The Catholic Church in East Saint James Parish

null / Credit: Wolfgang Schaller|Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Denver and a coalition of Catholic preschools are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to access a Colorado universal preschool program.

The petition to the high court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in September that Colorado may continue to exclude Catholic preschools from its Universal Preschool Program because of their religious beliefs.

Catholic preschools in Denver ask teachers and families to sign a pledge promising to uphold their religious mission, including teachings on sexuality and gender identity. The Colorado preschool program’s nondiscrimination clause, however, requires schools to uphold provisions on sexual orientation and “gender identity.”

Two Catholic parish preschools and the Denver Archdiocese first filed suit in August 2023 against the requirement.

In a Nov. 14 press release, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — which has represented the schools and the archdiocese in the lawsuit — said the Catholic schools “are asking the Supreme Court to ensure that Colorado makes good on its promise of universal preschool.”

“Colorado is picking winners and losers based on the content of their religious beliefs,” Nick Reaves, a senior lawyer at Becket, said in the release. 

“That sort of religious discrimination flies in the face of our nation’s traditions and decades of Supreme Court rulings,” he said. “We’re asking the court to step in and make sure ‘universal’ preschool really is universal.” 

Scott Elmer, who serves as chief mission officer for the Denver Archdiocese, said the schools are seeking “the ability to offer families who choose a Catholic education the same access to free preschool services that’s available at thousands of other preschools across Colorado.”

Becket in its press release said the Colorado rules have had a “predictable effect” in which “enrollment at Catholic preschools has swiftly declined, while two Catholic preschools have shuttered their doors.”

The law group said the lower court rulings go against recent Supreme Court decisions on religious freedom, including Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which held that the Montana Constitution’s bar on public funding of religious institutions violated the First Amendment.

In May the Supreme Court declined to rule in a contentious case involving what was proposed to be the nation’s first religious charter school, leaving untouched a lower court ruling that forbade the Oklahoma Catholic institution from accessing state funds.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order related to foster care and foster parents on Nov. 13, 2025. / Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to improve the nation’s foster care system, including the modernization of the current child welfare system, the development of partnerships with private sector organizations, and prioritizing the participation of those with sincerely held religious beliefs.

The executive order issued Nov. 13 states that the Trump administration is “dedicated to empowering mothers and fathers to raise their children in safe and loving homes.”

The order says current problems with the foster care system include overworked caseworkers, antiquated information systems, and policies that “prohibit qualified families from serving children in need as foster and adoptive parents because of their sincerely-held religious beliefs or adherence to basic biological truths.”

The legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has represented Christian families who were barred from serving as foster parents because of their faith, suing on behalf of Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt after the Vermont Department for Children and Families informed the two families that their belief that persons cannot change biological sex and that marriage is only between a man and a woman precluded them from serving as foster parents in the state.

Despite describing the Wuotis and the Gantts as “amazing,” “wonderful,” and “welcoming,” state officials revoked the couples’ foster care licenses after they expressed those beliefs. The state said these beliefs made them “unqualified” to parent any child, regardless of the child’s age, beliefs, or identity. 

ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, who represents the Wuotis, Gantts, and other Christian families who are prohibited from fostering in lawsuits in Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, told CNA that he hopes the executive order will lead to the states “prioritizing the best interests of children rather than ideological agendas.”

In the face of shortages of foster families, he said the states should be “pursuing a big tent, welcoming as many loving families as possible. But they’re doing the opposite while children who need foster care are sleeping in unlicensed  group homes, police stations, and hospitals.” 

Trump’s executive order directs the department of Health and Human Services, the White House Faith Office, and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to “take appropriate action to address state and local policies and practices that inappropriately prohibit participation in federally-funded child-welfare programs by qualified individuals or organizations based upon their sincerely-held religious beliefs or moral convictions.” 

It also directs those agencies to “increase partnerships between agencies and faith-based organizations and houses of worship to serve families” involved with the foster care system. 

Widmalm-Delphonse told CNA it is “difficult to say how the states will respond” to the executive order, indicating that he hopes either the order or the pending lawsuits will lead to changes in their “discriminatory” policies against families of faith.  

