The Church of St. Luke

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CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a “journey of conversion through contrition.”

Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop’s message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.

The prelate said the filing was “the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese.”

As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.

Those filings were made under a California law that temporarily relaxed the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims, allowing alleged victims a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 to file the complaints.

Brennan said the Fresno bankruptcy process will include allocating diocesan assets to “satisfy the claims against the diocese.” He added that a fund will also be established to pay abuse claims.

“Our Church must address the suffering that victims of clergy sexual abuse have endured,” he said.

“We know the sin. It will always be before us,” he continued. “Now that we have entered a journey of conversion through contrition and acknowledgement of the victims’ suffering, we must enter a path of reconciliation, which includes resolving the victims’ claims.”

The bishop urged the faithful to pray for abuse victims during the bankruptcy process.

In the bankruptcy petition, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court for the eastern district of California, Brennan authorized diocesan Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Martin and Vicar General Father Salvador Gonzalez to represent the diocese in the proceedings.

The bishop listed the diocese’s assets as between $50 million and $100 million, with between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors.

Palace of the Senate of the Russian Empire in Moscow. / Credit: Angel Miklashevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 09:29 am (CNA).

Russia continues to perpetuate “particularly severe” religious liberty violations against minority groups within its own country and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The June 30 report, which detailed religious liberty violations throughout 2024 and the beginning of 2025, found continued “intense persecution” of Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians.

Within Russia’s borders, the report also found numerous religious liberty violations against human rights activists, independent media, anti-war protesters, and others who belong to minority religious groups.

“Russian authorities abuse vague and problematic laws to target religious communities that do not conform to state authority,” USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler told CNA in a statement.

“They target Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong Practitioners, Protestants, Ukrainian Christians, Crimean [Tatar] Muslims, and many others that Moscow thinks undermine its dictatorial control,” the former six-term Missouri congresswoman added. “... There is no religious freedom in Russia or [the] territories it occupies.”

About 72% of Russians are Orthodox, 7% are Muslim, 5% are atheist, and 13% do not have a religious affiliation. About 3% of Russians belong to a variety of other religious groups.

Persecution against Ukrainian Christians

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has led to the most egregious religious liberty violations by the Russian state.

According to the report, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have reported the killing of at least 47 religious leaders since the February 2022 invasion. It adds that 640 houses of worship and religious sites have either been damaged or destroyed in that time frame.

The report notes that “Russian de facto authorities have banned” several churches, such as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several Protestant groups, including Baptists, Pentecostals, and Seventh-day Adventists.

According to the report, authorities have sought to pressure Orthodox Christian communities and leaders to submit to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate.

In some examples over the past year and a half, the report notes that “Russian forces allegedly abducted and tortured to death [Orthodox Church of Ukraine] priest Stepan Podolchak.” It also notes that Russian authorities are accused of demolishing the last Orthodox Church of Ukraine church in Crimea in July 2024.

The report also referenced a United Nations human rights report that detailed the “torture and ill treatment of Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta” while they were detained from November 2022 through June 2024.

“One of the priests had accused Russian forces of subjecting him to regular beatings, prolonged stress positions, and long-distance crawls on asphalt,” the report notes.

Persecution within Russia

The report notes that Russia has employed laws against “so-called illegal missionary activities” to persecute religious minorities on the basis of faith. It states that Russian courts heard 431 cases regarding these laws in 2024, which resulted in fines totaling nearly $60,000. 

In one case, Russia deported an 85-year-old Polish Catholic priest “who had reportedly served in Russia for almost 30 years” after he lost his documentation that permitted him to preach. The courts have also shut down churches with these laws.

The report also details Russia’s persecution of “anti-war protesters and religious leaders for expressing opposition to the war in religious terms.”

Some examples include Pentecostal Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk, who was “reportedly physically assaulted and arrested” by Russian police for giving a sermon against the war. Another example listed was Apostolic Orthodox Church Archbishop Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko receiving a fine of $369 for posting “an anti-war video in which he discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine using a biblical story.”

In relation to the ongoing war, the report notes that Christians are frequently denied the ability to perform “alternative civilian service” when they have religious objections to military service.

The report lists numerous religious freedom violations against Russian Muslims. According to the report, Muslims who belong to the Hizb ut-Tahrir (or are accused of belonging to it) have been charged with terrorism “despite no evidence or even allegations that defendants called for or committed violence.” 

