St. Columba Catholic Church

Maura Moser (far left), director of the Catholic Communications Campaign, moderates a discussion on immigration with (left to right) Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chair of the USCCB’s religious liberty committee, and Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the USCCB’s migration committee, on Nov. 11, 2025, during a press conference at the conference’s Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore. / Credit: Shannon Mullen/National Catholic Register

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 11, 2025 / 16:04 pm (CNA).

U.S. bishops said immigration enforcement in the United States is a “crisis situation” affecting human dignity and religious liberty in the nation.

At a press conference during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio; Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas; and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, discussed migrants and the “uncertainty” they feel amid immigration enforcement in the nation. 

In the Nov. 11 press conference, Broglio said immigration enforcement is “preventing people from bringing their children to church, to school, or … to the emergency room.”

He added: “We, as pastors, would like to alleviate that fear and assure ... people that we are with them.”

“I think there’s a remarkable unity among all the bishops. This is an issue of human dignity,” Broglio said. “The Gospel teaches us especially to be compassionate, reach out to the immigrants, and just [have] concern about their well-being.”

“For us, this issue is not an abstract one,” Seitz said. “It’s a personal one because we’re pastors … We care about our people, and we care particularly for those who are most vulnerable and those who are most in need.”

“Bishops across the board” are seeing “people in our dioceses being swept up in this effort to go after people who are immigrants,” Seitz said. “I say that in a very broad sense, because although what the government has been saying, ‘We’re after criminals,’ it’s extended much more broadly than that.”

“While we certainly agree that people who are some threat to our community ought to be taken off of our streets once they’re convicted, the sweep has taken up so many others and has the risk of setting aside any due process.”

Seitz said the right to due process is “a fundamental part of our nation’s basic approach that everyone has certain rights. Those rights ought to be respected with a process that allows us to ascertain whether they indeed did commit some act that was a violation of our law.”

A matter of religious liberty 

Denying Communion to detainees is “an issue of religious liberty,” the bishops said, adding that the USCCB Committee on Religious Liberty is “very concerned” about it.

The committee met on Nov. 10 to discuss how to ensure people in detention facilities receive “pastoral spiritual care and especially the grace of the sacraments,” Rhoades said. “One doesn’t lose that right when one is detained. Whether one is documented or undocumented — this is a fundamental right of the person.”

“It’s heartbreaking when you think of the suffering. Especially those who’ve been detained, separated from families, those who haven’t committed crimes,” Rhoades said. “They need spiritual support in this, and they need the sacraments.”

The bishops were asked by reporters if they plan to speak to the Trump administration about its immigration policies, which are affecting parishes across the United States. 

Seitz said the bishops are working on a statement at their fall meeting. “As bishops, we want to speak from who we are, and certainly, we address issues of principle, such as religious liberty … [and] human dignity,” he said.

“We’ll try to stick to our foundations … in any statement that we make,” he continued. “But we also want it to be something that’s very clear and that is rooted in the Gospel. … It will also, I believe, speak to immigrants, not simply to our government.”

“It will be a message of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who find themselves in difficulty or who find themselves in fear to let them know that they’re not alone, that their pastors are going on with them,” Seitz said.

Rhoades added that the goal of the message is also “to cross the aisle,” as the Church is “not partisan.” 

“We’re talking about human lives in the United States and really important principles of our country — including just human dignity [and] religious liberty,” Rhoades said. “I’m just hopeful that we can move beyond the impasse.”

Later in the day, Seitz announced that the USCCB is launching the “You Are Not Alone” initiative for migrants, which will focus on “emergency and family support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communications and Church teaching … and solidarity through prayer and public witness.”

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Puebla, Mexico, Nov 11, 2025 / 15:34 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Church in Mexico expressed its opposition to the attempt to legalize euthanasia and warned of the “risk of validating totalitarian and eugenic ideologies.”

