Catégories
Vie de l'église

Hegseth announces ‘Office of Religious Affairs’ in speech on Pentagon policy

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a new « Office of Religious Affairs » during a speech Sept. 30 on Pentagon policy.

Hegseth — who uses the moniker « secretary of war » since Trump signed an executive order last year adding the « Department of War » as a secondary, ceremonial title for the Department of Defense — announced the new office during a speech at U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

« The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels, » Hegseth said. « Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission. »

Elsewhere in the speech, Hegseth also announced the « Autonomous Warfare Command, » an effort to develop autonomous capabilities across the military.

Catholic leaders, particularly Pope Leo XIV, have warned against the creation of autonomous weapons. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a backgrounder on Pope Leo’s encyclical « Magnifica Humanitas, » said the rise of these systems marked a « grave development of military technology. »

Hegseth also confirmed plans to cut the number of spots reserved for admirals and generals by 20%, doubling the 10% reduction he ordered last year.

Hegseth also said he wanted « no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals » in the armed services.

A statement from the Department of Defense, also using the Department of War moniker, said it « is elevating spiritual readiness as a core element of combat effectiveness with the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs, a direct-report office to the Secretary of War charged with driving Department-wide policy, resource advocacy, and action. »

« Wars are fought by people, and the strength of the force depends not only on weapons, training, and technology, but also on the resilience, conviction, and moral strength of those who serve, » the statement said. It added the new office will « ensure religious affairs are no longer dispersed across distant bureaucratic layers, giving senior leaders a dedicated capability to protect free exercise, remove policy barriers, identify unmet requirements, and secure the support needed for the Service chaplaincies to succeed. »

The statement added, « The Service chaplaincies will remain the Department’s primary providers of religious support; ORA will give them a powerful advocate at the highest level of the Department.

« The office will not compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof, » it said. « Instead, it will help ensure every member of the Force has voluntary, meaningful access to religious support and community that fosters purpose and resilience needed to endure hardship, deployment, combat, and loss. »

In his speech, Hegseth said, « Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God. »

The phrase appeared to come from Chapter 6 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, where the apostle urges the Christian community: « Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. »

A spokesperson for the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services did not immediately respond to OSV News’ request for comment.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

New nuncio appeals for unity, cautions German bishops against diverging from Rome

The new apostolic nuncio to Germany, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, warned the country’s bishops against charting a separate course for the local church, reminding them that Catholic unity relies on fidelity to the papacy and the Eucharist.

In his first address to the bishops Sept. 28, the Dutch prelate said the pope « safeguards the visible unity of this church » while the Eucharist « leads the faithful ever deeper into that unity » with Christ at its center.

« Together, they preserve the church from becoming a mere federation of separate communities, or even an NGO with a Christian veneer, » he said, echoing warnings from Rome over recent reform efforts. « The office of Peter preserves communion in faith and ecclesial governance; the Eucharist brings this communion to its highest fulfillment in the body and blood of Christ. »

The German bishops’ conference gathered in the central German city of Fulda for its annual fall plenary assembly Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Among the topics of discussion were the theological significance and impact of Magnifica Humanitas (« Magnificent Humanity »), Pope Leo’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.

The conference said that the bishops would also discuss the investigation and handling of sexual abuse cases, adult baptisms in Europe, synodality and refugee issues.

Before Pope Leo appointed him to Germany on April 9, Archbishop van Megen served as apostolic nuncio to Kenya.

In his address to the assembly’s opening session, the nuncio acknowledged political tensions in Germany after the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, made electoral gains by securing unprecedented victories in eastern state elections.

The party, which has raised concerns over its ideology, anti-immigration stance and close ties with Russia, was explicitly condemned by the German bishops’ conference in a 2024 statement, drawing parallels to the rise of the Nazi party and right-wing extremism in the 20th century.

The AfD, the bishops wrote, « oscillates between genuine right-wing extremism » and « right-wing populism. »

« We say with all clarity: racial nationalism is incompatible with the Christian image of God and man. Right-wing extremist parties and those that are rampant on the fringes of this ideology therefore cannot be a place of political activity for Christians and cannot be voted for, » the statement read.