“The path the states should take is obvious: It’s a win-win when you open up foster care to people of faith and put the interests of children first,” he said.

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge leads the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Diocese of Arlington

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 15, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said the country can simultaneously protect its borders and treat immigrants with respect.

In a Nov. 14 interview with “EWTN News Nightly,” Burbidge said the U.S. bishops’ special message on immigration in the United States is a call for respect of the human dignity that belongs to every person as a child of God.

The bishops voted to approve the statement on Nov. 12 at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore. The message said bishops oppose “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” It is rooted in Jesus’ teachings, Burbidge said.

The bishops have called for a meaningful immigration law “that will provide safe pathways” to citizenship, Burbidge said. “There’s not an easy solution, but there has to be a solution.”

“The bishops understand that a country, of course, has a right to protect its borders for the sake of the common good, but at all times must treat persons with respect,” Burbidge said. He also said the country must do everything possible so people don’t live in distress.

‘Fear and anxiety’

Pastors in the bishops’ dioceses have said the execution of immigration laws is “causing a lot of fear and anxiety,” Burbidge said. The bishops are continuing to minister to immigrants who are “contributing to the good of the Church” and “the good of our communities,” he said.

“We’re representing those who seek no harm to our country, who only want to do good, and we want them to be treated with the respect that is necessary,” Burbidge said. “Again, we also say this does not have to be in conflict with a country protecting itself.” 

“We express gratitude to our elected officials for the dialogue that we have had in the past and hopefully that we will continue to have. We love our country. We love the immigrants who have contributed to our country, and we would like our country to be freed from this violence, from rhetoric, from fear,” Burbidge said. 

“There has to be a way that we can live together in harmony, and we want to work together,” Burbidge said.

St. John Paul II. / Credit: Adrian Tusar/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new Vatican-set thriller based on a true story is currently in the works, according to Variety.

“Santo Subito!” will follow Father Joseph Murolo, an American priest asked by the Vatican to serve as the “devil’s advocate” in the investigation of Pope John Paul II’s life and his path to sainthood.

The film will take place after the pontiff’s death and follows Murolo, who “must make sure that nothing undermines the sanctification of Karol Wojtyla, the first non-Italian pope in 450 years,” the synopsis reads, as he interviews candidates and witnesses. The description goes on to say that the priest will navigate a “moral labyrinth” that will “put his own faith to the test.”

Murolo will be played by actor Mark Ruffalo, known for his role as Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, in “The Avengers” movies.

Filming is expected to begin on March 9, 2026, on location in Italy and Poland.

“The film offers a genuine behind-the-scenes investigation of the Vatican world, while also taking us into the deeper realm of faith and values,” a co-producer of the film, Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, said. “The script itself is a page-turner, and I can’t imagine any audience remaining indifferent to Father Murolo’s journey.” 

In the canonization process of the Catholic Church, the “advocatus diaboli,” or the devil’s advocate, was established to ensure rigorous scrutiny of a candidate’s life, virtues, and reported miracles. The role’s purpose was to consider all possible doubts and inconsistencies, and to present evidence that might challenge claims of holiness, so that only those truly worthy would be declared saints.

However, in 1983, Pope John Paul II reformed the process through the apostolic constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister, changing the role of the devil’s advocate, also known as the “promoter of faith.” The emphasis shifted from an adversarial model to one more focused on collecting and verifying evidence, with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints overseeing the process.

null / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life- and abortion-related news:

Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed nationwide in 2025

Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed this year due to Medicaid and Title X funding cuts, according to a recent Planned Parenthood report.  

Planned Parenthood has closed 20 facilities since federal defunding earlier this year following a round of nearly 50 other closures. 

President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act prevented federal taxpayer dollars from being used to subsidize abortion providers for one year, meaning abortion providers don’t currently qualify for federal Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Rather than giving up abortion offerings, abortion providers like Planned Parenthood are closing clinics across the country. 

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the defunding “cruel.” 

“They are intentionally dismantling health care for patients most in need and pushing Planned Parenthood health centers further to the financial brink,” Johnson said in a Nov. 12 statement.

Community health centers, meanwhile, vastly outnumbered Planned Parenthood locations in the U.S., according to a report by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.

