WASHINGTON – This week, the U.S. Department of State officially published three rules, significantly expanding the “Mexico City Policy,” which historically limited certain federal funds from going to foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortion abroad. The State Department is referring to these three rules collectively as the Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance (PHFFA) Policy. Three bishop-chairmen of committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) responded:

“God entrusts us with a responsibility to share our blessings to help preserve the lives and dignity of our brothers and sisters in need. We support robust funding for authentic lifesaving and life-affirming foreign assistance and applaud new policies that prevent taxpayer dollars from going to organizations that engage in ideological colonization and promote abortion or gender ideology overseas. We also call for the implementation of any related policies to be carried out in a manner that recognizes the inherent dignity of every human person and does not harm those who are racially or ethnically marginalized.”

The bishop-chairmen were Bishop Edward J. Burns of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Committee on International Justice and Peace. Earlier in the week, Bishop Thomas had also offered a statement, in part, addressing the rule related to the performance and promotion of abortion.

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ROME (CNS) -- Thanks to a 17th-century Italian priest, skis made their way from their origin in Scandinavia to Central Europe.

Father Francesco Negri, born in Ravenna, Italy, in 1623, was a natural history and geography buff and longed to discover the secrets of the North. 

According to an article first published by the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire in 2006, Father Negri is thought to be the first tourist to travel to Norway's North Cape and the first Central European to don a pair of skis and spread this sleek, winter transport technology to Italy, host country to the Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina Feb. 6-22.

During the Italian priest's 1663-66 voyage to the snow-covered lands of Sweden and Norway, he met with and wrote extensively about the Scandinavian peoples, according to the article.

In his book, "Viaggio Settentrionale," he marveled at how the native hunters darted toward their reindeer prey using "two thin boards no wider than the foot, but 8 to 9 palms long, with the tip turned up a bit so as not to dig in the snow."

He also made drawings and described how the skier used sticks that had a round piece of wood driven into one end, so the poles would not perforate the snow.

Not the passive observer, Father Negri also strapped the unfamiliar "skie" to his feet and experimented. 

He noted that it was important to keep the skis straight and parallel. Possibly speaking from personal experience, he warned the user would fall if the skis spread too far apart or if the front tips or back ends crossed.

In his book, published posthumously in 1700, the Italian priest offered some other helpful hints for successful skiing.

It helps "to eat and drink abundantly," he wrote. He said it was best to fuel up on generous portions of distilled liquor, or "aquavit," early in the morning in order to burn through the deep, cold drifts.

Over the years, the pastime grew in popularity, becoming a more common hobby in middle-class society. Among the many Central Europeans who became avid skiers was St. John Paul II. Born in Poland in 1920, he loved the outdoors and would still go swimming, skiing and mountain climbing while he was bishop and cardinal of Krakow, Poland. 

He did not let becoming pope in 1978 and moving to the Vatican stop him from his love for sport. St. John Paul regularly left the Vatican unannounced and, in his early years, he would spend an afternoon skiing or hiking.

According to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the late pope's private secretary, St. John Paul made more than 100 secret trips to ski or hike in the Italian mountains, particularly the Gran Sasso mountain in Abruzzo.

Another well-known saint-skier is St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom St. John Paul beatified in 1990, and Pope Leo XIV canonized Sept. 7, 2025. 

Born in Turin, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006, St. Frassati loved the outdoors and was an avid mountain climber. An iconic image of the young man shows him on a mountain summit with a hiking stick and smoking a pipe, illustrating the motto he was best known for, "Verso l'alto" ("To the heights").

ROME (CNS) -- Asked about the deadly shootings by U.S. federal agents in Minneapolis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the violence unfolding there is "unacceptable."

"The position of the Holy See is always to avoid any kind of violence, obviously, and therefore we cannot accept episodes of this kind. That is our position, as you know," he told reporters when asked about operations underway by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, which have led to the shootings and deaths of two U.S. citizens.

"Difficulties, problems and contradictions must be resolved in other ways," he said Jan. 28, describing the situation as "unacceptable" and agreeing with recent statements by U.S. bishops. 

The cardinal spoke with reporters on the sidelines of an evening event at LUMSA University in Rome Jan. 28.

Asked about the possibility of the U.S. sending ICE agents to the Winter Olympics in northern Italy as part of security measures for the U.S. delegation, the cardinal said he was aware of the proposal, "but I know there is also controversy surrounding it. We don't get involved" in such controversies.

