St. James the Less Catholic Parish

The McCoppin family (from left): Alyssa, Courteney, James, Rhys, and Kelly, poses for a photo after entering the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil on April 8, 2023, at Sacred Heart Church in Manassas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the McCoppin family

Locust Grove, Virginia, Jun 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

High school can be tough, but on rare occasions it can be a place of grace. It was for the McCoppin family, and especially for eldest daughter Kelly, who just graduated from Saint John Paul the Great High School in Potomac Shores, Virginia. 

According to Kelly’s mother, Courteney McCoppin, Kelly started out attending public school but due to a variety of social factors, coupled with the deaths of two grandparents, she sank into depression.

“Her freshman year in public school was just awful. She was spiraling,” Courteney said. “I knew we had to get her out.”

A friend recommended Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School, which is led by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. Courteney remembers going to the website and being so impressed that she quickly signed up for a tour.

“It was a beacon of light,” she said. They enrolled Kelly and that summer she tried out for cheerleading. The opportunity for a fresh start was exciting, but there were still some reservations about the Catholic environment. 

“Kelly said to me, ‘What if I become Catholic?’” Courteney shared with The Arlington Catholic Herald. “At the time, I was still in a position of being anti-Catholic. My mom, who had died, was Jewish and my dad was agnostic. Both became atheists later in life.”

Courtney’s father-in-law, on the other hand, had been Catholic. Before he passed away, he used every opportunity he could to teach the children about the faith.

“Every night when we would visit, our grandpa would pray with us,” Kelly said. “He taught us the Our Father and Hail Mary. My sister Alyssa was the one who would pray the rosary with him and go to Mass with him.”

As Kelly started her first year at Saint John Paul the Great, Courteney said she didn’t care if her daughter became Catholic. In her mind, anything was better than what they had left behind. As soon as Kelly got to Saint John Paul the Great she became interested in the faith. 

“It was in my human persons class when we were studying Aquinas. It was his causation argument that really confirmed everything for me,” Kelly said. 

“It was the logical explanation.” 

She began to go to the chapel, meet with Father Christopher F. Tipton, the school’s chaplain, and attend “Evenings with Jesus” events at the school. She then asked her family if they could start going to Mass on Sundays.

“While Kelly was opening up to the faith I was on my own journey,” Courteney said. “I read her human person textbook as well as the book, ‘A Song for Nagasaki’ [by Paul Glynn]. I felt a strong connection to the author and I just got swept up.”

That December, on the last Sunday before Christmas, the family agreed to go to church at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manassas. They’ve continued attending since. 

“Everything just fell into place,” Courteney said. “That January in 2023 the parish set up an RCIA program customized for our whole family. We entered into the Church at the Easter Vigil, April 8, 2023. I was baptized and confirmed with Kelly, Alyssa, and our son, Rhys. My husband, James, was confirmed because he was already baptized.”

The McCoppin family is grateful for the role Saint John Paul the Great High School played in their faith journey, especially Kelly, who just graduated in May. 

“I think John Paul the Great is the best school in the country and the bioethics program is so beautiful,” Kelly said. “We have so many incredible opportunities and the teachers care so much.” 

Kelly plans to attend Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, this fall with the intent of studying Spanish and nursing. 

This story was first published by The Arlington Catholic Herald on June 5, 2025. It has been adapted by CNA and is reprinted here with permission.

Volunteers and staff with Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley assist Latin American and Haitian migrants at a migrant shelter in McAllen, Texas. / Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 18:09 pm (CNA).

The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability have announced the launch of an investigation into more than 200 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including two major Catholic nonprofits, that provided taxpayer-funded services to migrants during the Biden administration. 

Catholic Charities USA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are among those named in the investigation. According to a June 11 press release, the probe will investigate whether the NGOs “used taxpayer dollars to facilitate illegal activity” by migrants who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

All the NGOs named in the investigation have been sent a letter requesting that they fill out a survey. The letter also expresses concern that some of the NGOs continue to actively advise “illegal aliens on how to avoid and impede law enforcement officials, which can only be seen as an attempt to undermine the work of the federal government.”

“The chairmen request each NGO complete a survey that includes questions on the government grants, contracts, and disbursements they have received; any lawsuits against the U.S. federal government they are petitioning; amicus briefs they have filed in any lawsuit brought against the U.S. federal government; any legal service, translation service, transportation, housing, sheltering, or any other form of assistance provided to illegal immigrants or unaccompanied alien children since January 2021; and more,” the press release stated. 

USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi told CNA that “we have received the questionnaire and will respond.” 

“For over 45 years the USCCB has entered into agreements with the federal government to serve groups of people specifically authorized by the federal government to receive assistance,” Noguchi said. She added that “this included refugees, people granted asylum, unaccompanied children, victims of human trafficking, and Afghans who assisted the U.S. military abroad.” 

The investigation comes after the USCCB announced in April that it would not renew its cooperative agreements with the federal government on migration and refugee services, which had been ongoing for nearly half of a century. The USCCB began phasing out its programs shortly after.

The Biden administration provided the USCCB with more than $100 million annually, which the bishops allocated to affiliated Catholic nongovernmental organizations, according to the USCCB’s audited financial statements. In recent years, federal funding covered more than 95% of the bishops’ spending on the programs.

Other non-Catholic NGOs named as subjects of the probe include the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan stands at the altar during Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on May 26, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 15:39 pm (CNA).

The number of adults in the U.S. who believe religion is experiencing a resurgence in America has gone up significantly, recent polling has found.

“Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults believe religion is increasing its influence in American life, similar to the 35% measured in December but up from 20% a year ago,” the latest Gallup poll reads.

Gallup conducts polling on religious influence at least twice per year as part of an effort to gauge “U.S. religious attitudes and behavior.” 

Last year, 75% of adults said they believed religion was losing its influence on American society. While the majority of Americans still maintain this belief, according to the poll, that number has come down to 59%. 

“These recent shifts represent a departure from the trend over the past 15 years that has generally seen larger percentages of Americans saying religious influence is decreasing rather than increasing,” the Gallup poll noted.

Republican presidential victory, first American pope possible factors

In its analysis of the recent positive trend regarding religion, Gallup noted the election of U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV on May 8 as having taken place during its most recent May 1–18 survey period. 

However, it pointed out that the pope’s election took place several months after the earlier spike in December. 

More likely, Gallup said in its analysis, is the possibility that “the change in religious attitudes is a reaction to the Republican sweep of the federal government in last fall’s elections.” 

The polling outfit noted that a similar spike had occurred after Republicans won Congress for the first time in 40 years in 1994, but not in the more recent GOP victories in 2000, 2010, and 2016. 

Gallup also observed that two of the most recent low points of confidence in religion’s increase — 18% in 2009 and 16% in 2021 — were both “the first readings after Democrats won control of the federal government.” 

Polling also found that although all major subgroups “are significantly more likely to believe that religious influence is increasing,” Republicans showed the largest increase of any subgroup, jumping from 11% to 35%. 

Democratic and liberal respondents, in comparison, jumped nine points from 32% to 41%, while independents increased from 21% to 31%. 

“These results suggest that election outcomes, under certain circumstances, may shape Americans’ perceptions of religion’s influence by making the connection between politics and religion more prominent,” Gallup stated. 

According to Gallup, the U.S. has experienced numerous spikes in reports of increased religious sentiments, particularly after certain major events in recent decades. 

One of “most notable” increases Gallup said it recorded took place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when 71% of Americans polled in December 2001 said they believed religious influence was going up. 

This was up from 39% in February that same year and was the highest recorded number since Gallup began its recordings in 1957. 

Another surge in religiosity was recorded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when the number jumped from 19% in December 2019 to 38% in April 2020. This number was the highest recorded since 2006.

Elizabeth Woning of the Changed Movement speaks at a gathering of ex-LGBTQ advocates and other members of the movement on the steps of the California state capitol to rally against counseling restrictions. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Changed Movement

CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 14:39 pm (CNA).

When Ken Williams was 17 years old, he struggled with suicidal ideation because he was torn — he was a Christian, but he also had same-sex attraction.

“My faith convictions were that God wanted me to live a life not including those letters [LGBTQ],” he said at a press conference on Thursday where he and many others shared their testimonies on the steps of the California state capitol. 

When his church and family helped connect him with a Christian psychologist, Williams started his path to healing. He went on to meet with the counselor weekly for five years. 

“I was never suicidal after that,” he said. “I got to know God as the one who forgives and has grace for my struggles.” 

