Holy Name of Jesus

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 16:47 pm (CNA).

A project conceived as a true “spiritual revolution” was presented at the Vatican on July 2, promoted by young Christians from all over Europe who, in their search for meaning, aspire to place Christ at the center of their lives and, with hope, restore the soul of the Old Continent.

The initiative began to take shape two years ago when, acting on an inspiration, Bishop Mikel Garciandía — bishop of Palencia, Spain, and former rector of St. Michael Shrine in Navarre — saw the possibility of coordinating the participation of young people in a project through the Network of St. Michael Shrines in Europe.

However, what initially appeared would end with the Jubilee of Hope in 2025 has taken on an international dimension and a broader horizon, with its sights now set on the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, to be celebrated in Jerusalem. “Things are happening that seemed impossible a month ago,” Garciandía commented during the July 2 presentation.

With the support of the Bishops’ Subcommission for Youth and Children of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference as well as the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, the Church in Jerusalem, and, more recently, the Vatican, a new proposal has taken shape, inviting young Christians across the continent to open up a pathway to faith and hope for a new European generation.

As a result, “Rome ‘25, the Way of James ‘27, Jerusalem ‘33” is underway. It’s a project created by young people for young people, including those who do not believe but who nonetheless seek meaning in their lives. Specifically, the initiative invites Christians to encounter the Lord through pilgrimage, healing, and evangelization.

In June, the project’s promoters presented the initiative to Pope Leo XIV. “We are convinced that he supports the project,” Garciandía stated Wednesday, adding that this conviction is what led them to officially present it today at the Vatican.

Foundational to the project has been the development of a manifesto, discerned and written by thousands of young Europeans: a “living voice” of a generation “that doesn’t give up, that believes, that dreams, and above all, that loves,” as stated in the document’s presentation.

“This text didn’t originate in an office or from an institutional strategy. It is born from the wound of a generation that has suffered, that is looking for meaning, and that, even so, believes. We believe that Christ is alive, that the Church remains a home, and that Europe can rediscover its soul if it dares to listen to it,” explained Fernando Moscardó, a spokesman and one of the project’s coordinators.

‘The revolution has begun’

Speaking before the media gathered at the Holy See Press Office, the young Spaniard emphasized that “we’re not coming to engage in politics” but to “proclaim the Gospel, to joyfully raise a banner that is not ideological but profoundly spiritual and ecclesial.”

“This manifesto is an act of faith and a call to hope. It’s the voice of young people who do not want to stay on the sidelines, who do not have to say forcefully, ‘We want more’; we want Christ at the center... The revolution has begun, the Spirit is blowing,” he said.

The document will be published on the project’s official website, and all those “who feel part of it” are encouraged to sign it. In addition, all information, updates, and progress on the initiative will be shared through social media under the name J2R2033 (Journey to Redemption 2033).

Also participating in the press conference was Father Antonio Ammirati, secretary-general of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, who reiterated his support for the initiative to accompany young people in their “search for meaning.”

The presentation included a video address by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, where the project will conclude. The cardinal said that the young people of the Church in the Holy Land “also want to be part of this beautiful project.”

After lamenting that due to the political situation and the war ravaging the region, many young people are unable to make the pilgrimage to Rome, he assured them of his prayers that “in 2033 the world will be different and there will be peace.”

The religious dimension of pilgrimage

Monsignor Graziano Borgonovo, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, explained the meaning of the word “pilgrim” and emphasized that following Christ does not mean standing still but rather “setting out on a journey” to “proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, present and alive.”

Archbishop Paolo Giulietti of Lucca, Italy, representing the Italian Bishops’ Conference, emphasized the need to restore to pilgrimage sites and routes their “religious dimension,” sometimes obscured by consumerism and tourism.

“These places were established for spiritual quests and the celebration of faith,” the Italian prelate said.