In an editorial in its weekly publication Desde la fe (“From the Faith”), titled “A Good Death and the Myth of Euthanasia,” the Archdiocese of Mexico City lamented that “a campaign to promote euthanasia has begun, taking it as a fact that euthanasia means the same thing as a good death.”

The editorial called it “a major error from an anthropological, legal, and human rights perspective” to believe that the Mexican Constitution “only protects a life with dignity,” while “life that involves pain and suffering is considered unworthy” of the person.

From this perspective, the archdiocese warned, “we would be at risk of validating totalitarian and eugenic ideologies that have existed throughout human history and have caused so much harm, discarding the lives of millions that “weren’t worth living.”

The editorial also noted that it is “appalling” to think that those suffering from terminal illnesses in Mexico “are being offered death as a way out of their situation.” This, the archdiocese warned, “means we are failing in our capacity to offer relief, support, and comfort, despite the advances of science.”

‘Law That Transcends’ would legalize euthanasia in Mexico

On Oct. 29, a bill known as “The Law That Transcends” was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) of the Mexican federal Congress.

Announcing the initiative, Samara Martínez, a pro-euthanasia activist who suffers from systemic lupus erythematosus, argued that “it is not a law about death, it is a law about life, with meaning until the last breath.”

“Denying the possibility of death with dignity does not preserve life, it prolongs suffering, and that is not justice, it is omission,” she said.

The bill is supported by the ruling Morena party, along with the Labor Party and the Citizens’ Movement.

According to Representative Patricia Mercado of the Citizens’ Movement party, euthanasia “reaffirms the right to a life with dignity”; while Sen. Emmanuel Reyes of Morena asserted that “today the conditions are right to move forward” with euthanasia legislation.

Ana Luisa Del Muro of the Labor Party stated that legalizing euthanasia aims to allow people to “die with dignity and, above all, without pain.”

Currently, Article 312 of the Mexican Federal Penal Code establishes a prison sentence of one to five years for anyone who “assists or induces another to commit suicide.”

Euthanasia ‘causes a lot of suffering’

In a video released by the National Front for the Family, Dr. Marta Tarasco Michel, co-founder of the Department of Bioethics at Anahuac University in Mexico, stated that “no one in principle wants to die,” and this “is very simple to demonstrate; it consists of administering a lethal injection containing the same type of medication used in capital punishment.”

In euthanasia, she said, “the patient will feel a lot of pain, will experience asphyxiation. This is said to be very quick, but suffocating is very difficult for anyone, so this causes a lot of suffering.”

Those promoting this legislative initiative, the expert said, “should at least clearly explain what euthanasia is, how little it actually resolves the situation, and also provide many more palliative care services.”

Dr. Luz Adriana Templos Esteban, president of the Mexican College of Palliative Care and Support, A.C., lamented in another video shared by the National Front for the Family that “although Mexico is one of the countries with fairly comprehensive regulations regarding palliative care, we don’t have adequate implementation, and evidently, within communities, individuals, and patients, there is a lack of awareness that you can receive palliative care as a human right.”

“Palliative care allows us to improve people’s quality of life and, obviously, offer a support system for both the patient and his family,” she emphasized, such that “we allow for a natural death within a framework of dignity and avoid suffering, which is precisely what people are seeking.”

“What people want is not euthanasia; what they want is to not suffer and, obviously, not to have their lives taken,” she affirmed.

‘We must end suffering, not do away with the suffering person’

In its editorial, the Archdiocese of Mexico City pointed out that “there is a romanticized notion that euthanasia means dying without pain, but there is also medical testimony that the person who undergoes death via lethal injection does in fact suffer, and it is not pleasant for loved ones to witness that scene.”

The archdiocese also noted that the initiative “mentions that euthanasia can be requested before a notary public and that there is the right to conscientious objection for doctors. The question that follows is: Wouldn’t notaries public also have the right to conscientious objection?”

