We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

The mission of the Dicastery for Bishops is to assist the Pope in choosing pastors to whom he can entrust ecclesiastical communities within their respective territories. After identifying priests to be proposed for the episcopate, the final decision rests with the Pope.

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Following a massive explosion at a chemical plant in India's Telangana state that killed over 40 people, the spokesperson for the country's Catholic Bishops' Conference laments their deaths and the exploitation of workers.

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Pope Leo XIV makes a brief visit to the town of Castel Gandolfo to inspect the works in progress at the Papal residence, where he will spend his summer holiday starting on Sunday, July 6.

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CNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 18:38 pm (CNA).

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Thursday, just in time for President Donald Trump to schedule his signing into law of the controversial bill on the Fourth of July.

Following the bill’s passage, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a statement lamenting “the great harm the bill will cause to many of the most vulnerable in society.”

Specifically, Broglio faulted the legislation for including “unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.”

The statement also expressed disappointment over several “positive aspects” of the bill in the final version approved on Thursday that were either reduced or removed. In particular it cited the reduction of federal funds to Planned Parenthood from 10 years to only one, the weakening of educational parental choice provisions, and the elimination of restrictions on the use of federal dollars for so-called “gender transition” medical procedures.

In the face of this situation, Broglio affirmed that “the Catholic Church’s teaching to uphold human dignity and the common good compels us to redouble our efforts and offer concrete help to those who will be in greater need and continue to advocate for legislative efforts that will provide better possibilities in the future for those in need.”

In the run-up to the passage of the measure in the U.S. House and Senate, the USCCB had delineated concerns over numerous aspects of the bill, including its tax provisions, increased immigration enforcement, the reduction of federal safety net programs, and the reduction of green energy and environmental programs.

The measure also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.

Defunding Planned Parenthood

Meanwhile, following the bill’s passage, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNA that “the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ delivers a historic win on a critical priority: stopping forced taxpayer funding of the abortion industry.”

The bill halts for one year taxpayer funding through Medicaid of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. Even though the original bill proposed a 10-year stop to funding, Dannenfelser called the one-year pause “the greatest pro-life victory since the Dobbs decision.”

“This will save lives and strip over $500 million from Big Abortion’s coffers,” she continued. “Combined with last week’s Supreme Court decision empowering states to do the same, this represents tremendous progress toward achieving a decades-long goal that has long proved elusive.”

“Women are far better served at federally qualified health centers, which outnumber Planned Parenthood locations 15 to 1 nationwide and provide comprehensive, accessible care to Medicaid recipients and families in need,” Dannenfelser affirmed.

Administration aims to deport 1 million people per year

The Trump administration is now touting its plan to deport 1 million unauthorized immigrants per year as a result of the bill’s more than $150 billion in funding for border security and deportation efforts, which include expanding ICE detention capacity by 100,000 beds, the hiring of over 10,000 new ICE agents, and the completion of construction of a border wall.

In an interview with CNN just prior to the bill’s passage, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, called the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies “morally repugnant” and “inhumane.”

While he acknowledged the government’s right to deport those convicted of serious crimes, he said the bigger issue is the U.S. political system’s failure to reform immigration laws. 

McElroy said the administration’s removal of protections against arrests in sensitive areas like churches has instilled fear, with some immigrants avoiding worship services. 

Paul Hunker, a former head lawyer for ICE in Dallas who is now a private immigration attorney, told CNA that he has seen the Trump administration deport a lot of hardworking people with no criminal history and expects to see more of that now that the bill has passed.

“This is bad for those deported and for society as well,” Hunker said.

Following the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles last month, Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles said: “We all agree that we don’t want undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals in our communities. But there is no need for the government to carry out enforcement actions in a way that provokes fear and anxiety among ordinary, hardworking immigrants and their families.”

According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 64% of voters say they prefer giving most undocumented immigrants in the United States a pathway to legal status, while 31% say they prefer deporting most undocumented immigrants in the United States.

CNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).

Congress has approved a historic school choice scholarship program designed to help families send their children to the schools of their choice — a “weakened” form of a program long anticipated by the U.S. Catholic bishops. 

With the passage of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” tax credits will be given to donors who contribute to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations in what school choice advocates have called a “historic” moment for school choice.  

The bill, which the president is expected to sign on Independence Day, will create a school choice tax credit program that states can opt in to. The spending cap for the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) is not yet clear, though in a previous House version of the bill, it was capped at about $5 billion annually. 

The tax credit program will likely make Catholic schools more accessible for students across the country.