Archbishop van Megen noted that « discussions concerning the future of the Republic, including those surrounding the recent elections, are at times conducted with great passion. »

« Tensions exist that sometimes appear almost insurmountable, » he said. « It is not only the church that finds itself in a time of crisis and upheaval; German society, too, is increasingly asking itself: Quo vadis? Where are you going? »

He also acknowledged that as the nuncio to Germany, « I live in a country undergoing a profound transformation that leaves many people unsettled. »

« I myself am also only at the beginning of my ministry in Germany. I am becoming ever more conscious of how much I do not yet know or do not yet fully understand, » he said. « Over the past weeks, it has become clear to me that it will take time to genuinely understand the deeper spiritual and cultural currents of this country. Perhaps it is not even about understanding everything immediately. »

The apostolic nuncio also implicitly addressed the controversial Synodal Way, a three-year reform process led by the German bishops’ conference.

The process has made a number of proposals, including blessings for same-sex couples and the ordination of women, that have raised concerns, particularly from the Vatican.

The Synodal Way also proposed allowing qualified laypeople to deliver the homily during Sunday and feast day Masses, based on pastoral needs, and the German bishops approved it during their spring assembly in February.

However, the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments announced June 23 that it had denied the bishops’ request.

The late Pope Francis was critical of the Synodal Way and warned that it was guided by ideological principles rather than the Holy Spirit.

Reflecting on the meaning of the word « synod, » Archbishop van Megen said it stood for « the experience of journeying together, » and not individually.

Synodality, he said, « can never be the concern of individual groups alone while others are left behind. The People of God wander through the desert together. The Good Shepherd also searches for the one lost sheep. This applies not only to the church, but equally to the entire country. »

The nuncio also emphasized that Rome « is the visible center and the guarantor of the unity of the universal church, to which the church in Germany also belongs. »

While every local church has its own dignity and mission, Archbishop van Megen reminded the bishops that no local church « is more or less church than another. »

« The church in Africa differs from the church in Europe, as it does from that in Latin America or Asia, » he explained. « None of these churches holds primacy on account of its size or cultural influence. All are members of the one body of Christ. »

Archbishop van Megen said that while it is a « time of great transformation » in which « certain developments fill us with concern, » the Catholic Church in Germany must remember that « we do not walk this path alone. »

« Precisely for this reason, we may look to the future with complete confidence, » he told the bishops. « Our hope is not founded on human concepts or strategies, but on the Lord, who guides and renews His church. »

« Where we remain in communion with him, where we listen to one another, where we preserve unity with the universal church and the successor of Peter, there the Holy Spirit can open up new paths, » the archbishop said.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Notre Dame rector files defamation suit against online posters of anonymous abuse allegations

A former campus residence rector at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana has filed suit against several individuals who earlier this year had anonymously accused her online of sexual abuse.

An Oct. 6 hearing has been scheduled in Indiana’s St. Joseph County Superior Court, with plaintiff Elizabeth Greenop requesting subpoenas to discover the identities of 10 defendants referenced in the suit as « Jane » and « John Doe(s), » the legal convention for persons whose names are unknown or withheld for privacy.

The lawsuit asserts the graphic accusations, posted in June and July to shareyourstory.notredame – an Instagram account not affiliated with the university – constitute both defamation and a false-light invasion of privacy, a charge similar to defamation.

The suit also seeks as-yet unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, legal fees and other relief as well as a jury trial.

Following professional news standards, OSV News did not disclose Greenop’s name in its previous coverage of the matter due to the uncorroborated nature of the anonymous, social media-based allegations. As a result of the legal filing, Greenop’s name and association with the matter has become public record, with the case and its documents discoverable online.

An investigation has not yet determined the credibility of the allegations, nor has Greenop been charged with a crime.

The lawsuit denies all of the allegations.

