The Church of St. Luke

Bishop Michael Fisher outside the meeting hall during the 2019 USCCB General Assembly, June 12, 2019. / Credit: Kate Veik/CNA

CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).

Buffalo, New York, Bishop Michael Fisher is permitting Catholics to meet at diocesan parishes while they work to oppose diocesan-mandated parish closures, with the bishop reversing an earlier policy after talks with the Vatican.

Fisher had banned such parishioner meetings in October 2024 amid opposition to the Buffalo Diocese’s “Road to Renewal” plan that included multiple parish closures and mergers. That initiative was finalized in September 2024.

On Nov. 27 the advocacy group Save Our Buffalo Churches posted a Nov. 6 letter from Fisher in which he wrote that he was repealing the directive “in an effort to better protect the rights of the faithful.”

The prelate met with members of the Dicastery for the Clergy — including prefect Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik — during a trip to the Vatican in October, he wrote in the letter.

“Based on our conversation, it is clear to me now that this policy is too restrictive of the rights of the faithful,” the bishop said in his letter.

He pointed to the Catholic Code of Canon Law, which holds that Christians “can legitimately vindicate and defend the rights which they possess in the Church in the competent ecclesiastical forum according to the norm of law.”

In announcing the rule change, Fisher ordered that parish funds are not to be used “for expenses related to recourse” and that Church property can only be used with permission of the facility’s pastor or administrator.

Parish-owned social media accounts and websites are also not to be used for recourse activities, he said.

The prelate stressed the need for “pastoral unity” amid the ongoing restructuring plan.

“Even if one of the faithful chooses to exercise his/her right to recourse, this choice should always be seen as a disagreement about a particular decision, not a rejection of Church authority or the Road to Renewal more broadly,” he said.

In releasing the letter, Save Our Buffalo Churches described the decision as of “crucial importance to the faithful,” though it criticized what it said was a “lack of publicity” from the diocese on the decision, with the order allegedly being left up to pastors to disseminate.

“This is insufficient, because it’s proven to be inequitable,” the group said. “It’s also in the greatest contrast with how the original October policy was promulgated: immediately and aggressively.”

The group described its decision to publish the letter as “just and equitable,” though group members said they were “thankful” for Fisher’s statement “and the wisdom contained therein.”

Parish advocates have been clashing with the bishop over the closure and merger plan for over a year. Earlier in 2025 the dispute even reached the New York Supreme Court, which in July issued a halt on parish payments into the diocese’s abuse settlement fund amid parishioner objections. 

The high court in September ultimately allowed the payments to proceed, citing a long-standing prohibition against “court involvement in the governance and administration of a hierarchical church.”

Pope Francis receives the bishops of England and Wales for their ad limina visit at the Vatican, Sept. 28, 2018. / Credit: Vatican Media

London, England, Dec 4, 2025 / 13:07 pm (CNA).

A policy change concerning restrictions on the old Mass is relevant to the whole of the universal Church, not just England and Wales, said the head of the Latin Mass Society.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. / Credit: “EWTN News In Depth”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA).

U.S. Military Services Archbishop Timothy Broglio is urging the country’s leaders to refrain from killing noncombatants while neutralizing violent drug cartels across the world.

The Trump administration throughout late 2025 has been launching aggressive strikes against suspected drug cartel operators in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. The White House has come under fire for what critics have claimed are indiscriminate and possibly extralegal airstrikes against alleged narco boats.

Human rights advocates have particularly criticized a Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in which the military fired a second strike against two individuals who survived the initial strike.

In a Dec. 3 statement, Broglio acknowledged that “dismantling the powerful criminal networks responsible for the flow of illegal substances into our nation is a necessary and laudable task.”

Yet “questions have been raised about the use of military force in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and, as a nation, we must ensure that the use of military force is ethical and legal,” the prelate said. 

Broglio noted that methods to eradicate drugs and drug smugglers from the U.S. must be “moral” and in line with “just war theory,” which includes respect for “the dignity of each human person.” 

“No one can ever be ordered to commit an immoral act, and even those suspected of committing a crime are entitled to due process under the law,” he said. 

The intentional killing of noncombatants is forbidden in a just war, he said, and it would be “an illegal and immoral order to [deliberately] kill survivors on a vessel who pose no immediate lethal threat to our armed forces.”

Military forces possess a legitimate means of ensuring that noncombatants are not killed, Broglio pointed out: Vessels can be intercepted, boarded, and members of the Coast Guard can arrest suspected drug runners, after which they would be subject to due process in a court. 

“True justice is achieved through transparent legal procedures, accountability, and respect for life — not through violence outside the law,” the archbishop said. 

Broglio — who previously served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and has led the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, since 2008 — pointed out that the U.S. has “a long tradition of responding to injustice, liberating the oppressed, and leading the free world.” 

Leaders “cannot tarnish that reputation with questionable actions that fail to respect the dignity of the human person and the rule of law,” he said. 

