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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).

The bishops of the Catholic Church in Florida have asked President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis “to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays.”

“We request that the government pause apprehension and roundup activities during the Christmas season. Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families,” the bishops said in a Dec. 22 statement.

“Don’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said in a news conference. “Give people these two weeks to be with their families without fear of being arrested or taken into custody and ending up at Alligator Alcatraz or at Krome or other places to await deportation.”

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said, "President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise.”

Along with Wenski, other prelates including Bishop Gerald Barbarito of Palm Beach, Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Bishop John Noonan of Orlando, Bishop Gregory Parkes of St. Petersburg, Bishop William Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Bishop Erik Pohlmeier of St. Augustine, and Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado of Miami joined in issuing the statement.

Pausing enforcement during the holy season “can lower the temperature within our partisan divisions, ease the fear and anxiety present in many of our immigrant and even nonimmigrant families and allow all of us to celebrate with greater joy the advent of the Prince of Peace,” they wrote.

“Now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement. Our nation is richly blessed. Despite challenges confronting our nation, we Americans enjoy a peace and prosperity that is the envy of the world, made possible by our special constitutional order which protects our liberties.”

‘Removing dangerous criminals has been accomplished to a great degree’

“The border has been secured” and “the initial work of identifying and removing dangerous criminals has been accomplished to a great degree,” the bishops said. “Over half a million people have been deported this year, and nearly 2 million more have voluntarily self-deported.”

The arrest operations “inevitably sweep up numbers of people who are not criminals but just here to work,” and some have “legal authorization to be here,” the bishops wrote. “Eventually these cases may be resolved, but this takes many months causing great sorrow for their families. A growing majority of Americans say the harsh enforcement policies are going too far.”

The call follows a December report released by human rights organization Amnesty International that detailed “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” at Florida detention centers Alligator Alcatraz and the Krome North Service Processing Center.

According to the organization, the report reveals human rights violations that, “in some cases amount to torture … within an increasingly hostile anti-immigrant climate in Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose administration has intensified criminalization and mass detention of migrants.”

“While enforcement will always be part of any immigration policy, such enforcement can be carried out in a way that recognizes due process as well as the humanity and dignity of all affected including those carrying out those policies,” the bishops wrote.

The office of DeSantis did not reply to a request for comment.

This story was updated at 10:20 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2025, with a comment from The White House.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2025 / 13:07 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Paul Coakley said this week he is looking forward to speaking with President Donald Trump in “the near future.”

Coakley, who was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November, said he has “not had any personal conversations” with Trump or Vice President JD Vance but anticipates “engaging with them over matters of mutual concern.”

When Coakley meets with the administration, “undoubtedly, the question of immigration is going to come up,” he said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Dec. 21. “I think we have opportunities to work together. We have opportunities to speak frankly with one another.”

In regard to immigration, Coakley said there is a lot of “anxiety” among migrants, but the situation “varies from place to place.” He said: “In communities with a more dense migrant population, there’s a great deal of fear and uncertainty … because of the level of rhetoric that is often employed when addressing issues around migration and the threats of deportation.”

While some bishops have formally granted Mass dispensation for immigrants who fear being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Mass, Coakley said there has not been substantial declines in Mass attendance. 

Coakley, who serves as archbishop of Oklahoma City, said he has not seen declines in the area and has not “heard it reported widely” from his brother bishops.

“I know that that is the case in some places, but I don’t think it’s as common at least here locally or in places that I have personal contact with. There’s an anxiety, there’s a fear, but I don’t think it’s kept people away in great numbers,” Coakley said.

‘No conflict’

In the USCCB’s special message on immigration released in November, bishops said: “We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”

The bishops’ message also said: “Human dignity and national security are not in conflict.”

Coakley reaffirmed the bishops’ message and said treating all people with respect and dignity is a “foundational bedrock” for Christians. 

“There’s no conflict necessarily between advocating for safe and secure borders and treating people with respect and dignity. We always have to treat people with dignity, God-given dignity. The state doesn’t award it and the state can’t take it away. It’s from the Creator,” Coakley said.

Whether people “are documented or undocumented, whether they are here legally or illegally, they don’t forfeit their human dignity,” he said. 

“I don’t think we can ever say that the end justifies the means,” he said. “We have to treat everyone with respect, respect of the human dignity of every person.”

As Americans we must remember “we are a nation of immigrants ourselves,” and “we are founded upon the immigrant experience,” Coakley said. 

“We have a right and a duty to respect sovereign borders of a state, but we also have a responsibility to welcome migrants,” he said. “This is a fundamental principle in Catholic social teaching regarding immigration and migration.”

Hello friends, We would like to cordially invite you, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and even your great uncle who's in town from out-of-state to celebrate the birth of Jesus with us this Christmas. Here are our Mass...

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople who work in the Roman Curia are called to be a "sign of a new humanity," founded on mutual love and solidarity, not selfishness and individualism, Pope Leo XIV said.

