Panelists at the “Family Formation and the Future” international conference April 1-2, 2025, at the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, discuss the crises affecting the family. / Credit: Photo ourtesy of the Danube Institute

Budapest, Hungary, Apr 9, 2025 / 13:49 pm (CNA).

As birth rates fall, loneliness rises, and the fabric of social life frays across much of the Western world, the question of how to support family formation has become a political, cultural, and even civilizational challenge.

At the “Family Formation and the Future” conference hosted by the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, April 1-2, experts from the U.S. and Europe explored the complex, intertwined causes behind this unprecedented crisis in the West and proposed ambitious steps to restore marriage as the backbone of society.

The message contained in the panel titled “Marriage, Family, and Public Policy” was clear: Without strong families, societies weaken — and no amount of economic growth or technological progress can compensate for that loss.

The country that hosted these discussions, Hungary, often served as a case study for the participants. With its bold pro-family policies, it has become something of a laboratory — one that other Western nations are increasingly looking to for inspiration. While the country hasn’t reversed all the global trends, its targeted efforts to make marriage and child-rearing more viable have sparked international attention.

Despite their different emphases, the panelists all converged on the idea that the family crisis is real, multifaceted, and politically unavoidable — and that reviving the family is not merely a private concern but a public imperative.

The cost of family breakdown

Fiona Bruce, a former member of Parliament who spent over a decade in the British Parliament advocating for family-friendly policies, opened the session with a stark diagnosis: Nearly half of all U.K. children experience family instability by the age of 5, leading to widespread mental health issues and a surge in state care placements.

Bruce recounted her long campaign for “family hubs” to support parents and communities, lamenting that despite her efforts, the U.K. remains one of the countries with the highest rates of family breakdown and fatherlessness. Her contribution served as a powerful reminder that family decline is no longer theoretical — it’s playing out in real time, with measurable consequences for the next generation.

Pornography and the collapse of family culture

While Bruce exposed the scale of the problem in her own country, Brad Littlejohn, director of programs and education for American Compass, zeroed in on one of its most corrosive drivers: pornography. He argued that the cultural foundations of family life are under attack and that economic support alone can’t mend what moral collapse has broken.

“Conservatives cannot afford to ignore the scourge of pornography,” Littlejohn declared, recalling that opposition to public vice was once central to the conservative movement. “Today’s porn makes the Playboy centerfolds of yesteryear look like child’s play … featuring every kind of degradation one can imagine and many that one cannot, from incest and bestiality to gang rape scenes.”

Citing research that places the average age of first exposure at 11, with some children addicted by age 8 or 9, Littlejohn argued that this content is more than a personal vice — it is an existential threat to civilization.

“Pornography destroys marriages and it keeps marriages from forming in the first place,” he said. “Even more fundamentally … it has warped the very foundations of family life by dissolving the boundary of childhood and adulthood.”

Despite decades of legal setbacks, he noted, momentum is shifting: 21 American states have passed age-verification laws, and an upcoming Supreme Court case may finally impose real restrictions on the porn industry. For Littlejohn, cultural renewal must start with protecting children and reclaiming moral ground long ceded.

Rebalancing the equation: culture and economy

Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., offered a complementary analysis, claiming that while culture is in fact decisive, economics still matters and badly-designed policy makes things worse. He outlined a pragmatic yet ambitious family agenda rooted in both economic support and cultural transformation.

“Society relies on the contributions of parents,” Brown noted. “Parents are bearing the cost of raising kids individually, but the benefits flow to the rest of society.” He emphasized that family policy should not be seen as niche or sentimental but as a form of social infrastructure, no less essential than roads or schools.

Brown called for expanding the child tax credit, lowering the cost of living, and addressing the “marriage penalty” in U.S. welfare programs, which discourages low-income couples from marrying. But he also acknowledged that policy alone will not be efficient without a deeper cultural shift. In the U.S., he said, marriage is often treated as a capstone, a reward for career success, rather than a foundation for adulthood.