Broglio urged leaders to refrain from asking soldiers to “engage in immoral actions.” He further noted that his own investment in the matter stems from a tradition as old as the the country itself. 

“[F]rom the beginning,” he said, “George Washington wanted chaplains with his troops to tell him the truth.”

Poster for the St. John of the Cross 2026 Jubilee. / Credit: Iberian Province of the Discalced Carmelites

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Iberian Province of the Discalced Carmelites is preparing to celebrate the jubilee year of St. John of the Cross during the 300th anniversary of his canonization.

La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile. / Credit: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In a climate marked by insecurity, rising crime rates, and the migration crisis, Chile’s citizens are closely watching the proposals of their leading presidential candidates.

Bishop Raimo Goyarrola, the only Catholic bishop in Finland, speaks with CNA in Houston in November 2025 on a fundraising trip for his “mission” Church. / Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA

Houston, Texas, Dec 4, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Raimo Goyarrola has been traveling in the U.S. with Father Jean Claude Kabeza to raise funds to support the Finnish Church, which has seen explosive growth.

Bishop Simon Kulli of Sapë, Albania. / Credit: ACN

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 3, 2025 / 18:51 pm (CNA).

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) announced the sudden death of Bishop Simon Kulli of Sapë in northern Albania at the age of 52.

The Trump administration intends to cut off federal food assistance for 21 states, which has caused concern for some local Catholic Charities affiliates. / Credit: rblfmr/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration intends to cut off federal food assistance for 21 states amid a dispute over reporting data about recipients, which has caused concern for some local Catholic Charities affiliates whose areas may be affected.

In May, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins ordered states to share certain records with the federal government about people who receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She said this was to ensure benefits only went to eligible people.

Although 29 states complied, 21 Democratic-led states refused to provide the information and sued the administration. The lawsuit alleges that providing the information — which includes immigration status, income, and identifying information — would be a privacy violation.

Rollins said in a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2 that “as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply and they … allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and protect the American taxpayer.”

She said an initial overview of the data from states that complied showed SNAP benefits given to 186,000 people using Social Security numbers for someone who is not alive and about a half of a million people receiving SNAP benefits more than once. The Department of Agriculture has not released that data.

If funding is halted, this would be the second disruption for SNAP benefits in just two months. In November, SNAP payments were delayed for nearly two weeks until lawmakers negotiated an end to the government shutdown.

For many of the states that will be impacted, Catholic Charities is the largest provider of food assistance after SNAP, and some affiliate leaders fear that the disruption will cause problems.

Rose Bak, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities of Oregon, told CNA the nonprofit keeps  stockpiles for emergencies, but “we’ve gone through most of our supplies” amid the November disruption and an increase in people’s needs caused by the high cost of groceries. 

She said their food pantry partners have told her “they’ve never been this low on stock” as well.

“Our phones were ringing off the hook,” Bak said. “Our mailboxes were flooded with emails.”

When asked how another disruption would compare to the problems in November, she said: “I think it will definitely be worse.”

“People are scared,” Bak said. “They’re worried about how they’re going to feed their families.”

Ashley Valis, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities of Baltimore, similarly told CNA that another disruption “would place immense strain on families already struggling as well as on organizations like ours, which are experiencing growing demand for food and emergency assistance.”

“Food insecurity forces children, parents, and older adults to make impossible trade-offs between rent, groceries, and medication,” she said.

James Malloy, CEO and president of Catholic Charities DC, told CNA: “We work to be responsive to the needs of the community as they fluctuate,” and added: “SNAP cuts will certainly increase that need.”

“These benefits are critical for veterans, children, and many low-income workers who have multiple jobs to cover basic expenses,” he said.

Catholic Charities USA launched a national fundraising effort in late October, just before SNAP benefits were delayed the first time. Catholic Charities USA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

null / Credit: Mehdi Kasumov/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2025 / 17:21 pm (CNA).

The Lilly Endowment announced it will distribute 45 large-scale grants to theological schools across the U.S. and Canada, including directing about $60 million to several Catholic institutions.

The grants, which range from $2.5 million to $10 million, are a part of the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, ​helping theological schools to “enhance their educational and financial capacities” and train pastors “to effectively lead congregations from a wide variety of contexts,” according to a press release from the organization.

The grants will benefit a range of ecumenical traditions, including Catholic institutions, as well as mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Orthodox ones.

Catholic institutions receiving grants include The Catholic University of America, which received over $7 million; Mount Angel Abbey in Saint Benedict, Oregon, which received $10 million; Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, Ohio, which received nearly $8.9 million; the University of Notre Dame, which received over $5 million; and Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, which received $10 million. Loyola University of Chicago received $10  million and Santa Clara University was awarded $10 million.

