Catégorie : Vie de l’église

In the latest legal defeat for a Republican-led investigation of Catholic migrant shelters, a Hidalgo County, Texas, judge on Wednesday (July 24) denied a request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to depose a Catholic Charities leader in the Rio Grande Valley.

District Judge Bobby Flores denied the petition after lawyers for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the largest migrant shelters on the U.S.-Mexico border, argued that the nonprofit had already cooperated with the investigation by providing more than 100 pages of documents. The lawyers for Catholic Charities also argued that the attorney general’s request imposed « a significant expenditure of resources » on the Catholic agency and its ability to exercise its faith.

« We hope that we can put this behind us and focus our efforts on protecting and upholding the sanctity and dignity of all human lives while following the law, » Sister Norma Pimentel, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s executive director, said in a statement. Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 for her three decades of work with migrants. Pope Francis has also praised Pimentel and the work of the nonprofit.

According to filings by both Paxton’s office and Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the attorney general’s office sent a notice to the nonprofit on March 25 demanding that a representative of Catholic Charities sit for a deposition. March 25 was the first weekday of Holy Week, when Catholic schedules are packed with events commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment. In explaining his request for the deposition, Paxton’s office cited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s December 2022 call for an investigation into the « role of NGOs in planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders. »

Abbott, a Catholic, launched the multibillion-dollar initiative Operation Lone Star in 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden’s election, arguing the federal government was failing to protect the state’s border. The operation deployed thousands of Texas soldiers at the border, where razor wire, pepper balls and patrols with guns and drones have been used to prevent migrants from crossing. Abbott’s office claims the operation is responsible for at least 516,300 migrant apprehensions and more than 45,300 criminal arrests.

Paxton’s office also cited a February 2022 letter by Texas Republican Congressman Lance Gooden to Catholic Charities USA, the national membership organization that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley belongs to, that accuses the national Catholic nonprofit of fueling « illegal immigration by encouraging, transporting, and harboring aliens to come to, enter, or reside in the United States. »

Gooden’s letter is part of a broader far-right campaign targeting Catholic Charities agencies that has resulted in several agencies receiving threats.

« The targeting of this faith-based agency and broader attacks on the Catholic Church should deeply concern Catholics, religious liberty advocates and all people of good will, » Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, told Religion News Service in a statement, referring to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Paxton often participates in legal action through the Republican Attorneys General Association, which has received millions in donations from the Concord Fund, a dark money fund linked to conservative Catholic legal activist Leonard Leo.

Catholics, like Americans more broadly, have split views on immigration. In a December 2023 poll by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, 43% of Catholics said immigration should be decreased, while 23% said it should be increased and 34% said it should be kept at its present level.

Nineteen percent of Catholics said that their Catholic faith « very much » informed their opinions about immigrants and refugees, and 35% answered that it informed their opinions « somewhat. »

Responding to Paxton’s request to the court, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s lawyers said, « The Attorney General’s investigation of CCRGV is based solely on CCRGV’S religiously motivated provision of charitable services to asylum seekers, which do not violate any law. » The nonprofit emphasized that it cooperates closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and that all migrants it serves have been processed by the federal government.

In a back-and-forth after Paxton’s initial request, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley provided sworn testimony in addition to documents to the office, but the attorney general’s office continued to press for a deposition, calling some of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s answers « non-responsive and evasive. »

Saying that Paxton’s office failed to provide any evidence or « even concrete factual allegations » that would show that the benefit of the deposition would outweigh its burden even after the Catholic nonprofit’s « extensive cooperation with his overreaching inquiry, » Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s lawyers said that Paxton’s request represented « a fishing expedition into a pond where no one has ever seen a fish. »

The attorney general’s filing says that its office is investigating the possibility that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley is assisting migrants who have not been processed by U.S. Border Patrol, a legal violation that the office said would have « a cause of action to strip CCRGV’s right to operate in the State of Texas. »

In February, about a month before Paxton’s office requested the deposition from Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the office sued to attempt to revoke the nonprofit registration of another Catholic migrant shelter organization, Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

Annunciation House had sued the state and sought a restraining order after Paxton’s office’s demanded that it quickly turn over documents about its operations, which would have included identifying information about the migrants it serves. Paxton’s office framed the attempt to shut down the network of migrant shelters as a « consequence » of that legal action.

