Archdiocese of Baltimore insurer proposes $100 million settlement for abuse victims

An insurer for the Archdiocese of Baltimore has offered to contribute $100 million to a settlement for abuse victims there, the latest development in the archdiocese’s yearslong bankruptcy proceedings related to Church sexual abuse.

Court documents obtained by EWTN News show that the Hartford Insurance Group proposed the nine-figure payment in an April 3 filing in U.S. bankruptcy court.

The archdiocese originally filed for bankruptcy in September 2023 amid the threat of a wave of clerical abuse lawsuits. 

The filing was made ahead of the Maryland Child Victims Act taking effect in October of that year. That law ended the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits for negligence in relation to child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2024 the archdiocese sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.

Also in 2024, the archdiocese said it would close more than half of the parishes in its titular city, reducing 61 parishes to 23 in response to a plummeting population there.

Archbishop William Lori said the plan would allow the remaining Catholic churches to “focus on mission and ministry, as opposed to leaking roofs, crumbling walls, and failing electrical and plumbing systems.”

Insurance is often a “huge component” of clerical abuse payouts, though dioceses and archdioceses have several means by which they can fund settlements.

Dioceses will very often turn to local parishes to pay into settlement funds, usually stipulating certain percentages of cash reserves that parishes must contribute.

Property sales and contributions from affiliate organizations such as cemeteries often help to bolster a settlement fund as well.

Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told EWTN News in 2025 that starting in the 1990s, insurance companies mostly changed how they cover sexual abuse.

“Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse.”

“After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore,” she said.

Atlanta archdiocese makes WYD bid

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has asked the Vatican to consider it as a prospective host for the 2030 World Youth Day.

A successful bid would mean the certainty of a 2030 papal visit to the U.S., and make Atlanta the second U.S. city to host the international World Youth Day gathering.

According to sources close to the process, Atlanta’s Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer first began discussing with Vatican officials the prospect of an Atlanta World Youth Day in late 2025, and has continued discussions about the bid with Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.

Several sources told The Pillar that Hartmayer has spent several months shoring up support for his archdiocesan bid for World Youth Day. 

The archbishop’s proposal has reportedly garnered support from both the USCCB’s leadership, and civic leaders at the state and municipal level.

Hartmayer has begun developing a local committee of business and civic leaders to oversee archdiocesan planning responsibilities, sources said, and tasked collaborators with scouting venues in the Atlanta metropolitan region for the event, which would be expected to draw at least 1 million Catholics, especially given the customary participation of the pope in World Youth Day events.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta, home to roughly 1.2 million Catholics, is one of the fastest growing metropolitan sees in the United States, as the population center of American Catholicism shifts from the northeast toward the U.S. south.

Since 2000, the archdiocesan Catholic population has grown by approximately 400%, while Atlanta’s metropolitan region has grown by more than 1.5 million in the same period.

The archdiocese has reportedly proposed to make use of the customary World Youth Day hub-and-spoke housing arrangement, by which parishes across the region would host pilgrims, who made their way into the city center daily for World Youth Day activities, culminating in both vespers and a Mass celebrated by the pontiff outside of the city.

The World Youth Day event was initiated in 1985 by Pope St. John Paul II, and has been celebrated as a global gathering every two or three years since then. 

Initially held every two years, the event has in recent years been held triennially or quadrennially.

In 1993, World Youth Day was held in the Archdiocese of Denver, Colorado. Church historians generally credit that gathering with significantly elevating the platform of World Youth Day as a global event, and with sparking a renewal of vocations, missions, movements, and Catholic apostolates across the United States.

The pope’s theme at the Denver World Youth Day focused especially on a call that young people to build in the U.S. a “culture of life.”

Young people, John Paul II said, should “place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life!”

“Woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life. The Church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals, in order to make the Gospel of Life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people’s hearts and the structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love,” the pontiff added.

“Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern ‘metropolis.’”

The most recent World Youth Day was held in Lisbon in 2023, with the next event scheduled for Seoul in 2027. 

Customarily, the location and year of the next World Youth Day is announced at the concluding Mass of the current one, with the 2030 event’s location expected to be announced at the conclusion of the Seoul World Youth Day.

While events at World Youth Day are co-planned by local organizers and Vatican officials, infrastructure and logistics are generally the purview of local leaders. 

While it is not clear what budget would be required to develop the infrastructure of the proposed Atlanta event, the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress raised more than $14 million to support a multi-day event attended by roughly 50,000 Catholics.

A successful bid from the Archdiocese of Atlanta would likely complicate questions about when Pope Leo XIV — the Church’s first U.S. born pope — will eventually make a pastoral visit to his home country.

Some Vatican insiders have expected that Leo’s inaugural visit to the U.S. would come during the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress. 

But given the pope’s customarily central role in World Youth Day — an event at which his presence has come to be expected — approval of the 2030 Atlanta World Youth Day bid would dim the prospect of the pontiff’s presence in the U.S. before that.

Both Vatican and USCCB officials have told The Pillar they believe it will take several years of logistical planning to facilitate the pope’s inaugural visit to the U.S., and that it is highly unlikely that two papal visits would be planned in the span of two years.

Consecrations 2026: A Telegram Channel and Website (Contribution)

With joy and hope, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is preparing for the episcopal consecrations that will take place on July 1, 2026, in Écône. 

This important event for the Church will attract thousands of faithful from all over the world.

In order to best support this preparation and to allow everyone to participate in it under the best conditions, new means of communication are gradually being put in place.

A Dedicated Telegram Channel

To follow information regarding the coronations, a Telegram channel is already available:

👉 https://t.me/econe2026#

This channel allows you to receive, in seven languages ​​(French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese), over the course of several weeks, all the useful information regarding the organization of your visit. 

You will find, in particular:

* practical information (access, food, accommodation)

* details on how the ceremonies will unfold

* spiritual and historical insights to better understand the significance of this event

This simple and direct method allows everyone to stay informed in a timely manner.

A Website Is Coming Soon

Furthermore, a dedicated website will be launched very soon.

It will serve as the main information and organizational platform, enabling, in particular:

* to officially register to participate in the coronations

* to consult all the practical information (schedules, access, logistics)

* to calmly prepare for his arrival

For organizational and security reasons, registration via this site will be required for all participants.

A Preparation of Prayer

These days are being prepared above all in a spirit of faith. We invite all the faithful to unite in prayer for the fruits of these consecrations, for the Church, and for the salvation of souls.

We are delighted to be able to welcome worshippers from all over the world to Écône and are doing everything we can to ensure that everyone can participate in the best possible conditions.

We thank you for your patience and trust, and we look forward to seeing you very soon for the opening of the website.

Leo XIV and the Anglican Communion

On March 20, 2026, Pope Leo XIV addressed a message to the "Most Reverend and Most Honorable Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury," on the occasion of her enthronement. 

This missive is not without raising serious questions, at various levels, which should not be left unanswered.

The letter stresses the "responsibilities" of the Lady, "not only within the diocese of Canterbury but also throughout the Church of England and the Anglican Communion." 

Which immediately requires asking a first question.

Of which "Anglican Communion" Does He Speak?

Historical Background

The Anglican Communion currently has about 85 million members in some 165 countries, organized into more than 40 autonomous provinces. 

Historically, this network of churches developed from the Church of England after the English Reformation and expanded globally through the British colonial presence and missionary work.

However, during the last century, the demographic center of Anglicanism has shifted considerably towards Africa and parts of Asia. 

Especially as the British center became increasingly liberal, while the African periphery persisted in a conservatism increasingly opposed to Canterbury.

A Division that has Been Brewing for Nearly a Century

The "Anglican family," to use the words of the message, today is fully in chaos, even in a constituted break-up. 

And the accession of Dame Mullally has a role in this situation. It is true that the division has deep historical roots.

In 1930, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops approved the limited use of contraception, marking a significant turning point in moral doctrine. 

The following decades were marked by further changes: many Anglican provinces began to ordain women, and in 2014 the Church of England approved the appointment of female bishops.

In 2015, the Episcopal Church of the United States authorized homosexual marriage and made it mandatory in 2018. Other Western Anglican churches have adopted similar policies and opened ordination to openly LGBT clergy. 

Conservative provinces, particularly in Africa, have rejected these advances.

Churches such as the Anglican Church in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania have maintained their traditional teaching on marriage and do not allow women to be bishops in their jurisdictions.

Tensions flared up again in 2025 when Cherry Vann was elected Archbishop of Wales. She became the first female Archbishop of the Anglican Churches of the United Kingdom and the first openly lesbian bishop living with her partner to hold the office of primate within the Anglican Communion.

Henry Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria – the largest Anglican province in the world – criticized the decision, seeing it as proof that certain sectors of the communion were abandoning what he called historical faith.

The most recent element of this confrontation was the election of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Although she upheld the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, she supported proposals allowing same-sex couples to be blessed and spoke of the need for the church to recognize the harm suffered by LGBT people.

The World Conference on the Future of Anglicanism (GAFCON)

GAFCON, the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, founded in Jerusalem in 2008, was born from this evolution. 

The movement was created by conservative bishops who believed that doctrinal developments within the Western Anglican churches, particularly in matters of sexuality and ecclesiastical authority, went beyond what they considered to be biblical teaching.

Although the movement claims not to be an independent Church, its influence has continued to grow. Some provinces and dioceses, adhering to its theological perspective, have already distanced themselves from the traditional structures of the Anglican Communion. 

The recent meeting in Abuja has only ratified a fragmentation that is already more or less established.

Meeting in the Nigerian capital during the first week of March, GAFCON leaders announced the establishment of a global leadership structure aimed at representing what the movement considers to be the majority of Anglicans faithful to "traditional" doctrine around the world: the Anglican World Council.

Faced with this situation, Tom Middleton, director of Forward in Faith, a group representing the English Anglicans, told OSV News that the Anglican communion no longer existed as a coherent organization: "Unlike the Catholic Church, it is at best a very loose federation."

Thus, Dame Mullally no longer represents anything but a Church of England, certainly rich in millions, but completely out of breath and on the brink of extinction.

An Impossible Communion

A passage from Pope Leo XIV’s letter quotes the Joint Declaration of 5 October 2016: "Despite much progress, our immediate predecessors, Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby, frankly acknowledged that 'new circumstances have generated new disagreements between us.'"

Of what circumstances does it speak? The text of the Declaration makes it clear: these disagreements concern "in particular the ordination of women and more recent questions relating to human sexuality." 

A well-informed actor, Msgr. Michael Nazir-Ali, who was received into the Catholic Church in 2021 and was a member of two Catholic-Anglican discussion commissions, shares his thoughts.

He admits that currently it is no longer possible to think of a union with Anglicanism. He adds: "We must be careful now, to measure Anglican doctrines and practices by what the Catholic Church teaches," he said. “The fact that Anglicans are so divided is a call to Catholics to be clear about what they stand for.”

In the meantime, Msgr. Nazir-Ali stated that the strong "Protestant trajectory" among contemporary Anglicans had made life more difficult for those who felt an affinity with the Catholic tradition, and predicted that conversions to the Catholic Church would continue.

And he recalled that the Catholic Church did not question the decision of Pope Leo XIII in an apostolic letter of 1896, Apostolicae curae, according to which Anglican ordinations are "absolutely null and void."

It is difficult to think that Pope Leo XIV is not aware of what has just been reported, especially since he tells his correspondent at the beginning of his letter that "you are starting these functions at a delicate moment in the history for the Anglican family".

What is the point of the title of archbishop granted to Dame Mullally by Leo XIV?

Since Leo XIV does not recognize any power of orders in the Anglican Church, and even less so if it concerns a woman, as recalled by the quotation from the Joint Declaration between Francis and Justin Welby, to what does the title of Archbishop so generously granted by this correspond to?

The terms of "responsibilities," the demand for the "gift of wisdom," and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can only difficultly be compatible with pure "political" power. 

But they rather mean that the title given by Leo XIV signifies recognition of a power of jurisdiction over the Church of England (name given to the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom).

And it is undoubtedly this aspect that attracts his interest: a "sister" Church, led by a woman, presents a good idea of what Leo XIV conceives, following Francis, concerning the power of jurisdiction. 

The same idea is reflected in the final document of Study Group 5, on "women’s participation in the life and governance of the Church."

After the appointments of women to head dicasteries and the regular promotion of women in government positions, denying Dame Mullally the title linked to her election would be an intolerable backward step for the world and for the "synodal" members of the Church.

We thus find ourselves in the grotesque situation of a woman placed at the head of the Anglican Diocese of Canterbury, rejected by a majority of Anglicans – who see in this election a betrayal of the reformative ideal – but supported and encouraged by the reigning pope. 

ŸThere is also a plan for the latter to receive Dame Mullally at the Vatican at the end of April on the occasion of her visit to Rome.

In these circumstances, the absurdity of ecumenism manifests itself with a very special acuity, which should cause reflection in all those who are not yet anesthetized by ambient modernism. 

It is, in any case, a new manifestation of the state of necessity in the Holy Church.

Consecrations in Beijing, But Not in Ecône?

In the interview that Fr. Davide Pagliarani gave to FSSPX.News, on February 2, 2026, about the upcoming episcopal consecrations, we read: "The Holy See is sometimes able to show a certain pragmatism, even an astonishing flexibility, when it is convinced of acting for the good of souls." 

The following is an article by Fr. Alain Lorans, SSPX. 

In support of this statement, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X reports two facts drawn from the particularly disconcerting relations between the Vatican and communist China. 

In 2023, Pope Francis approved a posteriori the appointment of the bishop of Shanghai by the Chinese authorities.

"More recently, Pope Leo XIV himself ended up accepting a posteriori the appointment of the bishop of Xinxiang, appointed in the same way during the vacancy of the Apostolic See, while the bishop faithful to Rome, several times imprisoned, was still in charge." This is no surprise to anyone: the atheist government in Beijing wants at all costs to "sinise" Catholicism, with a clergy docile to the instructions of the Party. The Vatican knows it, and it is silent.

In response to this situation, the Spanish-speaking site Infovaticana stated on February 3: “When it is the Communist Party that consecrates, we talk about a 'complex context'. When it is the Society of Saint Pius X that consecrates, we talk about 'rupture'.”

And with solid common sense, he added: "It is difficult to explain to a faithful why Beijing can impose bishops who are subject to the regime and pursue a privileged dialogue with Rome, while a society born precisely from the post-conciliar doctrinal and liturgical collapse is treated as a threat to the ecclesial order."

Further on, Infovaticana notes: "The Society does not work in a vacuum. It works in a context where Rome listens a lot, promises little and guarantees almost nothing. Now, when stable access to the sacraments depends on the mood of the local bishop, decisions cease to be ideological and become decisions of pastoral survival. This is the state of necessity.”

Finally, the Spanish-speaking site asks Rome to be logical: “If the ultimate criterion is pragmatic tolerance to avoid greater harm, then it should be applied consistently. 

If one accepts the Chinese Communist Party appointing bishops in order not to lose a means of dialogue, it is intellectually dishonest to be indignant that a Catholic society would consecrate bishops so as not to deprive its faithful of confirmations and ordinations.”

This paradoxical situation prompts us to ask ourselves whether, in a concrete way, the future bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X must – in order not to be excommunicated – exchange the Roman collar for the Mao collar, carry the card of the Chinese Communist Party and be consecrated in Beijing. 

May Rome say bluntly to all the Catholic faithful why what is possible in Beijing is impossible in Écône.

Sermon of the Archbishop of Dublin for Easter Day

St John 20.9: … until then they had not understood the scriptures, which showed that he must rise from the dead …

THE TEMPORAL EASTERTIDE

We began Lent in this cathedral church by singing as The Offertory Hymn on Ash Wednesday:

Forty days and forty nights …

It is to the sixth and final verse that I direct our attention this morning, Easter morning:

Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,

Ever constant by thy side;

That with thee we may appear

At the eternal Eastertide.

