Case against priest for alleged role in attempted coup d’état in Brazil dismissed
On March 23, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court permanently closed the investigation into the involvement of Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva in the attempted coup d’état aimed at preventing the inauguration of then-President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes signed the decision on March 20 — 12 days after the priest’s defense attorney, Miguel Vidigal, requested the permanent closure of the investigation.
The priest, from Osasco in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, was named as a suspect by the Federal Police in November 2024, under suspicion of being part of a “legal core” responsible for advising on and drafting decrees intended to serve alleged coup-related interests.
Others under investigation for the attempted coup d’état include the country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, along with advisers, allies, military personnel, and former ministers of his administration. However, on Feb. 18, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic did not file charges against the priest before the Supreme Federal Court.
“It is to be hoped that the investigation against Father José Eduardo was an isolated incident on the part of the Brazilian state and that the religious freedoms enshrined in the Federal Constitution and in the Brazil-Holy See Agreement (Federal Decree No. 7.107/2010) will be guaranteed by the Judiciary. Had these norms been observed, unfounded and slanderous messages — as well as aggressive outbursts — could have been avoided, whether coming from the media or from private individuals who were quick to unjustly accuse the clergyman of illicit acts,” Vidigal told ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News.
“Father José Eduardo’s defense team consistently alerted the Judiciary and the Federal Police — the agency in charge of the investigation — that the visits the clergyman made in Brasilia were never of a conspiratorial nature but rather strictly fulfilled what is expected of a Catholic priest: spiritual care and guidance — nothing more than that,” Vidigal said. “The Father had his private life exposed, yet he was never charged with any of the irregularities initially imputed to him; even so, the Judiciary had not requested the formal dismissal of the investigation.”
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.
Bishop Seitz discusses pastoral letter, elaborates on call for discernment among law enforcement
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said law enforcement agents must “evaluate everything in the light of Christ” while discerning actions in regard to immigration enforcement.
Seitz issued the first pastoral letter on mass detention and deportations on March 14. The letter followed the special message the U.S. bishops released in November 2025 expressing opposition to “indiscriminate mass deportations.”
While the pastoral letter calls for similar actions as the special message, it comes at a time when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has “been out of the headlines … because ICE pulled out great numbers of their agents out of Minnesota,” Seitz told EWTN News.
“But right here in El Paso, we’re very much aware that this does not necessarily mark an end to the effort at mass detention and mass deportation,” Seitz said. There will be additional detention facilities as the community is “aware three gigantic warehouses have been purchased on the far east of El Paso,” Seitz said.
“So while things are quiet right now in terms of the headlines, we know that this is continuing, and we continue to be very concerned about the fear and anxiety present in the community, as well as the suffering of so many people who have been detained,” he said.
Discernment for law enforcement officers
In his pastoral letter Seitz wrote: The “current national campaign of mass detention and detention is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action, and acts of solidarity with those affected.”
In the Catholic Church, “a grave moral evil” could indicate mortal sin. When asked if agents may need to disobey orders, or even leave their jobs, to avoid mortal sin, Seitz said: “I think the first thing that is most important is that you can’t put your conscience on hold if you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
“You have to evaluate everything in the light of Christ, and in the light of his teaching, and the teaching of the Church,” he said. “You can’t just say, ‘Well, it’s a job’ or ‘These are my orders.’ I’m not saying anything morally that has not been said before. It’s part of the military code, that a soldier should not follow an immoral order.”
You can’t just say, ‘Well, it’s a job’ or ‘These are my orders.’
Bishop Mark SeitzDiocese of El Paso, Texas
In a March 25 interview with “EWTN News Nightly,” Seitz further spoke about the matter, saying: “No one should ever act against the dictates of a well-informed conscience, and we all have a responsibility to form our consciences according to the law of God.”
“That’s actually part of the code, that no soldier should follow an order if it is something calling them to do something that they consider immoral,” Seitz said.
It is reiterating “what has always been the teaching of both the Church and of our government,” Seitz said. “With many of the changes in policy that are coming our way, I do fear that people who work for border enforcement agencies are being put in a very difficult situation.”
