CNA Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

“The only males allowed in our meetings will be very young ones,” said Ruth Lewis, one of the founders of MoMa Breastfeeding, a newly launched support group for breastfeeding mothers. 

The group was founded by former trustees of La Leche League Great Britain, who say they were ousted from the group for their belief that only women can breastfeed. 

“As experienced breastfeeding counselors, we saw skills and knowledge being lost through changes in language and the abandonment of mother-centered practice,” says the website of MoMa Breastfeeding. 

“Support for mothers and children that protects the mother-baby dyad is needed more than ever.” 

Group has Catholic roots

Founded in 1956 by seven Catholic women in Illinois who named the group after the nursing Madonna and in response to a rise in formula feeding, La Leche League (“La leche” means milk in Spanish) originally supported natural family planning and other Catholic moral teachings.

It changed over the years, however, dropping its Catholic identity as it grew. And in recent years, the group in the U.S. and elsewhere has embraced gender ideology and so-called “inclusive” language, using terms like “chestfeeding” and allowing men who say they are women to participate in meetings. 

This pivot clashed with the convictions of many of the group’s leaders, including Marian Thompson, 95, one of the original founders who resigned from the board of La Leche League International in 2024 in protest.

The breaking point in Britain came in early 2024 when six trustees with the British group, including Lewis, a 17-year veteran La Leche League leader, were suspended after raising their concerns about the inclusion of males in women-only spaces and the confusing new language with the U.S.-based international board, on which sit members from all over the world.

The international group had issued an order in early 2024 for all affiliates in Great Britain to offer breastfeeding support to all nursing parents, regardless of their "gender identity" or sex.

The suspended trustees complained to the British Charity Commission, which they argued protects single-sex organizations. 

Lewis said the trustees then published their full correspondence with all the La Leche League leaders in Great Britain, and it was not long before the press got wind of the dispute. 

A spokesperson for the trustees said in 2024 that they had “exhausted every process available to us to defend sex-based services.”

“[La Leche League] International and a small number of fellow trustees at [the British chapter] have undermined our efforts and left us with no choice but to alert the Charity Commission … We would like to reassure group leaders and the mothers who benefit from LLLGB’s services that we are confident the law is on our side, as ‘mother’ is a sex-based term in UK law.”

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled in April that sex is determined by biology, a decision welcomed by both MoMa’s founders and advocates for biological reality worldwide.

“La Leche League International called us hateful bigots, but we were just trying to protect the mother-baby relationship,” Lewis told CNA. 

MoMa’s mission is to provide free, voluntary, mother-to-mother support from pregnancy through weaning, Lewis said, and the group insists on clarity. 

“The gender-neutral language is damaging,” Lewis said. “When you say ‘parent’ instead of ‘mother,’ it detracts from the relationship. It makes information harder to access, especially for mothers with dyslexia or whose first language isn’t English.”

Justine Lattimer is a lawyer specializing in child protection who is helping MoMa get off the ground and is the sister of one of the group’s founders.

“The baby’s needs have been overlooked in all this talk of ‘chestfeeding’ and ‘parent’,” Lattimer said in an interview with CNA. “It’s all about what the parent wants. None of it is about the baby’s needs.” 

“A baby is born expecting to breastfeed — it’s a biological imperative,” Lattimer said. “The mother is the complete answer to all the baby’s questions in those first moments.” 

Lattimer argues that breastfeeding is more than nutrition — it’s about comfort, bonding, and the tactile, emotional connection between a mother and her child. 

“Breastfeeding is part of mothering,” she said. “It’s part of a mother’s natural learning of being responsive in parenting.”

“A lot of things have happened over the course of the twentieth century that have broken that relationship a little bit,” Lattimer continued. “Mothers have been disenfranchised.”

Lattimer says she hopes MoMa can help restore some of that brokenness by providing a place for mothers to talk about their common experiences.

“It’s also empowering for women” to have such a place, she said. “Women have been led to believe everything is technical and requires an expert,” she added. “We’re here to say, ‘You’re enough. You were made for this. You can do this.’"

Cynthia Dulworth agrees. The former La Leche League leader and Catholic mother of three told CNA that the “Catholic theology that my body could do this – to grow the baby in my womb, to give birth, and to breastfeed – completely changed my lifestyle and helped me connect with my children.”

“I truly believe that breastfeeding is not merely for nutrition but more importantly a relationship between a mother and a baby which is irreplaceable,” said Dulworth, who resigned as a leader because she disagreed with the changes in language. 

“I didn’t want to confuse my daughters, who were often with me in meetings or when I took phone calls,” she said.

“Breastfeeding is a sex-based reality. It’s not about gender — it’s about mothers and their babies,” Paula Clay, a lactation consultant and long-time La Leche League leader in the U.S. who supports MoMa’s mission, told CNA.

For Clay, a Catholic who wears a crucifix and miraculous medal at her breastfeeding support groups, MoMa represents a return to “true north” — a focus on mothers and babies.

MoMa’s launch in May garnered immediate attention on social media, amplified by a “substantial” donation from famed author J.K. Rowling, an outspoken critic of men who call themselves women “invading” women’s spaces, who re-posted the group’s announcement to her millions of followers. 

“We couldn’t have bought publicity like that,” Lewis told CNA, noting the donation covered critical startup costs like registering the company and setting up a website. The group has since received dozens of small donations, averaging £20, often accompanied by heartfelt messages. 

