St. Paul Catholic Church, Richmond, VA

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV welcomed the newly announced ceasefire in the Middle East as “a sign of genuine hope” after what he described as “hours of extreme tension,” while urging a return to negotiations and calling the faithful to prayer.

“Only by returning to negotiations can the war be brought to an end,” he said in remarks in Italian following his April 8 general audience in St. Peter's Square.

His comments came just hours after a two-week ceasefire was reached between Iran and the United States, narrowly averting further escalation. The agreement followed a stark warning from U.S. President Donald Trump late April 7, when he threatened to destroy Iran’s critical infrastructure, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers. The ceasefire was announced roughly two hours before the White House's deadline.

The pope’s appeal for dialogue echoed remarks he made the previous evening at Castel Gandolfo, where he urged leaders to return to the negotiating table even before the ceasefire was announced.

“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” he told journalists April 7. “There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole.”

Expanding on the broader implications of the conflict, he warned of a global economic crisis marked by “great instability,” which he said risks fueling further hatred, and he called on ordinary citizens to contact their political leaders to advocate for peace.

The pope also invited the faithful to join him in a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 in his general audience address. As flowers lined the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Easter season, he used his main talk to reflect on holiness, emphasizing that it is a calling shared by all believers.

"Every baptized person is called to be holy; to live in God's grace, to practice virtue and to become like Christ," he said in his address to English speakers.

Continuing his series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, he described charity as the foundation of holiness, "the fullness of love towards God and towards one’s neighbor," and said its highest expression is martyrdom, calling it the "supreme witness of faith and charity." He added that the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, sustain believers in this call.

He continued his analysis of the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium," specifically, the important role of consecrated life. "Indeed, signs of the Kingdom of God, already present in the mystery of the Church, are those evangelical counsels that shape every experience of consecrated life: poverty, chastity and obedience.

Poverty demonstrates "complete trust" in God -- free of self-interest, obedience follows Christ's "self-giving" offered to God, and chastity is the "gift of a heart that is whole and pure in love, at the service of God and Church." The pope called these virtues a form of "radical discipleship."

"These three virtues are not rules that shackle freedom, but liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit, through which some of the faithful are wholly consecrated to God," he said.

Closing his main address, the pope said that Christ’s sacrifice makes holiness possible even in suffering.

"By contemplating this event, we know that there is no human experience that God does not redeem," he said. "Even suffering, lived in union with the passion of the Lord, becomes a path of holiness."

WASHINGTON - “I call on President Trump to step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. With the threat of increased military action, including the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Iran, Archbishop Coakley underscored Pope Leo XIV’s appeals during Holy Week and Easter for peace. 

Archbishop Coakley’s full statement follows:

“The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified. There are other ways to resolve conflict between peoples. I call on President Trump to step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost.   

“After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem, and his first words were ‘Peace be with you.’ As the Holy Father, in his Urbi et Orbi message on Easter reflected, the peace that ‘Jesus gives us is not a peace that merely silences the weapons, but one that touches and transforms the heart of each of us! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!’ 

“Pope Leo has invited everyone to join him in a prayer vigil for peace on Saturday, April 11. I make a special plea to my brother bishops, the priests, the laity, and all people yearning for true peace to join the Holy Father’s Vigil for Peace, whether virtually, or in parishes, chapels, or before the Lord present in the quiet of their hearts to join with our Holy Father as we pray for peace in our world.

“Let us entrust to the Lord ‘all hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only he can give. Let us entrust ourselves to him and open our hearts to him! He is the only one who makes all things new (cf. Rev 21:5).’”

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Appealing to those in power to end all conflicts through dialogue and not domination, Pope Leo XIV urged humanity to stop growing accustomed to wars and violence and announced a prayer vigil for peace April 11.

"We cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil!" he said April 5 before giving his Easter blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world). 

"In the light of Easter, let us allow ourselves to be amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us!" he said. 

"Let those who have weapons lay them down!" he said. "Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!"

Before delivering his blessing from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Leo said, "The peace that Jesus gives us is not merely the silence of weapons, but the peace that touches and transforms the heart of each one of us!"

"Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the peace of Christ! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!" he said. "For this reason, I invite everyone to join me in a prayer vigil for peace that we will celebrate here in St. Peter’s Basilica next Saturday, April 11."

Christ's power is nonviolent, Pope Leo said. "Christ, our 'victorious King,' fought and won his battle through trusting abandonment to the Father’s will, to his plan of salvation." 

Jesus walked the path of dialogue, "not in words but in deeds: to find us who were lost, he became flesh; to free us who were slaves, he became a slave; to give life to us mortals, he allowed himself to be killed on the cross," he said in his message. 