There are “more than 8,800 community health centers that provide comprehensive care to vulnerable populations and offer women’s health services, in comparison to just 579 Planned Parenthood centers as of spring 2025,” a Charlotte Lozier Institute report reads.

Group to fund ultrasound machines in states where abortion is legal 

A leading Christian group is launching a program to place ultrasound machines in states where abortion is legal.

The Across State Lines program, launched by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), is meant to be “lifesaving” and “missional,” according to organizers.  

Across State Lines will work with Baptist state conventions to place the machines. 

Gary Hollingsworth, ERLC interim president, said Southern Baptists “stand firmly on the truth that God has created all people, from the moment of conception, in his image and endowed them with the right to life.”  

He said he hopes the ultrasounds will help mothers “see this truth.”

The Psalm 139 Project will fund the cost of ultrasound machines and training. 

Rachel Wiles, who directs the Psalm 139 Project, said the project is about “serving vulnerable women” with a “missional” attitude. 

“Southern Baptists are strongly pro-life and are missional people — whether ministering to others across an ocean or across the street,” Wiles said. 

“In the same way, we are asking those who live in more conservative states with pro-life laws to consider reaching across state lines with a missional mindset, ultimately saving preborn lives and supporting mothers who face unplanned pregnancies,” Wiles said.

Pro-life group to invest $80 million in midterms 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA) is investing $80 million in the 2026 midterm elections to preserve a pro-life majority in the U.S. House and Senate in battleground states.

SBA, along with Women Speak Out PAC, plans to reach 10.5 million voters through canvassing, advertising, mail, and early vote campaigns, prioritizing pro-life voters who do not vote consistently in midterm elections.

According to an SBA press release, campaigners will make 4.5 million home visits to voters in battleground states such as Iowa, Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina. 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA, said pro-life voters “are the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” referring to a CNN poll that found that President Donald Trump would not have won the election if 1% to 2% of pro-life voters had stayed home.

“The party that once claimed the position of ‘safe, legal, and rare’ is now the party of abortion anytime, anywhere, paid for by the taxpayer,” Dannenfelser said in a statement. 

Residents carrying their belongings, wade through a flooded street in Mandaue City, Cebu province on Nov. 4, 2025, after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit overnight. / Credit: Alan Tangcawan/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:13 pm (CNA).

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) revealed emergency relief efforts in the Philippines began before Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall, thanks to a new law the humanitarian workers championed. 

“Together with the Tagbilaran City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and other local leaders, we worked on getting families evacuated and helped organize some community briefings,” said Jonas Tetangco, CRS Philippines country representative. 

“All of the work we were able to do before Typhoon Kalmaegi hit is in part due to recently-passed legislation,” he said. “RA 12287 is the world’s first national legislation that enables work to be done prior to a dangerous natural disaster. We are proud to have contributed to the legislation and thankful for the work it allows us to do, including help communities prepare for these kinds of events and minimize their impact.”

CRS also distributed shelter vouchers worth about $100 to nearly 500 families in Tagbilaran City. “These vouchers allowed families to buy materials to protect and reinforce their homes from the rain and strong winds,” he said.

After the typhoon swept through the Philippines earlier this week, CRS teams “traveled to the hardest-hit areas” and began working in tandem with Caritas Philippines “to evaluate the most urgent needs,” according to Tetangco.

Regarding conditions on the ground, Tetangco told CNA: “We’ve received several reports of roads and bridges that are still damaged and impassable. Local governments are managing evacuation centers, passing out food and water to families, trying to restore roadways, and working on getting power and phone lines back up and running.”

“Families here still need food, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, and emergency shelter materials like tarps and blankets,” he said, adding: “Families across the Philippines need prayers right now. The country has experienced several typhoons and destructive earthquakes.”

U.S. Border czar Tom Homan defended the morality of the Trump administration’s enforcement policies. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 15:13 pm (CNA).

Border czar Tom Homan strongly opposed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) “special message” on immigration, saying the statement would encourage people to make a dangerous trek to the United States.

Homan told EWTN News on Nov. 14 that the “Catholic Church is wrong. I’m sorry. I’m a lifelong Catholic. I’m saying it as not only a border czar. I’ll say it as a Catholic. I think they need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church in my opinion.”

