Pope Leo XIV honors Harvard scientist whose pursuit of knowledge led her to faith
Pope Leo XIV presented the Pius XI Medal to Karin Öberg, a Harvard scientist specializing in astrochemistry, during a recent audience with members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The award, presented on Sept. 24, recognizes scientists under the age of 45 who have distinguished themselves through their research and show “exceptional promise” in their field. Recipients of this medal include several Nobel laureates and the physicist Stephen Hawking.
Öberg holds the Thomas Dudley Cabot Chair in the Natural Sciences at Harvard University and directs the Öberg Astrochemistry Laboratory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her work focuses, among other topics, on chemical processes related to planet formation and chemical habitability.
But beyond her scientific career, Öberg has spoken publicly about her conversion to Catholicism and how her pursuit of knowledge influenced her journey toward faith.
In a 2011 interview with the Augustine Institute, she explained that there were aspects of the world that began to make it difficult for her to accept a strictly materialist worldview.
“There were certain facts about the world that made me very skeptical of atheism or pure materialism. I thought it was pretty obvious there is moral realism in this world, that there are things that are good and evil, regardless of what people think about them,” she noted.
Reading C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” played an important role in that process. As she explained, the British writer’s proposal seemed reasonable to her.
“His explanation of Christianity struck me as very sensible, and it seemed to fit with the data about the world I had already gathered,” she stated.
For Öberg, however, intellectually accepting the faith was not the end of the journey. “What took time was the aspect of charity — living out the faith and truly building a relationship with God,” she explained.
The scientist has also reflected on the limits and scope of the scientific method when it comes to God. She was clear in that interview: “You can never use the scientific method to prove or disprove God.”
In her view, science does allow us to appreciate something she considers especially significant: “how intelligible the universe is, how subject to laws it is.” She added: “This cannot be taken for granted. It is magnificent.”
The beauty of the universe also plays an important role in her understanding of the relationship between science and faith. “I am moved. And beauty is, in a sense, just as impressive to me,” she said.
For this reason, Öberg said she believes that science and faith need not be presented as opposing paths.
The scientist has also spoken openly about being Catholic.
“I am very open about the fact that I am Catholic,” she said in the interview. At the same time, she explained that she prefers this openness to foster dialogue rather than lead to imposition.
“I try to be open and then invite people to come and talk to me, rather than preaching to them,” she noted.
Öberg has also expressed a special affinity for the Dominican tradition and for St. Thomas Aquinas, whom she cited as a particularly important figure for the way he united faith and reason.
Her brother, Erik Öberg, an economist specializing in macroeconomics at Uppsala University in Sweden, publicly celebrated the recognition Karin received via his LinkedIn account. “I’m very proud of her,” he stated.
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.
This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of October
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of October is for the mental health ministry.
“Melancholy, bad character, confusion of senses — today, we understand that behind these old labels lies a deep, silent suffering not only of those affected by mental disorders but also of their loved ones and their communities,” Pope Leo said in a video released Oct. 1 on X.
He added: “We live in a world full of tensions, and even as solutions grow so does the number of people in crisis. This October, let us pray for the mental health ministry — an urgent and ever more needed service in our Church and in the world.”
In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:
“God of life,
You know the innermost depths of our hearts —
the light and shadows within us,
the silent wounds that sometimes no one sees.
Today we bring before you our brothers and sisters
who struggle with challenges to their mental health,
who suffer in solitude with anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness.
You call them by name, with tenderness,
and in you they find dignity and hope.
Forgive us for the times we have looked the other way,
feeding the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.
May your Church be an open house,
a safe space where everyone has a place —
a community that accompanies and never excludes,
that listens without judging and draws near without fear.
We pray to you, Lord, for those who care:
professionals, family members, volunteers —
men and women who, with patience and love,
build bridges of understanding and comfort.
Give them strength and compassion to sustain others.
Send your Spirit upon us,
that we may learn to welcome and integrate care for mental health
into the life and ministry of our communities and of the whole Church,
and thus become a living sign of your mercy,
which never abandons and always restores.
Amen.”
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.
Pope prays the rosary with children: ‘50 million Hail Marys rising to heaven’
VATICAN CITY — More than 700 children from schools and parishes in Rome joined Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican Gardens on Thursday to pray the rosary for peace in the world.
