Pope urges Easter end to US-Israel war on Iran

Pope Leo XIV has expressed hopes that the US-Israel war on Iran could be finished before Easter.

The US-born pontiff made the remarks to reporters as he left the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome on Tuesday.

“I’m told that president Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war,” Leo said.

“I hope that he’s looking for an off-ramp.

“Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created, that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere.”

Leo called on all world leaders to return to dialogue and look for “ways to reduce the amount of violence,” so that “peace, especially at Easter, might reign in our hearts”.

The Pope’s remarks came during Holy Week, the most sacred period of the year for Christians.

“It should be the holiest time of the year. It is a time of peace, a time of reflection. But as we all know, again, in the world, in many places we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children,” Leo said.

“We constantly make the call for peace, but unfortunately, many people want to promote hatred, violence, war.”

On Palm Sunday, the pontiff said God does not listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, as he prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during Mass in St Peter’s Square.

Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. US officials, especially US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.

Russia’s Orthodox Church, too, has justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war” against a Western world it considers has fallen into evil.

As Holy Week continues, Leo will carry out the Holy Thursday foot-washing tradition in the basilica of St John Lateran, where popes have performed it for decades.

On Friday, Leo is due to preside over the Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum commemorating Christ’s Passion and crucifixion, and will carry the cross himself.

Saturday brings the late night Easter Vigil, during which Leo will baptize new Catholics, followed a few hours later by Easter Sunday when Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus.

Leo will celebrate Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square and then deliver his Easter blessing from the loggia of the basilica.

“Hope is at the very heart of the Easter mystery” – Bishop of Raphoe

The Bishop of Raphoe, Niall Coll, has shared a message of hope to his parishoners ahead of Easter Sunday.

2026 marks Bishop Coll’s first Easter in his post, being appointed to the role in November of last year.

He says that the message of Easter “speaks with quiet but enduring force” in the face of “violent rhetoric and devastating wars.”

“At a moment when overreach of power and bitter invective seem to dominate public life, and when violent rhetoric and devastating wars scar so many parts of our world, the message of Easter speaks with quiet but enduring force. The Risen Lord did not overwhelm his first disciples or compel their belief through spectacle. There was no display of ‘shock and awe,’ no coercion of the heart,” Bishop Coll wrote.

“Instead, the Gospel accounts reveal something more subtle and more profound. Mary Magdalene, we are told (John 20:15), mistook him for a gardener. The disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:18) took him for a stranger. Only later, at table, in the breaking of the bread, were their eyes opened and they recognised him as the Lord. In that moment, fear gave way to hope. Their hearts, once heavy with grief and confusion, were set ablaze. Though it was night, they rose at once and returned to Jerusalem to proclaim the astonishing truth: Christ is risen.”

“Their experience speaks powerfully to our own. Beneath the ashes of discouragement and weariness, there often lies a living ember of hope, waiting only to be rekindled. Easter reminds us that even in the darkest moments, grace is quietly at work, drawing life out of what seems lifeless.”

“As Pope Leo XIV expresses it so beautifully: ‘Christ’s resurrection teaches us that no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope. No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever. However distant, lost or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the unfailing power of God’s love.'”

Bishop Coll also wrote that the Easter message is to keep hope alive “in the face of unspeakable human suffering.”

“In the face of unspeakable human suffering – in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in so many other troubled places – our ears have grown accustomed to a chilling new vocabulary: drone warfare, hypersonic missiles, autonomous weapons. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, to the point of paralysis, and to surrender to despair.”

“Yet Easter calls us to resist that temptation. To keep hope alive is not naïve; it is an act of faith. It means praying earnestly for peace, encouraging and supporting those -politicians, diplomats and all who wield influence – who strive for justice and reconciliation. It means refusing to let darkness have the final word.”

“For hope is at the very heart of the Easter mystery. It is the quiet, persistent light that no darkness can overcome.”

Trump spokeswoman rejects criticism from Pope Leo XIV

US President Donald Trump's spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, has resisted criticism from Pope Leo XIV. 

"I don't think anything is wrong with our military leaders or the president calling on the American people to pray for our soldiers and those who serve abroad for our country. In fact, I think this is a very noble thing," she told reporters at the White House on Monday (local time).

The pope had said on Palm Sunday that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war," and Jesus described as the "king of peace," firmly rejecting violence. 

Leo XIV emphasized that violence is not in harmony with the Christian faith, and called for arms to be laid down and peace.

Theologian Tück rejects rehabilitation of Hans Küng

Jan-Heiner Tück has rejected demands for a posthumous rehabilitation of Hans Küng. 

"The coherence of the Catholic would be damaged, even a papal self-dismontration would be equivalent if the Pope would sign the infallibility criticism of Küng without reservations," writes Tück in a contribution of the portal "communio.de".

The starting point was the demand of the theologian Wolfgang Beinert, who suggested in the "Herder Correspondence" a rehabilitation of Küng and paid tribute to him as a "prophet of Catholicity". 

Tück now contradicts Beinert. 

Although Tück acknowledges that Küng has "had a vigilant sense of time issues" and "disclosed modernity conflicts of the Church," he considers rehabilitation to be theologically unconvincing.

Dispute over Pope

Küng, for example, "put a question mark behind the term 'infallible', relativized the dogmas of the First Vatican through historical contextualization," and thus "called into question the last-in-hand competence of the pope - as if he had, as an academic theologian, the last-instance competence to do so," according to Tück.

In addition, Küng had "demanded a democratization of the Church and wanted to go beyond the Council with the Council." Küng has also held different positions on ethical issues than the Church’s Magisterium. Küng "has not taken back any of his disputed positions," Tück insists. 

Rehabilitation would therefore "run out to a dissenting." If Pope Leo XIV were to follow the proposal, it would be "an act of disloyalty to his predecessors."

Hans Küng

Hans Küng died in April 2021. He is considered one of the most important German-speaking theologians. He was born in 1928 in the Swiss canton of Lucerne and in 1954 he was ordained a Catholic priest. 

