Saint Joseph Catholic Church

In a joint interview, Cardinals Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy, and Joseph Tobin—the three cardinals who currently govern archdioceses in the United States—criticized the Iran war and ICE deportations.

“In the Catholic teaching this is not a just war,” Cardinal McElroy said of the Iran war. “The Catholic faith teaches us there are certain prerequisites for a just war. You can’t go for a variety of different aims. You have to have a focused aim, which is to restore justice and restore peace.”

The Iranian regime is “an abominable regime, and it should be removed,” Cardinal McElroy continued. “But this is a war of choice that we went to, and I think it’s embedded in a wider moment in the United States that’s worrying, which is this: we’re seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war.”

Asked why he called ICE a “lawless organization,” Cardinal Tobin said:

I didn’t say that they were people without law. But when people act in this way, when they have to hide their identities to terrify people, when they can actually violate other guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, well I think somebody’s got to call that out and I’m not the only one.

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Martin I (d. 655), who was pope from 649 to 654. He was a courageous defender of the faith against heresy. He held a council at Rome which condemned the Monothelite heresy which taught that Christ had no human but only a divine will and defended that Christ was true God and true man. The heretical Byzantine emperor, Constans II, had him treacherously arrested and taken to Constantinople. After many sufferings and humiliations, he was exiled to Cherson in the Crimea where he died of exhaustion, broken by his sufferings, in 654.

"I shall sing forever the Lord's mercy" (Ps 89 [88]).

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

From the Gospel of Mass for Easter Day: Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you." (Matt 28:5-7)