Report shows Cardinal Wojtyla's actions were 'exemplary' in abuse cases, refuting previous claims

In 2023, following a major television documentary claiming that St. John Paul II had covered up clerical sexual abuse when he was leading the Archdiocese of Kraków, Polish experts rejected the claim and urged that archdiocesan records be opened to allow the full context.

It took a change in Church leadership in Kraków to open the archives -- a move announced by Cardinal Grzegorz Rys on Jan. 30, a little over a month after he was installed in Wawel Royal Cathedral.

Once the archives had been opened, two investigative journalists gained firsthand access to the files. 

And after reviewing the material, they headlined their report in the journal Rzeczpospolita: "Cardinal Karol Wojtyla did not cover up cases of pedophilia" in his archdiocese.

What happened in 2023

The opposite headline -- "John Paul II knew about the abuse when he was archbishop of Kraków. As a cardinal, he 'protected the institution first, not the victims'" -- made waves in the media March 6, 2023, when the documentary "Franciszkanska 3" by Marcin Gutowski premiered on TVN24, a private commercial TV network in Poland.

At the time, only the Polish Institute of National Remembrance's archives were opened to researchers -- where state archives from communist authorities are stored -- and based on them, Gutowski claimed that Cardinal Wojtyla wanted to silence the cases, hide them from authorities and move abusive priests to different locations without sanctioning them.

Investigative journalists with Rzeczposolita, Tomasz Krzyzak and Piotr Litka, studied those same archives around the same time -- and in December 2022 published contradictory findings based on the state documentation.

"Looking at those same archives, we had a completely different interpretation of events," Krzyzak told OSV News, stressing that back then, he and Litka knew Cardinal Wojtyla did everything according to canon law, "but, just like TVN's Gutowski, we did not have access to curial archives to obtain more information and verify what was in those state communist archives."

At the time, Church archives in the Archdiocese of Kraków were closed to reporters.

The "Franciszkanska 3" report caused a wave of national debates, with the Polish bishops announcing on March 14, 2023, that they were willing to create a commission of experts to investigate cases of abuse of minors by clergy from the past in the country -- an investigation that would cover the era that St. John Paul II governed the Archdiocese of Kraków as Cardinal Wojtyla.

Fast forward three years, and on March 11, the Polish bishops' conference announced that the commission to investigate past cases of abuse had, after years of preparatory work, finally been established.

A month ahead of this announcement, investigative journalists Krzyzak and Litka had already been studying the archives of the Archdiocese of Kraków, which officially opened on Feb. 10 to researchers and journalists who requested access. 

On March 13, Krzyzak and Litka published the first part of their groundbreaking investigation. On March 20, the second part of their reporting went to print.

What the Archdiocese of Kraków archives say

"Our research shows that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla did not transfer priests from parish to parish when he learned of their criminal activities, but he took quick action, and some of his decisions were above-standard for the time," the March 13 report's lead said.

Asked by OSV News what the archives reveal, Krzyzak said that the archives -- which look "untouched" and "complete" -- give a different picture of Cardinal Wojtyla's actions than found in the story provided by Gutowski.

"There is no evidence that Wojtyla transferred priests from parish to parish because he learned that a person was sexually abusing children," Krzyzak told OSV News. "However, there is evidence that when he did learn about it, he took decisive -- very decisive -- actions consisting in simply suspending one priest or another, sending him to a place of isolation. In general, he took all the decisions that he should have taken."

Krzyzak and Litka studied two cases depicted in an earlier TV documentary in great detail.

One was of Father Eugeniusz Surgent. TVN's documentary claimed Cardinal Wojtyla relinquished responsibility for him, returning him back to his original bishop of the then-apostolic administration of Lubaczów, the future Diocese of Zamosc-Lubaczów.

The case, however, was a lot more complex.

Information about the actions of the abusive priest first came to the archdiocese in 1969 via an anonymous report.

"Anonymous reports at that time were, as a rule, thrown in the trash," Krzyzak said, explaining that when Poland was under communist rule, the communist government persecuted the Church, and anonymous reports on priests were mostly treated as blackmailing the Church by the communist Secret Service, known as Sluzba Bezpiecznestwa, or SB.

But this anonymous report was not ignored. It was treated "seriously," Krzyzak said, because the priest "was causing problems of another nature in different parishes before" by being emotionally unstable and getting into conflict with other priests and parishioners.

After the anonymous report, what Cardinal Wojtyla did "surpassed the times he lived in," Krzyzak said, and provided a vision the future pope had for managing his diocese: He sent the problematic priest for psychiatric tests, and reported the anonymous letter to the bishop of Lubaczów. This bishop, Jan Nowicki of Lubaczów, reprimanded the priest at the time.

The curial archives show that, besides the anonymous letter Cardinal Wojtyla had on alleged abuse of Father Surgent, he had no other official signals from alleged victims' families, even while the state archives claimed the contrary.

"There is no evidence that the boy's mother -- as the Security Service claimed -- presented the case in person at the curia. It cannot be ruled out that this was an over-interpretation by the officers (of SB)," Krzyzak and Litka wrote in their story.

Despite the report being anonymous, the priest was also immediately removed from a classroom where he had been teaching Catechism classes to children. The ordered psychiatric opinion, however, did not refer to any sexual deviances of the priest, only saying that the priest "demonstrates a clear personality deviation."

After two years of no other reports -- whether anonymous or not -- of his alleged abuse, Father Surgent was reassigned to a parish in July 1971.

Indications from the parish that reached Kraków's bishops were, at the beginning, very positive. The priest was a good governor of the parish, and managed the place well, parishioners claimed.

But in May 1973, the director of the school received indications that when the priest was supposedly teaching Catechism, he instead allegedly was abusing boys.

The Archdiocese of Krakow "instantly" -- in June 1973 -- started an investigation -- resulting in the priest's removal from parish, "penal suspension, deprivation of office, income, as well as a ban on working in the Archdiocese of Krakow -- all provided for in such cases by canon law," the investigation by Krzyzak and Litka stated.

"Other penalties -- including a possible transfer to the lay state -- were left to the discretion of the appropriate ordinary, in this case Bishop Jan Nowicki of Lubaczów," it said.

In August 1973, state prosecutors started investigating the case of Father Surgent and, after a trial, sentenced him to three years in prison. He was released early in 1974.

After his prison sentence, Father Surgent wrote a letter with Christmas wishes to Cardinal Wojtyla, saying he offered the future pope his "unworthy prayers and expressions of deepest reverence and devotion," according to the Rzeczpospolita report.

Cardinal Wojtyla answered the letter on Jan. 4, 1975, with a brief sentence: "The Metropolitan Curia in Kraków prohibits you from performing any priestly activities within the Archdiocese of Kraków /can. 2359 § 2 CIC/."

