Livia Tossici-Bolt is awaiting a verdict in her case in which she was charged with violating a “buffer zone” that restricts pro-life speech near abortion clinics. / Credit: Photo courtesy of ADF International

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 1, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

A bureau of the United States Department of State announced it is “monitoring” an arrest of a pro-life advocate in the United Kingdom who was charged with violating a “buffer zone” that restricts pro-life speech near abortion clinics.

In a post on X, the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor confirmed that Senior Adviser Sam Samson met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, a pro-life advocate charged with breaching a buffer zone by standing near an abortion clinic and holding a sign that read, “Here to talk, if you want.”

The verdict for Tossici-Bolt, who was charged with breaching a public spaces protection order, is expected to be handed down on Friday by District Judge Orla Austin — the same judge who delivered a guilty verdict to pro-life advocate Adam Smith-Connor for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in October 2024.

“We are monitoring her case,” the bureau’s post on X read. “It is important that the U.K. respect and protect freedom of expression.”

The post referenced comments made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Munich earlier this year in which he chastised the deterioration of free speech and religious freedom within Europe. Vance specifically criticized the British enforcement of “buffer zone” laws and the conviction of Smith-Connor.

“U.S.-U.K. relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the post read. “However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.”

Tossici-Bolt said in a statement that she is “grateful” the State Department is interested in her case, adding that “Great Britain is supposed to be a free country, yet I’ve been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation.”

Her statement was sent out by Alliance Defending Freedom International, which is representing her in court.

“Peaceful expression is a fundamental right — no one should be criminalized for harmless offers to converse,” she added. “It is tragic to see that the increase of censorship in this country has made the U.S. feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties.”

Tossici-Bolt expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump’s administration “for prioritizing the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end.”

“It deeply saddens me that the U.K. is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech,” she continued. “My case, involving only a mere invitation to speak, is but one example of the extreme and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today. It is important that the government actually does respect freedom of expression, as it claims to.”

“Today we run the risk that our organizations, so dependent on the welfare state ... could be easily confused with a very bureaucratic NGO [nongovernmental organization],” said Archbishop Luis Argüello, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. / Credit: Spanish Bishops’ Conference

Madrid, Spain, Apr 1, 2025 / 17:24 pm (CNA).

The president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym), Archbishop Luis Argüello, opened the conference’s 127th plenary assembly this week with a deep analysis of Spain’s growing secularization, noting that the time has ended when one could say “I am Catholic because I was born in Spain.”

“The time has passed, settled for centuries, when we said: I’m Catholic because I was born in Spain,” Argüello said, noting that the Church can no longer take for granted that people are converted or initiated in the Catholic faith in today’s society.

During his talk, the archbishop of Valladolid noted the worrying situation that while there are 23,000 baptismal fonts distributed over the country’s 22,921 parishes, many of them “have no water” due to lack of Christian community that can “help the Holy Spirit engender new Christians” and in more populated areas there is “a very weak awareness of the responsibility entailed in having a baptismal font.”

This panorama represents a “large, quantitative and qualitative challenge” that requires discernment, especially considering that in numerous rural parishes it is no longer possible to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist, while in large cities there is a remarkable contrast of schedules and celebrations according to the neighborhoods.

The difficulty of ‘transforming emotion into virtue’

Given the situation, the archbishop of Valladolid added that “it has never been possible to be a Christian alone” and therefore the task of promoting communities “where living the integral formation of the heart” becomes especially important.

In this regard, he emphasized the role of various retreat movements and apostolates such as Emmaus, Ephphatha, Bartimaeus, the Conjugal Love Project, Life in the Spirit, Hakuna, etc. that “make an impact along with the invitation to continue” in the Christian life but that are faced with the difficulty of “transforming an emotional experience into virtue, of finding specific ways to grow that go beyond recreating the the initial impact.” 

Regarding the social and charitable work of Catholic organizations, Argüello warned that “today we run the risk that our organizations, so dependent on the welfare state, its rules, and subsidies for the third sector [nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits], might offer in a weak way the novelty of Christian love and could be easily confused with a very bureaucratic NGO.”

“The same thing could happen to us in our educational or communications endeavors,” he added.

A farewell to the apostolic nuncio

At the beginning of his address, Argüello offered words of recognition to Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the outgoing nuncio, thanking him for “the work he has done during these five years in Spain,” emphasizing that “many of us here have received, through his mediation, the episcopal commission that the Holy Father has bestowed upon us.”