The university – which had placed the rector on leave June 29 – told OSV News in a Sept. 25 email that it had « no comment » on the lawsuit and « no comment on the investigation at this time. »

Greenop’s attorney, Michael P. Smyth, declined to provide direct comment from his client, stating in a Sept. 28 email to OSV News that she « has set forth her position in the complaint. »

Noting « the social media posts were anonymous and uncorroborated, » Smyth added, « We are confident that litigation will reveal that they were also false. »

The administrator of the shareyourstory.notredame Instagram account – who had agreed in July to speak with OSV News on condition of anonymity, and whose identity OSV News has verified – also declined to comment.

None of the Instagram posts specifically named Greenop. However, the lawsuit – which lists the account administrator as the « Operator Doe Defendant(s) » – holds that the posts provided sufficient information to correlate them with her.

In particular, the posts referenced her position as rector « of a specifically identifiable residence hall » and « expressly » cross-referenced each other, said the lawsuit.

In addition, said the suit, Greenop’s name was included in at least two articles published regarding the claims – a July 1 article by The Observer, one of the independent student-run newspapers at Notre Dame; and a July 10 story by the National Catholic Register. Neither publication was named as a defendant in the filing.

The account administrator and the post authors were also alleged to have acted « with actual malice, » the lawsuit alleged.

The Instagram account describes itself as « sharing the stories of sexual assault, abuse, and stalking victims at the University of Notre Dame, » adding, « For survivors. By survivors. »

Anonymous submissions to the account are made through a Google Forms link, with all submissions posted to the Instagram account, provided they are relevant and do not violate the platform’s terms of service.

The account has continued to publish anonymous accounts of other alleged sexual assault incidents, none of which appear to implicate Greenop.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Canadian bishops at plenary hear about progress on creating a ‘listening’ church

The contrast between Latin American-Caribbean and Canadian progress toward creating a synodal – or « listening » – church could not have been starker than in two presentations Canada’s bishops heard during their Sept. 21-25 plenary in Montreal.

In a 55-minute keynote Sept. 22, Coadjutor Archbishop Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera of Cusco, Peru, secretary general of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council, known as CELAM, traced the roots of the region’s synodal development back 70 years to the organization’s founding in 1955.

Quebec’s Bishop Alain Faubert needed only 17 minutes for his « small update » during the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual plenary meeting on activities of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Implementation of Synodality in the Church in Canada since 2021.

However, both Faubert and Archbishop Donald J. Bolen of Regina noted in thanking the CELAM secretary general for his work, the whole concept of synodality came from the Vatican to Canada, while in Latin America and the Caribbean it was an outgrowth of existing church culture.

« It feels like (CELAM bishops) were following instructions from the Holy See that really originated in your churches, » Bolen told the Peruvian archbishop. « It’s a little different experience than for us (where) it feels a little more like something that’s come from the outside. We’re experiencing something that’s grown organically for you. »

In his presentation, Faubert told his fellow prelates. that « after the presentation of Msgr. Lizardo, the work of synodality in Canada will appear modest, but it’s the reality that has been given us. There are important phases coming in the next few months. »

Among the « must do » steps Faubert identified, he said another meeting of the ad hoc committee will take place on Oct. 15, five years almost to the day after the global synodality process was officially begun by Pope Francis.

Speed of adaptation aside, the Canadian and Latin American-Caribbean messaging about synodality was identical in stressing the necessity of transforming the church by turning the concept into lived experience.

« We can continue to talk about synodality, but the most important thing is to live, to experiment and to understand the Catholic dimension of this synodality, » Faubert said. « As Msgr. Lizardo said, the purpose of is not to be synodal for (the sake of) synodality. It’s for… realization of evangelization. »

Estrada emphasized that purpose in two videos he showed tracing the historical development of CELAM from a conference of the Latin American episcopate in 1955 to a means of grappling with the question of how to deal with the region’s concrete realities following the Second Vatican Council.

A 1979 episcopal conference inaugurated by St. John Paul II on evangelization on the future of Latin America « reminded us that to evangelize means to look at the concrete faces of our peoples and recognize the presence of Christ in them, » Herrera said.

