St. James the Less Catholic Parish

Father Pedro Bismarck Chau was appointed as a new auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 16:23 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Nicaraguan-born Father Pedro Bismarck Chau as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.

The Holy Father also accepted the resignation of 77-year-old Newark Auxiliary Bishop Gregory J. Studerus.

Bishop-elect Chau is a priest of the archdiocese and currently serves as pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, according to a press release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I warmly welcome the Holy Father’s appointment of Bishop-elect Pedro Bismarck Chau as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark,” Newark archbishop Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin said in a statement.

“His deep faith, considerable pastoral experience, and love for the people of God will be a great blessing to our local Church. I look forward to his contribution as we continue our mission to witness to Jesus Christ,” Tobin said.

Chau was born on July 18, 1964, in Managua, Nicaragua, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. 

In 2004, Chau received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He then studied at Immaculate Conception Seminary there and was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 2008.

After his ordination, Chau worked as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Garfield, New Jersey, assisting the parish priest from 2008–2012. 

Chau became very involved in youth programs with the archdiocese, serving as an associate director of the archdiocese’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Catholic Youth Organization from 2012–2015.

From 2013–2016, Chau served as the assistant director of vocations for the archdiocese. He also worked as a campus minister at New Jersey Institute of Technology and at the Newman Center at Rutgers University from 2015–2020. During the same time period, he served as pastor at St. John’s Church and St. Patrick Pro-Cathedral.

Chau was appointed to the Priest Personnel Board for the archdiocese in 2017 and served on the board until 2020 when he began his current role as rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

The priest later returned to Seton Hall University to acquire a master’s degree in professional counseling in 2021.

Other ministry work of Chau’s includes serving as the chaplain for the pastoral ministry with the Deaf, working as a professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary, and assisting V Encuentro, an organization that carries out missionary work to benefit the Latino ministry in the United States.

The auxiliary bishop-elect will join auxiliary bishops Manuel A. Cruz, Michael A. Saporito, and Elias R. Lorenzo along with Tobin to serve the estimated 1.04 million Catholics in New Jersey.

2025 Bradley Prize recipient Jimmy Lai. / Credit: Courtesy of the Bradley Foundation

CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).

Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned pro-democracy advocate and Hong Kong entrepreneur, is the honorary recipient of the 2025 Bradley Prize for his unwavering commitment to free speech, democracy, and journalistic integrity. 

His son, Sebastien Lai, accepted the award on his father’s behalf at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The Bradley Prize recognizes Lai’s role as a Catholic human rights activist standing against one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.

Imprisoned for over four years and currently in solitary confinement, Lai, 77, faces potential life imprisonment under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, which has stifled dissent and suppressed free speech in Hong Kong. 

“Jimmy’s extraordinary courage and deeply held beliefs in journalistic integrity, human dignity, and democracy are an inspiration to all who value freedom,” said Rick Graber, president of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. “His sacrifice serves as a beacon of hope for those fighting against tyranny, and we are proud to award him with an honorary Bradley Prize.”

Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has become a global symbol of resistance against what Graber described as the “oppressive, authoritarian rule” of the Chinese Communist Party. 

The former stowaway and child factory worker turned billionaire’s entrepreneurial ventures spanned digital media and retail apparel, but it was his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government’s tightening grip on freedom and democracy in Hong Kong that led to his multiple arrests.

Sebastien Lai told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday that he and his family are worried about his father, a diabetic with little to no access to medical care, the sacraments, or natural light in his “more than 1,600 days” in solitary confinement.

“It’s just cruelty what they’re doing to him” in prison, Sebastien said, “and he needs to be released immediately.”

President Donald Trump has said he would include Jimmy Lai’s release as part of ongoing negotiations with China. Sebastien met with members of the Trump administration in March, telling Arroyo he is “hopeful” and is grateful for the president’s “moral clarity” regarding his father’s case.

Though the elder Lai is a British citizen and could have fled, he chose to remain in Hong Kong, advocating for his principles. Sebastien said he has not yet met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer but he is hopeful the British government will help bring about his father’s release.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, established the Bradley Prize in 2004 to honor individuals whose work strengthens the principles of American exceptionalism, limited government, free markets, and civil society. Each recipient receives a $250,000 to $300,000 stipend for contributions in areas such as constitutional order, education, and cultural vitality.