Agents need to be praying, studying, and “learning what their faith has to teach them and what the Gospel has to teach them about the way that a person ought to be treated, the human dignity that needs to be respected,” he said.
Finding an alternative approach
When dealing with immigration enforcement, “justice has to be administered in a way that deals with each person as an individual, and their actions have to be evaluated,” Seitz told EWTN News.
Immigration cases need “to be carefully considered,” Seitz said. Rather than arresting people because “they look like they belong to this immigrant group” and then deporting them, law enforcement should “find out the location of a criminal, a person for whom there’s an order of arrest, and arrest them,” he said.
To do so, there’s no need to add “25,000 detention beds in the country” to increase bed capacity to 92,000, Seitz said.
“What we would like to see is, in fact, an orderly system,” Seitz told “EWTN News Nightly.” People would “come to the border and have a process of being able to be vetted there, their background to be checked, and to be able to receive a visa if, for instance, they’re fleeing from a life-threatening situation in their home country. They would have the opportunity to pursue an asylum claim in our country.”
“There are laws governing that process, which ... need to be updated,” he said.
Ukraine monastery hit in Russian missile strike, ‘most historic church’ targeted so far
A 400-year-old Bernardine monastery and UNESCO World Heritage site in “the heart of Ukraine’s Catholic region” will require significant repairs following Russian attacks.
“This happens a lot,” Steven Moore, executive producer of the war documentary “A Faith Under Siege,” told “EWTN News Nightly” on March 25, live from Kyiv.
Russia carried out missile strikes on March 24 that hit the UNESCO-protected Bernardine Monastery and its St. Andrew’s Church.
Moore said Russia’s targeting of Christian churches — even Orthodox ones — in Ukraine is a regular occurrence. St. Andrew’s, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, “is probably the most historic church they have targeted so far,” he said.
Moore described Russia’s targeting of churches as part of the Kremlin’s “holy war,” noting that the Russian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch Kirill of Moscow act as an extension of the Kremlin.
“Patriarch Kirill, their version of the pope, has said, ‘If you die fighting in Ukraine, all your sins will be washed away,’” he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the Russian Orthodox Church as having more in common with Islam than Catholicism.
Intersection of Ukraine and Iran wars
Moore said there are concerns the war involving Iran will drive up the price of oil, leaving Russia — “a gas station with an army” — with an increased revenue stream that Putin may in turn use against Ukrainians.
“We’re in a mess as a world right now,” he said, citing the war in the Middle East and in Ukraine. “And you know, China is backing all of this,” he said. “North Korea is waiting to go into South Korea; there’s tens of thousands of North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine right now.”
“The good news, though, about this invasion into Iran is that the Iranians have been supplying the Russians with drones, these Shahed drones, and it will limit their ability to cooperate with the Russians in the future,” he said.
Shahed drones are Iranian-developed unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
Ukrainians have sent drone experts to help Middle Eastern nations to cope with these Russian drone attacks. “American weapons are built with an innovation cycle of months or years. Here in Ukraine, the innovation cycle is days or weeks. And they’ve been fighting against the same weapons in Ukraine that Russia has sent to Iran,” Moore said. “No one in the world right now is as good at drone warfare and anti-drone warfare as the Ukrainians.”
Moore further noted the Trump administration’s toppling of the Venezuelan regime, a Russian ally, as well as Syria.
“When we’re looking at a global war, taking pieces off the board for the bad guys is a really positive thing in the long run,” he said.
Pew report finds that one-fourth of U.S. radio stations have a faith focus
A new Pew Research Center report found that 25% of all AM and FM radio stations in the United States have a faith focus.
The report, “Religious Radio Across America,” was conducted by the Pew-Knight Initiative, which supports research on how Americans consume civic information, form beliefs and identities, and engage in communities.
For the study, Pew used three data sources including all Federal Communications Commission-licensed terrestrial AM and FM radio stations in the U.S. It took data from around 440,000 hours of audio collected from the internet broadcasts of more than 2,000 religious stations during July 2025.