Rzeczpospolita reported: "On that day, a letter was also sent to parish priests and rectors of churches in Krakow, asking Surgent 'not to be allowed to perform priestly functions.'"

Authors of investigation: Wojtyla took decisive action

Krzyzak, who is not only an investigative journalist, but also a canon lawyer, told OSV News that when Cardinal Wojtyla "learned about such cases, he took very decisive action -- suspending priests and sending them into isolation."

He stressed that the future pope was acting with a vision unusual for the time and didn't have the knowledge we have now about manipulative behaviors of perpetrators of sexual abuse: "Sending a priest for psychiatric evaluation at that time was something highly unusual -- almost ahead of its time."

Rejecting the claim of those who doubt the report by Krzyzak and Litka can be objective if based on Church archives, Krzyzak told OSV News: "As time passed, nothing was removed from the archives -- on the contrary, they were expanded with additional documents," he said, underlining the full transparency and cooperation of the curia at Franciszkanska 3, the legendary Kraków address where Cardinal Wojtyla was once archbishop.

At the conclusion of the second part of their newest investigation -- about Father Józef Loranc, whom Cardinal Wojtyla immediately suspended and sent to solitary confinement in the local Cistercian monastery upon learning the priest abused girls -- Krzyzak and Litka wrote:

"The moment Wojtyla learned of the crimes committed by priests under his authority, he made lightning-fast decisions. He suspended clergy, removed them from the scene of the crime, and after they served their prison sentences, he did not immediately reinstate them in pastoral ministry, but ordered them to continue their penance -- effectively keeping them 'imprisoned.'"

"Compared to other hierarchs who also dealt with cases of pedophilia between 1944 and 1989 ... these actions were truly exemplary."

Father Piotr Studnicki, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Kraków, commented: "The research demonstrates that we shouldn't be afraid of opening Church archives for the sake of research. No difficult and painful history is as terrifying as closed archives. We fear what we don't know most."

TVN's reaction

After contacting the author of the documentary "Franciszkanska 3" to comment on the newest investigation debunking the claims published in 2023 by TVN, OSV News received a link to a social media post from the author saying: "For several days now, I've been receiving questions: Why aren't you responding? I thought there was no point, because nothing particularly new had happened in the matter. Two authors went to the archives, found nothing, and based on that, arbitrarily concluded that Cardinal Wojtyla wasn't hiding anything."

Gutowski said the authors of the Rzeczpospolita report "did not confront" their findings with victims of abuse, and said officials at the Archdiocese of Kraków "for 3 years since the publication of 'Franciszkanska 3' have done NOTHING to reach out to the victims and witnesses."

Reacting to the comments of the author of "Franciszkanska 3," Rzeczpospolita's Krzyzak told OSV News: "When writing the text first in 2022, we clearly stated that telling the story through the lens of archival materials does not require us to seek out new testimonies from those who were harmed, but rather relied on the accounts that were given at the time."

"Today, after 50 years, I do not feel competent to enter into someone's life without knowing whether they have processed their trauma or not. It is not my role to knock on someone's door and intrude upon their private life," he said.

"I remain in contact with those who were harmed, but only with those who have reached out to us on their own initiative after the publications," Krzyzak added.

Two days after the initial report by Krzyzak and Litka was published in 2022, announcements were read in parishes of the dioceses of Bielsko-Zywiec (formerly part of the Archdiocese of Kraków), Koszalin-Kolobrzeg and Pelplin, asking people who had been harmed by Father Surgent or who had knowledge of the harm he had caused to come forward.

Father Marek Studenski, vicar general of the Diocese of Bielsko-Zywiec, told OSV News that "one person reported abuse by Father Surgent" after the announcements.

Since the perpetrator died in 2008, "we asked this person what kind of help this person would need, and referred the person to the Foundation of St. Joseph," Father Studenski said, referring to the foundation of the Polish bishops' conference that helps victims of clergy sexual abuse. "The person received the assistance they needed," he said.

On March 17, OSV News asked the TVN station press office what steps, if any, TVN television will take after reviewing the article by Krzyzak and Litka in Rzeczpospolita, given that it challenges the claims made in the documentary "Franciszkanska 3." 

OSV News also asked how TVN is responding to the calls made by public figures that the station should apologize for publishing unverified reports on a Polish historical figure of high importance.

As of March 23, OSV News had not received an answer from TVN, and OSV News forwarded the questions to Paramount, the American owner of the TVN station.

Priest gets 12 years in prison for sex with minor on church compound

A catholic priest who was found guilty of having sex with a minor on the compound of his church was on Friday sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in the St Catherine Circuit Court.

The 41-year-old was sentenced by Justice Dale Palmer to 12 years for having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and five years for sexual touching.

The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will serve 12 years in prison.

He must serve eight years before being eligible for parole.

The court heard that between March and April 2023, the priest had sex with the then 12-year-old at his living quarters on the church's compound.

The matter came to light and was reported to the police’s Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.

An investigation led to his arrest and subsequent charge.

Fr. Oliver O’Reilly - Priest who warned of ‘Mafia-style group’ has died

The death has occurred of a priest who strongly condemned the notorious attack on businessman Kevin Lunney.

Fr. Oliver O’Reilly, formerly of Cloncose, Cornafean, Co Cavan, passed away peacefully on March 21, 2026, in the care of his family and staff at Connolly Hospital and St Francis Hospice, Blanchardstown.

A well-known cleric in the Diocese of Kilmore, Fr O’Reilly served communities in Killeshandra and Arva and was widely respected for his pastoral work and willingness to address difficult issues affecting the border region.

He came to wider public attention in 2019 following the brutal attack on Kevin Lunney, a senior executive with Quinn Industrial Holdings, who was abducted and assaulted.

Speaking at Mass in Ballyconnell in the aftermath of the incident, Fr O’Reilly described the attack as a “senseless atrocity” and warned there was an “obvious cancer of evil in our midst”.

He told parishioners : “I now believe there has been a Mafia-style group with its own Godfather operating in our region for some time behind the scenes,” he told congregants.

“They have decided to ratchet up the intimidation. The Rubicon has now been crossed by this most recent barbaric assault.”

He added that “peace-loving, law-abiding people” were being “held to ransom by a few unscrupulous individuals who are hugely dangerous”.

The remarks prompted a strong response from businessman Sean Quinn, who later confronted the priest over the claims.

“I said, ‘Father, you’re wrong – wrong – and you’ve done me and my family an awful lot of damage. I want to know how you came up with this or where you came out of,’” Mr Quinn said at the time.

Fr O’Reilly remained a prominent and active figure in church life across Cavan and the wider Border area in the years that followed.

