St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, mother church of the Archdiocese of Bangalore in India. | Credit: Saad Faruque via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Jan 8, 2026 / 11:22 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in India has launched a systematic campaign to address growing mental illness in groups including families and religious communities.

“We decided to take up mental health as a major concern and set up the structure in response to increased family conflicts, death by suicide among young adults, and even among religious,” said Archbishop Thomas Tharayil, the chairman of the Mental Health Ministry of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

“Mental health issues are on the increase both in personal lives and in families and service fields. The Church has to reach out to those in trouble at different levels from diocese to parishes,” Tharayil told CNA from Changanacherry in southern Kerala state.

After informal consultations and discussions, the ministry emerged at the national convention jointly organized by the India chapter of the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and the Indian bishops’ health care commission in April 2024 in Bangalore.

The two-day conference, which was attended by half a dozen bishops besides more than 250 religious, clergy, experts, and professionals, examined “the role of the Church as a healing community and the difference between mental health and spiritual well-being.”

The conference called for “spiritually accompanying individuals suffering from mental illness at the grassroots level — the diocese, parish, and community level.”

“The setting up of the Mental Health Ministry is the fruit of this conference,” Medical Mission Sister Joan Chunkapura told CNA.

“Depression and anxiety and other personality disorders are also on the increase due to stress and uncertainty and work pressure. Increasing numbers of suicides challenge us to set up more systems to serve those in mental crisis,” said the nun, who serves as the ministry secretary and who has done psychological counseling for four decades.

Dozens of priests and nuns have died by suicide in the past two decades due to depression, other mental health issues, or sexual exploitation, she said.

Conferences and seminars are being held in different parts of the country, Chunkapura said.

“We have been looking at setting up a national framework to address mental health effectively amid increasing challenges,” Carmelite Father Shinto Thomas told CNA. The priest, based in Bangalore, has been appointed president of the mental health ministry.

Thomas has worked with the U.S.-based Deacon Ed Shoener in setting up the ministry. The deacon had addressed the national conference in 2024.

Shoener, who was ordained a permanent deacon in 2004 at St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the founding president of the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers. He was drawn to that mission following the death by suicide of his daughter Kathleen in 2016.

“The Indian Bishops’ Conference is setting an example to inspire other countries,” Shoener told CNA.

“Though our Mental Health network is associated and working in 75 countries, India is one of the countries where [the bishops have] taken it up seriously and set up a program for it,” the deacon said.

“I have met representatives from the CBCI in my trips to India in 2024 and then again in 2025. They have embraced mental health ministry and have taken important steps to develop the ministry for the Indian context,” he added.

“Mental health remains a serious problem in families, among the youth ,and at work place and religious life with nuns and priests facing mental problems and depression,” Father Santhosh Dias, the secretary of the Indian bishops’ health care commission, told CNA.

“Unless the Church is fully involved in this mission, there will be apprehension about the work of such centers. So the health care commission is fully with the mental health ministry and we are preparing guidelines for the whole Church in India,” he said.

Dias said the final guidelines for the mental health ministry will be presented at the Indian bishops’ national assembly in February.

Pope Leo XIV addresses cardinals during the extraordinary consistory on Jan. 7, 2026, in Vatican City. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 8, 2026 / 10:52 am (CNA).

ROME — Some cardinals and faithful who have a devotion to the traditional Roman rite have expressed concern that the liturgy appears to be sidelined in the extraordinary consistory currently underway at the Vatican after the cardinals voted to give priority to other issues on the agenda.

In his opening address to the consistory yesterday, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed to the cardinal participants that they will have the opportunity to “engage in a communal reflection” on four themes already preannounced to be on the meeting’s agenda.

Those topics, he said, were Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “that is, the mission of the Church in today’s world”; Praedicate Evangelium, the late pope’s apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia; the Synod and synodality “as both an instrument and a style of cooperation”; and the liturgy, “the source and summit of the Christian life.”

But Leo added that “due to time constraints, and in order to encourage a genuinely in-depth analysis, only two of them will be discussed specifically.”

