Church of the Madalene

Cardinal Robert McElroy gives his first homily as the shepherd of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on March 11, 2025. / Credit: Patrick Ruddy/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2025 / 18:42 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Robert McElroy delivered a homily on Sunday urging Catholics to “embrace in a sustained, unwavering, prophetic, and compassionate way” migrants to the U.S. at a Mass for the 11th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. 

“For the past 110 years, Mass has been celebrated throughout our country to honor and support immigrants and refugees who have come to our nation as part of that stream of men and women from every land who have built up the United States into a great nation,” McElroy said in his homily at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Northwest D.C. on Sept. 28.  

“But this year is different from the 110 years that have preceded it,” he said, “for this year we are confronting — both as a nation and as a Church — an unprecedented assault upon millions of immigrant men and women and families in our midst.”

McElroy described the Trump administration’s approach to immigration as “a comprehensive campaign to uproot millions of families” that “relies on fear and terror at its core.” The Trump administration’s goal, he said, “is simple and unitary: to rob undocumented immigrants of any real peace in their lives so that in misery they will ‘self-deport.’” 

Addressing the administration’s assertion that all migrants who enter the country illegally should be removed, McElroy argued that the Gospel “proposes a far different measure” that migrants are “our neighbors.” 

Referencing the parable of the good Samaritan, McElroy argued that “the most striking element” of the story was “that the Samaritan was willing to reject the norms of society which said that because of his birth and status he had no obligation to the victim, who was a Jew.” 

“The piercing insight and glory of the Samaritan was that he rejected the narrowness and myopia of the law to understand that the victim he was passing by was truly his neighbor and that both God and the moral law obligated him to treat him as neighbor,” he stated. 

McElroy referenced the Catholic community in Washington, D.C., who he said has witnessed many migrants of faith who “have been swept up and deported in the crackdown which has been unleashed in our nation.”

“We are witnessing a comprehensive governmental assault designed to produce fear and terror among millions of men and women who have through their presence in our nation been nurturing precisely the religious, cultural, communitarian, and familial bonds that are most frayed and most valuable at this moment in our country’s history,” McElroy said.

McElroy noted that Catholic social teaching categorizes border security and the deportation of criminals convicted of “serious crimes” as legitimate national goals.

However, he said, “at times, our government asserts that these goals constitute the essence and scope of its immigration enforcement efforts, and if that were true Catholic teaching would raise no objection.”

Ultimately, the cardinal called on Catholics to “form our stance and action as people of faith,” to “stand in solidarity with the undocumented men and women whose lives are being upended by the government’s campaign of fear and terror.”

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Sept. 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2025 / 18:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said the U.S. Department of Defense secretary’s way of speaking about war is “worrying.”

Addressing an audience of military brass summoned to Virginia, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sept. 30 urged senior officers to lead with an eye on more “lethality.” President Donald Trump this month signed an executive order changing the department’s name to Department of War, although it has not been officially changed by Congress.

Asked about the secretary’s meeting with the generals and comments about readiness for war, Pope Leo said: “This way of speaking is worrying, because it shows each time an increase in tensions — this vocabulary, even shifting from ‘Minister of Defense’ to ‘Minister of War.’ Let’s hope it is only a way of speaking. Certainly, they have a style of government where they want to show strength, to put pressure, and we hope it works, but that there will not be war. One must always work for peace.”

The Chicago-born Pope Leo spoke to reporters as he was leaving the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo near Rome, where in recent weeks he has made it a practice to spend Tuesdays before returning to the Vatican.

The pope’s comments were translated from Italian.

The Defense Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa presents a Bible to a catechism teacher on Sept. 27, 2025, in Galilee. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 30, 2025 / 18:02 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, at a recent Mass he celebrated told the catechism teachers at the patriarchate’s schools that if faith is not meaningful in their lives, then it will not be meaningful in the lives of their students either. 

The prelate offered the Mass on Saturday, Sept. 27, at St. Joseph’s Church in the town of Shafa’amr, Galilee. The parish’s priest, Father Ramez Twal, and Father Ibrahim Shomali, director of the patriarchate’s schools in Galilee, concelebrated the Eucharist.

