Posted on 06/26/2025 19:29 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV addresses members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — on June 26, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday denounced violations of international and humanitarian law in Gaza and Ukraine, lamenting the “diabolical intensity” of the violent conflicts and criticizing rearmament policies.
In a June 26 address to the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — the pope lamented the imposition “of the principle of ‘might makes right’” in these territories “all for the sake of legitimizing the pursuit of self-interest.”
“It is troubling to see that the force of international law and humanitarian law seems no longer to be binding, replaced by the alleged right to coerce others. This is unworthy of our humanity, shameful for all mankind and for the leaders of nations,” the pontiff emphasized.
Pope Leo called on the international community to examine the causes of these conflicts. Specifically, he urged them to “identify those that are real and to attempt to resolve them. But also to reject those that are false, the result of emotional manipulation and rhetoric, and to make every effort to bring them to light.”
“People must not die from fake news,” he insisted, without elaborating on what type of information he was referring to.
He then asked: “How can we continue to betray the desire of the world’s peoples for peace with propaganda about weapons buildup, as if military supremacy will resolve problems instead of fueling even greater hatred and desire for revenge?”
Two days after the 32 member states of NATO committed to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years, the pope insisted that spending on defense weapons is not the solution to curbing conflicts.
“People are beginning to realize the amount of money that ends up in the pockets of merchants of death; money that could be used to build new hospitals and schools is instead being used to destroy those that already exist!” he exclaimed.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches and president of ROACO, as well as representatives of the Catholic agencies that are part of ROACO, participated in the Vatican audience, which followed the aid organization’s 98th assembly held June 24–25. At their assembly they analyzed the situation in the Holy Land (especially in Gaza), Armenia, Syria, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and other areas where the Holy See’s diplomatic action is focused.
In this regard, Leo XIV lamented “the physical absence of those who were to have come from the Holy Land but proved unable to make the journey” because of flight restrictions due to the conflict.
He thanked all of them for the work of hope that ROACO does in these countries, which are “are devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic.” The Holy Father criticized the violence of war that is raging “with a diabolical intensity previously unknown.”
He noted that the history of the Eastern Catholic Churches has also been marked by “oppression and misunderstanding within the Catholic community itself, which at times failed to acknowledge and appreciate the value of traditions other than those of the West.”
Leo XIV noted that — in addition to being peacemakers and promoting dialogue — Christians “first and foremost really need to pray” and bear witness.
“It is up to us to make every tragic news story, every newsreel that we see, a cry of intercession before God,” he exhorted.
He also asked Christians to remain faithful to Jesus “without allowing ourselves to end up in the clutches of power.”
The pontiff praised the beauty of Eastern traditions but lamented that in the Catholic Church they are “still largely unknown.”
“Their sense of the sacred, their deep faith, confirmed by suffering, and their spirituality, redolent of the divine mysteries, can benefit the thirst for God, latent yet present in the West,” he added.
The pope therefore said it is necessary to “organize basic courses on the Eastern Churches in seminaries, theological faculties, and Catholic universities.”
“Eastern Catholics today are no longer our distant cousins who celebrate unfamiliar rites but our brothers and sisters who, due to forced migration, are our next-door neighbors,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 06/26/2025 19:29 PM (CNA Daily News)
Pope Leo XIV addresses members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — on June 26, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday denounced violations of international and humanitarian law in Gaza and Ukraine, lamenting the “diabolical intensity” of the violent conflicts and criticizing rearmament policies.
In a June 26 address to the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — the pope lamented the imposition “of the principle of ‘might makes right’” in these territories “all for the sake of legitimizing the pursuit of self-interest.”
“It is troubling to see that the force of international law and humanitarian law seems no longer to be binding, replaced by the alleged right to coerce others. This is unworthy of our humanity, shameful for all mankind and for the leaders of nations,” the pontiff emphasized.
Pope Leo called on the international community to examine the causes of these conflicts. Specifically, he urged them to “identify those that are real and to attempt to resolve them. But also to reject those that are false, the result of emotional manipulation and rhetoric, and to make every effort to bring them to light.”
“People must not die from fake news,” he insisted, without elaborating on what type of information he was referring to.
