UN experts warn of ‘deeply troubling’ rights violations against Christian women and girls in Nigeria
A group of United Nations human rights experts issued a stark warning this week over reports of killings, sexual violence, forced conversions, child marriages, forced marriages, abductions, and enforced disappearances targeting women and girls from Christian and other religious minority communities in Nigeria.
In a press release issued June 8, the experts said the situation is “deeply troubling,” particularly in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt region, where a “deteriorating security situation” and an “inadequate” response from civil authorities has allowed armed extremist groups — which include Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, along with radicalized Muslim herdsmen — to operate with relative impunity.
The experts pointed to the role of local interpretations of Sharia law in 12 northern states, blasphemy codes, and systemic failures in access to civil justice as contributing factors.
“These reports are deeply troubling,” the experts stated. “Violence targeting Christians and other religious minorities continues to be rampant.”
“The testimonies we have received paint a horrifying picture of fear, trauma, coercion, and abandonment. Victims and survivors must not be left without protection, justice, [and] reparations, including rehabilitation and meaningful support,” the experts wrote.
In a formal communication sent to the Nigerian government, the U.N. experts cited specific incidents such as the abduction of girls taken from a church in Borno state; the forced conversion and marriage of a 13-year-old girl in Bauchi state; and a gruesome attack on a 16-year-old Christian girl, whose hand was reportedly cut off by militants after her family rejected a forced marriage proposal.
These cases form part of a “broader pattern of violence” against Christian communities, according to the U.N. experts, “including killings, attacks on churches and villages, mass displacement, mob violence linked to accusations of blasphemy, and severe insecurity affecting women and children in internally displaced persons camps.”
Women and girls in displaced persons camps face particular vulnerability to sexual exploitation, they said, with some coerced into sexual acts in exchange for food or aid. Many reportedly hide their Christian identity or wear hijabs for survival.
“If confirmed, these allegations may amount to serious violations of international human rights law, including violations of the rights to life, safety, liberty, security, freedom of religion or belief, freedom from torture, enforced disappearance, slavery and trafficking, and the rights of women and children,” the experts said.
In a statement June 8 responding to the U.N. report, Giorgio Mazzoli, the director of U.N. advocacy at the religious freedom organization ADF International, said: “Christians, particularly women and girls, among other religious minorities, have faced grave and systematic atrocities at the hands of armed militant groups operating with impunity in parts of Nigeria.”
ADF International was one of several human rights organizations that pushed the U.S. State Department to redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in the fall of 2025.
Mazzoli continued: “For too long, the international community has remained largely silent as this crisis has deepened. The joint communication from five U.N. mechanisms is a significant and welcome step towards ensuring that these violations receive international attention, and that their root causes — including discriminatory legal frameworks — are fully addressed.”
The U.N.'s June 8 statement was issued by a team of experts made up of U.N. special rapporteurs and a working group. The special rapporteurs include Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; Nicolas Levrat, special rapporteur on minority issues; and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture.
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is composed of Gabriella Citroni, Grażyna Baranowska , Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, and Mohamed Al Obaidi.
The experts urged Nigerian authorities to take urgent action to protect at-risk populations, secure the release of abducted persons, conduct independent investigations, prosecute perpetrators, and provide justice, reparations, and support to victims.
“Impunity for these crimes only fuels further violence,” they warned. “Nigerian authorities must act urgently to prevent further irreparable harm and ensure accountability for all violations.”
Pope Leo XIV meets with Bad Bunny in Madrid
The long-awaited meeting finally took place. As confirmed by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV met with Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny and his family at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Monday, June 8.
For a few minutes, the pontiff and the Puerto Rican singer — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and who has performed 10 concerts in the Spanish capital (one of which coincided with the popeʼs Saturday vigil with young people in Madrid) — were able to greet each other and converse, taking advantage of the fact that both were in the city at the time.
So far, no images of the meeting have emerged.
The archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, had previously spoken to EWTN News about the possibility of a meeting between the pope and the Puerto Rican musician, stating that “the pope is never closed to speaking with anyone who wishes to enter into dialogue with him.”
“If that were to happen at some point, we certainly wouldnʼt rule it out, but it depends on the two of them. What is true is that Madrid is a very large city and can host various events on the same day,” the cardinal observed.
