Catholic law firm offers guidelines to help school districts uphold parental rights
Thomas More Society attorneys released guidelines and recommendations to assist school districts that are working “to uphold parental rights.”
The guidelines follow recent school choice cases by the U.S. Supreme Court, Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta, which “clarify the scope of parental rights in American schools,” according to the Catholic law firm.
In the 2025 Mahmoud decision, the Supreme Court struck down a public school board’s policy refusing to provide parental notice and an opt-out when LGBT books were being taught.
In the 2026 Mirabelli case, the court ruled that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on claims that California’s gender‑transition secrecy policies violated their constitutional rights, allowing an injunction to take effect for those parents while the case continues.
There “are simple steps any school district can take to remain or become compliant with these new Supreme Court cases” and using them “will also help minimize the risk of costly litigation,” the firm reported.
The guidelines urge districts to “immediately and expressly adopt a parental notice and opt-out policy,” which provides prominent and regular notice that will reach all parents.
The firm said the required notice should inform parents of their constitutional rights to opt their children out of any instruction, electronic applications, materials, or activities that “burden their families’ religious or other closely held beliefs.”
The districts should also assign a district employee to be in charge of implementing opt-outs and require all school employees to proactively notify parents of any information that affects or reflects their children’s health, including mental health, under the guidelines.
The firm also suggested that districts “immediately and expressly repeal or revoke” any policies that require or permit school employees “to conceal or forgo" sharing information about childrenʼs health with their parents.
They should also repeal any policies that “facilitate a child’s social gender transition,” including those in “respect to bathroom and locker room access“ and ”sex-segregated extracurricular activities …. without the consent of the child’s parent,” the firm said.
Christendom College launches free course on how to restore Catholic education
Christendom College launched a free online course on how “to restore the great tradition of Catholic education."
The course, “Education at the Crossroads,” explores what the college calls “the crisis in modern education” throughout its seven lessons.
Students will “trace the progressive revolution — from pragmatism to modern ideological shifts — that reshaped our schools,” the college reported. “By exploring the prophetic warnings of the Church and the wisdom of great traditional thinkers, you will rediscover a spiritual vision of learning as a pilgrimage toward God.”
The course is taught by Christendom College professor Jon Kirwan, who serves as director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, director of the Center for Educational Philosophy and Leadership, and an associate professor of theology.
The course will discuss how “we can rebuild education in America for our children and generations to come,” Kirwan said in a video announcing the course.
Students will “uncover why classrooms stopped forming souls and started managing outcomes,” he said. They will “discover the Catholic answer — education ordered to goodness, truth, and beauty, with teaching understood as a vocation rather than a technique.”
The first two lessons of Kirwan’s course are currently available, and the remaining five will be released weekly through July 2.
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary launches master’s healthcare program integrating bioethics
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary’s School of Theological Studies (STS) launched a master of arts in Catholic healthcare ministry in collaboration with the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC).
The program is intended to integrate both bioethics and pastoral care, offering “the most up-to-date bioethics information conveyed to its students,” STS reported on its website.
The fully online degree also meets graduate education requirements for board certification as a Catholic chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. The program hopes to aid the “great need for Catholic healthcare professionals” and to create “well-formed” chaplains.
Students will complete the 36-credit program with 27 credits through STS and nine through the NCBC. The coursework will focus on human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation.
U.S. bishops echo Pope Leo’s concern of AI use in war
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) International Justice and Peace Committee released a statement reiterating the Holy Father’s call in Magnifica Humanitas to limit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in war.
“In the age of artificial intelligence, the Church’s teaching on human dignity, pursuit of justice, and comprehensive social doctrine offers a path forward that transcends the logic of zero-sum escalation,” the bishops wrote in the statement.
The bishops said: “Pope Leo offers a new framework for an approach to how we must limit the use of technology in war.”
The pope insists that even in the age of AI the world must preserve strict limits on the use of force, keeping lethal decisions under accountable human authority with a clear chain of responsibility, never delegating killing to automated systems, and working together as a global community to build a shared framework that restrains the arms race and protects civilians and essential infrastructure, the bishops said.
