Northern Ireland launches inquiry into mother and baby homes with landmark bill
Northern Ireland has passed legislation to establish an inquiry-and-redress scheme concerning mother and baby institutions, which were prevalent in the country from 1922 until 1995.
The bill was first introduced in June 2025 and completed its final stage on June 30 of this year.
The inquiry will investigate issues raised in the Truth Recovery Independent Report, which was also published this week.
Both the report and the bill focus on institutions that for over 60 years housed unmarried pregnant women who were sent to the homes by a variety of authorities — welfare, priests, family members — to have their babies. The children born there were typically adopted or sent to baby homes, while some returned home with their mothers.
Over 15,000 women and girls are estimated to have passed through mother and baby homes, as well as Magdalene laundries — institutions in both the north and south of Ireland operated by Catholic religious orders in which thousands of women and girls were confined and forced to perform unpaid hard labor. The last one closed in 1996.
The Truth Recovery Independent Panel report was commissioned to gather evidence in a nonconfrontational setting and includes the testimonies of over 300 survivors. Seventy recommendations were made, including the specific investigation of “Sister Z,“ a nun at the Good Shepherd Sisters-run Marianvale Mother and Baby Home in Newry, County Down, for sexual abuse.
The report highlights serious systemic failures of the state to exercise oversight in Magdalene laundries and other homes.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “Within their walls, women and girls were stripped of dignity, silenced, and shamed. Their children, now adults, are still living with that impact today, carrying unanswered questions and loss.”
Conor Brogan, who was born at Marianvale and placed for adoption as an infant, told EWTN News that the bill and the public inquiry are incredibly significant because they were developed with survivors' input.
“It has survivors at the forefront, and that is something that victims and survivors have campaigned for for a long time,” he said. “It is a massive step in the right direction to clearly understand where accountability lies and to ensure that those who are accountable are seen in the public eye as such.”
He continued: “Girls and women who went into these institutions were publicly shamed. It was barbaric in terms of how they were treated. Institutions themselves didnʼt exist in a vacuum. Society was, in those days, very ‘puritan,’ and the whole facilitation of these institutions was by the broader society. There isnʼt a single case of a mother or baby being connected to one of these institutions without some form of government involvement. They all played a part in it.”
Brogan’s birth mother, Geraldine, now deceased, was a resident at Marianvale. He was born there in February 1969 and adopted several weeks later. He says of the redress scheme: “For my mother itʼs getting back to lifting the shame off her shoulders. In todayʼs society, where shame doesnʼt exist, I think education and support for young girls who find themselves in this situation is the biggest legacy that could come out of it.”
Brogan was reunited with Geraldine in his 30s, and he said they established a good relationship. “She had never talked to anybody about it — not her own sisters and brothers. Her children didnʼt know about it. Her spouse did. The trauma that was associated with that weighed heavily on her,” he said.
Geraldine’s time in the Good Shepherd home from November 1968 to April 1969 was too painful for her to ever talk about to Brogan. “That was very hard for her to even sort of go near it at all. She just couldnʼt; it was too painful, too raw, even after all those years, 35 to 40 years later, she couldnʼt. She just said it wasnʼt very nice and didnʼt want to elaborate. Meeting me and having me in her life went some way to, to sort of easing that trauma; I donʼt think it ever fully healed the wound.”
Brogan always knew he was adopted and describes a happy childhood with his adoptive family. He told EWTN News that he, as a child, returned to visit the nuns in Marianvale with his adoptive parents. His brother and sister, also adopted, were born there too.
“There was the convent at the front, but there were other smaller outbuildings around the back, where, looking back now, I realize that’s where the women and girls were quartered.”
He recalled his dad putting money in the collection box there. “I have clear memories of that visit, but I had absolutely no understanding of the other side of it. The trauma of the birth mothers, knowing that youʼre giving up your baby as soon as itʼs born, of the baby being taken away, and then after that, I think, is the most impactful on peopleʼs lives.”
Brogan also embarked on a different journey to make contact with his birth father’s family. Unaware that he had a biological son who had been adopted, his biological father died in 1982.
Brogan said of both journeys: “You donʼt know where youʼre going to end up. You donʼt know if youʼre going to have an open door, a closed door, or visit a graveyard. When I found my fatherʼs family, the connection was fantastic. I did visit his grave, and that was quite tough. The realization that I would never meet my father.”
“I have met every sort of combination a survivor has gone through,” he said. “So, whether that’s a birth mother never able to meet her child, or one who found their child, but the child, now an adult, didnʼt want to have a relationship, and vice versa. Where the mother has locked that away, doesnʼt want it disturbed, hasnʼt told her family, and really doesnʼt want to acknowledge that it happened.”