We have today reached the temporal Eastertide. We still await the eternal Eastertide. What we then sang in muted tone and in minor key has now been transposed into a thrilling metallic sound and into a major key. This joyful Eastertide has come. Happy Easter to you all who worship here today and who make your sacrifice of praise to God Almighty in Christ Church Cathedral wherever you have come from and to wherever you return – and also to those who join on–line.  

THE DESERT: JACOB AND JESUS

We are not yet done with the Lenten hymn, however. It has something further to offer us as a perspective on the first Easter morning. Its sombre expectation of the resurrection and of the resurrection life feeds into the first reactions and responses of Mary of Magdala, of Simon Peter and of John the beloved disciple as depicted for us in St John 20. This written account is more tentative by far than our orchestration of Easter for brilliant sound, delightful and essential to our contemporary celebration as it is and certainly ought to be. There is within it another haunting echo which connects Jacob and Jesus in ways that we might not have expected. Just listen quietly to a line from the second verse:

Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.

The promise made to Jacob in his dream as he slept on a stone pillow in Genesis 28 is about to be fulfilled in the spreading of the news of the resurrection of Jesus to and in all of the nations of the earth: All the families of the earth will wish to be blessed as you and your descendants are blessed. (Genesis 28.14b) The deserted place – inhabited by Jacob or by Jesus – has not been abandoned. It has become the seedbed of a new life in communion with God. After all, generations of disciples of the same Jesus throughout history will go again and again. Into the desert. It will establish itself as a place of counter–cultural reassessment of principles and priorities for people of firm faith and for people of faltering faith alike. The desert where Jesus retreated during what we have institutionalized as the Season of Lent in a real sense has been transposed and transplanted to the tomb which the early–rising disciples find empty, having expected to find Jesus there – but empty because he had risen to life in and through death itself. Let us always remember that two out of three of those disciples clear off home. This was not an instant or an immediate success story. Neither they, nor we, are out of the woods just yet. Tentativeness remains our friend in the temporal Eastertide. It has much to teach us.

FERMENT OF SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY IN THE CATHEDRAL

Over the past few days, we have had a great deal of spiritual activity in the cathedral. On Thursday, at the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, we looked at Jesus as prophet, identifying key themes of praying, watching and listening as integral to his Messianic redefinition of prophecy as he approaches his Passion. On Friday and Saturday, the theme of priest came through strongly as we grappled with the death of God and the sacrifice of the Messiah offering atonement for sin. This follows and builds upon the institution of The Eucharist the evening before which, through time, has become the definitive gathering point for this commemoration, this memorial as the church takes up the unique connection and combination of these two events in salvation history, calling them Holy Communion with God and neighbour. Today we can begin to explore the kingship of Christ, a theme that we shall continue to explore right the way through to the Ascension, which is the continuation and the culmination of the Easter Season, before it makes way for Whitsunday – and which, of course, we will engage again on Christ the King Sunday as Trinity gracefully makes way for Advent and our year starts all over afresh. The three terms: prophet, priest and king are distilled in another hymn: How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, in a believer’s ear John Newton’s hymn of 1779. Easter is an evolving revelation of God and self as these three themes intertwine and interconnect in our own coming to terms with the risen life . It is this living risen life that permeates and infiltrates our delight in the earthly Eastertide.

PRAYER, FASTING, ALMSGIVING AND PUBLIC RELIGION

But I ask: Is there another connection that we can make particularly through the lens of St John 20 with the whole of the Season of Lent which is well and truly over – and in this sense we really have now left behind the hymn: Forty days and forty nights …? It is, to my mind, the connection of the prophet, priest and king with what set us out on this journey on Ash Wednesday. If you remember, its Gospel was not The Temptation of Jesus but an object lesson in how to do the things you might do in any case in any of the Jewish, Christian or Islamic Faith traditions, with a new urgency and a new humility by integrating the relationship of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as set out for us in St Matthew 6. They are to be integrated around the instruction not to parade your religion before others. (St Matthew 6.1) This forms part of The Sermon on the Mount. It is Jesus at his teaching best. Lent has proved to be for us all the time of enhanced discipleship.

… AND ITS CONNECTION WITH THE INCARNATION

Jesus is opening up a new world full of grace and truth, as he did in his Incarnation. It is one devoid of hypocrisy and posturing and it is offered to people who had no role to play in existing and conventional religion. It is these same people who are swept onward and upward in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with the Messiah as they follow and festoon this donkey–king. The reimagining of prayer, fasting and almsgiving was their invitation to be part and parcel of the kingdom of heaven here on earth precisely because that kingdom is the kingdom of God, not a kingdom of human manufacturing. How can this be re–invested and re–discovered in the fragile and febrile narrative of Easter Day which offers so little in terms of majesty and yet so much in terms of future glory for us today?  

The full list in John Newton’s Hymn offers us a belonging to everything that Jesus is:

Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,

My Prophet, Priest, and King,

My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,

Accept the praise I bring. 

From Christmas Day, we have been dealing directly with God’s use of humble beginnings. There is every god reason for us to find the same God doing the same things on Easter Day. St John chapter 20 holds the same ingredients of salvation from below and salvation from within. This is yet another message emanating from the generous text of St John 20 which keeps on giving. The wonderful thing about Christmas and Easter is that on each occasion and in each year we can and do start all over again. As earthen vessels containing the grace of God we must do this. St John chapter 20 introduces us to the positive emptiness which we have found to be the characteristic of the Desert of Lent. Its ingredients of the earliest moments of resurrection are: grief, recognition, telling and rejoicing. These form a new community out of people and places and experiences. We are that new community of belief and belonging.  

CHRIST IS RISEN HALLELUJAH!

This is the new life on Christ that we feel in our fingers and in our toes, as they say and sing somewhere else. Christ is Risen Hallelujah! And God works with our hands and our feet to bring this very particular and precious type of salvation to the whole world of his creation and recreation from this moment in 2026. What we have lived through is the recharging of kingship by prophecy and by priesthood. What we have lived through is the most colourful and the most powerful few days of the yes. We have seen retaliating replaced by redemption. We have seen darkness replaced by dawn. We have seen aggression replaced by acceptance:

Jesus said, Mary! She turned and said to him, Rabbuni! (St John 20.16)

Thomas said, My Lord and my God! (St John 20.28)

FINALLY …

St John 20 is not only the culmination of the whole of The Gospel. It is of a piece with the totality of it. Essential for centring and anchoring our faith is that there seems to be no Christmas in St John’s Gospel but Easter is Christmas fulfilled. The fragilities of the first Easter morning are essential to this movement and to this continuity. There is no fragility about The Prologue but there is fragility about The Resurrection. One disciples has kept watch all night; two disciples run the next morning to find out what the story is. The one who remains gets the most fulfilled picture. And yet at the heart of her recognition there is rejection: Do not cling to me …for I have not yet ascended to the Father. (St John 20.17) And the disciples will continue to huddle behind locked doors in Jerusalem for fear of the Jews (St John 20.19). Everywhere we turn there is a long way to go.

Our Lenten life has not been wasted. It has been essential in the almost tantric conservation of energies, in their repurposing so that we can join in the metallic resonances of a joyful Eastertide. Tomorrow is a new day. Our Lenten discipline is not wasted. We start afresh, our lives restructured and repurposed. We follow the Risen Lord into Galilee where he has gone before us … and to the ends of the earth.

St John 1.18: Mary of Magdala went to tell the disciples. I have seen the Lord! She said, and gave them his message.

‘From chaos into new life’: Pakistan’s largest diocese installs new archbishop

A Capuchin Franciscan friar has been installed as archbishop of Lahore, assuming leadership of Pakistan’s largest Catholic diocese after a turbulent period marked by the removal of his predecessor.

Archbishop Khalid Rehmat, OFM Cap, 57, was installed as head of the Archdiocese of Lahore on March 28 in a ceremony that acknowledged a period of “particular difficulties and challenges” following the removal of Archbishop Sebastian Shaw, OFM, in August 2024 — an unprecedented development in the country’s Catholic history.

