VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God loves every person and wants to help everyone discover their inherent value and dignity, especially those who feel unworthy or unappreciated, Pope Leo XIV said.

"God wants to give his kingdom, that is, full, eternal and happy life, to everyone," the pope said June 4 as he held his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

"And this is what Jesus does with us: he does not establish rankings, he gives all of himself to those who open their hearts to him," the pope said. 

Pope Leo continued a series of talks focusing on Gospel parables that give hope, focusing on "The Workers in the Vineyard" in the Gospel of St. Matthew (20:1-16), which reveals the equality of all the disciples in inheriting eternal life.

Pope Leo said it is "a story that fosters our hope," because "at times we have the impression that we cannot find meaning for our lives: we feel useless, inadequate, just like the laborers who wait in the marketplace, waiting for someone to hire them to work."

"The metaphor of the marketplace is very appropriate for our times, too, because the market is the place of business, where unfortunately even affection and dignity are bought and sold, in the attempt to earn something," he said. "And when we do not feel appreciated, acknowledged, we risk selling ourselves to the first bidder."

"Instead, the Lord reminds us that our life is worthy, and his wish is to help us discover this," he said.

The Lord, represented by the owner of the vineyard in the parable, wants to establish a personal relationship with everyone he meets, and he repeatedly goes out looking for "those who are waiting to give meaning to their lives," Pope Leo said. 

"This tireless master, who wants at all costs to give value to the life of every one of us," even goes out toward the end of the workday to take on those who are still waiting, he said. This shows that "even when it seems we are able to do little in life, it is always worthwhile. There is always the possibility to find meaning because God loves our life."

The landowner pays each worker the same, even those who arrived late in the day and worked fewer hours in the field, because God believes "it is just that each person has what he needs to live" because he knows their dignity, the pope said.

"The story says that the laborers from the first hour are disappointed," Pope Leo said. "They cannot see the beauty of the gesture of the landowner, who was not unjust, but simply generous, who looked not only at merit but also at need."

The "payment" God wants to give is his kingdom, and he offers the same reward of a full, eternal and happy life to everyone without "rankings," he said. The Lord gives everything to everyone who opens their hearts to him. 

But, he said, "in the light of this parable, today's Christian might be tempted to think, 'Why start work immediately? If the pay is the same, why work more?'"

Pope Leo said St. Augustine responded to that question in a sermon asking why would someone delay when God is calling with a promise that they know is a sure thing. The saint warned that people do not know when their time will come, and they should be careful because a delay might mean they miss out on what God wants to give.

"I would like to say, especially to the young, do not wait, but respond enthusiastically to the Lord who calls us to work in his vineyard," the pope said. "Do not delay, roll up your sleeves, because the Lord is generous and you will not be disappointed!"

It is by "working in his vineyard" that people find the meaning of their life, he said.

Do not be discouraged "even in the dark moments of life" when answers seem to be lacking, the pope told his listeners. "The Lord is generous, and he will come soon!" 

Before the general audience, Pope Leo met with members of the board of directors of the National Italian American Foundation, which educates young people about Italian culture and history, as well as provides scholarships and other charitable assistance in both countries. 

"A hallmark of many who immigrated to the United States from Italy was their Catholic faith, with its rich traditions of popular piety and devotions that they continued to practice in their new nation," he said. "This faith sustained them in difficult moments, even as they arrived with a sense of hope for a prosperous future in their new country."

"In an age beset by many challenges," Pope Leo prayed that their visit to Rome would "renew your sense of hope and trust in the future."

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CNA Staff, Jun 3, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Illinois was not called for a vote in the Senate before the Legislature adjourned on June 1, effectively halting its progress for the session amid ardent opposition from leading Catholic voices in the state.

The bill, which passed in the House at the end of May, would have made it legal for physicians to give “qualified” terminally ill patients life-ending drugs. As the bill failed to move through the General Assembly, physican-asisted suicide remains criminal in Illinois.

Physician-assisted suicide, called medical aid in dying or “MAID” by proponents, is legal in 10 states as well as the nation’s capital. Oregon was the first to legalize the practice in 1994, though an injunction delayed its implementation until 1997.

Under the proposed Illinois legislation, death certificates would show the terminal illness as the cause of death, not suicide.

The bill was included as part of legislation originally intended to address food and sanitation.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, criticized the bill in a May 30 statement.

“I speak to this topic not only as a religious leader but also as one who has seen a parent die from a debilitating illness,” Cupich said, recalling his father’s death.

Cupich urged Illinois to promote “compassionate care,” not assisted suicide.

“My father was kept comfortable and was cherished until his natural death,” he said. 

Cupich noted that Catholic teaching supports palliative care (a form of care that focuses on improving quality of life, including pain management, for patients with terminal illnesses) “so long as the goal is not to end life.” 

“There is a way to both honor the dignity of human life and provide compassionate care to those experiencing life-ending illness,” Cupich said. “Surely the Illinois Legislature should explore those options before making suicide one of the avenues available to the ill and distressed.”  

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, a Catholic legislator who opposed the bill when it was on the floor in the House, said the practice “does not respect the Gospel.” 

Niemerg urged Illinois legislators to vote against the bill, saying: “We must protect the vulnerable, support the suffering, and uphold the dignity of every human life.”

“It tells the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable that their lives are no longer worth living — that when they face this despair, the best we can offer is a prescription for death,” he said of assisted suicide. “That is not compassion, that is abandonment.”

Niemerg also raised concerns that the law “opens the door to real abuse.”

“We’ve seen where this becomes practice, the patients are denied lifesaving treatment and offered lethal drugs instead,” he said.