He added: “I feel incredibly fortunate [that] Iʼm able to talk about it; Iʼm able to talk with others about it. And, you know, if my talking can help one other person, then itʼs worth it.”
He explained that “everybody will automatically think, ‘Oh, the Catholic Church is at fault again,’ but there were more accounts of women from a Protestant background who went through institutions than from a Catholic background. I think thatʼs important to state because the number of people who have come forward from the Protestant community is significantly less than the Catholic community. And I think there has to be some level of outreach to those people who feel that they canʼt come forward.”
Brogan said that beginning this journey was difficult. “But for me to have a better understanding of who I am, and where I came from, itʼs very, very important. And to be able to spend some level of time with my birth mother, and get an understanding of her and what she went through and everything else was pretty priceless.”
In a statement dated July 8 following the publication of the Truth Recovery Independent Report, the Good Shepherd Sisters said: “We respect the courage and strength of all who have come to share their experiences and have contributed to this research. We deeply regret the pain and hurt women in our care experienced, as outlined in their testimony to the panel.”
The statement continued: “We also acknowledge the women who expressed their appreciation to the Sisters they met while in our care in the past, even when they reflect on a time of deep crisis in their lives. We will continue to fully cooperate with the impending work of the public inquiry.”
SSPX Masses an ‘abuse’ of Eucharist: U.S. bishops continue to urge Catholics not to attend
U.S. bishops continue to instruct Catholics to separate themselves from the schismatic Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) while urging the society’s members to return to full communion with the Catholic Church.
The Vatican declared July 2 that six prelates involved in the SSPX’s unauthorized July 1 episcopal consecrations incurred automatic excommunication. Despite repeated warnings, SSPX bishops consecrated four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.
Lay faithful who formally adhere to SSPX are also considered schismatic and can incur excommunication by continuing to attend SSPX services after the Church’s formal pronouncement of a schism.
Various Catholic bishops with SSPX locations in their dioceses are explicitly forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX Masses, instructing them to avoid the now-illicit sacraments and to withdraw their children from SSPX-affiliated schools while also urging frequent attendees and SSPX priests to seek spiritual guidance and return to the Catholic Church.
Abuse of the Eucharist
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, instructed Catholics to “avoid participating in the activities of the SSPX.”
Burbidge emphasized in a July 8 letter to his flock that “as a result of the SSPXʼs schismatic act, any celebrations of the sacraments of confession and matrimony by the SSPX are invalid, and the administration of other sacraments is illicit.”
Bishop John Iffert of Covington, Kentucky, explained what it means for these sacraments to be “illicit.”
“This means that the celebrations are not permitted by the law of the Church and the cleric offering the sacrament commits the canonical and moral fault of disobedience in each instance,” Iffert said.
“The Masses these priests celebrate are an abuse of the Eucharist, insofar as they make the sacrament of unity into an occasion of division within the Church, and so they should be firmly rejected and avoided by all the Catholic faithful,” Iffert said.
“Together with the priests of the diocese, I invite all Catholics who have been attending the SSPX liturgy to practice their faith in one of the parishes, missions, or chapels of the diocese,” Iffert said. “You will find the Catholic Mass and the sacramental life celebrated faithfully and respectfully throughout the Diocese of Covington.”
Who is in schism?
Burbidge clarified that not all attendees of SSPX are necessarily in schism but must simply return to sacraments and ministries in union with the Church.
“I encourage any persons locally who have been attached to the SSPX and who desire the spiritual nourishment of the Church and the extraordinary form of the Mass to become active in any one of the eight locations in our diocese where this is currently possible,” Burbidge said.
“Although lay faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX are considered schismatic and excommunicated, this does not apply to lay faithful ‘who do not reject the magisterium of the authority of the Roman pontiff’ and have engaged with the SSPX for solely liturgical or spiritual reasons,” Burbidge said. “Such persons must simply resolve not to continue to participate in future SSPX sacramental worship or pastoral ministries.”
“The Holy See, in the spirit of conciliation, has outlined the procedure necessary for SSPX priests and lay faithful to return to Catholic communion,” Burbidge explained.
Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, Florida, issued a decree reiterating the Holy See’s excommunication and instructing the faithful to separate from SSPX in any "ecclesiastical ministry” or “diocesan entity.”
Rodríguez also provided instructions for any Catholics who wish to leave SSPX “and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church."
How SSPX’s schism affects education
The schismatic acts of SSPX have a trickle-down effect, even affecting the education of children.
In Covington, Kentucky, two schools are affiliated with SSPX. Iffert has instructed Catholics to withdraw their children from the schools due to the schismatic nature of the group.
“Because Assumption Academy and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy are associated with the SSPX, Catholic parents should not enroll their children in these schools,” Iffert said in a letter. “To do so is to entrust the religious formation of children to those who participate in schism against the Roman Catholic Church.”
