St. Andrew Catholic Church

A judge in Ohio ruled the state’s educational voucher program unconstitutional, but the Ohio Catholic Conference said on June 24, 2025, it is confident the issue, which benefits Catholic schools, will ultimately prevail on appeal. / Credit: Take Photo/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Conference of Ohio has issued a statement expressing confidence that the state’s voucher program allowing parents to send their children to private schools would ultimately prevail after a judge ruled the program unconstitutional.

Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page on June 24 declared the Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) Program, which provides funding for public school students to attend private schools in the state, unconstitutional, claiming it harms public education by channeling funds toward private schools, including Catholic institutions.

Page said in her ruling that the plaintiffs had proved “beyond a reasonable doubt that the EdChoice voucher program violates Article VI Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution,” which bans religious schools from having “any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of [the] state.”

Page also wrote that “the state may not fund private schools at the expense of public schools or in a manner that undermines its obligation to public education.”

The ruling is expected to be appealed. The 10th District Court of Appeals will hear the case next, after which it could go to the Ohio Supreme Court.

“We remain confident the EdChoice program will prevail in the appeals process,” Brian Hickey, executive director for the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said in a June 24 statement. Hickey called support for the program “a matter of social justice.”

The Catholic Conference of Ohio is the official representative of the Catholic Church in public policy matters.

“The Catholic Church will continue to advocate for and defend programs that support parents as the primary educators of their children and enable them to select a school that best suits their child’s needs,” Hickey said. 

“We are proud that Catholic schools in Ohio continue to flourish with ethnic and racial diversity while providing a rich spiritual and intellectual environment,” he continued. “Catholic schools, like other chartered nonpublic schools in Ohio, work closely with the Department of Education and Workforce to adhere to state chartering requirements, including operating standards, teacher licensing, state audits, and approved testing.”

A coalition of public school districts, Vouchers Hurt Ohio, filed a lawsuit in 2022 to end the Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) Program, which provides funding for public school students to attend private schools in the state of Ohio. 

The anti-vouchers group argued that the program unconstitutionally created a second system of schools to be funded by the state, causing harm to its public school system.

About 300 sisters and supporters gathered on June 24, 2025, for “Sisters Speak Out” in the nation’s capital in anticipation of the Senate voting on the budget bill this week. / Credit: Julia Morris

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).

Sisters from 60 congregations gathered in Washington, D.C., on June 24 to urge lawmakers not to cut government programs that support immigrants and people with low incomes.

The event, called “Sisters Speak Out,” was held in the nation’s capital while approximately 40 “echo events” took place across the country. Around 300 sisters and supporters attended the D.C. gathering for “immigrants and a just economy” in anticipation of the Senate voting on the reconciliation bill this week.

According to a press release from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the sisters were gathered to speak out against budget cuts they believe will “gut health care and food assistance, inflicting serious harm on families, children, the elderly, and disabled.”

Sister Eilis McCulloh, a Humility of Mary sister and grassroots education and organizing coordinator for the justice organization Network, told CNA the idea for the demonstration came from “a desire for some action.”

“In March, there was a conference of a bunch of justice promoters for women’s religious communities … we began meeting every single week … to plan something that we could do together and that could take place across the country as well,” she said.

From these meetings the group decided to plan the Sisters Speak Out event because they believe the reconciliation bill affects the communities that they are “intertwined” with in their ministries.

McCulloh told CNA that “one of the really cool things” about the day was how much participation there was across the nation.

“So many people are saying, ‘Physically, I can no longer participate in events’ … And so we collected rosaries for it, one of the co-planners helped collect them and we received over 300 rosaries for people to use.” 

The event “had five different speakers” and the group gathered to pray a decade of the rosary together. 

“We used the sorrowful mysteries,” McCulloh said. “And each of the mysteries was connected to one of the issues that we were talking about.” The five speakers specifically discussed Medicaid, immigration, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Sister Mary Haddad of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas spoke about how health care is a “human right” and said passing the budget bill “would harm critical health and social safety-net programs that millions of Americans rely on to live with health, dignity, and security.”

“Medicaid is not just a health program — it is a lifeline,” she said.

Sister Patty Chappell, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, explained at the event that 13% of the population relies on $230 a month to feed their families. “That covers only a subsistence diet,” she said, and then asked: “How would you be able to feed your family on a SNAP budget of just $6.20 per day, per person?”

