U.S. midterm elections spark multiple Catholic voting exhortations
As U.S. midterm elections get into full swing, both the country’s Catholic bishops and outside advocacy organizations are urging voters to participate and “put their faith before politics” in exercising their civic duty.
In an Oct. 14 message, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, said that while Americans might be feeling discouraged from voting because we live in “a time of deep political division,” such discouragement “is not a Christian virtue.”
Coakley emphasized that for citizens in a representative democracy, “participation in public life — including voting — is both a right and a responsibility.”
“I would ask all Catholics to put their faith before politics,” Coakley exhorted, as he called on the faithful to “judge candidates and elected officials by their actions, not merely their promises, and how those actions promote the common good.”
Meanwhile, the advocacy group CatholicVote on Oct. 15 issued voter guides for key races in seven states. The guides evaluate where the candidates in these races stand on abortion, religious freedom, school choice, gender ideology, judicial appointments, and immigration law enforcement.
“We have chosen seven states — a total of 24 races or ballot initiatives — where we know the Catholic turnout can be the make-or-break difference,” said CatholicVote Director of Political Operations Logan Church. The organization’s guides are targeted to specific races in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
In addition to state-specific information on candidates and issues, the CatholicVote effort includes links to help Catholics register to vote, request an absentee ballot, or find a polling place to vote. As CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt sees it, “if Christians do not take up their duty in political life, we will be governed by those whose values are antithetical to our own.”
At present, the group is urging Catholics to vote early, which “ensures your vote is counted because nothing keeps you away from the ballot box on Election Day.”
The latest USCCB midterms message, meanwhile, features a more general, blanket exhortation to Catholics to form their consciences and listen “to the Gospel call to love God and all our neighbors.”
“May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, bless our nation as we turn once more to elections, that we might respect the dignity of each person and promote the common good of all,” Coakley concluded.
Pope Leo XIV sends message after surgery to Vatican conference, asks for prayers
Pope Leo XIV, recovering from lung cancer surgery in Rome, sent a request for prayers to participants in a Vatican conference.
“As you know, I have been unable to be among you during these days,” Pope Leo wrote in the Oct. 14 message to clergy members and Catholics. “I thank you warmly for your prayers and for the work you have done together. Your sharing of experiences and attentive listening are indeed a gift to the whole Church.”
The pope’s message was read at the conclusion of the conference “10 Years After Amoris Laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” a meeting examining the legacy of the apostolic exhortation and how to strengthen family participation in the Churchʼs mission.
“Entrusting each of you to the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth, I ask you please to pray for me, as I pray for you,” he wrote.
The pope encouraged participants to bring the meetingʼs insights back to their bishops' conferences and dioceses, continue proclaiming the Gospel with families, and ensure families remain active participants in the life and mission of local Churches.
Leo’s homily delivered
At the closing Mass for the conference, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered a homily prepared by Pope Leo XIV saying: “The world has no future without strong families open to the gift of children and attentive to their education and growth.”
Families and faith communities should accompany people facing hardship with compassion rather than condemnation, the pope’s homily said.
“Those who are more vulnerable, or who are experiencing difficult circumstances and moments of crisis, will also find support and encouragement, surrounded by affection and shielded from judgment and prejudice. Let us remember that ‘as wounded as the family may be, it can always grow beginning with love,’” Tagle said, delivering the homily prepared by Pope Leo.
Brazilian priests rally in defense of their bishop, accused of being a ‘demon’ by Lula supporter
Ten priests from six municipalities in the Brazilian state of Goiás are pushing back against what they call “shameful attacks, slander, and lies directed against” their bishop, Adair José Guimarães, in the midst of a heated presidential election campaign in the world’s most populous Catholic country.
In a video posted on social media, a resident of Goiás calls the bishop a “representative of Satan” and a “demon,” and accuses him of engaging in politics during his sermons.
According to the priests, “these shameful attacks” are “baseless, filled with hatred, fueled by ideological prejudices, and distorted by uncivil ignorance.”
The 10 priests who signed the joint statement in defense of Guimarães are Fathers Hélio Cordeiro, Ary Ramos, Denis Rodrigues, Deusli Evangelista, Frederico Ornelas, Moacir Santana, Carlos Neves, Mário Vieira, Pablo Veleda, and Renato Silva.
In the video, the man appears wearing a cap bearing the slogan “Lula — Brazil happy again” and criticizes Guimarães’ pastoral work, linking him politically to former President Jair Bolsonaro.
