St. James the Less Catholic Parish

The Colorado capitol in Denver. / Credit: robert cicchetti/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 15:51 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders in Colorado this week decried a new state law signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday that will mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions.  

Colorado was already one of the most permissive states in the country in terms of abortion. Voters in November 2024 approved Amendment 79, which enshrined in the state constitution the state laws already in place that allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. 

One of the two new laws Polis signed April 24 — passed by the Legislature as Senate Bill 183 — implements Amendment 79, setting the date for it to ultimately take effect at the beginning of 2026. 

As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money. 

Public employees’ insurance plans will also have to cover abortion, the Denver Post reported. 

Bishops: Public funding of abortion violates ‘dignity of human life’

In an April 24 statement, the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, said the new law will force Coloradans to “fund elective abortion up to birth using our tax dollars.” 

The conference had strongly urged all people to vote no on Amendment 79 during last year’s campaign, noting that among other things, it would open the door for direct taxpayer funding for abortion.

“The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the bishops wrote April 24. 

“Rather than using state resources to support life-affirming alternatives, SB25-183 prioritizes public funding of abortion at the expense of the lives of preborn children, the health of their mothers, and the conscience rights of millions of Colorado taxpayers who morally object to abortion.”

In an open letter sent earlier this month — co-signed by Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Archdiocese of Denver, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, and Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo — the bishops said the proposal “violates the dignity of human life” and “disregards the safety of women.”

They urged the governor “to consider the millions of Coloradans who do not want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used in the destruction of human life.”

State analysts have estimated the cost of public coverage of abortion at nearly $5.9 million per year, with some savings — perhaps only as much as $573,000 — realized for the state because of the lower cost of covering abortion rather than supporting the babies’ births. 

However, the Colorado bishops disputed the state’s analysis, noting that according to data published in 2024 from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 62% of abortions in Colorado are paid for using Medicaid. 

The cost of the state expanding taxpayer payment to virtually all abortions, including more expensive late-term abortions — especially given a likely loss of federal support — will potentially cost the state closer to $8.5 million per year.

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 arguments for the bill “bad economics and even worse ethics.”

In his analysis of the bill for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, New found that when state Medicaid programs cover abortions, the number of abortions increases. The Colorado bill will increase the number of abortions in Colorado by more than 1,800 annually, New said.

“[T]he federal government subsidizes other health services covered by Colorado’s Medicaid program. Colorado taxpayers pay for only a fraction of the cost of Medicaid births,” New wrote at National Review earlier this month.

“Indeed, contrary to the assertion of Colorado Democrats, covering elective abortion would cost Colorado taxpayers money.”

The other law Polis signed, passed as Senate Bill 129, will ramp up the state’s 2023 shield law to guard abortion providers and patients, and their data, from out-of-state investigations and other actions, the Denver Post reported.

Twenty states and Washington, D.C., now allow Medicaid programs to use state taxpayer dollars to cover elective abortions.

German Bishops at Mass in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls during their visit in Rome, Nov. 17, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 25, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:

German group slams bishops’ same-sex blessing guide issued after Pope Francis’ death

A small but influential Catholic group in Germany called “New Beginning” has issued a blistering statement protesting the release of a new handout, “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other,” by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). 

The new instructions on the blessing of same-sex couples came just 48 hours after the death of Pope Francis. “Obviously, this document was ready in the drawer,” the group stated in its “Protest Note,” adding: “They probably only waited for the death of the pope and the interregnum to create facts in the time of weakened ecclesiastical legal power and to introduce exactly what was expressly prohibited in Fiducia Supplicans [the 2023 Vatican directive on nonliturgical blessings for couples in ‘irregular’ situations].”

The handout states that divorced couples and “couples of all sexual orientations and gender identities are a natural part of our society” and that “couples who do not wish to enter into a Church sacramental marriage or who are not eligible for one should be allowed to have blessing ceremonies.”

Diocese of Zambia declares period of mourning, suspends Easter celebrations

The Archdiocese of Ndola in Zambia has declared a period of mourning following the passing of Pope Francis and suspended major activities it had lined up before the Easter Monday news was made public, reported ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

The archdiocese’s pastoral director, Father Ephraim Mulenda Mapulanga, said the decision to suspend all activities and enter a period of mourning was a way of “showing respect to our late Holy Father.” He further noted that the pastoral office had seen fit that “all programs of entertainment be suspended in all our parishes and institutions.”

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemns terror attack in Kashmir 

The Indian Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a statement on Wednesday condemning a terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people and injured 17 others, according to a UCA News report. According to reports, a terrorist group known as the Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

“We strongly condemn this heinous crime against humanity, which has targeted innocent lives, causing immense pain and suffering to families and loved ones,” the bishops said in an April 23 statement. “Violence only breeds more violence, and it is high time for us to choose the path of love, compassion, and understanding,” they added. The bishops further urged the militant group to lay down their arms.

Ecumenical Mass in Egypt for the soul of Pope Francis

In a solemn ecumenical gathering, Bishop Claudio Lurati of Alexandria, Egypt, presided over a memorial Mass for Pope Francis at St. Catherine Latin Cathedral in Alexandria, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

He was joined by bishops from the Maronite, Melkite, and Coptic Catholic Churches along with government officials, foreign diplomats, and representatives from Al-Azhar. Lurati praised Pope Francis as a man of deep love and service who brought hope and unity to a divided world.