The cardinals were then asked to make clear which two of the four they would want to be specifically debated and, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, “a large majority” decided the topics would be “evangelization and the Church’s missionary activity drawn from rereading Evangelii Gaudium,” and “the Synod and synodality.”

Bruni told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday evening that the 170 cardinals taking part were divided into 20 groups, which were then divided into two blocks. Eleven groups consisted of cardinals in Rome including curial cardinals and those who have concluded their service and are no longer electors. The remaining nine groups were cardinal electors of local Churches (archbishops and bishops of dioceses), cardinal electors who are nuncios and cardinal electors who have concluded their service but remain electors due to being under the age of 80.

Bruni said that “for reasons of time,” the cardinal secretaries of the second block had the job of reporting back the decision of the cardinals. “They had three minutes to explain the work done within the groups and the reasons that led to the choice of the two themes.”

The Holy Father had made clear in his opening address that it was his preference to hear back from the second block as he does not usually receive advice from those cardinals. “It is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome,” he said.

But the decision not to make the liturgy a key theme was disappointing to some cardinals and traditional faithful.

The liturgy has long been a particularly sensitive issue, and especially to traditional-minded Catholics following recent sweeping restrictions on the older form of the Latin rite during Pope Francis’ pontificate. These faithful experienced the restrictions not as a mere disciplinary change but as a judgment on their fidelity, spirituality, and ecclesial belonging, which many have described as deeply wounding and divisive.

The popular Italian traditional website “Messa in Latino“  wrote Jan. 7 that it had contacted some anonymous but important cardinals who all said they were “discouraged and disappointed” about the relegation of the liturgy as a discussion topic.

In comments to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Jan. 8, the website’s editor Luigi Casalini asked: “To whom did the pope delegate this choice, and according to what criteria were these cardinals of the nine local Churches selected in order to remove — in effect — two topics?” He also wondered “why cardinals sensitive to the issue” appear to have “made no attempt to lobby” for the liturgy to be included as a core topic of discussion, “even before the consistory.”

The consistory, he added, “appears to be in perfect continuity with the synods and the thought of Francis” — a reference to how recent synods were silent on the traditional liturgy.

Speaking to journalists Wednesday, Bruni tried to offer some reassurance. “The other two themes will still be addressed in some way, because mission does not exclude the liturgy,” he said. “On the contrary, in many ways it does not mean exclusion. It means that they will still be addressed within the others or in some other way.”

He added: “As the pope said and as he noted in both his opening and closing speeches [on Wednesday], the themes cannot be separated from each other, because in mission and evangelization there is liturgy.”

Casalini said he was looking ahead to the two free discussions today to see “whether the topic of the liturgy will be taken up again.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Vienna Skyline with St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria. | Credit: mrgb/shutterstock

Jan 8, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in Austria has launched a new formation program to promote late vocations, aimed at men between 45 and 60 years old who are currently employed and can complete the process without having to leave their jobs.

The initiative, promoted by the Conference of Rectors of Austrian Seminaries, breaks with the traditional model of formation and preparation for priestly ordination and opts for a more flexible model as a response to the shortage of vocations.

Under the name “ Zweiten Weg für Spätberufene” (“Second Path for Late Vocations”), the program is specifically aimed at men with professional experience and offers the possibility of pursuing theological studies remotely, without requiring community life in the seminary or exclusively in-person formation, adapting to the professional demands of each candidate.

This new program also allows them to continue practicing their profession after being ordained priests — with the exception of political positions — albeit in a limited capacity, with the express authorization of their diocese and provided that their profession is compatible with the priestly ethos.

With this new proposal, the Church in Austria is committed to integrating the path to the priesthood with the daily lives of the candidates, who must be single or widowed and commit to a life of celibacy.

The fundamental pillar of the initiative is the document Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, from the Dicastery for the Clergy, on the gift of the priestly vocation and the importance of formation.

According to the latest data provided by the Austrian Bishops’ Conference for the year 2024, there are currently 3,269 priests in the country, a number that has experienced a slight but steady decline in recent years.

