Planned Parenthood gets millions of dollars in federal support each year. / Credit: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 20, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

Two American Catholic bishops are hailing a Republican-led legislative effort to end certain taxpayer funds for abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood as well as an attempt to block funding for transgender drugs and surgeries for children.

Proposed budget language currently being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives would prevent Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for any services. It would also end all reimbursements for transgender drugs or surgeries that doctors prescribe for children.

“Americans should not be forced to subsidize abortions and ‘gender transition’ services with their tax dollars,” Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said in a joint statement on Monday from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Thomas is the chairman of the USCCB’s pro-life committee, while Barron chairs the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.

Under current law, federal tax money cannot directly fund most abortions, but abortion clinics can still receive federal funding if the money is used in other ways. A Government Accountability Office report found that Planned Parenthood pulled in more than $1.75 billion in taxpayer funds in 2019 and 2021 from a variety of sources.

Planned Parenthood’s 2023-2024 annual report stated that the organization received nearly $800 million in taxpayer funding over a 12-month period, which accounted for almost 40% of its total revenue.

“For decades, Planned Parenthood has received government money and offered low-income women one terrible option: to end the lives of their babies,” Thomas and Barron said. 

“More recently, they have used the same taxpayer funds to expand their destructive offerings by promoting gender ideology and providing puberty blockers and hormones to minors, turning them into lifelong patients in the process.”

“Americans should not be forced to subsidize abortions and ‘gender transition’ services with their tax dollars, and we applaud measures that will finally help to defund Planned Parenthood,” they added.

“We encourage greater support for authentic, life-affirming health care providers that serve mothers and their children in need. We urge all members of Congress and the administration to work in good faith to protect vulnerable women and children from mutilating ‘gender transition’ services and the scourge of abortion.”

The proposed language is part of the so-called “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” that would set the nation’s budget and incorporate elements of President Donald Trump’s agenda. The legislation would only need a majority support in the House and the Senate.

The bill bypasses the usual 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate because certain budget bills only require a simple majority.

Although the bishops have voiced support for this part of the budget bill, they have criticized other proposed elements of the bill. Specifically, the USCCB opposes structural changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which the bishops worry could reduce access to the programs.

The proposed Medicaid reforms include work requirements for able-bodied adults under the age of 65 if they do not have young children as dependents and shifting some Medicaid costs to states if they offer benefits to immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Some of the proposed SNAP changes include shifting between 5% and 25% of the cost to states, raising the work requirement age from 54 to 64, and implementing stricter verifications to ensure money does not go to immigrants who are in the country illegally.

If the House passes its version of the bill, it will then go to the Senate, where lawmakers will likely make changes and send it back to the House. It is not yet scheduled for a vote in the House.

Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City Missouri. / Credit: eurobanks/Shutterstock

St. Louis, Mo., May 20, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).

Republican lawmakers in Missouri approved a new referendum last week that, if passed by voters, could reinstate many of the state’s pro-life laws, largely undoing a previous statewide referendum that expanded abortion rights a few months ago. 

The ballot measure, HJR73, would ask voters if they want to allow abortion only in the case of a medical emergency, fetal abnormality, or rape or incest. It also would ban public funding for any abortions not done because of medical emergency or rape or incest. 

In addition, the referendum would allow the state General Assembly to enact laws that regulate the provision of abortions, abortion facilities, and abortion providers to ensure the health and safety of pregnant mothers.

The measure would also constitutionally ban hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries for “gender transition” for minors. Missouri already bans those procedures for minors, but that restriction, first passed in 2023, is set to expire in August 2027.

The measure is expected to appear before voters in November 2026, or sooner if Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who is Catholic, calls a special election. 

Missourians had last November narrowly voted to overturn the state’s near-ban on abortion and enshrine a provision guaranteeing “reproductive freedom” in the state constitution, coming into effect Dec. 6, 2024.

Missouri law had previously extended protection to unborn babies throughout all of pregnancy with the only exception being cases of “medical emergency.”

Although the 2024 amendment language mentions that laws could be passed to restrict abortion past the point of “fetal viability,” the amendment simultaneously prohibits any interference with an abortion that a doctor determines is necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health” of the mother.

Missouri lawmakers had in recent years passed numerous laws designed to protect patients and limit the abortion industry’s influence, including 2017 regulations requiring that abortion doctors have surgical and admitting privileges to nearby hospitals; that abortion clinics must be licensed with the state; and that clinics must meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.

Soon after the 2024 amendment took effect, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit challenging numerous pro-life protections in Missouri, including the state’s 72-hour waiting period for abortions; the state’s ban on abortions done specifically for reasons of the race, sex, or a Down syndrome diagnosis of the baby; the state’s ban on “telemedicine” abortions; and the state’s requirement that only licensed physicians may perform abortions.

The Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC), which advocates policy in the state on behalf of the state’s bishops, described the upcoming referendum as an “opportunity to add health and safety protections for mothers and their preborn children back into the state constitution.”

The MCC had previously expressed support for HJR73, urging support for “the effort to reduce abortions in the state of Missouri and to create a culture of life and compassion and limit the effects of Amendment 3.”

Missouri was one of the first states to fully ban abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Following the 2024 vote, Missouri and six other states expanded legal protection for abortion, while voters in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota voted down major pro-abortion proposals the same night.

Cardinal William Goh speaks to EWTN News Vice President Matthew Bunson in Rome on Monday, May 19, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Vatican City, May 20, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).

Singapore’s Cardinal William Goh believes Pope Leo XIV will build a greater unity within the Church, particularly for Catholic faithful often divided on matters of Church doctrine and morality.

Calling the new pontiff a “gift of God” in an interview with EWTN News Vice President Matthew Bunson, Goh said the Holy Father is the “right person” to lead the Church toward synodality and explain the balance between “orthodoxy and being progressive.”

“Being traditional is not wrong [and] going back to the orthodoxy of the Church is not wrong,” he said. “But, at the same time, we are not just asking our Church to be too legalistic about our moral doctrines in terms of practice.”

Describing the new pontiff as an active listener who is “very attentive to the concerns and sharings of the cardinals,” Goh said the Holy Father’s desire for unity is evident in both his words and actions since his May 8 election.

“I believe that, so far, based on his speeches, he is putting into practice the call to synodality,” he said. “In his meeting with the cardinals, he spoke to us in a very personal way.”

“I believe that there will be greater collaboration and greater dialogue so that we can truly bring about a greater unity in the Church,” he added.

Reflecting on issues that were “dividing the Church” during Pope Francis’ pontificate such as “ambiguity” in some teachings outlined in Amoris Laetitia and the synodal process, the Asian cardinal said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will bring clarity, and less confusion, to discussions on Catholic teaching. 

“I keep on emphasizing that we cannot talk about synodality without unity in doctrines, without unity in faith,” he told Bunson. 

“Unity that is built on superficial love can never be real unity,” he continued. “Unity must be founded on truth that is expressed in charity.”

With the continual growth of the Church in both Asia and Africa, Goh said many Catholic faithful are converts who do not want to compromise their newfound religion.    

“We are people who have strong faith in the Lord and we want to walk in the way of the Gospel,” Singapore’s first and so far only cardinal said in the interview. “In fact, we gave up the old faith in order to exchange it for the true faith.”

“We want to walk the way of the truth and follow the Gospel and what the Church taught us,” he stressed. “That is what is guiding us and our people in Asia.”

In addition to the Holy Father’s ability to be a good listener, Goh noted the pope’s ability to speak several languages has been an advantage for those wanting to discuss with him the pastoral challenges the Church faces in different parts of the world before and after the recent conclave.

“The good thing about Pope Leo is that he speaks English because very often many of the Asian cardinals don’t speak Italian so well,” he said. “So we want to communicate and to share our views with the Holy Father but it’s a bit difficult because of the language.”   