Past recipients include economist Thomas Sowell; journalists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer; Robert P. George; and Mary Ann Glendon, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus who also served as the first woman president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Sebastien asked EWTN viewers to write to their elected representatives in Washington asking for Jimmy’s release and to “say a little prayer and light a candle” for his freedom. He expressed hope that Pope Leo XIV, who asked for prayers for the people in China this past Sunday, would also call for Jimmy Lai’s release.

“It is such a clear case of a persecuted Christian,” Sebastien said of his father’s imprisonment. The pope’s support of Lai “would give the people in China hope. It would definitely give my father hope.”

He said his father’s faith is his “pillar,” and although he is physically weak, he is “spiritually and intellectually” strong. “He knows he is doing the right thing by God.” 

The Chinese government wants his father to think that “he’s fighting by himself in his little cell,” Lai said. “But he’s not. He’s fighting for everybody’s freedom.”

“A man’s courage to give up everything he has to fight for what is right reverberates through time,” he said.

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CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Peer-reviewed study debunks ‘baseless claim’ that abortion pills are safer than Tylenol

A recent peer-reviewed study challenges the abortion industry’s claim that medication abortion is “safer than Tylenol.”

The Charlotte Lozier Institute last week published its peer-reviewed article in the journal BioTech challenging the “heavily relied upon talking point” for the abortion industry that abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol.

Abortion giant Planned Parenthood on its website claims that medication abortion is safer than Tylenol — the brand name for acetaminophen, which is used for pain relief and to reduce fevers — and other common medicines. But this study found that the claim is not only unsupported and unprovable but also that it ignores “serious adverse events of abortion drugs, such as sepsis and hemorrhage.”

The study noted that the claim cannot be validated because not only does a controlled study not exist comparing the two, but “it would be impossible to do so because these drugs are used for entirely different purposes.” 

The study also notes that “while Tylenol-related deaths often result from misuse in a much larger user base, deaths from abortion drugs occur under prescribed use.”

“This oversimplification led to the creation of a catchy phrase aimed at reducing abortion drug regulations and minimizing concerns from women considering an abortion,” the institute said in a press release on Tuesday. 

Pro-life groups urge government to investigate suspected cover-up of federal abortion violations 

Pro-life leaders are urging the government to investigate the alleged Biden administration cover-up of the “D.C. Five,” a case in which the remains of five babies were discovered in Washington, D.C., in what advocates say indicated a violation of legal protections involving abortion and infants.

In a joint letter on Tuesday, nine organizations urged Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington Jeanine Pirro to investigate these “possible violations of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act” after the remains of the five babies were discovered by pro-life activists in 2022 in the nation’s capital. 

Pirro took office as interim U.S. attorney on Wednesday, replacing Ed Martin, who had been in the role since Trump appointed him in January.  

Signees include top pro-life leaders at Advancing American Freedom, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Students for Life of America, Live Action, and others. 

The letter alleged that “rather than investigate the incident properly, the Biden administration worked to sweep the allegations under the rug and silence the individuals involved by prosecuting them.” 

Additionally, the signees allege that the Department of Justice under former president Joe Biden “ordered” local police to “incinerate the evidence” even though pro-life congressional representatives called for preservation of the evidence.

Missouri Supreme Court temporarily blocks abortion statewide

The Missouri Supreme Court has reinstated pro-life laws protecting unborn children after the laws were earlier blocked due to the state’s recent abortion rights constitutional amendment. 

The Missouri Supreme Court ordered District Judge Jerri Zhang in Kansas City to lift the injunction blocking restrictions on abortion on Tuesday. That means pro-life laws can go into effect there while litigation over the protections plays out in court.

Zhang had earlier ruled that several abortion regulations were unconstitutional, including rules that only doctors can perform abortions and that surgical instruments must be sterilized, as well as regulations regarding informed consent, according to the pro-life group Missouri Right to Life. 

The state passed a pro-abortion constitutional amendment in November 2024. Voters there will vote on a repeal of the amendment next year.

Steve Rupp, president of Missouri Right to Life, welcomed the decision, saying it “will save lives of preborn babies and the health and safety of Missouri women.”

