Mathematicians can become ‘signs of hope for the world,’ Pope Leo XIV says
In a message conveyed through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV on Friday said that mathematicians can become “signs of hope for the world,” particularly in a context marked by rapid technological advancements and challenges facing humanity.
The pope’s message was addressed to the Turkish mathematician and university professor Betül Tanbay, chair of the International Day of Mathematics, which was observed March 13.
Tanbay had informed the pontiff of a webinar dedicated to the theme “Mathematics and Hope.” In response, the pope sent a letter extending his cordial greetings and best wishes to all participants in the initiative.
In the text, Leo XIV invited reflection on the role that mathematics can play in the face of “the multiple challenges confronting the human family,” citing rapid technological development, with all its potential “for both good and evil.”
The pontiff encouraged participants to consider how mathematicians can offer a positive witness to society. “A particularly fruitful area of research is the use of algorithms, especially in the field of artificial intelligence,” he noted.
However, the pope emphasized that work in these fields demands something more than technical competence. As he pointed out, this task requires “not only intellectual effort and ingenuity but also the integral growth of the whole person,” capable of taking into account the moral dimension of emerging technologies.
Recalling his own experience as a mathematics and physics teacher, Leo XIV quoted words he addressed to students during the Jubilee of the World of Education, held on Oct. 30, 2025: “Possessing vast knowledge is not enough if we don’t know who we are or what the meaning of life is.”
Along these lines, the pontiff expressed his hope that participants would be attentive “to the profound spiritual needs of the human heart” and seek ways to humanize the digital realm so that it may become an opportunity for fraternity and creativity.
Likewise, he encouraged mathematicians to be “prophets of hope, truth, and goodness in the world.”
The message concluded with a prayer from the pope for all participants in the International Day of Mathematics, upon whom he invoked “abundant divine blessings of wisdom, joy, and peace.”
Pope Leo XIV’s mathematical background
Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, graduated in 1977 from Villanova University in Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics alongside studies in philosophy. This preceded the beginning of his theological studies upon his formal entry into the Augustinian novitiate that same year.
During his time at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Prevost combined his religious formation with teaching: He taught mathematics part time at Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago and worked occasionally as a substitute physics teacher at St. Rita of Cascia High School.
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.
Judicial Watch sues Minnesota governor over school security funding records
A conservative government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, claiming his office failed to respond to a public-records request seeking documents on school security funding and whether nonpublic schools were considered for state safety programs.
Judicial Watch submitted the request to the governor’s office on Aug. 28, 2025, — one day after a gunman killed two children and wounded 17 others during an all-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis. The March 4 complaint seeks communications from January 2022 through August 2025 concerning proposals to extend the state’s Safe Schools funding and a proposed $50 million Building and Cyber Security Grant Program to private schools.
Minnesota’s Safe Schools funding, including a 2019 supplemental appropriation, supports security improvements, emergency preparedness, mental health services, and violence-prevention initiatives in public and charter schools but does not cover roughly 72,000 students in private schools, including Catholic institutions. Judicial Watch says the lawsuit highlights repeated appeals from Minnesota Catholic Conference leaders and other school officials following major U.S. school shootings in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 and Nashville, Tennessee, in 2023, which they say were ignored by the governor.
The Minnesota Catholic Conference told EWTN News it had not engaged Judicial Watch and was disappointed the group used its name without consultation. The conference noted that 2026 legislative proposals aim to expand Safe Schools funding for all students. Walz’s office did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
Faculty at Thomas Aquinas College launch podcast
Thomas Aquinas College announced professors Christopher Decaen and John Finley will co-host a podcast, “Great Books and First Principles.”
“For a long time, I have heard from many of our alumni and friends that we should start a TAC podcast,” Thomas Aquinas College Vice President and Dean Emeritus John J. Goyette said in a press release. “Well, it’s finally happening!”
“In these episodes, we are having a serious but unscripted conversation about some of the greatest works of the greatest minds of Western civilization, discussing, wondering about, and sometimes critiquing the insights contained in these works,” Decaen said.
Mirroring the curriculum at the college, the podcast hosts will discuss works of literature, philosophy, theology, natural science, and mathematics. The show will occasionally feature guests and college alumni.
The first four episodes of the podcast focus on Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto,” Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics,” Ptolemy’s “Almagest,” and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov.”