In this respect, he regards Hungary as an interesting model. He highlighted that unlike most of the West, the country has successfully reversed out-of-wedlock birth trends, encouraging marriage and childbearing through deliberate policies. 

“That is a tremendous success story,” Brown told the Budapest audience. “You should all be very proud of that. Americans should examine it, study from it, and learn what benefits can be contingent on marriage.”

Civilizational sadness and the loss of norms

While Brown focused on incentives, Tim Carney, senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute, delved into more existential questions behind declining birth and marriage rates. In the U.S., he explained, the economy has improved since the 2008 crash, yet birth rates continue to plummet, evidence that financial hardship alone cannot explain the collapse in family formation.

Carney argued that the real crisis lies in what he called “civilizational sadness” — a deep, philosophical shift in how people see themselves and others.

“What we call expressive individualism is in fact an anthropology,” he explained, “a belief that as autonomous individuals, our job is to fully realize ourselves and that any connection with other people should be conditional and transactional.”

This worldview, he warned, is not only alienating but also fosters hostility to marriage and parenthood.

“When you ask young people [why they won’t have children], they don’t mention money anymore, or the fact that they’re ‘selfish,’ but claim instead that ‘it would destroy the climate,’” Carney said. “I think that talk about the environment is more of a cover story.”

Even the way cities and transport are structured, he added, discourages family life. In a witty aside, he referred to “car seats as contraception,” citing studies that show how practical obstacles — like needing a bigger vehicle for a third child — discourage parents from expanding their families.

From diagnosis to direction

Beyond the different perspectives, the speakers displayed a shared sense of urgency. They all converged on the fact that the modern West is not naturally conducive to family life, and without concerted political and social effort, its decline will continue. 

The parallel between Hungary and the United States served as a subtle but significant thread. For these experts, while Hungary’s family policy reforms have not yet solved the complex problem of demographic decline, their visible impact on marriage and fertility rates offers a counterpoint to the fatalism that often pervades Western debates.

American decision-makers could learn from them, if not replicate them, they said, and then at least draw inspiration from them.

null / Credit: ArtOlympic/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 9, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).

A priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has been arrested after allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a minor.

Father Jaime Arriaga was taken into custody on April 3, according to records at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The archdiocese told parishioners at the parishes of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Louis of France on Sunday that it had received the allegation of misconduct on April 2 and promptly reported it to law enforcement.

Prior to his arrest the priest was “removed from ministry as a result of [the] report of alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor,” the archdiocese said.

The allegations “led to a criminal proceeding,” the archdiocese noted, according to Angelus News.

Arriaga has been charged with “assault with intent to commit a felony and four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a person 14 to 15,” Angelus News reported. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.

The priest is being held without bail and his next court date is June 5, according to sheriff’s records.

A profile of Arriaga on the archdiocesan website had been taken down as of Wednesday morning. The priest was ordained last year on June 1.

The archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning.

The Kerygma Center for the New Evangelization offers a program that brings nonbelievers closer to God, especially baptized persons who had been living far from their faith. / Credit: Courtesy of Kerygma Center

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 9, 2025 / 10:53 am (CNA).

The Kerygma Center for the New Evangelization offers a program that, since its founding in 2013, has brought closer to God thousands of nonbelievers, especially baptized persons who had been living far from their faith.

Founded in response to the call of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, the center proposes a “re-evangelization” aimed particularly at those who, despite having faith, have not experienced “a living and personal encounter with Jesus Christ,” Kerygma president Carlos Macías de Lara explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Originally from Mexico, Macías is a full-time evangelist living in Italy and has more than 30 years of experience spreading the good news.

Despite having grown up in a Catholic family, during his youth he strayed from the faith and fell into the world of drugs, disordered sexuality, and alcohol. However, in 1992 he had a personal encounter with Jesus that, in his own words, “changed my life.”