Recalling the existence and development of palliative care, “which increasingly allows people to die at home, surrounded by their families, in a natural way,” the archdiocese emphasized that “we must make a reality of a phrase that is becoming increasingly well known: ‘We must end the pain, not do away with the suffering person.’”

“The resources that the state must dedicate to palliative care are considerable, but they are necessary for the dignity of all Mexicans, healthy and sick,” the editorial underscored, warning that “seeking to reduce these expenses by offering euthanasia is inhumane and is a symbol of a state faltering in its duty.”

The Archdiocese of Mexico City highlighted at the end of its editorial that Pope Leo XIV has called for November to be dedicated to prayer for suicide prevention, noting that “the pope reminds us that neither pain nor suffering takes away the value of life.”

“We urge the authorities of the state not to take the easy way out when dealing with illness, not to force notaries and doctors to act against their convictions and conscience, and to work to ensure that all the sick receive medication and treatment, specialized care, and the love of their families, so that death is not the answer to suffering,” the archdiocese stated.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Stephen Ameyu, president of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSS-CBC), urged Catholic leaders this week to strengthen unity, foster nonviolence, and reinforce pastoral structures as the Church responds to the plight of the people of God in Sudan and South Sudan. / Credit: Catholic Radio Network

ACI Africa, Nov 11, 2025 / 14:56 pm (CNA).

The president of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSS-CBC) raised alarm over the deepening humanitarian crisis in the two neighboring countries of Sudan and South Sudan. 

In his opening remarks to SSS-CBC members in the Catholic Diocese of Malakal in South Sudan, Cardinal Stephen Ameyu urged Catholic leaders to strengthen unity, foster nonviolence, and reinforce pastoral structures as the Church responds to the plight of the people of God in Sudan and South Sudan.

Ameyu described the meeting as “a sign of communion that binds us as the body of Christ; a communion that strengthens the bonds of unity, charity, and peace, which unite us in the college of bishops.” 

He prayed that deliberations during the meeting would be “guided by the gospel of nonviolence and the call to be servants of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God.”

“The people of Sudan and South Sudan are enduring profound suffering, displacement, loss of life, destruction of churches and properties, and a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale,” Ameyu, who also serves as the archbishop of Juba, said on Monday.

He acknowledged with appreciation the spirit of endurance among the Sudanese people, saying: “Amidst these trials, the dioceses have demonstrated resilience, providing shelters, food, and spiritual care through charities and other agencies.”

He continued: “It is our pastoral priority that we work for peace and justice. We are called to build this important institution of justice and peace in our secretariat but above all also in our different dioceses,” he said, adding that the Church is deeply committed to humanitarian assistance, which has become a daily part of service in Sudanese Catholic dioceses.

“We provide support not only materially but also morally, offering solidarity to refugees and returnees who are coming back home,” Ameyu said. “We are together standing to evangelize these people, to have this catechesis for the people who are stressed.”

“We must always be aware, even in the midst of this destruction and this violence, people still need catechesis; they need evangelization. Let us focus on our mission for the family and the sacrament of marriage because we believe that marriage is one of the most important aspects of our societies.” 

The cardinal also expressed concern about new government-imposed taxes on Church properties and personnel, warning that such measures could undermine the Church’s mission to serve the poor.

“The recent imposition of taxes on Church properties and personnel threatens our capacity to serve the poor. The bishops will engage in dialogue with the government to address this issue,” he said.

Ameyu urged the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to prioritize peace above all else. “No one was created for war; we were all created for peace,” he affirmed. 

During the Nov. 10–14 meeting, SSS-CBC members are scheduled to discuss pastoral work, peace-building, and the growing impact of climate-related disasters on local communities.

In his homily during the opening Mass of the plenary, Ameyu urged Sudanese political leaders to end the suffering of citizens who continue to endure both natural and manmade disasters in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.

“My dear government officials, it is your authority and duty to bring peace to the people of Malakal,” Ameyu said, adding: “Many say bishops and priests should bring peace, but I tell you, it is not the clergy who bring peace. We are already at peace within ourselves — it is the government and the people who must create the opportunity for dialogue and reconciliation.”