The report also includes information from a survey of 5,023 U.S. adults conducted June 9–15, 2025, which asked members of Pew’s American Trends Panel about the religious audio programming they listen to and why.
Faith-based radio in America dates back to the earliest broadcasts of Sunday services at the beginning of the 1920s. Today, there are more than 4,000 terrestrial religious radio stations in the U.S., according to the Pew-Knight Initiative.
The research found that 37% of Americans who listen to religious audio programming said it is “extremely important” or “very important” to their religious or spiritual lives. Another 35% said it is “somewhat important,” and 29% said it is either “not too important” or “not at all important.”
Christian radio in the U.S.
More than half (63%) of religious stations overall identify as “Christian,” without explicitly aligning with a specific tradition or denomination.
Another 10% identify with a specific Protestant denomination, such as Baptist or Pentecostal, and 8% identify as Catholic.
Large majorities of white evangelical Protestants (76%) and Black Protestants (84%) said they listen to religious programming. Smaller shares of Catholics (40%) and white non-evangelical Protestants (40%) reported they listen to this type of programming.
Most religious radio stations report that “evangelism” is part of their mission. Slightly more than three-quarters (77%) of stations with an “about us” page or mission statement on their website mention evangelism or spreading the Gospel as a key component of their work.
Nearly half of U.S. adults (45%) reported they listen to at least one type of religious programming Pew inquired about, including religious music (37%), sermons and religious services (30%), religious talk shows (18%), and religious storytelling or audio dramas (16%).
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults who identify with a religion other than Christianity (39%) said they listen to religious programming. Religious “nones,” those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” are the least likely to report listening to religious programming, but 18% said they do.
What sets Catholic radio apart from other Christian radio
Catholic radio features different formats, contains more talk programming, and tends to focus on a different set of topics than other religious stations.
Similarly to the broader context of religious radio stations, Catholic radio stations are located across the country. The report found that 17% of all religious radio stations in the Midwest are Catholic stations as well as 12% of religious stations in the Northeast and 9% in the West.
In contrast, just 5% of all religious stations in the South are Catholic stations.
Catholic radio stations play less music and provide more talk programming than other Christian stations. On average, U.S. Catholic radio stations broadcast music for 2 hours and 35 minutes per day, compared with other Christian stations that broadcast music for 13 hours and 17 minutes.
The daily average U.S. Catholic radio stations broadcast talk programming is for 15 hours and 8 minutes, compared with the 4 hours and 44 minutes other Christian stations broadcast it.
Catholic talk radio is also more likely to include caller interaction or audience participation segments. The report found 27% of talk programming on Catholic stations includes these interactive elements, compared with 8% of non-Catholic Christian stations.
Catholic talk radio is also more likely to contain discussions of family, parenting, and education, with 25% of talk time mentioning these issues. On other Christian stations, these topics are mentioned 18% of the time.
Catholic talk radio is more likely to include mentions of popes, both past and current. Pope Francis or Pope Leo XIV are mentioned by name in 6% of talk programming on Catholic stations, compared with 0.2% on non-Catholic stations.
Outside of music and talk radio formats, Catholic and non-Catholic stations spend a similar amount of time on content that Pew broadly categorized as “religious services or sermons.”
The services Catholic stations broadcast sound different from those heard on other Christian stations, reflecting the differences between Catholic Mass and services in other Christian traditions.
The report noted there is overlap in discussion on the books of the Bible mentioned on Catholic and non-Catholic radio. The Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, and the Hebrew Scriptures of Psalms, Genesis, Exodus, and Isaiah are among the 10 most mentioned books of the Bible on both types of stations.
Lebanese Christian aid worker recalls slain priest who urged villagers to stay amid war
When R. Hasbani first planned to leave her home due to the latest hostilities in Borj el Moulouk, a Christian-majority village in southern Lebanon near Qlayaa, it was Father Pierre al-Rahi who urged her to stay.
“At that moment, Father Pierre visited me, and he put his hands on my shoulders and he told me, ‘Don’t leave. You are safe, and you will stay safe because you have God,’” Hasbani told EWTN News by phone as shelling could be heard in the background. “I [can’t] believe that he died.”
