Pope Francis speaks during his general audience on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Feb 1, 2025 / 16:09 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis urged Ukrainian youth on Saturday to persist in dialogue and patriotism while acknowledging the profound challenges of forgiveness amid ongoing warfare, during a virtual meeting with young people gathered in Kyiv’s Cathedral of the Resurrection.

The encounter, which connected the pope with approximately 250 young Ukrainians in Kyiv and other locations across Europe and the Americas, began with a moment of prayer followed by testimonies about the impacts of war on their lives and communities.

“War brings famine, war kills,” the pope told participants, encouraging them to be patriots and “love your homeland, guard your homeland.” He added that “being patriots” represents “the mysticism of young Ukrainians today.”

The meeting carried added significance as Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk warned that air raid sirens could force participants into underground shelters at any moment. Despite a recent airstrike, restored power and internet services allowed the meeting to proceed.

Francis recalled the story of Oleksandr, a young soldier whose Gospel book and rosary the pope now keeps “as relics” on his desk. While encouraging dreams of future peace, the pontiff emphasized that “peace is built through dialogue — never tire of dialogue,” even when challenging.

Addressing a specific question about forgiveness when war leaves deep wounds, the pope acknowledged it as “one of the most difficult things” while sharing his own perspective: “I am helped by this phrase: I must forgive as I have been forgiven. Each of us must look in our own life at how we have been forgiven.”

The virtual audience included moving testimonies, including from a 17-year-old girl whose brother was wounded and surrounded by enemies but later freed and an 18-year-old from Kharkiv who spoke of fallen comrades and destroyed cities.

Before imparting his blessing, Pope Francis made a final plea to remember Ukraine’s young heroes. He encouraged perseverance: “We have all made mistakes, but when one falls, they must get back up and keep moving forward.”

Marco Mancini contributed to this report.

Emergency service members respond to a plane crash in a neighborhood near Cottman Avenue on Jan. 31, 2025, in Philadelphia. The plane, a medical transport jet carrying a child patient, crashed after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. / Credit: Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Feb 1, 2025 / 10:55 am (CNA).

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Peréz called for all to “unite in prayer” after a private medical jet carrying a pediatric patient, her mother, and four crew members crashed Friday night in northeast Philadelphia.

“My heart sank when I learned that an aircraft crashed at Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in northeast Philadelphia tonight,” Peréz said in a Jan. 31 statement. 

The plane, which was owned by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, crashed just after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. It was headed to Branson, Missouri, before its final destination of Tijuana, Mexico. The six passengers, who were all Mexican nationals, were killed, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

On Saturday afternoon, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said one person on the ground who was in a car was killed and at least 19 people on the ground had been injured, the Inquirer reported.

A representative of Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia said the child had received care at the hospital and was returning home with her mother, according to the Inquirer.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X Saturday morning that “consular authorities are in permanent contact with the families” and “my sympathy goes out to their loved ones and friends.”

“This shocking tragedy comes with great loss, pain, and anxiety for the families of the crew and passengers as well as neighborhood residents and business owners whose evening was shattered with sudden violence,” Peréz continued in his statement. “We pray fervently that God will bring comfort and healing in this time of anguish.”

Peréz prayed that the Blessed Mother would be with the first responders and emergency personnel and extended his gratitude for their service.

“Let us all unite in prayer and do what we can in the days ahead to share the compassionate love of Christ with those suffering as a result of tonight’s crash,” he said.

The tragedy comes just two days after an American Eagle flight collided with a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, killing 67 people.

This story was updated on Feb. 1, 2025, at 1:58 p.m. ET with an updated death and injury toll.

The exhibition “En Route” at the Vatican Apostolic Library features historical artifacts and contemporary artistic interpretations. / Credit: Iacopo Scaramuzzi

CNA Newsroom, Feb 1, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

As pilgrims make their way to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year, the Vatican Apostolic Library announced a new exhibition connecting historical journeys to modern pilgrimages through a collection of rare 19th-century travel documents and contemporary artistic interpretations.

Opening to the public Feb. 15, the “En Route” exhibition represents the sixth installment in the library’s ongoing dialogue between its historical patrimony and contemporary art, initiated in 2021.

“There is, of course, a connection to the jubilee, because the jubilee involves travel — pilgrims come, and then they depart. So, within the jubilee, the theme of travel is present,” Don Giacomo Cardinali, commissioner of the Exhibition Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library, told EWTN News.

“Each person interprets this theme according to their own nature, and we have interpreted it according to the nature of the library, which is a place of research, scientific activity, encounter, and culture.”

The exhibition’s title comes from an unusual newspaper series published by French journalists Lucien Leroy and Henri Papillaud. They funded their worldwide journey by printing editions in various cities they visited. A significant portion of the exhibition features the collection of Italian diplomat Cesare Poma (1862–1932), comprising approximately 1,200 newspapers from remote regions printed in various languages across five continents.

Three contemporary artists have been commissioned to interpret these historical materials.

Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini, a renowned Italian singer and globe-trotter, presents his travel instruments, musical equipment, drawings, and a specially created travel journal with accompanying soundscape.

Artist Kristjana S. Williams worked directly with Vatican archives to create new artworks. “She grew up in Iceland, it’s a black-and-white monochromatic landscape and she dreamt of exotic shores as she grew up. Having access to Vatican archives and being able to choose pieces to illustrate these stories was absolutely incredible for designers,” Rachel Bushell, public relations director at Kristjana S. Williams Studio, told EWTN News.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of Dior’s women’s collections, developed a digital installation examining six Victorian-era women who undertook solo world travels, exploring the relationship between fashion and journey.

“I’m almost sure it will inspire a great desire to travel,” Cardinali told EWTN News. “And, above all, it will make people rediscover that there are many ways to travel: You can travel by transportation, on foot, but probably we travel much more, much better, and much farther with books. In fact, we travel every time we open a book, and probably the most distant places are the ones we’ve reached through books.”

The exhibition will run through Dec. 20 at the Sala Barberini and adjacent halls of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

Bénédicte Cedergren and Victoria Cardiel contributed to this report.

Pope Francis speaks with Spanish clergy and seminarians on Jan. 30, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 1, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis discussed in a Jan. 30 audience with seminarians and formators from the ecclesiastical province of Valencia in Spain how his mother put up quite a bit of resistance to his entering the seminary.

The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, posted on Facebook that during the meeting, in addition to his formal remarks, there was an exchange in which the Holy Father shared the experience in detail.

“The seminarians of the ecclesiastical province of Valencia were able to spend two whole hours with the pope, during which all those who wanted to freely asked him questions, to which he responded in a very charming way,” the bishop indicated.

Munilla explained that the Holy Father’s comments about his mother’s opposition to his beginning the path to the priesthood was in response to the question of a future priest who is currently experiencing a similar experience.

“One of the seminarians told the pope about his suffering because his mother has not accepted his decision to go to the seminary, because she had ‘dreamed’ of other paths for her son,” the bishop recounted.

He then said that after listening carefully to the concern of this young seminarian, Pope Francis shared with those present that he “also experienced that same situation.”

“His mother, although she was Catholic, opposed Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s vocation and did not want to visit him in the seminary. But, finally, on the day of his priestly ordination, she knelt before her son and asked for his blessing,” Munilla related.

He said the Holy Father’s advice for this young seminarian to calm his anguish was “prayer, tenderness, and patience!”

“What a great witness of spiritual fatherhood for the seminarians!” Munilla wrote.

This is not the first time the Holy Father has spoken about this experience. The then-cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires also referenced it in a book interview written together with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti titled “Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio: His Life in His Own Words” in the 2014 English edition.

“First I told my father, and he thought it was great. What’s more, he felt happy. Then he told my mom, who, like a good mother, had begun to have a feeling about it,” the pontiff explained.

Using an affectionate Argentine expression, Bergoglio commented “‘la vieja’ [the dear old lady] got very angry.”

“When I entered the seminary, my mother didn’t come with me, she didn’t want to go. For years she didn’t accept my decision. We weren’t fighting. It was just that I would come home [for a visit], but she wouldn’t go to the seminary,” Pope Francis told the seminarians. 

55 years of priesthood

Last Dec. 13 was the 55th anniversary of Pope Francis’ priestly ordination. On that day in 1969, just before his 33rd birthday, Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest by Archbishop Emeritus of Córdoba, Argentina, Ramón José Castellano.

According to the above-referenced book, initially titled in Spanish “The Jesuit: Conversations with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio” and published in 2004 before he became pope, Francis found his vocation to the priesthood while he was on his way to celebrate Spring Day. When he stopped by a church to go to confession, he left the confessional inspired by that priest.

From 1970–1971, Bergoglio continued his formation as a Jesuit in Spain. On April 22, 1973, he made his final vows in the Society of Jesus. When he returned to Argentina, he served as a professor in the San José department of theology in the town of San Miguel (on the outskirts of the city of Buenos Aires) and rector of the college. At the age of 36, he was appointed Jesuit provincial of Argentina.

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

Pope Francis delivers his catechesis during the jubilee audience in the Paul VI Hall on Feb. 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Feb 1, 2025 / 06:06 am (CNA).

Pope Francis highlighted Mary Magdalene’s transformative encounter with the risen Christ as a model for personal conversion during a jubilee year audience at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Saturday.

“The jubilee is for people and for the Earth a new beginning; everything must be rethought within the dream of God,” the pope told pilgrims gathered for the morning audience Feb. 1.

The encounter was one of a series of Saturday jubilee audiences of 2025, following a first meeting with pilgrims and a heart-to-heart with journalists.

A biblical model of transformation

Drawing from the Gospel of John’s account of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, Francis emphasized how she “turned around” multiple times before recognizing the risen Jesus — a detail the pontiff said was carefully chosen by the evangelist.

“The Risen One is not on the side of death but on the side of life,” the Holy Father explained. “He can be mistaken for one of the people we encounter every day.”

The pope connected Mary Magdalene’s spiritual journey to the broader meaning of conversion, noting that entering “the new world” often requires changing perspective more than once.

Francis emphasized how Mary Magdalene recognized Jesus only when he spoke her name, suggesting that personal encounter is essential for authentic conversion.

“From Mary Magdalene, whom tradition calls ‘the apostle of the apostles,’ we learn hope,” the pope said, adding that the journey of faith requires a “constant invitation to change perspective.”

The pope concluded his catechesis with a challenging question for the faithful: “Do I know how to turn around to see things differently? Do I have the desire for conversion?”

Francis warned that an overconfident and proud ego prevents recognition of the risen Jesus, noting that even today, “he appears in ordinary people who easily remain behind us.”

Following the Paul VI Hall’s main audience, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica via video link. After warmly welcoming them, he thanked them for their presence and led them in praying the Our Father.

null / Credit: Nungning20/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Feb 1, 2025 / 05:30 am (CNA).

A priest in South Korea is serving up bowls of rich Korean stew in Seoul via a restaurant ministry as a means to fight youth hunger in the nation’s capital.

Father Gabriel Lee Mun-su launched Youth Mungan “out of a desire to help young people in need,” Claretian Ministries says on its website.

The restaurant serves “a single, affordable meal to all young people,” namely a bowl of jjigae, a traditional Korean stew. The meals are given to customers “regardless of their financial situation, with no standards attached.”

Jjigae is ubiquitous throughout much of South Korea, with various forms of the recipe being found in historical records starting at least several hundred years ago.

The stew has been adapted to many different recipes, though a popular version in both Korea and increasingly in the West incorporates kimchi, the country’s staple fermented cabbage dish.

Often seasoned with copious amounts of spicy peppers along with garlic and ginger, kimchi’s popularity has spread from Korea in recent years and is regularly found in grocery stores and restaurants around the world.

‘The value of money truly depends on how it’s used’

Lee told the Korea Herald this month that he was inspired to launch Youth Mungan in part after hearing a report of a young man dying alone of starvation in a “gosiwon,” or a cramped private dorm. 

The priest said a nun’s remark about an affordable restaurant for young people stuck with him and that the Claretian congregation helped him to develop the idea as well.

The restaurant charges about 3,000 won for a bowl of kimchi — the equivalent of about $2 in the United States. The priest told the Herald that, when he first opened the shop, it was losing “about 1 million won a month.” The priest attempted to cover the gap with lectures and donations, though the venture “did not look like a sustainable business model.” 

An appearance on the South Korean variety show “You Quiz on the Block,” however, led to major exposure for the restaurant and a “massive” response including donations of kimchi and other ingredients. 

The donations, Lee said, brought in “too much money to run just one restaurant,” leading the priest to open multiple locations. Youth Mungan now includes five storefronts around the city. 

The priest told the Herald of one instance where a woman bought her bowl of jjigae and proceeded to pay for everyone else’s bowl as well, a cost of about 100,000 won. 

“It made me realize that the value of money truly depends on how it’s used,” he said.

The restaurant offers another ministry in the form of hiring workers with “borderline intellectual functioning,” according to the Herald. Lee told the paper that the restaurant’s simple menu helps those workers acclimate to the job. 

On its website, Claretian Ministries says Youth Mungan offers a variety of other ministries for young people to participate in including “distributing briquettes in winter to the elderly.”

In a 2021 talk, meanwhile, Lee said he regularly meets “a lot of beautiful young people” in the course of his ministries. 

They’re beautiful, the priest said, in part because they “gladly share their talents for the happiness of others.”

Such people, he said, made him realize he could be happy “by living a life of sharing my talents, time, or materials with someone that needs it.”

St. Brigid of Kildare building the Church of the Oak, detail from a window of St. Etheldreda’s Church in London. / Credit: Lawrence OP via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Dublin, Ireland, Feb 1, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

In Ireland, Feb. 1 marks the beginning of spring and the celebration of “Lá Fhéile Bríde” — St. Brigid’s Day. For Irish Catholics, the day has always been significant, as St. Brigid is one of Ireland’s three patron saints alongside St. Patrick and St. Colmcille.

Since 2023, the feast day has been a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, branded by the Irish government as “St. Brigid’s Day/Imbolc bank holiday.” (Imbolc was a pagan festival that marked the arrival of spring.) The day has been used to promote the successes of Irish women and generated a variety of celebrations of St. Brigid, typically reimagined as a pre-Christian goddess.

In a Jan. 30 statement, government minister Patrick O’Donovan encouraged members of the public to participate in a series of events, omitting any reference to Christianity or Catholicism. 

It is not uncommon of the Irish government to diminish the faith today, but the secular appropriation of the story of St. Brigid has caused some reaction.

The government information pointedly ignores the Christian St. Brigid, asserting: “With roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, which marked the arrival of spring, St. Brigid’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate growth, renewal, and light. In Celtic mythology, Brigid was a triple goddess — of healing, fire, and of poetry.”

Catholic commentator Father Owen O’Gorman told CNA: “It’s a real problem with the secularization of the feast days; it’s not just St. Brigid — St. Patrick’s Day has obviously become quite secularized. The onus is then on the Church to enable people to connect with the real St. Patrick rather than the plastic St. Patrick.”

Highlighting the importance of St. Brigid, O’Gorman drew a parallel with Sister Clare Crockett, an Irish religious sister who he says walked in the steps of St. Brigid. 

“We often talk about founding fathers of a nation or church — St. Brigid is our founding mother. When we look at Sister Clare, whose [cause for canonization] has just been opened in Spain, she re-proposes St. Brigid’s life to a new generation, a young generation of women who have been through a secular culture. Sister Clare herself was immersed in that culture for so long and found it difficult to extract her heart from it.”

O’Gorman continued: “There is a very positive message of spiritual motherhood. St. Brigid is the spiritual mother of our nation; we honor her by praying through her intercession by spreading the cult of St. Brigid, her devotion, imitating her virtues, her spirit of hospitality, her spirit of generosity, and her love of Christ. If we consider Clare Crockett, I believe she will be another great figure for the people of Ireland and women of Ireland, but also internationally. Already we can see the connection with her among a younger generation.”

Sinéad Strong is founder of Catholic Mothers Ireland, an organization that has drawn upon the life and example of St. Brigid as a source of strength. The group’s events have included a St. Brigid’s Day Mass for the parents of miscarried and stillborn babies.

“What draws me to St. Brigid is her simplicity, her service to the poor, sick, and elderly,” Strong told CNA. “One of her patronages is newborn babies, which is important to me as a mother of seven children. It was a blessing to call on her intercession on her feast day for those suffering having lost their babies.”

O’Gorman pointed to the origin of St. Brigid’s eponymous cross as an example the saint’s evangelization and empathy toward others. He explained how Brigid made a cross out of reeds as a tool for evangelization and for the salvation of a dying pagan chieftain. 

“It was her simple tool that led to the conversion of a dying man,” he said.

Every year Catholic Mothers Ireland brings together mothers and children to learn how to make St. Brigid’s crosses, which are then blessed by a priest on the feast day.

“I am always struck by the enthusiasm of the children in learning this beautiful tradition and listening to the stories of St. Brigid and also how the older children take the time to help the younger children,” Strong said.

Strong sees St. Brigid as a role model for Catholic mothers striving every day to pass on their faith, traditions, and Irish heritage in a world that is trying to extinguish it. 

“It is particularly impressive — given the state’s attack on motherhood as well as the continued attack on our faith — to see Catholic mothers’ strength of will and great virtue in going against the flow of society.”

Strong said she believes that attempts to recast St. Brigid as a New Age Celtic pagan goddess “is a blatant attempt to diminish the strong faith once held in this country.”

“It is yet another festival to bring Ireland back to its pagan ways. The goddess they celebrate is not St. Brigid,” she said.

Christine O’Hara is a teacher in Colaiste Chriost Rí in Cork. She has on prominent display in her classroom a quotation attributed to St. Brigid: “Christ dwells in every creature.” 

O’Hara told CNA that for her the saint is a forbearer of St. Teresa of Calcutta, who herself spent time as a religious in Ireland. “St. Brigid said to find Christ in the poor, to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked — that is my work.”

O’Hara pointed to St. Brigid’s work as founder of her abbey in Kildare. “She was concerned about the poor; her compassion and her hospitality really stood out as the faith spread,” she said.

Father Jaimie Twohig from Cork points to the story of St. Brigid’s cloak and its parallel in the Gospel. “St. Brigid’s cloak spread so far when she asked for land to build her convent, and [she] was told she could have as much as her cloak covered,” Twohig explained. “You know it was a small cloak, but it miraculously spread over a vast quantity of land.”

Armagh Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router has drawn a clear parallel between the lessons of the current era and the times in which St. Brigid lived, writing in the current edition of the Irish bishops’ newsletter, Intercom, that “there is no doubt that Brigid was a woman of strength, courage, and deep faith who was so impressive and strong that she acquired the authority and breath of influence that was almost unheard of for a woman at that time.”

“She gained that authority and influence because of her fearlessness and her willingness to champion the cause of those who had no voice and to tackle the injustices that existed in the society in which she lived. The example of St. Brigid highlights the need for the resurgence today of a spirituality and faith based on love and compassion in a world that is so self-centered and materialistic.”

null / Credit: MantasVD/Shutterstock

Dublin, Ireland, Feb 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Oral and folk tradition recounts that St. Brigid, whose feast day is celebrated in Ireland on Feb. 1, made a cross from rushes or reeds to explain Christianity to the faithful in much the same way Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick, used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. 

The St. Brigid cross is typically made from reeds or rushes that grow in damp or waterlogged patches of ground throughout Ireland alongside rivers and lakes.

Tradition holds that the rushes for the crosses should be pulled up at the roots, not cut, on St. Brigid’s Eve, Jan. 31. They are then made into crosses in family homes according to a pattern passed from generation to generation. The crosses are blessed at Mass on the feast of St. Brigid — Lá Fhéile Bríde — Feb. 1. When the crosses are made, because the rushes are freshly harvested, they retain a deep green luster. Over time the rushes dry out and their dry and pale yellow color resembles that of straw.

In schools, teachers often use paper straws to make the crosses with their pupils, as the straws are slightly easier to manipulate and less messy.

It was said that by placing a cross above your main door, St. Brigid would not allow any harm or evil spirit to pass the protective charm of her cross. The cross also provided protection to the household from fire and other dangers as well as a blessing to farmers, farmworkers, crops, and livestock.

There are different types of St. Brigid’s crosses: the four-legged cross is the most familiar with the well-known knot at the center. There are other varieties such as the three-legged, chalice style, and regional varieties, for example, and there is also what is called the Derry cross. It is a more complicated construction and definitely not for beginners.

St. Brigid was born in the fifth century in Faughart, County Louth. Her feast day is on Feb. 1 and folk history says she also died on that day. She is one of three patron saints of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and St. Columcille. Her feast day marks the beginning of spring, a season of hope and renewal. St. Brigid is also known as the patron saint of livestock, babies, new mothers, and nuns, among others.

How to make the St. Brigid cross

Following this technique, the key is to add a rush and then turn the cross clockwise before adding another rush. The process broken down in stages is as follows:

1) Start with two rushes and fold one over the other into a T:

2) Take another rush and fold in half doubling over the T pointing to the right (don’t add a fourth point yet):

3) Hold the rush just added and turn clockwise so the previously added rush is pointing down:

 4) Add a new rush below the previous one, pointing again to the right:

5) Turn clockwise again, holding the previous rush to keep it secure; repeat this process until the knot at the center of the cross is the size required:

 6) When finished with the cross, wrap the last four added rushes around the base of the leg and tie the ends of the cross with string or a rubber band:

“The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic” by Mark L. Clifford (right) is an account of Lai’s rags to riches story, his resistance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and his arrest in 2020 following the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. / Credit: David G. McIntyre/ZUMA Press

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 31, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Author Mark L. Clifford discussed the role faith has played in the life of imprisoned pro-democracy Catholic activist Jimmy Lai at a Catholic University of America event on Jan. 30 in Washington, D.C. 

“The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic” is an account of Lai’s rags to riches story, his resistance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and his arrest in 2020 following the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

In a presentation sponsored by the Institute for Human Ecology, Clifford, who is president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, said that Lai’s faith has helped him endure years of unjust punishment.

Born in mainland China, Lai escaped to Hong Kong at the age of 12, where he eventually became a successful factory owner and retailer. After the Tiananmen Square protest and massacre of 1989, he founded a media business advocating for democracy through his newspaper Apple Daily. 

He was arrested on Aug. 10, 2020, during a raid of his newspaper’s offices.

“I think people need to understand the power of what one person can do and the power of having values and sticking to them. Jimmy is uniquely frightening to the CCP because he actually believes in something,” Clifford said.

“That gives him a power and a confidence that is more than his business success. He has money, he has a media megaphone, and he has values. I think it’s his values above all that are the tyrannical government'’s fear, because you can’t take away somebody’s values,” he continued.  

Clifford spoke about Lai’s Catholic faith — Lai converted in 1998 — and answered questions about how prison has strengthened his trust in God, even while being denied the sacraments. 

“It’s a big element of my book, and yet, interestingly, most people don’t really understand how important it is to Jimmy,” he said. “Jimmy has been in solitary most of these four-plus years. Next Friday, it will be 1,500 days. You think about what faith and what fortitude you need.”

Asked by a student if the Vatican has been involved in the mission to free Lai, Clifford called the Church’s response “disappointing.”

“I just think there’s an insufficient appreciation on the part of the Vatican for the danger that China poses to the world and to the Catholic Church,” he added.

“I honestly think the best way we can help is to use the media, we can have demonstrations. The most effective way is through government action. We’re delighted that we heard President Trump’s commitment to freeing Jimmy Lai,” he said.

Clifford discussed the urgency of the matter, as Lai’s health is declining in prison. 

“Solitary confinement is considered a form of torture for more than 15 days. Four and a half years, mostly in solitary. He doesn’t get any sunlight. There’s no air conditioning. He’s basically sleeping on straw. So very, very tough on his skin and on his body. I think everybody’s really concerned,” he said.

“He doesn’t want to die in jail. He wants to be out tomorrow. He’d like to leave Hong Kong and spend the rest of his time with his family. But if he has to die in prison, he will die there. Of course, we really hope it doesn’t come to that,” Clifford concluded.

Migrants walk alongside the railroad tracks after dismounting from the “La Bestia” train, which they rode through Mexico to reach the Mexico-U.S. border near Chihuahua, Mexico, on Sept. 27, 2023. / Credit: David Peinado Romero/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jan 31, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Since last week, Catholic bishops across the country have publicly responded to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration, with many calling for a more comprehensive and humane approach to immigration policy that respects the dignity of migrants and refugees. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, newly empowered to make arrests at places like churches and schools without needing to seek a superior’s approval, have reportedly already begun ramping up arrests in some major cities after Trump promised “the largest deportation operation in American history” focusing primarily on “the most dangerous criminals.” 

Trump’s other first-day orders, following through on numerous campaign promises, included a declaration of a national emergency at the southern U.S.-Mexico border, a reinstatement of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” border policy from his previous term, and a designation of drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

Another Trump-signed order set in motion a process to end birthright citizenship for individuals born within U.S. territory irrespective of the legal status of their parents, though a judge has already blocked that order amid a significant legal challenge led by a coalition of states. 

The Catholic Church teaches that countries, especially wealthier ones, should try to welcome migrants “to the extent they are able” but that nations also have the right to regulate migration.

Trump’s immigration plans, many now coming to fruition, have attracted criticism from Catholic leaders at the national level, with U.S. bishops’ conference president Archbishop Timothy Broglio saying Jan. 22 that “some provisions” of the immigration orders are “deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.” 

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on migration, on Jan. 23 decried “sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders’ to deprive them of protection under the law.” Doing so, he wrote, “is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image.”

Bishop Michael Burbidge released a statement responding to the Trump administration’s deportation efforts on Friday, Jan. 31, echoing Pope Francis and his brother bishops calling for preservation of human dignity while also affirming the right of every country to secure its borders.

“I encourage President Trump and congressional leaders to develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good,” Burbidge wrote in the statement. He also urged law enforcement to refrain from entering sacred spaces unless necessary for safety reasons.

While the Arlington, Virginia, prelate expressed gratitude for the immigrant community in his diocese, whom he said “contribute so much to our Church and our country,” he also acknowledged that many migrants who entered the U.S. illegally have committed “serious crimes.”

“As the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes,” the bishop wrote, “Catholic teaching does not support an open border policy but rather emphasizes a commonsense approach where the duty to care for the stranger is practiced in harmony with the duty to care for the nation.”

“We are a Church that stands for justice, not against the enforcement of law but for its application with mercy and understanding for the good of all persons and our country,” he concluded.

Addressing immigrants

Many individual bishops’ statements have been addressed directly to immigrants, seeking to offer words of encouragement and support and assurances that the Church welcomes them. 

The Catholic bishops of Michigan in a recent statement expressed concern over “mass deportations and harmful rhetoric that broadly demeans our immigrant brothers and sisters.” They pledged “unyielding support and respect for the human dignity of all migrant people” and urged elected officials to support policies that keep immigrant families safe and united. 

