St. Columba Catholic Church

The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, left an indelible mark on countless lives — from grieving families to stranded seafarers and displaced workers.

Catholic groups that minister to migrants and refugees are expressing concern over President Donald Trump's order to revoke the parole program that allows legal migrants from several Latin American and Caribbean countries to connect with sponsoring family members and work in the United States.

New research shows a worldwide trend of people either leaving the religion they were raised in or completely dropping religion, with Christianity taking a particularly big hit.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging President Donald Trump to ensure that religious freedom violations by foreign governments result in severe consequences, such as sanctions, for the aggressors.

The USCIRF, which is a federal commission tasked with providing policy recommendations on advancing religious liberty abroad, conveyed those recommendations in its 2025 Annual Report published on March 25.

“Make appropriate policy changes to demonstrate meaningful consequences and encourage positive change,” the report recommends.

The report urges the Trump administration to impose consequences on countries that the U.S. Department of State currently designates as countries of particular concern (CPCs), which is the label given to countries with “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” religious freedom violations.

The State Department designates 12 countries as CPCs, including China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. The report recommends renewing these designations and adding four other countries to the CPC list: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam.

During the last year of Trump’s first term in office, the department designated Nigeria as a CPC, but that designation was not renewed by former President Joe Biden. The USCIRF repeatedly urged the previous administration to include Nigeria on the list during Biden’s time in office.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria over the past few years. Christians were 6.5 times more likely to be killed and 5.1 times more likely to be victims of abduction. However, Muslims and other religious groups have also been victims of the violence.

“Religious freedom conditions in Nigeria [have] remained poor,” the report notes. “Federal and state governments continued to tolerate attacks or fail to respond to violent actions by nonstate actors who justify their violence on religious grounds.”

The report further noted that “in 2024, religious freedom conditions in Nicaragua remained abysmal.” Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has expelled religious sisters, shut down Catholic schools and media outlets, and imprisoned dozens of Catholic clergy who oppose his socialist government. His regime has also targeted other Christian denominations. 

“Religious communities in Nicaragua have continued to show remarkable resilience in the face of such threats,” the report notes. “Their members meet discreetly — sometimes in the middle of the night — to exercise their freedom of religion or belief. They continue to provide aid to each other while meeting communal spiritual needs, although the Nicaraguan government views each of these modest acts as deplorable.”

Although federal law requires that administrations take action against CPC designees, a report published by USCIRF last September found that since 1998 some 164 CPC designations have only led to three new sanctions and one “binding agreement” entered into with the United States. It found that American presidents have frequently found workarounds to taking action, such as appealing to existing sanctions to justify no new action or simply waiving the requirement.

In its 2025 report, the USCIRF is urging the new administration to change that approach by reviewing its policies toward CPC countries in which waivers are in place. It also urges Trump officials to consider lifting existing waivers and to not issue waivers for future CPC designees.

The recommendations include targeted sanctions on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the military junta in Myanmar, certain Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities and officials, and Eritrean government officials. It also encourages targeted sanctions in Iran, Nicaragua, and India for individuals and entities violating religious liberty.

Additionally, the commission urges Trump to nominate or appoint individuals to fill key roles that are relevant to religious freedom abroad.

The report also encourages the Trump administration to resettle refugees fleeing religious persecution through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program — a program that Trump has paused. It also requests that the administration establish a plan to fully comply with asylum laws.

USCIRF commissioners are appointed to two-year terms. Three are chosen by the president and the others are chosen by House and Senate leadership. Most of the terms of current members end in May 2026, although one term for one of Biden’s appointees will expire in May 2025.

Lima Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Colombia will host the International Congress on Religious Tourism May 5–19 with the theme “Tourism and Development: Evangelization and Peace in the National Territory.” 

The traveling event will tour 10 cities beginning in Bogotá May 5–6 and culminating in Santa Marta May 18–19.

The congress is organized by the Colombian Bishops’ Conference, the World Religious Tourism Network, and the Minuto de Dios organization.

The congress is also part of the celebration of the 2025 Jubilee, which is focused on hope. The organizers note on their website that the congress “will be an opportunity to reflect on faith, forgiveness, and hope in a global context of transformation and challenges.”

“The congress will explore how evangelization and tourism can promote the social and economic development of communities. Tourism will be highlighted as a tool to promote peace and reconciliation in Colombia,” the organizers explain.

Attending the congress will be religious leaders, tourism experts, and community representatives.

The organizers hope the event will help “foster the development of religious tourism in Colombia, enhance the country’s image as a leader in religious tourism, and contribute to evangelization and peace in the outlying areas through tourism.”

Other cities included in the congress program are Ibagué (May 8), Armero (May 9), Cartago (May 10), Guadalajara de Buga (May 11–12), Tuluá (May 13), Popayán (May 14), and Cartagena de Indias (May 16–17).

As part of the event, the organizers have highlighted each of the host cities’ tourist attractions, such as cathedrals and shrines, including those on Mount Monserrate and the Divine Child, both in Bogotá.

Other sites include the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Ibagué, the Shrine of the Virgin of Armero in Armero, and the Basilica of the Lord of Miracles in Buga, among others.

Another attraction is the celebration of Holy Week in Popayán, recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 26, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Amid the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, a 22-year-old man was “brutally attacked” on March 22 by his supervisor after refusing to convert to Islam.

