June 10, 2025 // National

News Briefs: June 15, 2025

OSV NEWS

Pope on Pentecost: God’s Love Breaks Down Walls, Opens Borders

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a world marked by wars and where people are disconnected and numb with indifference, Pope Leo XIV prayed that the Holy Spirit would “open borders, break down walls” and dissolve hatred so everyone can live as children of one human family. “The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred” because he teaches and encourages “the commandment of love that the Lord has made the center and summit of everything,” he said in his homily for Pentecost Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, June 8. “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms,” Pope Leo added. He reflected on the Holy Spirit’s gift of opening borders, building on an image of Pentecost described by Pope Benedict XVI in his homily on the feast day in 2005. “The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts,” then in one’s relationships with others, and, finally, between peoples, Pope Leo said. “He is the gift that opens our lives to love” by breaking down “our hardness of heart, our narrowness of mind, our selfishness, the fears that enchain us, and the narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves,” the pope said.

Report: Abuse Allegations Down but Complacency a Threat

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The U.S. Catholic bishops’ latest annual report on child and youth protection shows abuse allegations continue to decline, but authors warned of the dangers of complacency among dioceses and the laity in upholding key aspects of bishops’ safe environment protocols. In particular, said the report’s authors, lack of functioning diocesan review boards to review protocols and allegations, along with an increase in parents opting their children out of safe environment training, could erode progress in addressing and preventing abuse. The report was released on Friday, June 6, by officials with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection. For the period July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, the report counted 902 allegations reported by 855 victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy, a decrease of 406 (31%) from last year. Dioceses and eparchies provided assistance to 146 victim-survivors and their families throughout the past year while continuing to support 1,434 who had reported abuse in previous audit periods. The report included a tally of the 2024 costs of abuse settlements ($242,799,401) and prevention efforts ($32,864,402), which made for a combined total of $275,663,803 – a 7-percent decrease from last year.

Pope Sets Consistory to Consider Declaring Eight New Saints

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Although Pope Francis already set Sunday, August 3, as the date to declare the sainthood of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Pope Leo XIV will hold a meeting with cardinals to approve his canonization and that of seven other people. The meeting, known as an “ordinary public consistory,” was scheduled to be held on Friday, June 13, Vatican officials announced. Cardinals living in or visiting Rome are invited to participate in the consistory, which typically is a prayer service that includes the reading of a brief biography of the sainthood candidate, the pope’s solicitation of the cardinals’ approval of the canonization, and, usually, an announcement of the date for the ceremony. Since the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which had been scheduled for April 27, was postponed after the death of Pope Francis, it is possible that in conjunction with the consistory the Vatican would announce a new date to proclaim him a saint. For the full list of men and women being considered for sainthood, read the article at todayscatholic.org.

Washington Bishops Ask Court to Include Confession Protections

TACOMA, Washington (OSV News) – The Catholic bishops of Washington state asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma to block a new law requiring clergy to report child abuse or neglect without exceptions for clergy-penitent privilege. The bishops on Thursday, June 5, asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law, which is scheduled to take effect on Sunday, July 27. The bishops previously filed the lawsuit in response to Governor Bob Ferguson’s approval of Senate Bill 5375 in May, which designated members of the clergy as mandatory reporters, or people required by law to report suspected or known instances of child abuse or neglect. While some have argued the bill addresses an important omission from the state’s list of mandatory reporters, others have expressed concern that without exceptions for the clergy-penitent privilege, as similar laws in other states have, Washington state’s law could place Catholic priests at odds with civil law in order to uphold Church law regarding the seal of the confessional. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that priests are strictly forbidden from divulging what penitents tell them during confession and states that information a penitent divulges is under “seal.”

Florida Bishop Calls Death Penalty ‘a Failure of Mercy’

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida (OSV News) – As the state of Florida moved forward with an execution that was scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, retired Bishop Felipe J. Estévez of St. Augustine appealed for mercy instead of retribution, calling the death penalty “a failure of mercy and moral imagination.” “Executions are carried out one after another,” the bishop said, “as if violence can somehow bring justice or peace. But state-sanctioned killing is not justice. It is not who we are called to be.” Bishop Estévez, who retired in 2022, continues active ministry by visiting inmates on Florida’s death row. His experience in prison ministry has deepened his conviction that every human life is endowed with dignity and the potential for redemption. “Modern prisons are secure,” he said. “Life imprisonment without parole guarantees that the public remains safe. The death penalty is no longer necessary to protect society – and more importantly, it is morally indefensible.” Florida was scheduled to execute Anthony Wainwright, convicted in 1994 for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart. Bishop Estévez did not downplay the gravity of Wainwright’s crimes or the pain inflicted on the victim’s family. Rather, he emphasized that taking another life does not restore what was lost.

New York Senate Passes Assisted Suicide Law

ALBANY, New York (OSV News) – The New York Senate has voted to legalize medically assisted suicide, a move that one Catholic bioethicist told OSV News marked “a dark day” for the state’s residents, and the act will now head to Governor Kathy Hochul. State senators passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act 35-27 in an evening session on Monday, June 9, after two hours of debate. The bill had narrowly cleared the state Assembly in April. Charles Camosy, professor of medical humanities at Creighton University’s School of Medicine, said the measure endangers “especially New Yorkers who are at risk for coercion.” He noted “there is nothing new about the debate over physician-assisted killing,” with New York managing to defeat the prospect throughout the past decade. But, said Camosy, “what’s changed is that the arguments on the side of privileged populations who want the illusion of control have now defeated those who were standing up for the most vulnerable.” New York’s passing of the bill comes on the heels of a similar bill failing to pass in Illlinois during its legislative session.

Pope Leo XIV greets a child from the popemobile as he prepares to lead a Pentecost prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican June 7, 2025, with participants in the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations and New Communities. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)