The bishops approved the message on immigration at the 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 12. “We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” the message said.

More than 95% of the American bishops voted to support the message. The bishops said in the message they “are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ” and “are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”

The bishops’ message cited Scripture such as Luke 10:30-37, referring to the good Samaritan who “lifts us from the dust,” and Matthew 25, in which “we see the One who is found in the least of these.” Floor debate on the measure included bishops’ discussion of “the One” referring to the face of Jesus Christ as seen in the migrant.

“The Church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as he has loved us (John 13:34),” the statement said.

Homan said: “So according to [the bishops] the message we should send to the whole world is: ‘If you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it. If you get … removed by a federal judge, that’s due process, don’t worry about it, because there shouldn’t be mass deportations.’” 

He added: “If that’s the message we send the whole world, people are still going to put themselves in harm’s way to come to the greatest nation on earth.” 

“We saw during the Biden administration, when there was no immigration enforcement, over 4,000 aliens died making that journey” and “40 million Americans died from fentanyl,” Homan said. Homan said he wants the Catholic Church to understand that secure borders save lives. 

U.S. bishops acknowledged the need for secure borders in their special message, writing: “We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good.” 

Homan said: “We’re going to enforce the law, and by doing that, we’re saving a lot of lives. One of the reasons no one talks about why we have the most secure border in the history of this nation is because [of] exactly what ICE is doing.” 

“ICE has sent a message to the whole world: ‘Don’t give your life savings to come to [the] country, because you’re not gonna be released. You’re not going to cross [the] border illegally. You’re going to be prosecuted,’” Homan said.

President Donald Trump expanded use of deportations without a court hearing this year and ramped up federal law enforcement efforts to identify and arrest immigrants lacking legal status. The administration set a goal of 1 million deportations this year.

Besides criticizing the bishops’ opposition to indiscriminate mass deportation, Trump administration officials also have condemned an “activist judge” who issued a temporary restraining order mandating cleanliness and hygiene standards as well as adequate legal representation at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Illinois. Court records, advocacy groups, and detainees’ reports have included claims about the stench of sweat, urine, and feces at U.S. immigration facilities, worm-infested slop, and an insufficient supply of menstrual products.

‘Worst of the worst’

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Nov. 14 statement to CNA: “DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists. 70% of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S. This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc. The list goes on.”

McLaughlin said: “We are a nation of laws, and, as America’s largest law enforcement agency, DHS is committed to enforcing those laws, all of which are just. Lawbreakers should unquestionably be living in a ‘climate of fear and anxiety,’ that they will be caught and sent home.”

In San Bernardino, California, Bishop Alberto Rojas granted a dispensation in July from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for those within the diocese who fear deportation. The Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, similarly indicated in May that “no Catholic is obligated to attend Mass on Sunday if doing so puts their safety at risk.”

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 4 said: “Many people who’ve lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now.” Leo invited authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of detainees.

He reminded that “Jesus says very clearly … at the end of the world, we’re going to be asked … how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not? And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is among the New York prelates who condemn the deportations of migrants who are seeking refugee status in the United States and criticize the government’s actions to strip some asylum seekers of temporary protected status in a Nov. 14, 2025, statement. / Credit: U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 13:58 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of New York issued a joint statement that condemns the deportations of migrants who are seeking refugee status in the United States.

“We do not support the sweeping revocation of the temporary protected status that was granted to many migrants who arrived in this country to escape the horrors occurring in their own, and who have justifiably relied upon the legal protections our government offered to them,” the statement said.

“Such persons should not be subject to the arbitrary cancellation of their legal status and threatened with a sudden return to the troubled and dangerous nations from which they fled,” the bishops added.

The Nov. 13 statement, titled “For You Too Were Once Aliens,” was published by the New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC). Every bishop who leads a diocese in New York, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, signed onto the statement.

It comes one day after the USCCB issued a unified statement to oppose “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” More than 95% of the voting bishops agreed with the special message, with 216 voting to approve it, five voting against it, and three abstaining.

The New York bishops wrote that “many … refugee migrants have come to New York,” some of whom have been granted refugee status, asylum status, or temporary protected status, while others are given no legal status.

