By D.D. Emmons (OSV News) – Permanently affixed, the 14 stations adorn parishes around the world. They are visible reminders of the last hours of Christ on earth, but, moreover, the Way of the Cross is symbolic of our lifelong journey filled with difficulties and marked with personal crosses. Unlike the followers of Christ on that Good Friday, we know that the 14th station is not the end, that death does not win; rather, in his sacrifice, we find the sure knowledge of eternal life.
Some of the 14 traditional stations are not found in the Gospels but have been passed down through tradition:
First Station: Jesus is condemned to death (Mk 15:6-15). Second Station: Jesus carries his cross (Jn 19:15-17). Third Station: Jesus falls the first time. Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother. Fifth Station: Simon the Cyrene is made to bear the cross (Mk 15:21). Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Seventh Station: Jesus falls the second time. Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem (Lk 23:27-31). Ninth Station: Jesus falls a third time. Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments (Mt 27:35, Lk 23:34). Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross (Lk 23:33-43). Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the cross (Lk 23:44-46). Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the cross (Jn 19: 38). Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb (Jn 19: 38-42).
An image of the Stations of the Cross at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington shows the sixth station, “Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.” (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
While the three falls of Jesus are not found in the Gospels, it is likely that he fell from the weight of the cross beam, which typically weighed more than 100 pounds, and because of his weakened condition from the scourging. That Jesus met his mother as he struggled along is most probable since she was always near him; finally, that some brave Christian stepped out of the crowd to wipe the blood, spit and sweat from his face also is likely.
The stations entered church devotion as Christians who could not visit Jerusalem began to erect local replicas of the holy sites based on information from people who had been to the city, such as the crusaders. Initially there was no continuity or standardization among these structures; some included as many as 37 stops, others as few as seven. Finally, in 1731, Pope Clement XII established the number of stations as 14.
In 1991, Pope St. John Paul II introduced a version of this devotion based entirely on the Scriptures. All 14 stations and the accompanying meditations can be found in the Bible. The Scriptural Stations are an alternative to the traditional Way of the Cross.
By Lorene Hanley Duquin (OSV News) – From baking sweet breads to blessing baskets, Holy Week is full of long-standing traditions that transcend cultures and continents. The following list includes a quick overview of family favorites. – Palm crosses: From medieval times, people have believed that blessed palms formed into the shape of a cross would protect them from danger. The easiest way to make a cross from blessed palms is to cut two pieces of the palm, arrange in the shape of a cross, put a thumbtack in the middle, and attach the cross to a doorway or a bulletin board. Check the Internet for directions on how to braid or weave palms into more decorative crosses.
A woman holds a palm frond cross during Palm Sunday Mass outside St. Mary’s Chapel at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, Md., April 2, 2023. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
– Housecleaning: In many cultures the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are designated as days for vigorous housecleaning in preparation for Easter. This custom probably evolved from the Jewish custom of ritual cleaning before Passover.
– Coloring eggs: Decorating eggs was a pagan symbol of rebirth at springtime for the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and even the Chinese. Christians adopted the colored egg as a symbol of new life which comes with the Resurrection.
– Easter lilies: The tradition of buying Easter lilies during Holy Week for use as decorations in homes and churches came into practice in the 1800s. The white flower is a symbol of purity and new life that heralds the resurrection of Jesus.
– Visiting churches: The custom of visiting several churches to say a prayer on Holy Thursday was a tradition that evolved from the practice of making pilgrimages to holy places.
– Sweet breads: In many cultures, Holy Week was traditionally a time for baking sweet breads, cakes and pastries that would be served on Easter Sunday.
– Blessing of Easter baskets: In many cultures, families bring food that will be eaten on Easter Sunday to church in a basket for a special blessing on Holy Saturday.
– New clothes: From the time of the early Christians, the newly baptized wore white garments made from new linen. In medieval times, it became a tradition for people to wear new clothes on Easter Sunday, symbolizing the “new life” that comes with the Resurrection. In some places it was believed that bad luck would come to those who could afford new Easter clothes but refused to buy them.
– Holy Water blessings: Some families bring holy water containers to Mass on Easter so they can bring home some Easter water, which is blessed during the Easter Vigil, to bless their homes.
Many people and families also participate in the full cycle of Triduum liturgies, from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, walking with the Lord through his passion, death and resurrection. However you mark Holy Week, intentionally set it apart from the other 51 weeks of the year, because this one is truly special.
(Lorene Hanley Duquin is a Catholic author and lecturer who has worked in parishes and on a diocesan level.)
