Category: 2025 News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – When catechists teach, their aim is not simply to pass on information about the faith but to “place the word of life in hearts, so that it may bear the fruits of a good life,” Pope Leo XIV said.

“The Gospel announces to us that everyone’s life can change because Christ rose from the dead. This event is the truth that saves us; therefore, it must be known and proclaimed,” the pope told some 20,000 catechists from more than 115 countries attending the Jubilee for Catechists.

But just proclaiming the Good News is not enough, the pope said in his homily at Mass Sept. 28 in St. Peter’s Square. “It must be loved. It is love that leads us to understand the Gospel.”

During the liturgy, Pope Leo formally installed in the ministry of catechist 39 women and men from 16 countries, including David Spesia, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis, and Marilyn Santos, associate director of the secretariat.

Before the pope gave his homily, a deacon called the names of each of the 39, who answered in Italian, “Eccomi,” or “present.” After the homily, Pope Leo presented each of them with a crucifix.

“Let your ministry ever be grounded in a deep life of prayer, let it be built up in sound doctrine and animated by genuine apostolic zeal,” the pope told them. “As stewards of the mission entrusted to the church by Christ, you must always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

The Gospel reading at the Mass was the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31.

In the parable, the pope said, Lazarus is ignored by the rich man “and yet God is close to him and remembers his name.”

But the rich man has no name in the parable, “because he has lost himself by forgetting his neighbor,” the pope said. “He is lost in the thoughts of his heart: full of things and empty of love. His possessions do not make him a good person.”

“The story that Christ tells us is, unfortunately, very relevant today,” Pope Leo said. “At the doorstep of today’s opulence stands the misery of entire peoples, ravaged by war and exploitation.”

“Through the centuries, nothing seems to have changed: how many Lazaruses die before the greed that forgets justice, before profits that trample on charity, and before riches that are blind to the pain of the poor,” he said.

In the parable, the rich man dies and is cast into the netherworld. He asks Abraham to send a messenger to his brothers to warn them and call them to repent.

The Gospel story and the words of Scripture that catechists are called to share are not meant to “disappoint or discourage” people, but to awaken their consciences, the pope said.

Echoing the words of Pope Francis, Pope Leo said the heart of catechesis is the proclamation that “the Lord Jesus is risen, the Lord Jesus loves you, and he has given his life for you; risen and alive, he is close to you and waits for you every day.”

That truth, he said, should prompt people to love God and to love others in return.

God’s love, he said, “transforms us by opening our hearts to the word of God and to the face of our neighbor.”

Pope Leo reminded parents that they are the first to teach their children about God, his promises and commandments.

And he thanked everyone who has been a witness to others of faith, hope and charity, cooperating in the church’s “pastoral work by listening to questions, sharing in struggles and serving the desire for justice and truth that dwells in the human conscience.”

Teaching the faith is a community effort, he said, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church “is the ‘travel guidebook’ that protects us from individualism and discord, because it attests to the faith of the entire Catholic Church.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In the first major appointment of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV chose an Italian expert in canon law to succeed him as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Archbishop Filippo Iannone, 67, has led the Dicastery for Legislative Texts since 2018 and will begin his new role Oct. 15, the Vatican press office announced Sept. 26.

Pope Leo, as Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, led the Dicastery for Bishops and the pontifical commission from early 2023 until his election as pope in May.

The dicastery coordinates the search for candidates to fill the office of bishop in most of the Latin-rite dioceses around the world and makes recommendations about their appointments to the pope. It also deals with setting up, uniting, suppressing dioceses, changing diocesan boundaries, setting up military ordinariates and ordinariates for Catholics who have come from the Anglican Communion.

The dicastery “cooperates with the bishops in all matters concerning the correct and fruitful exercise of the pastoral office entrusted to them,” according to the constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium.”

The prefect of the dicastery can organize an apostolic visitation of a diocese where a bishop appears to be struggling, and it is involved in the process of investigating bishops suspected of mishandling or covering up cases of sexual abuse.

