84-year-old woman speaks out after being offered euthanasia while visiting Canadian ER for back pain
Miriam Lancaster’s story sparked “outrage” after she shared that she was offered medical assistance in dying (MAID) after arriving at a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hospital with back pain.
In 2025, 84-year-old Lancaster was taken to Vancouver General Hospital via ambulance after waking up with intense back pain. She was taken out of the ambulance and placed into the emergency room.
“The first person that I remember coming to speak to me was a young lady doctor. And this is where the story begins,” Lancaster recalled in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly.” “The very first thing she said to me was, ‘I would like to offer you MAID.’”
MAID is the euthanasia and assisted suicide law in Canada that allows a physician or nurse practitioner to administer or provide a drug that causes death to the patient.
After the doctor offered MAID, “I said: ‘No, thank you,’” Lancaster said. “I was certainly taken aback, and there were so many other things on my mind.”
Lancaster said she was thinking: “Yesterday I was feeling fine. I got out of bed this morning, and suddenly I am not feeling fine. I am in horrendous pain. So I need to know what’s causing the pain. Let’s not talk about end of life please.’”
“My husband, three years previously, had also been offered MAID. He turned it down,” Lancaster said. As “practicing Catholics, there is no way that we are going to take measures to end our life. That is in the hands of the Lord. So he turned down MAID when he was in hospital, and a few years later, there I am in the same hospital, and I gave the same response.”
Later, Lancaster was moved to the UBC Hospital. “By this time they knew that I had a tiny crack in my sacrum. That’s a little bone at the base of the spine,” she said. “There’s no surgery possible, so I was in bed, with some exercises of course, for three weeks.”
“When I got home, I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve been given a second chance here. I am going to make the most of whatever time is left,’” she said.
Lancaster said she and her daughter decided to travel to Cuba in the fall and to Mexico and Guatemala in the spring. While on her trip, Lancaster even went horseback riding on a volcano.
Offering MAID ‘defeats a person’s sense of self-worth’
Amanda Achtman, who works to humanize the conversation around suffering and death through the Dying to Meet You Project, told “EWTN News Nightly” she hopes Lancaster’s story “emboldens other seniors to speak out too” who have had similar experiences.
“Your story has gone totally viral in media all around the world because people are rightly outraged at the suggestion that you could have been offered death when you have so much life to live,” Achtman said to Lancaster.
People who are opting for MAID “are being killed by having a lethal injection administered by a doctor or nurse directly,” Achtman said. “And now in Canada, 1 in 20 deaths is the result of this premature hastening of an end of life.”
MAID “is the suggestion that is being made more and more often to Canadian seniors,” she said.
Achtman also works with Canadian Physicians for Life on ethics education and she teaches a bioethics course for St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry. She was recently invited by the bishop of the Diocese of Victoria, Canada, to Vancouver Island, which she said is “literally the euthanasia capital of the world.”
“And while there, I met Miriam, but also others who shared with me experiences about unsolicited offers of euthanasia within the health care system,” she said.
One woman shared her story with Achtman about “having had euthanasia brought up by her family doctor, by a cancer specialist, and even by the funeral home.”
“Now, bringing up euthanasia is not prohibited in Canada, according to the Canadian Association of MAID Providers and Assessors — the government-funded group that is promoting this,” Achtman said. “There’s no prohibition, and they stress that.”
“However, what I would stress is that simply having euthanasia offered already kills a person, because it deflates and defeats a person’s sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and of value,” she said.
Syria’s churches scale back Easter celebrations after attack on Christian town
A tense calm hangs over the predominantly Christian town of Al-Suqaylabiyah in Syria’s Hama countryside after it was attacked on Friday, March 27, by armed groups from outside the town, leaving widespread damage to public and private property.
Footage documenting the destruction — filmed by the attackers themselves or secretly recorded by residents — showed acts of vandalism and theft targeting cars, shops, cafes, and other property, accompanied by threatening chants and insults.
The assault was not an isolated incident. Local sources reported that another attempted attack was thwarted the next day by general security personnel, deepening residents’ fears that such assaults could happen again.
