Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Religious sisters mingle at SEEK25 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 3, 2025. / Credit: Kate Quinones/CNA

Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan 3, 2025 / 19:35 pm (CNA).

Next year’s SEEK Conference is scheduled to be held in Denver; Columbus, Ohio; and Fort Worth, Texas, the annual Catholic event announced this week.

Denver is the headquarters of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which runs the yearly event, while the Fort Worth location may draw students from Texas A&M, the University of Dallas, and beyond.

The Columbus location, meanwhile, is near Franciscan University of Steubenville. Columbus Bishop Earl Fernandes on Friday shared his excitement at the announcement of the new location. 

“We are pleased and excited to be able to host SEEK26! It will be a boost for our diocese and our city,” Fernandes said in a press release shared with CNA. 

“People will see that the Church is young and alive! It will be a tremendous opportunity for our young people to encounter Christ and other young people from around the country,” Fernandes continued. 

“It is another sign of the commitment of the Diocese of Columbus to college students, young adults, and their families. Together we will proclaim the joy of the Gospel!”

2025 conference breaks records

SEEK25, which has been held in both Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., this year, brought a record-breaking 21,115 attendees hailing from all over the United States and Canada. Hundreds of priests attended, with a total of 617 at both locations. 

This year’s SEEK featured a “holy competition” between Texas A&M and the University of Nebraska regarding which university could send more students, with the University of Nebraska winning the competition with about 390 attendees. 

On Thursday Catholic priest and podcaster Father Mike Schmitz gave a keynote address in which the popular priest spoke on original sin, vice and virtue, and God’s love. 

“Every sin is an attempt to be happy apart from God,” he said, referencing Adam and Eve’s first sin in the Garden of Eden.

Schmitz also discussed virtue and vice, noting that we can’t escape the consequences of our choices. 

“We get what we’ve chosen,” he noted. “We become what we repeatedly choose.”  

Schmitz in his talk noted that “God is infinite attention” and that he “doesn’t take us in line.”

“Everything you do matters to him,” he said. “It’s the cost of being loved — that everything you do matters.” 

Friday morning began with a reverent Mass. Held in the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City, the space was given a reverent atmosphere through Catholic music as well as screens with images of the local Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, said he was “struck by the reverence” of the Masses at SEEK. 

“It seems that every year, the celebration of the liturgy becomes more beautiful and more transcendent,” Conley told CNA.

“It’s hard to have 20,000 college students in a big, huge hotel space to create a sacred environment,” he said. “With the backdrops of the beautiful cathedral here in Salt Lake City, the music, particularly, and all the priests and the religious sisters and the bishops — it just tells me that young people are really looking for the transcendent.”  

On Friday night, attendees will gather in Eucharistic adoration — the culmination of the week — at three different locations. 

“Our Lord is ever-present at SEEK this year and it’s incredible that we have three simultaneously,” Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS, said in a press release. 

“The personal transformations happening are palpable,” Martin said. “SEEK was founded upon a desire to bring people of faith from all walks of life together, to reinvigorate their love for Christ and their zeal to spread the Gospel.”

“Especially during a time where so much of the world needs the merciful love that our Church has to offer, we have hope in the future of Catholicism and the role that SEEK will continue to play in the vibrant life of our Church,” he continued. 

Event features breakout sessions, Mass, fellowship

The atmosphere at SEEK is reverent and prayerful, but it is also lively and energetic. One young attendee wore a cheese hat on Friday. When asked why, he explained simply: “Because we’re from Wisconsin.” 

Friday’s breakout sessions featured a range of speakers and topics, including a talk by Crookston, Minnesota, Bishop Andrew Cozzens on “Why Discipleship Fails Without the Fire of the Holy Spirit,” while writer Noelle Mering spoke on combatting “woke” ideology. 

In addition to daily talks, Mass, and prayer, people gathered and chatted in the Mission Way — a large section of booths manned by representatives of Catholic apostolates, colleges, and religious orders. 

Some booths get creative with their outreach. One group advertising a new St. Maximilian Kolbe film, “Trump of the Heart,” hosted a daily planking competition, the “Kolbe Challenge.”

The Fraternity Poor of Jesus Christ, a group based in Brazil, displayed dolls dressed in handmade religious habits. Members of the order made several of the unique dolls to give to families with young children back in Brazil.

Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in North Dakota, and Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) were set to give the keynote session Friday night, which will be livestreamed by EWTN.

Sister Veronica Higgins of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus died in a car accident Jan. 2, 2025, after running off a rural highway northwest of the city, according to local news reports. / Credit: Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

CNA Staff, Jan 3, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

A religious sister who ministered in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City died in a car accident Thursday afternoon after running off a rural highway northwest of the city, according to local news reports.

Sister Veronica Higgins of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus was killed after her vehicle left the road, struck a tree, and came to rest in a creek, authorities said.

The accident happened on Oklahoma Highway 3, about four miles south of Okarche, the hometown of Blessed Stanley Rother.

Higgins, 74, was “apparently ill,” and troopers wrote in the report that the cause of the collision was a medical incident, KOCO reported.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City paid tribute to Higgins shortly after the accident, writing on social media: “I have just learned of the sudden and unexpected death of Sister Veronica Higgins, CST, earlier today, Jan. 2. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Veronica, the Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse, and all who grieve her passing.”

“Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,” the bishop continued, adding that “funeral arrangements are pending and will be provided in the near future.”

Higgins was the case manager at the Center of Family Love, a ministry to the intellectually disabled, in Okarche, according to the Okarche Warrior. She was also a past administrator and principal at the former Villa Teresa School in Oklahoma City.

According to The Oklahoman, she was a convert to the Catholic faith and celebrated the 40th anniversary of her vows as a religious sister in 2016.

On the website for her order, Higgins wrote that her favorite Bible verse is Micah 6:8, which reads: “The Lord asks of us only this: to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.”

An archdiocesan spokesman told CNA that the sisters are “still struggling with the loss” and that more information will be available next week.

The Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus say on their website that the members of the order work to serve “the special needs of those who experience poverty, spiritual deprivation, moral disorders, and indifference.”

null / Credit: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 3, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The Catholic representation in the 119th Congress grew slightly from the previous Congress to just over 28% of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.

A small majority of the Catholics in both chambers of Congress are elected Democrats. 

The number of Protestant Christians slightly decreased and make up just under 56% of the incoming Congress. About 1.1% of members of Congress are Orthodox Christians. In total, Christians account for about 85% of Congress.

The second-largest religious faith represented in Congress is the Jewish faith, which accounts for about 6% of the members of Congress. The third-largest faith represented is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), which accounts for 1.7% of Congress.

Members of all other religious faiths — including Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, humanists, and Universalist Unitarians — each account for less than 1% of Congress. Three members, who account for 0.6% of Congress, are not members of any religion and the religion of nearly 4% is unknown.

Slight growth for Catholics

The total number of Catholics in Congress increased by two members, from 148 in the 118th Congress to 150 in the 119th Congress. The percentage increased slightly from 27.7% to 28.2%. Catholics remain the largest Christian denomination represented in Congress. 

According to Pew’s numbers, 126 members of the House and 24 Senators are Catholic. The majority of Catholics in both chambers are Democrats: 70 in the House and 13 in the Senate. There are 56 Catholic Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate.

There are 459 incumbent members of Congress who are returning with 129 of them belonging to the Catholic Church, which accounts for 28.1% of incumbents. There are 73 new members of Congress, 21 of whom are Catholic, which accounts for 28.8% of the freshmen.

According to Pew, about 20% of adults in the United States consider themselves Catholic, which means Catholics are overrepresented in Congress by more than eight percentage points.

Other Christian denominations

The number of Protestants in Congress decreased by eight members, from 303 members to 295 members. This brings their total representation down from 56.7% to 55.5%. However, this still makes Protestants overrepresented in Congress, according to Pew, which found that 40% of the American public identifies as a Protestant.

Baptists are the largest representation for Protestants in Congress, accounting for 75 members, which is 14.1% of the House and Senate. There are 26 Methodists and 26 Presbyterians, both of whom make up 4.9% of Congress. There are 22 members who are Anglican or Episcopalian and account for 4.1% of Congress. 

There are 101 Protestants who are listed as “unspecified” or belonging to a denomination not listed in the survey, which accounts for 19% of Congress. 

A majority of Protestants in both chambers are Republican: 146 in the House and 38 in the Senate. There are 91 Protestant Democrats in the House and 20 in the Senate. 

The number of Orthodox Christians decreased from eight to six members, all of whom are in the House. Four are Republican and two are Democrat. 

Non-Christian representation in Congress

The number of Jewish members of Congress decreased from 33 to 32, which accounts for 6% of the House and the Senate. According to Pew, about 2% of the American population adheres to the Jewish faith. The large majority of Jewish members of Congress are Democrats: 20 in the House and nine in the Senate. There are three Jewish Republicans in the House and none in the Senate.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remained the same as the previous Congress with nine members. All Mormon members of Congress are Republican, six of whom are in the House and three of whom are in the Senate.

The number of Muslims in Congress increased from three to four, the number of Hindus increased from two to four, and the number of Buddhists increased from two to three. The number of Unitarian Universalists remained at three and the number of humanists remained at one.

Every Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist, and humanist member of Congress is a Democrat. Most are members of the House, except for one Buddhist who is in the Senate.

There are only three members of Congress who are unaffiliated with any religion, all of whom are in the House. Two are Democrat and one is Republican. This is the most underrepresented group in Congress, according to Pew, which found that 28% of Americans are not affiliated with a particular religion.

However, 21 members of Congress either refused to answer or their religion could not be determined by the researchers: 17 in the House and four in the Senate. All are Democrats, except for one who is a House Republican.

Ascension's new podcast 'The Rosary in a Year' with Father Mark-Mary Ames, CFR. / Credit: Ascension

CNA Staff, Jan 3, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

Ascension’s latest podcast, “The Rosary in a Year,” topped the Apple Podcast charts after its release on Jan. 1. The latest “In a Year” podcast landed ahead of other popular podcasts including “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Dateline,” and “The Daily.” 

This is Ascension’s third podcast to reach the No. 1 spot on the Apple charts. The Catholic publisher and digital content producer first topped the charts in 2021 with its breakout podcast “The Bible in a Year” with Father Mike Schmitz. This was followed by “The Catechism in a Year,” also hosted by Schmitz, in 2023. 

Hosted by Father Mark-Mary Ames of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, “The Rosary in a Year” podcast consists of daily 15-minute episodes that guide listeners through a deeper encounter with all the elements of the rosary. 

In an interview with CNA, Ames said he hopes these phases will help to build “the muscle of prayer.”

“I think there’s a reason the rosary is so popular across demographics, across centuries, [and it’s] because it is really in many ways a great unmatched means of prayer,” he said.

The podcast aims to serve as a form of accompaniment and guidance by taking listeners through six phases of deepening their understanding of the rosary. These include looking at what it means to pray in general and focusing on the actual prayers of the rosary and what they mean. The longest phase will be diving deeper into the mysteries of the rosary, practicing “lectio divina” and “visio divina,” reflections from the saints, and finally praying the rosary.

Ames said he hopes those who listen to the podcast will “grow in their life of prayer and that particularly they fall in love, maybe for the first time, maybe again, with prayer and with the Lord and with Our Lady and with the rosary because they experience the rosary as this privileged doorway in which they get to encounter the Lord.”

