Listen on: Apple | Spotify What does it mean to belong to a church—and a country—that doesn’t always welcome you? In this episode, Colin Martinez Longmore sits down with Yunuen Trujillo for an open conversation about identity, faith, fear, and belonging. Trujillo is an immigration attorney, LGBTQ+ Catholic advocate, and lay minister. As an immigrant and a queer […]

The post Yunuen Trujillo on LGBTQ+ ministry and immigrant justice appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. / Credit: Angela Musolesi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

Father Marcello Lanza of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) recently honored Father Gabriele Amorth on the 100th anniversary of Amorth’s birth as “the most famous exorcist of the 20th century.”

“Don Amorth was the most famous exorcist of the 20th century because, with his great love for the ‘poorest of the poor,’ he was not afraid of attracting negative preconceptions by communicating to the entire world the suffering that many believers were experiencing due to extraordinary diabolical phenomena,” Lanza wrote in an article published this month on the IAE website.

The Italian priest, who knew the late exorcist, emphasized that “one of his main warnings was to point out the presence of Satan behind the seemingly harmless phenomenon of magic.”

Amorth, who was born on May 1, 1925, “exposed the work of Satan behind the illicit activities of magicians, the hidden danger behind spiritualist seances, the spread of Satanism and black masses, but above all, he reestablished the thorny question of evil in theology.”

Why was he so outspoken?

Lanza explained that “from analyzing his writings, his interviews, but above all from having met him, it is clear that he was motivated by love for humanity. Furthermore, his writing apostolate, dedicated to demonology and practice of exorcism, was based solely on the profound charity he felt toward Satan’s victims, both baptized and unbaptized.”

“The psychological aspects of his strong and stable personality helped him not to be afraid to speak about Satan everywhere, from the pulpit to television. But what made him famous was his mystical life, through which he reminded the world that those being exorcised needed the love of the Church.”

In Lanza’s opinion, “the power of [Amorth’s] priestly service was experienced when he helped those exorcised to free themselves from many cursed objects expelled during the liturgical action of the exorcisms, restoring them to peace and serenity.”

This is what Amorth did, the exorcist continued, “reminding even more the theologians who denied the existence of Satan and his extraordinary action that this experience belongs to the exorcist liturgical magisterium.”

“In Father Amorth’s spiritual experience, the mystical life is in authentic conformity to Christ, which involves,” as Amorth explained in “The Sign of the Exorcist” (2013), “a choice that entails a great spiritual battle. Because by choosing Christ, the devil is unleashed,” Lanza emphasized.

After noting that “the mystical life and the fight against Satan are inseparable,” as the late Pope Francis recalled on various occasions throughout his pontificate, Lanza thanked Amorth “for having reminded the Church and theologians that the mystery of redemption is, above all, liberation from Satan, the enemy of God and humanity, constantly acting against man because he is envious of man.”

Who was Gabriele Amorth?

Amorth, born May 1, 1925, in Modena, Italy, was an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome.

In 1937, at just 12 years of age, he discovered his vocation to the priesthood thanks to his active participation in parish Catholic Action and the San Vincenzo Association.

In 1942, he traveled to Rome to meet with the Passionist order, which he wished to join because he felt drawn to community life. However, the Passionists did not have a room for him, so he was accommodated by the Society of St. Paul, the congregation in which he would be ordained a priest in 1954.

He worked in the Spiritual Assistance Office of the Vicariate of Rome and as a chaplain in Regina Caeli prison. He was responsible for the formation of young aspirants and religious of the Society of St. Paul.

In 1986, he was appointed chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome by Cardinal Ugo Poletti. In 1990, he founded the International Association of Exorcists and was president until his retirement at the age of 75.

Amorth said he performed tens of thousands of exorcisms. He was known for his practical approach and for reaffirming the existence of the devil and demons. He warned about the consequences of Ouija boards, astrology, and other occult practices.

Amorth was the author of several books, including “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” “An Exorcist: More Stories,” and “Exorcism and Psychiatry.” He also frequently contributed to television and radio programs and was consulted by the Vatican on matters related to exorcism.