He encouraged parents to reach out to the diocesan Catholic schools office for “appropriate placement in a local Catholic school.”
Praying for return
The bishops prayed for union and for society members to return to the Church.
“I pledge to pray for the bishops and priests of the SSPX and for their faithful return to regular order in the Catholic Church,” Iffert said. “I also assure the lay faithful who have been attached to the SSPX of my prayer for their good and for the restoration of unity in the Church.”
Burbidge prayed especially for SSPX priests.
“To my brother priests in the SSPX, please know of my prayers for you and my heartfelt desire for your return to full communion with the Church,” Burbidge said. “I invite all the faithful to join me in prayer for the end of all division and schism and for the unity of the Church, so that she may better fulfill the divine commission to make disciples of all nations.”
“I ask all faithful Catholics to pray for restored unity and order in the Church and in our diocese,” Iffert said. “Please beg the intercession of Pope St. Pius X, that his name may always give glory to God and never be a sign of division in the Eucharistic community that he cherished.”
Vatican commission seeks to address legal loophole facing women religious suffering abuse
Consecrated women and women religious who have suffered abuse face a significant legal loophole: Canon law and specialized commissions focus primarily on minors and adults with disabilities, leaving these women outside their scope of protection.
In practice, this means that if the victim is an adult who has received formation, it is assumed she can defend herself or that she consented. However, signs of change are beginning to emerge from the Vatican.
In addressing this issue, “it cannot simply be a label of ‘vulnerable adult,’” said Claudia Giampietro, an Italian canon lawyer working at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM).
“We must understand that there are situations of imbalances of power … and situations involving abuse, and so it is these situations of vulnerability that we need to examine more deeply,” she told EWTN News on July 1.
One of the functions of the PCPM is to collaborate with the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the conferences and unions of religious men and women, and the institutes of consecrated life.
This enables them to gain firsthand knowledge of a complex reality: “There are a great many circumstances, situations, and people that can also affect women religious, including older ones, and so it is necessary to understand the contexts in which they work and carry out their ministry, both within their communities and also outside them,” Giampietro said.
The situation in Latin America
The Vatican helped break the taboo surrounding abuse against women religious by dedicating an extensive report to it in January 2020, published in Donne, Chiesa, Mondo (Women, Church, World), the monthly women’s supplement to L’Osservatore Romano. Issues covered include abuse of power, sexual abuse, and the difficulties faced by many nuns both within and outside consecrated life.
In subsequent years, there has been a proliferation of studies aimed at gauging the scale of a phenomenon that was traditionally hidden. Notable among them is the research published in 2022 in the Spanish-language book “Vulnerability, Abuse, and Care in Womenʼs Religious Life,” edited by Sister María Rosaura González Casas, who at the time was coordinator of the Commission for the Care and Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons for the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious.
Based on a survey of 1,417 women religious, the study revealed that 19.8% reported having suffered sexual abuse, and more than half stated they had experienced some form of abuse of power at the hands of superiors, priests, formators, or bishops. Additionally, 14.3% of respondents indicated having been harassed by a priest, 9.7% by laypeople, and 8% by other religious women, figures that highlight the scope and complexity of an issue that remained largely silenced for decades.
González Casas, dean of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, explained that since the study was published four years ago, “greater awareness of what abuse entails has grown at all levels” in the region.
“The sisters are more aware, and bishops and priests are also more alert to it. When we conducted the survey, many women religious did not want to respond, even though it was anonymous. There was fear of speaking out. Now there is greater awareness, although clear codes of conduct are still lacking. Unconscious and internalized machismo persists in society and has permeated religious and priestly life,” she explained in comments to EWTN News.
A conference in Rome on abuse prevention
In order to promote dialogue to prevent abuse against women religious, the PCPM will organize the second annual meeting on abuse prevention, focusing on consecrated life. It will be held in Rome on Dec. 9–11, centering on the theme “Communion, Care, and Justice: Mutual Relationships for a Shared Mission.”
This is not an academic conference but a synodal “learning lab” geared toward concrete results. Over the course of three days, bishops, representatives from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, conferences and unions of major superiors, officials from Roman Curia dicasteries, and experts in abuse prevention will collaborate through roundtables, sessions on canon law, and working groups.
“The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has already taken up this issue, and with their involvement, superiors and women religious will take it more seriously,” said Sister Jacinta Ondeng of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Kenya, who has been invited to participate in the forum.
“Safeguarding must be an essential part of community life,” emphasized the religious sister, director of the Safeguarding Initiative for Catholic Sisters, a project based at Tangaza University in Nairobi that provides training on abuse prevention across various African countries.
Many situations are covered up due to a lack of oversight
Ondeng emphasized the need for effective case follow-up. “It’s important for the relevant Vatican offices to oversee these situations because cases from Africa, and perhaps other parts of the world, are often covered up precisely due to a lack of oversight. If the relevant bodies of the Holy See intervene and evaluate cases when congregations fail to resolve them, that will help.”
