Catholic military archdiocese ‘appreciates’ Pentagon’s new religious affairs office
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said it “appreciates” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement of a new Pentagon office dedicated to supporting religious members of the military.
Hegseth introduced the Office of Religious Affairs at the Department of Defense (DOD) in his Sept. 30 State of the Force Address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, which was attended by 600 officers and service members.
In his speech, Hegseth said the office will report directly to him and to the secretaries who serve after him. He said there will be “no staff filters” and “no bureaucratic dilution” but rather a “direct line to the secretary” for the chaplains.
“This wonʼt be a paper-pushing shop,” he said. “It will have real teeth. It will protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support. The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels. Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission.”
In a statement to EWTN News, the Catholic military archdiocese said it hopes the new office “will enhance and strengthen the support offered to the men, women and their families who serve in the military, and to the chaplain corps who strive to accompany our soldiers, sailors, and airmen across all service branches.”
“Placing spiritual readiness alongside other departmental priorities, and shortening the timeline between identified field needs and senior decisions can have the practical effect of resolving legacy constraints that historically limited chaplaincy support,” the statement said. “This Archdiocese appreciates the initiative and welcomes its implementation.”
Structural change
Hegseth explained the new structure is meant to ensure chaplains do not need to go through secular bureaucracy.
The secretary said, under the old system, “we let people with no expertise in faith or religion dictate the spiritual life of our warriors,” and the chaplains “were buried echelons deep, waiting for permission.”
“Decisions about faith and religion were made by secular careerists in cubicles and lawyers running around with red tape,” he said.
The secretary blamed the previous structure for budget cuts, failures to adequately meet needs for resourcing and manpower, and a lack of support for chapels on bases. He said faith had been treated as “an afterthought” even though only 5% of the military is nonreligious.
“Our department therefore has a sacred duty — first-class religious support wherever we send our warriors,” Hegseth said. “... For far too long, you know, we didnʼt prioritize that duty at all.”
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, has supported some of Hegseth’s other reforms of the chaplaincy as well.
Broglio celebrated Hegseth’s removal of the official spiritual fitness guide, which the secretary said was “pushing secular humanism” and treating chaplains like “emotional support officers” rather than as chaplains.
The archbishop said the change allowed chaplains to focus on spiritual ministry “above and beyond everything else that they might ask the chaplains to do.”
Broglio also spoke positively of Hegseth’s decision to change the chaplain insignia on uniforms to reflect the faith role instead of the military rank.
“If the decision to eliminate the rank insignia for chaplains so as to favor the insignia indicating religious affiliation contributes to making chaplains more approachable, the archdiocese favors it,” the archbishop said in March.
Alternatively, the archdiocese faced problems with the Army in 2025 amid canceled religious contracts, which the DOD ultimately worked to restore.
Apart from the chaplaincy, Broglio has criticized some military decisions from President Donald Trump’s administration. In April, he echoed the concerns of Pope Leo XIV, saying it was “hard” to see how the Iran war could be justified under Catholic just war doctrine.
The archbishop was also critical of earlier threats to annex Greenland, along with attacks on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela that killed more than 100 people.
Supreme Court to hear case on lawsuit that blocked Marian shrine plan in Kentucky
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a religious liberty case about a local zoning dispute that pitted two residents of a northern Kentucky city against a Catholic chapel that wants to build a Marian shrine.
Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, a Catholic religious association that runs the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Park Hills, Kentucky — just south of Cincinnati, Ohio — faces a lawsuit that seeks to block its construction of a grotto shrine that pays homage to the Marian apparitions in 1858 in Lourdes, France.
The city board initially approved the chapel’s request to construct the shrine by granting it a variance from a zoning ordinance that would have typically prevented construction in that location, but two neighbors objected to the shrine and filed a lawsuit.
The case went up to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which ruled against the chapel, finding that the city board exceeded its authority when it gave the chapel a variance from the ordinance.
Joel and Elizabeth Frederic, the neighbors, expressed concerns about traffic and parking if the shrine were to become a pilgrimage site. The chapel argued the shrine would simply include a statue of Mary inside a grotto, a statue of St. Bernadette — who witnessed the apparitions — and a patio and walkway.