Thousands gather for the opening Mass of the SEEK25 conference held in Washington, D.C., Jan. 2–5, 2025. / Credit: Migi Fabara/EWTN

Washington D.C., Jan 3, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students’ (FOCUS) SEEK conference is now officially underway in Salt Lake City and at its first-ever regional conference, held in Washington, D.C., where thousands have gathered for four days of fellowship and diving deeper into the Catholic faith.

“We are here, because guess what? Everything isn’t OK in the world today,” Bishop Robert Brennan told those at the opening Mass in Washington.

“My goodness, 2025 started off with unspeakable acts of violence,” the bishop from the Diocese of Brooklyn added, referencing the New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day. 

Touching on this year’s theme, “Follow Me,” Brennan emphasized that in the midst of the world’s brokenness, “there is something more we need.”

“We are all here because we need Jesus Christ,” he said. “We all come seeking Christ, and we find that he’s already been reaching out to us.”

Brennan addressed the attendees, telling them to “relax” and to take the pressure off their shoulders. “I don’t promise lightning bolts or magic or anything like that,” the bishop said in his strong New York accent. “But this moment can be transformative. Let Jesus find his own way into your heart, into your life.”

SEEK26 locations announced

As the conference kicked off in Washington, D.C., Thursday evening, FOCUS announced that SEEK would continue to expand next year, taking place in three locations across the U.S.: Columbus, Ohio; Denver; and Fort Worth, Texas.

“We are pleased and excited to be able to host SEEK26!” Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus said in a press release following the announcement. “It will be a boost for our diocese and our city.”

The bishop said that “people will see that the Church is young and alive,” describing the conference as a “tremendous opportunity for our young people to encounter Christ” and one another.

“Together we will proclaim the joy of the Gospel!” he added.

The announcement comes as SEEK continues to grow year by year with a record total of 17,274 paid participants at the flagship location in Salt Lake City and a crowd of 3,355 attendees in the nation’s capital. At the same time, 486 attendees were registered at a SEEK conference that was also taking place in Cologne, Germany. 

‘Our hearts are restless’

The Jan. 2–5 satellite event in Washington, D.C., is completely sold out. The regional event will mostly mirror its counterpart in Salt Lake City but will not include the “Making Missionary Disciples” programming track geared toward Catholic adults in any stage of their faith journey. 

A total of 46 bishops are in attendance at the U.S.-based conferences in addition to hundreds of priests, with 489 in Salt Lake City and 128 in Washington, D.C. 

Over four days, speakers will address the notion that something is “missing” when Christ is not present in our lives.

Dr. Matthew Breuninger, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, reminded D.C. conference-goers that St. Augustine repeatedly sought worldly fulfillment but was never satisfied until he encountered Christ, quoting from Augustine’s “Confessions”: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

“It’s not until Augustine meets Christ, and so he recognizes the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity deep in his heart, that he writes some of the most beautiful words ever been in the western hand,” Breuninger continued, quoting Augustine again: “He says, ‘Late have I loved you; late have I loved you, the beauty ever ancient, ever new.’”

Breuninger recounted his own journey from drug and alcohol addiction to Christ, saying: “I felt in the very heart of my being that while I had looked out for him in the world, he was inside of me.” 

As a student at Georgetown University, Breuninger said, he was in his “darkest, lowest moment.” He told the crowd: “A beautiful gift that God has given me is that 20-some years later, he’s called me back to the city where my life fell apart.”

“I learned a simple but profound reality,” he said. “He has created us for himself, and our hearts are utterly restless until they rest in him.” 

Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, a former professional soccer player turned Catholic priest, challenged SEEK25 conference attendees to ask themselves: “What are the questions of your heart?” and “What are the questions that will give greater meaning to your life?”

Hilgenbrinck shared that although he was grateful for his experience as a soccer player, “the lifestyle of being a professional athlete is shallow and even laughable in comparison to being a priest of Jesus Christ.” 