Williams gathered together with others at the rally to oppose legislation regulating counseling and therapy for youth who struggle with same-sex attraction — a hot-button issue that is currently being deliberated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Through his relationship with God — and with the support of a good counselor — Williams recovered from the LGBTQ lifestyle after more than a decade of wrestling with same-sex attraction. 

“I moved on years later, quite a few years later, fell in love with this beautiful girl,” he said. “We’ve been married for almost 19 years. I have four children — it’s incredible what God has done in my life.”

Williams went on to co-found a ministry known as the Changed Movement, an international community of people who no longer identify as LGBTQ and have been changed through their relationship with Christ. 

But under recent legislation that has been pushed in California and other states, Williams’ therapist could have been committing a crime by encouraging him to follow not his sexual desires but his faith. 

‘Conversion therapy’ or counseling freedom?

The phrase “conversion therapy” is a highly politicized term with dark implications. Members of the Changed Movement, along with other like-minded ministries, say it doesn’t represent what they do.

Joe Dallas, an ex-gay activist turned pastoral counselor who works with men and women “who are committed, devout Christians and also are experiencing attractions to the same sex,” described those who seek out such counseling: “There’s a conflict between their sexual desires and their beliefs.” 

“They choose to prioritize their beliefs,” he said at the press conference in Sacramento on Thursday morning, which was organized by the Changed Movement and the California Family Council.

Dallas said he supports people being able to “seek out people who share their worldview and will help them pursue their goals,” but he is aware that a growing number of people oppose this for LGBTQ people.

“They would look at what we do as something they call — rather sinisterly — conversion therapy,” Dallas explained.

California is the first state to have implemented laws banning so-called “conversion therapy,” though many other states have since followed suit. In total, 27 states ban or restrict what they call “conversion therapy for minors.”

Jennifer Roback Morse, a Catholic economist and founder of the interfaith pro-family coalition the Ruth Institute, said “counseling freedom” is fundamental because “we’re affirming a truth about what it means to be human in the first place.”

“When you have a thought or a feeling, you have a choice about what meaning to assign that feeling,” Morse said. “You have a choice about what behavior to engage in, and you have a choice about how to understand yourself and what label you do or do not pin upon yourself.”

These laws can limit what therapists can say during therapy, requiring therapists to affirm LGBTQ inclinations or transgender ideology, even if the patient does not want that. 

Counseling bans are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Chiles v. Salazar, a landmark case that could make bans on so-called conversion therapy unconstitutional. 

Wayne Blakely, a Christian and an advocate for the Changed Movement who formerly identified as gay, said that so-called conversion therapy isn’t what people make it out to be. 

He noted that there are “so many people, members of many Christian congregations, who only know the lies as it relates to conversion therapy.” 

“But there are actually counselors out there, around the world, wanting to engage you if you desire to engage with Jesus Christ, and they will lead you and help you walk with Jesus,” Blakely said.

The Changed Movement is one of several groups that has ardently opposed “conversion therapy” legislation. They gathered this week to celebrate the June 12 anniversary of the failure of a 2018 California bill that would have deemed their efforts and stories “fraudulent,” according to speakers at the event. 

They also gathered to bring awareness to the reality that some LGBTQ people leave the lifestyle to follow Christ — but to do so, they often need the support of counseling. 

“We just need space to be able to follow our own convictions,” Williams said.

One phrase was repeated by several Changed members as they shared their testimonies: “We exist.”

Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates march through the streets of Washington, D.C., during the 52nd annual March for Life on Jan. 24, 2025. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 13:48 pm (CNA).

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

Gallup poll shows increase in pro-life values 

Pro-life sentiment has increased slightly from 2024 to 2025, a recent Gallup poll found.

The poll found a slight increase in those who identify as pro-life (41% to 43%) while those who identify as pro-choice fell from 54% to 51%. The survey also saw slight increases in those who say abortion is morally wrong and those who say abortion should be legal in only a few or no circumstances. Both categories were up by 3 percentage points from last year.

The poll found that 57% of women found abortion morally acceptable compared with 40% of men. But for both men and women, support for abortion decreased. Fewer women and fewer men found abortion morally acceptable, with percentage points decreasing by 3 for women and by 7 for men.

Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute and assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America,  called the results “good news for the pro-life movement.”