Saint John’s said in a statement its grant would be used as a part of a mission called “​​Stabilitas: Renewing Rural Ministry.” It will collaborate with nine partner dioceses across the country as a part of the mission, including the Diocese of Saint Cloud, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Diocese of Duluth, the Diocese of Rapid City, the Diocese of Sioux Falls, the Archdiocese of Dubuque, the Diocese of Davenport, the Diocese of Cheyenne, and the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings.

The Catholic University of America said it would use its $7.2 million grant to develop a program to help “strengthen practical leadership skills of current and new priests, seminarians, and other pastoral leaders.” The program also will provide ongoing formation for bishops, according to a release from the university. The Catholic Project will serve as a partner in the program, called New Wineskins.

“This initiative allows us to address some of the most pressing issues in leadership for seminarians, men’s religious communities, bishops, and pastoral leaders. This is an opportunity to build on the School of Theology’s 130-year foundation of preparing leaders for service to the Church,” said Susan Timoney, the principal investigator for New Wineskins.

The initiative has been in place since 2021 and has provided more than $700 million in grants to 163 theological schools.

“Theological schools play a vital role in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders for Christian congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We believe that one of the most promising paths for theological schools to carry forward their important missions and enhance their impact is to work collaboratively with other schools, as well as congregations and other church-related organizations.”

“By doing so they can strengthen their collective capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for effective congregational service now and in the future,” he added.

“Collectively, these schools will work collaboratively with nearly 400 other theological schools, colleges and universities, congregations, church agencies, denominations and other religious organizations to educate and support more effectively both aspiring and current pastoral leaders of churches,” the Lilly Endowment said.

Sister Helen Prejean is an anti-death-penalty advocate. / Credit: Don LaVange via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2025 / 16:42 pm (CNA).

Catholics and pro-life conservatives joined a broad coalition of more than 50 organizations seeking to end the death penalty in the United States amid the 2025 surge in executions.

Leaders of the coalition, the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty (USCEPD), said they hope the coordinated team can abolish the death penalty in states where it is still practiced. Capital punishment is still on the books in 27 states, but just 16 have executed prisoners over the past decade.

The group’s goals include working with Democrats and Republicans to pass state-level laws that end the use of capital punishment, reducing the imposition of the death penalty in jurisdictions where it remains legal, and increasing awareness about the risk of executing innocent people, the lack of fairness in the system, and the harms inflicted on everyone affected by the death penalty.

In 2024, there were 25 people executed in the United States. In 2025, there have already been 44 executions, and three more are scheduled this month. Florida executed one person in 2024 and has already executed 17 people in 2025. Another two people are scheduled for execution this month.

At the same time, public support for the death penalty hit a 50-year low in 2025, with about 52% of Americans supporting its use and 44% opposing it, according to Gallup, which is a sharp decline from the 1980s and 1990s, when support was above 70% most years. Juries are also less likely to give out death sentences. 

Sister Helen Prejean, who serves on the advisory council of the coalition, said in a Dec. 3 news conference that the death penalty functions as a “semi-secret ritual behind prison walls” and that “when people are separated from this experience, they just go along [with it].”

She discussed her activism in Texas against the execution of Ivan Cantu in 2024 and noted that “people in Texas did not even know an execution was going on.” She said if people have better information, “they will reject that.”

Prejean quoted Psalm 85:12, which says “truth will spring from the earth,” and added that it also “springs up from the experience of people.”

“When we bring them close, they get it,” she said.

Prejean said people who are poor and people who are ethnic minorities tend to face harsher penalties in the criminal justice system, and there is an inaccurate belief that “only the worst of the worst” will be handed the death penalty.

“To give the state the right to take life means you’re going to trust the state,” she said.

One of the group’s partners is the Catholic Mobilizing Network, which works closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to oppose the death penalty. Other organizers include Amnesty International USA, the American Civil Liberties Union, The Innocence Project, and Conservatives Concerned.

Catholic Mobilizing Network Executive Director Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy told CNA in a statement that the campaign “is an exciting expression of the growing momentum and interest in ending capital punishment in the United States.”

“The impressive range of organizations involved in the USCEDP represent the incredibly effective efforts happening across the country for this critical mission,” she said. “Catholic Mobilizing Network is honored to be part [of] USCEDP and our collective endeavor to dismantle a system of death and honor the dignity of all life.”

Demetrius Minor, executive director of Conservatives Concerned, said in the news conference that there’s been a growing concern about the death penalty “from a pro-life perspective” within conservative circles.

“[There is a] significant growing interest in the pro-life community into how the death penalty fits into their advocacy for pro-life issues,” he said.

Minor said many state-level bills to abolish the death penalty have won bipartisan support, such as a few Republicans joining the successful effort in Virginia and Republicans signing onto unsuccessful efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

“We can ensure that these efforts continue to be inclusive and bipartisan in the future,” he said.

In addition to national advocacy groups, state-level groups in 23 states have joined the coalition’s efforts.