He then asked: “How can we continue to betray the desire of the world’s peoples for peace with propaganda about weapons buildup, as if military supremacy will resolve problems instead of fueling even greater hatred and desire for revenge?”
Two days after the 32 member states of NATO committed to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years, the pope insisted that spending on defense weapons is not the solution to curbing conflicts.
“People are beginning to realize the amount of money that ends up in the pockets of merchants of death; money that could be used to build new hospitals and schools is instead being used to destroy those that already exist!” he exclaimed.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches and president of ROACO, as well as representatives of the Catholic agencies that are part of ROACO, participated in the Vatican audience, which followed the aid organization’s 98th assembly held June 24–25. At their assembly they analyzed the situation in the Holy Land (especially in Gaza), Armenia, Syria, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and other areas where the Holy See’s diplomatic action is focused.
In this regard, Leo XIV lamented “the physical absence of those who were to have come from the Holy Land but proved unable to make the journey” because of flight restrictions due to the conflict.
He thanked all of them for the work of hope that ROACO does in these countries, which are “are devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic.” The Holy Father criticized the violence of war that is raging “with a diabolical intensity previously unknown.”
He noted that the history of the Eastern Catholic Churches has also been marked by “oppression and misunderstanding within the Catholic community itself, which at times failed to acknowledge and appreciate the value of traditions other than those of the West.”
Leo XIV noted that — in addition to being peacemakers and promoting dialogue — Christians “first and foremost really need to pray” and bear witness.
“It is up to us to make every tragic news story, every newsreel that we see, a cry of intercession before God,” he exhorted.
He also asked Christians to remain faithful to Jesus “without allowing ourselves to end up in the clutches of power.”
The pontiff praised the beauty of Eastern traditions but lamented that in the Catholic Church they are “still largely unknown.”
“Their sense of the sacred, their deep faith, confirmed by suffering, and their spirituality, redolent of the divine mysteries, can benefit the thirst for God, latent yet present in the West,” he added.
The pope therefore said it is necessary to “organize basic courses on the Eastern Churches in seminaries, theological faculties, and Catholic universities.”
“Eastern Catholics today are no longer our distant cousins who celebrate unfamiliar rites but our brothers and sisters who, due to forced migration, are our next-door neighbors,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 06/26/2025 18:59 PM (CNA Daily News)
U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock
Boston, Mass., Jun 26, 2025 / 14:59 pm (CNA).
Local Planned Parenthood facilities can’t force state governments to give them Medicaid funds through lawsuits because Congress didn’t create an individual right to the benefits, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday.
The 6-3 decision enables states to cut off public funds to abortion providers — including Medicaid funds that come mostly from the federal government.
The court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic resolves a dispute that began in 2018 after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, issued an executive order cutting off funds to the two facilities Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates in the state, in Charleston and Columbia. The organization sued and won in U.S. District Court level and at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The high court’s ruling Thursday overturned those lower-court decisions, pleasing pro-life advocates, including Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“South Carolina was right to deny Planned Parenthood taxpayer dollars. A group dedicated to ending children’s lives deserves no public support,” Thomas said in a written statement.
“Abortion is not health care, and lives will be saved because South Carolina has chosen to not fund clinics that pretend it is,” he said. “Publicly funded programs like Medicaid should only support authentic, life-affirming options for mothers and children in need.”
The court’s conservatives and swing votes formed the majority — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Writing for the majority, Gorsuch said that private parties seeking federal health benefits through a state government can sue for them only when Congress explicitly allows it in legislation by declaring access to the benefits to be a right, which it didn’t do with respect to Medicaid funds. He said the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services can cut off Medicaid funding to a state that the secretary determines isn’t complying with federal rules but that a private party can’t ask a court to force the state to give it federal funds.
“Congress knows how to give a grantee clear and unambiguous notice that, if it accepts federal funds, it may face private suits asserting an individual right to choose a medical provider,” Gorsuch wrote.
He added that Congress has done so in legislation pertaining to nursing homes but not with respect to Medicaid, a federal program administered by the states that provides a mix of federal and state funds to provide health care to poor people.
The three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.