The Catholic association that operates the chapel argues that blocking the construction of the shrine would violate the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which states that zoning laws cannot substantially burden a church’s exercise of religion. This is also the law cited by the city council as its reason for approving the chapel’s variance.
“Telling a church it can’t build a modest place for prayer and reflection on its own property is outrageous,” Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel at the First Liberty Institute, which is providing legal representation to the chapel, said in a statement.
“Federal law provides clear protections for how faith-based organizations can use their property to support their mission,” she said. “This is an important case for religious freedom.”
Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled. The case could set nationwide precedent for how cities are expected to handle zoning laws that could impose burdens on religious practice.
Pope Leo XIV honors Harvard scientist whose pursuit of knowledge led her to faith
Pope Leo XIV presented the Pius XI Medal to Karin Öberg, a Harvard scientist specializing in astrochemistry, during a recent audience with members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The award, presented on Sept. 24, recognizes scientists under the age of 45 who have distinguished themselves through their research and show “exceptional promise” in their field. Recipients of this medal include several Nobel laureates and the physicist Stephen Hawking.
Öberg holds the Thomas Dudley Cabot Chair in the Natural Sciences at Harvard University and directs the Öberg Astrochemistry Laboratory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her work focuses, among other topics, on chemical processes related to planet formation and chemical habitability.
But beyond her scientific career, Öberg has spoken publicly about her conversion to Catholicism and how her pursuit of knowledge influenced her journey toward faith.
In a 2011 interview with the Augustine Institute, she explained that there were aspects of the world that began to make it difficult for her to accept a strictly materialist worldview.
“There were certain facts about the world that made me very skeptical of atheism or pure materialism. I thought it was pretty obvious there is moral realism in this world, that there are things that are good and evil, regardless of what people think about them,” she noted.
Reading C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” played an important role in that process. As she explained, the British writer’s proposal seemed reasonable to her.
“His explanation of Christianity struck me as very sensible, and it seemed to fit with the data about the world I had already gathered,” she stated.
For Öberg, however, intellectually accepting the faith was not the end of the journey. “What took time was the aspect of charity — living out the faith and truly building a relationship with God,” she explained.
The scientist has also reflected on the limits and scope of the scientific method when it comes to God. She was clear in that interview: “You can never use the scientific method to prove or disprove God.”
In her view, science does allow us to appreciate something she considers especially significant: “how intelligible the universe is, how subject to laws it is.” She added: “This cannot be taken for granted. It is magnificent.”
The beauty of the universe also plays an important role in her understanding of the relationship between science and faith. “I am moved. And beauty is, in a sense, just as impressive to me,” she said.
For this reason, Öberg said she believes that science and faith need not be presented as opposing paths.
The scientist has also spoken openly about being Catholic.
“I am very open about the fact that I am Catholic,” she said in the interview. At the same time, she explained that she prefers this openness to foster dialogue rather than lead to imposition.
“I try to be open and then invite people to come and talk to me, rather than preaching to them,” she noted.
Öberg has also expressed a special affinity for the Dominican tradition and for St. Thomas Aquinas, whom she cited as a particularly important figure for the way he united faith and reason.
Her brother, Erik Öberg, an economist specializing in macroeconomics at Uppsala University in Sweden, publicly celebrated the recognition Karin received via his LinkedIn account. “I’m very proud of her,” he stated.
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.
This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of October
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of October is for the mental health ministry.
“Melancholy, bad character, confusion of senses — today, we understand that behind these old labels lies a deep, silent suffering not only of those affected by mental disorders but also of their loved ones and their communities,” Pope Leo said in a video released Oct. 1 on X.
He added: “We live in a world full of tensions, and even as solutions grow so does the number of people in crisis. This October, let us pray for the mental health ministry — an urgent and ever more needed service in our Church and in the world.”
In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:
“God of life,
You know the innermost depths of our hearts —
the light and shadows within us,
the silent wounds that sometimes no one sees.