El Paso District Court Judge Francisco Dominguez ruled that Paxton had violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Dominguez said the Paxton office’s request for documents was « a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge. »

Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, a Catholic organization that supports migrants across the El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, border, called Paxton’s legal strategy a « troubling attack on religious liberty » and part of a broader « escalation in the campaign of state leadership — not only to criminalize those who migrate but now to go after those who living out our faith seek to offer a compassionate response to those who migrate. »

Now that judges have ruled Paxton « out of bounds » in both El Paso and Hidalgo County, Corbett urged the state to « desist in its attack on what is actually working at the border and pivot to real, humane solutions that work for our state, our border communities and those who migrate. »

In Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s statement after Flores’ decision, the organization wrote: « A deposition would have been a waste of time, distracting CCRGV from its work serving all residents of the Rio Grande Valley. »

The nonprofit had previously written in its legal filing that Paxton’s inquiry was harming the individuals that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley serves by taking away resources to serve them. The Catholic organization houses about 1,000 migrants a week, sometimes soaring to 2,000 women and children at once, who usually stay only a few days before moving on. In addition to migrants, the charity aids homeless people, veterans, people impacted by natural disasters, children who do not have access to school lunch during the summer and more.

« CCRGV will always strive to fulfill its legal obligations while continuing to steadfastly pursue its mission, inspired by Sacred Scripture and the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,' » the organization wrote in a statement, citing Matthew 25:35.

One of Poland’s most influential prelates has been asked to stay on beyond retirement by Pope Francis, days after the Vatican suspended his orders dismissing a prominent pastor and naming an overseer of the finances of the prominent Wawel Cathedral chapter in a dispute with local Catholics.

« The Holy Father has accepted my resignation, while asking me to continue holding the office of diocesan bishop until he appoints my successor, » said Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Kraków in a message read July 21 in churches.

« Trusting Divine Providence to allow us to enjoy the gift of unity in working to promote faith and mutual love, I encourage you to pray for Pope Francis and the Church of Kraków, » the letter said.

The archbishop turned 75 on July 24, reaching the age when bishops must submit their resignation to the pope. In his July 21 letter, he recalled informing his « associates in pastoral mission » on June 19 that he submitted his resignation to Francis.

Meanwhile, a Kraków priest said postponement of Jedraszewski’s departure could be intended to allow time for disputes to ease between his supporters and opponents.

« The archbishop is known for controversial statements and actions, and for supporting Poland’s previous governing party — but he’s also faced accusations of losing contact with his archdiocese, » said Jesuit Father Jacek Prusak, director of the psychology institute at Kraków’s Jesuit Ignatianum University and faith editor of the Tygodnik Powszechny Catholic weekly.

« Perhaps it’s hoped current disputes can be resolved this way, so he won’t have to leave under cloud, passing a divided archdiocese on to his successor, » Prusak said.

Born in Poznan, Jedraszewski served from 2012 as archbishop of Lódz, before being appointed archbishop in Kraków in December 2016, as the third metropolitan since St. John Paul II (1920-2005), who was archbishop for 14 years prior to his 1978 papal election.

Until March, he served two five-year terms as vice president of the Polish bishops’ conference, and was a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Known for vigorously opposing abortion and contraception, the archbishop faced opposition for denouncing LGBTQ campaigners as a « rainbow plague » comparable to the « red plague » of communism in a televised August 2019 homily.

In a 2019 interview for Radio Maria, Jedraszewski explained that by his words he meant to criticize « gender ideology, » not the people associated with it. « The church does not condemn people. It condemns evil. Also that which takes the shape of a particular ideology, » he noted. He added that sin is the evil that man does, and the merciful Jesus leans over the sinner, showing him the way of conversion.

In the latest controversy, Jedraszewski told the archpriest of Krakow’s 14th-century St. Mary’s Church, Father Dariusz Ras, that a visitation of his Main Square prominent parish had revealed « numerous irregularities » and gave him 15 days to leave.

The November 2023 seven-page letter said Ras’ conduct had caused « serious harm and confusion in the church community, » demonstrating incompetence and a « poor management » of temporal goods to « the great detriment of the church. »

However, the order was disputed by parish council members from the 14th-century Gothic landmark, popularly known as the Mariacki Church, who told the archbishop in a February letter Ras had allowed them insight into church matters during his 13 years as archpriest.

They added that the visitation ordered by Jedraszewski’s envoy, totalling three hours, had been led by a former parish curate, Father Lukasz Michalczewski, with no technical expertise, and dubbed by the parish council as « biased. »

Teresa Malecka, a Mariacki Church council member and a member of the closest lay family, or « Srodowisko, » of St. John Paul II, said parishioners had been « completely shocked » by the « absolutely groundless » treatment of Ras.

She said that the archpriest’s « diligence and hard work » had helped save the parish during the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic, and said claims of financial and management irregularities contradicted his reputation for « total transparency. »

« Although we’ve sent other letters to the archbishop, we’ve received no response — though a simple conversation could have achieved something, there was total closure, » Malecka, who is also a professor at Kraków’s Music Academy, told OSV News.

