Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Ill., mother church of the Archdiocese of Chicago. / Credit: Edlane De Mattos/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2025 / 13:28 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Chicago has reinstated a priest to full ministry after a monthslong investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against him. 

The archdiocese said in January that it had removed Father Matthew Foley from ministry after claims of abuse dating to around 30 years ago. 

Officials said at the time that civil authorities would investigate the allegations, after which the archdiocese would conduct its own inquiry. Foley “strenuously” denied the allegations at the time. 

On Monday, Cardinal Blase Cupich said in letters to parishioners at multiple parishes that the archdiocesan independent review board had completed its investigation into the allegations. Foley “fully complied” with the investigation, Cupich said. 

“After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the [review board] today determined that there is no reasonable cause to believe Father Foley sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cupich said. 

The board “recommended that Father Foley be reinstated to ministry and that the file be closed,” Cupich noted, adding that he “accepted their recommendation effectively immediately.”

In January, at the same time it announced the allegations against Foley, the archdiocese said it was also removing Father Henry Kricek from active ministry due to similar allegations. 

The accusations against Kricek involved alleged abuse that occurred “approximately 40 years ago,” the archdiocese said at the time. 

No decision on Kricek had been announced by the archdiocese as of Wednesday morning. 

Ordained in 1989, Foley is known for having befriended future actor Chris Farley at Marquette University in the early 1980s. He would ultimately preside over Farley’s funeral in 1997. 

The priest was the namesake for one of Farley’s most famous characters, “Matt Foley,” who was featured in several “Saturday Night Live” sketches prior to Farley’s death.

Father Paul Murphy exits the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Thursday, April 10, 2025, after giving a victim impact statement in a sentencing hearing for a boy who stabbed him. / Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 16, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

The attack occurred on Aug. 15, 2024, as the priest returned to his barracks in Renvyle in Ireland after an evening swim.

American historian and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts (right) speaks with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Erik Rosales on April 15, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts is calling on Americans to become more open about their faith as a means to “revitalizing” religious belief in the United States. 

“I think it’s important, as we are on the brink of Easter during Holy Week, to encourage people of all faiths, whether they’re Christians like me or Jews or Muslims, to speak about their faith,” said Roberts during a Tuesday appearance on “EWTN News Nightly.”

“This is an opportunity here in the United States, not just for political and policymaking success, but more importantly, for the revitalization of our faith as individuals and also as a country,” he said. 

Earlier this week Roberts penned an op-ed for the Daily Signal in which the former Wyoming Catholic College president highlighted “the distinct importance that America’s Founding Fathers placed on Christianity, particularly Our Lord’s passion and resurrection.” 

Roberts in that op-ed called for the return of religious practice to the public sphere. 

“As Christians around the country reflect on that same story this Easter, we should resolve to transform our gratitude — for the political freedoms that our Founding Fathers fought for and the spiritual freedom that Christ died for — into action,” he wrote. 

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Roberts told EWTN News Capitol Hill Correspondent Erik Rosales that President Donald Trump has “done two things exceptionally well thus far.”

“The first is he’s been unabashed about speaking about America’s religious roots,” he said. “The second thing that he’s done — and it’s both in the State Department and across the administration and other agencies — is end the Obama-Biden-era practice of running roughshod over religious liberty.”

“It’s not that we want to establish one particular religion as the official one,” he said. “It’s that we, just as people of faith, want to be able to do more than just have private religious thoughts. We actually want to live out our faith in the public square.”

Roberts insisted that for America to experience a true “cultural awakening,” it must be willing to practice religion publicly. 

“That awakening is not going to come from politics and policy, it’s going to come from each of us,” he said. “We can make [politicians’] jobs easier as it relates to policymaking if we live out our respective faiths with zeal, with a real passion, with a persuasiveness to bring people to the truth.”

Ultimately, he said, the “golden age of America” will not be ushered in merely by economic policies or by reforming Washington.