The Oct. 1 event marked the beginning of a week of prayer for the initiative “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” promoted by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
The Holy Father greeted the children at the beginning. He thanked them and encouraged them to be good at home, in their families, at school, in catechism classes, and in sports, because peace also grows in this way.
“I am truly happy to be with you! And you, children, tell me: Are you happy to have come? Good, that makes me happy too. Above all, because this evening we have gathered together to be with the two people who love us more than anyone else. Who are they? The Lord Jesus and his mother, Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us,” Pope Leo said in his address before the rosary.
“We love them too, don’t we?” he added. “Shall we tell them? Let’s try. Let us repeat together: ‘I love you, Jesus. I love you, Mary.’ Yes, we love you, Jesus and Mary, and this evening we ask you for a special gift: peace for all the children of the world, especially those who live where there is war, in so many countries across the earth.”
“We do this through the prayer of the holy rosary, which is a simple prayer that everyone can pray,” the pope affectionately emphasized to the children.
He noted that “in a little while we will light candles, and we will reflect on Jesus in some important moments of his life … These are moments in which he gave us wonderful gifts that we must never forget, and for this we want to thank him.
Calling on the children to repeat with him, he said: “Let us do that together as well, once again. Let us all say: ‘Thank you, Jesus!’ And let us ask him with confidence, all united: ‘Give us peace!’”
For the pope, the children’s rosary initiative represents “50 million Hail Marys rising to heaven from every corner of the world and in every language on earth, asking for peace, and joining together like one immense rosary garland, embracing and drawing together all the continents, races, and nations of the planet.”
Upon his arrival for the rosary, the pope also presented a small bouquet of flowers to Our Lady. It was a simple gesture carried out together with a child at the replica grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens.
For the first time this year, the prayer campaign will take place over the course of an entire week, from Oct. 1–7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities, and families across different continents to participate in the prayer for peace and unity.
Similar initiatives are already being prepared in other countries, such as Bolivia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and many other places marked by war, poverty, or instability.
The 2026 campaign is inspired by the message of Fátima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
The rosary was led by the children through readings, songs, and brief reflections on countries affected by war. The Hail Mary was also recited in several languages.
In this year’s invitation to participants, Cardinal Kurt Koch, international president of Aid to the Church in Need and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, recalled that Mary’s Immaculate Heart represents a life completely open to the Holy Spirit and presents Mary as a model of faith, love, and prayer.
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.
Wisconsin company to revise religious accommodations after LGBT pronoun dispute, government says
A major U.S. corporation will revise its religious accommodation policies after an intervention by the federal government in a dispute over transgender-related pronouns, the government said this week.
Generac Power Systems, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of generators, will pay a monetary settlement to a former employee and update its religious workplace rules after it reportedly failed to fully adhere to “reasonable accommodation” rules in the dispute.
The former worker in question had reportedly wished to continue using biologically accurate pronouns to refer to an employee who believed themself to be the opposite sex. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission intervened in the dispute and announced its resolution on Sept. 30.
The commission said Generac had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to “fully engage in the reasonable accommodation interactive process” before denying the religious accommodation.
The company denied the religious employee’s accommodation request “even after the [employee] informed Generac that using non-biological pronouns went against his sincerely held religious belief,” the employment commission said.
The corporation will pay out monetary relief to the employee, who has since resigned from the company, the commission said.
In addition, the company will “update its religious accommodation policies and provide training with the goal of promoting greater understanding and effective handling of religious accommodation requests going forward.”
A Generac spokesman said in the government’s press release that the company is “committed to treating employees fairly and respectfully” and in accordance with U.S. and state law.
The commission says that employers are obligated to make reasonable accommodations for religious employees unless doing so would “create an undue hardship” for the employer.
The accommodation rule “aims to prevent individuals from being forced to choose between their religious convictions and practices and their job,” the government says.
‘Wake up call’: Catholic anti-death penalty group condemns ‘horrifying’ botched Tennessee execution
A prominent Catholic anti-death penalty group is criticizing Tennessee for its botched execution attempt of convicted murderer Christa Pike, describing the incident as “horrifying” and “unprecedented.”
Pike, who was convicted in 1996 of the brutal 1995 torture and killing of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, was scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30 by lethal injection.