In immediate response, the town’s residents staged a protest sit-in, raising clear demands, most notably rejecting a “single-color army” (a force dominated by one religious or ethnic group), insisting on compensation for the damage, and calling for those responsible to be held accountable, including members of General Security, whom protesters accused of taking part in the attack.
The demonstrators also stressed their rejection of uncontrolled weapons and sectarianism, affirming that public and private freedoms are a “red line.” They voiced frustration with some media coverage that described the incident as merely an individual dispute, holding signs denouncing “false media” and refusing to give interviews to state-run outlets.
On the ecclesial level, reactions were swift and firm. The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, together with most Churches in Syria, announced that Easter celebrations would be reduced to prayers inside churches only, citing “the current discouraging circumstances.”
At the same time, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East strongly condemned what happened, saying that incidents targeting the Christian community cannot be dismissed as “individual incidents” and warning against the dangers of fueling sectarian tendencies.
The patriarchate also called for an official investigation, accountability for those responsible, and compensation for those affected. It stressed that responsibility for maintaining security rests solely with the state and its institutions, along with the need to control the spread of weapons outside state authority. It further emphasized the importance of upholding citizenship and integration among all components of Syrian society, far from the logic of majority and minority.
For its part, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama described what happened as an attack carried out by “outlaw groups,” calling for strict legal measures, including the formation of a judicial investigative committee, accountability for those involved and those who failed in their duties, enforcement of laws restricting weapons to the hands of the state, and guarantees of equality among citizens.
At the same time as the Al-Suqaylabiyah incident, a U.N. report said more than 1,700 people were killed and around 200,000 displaced during a single week of violence in the south of the country in July 2025, most of them Druze civilians. The report warned that the humanitarian situation remains fragile and documented violations that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
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.
Trump to continue supplying Title X grants to Planned Parenthood for another year
The Trump administration, citing legal challenges, said it will continue to give Title X grants to Planned Parenthood for another year — a move pro-life leaders see as a “betrayal.”
The administration first restored Biden-era Title X funds to Planned Parenthood in January, to the outcry of pro-lifers. News broke March 31 that the administration would extend the grants for another year, just a day before they were set to lapse.
Thanks to the grants, Planned Parenthood and some other clinics will continue to be able to submit reimbursement receipts to the federal government for low-income patients who received birth control and other non-abortion services.
While grants won’t directly cover abortion — the Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from doing so — grants will subsidize an organization that performs hundreds of thousands of abortions yearly.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the agency will issue Title X grant notices for 2027 “matched with agency priorities.”
The Trump administration had initially paused the grants in 2025, but after facing legal challenges from Planned Parenthood, HHS released the grants in January. Most pro-life groups decried the decision, though a few defended it by saying it was the administration’s only viable option as 42 U.S. Code Part 300, the rule governing family planning grants, had not been amended.
National pro-life groups have denounced the decision to keep funding Planned Parenthood. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called the move “an inexplicable slap in the face to the pro-life GOP base.”
“This is a clear abandonment as the first Trump administration enacted the Protect Life Rule to stop Title X funding of Planned Parenthood,” Dannenfelser said. “It should have been ‘Day 1’ policy in the second administration. Instead, we are 14 months in and this hasn’t been prevented.”
Dannenfelser called the move “political suicide.”
“Three out of four GOP base voters support defunding Planned Parenthood,” Dannenfelser said. “One-third of those voters say they’d be less enthusiastic about voting this November if the GOP abandons pro-life policies.”
“This comes on the heels of the administration undermining GOP states by allowing the shipping of abortion drugs into their borders, violating their laws,” Dannenfelser continued. “And it comes after the president suggesting the GOP should be ‘flexible’ on the Hyde Amendment. This spells disaster for November.”
Jennie Bradley Lichter, who heads the March for Life, said that “funding Planned Parenthood is not, by any stretch of the imagination, Making America Healthy Again.”
“Absolutely maddening that [the HHS] is continuing to fund an org whose business model is built on ending human lives, misleading pregnant women into thinking abortion is their only option, and delivering substandard health care even in the rare cases when abortion is not involved,” Lichter said in statement provided to EWTN News.