Amorth died on Sept. 16, 2016, in Rome at the age of 91. Following the release of the trailer for the film “The Pope’s Exorcist,” supposedly based on Amorth’s life, Father José Antonio Fortea, an expert in demonology, explained that the production is an exaggeration of reality and is a distortion of the power of the devil.

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

Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. / Credit: Angela Musolesi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

Father Marcello Lanza of the International Association of Exorcists recently honored Father Gabriele Amorth on the 100th anniversary of Amorth’s birth.

Credit: Quisquilia/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:16 am (CNA).

A group of Orthodox churches has joined the Catholic bishops of Washington state in suing the government over its requirement that clergy either violate the seal of confession or face jail time.

The Orthodox Church in America, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and numerous other Orthodox jurisdictions on Monday sued dozens of public officials in the state challenging the constitutionality of its mandatory reporter law.

Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law goes into effect July 27 and adds clergy to Washington’s list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the “privileged communication” exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists.

Priests who fail to report abuse learned in confession could face up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

In a lawsuit filed last month in federal district court, the Catholic bishops of the state emphasized the Church’s commitment to child protection while defending the inviolability of the confessional seal.

The Orthodox leaders in their lawsuit similarly argued that Orthodox priests “have a strict religious duty to maintain the absolute confidentiality of what is disclosed in the sacrament of confession.”

“Violating this mandatory religious obligation is a canonical crime and a grave sin, with severe consequences for the offending priest, including removal from the priesthood,” the suit says.

The state’s law explicitly allows for numerous other exemptions for those otherwise required to report child abuse. Washington “is now the only state whose mandatory reporter law explicitly overrides the religious clergy-penitent privilege” while allowing the other exemptions, the lawsuit says.

The Orthodox leaders said they “do not object to alerting authorities when they have genuine concerns about children that they learn outside of confession.” Rather, they are demanding that the state “give the clergy-penitent privilege the constitutional protection it is due as a fundamental religious obligation.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court, claims the state’s law violates the First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. It asks the court to block the law and declare it unconstitutional. 

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly in a statement last month vowed that clergy would not break the seal of confession, even if it meant jail time.

“I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishops and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Daly said in his message to the faithful. “The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the law on May 6, calling it an “anti-Catholic” measure.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon described it as a “legislative attack on the Catholic Church and its sacrament of confession,” arguing it singles out clergy by denying them privileges afforded to other professionals.

Credit: Quisquilia/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:16 am (CNA).

A group of Orthodox churches has joined the Catholic bishops of Washington state in suing the government over its requirement that clergy either violate the seal of confession or face jail time.

The Orthodox Church in America, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and numerous other Orthodox jurisdictions on Monday sued dozens of public officials in the state challenging the constitutionality of its mandatory reporter law.

Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law goes into effect July 27 and adds clergy to Washington’s list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the “privileged communication” exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists.

Priests who fail to report abuse learned in confession could face up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

In a lawsuit filed last month in federal district court, the Catholic bishops of the state emphasized the Church’s commitment to child protection while defending the inviolability of the confessional seal.

The Orthodox leaders in their lawsuit similarly argued that Orthodox priests “have a strict religious duty to maintain the absolute confidentiality of what is disclosed in the sacrament of confession.”

“Violating this mandatory religious obligation is a canonical crime and a grave sin, with severe consequences for the offending priest, including removal from the priesthood,” the suit says.

The state’s law explicitly allows for numerous other exemptions for those otherwise required to report child abuse. Washington “is now the only state whose mandatory reporter law explicitly overrides the religious clergy-penitent privilege” while allowing the other exemptions, the lawsuit says.

The Orthodox leaders said they “do not object to alerting authorities when they have genuine concerns about children that they learn outside of confession.” Rather, they are demanding that the state “give the clergy-penitent privilege the constitutional protection it is due as a fundamental religious obligation.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court, claims the state’s law violates the First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. It asks the court to block the law and declare it unconstitutional. 

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly in a statement last month vowed that clergy would not break the seal of confession, even if it meant jail time.

“I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishops and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Daly said in his message to the faithful. “The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the law on May 6, calling it an “anti-Catholic” measure.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon described it as a “legislative attack on the Catholic Church and its sacrament of confession,” arguing it singles out clergy by denying them privileges afforded to other professionals.