NATION INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – An investigation by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis into an alleged Eucharistic miracle at an Indiana parish has indicated that “natural, not miraculous causes” resulted in a host displaying a red discoloration, the archdiocese said in a March 24 statement sent to OSV News. “A biochemical analysis of a host from St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris, Ind., that was displaying red discoloration revealed the presence of a common bacteria found on all humans,” the statement said. “No presence of human blood was discovered.” The March 24 statement confirmed that the host had “fallen out of a Mass kit used at the parish, and when it was discovered, red spots were present. Following policy established by the Holy See, the host was submitted for professional, biochemical analysis at a local laboratory,” it said. “The results indicate the presence of fungus and three different species of bacteria, all of which are commonly found on human hands.” Catholics believe that upon their consecration at Mass, bread and wine become Jesus Christ – body, blood, soul and divinity – while still retaining the appearances of bread and wine. The church conducts scientific investigations into alleged miraculous changes to the appearances of the Eucharist, such as manifesting as truly blood and human tissue. The archdiocese’s March 24 statement added, “Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, there have been well-documented miracles and apparitions, and each has been thoroughly and carefully reviewed.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (OSV News) – A 30-year-old man believed to be homeless was arrested and charged with the commission of an act of terrorism following a threat he allegedly emailed to a music minister at St. Louis Catholic Church in Memphis, Tennessee, claiming he wanted to “butcher” people in the church with a machete. Zachary Liberto is currently being held at the Shelby County Jail on a $200,100 bond. A hearing date is pending. In Tennessee, the crime is a Class A felony and a conviction can result in a prison sentence of 15 to 60 years. On March 20, Memphis police said Liberto had been in “a verbal altercation” at the church with a music minister that involved Liberto allegedly throwing trash into the baptismal font. The criminal charge stems from an email Liberto allegedly sent later. It stated, “I need a video of (one of the pastors) getting slapped by you in 24 hours before I butcher people in that church with a machete.” Rick Ouellette, a spokesperson with the Diocese of Memphis, said the incident occurred “after school and work hours.” He added that St. Louis “has a solid safety and security plan in place, as do our 46 parishes and 13 schools in West Tennessee.”
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics. However, the Vatican’s Statistical Yearbook of the Church said, 9.1 million people received their first Communion in 2023, up from 8.68 million people the previous year, and almost 7.7 million people were confirmed, up from 7.4 million people in 2022. At the end of 2023, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.405 billion, up 1.15% from 1.389 billion Catholics at the end of 2022, according to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, which publishes the yearbook. The Vatican published its statistical yearbook offering data “on the life and activity of the church in the world in 2023” at the end of March. Catholics represented about 17.8% of the global population at the end of 2023, it said. The highest proportion is in the Americas with 64.2% of its population being baptized Catholic. Europe follows with 39.6% and Oceania with 25.9%. In Africa, 19.8% of the population is Catholic and the lowest proportion of Catholics by continent is Asia with 3.3%. While the number of Catholics is increasing, the administration of the sacrament of baptism has continued to decrease worldwide, according to the yearbook.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) –As Pope Francis continues his convalescence, the Vatican published a full calendar of Holy Week and Easter liturgies with no indication of who would preside or be the main celebrant. The list of Masses and other liturgies, released by the master of papal liturgical ceremonies March 27, said only that the services would be celebrated by the “Pontifical Chapel,” which includes the pope, the cardinals residing in Rome and top Vatican officials. Asked about Pope Francis’ role in the celebrations, the Vatican press office responded that “it will be necessary to see the improvements in the pope’s health in the coming weeks to assess his possible presence, and on what terms, at the rites of Holy Week.”
People stand near the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand, March 28, 2025, that collapsed after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar, earthquake monitoring services said. The 7.7 magnitude quake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand, killing at least 150 people and injuring more than 700. It destroyed buildings, a bridge and a dam and left hundreds missing. (OSV News photo/Ann Wang, Reuters)
WORLD KINSHASA, Congo (OSV News) – Catholic religious sisters in Congo have become the latest victims of violence as the country grapples with ongoing conflict tied to mineral resources. On March 18, the Missionary Sisters of Santo Domingo in Kinshasa was targeted by attackers who broke into the congregation’s residence, stealing money, phones and computers. The attack highlights the growing dangers faced by religious groups in Congo, where poverty and perceptions of wealth make church leaders prime targets. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa condemned the attack and urged religious communities to stay vigilant while remaining hopeful. This incident follows a string of similar attacks on women religious, including kidnappings and murders. The violence coincides with rising tensions in the east, where M23, or Movement 23, rebels are making gains. The Catholic and Protestant churches have been engaged in shuttle diplomacy, promoting peace efforts despite growing opposition from the government. Church leaders, including Msgr. Donatien Nshole Babula, secretary general of Congo’s bishops’ conference, face increasing backlash for their peace efforts.
MANDALAY, Myanmar (OSV News) – A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Mandalay-Sagaing region March 28, causing widespread destruction and a rising death toll. As of March 29, at least 1,000 people had died in Myanmar, with hundreds more missing. The death toll may surpass 10,000 according to U.S. Geological Survey’s estimates. In neighboring Thailand, Bangkok city authorities said so far six people had been found dead, 26 injured and 47 were still missing, according to The Guardian. The tremor, followed by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock, caused buildings to collapse, including a historic bridge in the region. The earthquake’s impact was felt across neighboring countries, including Thailand and Bangladesh. Pope Francis expressed his sorrow, offering prayers for the victims and emergency responders in Myanmar and Thailand. Meanwhile, relief efforts are hindered by Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, with few resources reaching affected areas. Catholic churches in Mandalay and beyond were also damaged, with St. Michael’s Church among the hardest hit. In some regions, local communities are organizing relief efforts as state response remains limited.