“Some have arrived from war-torn countries like Ukraine and Afghanistan; others from Central or South America have fled poverty, authoritarian governments, and drug cartels that made life in their country of origin dangerous for themselves and their families,” they wrote.

“Most of these migrants — the majority, our neighbors — are good people who arrived on our shores seeking a better life,” they added.

Former President Joe Biden expanded the temporary protected status program by adding six countries, including Venezuela, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. President Donald Trump has worked to remove this designation from nine countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan.

Bishops invoke Mother Cabrini

The bishops invoked St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, commonly known as Mother Cabrini, in their statement. She immigrated from Italy to the United States and “established, with God’s grace, numerous charitable institutions and schools to serve those finding their way in a new land,” the bishops noted. 

The statement cited Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, which says the Church “knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”

The bishops also cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that prosperous nations “are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.” It adds: “Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”

In the statement, the bishops acknowledged that “sadly, as in any group, some have exploited the system and committed serious crimes and other misdeeds” and wrote “those immigrants or refugees who commit crimes should face the appropriate criminal and civil penalties, including deportation.” 

“At the same time, general enforcement of the immigration laws must be carried out in a humane manner that does not target the hardworking and law-abiding; that does not permit the wanton and unnecessary separation of families; and that does not rely on campaigns of fear that cripple whole communities,” they wrote.

The bishops called on the intercession of Mother Cabrini, who is the patron saint of migrants, and asked Catholics to sign onto the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) “The Cabrini Pledge,” which calls for solidarity with migrants.

“We seek her intercession for the concerns we have mentioned,” they wrote. “By joining us in signing the pledge, you commit your prayers and energy for the welcome, protection, promotion, and integration of migrants.”

null / Credit: Srppateros via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 12:04 pm (CNA).

While the Vatican issued new guidance that encourages limits on the use of certain Marian titles out of a concern that they may overstate the Blessed Mother’s role in redemption and mediation, the intra-Catholic debate on the subject has continued.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), issued a doctrinal note with the formal approval of Pope Leo XIV that reaffirms Mary’s “unique cooperation” in God’s plan for salvation but expresses worry about two titles sometimes employed to communicate her role: Mary as Co-Redemptrix/Co-Redeemer and Mary as Mediatrix/Mediator.

According to the doctrinal note, using the title “Co-Redemptrix” to explain Mary’s role “would not be appropriate.” The document’s language for the title “Mediatrix” was less harsh but says “if misunderstood, it could easily obscure or even contradict” Mary’s role in mediation.

The beginning of the document lays out a biblical foundation of Mary’s cooperation in salvation, beginning with her “yes” to the archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation through to her presence at the Passion and standing before Jesus Christ at the foot of the cross.

It explains Mary is not just “a passive instrument in the hands of God” but is “freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience,” citing Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1964. This cooperation extends “throughout the life of the Church.”

Mary’s cooperation, however, should never be misconstrued to mitigate “Christ’s sole mediation … in the work of salvation” or suggest Mary’s role is equal to his, according to the doctrinal note. Due to the need of “explaining Mary’s subordinate role to Christ” when “Co-Redemptrix” is used, the doctrinal note asks Catholics to not use it at all.

“When an expression requires many, repeated explanations to prevent it from straying from a correct meaning, it does not serve the faith of the people of God and becomes unhelpful,” the note adds.

The document further explains Mary’s subordinate mediator role but adds “special prudence is required when applying the term ‘Mediatrix’ to Mary.”

It adds: “We cannot talk of any other mediation in grace apart from that of the incarnate Son of God.” It warned of “a tendency to broaden the scope of Mary’s cooperation through this title” and asked Catholics to “specify the range of its value as well as its limits.”

Tom Nash, a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, told CNA that the document helps to clearly explain Mary’s unique subordinate role by avoiding titles that “blur proper doctrinal distinctions between the Blessed Mother and her Divine Son” in some cases.

“The DDF doctrinal note helps proclaim clearly Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel anew to a new generation, while also reaffirming his Blessed Mother as the Mother of God, our spiritual mother, and thus our great intercessor,” he said.