After studying theology in Rome and Paris, Küng had been a professor in Tübingen since 1960 and participated as a theological adviser in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

Even before the Council, a conflict with bishops had developed, which focused on the infallibility of the Pope and fundamental questions of Christology. The dispute escalated in 1979, when the Vatican revoked Küng's church teaching permit. 

Since then, he was a faculty-independent full professor in Tübingen until his retirement in 1996.

Roche could be imminently relieved as Prefect of Divine Worship

The possible departure of Cardinal Arthur Roche from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments once again places the Church’s liturgical direction at the center of the debate, and with it a vital part of its future in the coming years. 

The information, advanced by British journalist Damian Thompson, points—citing Vatican sources—to an imminent transfer of Roche to the position of patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta. 

Without official confirmation, the move is already being interpreted as a possible reconfiguration of one of the Curia’s most sensitive dicasteries.

The Profile of Roche: Executor of a Line

Roche has not been a transitional prefect. Since his appointment in 2021, after having been secretary of the same dicastery, he became the main executor of the liturgical policy promoted from Rome in recent years. 

His management has been marked by a strict, even expansive, application of the guidelines emanating from the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.

In practice, his role has been less that of a proactive theologian and more that of a disciplinary guarantor. 

Various public interventions and official responses from the dicastery under his direction consolidated a restrictive interpretation of the use of the traditional rite, limiting margins that in previous stages had remained open. This made him a highly controversial figure, especially in ecclesial sectors that had found in traditional liturgy a space for doctrinal and pastoral stability.

Traditionis Custodes: An Open Wound

The axis of his prefecture has undoubtedly been the implementation of Traditionis Custodes. 

The document represented a break with the previous framework established by Summorum Pontificum, reversing the logic of coexistence between liturgical forms and returning effective control to the bishops under Roman supervision.

The criticism has not focused solely on the normative content, but on its application. Under Roche, the dicastery adopted criteria that, in practice, significantly reduced the public presence of the traditional rite, imposing restrictive authorizations, geographical limitations, and additional controls. 

For many, this was not a simple regulation, but a strategy of progressive attrition.

The result has been persistent tension in multiple dioceses, with a growing perception that the liturgical issue has ceased to be a pastoral sphere to become a terrain of disciplinary control. That wound, far from closing, has become institutionalized.

The Sovereign Order of Malta as a Retirement: Precedents

The possible transfer of Roche to the position of patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta fits into a pattern already known within curial dynamics. 

The Sovereign Order of Malta has served on various occasions as a destination for cardinals who, for various reasons, left the core of Roman power without an explicit break.

The most evident case is that of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who was appointed patron after having held positions of greater weight in the Curia. 

Although Burke’s context was different—marked by more visible doctrinal tensions—the institutional scheme is comparable: a transfer to an honorable position, with formal relevance, but away from the center of decision-making.

In this sense, the move now attributed to Roche can be interpreted as an orderly exit, without explicit disauthorization, but with clear effects on the internal redistribution of power.

What is at Stake: The Next Prefect

Beyond the personal replacement, the decisive issue is who will occupy the Dicastery for Divine Worship. The profile of the new prefect will determine whether the line marked in recent years is consolidated or whether a correction is introduced.

The real margin for change will not depend solely on the appointment, but on whether the application of Traditionis Custodes is reviewed—explicitly or implicitly. Without that element, any replacement could be reduced to a stylistic adjustment without substantive consequences.

For now, the information remains without official confirmation. 

But the mere fact that it has emerged with some credibility puts the focus on this Dicastery where the future of the Church and the first major decision of the pontificate of Leo XIV can be decided.

Cardinal Schönborn insists: Amoris Laetitia did not change the Church's doctrine

Ten years after the publication of Amoris laetitia, the Austrian cardinal, Christoph Schönborn, has once again come out in defense of Francis’s controversial document, rejecting accusations of doctrinal rupture and claiming its pastoral value.

According to Kath Press, the prelate—who presented the text in the Vatican in 2016—maintains that the document did not change the Church’s doctrine, but rather introduced a more attentive gaze to the concrete situations of families.

Schönborn Denies a Doctrinal Change

The Austrian cardinal was explicit in rejecting one of the main criticisms of the document: “We do not need a new doctrine of the Church. That one is clear and is based on the teaching of Jesus”, he affirmed.

In his view, Amoris laetitia does not relativize the teaching on marriage nor introduce an indiscriminate opening to the sacraments, but rather demands greater pastoral discernment on the part of priests.

The Controversy of Communion for the Divorced and Remarried

One of the most discussed points of the text was the possibility, in certain cases, of access to confession and communion for the divorced and remarried.

Schönborn insisted that this issue cannot be understood as a general norm nor as a break with tradition, but as a call for a deeper analysis of each situation: “It is necessary to look more attentively and discern, with true sensitivity toward each concrete case”.

The cardinal also emphasized that the document should not be read from a specific footnote, but in its entirety, avoiding reducing it to a disciplinary issue.

Continuity with St. John Paul II

In the face of those who see in Amoris laetitia a break with Familiaris consortio, Schönborn defended the continuity between both texts.

As he explained, St. John Paul II placed emphasis on the foundations—the indissolubility of marriage and its sacred character—while Francis has wanted to illuminate the real situations in which many families live.

In this sense, he affirmed that the 2016 document can serve as a key to reread the previous one from a more pastoral perspective.

An Approach Centered on the Reality of Families

Schönborn especially highlighted the passages in which Francis invites priests to focus on families living in difficult situations.

As he pointed out, the Church cannot limit itself to applying abstract criteria, but must recognize the effort of those who try to sustain family life in complex conditions.

The cardinal insisted that the document proposes a path of discernment and accompaniment, rather than a simple normative response to irregular situations.

Ten Years Later, a Debate That Continues

A decade after its publication, Amoris laetitia remains one of the most debated texts of Francis’s pontificate.

Schönborn’s words expose the position of those who see in the document a pastoral development without doctrinal rupture, although the discussion on its interpretation and application remains open in the Church.

Restoration of the “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel completes before Holy Week

Visitors to Rome can once again contemplate in all its splendor Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. 

