Category: 2025 News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on issues including migration, the environment and the death penalty are “deeply troubling,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a Jan. 22 statement, while praising another on gender policy.

Among the first acts of his second term beginning Jan. 20, Trump signed a slew of executive orders. Some implement his hardline policies on immigration, including seeking to change the interpretation of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, an order that prompted a legal challenge.

Others include withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate and another sought to expand the use of the federal death penalty. Trump also signed an order directing the U.S. government to only recognize two sexes, male and female.

Archbishop Broglio, who heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said many of the topics that the first batch of executive orders concern “are matters on which the Church has much to offer.”

“Some provisions contained in the Executive Orders, such as those focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us,” he said. “Other provisions in the Executive Orders can be seen in a more positive light, such as recognizing the truth about each human person as male or female.”

Archbishop Broglio stressed that neither the Catholic Church nor the USCCB is “aligned with any political party.”

“No matter who occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, the Church’s teachings remain unchanged,” he said. “It is our hope that the leadership of our Country will reconsider those actions which disregard not only the human dignity of a few, but of us all.”

Executive orders are legally binding directives from the president and are published in the Federal Register. At the same time, the term “executive actions” is broader and may include informal proposals for policy the president would like to see enacted. While it is typical for new presidents to issue some executive orders on their first day in office to signal certain priorities, Trump signed a larger number of orders than usual.

Citing the current Jubilee Year of Hope declared by Pope Francis, Archbishop Broglio said, “As Christians, our hope is always in Jesus Christ, who guides us through storm and calm weather.

“He is the source of all truth,” Archbishop Broglio said. “Our prayer is one of hope that, as a Nation blessed with many gifts, our actions demonstrate a genuine care for our most vulnerable sisters and brothers, including the unborn, the poor, the elderly and infirm, and migrants and refugees. The just Judge expects nothing less.”

Also among its first actions, the Trump administration said Jan. 21 it would rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in a Jan. 21 statement the policy change is one of “many drastic actions from the federal government related to immigration that deeply affect our local community and raise urgent moral and human concerns.”

Bishop Seitz, who heads the USCCB’s migration committee, told reporters at the bishops’ general assembly in November that the bishops would watch how Trump’s migration policy actually unfolds and “raise our voice loudly” if those policies violate basic human rights protections.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – President Donald Trump signed executive orders Jan. 20 that direct the U.S. government to only recognize two sexes, male and female, and another ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs within federal agencies.

In an order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” Trump directed, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order also directed that government-issued identification documents, “including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”

The issue of policy concerning people who identify as transgender was a hot-button topic during the 2024 election, with Trump running ads saying the agenda of his rival, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, was for “they/them, not you.”

A still-pending ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on a Tennessee state law banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender may bring the issue back to the forefront during Trump’s second term.

Kristen Waggoner, CEO, president and general counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, called the order “momentous.”

“It’s a 180-degree turn back toward reality and common sense,” Waggoner said in a statement. “Men and women have real biological differences. When the law denies this, people suffer. ADF has represented female athletes deprived of fairness, privacy, and safety; students deprived of free speech; parents deprived of decision-making authority for their children; teachers deprived of conscience rights; and schools deprived of funding. This executive order is a victory for them.”

Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ policy group, issued a statement vowing to push back on “Trump’s first actions in office targeting LGBTQ+ people.”

“The Trump administration is targeting, among others: transgender and intersex people, especially youth, denying them access to essential public facilities, school programs, and the same medically recommended health care that is readily available to their cisgender peers; anti-bias programming and protections in the workplace; and transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people who only seek to have accurate identity documents,” Jennings said, adding the group was exploring “every legal avenue” to challenge the orders.

In guidance on health care policy and practices released in March 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine outlined the church’s teaching that “just as bodiliness is a fundamental aspect of human existence, so is either ‘being a man’ or ‘being a woman’ a fundamental aspect of existence as a human being, expressing a person’s unitive and procreative finality.”

A 2022 study by the UCLA Williams Institute found that there are approximately 1.6 million people — adults and youth over age 13 — in the U.S. who identify as transgender.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A coalition of advocacy groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 20 challenging President Donald Trump’s Day 1 executive order seeking to change the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants birthright citizenship.