The positive response has been overwhelming, Lewis said. 

“People write, ‘Sorry it’s not more,’ but we’re grateful for every bit,” she said. 

As MoMa grows, it aims to remain “small and perfectly formed,” Lattimer said. 

“We’re not here to police language or fight culture wars. We just want to help mothers breastfeed their babies. The world won’t end if we call mothers ‘mothers’ and say no to men occasionally,” she said.

CNA Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The famed French priest has already been accused by several dozen people of inflicting abuse over the course of several decades.

CNA Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

“The only males allowed in our meetings will be very young ones,” said Ruth Lewis, one of the founders of MoMa Breastfeeding, a newly launched support group for breastfeeding mothers. 

The group was founded by former trustees of La Leche League Great Britain, who say they were ousted from the group for their belief that only women can breastfeed. 

“As experienced breastfeeding counselors, we saw skills and knowledge being lost through changes in language and the abandonment of mother-centered practice,” says the website of MoMa Breastfeeding. 

“Support for mothers and children that protects the mother-baby dyad is needed more than ever.” 

Group has Catholic roots

Founded in 1956 by seven Catholic women in Illinois who named the group after the nursing Madonna and in response to a rise in formula feeding, La Leche League (“La leche” means milk in Spanish) originally supported natural family planning and other Catholic moral teachings.

It changed over the years, however, dropping its Catholic identity as it grew. And in recent years, the group in the U.S. and elsewhere has embraced gender ideology and so-called “inclusive” language, using terms like “chestfeeding” and allowing men who say they are women to participate in meetings. 

This pivot clashed with the convictions of many of the group’s leaders, including Marian Thompson, 95, one of the original founders who resigned from the board of La Leche League International in 2024 in protest.

The breaking point in Britain came in early 2024 when six trustees with the British group, including Lewis, a 17-year veteran La Leche League leader, were suspended after raising their concerns about the inclusion of males in women-only spaces and the confusing new language with the U.S.-based international board, on which sit members from all over the world.

The international group had issued an order in early 2024 for all affiliates in Great Britain to offer breastfeeding support to all nursing parents, regardless of their "gender identity" or sex.

The suspended trustees complained to the British Charity Commission, which they argued protects single-sex organizations. 

Lewis said the trustees then published their full correspondence with all the La Leche League leaders in Great Britain, and it was not long before the press got wind of the dispute. 

A spokesperson for the trustees said in 2024 that they had “exhausted every process available to us to defend sex-based services.”

“[La Leche League] International and a small number of fellow trustees at [the British chapter] have undermined our efforts and left us with no choice but to alert the Charity Commission … We would like to reassure group leaders and the mothers who benefit from LLLGB’s services that we are confident the law is on our side, as ‘mother’ is a sex-based term in UK law.”

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled in April that sex is determined by biology, a decision welcomed by both MoMa’s founders and advocates for biological reality worldwide.

“La Leche League International called us hateful bigots, but we were just trying to protect the mother-baby relationship,” Lewis told CNA. 

MoMa’s mission is to provide free, voluntary, mother-to-mother support from pregnancy through weaning, Lewis said, and the group insists on clarity. 

“The gender-neutral language is damaging,” Lewis said. “When you say ‘parent’ instead of ‘mother,’ it detracts from the relationship. It makes information harder to access, especially for mothers with dyslexia or whose first language isn’t English.”

Justine Lattimer is a lawyer specializing in child protection who is helping MoMa get off the ground and is the sister of one of the group’s founders.

“The baby’s needs have been overlooked in all this talk of ‘chestfeeding’ and ‘parent’,” Lattimer said in an interview with CNA. “It’s all about what the parent wants. None of it is about the baby’s needs.” 

“A baby is born expecting to breastfeed — it’s a biological imperative,” Lattimer said. “The mother is the complete answer to all the baby’s questions in those first moments.” 

Lattimer argues that breastfeeding is more than nutrition — it’s about comfort, bonding, and the tactile, emotional connection between a mother and her child. 

“Breastfeeding is part of mothering,” she said. “It’s part of a mother’s natural learning of being responsive in parenting.”

“A lot of things have happened over the course of the twentieth century that have broken that relationship a little bit,” Lattimer continued. “Mothers have been disenfranchised.”

Lattimer says she hopes MoMa can help restore some of that brokenness by providing a place for mothers to talk about their common experiences.

“It’s also empowering for women” to have such a place, she said. “Women have been led to believe everything is technical and requires an expert,” she added. “We’re here to say, ‘You’re enough. You were made for this. You can do this.’"

Cynthia Dulworth agrees. The former La Leche League leader and Catholic mother of three told CNA that the “Catholic theology that my body could do this – to grow the baby in my womb, to give birth, and to breastfeed – completely changed my lifestyle and helped me connect with my children.”

“I truly believe that breastfeeding is not merely for nutrition but more importantly a relationship between a mother and a baby which is irreplaceable,” said Dulworth, who resigned as a leader because she disagreed with the changes in language. 

“I didn’t want to confuse my daughters, who were often with me in meetings or when I took phone calls,” she said.

“Breastfeeding is a sex-based reality. It’s not about gender — it’s about mothers and their babies,” Paula Clay, a lactation consultant and long-time La Leche League leader in the U.S. who supports MoMa’s mission, told CNA.

