September 16, 2025 // National

News Briefs: September 21, 2025

OSV NEWS

U.S. Bishops Create Permanent Body to Fight Racism

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The nation’s Catholic bishops have deepened their commitment to combating racism, having made permanent a subcommittee dedicated to the issue, which has flared dramatically in recent years. Officials with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced on Wednesday, September 10, that its Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism – established in 2017 under then-USCCB president, and now retired, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas – has been made a permanent USCCB body. The move, approved by the USCCB’s administrative committee on Tuesday, September 9, will place the committee, now named the Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, under the conference’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. That committee’s mandate “includes Catholic social teaching on issues of domestic concern such as poverty, housing, the environment, criminal justice, and other challenges that often have a disproportionate impact on communities of color,” USCCB officials said in a September 10 media release.

Pope Urges Church to Listen to Sorrows of Abuse Victims

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pain must never give rise to violence, and every Catholic needs to learn to safeguard with tenderness those who are vulnerable, Pope Leo XIV said during a prayer vigil dedicated to people experiencing pain and affliction due to illness, bereavement, violence, or abuse. Recognizing that some members of the Church “have unfortunately hurt you,” the pope said, the Church “kneels with you today before our Mother (Mary). May we all learn from her to protect the most vulnerable with tenderness! … May we learn to listen to your wounds and walk together,” he said in his homily on Monday, September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. “May we receive from Our Lady of Sorrows the strength to recognize that life is not defined only by the evil we suffer, but by the love of God, who never abandons us and guides the whole Church.” The pope led the prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica on September 15 as part of the Jubilee of Consolation, which is “dedicated to all those who are experiencing or have experienced moments of particular difficulty, grief, suffering, or hardship in their lives,” according to Vatican officials in charge of organizing the Holy Year. Pope Leo said, “pain must not give rise to violence, and that violence never has the final say, for it is conquered by a love that knows how to forgive.” Pope Leo added: “Where there is evil, we must seek the comfort and consolation that can overcome it and give it no respite. … In the Church, this means never being alone.”

Court Allows Defunding of Planned Parenthood, for Now

BOSTON (OSV News) – While Planned Parenthood lawsuits proceed, a federal appeals court has allowed implementation of a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would eliminate Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for one year. The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has put on hold a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts that would have continued Medicaid funding throughout Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enacted key items of President Donald J. Trump’s legislative agenda on issues including taxes and immigration, includes a provision eliminating funds to health providers who also perform abortions – but just for one year. Twenty-two state attorneys general and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro have also filed a lawsuit challenging the provision.

Church Leaders Call for Prayer after Charlie Kirk Shot and Killed

OREM, Utah (OSV News) – Catholic bishops and public officials on both sides of the political aisle called for prayer following the apparent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who died after being shot on Wednesday, September 10, during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk was 31 and a married father with two young children. He was shot in the neck, reportedly by a sniper from a campus building. On Friday, September 12, authorities apprehended and charged 22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson and are still investigating an exact motive for Kirk’s killing. A staunch ally of Trump, Kirk was the founder of the Republican-aligned Turning Point USA. Bishop Oscar A. Solis of Salt Lake City extended his prayers and condolences to Kirk’s family. “It is appalling that senseless acts of violence such as this continue to occur,” the bishop said in a statement shared with OSV News. “It seems that our society has lost the sense of the sanctity of life, and I pray that our government will undertake appropriate measures to stop these horrible crimes.” Vice President JD Vance and Governor Gavin Newsom of California, both Catholics, called for prayer and condemned political violence, respectively. Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, was also among those who called for prayer.

Pope Leo Encourages Hiring People with Disabilities at Vatican

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV has approved a change in the Vatican labor laws to encourage offices to hire people with disabilities and to make the necessary accommodations. A rescript approved by the pope regarding “the inclusion of differently abled persons in the work community of the Holy See” was published by officials with the Vatican on Saturday, September 13. The pope’s decision modifies a section of the regulations regarding hiring and employment at the Vatican. “The employment of people with disabilities is promoted with a spirit of inclusion and, where necessary, through the adoption of appropriate and specific measures, given that the condition of disability does not preclude suitability for work within the entities subject to these regulations,” the modification states.

Pope Welcomes New U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV welcomed Brian Burch as the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See on Saturday, September 13, accepting his letters of credential and a chocolate cake topped with a metallic red sign saying, “Happy Birthday Pope Leo XIV.” Homemade cards for the pope’s 70th birthday sat alongside the cake, apparently made by some of Burch’s nine children, who also met the pope. Burch’s audience with the pope had its very formal moments, too, as the 50-year-old ambassador, wearing a black tailcoat, presented Pope Leo with a letter from President Donald Trump introducing Burch as the 13th U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Burch served as president of CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization, from 2008 until his nomination as ambassador.

Pope Leo XIV blows out a candle on a cake for his 70th birthday Sept. 14, 2025, as cardinals, Vatican officials and ecumenical leaders look on after a prayer service at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)