Also participating in the extensive briefing — via remote connection — was the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Francisco José Prieto Fernández, who recalled the invitation St. John Paul II extended to Europe to return to its roots: “Europe, be yourself,” the sainted pope exhorted in 1982.

The prelate highlighted the path toward the “horizon of transcendence” that this initiative presents, a “beautiful metaphor for following Christ” throughout life.

Finally, Monsignor Marco Gnavi, parish priest at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and host of the upcoming Aug. 1 event, where the manifesto will be presented in the context of the July 28 to Aug. 3 Jubilee of Youth, said he was “surprised by the enthusiasm of young people,” especially in a time of “painful changes.”

“In a desperate world, full of conflict, it is important to be oriented toward the horizon,” remarked the prelate, who envisions this event as “a waystation of prayer and joy” for young people, who will return home “having received something more,” a special grace.

This story was first publishedby ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).

A prominent Catholic bioethics center in Oxford, England, has shut down after nearly 50 years due to financial constraints, according to an announcement from its director, David Albert Jones. 

“It is with immense sadness we announce that staff have recently been informed of ‘the closure of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford’” Jones wrote in a statement on Anscombe’s website.  “This decision has been made on financial grounds by the center’s corporate trustee, the Catholic Trust for England and Wales.”

The center said it is no longer accepting donations and will no longer respond to queries after July 31. 

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is an Oxford-based research institute dedicated to serving the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland through its promotion of research on bioethics.

Bioethicists at the center have regularly engaged in global discussion on bioethics, publishing biomedical research and academic books as well as making frequent expert commentary on breaking news stories in the media, including for CNA. 

Anscombe is the oldest national institute in bioethics in the British and Irish Isles, according to its website. The center takes its name from Elizabeth Anscombe, a Catholic philosopher who “taught in Oxford and Cambridge, debated with C.S. Lewis, and studied with Wittgenstein [and] was well-known for her defense of human life and for sparking the contemporary revival of virtue ethics.” 

Describing the announcement as being “in sorrow but with gratitude and steadfast hope,” Jones thanked Anscombe’s donors, noting that much of its funding had been provided through “the generosity of many thousands of parishioners” across the U.K. as well as the Catholic community in Ireland. 

“We would like to emphasize that, though the center is now being closed, these donations have not been wasted but have helped educate and support generations of conscientious health care professionals, clerics, and laypeople over almost 50 years,” Jones wrote. “This support has also helped prevent repeated attempts to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide in Britain and Ireland from 1993 to the present.”

Even in instances where laws that go against Church teaching on human dignity have passed, Jones noted that “the center has maintained a witness [to] the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.”

“We give thanks to God, and to our patron St. Raphael, for all that has been done through our work,” he said. 

While Anscombe will soon no longer be able to provide expert witness on bioethics, Jones encouraged people to make use of its resources made available throughout the years and to continue to “engage with the Scottish Parliament and with the House of Lords as these bodies continue to debate dangerous and ill-thought-out legislation.”

“The burning issues of our day, from IVF to genetic manipulation of humans, to end-of-life decision-making, demand an expert voice to be able to explain the key moral and ethical concerns that are at stake, and to do so in a way that is convincing in the midst of our turbulent and confused culture,” Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior bioethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA in reaction to the news.

“The Anscombe Bioethics Centre provided a much-needed voice in the midst of so many of these challenging public debates, not only in Britain but in Europe and beyond,” he continued. “We are all very grateful for the excellent work they offered. Their closing reminds us of the importance of assuring robust and ongoing support for the unique kind of ethical analysis offered by committed Catholics working together in the fields of medical ethics and bioethics.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) imposed by Pope Francis’ decree Traditionis Custodes. 

The exemption, requested by Bishop Michael Sis on Feb. 6, was granted to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.

No other such exemption by Pope Leo XIV has been reported since the start of his pontificate. 

