Who is in charge when the pope is unconscious and unable to run the Catholic Church?

Question: Who runs the Catholic Church when the pope is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to govern?

Answer: The pope.

The Vatican has detailed laws, rituals and norms to transfer papal power if a pope dies or resigns. But none of them apply when he is sick or even unconscious, as Pope Leo XIV will be when he undergoes surgery Tuesday to remove a nodule on his lung.

As a result, Leo remains pope and very much in charge even when he goes under general anesthesia at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he arrived Tuesday afternoon for what is expected to be a weeklong stay.

The pope’s role is universal by design

The pope is the successor of the Apostle Peter, the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and the pastor of the universal Catholic Church on Earth, according to the church’s in-house canon law.

Nothing changes in his status, role or power since Leo was elected the 267th pope on May 8, 2025.

The Vatican bureaucracy already helps him govern

Leo may be in charge, but he already delegates the day-to-day running of the Vatican and the Church to a team of officials who operate whether he is in the Apostolic Palace or not, and whether he is conscious or not.

Chief among them is the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. In a sign that Leo’s hospitalization foresaw no change to the governance of the church, Parolin wasn’t even in the Vatican on Tuesday. He was speaking at a conference nearby.

“We were all struck by the serenity with which the pope announced this procedure,” Parolin told reporters as he arrived for the conference. “Am I worried? Yes, because I certainly didn’t expect something like this.”

But Parolin said he had spoken with the pope Monday night and was reassured.

“It’s something that, thank God, we noticed right away. And normally, when these things are caught in time, they can be resolved,” he said. “But these are, as the pope said, God’s surprises.”

Other Vatican functions are proceeding normally, including the announced appointments of two new bishops on Tuesday, albeit with some modifications for events where the pope had been expected to attend.

When a pope gets sick, nothing changes legally

Canon law has provisions for when a diocesan bishop gets sick and can’t run his diocese, but none for a pope. Canon 412 says a diocese can be declared “impeded” if its bishop — due to “captivity, banishment, exile, or incapacity” — cannot fulfill his pastoral functions. In such cases, the day-to-day running of the diocese shifts to an auxiliary bishop, a vicar general or someone else.

Even though Leo is bishop of Rome, no explicit provision exists for the pope if he similarly becomes “impeded.” Canon 335 declares simply that when the Holy See is “vacant or entirely impeded,” nothing can be altered in the governance of the church. But it doesn’t say what it means for the Holy See to be “entirely impeded” or what provisions might come into play if it ever were.

Past popes have written instructions just in case

In 1965, Pope Paul VI wrote letters to the dean of the College of Cardinals hypothesizing that if he were to become seriously ill, the dean and other cardinals should accept his resignation.

Paul foresaw the possibility that as popes continued to live longer, they could become incapacitated by stroke, dementia or another long-term, progressive ailment that would make it impossible for them to do their job and unable to freely resign. The letter was never invoked, since Paul lived another 13 years and died on the job.

Pope Francis confirmed in 2022 that shortly after he was elected pope, he wrote a letter of resignation, to be invoked if he became medically incapacitated. Francis said he gave it to the then-secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and assumed Bertone had delivered it to Parolin’s office when he retired.

The text was never made public, and the conditions Francis contemplated for a resignation were unknown. It also is not known if such a letter would be canonically valid. Canon law requires a papal resignation to be “freely and properly manifested,” as was the case when Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in 2013.

Power transfers only when a pope dies or resigns

The only time papal power changes hands is when a pope dies or resigns. At that time, a whole series of rites and rituals comes into play governing the “interregnum,” the period between the end of one pontificate and the election of a new pope.

During that period, known as the “sede vacante,” or “empty See,” the camerlengo, or chamberlain, runs the administration and finances of the Holy See. He certifies the pope’s death, seals the papal apartments and prepares for the pope’s burial before a conclave to elect a new pope.

The position is currently held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the head of the Vatican’s laity office.

The camerlengo has no role or duties if the pope is merely sick or otherwise incapacitated.

In fact, in these days Farrell is presiding over a Vatican conference on family ministry that Leo had been attending up until his surprise hospitalization.

Cancelled Nathan Carter concert a missed chance 'bring people back to church'

The cancellation of a Nathan Carter concert in County Roscommon was a missed opportunity to “bring people back into the church”, a local councillor has argued. 

The country music star was due to St Joseph's Church in Boyle in December; however, a new parish priest decided that he did not want the concert to take place and the event was cancelled. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, independent Councillor Tom Crosby said he is “very disappointed” and described it as a “backward step” for the community. 

“I've attended concerts in the church and like I certainly wouldn't be agreeable to a type of disco music or anything like that but I think Nathan Carter, Tommy Fleming, people like that,” he said. 

“It would be very appropriate and I think it would bring people, if you connect the church, what's happening here, I think it's maybe distancing people that are not attending church now. 

“This was a lovely opportunity, maybe, to bring people back into the church.”

Also on the programme, Father Joe McGrath from County Cavan, who previously went viral at a wedding singing Wonderwall, said he believes the church can co-exist with musicians. 

“Sit down with Nathan Carter and say, ‘Look Nathan, this is the house of God, it's very sacred to us, we love your coming, you're very welcome to come to the church but respect that this is the house of God’,” he suggested. 

“He's not exactly going to be anti-Christian or anti-community or anti-life - this is Christmas time, he'll be bringing people together.”

Fr McGrath added that the church is facing “ferocious change” in Ireland and reaching out to local communities is the “least we can do”. 

“As people welcome us, so we welcome them,” he said. 

“There's a country music festival where I am in Mullahoran every summer - a massive country music festival in the parish and the first thing they do to open the country music festival every single year in Mullahoran is they invite me down to celebrate mass. 

“People who are coming for the weekend, local people, they come to, we go down, we do the mass in the concert venue where all the dancing and the singing and the music is going to be taking place for this mighty weekend.”

However, he did caution that all performances need to be respectful to the congregation and building they perform in. 

“The world is so divided,” he said. 

“Anything that brings people together, anything that creates a bit of Christmas cheer.

“I'm pretty certain that if Nathan Carter was in that church at Christmas, there are going to be Christmas hymns, Christmas songs, Christmas melodies sung. He's going, as well as his other stuff. 

“You know, you're relying on Nathan Carter to be sensible too.”

Families invited to annual remembrance service at the Redemptorist Church, Limerick

University Hospital Limerick and St John’s Hospital will host their annual Joint Remembrance Service this Sunday, 18 October, offering families, friends, and healthcare staff a dedicated space to commemorate loved ones who passed away at either hospital.

