7 powerful moments from Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Africa
Pope Leo XIV recently completed an 11-day trip visiting the faithful in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. With stops in 11 cities across those countries, the Holy Father met with the youth, political leaders, prisoners, families, and many more to share the Gospel message.
Here are seven powerful moments from Pope Leo’s trip to Africa:
1. Moving visit to the land of St. Augustine
Pope Leo XIV traveled from Algiers to Annaba — ancient Hippo — in what for the Augustinian pontiff amounted to a return to the roots of his faith and vocation.
After a flight of about an hour, the pope arrived in the city most closely associated with St. Augustine, who served as bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430.
Despite pouring rain, the pope walked through the ruins and, at the end of the route, laid a wreath of flowers and stopped for a moment of prayer, visibly moved.
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2. Visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers
While in Algeria, the pope visited the Great Mosque of Algiers (Djamaa el Djazaïr), often referred to as the “Mosque of Algeria.” Featuring the world’s tallest minaret — rising approximately 265 meters (about 870 feet) — and ranking as the third-largest mosque after those in Mecca and Medina, the monumental complex can accommodate up to 120,000 worshippers.
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The tradition of popes visiting mosques began with Pope John Paul II, who in 2001 became the first pope in history known to have entered a mosque when he visited the Great Mosque of Damascus in the capital of Syria.
Pope Leo addressed criticism directed toward him on April 15 on board the papal plane after leaving Algiers bound for Cameroon.
“I think the visit to the mosque was significant [and showed] that although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshipping, we have different ways of living, we can [still] live together in peace,” the Holy Father said.
“I think that to promote that kind of image is something which the world needs to hear today,” he said, arguing that such visits show that “together we can continue to offer in our witness as we continue on this apostolic voyage.”
3. Joy-filled children welcome Pope Leo in Cameroon
Pope Leo XIV was welcomed by the songs and dances of children at the Ngul Zamba Orphanage in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
“Dear children, I know that many of you have endured difficult trials. Some of you have known the pain of loss through the death of parents or loved ones. Others have experienced fear, rejection, abandonment, deprivation, and uncertainty. Yet, you are called to a future that is greater than your wounds. You are bearers of a promise," the pope said.
Run for 40 years by the religious congregation the Daughters of Mary, the Ngul Zamba Orphanage — whose name means “Strength of God” — provides food, lodging, and education to poor or abandoned children.
In another heartfelt moment, at the end of the afternoon Mass in Bamenda, Cameroon, as the pope was preparing to leave the airport and get into his car, a little girl ran up to hug him. This spontaneous gesture, amid the joy and emotion of the 20,000 present, captured the hearts of millions around the world.
4. Rosary gathering at the Mama Muxima Shrine
While in Angola, Pope Leo took part in a rosary gathering at the Marian shrine of Mama Muxima.
The shrine, whose name means “Mother of the Heart” in Kimbundu, is one of Angola’s best-known Marian sanctuaries. Built by the Portuguese in the 17th century on a hill overlooking the Kwanza River, it has long been a place of pilgrimage and prayer for Angolan Catholics.
The crowd in attendance erupted into applause when the Holy Father spoke in Kimbundu, a Bantu language spoken in Angola.
He said: “Mama Muxima, tueza kokué, Mama Muxima, tutambululé,” which means: “Mother of the heart, we come to you; Mother of the heart, receive us.”
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5. Pope Leo visits psychiatric hospital
The Holy Father visited the Jean-Pierre Olié Psychiatric Hospital in Equatorial Guinea. With its six pavilions, it represents a major development in the treatment of mental illness in Equatorial Guinea, where psychiatric disorders were historically neglected. Founded in 2014, it is the country’s first modern center of its kind and has become a symbol of the national commitment to integrating patients into society.
The event included songs, dancing, and testimonies from both the hospital’s director and a patient, Pedro Celestino Nzerem Koose. A moving poem by a former patient was also recited.
“Whenever I visit a hospital, I have mixed feelings: on the one hand, I feel sorrow for the patients and their families. On the other, I admire and am comforted by all that is done there each day to serve human life,” the pope said in an address delivered in Spanish. “I feel the same way here, but today, I find — and I hope the same is true for you — that joy prevails. It is the joy of meeting in the name of the Lord and of caring for those who are in frail health.”
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6. Pope Leo visits a prison
The pope paid a visit to the Bata penitentiary in Equatorial Guinea and told inmates that “no one is excluded from God’s love” and urged them to see that even behind bars, there remains the possibility of change, reconciliation, and hope.
This local prison is one of the country’s harshest and long known for difficult detention conditions.
One of the more than 600 inmates thanked the pope for his visit and support.
“We wish to thank you for your visit and your support,” the prisoner said. “Your presence reminds us of the importance of faith and redemption. We ask for your blessing to keep moving forward and to come out of this as better people. We are grateful for your compassion and for your message of hope.”