As the conflict escalated, however, Hasbani fled with her two teenage children to her parents’ home in a village farther away from the border on March 7.
Two days later, on March 9, al-Rahi was killed while rushing to the aid of a parishioner wounded in an earlier attack, according to Father Toufic Bou Merhi, a Franciscan of the Custody of the Holy Land, who spoke with Vatican media.
Hasbani serves as a coordinator for the Italian civil service organization AVSI’s southern office in Lebanon. Founded in 1972, AVSI facilitates humanitarian aid projects in 41 countries, including Lebanon, where Hasbani is one of 60 staff members.
According to Hasbani, al-Rahi was “a partner with AVSI” who frequently collaborated with the organization to carry out its projects. “We were doing activities together,” she said. “Every time you want to implement any activity we were asking him, he was providing sometimes a location to do our activity.”
Hasbani said al-Rahi was always “doing his best to help the people,” especially the elderly.
“He was buying their basic needs and bringing them to their houses,” she said. “He would actually contact the pharmacies, telling them, ‘Give the people all the medicines they want; don’t hide any medicines. I will be the person to make sure everything will come to the village.’”
She said he would often go “house by house” to see how people were doing and gather young people together. She said he would encourage them “to always pray and keep on going” and would tell them: “Don’t leave your village where you were born.”
She recalled that following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, which forced their community center called Fadaii to close, the Maronite parish priest of Qlayaa encouraged them not to worry. “Fadaii is a safe place,” he said.
The Fadaii center is a community hub built by AVSI that hosts offices as well as psycho-pedagogical services for children and families, literacy courses for women, and vocational training for farmers, according to AVSI’s website.
AVSI released a statement following al-Rahi’s death, describing his faith and courage as “contagious.”
“Every time an AVSI aid truck reached his village, his message of thanks would arrive promptly. And when, on March 1, the war once again struck southern Lebanon with violence, he was still there, beside his people,” the statement said. “We will miss his friendship, his simple and strong faith, and his embraces.”
Describing the current situation faced by Christians in southern Lebanon, Hasbani said many families fled their homes during the first days of the war while others south of the Litani River have remained “but feel increasingly unsafe especially as areas facing the border have been targeted.”
Although shops and fuel stations have remained open, Hasbani said movement in southern Lebanon now is very limited, with residents only venturing out to purchase essential goods as several Christian homes and main roads connecting villages to major cities have been targeted in recent days.
“However,” she said, “it is uncertain how long these supplies will last if the situation continues.”
For its part, AVSI has been working to provide humanitarian aid such as hygiene kits, food, and water bottles.
Following the first days of the war, Hasbani said schools ceased operations and were opened up as shelters for displaced families who were previously sleeping in their cars. “The world has to feel guilty towards those children because we stopped their future,” she said. “I hope that everyone know about how much we are suffering.”
“It’s enough for me in this moment” to trust God, Hasbani said.
“I trust, and I have hope that as we sleep and wake up to a war, [someday] I will sleep and wake up and the war will end,” she said. “I believe that.”
How Catholic volunteers serve Bangladesh’s forgotten children this Lent
DHAKA, Bangladesh — As Lent calls Catholics around the world to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, many faithful in Bangladesh are embracing a fourth practice this year: serving the country’s street children.
On a recent Sunday at Tejgaon Church in Dhaka, Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) missionary Brother Lucio Beninati invited parishioners to join Potho Shishu Sheba Sangathon, a volunteer-run ministry he founded nearly 20 years ago to accompany children who sleep in rail stations, bus terminals, and city sidewalks. His appeal moved dozens. In the weeks that followed, more than 50 Catholics submitted their names to begin weekly service.
“You can almost see children lying on the sidewalks everywhere in Dhaka,” said Catholic volunteer Mukta Rozario, who joined the ministry for the first time this Lent. “I always wished I could do something for them. Today, I finally played with them, talked with them, and felt so much joy. I hope to return every week.”
The ministry works with some of the most vulnerable children in Bangladesh — girls and boys who have fled violence at home, been abandoned by parents, or migrated alone to the city in search of work. With no guardians, many end up sleeping beside train tracks or market stalls, surviving through begging, carrying loads, or becoming entangled in petty crime, drug trafficking, or exploitation.
