The Catholic Church in East Saint James Parish

Archbishop Timothy Broglio speaks at Mass on Dec. 3, 2023. / Credit: The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 18:04 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, expressed concern that the U.S. Army is not adequately addressing its discontent with canceled religious contracts, which the archdiocese said is straining its ability to minister to Catholics in the armed forces.

This month, the Army canceled all contracts for three roles: coordinators of religious education (CRE), Catholic pastoral life coordinators (CPLC), and musicians. The contract terminations affected Catholics and those of other faiths.

CREs served as catechists trained by the archdiocese to assist the priests in religious education in the military chapels. The archdiocese also trained CPLCs who offered administrative support such as liturgy coordination, assistance with sacramental record documentation, and weekly bulletin preparation. Contracts also included musicians, usually pianists who played music during Mass.

Military Services Archbishop Timothy Broglio sent a letter to Congress on Oct. 17 saying Army officials assured him that religious affairs specialists (RAS) and directors of religious education (DREs) — federal employees — would accommodate the needs of the archdiocese amid the canceled contracts but that he believes this is not possible.

Neither an RAS nor a DRE is a trained catechist, he explained, and neither are properly trained or qualified to perform the roles of people who served in the canceled contracts. There is no requirement for a DRE to be Catholic or for an RAS to have any faith.

In response to the archdiocesan complaint, an Army spokesperson told CNA it would reexamine its contract support for RASs and DREs “to mitigate any potential impact during this period.“

Archdiocese: Response is ‘wholly inadequate’

Elizabeth A. Tomlin, a lawyer for the archdiocese, told CNA that the Army’s response is “wholly inadequate” and “demonstrates the spokesperson’s total lack of understanding of the issue.”

“Merely eight DREs across the entire Army are Catholics, so most DREs are not qualified to direct Catholic religious education,” Tomlin said.

“[RASs] are soldiers, [usually] anywhere from private first class to staff sergeant in rank,” she explained. “There is no requirement whatsoever for RASs to be Catholic or have any training in catechesis or catechetical methodology that could possibly equip them to coordinate religious education.”

Tomlin rejected the Army’s assertion that people in these positions could fulfill the work of the CREs, CPLCs, or musicians.

“Without meeting the basic requirement of a catechist, namely, to be a confirmed Catholic, these people are not qualified to be involved in Catholic religious education programs whatsoever,” she said.

Tomlin said the only way to have music during Mass is if someone volunteers.

“It is factually inaccurate that DREs or RASs are fulfilling the duties of CREs, CPLCs, or liturgical musicians,” Tomlin said.

‘No knowledge of our faith’

Jena Swanson — who worked as a Catholic CRE at Fort Drum from August 2024 until her contract was canceled on March 31, 2025 — told CNA she agrees with the archdiocese’s assessment that those employees cannot fulfill the roles of those whose contracts were canceled.

She said she helped facilitate religious education classes, Bible studies, sacrament preparation classes, and retreats, and collected sacramental records, among a variety of other tasks. She said she mostly worked independently of the DRE because that employee did not have much knowledge about the Catholic faith.

“The DRE is not guaranteed to be Catholic depending on the installation military families are stationed at,” Swanson said. “In our 13 years of military family life (my husband is active duty Army), we’ve experienced one Catholic DRE and only for two years.”

She said in her experience, RASs “are as helpful as they can be” but often “have no knowledge of our faith.”

Swanson said the Catholic community at Fort Drum “was thrown into a bit of chaos” once her contract ended. Some weeks there were no teachers for religious education, families did not know whom to direct questions to, and weekly Mass attendance dropped about 50%.

“Our families want answers and want to continue coming to our parish, but if these options are not open it will drastically affect attendance and faith formation,” Swanson said.

Bishop Edward Malesic addresses the First Friday Club of Cleveland on Feb. 10, 2022. / Credit: Diocese of Cleveland

CNA Staff, Oct 22, 2025 / 17:04 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Cleveland has confirmed that the Vatican granted permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at two diocesan churches for an additional two years. 