New noted that the results of the poll contradict the “mainstream media narrative” that pro-choice sentiment has shot up since the Dobbs decision leaked in May 2022. 

“Since May 2021, the percentage of people identifying as ‘pro-choice’ has only increased by 2 percentage points,” he told CNA. “Other Gallup survey questions also show only a relatively slight increase in support for legal abortion.”

Historically, a majority of respondents have said they believe abortion should be legal only in a few circumstances or not at all, according to Gallup data going back to 1995. In 2022, in the wake of Dobbs, more people said abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances. Since 2022, that number has begun to go down. 

New said the rising pro-life sentiment is “especially noteworthy because 2024 could have been a difficult year for pro-lifers.” 

“Kamala Harris made legal abortion the centerpiece of her presidential campaign,” he said. “Furthermore, Donald Trump did not support federal pro-life legislation. President Trump also did not make a strong case for existing pro-life laws during the 2024 campaign.”

Man charged with murder, accused of spiking pregnant girlfriend’s drink with abortion drug

A 38-year-old man faces capital murder charges after allegedly causing an abortion by spiking his girlfriend’s drink. 

The alleged victim, an unidentified woman, reported to police in Parker County, Texas, that her boyfriend added the abortion drug to her drink, forcing her to have an abortion without her knowledge or consent.

When the alleged victim told her boyfriend she was pregnant in September 2024, she said she wanted to keep the baby. The suspect, Justin Anthony Banta, disagreed, saying he would pay for the abortion pills, according to a press release by the Parker County Sheriff’s Office. 

On Oct. 17, at six weeks pregnant, her ultrasound showed that the baby had a strong heartbeat and good vital signs. That same day, she met Banta at a coffee shop, where she believes he added abortion pills to her drink. 

The next day, she went to the emergency room because of heavy bleeding and exhaustion. On Oct. 19, her unborn baby died. 

Police have not only charged Banta with capital murder but also with tampering with evidence. 

Police arrested Banta on June 6 and confiscated his cellphone for evidence. Banta, who works for the Department of Justice’s IT department, allegedly tampered with the phone from afar, deleting crucial evidence, according to investigators. 

Banta posted $500,000 bail and was released, and he and his lawyers have denied the allegations.

Montana Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions 

The Montana Supreme Court struck down three abortion regulations in a 6-1 ruling this week. 

The court on Monday repealed a law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation as well as two safety regulations surrounding chemical abortions: a measure that required pregnant women to have an ultrasound before having an abortion and a law requiring women to have an in-person visit with a doctor before taking abortion pills. 

These laws had been passed in 2021, but a lower court had put the laws on hold that same year. Last November, Montana established a constitutional right to abortion. 

Iowa governor signs fetal learning bill for schools

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill requiring schools to teach grades 5–12 about the humanity of unborn children.

The bill incorporates pregnancy and fetal development into the human growth and development and health curricula provided by school districts and charter schools. The law explicitly prohibits materials created by abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood or any abortion-related materials at all. 

Similar bills have been proposed in Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona.  Tennessee and Idaho recently passed similar laws requiring fetal development to be taught in schools. 

DePaul disbands Planned Parenthood-affiliated group

A Catholic university in Illinois disbanded a pro-abortion group affiliated with Planned Parenthood, saying it conflicted with Church teaching. 

DePaul University in Chicago disbanded the group Planned Parenthood Generation Action at the school. It had formed during the 2022-2023 school year. 

The university said in a statement that it does not allow student groups to affiliate with outside organizations “whose core missions are in direct conflict with the values and teachings of the Catholic Church. Planned Parenthood falls into this category.”

A spokesperson noted that the school remains “committed to supporting student-led dialogue on important issues, including reproductive health.” 

null / Credit: Oleksandr Lysenko/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 10:56 am (CNA).

Women in America and the United Kingdom are taking legal action against Pfizer and other birth control producers after a study indicated that injectable contraceptives were found to cause brain tumors.

A case management conference regarding the multi-district litigation was held on May 30 in Pensacola, Florida, to discuss the next steps in the lawsuits filed against New York-based Pfizer. 

The legal action follows a 2024 French study that found that the use of the contraceptive medication medroxyprogesterone, often known under Pfizer’s brand name Depo-Provera, renders a woman five times more likely to develop a meningioma brain tumor.