The service will take place at 2 pm at the Redemptorist Church, Mount Saint Alphonsus, on South Circular Road in Limerick city.

The event is fully inclusive and open to people of all faiths, spiritual traditions, and none.

The afternoon gathering will combine prayer, music, and dedicated quiet reflection. 

Members of the public who attend are invited to bring a photograph or personal memento of their loved one to be included in a special blessing during the ceremony.

No booking or RSVP is necessary to attend in person. 

For family members or friends who are unable to travel to the church, the entire service will be broadcast live online.

In addition to the annual memorial service, HSE Mid West highlighted ongoing support provided in partnership with the Irish Hospice Foundation.

Families seeking guidance or emotional comfort during grief can access the national freephone Bereavement Support Line on 1800 80 70 77, which operates Monday through Friday from 10 am to 1 pm. 

How a 150-year-old Drogheda church could become Louth’s newest library

A 150-year-old church is set for a new chapter at the heart of Drogheda, with ambitious plans advancing to transform the former St. Magdalene’s Dominican Church into a landmark library and community hub.

Local councillors were given an update on the project this week, with Fianna Fáil councillor James Byrne outlining proposals that would see the historic church and adjoining priory repurposed into a modern public facility more than two-and-a-half times the size of the current library on Stockwell Street.

Cllr Byrne said the expanded space would allow Louth County Council to significantly enhance both its library services and community outreach programmes.

The transformation of the historic church building is being viewed as a major regeneration opportunity for the area.

Under the proposals, the main church building will become the new library, with two freestanding mezzanine levels carefully incorporated into the design. The adjoining priory will be linked to the library and converted to provide meeting rooms, study spaces and an exhibition area.

Cllr Byrne welcomed assurances that the final design would respect the heritage of the historic building.

“I’m encouraged to hear that the final design will be centred on recognising the building as it was,” he said.

Plans are also expected to include the creation of a new public entrance on Dominic Street, where the existing oratory is located.

Cllr Byrne said the move is being considered because the current entrances might not provide the level of accessibility required for the new development.

Welcoming the latest update, he added that the project had the potential to reshape the surrounding area.

“It could have a transformative effect on Dominic Street, similar to the new look at Fair Street alongside a repurposed Abbey Shopping Centre,” he said.

Enoch Burke faces jail again as school lodges fresh High Court application

Enoch Burke faces the prospect of being jailed again after Wilson’s Hospital School lodged a fresh High Court application over his alleged trespassing at the Co Westmeath school.

Burke was formally dismissed from his position at the school in May for gross misconduct. He maintains that he was not validly dismissed, and continues to seek his reinstatement through the courts.

Lawyers for the school told Judge Brian Cregan on Tuesday that Burke had trespassed on various occasions since the beginning of the academic year, in breach of a court order.

Rosemary Mallon, counsel for the school’s board, said the school had done “all in its power” not to return to the courts, contacting gardaí and employing security personnel at the school premises.

Mallon said Burke had for some time confined his protest over his dismissal to outside the school gates.

However, since late last month, it appeared Burke had “changed his mind”, and continued to trespass on the school premises, counsel said.

She said the school had been placed in an “invidious” position, as it had been since the start of the long-running dispute.

The judge granted the school permission to serve Burke with its application for his attachment and committal to prison over his contempt of the court order. The case will return later this week.

Burke was not represented at the hearing.

Wilson’s Hospital School suspended and later dismissed Burke over his conduct towards its then-principal at a school religious event in June 2022.

The confrontation arose in circumstances where Niamh McShane had earlier directed teachers to address a student by a new name and with the pronouns “they” and “them”.

Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained this request went against his religious beliefs.

When Burke continued to trespass at the school following his suspension, the school sought court orders banning him from the premises. Burke has continuously breached the order banning him from the school.

He has spent more than 700 days in prison in separate spells, arising from his contempt of the court order.

Cregan ordered Burke’s release from prison in July, despite his refusal to give a court undertaking not to trespass at the school.

Former students allege decades of abuse at former Bronzeville Catholic school in new lawsuit

Seven former students of the former Holy Angels Catholic School in Bronzeville filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused by priests and accused the Archdiocese of Chicago of failing to protect students despite knowing about the allegations.

Attorneys representing the former students said more than 100 former students were abused at the Catholic school and that some alleged victims were as young as 5 years old.

The seven lawsuits filed Monday represent what attorneys described as the first of many expected legal actions.

One lawsuit describes what it calls "a continuous, decades-long child sex ring at Holy Angels," alleging abuse occurred from 1969 to 2002.

According to attorneys, one former student alleged the abuse began as molestation.

"It escalated into forced oral sex over 20 times and then rape as a fifth and sixth grade boy," attorney Steven Hart said. "He was told by the priest to keep quiet and to shut his mouth. And if he did, God would protect him."

The lawsuits name four former priests: George Clements, Paul Smith, John Calicott and Kenneth Brigham.

Attorneys allege the abuse occurred on a daily basis. All four priests have died.

Clements, who was known nationally for his adoption advocacy, denied an earlier abuse claim before his death in 2019. He was never charged.

Attorneys argued that responsibility extends beyond the priests and includes the Archdiocese of Chicago.

"The Archdiocese didn't stumble into this. The Archdiocese knew, knew for more than a year," Hart said.

According to attorneys, church records show Calicott was removed from ministry in 1994 because of abuse allegations and was named pastor of Holy Angels the following year.

Attorneys also cited what they said was a later admission by church officials that safeguards meant to monitor clergy were ineffective.

"The Chicago Archdiocese said years later, an effective monitoring system does not exist," Hart said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago told ABC7 it does not comment on lawsuits.

Angela Walker of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called for accountability.

"The church hierarchy needs to be held accountable, and they need to compensate these victims for all of the trauma that they suffered," Walker said.

The lawsuits describe the alleged victims as "overwhelmingly poor, Black boys" in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Attorneys contend race played a role in how complaints were handled and have made those allegations part of their legal claims.
Asked whether the students would have received different support if they had been white, attorney Sean O'Malley responded, "Yes."

Hart added: "Let me just say it in a different way. They're not white. Not one."

O'Malley said: "When you discriminate against children, against victims of child sex abuse, in terms of your indifference, in terms of your assessment of their credibility, you discriminate against them based off of race. We regard that as a form of malice."

Attorneys said they expect dozens more lawsuits in the coming weeks as additional alleged survivors come forward.

They also established a helpline for people who want to share their stories: 833-705-0020.

For more resources, visit the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests at snapnetwork.org.