Today we bring before you our brothers and sisters
who struggle with challenges to their mental health,
who suffer in solitude with anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness.
You call them by name, with tenderness,
and in you they find dignity and hope.
Forgive us for the times we have looked the other way,
feeding the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.
May your Church be an open house,
a safe space where everyone has a place —
a community that accompanies and never excludes,
that listens without judging and draws near without fear.
We pray to you, Lord, for those who care:
professionals, family members, volunteers —
men and women who, with patience and love,
build bridges of understanding and comfort.
Give them strength and compassion to sustain others.
Send your Spirit upon us,
that we may learn to welcome and integrate care for mental health
into the life and ministry of our communities and of the whole Church,
and thus become a living sign of your mercy,
which never abandons and always restores.
Amen.”
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.
Pope prays the rosary with children: ‘50 million Hail Marys rising to heaven’
VATICAN CITY — More than 700 children from schools and parishes in Rome joined Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican Gardens on Thursday to pray the rosary for peace in the world.
The Oct. 1 event marked the beginning of a week of prayer for the initiative “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” promoted by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
The Holy Father greeted the children at the beginning. He thanked them and encouraged them to be good at home, in their families, at school, in catechism classes, and in sports, because peace also grows in this way.
“I am truly happy to be with you! And you, children, tell me: Are you happy to have come? Good, that makes me happy too. Above all, because this evening we have gathered together to be with the two people who love us more than anyone else. Who are they? The Lord Jesus and his mother, Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us,” Pope Leo said in his address before the rosary.
“We love them too, don’t we?” he added. “Shall we tell them? Let’s try. Let us repeat together: ‘I love you, Jesus. I love you, Mary.’ Yes, we love you, Jesus and Mary, and this evening we ask you for a special gift: peace for all the children of the world, especially those who live where there is war, in so many countries across the earth.”
“We do this through the prayer of the holy rosary, which is a simple prayer that everyone can pray,” the pope affectionately emphasized to the children.
He noted that “in a little while we will light candles, and we will reflect on Jesus in some important moments of his life … These are moments in which he gave us wonderful gifts that we must never forget, and for this we want to thank him.
Calling on the children to repeat with him, he said: “Let us do that together as well, once again. Let us all say: ‘Thank you, Jesus!’ And let us ask him with confidence, all united: ‘Give us peace!’”
For the pope, the children’s rosary initiative represents “50 million Hail Marys rising to heaven from every corner of the world and in every language on earth, asking for peace, and joining together like one immense rosary garland, embracing and drawing together all the continents, races, and nations of the planet.”
Upon his arrival for the rosary, the pope also presented a small bouquet of flowers to Our Lady. It was a simple gesture carried out together with a child at the replica grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens.
For the first time this year, the prayer campaign will take place over the course of an entire week, from Oct. 1–7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities, and families across different continents to participate in the prayer for peace and unity.
Similar initiatives are already being prepared in other countries, such as Bolivia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and many other places marked by war, poverty, or instability.
The 2026 campaign is inspired by the message of Fátima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
The rosary was led by the children through readings, songs, and brief reflections on countries affected by war. The Hail Mary was also recited in several languages.
In this year’s invitation to participants, Cardinal Kurt Koch, international president of Aid to the Church in Need and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, recalled that Mary’s Immaculate Heart represents a life completely open to the Holy Spirit and presents Mary as a model of faith, love, and prayer.
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.
Wisconsin company to revise religious accommodations after LGBT pronoun dispute, government says
A major U.S. corporation will revise its religious accommodation policies after an intervention by the federal government in a dispute over transgender-related pronouns, the government said this week.
Generac Power Systems, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of generators, will pay a monetary settlement to a former employee and update its religious workplace rules after it reportedly failed to fully adhere to “reasonable accommodation” rules in the dispute.
The former worker in question had reportedly wished to continue using biologically accurate pronouns to refer to an employee who believed themself to be the opposite sex. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission intervened in the dispute and announced its resolution on Sept. 30.
The commission said Generac had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to “fully engage in the reasonable accommodation interactive process” before denying the religious accommodation.