She also proposes developing clear guidelines for handling abuse cases within consecrated life — similar to those established by Pope Francis in Vos Estis Lux Mundi for allegations of abuse against minors — which require bishops and superiors to take action when faced with complaints or concerning indications.
“Once it becomes clear that the Vatican is involved in matters affecting members of consecrated life, there will be changes. Human nature responds to clear rules: When they exist, people tend to act with greater prudence,” she observed.
The sister also led a revealing, as-yet-unpublished study in Africa that brought to light harrowing testimonies from consecrated women, such as:
- “Sisters leave not because they lack a vocation but because of abuse; superiors are abusing their authority.”
- “Sisters suffer in silence rather than reporting it because they love the Church and fear damaging the reputation of a priest, bishop, or superior.”
- “I told my superior what was happening, and since the sister in question was her friend, she did nothing.”
The study’s results were presented at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome during the 2026 International Safeguarding Conference, held June 16–19 under the theme “One Commitment, Many Contexts: Safeguarding Across Cultures.” The study was based on an anonymous online survey conducted between February and March in which more than 140 religious sisters from various African countries participated.
Fear of stigma and self-blame
The findings are revealing: 35.5% of congregations lack a formal safeguarding policy; 67.4% of those surveyed identify fear of stigma and self-blame as the main obstacles to reporting abuse; and 60.3% point to the absence of confidential reporting channels.
Personal factors such as “shame, guilt, and self-reproach are very prevalent among many women religious who wish to take the step of reporting abuse,” explained Ondeng, who dedicates her ministry to conducting workshops and training on safeguarding in Africa, with a particular focus on Catholic women religious.
Her goal is to raise awareness about abuse and its consequences, empower consecrated women to break the culture of silence, and promote safe environments for all. She also emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability as fundamental pillars for the success of safeguarding policies within the Church.
The religious also warned of the tendency toward cover-ups that can arise in certain ecclesial contexts.
“As numerous studies on abuse and the abuse of authority have shown, the Church hierarchy commands immense respect in many African societies,” she noted. While this is a positive cultural value, it also helps explain why individuals in positions of authority are rarely reported when involved in abusive behavior.
This phenomenon is reflected in several of the testimonies gathered during the investigation:
- “Many sisters do not want to air dirty laundry. They do not wish to publicly expose these problems, in order to protect the institute’s reputation.”
- “Some fear that if they speak out, they will be expelled from religious life, and they do not want to leave,” Ondeng added.
Lack of training in abuse prevention
Ondeng’s study also reveals that, when faced with situations of injustice or abuse, some women religious choose to leave consecrated life. Abuse can take many forms — sexual, spiritual, physical, emotional, or institutional — and, in certain cases, becomes unbearable.
However, the majority of victims remain in their communities, often out of fear of the social stigma or rejection they might suffer if they returned to their families.
Others are aware that leaving the convent could entail serious financial difficulties, as they lack employment or the means to support themselves, the religious explained.
Of the 141 women religious surveyed, more than 95% stated they had received some form of training on the prevention of sexual abuse. However, in many cases, this preparation proves insufficient.
“Most have taken short courses, but we cannot say that this 95% has received comprehensive training in safeguarding. At most, some have participated in one- or two-day sessions. That is very little, and it poses a problem,” the Kenyan religious sister noted in a statement to EWTN News.
For this reason, she insists on the need to strengthen safeguarding training as a true ministry within the Church.
“Much more preparation is needed for Catholic women religious to have the courage to speak about their experiences in their communities. Currently, training is very limited and must be ramped up to empower consecrated women,” she stated.
Added to this challenge is a significant cultural component. “People do not want to make their problems public. It is something deeply rooted in African culture, although it also occurs in European and American contexts,” she stated.
For its part, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life does not publish aggregate figures on apostolic visitations conducted worldwide, as these are carried out on an occasional rather than a systematic basis.
The only large-scale investigation for which detailed data exist was the one conducted in the United States from 2008 to 2014, which involved 341 institutes of consecrated life and about 50,000 religious women.
“The entire Church must understand that safeguarding is a Gospel value. It’s not something imposed from the outside. The Gospel calls us to promote the dignity of every person, support those who suffer, and care for those who are hurting,” Ondeng pointed out.
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.
Federal court: Maine Christian schools receiving public funding must follow gender, sexuality rules
Maine is allowed to exclude Catholic schools and other private institutions from public funding if the schools refuse to abide by gender- and sexuality-related nondiscrimination laws, a federal appeals court said this month.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit on July 2 ruled against St. Dominic Academy in the Diocese of Portland, denying the school’s request for an injunction against Maine’s LGBT-related nondiscrimination rules. If granted, the injunction would have allowed the school to access public funding streams.