Reposing at Lakelands Funeral Home, Cavan, on Monday from 5.30pm until 9pm, his remains will be removed on Tuesday morning to the Sacred Heart Church, Arva, for 12 noon Requiem Mass, followed by burial in the family plot at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Coronea.

Excommunicated Catholic deacon still waiting on overdue appeal outcome after his son was molested by priest

A Louisiana man who resigned as a Roman Catholic deacon after a priest molested his son and then was excommunicated from the church entirely by his local bishop is asking global church leaders to inform him of the fate of his appeal against the prelate’s decision, something that was supposed to be resolved more than a year earlier.

In a letter to the Vatican entity in charge of clerical discipline, a canon – or church – law attorney representing Scott Peyton asserts that his case is “nuanced and requires careful consideration”. “To the extent that the delay reflects such diligence, he is grateful,” said the letter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), prepared by Dawn Eden Goldstein on 3 February and obtained recently by the Guardian.

Nonetheless, the letter continued, Peyton “wishes that I convey to you that, from his perspective, the unduly long span of time with no communication from your office only compounds the injustices that he and his family have suffered from the church”.

Word of Peyton’s plight earned international news headlines in March 2024, with many outlets characterizing his excommunication as a remarkably harsh consequence that his child’s molester does not appear to have ever faced because the church, in sum, does not consider the abuser’s offense on its own excommunicable.

Peyton was ordained into Louisiana’s diocese of Lafayette – about 135 miles (217km) west of New Orleans – as a deacon in 2012. Deacons are largely similar to priests, though they can join the clergy despite being married.

About six years after his ordination, a priest with whom Peyton ministered at St Peter’s church in Morrow, Louisiana, confessed to molesting the deacon’s teenage son, Oliver, and was arrested by authorities.

Michael Guidry, now 83, later pleaded guilty to abusing Oliver Peyton, who was an altar server. He received a seven-year prison sentence after his church feted him with a farewell lunch for which the diocese was forced to apologize.

In 2021, Peyton said he, his wife, Letitia, and Oliver secured a $350,000 settlement from Lafayette’s diocese to settle a civil lawsuit without a trial. The Peytons in the meantime have become advocates for clergy abuse survivors. 

And in December 2023, Scott Peyton decided he was no longer a good fit to serve as a deacon in the diocese, quit and went on to join an Anglican church’s congregation.

Lafayette bishop J Douglas Deshotel responded to those developments by issuing a 13 March 2024 decree informing Peyton he had been excommunicated, effective immediately, basically because the deacon had severed ties with the Catholic church.

“I am aware that your family has suffered a trauma but the answer does not lie in leaving the Most Holy Eucharist,” Deshotel wrote, adding that “we are not Catholics because the church … is perfect”.

For pious Catholics, excommunication is as severe a punishment as there is, preventing recipients of it from engaging in certain sacraments as a way to essentially shock them into rethinking their sinful behavior before death condemns them to damnation. 

Among the most famous Catholic excommunicates are Henry VIII (over a divorce and remarriage), Napoleon Bonaparte (for annexing the Papal States within Italy to France) and Martin Luther (for igniting the Reformation).

Peyton formally appealed against his excommunication to the DDF in May 2024, arguing in part that “there was no pastoral good to be accomplished” by his censure. He also contended that his wife and six children feel unwelcome in the Catholic church because of his excommunication, meaning the punishment had “harmed the spiritual lives of eight Catholics”.

That appeal ostensibly initiated an adjudication process that generally should be completed in three months.

Deshotel wrote to Peyton in October 2024 – five months later – notifying him that his appeal “material … has been received and is currently being evaluated” by the DDF. The bishop said he sent that letter at the behest of the DDF’s secretary, Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy.

It had been well over a year since that missive when Goldstein herself wrote to Kennedy in early February asking for at least an update concerning the status of her client’s appeal. She argued that the “harm” raised in Peyton’s appeal “continues every day that [it] goes unanswered”.

Goldstein also wrote to Kennedy asking him to inform Oliver Peyton of Guidry’s “current canonical status and any penalties that may have been imposed upon him” after the latter’s guilty plea.

Neither inquiry had received a reply as of Saturday.

Furthermore, neither a Lafayette diocese spokesperson nor Guidry’s criminal defense attorney immediately responded when sent a message asking whether he had been laicized, or removed from the priesthood.

Many Catholic clergymen convicted of child molestation over the years have been allowed to remain in the priesthood. Some abusers who have left the priesthood have done so voluntarily.

The late Francis was the pope when Peyton first filed his excommunication appeal. The pope now is Leo XIV, who was elected to succeed Francis in May 2025 and became history’s first US-born pontiff.

Another abusive Lafayette diocese priest named Gilbert Gauthe all but brought the worldwide, decades-old Catholic clergy abuse crisis to the US’s collective conscience by pleading guilty in 1985 to molesting several boys he met through his ministry.

More recently, Lafayette’s diocese unsuccessfully asked Louisiana’s supreme court to strike down a state law passed in 2021 which eliminated filing deadlines for lawsuits seeking damages over child molestation that occurred long ago.

Meanwhile, on 5 March, a Lafayette diocese priest named Korey LaVergne was formally charged with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile in connection with allegations that he inappropriately touched a child.

Irish priest Father Edward Flanagan moves one step closer to sainthood

A PRIEST FROM Co Galway has moved one step closer to sainthood.

Pope Leo XIV today authorised for six people to advance towards sainthood and Father Edward Flanagan, born in Ballymoe in Co Galway in 1886, was among these individuals.

A Father Flanagan Memorial Centre has  developed in Ballymoe, which includes a memorial garden and a pilgrim centre. 

Fr Flanagan emigrated to the US with his sister in 1904 and founded an orphanage and education centre called Boys Town in Nebraska.

His work became more widely known after the release of a biographical film called Boys Town in 1938.

Spencer Tracey portrayed Fr Flanagan in the film and won an Oscar for Best Actor.

The film also won an Oscar for Best Story, a category which was discontinued in 1956.

In 2012, the diocese of Omaha in Nebraska initiated the process of canonisation for Fr Flanagan and the case was accepted the same year, at which point Fr Flanagan was declared a Servant of God.

Today Pope Leo recognised Fr Flanagan’s “heroic virtues,” which means the late priest now has a second title: Venerable.

Bishop Kevin Doran is Bishop of Achonry and of Elphin and he said it was “wonderful” to hear of today’s announcement that Fr Flanagan has been declared Venerable.

Bishop Doran said Fr Flanagan had founded Boys Town in a “time of crisis when many young people were living rough on the streets and getting in trouble with the law”.

He added that Boys Town “flourished to become a place where young people could feel at home, and have all the advantages of a solid education and formation for life”.