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

An architectural rendering shows the planned Church of the Holy Trinity in Neratovice, Czech Republic. The Noah’s Ark-inspired design by architect Zdeněk Fránek features a green roof and may become the world’s largest 3D-printed church. | Credit: The Neratovice Community Center Foundation

Jan 8, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Communists in former Czechoslovakia wanted to turn Neratovice into the first church-free city. Now, in democratic Czech Republic, which banned the promotion of communism starting this January 2026, the city may become home to the world’s largest 3D-printed church.

The tower will be constructed using 3D printing technology, but whether the entire church will be printed is to be decided soon based on calculations and estimation of the building’s vault.

“The decision to 3D-print the entire above-the-ground part of the building should be made in the near future, that is at the beginning of 2026,” Marek Matocha, member of the board of directors of the Neratovice Community Center Foundation, confirmed to CNA. The foundation, which facilitates the construction, was created by the Archdiocese of Prague since Neratovice is in its territory.

Architectural innovation

In December, the Czech version of Forbes hailed the future “exceptional church, which has an ambition to change the foundations of construction.” It can “put Czechia back on the architectural map of the world after a long time,” the business magazine wrote.

The founding stone of the Church of the Holy Trinity and of Cardinal Josef Beran Community Centre was blessed by Archbishop of Prague Jan Graubner in 2024. The future church is modeled on Noah’s Ark by award-winning architect Zdeněk Fránek, who has constructed religious buildings previously.

Both buildings will be energy efficient, covered by green roofs irrigated by means of rainwater retention tanks. A park with a pond and a children’s playground nearby are planned, too.

Financial considerations

Local parish administrator Father Peter Kováč said that 3D printing could bring savings and a unique solution — possibly the largest 3D-printed church in the world.

“It is important that the project is sustainable and meaningful financially,” he told a local Catholic weekly. Various donors have already contributed several millions and the whole project is estimated to cost 204 million Czech crowns (more than $8 million).

For the time being, the parishioners go to Mass in a chapel.

The church design consists of an ark-like structure made up of 520 3D-printed blocks, assembled like a puzzle. These blocks are generatively designed and are characterized by a wavelike structure that has an acoustic function.

Historical significance

Among the patrons of the project is Member of the European Parliament Tomáš Zdechovský. The Czech Christian Democrat sees the construction as “absolutely great news” because the church “will be a unique building that will be visited by people from all over the country.”

The town of Neratovice, an industrial community with a population of about 16,000, was founded by the communist regime in 1957 and has never had a church. The creation of the 3D-printed structure is thus significant for local Roman Catholics, who have been trying to have a church built for decades.

Cardinal Josef Beran (1888–1969) was an archbishop of Prague who suffered in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau before World War II. When the communists took over Czechoslovakia, he refused to pledge loyalty to the atheist regime. He was interned for 14 years in several locations, including complete isolation from the outside world.

When he was created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1965, he was allowed to travel to Rome but was unable to return. The prelate spent the rest of his life in exile, visiting compatriots in Europe and the U.S. His beatification process is currently underway.

People take part in a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York on Jan. 7, 2026, after an ICE officer shot dead a woman in Minneapolis. | Credit: Bryan R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Jan 7, 2026 / 19:32 pm (CNA).

Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda on Jan. 7 pleaded for prayers and calm after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

Officials said the ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good after what was reported as an altercation in the street in south Minneapolis. The officer reportedly fired into Good’s vehicle after she apparently attempted to drive away while surrounded by agents.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged on Jan. 7 that Good was “harassing and impeding” agents prior to the shooting. Law enforcement including the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are investigating the incident.

‘We need to lower the temperature of rhetoric’

Hebda in his statement pleaded for “all people of goodwill to join me in prayer for the person who was killed, for their loved ones, and for our community.”

“We continue to be at a time in this country when we need to lower the temperature of rhetoric, stop fear-filled speculation, and start seeing all people as created in the image and likeness of God,” the prelate said.

“That is as true for our immigrant sisters and brothers as it is for our elected officials and those who are responsible for enforcing our laws,” he continued. “I echo today the repeated call of the U.S. Catholic bishops that we come together as a nation and pass meaningful immigration reform that does justice to all parties.” 