Meanwhile, secretary-general of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi, told reporters during a news conference Jan. 28 that "We hope that respect for public order will be ensured as much as possible by our own (Italian) authorities," adding that there has been no official statement from the conference on the issue.

WASHINGTON - “There is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time,” said Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, together with Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace. 

The bishops’ statement follows U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, effective February 3, based on a determination the country no longer meets the conditions for the designation. Over 300,000 Haitians in the United States are covered by the current designation. 

The U.S. Department of State’s own travel advisory for Haiti is Level 4, the highest level, because of “life-threatening risks” that include kidnapping, terrorist activity, and civil unrest; meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is currently prohibiting any flights from the United States to Haiti’s capital.

Bishop Cahill and Bishop Zaidan’s full statement follows: 

“We are deeply concerned about the plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters living in the United States who will soon have their legal status and work authorization revoked due to the Administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti. There is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time. 

“We do not dispute that TPS is intended to be ‘temporary,’ as is often pointed out as a rationale for ending it, which is why we have reaffirmed on so many occasions the need for Congress to create viable opportunities for longtime residents with TPS, regardless of nationality, to request a more durable legal status. However, so long as Congress fails in this regard, and the current conditions in Haiti persist, the onus is on the executive branch to act in a just and merciful way.

“The Trump Administration still has the opportunity to do the right thing—to safeguard human life, to uphold the law, and to promote greater stability for people in this country and beyond. TPS was created by Congress with these very goals in mind, and the ongoing conditions in Haiti are precisely the sort warranting TPS. We urge the Administration to act accordingly by extending this vital relief for Haitians. 

“Most importantly, we reaffirm the U.S. Church’s solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters, wherever they may be. We turn to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Patroness of Haiti, for her intercession; may she always be a source of strength and comfort for the Haitian people.”

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Translation of Bishops’ statement in Haitian Creole:

Men Deklarasyon konplè Evèk Cahill ak Evèk Zaidan: 

“Nou enkyete anpil pou frè ak sè ayisyen nou yo ki ap viv Ozetazini e ki kapab pèdi estati legal yo ak otorizasyon pou travay akòz desizyon Administrasyon an pran pou mete fen nan TPS pou Ayiti. Pa gen okenn opòtinite reyalis pou retounen moun Ayiti san danje ak nan lòd kounye a.

“Nou pa kont lide ke TPS fèt pou l ‘tanporè,’ jan sa souvan itilize kòm rezon pou mete fen nan li. Se poutèt sa nou toujou repete anpil fwa bezwen pou Kongrè a kreye opòtinite solid pou rezidan ki gen TPS depi lontan, kèlkeswa nasyonalite yo, pou yo mande yon estati legal ki pi dirab. Sepandan, toutotan Kongrè a pa reponn a bezwen sa a, e toutotan kondisyon aktyèl yo Ayiti kontinye egziste, se devwa pouvwa egzekitif la pou l aji avèk jistis ak mizèrikòd.

“Administrasyon Trump toujou gen chans pou l fè sa ki dwat—pou l pwoteje lavi moun, pou l respekte lalwa, epi pou l ankouraje plis estabilite pou moun nan peyi sa a ak lòt kote. TPS se Kongrè ki te kreye li ak objektif sa yo, e sitiyasyon Ayiti jodi a montre byen klè rezon ki fè TPS egziste. Nou ankouraje Administrasyon an pou l aji kòmsadwa lè l pwolonje sekou vital sa a pou Ayisyen yo.

“Pi enpòtan toujou, nou renouvle solidarite Legliz Katolik Ozetazini ak frè ak sè ayisyen nou yo, kèlkeswa kote yo ye. Nou vire je nou sou Notre Dame du Secours Pèpétuel, Patronn Ayiti, pou entèsesyon li; ke li toujou yon sous fòs ak rekonfò pou pèp ayisyen an.”

View this release in Haitian Creole.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV called for an end to all antisemitism, prejudice, oppression and persecution worldwide.

"I renew my appeal to the community of nations always to remain vigilant so that the horror of genocide never again befall any people and that a society based on mutual respect and the common good be built," he said Jan. 28.

The pope made his remarks during his greeting to Italian-speaking visitors after leading his general audience talk in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

The pope recalled the previous day's commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is marked Jan. 27 each year, the anniversary of the day in 1945 when Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex. The camp was the largest of the Nazi work and death camps; an estimated 1.1 million of the more than 6 million victims of the Holocaust died there. 