Catholic immigration advocates praised the challenge to that order, with some expressing concern about Trump’s immigration actions more broadly.

As part of a series of Day 1 actions, Trump signed executive orders to implement some of his signature hardline immigration policies, including one seeking to end the practice of birthright citizenship.

The 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” but Trump told reporters in the Oval Office “we’re the only country in the world that does this.”

As has been reported in various media, the United States is one of at least 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, in which the principle of “jus soli” or “right of soil” applies, which grants citizenship without restrictions, regardless of the immigration status of the parents.

Trump’s order directed federal agencies to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates and other official documents to children born in the U.S. to parents without legal status or temporary visa holders. The order would not apply retroactively, Trump said, and would be enforced in 30 days.

A lawsuit by the ACLU challenged that order almost immediately after it was signed.

“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement. “Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.

“We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged. The Trump administration’s overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail.”

J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News Jan. 21 that while “it is likely that the courts will strike it down, Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order would essentially create a large stateless population in the country without the full rights and protections given to citizens.”

“It would primarily harm children and is another attempt to divide the country and create a permanent underclass,” he said. “How cruel.”

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., or CLINIC, issued a statement Jan. 21 condemning Trump’s immigration orders, which also included the suspension of a task force to reunite families deliberately separated at the border. Another order suspended some U.S. refugee programs, including one for Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S. due to threats by the Taliban after they aided the U.S.

“As Catholics, we are called to uphold the dignity of every person, regardless of where they come from,” Anna Gallagher, CLINIC executive director, said in a statement. “These dehumanizing executive orders contradict our core values of compassion, justice, and the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger. They threaten the very fabric of our society and the protections that have long made the United States a beacon of hope for immigrants and refugees.”

Gallagher added, “Now, more than ever, we must come together as people of faith and conscience to resist policies that marginalize and dehumanize our immigrant brothers and sisters. CLINIC will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that immigrants and refugees are treated with the respect and care they deserve.”

Hardline immigration policies, including his call for mass deportations, were a core tenant of the platform Trump campaigned on. While the specifics on how the White House may carry out a mass deportation program are not yet fully clear, mass deportations more broadly run contrary to the Second Vatican Council’s teaching in “Gaudium et Spes” condemning “deportation” among other actions, such as abortion, that “poison human society” and give “supreme dishonor to the Creator,” a teaching St. John Paul II affirmed in two encyclicals on moral truth and life issues.

Executive orders are legally binding directives from the president and are published in the Federal Register. Conversely, the term “executive actions” is broader and may include informal proposals for policy the president would like to see enacted. While it is typical for new presidents to issue some executive orders on their first day to signal certain priorities, Trump signaled plans that were broader in scope. Some of Trump’s other orders are expected to face legal challenges.

“It’s one thing to sign executive orders, but quite another to implement them,” Appleby said. “Trump cannot simply wave his magic wand and they will happen. There will be resistance to these policies among advocates, faith groups, state and local jurisdictions, the courts and members of Congress. The fight has just begun.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Trump administration said Jan. 21 it would rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.

Prior to his second inauguration, Trump’s transition team indicated his administration would scrap the long-standing ICE policy — which prohibits immigration enforcement arrests at such locations, as well as other sensitive events like weddings and funerals without approval from supervisors. Catholic immigration advocates expressed alarm at the announcement.

Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman directed on Jan. 20 that those guidelines be rescinded, as well as another directive restricting parameters for humanitarian parole, a DHS spokesperson said.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in a Jan. 21 statement the policy change is one of “many drastic actions from the federal government related to immigration that deeply affect our local community and raise urgent moral and human concerns.”

“The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking healthcare and dropping off and picking up children at school,” Bishop Seitz said. “We have also seen the rapid and indiscriminate closure of the border to asylum seekers and the return of the ill-conceived Remain in Mexico policy, violating due process and restricting the few legal options available to the most vulnerable who knock on our door seeking compassion and aid.”

Bishop Seitz added that he wanted to assure El Paso’s immigrant community that “whatever your faith and wherever you come from, we make your anxieties and fears at this moment our own.”

“We stand with you in this moment of family and personal crisis and pledge to you our solidarity, trusting that the Lord, Jesus Christ, will bring about good even from this moment of pain, and that this time of trial will be just a prelude to real reform, a reconciled society and justice for all those who are forced to migrate,” he said.

