VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Priests are called to be embraced and shaped by God's boundless love, and to realize that there is no place for division and hatred of any kind, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Reconciled with one another, united and transformed by the love that flows abundantly from the Heart of Christ, let us walk together humbly and resolutely in his footsteps, firm in faith and open to all in charity," he told priests from all over the world.

"Let us bring the peace of the risen Lord to our world, with the freedom born of the knowledge that we have been loved, chosen and sent by the Father," he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 27, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

The Mass marked the conclusion of a week of Jubilee celebrations for seminarians, bishops and priests, where Pope Leo reiterated the need to ground one's vocation in God's love, Jesus' friendship and the Holy Spirit's transformative power, as well as the need to be united and missionary in a world thirsting for meaning and hope.

During the Mass, the pope also ordained 32 priests from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. 

In his homily, he told the ordinands, "What I have to say is simple, but I consider it important for your future and for the future of the souls entrusted to your care."

"Love God and your brothers and sisters, and give yourselves to them generously. Be fervent in your celebration of the sacraments, in prayer, especially in adoration before the Eucharist, and in your ministry," he told them. "Keep close to your flock, give freely of your time and energy to everyone, without reserve and without partiality, as the pierced side of the crucified Jesus and the example of the saints teach us to do."

He encouraged them to look among the many examples of holy priests in the church's history. "Learn their stories, study their lives and work, imitate their virtues, be inspired by their zeal and invoke their intercession often and insistently!" he exhorted.

"All too often, today's world offers models of success and prestige that are dubious and short-lived. Do not let yourselves be taken in by them!" he said.

Instead, look to those who, "frequently hidden and unassuming," have spent their lives in service of the Lord and their brothers and sisters, he said. "Keep their memory alive by your own example of fidelity."

Pope Leo told priests that the Sacred Heart of Jesus "is entrusted in a special way to us, so that we can make it present in our world." 

They contribute to the work of salvation in several ways, he said, first, by imitating the Good Shepherd who watches over his flock, seeks the lost, helps the wounded and strengthens the weak and sick.

"In this age of vast and devastating conflicts," he said, "the love of God has no limits. We are called to let ourselves be embraced and shaped by that love, and to realize that in God's eyes -- and our own as well -- there is no place for division and hatred of any kind."

God also exhorts his priests to "entrust ourselves, along a daily path of conversion, to the transforming power of his Spirit who dwells in our hearts," he said.

"We are called to exercise pastoral charity with a generous love, like that of the Father, and to foster in our hearts the desire that no one be lost but that everyone, also through our ministry, may come to know Christ and have eternal life in him," the pope said.

"We are called to deepen our closeness to Jesus and to be a source of harmony in the midst of our brother priests," he said. "We do so by bearing on our shoulders those who are lost, granting forgiveness to those who have erred, seeking out those who have gone astray or been left behind and caring for those who suffer in body or spirit."

Every priest must seek to "remain united with their bishop and within the presbyterate," Pope Leo said. "For the more we are united among ourselves, the more we will be able to lead others to the fold of the Good Shepherd and to live as brothers and sisters in the one house of the Father."

Pope Leo ordains priests: Be faithful!

On the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during the Jubilee of Priests, Pope Leo XIV ordained 32 men to the priesthood and urged them to be faithful witnesses of service. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)

WASHINGTON – “Parents have a right to direct their children’s education, especially regarding subjects that touch on faith and morals,” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty. Following the 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Mahmoud v. Taylor, he offered the following statement: 

“Public schools in our diverse country include families from many communities with a variety of deep-seated convictions about faith and morals. When these schools address issues that touch on these matters, they ought to respect all families. Parents do not forfeit their rights as primary educators of their children when they send their kids to public schools. The parents in Montgomery County did not seek to impose their religious viewpoints on others; they simply asked to opt out of a program that was offensive to their faith. 

“To be sure, children should not be learning that their personal identity as male or female can be separated from their bodies. But if a public school chooses to offer these kinds of programs, it ought to respect those who choose not to participate. The school board was wrong to interfere with the rights of the parents, and I am grateful that the Supreme Court has moved to rectify this injustice.”

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Top, left to right: St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Paul II, Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Francis de Sales. Bottom, left to right: St. John Henry Newman, St. Gertrude of Helfta, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Thomas Aquinas. / Credit: Brooklyn Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Gov.pl, CC BY 3.0 PL, via Wikimedia Commons; Leiloeira São Domingos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Corrado Giaquinto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Giovanni Battista Lucini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Herbert Rose Barraud, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Public domain via Wikimedia Commons; Céline Martin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rome Newsroom, Jun 27, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ 2024 encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is packed with testimonies from the saints of prayer and devotion to the heart of Christ throughout the centuries.

Dilexit Nos, meaning “He Loved Us,” describes how devotion to the heart of Christ “reappears in the spiritual journey of many saints” and how in each one the devotion takes on new hues. The most frequently quoted saints in the encyclical are St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. John Paul II, but more than two dozen saints are quoted in all.

