The Church of St. Luke

The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) being held Sept 25-28 outside of Toronto. / Credit: CCCB/CECC

Toronto, Canada, Mar 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Canadian bishops highlighted in their letters to Canada’s Finance Department that “40% of all charitable organizations in Canada are faith-based.”

Father Mike Depcik, one of the few Deaf priests in the world, signs a Catholic Mass in American Sign Language. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Mike Depcik

CNA Staff, Mar 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland is hosting the first-ever Eucharistic Congress for the Catholic Deaf community this spring. 

The congress, which will take place April 4–6, will bring together about 230 Catholics to pray and honor the Eucharist, according to the event organizer, Father Mike Depcik, who is one of just a few deaf priests in the world. 

Depcik serves as the chaplain for the Deaf ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is known for his work in growing the Deaf Catholic community in Maryland and beyond.

Depcik designed the congress for deaf people to be able to actively participate. He noted that the Deaf community has limited accessibility to services in and from the Catholic Church and that the majority of deaf people don’t attend Mass. 

“Several statistics have shown that 96% of Deaf people, including those baptized Catholics, do not go to any church due to very limited services available to them in their own language (American Sign Language),” Depcik explained.

While the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indiana had ASL interpreters, Depcik wanted to focus on the Deaf community by holding this congress.

“This Deaf Eucharistic Congress is unique and focused entirely on the members of the Deaf Catholic community, which includes the Deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind, hearing pastoral workers working within Deaf ministry, hearing parents of Deaf children, etc.,” he told CNA. 

“We believe this event is going to be a memorable one since it will be the first time ever for such a Eucharistic Congress specifically by and for Deaf Catholics.” 

“It is our goal to have those people attending the Deaf Eucharistic Congress to feel inspired with their Catholic faith and appreciate the Eucharist,” Depcik continued. “We also hope this will bring awareness to the Church hierarchy on the needs of Deaf Catholics.”

The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, has been a place of gathering for deaf Catholics before. The Seton Shrine frequently hosts retreats, including a Lenten retreat for the deaf last year. The Seton Shrine is located just a half hour away from the K–8 Maryland School for the Deaf. 

The event will draw speakers from around the United States, including Deacon Patrick Graybill, a deaf retired professor with a background in the creative arts known for acting, ASL poetry, and translating English texts into ASL.

Also attending will be Jeannine Adkins, a member of the National Catholic Office for the Deaf. Graybill is set to give a presentation titled “Eucharist: Holy Ground,” while Adkins will present on “The Healing Power of the Eucharist.”

Attendees are anticipated to come from all over the United States, including from as far as California, Florida, and South Dakota.

On the first day of the Congress, ASL tour guides will be available to give tours of the shrine, which includes St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s tomb and a museum about her life as well as historical buildings associated with Seton and the basilica. 

Adoration, confessions, and Mass will also be held on Saturday in addition to various presentations and time for fellowship. On Sunday, Mass will be held with the local Deaf Catholic community in Urbana, Maryland. 

For more information about the event or to register, visit here.

State capitol in Dover, Delaware. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

Officials in the state of Delaware have agreed to temporarily halt enforcement of a law that would require pro-life pregnancy centers to display notices that their facilities do not have licensed medical professionals on staff — even when they have licensed nurses on staff.

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings agreed to a March 17 court order that requires the state to stop any enforcement of the mandate while pro-life pregnancy centers challenge the legality of the mandate in court. This order applies until the court issues a final ruling on whether the law is constitutional.

“We’re pleased Delaware officials won’t enforce their unconstitutional law against the pregnancy centers we represent as this case continues,” William R. Thetford, an attorney representing the pro-life pregnancy centers, said in a statement.

Thetford, an associate with Simms Showers LLP, and lawyers affiliated with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are representing A Door of Hope Pregnancy Center and the pro-life pregnancy center network National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) in a lawsuit challenging the Delaware law.

“Pregnancy centers are a force for good in Wilmington and the surrounding community, offering families true, life-affirming care and resources during unplanned or unsupported pregnancies,” Thetford said.

The law, which would have gone into effect on March 26, would require pregnancy centers to display the following notice on site and in print and digital advertisements: “This facility is not licensed as a medical facility by the state of Delaware and has no licensed medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision of services.”

This would apply to a facility unless it has a physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), a radiologist, or an ultrasound technician. A facility that staffs other registered nurses but not APRNs would need to display the notice even though its nurses are also licensed by the state.

In the lawsuit, the pregnancy centers argued the notices would mislead the public when facilities have nurses on staff. The lawsuit contends the mandate is meant “to undercut the opportunities the pregnancy care centers have to engage pregnant women in unplanned or unsupported pregnancies.”

