is our profound hope that the European Union will remain faithful to its vocation to be a promise of peace and an anchor of stability to its neighborhood and to the world,” the bishops said.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – Poland honors the “cursed soldiers” throughout March – a group of patriots who fought against communist rule after World War II, motivated by an unwavering faith in God. Following the war, Poland was under Soviet influence, and the communist government was imposed. The resistance continued with the soldiers of the wartime Polish Home Army, which rejected the Soviet-aligned regime and fought for Polish independence. These soldiers, guided by their Catholic faith, took military oaths to defend Poland to the death under the virtues of “God, honor and homeland,” and were participating in daily prayers and rituals. The clergy played a vital role, offering spiritual support and risking their lives to serve the underground fighters. One notable figure, Capt. Witold Pilecki, voluntarily entered Auschwitz to organize a resistance movement in the German death camp, later offering vital intelligence to the Allies. He was arrested by the communists, tortured, and executed in 1948. His last request to his wife was that she read “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas á Kempis to their children after his death. The “cursed soldiers” are remembered each year on March 1, the National Day of Remembrance, which marks the death of the resistance’s leadership in 1951.

Catholic immigration advocates seek to counter false narratives about their work

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By Kate Scanlon

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Catholic immigration advocates sought ways to respond to some anti-immigration or false narratives about their work during a conference in the nation’s capital.

Participants in the event, “Understanding Migration from a Catholic Perspective” held at The Catholic University of America, examined current and historical narratives around U.S. immigration, seeking new ways to dialogue with those skeptical about the church’s work in this area, including some Trump administration officials.

“If the narrative is wrong, the actions that are based upon that narrative will be wrong,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in a keynote address.

Bishop Seitz, also the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said that some of the Trump administration’s actions on immigration should concern Catholics.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, speaks at The Catholic University of America in Washington March 4, 2025, during an event on “Understanding Migration from a Catholic Perspective.” The bishop is the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. (OSV News photo/Patrick Ryan, courtesy The Catholic University of America)

“I really don’t think we can over exaggerate the seriousness of these measures,” he said, expressing particular concern about a Trump administration policy rescinding long-standing restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals, as well as the suspension of a federal refugee resettlement program.

The USCCB is in ongoing litigation with the federal government over the suspension of funding for refugee resettlement assistance and payments the USCCB says it has not yet received for completed work. The Trump administration also terminated two USCCB refugee resettlement agreements with the USCCB, that group said.

Claims circulated by officials, including Vice President JD Vance, that the conference profits from that work were “shocking,” Bishop Seitz said.

“All I can really think of when I hear that kind of assertion is ‘Animal Farm,'” Bishop Seitz said in reference to the 1945 novella by George Orwell. “Because the truth is just turned upside down. You know, what is being done in a selfless way by so many dedicated people is characterized as just an effort to get money, like that’s what the church is about? Not the church I know.”

In a January interview, Vance questioned the motives of the U.S. bishops’ criticism of some of Trump’s immigration policies, suggesting their objection to the suspension of a federal refugee resettlement program had more to do with “their bottom line.” But outside audits of the bishops’ work with refugees show the USCCB does not profit from that work and, in fact, has spent the church’s funds to cover what the government would not.

The additional suspension of U.S. foreign aid, Bishop Seitz added, presents another concern for those seeking to reduce “irregular migration.”

“The drastic cuts to foreign aid, especially visible with the dismantling of USAID, has had devastating consequences,” Bishop Seitz said. “While this may not seem directly tied to migration, it is of central importance. Migration should be a choice, not a necessity. When people can build stable lives in their homeland, fewer are forced to depart their home country in search of a new home where they can better provide for their families. Investing in local economies, infrastructure and essential services is key to addressing the root causes of irregular migration.”

Julia Young, a historian of migration, Mexico and Latin America, and Catholicism at CUA, said during a panel discussion that there was a great wave of immigration to the United States that took place between about 1870 and 1910 of Irish, Italian, and Southern and Eastern European immigrants that led to significant demographic changes in the U.S. and helped increase the U.S. Catholic population.

“Immigration surged to the point that the United States became a country where over 14% of the population had been born in another country by 1910 which, interestingly, we’re again at that moment,” she said, noting that about 15% of the U.S. population was born in another country.

Young said “as that immigration wave surged, there also surged a huge wave of nativism, nativist sentiment,” she said, expressing concern that similar trends may again occur.

But panelists also stressed that underlying concerns about issues including economic stability and cost of living, or other concerns tied to immigration issues should not be dismissed as nativism when advocating for migrants.

Peter Skerry, a professor of political science at Boston College, said during a panel discussion, “I don’t think (calling it) racism is a very helpful response or answer to this kind of question.”

“I don’t deny that racism exists, but I think as an answer, it’s much too vague, too facile and basically unfair to the situation and certainly unfair to our fellow citizens,” he said of those who raise concerns about “real challenges.”

In considering challenges to the church’s work with migrants, Bishop Seitz said, “I am a person of hope because I know who wins.”

“I believe that the Lord will not leave us,” he said, adding, “And I don’t mean just wishful thinking, right? Hope is, for a Christian, not wishful thinking. I’m hopeful that this, in God’s plan, will become a moment of reawakening for our country, a recommitment to those principles that are the best of our country.”

The event was hosted by CUA, the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA.

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.

10 tips for a Christ-centered Lent

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By Tom Hoopes
(OSV News) – We sell our faith short, and so we sell our Lent short. At least I do.

I have spent most of my life thinking of the faith as a series of rules I have to live in conformity with. Don’t get me wrong: I knew that the rules themselves were not the goal – they were a path to God’s will, and therefore to God’s love, and therefore to happiness.