He emphasized that true peace in Sudan and South Sudan can only be achieved when citizens overcome tribal divisions and embrace unity.

“Let us accept one another as Shilluk, as Dinka, as Nuer, as people from Maban … Let us work together for peace,” he said.

During Mass, SSS-CBC members launched the Small Christian Communities (SCC) initiative to reinforce the Church’s commitment to the theme of synodality. The initiative encourages Christians to live in fellowship and take active roles in building peace within their communities.

In his homily, Ameyu also prayed for God to remove the “spirit of disunity” among South Sudanese people, affirming that the Church will continue to accompany the nation through prayer and moral guidance.

“Peace begins with each of us. When we walk together in communion and mission, South Sudan will find the peace it longs for,” the cardinal said.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre speaks to EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado in Rome on Friday, April 25, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 11, 2025 / 14:26 pm (CNA).

Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre told bishops at the 2025 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Fall Plenary Assembly that the Second Vatican Council is “the key to understanding what Church we are called to be today and the reference point for discerning where we are headed.”

The French-born prelate has served as the Vatican’s nuncio, or chief diplomat, to the U.S. since 2016. He spoke Nov. 11 at the bishops’ fall assembly in Baltimore highlighting the message of Vatican II and its mission of evangelization, education, and unity. 

In his address Pierre asked the bishops a two-part question: “Where have we been and where are we going?” Pope Leo XIV, in his new apostolic letter on education, asks the same question as he “urges education and communities to ‘raise your eyes’ and ‘know how to ask yourselves where you are going, and why,’” Pierre said. 

“This act of questioning, of examining the direction of our journey, is an essential part of Christian discernment,” Pierre said. “It’s something that every bishop must do when thinking about the Church and trusting in his care, and it’s something that we must do in our shared journey as shepherds of the Catholic Church in the United States.”

Two days after his election, Pope Leo told the cardinals: “I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.” 

Pierre detailed multiple aspects that the Second Vatican Council offers to the bishops and the world today. It serves as “the self-description of the Church for our age.” In the words of popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, it was “the great grace bestowed on the Church in the 20th century.”

“The council offered us not a new faith but a new way of describing and living the one faith in the modern world,” Pierre said. “The vision of the council was a vision for the future — a prophetic orientation toward a world that was only beginning to take shape.”

“When the council fathers issued those texts, the churches were still full; the effects of secularization had not yet become deeply visible. Many of the realities that the council intuited had not yet manifested themselves in the life of the world or of the Church.

“For this reason, the council’s documents were not fully understood in their time. They were not a description of where the Church stood but a map drawn for the territory into which she was being sent.”

“Today, that territory is our daily experience,” Pierre said. “We now inhabit the world that the council foresaw — a world marked by profound cultural shifts, technological change, and a secularized mindset that challenges faith at its roots. Now is the time to unfold the council’s map and walk its path — to rediscover in those texts the light and courage needed to navigate this moment with fidelity and creativity.”

Pierre: Vatican II continues its path from Francis to Leo XIV

“When asked about a Third Vatican Council, Pope Francis replied that the time is not ripe, because we are still laboring to fully implement the second. His pontificate was marked not by innovation for its own sake but by a call to live more fully the vision of the council.”

“In his first apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, which Francis had begun, the Holy Father’s reference point continues to be Vatican II, this time as it addresses our mission among the poor. Recalling Pope Paul VI, who said that ‘the ancient parable of the good Samaritan served as the model for the council’s spirituality,’ Leo writes: ‘I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the Church and for society.’”

“He says that ‘the Second Vatican Council represented a milestone in the Church’s understanding of the poor in God’s saving plan.’”