Former Madison priest convicted of child sex crimes

A former Madison priest facing multiple child sex felony charges pleaded to reduced charges in Waupaca County court.

At an Oct. 13 hearing, 38-year-old Andrew Showers pleaded no contest to attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years old, both felonies. A third felony charge, attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, was dismissed but will be considered in determining Showers’ sentence.

The man also pleaded no contest to one count of possessing child pornography from a separate Waupaca County case, online court records show. A second count of the same charge was dismissed but will be read in.

According to online court records, Showers is set to be sentenced for the charges he faces in both cases 1 p.m. Jan. 12 in Waupaca County court. He faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted.

Showers was charged with three felonies in August 2025 after prosecutors said he sent sexually explicit messages and traveled to Waupaca County to meet and have sex with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl, unaware he was actually talking to a Clintonville police officer.

According to a criminal complaint, Showers connected with the officer posing as a 14-year-old on social media. The two exchanged messages on Reddit and the Telegram app, and Showers was aware the individual claimed to be a teenager, the complaint said. Showers sent explicit texts and photos and arranged to meet up in Clintonville, where police were waiting to arrest him, according to the complaint.

Showers was charged Aug. 27, 2025, with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years old. He was booked into the Waupaca County Jail but was released a day later after paying a $10,000 cash bail, court records show.

The Diocese of Madison – where Showers served as a Catholic priest – restricted Showers from ministry upon learning of his arrest, adding it had not previously received any allegations of misconduct connected to the priest.

The same day he was charged, the diocese acknowledged Showers had been the subject of a complaint in December 2021. According to a police incident report, a father expressed concern about “inappropriate questions the priest asked his son during confession” at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Lodi.

The father said Showers asked his son “about masturbation and if he was viewing pornography,” and that “his son was very uncomfortable” and reported it immediately. The father told police he had contacted church and diocese officials, who told him they believed Showers’ questions were about “sins that are natural for that age group.”

At a September 2025 media conference after Showers’ arrest, a young woman spoke about her own experience with the priest. She said Showers approached her and her friends at a social event in Chicago the year prior, introduced himself as a priest, then groped her underneath her clothes before sharing his business card with her.

The woman’s father reported the abuse to the diocese and Chicago police, who conducted an investigation.

Showers had been set to escort a small group of young adults on a trip to Rome and Siena at the time of the allegations, according to a since-deleted social media post from the Diocese of Madison.

Months later, Showers received two additional felony charges. He was charged March 27 in Waupaca County with two counts of possessing child pornography.

In addition to the interaction Showers had with the undercover police officer in August 2025, investigators said they found several other “concerning” conversations where it appeared Showers was talking to someone “younger in age,” according to a criminal complaint. Investigators also found thousands of pornographic images on Showers’ phone, including two viewed by Showers that depicted child sexual abuse material, the complaint said.

On June 24, the Diocese of Madison announced Pope Leo XIV had stripped Showers of his clerical duties after Showers requested the removal himself.

Showers faced a third set of charges Aug. 24, this time in Marathon County. He was charged with trying to groom a child for sexual activity and two counts of felony bail jumping for his Waupaca County cases.

A criminal complaint revealed in early 2026 says Showers contacted an undercover investigator with the Wausau Police Department pretending to be a 15-year-old girl on social media apps Kik and Telegram. At one point, Showers became angry with the investigator he thought was a teenage girl, because “she” could get men into trouble talking to them, the complaint said.

Showers eventually reached out again and began having regular social media chats with the investigator, according to the complaint. Showers sent pictures of his genitals on Telegram and asked who he believed to be the girl about her body and sexual experiences. He also asked if they could have sexual intercourse, the complaint said, and sent increasingly graphic messages as time went on.

Showers has a scheduling conference set for Oct. 22 in Marathon County.

According to the Diocese of Madison, Showers had the following assignments:

• Director of diocesan office of worship, 2024 to present.
• Parochial vicar for a grouping known as Pastorate 22 or Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, which collectively includes two churches, St. Raphael and Good Shepherd, and one school, St. James, all in Madison, 2023 to present.
• Priest in residence at All Saints in Berlin and Our Lady of the Lake in Green Lake, 2022 to 2023.
• Provided Spanish Mass assistance at St. John the Baptist in Waunakee, 2022.
• Pastor of St. Stephen in Clinton, 2020 to 2022.
• Parochial vicar for St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center, which serves UW-Madison students, 2018 to 2020.
• Parochial vicar of St. Cecilia in Wisconsin Dells, summer of 2017.

KCK priest reinstated, investigation didn’t find ‘sufficient’ evidence of misconduct

A Kansas City, Kansas, priest has been allowed to return to the ministry after allegations of misconduct involving a minor.

The Archdiocese of Omaha concluded its preliminary investigation into the allegations against Reverend Eric Flood of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). The alleged behavior occurred more than 20 years ago while he was serving in the Archdiocese of Omaha.

“The preliminary investigation by the archdiocese and civil authorities did not uncover evidence sufficient to substantiate the allegation or establish wrongdoing,” the archdiocese said in a news release. “Father Flood was serving as Chaplain of Saint John Vianney in Maple Hill, Kansas, when the allegation was reported.”

In July 2026, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas was notified by FSSP of the allegation against Father Flood. The Archdiocese of Omaha then reported the allegation to law enforcement and launched a preliminary investigation.

In accordance with church law, Father Flood was temporarily suspended.

“After carefully considering the investigation’s findings and consulting the archdiocesan independent review board and other canonical, legal and ministerial experts, Archbishop Shawn McKnight of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has lifted the imposed precautionary measures, and Father Flood will resume as Chaplain of Saint John Vianney on Oct. 12,” the archdiocese said.

“The archbishop is grateful to Father Flood for his full cooperation throughout the investigation and for complying with the requirements established during that time for the good of the church.”

Anyone with knowledge about misconduct by a church volunteer, employee, religious or clergy member is encouraged to contact civil authorities first, then call or text the Archdiocese’s confidential report line at 913-276-8703 or online at archkck.org/reportabuse.

Schneider: "We cannot continue with the Novus Ordo" nor with the ambiguities of Vatican II

Auxiliary Bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), Athanasius Schneider, considers the presence and activity of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X to be “increasingly providential.” 

He makes this claim in the second part of an extensive interview given to Michael Haynes for The Catholic Herald. 

In it, he reviews the situation of the traditional Mass, the conflict with the SSPX, and what he describes as a serious doctrinal and liturgical crisis in the Holy See.

A Mass outside the Vatican

The interview comes on the eve of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. This year, unlike last year, the pilgrimage will not be able to celebrate its pontifical Mass in the Vatican. 

