CNA Staff, Jan 22, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

A Montana bill that could compel Catholic priests to break the seal of confession is being criticized by Catholics who say it could eliminate key religious liberty protections.

The proposed bill would “eliminate clergy exemption in mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.” It states that clergy and others in the mandatory reporting group such as medical practitioners and social workers “may not refuse to make a report as required ... on the grounds of a physician-patient or similar privilege.”

While clergy are often mandatory reporters outside of the confessional, long-standing legal precedent in the U.S. recognizes the religious freedom of confessors and penitents to be exempt from those rules.

Clergy members are already mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect in Montana, though current Montana law upholds the priest-penitent privilege, requiring that “a member of the clergy or priest may not, without the consent of the person making the confession, be examined as to any confession made to the individual.”

The sacramental seal of confession in the Catholic Church strictly prohibits priests from sharing anything a penitent says during the sacrament of reconciliation. Any priest who “directly violates the sacramental seal” incurs excommunication, according to the Code of Canon Law (Canon 1386).  

Montana Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, an outspoken critic of the bill and a Catholic himself, criticized the legislation in an interview with CNA, saying it targeted Catholics. 

“I believe that this bill is an attack on the Catholic faith,” Schubert told CNA. “This Democrat bill would attempt to require Catholic priests to break the seal of confession.”

Matthew Brower, the executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference, told CNA that the conference has been following the legislation closely and awaiting a potential hearing.

“Montana’s bishops have a good relationship with our lawmakers and that allows them the ability to effectively engage in our legislative process,” Brower said.  

Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, who is sponsoring the bill, told CNA that the measure is designed “to protect children from sexual and other abuse.”

Asked about claims that the bill goes against Church teaching, Dunwell said: “This is about civil and criminal laws to protect children from child sex abuse. It’s not about canon law. Otherwise, there’d be no separation of church and state.” 

Regarding the priest-penitent privilege, the U.S. Supreme Court “recognizes the human need to disclose to a spiritual counselor, in total and absolute confidence, what are believed to be flawed acts or thoughts and to receive priestly consolation and guidance in return,” according to the 1980 Trammel v. United States decision.

The priest-penitent privilege extends to more than just Catholics; several Protestant denominations including the Episcopal Church and the American Lutheran Church also hold requirements for secrecy for confession.

“All Catholics, Christians, and people with common sense must oppose this bill,” Schubert said. 

Similar bills have been proposed in recent years. In May 2023 Delaware legislators proposed a bill requiring priests to break the seal of confession in cases of reporting sexual abuse. A similar law was proposed in Vermont around the same time. Both bills failed to advance in their respective legislatures.

Brower said those at the Montana Catholic Conference “look forward to working with our legislators to help clear up any misunderstandings they might have regarding mandatory reporting by clergy and the sacrament of penance.”

“This legislation may be a well-intentioned but simply misguided proposal,” Brower noted.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 22, 2025 / 10:20 am (CNA).

Policies related to immigration, gender ideology, abortion, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are among the top religious liberty concerns heading into 2025, according to a report published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty on Jan. 16 issued its Annual Report on the State of Religious Liberty, which highlights the legislative actions, potential executive actions, and U.S. Supreme Court cases the bishops are closely watching.

“We can become anxious that our unpopular positions on issues such as the dignity of all human life and the nature of marriage and the human person require us to compromise our integrity in order to secure political victories,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, wrote in the foreward of the document.

“This jubilee year offers us a chance to reflect on the necessity of patience and long-suffering in our work to bear witness to the truth,” added Rhoades, who chairs the USCCB’s religious liberty committee.

Immigrant-focused and other Catholic organizations

Although the document states that immigration policy “is not itself a religious liberty issue,” it enters the realm of religious liberty “when religious charities and social services are singled out for special hostility, or when their bona fide religious motivations are impugned as pretextual for self-interest.”

The bishops specifically reference Annunciation House, an El Paso-based nonprofit that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to shut down. The attorney general has accused the Catholic nonprofit of “alien harboring” — an allegation they are contesting in the state Supreme Court.

Other Catholic nonprofits, including Catholic Charities affiliates, have also faced combative actions from state governments for allegedly facilitating illegal immigration — a claim the USCCB has denied.

The bishops also expressed concerns about a House Judiciary Committee investigation into Climate Action 100+ members, which are investors seeking to reduce carbon emissions. The report notes that “several of the companies are Catholic” and following the bishops’ investment guidelines.