The famous fresco has been restored and cleaned in just five weeks, a slightly shorter timeframe than initially planned by the Vatican Museums.

The intervention has allowed the removal of the whitish patina that for years had dulled the vibrant colors and strong chiaroscuro of one of the most impressive works of Western sacred art.

The Vatican restores shine to one of its great jewels

The restoration began in early February with the installation of scaffolding, although throughout the process the Sistine Chapel remained open to the public. The work was carried out behind a canvas that reproduced the image of the fresco.

As explained by the chief restorer, Paolo Violini, the veil that partially covered the painting was caused by microparticles accumulated over time. Before proceeding with its removal, the work underwent detailed analysis and documentation.

The director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, emphasized that it is part of the institution’s mission to preserve one of its most valuable treasures: the fresco in which Michelangelo represented with singular dramatic intensity the end of times.

A monumental fresco that dominates the altar wall

The Last Judgment, 13.70 meters high by 12 meters wide, occupies the entire altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The last cleaning of this work had been carried out approximately thirty years ago.

The scene presents Christ as the Universal Judge against an intense blue background, surrounded by more than 300 figures, in a composition of enormous visual and theological force.

A papal commission that marked the history of art

The work was commissioned in 1533 by Pope Clement VII to Michelangelo Buonarroti, although its execution began under the pontificate of Paul III, who freed the artist from other commitments so that he could devote himself fully to the decoration of the chapel.

Michelangelo began the work in the summer of 1536 and completed it in the fall of 1541, leaving one of the most famous and awe-inspiring representations of the Last Judgment in the history of Christian art.

Recent setting for the election of Leo XIV

In modern times, the Last Judgment has also served as an imposing backdrop for the conclaves held in the Sistine Chapel. This also happened in May 2025, during the election of Pope Leo XIV.

The restoration, completed before Holy Week, allows millions of visitors to once again contemplate this masterpiece with a clarity and chromatic intensity that had been attenuated over time.

Israel backtracks and allows Pizzaballa access to the Holy Sepulchre after international pressure

Israel has reversed its decision and will allow the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to access the Holy Sepulchre and celebrate liturgical services, following the strong international pressure generated in the last hours.

The change in stance comes after a wave of diplomatic condemnations for the initial prohibition of celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in the temple, considered the holiest place in Christianity.

Netanyahu orders immediate access

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that he has given instructions to the competent authorities for Cardinal Pizzaballa to “receive full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem”.

The rectification comes just a few hours after the police prevented access to the Latin Patriarch, citing security reasons in the context of the current regional conflict.

Unprecedented international pressure

Israel’s decision comes after an unusually rapid and coordinated diplomatic reaction from several countries, which denounced what happened as a serious restriction on religious freedom during Holy Week.

Various European governments raised formal protests and demanded guarantees for the free exercise of worship in Jerusalem’s holy places.

Spanish bishops offering top donors chance to meet pope

With Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visit to Spain in need of significant financing, the country’s episcopal conference is resorting to creative methods to generate income, including enticing wealthy donors with the prospect of meeting the pope in person.

In a dossier obtained by Crux Now, the conference lays out a five-tiered sponsorship scale with the top two tiers – “great benefactor” and “benefactor” – being offered the chance to meet the pope in return for sizable donations.

The conference has sent the dossier to businesses, foundations, and individuals of significant means, in hope they will contribute to offset the cost of the visit scheduled for June of this year.

What the bishops are asking – and why

The great benefactor will donate between €500,000–€1 million ($575,000–$1.15 million), and will have a private meeting with the pontiff, a working meeting at the Vatican, and reserved spaces at the events during the trip.

The benefactor option of between €250,000–€500,000 ($290,000–$575,000) has the same benefits as the great benefactor, except the meeting with the pope won’t be private.

A spokesperson from the committee organizing the pope’s trip told Crux Now the Spanish bishops are hoping by such methods to keep the taxpayer from having to shoulder the burden of the papal visit.

“Requesting support, in this case, is our way of covering the material costs of a trip of this magnitude without these falling on taxpayers,” they said.

“The Holy Father, like the Church in Spain, will, as usual, show a gesture of gratitude to all of them, as well as to many others—authorities, volunteers, etc.—in the form of a meeting,” they said.

As you make your way down the scale, there is the “sponsor”, for €50,000–€250,000 ($57,000–$290,000), who doesn’t get a guaranteed meeting with the pope but can use the official “Business Ambassador” title in public communications.

Then there is the “collaborator” for €10,000 ($11,500) who gets inclusion in the official directory of collaborating entities and a mention in event communications and the “friend” of the event who contributes €1,000 ($1,150) and is given formal recognition in the form of a certificate.

“The launch and the actual holding of His Holiness’s trip will be funded thanks to the support of donors, ranging from large companies to small individual contributions, including donations and in-kind contributions, as well as the work of thousands of volunteers,” the spokesperson added.

The estimated costs for the trip are somewhere between €15–€30 million, and normal Catholics in the pew are also being asked to contribute.

Alongside the benefits of the sponsorship package, the Spanish ecclesial hierarchy is also tempting potential donors with the prospect of increased exposure for their company.

The dossier estimates that the visit will exceed 1.5 million in-person attendees and that it will reach a global television audience of 500 million. Further, they expect huge coverage on social media networks, plus the association of their brand with values such as peace and solidarity.

Then there are the tax deductions: due to something called the Patronage Law, deductions can reach up to 40 or 50 percent, and in certain circumstances this could be up to 90 percent if the event is deemed to be of “exceptional public interest.”

Precedents

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI visited Spain for World Youth Day which was being held in Madrid that year. Like Leo’s visit, funding for the costs of the trip was provided by private entities – and was not without controversy.

Firstly, there was the fact that, as now, donors were offered the chance to meet the pope depending on the size of their donations. Secondly, due to a tax break system, many of the donors received a lot of their money back prompting over one hundred priests to write an open letter complaining that the costs of the trip shouldn’t fall on the average taxpayer.

