A statue of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in the Seton Legacy Garden at the Seton Shrine in Maryland. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Seton Shrine

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 6, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

This month the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is hosting two pilgrimages to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the canonization of the first American-born saint. 

The Footsteps of Mother Seton pilgrimage and the Camino of Maryland will both offer a chance for the faithful to walk together in prayer and travel through some of the same places that Seton did more than 200 years ago.

“As the late Pope Francis once said, ‘Making a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of the most eloquent expressions of the faith of God’s people,’” the executive director at the shrine, Rob Judge, said in a press release.

“We see every day how our sacred and historical spaces at the shrine enable pilgrims to encounter Our Lord, grow in their faith, and receive answers to their prayers,” Judge said. 

Footsteps of Mother Seton

Footsteps of Mother Seton is a four-day pilgrimage organized by the shrine that will guide pilgrims along the same path Seton took from Baltimore to Emmitsburg, where she founded the first community of religious sisters in the U.S., the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. 

The pilgrimage will begin on June 19 with a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption in Baltimore and then proceed on the 61-mile trek to the shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The shrine was “inspired” to do the pilgrimage “because even before the jubilee was announced, we knew it was going to be the 50th anniversary of Mother Seton’s canonization,” Becca Corbell, associate director of programs for the shrine, told CNA.

“It’s totally God’s timing because we’re in a jubilee year,” Corbell said. 

Throughout the journey, pilgrims will stop at three jubilee sites and four parishes to pray with parishioners and to share and reflect on Mother Seton. Along the way, participants will have the opportunity to attend Eucharistic processions, Holy Hours, adoration under the stars, Mass, and community meals.

“We wanted to do things that help people encounter God the way Elizabeth Ann Seton did, and we thought this might be a good fit. The parishes along the way have been super supportive and [are] excited to partner with us. They’re just as big of a part of it as we are,” Corbell said. 

There are expected to be 12-15 pilgrims who will walk the full four days, but the pilgrimage is accessible for those who want to join for only parts of the travels or just the evening events. 

“We wanted to structure it in such a way that even people that can’t walk long distances are still pilgrims. We didn’t want there to be any barrier to entry with that type of spirituality program.”

“It’s more to us about the spirituality of pilgrimage. That [is] something a lot of people don’t know about Elizabeth Ann Seton, she really was focused on ‘this world is not our home, eternity is.’”

“That’s why she made the decision to convert to Catholicism,” Corbell said, because “eternity was “a real guiding light for her.”

The Camino of Maryland 

The Camino of Maryland hosted by the Avalon School in Wheaton, Maryland; the Brookewood School in Kensington, Maryland; and the shrine is also taking place this month. The two-week-long pilgrimage begins June 9 at Point Lookout in southern Maryland and will end at the shrine. 

The Camino of Maryland journey will cover 218 miles as pilgrims travel through multiple landscapes in Maryland and the nation’s capital. They will have access to daily Mass, confession, and time for the rosary. They will stop at seven jubilee sites throughout the route.

The camino’s “mission is to not only provide a unique experience of physical and spiritual growth but to also foster an environment of friendship, understanding, and appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us,” the pilgrimage’s website indicated. 

The camino will also end on June 22, the feast of Corpus Christi, which Corbell shared was unintentional but rather “God’s timing.” The two pilgrimages will come together and end with a solemn Eucharistic procession together on the historic shrine grounds.  

If people wish to participate, but are not local to either pilgrimage, the shrine’s website is accepting prayer intention submissions and the pilgrims will “carry those and pray for them every day,” Corbell said.

Stained glass window of Blessed Carlo Acutis at St. Aldhelm’s in Malmesbury, England. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Thomas Kulandaisamy/Catholic Herald

Vatican City, Jun 6, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When will Carlo Acutis be canonized? That is the question Catholics are asking after the ceremony scheduled for April 27 was postponed due to the death of Pope Francis.

The young millennial, who suffered from leukemia and whose astonishing life and love for the Catholic Church sparked worldwide interest, died on Oct. 12, 2006, and was buried in Assisi, according to his wishes, due to his admiration for St. Francis.

Acutis was declared venerable in 2018 and blessed on Oct. 10, 2020. On May 23, 2024, Pope Francis paved the way for the youth to be elevated to sainthood after approving a second miracle attributed to his intercession.