Meningiomas are slow-growing tumors that are usually benign but can cause severe injury or death if they become large enough to compress the brain or spinal cord.

The research study conducted by the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety examined data on 18,061 women. The participants were on average around 57 years old and had all undergone intracranial surgeries for meningiomas between 2009 and 2018. 

The observational study found that women who had used progestational hormones including medrogestone, medroxyprogesterone acetate, or promegestone for a year or longer had a heightened risk of suffering from a meningioma that required surgical intervention.

The research showed that the risk of developing a meningioma tumor was 5.6% higher among women who had used Depo-Provera.

After the study was released, Pfizer acknowledged the “potential risk associated with long-term use of progestogens.” The company said it was working to update “product labels and patient information leaflets with appropriate wording,” but as of 2025 the drug still does not have a written warning in the United States.

According to a press release filed on behalf of the roughly 400 plaintiffs, “the lawsuits allege that Pfizer and other generic producers of Depo-Provera were aware of the link between these birth control injections and brain tumors and that they failed to adequately warn of the risk and promote safer alternatives.”

Women in the United Kingdom are also starting to take legal action against pharmaceutical companies that have issued the drug. According to Britain’s National Health Service, in the U.K. about 10,000 women receive an injection of the contraceptive every month.

In 2021, a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care estimated that 42 million reproductive-age women were using injectable contraceptives and reported that the shot was ranked the fourth most prevalent contraceptive worldwide. 

The French research was released about a year after a study at the University of Oxford found that use of any progestogen-only hormonal contraceptives is associated with a 20%-30% higher risk of breast cancer.

The Catholic Church has held for centuries that artificial contraception of any kind is immoral and prohibited. That was articulated most famously in Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical by St. Paul VI.

In the encyclical, the pontiff wrote that “each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.”

The Holy Father said that “similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse is specifically intended to prevent procreation — whether as an end or as a means.”

Credit: FreshStock/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

China recognizes Pope Leo XIV’s first bishop appointment 

The People’s Republic of China has officially recognized Pope Leo XIV’s first bishop appointment, the Vatican announced, signaling what some say is an indication that the new pontiff intends to continue operating under the controversial Vatican-China deal.

Chinese officials recognized Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan, who was installed as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou on June 11, just six days after Leo announced the appointment. “This event constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is an important step in the journey of communion of the diocese,” Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement. 

Historic St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev damaged in deadly drone attack 

The historic Holy Wisdom Cathedral, also known as St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, has been damaged following a deadly Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city, which left seven people dead and 13 injured.

According to Reuters, the blast damaged the cornice on the main apse of the cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Iraqi Christian village faces cultural and religious identity crisis 

Residents of the Christian town of Ankawa, Iraq, are raising alarms over rapid changes threatening the community’s cultural and religious identity, reported ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. Local activists, clergy, and officials are condemning the unchecked spread of nightclubs, tourism venues, and real estate acquisitions by outsiders often through legal loopholes as signs of a slow erosion of the town’s Christian heritage. 

Chaldean patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako and Iraqi Member of Parliament Farouq Hanna Atto have both blamed poor planning, government negligence, and weak representation for the worsening situation. Catholic and Orthodox bishops have voiced support for efforts made by youth to defend the town’s values, encouraging responsible public discourse. Ankawa traces its Christian roots back nearly two millennia and many fear the changes may permanently alter one of the last strongholds of Christianity in the region. 

Nigerian clergy directed to take longer route to avoid abduction

Nigerian priests and religious have been directed to take the longer route when traveling in northeast Nigeria to the city of Maiduguri, where their diocese is headquartered, due to a surge in cases of targeted abductions.

“Given the recent resurgence of Boko Haram and the constant attacks, the diocese has now placed a ban on the use of the road between Mubi through Gwoza to Maiduguri by all priests, religious, and even the laity of the Diocese of Maiduguri,” Father Fidelis Joseph Bature, a diocesan priest, told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa. The ban follows the killing of a diocesan staff member and the abduction of a priest by suspected Boko Haram militants. 

German archdiocese joins TikTok: ‘Our Church is not unworldly’ 

The Archdiocese of Paderborn has launched its own TikTok account in a bid to appeal to young people on the controversial app, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. 