This strength and power, he said, is the God of love who creates and generates, who is faithful to the end, and who forgives and redeems. 

According to the Vatican, more than 50,000 people attended the Easter morning Mass in St. Peter's Square, where colorful floral arrangements adorned the steps leading to the basilica, highlighting the joyful celebration of Christ's resurrection.

In his homily, he said, "death is always lurking. We see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable. "

"We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys," he said.

And yet, because of the Lord's resurrection, Christ invites the faithful to "lift our gaze and open our hearts," recognizing that "the Lord is alive and remains with us," the pope said.

"In every death we experience, there is also room for new life to arise," he said. Easter gives the hope "that in the risen Christ, a new creation is possible every day" and that "a new life, stronger than death, is now dawning for humanity."

This is the "song" of hope and joy that today's Christians must proclaim on "the streets of the world," and live out in their daily lives, he said in his homily, "so that wherever the specter of death still lingers, the light of life may shine."

After the Mass, he greeted those gathered in the square and surrounding streets from the central loggia, saying in Italian to great applause, "Brothers and sisters, Christ is risen! Happy Easter!"

He also gave Easter greetings in 10 different languages, including Chinese, Arabic and Latin, though the crowds cheered loudest when he spoke in Spanish and his native English. The crowds enthusiastically waved flags and handed him babies as he was driven around the square in the popemobile after the ceremony.

Before reciting the noonday "Regina Caeli," and giving his blessing, the pope delivered the traditional Easter message from the loggia, where almost a year ago, Pope Francis gave his final words before his death on Easter Monday, April 21. 

Pope Leo repeated his predecessor's words that day, and his warning against the increasing "globalization of indifference" to the "great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of the world!"

Instead of making a series of appeals for peace regarding specific areas of conflict, as has been the norm, Pope Leo invited everyone to join him in a prayer vigil for peace at the Vatican, a few days before he leaves for a four-country journey to Africa.

"On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil," he said.

"To the Lord we entrust all hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only he can give," he prayed. "Let us entrust ourselves to him and open our hearts to him! He is the only one who makes all things new."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God's love is stronger than any evil, capable of "driving out hatred" and "bringing down the mighty," Pope Leo XIV said.

"Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison," the pope said in his homily during the Easter Vigil April 4 in St. Peter's Basilica.

"This, my dear friends, is also our message to the world today," to be shared "through the words of faith and the works of charity," he said.

Just as Mary Magdalene and the other women rushed to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen, "we too should desire to set out tonight from this basilica to bring to all the good news," the pope said. "Having risen with him, through his power, we too can give life to a new world of peace and unity."

The Mass began in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica with the blessing of the fire and of the Easter candle. With most of the lights in the basilica turned off, Pope Leo and the concelebrating cardinals, bishops and priests processed in darkness toward the altar, stopping first to light the pope's candle and then those of the concelebrants and faithful. 

During the liturgy, Pope Leo baptized 10 adults. Five were from the Diocese of Rome, two from Great Britain, two from Portugal and one catechumen was from South Korea, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.

The pope also confirmed the 10 and gave them their first Communion during the Mass.

During the Liturgy of the Word and the readings detailing moments in the history of salvation, Pope Leo said in his homily, "We have seen how God responds to the hardness of sin -- which divides and kills -- with the power of love, which unites and restores life."

The Gospel reading described how the women who had witnessed Jesus' death and burial overcame their grief and fear, and went to his tomb, expecting to find it sealed with a large stone and soldiers standing guard, he said.

"This is what sin is: a heavy barrier that closes us off and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us," he said.

However, because of the women's "faith and love," he said, they became the first witnesses of the resurrection and "they saw the power of God’s love, stronger than any force of evil, capable of 'driving out hatred' and 'bringing down the mighty.'"

Throughout history, even when humanity failed to live according to God's plan, he said, "the Lord did not abandon us, but revealed his merciful face to us in an even more surprising way -- through forgiveness." 

"Sisters and brothers, even today, there are tombs to be opened, and often the stones sealing them are so heavy and so closely guarded that they seem to be immovable," Pope Leo said.

Some "stones" weigh heavily on the human heart, he said, "such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others, stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations."

"Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!" he said. With God's help, many men and women have rolled away those "stones," sometimes at the cost of their lives, "but with good fruits that we still benefit from today."

"They are not unattainable figures, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in charity and truth, had the courage to speak" the words of God and to act "with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified," he said.

"Let us be inspired by their example," the pope said, "and on this holy night let us make their commitment our own, so that the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere and always throughout the world."