These words, along with the expression of best wishes in his new role as nuncio to the European Union, drew the only applause during Argüello’s talk.

Auza expressed his gratitude for the farewell remarks and said during his address that he has shared “the joys and sorrows of Spanish society and the Church” and that, over the course of five and a half years, “with the desire to always know and serve you, in the name of the Holy Father, I have strived to do my best wherever I have been called.” 

Regarding his time in the various Spanish dioceses, “from Covadonga to Granada,” he emphasized that the brotherhoods and confraternities remind him “how Andalusian the Church in the Philippines is, especially during Holy Week.”

Protest over the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen

During Monday’s assembly, a group of about 50 people gathered outside CEE headquarters in Madrid, protesting that the conference is collaborating with plans to “resignify” the Valley of the Fallen, a monumental war memorial built as a final resting place for combatants from both sides of the Spanish Civil War.

The memorial was commissioned by Francisco Franco, Spain’s longtime head of state and leader of the winning Nationalist side in the bloody conflict with leftist Republican forces.

The leftist governing coalition in Spain considers the memorial a monument to Franco and his dictatorship.

The controversy over the monument is colored by the fact that Franco supported the Catholic Church, which was caught in the middle and was severely persecuted by elements of the Republican side.

Some of those present outside CEE headquarters carried banners with the slogan “Cobo Judas,” referring to the archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo, who is involved in the resignification process.

Near CEE headquarters, a wall was tagged with graffiti with slogans such as “CEE traitors,” “The valley is not to be touched,” “Bishops, you sell Christ for 30 [pieces of silver],” and “Betrayal of the martyrs.”

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

U.S. Vice President JD Vance waves to the crowd at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. / Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 1, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance intends to visit Rome during Easter weekend, although the planned trip has not yet been finalized, according to Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the vice president plans to arrive in Rome on Good Friday, April 18, and depart from the city on Easter Sunday, April 20. The news outlet stated that it had viewed correspondence confirming the intended visit but that an official informed them the plans could change.

According to the article, diplomats for the United States sought to coordinate a meeting between Vance and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but no meeting had been scheduled by the time of publication.

It’s unclear whether the potential visit is intended to correspond with Easter weekend or whether that is coincidental. It’s also not known whether Vance, who is a convert to Catholicism, plans to visit the Holy See or other holy sites in the area if the three-day trip takes place.

Vance last traveled to Europe in mid-February to address the Munich Security Conference in Germany. 

During his previous visit to the region, the vice president chastised leaders of the continent’s countries for policies that permit mass migration waves as well as laws that restrict free speech and religious freedom.

Vance was critical of arrests in the United Kingdom for silent prayer near abortion clinics and the Scottish “safe access zones” law that bans religious preaching within 200 meters (about 650 feet) of an abortion clinic.

The vice president subsequently faced public criticism from numerous European politicians but received a more favorable response from Meloni, who last week told the Financial Times that the criticism was directed at Europe’s “ruling class” and not its people.

“I have to say I agree [with Vance],” Meloni said, according to the article. “I’ve been saying this for years ... Europe has a bit lost itself.”

Vance’s prospective visit to Europe would come shortly after President Donald Trump’s new tariffs will go into effect against the European Union, of which Italy is a member. Trump imposed tariffs on products from Europe and other parts of the world in March, but more tariffs are set to go into effect on April 2.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said this week that she has a “strong plan to retaliate” against the U.S. tariffs if it becomes necessary.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks to attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. / Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Apr 1, 2025 / 15:34 pm (CNA).

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt this week signed an executive order instructing state officials to ensure Oklahoma’s laws are “the most robust” in the nation at protecting religious freedom, with the governor also criticizing the state attorney general for attempting to block a proposed Catholic charter school there.

The order, announced on Monday, initiates a review of various state laws and policies to ensure they comply with religious freedom protections enshrined in both the U.S. Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution.

The directive explicitly targets several state laws, including one requiring charter schools to be “nonsectarian” in their operations.

The order comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court began considering a proposed Oklahoma school that could be the nation’s first publicly-funded religious charter school. 

Oklahoma’s St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was approved by the state charter school board to open in 2023, but state Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit against the charter school board, arguing the charter school’s existence would constitute state support of a religion.

The ongoing litigation has since reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the landmark decision could reshape school choice and religious freedom in the U.S.

Drummond criticized the governor’s religious freedom order this week, citing concerns that taxpayers could be forced to support other religious institutions. 

“Gov. Stitt has been clear that he supports our tax dollars funding radical Muslim schools teaching sharia law, and I couldn’t disagree with him more,” Drummond said in a March 31 statement. 