The school had argued against requirements that it facilitate student “gender transitions” and had said it would not require staff to refer to students by opposite-sex pronouns.
The court, however, said that “combatting sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination” is a “legitimate governmental pursuit” and that requiring publicly funded schools to follow those rules “rationally relates” to that pursuit.
Such schools are also required to publicly affirm the “gender identity” of their students, the court said.
The ruling comes several years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maine could not ban students from using public student aid to attend religious schools. The high court ruled that the state in its policy “identif[ied] and exclude[d] otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise.”
A “neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations through the independent choices of private benefit recipients” does not violate the U.S. Constitution, the court held in the 2022 case Carson v. Makin.
Adèle Keim, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Catholic school in the suit, told EWTN News that ahead of the Carson decision Maine moved to alter its public funding policy to include the rules regarding gender and sexuality nondiscrimination.
“They knew it would be a red line for the schools that had been suing the state,” she said.
Keim said this month’s appeals court ruling was partially favorable to St. Dominic Academy; it found, for instance, that the state cannot dictate faith-related hiring practices and cannot dictate religious expression rules on school campuses.
Yet the appeals court ruled that schools enjoy “no constitutional protection” related to the nondiscrimination policies, she said. She argued that the decision runs afoul of multiple Supreme Court decisions, including the Carson ruling along with the landmark 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor.
The schools could mount a bid to the Supreme Court over the appeals decision, she said.
A similar lawsuit had been brought by the nondenominational Crosspoint Church, which runs a K–12 Christian school. The appeals court had partly combined the suits of the respective churches into one ruling.
Keim said that Catholic education had been publicly funded for decades in Maine before lawmakers in the early 1980s targeted Catholic schools for exclusion.
“It’s a [sparsely populated] state,” she said. “Its population is spread out over a large territory. The government has always partnered with private schools to get the job done of meeting the state constitutional guarantee of free education for all kids.”
She said the parts of the appeals court ruling that found in favor of the Catholic schools were “terrific.” But the nondiscrimination portion of the ruling “really jumped off a cliff,” she argued.
On X, meanwhile, Becket attorney Eric Rassbach said after the appeals ruling that the Supreme Court will consider a similar case in October related to nondiscrimination rules and public funding of religious schools.
Governments “cannot evade [Supreme Court precedent] by relabeling discrimination against religion as ‘nondiscrimination,’” he wrote. “The Constitution demands more.”
Why does the Vatican recognize Orthodox marriages but not those of the SSPX?
The Holy Seeʼs declaration this month that formally recognizes the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to be in a state of schism has prompted numerous questions among the faithful. One of the most frequently asked questions is why the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of marriages performed in Orthodox churches while marriages now performed by priests of the society are considered invalid.
Father Davide Cito, professor of canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, emphasized that the answer has to do with profoundly different juridical and ecclesial realities.
As he explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, although the Orthodox churches are not in full communion with Rome, they are not currently in a state of formal schism comparable to that of the Society of St. Pius X.
“These are two different situations. The Orthodox are not in full communion with the Catholic Church, but they are not excommunicated. In contrast, the fraternity has committed a formal act of breaking ecclesial communion,” he explained.
The canon lawyer noted that, prior to the recent declaration of schism, the situation of the SSPX was different. Although there were serious doctrinal and disciplinary tensions with Rome, it was not juridically in its current situation.
“The society could perform valid marriages because it was not in a state of formal schism,” he noted.
In fact, during the pontificate of Pope Francis, the society’s priests received faculties to validly hear confessions and, under certain circumstances, to witness marriages with the authorization of the competent ecclesiastical authority.
However, following the formal declaration of schism, the Vatican has made it clear that those faculties can no longer be exercised.
Specifically, sources in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) emphasized to ACI Prensa “the invalidity of those two sacraments" (referring to confession and marriage), which Pope Francis had previously granted them permission to administer in 2019 as a gesture of pastoral outreach.
The DDF source went on to confirm that the dicastery’s July 2 explanatory note on the matter “was published with the pope’s approval. The pontiff himself formally warned that this would happen if they ordained bishops in the letter he sent to [SSPX Superior General Father Davide] Pagliarani just hours before the episcopal ordinations took place without a papal mandate. There is no doubt whatsoever regarding his will. That is the decision of the Holy See.”
The DDF, led by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, also clarified that, in declaring the schism, it did not get into considering the SSPXʼs past situation following the lifting of the excommunications by Benedict XVI in 2009 and the concessions subsequently made by Francis. Instead, it focused “on the fact that the new ordinations — a schismatic act — have undoubtedly created a situation of excommunication and schism, and that what they were clearly warned about is now being applied.”
