Pizzaballa calls on authorities to intervene amid settler attacks in the West Bank

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has denounced new attacks by settlers against Church lands in the Tayasir area, in the Tubas governorate (West Bank), and has demanded immediate intervention by the authorities to halt these actions and ensure the protection of its properties and the local population.

According to the official statement, the incidents have caused “serious effects” both on the Patriarchate’s lands and on the residents of the area, which led the Department of Ecclesiastical Properties to hold an urgent on-site meeting on April 23 with military authorities and civil administration officials.

In that context, the Church expressed its “total rejection” of what happened, describing it as “a clear violation of Church properties” and demanding immediate action that does not limit itself to resolving the specific incident, but ensures the future protection of these lands.

In parallel, the Patriarchate filed a formal complaint detailing “the attacks against local residents and the Patriarchate’s lands in several locations,” which has triggered initial responses from the authorities, including the identification of those responsible and the seizure of heavy machinery used in the destruction of the lands.

Far from settling for a one-off response, the Patriarchate has demanded concrete measures to prevent these incidents from recurring: “the immediate removal of all damage caused, the prevention of any future intrusion in these areas, and the provision of legal protection” for its lands. In this regard, it has been particularly clear in stating that the defense of ecclesiastical properties constitutes a “red line,” committing to take all necessary legal and administrative actions to “protect their sanctity, preserve their ecclesial identity, and defend their legitimate rights.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has been directly informed of the situation and has ordered the reinforcement of case monitoring and support for the affected communities “during these difficult circumstances.”

This episode is also set in a broader context of growing tension in the West Bank, where, as Pizzaballa himself has warned in recent interventions, “settler attacks on Palestinian villages occur almost every day,” in a scenario of progressive deterioration that exacerbates the vulnerability of local communities, including Christian ones.

Cobo-Bolaños duo returns to center stage: without the Vatican's signature, the Valley of the Fallen agreement is exposed

The narrative built over months about the Valley of the Fallen has been disproven in a key point. 

Mons. Francisco César García Magán, general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, has been categorical: “the Vatican has not been a signatory party”.

The statement is clear and hardly compatible with what the Government itself had been defending. 

And, at the same time, it exposes a sustained operation based on a supposed ecclesiastical legitimacy that, in the terms in which it had been presented, does not exist.

A narrative that crumbles

On April 18, Minister Félix Bolaños came out in defense of Cardinal José Cobo, stating bluntly that the agreement on the Valley had been signed with the Vatican. 

He also took the opportunity to denounce “brutal pressures” around the Archbishop of Madrid.

The maneuver was clear: to elevate the agreement to the Vatican to shield it and deactivate any criticism within the Church.

Today the Episcopal Conference itself denies it. 

In the words of García Magán: “the Vatican has not been a signatory party, there has been no representative of the Vatican who has signed”.

Cobo’s signature: an unaltered fact

In the face of that narrative, there is one fact that does not change. 

There is a document dated March 4, 2025, in which Cardinal José Cobo’s signature appears alongside that of Minister Félix Bolaños.

Throughout this time, Cobo himself has publicly reiterated that he has no jurisdiction over the Valley of the Fallen. 

However, his signature appears on a document that delineates spaces within the basilica and establishes a framework for intervention that directly affects its use and meaning.

The contradiction is not minor. 

In a Catholic temple, deciding which parts are destined for worship and which are opened to other uses is not an administrative matter, but a canonical one.

The Church distances itself

García Magán’s words not only disprove the Government; they also confirm the position of the Episcopal Conference: there is no competence, no decisive role, no direct responsibility. 

The CEE defines itself as a coordination body, not as an authority in this matter.

Meanwhile, the appeal to “dialogue” between the Government and the monks has become the only institutional message. 

An approach that, under the appearance of prudence, in practice amounts to a renunciation. Because while insistence on talking continues, the process advances.

The Executive itself has already set June - coinciding with Pope Leo XIV’s visit - as the horizon to continue with the resignification. 

That is, while the ecclesiastical hierarchy distances itself, political power sets the timelines and accelerates the execution.

The result is a clear image: an institutional Church that withdraws while the Government advances and uses its name as an argument of authority without that authority having actually intervened.

The truth that emerges

At this point, the facts no longer admit makeup. 

The Vatican has not signed any agreement. 

And yet, there is a document signed by Cardinal Cobo that has served to open the door to an intervention that directly affects the heart of the complex.

What remains is an operation sustained on a controversial signature and a non-existent endorsement.

The issue is no longer just political, but one of responsibility within the Church itself. 

Because if the one who signed had no authority, someone will have to explain why it was acted as if he did. And if he did, someone will have to show where that mandate is.

Without that answer, the entire process is marked by the same shadow that has accompanied it from the beginning: not that of disagreement, but that of overreach.

Abascal responds to Magán: «his priority is the business»

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has harshly criticized the Spanish Episcopal Conference following their recent statements on immigration, accusing them of not confronting the Government and acting driven by economic interests.

Abascal’s reaction comes after the CEE defended that the response to immigration must be based on the Gospel and not on “slogans”, emphasizing the dignity of every person in the face of proposals such as the so-called “national priority”.

In a message disseminated on social networks, the Vox leader stated that the ecclesiastical institution “never dares to criticize the mafia government”, and maintained that its stance would be conditioned by material interests.

The political leader went further by stating that “the government provides it with its business through the invasion”, in reference to the work of organizations linked to the Church in the field of migrant care.

According to Abascal, this situation would explain why the Episcopal Conference has as its “priority the business” and not the defense of the Spaniards, whom he accused of being despised by those who “want to defend their homeland”.

For its part, the bishops’ spokesperson insisted that the Church is not guided by slogans and recalled that the fundamental criterion is the Gospel, stating that “the neighbor is not only the one from my party, my country, or my religion”.

Spanish Government sets June, coinciding with the Pope's visit, to advance in the desecration of the Valle de los Caídos

The Government plans to present in June the urbanization project linked to the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, a decision that coincides with Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Spain and represents a new step in the intervention on one of the country’s most significant religious sites.

June, chosen in parallel to the Pope’s trip

The Executive has set June to unveil the plan that will allow the execution of the ‘The base and the cross’ project, winner of the contest called to transform the site.

The timing is no coincidence: the announcement will take place on the same dates as Leo XIV’s apostolic trip to Spain, from June 6 to 12, adding a strong symbolic component to an action that directly affects a place of worship of the Church.

The Government prepares to overcome local opposition

The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez, has mentioned that the San Lorenzo de El Escorial City Council, governed by PP and Vox, might try to halt the project.

However, the Executive has already anticipated that it will use legal mechanisms to avoid any blockage. 

“We will go directly to one of the powers that the Council of Ministers has so that no one obstructs the works,” he stated, making clear the Government’s intention to proceed with the intervention.

The Valley, a religious site under intervention

The action in the Valley of the Fallen has become one of the central axes of the Executive’s memory policy, with a project that aims to alter the meaning of a site that houses a basilica and retains a profound religious significance.

During the April Plenary Assembly press conference of the CEE, the bishops’ general secretary, Mons. César García Magán, recalled that the basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen fully retains its ecclesial status. 

“The basilica remains a basilica, so canon law remains in force”.

The DNA bank and the debate on memory

In parallel, the Government is promoting the creation of a state DNA bank linked to the Democratic Memory Law, intended to collect genetic profiles of victims of the Civil War and cases related to the so-called stolen babies.

In this context, recent reports from the National Institute of Toxicology have questioned the existence of a systematic newborn theft network in Spain, as they found no forensic evidence to support that widespread hypothesis.

A moment of maximum symbolic weight

In this context, the choice of these dates does not go unnoticed and reinforces the perception that the advance of the so-called “resignification” responds to a carefully calculated strategy, in a scenario of maximum international and ecclesial visibility, as it affects a place that is not only part of Spain’s recent history but continues to be a reference space for the Catholic faith.

Leo XIV: "A State has the right to regulate its borders. I'm not saying that everyone should be able to enter without order"

Pope Leo XIV has offered a nuanced and in-depth message on immigration during the press conference on the flight back from Equatorial Guinea to Rome, on the eve of his upcoming trip to Spain in June, where the migration issue - especially in the Canary Islands - is one of the major social and political debates.

A global approach after his time in Africa

After several days in Africa, the Pontiff positioned the migratory phenomenon as a “worldwide phenomenon!”. 

In this sense, he raised a fundamental question directed at the more developed countries: “What is the North of the world doing to help the South of the world or those countries where young people today cannot find a future and, for that reason, live this dream of wanting to go to the North?”.

Leo XIV emphasized that “everyone wants to go to the North, but often the North has no answers on how to offer them opportunities” and denounced situations of suffering linked to this phenomenon, including “the issue of human trafficking, the ‘trafficking’, which is also part of migration”.

Likewise, he warned about the exploitation of African countries: “Africa is considered by many people as a place where one can go to extract minerals, to take their wealth for the wealth of others, in other countries”. 

For this reason, he called for greater international involvement: “Perhaps at a global level we should work more to promote greater justice, equality, and the development of these African countries”.

Order at the borders and political realism

The Pope stated: “Personally, I believe that a State has the right to establish rules at its borders”. 

And he added precisely: “I am not saying that everyone should enter without order, sometimes creating in the places they go to situations that are more unjust than those they left behind”.

These words introduce a criterion of realism amid a debate marked by polarization, recognizing the legitimacy of an orderly management of migratory flows.

Human dignity, an non-negotiable principle

Alongside this recognition, Leo XIV insisted on the moral dimension of the problem. 

“In any case, they are human beings and we must treat human beings in a human way”, he affirmed emphatically, denouncing that sometimes they are treated “many times worse than animals”.

The Pontiff thus emphasized that beyond specific policies, the dignity of the person cannot be ignored. 

“When they arrive, they are human beings and deserve the respect that corresponds to every human being for their dignity”.

A message that anticipates his trip to Spain

Leo XIV’s words come at a key moment, just weeks before his trip to Spain, where immigration will occupy a prominent place in the public debate and also within the Catholic world.

Now, after his time in Africa, the Pope has outlined a broader framework that combines political responsibility and moral demand: acting on the root causes of immigration, recognizing the right of States to order their borders, and ensuring, in all cases, respect for the dignity of each person.

Marx, at the center of the controversy: a salary of 14,000 euros per month in a Church funded with billions in public money

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, remains at the center of the latest controversy following his recent pastoral decisions - in line with the German “Synodal Way” and the direct response from Leo XIV, but also due to an aspect that raises growing concern: the high level of income of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Germany, sustained by a tax system unique in Europe.

A system that guarantees billions to the Church

As reported by the French outlet Tribune Chrétienne, the Church in Germany is largely financed through the Kirchensteuer, an ecclesiastical tax that the State collects directly from citizens registered as Catholics or Protestants.

This tax amounts to between 8% and 9% of the income tax and generates annual revenues of billions of euros for the German Church, making it one of the richest ecclesiastical institutions in the world.

The system not only ensures financial stability but also establishes a structural relationship between Church and State: the public administration collects the tax and transfers it directly to the dioceses, effectively integrating the Church’s economic operations into the state apparatus.

Bishops’ salaries comparable to high public officials

In this context, German bishops receive remuneration similar to that of high-ranking state officials. 

Salary scales place their monthly incomes between 10,000 and 18,000 euros, depending on the diocese and rank.

In the case of Cardinal Marx, at the head of one of Europe’s richest archdioceses, the German press has estimated his salary at around 14,000 euros per month, within the highest levels of this scale.

These figures are also framed within dioceses with enormous economic capacity. 

The German model allows certain archdioceses to accumulate million-euro surpluses, a direct reflection of the effectiveness of the ecclesiastical tax collection system.

Structural wealth and pastoral decisions under suspicion

The controversy over incomes cannot be detached from the current doctrinal context. In recent days, Marx has promoted the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples and divorced remarried persons, a line already contested within and outside Germany and which has received corrections from Rome.

This interplay of factors - economic abundance, strong dependence on the state system, and pastoral adaptation to cultural demands - reveals in the German Church a model conditioned by its political and social environment.

A model questioned beyond Marx

Beyond the figure of Cardinal Marx, what is at stake is the model itself: a Church with extraordinary resources, guaranteed by a state tax system, which allows it to sustain broad structures but also raises questions about its real independence.

The fact that ecclesiastical incomes depend directly on a public and mandatory mechanism for millions of taxpayers introduces an evident tension: to what extent a Church financed in this way can resist the cultural and political pressures of the environment in which it operates.

In that context, the figure of Marx appears as a symbol of a German Church prosperous in economic terms, but deeply divided in doctrinal matters.

Cardinal of Toronto calls for halting euthanasia and urges the Canadian Government «to choose life and not death»

The Cardinal of Toronto, Frank Leo, has urged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and several Members of Parliament to support a legislative initiative aimed at halting the expansion of euthanasia to people with mental illnesses, warning of the serious moral deterioration that this measure would entail.

A law to prevent the expansion of euthanasia

According to The Catholic World Report, in letters sent on April 20, the archbishop called for support of Bill C-218, known as the Right to Recover Act, which seeks to prevent euthanasia - legal in Canada since 2016 under the “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) system - from being applied to people whose only condition is a mental illness.

Current legislation provides for this expansion to take effect on March 17, 2027, although parliamentary debate on the bill has been postponed without a defined date.

Nearly 100,000 deaths since legalization

Cardinal Leo recalled that since the legalization of euthanasia in Canada, nearly 100,000 people have died through this procedure, in a process that has progressively expanded the initial assumptions, originally limited to patients with serious and terminal illnesses.

“A society is justly judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members,” the prelate stated, warning that more and more Canadians view this trend with concern.

“Contrary to human dignity”

In his message, the cardinal was clear: “Our Catholic faith opposes taking any life,” and he expressed his “disappointment and anguish” at the rapid expansion of euthanasia in the country.

He also stated that both assisted suicide and euthanasia are “contrary to the dignity of the human person,” emphasizing the moral nature of a debate that transcends the purely political.

Appeal to parliamentarians: “Choose life”

Leo expressly asked the Government to allow a free vote for MPs, as it is a matter of conscience that affects deep ethical convictions.

“I ask you to choose life and not death; to help build a civilization that cares for those who suffer and does not eliminate them,” he wrote, in a direct appeal to political leaders.

National mobilization against euthanasia

The Archbishop of Toronto is also leading the national campaign Help Not Harm, which encourages citizens to contact their political representatives to support the bill. By mid-April, around 5,000 letters had been sent through this initiative.

The cardinal warned that the normalization of euthanasia could “undermine a culture of compassion,” reduce investment in palliative care, and weaken social commitment to the sick, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Finally, Leo urged the Canadian Government to halt any further expansion of euthanasia and to bet on policies that strengthen palliative care, mental health support, and care for the most vulnerable.

From San José de Calasanz to «the Plaza de las tortugas»: Barcelona erases its Christian tradition

The Barcelona City Council plans to remove the name of San José de Calasanz from one of its squares in the street directory, replacing it with that of “Turtle Square”, in a decision that reinforces the consistory’s political line aimed at eliminating Christian references from public spaces.

A strategy to eliminate Christian tradition

According to Aciprensa, since taking power in June 2023, Mayor Jaume Collboni has promoted a systematic policy of removing names linked to the Catholic faith in the city.

The first measures affected streets such as Santa Magdalena, Santa Ana, Santa Rosa, and Santa Ágata, marking the beginning of a sustained strategy backed by the secessionist party Junts per Catalunya.

From saints to ideological figures

The replacement of Christian references is not limited to eliminating them, but in some cases involves replacing them with ideological figures. 

This is the case of Plaza Urquinaona, whose name—linked to Bishop José María Urquinaona—has been replaced by that of the anarchist and Freemason Francisco Ferrer y Guardia.

The intention to now remove the name of San José de Calasanz, founder of the Piarist Schools, confirms the continuity of this policy, which affects key figures in religious and educational history.

They denounce a “radical secularism” against the faith

The Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC) has denounced that these decisions respond to a plan with “a radical secularist objective that seeks to eliminate religion, especially Christianity, from the public sphere”.

The organization has launched a campaign to demand that the City Council stop these actions, which it considers aimed at erasing the city’s historical identity.

Additionally, it warns of other initiatives underway, such as the attempt to change the name of gardens dedicated to the priest Jacinto Verdaguer to hide his clerical status, or the removal of a cross in Turó de la Peira park.

Meloni highlights the reinstatement of the destroyed crucifix in Lebanon: «it is a powerful message of hope, dialogue, and peace»

The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has highlighted the symbolic value of the repositioning of a crucifix in the Lebanese village of Debel, after it was destroyed days earlier by a soldier from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), emphasizing that it is a gesture that conveys “a powerful message of hope, dialogue, and peace”.