Despite the complaints, Ras was removed from office on April 24, right before Jedraszewski named another priest, Father Stanislaw Czernik, to administer the parish in May.

However, Ras appealed to the Vatican in May, and resumed Masses as archpriest July 14, after the archbishop’s order was suspended by the Dicastery for Clergy.

« It would be appropriate if you could remain open to the possibility of a personal meeting with the Archbishop, » the dicastery said in a July 3 decree, which was relayed by the Vatican’s Warsaw nunciature and shown to OSV News, « with the aim of clarifying this delicate situation in a favorable climate and thus overcoming possible tensions. »

A second recent controversial order by Jedraszewski was also suspended by the dicastery pending further investigations. In this order, the archbishop appointed an external curator to take over extensive estate and property assets belonging to Kraków’s Wawel Cathedral chapter, after rejecting its financial reports.

Asked about the dicastery decrees, the former visitation leader, Michalczewski, who is now the Kraków Archdiocese’s chief spokesman, economist as well as police chaplain, among other duties, told OSV News Jedraszewski had not been contacted by the Vatican, adding his orders had been « suspended » rather than repealed.

However, a church source in Kraków said it was widely believed Jedraszewski had sought to « maneuver » loyal church staffers into prominent positions prior to his retirement, while removing clergy associated with his predecessor, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was personal secretary to St. John Paul II for 39 years.

The source added that Dziwisz, who previously employed Ras as his secretary, was believed to have argued the archpriest’s case in Rome.

Meanwhile, the author of a recent biography of the archbishop, journalist Tomasz Terlikowski, told OSV News he also believed Jedraszewski’s moves were aimed at ensuring « close collaborators » obtained « strong and influential positions » before a new archbishop was appointed, adding that the Vatican’s rare intervention suggested Archbishop Jedraszewski had « violated canonical rules. »

« The situation has been made worse by Jedraszewski’s refusal to talk with local Catholics. This is a rich and interesting parish, full of professors and other distinguished people, who haven’t even been given an opportunity to express their views, » Terlikowski said.

Besides facing criticism from liberal Catholics and secular media, Jedraszewski was not named a cardinal by Pope Francis, who conferred the honor instead in September 2023 on Archbishop Grzegorz Rys of Lódz, a former Kraków auxiliary.

Among expressions of support for the archbishop, Poland’s private TV channel Republika said July 18 that Jedraszewski had been subjected to an « unprecedented attack from leftist and liberal circles » for his « unwavering adherence to church teachings » and opposition to « forces preaching moral permissiveness, » who would be disappointed by his failure « to fall silent. »

However, Kraków priests who asked not to be named told OSV News the archbishop had « narrowed his trusted circle to very few people, » while declining contact with others, « despite multiple requests and pressing needs. »

In his OSV News interview, Terlikowski said that even conservative clergy who admired Jedraszewski’s « orthodox stance against Western liberal influences » had grown disillusioned with his lack of communication with clergy and laypeople across the Archdiocese of Kraków.

He added that the archbishop had been widely considered too close to Poland’s now-ousted Law and Justice party.

Prusak said he also believed Jedraszewski had tended to set himself too much apart from local Catholics, used to well-known regionally raised personalities such as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II) or Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, dubbed the « poorman of Kraków » for his humble attitude.

Poland is facing some more important bishops’ installations in the coming months, with Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw reaching retirement age from his metropolitan post in Warsaw Feb. 1, 2025, and Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan reaching retirement age on Oct. 19. Both prelates were considered longtime leaders of the church in Poland, with Gadecki leading the bishops’ conference for 10 years until March 2014.

Cardinal Nycz already submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in December 2023.

Catholics are becoming some of Christian nationalism’s most muscular champions.

Most prominently, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is a recent Catholic convert tied to Catholic integralism, an ideology that seeks Christian influence over society. As RNS’ Jack Jenkins has reported, although integralism differs from Christian nationalism on some points, it « shares many of the same policy goals as popular forms of Christian nationalism, » mainly for the government and its policies to be heavily influenced by Christian values. Vance’s recent elevation to the VP slot means this distinctively Catholic brand of Christian nationalism will have a larger platform than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Christian nationalist policy blueprint Project 2025 is making waves as Americans learn more about its contents. Less attention has been paid to the man behind Project 2025, Heritage Foundation President Kevin D. Roberts. Roberts is a proud « cowboy Catholic » who believes a « second American Revolution » is underway, which « will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. » He made this comment as a guest on « The War Room, » a show hosted by the far-right strategist and Catholic Stephen K. Bannon, who recently reported to prison for contempt of Congress. Bannon is a « proud Christian nationalist, » and “The War Room” is fashioned as a virtual “military headquarters” for Bannon’s « Army of the Awakened. » Though Bannon describes being raised in a relatively conventional « blue-collar, Irish Catholic » family, later in life he turned toward an apocalyptic and conservative strain of the faith.

