conscience

Pope to World SIGNIS Congress: Embrace digital communication that promotes human dignity #Catholic KIGALI, Rwanda — Pope Leo XIV called on Catholic communicators gathered this week in Kigali, Rwanda, to use digital communication platforms available to them to promote the common good, human dignity, truth, and environmental stewardship.The pope’s message was delivered by the apostolic nuncio in Rwanda, Archbishop Arnaldo Sánchez Catalán, during the opening ceremony of the first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held in Africa, taking place in Kigali under the theme “Digital Communication for Cultural Harmony and Environmental Well-Being.”In the message, sent through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV expressed his spiritual closeness to participants and said he hoped their deliberations would provide “a new impetus” for ensuring that communication platforms serve the common good of the human family.The pope warned against a communication culture increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than genuine human encounter.He noted that the digital age has transformed everyday life, emphasizing that online communication goes beyond the transmission of information.In his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV observes that digital communication contributes to the creation of culture because it shapes how people perceive the world and consequently influences the collective conscience.Against this background, the Holy Father encouraged participants to explore communication strategies and tools inspired by the pursuit of truth and respect for human dignity. He said such efforts should contribute to a culture rooted in Gospel values, particularly communion, peace, and environmental stewardship.Addressing participants through a recorded message, Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, warned that technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), must not come at the expense of human relationships and responsibility.Ruffini acknowledged the transformative potential of AI but said the central question confronting society is not technological but human: what kind of people humanity chooses to become while using these technologies.AI, he said, can calculate, organize information, and emulate language, but it cannot replace wisdom born from freedom, personal experience, responsibility, and love.“We must never allow algorithms to write our story,” Ruffini cautioned, stressing that human beings must remain in control of the technologies they create.He called on communicators to safeguard human voices and faces in an increasingly digital environment, emphasizing that doing so requires cultivating critical thinking, preserving spaces for dialogue, and ensuring that technology remains at the service of the human person.Ruffini also challenged SIGNIS to strengthen its role as a global network connecting professionals working in journalism, cinema, and communication.He described communication as a public good that needs to be protected, urging the organization to build alliances with professionals, entrepreneurs, and information engineers committed to creating a better digital communication ecosystem.According to the prefect, SIGNIS should remain a network of people united by faith rather than becoming merely an ecclesiastical bureaucracy.He envisioned the organization as a space where relationships of trust can flourish, reliable information can be shared, and projects can be developed to promote a different model of communication.Such a network, he said, should create room for dialogue amid diversity and disagreement while ensuring that differences do not destroy fraternity.Ruffini further challenged Catholic communicators to resist a communication model driven primarily by profit or the pursuit of consensus, insisting that the ultimate purpose of communication must remain at the service of truth.“The future of communication will not ultimately depend on the power of our technologies. It will depend on the strength of our commitment and on the nature of our relationship,” he said.He urged participants to use their faith-based network to build bridges and create meaningful encounters in a world increasingly mediated by digital platforms.Ruffini called for greater space for human voices and faces in digital communication, encouraging SIGNIS members to help shape a communication ecosystem that places human dignity and relationships at its center.“The greatest innovation we can still offer our society is not as much a machine but a more human way of communicating,” he said.Participants in the Aug. 3–8 congress are exploring a wide range of topics, including digital communication for communion, religious and cultural praxis in the digital age, artificial intelligence in contemporary media, media literacy, youth engagement, environmental communication, and the role of Catholic communicators in promoting reconciliation and cultural harmony.Among the African countries represented at the congress are Rwanda (the host country), Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Benin, South Africa, and Mozambique.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
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Pope to World SIGNIS Congress: Embrace digital communication that promotes human dignity #Catholic KIGALI, Rwanda — Pope Leo XIV called on Catholic communicators gathered this week in Kigali, Rwanda, to use digital communication platforms available to them to promote the common good, human dignity, truth, and environmental stewardship.The pope’s message was delivered by the apostolic nuncio in Rwanda, Archbishop Arnaldo Sánchez Catalán, during the opening ceremony of the first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held in Africa, taking place in Kigali under the theme “Digital Communication for Cultural Harmony and Environmental Well-Being.”In the message, sent through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV expressed his spiritual closeness to participants and said he hoped their deliberations would provide “a new impetus” for ensuring that communication platforms serve the common good of the human family.The pope warned against a communication culture increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than genuine human encounter.He noted that the digital age has transformed everyday life, emphasizing that online communication goes beyond the transmission of information.In his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV observes that digital communication contributes to the creation of culture because it shapes how people perceive the world and consequently influences the collective conscience.Against this background, the Holy Father encouraged participants to explore communication strategies and tools inspired by the pursuit of truth and respect for human dignity. He said such efforts should contribute to a culture rooted in Gospel values, particularly communion, peace, and environmental stewardship.Addressing participants through a recorded message, Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, warned that technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), must not come at the expense of human relationships and responsibility.Ruffini acknowledged the transformative potential of AI but said the central question confronting society is not technological but human: what kind of people humanity chooses to become while using these technologies.AI, he said, can calculate, organize information, and emulate language, but it cannot replace wisdom born from freedom, personal experience, responsibility, and love.“We must never allow algorithms to write our story,” Ruffini cautioned, stressing that human beings must remain in control of the technologies they create.He called on communicators to safeguard human voices and faces in an increasingly digital environment, emphasizing that doing so requires cultivating critical thinking, preserving spaces for dialogue, and ensuring that technology remains at the service of the human person.Ruffini also challenged SIGNIS to strengthen its role as a global network connecting professionals working in journalism, cinema, and communication.He described communication as a public good that needs to be protected, urging the organization to build alliances with professionals, entrepreneurs, and information engineers committed to creating a better digital communication ecosystem.According to the prefect, SIGNIS should remain a network of people united by faith rather than becoming merely an ecclesiastical bureaucracy.He envisioned the organization as a space where relationships of trust can flourish, reliable information can be shared, and projects can be developed to promote a different model of communication.Such a network, he said, should create room for dialogue amid diversity and disagreement while ensuring that differences do not destroy fraternity.Ruffini further challenged Catholic communicators to resist a communication model driven primarily by profit or the pursuit of consensus, insisting that the ultimate purpose of communication must remain at the service of truth.“The future of communication will not ultimately depend on the power of our technologies. It will depend on the strength of our commitment and on the nature of our relationship,” he said.He urged participants to use their faith-based network to build bridges and create meaningful encounters in a world increasingly mediated by digital platforms.Ruffini called for greater space for human voices and faces in digital communication, encouraging SIGNIS members to help shape a communication ecosystem that places human dignity and relationships at its center.“The greatest innovation we can still offer our society is not as much a machine but a more human way of communicating,” he said.Participants in the Aug. 3–8 congress are exploring a wide range of topics, including digital communication for communion, religious and cultural praxis in the digital age, artificial intelligence in contemporary media, media literacy, youth engagement, environmental communication, and the role of Catholic communicators in promoting reconciliation and cultural harmony.Among the African countries represented at the congress are Rwanda (the host country), Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Benin, South Africa, and Mozambique.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam

The pope’s message was delivered by the apostolic nuncio in Rwanda during the opening ceremony of the first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held in Africa, taking place in Rwanda this week.