By Galen Holley JACKSON – Donors who give to philanthropic causes approved by the Mississippi Department of Revenue, like many offered through Catholic Charities, are eligible for a substantial tax credit, thanks to a unique piece of legislation.
The Children’s Promise Act (CPA) provides a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, up to $1,200 for individuals, and up to half of their state tax liability for businesses, for making a donation to ECOs, or Eligible Charitable Organizations. The CPA provides tax credits to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships.
The Mississippi legislature passed the CPA in 2018. According to Monseigneur Elvin Sunds, interim executive director of Catholic Charities, Inc. of the Diocese of Jackson, it presents an incentive to support those on the margins of society.
“Many of the services we provide are funded by state and federal grants, but that money doesn’t always cover everything,” said Sunds. “The Children’s Promise Act helps fill in the gaps and allows us to continue those programs.”
Since the 1960s, Catholic Charities has served those in Mississippi who need a hand up. It’s a community effort, according to Sunds. “Catholic Charities has been out there, touching all aspects of community life, particularly serving women and children, and families,” said Sunds. Among its numerous outreach efforts, Catholic Charities in Mississippi provides round-the-clock service for children with emotional needs, as well as care for pregnant mothers facing addiction. Catholic Charities personnel try to make sure that children are always cared for. “We want to preserve those family bonds with which children are comfortable and familiar,” said Sunds.
Michael Crandall is the president at Trustmark Bank in Canton, as well a former board member at Catholic Charities. Trustmark recently contributed $100,000 to Catholic Charities, and the bank’s core values coincide nicely with the nonprofit’s efforts, according to Crandall.
“The Children’s Promise Act is an ideal opportunity for those who might not normally give to Catholic Charities to give,” he said. “Catholic Charities actually serves more non-Catholics than Catholics. It’s a community effort. One of Trustmark’s core values is building relationships within the community, and this is a perfect example.”
Michael Thomas is director of development at Catholic Charities in Jackson and said that the nonprofit is hoping to raise half a million dollars. To date, they’ve received about $200,000.
(To donate and take advantage of the tax credits offered through the Children’s Promise Act, visit https://www.catholiccharitiesjackson.org, email help@ccjackson.org, or call (601) 355-8634.)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A painting of Christ being laid in the tomb, long hidden under layers of overpainting and forgotten by history, will once again be visible to the public in an upcoming exhibit at the Vatican.
The Vatican Museums announced an exhibit March 17 showcasing a newly restored painting of the deposition of Christ, now definitively attributed to Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna, in a special exhibit titled “The Mantegna of Pompei. A Rediscovered Masterpiece.”
The painting had long been shrouded in mystery. Historical records from the 16th century referenced such a work in the Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, but over time it vanished from public knowledge, raising doubts about its existence and authorship.
Centuries later, the painting surfaced at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompei, where it remained largely unnoticed. Recent research and careful restoration led by the Vatican Museums have brought the piece back into the light, confirming its origins and artistic value. Key to the rediscovery was the removal of heavy overpainting, which had obscured Mantegna’s original composition and detail, the Vatican Museums said in a statement.
An image of “The Deposition of Christ,” recently attributed to Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, is seen in this photo released by the Vatican March 17, 2025. The previously lost painting will be on display in the Vatican Museums. (CNS photo/courtesy Governorate of Vatican City State)
Andrea Mantegna’s style is marked by classical influence, precise perspective and sculptural figures. Today, his works can be found in in museums such as the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery of London, the Uffizi in Florence and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, said in the Vatican’s press release that the restorations “revealed iconographic and technical details that confirm Mantegna’s authorship, restoring to art history a masterpiece thought to be lost.”
Scientific analysis and thorough restoration “have clarified that the work is not a copy but an original painting by Mantegna,” said Fabrizio Biferali, curator of 15th-16th century artwork in the Vatican Museums. “Its iconography is connected to Renaissance models and classicism typical of the artist, with references to antiquity that make it unique in Mantegna’s work.”
The painting, which belongs to the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary in Pompei, will be exhibited in the Vatican Museums’ picture gallery beginning March 20 along with a video detailing the restoration.
Archbishop Tommaso Caputo, the prelate of Pompei, said the painting is “is a work that speaks to faith and culture, marking a new chapter in the history of Pompei.”
No saint (outside the Bible) is more associated with the festival of Easter than St. John Chrysostom.
On Easter morning, every church that uses the Byzantine liturgy — whether the church is Catholic or Orthodox — proclaims aloud a “paschal sermon” attributed to John. Amid the sermon is a series of statements beginning with “Christ is risen!” — to each of which the congregation responds, “Truly he is risen!”
Throughout the feast, Eastern Christians greet one another with those two lines.
The brief sermon that contains them is beautiful, exuberant and poetic, in keeping with the celebration.
It is announced as the work of John, and it is the best-known work that bears his name. And John is often described as the most brilliant preacher in Christian history.
The problem is he probably didn’t write the paschal sermon. Scholars who have devoted their lives to the study of Chrysostom are almost unanimous in this judgment. It is certainly ancient, but it seems to have been preserved anonymously at first and then, centuries later, filed as a fragment among Chrysostom’s papers — simply because it was a sermon worthy of his genius.
