In a recent pastoral letter, Bishop Michael Burbidge addressed what he sees as a “crisis” in mental health among Catholics, especially the young, and seeks to remove stigma over seeking help.
Pope Leo XIV speaks to bishops gathered for the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 11, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Soon after the election of Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle shared in a press conference that moments before then-Cardinal Robert Prevost was chosen to be pontiff, Tagle noticed the emotion by the soon-to-be-pope as it was becoming more clear he would be elected, so he reached into his pocket and offered Prevost a piece of candy.
It was this simple moment that inspired Lauren Winter, founder of the Catholic company Brick House in the City, to start the Adopt a Bishop initiative.
“It really reminded me that these are all human beings who made the choice one day to accept a very serious ‘yes,’” Winter told CNA in an interview.
The Adopt a Bishop initiative, which has been launched in collaboration with The Dorothea Project, invites the faithful to adopt a bishop for the year and pray for that bishop throughout the year.
“I think our bishops carry an enormous and often invisible spiritual weight,” she said. “They carry a responsibility that most of us never see — it’s pastoral and spiritual and it’s deeply personal and they’re holding entire dioceses in their prayer. And I think that kind of weight requires spiritual support.”
This is the first year of the initiative and over 1,000 people have already signed up to adopt a bishop in prayer. When an individual signs up on the website that person is randomly assigned a bishop from anywhere in the world.
Winter explained that she decided to use a random generator in order to “remove preference.”
“I didn’t want anyone to choose a bishop that they already knew and admired and I wanted to leave that room for the Holy Spirit,” she said. “And it may be a bishop you are already familiar with. It may be a bishop that is someone that you have disagreed with. But the call to prayer is still there and I think receiving a bishop instead of choosing one, that felt more like a posture of reception, which I feel like it’s more aligned with how grace works in the Church — just leaving the room there for the Spirit to work.”
The Catholic business owner highlighted the importance spiritual adoption plays in the Church in that it reminds us that “we are also being prayed for, it strengthens the bonds within the Church, and then I feel like it helps us to live more intentionally as one body of Christ.”
Winter said she hopes that through this initiative “people feel more connected to their bishop, to the Church, to the quiet work of prayer, and how a small faithful commitment can really shape our faith.”
“I imagine many people when they meet a bishop, they ask the good bishop to pray for them and I think it’s really beautiful that we can return that — the reciprocity of prayer. I think they need our prayers too.”
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The Saint Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square are seen at sunset near the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans on April 10, 2010. | Credit: Graythen/Getty Images
Jan 5, 2026 / 18:32 pm (CNA).
The Archdiocese of New Orleans released a letter written to child sexual abuse claimants apologizing for the “inexcusable harm” they suffered.
“On behalf of the clergy, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans expressed in the Dec. 26, 2025, letter his “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child abuse survivors suffered.
The letter was made public on Jan. 4 and emphasized that the Archdiocese of New Orleans “takes responsibility for the abuse.” Aymond said the archdiocese “pledges to keep children and all vulnerable people safe in our ministry.”
“I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy, a religious sister or brother, or a lay employee or volunteer working within the Catholic Church,” Aymond said.
“I am ashamed that you or anyone should have been sexually abused by someone working within the Catholic Church. Sexual abuse is an inexcusable evil, and I am ashamed that you or anyone should have been sexually abused by someone working within the Catholic Church.”
“Please know that you are not to blame for the abuse perpetrated on you,” Aymond said. “You were and are completely innocent and did nothing to deserve the pain you have suffered because of the hideous crime of sexual abuse of a minor.”
‘Recognition’ provisions
The public release of the letter is a part of an “extensive media outreach” to express the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ “commitment to the nonmonetary provisions laid out in its Chapter 11 settlement plan,” according to the Clarion Herald, the official newspaper of the archdiocese.
The letter follows the October 2025 approval for a $230 million bankruptcy settlement to pay out over 650 victims after five years of litigation.