Schneider, who will preside over it at Santa Maria Maggiore, personally delivered the organizers’ petition to Leo XIV during a private audience in December 2025. According to the British outlet, the negative response from the Secretariat of State did not arrive until August 2026.

A year and a half into the pontificate, the bishop believes the situation “has barely changed” compared to the measures adopted after Traditionis custodes. The restrictions “continue and, in some cases, the situation is even worsening,” with dioceses closing places where the celebration was previously permitted, something he describes as “a form of persecution.” 

He recalls asking the Pope for “a generous gesture as the common father of all his faithful” and laments that Vatican officials continue to treat the ancient rite “as if it were something dangerous.”

“A work of Divine Providence”

Schneider served as apostolic visitor to the SSPX at the Holy See’s request and knows its positions from within. 

According to him, the disagreement has remained the same for more than fifty years: Rome demands recognition that the Second Vatican Council is in conformity with tradition and acceptance of the liturgical reform as correct.

The prelate maintains that certain conciliar texts contain “evident ambiguities.” Of the Novus Ordo, he states that it contains “very clear Protestant tendencies” and undermines the sacrificial character of the Mass, even when celebrated according to the norms. 

He points in particular to the new offertory prayers and Eucharistic Prayer II. “We cannot continue with the Novus Ordo – we cannot. We cannot continue with the evident doctrinal ambiguities of certain statements of the Second Vatican Council. We must resolve them,” he asserts.

In this context, he describes the Fraternity’s work as “a work of Divine Providence.” Its role would be to remind the Holy See of the need to clarify conciliar statements that are “objectively doubtful and ambiguous” and to reform the Novus Ordo “in accordance with tradition.” 

The hermeneutic of continuity seems to him like “mental acrobatics, or squaring the circle.” He asks Rome to grant “freedom of debate” and to integrate the SSPX “at least gradually, step by step.”

Harshness toward tradition, tolerance toward heterodoxy

Regarding the Vatican’s response to the consecrations of July 1, Schneider believes an impartial observer would see it as “an emotional reaction, a harsh judgment,” with the intent to punish the Fraternity and eliminate its influence. 

He contrasts this with the treatment of the Bishop of Antwerp, whom he says has announced he will violate the legislation on celibacy without receiving any reprimand. He also compares it to the “extreme generosity” shown toward the Chinese Communist Party and the German Synodal Way. He further questions how something can be discriminated against that, he recalls, John Paul II declared legitimate.

The bishop goes so far as to claim that the Holy See has suffered, “to a certain extent,” a “hostile takeover.” 

He compares the situation to the Avignon papacy: a “spiritual exile” of doctrine and liturgy that, he assures, will end. As then with Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Bridget of Sweden, today it will be families, young people, priests, and religious who contribute to that return, until God grants His Church “one-hundred-percent traditional popes.”

Pope's homily for the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia omits Chapter VIII and places the emphasis on chastity

The celebration brought to a close the gathering that, since October 7, has brought together at the Vatican the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, and married couples and experts from around the world. 

Thousands of faithful attended in the square. It was to have been presided over by Leo XIV, who entrusted it to Tagle after his admission to the Gemelli Polyclinic. 

The Filipino cardinal, the first Asian to head the College of Cardinals, thus made his debut as dean just six days after the Pope approved his election.

On Tuesday, surgeons removed the Pontiff’s lower lobe of the right lung using video-assisted technique, and histological examination confirmed an adenocarcinoma. 

According to the Holy See, the procedure concluded without complications and the Pope spent a peaceful night. Faithful from various countries prayed during the celebration for his recovery. 

After the proclamation of the Gospel, Tagle announced that he would read “the homily prepared by the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.”

Chastity, openness to life, and family prayer

The text began with the opening phrase of the exhortation: “The joy of love lived in families is also the joy of the Church.” Drawing on the hymn to charity in the First Letter to the Corinthians, the Pope described marriage as “a slow merging together, in which the uniqueness of one flourishes, in the gift, through the presence of the other.”

A large part of the homily focused on marriage preparation. Leo XIV recalled that Amoris laetitia calls for teaching young people “the importance of the virtues” and reserves a special place for chastity. 

He also warned that parish programs “by themselves are not enough” unless they are preceded and sustained by an education in love from childhood. He called domestic charity “the first school of the affections” and praised families who live their vocation “without fanfare, but with a fidelity that is sometimes heroic.”

The homily defended openness to life “from conception to its natural end.” Recalling number 52 of the exhortation, he noted that no precarious union or one closed to the transmission of life guarantees the future of society. 

Regarding difficult situations, he called for welcoming those going through moments of crisis, “surrounded by affection and protected from judgments and prejudices,” and cited the Relatio finalis of the 2015 Synod: “however wounded a family may be, it can always grow from love.”

In its final section, the Pope lamented that the custom of praying together at home “has greatly weakened,” recalled the importance of Sunday Eucharist, and “warmly” exhorted the rediscovery of family prayer. The text made no reference to chapter VIII.

Public communion with the Chaldean patriarch

By special mandate of the Pope, Tagle publicly expressed the ecclesiastical communion granted to His Beatitude Polis III Nona, Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, who was present at the celebration. Leo XIV had granted it by letter on April 24, in accordance with canon 76 § 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. 

The homily emphasized that this bond “does not therefore represent a mere formality, but a living reality,” rooted in eucharistic communion. The text concluded by entrusting families to the Holy Family of Nazareth with the prayer that closes the exhortation.

The Pope’s absence also marks the final session, scheduled for this afternoon in the Paul VI Hall. Cardinals Mario Grech and Kevin Farrell announced on Monday that a concluding address from Leo XIV is not to be expected and that the synthesis report will be presented and debated, but will not be made public.

Canonists against the synodal reform of the Code: "A Protestant community, but with a Pope"

The proposal of the Synod to reform the Code of Canon Law has received its first substantive criticism from within the canonical field itself. 

The Dominican Pius Pietrzyk, judge of the ecclesiastical tribunal of the Military Archdiocese of the United States, maintains that the report of the commission tasked by the General Secretariat of the Synod to translate the synodal process into norms separates the power of governance from the sacred order and would turn the Church into «a Protestant community, but with a Pope». 

The New York priest Gerald Murray, also a canonist, speaks of «a radical break with Catholic doctrine». Both made these statements to the Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin in an article published this Monday, October 12, by the National Catholic Register.

The document, titled Final Report of the Canonical Commission, is dated in the Vatican on September 22 and was released by the General Secretariat of the Synod at the end of that month. 

