The Catholic Church in East St. James Parish

The Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 18:37 pm (CNA).

An organization encouraging the presence of “the Catholic intellectual tradition” in universities across the globe has a new leader.

Dominican Father Ambrose Little has been appointed the new director of the Thomistic Institute (TI), a position held for the past seven years by Father Dominic Legge, OP, who has now been named president of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies.

“The Thomistic Institute is one of the most dynamic apostolates in the Church, and we are immensely proud that it is an institute of our Pontifical Faculty,” Legge said in a statement.

“It is very dear to my heart! Serving as the TI director has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. I am therefore delighted to announce that, as my first official act as president, I have appointed Father Ambrose Little, OP, as the new director of the Thomistic Institute,” Legge said. 

The Thomistic Institute was founded in 2009 “to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square,” according to the institute’s website. 

The institute pursues initiatives “focused on St. Thomas Aquinas’ thought, including academic lectures, student chapters, and online resources.”

An academic institute of the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies located in Washington, D.C., students have also founded campus chapters of the institute at more than 80 universities across the globe. 

The academic chapters organize lectures with Catholic scholars on philosophy and theology as well as hold reading groups, debates, and conferences to “expose students to the riches of the Catholic intellectual tradition and help them explore it further.”

Little is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2007 after graduating from The Catholic University of America (CUA) with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Ordained a priest in 2013, he returned to CUA to complete a licentiate in philosophy and wrote a dissertation titled “Aristotelian Change and the Scala Naturae.” He taught for two years at Providence College in Rhode Island and was a visiting scholar at Boston College.

In 2014, Little began studying for a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Virginia and graduated in 2021. Afterward, he was appointed a lecturer in philosophy at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception.

“Father Ambrose is a superb teacher and scholar, an excellent leader, and a great brother and friend,” Legge said. “For the past three years, he has served as assistant director of the TI, and I’ve been deeply impressed by what I’ve seen.”

“Because the TI is an institute of our faculty … I will not be going far away,” Legge said, “I’m just down the hall.” He vowed to continue supporting the organization “as this vibrant outreach continues to grow and bear fruit.”

The childhood home of Pope Leo XIV in Dolton, Illinois. / Credit: “EWTN News in Depth”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).

In a unanimous vote at a special board meeting held on July 1, the village council of Dolton, Illinois, voted to purchase the childhood home of the first U.S.-born pope, Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.

Newly-elected Dolton Mayor Jason House called for the vote, which was unanimous, after hearing from the trustees and allowing for comment from members of the public, several of whom opposed the home purchase by the cash-strapped village.

Amid the pushback from Dolton residents who complained about the dilapidated state of local roads and the village’s high debt, House said the purchase would eventually “pay for itself,” calling it a “historical opportunity.”

In Dolton, the per capita income is $29,776 and 20% of the residents live in poverty, according to census data.

Trustee Edward Steave referred to the “busloads of people” in and out of the village to see the house since the pope’s election, emphasizing the economic benefits visitors to the historic site would bring to the community.

Also acknowledging residents’ concerns, Trustee Kiana Belcher asked them to “stand with us as we make this decision because we know it will help all of us as a village.”

Trustee Stanley Brown said that while he is not a Catholic himself, he is a Christian who would like to “help out the Catholics.”

“I just believe in this opportunity that’s been given us, and I believe in waiting on the Lord,” Brown continued. “He’s here to strengthen our town, so don’t let this opportunity get away from us!”

“We have been put on the back row … and now we have the opportunity to get on the front row, and we don’t want to let this opportunity get away from us,” he said.

Dolton City Attorney Burt Odelson agreed, telling CNA that a “world of opportunity” has opened for the small suburb, which is like “no other place in the world.”

“Things are just going to get better and better for the people of Dolton,” he said. 

On the Village of Dolton’s Facebook page on July 1, the village posted photos of the house getting a new roof, paid for by a donor, according to Odelson.

“The pope’s house continues to draw in people, bringing new energy and attention to our village. This increased traffic represents a new day in Dolton — full of potential, progress, and promise,” the village wrote on its Facebook page.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, House said he hopes to close the deal on the house purchase within two weeks and hopes the house can be “converted into its ultimate form” within 30-60 days.