For Clay, a Catholic who wears a crucifix and miraculous medal at her breastfeeding support groups, MoMa represents a return to “true north” — a focus on mothers and babies.

MoMa’s launch in May garnered immediate attention on social media, amplified by a “substantial” donation from famed author J.K. Rowling, an outspoken critic of men who call themselves women “invading” women’s spaces, who re-posted the group’s announcement to her millions of followers. 

“We couldn’t have bought publicity like that,” Lewis told CNA, noting the donation covered critical startup costs like registering the company and setting up a website. The group has since received dozens of small donations, averaging £20, often accompanied by heartfelt messages. 

The positive response has been overwhelming, Lewis said. 

“People write, ‘Sorry it’s not more,’ but we’re grateful for every bit,” she said. 

As MoMa grows, it aims to remain “small and perfectly formed,” Lattimer said. 

“We’re not here to police language or fight culture wars. We just want to help mothers breastfeed their babies. The world won’t end if we call mothers ‘mothers’ and say no to men occasionally,” she said.

CNA Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Bishops' Conference of France this week said a dozen new accusers have come forth with allegations of abuse against deceased Capuchin priest Abbé Pierre.

The famed French priest has already been accused by several dozen people of inflicting abuse over the course of several decades. Pierre founded the Emmaus movement, an international charity effort, after World War II.

In a July 10 press release the French bishops said they were "shocked to receive the testimony of 12 new victims of Abbé Pierre, including 7 minors at the time of the events."

The bishops "assure these people of their support," the prelates said in the release.

Allegations of abuse against Pierre, who for decades was hailed for his charity work in France, shocked the Catholic world last year. Emmaus International revealed the abuse claims in July of 2024, with new allegations surfacing in September of last year.

The Abbé Pierre Foundation announced it would change its name due to the revelations. The French bishops also said they would release archive files on Pierre nearly six decades ahead of schedule amid the abuse claims.

French prosecutors said earlier this year they would not mount an investigation into the priest due to his having died in 2007.

This week, meanwhile, the French bishops said that they were "committed to helping victims rebuild their lives after what they have been through."

The bishops and Emmaus "are working together with determination on a process of reparation," they said.

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jul 12, 2025 / 08:40 am (CNA).

Friar Clodovis Boff has written an open letter to the bishops of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym), who recently met in assembly, asking: “What good news did I read there? Forgive my frankness: None. You, bishops of CELAM, always repeat the same old story: social issues, social issues, and social issues. And this has been going on for more than fifty years.”

“Dear older brothers, don’t you see that this music is getting old?” asked the priest who belongs to the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), in reaction to the final document of the 40th Ordinary General Assembly of CELAM, held at the end of May in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

"When will you give us good news about God, Christ, and his Spirit? About grace and salvation? About conversion of heart and meditating on the Word? About prayer and adoration, devotion to the Mother of the Lord, and other such themes? In short, when will you send us a truly religious, spiritual message?"

Clodovis Boff, along with his brother Leonardo Boff, was one of the most important philosophers of liberation theology. However, in 2007, he published the article "Liberation Theology and Return to the Fundamentals" in the 68th issue of the Brazilian Ecclesiastical Review. 

There, he stated that "the error of liberation theology…was to have put the poor in the place of Christ, making them a fetish and reducing Christ to having a mere supportive role; when Christ did the opposite: he put himself in the place of the poor, to make them sharers in his divine dignity." 

The letter, written on June 13 — the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a doctor of the Church — was sent "first and foremost to the president general of CELAM," Cardinal Jaime Spengler, archbishop of Porto Alegre in Brazil, and "to all the presidents of the regional CELAM," Boff told ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner.

The priest told the bishops that he dared to write to them "because for a long time" he has seen "with dismay, repeated signs that our beloved Church is running a truly grave danger: that of alienating itself from its spiritual essence, to its own detriment and that of the world."

"When the house is on fire, anyone can scream," Boff explained. After reading CELAM's message, something he said he felt almost 20 years ago came back to him, when, "no longer able to bear the repeated equivocations of liberation theology, such an impetus arose from the depths of my soul" and he said: "Enough! I have to speak."

"It was under the impact of a similar inner impulse that I wrote this letter, hoping that the Holy Spirit may have played some part in it," he emphasized. "So far, I have only received the reaction of Don Jaime, president of CELAM, and also of the CNBB," the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, the friar told ACI Digital.

According to Boff, Spengler, who was his “student back in the 1980s in Petrópolis,” was "receptive to the letter, appreciating the fact that I had expressed my thoughts, which could help revise the ways of the Church in the Americas.”

Boff wrote in his letter that, upon reading the document of the CELAM assembly, “the words of Christ come to mind: The children ask for bread and you give them a stone (Mt 7:9).”

For the friar, “the secular world itself is fed up with secularity and is off searching for spirituality,” but the CELAM bishops “continue to offer them social issues and more social issues; and of the spiritual [you give them], almost only crumbs.”

“And to think that you are the custodians of the greatest treasure, that which the world needs most and yet, in a certain way, you deny it to them,” the priest wrote.

“Souls ask for the supernatural, and you insist on giving them the natural. This paradox is evident even in parishes: While lay people delight in displaying signs of their Catholic identity (crosses, medals, veils, blouses with religious prints), priests and nuns go in the opposite direction and appear without any distinctive sign.”