‘Human control’ must remain present
The bishops urged that “judgments over life and death, the gravest of human challenges, must remain bound to our living consciences.”
In the age of AI, "by removing human agency, our ability to wage war has become more inhumane in its most fundamental sense,” the bishops wrote.
As the use of AI technologies in war increases, there is an “immense harm and loss of human life these weapons present,” they said.
The bishops specifically noted that lethal autonomous weapons systems are “a grave development of military technology,” which use AI to “identify, locate, and kill people or destroy infrastructure targets without human operational intervention.”
Unlike drones that are remotely controlled by humans, “autonomous ‘killer bots’ are preprogrammed with algorithms that search according to target profiles, and can, theoretically, make battlefield decisions independently from human control,” they said.
The bishops noted that use of AI technologies with the hope of “minimizing the risk to military personnel is a laudable goal.” But, employing them with no human agency "can create the illusion of lessening the cost of war, and thus reducing the conflict threshold.”
By creating the illusion that war is “less costly,” the bishops said it will make decisions to go to war “easier.”
“All people, soldiers, civilians, and leaders alike are harmed by a reality in which our actions are inherently less human, less connected to the embodiment of our human dignity that God himself ‘knit’ together,” the bishops said.
World’s oldest priest dies at 110
In late February, Pope Leo XIV thanked Father Bruno Kant of the Diocese of Fulda in Germany for his “many years of faithful and devoted priestly service.” Kant, the oldest priest in the world at 110 years of age, passed away on the night of Friday, May 29. He had been a priest since 1950.
In an article published on his dioceseʼs website, Bishop Michael Gerber of Fulda recalled that "just a few months ago" he had "the privilege of conveying Pope Leo XIVʼs blessing to Father Bruno Kant on the occasion of his 110th birthday."
"My encounter with him left a deep impression on me. Even at his advanced age, he radiated the humility, kindness, and spiritual depth that characterized his entire priestly life. The Diocese of Fulda remembers his work and service with great gratitude," he added.
Father Guido Pasanow of the parish in Eichenzell-Löschenrod, where Kant lived until his death, said that with the priest’s death, the parish “loses a person who was fundamental to it for many years.”
“Even after retiring from active ministry, he remained a confidant, pastor, and spiritual guide deeply cherished by many parishioners. We are grateful for all that he contributed to our community,” he added.
As reported by the Catholic news outlet katholisch in November 2025, Kant, born near Danzig in what is now Poland, had aspired to become a priest since the age of 9. He was able to begin his theological studies, but the Nazi regime thwarted his plans by conscripting him for forced labor and making him a soldier.
Kant spent four years as a prisoner of war in Russia before reuniting with his family, who had fled to the West.
He was finally ordained a priest in 1950. After decades of priestly service, he considerably curtailed his activities. He stopped driving at the age of 102, according to a report published on katholisch.de in November.
“Over the last few years, he has refrained from celebrating holy Mass with the congregation on Wednesday evenings. However, he continued visiting the sick for as long as he was able. Now, that is no longer possible for him.”
On that occasion, Kant said: “I expect to die every day. I am not far from it.” In his final years, he spent his days solving Sudokus, watching television, reading newspapers, and, of course, praying.
“Praying keeps me young,” he said.
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by ACI Prensa/EWTN News English.
Cardinal Koovakad to lead Sanremo meeting on interreligious dialogue
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will lead a meeting in Sanremo on Oct. 9 dedicated to the theme “Interreligious Dialogue Today in the Social and Cultural Context of Our Diocese.”
The event is part of a broader diocesan initiative launched by Bishop Antonio Suetta, who published a pastoral letter on Pentecost Sunday outlining guidelines for charity, dialogue, and the proclamation of God’s love to Muslims “who live in our territory,” according to the diocesan website.
The pastoral letter, titled “No One Has Greater Love Than This,” takes its inspiration from two significant anniversaries: the special Year of St. Francis, proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV for the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death, and the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council declaration Nostra Aetate.
