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Bishop Zaidan appeals to Trump for aid and peace in Lebanon after deadly Israeli attack

As the United States enters negotiations with Iran during a two-week ceasefire, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is urging President Donald Trump to help facilitate humanitarian aid to the people in Lebanon.

Zaidan, a native of Lebanon and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a statement on April 9 conveying his gratitude for the U.S.-Iranian ceasefire but also expressing his concerns about Lebanon, which he says the agreement does not cover.

Shortly after the ceasefire, Israel launched its deadliest attack on Lebanon since the start of the war, killing more than 300 people, according to the Associated Press. The attack outraged Iran, with officials claiming Lebanon was part of the ceasefire. American officials asserted Lebanon’s inclusion was never promised.

“I am grateful for the ceasefire between the United States, Israel, and Iran, and pray for all sides to engage in effective dialogue to end this devastating war,” Zaidan said in his statement. “I am disappointed, however, to learn that the agreement does not cover Lebanon, and thus falls short of encompassing the entire region where the conflict has been raging.”

On April 9, Lebanese and Israeli officials both expressed an interest in beginning peace talks.

Zaidan acknowledged the Israeli people “have the right to live in peace,” as do “the innocent Lebanese civilians who are currently suffering from lack of food, medical supplies, and from paralyzing fear.”

“Distressingly, over 1 million people, including 370,000 children, have been displaced by the fighting in what is becoming one of Lebanon’s most acute internal displacement crises in recent history,” he said.

As EWTN News previously reported, several Catholic organizations are operating in Lebanon seeking to provide shelter, food, medical services, and other forms of aid to people harmed or displaced by the conflict. This week, a Vatican humanitarian convoy in southern Lebanon was forced to turn back after it was caught in the crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Catholic priest, was killed in Israeli strikes in late March. Some Catholic communities in southern Lebanon were ordered to evacuate, but some have refused to leave the war zone out of fear their land and homes could be permanently occupied. The majority of southern Lebanon is Shia Muslim, but it has pockets of Catholic, Sunni, and religiously mixed communities.

In total, more than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 5,500 have been injured.

“As the United States seeks a negotiated end to the war in Iran, I call on President Trump and the international community to ensure that the people of Lebanon receive greater access to humanitarian assistance, including food and medical supplies, especially in the south,” Zaidan said in his statement.

For a long-term peace, Zaidan said “it is imperative that all parties work toward the full and immediate disarming of Hezbollah,” which is an Iranian-backed Shia militant group operating throughout southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah joined the war against Israel following the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran, prompting Israel to fire rockets and launch ground incursions in Lebanon.

The Lebanese government has sought to disarm Hezbollah previously and attempts to disarm them are part of the Lebanon-Israel peace negotiations.

Zaidan also called for “the implementation of the U.N. resolutions concerning Lebanon,” adding that “hopefully, after that, the governments of Israel and Lebanon can sign an agreement for lasting peace.”

The bishop quoted Pope Leo XIV’s Easter message, in which the Holy Father said: “May you, in the midst of feelings of pain, anxiety, and mourning, come to know in your hearts a deeper joy: Jesus has gloriously triumphed over death. It is a joy that comes from heaven and that nothing can take away.”

“May Our Lady of Lebanon, Queen of Peace, pray for her children in Lebanon and for the peace of the entire world,” Zaidan concluded.

U.S. births declined slightly in 2025, CDC reports

The number of births in the United States fell by 1% in 2025, according to provisional data released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There were 3,606,400 live births last year, down from 3,628,934 in 2024, the National Center for Health Statistics reported.

The general fertility rate dropped 1% to 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15–44, continuing a long-term decline of 23% since its 2007 peak.

The most notable decline came in teenage births, which reached another historic low. The birth rate for females ages 15–19 fell 7% to 11.7 births per 1,000 — the lowest rate ever recorded.

In total, 125,933 babies were born to teen mothers in 2025, an 8% decrease from the previous year.

Rates dropped for both younger teens (ages 15–17) and older teens (ages 18–19), with both age groups setting new record lows.

The provisional figures are based on nearly all (99.95%) birth records received and processed by the CDC as of early February. Final 2025 numbers, expected later this year, are not anticipated to change significantly.

The report reflects the ongoing gradual decline in U.S. births that has persisted for most of the past two decades, interrupted only by a modest uptick in 2024.

Experts continue to link the broader trend to factors such as abortion, biotechnology, economic pressures, and shifting social and political priorities.

“There is no single driver of declining birth rates, and yet what is undeniable is that due to anti-life technologies, economic pressures, bad policies, and cultural movements such as girl-boss feminism, more and more women are delaying or forgoing children," said Emma Waters, a senior policy analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation.