"On this annual occasion of painful remembrance, I ask Almighty God for the gift of a world without any more antisemitism, prejudice, oppression or persecution of any human being," Pope Leo said. 

The pope also commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day with a post on X Jan. 27, recalling "that the Church remains faithful to the unwavering position of the Declaration #NostraAetate against every form of antisemitism. The Church rejects any discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity, language, nationality or religion."

Later the same day, the pope underlined the importance of praying for peace when speaking to reporters as he was leaving the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome.

When asked about the situation in the Middle East, specifically the arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is equipped with guided-missile destroyers, Pope Leo said, "I will just say that we must pray very much for peace."

Though regular, everyday people may seem "small" or insignificant, he said, "we can raise our voices and always seek dialogue rather than violence to resolve problems, especially on this day when we commemorate the Shoah."

"Let us fight against all forms of antisemitism," he said.

WASHINGTON – “Your faith matters. Your prayers matter. Your acts of love and works of justice matter,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel,” he continued, and as a step toward healing, invited bishops and priests across the United States to offer a Holy Hour for Peace.

Archbishop Coakley’s full reflection and invitation follow:

Many people today feel powerless in the face of violence, injustice, and social unrest. To those who feel this way, I wish to say clearly: your faithfulness matters. Your prayers matter. Your acts of love and works of justice matter. 

I am deeply grateful for the countless ways Catholics and all people of good will continue to serve one another and work for peace and justice. Whether feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick, accompanying the lonely, visiting the imprisoned, or striving daily to love their neighbors, no work of mercy or act of justice is ever wasted in the eyes of God. While proper laws must be respected, works of mercy, peacefully assembling, and caring for those in your community are signs of hope, and they build peace more surely than anger or despair ever could. Christ reminds us that even ‘a single cup of cold water’ given in his name will not go unrewarded (cf. Mt 10:42).

The recent killing of two people by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis and that of a detained man in Texas, are just a few of the tragic examples of the violence that represent failures in our society to respect the dignity of every human life. We mourn this loss of life and deplore the indifference and injustice it represents. The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel.

As a step toward healing, I invite my brother bishops and priests across the United States to offer a Holy Hour for Peace in the days ahead. Let us pray for reconciliation where there is division, for justice where there are violations of fundamental rights, and for consolation for all who feel overwhelmed by fear or loss. I encourage Catholics everywhere to participate, whether in parishes, chapels, or before the Lord present in the quiet of their hearts for healing in our nation and communities. 

May this Holy Hour be a moment of renewal for our hearts and for our nation. Entrusting our fears and hopes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us ask the Lord to make us instruments of his peace and witnesses to the inherent dignity of every person.

Let us pray together, confident that God hears the cry of his people and remains close to all who seek him. 

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WASHINGTON – “Consecrated men and women are a witness to the hope of a life lived in Christ that is awaited to be fully received in Heaven,” said Archbishop-designate Ronald A. Hicks, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. The committee assists bishops in promoting, supporting, and educating about the Church’s pastoral needs and concerns for the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life, and addresses issues concerning the life and ministry of bishops. Instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1997, the Catholic Church observes the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life on February 2 each year. Dioceses, parishes, and schools take the opportunity to recognize, celebrate, and pray for those in consecrated life and those discerning this state of life. 

“By responding to the vocational call such as consecrated virginity, religious life, and members of secular institutes and societies of Apostolic life, consecrated men and women reveal God’s invitation to love him with one’s whole life even now while on Earth as it will be in Heaven. Living out this love can start before one enters into consecrated life through active participation in the Mass, such as being an altar server or lector, or parish ministry, and teaching the faith to God’s people,” said Archbishop-designate Hicks.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, in preparation for this celebration, commissions a study each year on newly professed men and women religious through the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The full CARA report and profiles of the Profession Class of 2025 may be found here.   

Resources on the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life are available on the USCCB’s website World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Humanity must not allow technology, especially AI, to obscure, exploit or suppress human voices, needs, knowledge, talents, creativity and critical thinking abilities, Pope Leo XIV said.

Algorithms designed to maximize engagement on social media can lock people into "bubbles" of easy consensus and rage, weakening people's ability to listen and think critically, and increasing polarization, the pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Communications.