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Bishops issue new calls for recognition of immigrants’ human dignity and immigration reform #Catholic In response to increased immigration enforcement measures throughout the country, two U.S. Catholic bishops have issued fresh statements affirming the human dignity of immigrants as children of God and calling for immigration reform.Both prelates said Americans should understand why people flee their home countries in search of a better life while acknowledging the nation’s right to enforce its immigration laws. The current situation, however, is unjust, immoral, and must be fixed, both men emphasized.On Aug. 3, the centennial anniversary of the elevation of San Antonio to a metropolitan archdiocese, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller released a pastoral letter expressing the Church’s solidarity with migrants and calling for the “careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience” in response.Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a statement in which he reminded the faithful of the “inherent human dignity” of every person.Gruss said the current “challenge” facing the United States, which has “consistently received immigrants, refugees, exiles, and the persecuted from other lands” throughout its history, is “how to deal with a situation when one administration has allowed individuals and families to migrate … freely and the next administration wants their removal.”The bishop wrote that the removal of “immigrants who have caused harm to society by participating in criminal activity” is understandable, but asked if it is “fair to remove those who are and have been contributing to society in a positive way, oftentimes for many years?”He said that a “just and civil society” would not allow the deportation or detention of people “without cause” or “meaningful legal representation, without access to family or a supportive community, and without basic human needs being met.”He urged the faithful to “push for public policy changes that secure civil rights for all immigrants” and “humane border enforcement policies” that simultaneously uphold national security while protecting the “safety and dignity” of those who come to the country to work.‘We will come to you’García-Siller promulgated his letter, titled “We Will Come to You: United in Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters in Migration,” at a Mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio.“We are living in a world of war,” the letter began. “Across continents, people are dying every day. Across borders, survivors are forced to migrate. They do not leave by choice, but because of violence, hunger, fear, and oppression.”In the 56-page letter, composed of five sections and concluding with a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, García-Siller said he prayed “for a long time” before writing, saying he wanted to write from “the right place, one of accompaniment and solidarity.”He said the letter addresses an “unprecedented” time in the country, writing that “a convergence of structural and legal tactics … calls for the careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience.”“I write to comfort the afflicted, to ignite the comfortable, and to confront injustice with the full conviction of the Gospel.”He went on to cite his personal experience of “years walking alongside” migrants, many of whom are living in so much fear they rarely leave their homes, as well as his own story as a migrant himself.The archbishop wrote that he has witnessed a “fear that has taken root” across the archdiocese, saying he and other pastors “pray with parents who embrace their children each morning unsure if they will be home at night,” and describing parents who avoid taking children to the doctor or to go to work “because each mile carries risk.”“The community bears this cross, and the Church cannot be silent,” he wrote, describing declining Mass attendance and the worsening physical health of those who suffer fear related to immigration.“The people have not lost their faith,” he wrote. “Many, however, have lost their sense of safety and belonging.”The Church must “defend the dignity of those caught in the machinery of removal,” he emphasized.García-Siller described visiting three detention centers in the area, including the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, the largest family detention center in the nation, saying he’s witnessed "firsthand, violations of human dignity within their walls.”He went on to quote Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, who wrote in a pastoral letter in April that “‘the current campaign of mass detention and deportations is immoral.’”García-Siller accused private corporations of profiting from the processing and movement of large numbers of detained immigrants from one site to another.He also cited an investigation by U.S. Sen. John Ossoff, D-Georgia, which documented more than 1,000 “credible reports of human rights abuses since January 2025, including “medical neglect, denial of food and water, overcrowding, sleep deprivation, and the separation of breastfeeding mothers from their infants,” as well as similar abuses in privately-run sites.García-Siller called the public narrative that only criminals are being removed “misleading,” writing that “73% of those in immigration detention have no criminal conviction, and only 5% have been convicted of a violent crime.”He described how pastors, deacons, extraordinary ministers, and trained catechists are developing “active ministries of accompaniment” in the archdiocese, visiting migrants in their homes, bringing the sacraments along with medicines and other supplies, as well as in detention centers.“If your family has been detained, tell us. We will go to them. The Body of Christ does not abandon its members in chains,” García-Siller declared.The archbishop went on to lament that existing legal pathways take years to navigate, years that families cannot afford to wait as they seek safety and stability. He called for more accessible legal pathways, saying migrants would take those pathways if they were available. Migrants’ “contribution to the common good of our nation” demands such, he wrote.At the end of the letter, García-Siller entrusted the situation to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who herself crossed borders of culture and race and walked the road of exile with the Holy Family: “Long before she was Queen of Mexico … she was a mother who crossed a border. She knows this road; she walked it with her own feet.”
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Bishops issue new calls for recognition of immigrants’ human dignity and immigration reform #Catholic In response to increased immigration enforcement measures throughout the country, two U.S. Catholic bishops have issued fresh statements affirming the human dignity of immigrants as children of God and calling for immigration reform.Both prelates said Americans should understand why people flee their home countries in search of a better life while acknowledging the nation’s right to enforce its immigration laws. The current situation, however, is unjust, immoral, and must be fixed, both men emphasized.On Aug. 3, the centennial anniversary of the elevation of San Antonio to a metropolitan archdiocese, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller released a pastoral letter expressing the Church’s solidarity with migrants and calling for the “careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience” in response.Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a statement in which he reminded the faithful of the “inherent human dignity” of every person.Gruss said the current “challenge” facing the United States, which has “consistently received immigrants, refugees, exiles, and the persecuted from other lands” throughout its history, is “how to deal with a situation when one administration has allowed individuals and families to migrate … freely and the next administration wants their removal.”The bishop wrote that the removal of “immigrants who have caused harm to society by participating in criminal activity” is understandable, but asked if it is “fair to remove those who are and have been contributing to society in a positive way, oftentimes for many years?”He said that a “just and civil society” would not allow the deportation or detention of people “without cause” or “meaningful legal representation, without access to family or a supportive community, and without basic human needs being met.”He urged the faithful to “push for public policy changes that secure civil rights for all immigrants” and “humane border enforcement policies” that simultaneously uphold national security while protecting the “safety and dignity” of those who come to the country to work.‘We will come to you’García-Siller promulgated his letter, titled “We Will Come to You: United in Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters in Migration,” at a Mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio.“We are living in a world of war,” the letter began. “Across continents, people are dying every day. Across borders, survivors are forced to migrate. They do not leave by choice, but because of violence, hunger, fear, and oppression.”In the 56-page letter, composed of five sections and concluding with a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, García-Siller said he prayed “for a long time” before writing, saying he wanted to write from “the right place, one of accompaniment and solidarity.”He said the letter addresses an “unprecedented” time in the country, writing that “a convergence of structural and legal tactics … calls for the careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience.”“I write to comfort the afflicted, to ignite the comfortable, and to confront injustice with the full conviction of the Gospel.”He went on to cite his personal experience of “years walking alongside” migrants, many of whom are living in so much fear they rarely leave their homes, as well as his own story as a migrant himself.The archbishop wrote that he has witnessed a “fear that has taken root” across the archdiocese, saying he and other pastors “pray with parents who embrace their children each morning unsure if they will be home at night,” and describing parents who avoid taking children to the doctor or to go to work “because each mile carries risk.”“The community bears this cross, and the Church cannot be silent,” he wrote, describing declining Mass attendance and the worsening physical health of those who suffer fear related to immigration.“The people have not lost their faith,” he wrote. “Many, however, have lost their sense of safety and belonging.”The Church must “defend the dignity of those caught in the machinery of removal,” he emphasized.García-Siller described visiting three detention centers in the area, including the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, the largest family detention center in the nation, saying he’s witnessed "firsthand, violations of human dignity within their walls.”He went on to quote Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, who wrote in a pastoral letter in April that “‘the current campaign of mass detention and deportations is immoral.’”García-Siller accused private corporations of profiting from the processing and movement of large numbers of detained immigrants from one site to another.He also cited an investigation by U.S. Sen. John Ossoff, D-Georgia, which documented more than 1,000 “credible reports of human rights abuses since January 2025, including “medical neglect, denial of food and water, overcrowding, sleep deprivation, and the separation of breastfeeding mothers from their infants,” as well as similar abuses in privately-run sites.García-Siller called the public narrative that only criminals are being removed “misleading,” writing that “73% of those in immigration detention have no criminal conviction, and only 5% have been convicted of a violent crime.”He described how pastors, deacons, extraordinary ministers, and trained catechists are developing “active ministries of accompaniment” in the archdiocese, visiting migrants in their homes, bringing the sacraments along with medicines and other supplies, as well as in detention centers.“If your family has been detained, tell us. We will go to them. The Body of Christ does not abandon its members in chains,” García-Siller declared.The archbishop went on to lament that existing legal pathways take years to navigate, years that families cannot afford to wait as they seek safety and stability. He called for more accessible legal pathways, saying migrants would take those pathways if they were available. Migrants’ “contribution to the common good of our nation” demands such, he wrote.At the end of the letter, García-Siller entrusted the situation to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who herself crossed borders of culture and race and walked the road of exile with the Holy Family: “Long before she was Queen of Mexico … she was a mother who crossed a border. She knows this road; she walked it with her own feet.”