But our faith is not just about union with God’s will, it’s also about union with Jesus Christ – “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God,” as St. Athanasius put it. God is love, a love so powerful he wants to be one with us. He became man to make that possible – and he made the sacraments, especially baptism, to make it happen.

I used to live Lent as a way to build my spiritual muscles to be able to do God’s will better. Now I do exactly the same things I always did, but with a new intention: to become one with Jesus Christ.

Baptism guarantees that this is possible. If we cooperate with baptismal grace, the sacrament guarantees that we can “participate in the divine life of the Trinity” first of all by receiving the theological virtues: faith, hope and love.

  1. Pray with Christ in the desert to gain his faith
    Be explicit about it: Imagine yourself next to Jesus in the desert; or imagine him joining you wherever you pray. Jesus is God, so he is outside time and space. Spiritual masters like St. Ignatius of Loyola say we are free to use our imaginations not because it’s helpful to pretend Jesus is with us, but to help our minds acknowledge what is true.

    One of the points Father Mike Schmitz has stressed several times in his “Catechism in a Year” podcast is that Christianity is not a “religion of the book” but a “religion of the Word.” Faith isn’t merely an assent to a proposition; it’s a relationship with a person – Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

    Think of him this way: God is goodness, truth and beauty itself, such that God’s light shines through all we see, as if the surface of the world were a stained glass window aglow with the presence of God who stands behind it all. Jesus Christ is the light of the world who collects in one place all the greatness we see elsewhere. Spend time next to him in the desert, where he shines brighter than the desert sun.

    Lord Jesus, give us the faith that will allow us to see your presence, essence and power everywhere in all the things that you made.
  2. Fast with Jesus Christ in the desert to learn hope
    It is the Holy Spirit, the consoler, that leads Jesus into the desert in the Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent. This reveals what real consolation looks like. The Holy Spirit doesn’t console us by telling us that our life here on earth is just fine. He consoles us by telling us that we have a deeper relationship that keeps us rooted and steady as storms rage.

    Lent consoles us the same way. It’s true that fasting helps build our self-control while weakening our appetites, and that’s good. But the ultimate reason we fast is to connect us with that deeper hope, said Pope Benedict XVI.

    “When we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt,” he wrote in “Spe salvi,” his encyclical on hope, “we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering” that we find hope. (No. 37)

    Fasting takes away our desire to say “Everything is awesome!” and teaches us to say, instead: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps 23:4).

    Lord Jesus, as we sit with you in the desert, give us a share in the spiritual hope that only grows as our false, material hopes wane.
  3. Give alms to grow in love for the suffering Jesus
    One thing you learn as a parent is how unfairly partial you are to your own children. You see your children as more special than others, more beautiful and more deserving of the good things offered in life. This happens because they are yours and share in your image.

    The same thing happens with God. Everyone you see is someone who he made, in his image and likeness – someone he would become man for; someone he would die for. He loves them each and loves to see you love them too.

    Therefore, to become like Jesus, you have to see Christ in others. Mother Teresa, the saint of charity, shared what she called “The Gospel on five fingers”: You. Did. It. To. Me. This was the criteria Jesus the Judge will use at the end of time: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40)

    Lord Jesus, as we give alms this Lent, help us console you in the people you identify so closely with that in serving them we serve you.
  4. Pray the Stations of the Cross to see with Jesus’ wisdom
    In addition to the three theological virtues, baptism guarantees we will receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

    The priest who confirmed me said that if I don’t receive faith, hope and love, I should demand them from God. “God promises you these graces,” he said. “Hold him to it.” It’s the same, he said, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, fear of the Lord and piety.

    To remember the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, I think in terms of my body, starting with the eyes: Wisdom is the gift of seeing things as Christ sees them.

    The “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) celebration in your parish is a great way to gain this grace. Again, use your imagination. Yes, you are standing in the back of a church, craning your neck to see each station, looking from your book to the tabernacle to the altar server holding the crucifix. But you are also standing in the crowd at Jerusalem that came to see a spectacle. Pray to have the vision they lacked, the vision to see through the spectacle to its deepest meaning. And pray to realize you aren’t just watching Christ; he is gazing with love on you.

    When Jesus Christ sees Pilate on the way of the cross, he sees his dignity and appeals to that. When he sees his mother, he is encouraged by her fidelity. When Simeon is seen by Christ, it changes the trajectory of his life. When Veronica is seen by him, he leaves his image with her.

    Lord Jesus, help us enter into the Stations of the Cross deeply so that we see with you and are seen by you.
  5. Do spiritual reading to think with Christ’s understanding
    The gift of understanding is the holy insight that lights up your brain. If a passage of the Bible has ever jumped out at you and convicted you, if a homily’s words have ever cut you to the heart, if you ever felt like you finally “got” what life is all about for one fleeting moment – you have experienced the Holy Spirit’s gift of understanding.

    A shortcut to this gift is to share in the understanding of others through spiritual reading.
    Catholics in the 21st century have a gift that our predecessors in the faith never even dreamed of: Almost any book we can think of can be delivered to our door this week or appear on our phone in electronic form instantly. We can summon Thomas Aquinas to our hand; at any time, we are moments away from reading or listening to the words of C.S. Lewis, Fulton Sheen or Bishop Robert Barron. We can deepen our understanding starting now, through a podcast or a spiritual classic.
    Lord Jesus, fill our minds with your understanding through our relationship with you and those who came before us in the Faith.
  6. Attend Mass to imbibe Christ’s knowledge
    The purpose of life is to know, love and serve God. To know him means to know things about him, but it also means to “have knowledge” of him in the Biblical sense: to unite with the body of Christ. That means that the Catholic Mass’s Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist are a summing up of one of our whole life’s tasks.