“If a taxpayer-funded religious charter school is allowed to open in Oklahoma, it will only be a matter of time before taxpayers are funding schools dedicated to sharia law, Wicca indoctrination, scientology instruction — even the Church of Satan,” he alleged. 

“As a devoted Christian and a strong supporter of religious liberty, I can tell you that the only way to protect religious liberty is for the state not to sponsor any religion at all — just like our Founding Fathers intended,” Drummond continued.

Stitt in his executive order explicitly criticized what he calls Drummond’s “apparent hostility to religious liberty.”

“By filing lawsuits seeking to prevent the nation’s first religious charter school [from] opening its doors, Oklahoma’s attorney general has fought against Oklahomans’ religious liberty with a zeal and aggressiveness that suggests animosity towards religion and religious liberty,” Stitt wrote.

Stitt’s executive order further requires that state officials not restrict access to public programs on the basis of a person’s or entity’s religious nature.

The executive order instructs “that no individual or entity shall be excluded from participation in, or denied access to, any public benefit, program, or funding solely on the basis of their religious character or affiliation or intended religious use of such benefits.”

“Religious freedom is foundational to our way of life in Oklahoma,” Stitt said this week. “It’s not a privilege handed out by the government — it’s a God-given right that the government must protect.”

“We will not stand by while faith-based organizations — including faith-based schools — are pushed to the sidelines by activist bureaucrats or hostile politicians,” he said.

An EF2 tornado in the early hours of March 31, 2025, in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, tore off the roof of the St. Peter Parish catechism building. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Debbie LaFleur

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 1, 2025 / 15:01 pm (CNA).

A Louisiana parish suffered major damage to its property after a tornado passed through during the early hours of Monday morning.

Debbie LaFleur, secretary of St. Peter Catholic Church in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, told CNA the roof of the parish catechism building was torn off and that several fallen tree limbs fell onto the rectory, causing the above-ground structure to shift on its pillars. The rectory and catechism building were built in 1950 and 1970, respectively. 

The catwalk between the rectory and the church, a carport, and the awning over a handicap ramp will all need to be replaced, LaFleur said. She also noted that several of the parish’s “very old” oak trees had been damaged or fallen down and that several headstones in its cemetery had been knocked down as well.

The only building that did not suffer any damage on account of the category EF2 tornado was the church itself. 

“The church was not touched,” LaFleur stated. “Father Jude [Halphen] says that our saints, our relics, helped protect us.” 

St. Peter’s church houses numerous relics, including those of Blessed Carlos Acutis, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Acutis is set to be canonized at the end of this month. 

Originally built in 1950, the church was renovated last year. Among repairs, the parish brought in a new altar from Belgium. The parish is also currently working to put up altar rails, which LaFleur said came from a now-shuttered church in Harlem. 

“Pray for us that we can rebuild and get through this with little stress,” LaFleur said.

“Our parishioners are great parishioners,” she added. “They came out and they cleaned up the mess, so that by 4 o’clock [Monday] afternoon, it was clean.” 

The parish is currently waiting on structural engineers to assess the full damage to the property and the potential cost for needed repairs.

The “Caravaggio 2025” exhibition revives the legend of the baroque genius in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/ EWTN News

Vatican City, Apr 1, 2025 / 13:12 pm (CNA).

The adventures of Michelangelo Merisi (1571–1610), known as Caravaggio, were linked to the religious context in Rome from his earliest days as a painter.

The Ordinary Jubilee of 1600, under the papacy of Clement VIII, was a brilliant boost to his career.

That year, he received his first public commission for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi (St. Louis of the French in Rome), where he painted the famous series on St. Matthew: “The Calling of St. Matthew,” “St. Matthew and the Angel,” and “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew.”

“It was a pivotal moment for Caravaggio. From that commission onward, his success grew exponentially, and his style began to influence an entire generation of artists,” Thomas Clement Salomon told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Clement Salomon is one of the three curators of the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition, organized by the Palazzo Barberini, of which he is director, and the National Galleries of Classical Art.

The extraordinary retrospective exhibit, which runs until July 6, will feature 24 of Caravaggio’s works, including two previously unseen paintings, “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini” and “Ecce Homo” — which was exhibited at the Prado Museum in Madrid and discovered only a few years ago — and is in a sense a kind of homage to the holy year.

“The jubilee is a special moment for Rome, and Caravaggio is an artist who has a very strong connection with the city,” Clement Salomon explained.