“That Bishop Adair is a Satan — I say it and I repeat it — he is the devil’s representative here on earth,” the man says. In another part of the video, he states: “The guy just goes to church. He doesn’t preach the Gospel; all he talks about is communism.”
Without offering proof, the man also accuses the bishop of receiving money from businessman Daniel Vorcaro to engage in political activity favoring Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro who faces incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in an Oct. 25 runoff election for president.
“He must be getting money from Vorcaro to play politics for Bolsonaro,” the Lula supporter says.
Throughout the recording, the man urges the faithful to stop attending churches whose leaders, according to him, support Bolsonaro. “If you see a church where the leaders are Bolsonaristas — where their god is Bolsonaro — don’t get involved; get out as fast as you can,” he says.
The video also features criticism of Bolsonaro and members of his family, along with expressions of support for Lula and comments on labor rights, social programs, and the country’s past military dictatorship.
Statements by Bishop Guimarães
Guimarães has made statements touching upon politics and ideologies on various occasions within the context of reflections on Catholic participation in public life, freedom, and the use of faith for political ends.
In August 2025, during a “Desperta Brasil” (“Awaken Brazil”) Catholic event in Brasilia, Guimarães invoked the intercession of Our Lady of Aparecida for the country and mentioned communism during a blessing. Specifically, the bishop asked God to grant a blessing that “spares us from hunger, war, disease, and communism.”
On Jan. 15 of this year, in a video reflection, Guimarães criticized ideologies and dictatorial regimes. “It is impossible for us to be foolish enough to believe that ideology — that dictatorship — brings well-being to people. It brings hunger, misery, and suffering,” he said. He also criticized communism, fascism, and Nazism, stating that these regimes “stifle peopleʼs freedom.”
On Sept. 28, the bishop commented on the circulation of a false report regarding a supposed proposal to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title as patroness of Brazil. “Those who use Our Lady of Aparecida for personal gain — of whatever nature — will not fare well,” he said.
The false information linked the alleged proposal to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who denied supporting any such initiative.
More recently, on Oct. 2, Guimarães urged Catholics to participate in the elections and examine the track records of the candidates. “If you cast a null vote or do not vote at all, you are empowering the worst politicians, because they benefit from your absence,” he said. The bishop also advised voters to consider the candidates' stances on abortion, family, and faith.
‘We live in a democratic country’
In the statement, the priests of Formosa also emphasized that political disagreements are part of democratic life but do not justify attacks on others' honor.
“We live in a democratic country; as such, and as citizens, we are free to disagree on partisan political issues,” they said. The priests also cited a phrase attributed to St. Augustine: “In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.”
As the priests explained, “partisan politics falls within the realm of the debatable; thus, the fact that we hold divergent positions in this arena does not necessarily make us enemies, let alone give us the right to attack anyone’s honor.”
In closing, the priests asked for the intercession of Our Lady of Aparecida for peace and reconciliation in Brazil.
“May the Virgin of Aparecida, Queen and Patroness of Brazil, intercede for our country and for all the Brazilian people, so that we may find and build paths of peace, justice, and reconciliation.”
This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will not be livestreamed, Trump says
President Donald Trump announced the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will not be livestreamed.
The president said in a Truth Social post on Oct. 15 that while he still believes “streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan … many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
Trump said the execution of the convicted mass shooter will still take place by firing squad on Dec. 3 and the victims’ immediate families will still be allowed to attend.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell had announced Oct. 5 on X that Trump had approved Hasan’s execution. On Oct. 8, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview with Real Americaʼs Voice that the execution would be livestreamed from Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, where Hasan, a psychiatrist and former Army major, killed 14 people, including an unborn baby, and wounded 32 others in the terrorist attack.
The U.S. bishops have strongly opposed the decision to livestream the execution. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, issued a joint statement with the Texas Catholic bishops Oct. 12 urging the president to reconsider the decision, which he characterized as “barbarically killing our adversaries.”
Broglio reiterated the Church’s revised position on capital punishment, saying “the dignity of the human person is at stake.”
In a social media post on Oct. 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo XIV wrote: “The death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on Oct. 9 that plans to broadcast the execution live are unacceptable. “It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to resort to this method in this day and age,” he said.
Broglio also wrote that he was obliging “any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church.”
Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of the Diocese of Austin, which encompasses Fort Hood, said the public broadcast of Hasan’s execution “would make a spectacle of death.”
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote of his “shock and great sorrow” of the government’s decision to livestream the execution in an Oct. 9 statement.