The concept of giving generous donors special treatment is hardly new, but it is granting direct access to the pope in return to money that has raised eyebrows. For example, during Pope Francis’ visit to the United States in 2015, donors were given front row seats during the events but there is no record of private meetings.

In the United Kingdom the mere mention of leveraging access to the pope to solicit donations will create headlines. Last year, the CEO of one of King Charles III’s charities suggested letting donors attend a meeting between the king and the pope and it was immediately shut down. That didn’t stop it getting splashed across the front pages.

Either way, the Spanish bishops do not seem unduly concerned by such headlines. If they are, they must think it’s worth it in return for being able to finance Pope Leo’s trip which the Mediterranean country is waiting in keen anticipation for.

Vatican affirms future of Anglican ordinariates: ‘A precious gift and a treasure to be shared’

The Vatican has reaffirmed its support for the Anglican ordinariates, confirming that these communities have a permanent and valued place within the Catholic Church.

On March 24, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document titled “Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage as Lived in the Ordinariates Established Under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.”

The document is the fruit of a meeting held March 1–3 in Rome, during which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the dicastery, invited the ordinariate bishops — including Bishop Steven J. Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Bishop David Waller of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England, and Bishop Anthony Randazzo of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross — to reflect on how they have lived and integrated their Anglican spiritual and liturgical heritage within the Catholic Church.

The document highlights key characteristics of the Anglican patrimony as lived in the ordinariates, including a distinctive “ecclesial ethos” in which both the laity and the clergy participate actively in church governance, and a focus on evangelization through beauty in worship, music, and art.

Direct outreach to the poor is “a defining element of the patrimony,” according to the document, as is a pastoral culture that connects divine worship with daily life in what the document calls an “almost monastic rhythm drawn from the English spiritual tradition” that characterizes ordinariate parish communities.

The bishops said a strong emphasis on the family as the “domestic church,” as “the home is … the first place where the faith is learned and lived” is strongly emphasized.

The document also highlighted Scripture-centered preaching and the importance of spiritual direction and the sacrament of penance.

The bishops noted that, despite the great geographical distances between the three ordinariates, they share “a core shared identity” and offer “a unique reflection of the face of the Church and a distinctive contribution to the living richness of her identity as ‘one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.’”

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston serves as the mother church and cathedral of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which spans the U.S. and Canada. Established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, the ordinariate was given its own cathedral when Lopes was ordained and installed on Feb. 2, 2016.

In a message sent to parishioners, Lopes welcomed the document as a significant encouragement, calling it “an exhortation to live this patrimony in all of its richness. We have been given a unique set of tools — the way we worship, the way we structure parish life, the centrality of family life, etc. — which add to the vitality of the Catholic Church. Our ordinariate identity arises from fidelity to this patrimony and this mission. Our diversity does not detract from the underlying communion of the Church… it strengthens it.”

Lopes encouraged parishioners to share the document with family and friends who may wonder why the ordinariate’s experience of Catholic life looks different from the norm.

“Prior to today’s publication of this document, you had to glean descriptions of our patrimony from rather dry legal documents,” he wrote. “Now the Holy See is offering us a much more organic reflection on our identity and mission — and clearly stating that the ordinariate is not just a means to an end but has a long and bright future ahead of it!”

The ordinariates: A brief history

The Anglican ordinariates trace their origins to 1980, when St. John Paul II approved the Pastoral Provision, which allowed married former Episcopal clergy to be ordained as Catholic priests and permitted the formation of Anglican-use communities within existing Roman Catholic dioceses.

This was the first major step in preserving elements of Anglican liturgical and spiritual heritage for those entering full communion with Rome.

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI took this further by issuing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which created the personal ordinariates as permanent structures within the Catholic Church.

Each of the three Anglican ordinariates is a personal (non-territorial) jurisdiction, similar to a diocese but defined by people (those with an Anglican background who have entered full communion with the Catholic Church) rather than by strict geographical boundaries.

“Any Catholic may attend ordinariate liturgies and functions, just as members of the ordinariate can attend liturgies and functions at any Catholic parish,” according to the website for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Guam, Philippines, and surrounding areas.

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is located in London and encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales.

St. Cloud Diocese Plans To Merge Churches And Restructure

The Diocese of St. Cloud has announced its projected plan for major parish restructuring.

All Things New: Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future outlines proposed parish mergers and structural changes intended to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the diocese.

Current projections indicate that the restructuring would reduce the number of parish corporations from 131 to about 48. While some local plans include recommendations for church closures, the diocese emphasized that decisions about closing individual church buildings are separate from parish mergers and will be addressed gradually over the coming months and years.

Under Canan Law, a merged parish combines the assets, territory, and responsibilities of two or more parishes into a single parish corporation.

Bishop Patrick Neary will review each request for closure individually and consult with advisors before making any final decisions. Bishop Neary expects to issue parish merger decrees in April and May. The decrees will be released in stages rather than all at once.

The diocese noted that many churches will no longer host Mass on a regular basis after the restructuring, but this does not mean they are closed. Local ACCs will determine how each site will be used moving forward.

For a list of affected parishes and more information, check out the Diocese of St. Cloud Website. 

Pope appoints new Substitute, Nuncio to Italy, and Prefect of Papal Household

From Colombia to the Secretariat of State, from the Secretariat of State to the Nunciature in Italy, from the Nunciature in Italy to the Prefecture of the Papal Household. 

Pope Leo XIV has chosen Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, who will turn 56 in July, to be the new Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, one of the most important and sensitive positions in the entire Vatican apparatus, effectively a kind of “Interior Minister” of the Vatican City State.

Ordained a priest in 1995 and incardinated in Bergamo, Archbishop Rudelli holds a degree in moral theology and has until now served as Apostolic Nuncio to Colombia. He assumed that post in 2023 following his appointment by Pope Francis, who had consecrated him Bishop in 2019 and sent him, in January 2020, as his representative to Zimbabwe.