The encyclical explains how the Church Fathers’ descriptions of the wounded side of Christ as the wellspring of the life of grace later began to be associated with his heart, especially in monastic life.

It adds that “devotion to the heart of Christ slowly passed beyond the walls of the monasteries to enrich the spirituality of saintly teachers, preachers, and founders of religious congregations, who then spread it to the farthest reaches of the earth.”

Here are 20 saints devoted to the Sacred Heart found in Dilexit Nos:

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622)

St. Francis de Sales was deeply moved by Jesus’ words “Learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Mt 11:29). He writes in the “Introduction to the Devout Life” that the ordinary trials of life — such as “the tiresome peculiarities of a husband or wife” or a headache or toothache — when accepted lovingly, “are most pleasing to God’s goodness.” In his letters, Francis wrote about Christ’s open heart, seeing it as an invitation to dwell within and trust completely in God’s grace, describing it as “a heart on which all our names are written.”

“Surely it is a source of profound consolation to know that we are loved so deeply by Our Lord, who constantly carries us in his heart,” he said in a Lenten homily on Feb. 20, 1622.

St. John Henry Newman (1801–1890)

St. John Henry Newman chose “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“Heart speaks to heart”) as his motto, a phrase drawn from a letter by St. Francis de Sales. He experienced Christ’s Sacred Heart most powerfully in the Eucharist, where he sensed Jesus’ heart “beat[ing] for us still” and prayed: “O make my heart beat with thy heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in thy love and thy fear it may have peace.”

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690)

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is perhaps the saint most associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus because of a series of apparitions of Christ in Paray-le-Monial, France. In the first message Alacoque received, she described how the Lord “asked for my heart, which I asked him to take, which he did and then placed myself in his own adorable heart, from which he made me see mine like a little atom consumed in the fiery furnace of his own.” In subsequent messages, “he revealed to me the ineffable wonders of his pure love and to what extremes it had led him to love mankind” and how “his pure love, with which he loves men to the utmost” is met with “only ingratitude and indifference.”

Alacoque wrote in one of her letters: “It is necessary that the divine heart of Jesus in some way replace our own; that he alone live and work in us and for us; that his will … work absolutely and without any resistance on our part; and finally that its affections, thoughts, and desires take the place of our own, especially his love, so that he is loved in himself and for our sakes. And so, this lovable heart being our all in all, we can say with St. Paul that we no longer live our own lives, but it is he who lives within us.”

St. Claude de La Colombière (1641–1682)

St. Claude de La Colombière was a French Jesuit priest and confessor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He helped develop devotion to the Sacred Heart, combining the experiences of St. Margaret Mary with the contemplative approach of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Claude meditated on the attitude of Christ toward those who sought to arrest and put him to death: “His heart is full of bitter sorrow; every violent passion is unleashed against him and all nature is in turmoil, yet amid all this confusion, all these temptations, his heart remains firmly directed to God.”

St. Gertrude of Helfta (1256–1302)

St. Gertrude of Helfta, a Cistercian mystic, writes of a time in prayer in which she leaned her head on the heart of Christ and heard his heart beating. She reflected that the “sweet sound of those heartbeats has been reserved for modern times, so that hearing them, our aging and lukewarm world may be renewed in the love of God.”

St. Mechtilde of Hackeborn (1241–1298)

St. Mechtilde, another Cistercian mystic, shared St. Gertrude’s intimate devotion to the heart of Jesus. The encyclical lists her as among “a number of holy women, [who] in recounting their experiences of encounter with Christ, have spoken of resting in the heart of the Lord as the source of life and interior peace.”

St. Vincent de Paul (1581–1660)

St. Vincent de Paul emphasized that “God asks primarily for our heart,” teaching that the poor can have more merit by giving with “greater love” than those with wealth who can give more. He urged his confreres to “find in the heart of Our Lord a word of consolation for the poor sick person.” The constitutions of his congregation underline that “by gentleness we inherit the earth. If we act on this, we will win people over so that they will turn to the Lord. That will not happen if we treat people harshly or sharply.” For him, embodying the “heart of the Son of God” meant going everywhere in mission and bringing the warmth of Christ’s love to the suffering and poor.

St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)

St. Catherine of Siena wrote that the Lord’s sufferings are impossible for us to comprehend, but the open heart of Christ enables us to have a lively personal encounter with his boundless love. Catherine’s “Dialogue on Divine Providence” records a conversation she had with God in which he said to her: “I wished to reveal to you the secret of my heart, allowing you to see it open, so that you can understand that I have loved you so much more than I could have proved to you by the suffering that I once endured.”

St. John Paul II (1920–2005)

St. John Paul II described Christ’s heart as “the Holy Spirit’s masterpiece” and saw it as foundational for building a “civilization of love.” In a general audience in the first year of his papacy, John Paul II spoke about “the mystery of the heart of Christ” and shared that “it has spoken to me ever since my youth.” Throughout his pontificate, he taught that “the Savior’s heart invites us to return to the Father’s love, which is the source of every authentic love.”

