U.S. bishops to advocate ‘just immigration policies’

Sister Mary Agnes discusses path to her vocation and mission of Sisters of Life Sister Mary Agnes Donavan says to recognize our God-given gifts, “other people notice it first, and they'll tell you.” Trump administration repeals gender, sexuality affirmation rules for foster homes A federal judge blocked the rule nine months ago. U.S. bishops to advocate ‘just immigration policies’ with Homeland Security successor U.S. bishops said they hope to work with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s replacement. Policy scholars said they expect that many of the administration’s priorities will remain in place. Cuba ‘needs renewal and positive changes not more pain,’ Caribbean bishops say As poor living conditions worsen in Cuba, accelerated by the U.S. oil embargo, Caribbean bishops appealed for assistance to reach those most in need without political manipulations or delays.

Father Pasolini at the Vatican: Conversion and humility are paths to peace in times of conflict In a Lenten sermon to the pope, Roman Curia, and Vatican employees, Capuchin friar Father Roberto Pasolini drew the connection between humility, conversion, and peace in life of St. Francis of Assisi.

There is increasing political use of the phrase "Christ is king."

 

What partisan views on sex and race miss about Scripture’s teachings on the body.

Economics professor Bruce Wydick used math (and AI) to dig into the gospels—finding, for example, that 24 percent of Jesus’ miracles were social.

Historian Thomas S. Kidd’s books column takes on a somewhat forgotten Founding Father, the global dimensions of the American revolution, and the birth of the political right and left.

On The Bulletin: the conflict in Iran, the Supreme Court debate on birthright citizenship, and men reading books.

In 1975, CT hosted debates about the charismatic movement and women’s ordination.

Behind the Story

From Black church editor Haleluya Hadero: As a reporter and editor, I’m always on the hunt for good story ideas. But sometimes, it can be challenging to find the type of stories that surprise and interest readers—especially if you’re covering an area that’s intensely competitive.

When I am running short on ideas, I know that means I need to schedule some calls or coffee meetups. When I was a business reporter, I routinely met with analysts, executives, union organizers, and others who could give me a few tips. People feel more comfortable speaking when they know the conversation is not for publication. So I usually grant them that request and hear what’s on their minds.

The vast majority of what I hear during these types of informational interviews doesn’t turn into stories. But I have also heard things that surprise me and have become good pieces. Even if a story doesn’t come out of these meetings, they can help reporters learn more about a particular topic or strengthen their relationship with a source. I bring a similar mindset to the work that I do with Christianity Today.

 

There is increasing political use of the phrase "Christ is king."  A new Gallup survey shows that the US’s low engagement with religious life continues.  Fans of gospel singer Kirk Franklin want him to perform at the Super Bowl. He says he would, but with one condition.

Today in Christian History

March 6, 1475: Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, famous for his paintings (the Sistine Chapel), sculpture ("David"), and architecture (the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Cathedral), is born in Caprese.

Pope Leo XIV congratulates world’s oldest priest on his 110th birthday

Southern Arabia Vicariate marks 10 years since Yemen Missionaries of Charity martyrdom At an Abu Dhabi Mass on March 4, Bishop Paolo Martinelli said Yemen martyrs are a “source of hope” amid today’s turmoil. Pope Leo XIV congratulates world’s oldest priest on his 110th birthday Born in 1916 and ordained in 1950, Father Bruno Kant of Germany turned 110 on Feb. 26 and has been a priest for 76 years. Holy See to UN: Christians are the most persecuted community in the world The Holy See’s permanent observer to the UN provided statistics demonstrating the extent of the persecution of Christians worldwide. Christians in South Lebanon refuse to leave their towns as war escalates As evacuation orders sweep across southern Lebanon, residents are being told to leave their homes; but despite the dangers of a war they don’t want, many have chosen to stay.

Catholic theologians urge Trump to follow just war doctrine as Iran conflict continues War is justified only to confront grave evil, its harm must not exceed the evil it seeks to end, and there must be a real chance of success, with all alternatives to war exhausted, the catechism says.

When the bombs fall on other people’s children

In 25-country survey, Americans especially likely to view fellow citizens as morally bad
Pew Research Center: The United States is the only place surveyed where more adults describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad (53%) than as good (47%).

 

When the bombs fall on other people’s children
Religion News Service: If we cannot feel the death of an Iranian child with the same moral clarity as the death of a child in the United States, then something in us has been deformed.

 

Amid cruelty and oppression, can the church be faithful at human scale?*
The Christian Century: We are all being formed not only by what we profess but by what our bodies learn to tolerate.