“The longer we refuse to grapple with this issue in the political arena, the more divisive and violent it becomes,” Hebda added.

The archbishop was referencing a November 2025 statement from the U.S. bishops urging immigration reform and opposing the indiscriminate mass deportation of immigrants who lack legal status.

“We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement,” the bishops said at the time. “We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials.”

Officials in Minnesota responded with criticism to the shooting on Jan. 7. State Gov. Tim Walz in a post on X decried what he called the “propaganda machine” surrounding the incident, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said officials were “demanding ICE to leave the city immediately.”

Hebda, meanwhile, said in his statement: “It is only by working together — with God’s help — that we will have peace in our communities, state, and world.”

The extraordinary consistory of cardinals is taking place from Jan 7-8, 2026. Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 7, 2026 / 19:12 pm (CNA).

In his opening address at the extraordinary consistory convened for Jan. 7–8, Pope Leo XIV assured the cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican that “I am here to listen.”

The Holy Father reminded the cardinals, assembled in the Synod Hall, that “as we learned during the two assemblies of the Synod of Bishops in 2023 and 2024,” within the framework of the so-called Synod on Synodality, “the synodal dynamic implies a listening par excellence.”

“Every moment of this kind is an opportunity to deepen our shared appreciation for synodality,” Pope Leo said, recalling that in the speech Pope Francis delivered on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops in 2015, the late pontiff said that it is “precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”

“We must not arrive at a text,” the pope clarified regarding the task of the consistory, “but continue a conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church.”

The 4 themes of the consistory

In his address, the Holy Father outlined the four themes that will be discussed during the extraordinary consistory. Two of them are named after papal documents of his predecessor, Francis: the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.

Evangelii Gaudium, he noted, has to do with “the mission of the Church in today’s world,” while Praedicate Evangelium refers to “the service of the Holy See, especially to the particular Churches.”

The third and fourth topics will be “synod and synodality,” as “both an instrument and a style of collaboration,” and “the liturgy, the source and summit of Christian life.”

However, he clarified, “due to time constraints and in order to encourage a genuinely in-depth analysis, only two of them will be discussed specifically.”

“While each of the 21 groups will contribute to the choice that we will make, the groups that will be reporting will be those nine coming from the local Churches, since it is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome,” he added.

On Jan. 8, he said, the two chosen themes will be addressed with the following question as a guide: “Looking at the path of the next one or two years, what considerations and priorities could guide the action of the Holy Father and of the Curia regarding each theme?”

As the consistory proceeds, the pope called on the cardinals to be “attentive to the heart, mind, and spirit of each; listening to one another; expressing only the main point and in a succinct manner, so that all can speak.”

“The ancient Romans in their wisdom used to say: ‘Non multa sed multum!’ [Not many things, but much],” Leo pointed out, a phrase understood as prioritizing quality over quantity.

“And in the future, this way of listening to one another, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and walking together, will continue to be of great help for the Petrine ministry entrusted to me,” he affirmed.

“Even the way in which we learn to work together, with fraternity and sincere friendship, can give rise to something new, something that brings both the present and the future into focus,” Leo declared.

A conciliar perspective

From the beginning of his address, the pope made clear the perspective of the Second Vatican Council for this consistory, quoting the first paragraph of the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, which emphasizes that “Christ is the light of the nations” and that it is the Church’s duty to ensure that “all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical, and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.”

“We can understand the overall pontificates of St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II within this conciliar perspective, which sees the mystery of the Church as entirely held within the mystery of Christ and thus understands the evangelizing mission as a radiation of the inexhaustible energy released by the central event of salvation history,” Leo XIV said.

He then noted that both Benedict XVI and Francis “summarized this vision in one word: attraction.”

“Pope Benedict did this in the inaugural homily of the Aparecida Conference in 2007 when he said: ‘The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by ‘attraction’: Just as Christ ‘draws all to himself’ by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the cross, so the Church fulfills her mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord,’” Leo recalled.