ROME (CNS) -- Life must be lived as a journey seeking to follow in Jesus' footsteps, Pope Leo XIV said after completing the Stations of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum.

"Let us make our own the prayer by which St. Francis invites us to live our lives as a journey of ever-deepening participation in the communion of love that unites the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," he said at the conclusion of the nighttime service April 3.

It was the first time since 2022 that a pope presided in person at the candlelit ceremony; several bouts of poor health had prevented Pope Francis from attending the ceremony in his final years. It was also the first time since 1994 a pope carried the cross for all 14 stations -- something St. John Paul II had started at the beginning of his pontificate.

Pope Leo told reporters March 31 that carrying the cross for the entire route would be "an important sign because of what the pope represents -- the spiritual leader of the world today -- and because of this message that everyone wants to hear and say: that Christ still suffers." 

"I, too, carry all this suffering in my prayers, and I would like to invite all people of goodwill, people of faith, all Christians, to walk together, to walk with Christ who suffered for us to give us salvation and life, and to seek how we, too, can be bearers of peace and not of hatred," he had said.

Because 2026 marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo asked Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, who served as custos of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025, to write the meditations for this year's Good Friday service.

St. Francis always invited the faithful to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the Franciscan priest wrote in his introduction. May walking the Way of the Cross "be more than a mere ritual or intellectual journey, but one that transforms our entire person and life."

The readings, prayers and reflections touched on the many forms of suffering and pain afflicting the world today, and implored deliverance from evil, temptations and fear.

"Every person in authority will have to answer to God for the way they exercise their power," he wrote for the first station, "Jesus is condemned to death." 

People have the power to: judge; start or end a war; instill violence or peace; fuel the desire for revenge or for reconciliation; use the economy to oppress people or to liberate them from misery; trample on human dignity or to uphold it; and the power to promote and defend life, or reject and stifle it, he wrote.

But Jesus says, "whatever you do to another human being, especially to the small and vulnerable, you do unto me. And it is to me that you will one day give an account," he wrote.

True power, he wrote for the 11th station, "Jesus is nailed to the cross," is rooted in learning how to forgive "and to bear the difficulties of life in peace, because it is not love of power that conquers, but the power of love."

For the eighth station, "Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem," Father Patton wrote about the women who weep throughout history. "For centuries, they have wept for themselves and for their children, children taken away and imprisoned during protests, deported by policies devoid of compassion, shipwrecked on desperate journeys of hope, killed in war zones, and wiped out in death camps."

"Give us tears once more, Lord, lest our conscience fade into the fog of indifference and we cease to be fully human," he wrote.  

For the 10th station, "Jesus is stripped of his garments," the priest wrote about the many forms of violation repeated today, such as torture, intrusive surveillance, rape and abuse. It also includes "when the entertainment industry exploits nudity for the sake of profit; when the media exposes individuals to public opinion; and even when we ourselves, through our curiosity, fail to respect the modesty, intimacy and privacy of others."

"Remind us, Lord, that each time we fail to recognize the dignity of others, our own dignity is diminished. And whenever we condone or take part in inhuman behavior toward any person, we ourselves become less human," he wrote.

At the conclusion of the Way of the Cross, Pope Leo gave his blessing and recited a prayer written by St. Francis, asking that "God give us miserable ones the grace to do for you alone what we know you want us to do and always to desire what pleases you."

"Inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may we be able to follow in the footprints of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and, by your grace alone, may we make our way to you," he prayed.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A message of nonviolence and quiet endurance marked the Good Friday liturgy at the Vatican, during which the Passion of Christ offers an example of breaking the cycle of violence that continues today.

Delivering the homily during the solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion ahead of the evening Via Crucis, Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, the preacher of the papal household, urged the faithful not to give in to violence, but rather find the "discreet and stubborn song that invites (us) to love."

"We are all constantly tempted to use a little bit of aggressiveness, a little bit of violence, thinking that without these means things will never be resolved," he said April 3 in St. Peter's Basilica. "The servant of the Lord cannot give in to this instinct."

The rite began with Pope Leo XIV's silent procession down the central nave. Dressed in red vestments, symbolizing the blood of Christ’s Passion, he somberly lay prostrate before the altar, a sign of adoration and penance. The readings recounted Christ's passion and death on the cross.

At the moment of the veneration of the cross, the pope removed his chasuble and shoes and knelt before the crucifix in a gesture of humility. Clergy followed one by one, venerating the crucifix on bended knee and with a kiss.

Father Pasolini’s homily echoed Pope Leo's repeated calls for an end to war, warning that "in a time like ours, still so lacerated by hatred and violence, where even the name of God is invoked to justify wars and decisions of death…."