During the liturgy, Vicar General Father Asif Sardar read the Urdu translation of the papal bull, which referenced the trials faced by Pakistan’s largest Catholic diocese, home to an estimated 577,000 faithful.

“We devote all our energies to the governance of the ship of the Church, which for different reasons is sometimes assailed by waves, requiring the guidance of both ourselves and the devoted pastors appointed by us. For this reason, we have turned our attention to the metropolitan see of Lahore,” he said, quoting Pope Leo XIV.

The remarks were widely interpreted as an indirect reference to Shaw, who was appointed apostolic vicar of Quetta and installed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on March 24. 

Prior to that, he had been residing at the Franciscan Friars Minor house in Karachi while on what Church authorities described as a sabbatical.

Allegations against Shaw

Shaw has faced multiple allegations in recent years, including claims of financial mismanagement and misconduct involving Church funds and properties, circulated in media reports and on social media.

In 2017, he drew criticism for allowing a political address by Maryam Nawaz, now chief minister of Punjab, at Sacred Heart Cathedral during an election campaign.

Further controversy emerged in 2021 when a Christian activist shared on social media photographs and documents alleging irregular land transactions linked to Shaw. He declined to comment on the claims when contacted by EWTN News.

Pakistani Catholics react to Vatican’s bishop reassignments

In 2022, additional allegations regarding personal conduct surfaced from a suspended priest, though archdiocesan officials dismissed them as unfounded.

Several Catholics, including a former Caritas Pakistan official, had previously submitted complaints to the Vatican concerning alleged abuse of authority and financial impropriety.

‘Things seem to have settled down’

Archbishop Benny Mario Travas of Karachi, who served as apostolic administrator of Lahore during the transition, drew light laughter from the congregation when he remarked that “things seem to have settled down,” noting a decline in complaints reaching the apostolic nunciature.

Archbishop Germano Penemote, the apostolic nuncio to Pakistan, thanked Travas for his stewardship during what he described as a turbulent period.

“The Church in Lahore is invited to experience this moment as a true resurrection — to emerge from chaos into new life, stepping out from the shadows into the radiant light of the risen Lord,” he said, addressing the faithful on the eve of Palm Sunday.

Catholic lay leaders say the path forward will require structural and cultural renewal.

Shahid Rehmat, executive director of the Youth Development Foundation, emphasized the need for greater accountability and transparency within Church leadership.

“The internet has changed the world. Young people are no longer dependent on, nor can they be controlled by, Church leaders,” he told EWTN News, urging authorities to make public the findings of any inquiry into Shaw’s tenure.

“Transparency will help restore trust among the faithful and strengthen the credibility of the new leadership. Christian activists — many formed within Church institutions — have often been labeled disloyal. Recognizing their role could support the Church’s mission for justice and peace,” he added.

Rehmat, a former diocesan coordinator of Catholic Youth Ministry of the Lahore Archdiocese, also expressed cautious optimism about the new archbishop’s leadership.

“He is well known in Quetta and has the potential to make the Church more accessible and outward-looking, while strengthening its struggling commissions,” he said.

Archbishop shares 10 characteristics of his thriving seminary

The archbishop of Toledo and primate of Spain, Francisco Cerro, said it is not uncommon to be asked “what the secret is” behind the vitality of his seminary, which for decades has had one of the highest enrollments in the country.

Cerro noted that questions about the seminary’s success lead him and his team to live in “profound humility and sincere gratitude” for what God has granted them through “the heart of Jesus Christ, eternal high priest,” both for the good of the Church and for “a humanity incapable of finding a way back to the Lord, marked by apostasy and, above all, weary and burdened because it lacks the Love of loves.”

In a recent letter, Cerro offered 10 points he said have shaped the seminary’s strong vocation culture — points “strengthened by the pastors who have served this primatial see, watered by the blood of martyrs, and sustained by the witness of holiness of so many lives.”

1. “Reasons of faith”

“We enter the seminary for reasons of faith, not for human reasons, and we remain for reasons of faith,” explained the prelate, who — drawing inspiration from the words Pope Leo XIV addressed to Spanish seminarians in February — added that “when we lose the supernatural dimension of our vocation, we lose everything.”

2. The Church confirms the vocation

Cerro explained that “in the seminary, the vocation — which we place in the hands of the Church — is discerned.” 

Thus, priestly ordination “takes place when that call has been confirmed by the Church, which is the body of Christ.”

3. A transformed heart

The archbishop of Toledo, recalling his days as a seminarian, said: “I must allow the seminary to pass through me, to enter deep within me, and to gradually form and transform me. Formation must help us to live with the sentiments of the heart of Jesus. We cannot be like those smooth stones we see in mountain rivers: The water flows over them, but it does not penetrate their interior.”

4. Human, not worldly

Another factor contributing to the success of the Toledo seminary is awareness of having “seminarians who are deeply human, yet not at all worldly,” Cerro said, men who share in “the joys, hopes, sorrows, and anxieties of our brothers,” for “the world awaits holy priests who know how to accompany people on the journey of life.”

5. Solid in-depth formation

The prelate said the Toledo seminary offers “solid in-depth formation,” grounded in the magisterium of the Church, “so as not to turn our seminaries into a laboratory for all manner of experiments, the outcome of which we all know.”

6. Based on the word of God and the lives of the saints

“Based on the living word, on the doctrine of the Church, on the experience of the saints, and in dialogue with a world that needs the Redeemer of the world more than ever” — this is how the formation process is carried out, the prelate emphasized.

7. Living in the present

Cerro said the seminary approaches its work “without nostalgia for a past that will not return. With eyes of faith, living in the present in communion with Peter, we form ourselves to live out what is essential: to be holy and blameless before God out of love.”

8. Fraternity and unity in diversity

“The seminary — as a presbyterate in formation — must be a community that lives like a family,” the prelate added, “for this fraternity strengthens that which unites us, enabling us to live with one heart while respecting the healthy plurality of sensibilities that reaffirm one faith, one baptism, and one Lord, in communion with Peter in [Christ’s] Church.”

9. Devoted to Mary

“We place the seminary in the heart of the Immaculate One. She watches over every seminarian so that he may attain the goal of a life of priestly dedication and generosity,” the archbishop shared.

10. Entrusted to the saints and martyrs

Finally, Cerro said he considers the final characteristic of the seminary is that it is entrusted to “St. Ildefonsus, to Blessed Sancha, and to so many holy pastors who have passed through it” as well as “to the martyrs of the religious persecution in Spain.”

He appealed to them to “grant us many holy vocations, so that the Church journeying in Toledo may never lack pastors after the heart of Christ.”

Portuguese bishops cut payment recommendation for abuse victims

After an independent body of specialists recommended financial compensation packages to victims of clerical sexual abuse, the Portuguese bishops’ conference has voted to significantly cut the recommended amounts before offering the packages to victims.

While compensation offers to victim-survivors are individually approved by the local diocesan bishops, the Portuguese bishops voted as a conference in February to apply a uniform percentage cut to compensation packages recommended by an independent panel — with the cuts believed to be as high as 50 percent.

After an independent commission’s 2023 report on clerical sexual abuse, Portuguese victims of clerical sexual abuse were in 2024 invited to present their cases to a panel of abuse experts, and to apply for financial compensation. 

The process applied to cases which could no longer be prosecuted in civil courts because of the statute of limitations.

Victims first relayed their situations to a pair of experts, who determined the credibility of their stories and assessed the extent of the damage suffered. 

The case files were then passed on to a Compensation Determination Commission (CDC) made up of seven legal experts, including two judges, lawyers and university professors of law, all working pro bono. 

That commission suggested compensations for each case, with the final decision on amount left to the bishop of the affected diocese, or the superior of the relevant religious institute.

The compensation proposals were analyzed by the bishops during a Feb. 27 extraordinary plenary meeting in Fatima, with several bishops expressing shock at the suggested compensation amounts, which they considered high in the context of legal precedent in Portugal, and in comparison with voluntary financial compensations paid by the Catholic Church in other European countries with higher living standards.