The account will seek to proclaim the Gospel in “the language of the respective platform and of the young people on it,” in order to show that the Church “is not unworldly,” a spokesperson for the archdiocese, Till Kupitz, explained. Though the app “is not without controversy,” Kupitz emphasized that TikTok “is also the platform par excellence on which young people look for their information.” 

Centennial visit of St. Thérèse’s relics to Lebanon 

As Lebanon marks 100 years since the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the saint’s relics are once again touring the country from June 13 to July 20, ACI MENA reported. The initiative aims to offer Lebanese faithful a renewed encounter with the “Little Flower.” This will be the second time her relics have visited Lebanon, the first being over two decades ago.

According to Father Charbel Sawaya, the pilgrimage’s theme, “I Travel Through Lebanon for Love and Peace,” reflects St. Thérèse’s mission of drawing people closer to Jesus. Her relics will travel from the south to the north of the country, stopping at churches and dioceses.

Africa’s bishops to hold plenary assembly in Rwanda 

The need for a common vision in witnessing “hope, reconciliation, and integral development” across the continent will be the central focus for African bishops at their 20th plenary assembly in Rwanda next month.

In a document shared with ACI Africa, bishops explained that the idea for this year’s focus comes as the country “remains deeply wounded by persistent conflicts, political instability, coups, and widespread human suffering, leaving millions displaced, traumatized, or living without hope.”

null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For many years in the United States, Catholic dioceses have periodically announced major settlements involving victims of Catholic clergy abuse, with the payouts coming as part of bankruptcy proceedings related to abuse claims. 

Since 2004, when the Archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy, dioceses and archdioceses have used Chapter 11 law to navigate the complex and often financially crushing process of resolving decades of sex abuse claims. 

In recent years, many U.S. bishops have announced major nine-figure settlements for abuse victims. Most recently, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last month agreed to pay a massive $180 million to victims of clergy abuse there, bringing an end to years of bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.

Where does the money come from? 

Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation,  including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told CNA that the popular perception is that dioceses and archdioceses simply have tremendous amounts of money lying around to contribute to settlements. 

That’s far from the truth, she said — and the process is unique for each diocese.

“In general, the plans of reorganization in diocesan and religious order bankruptcy cases are structured so that [the diocese and] the committees that represent sex abuse claimants agree on an amount of money to be contributed to this settlement trust,” she said.  

The parties “also agree on the process and criteria by which the claims are going to be paid by the settlement trust,” she said. “Then they agree on where and how the diocese will fund the settlement trust.”

In many cases, she said, a diocese will fund a trust by selling property it may have in its portfolio. In the New Orleans case, for instance, the archdiocese is moving to sell a set of low-income housing properties it owns. 

“In other cases I’ve seen dioceses proposing to sell property that was once used maybe for a church, but the church has been closed and is just sitting there as a deferred maintenance nightmare,” she said. “They’ll sell the properties and use the proceeds to fund the settlement trust. In more than one case the diocese has sold buildings that they used as offices or retreat houses.”

Reilly noted that insurance is a “huge component” of many payouts. 

Multiple U.S. dioceses and archdioceses, including Baltimore and New York, have recently sued their insurance providers, alleging that the companies are refusing to help pay abuse claims even though they are reportedly legally obliged to do so. 

Reilly said that insurance companies largely changed how they cover such incidents in the 1990s. “Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse. After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore.” 

Data indicate that the vast majority of credible abuse allegations in the U.S. occurred prior to the 1990s. 

In some cases, Reilly said, dioceses will borrow money to help pay settlements, including from affiliate organizations and services such as cemeteries. 

“It’s very challenging to hypothetically value a lot of property that is entitled in the name of the diocese,” she said. “What is a cemetery worth? It’s subject to so many public health restrictions. Most cemeteries are zoned in a way that they always have to be used as cemeteries.” 

“Even Church property that is no longer actively being used for worship is sometimes subject to a restrictive trust,” she pointed out. 

Parish funds 

Among the more controversial sources for diocesan settlement payments are funds from individual parishes. Reilly said it’s “very common” for parishes to pay into settlement trusts. 

When a diocese files for bankruptcy, she said, it will usually ask the court to halt any litigation against individual parishes, in part because a parish being sued for the actions of a diocesan priest could claim the diocese itself is liable and sue the diocese in turn. 