    There are two remarkable passages in the Bible recounting mystical visions of sharing in Christ’s knowledge. In one, the prophet Ezekiel is given a scroll to eat; in another, St. John the Evangelist is given the same. We have this gift not in a vision but in reality through Scripture and Communion at each Mass.

    Lord Jesus, give us the gift of receiving you deeply at each Mass, through our ears and on our tongues.
  7. Give something up so that your heart grows in Christ’s fortitude
    Giving something up is a Lenten tradition for a reason. I was deeply convicted by a friend’s Facebook post three years ago that asked: “What is it that you won’t give up, even for God?” We all have something in our life – eating, drinking, shopping, entertainment, social media – that we rely on for comfort and meaning, something we are afraid to live without.

    Think of all the things lovers give up to make their beloved first in their lives: their own preferences, their personal time, and the money they would have spent on themselves. Think of all the things parents give up because their children become first in their lives: their days and nights, their travel plans and their future plans. They give them up gladly for the person their heart loves most.

    Jesus, love gives us the fortitude to give things up for those we love. Give us the fortitude to give up that thing that most keeps us from you.
  8. Live Ash Wednesday, Fridays and Good Friday to walk in Christ’s counsel
    Think of counsel as the Holy Spirit’s GPS system. It allows you to judge where to go and how to act almost by intuition. This doesn’t happen magically; it happens by building the habit of following God’s will, which is expressed in his church. The precepts of the church are here to help give us that habit: Fast with Jesus as the church asks on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstain from meat on Fridays in union with his sacrifice, and more.

    To see how powerful the church’s life is, think of the deep nostalgia Catholics feel every year not just at Christmas, but also at Lent. Maybe we remember wearing ashes to school as a kid. Maybe we remember fish sticks, rice and ketchup on Fridays. We remember the strangeness of the empty tabernacle in church on Good Friday and the mystery of the candles at Easter Vigil. That nostalgia is the church’s life moving into my soul, telling me I belong to Jesus and that I can rest in him through the life of the church.

    Lord Jesus, you gave us your church as a way to train us to walk in your path. Give us the grace to walk in fidelity to your church and to you.
  9. Pray the Rosary to join Christ in his fear of God and piety
    If we are going to share in the life of the Trinity through Christ, the two final gifts of the Holy Spirit are indispensable. Jesus prays, “Father, glorify your name!” to show us fear of God, awestruck respect for his majesty (Jn 12:28). He also prays “Abba, Father!” calling God “papa” or “daddy” to show us piety, the sweet consolation of closeness with God.

    The person who best exemplifies life in Christ is Our Lady, who carried Christ in her womb. In the joyful mysteries of the rosary, she makes Christ the center of her life and brings him to others. In the final glorious mysteries, she is given the awe-inspiring gifts of being welcomed at Christ’s side in heaven as a queen. In between are the sorrowful mysteries.

    The Lenten song that for me best demonstrates fear of the Lord and piety is “Stabat Mater”: “At the cross her station keeping.” The song shares the awe and gratitude at the great act of majesty and closeness that Christ made on the cross.

    Lord Jesus, let me kneel with your mother in awe at your majesty and fold my hands with her in appreciation at your closeness.
  10. Recommit to your baptism on Easter, ready to become one with Jesus
    Spoiler alert: At the end of Lent, you will be renewing your baptismal promises at Easter Mass. It turns out that renewing your baptismal graces is what Lent was about all along.

    “All Christ’s riches ‘are for every individual and are everybody’s property,’” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 519). The more we give to Lent, the more it will conform us to Christ, and that is truly the greatest happiness available on earth or heaven.

    To live Lent better, you don’t have to do anything extraordinary, you just have to live Lent’s practices with this end in mind.

    Lord Jesus, every year I renew my baptismal promises at Easter. This year I want to be more prepared for that moment than ever before. Kindly give me the graces in Lent that will unite us at Easter.

(Tom Hoopes, author of “The Rosary of Saint John Paul II” and “The Fatima Family Handbook,” is writer in residence at Benedictine College in Kansas and hosts “The Extraordinary Story” podcast on Ex Corde.)

Bishops sue Trump administration, say halting refugee resettlement funds will cause harm

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By Maria-Pia Chin
(OSV News) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sued the Trump administration Feb. 18 over the suspension of funding of refugee resettlement assistance.

In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the bishops called this suspension “unlawful and harmful to newly arrived refugees,” The Associated Press first reported. A USCCB spokesperson told OSV News that the lawsuit urges the government “to uphold its legal and moral obligations” to refugees and to restore the funding needed to ensure that faith-based and community organizations can continue their work with refugees.

The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services is one of 10 national resettlement agencies that work with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which was established by Congress in 1980, formalizing the process by which refugees are legally resettled in the United States.

A protester holds up a sign during an Oct. 15, 2019, demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington against the first Trump administration’s cuts in the number of refugees to be admitted under the U.S. resettlement program. The U.S. bishops Feb. 18, 2025, sued the second Trump administration for its abrupt halt to funds for resettling refugees. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller, CNS file)

USRAP was suspended through executive order signed by President Donald Trump Jan. 20 and is being evaluated to see whether refugee resettlement “is in the national interest.” The State Department issued suspension notices to domestic resettlement agencies, including the USCCB, on Jan. 24, which has impacted resettlement agencies’ ability to carry out services for refugees, including those under the Reception and Placement Program, according to an alert to support refugee resettlement seen in USCCB’s Action Alert Center.

The R&P program is a domestic effort that provides assistance to newly arrived refugees to meet initial needs such as housing and job placement during the first 90 days that they are in the country.

According to AP’s reporting on the lawsuit, the USCCB’s president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said that “the conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status.”

Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokesperson, told OSV News Feb. 18 that the lawsuit filed by the USCCB “challenges the suspension of the funding for refugee assistance we have run for decades.”

“Refugees are individuals who have undergone special screening and vetting procedures by the U.S. government and are fleeing hardship and persecution in their home countries to resettle in the United States,” she said in an email. “Throughout this long-time partnership with the U.S. government, the USCCB has helped nearly a million individuals find safety and build their lives in the United States.”

Under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, refugees are persons who have left their countries of origin and are unwilling or unable to return due to actual or well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion.

As previously reported, the USCCB website states that its Migration and Refugee Services “is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world,” and that in partnership with its affiliates, it resettles approximately 18% of the refugees that arrive in the U.S. each year.

“We are urging the government to uphold its legal and moral obligations to refugees and to restore the necessary funding to ensure that faith-based and community organizations can continue this vital work that reflects our nation’s values of compassion, justice, and hospitality,” Noguchi said.

This is a developing story.

(Maria-Pia Chin is the Spanish editor for OSV News.)

Next National Eucharistic Congress to be held in 2029, will ‘build on grace’ of Indianapolis

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WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The 11th National Eucharistic Congress will be held in 2029, building “on the grace” received in Indianapolis at the 10th congress, said Jason Shanks, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc.

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21 drew more than 60,000 attendees and included a Eucharistic procession of tens of thousands of Catholics through the city’s downtown streets. The congress was a high point of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops.

“The National Eucharistic Congress Inc. is thrilled to share that we have begun the initial steps in preparing” for a 2029 congress, Shanks told OSV News in an email late Feb. 7.

“We look forward to reuniting as an American church to celebrate our shared Eucharistic faith,” he said. “We 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,” Shanks continued. “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. We will provide more details about the 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the future.”

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., blesses pilgrims July 17, 2024, during adoration at the opening revival night of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Shanks told The Pillar Feb. 7 that a decision to hold the next national gathering in 2029 was made “in consultation with the bishops” and that a formal presentation on plans for the congress will be presented to the body of the bishops during their fall plenary assembly in November.

The revival is now focusing on its Year of Mission, in which Catholics are encouraged to become “Eucharistic missionaries” who share the reality and impact of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist with others. This is especially realized through the revival’s “Walk with One” campaign, which asks Catholics to identify one person whom they can accompany on their faith journey and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The National Eucharistic Congress Inc. nonprofit was formed in 2022 to support the bishops’ vision for the revival. It oversaw not only the congress but also the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, two major components of the National Eucharistic Revival.

The pilgrimage involved 30 young adult “perpetual pilgrims” crossing the country over eight weeks with the Eucharist via four routes, which ended in Indianapolis ahead of the congress.

Pilgrimage-related events, such as Mass, Eucharistic adoration and public processions, drew in some cases thousands of people, with the largest perhaps being the 5-mile procession in St. Paul, Minnesota, with crowd estimates exceeding 7,000 adorers.

At the conclusion of the congress, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., announced there would be another National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2025 from Indianapolis to Los Angeles and possibly an earlier National Eucharistic Congress than 2033.

2033 is when the church will mark the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, which Pope Francis called “another fundamental celebration for all Christians.”

While the bishops’ initiative is slated to end with the feast of Corpus Christi, which is June 19, the organization expects to build on the revival’s momentum beyond 2025 and continue to support Eucharist-centered efforts, including future national Eucharistic pilgrimages and congresses.

10-state National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2025 to go right through Iowa’s ‘Field of Dreams’

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By Maria Wiering
(OSV News) – The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will begin in Indianapolis May 18 and travel through 10 states before reaching Los Angeles June 22.

The 3,300-mile St. Katharine Drexel Route has stops planned in 20 dioceses and four Eastern Catholic eparchies across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Eight “perpetual pilgrims” and several chaplains have been selected to travel with the Eucharist throughout the 36-day route, which begins on Pentecost and ends on the feast of Corpus Christi.
“We are thrilled to be gearing up for the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. We trust that God has profound blessings and graces in store for us as we journey with Jesus through cities and towns nationwide again this summer,” said Jason Shanks, president of the Denver-based National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a Feb. 18 media release announcing details of the route.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone elevates the monstrance as he blesses the city and pilgrims after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco May 19, 2024. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

The pilgrimage builds on the success of the first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which took place in 2024 ahead of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21. The 2024 pilgrimage launched from four points near four U.S. borders May 18-19 with a combined 30 perpetual pilgrims, all in their 20s. Over two months, they traveled, often on foot, toward Indianapolis with the Eucharist. Their route included simple and solemn Eucharistic processions, and stops for Mass, Eucharistic adoration, prayer, charitable service and social events along the way, often in local parishes.

The 2024 procession drew more than 250,000 participants, according to organizers – with an estimated 7,000 people joining a single 5-mile Eucharistic procession in St. Paul, Minnesota, likely the effort’s largest crowd before arriving in Indianapolis. Across the U.S., people offered their homes and other accommodations for the pilgrims to stay.

On the final day of the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of National Eucharistic Congress Inc., announced that another national Eucharistic pilgrimage was planned for 2025, culminating in a closing Mass with Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.

The 2025 route will include the tomb of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in Peoria, Illinois; the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City; and missions in Southern California. In Iowa, a Eucharistic procession will begin at the baseball field featured in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.”

“This year’s pilgrimage will again focus on Eucharistic encounters with marginalized communities, bringing the Blessed Sacrament to assisted living facilities, food banks, a juvenile detention center, a hospital, and a federal prison along the route,” the Feb. 18 media release stated.