“I found that my desires were so much deeper, they would never be fulfilled with that keychain that we often hold around our belts, those keys that don’t open the doors to greater meaning,” he continued. “If on your keychain, you have the keys to success, money, sex, and alcohol, they will not open the doors to greater meaning in your life.”

The opening Mass of SEEK25 in Salt Lake City took place the night of New Year’s Day on the feast of Mary, Mother of God. The hymn “Sing of Mary” rang out as well over 100 priests processed through the main hall, including Salt Lake City’s Bishop Oscar Solis, who gave the homily. / Credit: Kate Quinones/CNA

Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan 2, 2025 / 20:45 pm (CNA).

More than 21,000 people have begun the new year seeking Jesus at the biggest Catholic young adult conference of the year in the U.S., being held in two locations. SEEK25, organized by Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), runs Jan. 1–5 in Salt Lake City and Jan. 2–5 in Washington, D.C.

The four-day program brings together Catholics from across North America. This year’s registration hit a new record with 17,274 paid participants in Salt Lake City. In addition to the second location in Washington, D.C., with a sold-out crowd of 3,355 registrants, SEEK also has a smaller conference in Cologne, Germany, this year with 486 registered attendees.

A large chunk of attendees in Salt Lake City have come from FOCUS campuses, where FOCUS missionaries help build Catholic communities on campus. About 11,084 students from FOCUS campuses were registered for SEEK, an increase of 16% since last year. Another 1,672 students came from non-FOCUS campuses, an increase of 36%. 

The event also brought 46 bishops, up from the record-setting number of 44 last year. 

While SEEK is geared to college students, adults on the “Making Missionary Disciples” track also attend the event as well as families with young children. 

At the conference center, Salt Palace, SEEK attendees were full of life, lining the walls, filling the hallways, cheering and waving flags representing their various universities. 

The exuberant crowd of mostly young adults grew quiet when the opening Mass began, which took place the night of New Year’s Day on the feast of Mary, Mother of God. The hymn “Sing of Mary” rang out as well over 100 priests processed through the main hall, including Salt Lake City’s Bishop Oscar Solis. It took two processional songs for all the priests to process in, kiss the altar, and take their seats. 

During the homily, Solis focused on the new year as well as the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

SEEK is known for its keynote talks, which this year are being livestreamed by EWTN. 

The first keynote of the conference was Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and author, who spoke about happiness. In his talk, Brooks highlighted how satisfaction isn’t permanent, and happiness comes from having meaning in life. 

“Having meaning is key,” he told SEEK attendees. “The why of your life is paramount.”

Brooks noted that many in our culture have encountered a loss of meaning, which he connected with the mental health crisis. It’s hard to find happiness when you don’t know the “why” of your life, he said.

Sister Mary Grace, SV, an Australian Sister of Life and another keynote, focused on meaning, Christ, and God’s rest. She noted that all of us are “seeking true rest” and that “God can insert glory into every single story, to the exception and the exclusion of no one. 

“Resting in peace was never just reserved for the faithful departed, or the retired, or those able to afford it,” Sister Mary Grace told the attendees. “Genesis itself reveals that God spent six days creating, but the culmination does not come to the seventh, when God rests and we take rest in him. God’s rest is the only remedy for heavy hearts.”

The conference continued in full swing on Thursday, Jan. 2, with a morning rosary followed by Mass. Incense still hung in the air as participants divided into separate halls for the men’s and women’s breakout sessions. Hoards of men marched off for a session with Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, president of Franciscan University, while the women gathered for a talk by Fallon Scanlan, a longtime FOCUS employee who spoke on what it means to be a woman. 

The rest of the day was filled with breakout sessions from speakers including Tammy Peterson, podcaster and wife of psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, who spoke on gratitude and her recent conversion to Catholicism, and Trent Horn, Catholic Answers apologist and author, who shared his conversion story in a talk called “Why We Are Catholic.”  