Thanks to the Italian contingent in Lebanon

According to a statement from the Italian Government, Meloni wanted to expressly thank Commander Diodato Abagnara and the entire Italian contingent deployed in the UNIFIL mission for their decision to donate a new image to the local community.

The Prime Minister particularly appreciated that the new crucifix was placed in the same place where the previous one was, destroyed just a few days earlier, which reinforces the symbolic nature of the gesture.

A gesture that “fills the heart”

Meloni stated that the images of the delivery and placement of the crucifix “fill the heart,” highlighting the importance of this type of actions in contexts marked by tension and violence.

The gesture, promoted by Italian troops in southern Lebanon, was interpreted by the Government as a sign of closeness to the local population and respect for religious symbols.

Archbishop Francis Duffy to be formally installed as Bishop of Killala at ceremony in Ballina

In a historic move, Archbishop Francis Duffy is to be formally installed as Bishop of Killala at a ceremony in St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina this Sunday.

Archbishop Duffy will become the first clergyman to head both Killala and Tuam dioceses – an area covering over 9,000 square kilometres - when he takes up his new role. 

His appointment will see Killala will share a bishop with Tuam for the first time since the dioceses were formally established in 1111 by the Synod of Ráth Breasail.

Archbishop Duffy has served as Apostolic Administrator of Killala since April 10, 2024, after Bishop John Fleming retired after twenty-two years of service.

The installation Mass takes place on Sunday, April 26, at 3pm and is expected to draw hundreds of people. 

Bishop Fleming will concelebrate the ceremony alongside Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh; Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland; and Archbishop Eamon Martin, Metropolitan Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

Members of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, clergy from the Killala and Tuam dioceses, family and friends of Archbishop Duffy, and representatives of other Christian denominations will attend. 

Civic leaders, public representatives, teachers, students and lay delegates from across the diocese will also be present. Music will be provided by the St Muredach’s Cathedral choir.

Lay representatives from across the diocese, as well as teachers and students from local schools, will also make up the congregation, along with representatives of other Christian denominations, civic leaders and local and national public representatives. 

The Mass will be livestreamed on churchtv.ie/ballina.

Archbishop Duffy’s installation comes as part of the consolidation of several dioceses around Ireland. 

This process will see dioceses like Tuam and Killala joined together for administrative purposes but retaining distinct identities.

A native of Bawnboy, County Cavan, Archbishop Duffy has served as Archbishop of Tuam since January 2022, following the retirement of Mayo native Archbishop Emeritus Michael Neary.

Ordained for the Diocese of Kilmore on 20 June 1982, Archbishop Duffy taught for eleven years at Saint Patrick’s College before beginning post-graduate studies at Maynooth College and Trinity College, Dublin.

In 1996, he was appointed Principal of Fatima and Felim’s Secondary School in Ballinamore, County Leitrim. He spent the next four years as Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor of the Diocese of Kilmore. 

During that time, he was also priest in residence as assistant curate in Clifferna, Parish of Laragh, County Cavan.

He served as the Bishop of Ardagh from October 2013 before being appointed Archbishop of Tuam by Pope Francis I in October 2021.

The Tuam district is the largest archdiocesan district in Ireland, spanning 5,680 square kilometres and covering half of County Mayo, half of County Galway and part of west Roscommon.

The Killala diocese spans 3,750 square kilometres across north Mayo and west Sligo, containing 22 parishes and 48 churches.

The dioceses of Achonry and Elphin, which cover large areas of Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim, are also being headed by one bishop, Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran.

Jury awards $16M to survivor in 1970s Oakland Diocese priest abuse case

More than 50 years after the alleged abuse by former Oakland priest Stephen Kiesle, a civil jury has awarded one of his accusers $16 million.

Rick Simons, an attorney for survivors, said the verdict reflects the lasting impact of childhood sexual abuse, particularly when it involves clergy. 

"We were very pleased that the jury recognized how severe and long-lasting childhood sexual assault is, particularly when it involves the betrayal of trust by a priest to an altar boy. How severe, long lasting and permanent that is, and the depth of harm that was done to that child that he cared," Simons said.

The verdict against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is giving hope to other survivors of clergy sexual abuse, according to Simons. 

He said legal options remain for some victims. "Suits can be still filed by people who are under 40 or by people who, within the last five years, reasonably discovered for the first time the connection between present psychological or emotional harm and childhood molestation," Simons said.

Not all advocates are satisfied with the outcome. Joey Piscitelli, Northern California director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the settlement fell far short of what the jury determined. 

"Numbers should be something realistic, not what the church has done. The church has stalled for six years, and after six years, they offer a lowball figure, which is roughly 3 to 4% of what the jury thought. So that's really low. It's too far apart."

Advocates say the decision could open the door for additional cases that have been on hold since the diocese filed for bankruptcy three years ago.

Former priest Tim Stier said the church knew about accusations against Kiesle. "My first assignment in 1979 was in that parish in Union City. That's in the news - Our Lady of the Rosary. I was assigned there in '79. He was taken away in handcuffs a year before, in '78. I lived in the same quarters he had in the rectory - the priest's house, living room, bedroom. So the bedroom that's described by his testimony at the trial became my bedroom."

Kiesle has been in custody for years. In 2022, he was charged in a fatal DUI crash in Walnut Creek.

In a statement regarding the abuse, the Diocese of Oakland reiterated Bishop Michael Barber's 2024 public apology to survivors and said the diocese has implemented "decisive policies for the protection of youth, and for the vetting and training of clergy, staff and volunteers working in all Catholic institutions."

Stier said he remains driven to push for change within the church. "I'm strongly motivated to try to change the Catholic Church, the way they handle this abuse problem."

People to gather at Cork former mother baby home to remember the hundreds of children who died there

This Sunday, a group of survivors, advocates, and public representatives will gather at the gates of the former Bessborough mother and baby home to read aloud the names of the children known to have died there.

Organisers said the gathering is in response to the decision at the end of February by Cork City Council to grant planning permission for 140 apartments on the site.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary opened its convent in Bessborough House in 1922 and closed it in 1998. Between those dates, 9,768 mothers and 8,938 babies were admitted.

According to data released six years ago by the General Registry Office, death certificates were issued for 816 children who died at Bessborough or after being discharged from the institution.

Final report

However, in 2021, the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission stated that the commission was aware of 923 child deaths related to Bessborough, 107 more than had been disclosed to the GRO.

Burial records exist for only 64 of those 923 children, and the commission concluded it was “highly likely” that some of those missing remains were buried on the grounds of the former Bessborough convent.

Noelle Browne, a Social Democrats member of Dublin City Council, was born in Bessborough.

Shockwaves

She told The Echo that the decision by Cork City Council to grant planning permission on what is seen by many as a site of conscience had caused shockwaves in the survivor community, and this weekend’s reading is planned as a dignified protest.

“The children and infants were denied respectful burials, and their mothers were denied the right to grieve.

“A public reading is the least we can do so they will not be remembered as mere statistics.” 

The reading of the names of the 923 infants and children known to have died at Bessborough or after discharge from there will be held at the main gates of the former mother and baby institution at 1pm on Sunday, April 26.

HSE funding McVerry Trust drug service despite 'clear failure'

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is continuing to fund a Peter McVerry Trust drug service with over €300,000 annually, despite a confidential evaluation finding "near-total failure in client engagement".

The 2025 evaluation by the Substance Use Regional Forum (SURF), which channels HSE funding for the project, also found there was "a clear failure to deliver essential services and value for money".

Chris Pender, a director of SURF and a Social Democrats councillor, says the HSE decision "just shows a complete disregard for public funds".

"That's not the HSE's money, it's not the Government's money, that's taxpayer money," he told Prime Time.

The Peter McVerry Trust's ARAS Addiction Service aims to assist the treatment and rehabilitation of people with addiction problems in Kildare.

The SURF, which implements national drug policy in west Wicklow and Kildare, has recommended to the HSE that the service be closed.

Yet, "that decision ultimately lies with the HSE", Cllr Pender said.

"We made the recommendation that the service needed to be wound up. We're talking about like €340,000-ish in public funds. That money needs to be spent correctly."

According to the Service-Level Agreement between the Peter McVerry Trust and the HSE, its drugs treatment project is supposed to provide a drop-in service for drug users, counselling, harm reduction services, day programmes and support for clients in their referral to relevant support services.