Trump also faced backlash from members of both political parties concerning the decision.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said in a social media post that “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” calling it “beyond disgusting.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, called the decision to broadcast the execution “disgusting” and “medieval.”
‘Do we understand truth anymore?’: Conference in Rome discusses distrust in age of AI
A dinner conference in Rome on Wednesday brought together clergy, business leaders, journalists, and scholars to discuss how to communicate the truth amid distrust in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Acton Institute, a faith-based think tank promoting free markets and limited government, held the “Communicating Truth in an Age of AI” convivium: a conversation among representatives of Catholic media and secular academia about the challenges AI poses to the communications industry.
Andreas Thonhauser, vice president and chief global officer at EWTN, and Jenn Lindsay, a communications professor at Rome’s John Cabot University and CEO of So Fare Films, led the discussion.
Among those present was Yurash Andrii Vasyliovych, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See.
Truth in the modern media era
Among the topics considered at the conference was the challenge of distinguishing truthful news from false information. In his opening remarks, Thonhauser, who joined EWTN in 2021, described the challenge as “cutting through the noise.”
“In the age of AI, communication is truth, which is not so easy when we think about it, about how much noise is already out there, and AI is a wonderful instrument to create even more of that kind of communication and to add to the noise,” Thonhauser said.
“AI might become a challenge for us, who are also the audience who are the recipients of communication,” Thonhauser added.
Lindsay said truth-telling is central to storytelling in film, even amid AI manipulation.
“Truth already has an odd status in documentary storytelling,” Lindsay said in her opening remarks. “In fact, it is the definition of documentary storytelling: the creative treatment of actuality.”
“We are already dealing with many layers of strategy and manipulation. AI intensifies the questioning of that, but it is nothing new.”
Optimism or pessimism in AI-driven future?
Another concern discussed at the conference was whether one ought to be optimistic or pessimistic in the age of AI.
Lindsay, who has taught at John Cabot since 2018, said she thought the world was “in a safer place” as individuals increasingly choose not to use AI to avoid effort, particularly students.
“I feel that we are in a safer place,” Lindsay said. “A year ago, I was super pessimistic because, as a university professor, the rate of cheating and plagiarism [with AI] was sky-high. I am happy to report that it is going down; it seems like its popularity is cooling with the younger ones.”
Thonhauser, in response, acknowledged AI’s many benefits for global development while noting that the human experience will still matter, citing Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.
“AI is remarkable, and it is helping us greatly also in our work,” Thonhauser said. “I do agree with Pope Leo that it is not neutral, but what is ever neutral? It is up to us to regulate this so that it is helpful for the human being as such and for the future.”
“I really see that it will be important that the human element remains in communication and helps to guide us through what is relevant, what is meaningful, and ultimately also what is true.”
Doctors confirm Pope Leo XIV’s operated lung is recovering well
VATICAN CITY — In a medical update on Thursday, the Vatican confirmed that the right lung of Pope Leo XIV, who underwent surgery for lung cancer on Oct. 13, is recovering favorably.
The bulletin, prepared by the pontiff’s personal physician, Luigi Carbone, and the surgeon who performed the operation, Stefano Margaritora, highlights that Leo XIV’s postoperative progress on the second day after surgery has been positive.
“The chest X-ray showed a good recovery of the operated lung,” the statement said.
The Vatican also reported that the Holy Father underwent routine follow-up examinations, including blood tests and a chest X-ray, “the results of which were normal.”
“He independently carried out his daily activities. The physical therapy session included full motor activity,” the medical note added.
Overall, “the postoperative course continues to progress regularly,” the physicians explained.
Earlier Thursday, the Vatican had already reported that Leo XIV spent a “good” second night at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery Tuesday to remove a pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
Also on Thursday, like the previous evening, the pontiff was able to spend a few minutes in the temporary chapel set up at the hospital to concelebrate Mass with one of his collaborators, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, speaking to journalists.
Bruni also said that the pope has continued working during his recovery. In fact, he received Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, deputy for general affairs of the Secretariat of State, this afternoon, according to Vatican sources.
As a sign that the Vatican’s ordinary activity continues despite the pontiff’s recovery, the Holy See on Thursday announced two new bishop appointments, signed by Leo XIV from the hospital.
They include the appointment of Italian priest Father Paolo Andreolli as bishop of Ponta de Pedras, Brazil, and Father Ignazio Ding Zuyao, “whom the Holy Father appointed bishop of Haimen (Jiangsu Province, China) on Aug. 24, 2026, after approving his candidacy within the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.”
The Vatican is expected to soon announce whether the pope will preside over the public Angelus prayer from Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, as some of his predecessors did during periods of hospitalization.
Regarding the international trip the pontiff is scheduled to make to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17, Bruni referred to comments Leo XIV made during last Sunday’s Angelus address, when he announced that he would undergo surgery for a lung nodule.
The pope made explicit reference to his upcoming trip to Peru while greeting members of the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles present in St. Peter’s Square.
“Thank you for your prayers for the pastoral visit that I will make to Peru,” he said.
At that time, it was not yet publicly known that the pontiff was suffering from pulmonary adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis was confirmed following surgery, during which the lower right lobe of his lung was removed.
Prayers for the pope
Following the call to pray for the pope’s recovery, the Vicariate of Rome has confirmed that this Sunday a special intention for the Holy Father will be offered in all the parishes of the Diocese of Rome during Mass. The initiative reflects the communion of the Church of Rome with its bishop and the spiritual support being offered to Leo XIV during this period of convalescence.
This atmosphere of prayer will be accompanied by another gesture of closeness later tonight. At 8 p.m. Rome time, Cardinal Angelo Comastri will lead a rosary invoking Mary Undoer of Knots at the Pontifical Parish of St. Anne in the Vatican.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Another bishop in China consecrated under deal with Vatican
Father Ignatius Ding Zuyao was consecrated on Thursday, Oct. 15, as bishop of Haimen in eastern China, a diocese that had lacked a bishop for more than three years.
Zuyao is the ninth Chinese bishop consecrated under Pope Leo XIV following procedures established by the provisional agreement between China and the Holy See governing bishop appointments. The pontiff appointed Zuyao bishop of Haimen on Aug. 24, having approved his candidacy under the agreement.
Zuyao’s consecration, announced by the Vatican on Thursday, also highlights a pattern in which the Vatican does not announce episcopal consecrations in China until the day they occur. He is also the 19th bishop to be selected under the Vatican-China deal.
However, some of the Chinese bishops Leo appointed were not immediately recognized by the Chinese government. Two of the bishops had already been consecrated and were part of the so-called underground Church — the Catholic community not officially recognized by Chinese authorities. The communist government later recognized both, thereby regularizing their ecclesiastical and civil status.
A decade of pastoral work
Zuyao was born in August 1986 in Qidong, Jiangsu Province, and was ordained to the priesthood on Oct. 27, 2011.
From 2001-2004, he studied at the Jiangsu Section of the Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai. He later attended Beijing Theological Seminary to study theology and philosophy and earned a bachelor’s degree.
After Zuyao’s ordination in 2011, he served as pastor in Haimenzhen, Linjiang, and Caojiazhen, all in the Diocese of Haimen. From 2023, he served as pastor of Qingnian Donglu Parish in Nantong until his appointment as a bishop.
Vatican meeting on the family ends inconclusively amid Pope Leo’s hospitalization
VATICAN CITY — A highly-anticipated meeting of bishops on the family ended at the Vatican on Wednesday, but release of the gathering’s final report was postponed on account of Pope Leo XIV’s hospitalization and surgery.
The meeting marked the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia and discussion focused on the legacy of that controversial document.
As organizers announced on Monday, since Leo XIV could not “listen” to the assembly of bishops and lay experts as he had originally planned, he said he would review the documentation and conclusions of the meeting following his convalescence. What happens next will then be up to him.
“I will read the fruits of your work and discussions, and offer my reflections in due course,” the pope said in a brief message to participants read on Oct. 14.
The Oct. 7–14 meeting — whose participants were mainly the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences — was organized in the same style as recent Synod on Synodality assemblies. Bishops and experts introduced the themes with speeches on the topic at hand, and small-group discussions alternated with plenary sessions.
While the themes for each session and keynotes have been made available online, plenary sessions and open interventions were held behind closed doors, and participants — abiding by Pope Leo’s call for “discretion and confidentiality” in his opening address — have declined to elaborate on the opinions expressed on various issues, especially the most controversial: the reception of holy Communion by divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.
The dominant discussion about Amoris Laetitia in the immediate aftermath of its publication and in the decade that followed was about the document’s “chapter 8,” about “irregular” relationships, and a footnote interpreted by some as giving access to Communion to divorced and civilly remarried people after a process of pastoral accompaniment and discernment.