As head of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Iannone was deeply involved with the revision of the Code of Canon Law’s “Book VI: Penal Sanctions in the Church,” one of seven books that make up the code for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church; with updated descriptions of the crimes of sexual abuse, including child pornography, and the required actions of a bishop or superior of a religious order in handling allegations, it was promulgated by Pope Francis in 2021.

And, following up on that, the archbishop led the preparation of the 2023 update of “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), which set out the procedures for bishops, religious superiors and the heads of international Catholic movements to investigate allegations of sexual abuse or the cover up of abuse.

In February, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts — defending the right to self-defense and to a presumption of innocence — published on its website a letter by the archbishop and the dicastery’s secretary strongly cautioning dioceses and religious orders against publishing the names of church personnel who have been accused of abuse but have not been found guilty in civil or canonical procedures.

The new prefect was born in Naples Dec. 13, 1957, and entered the Carmelites in 1976 after finishing high school. He completed his bachelor’s in theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy and then earned a doctorate in both civil and canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

He made his first solemn profession as a Carmelite in 1980 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1982.

Within the Carmelite order, he served as treasurer and as counselor. From 1989 to 1995, he was president of the order’s commission for the revision of its constitutions. He also held positions in the Archdiocese of Naples, including on the tribunal and as a regional episcopal vicar.

St. John Paul II named him an auxiliary bishop of Naples in 2001, and Pope Benedict XIV named him bishop of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo in 2009. Three years later, Pope Benedict named him an archbishop and vice regent of the Diocese of Rome.

Pope Francis named him adjunct secretary of the office for legislative texts in 2017 and president a year later.

He currently serves as a member of the appeals board for abuse cases at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, a member of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and as a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court.

While naming Archbishop Iannone head of the dicastery, Pope Leo also reappointed for five-year terms Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari as dicastery secretary and Msgr. Ivan Kovac as undersecretary of the dicastery.

SCRANTON – The Catholic Church recognizes the month of October as Respect Life Month and the first Sunday in October is designated as Respect Life Sunday.

The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will celebrate Respect Life Sunday Mass on Oct. 5, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

The Mass is open to the public. Faithful from across the Diocese of Scranton are invited to attend the Respect Life Sunday Mass and focus on God’s precious gift of human life and our responsibility to care for, protect and defend the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Catholics are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life.

For those unable to attend in-person, the Mass will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and the Diocese of Scranton’s YouTube Channel. The Mass will also be livestream on the Diocese of Scranton website with links provided on the Diocese of Scranton social media platforms.

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton’s annual Red Mass will be celebrated on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at 12:10 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will be the principal celebrant. Reverend Paul A. McDonnell, O.S.J., will be the homilist.

Historically, the Red Mass is attended by judges, lawyers and legislators for the purpose of invoking God’s blessing and guidance in the administration of justice.

The public is invited to the Red Mass to pray for those in the legal, judicial and governmental professions. Members of the county bar associations from across the 11-county Diocese and the Diocesan Tribunal staff are also invited to participate.

Attendees will be asked to pray that decision-makers always serve the truth and to make and apply laws in ways that are right and just.

HARRISBURG – Under overcast skies and amid heightened security, more than 5,000 pro-life advocates from across the Commonwealth gathered at the State Capitol on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, for the fifth annual Pennsylvania March for Life.

Among them were hundreds of faithful people from the Diocese of Scranton who were united in their prayerful witness to the sanctity of human life. Many traveled by bus from parishes in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Poconos, and the Northern Tier.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, was one of several Pennsylvania Bishops who joined the crowds in Harrisburg. His presence was a source of encouragement for many in the crowd, especially first-time participants.

Among those making the trip to Harrisburg for his first Pennsylvania March for Life was Mike Casey of Most Holy Trinity Parish in Cresco.

“It was great. It was very emotional, and I had a great time,” Casey said. “Hopefully, it sends the message for pro-life. We need (to be) pro-life. We have to end the abortion of babies. There are other ways of dealing with that solution.”

Frank Socha, a seasoned marcher from the Northern Tier, echoed that sentiment.
“This is the fifth one I’ve been to and I’m pretty passionate about the fact that abortion is murder,” Socha said. “These unborn babies have the right to live.”

Socha’s group from the Bradford County area has grown steadily in attendance each year, requiring two buses this time.

“The first year of the March we had 29 people on the bus. Then we went to 42. Last year, we went to 70,” he added. “This year, without pushing we had over 70 people, so I said we had to get two buses.”

Cathy Moliski of Sayre said she was touched by many stories she heard while marching around the State Capitol Complex.

“A lady I was walking with, her daughter just told her, ‘I could have had an abortion, and I didn’t.’ She put her child up for adoption at some point and she said to her mom, I was on that line where I could have said I’m going to abort,” Moliski recalled.

NEXT GENERATION MARCHES FORWARD

More than a dozen students from Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre made the trip to the Pennsylvania March for Life alongside two chaperones.

Alex Snyder, a junior who plays football for the Luzerne County Catholic School, attended with his classmates at the encouragement of their teacher.

“It’s awesome the amount of people that came out,” Snyder said. “There are thousands of people here supporting the same cause.”

Noting the importance of pro-life activism, Snyder hopes to march again next year.
“One guy on our bus said he’s been coming for 35 years to all different marches, so I think it’s cool to be able to attend one. This is our first … and hopefully many more to come,” he added.

Maryann Lawhon, CEO, The VOICE of JOHN Ministry, who has been a pro-life champion for decades, found inspiration in seeing all the youth representation at the Pennsylvania March for Life.

“I love seeing our students for life out in number. This is so important,” Lawhon explained.

Lawhon shared the story of how discovering the body of an aborted child changed her life more than four decades ago.

“I found him after he had been aborted. He would be 48 years old this month. I had the privilege of baptizing him. I knew his name was John and the last words I spoke to John were: ‘I will be your voice,’” Lawhon said.

CALLS TO ACTION

Prior to the march itself, a series of speakers delivered deeply personal, faith-filled testimonies about the pro-life cause.

Dr. Robby Waller, an emergency room physician, told the story of unexpectedly adopting a newborn baby girl after her birth mother asked for her to be placed in a loving home.

“We named this little girl Amanda, which means ‘worthy of love,’” he said. “We are so grateful that her mother gave her to us because Mandi has been a source of joy since the day she came home.”

The keynote address was given by Ryan Bomberger, a nationally known pro-life advocate and founder of the Radiance Foundation.

Adopted after being conceived in rape, Bomberger said, “Although my birth mom was a victim of the violence of rape, she did not make me a victim of the violence of abortion. For that, I am forever grateful.”

Sarah Bowen, founding president of the Pennsylvania Pregnancy Wellness Collaborative, delivered a powerful message about ongoing support for women in crisis pregnancies.

“Some mothers desperately want to carry their babies but are overwhelmed by fear. They may be pressured by family or friends to choose abortion, and they look to pregnancy centers to hear that they can do it,” she explained.

Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of March for Life, also energized the crowd.

“Science is on our side,” she declared. “Let us keep marching together for as long as it takes until every woman, and every child, born and unborn, is cherished and protected.”

She highlighted current legislation in the Pennsylvania General Assembly that would require public schools to teach fetal development beginning at conception through computer-generated animation or high-def ultrasound.

“This would ensure that Pennsylvania students learn about the extraordinary journey of life that begins in the womb and open their eyes at a formative age to the humanity of the unborn child in a really powerful way,” Lichter said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to pray the rosary each day in October for peace.

The pope made his request at the end of his weekly general audience Sept. 24 and the day after he said he had spoken again with the pastor of Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the only Latin-rite Catholic parish in Gaza.

“Thanks be to God everyone in the parish is fine,” but the Israeli strikes “are a little closer,” the pope told reporters in Castel Gandolfo Sept. 23 before heading back to the Vatican after a day’s rest. The parish is offering refuge and assistance to hundreds of Gaza residents.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized Palestinian statehood Sept. 21, joining the Holy See and more than 150 countries that already had done so. Asked if that could help the situation, Pope Leo told reporters it “could help, but at this moment there really is no willingness to listen on the other side, so dialogue is currently broken.”

Regarding Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, Pope Leo said that “someone is seeking an escalation, and it is continually becoming more dangerous.”