However, its location is widely considered too inconvenient for casual drop-ins. For the last 16 months it has been based in an industrial estate located between Newbridge and Naas. It is on a bus route, but is seen - even by the Peter McVerry Trust - as difficult to access.

"It's highly unlikely that people who are really struggling on the street and who are homeless are going to access those services unless they're physically brought there," said Paddy Maher, an experienced mental health and addiction therapist who runs a private practice in Kildare.

Situated upstairs in an industrial building, the McVerry Trust drug treatment service has additional accessibility problems.

"When we're dealing with people who are in chaotic drug use, for instance, people are likely to have mobility issues," Cllr Pender said.

"If an individual has either lost a limb or lost mobility as a result of lack of bone density from drug use, they're not going to be able to access that service," he said, "because it's upstairs".

The evaluation also highlights significant discrepancies between the services described by the Peter McVerry Trust and those observed by the monitoring group.

While the McVerry Trust’s website states that the project offers "HSE harm reduction" services, including needle exchange, the evaluation found that there was "no on‑site HSE presence... resulting in no needle exchange".

The website also describes the project as operating a "drop‑in service". The SURF evaluation found that this service had "very low or no uptake".

The McVerry Trust website claims that the service "provides treatment and rehabilitation support in the Kildare and West Wicklow areas".

However, the monitoring group evaluation report found that the service’s assertive outreach is "significantly curtailed", limited largely to Newbridge town and "failing to cover the wider county".

The McVerry Trust website also claims that it provides day programmes for stabilisation. 

However, the report found that the stabilisation programme did "not run in 2025".

A stabilisation programme is a key part of drug treatment.

Mr Maher, who worked for the ARAS project until 2021, said it can help people to "reduce their use" to a point where they’re able to "function in society".

"Those programs, if they're run well, will have counsellors, they will have group work, they'll have drop-ins, they'll have the supports that are needed to help people to do that," he added.

The SURF evaluation also identifies what it calls an underutilisation of available staff. It notes that, on one day, 29 rostered hours corresponded with 50 minutes of recorded client contact, all of which was for non-therapeutic urinalysis.

The report questioned whether carrying out urine testing for external bodies, including the Court Service, was appropriate within a treatment setting, warning it could undermine trust and discourage engagement.

Cllr Pender and Mr Maher agree that Kildare, like other parts of Ireland, has a significant drugs problem.

"Like most places in this country now, cocaine is rampant. Weed and cocaine," Mr Maher said.

"It's nearly accepted in this country now that you [can] get cocaine nearly as easy as you can get a pint."

Cllr Pender said that since the pandemic he has seen a "massive rise" in crack cocaine use in the county.

Some individuals who found it difficult to access heroin during the pandemic "switched to crack and now they're shifting back, but they're not moving away from crack, they're using both. So, they're using both heroin and crack cocaine".

The Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT] declined a request for interview, but in a statement, said it "has expressed concerns regarding aspects of the [SURF] review process and its conclusions, which have been discussed with both SURF and the HSE".

It also said that it met with SURF and the HSE on Monday "where it was agreed that PMVT will continue to provide the low threshold ARAS service throughout 2026, funded by the HSE/SURF, while the future focus of the service is reviewed to ensure it reflects current and emerging community needs".

It added that it "recognises that the current location" of its premises in the industrial estate "presents accessibility challenges".

The HSE also declined a request for interview, but in a statement said, "a process of engagement and review is currently underway" with SURF, the Peter McVerry Trust, and the HSE, focussed on "assessing service delivery, and identifying any additional supports required for service users".

Cllr Pender says that, as the funder of the project, the HSE needs to act.

"This is at the feet of the HSE, to be very clear," he said, noting that HSE funding for the project was paid out for the first quarter of 2026.

"One quarter of €340,000 has already been paid out to a service that we know from that [SURF] report aren’t delivering what it's supposed to be delivering."

Enoch Burke fails in legal bid to stop disciplinary hearing

A meeting of a panel assessing the decision to dismiss Enoch Burke from his job will go ahead on Friday despite attempts by the former teacher to secure a High Court injunction to prevent it from happening.

A Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP) oral hearing is due to take place at 10am on Friday, but Mr Burke said it should be halted until a decision is reached by the Court of Appeal in another matter relating to his dispute with Wilson’s Hospital School.

In the High Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Michael O’Connell refused the application as proceedings stretched into 7pm in the evening.

The judge also granted a production order so that Mr Burke would be brought to the disciplinary hearing.

The former history and German teacher has been engaged in a legal dispute with the Co Westmeath school since 2022.

He was suspended following incidents arising from a request from the school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun, and later dismissed from his position.

Mr Burke has repeatedly argued the direction was unconstitutional and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

He has spent more than 650 days in prison after he was found to have violated court orders instructing him not to trespass at the school.

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal heard arguments from Mr Burke as he sought to overturn a May 2023 High Court ruling by Mr Justice Alexander Owens which found his suspension from the school was lawful.

In normal circumstances, litigants have 28 days to file an appeal to a High Court decision after an order is perfected, the date it is formalised.

Appearing in front of the three-judge panel, Mr Burke said he did not bring his appeal in time because he was involved in other litigation, was in prison for much of the period since the ruling and had “lost confidence” in the Court of Appeal following a previous judgment.

He said he was appealing against the judgment because it had not taken his constitutional rights into consideration or properly examined the legality of the principal’s instructions.

He also referred to a statement the Department of Education gave to The Irish Times in January, which said schools are not legally obliged to use students’ preferred pronouns.

The lawyer representing the school’s board of management, Rosemary Mallon, challenged his request and said the two-and-a-half year delay was “extraordinary”, she said there was a “need for finality” in the matter.

Ms Mallon argued Mr Owen’s decision was not “a declaration as to the lawfulness of the principal’s direction or instruction”, but about “the lawfulness of the decision to suspend”.

She also said Mr Burke had the opportunity to make arguments at the time, but he was “disorderly and in persistent contempt of court”, and was asked to leave the court.

She also said the statement from the Department of Education was “simply be a view expressed by the department” and not “binding” for the courts.

The first judge scheduled to hear the injunction on Thursday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan, recused himself from the case after hearing arguments from Mr Burke.

He had argued the judge should remove himself from making a decision on the injunction on the grounds of “objective bias”.

In a previous judgment, Mr Cregan had referred to Mr Burke as “not a credible witness”, and Mr Burke said this, and other comments the judge made “pushing for the DAP to be heard”, supported his case.

Mr Cregan said that he did not agree with Mr Burke’s arguments but said not only does “justice need to be done, it needs to be seen to be done” adding “especially in this case”.

Addressing the High Court on Thursday for the purposes of the appeal, Mr Burke said the issues before the Court of Appeal and to be discussed by the DAP were “closely relevant and connected to the issues”.

He said the issue of the legitimacy of the principal’s instructions was the “kernel” of what the DAP is to consider and “central” to his case in front of the Court of Appeal.

“I am going to be sitting in front of three members of DAP who are relying on Judge Owens’ judgment”, Mr Burke said, adding that “there is a huge question mark over Mr Owens judgment” and he is awaiting a decision from the Court of Appeal.

“Tomorrow, if this injunction is not granted, the DAP will be sitting down to decide a question of law, a question of constitutional law,” he said.

He argued the issue should only be decided by the courts and not the “lay people” who make up the DAP.

He said the panel usually only decides on “matters of fact”, not “matters of law”.

Mr Burke said he had written to the DAP three times since late March requesting an adjournment of the meeting.

Padraic Lyons SC, for the DAP, said Mr Burke’s submission was “untenable”, “misconceived” and “there is no basis for it”.

He said that if the hearing were to go ahead, it “doesn’t mean he (Mr Burke) is shut out from further legal review”.

If the DAP made a decision, based on a judgment that was then overturned, Mr Burke could have it “corrected for legal error”, Mr Lyons said.

He also said Mr Burke had not brought proceedings in the correct manner, despite being “a vastly experienced litigant who he knows exactly what he is doing”.

Mr Lyons said Mr Burke was informed of the hearing date on March 26, he was told on April 7 that all his objections had been rejected.

He said he had “ample time” to apply for an injunction but waited until the “eve” of the hearing.

Mr Justice O’Connell said he was satisfied that the judgment of Mr Owens never amounted to a final determination of the issue about the validity of the instruction given by the principal.

In refusing the injunction, he said he did not believe the DAP had to delay its hearing due to the Court of Appeal proceedings.