Earlier this summer, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative Catholic who wrote the majority opinion in the 2022 case that overturned Roe v. Wade, came under fire when it was discovered that his wife had flown both an upside-down American flag and an « Appeal to Heaven » flag outside their homes in recent years. Both flags, and especially the latter, were immediately recognized as symbols of support for former President Donald Trump. Both flags were carried by Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. The Appeal to Heaven flag, originally used in the Revolution’s resistance to the British, resurfaced in recent years as a symbol of the movement to expand Christian influence in American government.

Shortly after, Alito was recorded by an activist posing as a fellow Catholic agreeing with the statement that « people in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of Godliness. » This confluence of revelations has led to increased scrutiny of the religious views of the six conservative justices on the court, all of whom are either practicing Catholics or were raised in the Catholic Church.

Outside of formal politics, a controversial late May commencement speech by professional football player Harrison Butker drew attention to the Trad Cath (Traditionalist Catholic) world in which misogynistic and homophobic views like his have found a rapt following. Trad Caths are not just politically conservative. As Lauren Horn Griffin, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies at Louisiana State University, wrote at Religion Dispatches, « Trad Caths use Latin, Crusader imagery, and Catholic material culture to manufacture ideas of a once-great White Western civilization currently under threat. » In other words, they have developed a distinctively Catholic version of the Christian nationalist narrative.  

The prominence of these Catholic Christian nationalists may come as a surprise to those who associate Christian nationalism with white evangelical Protestantism. And rightfully so. While two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants nationally support Christian nationalism, according to PRRI’s American Values Atlas, only 30% of white Catholics do. And of these, only 8% of white Catholics are considered Christian nationalism « adherents » (who express the greatest support for Christian nationalist ideas) compared to 30% of white evangelical Protestants.

To put these figures into perspective, white evangelical Protestants have the highest level of support for Christian nationalism among all religious groups, while white Catholics fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. But this should not suggest Catholics are necessarily moderate where Christian nationalism is concerned; rather, they are polarized, as they are on many other issues.

Though the Catholic Church has long been evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, the conservative wing of the Catholic Church has been expanding in the U.S. An April Pew report shows that « the GOP now has a modest advantage among Catholics, » and among white Catholics, 60% identify as Republicans. While young liberals are leaving organized religion in high numbers, the Trad Cath movement is attracting a new generation of young conservatives. And new Catholic priests are almost exclusively drawn from the Church’s conservative ranks, with more than 80% of those ordained since 2020 describing themselves as « theologically ‘conservative/orthodox’ or ‘very conservative/orthodox.' »

But the emergence of a Catholic brand of Christian Nationalism does not just reflect the church’s rightward turn. It is also the product of a much longer process through which Catholics were gradually folded into the « Christian » majority in America. This had not always been the case. Before Catholics were part of the Christian in-group, they had been prime villains in the Christian nationalist narrative, alongside Jewish and Black Americans, communists and the government elites who aided and abetted these enemies of the white Christian nation. When the Ku Klux Klan marched during the 1920s under banners declaring « America First: One God, One Country, One Flag, » they were referring exclusively to the God of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, the sole group they considered “One Hundred Percent American.” Catholics were not only considered ethnic outsiders (due to their Italian and Irish origins); their allegiance to a foreign pope was also considered suspicious and threatening. Think of the Islamophobia facing Muslims in America today: This was generally how American Catholics were treated during the early 20th century.

But long before most Americans were using the term « Christian nationalism » to describe those who sought Christian dominion in American politics, conservative Catholics had been organizing to exert influence on law and society, with a particular focus on issues like abortion. It was this issue, in part, that brought conservative Catholics into a strategic alignment with white evangelical Protestants, paving the way for the formation of an ecumenical Christian right in the 1970s.

It was through this partnership that lingering Protestant biases against Catholics also faded, and Catholics were finally folded fully into the category of American « Christians. » This process had been in motion since the Cold War, when the country’s so-called « Judeo-Christian » heritage was viewed as a ballast against atheist Communism. Once the external threat of Communism faded, that same « Judeo-Christian » heritage was invoked by conservative Protestants and Catholics alike to rebut domestic efforts to secularize the country. By the 1980s, the process was complete — American Catholics were now « Christians, » and thus stood to benefit from the idea that America was a Christian nation.