That paved the way for a dedication to increasing networks and « episcopal, ecclesial and pastoral relations across borders » and led to a 2007 conference under Benedict XVI, whose final document was presided over by then Cardinal Jorge Mario Burgoglio, the late Pope Francis.

« When we presented a proposal for a future conference to (then) Pope Francis, his response was provocative: ‘Imagine something new.’ We dare to do so, » said the Peruvian archbishop, who was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Cusco until Pope Leo XIV named him coadjutor bishop for the archdiocese Aug. 29.

By November 2021, a month after global synodality took shape at a meeting in Rome, CELAM had already wrapped up a « listening stage and synthesis » assembly that was in-person but also had about 70,000 people participating through digital media.

« The experience anticipated, in some way, the path that was subsequently taken regarding the synod process and synodality, » he said.

But the newness of the church represented by synodality, Estrada stressed, was not just a renaming of old governance and operational structures.

« The true novelty lay in the way of walking together. The ecclesial assembly sought to begin by listening to the people of God. It was a broad listening process that sought to reach the peripheries, and also beyond the Church’s own borders: different forms of participation, thematic forums, personal and community contributions, various modes of encounter. »

Estrada called the process « a true laboratory for synodality » which meant that by October 2021 and the formal start of the Synod on Synodality, « the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean was not starting from scratch. It has already travelled a long and winding path (and) truly learned to listen deeply. »

The change activated, he said, went to the heart of the question underlying synodal listening itself. Time, he concluded, will tell how deeply the church transforms in concrete ways through application of synodal approaches. But the first steps have been taken by learning the need to listen.

« Here we find one of the great transformations the synodal journey produced. The question was no longer just, ‘What does each person think?’ It began to be, « What is the Spirit saying to the Church when we begin listening together?' »

During their plenary, the bishops also discussed pastoral initiatives to explore in preparation for celebrations to mark the upcoming 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in 1531, which is part of modern-day Mexico City and the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The bishops’ plenary agenda also included sessions on Indigenous relations, family life and ministry to migrants and refugees and a Holy Hour with vespers for victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Polish priest wounded in stabbing returns to altar with message of forgiveness

Two days after surviving a knife attack that killed a fellow priest, Father Adrian Mantykiewicz returned to the altar at the Benedictine sisters’ abbey in Jaroslaw with a message centered on forgiveness.

« As a disciple of Jesus Christ, in my own name, in Father Marek’s name and in Father Stanislaw’s name, I want to say very clearly that we forgive, » Mantykiewicz said during a Sept. 26 Mass at the Benedictine Sisters’ abbey in Jaroslaw in a homily that has since gone viral in Poland, sparking thousands of reactions from politicians, clergy and other users on social media.

It was the first Mass celebrated at the abbey after the Sept. 24 attack, in which five people were stabbed. Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz died from his injuries. Mantykiewicz was treated and released from the hospital the same day. The abbey said Sept. 25 that Father Marek Pienkowski remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

« In a special way, I ask you to pray for our attacker and for the grace of conversion for him, » Mantykiewicz said. « I say these words from the depths of my heart. He needs this prayer most of all. »

« Whatever happened, the evil that took place here in our abbey, we must overcome with goodness, love and forgiveness, » he said.

The suspect in the attack is a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen. Mantykiewicz directly addressed the danger of allowing one man’s crime to become a reason for hostility toward Ukrainians living in Poland.

« I also want to ask you not to blame the nation from which the attacker came, because the evil was committed by a specific person, » he said. « A specific person, who has his own name, his own life and is responsible for his own actions. Other people did not do this. It was one person. »

He urged those listening not to « respond to evil with evil, » but with « love, support, understanding and care. » 

« I ask you to respect the people who live in our abbey, in our city, in our province and in our country, » he said. « I ask you to respect and support one another as two brotherly nations. »

Right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Poles engaged in a massive charity campaign, accepting Ukrainians in their homes, and the border city of Jaroslaw was first on this front. But today, amid colder political relations between the two nations over historical disputes, the sentiment of the society faded as well, and some Poles were quick to blame an attack of this kind on the whole Ukrainian nation.