The scientifically inexplicable event that allegedly occurred with Acutis’ intervention concerned a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman, Valeria Valverde, who miraculously survived a serious bicycle accident that left her on the verge of death with a severe head injury.

Last July, Pope Francis convened an ordinary public consistory to confirm several causes for canonization. This ceremony determined the final step of the canonization process through a vote. In addition to Acutis, the canonizations of Blesseds Giuseppe Allamano, Marie-Léonie Paradis, and Elena Guerra were also approved.

However, although the consistory approved Acutis’ canonization, the pontiff did not determine the exact date on which he would be proclaimed a saint.

The long-awaited announcement came a few months later, last November, when Pope Francis indicated at the end of a general audience that the young man known as “God’s influencer“ would be elevated to the altars on April 27, 2025, coinciding with the Jubilee of Teenagers.

The news was received with great enthusiasm by the faithful — and especially by teenagers from around the world, tens of thousands of whom made plans to travel to Rome to be part of this historic event. However, the ceremony had to be postponed following Pope Francis’ death on April 21.

Now, following the path forged by Francis, Pope Leo XIV has convened his first consistory for June 13 to confirm the canonization of eight blesseds whose processes were initiated by his predecessor. However, Acutis’ name is not included on the official list of blesseds.

The date is not voted on: The pope announces it

Asked about the reasons why Acutis is not among these names, Monsignor Alberto Royo, promoter of the faith at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that “his canonization was approved in the last consistory [on July 1, 2024], so he is no longer included in this one.”

In this regard, he clarified that the canonization date “is not something that is approved in the consistory, but rather the pope normally announces it on that occasion, although not necessarily,” he added.

“In the case of Carlo Acutis, the pope did not announce the date at the consistory, and it was announced later by the Secretariat of State,” he continued.

Therefore, Royo pointed out that at the next consistory on June 13, “it could happen that the pope takes the opportunity to announce the new date of the canonization, but it could also happen that he doesn’t announce it and that it will be the Secretariat of State that does.”

Regarding Pier Giorgio Frassati, the young “mountaineer” whose canonization will be celebrated on Aug. 3, Royo recalled that Pope Francis “directly announced his canonization before the consistory had even been held,” which is why his name appears on the June 13 list.

The Vatican official referred to this gesture as one of Pope Francis’ “spontaneous actions” that “preempted the consistory process, as also happened with José Gregorio Hernández,” the first Venezuelan saint. “After all, he had the authority to do it,” he emphasized.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors hopes to deliver a "Universal Guidelines Framework for Safeguarding" to Pope Leo XIV later this year, the commission said.

The guidelines "seek to inspire a true conversion of heart in every leader and pastoral agent in the church, ensuring that safeguarding becomes not merely a requirement, but a reflection of the Gospel's call to protect the least among us," the commission said in a press release June 5 after its first meeting with Pope Leo XIV.

Also, "a new 'vademecum' on reparations, informed by the lived experiences of victims and survivors, is in development to guide local churches in responding with justice and compassion," it added.

The commission updated the pope about its work and "reiterated its commitment to the unity and collegiality of its members," the press release said. 

Some 23 members, including Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, commission president and retired archbishop of Boston, attended the hour-long audience at the Vatican. Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, the commission's secretary, and Teresa Kettelkamp, adjunct secretary of the commission, were also present.

"A letter signed by all members following the March 2025 plenary assembly underscored the need for continuity in our mandate, governance and working methods -- affirming the commission's independence and its role as a trusted advisor to the Holy Father," the commission press release said. Pope Francis established the commission in 2014 to advise the pope "in the development and promotion of universal safeguarding standards, and to accompany the church in building a culture of accountability, justice and compassion."

Members also informed Pope Leo about the commission's annual report, "a cornerstone of its mandate" that is "designed to evaluate the safeguarding capacity of local churches, offering practical recommendations grounded in the lived realities of each region," it said.

This year's annual report will explore "conversional justice through the lens of reparations. This includes a comprehensive pastoral-theological study and the collection of data on current reparations practices across the universal church," it said. 

The report expanded the input from its victim/survivor focus group "with direct contributions from survivors across all four commission regions. Country-level church data is also drawn from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's review process -- answering the growing call for greater transparency through external data," it added.

The new report will look at the church's safeguarding efforts in 22 countries and two religious congregations, and it will include "an institutional review of the Dicastery for Evangelization" as well as initial findings from a review of the Focolare Movement, it said.

"Our hope is to present the finalized universal guidelines framework to the Holy Father later this year," it said. The guidelines were developed over the past two years in close collaboration with "church leaders, safeguarding professionals, survivors of abuse and pastoral workers from across the globe," it added.

The draft framework, it said, "has been tested and refined through pilot programs in Tonga, Poland, Zimbabwe and Costa Rica," providing "invaluable insights into the practical, cultural, and theological dimensions of safeguarding."

The commission expressed its gratitude to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia "for their increasing collaboration, and we invite continued partnership in this vital ministry."

"We reaffirm our commitment to listening, walking with victims and survivors, and supporting every church community in their efforts to safeguard all of God's people with compassion," it said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With their specific forms of prayer, outreach or emphasis both the long-established groups of Catholic laypeople as well as the newer movements and communities are called to contribute to the unity and mission of the church, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Unity and mission are two essential aspects of the church's life and two priorities of the Petrine ministry," the pope said. "For this reason, I ask all ecclesial associations and movements to cooperate faithfully and generously with the pope, above all in these two areas."

The pope met June 6 with about 250 leaders of 115 international associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements and new communities recognized and supported by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. The groups included, for example, the Legion of Mary, the Neocatechumenal Way, Communion and Liberation, a variety of charismatic communities and various Catholic scouting groups. 

"Some were founded to carry out a common apostolic, charitable or liturgical project, or to support Christian witness in specific social settings," Pope Leo noted. "Others, however, originated with a charismatic inspiration, an initial charism that gave rise to a movement, a new form of spirituality and of evangelization."

All the groups, though, aim to help their members live the Christian life more deeply in service to God, to the church and to their brothers and sisters, he said.

"The desire to work together for a common purpose reflects an essential reality: no one is Christian alone," the pope told the leaders. "We are part of a people, a body established by the Lord." 

"The Christian life is not lived in isolation, as a kind of intellectual or sentimental experience, confined to the mind and the heart," he said. "It is lived with others, in a group and in community, because the risen Christ is present wherever disciples gather in his name."

But within the church, the pope said, those groups cannot live in isolation either.

"Seek to spread everywhere this unity that you yourselves experience in your groups and communities, always in communion with the church's pastors and in solidarity with other ecclesial realities," Pope Leo said.

"Draw close to all those whom you meet, so that your charisms may ever be at the service of the unity of the church, and be 'a leaven of unity, communion and fraternity' in our world, so torn by discord and violence," he said, quoting from his homily May 18 at the Mass inaugurating his papacy. 

The outward focus of the groups is also essential, he said, since the church is called to be missionary, sharing the love of God with the world.

"The church's mission has been an important part of my own pastoral experience and has shaped my spiritual life," said the pope, who spent decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru.

"You too have experienced this spiritual journey," he said. "Your encounter with the Lord and the new life that filled your hearts gave rise to your desire to make him known to others."

"Place your talents at the service of the church's mission, whether in places of first evangelization or in your parishes and local ecclesial communities, in order to reach those who, albeit distant, are often waiting, without being aware of it, to hear God's word of life," Pope Leo told the groups.
 

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has released the 2024 Annual Report – Findings and Recommendations on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The report is based on the audit findings of StoneBridge Business Partners, a consulting firm which provides forensic, internal, and compliance audit services. A survey regarding allegations of abuse of minors and costs that is annually conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University is also included as a part of the report. 

This is the twenty-second such report since 2002 when the U.S. bishops established and adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a comprehensive framework of procedures to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and establish protocols to protect children and young people.

The 2024 report covers July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. During that period, 902 allegations were reported by 855 victims-survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy throughout 195 Catholic dioceses and eparchies that reported information. This is a decrease of 406 allegations reported in the previous audit year. Out of the 902 allegations, a total of 548, or 61%, were brought to the attention of the diocesan/eparchial representatives through an attorney, making this the principal reporting method during the 2024 audit period. Allegations made by spouses, relatives, or other representatives such as other dioceses/eparchies, religious orders, clergy members, or law enforcement officials on behalf of the victim-survivor were additional methods of reporting, totaling 118 allegations. The remaining 236 allegations were made by self-disclosure.