Yet officials said she survived the administration of two syringes of lethal pentobarbital, after which she was transported to a medical facility for treatment.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee subsequently suspended executions in the state for the remainder of the year and ordered an investigation into the state’s capital punishment procedures.
In a statement on Oct. 1, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, said the group was “stunned and bewildered” by the “unprecedented” incident.
Valliancourt Murphy said the group, which works to oppose the death penalty across the U.S., was praying for both Pike and for Slemmer’s family; it acknowledged that the situation “must surely be retraumatizing” for the latter.
“There is nothing normal about taking a life, and last night’s horrifying events reminds us of that,” she said.
The group in its statement referenced Tennessee’s botched execution of Tony Carruthers earlier in the year. The medical team overseeing that execution had failed to find a vein when attempting to set up a backup IV line for the lethal drugs. The state ultimately suspended Carruthers’ execution for a year.
“For Tennessee to have two botched executions in a matter of months is beyond alarming. It is the epitome of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ under the Eighth Amendment,” Valliancourt Murphy said.
“We pray this is the needed wake up call for Gov. Lee — in fact, for everyone — to recognize the barbarism of capital punishment,” she added.
Had she been successfully executed by the state, Pike would have been the first woman subject to capital punishment there in 200 years.
The Death Penalty Information Center says the state has executed 17 convicted criminals since 2000, the vast majority with lethal injection, though several have been electrocuted to death.
Australia’s euthanasia deaths rise as Victoria expands assisted dying law
Deaths under Victoria’s assisted-dying law rose by nearly one-third in the past year, new official figures show, as the Australian state prepares to expand access in 2027 and Catholic leaders warn of reduced safeguards for vulnerable patients.
Five hundred twelve people died in Victoria, a southeastern Australian state whose capital is Melbourne, after being administered a voluntary assisted dying (VAD) substance in the year ending June 30, according to the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board’s annual report.
The total was up 31.6% from 389 deaths in 2024-2025 and represented 1.1% of all deaths in the state, the report said. It also recorded 1,156 applications, nearly 40% more than in the prior year.
Of the 512 deaths, 372 followed self-administration of the VAD substance and 140 followed practitioner administration, the report said. The board said VAD deaths were nearly four times the number reported in the program’s first full year after Victoria’s law came into force in 2019.
Victoria’s new report is the latest evidence of a national trend. Since Victoria became the first Australian state to introduce VAD, more than 14,000 people nationwide have applied for access, and more than 7,000 have died after using a VAD substance, according to Go Gentle Australia’s 2026 State of VAD report, an advocacy group that supports the practice. The group said VAD now accounts for an estimated 2%-3% of deaths nationally.
VAD is available in Australia’s six states and the Australian Capital Territory. The Northern Territory passed its own law in August, though the system is not expected to begin operating until 2028.
Victoria’s Parliament passed amendments in November 2025. Scheduled to take effect April 19, 2027, the changes will broaden eligibility, shorten the minimum request period from nine days to five, and allow some health professionals to initiate discussions about VAD as part of end-of-life care.
In an October 2025 pastoral letter, Victoria’s Catholic bishops warned the changes would allow practitioners to raise euthanasia and assisted suicide with patients who “may be at their most vulnerable.” They said this would further weaken safeguards and urged lawmakers to strengthen access to palliative care instead.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher likewise said the Church must offer “positive alternatives,” including palliative care, pastoral care, and respite care for families caring for the dying and elderly.
Pope warns of ‘uncontrolled consumption of resources,’ challenges to waste disposal
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday warned of the urgency of the current ecological crisis during an audience at the Vatican with a delegation from the Hera Group, an Italian conglomerate specializing in environmental services, waste management, integrated water systems, and energy.
“The ecological challenge of our time is, in fact, more urgent than ever. On the one hand, we are witnessing the uncontrolled consumption of resources; on the other, the management and disposal of enormous quantities of waste are becoming increasingly problematic,” he cautioned on Oct. 1.
Leo XIV also recalled that, for Christians, care for creation is part of a moral responsibility.
“As Christians, we cannot resign ourselves to accepting the throwaway culture; rather, we are called to make wise use of creation,” he stressed.