Five other members of the Burke family were in court on Thursday: his mother Martina, as well as his brothers Isaac and Simeon and sisters Ammi and Jemima.

After Mr Lyons argued against a further delay, Mr Burke responded and said the panel’s work had already been delayed for three years.

Mr Burke argued the delay was down to “conduct of his (Mr Lyons’) clients”, stating a previous member “refused to resign from the panel for two years” and two further members resigned earlier this year.

The current DAP is the third iteration of the panel and is made up of Claire Callanan, John Irwin, and Seamus Lahart.

Leo XIV responds to Marx: "The Holy See does not agree with the blessing of same-sex couples"

Pope Leo XIV has responded to the recent initiatives promoted in Germany by Cardinal Reinhard Marx in favor of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples, reiterating that the Holy See does not approve of this type of practices in their formal form.

The Pontiff’s intervention, in the midst of the conversation with journalists during the return flight to Rome, comes after the Archdiocese of Munich issued pastoral guidelines to bless this type of unions, in line with the open debate of the German Synodal Way, where various bishops have defended these practices in recent years.

Blessing for people, not for unions

In his response, Leo XIV emphasized that the Vatican has already dialogued with the German bishops and has made its position clear: the blessing of couples - including same-sex or irregular ones - is not permitted beyond what is established by the Holy See.

The Pope distinguished between the blessing of people and that of unions. 

He explained that the Church can bless “all people,” as happens in the final blessing of the Mass, but without that implying validation of situations contrary to doctrine.

Warning about the unity of the Church

Leo XIV also warned of the risk that this type of initiatives generate division within the Church. In his view, going beyond what is permitted could provoke greater disunity, so he insisted on the need to preserve unity around Christ and his teaching.

In this context, the Pope recalled that Christian morality cannot be reduced exclusively to sexual issues, pointing out other areas such as justice, equality, or religious freedom as matters of great relevance in the life of the Church.

German Cardinal Instructs Priests to Facilitate Same-Sex Couple Blessings

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who has served as archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany since 2008, has instructed the priests and full-time pastoral staff in the archdiocese to introduce the controversial handout "Blessing Gives Strength to Love" as the basis of pastoral care.

Priests who do not want to carry out such blessing celebrations for homosexual marriages or remarried divorced people must refer the couples to the dean or other staff.

A letter from the cardinal, which Die Tagespost reported on Monday, indicates that the handout should be “the basis of pastoral care” and beginning in June, various offices within the archdiocese are to offer further training as to the design of the blessing celebrations for all full-time officials in pastoral care.

Cardinal Marx emphasized that "the blessing is not the celebration of a sacramental marriage.” 

However, this does not mean that the blessing of a non-sacramental union, which in many cases is already a civil marriage, moves the couple to the margins of the community and the Church.

According to Tagespost, Cardinal Marx instructed that the "theological meaning" of the text be explained to all those "who still struggle with this blessing.”

The handout “Blessing Gives Strength to Love” is the result of a process that emerged from a vote at the Synodal Way. In March 2023, the fifth synodal meeting adopted the text of the handout with 92% of the votes. 

The Joint Conference of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) presented the text of the handout in spring 2025.

In the Church in Germany, the handout is highly controversial. Official recommendations were issued by the dioceses of Limburg, Osnabrück, Rottenburg-Stuttgart, and Trier. 

However, the Archdiocese of Cologne and the dioceses of Augsburg, Eichstätt, Passau, and Regensburg all rejected the application and referred to Fiducia Supplicans for justification.

According to Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration on the pastoral meaning of blessings issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or CDF) in December 2023, blessings of connections in irregular situations and of homosexual couples are possible — although the CDF claimed the opposite only two years earlier.

Paragraph 31 of the document states that the form of the blessings may not be "ritually determined by the ecclesiastical authorities ... so as not to cause confusion with the blessing of the sacrament of marriage.”

According to paragraph 38, one should neither promote the blessing of couples who are in an irregular situation nor provide a ritual for it. Blessings according to No. 39 are expressly excluded “in direct connection with a civil celebration.” 

Also “the clothes, the gestures, and the words that are the expression for a marriage” are therefore to be refrained from.

Numerous bishops — including entire bishops' conferences — have rejected the Vatican approval of blessings for same-sex unions. 

Thus, there is a struggle for direction in the Church between those who adhere to the Church’s traditional teaching on homosexuality and those who consider blessings of same-sex couples to be possible in principle — whether in the form outlined by the Vatican or in the form that is largely common in Germany.

The Catholic Church in the catechism, basing its teaching in sacred Scripture and tradition, distinguishes between homosexual inclinations or tendencies and homosexual acts, calling such acts “intrinsically disordered” and contrary to natural law. 

“They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved,” the catechism says in No. 2357.

The Church at the same time strictly forbids discrimination against homosexuals, saying they must always be accepted with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” 

Furthermore, the Church calls persons with same-sex attraction to chastity — as all are called to according to their state in life — and to “fulfill God’s will in their lives” (No. 2358).

According to Catholic doctrine, marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and their union has a twofold end: “the good of the spouses themselves, and the transmission of life” (No. 2363). 

The catechism says these two values of marriage may never be separated.

The $6 billion Vatican Bank was beset by scandals, disastrous investments—and ties to the Mafia....How Pope Francis tried to fix it

Although he was billed as an anti-capitalist by some, one of Pope Francis’s key accomplishments was a financial endeavor: his reform of the scandal-plagued $6 billion Vatican Bank.

Francis, who died nearly a year ago at age 88, sought to reform the bank and the Holy See (the central government of the Catholic church and Vatican City) soon after he became pope in 2013. 

Although created in 1942 with the goal of managing funds for clergy and church organizations worldwide, for years, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, was allegedly plagued by money laundering, corruption, and even Mafia connections. 

The Vatican Bank’s total holdings stood at 5.7 billion euros, or $6.5 billion as of 2024, an increase from the 5.4 billion euros, or $6.2 billion the year prior.

The Catholic Church has received renewed attention following President Donald Trump’s escalating attacks on the Church amid Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the Iran war. 

Earlier this week, Trump canceled an $11 million contract with the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami to shelter and care for unaccompanied migrant children.

During his pontificate, Francis, the Argentina-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, spurred changes at the Vatican Bank that helped root out corruption and bring more transparency to the organization’s inner workings. 

Thanks to work that began under Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican Bank in 2013 began releasing annual reports for the first time ever, outlining its profit, operational costs, and charitable giving, among other details. 

The bank’s management also got a revamp, with Francis in 2014 decreasing the power of clergy members in economic affairs and appointing as head of the Vatican Bank Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, a French financier who was previously CEO of Invesco Europe. 

The 62-year-old de Franssu has served as president of the Vatican Bank since 2014.

Pope Francis also sought to increase transparency at the bank, complying with financial regulations and implementing stricter outside oversight during his tenure. 

The bank closed thousands of accounts in 2014 to bring the organization into compliance with international financial standards.

Implementing stricter control of the Holy See, Francis also ordered all Vatican departments to close their investment accounts and send their funds to the Vatican Bank. 

By centralizing the Vatican’s funds, Francis took financial power away from non-expert clergy and helped bring about stronger oversight by financial regulators of its holdings.

To be sure, Pope Francis’ successor Pope Leo XIV in October 2025 did away with the obligatory centralization of Vatican funds. 

The pontiff opened the door for the Vatican to open bank accounts in other countries if its investment committee “deems it more efficient or convenient.” 

The decree is meant to decentralize control of the Vatican’s holdings.

Pope Francis’s changes at the Vatican came in response to several scandals, including the collapse of Italy’s largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano, in which the Vatican Bank had a financial stake. 

The bank’s president, Roberto Calvi, was later found hanged under London’s Blackfriars Bridge with pocketfuls of bricks as well as thousands in cash. 

Calvi had been accused of losing or misappropriating Mafia funds laundered through the bank. He was referred to as “God’s banker” because of his Vatican connections.

In addition, a Vatican financial advisor under Pope Paul VI, Michele Sindona, also had ties to organized crime and dragged the Vatican into disastrous investments, including the collapse of his U.S.-based Franklin National Bank in 1974. 

At the time of his death, of cyanide poisoning at age 65, Sindona was serving a 25-year sentence for fraud.

Despite Francis’s efforts, the Catholic Church has still been rocked by some scandals. 

The Vatican confirmed in 2022 that two former Vatican Bank directors were convicted for malfeasance at the organization. 

