The Florida bishops had petitioned the state Legislature for the funding, though a broader statewide measure failed to pass.
The president has claimed, without evidence, that Pope Leo XIV wants the Middle Eastern country to develop nuclear armaments.
![Human dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ U.S. bishops say amid Trump ‘aliens’ campaign #Catholic The U.S. bishops are reiterating their calls for immigrants in the U.S. to be treated with dignity as the Trump administration launched a campaign that likens immigrants living in the country illegally to extraterrestrials.The White House on May 28 launched a government website “Aliens.gov,” a retro sci-fi-styled site that claims the government has “kept a closely guarded secret” about “aliens” and an “invasion” for decades. The site mimics sci‑fi aesthetics, with a bold, geometric sans‑serif typeface in neon green and black, like 1950s movie posters used to advertise Cold‑War‑era sci‑fi films featuring monstrous extraterrestrials.“Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives,” the site claims, alleging that “aliens” have “shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences.”Promoting an “alien arrest map” of immigrant detentions around the country, the site states bluntly that people without legal status “do not belong here.”The website urges visitors to “report suspicious aliens” to an “ICE tip line.” In U.S. law, the word alien is a formal legal classification meaning a person who is not a U.S. citizen or national, a definition that appears in the Immigration and Nationality Act and is used in statutes, regulations, and court decisions.Dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ bishops saysImmigrants have long been portrayed through metaphors in U.S. culture, from 19th‑century political cartoons that depicted Irish, Italian, and Chinese newcomers as monsters or subhuman creatures to modern rhetoric framing migrant groups as “invaders,” “infestations,” or something other than fully human.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lamented “the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants” in a special message in November 2025. In February, the bishops condemned a plan from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase the capacity of migrant detention centers around the U.S. The government earlier this year indicated it would spend about $38 billion to bolster detention space. Victoria, Texas Bishop Brendan Cahill, chair of the bishops' immigration committee, called the plans “deeply troubling” at the time.“The thought of holding thousands of families in massive warehouses should challenge the conscience of every American," the bishop said. Asked about the governmentʼs new “aliens” campaign on May 29, USCCB spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi told EWTN News that the bishops have “continuously condemned vilification of immigrants and dehumanizing rhetoric and consistently advocated for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.” “They’ve also repeatedly asserted that human dignity and national security are not in conflict,” she said, pointing to the bishops' special message. The bishops at that time said they “oppose[d] the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” with the prelates praying “for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”The bishops in February urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the U.S. constitutional policy of “birthright citizenship” wherein any individual born on U.S. soil is counted as an American citizen. The dispute before the court was launched after Trump in January 2025 signed an order directing that children born to parents in the country illegally were not entitled to U.S. citizenship. Pope Leo XIV — the first pope in history from the United States — has also weighed in, affirming in November 2025 that while nations have “a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” countries “have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”“When people are living good lives — and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years — to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least,” is not acceptable, the pope said on Nov. 18, 2025.Regarding the bishops' Nov. 12, 2025 message on immigration, the pope remarked: “I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of goodwill to listen carefully to what they said."In a statement to EWTN News, meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on May 29 argued that news reports “too often” ignore “the victims [of illegal immigration] and their stories.” "These victims and their families are why we work around the clock to arrest and deport illegal aliens from our communities," the department said, describing crimes committed by undocumented immigrants as "completely preventable.”“What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are in the U.S. illegally,” the statement continued, arguing that “nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges.”ICE data shows most people arrested and booked into ICE custody do not have criminal convictions, and some analyses show the 70% figure comes from redefining “criminal” to include pending charges, foreign allegations untested in a U.S. court, and people who have never been found guilty of a crime. Roughly 25–30% of people arrested by ICE have a prior conviction, according to analyses of ICE arrest and detention data, including work by the Cato Institute and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse based on ICE data.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/human-dignity-national-security-not-in-conflict-u-s-bishops-say-amid-trump-aliens-campaign-catholic-the-u-s-bishops-are-reiterating-their-calls-for-immigrants-in-the-u-s-to-be-treated-wi.jpg "Human dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ U.S. bishops say amid Trump ‘aliens’ campaign #Catholic The U.S. bishops are reiterating their calls for immigrants in the U.S. to be treated with dignity as the Trump administration launched a campaign that likens immigrants living in the country illegally to extraterrestrials.The White House on May 28 launched a government website “Aliens.gov,” a retro sci-fi-styled site that claims the government has “kept a closely guarded secret” about “aliens” and an “invasion” for decades. The site mimics sci‑fi aesthetics, with a bold, geometric sans‑serif typeface in neon green and black, like 1950s movie posters used to advertise Cold‑War‑era sci‑fi films featuring monstrous extraterrestrials.“Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives,” the site claims, alleging that “aliens” have “shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences.”Promoting an “alien arrest map” of immigrant detentions around the country, the site states bluntly that people without legal status “do not belong here.”The website urges visitors to “report suspicious aliens” to an “ICE tip line.” In U.S. law, the word alien is a formal legal classification meaning a person who is not a U.S. citizen or national, a definition that appears in the Immigration and Nationality Act and is used in statutes, regulations, and court decisions.Dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ bishops saysImmigrants have long been portrayed through metaphors in U.S. culture, from 19th‑century political cartoons that depicted Irish, Italian, and Chinese newcomers as monsters or subhuman creatures to modern rhetoric framing migrant groups as “invaders,” “infestations,” or something other than fully human.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lamented “the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants” in a special message in November 2025. In February, the bishops condemned a plan from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase the capacity of migrant detention centers around the U.S. The government earlier this year indicated it would spend about $38 billion to bolster detention space. Victoria, Texas Bishop Brendan Cahill, chair of the bishops' immigration committee, called the plans “deeply troubling” at the time.“The thought of holding thousands of families in massive warehouses should challenge the conscience of every American,\" the bishop said. Asked about the governmentʼs new “aliens” campaign on May 29, USCCB spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi told EWTN News that the bishops have “continuously condemned vilification of immigrants and dehumanizing rhetoric and consistently advocated for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.” “They’ve also repeatedly asserted that human dignity and national security are not in conflict,” she said, pointing to the bishops' special message. The bishops at that time said they “oppose[d] the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” with the prelates praying “for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”The bishops in February urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the U.S. constitutional policy of “birthright citizenship” wherein any individual born on U.S. soil is counted as an American citizen. The dispute before the court was launched after Trump in January 2025 signed an order directing that children born to parents in the country illegally were not entitled to U.S. citizenship. Pope Leo XIV — the first pope in history from the United States — has also weighed in, affirming in November 2025 that while nations have “a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” countries “have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”“When people are living good lives — and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years — to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least,” is not acceptable, the pope said on Nov. 18, 2025.Regarding the bishops' Nov. 12, 2025 message on immigration, the pope remarked: “I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of goodwill to listen carefully to what they said.\"In a statement to EWTN News, meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on May 29 argued that news reports “too often” ignore “the victims [of illegal immigration] and their stories.” \"These victims and their families are why we work around the clock to arrest and deport illegal aliens from our communities,\" the department said, describing crimes committed by undocumented immigrants as \"completely preventable.”“What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are in the U.S. illegally,” the statement continued, arguing that “nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges.”ICE data shows most people arrested and booked into ICE custody do not have criminal convictions, and some analyses show the 70% figure comes from redefining “criminal” to include pending charges, foreign allegations untested in a U.S. court, and people who have never been found guilty of a crime. Roughly 25–30% of people arrested by ICE have a prior conviction, according to analyses of ICE arrest and detention data, including work by the Cato Institute and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse based on ICE data.")
The Trump administration launched an “alien arrest map” with images and rhetoric that likens immigrants living illegally in the country to extraterrestrials.
![Bishop Barron speaks on U.S. religious roots ahead of nation’s 250th anniversary #Catholic While there has been a tendency in the United Sates "to hyper-stress separation of church and state," Bishop Robert Barron said "the roots of our country are deeply religious" and "the basic principles of the country are inescapably religious.” On May 17, thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the White House event celebrating “one nation under God” and "the connection between religion and our American democracy,” Barron said.In an interview with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn ahead of the event, Barron discussed the “hugely important” phrase "one nation under God.”“In the written versions of the Gettysburg Address that [Abraham Lincoln] prepared before giving it, the phrase ‘under God’ is not there,” Barron explained.“But then when he was delivering it he added ... ‘under God,’“ Barron said. ”I think it represented a deep intuition that Lincoln had that you canʼt really understand our democracy without it.” The phrase “under God” is “meant to hold off tyranny,” he said. It is clear that “all kings and all rulers are under God, meaning under the judgment and authority of God. Our founders understood that.”