The company denied the religious employee’s accommodation request “even after the [employee] informed Generac that using non-biological pronouns went against his sincerely held religious belief,” the employment commission said.
The corporation will pay out monetary relief to the employee, who has since resigned from the company, the commission said.
In addition, the company will “update its religious accommodation policies and provide training with the goal of promoting greater understanding and effective handling of religious accommodation requests going forward.”
A Generac spokesman said in the government’s press release that the company is “committed to treating employees fairly and respectfully” and in accordance with U.S. and state law.
The commission says that employers are obligated to make reasonable accommodations for religious employees unless doing so would “create an undue hardship” for the employer.
The accommodation rule “aims to prevent individuals from being forced to choose between their religious convictions and practices and their job,” the government says.
‘Wake up call’: Catholic anti-death penalty group condemns ‘horrifying’ botched Tennessee execution
A prominent Catholic anti-death penalty group is criticizing Tennessee for its botched execution attempt of convicted murderer Christa Pike, describing the incident as “horrifying” and “unprecedented.”
Pike, who was convicted in 1996 of the brutal 1995 torture and killing of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, was scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30 by lethal injection.
Yet officials said she survived the administration of two syringes of lethal pentobarbital, after which she was transported to a medical facility for treatment.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee subsequently suspended executions in the state for the remainder of the year and ordered an investigation into the state’s capital punishment procedures.
In a statement on Oct. 1, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, said the group was “stunned and bewildered” by the “unprecedented” incident.
Valliancourt Murphy said the group, which works to oppose the death penalty across the U.S., was praying for both Pike and for Slemmer’s family; it acknowledged that the situation “must surely be retraumatizing” for the latter.
“There is nothing normal about taking a life, and last night’s horrifying events reminds us of that,” she said.
The group in its statement referenced Tennessee’s botched execution of Tony Carruthers earlier in the year. The medical team overseeing that execution had failed to find a vein when attempting to set up a backup IV line for the lethal drugs. The state ultimately suspended Carruthers’ execution for a year.
“For Tennessee to have two botched executions in a matter of months is beyond alarming. It is the epitome of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ under the Eighth Amendment,” Valliancourt Murphy said.
“We pray this is the needed wake up call for Gov. Lee — in fact, for everyone — to recognize the barbarism of capital punishment,” she added.
Had she been successfully executed by the state, Pike would have been the first woman subject to capital punishment there in 200 years.
The Death Penalty Information Center says the state has executed 17 convicted criminals since 2000, the vast majority with lethal injection, though several have been electrocuted to death.
Australia’s euthanasia deaths rise as Victoria expands assisted dying law
Deaths under Victoria’s assisted-dying law rose by nearly one-third in the past year, new official figures show, as the Australian state prepares to expand access in 2027 and Catholic leaders warn of reduced safeguards for vulnerable patients.
Five hundred twelve people died in Victoria, a southeastern Australian state whose capital is Melbourne, after being administered a voluntary assisted dying (VAD) substance in the year ending June 30, according to the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board’s annual report.
The total was up 31.6% from 389 deaths in 2024-2025 and represented 1.1% of all deaths in the state, the report said. It also recorded 1,156 applications, nearly 40% more than in the prior year.
Of the 512 deaths, 372 followed self-administration of the VAD substance and 140 followed practitioner administration, the report said. The board said VAD deaths were nearly four times the number reported in the program’s first full year after Victoria’s law came into force in 2019.
Victoria’s new report is the latest evidence of a national trend. Since Victoria became the first Australian state to introduce VAD, more than 14,000 people nationwide have applied for access, and more than 7,000 have died after using a VAD substance, according to Go Gentle Australia’s 2026 State of VAD report, an advocacy group that supports the practice. The group said VAD now accounts for an estimated 2%-3% of deaths nationally.
VAD is available in Australia’s six states and the Australian Capital Territory. The Northern Territory passed its own law in August, though the system is not expected to begin operating until 2028.