Regarding this point, Cito explained that “a schismatic cannot validly hear confessions or validly witness a marriage, because since the Council of Trent, these sacraments require a canonical faculty or authorization.”
Why are Orthodox sacraments recognized?
Relations between Catholics and the Orthodox underwent a decisive shift during the Second Vatican Council and the pontificate of St. Paul VI. In December 1965, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I signed a joint declaration lifting the mutual excommunications pronounced in 1054, events traditionally regarded as the beginning of the Great Schism between East and West.
Although that gesture did not restore full communion, it put an end to centuries of mutual condemnations and excommunications and opened a new chapter of ecumenical dialogue.
“We are in communion, though not in full communion,” Cito summarized. “That is why there are areas where it is possible to share sacramental life, something unthinkable in a situation of formal rupture caused by a schism, such as the situation of the fraternity,” he observed.
The Catholic Church recognizes the validity of Orthodox sacraments because it maintains that the Eastern churches have preserved apostolic succession and a valid priesthood. For this reason, Cito explained, there is the possibility of a certain “communicatio in sacris” — participation in certain sacraments among the faithful of different churches as provided for by canon law.
“Canon 844 allows Catholics and Orthodox, in certain cases, to receive some sacraments from one another. I myself have seen this in pastoral practice. This is possible because there is authentic sacramental communion, even if it is not full,” he stated.
The expert pointed out that the situation is very different for those affected by excommunication or who knowingly participate in a schismatic group.
Excommunication is a canonical penalty that prohibits the administration and reception of certain sacraments. Schism, on the other hand, entails the rejection of communion with the Church and the authority of the Roman pontiff — in other words, a formal separation from the Catholic Church.
In the case of the Society of St. Pius X, the Holy See considers that there is now a formal rupture of that communion, which entails juridical and sacramental consequences.
“When someone rejects an ecumenical council or denies essential elements of communion with the pope and the college of bishops, the situation becomes very complex from a canonical standpoint,” Cito said.
The professor pointed out that some traditionalist communities that emerged from the SSPX, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), have remained in full communion with Rome and continue to celebrate the traditional liturgy without any difficulty.
“The problem has never been simply the liturgy. The issue touches upon fundamental doctrinal aspects related to the Second Vatican Council and ecclesial communion,” he stated.
How those who leave the SSPX might return to Catholic unity
New regulations issued by the Holy See establish that the faithful and priests who decide to leave the SSPX and return to full communion with the Church will no longer depend on a specific structure like the Ecclesia Dei Commission, created by St. John Paul II in 1988.
Going forward, they may turn directly to diocesan bishops or to the heads of traditionalist institutes that are fully integrated into the Church. The new protocol from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith aims to facilitate this return.
"The procedures for doing so are very simple because, ultimately, these are people who want to be Catholic and desire to be in communion with the Church," Cito added.
The Vatican document warns that those wishing to fully rejoin the Catholic Church may not continue to regularly attend activities of an institution now considered schismatic.
“The explanatory note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, attached to the decree of excommunication, is very clear on this point: The sacred ministers administer the sacraments illicitly and, regarding penance and matrimony, also invalidly. Therefore, dioceses and their pastors are urged to be vigilant and to exhort the faithful to remain steadfast in ecclesial communion and not to participate in celebrations or activities promoted by the SSPX,” noted Father Pierpaolo dal Corso, who teaches at the St. Pius X department of penal canon law in Venice, Italy.
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.
Fiat donates 30 electric vehicles to Vatican in sustainability push
Fiat will donate 30 electric vehicles to Vatican City State to support the daily operations of employees of the governorate as part of efforts to advance more sustainable mobility and reduce the environmental impact of its fleet.
The Italian automaker said the vehicles will be used for internal operations and will help improve transportation within the Vatican through low-emissions mobility.
The initiative is part of the Ecological Conversion 2030 program launched by the Governorate of Vatican City State in 2023. The plan calls for the gradual decarbonization of the Vatican’s official fleet, with the goal of reaching zero emissions by the end of the decade.
The first phase of the project took place June 30 with the delivery of 20 Fiat Topolino vehicles. The handover was held on the esplanade in front of the Governorate Palace and was attended by Archbishop Emilio Nappa and lawyer Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, secretaries-general of the governorate, as well as Olivier François, CEO of Fiat and chief marketing officer of Stellantis.
The fleet will be completed with the addition of 10 Fiat TRIS vehicles, also fully electric.
The Ecological Conversion 2030 plan goes beyond the renewal of the Vatican’s vehicle fleet. The project includes a range of measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the Holy See’s activities, including the responsible use of natural resources, improved energy efficiency, and the modernization of technological infrastructure.
The initiative also seeks to promote cleaner energy sources for transportation, strengthen waste management policies, and support future reforestation projects as Vatican City State works toward climate neutrality.