The report notes that at least 352 people were prosecuted for alleged affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir, which includes Crimean Tatar Muslims. It states that out of 280 convicted, 119 were sentenced to 15 years or more and 131 were sentenced to between 10 and 14 years in prison.

According to the report, Russia has also prosecuted leaders and members of the Church of Scientology, which is labeled “extremist.” They have also targeted leaders and members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, adherents of Falun Gong, and members of the Allya Ayat spiritual movement for similar reasons.

Canadian member of Parliament from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member’s bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone. / Credit: ParlVu screen image

Vancouver, Canada, Jul 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Canadian Member of Parliament Tamara Jansen has introduced a private member’s bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying for mental illness alone.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Daniel E. Garcia, currently Bishop of Monterey, as the Bishop of Austin.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Garcia’s biography may be found here.

The Diocese of Austin is comprised of 21,066 square miles in the State of Texas, and has a total population of 3,769,697 of which 678,545 are Catholic. 

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Almost four years after Pope Francis opened the Catholic Church's path toward synodality -- a term many in the church had never heard before -- his successor has thrown his support behind the last leg of the church's' synodal journey.

The Synod of Bishops, which admitted women, lay and other non-bishop voting members among its ranks during its two universal assemblies in October 2023 and 2024, "naturally retains its institutional profile and at the same time is enriched by the mature fruits of this season," Pope Leo XIV told the ordinary council of the synod June 26. "You are the body appointed to reap these fruits and make a prospective reflection."

Over two days, the council convened to approve a document for the synod's final implementation stage intended to improve dialogue between local churches and the Vatican synod office, the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops said in a statement June 30. The document will be released July 7 at www.synod.va.

The council also discussed the work of study groups instituted by Pope Francis to deal with hot-button topics -- such as women's ordination and changes to priestly formation.

The study groups were scheduled to present interim reports on their findings in June 2025, but the synod office noted that "due to the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, there have been delays." In agreement with Pope Leo, the deadline to submit the final reports was extended to Dec. 31, 2025, and the interim reports will be published on the synod office's website as they are received, it said.

According to the apostolic constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis," which governs procedures when the papacy is vacant, a council or Synod of Bishops is immediately suspended when a pope dies or resigns. All meetings, decisions and promulgations must cease until a new pope explicitly orders their continuation, or they are considered null.

The late pope launched the diocesan phase of the worldwide synodal process in October 2021, and it was originally scheduled to culminate with an in-person assembly in Rome in October 2023. Another assembly was held after a year of listening in October 2024, and in March, Pope Francis launched a three-year implementation phase of the synod that will culminate in an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.

Pope Leo told the synod's ordinary council June 26, "I encourage you in this work, I pray that it may be fruitful and as of now I am grateful."

The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops said that the expected document, titled "Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod," is a practical and theological guide for diocesan bishops and synodal teams as they apply the synod's final proposals locally.

The synod office noted that this phase of the synodal process "belongs above all to the local Churches," which are tasked with translating the synod assembly's "authoritative proposals" into concrete pastoral practices within their respective contexts. At the same time, the synod office said the guidelines were developed to respond to questions raised by bishops and diocesan leaders in recent months and are intended to support, not replace, local discernment.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, acknowledged in his opening remarks of the council's meeting that "difficulties and resistance" to the synodal process remain. He said that while some dioceses have already begun the implementation phase with enthusiasm, others are awaiting the forthcoming guidelines "with trepidation."

"These contrary positions must not be overlooked," he said. "Rather, I would say they must challenge us deeply."

Cardinal Grech proposed establishing a permanent forum, which he called a "Table of Synodality," to foster ongoing theological and canonical reflection on synodality and encouraged greater investment in formation programs. He also said that new partnerships with academic institutions and the continued support of young theologians would help cultivate a synodal "mentality" across the church.

Father Héctor Alejandro Pérez. / Credit: St. Francis of Assisi Parish, South Gaviotas

Puebla, Mexico, Jul 1, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Tabasco in Mexico reported June 30 that one of its priests was wounded by gunfire while on his way to visit a sick parishioner.

A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the “Cross of Gratitude,” has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America. / Courtesy: St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 1, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).

A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the “Cross of Gratitude,” has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America.