The episodes are available on podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Catholic Benedictine college in New Hampshire announces next president
St. Anselm College announced Michael Lewis, provost and chief officer at Saint Louis University, has been named its 12th president.
Lewis will assume the position at the Manchester, New Hampshire, school on July 1, according to a March 9 university press release. The statement said the university conducted a nationwide search for a candidate to replace its president, Joseph A. Favazza, who will retire June 30.
“The mission of Saint Anselm College is not simply a heritage to preserve — it is a responsibility to carry forward. In a world searching for truth, stability, community, and hope, this college has an indispensable role to play,” Lewis said.
Lewis holds a chemistry degree from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has been a faculty member at Saint Louis University since 2004 and has been provost there since 2020.
“Among his many impressive attributes, Dr. Lewis is a strong listener who builds deep relationships with others, he has made difficult decisions with the mission as the guide, and he and his wife view serving in Catholic higher education as their vocation and life calling,” Saint Anselm Board of Trustees Chair Jeb Lavelle said.
Florida’s oldest Catholic university starts Benedictine Society expanding college access
Saint Leo University in Pasco County, Florida, has launched a leadership program aimed at removing financial barriers for “talented Catholic high school students” to attend the university.
The Benedictine Society will provide four-year full tuition scholarships for “high-achieving high school students with demonstrated financial need,” according to a university press release.
Jim Burkee, president of Saint Leo University, announced the Benedictine Society during a March 7 alumni event.
“Across the country, there are thousands of remarkable students graduating from Catholic high schools who have the talent, discipline, and values to thrive at Saint Leo but don’t have the resources necessarily to afford a Saint Leo education,” Burkee said at the event.
The program also will provide opportunities for academic support, spiritual formation, and leadership development.
Gigi Duncan contributed to this report.
Federalist Society panel questions constitutionality of FACE Act, targeting of pro-lifers
In a virtual panel hosted by the conservative Federalist Society on Friday, three lawyers questioned the constitutionality of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and discussed the alleged selective enforcement against pro-life activists.
The FACE Act, which became law in 1994, imposes federal criminal penalties on people who use physical force or intimidation to interfere with access to abortion clinics, pro-life pregnancy centers, and houses of worship.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, enforcement focused mostly on pro-life advocates, who were later pardoned by President Donald Trump. Under Trump, it has been used more sparingly, but it was invoked to charge people who staged protests and a church and a synagogue.
Matthew Cavedon, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the libertarian Cato Institute, argued that the FACE Act is unnecessary and unconstitutional. He said “most police powers are exercised at the state level — not the federal level,” which is where he thinks the enforcement of those violations should be handled.
“States can absolutely respond to that with criminal charges, and it often is appropriate to do so,” he said, noting that every state has laws that protect private property rights and enforce criminal trespass violations.
Cavedon said the federal government “can step in in order to enforce people’s rights” if states are failing to protect them. However, without proof of such failures at the state level, he argued “this is not something the federal government can proactively step in and federalize.”
“I don’t think it’s constitutional because I don’t see what enumerated power of Congress justifies it,” he said.
Congress justifies the law based on its right to regulate interstate commerce, which lawmakers often cite to justify federal intervention. Cavedon called the reasoning “absolutely bonkers” and cautioned against such a broad interpretation of the commerce clause.
Erin Hawley, who serves as counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom and has argued cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, also said she has “serious constitutional concerns with the FACE Act.”
In addition to the concerns raised by Cavedon, she said it should be evaluated for its “selective’ enforcement against pro-life advocates and courts should determine “whether this statute has been evenly applied.”
“It has been dramatically targeted at pro-life individuals who have been protesting, most of them peacefully, at abortion clinics,” Hawley said.
She specifically cited the prosecution of Eva Edl, a survivor of a Soviet-run concentration camp, who was sentenced to three years of probation at the age of 87. Other pro-life advocates were given prison sentences that ranged from a few months to several years.
“If it’s going to be enforced, it should … [be] enforced equally,” Hawley said.
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty, acknowledged the constitutional concerns but said federal courts have consistently upheld the constitutionality of the law and he doubts Congress would repeal it, saying: “The question’s probably completely off the political table.”
If the law remains in place, he said enforcement should “stop being dis-equal” and prosecutors should enforce it in a balanced way.