After launching the program in 2023, the Governorate of Vatican City State said it intended to place itself among the leading states in sustainability by adopting innovative solutions that contribute both to care for the environment and to the transformation of its work and management practices.
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.
New York priest facing 20 years in prison on child pornography charges, federal prosecutor says
A priest who has been on administrative leave for more than half a decade, in part over allegations of inappropriate conduct with children, has been charged by federal authorities with possession of child pornography, a U.S. attorney announced on July 8.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said in a press release that Father Jeffrey Nowak of Lackawanna, New York, was arrested and charged with both the receipt and possession of child pornography.
The charges “carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years,” the attorney’s office said.
Nowak has been the subject of investigations by authorities as far back as 2019, when he was placed on administrative leave that year after a seminarian reported that the priest had sexually harassed him.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Nowak was also the subject of “allegations of inappropriate contact with children.”
The priest was also linked to an email address reportedly connected with child sexual abuse material, according to the prosecutor’s office. A two-year FBI investigation into the matter was ultimately closed.
The FBI reopened its investigation into Nowak in March of this year, the prosecutor said. On July 8 a search warrant was executed at Nowak’s residence during which investigators found child pornography on his electronic devices.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo said in the release that the priest “hid behind a keyboard and took part in the tragic exploitation of one of society’s most vulnerable populations, our children.”
“Nowak has now been exposed and can no longer hide and will be held accountable for his disgraceful behavior,” the prosecutor said.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Buffalo, meanwhile, said in a statement on July 9 that Nowak “was placed on permanent leave in 2019 and has not been permitted to function as a priest since then.”
“We are not aware of any attempt by law enforcement officials to contact the diocese regarding these allegations,” the statement said.
The diocese “has just learned of the allegations against him and will cooperate fully with any inquiry by law enforcement officials,” it added.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says no changes to capital punishment after botched execution
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told reporters in Knoxville on Tuesday that there will be no changes to the protocol for capital punishment in the state following the botched execution attempt of death row inmate Tony Carruthers on May 21.
In May, the Republican governor suspended Carruthers’ execution for one year after the medical team failed to find a vein when trying to set up the backup IV line of lethal drugs. They tried to set up the IV line for more than an hour.
“The Department of Corrections did exactly what they were supposed to,” Lee told reporters. “I decided to suspend the execution. I have the authority to do that. I’m the only one who can.”
“Given the circumstances of not being able to find a vein, I made that decision,” the governor added. “But the protocol itself and the process for the death penalty in this state — which is the law of Tennessee that the people have decided — but the protocol itself still stands, as it should.”
After the botched execution, eight Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to the governor, which urged him to review the death penalty protocol, according to the Tennessee Lookout. The letter called the incident a failure “to carry a lawful sentence of its own courts,” but the lawmakers still expressed support for the death penalty.
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network — a group that works with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on opposition to the death penalty — expressed disappointment in Lee’s comment in a statement to EWTN News.
“Tony Carruthers’ botched execution reminds us that every execution — regardless of the method or the procedures that take place — is a barbaric act that disregards the sanctity of life,” she said. “I am heartbroken to hear that Gov. Bill Lee has decided to let current lethal injection procedures stand.”
Murphy noted that Republican lawmakers urged the governor to commission an independent review of how the execution was botched.
“It is helpful to pause in times like this and ask ourselves: To what lengths will the state go to seek revenge?” she said. “There is nothing appropriate in this situation. The only way to avoid perpetuating more violence and harm is to step back from executing people altogether.”
Corruption in Pakistan’s courts hits poor Christians hardest, report finds
A new report by leading human rights groups says entrenched corruption throughout Pakistanʼs criminal justice system disproportionately harms the countryʼs poorest religious minorities, particularly Christians accused under its controversial blasphemy laws.
The study — titled “Under the Bench: Mapping Corruption Risks in Pakistanʼs Justice System” — was released July 8 by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
“Ethnic and religious minorities continue to face rampant discrimination in Pakistan — issues that are compounded by the fact that they also come from low-income communities,” the report states.
“Many of the victims in cases targeting Christians, for example, are sanitation workers or daily laborers, meaning that their resources to pay legal representation with necessary social and political connections or to pay bribes are very limited, if not absent, in effect widening the gap in access to justice.”
The report is based on 30 interviews conducted by FIDH and HRCP in February and March with lawyers, journalists, civil society activists, academics, and judges.
Several interviewees said anti-minority and anti-poor bias was evident in the language used by some judges in their rulings.
Bribes and stalled trials
Its findings echo those of a 2025 report by Human Rights Watch, which said blasphemy accusations were increasingly being used for financial gain, with some police officials allegedly demanding bribes from victims to avoid the registration of false first information reports.
