St. Mary's Church

El reconocido cantautor mexicano Alexander Acha, ganador del Grammy Latino 2009 a Mejor Nuevo Artista, se suma este año a “Adviento 2025: Encuentra la Calma”, el reto espiritual de la aplicación católica Hallow que busca ayudar a los fieles a prepararse para la Navidad a través de meditaciones y reflexiones diarias.

Cuba enfrenta una falta de vocaciones religiosas, al punto de perder casi una congregación femenina cada año. Aun así, la presencia de hombres y mujeres consagrados sigue siendo un pilar indispensable para sostener la misión evangelizadora en la isla.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 16:03 pm (CNA).

U.S. Catholic bishops and prominent Catholic nonprofits are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to rescind a recent rule change they say will “disproportionately harm immigrants and their families.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), along with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) and Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), are calling for the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to rescind a policy change halting automatic extension of employment authorization documents for immigrants in the U.S.

The Dec. 1 statement comes after USCIS announced an interim final rule (IFR), titled “Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents,” on Oct. 30.

“Given our organizations’ ministries to immigrants and refugees around the country, we are deeply concerned that the changes in the IFR will disproportionately harm immigrants and their families,” read the statement, co-signed by CLINIC and CCUSA.

“The IFR will guarantee widespread employment-authorization gaps; destabilize fragile households; generate severe backlogs and administrative burdens for affiliates; impede the functioning of state agencies, such as Departments of Motor Vehicles; and impose substantial costs on U.S. employers and local economies,” the groups said. “Most importantly, the IFR will produce these harms without any demonstrated countervailing benefit.”

The U.S. bishops and Catholic nonprofits further described the IFR as “arbitrary and capricious,” stating that USCIS opted to depart from prior policy without explanation or with the establishment of good cause. “The IFR, as proposed, conflicts with fundamental humanitarian and economic principles embodied in U.S. immigration law,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the IFR “removes the only mechanism that has prevented widespread work-authorization lapses” amid ongoing adjudication delays at USCIS. Even with 180-day and 540-day automatic extensions used in the past, the statement said, “clients of CLINIC affiliates were at risk of suspension or termination because renewal adjudications had not kept pace,” leading to loss of wages and health care tied to employment.

The groups said the IFR increases demand for charitable services, including legal and social services such as those provided by Catholic Charities.

“Even temporary extensions were barely sufficient to stabilize families living on the economic margin,” the statement said. “By removing the only buffer against its own delays, the agency converts an administrative backlog into a nationwide work-authorization crisis that will destabilize workers, families, and employers across the country.”

The groups further emphasized the IFR increases the vulnerability of migrant workers, pointing out migrants facing an employment lapse “may find themselves in precarious situations where unscrupulous or predatory persons might exploit their desperate need to support themselves and their families.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Mons. Andrés Carrascosa Coso, hasta ahora Nuncio Apostólico en Ecuador, ha sido nombrado por el Papa León XIV como nuevo Nuncio en Portugal. En su carta de despedida, el prelado pide que no le den regalos, sino que ayuden a los necesitados.

La multitudinaria representación de la Pasión de Cristo que cada Semana Santa se realiza en la alcaldía Iztapalapa, en la Ciudad de México, fue declarada Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad por la UNESCO.

El Arzobispado de Lima anunció la inauguración del Año Jubilar por los 300 años de la canonización de Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, Patrono del Episcopado Latinoamericano, este domingo 14 de diciembre, en el tercer Domingo de Adviento, llamado también Domingo de Gaudete o de la alegría.

Mons. Rafael Leónidas Felipe Nuñez, Obispo Emérito de Barahona (República Dominicana), falleció este miércoles 10 de diciembre. Para Mons. Andrés Napoléon Romero, actual obispo de esa diócesis, el fallecido prelado fue “un pastor según el corazón de Dios”.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

A majority of Catholic voters in the United States support the death penalty for convicted murderers in spite of the Catechism of the Catholic Church calling capital punishment “inadmissible,” according to a poll published by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research.

The survey of 1,000 Catholic voters between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11 found that 55% support the death penalty “for a person convicted of murder.” Only 20% said they oppose the death penalty in such situations, and another 25% are unsure.

Based on the poll, Catholics who attend Mass regularly are much more likely to say they oppose the death penalty than Catholics whose attendance is less frequent.

Among Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week, 52% say they support the death penalty for convicted murderers, 26% say they oppose it, and 22% are unsure. For Catholics who attend less than once per week, 57% say they support the death penalty, just 16% oppose it, and 27% are unsure.

Although many Catholics still support the death penalty, a 2024 analysis of the Association of Religion Data Archives’ General Social Survey shows a decline in Catholic support for the death penalty in recent decades, especially among those who attend weekly Mass.

The catechism, per the 2018 revision, states: “The Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

Prior to the Francis pontificate revising the language, the text stated that the Church “does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”

Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, who serves on the advisory board for the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, told CNA that many Catholics remain “pro-life for innocent life,” such as the lives taken through abortion, but when a person is guilty of a serious crime, “people readily say ‘yeah, they should die.’”

The revision to the catechism, she said, recognizes that taking life “is against human dignity” and “the Gospel of Jesus calls us to give that dignity — not just to innocent people — but even to the guilty.”

Prejean said when people are asked whether they support the death penalty for serious crimes, “most of the time, people say yes.” Yet, she said when polls give an alternative for life in prison, the support drops significantly. She noted that juries have been less likely to impose the death penalty recently because “most people really want to have a chance to give people life.”

With 1 in 4 Catholics saying that they are “unsure” whether they would support the death penalty in certain situations, Prejean said “that’s where the seed can grow.”