Additionally, the USCCB is closely following the Supreme Court case Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, which will determine whether Wisconsin is violating the charity’s First Amendment rights by denying its status as a religious organization because the state does not consider service to the poor to be a typical religious activity.

Bills and policies pushing gender ideology

The bishops are also watching legislation, executive actions, and one Supreme Court case related to gender ideology, including what critics say are efforts to violate religious liberty by implementing rules to prohibit “gender identity” discrimination.

On the legislative side, the bishops are closely following the federal Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on a person’s “gender identity.” The proposal — which lawmakers have introduced several times in recent years — would exclude some religious liberty protections.

The bishops warned the bill would force Catholic hospitals to “perform and promote life-altering gender ‘transitions.’” Some opponents have warned that the language would force hospitals to provide transgender surgeries to patients, including minors. 

Additionally, the USCCB is watching executive actions issued during former President Joe Biden’s administration, which reinterpret “sex” discrimination to include discrimination based on a person’s self-asserted gender identity. 

The Biden administration imposed that interpretation in education and health care regulations, which could have forced schools to blur sex-based separation of bathrooms, locker rooms, dormitories, and sports competitions and could have forced hospitals to perform transgender surgeries on patients, including minors.

President Donald Trump, however, reversed these rules in the first hours of his administration this week. The measures were also facing legal challenges.

The bishops will also follow an ongoing Supreme Court case that will determine whether Tennessee’s ban on minors receiving transgender drugs and surgeries constitutes a form of “sex” discrimination.

Abortion, IVF, and contraception

The bishops are also following abortion, IVF, and contraception mandates that could have an effect on religious liberty. 

On the legislative front, the bishops remain concerned about the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would legalize abortion nationwide and could override “conscience laws, state and federal, that protect the right of health care providers and professionals, employers, and insurers not to perform, assist in, refer for, cover, or pay for abortion,” according to the bishops.

The bishops are also following contraception and abortion-related mandates imposed by the Biden administration, including an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule that reinterprets “sex” harassment to include discrimination based on a woman’s decision to have or not have an abortion. 

The rule requires that employers make accommodations for a woman who receives an abortion, which could include mandatory leave. These laws are being challenged in court.

Another concern for bishops is what they called an “intense bipartisan interest” in increasing the availability of IVF. They cited bills that introduce “an IVF mandate into Congress” by mandating insurance coverage, which the USCCB notes is “a mandate with which Catholic institutions cannot comply.”

The bishops expressed support for the Conscience Protection Act, which would bolster religious liberty and conscience protections in health care and health insurance regulatory rules.

Other religious liberty concerns

The bishops are also following other issues that could have religious liberty implications, which includes education, antisemitism, “debanking,” and cultural views about blasphemy. 

According to the bishops, “parental choice in education [is] one of the longest-running areas of concern for American Catholics.” The document references the ongoing Supreme Court case that will determine whether the school board in Montgomery County, Maryland, violated the First Amendment rights of parents by refusing to let them opt out of coursework that promotes gender ideology. 

The bishops are also following some bills, such as the Equal Campus Access Act, which would ensure that religious groups on college campuses receive the same treatment as secular ones.

The document also expresses concern about “widespread antisemitism,” which includes “reports of antisemitic incidents [that] emerged from the campus protests that began following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.”

Additionally, the bishops noted certain unique concerns such as “debanking,” which refers to banks closing accounts of people “on the basis of political and religious viewpoints.” The document also highlights the cultural acceptance of blasphemy and sacrilege, specifically noting the mockery of the Last Supper at the Paris Olympics.

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2025 / 09:50 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his yearlong jubilee catechesis series on “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” emphasizing that those who trust in God have no reason to fear.

“The presence of the Lord always gives us this grace of not fearing,” the Holy Father said at his Jan. 22 general audience. “He says to Mary: ‘Do not be afraid! … And he says to us too: ‘Do not be afraid, keep going; do not be afraid!’”

Reflecting on St. Luke’s Gospel account of the annunciation and incarnation of Jesus Christ, the pope encouraged Catholics to constantly live in “the presence of the Lord” by welcoming the “Word of God” — just like the Blessed Virgin Mary — into their lives.

“Mary welcomes the Word in her own flesh and thus launches the greatest mission ever entrusted to a woman, to a human creature,” he told his listeners. “She places herself in service: She is full of everything, not like a slave but as a collaborator of God the Father.”

“Let ourselves open our ears to the divine Word and to welcome it and cherish it, so that it may transform our hearts into tabernacles of his presence, in hospitable homes where hope grows,” he added.