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported the attack, pointing to it as yet another example of “the persistent religious intolerance present in much of Pakistani society.”

Of the 208 million inhabitants of the South Asian country, 96.47% are Muslim and 1.9% Christian. The remainder are Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and members of other local religions.

Attacks against Christians in Pakistan intensified in August 2023 after Muslims looted and burned more than 25 churches and at least 85 homes in Jaranwala. The local Church reported that “people are frightened and feeling hopeless.”

This weekend, at the Subhan Paper Mills in Punjab, young Christian Waqas Masih “suffered severe neck injuries” after his supervisor, identified by ACN as “Zohaib,” accused him of desecrating pages of the Quran found in the trash. The attacker was arrested by police and is charged with attempted murder.

“I pray for his speedy recovery and for the well-being of his entire family. The attack on Waqas Masih is a harsh reminder of the challenges faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and the urgent need for social change to promote tolerance and protect the rights of all citizens,” Capuchin Franciscan Lazar Aslam, who visited Masih in the hospital, told ACN.

“We humbly call on the international community to pray for the victims and their families as well as to raise awareness about the difficult situation for marginalized communities in Pakistan, ensuring that their voices are heard and their rights protected,” he added.

Furthermore, in Pakistan, there are recurring reports of Christians being sentenced to prison terms, or even death, for allegedly sharing messages against Islam on social media. Regarding this reality, Aslam emphasized the urgent need for local authorities to make efforts to protect the most vulnerable.

“Sadly, making false accusations of blasphemy and harassing vulnerable minority communities has become a disturbing trend in Pakistan. We urge state institutions and responsible individuals to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents and ensure the protection of minority rights,” he commented.

Despite persecution and suffering, Pakistani Catholics look to the witness of the Servant of God Akash Bashir, a young man whom everyone considers a martyr because in 2015 he sacrificed his life to prevent a terrorist attack on his parish. Bashir’s witness has united Christians of all faiths and even some Muslims.

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

Claims against the famous artist have brought attention to the widespread sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse of religious sisters.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic nonprofit organization Napa Institute is pushing for more collaboration among Catholic and Protestant leaders to promote cultural values and aims that are common to both communities.

Earlier this month, Napa Institute Board Chairman Tim Busch hosted a meeting among 15 Catholic and Protestant faith leaders for the organization’s first Ecumenical Forum in New York City, according to a news release.

The Napa Institute works to promote the re-evangelization of the United States and the defense of Catholicism in the public square.

While recognizing the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, Busch emphasized that there is shared agreement on many central tenets of the faith, such as in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Certain goals, he noted, could be better accomplished to the extent that both groups work together.

The two groups, Busch stated, “share a profound concern about rising cultural hostility to core Christian teachings and truths.”

“We all believe in the sanctity and right understanding of marriage,” he said. “We are all committed to defending the unborn and vulnerable mothers. And we know that religious liberty is a fundamental right that must be protected in modern society.”

The attendees agreed to establish a steering committee to host more ecumenical gatherings and to develop more partnerships. Busch also indicated that he would involve “a limited number of Protestants” at Napa’s summer conference.

In an interview with CNA, Busch said some of the legal and political shifts that are of common concern include the arrests of pro-life advocates protesting abortion clinics, the promotion of abortion, and the embrace of same-sex marriage and gender ideology.

Essentially, Busch said there is a “dilution of biblical teachings” in public life. He further said the American embrace of “wokeism” is “really just a form of pagan religion that promises utopia on Earth … [that] fails to recognize it’s not a free-for-all. There are certain principles all of us need to follow.”

“The devil’s really the enemy, but the devil working through people has made an abomination of God’s teaching within our society,” he told CNA.

Busch added that many Protestants no longer view the Catholic Church in a hostile way, in spite of historical anti-Catholicism within some elements of American society. He said “the hatred of Catholics [has been] significantly mitigated” in recent decades, adding there is “an opportunity today that did not exist before to collaborate.” 

Catholics at the meeting included Father Ambrose Criste, a priest at St. Michael’s Abbey in California, and Bishop Steven Lopes, a bishop in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Protestant leaders in attendance included executives from Christianity Today and the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

In Napa’s news release on the meeting, Busch indicated that every attendee agreed to work together to promote common values in American culture and law and acknowledge that “spiritual warfare is real and worsening.” He added that “the path forward depends on prayer and our shared faith in Jesus Christ” as a means to advance the common good in the United States.

Busch added that his intention when he began the Napa Institute was to prepare Catholics for what Philadelphia Archbishop Emeritus Charles Chaput called the “next America.” The “next America” refers to a United States in which Christian views and Christianity are viewed in a hostile way.

“The next America has arrived, and as we confront the challenges ahead, it will help us to work with Protestants to defend our faith and the truth,” Busch wrote. “I hope this ecumenical forum is the start of many such collaborations. It may be the first time we’ve done this, but it won’t be the last.”

Pope Francis said the Trump administration's policy of mass deportation "damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness." 

The chaplains for Marquette and St. John's were seated courtside when the men's NCAA Tournament got underway last week. For the players, basketball is about winning. But the chaplains are there when things don't turn out as hoped.