“I think once you know English, Spanish, and Italian, you can cover at least two-thirds of the globe, right?” he said.

Italian Cardinal Baldassare Reina was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during the consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, May 20, 2025 / 10:43 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV, in one of his first personnel appointments, on Monday named Cardinal Baldassare Reina grand chancellor of the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II for Marriage and the Family, replacing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 20.

Reina, 54, is vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. As part of that role, he is also grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University, the home of the John Paul II Institute.

Pope Leo’s May 19 appointment of Reina as grand chancellor appears to be a return to the former practice of linking the leadership of the institute to the vicar general of Rome. This practice had been changed under Pope Francis, who named Paglia to the role in 2016.

The following year, in 2017, Francis made the controversial decision to re-found the institute, originally established by Pope John Paul II in 1982 under the name the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, broadening its focus from moral theology to the social sciences. When new statutes were issued in 2019, the institute was also criticized for not renewing some of the contracts of longtime faculty and for other hiring decisions.

Paglia, who is president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told CNA on May 19 it was foreseen he would be replaced as chancellor of the John Paul II institute after turning 80, in accordance with Vatican guidelines. He said he does not know when he may be replaced as head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, but given his age, it is reasonable it may also be soon.

He declined to comment on the institute’s controversies under his leadership.

As prior of the Augustinians (below, in a white shirt), in 2003 Leo XIV visited the Valley of the Fallen with a group of young people. / Credit: Courtesy of Israel @profedeprimari on X

Madrid, Spain, May 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV carries on his pectoral cross a relic of an Augustinian martyr bishop, Anselmo Polanco, who was executed during the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. / Credit: Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 19, 2025 / 17:57 pm (CNA).

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, and Father Thomas Ferguson will join an advisory board for President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, according to a statement from the White House.

The three Catholic clergymen will join San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone on the Advisory Board of Religious Leaders for the commission. Two members of the Church hierarchy — Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota — are serving on the commission itself.

Rhoades, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairs the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty. Paprocki, the bishop of Springfield, Illinois, played a major role in the bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” religious liberty campaign during the 2010s, according to the White House. 

Neither Paprocki nor Rhoades could be reached for comment by the time of publication.

Ferguson, who is a parish priest at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia, also has a doctorate in government and authored “Catholic and American: The Political Theology of John Courtney Murray,” which focused on religious liberty and Catholicism in the United States.

“We’re looking forward … to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year,” Ferguson told CNA in an interview, saying he hopes the commission can assist in “pointing out … just how important religious communities like the Catholic Church are to our society.”

Ferguson said the inclusion of Catholic clergy on the commission “is extremely welcomed by our Church,” adding: “It really puts us all in a forum where we can do the important work of educating people.”

One element on which Ferguson hopes to focus is insurance mandates for services that “violate our conscience” on issues such as contraception, sterilization, and transgender drugs and surgeries: “All of these things that we would find morally objectionable, we must be vigilant [against].”

He said he is also concerned about “where this country is going in terms of in vitro fertilization [IVF]” and noted that there are some politicians who “refer to themselves of pro-life legislators [despite] being advocates for IVF.”

“You also need to be protective of human life … created through IVF,” Ferguson said, recalling the millions of human embryos destroyed through the IVF process.

Ferguson discussed a new law in Washington state that will lead to the arrest of priests if they do not report child abuse they learn about during the sacrament of reconciliation, which would violate the “absolute sense of secrecy [of a] … sacramental confession.”

“That’s an area,” he said, where “we can be very consistent in teaching, explaining and clarifying for people: ‘This is how we freely exercise our religion in terms of the First Amendment.’” 

The Religious Liberty Commission

In addition to the advisory board consisting of religious clergy, the White House also created an advisory board made up of legal experts and another of lay leaders. These boards will assist the commission in developing its final report.

The commission and its advisory boards include members of various religions, including Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Islam, and Judaism.