After greeting the groups of international pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope asked people to pray for the people of Los Angeles, who are still suffering from the ongoing wildfires. 

The Holy Father also asked people to pray for peace in Ukraine, Myanmar, Israel, and Palestine. 

At the end of the general audience, the Pope also shared news he heard from Gaza: “Yesterday I called — I do it every day — the parish in Gaza: They were happy! There are 600 people there, between the parish and school.” 

“And they told me, ‘Today we had lentils with chicken.’ Something they were not used to doing in these times: just some vegetables, something … They were happy!”

Pope Francis reaches out, as he does every evening, via WhatsApp, to Father Gabriele Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, and to Father Yusuf Asad, his assistant to assure them of his closeness and prayers.

Read all

 

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2025 / 09:20 am (CNA).

A Nigerian woman whose husband was killed by Boko Haram in 2014 has asked for prayers for persecuted Christians and for the terrorist group, “that they will be saved, that Jesus will reveal himself to their heart, so that they will repent.” 

“I prayed for those that have killed my husband and said, ‘I have forgiven you from my heart. There is no problem.’ They don’t know what they are doing. They are unbelievers,” Afordia, who asked to be identified by her first name only, told CNA during an interview in Rome last week. 

Afordia traveled from her hometown of Mubi in northeast Nigeria — where extremism is concentrated — to share her testimony at a Jan. 15 presentation on worldwide Christian persecution from advocacy group Open Doors. 

The World Watch List 2025 identified Nigeria, which has been grappling with Muslim extremist violence since 2009, as one of the world’s worst countries for Christian persecution. The report found that 3,100 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2024.

Afordia, whose husband was shot in front of her after declaring himself to be a Christian, said despite what it has cost her, she will never give up her faith in Jesus Christ. 

“What God is doing is the truth. Christianity is the truth. Christ is the only one that saves,” she told CNA. “Even if today, they will kill me, they will pierce my body, one, one, one, one, like that, I will not stop following Christ because he is the Savior of this body and the Savior of this life.” 

Afordia’s story   

Boko Haram, a Muslim extremist sect classified as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, attacked Mubi, Nigeria, on Oct. 29, 2014. 

Afordia described the confusion that broke out in Mubi that day, as the mid-morning’s business was broken by the noise of guns and bombs, and the city’s residents rushed home from work and school. 

Afordia, who helped support her family as a community health worker and poultry farmer, and her husband, a pastor at Triumph of Faith Pentecostal Church, got in their car to search for their five children, who had gone missing in the chaos of the attack. 

That was when the couple unwittingly drove into an ambush.  

“They stopped me and my husband asked both of us to come out of the car, which we did, and the Boko Haram started asking him questions: ‘Are you a Muslim or an infidel?’ He said, ‘I am not a Muslim. I am not an infidel. I am a Christian.’ And that was how he was asked to turn to the right-hand side of the road, which he did,” Afordia recalled.

“Immediately he went and knelt down and was praying,” she said. The extremists shot her husband five times in the head as she watched. 

After killing her husband, the men turned to Afordia and asked her the same questions. “I closed my eyes. I was so afraid, scared to see how they would kill me,” she said. “I raised my two hands to the sky. I was praying in my heart, ‘Lord, receive my soul today because I will go and see you.’ So in that position I heard a shout from the other side, from the Boko Haram themselves: ‘Stop it! Who asked you to kill this woman? Leave her alone.’”

Amazingly, the attackers let Afordia leave with her car and drive away. She soon found her youngest child, a teenager at the time, and the two of them abandoned the car and escaped into the mountains. 

With help, they were eventually evacuated to the state capital, where Afordia was eventually reunited with her other four young adult children. She returned to Mubi about a month later, after the town had been liberated by the government. She explained that many of Mubi’s residents, however, never went back after the attack. 

She recovered her husband’s body, which had dried in the sun, and gave it a proper burial, but she was suffering from trauma. “I was so scattered,” she described. “Sleepless nights. I was not myself. I was just walking like a mad woman. To me, life doesn’t mean anything again.”

The Open Doors group helped Afordia receive mental health treatment in Brazil. They also provided financial assistance, since she had lost her livelihood following the attack. 

“So that was how I was able to gather myself again,” she said. “And at that time thoughts were coming to my heart to remember what Jesus taught about forgiveness. And I was able to remember, and I prayed for those that have killed my husband.”