In the document, Suetta emphasizes esteem, welcome, and missionary courage. He recalls the example of St. Francis of Assisi and his historic 1219 encounter with the sultan of Egypt, presenting evangelization first as a witness offered through deeds and the coherence of Christian life, and only afterward through words.
The letter also stresses dialogue and collaboration, beginning from the teaching of Nostra Aetate and the recognition that Christians and Muslims are creatures of the one God. This shared foundation, the bishop writes, calls believers to work together in defense of human dignity and moral values in an increasingly secularized society.
At the same time, Suetta underlines what he describes as the Christian duty of proclamation. Charity and welcome, he writes, must never lead Christians to conceal their spiritual identity. To share the joy of the Gospel and to make known the true face of Jesus Christ — who for Christians is “the way, the truth, and the life” and the revelation of God who is love — is presented in the letter as the highest act of charity Christians can offer.
The pastoral initiative includes concrete proposals, such as specific formation programs and opportunities for encounter promoted by the diocesan Office for Catechetical Pastoral Ministry in collaboration with Caritas.
“Welcoming others with selfless charity, bearing witness to a coherent Christian life, and proclaiming the love of God in Jesus Christ with freedom and sincere respect are the human means that the Lord asks of us in order to evangelize,” the letter states.
The events will take place during the Church’s missionary month of October. In addition to the Oct. 9 meeting in Sanremo with Cardinal Koovakad, the diocese will hold a missionary vigil on Oct. 17 at the Oratory of the Immaculate in Piazza San Siro.
The presence of the prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue is seen as a sign of support from the Holy See for the diocesan initiative.
Illinois diocese asks court to block law requiring it to hire nonbelievers
A Catholic diocese and a pregnancy center in Illinois are asking a federal appeals court to strike down a state law that they say would force them to hire workers who disagree with their religious and pro-life missions.
The Diocese of Springfield in March 2025 had filed suit against the state alongside the Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford. Both parties had argued that the Illinois Human Rights Act “dictates how religious employers must speak and act about employees’ voluntary reproductive decisions like abortion, contraception, and sterilization.”
That law “prohibits employers from disciplining or refusing to hire employees” regarding their decisions about abortion and further “requires employers to grant employee accommodations” regarding abortion, the lawsuit said.
A district court dismissed the lawsuit in March, claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. On June 3 the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing both the diocese and the pregnancy center, said it had filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit over the dispute.
The district court had ruled that the alleged religious liberty violations were “speculative,” according to the filing; the appeals brief called the courtʼs conclusion “erroneous.”
“The ministries currently engage in constitutionally protected conduct that the [the state law] arguably proscribes, and the state has repeatedly refused to disavow enforcement,” the filing says.
The suit argues that the dispute “would be no different if a pro-life state government was forcing abortion clinics to hire pro-life employees and speak pro-life messages.” In either case, “the First Amendment doesn’t allow [it].”
Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki said in the Alliance Defending Freedom press release that the diocese "proclaims, teaches, and encourages Catholics to live out all the teachings of the Church, including the dignity and value of human life.”
“Our employees represent the diocese and are expected to uphold our standards of conduct to ensure they align with the doctrine and moral teaching of the Catholic Church," the bishop said.
Under the Illinois law "we cannot hire or retain employees based on our deeply held religious beliefs on pro-life teachings without being subject to disciplinary action," the bishop continued, adding: "We must have the freedom to follow and express our convictions without government interference.”
Prague archbishop, German ambassador mark post-WWII massacre
On June 3, the archbishop of Prague and the German ambassador to the Czech Republic commemorated the biggest massacre of the German-speaking population in Czechoslovakia — some say in Europe — after World War II.
In the town of Postoloprty in May and June 1945, the Czechoslovak army killed at least 763 people, according to a 1947 Czechoslovak parliamentary commission, though the total number is estimated by some to be 1,000-2,000. They were mostly civilians put into mass graves, and no one was ever convicted.
Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl; Rüdiger Heinrich, a military attaché from the German embassy; the faithful; and students from local schools and from Prague marched 10.5 miles from Postoloprty to Žatec. The marchers had the names of the victims written on a scarf, a stone, or a piece of cardboard to make them more visible and present.