Nevertheless, Chrysostom surely merited his association with Easter. He deserves to be the Easter saint — though not for the reasons he is actually celebrated as such.
His ministry was neatly bookended by two Easter liturgies, the first in A.D. 387 and the last in 404. And the arc in between those days has a paschal shape. They trace the course from his own Palm Sunday to his personal, sorrowful Good Friday.
John was born around 349 and raised by his devout mother, who was widowed shortly after the birth of her only child. His father had left enough of a legacy to ensure that his son received the best education available in Antioch. In his youth, John was trained by Libanius, an advisor to emperors and the greatest living rhetorician. Years later, Libanius was reported to have named John as the student most qualified to be his successor as a celebrity in the field of rhetoric.
But John didn’t want a career. He wanted to be alone with God. So he went off to live with the hermits on nearby Mount Silpius. There he prayerfully read the Scriptures all day, committing them to memory, and then continued to study them through the night, reading by firelight with his arms outstretched to ward off sleep. In doing this, however, he destroyed his health and had to return to the city.
The local bishop saw the opportunity providence had handed him and soon ordained John to the diaconate and then the priesthood. John’s special assignment was preaching from the cathedral in Antioch, one of the most prestigious pulpits in the world.
In ordinary times, Antioch was a city and a church to be watched — a trendsetter, and a world leader in business and culture. But John’s tenure in the cathedral was anything but ordinary. He found himself immediately amid a social crisis, chaotic and life-threatening, with all the citizens of Antioch — Christians, pagans and Jews — looking to John and keen to have his wisdom and guidance.
The world, it seemed, was watching John, and he didn’t disappoint.
The crisis was most grave. The emperor Theodosius, ruling in distant Constantinople, levied new and heavy taxes that would affect everyone in Antioch. People took to the streets in protest, and the demonstration soon erupted into a riot. Impelled by rage, a few men rushed to the city center and pulled down statues of the emperor Theodosius and his whole family. The rabble cheered and then dragged the statues around the city, mocking them and damaging them.
It was an act of treason, punishable by death. In law, the emperor’s statue was the same as his person. To attack his statue was to attack the man. When citizens rioted, moreover, the whole city could be held responsible for the actions of a few. The emperor would be within his rights to order a massacre. Indeed, the quick-tempered Theodosius would do just that, a few years later, when he had 7,000 Thessalonians summoned to the theater and then slaughtered in their seats.
Dragging the statues had seemed like a fun idea at the time. But, the morning after, the people of Antioch saw clearly that their doom was inevitable. The only question was when retribution would come to their city.
Soldiers began to round up suspects and torture them. Some were executed. The wealthy fled town.
The only citizens who remained were those who were too poor or feeble to leave, those who had nowhere to go or those whose family members were imprisoned.
This remnant thronged to the cathedral. Everyone, regardless of religion, knew that the new preacher there, John, owned the only voice capable of making sense of their predicament.
He preached a series of sermons to them. In the second, he paints a vivid picture of Antioch: “Once there was nothing happier than our city; there is nothing sadder than what it has become now. … Our city has become ‘like an oak whose leaf withers’ (Is 1:30). … The help from above has forsaken her, and she stands desolate, stripped of almost all her inhabitants.”
Having acknowledged the pain of his people. He consoled them, but he also led them to see the gravity of their sins and vices — their lack of self-control, which had caused this crisis and brought down the wrath of God in the displeasure of the emperor.
Nevertheless, he explained that God is merciful, and so the people had reason to hope. John’s rhetoric amplified the moods of Antioch at all their extremes. Many unbelievers, we are told, came to faith from his preaching.
While John was in the pulpit, the elderly bishop of Antioch, Flavian, made a hasty trip to the capital to plead with the emperor on the city’s behalf. The journey was more than a thousand miles each way. John preached on, dazzling day by day.
Word from Flavian arrived just in time for John to proclaim from the pulpit on Easter Sunday: The emperor had relented. The city would be spared.
John’s final sermon in the series was exuberant — with the joy of Easter and the giddiness of the sudden assurance of survival.
It was nonetheless nuanced, and John implored his people to retain the lessons they had learned in adversity: “You decorated the market with garlands. You put lights out everywhere. You spread greenery in front of the shops. You celebrated as if it were the city’s birthday! Now do this in a different way for the rest of time. Crown yourselves with virtue instead of flowers. Light up your souls with good works. Rejoice with a spiritual gladness. And let us never fail to give thanks to God constantly for all these things — not only that he has freed us from these calamities, but also that he allowed them to happen.”
These were the sermons that made young John justly famous. They earned him the nickname “Golden Mouth,” which in Greek is “Chrysostomos.” The sermons circulated in transcriptions and soon were translated into Latin. They even reached the emperor and his court, making a deep impression.
In the ancient Church, it was the misfortune of great preachers to attract attention in seats of power. Inevitably, in 397, John was summoned to the capital, which was an adder’s nest of intrigue, cliquishness and envy.
This is a stained-glass window depicting St. John Chrysostom at Ely Cathedral in England. (OSV News photo/The Crosiers)
He was loathed by churchmen who had been passed over for the job. They schemed to bring John down — by kangaroo councils and backdoor deals with well-placed bureaucrats. And they succeeded.