“To avoid considering every used object as mere waste, it is necessary to change our behavior and commit ourselves to taking a different path. In essence, this means overcoming the consumerist model and moving toward a productive system capable of preserving the limited goods of our planet,” the pontiff said.
Leo XIV praised the company’s work in the field of recycling, an activity that, in his view, “demonstrates that it is possible to commit ourselves in this direction.”
As part of its collaboration on environmental sustainability and the circular economy, the Hera Group donated to Vatican City State in April a fully electric truck with a range of 60 kilometers (about 37 miles), which is used to collect waste within Vatican territory.
“The work you carry out, including here in the Vatican, bears witness to the fact that the culture of waste can be successfully opposed by a culture of care. This culture is not limited simply to objects and products but extends from them to human labor, and from labor to persons. For it is we who inhabit the world and who, through our decisions and behavior, live in it as a gift from God,” he said from the Apostolic Palace.
The Holy Father also thanked the company for its commitment to environmental protection: “I am grateful for the work you do in seeking to contribute to the care of our common home, and I encourage you to continue in this commitment.”
The pope also cited Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, which states that “the model of recycling and circular production is a good path for ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.”
“It is important to set an example of consistency: The Church must be the first to put into practice what she herself proclaims,” he added.
“Through our synergy, we will be able to make the home we all share ever more beautiful and welcoming,” Leo concluded.
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.
Synod proposes reforming canon law to give greater weight to laity, women in the Church
The General Secretariat of the Synod published on Wednesday the final report of the Canonical Commission, which explicitly endorses several proposals to amend the Code of Canon Law related to the participation of laymen and laywomen in the life and governance of the Church.
Specifically, the document supports changes to canons concerning the ability of lay faithful to exercise “offices, roles, and ministries within the Church for which they are qualified and competent, including in the realm of ecclesiastical governance.”
The text, originally drafted in Italian and also available in English, is not binding and must now be examined by Pope Leo XIV. It is one of the reports prepared by the 10 study groups created by Pope Francis in 2024 as part of the Synod on Synodality. These groups are dissolved once their work has been completed and published.
The commission tasked with studying the reforms was coordinated by Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and included prominent experts in canon law.
Its members included Jesuit Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda; Dutch canon lawyer Myriam Wijlens; Monsignor Matteo Visioli, referendary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; Monsignor Giacomo Incitti, professor at the Pontifical Urbaniana University; Hungarian canonist Péter Szabó; Father Alphonse Borras; Professor José San José Prisco, dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Salamanca; Father Benedict Ndubueze Ejeh, dean of the St. Pius X Faculty of Canon Law in Venice, Italy; and Italian Father Gianluca Merlini, secretary of the commission.
A limited but significant reform
The commission considers that a “profound reform of the canonical legal system” is not necessary in order to implement the ideas that emerged from the synodal process.
According to the report, “the Church’s current legal system already provides adequate provisions for greater recognition and designation of lay persons to assume roles and functions of ecclesial co-responsibility together with the pastors.” Nevertheless, it acknowledges that these provisions are “often overlooked” and, in some cases, “require greater normative affirmation to be more practical and effective.”
For this reason, the proposals seek to adapt certain aspects of canon law to the conclusions of the synod, especially regarding the participation of laypeople in the Church’s mission.
The document also insists that the synodal process “does not diminish the decision-making authority of the bishop, the college of bishops, or the pope, but integrates the contribution of the People of God, giving the synodal act a truly communal character.”
Among the canons examined are Canons 204, 208, and 212, which affirm the equal dignity of all the baptized and their right to participate in the life of the Church; Canons 228 and 230, which regulate the possibility of laypeople exercising ecclesiastical offices and ministries; Canon 145, concerning ecclesiastical offices; and Canon 275, which promotes collaboration between clergy and laity.
Papal infallibility under review
Also studied were Canons 476 and 483, related to certain functions of governance and administration in dioceses; Canon 1112, which under specific circumstances allows a layperson to validly assist at the celebration of marriages; Canons 1421 and 1425, concerning lay participation in ecclesiastical tribunals; and Canon 749, which regulates the exercise of the infallible magisterium of the Catholic Church.
Should the proposals advance, it would not be the first time the Vatican has examined reformulating the understanding of papal infallibility. In June 2024, a study by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, titled “The Bishop of Rome,” collected suggestions for adapting the exercise of Petrine primacy in light of the fruits of decades of ecumenical dialogue.
