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CNA Staff, Jan 30, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

The state of California has agreed to a plea deal with pro-life activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt this week after a yearslong criminal prosecution of the two journalists.

State prosecutors launched the probe following the release of a series of undercover videos that appeared to implicate Planned Parenthood officials and the National Abortion Federation in the illegal sale of unborn baby parts. 

On Monday, Daleiden and Merritt pleaded "no contest" to one charge of unlawful recording of confidential communication in exchange for the dropping of several felony charges. 

As part of the plea deal, Daleiden and Merritt will receive "no jail time, no fines, no admission of wrongdoing, and no probation," according to a Monday announcement by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a pro-life group founded and headed by Daleiden.

According to the CMP, the terms of the plea deal mean the pair will face "zero punishment."

"The new 'no contest' plea — which cannot be used adversely — will be entered into judgment as a misdemeanor in six to 12 months and then converted to a 'not guilty' plea, dismissed, and expunged," CMP said in a statement.

Daleiden welcomed this week's settlement as a "huge victory" and noted that he planned to continue his pro-life work. 

"After enduring nine years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public's right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby body parts," Daleiden said in a statement Monday. 

"Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex," Daleiden said. 

When CMP in 2015 released the incriminating videos that showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the selling of baby body parts, California officials launched the investigation into Daleiden and Merritt. 

Former Vice President Kamala Harris — then California's Democrat attorney general — met with Planned Parenthood staff before ordering criminal investigations into Merritt and Daleiden, including a raid on Daleiden's home.

California's next attorney general, Xavier Becerra — who went on to become the director of the Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration — charged the two with 14 felony counts of unlawfully recording a conversation and one felony count of criminal conspiracy. 

In 2019, a California judge ruled that only nine of the 15 charges could be brought to trial. The case never went to trial amid delays. In a separate civil case in 2019, a federal jury awarded Planned Parenthood over $2 million in damages. Daleiden and Merritt appealed to the 9th Circuit, which upheld the jury's findings. 

Steve Cooley, the former Los Angeles County district attorney who led Daleiden's legal defense team, called the prosecution "vindictive." 

"In my five decades as an attorney, 40 years of which were as a prosecutor, I have never seen such a blatant exercise of selective investigation and vindictive prosecution," Cooley said in a Jan. 27 statement. 

"The California attorneys general who initiated this case and pursued it for nearly 10 years should be ashamed for weaponizing their office to pursue people who were merely exposing illegality associated with the harvesting and sale of fetal body parts," Daleiden's lawyer said.

Though Daleiden and Merritt were neither convicted nor found guilty, the state of California stated on Tuesday that California Attorney General Rob Bonta secured a "felony conviction" of Daleiden and Merritt.

Attorney General Bonta said his "office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive health care" in a Jan. 28 press release.

But Daleiden said the statement is a misrepresentation of the case. 

"The attorney general's press release misrepresents our agreement," Daleiden told CNA. "The judge explicitly stated at the hearing yesterday that we would only be 'convicted' and 'found guilty' if we break the agreement."

The attorney from Liberty Counsel who represented Merritt called the deal "essentially a complete victory for Merritt," who was initially charged with 16 felonies and faced more than 10 years in prison. With the plea deal, the charges will be dropped and she will receive no prison time. 

"The plea agreement ends an unjust criminal case by dropping these baseless criminal charges without any prison time, fines, or other penalties," Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, said in a statement.

"Sandra deserves to be applauded and acclaimed for revealing these horrors and then enduring this selective and vindictive prosecution as a result," Staver continued. "Murdering human babies to harvest their body parts for profit is evil and there is no excuse for Sandra's political persecution."

Daleiden plans to continue exposing injustices in the abortion industry. 

"Taking the San Francisco case off the board allows me to focus fully on CMP's mission to report on the injustices of taxpayer-funded experiments on aborted babies and continue to expand our groundbreaking investigative reporting," Daleiden said.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 30, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron has released a statement commending President Donald Trump's recent executive order banning federal funding for "transgender" medical interventions for minors. 

"I welcome the president's executive order," Barron said in a statement in his capacity as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.

"So many young people who have been victims of this ideological crusade have profound regrets over its life-altering consequences, such as infertility and lifelong dependence on costly hormone therapies that have significant side effects," Barron said.