Shomali told those present that “today, for the first time, we celebrate this special occasion that gives our schools a spiritual dimension, the very foundation of our educational mission.”

“The presence of his beatitude the cardinal among us today embodies the presence of the first teacher for all of us, Jesus Christ,” he added.

The patriarch’s homily

In his sermon, Pizzaballa emphasized that “the role of the catechism teacher is no less important than that of any other teacher. It carries a unique mission that requires facing challenges to preserve our Christian identity and deepen the awareness of our children.”

After noting that teaching catechism seeks to form new generations in faith, hope, and love, the cardinal emphasized that “catechesis means to encounter Jesus and to love him more. As teachers, you are witnesses to this faith; if it is not alive and meaningful in your own life, it will not be meaningful to your students.”

“You are called to see each student and recognize their dignity and worth, unlike the rich man who failed see Lazarus,” the cardinal noted, referring to the Gospel account of the wealthy man who feasted daily and did not share what he had with poor Lazarus, who when he died was saved, while the wealthy man was not.

Pizzaballa thanked all the teachers for their dedication and service to the Church’s mission, encouraging them to continue spreading the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus to their students.

At the end of the Mass, the teachers renewed their baptismal promises and received a copy of the Bible, marking a new beginning in their educational and spiritual journey of transmitting the faith and being witnesses of it to others, especially their students. 

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

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan carries the thurible around the altar inside Louis Armstrong Stadium on April 20, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2025 / 17:32 pm (CNA).

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan is calling on the faithful to contact New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to oppose the assisted suicide legislation that currently awaits her signature.

“Our fight against assisted suicide is not over,” Brennan said in a post on the social media platform X.

Assisted suicide is not yet legal in New York, but the Medical Aid in Dying Act was passed by the state Legislature in June and will become legal upon Hochul’s signature. The law will allow terminally ill New York residents who are over 18 to request medically assisted death.

“Gov. Hochul, we know difficult decisions weigh heavily on leaders and you carefully consider the impact of every decision on New Yorkers,” Brennan wrote. “As you review the assisted suicide legislation, we respectfully urge you to veto it.”

“Assisted suicide targets the poor, the vulnerable, and especially individuals suffering with mental illness. There are better ways to support those facing end-of-life challenges, through improved palliative care, pain management, and compassionate support systems.”

In a video to the faithful, Brennan addressed Hochul and said: “You championed New York’s suicide prevention program and invested millions of dollars to, as you said, ‘ensure New Yorkers are aware of this critical resource.’ That groundbreaking program has worked to provide the right training and crisis intervention measures to prevent suicides.”

Hochul has previously launched several campaigns to bring New York suicide rates down including a crisis hotline and initiatives to help schools, hospitals, first responders, and veterans. She has also helped develop and fund a number of youth suicide prevention programs.

The programs offer “hope to those who are most in need,” Brennan said. He added: “But now you are being asked to sign a bill that contradicts your efforts and targets high-risk populations. How can we justify preventing suicide for some while helping others to die?”

In support of the New York State Catholic Conference’s mission to “work with the government to shape laws and policies that pursue social justice, respect for life, and the common good,” Brennan asked the faithful to message the governor directly with a pre-written email to stop the legislation.

“I urge Catholics to reach out to Gov. Hochul now and to ask her to stay consistent on this issue,” Brennan said. “Let us continue to pray for the respect of all life and the human dignity of all people.”

Lobbying against the legislation is ‘critical’ 

Catholic bioethicist Father Tad Pacholczyk told CNA that “it’s critical” that New Yorkers “respond to the bishop’s call for action.” 

“The push of anti-life forces has continued unabated for many years, and the incessant turning of the wheels of their finely-tuned propaganda machine has managed to gradually draw more and more of us into a perspective of complacency when it comes to physician-assisted suicide,” he said.

Pacholczyk added: “Combined with a tendency to substitute emotion for ethical reasoning, prevalent in much of the media and society, I think we stand on the edge of a well-greased slope, poised to hurl down headlong.”