Nigerian bishop laments exodus in episcopal see amid insecurity

Bishop Michael Gobal Gokum of the Diocese of Pankshin in Nigeria has expressed sorrow over the mass displacement of residents in his episcopal see as a result of insecurity. In an interview with ACI Africa on Tuesday, Gokum said violence in Bokkos and other parts of Nigeria’s Plateau state has left thousands of people homeless, with many now living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

“I feel very sad seeing my flock always on the road, carrying their belongings, crying and wailing because of the insecurity in their communities,” he lamented. “I cannot be an effective shepherd when the people are unhappy, when they are unsafe, and when they are forced to live in IDP camps.”

South Sudan’s president remembers day Pope Francis kissed his feet 

In wake of Pope Francis’ death, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan recalled an extraordinary moment when the Holy Father knelt and kissed his feet while begging him and other political leaders to end the country’s civil war. 

“It goes without saying that South Sudan had a special spot in the heart of His Holiness Pope Francis,” Kiir said. “His act of kindness and humility demonstrated during our visit to Rome in 2019, when he knelt down to kiss our feet, was a turning point for us, the peace partners.”

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence in the film “Conclave.” / Credit: Focus Features

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).

“Conclave” was a surprise hit upon its theatrical release last October. And following the April 21 death of Pope Francis, the film, now on streaming platforms, has attracted a new wave of interest from viewers, with streaming rates of the film reportedly tripling in the days since the pope’s death was announced. 

Directed by Edward Berger and based on a 2016 novel, the film is a character-driven story focusing on several of the Church’s cardinals as they elect a new pope — with plenty of political jockeying and intrigue, ideological clashes, and dramatic turns throughout. The film garnered eight Academy Award nominations this spring, winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Even before its release, “Conclave” garnered heavy criticism from Catholics who decried the film’s twist ending — which, spoiler alert, sees a biological woman inadvertently elected pope — as well as the film’s depiction of the various ideologies of the cardinals, especially the obvious lionization of characters who espouse views contrary to the Church’s teaching. 

Beyond those criticisms, anyone using the film to educate themselves on how the actual conclave process will work in the coming weeks will find that the film contains a couple of key inaccuracies — but not everything in the film is fiction.

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) look at what “Conclave” gets wrong — and gets right — about the process of electing a new pope. 

FICTION: Cardinal caricatures; spiritual wasteland

One of the most widely-cited “inaccuracies” of the film, at least according to prominent Catholics, is its depiction of the College of Cardinals as deeply divided among ideological factions and the papacy as a highly political rather than a spiritual office. 

The film paints an inaccurate picture of the Church’s cardinals as cliquey, petty, ambitious, and “drably ideological,” said Matthew Bunson, a Church expert and editorial director for EWTN News (CNA’s parent company). 

“The banter among the cardinals is banal. It’s uninteresting, it’s political, it’s drably ideological on both sides. Every one of the major characters, unfortunately — despite the brilliance of the actors themselves — is uninteresting, incurious, and lacks a serious theological or philosophical spiritual depth,” Bunson told CNA. 

“They are cartoon characters of what cardinals — and I know many — actually talk about, and the types of issues they’re likely to discuss in a conclave,” he said. 

Over the course of the movie, the cardinals split into factions to try to get their “man” elected pope, with one coalition led by Stanley Tucci’s progressive-minded Cardinal Bellini seeking to reform the Church by rejecting many of the Church’s orthodox teachings; while the brash, rude, and openly racist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) advocates, ultimately unsuccessfully, for more traditionalist views.

Sparks fly onscreen as the factions clash with each other, skeletons tumble from closets, and the cardinals scheme to try to “win” the papacy for their ideological side. Any characters appearing to stand for an orthodox view of the Church’s teaching, Bunson noted, are “pushed out of the way” or outright “destroyed” within the narrative — such as a morally stern Nigerian cardinal who loses any hope he had for the papacy after it is revealed he hypocritically fathered a secret child.

Though a casual observer might be drawn in by the ideological clashes depicted on screen, Bunson said the film suffers from a “lack of intellectual and spiritual dimensions to almost any one of the characters.” Even Ralph Fiennes’ central character, Cardinal Lawrence, “stands down morally on multiple fronts” throughout the film, he said. 

Characters invoke God’s name many times throughout the film, but Jesus is barely mentioned; none of the cardinals, despite being priests, are ever shown celebrating Mass; and the Holy Spirit — who is meant to be the “protagonist” of any conclave, in the words of (real-life) Cardinal Kurt Koch — is not mentioned once (apart from when characters make the sign of the cross). 

The one fundamentally spiritual character, Cardinal Vincent Benítez (more on him later) is the sole character that “fundamentally couldn’t even be elected pope,” Bunson noted. 

Ultimately, the lack of true spiritual depth in the writing of the characters makes their conversations, arguments, and speeches “rather drab,” Bunson continued.

In reality, Bunson said that despite some real ideological differences among the College of Cardinals’ more than 250 members from every corner of the globe, “the cardinals from around the world, even though they don’t know each other, have [a] remarkable fraternity and collegiality as members of the College of Cardinals.”

“If this had been a genuine film on an authentic, Catholic conclave, that might have been truly historic and superb,” Bunson added.

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, expressed a similar criticism about the film’s ideological presentation on social media last year, quipping: “If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie.”

In the world of the movie, Barron continued, “the hierarchy of the Church is a hotbed of ambition, corruption, and desperate egotism … Conservatives are xenophobic extremists and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation.”

FACT: The process immediately after the pope’s death

The film, unsurprisingly, commences with the death of the (previous) pope. Bunson said the film’s depiction of the process that takes place immediately after the pope dies is reasonably accurate. 