In his statement, the Minnesota bishop who is also the founder of the Catholic media apostolate Word on Fire condemned the widespread promotion of "transgender" medical interventions for minors that came into vogue under the Biden administration, calling them "unacceptable." 

Referencing Pope Francis' 2024 papal declaration Dignitas Infinita, Barron emphasized that "we are all called to accept the gift of our bodies created in God's image as male and female" and to recognize the inherent beauty of sexual difference as the foundation of marriage. 

"I also applaud the executive order's aim to identify and develop research-based therapies to aid young people struggling with gender dysphoria," he continued. "These individuals are loved by God and possess the same inherent dignity that all persons do. They deserve care that heals rather than harms."

At the USCCB fall meeting in Baltimore last year, Barron spoke about his committee's "Love Means More" initiative based on Dignitas Infinita. The effort is intended to share the foundational principles of Church teaching about love in such a way that Catholics and non-Catholics alike can understand. 

"Helping young people accept their bodies and their vocation as women and men is the true path of freedom and happiness," he concluded. 

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Lima Newsroom, Jan 30, 2025 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

The Nicaraguan dictatorship has forced the Poor Clare nuns to leave their monasteries in Managua and Chinandega in an action described by a well-known researcher as a "night of terror." 

According to the newspaper Mosaico CSI, the dictatorship's order was carried out on the night of Jan. 28, forcing some 30 cloistered nuns belonging to the Order of St. Clare to leave their monasteries.

An ecclesiastical source cited by the Nicaraguan newspaper states that the dictatorship's envoys "first went to notify the sisters (in the Monastery of the Franciscan Poor Clare Sisters) in Managua and then went to Chinandega (to the Monastery of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary)."

"They were told they had to leave and they were allowed to take some of their belongings," the source added.

Martha Patricia Molina, a lawyer, researcher, and author of the report "Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?" — which in its latest edition documents almost 1,000 attacks by the dictatorship against the Catholic Church in the Central American country since 2018 — described what happened as a "night of terror for the nuns."

Molina noted on X that the dictatorship's agents "only allowed them to take a few belongings, just enough for their hands. Most of the nuns are Nicaraguan. Their whereabouts are unknown."

The researcher stated that "the legal personhood of the congregation was granted to them by the National Assembly in February 2004, but on May 19, 2023, it was arbitrarily canceled."

In a Jan. 29 statement to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Molina said the nuns' legal status was cancelled by "voluntary dissolution," although "we already know that the 'voluntary' part doesn't exist in the country but that the dictatorship forces them [to dissolve] under a state of siege."

Bishop Álvarez's residence in Matagalpa emptied out

On Jan. 28, the dictatorship also showed up at the chancery in Matagalpa, the residence of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been living in exile in Rome since January 2024, and removed all the goods, furniture, and equipment, including religious objects, from the place.

"It's the same dictatorship that is taking these things away, because at least in [St. Aloysius Gonzaga] Major Seminary of Philosophy they didn't allow them to take anything, they only let the seminarians take their personal things," a layman from Matagalpa told Mosaico CSI.

Molina told ACI Prensa that everything they took was loaded onto "several white trucks used to remove all the belongings, like a cross. They [the onlookers] tell me that seeing that was painful."

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

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 30, 2025 / 18:05 pm (CNA).

During its first week in office, the administration of President Donald Trump announced that the United States has rejoined the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a coalition of nations united in support of pro-life and pro-women policies.

The U.S. was a founding member of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), which was established in 2020 during Trump's first term. Along with the U.S., Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda were among the original signatories.

According to the Institute for Women's Health (IWH), a key supporter of the GCD, the alliance was forged to "protect the health and thriving of women throughout every stage of life, assert that there is no international right to abortion, defend the family as foundational to every healthy society, and protect the sovereign right of nations to support these core values through national policy and legislation." 

Today, 40 member nations are signatories of the declaration.

Valerie Huber, president of IWH and the architect of the GCD, said: "We knew that countries were standing for these values prior to the GCD, but when countries stand together, that multiplies the impact." 

"Now 40 countries have declared that when we are talking about human rights, abortion is not one of them," Huber continued. 