"Added to this is a naively uncritical reliance on artificial intelligence as an omniscient 'friend,' a dispenser of all information, an archive of all memory, an 'oracle' of all advice," which can also further erode the ability to understand what things really mean and to think analytically and creatively, he wrote.

The pope's message was released Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists. The Vatican and most dioceses will celebrate the World Day of Communications May 17, the Sunday before Pentecost. 

The theme for the church's 60th celebration of World Day of Communications is "Preserving human voices and faces," which the Dicastery for Communication announced Sept. 29.

The theme underlines the pope's focus on the need to respect the human person and each person's God-given uniqueness and diversity.

The challenge, he wrote, "is not technological, but anthropological. Protecting faces and voices ultimately means protecting ourselves."

Humanity can embrace the opportunities offered by digital technology and artificial intelligence "with courage, determination and discernment," he wrote, without hiding or ignoring the critical issues, problems and risks they pose.

The main concern is not what "machines" or technology can or will be able to do, Pope Leo wrote, "but what we can and will be able to do, growing in humanity and knowledge, with the wise use of such powerful tools at our service."

The heart of the problem, he wrote, is the human temptation to passively accept the fruits of knowledge without being an integral part of the technological process, without doing the needed research and without being held accountable and responsible regarding their use. 

"Giving up the creative process and surrendering our mental capacities and imagination to machines means burying the talents we have received to grow as people in relation to God and others," he wrote. "It means hiding our face and silencing our voice."

Without proper safeguards, he wrote, "digital technology risks radically altering some of the fundamental pillars of human civilization" since current technology is able to simulate "human voices and faces, wisdom and knowledge, awareness and responsibility, empathy and friendship."

"There has long been ample evidence that algorithms designed to maximize engagement on social media -- which is profitable for platforms -- reward knee-jerk emotions and penalize more time-consuming human expressions such as the effort to understand and reflect," the pope wrote.

"By closing groups of people into bubbles of easy consensus and easy indignation, these algorithms weaken the ability to listen and think critically and increase social polarization," he wrote, adding his warning about any naive and uncritical reliance on AI for information, remembering the past, "friendship" and advice.

"Although AI can provide support and assistance in managing communication tasks, shirking the effort to think for ourselves and settling for an artificial statistical compilation risks eroding our cognitive, emotional and communication skills in the long run," he wrote.

Pope Leo flagged the danger of letting AI systems take control of producing text, music and video, and allowing "masterpieces of human genius in the fields of music, art and literature" to become "mere training grounds for machines."

"Much of the human creative industry is thus at risk of being dismantled and replaced with the label 'Powered by AI,' transforming people into mere passive consumers of unthought thoughts, anonymous products, without authorship, without love," he wrote.

Pope Leo also highlighted the increased presence of "bots" and "virtual influencers" on people's social media feeds, and their ability to influence public debate and people's choices. 

Another danger, he added, was "anthropomorphizing" Large Language Models, which can imitate human emotions and appear "affectionate," potentially deceiving or influencing vulnerable people and exploiting the human need for relationships.

If people replace real human relationships with AI-trained systems, where "everything is made in our image and likeness," he wrote, people can build a "world of mirrors" and be robbed of the opportunity "to encounter others, who are always different from us, and with whom we can and must learn to engage."

AI and its propensity to "hallucinate" as well as its ability to fabricate "reality" make it increasingly difficult to distinguish fact and fiction, thus posing a great risk to journalism, he wrote.

"A failure to verify sources, together with the crisis in on-the-ground journalism, which involves the continuous gathering and verification of information wherever events occur, can create even more fertile ground for disinformation, causing a growing sense of mistrust, confusion and insecurity," the pope wrote.

And finally, he warned about the danger of having a "handful of companies" be in control of so much data and be able to "subtly influence behavior and even rewrite human history -- including the history of the Church -- often without us even realizing it."

What needs to be done, he wrote, is "not stop digital innovation, but to guide it, to be aware of its ambivalent nature" and to "raise our voices in defense of human beings, so that these tools can truly be integrated as our allies."

This alliance must be based on responsibility, cooperation and education, he wrote,

"Media and communication companies cannot allow algorithms designed to win the battle for a few extra seconds of attention at any cost to prevail over their professional values, which are aimed at seeking the truth," he wrote. "Public trust is earned through accuracy and transparency, not by chasing after any kind of engagement." 

"Content generated or manipulated by AI must be clearly labeled and distinguished from content created by humans," the pope wrote. Authorship, ownership and copyright must be protected.