President Trump’s administration sent a letter probing hospitals that provide transgender treatments to minors, seeking information on HHS rule compliance on May 28, 2025. / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 16:59 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration launched an inquiry into hospitals that have provided transgender drugs and performed transgender surgeries on minors, seeking information on the processes and outcomes — particularly “adverse events” — that result from the controversial medical interventions.

Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), sent a letter this week to the select hospitals inquiring about whether and how the hospitals have changed their protocols and procedures in response to new rules and guidelines issued by Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 that instructed HHS to end Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for transgender interventions on minors. On May 1, HHS issued a report detailing the lack of evidence to support such medical treatments.

CMS is giving the hospitals 30 days to respond to the letter and stated in a press release that it has “urgent concerns” related to procedures it described as “harmful.”

In the letter, Oz asked the hospitals what “changes to clinical practice guidelines and protocols” are being enacted in response to the HHS report, particularly surrounding “the adequacy of informed consent protocols for children with gender dysphoria,” such as “how children are deemed capable of making these potentially life-changing decisions.” 

The letter also asked hospitals to report “any adverse events related to these procedures,” especially regarding “children who later look to detransition.” It noted that CMS must “ensure baseline quality standards” at institutions that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Some of the medical interventions about which CMS is concerned include surgeries that remove sexual organs or “attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex” as well as prescriptions for cross-sex hormones and drugs that “delay the onset or progression of normally-timed puberty.”

“These are irreversible, high-risk procedures being conducted on vulnerable children, often at taxpayer expense,” Oz said in a statement. “Hospitals accepting federal funds are expected to meet rigorous quality standards and uphold the highest level of stewardship when it comes to public resources — we will not turn a blind eye to procedures that lack a solid foundation of evidence and may result in lifelong harm.”

CMS further requested information on financial data related to such interventions, including bills for transgender drugs and surgeries for minors that were funded with federal tax money and documents showing the revenue generated from the procedures and their profit margins.

Mary Rice Hasson, the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that CMS is essentially trying to find out: “What medical interventions have you performed on confused kids, how much money are you making from it, and how are those kids faring?” 

Hasson said “the gender industry” has falsely claimed to follow “evidence-based medicine” when providing these interventions and have “minimized concerns that these hormones and surgeries result in impaired fertility and sterility, sometimes before these kids are old enough to purchase alcohol.”

“Numerous substantive evidence reviews, plus the recent HHS umbrella evidence review, have found the opposite — that there’s very little evidence of benefit, most evidence is poor quality, and children are suffering permanent harm, including infertility/sterilization, cardiovascular risks, weakened bones, and likely changes to the brain,” she said.

Hasson expressed skepticism that many of the hospitals will be able to fully comply, stating that they have “done a terrible job following up on how kids are faring” and that the informed consent protocols “exaggerate the supposed benefits and minimize the harm.” She also contended that the hospitals likely “do not want to reveal how much money they are making, because it exposes their mercenary motives.”

“These hospitals are likely to enlist cadres of expensive lawyers to help them avoid being held accountable, but I don’t think this administration will back down,” Hasson added.

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CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 14:42 pm (CNA).

A lawsuit filed in Wisconsin alleges that an employee of a Catholic Charities affiliate there stole millions of dollars as part of a yearslong scheme involving credit card fraud and fake invoices. 

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said in the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Wisconsin circuit court, that former employee Brandi Ellis “abused her authority and misappropriated millions of dollars” when serving in a variety of financial roles within the organization. 

Ellis allegedly worked as an accountant, an accounting manager, and eventually as a finance manager at the charity, with her employment taking place from February 2014 to May 2024. 

The suit alleges that Ellis paid “false invoices ostensibly reflecting work and/or services completed or provided by vendors” but which actually funneled money to vendors with “personal or professional connections” to Ellis. 

The accountant also allegedly used corporate credit cards to make personal purchases. 

The schemes each totaled “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the suit alleges. 

In addition to suing its ex-accountant, the charity is also suing the Madison, Wisconsin-based financial services firm Baker Tilly over allegedly failing to identify the fraudulent activity as part of auditing services it provided to the Catholic organization. 

The firm should have recognized “goods and services that could not reasonably be in support of the plaintiff’s charitable mission,” the suit argues, including “Amazon Prime video rentals, Uber rides, Ticketmaster purchases, [and] casino purchases from MGM Grand.”