unitedyam

“I write to comfort the afflicted, to ignite the comfortable, and to confront injustice with the full conviction of the Gospel,” San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller wrote.

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Macron commemorates French priest killed by Islamic extremists 10 years ago #Catholic French President Emmanuel Macron commemorated Father Jacques Hamel, an elderly priest murdered 10 years ago in his church during Mass by two Islamist terrorists on July 26, 2016, and whose cause for beatification is currently underway.“We have not forgotten Father Jacques Hamel. Ten years ago today, he was cowardly murdered by two Islamist terrorists — targeted because he embodied the rejection of hatred, as well as fraternity and hope,” the French leader wrote on his X account on July 26.Tweet“To his loved ones, his parishioners, all the inhabitants of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and the Catholics of France, I extend the nation’s faithful, fraternal greetings,” Macron emphasized.“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president continued, concluding: “In the face of Islamist terrorism, France remains united. True to its foundational values. Resolute not to yield anything to those who seek to divide us.”Hamel’s murderOn July 26, 2016, two young Islamic State terrorists stormed the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, France, and murdered 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel while he was celebrating Mass.Shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”), the killers entered the church and began destroying religious images. The priest tried to stop them but was unable to do so. The terrorists attempted to force him to his knees, but he refused.One of the killers stabbed him, and Hamel cried out, “Begone, Satan!” These were his last words, and they slit his throat.The cause for Hamel’s beatificationThe cause was announced on April 13, 2017, and officially opened on May 20 of that year.The diocesan phase of the cause concluded on March 9, 2019, at Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel of the Archdiocese of Rouen.During that stage, 66 hearings were held, with testimony from the five witnesses to the murder, 51 summoned witnesses including siblings, friends, parishioners, and priests as well as five witnesses the tribunal called “ex officio” to ensure the process was not one-sided.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Macron commemorates French priest killed by Islamic extremists 10 years ago #Catholic French President Emmanuel Macron commemorated Father Jacques Hamel, an elderly priest murdered 10 years ago in his church during Mass by two Islamist terrorists on July 26, 2016, and whose cause for beatification is currently underway.“We have not forgotten Father Jacques Hamel. Ten years ago today, he was cowardly murdered by two Islamist terrorists — targeted because he embodied the rejection of hatred, as well as fraternity and hope,” the French leader wrote on his X account on July 26.Tweet“To his loved ones, his parishioners, all the inhabitants of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and the Catholics of France, I extend the nation’s faithful, fraternal greetings,” Macron emphasized.“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president continued, concluding: “In the face of Islamist terrorism, France remains united. True to its foundational values. Resolute not to yield anything to those who seek to divide us.”Hamel’s murderOn July 26, 2016, two young Islamic State terrorists stormed the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, France, and murdered 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel while he was celebrating Mass.Shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”), the killers entered the church and began destroying religious images. The priest tried to stop them but was unable to do so. The terrorists attempted to force him to his knees, but he refused.One of the killers stabbed him, and Hamel cried out, “Begone, Satan!” These were his last words, and they slit his throat.The cause for Hamel’s beatificationThe cause was announced on April 13, 2017, and officially opened on May 20 of that year.The diocesan phase of the cause concluded on March 9, 2019, at Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel of the Archdiocese of Rouen.During that stage, 66 hearings were held, with testimony from the five witnesses to the murder, 51 summoned witnesses including siblings, friends, parishioners, and priests as well as five witnesses the tribunal called “ex officio” to ensure the process was not one-sided.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam

“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president said.