The Chapter 11 case filed in 2020 highlights a number of procedures in its nonmonetary provisions “to foster child protection and prevent child sexual abuse.” Within its “recognition” section, the document calls for individual apology letters and a public apology letter.
“It is my fervent hope that as we bring these Chapter 11 proceedings to a close, you will achieve some sense of peace, justice, and healing,” Aymond wrote in the letter. “I hold you and all survivors of abuse in prayer daily and encourage all to join me in prayer for you.”
The letter will be shared through multiple media outlets over the upcoming days and weeks.
Read More![SEEK 2026: Bishop Olson of Fort Worth speaks about what he’s praying for, other issues #Catholic
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, speaks to CNA during the SEEK 2026 conference on Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA
Jan 2, 2026 / 20:00 pm (CNA).
Bishop Michael Olson, whose diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, is hosting the SEEK 2026 conference, said he is praying for unity in Christ.Olson said he has observed that young people attending the conference have “a real openness to God’s call. They very much want to make a difference for Christ” with their lives.“There’s a sense of communion that the Church has that postmodern reality undercuts. Young people, however, want to be disciples of the Lord. They want to belong, but they want to belong in the way he calls them to belong.”Regarding what is moving him spiritually right now, he said in an interview that “the heart of my prayer is the prayer of Jesus: That all may be one, as he and the father are one.”He said he is praying that “we all find communion and unity in Christ, as his Church, which is his intention.”“With all differences that we’re tempted to be divided over, especially in the sacraments and the liturgy,” he said he prays to help foster a sense of communion among people within the Church.ImmigrationAbout immigration, a prominent issue in Texas, Olson said that along with the majority of the U.S. bishops, he affirms the rule of law and the integrity of borders, “because without that, there is no sense of peace; there’s chaos and lawlessness and the most vulnerable suffer.”He said we all have to stop “defining ourselves by partisan ideologies, which feels like the dominant ‘religion’ in the U.S., for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”“We have a responsibility to lend comfort [to immigrants] and to provide security. As an international issue and as a nation, we must help other nations to ensure their borders,” he continued.“Some of the challenges for the leadership of other nations are gangs. The most vulnerable are paying the price, terrified by the tyranny of the gangs,” he said.“We have to look at ourselves and say, how have we promoted [those challenges] in areas of foreign policy? We’re reaping what we’ve sown,” Olson said.“What we faced before with abortion and the death penalty, we now face with immigration: The dignity of the human person must be focused on, as well as the primacy of family life as the basis of society,” he said.Parish and school securityAsked about how security at parishes and Catholic schools is handled in his diocese following recent violence at Catholic schools, he said for the past seven years, the diocese has employed the Guardian ministry, which involves fully vetted, trained, and armed parishioners in partnership with the police.Those in the ministry are “proactive in cultivating a spirit and practice of deescalation, in the spirit of discipleship with Christ, in order to protect the vulnerable and weak.”Olson said at the rest of the SEEK conference he plans to spend time with the young people, giving a talk to the seminarians on prayer and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/seek-2026-bishop-olson-of-fort-worth-speaks-about-what-hes-praying-for-other-issues-catholic-bishop-michael-olson-of-fort-worth-texas-speaks-to-cna-during-the-seek-2026-conference-on.jpg)
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, speaks to CNA during the SEEK 2026 conference on Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA
Jan 2, 2026 / 20:00 pm (CNA).
Bishop Michael Olson, whose diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, is hosting the SEEK 2026 conference, said he is praying for unity in Christ.
Olson said he has observed that young people attending the conference have “a real openness to God’s call. They very much want to make a difference for Christ” with their lives.
“There’s a sense of communion that the Church has that postmodern reality undercuts. Young people, however, want to be disciples of the Lord. They want to belong, but they want to belong in the way he calls them to belong.”
Regarding what is moving him spiritually right now, he said in an interview that “the heart of my prayer is the prayer of Jesus: That all may be one, as he and the father are one.”
He said he is praying that “we all find communion and unity in Christ, as his Church, which is his intention.”
“With all differences that we’re tempted to be divided over, especially in the sacraments and the liturgy,” he said he prays to help foster a sense of communion among people within the Church.