Between breakout sessions, attendees wandered around the “Mission Way,” a large section of booths manned by representatives of Catholic apostolates, colleges, and religious orders.

Taking the stage in the evening is Father Mike Schmitz followed by opportunities for prayer and community, including swing dancing and line dancing.

null / Credit: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 2, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

President Joe Biden will award a pro-abortion activist and two same-sex marriage proponents with the Presidential Citizens Medal — one of the highest civilian awards an American can receive.

The medal is awarded to Americans who “have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” according to a Thursday, Jan. 2, news release from the White House. The pro-abortion and same-sex marriage activists were three of 20 people to receive the honor at a White House ceremony on Thursday.

“President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others,” the White House news release stated. “The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice.”

Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, has long been at odds with Church teachings about the sanctity of human life and human sexuality. Earlier this year, Biden awarded former Planned Parenthood leader Cecile Richards with the highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom.

Other recipients named included civil rights activists, lawmakers, and veterans. 

Eleanor Smeal, abortion activist

The longtime feminist activist Eleanor Smeal, who is the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and former president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was one of Thursday’s Presidential Citizens Medal recipients. 

While working as the president of NOW in 1986, Smeal led the first national abortion rights march in Washington, D.C., with more than 100,000 protesters, according to the Feminist Majority Foundation. She has campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment and has spoken against pro-life laws that restrict abortion.

Smeal, who was raised Catholic, has also been critical of the Vatican and the Catholic Church for its teachings about the sanctity of life, its opposition to birth control, and its teachings about human sexuality.

In 1987, Smeal was arrested during a protest at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See — the Vatican’s embassy — in which speakers criticized the Church’s teachings about homosexuality, abortion, and birth control, according to the Washington Post.

“Because of my sex, I am second-class forever in my church,” Smeal said at the time. “Because of my sex, I could have been condemned to death at an early age [if I did not disobey the Church ban on birth control].”

When President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito to serve as a Supreme Court justice in 2005, Smeal warned about his Catholic faith, writing that “the majority of the court would be Roman Catholics, which would underrepresent other religions, not to mention nonbelievers.”

Mary L. Bonauto, gay marriage activist

One of the lawyers who argued on behalf of same-sex marriage in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Mary L. Bonauto, was also awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday. 

Bonauto, who was also raised Catholic, is the senior director of civil rights and legal strategies for GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD). She argued on behalf of clients in Michigan and Kentucky who were fighting against the states’ bans on same-sex marriage. 

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and forced all 50 states to provide marriage licenses to homosexual couples who sought them.

Before the Supreme Court ruling, Bonauto also fought legal cases in favor of same-sex marriage in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine. 

“Her efforts made millions of families whole and forged a more perfect union,” the White House news release stated.

Bonauto also wrote an amicus brief in favor of Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services because of its policy of not placing children with same-sex couples. The Supreme Court unanimously sided with Catholic Social Services on religious freedom grounds.

Evan Wolfson, advocate for same-sex marriage

Biden also awarded Evan Wolfson, a lawyer and the founder of Freedom to Marry who advocated for the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage, with the Presidential Citizens Medal.

“For 32 years, starting with a visionary law school thesis, Evan Wolfson worked with singular focus and untiring optimism to change not just the law, but society — pioneering a political playbook for change and sharing its lessons, even now, with countless causes worldwide,” the White House statement read. 

Wolfson also served as co-counsel in a Hawaii lawsuit against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in the 1990s, according to Freedom to Marry. He has worked on numerous other legal cases in favor of legal rights for homosexuals and in cases related to HIV and AIDS, according to the organization.

Civil rights activists, lawmakers, and veterans receive medals

Biden also awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to 17 other people, including civil rights activists, lawmakers, and veterans.

