Tennessee bishops call for end to death penalty; Trump approves military firing squad execution
Tennessee’s Catholic bishops asked the state of Tennessee this week to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment.
In a statement issued Oct. 2, the Tennessee Catholic Conference argued that life imprisonment without parole “serves justice, protects society, and respects the dignity of every human life.”
“Accountability for grave wrongdoing is necessary, but it does not require the taking of another life,” they wrote. “An execution cannot restore the life taken, and the uncertainty, prolonged proceedings, and suffering surrounding the death penalty can deepen the anguish of everyone involved, including victims’ families, prisoners’ families, and those charged with carrying out executions.”
The bishops’ letter comes after the state’s recent failed attempt to execute the first woman in over 200 years, 50-year-old Christa Pike.
After two doses of pentobarbital failed to kill Pike on Sept. 30, the execution was halted. She remains on a ventilator in critical condition.
The botched execution was the second for Tennessee this year and led to the resignation of Frank Strada, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee placed a moratorium on executions for the rest of 2026.
In 1995, Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, tortured and then murdered Colleen Slemmer, Pike crushing her skull with a piece of asphalt. Sentenced to death in 1996 at the age of 20, Pike later attempted to strangle a fellow prisoner, Patricia Jones, in 2001. Pike, convicted of attempted murder, also tried to escape in 2012, according to ABC News.
“The fundamental moral question,” the bishops wrote, “is whether the State should continue to take lives when it has another means of protecting the public and imposing a serious, lasting punishment. Life without parole provides that alternative. It holds those convicted of the gravest crimes accountable and protects society while preserving the possibility of repentance.”
They wrote that “even those who commit terrible crimes retain their human dignity,” reflecting the Church’s revised stance on capital punishment.
Church teaching has changed on the death penalty
Paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, revised in 2018, states that the death penalty is no longer admissible because “the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes” and states should administer punishments that “do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.”
According to the catechism, “recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.”
However, Pope Francis argued in his “Address to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization” in 2017 that the “death penalty is an inhumane measure that, regardless of how it is carried out, abases human dignity.”
The catechism now states that “more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens,” and urges the Church to work for the abolition of the death penalty.
Trump approves military execution by firing squad
President Donald Trump meanwhile approved an execution by a military firing squad.
On Oct. 5, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell reported on X that Trump approved the execution by military firing squad of “convicted terrorist” and “jihadist” Nidal Malik Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who shouted “Allahu Akbar” while murdering 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood, an army base in Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009.
Following a court martial, Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013. Parnell said the secretary of the Army will determine the date and location of the execution.
Fort Worth Diocese presses FedEx on risk of shipping mifepristone to states that restrict abortion
Catholic investors are urging a major shipping company to account for the legal risk of carrying abortion drugs across state lines.
At FedEx’s annual meeting on Sept. 28, the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, sponsored a shareholder proposal asking the company to analyze the regulatory and reputational risks of continuing to ship the abortion pill mifepristone into states where abortion is illegal.
“Given its prevalence as one of the largest shipping services in the United States, we wanted to highlight the risk that FedEx may be posing for its shareholders if the Comstock Act is enforced and it continues to ship mifepristone, one of the key drugs used in the abortion pill regimen,” Bishop Michael Olson wrote in a letter to other Catholic bishops, asking them to vote for the proposal if their dioceses own shares in the company.
Olson told EWTN News he posted the letter on a bishops-only website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Citing the U.S. bishops’ Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines, he called the proposal “part of the process of exercising stewardship over” the diocese’s public equities and “an opportunity to further the culture of life.”
The proposal asked FedEx’s board to report within a year on how it oversees the legal, regulatory, and reputational risks of transporting mail-order abortion drugs. It did not ask the company to stop shipping the drug. The board opposed it. Final votes had not been tallied when the diocese spoke with EWTN News.
The issue stems from the Comstock Act and the Biden Justice Department’s interpretation of it. Passed by Congress in 1873, the law criminalized using the postal system to send obscene, lewd, or indecent materials; information or devices related to contraception; and items or information intended to induce abortion.
