Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offered strong criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies in a pair of Supreme Court briefs.

Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, of Trondheim, Norway, reflected on “God’s angels” and “Bernard the realist”—a reference to St. Bernard of Clairvaux—in his February 26 Lenten retreat conferences to the Pope and the Roman Curia.

Addressing the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on February 24, Archbishop Gallagher said that international humanitarian law “must always prevail over the ambitions of belligerents, in order to mitigate the devastating effects of war, also with a view to reconstruction.” (In doing so, Archbishop Gallagher quoted Pope Leo’s “state of the world” address.)

The prelate also said that the Holy See “stands ready to support any earnest diplomatic initiatives that place the human person and the alleviation of suffering at the heart of their efforts,” and that “those entrusted with the highest public responsibility must prioritize immediate humanitarian pauses alongside sustained diplomatic engagement.”

“The right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religious freedom and even the right to life are being restricted in the name of other so-called new rights, with the result that the very framework of human rights is losing its vitality and creating space for force and oppression,” Msgr. Daniel Pacho, one of the three undersecretaries of the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, said in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 25.

The prelate called for respect for the right to life, “founded upon the defense of the inalienable dignity of every individual, from the moment of conception to natural death”; protection of the institution of the family; and respect for religious freedom.

“One of the most prevalent crises in today’s world is the ongoing persecution of Christians, affecting over 380 million believers,” he said.

During the February 24 prayer vigil, held at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Cardinal Zuppi asked, “How can we pray always without growing weary? ... The Church, as Pope Leo XIV has said, asks only that the weapons fall silent, that a ceasefire be reached, and that a path toward peace be opened.”

“I think of the parish priest of Cutro who, in those days, could only go home for a shower, and then return to those beaches to collect bodies,” said Archbishop Alberto Torriani of Crotone-Santa Severina, who lamented “the hatred that increasingly insinuates itself into relationships, between people.”

Archbishop Claudio Maniago of Catanzaro-Squillace, vice president of the Calabrian Episcopal Conference, called on the region’s people “not to turn a blind eye”: “as bishops of Calabria, comes the duty to raise a voice in this silence, so that people realize that there are brothers and sisters seeking a dignified life.”

A heated controversy at the University of Notre Dame has apparently been resolved, with Susan Ostermann, who had been appointed to head the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, announcing that she would not accept the post.