In their “Message to the Church on pilgrimage in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the CELAM bishops wrote that the 40th Assembly “has been a space for discernment, prayer, and episcopal fraternity,” in which they shared “the lights and shadows” of their “realities, the cries” of their “peoples, and the longing for a Church that is a home and school of communion.”

“[We are] aware of the current challenges that affect us as a Latin American and Caribbean region: the persistence of poverty and growing inequality, violence that goes unpunished, corruption, drug trafficking, forced migration, the weakening of democracy, the cry of the earth, and secularization, among the most common,” the bishops stated.

Boff responded: “You say, without any hesitation, that you hear the ‘cries’ of the people and that you are ‘aware of the challenges’ of today. But does your listening reach deep? Doesn’t it remain on the surface?”

“I read your list of today’s ‘cries’ and ‘challenges’ and see that it goes no further than what the most ordinary journalists and sociologists observe. Don’t the Most Reverends hear that, from ‘the depths of the world,’ a formidable cry for God is rising today? A cry that even many secular analysts hear? And isn’t it to hear this cry and give it a response, the true and full response, that the Church and its ministers exist?” 

"Governments and NGOs are there for the 'social cries'. The Church, without a doubt, cannot exclude herself from this service. But it is not the protagonist in this field. Her proper field of action is another and higher: responding precisely to the 'cry for God,'" he emphasized.

‘Progressives’ or ‘traditionalists’

The friar stated in his letter that he knew that bishops “are harassed day and night by public opinion to define themselves as ‘progressives’ or ‘traditionalists,’ ‘right-wing’ or ‘left-wing.’”

“On this, St. Paul is categorical,” he wrote, quoting: Men should consider us simply as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1).

“It is worth remembering” that “the Church is, first and foremost, the ‘sacrament of salvation’ and not a mere social institution, progressive or not,” the friar said.

“She exists to proclaim Christ and his grace. That is her central focus, her greatest and enduring commitment. Everything else comes after that,” the priest emphasized.

“Forgive me, dearest friends, if I'm here recalling what you already know. But why then is all of this not mentioned in your message and in the writings of CELAM in general? From reading them, one almost inevitably draws the conclusion that the great concern of the Church today, on our continent, is not the cause of Christ and his salvation, but rather social causes, such as justice, peace, and ecology, which you cite in your message as another refrain.”

The friar also noted that “the very letter that Pope Leo sent to CELAM, in the person of its president, speaks clearly of the ‘urgent need to remember that it is the Risen One who protects and guides the Church, reviving it in hope, etc.’”

“The Holy Father also reminds us that the Church’s proper mission is, in his own words, ‘to go out to meet so many brothers and sisters, to announce to them the message of salvation in Christ Jesus,’” Boff said.

“However, what was the response the venerable brothers gave to the pope? In the letter you wrote to him, there is no echo of those papal warnings. Rather, you asked him to help you, not to keep the memory of the Risen Lord alive in the Church; not to proclaim salvation in Christ to your brothers, but rather to support them in their struggle to ‘encourage justice and peace’ and to ‘support them in denouncing every form of injustice.’ In short, what you made the pope hear was the same old refrain: ‘social issues, social issues...’, as if he, who worked among us for decades, had never heard it.”

Boff was referring to the fact that Pope Leo XIV was a missionary and bishop in Peru and, therefore, familiar with both the social reality of Latin America and the various types of theology and pastoral care practiced on the continent.

“You will say: But these are assumed truths, which do not need to be repeated all the time. No, my dearest ones; we do need to repeat them, with renewed fervor, every blessed day, otherwise they will be lost,” Boff wrote to CELAM.

“If it weren't necessary to keep repeating them, then why did Pope Leo remind you about them? We know what happens when a man takes his wife's love for granted and doesn't bother to nurture it. This is infinitely more important in relation to faith and love for Christ.”

The friar pointed out in his letter that “the vocabulary of faith” such as God, Christ, evangelization, resurrection, Kingdom, mission, and hope “is not lacking” in CELAM's message, but, for him, these are “words placed there in a generic way,” because “one sees nothing of clear spiritual content in them” and “rather, they make one think of the usual refrain ‘social issues, social issues, and more social issues.’” 

“Please consider the first two words, key words and more than elementary words of our faith: ‘God’ and ‘Christ.’ As for ‘God,’ you never mention him in and of himself,” the friar wrote, but “only refer to him in the stereotypical expressions ‘Son of God’ and ‘People of God.’ Brothers, shouldn’t you be astounded?

The name of Christ “appears only twice, and both times only in passing,” Boff observed.

The friar said the bishops “declare,” and “rightly so, that they want a Church that is a ‘house and school of communion,’ and, furthermore, ‘merciful, synodal, and outgoing,’” and that “a Church that does not have Christ as its reason for being and speaking is, in the words of Pope Francis, nothing more than a ‘pious NGO.’”

“But isn't that where our Church is headed? A lesser evil is when, instead of going to the non-religious, Catholics become evangelicals. In every case, our Church is hemorrhaging. What we see most around here are empty churches, empty seminaries, empty convents,” the friar observed.

“In our Americas, seven or eight countries no longer have a Catholic majority. Brazil itself is on its way to becoming ‘the largest ex-Catholic country in the world,’ in the words of a well-known Brazilian writer,” said the friar, referring to the playwright, writer, and journalist Nelson Rodrigues. “However, this continued decline doesn't seem to worry the venerable brothers so much.”

The priest even said that CELAM's message affirms that the [heart of the] Church in Latin America "continues to beat strongly" and that there are "seeds of resurrection and hope," and asked: "But where are these 'seeds', dear bishops? They don't seem to be in the social sphere, as you might imagine, but in the religious sphere. They are especially in the renewed parishes, as well as in the new movements and communities."

"All these expressions of spirituality and evangelization" are "the ecclesial aspect that most fills our churches (and the hearts of the faithful)," he wrote. "It is there, in this spiritual seedbed, where the future of our Church lies. An eloquent sign of that future is that, while in the social sphere, currently, we see almost only 'people with white hair; in the spiritual realm, we see the rush en masse toward the spiritual by today's young people."

“Without the leaven of a living faith, social struggle itself ends up being perverted: from liberating, it becomes ideological and ultimately oppressive,” Boff emphasized. “This is the lucid and grave warning that St. Paul VI issued (in Evangelii Nuntiandi 35.2) regarding the then-nascent ‘theology of liberation’ (a warning from which that theology, it seems, drew no benefit).”

Where does CELAM want to 'take our Church'?

"Dear elder brothers, allow me to ask you: Where do you want to take our Church?" Boff asked. The bishops "speak a lot about the 'Kingdom,' but what is the concrete content of their 'Kingdom'?" the friar asked in his open letter.

"Since you speak so much about building a 'just and fraternal society' (another of their refrains), one might think that this society is the central content of the 'Kingdom' that is evoked. I am not unaware of the grain of truth therein. However, the most reverend bishops say nothing about the principal content of the 'Kingdom,' that is, the Kingdom present, both in hearts today and in its consummation tomorrow," he observed.

“In your discourse, there is no eschatology to be seen. It is true: You speak twice of ‘hope,’ but in such an indefinite way that, given the social slant of your message, no one, upon hearing such a word from your mouths, raises their eyes to heaven.”

“Why this reticence in speaking loudly and clearly, as so many bishops of the past did, of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ (and also of ‘Hell’), of the ‘resurrection of the dead,’ of ‘eternal life,’ and of other eschatological truths, which offer such great light and strength for the struggles of the present, as well as the ultimate meaning of everything?”

“It is not that the earthly ideal of a ‘just and fraternal society’ is not beautiful and great” the friar noted, “but nothing compares to the Heavenly City (Phil 3:20; Heb 11:10, 16), of which we are fortunately, by our faith, citizens and workers, and you, by your episcopal ministry, its great engineers.”

“It is, therefore, time, and more than time, to bring Christ out of the shadows and into the full light. It is time to restore to him absolute primacy, both in the Church ad intra (in the individual conscience, in spirituality, and in theology), and in the Church ad extra (in evangelization, ethics, and politics),” Boff wrote. “The Church on our continent urgently needs to return to its true center, to return to its ‘first love.’”

“With this, my dearest friends, would I be asking you for something new?” Boff asked. “Absolutely not. I am simply reminding you of the most evident requirement of faith, of the ‘ancient and ever new’ faith: the absolute option for Christ the Lord, the unconditional love for him, required particularly of you, as he did of Peter (Jn 21:15-17).”

For the friar, it is urgent for the bishops “therefore to adopt and practice clearly and decisively a strong and systematic Christocentrism; a truly ‘overwhelming’ Christocentrism, as St. John Paul II expressed it,” and “to live an open Christocentrism that acts as leaven and transforms everything: people, the Church, and society.”

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Just over a decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that every state must offer marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Ten years later, several lawmakers throughout the country are reigniting the marriage debate within their state legislatures.

In 2025, lawmakers in several states introduced resolutions that urged the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established same-sex civil marriage nationwide. 

The North Dakota House and the Idaho House passed resolutions, but both efforts failed when sent to their respective state senates. In most states, the resolutions died in committees.

The limited success was in legislative chambers with overwhelming Republican supermajorities. The Idaho House, for example, has a 61-9 Republican majority and passed the resolution in a 46-24 vote. 

The North Dakota House, with its 81-11 Republican majority, adopted the resolution more narrowly: 52-40.

Still, both measures died in the upper legislative chambers despite Republicans holding a 29-6 supermajority in the Idaho Senate and a 42-5 supermajority in the North Dakota Senate.

The current effort to urge state lawmakers to pass resolutions on Obergefell is being led by the national pro-family group MassResistance. Arthur Schaper, the group’s field director, told CNA he expects the resolutions to be reintroduced in 2026 in most states where lawmakers carried them this year and is working with lawmakers to carry them in several additional states.

“We are hitting the pedal to the metal,” Schaper said. “We are doubling down on this fight. We are not giving up. We are going to keep pushing.”

Most of the state legislatures likely to see a resolution on their dockets next year will again be ones with Republican majorities, but Schaper said the holdups in many states are caused by “a real timidity on the part of Republican operatives in some states,” along with “liberal politicians masquerading as conservatives.”

Some Republican leadership in states have “frustrated our efforts,” he said. In some cases, he added, members of the party “just don’t want to touch the issue.”

Still, Schaper expressed optimism moving forward, saying that “people are waking up to the dangerous, destructive realities of redefining marriage.” He noted that recent polling shows a majority of Republicans oppose same-sex marriage.