The pilgrimage concluded at the Church of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, where Přibyl celebrated Mass. German Ambassador Peter Reuss joined the ceremony.
In his homily, Přibyl admitted they were tired and sweaty. It was not just a walk from one city to another, but one through “the land of memory, through places where the history of our country touches on pain, guilt, helplessness, silence, and the desire for healing.”
The topic of reconciliation is not raised to accuse anyone, “but because God invites us to the truth which is the first step towards reconciliation,” the religious leader clarified and continued: “In a time when everyone believes he has his own truth and when our truths sometimes differ diametrically, we are invited to the truth that is known and spoken, but which is accompanied by mercy, because what good would it be for us to be right if we were left alone with it?”
The prelate saw the pilgrimage as a reminder that “peace is not created only by words, but sometimes by steps.” It is “a quiet step” that says “I do not want to forget, I do not want to hate,” the archbishop said.
The faithful bring to the Lord “the dead, known and unknown, families whose stories have been broken, silence that has often lasted too long,” Přibyl recalled, adding: “We also bring our own fear of the truth and our own unwillingness to forgive.”
He characterized the Eucharist and the Mass as “the deepest place of reconciliation.” There, Christ does not proclaim that “the past does not matter or that sin is not sin,” yet he does not reproach us, the prelate explained.
“The risen Lord had been crucified before and so comes among us not without wounds,” Přibyl said. “But his wounds are healed, and by his wounds we are healed,” the archbishop concluded.
Part of a Year of Reconciliation
The event was part of the Year of Reconciliation in the Diocese of Litoměřice, which borders Germany. Přibyl declared it for 2026 while he was bishop of the diocese; he has since been appointed archbishop of Prague but remains its apostolic administrator.
Each month, a gathering takes place in a different location linked to atrocities before and after World War II. In May, for example, Přibyl presided over an ecumenical ceremony in Terezín (Theresienstadt), which served as a Nazi transit camp and propaganda showpiece during the war.
When Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, it established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After Germanyʼs defeat in 1945, some ethnic Germans were killed or died by suicide, and approximately 3 million were expelled from Czechoslovakia.
Cameroon’s bishops renew call for peace, dialogue as nation faces ongoing crises
YAOUNDE, Cameroon — The president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC), Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea, has renewed the Catholic Church’s call for peace and dialogue, urging both Church leaders and political authorities to address the root causes of conflict as the country continues to face security, political, and socio-economic challenges.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 51st Plenary Assembly of NECC members, the archbishop emphasized that peace must remain a national priority, particularly in Cameroon’s conflict-affected northwest, southwest, and far north regions.
“Peace is a fundamental human right, indispensable for the development of peoples, social cohesion, economic progress, and respect for human dignity,” Nkea said on Tuesday, June 2.
The leader of Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese reflected on the April 15–18 apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Cameroon, describing it as a historic moment for the local Church and a source of renewed hope for the nation.
“At a time when our Church and our country needed it most, he accepted, against all odds, even risking his own life, to come and comfort us and renew in us the hope that does not disappoint,” Nkea said.
He also highlighted the Holy Father’s appeal for reconciliation and an end to violence, recalling that Pope Leo XIV spoke of the suffering caused by the conflicts affecting parts of Cameroon, including the loss of lives, the displacement of families, disruptions to education, and growing uncertainty among young people.
The Cameroonian archbishop said the Church remains committed to promoting peace, dialogue, and hope while encouraging greater investment in the countryʼs youth as an essential part of building a stable future.
Quoting Pope Leo, Nkea noted that the tensions and violence affecting parts of Cameroon have caused profound suffering, including loss of life, displacement of families, disruption of education, and uncertainty among young people.
“Enough of war, with all the pain it causes through death, destruction, and exile,” the archbishop said, echoing the pope’s call.
He emphasized that peace cannot be achieved solely through political declarations but requires a sincere commitment to dialogue, conversion, justice, and national reconciliation.
“We will never achieve lasting peace without a firm decision to choose the path that leads to it, with all its demands of conversion, love for country, change of mentality, and dialogue,” he said.