“The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments informed me in a decree of May 28, 2025, that my request has been granted for a further two years for a dispensation from article 3§2 of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, so that Mass according to the ‘Missale Romanum’ of 1962 may be celebrated in the parish church of St. Margaret of Scotland in San Angelo,” Sis, who previously served as a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, said in a statement he shared with CNA. 

“Just as before,” he added, “the granting of this dispensation is based upon an ongoing effort to promote the full appreciation and acceptance of the liturgical books renewed by decree of the Second Vatican Council and promulgated by popes St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II.”

Sis noted further that when he submitted his request for the extension to the Vatican, he did so “with a spirit of total openness to whatever is the will of God.” 

He continued: “I trust the judgment of our Holy Father Pope Leo and those who assist him in his ministry of unity through the various dicasteries of the Holy See.”

The exemption was originally announced in a June 27 social media post by the diocese’s director of vocations, Father Ryan Rojo.

“I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years,” Rojo wrote in the June 27 post. 

St. Margaret’s pastor, Father Freddy Perez, told CNA: “Now that we have the permission, the attitude is one of relief; I saw a lot of relief this past weekend.” Although the Vatican’s approval was dated May 28, Perez said he did not receive notification of the approval from his bishop until last week. 

Perez revealed that the letter from the Vatican praised St. Margaret’s for the steps it took to follow the Holy Father’s motu proprio. The Vatican “commended our efforts and our ‘pastoral concern to instill a clear appreciation for the Church as unique, lex orandi,’” Perez told CNA, adding: “That’s a direct quote from the letter we were sent.” 

Though the pastor noted some negativity from parishioners about having to ask permission to celebrate the TLM, his approach is to explain that “this is where the Church is right now, and is where we have to be obedient.” 

Beyond the two-year extension, Perez said, “my hopes are just to continue to bring a positive experience of the liturgy to all of my people, to try to bring them into the Gospel, into the teachings of the Church, as we’re taught, and to try to teach them that the Mass gets us ready for heaven.” 

Though the parish experienced uncertainty over whether it would be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM, Perez said the advice of Auxiliary Bishop Mario Avilés helped guide him. “The advice he gave me was very simple,” the pastor recalled. “He said: ‘Just be obedient, son.” 

“And I think just putting my eyes on the Lord has satisfied everything that I wouldn’t be able to do through my own spirit of protest or my spirit of just being angry about not getting my way, by conforming my will to the will of Our Lord,” Perez reflected. “We’re in this world temporarily, and at the end of the day, we are asked to be faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy mother Church.” 

According to Perez, St. Margaret’s has been offering the TLM for just over five years, currently on Sunday afternoons and Thursday mornings. 

The TLM community, he said, consists mostly of young families as well as curious people who are interested in experiencing the liturgy. The small parish consists of about 200 families, he said, noting that attendance at the TLM is usually on the larger side for the parish, with about 140 to 200 people each week.

News of St. Margaret’s exemption comes after the Archdiocese of Detroit announced earlier this month that non-parish churches in the archdiocese will be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM despite an earlier statement saying that most of the TLM celebrated in the area would be suspended.

The archdiocese reported that permissions given to parish church priests to carry out the TLM would expire and they could not be renewed, but Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said he would recognize at least four non-parish locations in the archdiocese where the TLM could still be celebrated.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a champion of the traditional liturgy, has said he asked Pope Leo to remove measures restricting the celebration of TLM, stating at a conference in London recently: “It is my hope that he will, as soon as is reasonably possible, take up the study of this question.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the decree Traditionis Custodes as an encyclical. It is a motu proprio, a type of papal decree. (Published July 3, 2025)

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 13:49 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey, California, as the sixth bishop of Austin, Texas.

After leading the Diocese of Monterey for more than six years since 2018, Garcia, 64, has returned to his home state of Texas to serve the Austin Diocese as its leader.

At a July 2 press conference held by the Diocese of Austin, Garcia gave thanks to God for the local Church, which he described as “diverse in ethnicity, race, language, and way of life.”