The emperor ordered John to relinquish all priestly duties and cease celebrating the liturgy. John refused. The emperor ordered all the churches in the capital to bar John’s entry.
But John pressed on through Lent and Holy Week. He made plans to conduct the season’s customary baptisms in the public baths on the Easter Vigil.
That night, the rites were interrupted by a sudden military intervention. Witnesses said the baptismal waters ran red with the blood of the new Christians. Soldiers drove the congregation away and arrested John.
In 404, he was exiled to Armenia, but his devoted people — from Antioch and Constantinople — made a pilgrimage there to see him. Furious, the emperor sent John to a more remote and wretched place. He was forced to make the journey on foot. He died on the way in September of 407.
John’s final witness rang out as eloquently as his words ever had. His death was widely seen as a stain on the imperial household. When his relics were returned to the capital in 438, the emperor Theodosius II, heir to the monarch who had condemned John, humbled himself before the saint’s casket and begged forgiveness.
John had known the praise of Palm Sunday and the desolation of Good Friday.
His Easter glory continues in our own time, as his words of his “Golden Mouth” still resound and inspire.
(Mike Aquilina is the award-winning author of more than 50 books on Catholic history, doctrine and devotion. He has hosted 11 television series and several documentary films.)
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A joint report between organizations affiliated with different Christian churches found that a significant share of people impacted by the Trump administration’s pursuit of what it has called “the largest deportation in U.S. history,” are Christian.
The report, a joint project of the National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and World Relief, found many of those vulnerable to deportation themselves — or those who have a family member vulnerable to deportation — are Christians.
Agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain a man after conducting a raid at the Cedar Run apartment complex in Denver Feb. 5, 2025. (OSV News photo/Kevin Mohatt, Reuters)
“One cannot help but ponder what our country and our lives would be like, if the same sort of restrictions and enforcement actions being contemplated today were imposed on those coming from places like Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy and elsewhere by the boat full,” Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told reporters in a press call about the report.
“You know, it’s amazing how U.S. history repeats itself, and I don’t think many of us would suggest that the way that our immigrant ancestors were treated in many cases would be a model to be followed today,” he said.
Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles — the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.
While the individual Christian organizations behind the report may support or oppose particular policies according to their beliefs, participants explained, they share a common goal of seeking to understand not only how mass deportations would impact the U.S., but also their faith communities and Christians as a whole.
According to demographic data as of the end of 2024, the report found, more than 10 million Christians living in the U.S. would be vulnerable to deportation under Trump administration policies implemented in 2025.
Christians account for approximately 80% of all of those at risk of deportation. The Christians most at risk of deportation are Catholics, 61% of the total.
At the same time, about 7 million Christians who are U.S. citizens live in the same household as someone at risk of deportation.
Overall, the report found, about one out of every 12 Christians in the U.S. — including one out of 18 evangelicals and about one out of five Catholics — are either vulnerable to deportation themselves or could see a family member deported, barring law or policy changes.
Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, pointed to a recent Lifeway Research study showing that while evangelicals have been a consistent voting bloc supporting Trump during his three presidential campaigns, most support deporting individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes, but support programs to help refugees and policies aimed at keeping families together.
“Now, sometimes it’s thought that many evangelicals are supportive of this, but in fact, most evangelical Christians do not want to see deportation on this scale, of immigrants who have not been convicted of violent crimes, who are members of our churches whose deportations would result in families being separated,” Kim said.
Stephanie Gonzalez, a teacher at a Christian school in Southern California whose parents, 55-year-old Gladys and 59-year-old Nelson Gonzalez, who have no criminal record, were recently deported to Colombia after more than 35 years in the U.S. Gonzalez said when they arrived in the U.S., they sought to follow the law, but “my parents became victims of immigration fraud and dealt with several fraudulent lawyers who took advantage of them.”
“This was just the beginning of the nightmare that my parents faced when it came to attorneys and a flawed immigration system,” Gonzalez said.
Bishop Seitz and Gonzalez both raised the point that separating families contradicts Christians’ interest in protecting strong family units.
“The separation of families is heartbreaking, and I believe the separation breaks the Lord’s heart,” Gonzalez said.
The report, titled “One Part of the Body,” is a reference to the biblical teaching that Christians form one body, composed of distinct but interdependent parts, Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, one of the largest evangelical ministries serving refugees and other immigrants, said on the call.
“When one part of the body suffers, we are all to suffer together, just as a hand cannot go about its business unaffected if a foot is in debilitating, debilitating pain,” he said. “With that biblical principle in mind, we set out to understand and quantify with this report how the Trump administration’s proposals for the largest deportation in U.S. history could impact the church in the United States. Immigrants from various countries form integral parts of the body of Christ in the U.S.”
(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.)
(OSV News) — An Arizona couple whose toddler survived a drowning incident March 2 is attributing his miraculous recovery to intercessions from Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, along with a multitude of saints and what they count as thousands of prayers from across the country and the world.
Caitlin and Wesley Robinson of suburban Phoenix told OSV News that at the hospital, doctors tried CPR for 52 minutes to revive their 15-month-old son, Vincent, who had a barely detectable, intermittent pulse since before he arrived. His father said he found their baby face down at the bottom of the family hot tub, which was not turned on.