Writing for the minority, Jackson said South Carolina is participating in what she called “the project of stymying one of the country’s great civil rights laws” and that the court majority’s decision allows the state to “evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors.”
Abortion supporters decried the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court overrode what the Medicaid law requires and every patient wants: the ability to choose their trusted health care provider,” said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports abortion, in a written statement.
“Right now, Congress is seeking to replicate South Carolina’s ban nationwide, putting politics above patients in making health care decisions,” she said.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have sought to cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood in a spending measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It passed the House by one vote, 215-214, on May 22. But its chances in the U.S. Senate are unclear — particularly after the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that portions of the bill violate Senate rules.
Erik Baptist, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy organization that opposes abortion, said during an online press conference Thursday that “17 states in the country have taken action to defund Planned Parenthood.”
He said he hopes more states do so and that Congress follows suit.
“What the Medina case today did from the U.S. Supreme Court was liberate the states and allow them to take action to defund Planned Parenthood. So one shoe dropped today. We hope Congress takes the other action with regards to federal funding,” Baptist said.
Posted on 06/26/2025 18:59 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock
Boston, Mass., Jun 26, 2025 / 14:59 pm (CNA).
Local Planned Parenthood facilities can’t force state governments to give them Medicaid funds through lawsuits because Congress didn’t create an individual right to the benefits, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday.
The 6-3 decision enables states to cut off public funds to abortion providers — including Medicaid funds that come mostly from the federal government.
The court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic resolves a dispute that began in 2018 after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, issued an executive order cutting off funds to the two facilities Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates in the state, in Charleston and Columbia. The organization sued and won in U.S. District Court level and at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The high court’s ruling Thursday overturned those lower-court decisions, pleasing pro-life advocates, including Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“South Carolina was right to deny Planned Parenthood taxpayer dollars. A group dedicated to ending children’s lives deserves no public support,” Thomas said in a written statement.
“Abortion is not health care, and lives will be saved because South Carolina has chosen to not fund clinics that pretend it is,” he said. “Publicly funded programs like Medicaid should only support authentic, life-affirming options for mothers and children in need.”
The court’s conservatives and swing votes formed the majority — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Writing for the majority, Gorsuch said that private parties seeking federal health benefits through a state government can sue for them only when Congress explicitly allows it in legislation by declaring access to the benefits to be a right, which it didn’t do with respect to Medicaid funds. He said the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services can cut off Medicaid funding to a state that the secretary determines isn’t complying with federal rules but that a private party can’t ask a court to force the state to give it federal funds.
“Congress knows how to give a grantee clear and unambiguous notice that, if it accepts federal funds, it may face private suits asserting an individual right to choose a medical provider,” Gorsuch wrote.
He added that Congress has done so in legislation pertaining to nursing homes but not with respect to Medicaid, a federal program administered by the states that provides a mix of federal and state funds to provide health care to poor people.
The three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.
Writing for the minority, Jackson said South Carolina is participating in what she called “the project of stymying one of the country’s great civil rights laws” and that the court majority’s decision allows the state to “evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors.”
Abortion supporters decried the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court overrode what the Medicaid law requires and every patient wants: the ability to choose their trusted health care provider,” said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports abortion, in a written statement.
“Right now, Congress is seeking to replicate South Carolina’s ban nationwide, putting politics above patients in making health care decisions,” she said.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have sought to cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood in a spending measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It passed the House by one vote, 215-214, on May 22. But its chances in the U.S. Senate are unclear — particularly after the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that portions of the bill violate Senate rules.
Erik Baptist, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy organization that opposes abortion, said during an online press conference Thursday that “17 states in the country have taken action to defund Planned Parenthood.”
He said he hopes more states do so and that Congress follows suit.
“What the Medina case today did from the U.S. Supreme Court was liberate the states and allow them to take action to defund Planned Parenthood. So one shoe dropped today. We hope Congress takes the other action with regards to federal funding,” Baptist said.
Posted on 06/26/2025 17:25 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
The Texas capitol. / Credit: Ricardo Garza/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Jun 26, 2025 / 13:25 pm (CNA).
Here’s a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
A chorus of pro-life voices is urging the governor of Texas to call legislators to a special session to pass a bill that will help combat abortion pills flowing into the state.