More than 20 states restrict or prohibit abortion-inducing drugs within their borders. In December 2022, the Department of Justice under the Biden administration issued a memorandum opinion stating that the Comstock Act “does not prohibit the mailing of certain drugs that can be used to perform abortions where the sender lacks the intent that the recipient of the drugs will use them unlawfully.”
The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, stopped enforcing its in-person dispensing rule for mifepristone in April 2021 for the rest of the COVID emergency, and in December of that same year said it would permanently drop that requirement, allowing the drug to be prescribed and shipped to a patient without an office visit.
“Nevertheless, the Comstock Act is still law and could be interpreted and enforced more vigorously by this or a future Administration,” Pia de Solenni, who presented the proposal on the diocese’s behalf, said in a letter that accompanied Olson’s.
In that letter, she told the bishops: “Your institution has a unique opportunity to leverage its ownership of FedEx to ask for a risk analysis that not only protects the value of the company but also disrupts the delivery of a drug regimen that harms women and destroys unborn human life.” She called the proposal a “unique opportunity to slow down the distribution” of abortion drugs.
Olson wrote that “Sadly, since the overturning of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion rates in the United States have increased about 20%, due largely to the government’s decision to relax the rules around the distribution” of abortion drugs.
De Solenni, who has a doctorate in moral theology and is the former chancellor of the Diocese of Orange, California, is vice president of corporate engagement at IWP Capital, a for-profit firm that does screening, proxy voting, and corporate engagement for institutional investors, consultants, and asset managers.
She said the company “only does corporate engagement with a Christian understanding of human flourishing” based on the bishops’ Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines, first published in 1991, revised in 2003, and updated in 2021.
She told EWTN News that she spoke only for about three minutes during the 20-minute meeting and the company responded for about three minutes.
She said the diocese’s proposal was the only one to which the company responded. “It is challenging to get a proposal on a ballot in the first place,” she said. And once it is there, “it is very unusual for companies to respond to shareholders. They usually let proposals die.”
She called the effort a “moral victory.”
“If Christian institutional investors would show up, we would be changing these companies,” she said. “If we all voted our proxies, if these companies were hearing from us, they would have different leadership and would make different decisions.”
De Solenni said in a separate engagement with Costco, over whether its stores would carry the abortion pill, the first reason the company gave for not carrying it was that “they were unsure about the Comstock Act.”
“Our long-term strategy,” Olson said, is “responsible stockholding, keeping our investments clean and in line with the Gospel and the integrity of the Church’s teaching.”
He said that Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, was supportive of the proposal, which Olson said is “part of our whole strategy as a diocese to live by Rerum Novarum,” Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical published in 1891.
Whatever the final tally, he said the diocese would keep “continued vigilance, and the continued exercise of the prophetic voice in these areas that are overlooked and even taken for granted.” As an institutional investor, he said, the diocese is “very scrupulous about this” and tries to avoid “formal cooperation with evil, or even material cooperation with evil. We certainly check twice.”
On Sept. 30, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, joined by the attorneys general of Alabama and Arkansas, filed two lawsuits over abortion pills mailed into states that restrict abortion: one at the Supreme Court against shield laws in New York, California, and Massachusetts, and another against providers accused of shipping the drugs.
Attendance at Our Lady of Luján pilgrimage in Argentina tops 2.7 million
The rain did not stop the record-breaking number of faithful who made their way on a pilgrimage to Luján, Argentina, this past weekend. According to figures provided by the Buenos Aires Province Ministry of Security, the 52nd Youth Pilgrimage to Luján drew 2.7 million people.
The image of the Virgin set out at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, from the San Cayetano Sanctuary in the Liniers sector of Buenos Aires, carried and escorted by a delegation from the Diocese of Lomas de Zamora.
Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva, accompanied by La Plata Archbishop Gustavo Carrara, also set out from Liniers.
Reflecting on the pilgrimageʼs motto — “Mother, in your embrace we recognize each other as brothers and sisters” — García Cuerva observed: “To be brothers and sisters, the first step is discovering that Mary is the mother of all, and that she unites us. I believe we need to lower the intolerance and contempt we have on occasion for others; we must stop emphasizing what divides us and instead focus on what unites us.”
In the rain, wearing store-bought or makeshift raincoats, the crowd began the journey of more than 37 miles separating Liniers from the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, where anticipation is already building for the visit of Pope Leo XIV, who is scheduled to arrive in Argentina on Nov. 8.