“And that little phrase is meant to hold off that tendency to deify any political establishment, political party, political ruler. Weʼre a nation, yes indeed, but weʼre under God. Our laws are determined by God,” he said.“I love the First Amendment to our Constitution, which in its opening lines expresses very eloquently … the right balance,“ he said. ”Namely, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.’”“But then thereʼs a second part, the second clause of that: ‘Congress shall make no law limiting the free exercise of religion,’” he said.“Thatʼs an eloquent balance. So thereʼs no officially state-sanctioned religion, but that does not mean that religion has no role in public life. On the contrary, because there should be no law restricting the free exercise of religion,” Barron said. Catholics’ role in public life and public officeCatholics in public office should bring “moral sensibility into their public decisions,” Barron said.“Weʼre not here to impose Catholicism on anybody,” he said. “But I think to bring a moral and spiritual sensibility into the decisions that you make at these high levels is altogether valid.”As a member of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, Barron said he met “lots of Catholics in the present administration” and told them to “bring Thomas Aquinas into your public life.”“By which I mean bring these great moral and spiritual principles that indeed undergird our democracy, but make them a lively presence in the work that you do,” he said.Barron further spoke about his time on the White House commission, where he received both criticism and praise.When asked to be a commissioner, “my first reaction was very positive,” Barron said. “I thought … ‘Theyʼre inviting a Catholic bishop to be a voice around the table in the formulation of this policy. Why would I say no?’”To say no would be “taking a Catholic voice away from that process,” he said.“I’m not implementing the policy. Iʼm making suggestions regarding the formulation of policy,” Barron explained. “The president could take or leave what we say … So Iʼm not implementing the presidentʼs policies. Iʼm helping to shape public policy.”“The commission was great. I spoke my mind in every setting. No one censored me,” said Barron, who was present at a White House Holy Week event when Pentecostal pastor Paula Cain White compared the president’s suffering to Jesus Christ’s.Barron said he was able to address issues within the administration, specifically about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “detainees in Chicago having access to sacraments and pastoral care.”The bishop took the matter to Homeland Security and “no one questioned” him. It was “a religious liberty issue,” because “people have a right to their sacraments and pastoral care,” he said.Barron also spoke out in regard to the president’s “critical remarks about the pope.”“I said in an X post that I have deep admiration for the president in regard to religion. Heʼs done wonderful things. But I said I think that was a disrespectful way to talk to the pope,” Barron said.“In regards to prudential judgment,” a president can “disagree with the pope,” Barron said. “But the pope is not ... just an ordinary hack politician that you can sort of talk in that flippant way to.”
Bishop Robert Barron speaks with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn ahead of the May 17, 2026, White House event on “one nation under God” in Washington, D.C. | Credit: EWTN News
“Heʼs the vicar of Christ, successor of Peter. Heʼs our Holy Father. And I just felt that was disrespectful, and I thought it was not a constructive contribution to the conversation,” he said.“Heʼs the Holy Father, so we have a filial relationship to him. Heʼs a father, weʼre like children … we have a family relationship to the pope. So itʼs different than just our relationship to a political leader.”“At the level of principle and the moral values that ought to be informing our life … we abide by what the pope is saying, but I think there can be disagreement at the prudential level,” Barron said.Dividing issues in the nation todayAmid numerous wars right now, Barron said “we should study” the just war tradition.It offers “very useful criteria, and I think the Churchʼs job is to bring these to consciousness and urge political leaders to apply them,” he said.“The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that when it comes to the evaluation and application of the criteria, that belongs to the civil authorities. And I think thereʼs great wisdom there too.”Barron also spoke to the ongoing matters with U.S. immigration enforcement.“A completely open border invites a lot of moral chaos, and a lot of catastrophe happens because of an open border. So the Church recognizes the legitimacy of that,” Barron said. “At the same time, the Church wants us to welcome the stranger and to be open to those who are in great need and those who are seeking refuge.”ICE “is a very legitimate expression of the governmentʼs authority, but … I think ICE is way too blunt a tool to use to solve the general issue of people in the country illegally,” Barron said.“I think a political solution has to be found. I donʼt think ICE is the right instrument to do that,” he said. “Iʼd invite people who are intimately involved in these things to have a good, morally informed conversation about it and come to good prudential judgments.”“Iʼm not an expert in immigration policy, and Iʼm not an expert in the economics that are prevailing on the ground in various situations,” he said. “I think we have to inform all those who are making those decisions, make sure they have a keen moral sensibility, [and] know what the principles are.”“But I think people of goodwill can, and obviously do, disagree about how they are applied … concretely,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/bishop-barron-speaks-on-u-s-religious-roots-ahead-of-nations-250th-anniversary-catholic-while-there-has-been-a-tendency-in-the-united-sates-to-hyper-stress-separation-of-church-and-st.jpg)
“There’s no officially state-sanctioned religion, but that does not mean that religion has no role in public life,” Bishop Robert Barron said.
The court has previously held that people with intellectual disabilities may not be executed under the U.S. Constitution.
The vast majority of the settlement would come from insurance contributions, according to a filing from the archdiocese.