During the current audit period, dioceses and eparchies provided outreach and support services to 146 victim-survivors and their families who reported during this audit period. Continued support was provided to 1,434 victim-survivors and their families who reported abuse in prior audit periods. The report notes the ongoing work of the Catholic Church in continuing the call to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. In 2024, the Church conducted 2,237,906 background checks on clergy, employees, and volunteers. In addition, in 2024, over 2.2 million adults and over 2.8 million children and youth were trained in how to identify the warning signs of abuse and how to report those signs.

For the 2024 audit year, 195 of 196 dioceses/eparchies fully participated in the 2024 data collection process and one diocese did not participate. StoneBridge physically visited 48 dioceses/eparchies and utilized remote technologies to perform 22 additional remote visits to dioceses and eparchies, for a total of 70 on-site audit visits and collected data from an additional 125 others. Of the 70 dioceses/eparchies that participated in the on-site audits that took place between February and December 2024, there were four findings of non-compliance with certain aspects of the Charter involving two locations. Compliance with the Charter was determined based on implementation efforts from the date of the last audit visit through 2024. 

CARA completed their data collection for the 2024 annual survey in January 2025. All but two of the 196 dioceses and eparchies of the USCCB completed the survey, for a response rate of 99%. The findings indicate that among 97 alleged perpetrators that were classified, more than four-fifths of the alleged offenders identified between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, are deceased, already removed from ministry, already laicized, or missing (84%). Another 11 priests or deacons identified during fiscal year 2024 were permanently removed from ministry during that time (11%). Four alleged offenders were temporarily removed from ministry pending investigation of the allegations (4%). One alleged offender remained in active ministry during that fiscal year pending the investigation (1%).

For the 2024 audit period, there are four findings of non-compliance with certain articles of the Charter involving one eparchy and one diocese. The Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Church in the USA was found to be non-compliant with Article 12 of the Charter due to the absence of a safe environment training program for minors, in addition to, failure to provide safe environment training to the majority of their volunteers. They were also found non-compliant with Article 13 of the Charter for not completing background checks for the majority of their volunteers. The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown was found non-compliant with Article 2 of the Charter due to not having a functioning Review Board throughout their audit period. The Diocese of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands did not participate in either the on-site audit or data collection process, thus no information on this location could be included in this report.

The USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People and the National Review Board continue to emphasize that the audit and continued application of zero-tolerance policies are two important tools in the Catholic Church’s broader commitment to create a culture of protection and healing that exceeds the requirements of the Charter. 

This most recent annual report, and all previously published annual reports, may be found on the USCCB website: https://www.usccb.org/offices/child-and-youth-protection/audits. Additional information on diocesan requirements for the protection of children and young people may be found here. 

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WASHINGTON – “We welcome the government’s decision to restore clarity to the federal law that ensures that all people, including both pregnant mothers and their preborn children, can receive necessary emergency care at hospitals,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in response to Tuesday’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had rescinded guidance from 2022, which had attempted to require abortions in certain circumstances under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Bishop Thomas continued, “The guidance that was imposed three years ago introduced unnecessary confusion into health care settings in the form of an abortion mandate. It is important to recognize that, when necessary, there are morally and legally permissible procedures to save the life of a mother in a health crisis, even when they may result in the terrible loss of her child. The government’s attempt to force doctors to perform direct abortions, however, defied the purpose of the long-standing EMTALA law, which is to help save the lives of vulnerable women who arrive at emergency rooms and, if they are pregnant, the lives of their babies as well. We are grateful for Tuesday’s rescission announcement and will continue to encourage policies that ensure high-quality and accessible health care to all people in need.” 

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The Embassy of Equatorial Guinea in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Kurt Kaiser, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 18:13 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s order this week to restrict foreign nationals in 19 countries from entering into the United States will impact six countries with a majority Catholic population and four other countries with a heavy presence of Catholics or other Christians.

According to the order, some of the countries are facing restrictions based on national security concerns and a high terrorism risk. Others were chosen due to high rates of people from those countries overstaying their visas for entry into the United States and remaining in the country unlawfully.

The order includes a near-total ban on three countries with a majority Catholic population: the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Haiti. There are also partial restrictions on three others with Catholic majorities: Burundi, Venezuela, and Cuba.

