Month: April 2025

(OSV News) – Catholic leaders and public officials condemned violence and called for peace after an alleged arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Bishop Timothy C. Senior of Harrisburg called the attack a “heinous act” that “struck at the very heart of our shared values as a society.”

Pennsylvania law enforcement officials arrested and charged Cody Balmer of Harrisburg with attempted murder, arson and terrorism, after they said he scaled an iron security fence surrounding the governor’s official residence in the middle of the night, eluded police officers and broke into the mansion, where he set a fire.

In a social media post, Gov. Shapiro said he and his family were awakened early in the morning of April 13 to “bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.”

“The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene and while they worked to put out the fire, we were evacuated from the Residence safely by Pennsylvania State Police and assisted by Capitol Police,” he wrote. “Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished.”

“Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities,” he said, adding he and his wife, Lori, “are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”

Law enforcement authorities found two broken glass beer bottles that had been filled with gasoline they believe Balmer used to start the fire, they said.

Pennsylvania State Police said the fire caused a “significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence.” Photos released by the Pennsylvania state government showed damage to multiple rooms, art, a piano and furniture.

Shapiro, who is seen as likely to seek his party’s nomination for president in 2028, also oversaw the law enforcement response to the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, when the former president and Republican nominee for 2024 held a campaign rally.

“This type of violence is not OK,” Shapiro said at a press conference April 13 at the residence. “This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, one particular person or another, it is not okay, and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”

In his statement, Bishop Senior said, “I want to unequivocally state that all forms of hate are unacceptable. They have no place in our hearts, our homes, or our communities. Such acts of violence and intolerance threaten the fabric of our society and undermine the principles of love, respect, and understanding that all people of faith are called to embody.”

Authorities have not yet made a motive for the attack public. Shapiro, who is Jewish, had celebrated Passover the evening prior to the incident, according to a post he wrote on X.

“As Catholics, we must be committed to the eradication of any form of hatred, including antisemitism,” Bishop Senior said. “I am saddened that any form of political violence, let alone violence that is motivated by an attempt to suppress or intimidate a family because of their religion, is found in our community — especially at this time that is so sacred to our Jewish brothers and sisters and also to all of us as Christians as we celebrate Holy Week.”

“Our prayers are with the Shapiro family and their guests, whose faithful observance of the sacred tradition of their faith was grievously violated by this act,” he added. “We Christians must stand in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters in all circumstances, but especially this year as the observance of the days of Passover coincides with the most sacred days of the Christian Liturgical calendar, Holy Week, the week leading us to our Easter celebration.”

“I call on all our Catholic faithful in the Diocese once again to be men and women of communion. Extend a hand of friendship and solidarity to those whose faith tradition, race or ethnicity is different from our own. Together, we can stand against hate and create an environment where love and acceptance thrive and the God-given dignity of every person is respected,” Bishop Senior said. “As we pray for the Shapiro family and all those affected by this incident, let us also pray for the courage to confront hate in all its forms. May our actions reflect the love that binds us together and may we be instruments of peace in a world that desperately needs it.”

“We must be deeply grateful that Governor (Josh) Shapiro and his family are safe, and we must also pray for an end to violence, which goes against everything good about us as human beings,” Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh said in a statement April 13.

Bishop Zubik said that “we should all be shocked at the reported act of arson at the residence of Governor Josh Shapiro and his family. Particularly during this Holy Week for Christians and Passover time for the Jewish people, we focus on the deep love that God has for all of us.”

Pennsylvania Sens. Dave McCormick, a Republican, and John Fetterman, a Democrat, both condemned the violence.

“The horrific attack against (Shapiro) and his family is terrible,” McCormick wrote on X. “This type of violence cannot be tolerated and the criminals responsible must be prosecuted for these deplorable actions.”

Fetterman called the attack “truly appalling.”

“Profoundly grateful that (Shapiro) and his family are unharmed, and grateful for the police and first responders for their quick actions,” he said. “Whoever did this must be held to the fullest extent of the law.”

Trump administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Vice President JD Vance.

“I am deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago,” Bondi wrote on X.