In fact, the exhibition also represents a symbolic return for the artist to the city that shaped his destiny. “Although he was born in Milan, Rome was his true home. Here he achieved success, here he had his most important patrons, and here he left an indelible mark,” the director emphasized.

The exhibition is divided into four sections covering Caravaggio’s entire artistic life, spanning approximately 15 years, from his arrival in Rome around 1595, through Naples, Sicily, and Malta, until his return to Rome and death in Porto Ercole in 1610.

Conceived as part of the cultural events of the Jubilee of Hope, the exhibition is also a unique opportunity to appreciate Caravaggio’s predilection for reality, which made him one of the Catholic Church’s favorites for depicting biblical events.

“He was the first painter to paint things as they are, not beauty. He rejected Renaissance idealism and chose to paint real models: friends, lovers, common people,” the curator explained.

This extreme realism, however, was not without controversy. On several occasions, his works were rejected by patrons or the Catholic Church itself for their crudeness. “When he painted ‘The Death of the Virgin’ for Santa Maria della Scala church, they refused to accept it because, it was said, he had used a deceased prostitute as a model,” the director related.

In any case, the religious genre takes on a special intensity in his work. A stroll through the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi (St. Louis of the French in Rome) and a pause in front of the three canvases of St. Matthew painted by the artist is enough to understand the mystery of the Christian faith.

“He is an artist who, through his painting, allows us to enter the scene he depicts. He is a bridge between sacred history and the viewer. His way of illuminating Gospel episodes allows us to experience them intensely,” the expert noted. An example of this is the work “St. Francis in Ecstasy,” the first example of the artist’s religious work in Rome.

The works created specifically for this church and those of Santa Maria del Popolo church are not part of the exhibition. “We haven’t asked for loans from the churches because that would distort their purpose,” explained Clement Salomon, who added that, in any case, there is a guide within the exhibition that shows pilgrims the ideal itinerary to discover the profound spirituality of Caravaggio’s works.

Caravaggio’s turbulent personal life has contributed to his image as a tormented artist. Impulsive in nature, he was involved in numerous disputes, the most serious of which was the murder of Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606, which forced him to flee Rome. “After that episode, his painting changed. It became darker, more introspective, as if his own personal torment were reflected in his works,” Clement Salomon explained.

An example is “The Capture of Christ,” on loan for the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition from the National Gallery in Dublin. “It’s a stunning painting. You feel as if you’re inside the scene, watching Judas betray Jesus. Caravaggio even paints a self-portrait in the work, depicting himself illuminating the scene with a lantern. It’s a testament to his narrative genius,” Clement Salomon commented.

Although Caravaggio spent most of his life in Rome, his works are now scattered all over the world, from New York to London. Thus getting galleries to loan paintings for the current exhibition has been a challenge.

“Getting a Caravaggio is like getting someone extradited,” Clement Salomon joked. “Each painting is worth hundreds of millions of euros, and they are the jewels of the collections that house them. Museums don’t want to part with them, even temporarily.”

Despite these difficulties, the exhibition features works from important institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Detroit Museum, the Kansas City Museum, and private collections that rarely allow access to their works.

“It’s a unique opportunity to see these paintings together and make unprecedented comparisons,” the curator noted.

New discoveries and scientific debate

Another objective of Caravaggio 2025 is to update knowledge about the artist.

“The dating of his paintings remains a matter of debate,” Clement Salomon explained. “For example, ‘Ecce Homo,’ which was believed to have been painted in Rome, could have been done during his Neapolitan period. The exhibition will allow us to analyze his style and technique in detail.”

The painting, discovered in Madrid, was actually painted in Naples (1606–1609), and in the exhibition it has been placed alongside one of Caravaggio’s masterpieces, “The Scourging.”

Another recent discovery is the “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini,” the future Pope Urban VIII, which is being exhibited to the public for the first time.

“It’s an indisputable masterpiece, but we’ve also included another portrait attributed to Caravaggio that continues to generate controversy among experts. We want the exhibition to serve as a forum for scientific discussion,” the expert said.

In addition, Caravaggio 2025 features other exceptional works such as “The Conversion of Saint Paul,”an earlier version of the famous Santa Maria del Popolo painting, which comes from the Odescalchi collection.

“It’s a unique opportunity to see this masterpiece, which is not normally accessible to the public,” Clement Salomon said.

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

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 1, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of April is for the use of new technologies. 