The near-total ban will also affect Eritrea, where about half of the population is Christian. The largest denomination in Eritrea is the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The partial restrictions will affect Togo, as well, where about half of the population is Christian and the largest Christian segment is Catholic.

Chad, a Muslim-majority country with a large Christian minority, is also facing a near-total ban on entry. More than 40% of the population is Christian, half of whom are Catholic. The majority Muslim country Sierra Leone will be subject to partial restrictions. More than 20% of the people who live there are Christian, most of whom are Protestant.

Six other Muslim-majority countries with very small Christian populations are also subject to the near-total ban: Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Burma, where most of the population is Buddhist, is also facing a near-total ban. Turkmenistan, a majority Muslim country, is facing partial restrictions, as is Laos, which is mostly Buddhist.

In a statement to CNA on Thursday, Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the Committee on Migration at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), criticized the new restrictions.

“Our country’s proud tradition as a land of opportunity for people from all walks of life is increasingly contradicted by a system that makes legal immigration impossible for far too many,” said Seitz, who has frequently criticized Trump’s immigration policies.

“A broad ban on nationals from these countries further erodes trust in our legal immigration system and marginalizes entire peoples,” the bishop said. “I pray that these restrictions will be lifted in due course.”

The travel restrictions imposed by Trump include several exceptions. Those exempted include people who are lawful permanent residents of the United States, those who obtain immediate family immigrant visas, and adoptions, among others. Special exemptions are also granted to those suffering religious persecution in Iran and those who have worked directly alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

“[I] hope that the stated exceptions in the proclamation, such as those for Afghans who supported our country, immediate family members, and people seeking humanitarian protections, are honored,” Seitz said.

Anna Gallagher, the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), also criticized the order. CLINIC works closely with the USCCB. 

“We are particularly concerned about how this policy will affect families trying to reunite in the United States,” Gallagher told CNA. 

“This was a primary concern of ours with previous travel bans implemented under the first Trump administration,” she continued. “We have already seen the devastating impact that cancellation of refugee and humanitarian immigration opportunities has had so far this year in terms of keeping families apart, and this policy will only deepen and extend that harm.”

Upon announcing the travel restrictions on Wednesday, Trump said they were motivated by “extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas.”

The president cited the recent terrorist attack in Colorado, in which an Egyptian man who overstayed his visa admitted to throwing molotov cocktails at people attending a vigil for Israeli hostages. 

“We’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world and thanks to [former President Joe] Biden’s open door policies,” the president said. “Today, there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”

Trump imposed a similar travel ban during his first term in office, which was mostly focused on restricting travel from certain countries based on national security concerns.

Kentucky Capitol. / Credit: Alexey Stiop/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Kentucky ACLU drops suit challenging state’s near-ban on abortion 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky recently dropped a lawsuit it filed last year challenging Kentucky’s protections for unborn children.  

The ACLU filed a motion last Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit and did not give a reason.  

The organization filed the suit, Poe v. Coleman, last year in a state court in Louisville on behalf of a woman identified under the pseudonym Mary Poe for her privacy. She was seven weeks pregnant at the time.

The suit challenged Kentucky’s laws that protect unborn children from abortion: namely the state’s trigger law prohibiting most abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned and a separate law protecting unborn children after six weeks of life. Kentucky law allows abortions only when the mother’s life or health is at stake. In 2023, the state recorded only 23 abortions. 

ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Amber Duke said in a statement that the group “will not be providing additional details about the dismissal,” noting that “decisions about health care are and should remain private.” But Duke pledged that the group “will never stop fighting to restore abortion access” in the state.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman celebrated the withdrawal in a post on X, saying that “Kentuckians can be proud that our pro-life values won the day today and innocent lives will continue to be saved as a result.”

Pro-life protesters file free speech lawsuit 

A young pro-life couple from Ohio recently filed a free speech lawsuit after the husband was arrested for speaking on a megaphone outside of an abortion clinic.  

Zachary and Lindsay Knotts filed the lawsuit on May 30, saying that their freedom of speech and religion was violated. 

Since December 2024, the Knotts have spent Saturday mornings participating in sidewalk advocacy to save the lives of the unborn at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Cuyahoga Falls, according to the lawsuit. 

Zachary Knotts was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. He had been using a megaphone to amplify his voice over the noise pro-abortion escorts were making to drown him out.  