American Catholics are politically diverse and do not speak in one voice where Christian nationalism is concerned. But the conservative wing of the Catholic Church appears to be producing a powerful cohort of elite Catholic Christian nationalists who, if Donald Trump wins in November, will be at the very epicenter of American power. It is worth considering how their distinctive history, theology and institutions will shape their vision of how to exert Christian dominion over American society.

Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix is resuming his duties as Quebec’s archbishop, six months after stepping aside when he was accused of sexual misconduct for which a Vatican-mandated investigation found no evidence to support.

Lacroix announced he would step back into his role as archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada in a July 22 news release posted to the Archdiocese of Quebec’s website. He is to preside over Mass July 26 at the Sanctuary of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré for the feast of St. Anne.

The cardinal’s voluntary absence began in late January when abuse allegations surfaced as part of a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec surrounding alleged historical abuse cases. Lacroix has denied any wrongdoing, but the Vatican hired retired Quebec judge André Denis to investigate the claims made against Cardinal Lacroix.

Denis’ investigation concluded when in May he said he failed to find any evidence to justify a canonical trial.

« It has been a difficult journey, but the conclusions of Judge Denis’ investigation, the support of those around me and the possibility of making myself heard that could result from the request for intervention lead me to calmly resume my ministry, » Lacroix said. « The community knows to what extent the church of Quebec condemns reprehensible acts and knows the measures we have taken to prevent them. »

While resuming his duties, Lacroix has entrusted Auxiliary Bishop Marc Pelchat with the management of the class action against the archdiocese and handling allegations of abuse.

Lacroix was among a list of 15 accused persons added to a list in the class action lawsuit in January that alleges sexual abuse by clergy and church staff dating back to 1940. An unnamed female plaintiff, who claims she was 17 at the time, alleges sexual touching involving Lacroix between 1987 and 1988.

Denis, a retired Quebec superior court justice, said his investigation — ordered by Pope Francis in February — was incomplete because the complainant refused to take part. Through his other steps in his investigation, Denis said he found nothing to substantiate the allegations and described Lacroix’s record as « impeccable. »

Also embroiled in the ongoing class action is Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who has also denied allegations of sexual misconduct between 2008 and 2010, and has countersued the woman who made the allegations. Ouellet retired in April after leading the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops since 2010.

The recently opened archives of Pope Pius XII have shed new light on claims the World War II-era pope didn’t speak out about the Holocaust. But they’re also providing details about another contentious chapter in Vatican history: the scandal over the founder of the Legionaries of Christ.

Entire books have already been written about the copious documentation that arrived in the Holy See in the 1940s and 1950s proving its officials had evidence of the Rev. Marcial Maciel’s dubious morals, drug use, financial recklessness and sexual abuse of his young seminarians.

Yet it took the Holy See more than a half-century to sanction Maciel, and even more for it to acknowledge he was a religious fraud and con artist who molested his seminarians, fathered three children and built a secretive, cult-like religious order to hide his double life.

The newly opened archives of the Pius papacy, which spanned 1939-1958, are adding some new details to what has been in the public domain, since they include previously unavailable documentation from the Vatican secretariat of state.

They confirm that Pius’ Vatican was cracking down on Maciel in 1956 and was poised to take even tougher measures against him — including removing him from priestly ministry altogether — but that Pius’ 1958 death enabled Maciel’s supporters to take advantage of the leadership vacuum to save his name and order.

Until now, the biggest stash of publicly available documentation about Maciel had come from the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, which oversaw the Legion after its founding in 1941 in Mexico.

In 2012, some of Maciel’s Mexican victims put online 200-plus documents spanning the 1940s-2002 that they had obtained from someone with access to the Congregation for Religious archive. These documents, also in the book “La Voluntad De No Saber” (The Will to Not Know) detailed the evidence the Vatican had of Maciel’s depravities, but also how decades of bishops, cardinals and popes turned a blind eye and believed instead the glowing reports that also arrived in Rome.

Now the new documents from the Vatican’s central governing office are fleshing out that history, providing more details about who in the Vatican helped Maciel evade sanction, believing the claims against him to be slander, and who sought to take a tougher line.

One new document, being published in Sunday’s Corriere della Sera cultural supplement La Lettura, contains the original draft of an Oct. 1, 1956, memo by the No. 3 in the Vatican’s office for religious orders.

On that day, Maciel arrived in Rome after he had been suspended by the Vatican as Legion superior and ordered to go into detox to kick a morphine addiction.

According to the memo, the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious wanted an additional measure imposed on Maciel: that he be barred from having contact with young seminarians or risk being suspended from priestly ministry altogether, meaning he couldn’t celebrate Mass publicly, hear confessions or celebrate any other sacraments as a priest.