The lawsuit notes that the Wilmington-based A Door of Hope Pregnancy Center would need to display the notice under the law, even though the facility employs licensed nurses who provide medical services under the supervision of other licensed medical personnel. The lawsuit alleges the law forces the facility to engage in “untrue compelled speech.”

Additionally, the lawsuit asserts the law is burdensome because it would limit, and in some cases prevent, digital advertising. It notes that displaying this notice would prevent any advertisements with Google ads because of the character limits.

Lawyers representing the pregnancy centers contend the state is engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and curtailing the free exercise of religion because the pregnancy centers are faith-based. For those reasons, the lawyers argue that the law violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

“We applaud Delaware officials for allowing NIFLA and A Door of Hope to serve women and families free from government punishment as this case moves forward,” ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot said in a statement.

“We’ve seen too many state attorneys general ramp up their efforts to silence, censor, and shut down pregnancy care centers across the country,” Theriot added. “We are urging the court to follow the Supreme Court’s guidance and respect pregnancy centers’ freedom to continue their lifesaving service in their communities.”

Theriot, who is on the legal team for this case, also served on the legal team for a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding the free speech rights of pregnancy resource centers. In that case, the court ruled that California had violated the First Amendment by requiring pregnancy centers to display notices that provided information on where one could obtain an abortion.

Courts have issued rulings in some states, such as Illinois, to halt similar laws that sought to regulate the speech of pregnancy resource centers. In other states, such as New York, attorneys general have also begun targeting the speech of pregnancy centers through civil action.

A general view of the Louisiana State Capitol on April 17, 2020, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. / Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).

Louisiana carried out its first execution in 15 years on Tuesday evening, using nitrogen gas for the first time amid Catholic criticism of both the death penalty itself and the mode of execution.

Jessie Hoffman Jr. was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. after undergoing 19 minutes of nitrogen gas. According to a CBS News report, a witness to the execution said the convicted killer was “convulsing” throughout the process. His death comes after numerous attempts by his lawyers to stay his execution.

According to court documents, Hoffman in 1996 kidnapped Mary “Molly” Elliot at gunpoint near New Orleans and forced her to withdraw $200 from an ATM. He then raped her before marching her naked down a dirt path to a makeshift dock, where he shot her in the head “execution style.” She was found by a duck hunter the next morning.

The nitrogen method requires that the gas be administered for at least 15 minutes or for five minutes after the inmate’s heart is no longer beating. Hoffman was the seventh death row inmate to be executed in the country this year.

Nitrogen gas has been used in four other executions, each in the state of Alabama, where the method — also known as nitrogen hypoxia — has been legal since 2018. The process was first used last year, when the state of Alabama executed death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith in January 2024. 

The practice is also legal in Mississippi and Oklahoma, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. 

Catholics opposed to execution

The Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops (LACCB) had not released a statement on the execution by Wednesday afternoon. But the prelates issued a statement last month condemning the state’s intention to carry out its pending executions, writing that “no method of execution is acceptable including nitrogen hypoxia.” 

Capital punishment “only contributes to the culture of death,” they wrote. “We promote a culture of life, not death, in this great state we love. As bishops, we will continue to promote life from conception to natural death and work to end the execution of another human being.” 

A representative with LACCB told CNA that Baton Rogue Bishop Michael Duca had attended a prayer vigil ahead of Hoffman’s execution on Tuesday. 

The anti-death penalty group Catholics Mobilizing Network similarly opposed the execution, arguing that Hoffman’s experience of “extreme child abuse” led to his criminality. 

“We oppose this execution as we do every execution,” the group wrote. “Capital punishment is an act of state-sanctioned violence that violates the sacred dignity of every human life.”

In a Tuesday statement, meanwhile, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said: “It is unfortunate that bad people exist, and they do real bad things. When these acts of violence happen, society must not tolerate it.” 

“God is as just as he is merciful; and my hope is that when Louisiana empties death row, there will never be another victim whose perpetrator must be placed there,” he said.

“In Louisiana, we will always prioritize victims over criminals, law and order over lawlessness, and justice over the status quo,” the governor said. “If you commit heinous acts of violence in this state, it will cost you your life. Plain and simple.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Pope Francis. / Credit: Courtesy of Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires/Screenshot

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 19, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has gifted the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him by former U.S. President Joe Biden to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

The Maryland State House in Annapolis. / Credit: Glynnis Jones/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).

The Maryland Senate passed a bill Monday that would allow $25 million in funding to go toward abortions. 