Vance expressed gratitude the Shapiro family was safe in a post on X and called the incident “really disgusting violence,” adding, “I hope whoever did it is brought swiftly to justice.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Carrying the cross means more than bearing personal suffering – it means stepping into the pain of others and walking beside them, Pope Francis wrote at the start of Holy Week.

“To carry the cross of Christ is never in vain,” he wrote in his homily for Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square April 13. “It is the most tangible way for us to share in his redemptive love.”

The pope, still recovering from respiratory infections, made only a brief appearance in the square at the end of Mass, but his homily was read by Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, subdean of the College of Cardinals, who celebrated the Mass.

“Have a good Palm Sunday. Have a good Holy Week,” the pope said with a strained voice from the stage in St. Peter’s Square. He was not using a nasal cannula to receive oxygen during his public appearance unlike the week before when he had come to the square at the end of Mass to a deliver a blessing.

The Vatican also released a video of the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica after the Mass; he stopped to pray before the tombs of Sts. Peter, Pius X and his successor, Pope Benedict XV.

Despite a two-month convalescence prescribed by his doctors following his release from the hospital March 23, Pope Francis had made several surprise public appearances in the previous week.

He delivered a blessing in St. Peter’s Square at the end of the Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers April 6, prayed before the newly restored tomb of Pope Urban VIII in St. Peter’s Basilica April 10 while dressed in casual attire and went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome to pray April 12.

As of April 13, the Vatican had not confirmed which Holy Week liturgies the pope may attend.

The Palm Sunday Mass began with throngs of laypeople processing into St. Peter’s Square holding palm branches, followed by more than 60 cardinals and bishops.

More than 20,000 people, many holding olive branches — a Palm Sunday tradition in Italy – listened as the Passion narrative from St. Luke’s Gospel was proclaimed.

In his written homily, Pope Francis reflected on Simon of Cyrene, the man forced by Roman soldiers to carry the cross behind Jesus.

Simon, the pope said, did not speak but simply acted, and in doing so became part of salvation history. “Between him and Jesus, there is no dialogue; not a single word is spoken. Between him and Jesus, there is only the wood of the cross.”

Pope Francis invited Christians to reflect on how they respond to the suffering of others – with “anger or pity, compassion or annoyance” – and to recognize Christ in the people whose lives are burdened by pain and injustice.

“How many Simons of Cyrene are there in our own day, bearing the cross of Christ on their shoulders!” he wrote. “Can we recognize them? Can we see the Lord in their faces, marred by the burden of war and deprivation?”

Recognizing those faces, the pope said, must move believers to action.

“Jesus’ passion becomes compassion whenever we hold out our hand to those who feel they cannot go on, when we lift up those who have fallen, when we embrace those who are discouraged,” he said.

At the start of Holy Week, Pope Francis called on Christians to prepare for Easter by becoming companions to one another on the road of suffering and mercy.

“In order to experience this great miracle of mercy, let us decide how we are meant to carry our own cross during this Holy Week: if not on our shoulders, in our hearts,” the pope wrote. “And not only our cross, but also the cross of those who suffer all around us.”

“Let us prepare for the Lord’s paschal mystery,” he said, “by becoming each of us, for one another, a Simon of Cyrene.”

In his message for the recitation of the Angelus, published by the Vatican, the pope thanked people for their prayers during his illness and asked them to join him in praying for those suffering from war, poverty and natural disasters. He made a particular appeal for peace in Sudan, where April 15 marks two years since the outbreak of civil war, and remembered the victims of a building collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

“May peace finally come to martyred Ukraine, to Palestine, Israel, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan,” he wrote. “Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, obtain this grace for us and help us to live Holy Week with faith.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. bishops on April 10 told congressional lawmakers they support bipartisan legislation that would ease some immigration restrictions on religious workers from other countries, allowing them to stay in the U.S. while they wait for permanent residency.

The legislation, titled the Religious Workforce Protection Act, was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and in the House by Reps. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Richard Neal, D-Mass.

If signed into law, it would permit religious workers already in the U.S. on temporary R-1 status with pending EB-4 applications to stay in the U.S. while waiting for permanent residency, Collins’ office said. All five of those members are Catholic.