Sister Terry Saetta, a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas who works with immigrants, discussed border issues. “No child should leave the house traumatized, fearing they may never see their mother or father again,” she said.

The budget, she said, “is a moral document. It shows what we value.”

After the sisters had gathered, some met with senators including Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland; Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina; Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia; Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois; Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to discuss the bill and how they believe it will affect vulnerable groups. 

The group also sent a letter to senators that was signed by approximately 2,500 sisters that said the bill “would be the most harmful legislation for American families in our lifetimes, and it goes against the principles and teaching of our Catholic faith.”

“I think we’re still just beginning to see this ripple effect of what this event meant, not just for the world but for everyone who took part in it and how we’re going to take the energy that we had yesterday and bring it back to our own congregations, our own communities where we live,” McCulloh said Wednesday. 

The reconciliation bill was passed by House Republicans in May, and Trump has called for the Senate to also pass it as soon as July 4.

Many Catholic and pro-life agencies have supported the bill from the start as it would defund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that perform abortions, but many Catholic organizations are also wary of how other government cuts will affect U.S. families and programs that assist the poor.

The United States Conference of Bishops recently released its stance on the bill, stating that it “supports certain provisions” but similarly to the sisters is “concerned with other inclusions that will negatively impact millions of people,” such as Medicaid and SNAP.

Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series “The Chosen,” greets Pope Leo XIV at the end of Wednesday’s general audience on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 15:32 pm (CNA).

Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series “The Chosen,” greeted Pope Leo XIV at the end of Wednesday’s general audience on June 25 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Also present were other actors and actresses from the hit series based on the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles, including Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene in the series; George Xanthis, who plays the apostle St. John; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays the Virgin Mary. Some members of the series’ crew also participated in the meeting.

In the photographs released by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV and Roumie can be seen smiling and shaking hands. The actor also gave the pontiff a gift on behalf of the entire crew.

Speaking to Vatican News before Wednesday’s general audience, Roumie stated that “playing a charismatic figure like Christ has helped strengthen my faith.”

“I have lived this experience as a true act of divine grace toward me,” the 50-year-old actor added.

Furthermore, the star of the series, watched by more than 200 million people worldwide, explained that his father, who emigrated to the United States, is Egyptian, and his mother is Irish, so “since I was a child, I have breathed in the Catholic faith” in his family.

“I have tried to convey what I learned from my parents in an acting role without forcing it. I have always seen Jesus as a simple man, whose simplicity contains countless teachings and values ​​that I hope to apply every day of my life,” he stated.

He also said that “the weight of responsibility I felt while filming certain scenes was enormous, but the strength of my faith drove me to great concentration. And today’s meeting with the pope has been an immeasurable honor.”

This meeting was part of the of “The Chosen” cast’s visit to the Vatican for the exclusive premiere of the series’ fifth season, which will be available for streaming in Italy in July.

Their arrival in Rome took place after three weeks of filming in southern Italy, where they filmed the crucifixion scenes for the sixth season, which will premiere next year.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

A Colorado department will allow a Christian summer camp to separate boys and girls on the basis of biology after the camp sued the state in May. The agreement was reached June 24, 2025, and the camp has dropped the lawsuit. / Credit: anatoliy_gleb/shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood will allow a Christian summer camp to separate showers, bathrooms, and sleeping areas on the basis of biological sex after both sides reached a legal settlement on Tuesday, June 24.

Per the settlement, Camp IdRaHaJe is exempt from a state rule that requires camps to separate facilities on the basis of self-asserted “gender identity” rather than biological sex. If the rule had been enforced, the camp would have been required to let biological males who identify as transgender girls access all private facilities reserved for biological girls.

In the settlement, the department recognizes that the camp is a nonprofit organized exclusively for religious purposes. For this reason, the settlement states that the camp is not subject to the rule.

“Government officials should never put a dangerous ideology ahead of kids,” Andrea Dill, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom — the organization representing Camp IdRaHaJe in the lawsuit — said in a statement.

“State officials must respect religious ministries and their beliefs about human sexuality; they can’t force a Christian summer camp to violate its convictions,” she said. “We’re pleased that Camp IdRaHaJe is again free to operate as it has for more than 75 years: as a Christian summer camp that accepts all campers without fear of being punished for its beliefs.”

The Christian camp, which derives its name from the 1922 Christian hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” sued the department in mid-May based on concerns that it could face fines or have its license suspended or revoked. The camp opened on June 8 and did not comply with the rule. The department did not take any enforcement action against the camp.

Per the agreement, the state agreed that it will not impose any fines or take any action against Camp IdRaHaJe’s license.

The Department of Early Childhood also agreed to add language to its administrative guide and update a memorandum on its website to clarify that a location “principally used for religious purposes” is not subject to the “gender identity” rule.

CNA reached out to the department for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Lisa Roy, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said in a statement to CBS News that the department is “glad to support Camp IdRaHaJe’s understanding of their ability to provide a Christian camp experience to kids” after the settlement was reached.

“The [department] did not take any enforcement action against Camp IdRaHaJe related to any of the licensing regulations raised in the lawsuit and the camp was never under a threat of closure,” she said in the statement.

Although no direct enforcement action was taken against Camp IdRaHaJe, the camp expressed concern in its initial lawsuit that it could be subject to enforcement action because its request for an exemption from the rule had previously been denied.

That lawsuit notes that the camp believes and teaches that God “has immutably created each person as either male or female in his image” and that “the differentiation of the sexes, male and female, is part of the divine image in the human race.” It adds that this belief is integrated into all of the camp’s programs and operations.

Camp IdRaHaJe hosts about 2,500 to 3,000 students between the ages of 6 and 17 every year. It was established in 1948 for “the purpose of winning souls to Jesus Christ through the spreading of the Gospel,” the “edifying … of the believers through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God,” and “evangelizing of campers through witnessing and missions,” its website states.

Following the settlement agreement, Alliance Defending Freedom filed for a dismissal of the initial lawsuit.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 13:54 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness to persecuted Christians during the Wednesday general audience on June 25, referring to the “heinous terrorist attack” on Sunday by the Islamic State against the Greek Orthodox community in Damascus, in which 25 faithful lost their lives while attending the Divine Liturgy.

On Sunday, June 22, the solemnity of Corpus Christi, eyewitnesses reported that two armed men stormed the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in Douailah on the outskirts of the Syrian capital. The brutal attack, the first since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, also left 63 injured.

During his greetings to the Italian-speaking faithful, the pontiff entrusted the deceased “to the mercy of God” while offering prayers for the wounded and their families.

“To the Christians of the Middle East, I say: I am close to you! The whole Church is close to you!” Pope Leo exclaimed.

This tragic event, according to the pontiff, “recalls the profound fragility that Syria still faces after years of conflict and instability.”

Leo XIV emphasized that it is essential that the international community “not ignore this country but continue to offer support through gestures of solidarity and a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation.”

The Holy Father said he continues “to follow carefully and with hope the developments in Iran, Israel, and Palestine” while recalling that the words of the prophet Isaiah resonate today with more urgency than ever: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Is 2:4).

“May this voice, which comes from the Most High, be heard! May the wounds caused by the bloody actions of recent days be healed,” he urged.

Finally, before the thousands of faithful listening to him in St. Peter’s Square, he called for the rejection of “arrogance and revenge, and instead resolutely choose the path of dialogue, diplomacy, and peace.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino. / Credit: Diocese of San Bernardino/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 13:24 pm (CNA).

Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, California, on Tuesday urged authorities to cease their aggressive arrests of immigrants in the state, with the prelate calling for immigration enforcement that “respects human rights and human dignity.”

The plea comes as the federal government under President Donald Trump continues its broad effort to arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants in California and throughout the rest of the country.

California has been at the epicenter of much of that enforcement. Pew Research Center estimated last year that the state is home to 1.8 million “unauthorized immigrants,” the highest number of any state in the country.

The federal government, meanwhile, has been boasting of its immigration raids in the state, describing in press releases its arrests of the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in Los Angeles and slamming what it called “sanctuary politicians” in states like California who “work to thwart” the work of immigration officers. 

Last month Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly pushed ICE agents to arrest 3,000 people per day. According to Forbes, “the Trump administration internally has set a goal of deporting 1 million people during Trump’s first year.”

‘It is not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ’

In his Tuesday message, Rojas noted the “change [and] increase in immigration enforcement in our region and specifically in our diocese.” San Bernardino is located about 90 minutes east of Los Angeles.

“Authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God,” the bishop wrote of the immigration raids. 

Speaking to immigrant communities bearing the “trauma and injustice of these tactics,” Rojas wrote that the Church “walks with you and supports you. We join you in carrying this very difficult cross.”