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France legalizes euthanasia after forceful push through Parliament #Catholic The French National Assembly gave final approval on July 15 to a bill legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, making France one of the few European countries to legalize the practice along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. The 291-241 vote came three years after President Emmanuel Macron, who had made it one of his key campaign promises, first opened the question to national debate.The vote ended an unusual parliamentary stalemate between the National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly passed the bill three times over the course of 14 months — most recently on June 30 by a vote of 295 to 232 — and senators rejected it just as many times. On July 7, the Senate passed, by a narrow majority of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions, a preliminary motion to outright reject the bill rather than debate it, and this motion itself called on the government to end the legislative process. Rather than heeding this call, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu invoked Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the government to give the National Assembly the final say when repeated readings fail to produce an agreement between the two chambers. He then referred the bill back to the National Assembly for a fourth and final vote instead of a fourth reading in the Senate.The July 15 vote, however, did not close the matter. On July 14, Lecornu announced he would refer part of the text to the Constitutional Council, a step Senate President Gérard Larcher had also urged, citing in particular how the billʼs conscience clause would interact with health and social care facilities built around end-of-life accompaniment that exclude assisted dying. The council must rule within a month, or eight days if the government asks for an expedited review, meaning the law cannot be promulgated until that review is complete even though the Assembly has now adopted it.The end-of-life law covers both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance, under five cumulative conditions: A person must be an adult, a stable resident of France, diagnosed with a serious and incurable condition, in an advanced or terminal phase of that condition, and suffering in a way current treatment cannot relieve, while remaining able to express a free and informed decision. Self-administration is supposed to be the default rule, with the law providing for intervention by a healthcare professional only when the patient is physically unable to act.A supporting measure aimed at expanding access to palliative care was adopted with much broader support, passing its first reading in the Senate by a vote of 307 to 17. To date, more than 20% of French departments still lack a palliative care unit, according to figures cited repeatedly by the Bishops’ Conference of France during the debate.The push to legalize assisted dying traces back to September 2022, when the National Consultative Ethics Committee reversed its earlier opposition to assisted dying and endorsed an “ethical” application of the practice. A citizens’ panel Macron had convened spent the following winter weighing the question and backed legalization.The French president unveiled the outline of a bill in March 2024, but the initiative stalled when he dissolved the Assembly in June the same year. Deputy Olivier Falorni, who had filed an earlier and unsuccessful end-of-life bill, revived it in 2025.Critics argue the newly adopted framework is among the most permissive of its kind in the world. Grégor Puppinck, a Catholic lawyer and director general of the European Centre for Law and Justice, has published a point-by-point analysis contending that the entire process rests on the judgment of a single physician, who may meet the patient for the first time on the day of the request and need not be the one already treating them.The two additional professionals that physician must consult are chosen by the same person, are not required to examine the patient in person, and may be consulted by videoconference. Puppinck noted the statute sets no minimum interval between the decision and the act itself beyond a two-day reflection window, relatives have no guaranteed right to be informed beforehand, and they cannot challenge the outcome in court. Doctors who object in conscience must still refer patients to a colleague willing to proceed, and private and religious institutions, including nursing homes, must accommodate mobile euthanasia teams under threat of administrative penalties. Oversight, in Puppinck’s account, comes only after death, based on a report filed by the same clinician who carried it out.The founders of the ethics collective Democracy, Ethics, and Solidarity, Laurent Frémont and Emmanuel Hirsch, wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche that the law’s eligibility criteria — primarily a “serious and incurable condition” causing “unbearable suffering,” are defined vaguely enough that a strict medical interpretation could make more than 1 million people eligible, including patients with chronic illnesses, psychiatric disorders, or advanced age, without requiring a prior written request, a peer review by medical colleagues, or a psychiatric evaluation.A 2025 study by the Fondation pour l’innovation politique estimated the measure could save the state around 1.4 billion euros (.6 billion) a year in health, eldercare, and pension spending, a projection critics have cited as evidence of the pressures vulnerable and elderly patients could face once the law takes effect.The French bishops’ conference called the text a threat to “the most fragile” among French citizens in a statement issued in May 2025 ahead of the Assembly’s first vote on the bill. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, has repeatedly urged lawmakers to reconsider their position, asserting that true solidarity is built through caring for others rather than through death. “More than assistance in dying, our society needs assistance in living,” he has repeatedly stated.In a video appeal to lawmakers released before the vote, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours invoked François Rabelais’ centuries-old warning that “science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.” What is underway, he said, is “an anthropological shift,” a new way of viewing life and its end that will gradually reshape the country, touching caregivers, families, people with disabilities, and the relationship between generations. He pointed to the Netherlands, where regulators had layered on safeguards for two decades and where health officials confirmed in June that a child under 12 had been euthanized for the first time, under a 2024 expansion of the law to children between the ages of 1 and 12. Making a law, Jordy said, is also opening doors toward things “one had perhaps not imagined” when it was written.
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France legalizes euthanasia after forceful push through Parliament #Catholic The French National Assembly gave final approval on July 15 to a bill legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, making France one of the few European countries to legalize the practice along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. The 291-241 vote came three years after President Emmanuel Macron, who had made it one of his key campaign promises, first opened the question to national debate.The vote ended an unusual parliamentary stalemate between the National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly passed the bill three times over the course of 14 months — most recently on June 30 by a vote of 295 to 232 — and senators rejected it just as many times. On July 7, the Senate passed, by a narrow majority of 169 to 164, with 11 abstentions, a preliminary motion to outright reject the bill rather than debate it, and this motion itself called on the government to end the legislative process. Rather than heeding this call, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu invoked Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the government to give the National Assembly the final say when repeated readings fail to produce an agreement between the two chambers. He then referred the bill back to the National Assembly for a fourth and final vote instead of a fourth reading in the Senate.The July 15 vote, however, did not close the matter. On July 14, Lecornu announced he would refer part of the text to the Constitutional Council, a step Senate President Gérard Larcher had also urged, citing in particular how the billʼs conscience clause would interact with health and social care facilities built around end-of-life accompaniment that exclude assisted dying. The council must rule within a month, or eight days if the government asks for an expedited review, meaning the law cannot be promulgated until that review is complete even though the Assembly has now adopted it.The end-of-life law covers both euthanasia, administered by a doctor or nurse, and assisted suicide, in which the patient self-administers a lethal substance, under five cumulative conditions: A person must be an adult, a stable resident of France, diagnosed with a serious and incurable condition, in an advanced or terminal phase of that condition, and suffering in a way current treatment cannot relieve, while remaining able to express a free and informed decision. Self-administration is supposed to be the default rule, with the law providing for intervention by a healthcare professional only when the patient is physically unable to act.A supporting measure aimed at expanding access to palliative care was adopted with much broader support, passing its first reading in the Senate by a vote of 307 to 17. To date, more than 20% of French departments still lack a palliative care unit, according to figures cited repeatedly by the Bishops’ Conference of France during the debate.The push to legalize assisted dying traces back to September 2022, when the National Consultative Ethics Committee reversed its earlier opposition to assisted dying and endorsed an “ethical” application of the practice. A citizens’ panel Macron had convened spent the following winter weighing the question and backed legalization.The French president unveiled the outline of a bill in March 2024, but the initiative stalled when he dissolved the Assembly in June the same year. Deputy Olivier Falorni, who had filed an earlier and unsuccessful end-of-life bill, revived it in 2025.Critics argue the newly adopted framework is among the most permissive of its kind in the world. Grégor Puppinck, a Catholic lawyer and director general of the European Centre for Law and Justice, has published a point-by-point analysis contending that the entire process rests on the judgment of a single physician, who may meet the patient for the first time on the day of the request and need not be the one already treating them.The two additional professionals that physician must consult are chosen by the same person, are not required to examine the patient in person, and may be consulted by videoconference. Puppinck noted the statute sets no minimum interval between the decision and the act itself beyond a two-day reflection window, relatives have no guaranteed right to be informed beforehand, and they cannot challenge the outcome in court. Doctors who object in conscience must still refer patients to a colleague willing to proceed, and private and religious institutions, including nursing homes, must accommodate mobile euthanasia teams under threat of administrative penalties. Oversight, in Puppinck’s account, comes only after death, based on a report filed by the same clinician who carried it out.The founders of the ethics collective Democracy, Ethics, and Solidarity, Laurent Frémont and Emmanuel Hirsch, wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche that the law’s eligibility criteria — primarily a “serious and incurable condition” causing “unbearable suffering,” are defined vaguely enough that a strict medical interpretation could make more than 1 million people eligible, including patients with chronic illnesses, psychiatric disorders, or advanced age, without requiring a prior written request, a peer review by medical colleagues, or a psychiatric evaluation.A 2025 study by the Fondation pour l’innovation politique estimated the measure could save the state around 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) a year in health, eldercare, and pension spending, a projection critics have cited as evidence of the pressures vulnerable and elderly patients could face once the law takes effect.The French bishops’ conference called the text a threat to “the most fragile” among French citizens in a statement issued in May 2025 ahead of the Assembly’s first vote on the bill. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, has repeatedly urged lawmakers to reconsider their position, asserting that true solidarity is built through caring for others rather than through death. “More than assistance in dying, our society needs assistance in living,” he has repeatedly stated.In a video appeal to lawmakers released before the vote, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours invoked François Rabelais’ centuries-old warning that “science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.” What is underway, he said, is “an anthropological shift,” a new way of viewing life and its end that will gradually reshape the country, touching caregivers, families, people with disabilities, and the relationship between generations. He pointed to the Netherlands, where regulators had layered on safeguards for two decades and where health officials confirmed in June that a child under 12 had been euthanized for the first time, under a 2024 expansion of the law to children between the ages of 1 and 12. Making a law, Jordy said, is also opening doors toward things “one had perhaps not imagined” when it was written.