The Diocese of El Paso, Bishop Seitz added, “will continue to educate our faithful on their rights, provide legal services and work with our community leaders to mitigate the damage of indiscriminate immigration enforcement. Through our Border Refugee Assistance Fund, in partnership with the Hope Border Institute, we are preparing to channel additional humanitarian aid to migrants stranded in our sister city of Ciudad Juarez.”

Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, told OSV News, “The reversal of the sensitive locations policy is gravely troubling and will have an immediate impact on families in our parishes as well as on our Catholic educational institutions and service organizations.”

“It is an attack on members of our community at pivotal moments in their life — dropping off and picking up children, seeking out health care and worshipping God,” he said. “There are serious religious liberty implications and it strikes at the core of the trust that is indispensable to a safe community. It is also a sad and troubling step in the direction of indiscriminate deportations.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has also taken hardline immigration positions, is Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, but she has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis told U.S. President Donald Trump he hoped that the nation would prosper under his leadership and make no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion.

The pope offered his “cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection in the exercise of your high duties,” in a message marking Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States Jan. 20.

“Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” the pope wrote.

“At the same time, as our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war, I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples,” the message said.

Pope Francis also invoked “upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On the eve of U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Pope Francis said the new president’s threat to begin a massive deportation of immigrants would be a “disgrace.”

In an interview on Italian television Jan. 19, the pope said that if Trump carries out his threat “it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for problems in the United States.

“This won’t do! You don’t resolve things this way,” the pope told the interviewer, Fabio Fazio, host of a popular Sunday night talk show.

Much of the interview focused on stories Pope Francis told in “Hope: The Autobiography,” a book he wrote with Italian editor Carlo Musso. The book was released Jan. 14.

When speaking about immigration, Pope Francis did not focus on the United States alone.

“Italy now has a median age of 46 years. Think about that. They don’t have children,” the pope said. The population is declining and there are fewer workers paying the taxes needed to cover health care and pensions for the elderly.

“If you aren’t having children, let migrants in,” the pope said.

Fazio also asked Pope Francis about his appointment of Consolata Sister Simona Brambilla as the first woman prefect of a Vatican dicastery and about the role of women in the church in the future.

While the process of women being given leadership roles in the Roman Curia “is something that has gone slowly,” the pope said it is going well, and he announced that in March Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Raffaella Petrini, secretary-general of the office governing Vatican City State, will become president of the office. She will succeed Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who will turn 80 March 1.

Fazio asked Pope Francis what his first thought was when it became clear that the world’s cardinals were about to elect him pope during the conclave in March 2013.

“They’re crazy! But God’s will be done,” he responded.

In the book, “Hope: The Autobiography,” Pope Francis wrote that as soon as he had dressed in his new white soutane, he went out to greet Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias and stumbled.

“It’s true! It was the pope’s first stumble,” he told Fazio. “I went to greet Cardinal Dias who was in a wheelchair and I didn’t see the step and I tripped. The ‘infallible’ pope started with a fall,” he said, using air quotes when he said, “infallible.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – By donating to the U.S. bishops’ national Collection for the Church in Latin America, U.S. Catholics can support the church’s mission in countries affected by poverty, political instability and natural disasters.

Most dioceses will take this offering up in their parishes at Masses the weekend of Jan. 25-26, though some have different dates. The online giving site #iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for the collection.

The collection was founded in 1965 as a way for Catholics in the United States to express their unity and solidarity with Catholics in Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean.

“Inspired by the Second Vatican Council, it recognizes spiritual bonds rooted in shared faith and history,” said a news release about the collection issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Last year the collection provided $6.2 million for more than 250 ministries in places where the Catholic Church cannot support itself without outside assistance. More than half the money supported pastoral needs, nearly 28% provided disaster relief and about 20% subsidized vocations and the formation of clergy and religious. Initiatives funded by the collection included:

— In Haiti, where there is severe soil depletion, 330 lay leaders integrated Catholic social teaching on ecology and care for creation with practical instruction on improving their soil and water and on planting trees to prevent erosion.