This included a posthumous award to Collins J. Seitz, who was the first judge to integrate a white public school, which the White House news release stated “tore down walls of separation to help us see each other as fellow Americans.” Another posthumous medal went to Louis Lorenzo Redding, a Black attorney who argued against racial segregation in two cases, which “[laid] the legal framework for Brown v. Board of Education,” according to the White House.

Biden also awarded a medal to former Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, who represented Kansas from 1978 to 1987 for “supporting a woman’s right to choose [and] reforming health care” among other things. In 1983, Kassebaum was one of 19 Republicans to oppose a constitutional amendment, which would have allowed states to pass pro-life laws restricting abortion. 

The president also awarded the medal to lawmakers who served on the United States House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson. 

Biden also presented a medal to Thomas J. Vallely, a Vietnam War veteran who helped restore relations with the country after the war; and Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse in the Vietnam War who founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation.

A sign for the Allstate Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame is seen outside the Louisiana Superdome after at least 15 people were killed on Bourbon Street in a terror attack in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2025, in New Orleans. The game was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 2. / Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Notre Dame football fans packed a New Orleans hotel ballroom on Wednesday morning for Mass, offering prayers for those killed during a deadly terrorist attack in the French Quarter in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

The Mass, which is a tradition for Notre Dame fans and had already been scheduled for Jan. 1 — a holy day of obligation — attracted some 500 attendees to the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, just a 20-minute walk from the French Quarter.

Father Nathan Wills, chaplain for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, told the South Bend Tribune in an interview following Mass that prayer in the face of tragedy is “what we do.” New Orleans on Wednesday was to host this year’s college football Sugar Bowl game between No. 2-ranked Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame, which was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.

“In the midst of tragedy, we come together in prayer and faith in Our Lord. There’s no darkness that he can’t overcome. That’s the hope, seeing everybody praying together and singing together,” Wills told the Tribune.

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran, slammed an electric pickup truck into a crowd of people at a New Year’s celebration on the city’s famed Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others. The FBI said Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with police, likely acted alone and appeared to be inspired by the so-called Islamic State. 

Before closing the Mass with “Joy to the World,” the congregants at the Wednesday Mass locked arms and swayed as they sang Notre Dame’s “Alma Mater” in the same way fans do at the end of Notre Dame football games.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” Wills told the Tribune. “I got choked up at the end there, really. Seeing everybody together in faith, that’s what Notre Dame is about, right?”

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans offered prayers Wednesday morning for the victims of the attack, calling the incident “a sign of utter disrespect for human life.” Pope Francis also prayed for the victims, sending a condolence message to Aymond on Jan. 2 offering prayers for the souls of the deceased as well as the healing and consolation of the injured and bereaved.

FBI officials have said they are also looking for any links between the New Orleans attack and a separate incident in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day in which one person was killed and seven people were injured when a rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded into flames outside of the Trump International Hotel. 

Pope Francis on April 25, 2023, appointed Bishop Timothy Senior as bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. / Credit: Archdiocese of Philadelphia

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).

Harrisburg Bishop Timothy Senior is urging Catholics to combat human trafficking in Pennsylvania and beyond, calling on elected leaders to address the crisis and for citizens to take steps to fight it in their communities. 

In a Dec. 29 pastoral letter, the first Senior has issued since becoming bishop of Harrisburg in June 2023, the prelate said he was “shocked and appalled” to learn about the extent of human trafficking “within our own diocesan territory.”

Within the diocese “there are networks of human trafficking, particularly along the main corridors of travel, enslaving many individuals through illicit indentured servitude,” the bishop wrote. 

Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum, Senior noted, but rather stems from issues and crises including immigration, drug addiction, labor violations, and pornography. 

A 2024 joint report by the International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization, and the human rights group Walk Free found that on average more than 50 million people are enslaved in the world at any given time.

Senior told his diocese that trafficking is “not a problem that only happens somewhere else.” The National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2023 ranked Pennsylvania as among the top 15 states for reported cases of human trafficking, he noted. 