"We are not mere gardeners tending our own plot, but disciples and witnesses of the Kingdom of God, called in Christ to be leaven of universal fraternity among different peoples, religions and cultures," he told cardinals and top Curia officials Dec. 22 during a traditional pre-Christmas meeting with them.

"This happens if we ourselves live as brothers and sisters and allow the light of communion to shine in the world," the pope said. "Let us remember this also in our curial service: the work of each is important for the whole, and the witness of a Christian life, expressed in communion, is the first and greatest service we can offer." 

The traditional Christmas greeting took place in the Vatican's Hall of Blessing, which was decorated with red poinsettias and Christmas trees adorned with sparkling lights and silver and gold ornaments.

While previous popes used the pre-Christmas meeting to review the past year, Pope Leo continued Pope Francis' practice of using it as an opportunity to reflect on what can help or hinder the Curia's mission of sharing the Gospel. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered a brief summary of the past eight months of Pope Leo's ministry in his opening remarks.

Speaking in Italian, Pope Leo said he wanted to take a moment to remember Pope Francis, who passed away April 21 after 12 years as head of the universal church.

"His prophetic voice, pastoral style and rich magisterium have marked the church's journey in recent years, encouraging us above all to place God's mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest," the U.S.-born pope said.

Pope Leo then focused his talk on two fundamental themes of Pope Francis' 2013 apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel"): mission and communion.

He told the Curia officials that the church's very nature is to be "outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary," in order to bring the good news of God's love to all people.

"The church exists to invite and gather all people to the festive banquet that the Lord prepares for us," he said, so "every person can discover their identity as a beloved child, a brother or sister to their neighbor, and a new creation in Christ."

"Transformed by this discovery, they become witnesses to truth, justice and peace," he said.

For that reason, he said, "we need an ever more missionary Roman Curia, in which institutions, offices and tasks are conceived in light of today's major ecclesial, pastoral and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration," to better serve local churches and their pastors. 

When it comes to communion, he said, Christmas is an important reminder that "Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another."

God's love, revealed by Jesus, enables all members of the Catholic Church "to be a sign of a new humanity -- no longer founded on selfishness and individualism, but on mutual love and solidarity," Pope Leo said.

The task of fostering greater communion both within the church and in the world "is urgent," he said.

Communion in the church is always a challenge, he said, because of "forces of division" that may sometimes be at play. "We can fall into the temptation of swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion."

"Thus, in interpersonal relationships, in internal office dynamics, or in addressing questions of faith, liturgy, morality and more besides, there is a risk of falling into rigidity or ideology, with their consequent conflicts," Pope Leo said.

Members of the church are called to "conversion," and to remember, "though many and diverse," they are members of the one body of Christ as "brothers and sisters in him," he said.

"This communion is built not so much through words and documents as through concrete gestures and attitudes that ought to appear in our daily lives, including in our work," he said. 

Pope Leo warned against "bitterness" that may build up in those who, after many years of service in the Curia, "observe with disappointment that certain dynamics -- linked to the exercise of power, the desire to prevail, or the pursuit of personal interests -- are slow to change." 

He encouraged officials to seek "genuine fraternal friendship" and to pray for personal conversion and the "grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away, no one is used or sidelined, genuine support is offered, and each person's worth and competence are respected, preventing resentment and dissatisfaction." 

When members of the Curia and the wider church live this way, he said, it also becomes a sign to "a world wounded by discord, violence and conflict, where we also witness a growth in aggression and anger, often exploited by both the digital sphere and politics."

"The Lord's birth brings the gift of peace and invites us to become its prophetic sign in a human and cultural context that is too fragmented," he said. 

After meeting with the Curia leaders, the pope went to the Vatican audience hall where he greeted hundreds of employees of the Vatican and the Diocese of Rome and their families. He spent almost 30 minutes walking along the barriers, greeting and speaking with those in attendance, and blessing babies and children.

In his speech, he encouraged employees and their families to learn from Jesus "the style of simplicity and humility, and let us all work together to ensure that this is increasingly the style of the church in all its expressions."

"Sometimes we are so caught up in our activities that we do not think about the Lord or the church," he said. "But the very fact of working with dedication, trying to do our best, and also -- for you lay people -- with love for your family, for your children, gives glory to the Lord."

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend James A. Misko, a priest of the Diocese of Austin, as the Bishop of Tucson. Father Misko currently serves as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Austin. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 22, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Misko was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Misko was born on June 18, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from St. Edward University in Austin (1993). Between 1991 and 2000, he had a career in the restaurant industry. He earned a Master of Arts in theological studies, a Master of Divinity, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 2007 at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. Father Misko was ordained to the priesthood on June 9, 2007.

Bishop-elect Misko’s assignments include: parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish in Pflugerville (2007-2010); administrator (2010-2011) and then pastor (2011-2014) of Christ the King parish in Belton; and pastor of St. Louis King of France parish in Austin (2014-2019). Since 2019, he has served as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Austin. From March to September 2025, he also served as diocesan administrator for the diocese. Bishop-elect Misko is a native speaker of English and is proficient in Spanish.

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