Bishop Doran also noted that on a visit to Ireland in 1946, Fr Flanagan “raised serious questions about the imprisonment of children and the conditions in which they were forced to live and work”.

He also remarked that Fr Flanagan “stood up against the sectarianism of many in the establishment, and the racist ideology of the Ku Klux Klan, and insisted on welcoming young people of all races and religions in Boys Town”.

“During the Second World War, when Japanese workers and their families in the United States were all interned as ‘hostile aliens’, Father Flanagan arranged for many of them to be set free to come and live in Boys Town,” said Bishop Doran.

“When the war was over, he devoted what remained of his life to visiting some of the countries which had been most impacted by violence in order to support efforts to provide the best possible care for homeless children.”

It was during one such visit in 1948 to Germany that Fr Flanagan died of a heart attack.

Bishop Doran added that Fr Flanagan’s “life and virtue have much to say to us today, in a wealthy country where so many children are forced to live with homelessness, and in a world in which we still find it so easy to define people as ‘hostile aliens’.”

Path to sainthood

The next step towards sainthood is beatification, which follows a rigorous investigation into the person’s life and a posthumous miracle must also be attributed to them – the title of “Blessed” is bestowed to a person who has been beatified.

After being beatified, a second miracle is then required for a person to be canonised and made a saint.

The Catholic Church defines a miracle as a “sign or wonder such as a healing, or control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power”.

For something to be formally recognised by the Church as a miracle, two-thirds of a medical board consisting of at least six doctors are required to sign a statement affirming that the supposed miraculous event cannot be explained by natural causes.

The miraculous recovery must also be a complete, spontaneous, immediate healing from a documented medical condition.

Bishop Doran called on people to make contact with him or the Father Flanagan League of Devotion if they “believe that an unexplained healing has taken place”.

Woman tells Confirmation congregation she allegedly had bomb strapped to her

Teachers and clerics have been praised for remaining calm after a woman told a congregation at a Confirmation ceremony that she allegedly had a bomb strapped to her.

Hundreds of sixth-class children from four schools around Navan, Co. Meath, as well as their parents and sponsors, packed St Mary's Church when the woman made her way onto the altar and told the crowd she had something to say.

After she said she had a bomb, teachers and a priest calmly escorted her off the altar and outside the church, which lies between the Fairgreen and Trimgate Street in the centre of the town.

The young students were preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation from the Bishop of Meath, Tom Deenihan, when the incident unfolded.

Thankfully, not everyone heard her proclaim she had a bomb, but most people saw the commotion.

One parent said: "The lady came into the church and got up to the microphone. She held her jacket closed and said she had a bomb and wanted to speak.

"The priests and teachers got up there quickly and ushered the lady outside. Honestly, I don't think a lot of people heard exactly what she said because no-one really seemed to be panicking.

"Our own daughter didn't hear what she said thankfully but I did. "

Another parent said he was on the balcony when he heard the woman speak into the intercom.

"She said she wanted to say something, and then she was ushered out. I didn't hear her mention a bomb, but a lot of children near her looked terrified. My own son was there receiving his Confirmation, but only heard about it from friends after the Mass.

"When we went outside, gardai were there, which also unnerved the kids. I have to say, though, the priests and the teachers did amazingly to keep calm and diffuse the situation quickly."

Clergy at St Mary's Church said they would not be commenting on the matter.

Gardaí say they "responded to a report of a public order incident at a premises in Navan, Co. Meath on Saturday 21st March, 2026 at around 1pm.

"A woman, aged in her 40s, who was arrested at the scene has since been charged. She is due to appear in court at a later date. As this matter is now before the courts, there is no further information available."

Meeting with Leo XIV now has an official fee: 500,000 euros

ABC, which is not exactly known for being a scourge of the Vatican, today shamelessly publishes a news story that, if true - and there’s no reason to doubt it, because the Church itself seems to have decided to publicize it - cruelly portrays the state of affairs: private sponsors are being sought to finance the Pope’s visit, with a minimum fee of half a million euros and an explicit reward in the form of a personal meeting with the Pontiff.

It’s not a hostile leak. 

It’s not an anticlerical campaign. 

It is, as everything indicates, an offer launched naturally, almost with pride, like someone presenting a cultural sponsorship program or a VIP box at a Champions final. 

The Church, which for centuries preached the gratuity of grace and the radical equality of souls before God, now appears organizing access to the Successor of Peter with criteria typical of a marketing department.

The problem is not just aesthetic, though it is that too. It is theological, ecclesial, and deeply scandalous. 

Because here we are not faced with a discreet donation, nor with the silent support of benefactors, something that has always existed. 

We are faced with the institutionalization of a system in which closeness to the Pope - the visible symbol of the Church’s unity - is, de facto, conditioned by economic capacity.

Half a million euros as the entry threshold. The figure is not anecdotal: it is a filter. It defines who can access and who cannot. 

And it turns what should be a sign of communion into a privilege reserved for an economic elite. 

Meanwhile, the ordinary faithful - that one who fills parishes, supports modest collections, and transmits the faith in silence - watches as a Church consolidates in which some enter through the main door and others, simply, do not enter.

The scene that is being prepared is predictable. 

We will see carefully framed photographs of the Pope smiling, shaking hands, blessing with his presence businessmen and millionaires of the worst kind, many of them without the slightest real connection to the life of the Church, but with ample capacity to sign a check. 

And those images will circulate as proof of closeness, as if they were not, in reality, the staging of a growing distance.

It will be said that it is necessary to finance events, that logistics cost money, that someone has to pay. All that is true. 

But not everything is valid. 

Not everything can be done without consequences. 

Because when access to the Pope is publicly associated with a specific figure, what is eroded is not only the image, but the very credibility of the institution.

For centuries, the Church has been accused - often unjustly - of selling what is not for sale. 

Today, there is no need to exaggerate. It is enough to read ABC.

Lourdes establishes an accreditation system for priests who celebrate in the sanctuary

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes has established a new accreditation system for priests and deacons who wish to celebrate in the precinct, with the aim of strengthening the verification of their canonical authorization.

According to the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas, the measure involves the systematic verification of the celebret, the ecclesiastical document that certifies that an ordained minister is authorized to exercise his ministry.

Mandatory Verification of the celebret

Every year, Lourdes receives thousands of priests from various countries. In this context, the diocese seeks to ensure that all ministers who celebrate in the sanctuary meet the canonical requirements established by the Church.

Although the obligation to carry this accreditation is not new, from now on its verification will be mandatory in all cases. 

This decision is framed within the commitments adopted by the bishops of France, which include the implementation of an electronic celebret for ordained ministers.

Two Procedures Depending on the Type of Pilgrimage

The new system distinguishes between those who attend organized pilgrimages and those who do so individually.