As Cameroon prepares for future municipal elections, Nkea called for prayers and vigilance, noting that elections in the country are often accompanied by tensions and violence.
“The appeasement that we contributed to create after the presidential election was not a sign of weakness but a necessity for our society,” he said.
A significant portion of the archbishop’s address focused on the role of young people in building a peaceful and prosperous future.
Drawing from Pope Leoʼs remarks during his visit, the archbishop emphasized that youth remain the nation’s greatest hope.
“Young people represent the hope of the country and of the Church. Their energy and creativity are priceless treasures,” he said.
He warned that unemployment, social exclusion, and lack of opportunities continue to expose many young people to violence, migration, drug abuse, prostitution, and despair.
“Investing in education, training, and entrepreneurship for young people is therefore a strategic choice for peace,” Nkea said.
The NECC president also encouraged the Church in Cameroon to reflect on the popeʼs recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, particularly its teaching on the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies.
“In times marked by the challenges posed by a certain use of digital technology and artificial intelligence, we must discern how to receive the Holy Father’s encyclical in our context,” he said.
Nkea also used the occasion to celebrate the 60th anniversary of NECC, describing the milestone as a testament to six decades of evangelization, ecclesial maturity, and faithful service to the people of God.
The 51st Ordinary Plenary Assembly of the NECC, running from May 31 to June 5, is bringing together Catholic bishops from across Cameroon to review pastoral priorities, discuss national concerns, evaluate Church projects, and strengthen their collective mission of evangelization.
Throughout the gathering, Nkea said, the bishops are to continue praying for peace in Cameroon and around the world while seeking ways to respond to the challenges facing the Church and society.
“We freely chose to come together and persevere in our journey toward eternity. May the Holy Spirit remain the principal protagonist of our communion and collegiality, so that our work may be for the glory of God and the salvation of all,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
June consistory of cardinals will address synod, war, artificial intelligence
Several working sessions and four themes ranging from war to synodality are planned for the next consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV.
From reflection on the international situation to a possible “updating” of the doctrine of just war, to a discussion of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas to the steps of the synodal process, the cardinals are called upon for broad discussions in multiple sessions. The plans were reported Thursday by Vatican News.
The themes were outlined by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, in a letter sent to all cardinals on June 3. The extraordinary consistory, the second convoked by Leo XIV, will be held June 26–27.
Re emphasized in the letter — which EWTN News has seen in the original — that the consistory “is intended, above all, to be a space for mutual listening, discernment, and shared exploration of certain issues relevant to the life and mission of the Church in the present time.”
The pope “wishes to gather the experience and advice of the members of the College of Cardinals and, at the same time, to be able to count on the active help and support of each in the various places and responsibilities in which they serve the Church.”
Re wrote that “it will be important for our joint work to take place in a climate of listening, freedom, and parrhesia, so as to foster shared discernment on the issues we will be called upon to address.”
Re described the first session as “a shared meditation starting from the international situation.” He emphasized that “in a climate of prayer, we will be invited to let emerge, before the Lord, what we are experiencing in different parts of the world and in the local Churches.”
Two questions will guide the reflection: “What sufferings, tensions, and questions are most pressingly affecting the peoples and ecclesial communities entrusted to your care today? What signs of hope, of fidelity to the Gospel, and of possible reconciliation do you think it is important to bring to common listening?”
The encyclical Magnifica Humanitas will be the focus of the second and third working sessions. In particular, in the second session, the cardinals will be called to reflect on Chapter 5 of the encyclical and to discuss the themes of peace as a “condition for the universal common good” (No. 182 of Magnifica Humanitas).
Cardinals will be asked to “become aware of how this reality painfully affects the experience of many of you, particularly those who come from war-torn territories, and at the same time challenges other contexts, where languages, logics, and practices are reemerging that weaken the possibility of reconciliation and coexistence.”
A particular focus will be on the concept of just war, and on “what concrete ways can help Christian peoples and communities preserve and build peace.”
The third session will ask the cardinals to deepen the encyclicalʼs invitation to read the transformations of our time in the light of the Gospel, as called for by Magnifica Humanitas.