Greater weight for laity and religious
Among the most significant proposals is the revision of several canons to strengthen the synodal dimension of particular councils, diocesan synods, and pastoral councils.
One of the most notable changes would affect Canon 443, with the goal of making possible “the participation of all members of the People of God ... in a proportion equal to that of the ‘ex officio’ members” in particular councils.
The proposal goes beyond expanding the presence of lay faithful and men and women religious. It also calls for removing the Latin word “tantum” (“only”), which currently limits their participation to “a consultative vote” in various ecclesial bodies.
This restriction appears in several canons of the code, including Canons 443 and 444 concerning particular councils; Canon 466 regarding the diocesan synod; and Canons 500, 514, and 536, which regulate the presbyteral council, diocesan pastoral council, and parish pastoral council, respectively.
If approved, these bodies would no longer be structured solely according to a consultative logic but would move toward stronger forms of power in decision-making.
Greater autonomy for bishops’ conferences
The proposals also seek to strengthen the role of bishops’ conferences and promote greater decentralization. Among the suggested changes is a revision of Canon 440, Paragraph 1, to establish a “ten-year frequency” for the celebration of particular councils. The aim is to encourage their regular convocation and restore a more significant role for them in the life of the Church.
Likewise, the commission proposes modifying Canon 1112 to eliminate the need for intervention by the Holy See when a bishops’ conference authorizes laymen and laywomen to assist at marriages under the circumstances foreseen by law.
The reforms also include adjustments to Canon 403, Paragraph 1, to provide a clearer definition of the nature and mission of auxiliary bishops within the pastoral governance of dioceses.
Similarly, a modification to Canon 450, Paragraph 3, is proposed to allow retired bishops to serve on commissions of bishops’ conferences, thereby making use of their pastoral and governance experience after they have stepped down from leading a diocese.
Accountability in episcopal governance
The third section of the report emphasizes that the “widest possible” participation of the baptized requires institutional mediation, especially within the local Church, and describes participatory bodies as “primary places of participation,” where the faithful contribute according to their “canonical condition, charisms, ministries, and competencies.”
Another of the report’s most significant developments is the addition of a new paragraph to Canon 391 inspired by the synod’s final document. The proposal explicitly introduces the principle of “accountability and evaluation” into the exercise of episcopal governance.
If approved, the change would represent a significant step toward greater transparency in the administration of dioceses by strengthening the obligation to explain and justify pastoral and administrative decisions within the processes of Church governance.
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.
Vatican calls for a renewal of attention in the age of clickbait
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication has unveiled the theme for the 61st World Day of Social Communications: “A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait.”
With this theme, the Vatican will invite people “to reflect on Christ’s compassionate gaze as a way of overcoming the superficiality of relationships,” Vatican News reported.
In a statement released Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Vatican warned that the so-called “attention economy,” in its struggle “for a few moments of interest amid the rapid and endless flow of content,” is transforming “not only our cognitive abilities but also the depth of our interpersonal communication.”
The reflection comes at a particularly significant moment for communicators, as social media and digital platforms reward speed, immediate emotion, and controversy while listening and thoughtful analysis are often pushed aside. Faced with this reality, the Vatican proposes an authentic “conversion of our gaze.”
“We are called to a conversion of our gaze: to look again, with attention and with love. Only in this way will we be able to see the world, others, and even ourselves, as Christ sees us: called by name and loved,” the message states.
The Vatican’s proposal maintains that “our communication changes when our gaze chooses to encounter others rather than judge them.”
The message also identifies some of the cultural consequences of hyperconnectivity. “The lack of genuine attention, fueled by digital culture, has accustomed us to a routine of rapid reactions, to superficial relationships, and to the ease with which we label and reject others,” the document warns.
As a response, the Vatican proposes recovering the deeper meaning of attention, understood not as a communication technique but as an attitude of openness toward others and toward the truth. “Yet attention is a precious form of generosity: the word ‘attention’ comes from ‘ad-tendere’ — to reach out toward the other and toward the truth.”
For Christian communicators, this attitude finds its model in Christ. The text recalls that “Christian communication can rediscover attention as both a gift and a way of seeing — the gaze of Jesus, who saw and allowed himself to be touched.”