House said the village will have the help of a “number of partnerships,” possibly referring to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

As it considers next steps, Odelson said the village has done research on how former popes’ homes are preserved around the world. Last month, he told CNA that he was speaking with someone “high up” in the archdiocese who was helping “guide” the village in its goal to preserve the historic home.

The Archdiocese of Chicago did not respond to CNA’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Odelson told CNA in June that once the house has been purchased, the village will set up a nonprofit charity to help fundraise for the preservation of the house and the revitalization of the neighborhood.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve what many people believe is a sacred” place, Odelson told CNA about the pope’s former home. “We need to do it right and we don’t have the funds to do it right. We have to lean on others.”

People from “all over the U.S. have already offered to help preserve the house,” Odelson said, “and the charity will enable them to do so.”

On the heels of the pope’s election in May, Odelson and House said at the time that the city intended to purchase the modest three-bedroom, 1,050-square-foot brick home, which had been listed for sale since January.

Realtor Steve Budzik told CNA in May that as soon as the owner, house renovator Pawel Radzik, found out the house he had updated and listed for sale once belonged to the newly elected pope, he removed it from the market to “reassess” the situation.

Radzik relisted it for sale by auction through Paramount Realty auction house. The auction was originally set to close on June 17 but was extended “to finalize negotiations with the village of Dolton,” Odelson told CNA in June.

Odelson told CNA that he hopes to close on the property in the coming week. While he did not disclose the final sale price, he said it was much lower than the $1 million Budzik had said he thought the house might sell for at auction.

An exemption to the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass has been granted to a parish in the Archdiocese of San Angelo, Texas. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) imposed by Pope Francis’ encyclical Traditionis Custodes. 

The exemption, requested by Bishop Michael Sis on Feb. 6, was granted to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.

No other such exemption by Pope Leo XIV has been reported since the start of his pontificate. 

“The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments informed me in a decree of May 28, 2025, that my request has been granted for a further two years for a dispensation from article 3§2 of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, so that Mass according to the ‘Missale Romanum’ of 1962 may be celebrated in the parish church of St. Margaret of Scotland in San Angelo,” Sis, who previously served as a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, said in a statement he shared with CNA. 

“Just as before,” he added, “the granting of this dispensation is based upon an ongoing effort to promote the full appreciation and acceptance of the liturgical books renewed by decree of the Second Vatican Council and promulgated by popes St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II.”

Sis noted further that when he submitted his request for the extension to the Vatican, he did so “with a spirit of total openness to whatever is the will of God.” 

He continued: “I trust the judgment of our Holy Father Pope Leo and those who assist him in his ministry of unity through the various dicasteries of the Holy See.”

The exemption was originally announced in a June 27 social media post by the diocese’s director of vocations, Father Ryan Rojo.

“I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years,” Rojo wrote in the June 27 post. 

St. Margaret’s pastor, Father Freddy Perez, told CNA: “Now that we have the permission, the attitude is one of relief; I saw a lot of relief this past weekend.” Although the Vatican’s approval was dated May 28, Perez said he did not receive notification of the approval from his bishop until last week. 

Perez revealed that the letter from the Vatican praised St. Margaret’s for the steps it took to follow the Holy Father’s motu proprio. The Vatican “commended our efforts and our ‘pastoral concern to instill a clear appreciation for the Church as unique, lex orandi,’” Perez told CNA, adding: “That’s a direct quote from the letter we were sent.” 

Though the pastor noted some negativity from parishioners about having to ask permission to celebrate the TLM, his approach is to explain that “this is where the Church is right now, and is where we have to be obedient.” 

Beyond the two-year extension, Perez said, “my hopes are just to continue to bring a positive experience of the liturgy to all of my people, to try to bring them into the Gospel, into the teachings of the Church, as we’re taught, and to try to teach them that the Mass gets us ready for heaven.” 

Though the parish experienced uncertainty over whether it would be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM, Perez said the advice of Auxiliary Bishop Mario Avilés helped guide him. “The advice he gave me was very simple,” the pastor recalled. “He said: ‘Just be obedient, son.” 