The accounting group “failed to recognize clearly fraudulent purchasing activity,” the suit alleges, and further relied on “internal documents generated by … Brandi Ellis” rather than independently verified third-party data. 

The suit seeks damages from both Ellis and the accounting firm.

Father Mike Schmitz and Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker at the Courage Under Fire Gala held in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23, 2025. / Credit: EWTN Screenshot/Francesca Fenton/CNA

Nashville, Tenn., May 29, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA).

Catholic home schooling families from across the country joined popular Catholic speakers in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23 for an evening of camaraderie supporting Regina Caeli Academy, an accredited pre-K–12 classical home school hybrid academy founded in 2003. 

The Courage Under Fire Gala featured popular priest and podcaster Father Mike Schmitz, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker, political commentators and media hosts Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, actor Kirk Cameron, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.  

Regina Caeli Academy now has 28 centers in 17 states and offers home-schooled students the ability to attend in-person classes two days a week. The academy prides itself on its classical curriculum.

Butker joined the academy’s board of directors two years ago and said that before joining he was unaware of the program but now calls it “a beautiful model.”

“I didn’t know there was a hybrid model that home-schoolers could be a part of and they can have a community and be able to grow in the Catholic faith,” he told CNA in an interview on the red carpet at the gala.

“It’s just a beautiful model and I really do believe that if more children are made aware of Regina Caeli and more parents are empowered to be the primary educators so much so that they become the actual main educators and do that through home schooling — I think we will see a big change in our society for the better,” he added. 

Catholic couple Dina and Tony Heller have four children who attend the Regina Caeli Academy and will be entering their third year in the program this fall. The Hellers told CNA that they value the ability for their children to still have the “school experience” by attending class twice a week; however, they remain their primary educators at home. 

“The community, the support, the people … it really makes it such a special experience for our kids,” Tony Heller said. “It’s just so unique and so different compared to just traditional home schooling or traditional primary education.”

The couple added that the traditional Catholic values of the program greatly impacted their decision to enroll their children in the program as well as the realization that they are “a major driver in [their children’s] education,” he said. 

At the gala, Butker addressed the attendees on the topic of parents as the primary educators for their children. He encouraged parents to “make sure that they are taking ownership of laying that foundation for their child.”

“I think education starts in the home — whether you send them to a parochial school or traditional school, a public school or home school — regardless the schooling of the child begins in the home,” he said, adding: “I think we can shape society by shaping our children, one child at a time, one family at a time.”

Schmitz, who was also a featured speaker at the event, also offered parents advice to consider when thinking about their children’s education. The popular Catholic priest and podcaster gave the example of his own college experience. He shared that while it was a good school with good people, and it was Catholic, he thought that he could take in whatever they were teaching “in an unguarded way,” he told CNA.

“I didn’t realize that no, you have to be on your guard in some ways in some places,” he explained. “I think public schools are very similar. I think sometimes Catholic schools can be very similar as well where you can’t necessarily just assume the goodwill — not that people [have] evil intent — but also the fact that we don’t all have the same perspective or all the same way of looking at the world.”

He added: “I think that when parents are aware that we have well-intentioned people in a lot of different environments who aren’t necessarily advocates of truth as we understand it, objective truth, then a lot of bad ideas can get in and infect our minds and hearts. And so even to be aware of that goes a long way.”

In 2024, a report from the Johns Hopkins School of Education Homeschool Research Lab found an increasing number of students being home-schooled in the United States. Butker and Schmitz offered their perspectives as to why they believe society is seeing this trend. 

“I think really from COVID, I think people started to ask questions about all of the things that they are told,” Butker said. “And I think people are questioning like, ‘Yes, I’m told this. I’m told to do that. But do I feel comfortable doing that? Does that pass the gut test?’”

“I think a lot of people have looked at home schooling in the past and thought, ‘Wow, that’s weird. That’s different. I would never do that,’” he added. “But when you start thinking about parents as the primary educators and being able to really pour into your children and lay that foundation for them, it really becomes this attractive model that I think more people are looking into and they’re taking ownership of laying that foundation for their children.”

“I think it’s a beautiful thing and if we can get more parents that are taking pride in forming their children, educating them, I think we’re going to have a better society, we’re going to have better children, and ideally more virtuous and stronger soldiers for Christ.”

Schmitz pointed out that what was once a “nice alternative” has become “almost a necessity.”