“When Maine parishes where I attend mass started losing their priests, I saw this issue creating a real crisis in our state,” Collins said in an April 8 statement. “Recently, three Catholic parishes in rural Maine – Saint Agatha, Bucksport, and Greenville – were left without priests for months because their R-1 visas expired while their EB-4 applications were still pending.”

The National Study of Catholic Priests – released in 2022 by The Catholic University of America’s Catholic Project – indicated 24% of priests serving in the U.S. are foreign-born. A majority of these were ordained outside the U.S., while others are foreign-born priests who came to the U.S. as seminarians, were ordained in the U.S. and are also subject to visa renewals.

“Our bill would help religious workers of all faith traditions continue to live and serve here in the United States while their applications for permanent residency are being fully processed,” Collins said. “Many Mainers and Americans cannot imagine their lives without the sense of community and services their local religious organizations provide – with this legislation, I hope they never have to.”

Kaine likewise said in a statement, “I first started hearing about churches losing trusted priests through my Parish, St. Elizabeth’s in Richmond, where we have had priests who were immigrants, and often have visiting priests, some of whom are immigrants as well.”

“But as it turns out, this problem is not unique to Virginia — it’s impacting religious congregations of many faiths, all across the country,” he said.

Bishops Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, James T. Ruggieri of Portland, Maine, and Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, were among the religious leaders who offered statements of support for the bill in press releases from Collins and Kaine’s offices, alongside representatives of evangelical Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu organizations.

In an April 10 letter to members of Congress, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, as well as Bishop Seitz, who is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, urged lawmakers to pass the legislation to “to ensure communities across our nation can continue to enjoy the essential contributions of foreign-born religious workers who lawfully entered the United States on a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) visa.”

They said that there are many Catholic priests, women religious, and laypersons working in Catholic ministries in that category.

“Some parishes, especially those in rural or isolated areas, would go without regular access to the sacraments, if not for these religious workers,” the bishops said. “Additionally, dioceses with large immigrant populations rely on foreign-born religious workers for their linguistic and cultural expertise. We would not be able to serve our diverse flocks, which reflect the rich tapestry of our society overall, without the faithful men and women who come to serve through the Religious Worker Visa Program.”

They said, “Simply put, an increasing number of American families will be unable to practice the basic tenets of their faith if this situation is not addressed soon. Likewise, hospitals will go without chaplains, schools will go without teachers, and seminaries will go without instructors.”

The bishops urged lawmakers to cosponsor “this vital measure and to work toward its immediate passage, thereby furthering the free exercise of religion in our country for the benefit of all Americans.”

(OSV News) – In a world economy rocked by the whiplash of American trade tariffs that has spared few countries, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network, an interfaith development group, have a proposition for President Donald J. Trump: Forgive some debts.

In a joint letter dated April 8, the two organizations wrote Trump, encouraging him to build on global debt relief efforts from his first term.

According to the United Nations, the external debt – money owed to foreign creditors – of developing countries has quadrupled in two decades to a record $11.4 trillion in 2023, equivalent to 99% of their export earnings.

“Debt relief and restructuring make effective economic and security policy, strengthening our country’s global leadership,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA Network’s executive director, in the joint letter.

“These policies, which cost us little, contribute significantly to the stability of our trading partners, reduce food and fuel prices here at home, and support American jobs and exports,” they said.

The timing of the joint letter is not coincidental: The erasure of debt is an ancient social justice principle still encouraged during the current Jubilee Year, and Pope Francis has addressed the issue on numerous occasions in anticipation of it.

Last December – prior to the Christmas Eve inauguration of the 2025 Jubilee Year – Pope Francis urged wealthy nations and institutions to reduce or outright cancel the debt of the world’s poorest countries, declaring that many “are in no condition to repay the amount they owe.”

In addition, the pope called for new financial structures, “lest this prove merely an isolated act of charity that simply reboots the vicious cycle of financing and indebtedness.”

Less than two weeks later, the Vatican – partnering with interreligious and development groups – launched debt relief campaigns in 160 countries.

Pope Francis’ message and actions echoed those of St. John Paul II at the start of the last Jubilee Year in 2000, when the beloved Polish pontiff warned that debt “threatens the future of many nations.”

