Immigration, detention plans, church strategies regarding treatment of migrants – those items dominate Wisdom Wednesday this week. Welcome! Among other terms in this week’s examination of faith and society are measles, AI, religious liberty and diversity. People mentioned include Venerable Augustus Tolton and Melania Trump. Inclusion of an item is not in any way an endorsement of the view expressed.
Immigration, migration, detention
“God does not need papers” says the headline in an article from National Catholic Reporter, noting that “Cardinals spend Ash Wednesday with ICE detainees, their families.”
The Vatican migration chief is calling for expanding legal pathways to combat illegal immigration. Cardinal Fabio Baggio, who is charged with overseeing the Vatican’s study and response of the global migratory phenomena called for expanded legal pathways for migrants and called out a misrepresentative “negative narrative” about the church’s migration work. From National Catholic Reporter.
The ICE mega-detention plan is a “moral inflection point for America,” say the U.S. bishops. “The thought of holding thousands of families in massive warehouses should challenge the conscience of every American,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration. From National Catholic Reporter.
Black Catholics have signed onto congressional Democrats’ call for immigration enforcement reform, according to the Black Catholic Messenger. Hispanic Caucus chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Gabe Amo joined a statement on how Catholic social teaching can help guide policy changes.
Refugee advocates warn Trump is targeting well-vetted people, including thousands of refugees lawfully resettled during the Biden administration. From Baptist News Global.
Cardinal Dolan says Vice President JD Vance has “apologized” for “out of line” comments about US bishops and immigration. Vance had “suggested that bishops in the United States were pro-immigrant because we were making money.” The story, written by OSV News, was published by National Catholic Reporter.
Some Latino pastors who voted for Trump in 2024 now regret their choice, according to Baptist News Global.
White evangelicals remain among Trump’s strongest supporters, but they’re less supportive than a year ago. From Pew Research.
Religious freedom and diversity
Singapore is the most religiously diverse country overall, while the U.S. ranks first among nations with very large populations. The statistics come from Pew Research, on “Religious Diversity Around the World.”Singapore is the most religiously diverse country overall, while the U.S. ranks first among nations with very large populations.
“Pluralism is not merely a lofty ideal but a series of concrete actions to strengthen relationships and bridge divides in contentious times,” says Interfaith America CEO Adam Nicholas Phillips. From Baptist News Global.
The 2026 Annual Report of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty is provided by the USCCB. In Section IV of the report, the committee seeks to strengthen and sustain religious freedom by assisting the U.S. bishops, individually and collectively, to teach about religious freedom to the faithful and the broader public, and to promote and defend religious freedom in law and policy.
The Americas
The Church in Mexico calls for the faithful to pray for peace as a drug cartel reacts after the killing of its leader. EWTN News reports the cartel blocked roads with burning vehicles to prevent law enforcement access to towns.
Bishops representing Latin America, Canada, and United States gathered to pray, discuss, and reaffirm their unity as one Church. From Independent Catholic News.
Catholic teaching on vaccines
EWTN News quotes Deacon Tim Flanigan, a medical doctor and professor of infectious diseases, in discussing pro-life objectors who wish to avoid vaccines produced using fetal cells. Flanigan noted that the Church “encourages the use of vaccines whenever possible that are not derived from cell lines from an aborted fetus.” But, when the only available vaccine has been cultured from cell lines that were originally derived in the distant past from an aborted fetus, then the Church does not advise avoiding the use of that effective vaccine,” he said.
Vatican News
A traditionalist Catholic group doubles down on planning illicit consecrations, setting a course for a potential schism. National Catholic Reporter says the Feb. 19 announcement marks the latest turn in a back-and-forth between the Society of St. Pius X and the Vatican that sought to avoid a full-blown rupture between the two. Now, the situation poses a major test for Pope Leo XIV, who has made church unity a priority of his pontificate.
The National Catholic Register offers a commentary on Pope Leo’s Lenten Retreat, underway during the first full week of Lent. “The Holy Father’s bold choice of Bishop Erik Varden as retreat leader speaks volumes.”
A Lenten Challenge: The Justice Bulletin Board
Barbara Molinari Quinby writes, with words of then-Cardinal Bergoglio: Each one of us must stop living within ourselves, of ourselves, for ourselves. We must be love to a hurting world.
Care for Creation
The USCCB has issued “An Invitation to Ecological Conversion for U.S. Catholics.” The article quotes Pope Francis: “’The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast.’ For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion.”
An article suggested by the AUSCP Care for Creation Committee says “Reforesting may be the most urgent policy to save the Amazon.” The report concludes, “Transforming already deforested areas into forest-based productive systems emerges as a decisive strategy in the face of traditional measures that are failing.”
Catholic Dating, single life and marriage
Emily Wilson-Hussem, a Catholic speaker and digital content creator said she realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark. The report, from EWTN News.
Chris Damian, a gay Catholic, says in a YouTube video, “Whether you’re a devout Catholic, a ‘heathen’ seeker, or somewhere in between, you are invited to reclaim chastity as a virtue of integration rather than an instrument of shame. Is chastity merely a check-list of bad behaviors for Catholic singles to avoid, or is it something far more expansive—and more human?
A new Catholic wedding planning platform is featured in the National Catholic Register. “In an age where even marriage can be packaged and optimized to the point of performance, it is worth asking whether the tools couples use to plan their weddings are quietly shaping how they understand marriage itself.” The platform, Cana, is “not simply as another wedding website, but as an intentional reorientation toward the meaning of a Catholic marriage.’
Tolton Symposium
The Inaugural Tolton Symposium will honor nation’s first openly Black Catholic priest, according to Nate Tinner-Williams at Black Catholic Messenger. The 3-day event on Venerable Augustus Tolton will feature speakers from around the country specializing in history, ministry, and catechesis.
If you picked a random person walking on the sidewalk and asked them what the latest happenings are in the US church, it probably wouldn’t be pretty, says an article from the Christian Century. What makes the headlines, understandably, is a mix of White Christian Nationalism and abuse scandals. There’s much, much more.
Melania
Melania Trump’s spiritual life has remained as mysterious as the first lady herself, says the National Catholic Register. The article claims she has sent subtle cues of her Catholicism through her years in the public eye.
An internet Pentecost?
The Vatican plans to use Artificial Intelligence to translate Masses at St. Peter’s into 60 languages in real time. EWTN News reports Mass attendees at St. Peter’s Basilica will be able to understand the readings, chants, and prayers live and in their own languages with a new AI-assisted translation system.
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