“I was ordained a priest for this local Church in May of 1988,” he said on Wednesday. “It is filled with people of so many great gifts and talents and it is my hope to reacquaint myself with all of you whom I have known and get to know you whom I have not yet met.”

During his address given in English and in Spanish, the bishop emphasized that the Church and civil society cannot forget the “poor, the weak, and those who live on the margins” in its policies and practices.

The bishop, who is also a board member of Catholic Relief Services, quoted St. Vincent de Paul during his speech, saying: “It will be the poor who will be our entrance into heaven.”

Garcia, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of his episcopal consecration in January, was previously made auxiliary bishop of Austin and titular bishop of Capso by Pope Francis in 2015 before heading to Monterey.

Before becoming an auxiliary bishop for Austin, Garcia was parish vicar of St. Catherine of Siena there from 1988 to 1990, Cristo Rey from 1990 to 1991, St. Louis from 1991 to 1992, and St. Mary Magdalene from 1992 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2014, he was a parish priest at St. Vincent de Paul.

He is currently part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on divine worship in Spanish.

While attending St. Mary’s Seminary in the 1980s, Garcia obtained a liberal arts degree and a master’s degree in divinity from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He was awarded a master’s degree in liturgy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 2007.

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV declared that nature should not be a “bargaining chip” in his message announcing the theme “Seeds of Peace and Hope” for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, set for Sept. 1.

Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, released 10 years ago, the Holy Father said the “Bible provides no justification for us to exercise ‘tyranny over creation’” and should therefore not be exploited.

“Nature itself is reduced at times to a bargaining chip, a commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain,” Leo said. “As a result, God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources.”

The pope said poor nations, marginalized societies, and Indigenous communities are destabilized and penalized as a result of conflicts over water and natural resources as well as the destruction of forests and agricultural areas.

“These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he added. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”

In his July 2 message, the pope said three things are necessary for genuine environmental justice: prayer, determination, and concrete actions.

Leo invited Catholics to prayerfully consider the significance of seeds as a metaphor of coming of the kingdom of God in Scripture, saying: “Jesus often used the image of the seed.”

“In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, ‘seeds of peace and hope,’” he said. “The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of God can make an arid and parched desert into a garden, a place of rest and serenity.”

Insisting that environmental justice is not an “abstract concept” or a “distant goal,” the Holy Father said “now is the time to follow words with deeds” in his message dedicated to the care of creation.

“By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope,” he said.  

This year, Pope Leo has twice visited sites linked to the Holy See’s integral ecology projects outside of Rome. In addition to visiting the Borgo Laudato Si’ project at Castel Gandolfo in May, he toured the proposed Vatican solar energy project site in Santa Maria di Galeria in June.

The Holy Father praised these initiatives, which serve as examples of “how people can live, work, and build community by applying the principles of the encyclical Laudato Si’.”

“I pray that Almighty God will send us in abundance his ‘Spirit from on high,’ so that these seeds, and others like them, may bring forth an abundant harvest of peace and hope,” the pope said.

CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a “journey of conversion through contrition.”

Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop’s message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.

The prelate said the filing was “the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese.”

As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.

Those filings were made under a California law that temporarily relaxed the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims, allowing alleged victims a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 to file the complaints.

Brennan said the Fresno bankruptcy process will include allocating diocesan assets to “satisfy the claims against the diocese.” He added that a fund will also be established to pay abuse claims.

“Our Church must address the suffering that victims of clergy sexual abuse have endured,” he said.

“We know the sin. It will always be before us,” he continued. “Now that we have entered a journey of conversion through contrition and acknowledgement of the victims’ suffering, we must enter a path of reconciliation, which includes resolving the victims’ claims.”

The bishop urged the faithful to pray for abuse victims during the bankruptcy process.

In the bankruptcy petition, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court for the eastern district of California, Brennan authorized diocesan Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Martin and Vicar General Father Salvador Gonzalez to represent the diocese in the proceedings.