The extension applies to St. Mary’s Church in Akron and St. Stephen’s in Cleveland, both of which, according to the Catholic Herald, had previously been granted limited approval to continue celebrating the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. 

At both parishes, diocesan priests say the Masses, rather than priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter or the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, as sometimes occurs in other dioceses.

In an email to CNA, Nancy Fishburn, executive director of communications for the Diocese of Cleveland, said: “The Holy See granted a two-year extension of permission for the two remaining diocesan celebrations of the Latin Mass within the Diocese of Cleveland.” 

Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes has restricted the use of the pre-Vatican II Mass by requiring Vatican approval for its celebration in parish churches, placing oversight directly under the Holy See. Bishops must now obtain authorization from the Vatican to permit the older form of the Roman rite in their dioceses.

It is unclear when Cleveland Bishop Edward C. Malesic requested the extension. Fishburn told CNA she had no further information.  

The extension of the TLM in Cleveland comes even as other dioceses are seeing its cancellation. 

In the Diocese of Knoxville last week, Bishop Mark Beckman informed the TLM community in an Oct. 14 letter that “by Jan. 1, 2026, every Latin Mass in the diocese will be celebrated using the 2002 Roman Missal ensuring consistency with the Church’s approved liturgical books while preserving the beauty and reverence you cherish.”

Beckman wrote that he had consulted with the three pastors in the diocese who currently celebrate the TLM, assuring parishioners that the transition away from the extraordinary form was “being handled with utmost pastoral sensitivity and care, honoring both your devotion to the sacred liturgy and the Church’s living tradition.” 

In the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, meanwhile, Bishop Michael Martin said in September that the TLM would cease at four parishes and would only be permitted at one chapel beginning Oct. 2.

Brian Williams, a leader of the TLM community in Charlotte, spoke with CNA in September.

“Why is going to the Latin Mass a bad thing? It’s no different from the Ordinariate, or Byzantine, or any other rite. It’s all still Catholic,” he said. 

Williams said he and other members of the TLM community are still hopeful that Pope Leo’s pontificate will be more welcoming of the TLM and that things can change, citing a post on X on Sept. 29 showing a priest at the St. Michael’s chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica saying the Mass in the extraordinary form, as well as the recent granting of an exemption to the restrictions imposed by Traditionis Custodes in the San Angelo Diocese in Texas, the first exemption granted under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

Crosses stand in a row at the Wounded Knee Memorial in South Dakota. / Credit: Von Roenn/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 15:24 pm (CNA).

Rapid City, South Dakota, Bishop Scott E. Bullock and South Dakota Jesuit leaders criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for honoring U.S. soldiers who carried out an 1890 assault on a Lakota reservation near the Wounded Knee Creek.

“Those who died at Wounded Knee are sacred,” the joint statement read.

“Jesus stands with all who suffer and die at the hands of others,” the statement added. “Those who committed the violence are also sacred; for this reason, Jesus offers them mercy and healing. Yet the acts themselves were grave evils and cannot be honored.”

On Dec. 29, 1890, U.S. soldiers killed nearly 300 Lakota people in an assault now known as the “Wounded Knee Massacre” or the “Battle of Wounded Knee” in South Dakota. Most of the Lakota killed were civilians, including unarmed women and children, and 31 American soldiers were killed.

After a review, Hegseth announced last month that 20 U.S. soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Wounded Creek will retain those honors. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military honor, awarded by Congress for risk of life in combat beyond the call of duty. A review panel commissioned by former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recommended they retain their honors in October 2024.

“That panel concluded that these brave soldiers should, in fact, rightfully keep their medals for actions in 1890,” Hegseth said in a Sept. 25 post on X.

Hegseth criticized Lloyd for not issuing a final decision on the inquiry last year, saying “he was more interested in being politically correct than historically correct.”