The Robinsons said once the toddler was stable, Vincent was placed on oxygen, IV pain killers, paralytics and other sedatives. But he was not out of danger.
“Sunday (March 2), Monday, Tuesday we were preparing ourselves for a funeral, really. And so it was three days on our knees and just praying incessantly,” explained Caitlin Robinson.
The Catholic couple has eight children between ages 12 years and 15 months — all of them are named after saints who, Caitlin said, have special significance to the family. Caitlin, now expecting a ninth child, said they started praying for all of these saints’ and others’ intercession before God.
Caitlin shared they also prayed for the intercession of the departed who are not saints, but whose faith lives have had prominence in the church. Among them was the late Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, whom the Robinsons had met through a family friend, Father Joseph Hamilton, who was a secretary to the cardinal.
The cardinal spent 404 days in prison — most of it in solitary confinement — on a charge of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred in the 1990s, but his conviction was thrown out by Australia’s High Court. Its seven justices unanimously concluded “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted” based on weak evidence. Cardinal Pell credited his faith — and decision to forgive his accusers — for helping him survive the ordeal, which he chronicled in a diary, while affirming the abuse crisis was a “spiritual and moral cancer” resulting from the church too often not following the teachings of Jesus Christ. At 81, he suffered a heart attack and died Jan. 10, 2023, in Rome after a hip replacement surgery.
The Robinsons prayed for Cardinal Pell’s intercession and requested prayers from Father Hamilton, who said he would ask Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher to also pray for Vincent.
When Vincent was rushed to the hospital, Wesley Robinson immediately contacted his wife’s brother, Father Dan Connealy, based at a parish in Flagstaff, Arizona, two hours north of Phoenix.
Father Connealy told OSV News he was in shock and had an anxious drive to the Phoenix hospital, trying to steel himself for the funeral Mass that he was certain he would be offering for his baby nephew. But instead, he spent the rest of that first day at Vincent’s beside with the family and friends praying. Father Connealy asked his sister if he could contact as wide a network as possible of friends and clergy to pray for Vincent, to which Caitlin Robinson replied yes.
“It was really beautiful … a vulnerable moment where it’s like you can’t really process things. Her instinct was like, ‘Just get as many people praying as you can,'” said Father Connealy.
Among the people he contacted was a Connecticut-based priest friend, whose sister is Vincent’s godmother. The friend sent a first-class relic of Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, whose parish was St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, where his body is entombed.
Still, Caitlin Robinson was preparing herself for the worst. She said, “I was just so certain that I knew it was God’s will that we were going to lose our child and I’m ashamed that I didn’t trust more.”
But she held fast to a Catholic classic that she read in the hospital about trusting in God’s providence.
“We don’t actually ask God enough and so when we received the relic of Blessed McGivney I said, ‘OK, I’m just going to ask for total and complete healing, and I don’t think it’s going to work, but I’m going to ask for it and I trust,” said Caitlin.
15-month old Vincent Robinson is carried in the arms of the Phoenix Police officer who first arrived at the Robinsons’ home on the morning Vincent’s father found him March 2 face-down at the bottom of the family’s hot tub that was not turned on, in Phoenix March 26, 2025. The family told OSV News the child was near death when they began praying a novena March 5 to Blessed Michael McGivney with his relic. The child was completely recovered and discharged from the hospital by the novena’s conclusion. (OSV News photo / Photo courtesy of Phoenix Fire Department)
The family said the relic, along with a novena prayer, which they and a sizable network of family, friends and parishioners prayed immediately, arrived on the third day of Vincent’s hospitalization. It was Ash Wednesday. They placed the relic on the comatose boy’s chest.
By that evening, doctors said the toddler was no longer in the “end of life” stage. The couple said doctors called his turnaround “remarkable.”
Caitlin said they placed the relic on a different part of Vincent’s body each day of the novena. And each day something remarkable happened. She read from a list that she documented, recounting: an MRI that showed clear images of undamaged organs; the removal of daytime oxygen and the feeding tube without needing to reinstate either; no more fluid in the lungs; Vincent being moved from the pediatric intensive care unit to the regular floor; early on getting up, walking and lifting things; being able to eat regular food and swallowing on his own; and finally, being discharged on the ninth day.
All along the family also sought the intercession of whoever was the saint of the day, and prayed with other relics of saints that started flooding in as the call for prayers spread.
Caitlin Robinson said that on the Tuesday after the drowning, the first responders left a manila envelope at the nurses’ station that the couple did not open until they took Vincent home. Inside was a packet for making funeral arrangements.
Wesley Robinson, a 39-year-old mergers and acquisitions attorney, said he had never prayed “so intensely in my life” and that his prayer life changed after this experience.
“I feel like this is a gift and it would be a shame if we waste this opportunity for us and our kids and our community,” he said. Robinson said he wouldn’t necessarily call it “a wake up call,” but reflected miracles serve to “kind of re-energize a community or a person; to kind of re-energize their faith.”
“The reality of the church triumphant has never been so clear to us that God actually listens to our prayers like in real time,” said Caitlin, 39, referring to the Catholic concept of the church in heaven where the saints who have triumphed with Christ over evil intercede for the church on Earth, so they too can be close to Christ like they are forever.