The Michigan bishops clarified, however, that Catholic teaching on immigration rejects the idea of completely “open borders” in favor of a balanced approach that prioritizes both border security and compassionate welcome. They called for a “humane immigration system that welcomes refugees and immigrants by providing a fair pathway to citizenship.”

The bishops of Maryland released a joint statement Jan. 27 to express their solidarity with immigrants and recommitting to advocating for policies that protect rights and uphold their dignity. Quoting Pope Francis, they called for people to see in every migrant “not ‘a problem to be solved but ... brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected, and loved.’”

“The Church has always been a home for those in search of refuge and peace, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to welcome the stranger and embrace the vulnerable,” the Maryland bishops wrote. 

Texas is at the epicenter of the immigration debate due to its lengthy and highly contested border with Mexico. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, criticizing the use of sweeping generalizations to refer to immigrants, stated that the bishops of Texas “will continue to work with governmental officials and other people of goodwill to implement policies that recognize the dignity of every person, prioritize family unity, and address the root causes of forced migration while respecting the right and responsibility of our country to secure its borders.” 

The Texas bishops said they “urge President Trump to pivot from these enforcement-only policies to just and merciful solutions.”

The bishops of Colorado, another state with a large Latino population, said the rhetoric of mass deportations has “created genuine fear for many we shepherd.” The bishops committed “to walking in solidarity with you, our migrant brothers, sisters, and families” and advocated for “comprehensive immigration reform... that respects human dignity, protects the vulnerable, and ensures safety and security for all people.” 

The bishops of New Mexico had in December articulated a strongly worded statement against a policy of mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants, saying such a policy “will not fix the broken immigration system but, rather, create chaos, family separation, and the traumatization of children.” They called for Trump to instead “return to bipartisan negotiations to repair the U.S. immigration system.”

Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, building on the New Mexico bishops’ earlier statement, said on Jan. 21 that “overly simplistic solutions” to the immigration issue don’t tend to work and that comprehensive reform is needed. 

He further stated that as Catholics, “we firmly believe that all human beings are children of God, brothers and sisters created in God’s image.” 

“We must not treat [migrants] as mere pawns in a game of chess nor politicize them. Instead, we must place their needs and concerns at the forefront of our debates, considering both the citizens of our nation and those seeking refuge at our borders. Our Christian faith urges us to care for the resident and the stranger,” Wester said. 

“The truth is that immigrants are a benefit to our country. They help the economy by increasing the labor force, creating jobs, and boosting productivity. It is a fact that immigrants are often among the most law-abiding, religious, hardworking, and community-minded individuals in our country. They have a lower incarceration rate than the native-born population, and research shows that as the immigration population grows, the crime rate declines.”

Archbishop Jose Gómez of Los Angeles invoked the maternal protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe, expressing in a statement his solidarity with undocumented migrants facing potential deportation. Emphasizing the Gospel’s message of human dignity, he criticized fear-based policies and said any enforcement actions should be “matched by immediate action in Congress to fix our immigration system, which has been broken for decades now.”

“For Catholics, immigration is not a political issue. It is a matter of our deeply held religious beliefs. Jesus Christ commanded us to love God as our Father and to love our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable, and regardless of what country they came from or how they got here. Our love for Jesus compels us to continue our works of love and service in our parishes, schools, and other ministries,” Gomez said. 

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, prior to Trump’s inauguration, condemned reports of planned mass deportations, saying they are “not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.” He stated that “if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents.” 

He affirmed that while the government has a responsibility to secure borders, it is also “committed to defending the rights of all people and protecting their human dignity.”

Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph urged members of his diocese to “embody the Gospel values of love, mercy, and justice” in light of the recent executive orders. He also called on people to “understand the teachings of the Church on migration and the rights of individuals, articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2241, and as outlined by the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services.”

Madalaine Elhabbal contributed to this story.

This story was updated Jan. 31, 2025, at 5:05 p.m. ET with Bishop Michael Burbidge’s statement.