Immigration
About immigration, a prominent issue in Texas, Olson said that along with the majority of the U.S. bishops, he affirms the rule of law and the integrity of borders, “because without that, there is no sense of peace; there’s chaos and lawlessness and the most vulnerable suffer.”
He said we all have to stop “defining ourselves by partisan ideologies, which feels like the dominant ‘religion’ in the U.S., for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”
“We have a responsibility to lend comfort [to immigrants] and to provide security. As an international issue and as a nation, we must help other nations to ensure their borders,” he continued.
“Some of the challenges for the leadership of other nations are gangs. The most vulnerable are paying the price, terrified by the tyranny of the gangs,” he said.
“We have to look at ourselves and say, how have we promoted [those challenges] in areas of foreign policy? We’re reaping what we’ve sown,” Olson said.
“What we faced before with abortion and the death penalty, we now face with immigration: The dignity of the human person must be focused on, as well as the primacy of family life as the basis of society,” he said.
Parish and school security
Asked about how security at parishes and Catholic schools is handled in his diocese following recent violence at Catholic schools, he said for the past seven years, the diocese has employed the Guardian ministry, which involves fully vetted, trained, and armed parishioners in partnership with the police.
Those in the ministry are “proactive in cultivating a spirit and practice of deescalation, in the spirit of discipleship with Christ, in order to protect the vulnerable and weak.”
Olson said at the rest of the SEEK conference he plans to spend time with the young people, giving a talk to the seminarians on prayer and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Read More![Federal judge strikes down rules allowing schools to hide gender ‘transitions’ from parents #Catholic
null / Credit: sergign/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA).
A federal judge in California this week issued a permanent block against the state’s “gender secrecy policies” that have allowed schools to hide children’s so-called “gender transitions” from their parents.U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued the ruling in the class action lawsuit on Dec. 22, holding that parents “have a right” to the “gender information” of their children, while teachers themselves also possess the right to provide parents with that information. The order strikes down secretive policies in school districts across California that allowed schools to conceal when a child began identifying as the opposite sex or another LGBT-related identity. Benitez had allowed the legal dispute to proceed as a class action lawsuit in October. School districts in California “are ultimately state agents under state control,” the judge said at the time, and the issue of settling “statewide policy” meant the class action structure would be “superior to numerous individual actions by individual parents and teachers.” The case, Benitez said on Dec. 22, concerns “a parent’s rights to information … against a public school’s policy of secrecy when it comes to a student’s gender identification.” Parents, he said, have a right to such information on grounds of the 14th and First Amendments, he said, while teachers can assert similar First Amendment rights in sharing that information with parents. Teachers have historically informed parents of “physical injuries or questions about a student’s health and well-being,” the judge pointed out, yet lawmakers in California have enacted policies “prohibiting public school teachers from informing parents” when their child claims to have an LGBT identity. “Even if [the government] could demonstrate that excluding parents was good policy on some level, such a policy cannot be implemented at the expense of parents’ constitutional rights,” Benitez wrote. The Thomas More Society, a religious liberty legal group, said in a press release that the decision “protects all California parents, students, and teachers” and “restores sanity and common sense.”School officials in California who work to conceal “gender identity” decisions from parents “should cease all enforcement or face severe legal consequences,” attorney Paul Jonna said in the release. Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, the Christian teachers who originally brought the suit, said they were “profoundly grateful” for the decision. “This victory is not just ours. It is a win for honesty, transparency, and the fundamental rights of teachers and parents,” they said. The Thomas More Society said on Dec. 22 that California officials had gone to “extreme lengths” to “evade responsibility” for their policies, up to and including claiming that the gender secrecy rules were no longer enforced even as they were allegedly continuing to require them. Gender- and LGBT-related school policies have come under fire over the past year from the White House. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August directed U.S. states to remove gender ideology material from their curricula or else face the loss of federal funding. In February the Department of Education launched an investigation into several Virginia school districts to determine if they violated federal orders forbidding schools from supporting the so-called “transition” of children. In December, meanwhile, a Catholic school student in Virginia forced a school district to concede a lawsuit she brought alleging that her constitutional rights had been violated when the school subjected her to “extreme social pressure” to affirm transgender ideology.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/federal-judge-strikes-down-rules-allowing-schools-to-hide-gender-transitions-from-parents-catholic-null-credit-sergign-shutterstockcna-staff-dec-23-2025-1007-am-cna.webp)
null / Credit: sergign/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA).