In 2021, nine days after his inauguration, former President Joe Biden withdrew the United States from the GCD. 

"The GCD, of course, poses a threat to progressive global hegemony because it's both politically effective and entirely voluntary," Huber said.

But in his second term as president, within the first 100 hours of his presidency, Trump recommitted the U.S. to the GCD, becoming the 40th nation to join the alliance. 

Huber, who served in the first Trump administration as the first special representative for global women's health, initiated the GCD to make a pro-family and pro-women political declaration and nation-to-nation partnership.

In an IWH press release, Huber said: "By rejoining, President Trump sends a bold message that the United States stands with sovereign nations to defend the real health needs of women against coercive tactics by global power players." 

"The Biden administration's withdrawal from the GCD misrepresented and undermined the coalition's commitment to advance health and thriving for women at every stage of life. Despite relentless efforts by critics to dismantle and discredit it, IWH celebrates that the GCD has not only survived but thrived over the past four years — expanding its membership and influence," she said.

Huber said that after the news broke of America's reentry, she received communications from multiple countries excited to be in the same coalition as the United States and eager to connect with the nation. 

"I hope that we have the opportunity to show more countries and more people that the good of America is back, and it never really left because so many Americans share the same altruistic, compassionate, and good heart," Huber concluded.

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CNA Staff, Jan 30, 2025 / 18:25 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."

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."

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Vatican City, Jan 30, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis sent his condolences to the Orthodox Church in Albania on Monday following the recent death of Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos, who led that church for nearly 33 years. 

Praising Anastasios for his "profound dedication to the Gospel," the Holy Father expressed his fraternal esteem for the 95-year-old prelate who helped revive Christianity in the former communist country and who died on Jan. 25.

"The faith of the Orthodox community of Albania was certainly embodied in the life of our dear brother, whose zealous pastoral service helped the people rediscover its richness and beauty following the years of state-imposed atheism and persecution," the pope said in his Jan. 27 message. 

Anastasios, who died on the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, was widely respected by Francis and other religious leaders for his decades-long ministry dedicated to peace and ecumenical dialogue with other churches and religions in Greece, Africa, and Albania.  

"He did so by following the example of St. Paul, who dedicated himself so much to Christ that he could say, 'I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some' (1 Cor 9:22)," the Holy Father said. 

Recalling his first meeting with Anastasios during his apostolic journey to Albania in 2014, the 88-year-old pope said he cherished "the fraternal embrace and words exchanged on that occasion" and was impressed by the Orthodox leader's love for the country's poor and suffering.  

"Now that his earthly life has come to an end, I pray that, through the mercy of God the Almighty Father, His Beatitude may eternally praise the Blessed Trinity, together with all the confessors of the faith and the pastors who have proclaimed the word of salvation to peoples everywhere and at all times," the pope wrote at the end of his message.

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CNA Staff, Jan 30, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

The archbishops of Washington and Baltimore offered prayers on Thursday after a deadly plane crash near downtown Washington, D.C., claimed dozens of lives on Wednesday night. 

Up to 67 people were feared dead on Thursday after the overnight crash in which American Eagle Flight 5342, which flew in from Wichita, collided with a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 

The wreckage of the two aircraft plunged into the Potomac River, where first responders were struggling to recover bodies and debris. 

In a statement on Thursday, Washington archbishop Cardinal Wilton Gregory said Catholics "throughout the Archdiocese of Washington today join men and women of goodwill here and around the world in praying for those who perished" as well as "for their grieving families and loved ones." 

"We praise God for the generous assistance of our courageous first responders," the archbishop said. "May this disaster serve as an impetus to strengthen our unity and collaboration."

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori also offered prayers on Thursday, saying in a statement: "Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives in the tragic collision at Reagan National Airport." 

"Let us pray for them and for their loved ones who mourn them. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the first responders during this very difficult time," Lori said. 

The archbishops' remarks come after Pope Francis also offered prayers and condolences following the crash.

"In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who are now mourning the loss of a loved one," the Holy Father said in a telegram to President Donald Trump. 

"I likewise pray for those involved in the recovery efforts and invoke upon all in the nation the divine blessings of consolation and strength," the pontiff said. 