The grant program is designed to fund abortions for women whose insurance does not cover the procedure, using money from premium funds collected by health insurance carriers.  

If approved by the state’s governor, the program would become the first of its kind in the country.

Funding for the Public Health Abortion Grant Program would require “certain premium funds collected by health insurance carriers be used to provide certain coverage and to support improving access to abortion care clinical services under certain circumstances,” according to the text of the bill. 

The grant program was approved in the House last week and in the Senate on Monday. The two bills must be reconciled before legislators send a final version to be signed by the state’s governor, Wes Moore.

Moore has a track record of pro-abortion action and has pledged his support “for a woman’s right to choose.”  

In 2025, Maryland voted overwhelmingly in favor of enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution via an amendment that passed with roughly 75% voting yes. The state has no gestational limits on abortion. Its broad acceptance of abortion makes it an abortion destination for some in neighboring states such as West Virginia. 

A similar bill did not pass last year due to legal concerns over the use of insurance company funds to support abortion clinics. 

The grant program is designed to ensure that uninsured or underinsured women have funding for abortions. The funding comes from a dollar-per-month fee that certain insurers are required to collect on every policy under the Affordable Care Act. The fund has grown to $25 million over time, increasing by about $3 million annually.

The Senate bill was sponsored by Guy Guzzone, D-Howard, chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee. Lesley Lopez, D-Montgomery, and other delegates sponsored the House bill. 

A local report said the legislators’ debates over the bill grew heated and emotional over the past few weeks, with legislators on both sides of the aisle bringing up their own personal experiences.

The Maryland Catholic Conference has encouraged lawmakers to redirect resources toward pregnancy support rather than abortion, calling on local Catholics to take action via a statewide alert. 

Jenny Kraska, the Maryland Catholic Conference executive director, urged the state government to put funds toward mothers in need.

“Instead of allocating public funds to expand abortion access, our state should prioritize policies that support mothers in need, provide real health care solutions, and affirm the dignity of both mother and child,” Kraska told CNA.

Kraska also shared her concerns that taxpayer funding could go toward abortion.

“We also hope that the federal government will act to ensure that taxpayer dollars cannot be used in this manner to fund or subsidize abortion at the state level,” she said.

If signed, the bill would go into effect July 1.

null / Credit: Tomsickova Tatyana/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of its program supporting mothers in need in the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a call for parishes across the country to magnify efforts to “put the gospel of life into action” by opening up and offering help to vulnerable women and children. 

The solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord on March 25 will mark the fifth anniversary of Walking with Moms in Need and the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s pro-life encyclical Evangelum Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”) that inspired it. 

Walking with Moms in Need is a nationwide parish-based initiative that works “to increase outreach and support to pregnant and parenting mothers in need.” 

Parishes participate in the initiative according to the USCCB’s Parish Action Guide, beginning with a yearlong process that includes making an inventory of available resources to mothers in the community and creating a plan by which the parish may fill any leftover gaps. Parishes are encouraged to take steps such as creating new ministries and reaching out to mothers in the community. 

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, oversaw the program’s launch in 2020 while at the time serving as the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. 

“Since the launch of Walking with Moms in Need, Catholics in dioceses and parishes across the country have put the gospel of life into action, uniting in a shared mission to surround pregnant and parenting mothers in need with loving support and personal accompaniment,” Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, the committee’s current chair, said in a statement Wednesday. 

“Heroic volunteers have stepped forward to make our parishes places where a mother can be connected with meaningful resources and assistance and, most importantly, know that she and her baby are not alone,” Thomas said.

“The Annunciation reminds us that Our Lord Jesus came to earth as a vulnerable child in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” the prelate continued. 

“Every parish has something unique that God is calling them to contribute to the Church’s efforts to transform our society into a culture of life and civilization of love,” he added. 

The bishop concluded his message by asking for prayers that the ministry will continue to become established in every parish and diocese across the country. “May every mother know that she can turn to her local Catholic parish for help in her time of need,” he said.

Catholics for Catholics held its first event at Mar-a-Lago in 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of John Yep

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 08:49 am (CNA).

Nearly 100 members of the Catholic clergy are expected to be among those praying for President Donald Trump and the country during a Catholics for Catholics event at the president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday evening.

“The goal of this event is to pray — and to pray in a specifically Catholic way,” Catholics for Catholics President John Yep told CNA ahead of the group’s second annual Mar-a-Lago gathering.

Founded in 2022, Catholics for Catholics describes itself as an organization “at the intersection of faith and politics” that aims to “change hearts and minds for Jesus Christ and his Church.”