“The men and women of the third millennium need the heart of Christ in order to know God and to know themselves; they need it to build the civilization of love,” John Paul II said in 1994.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153)

St. Bernard preached on the importance of loving Jesus with “the full and deep affection of all your heart.” He described Christ’s pierced side as a revelation of the outpouring of the Lord’s love from his compassionate heart. In the year 1072, he preached: “Those who crucified him pierced his hands and feet … A lance passed through his soul even to the region of his heart. No longer is he unable to take pity on my weakness. The wounds inflicted on his body have disclosed to us the secrets of his heart; they enable us to contemplate the great mystery of his compassion.”

St. Bonaventure (1221–1274)

St. Bonaventure presents the heart of Christ as the source of the sacraments and of grace. In his treatise “Lignum Vitae,” Bonaventure wrote that in the blood and water flowing from the wounded side of Christ, the price of our salvation flows “from the hidden wellspring of his heart, enabling the Church’s sacraments to confer the life of grace and thus to be, for those who live in Christ, like a cup filled from the living fount springing up to life eternal.”

St. John Eudes (1601–1680)

St. John Eudes wrote the propers for the Mass of the Sacred Heart and was an ardent proponent of the devotion. Dilexit Nos describes how St. John Eudes convinced the bishop of the Rennes Diocese in France to approve the celebration of the feast of the “Adorable Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” the first time that such a feast was officially authorized in the Church. The following year, five more bishops in France authorized the celebration of the feast in their dioceses.

St. Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916)

St. Charles de Foucauld made it his mission to console the Sacred Heart of Jesus, adopting an image of the cross planted in the heart of Christ as his emblem. He consecrated himself to Christ’s heart, believing that he must “embrace all men and women” like the heart of Jesus. He made a promise in 1906 to “let the heart of Jesus live in me, so that it is no longer I who live, but the heart of Jesus that lives in me, as he lived in Nazareth.”

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the phrase “heart of Christ” can refer to sacred Scripture, “which makes known his heart.” The encyclical quotes St. Thomas Aquinas’ theological exposition of the Gospel of St. John in which he wrote that whenever someone “hastens to share various gifts of grace received from God, living water flows from his heart.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897)

St. Thérèse of Lisieux felt an intimate bond with Jesus’ heart. At age 15, she could speak of Jesus as the one “whose heart beats in unison with my own.” One of her sisters took as her religious name “Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart,” and the monastery that Thérèse entered was dedicated to the Sacred Heart. She wrote in a letter to a priest: “Ever since I have been given the grace to understand also the love of the heart of Jesus, I admit that it has expelled all fear from my heart. The remembrance of my faults humbles me, draws me never to depend on my strength, which is only weakness, but this remembrance speaks to me of mercy and love even more.”

St. John of the Cross (1542–1591)

St. John of the Cross viewed the image of Christ’s pierced side as an invitation to full union with the Lord. In his poetry, he portrayed Christ as a wounded stag, comforted by the soul that turns to him. John sought to explain that in mystical experience, the infinite love of the risen Christ “condescends” to enable us, through the open heart of Christ, to experience an encounter of truly reciprocal love. 

St. Ambrose (340–397)

The encyclical repeatedly quotes St. Ambrose, who offered a reflection on Jesus as the source of “living water.” He wrote: “Drink of Christ, for he is the rock that pours forth a flood of water. Drink of Christ, for he is the source of life. Drink of Christ, for he is the river whose streams gladden the city of God. Drink of Christ, for he is our peace. Drink of Christ, for from his side flows living water.”

St. Augustine (354–430)

St. Augustine “opened the way to devotion to the Sacred Heart as the locus of our personal encounter with the Lord,” according to Dilexit Nos. “For Augustine, Christ’s wounded side is not only the source of grace and the sacraments but also the symbol of our intimate union with Christ, the setting of an encounter of love.” In his “Tractates on the Gospel of John,” Augustine reflects on how when John, the beloved disciple, reclined on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper, he drew near to the secret place of wisdom.

St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556)

In his “Spiritual Exercises,” St. Ignatius encourages retreatants to contemplate the wounded side of the crucified Lord to enter into the heart of Christ. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, which has promoted devotion to Jesus’ divine heart for more than a century. The society was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1871.

St. Daniel Comboni (1831–1881)

St. Daniel Comboni saw the heart of Jesus as the source of strength for his missionary work in Africa. He founded the Sons of the Sacred Heart Jesus, which today are known as the Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as the Comboni Missionary Sisters. The saintly missionary once said: “This divine heart, which let itself be pierced by an enemy’s lance in order to pour forth through that sacred wound the sacraments by which the Church was formed, has never ceased to love.”

This article was first published on Nov. 1, 2024, and has been updated.

Doug Keck hosts an episode of “EWTN Bookmark” on May 8, 2025. After a 29-year career at the network, EWTN announced June 26, 2025, that Keck will retire from his administrative duties as president and chief operating officer of EWTN. Keck will receive the honorary title of president emeritus and will continue to host “EWTN Bookmark” as well as co-host “Father Spitzer’s Universe.” / Credit: “EWTN Bookmark”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Jun 26, 2025 / 19:11 pm (CNA).