The author of the note, the Rev. Giovanni Battista Scapinelli, wrote that if Maciel came to the congregation “I will order him to get treated, to abandon any contact with his students until the congregation says otherwise. And if he doesn’t show up, in two days, a pre-emptive order should be given to Maciel: Either you go get treated or you will remain suspended a divinis. »

The draft is significant because it shows that by 1956, at least some in the Vatican took seriously the reports that had reached Rome that Maciel was molesting his young seminarians and wanted to protect them — and wanted to punish Maciel with one of the church’s harshest penalties for his crimes. It would take 50 years though, until 2006, for the Vatican to finally condemn Maciel to a comparatively light sentence of a “lifetime of penance and prayer” for sodomizing his young recruits.

A subsequent draft of the Oct. 1, 1956, memo was published in 2012 by the Mexican victims. It showed that Scapinelli had scratched out his original order for Maciel to refrain from having contact with his seminarians and merely ordered Maciel to get medical treatment for the drug addiction. It contains another page and a half of handwritten notes, as if Scapinelli rewrote it following consultation with others.

The secretariat of state archives contain what appears to be a final, typewritten version of the memo, dated Oct. 2, 1956 which omits any reference to Maciel being prohibited from contact with youngsters and speaks only of him getting medical help, with no further threats of ministerial suspension. A few weeks later, the Vatican appointed outside clerics to do a more thorough investigation onsite.

All versions of the Oct. 1, 1956 memo make clear that Maciel had a great protector in the Vatican in the form of Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, the No. 2 in the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Other documents say the Congregation for Religious “couldn’t proceed further against F. Maciel because of recommendations and interventions by high-ranking personalities.”

Scapinelli suggests that Pius was fully versed in the Maciel affair and had endorsed his removal as the Legion’s superior, writing that Maciel had been temporarily removed “for reasons known to the Holy Father.”

Indeed, in September of that year the Congregation for Religious handed over a file of “abundant documentation” for Pius to read, with a cover letter recalling that the Congregation had never wanted to recognize the Legion as a pontifically approved religious order because of its “serious” concerns about Maciel.

Pius died two years later, on Oct. 9, 1958. In the chaos of a new papacy, a change in leadership in the Congregation for Religious and interventions by Maciel’s supporters, Maciel was reinstalled as superior of the Legion in early 1959. The Legion was recognized as a pontifical religious order a few years later.

Maciel died in 2008. A year later the Legion admitted to some of his crimes, and a year after that the Vatican took the Legion over and imposed a process of reform and “purification.”

Most of the attention on the 2020 opening of the Pius archives has focused on what he and his advisers did or didn’t do to save Jewish lives during the war.

Fr. Norman Fischer Jr., a veteran Lexington, Kentucky, priest and the president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, died in Delaware July 14. He was 50 years old and had been on sabbatical.

The news was first announced by Lexington Bishop John Stowe, who noted that Fischer was at the Catholic Heart Work Camp in Wilmington at the time of his death.

Fischer celebrated 24 years as a priest this month and spent his final weeks in New Orleans at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, where he was a student in the continuing education program.

No cause of death was announced, but Fischer’s family was known to have a history of heart problems.

« We gather today with a profound sense of loss … with more questions than we have answers, » Stowe said during a standing-room-only memorial Mass July 15 at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Lexington, the historically Black parish where Fischer had served since 2006.

« [There’s] a lot of heaviness in our hearts, » Stowe said. « A lot of concern about so many people that have been touched by Fr. Norman’s life, by his unique way of touching people and reaching people and healing people and involving people and bringing grace to their hearts. »

Raised in rural Perryville, Kentucky, Fischer answered the call to the priesthood after attending Centre College in Danville, where he majored in psychology and art. He received a Master of Divinity from Mundelein Seminary in Illinois and was ordained in 2000 as the first Black or Filipino priest in the Diocese of Lexington. It was during his seminary years that he first became involved with the IBCS, where he took graduate courses in Black Catholic studies.

After news of his passing reached the community in New Orleans, a series of memorial services were held on the campus of Xavier University of Louisiana, where his former classmates gathered to remember his wide-reaching legacy.

« Norman taught us a lot about holding hospitality, » said IBCS development coordinator Resurrectionist Fr. Manuel Williams during a prayer service at St. Katharine Drexel Chapel July 17.

« Not just welcoming people into our homes or our places of worship or our schools … but welcoming folks into your physical presence. Into that wealth of attention, and that gift of things so precious: time, that he took with everyone he met. »

In addition to his service at St. Peter Claver, where he recently headed up a $3.5 million campaign to construct a new church edifice, Fischer served for more than 18 years as chaplain at Lexington Catholic High School. There, he was known for his gregarious personality and founded the school’s first Black affinity group.