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The vote, ending an unusual parliamentary stalemate between the National Assembly and the Senate, came three years after President Emmanuel Macron first opened the question to national debate.

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SSPX rejects Vatican’s excommunication, calls it ‘objectively’ unjust and invalid #Catholic The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), whose members are known as “Lefebvrians,” rejected the recent excommunications decreed by the Vatican after consecrating four bishops without papal authorization on July 1 and asserted that the sanctions imposed are “objectively unjust and invalid.”In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, released on July 3, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, justified the episcopal consecrations that prompted the Vatican’s decree declaring the group to be in schism as “an extreme measure to save souls, amid the doctrinal and moral confusion in which the Church finds itself.”“We in no way intend to replace the Church, and our sole purpose is to remain faithful to her,” wrote Pagliarani, who leads the group founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who died in 1991.The group founded by Lefebvre aims to preserve the traditional liturgy as it existed prior to the reforms implemented after the Second Vatican Council while maintaining its opposition to aspects of the council’s teachings on ecumenism, religious freedom, and collegiality.Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 after ordaining, without the permission of Pope John Paul II, four bishops: Alfonso de Galarreta of Spain, Bernard Fellay of Switzerland, Richard Williamson of England, and Bernard Tissier de Mallerais of France.Amid attempts to build bridges of dialogue with the SSPX, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications in 2009 against the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre.Tissier de Mallerais and Williamson died in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Galarreta and Fellay, on the other hand, participated in the recent consecration of four new bishops on July 1, for which they were excommunicated once again.‘We had asked for bread’Using as the central theme of his argument the passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke (11:11–13), in which Jesus reminds his disciples that “if you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him,” Pagliarani asserted that “we had asked for bread — that is, a little understanding in the face of a sincere case of conscience, a gesture of fatherly compassion.”“Unfortunately, we have received a stone,” he continued, noting that, instead of “fish” — that is, “the possibility of temporarily obtaining the necessary means to continue forming good priests … unfortunately, we have received a snake.”“We had asked for an egg, promising to return it as soon as possible,” he added. He affirmed that “the holy tradition we preserve in our souls belongs to the Church, our Mother” but “unfortunately, we have received a scorpion.”The superior of the SSPX assured Leo XIV that the society does not accept the Vatican’s sanctions “in a spirit of bitterness or rebellion” but rather feel encouraged “to love the holy Church even more and to attend to her needs more than ever with all our strength.”“We are certain that one day you yourself or one of your successors will wish to embrace the program of St. Pius X: ‘To restore all things in Christ,’” he said, noting that “on that day, the Holy Father will discover, with great joy and deep consolation, authentically Catholic souls — souls whose bond with the Church was never founded on the shifting sands of ambiguous dialogue but on the rock of Peter’s faith.”‘Turn back!’: Leo XIV’s plea the SSPX ignoredIn his letter, Pagliarani makes no mention of the Catholic Church’s repeated calls for dialogue, which date back to the pontificate of St. John Paul II with the creation of the Ecclesia Dei Commission and which reached one of their highest points in Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunications of the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre.Pope Francis also reached out to the SSPX with decisions such as allowing sacramental confessions with its priests to be valid and lawful during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 — a decision he later extended beyond that year.Pagliarani also did not address Pope Leo XIV’s direct plea to the Society of St. Pius X, asking the group not to commit “a schismatic act.”“In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I implore and ask you with all my heart: Turn back!” the Holy Father wrote to them on June 30.“I urge you to carefully consider the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you would carry out would deprive them of the lawful — and in some cases, even valid — reception of the sacraments that they love and seek for their own sanctification,” the pope stated.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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SSPX rejects Vatican’s excommunication, calls it ‘objectively’ unjust and invalid #Catholic The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), whose members are known as “Lefebvrians,” rejected the recent excommunications decreed by the Vatican after consecrating four bishops without papal authorization on July 1 and asserted that the sanctions imposed are “objectively unjust and invalid.”In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, released on July 3, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, justified the episcopal consecrations that prompted the Vatican’s decree declaring the group to be in schism as “an extreme measure to save souls, amid the doctrinal and moral confusion in which the Church finds itself.”“We in no way intend to replace the Church, and our sole purpose is to remain faithful to her,” wrote Pagliarani, who leads the group founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who died in 1991.The group founded by Lefebvre aims to preserve the traditional liturgy as it existed prior to the reforms implemented after the Second Vatican Council while maintaining its opposition to aspects of the council’s teachings on ecumenism, religious freedom, and collegiality.Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 after ordaining, without the permission of Pope John Paul II, four bishops: Alfonso de Galarreta of Spain, Bernard Fellay of Switzerland, Richard Williamson of England, and Bernard Tissier de Mallerais of France.Amid attempts to build bridges of dialogue with the SSPX, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications in 2009 against the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre.Tissier de Mallerais and Williamson died in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Galarreta and Fellay, on the other hand, participated in the recent consecration of four new bishops on July 1, for which they were excommunicated once again.‘We had asked for bread’Using as the central theme of his argument the passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke (11:11–13), in which Jesus reminds his disciples that “if you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him,” Pagliarani asserted that “we had asked for bread — that is, a little understanding in the face of a sincere case of conscience, a gesture of fatherly compassion.”“Unfortunately, we have received a stone,” he continued, noting that, instead of “fish” — that is, “the possibility of temporarily obtaining the necessary means to continue forming good priests … unfortunately, we have received a snake.”“We had asked for an egg, promising to return it as soon as possible,” he added. He affirmed that “the holy tradition we preserve in our souls belongs to the Church, our Mother” but “unfortunately, we have received a scorpion.”The superior of the SSPX assured Leo XIV that the society does not accept the Vatican’s sanctions “in a spirit of bitterness or rebellion” but rather feel encouraged “to love the holy Church even more and to attend to her needs more than ever with all our strength.”“We are certain that one day you yourself or one of your successors will wish to embrace the program of St. Pius X: ‘To restore all things in Christ,’” he said, noting that “on that day, the Holy Father will discover, with great joy and deep consolation, authentically Catholic souls — souls whose bond with the Church was never founded on the shifting sands of ambiguous dialogue but on the rock of Peter’s faith.”‘Turn back!’: Leo XIV’s plea the SSPX ignoredIn his letter, Pagliarani makes no mention of the Catholic Church’s repeated calls for dialogue, which date back to the pontificate of St. John Paul II with the creation of the Ecclesia Dei Commission and which reached one of their highest points in Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunications of the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre.Pope Francis also reached out to the SSPX with decisions such as allowing sacramental confessions with its priests to be valid and lawful during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 — a decision he later extended beyond that year.Pagliarani also did not address Pope Leo XIV’s direct plea to the Society of St. Pius X, asking the group not to commit “a schismatic act.”“In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I implore and ask you with all my heart: Turn back!” the Holy Father wrote to them on June 30.“I urge you to carefully consider the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you would carry out would deprive them of the lawful — and in some cases, even valid — reception of the sacraments that they love and seek for their own sanctification,” the pope stated.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, released on July 3, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, justified the episcopal consecrations that prompted the Vatican’s decree.