![Catholics weigh in as Supreme Court faces deadline on telemedicine abortion ruling #Catholic The U.S. Supreme Court’s stay on the 5th Circuit’s ruling restricting access to telemedicine abortions is set to expire May 11, a deadline that could bring an extension, allow the restrictions to take effect, or prompt the justices to take up the case in full.Michael New, assistant professor of social research at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 8: “The Supreme Court may extend the stay if they need more time to deliberate; they may simply uphold the 5th Circuit Courtʼs decision that bans tele-abortion, and the ban will go into effect; or they may want to do a full hearing [and] conduct oral arguments.”The Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Justice Samuel Alito to issue an administrative stay that restores mail‑order access until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET while the court weighs the request.Although Alito instructed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the state of Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on May 7, the Justice Department failed to do so.New described the development as “odd,” saying the failure by the Justice Department, which represents the FDA, to meet the filing deadline could be that “they don’t want to defend the FDA’s position any longer” or that it may signal a policy change.“Sometimes when people think theyʼre going to lose a case, they change public policy because theyʼd rather change policy than, you know, lose a court case,” New said. “Itʼs really hard to say at this point.”Ultimately, New said the Supreme Court should “absolutely” reinstate in-person requirements to obtain abortion pills, saying: “Thereʼs some real serious public health issues at play here.”Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino gave context for the latest developments in a May 7 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noting that the FDAʼs ongoing approval of nationwide mail-order abortion effectively circumvents Louisiana law protecting unborn human life. “The court should decide hopefully by the 11th, because thatʼs when the stay expires,” she said. “If they donʼt make any decision, then the 5th Circuit ruling goes back into effect and the FDA will have to disallow mailing of these pills, at least during the pendency of litigation,” said Severino, who is also a former Supreme Court clerk.U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to carry out a review of the abortion drug in May 2025, which is still ongoing.Ultimately, Severino said, the Supreme Court will not be ruling on “what the FDA needs to do at the end of the day” but on whether abortion drugs will be allowed to be mailed into Louisiana or not.“Eventually, you know, then itʼs going to go back and the district court and the 5th Circuit are going to have to reconsider it,” she said. “It could well return to the Supreme Court ultimately, but thatʼs going to be a ways down the litigation.”The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out against the dangers of mail-order abortion drugs for women and urged the FDA to restore in-person visits to screen for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies as well as abuse and human trafficking.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/catholics-weigh-in-as-supreme-court-faces-deadline-on-telemedicine-abortion-ruling-catholic-the-u-s-supreme-courts-stay-on-the-5th-circuits-ruling-restricting-access-to-telemedicin-scaled.jpg "Catholics weigh in as Supreme Court faces deadline on telemedicine abortion ruling #Catholic The U.S. Supreme Court’s stay on the 5th Circuit’s ruling restricting access to telemedicine abortions is set to expire May 11, a deadline that could bring an extension, allow the restrictions to take effect, or prompt the justices to take up the case in full.Michael New, assistant professor of social research at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 8: “The Supreme Court may extend the stay if they need more time to deliberate; they may simply uphold the 5th Circuit Courtʼs decision that bans tele-abortion, and the ban will go into effect; or they may want to do a full hearing [and] conduct oral arguments.”The Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Justice Samuel Alito to issue an administrative stay that restores mail‑order access until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET while the court weighs the request.Although Alito instructed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the state of Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on May 7, the Justice Department failed to do so.New described the development as “odd,” saying the failure by the Justice Department, which represents the FDA, to meet the filing deadline could be that “they don’t want to defend the FDA’s position any longer” or that it may signal a policy change.“Sometimes when people think theyʼre going to lose a case, they change public policy because theyʼd rather change policy than, you know, lose a court case,” New said. “Itʼs really hard to say at this point.”Ultimately, New said the Supreme Court should “absolutely” reinstate in-person requirements to obtain abortion pills, saying: “Thereʼs some real serious public health issues at play here.”Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino gave context for the latest developments in a May 7 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noting that the FDAʼs ongoing approval of nationwide mail-order abortion effectively circumvents Louisiana law protecting unborn human life. “The court should decide hopefully by the 11th, because thatʼs when the stay expires,” she said. “If they donʼt make any decision, then the 5th Circuit ruling goes back into effect and the FDA will have to disallow mailing of these pills, at least during the pendency of litigation,” said Severino, who is also a former Supreme Court clerk.U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to carry out a review of the abortion drug in May 2025, which is still ongoing.Ultimately, Severino said, the Supreme Court will not be ruling on “what the FDA needs to do at the end of the day” but on whether abortion drugs will be allowed to be mailed into Louisiana or not.“Eventually, you know, then itʼs going to go back and the district court and the 5th Circuit are going to have to reconsider it,” she said. “It could well return to the Supreme Court ultimately, but thatʼs going to be a ways down the litigation.”The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out against the dangers of mail-order abortion drugs for women and urged the FDA to restore in-person visits to screen for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies as well as abuse and human trafficking.")
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a review of the abortion drug mifipristone in May 2025, which is ongoing.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled to require in-person distribution of the abortion pill mifepristone, the most prevalent form of abortion in the U.S.
Moon rocks are seen during a March 24, 2026, event where NASA is outlining how the agency is executing the National Space Policy and accelerating preparations for America’s return to the surface of the Moon by 2028.
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