“We’re making it clear — without hesitation — that the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890 will keep their medals, and we’re making it clear that they deserve those medals,” Hegseth said. “This decision is now final and their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate. We salute their memory, we honor their service, and we will never forget what they did.”

Bishop, Jesuits call for ‘prayerful correctness’

Bullock, whose diocese serves western South Dakota where the assault took place, was joined in his statement by the De Smet Jesuit Community of West River, South Dakota.

They said their opposition to the Medals of Honor is not rooted in “political correctness,” as Hegseth called it, but rather in “prayerful correctness, grounded in truth, conscience, and compassion.”

Bullock and the Jesuits said soldiers massacred civilians: “This was not a battle. To recognize these acts as honorable is to distort history itself.”

“We acknowledge the government’s intent to honor its troops, yet we reject any narrative that erases the humanity of the victims or glorifies acts of violence,” they said.

The statement said as Catholics and followers of Christ, “we proclaim the infinite dignity of every human life. We confess that humanity — capable of love and goodness — is also capable of terrible evil.” It added that the Crucifixion and Resurrection “reveal that true victory comes not through killing but through suffering love, mercy, and truth.”

“If we deny our part in history, we deepen the harm,” they said. “We cannot lie about the past without perpetuating injustice and moral blindness. Even if we are not personally responsible for Wounded Knee, we bear a moral responsibility to remember and speak the truth.”

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), told CNA Wounded Knee “was a complex historical event” that had “many conflicting narratives.” She said military records show conflicting accusations, investigations, and personal rivalries among military officers.

She said, with historical events, there is not always “easy moral clarity.” 

She said the events “cannot simply be viewed as an unprovoked massacre, racially motivated against all Native Americans indiscriminately.”

Hanssen expressed concern that the effort to revoke the honors for soldiers at Wounded Knee is part of an ongoing effort to target “American and Western culture,” which includes destroying statues of Christopher Columbus and attacks on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, among others.

“It is perfectly reasonable for the United States government to refuse to revoke Medals of Honor from over a hundred years ago,” she added.

No Medals of Honor have been revoked for any reason in more than a century. The only time medals were revoked was in 1917, when Congress commissioned a comprehensive review of Medal of Honor recipients and revoked more than 900.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich (meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2025) issued a video with a message of support for immigrants on Oct. 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 13:14 pm (CNA).

In a new video, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago has once again pledged his support for undocumented migrants.

“Let me be clear: The Church stands with migrants,” Cupich said in a video message on Oct. 21. Citing family separation and “communities shaken by immigration raids and detentions,” he said ongoing deportation efforts in Chicago “wound the soul of our city.”

Cupich emphasized that “in the enforcement of the law, it is essential that we respect the dignity of every human being,” and noted parishes and schools in the archdiocese will neither turn away migrants seeking aid nor “be silent when dignity is denied.”

He continued: “I want to say something directly to those immigrants without documents: Most of you have been here for years, you have worked hard, you have raised families, you have contributed to this nation, you have earned our respect.”

“As the archbishop of Chicago, I will insist that you be treated with dignity,” he stated, concluding: “Americans should not forget that we all come from immigrant families. You are our brothers and sisters. We stand with you. God bless you all.” 

The video message comes amid the “One Church One Family” initiative spearheaded by the western Jesuits to hold national days of prayer and public witness for migrants on Oct. 22 and Nov. 13, the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron of migrants. 

The initiative calls on dioceses, parishes, schools, religious communities, and other Catholic institutions to host and promote “public actions that lift up the dignity of migrants,” such as “a vigil in front of a detention center, a prayer service at a place where migrants were publicly detained, or a rosary accompanying people who are going to immigration court hearings.” 

The initiative’s website includes, along with other resources, instructions on how to organize and implement a vigil, prayer service, or march in support of migrants, which includes a welcome letter from Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas.

“As Catholics and people of deep faith, we reject the culture of fear and silence that dehumanizes, and we choose instead to stand with migrants,” the initiative’s website reads. “Together, our voices will send a powerful message in defense of the dignity of our neighbors, family members, fellow parishioners, classmates, co-workers, and friends.”