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7. The final Mass in Africa
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the final Mass of his Africa trip at Malabo’s stadium, urging the Church in Equatorial Guinea to continue proclaiming the Gospel “with passion” and to bear witness through lives shaped by faith, service, and solidarity.
The Mass in the stadium, where about 30,000 faithful were expected, marked the pope’s last major public event in Equatorial Guinea, the fourth and final African nation on his 11-day journey.
After riding through the crowd in the popemobile, Leo began Mass amid flags, songs, and colorful hats, with music and dance accompanying the liturgy.
The Holy Father also prayed before an image of Our Lady of Bisila, mother and patroness of Equatorial Guinea.
Clothed in white and blue, carrying the child Jesus on her back in the traditional African way, the Virgin of Bisila shows a mother who walks with her people in every struggle and hope. According to local tradition, she appeared to a humble Bubi woman on Bioko Island in the early 20th century (exact year is not clearly attested), and love of her grew until she became the beloved icon of the nation’s Marian devotion.
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‘A profound experience’: Voices from Africa reflect on Pope Leo’s papal visit
The final moments of Pope Leo XIV’s 11-day apostolic journey to Africa were more than the Eucharistic celebration at Equatorial Guinea’s Malabo Stadium; they were a convergence of lived testimonies captured in one phrase: “a profound experience of faith.”
At the packed event at the stadium on April 23, the Holy Father formally concluded his visit with Mass, closing a four-nation pastoral visit that took him to 11 cities in northern, central, and southern Africa.
“The time has come for me to say farewell to Equatorial Guinea and also to Africa,” Pope Leo XIV said at the end of the Mass, situating his departure within what he termed a grace-filled journey “that God has allowed me to make.”
He reflected on the significance of his April 13–23 encounters in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, stating: “I carry from Africa an invaluable treasure of faith, hope, and charity.”
Those who spoke to ACI Africa at the concluding Mass expressed a comparable assessment, also characterizing Pope Leo XIV’s presence on the continent as a treasure.
‘A profound experience of faith’
For Father Jose Fernando Liso, 44, the defining takeaway lay less in the logistical success than in its spiritual benefits.
“I believe it has been a profound experience of faith,” he told ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa.
Situating the events of the papal visit within the collective effort of the clergy, women and men religious, and the lay faithful, the parish priest of St. Anthony Abad Parish of the Archdiocese of Malabo said the experience “has involved fatigue, hard work, ups and downs.”
Yet for Liso its real significance will be measured in its aftermath, he said, emphasizing the virtue of responsibility.
“The responsibility, the growth of our nation as a Church and of our nation as a whole, depends on the responsible decisions that each of us … make,” he said, referencing a key theme he attributed to the Holy Father’s broader reflections during his maiden trip to Africa as pope.
Also at Malabo Stadium for the closing Mass was Maria Lourdes Ndong Esono, 57, who framed her experience through a recollection that links two papacies across decades.
“We were thrilled with the pope’s visit; it couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said.
Esono recalled “walking from Malabo to the airport to see Pope John Paul II” alongside her pregnant mother in February 1982 and expressing gratitude, adding: “Today I got to see Leo XIV.”
Encouragement amid loss and uncertainty
For Sister Gertrude Ehizokhale of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary, Pope Leo XIV’s impact was both affective and pastoral.
Having served in Equatorial Guinea for nearly two years, the native of Nigeria interpreted the papal visit through the lens of missionary presence and local context.
“I’m so happy because the pope came all the way from Rome to visit us,” she said.
Her reaction to the Holy Father’s homily focused on its motivational dimension: “His words … really gave me that more encouragement.”
More specifically, she pointed to the pope’s reference to the death, in controversial circumstances, of Father Fortunato Nsue Esono, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Malabo, just days before the arrival of the Holy Father in Equatorial Guinea.
For Ehizokhale, the pope’s words of consolation and call for truth and justice at the beginning of his homily functioned as a stabilizing intervention. “That encouraged us … [who] were a bit discouraged,” she said.
From the papal homily, she highlighted a call to generosity, “not to be attached to only to ourselves but to others also, learn to give” as well as a preferential concern for the poor, which she interpreted as a source of consolation and the assurance “that we have God on our side.”
Peace, joy, and national framing
Narciso Pedro Nsue, the president of Radio Maria Equatorial Guinea, situated the papal visit within a broader communicative and national context.
“The pope brings peace, joy, and hope to the entire country,” Narciso told ACI Africa.
He emphasized that Equatorial Guinea as “the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa,” suggesting that the presence of Pope Leo XIV in his native country carries representational significance beyond strictly ecclesial boundaries.