Dys cited the Trump administration’s enforcement of the FACE Act against protesters who entered a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, which prompted charges against protesters and journalist Don Lemon. Dys said the video shows protesters were “agitating through intimidation or interference,” which is a proper justification for bringing charges.
“The law has not been faithfully applied,” he said.
In 2025, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, introduced a bill to repeal the FACE Act. The bill failed to get a full vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. Other legislative attempts have also had little success.
‘Safeguards are ignored’ around assisted suicide, per new database
More than 14,000 Americans have died by assisted suicide since Oregon became the first state to legalize the practice in 1997, a recent report by Aging with Dignity found.
A group inspired by Mother Teresa, Aging with Dignity recently compiled all reported U.S. assisted suicide data from every state since 1997 in what it said was likely a first-of-its-kind report.
The report found that a recorded 14,446 Americans have died by assisted suicide since 1997 but that “the real number is likely much higher.” The group also reported troubling trends such as drug-related complications and assisted suicide for non-terminal illnesses.
New Mexico and Montana have never released a state report, while Vermont and Washington, D.C., have not released their most recent figures. Assisted suicide was also recently legalized in New York and Delaware.
The report found “utter laxity of state enforcement and reporting efforts, often in violation of state law,” wrote Aging with Dignity research associate Billy Barvick.
The report also found a concerning pattern of assisted suicide being used to treat conditions designated as “other.”
“Across America, non-terminal conditions like lupus, complications from a fall, anorexia, and diabetes all qualified people for suicide-affirming care, and there has been an explosion of people included in the ever-increasing but cryptic designation of ‘other,’” the report read.
Additionally, the group raised concerns about complications from drugs administered during assisted suicide. Only some states track these complications.
“In states like Oregon that track ‘known complication rates,’ i.e., severe complications like seizures and vomiting while ingesting these experimental, unregulated poisons, incidents have climbed as high as 14%,” the report read.
Jamie Towey, president of Aging with Dignity, told EWTN News that “the vulnerable are in danger from these laws.”
“Following Canada’s lead, suicide-affirming care is being normalized in parts of America as just another form of health care,” Towey said. “There is a growing expectation that people seen as a ‘burden’ on society have the duty to die.”
“Safeguards like psychiatric screenings are ignored — Oregon and Washington provide screenings in less than 1% of cases,” Towey said.
“The data we have is bad; the data we don’t have is likely worse,” Towey said. “New Mexico, for example, has never released a public report. In California, a state with over 1,000 deaths annually, hundreds of required forms are missing each year. And across all states, there has been ‘a steep rise in cases where approved terminal illnesses are designated as Other.’”
California has the most assisted suicide deaths of any state — more than 5,000 deaths in less than a decade, and surpassed 1,000 physician-assisted suicide deaths in one year.
“Our hope is that researchers, political commentators, and average Americans will use Aging with Dignity’s data to see for themselves that proponents of physician-assisted suicide aren’t protecting the vulnerable as safeguards fall and eligibility expands,” Towey said.
Matt Vallière, head of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, a New York-based group that opposes assisted suicide as a form of discrimination, said the database shows “how little care is taken when assisted suicide becomes public policy.”
“Data reveal that assisted suicide in the U.S. has increased nearly 1,000% in the last 10 years,” he said. “Yet it grows unchecked with few Americans paying attention or understanding how few safeguards are in place.”
“With this new, powerful tool that organizes all reported information across the states, we need to tell our friends and neighbors what’s happening and encourage them to get involved in informing state lawmakers that assisted suicide is dangerous and removes liability and transparency from medical care,” Vallière continued.
“Meanwhile, given that perpetrating doctors are the only ones reporting this information and that there is a paucity of data on assisted suicide, we need to push for more transparency on this deadly and discriminatory public policy,” Vallière said.
Pope questions Christians’ role in wars, implies need for confession
On Friday, March 13, Pope Leo XIV issued a direct appeal to Christians who bear responsibility in armed conflicts, urging them to undertake a serious examination of conscience.
“Do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?” the pontiff asked before priests dedicated to the ministry of confession.
The Holy Father’s statement was made within an international context heightened by the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran.
The audience took place at the Vatican during a meeting with priests participating in the annual course dedicated to the formation of confessors, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. Each year, these courses bring together priests from various parts of the world to deepen their understanding of the pastoral practice of the sacrament of penance.