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Catholic youth chaplains in Nigeria urged to report abuse allegations to Church, civil authorities #Catholic ABUJA, Nigeria — The national director of the Pastoral Affairs Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria has urged youth chaplains across the country to promptly report allegations of abuse involving minors to both Church and civil authorities, emphasizing that safeguarding is an essential responsibility of youth ministry.Speaking to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on the sidelines of a June 25 seminar for provincial youth chaplains, Father Augustine Olusegun Fasiku said the Churchʼs commitment to young people requires creating and maintaining safe environments.“The Church entrusts young people to chaplains not merely to organize programs or celebrate Masses. She entrusts them with the lives, safety, dignity, and spiritual growth of those young people, and so you must report abuse of minors anytime it occurs under your watch,” Fasiku said.Describing youth chaplains as both “pastor and protector,” he said every retreat, counseling session, youth gathering, and online interaction should reflect accountability, vigilance, and care.Fasiku stressed that chaplains have moral, pastoral, canonical, and legal obligations to report allegations of abuse immediately rather than attempt to address them privately.“The first responsibility is to receive the report seriously and compassionately,” he said. “However, the chaplain must remember that he is not an investigator. His role is not to interrogate witnesses or determine guilt. He must promptly report the allegation to the appropriate diocesan safeguarding office or Church authority while ensuring that relevant civil authorities are informed according to legal requirements.”The Nigerian Catholic priest cautioned against efforts to conceal abuse in order to avoid scandal, noting that such actions can expose both individuals and Church institutions to legal consequences.“There should be no confusion today; Pope Francis abolished the pontifical secret in cases involving sexual abuse of minors. Internal Church procedures cannot be used to prevent cooperation with civil authorities,” he said.Fasiku underscored that canonical procedures and civil legal processes operate alongside one another.“In Nigeria, withholding information in order to avoid scandal can itself create serious legal consequences. The welfare of the child must always take precedence over institutional reputation,” he said.Referring to Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003 and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, he said Church personnel who commit offenses against minors are accountable under both ecclesiastical and civil law.“What this means is that a priest, chaplain, teacher, or Church worker who commits an offense against a minor is not only answerable to ecclesiastical authorities but also accountable under Nigerian law,” he explained.Fasiku also highlighted provisions of Church law governing safeguarding, citing Canon 1752, which states that the salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church, and Canon 1398, which criminalizes sexual offenses against minors and vulnerable persons, including grooming and the possession of abusive materials.He further pointed to Pope Francis’ motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You Are the Light of the World) saying that it establishes mandatory reporting obligations within the Church and mechanisms for holding Church leaders accountable in cases of negligence or cover-ups.Addressing the dynamics of youth ministry, Fasiku warned that abuse often begins with the misuse of authority and trust.“Young people frequently see priests as representatives of God. If a chaplain abuses that authority by manipulating a young person’s conscience or presenting personal desires as God’s will, the consequences can be devastating,” he said.He noted that many young people seek guidance from chaplains during periods of grief, family difficulties, identity struggles, and other personal crises, circumstances that can create significant imbalances of power.“Parents entrust their children to the Church because they believe the Church will protect them,” he said. “Young people themselves share personal struggles because they trust their chaplain.”According to the priest, that trust places a fiduciary obligation on ministers to act solely in the best interests of those entrusted to their care.He added that no romantic, financial, or exploitative relationship between a chaplain and a young person can ever be justified, because responsibility for maintaining appropriate boundaries rests with the adult minister.He also outlined practical safeguarding measures, encouraging chaplains to observe the “Two-Adult Rule” and ensure meetings with minors take place in visible and transparent settings.“Counseling sessions should not occur in isolated private locations. Physical contact should always remain appropriate, public, and nonexclusive,” he said.He further cautioned against favoritism and emotional dependency, warning that special privileges or excessive personal attention to individual youths can foster unhealthy attachments and resemble grooming behavior.Fasiku also addressed the challenges posed by digital communication, urging chaplains to avoid secretive online interactions with minors.“Private messaging late at night, disappearing messages, secret chats, or communications that cannot be monitored create unnecessary risks and should be avoided,” he said.He encouraged the use of official and accountable communication channels and recommended involving parents or other responsible adults whenever appropriate.On care for survivors, Fasiku emphasized that victims of abuse must receive compassionate accompaniment and access to spiritual, psychological, emotional, and medical support.“The Church’s responsibility does not end with receiving a report; accompaniment and healing is an essential component of pastoral care,” he said.He added that accused ministers should have no contact with victims or their families during investigations and that independent pastoral caregivers should be assigned to support those affected while safeguarding the integrity of the process.Fasiku urged youth chaplains to view safeguarding not as an administrative requirement but as a concrete expression of the Gospel.“The future of the Church depends greatly on the trust young people place in her; that trust can only flourish when young people know they are safe,” he said.The priest emphasized: “When we protect the vulnerable, we honor Christ. When we create safe environments, we strengthen the Church. And when we place the dignity and welfare of young people at the center of our ministry, we fulfill both our pastoral mission and our legal obligation.”This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