The bishop listed the diocese’s assets as between $50 million and $100 million, with between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors.

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recently offered marriage advice to a young American couple days after their wedding, sharing how he was blessed by the example of his own parents who prayed the rosary together every day.

Newlyweds Cole and Anna Stevens received Pope Leo’s personal blessing for their marriage during one of the pope’s first general audiences under the hot Roman summer sun on June 11, just four days after their wedding at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama.

The moment, captured on video, became an unexpectedly intimate exchange with the American pope, who responded warmly to their question of how best to pray together as a married couple.

“First of all, it is very important to go slowly and to find the style of prayer that works for you, we’re all different, many spiritualities,” Pope Leo replied in English.

“My parents prayed the rosary together their whole lives every day,” the pope said. “And I found that I was always blessed I’m sure because of it, their love for one another.”

"They put their faith in God and in the intercession through Mary," he continued. "It's a wonderful thing."

The Stevenses, who now live in Pensacola, Florida, approached the crowded general audience in their wedding attire unsure if they would even get the chance to meet the pope. They were one of about 65 newlywed couples in St. Peter’s Square that day to receive the pope’s “‘sposi novelli’ blessing,” an opportunity that the Vatican offers each week to Catholics within six months of their wedding.

“We prayed a rosary while we were waiting for the audience [to begin] because we were in the square at 8 a.m.,” Cole said. “And the question that really came to my heart while we were praying the rosary [was] how can we deepen our faith, our prayer life inside of our marriage?” 

Anna recalled how Pope Leo responded to Cole’s question as if there was no one else in the crowd at that moment.

“There was no rush in his voice. There was no looking around… He was solely focused on the question that Cole asked and then how could he answer it to the best of his abilities,” she said.

After the exchange, the couple gave the pope a prayer card from their wedding. “Then we asked for his personal blessing, which he gave to us … laying hands on us and blessing us.”

“He just entrusted us to the Holy Family,” Anna added, “and prayed over us that the Holy Family would watch over us, protect us, guide us, and lead us.”

Unbeknownst to Pope Leo, Cole had been holding a relic of the Holy Family — cloth that had touched St. Joseph’s staff, Our Lady’s veil, and Jesus’ manger — when he blessed them.

A match made in heaven

Cole, 24, originally from Colorado, and Anna, 25, a schoolteacher from Birmingham, Alabama, met on a blind date when Cole was pursuing his master’s degree at the University of Alabama. 

“My good high school friend had met Cole and was asking Cole what kind of girl he was interested in,” Anna said. “And Cole threw out there ‘a Catholic volleyball player’ and she said, ‘Well, I have one girl for you.’ And that was me.”

“I played volleyball in college and I was her one Catholic friend. And so that was how we started off.”

Their relationship grew through long-distance calls and visits between cities in Alabama. “He took me to the [adoration] chapel on our third date,” Anna remembered. “And that’s where he ended up proposing two years later.”

They prayed novenas together for 90 days leading up to their wedding — to St. Joseph, Our Lady of Lourdes, and the Holy Family.

Their honeymoon, originally planned for the Amalfi coast, took a surprising turn when they realized the Vatican offered special blessings for newlyweds. “We were looking at Sorrento and we’re like two hours away,” Anna said. “Why would we skip out on the jubilee year and the Holy Doors? And then when we heard about the ‘sposi novelli,’ we were like, we have to go.”

It was Cole’s first time out of the country. “There’s no other experience in my life that I can look back on and say it was truly life-changing and just awe-striking at the same,” he said on meeting Pope Leo.

Romantic rosary walks to remember

Back in Pensacola, Florida, Pope Leo’s advice has already shaped the young couple’s routine. “It’s funny,” Anna said. “At the end of the night we’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, we haven’t said the rosary. We have to say the rosary; Pope Leo told us to pray the rosary.’ And so we’ve built it in.” 

Their solution? Rosary walks after dinner. 