Wichita Bishop Carl Kemme on Thursday also issued a statement in which he noted that the crashed airliner originally departed from Wichita.

"My heart, and the hearts of the faithful of the Diocese of Wichita, go out to the families and loved ones of all those lost in this devastating accident. We pray for the souls of those who perished, including the brave members of our military, the passengers, and the crew," Kemme said.

"We also pray for comfort and strength for those who mourn, and for the first responders and recovery teams as they continue their difficult work," the prelate added. "I encourage all to pray for those affected by this tragedy. May the souls of the departed rest in peace."

Arlington, Virginia, Bishop Michael Burbidge also offered his condolences in a post on X. The seat of the Arlington Diocese is located just a few miles from the D.C. airport.

"May we be united in prayer for all those tragically impacted by the accident near Reagan airport. We ask God to embrace them in his love; to grant strength to their families; and to watch over all first responders," Burbidge said.

This story was updated on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 2:20 p.m. with a statement from Wichita Bishop Carl Kemme

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Vatican City, Jan 30, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

Bishop Richard Williamson, a former English bishop of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), died on Wednesday at the age of 84 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

The Priestly Society of St. Pius X announced the former bishop's death Thursday morning on its website. Williamson's office shared an email with the Catholic Herald stating: "He was surrounded by clerics and faithful who have been keeping vigil with him for his final journey … They were praying right to the end."

Born in London in 1940, Williamson belonged to the Church of England before being received into the Catholic Church in 1971. Soon after becoming Catholic, he joined the traditionalist Catholic movement founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and entered the SSPX seminary in Switzerland.

Lefebvre ordained Williamson as a Catholic priest in 1976 and, without the Vatican's permission, consecrated him and three other priests — Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, and Alfonso de Galarreta — as bishops in 1988.

Subsequently, Lefebvre, Williamson, Fellay, Tissier de Mallerais, and de Galarreta were excommunicated from the Catholic Church following the illicit 1988 ordinations. 

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the SSPX members with the hope of reconciliation with the schismatic traditionalist group that strongly opposed Vatican II and liturgical reforms of the Church's sacraments. 

Williamson's public denial of the Jewish Holocaust became an additional roadblock to full communion with the Catholic Church as well as a source of deep tension within the SSPX.

Following a 2009 television interview in which Williamson expressed his disbelief that Jews were killed in gas chambers in Nazi extermination camps, the SSPX took action and removed him as head of the society's seminary in Argentina.  

Williamson was eventually expelled from the society for disobedience in 2012 after conducting confirmations in Brazil without his superior's permission.  

Prior to his expulsion from the SSPX while carrying out pastoral ministries in South America, Williamson had held teaching positions at the society's seminaries in the U.S. and in Europe and also served as the society's second assistant general from 1988–1994. 

"Sadly, his path and that of the society separated many years ago," the Jan. 30 SSPX statement reads. "We recommend the eternal rest of his soul to your fervent prayers."

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Vatican City, Jan 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Those making a pilgrimage today to any sacred place such as the major papal basilicas in Rome or the venerated sites in the Holy Land to obtain the graces of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope enjoy many conveniences. They have GPS as well as a complete guide downloaded on their smartphones; the roads are free of thugs and thieves and there are even volunteers on every street to kindly answer all their questions.

But in the past, traveling to Jerusalem or Rome was fraught with danger.

"In the Middle Ages, pilgrims were victims of looting, robbery, or all kinds of violence. Many died in the attempt. For example, if they arrived at night, they found [the gates to] the city walls closed and were exposed to all kinds of threats," Daniele Borderi told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. Borderi is the secretary of Templari Oggi APS (Templars Today), a private association of lay faithful founded in March 2021.

The organization, present in 15 countries including South America and the United States, signed an agreement with the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization to provide volunteer services in three of the basilicas in Rome where a plenary indulgence can be obtained: St. Peter's, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. John Lateran.

"During the entire jubilee, every weekend, between 30 and 40 members of our organization will travel to Rome to serve the Catholic Church. Each one pays for the cost of the trip and, for its part, the Dicastery for Evangelization provides them with a place to sleep in addition to ensuring their lunch and dinner," Borderi explained.