Earlier this year, an annual Catholic school data report by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) found that 18% of students use school choice programs. With the rising access to school choice programs across various states in recent years, the percentage has been growing and is up 5% from last year’s report.

Scholarships can be used not only for tuition but also for other educational necessities such as books and computer software.

The NCEA, a longtime advocate of school choice, applauded the inclusion of the ECCA in the bill.

Because of the bill, “families nationwide may receive additional assistance toward exercising their parental right to choose the educational options that best meet the needs of their children,” said NCEA Vice President of Public Policy Sister Dale McDonald of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

McDonald told CNA that “NCEA looks forward to welcoming students in Catholic schools across the nation whose families may now be able to access a Catholic education for their children.”

John DeJak, director for the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), told CNA that this legislation was long anticipated but added that he had some concerns about its implementation. 

“U.S. Catholic bishops have been advocating for this type of legislation for a long time,” DeJak said.

The USCCB’s support for the bill, he said, stems from both a desire to help families afford education and “to support the Church’s teaching on parents as the primary educators.”

But the bill comes with lots of “unknowns,” said DeJak, who has concerns about the implementation of the bill and religious liberty protections.

As the bill went back and forth between the House and Senate, “it was significantly watered down,” DeJak noted.

The ECCA is an “opt in” program, meaning that states are not required to participate. In addition, the later versions of the bill removed religious liberty clauses that emphasized freedom of operation for schools.

“There are no explicit protections for religious liberty, which is a problem for us,” DeJak said. 

“That doesn’t mean we won’t be able to participate,” he said, adding that “much remains to be seen in terms of rulemaking, in terms of state and local conditions.” 

DeJak looked ahead to continuing advocacy for school choice. Federal and state groups will have to continue advocating for school choice as the program is implemented, he acknowledged.

“It’s important for the USCCB to remain advocates and engaged at the federal level… but also advocacy by bishops in their diocese and in their states, and with their state Catholic conferences,” DeJak said.

He put it simply: “We are positive, but cautious.”

The Catholic bishops will continue to advocate “for even more robust parental choice,” DeJak added.

“The bishops have long supported parents in their liberty and their freedom to choose the best education for their kids and legislation that gives them tools to do that.”

Tommy Schultz, CEO of the national school choice group American Federation for Children, called the passing of school choice “a historic moment for America’s families and students” and eagerly anticipated Trump signing it into law. 

Schultz emphasized in his July 3 statement that his organization will “continue to fight to ensure that this tax credit scholarship mechanism is well implemented — and expanded as soon as possible.”

CNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July is for formation in discernment.

“Let us pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel,” the pope said in a video released July 3.

The Holy Father offered the faithful a prayer to guide them in learning how to discern. In the prayer he also encourages Catholics to call upon the Holy Spirit to help inform their decisions.

According to a press release, this month’s video was made in collaboration with the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and DeSales Media, a diocesan organization that specializes in communication and media.

“In the rush of daily life, we must learn to pause and create sacred moments for prayer,” said Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn in the press release. “It is in these quiet spaces of attentive listening that we discover which paths truly matter and find the discernment to choose what truly leads to joy that comes only from God.”

Here is Pope Leo’s full prayer for discernment:

Holy Spirit, you, light of our understanding,
gentle breath that guides our decisions,
grant me the grace to listen attentively to your voice
and to discern the hidden paths of my heart,
so that I may grasp what truly matters to you,
and free my heart from its troubles.

I ask you for the grace to learn how to pause,
to become aware of the way I act,
of the feelings that dwell within me,
and of the thoughts that overwhelm me
which, so often, I fail to notice.

I long for my choices
to lead me to the joy of the Gospel.
Even if I must go through moments of doubt and fatigue,
even if I must struggle, reflect, search, and begin again…
Because, at the end of the journey,
your consolation is the fruit of the right decision.

Grant me a deeper understanding of what moves me,
so that I may reject what draws me away from Christ,

and love him and serve him more fully.

Amen.

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

Israel’s economic interests, particularly in offshore gas resources, intersect with recent moves toward the annexation of occupied Palestinian territories and could impact the two-state solution, Palestinian sovereignty, and regional stability.

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The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations publishes the Pope‘s summer calendar of engagements.

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Director Loris Lai speaks to Vatican News about his new film ‘How Kids Roll’, about the unlikely friendship between two young boys, one Palestinian and one Israeli, brought together by a shared love of surfing.

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As the world is wracked by war and injustice, Abbot Marion Nguyen offers a reflection on how monks live out a missionary spirit of peace.

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