The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) announced June 26 that after a distinguished 29-year career at the network, Doug Keck will retire from his administrative duties as president and chief operating officer. He also will step down as a member of the EWTN board of governors.

Keck joined EWTN in 1996 following a career in cable television, sports, and media in New York City. His tenure saw the network, founded in 1981 by Mother Angelica, evolve into an award-winning global powerhouse, becoming the largest Catholic media organization in the world.

During Keck’s tenure, EWTN (CNA’s parent company) expanded its reach across television, radio, and digital platforms, producing notable initiatives such as “Life on the Rock,” “EWTN Bookmark,” and “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” the pioneering show of the network’s broader news programming.

In 2013, Keck was named president and chief operating officer after serving since 2009 as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

“On behalf of the entire EWTN family around the globe, I want to thank Doug for keeping the mission of EWTN our No. 1 priority over the years and never compromising in sharing the truth of the Gospel for views or clicks,” EWTN Board Chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw said in a statement. “EWTN is better off today for his contributions and for his dedication to our mission.”

Keck, who has also served as president and chief operating officer of EWTN Religious Catalogue and EWTN Publishing, was also a member of the board of governors of the various EWTN entities. Keck will receive the honorary title of president emeritus and will continue to host “EWTN Bookmark” as well as co-host “Father Spitzer’s Universe.”

“This announcement is one of many that will usher in the next generation of talent to EWTN,” Warsaw continued. “While this is a moment of change, I am excited about the future of our global team and how we are building upon the past to carry out our mission for future generations. Doug remains a member of the EWTN family and will continue to mentor the up-and-coming leaders in the Catholic media landscape.”

About EWTN

EWTN, now in its 44th year, is the largest Catholic media organization in the world. Its 11 global TV channels broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in multiple languages, reaching over 435 million households in more than 160 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 600 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the most visited Catholic websites in the U.S.; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division. 

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EWTN News operates multiple global news services, including Catholic News Agency; The National Catholic Register newspaper and digital platform; ACI Prensa in Spanish; ACI Digital in Portuguese; ACI Stampa in Italian; ACI Africa in English, French, and Portuguese; ACI MENA in Arabic; CNA Deutsch in German; and ChurchPop, a digital platform that creates content in several languages. It also produces numerous television news programs including “EWTN News Nightly,” “EWTN Noticias,” “EWTN News In Depth,” “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly,” “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” and “Vaticano.”

Marriage supporters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building during oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, April 28, 2015. / Credit: Addie Mena/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 26, 2025 / 18:02 pm (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court on June 26, 2015, decided that every state is constitutionally required to perform and recognize same-sex civil marriages — a controversial ruling at the time that was followed by major shifts in cultural norms and public opinion.

When the justices handed down the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in a 5-4 decision, only 16 states had already enacted laws legalizing same-sex civil marriage. The practice, however, had been ongoing in 21 additional states because lower courts had ruled against most state-level bans prior to the Supreme Court ruling.

In the aftermath of the ruling, some Christians have been sued for adhering to biblical teachings on marriage and human sexuality in relation to anti-discrimination laws. Broader movements to normalize both homosexuality and transgenderism have also led to legal battles over parental rights, women’s rights, and religious liberty.

A decade later, public support for same-sex marriage is higher than it was. Yet some polling has shown that the trend might be reversing, potentially due to the subsequent cultural battles that followed.

The United States post-Obergefell

Ever since the ruling, efforts to prevent discrimination have repeatedly been at odds with religious liberty and parental rights.

In Colorado, for example, a baker named Jack Phillips fought and won three multiyear lawsuits filed against him for refusing to bake cakes for same-sex civil weddings and gender transition celebrations. A Christian photographer in New York and a web designer in Colorado, along with others, also fought and won multiyear lawsuits based on their refusals to provide services for same-sex civil weddings.

Many legal battles on similar issues are still ongoing. Foster parents in Vermont and a mother looking to adopt in Oregon are suing their states over policies that require them to embrace gender ideology to participate in foster programs. Parents in California are suing the state over a law that prohibits teachers from informing parents about their children’s “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

The Supreme Court is considering a case in which a Maryland school board is refusing to let parents opt children out of course material that promotes homosexuality and transgenderism. 

There are numerous political and legal battles nationwide over policies that allow biological males who self-identify as transgender women to access women’s locker rooms and other private spaces and allow them to participate in female sporting events.

“Obergefell gave license to the unraveling of social norms and understanding around sexual morality, family structure, and even personal identity,” Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA.

In Hasson’s view, the Supreme Court, equating a same-sex partnership with a marriage, “emboldened activists promoting the transgender agenda, which claims a ‘trans woman’ is just the same as a woman.”

“The same personal autonomy claims that license same-sex sexual relationships are used to license self-defined identity claims,” she said.