What is needed, he said, is to “halt military advances” and come to the negotiating table.

At the end of his audience Sept. 24, Pope Leo noted that October was approaching and that with the Oct. 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Catholic Church traditionally dedicates the whole month to praying the rosary.

“I invite everyone to pray the rosary every day during the coming month — for peace — personally, with your families and in your communities,” he said.

The pope also invited Vatican officials and employees to pray the rosary together every October evening at 7 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

And he invited everyone to St. Peter’s Square Oct. 11 to pray the rosary together “during the vigil of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, also remembering the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council,” which began Oct. 11, 1962.

(OSV News) – President Donald Trump on Sept. 23 addressed the U.N. General Assembly amid the backdrop of conflict in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as world leaders still question the extent to which the U.S. will be involved in global affairs as the Trump administration implements its “America First” foreign policy.

But a few hours after his address to the assembly, and after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social that Ukraine can win back all territory it lost to Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, marking a shift in tone from Trump’s previous calls on Kyiv to make concessions.

“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote. “With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.”

Trump suggested there would be grave economic repercussions for Russia if they continue their invasion.

“When the people living in Moscow, and all of the Great Cities, Towns, and Districts all throughout Russia, find out what is really going on with this War, the fact that it’s almost impossible for them to get Gasoline through the long lines that are being formed, and all of the other things that are taking place in their War Economy, where most of their money is being spent on fighting Ukraine, which has Great Spirit, and only getting better, Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” he wrote. “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”

Trump also said the U.S. would “continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.”

Earlier this month, Russia conducted a drone incursion into Polish airspace. Poland is a NATO member nation. Under the terms of NATO, which was implemented in 1949, the group considers an attack against one or several of its members as an attack against all, and pledges collective defense in the face of such a scenario. There are currently 31 NATO members.

Poland and NATO allies shot down the drones, marking the first time in the history of NATO that alliance fighters engaged enemy targets in allied airspace, officials said.

During his address to the assembly, Trump said he wants a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, but said Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that the United States and other entities consider a terrorist organization, “has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace.”

“We can’t forget October 7, can we now?” Trump said in reference to Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel.

As some member countries have recognized a Palestinian state, Trump argued doing so would “encourage continued conflict.”

“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists for their atrocities,” Trump said, adding, “those who want peace should be united with one message: Release the hostages now. Just release the hostages now.”

During his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has appealed for both a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages. In his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 17, Pope Leo expressed his “profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza,” and lamented
they “continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, forced once again to leave their lands.”

Elsewhere in his comments, Trump said United Nations countries were “being destroyed” by what he argued were their lax immigration policies, and touting his own hardline policies.

“Europe is in serious trouble. They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before,” he said. “Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe.”

“Your countries are going to hell,” he added.

Trump claimed member nations are “supporting people that are illegally coming into the U.S.”
“And then we have to get them out,” he said.

“The U.N. is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them,” Trump said.

Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles — the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

But Trump also questioned the organization itself, suggesting it should have supported him more in some of his attempts at conflict resolution.

“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he said. “The U.N. has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it, it has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential for the most part.”

Despite his harsh criticism of the United Nations, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone as he ended his remarks.

“Let us all work together to build a bright, beautiful planet,” he said. “A planet that we all share, a planet of peace in a world that is richer, better, and more beautiful than ever before. That can happen. It will happen.”

Earlier this month, the United Nations Annual Prayer Service, held at the Church of the Holy Family in Manhattan — just across First Avenue from U.N. headquarters and considered the U.N. parish — preceded the opening of the 80th U.N. General Assembly.

To Sign the ‘Cabrini’ Pledge, click here for English.

To Sign the ‘Cabrini’ Pledge, click here for Spanish.

 

(OSV News) – At the start of National Migration Week, taking place this year Sept. 22-28, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration invited the faithful to join “The Cabrini Pledge” and be guardians of hope for migrants and refugees.

Named after St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants and the first U.S. citizen to be canonized, the pledge was launched “as a reminder of our Church and nation’s immigrant heritage and a call to deeper engagement with our faith in response to current events,” according to a webpage explaining this initiative.