Cupich was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State on Oct. 15. It is unclear whether the post will entail a relocation to the Holy City.

During a visit on Oct. 9, Leo expressed his “appreciation” to Chicago leaders, including Cupich, for their “welcome of immigrants and refugees.” This came shortly after the controversy surrounding Cupich’s attempt to honor Illinois pro-abortion Sen. Dick Durbin with a lifetime achievement award for his work with immigrants.

The Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. / Credit: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 22, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).

The state of Wisconsin is attempting to eliminate a tax exemption for religious organizations after it failed at the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year when trying to block a Catholic charity from claiming that tax break.

The Supreme Court in June unanimously ruled that the state violated the First Amendment when it denied a tax exemption to the Diocese of Superior’s Catholic Charities Bureau. The state had argued that the group’s charitable undertakings were not “primarily” religious and thus failed to qualify for the tax break.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court had earlier ruled against the Catholic charity before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision. But in an Oct. 21 press release, the religious liberty legal group Becket said that the state government is now asking the state Supreme Court to “eliminate the exemption entirely.”

“Rather than following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Wisconsin officials are now trying to avoid it by attacking the religious exemption itself,” the group said. 

The tax exemption directs that organizations “operated primarily for religious purposes” can be exempt from paying into the state’s unemployment system. In a brief to the state Supreme Court, state officials said the tax exemption itself is “discriminatory” and that ending the policy would “avoid collateral damage to Wisconsin workers” while satisfying the U.S. Supreme Court’s order. 

State officials did not respond to requests for comment from CNA on Oct. 22. Nick Reaves, a senior attorney with Becket, told CNA that eliminating the tax exemption would “just replace one unconstitutional rule after another.” 

Reaves said the U.S. Supreme Court justices in their ruling “clearly contemplated extending the benefit to Catholic Charities” rather than eliminating the benefit altogether. 

“If you eliminate the exemption, it doesn’t solve the constitutional problem, because the state has something like 40 other exemptions for secular groups,” he said. Union groups and organizations that do work in prisons are among the entities that have access to the exemption, he said.

“The First Amendment prohibits favoring secular activity over religious activity” in such cases, he said. “Our view is Wisconsin just can’t eliminate the exemption.”

Reaves said the Catholic charity has a high likelihood of getting its case before the Supreme Court again. “The chance of getting a hearing at the Supreme Court is low, initially,” he said. “But they’re much more likely to take a case again if the lower court gets it wrong again.”

“Obviously the Wisconsin Supreme Court will weigh in on this first,” he said. “We’re hoping our arguments are persuasive there.”

In its filing, meanwhile, Becket said Wisconsin’s “animus” toward the Catholic charity group is “anything but subtle.” 

“The only constitutional approach is to grant Catholic Charities an exemption, as the U.S. Supreme Court’s order requires,” the filing said.

Altar servers attend a training session in the Diocese of Palayamkottai in June 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Bishop Iruthayaraj Foundation

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 12:03 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Palayamkottai in India launched its first altar server training program, teaching 1,570 children across five parishes more about the sacred role. 

With the support of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, the Diocese of Palayamkottai created a program for altar servers to build awareness of their role; to instill reverence, discipline, and good behavior; and to deepen their spiritual growth.

“The altar servers’ training has proven to be a landmark initiative,” the Diocese of Palyamkottai wrote in a letter thanking the Diocese of Columbus. “It has not only strengthened the children’s faith and discipline but has also made parish liturgies more prayerful and meaningful for the wider community.”

The Diocese of Palayamkottai in southern India encompasses the Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Tenkasi districts with a Catholic population of nearly 138,500. The diocese provides education to more than 65,000 children through 108 diocesan schools and schools managed by religious congregations.

About 75% of the Catholic population in the diocese are landless laborers, 15% are small farmers, and nearly 80% of families live on just two euros a day. Despite the majority of the faithful coming from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds, the diocese said the Catholic population is deeply dedicated to its faith and dedicated to advancing the mission of the Church.