Teacher Maria Baroi, another new volunteer, said her time with the children transformed her Lenten journey. “These are not ‘street children’ to me. They are children living in helplessness,” she said. “If even one of them returns to a stable life because someone cared, that is a blessing.”
Volunteers gather at railway stations — especially Dhaka’s Kamalapur — to offer informal lessons, games, art activities, storytelling, and emotional support. They also provide basic health care, accompany sick children to hospitals, and help reunite those who want to return home. If returning home is not possible, the team arranges shelter in orphanages or rehabilitation centers.
“In the eyes of society, these children are often rejected,” said volunteer Samuel Mondol. “But serving them is pure joy. This is selfless service, and I want to continue it long after Lent.”
A mission rooted in love
Beninati, a 70-year-old Italian missionary, has spent decades working with abandoned children. Before coming to Bangladesh, he served seven years in Brazil, where he first learned street-child outreach. He later spent 24 years in Bangladesh before relocating again in 2022. From Jan. 6 to March 3 this year, he returned to Dhaka to strengthen the volunteer network.
“When parents abandon them, there is no one left to care,” he said. “But love can change a life. Good behavior, compassion, and accompaniment — these are the tools that bring a child back to normal life. Without love, no one can return.”
The organization operates without foreign funding. Every cost — from medical emergencies to sports equipment to educational materials — is covered by the volunteers themselves.
One of the most moving testimonies involves Tamim, a young Muslim who once worked as a porter at Kamalapur Railway Station. He lost contact with his family and suffered a severe accident while getting off a train, leading to the amputation of one leg. Volunteers helped him receive treatment at the Center for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed, where he also received a prosthetic limb and enrolled in mobile phone repair training. Last year, he played with his team in the National Wheelchair Basketball Championship — and they won.
“If it weren’t for Brother Lucio and the other volunteers, I would still be sleeping at the station,” Tamim said.
Another child, Muslim Rakib, fled home at age 8 after being beaten by his stepmother. Now 10, he regularly meets volunteers at the station. “Here we play and draw,” he said. “We get medicine. As long as they are here, we feel safe.” He hopes to go home soon.
A ministry for all religions
Although the ministry was founded by a Catholic missionary, nearly 90% of its volunteers are Muslim. The service has become a bridge of harmony in a country where Christians are a small minority.
Muslim volunteer Shafiqul Islam said the interreligious unity is one of the group’s greatest strengths. “Serving these children feels like serving God,” he said. “Here we are Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. We respect each other’s faith and work together for the welfare of children. Our harmony has grown through this service.”
Catholic teacher Bridget Corraya, who joined the ministry 20 years ago, said her motivation comes from her own story. “I grew up in an orphanage run by the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions [RNDM Sisters],” she said. “I received so much love. Serving street children is how I repay that gift.”
Transforming Lent through service
For many Catholics in Dhaka, this Lent has taken on new meaning through their encounters with the children. Playing, teaching, and simply listening have become acts of penance, charity, and spiritual renewal.
“Lent is not only about sacrifice or fasting,” Beninati reminded the faithful. “It is also about serving — especially those who have no one.”
As more volunteers join the mission, the ministry hopes to expand its work across Dhaka. But its heart remains simple: one encounter at a time, one child at a time, offering dignity to those the world often overlooks.
Visiting off-duty police prevent robbery at Roman church housing Passion relics
Three Spanish policemen who were visiting Rome as tourists prevented a robbery at one of the city’s most iconic churches — the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem — on March 21.
The policemen — one of whom is stationed at the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See — were off duty when they intervened in response to a priest’s call for help.
After hearing the priest’s shouts, they managed to intercept the suspect, who — according to the clergyman — had just stolen several items.
After questioning the suspect, the policemen recovered from the alleged thief two lockpicks (used to open locks), 480 euros (about $555), two watches, and five lottery tickets.
The officers then proceeded to notify the Italian State Police of the incident, who took over the case.