 

Bernard LaFayette, Selma voting rights organizer, dies at 85
WFSA: Bernard LaFayette, who did the groundwork for voter registration in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died.

 

How the 2026 Academy Awards was able to pit faith against religion
Religion Unplugged: The 2026 Oscar nominees’ bias toward personal faith over organized religion reflects the move our own society is making in that direction.

Former Director of Oxford Seminary Converts to Catholicism

Surprising study shows birth projections for 2026: only 8 out of every 100 babies will be born on three continents combined

Tim Daniels

If a culture does not reproduce itself biologically, can it expect to endure institutionally? Modernity has achieved unprecedented material progress, yet its most advanced societies are those least inclined to bring forth new life

U.S. Supreme Court Halts California’s Secrecy Policy on Student Gender Transitions

Tim Daniels

Public opinion appears to favor parental involvement. According to the 2025 Religious Freedom Index published by Becket, approximately 73 percent of Americans believe parents are the primary educators of their children. That cultural backdrop likely frames how this case will be received across the country.

Luxembourg approves the killing of babies in the womb as a constitutional right

Joachin Meisner Hertz

The deeper question is not only legal but anthropological. Constitutional language reflects a society’s understanding of human dignity and the role of the state in safeguarding — or limiting — individual autonomy

Settlers exploit war in Iran to commit new acts of violence in the West Bank

ZENIT Staff

Two Palestinian brothers were shot dead in a raid in Qaryut, south of Nablus. New attacks and assaults also in the Christian village of Taybeh. Fr Bashar: not isolated incidents, but a ‘growing pattern of violence’ that raises “concerns”. Barriers and isolation, the West Bank increasingly similar to the Strip, victim of ‘state violence’.

“Quo Vadis, Humanitas?”: Vatican Theologians Confront AI, Transhumanism and the Future of the Human Person

Jorge Enrique Mújica

“Quo vadis, humanitas?” does not provide technical blueprints for regulating AI or biotechnology. Instead, it reasserts an anthropological principle: the future of humanity will not be decided solely in laboratories, but in our capacity to inhabit present tensions without denying limits or forgetting transcendence

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bills Passed in the National Assembly: The Church in France Reacts

ZENIT Staff

The French Bishops reaffirmed their profound opposition and spoke of an irreversible break with the ethical foundations of the society. They announced that they would continue to denounce this bill because «deliberately taking a life cannot constitute human progress.»

This is how Catholicism declined in Latin America during Pope Francis’ pontificate

Enrique Villegas

The pastoral challenge facing the Catholic Church in Latin America is therefore not the disappearance of faith, but the erosion of the institutional bonds that once sustained it.

Global Anglican Communion to be led by a conciliar structure as opposed to the Anglican Church of England

Elizabeth Owens

If that shift continues, historians may eventually look back on the Abuja meeting not simply as another conference in an ongoing dispute, but as the moment when global Anglicanism began reorganizing itself around a new axis of leadership—one increasingly shaped by the churches of the Global South

Questions about liturgy: Ash Wednesday, liturgy, and children

ZENIT Staff

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university.

Former Director of Oxford Seminary Converts to Catholicism

Dante Alba, LC

Although Robin Ward was educated in what he described as a «Low Church» form of Anglicanism, characterized by the use of the Book of Common Prayer, austere liturgy, and a Protestant approach to the sacraments, his experience at Oxford and his encounter with the Anglo-Catholic tradition sparked in him a deeper search for t