“Pope Francis was in perfect agreement with this and repeated it several times in different contexts,” he added.

‘Unity attracts, division scatters’

Pope Leo XIV also emphasized in his speech that “unity attracts, division scatters. It seems to me that physics also confirms this, both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels.”

“Therefore, in order to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ’s love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment, the only one he gave us after washing his disciples’ feet: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’”

“And he adds: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another,’” the pope emphasized.

The Holy Father went on to indicate that in the consistory, “we are a very diverse group, enriched by a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ecclesial and social traditions, formative and academic paths, pastoral experiences, not to mention personal characteristics and traits.”

“We are called first to get to know one another and to dialogue, so that we may work together in serving the Church. I hope that we can grow in communion and thus offer a model of collegiality,” he said.

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

Credit: Digital Storm/Shutterstock

Jan 7, 2026 / 15:04 pm (CNA).

A federal appeals court this week upheld a years-old principle of U.S. law that allows religious organizations to hire only like-minded believers as staff members.

Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington, will be permitted to hire only those employees who share the group’s religious beliefs about marriage and sexuality, according to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The court’s Jan. 6 ruling said the state of Washington would be forbidden from enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination against the Christian group.

The mission group originally brought suit against the state in 2023, arguing that the nondiscrimination law hindered its ability to hire solely workers who agree with the group’s Christian worldview.

The “ministerial exception” generally allows religious groups to be exempt from U.S. discrimination laws when hiring for ministry roles. But in its lawsuit Union Gospel Mission sought broader relief from the state discrimination law, arguing that it wanted to ensure even “non-ministerial” employees were adhering to the Christian faith.

In its ruling, the 9th Circuit said that the principle of church autonomy, as recognized by U.S. courts, “forbids interference” with “an internal church decision that affects the faith and mission of the church itself.”

“[I]n cases involving the hiring of non-ministerial employees, a religious institution may enjoy [church autonomy] when a challenged hiring decision is rooted in a sincerely held religious belief,” the court said.

Union Gospel’s hiring policy qualifies as an “internal management decision” protected by U.S. law, the court held. Allowing the state to enforce the discrimination policy “could interfere with a religious mission and drive it from the public sphere.”

The decision was hailed by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented the Christian group for nearly three years. Attorney Jeremiah Galus said the court “correctly ruled that the First Amendment protects the mission’s freedom to hire fellow believers who share that calling.”

“Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs,” Galus said.

In a phone interview with CNA on Jan. 7, Galus said the decision represents a “pretty significant victory.”

The ministerial exception is a “somewhat unremarkable principle,” he pointed out. Yet the Washington Supreme Court had earlier ruled for a narrower interpretation of that exception, creating uncertainty around the scope of the principle there.

The 9th Circuit ruling is the “first appeals decision of its kind that holds the First Amendment allows religious orgs to operate in this way,” Galus said.

The appeals court ruling upheld a lower court’s block of the state law.

It is unclear if Washington state will appeal the decision. The Supreme Court has previously ruled broadly in favor of ministerial exceptions, including in the 2012 decision of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, in which the high court unanimously ruled that the First Amendment “prevents the government from appointing ministers” and “prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own.”

The court expanded that principle in the 2020 decision Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru when it held that religious schools are permitted to hire and fire teachers as they please under the ministerial exception.

Galus, meanwhile, pointed out that the appeals ruling extends beyond Washington state to encompass the entirety of the 9th Circuit.

The decision “affirms what we have been saying all along, which is that the First Amendment protects this right regardless of a statutory exemption,” he said.

Confessional. | Credit: Paul Lowry (CC BY 2.0)

Jan 7, 2026 / 14:34 pm (CNA).

A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament.

The measure, HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4.

The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors.”

Failure to report a “reportable offense” could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment.

Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed it. She previously filed a similar bill in 2023.

Lawmakers in multiple U.S. states in recent years have moved to require priests to violate the seal of confession as part of mandatory reporting laws.

One such law in Washington state suffered a dramatic defeat in July 2025 after a federal court blocked the measure on First Amendment grounds. The rule had drawn rebuke from the U.S. bishops, the White House, Orthodox church leaders, and other advocates. The state backed off the law in October 2025.

