Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Following a private Mass at the apostolic nunciature and a farewell ceremony (video), Pope Leo XIV departed this morning from Luanda, Angola’s capital and largest city, for Equatorial Guinea.

The Becket Fund, which is representing Catholic parents in the case, explained:

In 2022, Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood created a universal preschool program to provide all kids with 15 hours per week of free education at a private or public school of their parents’ choice in the year before kindergarten ...

When implementing this program, however, the Department chose to deny this benefit to parents who send their kids to Catholic schools. Rather than work with all licensed preschools in Colorado, the Department imposed restrictions that categorically barred the Archdiocese of Denver’s Catholic preschools from participating—excluding over 1,500 kids attending over 30 different preschools simply because their parents chose a Catholic education.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a brief in the case.

Major Archbishop Shevchuk also thanked Pope Leo for his appeals for peace:

It was especially important to hear this voice in the light of the Lord’s Easter—the feast of the victory of life over death—when we welcome the Risen Christ among us as the Prince of Peace. In supporting the Holy Father in this struggle against war in the modern world, we want the whole world to hear: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays!