St. Michael the Archangel

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is investigating reports that a local public school facilitated and funded abortion procedures for minors without informing the parents.

Staff at Centreville High School, part of the Fairfax County Public Schools district, arranged abortions for two pregnant high school girls in 2021, according to a report by Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations from earlier this month.

Youngkin said in a press release on Wednesday that he is “deeply concerned with the allegations” and is opening “a full criminal investigation into this matter immediately.”

According to the investigative report, one of the girls, who was 17 years old at the time, had an abortion after a school official brought her to the abortion facility.

The other girl, who was five months pregnant, ran from the clinic after a social worker brought her there and allegedly told her she “had no other choice.”

Virginia has a parental-notification law for abortion procedures. Virginia code requires a physician to certify that at least one parent has been notified before performing an abortion on a minor. While there are exceptions if a minor obtains a judicial bypass, investigator Walter Curt said that “no bypasses appear in either case file” that was provided to him.

The girls also alleged that the principal knew about the abortions and used school funds to pay for them.

“Reports allege school officials may have arranged and paid for abortions for multiple minors without parental notification,” read the Aug. 13 press release. “Reports also indicate that the school administration may have known this was happening, and that school funding may have been used, which could include local, state, and federal funds.”

Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement earlier this month that it is “launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the reports.

A handwritten note from an 11th-grade ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) student, translated by the investigators, said the abortion took place in November 2021, when she was 17.

“Last year I went to see social worker Carolina Diaz. She helped me with the termination of my pregnancy — that is, an abortion,” the girl wrote in a note dated Nov. 19, 2022.

The social worker, the girl said, “scheduled the appointment for me at the abortion clinic in Fairfax, paid the costs of that medical procedure, and kept everything quiet without informing my family.” 

The school addressed the claims in a statement, saying they recently learned of the allegations, though Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations said in a follow-up report that school officials “have been aware for months.”

Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose commented on the investigation in a post on social media, calling the situation “horrific.”

“Every person involved must be held accountable,” she said in a Thursday post on X.

Greek Catholic Bishop Maksym Ryabukha of the Exarchate of Donetsk, Ukraine. / Credit: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 15:57 pm (CNA).

Maksym Ryabukha, the Greek Catholic bishop of the Exarchate of Donetsk in Ukraine, describes himself as a “bishop on wheels” because he frequently travels to visit parishes and accompany his faithful in the midst of war. “This allows me to see the depths of human life,” he said.

One of the youngest bishops in the world, the 45-year-old prelate explained in an interview with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that, before the Russian invasion, there were “more than 80 parishes” in the exarchate in east-Central Ukraine, “but more than half have been closed, occupied, or destroyed. Now we have only 37 active parishes.”

In the occupied zone, he lamented, “the laws of the occupation force forbid any affiliation with the Catholic Church, either Greek-Catholic or Latin rite, and it is very difficult to provide any sort of ministry there. My exarchate no longer has any priests in these territories. All our churches have been destroyed, or they are closed and people are not allowed to attend them.”

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported the deaths of at least 13,883 civilians, including 726 children, and the injured number 35,548.

Regarding the current situation, Ryabukha noted that it is becoming “increasingly worse. The drones make every place unsafe, including for civilians. Along the front line, some 18 miles from my territory, people leave their homes at night, in fear of being crushed to death, and go to sleep in the countryside by the lakes.”

“One boy told me that he was sleeping with his entire family when they heard a bomb drawing closer and realized that it could land right on their house,” the bishop said. “In just a few seconds, they leapt out of bed and left the house, and soon, the whole building was turned into a crater. An experience like that can crush you. It is very destructive.”

The OHCHR reported on Aug. 13 that a record number of civilians were killed and injured in Ukraine in July.

That month, 286 people were killed and 1,388 injured, the highest number of overall casualties since May 2022. Nearly 40% of the casualties were caused by long-range weapons, such as rockets and loitering munitions. On July 31, an attack on Kyiv killed 31 people — including five children — and left 171 injured, most of them in a residential building hit by a rocket.

For Ryabukha, “what hurts most is seeing that the world remains silent while civilian areas are bombed and people are killed. The only thing that gives us hope is that God is stronger than the evil we can find in the world. We look at daily life from the perspective of heaven, because sooner or later, everything will end, and that end is called paradise.”

The prelate also pointed out that “the worst isn’t the bombs. It’s the feeling of being forgotten, feeling alone, or of being of no value to anybody.”

However, even in the occupied territories believers “feel part of one Church: in support; in personal encounters; when they share their dreams and hopes; when they pray together, even though it is very dangerous.”

Despite the difficulties, there is hope in the eparchy: “We have 19 seminarians. This is remarkable!” the bishop said. “It is a large number for us, as we are not a big eparchy. These boys are great … they have a deep experience of Christian life … Before, people generally felt lost ... Now, there is clarity: ‘I want to take responsibility for my life, and I want to do this.’”

With the help of ACN, the priests and women religious are receiving psychological training to care for young people who have lost the ability to read, write, or speak due to the trauma of the war. They also support widows and mothers of fallen soldiers and distribute humanitarian aid to people who have lost everything.

“God, through our hands, manages to touch and embrace those people who suffer and bring them a smile, a little joy, a little inner serenity,” Ryabukha affirmed.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

A Catholic church in Laos. / Credit: Amittaya/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 14:36 pm (CNA).

Despite the fact that the constitution and religious freedom laws in Laos officially guarantee the right to worship, Christians in rural areas of the Southeast Asian country are being evicted from their homes and being forced to live in the rainforest.

The situation is occurring in the middle of the monsoon season, with rainfall up to 1 inch each day and nighttime temperatures that drop to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of the displaced — including children and entire families — are taking refuge in the forests without access to food, safe shelter, or medical care.

“No one should have to live like this. Kids… in the jungle! In the rain! It’s just inhumane,” a Bangkok-based humanitarian worker, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, told UCA News.

Anthony Williams, a researcher with the international Christian aid agency Barnabas Aid, stated: “Persecution in Laos is worse in rural areas, where local leaders have a freer hand to take action against Christians, and especially converts from a traditional religion.”

Although the 2019 Evangelical Church Law allows worship and the proclamation of the Gospel, “the law is often ignored in rural villages and settlements, either in ignorance or maliciously,” Williams noted. “The government is largely just turning a blind eye to the forcing of Christians from their homes.”

Williams said local leaders even deny Christians official documents, such as birth certificates, and “in most cases, the central and provincial governments do not act to enforce the law.”

In February, a mob destroyed a home church in the Xonboury district in Savannakhet province. Surprisingly, a month later, authorities allowed its reconstruction and the resumption of worship, but such cases are rare.

Hostility toward Christians has manifested itself in evictions, imprisonment, and even murder. In July 2024, Pastor Thongkham Philavanh was shot dead in Oudomxay province shortly after resuming his church meetings after serving four years in prison for preaching the Gospel.

“It is often the case that an increase in the number of converts leads to higher levels of persecution. This world hates Christ (John 15:18), and in this respect, Laos is no different,” Williams said.

With a population of 8 million, the country has about 300,000 Christians — including 50,000 Catholics — which represent less than 2% of the population. The rest are mostly Buddhist or practice syncretic religions with animism.

Williams warned that if Christianity continues to grow in Laos, “persecution will increase, both in scale and intensity,” and lamented that “it is unlikely that the Lao government will see protecting Christians as a priority” given the geopolitical and economic challenges in the region.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Before the Angelus on July 13, 2025, Pope Leo XIV celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s main square. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 13:22 pm (CNA).

Upon arriving at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 13, Pope Leo XIV called for a peaceful resolution to the war between Russia and Ukraine ahead of the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting, scheduled for Aug. 15 in Alaska, will address the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which the Russian army invaded three years ago.

The Holy Father stated: “We must always seek a ceasefire; the violence, the many deaths must stop. Let‘s see how they can reach an agreement. Because after all this time, what is the purpose of war? We must always rely on dialogue, on diplomatic work, and not on violence or weapons.”

According to Vatican News, Pope Leo XIV also spoke about the possible deportation of the population of Gaza.

“The humanitarian crisis must be resolved. We cannot go on like this. We know the violence of terrorism, and we honor the many who have died, as well as the hostages — they must be freed. But we must also think of the many who are dying of hunger,” the Holy Father said.

He noted that “the Holy See cannot stop” the conflicts, but, he said, “we are working, let’s say, on ‘soft diplomacy,’ always inviting, encouraging the pursuit of nonviolence through dialogue and seeking solutions, because these problems cannot be resolved with war.”

The Holy Father is in Castel Gandolfo for a second vacation. He will remain at the papal residence, located on the shores of Lake Albano, until Aug. 19.

On Friday, Aug. 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he will celebrate Mass at the pontifical parish in Castel Gandolfo.

On Sunday, Aug. 17, at 9:30 a.m. local time, the Holy Father will arrive at the shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano, an Italian town bordering Castel Gandolfo, to celebrate Mass with a group of poor people receiving assistance from Caritas.

After Mass, he will head to Castel Gandolfo to pray the Angelus at noon from Liberty Plaza.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama. / Credit: R. Wellen Photography/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).

A high-ranking priest in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is on leave amid allegations that years ago, he began a relationship with a young woman who was a minor at the time.

Vicar General Father Robert Sullivan, 61, went on a personal leave of absence on Aug. 4, according to an Aug. 13 letter from Bishop Steven Raica obtained by CNA.

In his letter, Raica said that per internal policy, the diocese did not initially provide a public reason for Sullivan’s leave. But the bishop said an Aug. 13 report in the Guardian made it “necessary and appropriate” to clarify why the priest had left his post.

The Guardian report alleged that Sullivan reportedly “traded financial support for ‘private companionship’” with a woman, Heather Jones, now 33, “including sex, beginning when she was 17.”

Raica confirmed that the diocese had received the allegation, describing it as a report of “a relationship that began when the woman reporting the allegation may have been under the age of 18.”

The diocese reported the allegation to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the bishop said, though that agency found that it did not merit a state-led investigation. The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 in Alabama.

The diocese, however, opened its own investigation. Since the early 2000s, in response to the global clerical abuse scandal, the Church has classified individuals under 18 as minors and deemed any sexual contact with them as abusive.

The allegations have been provided to the diocesan review board, Raica said. A report is also being developed for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Vatican protocol.

Sullivan is currently “removed from all priestly service” while the investigation continues, the bishop said. 

“We do not know the time frame for completion of the work of the dicastery in Rome nor of that which will be further required within our diocese,” he said. 

Raica said it was “not [his] intention” to disclose the information of the allegation prior to the results of the investigation. 

“[T]he initial work of any investigation does not lend itself to a definitive determination,” he said, “and anyone accused in the Church possesses a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, equivalent to the right granted in civil law.”

The bishop asked for “continued prayers for all involved” and called for strict adherence to diocesan youth safety guidelines. 

In its Aug. 13 report, the Guardian said Jones came forward with the claims because Sullivan, as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Homewood, Alabama, “had continued working closely with families and their children,” leaving her “fearful that ‘others may be vulnerable to the same type of manipulation and exploitation.’”

The paper said Jones alleged that Sullivan met her when she was 17 years old while working at an “adult establishment” he allegedly visited regularly and that the priest took her “shopping, dining, drinking,” and to hotels for sex.

Jones alleged that Sullivan and his attorney “eventually had her sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for $273,000,” the paper said. 

She also allegedly received around $120,000 from “a Venmo account under Sullivan’s name,” according to the Guardian.

A parish bookkeeper in Lincroft, New Jersey, is alleged to have stolen more than $1.5 million in a lawsuit filed by the Church of St. Leo the Great. / Credit: Neal Bryant/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 10:53 am (CNA).

A New Jersey church is alleging in a lawsuit that its bookkeeper stole more than a million dollars over several years and spent it on personal items including wedding expenses and cigars. 

The Church of St. Leo the Great in Lincroft, New Jersey, said in the Aug. 8 filing that its former finance director, Joseph Manzi, “systematically, secretly, and dishonestly utilized parish funds for his own personal benefit.”

The total amount that Manzi allegedly stole “appears to exceed $1,500,000,” the parish said. He has “not reimbursed St. Leo’s” for any of the alleged stolen funds, according to the lawsuit.

Manzi was hired at the parish in 2014 and was fired from that position on June 26, the suit says. The filing does not disclose why he was fired, but it said an auditor discovered financial irregularities in the parish accounts on July 31, several weeks after Manzi was dismissed. 

A subsequent investigation allegedly uncovered more than six years of financial malfeasance by Manzi, including using parish funds “to pay for tickets to sporting events; personal vehicles, construction projects on his personal home; landscaping, gift cards; expenses related to his daughter’s wedding; his own personal taxes; meals and cigars,” and other things.

His alleged use of parish funds constituted “widespread fraud and theft,” the parish said, alleging that the bookkeeper diverted funds to fraudulent accounts and utilized automatic payments from the church to cover personal expenses.

The lawsuit is seeking financial damages from Manzi, including the return of his compensation during his employment at the parish. It is also seeking a “constructive trust” over Manzi’s home in Atlantic Highlands, with the parish alleging that the home’s mortgage and repairs were financed with funds stolen from the parish.

On its website, the parish said it had reported the alleged crimes to local and state law enforcement while pursuing the civil lawsuit.

On Aug. 13, meanwhile, the Diocese of Trenton said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and that its own investigation had “confirmed a basis” for the allegations.

null / Credit: Photo Spirit/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A recent study has found an increase in the number of Americans Catholics leaving the Church. To combat the issue, the study’s authors suggest creating stronger community ties among Catholics, especially among children. 

Michael Rota, philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas, and Stephen Bullivant, theology and sociology professor at St. Mary’s University, conducted the study examining the decline in religious practice among Catholic-born Americans using data from the General Social Survey (GSS). 

The GSS has asked a large representative sample of Americans a number of questions about religion for the past 50 years, which Rota and Bullivant analyzed to write “Religious Transmission: A Solution to the Church’s Biggest Problem,” published by Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal.

The data revealed that in 1973, 84% of the participants raised Catholic still identified as Catholic when surveyed as adults, but in 2002 it was 74%. By 2022, it had dropped to 62%. 

In 1973, about 34% of participants raised Catholic were attending Mass weekly (or more often) when they were adults. By 2002, the number had fallen to 20%, and in 2022 it had fallen to 11%. 

The study reported the Church is losing 9 out of 10 cradle Catholics, and most are becoming religiously unaffiliated.

Overall, there has been a decline in the number of Americans who prioritize faith. In 2013, 72% of Americans considered religion to be the most important thing in their lives, or among many important things, but in 2023, only 53% said the same.

These declines are due to “weaker social connections among Catholics, the ‘values gap’ between Catholic morality and mainstream American morality, and the internet and smartphones,” Rota told “EWTN News Nightly” in an Aug. 13 interview. 

“Before the 1950s, the average Catholic youth would have looked around in their social circle and seen a lot of consensus about faith [and] about the importance of worshipping God in some religion or denomination,” Rota said. “Today, it’s not like that.”

Young Catholics are “much more likely to have many non-Catholic friends, probably non-Catholic family members. In the culture at large, there’s many anti-Catholic and anti-religious voices. So that puts pressure on youth as they grow up.”

Rota explained “the values gap” is a problem because “in the 1930s Catholic morality and mainstream American morality were very close. Now, on issues relating to sexuality, marriage, life issues, they’re quite opposed.”

The last issue the researchers looked at is the changes the internet has caused. Rota said: “When the internet hit the scene, in the late ’90s, we [saw] a huge spike in the percentage of youth who don’t identify with any religion.” 

“Human beings are socialized by their families, their close social network, but also by the culture that they’re in. And what the internet and smartphones have done is change the balance of what’s doing more work.”

Americans, especially children, need more Catholic community. It has become harder to find community since “today ... our neighbors are more heterogeneous in terms of religion,” but “parents need to intentionally seek out close relationships with other Catholics and put their children in situations where they make friendships with other Catholics.”

There also needs to be “more religious activity,” Rota said. “Just going to Sunday Mass and leaving … doesn’t work anymore for handing on the faith to our children, because the wider culture will no longer guide them back to faith. Rather, it’s more likely to take them away.”

To help “cradle Catholic youth retain their Catholic identity as they grow into adulthood,” Rota suggested that both parents share the same religion and that parents and children are religiously active. He said it is important for children to see that faith makes a difference in everyday life and that kids have both faith-supportive peers and adult mentors who are not their parents.

Parents should find “a vibrant parish or a Catholic lane movement, where they can walk the life of discipleship in fellowship,” he said.

St. Maximilian Kolbe (bearded, in front row, center) and his companions in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1936. / Credit: Public Domain/Courtesy of “Maximilian Kolbe: The Saint of Auschwitz”/Sophia Institute Press

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 14, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

When the American military dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, 80 years ago on Aug. 9, 1945, the city was completely devastated — more than 40,000 people were instantly killed by the blast as well as about 60,000 more in the following five years as a result of radiation-related diseases.

Everything within a mile and a half of the plutonium bomb’s hypocenter was destroyed, including 14,000 homes and the Urakami Cathedral, where the faithful had gathered that morning for Mass in preparation for the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary shortly before “Fat Man” was detonated.

While the bombing devastated both the city of Nagasaki and its large Catholic population, the monastery of Seibo no Kishi located in the mountains on the outskirts of Nagasaki was spared.

A Franciscan monastery built by Father Maximilian Kolbe and his supporters in 1931, this spot served as the second location for Kolbe’s “City of the Immaculata” mission that had started with his Niepokalanów monastery in Teresin, Poland.

Maximilian Kolbe’s missionary work in Japan

Kolbe was determined to expand foreign missionary work to Japan, even after having launched the monthly magazine Knight of the Immaculata in Kraków in 1922. He approached Father Alfonso Orlini, the father general of the Conventual Franciscans, in 1930 for permission to start a mission in Japan after having met four Japanese students on a train who shared the urgent need for missionaries in their home country.

Although he was initially told to go to China instead, Kolbe remained determined to travel to Japan and arrived in Nagasaki — a city known for its rich Catholic history — by ship in March 1930 alongside a handful of other friars.

Over the next six years, Kolbe and the friars would build up Mugenzai no Sono (a literal translation of “Garden of the Immaculata”), which would later have its name changed to Seibo no Kishi.

Here, the Franciscan friars received permission from the bishop of Nagasaki to publish and distribute the first edition of the Mugenzai no Seibo no Kishi — Knight of the Immaculata — magazine, as Kolbe agreed to teach theology at the seminary in return.

The friars were also able to begin building a monastery and various other buildings for their “city,” as Kolbe had chosen a plot of land in the suburb of Hongouchi that sat behind a mountain and faced away from Nagasaki. While many originally criticized this placement, it was this strange positioning that would protect the monastery and its missionaries later on.

Seibo no Kishi would consist of a chapel and wooden house, a large hall for meetings and classes, and a workshop to hold printing equipment. Additionally, Kolbe would build a nearby grotto completed with the placement of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on May 1, 1932.

Seibo no Kishi’s survival following the atomic bombing

After six years of missionary work and experiencing several periods of poor health in Japan, Kolbe was asked to leave and return to care for his foundation in Poland in 1936.

Upon his return to Poland, Kolbe wrote a letter to a friend in Nagasaki that read: “I will never forget Japan; indeed, I always pray for it. I will work with every effort for the salvation of Japanese souls. The Japanese are a people who really search for authentic religion, so they will obtain many graces from the Lord God.”

Eventually imprisoned by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, Kolbe volunteered to die in the place of another prisoner and was killed on Aug. 14, 1941.

Almost four years later, Seibo no Kishi would sustain no more damage than a few broken panes of stained glass during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, thanks to its location behind a mountain. In the days following the attack, Seibo no Kishi’s missionaries would minister to those who were injured, sick, and dying as a result of the atomic blast.

Today, the Seibo no Kishi monastery and Hongouchi church still exist within Nagasaki and are open to visitors. The Japanese edition of the Knight of Immaculata magazine also continues to be published by the Conventual Franciscans in Japan, celebrating its 1,000th issue in 2021.

The issue featured an article on the magazine’s history while also giving a nod to its first publication in which Kolbe discussed topics such as the Miraculous Medal and the Immaculate Virgin Mary — the centerpiece of Kolbe’s Militia Immaculata and Niepokalanów mission in both Poland and Japan.

Writing to another missionary friar in 1935, Kolbe spoke of his desire for “assimilation to [the Immaculate Virgin Mary]; to breathe her, and to live eternally according to her spirit; and of much toil and exhausting but fruitful labor; and much, much suffering; and heroic victories; and the sweetness of the name of Mary.”

“One effort alone in Niepokalanów is essential; that is, day by day we must become evermore the property of the Immaculate. When this happens, then everything else will come to us with her,” the letter continued. “Hence, the Church applies the words of holy Scripture to her: ‘All good things came to me along with her’ [Wis 7:11].”

This story was first published on Aug. 9, 2024, and has been updated.

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need reminds us that “women religious are often on the front lines of wars.” / Credit: ACN

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 13, 2025 / 16:55 pm (CNA).

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) joined the International Union of Superiors General in its call to pray and fast for world peace on Aug. 14, the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In a statement released Aug. 13, Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International, said: “Wherever there is conflict, women and children are marginalized, and it is often they who suffer most. Religious sisters are often on the front lines of wars, helping the innocent in whatever way they can, without regard for their own safety.”

“It is therefore very commendable that this group of women should be leading the way in denouncing warfare and calling for peace and reconciliation,” Lynch said. “ACN is happy to add its voice to the many which are responding to their brave call.”

Pointing to the wars raging all over the world, including in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Union of Superiors General — made up of 1,903 female heads of religious congregations from around the world — called for the world to unite in a day of fasting and prayer on Aug. 14 ahead of the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The group said women religious “cannot remain silent spectators” and entrusted themselves to the Mother of God, Our Lady of Peace, “so that she may tenderly answer the cries of the peoples and teach us to be a humble and prophetic presence in places of suffering.”

“Each day we see faces marked by pain, lives shattered, peoples deprived of dignity and peace, especially the women and children,” the organization said.

Lynch emphasized that “Mary is the Queen of Peace. Let us pray that she may touch the hearts of decision-makers all over the world, that they may yearn for the peace of her son, Jesus Christ.”

“On this feast of her assumption into heaven, we recall that there is a woman, in body and spirit, at the side of Our Lord. No doubt she will be sympathetic to the pain and anguish that the women religious are witnessing and shall intercede for an end to the conflicts,” she stated.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Religious sisters show their support for the Little Sisters of the Poor outside the Supreme Court, where oral arguments were heard on March 23, 2016, in the Zubik v. Burwell case against the HHS mandate. / Credit: CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 13, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).

A federal court has ruled against the Little Sisters of the Poor in their long-running legal dispute over government contraception mandates, dealing a blow to the religious order of sisters even after multiple court victories, including at the Supreme Court.

The legal advocacy group Becket said on Aug. 13 that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of both New Jersey and Pennsylvania in finding that the federal government had not followed protocol when issuing exemptions to contraceptive requirements, including for the Little Sisters.

The district court said that a set of religious exemptions granted by the federal government during the first Trump administration were “arbitrary [and] capricious” and failed to adhere to the requirements of the federal Administrative Procedure Act.

The court has vacated those exemptions “in their entirety,” the Aug. 13 ruling said.

Diana Thomson, a senior attorney with Becket, told CNA that the case is the same one that saw the Little Sisters win a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 when a majority of the court’s justices said the exemptions to the contraceptive mandate were legal.

She described the procedural questions in the Aug. 13 ruling as “cutting-floor arguments” that the states had largely ignored several years ago.

“Instead of dropping the case, Pennsylvania and New Jersey revitalized their cutting-floor arguments that they chose not to pursue at the Supreme Court last time and brought them in the district court,” she said.

The district court accepted those arguments “even though the Supreme Court already blessed the rules,” Thomson said.

The court is “trying to find a loophole” to the 2020 Supreme Court ruling, she said.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania had brought the lawsuit against multiple federal agencies and officials, though the Little Sisters of the Poor were attached to the lawsuit as “defendant-intervenors.”

The sisters will appeal the ruling, Thomson said.

“I assume the Trump administration will appeal also,” she said. “But the Little Sisters’ appeal is already on file.”

“We will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to,” she said.

In a separate statement, Mark Rienzi, the president of Becket and the lead attorney for the Little Sisters, said it was “bad enough that the district court issued a nationwide ruling invalidating federal religious conscience rules.”

“But even worse is that the district court simply ducked the glaring constitutional issues in this case after waiting five years and not even holding a hearing,” he argued.

“It is absurd to think the Little Sisters might need yet another trip to the Supreme Court to end what has now been more than a dozen years of litigation over the same issue,” he said, adding: “We will fight as far as we need to fight to protect the Little Sisters’ right to care for the elderly in peace.”