It was then that he began to take his first steps in the new evangelization with the Evangelization 2000 group and later underwent formation at the San Andrés School of Evangelization in Guadalajara, Mexico, until he founded the Kerygma Center in 2013.

Macías also studied theology at the Catholic Biblical Institute for the Laity in Guadalajara, where he deepened his faith formation.

“We propose a series of projects through catechesis aimed at young people, adults, and families,” he explained.

The courses are based on the proclamation of the Gospel (kerygma) through biblical and spiritual formation. Macías emphasized that “the Kerygma Center is not a structure or a building but an evangelization program.”

The program, he explains, is introduced in communities and parishes that request it. “We send evangelizers to teach these courses when the parish or community asks us for them. Each course includes a manual so that it can be introduced and experienced in the community itself without the need for us to be constantly present.”

Currently, the team of about 40, including laypeople and priests, is organizing to meet requests coming from numerous communities in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia. “Our Ukrainian team member, for example, is replicating the courses in Ukraine, despite the painful wartime situation,” Macías added.

“In all our courses, we strive to help people live and experience an encounter with Jesus Christ, regardless of the path they’ve been on or the formation they may have, inviting them to share it in their families, at work, and in all their situations,” he explained.

Macías expressed gratitude for the growth the center has experienced over the years, although he lamented the rejection they encounter, especially in Europe, “where there is to all appearances a strong Christian presence.”

For this reason, he insisted that “the urgent need is to evangelize, helping the brothers and sisters who are serving and working within the Church to grow so they can reach out to others beyond the confines of the Church as well as the baptized who have not deepened their faith.”

Re-evangelizing the baptized

For Macías, this is the “great challenge”: re-evangelizing the laity and searching for committed Catholics who desire to evangelize beyond their borders.

The Kerygma Center advises priests who request its help to begin by offering a course to those who are part of the parish community, especially catechists and the faithful most involved with the reality they face in the parish.

Through the various courses, through which the word of God is brought into everyday life, parish members are invited “in a very simple way to get the Gospel message out there to the existential peripheries, as Pope Francis invites us.”

Therefore, according to Macías, it’s about providing formation to the faithful so that they themselves can evangelize and fulfill the mission of spreading the Gospel. These formation sessions, according to Macías, “are like a shot in the arm that strengthen the community.”

As part of the Jubilee of Hope, approximately 170 members of the faithful will travel to Italy July 3–6 to hold their international seminar at San Lorenzo College of Brindisi in Rome.

At this year’s conference they will meditate on four chapters from the Book of Ruth. “Our goal is, as the Catholic Church and Pope Francis invite us, to be pilgrims of hope as evangelizers, to help all those living in desperate situations, whether it’s financial, social, or due to the wars that are taking place around the world.”

The seminar will culminate with a pilgrimage to Rome to pass through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, where they will participate in a Mass celebrated by the archpriest of the basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti.

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

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered for his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 9, 2025 / 09:44 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday highlighted the need to overcome the “logic of merit” to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ and to trust more in God’s gratuitous love.

Continuing his jubilee catechesis series “Jesus Christ Our Hope” on the life of Jesus, the pope wrote a reflection on Chapter 10 of St. Mark’s Gospel when Christ encounters a rich young man with a “fine resume” of good deeds.

“He is a man who has observed the commandments ever since his youth but who, despite this, has not yet found the meaning of his life,” the Holy Father wrote in his April 9 catechesis.

“Perhaps he is one who has not yet truly made up his mind, despite his appearance as a committed person,“ he continued.

Commenting that “eternal life” is not “obtained by right” or “through meticulous observance of commitments,” the 88-year-old pope emphasized that a loving relationship with God and with others is key for a happy and fulfilling life on earth and also in heaven.

“Indeed, beyond the things we do, our sacrifices and successes, what truly counts in order to be happy is what we carry in our heart,” the Holy Father said.

In his catechesis, the pope invited his readers to consider God’s love as a gift he desires to share with others and not merely as a reward he grants to those who carry out good works.