“How I would like for us to look less at screens and look each other in the eyes more,” the pope said in a prerecorded video released April 1. “Something’s wrong if we spend more time on our cellphones than with people. The screen makes us forget that there are real people behind it who breathe, laugh, and cry.”

He added: “It’s true, technology is the fruit of the intelligence God gave us. But we need to use it well. It can’t benefit only a few while excluding others.”

Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to “use technology to unite, not to divide. To help the poor. To improve the lives of the sick and persons with different abilities. Use technology to care for our common home. To connect as brothers and sisters.”

“It’s when we look at each other in the eyes that we discover what really matters: that we are brothers, sisters, children of the same Father,” he said.

He concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person, and will help us face the crises of our times.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

null / Credit: ElenaR/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 1, 2025 / 11:35 am (CNA).

A former bookkeeper at two New Jersey Catholic parishes has been accused of stealing nearly $300,000 from the two churches over the course of several years. 

Morris County, New Jersey, Prosecutor Robert Carroll’s office said in a Friday press release that Melissa Rivera had been charged with “theft in connection to her former role as bookkeeper” in the parishes of Our Lady of the Mountain and Our Lady of Good Counsel, both located in Morris County. 

Rivera was accused of stealing $292,728 from both parishes, the prosecutor’s office said. She was allegedly creating fake checks at both parishes and then depositing them to her bank accounts. 

The alleged thefts occurred between May 2018 and May 2024, the press release said. Rivera was charged with multiple counts of theft and forgery. 

After being charged she was “released pending future court proceedings,” according to the press release. The county financial crimes unit contributed to the case, the prosecutor said. 

Several Catholic officials have faced prosecution and jail time in recent years over thefts from their respective parishes. 

A bookkeeper at a Florida Catholic parish was sentenced in November 2024 to more than two years of federal prison after stealing nearly $900,000 from the church at which she managed financial records. 

In July 2024, meanwhile, a priest in Missouri pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from a church at which he was pastor for nearly a decade.

That same month, a former Catholic parish employee in Alabama pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her church in order to send money to TikTok content creators. 

And in May 2024 a former employee at a Tampa, Florida, Catholic church pleaded guilty to stealing more than three-quarters of a million dollars from the parish while employed there.

Pope Francis gives a thumbs up gesture from his window at Gemelli Hospital in Rome during his first public appearance in weeks on Sunday, March 23, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot/Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 1, 2025 / 09:44 am (CNA).

Pope Francis shared on Monday that he has experienced the gift of Christian joy during the challenges of his current illness, as the Vatican says the pope’s condition has continued to improve after his monthlong stay in the hospital.

In a message to an Italian synodal assembly March 31, the pontiff said joy “is God’s gift — let us always remember it; it is not an easy joy, it does not come from convenient solutions to problems, it does not avoid the cross, but it springs from the certainty that the Lord never leaves us alone.”

“I have experienced this myself in hospitalization, and now in this time of convalescence,” he added. “Christian joy is reliance on God in every situation in life.”

In an April 1 update about the 88-year-old pontiff’s continued recovery from double pneumonia and other lung infections, the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis’ lung infection, mobility, and voice continue to improve, with the pontiff concelebrating daily Mass every morning and working from his desk.

The pope’s clinical outlook remains “stable,” the Vatican said, with a recent chest X-ray showing small improvements in the lung infection. He continues to receive oxygen support via nasal tubes during the day, including high-flow oxygen at night and as needed, and can go short periods without the tubes.

Francis has received no visitors since his March 23 return to his Vatican apartment in the Santa Marta Guesthouse, where he receives 24-hour assistance from medical personnel.

The pontiff is expected to spend at least two months recuperating after passing 38 days inside the 10th-floor papal suite of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital — by far the longest hospitalization of his pontificate.

While the pope’s engagements with the public are canceled during his convalescence, he continues to release written missives, including the text for what was previously his weekly Wednesday morning audience, and a message to the participants in a synodal assembly of the Church in Italy.

Reflecting on Christian joy, the pope in his message emphasized joy’s accompanying and welcoming style, stating that “it is fulfilled in the folds of everyday life and in sharing.”

Italian Catholics are gathered in Rome from March 31 to April 3 for the second synodal assembly, the last part of a five-year process for the Church in Italy. Pope Francis asked the assembly’s participants to “continue to pray for me.”

On Tuesday, the pontiff named Cardinal Fabio Baggio, CS, the newest member of APSA, the office that oversees the real estate and financial portfolios of the Holy See.

He also appointed Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the synod, as his special envoy to a May 25 ceremony in Luxembourg for the closing celebrations of a Marian jubilee commemorating 400 years of devotion to the country’s patroness, Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.