“If I’m actually going to keep my child in a place rooted in truth and rooted in Christ then in some ways — and I don’t want to be overdramatic about this — but in some ways, I can be kind of feeding them to the wolves if I send them out in a way that’s unguarded,” Schmitz said.  

“Now, again, there’s plenty of well-intentioned and good people in public education as well, but at the same time I can’t count on everyone being in that place. So I think parents are more aware than ever that this alternative option is going to be more than just an option but maybe even essential.”

Through the fundraising done at the Courage Under Fire Gala, Regina Caeli Academy is able to expand its mission and bring its curriculum to more students across the country. Its centers can currently be found in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.

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CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of Washington state filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a new law that requires priests to report child abuse learned during the sacrament of confession or face jail time and fines. 

The suit, filed by the Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Spokane and Yakima, argues that the law violates the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment by infringing on the sacred seal of confession. The suit also claims the law violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment as well as the Washington Constitution.

Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law goes into effect July 27 and adds clergy to Washington’s list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the “privileged communication” exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists. 

Priests who fail to report abuse learned in confession could face up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. Ferguson, a Catholic, defended the measure earlier this month, saying he is “very familiar” with confession but deemed the law “important legislation” to protect children.

In the lawsuit, filed in federal district court, the bishops emphasize the Catholic Church’s commitment to child protection while defending the inviolability of the confessional seal. 

“Consistent with the Roman Catholic Church’s efforts to eradicate the societal scourge of child abuse, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Yakima and Spokane have each adopted and implemented within their respective dioceses policies that go further in the protection of children than the current requirements of Washington law on reporting child abuse and neglect,” the lawsuit states. 

It notes that these policies mandate reporting suspected abuse by Church personnel, including clergy, except when information is learned solely in confession, which is protected by “more than 2,000 years of Church doctrine.”

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly in a statement earlier this month vowed that clergy would not break the seal of confession, even if it meant jail time. “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishops and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Daly said in his message to the faithful. “The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”

Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne echoed this stance, citing canon law, which forbids priests from betraying a penitent’s confession under penalty of excommunication. Etienne referenced St. Peter’s words in Acts 5:29 — “We must obey God rather than men” — to underscore the Church’s position.

The Washington State Catholic Conference affirmed its commitment to child safety while defending the sanctity of confession, urging Catholics to trust that “their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential, and protected by the law of the Church.”

The U.S. Department of Justice, under President Donald Trump, launched an investigation into the law on May 6, calling it an “anti-Catholic” measure. U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon described it as a “legislative attack on the Catholic Church and its sacrament of confession,” arguing it singles out clergy by denying them privileges afforded to other professionals.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the nonprofit First Liberty Institute, and the WilmerHale law firm are representing the Washington bishops.

As of the time of publication Ferguson’s office had not responded to CNA’s request for comment.

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CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 13:12 pm (CNA).

A California consulting firm that handles data of some clergy abuse cases says it paid hackers a ransom to delete data involving abuse survivors after a security breach earlier this year. 

The Emeryville, California-based Berkeley Research Group (BRG) offers corporate finance and economic consulting, including to Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy proceedings. In March the company suffered an incursion that exposed data of Catholic clergy abuse survivors in nearly a dozen bankruptcy lawsuits. 

Regulators were only informed of the breach at the end of April. The U.S. government earlier this month demanded the company provide information on each affected case as well as clarify why the company “delayed two months” before notifying trustees and whether or not the company has contacted federal law enforcement over the breach. 

In a letter last week, attorneys representing the Berkeley group responded to the government’s query, stipulating that the company “takes this matter very seriously” and that its response “has been robust and remains ongoing.”

Among other disclosures in the letter, the attorneys said that after the hacking incursion BRG “reached a settlement with the threat actor after careful consideration and with a primary focus on protecting the subjects of any implicated data.” 

The firm “received a destruction log and a representation by the threat actor that any data exfiltrated during the incident was deleted and will not be disclosed,” the letter states. 

The company said it has further utilized “experts” to monitor the internet, including the “dark web,” in order to “detect the dissemination of impacted data.” 

“Those experts have not identified any information suggesting that the threat actor has breached its representation,” the letter says. 

The company said there was no indication that clergy abuse victims were specifically targeted by the hacker. 