A fourth session will be divided into two parts: an update on the synodʼs implementation process and then a period of “free dialogue between the members of the college and the Holy Father, with three-minute interventions.”
Re said he hopes for “adequate preparation for the meeting, not only through careful consideration of the issues to be addressed but also and above all through prayer and renewed attention to the life of the Churches entrusted to his pastoral care.”
The consistory will conclude with Mass on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, when the pope will impose the pallia on the new metropolitan archbishops.
Mexican bishop: Lack of mature faith leads Catholics to fall into esotericism
As head of the recently established ministry team for the Pastoral Care of Consolation and the Ministry of Exorcism (DEPAC, by its Spanish acronym) of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, Bishop José Trinidad Zapata Ortiz highlighted the importance of a “mature faith” in the face of the proliferation of esoteric cults into which not a few Catholics have fallen.
“We are in need of a mature, committed, and convinced faith,” the bishop of Papantla shared with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, lamenting that “unfortunately, many of our parishioners who are baptized do not live out their faith in an orthodox manner” and end up seeking a “solution to their difficulties in other areas.”
“Having the solution within their own Church in pastoral practice and by living out the sacraments, they go looking for solutions elsewhere,” falling “into spiritist practices or other types — satanic ones, or the so-called ‘Santa Muerte,’ [a Mexican folk saint and deity personifying death], etc.”
It is in this way that some people end up facing various spiritual difficulties, he explained.
This denotes a lack of faith, he pointed out, for “when there is total trust in the Lord, we know that there may be difficulties, that there may be problems, but that, ultimately, the Lord permits all of this to bring about a greater good and to guide us along the right path.”
“The Christian life is not a victorious life devoid of pain or problems; rather, one embraces this as a path, following the Lord,” he explained.
A new pastoral ministry to address spiritual suffering
The Mexican bishops established the new pastoral ministry during their general assembly in November 2025 and appointed Zapata as its head. The prelate explained to ACI Prensa that the decision is framed within the “growing need to address these situations of spiritual, moral, and physical suffering of some persons, which may have a malevolent origin.”
“Therefore, it was deemed appropriate to officially support the exorcists who were already undergoing training courses,” as well as to “accompany them” and foster “unity and cohesion regarding this entire issue at the national level.”
However, he emphasized that DEPAC “will not focus solely on ministering to exorcists” but rather aims at a comprehensive “pastoral ministry of consolation,” for “what people often need is consolation — to be listened to, to receive guidance, and to have prayers offered on their behalf — so that they may follow a path and a process in following the Lord.”
All priests, he underscored, as pastors of their parishioners, must “listen to their faithful to see what difficulties or sorrows they are enduring or suffering.”
For this reason, it is necessary to foster among priests a “serious and profound” formation in theology, spirituality, morality, and pastoral practice regarding these matters, in order to be able to attend to them.
The ordinary action of the devil
While the Mexican prelate emphasized that it is necessary to address problems related to the “extraordinary action” of the devil such as demonic possession, he noted that “it is through his ordinary action that the devil causes so much evil in the world.”
It is “through temptation that many of us fall.” It’s how the devil “produces the worst evils in the world and not [through] possession,” which happens once in a million cases.
Zapata also urged against exaggerating the power of the devil in our lives: “It should neither be denied nor seen everywhere,” for we must also “assume our own responsibility.”
“The devil can’t do what God doesn’t permit him to do, and what we don’t permit him to do,” he said. “Thus, if he wreaks havoc upon us, it is because we first allowed him to do so. We venture onto his paths and let him into our lives.”
The formation the Church seeks to promote in Mexico
With these challenges in mind, the recently established DEPAC aims to “form and guide all our priests so that they may recognize divine action, the action of the devil, and human action, and know how to discern,” while also ensuring they are equipped to “attend to special cases of extraordinary action” of the devil.
Along these lines, the new ministry team has already been conducting spiritual exercises and courses for priests, and has scheduled new training sessions for July of this year including lay experts in various disciplines who assist in this pastoral ministry, such as physicians and psychologists.
Outlining the qualities required of an exorcist priest, Zapata noted: “We simply need a priest grounded in doctrine, a good priest, generally speaking.”