“Increasingly, it is women without a college degree who are opting out of children, in part because it feels like a luxury or elite enterprise to get married and have kids, and sadly our elite class only continues to fuel this lie,” she said.

Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, also expressed concern about the broader trend.

“The continuing decline in birth rates in the U.S. is very worrisome,” Mosher said. “We seem to be going the way of Old Europe, that is, entering an extended period of low fertility that puts us, as a country, in danger of entering into an irrecoverable demographic decline.”

He pointed to multiple possible factors, including “the increasingly widespread use of the abortion pill” and high numbers of abortions reported by Planned Parenthood.

According to the groupʼs 2024-2025 annual report, Planned Parenthood performed an all-time high of 434,450 abortions in 2023-2024.

The record number of abortions is an 8% increase, or about 32,000 more abortions, from the previous year. The number does not include telehealth chemical abortions, which are a growing percentage of all abortions, especially for teenagers and young adults.

A recent report, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum, found that young adults (ages 18–24) order abortion medication at much higher rates than older adults and that more teenagers order abortion pills in states with parental notification or consent laws around abortion.

The report found a “growing demand among adolescents and young adults in legally constrained environments.”

Mosher also attributed part of the decline in births to stricter immigration enforcement.

“Another part of the decline is surely related to the now-closed border and the crackdown on ‘birth tourism,’ which means that fewer and fewer babies [of foreign-born parents] are being born in the U.S.,” he said. “Ten percent of all births in the U.S. in 2024 were to illegal aliens, a percentage that is undoubtedly lower in 2025 as deportations and remigration reduce their numbers.”

The CDC also found that the cesarean delivery rate rose slightly to 32.5%, the highest since 2013, while the preterm birth rate held steady at 10.41%. Early preterm births (less than 34 weeks) saw a small 1% decline.

Catholic moral theologians worry for civilians amid shaky Iran ceasefire, Trump rhetoric

As a ceasefire between the United States and Iran tentatively remains in place, President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has sparked concerns from Catholic moral theologians about the safety of civilian populations if fighting resumes.

Trump announced a ceasefire agreement on April 7, hours after threatening the annihilation of the “whole civilization” of Iran if the country did not agree to U.S. terms.

Plans to destroy Iran’s infrastructure by striking power plants and bridges were paused for two weeks. Yet disputes about the ceasefire’s terms and the starting point of negotiations quickly raised tensions again.

William Newton, chair of the theology department at Franciscan University of Steubenville, told EWTN News: “It always seems best to sort out disputes by talking rather than fighting when this is possible.”

He urged prayers “that a real peace can be established that makes the world safer and the people of Iran better off.”

Joseph Capizzi, dean and ordinary professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News he is “glad” the ceasefire is in place and believes pushback against the war prompted it.

Taylor Patrick O’Neill, a theology professor at Thomas Aquinas College, told EWTN News the ceasefire is “a cause for hope” but “still far from lasting peace.”

He urged both sides to negotiate “in the spirit of using force as an absolutely last resort.”

Peaceful intention

On April 8, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a Catholic, told reporters that Trump’s threat to destroy the Iranian civilization “was not an empty threat by any means.” The Pentagon, she said, had a list of targets if a deal was not reached.

When asked about the morality of the threats, Leavitt said it was “insulting” to suggest Iran had a moral high ground. She accused Iran of “atrocities” against Americans and the military.

Catholic doctrine recognizes war can be justified under some circumstances. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, war is justified only to confront grave evil, and even then its harm must not exceed the evil it seeks to end and there must be a real chance of success, with all alternatives to war exhausted.

St. Augustine — the architect of just war doctrine — wrote to the Roman general Boniface: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace.”

Augustine, writing in A.D. 418, told the general that “even in waging war, cherish the spirit of a peacemaker." The theologian cited Christ’s teaching in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Capizzi said Trump’s rhetoric “is utterly alien to a peaceful intention” and, even if war is justified, “the intention of war must always be peace.”

“We Catholics do not pray to be merciless,” he said. “We do not invoke God in vengeance against our enemies. When we pray to God for victory, Catholics do so with humility and a desire for peace, a peace that ought to include our enemies whom Our Lord taught us to love.”

Capizzi said the notion that power plants are “dual use” because it “fuels both civilian homes and military arms production factors” does not make it a legitimate military target.

“Thereʼs significant gray area in this, but the idea is to limit the conduct of war to legitimate military targets and reduce the expansion of war in ways that increase civilian suffering,” he said.

O’Neill said it is not intrinsically evil to destroy a power plant or bridge, but the question must be: “Why are we striking it?”

Military officials, he said, must also ask: “How do the proportion of innocent deaths caused (directly and indirectly, with a bridge out of service in the coming weeks) by the strike compare to the good sought?”

He said Trumpʼs rhetoric shows “the intention and the means employed to achieve the fruition of those intentions.” He argued Trumpʼs intentions “explicitly and directly threaten mass casualty strikes that make no determination between combatant and noncombatant."