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.
The papal mozzetta: Why the pope wears a red cape
A distinctive feature of Pope Leo XIVʼs apostolic journey to Spain has been the frequent use of the red papal mozzetta, from meeting Spanish royalty in Madrid to praying the Divine Office in Barcelona.
When Leo first appeared on the balcony of St. Peterʼs Basilica to the thousands of faithful gathered in the square after his election, many noticed the return of the mozzetta as reestablishing a papal tradition.
The mozzetta, which fell out of use under Pope Francis, is a short red cape worn over the shoulders. Leo has worn it often when meeting heads of state, delivering his “urbi et orbi” addresses at Christmas and Easter, and at special prayer services.
By wearing the mozzetta, Leo has chosen to revive a long-standing custom. But why does he wear it, and what does it symbolize?
History of the mozzetta
The mozzetta is a nonliturgical garment worn by the pope, cardinals, bishops, abbots, and certain priests, including canons of a cathedral chapter. It is normally worn over the cassock.
The history of this garment dates back to at least the 14th century, shortly after the papacy returned to Rome from Avignon. Initially, it was worn by the popes in Avignon to adapt to the colder French climate. Eventually, it became part of the popeʼs ceremonial dress around 1400, initially reserved for the pope but later extended to all cardinals and bishops.
The mozzetta also has roots from the earliest centuries of the papacy, when popes began to wear red mantles over white vestments in imitation of the Roman emperors, asserting both temporal and spiritual authority.
The mozzetta traditionally also had a hood attached to it to symbolize penance, but this was discontinued by St. Paul VI in 1969.
Symbolism, use, and differences
The mozzetta, in the case of a prelate, symbolizes his spiritual authority and rank within the Church hierarchy. For a pope, it is normally worn with the papal stole as a sign of his universal jurisdiction over all Catholics.
As a nonliturgical vestment, the mozzetta is normally not used to administer the sacraments. Instead, it is used by the clergy as a choir dress at certain services, e.g., the Divine Office, and by the pope for certain occasions, including audiences, prayer services, and “urbi et orbi” addresses. It is customary for the pontiff to wear it when he first presents himself to the crowd after his election.
The mozzetta a pope wears is different from those worn by cardinals and other clerics.
While the mozzetta for cardinals is red and for bishops purple, the pope has five versions of the mozzetta.
The one most commonly worn by the pontiffs is the red satin mozzetta, usually with an embroidered stole.
Pope Benedict XVI revived the use of other styles of the papal mozzetta, including the winter mozzetta (made of red velvet trimmed with white ermine fur) and the white silk mozzetta, worn during the Easter season.
Discontinuity under Francis and a reviving under Leo
When Pope Francis stepped out on the balcony of St. Peterʼs Basilica after his election to greet the faithful, he did not wear the papal mozzetta, preferring a simple white cassock. He chose not to wear the vestment during his 12-year pontificate, becoming the first pontiff in living memory not to do so.
Leo XIV has instead chosen to revive the use of the papal mozzetta, in line with his predecessors, who favored wearing certain vestments as a visible reminder of papal tradition.
Louisiana man sentenced to life in prison for 2022 slaying of priest, parish worker
A Louisiana man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the 2022 slaying of a priest and a parish worker.
Antonio Tyson will serve two life sentences and a 40-year sentence for the murder of Father Otis Young and Ruth Prats, according to a June 8 press release from the office of Judicial District Attorney J. Collin Sims.
Young and Prats were found murdered in Covington, Louisiana, in November 2022; the bodies of both victims were burned after the victims themselves had been stabbed and beaten.
Young, 71, had retired in July of that year after serving as pastor for approximately 10 years at St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington. Prats had been a parish employee at that church.
Tyson was arrested shortly after the murders. Sims' office said in its release that he pleaded guilty to the murders on May 5. Part of the plea deal included Tyson waiving “all present and future rights to pursue sentence reductions, administrative corrections, judicial reviews, or release mechanisms.”
Tyson will also “be incarcerated within specialized state facilities under conditions identical to capital inmates awaiting execution,” the prosecutorʼs office said.