When the decision was laid down in 2015, about 60% of the public supported legal recognition of same-sex marriages, according to a Gallup poll at the time. This was a major shift over the previous two decades, as support was only around 37% in 2005 and as low as 27% in 1996.

A May 2025 Gallup poll shows that support increased to about 68% a decade later. Even though that’s an eight-point increase over the decade, the pollsters found that support has gone down for two years straight after hitting a peak of 71% support in 2022 and 2023, with the bulk of the decrease coming from Republican voters and young people.

When commenting on the decline in support over the past two years, Hasson said that “perhaps the excesses of sexual libertinism, championed by the rainbow groups and on display in pride parades, demonstrate that same-sex sexual relationships are not the same as marriage.”

Arthur Schaper, the field director for the pro-family group MassResistance, told CNA he sees “a growing movement against this,” mostly because “people are starting to see the consequences of it.”

“This kind of stuff is happening all over,” he said, referring to the imposition of gender ideology and homosexuality in public life. “This is just egregious.”

“Everything that we warned everybody about — what would happen if you redefined a fundamental institution and corrupted it — it has come to pass,” Schaper added.

Efforts to overturn Obergefell

The Supreme Court has not revisited Obergefell since the initial ruling, and Hasson expressed some pessimism about the current makeup of the court, saying it’s “unlikely to muster a majority to overturn” the decision.

Yet some groups, including MassResistance, have been encouraging state lawmakers to adopt resolutions urging the Supreme Court to reevaluate the ruling. Lawmakers in at least nine states have introduced such resolutions. The Idaho House and the North Dakota House passed their resolutions, but most efforts have failed to gain steam.

“We see this as a first step and we’re doubling down on our efforts,” Schaper said. “And we’re going to continue fighting this.”

Schaper said some of the arguments against the decision focus on 10th Amendment claims that the regulation of marriage is a state issue and not a federal one. He also referenced some of the dissenting opinions from the court that suggested the ruling “alters the relationship of citizen to government” by asserting “the government [rather than God] gives freedom, the government gives dignity.”

He said Obergefell is also “based on this fraud that people are genetically homosexual” and treats sexuality as though it is an immutable characteristic like race. He criticized Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan for not recusing themselves from the case despite officiating same-sex civil weddings and reiterated the point that “redefining marriage has led to an imposition of values.”

Jennifer Morse, the president of the Ruth Institute, told CNA she believes “removing the gender requirement from marriage was bad public policy” and said Obergefell should be overturned.

In Morse’s view, a legal recognition of same-sex marriage “promotes the idea that the sex of the body is not significant, even for the most gendered thing we do, namely bearing and begetting children and assigning legal parental rights.”

“If the sex of the body doesn’t matter for marriage, it doesn’t matter on the sporting field, or in the locker room or in the prisons,” Morse said. “In this way, Obergefell paved the way for the excesses of the [transgender] movement.” 

Morse also expressed concerns about the effect on children, saying that same-sex marriage distorts “how we see fertility, parenthood, and children” and “it tacitly assumes that biological connections between parents and children are unimportant and in fact negotiable.”

“Rather than seeing each and every child being a gift from God, children are increasingly seen as a lifestyle option for adults, who can acquire children pretty much however they like,” she added, referencing adoption by same-sex couples.

“Redefining marriage redefines parenthood,” Morse said. “Contracts among groups of adults, rather than an act of love between parents, form the basis of parenthood.”

Schaper argued that in the early 2000s, conservative arguments for traditional marriage were mostly weak and simply focused on “tradition or preference or religion.” In reality, he said the support for same-sex marriage is “putting your selfish desires ahead of the needs of children, of public health, and public order.”

“If people just stand their ground and stand for truth, we can win,” he added.

Catholic Church teaching

In spite of consistent Church teaching, American Catholics support the legalization of same-sex civil marriages at about the same rate as the broader population. According to a 2024 Pew poll, about 70% of self-identified Catholics said they support same-sex marriage, which was slightly higher than the population as a whole.

Julia Dezelski, the associate director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, told CNA these trends are a “downstream effect of cultural distortions of love for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”

“The Church can address this issue by demonstrating that love for people who experience same-sex attraction is precisely what motivates us to oppose same-sex sexual activity,” she said. “The Church teaches the truth and beauty of human sexuality because it is true and beautiful, and therefore good for every man and woman.”

“Man and woman are created for communion,” Dezelski added. “The natural law inscribes this reality and desire in our very flesh. It finds its fulfillment in the one-flesh union of man and woman in marriage. Only two people of the opposite sex can experience this one-flesh union, from which the miracle of life is born.”

California state capitol. / Credit: Christopher Padalinski, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 26, 2025 / 17:32 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has found the California Department of Education and the state’s Interscholastic Federation to be in violation of Title IX for allowing male athletes who believe themselves to be females to compete in women’s sports. 

Title IX, a landmark federal civil rights law adopted in 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. Its purpose is to ensure women and girls have equal access in education. The law makes no mention of “gender identity.”