— In the Diocese of Choluteca, Honduras, the collection aided migrants who have settled there from other Latin American nations and from as far as Asia and Africa. This is part of a wider diocesan social outreach that includes evangelizing the poor “with respect and social sensitivity.”

— In the Dominican Republic, 18 young women who entered the religious community of the Order of St. Clare are receiving support “as they discover new approaches to praying for the world from their cloistered convent.”

— In Ecuador, the collection helped subsidize the September 2024 International Eucharistic Congress, which drew participants from 40 nations.

In the USCCB news release and in a reflection provided to OSV News, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections, Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg of Reno, Nevada, recalled the heroic martyrdom of Blessed Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma priest fatally shot in Guatemala in 1981 “because some powerful people perceived his care for the poor as a threat to their own interests.”

“He is the first martyr from the United States and was beatified by Pope Francis in 2017,” he said.

In 1981, Bishop Mueggenborg recalled, he was the altar server for a Mass celebrated by “a priest from my hometown who was briefly back home in Oklahoma from Guatemala, where he ministered to a village of the indigenous Tz’utujil people.”

“I didn’t know his name,” the bishop said, recalling Father Rother was that priest. In a nation where the church “was suppressed,” Bishop Mueggenborg said, “he had worked with local translators to produce a Bible to catechize villagers in their own language and had labored with his own hands to improve the health and living conditions of desperately poor people. But his aura of holy joy inspired me to pursue priesthood.”

Father Rother “soon returned to Guatemala in the face of great danger and was martyred,” Bishop Mueggenborg added.

“Blessed Stanley Rother had returned to Guatemala, even in the face of death, because God had called him to love and care for Latin Americans in need,” the bishop said. “His heroic witness inspired not only my own priestly vocation, but helped inspire in me a deep love for the people of Latin America. This love is rooted in the love that God has for all people and in the love that Our Lady of Guadalupe showed for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.”

As chairman of the USCCB national collections committee, “I have the privilege of inviting Catholics to join me in supporting the special Collection for the Church in Latin America,” Bishop Mueggenborg said.

“The annual collection is an opportunity for all of us to continue the work of Blessed Stanley to share the merciful love of Jesus with Catholics in Guatemala and throughout Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean,” he said. “It may not cost us our lives, but a financial sacrifice, even a small gift, will go a long way to impacting the lives of many.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A new annual report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops identified what it called five areas of critical concern, defined as both threats and opportunities, for religious liberty.

“The State of Religious Liberty in the United States,” published Jan. 16, highlighted the targeting of faith-based immigration services, elevated levels of antisemitic incidents, in vitro fertilization coverage mandates, the “scaling back of gender ideology in law,” and promoting parental choice in education as areas of concern for the conference.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, noted in the report’s forward that the theme of the 2025 Jubilee Year underway is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

“In calling for the celebration of this holy year, our Holy Father identifies two features of hope that must sustain us in our work to promote religious liberty: patience and stability,” he said.

In 2025, “we anticipate that long-standing concerns will continue to require our vigilance, while new concerns, and perhaps opportunities, will also present themselves,” Bishop Rhoades said.

Three days before the release of the report, the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case concerning Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down El Paso’s Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants. The case is one of several instances of religious liberty challenges for Catholic ministries that serve migrants as part of their mission, especially those at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The USCCB report noted that immigration was a prominent issue in the 2024 presidential election, with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign relying “heavily on messaging about immigration.”

“With the Republican Party finding electoral success with this kind of messaging, efforts to restrict the ability of Catholic ministries serving migrants will likely receive new momentum,” the report said, expressing concern about a news report that the Trump administration would consider rescinding a policy against performing immigration enforcement raids in “sensitive locations,” such as churches.

But threats to the church’s service to migrants, the report said, is not “limited to legislation and executive action,” and “the physical safety of staff, volunteers, and clients of Catholic ministries and institutions that serve newcomers may be jeopardized by extremists motivated by false and misleading claims made against the Church’s ministries.”

The report additionally notes that this year, “the role of Catholics in political life will continue to be a hotly debated subject in the national discourse.”

“Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has spoken openly about his conversion to the Catholic faith, and he has said that his views are motivated by Catholic social teaching,” the report stated. “In addition to the vice president, it appears there will be a significant Catholic presence in the Trump administration. Both supporters and opponents of the Trump administration can be expected to highlight the role of Catholicism in the administration, which may be a fresh source of partisan division among Catholics.”