He said this evil continues "to circulate because it always finds someone willing to return it and multiply it."

The homily emphasized that resisting this evil of violence is neither easy nor instinctive. Faced with injustice, the natural human reaction is to retaliate or "even the scores." Yet Jesus refused that instinct entirely.

"He accepts everything without returning violence," Father Pasolini said. 

Jesus "broke this chain," not through superior force, but by embracing suffering and responding with forgiveness, silence and compassion, the papal preacher said.

Father Pasolini pointed to what he called a "silent line of people," ordinary men and women who, often unnoticed, choose to resist hatred in their daily lives.

"They get up every day and try to make their life something that is not only for them, but also for others," he said. "They carry burdens that they have not chosen, they receive wounds without becoming bitter, they don't stop looking for the good, even when it seems useless."

ROME (CNS) -- God doesn't exist to grant victories or to be useful by providing wealth or power, Pope Leo XIV said.

Through Jesus, he serves humanity by offering himself in a way that transforms human hearts so that they may then be inspired to love others unconditionally, in turn, he said in his homily during Mass of the Lord's Supper in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

"Jesus purifies not only our image of God -- from the idolatry and blasphemy that have distorted it -- but also our image of humanity," he said April 2, Holy Thursday. "For we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared." 

However, he said, "Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service and love" so that humankind can learn how to love according to what true love is.

In fact, he said, learning to act like Jesus "is the work of a lifetime."

The Lord loves not because those he reaches out to are good or pure, Pope Leo said, but simply because "he loves us first."

"His love is not a reward for our acceptance of his mercy; instead, he loves us, and therefore cleanses us, thereby enabling us to respond to his love," he said. "He does not ask us to repay him, but to share his gift among ourselves."

"In him, God has given us an example -- not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it," Pope Leo said. 

"As humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed," he said. "In this way, we seek to follow the Lord's example."

The pope's words came during a Mass that commemorates Jesus' institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and includes the traditional foot-washing ritual, which reflects the call to imitate Christ by serving one another. 

Pope Leo returned to an earlier practice of washing the feet of 12 priests from the Diocese of Rome in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. The pope poured water from a golden pitcher onto the foot of each priest, wiped each foot dry with a towel and then gently kissed each foot.

Pope Francis had departed from the norm after his election in 2013 by celebrating the Mass in one of Rome's "peripheries," such as prisons or nursing homes, and by washing the feet of men, women and their infants, Muslims or people of no faith, as a sign of his dedication to serve everyone unconditionally. 

Pope Francis' predecessors had always chosen either 12 priests, laymen or boys from the diocese for the ritual held either in the Basilicas of St. John Lateran or of St. Peter.

By choosing 12 priests, 11 of whom he ordained last year, Pope Leo highlighted the Mass' commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist and of holy orders.

"The intrinsic bond between these two sacraments reveals the perfect self-gift of Jesus, the high Priest and living, eternal Eucharist," he said in his homily. 

"Beloved brothers in the priesthood, we are called to serve the people of God with our whole lives," he said.

Jesus' disciples were astonished by their master's gesture and, like Peter, "we too must 'learn repeatedly that God's greatness is different from our idea of greatness … because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion,'" he said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.

"We are always tempted to seek a God who 'serves' us, who grants us victory, who proves useful like wealth or power. Yet we fail to perceive that God does indeed serve us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet," he said. "This is the true omnipotence of God."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to reject comfort, power and domination and instead embrace a mission rooted in self-giving love, even when it requires risk, vulnerability and suffering.

As Catholics prepare for Easter on Holy Thursday, Pope Leo also called on the faithful in his homily to overcome fear and a sense of powerlessness in responding to the world’s crises. 

"In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns," he said April 2 at St. Peter's Basilica during Mass. "Let us renew our 'yes' to this mission that calls for unity and brings peace."

While grounding his remarks in the teaching of his predecessors, saints and clergy, the pope in this homily placed particular emphasis on the Church’s mission through his own eyes as a missionary. 

The first step of accepting the Christian mission, he said, is to risk leaving behind what is familiar and certain, in order to venture into something new.

"Every mission begins with that kind of self-emptying in which everything is reborn," he said. 

It is through this self-emptying that Christians encounter the love of Christ, the pope said. 

At the heart of his first Holy Thursday homily as pope, he reflected on the nature of Christian love, saying it is rooted not in power, but in self-giving.

"Jesus’ journey reveals to us that the willingness to lose oneself, to empty oneself, is not an end in itself, but a condition for encounter and intimacy," Pope Leo said. "Love is true only when it is unguarded."