The priest connected his appeal to the abbey’s experience after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

« When the war in Ukraine broke out, you remember well what was happening in our abbey – that we were open to people who came here, people who needed help, support, care, love, sometimes simply ordinary human kindness, » he said.

« No one here was left without help, » he added, recalling that members of the community sometimes worked through the night assisting those who arrived. Mantykiewicz asked that the abbey’s efforts to help Ukrainians after the war began not « go to waste. »

Meanwhile, prosecutors have drawn up charges against the suspect, identified as Ihor M., including murder, attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm. Prosecutors said psychiatric experts found that he was experiencing acute psychotic symptoms that currently prevent him from participating in procedural actions.

On Sept. 26 a court ordered him held for three months, with the detention to be carried out in a hospital ward with enhanced security. The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported that Ihor M. has a police record in Germany regarding an incident with officers and was entered into a Czech database as an undesirable person. The newspaper said the preliminary information had been obtained by Polish police from foreign law enforcement services. Prosecutors have not publicly established a motive for the attack.

The abbey said funeral rites for Zbojniewicz, 67, who had been a priest for 40 years, would begin Sept. 28 in Jaroslaw with a rosary and Mass celebrated by Archbishop Adam Szal of Przemysl. His funeral Mass and burial are scheduled for Sept. 29 in his home village of Grzeska.

« Let us care for one another, » Mantykiewicz told the congregation. « And let us love all those whom we meet on the road of our lives. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

From Lourdes, Pope Leo issues stark rejection of France’s assisted dying law

Preaching to the infirmed, disabled and those who care for them at one of Catholicism’s most iconic shrines, Pope Leo XIV said that « no human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity, » issuing an unusually direct rejection of assisted dying, which was recently legalized in France. 

After two days in Paris in which the pope addressed the French government and the U.N.’s science agency, it was in Lourdes — where some Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to a French peasant girl in 1858 —that Leo issued the most politically charged speech yet of his four-day trip through France.

« We must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion, » Leo said at the Marian pilgrimage site, which draws millions each year who are seeking physical and spiritual healing. « It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal. What is legal is not necessarily moral. »

In July, France joined the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada in legalizing physician-assisted suicide for people with uncureable and painful conditions. The country’s Catholic bishops had voiced strong opposition to the law; when parliamentarians were debating the bill in June, the bishops issued a prayer to be read at parishes throughout France asking that God « enlighten their consciences » to respect human dignity.

In Leo’s Paris Mass, which drew surprisingly large crowds, six altar servers with Down Syndrome participated in the celebration, a move that underscored the pope’s pro-life message in the first country to enshrine a right to abortion in its constitution and where 84% of pregnancies in which prenatal testing diagnoses an embryo with Down syndrome result in abortion.

Meeting on Sunday with the staff of a healthcare facility that offers assistance and lodging for sick and disabled pilgrims at Lourdes, the pope directly called upon the healthcare community « to remember the profound meaning of your vocation, which is to care for a suffering person, not to eliminate that person. »

« Medicine must never become the servant of programmed death, » he said.

Earlier that morning, the pope met with France’s bishops and insisted that the church must insert its voice into the public square, « even if it is not always understood. »

« Even when her teaching is not followed, particularly on essential questions touching the foundations of civilization, it [the church] remains necessary. »

Drawing applause from the audience throughout his speech, Leo directed a message to the many infirmed people in the crowd, many in wheelchairs: « Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, I want to tell you that you are not a burden. You are the beating heart of our humanity and a precious treasure for the church. »

Celebrating Mass with some 150,000 pilgrims in a field alongside the shrine, with the front rows occupied by people in wheelchairs, the pope said that Lourdes is « a place for professing the beauty and sanctity of life. »

Raquelle Ruiz from Miami attended Mass with the pope at Lourdes, where she has spent the last four years volunteering with sick pilgrims, an experience she said « humbles me. »

« It makes me think: There is someone here who still needs you. You may think you might not have enough to offer, but you do, everyone does, » she said.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travel to Lourdes with sick people each year; some believe that immersing themselves in water from a spring at the site of the apparition can provide healing. The Catholic Church officially recognizes 72 healings out of more than 7,000 cases examined since 1858 as miraculous.