Live Action called on the Trump administration to reverse the decision.
“The Trump administration has decided [to] CONTINUE supplying Title X funds to Planned Parenthood,” the statement read. “This is the largest abortion corporation in the country. They don’t need our tax dollars. They don’t deserve our tax dollars. This decision MUST be reversed.”
“Over 400,000 unborn children are killed by this corporation every year, making them the largest abortion chain in America,” Live Action President Lila Rose said. “The blood of these babies cries out. Taxpayer dollars should never fund the killing of innocent human beings.”
“The Trump administration’s decision to keep Title X federal funding going to Planned Parenthood is unacceptable,” Rose said in a statement shared with EWTN News. “Taxpayer dollars should never be used to prop up America’s largest abortion business. Planned Parenthood exists to end the lives of preborn children, and every dollar it receives helps sustain an industry built on violence against the innocent.”
“This decision is a betrayal of the pro-life Americans who expected this administration to stand firmly against abortion and against the forced public funding of those who commit it,” Rose continued. “The American people should not be made to subsidize abortion businesses under the guise of women’s health. Title X funds should go to real health care providers that serve women and families without taking innocent human life. The administration should reverse course immediately and fully defund Planned Parenthood.”
Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pope Leo makes Holy Week appeal to Trump, world leaders to end Iran war
Pope Leo XIV has renewed his appeal for peace in a world wounded by conflict and violence.
In remarks to journalists on March 31 outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, the pope reminded that “Easter should be the holiest, most sacred time of the year. It is a time of peace, a time for much reflection, but as we all know, once again in the world, in so many places, we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children.”
The pope said he had been told President Donald Trump wants to end the war in the Middle East and expressed hope that Trump is seeking a way to decrease the violence.
Pope Leo asked everyone, “especially Christians,” to “live these days recognizing that Christ is still crucified today, that Christ still suffers today in the innocent, especially those who are suffering from violence, hatred, and war.”
“Let us pray for them, for the victims of war, let us pray that there may truly be a new, renewed peace, which can give new life to all,” Pope Leo urged.
“We make continuous appeals for peace, but unfortunately many people want to promote hatred and violence, war,” the pope said.
Hope for a truce
He expressed hope for a truce during Easter, saying: “I’m told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war. Hopefully he’s looking for an ‘off ramp.’ Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created and that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere.”
The pope addressed all world leaders, urging them: “Come back to the table, to dialogue. Let’s look for solutions to problems, let’s look for ways to reduce the amount of violence that we’re promoting, that peace — especially at Easter — might reign in our hearts.”
In response to a question about his plans, announced today, to carry a cross during the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome, the pope said: “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents: a spiritual leader in today’s world, a voice to say that Christ still suffers. And I carry all these sufferings in my prayers as well.”
He asked “all people of goodwill, to people of faith, to walk together, to walk with Christ who suffered for us, to give us salvation, and to seek to be bearers of peace ourselves.”
Catholic priest fundraises, gives gift cards to unpaid TSA workers amid partial shutdown
A Catholic priest raised money and gave gift cards to employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) while a partial government shutdown forced most of the workforce to work without pay.
Father Jim Sichko, a papal missionary of mercy, held a 24-hour fundraiser for the workers that he advertised across social media platforms, raising about $20,000. The act coincided with his effort to perform random acts of kindness for those in need.
Some of TSA’s funding is on hold as lawmakers debate broader funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees TSA. Democrats are trying to include reforms to immigration enforcement in the funding package as Republicans are resisting any language that could curtail President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Trump signed an executive order on March 27 to provide some back pay to TSA employees, and future payments remain in limbo amid the congressional deadlock.
Sichko, who travels frequently by air, told EWTN News he delivered gift cards to TSA workers during flights he already scheduled. He gave a bundle of gift cards in denominations of $10 and $20 to workers in Lexington, Kentucky, and Chicago, providing a total of $11,000 worth of gift cards to employees.