“We should all be calling on Christ and the saints and the angels,” Caitlin said. She added, “Like I said, intellectually we know this, but to feel it in this way, it’s just amazing.”
(Simone Orendain writes for OSV News from Chicago.)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics.
However, the Vatican’s Statistical Yearbook of the Church said, 9.1 million people received their first Communion in 2023, up from 8.68 million people the previous year, and almost 7.7 million people were confirmed, up from 7.4 million people in 2022.
At the end of 2023, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.405 billion, up 1.15% from 1.389 billion Catholics at the end of 2022, according to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, which publishes the yearbook.
This came despite a smaller growth rate in the world’s population, which, for that period was 0.88%. According to the United Nations’ Demographic Yearbook, the estimated mid-year world population for 2023 was approximately 8.045 billion.
Pope Francis baptizes a baby during Mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 7, 2024, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The Vatican published its statistical yearbook offering data “on the life and activity of the church in the world in 2023” at the end of March.
The yearbook cautioned that its numbers were based on the information it received back from its surveys and that of 3,188 dioceses and other jurisdictions about 140 did not send information.
The number of Catholics “does not include those in countries that because of their present situation have not been included in the survey,” it said, adding that it estimated that number to be about an additional 5 million Catholics. Mainland China and North Korea, for example, had no data in the yearbook.
The percentage of Catholics as part of the global and continental populations remained about the same as in 2022. Catholics represented about 17.8% of the global population at the end of 2023, it said. The highest proportion is in the Americas with 64.2% of its population being baptized Catholic. Europe follows with 39.6% and Oceania with 25.9%. In Africa, 19.8% of the population is Catholic and the lowest proportion of Catholics by continent is Asia with 3.3%.
While the number of Catholics is increasing, the administration of the sacrament of baptism has continued to decrease worldwide, according to the yearbook. It fell from 17,932,891 baptisms administered in 1998 to 13,327,037 in 2022 and 13,150,780 in 2023. A peak was reported during the Holy Year 2000 when 18,408,076 baptisms were administered worldwide.
The yearbook said the “general downward trend in the relative number of baptisms” has been “following closely the trend in the birthrate in most countries.”
It said the ratio of infant baptisms to the Catholic population is of “great significance” because it notes differences between one country and another. While the world average is 7.4 infant baptisms per 1,000 Catholics, the highest ratios are in American Samoa (71.2), several islands in Oceania (37.7 to 21.8), followed by Burundi (23.6), Cambodia (22.3), Timor Leste (20.3) and Myanmar (20.1). The lowest ratios are in Armenia, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, Tunisia and Algeria (below 1) followed by Russia and Djibouti (1.1).
The total number of adult baptisms registered in 2023 was 2,696,521, which is about 20% of the total number of baptisms. The highest proportion of adult baptisms is in Africa (35.9%) and the lowest is in Europe and the Middle East.
The Catholic Church had 5,430 bishops at the end of 2023, an increase of 77 bishops from 2022. The majority of them are serving in the Americas and Europe.
The total number of diocesan and religious order priests decreased by 734 men to a total of 406,996, the Vatican office said. The only significant increase in the number of diocesan and religious order priests was in Africa and Asia, which was not enough to offset the declines in the Americas and Europe.
While the number of religious-order priests had increased by 297 men in 2022, the number went down to 128,254 in 2023, about what it had been in 2021. The number of diocesan priests continued to decrease globally with 278,742 men at the end of 2023.
The yearbook also offered a chart tracking the overall change to the number of diocesan clergy from 2013 to 2023 by calculating how many of those already serving were newly ordained, minus those who died and those who left the priesthood. It showed there was modest growth from 2013 to 2016 (0.31% to 0.05%) followed by a negative rate starting in 2017 that peaked in 2020 during the pandemic (-0.73%). The rate was recorded at -0.45% in 2021 and -0.12% in 2022.
The number of Catholics per priest increased slightly to 3,453 from 3,408 Catholics per priest in 2022.
The total number of religious brothers continued to decrease in 2023 from 49,414 to 48,748 and the total number of religious women, it said, was down to 589,423 from 599,228 at the end of 2022 — a decrease of 9,805 women or 1.64%.
The number of permanent deacons continued to increase. There were 51,433 permanent deacons at the end of 2023 — a 2.54% increase over the previous year, with the highest numbers being in the Americas.
The number of seminarians continued to decrease globally with a 1.67% average rate of decline from 2018 to 2023. There were 106,495 seminarians at the end of 2023 with the only growth — 383 men — being in Africa.
The number of Catholic weddings celebrated around the world in 2023 was down from 1.97 million in 2022 to 1.85 million; of those, about 10.3% involved a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic.
Por Kate Scanlon WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Un informe conjunto entre organizaciones afiliadas a diferentes iglesias cristianas encontró que una parte significativa de las personas impactadas por la administración Trump en su búsqueda de lo que ha llamado “la mayor deportación en la historia de EE.UU.”, son cristianos.