Victoria’s Parliament passed amendments in November 2025. Scheduled to take effect April 19, 2027, the changes will broaden eligibility, shorten the minimum request period from nine days to five, and allow some health professionals to initiate discussions about VAD as part of end-of-life care.
In an October 2025 pastoral letter, Victoria’s Catholic bishops warned the changes would allow practitioners to raise euthanasia and assisted suicide with patients who “may be at their most vulnerable.” They said this would further weaken safeguards and urged lawmakers to strengthen access to palliative care instead.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher likewise said the Church must offer “positive alternatives,” including palliative care, pastoral care, and respite care for families caring for the dying and elderly.
Pope warns of ‘uncontrolled consumption of resources,’ challenges to waste disposal
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday warned of the urgency of the current ecological crisis during an audience at the Vatican with a delegation from the Hera Group, an Italian conglomerate specializing in environmental services, waste management, integrated water systems, and energy.
“The ecological challenge of our time is, in fact, more urgent than ever. On the one hand, we are witnessing the uncontrolled consumption of resources; on the other, the management and disposal of enormous quantities of waste are becoming increasingly problematic,” he cautioned on Oct. 1.
Leo XIV also recalled that, for Christians, care for creation is part of a moral responsibility.
“As Christians, we cannot resign ourselves to accepting the throwaway culture; rather, we are called to make wise use of creation,” he stressed.
“To avoid considering every used object as mere waste, it is necessary to change our behavior and commit ourselves to taking a different path. In essence, this means overcoming the consumerist model and moving toward a productive system capable of preserving the limited goods of our planet,” the pontiff said.
Leo XIV praised the company’s work in the field of recycling, an activity that, in his view, “demonstrates that it is possible to commit ourselves in this direction.”
As part of its collaboration on environmental sustainability and the circular economy, the Hera Group donated to Vatican City State in April a fully electric truck with a range of 60 kilometers (about 37 miles), which is used to collect waste within Vatican territory.
“The work you carry out, including here in the Vatican, bears witness to the fact that the culture of waste can be successfully opposed by a culture of care. This culture is not limited simply to objects and products but extends from them to human labor, and from labor to persons. For it is we who inhabit the world and who, through our decisions and behavior, live in it as a gift from God,” he said from the Apostolic Palace.
The Holy Father also thanked the company for its commitment to environmental protection: “I am grateful for the work you do in seeking to contribute to the care of our common home, and I encourage you to continue in this commitment.”
The pope also cited Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, which states that “the model of recycling and circular production is a good path for ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.”
“It is important to set an example of consistency: The Church must be the first to put into practice what she herself proclaims,” he added.
“Through our synergy, we will be able to make the home we all share ever more beautiful and welcoming,” Leo concluded.
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.
Synod proposes reforming canon law to give greater weight to laity, women in the Church
The General Secretariat of the Synod published on Wednesday the final report of the Canonical Commission, which explicitly endorses several proposals to amend the Code of Canon Law related to the participation of laymen and laywomen in the life and governance of the Church.
Specifically, the document supports changes to canons concerning the ability of lay faithful to exercise “offices, roles, and ministries within the Church for which they are qualified and competent, including in the realm of ecclesiastical governance.”
The text, originally drafted in Italian and also available in English, is not binding and must now be examined by Pope Leo XIV. It is one of the reports prepared by the 10 study groups created by Pope Francis in 2024 as part of the Synod on Synodality. These groups are dissolved once their work has been completed and published.
The commission tasked with studying the reforms was coordinated by Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and included prominent experts in canon law.
Its members included Jesuit Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda; Dutch canon lawyer Myriam Wijlens; Monsignor Matteo Visioli, referendary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; Monsignor Giacomo Incitti, professor at the Pontifical Urbaniana University; Hungarian canonist Péter Szabó; Father Alphonse Borras; Professor José San José Prisco, dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Salamanca; Father Benedict Ndubueze Ejeh, dean of the St. Pius X Faculty of Canon Law in Venice, Italy; and Italian Father Gianluca Merlini, secretary of the commission.
A limited but significant reform
The commission considers that a “profound reform of the canonical legal system” is not necessary in order to implement the ideas that emerged from the synodal process.
According to the report, “the Church’s current legal system already provides adequate provisions for greater recognition and designation of lay persons to assume roles and functions of ecclesial co-responsibility together with the pastors.” Nevertheless, it acknowledges that these provisions are “often overlooked” and, in some cases, “require greater normative affirmation to be more practical and effective.”
For this reason, the proposals seek to adapt certain aspects of canon law to the conclusions of the synod, especially regarding the participation of laypeople in the Church’s mission.
The document also insists that the synodal process “does not diminish the decision-making authority of the bishop, the college of bishops, or the pope, but integrates the contribution of the People of God, giving the synodal act a truly communal character.”
Among the canons examined are Canons 204, 208, and 212, which affirm the equal dignity of all the baptized and their right to participate in the life of the Church; Canons 228 and 230, which regulate the possibility of laypeople exercising ecclesiastical offices and ministries; Canon 145, concerning ecclesiastical offices; and Canon 275, which promotes collaboration between clergy and laity.
Papal infallibility under review
Also studied were Canons 476 and 483, related to certain functions of governance and administration in dioceses; Canon 1112, which under specific circumstances allows a layperson to validly assist at the celebration of marriages; Canons 1421 and 1425, concerning lay participation in ecclesiastical tribunals; and Canon 749, which regulates the exercise of the infallible magisterium of the Catholic Church.
Should the proposals advance, it would not be the first time the Vatican has examined reformulating the understanding of papal infallibility. In June 2024, a study by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, titled “The Bishop of Rome,” collected suggestions for adapting the exercise of Petrine primacy in light of the fruits of decades of ecumenical dialogue.
Greater weight for laity and religious
Among the most significant proposals is the revision of several canons to strengthen the synodal dimension of particular councils, diocesan synods, and pastoral councils.
One of the most notable changes would affect Canon 443, with the goal of making possible “the participation of all members of the People of God ... in a proportion equal to that of the ‘ex officio’ members” in particular councils.
The proposal goes beyond expanding the presence of lay faithful and men and women religious. It also calls for removing the Latin word “tantum” (“only”), which currently limits their participation to “a consultative vote” in various ecclesial bodies.
This restriction appears in several canons of the code, including Canons 443 and 444 concerning particular councils; Canon 466 regarding the diocesan synod; and Canons 500, 514, and 536, which regulate the presbyteral council, diocesan pastoral council, and parish pastoral council, respectively.
If approved, these bodies would no longer be structured solely according to a consultative logic but would move toward stronger forms of power in decision-making.
Greater autonomy for bishops’ conferences
The proposals also seek to strengthen the role of bishops’ conferences and promote greater decentralization. Among the suggested changes is a revision of Canon 440, Paragraph 1, to establish a “ten-year frequency” for the celebration of particular councils. The aim is to encourage their regular convocation and restore a more significant role for them in the life of the Church.
Likewise, the commission proposes modifying Canon 1112 to eliminate the need for intervention by the Holy See when a bishops’ conference authorizes laymen and laywomen to assist at marriages under the circumstances foreseen by law.
The reforms also include adjustments to Canon 403, Paragraph 1, to provide a clearer definition of the nature and mission of auxiliary bishops within the pastoral governance of dioceses.
Similarly, a modification to Canon 450, Paragraph 3, is proposed to allow retired bishops to serve on commissions of bishops’ conferences, thereby making use of their pastoral and governance experience after they have stepped down from leading a diocese.
Accountability in episcopal governance
The third section of the report emphasizes that the “widest possible” participation of the baptized requires institutional mediation, especially within the local Church, and describes participatory bodies as “primary places of participation,” where the faithful contribute according to their “canonical condition, charisms, ministries, and competencies.”
Another of the report’s most significant developments is the addition of a new paragraph to Canon 391 inspired by the synod’s final document. The proposal explicitly introduces the principle of “accountability and evaluation” into the exercise of episcopal governance.
If approved, the change would represent a significant step toward greater transparency in the administration of dioceses by strengthening the obligation to explain and justify pastoral and administrative decisions within the processes of Church governance.
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.