Home of Passion relics
The Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem is one of the most renowned churches in the Eternal City, owing to the spiritual treasures it holds within its walls.
Access to the basilica’s “Chapel of Relics” is gained through one of the church’s side aisles; there, several relics associated with Christ’s passion are preserved, protected behind a glass display case.
These objects were transported from Jerusalem to Rome thanks to St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
According to tradition, the chapel houses three fragments of the cross of Christ — displayed in a reliquary dating from 1800 — as well as one of the nails with which soldiers affixed Christ to the cross and two thorns from Christ’s crown.
Also venerated here is the sign known as the “Titulus Crucis,” which Pontius Pilate ordered to be placed at the top of Christ’s cross. It bears the inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
There is also a fragment of the cross of the good thief, along with a relic of the finger of the apostle Thomas — the very finger with which he touched Christ’s wound to believe that he had risen.
Additionally, in another side chapel — located next to the Chapel of the Relics of the Passion — a modern reproduction of the Shroud of Turin is on display.
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.
Louisville pays Christian photographer $800,000 after violating her religious freedom
The city of Louisville, Kentucky, will pay $800,000 to a Christian photographer and blogger who won a religious freedom lawsuit over an antidiscrimination ordinance that would have required her to photograph same-sex weddings in spite of her religious objections.
In October 2025, a federal court ruled that the ordinance contained two provisions that violated the First Amendment rights of the photographer, Chelsey Nelson. The city agreed to pay the fee through a settlement negotiated by her legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
“The government cannot force Americans to say things they don’t believe,” ADF Senior Counsel Bryan Neihart said in a statement on March 24.
“For almost six years, Louisville officials tried to do just that by threatening to force Chelsey to promote views about marriage that violated her religious beliefs,” he said. “Louisville’s threats contradicted bedrock First Amendment principles which leave decisions about what to say with the people, not the government.”
“This settlement should teach Louisville that violating the U.S. Constitution can be expensive,” Neihart added.
The ordinance prohibited “the denial of goods and services to members of protected classes,” which included people with same-sex attraction, according to the ruling last year.
It also violated Nelson’s First Amendment rights through the publication provision, which prevented her “from writing and publishing any indication or explanation that she wouldn’t photograph same-sex weddings or that otherwise causes someone to feel unwelcome or undesirable based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The court found that both provisions “limit Nelson’s freedom to express her beliefs about marriage” and that the ordinance forced her to suffer “a First Amendment injury.”
The ruling built on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis ruling, which struck down a Colorado antidiscrimination law because it would have forced a web designer to create websites for same-sex weddings in spite of her religious beliefs.
Chicago Catholic parents appeal to Vatican to keep school open
More than 100 Chicago-area Catholic parents are appealing to the Vatican to keep open what one school mom describes as “the only Catholic option in the largest elementary school district in Illinois,” the pope’s home state.
St. Hubert Catholic School in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates is one of seven Chicago archdiocesan Catholic schools closing at the end of this year after the archdiocese announced in January that the schools were “no longer sustainable.” Parents across the archdiocese made efforts to fundraise for their schools, but with the short notice, were unable to raise enough money to keep the schools open in the archdiocese’s eyes. But at one Catholic school, families aren’t giving up.
Jillian Bernas Garcia and a coalition of parents made an appeal to the Vatican to keep the school open. Under canon law, the Catholic Church’s legal structure, a “remonstratio” is an option of recourse for Catholics who disagree with a decision made by local Church hierarchy.
‘We intend to be here for many more years to come’
According to Garcia, families have been directed to enroll in public school while enrolling their children in catechesis at the parish. For Garcia, this isn’t good enough.
“When the decision was made to close the school, the pastor and finance committee wrote that families can attend local public schools and utilize faith formation classes at the parish,” Garcia told EWTN News.
“For us and our fellow school families, Catholic schools play an important role in youth faith formation,” she said, “and an emphasis should be placed on the school instead of shutting it down, especially considering the important growth the Catholic Church is seeing among young people who will turn to Catholic schools to educate their children.”
Garcia’s oldest son and daughter attend early childhood education classes at St. Hubert.