The donated gift cards comply with federal regulations that prohibit employees from accepting direct cash gifts but allow them to accept small amounts of money in gift cards for restaurants, grocery stores, and a few other products.
Sichko is holding onto the remaining $9,000 because TSA workers have begun to receive back pay. He plans to resume gifting the rest of the gift cards to TSA workers if their pay is disrupted again. Otherwise, he said he will probably donate them to Catholic Charities.
“It was a justice issue for me,” Sichko said when asked why he decided to launch the fundraiser for TSA employees.
“They’re working, with families who need to be fed, bills that need to be paid, utilities that [are] … due and, as a priest, as a person of God, I think it’s my duty to help them,” he said. “... These people were working without pay and they have families and they already are in a stressful job.”
Sichko said he relies on TSA for his ministry because he frequently travels by airplane, and these employees are “keeping me safe to be able to do the ministry to which I’m called.” He said he considers TSA workers “partners with me in the ministry to which I am called because they keep me and my fellow passengers safe.”
He thanked those who contributed to the fundraiser and said the acts of kindness are “a way of evangelizing.” He said the fundraising “allows people the opportunity to be co-ministers, to really fulfill their baptismal promise of being ministers.”
“To see how people responded, it really shows us that we truly can be kind, we truly can be Christ to one another,” Sichko said.
During the previous government shutdown, when TSA employees were working without pay, Sichko provided them with meals.
Sichko often raises money to perform other acts of kindness and to help people in need. This includes help to those affected by hurricanes in southeast Texas, flooding in eastern Kentucky, tornadoes in western Kentucky, and fires in eastern Tennessee.
He has also raised money to support the cost of funerals for people, including the children and workers who died in the July 2025 flooding of Camp Mystic in central Texas.
“This is part of the ministry of being a papal missionary of mercy,” Sichko said.
Religious freedom panel warns of attacks against Christians in central Africa
Violence is escalating against Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Islamic State group, a militant organization, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
USCIRF said in a March 31 report that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Democratic Republic of Congo (ISIS-DRC), have been “carrying out a sustained pattern of attacks in eastern DRC that represents a direct assault on religious freedom, particularly for Christian communities in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.”
“Early 2026 has brought no respite from ADF violence, as the group has continued to carry out attacks on predominantly Christian areas,” the report said. “In one display of its depravity, the group executed around 70 civilians in a Christian village in North Kivu in February, beheading men, women, children, and elderly victims alike.”
The report said the latest attacks are part of a continuing trend of violence, which it traced to 2024, when it said ADF fighters “reportedly carried out multiple assaults on predominantly Christian villages and church gatherings in and around Beni, North Kivu, including attacks on prayer meetings and the killing of local pastors and congregants.”
The report also noted attacks that occurred in July of that year, with ADF fighters killing an estimated 40 Christians, in addition to numerous abductions and forced displacement, “that prompted some churches to suspend services or close altogether.”
The pattern of violence escalated in 2025, the report said, with attacks on Christian villages in North Kivu and in Kasanga in February, as well as “a major assault on worshippers attending a night vigil at a Catholic church in Komanda, Ituri province, killing dozens of men, women, and children gathered for prayer.” Further attacks took place over the course of the year, the report said, including strikes on Christian villages, funeral wakes, and facilities.
The commission noted the Trump administration’s efforts to address security concerns in the DRC through the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity between the DRC and Rwanda, as well as targeted sanctions against human rights offenders and militant groups, but noted “insecurity remains high.”
“The ADF and other nonstate actors represent persistent threats to religious communities in the area, as mass killings, abductions, and attacks on places of worship continue to generate widespread fear, drive displacement, and disrupt communal religious life,” the commission said in the report. “These challenges highlight the pressing need for sustained security operations, strengthened accountability, and robust civilian protection measures in the DRC to ensure that all are able to live, worship, and practice their religion or belief freely.”
Members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) have condemned violence in the region, pledging not to remain silent in the face of the worsening security and humanitarian crisis in a statement following their March 23–25 plenary assembly.