In a letter cosigned by almost 100 Texas politicians and pro-life leaders — including state Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — Texas Right to Life President John Seago urged Gov. Greg Abbott to “convene a special session” of the Legislature for lawmakers to pass the state Woman and Child Protection Act.
That measure would allow Texans to sue traffickers and distributors of abortion pills and allow women and their families to bring lawsuits in the event that a woman is injured or killed by those pills. It would also authorize “state-led prosecution for abortion pill trafficking.”
The letter states that nearly 20,000 abortion pills are mailed into the state each year. The bill “targets those who promote, manufacture, and distribute these deadly drugs.”
Activists will rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend in support of defunding Planned Parenthood.
Figures including Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins and activist Riley Gaines will be present at Capitol Hill on June 28 for a combined “diaper drive and rally” in support of defunding the abortion giant of taxpayer funds.
Students for Life said on its website that activists will distribute at least 392,715 diapers to pregnancy help centers and local residents; that number represents all the unborn children killed by Planned Parenthood last year, the group said.
The rally is part of the larger National Celebrate Life Conference taking place in Washington over the weekend.
Large numbers of abortion providers in states that passed abortion bans fled those states in the wake of those laws, new data shows.
A study published this month in JAMA Network Open investigated whether “state-level abortion restrictions” in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s repeal “could lead clinicians to leave states that ban abortion.”
The survey found that 42% of surveyed abortion providers in states that enacted bans “relocate[d] primary practice” after such bans.
Nearly half of all states ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, while a dozen ban the procedure outright. Just nine states and the District of Columbia allow for abortion at any time for any reason.
Posted on 06/26/2025 17:25 PM (CNA Daily News)
The Texas capitol. / Credit: Ricardo Garza/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Jun 26, 2025 / 13:25 pm (CNA).
Here’s a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
A chorus of pro-life voices is urging the governor of Texas to call legislators to a special session to pass a bill that will help combat abortion pills flowing into the state.
In a letter cosigned by almost 100 Texas politicians and pro-life leaders — including state Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — Texas Right to Life President John Seago urged Gov. Greg Abbott to “convene a special session” of the Legislature for lawmakers to pass the state Woman and Child Protection Act.
That measure would allow Texans to sue traffickers and distributors of abortion pills and allow women and their families to bring lawsuits in the event that a woman is injured or killed by those pills. It would also authorize “state-led prosecution for abortion pill trafficking.”
The letter states that nearly 20,000 abortion pills are mailed into the state each year. The bill “targets those who promote, manufacture, and distribute these deadly drugs.”
Activists will rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend in support of defunding Planned Parenthood.
Figures including Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins and activist Riley Gaines will be present at Capitol Hill on June 28 for a combined “diaper drive and rally” in support of defunding the abortion giant of taxpayer funds.
Students for Life said on its website that activists will distribute at least 392,715 diapers to pregnancy help centers and local residents; that number represents all the unborn children killed by Planned Parenthood last year, the group said.
The rally is part of the larger National Celebrate Life Conference taking place in Washington over the weekend.
Large numbers of abortion providers in states that passed abortion bans fled those states in the wake of those laws, new data shows.
A study published this month in JAMA Network Open investigated whether “state-level abortion restrictions” in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s repeal “could lead clinicians to leave states that ban abortion.”
The survey found that 42% of surveyed abortion providers in states that enacted bans “relocate[d] primary practice” after such bans.
Nearly half of all states ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, while a dozen ban the procedure outright. Just nine states and the District of Columbia allow for abortion at any time for any reason.
Posted on 06/26/2025 16:55 PM (CNA Daily News)
Pope Leo XIV meets with the synod’s 16th ordinary council near the Vatican on Thursday, June 26, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis’ biggest legacy regarding synodality is “as a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church,” Pope Leo XIV said Thursday in a meeting with synod leaders.
The pope addressed the synod’s 16th ordinary council at its offices just outside the Vatican, where members are meeting June 26–27.
While time did not permit Leo to stay for the entire afternoon session, he briefly addressed the bishop and three non-bishop participants before making himself available to answer questions.