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Catholic youth chaplains in Nigeria urged to report abuse allegations to Church, civil authorities #Catholic ABUJA, Nigeria — The national director of the Pastoral Affairs Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria has urged youth chaplains across the country to promptly report allegations of abuse involving minors to both Church and civil authorities, emphasizing that safeguarding is an essential responsibility of youth ministry.Speaking to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on the sidelines of a June 25 seminar for provincial youth chaplains, Father Augustine Olusegun Fasiku said the Churchʼs commitment to young people requires creating and maintaining safe environments.“The Church entrusts young people to chaplains not merely to organize programs or celebrate Masses. She entrusts them with the lives, safety, dignity, and spiritual growth of those young people, and so you must report abuse of minors anytime it occurs under your watch,” Fasiku said.Describing youth chaplains as both “pastor and protector,” he said every retreat, counseling session, youth gathering, and online interaction should reflect accountability, vigilance, and care.Fasiku stressed that chaplains have moral, pastoral, canonical, and legal obligations to report allegations of abuse immediately rather than attempt to address them privately.“The first responsibility is to receive the report seriously and compassionately,” he said. “However, the chaplain must remember that he is not an investigator. His role is not to interrogate witnesses or determine guilt. He must promptly report the allegation to the appropriate diocesan safeguarding office or Church authority while ensuring that relevant civil authorities are informed according to legal requirements.”The Nigerian Catholic priest cautioned against efforts to conceal abuse in order to avoid scandal, noting that such actions can expose both individuals and Church institutions to legal consequences.“There should be no confusion today; Pope Francis abolished the pontifical secret in cases involving sexual abuse of minors. Internal Church procedures cannot be used to prevent cooperation with civil authorities,” he said.Fasiku underscored that canonical procedures and civil legal processes operate alongside one another.“In Nigeria, withholding information in order to avoid scandal can itself create serious legal consequences. The welfare of the child must always take precedence over institutional reputation,” he said.Referring to Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003 and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, he said Church personnel who commit offenses against minors are accountable under both ecclesiastical and civil law.“What this means is that a priest, chaplain, teacher, or Church worker who commits an offense against a minor is not only answerable to ecclesiastical authorities but also accountable under Nigerian law,” he explained.Fasiku also highlighted provisions of Church law governing safeguarding, citing Canon 1752, which states that the salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church, and Canon 1398, which criminalizes sexual offenses against minors and vulnerable persons, including grooming and the possession of abusive materials.He further pointed to Pope Francis’ motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You Are the Light of the World) saying that it establishes mandatory reporting obligations within the Church and mechanisms for holding Church leaders accountable in cases of negligence or cover-ups.Addressing the dynamics of youth ministry, Fasiku warned that abuse often begins with the misuse of authority and trust.“Young people frequently see priests as representatives of God. If a chaplain abuses that authority by manipulating a young person’s conscience or presenting personal desires as God’s will, the consequences can be devastating,” he said.He noted that many young people seek guidance from chaplains during periods of grief, family difficulties, identity struggles, and other personal crises, circumstances that can create significant imbalances of power.“Parents entrust their children to the Church because they believe the Church will protect them,” he said. “Young people themselves share personal struggles because they trust their chaplain.”According to the priest, that trust places a fiduciary obligation on ministers to act solely in the best interests of those entrusted to their care.He added that no romantic, financial, or exploitative relationship between a chaplain and a young person can ever be justified, because responsibility for maintaining appropriate boundaries rests with the adult minister.He also outlined practical safeguarding measures, encouraging chaplains to observe the “Two-Adult Rule” and ensure meetings with minors take place in visible and transparent settings.“Counseling sessions should not occur in isolated private locations. Physical contact should always remain appropriate, public, and nonexclusive,” he said.He further cautioned against favoritism and emotional dependency, warning that special privileges or excessive personal attention to individual youths can foster unhealthy attachments and resemble grooming behavior.Fasiku also addressed the challenges posed by digital communication, urging chaplains to avoid secretive online interactions with minors.“Private messaging late at night, disappearing messages, secret chats, or communications that cannot be monitored create unnecessary risks and should be avoided,” he said.He encouraged the use of official and accountable communication channels and recommended involving parents or other responsible adults whenever appropriate.On care for survivors, Fasiku emphasized that victims of abuse must receive compassionate accompaniment and access to spiritual, psychological, emotional, and medical support.“The Church’s responsibility does not end with receiving a report; accompaniment and healing is an essential component of pastoral care,” he said.He added that accused ministers should have no contact with victims or their families during investigations and that independent pastoral caregivers should be assigned to support those affected while safeguarding the integrity of the process.Fasiku urged youth chaplains to view safeguarding not as an administrative requirement but as a concrete expression of the Gospel.“The future of the Church depends greatly on the trust young people place in her; that trust can only flourish when young people know they are safe,” he said.The priest emphasized: “When we protect the vulnerable, we honor Christ. When we create safe environments, we strengthen the Church. And when we place the dignity and welfare of young people at the center of our ministry, we fulfill both our pastoral mission and our legal obligation.”This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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The national director of the Pastoral Affairs Department of Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) said the Church’s commitment to young people requires creating and maintaining safe environments.

