St. James the Apostle Roman Catholic Church

Pope Francis’ coffin is sealed prior to his funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, April 25, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 16:26 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ coffin was closed and sealed in St. Peter’s Basilica in a private ceremony on Friday evening after more than 250,000 people paid their final respects to the late pope over three days of public visitation.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the rite of the closing and sealing of the coffin, which was attended by cardinals of the Roman Curia, the pope’s secretaries, and several of his relatives.

Priests of the Chapter of St. Peter, a group responsible for the liturgical and sacramental care of St. Peter’s Basilica, will keep vigil over the late pontiff’s coffin during the night of April 25 until the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on the morning of April 26.

The liturgy, which lasted one hour, began with the reading of the “rogito,” a two-page summary in Latin of Francis’ life and papacy.

The choir chanted the Canticle of Zachariah, there was a moment for silent prayer, and then Farrell read a prayer in Latin asking the Lord that Pope Francis’ face, “which scrutinized your ways to show them to the Church, now see your fatherly face.”

Following the prayer, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the Vatican’s lead master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, covered Pope Francis’ face in a white silk veil. Farrell sprinkled holy water on the late pontiff’s body, and then Ravelli placed inside the coffin a copy of the “rogito,” rolled up inside a metal cylinder and sealed, and a bag with the coins minted during Francis’ pontificate.

First the interior coffin of zinc was closed and sealed. A cross, Pope Francis’ coat of arms, and a plaque with his papal name, the length of his life — 88 years, four months, and four days — and the length of his pontificate — 12 years, one month, and eight days — was visible on the outside of the zinc coffin. 

Then, the outer wooden coffin, which featured a cross and the coat of arms of Francis, was closed.

The rite concluded with the singing of psalms and antiphons, including the Marian antiphon for the Easter season, the Regina Caeli.

After the funeral Mass on April 26, Pope Francis’ remains will be brought from the Vatican through Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he will be buried in another private ceremony.

The Colorado capitol in Denver. / Credit: robert cicchetti/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 15:51 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders in Colorado this week decried a new state law signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday that will mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions.  

Colorado was already one of the most permissive states in the country in terms of abortion. Voters in November 2024 approved Amendment 79, which enshrined in the state constitution the state laws already in place that allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. 

One of the two new laws Polis signed April 24 — passed by the Legislature as Senate Bill 183 — implements Amendment 79, setting the date for it to ultimately take effect at the beginning of 2026. 

As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money. 

Public employees’ insurance plans will also have to cover abortion, the Denver Post reported. 

Bishops: Public funding of abortion violates ‘dignity of human life’

In an April 24 statement, the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, said the new law will force Coloradans to “fund elective abortion up to birth using our tax dollars.” 

The conference had strongly urged all people to vote no on Amendment 79 during last year’s campaign, noting that among other things, it would open the door for direct taxpayer funding for abortion.

“The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the bishops wrote April 24. 

“Rather than using state resources to support life-affirming alternatives, SB25-183 prioritizes public funding of abortion at the expense of the lives of preborn children, the health of their mothers, and the conscience rights of millions of Colorado taxpayers who morally object to abortion.”

In an open letter sent earlier this month — co-signed by Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Archdiocese of Denver, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, and Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo — the bishops said the proposal “violates the dignity of human life” and “disregards the safety of women.”

They urged the governor “to consider the millions of Coloradans who do not want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used in the destruction of human life.”

State analysts have estimated the cost of public coverage of abortion at nearly $5.9 million per year, with some savings — perhaps only as much as $573,000 — realized for the state because of the lower cost of covering abortion rather than supporting the babies’ births. 

However, the Colorado bishops disputed the state’s analysis, noting that according to data published in 2024 from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 62% of abortions in Colorado are paid for using Medicaid. 

The cost of the state expanding taxpayer payment to virtually all abortions, including more expensive late-term abortions — especially given a likely loss of federal support — will potentially cost the state closer to $8.5 million per year.

Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute and assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, called the arguments for the bill “bad economics and even worse ethics.”

In his analysis of the bill for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, New found that when state Medicaid programs cover abortions, the number of abortions increases. The Colorado bill will increase the number of abortions in Colorado by more than 1,800 annually, New said.

“[T]he federal government subsidizes other health services covered by Colorado’s Medicaid program. Colorado taxpayers pay for only a fraction of the cost of Medicaid births,” New wrote at National Review earlier this month.