“The incident affected data across BRG, including many clients and data having nothing to do with the subject cases, or any bankruptcy matter,” the letter states. 

Addressing the delay between the discovery of the data breach and the notification of affected clients, the letter states that there were “numerous actions required before BRG could fully define the extent of the incident and understand its impact,” including a cataloging of the data stolen by the hackers. 

Among the bankruptcy cases affected by the data breach include those of the archdioceses of Baltimore and New Orleans as well as the dioceses of Albany and Rochester, among others.

The company is also handling cases involving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the Diocese of Wilmington, the Diocese of Camden, and several others, though it said in its letter this month that based on its review, “no data was exfiltrated [in those cases] that would warrant disclosure.”

The Berkeley group “does not intend to seek recovery of costs of the incident investigation or ransom payment” from its clients, the letter states.

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CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).

A leaked draft from Charlotte, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv, shows the prelate’s far-reaching and highly detailed intent to crack down on what he describes as “older liturgical practices” in order to bring about “a more uniform celebration of the Mass” in the diocese. 

The lengthy letter was first published by the blog Rorate Caeli; officials with the diocese subsequently confirmed the authenticity of the letter to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner.

The letter, which references Pope Francis in the present tense, appears to have been written prior to the late pontiff’s death last month. 

Its leak, meanwhile, comes after the Charlotte Diocese announced that it would significantly restrict the practice of the Traditional Latin Mass, limiting it to a single chapel in what Martin said was a bid to “promote the concord and unity of the Church.”

Regulations on altar candles, women’s veils, and more

The document details an extensive list of behaviors and practices that Martin said would be tightly regulated or else abolished going forward in an effort at “purifying and unifying the celebration of the Mass.”

Among the directives: Celebrants are to place candles “arranged around the altar” during Mass “since placing them on the altar will always obstruct the vision of the faithful.”

As well, priests are directed to not offer “vesting or devesting prayers” either before or after Mass, as there is “no option given in the current liturgical books” for such practices. Rather, “prayerful preparation before Mass and thanksgiving after Mass is to take place in some other way.”

Women who choose to wear veils during Mass “are not to do so when they are assisting in any official capacity,” such as when lectoring or cantoring, the document states. 

Parishes will be forbidden from using bells to signal the start of Mass, the directives say; rather, a “verbal welcome” by the lector “followed by an indication of the hymn to be sung and an invitation to stand” should be normative at all Masses. 

At times the document seems to run afoul of other, authoritative Church directives. Martin at one point writes that the Church “does not … call for the Latin language to be used widely in the liturgy,” and that the ancient language “diminishes the role of the laity in the Mass.” Yet guidance from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explicitly states that “care should be taken to foster the role of Latin in the liturgy,” with the bishops even going so far to state that singers and choir directors should “deepen their familiarity with the Latin language.” 

The bishop’s order that candles are “always to be arranged around the altar,” meanwhile, explicitly cites the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM), but the relevant portion of that document does not forbid placing candles at the front of the altar. 

The intensively detailed list has drawn criticism and backlash from some commentators. Matthew Hazell, a British liturgy scholar, told the Register that Martin’s perspective was consistent with what Pope Benedict XVI famously described as a “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture.” 

“Rather than allow the novus ordo to be celebrated in a manner in keeping with its own rubrics and with the Church’s tradition, Bishop Martin seems to see it as an entirely new creation that cannot even be seen to have anything in common with what came before,” Hazell told the Register.

Father Paul Hedman, a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, similarly criticized the directives, writing on X that the document appears to be “banning things explicitly allowed in the GIRM and explicitly called for in Vatican II.”

“He denigrates the practice of using water and wine for purification of the vessels,” Hedman wrote, but the GIRM “explicitly allows this.” 

The bishop “presumes the ability to regulate the private prayer of the priest before Mass,” the priest wrote further. “This is simply ridiculous and — I do not use this [word] lightly — tyrannical.”

Though the guidelines have generated intense debate and criticism, the diocese told the Register that the document was “an early draft” and is still being debated by diocesan leadership. 

“It represented a starting point to update our liturgical norms and methods of catechesis for receiving the Eucharist,” a diocesan spokeswoman said, adding that the directives will be “thoroughly reviewed” prior to their official promulgation.

Harvard University. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA).