His ecumenical impact in the Lexington region was also widely felt, including efforts for racial healing in partnership with local ministers, churches and schools. Fischer was also active in the charismatic movement, which brought together Christians of different stripes — including recently during the Asbury revival in 2023, where Fischer was noted as one of the Catholic participants.

Outside his pastoral ministry, Fischer was also a talented singer and visual artist. He exhibited several recent paintings earlier this year at the Hockensmith Fine Art Editions Gallery, where his work remains available.

« His faith and love of others was like wildfire, » said gallery owner John Stephen Hockensmith. « He was my friend and mentor. We shared inspiration. My love for him will burn forever. »

For his work and impact in the community, Fischer was named this summer as one of several recipients of the 2024 Grassroots Black Leadership Award from the Blue Grass Community Foundation.

Local and statewide civic leaders are among hundreds expressing shock at Fischer’s death this week, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Lexington mayor Linda Gorton.

« Father Norman Fischer had a smile that would light up the room, and an ongoing passion to serve people, » Gorton said in a statement. « We had many opportunities to talk, and [I] loved his great sense of humor and ability to connect with others. His passion for people and service will be missed. »

On the national scene since his formation for the priesthood, Fischer was a former member of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association, a constituent organization of the NBCCC. He was elected president of the latter organization in September 2023, and was likely the first Afro-Asian American to serve in the role.

« Fr. Fischer’s commitment to our mission and his tireless work for justice and equality have been a beacon of inspiration for us all, » said NBCCC vice president Fr. Kareem Smith in a statement July 15.

« His leadership, compassion, and wisdom guided our organization during this difficult time in our nation’s history, and his absence will be deeply felt by everyone whose lives he touched. »

Among Fischer’s survivors are his parents, and he was remembered with a livestreamed memorial Mass at Lexington Catholic High July 18.

The Diocese of Lexington has also announced that visitation services will take place at St. Peter Claver  noon to 6 p.m. July 27 and 3:30 to 8 p.m.  July 28.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Stowe at 11 a.m. July 29 at the Cathedral of Christ the King,  followed by interment at Calvary Cemetery. Memorial gifts in Fischer’s memory can be made to the St. Peter Claver Church Building Fund.

Faith leaders are making plans to provide a de-escalating presence at the polls months ahead of another deeply contested presidential election in an increasingly polarized country.

Faiths United to Save Democracy, a nonpartisan multiracial group with roots in Black church voter mobilization efforts, is expanding its outreach so participants include clergy and lay people of a variety of religions as well as people with no faith affiliation and members of secular organizations.

On Monday (July 15), Catholic nuns, rabbis and community and labor leaders gathered online to hear a Bible-based introduction in the first of seven « poll chaplain/peacekeeper » virtual training sessions aimed at equipping volunteers to keep the environment calm at polling places, especially in battleground states.

Sister Eilis McCulloh is a member of the grassroots mobilization team of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, an organization that has partnered with the Faiths United to Save Democracy campaign in the past, but she was a first-time trainee and « loved that it was an interfaith mix » working toward a « common good » goal.

« We can’t do that in our silos, » said McCulloh, a member of the Sister of the Humility of Mary order. « We’re much more effective when we all come together to do that. »

More than 80 people attended the 90-minute online training, which included breakout groups with practice scenarios, ranging from someone holding a gun to a bystander shouting obscenities outside a polling place. Trainees were given tools to help build trust with people in line to vote, as well as a special phone number to call if they witness intimidating behavior.

The week prior, the coalition had hosted « an urgent call to prayer for our troubled and divided nation, » featuring Black church leaders and a diverse range of officials of national groups, after the first presidential debate and before the shootings at a rally at which former President Donald Trump was speaking.

The prayers and the strategizing continued with the Monday night training, said the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner, the group’s coordinator.

« We opened emphasizing that we denounce all forms of political violence (political violence has no place in our democracy/nation) and lifting up our prayers for the full recovery and health of former President Trump and others who were injured, » she said in a Tuesday statement to Religion News Service. « We affirmed that the reality of political violence makes the presence of Poll Chaplain in clergy collars, lay leaders, and peacemakers of all backgrounds even more critical during early voting and on election day. »

The Rev. Jim Wallis, one of the core leaders of Faiths United to Save Democracy and the director of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice, said the training session attendees did not need convincing to participate in the peacekeeping efforts.

« People were really wanting to do this, » he said of the trainees, some who hailed from battleground states where they would be working, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. « Their questions were not, ‘Should I do this?’ But ‘OK, how do I do this? When do I show up?' »

In interviews ahead of the training, clergy who had volunteered as poll chaplains in past elections described experiences that ranged from threatening to uncomfortable to welcoming during their shifts outside polling places.