“Indeed, contrary to the assertion of Colorado Democrats, covering elective abortion would cost Colorado taxpayers money.”

The other law Polis signed, passed as Senate Bill 129, will ramp up the state’s 2023 shield law to guard abortion providers and patients, and their data, from out-of-state investigations and other actions, the Denver Post reported.

Twenty states and Washington, D.C., now allow Medicaid programs to use state taxpayer dollars to cover elective abortions.

Members of Civil Protection at the Vatican. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

More than 1,800 Italian Civil Protection volunteers are currently deployed around St. Peter’s Basilica and throughout central Rome to coordinate and facilitate the flow of pilgrims paying their final respects to Pope Francis.

“Our task is to provide assistance to the pilgrims, information on where to go, access routes to the basilica, distribute bottles of water if the sun is out, and help people as much as possible,” explained volunteer Alessandro Saletta.

Italy is preparing extensively to welcome monarchs, heads of state and government, and other political representatives from around the world who will attend the funeral in St. Peter’s Square.

More than 130 international delegations have confirmed their attendance. In addition, 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs are expected.

“We at Civil Protection are assisting mostly in the Vatican area, while Italian security forces, such as the Carabinieri, the army, and the fire department, are monitoring the most sensitive areas, such as Termini station and Fiumicino airport,” Saletta explained.

The impressive security measures for Pope Francis’ funeral include the deployment of some 4,000 police officers as well as snipers, agents with expertise in detecting explosives, a no-fly zone, and exhaustive checks at airports and train and bus stations.

According to the latest figures released by the Vatican, since Wednesday nearly 250,000 people have filed through St. Peter’s Basilica where the pope, who died on Monday at the age of 88, lies in state. The public viewing ended at 7 p.m. Rome time Friday.

The funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 26. Once completed, the Vatican has scheduled a procession of the coffin with the pope’s remains, which will leave St. Peter’s Basilica and proceed to St. Mary Major Basilica, where the pontiff will be buried at ground level in a tomb designed with great simplicity.

The route for the funeral cortege, which represents one of the greatest organizational challenges for the Italian authorities, will pass by iconic sites such as the Roman Colosseum and will be cordoned off on both sides of the road to safely allow the faithful who wish to do so to pay their last respects.

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

Pope Francis. / Credit: Vatican Media

Lima Newsroom, Apr 25, 2025 / 14:47 pm (CNA).

The death of Pope Francis marks the end of an era for the Catholic Church in Latin America. As the first Latin American pontiff, his legacy in the region is complex, according to analysts consulted by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

His 12-year pontificate coincided with multiple challenges in the region, including dictatorial regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, mass migration, and sexual abuse scandals within the Church.

He created 149 cardinals, 32 of whom are Latin American, and 23 of them will be electors in the upcoming conclave.

The 2013 election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope generated a wave of hope and enthusiasm in Latin America. However, over the years, the positive perception of the pontiff among Latin American Catholics fell from its early stratospheric heights. 

According to a Pew Research Center survey published in September 2024, Pope Francis’ popularity in the region slipped considerably over the decade, with Argentina being the most notable case: There his approval rating fell from 98% in 2013 to 74% in 2024.

Other countries surveyed that registered declines were Colombia (from 93% to 88%), Brazil (from 92% to 84%), Mexico (from 86% to 80%), Peru (from 83% to 78%), and Chile (from 79% to 64%).

A Church of the Americas for the world

As pope, Bergoglio brought his Latin American pastoral experience to Rome, transforming the Church on the continent from being “‘a Church reflective of European characteristics’ to beginning the process of becoming a ‘source Church,’” emphasized Rodrigo Guerra, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, he explained that “this can easily be seen by looking closely” at Francis’ first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, or the Synod on Synodality, which “have the air of a Latin American ecclesial family.”

Guerra also highlighted Francis’ legacy in his social teaching, which “recovers and matures many of the most cherished insights of the Latin American Catholic Church’s experience,” such as “the preferential option for the poor, understood as a Christological rather than a partisan option,” his “strong criticism of all ‘ideological colonization,’” and “‘popular spirituality’ as the true theological action of God in the faithful.”