In 2023, a cardinal was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for embezzlement.

At a Spanish convent, nuns fight to preserve rare giant rabbit species

Sr. Consuelo Peset Laudeña's morning routine is not what one would typically expect from an abbess. Before prayers and breakfast, she heads to inspect, one by one, cages housing 35 giant rabbits and their young inside the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua in Central Spain.

At 54, Peset leads the group of Franciscan sisters who have taken on the mission of conserving Spain's giant rabbit, a species in danger of extinction.

This species is not only a genetic heritage belonging to Spain but also part of the country's historical memory, the abbess said: During the Spanish Civil War and the postwar period, raising them was crucial to feeding families and orphanages in times of scarcity.

"Many families have managed to get by thanks to this animal, and now it seems we are forgetting that part of our history," she told Global Sisters Report.

Peset said that in Spanish regions such as Valencia, Madrid and Asturias, numerous farms kept up to 300 breeding females, which made it possible to feed a large number of people, especially those orphaned during the war.

The breed, a cross between the Flanders Giant and Spanish greyhound-type females, can weigh up to 20 lbs. and has a high reproductive capacity, as each female can bear up to 22 pups per month.

Maricarmen Pleite Orozco, a volunteer at the convent, recalled having tasted meatballs made of rabbit's meat and described it as white, juicy and very flavorful.

According to data from the Interprofessional Organization for Farm-Raised Rabbit Meat, rabbit meat is lean, rich in protein, and contains high levels of phosphorus, selenium, potassium and vitamins — qualities that help prevent childhood obesity, anemia in adolescents, high cholesterol and gout.

Raising the animals at the convent began more than 30 years ago when Peset's parents gave her a pair of rabbits for personal consumption. 

However, a decade ago, the initiative took a new turn toward conservation when the sisters discovered the species was at risk of extinction.

"We contacted an association, I sent some photos, and they told me, 'You have a spectacular animal, and it's endangered,' " she recalled.

Although Peset was not leading the convent at the time, her community agreed to participate in the recovery, breeding and study of the species. 

To do so, they obtained permits from local authorities and set up a small farm, with an initial investment of about 5,000 euros, or about $5,700.

Since then, the breeding system has changed. Now, each animal must have a pedigree, a feeding log, and have adequate space and ventilation.

Of the 11 sisters in the cloistered community, three are dedicated to caring for the farm. Thanks to her training as a veterinary assistant, Peset assesses the animals' health every morning and can detect if one is sick by the smell of its urine.

"I do a visual check. I take a walk around and see which animals are listless or lethargic, and if any have died in the nests, they must be removed immediately," she said.

In the afternoon and evening, additional checks are conducted to ensure that the rabbits with young have enough food and that the animals have not chewed through the water systems.

Unlike traditional breeding, conservation requires stricter conditions such as ventilated spaces, appropriate cages and temperature control. 

"Rabbits start to suffer at 26 degrees [Celsius]; they tolerate the cold well, but not the heat," the abbess said.

Cleaning must also be rigorous and consistent. Every two days, the convent team performs a general cleaning, and once a week, they dismantle and pressure wash all the cages. When there are young, maintenance is performed daily. 

The caretakers check the nests, remove dead animals and replace the bedding material — except for the fur shed by the mother, which helps keep the young warm.

As for feeding, rations of hay, barley and corn are calculated to maintain an appropriate weight. Rabbits with young receive special feed and can eat larger quantities. By the end of March, 90 young had been recorded.

The sisters also have an identification system to prevent inbreeding. Each animal has a microchip with a number that allows its genetic lineage to be traced, key information for controlled breeding.

Limitations 

Despite these efforts, the project faces a significant limitation: The rabbits raised at the convent cannot be sold, as the permit granted by the authorities only allows breeding for personal consumption.

To promote conservation, raise awareness and encourage the breeding of this species, the sisters have chosen to donate rabbits to schools, to a theme park in Toledo, and to registered private breeders.

Although breeding at the convent has been self-funded solely through the sisters' labor, last year the local council provided financial support for the first time to renovate the cages, which were in poor condition.

Even so, Peset said she believes the authorities could do more to preserve the species. That's why she calls on them to "get a little more involved" and issue permits that would provide an economic engine.

"They could help us obtain permits to do many things, because if this animal doesn't have an economic outlet, people won't be encouraged to raise it," she said.

Like many religious communities, to meet their financial needs, the sisters also make artisanal sweets and ice cream that they sell in a shop next to the convent. The variety of products includes traditional sweets.

Despite the difficulties, the abbess said that she will continue the work of preserving the giant rabbit because it aligns with Pope Francis's call to care for nature spelled out in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', encouraging Catholics and people of goodwill to care for the environment.

"We have to protect creation," she said. "We are Franciscans. St. Francis is the patron saint of veterinarians, and that is the source of the love and admiration we feel for the Spanish giant rabbit."

Asked about same-sex blessings, Leo says other issues will take priority

Pope Leo XIV offered more insight into where he stands on LGBT issues, telling reporters on his flight back to Rome from Equatorial Guinea that he plans to emphasize "issues of justice, equality and freedom" rather than "sexual matters."

A reporter asked Leo, who spent the last 11 days touring North and Central Africa, his thoughts about the decision of Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising to issue in his diocese a guide for blessings of people in relationships outside of sacramental marriage, which includes same-sex couples.

"First of all, I think it's very important that the unity or division of the church should not revolve around sexual matters," Leo said in English. "We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality I believe there are greater and more important issues such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion that would all take priority before that particular issue."

That said, Leo noted that the Vatican has already spoken to the German bishops to make clear its disagreement with the formalized blessing of same-sex couples "beyond what was specifically, if you will, allowed for by Pope Francis in saying that all people receive blessings."

Leo said Francis' exhortation that all are welcome in the church meant, "all are invited to follow Jesus and all are invited to look for conversion in their lives."

A 2023 document approved by Leo's predecessor made explicit that "couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples" may receive an informal blessing from a priest, but without a formalized type of ceremony comparable to sacramental marriage.

"To go beyond that today," Leo said during the presser, "I think that the topic can cause more disunity than unity, and that we should look for ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches."

In a book-length interview made public last year, Leo said that LGBT issues had been "on the back of my mind," as he wanted to promote issues that were less polarizing. 

"For now, because of what I've already tried to demonstrate and live out in terms of my understanding of being pope at this time in history, I'm trying not to continue to polarize or promote polarization in the church," he told Crux journalist Elise Ann Allen. 

Last September, Jesuit Fr. James Martin, who founded the LGBT Catholic ministry Outreach, said that during a roughly 30-minute meeting with Leo, the pope expressed "openness and welcome" to LGBT Catholics.

Leo's views on LGBT issues were little known before his election last year. 

Days before the May 2025 conclave, The New York Times reported that in 2012, then-Bishop Robert Prevost said that he had expressed dismay that Western news media held "sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel," specifically citing the "homosexual lifestyle" and "alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children." 

But in a 2023 interview with Catholic News Service, when Prevost was made a cardinal by Francis, he suggested that his views had softened.

"Given many things that have changed, I would say there's been a development in the sense of the need for the church to open and to be welcoming," he said. "I think Pope Francis made it very clear that he doesn't want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress or whatever."

He added, "we are looking to be more welcoming and more open, and to say all people are welcome in the church."

Pope Leo: 'I cannot be in favor of war,' talks migration, same-sex blessings, in press conference

"As a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war," Pope Leo XIV said about the war in Iran during his airborne press conference upon his return trip to Rome. "If there is regime change or no regime change, the question is how to promote the values in which we believe without the death of so many innocent people." 

Flying high over the Sahara Desert after leaving Equatorial Guinea, Leo once again expressed his concern over the war in Iran, a position which garnered a vociferous social media attack from President Donald Trump at the outset of his trip through Africa 11 days ago. 

Returning to Rome on April 23, the pope took questions from journalists in the traditional post-trip, in-flight press conference on topics of war, migration, same-sex blessings and the nature of his visits with the authoritarian leaders throughout Africa. 

On the negotiations around the war in Iran, he said that Iran's innocent civilian population must be kept in mind and that the stop-and-start peace negotiations between Iran and the United States "has created this chaotic situation for the global economy."

The pope called for the warring parties to "make every effort to promote peace" and to respect international law. 

"It is very important that the innocent may be protected, which has not been the case in many places," he said, before continuing to reveal a personal anecdote. 