Trumpʼs remarks “border on the genocidal," he argued.

“What the Church provides is a clear moral reasoning for making difficult judgments about how to defend yourself and your nation justly,” O’Neill said. “These comments are more or less a rejection of any kind of moral reasoning beyond ‘win at all costs.’ Under no circumstances is it just to attempt to wipe a nation off of the face of the earth.”

According to Newton, distinguishing between military and civilian targets can be complex, but he offered his opinion that "a proper military target is one which is proximately ordered towards a military goal. By this I mean that the facility exists — or exists in the mode it currently does — because of military needs.”

To determine morality, Newton said, it “is not merely what you do but why you do it” and “something can be evil on account of either or both these elements.”

He said the president’s threats to destroy Iran “imply targeting elements of the country which go way beyond military targets and would be immoral,” but he added the caveat that “not knowing the intention means we cannot really interpret these [words] accurately.”

Principle of double effect

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that a moral act requires “a good intention,” but a good intention does not justify an intrinsically evil act. A bad intention always “makes an act evil,” it states.

St. Thomas Aquinas explains in the “Summa Theologica” that some acts can have several effects — some good and some bad. If the act itself is morally neutral, the act can be justified only if the good result is intended, and the bad consequence is unintended.

Capizzi said the principle of double effect often applies to war because hitting a legitimate target can result in hitting something that is not legitimate. When necessary, it may be moral to accept “collateral damage” as a secondary, unintended effect, he said.

“The proportionality of military actions is always important,” he said. “The bad secondary effects should not outweigh the good associated with the act. Again, the general idea is that war should be borne by combatants to the war and not be civilians.”

Yet because bad intentions and intrinsically immoral acts cannot be justified, Capizzi said “the intentional targeting of the innocent is never permissible, no matter how much good might come of it.”

O’Neill said this applies in the context of civilian infrastructure, noting the justification cannot just be “Does this harm the Iranian military?” and “Will this help us win the war?”

He said Trump must consider proportionality and cannot actively will the harm to civilians.

“If part of your decision to blow up a power plant is to cause suffering to the civilian population that depends upon it so that they are more likely to organize a coup, you are seeking a good effect through the evil means of civilian suffering,” he said.

Newton also noted the importance of proportionality: “One does need to make a prudential judgment concerning whether the good that one is seeking is really sufficiently good to tolerate the unintended but foreseen negative outcomes.”

He noted any intention to harm civilians “does not square with the principle of double effect” and expressed concern that Trump’s comments “are at least in danger of giving the impression that the approach taken to seeking the military defeat of the enemy is the demoralization of the population as a whole.”

“Iʼm not saying that this is the only way to interpret those statements but they are statements which definitely open up the possibility of an interpretation which is not compatible with the principle of double effect,” Newton said.

Iranian and American officials, including Vice President JD Vance, are scheduled to meet in Pakistan this weekend to negotiate long-term peace. Lebanese and Israeli officials have both expressed interest in peace talks as well.

In ecological letter, Indiana bishops urge Catholics to care for ‘God’s good world’

Indiana’s five bishops are urging Catholics to adopt an integral “faith-filled” approach to the challenge of caring for both creation and the poor.

“The social, economic, and political reality of human life and poverty is not disconnected from environmental issues concerning polluted air, water, and land, decreasing biodiversity, and habitat destruction,” the Indiana Catholic Conference of Bishops wrote in a pastoral letter released April 8.

“Human ecology and natural ecology are united in what Pope Francis called ‘integral ecology,’" the prelates said.

The pastoral letter, signed by Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Bishop Robert McClory of Gary, Bishop Timothy Doherty of Lafayette, and Bishop Joseph Siegel of Evansville, was written during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, according to a press release from the bishops.

The prelates emphasized “Christian hope” amid ecological and societal challenges and called the faithful “to live Eucharistic lives as we care for both our human community and for God’s good world.”

They explained that integral ecology “recognizes that we are both ecological citizens and ecclesiological citizens. We belong to the earth and to the Church."

The letter encourages sustainable farming, enhanced development of renewable energy sources, and care for the state’s water sources.

The Indiana faith leaders highlighted farming as “a vocation from God to feed the human community,” noting that “our state is an agricultural leader in that regard.” They called for the prioritization of “safe, affordable, and sustainable food supply” that “treats people, land, and animals in accord with their God-given way of being.”

“At the core of the ecological and social crises is a human heart enclosed in upon itself, alienated from God, our neighbor, and creation,” the bishops said. “The Sacred Heart of Jesus seeks to draw each human heart into communion with himself and through him into communion with the Trinity.”