Rojas wrote that Catholics “respect and appreciate the right of law enforcement to keep our communities safe from violent criminals.” But the recent enforcement has gone beyond that, he argued.

“[W]e are now seeing agents detain people as they leave their homes, in their places of work and other randomly chosen public settings,” the bishop wrote. “We have experienced at least one case of ICE agents entering a parish property and seizing several people.”

The aggressive enforcement “is creating a tremendous amount of fear, confusion, and anxiety for many,” he wrote.

Describing those extreme methods as “not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” the bishop asked political leaders to “reconsider and cease these tactics immediately, in favor of an approach that respects human rights and human dignity and builds toward a more lasting, comprehensive reform of our immigration system.”

It “is painful to see such division amongst God’s people at this moment,” the bishop admitted. 

“This is not what he wants for us. Let us instead remember what we all share — our creation in his image and likeness. Let us look for God in one another.”

Religious leaders have spoken out against the Trump administration’s immigration policy in the months since the Republican leader took office in January.

In February more than two dozen religious groups sued the White House over its policy allowing immigration officers to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in houses of worship and other “sensitive locations.”

The groups said the policy had the effect of “substantially burdening” religious worship, since many immigrant parishioners were avoiding worship altogether.

In a similar case filed around the same time, a federal judge ruled in February that the government would not be permitted to conduct unrestricted arrests of suspected unauthorized immigrants at some religious sites while the lawsuit plays out in court.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taick delivers his homily at the Mass for a Day of prayer for National Reconciliation and Unity at Myeongdong Cathedral on June 22, 2025, in anticipation of the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War on June 25. / Credit: Archdiocese of Seoul

Rome Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 12:54 pm (CNA).

Korean Catholics marked the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War with a novena of prayers and Masses offered for peace and reconciliation on the divided peninsula — where the war never formally ended. 

More than 1,000 Catholics gathered for a special Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on the Sunday before the June 25 anniversary. The liturgy was led by Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick, the archbishop of Seoul and apostolic administrator of Pyongyang.

“Living in a state of division, the North and South have nurtured hatred and animosity amid constant tension and confrontation,” Chung said in his homily. 

“Every single member of our Church must remember and pray for our brothers and sisters in North Korea and stop turning blind eyes to efforts for reconciliation and unity in God by reinventing our sense of solidarity based on brotherhood,” he added during a keynote address at a symposium later that day.

The Korean War claimed the lives of an estimated 3 million people, or 10% of the population, in Korea between 1950 and 1953. The United States suffered more than 33,000 battle deaths and nearly 3,000 non-battle deaths. An armistice signed in 1953 ended active fighting but did not result in a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war.

Catholics in South Korea prayed a novena leading up to the June 25 anniversary, which has been marked by the local Church for decades as an annual “Day of Prayer for the Reconciliation and Unity of the Korean People.” Weekly Masses for Korean reconciliation are also offered at Seoul’s cathedral every Tuesday night throughout the year with the 1,468th Mass celebrated this week.

A divided peninsula 

The division of the Korean Peninsula along the 38th parallel after World War II created two vastly different nations. The north, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is ruled by a repressive regime that has been accused by the United Nations of committing crimes against humanity, including executions, torture, forced abortions, and mass starvation.

Human Rights Watch reported in 2024 that North Korea has intensified restrictions since 2020, using COVID-19 as a pretext to seal its borders, halt trade and humanitarian aid, and block defectors from escaping. Today, North Korea remains one of the poorest and most isolated nations in the world.

South Korea, meanwhile, has experienced rapid development, transforming into a major global economy. The so-called “miracle on the Han River” saw the south’s economy grow by nearly 9% annually for three decades following the war.

The Catholic Church in South Korea has also grown significantly, from fewer than 500,000 members in the 1960s to nearly 6 million today, according to data released by the Korean Bishops’ Conference earlier this year.

Bishop Simon Kim Joo-young of Chuncheon serves as president of the Korean bishops’ conference’s Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People.

“After 80 years of division on the Korean Peninsula, we must overcome conflicts with faith in the resurrection of Christ,” Kim said, according to Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

North Korea’s Christian past 

Before the Korean War, Pyongyang was known as the “Jerusalem of the East,” with a vibrant minority Christian population. In 1945, approximately 50,000 Catholics and more than twice as many Protestants were registered in parishes and churches in what is now North Korea, according to the Korean bishops.