In the case of groups, organizers must pre-register priests and deacons on the sanctuary’s platform, certifying that there are no restrictions on them. 

Upon arrival, they will receive nominative credentials valid for the current year.

For ministers traveling on their own, the procedure is carried out directly at the sanctuary’s Information Center, where they must present their celebret to obtain their accreditation.

In both cases, it is emphasized that the document must always be carried with them, regardless of the prior registration system.

A Measure Due to the High Influx of Pilgrims

The implementation of this system responds to a desire to strengthen control and accountability mechanisms in the exercise of the ministry, especially in a place of international influx like Lourdes.

Bishop Micas has pointed out that the application of the new procedure may require an adaptation period, so he has asked for understanding and collaboration from priests and deacons who come to the sanctuary.

Likewise, he has urged to widely disseminate this information in the dioceses to ensure that all ministers are informed before their arrival.

One Single Missal for Unity: The Abbot of Solesmes Writes to Leo XIV

The abbot of Solesmes, Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, has sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV with a concrete proposal to end the liturgical division in the Church. 

According to Rorate Caeli, the Benedictine suggests integrating the ancient rite into the current Roman Missal as a way to restore unity.

The initiative arises in a context of persistent tensions between the faithful attached to the traditional rite and those who follow the missal reformed after the Second Vatican Council. 

Kemlin, who presides over the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes, proposes a solution that avoids both imposition and rupture.

A proposal to overcome the liturgical division

In his letter, dated November 12, 2025, the abbot acknowledges that the differences between the Novus Ordo and the Vetus Ordo are not merely accidental, but affect the way of praying and the very understanding of the liturgy. 

For this reason, he considers it unrealistic to expect that the faithful attached to the ancient rite will naturally adopt the missal of Paul VI.

Far from proposing a reform of the new missal to make it resemble the ancient one—which, in his view, would generate more divisions - Kemlin suggests a different path: incorporating the traditional rite into the current Roman Missal. 

In this way, both uses would coexist in a single liturgical book.

As he explains, this integration would allow the reformed missal to remain intact, while making room for the ancient rite with minimal adaptations, such as the possibility of using the vernacular language or including new Eucharistic Prayers.

Unity without uniformity

The abbot insists that his proposal seeks to restore unity without imposing uniformity. In his opinion, many faithful attached to the traditional liturgy do not act out of ideology, but because they find in it a profound spiritual experience that they do not find in the reformed rite.

Coexistence within a single missal would also allow for the unification of the liturgical calendar and avoid the current fragmentation. For Kemlin, this solution would facilitate welcoming diverse sensitivities without excluding anyone or generating new conflicts.

An experience lived in Solesmes

In an interview given to the French radio RCF Sarthe on March 16, 2026, the abbot explained that his proposal arises from the concrete experience of his own congregation, where communities coexist that celebrate both according to the ancient rite and the new one.

He himself has lived both realities: he entered the abbey of Fontgombault, linked to the traditional rite, before moving to Solesmes, where it is celebrated according to the conciliar reform. This coexistence, he assures, has demonstrated that liturgical diversity can be lived in peace.

“The liturgy is made to unite, not to divide,” he states. For this reason, he considers it urgent to take a step that allows overcoming a fracture that, in his view, causes suffering in the Church.

A path different from that of Benedict XVI and Francis

Kemlin distinguishes his proposal from previous solutions. While Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum expanded the use of the ancient rite by placing it alongside the new one, it did not succeed in reducing tensions. 

For his part, Traditionis Custodes, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2021, sought to limit that use to «preserve unity,» but it has not closed the debate either.

In contrast to both approaches, the abbot proposes an organic integration into a single missal, thus avoiding the parallel coexistence of two separate forms.

Awaiting a response

The Benedictine abbot acknowledges that his proposal is only a starting point and that it is up to the Holy See, the bishops, and the Dicastery for Divine Worship to discern its viability.

Nevertheless, he is convinced that the Church needs to address this issue with realism and a spirit of communion. 

In his view, only an inclusive solution will allow healing a division that affects liturgical life and, ultimately, the visible unity of the Church.

Federal judge grants injunction allowing clergy visits at Minneapolis ICE holding facility

Clergy will be allowed to minister to immigrants in a holding facility at the headquarters of the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in Minnesota, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell granted an injunction requested by Minnesota branches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and a Catholic priest who had sued the Department of Homeland Security.

Under his ruling, clergy will be allowed in-person pastoral visits to all detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, the site of frequent protests over roughly the 3,000 federal officers who had surged into the state at the height of the crackdown.

Blackwell said the plaintiffs had met their burden of proving that they’re likely to succeed when the case reaches a final conclusion, and that restrictions on the religious freedom of clergy to minister to detainees constitutes “irreparable harm.”

He ordered both sides to meet within four business days to try to agree on details for how to provide access that takes into account the government’s legitimate security concerns, and then submit a plan within seven business days, or competing proposals if they can’t agree.

Bishop Jennifer Nagel, of the Minneapolis Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was turned away from Whipple when she tried to go to visit with detainees on Ash Wednesday. She told reporters after the hearing that serving people in crisis is fundamental in many religions.

“The trauma that families are going through, and individuals are going through, at these times is exorbitant. And so to be able to meet people in those needs, that’s very much at the core, the heart and soul of what we do as ministers of all different traditions,” Nagel said.

The lawsuit alleges the Whipple building, named for Minnesota’s first Episcopal bishop, a 19th-century advocate for human rights, “now stands in stark contrast to its namesake’s legacy.” It says the building has “become the epicenter of systematic deprivation of fundamental constitutional and legal rights by the federal government.”

Government attorneys noted that Operation Metro Surge officially ended on Feb. 12. They also said the number of new detentions has since subsided, so temporary restrictions on visitors have been eased, and clergy visits have been allowed for over two weeks.

But Blackwell agreed with attorneys for the plaintiffs who argued that the issue isn’t moot, because the government still doesn’t have a formal plan requiring access that sets out who decides the conditions under which clergy are admitted.

Catholic and Episcopal bishops in Minnesota, other Christian and Jewish clergy, and the Minnesota Council of Churches also formally supported the request. The courtroom was filled with Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist, Jewish and other clergy.

Clergy across the country have been pushing for more access to immigration detention facilities, especially during the holy seasons of Lent and Ramadan. It’s a longstanding practice for faith leaders to minister to detainees. but it has become far more contentious amid the current immigration crackdown.

It took a similar lawsuit for two Catholic priests and a nun to gain entry into an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview on Ash Wednesday last month. And Muslim and Christian clergy in Texas have struggled to get into large Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities there.