Beyond care of creation and the poor, the bishops encouraged Catholics to seek healing in relationships with God, oneself, and each other by restoring commitment to observing the sabbath, unplugging from the virtual world, and seeking encounter with each other and creation.

They further suggested that the faithful could take up gardening in order to become closer to Godʼs world.

“Biblically, our human life originated in the Garden of Eden, a paradise of holy and just relationships among God, ourselves, and creation," the bishops said.

"Gardening is a way of life that requires humility, attentiveness, gratitude, and faithful obedience to cooperate with the ways of soil and plants.”

Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, praised the bishops' letter in a separate message.

He called the letter a “thoughtful contribution to the Church’s ongoing reflection on the relationship between integral human development and care for creation.”

Czerny urged Catholics in Indiana to “continue fostering reflection and action regarding integral ecology in an attentive and balanced manner.”

U.S. officials continue to defend Iranian conflict amid criticism from top Catholic leaders

U.S. officials are continuing to defend ongoing military actions in the Middle East amid criticism from top Catholic leaders around the world and after media reports that the Pentagon demanded the Vatican throw its support behind its ongoing military maneuvers.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin this week stressed the need for “more voices of peace, more voices against the madness of the rush toward rearmament” after several weeks of U.S.-led strikes against Iran have reportedly resulted in thousands of casualties and have raised the specter of a sustained global war.

The two countries agreed to a temporary ceasefire on April 7 while negotiations play out, but the agreement has been marred by subsequent Israeli strikes in Lebanon as well as disputes over Iranʼs reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route whose closure upended global markets and sent oil prices skyward.

Before the ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened the annihilation of the “whole civilization” of Iran if the country failed to accept U.S. terms — a vow that drew an explicit rebuke from Pope Leo XIV.

“Attacks on civilian infrastructure [are] against international law [and are] also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of,” the pope said after Trumpʼs threat. “We all want to work for peace. People want peace.”

“I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war,” the Holy Father said.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops President Archbishop Paul Coakley also condemned the threat, arguing on April 7 that such rhetoric “cannot be morally justified.”

Coakley at the time "call[ed] on President Trump to step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost.”

‘A victory for the United States of America’

Amid rebukes from Catholic leaders around the world, U.S. leadership has celebrated both the military action and the ceasefire that came after Trumpʼs apparent willingness to destroy Iran, a threat that critics said pointed to the potential deaths of millions of civilians.

In a release on April 8 after the ceasefire was announced, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called the ongoing actions in Iran a “decisive military victory.”

"President Trump forged this moment," Hegseth said. "Iran begged for this ceasefire — and we all know it.”

The terms of the ceasefire are themselves in dispute, leaving open the question of whether military action will resume before the two-week window expires.

Iran has argued that the Israeli strikes in Lebanon violated the agreement. The U.S. government, meanwhile, said Iran agreed to reopen the critical Hormuz Strait amid ongoing peace negotiations, but United Arab Emirates industry minister Sultan Al Jaber said on April 9 that the strait has not been fully reopened.

Still, U.S. officials have continued to boast of the success of the mission. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said on April 8 that coalition forces “achieved the military objectives” they set out to accomplish in Iran, including the destruction of much of Iranʼs military forces.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt similarly called the campaign “a victory for the United States of America,” one that “the president and our incredible military made happen.”

The putative victories after sharp criticism from Catholic leadership come as tensions between the U.S. and the Vatican appear to be strained.

Disputed report

On April 6 the Free Press reported that the government in January summoned then-Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre to the Pentagon, allegedly delivering to the diplomat a “bitter lecture” demanding that the Holy See “take [the United States'] side” in global military conflicts.

An official with the Department of Defense told EWTN News in a statement on April 9 that the Free Press report was “highly exaggerated and distorted.”

“The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion,” the statement said. “We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See.”

The apostolic nunciature in the United States of America on April 9 also confirmed the meeting, saying in a statement that Pierre visited the Pentagon on Jan. 22 and that the cardinal “discussed current affairs” with U.S. officials.

“Meetings with government officials are a standard practice for the nuncio, who serves as the Holy See’s ambassador to the United States,” the nunciature said. “The apostolic nunciature is grateful for the opportunities to meet and dialogue with government officials and others in Washington to discuss areas of mutual concern.”

Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, likewise wrote on X on April 9 that Pierre told him the reports of a “bitter” meeting were “fabrications” that were “just invented.”

“It was a frank and cordial meeting," Pierre said, according to Burch.

The Department of Defenseʼs rapid response team similarly wrote on X on April 9 that the report was “grossly false and distorted.” The account also shared images of the meeting between Pierre and government officials.

Vice President JD Vance, himself a Catholic, was asked about the report on April 8 while in Hungary. He told media he would “like to talk to Cardinal Christophe Pierre and, frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened.”

“I think itʼs always a bad idea to offer an opinion on stories that are unconfirmed and uncorroborated, so Iʼm not going to do that,” the vice president said at the time.