Mental health concerns

In his statement, Cupich questioned the move “to normalize suicide as a solution to life’s challenges” amid a culture already contending with a mental health crisis. 

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for U.S. teens and young adults, Cupich noted, citing a 2022 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

He urged politicians to consider “the impact on impressionable young people of legalizing suicide in any form.”

“Suicide contagion is a real risk to these young people after exposure to suicide,” he continued, citing the National Institutes of Health.

“Add to that the ready availability of firearms in the U.S., and this is a tragedy we do not need to compound,” he said.

Cupich also raised concerns about suicide rates increasing if assisted suicide legislation were implemented.

“While the bill sets parameters for assisted suicide, the data from places where assisted suicide is available are clear,” Cupich said. “Rates of all suicide went up after the passage of such legislation.”

“These rates are already unacceptably high, and proposed cutbacks in medical care funding will add to the burden faced by those contemplating suicide,” Cupich said.

CNA Staff, Jun 3, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Illinois was not called for a vote in the Senate before the Legislature adjourned on June 1, effectively halting its progress for the session amid ardent opposition from leading Catholic voices in the state.

The bill, which passed in the House at the end of May, would have made it legal for physicians to give “qualified” terminally ill patients life-ending drugs. As the bill failed to move through the General Assembly, physican-asisted suicide remains criminal in Illinois.

Physician-assisted suicide, called medical aid in dying or “MAID” by proponents, is legal in 10 states as well as the nation’s capital. Oregon was the first to legalize the practice in 1994, though an injunction delayed its implementation until 1997.

Under the proposed Illinois legislation, death certificates would show the terminal illness as the cause of death, not suicide.

The bill was included as part of legislation originally intended to address food and sanitation.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, criticized the bill in a May 30 statement.

“I speak to this topic not only as a religious leader but also as one who has seen a parent die from a debilitating illness,” Cupich said, recalling his father’s death.

Cupich urged Illinois to promote “compassionate care,” not assisted suicide.

“My father was kept comfortable and was cherished until his natural death,” he said. 

Cupich noted that Catholic teaching supports palliative care (a form of care that focuses on improving quality of life, including pain management, for patients with terminal illnesses) “so long as the goal is not to end life.” 

“There is a way to both honor the dignity of human life and provide compassionate care to those experiencing life-ending illness,” Cupich said. “Surely the Illinois Legislature should explore those options before making suicide one of the avenues available to the ill and distressed.”  

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, a Catholic legislator who opposed the bill when it was on the floor in the House, said the practice “does not respect the Gospel.” 

Niemerg urged Illinois legislators to vote against the bill, saying: “We must protect the vulnerable, support the suffering, and uphold the dignity of every human life.”

“It tells the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable that their lives are no longer worth living — that when they face this despair, the best we can offer is a prescription for death,” he said of assisted suicide. “That is not compassion, that is abandonment.”

Niemerg also raised concerns that the law “opens the door to real abuse.”

“We’ve seen where this becomes practice, the patients are denied lifesaving treatment and offered lethal drugs instead,” he said.

Mental health concerns

In his statement, Cupich questioned the move “to normalize suicide as a solution to life’s challenges” amid a culture already contending with a mental health crisis. 

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for U.S. teens and young adults, Cupich noted, citing a 2022 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

He urged politicians to consider “the impact on impressionable young people of legalizing suicide in any form.”

“Suicide contagion is a real risk to these young people after exposure to suicide,” he continued, citing the National Institutes of Health.

“Add to that the ready availability of firearms in the U.S., and this is a tragedy we do not need to compound,” he said.

Cupich also raised concerns about suicide rates increasing if assisted suicide legislation were implemented.

“While the bill sets parameters for assisted suicide, the data from places where assisted suicide is available are clear,” Cupich said. “Rates of all suicide went up after the passage of such legislation.”

“These rates are already unacceptably high, and proposed cutbacks in medical care funding will add to the burden faced by those contemplating suicide,” Cupich said.

CNA Staff, Jun 3, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

A victim advocacy group launched an ad campaign urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to force insurance companies to pay millions of dollars in abuse claims, slamming the governor for allegedly “stand[ing] with her big insurance buddies” instead of abuse victims.

The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation, which started in 2023 to pressure insurance companies to pay abuse claims under the state’s Child Victims Act, began running ads in upstate New York markets this week.

“Who turns their back on over 14,000 survivors of child sex abuse? Gov. Kathy Hochul,” an ad states, claiming the Democratic governor “stands with her big insurance buddies [who are] denying responsibility while donating to her campaign.”

The ad features headlines from news stories of abuse scandals, including one that references the Diocese of Buffalo, which earlier this year said it would pay out a massive $150 million sum as part of a settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse there. 

“Call [Hochul’s] office. Demand she enforce the law. Make big insurance pay, not the survivors they failed,” the advertisement says. 

Passed in 2019, New York’s Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations involving child sex abuse cases so that victims can file civil lawsuits against both abusers and institutions until the victims themselves are 55 years old. 

It is not just victim advocates who have called for insurers to pay abuse claims in both New York and elsewhere. 

New York archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan last year said the archdiocese was launching a lawsuit against its longtime insurer in response to an alleged attempt by the company “to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation” to pay out financial claims to sex abuse victims. 

The Archdiocese of Baltimore similarly sued numerous insurers last year over their alleged failure to pay for abuse claims stretching back several decades.

And earlier this year the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, sued its insurance provider over allegations that the company was refusing to pay out sexual abuse claims under that state’s own Child Victims Act.

Neither the New York victims’ group nor the governor’s office responded to requests for comment on the campaign.