Yet about 41% of Republicans do support it, as do about two-thirds of the country’s voters as a whole, which is contributing to the difficulty of getting legislative support.

Ongoing efforts in Idaho

Although resolutions don’t have the force of law, Idaho Rep. Heather Scott — who introduced her state’s resolution — told CNA that a resolution “lays out the facts on the issue and allows legislators to take a stand on the idea itself.”

“It also alerts the Supreme Court of the Idaho state lawmakers’ opposition to their decision,” she said. “Resolutions are often the first step in crafting language for successful legislation.”

Scott said the resolution was successful in the House “because we strategized a path forward and worked with outside supporters and legislators to be clear with the messaging.” But she noted it became “a very controversial issue,” which she attributed to “false narratives and messaging.”

According to Scott, some members of the media “promoted the idea that Idaho lawmakers were trying to end all ‘gay marriages’."

She said many citizens “did not understand that this is a state sovereignty issue that should be discussed, debated and dealt with at the state level, not mandated from the federal government.”

Schaper partially attributed the success to Idaho’s commitment to “state’s rights” and “state’s authority.” He said “it’s kind of baked into the idaho culture, resistance to federal overreach.”

In the Senate, however, he noted that leadership “didn’t bring the bill up for a vote." But he said he expects “widespread outrage” at some of the chamber’s leadership for failing to take up major conservative priorities. He said he is “more confident going into next year.”

“The state population has become very conservative,” Shcaper said, adding “a lot of liberal Republicans have been phased out; they lost their primaries or they retired.”

“There’s a real push for respect for the 10th Amendment, respect for family, the population is getting more conservative, and they want the legislature to respect that,” he said.

North Dakota lawmaker defends marriage

North Dakota Rep. Bill Tveit, who introduced his state’s resolution, told CNA that despite the Republican supermajority in the House, “clearly it wasn’t a unanimous vote.” But, he added, “we were pleased with that passage.”

Yet, when the bill got to the Senate, Tveit said the chamber took a “verification vote,” which allows lawmakers to vote anonymously to gauge the level of support for a resolution. 

Tveit referred to the procedure as “a chicken way to do things.” Most Republicans voted against the resolution in a 31-16 vote, but it’s unclear who voted for it and who against it.

“It was very easy for all of the senators to hide behind what they considered to be the threat of the next election,” Tveit said. “I think all too often we have ‘RINOS’ in charge — Republicans In Name Only. … Once it passed the House, I thought this thing would sail through the Senate.”

“Under certain leadership, it did not move forward,” he added.

The North Dakota legislature meets every two years, and Tveit noted he is up for re-election before the next session. He said, if re-elected, he will introduce the resolution again. If not, he said he expects another lawmaker to do so.

“I believe it’s that important,” Tveit explained. “We need to keep the pressure on.”

Movements in South Dakota and elsewhere

South Dakota Rep. Tony Randolph also introduced his state’s resolution in 2025. Although only one Democrat serves on the House Judiciary Committee, eight Republicans voted with the sole Democrat to defer a vote to the 41st legislative day, essentially killing the resolution. 

Only four Republicans voted against the deferral.

“This is one of those things where, a lot of times, folks really struggle with what to do with it,” Randolph told CNA.

Randolph attributed its failure to a mix of reasons, saying that many Republicans are “worried about getting on the wrong side of certain groups.” He said some lawmakers are “concerned about public backlash.”

Although both chambers of the legislature have Republican supermajorities, similar to Idaho and North Dakota, he said South Dakota is “not as red as it appears from the outside.” He said that “some of the Democrats are actually more conservative than [some of] the Republicans.” There are some lawmakers, he said, who run as Republicans because it’s the “only way to get elected in their district.”

In spite of the setback this year, Randolph said he plans to introduce the resolution again next year. He said the resolution this year was put together at "the last minute” and he believes “it’ll have more support” next year.

Lawmakers in Michigan and Montana introduced resolutions nearly identical to Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Lawmakers in four other states introduced different resolutions to establish a new legal category reserved for one man and one woman, called a “covenant marriage.”

Schaper said MassResistance is in talks with lawmakers in other states where he hopes to get resolutions introduced that encourage the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. Some of the states he hopes will see resolutions include Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.

He noted that state-level resolutions have been able to launch larger legislative movements in the past, and that the next step will be to get states approving resolutions in both chambers.

“It’s about starting the conversation,” Schaper said.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Just over a decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that every state must offer marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Ten years later, several lawmakers throughout the country are reigniting the marriage debate within their state legislatures.

In 2025, lawmakers in several states introduced resolutions that urged the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established same-sex civil marriage nationwide. 

The North Dakota House and the Idaho House passed resolutions, but both efforts failed when sent to their respective state senates. In most states, the resolutions died in committees.

The limited success was in legislative chambers with overwhelming Republican supermajorities. The Idaho House, for example, has a 61-9 Republican majority and passed the resolution in a 46-24 vote. 

The North Dakota House, with its 81-11 Republican majority, adopted the resolution more narrowly: 52-40.

Still, both measures died in the upper legislative chambers despite Republicans holding a 29-6 supermajority in the Idaho Senate and a 42-5 supermajority in the North Dakota Senate.