Pierre retired in March; Pope Leo XIV subsequently appointed Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia to replace him. Caccia has thus far been silent about the Iran conflict, though in the recent past he has been an open critic of war and an outspoken proponent of peace.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, he told the United Nations Security Council in October 2023 that war “is always a defeat,” and he lamented the “lasting end to the cycle of violence that has engulfed” the Holy Land.

U.S. leaders have justified the Iranian conflict by alleging that the Middle Eastern country represents a threat to the U.S. and to global peace. Ahead of the ceasefire, Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued that Iran was “violating every law known” by allegedly striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

He described the country as “a regime that doesnʼt believe in laws or rules or anything like that.”

Parolin, meanwhile, this week called for “more voices raised in favor of our poorest brothers and sisters” and urged the Catholic world — including Catholic universities — to seek out “new economic models inspired by justice.”

"I am struck by how much determination ... with which the military option is presented as decisive, almost inevitable,” the cardinal said.

This story was updated at 2:50 p.m. ET on April 9, 2026, with remarks from U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch and the Department of Defenseʼs rapid response X account.

Activists renew defunding drive after Planned Parenthood reports record-breaking year of abortions

Planned Parenthood performed an all-time high of 434,450 abortions of unborn babies in 2023-2024, according to the organizationʼs annual report.

Almost half of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from taxpayer dollars, even as abortion services increased and other services dwindled, according to the groupʼs 2024-2025 annual report. Notably, Planned Parenthood also registered a net loss of revenue for the first time in recent years.

In response to the report, advocates for unborn children are renewing their call to permanently defund Planned Parenthood.

Abortion a priority for Planned Parenthood

The all-time high abortion count is an 8% increase from the previous year, about 32,000 more abortions than the previous year. The number does not include telehealth chemical abortions, which are a growing percentage of all abortions.

Planned Parenthood’s other services like preventative care, pap tests, and cancer screenings all decreased from the previous year, continuing a decade-long trend, according to a report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a research and education group that advocates for unborn children and mothers.

The recent annual report is “consistent with long-term trends,” Michael New, a Charlotte Lozier Institute scholar and Catholic University of America assistant professor, told EWTN News.

“During the past 10 years, the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood has increased by over 34%,” New said. “Meanwhile, cancer screenings fell by more than 42% and prenatal services declined by more than 55% during the same time period.”

“They perform nearly 40% of the abortions that take place in the United States,” New added. “Abortion is a very large revenue source for them so it is unsurprising they prioritize abortions while cutting back on some health care services.”

Tessa Cox, another senior research associate at the institute, noted that “over the past decade, abortions, government funding, and total revenue soared, even as the number of clients served has declined and total services have stagnated.”

Dr. Christina Francis, who heads the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that “an organization that touts death as health care and a main driver of their services can hardly be expected to be taken seriously as a health care provider.”

"With each annual report, Planned Parenthood proves itʼs more concerned with planning abortions than promoting the beauty and strength of motherhood,” Francis told EWTN News.

Advocacy goals: Defunding Planned Parenthood

In spite of the decline in other services, more taxpayer funding continues to go to Planned Parenthood.

In 2023-2024, the abortion provider received more than $830 million in government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements — about $40 million more than the previous year. This was a 50% increase from 2014, or 10% when adjusted for inflation.

New noted that “Planned Parenthood is heavily dependent on taxpayer funding.”

“It is unsurprising that after they were made ineligible for federal Medicaid money starting in fiscal 2026, approximately 50 Planned Parenthood facilities ceased operations,” New noted.

Advocates for unborn children agree: Defunding Planned Parenthood is a priority, especially in light of the report.

“Defunding Planned Parenthood remains an important policy goal for pro-lifers,” New said.

Though the movement to defund Planned Parenthood saw some success last year, President Donald Trump’s budget only defunds abortion providers for one year.

“Pro-lifers should encourage President Trump and congressional Republicans to pass a 2027 budget that prevents Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid dollars,” New continued. “That said, cutting funding to Planned Parenthood may not have a large impact on the incidence of abortion in the short term due the increasing prevalence of telehealth abortions.”

Noah Brandt, a spokesman for Live Action, a human rights group that advocates for unborn children, said that “32,000 more innocent children were killed than the year before.”

“These tragic numbers show exactly why we can’t settle for a one-year pause of the abortion giant’s federal funding, which expires on July 4, 2026,” Brandt told EWTN News.

“Congress needs to extend the defund and make it permanent to shut down the flow of public dollars to an organization that’s killing nearly half a million American children every year," he continued.

Francis noted the importance of cultural change and legal safeguards for chemical abortion pills.