Pope Francis himself opened the year during a one-day visit to the country, the European Union’s second-smallest, on Sept. 26, 2024.

Father José Luis Quijano is one of the 500 priests who participated in the March 28-30, 2025, Jubilee of Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

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

In 2016, when Pope Francis instituted the ministry of the Missionaries of Mercy during the extraordinary holy year, Argentine priest José Luis Quijano never imagined that the pope’s initiative would renew his priestly zeal. With more than three decades of ministry, he thought he’d already learned everything.

“I wasn’t a priest just going through the motions; I was always very pastoral, but this meant an authentic renewal in the inner fiber of my ministry,” he explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, nine years after having personally received from the pontiff the task of imparting God the Father’s infinite forgiveness on a daily basis.

“Mercy is not for those who are squeaky clean, for those who are good or just. That’s easy. The recipient of mercy is the evil person, the one who has committed horrible deeds, the one who doesn’t deserve it,” he explained.

Those are not empty words. Even before receiving this mission of mercy, the priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires had made a radical decision: to accompany a former priest in prison who was convicted of pedophilia.

Those were 20 years in which, despite the difficulties, he never doubted that his mission was to remain by the side of that man forever tainted by a terrible crime.

“When you visit a prisoner with these characteristics, the person doesn’t speak. We spent hours and hours in silence. Afterward, every so often, he was transferred to another prison. Sometimes I had to drive 185 miles to see him, and once there, they would deny me entry,” he recounted, noting that his only motivation was the words of the Gospel: “I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Quijano had met the priest in the early 1990s, and although he was never aware of the abuse, he had perceived in him certain worrying attitudes that denoted a life that was “hardly in order,” he noted, without wishing to go into detail. In 1997, the scandal came to light. The priest involved, who was later laicized, admitted his guilt, was prosecuted, convicted, and served two decades in prison.

“When I saw Pope Francis’ call to the Missionaries of Mercy, I asked myself: When in my life was I truly merciful? Because being good, being tolerant, being cordial, is easy with those we like. But true mercy is loving those who don’t deserve it,” Quijano reflected. He was also quite aware that the harm inflicted by the former priest on the victims is irreparable and that divine forgiveness does not erase the consequences of human actions.

“Here we must note the difference between two things. One is forgiveness and the experience of God’s mercy in the heart. And the other is experiencing the world’s rejection. Even if a person repents, society’s condemnation remains,” he explained.

When the former priest finished serving his sentence and was released, he encountered the wall of exclusion. He couldn’t get a new start in life. It was impossible for him to find work or reintegrate into society. He ended up changing his name and moving to a city where no one knew him.

“Even though he may have repented internally in his intimate dialogue with God, that doesn’t exempt him from the harshness of life and the resistance of a world that will always continue to condemn him. In a certain way, the perpetrator is also a victim,” Quijano commented, not seeking to downplay the crimes but rather to highlight the complexity of forgiveness.

In this sense, for him, mercy must encompass “both the victims and the perpetrators.”

“Being a Missionary of Mercy doesn’t just mean administering the sacrament of confession but also living out mercy with others, even when it’s difficult, when it hurts, when it seems impossible,” he explained.

A broader vision of the priesthood

During these nine years as a Missionary of Mercy priest, Quijano participated in several meetings at the Vatican as part of his formation. In these meetings fundamental topics related to legal issues were discussed, such as how far the missionary authority goes and how they should exercise their ministry in relation to local ecclesiastical authorities, the bishops.

“In Rome, Pope Francis broadened our vision of the ministry. He reminded us that mercy is not just an act but a way of living the priesthood. It’s not just absolving sins; it’s bringing God’s forgiveness to all, without exception,” he recounted.

Quijano remains convinced that mercy is the greatest legacy Pope Francis has left within the Catholic Church.

“Everyone should look in the mirror and ask themselves: When did I truly exercise mercy? Not just forgive in words, but love someone who didn’t deserve it,” he emphasized. 

Quijano is one of the 500 priests who participated this past weekend in the Jubilee of Priests Instituted as “Missionaries of Mercy,” the sixth major event in the 2025 Jubilee.

Pope Francis was not able to accompany them due to his ongoing convalescence at St. Martha’s House after spending 38 days in Gemelli Hospital.

However, he sent a written message to impart his blessing to the priests, who came from countries such as Italy, the United States, Poland, Brazil, Spain, France, Mexico, Germany, Slovakia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Colombia, and India, among others.

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