The severe imprisonment conditions and the appeal waiver “fulfill the explicit desire of the Prats and Young families that Tyson experience the maximal physical restrictions warranted by his heinous offenses, while simultaneously shielding the families from years of appellate delays and litigation associated with a capital trial,” the office said.
Sims in a statement said the sentencing “brings a permanent closure to a deeply painful chapter in our community’s history.”
The prosecutorʼs office was initially prepared to seek the death penalty, Sims said, but “recent disclosures regarding historical childhood IQ testing, [along with] a traumatic brain injury discovered in MRI scans,” meant such a sentence would likely have been subject to “meaningful challenges” at appeal.
“Rather than exposing these grieving families to potentially decades of litigation and the meaningful possibility that an execution could never legally be carried out, this negotiated resolution guarantees that Tyson will remain removed from society for the rest of his natural life under maximum-security, death-row conditions,” the prosecutor said.
Tyson had reportedly been released from prison just a few months prior to committing the murders. His latest sentences will run consecutively to each other, the prosecutorʼs office said.
Belarus expels Polish priests as pressure on the Catholic Church intensifies
In recent months, Belarusian authorities have forced out a number of foreign Catholic clergy by refusing to renew their residency permits.
In early March, two priests of the Diocese of Pinsk in southern Belarus were refused permission to continue their ministry. In May, three priests of the northern Diocese of Vitebsk lost their permits, followed later that month by five priests and a monk of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev. All were Polish citizens who had ministered in Belarusian parishes for years, several of them for decades.
A number of the affected priests held parish leadership and deanery-level roles in the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, the metropolitan see that includes the capital, Minsk.
The move follows a pattern in which the Belarusian government has steadily increased pressure on the Catholic Church in Belarus, a community with long-held Polish ties.
Administrative pressure on foreign priests
Belarus operates one of the most restrictive frameworks for foreign clergy in the region. Priests may serve only with explicit approval from the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, a state office in Minsk headed by Aleksandr Rumak. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized Rumak for refusing residency permits without explanation and for declining to engage with the foreign clergy affected.
Permits are tied to a specific parish and are typically granted for just three to six months, though some are issued for a year. Regulations forbid individual parishes from applying for permits on their own; requests must instead pass through registered national religious bodies, a slow and bureaucratic process.
Foreign clergy must also demonstrate proficiency in Belarusian or Russian and are forbidden to carry out religious activities outside the specific localities where their inviting parish is registered. If a priest wishes to celebrate Mass in another parish, further government permission is required.
State security services also closely monitor the sermons, websites, and social media activity of foreign priests, while authorities in Minsk can deny, revoke, or refuse to renew residency permits without giving an official reason.
A notable example is Polish priest Father Józef Geza, who in 2022 was forced to leave Belarus after 25 years of ministry when authorities declined to renew his permit without publicly explaining the decision.
Growing clergy shortages
Metropolitan Archbishop Iosif Staneuski of Minsk-Mohilev acknowledged the impact of these restrictions in a May 28 interview with Vatican News, warning that the number of priests serving in Belarus is steadily declining, particularly in the countryʼs eastern regions.
He said some priests are now required to travel hundreds of kilometers to serve multiple parishes because of the growing shortages.
The archbishop also noted that foreign priests — especially Poles who have ministered in Belarus for decades — are increasingly unable to remain in the country because of residency-permit restrictions, placing additional strain on already limited pastoral resources.
Staneuski said the Church remains open to priests from around the world, stressing that the Catholic Church has no borders and that differences in language, nationality, or skin color are no obstacle to Christian ministry. Yet he explained that the most sustainable solution to Belarus' shrinking number of priests is the development of local vocations, as restrictions on foreign clergy increasingly leave parishes understaffed.
Political roots of the crackdown
Relations between the Belarusian state and the Catholic Church deteriorated sharply after President Alexander Lukashenkoʼs disputed reelection in 2020, which triggered the largest wave of anti-government protests in the countryʼs history.
During the crackdown that followed, Catholic churches sheltered protesters and human rights activists fleeing security forces, while senior clergy publicly condemned the violence. Since then, dozens of priests have faced threats, deportation, administrative penalties, or imprisonment on charges of espionage and treason that the Church and rights groups say were fabricated.