“The pro-life movement has two battles: fighting the anti-motherhood narrative thatʼs infected American society and the abortion pill epidemic flooding the internet thanks to the Biden administrationʼs reckless policies and the Trump administrationʼs unwillingness to restore safeguards for abortion drugs,” Francis said.

Cox added that “women deserve better alternatives,” noting that these alternatives “outnumber Planned Parenthoods by 15 to 1 nationwide.”

Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Vatican aid convoy in Lebanon caught in crossfire as Church relief effort is forced back

A Vatican humanitarian convoy carrying the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia, was forced to turn back Tuesday, April 7, after becoming trapped in heavy crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.

“The fighting between Hezbollah and Israel was intense. We waited a long time three kilometers from the village while hearing gunfire and explosions, but we could not continue and had to suspend the mission,” Monsignor Hugues de Woillemont, general director of l’Oeuvre d’Orient, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

De Woillemont traveled to Lebanon as a representative of the French Catholic aid organization and of the Church in France “to celebrate Easter, to show support and friendship, and also to thank Christians for their witness.”

Although the convoy was under the protection of soldiers from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, he said “security conditions were not sufficient for us to carry out our visit or deliver the aid, which was a great disappointment for the Christians we wanted to visit.”

The aid was headed to Debel, a village just over a mile from the southern border with Israel in the Maronite Diocese of Tyre, where nearly 10,000 Christians live in about 20 parishes.

Residents there remain under an evacuation order issued by the Israeli army, but many Lebanese Christians have chosen to stay in their homes.

“That is why we wanted to bring a truck of humanitarian aid and, above all, to show our friendship and closeness to the Christians there,” De Woillemont said.

The region south of the Litani River makes up about 15% of Lebanese territory. Christian communities there are trying to remain in their villages despite the threat of Israeli annexation, and their situation reflects the long-standing vulnerability of Lebanon’s Maronite Christians, who often bear some of the conflict’s heaviest consequences.

L’Oeuvre d’Orient has distributed tons of humanitarian aid throughout Lebanon, but De Woillemont said the group, like other humanitarian and religious organizations, is reaching its limits.

“The situation is untenable,” he said.

The convoy he joined was the seventh sent to villages in southern Lebanon.

“We are determined to return as soon as conditions allow,” he said, while praising the courage and resilience of Christians in the land once walked by Christ.

On Wednesday, De Woillemont was able to visit three other villages with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai, where they delivered 30 tons of humanitarian assistance — mainly food and hygiene kits — without incident.

“We were able to show our support and admiration for those who remain in their homes,” he said.

“For us it was a moment to measure up close the restrictions and dangers they — the living stones — experience every day,” he added after spending another night listening to the sound of detonations.

He said that in recent hours, the fall of about 100 Israeli projectiles in just 10 minutes overwhelmed hospitals and makeshift shelters.

“Recent Israeli bombings have affected more than 100 cities, causing more than 100 deaths and 800 injuries, including in Beirut. The situation is terrible and requires urgent help,” De Woillemont said, lamenting that the ceasefire with Iran does not apply to Lebanon.

Lebanon is also facing a severe humanitarian crisis, with 1.2 million internally displaced persons — about 20% of the country’s population of 5.5 million.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Pope Leo XIV: Sport must be a ‘space for encounter’

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Thursday praised athletes from the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games, saying sport “can and must truly become a space for encounter” in a world marked by “polarization, rivalry, and conflicts that escalate into devastating wars.”

Speaking in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican on April 9, the Holy Father welcomed the athletes “with joy” shortly after the conclusion of the Winter Games and thanked them for their witness.

“Thank you for what you have shown,” the pope said. “Truly, sport, when lived authentically, is not merely a performance: It is a form of language, a narrative made up of gestures, of effort, of anticipation, of falls, and of new beginnings.”

Leo XIV said the games revealed not only athletic achievement but also “stories of sacrifice, of discipline, of tenacity.”

“In particular, in Paralympic competitions we have seen how a limitation can become a source of revelation: not something that holds a person back but something that can be transformed, even transfigured into newfound qualities,” he said. “You athletes have become life stories that inspire a great number of people.”

The pope also emphasized the communal dimension of athletic success, saying: “No one wins alone.”

“Your team spirit reminds us that no one wins alone, because behind every victory there are many people involved — from family to teams — as well as many days of training, pressure, and solitude,” he said.

Quoting Psalm 18, he added: “It is often precisely in these moments that God reveals himself, as the psalmist sings: ‘Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.’”

Leo XIV said sport helps mature the human person by fostering discipline, humility, and right relationships.

“Sport contributes to the maturing of our character, requires a steadfast spirituality, and is a fruitful form of education,” he said. “By training the mind, along with the limbs, sport is authentic when it remains humane — that is, when it remains faithful to its first vocation: to be a school of life and talent.”