What inspired her to appeal the decision, she said, is “the families whose children’s spiritual needs are met through their education at our school.”
“Integrating faith into their daily lives is something we value and practice at home,” Garcia said.
The parent coalition is working with a Pennsylvania-based canon lawyer, Laura Morrison, who has helped other schools appeal in the past.
The archdiocese on Feb. 24 denied the initial appeal made by parents, but now, with the help of an experienced canon lawyer, the parents are appealing to the Vatican itself.
“We selected St. Hubert after considering various schools,” Garcia said. “And we intend to be here for many more years to come and eventually send our youngest as well.”
A financial audit found the school is ‘viable’
As part of the remonstratio, a third party audited the school and found, according to Garcia, that the school could be financially viable if some changes are made.
“A coalition of parents had a forensic auditor and certified fraud examiner prepare a financial report showing financial viability for the next five years,” she said. “With a decrease of 10% in costs or an increase in revenue-generating activities the school could be cash-flow-positive in two years.”
The financial analysis found that “the school could operate for more than five years at its current deficit and became cash-flow-positive within two years with a modest 10% reduction in salary costs,” according to the financial report provided by the parents.
The audit found the deficit is “driven primarily by staffing costs rather than enrollment decline, facilities, or debt service.”
“Immediate closure is not financially required,” according to the financial analysis.
Garcia said that part of the reason for the decline in enrollment was the removal of a large chunk of student tuition assistance the previous school year, leading to 48 students having to disenroll.
“Parents had been successful last school year in lowering the deficit and increasing enrollment despite administration,” Garcia said. “Parish administration and the Archdiocese of Chicago then took drastic actions to put the school in a poor financial position to make an argument for closure.”
St. Hubert operates in what Garcia described as “a diverse, strong working-class community.”
“It should be a thriving school, but it suffers from poor administration and archdiocesan leadership that is quick to close the school instead of working to invest in it as an important center of youth faith formation,” Garcia said.
The Archdiocese of Chicago and St. Hubert did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
In the January announcement of the closures, Greg Richmond, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, said: “We made these decisions with heavy hearts after months of discussions with each school. We know the importance of these schools in each community. Unfortunately, the enrollment of each school is too low, and the ongoing deficits are too high. Many people have worked hard at each school to raise money and try to boost enrollment. We recognize and value those efforts but, in the end, the schools were not able to close the gaps and they are no longer sustainable.”
In the meantime, the parents’ coalition awaits a decision on whether the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education will hear the case. It could take approximately six months for the Vatican to make a decision.
Day of the Unborn Child celebrated March 25
The Day of the Unborn Child is celebrated internationally on March 25 to commemorate, promote, and defend human life from the moment of conception in the mother’s womb until natural death.
The date was established in Argentina in December 1998 by President Carlos Saúl Menem. A few days before the observance of this day in 1999, the president encouraged leaders throughout Latin America to join the initiative.
At the time, St. John Paul II sent a letter to the Argentine president, encouraging that “the celebration of the ‘Day of the Unborn Child’ foster a positive choice in favor of life and the development of a culture oriented in this direction — one that ensures the promotion of human dignity in all situations.”
In 1999, the observance was also adopted by law in Guatemala and Costa Rica, while Nicaragua embraced it the following year. Bolivia joined in 2000; the Dominican Republic followed in early 2001; in Peru, it was established by law in 2002; and Paraguay joined in 2003.
The observance is also celebrated on March 25 in El Salvador, Uruguay, Spain, Mexico, Austria, Slovakia, Cuba, and the Philippines. Ecuador joined in 2006, Chile in 2014, and it was enacted by law in Puerto Rico in 2018.
This date typically coincides with the solemnity of the Annunciation, usually celebrated on March 25. On this day, the Catholic Church commemorates the announcement made by Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary as well as her momentous yes to God — an assent that led her to conceive, at that very instant, the Child who saved humanity, becoming his most holy mother.
Catholic bishops in various countries are joining the celebration by organizing events in defense of the lives of unborn children. In addition, in recent years, memorials have been erected in memory of the millions of unborn child victims of abortion.
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.