February 25, 2025 // National

News Briefs: March 2, 2025

Todays Catholic

Bishops Sue Trump Administration Regarding Refugee Resettlement Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, February 18, regarding the suspension of funding of refugee resettlement assistance. In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the bishops called this suspension “unlawful and harmful to newly arrived refugees,” the Associated Press first reported. A USCCB spokesperson told OSV News that the lawsuit urges the government “to uphold its legal and moral obligations” to refugees and to restore the funding needed to ensure that faith-based and community organizations can continue their work with refugees. The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services is one of 10 national resettlement agencies that work with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which was established by Congress in 1980, formalizing the process by which refugees are legally resettled in the United States. According to AP’s reporting on the lawsuit, the USCCB’s president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said that “the conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status.”

Lenten Message Focuses on Those Grieving an Abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, used the U.S. bishops’ 2025 Lenten message to reach out to those affected by abortion. In his message released on Wednesday, February 19, Bishop Thomas assured individuals carrying the sadness and guilt of abortion that Jesus’ love is unconditional. He highlighted the meaning of Ash Wednesday, noting that the ashes remind people of their need for repentance and God’s love. Ash Wednesday this year is on March 5 and marks the beginning of Lent in the Latin Church. Bishop Thomas invited those suffering from abortion to return to Jesus and the Church, emphasizing the healing available through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He also referenced Pope Francis’ message of hope and the importance of nonjudgmental support for those grieving. Bishop Thomas pointed to the Church’s Project Rachel Ministry, offering compassionate help and resources in English and Spanish for healing. “This Lent, the Lord’s mercy awaits you,” he said. “Allow Him to heal you and lift your sadness into joy.”

Deacons Called to Selflessness, Pope Says in Jubilee Message

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – “Being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small, lower ourselves, and divest ourselves,” Pope Francis said in a message to 23 men from eight countries, including three from the United States, who were ordained permanent deacons in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, February 23. The ordination Mass at the Vatican was the culmination of a three-day Holy Year celebration that drew thousands of deacons, plus their wives and others, from more than 100 countries to Rome for communal prayer, discussion, and celebration of the diaconate. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, celebrated the Mass with 2,500 deacons and delivered the homily prepared by Pope Francis. The pope was originally scheduled to preside over the Mass but remained hospitalized. In his homily, the pope reflected on three essential dimensions of the diaconate: forgiveness, service, and communion. “Forgiveness means preparing a welcoming and safe future for us and our communities,” the pope wrote. “The deacon, invested in a ministry that leads him toward the world’s peripheries, must see – and teach others to see – in everyone, even those who cause suffering, a brother or sister wounded in spirit and in need of reconciliation, guidance, and help.”

Trump Orders Expanded Access to IVF

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, February 18, that aims to expand access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a practice contrary to Catholic teaching. The order seeks to make the procedure more widely available, arguing it would counter declining fertility rates, although pro-family demographers have disputed the claim. IVF treatments are opposed by the Catholic Church because they frequently involve the destruction of human embryos, in addition to other ethical and moral issues. A month earlier, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, the former chair of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, warned that IVF poses both an “obvious” and “subtle” threat to human dignity. Citing extensive Church teaching, he warned that IVF threatened the eugenic destruction of millions of embryonic children, the unraveling of the integral bond between childbearing and marital love, the erosion of a child’s right to natural parents, and dangers to health, safety, and religious liberty. In a February 19 statement, the bishop said Trump’s order is “likely to unjustly promote IVF in a way that will result in the abandonment or death of millions of embryonic human persons.”

In Black History Month, Look Forward ‘with Hopeful Hearts, Open Minds’

NEWARK, New Jersey (OSV News) – Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the first African American cardinal, marked Black History Month with a powerful message during his homily at the Archdiocese of Newark’s commemorative Mass on Sunday, February 16, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Reflecting on the pioneering accomplishments of Black Americans, he emphasized that Black History Month should be more than a look back – it should inspire hope and action for the future. He urged young people to embrace challenges, following the legacy of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month. Cardinal Gregory, archbishop emeritus of Washington, also stressed that Black History Month is for everyone, not just the African American community, as it highlights the invaluable contributions of people of color to society.

Knights of Columbus Mark 125 Years of Fourth Degree

NEW YORK (OSV News) – The Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, celebrated the 125th anniversary of its patriotic fourth degree with an exemplification ceremony, Mass, and unveiling of a statue of its founder, Blessed Michael J. McGivney, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The daylong event on Saturday, February 22, marked 125 years to the day when Catholic men committed themselves not only to being good men of faith but good citizens of their country. More than 700 candidates and more than 1,600 family members and others attended the ceremony. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York presided over the exemplification. The exemplification ceremony concluded with the candidates taking an oath to their Catholic faith and to serve as model citizens, followed by each approaching the altar to be “knighted” into the order by a senior member of the Knights’ supreme council.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, leads the recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 24, 2025. Other cardinals living in Rome, leaders of the Roman Curia and the faithful joined him for the nighttime prayer. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)