A federal judge in California this week issued a permanent block against the state’s “gender secrecy policies” that have allowed schools to hide children’s so-called “gender transitions” from their parents.
U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued the ruling in the class action lawsuit on Dec. 22, holding that parents “have a right” to the “gender information” of their children, while teachers themselves also possess the right to provide parents with that information.
The order strikes down secretive policies in school districts across California that allowed schools to conceal when a child began identifying as the opposite sex or another LGBT-related identity.
Benitez had allowed the legal dispute to proceed as a class action lawsuit in October. School districts in California “are ultimately state agents under state control,” the judge said at the time, and the issue of settling “statewide policy” meant the class action structure would be “superior to numerous individual actions by individual parents and teachers.”
The case, Benitez said on Dec. 22, concerns “a parent’s rights to information … against a public school’s policy of secrecy when it comes to a student’s gender identification.”
Parents, he said, have a right to such information on grounds of the 14th and First Amendments, he said, while teachers can assert similar First Amendment rights in sharing that information with parents.
Teachers have historically informed parents of “physical injuries or questions about a student’s health and well-being,” the judge pointed out, yet lawmakers in California have enacted policies “prohibiting public school teachers from informing parents” when their child claims to have an LGBT identity.
“Even if [the government] could demonstrate that excluding parents was good policy on some level, such a policy cannot be implemented at the expense of parents’ constitutional rights,” Benitez wrote.
The Thomas More Society, a religious liberty legal group, said in a press release that the decision “protects all California parents, students, and teachers” and “restores sanity and common sense.”
School officials in California who work to conceal “gender identity” decisions from parents “should cease all enforcement or face severe legal consequences,” attorney Paul Jonna said in the release.
Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, the Christian teachers who originally brought the suit, said they were “profoundly grateful” for the decision.
“This victory is not just ours. It is a win for honesty, transparency, and the fundamental rights of teachers and parents,” they said.
The Thomas More Society said on Dec. 22 that California officials had gone to “extreme lengths” to “evade responsibility” for their policies, up to and including claiming that the gender secrecy rules were no longer enforced even as they were allegedly continuing to require them.
Gender- and LGBT-related school policies have come under fire over the past year from the White House. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August directed U.S. states to remove gender ideology material from their curricula or else face the loss of federal funding.
In February the Department of Education launched an investigation into several Virginia school districts to determine if they violated federal orders forbidding schools from supporting the so-called “transition” of children.
In December, meanwhile, a Catholic school student in Virginia forced a school district to concede a lawsuit she brought alleging that her constitutional rights had been violated when the school subjected her to “extreme social pressure” to affirm transgender ideology.