"Information is a public good. A constructive and meaningful public service is not based on opacity, but on transparency of sources, inclusion of stakeholders and high standards of quality," he said in his message.

The pope called for increased media, information and AI literacy on all levels. "As Catholics, we can and must make our contribution so that people -- especially young people -- acquire critical thinking skills and grow in freedom of spirit."

More should be done, too, he added, in protecting people's face, image and voice from being used in "the creation of harmful content and behaviors such as digital fraud, cyberbullying and deepfakes that violate people's privacy and intimacy without their consent."

"We need faces and voices to represent people again," he wrote. "We need to cherish the gift of communication as the deepest truth of humanity, to which all technological innovation should be oriented."

WASHINGTON - On Ash Wednesday, February 18, Catholics in dioceses across the United States are invited to give to the annual Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

This collection, which is in its 35th year, continues its mission of helping churches in nearly 30 countries recover from militantly atheist communist rule, including ministry and relief efforts related to the war against Ukraine.

Bishop Gerald L. Vincke of the Diocese of Salina, chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, witnessed the collection’s work in Ukraine last March. “I visited a shelter for families whose homes were destroyed and an orphanage for children whose parents were killed. Veterans I met with expressed their gratitude for therapy they have been able to receive for their post-traumatic stress,” he said.

“An elderly man who had survived a Siberian gulag told me, ‘What gives me hope is that, in the end, evil does not win.’ He is right – but that requires all of us to follow Christ’s call to build the kingdom of God. Pope John Paul II knew that in 1990 when he urged Catholics in the United States to join the great rebuilding effort in lands newly liberated from communist oppression – lands from which many of our families had immigrated,” continued Bishop Vincke.

The Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe was the U.S. bishops’ response to that call. Many dioceses take up this annual collection on Ash Wednesday, though some dioceses have different dates. The online giving site iGiveCatholic also accepts funds for the program.

In 2024, gifts to the collection funded 547 grants totaling more than $9.5 million. Examples of how donations are used include:

• In Kokshetau, Kazakhstan, sisters of the Community of the Beatitudes expanded their mission of evangelization by establishing a day center for preschool children with Down syndrome and their families.
• In the Slovak Republic, a multi-faceted outreach to vulnerable pregnant women provides material assistance, counseling, training in prevention of abuse, and “Evenings of Mercy” a gathering featuring Mass, confessions, and healing prayers.
• One of the many projects in Ukraine trains lay leaders in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Exarchate of Lutsk to develop new skills in pastoral and social ministry so they can help bring hope and comfort to people who have lost everything.
• A thousand-year-old Benedictine monastery in Hungary is helping clergy and laity discover the teachings of Vatican II on topics ranging from liturgy to interfaith relations.
• In Bulgaria, a village church has been able to engage in digital media evangelization and now offers a post-abortion healing ministry. They were also able to send young pilgrims to the Jubilee in Rome and financed English-immersion studies for a priest in order to reach non-Bulgarians.

“For 35 years, your contributions to the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe have made a profound difference. You have rebuilt cathedrals, renewed hope, healed the suffering and brought joy where there had been despair,” Bishop Vincke said. “As these churches continue to heal from old wounds and suffer new ones, it is my hope that you give generously and become part of our ongoing and loving response.”

Additional information on grants and impact is at www.usccb.org/ccee.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Peace is built on respect for all people, Pope Leo XIV said after praying the Angelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square Jan. 25.

The pope called for prayers for peace "in Ukraine, in the Middle East and in every region where, unfortunately, there is fighting going on for interests that are not those of the people."

"Peace is built on respect for peoples!" he said.

Greeting young people from Catholic Action who organized the annual "Caravan of Peace," the pope thanked them for helping "us adults to look at the world from another perspective: that of cooperation between people and among diverse peoples."

"Be peacemakers at home, at school, in sports, everywhere," he told the young people. "Never be violent, neither with words nor with gestures. Never!  Evil can only be overcome with good."

Speaking specifically about Ukraine, Pope Leo lamented the "continuous attacks" against the nation, which have left "entire populations exposed to the cold of winter."

"I am following the situation with sorrow, and I am close to and pray for those who suffer," he said.

"The continuation of hostilities, with increasingly serious consequences for civilians, widens the rift between peoples and pushes further back the opportunity for a just and lasting peace," he said, inviting everyone "to intensify their efforts to end this war."