“Pope Francis has given a new impetus to the Synod of Bishops, referring, as he has repeatedly stated, to St. Paul VI,” the current pontiff said. “And the legacy he has left us seems to me to be above all this: that synodality is a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church, promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion.”
Leo added that Francis promoted this concept in the various synodal assemblies that took place during his pontificate, “especially those on the family, and then he has made it flow into the latest path, dedicated precisely to synodality.”
The 2014 and 2015 synods on the family were marked by controversy over proposals to allow divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment to receive Communion. Pope Francis later made it possible for some people in such irregular unions to receive Communion after a process of discernment with a priest.
In his speech on Thursday, Leo encouraged the Synod of Bishops, which he said “naturally retains its institutional physiognomy,” to gather the fruits that have matured during Francis’ pontificate “and to make a forward-looking reflection.”
The ordinary council of the General Secretariat of the Synod is “responsible for the preparation and realization of the Ordinary General Assembly” of the Synod of Bishops.
The members of the 16th ordinary council are all bishops, except for two women, who were appointed by Pope Francis in December 2024: consecrated woman María Lía Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, and Sister Simona Brambilla, MC, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Pope Francis’ other appointees to the council are Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the archbishop of Luxembourg and relator general of the Synod on Synodality, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, Italy.
The rest of the 17 members were elected to the council last October, including Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. The pope is considered the council’s chairman.
Council meetings are also attended by the synod secretariat’s permanent leaders, secretary general Cardinal Mario Grech and undersecretaries Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, and Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ.
Introducing the gathering June 26, Grech said: “I am convinced that it is the task of the General Secretariat of the Synod to accompany the synodal process with initiatives that, without overlapping with the protagonism of the local Churches and their groupings, help to develop the synodal and missionary dimension of the Church.”
“Let us invoke the Holy Spirit to guide us and enlighten us in discerning the paths that he suggests to the Church, in fidelity to the risen Lord,” the cardinal said. “We have all participated in the synodal process. Indeed, you are here because the assembly has recognized you as credible interpreters of synodality.”
Posted on 06/26/2025 16:55 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV meets with the synod’s 16th ordinary council near the Vatican on Thursday, June 26, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis’ biggest legacy regarding synodality is “as a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church,” Pope Leo XIV said Thursday in a meeting with synod leaders.
The pope addressed the synod’s 16th ordinary council at its offices just outside the Vatican, where members are meeting June 26–27.
While time did not permit Leo to stay for the entire afternoon session, he briefly addressed the bishop and three non-bishop participants before making himself available to answer questions.
“Pope Francis has given a new impetus to the Synod of Bishops, referring, as he has repeatedly stated, to St. Paul VI,” the current pontiff said. “And the legacy he has left us seems to me to be above all this: that synodality is a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church, promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion.”
Leo added that Francis promoted this concept in the various synodal assemblies that took place during his pontificate, “especially those on the family, and then he has made it flow into the latest path, dedicated precisely to synodality.”
The 2014 and 2015 synods on the family were marked by controversy over proposals to allow divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment to receive Communion. Pope Francis later made it possible for some people in such irregular unions to receive Communion after a process of discernment with a priest.
In his speech on Thursday, Leo encouraged the Synod of Bishops, which he said “naturally retains its institutional physiognomy,” to gather the fruits that have matured during Francis’ pontificate “and to make a forward-looking reflection.”
The ordinary council of the General Secretariat of the Synod is “responsible for the preparation and realization of the Ordinary General Assembly” of the Synod of Bishops.
The members of the 16th ordinary council are all bishops, except for two women, who were appointed by Pope Francis in December 2024: consecrated woman María Lía Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, and Sister Simona Brambilla, MC, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Pope Francis’ other appointees to the council are Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the archbishop of Luxembourg and relator general of the Synod on Synodality, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, Italy.
The rest of the 17 members were elected to the council last October, including Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. The pope is considered the council’s chairman.
Council meetings are also attended by the synod secretariat’s permanent leaders, secretary general Cardinal Mario Grech and undersecretaries Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, and Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ.
Introducing the gathering June 26, Grech said: “I am convinced that it is the task of the General Secretariat of the Synod to accompany the synodal process with initiatives that, without overlapping with the protagonism of the local Churches and their groupings, help to develop the synodal and missionary dimension of the Church.”