“A school in which one learns that true success is measured by the quality of relationships: not by the amount of prizes but by mutual respect, by shared joy in the game,” he continued.

Referring to his Feb. 6 apostolic letter “Life in Abundance,” written for the occasion of the Olympics and Paralympics, the pope said the Gospel’s vision of abundant life points to harmony between the physical and interior dimensions of the person.

Turning to the present global situation, Leo XIV said the athletes’ witness carries special importance.

“At the present time, so marked by polarization, rivalry, and conflicts that escalate into devastating wars, your commitment takes on an even greater value: Sport can and must truly become a space for encounter!” he said. “Not a show of strength but an exercise in relationship.”

Recalling the value of the Olympic truce, he thanked the athletes for making visible “this possibility of peace as a prophecy that is by no means rhetorical: breaking the logic of violence to promote that of encounter.”

The pope also warned against distortions in sport, including doping, commercialism, and the reduction of athletes to mere spectacle.

“We are well aware that sport also brings with it certain temptations: that of performance at any cost, which can lead to doping; that of profit, which transforms the game into a market and the athlete into a star; that of spectacle, which reduces the athlete to an image or a number,” he said. “Against these excesses, your witness is essential.”

Leo XIV concluded by thanking the athletes for showing “an honest and beautiful way of inhabiting the world” and urged them to keep the human person at the center of sport in all its forms.

Following the audience, several of the athletes spoke to journalists about their experience of the audience and competing in the Winter Games, including speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who won two gold medals at Milan-Cortina this year.

Francesca Lollobrigida responds to journalists after a papal audience at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on April 9, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
Francesca Lollobrigida responds to journalists after a papal audience at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on April 9, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

“My goal was just to show that in my sport; I was able to combine, you know, being a mother and a top athlete,“ Lollobrigida told EWTN News. ”Iʼm just doing this for the other women, you know, that maybe at some points during their career they want to stop to focus on the family and then to come back.”

Nikko Landeros, an American-born Catholic who lost both his legs in 2007, represented Italy in ice hockey at the latest Paralympic games. He described to EWTN News the role of Catholicism in his athletic journey.

“At home, I started pretty much Catholic. You know, I went to Catholic school in the U.S. Weʼve been going to church now... not as much as I should, but, you know, I still pray every day, and Iʼm thankful to be here. You know, if it werenʼt for God, I wouldnʼt be alive. So, you know, Iʼm super thankful,” Landeros said.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Los Angeles Archdiocese announces pilgrimage sites, indulgences for St. Francis Jubilee

LOS ANGELES — When God told St. Francis in the early 13th century to “go and repair my house” — the Portiuncula chapel near Assisi, Italy, that had fallen into disrepair — who could have guessed that the ripples caused by that action would one day reach Southern California.

Francis, a rich man who embraced poverty and had a heart for the poor, begged and sold items for materials to rebuild the Portiuncula.

But that’s not all of what was refurbished.

The saint asked God and Pope Honorius III for a special indulgence for those who visited the chapel. It was also there that St. Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor and later died in a small room that still exists today.

Now, as Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed 2026 as the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, Archbishop José H. Gomez has declared 15 sites in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as pilgrimage destinations, ensuring that L.A. Catholics don’t have to travel all the way to Assisi to participate in the commemoration.

In a letter released on March 25, Gomez encouraged local Catholics to take part in the archdiocese’s official jubilee events marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, including pilgrimages to area Franciscan parishes and sacred sites, prayer services, and community activities throughout the year. The archdiocese set up a special site for the observance: lacatholics.org/year-of-st-francis.

“During this time of grace, the Holy Father invites us to reflect on the witness of St. Francis and to grow in holiness through prayer, conversion, and works of charity,” Gomez wrote.

“In this way, may this year deepen our love for Jesus Christ, strengthen our care for creation, and renew our commitment to peace.”

As part of this observance, those who embark on the pilgrimages and meet certain spiritual conditions may receive a plenary indulgence, which removes the time a person might have spent in purgatory due to his or her sins, which have already been forgiven by God.

Many of the pilgrimage sites were chosen because of their ties to St. Francis or his Franciscan order. Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the oldest California mission in the archdiocese, was founded by St. Junípero Serra, the Spanish missionary priest who was a Franciscan.

The Monastery of Poor Clares in Santa Barbara is the religious order named after Francis’ “spiritual sister,” St. Clare of Assisi, while St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church in Watts is run by the Capuchins and named after the Franciscan saint.

The altar at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles features a relic of Francis sealed into it.

In a recent Angelus column, the archbishop noted the “deep spiritual ties that connect us with St. Francis” and how he can still bring us peace in a divided world.

“St. Francis used to greet people with a little prayer: ‘May the Lord grant you peace,’” Gomez said. “As we reflect on his witness and teachings during this jubilee year, let us renew our commitment to bring the Lord’s peace into all of our relationships and to work to promote reconciliation and understanding among our neighbors.”