Pilgrimage stops will also celebrate the 2025 Jubilee Year and mark recent U.S. tragedies, including the Jan. 29 Washington crash of American Airlines Flight 5342, which originated in Wichita, Kansas, and the January wildfires that ravaged parts of Los Angeles, killing at least 29 people.

“In honor of the Jubilee Year of Hope, there will be an additional focus on Eucharistic healing. Events are planned in Wichita to honor the victims of the plane crash and their families, at the border of Mexico with a special Benediction and prayers for all migrants and refugees, and in Los Angeles, where organizers hope to bring our Eucharistic Lord to the communities impacted by the wildfires,” the media release stated.

A full event listing and registration to participate will be posted later this spring, organizers said.

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.)

(For more information on the Drexel Route visit: https://www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/)

He’s made history as first African American to be cardinal, archbishop of Washington

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By Mark Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — When Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory became the first African American cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church Nov. 28, 2020, some of his thoughts were far from Rome while he received his red hat during the consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica.

He reflected on that moment In a recent interview with the Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero archdiocesan newspapers.

“When the Holy Father placed the cardinal’s biretta on my head, the thoughts that filled my heart were thoughts of my own family, my mom and dad struggling to provide a good education for me and my two sisters,” he said Jan. 15. “My wonderful grandmother, Etta Mae Duncan, who was so pivotal in my upbringing. I’ve said this before, she was a domestic. She worked as a housekeeper to provide the opportunity for her grandchildren to get a good education.

“I thought about the sacrifices that people have made in my own life,” he continued, “but also the sacrifices that African American Catholics, Catholics of color, have offered in their fidelity to our church, their love for our church, their faithfulness to the Catholic community that they love and have loved all of their lives.”

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington shares a laugh with Pope Francis Oct. 4, 2023, before the first working session of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

He also thought about history. “How did I get here? How did this moment happen to me?”

And he thought about “how grateful I am to have reaped the harvest of faith that was made possible by people in my own life, but (also by) people that I have never known, but were faithful Catholics who have fallen in love with the Catholic Church and that I just so happened to be the one to reap the benefit of their love and their devotion.”

On Oct. 25, 2020, the morning that Pope Francis named then-Archbishop Gregory as one of 13 new cardinals to be elevated at that Nov. 28 consistory, he said in a statement, “With a very grateful and humble heart, I thank Pope Francis for this appointment which will allow me to work more closely with him in caring for Christ’s Church.”

That morning, Cardinal-designate Gregory celebrated a 250th anniversary Mass for Holy Angels Parish in Avenue, which is located near St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland, where the first Catholic Mass in the English-speaking colonies was celebrated in 1634.

After that Mass, he was asked what his elevation to the College of Cardinals meant to him personally, to be the first African American cardinal in the United States, and what that would mean to the nation’s Black Catholics.

Cardinal-designate Gregory’s voice broke slightly as he said, “I’m deeply humbled. I know that I am reaping a harvest that millions of African American Catholics and people of color have planted. I am deeply grateful for the faith that they have lived so generously, so zealously and with such great devotion.”

He said he saw his appointment as “another opportunity to serve and to care for the church and to have the church (of Washington) in closer union with Pope Francis.”

He added, “I hope it is a sign of the continued investment of the church in the work of justice, peace and harmony among people.”

Cardinal Gregory was installed as Washington’s archbishop in May 2019. On Jan. 6, 2025, Pope Francis accepted his resignation; at 77 he is two years past the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego as his successor. He will be installed March 11.

Cardinal Gregory became Catholic and was inspired to become a priest after being enrolled in St. Carthage School in his native Chicago in 1958. Young Wilton was baptized and received his first Communion in 1959 and was confirmed later that year.

After graduating from St. Carthage in 1961, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1973. He earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome in 1980.Three years later he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Chicago; at age 34, he became the youngest U.S. Catholic bishop.

From 1994-2005, Bishop Gregory headed the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois. In 2001, he was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops after three years as vice president. In 2002, during his term, revelations of clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up erupted, affecting the whole U.S. church. Under his leadership, the bishops implemented the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

St. John Paul II appointed Bishop Gregory as archbishop of Atlanta, where he was installed in 2005, and Pope Francis named him as the seventh archbishop of Washington in 2019. Then-Archbishop Gregory became the first African American archbishop of Washington.

In one of his first parish visits as Washington’s new archbishop, he celebrated a Mass at St. Augustine Church, founded in 1858 by free men and women of color, including some who were emancipated from slavery. It is known as the mother church for African American Catholics in the nation’s capital.

When then-Archbishop Gregory appeared in the doorway of St. Augustine Church that morning for the Mass, people there shouted for joy and gave him a spontaneous standing ovation.

In his homily that day, then-Archbishop Gregory acknowledged St. Augustine’s history and “how it is identified with the sacred heritage of African American Catholics.”

“I stand on holy ground, as do all of you when you gather each Sunday for the Eucharist,” he said, adding, “Today a son of the African diaspora stands in your midst as the shepherd of the entire family of faith that is the Archdiocese of Washington.”

After Cardinal Gregory’s elevation to the College of Cardinals was announced in 2020, local Catholics interviewed for a “Black Catholics Voices” multimedia series for the Catholic Standard reacted with joy to his appointment as the first African American cardinal.

Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in Washington, said the appointment was a recognition of Cardinal Gregory’s pastoral leadership and contributions to the church in the United States.

It was also a recognition that “the faith, the contributions, the witness, the experience of Black Catholics truly do matter, and that’s an important voice and an important gift to the church universal,” the priest said. “The voice of Black Catholics will be now that much closer to the Holy Father. It will now be in the heart of the Church in Rome, in the Vatican.”