“Our new goal now is after dinner we go on rosary walks every night and that has been one of our favorite parts of the night,” Anna said. “It has been so peaceful. It is usually right around sunset.” 

“We use it as a chance to pray for individual intentions throughout the week,” Cole added. 

Anna, reflecting on the papal advice, said it’s important to work at “finding, like Pope Leo said, a way that works for you. So for us right now with our stage of life, it’s been rosary walks. And every couple will have a different stage and life and how they can pray the rosary together.” 

What struck Cole most about the pope’s advice was its applicability. “I was surprised at how real it was… It was very practical in the sense of, here’s what my parents did, and find out what works for you. … I can actually use this advice.”

This article was updated on Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 7 a.m. with more remarks from Pope Leo XIV.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 09:29 am (CNA).

Russia continues to perpetuate “particularly severe” religious liberty violations against minority groups within its own country and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The June 30 report, which detailed religious liberty violations throughout 2024 and the beginning of 2025, found continued “intense persecution” of Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians.

Within Russia’s borders, the report also found numerous religious liberty violations against human rights activists, independent media, anti-war protesters, and others who belong to minority religious groups.

“Russian authorities abuse vague and problematic laws to target religious communities that do not conform to state authority,” USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler told CNA in a statement.

“They target Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong Practitioners, Protestants, Ukrainian Christians, Crimean [Tatar] Muslims, and many others that Moscow thinks undermine its dictatorial control,” the former six-term Missouri congresswoman added. “... There is no religious freedom in Russia or [the] territories it occupies.”

About 72% of Russians are Orthodox, 7% are Muslim, 5% are atheist, and 13% do not have a religious affiliation. About 3% of Russians belong to a variety of other religious groups.

Persecution against Ukrainian Christians

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has led to the most egregious religious liberty violations by the Russian state.

According to the report, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have reported the killing of at least 47 religious leaders since the February 2022 invasion. It adds that 640 houses of worship and religious sites have either been damaged or destroyed in that time frame.

The report notes that “Russian de facto authorities have banned” several churches, such as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several Protestant groups, including Baptists, Pentecostals, and Seventh-day Adventists.

According to the report, authorities have sought to pressure Orthodox Christian communities and leaders to submit to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate.

In some examples over the past year and a half, the report notes that “Russian forces allegedly abducted and tortured to death [Orthodox Church of Ukraine] priest Stepan Podolchak.” It also notes that Russian authorities are accused of demolishing the last Orthodox Church of Ukraine church in Crimea in July 2024.

The report also referenced a United Nations human rights report that detailed the “torture and ill treatment of Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta” while they were detained from November 2022 through June 2024.

“One of the priests had accused Russian forces of subjecting him to regular beatings, prolonged stress positions, and long-distance crawls on asphalt,” the report notes.

Persecution within Russia

The report notes that Russia has employed laws against “so-called illegal missionary activities” to persecute religious minorities on the basis of faith. It states that Russian courts heard 431 cases regarding these laws in 2024, which resulted in fines totaling nearly $60,000. 

In one case, Russia deported an 85-year-old Polish Catholic priest “who had reportedly served in Russia for almost 30 years” after he lost his documentation that permitted him to preach. The courts have also shut down churches with these laws.

The report also details Russia’s persecution of “anti-war protesters and religious leaders for expressing opposition to the war in religious terms.”

Some examples include Pentecostal Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk, who was “reportedly physically assaulted and arrested” by Russian police for giving a sermon against the war. Another example listed was Apostolic Orthodox Church Archbishop Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko receiving a fine of $369 for posting “an anti-war video in which he discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine using a biblical story.”

In relation to the ongoing war, the report notes that Christians are frequently denied the ability to perform “alternative civilian service” when they have religious objections to military service.

The report lists numerous religious freedom violations against Russian Muslims. According to the report, Muslims who belong to the Hizb ut-Tahrir (or are accused of belonging to it) have been charged with terrorism “despite no evidence or even allegations that defendants called for or committed violence.” 