Faith formation in the diocese and in schools follows the Christian Life Commission (CLC), coordinating Bible, catechetical, and liturgical ministries. The diocese carries out vacation Bible schools, seminars for catechists, and liturgical ministries focused on the Eucharist and sacraments.

With help and guidance from the Diocese of Columbus, the Diocese of Palayamkottai began a program in June to help altar servers better understand the importance of their duties and rediscover the sacredness of their calling. The initiative includes audiovisual presentations, demonstrations, printed guides, and group discussions for the altar servers, often referred to as “little angels” in the area.

The altar servers told the diocese they have “become more prayerful” through the training. One child shared that he “began organizing altar server meetings in his parish.” Another said he “now serves with devotion,” having realized the importance of the role.

By working together, the Diocese of Palayamkottai and the Diocese of Columbus made the “milestone” project possible. “With great hope, the diocese assures that such collaboration will continue in forming young faithful and advancing the mission of the Church,” the Diocese of Palayamkottai wrote.

null / Credit: RasyidArt/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the United States:

Catholic college graduates leading in purpose, belonging, financial stability, report says

Graduates of Catholic colleges and universities are outperforming other students in purpose and belonging and are reporting higher levels of mental health and financial stability, a report has found. 

Students from Catholic institutions of higher education are 7% more likely to view their careers as meaningful, 14% more likely to report a strong sense of belonging, and 17% more likely to say they are satisfied with their mental health, according to this year’s Holistic Impact Report.

The annual report is published by the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University (San Antonio) in partnership with YouGov. 

The report also found that Catholic university graduates are more than 50% more likely to say their education encouraged them to engage in faith-based conversations and 12% more likely to say their courses promoted dialogue across differing perspectives. 

“Higher education has been disrupted by political battles and financial pressures,” stated Jason King, the Beirne director and chair of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University. 

But “Catholic higher education does not appear to be caught in those tides,” he said.

“With two years of data, we can see that it continues to form graduates for meaningful lives, community engagement, and ethical decision-making. And, because of this focus, it also supports graduates’ mental, financial, and social well-being.”

Los Angeles-area school aims to ‘raise’ 1 million prayers by All Saints’ Day 

A Catholic school in California is leading an initiative to “raise” 1 million prayers by All Saints’ Day. 

“This special initiative began on the eve of the canonizations of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, two modern witnesses who remind us that holiness is possible for everyone, especially the young,” St. Joseph School explained in a Facebook post on Oct. 3.

“Inspired by their example, our students, families, and faculty have already prayed more than 150,000 prayers… and we’re just getting started!” the school said.

“During this month of the holy rosary,” the school continued, “we are dedicating ourselves to praying the rosary together each day as a school community. Families are also recording their prayers at home; rosaries, Masses, traditional devotions, and personal prayers spoken from the heart.” 

Three schools — Epiphany Catholic School in South El Monte, St. Anthony School in San Gabriel, and Santa Clara Elementary School in Oxnard — have also joined the initiative, according to the school.

San Antonio Catholic schools to start accepting education saving accounts 

The Archdiocese of San Antonio says its Catholic schools will now officially accept tuition from the Texas education savings account (ESA) program. 

“Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of San Antonio are strongly promoting and participating in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program, which provides funds for tuition at Catholic schools,” the archdiocese said in a statement to local media.

Under the program, students at Catholic schools will be able to receive $10,000 to cover tuition costs that will be placed in a savings account, providing increased flexibility to parents. 

Inga Cotton, the founder and executive director of the San Antonio-based School Discovery Network, told media: “Catholic schools are some of the most affordable private schools in our region.” 

She added that for “so many of them, the annual tuition is already below what the ESA will cover. It makes it more affordable for families.”

“Across the archdiocese, schools are preparing to welcome many new families through the launch of this effort,” the archdiocese said.

The legislation “was the result of hard work from many people through the years, who have been consistently advocating to give parents a true choice in education for their children.”