“Most importantly, it’s going to be because each of us plays a role in revitalizing the religious institutions in our lives and our communities,” he said.

Credit: iweta0077/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new initiative is trying to shift the narrative on the Catholic priesthood by shining light on stories of heroic virtue, courage, and selfless acts from modern-day priests and bishops in an effort to strengthen the appeal of the vocation.

The Philadelphia-based nonprofit International Institute for Culture (IIC) launched the first pillar of its “Shepherding Future Shepherds” program, which is the creation of ThankAPriest.com. It showcases positive stories with the hope of inspiring young Catholic men to consider vocations to the priesthood.

“By sharing stories of priestly heroism and compassion, we hope to inspire young men to recognize the priesthood as a profound and fulfilling vocation,” IIC President John M. Haas said in a statement.

“Our goal is to bring to light the countless untold stories of the good and virtuous work priests do every day,” he added. “This effort is critical not only to restoring confidence in the priesthood but also to inspiring future vocations.”

An IIC news release notes that the number of active Catholic priests globally has dropped from about 60,000 to only 35,000 from 1970 to 2020, even though the number of Catholics has risen by 20 million people within that time frame. 

The nonprofit warned that within the next five years, some regions will only have one priest for every 6,000 Catholics.

Matthew Haas, the project director of the initiative and son of the IIC president, told CNA the drop in overall priests is further complicated by the average age of priests increasing.

“In the next 10 years, 20 years, we’re going to see a dramatic dropoff of priests who are able to remain active,” he said.

Our culture “is becoming more secular, just overall,” he noted, but the declining trend in priests is more severe.

“It’s not a 1:1 ratio that would explain the priesthood,” Haas said. He argued there is a negative perception about the priesthood among many young people rooted in Church scandals but that those scandals reflect a “very small group of people — bad actors.”

Haas added that a major part of the initiative is to “start changing perception” because there are “so many good priests doing noble, heroic … things.”

“We’re sharing all kinds of stories, but one of the things we want to make sure we’re doing is there’s going to be a wide representation,” he added.

The heroism of Bishop Christian Carlassare

The first profile on ThankAPriest.com tells the story of Bishop Christian Carlassare, who was the bishop of the Diocese of Rumbek in South Sudan and is now the bishop of the Diocese of Bentiu in the same country.

Carlassare was shot by two unknown assailants when he was bishop-elect of Rumbek.

“Two gunmen broke into his house during the night, burst into his bedroom, and shot him several times,” the profile notes. “There was speculation it was a targeted assault. Bishop Carlassare sustained numerous gunshot wounds to his legs, but miraculously none of the injuries were life threatening.”

The profile shares the message to his diocese that Carlassare recorded while in the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, in which he tells them: “I want you to be at peace, to know that I’m well here in the hospital.” 

“I’m being taken care [of] and I’m improving,” he said. “It will take some time for my legs to be able again to walk, but I assure you that I will be back and I will be with you. Please let us be united in prayer, let us be united with all our hearts to uphold forgiveness in our community and be able to seek for justice with the same heart of God. It is a merciful heart.”

Carlassare, who is a native of Italy, spent months in his home country to rehabilitate himself before returning to serve his diocese in the East African nation. On his decision to return to the diocese, the bishop said: “I clearly could not turn my back to this call … and abandon the sheep when witnessing Christ becomes demanding.”

The profile notes that Carlassare hoped his return would signal “reconciliation, forgiveness, and new beginnings,” which is “a message that defines his ministry, and one he hopes to share with the divided nation.”

Prior to his appointment as a bishop, Carlassare served the Church as a missionary priest with the Comboni Missionaries religious order. He served South Sudan as a missionary priest for 15 years before his appointment.

Matthew Haas told CNA there are many priests “putting their lives … at risk in some instances to serve God” and it’s important to tell the stories of “these men [who] are holy and serving the Church and trying to do good things,” expressing hope that “people see them as role models” and “aspire to live a life like that.”