The rift widened after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which Belarus helped facilitate by allowing its territory to be used by Russian forces. In line with the Vatican, Belarus' Catholic hierarchy repeatedly called for peace and urged Minsk not to deepen its involvement in the war, placing the Church at odds with a government closely aligned with the Kremlin.
Prominent critics of Lukashenko have also emerged from Belarus' Catholic community. Among them is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, a practicing Catholic and one of the countryʼs most prominent human rights advocates. During a meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on May 27, Bialiatski raised concerns about ongoing human rights violations in Belarus.
Polish ties and geopolitical tensions
In September 2020, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Chief Sergey Naryshkin accused the United States of using Belarus' Catholic communities to foment unrest and sow domestic divisions. Although no evidence was presented, the claims reinforced a narrative promoted by Moscow and Minsk that portrays the Catholic Church as a vehicle for foreign influence.
Those suspicions are amplified by the Belarusian Churchʼs long-standing ties to Poland. Many Belarusian Catholics are concentrated in the western regions of Grodno and Brest near the Polish border, while a significant number of priests either have Polish roots or were educated in Polish seminaries.
At the same time, Warsaw has remained one of the most outspoken critics of both Lukashenko and the Kremlin, frequently condemning repression in Belarus and raising concerns about the treatment of the countryʼs Polish minority.
Against this backdrop, Belarusian authorities have increasingly viewed the Catholic Churchʼs cross-border links as a political liability rather than a religious or cultural connection, making it a recurring target in the governmentʼs broader campaign against independent institutions and civil society.
7,000 pilgrims open divine mercy congress in Vilnius, Lithuania
On June 7, the sixth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy opened in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius with around 7,000 pilgrims taking part in the Eucharistic procession through the city’s streets.
Pilgrims arrived from more than 50 countries around the world, including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Wallis and Futuna, Guam, Chile, Argentina, the United States, Spain, Italy, and Poland.
The congress opened with public Mass in Vilnius Cathedral Square at 12:30 p.m., which was followed by a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Vilnius Old Town at 2 p.m.
A procession through Lithuania’s wounded past
During his homily, Archbishop Gintaras Grušas told pilgrims that the procession route had been deliberately chosen to pass sites that reflect both the suffering and resilience of the Church in Lithuania.
“As we walk through the city, we will stop to pray at the stations that remind us of the city’s wounds and at the same time testify to healing,” he explained.
He referenced the Church of St. Casimir, once converted into a museum of atheism by the Soviets, and the Gate of Dawn, a Marian shrine that communist authorities had planned to demolish. He highlighted their continued existence as a testament to God’s mercy and the endurance of faith despite decades of Soviet attempts to suppress it.
Among those attending the opening Mass were Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda; Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the apostolic nuncio to the Baltic States; Fra' John Timothy Dunlap, grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; and Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius. They were joined by Lithuanian Ambassador to the Holy See Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė, bishops from across Lithuania, and diplomats from neighboring countries.
Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims
Later in the evening at 6 p.m., the congress officially opened on the Hill of the Savior, beside the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the former Visitation Monastery, both of which suffered under Soviet persecution. The venue is located just steps away from the former convent where St. Faustina received many of her visions and where artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski painted the first divine mercy image.
Pope Leo XIV addressed participants by video message, stressing the relevance of divine mercy in a world marked by war, violence, and growing anxiety. “Amid the vortex of violence that poisons relationships and destroys lives, the mercy of God asks to be allowed into our hearts with its amazing power of renewal,” the Holy Father said.
The pope also urged the faithful to welcome God’s mercy as a force of personal renewal, saying it has the power to transform lives through love and forgiveness. “The peace that we so deeply desire cannot be attained without mercy,” the pope said.
He concluded by encouraging pilgrims to unite their trust in God’s infinite mercy with a commitment to building a more compassionate and welcoming society, beginning within their own families.
In his message, Pope Leo XIV offered special greetings to Grušas, Nausėda, and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The orthodox leader’s participation highlighted the congress’ international and ecumenical significance.