The March 19 event — which coincides with the solemnity of St. Joseph — will also feature various prominent Catholic speakers, including Bishop Joseph Strickland, Father Richard Heilman, pro-life activist Jean Marshall, detransitioner Nancy Charles, and Catholic commentator Taylor Marshall.

Jean Marshall is one of the 23 pro-life activists who were arrested under former President Joe Biden’s administration and subsequently pardoned by Trump. William Goodman and Father Dave Nix, both of whom were also arrested for their roles in pro-life protests, are not listed as speakers but will be brought on stage as well.

Other speakers include several political figures who are Catholic, including retired U.S. Army General Michael Flynn, veteran political consultant Roger Stone, and Human Events Editor Jack Posobiec.

Yep told CNA the speakers will discuss “how prayer has worked in their lives” and “how do you bring your Catholic faith to the public square,” among other things. He said the speakers are some of the “frontline warriors who are bringing prayer into real life.”

He said he wanted Catholics to gather in Mar-a-Lago because “the place where you pray is also very important,” adding: “We want to go to the home of the current president, President Donald Trump.”

“That home is very significant and we want to be there in person … to consecrate that place to Our Lady and to the protection of St. Joseph and to pray for the entire country,” he said.

Holding the event on the solemnity of St. Joseph holds significance in several ways, according to Yep.

Yep noted Pius XI named St. Joseph the patron of the Church’s fight against atheistic communism in his 1937 encyclical Divini Redemptoris. Yep said “St. Joseph is a patron for these times” because of “the rise of atheistic marxism [that has been] happening in recent decades.”

Additionally, St. Joseph is the “patron of the universal Church, and we want to go to him for protection,” Yep added.

The presence of Catholic clergy is expected to be significantly larger than last year’s event, which only drew 10 members of the clergy. There will be nearly 10 times more members of the clergy present this year.

“This is the largest Catholic event in the history of Mar-a-Lago,” Yep said.

Catholics for Catholics intends to continue holding annual events on the solemnity of St. Joseph and will keep them at Mar-a-Lago for the time being.

The Catholic vote and Trump’s agenda

Trump made significant gains with the Catholic vote in the 2024 presidential election, particularly with Hispanic Catholics. 

Yep said Trump’s message resonated with Catholic voters and Hispanic voters in the same way it resonated with other sectors of the American electorate, noting a desire for a “safe border” and “safety in their neighborhoods.”

Catholics for Catholics, Yep added, is also “grateful for the moral clarity on the two genders” and the end to “ridiculous lawfare against pro-lifers,” along with the restoration of “law and order that is coming back … in our communities” and “cleaning things up financially [regarding] some of this government waste.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised Trump’s executive actions to combat gender ideology and recognize the existence of only two genders. However, the USCCB has sharply disagreed with the president on his mass deportation plan and efforts to strip federal funds from nongovernmental organizations that provide assistance to migrants, including suing his administration over the latter matter.

When asked about the bishops’ criticism of Trump’s immigration policies, Yep noted that the Vatican recently increased penalties for illegal entry into Vatican City, which could be punished by up to four years in prison. Yep said if Trump follows the Vatican’s lead, “we’ll be in good shape as a country.”

Yep added that some of the speakers will also touch on the Catholic Church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF) — a fertility treatment that has been embraced by Trump. The Church is against IVF because it separates procreation from the conjugal act and results in the destruction of millions of human embryos.

Yep said there will be speakers who “present the science behind IVF” and said he “absolutely” sees room for Trump to shift on that issue. He said: “We have to be a witness to the fullness of the Catholic faith,” emphasizing the need to “continue to be there and present the fullness of that truth.”

Some speakers critical of Francis

Some of the speakers scheduled to appear at the event have been publicly critical of Pope Francis, who himself has sharply criticized some of Trump’s immigration and deportation plans.

Strickland was removed from his post in November 2023 amid his public criticism of Pope Francis. He remains a bishop but is not assigned to oversee any diocese.

Yep said Catholics for Catholics would “take any bishop” who wants to speak at the event, noting their importance as “successors of the apostles.” He added that he is “so grateful for [Strickland’s] voice, the voice of just truth and keeping the focus on Jesus Christ through this time.”

During the event, Yep said Catholics for Catholics will also “very much be praying for the Holy Father Pope Francis and his health” amid the pontiff’s now more than monthlong hospital stay.

Image of St. John Paul II. / Credit: Adrian Tusar/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Six saints and blesseds have offered these profound reflections on how to live this time of Lent authentically through fasting and conversion of heart.

Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor of Port-au-Prince. / Credit: Salesian Priests of Haiti

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

“Please do not delay, because we are on the brink of disaster,” Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, pleaded.