The Rev. Steve Bland Jr., one of the co-leaders of the voter protection campaign in Michigan, recalled a Black grandmother who was at first put off from voting because she spotted a white driver circling her neighborhood near the polling place, making her anxious about voting. A white clergywoman serving as a poll chaplain and visiting from another part of the state approached the car and « asked the guy who he was, what he was doing, etc., and the guy took off. »

The Rev. Dontà McGilvery, one of the co-leaders for the voter protection campaign in Arizona, said he stepped in when Pastor April Hawkins, another clergy colleague and poll chaplain, was confronted by a voter who made assumptions based on her collar and the color of her skin, telling her, « You’re not a real Christian if you don’t align with the values of the Republican Party, » McGilvery recalled.

McGilvery, who said he considers who people vote for a « nonexistent » topic for poll chaplains, usually merely congratulates people for voting. But after a 10-minute back-and-forth with the voter, nearby representatives of civic organizations intervened to end the situation.

Bridget Moix, general secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, traveled from Washington, D.C., to her home state of Ohio to serve as a poll chaplain. Wearing a « Love Thy Neighbor (No Exceptions) » button, she welcomed a young Black man. He entered the doors of a polling place with trepidation and left surprised at how easy it was.

The man had feared the threatening presence of guns and was relieved to find none, Moix said.

Moix, who gave the closing prayer at Monday’s event, said the young man’s experience « spoke to me of the situation we’re in as a country, and also the importance of having just a friendly, calming presence at the polls that people can feel safe going to the polls. And I hope he’ll be back again this election season. »

Other organizations are encouraging actions and making statements that support voter protection. For example, Interfaith America’s and Project Democracy’s « Faith in Elections Playbook » notes ways to support voters, including bringing food and water to people standing in line if local laws permit them.

Citing rising levels of political violence over recent election cycles, Faith in Public Life issued a June 24 open letter to « Those With the Power to Lead Us Toward Peace » that said, in part: « As leaders who are invested in interrupting violence and working toward a culture of peace, we urge you — and all people in positions of authority — to cease using your power to advance political violence and to instead leverage your influence toward love and liberation. »

Although much of the focus for the poll chaplains and peacekeepers is on supporting voters, their work may not conclude on Nov. 5, Williams-Skinner said, but rather could last « until somebody is inaugurated. » Their tasks could include prayer vigils, nonviolent protests and post-election monitoring of vote counts.

« When you sign up for this, you realize that you’re not signing up for just Election Day, » said Arlene Holt Baker, the District of Columbia-based executive vice president emerita of the AFL-CIO, who joined the training on Monday and said she signed up for the FUSD’s buddy system and is willing to go where she’s needed along with another peacekeeper.

« You’re signing up for Election Day and beyond. »

Vatican rulings on allegedly supernatural phenomena, such as Marian apparitions, will continue to be released publicly, but official validation of an event’s supernatural status — as has happened at Lourdes, Fatima and Guadalupe — would be « exceptional, » the Vatican’s doctrine chief said.

Speaking to Alfa y Omega, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that a Vatican ruling of whether an event was truly supernatural « does not seem necessary, because it has long been clear that not even a declaration of supernaturality obliges believers to accept such phenomena as of divine origin. »

Still, the dicastery will continue to publish its rulings on permitting devotion associated with allegedly supernatural phenomena, he said in the interview published July 17, noting that « one will come out in the next days » while others « will need to wait two or three months because they require greater study. »

Since the dicastery issued new norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena in May, two rulings have been issued on Marian apparitions by the dicastery and two previously made judgments have been made public.

Rather than seek a validation of an event’s supernaturality, the norms make a « nihil obstat » the most positive ruling issued by the dicastery, effectively ruling that devotion associated to an allegedly supernatural event is licit without making a judgment on its authenticity.

Fernández said that official validation of an event’s supernaturality « would only occur if the pope, due to special interest, were to solicit it and personally decide it. »

He added that the dicastery is now able to publish the rulings quickly since previous cases would be held up in the discernment process because of the need to declare whether events and phenomena were supernatural or of divine origin, but « with the new method that burden does not exist anymore and the analysis becomes easier. »

The cardinal said that the criteria for an allegedly supernatural event to receive a « nihil obstat » include the « spiritual and pastoral fruits » resulting from the event together with « the absence of critical elements that can negatively affect the people of God. »

If messages are associated with a phenomenon, « their content is carefully analyzed in order to highlight what is beautiful, positive and a reflection of the Gospel, » he added. « If some of them, even if they are not contrary to faith and morality, can cause confusion, clarifications are offered to be published together with the messages. »