For 19-year-old Ricardo Bibang Bonsundi, a representative of the Bixió tribe who was at the stadium adorned in traditional attire, he attended “to extend greetings and welcome to the people and to Pope Leo XIV.”
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Nebraska pro-life ministry brings ultrasounds to classrooms across the U.S.
On the 2012 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, during a Holy Hour, Nikki Schaefer and her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, were inspired to begin a simple ministry selling hand-sewn pro-life pillows to raise money for pregnancy centers. Today, Heart of a Child Ministries has expanded into a fetal development education program present in K–12 classrooms across the country.
The ministryʼs initial sale of the pro-life pillow raised roughly $40,000 shortly after they began, Schaefer told EWTN News. “With the sale of the pillow, we were featured in an article, and that’s how the first invitations to schools started to emerge in 2015.”
“So, itʼs been 11 years since weʼve been in schools,” Schaefer said. “Since that first presentation, all kinds of things have come forth: We have presented in eight different states, we are all over the state of Nebraska, we have developed a K-4 Celebration of Life program, a fifth through sixth program, a middle school, and a high school and beyond program.”
Founded in Omaha, Nebraska, Heart of a Child Ministries is growing into a multistate presence, with two new fetal certified educators in Illinois, one in Springfield and another set to be trained in Mokena in October. The organization also now has certified educators in Alabama and Idaho.
Fetal development education for every level
Heart of a Child’s fetal development education brings live ultrasounds to classrooms in a way that is specially tailored to suit each grade level. Its K–4 program centers on “fun fetal facts for kids” and includes “all kinds of hands-on things,” such as a team of musicians who play songs, according to Schaefer. “The kids absolutely love it,” she said. “We’re just putting the joy of life in front of them.”
Having the foundation of a K–4 program is crucial, according to Schaefer. “It really solidifies the deal — it puts the truth in their hearts from the very beginning so that when the lies start coming in middle school through social media, through their friends, they’ve already seen an ultrasound; they’ve already learned all these amazing facts about what’s happening.”
Through middle school, the curriculum progresses with more detailed fetal development facts, adoption stories, and begins addressing the abortion issue. In high school, the live ultrasound and fetal development education is supplemented with more detailed information about abortion, a testimonial speaker, and a panel discussion.
The ministry’s first college event on March 30, sponsored by Turning Point USA, utilized this format. The event took place at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, and included a panel of two OB-GYN doctors, a representative for the abortion pill reversal (APR), Teresa Kenney, host of the Hormone Genius podcast, and other pro-life experts.
“We feel confident that when kids walk away from that, their hearts are changed, their hearts are moved, and we have the statistics to prove that,” Schaefer said, noting their events have had “a 56% conversion rate on average” among students regarding the topic of abortion.
Schaefer emphasized that the root of the program’s success is its holistic approach, acknowledging that each child processes information differently depending on age, personality, and maturity.
“Every piece that we do is extremely important because it hits kids at different levels,” she said. “Some kids are more logical, right? They want the facts. Some kids are more heart. They want to hear a testimonial for some from someone who had an abortion, and it affected them. That’s what’s going to touch their hearts.”
9 months of pregnancy for 9 months of school
Apart from its latest multistate expansion, Heart of a Child has also debuted a fetal development curriculum for teachers to implement in their classrooms year-round.
Titled “The Journey Within,” the teacher-led curriculum takes students through nine months of pregnancy during nine months of the school year, with posters, fetal development PowerPoints, ultrasound videos, studies, and images of babies in the womb.
A version of the curriculum is available for both public and Catholic schools and has been vetted by a medical panel for accuracy, Schaefer noted.
“For Catholic schools, we have a spiritual component where each month the teachers go through Scripture readings or a Church teaching, and the kids reflect on that, write about that, and go deeper,” she said. The faith-based curriculum operates under a “4S model” that incorporates Scripture, science, stories, and service. Each faith-based school that Heart of a Child presents to completes a service project, such as raising money to buy diapers for pro-life pregnancy centers.
Schaefer emphasized the importance of fetal development curriculum today, noting that “right now the buzz in pro-life education and the pro-life movement in general is that different states have passed a law requiring fetal development education.”
States that have laws requiring fetal development education in public schools include Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa, and Ohio. Lobbying efforts in Nebraska to pass similar legislation have yet to be successful, Schaefer said, citing difficulty in finding a senator to prioritize a bill with precise language.
“We’ve been meeting with senators, and unfortunately the bill they came up with [had] the potential for a Planned Parenthood to get in there and do fetal development education because it was too loose,” she said. “So weʼve recommended the senators to go back and redo the language, and it might be where certain fetal development programs are required in the state of Nebraska.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has signaled his support of efforts to pass legislation requiring education on fetal development in Nebraska public schools, telling EWTN News in an interview earlier this year: “I am 100% behind it and am supportive of it.”