In a video message, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, recalled that “during her life of service, Mother Cabrini often faced great trials as an immigrant, a woman, and an advocate for the poor, but she never relented in her determination to build an empire of hope, sustained by her relationship with Christ in the Eucharist and in the face of those she served.”

An Italian immigrant who adopted this country as her own, Mother Cabrini also faced “discrimination and seemingly impossible odds, (yet) she never succumbed to hopelessness. With relentless faith, she accompanied her fellow immigrants and others living on the margins of society with a great missionary zeal,” the pledge’s webpage reads.

“Mother Cabrini’s challenges, and the challenges of those she served, are not unique among the generations of Catholics and immigrants in general who have come to this land,” said the initiative, and her witness can help in the “present reality in the life of our Church and nation.”

Launched in English and Spanish, the pledge-signing initiative’s call to be guardians of hope also resonates with Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Migrant and Refugee Day, in which he said that “migrants and refugees remind the Church of her pilgrim dimension, perpetually journeying towards her final homeland, sustained by a hope that is a theological virtue.”

In addition to offering resources – including USCCB documents on Catholic social teaching, prayers, and information about migration policies – the actions the pledge invites people to take include “to affirm, in word and deed, the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of immigration status or country of origin, seeing each as a child of God before all else.”

The pledge also invites people to make a commitment to fraternal encounter, civic dialogue, and prayer for all those who are searching for a new home, as well as to listen to the realities of migrants and refugees and the circumstances they face and to consider how they are called to “reflect the love and hope of Christ to others.”

The week prior, the USCCB reiterated its longstanding efforts to show solidarity with immigrants “amid the fear and anxiety prompted by current immigration enforcement efforts.” In a Sept. 28 statement, the bishops also said that “National Migration Week invites Catholics across the country to reflect on how hope can shape and inform our collective response to migration.”

In his video about “The Cabrini Pledge,” Bishop Seitz invited people to “make an intentional commitment to living out the Gospel not in abstraction but through acts of solidarity that affirm the human dignity of every person.”

“Through prayer, encounter, and civic engagement, we can transform fear into compassion and create a world where no one feels less than human because of their immigration status,” Bishop Seitz said.

NEW YORK (OSV News) – A new 25-foot-high mural that covers the walls of the entrance to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and was officially dedicated before Mass Sept. 21 celebrates New York’s sacred and secular history.

The largest permanent artwork commissioned in the 146-year history of “America’s Parish Church,” the painting depicts the apparition at Knock in Ireland, along with New York saints, servants of God, immigrants and first responders.

At a morning press event Sept. 18, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan and Brooklyn artist Adam Cvijanovic unveiled the mural, and the cardinal discussed how his initial vision for a representation of the Knock apparition evolved.

“This became not only an ode to Jesus and Mary and Joseph and St. John and the faith of the Irish people who were so instrumental in this archdiocese, it also became an ode to those who followed them and found in this city, this country, and yes, in this Holy Mother Church, an embrace of welcome,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“I thought when I started making this painting, that the important thing to do was to make it about people and portraits,” Cvijanovic said of his work, which is titled, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding.”

“So, everybody in this painting is an actual person. They’re all portraits. Even the angels,” he said. “And that seemed to me to be a really, really important thing to do, to talk about the people of the city, all of them, and to have it in some place that people could go in New York and feel themselves recognized in the context of respect and hope.”

Father Enrique Salvo, himself an immigrant from Nicaragua, said that the story told on the panels was particularly meaningful for him.

“If you would have told me that I was going to be the rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, when I came to this country, I would have never believed it,” he said. “But with God, all things are possible, and hopefully it’s an inspiration for everyone that walks in, that we’re not only welcome, but we’re also invited to make a difference and to let God shine through us.”

Cardinal Dolan noted that he originally wanted the mural as part of the last major renovation of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 2012, but the cathedral’s trustees advised that he wait. He thanked them for their wise advice.

“I’m kind of glad now, because it matured — it was like a crock pot,” he said.

Cardinal Dolan said that major benefactors covered the cost of the mural, and expressed his gratitude that no further funds needed to be raised to complete the project.