Nash said he expects to see “a shift away from using these Marian titles” from theologians. He said those inclined to use those titles will likely “make efforts to provide explanatory disclaimers if they do use them on occasion, as a means to preempt any doctrinal confusion.”

Frustration among some scholars

Not every Catholic academic has received the doctrinal note warmly, due to the long-standing historical use of both titles and an effort by some of the faithful for the Church to declare a fifth Marian dogma about Mary’s role in redemption and mediation.

Nash said he believes that effort “has been short-circuited” as a consequence of the doctrinal note.

Mark Miravalle, a theologian at Franciscan University and proponent of a declaration of a fifth Marian dogma, questioned the rationale of abandoning a title because it “has to be explained,” telling CNA that many teachings of the Church need deep explanations, including the Trinity, papal infallibility, transubstantiation, and currently defined Marian dogmas.

“I think that kind of begs the question of the Immaculate Conception and the [title] ‘Mother of God,’ which has to be repeatedly explained,” he said.

Miravalle said the doctrinal note has “understandably caused a lot of confusion” because “so many popes, saints, [and] mystics … have used the titles.” The document does note that St. John Paul II did use the term “Co-Redemptrix” but that Pope Francis was opposed to it, as was Pope Benedict XVI when he was still a cardinal.

Laurie Olsen, the author of the 2024 book “Mary & the Church at Vatican II,” also expressed reservations about the doctrinal note and emphasized that the title “Mediatrix” was included in the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium.

She told CNA the council fathers had an “in-depth theological discussion about the term” and its inclusion in the document was very intentional, despite a coordinated campaign to have it taken out.

Of the council fathers who expressed a clear opinion on the title “Mediatrix,” she said 87 opinions were submitted by 678 council fathers supporting it and 45 opinions were submitted by 540 council fathers opposing it, showing “a clear majority favors the term.” Additionally, she said 275 requested the language about Mary’s mediation be made stronger, which is “the single most requested change.”

Though “Co-Redemptrix” is not used in the council, Olsen said “mediation is the overall umbrella,” which includes “Mary’s role in the objective redemption.”

Both terms, Olsen said, respect the fact that Mary “is always subordinate to Christ,” which was always the understanding when they were employed. She said: “It is only because Christ is our redeemer that Mary is playing a part in his work.”

She does not think this will prevent theological discussions about the subject but rather said the doctrinal note “gives us an opportunity to continue to explore and clarify what we mean when we talk about Mary’s role in the redemption.”

Miravalle said he thinks the doctrinal note will likely “galvanize the movement” for declaring a fifth Marian dogma. He said the comment about the titles does not shut down any theological discussion about Mary’s unique cooperation in redemption and said the doctrines themselves are more important than the titles.

“I would hope that [this] would not be considered a final word,” he said. “Final words are usually reserved for dogmatic statements, which I think would be wonderful.”

Father Stephen Gutgsell. / Credit: Archdiocese of Omaha

CNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).

An Iowa man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty in October to stabbing a Nebraska priest to death in 2023. 

Kierre Williams last month pleaded guilty to the assault that claimed the life of Father Stephen Gutgsell. Williams broke into the rectory of St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Calhoun on Dec. 10, 2023, and stabbed Gutgsell, who later died of his injuries at a hospital. 

Williams himself was arrested shortly thereafter. He originally argued that he was not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity before changing his plea to guilty last month. 

Washington County Chief Deputy Attorney Erik Petersen said in court this week that the murder “shattered the innocence” of the small town of Fort Calhoun.

“I’m hoping this court’s sentence will bring some peace to the citizens” of the town, he said, according to local media reports.

Gutgsell’s sister Therese Hupf, meanwhile, said in court that his family “cannot, even today, fully grasp his absence.” 

“He was stolen from his family and his parish family, who are hurting beyond words,” she said. 

Gutgsell’s funeral was held at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha followed by his burial at nearby Calvary Cemetery. He was 65 years old at the time of his death. 

The priest grew up in Omaha and attended the College of St. Thomas — now the University of St. Thomas — and St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota. He was ordained in 1984. In addition to his priestly ministries he taught adult education including Bible study, sacramental preparation, and Church history.