Catholic education and evangelization 

The nuncio detailed Catholic education and ecclesial renewal. Vatican II’s “teaching on worship, the mystery of the Church, the Word of God, and dialogue with the world converge in one vision: a Church rooted in faith, animated by hope, and engaged with humanity through love.”

Gravissimum Educationis remains “a sure guide,” Pierre said. “It affirmed the right of every person to an education ordered to truth and dignity, the role of parents as first educators, and the inseparable bond between faith and reason in forming the whole person.”

“Pope Leo now develops that heritage, urging educational communities to be builders of bridges, not walls — allowing reconciliation and peacemaking to become ‘the method and content of learning.’”

Leo urges “educational communities not just to impart skills but to heal relationships, form consciences, and choose not what is convenient but what is just,” Pierre said.

Catholic education remains one of the great “success stories” and “enduring strengths” of the Church in the United States, Pierre said. “Vatican II did not create this educational mission, but it gave it a new horizon: calling Catholic education to look outward, to engage a rapidly changing world, and to form disciples ready to bring the Gospel into new cultural and social contexts.”

Catholic education “continues to be a radiant witness of evangelizing hope; where it is neglected or narrowed, the light grows dim,” Pierre said. It “offers a window into the wider story of how the council’s teaching has been received across the Church in this country.”

Mission of the bishops 

“If we embrace this full inheritance of Vatican II — the educational, pastoral, and social dimensions alike — the Church in the United States can continue to be what she has so often been: a leaven within this nation, a sign of hope that transcends division, and a servant of the common good grounded in the dignity of every human being.”

Bishops have “a call to represent the Church of the council,” Pierre said. “In our priesthood and episcopal vocation, we are called to be men of communion — pastors who walk with the people of God rather than standing apart.”

Bishops have a mission in evangelization and ecumenism, and in their engagement with public life, he said. Bishops “are not chaplains to parties or distant commentators but shepherds who bring the breadth of Catholic social teaching into civic discourse in a way that transcends partisanship.”

Pierre once again asked the bishops: “Where have we been, and where are we going?”

“The council is not behind us; it stands before us, the map for our journey,” Pierre said. “We are a Church rooted in the grace of the Second Vatican Council; a Church still receiving and embodying its vision; a Church sent forth in unity, as disciples and shepherds, bringing hope, joy, and mercy to a world in need.”

“The council’s documents continue to form us and guide our discernment of this moment,” Pierre said. “Pope Leo XIV now carries that same vision forward, interpreting it anew for the world of today.”

“If we walk faithfully with him, we will be the Church the council envisioned: a pilgrim people, a sacrament of communion, a beacon of hope, and a servant of the poor — drawing, even now, new maps of hope for the generations to come,” the nuncio concluded.

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2025 / 13:44 pm (CNA).

Tennessee’s Catholic bishops issued a plea for mercy, calling for an immediate halt to the death penalty and its eventual abolition as the state prepares to execute Harold Wayne Nichols on Dec. 1.

Tennessee’s three bishops, Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis, and Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville, as well as the Tennessee Catholic Conference issued a joint statement on Nov. 10 calling for an end to the death penalty in the state.

“The Catholic Church upholds the sacredness of every human life, even the life of one who is guilty of serious crimes,” the bishops wrote. “To take a life in punishment denies the image of God in which every person is made. The Gospel calls not for vengeance but for mercy.”

The bishops acknowledged that the Church has historically recognized the state’s right and duty to protect its citizens by sometimes employing the death penalty. However, the bishops wrote, “even in allowing for that possibility, Church teaching reflected the understanding that execution is permissible only when it is the sole practicable means to prevent further harm.”

“That understanding includes the recognition that even the most serious criminals retain an inherent dignity that must be respected, prompting the Church to limit the use of the death penalty as much as possible,” the statement says.

Nichols was convicted in 1990 of raping and murdering 21-year-old Karen Pulley, a student at Chattanooga State University, in 1988. During his trial, he expressed remorse and admitted to her rape and murder, and he said he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested, according to the Associated Press.