Jorge Trasloheros, who holds a doctorate in Latin American studies, explained that the pastoral guidance Bergoglio would apply to the world can be seen in the Aparecida document — in which the then-Argentine archbishop played a significant role — and whose “main theme is that every Catholic must be a missionary disciple of Christ.”

This is a document in which “there is no political slogan per se, as in fact there may have been in previous meetings of bishops,” but rather it encourages Catholics to go in “search of the peripheries” of humanity.

Furthermore, another Latin American characteristic of Pope Francis was his challenge to people and “the issue of synodality.” Aparecida calls “for learning to walk in community, and synodality is this walking in community,” he said.

Trasloheros clarified that the pontificate was not about “making the universal Church a Latin America but rather that the contributions of the experience of the Latin American episcopate served to inspire many initiatives within a totally depleted European Church.”

His trips to the region

During his 12-year pontificate, Francis visited 61 countries on 47 trips. In Latin America, he visited Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Panama. But paradoxically, he never officially visited his native Argentina. 

Regarding this, Guerra recalled that “many times” the Holy Father declared “his interest in visiting his beloved Argentina,” a country whose people this past week have flocked to churches to pray for his eternal rest.

However, he explained that the decision regarding which countries to visit “is always a prudential one and involves weighing many factors.”

“The social and political reality of the people, of course, is one of those factors. However, it’s not the only one, and often, it is not the main one.” 

Pope Francis was constantly “attentive to the life and ups and downs of the Latin American region.” Guerra noted that “the only region in the world that has a pontifical commission within the structure of the Roman Curia is Latin America,” home to 48% of the world’s Catholics.

Pope Francis’ first trip was to Brazil for World Youth Day in Rio in 2013.   

Subsequently, in Ecuador, Francis dedicated himself to promoting the protection of the family, rejecting the throwaway culture, and reminding everyone that evangelizing “is our revolution.”

During his visit to Bolivia in July 2015, he said that some powers are determined to erase Catholicism from the Latin American peoples “perhaps because our faith is revolutionary, because our faith challenges the tyranny of the idol of money.”

The then-Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi stated that when the pope spoke of “processes of change, of revolutionary faith,” he was referring to “a revolution founded on love.”

“There is no vocabulary of struggle or violence, it is a vocabulary of love and compassion,” he explained.

That same year, he traveled to Paraguay. In a meeting with civil society, he said that it is useless to take an “ideological view” of the poor because they end up being exploited “for other political or personal interests” to the detriment of their human dignity.

In September 2015, he became the third pope to visit Cuba, where he had an informal meeting with Fidel Castro. He also called for freedom and for room to operate so that the Church could fulfill its mission.

The following year, he traveled to Mexico and visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica, where he prayed for a moment before the Marian image. He also celebrated Mass with Indigenous people in Chiapas and another in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from the United States.

At this Mass, he denounced forced migration as “a human tragedy” that has reached global levels. “This crisis, which can be measured in numbers, we want to measure in names, in stories, in families. These are brothers and sisters who are being forced out by poverty and violence, by drug trafficking and organized crime,” he said.

Pope Francis visited Colombia in 2017, the year after the peace agreement was signed between the government and the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, by its Spanish acronym). During that trip, the pope encouraged Colombians to continue working for reconciliation, in addition to calling for a solution to the crisis in Venezuela.

He also beatified two Colombian martyrs: Jesús Jaramillo, the bishop of Arauca, and Father Pedro Ramírez, the priest of Armero.

His trip to Chile in January 2018 marked a turning point in the fight against sexual abuse. After defending the appointment of Bishop Juan Barros as bishop of Osorno, he subsequently took into account the accusations against the prelate for allegedly covering up sexual abuse and decided to order an investigation into how the Church responded to the abuse allegations.

That same month, he visited Peru, where he met with the Amazonian peoples, whom he urged to fight against illegal mining, deforestation, prostitution, and human trafficking.

Panama was the last Latin American country visited by Pope Francis, on the occasion of World Youth Day 2019. During the Mass of Commissioning, he encouraged young people to follow the example of Mary, who, with her “fiat,” said yes to the mission God had entrusted to her.

In addition, he gave the continent 11 saints: the three child martyrs of Tlaxcala, José Sánchez del Río, Mother Laura Montoya, Mother María Guadalupe García Zavala, Mama Antula, Artímedes Zatti, José del Rosario Brochero, Nazaria Ignacia, and Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. 

He also prepared the canonizations of the first two Venezuelan saints: Dr. José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Elena Rendíles Martínez, founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus. 

Liberation theology or theology of the people?

As a priest and later archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio addressed Latin American social reality, marked by poverty and migration, as he experienced it in the shantytowns of the Argentine capital.

As Trasloheros sees it, the same radicalism that Francis displayed in defending life “from the first moment until natural death” he displayed in protecting the dignity of migrants. 

“But when he starts talking about defending migrants, ‘Oh, of course, he’s on the left!’” For Trasloheros, these are attempts by groups to confuse “faith with politics” to manipulate it toward “their interests, rejecting or presenting a pope who doesn’t exist.”

For his part, Guerra said that “the political geometry of those on the ‘right’ and the ‘left’ fails to appreciate the irreducibility of the [the life and mission of Jesus Christ]” and that “every time the popes fail to please the powers of the world, they try to label them with reductive categories.”

“The pope,” the Vatican official affirmed, “is the guarantor of the correct interpretation of the deposit of faith, and his teaching on the social dimension of the Gospel is also part of his magisterium. Losing sight of this quickly engenders mentalities that explicitly or tacitly break with proper ecclesial communion.”

One of Francis’ actions that was questioned at the time was the canonization of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 in El Salvador, allegedly a supporter of liberation theology. 

However, this connection was rejected by Monsignor Jesús Delgado, who served as secretary to the Central American saint. He asserted that “[Archbishop Romero] knew nothing about liberation theology, and he didn’t want to learn about it. He was a faithful adherent of the Catholic Church and, above all, of the doctrine of the popes.”

But there were other gestures that also fostered this perception, such as the letter the pope sent to Father Gustavo Gutiérrez, considered the father of liberation theology, on his 90th birthday. “I thank you for all you have contributed to the Church and to humanity,” the pope wrote, “through your service to theology and your preferential love for the poor and the outcasts of society.”

In addition, he lifted the suspensions “a divinis” that Pope John Paul II had imposed on Miguel D’Escoto, Fernando Cardenal, and Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priests of that movement, for their political participation in the Sandinista government.

The Vatican reported that Francis granted D’Escoto’s request to “return to celebrating the Holy Eucharist before his death” and Ernesto Cardenal’s request to “be readmitted to the exercise of the priestly ministry.”

In January 2017, Pope Francis told the Spanish newspaper El País that “liberation theology was a positive thing in Latin America. The part that opted for a Marxist analysis of reality was condemned by the Vatican.”

“Cardinal [Joseph] Ratzinger issued two instructions when he was prefect of the [then-Congregation for the] Doctrine of the Faith. One was very clear about the Marxist analysis of reality. And the second took up positive aspects. Liberation theology had positive aspects and also had deviations, especially in its Marxist analysis of reality,” he noted.

Jesuit Father Juan Carlos Scannone, one of Bergoglio’s formators, affirmed that the pontiff never shared the tenets of Father Gustavo Gutiérrez but rather was guided by the Argentine current of liberation theology, which “does not use Marxist social analysis but rather prefers a historical-cultural analysis, without discarding the socio-structural, but not based on class struggle as the determining principle for interpreting society and history.”

“The Argentine line of liberation theology, which some call ‘theology of the people,’ helps us understand Bergoglio’s pastoral work as a bishop as well as many of his statements and teachings,” Scannone explained.

The secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Rodrigo Guerra, explained that Scannone created “a typology to classify the various ‘theologies of liberation,’” which includes the “Río de la Plata school” and is also known as “theology of the people,” “a non-Marxist way of creatively developing a non-conformist, critical, and liberating theology with a strong cultural focus,” he noted.

“Pope Francis subscribes in part to this tradition, but he goes beyond it in more than one respect. Pope Francis, in some ways, represents the creative maturation of the ‘theology of the people,’ of the Latin American episcopal magisterium, and of the truly lived pastoral experience of many communities in the region,” he added.

Trasloheros also emphasized this point, because while Marxist liberation theology “is ideologized, identifies with political parties, and rejects popular religiosity because it is considered alienating,” the line followed by Francis supports popular religiosity and understands the culture that is unique to the people.

“That’s why he was a ‘shantytown pope,’ as they called him, and was so supportive of the priests [ministering in] the slums, the forgotten inner city, the marginalized areas,” he noted.