In that Jubilee era, faith groups formed a collective campaign that achieved $130 billion in debt relief for developing countries, supporting education, health care and social services.

“On average, strategically important developing nations currently spend more than 40% of their revenue on debt payments. Nearly 800 million people worldwide face hunger and almost 700 million live in extreme poverty,” the letter to Trump stated. “The reduction of foreign assistance from developed to developing countries over the past six years underscores the urgency of our country’s efforts to implement meaningful debt relief policies.”

In January, Trump ordered a near-total freeze on all U.S. foreign aid. In March – after a review of U.S. Agency for International Development operations – it was announced 83% of USAID programs would be cancelled.

The letter further highlighted Pope Francis’ proposal for a kind of global bankruptcy process to ensure stability and equity, while suggesting a significant increase in lending volume by multilateral development banks.

Appealing to policy as well as charity, the letter repeatedly underscored the strategic importance of debt reduction and the role of the U.S.

“Simply stated,” Bishop Zaidan and LeCompte’s letter concluded, “the world needs strong American leadership on debt relief and financial architecture reform.”

Several major financial gatherings – the International Monetary Fund, the G20 in South Africa, and G7 in Canada – are upcoming, with the U.S. hosting the G20 in 2026.

Other Catholic organizations concerned with debt reacted to the USCCB and Jubilee USA Network missive.

“Nations burdened by oppressive debt cannot invest in education, healthcare, agriculture, and a future for their youth. Many developing countries are already in crisis because of massive debt burdens,” Gina Castillo, senior research and policy advisor at Catholic Relief Services, the overseas humanitarian relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S., told OSV News.

“Debt relief and addressing why countries get into debt restores hope and opens doors to opportunity,” Castillo said.

Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, agreed.

“As the U.S. bishops said in their letter to the president, the United States has the opportunity to make real change that would make the world a better place not only for people on the other side of the world but right here at home,” Gunn told OSV News. “We are all connected and we all would benefit from a healthier, more life-giving global economy.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Although they postponed their official state visit to the Vatican because of Pope Francis’ health, Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla met privately with the pope April 9, the Vatican press office said.

The pope congratulated the royal couple on the 20th anniversary of their wedding and “reciprocated His Majesty’s wishes for a speedy recovery of his health,” the press office said.

King Charles was hospitalized briefly March 27 for what was described as “temporary side effects” from his cancer treatment. Pope Francis has been convalescing at the Vatican since being released from the hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of inpatient treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and a polymicrobial infection in his airways.

“Their Majesties were delighted the Pope was well enough to host them,” said a statement from Buckingham Palace, and they were pleased “to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person.”

The private meeting lasted about 20 minutes and included an exchange of gifts, a source said.

The Vatican press office had said April 8 that the pope was just beginning to receive a few visitors rather than spending his days only with his personal secretaries and the medical personnel caring for him.

The king and queen’s brief meeting with the pope April 9 was very different from the full schedule that had been planned for their state visit.

In addition to an audience with the pope, they would have attended “a service in the Sistine Chapel, focused on the theme of ‘care for creation,’ reflecting Pope Francis’ and his majesty’s long-standing commitment to nature,” according to the itinerary originally released by Buckingham Palace.

Members of the choir of the king’s Chapel Royal and the choir of St. George’s Chapel from Windsor were to sing at the service with the Sistine Chapel Choir.

While he was still the prince of Wales, the king last met Pope Francis in 2019 when he came to the Vatican for the canonization of St. John Henry Newman. His last private audience with Pope Francis was in 2017.

The state visit of the king and queen had been planned to coincide with the Holy Year 2025, “a year of reconciliation, prayer and walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’ which is the Jubilee’s theme,” Buckingham Palace said.

ASSISI, Italy (CNS) – For centuries, pilgrims came to Assisi to walk in the footsteps of a saint who preached to birds, embraced poverty and wandered the hills barefoot.

But today, many arrive in search of a different model of holiness: that of a teenager in Nike sneakers who built websites and coded for Christ.