“The diocese will say it wants any settlement to be the ultimate solution for both their liability, and for the parishes too,” she said. “In order to get that to happen, parishes typically have to contribute to a settlement.” 

Parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, she noted, were recently required to contribute to a settlement trust after the diocese said last year it would pay $323 million to abuse survivors. 

The Diocese of Buffalo, meanwhile, said this week that its parishes would be required to pay up to 80% of their “unrestricted cash” to help fund a $150 million settlement there. 

Bankruptcy plans, Reilly said, are advantageous not just for a diocese but for those seeking compensation from it, as the alternative is for a plaintiff to “prove their case on a trial of evidence against the diocese,” which requires considerably more effort with less chance of payment.

Committees of survivors usually agree that bankruptcy is the better option, she said, insofar as it ensures that everyone gets some form of compensation instead of just a few big payouts being limited to the quickest litigants. 

“Outside of bankruptcy, we call it ‘the race of the diligent,’ where the speediest get the spoils,” she said.

A parental rights group sent a letter to several federal agencies asking them to investigate the YMCA’s alleged violation of Title IX policies on June 10, 2025. / Credit: Ronnie Chua/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 12, 2025 / 18:08 pm (CNA).

A parental rights group has filed formal complaints against the YMCA with three federal agencies, requesting an investigation of the organization for allegedly violating the law by permitting biological males to use girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins.

The American Parents Coalition (APC), led by Alleigh Marré, sent letters on June 10 to the secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She requested an investigation into possible Title IX violations on the part of the YMCA.

“The YMCA has betrayed the families it claims to serve,” Marré said in a statement. “Girls are expected to share teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins with biological males, while parents are often kept in the dark.”

“As a federally funded institution receiving more than 600 million taxpayer dollars, the YMCA is legally obligated to protect girls, not sacrifice fairness, safety, and privacy to promote gender ideology,” she added.

The APC alleges that because the YMCA is a recipient of federal funds, it is required to adhere to Title IX rules, which ban sex-based discrimination. President Donald Trump issued executive orders clarifying that federal anti-discrimination rules are based on a person’s “sex” and not self-purported “gender identity,” instructing agencies to safeguard “intimate spaces” reserved for girls and women such as locker rooms and bathrooms.

The APC accuses the YMCA of maintaining “discriminatory policies” that go against Title IX rules and “imperil vulnerable children.” It alleges the YMCA embraces “radical gender ideology” through its policies.

“Under such an ideology, a man can walk into a YMCA locker room where young girls are changing because he feels like a woman,” the complaint alleges. “The YMCA policies prioritize the man but not the young girls in the locker room.”

The letter cites a since-deleted 2017 document on the American YMCA’s website about “how to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ campers.” One of the recommendations in the document was to “ensure all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations” as opposed to separating facilities on the basis of biological sex.

Marré told CNA that these recommendations are not “just theoretical” and cited examples in which YMCA facilities forced women and girls to “share that space with a man.”

In 2022, an 80-year-old woman was banned from a YMCA pool in Washington after expressing concerns about a biological male being present in a female locker room while young girls were changing. An article from the Daily Mail this week detailed an ongoing dispute at a YMCA gym in California in which several women have complained about a biological male who frequently uses the female locker room.

In April, police in Missouri launched an investigation into reports that a biological male exposed himself to children in a girls’ locker room at North Kansas City YMCA. North Kansas City YMCA told the local Fox affiliate that it was cooperating with the investigation but that “individuals are allowed to use the locker room or restroom that they identify with” according to state and local law.

Some YMCA summer camps include information on their websites that state that facilities are separated on the basis of self-asserted “gender identity” rather than biological sex. Camp Olson in Minnesota, for example, states that cabin assignments are based on “gender preference.”

YMCA disputes APC’s letter

The YMCA is disputing some of the APC letter’s characterizations of its policies.

A spokesperson for the YMCA dismissed the now-deleted 2017 document about separating facilities on the basis of gender identity as simply a “blog” that “had a number of ideas for camps that were interested in being more inclusive,” telling CNA this was never a mandatory policy.

“Y-USA does not have a nationwide policy around locker room and bathroom facilities,” according to an official statement from the YMCA provided to CNA.

“State laws about transgender inclusion in gendered spaces remain an ever-evolving topic,” the statement added. “Considering this, Y-USA advocates for the personal safety and privacy of all members and participants.”