Similar measures in Delaware, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Montana have been proposed over the past few years, though none have come to pass. One such law was also proposed in Hungary in October 2025. In 2019, California lawmakers proposed and then backed off of a similar bill.

Priests are bound to never divulge what they hear in confession on pain of excommunication. Multiple priests in Church history have been martyred after they were executed for refusing to break that seal.

Church canon law dictates that it is “absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”

St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. | Credit: Gastao at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Jan 7, 2026 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Scottish bishops have denounced a law establishing so-called “buffer zones” around abortion facilities, saying it “restricts free speech, free expression, and freedom of religion in ways that should concern us all.”

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act 2024 establishes “buffer zones” up to 200 meters (656 feet) around 30 locations across Scotland. The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said: “Within those zones, any conduct deemed to ‘influence’ a decision about abortion may be criminalized.”

“We oppose this law because it is disproportionate and undemocratic,” the bishops said in a Jan. 6 statement. “The Catholic Church does not condone harassment or intimidation, but that was not the intention of this law.”

The Scottish government lists several activities that might violate the law, including “silent vigils,” “handing out leaflets,” “religious preaching,” and “approaching someone to try and persuade them not to access abortion services.”

It is “unsettling” that this Christmas season “saw the first person in Scotland charged under the … law in Scotland,” the bishops said. A law “the Church believes curtails Scotland’s commitment to freedom of expression and conscience, and restricts critical voices from democratic debate in the public square.”

In December 2025, 74-year-old Rose Docherty was charged under the law, following her original arrest in February 2025 in Glasgow. She was arrested when she was silently standing outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital holding a sign that said: “Coercion is a crime; here to talk, only if you want.”

Risks of the law

The bishops highlighted the “troubling” implications and concerns of the legislation.

The law potentially “criminalizes a person standing alone in a buffer zone without any visible expression of protest but who is deemed by others to be offering a silent pro-life inspired prayer,” the bishops said.

It “extends to private homes within designated zones,” they said. “A pro-life poster displayed in a window, a conversation overheard, a prayer said by a window; all could, in principle, fall within the scope of criminal sanction.”

When asked if praying by a window in your own home could constitute an offense, Gillian Mackay, the Scottish Green Party member of Parliament who spearheaded the legislation, replied: “That depends on who’s passing the window.”

Scotland’s police have also “expressed unease,” the bishops said. Superintendent Gerry Corrigan told Parliament that policing thought is an area they “would stay clear of.” He added: “I do not think we could go down the road of asking people what they are thinking or what their thoughts are.”

The bishops said the law could also affect women experiencing crisis pregnancies who may be denied the opportunity to freely speak to people and organizations that can help them. They said: “A law supposedly designed to protect choice risks doing the opposite — eliminating one side of a conversation and one set of choices altogether.”

Some parliamentarians attempted to mitigate the effects of the law by proposing a “reasonableness defense” or “exemptions for chaplains who might be criminalized for pastoral conversations,” but “all amendments were rejected or withdrawn,” the bishops said.

“We support all those who, motivated by conscience and compassion, stand up for the right to life. It cannot be a crime to give our voice and our prayers to the unborn,” they said.

“As we look to the child in the manger this Christmas and Epiphany, we are reminded that babies do not have a voice of their own. It is a shame that the state has now also curtailed the voices of ordinary citizens who advocate for them within its borders,” they said.

The concluding high Mass for the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage, an annual three-day pilgrimage for devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass, on Oct. 29, 2023, celebrated by Bishop Guido Pozzo at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims in Rome. | Credit: Andrea Zuffellato / null

Jan 7, 2026 / 10:37 am (CNA).

As cardinals gather this week in an extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV on Jan. 7–8, a French traditionalist priest has sent a memorandum to members of the Sacred College of Cardinals proposing the creation of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction specifically structured to oversee the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in an effort to resolve the liturgical crisis that has marked the Church in recent years.