These volunteers — dressed in a white tunic and the unmistakable cross pattée — are like the heirs of Friar Hugone de' Pagani, the first master of the ancient Order of the Poor Knights of Christ, commonly known as the Templars, whose origins date back to the 12th century. 

At that time "they were friars, knights, and soldiers, and for 200 years they were the pope's sword," Borderi said. In fact, they were directly under the pontiff, enjoyed certain privileges such as not paying tithes, and were also the first bankers: "They invented what we know today as the bank check. In the documents they used for this function to lend money they cleverly placed a deliberate error to avoid fraud," the Templar secretary added.

However, Philip IV of France tried to destroy them in 1307. "He also took their properties. It was a punishment imposed because he had contracted debts with the Templars that he could not pay off," Borderi said.

Today the Poor Knights of Christ, called Templars, are laymen and laywomen from many countries who take up the original charism of accompanying and defending pilgrims who arrive at the holy places.

From fruit seller to Templar

Achille Ticini, 68, is a Templar who comes from the Italian region of Emilia Romagna, and before he retired he had a fruit stand at a local market.

He volunteers where the Via della Conciliazione starts, one of the busiest streets leading up to St. Peter's Basilica and the Holy Door. When ACI spoke to him, a storm had already passed, but it had been raining all morning. "Let's hope it doesn't rain anymore," he said, looking at the still cloudy sky.

He had just assisted a group of pilgrims from the Philippines who asked him in English where they could get something to eat without having to pay too much. "Besides Italian, I am good at English and Spanish. In the end, [pilgrims] ask us very simple questions and almost always the same ones," he explained.

Ticini also gives information to pilgrims about where they can obtain the jubilee cross to carry on their way to a Holy Door. The cross is kept at 7 Via della Conciliazione and is the official reference point for pilgrims and tourists.

"We have it easier than our predecessors. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims had to be defended with swords not only from bandits but also from the animals that roamed around. Now the Italian police and army take care of security issues," he commented.

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

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CNA Newsroom, Jan 30, 2025 / 08:45 am (CNA).

The German Catholic bishops' conference on Wednesday distanced itself from a controversial statement against tougher migration policies issued by its Berlin office just before Parliament approved a motion on stronger border controls with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

In a 348-345 vote on Jan. 29, Germany's Parliament approved a nonbinding motion calling for stronger border and asylum rules.

The measure passed with support from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU), Free Democrats (FDP), and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

A source within the German bishops' conference confirmed to CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, on Wednesday evening that an internal letter from Beate Gilles, general secretary of the bishops' conference, said majority opinion among bishops had been to avoid public intervention in the election campaign.

The letter distanced the bishops from a document issued by the Catholic office in Berlin on Jan. 28, which strongly criticized proposed migration legislation.

The revelation came after Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg publicly disavowed the Berlin document, telling Communio magazine: "The current position statement against a CDU/CSU draft law does not speak in my name. I distance myself from it in every way."

CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who introduced the motion, said the move was "necessary" despite criticism from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called the cooperation with AfD an "unforgivable mistake."

Merz now plans to propose binding legislation on Friday aimed at curbing illegal immigration numbers in the wake of the most recent fatal stabbing attack in Germany, one of a spate of violent crimes by migrants that have inflamed public debate.

Divisions within German Catholicism

The controversy has highlighted divisions within German Catholicism regarding migration policy.

While the Berlin Church office warned of ''damage to democracy," others like theologian Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, recipient of the 2021 Joseph Ratzinger Prize, offered a different perspective.

"We are not obligated to do good to all people — simply because we cannot," Schwienhorst-Schönberger told Cicero magazine, citing traditional Catholic moral theology principles about practical limits to charitable obligations.

Election context

With federal elections due on Feb. 23, polling has shown the AfD as Germany's second most popular party. The party is variously described in the media as a populist, right-wing, or far-right extremist outfit.

The German bishops' conference has previously declared the AfD "unelectable" for Christians, citing the party's "ethnic nationalism" ideology — a finding the party has categorically rejected, according to CNA Deutsch.

Catholic members of the party have come under pressure.

The rise of the AfD reflects broader European trends, where parties critical of illegal migration, Islam, and leftist ideologies have gained significant ground, such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom in the Netherlands.

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