The bishops therefore decided to apply a uniform proportional cut to all the recommended compensations. 

According to one participant in the meeting, who spoke to The Pillar on condition of anonymity, the decision to apply the cut was approved by a majority of the bishops, but only after heated discussion, with some dissenting voices.

In a statement published after the meeting, the bishops said that the compensation awards ranged from 9,000 to 45,000 euros [around $10,500 to $52,000] but did not disclose the decision to cut the initially suggested amounts.

In a written response to questions posed by The Pillar, the bishops’ conference did not confirm a uniform policy of cuts, but did say that “the final amounts attributed were defined in accordance with the procedural regulation, which allowed for a distinction between the technical report and the final decision.”

“The Inquiry and Compensation Determination Commissions produced reports based on the individual analysis of each situation, and generally applicable criteria, with the final decision falling to the competent authority: the Portuguese bishops’ conference, in the case of diocesan situations, and the respective superiors of the institutes of consecrated life, in the other situations.”

The bishops’ conference added that “the determined amounts are not arbitrary. A solution was sought that was inspired in similar European experiences [5,000 euros minimum and a maximum of 60,000 euros in France, and 50,000 in Germany — around 5,700, 57 thousand and 69 thousand USD respectively], but adjusted to the reality of life in Portugal and the equitable criteria applied by our case law regarding non-pecuniary damages in crimes of this nature.”

“This is a process that cannot be reduced to a mere financial issue, foremost because no compensation can truly make up for the gravity of what happened, nor repair all that was destroyed in somebody’s life. What the Church has attempted is to make a concrete gesture of accountability and possible reparation. There is always an inevitable imperfection in such an exercise, and to recognize that is part of the honesty and humility that the topic demands,” the statement said.

The bishops’ conference said that “the work carried out by the professionals in both commissions was extremely important” because, “without it, it would not have been possible to reach as fair and equitable an outcome as possible.”

But some members of the compensation commission told The Pillar that the decision to cut recommended amounts suggests that the group’s work and expertise was disregarded by the country’s episcopal conference.

The Pillar has also found that the nine cases which have not yet been finalized will not be assessed by the CDC, which has now ceased its work. 

The Pillar asked how those evaluations would be conducted, but the bishops’ conference communication department did not reply before time of publication.

Still, one member of the outgoing CDC stressed that “our work has finished. I do not know who will be evaluating the new cases, but they will have to follow the criteria applied [by the bishops’ conference] to the final compensations,” which means that any new panel of experts, if one is named, would not have the freedom that was accorded the first one, since several of its members confirmed to The Pillar that the bishops did not impose any limits to the recommendations they could make.

Exceptions for religious orders

The cuts agreed upon by bishops only apply to cases of historical abuse brought against dioceses, with the superiors of religious orders being free to follow the same criteria, or to accept the initial amounts proposed by the CDC.

At the February meeting, those religious orders or institutes were represented by the Portuguese Conference of Religious Institutes (CIRP), whose chairman and vice-chairman sit in on bishops’ conference meetings, albeit without a vote.

The Pillar asked Fr. Adelino Ascenso, chairman of CIRP, if his group agreed with or had adopted the cuts made by the bishops, but received no response.

But in a recent interview with Portuguese website Observador, the superior of the Jesuits in Portugal claimed that he had decided to pay the amount proposed by the compensation committee..

Contacted by The Pillar the Jesuit superior reaffirmed this, adding that he had the final say in the case involving his institute. But he did not comment on the cuts agreed upon by the bishops’ conference.

Differing criteria

The discrepancy between the independently recommended compensation amounts and those adopted by bishops’ conference appear to rest on a different reading of the relevant criteria for compensation.

The bishops considered that the values proposed by the CDC were much higher than what Portuguese civil courts regularly apply in cases of sexual abuse. 

But one member of the CDC told The Pillar that the commission abided strictly by regulations proposed by the bishops’ conference, which say that: “The amount of compensation shall take into account the values established within the scope of civil liability as compensation for non-pecuniary damages in the case law of Portuguese courts. Consideration will also be given to indemnities already awarded in civil jurisdiction, as well as other amounts already agreed upon and received out-of-court.”

The regulation also states that “financial compensation shall constitute a significant benefit that is proportionate to the assessed gravity of the harm.”

The bishops’ conference regulation does not specify that the criteria for determining compensation amounts should be singularly the compensation awarded by civil courts in cases of sexual abuse.

Instead, the document gives the CDC full freedom in its assessment: “The choice of methodology for determining the amount to be awarded is the responsibility of the Compensation Determination Commission. The Commission shall take into account the type of abuse committed and an overall assessment of the case, including other relevant criteria, on a scale ranging from the least serious to the most serious situations brought before the Commission, ultimately selecting the final amount to be awarded.”

A member of the CDC told The Pillar that “Portuguese courts tend to award low damages in cases of sexual abuse, but there is a reason for that. Often the culprit does not have financial means to pay more, and besides that there will often be a prison sentence.”

“It’s true that the prison sentence has a punitive nature,” the conference member said, “and the damages have a reparatory nature, but all things considered, and taking into account the prison sentence, the damages awarded tend to be lower. That is the context that has to be taken into consideration, one of insufficient economic means and, generally, prison time.”

On the other hand, he explained, “damages awarded by courts to people whose lives are wrecked in a traffic accident can be as high as 200 thousand or 300 thousand euros [230 thousand and 346 thousand USD]. And in the cases we considered, people did have their lives destroyed by these barbarous acts.”

The Pillar spoke to several people who were familiar with the compensation process, CDC members, members of diocesan commissions, bishops and others, but none would confirm individual compensation amounts proposed by the CDC, citing the confidentiality to which they are obliged under bishops’ conference regulations.

However, The Pillar has managed to ascertain that the maximum criteria adopted is closer to the standard damages applied by civil courts to cases of death, which is around 100,000 euros [$115,000].

Even allowing for the possibility that none of the compensations actually met that bar, but supposing an amount closer to 90,000 euros, which more than one source cited as credible, that would still imply a 50% cut, considering the bishops indicated that the highest compensation is 45,000 euros.

Lack of transparency

While the bishops had reserved from the start of the commission’s work the right to determine final compensation amounts, some CDC members told The Pillar that process and decisions of the conference reflected a lack of transparency, not only towards survivors of abuse, but to society at large.

CDC members stress that the final amounts are nowhere near what they suggested, and say they would like the bishops to make that clear — CEP statements have only said that the final amounts were reached “taking into consideration” the CDC reports.

The Pillar has also confirmed that victims who received compensation were not informed of the discrepancy between the value proposed by the CDC and the final figure approved by the bishops.

None of the public statements made by the bishops have mentioned a policy of discounting the amount either.

“We keep doing this. We take one good step, and screw it up with the second. When the Church created the Independent Commission, that was a good thing, but then the way we treated the findings was terrible. Now we created this mechanism to provide victims with compensations, which was a good initiative, but we messed it up with the confusion and lack of transparency” said one senior cleric involved in the compensation process.

Another individual involved with the investigative process said that “you could even justify the bishops’ final decision, but they should have been clear about it, and they weren’t. They should have said that these are the values, and explained how they reached them.”

According to the bishops’ conference, 95 people applied for financial compensation, of whom 78 were considered initially eligible. 

Eleven of those claims were later rejected, and 66 cases approved for compensation. 

Fifty-seven have had compensation already awarded, and nine others are pending analysis. 

One case was still awaiting a judicial decision by the Holy See when the bishops issued their statement.

The total amount of the compensations already awarded in this process is slightly more than 1.6 million euros, not taking into account the nine cases still under review.

Indonesian bishop flags pastoral lapse after family exits Church over denied sacrament

A Catholic bishop has warned priests against neglecting sacramental duties after a family left the Church when a request for last rites for a dying relative went unanswered.