With a papal decree in January, Leo proclaimed a “Special Year of St. Francis” that will extend through Jan. 10, 2027. In his remarks, Leo hoped that the special jubilee year would promote a spiritual calm in a world currently tormented by war, starvation, and persecution.

“I wish to join spiritually with the entire Franciscan Family and with all those who will take part in the commemorative events, hoping that the message of peace may find a profound echo in the Church and society today,” Leo wrote.

As part of the jubilee, the remains of St. Francis were moved from his tomb and exposed for public veneration from Feb. 22 to March 22 at the basilica bearing his name in Assisi, Italy — a rarity considering the saint’s bones have seldom been publicly displayed. Hundreds of thousands signed up and waited in lengthy lines to get an up-close and personal view of the saint.

On Oct. 4, Francis’ feast day will once again be a national holiday in Italy after lawmakers reinstated the celebration, which was repealed in 1977.

“It’s an exciting year; I don’t think any of us would have anticipated that Pope Leo would have declared this,” Father Jonathan St. Andre, vice president for Franciscan Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, told OSV News. “We figured the pope would go to Assisi; there would be different events. But to make this a jubilee, and to offer an indulgence ... is just remarkable.”

Full list of archdiocese jubilee sites

Santa Barbara Region

San Fernando Region

Our Lady of the Angels Region

San Gabriel Region

San Pedro Region

This story was first published by Angelus, the multimedia news platform of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It has been reprinted here with permission.

Amid Bangladesh energy crisis, Catholics oppose online classes proposal

DHAKA, Bangladesh — The archbishop of Dhaka is urging the Bangladeshi government to reconsider a proposal to introduce online classes for school students amid the countryʼs ongoing energy crisis, warning that the move would undermine education at the hundreds of institutions run by the Catholic Church.

“We Christians in Bangladesh run many educational institutions,” Archbishop Bejoy N. DʼCruze, OMI, of Dhaka said. “Along with academic subjects, we focus on morals, values, and good character. When we hear about online classes, we become worried about where this system will take our students.”

The archbishop made the remarks while exchanging Easter greetings with Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Easter Sunday. He said Catholic school principals and headmasters remain deeply concerned about the impact of online learning on children.

The proposal comes as Bangladesh faces energy shortages linked to global instability in the Middle East. To reduce electricity consumption and ease pressure on infrastructure, the government is considering partial online learning in selected educational institutions. However, Catholic leaders say the experience of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed serious limits, especially for students' academic and moral formation.

Students and parents voice concerns

Students say online classes make it harder to understand lessons and stay focused.

“I have difficulty understanding lessons when classes are online,” said Sonnet Gomes, a student at a missionary school in Dhaka. “I want to go to school and take classes physically.”

Referring to her experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Gomes said online learning created both academic and health-related problems. “When we had online classes during corona, it was not good for us. Now there is no health risk. If needed, we can reduce class hours instead of moving everything online,” she said.

Parents, especially Catholic parents, also strongly oppose online classes. They worry about screen addiction, lack of supervision, and the financial burden placed on families.

“I donʼt want online classes,” said Priyanka Gomes, a Catholic mother in Dhaka. “During corona, I was forced to buy my son a smartphone. With online classes, children stay on their phones all day. They play games, use social media, and become addicted.”

Teachers: ‘Online classes are not effective’

Catholic teachers echo these concerns and say online learning often leads to poor attendance and weak engagement.

“If the government orders online classes, we will obey,” said Cornelius DʼCruze, vice principal of Heed International School in Dhaka. “But honestly, online classes are not effective. Many students skip classes. Parents go to work, and children spend most of the time on their phones.”

According to the Catholic Directory of Bangladesh, the Catholic Church in the country runs one university, 17 colleges, 60 high schools, and nearly 300 primary and technical schools. Well-known institutions such as Notre Dame College, Holy Cross College, St. Gregoryʼs High School, and St. Joseph Higher Secondary School are among the countryʼs most respected academic centers.

Government says proposal still under review

Government officials say the move toward online or blended learning is necessary under current conditions.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education recently organized a seminar at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka to discuss how to continue education during the energy crisis.

Education Minister A.N.M. Ehsanul Hoque Milon and State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj attended the seminar. Students, teachers, and guardians from various institutions in the Dhaka metropolitan area shared their views on the proposal.

The education minister said online classes would not be introduced nationwide at once but would begin on an experimental basis in selected institutions.

“Various crises in world history have opened new possibilities,” Milon said. “Education must continue in new ways. We should not see everything as a threat. We can also see opportunities.”

The government is considering a hybrid system combining physical and online classes in selected schools and colleges, including Viqarunnisa Noon School and College and Ideal School and College in Motijheel.