In his address, the pope underscored the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation, attributing to it the mission of restoring a person’s “inner unity.”
That reconciliation produces, he added, “the inner unity of the individual and unity with the Church,” and for this reason “it also promotes peace and unity within the human family.”
In his address, Leo XIV recalled that the ministry of confession demands closeness, listening, and the capacity to spiritually accompany the faithful — especially in a context marked by tensions and conflicts.
In a world that, as he put it, is experiencing a time of “fragmentation,” the pope emphasized that reconciliation fosters a person’s inner unity — a quest particularly prevalent among young people. The disappointments caused by “unbridled consumerism” or by “a freedom detached from the truth,” he noted, can become “opportunities for evangelization.”
Furthermore, he explained that reconciliation with God also has an ecclesial dimension. “In the celebration of the sacrament of confession, whilst penitents are reconciled with God and with the Church, the Church herself is edified and enriched by the renewed holiness of her repentant and forgiven children,” he remarked.
Many Christians don’t make use of the sacrament of reconciliation
Leo XIV lamented that numerous baptized individuals do not frequently turn to the sacrament of reconciliation, warning that the Church’s “infinite treasure of mercy” runs the risk of not being taken advantage of.
During his meeting with priests and candidates for the priesthood participating in the annual course for confessors organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary at the Vatican, the pontiff emphasized that, although the sacrament can be received repeatedly, this does not always translate into actual practice among the faithful.
“It is as though the infinite treasure of the Church’s mercy remained “unused,” he said, due to a widespread distraction among Christians.
As he explained, it is not uncommon for many of the faithful to “remain in a state of sin for a long time rather than approaching the confessional with simplicity of faith and heart to receive the gift of the risen Lord.”
The pope recalled that the practice of confession has a long normative tradition within the Church. Thus, he cited the Fourth Lateran Council, which established in 1215 the obligation to go to confession at least once a year — a norm also upheld by the Catechism of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council: “After having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year” (Code of Canon Law, 989).”
During his address, Leo XIV also recalled a teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo: “He who confesses his sins, and accuses them, does now work with God. God accuses your sins: and if you also accuse, you are united to God.”
The sacrament of reconciliation: ‘A workshop of unity’
Building upon this idea, the pontiff explained that the sacrament of reconciliation can be understood as a true “workshop of unity.”
“It restores unity with God through the forgiveness of sins and the infusion of sanctifying grace,” he affirmed.
The Holy Father devoted part of his address to explaining how sin operates — specifically, that it “does not break unity, understood as the creature’s ontological dependence on the Creator.”
“Even the sinner remains totally dependent on God the Creator, and this dependence, when recognized, can open the way to conversion,” the pontiff explained in this regard.
Sin: Turning one’s back on God
Pope Leo explained that sin effectively breaks “spiritual unity with God,” for it is akin to “turning one’s back” on him.
“This dramatic possibility is as real as the gift of freedom that God himself has bestowed upon human beings. To deny the possibility that sin truly breaks unity with God is, in reality, a failure to recognize the dignity of man, who is — and remains — free and therefore responsible for his own actions,” he pointed out.
Addressing the young priests and candidates for the priesthood in attendance, Leo XIV emphasized the importance of the ministry of confession. “Always be keenly aware of the most exalted task that Christ himself, through the Church, entrusts to you: to restore people’s unity with God through the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation.”
The pope emphasized that many priests have attained holiness precisely through this ministry, recalling examples such as Sts. John Mary Vianney, Leopold Mandić, Pio of Pietrelcina, and Blessed Michał Sopoćko.
Finally, Leo XIV noted that reconciliation is also a path toward peace. “Only a reconciled person is capable of living in an unarmed and disarming way! Those who lay down the weapons of pride and allow themselves to be continually renewed by God’s forgiveness become agents of reconciliation in everyday life. In him or her are fulfilled the words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.’”
Before concluding, the pope exhorted the priests to regularly approach the sacrament themselves: “Never neglect to approach the sacrament of reconciliation yourselves, with faithful constancy, so that you may always be the first to benefit from divine mercy.”
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.
Former Vatican auditor general speaks out about his ongoing case against the Vatican
Former Vatican auditor general Libero Milone revealed details about the work he oversaw with the Vatican finances with the late Cardinal George Pell, including financial irregularities and unaccounted-for sums of money.