Most Catholic clergy in the north were arrested, killed, or disappeared around the time the war broke out in 1950. The Church has opened a beatification cause for 40 monks and nuns from Tokwon Benedictine Abbey who were martyred by communist forces.

In 1988, the communist government established the “Korean Catholic Association,” which is not recognized by the Vatican and operates under strict state oversight. It reportedly had 800 members at its founding. No Catholic clergy currently reside in North Korea.

Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, now prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy, visited Pyongyang in 2005 during a humanitarian mission for Caritas Korea.

Despite the lack of religious freedom, some defectors from the north have discovered the Catholic faith after resettling in South Korea.

Fragile inter-Korean relations 

Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated significantly in recent years. 

In January 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared an end to the regime’s long-standing policy of peaceful reunification and began removing related language from monuments and official rhetoric, labeling South Korea as a “principal enemy.” 

Later that year, Pyongyang sent balloons filled with trash across the border in retaliation for leaflet campaigns by South Korean activists. Bishop Kim described the deepening division as “a crisis.” 

“This situation is the result of ideological conflicts accumulated over a long period of division, which could be described as an emotional civil war,” Kim said.

Yet Archbishop Chung pointed out that “a small but meaningful change has begun in inter-Korean relations” this month.

President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June, suspended propaganda broadcasts along the Demilitarized Zone and called on activists to cease sending balloons into the north.

“As soon as our government stopped loudspeaker messages to North Korea, North Korea immediately ceased to broadcast its loudspeaker messages,” Chung said. “The tension that had been unrelenting between the two nations suddenly eased, creating a small but remarkable change that allowed us to seek a new relationship.”

Father Chung Soo-yang, vice chair of the bishops’ reconciliation committee, expressed hope that the younger generation will take the lead in promoting peace, especially ahead of World Youth Day 2027, which will be hosted in Seoul.

“Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran wars, it is globally important for the Korean Peninsula that has stood divided for more than a half-century to lay the foundation for peace,” he said.

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska. / Credit: Diocese of Lincoln

CNA Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, this week slammed a so-called “drag Mass” performance put on by a University of Nebraska student, calling it an “offensive” display marked by “lies, evil, and ugliness.” 

The higher education news website the College Fix first reported on the performance on May 30. The LGBT-centric demonstration was hosted by a local Lutheran church; its creator, music doctoral student Joseph Willette, said the event was meant to “bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality.”

Explicitly describing the performance as an “appropriation of the traditional Mass,” Willette said the display “blurs the lines between the sacred and the profane.” The College Fix said the incident “imitated various parts of the Mass, including the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.” It reportedly featured a chamber orchestra and singing along with drag performances.

In a June 24 statement, Conley called the event a “blatant public display of faith-based discrimination,” one that led to Willette himself earning a doctorate. 

The profane performance “reflects poorly on the University of Nebraska, its faculty, and our community,” Conley said.

“There is no redeeming value in such a display of ignorance,” the prelate wrote. “Such discrimination would not be tolerated if directed at other religions, so why is it tolerated if the target is the Catholic faith?”

“It’s offensive and should be condemned by the university, not applauded or rewarded,” he said. “Education should strive for the true, the good, and the beautiful — not lies, evil, and ugliness.”

The mockery of the Mass generated significant pushback and criticism, including from the Catholic League, which the College Fix reported sent a letter to the University of Nebraska demanding the school “[hold] accountable” the professors who sanctioned the display.

In a video response posted to Instagram, Willette said he felt “no need to defend myself or my work.”

Stating that he would not be “bullied” into “submission,” Willette vowed that he would “continue to make unabashedly queer music.”

Conley, meanwhile, called on the university “to do more than ignore such a vile display of hatred.” 

“Have the courage to stand up and declare your institution will not tolerate or reward such inappropriate behavior and take action against the faculty who encouraged it,” he said.

Father Francesco Ielpo, a Franciscan friar, on June 24, 2025, was appointed the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion. Previously, since 2022, he was president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces. / Credit: Custodia Terræ Sanctæ

ACI MENA, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

In a decision carrying both spiritual and humanitarian significance, Pope Leo XIV on June 24 approved the election of Father Francesco Ielpo, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, as the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion, succeeding Father Francesco Patton, who concluded nine years of service in this sensitive role.