The report also cited figures from the National Commission for Human Rights, a government human rights body, showing a sharp increase in blasphemy prosecutions. It said 767 people were detained on blasphemy charges as of July 25, 2024, compared with 213 in 2023, 64 in 2022, nine in 2021, and 11 in 2020.
Behram Francis, legal adviser for the Catholic bishops' National Commission for Justice and Peace, said the findings matched what he has seen on the ground.
“Police start dealing with families of blasphemy victims after an accusation is made and the case is publicized. Given the security risk, sensitivity, and public sentiment associated, the usual bribe rate in such cases starts from at least 50,000 rupees [$180],” Francis told EWTN News.
“Trials in lower courts can drag on for years, and the victim continues suffering in prison, as the accuser can easily get the next hearing postponed by paying 15,000 rupees to the court reader. Our lawyers usually encounter prejudice against Christians during trials.”
Concerns in the courtroom
Riaz Anjum, president of the Christian Lawyers Association of Pakistan, said procedural delays and intimidation inside courtrooms remained among the biggest obstacles to defending Christians accused of blasphemy.
“These cases are often not listed in the regular cause list, forcing us to file separate applications just to obtain a hearing,” Anjum told EWTN News.
“Muslim lawyers sometimes openly threaten us in front of judges and mobilize madrassa students outside courtrooms. The risk of external pressure and mob intimidation influencing judicial proceedings remains very high.”
Pakistan ranked 123rd out of 143 countries in the World Justice Projectʼs 2025 Rule of Law Index for absence of corruption, placing it second from the bottom in its regional rankings.
Report projects U.S. population decline as birth rates remain low
A report from the Institute for Family Studies warns that the United States is approaching a demographic turning point, with fertility rates continuing to fall well below replacement levels and population declines increasingly likely in the coming decades unless current trends change.
The report, titled ”The Demographic Dead End: 2026 State of Fertility Report,” presents estimates of fertility trends for every state dating back to 1917. As part of the nation’s 250th anniversary, researchers also reconstructed birth rates in Massachusetts dating to 1660, offering one of the longest historical views of American fertility ever compiled.
According to the report, the U.S. fertility rate has fallen to about 1.6 children per woman, well below the replacement level of about 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. Researchers said the decline is no longer a temporary consequence of delayed childbearing but reflects a sustained demographic shift.
The authors projected that if trends continue, the U.S. population will likely peak during the 2050s before entering a prolonged period of decline. They contend that many mainstream demographic forecasts underestimate the pace of falling fertility and assume a rebound that has yet to materialize.
The report notes fertility has declined in nearly every state over the past two decades, though the pace varies geographically. States with higher levels of religious participation, marriage, and family stability generally continue to post comparatively higher birth rates than states with lower rates of marriage and family formation.
Although Americans’ desired family size has remained relatively stable, the gap between how many children they want and how many they ultimately have continues to widen. Surveys consistently show Americans expect to have about two children and ideally would like to have an average of 2.4.
Catherine Pakaluk, professor at The Catholic University of America and author of “Hannahʼs Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth,” cautioned against interpreting that gap as entirely unmet demand.
“I’d be careful treating that gap as pure unmet demand — people fall short of almost everything they say they want, and stated desires are aspirations measured before the real tradeoffs arrive,” Pakaluk told EWTN News. “What ‘I want 2.4’ mostly reflects is a preference stated in the abstract, which softens once a child is weighed against everything else a life can hold.”
Why are fewer Americans having children?
Pakaluk said economic pressures and delayed marriage play a role but are not the primary cause of declining birth rates.
“Cost and later marriage matter at the margin, but they aren’t the engine,” she said. “The driver is a shift in the relative value placed on children.”
She added that prolonged low fertility could reshape American society, leading to “an older population, a thinner worker-to-retiree ratio that strains Social Security and Medicare” as well as “thinner kin networks and more people aging without family nearby.”
Limits of government policy
Researchers argue reversing the trend will require more than financial incentives for parents. Pakaluk agreed that public policy has limits.
“The most honest thing I can say is that the levers government actually controls aren’t the ones that move completed family size,” she said. “Policy can clear obstacles at the margin, but the decisive factors live in culture, faith, and community, where government has a light touch.”
She said measures such as expanding housing supply, strengthening the child tax credit, and removing marriage penalties may help families but cautioned that “no wealthy country has policy-engineered its way back to replacement.”
Global demographic challenge
The findings come as concerns over declining birth rates are growing worldwide. More than two-thirds of countries have fertility rates below replacement, prompting governments across Europe, Asia, and North America to examine ways to encourage family formation.
For the Catholic Church, concern over declining birth rates has long been connected to its teaching on marriage, openness to life, and support for families. Recent popes have repeatedly warned that demographic decline carries not only economic consequences but also cultural and social implications for future generations.