The key figure in any papal transition is the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who is a cardinal given the key role of organizing the process during the papal vacancy. Cardinal Tremblay, the camerlengo in the film, breaks the dead pope’s ring of the fisherman — a real and famous process symbolizing the breaking of the seal of the late pope’s pontificate.  

The film skips the certification of the pope’s death, which under new papal funeral norms does not take place in the room where he dies but in his private chapel. As part of this process, the camerlengo calls the deceased pope three times by his baptismal name, confirming there is no response.

And later on, the film conflates some aspects of the role of the dean of the College of Cardinals with the role of the camerlengo, giving some of the camerlengo’s duties in arranging the conclave to Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence. (Bunson said he is willing to let slide those small details, which were likely changed slightly to make the scenes more impactful for Fiennes’ character.)

FICTION: ‘In pectore’ cardinal

Cardinal Benítez, who is strongly telegraphed as a papal candidate from the moment his character is introduced, says he was made a cardinal by the late pope “in pectore” — that is, in secret. He offers no documentation and no proof that he is who he says he is, and yet the other cardinals embrace him almost immediately. 

In reality, Bunson said, a cardinal created “in pectore” cannot take part in a conclave unless the pope makes the cardinal’s name public prior to his passing. 

“So right from the start, this character is ineligible to be a participant in this conclave, because he should not be a cardinal to begin with,” he said. 

FACT: The setting and voting process

The fictional conclave takes place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel — though the filmmakers had to recreate the priceless chapel for the film — as does the real conclave. 

The conclave system was formalized in 1274, and its procedures are minutely governed today by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of Pope John Paul II, as amended by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and allows for no innovations on the part of the cardinals. 

By tradition and law, the conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel, and votes are taken once or twice in a morning session and once or twice in an afternoon session. During the vote, cardinals individually approach Michelangelo’s painting of the Last Judgment, say a prayer in Latin, and drop their ballot into a large urn. Three designated cardinals then read each ballot aloud. A Catholic man needs two-thirds of the votes to be elected the next pope. 

When a session concludes without a man reaching the required majority, the ballots are burned, causing black smoke to emanate from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. However, if a pope is elected they are burned with the addition of a chemical agent, producing the characteristic white smoke signaling the election of a pope. (All of this is pretty well depicted in the movie, though Bunson said some things were “a little truncated for the sake of the audience” and for the sake of dramatic tension.)

Just as the movie depicts, once the doors of the Sistine Chapel close, it does indeed normally fall to the dean of the College of Cardinals to move the process along. (Though perhaps with fewer speeches as are depicted in the film, as those would have been done during the preceding general congregations). 

In the case of the imminent real-life conclave, however, things will look a little different because of the advanced ages of some of the key figures. 

Only cardinals who are younger than age 80 are eligible to take part in the conclave; these are the “cardinal electors.” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, is the current (again, real-life) dean — i.e., the most senior member of the College of Cardinals, elected from among the ranks of the cardinal bishops and confirmed by the pope. 

Re is too old to take part in the conclave, as is his vice dean, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. So, the upcoming conclave will be directed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the next eligible most senior cardinal bishop and the Vatican’s secretary of state. 

FICTION: The big twist

At the film’s climax, the cardinals inadvertently elect to the papacy a person who they believed to be a man — but in reality, the cardinal they elect, Benítez, is a biological woman who was raised as a male by her parents because she was born with an intersex condition.

CNA covered this aspect of the film in detail last October, with seminary rector Father Carter Griffin telling CNA that the Church’s constant teaching on this question, reiterated strongly by recent popes including Francis, is that the Church won’t — and in fact, can’t — ordain women.

In the case of the scenario depicted in the movie, Griffin explained that “a stable, secure, and well-ordered sexual identity is a necessary condition for priestly formation and ordination.” A biological female identifying as a male would not, in fact, be a male — and thus would be ineligible for the priesthood.

“It is our individual and unique creation as either male or female that identifies us as man or woman, not our subjective feelings or choices,” he said.

In priestly ordination, Griffin explained, a man is conformed to Christ in such a way that Jesus truly becomes present through him. Throughout his priestly ministry, but especially at Mass, the priest stands in the place of Christ who, as a bridegroom, lays down his life for his bride, the Church.

The priesthood, then, is a visible sign meant to point to the invisible reality of Christ’s presence as the “spouse” of his bride, the Church, which has always been understood to be female.

“Priests are conformed and united to Christ in such a way that they exercise their spiritual fatherhood in union with the feminine Church. Ordaining women would obscure that priestly paternity as well as the femininity of the bride of Christ,” Griffin said. 

While the Church is unable to ordain them, there are countless ways that women have long served and continue to serve the Catholic Church, such as through religious orders, in parish life, education, health care, in other Catholic ministries, and within Catholic families.

“God created us differently in part so that we could exercise different roles and complement one another as mothers and fathers. This is true in the natural sphere but also in the order of grace,” Griffin said.

A dire wolf puppy bred by Colossal Biosciences. / Credit: Colossal Biosciences

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A Texas-based bioengineering company sparked headlines across the world earlier this month when it announced it had done the seemingly impossible: brought a long-extinct species, the dire wolf, back from the dead. 

Here’s what Catholics should know about the dire wolves and what the Church might have to say about “resurrecting” extinct species of animals. 

A Colossal claim

Colossal Biosciences, a private company based in Dallas, announced April 7 the births of three genetically-modified puppies they say are not merely wolves but dire wolves — a species that roamed the Americas as a top predator for tens of thousands of years but which went extinct naturally around 12,500 years ago. 