“The Trump administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a June 25 press release. 

“The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow,” McMahon said.

She also slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom for allowing men to compete in women’s sports.

“Although Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions,” McMahon stated. 

Kathleen Domingo, the executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told CNA in an interview that the conference supports the U.S. Department of Education’s efforts to keep male athletes out of women’s sports.

“We obviously believe that girls’ sports should be protected,” she said. “We believed in the original intent of Title IX, that it allows women and girls to have a fair chance for competition, and we absolutely support women being able to do that.” 

“We’re concerned that California is not following the science and not following the recommendations that so many people are talking about today, just in terms of fairness, as our own governor has said, but also just looking at the science behind what is happening,” Domingo said. 

“Obviously males of the similar age will overpower females in many sports competitions, but in some competitions, it can even be dangerous if there’s contact.” 

“I think the bishops of California really want to stand … with parents who are saying we need to protect our kids,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Education has issued a resolution to the California education department and the interscholastic federation, which in part requires the government to issue a notice to all federal funding recipients mandating compliance with Title IX by banning males from competing in women’s sports or occupying women’s spaces.

It also requires the adoption of “biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female.’”

Both the state government and the interscholastic federation will also be required to rescind all guidance that permits male athletes in women’s spaces or competitions, “to reflect that Title IX preempts state law when state law conflicts with Title IX.”

In addition, the agreement requires the state government “to restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions.”

“To each female athlete to whom an individual recognition is restored, [California Department of Education] will send a personalized letter apologizing on behalf of the state of California for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination,” the agreement states. 

Lastly, the state government and the interscholastic federation must complete an annual certification of compliance with Title IX and propose a monitoring plan to ensure compliance with the U.S. Department of Education.  

The Biden administration in April 2024 issued regulations redefining Title IX to include protection against discrimination based on a person’s “gender identity.” 

At the time, the administration said the revisions were meant to “clarify that sex discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”

The Biden administration was initially blocked from enforcing its redefined regulations in three separate rulings across the country in July 2024.

The rule was ultimately blocked nationwide by a federal court in Kentucky in January.

The view of the West Bank and Israel from Mount Nebo. / Credit: quantestorie via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

ACI MENA, Jun 26, 2025 / 17:02 pm (CNA).

In a disturbing and increasingly frequent pattern, the Palestinian town of Taybeh, located east of Ramallah and known as the last remaining town in the West Bank inhabited entirely by Christians, faces ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers targeting residents, their property, and farmlands.

According to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, in recent weeks settlers have established a new outpost on the eastern edge of Taybeh atop the ruins of a farmhouse whose owners were displaced roughly a year ago.

The outpost was erected in a vital agricultural zone, spanning around 17,000 dunums (roughly 4,200 acres), which serves as a key economic lifeline for the town. The area hosts thousands of olive trees, poultry and sheep farms, and wide fields used for seasonal crops. It forms the bulk of Taybeh’s total land area of about 24,000 dunums (about 5,900 acres).

Attacks and infringements are not new. In 2019 and 2020, settlers set up similar illegal outposts around the town, often accompanied by arson attacks on crops, theft of equipment, and deliberately releasing cattle into the fields to destroy harvests. 

During the latest olive harvest season, for the second year in a row, farmers were barred from accessing their land near the Rimmonim settlement — which was built on confiscated Taybeh land — resulting in either theft or complete spoilage of the olive crop. Approximately 20 families were physically assaulted while trying to reach their land.

Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of the Church of Christ the Redeemer in Taybeh, told ACI MENA: “The town, which the Gospel of John (11:54) refers to as ‘Ephraim’ — the place Jesus withdrew to before his passion — is no longer safe for its people today… We do not live in peace but in daily fear and siege.” 

He added: “Since last October, more than 10 families have left Taybeh due to fear from ongoing violence and harassment.”

Fawadleh also described further Israeli-imposed restrictions: “Alongside these attacks, Israeli authorities have installed iron gates at the town’s entrances, severely disrupting residents’ access to work and essential services. These limitations, combined with mounting agricultural restrictions, have worsened unemployment and deepened the economic crisis, leading many to consider emigration.”

He added: “These days, settlers are grazing their cows on a hill planted with olive and barley fields right next to people’s homes. Locals see this as part of a systematic effort to strangle them economically and push them out.”

On Wednesday, settlers attacked and killed three people in Kaffr Malik, another town near Ramallah, in the West Bank.

According to the BBC, Israel has built about 160 settlements since it began to occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Although the Israeli government disagrees, the vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV addresses participants in a meeting of priests promoted by the Dicastery for the Clergy as part of the Jubilee of Seminarians, Bishops, and Priests on June 26, 2025, in the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 16:32 pm (CNA).

As part of the Jubilee of Seminarians, Bishops, and Priests, Pope Leo XIV met June 26 in the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome with the “joyful priests” responsible for vocations ministry and seminary formation.