“Jesus’ love is gratuitous: exactly the opposite of the logic of merit that has beset this person,” he said. “We are truly happy when we realize we are loved in this way, freely, by grace.” 

“This also applies to the relationships between us: as long as we try to buy love or beg for affection, those relationships will never make us feel happy,” he added.

To make “our hearts freer” to accept the proposal of Jesus to follow him, the Holy Father said it is necessary to take a look inside our hearts and give our wounds and weaknesses to the God who wants to heal us.  

“Perhaps today, precisely because we live in a culture of self-sufficiency and individualism, we find ourselves more unhappy because we no longer hear our name spoken by someone who loves us freely,” the pope shared in his catechesis.

Noting the sadness of the young man who refused Jesus’ offer to be his disciple and follow him, the pope said to be aware that “what we think are riches” could be “only burdens that are holding us back.”

The Holy Father concluded his Wednesday catechesis with a prayer, entrusting “all people who are sad and undecided” to the Heart of Jesus “so that they may feel the loving gaze of the Lord.”

The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Apr 9, 2025 / 09:13 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s financial authority reported a significant drop in suspicious activity reports in 2024, attributing the decline to “progressive refinement” in the selection process rather than diminished vigilance, according to its annual report published Wednesday.

The Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF), the Vatican’s financial watchdog, received 79 suspicious activity reports in 2024, compared with 123 in 2023, representing a roughly 36% decrease.

“In this context, a numerical reduction is a piece of positive news as it represents an increase in quality and not a reduction in attention by reporting entities,” states the report released on April 9.

Despite fewer reports, ASIF transmitted 11 reports to the Office of the Promoter of Justice (the Vatican’s prosecutor) in 2024 — the same number as in 2023 — suggesting greater precision in identifying potentially criminal financial activity.

“This is evidenced by the quality of the relations and the various forms of cooperation with domestic and international authorities as well as the good results achieved by the IOR [Institute for Works of Religion],” wrote Carmelo Barbagallo, ASIF president, in the report’s introduction.

The report details that of the 79 suspicious activity reports received, 73 came from the Vatican’s bank, the Institute for Works of Religion, with 36 of these connected to high-risk jurisdictions. Various Holy See and Vatican City State authorities submitted the remaining six reports.

ASIF also noted an increase in preventive measures during 2024, including two suspensions of transactions totaling 817,280 euros (about $900,000) and two blocks of accounts at the IOR.

The financial watchdog highlighted positive developments in international cooperation, with 32 outgoing requests for information or spontaneous communications to foreign counterparts in 2024, up from 22 in 2023. ASIF also received 13 such communications from foreign financial intelligence units, compared with 10 in the previous year.

Particularly noteworthy was the outcome of the follow-up evaluation by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering watchdog.

The body assessed the Holy See’s progress in addressing deficiencies identified in the April 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report.

“The Moneyval committee recognized that significant progress had been achieved and expressed a positive assessment in relation to the three recommendations,” the report states. These recommendations concerned correspondent banking, wire transfers, and transparency of legal persons.

“As a result of these findings, the next technical compliance evaluation is scheduled in four years.”

The IOR “confirms as a solid and well-organized entity,” according to the report, based on ASIF’s “constant and systematic activity of verification” of profiles relevant to the “sound, prudent, and sustainable management” of the institute.

The report also details significant leadership changes at ASIF, with Federico Antellini Russo appointed as director with the function of vice president in November 2024, replacing Giuseppe Schlitzer, whose five-year term concluded on March 31.

In his final introduction as director, Schlitzer expressed gratitude to Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, “for the opportunity granted to me to serve the Holy See in such a prestigious position” and extended thanks to Barbagallo and all ASIF staff.