Today, Afordia is a retired grandmother to five who continues to grow her own produce and to assist at her Presbyterian church, where she teaches the faith. 

Asking for prayers, she said it would be better to be killed than to be subjugated to the brutal torture some Christians in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan countries have experienced.  

“So, so many cruel things are happening. I want the Christians where there is less persecution to pray for Christians [in Africa] that God would deliver them, that God will see them and rescue them.”

“What gives me courage?” she said. “In the first place, Christ is the one that gives life. There is no salvation in any other except in Christ."

“When God was creating his world, darkness covered it. And when darkness covered it in Genesis Chapter 1, God did not mind about that darkness. He continued to say let there be light, let there be this, let there be this. So this gives me courage to continue as a Christian, even though the devil is seriously attacking what God has initiated. It will not stop me from following Christ because I know that is the truth,” she affirmed. 

“Any other religion ... that comes is just to oppose what God has planned for man,” Afordia added. “He planned his things in a way that man should be saved.”

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Rome Newsroom, Jan 22, 2025 / 07:04 am (CNA).

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, concluded his term as archbishop of Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, his 80th birthday, when Pope Francis accepted his resignation.

Schönborn, a theologian who led Austria’s most populous archdiocese for three decades, helped write the Catechism of the Catholic Church and chaired the Austrian bishops’ conference for 22 years. He is currently chairman of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals.

The Vatican announced Jan. 22 that Pope Francis had accepted Schönborn’s resignation and appointed an apostolic administrator, Father Josef Grünwidl, to oversee the Vienna Archdiocese until the appointment of Schönborn’s successor.

“The fact that Rome has created an interim solution shows us that Pope Francis has apparently not yet made a decision on who should be the next archbishop of Vienna. Since the process is already well advanced, we hope for a decision in the coming weeks,” archdiocesan spokesman Michael Prüller said in a statement Wednesday.

Schönborn remains a member of the College of Cardinals, to which he was elevated in 1998, but at 80 years of age, he is no longer eligible to vote in a conclave.

In a video message to Vienna’s Catholics on Wednesday, Schönborn said: “Above all, I have to thank God and I have to thank you all. The decisive experience in my almost 30 years in office has been: Church only works together, society only works together.”

On Jan. 18, the cardinal celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving in St. Stephen’s Cathedral for his nearly 30 years at the helm of the Vienna Archdiocese.

In his homily, Schönborn reflected on his personal history of coming to Austria as a refugee at under 1 year of age and the welcome his family received.

“They come as strangers and make their home here, they become Austrians. They bring their languages, cultures, and religions with them. They enrich, not without tensions, our country and shape its future,” he said. “A sober look at the demographics of Austria and Europe must make it clear to us that the future will not be different. The success of this coexistence of residents and newcomers is crucial for our future.”

In his last public appearance as archbishop, the cardinal also lamented Austria’s shrinking Catholic population, saying he felt conflicted “between the joyful festival of thanksgiving that we are celebrating and the great farewell that so many people in our country are making, mostly in silence, from the Church.”

“Will the Europe of cathedrals become a large open-air museum for tourists from all over the world?” he added.

The Church leader was born to a titled family in 1945 in Bohemia in what was then Nazi Germany and is now part of the Czech Republic.

He grew up in western Austria, close to the border with Switzerland, and joined the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, in 1963. 

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Vienna in 1970. He went on to study sacred theology in Paris and in Regensburg, Germany, under the then-Father Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI.

Schönborn was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology in the 1970s and was later made a member of the prestigious International Theological Commission of the Vatican.

He was editorial secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in 1991, Pope John Paul II named the theologian an auxiliary bishop of Vienna.

After being appointed coadjutor archbishop of Vienna in April 1995, he succeeded Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, OSB, as archbishop of Vienna on Sept. 14, 1995.

Day Seven Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Did You Know? “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a...

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

“Does God Exist?: The Cry of Man Asking for Salvation” is the title of a new interview book by Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect emeritus of the Congregation — now Dicastery — for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

In the book published in Italian at the end of 2024, the African cardinal answers various questions posed by journalist David Cantagalli and explains that the text “arises from an attempt to answer the questions of the editor … who with authentic apostolic zeal” wanted to ask “difficult questions.”

“I have sought the answers in my personal history and in my heart, in the magisterium of the Church and in that of the popes who have marked my life, and, last but not least, in the fruitful dialogue with friends, priests, and laypeople, who live an authentic passion for Christ and for the Church, bearing witness in the world to him whom they have encountered,” Sarah writes.