The prelate's experience in the Holy See’s diplomatic service, however, dates back over twenty years to 2001, with assignments in the Pontifical Representations in Ecuador and Poland, and in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

Today, by the will of Pope Leo XIV, he becomes the head of that Section, marking the Pope's second significant appointment in the Secretariat of State, following last November’s appointment of the Assessor, the Nigerian theologian and canonist Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, previously Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

'Gesture of trust'

In a statement issued following today's announcement, Archbishop Rudelli said, “The call from His Holiness Pope Leo to work closely in the exercise of his supreme mission as Substitute of the Secretariat of State is a gesture of undeserved trust that deeply honors me.” 

The Archbishop reassured that “moved by faith,” he will “take on this service in the spirit indicated by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium.”

He said he will do so with the awareness that he can rely on the guidance of Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and on the collaboration of Assessor, Monsignor Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, and all the staff of the Section for General Affairs.

In particular, the new Substitute noted he places his trust in the “intercession” of a distinguished fellow countryman of Bergamo, Pope Saint John XXIII.

Archbishop Peña Parra becomes Nuncio to Italy

Archbishop Rudelli succeeds Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, whom Pope Leo XIV today appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Italy.

Pope Francis had previously appointed Archbishop Peña Parra as Substitute on 15 August 2018, transferring him from Mozambique. Since 2015, he had led the Apostolic Nunciature in that East African country and also participated in a mediation group to restore peace between the national government and an opposition political party.

Born in 1960, a seasoned diplomat with experience in Kenya, the former Yugoslavia, Honduras, and Mexico, and later serving as Pontifical Representative in Pakistan, Archbishop Peña Parra became the second Latin American to hold the post of Substitute, after the Argentine Leonardo Sandri.

Archbishop Rajič becomes Prefect of the Papal Household

Today also sees the appointment of Archbishop Petar Rajič as Prefect of the Papal Household.

The position had been vacant for more than six years, since the departure of Archbishop Georg Gänswein, now Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Rajič himself had served as Nuncio to the same countries from 2019 before arriving in Italy in 2024.

As Prefect, the Archbishop will oversee the work of the Prefecture, a Curial body responsible for the internal order and daily management of the Pope’s life.

Bishop of Charlotte addresses Latin Mass controversy

The Bishop of Charlotte has addressed the controversies surrounding the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese and given his view on whether restrictions may be relaxed.

Speaking on the “Jesuitical” podcast of America Magazine, Bishop Michael Martin also insisted his actions to curb the TLM were a straightforward implementation of existing Vatican policy and not a matter of personal preference.

During the podcast, when addressing Catholics attached to the TLM, Bishop Martin began with a qualified acknowledgement: “I don’t want to say that they’re some sort of lunatic fringe. They’re not. These are people who feel strongly about the liturgy, and there’s goodness and holiness in that.”

He nevertheless made clear that attachment to the Traditional Latin Mass could not determine diocesan policy, framing his decisions as rooted in obedience to Rome. “All I did was implement Traditionis Custodes in the Diocese of Charlotte,” he said, referring to the 2021 motu proprio of Pope Francis which placed strict limits on the pre-conciliar liturgy.

Further, and appearing to go against Pope Leo XIV’s French letter, Bishop Martin rejected calls to preserve existing celebrations without a defined transition. “If we need more time, then show me what you’re going to do in the next two years so that things will change,” he said, indicating that any continuation would require a clear pastoral trajectory. He contrasted this with what he described as the prevailing response from some of the faithful: “It was simply, ‘We want to celebrate the liturgy this way’.” Such reasoning, he suggested, was insufficient in the context of the Church’s broader liturgical norms.

Bishop Martin also addressed the view, held by some Catholics, that the pontificate after Pope Francis might relax restrictions. “There were those who were saying, ‘Why don’t you just wait?’” he said, before adding his own judgement: “I thought the chances of Pope Leo XIV changing what Pope Francis had done were relatively slim.”

His comments come after sustained controversy in the Diocese of Charlotte following his appointment in 2024. On April 9 of that year, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Emeritus Peter Jugis on health grounds and named Bishop Martin as his successor. His episcopal consecration took place on May 29, 2024, at St Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, joined by Bishop Jugis and Cardinal Christophe Pierre.

The most significant flashpoint came in May 2025, when Bishop Martin reduced the number of locations offering the Traditional Latin Mass from four parish churches to a single chapel. The decision was explicitly tied to the implementation of Traditionis Custodes. Around the same time, leaked diocesan documents suggested further possible restrictions, including limits on the use of Latin in the liturgy and on traditional vestments, as well as proposals affecting the posture of the faithful during Communion.

These tensions intensified later in the year. In September 2025, the bishop prohibited the use of an altar rail at Charlotte Catholic High School. Three months later, in a pastoral letter issued in December, he set out new norms for the reception of Holy Communion across the diocese. From January 16, 2026, altar rails were to be prohibited altogether.

In that letter, Bishop Martin wrote: “The episcopal conference norms logically do not envision the use of altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the reception of Communion. Doing so is a visible contradiction to the normative posture of Holy Communion established by our episcopal conferences.

“Instead, the instruction emphasises that receiving Holy Communion is to be done as the members of the faithful go in procession, witnessing that the Church journeys forward and receives Holy Communion as a pilgrim people on their way.” He further instructed clergy and lay ministers “not to teach that some other manner is better, preferred, more efficacious, etc”, while also addressing the use of extraordinary ministers and Communion under both kinds.

Amazon bishop claims ‘pressure’ shaped Pope Francis’s Amazon synod decision

The retired Amazonian bishop Erwin Kräutler has claimed that “pressure” prevented Pope Francis from permitting the ordination of married men after the 2019 Synod on the Amazon.

Speaking to Kath.ch on March 27, Kräutler said the Pope had appeared receptive to reform during the synodal process but ultimately stepped back when issuing the 2020 apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. “That makes me wonder: who is responsible for this rift?” he said, pointing to what he regards as a clear divergence between the synod’s direction and the final papal text.

The former Bishop of Xingu, who led the Brazilian prelature from 1981 to 2015 and was closely involved in preparing the synod, was more direct in his assessment of the decision-making process.

“I still believe that Pope Francis didn’t want it, but that he was under so much pressure that he couldn’t do otherwise, psychologically, personally,” he said. “He then no longer dared to allow the ordination of married men to the priesthood, even though he had previously encouraged bold proposals.”

The ordination of viri probati, married men of recognised faith and standing, had emerged during the synod as a widely supported proposal to address the chronic shortage of priests across vast areas of the Amazon basin. In many communities, the Eucharist is celebrated only infrequently because of the scarcity of clergy, a situation repeatedly highlighted by bishops during the October 2019 gathering in Rome.

According to the synod’s final report, more than two-thirds of participants backed the idea. The measure was framed not as a general relaxation of clerical celibacy but as a limited and pastoral response to exceptional circumstances. Yet when Querida Amazonia was published in February 2020, the proposal was absent.

Kräutler described the document as initially promising. “Until the Church’s vision, we were all happy,” he said, adding that the ecclesial sections themselves were “formulated ‘wonderfully’”. He pointed in particular to passages stressing the need to ensure that the faithful in the region have access to the Eucharist. “And then came the break,” he said. “I ask myself: Who is responsible for this break?”

He acknowledged that he could not identify the source of the alleged pressure. “Even today, when I read about it, it seems to me that there was a second hand, or a third hand, or someone else behind it,” he said, while conceding that he lacked “the necessary access” to determine who might have intervened.

The bishop also indicated that the expectations of the Amazonian episcopate had extended beyond the question of married clergy. “We wanted women to also have access to Holy Orders,” he said, noting that many communities in the region are already effectively led by women in the absence of priests. “Most small parishes are already led by women.”

He argued that such changes fall within the Church’s disciplinary competence rather than its unchangeable doctrine. “These are all canonical decisions that can be reversed with a signature,” he said, suggesting that the bishops had anticipated decisive action following the synod.

Kräutler has previously spoken of his disappointment at the outcome of the process. In an earlier interview following the publication of Querida Amazonia, he said he had expected “a bold decision” from the Pope, especially given Francis’s repeated encouragement to the bishops to propose “courageous” solutions. He also drew attention to the pastoral realities on the ground, observing that “in some regions, thousands of communities celebrate the Eucharist … only a few times a year due to a shortage of ordained ministers.”

At the same time, the bishop has consistently expressed admiration for Francis’s broader approach to the Amazon and to environmental questions. Reflecting on the 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, he said: “That is beyond question. No pope before him has published an encyclical on the environmental issue.” He added that the Pope had made “an urgent appeal to all men and women of goodwill … to hear the cry of tormented creation”.

Canterbury and the Collapse of Anglican Unity (Opinion)

For more than a century, the archbishop of Canterbury has been regarded as primus inter pares, the “first among equals,” and the head of the Anglican Communion. This leading role signified a historic focus of unity for Anglicans around the world. 

Yet recent developments within global Anglicanism raise serious questions about whether the Church of England can still maintain that role in the life of what was once widely known as the Anglican Communion.

One of the most visible signs of this shift is the absence of sixteen (of forty-two) Anglican primates from the enthronement of Sarah Mullally, the new archbishop of Canterbury. Four could not attend due to extenuating circumstances. The other twelve represent more than 75 percent of the world’s Anglicans. 

Their absence is not a minor matter. It reflects a deep fracture in the global fellowship of Anglican churches. When the leaders of the majority of Anglicans no longer recognize Canterbury as the focal point of communion, the historical structure that once held the communion together becomes irrelevant.

The enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the archbishop of Canterbury differed significantly from the earlier enthronement of Justin Welby. His enthronement drew wide representation from across the Anglican world. 

Today, the diminished presence of Global South leadership underscores a widening division in the Anglican Communion. This division resulted from decades of doctrinal innovation. These innovations reached a climax when the General Synod of the Church of England passed a motion raised by Mullally to allow the blessing of same-sex couples. 

Because of trends repudiating historic orthodox Christian teaching on sex and marriage at the beginning of this century, the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) protested in its Jerusalem Declaration: “We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.”

In a statement suggesting the enormity of Canterbury’s failure to be a focus for unity, the former archbishop Rowan Williams recently admitted: “I honestly don’t know whether the communion will survive.” Such a statement from a former leader of the Church of England reflects the gravity of the current crisis. It is not merely a matter of internal disagreement but a question about the very future of Anglicanism.

A significant turning point came in 2023 when the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) issued what became known as the Ash Wednesday Statement. 

In this declaration, the GSFA announced that it would no longer recognize the archbishop of Canterbury as primus inter pares and the head of the Anglican Communion. 

This decision marked a historic shift: The symbolic center of Anglican unity was effectively withdrawn by churches representing the majority of Anglicans worldwide.

The roots of this shift are not only historical but also theological and structural. The traditional configuration of the Anglican Communion emerged during the era of the British Empire. 

During that time, the Church of England functioned naturally as a coordinating center for Anglican churches established through missionary and colonial expansion. However, the global context has changed dramatically. 

The demographic center of Anglicanism has moved decisively to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Today, the vast majority of Anglicans live in what is commonly called the Global South.

The departure of several western provinces from the traditional Anglican faith inevitably raises questions about unity, governance, and authority. Structures designed for a colonial or post-colonial context no longer adequately reflect the realities of a global church in which leadership, theological vitality, and numerical strength lie in the southern provinces. 

Many Global South leaders argue that unity cannot be sustained merely by historic ties to Canterbury; rather, it must be grounded in a shared commitment to biblical faith and apostolic doctrine and tradition.

In response to this need, GSFA developed a new Covenantal Structure aimed at providing theological coherence, ecclesial accountability, and interdependence among participating provinces. This covenantal framework was formally agreed upon at the Global South gathering in Cairo in 2019. 

Unlike the older relational model of the Anglican Communion—which relied largely on informal bonds of affection—the covenantal structure seeks to establish clearer commitments to orthodox doctrine, mission, and mutual responsibility.

The adoption of this structure has progressed steadily. Fourteen Anglican provinces have already embraced the GSFA Covenantal Structure, along with several Anglican missions. 