The bioethicist highlighted that if assisted suiside “is not outlawed and strong protections for vulnerable patients are not enacted,” the U.S is likely to replicate the repercussions seen in Canada, which is experiencing disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups.

“We need to do what we can to light a fire and raise heightened awareness of the rights of patients not to be pressured in this manner,” Pacholczyk said. “We also need to take steps to offer real support and accompaniment to our loved ones as they pass through one of the most important stretches of their lives, so their journey can be indelibly imprinted by a genuinely good and holy death.”

null / Credit: crystal51/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

China tries to exert total control over religion, and the U.S. Department of State should redesignate China as a “country of particular concern” regarding religious freedom, according to reports by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

USCIRF, a federal commission that monitors religious freedom worldwide, said China uses surveillance, fines, retribution against family members, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, and other forms of abuse to control the Catholic Church and other religious communities in the nation. USCIRF issued an overview of the Chinese government’s persecution of religious leaders from various religious denominations this month.

In 2024, “religious freedom conditions in China remained among the worst in the world,” the USCIRF’s 2025 annual report said. USCIRF called for the State Department to renew its formal designation which can trigger legal action including diplomatic measures, sanctions, or international pressure. China has been redesignated as a country of particular concern nearly every year since 1999.

China used “high-tech surveillance outside places of worship and other means to repress religious freedom throughout the country,” the USCIRF wrote in its annual report. “It also weaponized transnational repression and disinformation by using emerging technologies to quash voices critical of the country’s religious freedom and related human rights violations,” the report said.

While the Vatican and China extended a provisional agreement on bishop appointments in 2024, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified its “sinicization of religion” policy under President Xi Jinping that forces state-sanctioned religious groups to align their doctrines with the party’s political ideology. Many faithful communities hold underground religious gatherings because the country’s control over worship, publications, and finance is strong.

Authorities have threatened religious communities “to force them into silence,” the annual report said. The report detailed cases when Chinese authorities “detained, forcibly disappeared, or refused to disclose the whereabouts of underground Catholic clergy who declined to join the state-controlled Catholic organization.”

In a September report, USCIRF highlighted a case that began in February when authorities reportedly fined bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of the Diocese of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province $27,880 for celebrating Mass in public. In March, police detained Shao for a week for refusing to pay the fine and then arrested him again just before Holy Week to prevent him from celebrating Masses. 

In July, reports surfaced that authorities tried to force Shao to accept state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association control by arresting and threatening religious and laypeople. 

The whereabouts of several of the detained underground Catholics, including bishops James Su Zhimin and Joseph Zhang Weizhu, remain unknown. 

Protestant churches faced similar punishments from law enforcement for refusing to join the state-controlled Protestant organization, USCIRF said. In turn, “police raided house churches and harassed, detained, fined, and imprisoned members on reportedly fabricated charges, including ‘fraud’ and ‘subversion.’”

After analyzing its findings, the USCIRF found: “Religious groups who refuse to submit to the government’s all-encompassing control over religious affairs face widespread persecution. State-controlled religious organizations implement sinicization through intrusive oversight and ‘Five-Year Sinicization Work Plans,’ which emphasize loyalty and conformity to [the Chinese Communist Party] ideological requirements.”

USCIRF’s recommendations

Besides calling for the country’s redesignation, the commission recommended the U.S. government with international partners sanction Chinese officials and entities responsible for “severe religious freedom violations.” It also called for working with partners to address China’s use of technology to commit religious freedom violations as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act, especially in regard to developing technologies and artificial intelligence. 

Congress should “consider legislation to tighten restrictions on China’s use of technologies that facilitate human rights abuses and suppression of freedom of religion or belief” and “ban paid lobbying in the United States by agents representing the Chinese government,” the report said.

The State Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his general audience on Sept.24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Sep 30, 2025 / 15:36 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV responded to controversy over the Chicago cardinal’s plans to honor a Catholic U.S. senator who supports legalized abortion, saying that the senator’s record should be considered in its totality and that Americans should search together for the truth on ethical issues.

Several U.S. bishops condemned Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plans to honor U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, with a “lifetime achievement award” for his work surrounding immigration policy despite his pro-abortion voting record. 

“I am not terribly familiar with the particular case. I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the pope told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question from EWTN News.

He said: “I understand the difficulty and the tensions. But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.”

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the pope explained. “Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro life.”

“So they are very complex issues and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” he continued, “but I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings and in that case as American citizens and citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to be close to all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a Church. The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”

The number of U.S. bishops who have condemned Cupich’s decision to honor Durbin with a “lifetime achievement award” has risen to 10, including two bishops emeritus. 

The Chicago-born Pope Leo spoke to reporters as he was leaving the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo near Rome, where in recent weeks he has made it a practice to spend Tuesdays before returning to the Vatican.

Seven current bishops have joined Springfield, Illinois, Bishop Thomas Paprocki in calling on Cupich to reconsider honoring Durbin including Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco; Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska; Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico; Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas; Bishop James Johnston of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Missouri; and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas. 

The recently retired Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, also addressed the controversy over the weekend in a statement released to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in which he referred to the move by Cupich as a “source of scandal.” 

Cupich has defended the award as being aligned with instructions by the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2022, which instructed bishops “to reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their jurisdictions.”

A spokesperson for Cupich did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Responding to Cupich’s argument, Naumann said in the statement: “Dialogue does not require giving awards to Catholic political leaders who disregard the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life of the unborn.” 

Bishop Emeritus Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has also called on Cupich to reverse his decision to proceed with the award. 

In an interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Sept. 25, Paprocki called on the Chicago cardinal to either withdraw the award or Durbin himself to decline it. 

A spokesperson for Durbin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cupich has since canceled meetings with two groups of Illinois Catholic leaders, the Catholic Conference of Illinois and a separate meeting of Illinois bishops, this past week. 

So far, the Illinois bishops of Peoria, Rockford, and Joliet have refrained from joining Paprocki in calling for Cupich to reverse his decision, while the Diocese of Belleville is currently awaiting the appointment of a new bishop, after its former Bishop Michael McGovern was appointed archbishop of Omaha.

This story was updated on Sept. 30, 2025, at 4:23 p.m. ET with the various bishops’ comments.

Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Sept. 11, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 30, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV responded with a father’s heart to a 21-year-old Roman medical student who asked him “What does the future hold for us?” and “What can young people do to aspire to a better world, when there is so much injustice, tragedy, and war today?”

Veronica, whose dream is to be a doctor, wrote a letter to Leo XIV asking him these and other questions. She pointed out to him that all the current problems make it seem “impossible to live in peace,” according to the September issue of Piazza San Pietro magazine.

After encouraging Veronica to fulfill her dream of serving “the weakest and most unfortunate,” the Holy Father noted that her “questions are those on the hearts of many of your contemporaries. It is true that we live in difficult times: Evil seems to overwhelm our lives, wars claim more innocent victims.”

“But all this must not make us lose hope for a better world. As I have already said, quoting St. Augustine: ‘Let us live well, and the times will be good. We are the times.’ Likewise, the times will be good if we are good!” Leo continued.

“For this to happen, we must place our hope once again in the Lord Jesus. It is he who has stirred in your heart the desire to make of your life something great,” the pope emphasized.

“It is he who will give you the strength to improve yourself and the society around you so that the times we live in may be truly good,” the pontiff continued.

Recalling the 2025 Jubilee of Youth, which brought together 1 million people in Rome, Pope Leo XIV repeated “the invitation I made to you and to all the young people who came to Tor Vergata: ‘Cultivate your friendship with Jesus.’ It’s worth it. You can be sure.”

The Holy Father then asked Veronica to keep him “in the loop about your studies and your inner journey. I bless you from my heart.”

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

A student workshop at the College of St. Joseph the Worker in Ohio, which will now receive a $5 million grant to expand to West Virginia. / Credit: College of St. Joseph the Worker

CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2025 / 12:56 pm (CNA).