In a recent interview with Il Timone of Italy and reported by Religion en Libertad, the cardinal explained why it is man and not God who has “died” in the West: “The West is experiencing a profound identity and anthropological crisis in which man, in his truth and beauty, seems no longer to be aware of his dignity and his vocation to happiness, to the fulfilment of his personal being.”

The cardinal also noted that “it is obvious that all this has remote roots, starting from the substitution of the Augustinian ‘amo ergo sum’ (‘I love, therefore I am’) with the Cartesian ‘cogito ergo sum’ (‘I think, therefore I am’), thus reducing relational ontology to subjective self-consciousness, depriving man of that healthy relationship with reality on which ontology, the knowledge of one’s being, is founded.”

The crisis of faith

Sarah warned that there is in fact a crisis of faith in today’s world and that it is now at “the deepest and most crucial” point.

As for those who give their lives to God, he emphasized that “I would not say that consecrated persons ‘don’t believe’; rather, I am convinced that, precisely because of the cultural conditions unfavorable to the radical nature of virginity for the kingdom of heaven, those who respond to the vocation today have a serious and radical initial intention.”

“The most discussed point is that of fidelity, over time, to the task that God has assigned. In an increasingly hostile cultural context, with the fragmentation of relationships, which does not allow us to perceive the support and warmth of a believing community, it is increasingly complex to live the radical nature of the Gospel. I believe that this is the crucial point for all laypeople and consecrated persons, for all the baptized.”

Regarding those who leave the Catholic Church, the African cardinal lamented that “those who leave are always making a mistake. They are making a mistake because they abandon [their] Mother; they are making a mistake because they commit a very dangerous act of pride, setting themselves up as judges of the Church.”

“Sometimes not everything is immediately understandable, and some things may seem completely inappropriate, not adequately considered, even pastorally unfounded or harmful; despite all this, this does not authorize them to leave.”

Who is Cardinal Robert Sarah?

Sarah, 79, is one of the most distinguished cardinals in Africa and the universal Church. He is a staunch defender of the liturgy, the right to life, the family, and religious freedom. On June 15, when he turns 80, he will no longer be a cardinal-elector for a possible conclave to elect the pope’s successor.

He has criticized gender ideology, an approach that considers gender to be a sociocultural construct rather than identical to one’s sex. 

In 2018, during the Synod of Bishops on Young People, he pointed out that “watering down” Catholic moral doctrine in the area of sexuality will not succeed in attracting young people.

He was prefect of the Congregation — now Dicastery — for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

He is the author of books such as “God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith,” “The Power of Silence,” “The Day is Now Far Spent,” and “From the Depths of Our Hearts,” the latter written with Pope Benedict XVI.

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

Madrid, Spain, Jan 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

“Holy Father, you have changed my life again! Shouldn’t you have at least given me advance notice?”

With these words the newly created Philippine Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David y Siongco addressed Pope Francis after finding out that his name appeared among the new cardinals on the list for the last consistory held in Rome.

Almost a decade after having named him the bishop of Kalookan in the Philippines, Pope Francis elevated him to the cardinalate at the age of 65 on Dec. 7, 2024.

“Oh, don’t give it any importance, take it with a touch of divine humor,” the Holy Father replied with a smile. The new cardinal shared the pope’s piece of advice with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner — advice that managed to calm him down and fill him with peace.

From the city of Kalookan, located near Manila Bay, David, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, recalled with gratitude the ceremony in which he received the red biretta.

The fifth cardinal of the Philippines, who earned a doctorate summa cum laude in sacred theology from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, spoke about the Masses of thanksgiving that he was able to celebrate later in a “Christmas atmosphere” and recalled in particular the words of the pope in his homily.

“It was a good continuation of what he told us in his letter, urging us to become more familiar with ‘diakonia’ [service] than with the title of ‘eminence,’” said the cardinal, who was recently appointed a member of the Synodal Council and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

David, who studied at the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem, is considered one of the leading experts on the Bible in his country. Speaking with ACI Prensa, he shared that his episcopal coat of arms bears the word “kenosis,” which refers “to the spirituality of emptying oneself mentioned in Philippians 2:1-11.”

What would he take into account when voting in a conclave?

The title of cardinal, among other things, gives one the possibility of voting for the next successor of St. Peter in a future conclave.