Pope Francis traveled to France on three separate occasions throughout his 12-year pontificate, he never dedicated a full-fledged papal tour of the country or visit Lourdes, though he did visit other sites associated with Marian apparitions, such as Fátima in Portugal and Guadalupe in Mexico.

Leo’s visit to France, and Lourdes in particular, continues a trend for the U.S.-born pope of checking off long-awaited trips that his predecessor never realized, such as Leo’s visits to Turkey and Spain in the past year.

Arriving in Lourdes the previous night, Leo prayed at the shrine’s grotto — the cave believed to be where the Marian apparitions occurred — and asked God that the « most disadvantaged and the poorest always be supported » and for the Virgin Mary to « obtain for France wise and generous leaders, ready to make sacrifices, capable of responding to challenges, and eager to serve the common good. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Catholisisme

His Vineyard, Our Joy

(Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year A; This homily was given on September 26 & 27, 2026 at Saint Augustine Church in Providence, Rhode Island; See Matthew 21:28-32)  

Seeking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Cardinal McElroy calls for new social contract to deal with AI

Cardinal Robert McElroy gave an important talk this afternoon (Sept. 26) about Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas for the 52nd Thomas Verner Moore Lecture at St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C. All bishops should be promoting this encyclical. Not only is it timely given all the scary headlines about AI, the pope’s encyclical provides the moral language and logic to have the discussions we need to be having as a society about this new technology.

McElroy, archbishop of Washington, D.C., opened with a story that could get him excommunicated. 

« At the end of the conclave that elected Pope Leo, in keeping with tradition, all of the cardinal-electors greeted the new Pope individually, offered their promises of obedience and support and then conveyed a more personal greeting, » the cardinal shared with the audience. « As I did so, I said to Pope Leo ‘You picked a great name.’  » Of course, they were still in conclave and participants are bound to secrecy. I suspect Pope Leo will not bring down the hammer on this innocuous story.

The cardinal used that story to draw parallels between the late 19th-century period of rapid industrialization and Pope Leo XIII’s seminal encyclical Rerum Novarum and our own time of rapid technological changes, especially AI. Rerum Novarum was « a mandate to every succeeding age in the church to examine the ‘new things’ emerging in society, politics, culture and economic realities to place them also under examination in the light of the Gospel and Catholic tradition, » a mandate that now falls to us.

McElroy recaps some of the highlights of the encyclical and offers a concise summary of the challenges posed by AI: « Technological change with universal reach. A transformation of the collective imagination. Tremendous acceleration of the access to knowledge. Raw power placed in the hands of a few entities effectively beyond the reach of government. The question of how privacy can survive in such a digital world. »

« These are the piercing ethical questions that we must face in the age in which we live. And they are rooted in the most profound anthropological issues regarding what it means to be human, » McElroy said, according to prepared remarks. « These questions can only be answered in a wide-ranging dialogue at this critical moment in the development of Artificial Intelligence. And the Church seeks to be a vital part of that dialogue so that the benefits of the digital age will be sustained and enhanced and the dangers minimized. » He goes on to highlight the key principles of Catholic social doctrine that Leo articulated and how they can help shape this dialogue in fruitful ways.

In his discussion of the encyclical’s fifth chapter, McElroy asserted: « Pope Leo says, the just war theory, which has been manipulated by so many national leaders to justify recourse to war, can no longer function effectively as a moral guide on the recourse to war. » That is not exactly what the pope said, at least not in the encyclical. The pope said just war theory is « outdated. » If something is outdated, it may just need an update, not to be tossed overboard. The cardinals discussed these issues with the pope at the consistory in June and perhaps McElroy has discussed it with the pope since. I am sure he knows more than the rest of us about the pope’s thoughts. So far as the public record goes, there remains a certain ambivalence on the issue.