The organization is also requesting that people share stories of priests who are living heroic and virtuous lives through their vocation.

Next steps for the initiative

The launching of the website represents the first pillar of the initiative, which intends to “elevate” the priesthood within society. The other three pillars are: educate, engage, and embark.

Matthew Haas told CNA that the second pillar, “educate,” will likely be launched this year and is designed to be “really reaching out, specifically to young men.” This will include efforts to show people the different roles priests can have and the distinctions between priests, deacons, brothers, and monks.

“We believe God has a calling for everyone,” he said. 

The third pillar, “engage,” is also supposed to be launched later this year and is designed to help young men navigate the discernment process and connect them to resources to help in that decision-making process, according to Haas. 

The fourth pillar, “embark,” is scheduled to begin in early 2026. This part is meant to provide the help of spiritual guidance. Haas said most men who enter the seminary “had either a spiritual director or a guide who helped them through the discernment process.”

“The work we’re doing now is laying the foundation for these priests who are going to be available in the next decade,” Matthew Haas added.

He noted that the discernment process and the priest formation process can take up to a decade to complete, which is why it’s “urgent to start now.”

“It will help to reverse the trend of secularism by bringing in new and young priests to help serve our Church,” he said.

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith in 2025, with particularly strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers, according to newly released statistics from the country’s Conference of Bishops (CEF). / Credit: French Bishops’ Conference

Paris, France, Apr 16, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith this weekend with strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers.

The new White House Faith Office is in high gear for Holy Week. / Credit: DJTechYT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).

The White House has announced plans for the Christian Holy Week leading up to Easter, which will include a Wednesday dinner and a Thursday religious service with Christians from a variety of communities.

President Donald Trump on Palm Sunday kicked off Holy Week with comments acknowledging Jesus Christ’s “excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross” and the gift of redemption and the forgiveness of sins merited through his suffering and death. He added that “through his resurrection, we have hope of eternal life.”

Trump urged prayers for “an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved nation” and for the intention that the United States will “achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in heaven.”

Jennifer Korn, director of the White House Faith Office, told CNA that Catholics and Christians from a variety of Protestant communities are expected to be in attendance for the Holy Week events.

To celebrate Holy Week, the White House on Wednesday will hold a dinner and prayer service, which will be livestreamed online. On Thursday, the White House will host a prayer and worship service, which will include Christian hymns performed by musicians associated with Liberty University, a private Christian school.

Korn said Trump is hosting these events to ensure that Holy Week is “honored with the observance that it deserves.” She said the various events are “engaging with America in the way that America celebrates Easter.”

Trump’s motivation for the celebrations

The 2025 Holy Week celebrations are also more robust than the events Trump held during his first administration. Korn noted that in his second administration, Trump has “a resolve that is really different [from] last time.”

Trump has publicly spoken about his belief that God saved him from being assassinated at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

“He’s been very transparent about that day — both publicly and privately — saying that it changed his life and he truly does believe that God spared his life to be president again and to really bring America back,” Korn said.

“We see that appreciation and humility that comes from a very near death experience,” she said, adding that, in private conversations, Trump speaks about that day in the same way he speaks about it in public: “He truly believes that.”

Korn also noted that Trump decorated the Oval Office with “two gold angels on two sides of the office.” During a meeting, she said the president told her to “look up at the ceiling” and said the angels are there “to guard over and look over the Oval Office” and his work and the work of his administration.

Trump in February established the White House Faith Office, which was created to help root out anti-Christian bias, defend religious liberty, and ensure that religious communities are part of the public policy discussions. The new office replaced the former White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Korn said the creation of the Faith Office was historic and that it is different from the initiatives of previous presidents, adding it has “never been done before in the West Wing.” In meetings with the president, she said he frequently asks her: “How are my pastors doing, how are my priests, how are my rabbis doing?”

The separation of church and state, Korn said, “doesn’t mean that people of faith don’t have a voice in the government.” She asserted that this office is “bringing that voice back” with efforts to promote religious liberty domestically and abroad, among other initiatives.