Mass celebrated by Bishop José de Jesús Sahagún de la Parra on his 100th birthday. / Credit: Diocesan Sisters of Our Lady of the Angels

Puebla, Mexico, Apr 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

At 103 years of age, Mexican Bishop José de Jesús Sahagún de la Parra is a living witness to the history of the Catholic Church. He is the world’s oldest bishop, still celebrates the Eucharist, and is one of only four surviving bishops who participated in the Second Vatican Council.

He was born in Cotija, a small and humble town in the state of Michoacán, in 1922 and ordained a priest on May 26, 1946. Fifteen years after his priestly ordination, Pope John XXIII appointed him the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Tula in the state of Hidalgo.

For 24 years, he was a pillar of the diocese, until in 1985 when Pope John Paul II called him to a new challenge: to be the first bishop of the Diocese of Lázaro Cárdenas.

With the same dedication with which he had served in Hidalgo, he returned to his home state of Michoacán to shepherd a growing community, where he remained until 1993, the year he was allowed to retire.

Since then, his life has been lived in the tranquility of a home for nuns in Michoacán.

The ‘great builder’

For José Antonio Fernández Hurtado, current archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Sahagún de la Parra, who ordained him a priest in Tula, was a “great builder.”

Sahagún de la Parra arrived in Tula on Feb. 27, 1961. The newly established diocese was in its early stages, during which, according to Hurtado, “there was no evangelization and, therefore, no native vocations.”

However, his vision and efforts transformed the region, and he was responsible for the construction of “El Huerto” major seminary, which began holding classes in 1964. This center also welcomed students from the historic Montezuma Seminary in New Mexico when it closed its doors in 1972.

In addition to his educational work, Sahagún de la Parra dedicated himself to several social projects that he funded himself, demonstrating his deep commitment to social justice. Hurtado recalled that in the Mezquital Valley region, where people lived “precariously in jacales [humble huts],” he promoted the construction of small houses so they could have decent living conditions.

He also encouraged seminarians to get involved in these projects. “We would go help the bricklayers ... and in the afternoon we would teach catechism,” he recalled.

On Oct. 11, 1985, St. John Paul II erected the Diocese of Lázaro Cárdenas and due to Sahagún de la Parra’s extensive experience in Hidalgo, he chose him as bishop for this new jurisdiction, which was formed from part of the Archdiocese of Morelia and the Diocese of Apatzingán.

His relationship with others

Hurtado recalled with admiration that, in addition to being a great builder of structures, Sahagún de la Parra was a builder of more humane communities with decent living conditions.

He recognized him as a “kind, generous, and very practical” person. A trait that stands out about the bishop is his “great respect for Indigenous people, that is, always thinking about human dignity,” he added.

As a pastoral leader, Sahagún de la Parra showed his priests “closeness and trust,” deeply caring about their personal formation. He also promoted good relations between priests and laypeople, actively involving the latter in the organizational life of the Church.

When Hurtado was appointed bishop of Tuxtepec, then archbishop of Durango, and later of Tlalnepantla, he always sought the advice of Sahagún de la Parra, who reiterated the same recommendation to remain “close to the priests, treat them with kindness, encourage them and, consequently, the laypeople as well.”

The Council period

In 1962, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council. Despite having been a bishop for only one year, Sahagún de la Parra was called to participate in this epoch-shaping ecclesial event. He attended three of the four sessions of the council, which opened on Oct. 11, 1962, in St. Peter’s Basilica with more than 2,000 council fathers from around the world.

According to an article published by Mexican researcher and historian Father Juan Carlos Casas, some 40 Mexican bishops attended the council from 1962 to 1965.

At that time, Mexico had approximately 35 million inhabitants, 98% of whom declared themselves Catholic. The priority concerns of the Mexican bishops at the council included “the increase in vocations, the construction of churches and seminaries, the moralization of a permissive and secularized society, and the communist threat.”

Few records exist regarding Sahagún de la Parra’s participation. However, in his book ”Diocese of Tula: Notes on Its First 25 Years,” he mentions that he witnessed the collaborative work of the world's bishops ”united by the same ideals: that the Church authentically fulfill the mission of making Christ present in this phase of humanity.”