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Catholic scholar says classical learning can help renew America #Catholic ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Catholics should be proud of their contributions to the United States, especially for the intellectual tradition inherited from philosophers, theologians, and saints who contributed to the ideas leading to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, author and Hillsdale College Professor Matthew Mehan told EWTN News leading up to the 250th anniversary of the nation.Mehan is associate dean and professor of government studies at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus. He holds a doctorate in literature from the University of Dallas and recently authored The American Book of Fables, a book for all ages that reflects Mehan’s desire to contribute to national renewal. The fables are set in the American landscape, framed by the Declaration of Independence, and accompanied by historical documents illustrating the country’s history, complexity, and geographical regions. In interviews with EWTN News, the author and scholar said the book grew out of his broader efforts to promote culture renewal through educational reform.“In a sense, it is an unsurprisingly Catholic endeavour of ‘fides et ratio,’” he said. “I wanted something like in church, where there is a papal flag and an American flag, representing faith, morals, love of country, and love of neighbor.” “I’ve always thought that way. I’ve also thought a lot about a combination of those things, with beautiful images and beautiful moral sentiments, and how those come together. So when the semiquinquicentennial was coming up, I thought it would be a great gift to the country.”. Mehan won the America 250 Innovation Prize from the Heritage Foundation for the work.The educator and father of eight said he shares the concerns of many teachers and parents dismayed by the current culture and how education has failed to cultivate virtue, civic pride and responsibility. He and his wife founded a school cooperative in Reston, Virginia that now has 38 participating families. He has also designed curricula for schools across the country. The role of educators is essential, Mehan said, while noting that doctorates are now the equivalent of 19th-century master’s degrees in terms of academic formation. “Catholic academics don’t know their own traditions very well,” he argued. “They know Greek philosophers, and the moderns who reject the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, and Catholic vision of Western civilization and human nature, and may know the Summa Theologica and St. Augustine. But what they don’t know is the poetical and rhetorical tradition which moves people toward a common vision, which is an indispensable part of good letters and a healthy citizenry.” “And they don’t know the Romans,” he added. Drawing on the classical tradition, Mehan noted that Roman thinkers such as Cicero and Seneca prepared the “good soil,” the intellectual antecedents that inspired America’s founders. “Cicero, for instance, was taught in all seminaries until the 1900s,” while Seneca was praised by St. Jerome, he said. And ideas found in Cicero were the underpinnings of the theory of natural rights that informed later Catholic philosophers. Seneca’s De Clementia, for example, contributed to concepts of constitutional democracy and rights that shaped the American experiment in government. These classical authors, he argues, still have relevance and deserve renewed attention in universities and seminaries. Matthew Mehan is associate dean and professor of government studies at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus. | Photo courtesy of Matthew Megan Asked about the future of Catholic education and how it can play a role in a national renewal, despite the closing of Catholic parishes and schools, Mehan said: “Catholic education is displaying a nascent energy.”“It’s very dynamic and full of people who have reoriented education towards what the Christian humanists of the Catholic tradition understood as their goal, which is to help students have a clean conscience and thus have the most joyful life possible in this life and the next,” he said.For Mehan, moral formation must take precedence over the mere transmission of information. He argues that Catholic education drifted from this mission in the 20th century as it increasingly followed secular models of education.Subjects such as calculus, computer coding, and the sciences are valuable, he said, but they should not be the primary focus of Catholic schools. “If you aim at them, ironically, you won’t get them. If you aim high, you’ll get the high and the low. If you aim for the low, you’ll get nothing. That is why education has collapsed except where the moral life is, ideally, centered around Christ.”Catholics holding doctorates who complain that tenured positions at colleges and universities are scarce should look to K-12 schools to make national renewal a reality, Mehan said.The renewal of Catholic education, and how it can contribute to national renewal, depends on placing Christ at the center and embracing the universal call to holiness emphasized by the Second Vatican Council, he argued. Movements such as Opus Dei and the Neo-catechumenal Way serve as “an enormous engine,” Mehan said, to plant holiness in students and encourage teachers themselves to be saints. It will change “how people teach, how they design curricula, and how they bring forward the richness of the Catholic faith and tradition.” “Actually, I’m very hopeful,” he said.To Catholics who may think of themselves as strangers in the United States, Mehan said, “No, brother, you built this too.” “Your people, your religious tradition, are at home here,” he said. “And you are meant for republican self-government. Augustine’s City of God laid the groundwork, St. Thomas Aquinas built the scaffolding, and St. Thomas More made it shine. American Catholics built this country with sweat, blood, and their arms.” “This is your patrimony too,” he said.
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Catholic scholar says classical learning can help renew America #Catholic ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Catholics should be proud of their contributions to the United States, especially for the intellectual tradition inherited from philosophers, theologians, and saints who contributed to the ideas leading to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, author and Hillsdale College Professor Matthew Mehan told EWTN News leading up to the 250th anniversary of the nation.Mehan is associate dean and professor of government studies at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus. He holds a doctorate in literature from the University of Dallas and recently authored The American Book of Fables, a book for all ages that reflects Mehan’s desire to contribute to national renewal. The fables are set in the American landscape, framed by the Declaration of Independence, and accompanied by historical documents illustrating the country’s history, complexity, and geographical regions. In interviews with EWTN News, the author and scholar said the book grew out of his broader efforts to promote culture renewal through educational reform.“In a sense, it is an unsurprisingly Catholic endeavour of ‘fides et ratio,’” he said. “I wanted something like in church, where there is a papal flag and an American flag, representing faith, morals, love of country, and love of neighbor.” “I’ve always thought that way. I’ve also thought a lot about a combination of those things, with beautiful images and beautiful moral sentiments, and how those come together. So when the semiquinquicentennial was coming up, I thought it would be a great gift to the country.”. Mehan won the America 250 Innovation Prize from the Heritage Foundation for the work.The educator and father of eight said he shares the concerns of many teachers and parents dismayed by the current culture and how education has failed to cultivate virtue, civic pride and responsibility. He and his wife founded a school cooperative in Reston, Virginia that now has 38 participating families. He has also designed curricula for schools across the country. The role of educators is essential, Mehan said, while noting that doctorates are now the equivalent of 19th-century master’s degrees in terms of academic formation. “Catholic academics don’t know their own traditions very well,” he argued. “They know Greek philosophers, and the moderns who reject the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, and Catholic vision of Western civilization and human nature, and may know the Summa Theologica and St. Augustine. But what they don’t know is the poetical and rhetorical tradition which moves people toward a common vision, which is an indispensable part of good letters and a healthy citizenry.” “And they don’t know the Romans,” he added. Drawing on the classical tradition, Mehan noted that Roman thinkers such as Cicero and Seneca prepared the “good soil,” the intellectual antecedents that inspired America’s founders. “Cicero, for instance, was taught in all seminaries until the 1900s,” while Seneca was praised by St. Jerome, he said. And ideas found in Cicero were the underpinnings of the theory of natural rights that informed later Catholic philosophers. Seneca’s De Clementia, for example, contributed to concepts of constitutional democracy and rights that shaped the American experiment in government. These classical authors, he argues, still have relevance and deserve renewed attention in universities and seminaries. Matthew Mehan is associate dean and professor of government studies at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus. | Photo courtesy of Matthew Megan Asked about the future of Catholic education and how it can play a role in a national renewal, despite the closing of Catholic parishes and schools, Mehan said: “Catholic education is displaying a nascent energy.”“It’s very dynamic and full of people who have reoriented education towards what the Christian humanists of the Catholic tradition understood as their goal, which is to help students have a clean conscience and thus have the most joyful life possible in this life and the next,” he said.For Mehan, moral formation must take precedence over the mere transmission of information. He argues that Catholic education drifted from this mission in the 20th century as it increasingly followed secular models of education.Subjects such as calculus, computer coding, and the sciences are valuable, he said, but they should not be the primary focus of Catholic schools. “If you aim at them, ironically, you won’t get them. If you aim high, you’ll get the high and the low. If you aim for the low, you’ll get nothing. That is why education has collapsed except where the moral life is, ideally, centered around Christ.”Catholics holding doctorates who complain that tenured positions at colleges and universities are scarce should look to K-12 schools to make national renewal a reality, Mehan said.The renewal of Catholic education, and how it can contribute to national renewal, depends on placing Christ at the center and embracing the universal call to holiness emphasized by the Second Vatican Council, he argued. Movements such as Opus Dei and the Neo-catechumenal Way serve as “an enormous engine,” Mehan said, to plant holiness in students and encourage teachers themselves to be saints. It will change “how people teach, how they design curricula, and how they bring forward the richness of the Catholic faith and tradition.” “Actually, I’m very hopeful,” he said.To Catholics who may think of themselves as strangers in the United States, Mehan said, “No, brother, you built this too.” “Your people, your religious tradition, are at home here,” he said. “And you are meant for republican self-government. Augustine’s City of God laid the groundwork, St. Thomas Aquinas built the scaffolding, and St. Thomas More made it shine. American Catholics built this country with sweat, blood, and their arms.” “This is your patrimony too,” he said.

unitedyam

Author and professor calls on Catholics to revive American culture through faith and classical learning.

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