The current effort to urge state lawmakers to pass resolutions on Obergefell is being led by the national pro-family group MassResistance. Arthur Schaper, the group’s field director, told CNA he expects the resolutions to be reintroduced in 2026 in most states where lawmakers carried them this year and is working with lawmakers to carry them in several additional states.

“We are hitting the pedal to the metal,” Schaper said. “We are doubling down on this fight. We are not giving up. We are going to keep pushing.”

Most of the state legislatures likely to see a resolution on their dockets next year will again be ones with Republican majorities, but Schaper said the holdups in many states are caused by “a real timidity on the part of Republican operatives in some states,” along with “liberal politicians masquerading as conservatives.”

Some Republican leadership in states have “frustrated our efforts,” he said. In some cases, he added, members of the party “just don’t want to touch the issue.”

Still, Schaper expressed optimism moving forward, saying that “people are waking up to the dangerous, destructive realities of redefining marriage.” He noted that recent polling shows a majority of Republicans oppose same-sex marriage.

Yet about 41% of Republicans do support it, as do about two-thirds of the country’s voters as a whole, which is contributing to the difficulty of getting legislative support.

Ongoing efforts in Idaho

Although resolutions don’t have the force of law, Idaho Rep. Heather Scott — who introduced her state’s resolution — told CNA that a resolution “lays out the facts on the issue and allows legislators to take a stand on the idea itself.”

“It also alerts the Supreme Court of the Idaho state lawmakers’ opposition to their decision,” she said. “Resolutions are often the first step in crafting language for successful legislation.”

Scott said the resolution was successful in the House “because we strategized a path forward and worked with outside supporters and legislators to be clear with the messaging.” But she noted it became “a very controversial issue,” which she attributed to “false narratives and messaging.”

According to Scott, some members of the media “promoted the idea that Idaho lawmakers were trying to end all ‘gay marriages’."

She said many citizens “did not understand that this is a state sovereignty issue that should be discussed, debated and dealt with at the state level, not mandated from the federal government.”

Schaper partially attributed the success to Idaho’s commitment to “state’s rights” and “state’s authority.” He said “it’s kind of baked into the idaho culture, resistance to federal overreach.”

In the Senate, however, he noted that leadership “didn’t bring the bill up for a vote." But he said he expects “widespread outrage” at some of the chamber’s leadership for failing to take up major conservative priorities. He said he is “more confident going into next year.”

“The state population has become very conservative,” Shcaper said, adding “a lot of liberal Republicans have been phased out; they lost their primaries or they retired.”

“There’s a real push for respect for the 10th Amendment, respect for family, the population is getting more conservative, and they want the legislature to respect that,” he said.

North Dakota lawmaker defends marriage

North Dakota Rep. Bill Tveit, who introduced his state’s resolution, told CNA that despite the Republican supermajority in the House, “clearly it wasn’t a unanimous vote.” But, he added, “we were pleased with that passage.”

Yet, when the bill got to the Senate, Tveit said the chamber took a “verification vote,” which allows lawmakers to vote anonymously to gauge the level of support for a resolution. 

Tveit referred to the procedure as “a chicken way to do things.” Most Republicans voted against the resolution in a 31-16 vote, but it’s unclear who voted for it and who against it.

“It was very easy for all of the senators to hide behind what they considered to be the threat of the next election,” Tveit said. “I think all too often we have ‘RINOS’ in charge — Republicans In Name Only. … Once it passed the House, I thought this thing would sail through the Senate.”

“Under certain leadership, it did not move forward,” he added.

The North Dakota legislature meets every two years, and Tveit noted he is up for re-election before the next session. He said, if re-elected, he will introduce the resolution again. If not, he said he expects another lawmaker to do so.

“I believe it’s that important,” Tveit explained. “We need to keep the pressure on.”

Movements in South Dakota and elsewhere

South Dakota Rep. Tony Randolph also introduced his state’s resolution in 2025. Although only one Democrat serves on the House Judiciary Committee, eight Republicans voted with the sole Democrat to defer a vote to the 41st legislative day, essentially killing the resolution. 

Only four Republicans voted against the deferral.

“This is one of those things where, a lot of times, folks really struggle with what to do with it,” Randolph told CNA.

Randolph attributed its failure to a mix of reasons, saying that many Republicans are “worried about getting on the wrong side of certain groups.” He said some lawmakers are “concerned about public backlash.”

Although both chambers of the legislature have Republican supermajorities, similar to Idaho and North Dakota, he said South Dakota is “not as red as it appears from the outside.” He said that “some of the Democrats are actually more conservative than [some of] the Republicans.” There are some lawmakers, he said, who run as Republicans because it’s the “only way to get elected in their district.”

In spite of the setback this year, Randolph said he plans to introduce the resolution again next year. He said the resolution this year was put together at "the last minute” and he believes “it’ll have more support” next year.

Lawmakers in Michigan and Montana introduced resolutions nearly identical to Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Lawmakers in four other states introduced different resolutions to establish a new legal category reserved for one man and one woman, called a “covenant marriage.”

Schaper said MassResistance is in talks with lawmakers in other states where he hopes to get resolutions introduced that encourage the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. Some of the states he hopes will see resolutions include Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.

He noted that state-level resolutions have been able to launch larger legislative movements in the past, and that the next step will be to get states approving resolutions in both chambers.

“It’s about starting the conversation,” Schaper said.