The appointment followed an election conducted by the minister general of the Franciscan order and his council, in line with a long-standing tradition that reflects the historical continuity of the Franciscans’ mission in the land where Jesus Christ walked.

Born in Lauria, Italy, in 1970, Ielpo made his solemn profession in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. His service has spanned education, administration, and pastoral care. He taught religion, served as the head of the “Franciscanum Luzzago” Institute in Brescia, and held ecclesial responsibilities as the commissary for the Holy Land in Lombardy and later in northern Italy. Since 2022, he has been president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces.

Ielpo assumes his new role at an extremely complex moment, both regionally and spiritually. The Holy Land is enduring growing political and military tensions, a sharp decline in pilgrimage, a shrinking local Christian population, and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

In this context, the responsibility of the new custos goes far beyond protecting sacred sites; it encompasses pastoral presence, humanitarian support, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and the safeguarding of Christianity’s roots in its birthplace. The late Pope Francis had once stressed that “serving the Holy Land is a mission of peace amid conflict, a space for humility and spiritual courage.”

Ielpo succeeds Patton, who served from 2016 to 2025. During his tenure, Patton faced significant challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the near-total halt of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Despite these trials, he sustained major restoration projects, took part in humanitarian efforts such as support for children in Gaza, and documented his experience in a spiritual memoir titled “Like a Pilgrimage: My Days in the Holy Land.”

The Franciscan Custody, which began more than 800 years ago with St. Francis of Assisi’s arrival in the Holy Land, is not merely a religious duty. It is a living witness to the Catholic Church’s enduring commitment to the holy sites, to the people who dwell around them, and to the pilgrims who yearn to visit.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV speaks to bishops gathered for the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:24 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called bishops to be firm and decisive in dealing with scandal and sexual abuse, linking vigilance against abuse to living a chaste life.

Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop.

“Together with material poverty, the life of the bishop is also marked by that specific form of poverty, which is celibacy and virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,” he said during the June 25 meeting, the last part of a morning of spiritual activities for the Jubilee of Bishops.

Leo said celibacy is more than living as a celibate but includes “chastity of heart and conduct, and in this way, living a life of Christian discipleship and presenting to all the authentic image of the Church, holy and chaste in her members as in her head.”

Following his reference to their personal chastity, the pope asked the bishops, when dealing with abuse, especially abuse of minors, to fully respect the Church’s current regulations.

Pope Leo, before his election, spent two years as head of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican department responsible for assisting the pope in the appointment of new bishops around the world, providing formation for new bishops, and intervening when necessary in problems of governance within a diocese.

Evangelical poverty, as lived by the bishop, “is a simple, sober, and generous lifestyle, dignified and at the same time suited to the conditions of the majority of his people,” the pontiff said.

“The poor,” he continued, “must find in him a father and a brother, and never feel uncomfortable in meeting him or entering his home. In his personal life, he must be detached from the pursuit of wealth and from forms of favoritism based on money or power.”

On pastoral prudence, Leo underlined the need for synodality — “dialogue as a style and method” — in the bishop’s particular Church.

He encouraged bishops to be men of the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. And he cited the Second Vatican Council decree on priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis, which mentions the human virtues of “fairness, sincerity, magnanimity, openness of mind and heart, the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice and to suffer with those who suffer, as well as self-control, delicacy, patience, discretion, great openness to listening and engaging in dialogue, and willingness to serve.”

“These virtues,” the pontiff said, “can and must be cultivated in conformity to the Lord Jesus, with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

For the Jubilee of Bishops, members of the Roman Curia and bishops on pilgrimage to Rome began the morning by passing through the Holy Door. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, celebrated Mass for them at the Altar of the Chair before the approximately half-hour meeting with Leo.

After the pope delivered his spiritual message, which the bishops applauded, he led them in singing the Creed, the profession of the faith, in Latin. 

“At the very place where Peter gave witness to Christ, together with me, his successor, you renew your loyalty to the prince of pastors,” the pope said as he introduced the Creed.

Pope Leo, in his catechesis, also cited St. Augustine’s description of the priestly ministry as the “amoris officium,” or the “office of love” in English.

Here the theological life of the bishop, he said, “is expressed and shines forth in the highest degree. Whether preaching, visiting communities, listening to priests and deacons, or making administrative decisions, all that he does is inspired and motivated by the charity of Christ the Shepherd.”