Sister Patricia Chappell, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and the former president of the National Black Sisters’ Conference, called Cardinal Gregory’s elevation “a very historic moment,” and praised the new cardinal as “a man who really listens to the people, a man who is steeped in his faith, and a man who will journey with the people.”

As the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Gregory worked to be a pastor to all the people of the archdiocese, centering his ministry on celebrating Masses at parishes and Catholic schools.

He worked to bring healing in the wake of the clergy abuse crisis and led the archdiocese through the COVID-19 pandemic. Demonstrating Catholic teaching for the dignity of human life in all its stages, Cardinal Gregory celebrated a Youth Mass for Life before the annual March for Life, and he also spoke out against the death penalty.

The cardinal also celebrated an annual Mass honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and under his leadership, the archdiocese launched a 2020 pastoral initiative, “Made in God’s Image: Pray and Work to End this Sin of Racism,” and a 2021 action plan based on Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si'” environmental encyclical.

“He demonstrated to the church in the United States that Black Catholics have a lot to offer to the church from the gifts God has given us, and he’s an excellent example of that,” said Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. who also serves as the president of the National Black Catholic Congress.

In a 2021 interview one year after he was elevated to the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Gregory was asked if being the first African American cardinal posed any challenges.

“I always feel that if I stay close to the Lord in my prayer life, at least (staying) on the right path … being the first is an opportunity to draw the church closer together across cultures and races,” he said.

In his recent interview with the Catholic Standard and El Pregonero, he reflected on the number of opportunities he has had “to be the first,” saying he wants “to make sure that I realize that whatever legacy I leave will be available for the second, for the third, for the fifth, who will, in God’s own time and with God’s own grace, will inherit the responsibilities that I’ve been fortunate enough to have.”

“I hope that my presence in the Archdiocese of Washington, as I was present in Atlanta and in Belleville and in Chicago, I hope that I provided an opportunity for people not just in a sense of pride, but in a sense of opportunity, that the young people can see a world that they can fill with their own dreams and with their own possibilities,” he said.

“I hope that my ministry has lifted the horizons for a lot of our young people, to see as possibilities that generations of young people in the past never even envisioned.”

(Mark Zimmermann is editor of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.)

Briefs

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U.S. Sister Dorothy Stang, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is pictured in a 2004 file photo in Belém, Brazil. Feb. 12, 2025, was the 20th anniversary of the killing of Sister Dorothy, a citizen of Brazil and the United States, who spent nearly four decades defending the rights of poor settlers as well as working to save the rainforest from powerful ranchers bent on destroying it. (OSV News photo/Reuters)

NATION
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, used the U.S. bishops’ 2025 Lenten message to reach out to those affected by abortion. In his Feb. 19 message, Bishop Thomas assured individuals carrying the sadness and guilt of abortion that Jesus’ love is unconditional. He highlighted the meaning of Ash Wednesday, noting that the ashes remind people of their need for repentance and God’s love. Ash Wednesday this year is March 5 and marks the start of Lent in the Latin Church, the largest church in the global Catholic Church. Bishop Thomas invited those suffering from abortion to return to Jesus and the church, emphasizing the healing available through the sacrament of reconciliation. He also referenced Pope Francis’ message of hope and the importance of nonjudgmental support for those grieving. Bishop Thomas pointed to the church’s Project Rachel Ministry, offering compassionate help and resources in English and Spanish for healing. “This Lent, the Lord’s mercy awaits you,” he said. “Allow Him to heal you and lift your sadness into joy.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Feb. 19 it has started to send out guidance on “clear sex-based definitions” to government agencies, organizations and the public. The department said it is now implementing recent Trump administration executive orders on sex and gender. HHS stated in its announcement that its new guidance “recognizes there are only two sexes: male and female.” It also said the department would use these guiding definitions to “promote policies acknowledging that women are biologically female and men are biologically male.” HHS also stated it was taking steps to implement policies aimed at protecting minors from undergoing certain transgender medical and surgical interventions. Additionally it stated it would implement Trump’s executive order effectively barring biological males who identify as transgender from taking part in women’s and girl’s sports. Trump’s executive orders on sex and gender have been praised in statements issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for “recognizing the truth about each human person as male or female.”

PENSACOLA, Fla. (OSV News) – The work of Catholic prison ministry has been mostly carried out quietly and long thought of as something only priests and religious do. This has meant that lay involvement “is almost nonexistent,” according to Karen Clifton, executive coordinator of the online-based Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, or CMPC. A recent survey revealed many dioceses have prison ministries, but few know who’s involved. The survey came after Pope Francis asked his U.S. nuncio about the state of prison ministry in this country – following the pontiff’s 2015 visit to a Philadelphia-based correctional center. Clifton said the pope’s inquiry came as several Catholic prison ministry and advocacy groups banded together in search of national guidance, prompting the creation of CMPC in 2018, now made up of more than three dozen ministries across the country. The idea, said Clifton, is to have an active prison ministry in every diocese. Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, CMPC’s episcopal adviser, emphasized the coalition’s role in providing training, support and advocacy for prison ministers, who often work in isolation.

VATICAN
ROME (CNS) – In 2021, a new species of screech owl was discovered deep in the Amazon rainforest, named “Megascops stangiae” in honor of Sister Dorothy Stang, a U.S.-born Catholic nun who was killed in 2005 for her work protecting the Amazon and its people. Sister Dorothy, known as a “Martyr of the Amazon,” advocated for peasant farmers and Indigenous people against illegal ranchers and loggers. On the 20th anniversary of the death of the 73-year-old nun, a relic containing blood-soaked soil from the site of her murder was enshrined at the Basilica of St. Bartholomew in Rome, marking her as the first American woman honored among the modern martyrs. Despite her death, Sister Dorothy’s legacy lives on, with her work inspiring continued resistance to land theft in the region. Sister Judith Clemens, a close friend and fellow Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, said Sister Dorothy’s faith and dedication to justice continue to inspire the fight for environmental and social justice.