Building a city of mercy
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nausėda said the event’s message was particularly relevant at a time of growing global uncertainty, conflict, and anxiety about the future. He presented the gathering in Vilnius as a source of hope and spiritual renewal, expressing confidence that its message of mercy would resonate far beyond Lithuania and reach people searching for peace in troubled times.
Meanwhile the grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta highlighted the enduring significance of the original image of the merciful Jesus, painted in Vilnius, describing it as a continuing call for believers to carry the message of divine mercy into the modern world.
Grušas likewise stressed that the congress theme, “Building a City of Mercy,” was intended as a practical challenge rather than a symbolic slogan. He said a truly merciful society is built through forgiveness, solidarity with the vulnerable, care for those who suffer, and a commitment to unite truth with charity, with Christians called to serve as witnesses of hope in public life.
The opening ceremony concluded with performances of traditional Lithuanian music and dance, highlighting the host nation’s cultural heritage. The congress will continue throughout the week, ending on June 12, with workshops, testimonies, prayer gatherings, and other events examining the role of divine mercy in the modern world.
The event was broadcast live by EWTN.
Pope Leo XIV in Barcelona calls Catholics to be martyrs of unity
BARCELONA, Spain — Pope Leo XIV dedicated Tuesday morning to thanking the thousands of volunteers who helped organize his apostolic journey to Spain before heading to Barcelona to touch the ancient traces of the country’s deeply rooted Christian faith.
At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, whose construction began at the end of the 13th century on the site of early Christian and Romanesque churches and which became, a century later, one of the most important jewels of European Gothic architecture, the pope prayed midday prayer with about 500 faithful.
Hundreds more waited outside the cathedral to show their affection, many waving Vatican flags.
The crowd erupted with excitement at his arrival. The pontiff was accompanied by Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, who gestured with his hands to indicate to the people waiting outside that the pope had to leave. The plane carrying Leo XIV had landed in the Catalan capital 40 minutes late.
During the ceremony, the pope sat in the oldest chair — the cathedra, or bishop’s seat — in the city that is still in use, dating at least to the cathedral’s consecration in 1058, according to recent research.
In his homily, Leo XIV called Catholics to be builders of communion.
“Dear brothers and sisters: It is in this spirit that we too, in a world torn apart by wars and divisions, in a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualistic, wish to be ‘martyrs’ — that is, witnesses and prophets of unity, of welcome, of harmony and of peace, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation,” the pope said.
It was the first time during the trip that Leo XIV pronounced several phrases in Catalan, the language proper to Catalonia, co-official with Spanish and the main language of the regional administration.
A symbol of Catalan cultural identity, the language to be used by the pontiff during the events scheduled in Barcelona had become the subject of public debate in Catalonia in recent days.
The controversy intensified after it emerged that the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia — one of the central moments of the visit — would be conducted mainly in Spanish.
In the Congress of Deputies, where the pope delivered an unprecedented address Monday, Junts per Catalunya lawmaker Miriam Nogueras asked him to speak Catalan.
“It is important for each of us not to allow anything to destroy the unity in which God has established us and toward whose fullness he leads us day by day,” the pontiff said, alternating Catalan and Spanish in the homily.
Leo XIV cited two addresses by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who never visited Spain but often expressed affection for the country.
On the occasion of the inauguration of the Tower of the Virgin Mary at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia on Dec. 8, 2021, Francis sent a message recalling that the Church “is the fruit of an act of love that precedes her and comes from God. Above all, she grows by allowing herself to be loved by him, united, with a humble and grateful heart, because only those who allow themselves to be loved by God can build, together with others, the works of love.”
One year later, the Argentine pope told seminarians of the Archdiocese of Barcelona during a pilgrimage to Rome: “Never cease to savor and remember this love of predilection which pours and will pour itself abundantly into your heart.”
Leo XIV structured his homily around the image of the Catholic Church as both beloved bride and body, with all believers as members of a single organism.
The Spirit, he said, “impels us, as parts of a single living structure, not only to give ourselves unreservedly wherever providence calls us, but to do so according to God’s designs, in obedience and trust.”
Just as in a body, he continued, “so too among us there are members who are stronger and others who are weaker; some are visible, performing functions that are evident to the outside world, while others are hidden, working from within — in some cases without ceasing and carrying out vital functions without anyone taking notice.”