Currently, only four council fathers are still alive; in addition to Sahagún de la Parra, they are Victorinus Youn Kong-hi, archbishop emeritus of Gwangju, South Korea; Daniel Verstraete, bishop emeritus of Klerksdorp, South Africa, both 100 years old; and Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who is 92.

The Eucharist, the center of his life

At 103 years of age, Sahagún de la Parra remains a living testimony of faith and dedication. For Hurtado, his longevity is no coincidence, but the fruit of two essential pillars in his life: the Eucharist and contact with the people.

When Hurtado had the opportunity to visit him to celebrate his 100th birthday, he was surprised to see that his ”great capacity for hospitality” remained intact and that despite the passage of time, ”he welcomed many people, and with everyone, because lay people came to visit him, and the doors were always open to all of them.”

Sahagún de la Parra’s daily life takes place in the serenity of his home, carefully cared for by the Diocesan Sisters of Our Lady of the Angels in Michoacán.

When contacted by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner — noting that for now the bishop does not grant interviews or receive visitors — the nuns shared that the prelate ”celebrates the Eucharist daily. It’s one of the reasons that has kept him strong and joyful.”

One of the things the sisters have learned from the bishop is that ”he has invited us to live joyfully, to be generous with our lives, to live in peace, and to always ask God for his strength.”

”He has been a very generous person, who easily gives away material goods to help others,” the sisters emphasized.

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

Father Arul Carasala served as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas for over 20 years. / Credit: Courtesy of Archdiocese of Kansas City

CNA Staff, Apr 8, 2025 / 17:12 pm (CNA).

The accused killer of a Kansas Catholic priest shot the clergyman last week “intentionally” and with “premeditation,” a prosecutor has said. 

Gary Hermesch was taken into custody last week at the Nemaha County Jail and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Father Arul Carasala, the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Carasala was shot at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca on April 3. The priest later died from his injuries at Nemaha Valley Community Hospital.

Nemaha County Attorney Brad Lippert’s office said in a press release that the murder was planned beforehand. Hermesch is being held on a $1 million bond at the county jail. 

The exact motive of the shooting remains unclear, though local news outlet KSNT reported that Hermesch had previously written letters to the local paper that contained both political and religious remarks. 

“[M]aybe if we just follow Donald Trump’s example we’ll ‘make the Church great again,’” Hermesch reportedly wrote in one of the letters in which he also alleged that “the faith” is “not being taught.”

In other letters he reportedly referenced a “fake Catholic Church” and spoke negatively of the Second Vatican Council. 

The priest had served in the archdiocese for more than 20 years. Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann said after the shooting last week that Carasala “was a devoted and zealous pastor” who “faithfully served” the archdiocese. 

“His love for Christ and his Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care,” the archbishop said. “His parishioners, friends, and brother priests will deeply miss him.”

The British Parliament building in London. / Credit: Marinesea/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 8, 2025 / 16:42 pm (CNA).

The U.K. Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is warning against a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide, arguing the measure will cause patients to “fear for their safety” in the medical system.

In an April 7 statement, the CMA indicated that it is “committed to upholding the moral teachings of the Catholic Church as applied to the field of health care” and is “therefore fundamentally opposed to the legislation proposed in [member of U.K. Parliament] Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill.”

The group argued that it is “always wrong to make a direct attack on innocent human life.”

Leadbeater is sponsoring the controversial Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their own lives with the help of a doctor. The bill is currently facing a delay in its implementation that could last as long as four years. 

The bill would “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life.”

“The term ‘assisted dying’ is used in a euphemistic way in the bill,” CMA said. “What it actually proposes is assisted suicide.”

The group argued that although suicide was decriminalized in England and Wales in 1961 because of its relation to mental health issues, “assisted suicide remains a crime which may attract a long prison sentence.”