Tauria Rich, a senior local ICE official who oversees Whipple, said in a filing this week that visitors to Whipple are rare, and that any clergy requests are handled on a case-by-case basis. She said one clergy member had attempted to visit in early March, but left because no detainees were present. The visit would have been allowed if any detainees had been there, she said.

ICE calls the building a short-term holding facility, and not the kind of long-term detention center where clergy visits are normally allowed.

It’s not just clergy who’ve struggled to get in. Three members of Congress from Minnesota were turned away when they tried to inspect the facility. Once they did get in, they reported poor conditions.

Access has also been an issue for attorneys. Homeland Security was ordered by a different federal judge last month to give new detainees at Whipple immediate access to counsel before they’re taken elsewhere. That judge held a hearing this week to consider whether to convert her temporary order into a more permanent injunction. Her ruling is pending.

French court upholds banning of religious symbols in municipal council

A French court has upheld a mayor’s ban of conspicuous religious symbols in a municipal council after it was challenged by two elected officials.

The administrative court in Dijon found on Wednesday that the decree of Gilles Platret, mayor of the town Chalon-sur-Saône, banning “conspicuous religious signs” did not constitute “a serious and manifestly unlawful infringement of freedom of conscience.”

“The freedom of conscience of an elected member of a municipal council must be reconciled with the principle of secularism [Fr. laïcité] that he is required to respect,” the judge added.

Damien Saley and Lamia Sabrina Sari, both elected officials of radical left-wing group La France Insoumise (LFI), had filed a lawsuit against Platret’s ban, saying they felt “directly targeted” by the decree. Sabrina Sari wears an Islamic headscarf.

Platret said the court’s finding was “a source of satisfaction” and that it was “an example that could be followed by all municipal councils.”

He said the ban makes sure “secularism cannot be attacked by elected officials who come to the municipal council to proselytize, in disregard of the principle of neutrality.”

The decree was issued Jan. 14 and was based on the 2018 National Assembly regulations that bans “conspicious” religious symbols which, in turn, draws on the 2004 law for public primary, middle, and high schools.

“We adopted the model from the highest authority. How could we imagine that they could have these regulations, and not us?” Platret said when he left the hearing.

Platret’s lawyer, Julie Callot, argued that the decree “does not target any specific religion and applies equally to a large cross around the neck or a kippah.”

“The principle of secularism applies to all elected officials,” she added, also saying it doesn’t permit “propaganda attire.”

Marion Ogier, the lawyer for the LFI officials, argued unsuccessfully that “secularism is first and foremost the freedom to believe” and that Sabrina Sari “would be excluded if she came with a headscarf, which infringes on her freedom to exercise her mandate.”

Previous controversies

Platret, who won Sunday’s local elections with more than 61% of the vote – the election which saw Sabrina Sari and Saley come to power – is known for a number of controversial bans.

In June, he banned the flying of the Palestine flag throughout the whole municipality, which has 45,000 residents, arguing the flag had become “the rallying symbol of Islamist groups.”  The courts suspended this ban.

Further, in 2015, Platret tried unsuccessfully to ban pork-free menus in school cafeterias. He also tried to ensure only French was spoken on the city’s construction sites, and refused to validate a French-Turkish wedding until the courts forced him to do so.

Platret was former vice-president of the right-wing Les Republicains group which he has now left, and was allegedly close to joining Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête! movement, a far-right group known for its controversial views on immigration and cultural identity.

Excitement over Pope’s visit to Monaco

Pope Leo XIV will go to the principality of Monaco on March 28 – the first time a pope has done so.

Catholics in Monaco have reacted to the news with joy and the archdiocese of Monaco emphasized the shared commitments between the pontiff and Prince Albert II who has ruled the Principality of Monaco since 2005.

These shared commitments include “a particular focus on respect for human life from beginning to end; a concern for integral ecology and the preservation of ‘our common home’; and a shared passion for sport and what it represents for humanity,” a press release from the archdiocese said.

The Principality of Monaco, often considered a part of the French Riviera, is one of the final European countries that still has Catholicism as its state religion.

Vatican launches campaign to encourage divestment from mining industries

The Vatican on Friday launched a campaign to encourage divestment from mining industries, saying the Catholic Church should invest its money in ways that are consistent with its ecological teachings.

The effort, which also involves other Christian organizations, takes as its inspiration Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical “Praised Be.” 

The document, and the ecological movement it inspired, railed against the multinational corporations that pillage Earth’s natural resources, often at the expense of poor and Indigenous peoples.

The initiative is the brainchild of an existing ecumenical network of Catholic and other Christian denominations, the Churches and Mining Network, that is active in particular in Latin America.

The campaign aims to encourage local churches to review their investment strategies and divest where needed, and to share information especially with Indigenous groups about the types of extraction occurring on their lands.

Yolanda Flores, a leader of the Aymara peoples in Peru, teared up at a Vatican news conference describing how Indigenous mothers are left to fear they are poisoning their children because their drinking water has been polluted by extraction runoff.

“The big question is: Who finances this? Who provides the money to poison us?” she said.

Guatemalan Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini recalled that when he was bishop of San Marcos, the Guatemalan government allowed a Canadian mining firm to explore, and then extract silver and gold from the land. While the project provided short-term employment to the local population, the ultimate winners were the shareholders, he said.

“Was it a legal activity? Yes. Was it an activity that promoted the holistic development of those communities? No,” Ramazzini said. “In terms of distributive justice: were the mining operations fair? No.”

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the No. 2 in the Vatican’s ecology office, was asked if the Vatican had in the past invested in mining corporations and was now reviewing its strategies. He said he didn’t know, but added that whenever such campaigns are launched, it’s necessary to “also look in one’s home.”

Francis in 2022 formed an investment committee of church and outside financial experts to guarantee “the ethical nature of the Holy See’s securities investments according to the church’s social doctrine and at the same time their profitability, adequacy and risks.”

Last month, the Vatican bank announced two equity benchmarks that conform to ethical Catholic criteria and are aimed at serving as a reference for Catholic investments globally. They are the Morningstar IOR Eurozone Catholic Principles and the Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles.

Pope Francis broke with predecessors on policy, appointments, and papal trips, sociologist says

A political science professor from the U.S. has used data analysis to show how Pope Francis differed from predecessors regarding policy, appointments, and papal trips, while notably omitting discussion of the deceased pontiff’s doctrinal differences.

The University of Notre Dame in Rome hosted the lecture “Francis and His Predecessors: Quantifying Continuity and Change in the Modern Papacy,” by Sean Theriault, on March 19.

Avoiding theological debate?

Theriault, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, told EWTN News that he became interested in studying Pope Francis’ legacy two years ago after discussing the papacy with his students and fellow Catholics.