The report notes that at least 352 people were prosecuted for alleged affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir, which includes Crimean Tatar Muslims. It states that out of 280 convicted, 119 were sentenced to 15 years or more and 131 were sentenced to between 10 and 14 years in prison.

According to the report, Russia has also prosecuted leaders and members of the Church of Scientology, which is labeled “extremist.” They have also targeted leaders and members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, adherents of Falun Gong, and members of the Allya Ayat spiritual movement for similar reasons.

Vancouver, Canada, Jul 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Canadian member of Parliament (MP) from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member’s bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone.

Jansen’s Bill C-218 would amend the criminal code to prevent mental disorders from being considered a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” for the purposes of MAID.

The bill was read a first time in the House of Commons on June 20 and is scheduled for second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Speaking in the House, Jansen said: “Imagine your son or daughter battling depression for some time, after losing a job or maybe a broken relationship. Imagine they feel the loss so deep that they’re convinced the world would be better off without them.”

Starting March 27, 2027, such Canadians “could walk into a doctor’s office and ask them to end their life,” she said.

“That’s not a future scenario, that’s the law right now waiting to take effect.”

The Justin Trudeau government delayed expansion until 2024 and again until March 17, 2027, over concerns from medical and legal experts.

“Clinical experts have warned that there’s no evidence-based way to determine if someone with a mental illness would get better, and most do,” Jansen said. “But still the government is moving forward.”

Jansen said the proposed law sends a message to “struggling Canadians, trauma survivors, those battling depression, schizophrenia, PTSD” that “death is a solution we’re now willing to offer” in response to suffering.

“That’s not health care. That’s not compassion. It’s abandonment.”

She told MPs: “Mental illness is treatable. Recovery is possible, but only if we show up and help.”

Jansen’s bill is similar to 2023 legislation that was narrowly defeated in Parliament but delayed implementation of the federal law.

Conservative MP Ed Fast of Abbotsford, British Columbia, introduced Bill C-314, which would have stopped the expansion of Canada’s euthanasia regime. It was defeated at second reading on Oct. 18, 2023, by a 167-150 vote.

Fast gathered cross-party support for his legislation, with all 24 New Democratic Party (NDP) members voting in favor of his bill and eight members of the Liberal Party breaking ranks from their colleagues. The Bloc Québécois held the balance of power on the vote, as each of its members voted against the Abbotsford, British Columbia, representative’s endeavor.

During the oral question period preceding the vote, Fast condemned reports “of Canadians crying out for help and being offered assisted suicide instead.”

He attacked “the sorry state of our mental health system,” saying: “Millions of Canadians oppose the government’s fascination with assisted death.”

A Christian political advocacy group praised Jansen’s bill and called on MPs to support it regardless of party.

“Canada can never be ready to offer MAID for mental illness,” said Daniel Zekveld, a policy analyst with the Association for Reformed Political Action Canada. “Doing so would undermine suicide prevention efforts and mental health care. Canada cannot promote suicide prevention while at the same time offering suicide assistance as a solution for mental illness.”

Zekveld said: “Since Parliament’s last delay of the mental illness expansion, we’ve seen more stories of people who are suffering and unable to access necessary supports and care being offered MAID.”

Offering euthanasia to people for mental illness implies “there is no hope of recovery and normalizes suicide as a solution for suffering,” Zekveld said. “But psychiatrists tell us they cannot reliably diagnose mental illness as irremediable. Canadians with mental illness need hope and support, not euthanasia or assisted suicide.”

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said if Bill C-218 is to pass, politicians need to hear from Canadians. He is asking people to send their mental health stories and share what would have happened had MAID been available at the time. Stories can be sent to info@epcc.ca.

This story was first published by The B. C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.

Reading 1 Genesis 21:5, 8-20a

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 34:7-8, 10-11, 12-13

Alleluia James 1:18

Gospel Matthew 8:28-34

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Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.