The bill requires “that a person requesting assisted suicide has a clear, settled, and informed wish to end their own life,” CMA noted. The bill further stipulates that the decision must be “voluntarily without coercion or pressure from any other person.”

The Catholic group countered that it will “prove difficult or impossible to establish that these provisions have been strictly observed,” as it is “clear from experience in countries which have legalized assisted suicide that abuse of the regulations is not at all uncommon.”

CMA said this could lead patients “to fear for their safety within health services.”

“For Christians and non-Christians alike, the ancient, fundamental principle of absolute respect for human life has always been officially upheld,” CMA said. “In the Hippocratic Oath, which dates to several hundred years before the time of Christ, it states: ‘I will give no deadly drug to any, nor will I counsel such.’”

The bill, meanwhile, would “overturn the ethical basis of medicine” by forcing medical professionals “to take the lives of their patients.”

“The CMA would not endorse this under any circumstances and will always advocate for health workers to be allowed to act in accordance with their Christian principles.”

The group instead called for greater access to palliative care for the dying, which was originally developed in the U.K. but which the group said is “extremely poorly resourced by the government.” 

CMA “believes that adequate medical and nursing care during a person’s final illness is at least as important as at any other stage of life,” the group said. 

Rather than assisted suicide, the organization urged “major investment in palliative care services such that they become available to all who need them in the U.K., 24 hours a day.”

Kansas Capitol. / Credit: Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 8, 2025 / 16:12 pm (CNA).

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday vetoed legislation that would have protected the religious liberty of adoptive parents and faith-based adoption centers on issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation.

The bill, which passed the state Senate 31-9 and the House 84-38, would have prohibited the Kansas Department for Children and Families from enacting policies that require a prospective adoptive parent or foster parent to first affirm support for gender ideology and homosexuality if they want to qualify to adopt or foster children.

The vetoed bill would have ensured a person could not be denied a license to adopt or foster children and could not be refused selection for adopting or fostering children because he or she holds “sincerely held religious or moral beliefs” that conflict with the state government’s ideology on those subjects.

The bill would have still allowed the state to consider an adoptive or foster parent’s beliefs on those subjects for the placement of a specific minor who identifies as transgender or has same-sex attraction, but it would have prevented a blanket ban on people with those beliefs adopting or fostering children.

Kelly, who is a Democrat, said in a statement that the bill would have interfered with children’s welfare.

“The top priority of the Kansas Department for Children and Families should be adhering to the ‘best interest of the child’ standard,” she said. “Legislation like this detracts from this standard and stands in the way of best serving those in the child welfare system.”

Kelly said she was also concerned the bill could subject the state to “frivolous lawsuits,” which would take away “time and resources” from adoptive care and foster care services.

“Children in need of care already face unique and complex challenges,” Kelly added. “I will not sign legislation that could further complicate their lives.”

Republican lawmakers could have the votes to override the veto, which requires a two-thirds vote by both chambers of the Legislature. The party holds an 88-37 supermajority in the House and a 31-9 supermajority in the Senate.

Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, both Republicans, released a joint statement suggesting they may take that action, asserting that “this veto cannot stand” and arguing that the proposed law reinforces the First Amendment’s guarantee that every person is free to exercise his or her religious beliefs.

“Our foster care system depends on strong and stable families to care for the children in our system,” they said. 

“The last thing any administration should be doing is discriminating against qualified families due to their religious or moral beliefs. It’s perplexing that the governor would choose to veto legislation that would ensure First Amendment protections extend to foster parents.”

Concerning national trends

In recent years, some states have enacted policies that force prospective adoptive and foster parents to agree that they will affirm a child’s transgender identity or same-sex attraction as a condition to adopt or foster any children, even if they would be adopting or fostering a child who has never indicated that he or she identifies as transgender or has same-sex attraction.

Two families in Vermont, who are represented by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), filed a lawsuit against the state after their licenses to foster children were revoked because they refused to agree to a policy that would have required them to affirm a child’s transgender “gender identity” or same-sex attraction.