WORLD
PYIN OO LWIN, Myanmar (OSV News) – Thousands gathered in Myanmar’s Pyin Oo Lwin to mourn Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a priest found stabbed to death in what is believed to be a targeted attack. The funeral, presided over by Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay, called for an end to the ongoing civil war, urging all parties to seek peace and reconciliation. Myanmar has been embroiled in conflict since a 2021 military coup, with ongoing violence between the military junta and rebel groups. Father Win’s brutal murder occurred on Feb. 14 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Kan Gyi Taw. Rebel group People’s Defense Force is investigating the killing. Burmese Cardinal Charles Maung Bo expressed sorrow, urging justice and an end to the violence. Aid to the Church in Need’s Regina Lynch highlighted the immense risks faced by priests like Father Win, who continue to serve communities despite the dangers of the ongoing conflict. Burmese Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, president of the bishops’ conference of Myanmar, also lamented Father Win’s death and prayed that through learning from the heartbreaking experiences the fraternal spirit be awakened. He lamented “the blood and sacrifices of countless innocent people,” – a heavy toll he hopes will serve as an offering to ending the violence tormenting Myanmar.

GUATEMALA CITY (OSV News) – A devastating bus crash in Guatemala City Feb. 10 claimed at least 54 lives, including children, sparking nationwide outrage and calls for reform in the country’s poorly regulated bus system. The bus, carrying around 70 passengers, crashed through a guardrail and plunged off a bridge, falling 115 feet into a stream below and killing most passengers. Investigations revealed the driver lacked a professional license, and the bus was operating off its authorized route. Pope Francis sent a message of condolence, offering prayers and an apostolic blessing to the victims’ families in a Feb. 14 telegram, sent the day he entered Rome’s Gemelli hospital for tests and bronchitis recovery. A telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican’s secretary of state to Archbishop Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez of Santiago de Guatemala, said that the Holy Father was “deeply saddened” by the “painful news” and prayed for those lost in the accident. Local bishops have been actively supporting the grieving families, celebrating memorial Masses and prayer services. The church is demanding stronger safety measures and accountability from the government, with some blaming systemic corruption for the lack of proper infrastructure and regulation. See full story here.

St. John Paul II National Shrine presents exhibit: “Lord, you could not love me more! St. John Paul II and the Shroud of Turin” during Lent

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Negative photo of the frontal image of the man of the Shroud. (Credit: Copyright 1978, Vernon Miller)

By Grattan Brown
WASHINGTON – The “Lord you could not love me more!’ St. John Paul II and the Shroud of Turin” exhibit responds to the call of St. John Paul II, given during his visit to the Shroud in 1998, for greater understanding of and devotion to the Shroud of Turin:
“The Shroud does not hold people’s hearts to itself, but turns them to him, at whose service the Father’s loving providence has put it. Therefore, it is right to foster an awareness of the precious value of this image, which everyone sees and no one at present can explain. For every thoughtful person it is a reason for deep reflection, which can even involve one’s life. The Shroud is thus a truly unique sign that points to Jesus, the true Word of the Father, and invites us to pattern our lives on the life of the One who gave himself for us.”

The exhibit helps pilgrims encounter the mystery of the Shroud of Turin – the likely burial cloth of Jesus referred to in Sacred Scripture – of its movement in history, of scientific research on the Shroud to determine its authenticity, and of faithful devotion to all that the Shroud reveals about salvation. The exhibit includes a replica of the Shroud of Turin on loan from the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit; a sculpture entitled The Sign, which renders a life-size, three-dimensional image of the Man of the Shroud; over 30 gallery panels containing images and text; and prayer resources. The exhibit opens on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and runs through Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.

St. John Paul II’s teaching about the Shroud of Turin illustrates his confident approach to ancient mysteries in the light of both faith and reason. During his 1998 visit, he said,
“The church entrusts to scientists the task of continuing to investigate, so that satisfactory answers may be found to the questions connected with this Sheet, which, according to tradition, wrapped the body of our Redeemer after he had been taken down from the cross. The church urges that the Shroud be studied without pre-established positions that take for granted results that are not such; she invites them to act with interior freedom and attentive respect for both scientific methodology and the sensibilities of believers.”

As one example of St. John Paul II’s call for research on the Shroud, the exhibit profiles the current research of Gilbert Lavoie, MD, a medical expert on the study of the Shroud and author of The Shroud of Jesus: And the Sign John Ingeniously Concealed. Dr. Lavoie explains, “The raised, lifted Jesus, the result of a visual medical forensic journey of discovery, unlocks the mystery of the burial cloth left to us by God. When the lifted man of the Shroud is related to the Gospel of John, many new insights are revealed. This is John’s astonishing story about how God is visually communicating to humanity through his Son’s Shroud, telling us how real he is and how much he loves us.” Dr. Lavoie collaborated with internationally recognized sculptor Pablo Eduardo to create a sculpture, The Sign, based on Dr. Lavoie’s observations of the Shroud image and included in the Shrine’s exhibit.

The Shrine’s Director of Mission and Ministry, Dr. Grattan Brown, said, “In his pilgrimages to shrines around the world, St. John Paul II often observed that shrines are places where people can step away from their busy lives to deepen their spiritual connection to God. The Shroud of Turin, which may be the burial cloth of Jesus, connects us with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, God’s most loving gift for humanity. It is a joy for the St. John Paul II National Shrine to offer this exhibit so that our pilgrims may experience God’s mercy during Lent.”