He said true peace is not found in remaining comfortable, but in embracing the risk and detachment that mission requires. Calling it a “fundamental secret of mission,” the pope said “everything is restored and multiplied if it is first let go, without fear,” a process repeated “in every new beginning, in every new sending forth.”

God calls upon the faithful to take risks, so "no place becomes a prison, no identity a hiding place," he said. Every mission requires reconciliation with the past, with the "gifts and limitations of the upbringing we have received," the pope said.

Once the faithful are able to detach from what is familiar and comfortable, Pope Leo said they must then "encounter" the other through selfless service and the sharing of life. This detachment, he said, creates the conditions for authentic encounter rather than control.

He emphasized that it is a priority that "neither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power."

He pointed to the example of missionaries, a role he held as an Augustinian in Peru, whose work must be rooted in service, dialogue and respect.

"The great missionaries bear witnesses to quiet, unobtrusive approaches, whose method is the sharing of life, selfless service, the renunciation of any calculated strategy, dialogue and respect," Pope Leo said.

Rather than seeking to "reconquer" increasingly secular societies, the pope said Catholics must approach as guests, not to impose, but to listen and accompany.

The Church’s mission, the pope said, is guided by the Holy Spirit, and the faithful must not try to control it but instead follow its lead, entering each culture with humility and "respecting the mystery that every person and every community carries within them."

In his third point, the pope explained that this mission is not a "heroic adventure" reserved only for a few, but rather the "living witness of a Body with many members," and every mission includes rejection and suffering. 

He recalled that the people of Nazareth were filled with rage when they heard Jesus' words and drove him out of the town. Every Christian must "pass through" a trial just as Jesus did, the pope said.

"The cross is part of the mission: the sending becomes more bitter and frightening, but also more freeing and transformative," he said.

Throughout life, Pope Leo said the faithful may be called to experience many "resurrections," as they immerse themselves in service. He pointed to the hope of many witnesses, one of whom "is particularly dear to me."

That witness is St. Óscar Romero of San Salvador, El Salvador, who wrote a month before his assassination that Jesus helped martyrs and if the need arose, "I entrust my last breath to him." 

"But, more than the final moment of life, what matters is to give him one’s whole life and to live for him," he wrote. 

He continued, saying that "despite my sins, I have placed my trust in him and I shall not be disheartened." St. Romero, remembered as a martyr for defending the poor and speaking out against injustice, was canonized by Pope Francis in 2018.

A successful mission is not about the results, but rather about the disciple's faithfulness and hope in God. Jesus embarked on a journey "in a world torn apart by the powers that ravage it," Pope Leo said.

"Within it arises a new people, not of victims, but of witnesses," he said.

Pope Leo is expected to wash the feet of 12 priests and celebrate Mass Thursday evening, commemorating Jesus' institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood. 

WASHINGTON - “During this holiest of weeks, let us continue to pray ardently for mutually respectful and effective dialogue that leads to a cease-fire and a negotiated end to the conflict with Iran,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. On Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week when Christians commemorate Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, Pope Leo XIV said, “Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering.”

Archbishop Coakley expressed support for the Administration’s indication that war with Iran may end soon, and emphasized the renewed call made by the Holy Father for peace, saying:

“The longer the conflict with Iran continues, including the risk of deploying ground troops to the region, the greater the risk of a dramatic escalation risking an ever-greater regional conflict. I welcome the Administration’s indications that the war with Iran may soon be coming to an end. And I join our Holy Father’s urgent calls for the Administration and all parties involved to take decisive action toward an immediate ceasefire, and for effective dialogue to resolve this dangerous impasse.

“Pope Leo XIV made clear: ‘Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.’  

“Emboldened by Easter’s powerful, transformative grace, I urge the faithful to continue praying ardently for mutual respectful and effective dialogue, and that we Christians be true to our vocation as peacemakers, the ‘light of the world’ and the ‘salt of the earth’ (Matthew 5:13-14).”

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WASHINGTON – “The abortion pill represents an isolating and harmful response to women in need,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. On Wednesday, Bishop Thomas wrote a letter to Congress in support of the “Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act,” which was recently introduced by Senator Josh Hawley and Representative Diana Harshbarger. The bill (S.4066/H.R.7902) would withdraw the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone for abortions.

In his letter, Bishop Thomas stated that the bill would likely save lives by curtailing the incidence of chemical abortion itself as well as its associated risks to the mothers. He emphasized the bishops’ opposition to the chemical abortion drug not only for its purpose of terminating life, but that the abortion pill represents an isolating and harmful response to women in need.

Read Bishop Thomas’ letter here.

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