“I had heard people suggest that Pope Francis was different, and I thought I could bring data to help assess how different he was. In other words, as a social scientist, I could actually supply some facts to the question at hand.”

He noted that his study avoids theological debate entirely, observing that while many theologians emphasize Francis’ doctrinal shifts, his study focuses on quantifiable patterns in the data.

What do the numbers say about Francis?

Examining the data reveals that Pope Francis was vastly different from his predecessors. The first metric used in the study was papal policy.

To quantify policy, Theriault analyzed papal addresses to the diplomatic corps — the so-called “State of the World address” — dating back to St. John XXIII. By parsing the words of each speech, he found that Francis had the lowest statistical correlation to any of his predecessors, focusing more on issues like immigration and refugees than traditional diplomatic concerns.

“I parsed out these speeches going back to the early 1960s by sentence or quasi-sentence, categorizing them,” Theriault said in his lecture. “If we separate international relations, Francis had the lowest correlation among his recent predecessors. For instance, in his 2025 address, though he did discuss the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, Francis touched on issues like artificial intelligence, respect for migrants, and the elimination of the death penalty.”

Increased diversity in cardinals and saints

The next metric analyzed was personnel, chiefly the makeup of the College of Cardinals and the canonization of new saints.

Theriault noted that while St. Paul VI was the first to diversify the demographics of the cardinals significantly, Francis had accelerated this trend toward a less Eurocentric cardinalate.

“The conclave that elected Paul VI was dominated by Europe (55 out of 80 cardinals), but he spread the reach of the college to other parts of the world. John Paul II continued this, Benedict, a bit less so, but Francis did it by far the most by 55%. He brought in cardinals from places like Laos, Sweden, and Brunei, and passed over traditional sees like Paris and Milan.”

Theriault also pointed out anomalies in Francis’ selection of cardinals from suffragan dioceses — rather than major archdioceses as done before — and his approach to canonization. “When Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles retired, we all expected the red hat to be given to the new archbishop, José Gómez. Instead, he gave the red hat to Bishop [Robert] McElroy, the bishop of San Diego, a suffragan diocese of Los Angeles.”

He added regarding canonizations: “Francis shortened the average time to canonization to 151 years. He canonized a vastly higher percentage of laypeople (18%) than his predecessors. He paired John XXIII with John Paul II for canonization, effectively blocking the canonization paths for Pius IX and Pius XII.”

Pilgrimages to the margins

Papal travel was the third metric Theriault analyzed. He observed that while previous popes spent their time abroad ministering primarily to Catholic audiences, Francis preferred to spend time with the marginalized.

“John Paul II loved meeting with everyday Catholics during his travels, especially the Polish and Hispanic communities. Benedict XVI focused on meeting with the Church hierarchy. Francis chose rather to visit prisons and homeless centers, focusing on the marginalized rather than exclusively Catholic audiences,” he said.

Looking ahead to Pope Leo XIV

Theriault concluded the lecture by predicting that Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate would reveal far more about Pope Francis’ time as pope than when he was still alive.

“Pope Leo is more of an institutionalist than Pope Francis, and significantly more reserved. In the long run, Pope Francis’ legacy is going to be far more pronounced precisely because he was succeeded by Leo, who is bringing along the whole Church and institutionalizing that vision in a way Francis just did not know how to do,” he said.

106-year-old nun continues serving in the cloister and sharing the Gospel on YouTube

Sister Anna Maria of the Sacred Heart, an Italian nun, turned 106 on March 14 at her monastery near Milan, where she continues to serve her sick sisters and share reflections on the Gospel on YouTube.

Still lucid “in thought and word,” and with 36 years of life in cloister, the nun belongs to the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, the Italian newspaper Il Giorno reported. 

Despite her advanced age, she continues to participate daily in Eucharistic adoration even during the night and assists in the monastery’s infirmary, caring for elderly or ailing nuns.

Her birthday celebration took place with a Mass of Thanksgiving and a gathering with family members, experienced through the grilles of the cloister where Sister Anna Maria remains dedicated to prayer.

“I do this like so many other things, out of love for Jesus who continually asks me to love my neighbor,” the religious, whose name before entering the convent was Anna Perfumo, said in a video shared by her community.

“The years are many, but ... with patience, God’s will shall be fulfilled. Pray for me, and I will always remember you on earth and in heaven,” she added.

According to Il Giorno, the nun’s life was marked by hardships from the very beginning. At 4 months old, she contracted bronchopneumonia — a condition that was practically fatal in 1920 — and at age 4 she came down with scurvy, a disease that was incurable at that time. “The doctor told my mother: ‘I won’t be coming back tomorrow, because the child will be dead.’ Yet I was miraculously healed,” she said.

Before entering the monastery, she worked for years as a governess and schoolteacher in addition to caring for elderly and infirm priests. Nevertheless, she always harbored in her heart the desire to consecrate herself to God in the contemplative life.

That longing was finally realized at the age of 70, following the death of her mother. After several attempts, she was admitted to the Adorers’ monastery in Genoa, from where she would be transferred years later to Seregno, where she currently lives.

In a video, Sister Anna Maria expressed her gratitude for the expressions of affection she had received and spoke about her late vocation: “It’s true; I had to wait quite a long time before fulfilling God’s will. But when it is God who desires something, it will always come to pass. That’s why one must have great confidence, great faith, great hope, and great patience.”

In her message, she also shared a reflection on the passage of time and on faithfulness: “My grandfather used to tell us that it’s faithfulness that keeps us young and that it’s necessary to keep our eyes and souls open to what is beautiful, good, and true; in this way, one will experience a serene old age. Love keeps the heart young.”

Finally, she extended a greeting for the Easter season: “Life is Christ — the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May the Lord grant you peace and joy... and also peace among peoples, for the sake of fraternity among nations.”

The Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament are a contemplative, cloistered order of women whose life is centered on the continuous adoration of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Their mission is to intercede for the Church and the world from the silence of the monastery, offering their lives as a constant prayer.

The congregation was founded in 1807 in Rome by Blessed Maria Magdalena of the Incarnation (Caterina Sordini) with the charism of Eucharistic adoration.

Israeli settlers step up aggressions against Christians in West Bank, Jerusalem bishop says

Christians in the West Bank continue to face an onslaught of aggressions by Israeli settlers, threatening their presence in the region, according to Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem.

“The aggressions against Christians in the West Bank are multiplying,” Shomali said in a March 20 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”

The situation for Palestinian Christians had been “calm” in the Bethlehem area, he said. “But now, there is more expansion of the settlements and more aggressions from the side of the settlers.”

Shomali said settlers have prevented Palestinian Christians from accessing their land through various threats, physical aggression, and property damage, including burning their cars.