This development signals the emergence of a new pattern of global Anglican cooperation, one that is not centered on Canterbury and more shaped by shared theological commitments among churches of the Global South. 

This new structure does not signal the end of Anglicanism as a global movement but the development of a more united and interdependent communion. 

Latin Patriarch will have access to Jerusalem holy site after police stopped entry

Israel's prime minister has said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem will now have "full and immediate access" to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police earlier prevented him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass there.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, had been asked not to enter out of concern for his safety as Iran had repeatedly targeted Jerusalem's holy sites with missiles.

The decision to block the cardinal from entering Christianity's most sacred site had been criticised by several Western nations.

Israel's police later said it had agreed a "mutual framework" with the Latin Patriarch for Easter celebrations.

On Sunday, Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Reverend Francesco Ielpo were stopped outside the church, believed to be the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, as they were planning to hold a Mass to mark the start of Holy Week, Church authorities said.

Cardinal Pizzaballa's office said it was "the first time in centuries" a Latin Patriarch had been turned away from the holy site on Palm Sunday, which marks Christ's return to Jerusalem.

He and Rev Ielpo had been "compelled" to turn back from the church, where Christ was also believed to have been buried and subsequently resurrected, it said.

A statement from the patriarchate on Sunday said: "This incident is a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world, who during this week, look to Jerusalem."

But in a later statement, released on Monday, Cardinal Pizzaballa's office said the matter had been "addressed and resolved" and expressed "sincere gratitude" to Israel's President Isaac Herzog for intervening in the matter.

The cardinal's office said it hoped "appropriate arrangements will continue to be found, enabling prayer to take place in places of worship, particularly in the holy places of all religions".

This was a matter of "profound importance to hundreds of millions of believers", it added.

Before the decision was made to allow Cardinal Pizzaballa full access to the church, Netanyahu had said worshippers of "all faiths" had been asked not to visit sites in Jerusalem's Old City while it was being targeted, and that police had acted out of "special" safety concerns in this instance.

Israeli police said all holy sites in the Old City had been closed to worshippers since the US-Israel war against Iran began on 28 February for security reasons, and that it had rejected the patriarchate's request for an exemption on Palm Sunday.

The traditional Palm Sunday procession into the city had already been cancelled due to restrictions on public gatherings.

Netanyahu said holy sites belonging to Christian, Jewish and Muslim worshippers alike had been "repeatedly targeted" by Iranian missiles in recent days.

"In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre," he said in a statement on X, adding that Sunday's decision involved "no malicious intent whatsoever".

Then, late on Sunday night, Netanyahu announced he had instructed relevant authorities to grant the Latin Patriarch "full and immediate access" to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so he can "hold services as he wishes".

Israel's police said on Monday that officers had met Cardinal Pizzaballa to work out how to accomodate Easter ceremonies, and that the Holy Fire - the lighting of a flame at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the Saturday before Easter - would be held in a "symbolic, limited format".

The force added: "This co-ordination ensures that freedom of worship is maintained alongside our shared, primary duty: the protection of human life."

The initial decision to bar the Latin Patriarch from the holy site attracted criticism from several countries, including some of Israel's allies.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Sunday that the move to stop the cardinal from accessing the church was "difficult to understand or justify", before crediting the Israeli government for resolving the matter.

A US state department spokesperson later told the BBC that it encouraged the Israeli government to "facilitate the safe observance of Holy Week", while noting "the difficult security conditions in Jerusalem that have arisen from Iran's ongoing, indiscriminate missile attacks".

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised the lack of access as "an offence not only against believers but against every community that recognises religious freedom".

French President Emmanuel Macron had likewise condemned the move and said it came in the context of "the worrying increase in violations of the status of the holy places in Jerusalem".

"Freedom to hold religious rites in Jerusalem must be ensured for all religions," he said in a statement on X.

And Pope Leo XIV, speaking in Rome on Sunday, paid tribute to "the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a terrible conflict and in many cases cannot fully live the rites of these holy days".

Herzog said he reaffirmed "Israel's unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem".

4 US leaders named to Vatican dicastery that promotes the Church’s humanitarian vision, work

Pope Leo XIV has appointed four U.S.-based scholars and leaders as members of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.

Named among 11 new dicastery members the Holy See announced March 30 are: Holy Cross Father Daniel Groody, deputy principal and associate principal for university education of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana; Meghan J. Clark, assistant chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of St. John’s University in New York; Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute in El Paso, Texas; and Léocadie Lushombo, professor of theological ethics at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.

Migration, refugees, human displacement

At Notre Dame, Father Groody’s academic and pastoral work has involved migration, refugees and human displacement. He is the author of “A Theology of Migration: The Bodies of Refugees and the Body of Christ,” published in 2022 with an introduction written by Pope Francis. In 2025, he was appointed by Pope Francis to the general council of Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

In a statement issued by the university, Father Groody said he was “truly honored and humbled by Pope Leo’s appointment.”

“My vocation is to serve, together with my colleagues at Notre Dame and around the world,” he said. “The work of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is vital to informing the Church’s response to the world’s most vulnerable people and the most pressing global challenges of our time.”

Human dignity and human rights

Established by Pope Francis in 2016, the dicastery supports the Church’s efforts in the areas of human dignity and human rights, economic justice, care for creation, migration and displacement, as well as peace, conflict and humanitarian crises. It is led by Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny. Dicastery members contribute to the body’s ongoing discernment process on the Church’s humanitarian mission and priorities.

Corbett, whose work with the Hope Border Institute applies the perspective of Catholic social teaching in policy and practice to the U.S.-Mexico border region, said in a statement that he was “humbled by this appointment.”

‘God’s work in border communities’

“The pope is very attentive to God’s work in border communities and with people who are migrating to bring about a more just and compassionate world,” he said. “I’m honored to do what I can to bring this perspective to the critical work done by the dicastery, in service to the Holy Father and the global Church, to advance the social Gospel, so that all might have life, and have it abundantly.”

In a separate statement, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso praised Corbett’s appointment, saying this “recognition affirms Mr. Corbett’s faithful leadership and his witness of faith to our border community, where the dignity of all that is encountered and defended each day.”