Read More![Advocates push EPA to include abortion drugs on list of drinking water contaminants #Catholic
null / Credit: Carl DMaster/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 18, 2025 / 16:48 pm (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:Advocates push for EPA to include chemicals from abortion drugs on list of drinking water contaminantsStudents for Life of America (SFLA) is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add the abortion drug mifepristone to a list of drinking water contaminants tracked by public utilities. “It’s a problem only the EPA can fully investigate,” SFLA reported.In two letters over the last several sessions of Congress, legislators have called on the EPA to find out the extent of the damage of abortion drug water pollution. Multiple pro-life and pro-family organizations joined together to ask the EPA to look into the chemicals.“The EPA has the regulatory authority and humane responsibility to determine the extent of abortion water pollution, caused by the reckless and negligent policies pushed by past administrations through the FDA [Food and Drug Administration],” said Kristan Hawkins, president of SFLA.“Take the word ‘abortion’ out of it and ask, should chemically tainted blood and placenta tissue, along with human remains, be flushed by the tons into America’s waterways? And since the federal government set that up, shouldn’t we know what’s in our water?” she said.Ireland votes not to restore bill that would remove three-day waiting period for abortionsThe Dáil, the lower house and main chamber of the Irish Parliament, has voted against restoring an abortion bill that would have decriminalized abortion up until birth and removed the three-day waiting period for an abortion. The legislation previously passed the second stage in the Dáil, but Parliament members decided in a 73 to 71 vote to reject it.The legislation would have allowed abortion on request before “viability” and on grounds of a fatal fetal abnormality that would likely lead to the death of the baby before birth or within a year of birth. Missouri senator launches new pro-life initiativeU.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and his wife, Erin Hawley, announced they are launching a new effort to advocate for families and the unborn called the Love Life Initiative. The effort is intended to “remind Americans that life is sacred, life is good, and life is worth protecting.”The Love Life Initiative was “born out of the recognition that pro-life victories in the courtroom is not enough,” according to the initiative’s website. At the time of the Dobbs ruling, 49% of Americans identified as pro-choice and 46% as pro-life, Love Life reported. Today, 53% identify as pro-choice and only 39% identify as pro-life. The initiative plans to work to reverse this trend through “thoughtful, far-reaching advertising campaigns that promote the sanctity of life, advance referendums that protect life, and identify and defeat harmful proposals in statehouses across the nation.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/advocates-push-epa-to-include-abortion-drugs-on-list-of-drinking-water-contaminants-catholic-null-credit-carl-dmaster-shutterstockwashington-d-c-newsroom-dec-18-2025-1648-pm-cna-he.webp)
null / Credit: Carl DMaster/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 18, 2025 / 16:48 pm (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
Advocates push for EPA to include chemicals from abortion drugs on list of drinking water contaminants
Students for Life of America (SFLA) is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add the abortion drug mifepristone to a list of drinking water contaminants tracked by public utilities. “It’s a problem only the EPA can fully investigate,” SFLA reported.
In two letters over the last several sessions of Congress, legislators have called on the EPA to find out the extent of the damage of abortion drug water pollution. Multiple pro-life and pro-family organizations joined together to ask the EPA to look into the chemicals.
“The EPA has the regulatory authority and humane responsibility to determine the extent of abortion water pollution, caused by the reckless and negligent policies pushed by past administrations through the FDA [Food and Drug Administration],” said Kristan Hawkins, president of SFLA.
“Take the word ‘abortion’ out of it and ask, should chemically tainted blood and placenta tissue, along with human remains, be flushed by the tons into America’s waterways? And since the federal government set that up, shouldn’t we know what’s in our water?” she said.
Ireland votes not to restore bill that would remove three-day waiting period for abortions
The Dáil, the lower house and main chamber of the Irish Parliament, has voted against restoring an abortion bill that would have decriminalized abortion up until birth and removed the three-day waiting period for an abortion. The legislation previously passed the second stage in the Dáil, but Parliament members decided in a 73 to 71 vote to reject it.
The legislation would have allowed abortion on request before “viability” and on grounds of a fatal fetal abnormality that would likely lead to the death of the baby before birth or within a year of birth.
Missouri senator launches new pro-life initiative
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and his wife, Erin Hawley, announced they are launching a new effort to advocate for families and the unborn called the Love Life Initiative. The effort is intended to “remind Americans that life is sacred, life is good, and life is worth protecting.”
The Love Life Initiative was “born out of the recognition that pro-life victories in the courtroom is not enough,” according to the initiative’s website.
At the time of the Dobbs ruling, 49% of Americans identified as pro-choice and 46% as pro-life, Love Life reported. Today, 53% identify as pro-choice and only 39% identify as pro-life. The initiative plans to work to reverse this trend through “thoughtful, far-reaching advertising campaigns that promote the sanctity of life, advance referendums that protect life, and identify and defeat harmful proposals in statehouses across the nation.”
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