“And I think just putting my eyes on the Lord has satisfied everything that I wouldn’t be able to do through my own spirit of protest or my spirit of just being angry about not getting my way, by conforming my will to the will of Our Lord,” Perez reflected. “We’re in this world temporarily, and at the end of the day, we are asked to be faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy mother Church.” 

According to Perez, St. Margaret’s has been offering the TLM for just over five years, currently on Sunday afternoons and Thursday mornings. 

The TLM community, he said, consists mostly of young families as well as curious people who are interested in experiencing the liturgy. The small parish consists of about 200 families, he said, noting that attendance at the TLM is usually on the larger side for the parish, with about 140 to 200 people each week.

News of St. Margaret’s exemption comes after the Archdiocese of Detroit announced earlier this month that non-parish churches in the archdiocese will be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM despite an earlier statement saying that most of the TLM celebrated in the area would be suspended.

The archdiocese reported that permissions given to parish church priests to carry out the TLM would expire and they could not be renewed, but Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said he would recognize at least four non-parish locations in the archdiocese where the TLM could still be celebrated.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a champion of the traditional liturgy, has said he asked Pope Leo to remove measures restricting the celebration of TLM, stating at a conference in London recently: “It is my hope that he will, as soon as is reasonably possible, take up the study of this question.”

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Austin

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 13:49 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey, California, as the sixth bishop of Austin, Texas.

After leading the Diocese of Monterey for more than six years since 2018, Garcia, 64, has returned to his home state of Texas to serve the Austin Diocese as its leader.

At a July 2 press conference held by the Diocese of Austin, Garcia gave thanks to God for the local Church, which he described as “diverse in ethnicity, race, language, and way of life.”

“I was ordained a priest for this local Church in May of 1988,” he said on Wednesday. “It is filled with people of so many great gifts and talents and it is my hope to reacquaint myself with all of you whom I have known and get to know you whom I have not yet met.”

During his address given in English and in Spanish, the bishop emphasized that the Church and civil society cannot forget the “poor, the weak, and those who live on the margins” in its policies and practices.

The bishop, who is also a board member of Catholic Relief Services, quoted St. Vincent de Paul during his speech, saying: “It will be the poor who will be our entrance into heaven.”

Garcia, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of his episcopal consecration in January, was previously made auxiliary bishop of Austin and titular bishop of Capso by Pope Francis in 2015 before heading to Monterey.

Before becoming an auxiliary bishop for Austin, Garcia was parish vicar of St. Catherine of Siena there from 1988 to 1990, Cristo Rey from 1990 to 1991, St. Louis from 1991 to 1992, and St. Mary Magdalene from 1992 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2014, he was a parish priest at St. Vincent de Paul.

He is currently part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on divine worship in Spanish.

While attending St. Mary’s Seminary in the 1980s, Garcia obtained a liberal arts degree and a master’s degree in divinity from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He was awarded a master’s degree in liturgy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 2007.

null / Credit: Minerva Studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a “journey of conversion through contrition.”

Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop’s message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.

The prelate said the filing was “the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese.”

As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.

Those filings were made under a California law that temporarily relaxed the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims, allowing alleged victims a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 to file the complaints.

Brennan said the Fresno bankruptcy process will include allocating diocesan assets to “satisfy the claims against the diocese.” He added that a fund will also be established to pay abuse claims.

“Our Church must address the suffering that victims of clergy sexual abuse have endured,” he said.

“We know the sin. It will always be before us,” he continued. “Now that we have entered a journey of conversion through contrition and acknowledgement of the victims’ suffering, we must enter a path of reconciliation, which includes resolving the victims’ claims.”

The bishop urged the faithful to pray for abuse victims during the bankruptcy process.

In the bankruptcy petition, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court for the eastern district of California, Brennan authorized diocesan Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Martin and Vicar General Father Salvador Gonzalez to represent the diocese in the proceedings.

The bishop listed the diocese’s assets as between $50 million and $100 million, with between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors.

Palace of the Senate of the Russian Empire in Moscow. / Credit: Angel Miklashevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 09:29 am (CNA).

Russia continues to perpetuate “particularly severe” religious liberty violations against minority groups within its own country and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The June 30 report, which detailed religious liberty violations throughout 2024 and the beginning of 2025, found continued “intense persecution” of Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians.

Within Russia’s borders, the report also found numerous religious liberty violations against human rights activists, independent media, anti-war protesters, and others who belong to minority religious groups.

“Russian authorities abuse vague and problematic laws to target religious communities that do not conform to state authority,” USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler told CNA in a statement.

“They target Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong Practitioners, Protestants, Ukrainian Christians, Crimean [Tatar] Muslims, and many others that Moscow thinks undermine its dictatorial control,” the former six-term Missouri congresswoman added. “... There is no religious freedom in Russia or [the] territories it occupies.”

About 72% of Russians are Orthodox, 7% are Muslim, 5% are atheist, and 13% do not have a religious affiliation. About 3% of Russians belong to a variety of other religious groups.

Persecution against Ukrainian Christians

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has led to the most egregious religious liberty violations by the Russian state.

According to the report, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have reported the killing of at least 47 religious leaders since the February 2022 invasion. It adds that 640 houses of worship and religious sites have either been damaged or destroyed in that time frame.

The report notes that “Russian de facto authorities have banned” several churches, such as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several Protestant groups, including Baptists, Pentecostals, and Seventh-day Adventists.

According to the report, authorities have sought to pressure Orthodox Christian communities and leaders to submit to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate.

In some examples over the past year and a half, the report notes that “Russian forces allegedly abducted and tortured to death [Orthodox Church of Ukraine] priest Stepan Podolchak.” It also notes that Russian authorities are accused of demolishing the last Orthodox Church of Ukraine church in Crimea in July 2024.

The report also referenced a United Nations human rights report that detailed the “torture and ill treatment of Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta” while they were detained from November 2022 through June 2024.

“One of the priests had accused Russian forces of subjecting him to regular beatings, prolonged stress positions, and long-distance crawls on asphalt,” the report notes.

Persecution within Russia

The report notes that Russia has employed laws against “so-called illegal missionary activities” to persecute religious minorities on the basis of faith. It states that Russian courts heard 431 cases regarding these laws in 2024, which resulted in fines totaling nearly $60,000. 

In one case, Russia deported an 85-year-old Polish Catholic priest “who had reportedly served in Russia for almost 30 years” after he lost his documentation that permitted him to preach. The courts have also shut down churches with these laws.

The report also details Russia’s persecution of “anti-war protesters and religious leaders for expressing opposition to the war in religious terms.”

Some examples include Pentecostal Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk, who was “reportedly physically assaulted and arrested” by Russian police for giving a sermon against the war. Another example listed was Apostolic Orthodox Church Archbishop Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko receiving a fine of $369 for posting “an anti-war video in which he discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine using a biblical story.”

In relation to the ongoing war, the report notes that Christians are frequently denied the ability to perform “alternative civilian service” when they have religious objections to military service.

The report lists numerous religious freedom violations against Russian Muslims. According to the report, Muslims who belong to the Hizb ut-Tahrir (or are accused of belonging to it) have been charged with terrorism “despite no evidence or even allegations that defendants called for or committed violence.” 

The report notes that at least 352 people were prosecuted for alleged affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir, which includes Crimean Tatar Muslims. It states that out of 280 convicted, 119 were sentenced to 15 years or more and 131 were sentenced to between 10 and 14 years in prison.

According to the report, Russia has also prosecuted leaders and members of the Church of Scientology, which is labeled “extremist.” They have also targeted leaders and members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, adherents of Falun Gong, and members of the Allya Ayat spiritual movement for similar reasons.

A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the “Cross of Gratitude,” has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America. / Courtesy: St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 1, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).

A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the “Cross of Gratitude,” has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America.

“It is a great honor and a blessing for the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel to host the Cross of Gratitude, a sacred symbol of Christ’s boundless love and sacrifice,” St. Michael’s parish priest Father Bohdan Vasyliv told CNA.

“We warmly invite all to visit, pray, and reflect before this holy cross, giving thanks for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and uniting in wholehearted devotion.”

Two decades ago the Cross of Gratitude was built for an evangelization mission to unite “the nations of the world.” The goal is for the cross to visit every capital city of the world by 2033 in preparation of the 2,000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

The pilgrimage of the cross “began with a powerful call to action, inspired by the words heard by Vitaliy Sobolivskyy on the day of the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in 2003,” Vasyliv said. 

Sobolivskyy, a Ukrainian architect who designed the cross, reported he was called by the words: “Take my cross and carry it to all the capitals of the world as a sign of gratitude to Almighty God for our salvation, which we receive from Jesus Christ.” 

The 20-foot cross has already journeyed to 46 European capitals. The pilgrimage schedule plans for visits to North and South America, Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and Australia before it completes in 2033. 

The Cross of Gratitude has been celebrated at each place of rest during holy Mass, Eucharistic adoration, prayer vigils, the Way of the Cross, and Eucharistic processions. The cross visited the U.S. Capitol in 2021 when it was displayed at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Washington, D.C.

“This sacred journey seeks to remind everyone that Jesus Christ offers the gift of eternal life,” Vasyliv said.

Pope John Paul II blessed the Cross of Gratitude in 2004 along with the initiators of the mission in Vatican City. The cross, sometimes also referred to as the Cross of Thanksgiving, was then blessed by Pope Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage in Krakow, Poland. In 2016, Pope Francis blessed the cross and those carrying out the evangelization campaign. 

Since 2003, the cross has visited Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran churches, and has even been present at Buddhist gatherings.

The Cross of Gratitude is currently on display at St. Michael’s and will remain there through July 20. St. Michael’s will hold Akathist, a Greek Orthodox hymn and prayer service, on Mondays at 4 p.m. for those who wish to see the cross and reflect and pray while it is present. Divine Liturgies will also be celebrated on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 14:17 pm (CNA).

Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” budget measure, including a provision to defund Planned Parenthood for a year, which pro-life advocates are lauding as a “major step” toward permanently defunding the abortion giant.

The bill was originally set to defund Planned Parenthood for a 10-year period. Last week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough disqualified more than a dozen provisions in the bill, including the portion defunding abortion providers, forcing Republicans to rework the language of the bill.

The Senate on Tuesday passed the reworked bill after a tiebreaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance. Three Republican lawmakers — Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — opposed the bill on various grounds.

The reconciliation bill, which includes several spending cuts and tax breaks, still needs to go back to the House for a final round of voting.

The Hyde Amendment prohibits direct federal funding for abortions, though advocates have argued that the federal government has long subsidized abortion by proxy by providing hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding for Planned Parenthood. The funding is nominally for non-abortion services.

While the defunding period is only a 10th of what pro-life lawmakers initially planned, it would still be significant progress, pro-life advocates argued on Tuesday. 

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life, called the bill a “small but important victory,” noting that it “cuts an estimated $500 million from Planned Parenthood and abortion vendors,” though she acknowledged it was “for one year only.”

“This proves what we’ve said all along: Congress can cut Planned Parenthood’s funding — and they just did,” Hawkins said in a Tuesday statement on X. “The moral obligation is clear: If we can do it for one year, we must do it for good.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser called the passage “a crucial victory in the fight against abortion, America’s leading cause of death, and an industry that endangers women and girls.” 

“The greatest pro-life victory since Dobbs is within reach!” she added.  

Live Action President Lila Rose on Tuesday called the measure “a start but not enough.” 

“The House should restore the 10-year defund they already passed,” she said. 

Auxiliary Bishop Mark Rivituso of St. Louis blesses donations in a van used during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in July 2024. On July 1, 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed Rivituso archbishop of Mobile, Alabama. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 13:47 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Mark Rivituso, auxiliary of St. Louis, as metropolitan archbishop of Mobile, Alabama.

Rivituso succeeds Archbishop Thomas Rodi, who led the Archdiocese of Mobile beginning in 2008. Rodi submitted his resignation letter to Pope Francis in March 2024 after turning 75.

The archbishop-elect on July 1 said he is grateful to Pope Leo for his appointment and feels blessed to follow Rodi as a “good shepherd” for the archdiocese.