The pope said there are many possible images to “illustrate the variety and importance of the roles and missions we find among ourselves,” but the message is always the same.
“In the richness of the gifts we have received, we are strong because we are united, and we are united because we are animated by the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of communion for the salvation of all,” he said.
Upon arriving, Leo XIV was received by Omella. After the greeting, the cardinal led him to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament for a brief moment of personal prayer.
On his way to the altar, the pope passed by the baptismal font, built in 1433. It was in that baptistery that the first six Indigenous people brought from the Americas by Christopher Columbus received the sacrament of entrance into the Church, as a plaque in the chapel recalls.
All of this forms part of the cathedral’s history, which inherits a tradition of worship in this part of Barcelona dating back to the fourth century.
Leo XIV’s final act inside the cathedral was to descend to the crypt, where the tomb of the Roman martyr St. Eulalia, co-patroness of Barcelona, is located.
Before her martyrdom, the young saint was said to have tended geese. For this reason, 13 geese are kept today in the cathedral cloister in her honor, recalling both her 13 tortures and the age at which she died for the Lord.
The pontiff also spoke of “so many other martyrs” and called the faithful to respond with “our ‘yes,’ ready if necessary to die to ourselves, to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again, to renounce the superfluous in order to build upon what is essential and lasts forever.”
“This is what the crucified One teaches us,” the pope said. “This is what the Apostle Paul and the examples of the saints invite us to do.”
The pope ended his homily by invoking Mary in Catalan: “Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres” — “Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.”
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.
Monsignor Vaccari cites rising humanitarian strain as Middle East violence intensifies
Monsignor Peter Vaccari reported rising humanitarian needs during a recent Middle East visit, describing disrupted daily life as conflicts intensified.
Vaccari, president of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), a papal agency that delivers humanitarian aid, described the realities facing those living amid ongoing regional tensions in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Veronica Dudo, an excerpt of which was broadcast on June 8.
Vaccari said about a visit to Jerusalem: “The day began with the sound of large sirens. Loud sirens going off, letting us know that rockets, drones, and missiles were on their way.” The situation, he said, dramatically altered the day’s plans for residents and aid workers alike.
Despite the challenges, Vaccari continued his journey throughout the region, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a visible Church presence among suffering communities.
CNEWA maintains offices throughout the Middle East, including in Jerusalem, Amman, and Beirut. According to Vaccari, the organization’s local presence enables it to respond quickly to changing circumstances and coordinate assistance directly with Church leaders on the ground.
“The work that we do is on the ground,” Vaccari said, noting that local staff and Church partners remain deeply connected to the communities they serve.
Much of CNEWA’s work focuses on humanitarian relief in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, and Lebanon. The organization provides assistance ranging from food and clean water to medicine, medical equipment, and emergency relief for families displaced by conflict.
Beyond material aid, CNEWA has increasingly emphasized psychosocial and emotional support programs. Vaccari said such healing initiatives have become especially important as communities continue to endure the trauma associated with war and displacement.
“To whatever extent we can work to try to provide clean water, medicine, food, medical relief, medical equipment, weʼre trying to do that,” he said. “Psychosocial healing, which as you can well imagine under the circumstances right now, is [also] a very needed entity.”
Founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926, CNEWA works on behalf of the Holy See to support Eastern Catholic Churches and provide humanitarian assistance throughout the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India, and Eastern Europe. The organization partners closely with local bishops, religious communities, and lay leaders to deliver aid where it is most needed.
“We work with the local Church,” Vaccari said. “We’re working with local bishops, lay leadership, consecrated religious, and the nuncios.”
The organization’s work is funded largely through donations from Catholics and other benefactors around the world.
“Never, in a typical mission, do we work alone,” Vaccari said. He expressed gratitude for local partners and donors whose support makes the organization’s humanitarian and pastoral outreach possible.
Pope Leo XIV builds on teachings of prior pontiffs with apology for slavery, Church’s role
Pope Leo XIV built on teachings laid out by his predecessors when he apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery in his May 15 encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, but the Holy Father also critiqued papal bulls issued in the late Middle Ages on the subject.
“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo XIV wrote of the institution of slavery.
“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” he wrote.
The Holy Father explained that in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Catholic individuals and some ecclesiastical institutions participated in slavery. Though the Church never taught doctrinally that slavery was morally good or neutral, he wrote about popes who “intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation” at the request of political leaders.
Leo XIV wrote that “a formal, absolute, and universal condemnation of slavery” was not issued until Pope Leo XIII’s 1888 encyclical on the abolition of slavery. Leo XIV added that “we [cannot] deny or diminish” the Church’s delay in its denouncement.
“In the development of her doctrine, the Church has gradually come to a deeper awareness of the gravity of these issues,” Leo XIV wrote.
Church’s role in slavery
In a footnote in the encyclical, Leo XIV cited four papal bulls from the 1400s as his examples for when the Holy See sought to “regulate and legitimize” subjugation: Pope Eugenius IV’s Sicut Dudum and Etsi Suscepti, and Pope Nicholas V’s Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex.
“Political and, at times, even economic needs overcame the demands of the Gospel,” the footnote reads. “The need for evangelization was frequently compromised or at least misunderstood with regard to the needs of worldly powers, thus relativizing the problematic incompatibility of slavery with the Christian conscience.”
Nicholas V’s bulls, for example, authorized the Portuguese to impose slavery on specific non-Christians, particularly Muslims and pagans, related to specific conflicts. Eugenius IV condemned the enslavement of converts to Christianity without condemning the institution of slavery as a whole.
Tom Nash, a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, told EWTN News that St. John Paul II apologized for Christian participation in slavery as well and many popes condemned slavery (including when it was ongoing) but did not critique specific papal bulls on the subject in the way Leo XIV does.
Although Leo XIV’s comments on slavery are substantial, the topic only takes up a few paragraphs of the encyclical, which mostly deals with the Church’s social doctrine in the modern world and technological developments such as artificial intelligence.
Nash emphasized that the faithful should not interpret these paragraphs as a change in Church doctrine, however, because in spite of Catholic participation in slavery, “the Church has never definitively taught that chattel slavery was morally just.”
Although Leo XIV cited Sicut Dudum as an example, one of Eugenius IV’s main priorities was to “oppose the mistreatment of all African natives,” according to Nash. He quoted the bull: “They have deprived the natives of the property, or turned it to their own use, and have subjected some of the inhabitants of said islands to perpetual slavery, sold them to other persons, and committed other various illicit and evil deeds against them.”
The bull did not sanction slavery but instead excommunicated anyone who enslaved Christians or those seeking baptism. The punishment could only be lifted if the person freed the slaves and returned their property.
Nicholas V’s bulls were different because they explicitly authorized enslavement in certain cases, but Nash said the directives on slavery in Dum Diversas “are not an attempt to teach definitively,” are not pronouncements on doctrinal matters, and they “are certainly up for questioning and criticism.”
“They are prudential judgments and don’t even attempt to invoke the specific doctrinal criteria of a definitive teaching, let alone an ‘ex cathedra’ pronouncement,” Nash added. “And thus the Church’s teaching on infallibility is not [in] play and therefore not in doubt.”
One condition for infallible doctrinal pronouncements is that they must apply to all people at all times. The bulls from Nicholas V apply only “in a particular geographical situation in a particular time in history,” he said, and emphasized that “we cannot treat every papal statement as if it’s an infallible declaration.”
Papal condemnations of slavery
Although Leo XIII delivered one of the strongest condemnations of slavery in the late 1800s, Nash noted Pope Paul III’s papal bull Sublimis Deus in 1537 strongly rebuked enslavement of Indigenous Americans more than three centuries earlier.
The 16th-century pontiff blamed Satan for chattel slavery and for the mindset that Indigenous Americans “should be treated as dumb brutes created for our service.” He urged evangelization of the people and said they should not be enslaved or deprived of liberty or property.
Paul III’s bull expressly stated that this prohibition on enslavement of the Indigenous Americans applies regardless of anything that has been issued before, effectively superseding Nicholas V’s papal bulls from a century earlier.