Bishop Agustinus Tri Budi Utomo of Surabaya raised the case during the Chrism Mass and renewal of priestly promises on March 31 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, calling it a serious failure in ministry and urging clergy to respond promptly to urgent pastoral needs.

Three weeks before the Mass, the bishop said he received a WhatsApp message from a Catholic family known to him, informing him of their decision to formally leave the Church. 

The family said their request for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick had been ignored, and their relative later died without receiving it.

“This is a profound experience of faith, especially in the administration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Please, never delay or refuse requests from the faithful to receive this sacrament,” he said.

He warned that denying such requests cuts to the core of priestly ministry. 

“Such refusal may be one of the gravest sins for us priests — daring to refuse sacramental service to the faithful. We must never dare to ‘punish’ the faithful by withholding the sacraments,” he said, stressing that “our first and foremost duty is to be ministers of the sacraments.”

Using the incident as a point of reflection, the bishop called on priests to return to the foundations of their vocation. 

“In every work and action, we must imagine that the Lord Jesus is always present with us priests. God uses our hands, eyes, and mouths to touch the hearts of the faithful we serve,” he said.

He urged unity among clergy, saying priests should see one another “not as competitors or as sources of irritation, but with spiritual eyes,” recognizing that each is sent “to make Christ present, with all their weaknesses.”

The bishop also stressed the importance of presence in the Eucharist, even when not assigned to preside. 

“Even when not assigned, we are present — either as concelebrants in the sanctuary or simply seated among the faithful in clerical attire,” he said, adding that “this presence has its own spiritual richness.”

He also pointed to the responsibility of priests to teach and accompany the faithful, particularly those preparing to enter the Church. 

Catechumens, he said, are “special guests” who must be welcomed “with our most gracious faces and most open hearts into the Body of Christ.”

At the same time, he cautioned priests about their language in preaching. “Teaching the love of God is the most essential lesson,” he said, urging clergy to avoid words or actions that may lead to “verbal or psychological violence, humiliation, or hate speech toward anyone.”

The bishop also warned against attachment to comfort and material benefits, saying these can weaken commitment to service. 

“Lifestyle is a witness of faith. Choosing simplicity means standing in solidarity with God’s people — the sick, the poor, the oppressed, and the imprisoned,” he said, adding that comfort can tempt priests “to neglect service.”

Addressing lay Catholics, the bishop acknowledged the fragility of priests but urged the faithful to respond with prayer and dialogue rather than public condemnation.

“Dear faithful, priests are fragile and full of weaknesses. Correcting them is not done by condemning or exposing them publicly. Pray for them, meet them personally,” he said. “What you do is seen by God, and that is enough.”

He also called for prayers for vocations and for Church workers, adding: “Pray also for me, your bishop, who is weak and sinful, that I may shepherd all the faithful according to the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.”

The bishop said the incident should lead to deeper reflection on pastoral responsibility, especially in responding to urgent sacramental needs. 

“Through the Anointing of the Sick, the ill experience God’s mercy directly. It is a deeply existential experience of faith for the salvation of souls,” he said.

Bishop Dónal McKeown: Frightening ‘liquid society' alienating people from things giving solid identity

Bishop Dónal McKeown has said an increasing emphasis on ‘individualism’ in a ‘frightening’ new ‘liquid society’ over the past number of decades has alienated people from those ‘things that give us solid identity’

The Bishop of Derry made the observation in his Easter Vigil homily in St. Eugene’s Cathedral at the weekend.

“The world has changed radically in the last few decades. We all know that. Travel, communication, family and a highly secularised culture have altered people's expectations of life and these changes have also caused enormous problems for so many men and women and for so many of our young people,” he told the congregation during Mass last Saturday evening.

He argued that over recent decades people have been alienated from things that give their lives meaning.

"An emphasis on individualism has led to a frightening 'liquid society', as somebody called it, where commitment is seen as limiting my freedom, everything is precarious and nothing has much meaning. We have been cut off from any of those things that give us solid identity, our healthy connection with the creator, with creation and with our fellow creatures,” he said.

Dr. McKeown added that he believed this was impacting people’s well-being and argued for the need for resurrection.

"No wonder we are plagued with addictions and mental illness. No wonder many young people are increasingly unhappy with the paper thin hope that they are being offered. Resurrection is needed and offered here and now,” the Bishop of Derry declared in his Easter sermon.

Former P.E.I. priest sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing altar boy

A former P.E.I. Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused an altar boy in the late 1980s has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Brendon Earl Gallant, 80, appeared in provincial court in Charlottetown on April 7 for sentencing. 

The five-year prison sentence was a joint recommendation from Crown attorney John Diamond and defence lawyer Chris Montigny that was accepted by Judge Nancy Orr.

Gallant previously pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charge on Aug. 21, 2025, in provincial court in Georgetown. 

A publication ban is in place preventing the release of information that could identify the male victim.

Agreed statement of facts

According to an agreed statement of facts previously read in court, the victim reported the historic sexual abuse by Gallant to the RCMP on March 3, 2023. 

The police investigation revealed that Gallant was assigned to St. Margaret’s parish in Kings County and met the victim in the 1980s. 

Gallant knew the victim through his participation in the church, including as an altar server.

Gallant took an interest in the victim, including taking him to the rectory. 

The victim was excited that an adult was taking an interest in him at the time. 

The victim stayed at the rectory with Gallant for overnight visits.

Related

The sexual abuse occurred at the rectory and involved Gallant using his hands to fondle the victim’s body and private parts. 

The overnight visits occurred twice a month after mass and Gallant and the victim slept in the same bed.

The victim was also given alcohol on occasion and recalled an incident when he woke up feeling sore and went to the washroom. 

There was blood in the toilet and the victim believed there was an attempt to have penetrative sex with him.

The relationship between Gallant and the victim ended in the early 1990s. 

At that time, the victim’s relationship with the church came to an end. 

The victim kept the relationship with Gallant a secret but the emotional toll led to a dependence on alcohol and mental health issues.

The police investigation led to Gallant being arrested on March 29, 2025. Gallant did not have a prior criminal record.

Guilty plea

On Aug. 21, 2025, when Gallant pleaded guilty to sexual assault, he also went through a plea inquiry and answered “yes” to several questions, including that he was making the guilty plea of his own free will. Gallant also signed the agreed statement of facts. 

The matter was adjourned so a pre-sentence report could be prepared to assist the court.

When the matter returned on Oct. 21, 2025, for sentencing in Georgetown, Gallant’s lawyer at the time, Peter Ghiz, told the court that his client wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. 

The matter was transferred to P.E.I. Supreme Court to hear an application. 

However, the application was abandoned and the matter was returned to provincial court for sentencing — this time with Montigny as Gallant’s lawyer.

Sentencing

At sentencing on April 7, Orr noted a comment in the pre-sentence report made by Gallant that he didn’t commit the offence but pleaded guilty to avoid embarrassing the Diocese at a trial. 

Montigny said that Gallant accepts responsibility for his actions and that he stands by the guilty plea and the agreed statement of facts.

Diamond outlined several aggravating factors in the case, including the breach of trust with the victim and that the victim was under the age of 18 at the time of the offences. 

As well, the offence has had a significant impact on the victim.

Diamond also noted that the delays in the court matter have caused the victim further anxiety but he is grateful for the closure. 

Gallant’s guilty plea was important because it prevented the victim from having to testify at a trial.

In terms of his client’s personal circumstances, Montigny said that Gallant is dealing with health issues, including cognitive impairments. 

Gallant also spoke briefly in court and said that he was truly sorry for the hurt he caused the victim and his family.

Sex offender registry, other conditions

In addition to the five years in prison, Gallant was also sentenced to a sex offender information registry order for 20 years, a weapons prohibition and a DNA order. 

Gallant is not allowed to have contact with the victim while in custody.

Orr also imposed an order for 10 years with conditions that include staying away from places where persons under the age of 16 are present or can reasonably be expected to be present, such as public parks, public swimming areas, daycare centres, school grounds, playgrounds or community centres.