“Our goal is to contribute, among other things, to the promotion of the inalienable dignity of the human person and to the well-being of the Congolese people. Therefore, in the face of the degrading security and humanitarian situation of our country, we will not be silent,” the faith leaders said.
Apostleship of the Sea: 20,000 sailors stranded near Strait of Hormuz ‘living in constant anguish’
There are approximately 20,000 sailors stranded near the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most strategic maritime routes — according to data compiled by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
However, beyond the economic and geopolitical impact, the war is “breaking down the mental health of these workers,” said Bishop Emeritus Luis Quinteiro Fiuza of Tui-Vigo in Spain, the head of the Apostleship of the Sea, in a statement to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
“Those stranded on those ships, unable to cross through the strait for weeks, live in constant anguish,” he said, indicating that these sailors are living “with the very real fear that everything could end at any moment by being bombed.”
In the week following the Paschal Triduum, Quinteiro is scheduled to travel to London to hold high-level meetings at the IMO — the United Nations agency responsible for the safety and security of maritime trade — which has proposed the creation of a “safe maritime corridor” to allow vessels to leave the Persian Gulf region and pass through the Strait of Hormuz without risk.
“We are facing a truly dramatic situation for everyone, but especially for seafarers and their families,” Quinteiro emphasized. Despite the logistical constraints in the region where there is virtually no Christian presence, the Apostleship of the Sea maintains contact with some of the families of those currently stranded aboard the ships.
“Families are experiencing this with immense anguish. They are horrified, monitoring events minute by minute, and many tell us they are completely overwhelmed,” he shared.
Moreover, in many cases, the isolation of the vessels that have been unable to go through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began is almost total: “Right now, there are ships with their internet down. It is a situation of utter abandonment.”
“Imagine being on a ship, watching missiles or instruments of destruction fly past. How must a person feel in the midst of that?” Quinteiro said, explaining that the Church’s mission in this context is to offer emotional and spiritual support to both the sailors and their families.
This constant pressure, coupled with the inability to leave the area, further aggravates the situation: “They can’t get back to their home country. They’re stranded. That is the word: completely stranded.”
“Ninety percent of global trade is conducted by sea, yet, unfortunately, we forget about the seafarers. Moreover, it is an increasingly unattractive occupation, staffed largely by people from poorer countries, which exacerbates the injustices,” the prelate noted.
Pope Leo XIV made reference — albeit indirectly — to those stranded in the Strait of Hormuz during the Angelus on Palm Sunday by asking for prayers for sailors suffering the consequences of conflicts.
Last November, Pope Leo recognized the legal standing of the Apostleship of the Sea, a decision that reinforced the organization’s role as an instrument of spiritual and human accompaniment for a group that is frequently overlooked, despite being essential to the functioning of global trade.
In 1977, the then-Pontifical Commission for Migrants published the decree Apostolatus Maris, updating the regulations following the Second Vatican Council. Two decades later, St. John Paul II renewed this commitment with the motu proprio Stella Maris, consolidating the Church’s mission in the maritime sphere. More recently, Pope Francis entrusted the direction of this work to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, underscoring the importance of comprehensive care for people of the sea.
“In the maritime world, there is a great need for justice. To evangelize today means being alongside these people, accompanying them, and making them feel that they are not alone: it means not only defending justice and workers’ rights but also offering closeness, comfort, and hope amid extreme situations,” Quinteiro explained.
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 April
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of April is for priests in crisis.
In a video released on X, the Holy Father posed a question for the faithful: “Have you ever been in a crisis?”
“In moments of fragility, it’s so important that we are there for one another,” he said. “This April, I invite you to join me in prayer for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find accompaniment and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.”
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.
Lord Jesus,
Good Shepherd and companion on the journey,
today we place in your hands all priests,
especially those going through moments of crisis,
when loneliness weighs heavily,
when doubt clouds their hearts,
and when exhaustion seems stronger than hope.
You who know their struggles and wounds,
renew in them the certainty of your unconditional love.
Let them feel they are not mere functionaries or lonely heroes,
but beloved sons, humble and cherished disciples,
and pastors sustained by the prayer of their people.