A West Virginia circuit court judge has tossed out a lawsuit aiming to block a state government agency from providing a $5 million grant to an Ohio Catholic trade school.

Judge Richard Lindsay said in the Sept. 25 ruling that the seven-figure grant from the West Virginia Water Development Authority was constitutional, nixing the effort by the American Humanist Association to block the funds for the College of St. Joseph the Worker in Steubenville, which is looking to expand into West Virginia.

Lindsay had blocked the grant in July after the secular humanist group argued in its lawsuit that the state government’s grant would violate Article III of the West Virginia Constitution.

That section forbids the government from using tax funds “for the erection or repair of any house for public worship or for the support of any church or ministry.”

In his Sept. 25 ruling, however, Lindsay said the court had received documentation that the entirety of the grant is “being used for the purpose of economic development only” and “therefore is constitutional.”

The West Virginia water authority is empowered to issue grants to “encourage economic growth,” Lindsay noted in his ruling. The government agency told the court that the grant to the Steubenville school would be used only for “real estate acquisition, site development, construction, infrastructure improvement,” and other nonreligious endeavors.

School president Michael Sullivan, meanwhile, agreed that none of the grant would be spent on “religious advocacy of any kind.” Grant money would also not go toward teacher salaries, Sullivan said.

Lindsay said in his ruling that the humanist group had “rightly” challenged the grant under the impression that it would fund religious advocacy.

But since the school and the West Virginia government agreed that the funds would only go toward secular concerns, there is “no genuine issue of material fact” in the case, Lindsay said, and there is “no question of constitutional law” remaining.

The Ohio school did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision on Sept. 30. The humanist group, meanwhile, said on Sept. 26 that it was “satisfied” with the ruling.

The group alleged that the original grant was an “affront to West Virginia taxpayers” and a “blatant violation of church-state separation.”

St. Joseph the Worker teaches construction-related trades such as carpentry, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. It also offers a bachelor’s degree in Catholic studies along with the trade lessons.

The school says on its website that its Catholic studies program is “designed to prepare [students] for the lay vocation: sanctifying your family, your workplace, and your community.”

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the Vatican on Sept. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Day morning, Dec. 25 — a custom dating to the pontificate of St. John Paul II.

The Vatican announced Tuesday Pope Leo’s Mass schedule for Nov. 1 through the end of the Christmas season in January 2026.

The addition of Christmas Mass During the Day, before the urbi et orbi blessing, is accompanied by a new hour for the celebration of the papal Christmas Mass During the Night on Dec. 24.

Leo has moved the celebration of the Christmas Eve Mass from 7:30 p.m. local time, as it was celebrated by Pope Francis, to 10 p.m. The midnight Mass has not been celebrated at midnight at the Vatican since John Paul II’s pontificate.

The relatively young and healthy Leo has presided over a large number of Masses and other prayer services during the first months of his pontificate.

Here is Pope Leo XIV’s Mass schedule for November, December, and the beginning of January:

Nov. 1 in St. Peter’s Square: Mass and the declaration of St. John Henry Newman as a doctor of the Church during the Jubilee of the World of Education on the solemnity of All Saints

Nov. 3 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass for the soul of Pope Francis and the cardinals and bishops who died in the past year

Nov. 9 in the Basilica of St. John Lateran: Mass for the feast of the dedication of the basilica

Nov. 16 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Nov. 23 in St. Peter’s Square: Mass for the Jubilee of Choirs and Choristers on the solemnity of Christ the King

Dec. 8 in Piazza di Spagna in Rome: act of veneration to the Immaculate Conception on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Dec. 12 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass for the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dec. 14 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners on the third Sunday of Advent

Dec. 24 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass During the Night for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

Dec. 25 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass during the Day for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

Dec. 25 in St. Peter’s Basilica: urbi et orbi blessing from the central loggia of the basilica

Dec. 31 in St. Peter’s Basilica: first vespers and Te Deum in thanksgiving for the past year

Jan. 1 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass for the World Day of Peace on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Jan. 6 in St. Peter’s Basilica: Mass and the closing of the Holy Door and the Jubilee Year 2025 on the solemnity of Epiphany

Jan. 11 in the Sistine Chapel: Mass and the baptism of several babies on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The flag of Slovakia, pictured in the country’s capital, Bratislava. / Credit: RossHelen/Shutterstock

Rome, Italy, Sep 30, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Slovakia’s recently-amended constitution, which aims to protect family, marriage, and parenthood, has been well-received by the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia (KBS).