Other popes in between Paul III and Leo XIII issued similar antislavery statements, with Pope Gregory XIV issuing an apostolic brief in 1591 demanding an end to the enslavement of people in the Philippines and Pope Urban VIII writing the 1639 papal bull Commissum Nobis, which condemned the enslavement of South Americans.
In the early 1800s, Pope Pius VII wrote to government leaders to urge the abolition of the slave trade and Pope Gregory XVI in 1839 issued the papal brief In Supremo Apostolatus, which was the first to condemn the slave trade in its entirety.
Nash noted that Christian opposition to slavery, however, is rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ, who “reaffirms the inherent dignity of every human person in a Roman-Empire milieu that had chattel slavery as a societal institution.”
“He did so in giving the doctrinal command, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mt 22:39),” he said. “Indeed, ‘neighbor’ includes everyone (see Gn 1:26-27), including the heretical Samaritans and other despised persons (Lk 10:25-36). Similarly, ‘the least of these my brethren’ unmistakably includes chattel slaves within a Roman-Empire milieu (Mt 25:40, 45).”
St. Paul wrote about slavery several times. In Ephesians 6, he told slaves to “obey your human masters” and for masters to “stop bullying,” adding that both have the same Master in heaven, before whom “there is no partiality.” In 1 Corinthians 7, he told slaves to “make the most of it” if they gain freedom but not to be concerned about it because “the slave called in the Lord is a freed person in the Lord, just as the free person who has been called is a slave of Christ.”
In contrast to norms of the time, Paul wrote about the equal human dignity of slave and master in Galatians 3, saying “there is neither slave nor free person” because “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the Epistle to Philemon, Paul writes to St. Philemon on behalf of the runaway slave, St. Onesimus, asking Philemon to receive him “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother.”
At least one pope — St. Callistus I, who reigned from A.D. 218 until he was martyred in A.D. 222 — was a former slave. Nash noted that although slavery existed in the Roman Empire and within Europe under Christendom, the practice was reduced significantly when Christianity replaced paganism.
Meet Jules Rimet: The devout Catholic who helped create the FIFA World Cup
As the world prepares for the spectacle of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the first World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico — billions of fans will once again gather around a game that transcends language, politics, and borders. Yet few realize that the tournament’s origins are intertwined with the Catholic faith.
The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events with roughly 5 billion people tuning in to the tournament that brings together soccer’s best athletes from around the world.
This year’s men’s tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19 and will be held in all three host countries. The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup was in 1994, while Mexico has hosted the event in 1970 and 1986, and this will mark the first time Canada will host the prestigious soccer tournament. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the 23rd edition of the quadrennial international menʼs soccer tournament.
Long before the World Cup became the globe’s most-watched sporting event, its founder, Jules Rimet, was shaped by a vision deeply influenced by his faith and a belief in the dignity and unity of humanity.
Rimet was born on Oct. 14, 1873, in the village of Theuley in France to a devout Catholic family. He was known to have a heart for the poor and was inspired by Catholic social teaching.
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed the harsh conditions, poverty, and labor exploitation brought on by the Industrial Revolution. This encyclical inspired Rimet to help create an organization that provided social and medical aid to the poor. He was 17 years old.
The Catholic Frenchman also had a love for sports and believed it could unite people from all different races and social classes. At 24 years old he started a sports club called Red Star, which was open to anyone regardless of social class. He also included soccer in the club despite the sport being looked down upon as being only for Englishmen and the lower class.
In 1904, Rimet helped establish the Fédération Internationale de Football Association — International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA. After serving in World War I, he returned to FIFA and became its president in 1921.
Nine years later, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay. He viewed the World Cup as an opportunity to bring nations who may be at war together, promote universal fraternity and solidarity among all people, and prevent future global conflicts. He also worked hard to professionalize soccer so that working-class athletes could earn a living doing what they loved.
Rimet served as the president of FIFA for 33 years. From 1930 to 1970, the championship trophy was named the Jules Rimet Trophy.
He died in 1956 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize due to his part in creating the World Cup tournament.
In the book “A History of Football in 100 Objects,” Rimet’s grandson, Yves, remembered his grandfather as a “humanist and idealist who believed that sport could unite the world. Unlike many others in his time, he realized that, to be truly democratic, to truly engage the masses, international sport must be professional.”