Good Father,
teach us as a community to care for our priests:
to listen without judging,
to give thanks without demanding perfection,
to share with them the baptismal mission
of proclaiming the kingdom in word and deed,
and to accompany them with closeness and sincere prayer.
May we support those who so often support us.
Holy Spirit,
rekindle in our priests the joy of the Gospel.
Grant them healthy friendships, networks of fraternal support,
a sense of humor when things don’t go as expected,
and the grace to always rediscover the beauty of their vocation.
May they never lose trust in you,
nor the joy of serving your Church with a humble and generous heart.
Amen.
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.
Catholic Church in Holy Land rejects death penalty, calls for mercy and human dignity
Amid growing controversy over the Israeli Knesset’s recent approval of a law permitting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners, the Catholic Church in the Holy Land is raising its voice in defense of the sanctity of life and the inherent dignity of every human person.
The measure has stirred not only legal and political debate but also deep ethical and moral questions for believers about the meaning of justice and mercy in times of conflict.
In an exclusive interview with ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Father Bernard Poggi, rector of the Latin Patriarchal Seminary in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, reflected on the Church’s opposition to the death penalty and on how Christian faith can guide society toward alternatives that foster peace and reconciliation rather than deepen cycles of violence.
Poggi said human life is a divine gift that must never be violated and that any effort to impose the death penalty stands in contradiction to the core values of the Gospel and Christian ethics.
He explained that the Church’s teaching is rooted in the Book of Genesis, which affirms that the human person is created in the image of God and therefore possesses a dignity and rights that belong to God alone.
“The divine image in each person grants that person sacredness and intrinsic worth,” Poggi said. “This is why the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ remains one of the foundational principles of the Ten Commandments.”
He added that the sanctity of life extends to all humanity, pointing to the story of Cain and Abel, in which God punishes Cain for killing his brother, underscoring that human life is not for one person to take from another.
“The Church upholds the sanctity of life as a fundamental value that must be protected, and no authority has the right to impose death as punishment,” he said.
Poggi also cited paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which rejects the death penalty as an attack on human dignity and expresses the Church’s commitment to working for its abolition worldwide.
“The Catholic Church, in its official teaching, calls for the rejection of the death penalty as a violation of human dignity,” he said. “The Church is committed to working for the abolition of this punishment everywhere and to raising awareness of the sanctity of life.”
He also referred to the witness of the American religious sister Helen Prejean, whom he met and who became known for accompanying death row inmates in the United States. Prejean is the author of “Dead Man Walking,” published in 1993 and later adapted into a major film in 1995.
“Through her work, we see how the death penalty affects inmates and their families and how it raises profound moral questions about justice and mercy,” Poggi said. “Even in the harshest conditions, prisoners retain their human dignity, and that dignity belongs to God alone.”
Reflecting on the political and ethical consequences of capital punishment, Poggi warned that using the death penalty as a deterrent or political instrument distorts the very meaning of justice.“
Today, ideas of justice are often twisted in many countries and shaped by political interests rather than by human and ethical values,” he said. “Revenge becomes dominant, and innocent people are often punished as scapegoats.”
“Revenge does not achieve justice,” he continued, echoing a phrase often attributed to Mother Teresa: “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”
He stressed that capital punishment robs a person of the possibility of repentance and reform and closes the door to hope.
“Every person makes mistakes,” he said. “Punishment should seek correction, not revenge. An ultimate penalty such as execution blocks the path of change and repentance.”
Poggi also warned of the political dangers of applying the death penalty in conflict zones.
“In the Middle East, anyone who politically or ideologically opposes the system can become a target simply because of their beliefs,” he said. “This threatens freedom of expression and weakens society’s ability to build justice and reconciliation.”
Speaking specifically about Palestinians, he said many detainees in Israeli prisons have had only limited opportunities to defend themselves or to receive proper legal representation.
“New laws imposing the death penalty increase the risk of killing innocent people and widen the gap between communities instead of encouraging reconciliation and mercy,” he said.
He also reflected on the spiritual meaning of the issue during Holy Week.