Along the way, there was no shortage of prayers and songs, nor of the ever-present support stations where volunteers from parishes, movements, and organizations offered refreshments, assistance to pilgrims, and “free hugs.”
By early afternoon on Saturday, the rain had passed, and the sun even came out. The first pilgrims began to arrive in Luján, which gradually filled with the faithful coming to the feet of the Mother — some walking with great difficulty, others supported by their companions, and most visibly moved.
Upon arrival in Luján at nightfall, the journey became difficult due to the sheer number of people — far greater than in previous years, according to regular pilgrims. Some reported taking over an hour just to cover the final few blocks to the basilica.
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Once in Luján, the prayers, expressions of gratitude, hugs, and tears bore witness to the faith of a people who — regardless of age, social class, or political views — had come to receive the embrace of the Virgin of Luján.
Marcos, from Our Lady of Fatima Parish, said he particularly valued the act of making the pilgrimage “not because it is mandatory, but because it allows for a deeper connection with the Virgin, with God, with oneself, and even with oneʼs own family.”
Mariana, a “free hugs” volunteer, described her role as providing that “little push” needed for the final 10.5 miles to Luján “to meet the Virgin.”
“That embrace is not just for the person I give it to, but also for the one I receive; because I, too, receive so much affection and love — it is a caress for the soul.”
Going on pilgrimage, she affirmed, “means following in Jesus' footsteps, going to meet Mother, just as Jesus walked with Mother. I imagine Mary teaching Jesus to walk, waiting for him in a little spot, ready to steady him so he wouldnʼt fall. That is how Mary is with us: waiting for us, steadying us so we can reach our destination,” she reflected.
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García Cuerva celebrated the pilgrimageʼs main Mass early Sunday morning in Plaza Belgrano, facing the basilica.
In his homily, García Cuerva noted that “there are no ideological rifts or exclusions on the pilgrimage.”
“The journey leveled the playing field for us all; as we walked, we all wore out our shoes, we all grew tired, and we all longed to reach Mary’s home. What a profound lesson we learned! When we realize we are fellow travelers belonging to the same people, there is no room for individualism or hate speech,” he declared.
Reflecting on the state of the nation, he also observed that “our country has many embraces yet to be shared: embraces of forgiveness in the face of so much disparagement and insult; embraces of solidarity amid such indifference; embraces of reconnection amid such lostness; deep embraces — not merely formal gestures — but embraces from the soul.”
Along these lines, he also spoke of “wounds of disparagement, intolerance, and physical and verbal violence" — wounds that "are already festering, and it seems the heart of the Argentine people is becoming infected."
He therefore urged: “It is time for us to unite. If the Virgin of Luján embraces us all, it is impossible to look upon each other with contempt, for the other is my brother.”
Addressing the faithful, he invited them to be “artisans of fraternity” and to bring Mary’s embrace “to those at their breaking point, to the elderly, to those who think differently, to people with disabilities and their families, to the unemployed, to those sleeping on the streets, to adolescents and young people struggling with drug addiction, and to the poorest among us.”
Finally, looking ahead to the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV, he encouraged everyone to make this pilgrimage a "school of fraternity for our country, one where "Mary teaches us to respect and forgive one another and to engage in dialogue with everyone; where we stop disparaging our brothers and sisters, stop being indifferent to those who suffer, and stop giving way to hatred among ourselves; because here in Luján, we have experienced that, within her maternal embrace, we recognize one another as brothers and sisters."
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.
Denver bishops mark America 250 with message on migrants and refugees
Catholic bishops and other Christian leaders in Colorado issued a letter on immigrants and refugees in observance of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s feast day during the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
“This anniversary invites us to remember not only the founding of our nation but also the generations who have helped bring its ideals to life,” the letter, released on Oct. 5, Cabrini’s feast day, said, highlighting that “America’s immigrant heritage is an essential part of, and inseparable from, our national identity.”
Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants and is the first American to be canonized.
The message, titled “A Pilgrim People, A Shared Hope,” is signed by Archbishop James Golka and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of Denver, Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo, and Father Kyle Ingels, the diocesan administrator of Colorado Springs, as well as several other Christian leaders across denominations. The letter comes as the Trump administration’s deportation efforts across the country continue to stir controversy among Catholics, including in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which filed a lawsuit Oct. 5 against local and federal officials for barring priests from ministering to Catholic immigrant detainees.
“We remember with respect the Indigenous peoples who inhabited this land long before the nation’s founding, as well as those brought here through slavery and denied the freedom our nation proclaimed,” the letter said. “We also give thanks for generations of immigrants and refugees who arrived carrying their faith, cultures, hopes, and gifts.”
The letter underscored the contributions of immigrants across agriculture, business, science, medicine, technology, and more. “Here in Colorado, immigrants have worked in our mines and fields, taught in our schools, opened businesses, served in our hospitals, raised families and enriched our civic and religious life,” the letter said.
Addressing concerns about national sovereignty and border security, the Christian leaders affirmed “both a nation’s responsibility to protect its people and maintain an orderly immigration system and its duty to treat every person with justice and mercy.”
“Laws should serve the common good while respecting human dignity, protecting the vulnerable, preserving family unity and providing fair legal processes,” the letter said, concluding: “On this anniversary, we invite the faithful to remember the immigrant and refugee stories that have shaped their families and communities; to pray for those displaced from their homes; to support ministries that accompany newcomers; and to build friendships across differences of language, culture and nationality.”
‘Not a happy result’: Federal bankruptcy court rejects Diocese of Oakland settlement plan
A federal judge this month rejected a request from the Diocese of Oakland, California, to resolve its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, arguing that the diocese had not satisfied statutory requirements to do so while dismissing claims that the diocese should be granted a special religious dispensation.
The diocese had proposed a plan earlier in the year to pay more than $200 million into an abuse victims’ fund. A committee of survivors countered with a proposed payout of more than $300 million, which the diocese itself subsequently opposed.
Judge William Lafferty said in an Oct. 2 decision that the diocese had failed to demonstrate that it was undergoing a “substantial burden” on its religious rights in being required to adhere to federal bankruptcy proceedings.
The judge dismissed as “incorrect and impossible” a scenario suggested by the diocese that would result in what Lafferty described as an “apocalyptic forced sale of all churches in the Oakland Diocese” under the federal bankruptcy court.
Such a scheme, Lafferty said, “can never be compelled in the bankruptcy system.”
Lafferty also expressed concern that the diocese’s “liquidation analyses” are “structured in a manner that tilts the playing field” in favor of the diocese itself.
The federal judge admitted that the ruling was “not a happy result” for anyone involved in the trial, including for abuse victims, who he said have been “deeply … immersed” in the trial since 2023.
The diocese, meanwhile, “has prosecuted this case honorably and with great integrity,” he said.
The judge urged the diocese and abuse victims to operate with “continuing dialogue and relentless good faith.”
“There is no guarantee of success in such endeavors, but also no reason not to begin again,” he said.
In a statement after the ruling, Oakland Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, described the decision as “a setback,” but he said the diocese remains “committed to providing fair and equitable treatment” for abuse victims while “continuing our mission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in service to the 500,000 faithful Catholics in our community.”
The diocese would “study the court’s decision,” Barber said, before deciding how to move forward.
The diocese was in the news earlier this year after a California man was awarded a massive $16 million in a civil abuse suit there.
The ruling — rare for U.S. diocesan abuse cases, where most settlements involve groups of abuse victims rather than individual plaintiffs — represented the first jury verdict reached under the 2019 California Child Victims Act, which opened up a three-year look-back window for abuse victims to bring civil suits.
The allegations brought by the John Doe in the Oakland case concerned Father Stephen Kiesle, a priest who has faced multiple abuse allegations dating from the 1970s. The victim said Kiesle abused him during that decade.
‘How long, O Lord?’: Pope Leo XIV laments new attacks on Gaza victims
Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness to those affected in Gaza by the Israel-Palestine conflict amid new attacks.
The pontiff sent a message to Holy Family Church in Gaza, near the Rimal neighborhood of western Gaza City, where Israeli airstrikes killed five civilians and wounded many others on Oct. 3. Among the victims, now buried, were two Orthodox women: Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and her daughter, Mary Hafez Michel Najjar.
According to Vatican News, Leo addressed the message to Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family Church. Pope Francis also regularly wrote letters and made phone calls to Romanelli, expressing closeness to the parish and to Gaza victims until his death in 2025.
In his letter, Leo lamented the casualties among those affected by new airstrikes amid the continuation of the war.
“How long, O Lord?” Leo wrote in his letter.
“Since learning the painful news of the deaths of Maysa and Mary, I have been praying to God for them, for their families, and for the entire community of Gaza,” he added. “Thank you for accompanying the parish and so many people who wish to live in peace.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, also expressed his closeness to those affected by the recent attacks and his hope that hostilities will eventually end.
A profound relationship with Pope Francis
For approximately 19 months before his death, Francis maintained regular contact with Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.
Romanelli recalled to EWTN News that on April 19, two days before dying on April 21, Francis made a phone call to Romanelli.
“He told us he was praying for us, blessed us, and thanked us for our prayers on his behalf,” Romanelli said to EWTN News.
“We hope that his appeals won’t be ignored: that the bombing will stop, that this war will end, that the hostages will be released, and that humanitarian aid will reach those who are suffering.”
Hundreds pray after Virgin Mary statue desecrated in French Island of Corsica
About 500 people gathered to pray in Corsica, a Mediterranean French island, on Oct. 1 after a statue of the Virgin Mary was torn from its pedestal and damaged during an obscene incident allegedly filmed and shared on social media.
The statue was found on the ground beneath a stone arch at a traffic circle near the southern entrance to the town of Porto-Vecchio. The statue belonged to the local parish, which filed a complaint along with the city, ICI RCFM reported.
Two seasonal hospitality workers, ages 21 and 24, were detained later that morning. According to a statement from the Ajaccio prosecutor’s office reported by Corsican radio station Alta Frequenza, video footage showed one man hanging from the statue, miming a sexual act, and making lewd remarks while the other filmed.
The men are being prosecuted for jointly committing aggravated damage to the statue, to the detriment of the parish and the municipality, and for indecent exposure, Le Figaro reported. They remain presumed innocent and are due to appear before the Ajaccio Criminal Court on Nov. 16.
A court placed them under judicial supervision, ordered them not to return to Corsica, and required them to report regularly to police in their home departments. After an initial attempt to leave was disrupted, both men departed the island by air on Oct. 4, France 3 reported.
Prayer follows anger
Earlier on Oct. 1, more than 100 people gathered outside the gendarmerie following an appeal on social media. At 5:30 p.m., the parish called the community to pray at the traffic circle, drawing elected officials, families, young people, and firefighters in uniform, according to ICI RCFM.
Father Thibault Lambert, pastor of the Porto-Vecchio parish, said his anger and sadness had given way to “joy mixed with pride” at seeing residents united in their attachment to the Virgin Mary, the Church, and their heritage.
The Catholic Church in Corsica expressed support for the parish and said: “We pray for the conversion of those who damaged the image of Mary.” It urged the community to recover “a path of serenity and peace” through the rosary on the first day of the month traditionally dedicated to the devotion, according to a diocesan statement.
Porto-Vecchio Mayor Jean-Christophe Angelini condemned what he called an “unspeakable act” and pledged to replace the statue as soon as possible, France 3 reported.
The Corsican Assembly unanimously adopted a motion condemning the “profanation and destruction” of the statue and expressing support for the parish, Porto-Vecchio residents, and the Catholic community.
Assembly President Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis said the attack had offended part of Corsica’s common heritage and collective identity. In remarks to the Corsican Assembly, she also appealed for restraint, saying respect for what others hold sacred must be matched by responsibility and measure.
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated, adapted, and updated by EWTN News English.
Jordan’s Latin patriarchal vicar calls for unified pilgrimage route across the Holy Land
Bishop Iyad Twal, Latin patriarchal vicar for Jordan and a member of the board of trustees of the Baptism Site Commission, recently affirmed that Jordan is “part of the Holy Land” and described 2030 — marking 2,000 years since Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan — as an opportunity to strengthen the country’s place on the Christian pilgrimage map.
In an interview with ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Twal said the holy sites of Jordan and Palestine are connected through a single spiritual journey and stressed that the goal is not competition among countries to attract pilgrims but rather a shared experience of faith in the Holy Land.