In addition to the Holy Week celebrations, Korn noted that the White House is also hosting a Passover event on Thursday afternoon. The Jewish celebration of Passover, which began on April 12 and ends on April 20, overlaps with the Christian Holy Week this year.

Illinois state capitol in Springfield. / Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 15:59 pm (CNA).

Illinois Catholic bishops are calling on people of faith to actively oppose proposed legislation “that seeks to legalize assisted suicide in Illinois.”

The Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) in a statement urged residents to contact their state senators to express opposition to the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (Senate Bill 9). The bill passed the Senate Executive Committee on April 9 and a vote on it could be held on the Senate floor between now and May 31.

The act states that it would allow “a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request that a physician prescribe aid-in-dying medication” to die “in a peaceful manner.”

The CCI said “legalizing assisted suicide goes against the Church’s teachings on the sanctity and dignity of human life. It undermines the value of each human person, particularly those who are vulnerable.”

This year, bills proposing the legalization of medical assisted suicide have been introduced in several other states and are continuing to move forward in the legislation process. 

Maryland introduced a bill titled the End-of-Life Option Act that would authorize “an individual to request aid in dying.” The 2025 bill follows a failed attempt to pass a 2024 version of it. The Maryland bishops urged action by asking legislatures “for an unfavorable report” of the bill. 

In Delaware, House Bill 140 was passed by the House in March to legalize medical assisted suicide. The bill states it would allow terminally ill patients to end their life “in a humane and dignified manner.” 

Oregon has active proposed legislation but aimed to extend its Death with Dignity Act to also allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners, not only licensed physicians, to prescribe drugs to facilitate assisted suicide. The bill follows an increase in lethal drug prescriptions in the state.

Illinois bishops said these “laws permitting assisted suicide pose significant risks to the poor, marginalized, and disabled, who may face pressure to end their lives rather than receive the care and compassion they need and deserve.”

“There are documented cases from states where assisted suicide has been legalized, where individuals with rare or life-threatening conditions were denied necessary medical treatment and were instead offered life-ending prescriptions,” the statement said. 

“Illinois does not need to legalize assisted suicide,” the bishops said, adding: “What we truly need is increased access to quality health care, enhanced palliative care options, and loving and compassionate support services for those at the end of their lives.”

The CCI created a pre-written message for Illinois residents to send to their senators.

“In Illinois, suicide is already a growing crisis,” the message states. “A person dies by suicide every five hours and 41 minutes, and the suicide rate rose by 7% from 2021 to 2022. With so many resources committed to preventing suicide, S.B. 9 would send a dangerous and conflicting message.”

“Protect the vulnerable. Promote real care. Please vote NO on S.B. 9,” the message concludes.

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 15, 2025 / 14:57 pm (CNA).

A federal judge has denied an attempt by religious groups to halt the government’s policy of broadly allowing immigration officials to arrest suspected illegal immigrants at houses of worship. 

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said in an April 11 memorandum opinion that the religious plaintiffs — which included the Mennonite Church, the Episcopal Church, the Friends General Conference, and several Jewish groups including the New York-based Rabbinical Assembly — had “not established a substantial likelihood” of success in their suit against the federal government. 

The suit originally arose in February after the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump rescinded Biden-era guidelines that required Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to seek their superior’s approval before arresting people at or near “sensitive locations” such as churches, hospitals, or schools.

The groups argued that the revised policy was “substantially burdening the religious exercise” of their respective congregations and members, including through decreases in attendance. 

In her ruling, Freidrich said the decline in attendance was “not fairly traceable” to the Trump administration’s rescission of the Biden-era guidelines.

Re-implementing the Biden rules, she said, “would not mitigate the risks cited by congregants of leaving their homes generally, or of traveling to or from religious services.” The Biden-era rules “create[d] no legally enforceable rights” and conferred “only limited protections” against arrests, she pointed out. 