“It is a great honor and a blessing for the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel to host the Cross of Gratitude, a sacred symbol of Christ’s boundless love and sacrifice,” St. Michael’s parish priest Father Bohdan Vasyliv told CNA.

“We warmly invite all to visit, pray, and reflect before this holy cross, giving thanks for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and uniting in wholehearted devotion.”

Two decades ago the Cross of Gratitude was built for an evangelization mission to unite “the nations of the world.” The goal is for the cross to visit every capital city of the world by 2033 in preparation of the 2,000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

The pilgrimage of the cross “began with a powerful call to action, inspired by the words heard by Vitaliy Sobolivskyy on the day of the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in 2003,” Vasyliv said. 

Sobolivskyy, a Ukrainian architect who designed the cross, reported he was called by the words: “Take my cross and carry it to all the capitals of the world as a sign of gratitude to Almighty God for our salvation, which we receive from Jesus Christ.” 

The 20-foot cross has already journeyed to 46 European capitals. The pilgrimage schedule plans for visits to North and South America, Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and Australia before it completes in 2033. 

The Cross of Gratitude has been celebrated at each place of rest during holy Mass, Eucharistic adoration, prayer vigils, the Way of the Cross, and Eucharistic processions. The cross visited the U.S. Capitol in 2021 when it was displayed at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Washington, D.C.

“This sacred journey seeks to remind everyone that Jesus Christ offers the gift of eternal life,” Vasyliv said.

Pope John Paul II blessed the Cross of Gratitude in 2004 along with the initiators of the mission in Vatican City. The cross, sometimes also referred to as the Cross of Thanksgiving, was then blessed by Pope Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage in Krakow, Poland. In 2016, Pope Francis blessed the cross and those carrying out the evangelization campaign. 

Since 2003, the cross has visited Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran churches, and has even been present at Buddhist gatherings.

The Cross of Gratitude is currently on display at St. Michael’s and will remain there through July 20. St. Michael’s will hold Akathist, a Greek Orthodox hymn and prayer service, on Mondays at 4 p.m. for those who wish to see the cross and reflect and pray while it is present. Divine Liturgies will also be celebrated on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 14:17 pm (CNA).

Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” budget measure, including a provision to defund Planned Parenthood for a year, which pro-life advocates are lauding as a “major step” toward permanently defunding the abortion giant.

The bill was originally set to defund Planned Parenthood for a 10-year period. Last week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough disqualified more than a dozen provisions in the bill, including the portion defunding abortion providers, forcing Republicans to rework the language of the bill.

The Senate on Tuesday passed the reworked bill after a tiebreaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance. Three Republican lawmakers — Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — opposed the bill on various grounds.

The reconciliation bill, which includes several spending cuts and tax breaks, still needs to go back to the House for a final round of voting.

The Hyde Amendment prohibits direct federal funding for abortions, though advocates have argued that the federal government has long subsidized abortion by proxy by providing hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding for Planned Parenthood. The funding is nominally for non-abortion services.

While the defunding period is only a 10th of what pro-life lawmakers initially planned, it would still be significant progress, pro-life advocates argued on Tuesday. 

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life, called the bill a “small but important victory,” noting that it “cuts an estimated $500 million from Planned Parenthood and abortion vendors,” though she acknowledged it was “for one year only.”

“This proves what we’ve said all along: Congress can cut Planned Parenthood’s funding — and they just did,” Hawkins said in a Tuesday statement on X. “The moral obligation is clear: If we can do it for one year, we must do it for good.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser called the passage “a crucial victory in the fight against abortion, America’s leading cause of death, and an industry that endangers women and girls.” 

“The greatest pro-life victory since Dobbs is within reach!” she added.  

Live Action President Lila Rose on Tuesday called the measure “a start but not enough.” 

“The House should restore the 10-year defund they already passed,” she said. 

Auxiliary Bishop Mark Rivituso of St. Louis blesses donations in a van used during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in July 2024. On July 1, 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed Rivituso archbishop of Mobile, Alabama. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 13:47 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Mark Rivituso, auxiliary of St. Louis, as metropolitan archbishop of Mobile, Alabama.

Rivituso succeeds Archbishop Thomas Rodi, who led the Archdiocese of Mobile beginning in 2008. Rodi submitted his resignation letter to Pope Francis in March 2024 after turning 75.