The event was organized by the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy with the theme taken from St. John’s Gospel: “I have called you friends.” Also present was Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the dicastery, whom the pontiff thanked for his “extensive and beautiful” work, which is often carried out “in silence and discretion.”

At the beginning of his address, the Holy Father encouraged the priests to cultivate “creativity, co-responsibility, and communion in the Church, so that what is sown with dedication and generosity in so many communities may become light and encouragement for all.”

Referring to Jesus’ words “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15), the pope explained that this is “an authentic key to understanding the priestly ministry.” 

“The priest, in fact, is a friend of the Lord, called to live with him a personal and trusting relationship, nourished by the Word, the celebration of the sacraments, and daily prayer.”

What does it mean to be a friend of Christ?

For Pope Leo XIV, this friendship with Christ “is the spiritual foundation of the ordained ministry, the meaning of our celibacy, and the energy of the ecclesial service to which we dedicate our lives.” This friendship, he emphasized, “sustains us in times of trial and allows us to renew each day the ‘yes’ pronounced at the beginning of our vocation.”

The pontiff then clarified that becoming a friend of Christ “means being formed in relationships, not just in abilities.” He therefore emphasized that “priestly formation cannot be reduced to the acquisition of concepts but is a journey of familiarity with the Lord that engages the whole person — heart, intelligence, freedom — and transforms him into the image of the Good Shepherd.”

“Only those who live in friendship with Christ and are imbued with his Spirit can proclaim with authenticity, console with compassion, and guide with wisdom. This requires attentive listening, meditation, and a rich and orderly interior life,” he added.

The pope also emphasized that fraternity is “an essential aspect of priestly life,” since becoming a friend of Christ “involves living as brothers among priests and among bishops, not as competitors or isolated individuals.”

He thus urged forging strong bonds among priests “as an expression of a synodal Church, in which we grow together by sharing the joys and the painful moments of the ministry.”

Forming priests capable of loving, listening, and praying

For Leo XIV, forming priests who are friends of Christ means “forming men capable of loving, listening, praying, and serving as a community.” He thus reiterated that “it is necessary to pay great attention to the preparation of the formators, since the effectiveness of their work depends above all on the example of life and the communion among them.”

“The very existence of seminaries reminds us that the formation of future ordained ministers cannot happen in isolation,” he emphasized.

Referring to vocations, the pontiff noted that, despite the signs of crisis affecting the life and mission of priests, “God continues to call and remains faithful to his promises,” and Leo therefore called for the creation of appropriate conditions “to hear his voice.”

In this regard, he expressed the importance of creating “environments and forms of youth ministry imbued with the Gospel, where vocations to the total gift of self can emerge and mature. Have the courage to offer powerful and liberating proposals!” he exclaimed.

The thirst for the infinite and for salvation in young people

He also pointed to the challenges of our time: “Many seem to have strayed from the faith, yet deep within many people, especially young people, there is a thirst for the infinite and for salvation. Many feel an absence of God, even though every human being is made for him, and the Father’s plan is to make Christ the heart of the world.”

Given this longing, he encouraged priests to rediscover together “the missionary impetus” to be credible witnesses of the vocation they have received. “When one believes, it shows: The happiness of the minister reflects his encounter with Christ, sustaining him in mission and service.”

He also thanked the priests for their daily dedication, especially in formation centers, on the existential peripheries, and in difficult, sometimes dangerous, places. 

“Remembering the priests who have given their lives, even shedding their blood, we renew today our readiness to live, without reservations, an apostolate of compassion and joy,” he said.

“Thank you for what you are. Because you remind us all that being a priest is beautiful, and that every call from the Lord is, above all, a call to his joy. We are not perfect, but we are friends of Christ, brothers and sisters among ourselves, and children of his tender mother, Mary, and that is enough for us,” the Holy Father added.

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

Pope Leo XIV addresses members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — on June 26, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday denounced violations of international and humanitarian law in Gaza and Ukraine, lamenting the “diabolical intensity” of the violent conflicts and criticizing rearmament policies.

In a June 26 address to the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO by its Italian acronym) — the operational arm of the Holy See that provides assistance to the Eastern Churches — the pope lamented the imposition “of the principle of ‘might makes right’” in these territories “all for the sake of legitimizing the pursuit of self-interest.”

“It is troubling to see that the force of international law and humanitarian law seems no longer to be binding, replaced by the alleged right to coerce others. This is unworthy of our humanity, shameful for all mankind and for the leaders of nations,” the pontiff emphasized.

Pope Leo called on the international community to examine the causes of these conflicts. Specifically, he urged them to “identify those that are real and to attempt to resolve them. But also to reject those that are false, the result of emotional manipulation and rhetoric, and to make every effort to bring them to light.”

“People must not die from fake news,” he insisted, without elaborating on what type of information he was referring to.

He then asked: “How can we continue to betray the desire of the world’s peoples for peace with propaganda about weapons buildup, as if military supremacy will resolve problems instead of fueling even greater hatred and desire for revenge?”

Two days after the 32 member states of NATO committed to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years, the pope insisted that spending on defense weapons is not the solution to curbing conflicts.