In this way, the message challenges a widely accepted logic within today’s digital ecosystem: the idea that attention is a commodity. The Vatican offers a different perspective. “Communicating is not about capturing attention, nor about selling it, but about safeguarding it as a precious resource for relationships,” the statement says.
Therefore, in an environment marked by clickbait and an overabundance of content, the Vatican encourages the development of a genuine “hygiene of attention,” capable of protecting the human capacity to perceive reality in depth.
“To communicate in the age of ‘clickbait,’ we are called to ‘pay attention’ and to rediscover a genuinely healthy attention (cf. Magnifica Humanitas 146),” the text states.
Finally, the message recalls that authentic communication engages the whole person. It is not limited to words or platforms; it requires an interior disposition to encounter others genuinely.
“Communication is not just about words, it involves the entire person and asks us to look, hear and feel again in order to answer Christ’s call,” the statement concludes.
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.
U.S. senators defend home-schooling parents’ right to religious curriculum
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, and Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of home-schooling parents’ right to use a religious-based curriculum in the classroom.
The senators’ amicus brief comes after a lower court decision in Woolard v. Thurmond that ruled home-school independent-study programs are public-school programs.
“As part of California’s publicly funded independent-study programs, parents can teach their own children in their own homes with limited oversight from a private, nonprofit corporation operating a charter school,” the brief said. “And subject to general state standards, parents can choose any curriculum they want for their homeschooling—with one exception: religion. That overt discrimination—which Respondents say is required by California’s Blaine Amendment—clearly violates the Constitution. And it is preposterous to say, as did the Ninth Circuit, that homeschooling parents are actually state actors.”
“This amicus brief argues that specifically restricting the rights of parents to use faith-based curriculum is unconstitutional, and I am hopeful that this argument will help the Supreme Court to determine that a California court decision should be overturned,” Hyde-Smith said in a Sept. 29 press release.
Catholic senators who signed on to the brief include Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, and Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho.
Notre Dame religious-liberty advocates urge Supreme Court to allow state funding for religious studies
Notre Dame law professors and religious liberty organizations are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a 2004 ruling that allows states to exclude students pursuing religious-ministry degrees from publicly funded scholarships.
The Sept. 14 brief argues that Locke v. Davey is hard to square with newer Supreme Court rulings that bar states from discriminating against religious students and institutions.
The brief comes amid religious liberty cases involving two Virginia students, Bethany Hall and Cameron Johnson, who were denied state scholarship funds because they are pursuing degrees related to religious ministry.
“This Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from barring religious institutions, and the individuals that they serve and educate, from public funding solely because they are religious or engage in religious activity or instruction,” the brief said. “Locke sits uneasily with these recent decisions.”
The Notre Dame Law School Education Law Project; the Notre Dame Program on Church, State, and Society; and Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic are listed on the brief alongside the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
Baylor center to build chapel as student Mass attendance surges
St. Peter Catholic Student Center — the Catholic ministry adjacent to Baylor University in Texas — announced plans to build a new, larger chapel because the existing worship space is too small for the number of students attending Mass.
Father Henry Carter Finch of the Catholic center at one of the largest Baptist universities in the U.S. said: “Our community has grown tremendously the past few years, as more and more young people respond to the promptings of grace to seek the fullness of life in the Church.”
Finch said in a video message announcing the construction of the chapel that the pews are overflowing and the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) program is full.
According to the Catholic center’s website, the chapel will have 460 seats. An existing chapel has 175 seats with 220 in overflow configuration. The chapel is projected to cost $10 million.
News of the chapel comes as Catholic conversions have reportedly surged on college campuses across the country.
Catholic University rises in U.S. News’ ‘Best Colleges’ rankings
The Catholic University of America (CUA) has risen 21 places in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges” rankings.
CUA jumped from 169 to 148 in the 2027 edition of national university rankings and also debuted at No. 75 in the “Top Private Colleges” category. It rose three spots to No. 72 on the list of “Best Value Schools,” according to a Sept. 22 press release.
“This year’s rankings recognize what our students and families already know: Catholic University offers an exceptional education at a real value,” Karna Lozoya, vice president for university communications, said in the release. “A 21-spot jump is a testament to the dedication of our faculty and staff and to the investments we’ve made in academic excellence and student success.”