In the joint statement, the Tennessee bishops invoked Pope Leo XIV’s recent rebuke: “Someone who says ‘I’m against abortion’ but says ‘I am in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life.”

“The death penalty extinguishes the chance for repentance and redemption,” they continued. “It closes the door that mercy would open. True justice protects life, even as it punishes wrongdoing. A culture of life cannot coexist with the machinery of death.”

“We pray for Karen and her family and friends,” they wrote in the statement.

Tennessee has scheduled four more executions for 2026. 

The statement comes amid growing scrutiny of Tennessee’s execution protocol. According to the AP, an independent review of Tennessee’s lethal injection process found that improper testing of the drugs led to prolonged suffering during executions.

“To oppose the death penalty is to affirm hope — that no one, even a person who has committed a grave crime, is beyond the reach of grace,” the statement concluded. “God’s judgment, not our retribution, has the final word.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley preaches during a Mass in the Oklahoma City cathedral in 2021. / Credit: Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 11, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City was elected to serve as the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a secret ballot on Nov. 11.

Bishops chose Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, to serve as vice president. Flores, who serves in the southernmost diocese in Texas, finished second in balloting for president. Coakley subsequently won a runoff.

Coakley, who was previously secretary of the USCCB, will serve a three-year term as president, succeeding the former president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio. The bishops held the election at the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore.

He has a history of promoting a culture of life, opposing gender ideology, and supporting migrants.

The archbishop, who turned 70 years old in May, became a bishop in 2004. He has served in the Oklahoma City Archdiocese since 2011. He holds a licentiate in sacred theology.

Coakley’s defense of a culture of life is a continuation of Broglio’s leadership on the subject. Under Broglio, the bishops maintained that abortion is the “preeminent priority” in elections.

In 2022, Coakley praised Oklahoma lawmakers “for supporting pro-life measures” following a law that banned nearly all abortions. He said, to build a culture of life, one must recognize “the inherent dignity of every person [and it] requires the protections afforded by pro-life legislation and a profound change of heart.”

Coakley has criticized the Oklahoma government for its support of the death penalty. In 2022, he said: “The use of the death penalty only contributes to the continued coarsening of society and to the spiral of violence.”

In 2023, he expressed concern about the rise of gender dysphoria and the promotion of gender ideology in American society. He provided advice to parents but criticized drugs and surgeries used to facilitate a gender transition.

Coakley has also criticized the mass deportation efforts taken by President Donald Trump’s administration. In February of this year, he said deportations are “creating fear and even distress for our immigrant, migrant, and refugee neighbors who have arrived in search of the same dreams that awaited many of our ancestors at a different moment in time.”

He also said in the statement that “illegal immigration is wrong, and renewed efforts should be considered to protect our nation’s borders.” He mentioned concerns about human and drug trafficking but said the majority of people who entered the country illegally “are upstanding members of our communities and churches, not violent criminals.”

Flores to serve as vice president

Flores is former president of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine and was the only southern-border bishop in contention for the role of president.

Flores will serve a three-year term as vice president, succeeding the former vice president, Archbishop William Lori.

Flores, who is 64 years old, holds a doctorate in sacred theology and is a former theology professor. He has been a bishop since 2006. He was one of 12 bishops to serve on the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod on Synodality and is a promoter of synodality in the Church. 

In 2017, Flores said support for mass deportations is “formal cooperation with an intrinsic evil,” similar to driving someone to an abortion clinic. He has expressed concern about polarization in the Church and urged “civil conversation … to seek what is good and make the priority how to achieve it and how to avoid what is evil.”

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2025 / 11:40 am (CNA).

An Arizona man will serve more than half a decade in prison after he carried out multiple hoax bomb threats at churches in the western U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release that 46-year-old Phoenix resident Zimnako Salah would spend six years in prison after his 2025 conviction in the terror plot.