“We need to be sure, and I say this as a Catholic and as an accountant, that we are informed correctly about the state of the Vatican finances,” Milone said. “Because if the Vatican finances are sound, it means that our Church will continue. If the Vatican finances are not sound, it’s going to have problems.”
Milone sat down with EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn for an exclusive interview about his case against the Vatican alleging unfair dismissal, loss of earnings, and reputational damage. The case has been dismissed, and he is filing his final appeal.
For decades, the Vatican has struggled with transparency and accountability in its finances. To address this, Pope Francis appointed Pell to head the Secretariat for the Economy and named Milone as the Vatican’s first auditor general.
Before coming to the Vatican, Milone was a top financial auditor who spent more than 30 years at Deloitte in Italy and in the U.S. as well as a number of other firms.
His job at the Vatican was to examine the Church’s balance sheets and bring order to its financial operations. But after two years Milone suddenly resigned, which he has said he was forced to do after uncovering financial irregularities.
Milone took legal action alleging that Cardinal Angelo Becciu pressured him to quit after he began finding evidence of fraud. The Vatican dismissed his complaint, arguing that even if Becciu did force his resignation, he acted in a personal capacity, not as an official of the Secretariat of State.
The Vatican has said that Milone “failed in the agreement to keep confidential the reasons for his resignation from office.”
“When they delivered the decree of the crimes that I committed, the document said that they had a document …. which proved they had carried out seven months of investigation on me and included all the details of whatever crimes I’d committed,” Milone said.
“This happened in June of 2017. Eight years and some months have gone by, and we have asked for this document many, many times and we’ve never been given it. So I don’t have any element to know what exactly I’m accused of,” he said.
“My impression is, I’ve never seen it because maybe it doesn’t include anything, because had it included something real, I would have been confronted with it,” he said.
Milone appealed, but the decision was upheld. He has launched a final appeal.
The Vatican did not comment upon EWTN News’ request, which Milone says is because “they’re very embarrassed.”
“They’re very embarrassed what two individuals did within the Vatican from an institutional standpoint, and they don’t have the answer,” he said. “So they try to shy away from the issue without commenting on it, which is what happened in the legal case.”
Financial irregularities
Since his dismissal, Milone has spoken with a number of journalists about the matter and irregulatires he uncovered. He spoke with one who was investigating an issue regarding payment systems for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).
APSA “is the major dicastery of the Vatican, responsible for the management of its assets,” Milone said. “It’s like a treasury, and it’s also sort of a banking institution, although it’s not a direct bank because it operates through banks in other countries to operate its financial activities.”
“When this journalist did his investigation and came up with an analysis ... he contacted me and he said he had found out that the payment system in APSA was possibly able to make payments by losing track of the receiver,” Milone said.
The issue was that someone could make a money transfer and then change the direction where the money was going after it had left the account, and it wouldn’t show up on the initial records.
The journalist asked if it was true. “So I told the journalist, ‘What you found out is correct, full stop.’ So I only mentioned it once, saying there was a problem with the swift payment issues. And I confirmed the investigation. How could I not confirm? I couldn’t lie.”
“In my two years in the Vatican, I reported 15 issues to the money laundering authority AIF, and to the promoter [of] justice to investigate. Because my statute said if there are issues which are in conflict of the law, you have to report to these authorities,” he said.
“AIF, 14 times, replied to me that we had misunderstood and one time they didn’t reply. And the promoter of justice never replied to any of them. So what’s the point in highlighting issues which need to be investigated if nobody looks into them?”
Milone has also spoken out about “an odd transfer” of 2.5 million euros sent to a hospital to build a ward. The money was sent, but there is no ward.
“We examined all the documentation, all the transactions, and we found that 2.5 million had been paid over to … the hospital over a period of time in equal transactions, 10 transactions of 250,000, I think. And it had gone into the bank account. The ward had not been built. But the money also left the bank account” of the hospital.
“And that was reported to the promoter of justice in the Vatican,” he said. “I just did my job. My job was to review, report, and then get on with the next thing. My job was not of a judicial nature.”
Next steps with Pope Leo
In an interview with Crux, Pope Leo XIV has said the claims of a financial crisis at the Vatican have been exaggerated, noting that the Holy See actually recorded a surplus of 60 million euros in 2024.