“My wife and I support a lot of causes that are more direct, such as education, feeding the hungry, healthcare, social services, and things like that,” said Kevin Conway, who with his wife, Dee, were major benefactors of the mural. “But this struck me as a project that we could honor a good friend, His Eminence (Cardinal Dolan), but more importantly, you could make an impact and tell a story to the millions of people who come through these doors, and tell an important story.”

Each panel tells a different part of the New York story, along with the apparition at Knock — an 1879 vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, angels and the Lamb of God — witnessed by more than a dozen townspeople in County Mayo, Ireland, the same year St. Patrick’s Cathedral was consecrated.

One panel depicts early immigrants to New York and features a likeness of a young girl — for whom an image of Cardinal Dolan’s late mother, Shirley, served as the model.

“I am thrilled that she is here among those,” he said, pointing out that his mother herself was not an immigrant.

Another panel features New Yorkers of consequence to the church, including Archbishop John Hughes, the first archbishop of New York; St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American and and the church’s first Indigenous from North America; former New York Gov.Al Smith; Servant of God Dorothy Day; and Venerable Pierre Toussaint.

(OSV News) – Charlie Kirk was an “influential figure” in his own election, President Donald Trump said at a memorial service for the Turning Point USA founder and conservative activist Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

“None of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history,” Trump said.

Kirk was killed Sept. 10 during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem. After his death, Kirk received praise from his allies in conservative politics for his willingness to debate and his advocacy for their cause. However, in discussions about his legacy, his critics also pointed to his controversial political rhetoric on subjects including race, persons experiencing same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, and immigrants.

Trump’s remarks showed how tied Kirk was to his own political operation, saying sometimes Kirk would call him and ask him to speak at an event on very short notice.

“Charlie would often call me sometimes the night before a big event on the other side of the country, and ask me and say, ‘Do you think you could come and speak at the event the following day?'” Trump said. “I’d say, Charlie … I’m the president of the United States. You want me to travel four hours by plane? And you know, sometimes I did it.”

Trump also quipped at one point that Kirk “was among the first to speak to me about a man from Ohio by the name of JD Vance, have you ever heard of him?”

Vice President JD Vance and Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and Cabinet officials were also among those who addressed the memorial.

Erika Kirk, who was named Turning Point USA’s CEO after her husband’s death, said she felt “a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed” but that “God’s love continued to be revealed to me in the days that followed.”

“After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting, we
didn’t see revolution,” she said. “Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. We saw revival.”

Erika Kirk urged those in attendance to embrace what she called a Christian understanding of “true manhood” because she said her husband, an evangelical Christian, was passionate about reaching “lost boys.”

“Please be a leader worth following,” she said. “Your wife is not your servant, your wife is not your employee. Your wife is not your slave. She is your helper. You are not rivals. You are one flesh, working together for the glory of God.”

She also urged women to “be virtuous.”

Her husband, she said, “died with incomplete work, but not with unfinished business.”

“He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” Erika said, adding, “That young man, I forgive him.”

“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said. “The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love. It’s always love.”

In his comments, Trump appeared to reference Erika Kirk’s comments, saying Kirk “did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s what I disagreed with Charlie (on), I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”

“I’m sorry, I am sorry, Erika, but now, Erika, you can talk to me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right,” he said.

Vance said, “Our whole administration is here, but not just because we loved Charlie as a friend — even though we did — but because we know we wouldn’t be here without Charlie. He built an organization that reshaped the balance of our politics.”

Turning Point Action was among the groups the Trump campaign used to oversee its get-out-the-vote effort in Arizona, a key swing state in the 2024 election. Volunteers for the organization were registering attendees to vote before the memorial service.

Vance called Kirk “a hero to the United States of America, and “a martyr for the Christian faith.”

Law enforcement officials have identified and arrested a suspect in Kirk’s shooting. They have attributed the alleged shooter’s motive — in part — to his views on Kirk’s position on transgender issues.

Vance and other officials in the Trump administration previously suggested they would seek to target what the vice president called “left-wing extremism” after Kirk’s killing, although law enforcement officials have said they believe the shooter acted alone.