Debate over Amoris Laetitia intensified after the bishops of the Buenos Aires Pastoral Region interpreted the document as allowing, following a process of accompanied pastoral discernment, access to the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist for some Catholics who are divorced and civilly remarried.
Chapter 8 and ‘irregular situations‘
This topic was among those discussed at the meeting on Oct. 12, which focused on accompanying families in the difficulties of life.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, whose Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life co-organized the gathering with the synod office, opened discussions on Oct. 12 urging participants to truthfully share their lived experience “avoiding any spirit of controversy.”
Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consulter of the synod office and a meeting organizer, did not go into detail about what was said during a briefing for journalists Oct. 14 but described discussing “sensitive issues on which there are still differing perspectives and assessments.”
The environment, he added, was “constructive” and people clearly desired to listen before judging: “The approach is not one of opposition,” Costa said. “Of course, there are also different emphases and sensibilities.”
He said participants shared stories about how people were able to reexamine their lives in the light of the Gospel and take steps toward conversion.
This led, the priest continued, “to an emphasis on the importance of formation — of forming consciences — and of … continuing to deepen this relationship between pastoral experience and theological reflection.”
Julie Hanlon Rubio, a professor of Christian Social Ethics at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California, made one of the most explicit references to the controversial passages of Amoris Laetitia in her speech the same day.
“Though the document is best remembered for the controversial Chapter 8,” she said, “it also offered a positive vision of marriage designed to correct the abstraction and negativity that many still associate with Church teaching and a praxis of accompaniment that has yet to be fully realized.”
Quoting from the exhortation, paragraphs 296 and 297, she said: “Francis told us, ‘No one can be condemned forever! It is not the logic of the Gospel!’ and this logic should be extended to ‘everyone.’”
In a footnote to this part, she wrote: “Today this surely includes divorced persons, single parent families, blended families, cohabiting couples, and persons identifying as LGBTQ.”
Continuity in Church teaching
But Pope Leo himself appeared to have had a different agenda for discussions — choosing to move beyond the idea of listening and welcoming to focus more on how the Church can concretely help young people in today’s society enter into the sacrament in the first place.
He also pointed out continuity in the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family from St. Paul VI to Pope Francis.
The first day of the meeting both the Holy Father and Dominican Sister Helen Alford, who was entrusted with the assembly’s opening meditation, argued that Amoris Laetitia was consistent with the Church teaching and practice that came before it.
Like an earlier document on the family by St. John Paul II, Amoris Laetitia was an innovative response to the challenge of following the moral law “when social situations are turbulent and changing quickly,” Alford said.
Pope Leo’s opening remarks also underlined the reality of marriage today and that “a growing distance has emerged between the ways in which sex and intimacy are lived and the Christian vision of marriage.”
“Young people continue to long for love, fidelity, and belonging, yet many find it difficult to embrace how such a vision of love can take shape in their own lives or to believe that a lifelong commitment is the condition for reaching what they desire,” the pontiff continued.
Though he could not celebrate the meeting’s closing Mass on Oct. 14 as planned, Pope Leo’s prepared homily was read by substitute celebrant Cardinal Luis Tagle.
The pope’s homily recalled the love of the Lord, saying that “is the love that Amoris Laetitia invites us to make the foundation of our families” and inviting Catholics to teach young people preparing for marriage about the importance of the virtues, especially chastity.
“Marriage preparation programs conscientiously developed for this purpose in parishes and pastoral areas are commendable. Yet such courses alone are insufficient, for they must be preceded and supported by an education in love that accompanies a person’s growth from childhood,” he said.
“The values of openness to life and respect for life, from conception to natural death, are also rooted in this charity, which is fundamental to our existence and to our life together as human beings,” the pontiff added, recalling that “Pope Francis stressed that ‘no union that is temporary or closed to the transmission of life can ensure the future of society’ (Amoris Laetitia, 52).”
“The world has no future without strong families open to the gift of children and attentive to their education and growth.”
Mexican Church holds colloquium on forgotten period of fierce persecution
“It seems very important to fully understand this history, a history that has been erased from Mexico’s history books,” stated Bishop Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal, secretary general of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, as he encouraged participation in the colloquium “One Hundred Years Since the Start of the Cristero Resistance,” taking place this week in Mexico City.
At a press conference ahead of the Oct. 14-16 event, Pérez Villarreal, who is also an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico, noted that in commemorating the centennial of the religious conflict experienced in the country, known as the Cristiada or Cristero War, “rather than celebrating the tragic nature of this event, the violence, or the war, we commemorate the witness of faith of so many Mexicans.”
“Mexicans, primarily the laity, went to the defense of their faith, self-defense, and their ability and freedom to express what they believed,” he noted.
The prelate recalled that Mexican Catholics in the first half of the 20th century faced “a situation in which the law was clearly violating a fundamental right: the right to freedom of faith and religious expression.”
Amid rising tensions between the Church and the Mexican state, tensions that dated back to the second half of the 19th century, the armed uprising known as the Cristiada broke out in 1926, with Catholics from various parts of the country taking up arms against civil authorities.
The conflict arose in the context of the so-called “Calles Law,” which went into effect on July 31 of that year and severely restricted public worship and the religious life of Catholics.
Pérez Villarreal emphasized that with the colloquium, in which experts from Mexico and other countries are participating, “we are not seeking to vindicate any form of violence; rather, we want to delve deeper into the truth.”
Events like this, he noted, “help us view reality objectively rather than through the lens of ideology,” enabling us “to live in a freer Mexico.”
He further maintained that the conflict “was not an attack on the clergy; it was an attack on the religious freedom of an entire people,” and emphasized that this fundamental right is not one the state can decide to grant or not.
“Universal rights are not granted by the state; they are guaranteed by it,” he noted.
The event, organized by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM by its Spanish acronym) in conjunction with the Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM by its Spanish acronym) and the Mexican Society of Ecclesiastical History, includes lectures at the Plaza Mariana of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and at the UPM auditorium in Mexico City.
Father Juan Carlos Casas García, director of the UPM’s Department of Ecclesiastical History and the CEM’s Department of History and Art, emphasized that the Catholic resistance “went beyond an armed uprising.”
He explained that there was “peaceful resistance by Catholics who found their rights violated by legislation that openly infringed upon religious freedom and the activities of the Catholic Church in our country.”
The aim of the colloquium, he noted, is “to complete and broaden the understanding of this chapter” of Mexican history, a history marked by “contrasts, with both light and shadows.”
The priest noted that, “while acknowledging that this is a painful period in our history, it is also a historical episode filled with testimonies of faith and fidelity that we cannot forget.”
The colloquium can be followed either in person or via the CEM’s social media and the Pontifical University of Mexico.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Pro-life advocates seek thousands of signatures to halt Massachusetts abortion law
Pro-life advocates in Massachusetts are moving to halt the implementation of a recently passed law that effectively removed all limits on abortion in the state, aiming to both put the issue on the ballot before voters and potentially suspend the law as well.
Massachusetts became the latest state in the U.S. to remove all restrictions on abortion when Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed the law on Aug. 10. It allows women to obtain abortions at any point in pregnancy for any reason.
Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), called the policy “shocking” and “horrendous” shortly after the law was signed. He described the measure as “an affront against the dignity of life.”
A pro-life coalition, meanwhile, is leading an effort to roll back the law, aiming to place the policy before voters on a statewide ballot and potentially suspend the law prior to that vote.
The Repeal 188 initiative is seeking up to 50,000 signatures to potentially roll back the law. The process — known as a “veto referendum” — requires advocates to collect signatures equal to at least 1.5% of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election in order to put the repeal question on the 2028 statewide ballot.
If petitioners are able to collect signatures equal to 2% of the total number of those votes, meanwhile, they can suspend the law prior to the election. The effort says it needs 37,289 signatures to qualify for the ballot and 49,716 to suspend the law.
Steve Petrarca, a Massachusetts resident and a member of his parish’s pro-life committee, told EWTN News that “many” parishioners at his church were unaware of the effort. Petrarca himself is helping to gather signatures.
He said advocates may aim to collect closer to 100,000 signatures in order to ensure they meet the threshold to suspend the law. A distribution requirement in Massachusetts means no more than 25% of signatures on a petition can come from any one single county in the state.
The abortion measure drew rebuke from the state’s Catholic bishops, who described it as “a radical measure which is gravely immoral.” The advocacy group CatholicVote, meanwhile, called for Healey — who identifies as Catholic — to be excommunicated.
“Healey is a Catholic in a state of grave sin. She has publicly and now legislatively cooperated in the destruction of innocent human life,” CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said.
In a video released amid the campaign, Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Flynn said signatories must be registered voters in the state and under state law can only sign petitions that are local to them.
“If we receive 50,000 signatures by October 23, Massachusetts voters — not activist politicians — will get to decide this very important issue in 2028,” she said.