From September to November 2023 Salah “traveled to four Christian churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado” with black backpacks, according to the Department of Justice. At two churches he was turned away by security, while at two others he “planted” the backpacks, causing congregants to believe they contained bombs, the Justice Department said.

Though the planted backpacks were in fact hoaxes, Salah reportedly had “been building a bomb capable of fitting in a backpack,” the department said. FBI investigators said they seized “component parts of an improvised explosive device” from a storage unit being rented by Salah.

Salah also had been actively searching for “extremist propaganda online,” the government said, including searches for videos such as “infidels dying.”

The jury that convicted Salah in 2025 found that he “targeted the church because of the religion of the people who worshipped there, making the offense a hate crime.”

U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins levied a $10,000 fine against Salah, telling him he “failed to take responsibility for [his] actions.”

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said Salah’s ultimate goal appeared to be “many deaths and injuries.”

“Thanks to the action of church security, local law enforcement, and the FBI, this defendant was stopped before he had a chance to carry out the crimes he sought to commit,” he said.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, meanwhile, said in the press release that criminals “who target people because of their faith will face the full force of federal law.”

“The Department of Justice will continue to protect the rights of all people of faith to worship and live free from fear, and we will hold accountable anyone who threatens or harms them,” she said. 

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, speaks with EWTN News on Oct. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: EWTN News

CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2025 / 11:10 am (CNA).

Legislation that would provide protections for people lacking legal immigration status won endorsement from Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who has served as chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.

The bill (HR 4393), which would not lay out a direct path to citizenship, would give people who lack legal status the chance to earn it through labor and financial penalties if they lack a criminal record. It would apply to people who entered the United States before 2021.

The measure would authorize funding for border security and create centers for asylum seekers during consideration of their case. It would require asylum cases to be completed within 60 days.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, sponsored the measure, which she named the Dignity Act and first introduced in 2022. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, cosponsored the measure, along with 22 other members of Congress. No hearings or other legislative action has been scheduled.

Seitz, who is expected to address fellow bishops Nov. 11 about immigration, said in a joint statement with Salazar in August that he is “deeply grateful to Congresswoman Salazar, Congresswoman Escobar, and their colleagues for this sustained commitment to working across the aisle.”

Seitz said: “Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the responsibility of all political leaders to promote and protect the good of the community, the common good, particularly by defending the vulnerable and the marginalized. Under our current system, families across our nation are living in fear. Bipartisan proposals such as the Dignity Act are a step toward fulfilling the call made by our Holy Father to offer a better way forward — one that begins and ends with respect for the God-given dignity of every person.”

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, comprising over 42,000 affiliated churches, has endorsed the measure. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Immigration Forum, Business Roundtable, and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities also are backing the bill.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform has voiced opposition to the measure, saying it would forgive illegal entry and allow authorities to waive offenses such as certain controlled substance crimes and prostitution.

The group criticized the bill’s proposal to create the Dignity Program to provide a renewable seven-year grant of deferred action, saying it is likely that future legislation would attempt to provide a direct path to citizenship if “Dignity status” was granted.

Swiss Guards and faithful pilgrims holding olive branches line the processional route in St. Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday celebrations, April 13, 2025. The ancient Vatican obelisk stands at the center of the square as clergy process toward the basilica. / Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 11, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The Pontifical Swiss Guard this week opened an internal investigation to clarify an alleged act of antisemitism committed by one of its guards against two Jewish women in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed. 

“The Pontifical Swiss Guard received a complaint regarding an incident that occurred at one of the entrances to Vatican City State in which elements interpreted as antisemitic were allegedly detected,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni stated on Monday.

The reported incident took place during Pope Leo XIV’s Oct. 29 general audience commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration on the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.

According to a Nov. 7 report published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Israeli writer and theater director Michal Govrin said a Swiss Guard “hissed at” her and a female colleague, saying “les juifs, the Jews,” before “making a gesture of spitting in our direction with obvious contempt.”