The company was cofounded by the famed Harvard geneticist George Church, who has been active in the field of species “de-extinction” for decades. (Its investors include George R. R. Martin, author of the “Game of Thrones” fantasy series; dire wolves feature prominently in those stories.)

To create the puppies, scientists extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils, compared the ancient genomes to those of several living relatives including present-day wolves, and identified gene variants specific to dire wolves. They then edited a donor genome from a gray wolf and cloned those cells into dog eggs before finally transferring the embryo into a surrogate dog.

Colossal says the puppies were born in October 2024 and are currently “thriving” on a vast, secure ecological preserve in an undisclosed location. (Comparisons to “Jurassic Park” were swift and inevitable.) 

Long term, Colossal says it plans to restore the species “in secure and expansive ecological preserves, potentially on Indigenous land.”

Scientists, journalists, and critics were quick to scrutinize Colossal’s claims that the creature they had created was truly a dire wolf — i.e. the first truly “de-extincted” species. National Geographic said the puppies are “better understood as slightly-modified gray wolves rather than true dire wolves.”

Nevertheless, some scientists have hailed the announcement as a major breakthrough and have expressed hope that the technology Colossal is perfecting could be used to help existing endangered species come back from the brink.

The Church’s response to gene editing

“Gene editing” is not in itself a new technology, and the Church has addressed its use several times in recent decades, noting that the practice holds promise for curing and preventing diseases, alleviating suffering, and promoting the common good, even among human beings. 

Recent technological advances, such as CRISPR, have made gene editing simpler, cheaper, and more effective — but also has brought with it serious new ethical concerns. 

In 2018, for example, a Chinese scientist announced the birth of CRISPR-modified babies whose genes had been edited while they were still embryos. The announcement was widely criticized in the scientific community as unethical and the scientist, He Jiankui, later faced punitive measures from the Chinese government for violating regulations surrounding gene editing. 

From a Catholic perspective, the technology is addressed chiefly in the Church’s 2008 instruction Dignitas Personae. 

In a section on gene therapy, Dignitas Personae notes that gene editing procedures used on somatic (body) cells “for strictly therapeutic purposes are in principle morally licit,” while at the same time firmly rejecting the editing of human “germ line” cells such as sperm and eggs, since such alterations could be heritable and harm the resulting babies. The instruction also warned against a “eugenic mentality” that aims to improve the human gene pool. 

So the Church has said that the use of gene editing in humans can be beneficial within certain ethical parameters, but what about a Catholic view of its use in animals?

Taking a broad view, the Church teaches that mankind was granted dominion over the “mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2456) but that this dominion is “not absolute” and comes with important moral obligations, particularly a view to “the quality of life of [one’s] neighbor, including generations to come,” as well as “a religious respect for the integrity of creation” (CCC, 2415). 

Pope Francis in his expansive 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ further addresses a Catholic view of ecology as it relates to the natural world. In his encyclical, Francis notes that humans are called to respect creation and its inherent laws, recognizing that God founded the earth “by wisdom” (Prv 3:19). Creatures are not to be “completely subordinated to the good of human beings, as if they have no worth in themselves” (Laudato Si’, 69). 

Father Tad Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, commented to CNA that while Colossal’s claims are, from a biotechnology standpoint, very impressive, he has “lingering questions about the basic motivation behind the endeavor.”

“Biodiversity is a feature of the planet that has waxed and waned over eons. During the history of the earth we have had, by some estimates, 5 billion different species. The majority of these species have been wiped out by a range of forces, whether volcanic eruptions, habitat destruction, disease, asteroid impacts, etc. Why presume we have a duty to bring any of them back?” Pacholczyk said in emailed comments to CNA. 

Other scientists have pointed out that breeding an animal with many of the same traits as an extinct animal — in the dire wolf’s case, chiefly a white coat and large size — is not the same as “bringing back” a long-gone species. Scientists could breed elephants with hairy brown coats, for example, but those would still be elephants, not wooly mammoths. 

“To bring back the real dire wolf would require synthesizing and manipulating billions of DNA base pairs and arranging them into chromosomes, which current technology is unable to do,” Pacholczyk said. 

Moreover, Pacholczyk opined that Colossal’s decisions to focus their efforts heavily on animals with broad cultural appeal, such as dire wolves and wooly mammoths, may be driven by the need to attract investors, because “the expenses involved in de-extinction efforts are staggering.”

“Ethically speaking, one wonders if such enormous expenditures can really be justified, when far lower financial commitments could safeguard habitats and bio-niches of currently threatened species,” Pacholczyk said. 

(Back) home on the range

OK, so what about Colossal’s plans to someday reintroduce the wolves into the natural environment? After all, there have been success stories when it comes to human-led reintroduction of species previously dislodged from an ecosystem — including, perhaps most famously, the reintroduction of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

Practically speaking, if Colossal’s reintegration does happen, the dire wolves will find themselves in an ecosystem that is dramatically different from the one in which they previously lived — not least because of the fact that almost the entirety of human society has arisen in the time since it went extinct. Also, as the New York Times notes, they would encounter an environment where they would potentially have to compete with existing gray wolves.

The upshot is that despite many advances in recent years, scientists’ grasp of the “intricacies of ecosystems on the planet is quite limited, because these systems involve a plethora of complex variables, and to suppose we can really forecast which ecosystems would benefit from the reintroduction of certain de-extincted animals is highly doubtful,” Pacholczyk said. 