“This is not a matter of having a charism; it’s a matter of a mandate issued by the bishop to a priest whom he sees has the qualities for this,” he pointed out; consequently, every prelate “must evaluate the qualities the priest has.”
However, he emphasized that it is considered important “that he be a Eucharistic priest, a Marian priest, a priest who enjoys caring for those in need, especially the sick.”
Thus “a priest who is, let us say, upright, transparent, and honest,” he summarized.
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.
Institute on Religion and Democracy launches ecumenical ‘Christians for Capitalism’ project
The Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) launched its “Christians for Capitalism” project on June 2, seeking to bring together Christians of various traditions who support free-market capitalism.
“There was concern among a number of Christians in D.C. in the field of economics that there was no ongoing institutional voice in Washington, D.C., for pro-free market Christians, and there are obviously many Christians in D.C. who are pro-free market,” IRD President Mark Tooley told EWTN News.
“There was a vacuum here being filled by other voices and other perspectives that are critical of — if not hostile to — the free-market perspective,” he said.
Tooley, who is Methodist, said IRD is “not tied to any particular Christian tradition” and includes both Protestants and Catholics, noting “Catholics were among our founders.” He said IRD has been ecumenical from the start, with a focus on Christianity in the U.S., democracy, and human rights.
The IRD was founded in 1981, and most of its early board members were Protestant but also included one Catholic, the philosopher Michael Novak. Another early board member, Father Richard John Neuhaus, was Lutheran at the time but converted to Catholicism in 1990 and was ordained to the priesthood.
Tooley said the plan for the project is to hold events, publish articles, and host a semester-long fellowship for young people who align with their vision. He said he expects Novak’s writings to be prominently featured in the reading materials for the fellowship, which would likely meet twice per month this fall.
The launch event
The IRD kicked off the initiative with an early evening event on June 2 at its headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., just a few blocks north of the White House. A few dozen people gathered for the occasion, which centered on a presentation by two Christian scholars discussing the intersection of Christianity and economic thought.
Erik Matson, a Gibbons fellow in economics at The Catholic University of America, and Jordan J. Ballor, executive director of The Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the First Liberty Institute — both of whom are Protestant — delivered the presentation on their book: “A History of Christian Political Economy.”
The book delves into economic thought in the Bible, among the early Church fathers, from medieval theologians, in the writings of later Protestant reformers and Catholic thinkers, and from contemporary scholars.
Jordan said during the presentation that theological perspectives are “not in the mainstream of what is taught in economics” but said “we might be missing something” when we fail to include theological perspectives in economic discourse.
Although much of the older writings do not touch on the subject in the form of an economic treatise, Matson explained in his presentation that Christians were “wrestling with political and economic issues” of the time and commenting on questions about wealth, poverty, and access to resources.
Matson identified two “broad competing perspectives” among the thinkers. One, he called “a limited good perspective” and the other, “a mutual benefits perspective.”
He said the first views material wealth as essentially “fixed,” in the sense that any transaction is “zero sum,” or “the gain of one is the loss of another.” The second views wealth as something that can increase into the future, in the sense that “the good of one need not come at the cost of the good of many” and that transactions can be “wealth generative” rather than just being shifts in resources.
According to Matson, “you can find both of these perspectives” over the course of the last two millennia within all Christian faith traditions. He pointed to St. John Chrysostom as falling more into the “limited good perspective” of economic thought and St. Thomas Aquinas as being more closely aligned with the “mutual benefits perspective,” for example.
Matson told EWTN News after the presentation “there’s no real discernible difference across denominations,” saying the research found representatives of both perspectives in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox thought.
He said Pope Leo XIII, who authored Rerum Novarum in 1891 and set the foundation of Catholic social teaching, is more “in line with [the] mutual benefits” understanding of economics. He said the pontiff understood the importance of property but also saw “a role for the government [and] for voluntary associations [and] trade associations.”
The book also touches on more direct contributions Christian thinkers made to economics, such as the the School of Salamanca, which was a Catholic Scholastic movement that developed the quantity theory of money and dealt with questions such as pricing and usury.