In this context, David said he would choose a candidate “who is deeply spiritual and pastoral in his leadership style, who represents a vibrant local Church, especially in the global south, who knows the holy Scriptures well, who is rooted in the genuine apostolic tradition, and who represents the radical, compassionate, and revolutionary orientation of Jesus of Nazareth.”

“Someone sensitive to the signs of the times, open to renewal in the sense of what the Second Vatican Council called ‘aggiornamento,’ [updating] but at the same time grounded in the authentic sources of the Christian faith, open to a more synodal model of the Church, to working together with civil society and all people of goodwill, to ecumenism and interreligious and intercultural dialogue,” he emphasized.

Popular piety and the faith of the Filipino people

The parishes and mission centers of his diocese are made up of “poor urban communities, inhabitants of slums and makeshift settlements,” he explained.

“We have very small parish churches where Mass must be celebrated four to 10 times on Sundays in order to accommodate even 20%-30% of our practicing Catholics,” the cardinal noted.

Although the majority of those living in the slums consider themselves Catholics, he pointed out that many of them do not attend church regularly and that their faith “is kept alive by popular expressions of religiosity and devotion, such as the Black Nazarene, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, or the Child Jesus.”

“Popular devotion and piety is a very characteristic feature of the faith of the Filipino people. Most of our Catholics, especially among the poorest, are spiritually sustained by popular devotions,” he said.

The prelate also emphasized that the current pastoral priority is to focus their parishes on being in “missionary mode” to reach those who are “on the margins of society.” Thus they have associated themselves with missionary religious congregations that serve “the poorest of the poor.”

“We have made it clear that if the poor do not come to the Church, it is the Church that must go to them,” he added.

‘Smugglers of the faith’

David commented that Europe and the West can learn from the faith of the Filipino people, in particular from the “strong family ties, our sense of solidarity expressed in ‘bayanihan’ [a cultural tradition that emphasizes the spirit of solidarity in a community], and our sense of grace and divine providence.”

“Since 10% to 12% of our population is made up of Filipinos working overseas, either as migrants or itinerants, many of them develop a sense of mission while they are away. Pope Francis even jokingly refers to them as ‘smugglers of the faith,’” the cardinal commented.

Challenges of the Church in the Philippines

Drawing from his experience as president of the Philippine Bishops’ Conference, the cardinal pointed out the challenges facing the Catholic Church in his country.

“The most serious of these are the climate crisis caused by environmental abuse, the rise of patronage politics and populism that continues to aggravate poverty, inequality, and the culture of violence in Philippine society,” he noted.

The cardinal also pointed to “massive misinformation and manipulation through artificial intelligence on social media and other digital platforms, demographic changes due to mass migration, both local and foreign,” the rise of serious mental health problems, and “various forms of addiction in our communities, due to the difficulties in coping with an increasingly stressful life.”

Faced with this reality, he proposed that the Church adopt “a positive role in society as a bridge-builder between the various institutions” as well as proactively participate “in promoting social change and contributing to the building of the nation.”

He urged that the Church’s contribution to education be “taken more seriously” and that it have “a more active presence in the digital world, combating misinformation and seriously introducing ethical and spiritual norms on social media, empowering the poor for active participation in society through our grassroots ecclesial communities and our popular religious practices.”

An appeal to political leaders

The cardinal observed that it’s “a shame” that the Philippines is a predominantly Christian country and, at the same time, “is known as a very poor and corrupt society.”

“I make a special appeal to Catholics among us who take their faith seriously, to give life and form to the Gospel and the social doctrine of the Church in their style of leadership, truly promoting human dignity and the common good, to take seriously the vocation of combating the leaven of corruption in society, and to serve as the salt and light of the world.”

Transmitting the faith in the family environment

To better guarantee the mature transmission of the Christian faith and spirituality to the new generations, David proposed that “synodal practices of conversations in the Spirit and community discernment be adopted in the family environment.”

“I received the faith from my family, more through storytelling than through indoctrination, pietism, and moralism,” he commented.

‘Coffee with Jesus’ and taking a walk with ‘Mother Mary’

The cardinal shared that his daily prayer time includes what he calls “coffee with Jesus,” any time between 5 and 8 in the morning, “and my ‘walk with Mother Mary’ after dinner while I pray the rosary.”

“Prayer is my most important survival mechanism,” the cardinal emphasized, since it enables him to “overcome my ego and enter into what the Jesuits call spiritual detachment or positive indifference.”

Finally, in times of difficulty, he said he gains “much strength and courage from what Paul says in Romans 8:38-39: ‘Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.’”

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