“There also remains the perennially important ‘law of unintended consequences,’ where we could end up reintroducing a de-extincted species only to be caught off guard when it suddenly expanded out of control, ravaged specific habitats and wiped out other species.”

Echoing Pacholczyk, Laura Altfeld, an associate professor of biology and ecology and chair of the Department of Natural Sciences at St. Leo University, a Catholic college in Florida, told CNA in written comments that there could be potential downsides to reintroducing extinct species to existing ecosystems, both for the introduced animals and for the rest of the ecosystem. 

This is because, in part, most ecosystems as they exist today are highly modified and degraded as a result of human activities, which could pose challenges for reintroduced species if they lack the necessary adaptations that modern species have developed to deal with a world dominated by humans.

If done right, however, there is potential that reintroduced species could aid in “restoring ecosystem functions and boosting biodiversity in some of our ecosystems,” Altfeld continued, especially in high latitudes, such as the Arctic, where climate change continues to rapidly alter ecological conditions.

Whatever happens next in terms of a potential reintroduction, a program as ambitious as Colossal’s should be driven by “ecological expert consensus” and not commercialism, she cautioned. 

“This technology is incredibly powerful and should absolutely be used with caution, and with serious forethought into animal welfare considerations and clear connection to purpose (conservation, for example).”

Altfeld did go on to add, however, that Colossal’s technology could be helpful as a means of saving existing species at risk of or on the verge of extinction. 

Among some endangered species which have very small remaining populations, a lack of genetic diversity caused by inbreeding can be a big problem. Scientists are already using a technique called genetic rescue, which involves introducing genetic material from a similar species, through outbreeding, in order to try to save an endangered one. 

“There are endangered animal species whose wild and captive populations are so significantly genetically bottlenecked that they will most certainly go extinct without intervention. Any technology that can be used to reintroduce genetic diversity has the potential to be of extreme benefit,” she wrote.

The potential use of Colossal’s technological advances to aid in the genetic diversity of endangered populations “is the most valuable, in my opinion. And the fact that they are willing to work with conservation researchers globally to aid in species conservation is impressive,” Altfeld said. 

Altfeld said she plans to continue to engage her zoology students in conversations about the ethics of gene editing, with the dire wolf announcement just the latest in a continuing line of “rapid advancement” in the field that she expects will continue. 

“Our students will be moving into careers that may directly engage with the technologies that are being developed by Colossal, so engaging them in conversations about the ethical and scientific issues surrounding genetic engineering are essential for us as educators,” she concluded.  

“I encourage everyone to do the same, whether they are Catholic or not. There is never a downside to becoming knowledgeable and conversant with one another, even about the most challenging and controversial of topics.”

This article was updated on April 25, 2025, at 12:42 p.m. ET to note that the modified wolf genome was cloned into dog eggs and implanted into a surrogate dog, not wolf eggs and a surrogate wolf as originally written.

Catholic Charities USA sign at its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. / Credit: DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) will launch a national storytelling exhibit in 2026 detailing the organization’s acts of service around the country, the charity group said this week.

The exhibit, titled “People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” will tour the U.S. for two and a half years, according to a press release from the organization on Wednesday. 

“The exhibit, housed in a retrofitted tractor trailer, will share professionally produced, first-person accounts from staff and volunteers of Catholic Charities agencies across the country about meaningful and memorable encounters with families and individuals in need,” the release stated.

The project will be funded by a nearly $5 million from the Lilly Endowment. “We are incredibly grateful to Lilly Endowment for offering us the opportunity to shine a light on the transcendent power that springs from the simple but profound act of helping another human being in need,” CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said.

“Through this exhibit, we hope to inspire more people of hope all around the United States to seek out opportunities to love and serve our neighbors, to be Christ-like in response to human suffering, deprivation, or injustice,” she added. 

Apart from Catholic Charities USA, the Lilly Endowment awarded grants to 11 other organizations “as a part of an invitational round of its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.” 

“For many years, leaders of Christian communities have shared with the endowment powerful stories about how faith animates the lives of individuals with meaning and hope, giving them a deep sense of God’s love for themselves and others,” the endowment’s Vice President for Religion Christopher Coble stated in a press release announcing the approval of the grants.

“These leaders have also shared their concerns that these powerful stories are often overshadowed by accounts of the closing of churches and the weakening of religious life,” he continued. “We hope this initiative will help make known the vibrant ways that Christians practice their faith through acts of love and compassion in their everyday lives.”

Catholic Charities USA will begin professionally recording selected stories of service from its staff this summer at its office in Alexandria, Virginia, while the exhibit is scheduled to kick off its journey in the spring of 2026.

null / Credit: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The University of Louisville has agreed to pay a former professor nearly $1.6 million after the university demoted him and refused to renew his contract following off-campus expert testimony in which he spoke about the dangers of performing transgender operations on children.

Allan Josephson, a psychologist who had led the university’s division of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology, received pushback from the university’s LGBT Center immediately after he voiced his concerns on a panel at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

“I’m glad to finally receive vindication for voicing what I know is true,” Josephson said in a statement provided by his attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) after the settlement.

“Children deserve better than life-altering procedures that mutilate their bodies and destroy their ability to lead fulfilling lives,” Josephson added. 

“In spite of the circumstances I suffered through with my university, I’m overwhelmed to see that my case helped lead the way for other medical practitioners to see the universal truth that altering biological sex is impossibly dangerous while acceptance of one’s sex leads to flourishing.”

According to the lawsuit Josephson filed against the school in early 2019, the professor said during the Heritage panel discussion that gender dysphoria is a sociocultural and psychological issue that cannot be fully addressed through transgender drugs or surgeries. 