“I came to Assisi for Carlo,” said Anne-Sophie, a mother of three from France, speaking outside the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, where the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis draws a steady stream of visitors. “Not only Carlo, but St. Francis, of course,” she added April 1, mentioning the town’s patron saint almost as an afterthought.

Individual devotees, pilgrim groups and students on school field trips visited Blessed Carlo’s tomb in the church, which stands next to the site where St. Francis famously stripped off his fine clothing to embrace a life poverty.

In the cobbled streets leading to the shrine, souvenir shops that once featured only tau crosses and rustic Franciscan statues now prominently display Carlo’s face on refrigerator magnets and figurines — often in his signature red polo shirt. Listings on AirBnB even advertise their proximity to his tomb, signaling just how quickly Carlo’s presence has become part of the fabric of Assisi.

For Anne-Sophie, Carlo’s rise in popularity among Catholics feels providential. “In the 20th century, we had Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,” she told Catholic News Service, referring to the French mystic who Pope Francis is known to be fond of. “Now, I really believe Carlo will be the saint for the 21st century. He is a big, big chance for us — don’t miss it.”

Carlo, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, was beatified in 2020 and is set to be canonized April 27 during the Jubilee of Teenagers at the Vatican, becoming the Catholic Church’s first “millennial” saint.

In life, he was known for his cheerfulness, his Eucharistic devotion and his talent with computers — traits that have turned him into a spiritual icon for young Catholics and families looking for a saint who seems to belong to their world.

Pope Francis has long held up Carlo as a model for the digital generation. In his 2019 exhortation “Christus Vivit,” published after the Synod of Bishops on young people, the pope wrote that Carlo “knew how to use the new communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” even while resisting the “consumerism and distraction” that often dominate online life.

Much of Blessed Carlo’s rise is attributed to his appeal to young Catholics, who see in him a figure who not only looks like them but lives like them, too.

Antonella Sacchi, who was accompanying a group of Italian high school students to his tomb, told CNS that her students were struck not only by Carlo’s age but by “his normal life, his way of living the Gospel in everyday life.”

“They were fascinated” standing before Blessed Carlo’s tomb, she said, “For them, he doesn’t feel far away.”

The pilgrims April 1 included whole families as well as teachers and catechists hoping to introduce young people to the saint.

For some, Blessed Carlo is an intercessor, not just a model.

Paola Ventre, visiting the tomb with her husband Massimo and son Michele, said she had prayed to Carlo for the grace of becoming a mother. “We had many difficulties,” she said, holding her son in her arms. “But I prayed with insistence, and I believe that thanks to his intercession our son was given to us with great love.”

For many, Carlo’s appeal lies in the way he lived his holiness: not by founding a religious order or performing public miracles, but by showing extraordinary faith in the midst of an ordinary teenage life. He channeled his interest in coding to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles around the world, hoping to share his love for the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist with others.

“He used social media well,” said Silvia Rodarte, a Mexican mother of four visiting Assisi with her husband, Ramón Torres, for their 25th wedding anniversary. “The internet is great, but if it’s misused it’s terrible, and Carlo used it in a wonderful way. In fact, we know about Carlo Acutis due to social media.” The couple learned about Carlo through their daughter, who had seen a video about him online.

Torres said Carlo reminded him of his own son, who is now about the age Carlo was when he died.

The image of a young saint can make young people “feel represented in the values of the Catholic Church,” Torres said. “I feel that he will be an important bridge between the youth, the new generations and the church.”

The same internet that Carlo once used to bring others closer to God is now leading people to him.

For Kenny Chan from Sydney, discovering Blessed Carlo online was the beginning of a spiritual friendship that eventually brought him and his fiancé all the way to Assisi.

“We watch him every day on YouTube,” he said, referring to the 24-hour livestream of Carlo’s tomb available online. “Spiritually, if I’m feeling low, I’m having a bad day, I put on YouTube and just talk to him. You can always put a message or a prayer in the chat.”

Carlo’s story may have spread across the globe through screens, but for many pilgrims, it is the encounter with his physical presence — his body, his tomb, the hilltop town where it is located — that makes his spirituality feel tangible and close.

Seeing the tomb in person, Chan said, “is much better.”

“I was here, I could see him in person, so it’s worth it.”