It was coordinated by Archbishop Filippo Iannone, then prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts and now head of the Dicastery for Bishops, and among its ten members are Jesuit Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, Dutch canonist Myriam Wijlens, and Spaniard José San José Prisco. 

According to the Register’s count, it proposes amending 34 canons. The Synod itself presents it as a working document, advisory and non-binding: none of its proposals would take effect without the Pope’s approval and formal promulgation.

The criticisms target the most far-reaching changes. The report adds to canon 749, which regulates the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff and the College of Bishops, a new first paragraph that incorporates the teaching of the constitution Lumen gentium according to which the entire body of the faithful, anointed by the Spirit, cannot err when it believes, and that manifests this property through the supernatural sense of faith of the whole people. 

It also proposes that the bishop may directly appoint diocesan judges, both clerics and laypersons, without the authorization of the Episcopal Conference currently required by canon 1421, that pastoral councils be mandatory in all dioceses and parishes, and that certain decisions of the bishop require the consent of the presbyteral council.

For Pietrzyk, vicar for administration of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, the text contains «perhaps two decent ideas»; the rest, in his words, ranges from «silly cosmetic changes» to «a betrayal of the Second Vatican Council and two millennia of ecclesiology». 

He describes the figure of the lay judge as «revolutionary» and contrary to the Council, and criticizes Ghirlanda for defending an extreme view of the Pope’s capacity to delegate power. He also recalls that the report «has no legal authority» and dismisses it as «a strange footnote in the history of the Church». 

According to the Register, the commission does not touch canon 129, which reserves the power of governance to those who have received the sacred order and allows the laity to cooperate in its exercise.

Murray, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, sees in the set of reforms an attempt to extend the power of governance in the Church to baptized but non-ordained Catholics, and considers it a rejection of the Church’s teaching on the threefold office of Christ: priest, prophet, and king.

The third canonist consulted by Pentin, David Long, professor at the School of Canon Law of The Catholic University of America, is more nuanced. He supports giving greater juridical recognition to the sense of faith of the faithful, but believes its proper place is canon 750, not 749, and always under the magisterium: «The Council never treated it as something independent of the magisterium», he states. 

He does not see lay judges as a doctrinal rupture, because current law already admits them, although he calls for clarifying the scope of lay authority. He welcomes the mandatory pastoral councils and the consent of the presbyteral council, but warns that it will be necessary to foresee what happens when there is no agreement.

The commission, which worked on the Final Document approved by the synodal assembly in October 2024, does not limit itself to immediate adjustments: it proposes a long-term comprehensive revision of the Latin and Eastern codes. 

At the end of September, the new prefect of Legislative Texts, Anthony Randazzo, warned against those who see synodality as an opportunity to discard elements of the Church’s tradition. 

The criticisms come as another synodally inspired body, the Vatican meeting marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia, concludes its work with a report the Pope has asked not to publish. Which part of the canonical proposals becomes law will also depend on Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV - Health Update

Celebrating 225 years of worship and community at Mayo church

THE Church of Ireland, Straid Parish Church, Foxford, has announced a special Ecumenical Service of Celebration on November 1 at 4.30 p.m., marking 225 years of continuous worship and service to the local community.

The church warmly invites people from across the parish and surrounding community, from all Christian traditions and backgrounds, to join together for this very special occasion.

The preacher is Bishop Michael Burrows, Bishop of Tuam, Limerick & Killaloe, who will join the congregation in giving thanks for the church's long history and its continuing place at the heart of the Foxford community.

Located on the Market Square in the heart of Foxford, Church of Ireland, Straid Parish Church was constructed in 1801 by parochial assessment at a cost of £400, with the tower and gallery added in 1826. 

Welland and Gillespie were the appointed architects, and the church design is indicative of The Board of the First Fruits.

During the 19th century, Foxford was owned by the Bingham family, the Barons of Clanmorris of Newbrook, and they were responsible for the structural build.

Among the church's many features is its beautiful East Window (designed by William Francis Dixon of Franz Mayer & Company, Munich and London).

The East Window was erected in 1908 by John Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris, and dedicated to the memory of his parents. 

The window remains a treasured part of the church and serves as a reminder of the generations who have contributed to the life and story of the parish.

For 225 years, the church has been a place of worship, prayer, celebration and remembrance, witnessing the changing lives and stories of generations within the parish. 

So, the 225th anniversary celebrations on November 1 provides an opportunity not only to reflect on the rich heritage of Church of Ireland, Straid Parish Church but also to look forward with hope to its continuing role within the community for generations to come.

Lobbying, lawyers and a media blitz: the fight to kill the Church of England’s £100m slavery compensation fund (Opinion)

“This is virtue signalling,” said Nigel Biggar. “These are elites who are trying to demonstrate that they are being progressive.”

The target of his scorn was one that has obsessed him for years: the movement to pay reparations for the slave trade, and specifically the Church of England’s plan to spend £100m atoning for its involvement.

“I’ve got north of 100 parish churches in my constituency, many of them crumbling,” added Katie Lam, an up-and-coming Conservative MP and immigration hardliner.

Lord Biggar, a retired professor, Conservative peer and Anglican priest, was speaking alongside Lam last September on a Spectator podcast named after his latest book, Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt.

Since the church’s commissioners – who manage the church’s endowment – announced in 2023 that they would set up the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice to make amends for the church’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, Biggar has led the backlash.

In doing so he has gone from fringe voice to one of the most widely published proponents of revisionist theories about colonialism and the British empire.

Dozens of articles have been published against Project Spire, as the fund is known in the church, many by Biggar and people who share similar views, in publications including the Spectator, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Times.

Lam has led opposition in the House of Commons, asking questions of ministers and in December coordinating a letter from 27 MPs and peers to the incoming archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, accusing the church of “legally dubious vanity projects”.

The media blitz has paid off so far, paralysing the church and stalling the fund well beyond its planned launch date of 2024. 

The church admitted in July it also faces a legal challenge – which could add years more delay.

Yet little attention has been paid to the lobbying campaign against Project Spire – and how it has become a cause célèbre within the broader rightwing ecosystem. 

The Guardian can reveal how some of Britain’s wealthiest financiers, including Sir Paul Marshall, are linked to the man at the heart of the campaign to kill the church’s fund.

The multimillionaire co-founder of the hedge fund Marshall Wace has given Biggar and his movement a powerful platform via his stable of media outlets, which spans the Spectator magazine, the broadcaster GB News and the comment website UnHerd.

A devout Christian, Marshall also funded several rightwing lobbying groups and organisations linked to Biggar to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It all appears part of the libertarian financier’s significant efforts to reshape the Church of England – and wider society – in line with his own worldview.