Neither of those families had fostered any children who identified themselves as transgender or had same-sex attraction when their licenses were revoked.

In Oregon, a mother of five who is also represented by ADF is fighting a lawsuit after she was denied the opportunity to foster any children for the same reason. In that state, a prospective foster parent must also agree to support a child’s transgender identity or same-sex attraction to receive a certification.

ADF Senior Counsel Greg Chafuen issued a statement expressing concern over Kelly’s veto and “hope that the Kansas Legislature will prioritize the state’s children and promptly override this veto.”

“Kelly’s disappointing veto … puts politics over people, excluding caring families and faith-based adoption and foster care organizations from helping children find loving homes — just like we’ve seen in other states that don’t have this protection,” Chafuen added.

Chafuen said the proposed law “would help children benefit from as many adoption and foster care agencies as possible, both faith-based and non-faith-based,” and that an override of the veto “would mean that more families can open their hearts and homes to children in need of a safe and loving environment — that’s keeping kids first.”

“Every child deserves a loving home that can provide them stability and opportunities to grow,” Chafuen added.

CatholicVote president Brian Burch speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination for to be ambassador to the Holy See on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. / Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Washington D.C., Apr 8, 2025 / 15:39 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for CatholicVote president Brian Burch to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See took place Tuesday morning, with Burch facing questions on how he plans to represent the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts to the Vatican as well as his position on the Holy See’s relationship with China.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be nominated by President [Donald] Trump to serve as the United States ambassador to the Holy See,” Burch told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a role of great significance, and I am grateful for the trust President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio have placed in me.”

Burch described the U.S.-Holy See relationship as “both unique and vital,” highlighting its character as being rooted not in traditional diplomacy but rather in “shared commitments to religious freedom, human dignity, global peace, and justice.”

The hearing took place alongside those of Trump’s ambassadorship nominees to Croatia and Chile. Burch, a Catholic father of nine, answered questions from a handful of committee members, including committee chairman Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire; Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska; and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida.

“This is going to be a very challenging issue,” Burch told the committee in response to questions regarding the Trump administration’s widespread cuts to foreign aid. “The secretary has made clear when he took office that he was recharging and refocusing our foreign aid on places that would make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”

“I think those criteria have to be met by these places,” he continued. “Of course, again, I think the partnership with the Holy See can be a very good one, but I think those partners have to understand that our foreign aid is not endless, that we can’t fund every last program.”

During the hearing Shaheen repeatedly pressed Burch on his support for the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts and their impact on Catholic nonprofit organizations abroad. 

At one point the New Hampshire senator asked Burch if he knew how much the U.S. spends on foreign aid, and whether he could name any programs that were not in keeping with American foreign policy interests. 

Burch stated that he was “unaware of the exact numbers” and further stated that he had “read some of the stories” about superfluous foreign spending, citing one about alleged “transgender mice experiments,” a claim Shaheen disputed.

Burch said the situation regarding foreign aid “is going to be a process” and noted several aid organizations he had spoken to had had their grants reauthorized, while others are still pending. 

Ricketts asked Burch for his thoughts on the Vatican-China deal, expressing concern that the communist-ruled government should be allowed to appoint Catholic bishops and that the arrangement encourages the continued persecution of religious minorities in the country. 

“I think it’s important for the Holy See to maintain a posture of pressure and of applying pressure to the Chinese government around their human rights abuses, particularly their persecution of religious minorities, including Catholics,” Burch stated. 

“I would encourage the Holy See as the United States ambassador, if I’m confirmed, to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution,” he said.

Scott, meanwhile, asked Burch what he believed he could achieve through diplomacy with the Vatican for hostages, including American citizens, still being held by Hamas in Gaza. 

Burch said he believed the Holy See “can play a very significant role” by being “a partner in that conversation and [delivering] the necessary moral urgency of ending this conflict and hopefully securing a durable peace.”