The most important part of McElroy’s talk came at the end where he called for « a social contract for the digital age. » He noted that « the key decisions that will determine the outcome to these questions are being made by the researchers who have created these technologies and the companies that own them » and that, however well intentioned, these same people « frequently suffer from the blinders of the technocratic paradigm which assumes all problems created by science and innovation can be fixed by science and innovation. »

Instead, McElroy said, a far wider group of people must be involved in shaping the contours of AI and retrieved the idea of a social contract from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who « saw the concept of the social contract as a reflection on the need to root the governance of society in the general will of the people as a whole. » Rousseau was challenging the divine right of kings, but in our time, the church is challenging the awesome power of the technocrats.

And, then, McElroy shows why he is the intellectual leader of the U.S. hierarchy, and shares a quote he unearthed from Immanuel Kant:

I myself am a researcher by inclination. I feel the entire thirst for cognition and the eager restlessness to proceed further in it, as well as the satisfaction of every acquisition. There was a time when I believed this alone could constitute the honor of humankind, and I despised the rabble who knows nothing. Rousseau has set me right. The blinding prejudice vanishes, I learn to honor human beings, and I would feel by far less useful than the common laborer if I did not believe that this consideration could impart a value to all others in order to establish the rights of humanity.

Who else would have found such an on point quote?

The bishops have a unique opportunity in promoting Magnifica Humanitas. Unlike Laudato Si’ or the church’s teachings on economic matters, the debates about AI do not fall into the usual partisan and ideological divides, so it is not polarizing. More importantly, what the church brings to this discussion is unique and important while most others in the debate are incoherent or worse. And the stakes could not be higher.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Pope Leo prays at Paris’ Notre Dame in first papal visit since 2019 fire

Pope Francis caused a stir in France when he decided to skip the inauguration of the restored Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris and instead visit the French island of Corsica for a day trip. 

Two years later, his successor preached the late pope’s vision of an open, welcoming church in the Parisian cathedral during its first papal visit since flames swallowed the church’s iconic spire in 2019. 

Notre Dame, the Gothic cathedral completed in the 14th century, is owned by the French government and operated by the Catholic Church. Its reconstruction was funded by public, private and church funds, but some Catholics had criticized the 2024 inauguration as a PR stunt for the French government; it was attended by government leaders and foreign dignitaries, including first lady Jill Biden and then-President-elect Donald Trump.

Traces of that sentiment remain: France’s leading newspaper, Le Monde, dubbed Emmanuel Macron the « papophile » president for repeatedly seeking public occasions to show his closeness to the popes to improve his public image over his more than nine years in office. 

Ahead of Leo’s current trip, the Catholic French daily La Croix reported Macron had requested to privately show the pope the inside the cathedral, but that the request was turned down by the Vatican to maintain the event’s pastoral nature and not turn it into a state affair. 

Yet after Leo entered the vast cathedral today (Sept. 25) immersed in the church’s pounding organ music, he told Paris’ Catholic community — some 2,500 inside with another roughly 5,000 watching on screens outdoors — that the reconstruction of Notre Dame offered an encounter « that has expanded horizons of welcome and participation beyond the boundaries of ecclesial affiliation. »

« Dear bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians of France, let yourselves be inspired by what has happened here! » he said. « Make the vision of Evangelii Gaudium your priority, namely the missionary conversion which Pope Francis spoke of in his first apostolic exhortation. » 

« Confidently value the missionary presence of the lay faithful, who are the living front line of the church at the crossroads of everyday life, » the pope urged. 

Greeting the pope at Notre Dame, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris recalled that when he had invited Leo to the French capital a year ago, « you told me you had the desire to see Notre Dame. » 

The archbishop’s comment reflected a notable difference between Leo and his predecessor: Whereas Francis eschewed Catholicism’s traditional European hubs, Leo has been eager to seek them out. Two of his four days in France will be spent visiting the Marian shrine at Lourdes, which draws some 3 million pilgrims each year. 

But even if they have different styles, Leo has taken up Francis’ efforts to make the church more welcoming with full force. 