Twal said the Church views the Holy Land as the “geography of salvation.” Its sacred sites, he explained, are not merely places to visit but spaces where the faithful can live out a spiritual experience and encounter the local Church.
He emphasized that tourism preparations, investments, and infrastructure development must not overshadow the spiritual dimension of the occasion. Development, he said, should serve the pilgrim’s experience and help pilgrims live it fully rather than turn a holy site into merely a tourist destination.
Twal praised the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s response to the initiative for 2030 and its establishment of a high-level national committee chaired by the prime minister. He said cooperation among the state, the Church, the private sector, and relevant institutions could create a partnership that brings together the occasion’s religious, humanitarian, and cultural dimensions.
He also explained that his relationship with the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ has evolved from the personal and spiritual experience of his episcopal consecration there in 2025 into a direct ecclesial responsibility focused on preserving the site’s sacred character and serving pilgrims and visitors.
Twal described the local Church as the “living stones” of the Holy Land. He emphasized the importance of introducing pilgrims to the lives of its Christians through their families, young people, schools, and social and ecclesial institutions, enabling visitors to discover their experience of faith and their presence in society.
He said the occasion could also create new opportunities for development, particularly for young people, by advancing the hospitality, services, and religious tourism sectors and making use of technology. Such efforts, he noted, could generate employment and support local communities.
Twal called for reconnecting the region’s holy sites within a single pilgrimage route. When circumstances permit, he said, pilgrims could travel through Egypt, Jordan, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth, allowing them to experience the “full journey.”
He stressed that the “success of 2030” should not be measured solely by its celebrations but by what remains afterward in the life of the Church, pilgrimage, and the local community. He added that the occasion could mark the beginning of a journey extending to 2033 and the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Twal summarized the message he hopes pilgrims will carry home with the words: “Renew your baptismal promises.” He called for each visit to be accompanied by a renewal of faith, an encounter with the local Church, and a deeper understanding of the experience of Arab Christians in the Holy Land.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
EU bishops warn about risks of deleting names from baptismal records
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE, by its Latin acronym) has reiterated its concerns over the possible deletion of baptismal records within the European Union. Their reaction follows the nonbinding opinion issued on Oct. 1 by Laila Medina, advocate general at the Court of Justice of the EU.
In her opinion regarding case C-12/25, “Bisdom Gent,” (Diocese of Ghent) brought by a Belgian citizen who demanded that the Diocese of Ghent delete his baptismal data, Medina opened the door to the possibility that ecclesiastical archives could be required to erase the name of a baptized person who requests such removal after leaving the Church.
To date, the standard practice has been to make a marginal note recording the interested partyʼs wish, without erasing the person’s data.
In an Oct. 5 statement, COMECE noted that the ruling acknowledges that “the assessments required by the case are ‘complex’” and, in several respects, “leaves room for the role of national courts” and also impinge upon “the relevance of Church autonomy and of its freedom of religion,” as well as the importance to the Catholic Church of the “correct administration of the sacraments.”
Concerns and questions
The representatives of the episcopal conferences to the EU emphasized that “several elements expressed in the opinion raise concerns and questions.” In particular, the fact that it “rejects the solution of adding to the baptismal record a marginal annotation of the wishes of the relevant data subject.”
For the Catholic Church, this stance represents a departure from the fact that "across diverse legal systems and state-church relations models — consistent national jurisprudence in the EU Member States has accepted this practice as an entirely adequate legal solution in case of erasure requests concerning baptismal registers.”
“Erasing the name and surname of the baptized person from the record of a baptism entirely deprives the registration of the baptism, as such, of its meaning, value and purpose,” COMECE added, noting: “This crucial aspect seems to have been neglected.”
At the same time, COMECE criticized the ruling for also lacking an analysis of the impact of erasure “on the interests and rights of third parties” — referring to parents, godparents, or the priest administering the sacrament.
Furthermore, COMECE pointed out that the “considerations regarding the possible emotional distress that could result from retaining a person’s data in a baptismal register are also unconvincing.”
‘Significant legal uncertainty’
In addition COMECE expressed concern that, “if confirmed, the orientation provided by the opinion may create significant legal uncertainty for ecclesiastical data controllers” in EU member states, a situation it described as “particularly serious” because such uncertainty “would strike at baptismal registers, which are a central pillar of the Church’s internal functioning and organization, and are vital to enabling it to carry out its mission.”
Furthermore, representatives of the European Union prelates point out that “to avoid misconstructions, it is important to highlight that no general or automatic right to erase data from baptismal records is recognized in the opinion.”
Finally, COMECE recalled that Pope Leo XIV, in a recent speech delivered in Metz, France, cited Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), noting “that the principle of secularism governing the life of states also presupposes respect by national and European authorities for the autonomy of the Churches and the promotion of their freedom of organization, expression, and worship.”
In its statement, COMECE went on to look forward to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the case, trusting “that it will establish a more favorable line with regard to the protection of baptismal registers from erasure.” The COMECE Legal Affairs Commission is also working to prepare a more in-depth position paper on the ruling.
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.
Historic Catholic parish in Alabama marks 100 years with ecumenical tent revival
A historic Catholic parish established in 1926 is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary on Oct. 18. Our Mother of Mercy Parish in Plateau, Alabama, has been serving the Catholic community in Africatown since its founding.
Africatown is a historic community located just north of Mobile, Alabama, founded by West African survivors of the Clotilda — the last known slave ship to illegally transport captive people to the United States. While Africatown is known for its major Baptist landmarks, the different denominations located in the area came together for an ecumenical event Sept. 22–24.
As part of the celebration leading up to the 100th anniversary — which will include a special Mass, music, food, and fellowship — the Archdiocese of Mobile hosted a tent revival in collaboration with all the churches of Africatown. The theme’s revival was “Be Made Whole.”
Father Victor Ingalls is the pastor of seven parishes in the Archdiocese of Mobile, a majority of which are historically Black Catholic churches, as well as one Hispanic church and another Native American church.
Ingalls explained in an interview with EWTN News that the Black Catholic community has a long tradition of holding revivals.
“Itʼs really like having a Lenten mission or Advent mission, but kind of infused with Black culture … and it takes the best of Black culture and fuses it with the best of Catholicism,” he said.
He pointed out that one of the staples of these revivals is that they have “always had an ecumenical flavor.”
After hosting a successful revival earlier in the year, several non-Catholic ministers, who are friends of Ingalls’, asked him when he was planning to host a revival in Mobile. He began to pray about it and met with those who suggested it to see what they could come up with. They suggested hosting it in Africatown seeing as Our Mother of Mercy Parish — located in Africatown — was coming up on its 100th anniversary.
Roughly 500 people of different denominations showed up for the tent revival in Africatown. In line with the theme, the first night’s talks focused on being made whole as an individual, the second night covered being made whole as a community, and the last evening discussed being made whole as the body of Christ.
Ingalls said he believes ecumenical events like this are important for the Church today because they are a response to Jesus’ prayer in John 17.
“I believe because of what Jesus Christ said, it is our disunity as Christians that keeps the world from believing,” Ingalls said. “Our disunity is a condemnation against ourselves. We condemn ourselves and we undercut our efforts to try to spread the Gospel by being a dysfunctional family.”
He added: “Thereʼs a reason why people donʼt take Christians seriously and itʼs because thereʼs 40,000 different flavors of us. Itʼs hard to take that seriously. It’s like, ‘Hey, come be a part of this.’ Theyʼre like, ‘Well, Iʼve already got enough drama and dysfunction and division in my life, why would I want to be part of that?’”
Ingalls said he hopes those who attended the tent revival took with them that “it does not matter your circumstance as an individual or as part of any organization or even the Church, you can be made whole by Jesus Christ.”
“Everyone loves to talk about how divided we are these days and how things are getting worse and people are so isolated and divided and depressed and anxious and we just addressed it and said, ‘Well, weʼre trying to look at all these problems, but thereʼs only one real solution and his name is Jesus Christ.’”
“It does not matter how messy your personal life is, it does not matter how messy your relationship with your family, your friends and your neighbors is … it is not beyond the reach of Jesus Christ,” Ingalls emphasized. “He can make you whole. He can make us whole. And just the fact that nearly 500 people came and sat together under a tent in Africatown itself was a testimony to what God can do.”