He even said he wasn’t “losing any sleep” over the issue of finances at the Vatican. In response, Milone said: “I was very worried that the pope would not be properly informed of the situation in the Vatican because there were too many, let me use the word, skeletons in cupboards that needed to be preserved. And therefore it would be very difficult to understand the issues at hand.”
“The financial situation may be better than he expected,” Milone said. “I don’t know what’s happened between 2017, when I left, and today, except from reading in the newspapers. But I also know as an experienced accountant that some of the issues there would have been very difficult to remove in a very short period of time.”
“Now, the fact that the consolidated financial statements are not being disclosed, to me, is an indication that there is a problem,” he said.
Milone said he would like to meet with Pope Leo “to give him my understanding of some of the challenges that the Vatican faces in moving forward and becoming sound from an economical standpoint.”
As Milone’s case moves forward, if the next appeal is rejected “that would be technically the end of the line in the Vatican,” he said.
“I’m an optimistic person. I believe that in any case, if there’s a justice system, the justice system has to be properly followed by. And I believe that at the end of the day, if there is truth in the documents and the documents are read properly and understood properly, I will be on the right side of the decision,” Milone said.
Pope Leo XIV appoints Benedictine Father Godfrey Mullen as bishop of Belleville, Illinois
Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Godfrey Mullen, the administrator of the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, to serve as its new bishop, according to an announcement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Bishop-designate Mullen, a Benedictine monk, will be consecrated as bishop on May 1. He will fill a vacancy open since May 2025 when Bishop Michael McGovern left the role to serve as the archbishop of Omaha, Nebraska, following an appointment by Pope Francis.
“My sincere thanks to our brother from Illinois, Pope Leo XIV, for his confidence in calling me to shepherd this beautiful flock,” Mullen said in a March 13 morning news conference at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville.
Mullen was born in Alton, Illinois, but moved into the Belleville Diocese in Salem, Illinois, when he was just 9 months old. He is a monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey and has served as the diocesan administrator since McGovern’s departure. He is 60 years old.
“As a son of this diocese since I was 9 months old, I have always been fascinated by the way Christ is present in his wonderful people in southern Illinois,” Mullen said. “... You all are my people. All my life, I have loved you.”
Mullen took his monastic profession with the Order of St. Benedict in 1992 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1994. He has a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s degree in theology, and a master of divinity degree from St. Meinrad College in Indiana. He received his doctorate in liturgical studies from The Catholic University of America.
Apart from serving as diocesan administrator, Mullen was the vicar general for the diocese and the rector of St. Peter Cathedral. He served as a pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish and Queen of Peace Parish, both of which are within the diocese. He also worked as a professor of liturgy at St. Meinrad College and has authored several books and articles on the liturgy.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago congratulated Mullen in a post on X and expressed his confidence in the appointment.
“He has distinguished himself as a college professor, an able administrator, and a proven pastor, serving the people of God and the Church with humility and devotion for more than 30 years,” Cupich said. “We are confident he will be a strong and compassionate leader for the Belleville Diocese, and we look forward to working with him.”
McGovern, his predecessor, also congratulated him in a post on Facebook and asked Catholics to pray for him as he assumes his new role.
“Father Godfrey’s years of priestly ministry, prayerfulness, compassion, intelligence, and humor will be great assets as he shepherds the people of southern Illinois into the future, a future filled with hope,” McGovern said.
Bill to safeguard women from chemical abortion introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley
Bill to safeguard women from chemical abortion introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, on March 11 announced legislation to ban the chemical abortion drug mifepristone, citing safety concerns for women.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, which is widely supported by life-affirming groups, would withdraw FDA approval for the use of mifepristone for chemical abortions as well as establishing a federal tort “for harm to women caused by chemical abortion drugs.” This would allow women who have been harmed by the drug to make claims against the U.S. government in relation to mifepristone. Mifepristone is also used to manage early miscarriages, which the bill would not ban.
A recent study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that the removal of in-person visit requirements led to an increase in adverse effects for women having chemical abortions. This study is one among several pointing to a higher rate of serious problems.
Multiple other studies have shown high rates of hospitalizations for women taking the abortion pill. Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times that of surgical abortion, according to one study. Another report found that abortion pill complications are often underreported or misclassified.
The legislation comes after the Trump administration pledged to investigate the safety of the drug but later approved a generic version of the abortion pill in October 2025.