The pope shared that he carries with him a photo of a Muslim boy holding a sign that reads "Welcome Pope Leo," taken during his December trip to Lebanon. He said that the boy was recently killed during the war, without specifying at what stage of the fighting or by which side. 

The pope was asked directly if he condemns the Iranian regime, which has been accused of carrying out executions against prisoners and violently cracking down on protests that began in February. 

"When a regime, when a country, takes decisions which takes away the lives of people unjustly then obviously that is something that should be condemned," the pope said, without explicitly naming Iran. "I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people's lives. I condemn capital punishment."

Ahead of his June 6-12 trip to Spain where he will visit the Canary Islands, a migrant hotspot for African migrants entering Europe, Leo said that while borders should exist, the developed world must assist the Global South to support and receive migrants.

"I personally believe a state has a right to set rules at its borders. I am not saying that all must enter as if   without order, sometimes creating more unjust situations where they arrive than those that they had left," he said. "But in saying this, I ask what we do in richer countries to change the situation in poorer countries," suggesting that governments and corporations help underdeveloped nations to reduce the need to emigrate. 

Leo added that even if a country has no capacity for migrants, they must be treated "in a humanitarian way" and not "worse than house pets, animals, et cetera." 

"When people arrive they are human beings and deserve the respect that every human being deserves," he said. 

Although the pope has not taken a strong public position on same-sex blessings within the Catholic Church, he was asked about the decision of Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising to issue in his diocese a guide for blessings of people in relationships outside of sacramental marriage, which includes same-sex couples.

"I think it's very important that the unity or division of the church should not revolve around sexual matters," Leo said, since issues of justice, equality and freedom of people and religion "would all take priority before that particular issue." 

That said, Leo noted that the Vatican has already spoken to the German bishops to make clear its disagreement with the formalized blessing of same-sex couples "beyond what was specifically, if you will, allowed for by Pope Francis in saying that all people receive blessings." 

A 2023 document approved by Leo's predecessor made explicit that "couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples" may receive an informal blessing from a priest, but without a formalized type of ceremony comparable to sacramental marriage.

"To go beyond that today, I think that the topic can cause more disunity than unity," Leo said. "We should look for ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches."

Leo was also asked about whether his tour through Africa, in which he traveled to four nations considered to be authoritarian, would legitimize the rule of their leaders. 

"We are actually trying to find a way to apply the Gospel to concrete situations so that the lives of people can be improved," he said. 

"We don't always make great proclamations, criticizing, judging or condemning, but there's an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes, to look for at times situations where there may be political prisoners and finding ways for them to be freed," the pope continued. 

After Leo's trip was initially overshadowed by the virtual invective spewed at him by President Donald Trump, and his subsequent response that he had "no fear of the Trump administration," the pope told reporters before answering questions that the purpose of his apostolic voyages is "to meet, accompany, to know the people of God," even though "many times the interest is rather political." 

"I have talked about justice, and there are issues there, but that is not the first word," he said. "The trip is to be interpreted above all as an expression of wanting to announce the Gospel." 

After the pope decried the state of the world "ravaged by a handful of tyrants" in northwestern Cameroon, he told journalists that his message was not directed toward Trump despite much media coverage framing his words as such. 

The moment marked a rare instance of a pope weighing in on his own depiction in the media, and by presenting the motive for his trip on his return flight in an unprompted move Leo showed once again that he is willing to intervene in the narrative around his pontificate. 

"It is true that many times it is necessary to make comments, or look to how to encourage the people themselves to assume responsibility for their lives," Leo told journalists at the outset of his flight before taking questions. 

"The trip is to be interpreted above all as an expression of wanting to announce the Gospel, of proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ, which is a way of being close to people in their happiness, in the depth of their faith, but also in their suffering."

Pope: Africa will enrich my life and ministry as Successor of Peter

Pope Leo XIV concluded his Apostolic Journey to Equatorial Guinea and four African countries with a brief farewell address in Malabo on Wednesday, marking the end of an 11-day visit to the continent.

Addressing the faithful at the end of Mass at Malabo Stadium, the Pope noted that "the time has come" to depart, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to undertake the journey.

He thanked the Archbishop, the bishops, the clergy, and the wider community, describing them as "the people of God journeying in this land," where the Gospel has been present for 170 years. "Christ", he said, is "the Light of Equatorial Guinea, and you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world".

The Holy Father extended his appreciation to the country’s civil authorities and all those who contributed to the organization and success of the visit.

Reflecting on his time in Africa, Pope Leo XIV said he leaves with "an immeasurable treasure of faith, hope, and charity," shaped by the encounters, testimonies, and experiences he gathered throughout the visit.

"This treasure consists of stories, faces, and testimonies, both joyful and sorrowful, which will greatly enrich my life and ministry as the Successor of Peter," he said.

Pope Leo went on to highlight Africa’s role in the life of the Church, saying the continent is called, as in the early centuries of Christianity, to contribute to the holiness and missionary character of the faithful.

He concluded by entrusting the people of Equatorial Guinea and all of Africa to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, invoking her care for families, communities, and nations across the continent.

Louisiana deacon awaits Vatican decision on his excommunication

Scott Peyton has been waiting for a decision from the Vatican.

The Catholic deacon from Louisiana, who in May 2024 appealed his excommunication after leaving the church in the aftermath of his son's abuse case, has spent about two years waiting for a ruling from Rome. 

The appeal remains unresolved, leaving his canonical status uncertain and extending a case that has drawn attention to the intersection of church law, pastoral practice and the handling of abuse-related disputes.

According to The Guardian, in May 2024 Peyton appealed formally against his excommunication to the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

The outcome could determine whether the excommunication was applied in accordance with canon law and how similar cases may be approached in the future.

Peyton, who was raised Methodist, entered the Catholic Church as an adult. 

His conversion, formalized in 2001, was followed by what he described as a deliberate effort by he and his wife Letitia to align their lives with Catholic faith and teaching. 

He and Letitia expanded their family to six children and became deeply embedded in Catholic parish life. 

As he stated in the personal narrative of his recourse to the Vatican, which was obtained by NCR with his permission, he even reversed his vasectomy operation to fully align with Catholic teaching on family life and sexuality.

Peyton wrote that in 2007, he discerned a vocation to the permanent diaconate. He was ordained in 2012 and assigned to St. Peter Catholic Church in Morrow, a small rural parish where the Peyton family had been parishioners since 2006. 

The community was tight-knit, and Peyton's family became closely connected to its then-pastor, Fr. Michael Guidry. 

Peyton wrote that the diocese assigned him to St. Peter at his request and at the request of Guidry.

Guidry was a frequent presence in the family's life, according to Peyton. Guidry invited the family to meals and praised their service. 

Peyton said his sons were very often at Guidry's house to help him out with daily work, and when they were there he would let them drink alcohol, unbeknownst to their parents. 

"Because we had great regard for the office of the priesthood and had great trust in Father Guidry personally, it never occurred to any of us that he might be grooming our family for the purpose of committing child molestation," Peyton wrote in his recourse.

That trust was later broken. 

In May 2018, as later reported by OSV News, Peyton's son Oliver disclosed that, three years earlier, Guidry had plied him with alcohol and molested him. 

The revelation marked the beginning of a sequence of events that would alter the Peyton family's relationship with the church.

According to Peyton's recourse to the Vatican, Peyton and Oliver reported the incident to the sheriff's office May 21, the day after Oliver told his parents. Peyton wrote that the sheriff's office interviewed Guidry four days later on May 25.

According to Peyton, Guidry initially admitted to inappropriate conduct but was not arrested. Peyton wrote that on May 29 he reported the allegation to diocesan authorities. 

In his outline of events in his recourse, Peyton said that "the Diocese of Lafayette's officials initially appeared compassionate."

That perception shifted quickly.

According to Peyton, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette publicly announced the allegation during parish Masses on June 2, 2018, the day of the wedding of Peyton's older son, providing details that made the family identifiable within their small community. 

Peyton wrote that the diocese also issued a statement announcing the allegation the same day. 

As OSV reported, Oliver Peyton's name was disclosed in a 2018 lawsuit and appeared in media reports. 

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how distressing the diocese's timing of the announcement, and the bishop's breaching the victim's anonymity, was for my family," Peyton wrote in his appeal to the Vatican.

He added that the disclosure forced the family into public view before they had informed relatives and exposed them to speculation and judgment.