He also argued that transgender medical interventions neglect the developmental needs of children and fail to address the root cause of the child’s gender dysphoria.

The lawsuit noted that he had previously given expert testimony on these matters, saying that children are not equipped psychologically to make important life decisions and that gender transitions result in permanent social, medical, and psychiatric consequences. 

He has said that therapy for children should focus on resolving conflicts they feel with their biological sex rather than being immediately “affirmed” as transgender.

According to the lawsuit, Josephson was demoted at the behest of the university’s LGBT Center and several faculty members. It asserted that some faculty members created a hostile environment and leaked information about his demotion to discredit him as an expert witness. It stated that the university refused to renew his contract without citing any performance concerns.

The lawsuit accused the public university of violating Josephson’s First Amendment right to free speech and his 14th Amendment right to due process by demoting and ultimately firing him.

ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham hailed the settlement as a major victory for “free speech and common sense” on college campuses. He said public universities will hopefully learn from this settlement that “if they violate the First Amendment, they can be held accountable, and it can be very expensive.”

“[Josephson] risked his livelihood and reputation to speak the truth boldly, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion — ultimately by dismissing him,” he said. “But public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views. Dr. Josephson’s case illustrates why — because the latest and best science confirms what he stated all along.”

The university did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. 

Pope Pius XII. / Credit: Vatican Media

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Apr 24, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

“There has been a shift of late regarding Pius XII,” historian William Doino told CNA. The wartime pontiff has often been vilified, Doino said, adding: “He will soon get due recognition” for efforts to rescue Jews and others persecuted by Nazis and fascists more than 80 years ago. 

This year, Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, is marked on April 24 in the United States and Israel, according to the lunar calendar of Jewish observance. Elsewhere,  International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on Jan. 27.

Doino has spent decades researching the legacy of Pope Pius XII and the wartime pontiff’s efforts to rescue Jews, Allied military personnel, and others pursued by Nazi occupiers. He has interviewed clergy and diplomats who knew Pius XII personally and who could give firsthand testimony. Unlike other researchers, Doino recorded these interviews, which inform his reports on the pontiff.

He is also co-author of “The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII.” The editor of the book is Rabbi David G. Dalin, who noted that prominent Jews, including Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, and Chief Rabbi Yitgzhak HaLevi Herzog, lauded Pius XII for saving thousands of Jews.

Doino said “a mountain of evidence” provided by modern research and newly revealed documents offer new insights into Pope Pius XII (the former Eugenio Pacelli), and his efforts have been missed by his critics. However, Doino also said in an interview that the Church must confront the “increasing evils of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, which pose a grave threat to the Jewish community across the globe.” 

Leading Catholic figures, such as Pius XII, responded by fighting “these dangerous sins” and defending Jews. “The God-given dignity and fundamental human rights of every human being needs to be respected at all times — our Catholic faith demands nothing less,” he said. 

Pius XII, like his predecessors, sought to be neutral and work for peace. “He was not just a mild-mannered diplomat. He was willing to think outside the box and take risks,” Doino said. He was under tremendous pressure, and rescuers were under threat of death. Many efforts by the pope and the Church were too dangerous to record on paper, Doino affirmed, presenting a challenge to historians. Doino said Vatican clergy took oral instructions from the pope to rescue Jews.

Multiple authors, including Catholic journalist John Cornwell, have linked Pope Pius XII to the destruction of European Jews. Cornwell argued that before and during World War II, Pius XII legitimized Adolf Hitler’s extermination regime. Cornwell accused him of antisemitism and seeking to aggrandize the papacy. But extensive information exists that challenges the narrative of papal indifference, or even complicity, in the crimes.

Doino said Pius XII used diplomatic and covert means to chastise Nazis for their eugenics and racism and to avert war. But the fascists and Nazis would not listen, Doino said, “for as we know, psychopaths and murderers do not listen to honorable people.” He also pointed out that Pius XI, Pius XII’s predecessor, issued in 1937 Mit Brennender Sorge, an encyclical denouncing antisemitism and fascism, which Pius XII affirmed. 

Sweeping generalizations about the Church and the papacy, Doino said, should be discarded even though there were specific instances of antisemitic European clergy and laity who supported the Axis. Doino also confirmed that the pope actively assisted anti-Nazi resisters and sought to overthrow Adolf Hitler.

Doino said researchers must look beyond Vatican files to document Pius XII’s efforts. He said that in “Myron Taylor, the Man Nobody Knew,” author C. Evan Stewart revealed in 2023 that Taylor — the official U.S. representative to the Holy See — learned that the pope, at a famous 1940 meeting with Nazi diplomat Joachim von Ribbentrop, demanded that two Vatican representatives be given permission to visit Poland to document Nazi atrocities when he learned that Jews were being targeted. The German admitted that Jews were being exterminated and then refused the papal request. “This proves that Pius XII defended the Jews,” Doino said, and gives the lie to claims otherwise.

Pius XII’s critics have a hard time proving that he was antisemitic or indifferent to the plight of European Jews. “What they do is try to link him to other officials who were, sadly, antisemitic or anti-Jewish. But even in those instances, God worked on them. Some who were antisemitic, when faced with the Nazi horrors, changed or allowed their human sympathies to transcend their bigotries so that they could rescue Jews,” he said. 

Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, is known to have rescued thousands of Jews while serving as a papal diplomat in Turkey and Greece during World War II. Archbishop Clemens August Graf von Galen of Münster, Germany, protested Nazi euthanasia in 1941.