The two women were part of an international Jewish delegation in Rome to participate in Nostra Aetate anniversary celebrations, which included the Oct. 29 audience with Pope Leo in St. Peter’s Square.

During that audience dedicated to interreligious dialogue, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “the Church does not tolerate acts of antisemitism in any form” and reiterated “the Holy See’s commitment to friendship and respect towards our elder brothers in faith.”

According to the Vatican’s preliminary investigation, the complaint stems from “a dispute that arose regarding a request for a photograph while on duty.” Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard are strictly prohibited from taking photographs with tourists or pilgrims while on duty.

Bruni on Monday explained that “the case is currently the subject of an internal verification procedure” and that this process “is being carried out in accordance with the principles of discretion and impartiality, in compliance with current regulations.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Swiss Guard, Eliah Cinotti, also confirmed that the alleged antisemitic incident involved “a photo taken at a duty station” in St. Peter’s Square.

“The case remains under internal investigation,” Cinotti explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. 

“There will be no further comments on the matter,” as the proceedings must remain “confidential,” he added.

In a Nov. 10 statement given to The Catholic Herald, Cinotti said: “The Pontifical Swiss Guard firmly distances itself from any expression or act of antisemitism.”

USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio speaks at the bishops’ spring meeting, Thursday, June 13, 2024. / Credit: USCCB

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 11, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Archbishop Timothy Broglio’s leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) comes to an end Nov. 11 after a three-year term.

Broglio, the archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, was elected to the office of president in November 2022. In his time, the USCCB has defended religious freedom and the right to life, opposed gender ideology, defended migrants, and promoted international peace.

The USCCB voting guide continued to highlight abortion as its “preeminent priority” through the Broglio presidency. Because the conference represents the Church in Washington, D.C., this led to tension with the presidency of Joe Biden, which overlapped with Broglio’s tenure.

When Biden told an EWTN reporter that “not all” of the Catholic bishops oppose tax funds for abortion, Broglio responded in 2023: “The Catholic bishops of the United States are united in our commitment to life and will continue to work as one body in Christ to make abortion unthinkable.”

The USCCB declined to deny Biden Communion over his abortion support. It sued the administration when it passed regulations to force employers, including religious groups, to accommodate women who are procuring an abortion. Enforcement was blocked by a judge.

During his time, the bishops also fought against an anti-discrimination rule. As president of the USCCB, Broglio frequently criticized gender ideology, saying efforts to change one’s gender are incompatible with Church teaching.

The USCCB issued annual religious freedom reports. Under Biden, the conference focused on issues related to abortion and gender. Under President Donald Trump, the bishops expressed more concerns over immigration policy jeopardizing religious freedom.

In this year’s report, the USCCB referenced Annunciation House, an El Paso, Texas-based nonprofit that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tried to shut down for “alien harboring” — an allegation they are contesting in the state Supreme Court.

The USCCB also sued the Trump administration over the decision to strip funding for refugee resettlements. The USCCB ultimately phased out its migration programs, which had been receiving more than $100 million annually under Biden.

Broglio said in June that “enforcement alone” is not the solution to immigration issues. He said: “The mass arrest and removal of our neighbors, friends, and family members on the basis of immigration status alone, particularly in ways that are arbitrary or without due process, represent a profound social crisis before which no person of goodwill can remain silent.”

The USCCB issued immigration reform guidelines in January, which said “a country’s rights to regulate its borders and enforce its immigration laws must be balanced with its responsibilities to uphold the sanctity of human life, respect the God-given dignity of all persons, and enact policies that further the common good.”

Broglio repeatedly encouraged the U.S. government to promote peace internationally, such as in conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The archbishop has also criticized the U.S. Army’s decision to cancel certain religious contracts, which he said is straining the archdiocese’s ability to minister to Catholics in the armed forces.

As Broglio’s term comes to an end, the bishops are set to decide the next conference president from a slate of 10 candidates on Nov. 11. The election takes place at the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore.