Communication – United Yam

‘You Are Not Alone’ migrant accompaniment initiative announced by U.S. bishops #Catholic

Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee, speaks during a press conference on Nov. 11, 2025, at the USCCB’s fall plenary assembly in Baltimore. / Credit: Hakim Shammo/EWTN News

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 11, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is launching an initiative called “You Are Not Alone” to focus on providing accompaniment to migrants who are at risk of being deported.Bishop Mark Seitz, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, announced the nationwide initiative during the conference’s Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 11.The initiative, which was inspired by similar efforts in Catholic dioceses throughout the country, will focus on four key areas: emergency and family support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communication of Church teaching, and solidarity through prayer and public witness. Seitz said the Catholic Church has been “accompanying newcomers to this land since before our country’s founding.” He said — in addition to spiritual and corporal works of mercy — the Church “cannot abandon our long-standing advocacy for just and meaningful reform to our immigration system.”He said clergy will continue “proclaiming the God-given dignity of every person from the moment of conception through every stage of life until natural death,” which includes the dignity of those who migrated to the United States. The bishop said many dioceses have launched migrant accompaniment initiatives already.For example, the Diocese of San Diego launched its Faithful Accompaniment in Trust & Hope (FAITH) initiative on Aug. 4. The diocese works with interfaith partners to provide spiritual accompaniment to migrants during court proceedings and throughout the court process.Seitz reiterates opposition to ‘mass deportations’In his address to his fellow bishops, Seitz criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for carrying out its “campaign promise of mass deportations,” which he said is “intimidating and dehumanizing the immigrants in our midst regardless of how they came to be there.”He said the accompaniment initiative was launched because Trump’s immigration policy has created “a situation unlike anything we’ve seen previously.” He specifically referenced efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status designations for migrants in several countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua, and restrictions on certain visas.“Those who lack legal status are far from the only ones impacted by this approach,” Seitz said.He said most deportees “have no criminal convictions,” and the administration has pressured immigration enforcement “to increase the number of arrests.”“Our immigrant brothers and sisters … are living in a deep state of fear,” Seitz said. “Many are too afraid to work, send their children to school, or avail themselves to the sacraments.”Seitz, earlier in the day, noted that bishops are primarily pastors, and “because we’re pastors … we care about our people, and we care particularly for those who are most vulnerable and those who are most in need.”Pope Leo XIV has encouraged the American bishops to be vocal on the dignity of migrants. In October, the pontiff met with American bishops, including Seitz, and other supporters of migrants. According to one person present, Dylan Corbett, the founding executive director of Hope Border Institute, Leo told the group: “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me, and I stand with you.”

unitedyam November 11, 2025

Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee, speaks during a press conference on Nov. 11, 2025, at the USCCB’s fall plenary assembly in Baltimore. / Credit: Hakim Shammo/EWTN News

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 11, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is launching an initiative called “You Are Not Alone” to focus on providing accompaniment to migrants who are at risk of being deported.

Bishop Mark Seitz, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, announced the nationwide initiative during the conference’s Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 11.

The initiative, which was inspired by similar efforts in Catholic dioceses throughout the country, will focus on four key areas: emergency and family support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communication of Church teaching, and solidarity through prayer and public witness.

Seitz said the Catholic Church has been “accompanying newcomers to this land since before our country’s founding.” He said — in addition to spiritual and corporal works of mercy — the Church “cannot abandon our long-standing advocacy for just and meaningful reform to our immigration system.”

He said clergy will continue “proclaiming the God-given dignity of every person from the moment of conception through every stage of life until natural death,” which includes the dignity of those who migrated to the United States.

The bishop said many dioceses have launched migrant accompaniment initiatives already.

For example, the Diocese of San Diego launched its Faithful Accompaniment in Trust & Hope (FAITH) initiative on Aug. 4. The diocese works with interfaith partners to provide spiritual accompaniment to migrants during court proceedings and throughout the court process.

Seitz reiterates opposition to ‘mass deportations’

In his address to his fellow bishops, Seitz criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for carrying out its “campaign promise of mass deportations,” which he said is “intimidating and dehumanizing the immigrants in our midst regardless of how they came to be there.”

He said the accompaniment initiative was launched because Trump’s immigration policy has created “a situation unlike anything we’ve seen previously.” He specifically referenced efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status designations for migrants in several countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua, and restrictions on certain visas.

“Those who lack legal status are far from the only ones impacted by this approach,” Seitz said.

He said most deportees “have no criminal convictions,” and the administration has pressured immigration enforcement “to increase the number of arrests.”

“Our immigrant brothers and sisters … are living in a deep state of fear,” Seitz said. “Many are too afraid to work, send their children to school, or avail themselves to the sacraments.”

Seitz, earlier in the day, noted that bishops are primarily pastors, and “because we’re pastors … we care about our people, and we care particularly for those who are most vulnerable and those who are most in need.”

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged the American bishops to be vocal on the dignity of migrants. In October, the pontiff met with American bishops, including Seitz, and other supporters of migrants.

According to one person present, Dylan Corbett, the founding executive director of Hope Border Institute, Leo told the group: “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me, and I stand with you.”

Catholics mobilize in Caribbean following Category 5 hurricane #Catholic

Residents help move food supplies at a community center before distribution to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Jamaica, one of the areas most severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
Catholic leaders and agencies have mobilized to help communities left devastated after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica.The Category 5 hurricane swept through the Caribbean with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and claimed up to 50 lives after making landfall on Oct. 28. Jamaica suffered the largest impact, but neighboring nations also experienced immense effects including flash flooding and landslides.In Jamaica, practically no buildings along the country’s southern coast remain intact. Areas have experienced structural failures, immense roof damage, floods, power outages, and communication disruptions. Families have a long road to recovery after many lost loved ones, property, possessions, and livelihoods.To help communities suffering from Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath, Catholic agencies are on the ground supporting relief efforts and fundraising across the globe to provide aid. Providing aid Dominican friars with St. Martin’s Missions, an initiative that supports communities in Jamaica and Grenada, are working to help communities most affected. Father Bede Mullens, OP, one of the friars working in Jamaica, told CNA they are based in Kingston, “which mercifully was left largely unscathed by the hurricane.”“Nonetheless, some of our poorer parishioners in August Town, an impoverished neighborhood, did lose roofs, walls, and in one case pretty much the whole house,” Mullens said. With the help of donations from across the globe, St. Martin’s will purchase and provide materials for repairs and food.Mullens explained that “after recent panic-buying, some food items are hard to come by, and food prices on the whole are set to go up in the coming months, as the part of the island hardest hit is a major agricultural area.”This Friday, Nov. 7, the friars will distribute 300 meals to students at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and to several less-well-off parishioners. Mullens said: “We are trying to arrange sponsorship from local benefactors for students in need to receive support for food and personal hygiene items.”Across the island the friars have been able to contact some parishes near Montego Bay, which suffered great damage. “One of the churches is currently operating as a shelter with just half a roof,” Mullens said.The friars have also coordinated provisions of basic building materials and essentials including water and baby food that will be transported to Sacred Heart Church near Montego Bay and St. Agnes Church in Chester Castle.When the roads reopen and the friars are able to make contact with more parishes in other areas, they plan to also assist their rebuilding efforts and support the local community needs.“There is, of course, a massive need for material assistance, but for us it is very important that St. Martin’s bears witness to our worldwide solidarity in the body of Christ,” Mullens said. “We belong to a Church that is at once truly Catholic and truly one, at once global and personal.”Franciscan Friars Charities (FFC), the charitable arm of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, activated the Franciscan Relief Fund to help the people in western Jamaica recover from extensive damage.“The friars in Negril have quickly mobilized to assess the community’s needs after the storm,” FFC said in a statement. “Each day they ground their hearts in faith through morning prayer and daily Mass before heading out into the community to provide vital services.”The friars are serving warm meals daily at St. Anthony Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Negril. They anticipate a significant increase in the number of people coming to the kitchen, expecting approximately 400 to 500 people a day.The friars are cleaning the Revival Health Clinic, which provides basic medical care, and are looking into creating a mobile clinic to visit remote areas. They are also visiting parishioners, many of whom have lost their homes, and providing them with immediate relief including water and food.“Communicating with our friars in Negril has been difficult because there’s no electricity and the cellular services are down,” said Brother Jim Bok, OFM. “There’s just unbelievable destruction. It’s going to take years to recover. A tremendous amount of outside support will be needed to help deal with it.”Organizations respond with action Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, an Illinois-based organization that partners with organizations, hospitals, and clinics around the world, is working directly with Food for the Poor and other organizations transporting and distributing aid.After learning there was an urgent need for diapers, Mission Outreach’s warehouse team mobilized to send out 4,000 it had available. It also shipped out a 40-foot container to Jamaica filled with requested medical supplies and equipment.A number of Catholic relief organizations including Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are fundraising to send food, medicines, and housing supplies to ministry partners in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.CCO said it is “sending shipments of recovery supplies to the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and will airlift medical supplies into Montego Bay when conditions are safe enough to do so.” It is also working to help the Diocese of Mandeville to rebuild St. Theresa Kindergarten, which was destroyed in the storm.CRS is working to help on the ground with “a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region,” the organization reported. “CRS and the Catholic Church are committed to walking with families through every phase of recovery — from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding. ”The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will coordinate with the Catholic Church to distribute million in humanitarian assistance. The funds will go directly to helping those impacted in eastern Cuba by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

unitedyam November 6, 2025

Residents help move food supplies at a community center before distribution to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Jamaica, one of the areas most severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders and agencies have mobilized to help communities left devastated after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica.

The Category 5 hurricane swept through the Caribbean with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and claimed up to 50 lives after making landfall on Oct. 28. Jamaica suffered the largest impact, but neighboring nations also experienced immense effects including flash flooding and landslides.

In Jamaica, practically no buildings along the country’s southern coast remain intact. Areas have experienced structural failures, immense roof damage, floods, power outages, and communication disruptions. Families have a long road to recovery after many lost loved ones, property, possessions, and livelihoods.

To help communities suffering from Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath, Catholic agencies are on the ground supporting relief efforts and fundraising across the globe to provide aid.

Providing aid

Dominican friars with St. Martin’s Missions, an initiative that supports communities in Jamaica and Grenada, are working to help communities most affected. Father Bede Mullens, OP, one of the friars working in Jamaica, told CNA they are based in Kingston, “which mercifully was left largely unscathed by the hurricane.”

“Nonetheless, some of our poorer parishioners in August Town, an impoverished neighborhood, did lose roofs, walls, and in one case pretty much the whole house,” Mullens said. With the help of donations from across the globe, St. Martin’s will purchase and provide materials for repairs and food.

Mullens explained that “after recent panic-buying, some food items are hard to come by, and food prices on the whole are set to go up in the coming months, as the part of the island hardest hit is a major agricultural area.”

This Friday, Nov. 7, the friars will distribute 300 meals to students at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and to several less-well-off parishioners. Mullens said: “We are trying to arrange sponsorship from local benefactors for students in need to receive support for food and personal hygiene items.”

Across the island the friars have been able to contact some parishes near Montego Bay, which suffered great damage. “One of the churches is currently operating as a shelter with just half a roof,” Mullens said.

The friars have also coordinated provisions of basic building materials and essentials including water and baby food that will be transported to Sacred Heart Church near Montego Bay and St. Agnes Church in Chester Castle.

When the roads reopen and the friars are able to make contact with more parishes in other areas, they plan to also assist their rebuilding efforts and support the local community needs.

“There is, of course, a massive need for material assistance, but for us it is very important that St. Martin’s bears witness to our worldwide solidarity in the body of Christ,” Mullens said. “We belong to a Church that is at once truly Catholic and truly one, at once global and personal.”

Franciscan Friars Charities (FFC), the charitable arm of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, activated the Franciscan Relief Fund to help the people in western Jamaica recover from extensive damage.

“The friars in Negril have quickly mobilized to assess the community’s needs after the storm,” FFC said in a statement. “Each day they ground their hearts in faith through morning prayer and daily Mass before heading out into the community to provide vital services.”

The friars are serving warm meals daily at St. Anthony Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Negril. They anticipate a significant increase in the number of people coming to the kitchen, expecting approximately 400 to 500 people a day.

The friars are cleaning the Revival Health Clinic, which provides basic medical care, and are looking into creating a mobile clinic to visit remote areas. They are also visiting parishioners, many of whom have lost their homes, and providing them with immediate relief including water and food.

“Communicating with our friars in Negril has been difficult because there’s no electricity and the cellular services are down,” said Brother Jim Bok, OFM. “There’s just unbelievable destruction. It’s going to take years to recover. A tremendous amount of outside support will be needed to help deal with it.”

Organizations respond with action

Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, an Illinois-based organization that partners with organizations, hospitals, and clinics around the world, is working directly with Food for the Poor and other organizations transporting and distributing aid.

After learning there was an urgent need for diapers, Mission Outreach’s warehouse team mobilized to send out 4,000 it had available. It also shipped out a 40-foot container to Jamaica filled with requested medical supplies and equipment.

A number of Catholic relief organizations including Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are fundraising to send food, medicines, and housing supplies to ministry partners in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.

CCO said it is “sending shipments of recovery supplies to the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and will airlift medical supplies into Montego Bay when conditions are safe enough to do so.” It is also working to help the Diocese of Mandeville to rebuild St. Theresa Kindergarten, which was destroyed in the storm.

CRS is working to help on the ground with “a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region,” the organization reported. “CRS and the Catholic Church are committed to walking with families through every phase of recovery — from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding. ”

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will coordinate with the Catholic Church to distribute $3 million in humanitarian assistance. The funds will go directly to helping those impacted in eastern Cuba by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

unitedyam October 10, 2025

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Officials in Washington state have agreed to back off a controversial effort to force priests there to violate the seal of confession as part of a mandatory abuse reporting law.

A motion filed in federal district court on Oct. 10 affirmed that state and local governments would stop attempting to require priests to report child abuse learned during the sacrament of reconciliation.

The state attorney general’s office on Oct. 10 said in a press release that clergy would remain mandatory reporters under state law, but prosecutors would agree “not to enforce reporting requirements for information clergy learn solely through confession or its equivalent in other faiths.”

The agreement brings an end to a high-profile and controversial effort by Washington government leaders to violate one of the Catholic Church’s most sacred and inviolable directives, one that requires priests to maintain absolute secrecy over what they learn during confession or else face excommunication.

Washington’s revised mandatory reporting law, passed by the state Legislature earlier this year and signed by Gov. Robert Ferguson, added clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state. But it didn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional, explicitly leaving priests out of a “privileged communication” exception afforded to other professionals.

The state’s bishops successfully blocked the law in federal court in July, though the threat of the statute still loomed if the state government was successful at appeal.

In the July ruling, District Judge David Estudillo said there was “no question” that the law burdened the free exercise of religion.

“In situations where [priests] hear confessions related to child abuse or neglect, [the rule] places them in the position of either complying with the requirements of their faith or violating the law,” the judge wrote.

The state’s reversal on Oct. 10 brought cheers from religious liberty advocates, including the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented state bishops in their suit against the state government.

“Washington was wise to walk away from this draconian law and allow Catholic clergy to continue ministering to the faithful,” Becket CEO and President Mark Rienzi said.

“This is a victory for religious freedom and for common sense. Priests should never be forced to make the impossible choice of betraying their sacred vows or going to jail.”

Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel John Bursch on Friday said the legal advocacy group was “pleased the state agreed to swiftly restore the constitutionally protected freedom of churches and priests.” The legal group had represented Orthodox churches and a priest in their own suit.

“Washington was targeting priests by compelling them to break the sacred confidentiality of confession while protecting other confidential communications, like those between attorneys and their clients. That’s rank religious discrimination,” Bursch said.

On X, the Washington State Catholic Conference said that Church leaders in the state “consistently supported the law’s broader goal of strengthening protections for minors.”

Church leaders “asked only for a narrow exemption to protect the sacrament of confession,” the conference said.

“In every other setting other than the confessional, the Church has long supported — and continues to support — mandatory reporting,” the conference added. “We’re grateful Washington ultimately recognized it can prevent abuse without forcing priests to violate their sacred vows.”

The legal fight had drawn the backing of a wide variety of supporters and backers, including the Trump administration, Bishop Robert Barron, and a global priests’ group, among numerous others.

Well ahead of the law’s passage, Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly had promised Catholics in the state that priests would face prison time rather than violate the seal of confession. “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishop and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Daly told the faithful in April 2023.

The Washington bishops, meanwhile, noted on Oct. 10 that the Catholic Church has upheld the sanctity of confession “for centuries.”

“Priests have been imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for upholding the seal of confession,” the state Catholic conference said. “Penitents today need the same assurance that their participation in a holy sacrament will remain free from government interference.”