Catholic Relief Services urges lawmakers to prioritize global hunger as farm bill vote nears
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. House of Representatives nears a crucial vote on the farm bill, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is urging lawmakers not to sideline international hunger relief.
In a recent advocacy appeal, the organization called on Americans to contact their representatives in support of global food aid programs, emphasizing that such efforts reflect a commitment to human dignity, solidarity, and the common good. The House is expected to take up the farm bill (H.R. 7567) during the week of April 27.
“Hunger is a daily reality for families around the world — and the decisions Congress makes right now will shape the future of our global family,” the statement reads. “With the House vote approaching, a narrow window offers a critical opportunity to speak up.”
In an emailed statement to EWTN News, CRS emphasized that U.S. international food assistance — particularly Food for Peace — must remain strong and flexible as “around the world, needs are rising, and these programs are often the difference between families getting through a crisis or not.”
The organization said it is “particularly concerned about anything that would limit flexibility or reduce resources at a time when global hunger is already at historic levels.”
“Programs like Food for Peace have a long track record of saving lives,” it continued, “and it’s critical they remain well funded and able to adapt to complex emergencies.”
It added that in “fast-moving crises, delays or limitations can mean families go without food when they need it most” and framed the issue more broadly: “At its core, this is about human dignity. Hunger isn’t just a policy issue — it’s a moral one.”
“CRS is encouraging both Catholics and policymakers to keep the needs of the most vulnerable at the center of these decisions,” the organization said.
The push comes as lawmakers will decide whether to vote on more than 300 amendments to the legislation, revealing sharp disagreement over whether the bill should focus primarily on domestic nutrition programs or maintain a significant role in global humanitarian food assistance.
Much of the debate has centered on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative. Some proposed changes would tighten eligibility requirements, alter benefit structures, or restrict the types of foods eligible for purchase, including sugar-sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods. Other proposals would expand access through measures such as universal school meals, increased nutrition incentives, and additional support for food-insecure communities.
Together, the competing proposals highlight differing visions for federal food policy — whether it should be narrowly focused on alleviating hunger or also used to influence dietary outcomes and public health.
Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, has led Republican negotiations on the bill, while Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota, the committee’s ranking Democrat, has served as the lead Democratic negotiator.
In a statement shared with EWTN News, a House Agriculture Committee aide for Thompson said the “Food for Peace program has a long history of helping both American farmers and hungry communities around the world.”
“The House Committee on Agriculture was proud to include a provision in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 that designates the United States Department of Agriculture as this program’s permanent home,” the statement continued. “Chairman Thompson continues to advocate for this program in the halls of Congress as debate on the farm bill advances.”
Craigʼs office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Catholic teaching frames hunger as global responsibility
Catholic organizations have long emphasized that hunger policy extends beyond national borders, a theme reflected in recent advocacy surrounding the farm bill.
In February, a joint Catholic letter to Congress from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), CRS, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Rural Life, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul urged lawmakers to strengthen both domestic and international food assistance programs.
The letter highlighted initiatives such as Food for Peace, which provides U.S. food aid abroad; McGovern-Dole Food for Education, which supports reducing hunger and improving literacy and primary education in low-income countries; and Food for Progress, which helps developing nations strengthen agricultural systems.
The letter’s emphasis on global responsibility reflects broader Catholic teaching on hunger, echoed in recent remarks by Pope Leo XIV.
Speaking at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome for World Food Day in October 2025, the pope noted that “whoever suffers from hunger is not a stranger. He is my brother, and I must help him without delay.”
He expanded on that theme more recently while speaking to reporters aboard the papal flight returning from Africa on April 23, reflecting on the responsibility of wealthier nations to address conditions in poorer regions of the world.
“I ask myself: What are we doing in richer countries to change the situation in poorer countries?” he said. “Why can we not try, both through state aid and through the investments of large wealthy companies and multinationals, to change the situation in countries like those we visited on this visit?”
I ask myself: What are we doing in richer countries to change the situation in poorer countries?”
Pope Leo XIV
Faith-based organizations, including CRS, have pointed to such statements in urging policymakers to maintain international food assistance as part of U.S. humanitarian leadership.
Amendments reflect long-standing debates
Several amendments reflect long-standing debates — often highlighted in Catholic advocacy — over how U.S. policy should balance domestic nutrition programs with international hunger relief.
An amendment by Rep. Jim Costa, D-California, would increase funding for the administration of Food for Peace, a program that provides U.S. food aid abroad, often using uses American agricultural commodities.
Introduced by Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, and Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, another amendment would extend Food for Peace through 2031 and expand its scope to address child wasting, a severe form of malnutrition, through the use of specialized therapeutic foods.
Other amendments focus on domestic programs such as one introduced by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee, that would expand allowable SNAP purchases to include sliced meats and cheeses from delis.
Reps. Kim Schrier, D-Washington, and Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, proposed creating a grant program under the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to support purchases from small and undeserved agricultural producers for distribution through emergency feeding organizations.
The House Rules Committee is set to decide April 27 whether to allow floor votes on any of the amendments.
Expert highlights food system links
Speaking more broadly about the farm bill debate, Stephanie Scott, a senior policy analyst at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, said domestic nutrition programs and international food assistance are more closely linked than they are often treated in policy discussions.
“I think when it comes to the food priorities for both domestic and international, they’re kind of the same in what we as a nation would like,” she told EWTN News, noting that programs such as SNAP and international food aid both function as core tools for addressing hunger.
Scott said international food assistance programs also respond to crises driven by conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability, and raised concerns about whether funding levels are sufficient to meet rising need both domestically and abroad.
“Prioritizing international food security,” she added, “is not only a human right and a basic need but a strategic one.”
British mother to travel to Switzerland to die by assisted suicide after son’s death
A 56-year-old British mother is traveling to Switzerland to end her life by assisted suicide after the death of her only son.
Wendy Duffy told the New York Post she paid $13,500 to the Swiss assisted-dying nonprofit the Pegasos clinic.
Duffy’s son, Marcus, died at age 23 four years ago after choking on a tomato lodged in his windpipe while sleeping. Nine months later, unable to cope with her grief, she attempted suicide by overdose and was placed on a ventilator for two weeks.
She told the Daily Mail suicide is the only way her “spirit can be free.” She also said no amount of medication or therapy can make her whole again, and she “can’t wait” to die. She added: “I could step off a motorway bridge or a tower block but that would leave anyone finding me dealing with that for the rest of their lives.”
She said she has chosen her deathbed outfit and requested that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile” play as she dies. Her belongings will be donated afterward.
Duffy said she plans to call her four sisters and two brothers from Switzerland to say goodbye. “It will be a hard call where I’ll say goodbye and thank them,” she said. “But they will get it. They know. Honestly, 100%, they know that I’m not happy, that I don’t want to be here.”
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, even for physically healthy people. On its website, Pegasos says it “believes that it is the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death."
Duffy’s case follows the recent death by euthanasia of 25-year-old Noelia Castillo in Spain. On March 26, the young woman was euthanized over her father’s objections. The case sparked national debate in Spain, where euthanasia has been legal since 2021.
The Church in Spain called Castillo’s death “a societal defeat.”
In a statement, members of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference’s Subcommittee for the Family and Defense of Life said Castillo’s “story reflects an accumulation of personal suffering and institutional failings that challenge the whole of society.”
Timeʼs up for right-to-die bill in UK
Meanwhile, a right-to-die bill has stalled in the U.K. Parliament. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ran out of parliamentary time and therefore failed in the House of Lords on April 24.
The archbishop of Liverpool, John Sherrington, said he was grateful to “all those Parliamentarians who have worked tirelessly to preserve the dignity of every human life and ensure that end-of life care remains rooted in compassion and respect until the natural end of life.”
The Catholic Church teaches that suicide and euthanasia are gravely immoral.
In a 2024 message to a palliative care symposium, Pope Francis called euthanasia “a failure of love.” He recalled when he said previously that assisted suicide and euthanasia constitute a “false compassion.”
“‘[C]ompassion,’ a word that means ‘suffering with,’ does not involve the intentional ending of a life but rather the willingness to share the burdens of those facing the end stages of our earthly pilgrimage,” he said.
In St. John Paul II’s 1999 address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, “Love and Solidarity for the Dying,” he said: “No one can arbitrarily choose whether to live or die; the absolute master of such a decision is the Creator alone.”
In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae, he said: “suicide ... involves the rejection of love of self and the renunciation of the obligation of justice and charity towards one’s neighbor … In its deepest reality, suicide represents a rejection of God’s absolute sovereignty over life and death.” Euthanasia is likewise condemned as “a grave violation of the law of God.”
He also calls euthanasia “a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy. True ‘compassion’ leads to sharing anotherʼs pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.”
He continued: “Moreover, the act of euthanasia appears all the more perverse if it is carried out by those, like relatives, who are supposed to treat a family member with patience and love, or by those, such as doctors, who by virtue of their specific profession are supposed to care for the sick person even in the most painful terminal stages.”
While the Church says euthanasia and assisted suicide are never permissible, it supports palliative care. According to Dian Backoff, former executive director of Catholic Hospice for Catholic Health Services, palliative care is meant to address “what the whole patient wants during the treatment of an illness,” whether or not the patient is terminally ill or dealing with a long-term affliction.
“Palliative care, then, is a genuine form of compassion, for it responds to suffering, whether physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual, by affirming the fundamental and inviolable dignity of every person, especially the dying, and helping them to accept the inevitable moment of passage from this life to eternal life,” Pope Francis said in 2024.
White House to bring back firing squads as Pope Leo XIV calls for U.S. death penalty to be abolished
The Trump administration has announced that it will bring back federal firing squad executions in the United States — a move it claims will “strengthen” the national death penalty — while Pope Leo XIV is simultaneously offering support to those seeking to abolish capital punishment in the U.S. and around the world.
The U.S. Department of Justice said on April 24 that it was moving to once again “seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences,” restarting the federal death penalty process that had been indefinitely stalled under the Biden administration.
Among the measures that the Justice Department said it will take include “expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad” as well as “streamlining” administrative processes to hasten executions by the federal government.
The government said it would also seek to restart carrying out lethal injections by pentobarbital, a barbiturate that prisoner advocates have said can cause extreme pain and suffering when used in executions.
In an accompanying report released on April 24, the Justice Department called pentobarbital “the gold standard of lethal injection drugs.” It described the drug as “more humane” than other modes of execution and pointed out that it has been used in assisted suicide procedures in the U.S. for those suffering from terminal illnesses.
Pope Leo XIV urges abolition of death penalty
The governmentʼs announcement came roughly at the same time on April 24 that Pope Leo XIV addressed, via video message, a gathering of activists at DePaul University celebrating the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois.
The pope in his message noted that the Catholic Church teaches that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
The Holy See updated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to explicitly call for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide. Leo likewise told the pro-life advocates in his hometown of Chicago that the Church “affirm[s] that the dignity of the person is not lost even after very serious crimes are committed.”
The Holy Father said he joined the advocates in celebrating the stateʼs 2011 abolition of the death penalty; he wrote that he offered his “support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world.”
“I pray that your efforts will lead to a greater acknowledgement of the dignity of every person and will inspire others to work for the same just cause,” the pope wrote.
Leoʼs message comes one day after he spoke out forcefully against executions aboard the papal plane returning from his apostolic visit to Africa.
Asked about Iranʼs reported large-scale executions, the pope said: “I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people — from conception to natural [death] — their lives should be respected and protected.”
Former Attorney General Bill Barr: U.S military action against Iran meets criteria for ‘just war’
Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr made the case for Americaʼs war with Iran as meeting Catholic criteria for a just war.
Barr, a Catholic, said because Iranʼs potential use of nuclear weapons posed a legitimate threat to the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, the war doesnʼt violate just war doctrine.
Barr said the Iran war doesnʼt clearly violate just war doctrine during an April 23 panel discussion hosted by the Napa Institute.
“The traditional position of the Church was to exhort leaders to take into account all the factors, but not to say, ‘thatʼs wrong’ unless it clearly violated the just war doctrine, which this obviously doesn’t,” Barr said.
‘If we allow this window to go by’
Barr, a former board member at the Catholic Information Center, said the U.S. faces “difficult questions dealing with nuclear weapons” and argued that allowing the window of opportunity to dismantle Iranʼs nuclear capabilities to pass by would result in grave consequences.
“If somethingʼs obviously out of bounds, you can say the Nazis, you know, should not have invaded this, or, you know, Saddam Hussein should not have invaded Kuwait. But thatʼs not the situation we face,” he said.
“We face these very difficult questions dealing with nuclear weapons,” Barr said. "We’ve tried for a long time to deal with it, and if we allow this window to go by, the costs in the future are much higher, and the likelihood will be that the people won’t be willing to pay that, and nuclear weapons will be deployed by Iran.”
“Youʼre basically weighing these imponderables and risks,” he said. “If the cost of dealing with it later and allowing them more time to reach a certain level of conventional force will make it almost impossible to deal with it without massive losses, including in Europe, certainly in the Middle East and certainly among Americans, then those future costs have to be taken into account and say thereʼs a window now.”
“When youʼre faced with some of these difficult issues, itʼs very easy to stand back and say, turn the other cheek, or take an absolutist position [that] ‘you shouldnʼt be violent,’” Barr said. “But that begs the question, that doesnʼt really solve the problem, and deal with the real issue at stake that other people have to deal with.”
Barr also said he believed “the primary temptation of religious people is self-righteousness,” which he said Pope Francis “was very good to call attention to.” He said he has seen Catholics on both ends of the political spectrum fall into “virtue signaling,” which he said, “is not coming to grips with the real moral choices and the real practical reality.”
Reflecting on his upbringing, Barr said his father got him interested in St. Augustine, the fourth- to fifth-century theologian who developed criteria morally limiting when war may be justified.
“My parents always said, ‘Think things through, donʼt just take your belief like itʼs a suit off a rack in a store and say, ”OK, Iʼm putting this coat on, this is what I believe.“ Understand why you believe it,’” he said.
Barr’s remarks come as Leo calls for peace and Church officials question the justification of the war on the basis of just war doctrine. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy have said they do not believe the war fits just war criteria.
Leo has said the Iran war fails to align with just war theory, citing failure to exhaust all diplomatic resources, disproportionate civilian harm, and lack of clear moral objectives. The U.S. bishops have publicly backed Leo, stating that just war teachings do not morally authorize unchecked military violence.
Popes seldom issue blanket rulings but Pope Benedict XV made clear World War I lacked moral legitimacy given its scale, civilian toll, and lack of proportionate ends. Pope John Paul II warned the Gulf War did not meet just war criteria. And the Vatican also formally stated in 2003 the Iraq invasion failed just‑war standards.
Pope Leo XIV urges peace
The Holy Father has said “God does not bless any conflict” and said that “anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
On Palm Sunday, Leo stated that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood.’”
Coalition letter urges U.S. Senate to extend defunding of abortion industry
A coalition of pro-life groups urged the U.S. Senate in a letter to extend the defunding of abortion providers into 2026 and beyond.
The Trump administration defunded Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers for one year; this letter asks the Senate to continue this defunding for 10 years.
Signed by Live Action Founder Lila Rose, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, March for Life Action President Jennie Bradley Lichter, and more than 30 others, the letter urges the Senate to ban abortion funding in the 2026 budget reconciliation package.
“Without further congressional action, federal funding for the abortion industry will resume after July 4, 2026, and taxpayer dollars will once again flow to organizations whose core business model relies on abortion,” the letter read.
“The financial stakes are significant,” the letter continued. “Planned Parenthood alone receives over $830 million annually in taxpayer funding, primarily through federal health programs. Ending this funding would represent one of the most meaningful pro-taxpayer reforms Congress can enact.”
Pennsylvania court rules state Medicaid program must cover abortion
A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the state constitution guarantees a right to abortion and that state Medicaid funds must cover abortion.
The April 20 decision struck down a decades-old law that protected taxpayer money from being used to cover abortion through Medicaid.
The case could still be appealed to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.
In addition to Pennsylvania, 21 states in the U.S. use Medicaid funds to cover abortion, and an additional seven states sometimes do in certain circumstances.
Pennsylvania joins 12 other states that have enshrined a right to abortion in their state constitutions.
In Pennsylvania, abortion is legal through 23 weeks of pregnancy.
U.S. senator urges Federal Trade Commission to investigate ‘misleading’ claims by abortion drug groups
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate abortion drug manufacturers’ claims that the drugs are “safer than Tylenol.”
In an April 20 letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Banks asked the commission to investigate “misleading” claims made by those selling abortion drugs, as the trade commission can intervene in “deceptive trade practices.”
“Many online clinics — including online clinics that ship to women in Indiana — explicitly state on their websites that abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol,” Banks said. “Others claim that abortion drugs almost never cause serious complications.”
“At best, these statements are misleading,” Banks continued.
“Emerging evidence indicates that abortion drugs are more dangerous than manufacturers and dispensers claim and cause serious medical complications in a concerning number of cases,” Banks said.
Banks urged the commission to “act swiftly and without delay,” noting that “companies that profit from abortion drugs should be honest about their risk.”
Thousands gather for Virginia March for Life
Thousands of Virginians gathered for a March for Life on Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia.
Speakers included national March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter, leaders from the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs, and the Catholic dioceses of Richmond and Arlington, among others.
On the day of, The Family Foundation Action, which partnered with other organizations to host the March for Life, also held a training session for pro-lifers designed to equip them to talk about abortion.
“We had about 1,000 people attend the training, which is remarkable,” Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation of Virginia, told EWTN News. “We had four different trainings: one for ministry leaders, students, medical professionals, and pro-life activists. Attendees were thrilled to be equipped to be more than just a voter but an influencer.”
Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout led the closing prayer of the rally before the march.
“Father, we ask you for grace today, for all those entrusted with the responsibility of leadership in our commonwealth, that they have the courage to turn away from the darkness of the culture of death and turn toward the light of the Gospel of life,” Knestout prayed.
Written protocols are not enough, says archbishop at first Caribbean abuse prevention meeting
More than 60 bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople participated in the first Caribbean abuse prevention meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with the aim of strengthening the culture of care within the Church.
The event, held April 19–22 at the Manresa Ignatian Spirituality Center, brought together participants from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Haiti in addition to the Dominican hosts.
The meeting served as an opportunity to discuss the prevention of abuse, taking into account its pastoral, psychological, and legal dimensions, according to a statement from the Dominican episcopate.
Archbishop Héctor Rafael Rodríguez of Santiago de los Caballeros, president of the Dominican Bishops’ Conference (CED, by its Spanish acronym), emphasized that “as evangelizers, we must ensure safe environments where every person, especially the most vulnerable, is respected.”
“Written protocols are not enough unless they are embodied in concrete attitudes,” the prelate emphasized.
Furthermore, Auxiliary Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera of Cusco, Peru, secretary-general of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym), stated that “the prevention of abuse in the Church is neither a strategy nor an option; it is a commitment of the Gospel.”
Therefore, the bishop added, “it is fundamental that we commit ourselves to working together on prevention and on the protection of the most vulnerable.”
Auxiliary Bishop José Amable Durán Tineo of Santo Domingo, president of the Dominican bishops’ National Commission for Pastoral Ministry for the Culture of Care, encouraged continued work in the region, “applying the knowledge acquired under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”
The Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Culture of Care is composed of bishops and delegates from the offices, commissions, and councils of bishops’ conferences as well as other Latin American ecclesial bodies, the statement from the CED noted.
It was formed during the first meeting held in Chile in 2023. Its second meeting was held in Colombia in 2024, and its third meeting took place in the Dominican Republic in 2025. The network serves as a vehicle to coordinate abuse prevention within the Church.
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.
Connecticut diocese debuts ‘Maria,’ an AI fundraising personality ‘rooted in the Church’s mission’
The Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, will be supplementing its fundraising activities with an AI tool meant in part to solicit donations from local Catholics in what the diocese is billing as the “worldʼs first virtual engagement officer.”
The diocese announced the rollout of “Maria” this month. It describes the tool as a means of “thoughtfully exploring how new technologies can support more attentive listening, more consistent communication, and more personal engagement with those we serve.”
Bishop Frank Caggiano says on the programʼs website that the digital tool will “help us discern how technology may support deeper connection and accompaniment.”
“Maria will help us learn how digital tools can deepen our listening and foster more personal responses, while always keeping human relationships at the heart of the Church’s mission,” he said.
Ethical safeguards, ‘huge potential’
On the April 15 edition of his weekly podcast “Let Me Be Frank,” Caggiano jokingly described himself as “technologically a Neanderthal,” but he expressed excitement that the tool could be used “not just to raise money but to evangelize.”
Speaking on the podcast to diocesan chancellor Deacon Patrick Toole, who spent years as an executive with the technology giant IBM, Caggiano asked if an AI agent can “ever get to the point where it could resist human control.”
Toole acknowledged that such a scenario was “possible,” though he noted that AI companies institute “huge safeguards” to ensure that AI personalities are trained properly.
The deacon said that the diocesan chancery has been holding discussions about “how to use artificial intelligence for the good of the mission” and that diocesan fundraising “seemed like a good opportunity to try it in an area where we donʼt have the resources.”
“My primary motivation was that weʼre doing so many really exciting things and itʼs hard to get the message out,” he said.
Emily Groccia, a vice president at the tech company Givzey, which helped design Maria, said on the podcast that the program was rolled out to 1,000 donors in late March.
She said part of the toolʼs programming will be to “graduate” donors to actual human workers under some circumstances, such as when someone wants to significantly upgrade a donation, or if they raise intimate personal questions better addressed by a fellow human being.
“We are very cautious on allowing our [AI] to engage in lines of conversation that are outside of those traditional fundraising conversations,” she said.
The bishop said that AI fundraising represents “huge potential” for the nearly 200 dioceses in the United States. But he stressed the need for “guidelines” to ensure that AI agents do not take the place of human beings.
“Just off the top of my head, if someone reveals a death, I would not want the assistant to respond at all,” he said. “I want a human person to respond. ... Because again, as a Church, weʼre a unique reality.”
Diocesan spokeswoman Marie Oates shared with EWTN News several examples of Mariaʼs interactions with local Catholics. In one, a parishioner expresses interest in volunteering with immigrants, for which Maria was able to provide information on local Catholic Charities immigration services.
In another, a mother asks Maria for opportunities to get involved in diocesan programs with “other moms like me.” Maria offers to connect the mother to parish programs with mothers' groups and family ministries.
Oates said both interactions “highlight our goal for the program,” which she said focuses on “using AI [not] as a way to replace human relationships but as a tool to help us connect more personally.”
“[We want to use] AI to bridge the gaps in our ability as a Church to communicate directly with everyone, with the goal of fostering more personal and human connection and interaction, so that we as humans can better accompany each other,” she said.
On the bishopʼs podcast, meanwhile, Toole said that Catholics “have the opportunity to bear great fruit” with AI technology “as long as we align it to the One and make sure we stay true to that with Christ at the center.”
Caggiano described AI innovation as representing “an epochal shift in human life” comparable to the development of the printing press.
“Thereʼs no one on Earth alive — even these great architects of [AI] — who really know where all of this will go,” he said. “We need to answer the question, where should it go?”