The 10-year order also prohibits Gallant from seeking, obtaining or continuing any employment or volunteer position that involves being in a position of trust or authority towards persons under the age of 16. 

Gallant also cannot be within two kilometres of the victim’s residence or his place of education or employment.

‘Miracle Doctor’ of Lourdes retires after 17 years, insisting miracles aren’t his job

Alessandro de Franciscis is anything but an ordinary doctor.

For the past 17 years, the 70-year-old Italian American physician has headed the Office of Medical Observations at the Lourdes Sanctuary in France. 

As he retired on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on Feb. 11, the entire congregation — including bishops — burst into applause at Mass for the feast day.

He will be succeeded in April by Italian surgeon Giada Monami, who currently practices in Venice.

Studied medicine in Naples

De Franciscis studied medicine and pediatrics in Italian Naples, before continuing his education in the United States at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he earned a master’s of science in epidemiology in 1985.

In 2009, he became the first non-French permanent physician at the Lourdes Sanctuary and president of the Lourdes Medical Bureau, which investigates cases of reported cures among pilgrims.

“The medical and scientific verification of cures has been fundamental in Lourdes since the Virgin’s apparitions to Bernadette,” de Franciscis told OSV News. 

“As early as 1858, there were reports of supposed miracles. The first cures were recognized  as miracles in 1862 by the bishop of Tarbes” — Lourdes was under his jurisdiction — “on the very day he officially recognized the apparitions.”

First permanent physician in 1883

In 1883, Dr. Dunot de Saint Maclou of Normandy settled in Lourdes at the bishop’s request to serve as its permanent physician.

“He was the one who founded the Lourdes Medical Bureau,” de Franciscis said. “Lourdes attracted a great many people, and people should not be allowed to claim they had been ‘miraculously cured’ without a rigorous medical verification.”

Since then, a succession of physicians has served in the role. De Franciscis was the 15th.

He often emphasizes that “miracles do not exist in medicine.”

‘We do not deal with miracles’

“Our role as doctors is solely to determine whether a person has been cured, and whether that cure is unexplained given the current state of scientific knowledge,” he explained. “We do not deal with miracles. That is not our field.”

According to de Franciscis, tens of thousands of people have reported being healed since 1883, including nearly 1,500 since his arrival in 2009. 

“Very few have been followed by a full investigation,” he said. “Most of them had undergone medical treatment, about a third of them for cancer, which could explain their recovery. We conduct in-depth investigations into about 30 of the 100 cases we receive on average each year.”

Lengthy, collaborative process

In such cases, the process is lengthy and collaborative. “The criteria are very strict,” de Franciscis explained. “They were established by Cardinal (Lorenzo) Lambertini, future Pope (Benedict XIV), in 1734, with a view to recognizing miracles in Rome for beatifications or canonizations. They have been updated since then but remain relevant.”

Lourdes’ outgoing chief doctor explained to OSV News that “the illness must have been the subject of a precise and clear diagnosis, and it must have a severe prognosis. The return to health must be sudden, instantaneous, complete and lasting over time. It cannot be a temporary remission.” 

“The cured patient must also agree to undergo a whole series of examinations, the results of which we analyze scrupulously,” de Franciscis said. “Then, if the cure appears to be genuinely unexplained, I convene a meeting of the members of the bureau, with the person presumed to be healed, and the bureau issues an initial ‘certificate of cure.'”

Cases presented to committee

“After that,” he added, “I present the cases of healing to the International Medical Committee of Lourdes at its annual meeting.”

Established in 1947, this committee is composed of some 30 researchers from medical universities around the world, including several Americans. 

“Its members must vote by a two-thirds majority for a cure to be recognized as ‘unexplained given the current state of medical scientific knowledge,'” de Franciscis clarified.

Then, it is up to the Church to judge whether a miracle has occurred or not. 

“The bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes may forward the case file to the bishop of the diocese where the cured person resides, who will in turn conduct an investigation to decide whether a miracle has occurred or not,” de Franciscis explained. 

‘Full of stories of healing’

“Lourdes is full of stories of healing,” David Torchala, director of communications at the sanctuary, told OSV News. “But there are cases of cures that are recognized as medically unexplained, which the bishops do not declare to be miracles. In addition to the findings of medical research, they take into account the personal testimony of the person involved, who will then be sent out on a mission to share their story. This will change their life.”

“Out of the approximately 8,000 cases of healing recorded since 1858, only 72 cases have been recognized as miraculous by the Church,” de Franciscis pointed out. “There have been five since I started serving here in Lourdes.”

Latest miracles recognized by Church

The last miracles recognized by the Church involved a French nun, Sister Bernadette Moriau, who was cured in 2008 — the miracle was recognized in 2018. In 2024, the cure of the British soldier John Traynor was recognized. 

Seriously wounded during World War I, he was cured in Lourdes in 1923. His cure had been officially recognized by the Medical Bureau in 1926, but the news was not conveyed to the bishop of his diocese until nearly a century later. 

Finally, in April 2025, the cure of an Italian woman, Antonia Raco, was announced. She suffered from primary lateral sclerosis and found herself suddenly cured in 2009 after a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

‘Doctor, I am cured’

According to Torchala, “Dr. de Franciscis often joked that he was the most useless physician in the world, because people would come knocking on his door to tell him, ‘Doctor, I am cured.'” 

“But he did a tremendous job,” he said. “He brought together an entire international medical community around Lourdes through the International Medical Association of Our Lady of Lourdes, which he chaired. It now has nearly 8,000 members worldwide. The fact that he was both American and Italian was a great help in this regard.”

Sanctuary’s first woman medical director

In April, Dr. Monami will take over from de Franciscis. She will be the first woman to hold this position. Her medical career includes extensive research experience that led her to work at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia from 2003 to 2007. 

A Catholic, Monami “has had a special connection with Lourdes since childhood, particularly through her father’s involvement as a doctor accompanying pilgrimages,” the sanctuary’s website said. 

For the past 10 years, she has been a volunteer doctor with UNITALSI — or National Union of Italian Medical Transportation of the Sick to Lourdes and other sanctuaries — “accompanying sick and frail people to the Sanctuary,” Lourdes said.

Catholic Archbishop of Dublin confirmed as patron of new special school for Wicklow

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, is to act as the patron for a new special school to be established in Bray for the 2026/2027 school year, it has been confirmed.

The new school, which will cater for children and young people with complex special educational needs up to 18 years of age, is to be delivered through the repurposing of an existing school building. Details on its exact location will be confirmed at a later date.

Tánaiste Simon Harris and Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton announced the decision on Tuesday, April 7, describing it as “a significant milestone for families of children with additional needs in Bray,” particularly given continuing population growth in the area and pressure on existing services.

Speaking following the announcement, Mr Harris said the development would make a meaningful difference for families who have faced ongoing challenges in securing appropriate school placements for children with additional needs.

“This is a day that will mean the world to so many Wicklow families,” he said. “As a Wicklow TD, I know very well that many families have been asking for this, especially in light of the growing population in County Wicklow.”

He said he had been working closely with the Education Minister and local Fine Gael councillors to highlight the urgent need for additional special education places, particularly in the north Wicklow and Bray area.

“Every child deserves to reach their full potential and therefore deserves access to an appropriate school place where they can learn and progress,” Mr Harris said, adding that the new school would help ease stress and uncertainty for families currently travelling outside their local area to access supports.

While the exact location of the new school has not yet been disclosed at the request of the Department of Education, it is envisaged that existing buildings in Bray will be repurposed to facilitate its opening in time for the 2026/27 school year. 

Further details will be confirmed as arrangements are finalised.

The new Bray school forms part of a broader programme of special school expansion nationwide. 

As part of planning by the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), four additional special schools are now being planned for Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.

This planning process included assessments of existing capacity, demand and waiting lists, enrolment projections, and the number of children required to travel outside their local area to access a special school placement.

The NCSE will work closely with families to assist them in accessing the new places that will become available for the 2026/27 school year. 

Planning for the establishment and opening of the new schools is described as well advanced, with details regarding admissions processes and the number of places to be offered expected to be confirmed shortly.