A moral reckoning

In 2007 Dr Rowan Williams, the then archbishop of Canterbury, set in train a reckoning for one of Britain’s most venerable and staid institutions when he said the church should consider slavery reparations for its historical role in the slave trade.

It signalled Lambeth Palace’s determination to atone for those failings – from its distant past to the present day.

His successor, Justin Welby, reaffirmed that commitment. “I’m ashamed of our history and I’m ashamed of our failure,” said Welby, a former oil executive turned priest, in 2020. “There is no doubt when we look at our own church that we are still deeply institutionally racist.”

In 2019, the church commissioners ordered research into the endowment fund’s origins and links to the slave trade. 

Its initial findings, published in 2022, revealed the funds partly originated in Queen Anne’s Bounty.

Queen Anne’s Bounty, which was founded in 1704, invested significant sums in the South Sea Company, which traded in enslaved people – trafficking about 34,000 enslaved Africans. 

The South Sea Company also received numerous benefactions from individuals such as the slave trader Edward Colston, who were linked to, or who profited from, transatlantic chattel slavery and the plantation economy.

Subsequent work by historians on the newly digitised Register of British Slave Traders has revealed how C of E clergymen financed the Royal African Company (RAC), which trafficked more African men, women and children than any other single organisation in the history of the slave trade.

In January 2023 the commissioners published a 25-page report on the endowment fund’s links to the slave trade, employing forensic accountants at Grant Thornton. 

It declared its intent to set up a £100m fund to invest and generate returns to support communities most affected by African chattel enslavement. 

Money would come from the church’s endowment, now valued at £11.6bn.

An independent oversight group was formed to steer the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice, which the commissioners hoped would attract external investment to grow to a £1bn pot. 

“It is now time to take action to address our shameful past,” said Welby.

Bishop Rosemarie Mallett, the chair of the oversight group, said: “We believe that, like the mustard seed of the parable, the fund will grow from small beginnings towards an expansive future, inspiring imitation and constructive atonement for enduring evils.”

It was part of a wider examination into Britain’s links to slavery: the statue of Colston had been toppled into Bristol harbour in 2020, and institutions from the Bank of England and insurance market Lloyd’s of London to the royal family were delving into their past.

But the church was not ready for the backlash that the fund would provoke.

“The church commissioners always anticipated pushback,” said a source connected to Project Spire. “But it was unprepared for the intensity and persistence of the campaign waged by critics and media associated with wealthy City hedge fund executives.”

‘Wokery is a Christian heresy’

Among the first opponents was a Church of England vicar who appeared on GB News days after the fund was announced in January 2023, to say it would put parishioners off donating to the church. “We keep hearing that there is no money left,” he said.

“And now suddenly, they’ve found £100m down the back of the sofa, to pay for this. You can imagine how I felt.”

A torrent of similar views has followed, with significant coverage in media organisations that are owned or backed by Marshall.

The Spectator, which Marshall bought in 2024 for £100m, has hosted repeated criticism, including one piece by Biggar entitled “Wokery is a Christian heresy”, and another by its assistant editor Madeleine Grant, which described the fund as “deeply unpopular, based on questionable history and law”.

GB News, the TV channel that Marshall co-owns with the Dubai-based fund Legatum, hosted Biggar for an interview in which he labelled the C of E’s plan “completely irrational and wilful self-flagellation”. 

Biggar, the former regius professor of moral theology at the University of Oxford, has been at pains to state that “racial prejudice is wrong”, and slavery is “abhorrent”. But his criticism of Project Spire has been unrelenting.

UnHerd, the commentary website Marshall co-founded in 2017 with former Times journalist Tim Montgomerie, has run pieces with headlines such as “The Church of England’s reparations plan is unchristian”. 

Marshall’s son, Winston Marshall, has hosted Biggar twice on his YouTube show, with episodes such as “The Inconvenient Truth About Reparations and the Slave Trade”.

Other rightwing publications and organisations have also weighed in. 

The Critic, a magazine founded by the hedge fund tycoon and Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking, has run seven articles critical of Project Spire, including by Biggar and Lam. None have been supportive.

In 2025 Policy Exchange, the right-of-centre thinktank, published a 58-page paper titled The Case Against Reparations: Why the Church Commissioners for England Must Think Again. 

Again, Biggar was one of the authors.

Critics claim parishioners are similarly opposed to Project Spire, citing a poll of 500 churchgoers by Merlin Strategy that received widespread coverage in January. 

An initial story in the Sunday Telegraph reported a key finding: that 61% might withhold donations if the fund went ahead and money was “unavailable for the support of parishes”. The story was widely followed up, including by the Daily Mail and BBC.

But the coverage failed to mention the results of another similar question in the poll: “If the national church decided to commit £100m of its endowment to slavery-related ‘reparative justice’, would this increase or decrease the amount you would normally con[tribute?]”

This time 61% said they would either maintain or increase their contributions, compared with 34% who said they would reduce their contributions.

Nor did the stories mention who paid for and commissioned the poll: Biggar. 

Merlin said it sent the results of the poll to Biggar but had no further involvement in its dissemination. Biggar declined to answer questions about the poll.

The Guardian understands the Telegraph story was based on a press release sent by Lam that omitted details including Biggar’s involvement and the finding that 61% would maintain or increase their donations. Lam did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The church has said money for Project Spire will not be diverted from parishes, and that funding for churches and clergy has risen by 36% to £1.6bn for its current three-year period, versus the prior period.

Financial links

Marshall, who was a substantial donor to the Brexit campaign, has become one of Britain’s most prolific philanthropists. Armed with almost £490m in assets, the Sequoia Trust, a charitable trust he supports and chairs, backs a range of causes close to his heart, including in the Church of England.

The Guardian recently revealed how he has given at least £13m to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), an evangelical church in Knightsbridge in central London that seeded the popular Alpha course, and the Church Revitalisation Trust (CRT), via Sequoia, between 2018 and 2025.

He also provides significant support to organisations where Biggar is heavily involved, many of which are on the frontline of the culture wars.

In May last year the hedge fund tycoon delivered a 48-minute lecture at the University of Oxford on his reflections as an “accidental media owner”. 

The event was organised by a little-known charity, the Pharos Foundation, which Biggar co-founded in 2023 and of which he is a trustee. 

It funds the work of young academics “pursuing civilisational or heterodox research in a climate of free inquiry”.

Biggar founded Pharos with another academic, Prof David Abulafia, and the fund manager and Conservative party donor Neil Record. 