“We are living through Holy Week, when we remember the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, who himself was a victim of laws applied unjustly,” Poggi said. “Jesus did not defend himself through threats or force but offered an example of forgiveness and life.”
He added that the Church’s call to defend human life is the foundation for building true peace and a just society.
“Real justice is fulfilled in life, not in death,” he said. “Every person must have the door of hope left open to return from his mistakes.”
Poggi emphasized that this message is not meant only for Christians but also for the whole world. “The Holy Land needs light, not darkness; life, not blood,” he said. “The message is clear: Human life is sacred, and forgiveness is needed at every moment.”
The priest concluded with a theological reflection: “The human person is created in the image of God, and Christ offered redemption for all humanity,” he said. “Every person is called to a better life. Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins and remains the supreme example of mercy and the possibility of change.”
Vatican official warns of ‘Christianophobia’ in Muslim world and secular West
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu is alarmed about rising hostility toward Christians, both in parts of the Islamic world and in Europe’s increasingly post‑Christian culture.
Nwachukwu, who serves as secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, told EWTN News that any serious conversation about peace and coexistence must begin with clear condemnation of anti‑Christian violence, particularly from Muslim leaders in places where Christians lack full religious freedom.
The Nigerian prelate also warned of a growing cultural aversion to Christianity in the West, where Christian expression is often treated with suspicion even as societies insist on defending the religious symbols of others.
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit four countries in Africa, including the Muslim-majority Algeria, on his first apostolic journey to the continent April 13–23.
A diplomat urges Muslims to confront anti‑Christian violence
Drawing on decades of diplomatic service in Ghana, Paraguay, Algeria, and Switzerland, Nwachukwu described the anti‑Christian discrimination he witnessed firsthand — experiences he believes continue to be overlooked.
“I do not criticize Islam; I criticize the way some people practice their Islam,” he said. “People just shout about Islamophobia, but its main cause is not to be sought in the West. It is to be sought in the way some Muslims practice their religion. We are calling our Muslim friends to condemn the wrong use of their religion as a religion of violence.”
He recalled that during his service in Algeria, Christians were openly labeled “enemies of Islam.” In one incident, a shopkeeper refused to serve him because he was wearing a Roman collar.
“Christians still do not have full liberty to practice their religion,” he said.
A West increasingly uncomfortable with its Christian roots
But Nwachukwu also directed sharp criticism toward Europe, where he sees a growing reluctance to defend Christianity even as Western societies emphasize religious tolerance.
“Everybody denounces Islamophobia, but nobody denounces Christianophobia,” he said. “We are in a post‑Christian Europe and a post‑Christian West.”
He noted that Christian symbols face discrimination not applied to other religions: “You enter a hall and see a symbol of Buddhism — nobody touches it. You see a Muslim in a hijab — nobody says to remove it. But you see a cross, and they say, ‘Remove it.’ Why?”
This, he argued, reflects a cultural embarrassment about Europe’s Christian heritage:
“It is like feeling guilty for having a mother who is ugly and then forgetting that she also has rights. The Christianity that gave them their education, culture, and society — they now feel uncomfortable with it.”
Reverse missionaries and a hopeful response to Europe’s secular drift
Nwachukwu said this situation makes the growing presence of African and Asian missionaries in Europe all the more significant, as a hopeful sign that the global Church can help rekindle the continent’s Christian identity.
“The West often forgets that we are the result of sacrifices made by their own brothers and sisters who became missionaries,” he said. “But the sheaves — the children of those missionaries — are now returning.”
Nwachukwu described this movement as a gift that can strengthen Western Christianity in places where secularism has taken deep root.
“We want to see the mother Churches in Europe accept and be proud of their missionary children from the global south.”
Encouragement for persecuted Christians
To Christians facing persecution — whether under hostile regimes, extremist movements, or secular cultural pressures — Nwachukwu offered a message of strength: “If you are encountering persecution, it means that the message you have is important. If your message were not important, people wouldn’t even think of you. So, the message is: Do not feel you are alone. Know what you are worth.”