“There’s a part of their soul that hasn’t said ‘yes’ to this and they’re thinking about it,” she said.

Prejean, whose vocation was depicted in the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking,” said she became active in opposition to the death penalty after communicating with a person who was on death row and attending his execution. Prior to that experience, she said she often did not think about the subject, but “we grow in moral issues by experiences of the faithful.”

“Once you have a personal connection with somebody, they’re not a category anymore,” she said. “They’re a person.”

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, told CNA that “defending the sacred dignity of life, while core to our beliefs, is not always easy.”

“But even when it’s hard to understand, our Church gives us good guidance and has definitively said that capital punishment has no place in our society,” said Murphy, whose organization works closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to oppose the death penalty.

“Given its firm commitment to human dignity and the sacred value of life, it is clear that the Catholic Church is not backing down from its pro-life position on the death penalty,” she added. “More formation and catechesis are needed to increase awareness and deepen understanding of the Church’s teaching on capital punishment so it can be applied in a meaningful way in the lives of Catholics.”

Murphy noted that St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and now Pope Leo XIV all hold a pro-life view on capital punishment. American Church leadership, including the newly elected USCCB president, Archbishop Paul Coakley, have called for the abolition of the death penalty. 

“Any disconnect between Church doctrine and polling is a reminder that more education and formation on the life issue of ending the death penalty remains worthy,” she said. “After all, human lives hang in the balance.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

A majority of Catholic voters in the United States have a favorable opinion of President Donald Trump and support the broad-scale deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally, according to a poll published by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research on Dec. 11.

The poll surveyed 1,000 self-identified Catholics from Nov. 9 through Nov. 11, nearly 10 months after Trump assumed office. Trump won the Catholic vote in the 2024 election last year, and one of his campaign promises was mass deportations — a policy strongly opposed by the country’s Catholic bishops.

With Trump administration deportation efforts underway, the poll revealed some tension between the public stance of the country’s Catholic bishops and the views held by the faithful. Among Catholics, support for large-scale deportations is even higher than their overall support for Trump.

About 54% of Catholic voters said they support “the detention and deportation of unauthorized immigrants on a broad scale.” Only 30% said they oppose this policy, and 17% neither support nor oppose it.

Among white Catholics, 60% support broad-scale deportations and only 26% oppose it. Among Latino Catholics, 41% support it and 39% oppose it.

For Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly, 58% support broad-scale deportations and only 23% are against it. For those who attend Mass less frequently, 50% support the deportations and 36% oppose it.

Catholics who attend Mass regularly were more likely to have a favorable opinion of Trump and more likely to support deportations. White Catholics were also more likely than Latino Catholics to support Trump and the deportations.

According to the poll, about 52% of Catholic voters say they have a favorable opinion of Trump, compared with 37% who say they have an unfavorable opinion and 11% who say they are neutral.

Among white Catholics, 58% have a favorable opinion of Trump and 34.5% have an unfavorable view of him. Latino Catholics were nearly evenly split, with 41% holding a favorable opinion and 40% holding an unfavorable opinion.

More than 60% of Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week said they have a favorable opinion of the president, compared with 30% who had an unfavorable opinion. 

Among Catholics who attend Mass less frequently, about 45% have a favorable view of Trump and 42% have an unfavorable view.

Reacting to the results, White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers told CNA that Trump “won in a landslide victory with historic support from patriotic Catholics across the country because he promised to fight for people of faith, and he has delivered in record time.”

“President Trump launched a task force to eliminate anti-Christian bias, pardoned Christian and pro-life activists, enforced the Hyde Amendment, defunded Planned Parenthood, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and stopped men from competing in women’s sports and invading their private spaces,” she said.

Other administration officials had positive favorability numbers. About 50% of Catholic voters have a favorable view of Vice President JD Vance, compared with 31% who have an unfavorable view. About 42% of Catholic voters have a favorable view of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, compared with 25% who have an unfavorable view.

Support for deportations at odds with bishops

Just last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a unified message to oppose “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” It received approval from more than 95% of the voting bishops. The following week, Pope Leo XIV encouraged “all people in the United States to listen to [the bishops]” on the matter.

The USCCB did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNA.

Chad Pecknold, a theology professor at The Catholic University of America who teaches theological politics and other subjects, told CNA the numbers “track with the general public support for deportation.”

“The bishops have operated on very well-worked-out presuppositions of liberalism, and Popperian ideas about an ‘Open Society,’ that are now badly outdated,” he said. “They would be wise to reexamine their priors on prudential matters as they are losing credibility through imprudent statements on prudential matters pertaining to national security and the common good.”

Julia Young, a historian and professor at The Catholic University of America, sees the issue differently, telling CNA that U.S. Catholic bishops have historically supported immigrants and that the Church has grown from European immigration in the mid-late 19th century and from Latin American immigration in the 20th century.

“The growth of the Catholic Church over the last several decades has been largely due to immigration,” she said. “So it does make sense that the Catholic bishops are concerned about immigrants and the immigrant population because that is their laity.”

Young said much of American Catholic history has been an “immigrant group coming in and being the target of nativism.” She noted that the historical “anti-Catholic nativism” faced by those immigrant groups was the notion that Catholics were “not going to be able to become proper loyal American citizens because their loyalty was going to be to the pope.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that prosperous nations have an obligation, “to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” The immigrant has an obligation “to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”

“Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions,” it adds.

La tradicional fiesta en honor a la Virgen de Guadalupe en Sucre (Bolivia), una de las manifestaciones de fe más convocantes de la región, fue declarada patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidad por la UNESCO.