“This would not have happened if Pope Pius had not authorized them. It was done under his orders and inspiration,” Doino said. “To separate the actions of Roncalli from those of the pope is incorrect.”

Doino said that critics considering the horrors of the Holocaust should “be humble and open to the truth and follow the facts wherever they lead.” He noted that historian Father Hubert Wolf, an acute critic of Pius XII, has since called for a reassessment of the pope’s legacy on the basis of new documentation.

Vatican documents revealed by papal archivist Johan Ickx revealed in “Le Bureau — Les Juifs de Pie XII” (“The Office — The Jews of Pius XII”), published in 2020 and based on a decade of research, that the pope consistently sought peace and set up an office to save endangered people.

Ickx said: “I think there are 2,800 cases, there’s a list equivalent to Schindler’s list, a ‘Pacelli’s list’; I wonder how it is that the Holy See never publicized it.” During the German occupation of Italy, 81% of the 39,000 Jews in Italy were saved.

Suzanne Brown-Fleming of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum told an October 2023 conference in Rome, for instance, that before the Second Vatican Council, many Catholics thought of Jews and Judaism as “something dangerous, something different.” But many battled these prejudices and saved Jews “sometimes at the cost of their lives.” 

Among the rescuers, she said, were those who inspired the Second Vatican Council, such as Pope John XXIII, who inaugurated it. She said laity, parishes, seminaries, religious orders, and papal institutions harbored Jews, producing false identities and smuggling Jews into Switzerland under the threat of death.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks on the U.S. opioid crisis at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 23, 2025. / Credit: SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted the inaugural meeting this week of a new task force to counter anti-Christian bias in federal government policies, regulations, and practices.

“Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said ahead of the meeting. “It’s upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise [in the First Amendment].”

The task force’s first meeting on Tuesday was closed to the public and the media but included the heads of multiple federal departments and agencies along with witnesses who provided testimony on anti-Christian bias within the federal government.

President Donald Trump formally established the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias on Feb. 6 by executive order. His order commissioned a comprehensive review of federal departments and agencies, particularly to reverse certain actions of the previous administration.

Specific concerns of anti-Christian bias

A news release following the meeting detailed some of the concerns and policies administration officials are reviewing.

One Catholic-specific concern discussed in the meeting was the since-retracted January 2023 memo from the Richmond Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which detailed an investigation into supposed ties between “radical traditionalist” Catholics and “the far-right white nationalist movement.”

The document called for “trip wire or source development” within Catholic parishes that offer the Traditional Latin Mass and within online Catholic communities. Later revelations from the House Judiciary Committee found that the Richmond FBI used at least one undercover agent to obtain information on traditionalist Catholics and coordinated with other FBI field offices on the matter.

According to an April 22 news release after the task force meeting, Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, discussed “the impact of the anti-Catholic memo” during the gathering and “reiterated the FBI’s commitment to rooting out any anti-Christian bias that could be directing decisions or investigations.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the news release notes, brought up concerns about bias against a Christian Foreign Service Officer who “was threatened with an investigation for child abuse” for insisting on home-schooling his child.

According to the news release, Rubio also expressed disapproval of the Department of State stigmatizing workers who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds and retaliation against employees for “opposing DEI/LGBT ideology.” 

For her part, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon discussed concerns about gender ideology in education policies and school districts socially transitioning children without their parents’ knowledge. 

Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender voiced concerns about the Biden administration removing certain tax classifications from Christian and pro-life organizations and objections to debanking.

Michael Farris, an attorney and founder of Patrick Henry College, was one of the witnesses. Farris called attention to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigating and charging Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel for alleged Johnson Amendment violations.

Phil Mendes, a U.S. Navy Seal, spoke about how he was relieved of his duty under the Biden administration for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

CNA reached out to the DOJ and FBI for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

“As shown by our victims’ stories today, Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,” Bondi said in a statement after the meeting. “Thanks to President Trump, we have ended those abuses, and we will continue to work closely with every member of this task force to protect every American’s right to speak and worship freely.”

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, at the Vatican / Credit: Vatican Media/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 16:21 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said this week that he is refusing to politicize Pope Francis’ death, hailing the late pontiff as a “broad” figure and a “great” leader of the Catholic Church. 

“A lot of people, especially in the American press, want to make the Holy Father — his entire legacy and even his death — about American politics,” Vance told reporters in Agra, India, while on a four-day visit with his wife, Usha, the first Hindu-American second lady. 

“He was obviously a much broader figure than the United States of America. He represents over a billion Catholics worldwide,” Vance said. 

The two leaders publicly disagreed on politics earlier in the year. In February, Pope Francis sent a pastoral letter to the U.S. bishops encouraging officials to recognize the dignity of immigrants after Vance, a Catholic convert, publicly advocated applying “ordo amoris,” or “rightly-ordered love,” to the immigration debate. 

“[A]s an American leader, but also just as an American citizen, your compassion belongs first to your fellow citizens,” Vance said at the time, while acknowledging that the principle “doesn’t mean you hate people from outside of your own borders.”

In the letter, Francis tacitly rebuked Vance’s remarks, arguing in part that “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment damages the dignity of many men and women.”

When asked about his response to these “disagreements,” Vance said he was “aware” of them but noted that the pope “also had a lot of agreements with some of the policies of our administration.”

“I’m not going to soil the man’s legacy by talking about politics,” Vance said. “I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that’s how I choose to remember the Holy Father.”

When asked what type of pope he would prefer to be elected next, Vance said he would pray for the cardinals who will cast the votes in the upcoming conclave. 