Commenting on the plans, Ms Naughton said “more children will be able to access specialist education in their own communities this coming September.”

"We have made good progress in expanding special education provision and we will continue to act to meet with growing demand. Our school communities continue to demonstrate a real commitment to inclusion,” she added.

About 40% of parents with kids in religious schools would rather multi-denominational

AROUND 40% OF parents of children attending Catholic or other religious denominated schools would prefer their children to attend a multi-denominational school, according to a new survey carried out by the Department of Education and Youth.

The survey, launched in November last year, aimed to assess the appetite amongst parents for multi-denominational, co-educational and Irish-medium education.

Asked about the results on Morning Ireland, Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton said there was a “high level of engagement” from parents and guardians of children about to go to primary school or currently attending primary school.

Some 41% of affected households responded to the survey. Over 200,000households submitted validated responses.

According to the Department, the survey indicated:

• Approximately 60% of parents in denominational schools wish to retain that ethos

• Approximately 73% of parents in the 276 single‑sex primary schools favour a move to co‑education

• Approximately 87% of parents in English-medium schools support maintaining English as the primary language of instruction

Co Wicklow saw the lowest percentage of parents who wished for their child’s school’s ethos to remain denominational at 50.5%. Donegal was highest at 70.9%, closely followed by Longford and Monaghan at 70.5%.

Co Galway saw the highest number of surveyed parents whose children attend a single-sex school say they would prefer their child’s school to transition to a mixed school, at 87.8%. The county with the lowest desire for this was Waterford, on 62.7%.

The Department noted that the figures are depicted at a county level, but it is parental preferences at an individual school level that show the actual demand for change or otherwise.

The schools will receive their individual school-specific report in early May. The reports will contain guidance and information. Based on the school’s survey results, they will be asked to consider if they wish to be included in the first tranche of schools to action any changes needed.

Naughton said: “What we’re going to do now as a department is share the information at a school level, so schools will be given the results of their individual surveys, which may look very different at a community, at a local level.”

She continued, “So it’s giving parents and guardians the choice, and the department then will be able to facilitate them if they want to make changes in relation to the ethos, in relation to whether their school is co-ed, for example, whether they want an Irish medium school.”

She said the survey was “really important to give that local choice to parents and guardians and local schools to say what it is they want in their local area”.

However, voluntary human rights organisation Education Equality, the mission of which is to “end religious discrimination in State-funded schools”, said the survey headline “understates demand for multi-denominational education and risks reducing children’s rights to a popularity test”.

“The widely reported 40% figure relates only to parents whose children are currently attending religiously managed primary schools and therefore does not reflect the full views of participating families,” the organisation said.

It called on the Department to publish a full breakdown of the survey results across all respondent groups, including parents of preschool children and parents of children already attending multi-denominational schools.

Catholic Education Partnership and the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) had a different response, and said it was “gratifying” to see there is still a “high level of confidence” in Catholic schools. 

“While a proportion of parents expressed a preference for change, this represents approximately 16% of all eligible households, with the majority signalling support for the current model of provision,” it said.

General Secretary of CPSMA Seamus Mulconry said although he welcomes the “strong support” for Catholic schools, “the right of the 16% who want change must of course also be respected and vindicated”.

“It is now essential that the Department swiftly publish the survey in its entirety so that schools can have clarity around their future,” he said.

Abuse Commission in Poland to also conduct research on John Paul II

For more than three years, Poland's bishops' conference has been planning a commission of inquiry into the sexual abuse of minors. When exactly the research project will begin is still not clear. 

But in June, the bishops' conference wants to decide who will lead the commission. Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno (Gnesen) is to propose one or more candidates for the presidency. 

"The credibility and independence of this commission will ultimately depend on the authority of the person taking over the chairmanship," Polak said of the importance of the staffing.

The bishops are said to have already agreed that a layman and not a cleric will become commission chief. 

Three committees must agree to the appointment of the chairperson(s): both religious superior conferences of the nuns and gentlemen, as well as the General Assembly of Bishops. 

The Commission has been tasked with determining the extent of the sexual abuse of minors in the dioceses and religious communities since 1945.

Question of independence

It should be clarified: How did the Church react to these crimes? Recommendations on abuse prevention are also expected from the Commission. The new Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Grzegorz Rys, emphasizes yet another goal: "Above all, the Commission should help us to reach the injured parties, to whom we have not yet found access." Rys hopes these abuse sufferers will come forward and the church can then help them.

Critics had protested in the autumn, the planned guidelines seriously restricting the independence of the commission of inquiry. There were no guarantees for free access to the archives. Father Grzegorz Strzelczyk, who is committed to those affected by sexual abuse, also complained that the commission should not subpoena and hear anyone.

The panel is supposed to have no leverage. Cardinal Rys also rejects "subpoenas and interrogations." "We have said from the beginning that it is not an investigative commission," he said in an interview. However, the Commission must have the possibility to listen to people. "Oral reports are necessary, but as a historical source rather than a material for investigation," Rys said.

The other Commissioner(s) shall appoint the Chairperson himself. This is to ensure independence. 

Archbishop Polak, meanwhile, has already stated that the panel will not include any abuse victims. 

However, this does not mean that those affected would not be involved in their work, he explained. The research project is expected to last three years.

Not reacting properly?

The reason for the formation of a commission are older accusations against the former Krakow Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the later Pope John Paul II (1978–2005), in connection with abuse cases. Among other things, in a TV documentary, Wojtyla had been accused in March 2023 of being known as archbishop of allegations of child sexual abuse against three clergymen and not responding properly.

In the same month, the Episcopal Conference announced an independent investigation in all dioceses. Poland's bishops also appealed "to everyone to respect the memory of one of our most important countrymen." In the official announcement at the time, "unprecedented" attempts were to "discredit the person and the work of St. John Paul II."

In recent weeks, two journalists from the daily newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" have already been allowed to take a look at documents from the Archdiocese of Krakow, after the new Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Rys, had opened the diocese's archive for such investigations. The media search exonerates John Paul II, who was canonized in 2014. 

"Wojtyla did not cover up cases of pedophilia and did not transfer priests when he learned of their crimes," according to the church lawyer and editor of the "Rzeczpospolita," Tomasz Krzyzak.

Church of Poland between reform pressure, media conflict and education dispute

Poland's bishops are in dispute with Donald Tusk's centre-left government. For some time, they have been moving between education debate, abuse reappraisal and media reform – and reaping fierce criticism for it.

Wojtyla had suspended in the 1970s as archbishop perpetrator and, for example, prohibited them from carrying out priestly duties. The spokesman of the Archdiocese of Krakow, Piotr Studnicki, knew, however, when one judges Wojtyla's reactions from today's point of view, "we can be disappointed that he has not taken any action that seems natural to us today".

Although Wojtyla had been convinced of the moral reprehensibility of pedophilia, "he did not remain free of mistakes," he said. Wojtyla did not realize at the time "how important it is to take the perspective of those affected by abuse, to meet with them and to listen to them."

Holiness not attacked

The then archbishop "did not care about the injured," diocese spokesman Studnicki said in an interview with the weekly magazine "Tygodnik Powszechny." However, he emphasized that in the known cases, Wojtyla had observed the state laws and the ecclesiastical law at that time and took the measures prescribed therein. The sanctity of John Paul II does not see Studnicki attacked.

"The holiness of Karol Wojtyla does not require an idealization of his persona, nor the concealment of his limits, or even his faults," he says. “For holiness is to live faith, hope and love heroically, despite one’s own sins, faults, and boundaries. As proud as we can be of his Christian virtues, we should be able to accept that he made mistakes and had weaknesses.

Studnicki hopes that further research will give a more complete picture: "They offer us the chance to discover Wojtyla's humanity and also to correct our image of holiness." Cardinal Rys seems to see it similarly. The Archbishop of Krakow told the Polish broadcaster TVN24 that the image of the Church in Poland is certainly more damaging to the lack of an abuse commission than if it existed.