Pennsylvania diocese: State tax policy allows major break for donating to Catholic schools

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is encouraging residents to take advantage of the state’s tax policy, which grants major tax breaks to those who donate to Catholic schools. 

“The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is making it easier than ever for individuals and businesses to transform their Pennsylvania state tax dollars into tuition assistance for Catholic school students, at no additional cost to them,” the diocese said in a statement this month. 

“When you participate, you’re transforming lives,” Pittsburgh Bishop Mark Eckman said. “Every dollar given through this program helps open doors to a Catholic education that forms hearts, minds, and futures. It’s one of the simplest and most powerful ways to make a lasting difference for our children and our Church.”

According to the diocese, the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit programs enable participants to receive a 90% state tax credit when they contribute to the diocese’s approved scholarship fund. 

The diocese has launched an online resource that offers step-by-step instructions on how to participate.

Thirty states have adopted some version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. / Credit: Leigh Prather/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

Protections for religious freedom in the U.S. have grown in recent years with multiple states adopting laws to strengthen the constitutional right to freely exercise one’s religion.

As of 2025, 30 states have adopted a version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or similar legislative protection for religious freedom. 

The most recent states to adopt those protections for state-level laws were Georgia and Wyoming in 2025 and Iowa, Utah, and Nebraska in 2024. West Virginia and North Dakota adopted them in 2023 and South Dakota and Montana did the same in 2021.

RFRA was first adopted in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law to expand religious freedom protections. Under the law, the federal government cannot “substantially burden” the free exercise of religion unless there is a “compelling government interest” and it is carried out in the “least restrictive” means possible.

Congress passed the law in response to the 1990 Supreme Court decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which asserted that the First Amendment was not violated as long as a law was “neutral and generally applicable.” The law was intended to provide a stronger safeguard for the free exercise of religion than what was provided by the highest court. 

Bipartisan consensus gone, but opposition weakening

When RFRA was adopted at the federal level in the 1990s, the protections had overwhelming bipartisan support. In the 2010s, that bipartisan consensus waned as most Democrats voiced opposition to the protections.

Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told CNA that in 2013, two states adopted RFRA with nearly unanimous support from Republicans and about two-thirds support from Democrats. However, the law became more divisive after the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favor of exempting Hobby Lobby from a mandate to provide abortifacient drugs based on RFRA.

“That [bipartisan support] seems like a million years ago,” Schultz said. “Now I would say Republican support is about the same as it was then. Democratic support is under 5%.”

Although Schultz did not express optimism that bipartisan support could return any time soon, he credited some cultural shifts for the strong success in Republican-leaning states over the past four years.

From 2014 through 2020, he said business groups and LGBT groups “were working together very strongly … in opposition to religious freedom bills” because they saw them as threats to certain anti-discrimination laws related to workplace policies from religious employers.

However, post-2020, he said, “the politics of RFRA are far more favorable,” and he noted there has been “far less opposition from business groups.”

One reason for this change, according to Schultz, was the widely-published story of NCAA championship swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who identified as a transgender woman and competed in women’s sports. This led polling to “change on every issue related to LGBT,” he noted.

Another reason, he argued, was the response to transgender-related policies by Target and the Bud Light ads, which led to “consumer anger at both of them.” He noted the money lost by the corporations “made business groups say ‘we are not going to have the same posture.’”

In spite of the partisanship that fuels the current debate, Schultz noted RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on a wide range of issues, some of which have pleased conservatives and others that have pleased progressives.

Although RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on issues related to contraception, abortion, gender, and sexuality, it has also been used to defend religious organizations that provide services for migrants. 

“[RFRA is] not politically predictable,” Schultz said.

Sister Reji Varghese began her three-year term as head of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood for the United States after her recent installation. / Credit: Joe Gigli/Diocese of Paterson

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA).

Sister Reji Varghese began her three-year term as head of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood for the United States after her recent installation presided over by Bishop Kevin Sweeney of Paterson, New Jersey, on Oct. 13.