On IVF, the report noted that in reaction to a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court found that frozen embryos qualify as children under the state law’s wrongful death law, bipartisan interest has grown for “legally enshrining rights or promoting access to IVF or assisted reproductive technologies (ART) more broadly.” Trump has pledged a nationwide IVF insurance coverage mandate.

IVF is a form of fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds that it separates procreation from sexual intercourse and often involves the destruction of human embryos, among other concerns.

“It is unclear what kinds of exemptions for conscientious objectors the Trump administration will include in its plan,” the report said. “While much remains unknown, IVF mandates could pose religious liberty problems, as well as life and dignity problems, in 2025.”

Meanwhile, a still-pending ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti, the Biden administration’s challenge to a law in Tennessee restricting gender transition treatments, including puberty blockers, for minors, “could be catastrophic for religious liberty” if the court sides with the petitioners, the report said.

“Historically, in conflicts between religious liberty and gender ideology, religious liberty has generally had the advantage of being a right secured in the Constitution, whereas rights associated with the concept of gender identity have been creations of statute,” the report stated. “A ruling against Tennessee in ‘Skrmetti’ could upend that dynamic by establishing a constitutional presumption that the teachings of the Catholic Church on this issue are bigoted.”

“On the other hand, a favorable ruling could curtail some of the constant litigation religious groups have faced in recent years,” it said.

The report also pointed to efforts to combat antisemitism, stating that a threat to one faith is a threat to all.

“Religious freedom is not simply a matter of government policy. It is also a matter of culture,” the report said. “A political community does not have a culture of religious freedom when people are attacked for their faith.”

The USCCB published its first annual religious liberty report in 2024.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Taking up the spirit of the recently inaugurated Holy Year 2025, the Cuban government has announced the release of 553 people currently serving prison sentences.

Cuba said it would gradually release the prisoners “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness” following a “thorough analysis” of the legal and humanitarian avenues to enact their release, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement Jan. 14.

The statement did not specify who would be among the 553 prisoners designated to be released.

That same day, the White House announced that it will no longer designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and that it would eliminate some restrictions on Cuba.

The White House said the actions were steps “to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihoods of Cubans.”

“We take these steps in appreciation of the Catholic Church’s efforts to facilitate Cuba to take its own, constructive measures to restore liberty to its citizens and enable conditions that improve the livelihood of Cubans,” the White House statement said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said Cuba’s announcement “is a sign of great hope at the beginning of this Jubilee,” Vatican News reported Jan. 15, and he said, “It is significant that the authorities in Havana linked this decision directly to Pope Francis’ appeal.”

The cardinal said other promising signs for the Jubilee Year include U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of dozens of federal inmates and the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe in 2024.

“We hope that 2025 will continue in this direction and that good news will multiply, especially with a truce for the many ongoing conflicts,” he said.

Following the announcement, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, retired archbishop of Boston, said that for the last several years he had carried messages from Pope Francis to the presidents of the United States and Cuba “seeking the release of prisoners in Cuba and improved relationships between the two countries for the good of the Cuban people.”

In the spirit of the Jubilee, which invites all people to foster forgiveness, reconciliation and various expressions of compassion, “I commend and welcome the decisions of the government of the United States and the government of Cuba to take steps that for years have seemed impossible,” the cardinal said Jan. 14 in a blog post.

The statement from Cuba’s foreign ministry made no mention of the United States’ measures, but noted discussions between Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Cuban foreign minister and Pope Francis on international issues “with emphasis on the unjust nature and nefarious effect of the U.S.-Cuba policy.”

“His Holiness has given unequivocal proofs of his empathy and love for the Cuban people,” it added.

In his bull of indiction formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis called on governments to implement “forms of amnesty or pardon” as well as “programs of reintegration” for prisoners. After inaugurating the Holy Year 2025 at the Vatican, the pope opened a Holy Door at Rome’s Rebibbia prison Dec. 26 as a symbol of hope for all incarcerated people.

The last major event of the Holy Year will be the “Jubilee of Prisoners” scheduled to take place in December 2025, during which prisoners will make a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica and celebrate Mass with the pope.