“Slovakia sent a signal that it wishes to strengthen a society based on the values of truth, freedom, justice, and the dignity of human life,” said the chairman of the KBS, Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice.

Bober called it an “important step” and, on behalf of all the bishops, thanked those who voted for the amendment as well as those who publicly supported it.

“Despite the fact that our society is going through a difficult time and is often divided on many issues, it is encouraging to see that we can also discover what unites us,” Bishop František Trstenský of Spiš wrote on Facebook.

Marriage and family are the fundamental community on which the development of society is based, Trstenský continued, quoting St. John Paul II: “Marriage and family are among the most precious human values.”

Likewise, Christian associations under the umbrella of “The Forum of Christian Institutions” (FKI) see the change positively but expressed some confusion.

“The adopted changes are in line with the values held by Christian organizations, but it is sad that such clear and natural things have to be defined in society through law and the constitution,” FKI Chairman Pavol Kossey said.

Parliamentary vote

The National Council of the Slovak Republic amended the constitution after the government formed a majority with the support of some opposition members. Ninety of the 99 present members voted in favor, with one government member abstaining. The total number of Parliament members is 150.

The text recognizes only two sexes — male and female. Surrogacy is forbidden. Only married couples can adopt children, and Slovakia does not recognize civil unions between people of the same sex. Equal pay for the same work is guaranteed for both sexes.

Moreover, “strengthening the protection of traditional values is key to preserving the cultural heritage of the Slovak Republic and ensuring legal stability,” the draft of the amendment reads.

The amendment “responds to the need to protect cultural heritage,” which is “specifically linked to the recognition of marriage between a man and a woman as a unique union,” according to Parliament’s press release.

The government is composed of two social democratic parties, which, unlike their counterparts in Western Europe, are not progressive, along with a nationalist party.

Christian Democrats in the opposition voted in favor, except for two members, who said it would raise “the standard of fundamental human rights” by “supporting families, raising children, and strengthening cohesion in our common European home.”

The changes take effect on Nov. 1.

National sovereignty questions

The amendment will “emphasize the sovereignty of Slovakia in fundamental cultural and ethical issues regarding the protection of life and human dignity, private and family life, marriage, parenthood and family, culture, and language.”

This includes the upbringing and education of children.

Previously, several Slovak Catholic politicians, including former prime minister Ján Čarnogurský, called for sovereignty in cultural and ethical issues. They may have wanted to protect Slovakia from allegedly progressive or top-down influence from supranational organizations such as the European Union. Slovakia has been part of the EU since 2004.

However, some observers suggest that this concept may be controversial, as national sovereignty in these issues may conflict with EU law.

“Even among experts today, there are fundamental disagreements about what it will actually mean, how it will be applied, and what effects the courts will recognize in their decision-making,” warned constitutional lawyer Radoslav Procházka. The amendment is vaguely formulated and goes against the principle of legal stability, he added.

The principle of the primacy of EU law “is based on the idea that where a conflict arises between an aspect of EU law and an aspect of law” in a member state, “EU law will prevail.” This ensures the pursuit of EU policies that would otherwise be unworkable.

Criticism and support

Opponents of the amendment criticize it as controversial and based on political calculation, arguing it will complicate the lives of transgender people.

On the other hand, some commentators applauded that a strong conservative majority passed the amended constitution on such essential themes. For too long, conservatives — especially in the West and partly in Slovakia — have not been able to go against the mainstream on similar topics. 

Some conservative commentators argued that, after what Antonio Gramsci once called a “long march through the institutions” by the left, the time has come to reclaim these cultural spheres.