The New Jersey State House. / Credit: Felix Lipov/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).

The New Jersey government will be allowed to assemble a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse there, the state Supreme Court said Monday.

In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court said a lower court had erred when it held the state could not empanel the jury, with the high court stating that the government “has the right to proceed with its investigation and present evidence before a special grand jury.”

The lower court had said in part that any findings from the grand jury could be “fundamentally unfair” because any priests accused in it would lack the ability to adequately challenge the allegations.

But the Supreme Court said it was up to judges to decide if any report complied with prevailing legal standards. Courts “cannot and [do] not decide the ultimate question in advance,” the ruling said.

The court’s decision comes just over a month after the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, said it would drop its fight against the state’s efforts to empanel the grand jury.

Camden Bishop Joseph Williams last month said he intended to “do the right thing” for abuse victims. The Camden Diocese had been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state over the potential grand jury empanelment.

Williams’ abandonment of the fight came just several weeks after he assumed the bishopric there on March 17.

The diocese had previously argued in part that New Jersey “cannot convene a grand jury to return a presentment unless it addresses public affairs or conditions, censures public officials, or calls attention to imminent conditions.” Years-old clergy abuse allegations did not meet these standards, the diocese had said.

In a letter in the Catholic Star Herald last month, Williams said he was “new to being a diocesan bishop and new to the complex legal arguments and proceedings involved” in the ongoing case. Prior to his March 17 appointment, he served as coadjutor bishop of the Camden Diocese.

A grand jury was famously empaneled in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2018 to investigate abuse allegations in multiple dioceses of that state.

That report, released in August 2018, revealed allegations of abuse against more than 300 priests involving more than 1,000 children in the state.

Remarking on that data, the jurists said in their report: “We believe that the real number — of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward — is in the thousands.”

The New Jersey State House. / Credit: Felix Lipov/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).

The New Jersey government will be allowed to assemble a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse there, the state Supreme Court said Monday.

In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court said a lower court had erred when it held the state could not empanel the jury, with the high court stating that the government “has the right to proceed with its investigation and present evidence before a special grand jury.”

The lower court had said in part that any findings from the grand jury could be “fundamentally unfair” because any priests accused in it would lack the ability to adequately challenge the allegations.

But the Supreme Court said it was up to judges to decide if any report complied with prevailing legal standards. Courts “cannot and [do] not decide the ultimate question in advance,” the ruling said.

The court’s decision comes just over a month after the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, said it would drop its fight against the state’s efforts to empanel the grand jury.

Camden Bishop Joseph Williams last month said he intended to “do the right thing” for abuse victims. The Camden Diocese had been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state over the potential grand jury empanelment.

Williams’ abandonment of the fight came just several weeks after he assumed the bishopric there on March 17.

The diocese had previously argued in part that New Jersey “cannot convene a grand jury to return a presentment unless it addresses public affairs or conditions, censures public officials, or calls attention to imminent conditions.” Years-old clergy abuse allegations did not meet these standards, the diocese had said.

In a letter in the Catholic Star Herald last month, Williams said he was “new to being a diocesan bishop and new to the complex legal arguments and proceedings involved” in the ongoing case. Prior to his March 17 appointment, he served as coadjutor bishop of the Camden Diocese.

A grand jury was famously empaneled in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2018 to investigate abuse allegations in multiple dioceses of that state.

That report, released in August 2018, revealed allegations of abuse against more than 300 priests involving more than 1,000 children in the state.

Remarking on that data, the jurists said in their report: “We believe that the real number — of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward — is in the thousands.”

There’s a story people like to tell about St. Óscar Romero’s media power: that you could walk anywhere in El Salvador on Sundays when he was archbishop without missing his homily, because it would be playing on the radio in every household and small business you passed. Mass communication was such an important part of […]

The post In Catholic media, tension between evangelism and journalism tests trust appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Bernardo García is executive director of the Casablanca Declaration. / Credit: “EWTN Noticias”/Screenshot

Lima Newsroom, Jun 17, 2025 / 09:42 am (CNA).