Varghese will be the delegate for the Daughters in the U.S., leading three missionary communities that live out their charism by “caring for the youth and the elderly while reflecting in the day-to-day life that same sacrificial love that impelled Christ shed his blood for our salvation,” according to the statement from the Daughters.

The superior general of the congregation, who is based in Rome, appointed Varghese as the new delegate, an act that “renewed” the U.S. delegation, according to the Daughters. 

The Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood serve across the U.S., including in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. 

Originally founded in Italy, the community is found throughout Italy as well as in Brazil, East Timor, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The congregation ministers to orphans, vulnerable children, the sick, and the elderly as well as educating youth. 

In 1873, Father Thomas Maria Fusco, now a “blessed” in the Catholic Church, moved by the plight of an orphaned street girl, founded the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood in Pagani, Italy. 

Beginning with the seven orphans at their founding, the three original sisters had a “mission of spreading the devotion of the charity of the precious blood of Christ by which God’s infinite love for us is revealed,” the Daughters told CNA in a statement. 

The sisters continue the founding legacy “by engaging in works of mercy through different apostolates such as assisting the poor, the sick, and the elderly as well as educating the children and young people, especially the most vulnerable,” the congregation said. 

In Paterson, the Daughters operate a residential home for senior women called St. Joseph’s Rest Home as well as a day care for young children. 

Sweeney celebrated the installation Mass on Oct. 13 along with five other priests including the sisters’ chaplain, Father Charles Waller. 

Varghese in response to her installation said she is relying on the grace of God in her new role. 

“As our father founder said: ‘To love God, great talents are not necessary ... it is enough to have a heart capable of loving,’” she told CNA. 

“I know my limits, but by the grace of God and Blessed Thomas Maria Fusco, and with the cooperation of all the sisters, God’s will shall be done,” she said.

“I am very happy for our sisters’ ongoing support, friendship, and prayers during these days,” Varghese continued. “My wish is that in whatever we do and say may the charity of the blood of Jesus keep us always united.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis. / Credit: Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 16:56 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis delivered letters from victims of the Annunciation School shooting to Pope Leo XIV during a recent visit to Rome. 

The letters from students and their family members thanked Leo for his prayers in wake of the deadly shooting that claimed two lives and injured dozens more on Aug. 27, according to a newsletter posted by Hebda on Oct. 20. 

Hebda said the opportunity to deliver the letters to Leo had made their first meeting Oct. 2 “particularly meaningful” for him. 

“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” Leo had said on Aug. 31 after leading the weekly Angelus prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

“The loss of life on that occasion was horrific and the impact on students, teachers, and their families traumatizing,” Hebda said, adding: “I asked Pope Leo for his continued prayers for Sophia Forchas and the other survivors who continue their recovery, and especially his prayers for those who might find it difficult to return to Annunciation Church or even to the celebration of Mass.”

Forchas, 12, was shot in the head during the attack and remains in an inpatient rehabilitation program after having been moved from critical care in September, according to an update from her parents on their GoFundMe. 

“Most of us would agree that the horror of the Aug. 27 shooting was magnified by the fact that it took place in the context of Mass, that most sacred of gatherings for our Catholic community,” Hebda continued. “It’s at the Mass where we come together to join in Jesus’ offering of himself to the Father and where we have the opportunity to be nourished by God’s word and the Eucharist. Like all of our churches, Annunciation is sacred because it has been set apart for divine worship. That’s clear from the very inscription we find on the façade: ‘This Is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.’”

Hebda’s meeting with Leo took place during the archbishop’s visit to Rome for the ordination of two seminarians as deacons. 

St. Paul Seminary posted a video of the archbishop with Leo, writing: “Our very own shepherd Archbishop Hebda had the great honor to meet Pope Leo XIV during his recent visit to Rome!”

Hebda can be seen in the video holding a folder while speaking with the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Square. 

The archdiocese did not immediately reply to a request for comment.