El informe, un proyecto conjunto de la Asociación Nacional de Evangélicos, los Servicios de Migración y Refugiados de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos, el Centro para el Estudio del Cristianismo Global del Seminario Teológico Gordon-Conwell y World Relief, encontró que muchos de los que son vulnerables a la deportación ellos mismos – o los que tienen un familiar vulnerable a la deportación – son cristianos.
“Uno no puede dejar de preguntarse cómo serían nuestro país y nuestras vidas si el mismo tipo de restricciones y medidas coercitivas que se contemplan hoy en día se impusieran a los que vienen en barco desde lugares como Irlanda, Alemania, Polonia, Italia y otros lugares”, dijo el obispo Mark J. Seitz de El Paso, Texas, a los periodistas en una conferencia de prensa sobre el informe.
“Es increíble cómo se repite la historia de Estados Unidos, y no creo que muchos de nosotros sugiramos que la forma en que nuestros antepasados inmigrantes fueron tratados en muchos casos sea un modelo a seguir hoy en día”, dijo.
Agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) detienen a un hombre después de llevar a cabo una redada en el complejo de apartamentos Cedar Run en Denver el 5 de febrero de 2025. (Foto OSV News/Kevin Mohatt, Reuters)
La doctrina social católica sobre inmigración equilibra tres principios interrelacionados: el derecho de las personas a emigrar para mantener sus vidas y las de sus familias, el derecho de un país a regular sus fronteras y controlar la inmigración, y el deber de una nación de regular sus fronteras con justicia y misericordia. Los participantes explicaron que, si bien las organizaciones cristianas que respaldan el informe pueden apoyar u oponerse a determinadas políticas en función de sus creencias, comparten el objetivo común de intentar comprender no sólo cómo afectarían las deportaciones masivas a Estados Unidos, sino también a sus comunidades religiosas y a los cristianos en su conjunto.
De acuerdo con los datos demográficos a finales de 2024, según el informe, más de 10 millones de cristianos que viven en los EE.UU. serían vulnerables a la deportación bajo las políticas de la administración Trump implementadas en 2025.
Los cristianos representan aproximadamente el 80% de todas las personas en riesgo de deportación. Los cristianos con mayor riesgo de deportación son los católicos, el 61% del total.
Al mismo tiempo, alrededor de 7 millones de cristianos que son ciudadanos estadounidenses viven en el mismo hogar que alguien en riesgo de deportación.
En general, según el informe, aproximadamente uno de cada 12 cristianos en Estados Unidos –incluidos uno de cada 18 evangélicos y uno de cada cinco católicos – es vulnerable a la deportación o podría ver cómo deportan a un miembro de su familia, salvo que se produzcan cambios legislativos o políticos. Walter Kim, presidente de la Asociación Nacional de Evangélicos, señaló un reciente estudio de Lifeway Research que muestra que, si bien los evangélicos han sido un bloque de votantes consistente que apoyó a Trump durante sus tres campañas presidenciales, la mayoría apoya la deportación de individuos que han sido condenados por crímenes violentos, pero también apoya programas para ayudar a los refugiados y políticas destinadas a mantener unidas a las familias.
“Ahora, a veces se piensa que muchos evangélicos apoyan esto, pero de hecho, la mayoría de los cristianos evangélicos no quieren ver deportaciones a esta escala, de inmigrantes que no han sido condenados por crímenes violentos, que son miembros de nuestras iglesias cuyas deportaciones resultarían en familias separadas”, dijo Kim.
Stephanie González, profesora de una escuela cristiana en el sur de California, cuyos padres, Gladys de 55 años y Nelson González de 59, que no tienen antecedentes penales, fueron deportados recientemente a Colombia después de más de 35 años en EE.UU. González dijo que cuando llegaron a EE.UU., trataron de seguir la ley, pero “mis padres se convirtieron en víctimas de fraude migratorio y trataron con varios abogados fraudulentos que se aprovecharon de ellos”.
“Esto fue sólo el comienzo de la pesadilla a la que se enfrentaron mis padres cuando se trataba de abogados y de un sistema migratorio defectuoso”, dijo González.
Tanto el obispo Seitz como González plantearon que separar a las familias contradice el interés de los cristianos por proteger unidades familiares fuertes.
“La separación de las familias es desgarradora, y creo que la separación rompe el corazón del Señor”, dijo González.
El informe, titulado “Una parte del cuerpo”, es una referencia a la enseñanza bíblica de que los cristianos forman un solo cuerpo, compuesto de partes distintas pero interdependientes, dijo Matthew Soerens, vicepresidente de defensa y política de World Relief, uno de los mayores ministerios evangélicos que sirven a refugiados y otros inmigrantes.
“Cuando una parte del cuerpo sufre, todos debemos sufrir juntos, del mismo modo que una mano no puede seguir con sus quehaceres sin verse afectada si un pie sufre un dolor debilitante y atroz”, afirmó. “Con ese principio bíblico en mente, nos propusimos entender y cuantificar con este informe cómo las propuestas de la administración Trump para la mayor deportación en la historia de Estados Unidos podrían impactar a la iglesia en Estados Unidos. Los inmigrantes de diversos países forman parte integral del cuerpo de Cristo en Estados Unidos.”
(Kate Scanlon es una reportera nacional de OSV News que cubre Washington. Síguela en X @kgscanlon.)