“I won’t pretend to give guidance to the cardinals on who they should select as the next pope,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of issues to focus on in the United States.”

“I’ll just say a prayer for wisdom because I obviously want them to pick the right person, I want them to pick somebody who will be good for the world’s Catholics, but I’ll let them make that decision and obviously they’re entitled to do so,” Vance continued. 

JD Vance was among the last officials to meet with the late Pope Francis before he died on Monday. 

When asked about their providential meeting on Easter Sunday morning, Vance said he had “thought a lot about that.” 

“I think it was a great blessing,” Vance shared. 

In their meeting, Pope Francis gave the vice president three chocolate Easter eggs for his three young children as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

“It’s pretty crazy actually, and obviously when I saw him I didn’t know he had less than 24 hours still on this earth,” Vance said.

“He saw a lot of people, he affected a lot of lives,” Vance continued. “I try to just remember that I was lucky I got to shake his hand and tell him that I pray for him every day because I did and I do.”

Vance offered condolences to Catholics around the world in light of Pope Francis’ death.

“We’re very saddened by it,” he said. “Our condolences to Catholics all over the world, but especially [those] back home who love and honor the Holy Father.”

Stephanie Gabaud receives a blessing from Pope Francis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Sept. 24, 2015. / Credit: EWTN/screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 15:51 pm (CNA).

Among the people throughout the world remembering Pope Francis in a special way this week are three Americans who shared extraordinarily personal moments with him during his apostolic visit to the United States in September 2015.

Father Keith Burney, pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in historic St. Mary’s County, Maryland, will never forget the “surreal nature” of serving at the pope’s Mass when he was a transitional deacon finishing his seminary studies at The Catholic University of America.

When Pope Francis celebrated Mass for more than 25,000 people at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Burney served as the deacon of the Eucharist, preparing the chalice with the wine and water for the Holy Father.

Burney raised the chalice of the blood of Christ as Pope Francis raised the body of Christ.

“I would have never dreamed of it,” Burney told CNA.

He recalled that the Holy Father was “not feeling well” during his visit to campus. “But,” Burney said, “when it came to celebrate the liturgy and to preach, he kind of came alive in a way.”

“It takes a lot of energy, these big papal liturgies, and he was an elderly man, and I remember noticing him just kind of pouring himself out.” 

Keating family

When Chuck Keating, director of a Catholic high school marching band from Philadelphia, heard that his group of students was selected to play for Pope Francis in the City of Brotherly Love on Sept. 26, 2015, he was ecstatic — but conflicted about one thing. 

He wasn’t sure if he should bring his then-10-year-old son Michael, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.

“We weren’t going to bring Michael because it wasn’t easy to bring him,” said Keating, who serves as head of the fine arts department at Bishop Shanahan High School.

However, thanks to the encouragement of Father Michael Fitzpatrick, the family’s pastor, Keating and his wife, Kristin, decided to go ahead and bring Michael.

“Father Michael just said, ‘Listen, this is one-lifetime opportunity. You just have to have him down there and have him be a part of that moment,’” Keating said. 

When Pope Francis stepped off the plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 26, 2015, Fitzpatrick’s words proved truer than the Keating family ever could have imagined.

The Holy Father was being driven around the airport but stopped the vehicle and approached the Keating family on the tarmac. The loud environment with cheers and music suddenly went silent.

Pope Francis embraced Michael, giving him a blessing and a kiss on the head. Kristin and Chuck both shook hands with Pope Francis as well.

Keating also called the moment “surreal” and added that every year the family still celebrates the anniversary of the day Pope Francis blessed Michael, who is now 20 years old. 

“It was just a great experience,” Keating told CNA. He added that Michael is doing “fantastic.”

‘I went into a trance’

When then-17-year-old Stephanie Gabaud met Pope Francis, he gave her a blessing that she says healed her.

Gabaud, who has had spina bifida since birth, was recovering from back surgery prior to Pope Francis’ visit on Sept. 24, 2015, and didn’t know if she would be able to attend his vespers service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. 

But to her excitement, she was cleared to attend the event by her surgeon the day before the pope’s visit.

At the time of the service, Gabaud was still experiencing discomfort from the surgery, which took a rod out of her back that was causing an infection. The plan was for the rod to later be replaced because her doctor said Gabaud would not survive without it.

“It was a very difficult time in my life,” Gabaud told CNA.

But after she encountered the Holy Father, something changed.

As Pope Francis processed into the cathedral toward the altar, Gabaud said he saw her and headed toward her. “So I put my arms up and gave him a hug.”

The Holy Father made the sign of the cross on her forehead and embraced her.

“He told me to pray for him, which I am still doing.” In return, Gabaud, calling Pope Francis by his Spanish name, saying to him: “Papa Francesco, pray for me.”

Following the blessing, Gabaud asked Pat Tursi, CEO of Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center — where Gabaud is a full-time resident, serving as international spokesperson and a volunteer for the center — if she could sit in Tursi’s lap.

“And then all of a sudden, I immediately closed my eyes and just went into a trance,” Gabaud said.

“It was something of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how you describe it, but it was something that I’ve never seen her do in all my years,” said Tursi, who has known Gabaud since she was 2 years old.

In a follow-up appointment with Gabaud’s doctor, he made the decision not to replace any rods in her back.

“He said there was a 100% chance that I would not survive without the rods. But look at me today,” she said.

In March 2023, Gabaud was able to travel to the Vatican and met again with Pope Francis. 

(The video of Gabaud’s 2015 blessing is below and can be seen at the 33:37 mark.)