“Human trafficking is in our diocese,” the bishop said, in which “scared and exploited men, women, and children are forced into labor and degrading acts so that some people can make money, and others can take advantage of them for free or cheap labor and/or sexual gratification.”

Though the prelate admitted that the situation “sounds like a bleak assessment, and it is,” he called upon the faithful to “remove the blinders from our eyes” and work to bring about change. 

The Pennsylvania bishops have repeatedly advocated legislation to combat trafficking, he said, but “this is not nearly enough.” Church authorities will “continue education efforts” and work through charity groups and other nonprofits, he said. 

The faithful, meanwhile, can take numerous steps to combat trafficking, including refraining from sins such as watching pornography and patronizing prostitution, both industries rife with abuse and human traffic.

Sins that “directly erode the dignity of others” should be proactively addressed, he argued. 

“Since these sins afflict young men at a greater percentage than young women, parents should have conversations with their sons and help them by setting up restrictions for the use of the internet and social media,” the bishop said, further urging fathers to “set good examples for their sons, especially in how they speak about women.”

Parents, meanwhile, should “speak to their children about their God-given dignity, empowering the next generations to recognize when a trafficker may be attempting to groom them.” And individuals should know when to spot signs of trafficking victims, he said, including signs of malnourishment and physical abuse.

The bishop expressed hope that the spirit of the jubilee year will help the faithful “be the instruments of grace and mercy who help to set captives free.”

Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken out against human trafficking. In May the Holy Father described the crime as “one of the most terrible scourges of our time” that disrespects and disregards human dignity and delivers “large profits to people without moral scruples.”

It is “never too late to take action” against human trafficking, the pope said in February 2024.

Also last year, the U.S. bishops urged Congress to pass a bill aiming to combat human trafficking that would, among other things, provide grants to aid organizations in areas with high rates of trafficking.

FBI investigators arrive at the scene where a pickup truck crashed into a work lift after allegedly driving into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025. / Credit: MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 1, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans offered prayers Wednesday morning after the driver of a pickup truck drove into a crowd of people at a New Year’s celebration on the city’s famed Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens of others. The incident is being investigated by the FBI as an act of terrorism, according to the Associated Press.

“Our prayers go out to those killed and injured in this morning’s horrific attack on Bourbon Street,” Aymond said in a brief statement released on the archdiocese’s website and Facebook page. “This violent act is a sign of utter disrespect for human life.”

According to police, the driver — who was identified by the FBI on Wednesday afternoon as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas — sped through a crowd on Bourbon Street at about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday as partygoers were celebrating the start of the new year. At least 15 people were killed and 35 others were injured and taken to five area hospitals. After the vehicle stopped, the suspect reportedly exchanged gunfire with police and was killed, the AP reported. At least two officers were wounded and taken to a local hospital.

“I join with others in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans in offering prayerful support to the victims’ families,” Aymond’s statement continued. “I give thanks for the heroic duty of hundreds of law enforcement and medical personnel in the face of such evil.”

Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did” and tried “to run over as many people as he could,” according to the AP.

Officials said the truck Jabbar drove had on it a flag of the Islamic State. The vehicle also had weapons and a “potential” explosive device, the New York Times reported, and other potential explosives were found in the French Quarter.

The city of New Orleans is host to this year’s college football Sugar Bowl game between No. 2-ranked Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame. On Wednesday afternoon it was announced that the game, which was scheduled to be played that evening, would be postponed, the Times reported.

Wednesday’s incident comes a couple of weeks after a car driven by a Saudi Arabian immigrant rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the central German city of Magdeburg, killing five people, according to media reports.

This story was updated on Jan. 1, 2025, at 1:57 p.m. ET with information on the identity of the driver, at 2:26 p.m. ET with information about the Sugar Bowl, and at 6:14 p.m. ET with the updated death toll.