Record has described Pharos as part of a “resistance movement” in academia, fighting back against the “cancellation” of debate around subjects such as “DEI/EDI; climate change; the genetic role in intelligence; trans rights; and colonial history”.

Pharos are “innovators and disruptors, and you fight the fight for freedom”, Marshall told the Oxford audience. “Therefore you do everything I like and want to support”.

Accounts for Pharos show that Sequoia gave it £700,000 in 2024 and 2025. At least 10 Marshall Fellows appear on Pharos’s website, studying subjects including the British empire and ancient Greece.

Biggar, who is a paid “fundraising ambassador” for Pharos, declined to say how much he receives for the role.

Another prominent City figure, George Robinson, the co-founder of the hedge fund Sloane Robinson and a Conservative party donor, is also a trustee of Pharos, and charitable trusts linked to him have given it at least £500,000.

Robinson said he was “not aware” of the campaign against Project Spire and is not involved. He said that Biggar’s opposition to the church’s fund was done in a personal capacity and “has nothing to do with Pharos, which is an educational charity”.

Biggar was also a speaker at the recent Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) conference in London, which brought together rightwing voices from across the globe. 

Marshall funded the launch of Arc in 2023 with a £1m donation, followed by £2m last year, and he co-owns it with Legatum. 

Biggar is a director of a subsidiary, Arc Research, for which he said he receives no payment.

Sequoia also gave £890,000 to Policy Exchange between 2020 and 2023.

Culture warriors

Biggar has links to the hard-right Restore Britain, but says he has ‘no formal relationship’ with the party. Composite: Guardian

Biggar was involved in a similar storm that engulfed another British institution several years ago. In 2020 the National Trust published a 115-page report that unravelled its properties’ links to slavery and colonialism. 

Biggar was reportedly the inspiration for a lobbying group called Restore Trust which was set up to oppose the charity’s so-called “wokeness”.

Pharos backer Record was also linked to Restore Trust, appearing on its “meet the team” page until his resignation in 2024. Record, a veteran City currency trader, is also a prominent backer of anti-net zero organisations, chairing Net Zero Watch.

Biggar mentored James Orr, the influential Christian academic and former adviser to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who was recently caught in a funding scandal. 

Orr told a Jordan Peterson podcast in 2021 that they spent a “few happy years” together at the University of Oxford’s McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life, which Biggar founded and Orr joined in 2014.

Biggar also has links to the hard-right party Restore Britain. It cited Biggar’s writing on rights and the legal system in a 2025 paper justifying its flagship policy of mass deportations. He was among the people thanked in the acknowledgments “for trusty friendship or helpful conversations”. 

Biggar said that he has “no formal relationship” with Restore and is a member of the Conservative party.

Biggar has written repeatedly for the website History Reclaimed. It was founded by academics including Robert Tombs in 2021. Tombs said that it “exists to correct historical errors and falsehoods, and that is why we criticise Project Spire”. 

History Reclaimed says none of its authors are paid and it receives “no financial support from any political party or organisation”.

Legal quagmire

Uncertainty now shrouds the fund. Mullally has reaffirmed the church’s commitment to it, including on a trip to Ghana in July when she expressed “lament” for the Church of England’s involvement in transatlantic chattel slavery.

Members of the church’s General Synod, who gathered in York in July, heard that commissioners had faced “some of the most vile abuse and correspondence” over Project Spire.

The threat of a judicial review has further delayed an application to the Charity Commission to establish the fund in a new arm’s-length body.

No further details were given on the legal threat, but the Guardian understands it is being led by Bijan Omrani, a Daily Telegraph columnist and barrister, who has repeatedly criticised Project Spire. 

It is understood to centre on the church commissioners’ authority to disburse the money and whether it corresponds with its duty to support the Church of England and its parishes, and whether it allows the commissioners to spend its funds abroad. 

The Guardian attempted to contact Omrani via a webform on his personal website, but no response was received prior to publication. Biggar said he is not involved in the legal challenge.

Biggar said: “Given the universality of slave-trade and slavery – especially among Africans – up until the 19th century some Anglican and British involvement is unremarkable. What is remarkable was the unprecedented campaign to abolish both, led by evangelical Anglicans from the 1780s. Project Spire tears the Church of England’s role out of its historical context, exaggerates its guilt, and ignores its abolitionist leadership.”

Paul Marshall said: “I am not funding the anti-Spire campaign but I would be happy to do so. I believe the reparations project is naive and ill-judged and that the money would be better spent looking after the needs of the global Anglican Communion, including the many parishes in the UK struggling to make ends meet. And I think the majority of churchgoers would agree with that.”

Winston Marshall, Record, Hosking, Orr, Policy Exchange and the Pharos Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.

A C of E spokesperson said: “Addressing our historic links to African chattel enslavement is an act of Christian repentance, responsible investment and credible witness.”

Christian woman charged five times over silent prayer near abortion clinic

A Christian woman who was originally charged last year with silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham is now facing five charges after prosecutors brought fresh allegations against her.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce is accused of breaching an abortion clinic buffer zone on five separate occasions by standing and praying silently within 150 metres of the clinic.

The five charges were brought this week, replacing an earlier single charge which a judge said was not properly drafted.

Vaughan-Spruce has pleaded not guilty. She does not dispute that she was within the 150m buffer zone, but her lawyers argue that silently praying and being present did not amount to a criminal offence and that her prosecution breaches her freedom of thought and religion.

Vaughan-Spruce was previously acquitted in a separate case after being arrested twice over silent prayer, and received a £13,000 settlement from West Midlands Police.

The charity volunteer was the first person to be charged under national buffer zone legislation, which came into force in October 2024 and prohibits “influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services” within 150m of abortion facilities.

Responding to the new charges brought against her, she said: “Standing silently and holding certain beliefs in a public space should never be a crime. Yet, despite being vindicated of wrongdoing on multiple occasions and receiving a financial settlement after two wrongful arrests, I was once again charged last year for my mere presence within a “buffer zone”, and have today received fresh charges.

"I am deeply troubled by this violation of the basic right to my own thoughts and to my deeply-held Christian pro-life convictions. I pray that common sense and freedom will prevail, so that no one else has to face criminal treatment for what they believe.“

Her trial is expected to take place next January.

Cuban pastor jailed despite cancelling prayer event after official warning

A Protestant pastor in Cuba has been arrested and imprisoned after attempting to organise a public prayer gathering, despite reportedly cancelling the event following warnings from the authorities.

Pastor Maikel Pupo Velázquez, who leads the unregistered Sacred Blessing Word of Fire Church in Camagüey, was detained by officers from Cuba's Department of State Security (DSE) on 26 September.