“I rely upon the good shepherd, Jesus, to help me to truly be the bishop all of you need me to be,” Rivituso said at a Tuesday press conference. “I will labor with the shepherding love of Jesus for all of you because I want to love you as Christ loves.” 

“I have a big smile on my face because every time I have an opportunity to truly serve others, that’s truly a blessing,” he added. 

Rivituso celebrated Mass on July 1 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile in thanksgiving for his appointment.

The archbishop-elect received his episcopal consecration and was made an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and titular of Turuzi in 2017. 

Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1988 after completing his seminary training at Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary, Rivituso served in several parishes across the city. 

He was parish vicar of St. Ambrose in St. Louis from 1988 to 1990, of Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie from 1990 to 1993, and of St. Jerome in Bissell Hills from 1996 to 2004. Between 2008 and 2013, he was parish priest of Curé of Ars in Shrewsbury.

Across the St. Louis Archdiocese, Rivituso served as a teacher at St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon from 1988 to 1993, an administrator of St. Margaret of Scotland from 1993 to 1994, a member of the metropolitan tribunal from 1993 to 1994 and 1996 to 2004, the judicial vicar of the court of second instance from 2005 to 2011, and the vicar general of the court from 2011 to 2018.

Confessional. / Credit: AS photo studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 13:17 pm (CNA).

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, representing over 500 Roman Catholic priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom, has issued a statement defending the inviolability of the seal of confession.

The statement was released on June 27, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The declaration comes in response to civil laws, the most recent one in Washington state, that seek to compel priests to disclose information regarding child abuse learned during the sacrament of reconciliation or face penalties.

According to Washington’s new law, noncompliance could result in up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The confraternity’s statement emphasized that the Catholic Church teaches the seal of confession is inviolable with “absolutely no exceptions.” Expounded in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 1467) and the Code of Canon Law (Nos. 983, 1388), this teaching binds priests to maintain absolute confidentiality regarding both the content of confessions and the identity of penitents. Violation of confidentiality incurs automatic excommunication, reversible only by the pope. 

The confraternity argued that laws like Washington state’s infringe on religious liberty while failing to advance justice, citing the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, the U.K.’s Human Rights Act of 1998, and Australia’s constitution. 

In the statement, the group highlighted the Church’s commitment to child protection through criminal investigation and adjudication, which “can be lawfully and morally done without violating religious liberty.”

Notably, the statement’s authors also pointed out the absurdity of demanding that priests identify anonymous penitents. It also emphasized the injustice of laws like Washington state’s, which exempts other professionals, such as doctors and therapists, from the mandatory disclosure requirement. 

After the passage of Washington’s Senate Bill 5375, signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 3 and effective July 27, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) responded swiftly. 

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Ferguson, a Catholic, just days after Ferguson signed the bill, announcing an investigation into the law and describing it as a “legislative attack on the Catholic Church and its sacrament of confession, a religious practice ordained by the Catholic Church dating back to the Church’s origins.”

The DOJ then filed a lawsuit against Washington on June 23, asserting that the law violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion. “The seal of confidentiality is ... the lifeblood of confession,” the DOJ stated in its brief. “Without it, the free exercise of the Catholic religion ... cannot take place.” 

Washington’s Catholic bishops, including Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne and Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, filed a federal lawsuit on May 29 challenging the law on First Amendment and equal protection grounds.

The lawsuit highlighted the Church’s robust child protection policies, which the bishops said exceeds state requirements. “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Yakima and Spokane have each adopted and implemented ... policies that go further in the protection of children than the current requirements of Washington law,” the lawsuit stated.

Daly vowed to the Catholic faithful that clergy would face imprisonment rather than break the seal of confession. “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishops, and priests are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” he said. Etienne echoed this, referencing Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men.”

Orthodox churches have joined the legal battle, filing their own lawsuit on June 16, asserting that their priests, like Catholic clergy, have a “strict religious duty” to maintain the confidentiality of the confessional, with violations constituting a “canonical crime and a grave sin.”

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy was founded in 1975 to foster ongoing formation for clergy per Vatican II’s directives.