Bernardo García, executive director of the Casablanca Declaration, a coalition that calls for the universal abolition of surrogacy, said that in reality the practice amounts to “the exploitation of poor women and the sale of children.” The Casablanca Declaration takes its name from a conference on the subject held in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2023.

García spoke to “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, during the coalition’s third summit, held last week in Lima, Peru, with specialists in bioethics, law, and communications participating.

García emphasized that the Casablanca Declaration “is an NGO [nongovernmental organization] that informs about the risks and dangers of surrogacy worldwide and actively promotes an international treaty at the United Nations level to abolish this practice.”

“We believe that the authorities, as well as the public, need to be aware of the reality of this market, because it is often presented as an alternative fertility technique, as an alternative adoption technique, but this is really the exploitation of poor women and the sale of children,” he emphasized.

García pointed out the importance of banning surrogacy, a practice in which several Latin American countries have become the center of operations in recent years.

According to García, the Casablanca Declaration brings together specialists from more than 80 countries and was launched in response to the global growth of surrogacy, an industry valued at $22.4 billion in 2024, according to Global Market Insights.

A practice that violates the rights of women and babies

Lorena Bolson, dean of the Institute of Family Sciences at Austral University in Argentina, explained that surrogacy “involves a violation of all kinds of rights, both for the woman who carries the child and, above all, for the child, who ends up being the most forgotten one.”

Commissioning parents are the ones who contract for the baby. María Carrillo, a professor at Pan American University in Mexico, noted: “There are homosexual couples who resort to this practice because they naturally cannot have children. There are also heterosexual couples with infertility problems, and even single people... As long as they can afford it, they can access it.”

In Mexico, the states of Tabasco and Sinaloa allow surrogacy. Carrillo noted that it also is done in other states, although illegally. The majority of those seeking Mexican women for this purpose are primarily from the United States, Spain, and Asia.

Mexico “is a country with very high poverty rates, and there are women who are truly in desperate, vulnerable situations who seek this practice as a means to support their families,” Carrillo indicated.

Argentina and Uruguay

Women who agree to become surrogates often sign contracts imposed by intermediary companies. Verónica Toller, national director of the Fight Against Human Trafficking and Exploitation in Argentina, follows these contracts closely.

“We are talking about human trafficking with contracts that [make the surrogate] absolutely subservient,” Toller said. “The Argentine justice system considers women bound by these contracts to have been reduced to servitude where there was economic violence, health-related violence, where the woman is abandoned if she loses the baby, for example, by not being responsible for her subsequent medical care.”

Sometimes, she continued, “by order of the commissioning parents, babies are selectively discarded and aborted.”

In Uruguay, surrogacy is legal under certain conditions. As Sofía Maruri, a lawyer and human rights consultant, explained: “It is permitted for women who demonstrate that they cannot become pregnant due to fertility issues and can ask a relative, such as their mother or sister, to bear a child in their place, as long as the condition is that no money is involved.”

This case is known as “altruistic” surrogacy, in which the commissioning parents must cover the surrogate’s medical and food expenses.

Tragedy of surrogacy in Ukraine

One of the countries where surrogacy is legal is Ukraine. According to data from Casablanca, the cost of surrogacy in Ukraine ranges between $60,000 and $80,000, while in the United States it can reach $150,000. Therefore, many commissioning parents seek Ukrainian women, even in the midst of the conflict there.

In poor countries, surrogate mothers typically receive between $10,000 and $20,000. They must be between 25 and 35 years old and have had at least one child previously.

Faced with the pain of couples who want to have children but cannot, specialists at the Casablanca Declaration encourage them to opt for adoption.

In 2024, during the Second Casablanca Conference in Rome, the organizers met with Pope Francis, who encouraged them to continue defending human rights.

In the United States, surrogacy is governed by laws that vary from state to state. 

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

Readings (Year C): Genesis 14:18 – 20Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 41 Corinthians 11:23 – 26Luke 9:11b – 17 Reflection: Do this in remembrance of me This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Looking up to the heaven, he said the blessing, and broke them and gave them to […]

The post A reflection for the Feast of Corpus Christi appeared first on U.S. Catholic.