The State of Our Divided Union

“Go to Mass and confession frequently”: Bishop Francis Malone reflects on faith, vocations, family By Jim Graves on Mar 05, 2026 09:00 pm Bishop Francis Malone, 75, has served as Bishop of Shreveport, Louisiana, since 2020. Shreveport is the northernmost of the seven dioceses of Louisiana and serves nearly 40,000 Catholics. Shreveport borders Arkansas to its north, with [...] Read in browser » Catholic theologians urge Trump to follow just war doctrine as Iran conflict continues By EWTN News on Mar 05, 2026 12:37 pm The U.S. and Israel launched joint military strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran last weekend, prompting the regime to retaliate with drone and missile attacks on Israel, American bases and assets, Gulf state airports [...] Read in browser » SCOTUS decision on “transitioning” policies is a victory for parental rights By Charles J. Russo on Mar 04, 2026 07:03 pm The Supreme Court’s March 2, 2026, decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta is another significant win for parental rights. A divided Court, in its 6-3 unsigned per curiam, “for the court” order—part of its so-called shadow docket, [...] Read in browser » Instrumentality in Sin and Silicon By Christopher M. Reilly on Mar 04, 2026 03:00 pm The use and proliferation of artificial intelligence technology (AI) can generate vice and, ultimately, sin. Not always, for AI is a fascinating product of human creativity that promises many practical benefits as well as harmful [...] Read in browser » Redemptor Hominis: More important than ever By George Weigel on Mar 04, 2026 04:00 am Forty-seven years ago, Pope John Paul II issued his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis (The Redeemer of Man). The first letter in the centuries-old encyclical tradition devoted to the Christian idea of the human person, Redemptor Hominis was also what [...] Read in browser » Extra, extra! News and views for Wednesday, March 4, 2026 By CWR Staff on Mar 04, 2026 03:00 am How to Write Well – and Why (The Catholic Thing): “Bad writing suggests confused and lazy thinking.  We fix, or at least improve, our reasoning skills by reading – books of substance, lots of them, varied and [...] Read in browser » Championing awareness and possibility for those with Down syndrome By Susan Ciancio on Mar 03, 2026 04:00 pm March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day, which was “created to celebrate the lives of people with Down syndrome and to make sure they have the same freedoms and opportunities as everybody else.” But it [...] Read in browser » J.J. Scarisbrick, Life’s Happy Warrior—Requiescat in pace By Edward Short on Mar 03, 2026 02:00 pm John Joseph Scarisbrick, MBE, died peacefully on Saturday, February 28th, at 5:40 am with his two beloved daughters, Emma and Sarah, by his side. A towering figure in English Catholic life for over sixty years, [...] Read in browser » Vatican synod study group warns of online polarization By EWTN News on Mar 03, 2026 01:01 pm A final report from the Synod on Synodality study group on “mission in the digital environment” proposes the possible creation of a dedicated Vatican body to accompany and oversee the theological, pastoral, and canonical challenges [...] Read in browser » A masterful and educational history of the most famous Christian biologists By Filip Mazurczak on Mar 02, 2026 03:31 pm Niels Arboel’s The Wonder of Creation: The Most Famous Christian Biologists in History is a masterpiece of intellectual history. Of all the natural sciences, perhaps biology is most often seen as at odds with traditional religious faith. [..] Read in browser » Immigration, enforcement, and Catholics By James Kalb on Mar 02, 2026 04:00 am Effectively, open borders are a bad idea. That’s true whether they result from explicit policy or from failure to enforce the law effectively. The population of the world outside the United States is about 8 [...] Read in browser » Pope Leo XIV urges diplomacy amid Iran tensions By EWTN News on Mar 01, 2026 07:39 am Pope Leo XIV voiced concern on Sunday about developments in the Middle East and Iran, urging the parties involved to stop what he called a “spiral of violence” before it becomes an “irreparable abyss.” “Stability [...] Read in browser » The Legatus’ Annual Summit emphasizes faith, fellowship, and witness By Kathy Schiffer on Mar 01, 2026 06:30 am When pizza magnate Tom Monaghan founded Legatus in 1987, its members had as their mission to “study, live and spread the Catholic faith” in their families, businesses, and communities. Today, almost 40 years later, that [...] Read in browser » Pope Leo, the Joshua Tree, and the Paschal Mystery By Matthew J. Ramage, Ph.D. on Feb 28, 2026 08:38 pm I recently returned from delivering a lecture at the annual Los Angeles religious education congress and, as is my custom when possible, turned it into a “bring-a-kid-to-work” adventure. This time, my middle-school daughter and I [...] Read in browser » Students pray for Notre Dame’s Catholic identity after dispute over pro-abortion professor By EWTN News on Feb 28, 2026 03:00 pm Students at the University of Notre Dame gathered on Feb. 27 for a candlelit prayer service to offer thanksgiving for the university’s Catholic identity. The event was originally planned as a protest in response to [...] Read in browser » The Cross is the doorway to communion with God By Carl E. Olson on Feb 28, 2026 02:00 pm Readings: • Gen 12:1-4a • Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 • 2 Tim 1:8b-10 • Mt 17:1-9 “Life is short; death is certain,” wrote St. John Henry Newman, “and the world to come is everlasting.” [...] Read in browser » St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows: The rich young ruler who chose Christ By Donald Jacob Uitvlugt on Feb 27, 2026 08:12 pm February 27th is the feast day of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Passionist saint was born in Assisi, Italy, on March 1, 1838, and baptized Francesco Possenti on the same day, not [...] Read in browser » The State of Our Divided Union By Marcus Peter on Feb 27, 2026 03:18 pm I was rather disappointed in the recent State of the Union address, but not for the reasons many readers might think. I believe that most Americans watched it the way one watches a meticulously overproduced [...] Read in browser »