After touring the interior of the historic church, the pope said that « like the cathedrals of old, the church is a place of welcome, respect, revelation and meaning for everyone. » 

« At the heart of the city, the open cathedral is a sign of a community that praises the Lord and lives hospitality not as an occasional gesture, but as the very form of its existence, » he said, « so that all may feel at home, no longer dominated or marginalized in a changing world. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Trump administration again omits refugees fleeing religious persecution from US program

The Trump administration notified Congress on Tuesday (Sept. 22) that it once again plans to limit the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to 17,500 admissions next year, primarily white South Africans.

It would mark the second year in a row of historically low refugee admissions prioritizing a group known as Afrikaners. The U.S. has welcomed an average of 92,000 refugees per year since its inception in 1980.

It would also make 2027 the second year in which refugees fleeing religious persecution are afforded no pathway to resettlement in the U.S.

Representatives for faith-based refugee resettlement agencies expressed outrage.

« For more than four decades, America’s refugee program has provided a lifesaving pathway for people fleeing violence and persecution, » Naomi Steinberg, vice president for refugee and immigration policy and advocacy at HIAS, a Jewish refugee resettlement agency, said in a statement. « But again, this administration is diminishing and distorting this legacy in service of its political whims. »

HIAS, along with Church World Service and Lutheran Community Services Northwest, is suing the government for excluding from the refugee admissions process other populations that Congress has specifically designated as refugees of special humanitarian concern. It calls the exclusion discriminatory and illegal.

Those refugees include immediate family members of already resettled refugees, including minor children and spouses, U.S.-affiliated Iraqis and religious minorities, particularly Iranians fleeing religious persecution.

« Since the enactment of these programs, the government has provided for admission of those refugees without fail every year, » said Mevlüde Akay Alp, a senior staff attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project or IRAP, which is litigating the case. « It’s only under this current administration and with last year’s presidential determination (or refugee cap) that the government is now defying its congressional obligations towards those populations. » 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. On June 30, the government moved to dismiss the suit. It now awaits a decision by U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of the Western District of Washington state.

World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization that also resettles refugees, sent a letter Wednesday to President Donald Trump, urging him to « once again prioritize Christians and other religious minorities fleeing religious persecution. » The letter was signed by « 3,466 evangelical Christians. » 

In 1989, the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg introduced an amendment to the U.S. Refugee Act designed to help persecuted Jews and Christian minorities leave the former Soviet Union. In 2004, the Lautenberg amendment was expanded to include persecuted religious minorities in Iran, specifically Jews, Christians, Baha’is, Sabaean-Mandaeans and Zoroastrians.

Congress has reauthorized the Lautenberg amendment each year since its creation in 1989 and did so again in February this year. But no new refugees who fall into those humanitarian concern categories have been admitted to the U.S. since January 2025, when Trump took office.

Evangelicals, who make up Trump’s base, have also voiced their displeasure.

« A nation shaped by Christianity and where Christianity is receding would be enriched by the faithful witness of our brothers and sisters, » Daniel Darling, director of the Land Center at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, wrote on X.

Presidents set the cap on how many refugees the U.S. will approve through the program each year. Last year, the Trump administration initially set the cap at 7,500 for Afrikaners and later increased the total to 17,500.

The White House contends that Afrikaners face seizures of their land and other forms of persecution and would be likely to assimilate when they come to America. The South African government rejects those claims.

Afrikaners are part of a white ethnic minority that created and led South Africa’s brutal segregationist policies, known as apartheid, for nearly 50 years. That policy, which included denying the country’s Black majority rights to voting, housing, education and land, ended in 1994, when the country elected Nelson Mandela in its first free presidential election.

« A refugee program that centers one group and sidelines all others is an abdication of our global humanitarian leadership and an abandonment of thousands of vulnerable families who put their faith in our country, » said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, another faith-based resettlement agency, in a statement.

In a press call on Monday, Vignarajah called the Trump administration’s refugee policy « exclusion by design, driven by a seismic shift in who our government deems worthy of protection. »

By comparison, in fiscal year 2024, under President Joe Biden the U.S. welcomed just over 100,000 refugees from 85 countries.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer