Psychological distress in priests: Causes, warning signs, and how to address it
Psychological distress significantly affects priests, who may find themselves exposed to situations involving stress, anxiety, and emotional burnout due to the nature of their mission, said Father Wenceslao Vial, a priest and physician.
His remarks in an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, come against a backdrop of growing concerns about mental health issues within the clergy. In April, Filipino Cardinal José Advíncula warned that “almost 1 in 5 priests in the Philippines suffers from psychological distress” and urged that mental health be prioritized in order to sustain pastoral ministry.
Vial, a professor of psychology and spiritual life in the theology department of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, emphasized that this problem should come as no surprise, as it is part of a broader reality.
“In many countries and not just among priests, people suffer from psychological distress,” he said, noting that “nearly 30% of the adult population suffers from some form of psychological pathology” and that anxiety "affects roughly 25% of the general population.”
Warning signs: When to be concerned
Vial stressed the importance of identifying warning signs. According to the specialist, the first sign of a mental health issue is often “a continuously and excessively negative emotional state: fear, sadness, distress, anger, and persistent negative thoughts.”
He further warned that these signs must be taken seriously when they persist over time: “When you observe a person who is overly anxious, overly insecure, or overly sad for a period that has already lasted, for instance, a couple of weeks, that’s a warning sign that requires attention.”
Otherwise, he cautioned, the situation may get worse: “If not addressed, the alarm itself turns into a fire. The person ends up getting burned."
Regarding treatment, Vial emphasized the importance of a proper diagnosis: “The first step is to make a diagnosis … to give a name to the difficulties.” He explained that it is not enough to treat the symptoms; rather, it is necessary to get to the root causes.
Likewise, he issued a clear call to seek out specialists: “You shouldn’t be afraid of health professionals — psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors.”
Burnout: A common risk among priests
Among the most common problems he sees in priests is burnout, or what he calls the “disillusioned Good Samaritan syndrome,” which he described as “a state of exhaustion” linked to constantly serving others.
“It occurs in people who work by serving others, by giving of themselves to others,” he explained, noting that it affects not only priests but also doctors, teachers, and mothers.
A particularly relevant aspect is its root cause: “Often, it is not brought about by overwork but rather by service work that has lost its sense of purpose.”
Shared responsibility in the Church
Vial emphasized that caring for mental health is not solely an individual responsibility. “When problems arise in a diocese, the bishop must take the time to see what is happening,” he said, noting that both personal and institutional factors are typically involved.
Among these, he cited “excessive perfectionism,” “insecurity,” and “unhealed wounds” but also situations such as “leaving the priest excessively isolated” or “burdening him with too many responsibilities without providing support.”
“That is why it is a collaborative effort,” he emphasized.
Vial highlighted the importance of the support provided by the laity. “All of us in the Church must pray for our priests … and look out for our pastors,” he said. They are “the ones entrusted with leading us to heaven and bringing heaven down to earth.”
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.
Notre Dame Cathedral’s stained-glass dispute enters new legal phase
The long-running controversy over the replacement of six 19th-century stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral appears to be entering a new — and potentially decisive — phase.
On April 20, the permit to remove and replace the windows in one of the nave’s southern chapels, designed under Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the architect behind Notre Dame’s iconic spire, was publicly posted on the cathedral’s railings, triggering an almost immediate legal response. The heritage preservation group “Sites et Monuments,” which watched helplessly as scaffolding was erected on April 27, announced that it would file an urgent legal appeal before the Paris Administrative Court targeting the authorization itself.
The plan to replace these windows with contemporary creations by French artist Claire Tabouret — unveiled to the public at the Grand Palais late last year — has drawn unusually broad opposition over the past two years, from heritage experts to Catholic figures.
A battle over the cathedral’s identity
Included among the main arguments against the project are that the Viollet-le-Duc windows belong to the cathedral’s 19th-century restoration and that introducing contemporary works in the nave would disrupt its balance. The proposed designs have themselves been criticized as overly figurative for the nave. For many, removing windows that survived the 2019 blaze — and have since been cleaned and restored — runs counter to the logic of the restoration itself.
Critics also point to the estimated cost of the project, around 4 million euros (about $4.7 million), as disproportionate, given broader heritage needs. The project has also faced opposition from France’s National Commission for Heritage and Architecture, which issued a negative opinion in July 2024.
For the president of Sites et Monuments, Julien Lacaze, the issue touches the core of heritage protection. “The question is whether the Viollet-le-Duc windows that are to be removed have artistic and historical value or not,” he said in an interview with Famille Chrétienne. “Viollet-le-Duc was not simply a restorer; he was a creator in the full sense. What matters is his vision of the Middle Ages and the freedom with which he approached it.”
The association had already filed a previous legal challenge last year, contesting the authority of the public body overseeing Notre Dame’s restoration to remove the windows. That case is still under appeal, while the new action goes directly to the substance of the decision. To support its legal efforts, Sites et Monuments has also launched a crowdfunding campaign.
Beyond the courtroom, the backlash continues to grow across France, with more than 340,000 people having signed a petition calling for the preservation of the Viollet-le-Duc windows.
The scale of public opposition has done little to slow the project, which many see as a reflection of President Emmanuel Macron’s desire to leave a contemporary mark on the restored cathedral — a vision already tested after the 2019 fire, when his proposal to replace the spire with a modern design was ultimately set aside after intense controversy. Critics now see the stained-glass project as a renewed attempt to leave his mark on the monument.
More broadly, the controversy points to a deeper divide over how the past should be treated — preserved as an inherited whole or reinterpreted through contemporary artistic choices. Supporters of the project argue that historic monuments must remain open to new forms of expression; Tabouret, who designed the controversial windows in question, has warned against “freezing” a monument in time.
Priest’s call to protest
While Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich has approved the current project, a position echoed by some within the Church who see contemporary art as a legitimate expression within historic monuments, the proposal is not enjoying unanimous support within Catholic ranks.
One of the most outspoken voices in recent days has been Father Michel Viot, a Paris-based priest who has called for a peaceful public protest.
In a message on social media, he said that Catholics in Paris, across France and abroad — particularly those who contributed to the cathedral’s restoration — should be “warned of the day hands are laid on the windows.” He urged them to gather on-site either with rosaries, or simply “to pray or protest,” all to “demand respect for the law.” He denounced what he described as an arbitrary decision and an attack on beauty that, in his words, serves a “culture of death.”
The fact that the works were authorized despite repeated negative opinions from heritage authorities has reinforced the perception of a top-down initiative driven primarily by political considerations — a perception that has since ignited a broader wave of outrage across social media.
For now, all eyes turn to the administrative court, where the fate of the project may soon be tested.
This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Street in Brooklyn Heights renamed to honor Servant of God Dorothy Day
A street corner in Brooklyn, New York, is now honoring Catholic social activist and journalist Servant of God Dorothy Day.
The intersection of Pineapple and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights was renamed to “Dorothy Day Way” on May 2. Day was born nearby at 71 Pineapple St. in 1897.
Martha Hennessy, Day’s granddaughter, and members of the Dorothy Day Guild attended the ceremony unveiling the new street sign.
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Hennessy called the ceremony “a beautiful moment” in an interview with The Tablet.
Alex Avitabile, a member of the guild, spearheaded the campaign to honor her by changing the street name. He recalled meeting her in 1970 after a talk she gave at the Catholic Worker House in Rochester, New York, saying he recognized that he was in the presence of a holy person.
“I knew,” Avitabile shared. “She had a way about her — her eyes. There are a few people I’ve met who are saintly people. And I could just see that.”
Kevin Ahern, board chairman of the guild, also attended the unveiling ceremony and said he believes the new street name can be an evangelization tool.
“By learning about her,“ he said, people ”can be inspired by her to live their life a little bit different and make the world a better place.”
“I truly believe that she will bring so much good to the Catholic Church and bring people back to the Church,” Hennessy said.
Her cause for canonization opened in 2000, and she is now recognized as a servant of God, the first step in the process toward possible sainthood.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago, Day was baptized Episcopalian at the age of 12. From a young age she showed signs of caring deeply about religion and justice.
As a young woman, she was shaped by the social upheavals of the 1910s and influenced by works like Upton Sinclairʼs book “The Jungle,” which exposed the harsh realities of industrial labor. She left college and moved to New York, working as a reporter for a socialist newspaper and immersing herself in radical political and artistic circles, including a relationship with anarchist Forster Batterham.
In the 1920s, Day settled on Staten Island, where she raised her daughter, Tamar, and gradually deepened her spiritual life. Drawn to Catholicism, she began praying regularly and had her daughter baptized before entering the Catholic Church herself in 1927.
After becoming a single mother, her concern for the poor took on new urgency. In 1933, she partnered with Peter Maurin to launch the Catholic Worker Movement, combining direct service with a radical commitment to living out the Gospel through voluntary poverty.
Through the movement, Day helped establish houses of hospitality, soup kitchens, and farming communities, serving those in need throughout the Great Depression and beyond. A lifelong pacifist, she spoke out against war, including the Vietnam War, and supported labor rights and civil rights efforts. Day never took a salary for her work and remained committed to serving the marginalized for decades.
She died in 1990 and her legacy continues through Catholic Worker communities worldwide.
Pope Leo XIV: Church serves coming of God’s kingdom in history
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on the documents of the Second Vatican Council at his Wednesday general audience, reflecting on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium and the Church as “pilgrim in history towards the heavenly homeland.”
Speaking May 6 in St. Peter’s Square, the pope said that “the Church, in fact, journeys through this earthly history always looking towards her final destination, which is the heavenly homeland.”
“This is an essential dimension which, however, we often overlook or downplay, because we are too focused on what is immediately visible and on the more concrete dynamics of the life of the Christian community,” he said.
The pope explained that “the Church lives in history in the service of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the world.”
“She proclaims the words of this promise to all and always; she receives a pledge of it in the celebration of the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist; she puts its logic into practice and experiences it in relationships of love and service,” he said.
Leo said Lumen Gentium makes an important affirmation about the nature and mission of the Church.
“The Church is the ‘universal sacrament of salvation’ (LG, 48), that is, the sign and instrument of that fullness of life and peace promoted by God,” he said.
“This means that she does not identify perfectly with the Kingdom of God, but is its seed and beginning, for its fulfilment will be granted to humanity and the cosmos only at the end,” the pope continued.
Because of this, he said, Christians journey through history “without being either deluded or despairing,” guided by the promise of the One who will “make all things new.”
The Church, Leo said, carries out her mission between the “already” of the Kingdom’s beginning in Jesus and the “not yet” of its promised fulfillment.
“As the guardian of a hope that enlightens the path, she is also invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development, and to take a position in favour of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit,” he said.
The pope emphasized that the Church must always point beyond herself to Christ.
“As the sign and sacrament of the Kingdom, the Church is the pilgrim people of God on earth who, drawing precisely on the final promise, reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and proclaiming, in word and deed, the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and His Kingdom of justice, love and peace,” he said.
“The Church, therefore, does not proclaim herself; on the contrary, everything within her must point to salvation in Christ,” he added.
From this perspective, Leo said, the Church must recognize “humbly the human fragility and transience of her own institutions,” which, while at the service of God’s kingdom, “bear the fleeting image of this world.”
“No ecclesial institution can be treated as absolute; indeed, since they exist within history and time, they are called to continual conversion, to the renewal of forms and the reform of structures, to the continual regeneration of relationships, so that they may truly fulfil their mission,” the pope said.
Leo also reflected on the communion between Christians still carrying out their earthly mission and those who have already completed their earthly lives and are in purification or beatitude.
He said Lumen Gentium affirms that all Christians form “a single Church” and that there is “communion and sharing of spiritual goods” founded on believers’ union with Christ.
By praying for the dead and following the example of those who lived as disciples of Jesus, the pope said, Christians are strengthened on their own journey.
“Marked by the one Spirit and united in the one liturgy, together with those who have gone before us in faith, we praise and give glory to the Most Holy Trinity,” he said.
The pope concluded: “Let us be grateful to the Council Fathers for reminding us of this most important and beautiful aspect of being Christian, and may we strive to cultivate it in our lives.”
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Rubio: ‘There’s a lot to talk about’ with Pope Leo XIV
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he has “a lot to talk about” with Pope Leo XIV in their upcoming meeting but that his trip to the Vatican on Thursday is not related to President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the Holy Father.
Rubio was asked by a reporter during a news conference on May 5 whether the May 7 meeting is an attempt to “smooth things over” with Leo after Trump called him “weak on crime” and “weak on nuclear weapons” and falsely accused him of wanting Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The secretary said this is not the reason for the meeting, but instead it is “a trip we had planned from before.” He acknowledged “we had some stuff that happened” but said there is “a lot to talk about with the Vatican.”
“The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the Church is growing very vibrantly, and we have shared concerns about religious freedom in different parts of the world,” Rubio said. “We’d love to talk to them about that.”
Rubio added that the U.S. gave $6 million of humanitarian aid to Cuba, which was distributed by the Church, and “we’d like to do more” with that partnership.
“We’re willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, by the way, distributed through the Church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it,” he said.
A reporter also asked Rubio about Trump’s more recent comment about Leo on May 4. On “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” the president again accused Leo of holding the view that “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and added: “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”
In response, Rubio said the president’s position is that “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics, including Christians and others for that matter.”
“[Trump] doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president, and I for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.
Although Leo has urged diplomacy in Iran as opposed to war, the Holy Father has not said he supports Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. Rather, the pope has spoken out strongly against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Rubio accused Iran of “holding the whole world hostage” by refusing to let ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatened to block all ships from passing through the strait without express permission from its government following the American and Israeli attack. The U.S. is now blockading every ship that coordinates with Iran.
“What do you think they would do if they had a nuclear weapon?” Rubio said. “They would hold the world hostage with that nuclear weapon.”
Rubio was also asked about the upcoming papal visit by an Italian journalist. He similarly said he plans to discuss “the destruction of religious liberty, the persecution of Christian minorities, and also the challenges that are being faced by Christians in Africa, where the pope just recently visited.”
“So we have a lot to talk about with them and I engage with them quite a bit on that front, so the trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them and other secretaries of state have done that in the past,” he said.
“The pope is obviously the vicar of Christ … but he’s also the head of a nation-state and it’s an organization that has a presence in over a hundred-something countries around the world and we engage with the Vatican quite a bit because they’re present in many different places,” Rubio said.
U.S. bishop urges Congress to ‘put children and families first’ in appropriations process
The U.S. Catholic bishops are calling on Congress to move forward appropriations that promote families, protect unborn children, and support women.
In a May 4 letter to Congress, Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, who heads the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. bishops, urged Congress “to advance appropriations that respect and affirm the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death.”
Addressed to the chairs and vice chairs for the committees on appropriations of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, Thomas in the letter voiced support for policies that support women and children, defund abortion providers, and support restorative reproductive medicine.
“We continue to call for policies that put children and families first,” he said. “Funding priorities, aligned in this way, must respond to mothers in need and their babies, born and preborn alike.”
Thomas urged Congress to invest in maternal and child health as well as fully fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
“In addition to such assistance, pro-family policies ought to support husbands and wives and the integrity of the family itself,” he continued.
Thomas noted that the bishops' priorities, such as “support for the poor, migrants and refugees, foreign assistance, environmental protection, health care, housing, nutrition, and more,” are founded in the “dignity and flourishing of the human person” through “the protection of innocent, preborn lives.”
Thomas urged Congress to continue upholding the Hyde Amendment, which protects taxpayer funding from being used for abortions, and to “oppose any bill that expands taxpayer funding of elective abortion.”
He also called for an extension of “last year’s historic, one-year defunding of the abortion industry in Medicaid within the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ (H.R.1),” which expires in July.
“We urge Congress not only to extend this prohibition of funding in the budget reconciliation process but complement this effort through other appropriations packages, such as by defunding major abortion providers in the Title X family planning program,” Thomas said.
“Congress should do all it can to defund this enterprise and, instead, ensure greater support for authentic, life-affirming health care providers who truly serve mothers and their children in need,” he continued.
Planned Parenthood performed an all-time high of 434,450 abortions of unborn babies in 2023-2024, according to the organizationʼs most recent annual report. Almost half of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from taxpayer dollars, even as abortion services increased and other services dwindled, according to the groupʼs 2024-2025 annual report.
Thomas also voiced support for restorative reproductive medicine to help couples experiencing infertility have families.
“We support funding and access to resources, such as training or research, for holistic and comprehensive restorative reproductive medicine, to help identify and treat underlying causes for those experiencing infertility,” he said.
The bishop voiced opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb. To maximize efficiency, doctors create excess human embryos and routinely destroy undesired embryos.
“IVF represents an underregulated industry that creates hundreds of thousands or even millions of preborn children who will be interminably frozen, lost in attempts to implant them within a mother, or discarded and killed (often in a selective, eugenic manner),” Thomas said.
“By turning the conception of children into a lucrative manufacturing process, IVF also violates their rights and treats them like property,” he continued.
Nevertheless, he said, “no one has any less worth because of being conceived through IVF. Every person has infinite, inherent dignity, which must be upheld through every stage and circumstance of life.”
“Society must make it easier to welcome and raise a new child and should promote life and hope for preborn children and their mothers and fathers,” Thomas said.
René Henry Gracida, Corpus Christi bishop and World War II veteran, dies at 102
Bishop René Henry Gracida, who led multiple U.S. dioceses and whose career included combat service as a U.S. Army Air Corps tail gunner over Germany in World War II, died on May 1. He was 102 years old. His death was announced by the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas.
The long-lived prelate, who was ordained in 1959 and appointed a bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1971, was the bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi since his retirement in 1997. He was appointed to that diocese in 1983 and had previously served as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, and as an auxiliary bishop of Miami.
Born in New Orleans on June 9, 1923, Gracida said that as a young man he was captivated by the depiction of Jesuit martyrs in James Fenimore Cooperʼs 1826 novel "The Last of the Mohicans."
He told the journalist Jim Graves in 2016 that upon entering the Benedictine monastery he took the name of the Jesuit martyr Rene Goupil, who was tortured and martyred by Iroquois in 1642.
Among the dwindling number of World War II veterans still alive, Gracida served with distinction in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying multiple missions over Nazi-occupied Europe. In one mission over the Ruhr Valley his airplane lost two engines, leading him to nearly bail out over enemy territory before the craft recovered.
His flying career did not end after World War II. He told Graves that following a stint in the hospital in 1972 after he drove across Southern Florida performing dozens of confirmations, he acquired a pilotʼs license and a small aircraft, which allowed him to fly around the archdiocese rather than spend long hours on the road.
In several instances, he said, he blacked out during intense thunderstorms, waking up at different altitudes than when he lost consciousness. “It’s another example of God preserving my life,” he said.
Gracida said that he considered EWTN foundress Mother Angelica a friend. In his 2005 biography of Mother Angelica, Raymond Arroyo noted that when the U.S. bishops debated the extent of their collaboration with EWTN in 1988, Gracida “cinched the deal” by proposing that the bishops adhere to a secret ballot when voting on any disputes.
Gracida was among the signatories of the Aug. 11, 2017, “filial correction” addressed to then-Pope Francis over the Holy Fatherʼs apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
In his later years he was known for expressing a number of controversial views, including a claim that Pope Benedict XVIʼs 2013 resignation was invalid. He was a vocal supporter of the Traditional Latin Mass.
In announcing his death, the Diocese of Corpus Christi said that under his leadership it developed its communications arm and expanded ministries throughout the diocese.
A trained architect, the bishop reportedly reviewed all diocesan building proposals before they were sent to construction. The bishop in his retirement “remained active and was an avid hunter and fisher,” the diocese said.
Earlier this year, in a statement to the advocacy group Catholics for Catholics, he exhorted listeners to “keep the faith.”
“As long as your faith is a motivating factor in your life, guiding what you do, youʼre on the right track,” he said.
He told Graves in 2016 that his many brushes with death — including a near-fatal case of pneumonia in the 1950s — led him to believe that he was kept alive for a purpose.
“I have no doubt that the only reason I’m alive today ... is because God has work for me to do,” he said at the time. “I have a message to deliver; God has kept me alive to deliver it.”
On his 56th birthday, new bishop in Philippines appointed by Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Father Nick Argel Vaquilar as the new bishop of Urdaneta in the Philippines on the very day of Vaquilarʼs 56th birthday and two days before the anniversary of his priestly ordination.
“I know that I am not capable of this big responsibility,” Vaquilar said. "But being chosen for this big responsibility, I am hoping for all the help from God, for I know he will guide me as a pastor,” the bishop-designate said after David William Antonio, archbishop of Nueva Segovia — the jurisdiction in which Vaquilar had served until now — announced his appointment.
“Your presence is a blessing, and we look forward to journeying together in faith, hope, and service. Thank you for saying ‘yes’ to this new ministry. The local Church of Urdaneta is blessed to have you as our new shepherd,” the Diocese of Urdaneta posted on Facebook.
Vaquilar succeeds Bishop Jacinto A. José, who led the diocese for over 20 years and whose resignation the pope accepted after the prelate reached the age of 75, the retirement age for bishops in the Catholic Church.
Who is the new bishop of Urdaneta?
Born on May 3, 1970, in the town of Cabugao in Ilocos Sur province, Vaquilar studied philosophy at the San Pablo University Seminary in Baguio and theology at the Immaculate Conception School of Theology in Vigan. He earned a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in biblical theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City.
He was ordained a priest on May 5, 1997, for the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia.
He has held the following positions, among others: parochial vicar of the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Paul in Vigan (1997–2000, 2004); professor and resident formator at the Immaculate Conception School of Theology in Vigan (2000–2001, 2005–2009); and rector of the Immaculate Conception School of Theology in Vigan (2009–2011, and subsequently, since 2015).
He has also served as parish priest at St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Sinait (2013–2014) and as director of the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate since 2018.
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.
‘Prison or exile’: Priest in Nicaragua reveals how the dictatorship persecutes the Church
Every Sunday, the police arrive to photograph him. He must report to authorities every time he leaves his parish and about every liturgical service in which he participates. If he speaks of any social issue during a homily, he risks one of two things: imprisonment or exile.
Speaking anonymously to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, a priest in active service in Nicaragua revealed the exact mechanisms by which the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, control, surveil, and silence the Catholic Church in the country.
The Nicaraguan dictatorship intensified its persecution of the Church in 2018 after bishops and priests offered to mediate between the regime and civil society in the wake of popular protests. Documented attacks against Catholics in the country now total over 1,030, and 149 priests have been expelled or exiled.
The priest said the population “has grown accustomed to the situation and no longer says anything. I sense a calm atmosphere, yet the restrictions, which are always present, persist, because there is no freedom.”
Every Sunday, 'the police arrive to take my photograph’
Speaking about how the police monitor priests and bishops, the priest recounted: “Whenever there are liturgical services, we have to report what they are and where they are being held; we have to report when we leave our parish boundaries, and we have to state how long we intend to remain at any location outside of it.”
“And the police arrive to take my photograph, always, every Sunday. It’s a way of verifying that we are where we said we would be. Police superiors require their officers to provide evidence of the visits they conduct, and thatʼs how they maintain control,” he added.
“If you fail to give notice,” the priest continued, “sometimes nothing happens; but other times when they realize that youʼre outside the parish and didn’t give prior notice, they make a call. There have been times when it simply slipped my mind to let them know.”
Regarding the bishops, he said he believes that “yes, they are monitored, they are kept under surveillance. And the police are constantly asking about this or that meeting: where it’s going to take place and whether the bishop will be there.” It also appears the police do in fact “have some person along with his vehicle assigned to” follow the bishops.
Political or social issues avoided in homilies
The priest explained that no priest can speak about social or political topics; otherwise, he risks being considered an opponent to the regime and it could cost him one of two things: “imprisonment or exile.”
“If we speak about a social problem or something currently taking place, they may view us as opponents, as if we were delivering a speech inciting rebellion. And so, they keep watch. They listen whether in person or via broadcasts, and they record us and file reports,” he said.
Any criticism of the dictatorship, he added, “they interpret as political discourse or an act of insurrection. And so that can have consequences.”
The priest recounted that whenever he learns of a fellow priest being imprisoned, there is “total silence. You can’t visit them; you can’t speak with them.”
Pressure on the bishops
ACI Prensa asked the priest why the bishops of Nicaragua do not typically speak about the situation in the country or criticize the dictatorship.
“First, perhaps, out of fear of being expelled. I believe thatʼs the primary factor. And there is the fear of leaving a large population of believers [without a bishop] as happened in Matagalpa, Estelí, or Jinotega” where the bishops are in exile, the priest noted.
The four dioceses currently without a bishop present in the country are Jinotega, whose bishop, Carlos Herrera, serves as president of the bishops' conference; Siuna, Matagalpa, and Estelí. The latter two are headed by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January 2024.
The priest noted that “in the dioceses where the bishops are absent, there are no priestly ordinations, primarily because the bishops are not there.”
“They [the police] are specifically keeping those dioceses under surveillance,” he added, explaining that a bishop from another diocese is also not permitted to ordain priests who fall outside his own jurisdiction.
In a diocese where the bishop is still present, he continued, “ordinations do take place, but they are conducted with great prudence and caution; they are not given much publicity or promoted in the media, so as to avoid any difficulties.”
The priest noted that there has been a decline in the number of priests due to expulsions, and that the most affected diocese is Matagalpa, with nearly half of its clergy now outside the country — a reprisal against Álvarez, who “in his homilies never sugarcoated” the situation in Nicaragua.
Processions banned in Nicaragua
The priest said that while most processions are banned, “there are some, traditionally massive in scale, that have been permitted,” such as those for St. Jerome or the Virgin of Mercy; “but more for their cultural and tourism value and not because it might be an opening toward the faith which they [the police] have otherwise closed.”
The priest recalled when he requested permission from the police to hold a procession and an officer told him that they could imprison him if he proceeded with it.
How does the Church get by day to day?
In 2023, the dictatorship banned the inflow of foreign funds to the Catholic Church after accusing it of “money laundering,” an accusation deemed “ridiculous” at the time by Félix Maradiaga, president of the Freedom for Nicaragua Foundation, while simultaneously freezing the bank accounts of the country’s parishes and dioceses in an attempt to further curtail their activities.
“There are no [parish] vehicles, and it’s impossible to purchase them using the offertory funds because the people are poor. So I have to go around asking people to give me a ride,” he recounted.
Among the many institutions whose legal status was revoked by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship — meaning they cease to function and their assets are transferred to the regime — is Caritas Nicaragua, the charitable arm of the Catholic Church, which was dissolved by the dictatorship in March 2023.
“We no longer have access to Caritas or foreign aid, because all of that has been banned. Consequently, here, assistance is provided by the population itself amid their poverty,” the priest emphasized.
Without the assistance of Caritas, “it’s the community itself that takes it upon itself to help us. We rely on divine providence, and thatʼs how we carry on.”
“If we survive, it’s because of the help of the people themselves. The people pay for the electricity and the water. These costs are not paid with the collection or offerings. The same goes for food; the people pitch in to help me. Without that, it would not be sustainable,” he explained.
“We collaborate with the people; we help, we deliver food, provisions to certain people. I haven’t had any issues with the police in that regard, but I do it publicly; I don’t do it in secret,” he explained.
According to an April World Bank report, 2.8 million people in Nicaragua live in poverty.
Are there vocations in Nicaragua?
The Nicaraguan priest highlighted that, despite everything, there still are vocations. “It’s true that there was a decline in vocations after 2018. There was significant attrition and a decrease in numbers, and many young people left the country; however, vocations are currently on the rise.”
The year 2018 marked a turning point in the persecution against the Church. Protests against the dictatorship prompted the regime to intensify its multifaceted attacks against Catholics. Nicaraguan lawyer and activist Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report ”Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” provides a detailed account of these attacks.
“Today, vocations are once again beginning to resurge in the seminaries. Before last year there were few, but today the number of seminarians has already risen,” the priest added.
Despite the tribulations, the Church in Nicaragua ‘walks with hope’
The priest said “a characteristic of Nicaraguans is their love for the pope, because he [represents human] dignity and the Church, it’s something that characterizes the Nicaraguan Catholic.”
Bolstered by the pope’s encouragement expressed to the exiled Nicaraguan bishops in August 2025 and despite all the difficulties facing Nicaragua, the priest said there are reasons for hope, such as those newly baptized at Easter.
“I believe that the Church in Nicaragua is a suffering Church; yet, above all that suffering, we press onward. We are spurred on and find hope in the knowledge of what Easter has given us: the resurrection of Christ, that Christ is alive, that Christ is with us, and that he walks in our midst,” he said.
“Even amid these tribulations,” he affirmed, “the Church in Nicaragua moves forward with confidence; it moves forward with hope. We’re not sorrowful; we are joyful. We simply hope to receive the solidarity and attention of the world, and that, one day, we may be able to live out our faith in complete freedom.”
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.
Irish bishop: Truth about abortion is ‘it not only kills babies, it wounds women’
Bishop Kevin Doran of the Diocese of Achonry in Ireland delivered a homily at the Newman University Church in Dublin on the occasion of the May 4 March for Life in Dublin organized by the Pro Life Campaign.
In his homily, Doran addressed the relationship between science, faith, and human dignity, centering his message on the truth regarding the human embryo and the child in the mother’s womb.
He reminded the congregation that there is no conflict between the truth of science and the truth of faith, and clarified that the starting point of faith “is the revealed word of God, which, for us Christians, comes to its completeness in the person and teaching of Jesus.”
Along these lines, he emphasized that scientific advancements have made it possible to confirm that the genetic identity of a new individual “is already established once fertilization has occurred,” noting that “what happens after that is an amazing process of growth and development.”
Based on this, the theologian and bioethicist further stated that anyone who denies the essential continuity between the embryo and the baby born nine months later “is flying in the face of truth.”
Referencing Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, he noted that “in every living thing there must be a first principle of life which explained and governed all its action.”
“Human action,” he continued, “includes complex reasoning and the formation of concepts, which are beyond the limits of the material world.”
This, according to Doran, led many of these thinkers to conclude “that the first principle of life in human beings must be a spiritual soul.”
The bishop pointed out that “once there is a living body, even one as small as an embryo, there must be a soul which explains and directs all its growth and development and its action throughout the cycle of life.”
He also emphasized that “everything in the universe is not only created by God but finds its purpose and meaning in an order established by God,” underscoring that “there is an intelligent plan, and we mess with nature at our peril.”
Abortion not only kills babies but also wounds women
In light of these considerations, the bishop noted that abortion “not only kills babies, it also wounds women in the depth of their being” and does “untold moral and spiritual damage to all who promote it or who participate in it, precisely because it flies in the face of truth.”
In connection with the introduction of a new bill to expand the availability of abortion in the country, he questioned the reasons why some legislators seem determined “to ignore the truth or to deny it entirely.”
In this regard, he appealed to the responsibility of Catholics to know the Gospel of Life “in all its dimensions, and to confidently bear witness to it, both in our private lives and in the public space.”
“We need to find new ways of offering life-affirming support to women who are in crisis during pregnancy or after the birth of a child,” he emphasized.
Doran recalled the invitation of Pope Leo XIV: “The Church is called to reach all peoples, not by imposing itself but by bearing witness to the truth in charity.”
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.