Money going into pockets of ‘merchants of death’

“People are beginning to realize the amount of money that ends up in the pockets of merchants of death; money that could be used to build new hospitals and schools is instead being used to destroy those that already exist!” he exclaimed.

Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches and president of ROACO, as well as representatives of the Catholic agencies that are part of ROACO, participated in the Vatican audience, which followed the aid organization’s 98th assembly held June 24–25. At their assembly they analyzed the situation in the Holy Land (especially in Gaza), Armenia, Syria, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and other areas where the Holy See’s diplomatic action is focused. 

In this regard, Leo XIV lamented “the physical absence of those who were to have come from the Holy Land but proved unable to make the journey” because of flight restrictions due to the conflict.

He thanked all of them for the work of hope that ROACO does in these countries, which are “are devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic.” The Holy Father criticized the violence of war that is raging “with a diabolical intensity previously unknown.”

He noted that the history of the Eastern Catholic Churches has also been marked by “oppression and misunderstanding within the Catholic community itself, which at times failed to acknowledge and appreciate the value of traditions other than those of the West.”

Leo XIV noted that — in addition to being peacemakers and promoting dialogue — Christians “first and foremost really need to pray” and bear witness.

“It is up to us to make every tragic news story, every newsreel that we see, a cry of intercession before God,” he exhorted.

He also asked Christians to remain faithful to Jesus “without allowing ourselves to end up in the clutches of power.”

Eastern traditions ‘still largely unknown’

The pontiff praised the beauty of Eastern traditions but lamented that in the Catholic Church they are “still largely unknown.”

“Their sense of the sacred, their deep faith, confirmed by suffering, and their spirituality, redolent of the divine mysteries, can benefit the thirst for God, latent yet present in the West,” he added.

The pope therefore said it is necessary to “organize basic courses on the Eastern Churches in seminaries, theological faculties, and Catholic universities.”

“Eastern Catholics today are no longer our distant cousins who celebrate unfamiliar rites but our brothers and sisters who, due to forced migration, are our next-door neighbors,” he said.

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

U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock

Boston, Mass., Jun 26, 2025 / 14:59 pm (CNA).

Local Planned Parenthood facilities can’t force state governments to give them Medicaid funds through lawsuits because Congress didn’t create an individual right to the benefits, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday.

The 6-3 decision enables states to cut off public funds to abortion providers — including Medicaid funds that come mostly from the federal government.

The court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic resolves a dispute that began in 2018 after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, issued an executive order cutting off funds to the two facilities Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates in the state, in Charleston and Columbia. The organization sued and won in U.S. District Court level and at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The high court’s ruling Thursday overturned those lower-court decisions, pleasing pro-life advocates, including Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“South Carolina was right to deny Planned Parenthood taxpayer dollars. A group dedicated to ending children’s lives deserves no public support,” Thomas said in a written statement.

“Abortion is not health care, and lives will be saved because South Carolina has chosen to not fund clinics that pretend it is,” he said. “Publicly funded programs like Medicaid should only support authentic, life-affirming options for mothers and children in need.”

Can’t sue

The court’s conservatives and swing votes formed the majority — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Writing for the majority, Gorsuch said that private parties seeking federal health benefits through a state government can sue for them only when Congress explicitly allows it in legislation by declaring access to the benefits to be a right, which it didn’t do with respect to Medicaid funds.  He said the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services can cut off Medicaid funding to a state that the secretary determines isn’t complying with federal rules but that a private party can’t ask a court to force the state to give it federal funds.

“Congress knows how to give a grantee clear and unambiguous notice that, if it accepts federal funds, it may face private suits asserting an individual right to choose a medical provider,” Gorsuch wrote.

He added that Congress has done so in legislation pertaining to nursing homes but not with respect to Medicaid, a federal program administered by the states that provides a mix of federal and state funds to provide health care to poor people.

The three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.

Writing for the minority, Jackson said South Carolina is participating in what she called “the project of stymying one of the country’s great civil rights laws” and that the court majority’s decision allows the state to “evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors.”

Federal defunding coming?

Abortion supporters decried the court’s decision.

“The Supreme Court overrode what the Medicaid law requires and every patient wants: the ability to choose their trusted health care provider,” said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports abortion, in a written statement.

“Right now, Congress is seeking to replicate South Carolina’s ban nationwide, putting politics above patients in making health care decisions,” she said.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have sought to cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood in a spending measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It passed the House by one vote, 215-214, on May 22. But its chances in the U.S. Senate are unclear — particularly after the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that portions of the bill violate Senate rules.

Erik Baptist, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy organization that opposes abortion, said during an online press conference Thursday that “17 states in the country have taken action to defund Planned Parenthood.”

He said he hopes more states do so and that Congress follows suit.

“What the Medina case today did from the U.S. Supreme Court was liberate the states and allow them to take action to defund Planned Parenthood. So one shoe dropped today. We hope Congress takes the other action with regards to federal funding,” Baptist said.