According to Christian human rights organisation CSW, he has been charged with "disobedience" and is being held at La Cerámica Roja Prison on the outskirts of Camagüey City.

The pastor had planned to hold a public prayer event at Cándido González Morales Stadium but was summoned by security officials on 25 September and warned not to proceed.

CSW reports that he was threatened with imprisonment if people gathered at the stadium.

The organisation says Pastor Pupo Velázquez complied with the warning and cancelled the event. However, concerned that some young people might not have received the message, he went to the stadium to encourage anyone arriving to leave.

According to sources who spoke to CSW, officers from the Technical Investigations Department arrived on a motorcycle and arrested him as he approached the venue.

The pastor was subsequently held without communication with the outside world for nine days at the local state security headquarters before being transferred to prison.

CSW says his wife was not informed of his detention and only discovered where he was being held after the pastor's stepfather visited the facility.

His imprisonment comes at a particularly difficult time for his family, with his 16-year-old daughter receiving treatment in the cardiac ward of Eduardo Agramonte Piña Paediatric Hospital.

CSW's director of advocacy and Americas team leader, Anna Lee Stangl, has called for his immediate release.

She said: "There is no rational justification for the decision of the Department of State Security to detain him for simply encouraging others of his faith to pray for Cuba. To prevent any communication with his wife, even as their teenage daughter is in hospital, is inhumane. We call on the international community to join us in urging the Cuban government to free him and drop all charges against him.’

This isn't the pastor's first time being detained for this faith. He was arrested in July 2025 after attempting to deliver medicine and other assistance to the families of two political prisoners.

Myanmar militia accused of desecrating Christian place of worship

A militia in Myanmar has been accused of desecrating a Christian place of worship.

The proxy group, which was operating under the direct supervision of the Myanmar military’s Northern Regional Command, conducted a military graduation ceremony inside the worship sanctuary of Nant Mun Baptist Church in Kachin State on 23 September. 

Over 400 military personnel took part in the ceremony, with local reports confirming that they drank alcohol and danced inside the sanctuary.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said it was part of a broader strategy by the Myanmar military and its proxy forces to weaponise religious spaces and undermine freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in ethnic minority areas.

Across Chin, Kachin and Karen States, hundreds of churches and Christian institutions have been subjected to airstrikes, arson, and artillery shelling, while others have been forcibly converted into military bases, command posts, or venues for junta propaganda.

The graduation ceremony was overseen by Major General Aung Zaw Htway, Commander of the Northern Regional Command, and took place in an area from which most Kachin residents have been forcibly displaced by ongoing conflict since early 2024.

Rev Lakang Dau Qae, General Secretary of Kachin Baptist Churches USA, said in a statement: "The deliberate turning of a sacred house of worship, Nant Mun Baptist Church, into a military venue is a direct attack on freedom of religion or belief and an insult to Kachin Christians. True peace cannot be built on state-sanctioned desecration and the systematic persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar. We urge the international community, especially the US State Department, to recognise these grave violations and immediately redesignate Myanmar as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)."

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “Converting a sacred house of worship into a military venue accompanied by deliberate acts of disrespect inside the sanctuary is a grave violation of freedom of religion or belief. The junta and its proxy militias consistently weaponise religious spaces to intimidate ethnic and religious minority communities. We join Kachin faith leaders in calling for immediate international accountability and targeted measures, including financial sanctions against military commanders orchestrating these abuses".

Fears for imprisoned Chinese pastor diagnosed with advanced liver cancer

Concerns are growing for a Chinese pastor serving a nine-year prison sentence following reports that he has been diagnosed with advanced liver cancer.

Christian persecution watchdog CSW has called for the immediate release of Pastor Wang Yi, who leads Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, so he can receive medical treatment.

He was arrested in December 2018 during a crackdown on the unregistered church in Sichuan Province, when more than 160 Christians were reportedly detained over two weeks. 

He was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison for inciting subversion of state power and illegal business operations. He is due to be released in 2027.

According to Christian persecution charity ChinaAid, his wife has faced severe restrictions on visiting him at Jintang Prison.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: "We call for his immediate release so that he can receive medical treatment, with full information being made available to his family and church regarding his diagnosis and health condition."

Meanwhile, CSW said the authorities have continued to target members of Early Rain Covenant Church, which is estimated to have at least 500 members.

On 23 September, two church members, elder Wu Wuqing and Shen Xiaoqing, were released after spending 10 days in administrative detention.

They had been detained for taking part in a Bible reading group at a teahouse, which authorities regarded as illegal religious activity. 

Both were fined, while nine other people detained in connection with the gathering were released without fines.

Thomas added: "We unreservedly condemn the crackdown of the Chinese Communist Party and authorities on unregistered churches throughout China, and the arbitrary detention and arrest of church leaders and members for engaging in peaceful everyday religious activities and gatherings."

Prominent archbishop warns believers in US Army to not particpate in firing squad

Catholics serving in the US Army should not participate in the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan that the Pentagon is planning to livestream in December, a prominent US archbishop said on Monday.

In an unusually strongly worded statement, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of Catholic members of the US armed forces, raised a series of objections to the unprecedented plan to broadcast the execution of Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in a 2009 shooting spree.

Broglio said he presided at the funeral of one of Hasan's victims, and lamented the shooting. 

But the Ohio-born archbishop asked whether the US wanted to "imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries." 

"I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church," Broglio said.

US Army regulations do allow for soldiers to request religious exemptions or accommodations, and the Army has yet to say how it intends to select members of the firing squad.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the shooting last week, triggering a backlash among Republicans in Congress, religious leaders and international observers. 

US President Donald Trump approved Hasan's execution by firing squad but has said he is still deciding whether to allow the livestreaming to proceed.

The event would be extraordinary, even for a country that has long employed capital punishment. 

A government execution has never been broadcast or livestreamed, according to death penalty experts, and the US military has not executed anyone by firing squad since 1945. 

Hasan, now 56, requires a wheelchair, having been shot by police during his arrest.

Hegseth said last week he wants US soldiers to execute Hasan at the time, day of the week and location of Hasan's shooting spree. Hegseth has argued that making the event public will help serve as a deterrent.

Broglio questioned whether the effect of a livestreamed execution on young viewers had been considered. He said the US military had a good reputation and asked if there was "really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair to the whole world."

Broglio's statement was issued shortly after he met on Monday in Rome with Pope Leo, who has clashed with Trump and his Pentagon over issues including the Iran war. 

Leo on Saturday condemned the death penalty, without mentioning the Hasan case specifically.

Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism, has said that if it does ultimately get livestreamed, he would not watch it.