The lawsuit noted that abortion escorts used whistles and kazoos to drown out the Knotts’ speech, but “only Mr. Knotts was given a citation and prosecuted for disorderly conduct.” 

The lawsuit called the arrest “retaliatory” and said it violated free speech because the ordinance was not equally applied, banning amplified speech based on the nature of the speech.

Attorneys general call for expansion of chemical abortions

The attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and New York this week called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone following the FDA’s recent announcement that it would review the drug for safety concerns. 

In a joint petition on June 5, the four states’ attorneys general called on the FDA to remove prescriber certification, patient agreement forms, and pharmacy certification requirements. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the drug has a “25-year safety record” and that the FDA should “lift these unnecessary barriers.”

The petition follows the recent commitment by the FDA to review the drug for safety concerns in the wake of a study that found that about 11% of women suffer at least one “serious adverse event” within 45 days of taking mifepristone for an abortion.

A chemical abortion takes place via a two-pill regimen. The first pill, mifepristone, kills the child by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients. A second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to induce contractions meant to expel the child’s body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

In April, a first-of-its-kind study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that of 865,727 mifepristone-taking abortion patients over six years, thousands were hospitalized, more than 1,000 needed blood transfusions, and hundreds suffered from sepsis. Nearly 2,000 had a different life-threatening adverse event.

Fairbanks, Alaska, Bishop Steven Maekawa, OP, said he plans to offer a special Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Fairbanks for Father Alphonsus Afina, who was captured by Boko Haram on June 1, 2025. / Credit: RadioKAOS, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 16:09 pm (CNA).

A Nigerian-born priest who served in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, for more than half a decade has been captured by the terrorist group Boko Haram after returning to his home country. 

Fairbanks Bishop Steven Maekawa, OP, said in a statement this week that Father Alphonsus Afina was “captured by Boko Haram as he was serving the Church in the Diocese of Maiduguri” in the Nigerian state of Borno.

Afina served in the Alaskan diocese for six and a half years before returning to Nigeria last April, the bishop said. 

“Pray for his freedom from captivity and for his physical and spiritual strength,” he wrote. The bishop said he planned to offer a special Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Fairbanks for Afina. 

The papal charity Aid to the Church in Need reported on Thursday that Maiduguri Auxiliary Bishop John Bagna Bakeni said the priest was taken on Sunday, June 1. 

Afina and two others were kidnapped in the Gwoza region while traveling to Maiduguri, the prelate said. The party with which they were traveling was reportedly “caught in a crossfire between Nigerian soldiers and terrorists,” with multiple fatalities resulting. 

Bakeni told the charity that the diocese was contacted by Boko Haram, which offered proof that the kidnapped priest was still alive. 

The Fairbanks Diocese did not respond to a query on Thursday regarding the incident. Father Robert Fath, the vicar general of the diocese, told local media that the diocese was “hopeful that [our] prayers, our intercessions … will soften [Boko Haram’s] hearts to release him.”

“There’s not much we can do” except pray, Fath said. 

”It’s the most powerful thing that we can do at this point; pray for his strength during this time of captivity and persecution, but also [that] he’ll hopefully, God willing, one day be freed.”

Aid to the Church in Need said Afina is the 15th religious to be kidnapped in Nigeria this year.

WASHINGTON - “The Wisconsin Supreme Court badly erred when it concluded that Catholic Charities is essentially secular because it does not engage in activities such as proselytism. I am grateful for the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, following the Court’s unanimous decision in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission. 

He offered the following statement: 

“Catholic Charities carries out ministries of the Catholic Church, the body of Christ, in the world today. Through Catholic Charities, the Church feeds the hungry and clothes the naked. The Church engages in these activities in obedience to Jesus, informed by millennia of tradition from the Apostles.

“The Catholic Charities agency of the Diocese of Superior applied for a religious exemption from the state’s unemployment tax program so that it could participate instead in a church-run program that offers the same level of benefits. Catholic Charities was denied the exemption, because according to the state, it is not religious. This was a ludicrous claim, and the Court has rightly reversed. The Court has unanimously affirmed that the government cannot discriminate against our ministries simply because they do not conform to the government’s narrow idea of religion. I am grateful the Court has recognized that basic principle here.”

The USCCB filed an amicus brief in support of Catholic Charities, which can be found at https://www.usccb.org/resources/25-0203_CCB_v_WILaborIndustry.pdf 

Bishop Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty.

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