The report will outline the current threats to religious freedom in the United States and provide strategies on how to ensure legal protections when rights are under attack. It will also lay out the foundation of religious liberty in the United States and issue guidance on how to increase awareness of the historically peaceful religious pluralism within the country. 

Some of the commission’s key focus areas include conscience protections, free speech for religious bodies, institutional autonomy, attacks on houses of worship, parental rights in education, and school choice.

Trump established the commission on May 1 through an executive order, which coincided with the National Day of Prayer.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin (center) speaks to journalists at the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi on May 19, 2025, after a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. / Credit: VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, May 19, 2025 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump said Monday that following a two-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, with the Vatican possibly hosting the talks. 

“Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately. I have so informed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine; Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission; President Emmanuel Macron of France; Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy; Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany; and President Alexander Stubb of Finland, during a call with me, immediately after the call with President Putin,” Trump wrote. 

“The Vatican, as represented by the pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!” he concluded. 

Writing on social media, Trump said the “tone and spirit of the conversation” with Putin were “excellent.”

The Vatican did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks. Last Friday, however, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told reporters that “the pope plans to make the Vatican, the Holy See, available for a direct meeting between the two sides.”

Zelenskyy said at a press conference Monday that he wants the meeting to happen as soon as possible and that it could be hosted by Turkey, the Vatican, or Switzerland, the BBC reported. Meloni on Monday expressed support for the Vatican’s possible hosting of the meeting. 

In the 10 days since his election on May 8, Leo has appeared to take a more pro-Ukraine stance in the Russia-Ukraine conflict than his immediate predecessor Pope Francis, first by speaking to Zelenskyy by phone in the first hours of his papacy, then meeting the leader for a private audience the same day of his inaugural Mass.

Leo also called for negotiations for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine in his first two Regina Caeli messages on May 11 and May 18, and one of his early audiences was with the head of the Greek Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

As a bishop in Peru in 2022, then-Bishop Robert Prevost also made explicit reference to Russia’s invasion, calling it “imperialist in nature,” while Francis avoided such language in his peace appeals and had even called for Ukraine to raise the white flag. Francis appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi as his peace envoy to Ukraine.

Former president Joe Biden’s office revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis on Sunday, May 18, 2025. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 19, 2025 / 16:42 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, and politicians from both major political parties are urging the country to pray for former president Joe Biden after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Biden’s office announced on Sunday that the former president was diagnosed last week with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, stating that doctors found a prostate nodule after Biden experienced “increasing urinary symptoms.”

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” the statement added. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

The news was met with overwhelming support and calls for prayers, including from the Diocese of Wilmington, the diocese to which the country’s second Catholic president belongs.

“As Catholics, we are called to carry out Christ’s charge to ‘heal the sick’ by caring for those who are ill and accompanying them in their time of suffering through prayers of intercession,” Robert G. Krebs, the communications director for the diocese, said in a statement.

“The Church believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies, and wishes the former president a rapid return to health,” he said.

On Monday, Biden posted a message on X that included a picture of himself with his wife, former first lady Jill Biden, thanking the public for their support.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden said on X. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

Politicians offer prayers, best wishes

President Donald Trump, who ran against Biden twice, expressed sadness about the news in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” Trump wrote. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

Vice President JD Vance, the second Catholic vice president after Biden, told reporters that “we wish the best for the former president’s health” but also expressed concerns that he believes the prior administration did not provide “accurate information about what he was actually dealing with” during his presidency.

Former vice president Kamala Harris, who served under Biden, said in a post on X that she and her husband, Doug, are keeping Biden “and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time.” 

“Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” she said. “We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House and a fellow Catholic, said she and her husband, Paul, “join millions across the country and around the world praying for him to have strength and a swift recovery in the battle against cancer” in a post on X.

Current House Speaker Mike Johnson also said on X that he and his family “will be joining the countless others who are praying for the former president in the wake of his diagnosis.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X that he is “praying for President Biden and the entire Biden family,” and Senate Majority Leader Thom Tillis said he and his wife, Susan, “are saddened to hear about President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis and are praying for his full recovery.”

Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025, when severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. / Credit: AP Photo/Michael Phillis

St. Louis, Mo., May 19, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).

A mile-wide tornado tore through the northern part of St. Louis on Friday, causing over $1.6 billion in damage and leaving at least five people dead, including a woman who was killed when the steeple of a Christian church collapsed on her. 

A tornado believed to have attained EF-3 intensity touched down just southwest of the St. Louis Forest Park and traveled northeast through the densely populated city for over 20 miles, downing mature trees, ripping off roofs, and leaving collapsed buildings in its wake. 

Much of the destruction — other than damage to the many stately mansions near Forest Park — affected the poorest parts of the city. Among more than 5,000 damaged buildings, at least 12 schools were hit, as was the St. Louis Zoo; tens of thousands of people in the region lost power.  

The twister was part of a massive outbreak sequence on May 16 that also spawned tornadoes in Kentucky, killing at least 19 people in that state and leveling the small town of London, about 80 miles south of Lexington. Several more deaths from tornadoes were also reported in Virginia and in southeastern Missouri.

Patricia Penelton, a longtime volunteer at St. Louis’ Centennial Christian Church — who was reportedly at the church bagging lunches to distribute after the storm — was killed when the bell tower and roof of the 121-year-old church collapsed in the tornado. Penelton was an active member of the church who started an initiative to provide free meals to neighborhood kids and to the homeless. 

“She died in her beloved church, doing what she loved,” her daughter, Alexis Dennard, said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Saturday. “She left this Earth in service to others. What better testament to God and her discipleship is there?”

A father of seven and a food truck owner, Juan Baltazar, was also killed when a large tree crushed his truck. Authorities have not publicly named the other casualties.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, located in the hard-hit Central West End, lost power on Friday. St. Matthew the Apostle Parish and St. Josephine Bakhita Parish are also located near the tornado’s path.

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Lisa Shea told CNA that damage is still being assessed. Pastors have been asked to hold a second collection at Masses next weekend, with the collected funds going to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis (CCSTL). 

CCSTL is currently accepting donations to help more than 750 individuals and families who have reached out through the Catholic Charities website seeking support. Catholic Charities says it is mobilizing emergency resources to provide critical services, including temporary housing, food, counseling, and long-term recovery assistance for those affected.

“We are seeing a heartbreaking level of need, and our ministry is here to respond with urgency and compassion,” said Jared Bryson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, in a statement. 

“Requests for help are pouring in — and we are doing everything we can to meet each one with dignity, care, and concrete support … This is the mission of Catholic Charities — to be a visible sign of Christ’s love and mercy in moments of great need. We are committed to walking alongside our neighbors as they recover and rebuild.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago will host a celebration at Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox, on June 14, 2025, to honor Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Enoch Lai at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 19, 2025 / 15:04 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Chicago will host a celebration at Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox, on June 14 to honor Pope Leo XIV, according to a statement released by the archdiocese. 

The public is invited to attend the upcoming “once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born and raised in the Chicago area.”

“Pope Leo XIV’s message of peace, unity, and the key to a meaningful life have touched hearts across the globe,” the archdiocese said. “This celebration is an extraordinary opportunity for people from the city and beyond to come together in shared pride for one of our own.”

While there was initial speculation as to which Chicago baseball team the new pope is a fan of, Pope Leo XIV’s brother, John Prevost, told local television station WGN that the pontiff was “always a Sox fan.” Subsequently, a 20-year-old video surfaced of then-Father Robert Prevost attending a 2005 World Series game between the White Sox and the Houston Astros.

The program at the White Sox stadium will feature music, film, testimonials, and prayer and will conclude with a Mass. 

The event will “celebrate [Pope Leo’s] election,” said Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, who added that all those interested in attending should keep an eye out as “more details will be announced in the coming week.”