Clark, who previously worked with the dicastery’s section on migrants and refugees in 2022 for the project “Doing Theology from the Existential Peripheries,” also described herself as “honored and humbled” by the appointment and “grateful for the opportunity to serve the Dicastery and the Church in this new way.”

Promoting, practicing social teachings

“As a moral theologian, I work on Catholic social teaching, seeking to examine the intersections of human dignity, solidarity, and development,” she said in a statement. “I am humbled to be alongside such esteemed colleagues — all deeply committed to promoting and practicing the social teachings of the Church with particular attention to the dignity of the marginalized-especially migrants-of the common good, and integral ecology.”

Lushombo likewise described herself as “delighted, honored, and humbled” by the appointment. In a statement, she noted her previous collaboration with the dicastery as member of a study group from 2024-2025 analyzing documents from the Synod on Synodality that related to the poor and care for creation.

‘Particular attention to the weakest’

“The mission of the IHD Dicastery is to promote the human dignity of all individuals, without exception, with particular attention to the weakest, the least, and the excluded,” said Lushombo, a member of the Teresian Association, an international Catholic association of laypeople.

“The fulfillment of the human person is really the glory of God,” she continued. “That is why dignity matters, justice matters, and why faith without justice makes no sense. That is the focus of my work — each person being recognized for their inherent dignity endowed by God, as imago Dei. My work affirms that recognizing this dignity is imperative not only for the flourishing of the excluded, but for human flourishing.”

Church and Spanish government sign protocol for compensating abuse victims

The Catholic Church, the Spanish government, and the people’s ombudsman have agreed upon a protocol for compensating abuse victims following arduous negotiations that began last January.

The agreement does not establish specific parameters for financial compensation — neither minimums nor maximums — because it is not intended to be the sole avenue for reparation. Furthermore, as agreed upon by the signatories, the aim is to address each case on an individualized basis.

The signing of the new protocol, which will enter into force on April 15, took place at the ombudsman’s office on March 30. Present at the ceremony were the president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym), Archbishop Luis Argüello; the president of the Spanish Confederation of Religious (CONFER, by its Spanish acronym), Dominican Father Jesús Díaz Sariego; the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Cortes (legislature), Félix Bolaños; and the people’s ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo.

Alluding to the liturgical season, Argüello expressed at the beginning of his remarks the hope that the agreement would serve to “alleviate the passion (suffering) of so many victims of abuse,” specifically those whose cases have passed the statute of limitations or whose abusers have died.

The prelate underscored that this new system is an extension of the efforts undertaken for years by ecclesiastical institutions, efforts that more than a year ago took concrete form in the PRIVA plan for the comprehensive reparation of abuse victims. This plan has already resolved over a hundred cases, offering, among other measures, financial compensation to more than 80 individuals, totaling 2.5 million euros ($2.86 million).

Under this new protocol, the system implemented by the Catholic Church “is never replaced; rather, it is complemented by collaboration with the public authorities,” an arrangement whose concrete realization has been delayed beyond initial expectations, yet which Argüello views as “an opportunity for collaboration, while naturally respecting the scope and jurisdiction” of each signatory institution.

Sariego remarked that “an agreement — even an imperfect one — is preferable to no agreement at all” and expressed the hope that this day would “serve to alleviate that pain and suffering which we know is immense and runs deep.”

Bolaños noted that this constitutes a model “that involves the victims,” in which “comprehensive reparation is guaranteed” and which is structured as “a collaborative effort”; however, he underscored that “the final say will rest with the state” in the event of a disagreement between the experts from the Catholic Church’s PRIVA Plan and the team appointed by the people’s ombudsman.

Bolaños also commended and acknowledged the work of the experts appointed by the Catholic Church, “even though the PRIVA Plan contained an ‘original sin,’” namely, that it was the Church itself that determined what compensation victims of abuse within its own ranks would receive, a factor that led “many victims to lack confidence” in the system.

During his remarks, Gabilondo stated that the signatories had debated “every comma” of the 14-page protocol. “I cannot recall anything that was not complicated, nor anything that proved insurmountable,” he stated when asked about the difficulties encountered during this process.

End of a phase

The signing of the protocol marks the conclusion of a phase that began in March 2022, when the legislature tasked the ombudsman with investigating abuses within the Catholic Church. In October 2023, the ombudsman presented his report, which included a recommendation to establish a state-run reparations system.

In April 2024, the executive branch approved an implementation plan for measures proposed by the ombudsman, a plan that the CEE rejected on the grounds that it was based on “a condemnatory judgment of the entire Church, rendered without any form of legal safeguards,” and amounted to “the state publicly targeting the Church in a discriminatory manner.”

Despite this rejection, a preliminary agreement was reached in January 2026, an agreement in which the Vatican secretariat of state was reportedly involved, as acknowledged by both Argüello and Bolaños. The minister confirmed on March 30 that on March 20 he held a further meeting at the Vatican Secretariat of State while in Rome accompanying the king and queen of Spain, who were received by Pope Leo XIV.

How the system will work

Effective April 15, any victim of abuse within the Church may contact an office established for this purpose within the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Cortes, which will forward the information to the ombudsman.

The Ombudsman’s Victims Unit will review the case within a maximum period of three months — extendable by one additional month if necessary. If the case is accepted, the Ombudsman’s Victims Unit will submit a proposal for redress to the PRIVA Plan Advisory Commission, which will have a maximum of two months to evaluate and respond to it.

The ombudsman will then have 15 days to convey these assessments to the victim.

If all parties are in agreement, the decision shall be deemed final. Otherwise, the dispute is referred to a joint body comprising representatives from the ombudsman, the CEE, and CONFER as well as associations of abuse victims, which will have an additional 15 days to reach a resolution.

If an agreement is still not reached, “the ombudsman and the representatives of the ecclesiastical institutions will make a final attempt to reach a consensus within a maximum period of one month.”

Ultimately, it would be the Ombudsman’s Victims Unit that makes the decision, which the Catholic Church must abide by.