Marré told CNA that the YMCA’s response is “insufficient” and criticized the American YMCA for quietly removing the 2017 document and several other webpages that discuss gender ideology and homosexual pride without providing a public explanation or officially revising its policy.

“Until they explicitly say that their locker rooms, private spaces, and sports teams are [separated based on] biological sex, we have no reason to believe that’s actually the case,” Marré said.

Marré said the YMCA should “respect and follow Title IX as it is written,” but if the organization chooses not to, it should not “delete those policies” from its website but instead should “clearly communicate [it] to [its] members.”

APC is urging parents to question local YMCAs about their policies before allowing their children to participate in activities there. The organization has provided sample questions to help parents inquire about gender-related policies.

Bryan and Rebecca Gantt, two foster parents in Vermont, had their licenses revoked for refusing to embrace gender ideology. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom

CNA Staff, Jun 12, 2025 / 17:38 pm (CNA).

Twenty-two states and various religious freedom and free speech advocates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of two Vermont couples who are suing the state after their licenses to be foster parents were revoked due to their religious beliefs concerning human sexuality. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is suing on behalf of Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt after the Vermont Department for Children and Families informed the two families that their belief that persons cannot change biological sex and that marriage is only between a man and a woman precluded them from serving as foster parents in the state.

Despite describing the Wuotis and the Gantts as “amazing,” “wonderful,” and “welcoming,” state officials revoked the couples’ foster care licenses after they expressed their commonly-held and constitutionally-protected religious beliefs. The state said these beliefs made them “unqualified” to parent any child, regardless of the child’s age, beliefs, or identity. 

In 2014, the Wuotis became foster parents, eventually adopting two brothers from foster care. The Gantts started fostering in 2016, caring for children born with drug dependencies or fetal alcohol syndrome, and have adopted three children.

Attorneys general from 21 states and the Arizona Legislature filed an amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court brief, on June 6 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf of the families, writing that the state is burdening the couples’ “free speech and free exercise rights.”

In another friend-of-the-court brief, The Conscience Project director Andrea Picciotti-Bayer decried Vermont’s “ideological intolerance,” writing that Vermont’s stance is “nothing other than an ideological snare set to identify and exclude anyone — especially those with religious convictions — unwilling to embrace gender ideology.”

Picciotti-Bayer told CNA that the Vermont policy is especially egregious because there is a tremendous need for foster families in the state and nationwide. Because of the huge shortage, Picciotti-Bayer said children are being placed in “crazy situations” like hotels and sheriff’s offices.

She criticized the Vermont Department for Children and Families, saying the state’s “priorities are so far off,” because excluding Christian families like the Wuotis and the Gantts prevents foster children from “finding safe, loving, and stable homes.”

ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse agreed, saying in a statement that “Vermont’s foster-care system is in crisis: There aren’t enough families to care for vulnerable kids. Yet instead of inviting families from diverse backgrounds to help care for vulnerable kids, Vermont is shutting the door on them, putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of suffering kids.”

According to Picciotti-Bayer, Christians have an “incredible track record in fostering,” saying Christian families are more likely than the general population to foster and are also more likely to foster more complex placements.

“Hard-to-place kids often find the best homes in families of faith,” Picciotti-Bayer told CNA, because of the “deep bench of community support” found in churches and faith communities, who support foster families by providing food, clothes, and respite support. 

“When you know these Christian families make stellar foster families,” she continued, “for the state to categorically exclude them seems nonsensical, apart from the possibility of grave discrimination.”

A friend-of-the-court brief was also filed by Concerned Women for America, the First Liberty Institute, the Foundation for Moral Law, and professors Mark Regnerus, Catherine Pakaluk, Loren Marks, and Joseph Price.

A friend-of-the-court brief was even filed by the left-leaning Women’s Liberation Front, whose attorney, Lauren Bone, wrote that “gender ideology is religious in nature,” and mandating that foster parents adopt such ideology is akin to an “unconstitutional establishment of religion.”  

Bone also wrote that gender ideology, rather than being “progressive,” is actually a “regressive approach to sex stereotypes and sexuality” that “harms children, women, and LGB [lesbian, gay, and bisexual] people” by “leading often troubled children to question their sex, by subverting the basis for necessary sex separation, and by confounding the meaning of same-sex attraction.”