This exhibit is designed to help pilgrims more fully participate in the repentance and conversion of the Lenten season. As St. John Paul II observed during his 1998 visit:
“Contemplation of that tortured Body helps contemporary man to free himself from the superficiality of the selfishness with which he frequently treats love and sin. Echoing the word of God and centuries of Christian consciousness, the Shroud whispers: believe in God’s love, the greatest treasure given to humanity, and flee from sin, the greatest misfortune in history.”

Negative photo of the frontal image of the man of the Shroud. (Credit: Copyright 1978, Vernon Miller)

“The Shrine is proud to offer this exhibit about the Shroud of Turin and St. John Paul II,” said Anthony Picarello, executive director of the Shrine, “because it resonates so deeply with his legacy. It illustrates how human beings can approach the deepest mysteries fruitfully with faith and reason together; how the human body can express the most radical love; and – especially during Lent – the power of redemptive suffering.”

The Shrine’s Director of Intercultural Ministry, Dr. Sofia Maurette, said “The exhibit features panels in English and Spanish, in line with our initiative since 2023 to translate all new installations at the Shrine into multiple languages. We hope that it will be a blessing for our diverse Catholic community in the DC area and in our nation.”

About the St. John Paul II National Shrine: The Saint John Paul II National Shrine has been designated as a Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage site. It is a place of worship, religious formation, and cultural renewal to feed the minds and souls of its visitors. It is a place of pilgrimage with a first-class relic of St. John Paul II’s blood available for veneration. The St. John Paul II National Shrine is a major pastoral initiative of the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization, and it is the Knights’ hope that this initiative will serve the life of the church in the Americas and will thus bear abundant fruit for the universal church and for the world.

About the Knights of Columbus: In 1882, Blessed Michael McGivney, a young parish priest in New Haven, Connecticut, founded the Knights of Columbus to serve the needs of a largely immigrant Catholic community. What began as a small fraternal benefit society has since grown into the world’s premier lay Catholic men’s organization, with more than 2.1 million members in over 16,800 local councils. As members of one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, Knights around the world donated more than 47 million service hours and over $190 million for worthy causes in their communities in 2023. Based on the founding principles of charity, unity and fraternity, the Knights of Columbus is committed to strengthening Catholic families and parishes, and to practicing faith in action through service to all in need. To learn more or to join the Knights of Columbus, please visit kofc.org/join.

For more information on the St. John Paul II National Shrine and exhibits, visit https://www.jp2shrine.org.

White House suggests it will strip funds from Catholic Charities

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By Kate Scanlon
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The White House Jan. 28 sought to clarify what would and would not be impacted by a directive to freeze federal financial assistance programs and suggested it would seek to strip federal funds from nongovernmental organizations including Catholic Charities as part of its effort to enforce its immigration policies.

Catholic Charities USA urged the Trump administration to reconsider the freeze of the funds in a Jan. 28 statement. A judge temporarily blocked the freeze the same day.

The White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, which could impact trillions of dollars in government spending and halt public programs that affect millions of Americans, according to a memo from that office. These orders could impact Catholic entities that rely on such grants.

Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. walk into a temporary humanitarian respite center run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, Texas, April 8, 2021. (CNS photo/Go Nakamura, Reuters)

In her debut press briefing as White House press secretary Jan. 28, Karoline Leavitt said “this is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration,” arguing “individual assistance” will not be impacted, listing “Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits” as examples.

“It is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” she said, arguing the directive was to combat “wokeness” running afoul of Trump’s other executive orders on topics including diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

But questions remain about how the White House will define “assistance provided directly to individuals,” as indicated in the memo. Illinois and other states were cut off from the portal that is used to request and manage Medicaid spending, the office of that state’s Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said.

The White House confirmed the outage, with Leavitt writing on social media that they are “aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” but said it would soon be available.

“We have confirmed no payments have been affected – they are still being processed and sent,” she said. “We expect the portal will be back online shortly.”

Leavitt was asked about the impact on organizations like Meals on Wheels, which is funded in part by the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program, to deliver meals to homebound seniors, rather than the grant funds going directly to the seniors themselves.

“It does not affect individual assistance that’s going to Americans,” she replied.

Elsewhere in the briefing, Leavitt was asked if Trump “intended to permanently cut off funding to NGOs that are bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country, such as Catholic Charities?”

“I am actually quite certain that the president signed an executive order that did just that,” she said.
Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, issued a statement that did not reference the exchange in the White House briefing room but defended the work of her organization.

“Last year, 92 percent of the services provided by the 168 independent Catholic Charities agencies around the country covered basic needs – access to food, housing, health care and other necessities – for families and individuals struggling to get by,” Robinson said. “These vital services include food pantries for those who can’t afford groceries, childcare programs for low-income families, meal deliveries for homebound seniors, job training resources for veterans, temporary and permanent housing, mental health services and much more.”

The millions of Americans “who rely on this life-giving support,” she added, “will suffer due to the unprecedented effort to freeze federal aid supporting these programs.”

“The people who will lose access to crucial care are our neighbors and family members,” Robinson said. “They live in every corner of the country and represent all races, religions and political affiliations.”

“For more than a century, the Catholic Charities network has worked with the government to care for poor and vulnerable people in every community in the U.S., and we continue to be eager to work with government to care for our neighbors in need. We strongly urge the administration to rethink this decision,” she continued.

The group also urged its supporters to contact their congressional representatives.

OSV News has reached out to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is awaiting a response. Both CCUSA and the USCCB have said they abide by the law in their work with migrants and refugees.

In a Jan. 26 statement, issued hours after Vice President JD Vance questioned the motives of the U.S. bishops’ criticism of President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies in an interview that aired that morning, the USCCB said, “Faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church has a long history of serving refugees.”

“In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP),” the statement said. “Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States. In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs. Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the church.”

(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.)