“The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it,” Hawley said in a statement.
American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists director Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB-GYN who works as an OB hospitalist in Indiana, spoke at the press conference on March 11 about her experience with women experiencing complications like “severe bleeding, severe infections that require multiple IV antibiotics, and even emergency surgery.”
“I work in the state of Indiana where abortion is largely illegal, and yet I and my colleagues regularly are called down to the emergency room to care for women … that are suffering severe complications,” she said. “I’ll tell you who isn’t taking care of them in the emergency room — the profit-driven pill pushers that sent them those pills either online, through the mail, or even in an abortion facility.”
“The purpose of medicine is health, healing, and wholeness, and dangerous abortion drugs are the exact opposite of this,” Francis said. “So it’s time for the FDA to do its job and protect American women and children from the harms of mifepristone.”
Abortion pill company to remove ads following South Dakota lawsuit
New York-based abortion drug distributor Mayday Health has agreed to remove “deceptive and unlawful” advertisements after a settlement with South Dakota, according to the state Attorney General Marty Jackley.
According to the limited release agreement, the group “targeted” South Dakota with abortion pill advertisements even though abortion pills are illegal in the state. In December 2025, Jackley sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mayday Health over its advertising practices.
In the settlement, Mayday Health agreed to remove advertisements that “aid, abet, or solicit illegal conduct” in South Dakota.
“Mayday Health targeted women and young girls encouraging them to take abortion pills while misleading them about the physical risks,” Jackley said. “My position has been clear and unwavering: South Dakota law governs, and the misleading advertisements must be, and are, stopped.”
Suspect arrested after Nebraska deacon found murdered, police say
Local police have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of a Catholic deacon in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, this week.
The Omaha Police Officers Association said in a March 13 Facebook post that a “person of interest” was taken into custody on March 12 after Deacon John Zak was reportedly murdered the previous night.
Zak “was an active member of the community and a deacon at St. Peter’s Catholic Church” in the city’s Leavenworth neighborhood, the police association said.
Father John Broheimer, the pastor of St. Peter’s, said in a statement on the parish website that Zak had been a member of the parish for more than 30 years and served as a deacon there for 25 years.
“Through his ministry he touched countless lives, especially the young people of our parish, whom he served with generosity and sincere faith,” the pastor said.
The priest urged parishioners to pray for Zak’s family and to “support them with your charity in the days ahead.”
Police had not publicly identified a motive in the killing as of March 13, but local news reports said a “family member” named Martin Zak had been booked in local jail on homicide and felony theft charges.
Jail records showed that an individual named Martin Zak was being held without bond.
In a statement, Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern said he was “saddened” to learn of Zakʼs “tragic death.”
“As law enforcement continues investigating, please join me in praying for the repose of the soul of Deacon Zak, for his family and for the St. Peter parish community in this difficult time,” the archbishop said.
Update: This story was updated on Friday, March 13, 2026 at 4:10 p.m. ET with a statement from Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern.
Cuban government to release 51 prisoners following Vatican talks
The Cuban government announced that it will release 51 people from prison because of its “smooth” relations with the Vatican — a move that coincides with the upcoming observance of Holy Week.
“In the spirit of goodwill, and of the close and smooth relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican — with which communication regarding processes for the review and release of persons deprived of liberty has historically been maintained — the government of Cuba has decided to release, in the coming days, 51 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty [prison],” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a March 12 statement.
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on March 13 that “conversations regarding the release of prisoners have recently taken place.”
The statement from the Cuban ministry notes that all these individuals “have served a significant portion of their sentences and have maintained good conduct in prison”; however, it does not indicate whether the group includes political prisoners.
The communist regime states that since 2010, it “has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates, while — over the last three years, as part of Cuban practice and pursuant to the provisions of our legislation — another 10,000 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty were released based on certain conditions.”
This announcement comes amid renewed tensions between Cuba and the United States, which began in January, and the recent meetings that representatives from both countries have held with Vatican officials.
On Feb. 20, the U.S. chief of mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, held a meeting at the Vatican with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on March 9 that the Holy See has taken “the necessary steps” regarding the situation in Cuba, “always with a view to a solution to the existing problems through dialogue.”
In January 2025, the Cuban regime also announced the release of 553 prisoners following mediation by Pope Francis and “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”
Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News correspondent in Rome, contributed to this report.
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.