This week a national education nonprofit group revealed the results of a survey conducted with parents across the country about issues in higher education in the United States. Defending Education polled parents of teen and young adult children ages 15–21, asking them their views on hot-button topics related to colleges and universities today. 

“This new poll shows that parents believe colleges and universities have lost focus,” Paul Runko, the director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, told CNA. “They are expressing concern about campus climates and calling for environments free from political extremism and ideological agendas.”

The survey, conducted from May 9–15, queried 1,000 randomly selected participants from across the country. Of the participants, 34% reported they are located in the South, 20% in the Northeast, 23% in the Midwest, and 23% in the West.

The majority of respondents classified themselves as white (66%) and most said they practice some form of Christianity (65%). More than half (56%) said they voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 general election. The group surveyed was made up of 43% Republicans, 34% Democrats, and 21% independents. 

Parents were asked how they would characterize political leanings on the typical American college campus and 41% said it is moderate, 28% said left leaning, 25% said right leaning, and 6% responded nonpolitical. 

While the respondents reported different political views, the majority (69%) said they support disciplining students for disrupting campus events they disagree with. 

The survey asked the participants a number of questions about higher education within the categories of sex and gender, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), antisemitism, freedom of speech, foreign funding in schools, foreign and out-of-state students, academic instruction, and student loans.

“Parents with children aged 15–21 are the very families that colleges and universities are trying to attract,” Runko told CNA. “These parents are having real conversations with their students right now about where they will attend college … If a university’s values are in conflict with their own, particularly on issues of faith and morals, they will look elsewhere.”

Defending Education found that 60% of survey participants oppose schools allowing biological males who identify as female to participate in women’s collegiate sports. Of self-identified Catholic parents, 54% said they oppose the practice.

The study also found that 61% of parents oppose colleges allowing biological males who identify as females to use female restrooms on campus. Just under half (48%) of parents said they “strongly oppose” it and 57% of Catholic parents said they oppose it.

Of the participants, 59% said they support students being paired with other students for on campus housing based on the same “biological sex” rather than “gender identity.” The survey showed that 58% of Catholic parents support this.

The survey also examined parents’ views on DEI policies at universities and found that a slight majority of the respondents overall disagree with DEI initiatives. 

More than half (54%) of parents oppose universities prioritizing race when awarding scholarships. Catholic parents are split on the issue, with 49% opposed and 49% in support.

The majority (57%) of parents oppose the practice of universities holding graduation ceremonies for students of a particular race, such as a Black-only or Hispanic-only student commencements. 

Participants were also asked about antisemitism on campuses today. The survey found that 67% of parents support universities offering or requiring training for faculty to properly address and identify antisemitism and Jewish discrimination.

The survey asked about foreign funding and policies and found the vast majority of parents (82%) agreed that universities should be required to disclose when they accept money from foreign governments.

A total of 79% of parents also said they agree that American students should be prioritized in the admissions process over foreign students and 76% agree that at public universities, in-state students should be prioritized over out-of-state students. 

Most participants (87%) said a university’s core curriculum or required classes that are not specifically related to a student’s career path are important to consider. The majority of Catholic participants (91%) reported that this is important. 

The survey stated that Ivy League schools are launching “remedial math” courses since high school graduates are not prepared for college level math and 84% responded that this is “concerning.” 

Almost all survey participants (95%) agreed that the cost of tuition is an important factor when deciding on a college. More than half (65%) of parents responded that they or someone in their family has completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to determine eligibility for student financial aid. 

Participants were also asked their opinions regarding student loan debt. Over half (53%) responded that they believe “student loan debt puts a financial burden on borrowers and relieving that burden could boost economic growth.” 

Of Catholic parents, 68% said they agree that colleges should be responsible for loans that students do not pay off because their college experience and degree did not adequately prepare them for a career after graduation.

In a statement about the survey’s results, Runko said: “It’s no surprise that American parents and students expect a college experience that is academically rigorous, open to diverse viewpoints, and focused on preparing graduates for meaningful careers.”

“Historically, colleges were viewed by the public, including parents, as places of academic excellence and character formation,” he continued. “Ten years ago, higher education as an institution had broad public confidence.”

He added: “This poll is not just a small sample of public opinion, this is a wake-up call for university leaders across the country. Parents are demanding universities restore transparency, protect free expression, and refocus on academic excellence.”