The letter, dated Dec. 24, 2025, and made public by U.S. journalist Diane Montagna, was written by Father Louis-Marie de Blignières, founder of the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrier in 1979 and a senior figure of the post-1988 Ecclesia Dei movement who took part in dialogue with St. John Paul II following Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s illicit episcopal consecrations.

“Before the consistory, where liturgy will be on the agenda, I take the filial liberty of addressing this short memorandum to you,” de Blignières, 76, wrote at the outset, explaining that his purpose is to suggest “an ecclesial solution that could provide a stable framework for these faithful who are in full communion with the Catholic hierarchy and attached to the ancient Latin rite.”

In practical terms, de Blignières proposes the creation of a new Church structure — such as a personal apostolic administration or an ordinariate — similar to a diocese but not tied to a specific territory. Instead of being organized by geography, it would bring together priests and faithful attached to the traditional Latin liturgy under a single authority wherever they are located.

De Blignières pointed to existing canonical models, particularly military ordinariates, which exercise what canon law calls “cumulative jurisdiction.” Under this arrangement, priests and faithful attached to the traditional rite would belong to the new jurisdiction while remaining members of their local dioceses. Diocesan bishops would therefore not be bypassed but would share pastoral responsibility with bishops appointed to oversee the proposed structure.

According to the letter, this would allow bishops familiar with the 1962 liturgical books to oversee ordinations, confirmations, and other rites specific to the traditional liturgy while relieving diocesan ordinaries who may feel unprepared or reluctant to manage these matters. For the faithful, it would offer clarity and continuity in a context that has often been marked by uncertainty and conflict.

“For more than 60 years, this group has continued to exist and to grow, but it lacks the support of a juridical framework adapted to its legitimate needs,” de Blignières wrote. “The creation of dedicated ecclesiastical jurisdictions would move matters forward toward stability, peace, and unity.”

The proposal comes amid renewed tensions following Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which significantly restricted the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and reversed the more permissive regime established under Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Implementation of Traditionis Custodes has varied widely across dioceses. In some places, bishops have sought pragmatic arrangements to preserve coexistence. In others, traditional communities and liturgical celebrations have been heavily reduced or suppressed. Critics of the current situation argue that this uneven application has contributed to pastoral instability and deepened divisions within the Church, particularly in France and the U.S.

De Blignières framed his proposal not as a challenge to papal authority but as an attempt to offer a constructive way forward. In his view, the absence of a stable juridical solution since the end of the postconciliar liturgical reform has left communities attached to the older rite in a recurring state of vulnerability.

Following the illicit episcopal consecrations carried out by Lefebvre in 1988, the Holy See created the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to facilitate the reconciliation of communities attached to the liturgy in use prior to the postconciliar reform.

Over the decades that followed, various proposals were already advanced to provide a more stable canonical framework for these communities. One such solution was adopted in 2002 with the establishment of the Personal Apostolic Administration Saint John Mary Vianney in Campos, Brazil, which was granted the faculty to celebrate the sacraments according to the 1962 Roman rite. Other initiatives, including petitions from lay associations such as Una Voce in the United States, did not result in comparable structures elsewhere.

Father Matthieu Raffray, superior of the European District of the Institute of the Good Shepherd and a popular public figure among the youth, commented on the proposal in an interview with Montagna, describing it as a constructive contribution rather than a demand. In his view, the proposal seeks to move beyond what he calls a “sterile” opposition by offering an institutional solution capable of preserving ecclesial communion while recognizing the distinct pastoral reality of communities attached to the vetus ordo.

Other Church figures, however, have already expressed reservations.

Father Pierre Amar, a priest of the Diocese of Versailles near Paris who is also well known on social media, claimed that while a dedicated jurisdiction is “one solution,” it is “not the best one” in his view, warning that it could “isolate traditionalists within a structure, where contact and interaction are a source of enrichment for everyone.”

The letter was sent to a number of cardinals known for their interest in liturgical questions — 15 by post and approximately 100 by email — but not directly to Pope Leo XIV. Its author presented it explicitly as a contribution to reflection ahead of the consistory rather than as a formal request.