Paris, France, Jul 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Stretching back to ancient times, Christian pilgrims and curious observers have noted an invisible line spanning the continent of Europe across to the Holy Land, known as “St. Michael’s Sword.” The line follows the locations of seven sanctuaries dedicated to the leader of the heavenly hosts — from the northern tip of Ireland to Jerusalem in the south, passing through France, Italy, and Greece.

“People are surprised when we talk about a line. If you look at a map, the line isn’t perfectly straight. But we live on a globe — lines are relative. For me, what matters is the direction this symbol gives,” Tatiana Bogni, a guide for 20 years at the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont, Italy, told CNA. 

Bogni is passionate about the Sacra di San Michele, located at the center of the invisible line connecting the seven sanctuaries, and speaks tirelessly about the medieval building perched on a rock where St. Michael is said to have appeared.

Over the centuries, countless pilgrims have walked the paths of this angelic sword-shaped line, driven by personal devotion, a search for meaning, or bound by a vow. 

According to some traditions, it is customary to start from the north and make one’s way down to Jerusalem. Bogni, however, believes it makes more sense to begin in the Holy Land and travel north to Ireland — representing the journey of Byzantine Persian monks who brought the cult of St. Michael from the East to the West.

Whichever direction one chooses, this invisible line was “created” a long time ago. 

They seven sanctuaries share one notable feature: All are hard to reach — isolated, far from everything, built on islands or rocky mountain outcrops. Sometimes, just reaching them requires facing the raw power of nature. Most importantly, each has a centuries-old history linked to the archangel.

The seven sanctuaries of St. Michael

In Ireland, the sanctuary of Skellig Michael is a rocky island rising like a temple from the sea. Now deserted and home to seabirds, the island can only be reached by boat. Pilgrims can see the remains of the monks who lived there between the sixth and 12th centuries, and who dedicated the place to the famous angel defeater of the demon.

From there, the second sanctuary stop is in the United Kingdom: St. Michael’s Mount, another island dedicated to the archangel. Legend has it that St. Michael appeared to fishermen to save them from the reefs. The castle-fortress built there served as a strategic stronghold during European wars. Today, only 30 residents preserve its legacy.

The third location is Mont-Saint-Michel in France, whose famous abbey is a global tourist destination. Every now and then, the sacred promontory — where St. Michael is said to have appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranches in the eighth century, asking him to build a sanctuary — is surrounded by ocean waves, left to the wild tides.

The line continues through Italy with two sanctuaries still inhabited by monks. 

The first is the Sacra di San Michele, a medieval abbey in Piedmont perched at 3,156 feet high and visible throughout the Susa Valley. For those who approach, its colossal stone foundations overhanging the cliff still radiate a mystical force and a sense of the harshness of life.

Further south, in the Apulia region, lies San Michele Arcangelo Shrine on Mount Gargano, built between the fifth and sixth centuries around a cave where St. Michael is said to have appeared. Among the site’s mysteries, legend says the archangel’s footprint is imprinted in the rock.

The sixth sanctuary is the Monastery of Panormitis on the Greek island of Symi, home to an icon of St. Michael clad in silver armor. The Orthodox monastery dates from the 18th century and is still inhabited by monks.

Finally, the line ends — or begins — in the Holy Land at Stella Maris Monastery on Mount Carmel. Though not historically linked to St. Michael, the Carmelite monastery stands as a symbolic anchor for his devotion to St. Michael in the land of Jesus.

A journey toward the light

“Since the dawn of humanity, people have always chosen privileged places for spiritual health, to withdraw from chaotic life and return stronger,” Bogni noted, referring to these ancient sanctuaries. “I always say the Middle Ages weren’t better — just as chaotic. Technology changes, but people remain the same.”

Bogni often meets pilgrims determined to visit all seven sites on St. Michael’s line. 

“Just yesterday, I gave a tour to a Frenchman from Brittany. He’s visiting each sanctuary one by one. In the past, pilgrims would walk the whole line in one go. They would prepare, make a will in case they didn’t return. Today, people usually visit in stages, bit by bit,” she explained.

This is not “tourism,” Bogni stressed. “They walk to find themselves. Everyone has their reasons. I believe St. Michael represents the ongoing battle within oneself. ‘Who is like God? Who wants to take God’s place?’ — that’s Michael’s big question. He is a warrior figure who gives strength, a powerful symbol that helps people stay balanced and centered.”

Frenchman Éloi Gillard, now in his 30s, went to Mont-Saint-Michel as a young scout. “I walked three days alone to get there — it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life: like being in the desert, facing myself and facing God.”

Now a father of three, Gillard says St. Michael helped him “take stock of my life” at that time. “It was like coming of age — a time to commit, to convert. St. Michael, with his powerful, masculine figure of a brave knight, became a strong image for my life as a young man.”

For Bogni, St. Michael speaks to atheists and believers of other religions, too. He represents “a journey toward the light, and light and darkness are the same for everyone,” she said.

Paris, France, Jul 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

“St. Michael’s Sword” is a line that follows the locations of seven sanctuaries dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel from Ireland to Jerusalem.

Born into a noble family in Florence, Italy, around 985, John Gualbert grew up with a strong sense of justice and honor. His life took a dramatic turn when he witnessed the murder of his brother. Filled with anger and a desire for revenge, John encountered his brother’s killer in a narrow path. Prepared to […]