The bishop held a press conference about the case on June 4. "Bishop Deshotel said that if the accusation were found not credible, Father Guidry would be returned to ministry," Peyton wrote. 

Peyton's canon lawyer provided NCR with a link to video posted by NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL, that contains audio from the June 4, 2018, press conference. 

During the press conference, Deshotel said, "First we let the civil authorities determine through their investigation exactly what happened, and if it was criminal or not. If it was not, then Father can be restored and his good name restored also."

Peyton contended that this suggested uncertainty about the credibility of the allegation, despite Guidry's admissions to police on May 25.

"By floating the possibility that the accusation might not be credible when he knew well that it was, the bishop gave Father Guidry an opening to claim to his supporters that the bishop knew that he was innocent," Peyton wrote in his account of events contained in the Vatican recourse.

During the press conference, Deshotel, answering questions from reporters about who reported the abuse to the diocese and where the abuse took place, said that the victim's parents were now attending church in Ville Platte, Louisiana. 

(In 2017 Peyton was transferred to another parish, Sacred Heart in Ville Platte.)

Deshotel also said during the press conference that the diocese provides crisis counseling for anyone suffering from abuse. 

Peyton wrote that shortly after the press conference, four members of the family began to receive counseling that was paid for by the diocese. He said the diocese later warned them that it would stop paying for counseling if they filed suit. 

In his account, Peyton also said: 

On June 13, 2018, Father Guidry was interviewed by police with his criminal attorney present. This time, he confessed to the molestation in a manner that was criminally actionable. The following day, June 14, he turned himself in to the police, was arrested and charged, and was released on bond.

Guidry was ultimately sentenced to prison. Yet Peyton said in his account that the parish response from St. Peter favored the priest. 

He said in his recourse that parishioners assisted Guidry in moving from the rectory in July 2018, and held a luncheon for him after his admission. Others, he said, spread rumors challenging his son's account. 

He felt his family's standing in the community deteriorated and said he experienced isolation, strained relationships and a lack of support from clergy.

"Out of the more than one hundred deacons in the Diocese of Lafayette, only about six of them continued to offer me the hand of brotherhood," he wrote.

Peyton's Vatican recourse account aligns with his March 27 interview with the National Catholic Reporter, where he described the broader impact of what happened to his family's faith.

Peyton continued to serve as a deacon for a time, but tensions with diocesan leadership intensified. 

According to his recourse, in August 2018, the family filed a civil lawsuit against Guidry and the Diocese of Lafayette. 

Peyton wrote that, immediately after filing, he was warned by clergy that he might be removed from the clerical state.

"At that rate, I would be removed from the clerical state before the priest who molested my son," he wrote.

The Diocese of Lafayette did not respond to a request for comment from NCR, and has not confirmed whether Guidry has been laicized. 

In 2021, the civil case was settled. The diocese announced it found the allegations credible and that Guidry had been permanently removed from ministry. 

The statement included a brief apology to Oliver and his family referring to the actions of Guidry but, according to Peyton, did not address other aspects of the family's experience.

Following the settlement, Peyton wrote that the diocese immediately stopped providing counseling. Peyton and his family established a nonprofit organization to support abuse victims and advocate for reform. 

At the same time, their relationship with the church continued to deteriorate. In his interview with NCR, Peyton said attending Mass after the abuse became public as a painful experience.

"We were simply going to check the boxes. Everything in there reminded us of why we were in the situation," he said.

Eventually, the family began attending an Anglican congregation, seeking distance from the environment associated with the trauma.

His departure from the Catholic Church was formalized in a December 2023 letter to Deshotel, resigning from active ministry. 

Peyton said that the tone of the bishop's initial response was understanding, which was verified in the bishop's email, included in the recourse.

Months later, in March 2024, however, Peyton received a decree of excommunication from his bishop. 

"It was kind of one of these things that go like, 'You can't quit, we fire you,' " he said.

The canonical basis for the excommunication — which is considered one of the gravest canonic acts a Catholic bishop could impose — was contested. Dawn Eden Goldstein, the canon lawyer who represents Peyton pro bono, said to NCR that the bishop's decision to impose a formal penalty was unwarranted and pastorally harmful.

"I was appalled by what I saw as a total pastoral failure on the part of the diocese," she said.

Goldstein emphasized that Peyton had not publicly presented himself as continuing in Catholic ministry after his resignation and that his actions did not create the kind of scandal that would require an imposed excommunication.

"It was not at all clear to me that the bishop had tried in any way to seek other, more pastoral, remedies," she said.

Her May 2024 appeal to the Vatican seeks to overturn the decree. The case has remained unresolved for nearly two years.

According to canon lawyer Nicholas Cafardi, former dean of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, the central issue in this case is not the bishop's action but the canonical concept of schism. 

In his view, schism constitutes a rupture of communion with the Catholic Church, specifically a rejection of the authority of the pope. Under canon law, he said, such a rupture carries an automatic penalty.

"He excommunicated himself by going into schism," Cafardi said, referring to the principle of latae sententiae, commonly known as immediate and automatic excommunication, which is incurred by the act in itself rather than imposed by a bishop. 

A schism usually occurs when an ordained church member officially separates himself from the church authority and hierarchy over doctrinal and organizational disagreements.

Cafardi emphasized that excommunication in this context is not intended as a punitive measure in a conventional sense, but as what canon law describes as a "medicinal" penalty. 

The effect of the penalty is that the individual may no longer exercise ecclesiastical ministry or function in a clerical role and is no longer considered to be in full communion with the church. At the same time, the purpose of the penalty is corrective, aimed at encouraging reconciliation.

In practical terms, Cafardi said, reconciliation would require the individual to renounce the schism and formally return to the church, typically through a profession of faith. 

Once that step is taken, the penalty can be lifted by ecclesiastical authority. Until then, he said, the situation reflects the consequences established by canon law for a break in communion.

Goldstein focused less on the act of departure and more on the circumstances that led to it. In a May 14 letter to Vatican authorities included in Peyton's recourse, she said that canon law must take into account whether a person intended to break with the church or acted under pressure.

Drawing an analogy from church marriage law, she suggested that just as a spouse may be justified in leaving a harmful situation, Peyton's departure should be evaluated in light of what she described as "the Diocese's continued pastoral failures and outright antagonism" that "placed his children in grave danger of losing their Christian faith."

Goldstein wrote that the excommunication against Peyton was not a "medicinal" penalty: "Rather, it has the appearance of a punishment for his successfully suing the Diocese of Lafayette, and it is causing grave harm to his family."

In her interview with NCR, Goldstein also questioned the process that led to the excommunication, emphasizing what she described as a lack of pastoral engagement. 

"The bishop had a responsibility to speak and meet with him and dialogue with him," she said, adding that she saw no indication that such outreach occurred after Peyton submitted his resignation.

While acknowledging that Peyton could have been aware of the possibility of automatic excommunication because of his theological education, she argued that his conduct did not rise to the level of public defiance or scandal that would justify a formal, imposed excommunication. 

From her perspective, the case raises broader questions about how canon law is applied when personal circumstances, including trauma and failures to provide community support and pastoral care, shape a cleric's decision to leave.

"I believe that Pope Francis and Pope Leo now would agree that regardless of where the law is on this case, Deacon Peyton has a right to closure. He has a right to resolution," she said. "And people everywhere who have stepped away from the Catholic Church out of the pain and anger caused by the abuse crisis have a right to know: Does the church consider them excommunicated because of their pain, their anger having led them to forego Catholic worship?"

Talking to NCR, Peyton described his brief attendance at an Anglican church as a response to what he and his family experienced in Catholic settings after the abuse became public. 

"We weren't being strengthened by going to Mass," he said. "So we tried to choose some place that would offer some help and feed us spiritually."

He also rejected the suggestion that he intended to incur excommunication. 

"That was never the case," Peyton said, pointing to his written resignation to the bishop, which he said was meant to clarify that he was stepping away without seeking to provoke a canonical penalty. 

He indeed noted that the bishop's initial response was "pastoral" and did not warn of excommunication, which came only about three months later in March 2024. 

During that period, Peyton and his family had begun speaking publicly about abuse and advocating for legislative changes in Louisiana.

"When Guidry gets out of prison in a year or so, he can honestly say he is a Catholic priest, whereas my son can see that his father cannot say 'I'm a Catholic deacon,' or that I'm even welcome in the church, because we just cannot torture ourselves."

"Two years of dragging this on, I want to know where Rome stands," he said. "I want Rome to answer."