“This happened mainly in the Christian village of Taybeh, and we communicated this news to all the world, even to the American ambassador in Tel Aviv, who came to visit the place, and he promised to do something, but not many things were done,” Shomali said.

In Birzeit, a Palestinian Christian town about six miles north of Ramallah in the West Bank, Shomali said settlers have been coming “almost every day to threaten people in their own homes or in their work.”

“This has become a real threat to Christian families,” he said, “because they lost their livelihood and their source of income.” The Church must intervene and provide aid for them to survive, the bishop said.

Shomali said Israeli settlers have also recently occupied land belonging to a convent of sisters in a village near Bethlehem called Urtas. The sisters “have a hill where they plant and grow olives and other things,” he said. “Settlers came to occupy this hill and to make it theirs, where they think of building a new settlement.”

He also noted a settlement to be built on the Shepherds’ Field of his own village, Beit Sahour, which he said is a piece of land that belongs to Christian families there.

“I heard just today, that a piece of land, one acre, was also entered by settlers who put an Israeli flag to mean that this land now is Israeli, while there is a deed of ownership to a Christian family that I know from Beit Sahour,” he said. “So slowly, slowly, the land of Palestine that Israels call now Judea and Samaria, the biblical name, is becoming less and less Palestinian and more and more settlers’ land.”

Bishop Freeman ordained and installed in Ballarat

Ballarat Diocese has a new bishop, with the episcopal ordination and installation of Bishop Mark Freeman on Friday.

The celebration at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat, brought together bishops, clergy, parish representatives, ecumenical guests, civic representatives, and members of the wider community to witness this significant moment in the life of the Church. 

The ordination and installation were led by Melbourne Archbishop Peter A Comensoli with assisting bishops from all over Australia.

In addition to about 500 people inside the cathedral, the ceremony was livestreamed to hundreds of people across the country.

In accordance with the traditions of the Church, the ceremony included the laying on of hands, prayers of consecration, and the formal seating of Bishop Freeman in the cathedral, symbolising the beginning of episcopal leadership in the diocese.

“I am deeply humbled by the trust placed in me and grateful for the prayers and support of this community,” Bishop Freeman said.

“Together, we are called to serve with faith, hope, and love, proclaiming compassion, courage and justice in the world”.

A lovely moment during the ceremony was the warm welcome Bishop Freeman received from the many groups within the diocese. Representatives came forward as a visible sign of the rich diversity and shared life of the diocesan community, each offering their greeting with joy and respect. 

During his address, Bishop Freeman spoke words of gratitude and appreciation.

He acknowledged and greeted all the People of God in the Ballarat Diocese, asking them to teach him how to be their bishop. 

“Every time I have begun a new appointment, I have said to the community that you are the people whom God has given me to love,” Bishop Freeman said.

“As I begin this new ministry among you, I say the same to the whole diocese, people and priests of Ballarat – You are the people whom God has given me to love. As I received this ring during today’s Mass, I made that commitment with all my heart.”

Bishop Freeman acknowledged his predecessor, Bishop Emeritus Paul Bird.

“It is an honour to succeed you as Bishop of Ballarat. It’s a vibrant local Church that I have been called to serve as bishop. It has been cared for and guided by a true servant leader. You have set the bar high, and I thank you.”

Cardinal Hollerich, in favor of women’s ordination: “It is not just a demand of some left-wing women’s associations”

“I cannot imagine how a Church can continue to exist in the long term if half of God’s people suffer from having no access to ordained ministry.” 

This is how the Cardinal Archbishop of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Hollerich, expressed himself in a symposis on ‘Synodality and Preaching of the Gospel: two fundamental elements of the ecclesiastical reform of Pope Francis’, held this past Thursday in Bonn (Germany).

“As bishop, I have also learned that this is not only a requirement of some left-wing women’s associations,” added who was the general rapporteur at the Synod on Synodality held in two sessions in 2023/2024. 

“When I talk to the women of the parishes, 90% share this opinion,” he added, indicating that the bishops must also take it into account and that he himself has changed his position on it. 

However, Hollerich asked for patience, arguing that, for women of other cultures, the debate on the ordination by European women is often perceived as an “artificial problem,” according to the Katholisch portal. “This is a reality that we must recognize.”

In any case, he stressed the steps already taken in this regard, for example, after the reform of the Curia implemented by Pope Francis with its apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, which allows women to occupy leadership positions in the Vatican Curia, something that, according to the Luxembourg cardinal, will continue under the pontificate of Leo XIV.

ACP statement on Bishop Alan McGuckian’s comments on female diaconate

It is reported (Irish Catholic, 19 March 2026) that Bishop Alan McGuckian ‘thinks the door to female diaconate is shut and that his fellow Jesuit Pope Francis should have said so’.

We respectfully disagree.

Bishop Alan has spoken boldly. 

But has he listened to the ‘sense of faith’ of the overwhelming majority of Irish Catholics on this issue? 

To the latest authoritative papal magisterium arising out of the Synod on Synodality, to which he contributed by his participation? 

To the Final Report of the Study Group on Women in the Church which notes the discomfort of many women when ecclesial realities are compared with the civil societies of many of the countries in which they live, which sees the ‘question of women’, including that of access to the sacrament of Holy Orders, as a ‘sign of the times’, which notes that an increasing number of women, of every age group in different parts of the world, no longer feel ‘at home’ in the house of the Lord, to the point of leaving it altogether? 

To the voices of women who feel called to ordained ministry?

Bishop McGuckian’s main argument is from the ‘Catholic dispensation…the sacramental nature of things…the bridegroom and the bride’.

But this argument is problematic. 

The rich biblical symbolism of bride and groom needs to be freshly understood in a modern context, now accepted by Church teaching, which sees marriage as a reciprocal relationship between equals, and not one of hierarchical subordination. 

Are not women, made in the image and likeness of God, capable of representing Jesus Christ as effectively as men? 

Is not the humanity of Christ of more basic significance than his male biological sex or his masculine gender?

We welcome the fact that Bishop Alan has spoken in the public forum and in such a patently honest way. 

Too often Bishops take refuge in a kind of inscrutable silence when it comes to controversial matters. 

In a healthy organization public debate, even when it involves conflict, is a help towards truth. 

We have surely learned in the Church universally and in Ireland that silence is not a good strategy. 

A synodal Church is one where unity is not identical with uniformity, but can admit of diversity.

In this spirit the ball is surely in the court of the other Irish bishops. 

Will some feel called to voice their own honest thoughts and feelings? 

Will the overwhelming majority of the Catholic faithful in Ireland find some public episcopal support for their instinct on this issue?

And can the Irish Synodal Assembly, next October, issue a strong statement on the role of women, including a call for a reconsideration of the teaching on female ordination?