“Let us invoke the Holy Spirit to guide us and enlighten us in discerning the paths that he suggests to the Church, in fidelity to the risen Lord,” the cardinal said. “We have all participated in the synodal process. Indeed, you are here because the assembly has recognized you as credible interpreters of synodality.”
Posted on 06/26/2025 14:30 PM (Catholic News Agency)
English Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool speaks with EWTN News via video call about the recent passage of a bill to legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales, calling it a turning point in the country’s devaluation of the dignity of life. / Credit: EWTN News
Rome Newsroom, Jun 26, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
“I think we’ve crossed a watershed, that fundamental line in the sand that a life is always to be protected,” Archbishop John Sherrington told EWTN News.
Posted on 06/26/2025 14:30 PM (CNA Daily News)
English Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool speaks with EWTN News via video call about the recent passage of a bill to legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales, calling it a turning point in the country’s devaluation of the dignity of life. / Credit: EWTN News
Rome Newsroom, Jun 26, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, who oversees life issues for the bishops of England and Wales, has called the recent passage of a bill to legalize assisted suicide a turning point in the country’s devaluation of the dignity of life.
“I think we’ve crossed a watershed, that fundamental line in the sand that a life is always to be protected and that one cannot assist another person’s suicide… there’s an erosion of the value of the dignity of life,” the archbishop told EWTN News in an interview via video call from Liverpool this week.
Sherrington added that the bishops are concerned particularly for those who are already very vulnerable, such as the disabled, who may now find themselves in an even more vulnerable situation.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow terminally ill adults to end their own lives with the help of a physician, passed the House of Commons by a narrow margin — 315 to 291 — on June 20.
The bill will now go to the House of Lords, where the nonelected upper chamber can choose to pass the legislation or amend it. Predictions appear divided over whether the Lords will pass the bill as is or attempt to amend, delay, or even scuttle it.
Sherrington noted the bill’s passage by “a very narrow vote” and said he thinks it is a reflection of “the division in the country and the concern of many professional bodies, as well as pro-life groups and GPs [general practitioners], that this law is unsatisfactory and is going to put those who are vulnerable in a worse position.”
The archbishop also said the End of Life Bill is a threat to health care workers’ freedom of conscience if it becomes law without the proper protections.
“We are told that there will be freedom of conscience for doctors, but my concern is also all the health care workers, all the social workers who are involved in the care of people who are terminally ill,” he said.
Because of their position in the health care system, nondoctor medical workers “may not have the same freedom” to say “no” to participating in assisted suicide, he added.
According to the BBC, the passage of the End of Life Bill marks “a colossal social change” in the country, made possible by the arrival of hundreds of new Labor members of Parliament and by significant public support for the law.
A YouGov poll last week suggested that more than 7 out of 10 Britons supported the assisted suicide proposals — referred to by supporters as assisted dying — even though the House of Commons had rejected changing the law as recently as 2015.
Both Sherrington and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, also drew attention to the risk that an assisted suicide law would force Catholic hospices and care homes to shutter.
In addition to writing their members of Parliament expressing opposition to legalizing assisted suicide, Sherrington said Catholics need to help people “understand in their heart and their mind the dignity of the end of life” and the assistance palliative care can provide to ease pain.
“Suffering is part of life, but we can reduce it in various ways,” he said. But often, he said, what helps the most is solidarity and care, and — for those who are Catholic — the sacraments, prayer, and liturgy.
Those things “actually are a source of great consolation,” Sherrington said. “We need to witness to how we best care for people who are suffering, who are in pain, and we have excellent examples of that through the hospices.”
As currently written, the proposed assisted suicide legislation would require patients to be over the age of 18, have received a terminal illness diagnosis with no more than six months to live, and to self-administer the lethal drug.
The decision would need to be approved by two doctors and a panel made up of a social worker, a senior legal figure such as a former judge, and a psychiatrist.
While likely to take longer to roll out than originally predicted, the BBC reported that the government’s impact assessment suggests hundreds will seek assisted suicide in the first years, but after a decade, the rate could rise to an estimated 4,000 people a year seeking assisted suicide.
Zofia Czubak contributed to this report.