Evidence “suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk,” the judge wrote. 

It is not clear if the plaintiffs plan to file an appeal to the ruling. Attorneys representing the religious groups did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment. 

The Trump administration’s immigration rules have generated both legal action and public criticism, including from U.S. Catholic leaders. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a January statement that “non-emergency immigration enforcement” in places such as churches and schools “would be contrary to the common good.”

“With the mere rescission of the protected areas guidance, we are already witnessing reticence among immigrants to engage in daily life, including sending children to school and attending religious services,” the bishops argued at the time. 

In February, Pope Francis wrote to the U.S. bishops arguing that immigration laws and policies should be subordinated to the dignified treatment of people, especially the most vulnerable.

The letter, which was widely viewed as a rebuke to the Trump administration, acknowledged that the just treatment of immigrants does not impede the development of policies to regulate orderly and legal migration.

But “what is built on the basis of force and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being begins badly and will end badly,” the pope argued.

Father Antonio Aurelio is vicar general of the Trinitarian order. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 14:26 pm (CNA).

The Trinitarian order was founded at the end of the 12th century to free persecuted Christians. Today, it continues to quietly and humbly assist those persecuted for their faith.

In 1993 Marcus Grodi (left) founded the Coming Home Network. It is currently led by his son JonMarc Grodi (right). / Credit: “The Journey Home”/EWTN screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Coming Home Network will host its first-ever “clergy convert conference” next month to foster fellowship among former Protestant and other non-Catholic pastors and ministers who have become Catholic or are preparing to enter the Church.

In partnership with the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, the network will hold the weekendlong retreat May 30–June 1 in Steubenville, Ohio. The event will be “focused on fellowship among clergy converts, encouragement on the ongoing journey of faith, and on reigniting the fire for living out and sharing the Gospel now as Catholics.”

The conference is scheduled to feature speakers from different religious backgrounds, including Marcus Grodi, former Presbyterian pastor, founder of the Coming Home Network and longtime host of the EWTN program “The Journey Home.”

The Ohio-based Coming Home Network is an organization with the mission “to help non-Catholic Christians, clergy and laity, discover the truth and beauty of Catholicism and to make the journey home to full communion with the Catholic Church.”

Grodi started the network in 1993 “out of the seemingly isolated experiences” he and several other Protestant clergy experienced, according to the Coming Home Network website. 

“Upon leaving their pastorates to enter the Catholic Church, these clergy and their families discovered with surprise that there were many others being drawn by the Spirit to take the same journey ‘home.’” Since then, the network has offered vital support for convert pastors.

The executive director of the network and current host of “The Journey Home,” JonMarc Grodi, Marcus’ son, told CNA that although the network provides resources including its newsletter, published books, and retreats, “the core of the work has always been pastoral care.”

JonMarc said the network has “a team of people on staff who work one-on-one with people,” including a former Baptist pastor, Ken Hensley, who is the director of the organization’s pastoral care team.

“We do have videos, articles, and books,” but JonMarc said what makes the network unique is that when pastors reach out to them, the “pastoral care team will then form a relationship with them and follow them all the way through [to] make sure they have whatever resources they need and then continue to counsel them and mentor them.”

The network prioritizes support for pastors, JonMarc explained, as “many of them lose their job, their income and enter the Church with some uncertainty about their future.”

JonMarc added that the network continues to provide guidance long after such pastors choose to enter the Church. “Even once they become Catholic, even if they get a job, there’s a continuing journey of learning their new identity,” he said.

Regarding the upcoming conference, JonMarc said it is something the network is “hoping to hold every year.”

The organization’s director of outreach, Matt Swaim, told CNA that since the beginning of 2025, 47 pastors have already reached out to inquire about the journey to becoming Catholic, have converted, or are trying to figure out where they fit in the faith.

He said that in 2024, the network worked with 99 pastors, which was almost double the amount it helped in 2022. The network caters to more than 10,000 Coming Home members from more than 200 religious and denominational backgrounds.