The archbishop-elect on July 1 said he is grateful to Pope Leo for his appointment and feels blessed to follow Rodi as a “good shepherd” for the archdiocese.

“I rely upon the good shepherd, Jesus, to help me to truly be the bishop all of you need me to be,” Rivituso said at a Tuesday press conference. “I will labor with the shepherding love of Jesus for all of you because I want to love you as Christ loves.” 

“I have a big smile on my face because every time I have an opportunity to truly serve others, that’s truly a blessing,” he added. 

Rivituso celebrated Mass on July 1 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile in thanksgiving for his appointment.

The archbishop-elect received his episcopal consecration and was made an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and titular of Turuzi in 2017. 

Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1988 after completing his seminary training at Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary, Rivituso served in several parishes across the city. 

He was parish vicar of St. Ambrose in St. Louis from 1988 to 1990, of Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie from 1990 to 1993, and of St. Jerome in Bissell Hills from 1996 to 2004. Between 2008 and 2013, he was parish priest of Curé of Ars in Shrewsbury.

Across the St. Louis Archdiocese, Rivituso served as a teacher at St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon from 1988 to 1993, an administrator of St. Margaret of Scotland from 1993 to 1994, a member of the metropolitan tribunal from 1993 to 1994 and 1996 to 2004, the judicial vicar of the court of second instance from 2005 to 2011, and the vicar general of the court from 2011 to 2018.

Confessional. / Credit: AS photo studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 13:17 pm (CNA).

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, representing over 500 Roman Catholic priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom, has issued a statement defending the inviolability of the seal of confession.

The statement was released on June 27, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The declaration comes in response to civil laws, the most recent one in Washington state, that seek to compel priests to disclose information regarding child abuse learned during the sacrament of reconciliation or face penalties.

According to Washington’s new law, noncompliance could result in up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The confraternity’s statement emphasized that the Catholic Church teaches the seal of confession is inviolable with “absolutely no exceptions.” Expounded in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 1467) and the Code of Canon Law (Nos. 983, 1388), this teaching binds priests to maintain absolute confidentiality regarding both the content of confessions and the identity of penitents. Violation of confidentiality incurs automatic excommunication, reversible only by the pope. 

The confraternity argued that laws like Washington state’s infringe on religious liberty while failing to advance justice, citing the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, the U.K.’s Human Rights Act of 1998, and Australia’s constitution. 

In the statement, the group highlighted the Church’s commitment to child protection through criminal investigation and adjudication, which “can be lawfully and morally done without violating religious liberty.”

Notably, the statement’s authors also pointed out the absurdity of demanding that priests identify anonymous penitents. It also emphasized the injustice of laws like Washington state’s, which exempts other professionals, such as doctors and therapists, from the mandatory disclosure requirement. 

After the passage of Washington’s Senate Bill 5375, signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 3 and effective July 27, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) responded swiftly. 

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Ferguson, a Catholic, just days after Ferguson signed the bill, announcing an investigation into the law and describing it as a “legislative attack on the Catholic Church and its sacrament of confession, a religious practice ordained by the Catholic Church dating back to the Church’s origins.”

The DOJ then filed a lawsuit against Washington on June 23, asserting that the law violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion. “The seal of confidentiality is ... the lifeblood of confession,” the DOJ stated in its brief. “Without it, the free exercise of the Catholic religion ... cannot take place.” 

Washington’s Catholic bishops, including Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne and Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, filed a federal lawsuit on May 29 challenging the law on First Amendment and equal protection grounds.

The lawsuit highlighted the Church’s robust child protection policies, which the bishops said exceeds state requirements. “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Yakima and Spokane have each adopted and implemented ... policies that go further in the protection of children than the current requirements of Washington law,” the lawsuit stated.

Daly vowed to the Catholic faithful that clergy would face imprisonment rather than break the seal of confession. “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishops, and priests are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” he said. Etienne echoed this, referencing Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men.”

Orthodox churches have joined the legal battle, filing their own lawsuit on June 16, asserting that their priests, like Catholic clergy, have a “strict religious duty” to maintain the confidentiality of the confessional, with violations constituting a “canonical crime and a grave sin.”

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy was founded in 1975 to foster ongoing formation for clergy per Vatican II’s directives.