For David Lantigua, adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame, “today, liberation theology has multiplied into several other themes, such as Indigenous and ecofeminist theology.”

However, “Pope Francis doesn’t speak of liberation theology but of the theology of poverty, a theology of the people from the ‘sensus fidei,’ which includes the wisdom of human beings, grassroots movements, and the environment,” Lantigua told ACI Prensa.

“The Gospel of Christ, who ‘though he was rich, became poor’ (2 Cor 8:9), proclaims the word of God to the poor, and from the poor it has a social and liberating dimension. The exhortation Evangelii Gaudium is like a document from Aparecida, which was led by Bergoglio, for the universal Church,” he added.

In 2015, on the flight from Cuba to Washington, D.C., the pope was told that some considered him a communist pope. To this, Francis noted that he had never said “one more thing that wasn’t in the Church’s social doctrine.”

“Things can be explained. Perhaps one explanation has given the impression of being a little more leftist, but that would be a mistake. No, my doctrine on all this, on Laudato Si’, on economic imperialism, all of this, is that of the Church’s social doctrine,” he affirmed.

For Trasloheros, the theology of the people “is neither left nor right. Through pastoral experience, he tries to proclaim Christ and live Christ; therefore, he has no political spectrum and cannot be ideologized.”

The Mexican expert said that taking this position caused Bergoglio to be marginalized by a “radical group” of Jesuits inclined toward Marxist theology, who sent him “to a very remote place, where his main mission was to hear confessions. He was not allowed to teach young people or have contact with them.”

This was until the then archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, was able to get him appointed as auxiliary bishop.

Deficit of democracy in Latin America

During the years of Francis’ pontificate, Latin America continued to be a continent facing great challenges, including the lack of democracy in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Francis visited Cuba in 2015. A year earlier, the pope played a crucial role in achieving a thaw in the relationship between the communist regime and the United States during the Obama administration, although this was reversed by the first Trump administration. 

But through his diplomatic representatives, he also advocated for the release of political prisoners, especially those imprisoned during the peaceful protests of July 2021. Furthermore, although the Cuban government has not yet completed the release of 553 prisoners promised in January, it has noted that this promise was made through the mediation of Pope Francis.

In the case of Venezuela, in his early years, the pope provided mediation between the socialist regime and the opposition through the Vatican secretary for relations with states, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Although the process was cut short by the government’s lack of will, Francis remained committed to efforts to bring about democratization in Venezuela, whether through private letters or through his representatives, such as Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

But the most difficult and dramatic case has been Nicaragua, where the Catholic Church continues to be openly persecuted by the regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo, with the expulsion of bishops, priests, and religious orders, and the expropriation of Catholic properties.

Since the current crisis began in 2018, the pope supported the Church’s mediation through the apostolic nunciature. However, the Ortega regime expelled the nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, in March 2022.

Despite this, the pontiff closely followed the life of the Church in Nicaragua. His criticism of the Sandinista dictatorship prompted Ortega to respond by requesting the closure of the Vatican embassy in Managua.

Unlike Nicaragua, the Vatican still maintains diplomatic missions in Cuba and Venezuela.

For Guerra, “complex political scenarios, such as those in Venezuela, Cuba, or Nicaragua, require the practical wisdom of the pastor, that is, what St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, called ‘prudence.’”

“Prudence,” he clarified, “is not a clever calculation of means and ends. Much less is it timidity. Prudence is the ‘charioteer of virtues,’ that is, it’s the operative habit that guides stable dispositions for morally good decisions,” he said.

For the secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the pope promoted “the ‘possible good’ in every scenario.”

“Unlike heads of state, the pope is primarily a pastor who seeks the good of the people and the necessary freedom of the Church so that it can exercise its evangelizing mission.”

Synod for the Amazon

The Synod for the Amazon took place Oct. 6–27, 2019, at the Vatican. Pope Francis convened the event to reflect on pastoral care in this vast region of South America.

However, the event was not without its controversial aspects, such as the alleged cult of Pachamama (Mother Earth) and by some sectors pushing for women priests and married priests, proposals that were rejected.

Trasloheros affirmed that the convening of this synod was a pastoral initiative by Francis toward his home continent, bringing together not only bishops but also “many pastoral experiences that are being carried out by Indigenous communities” and by missionaries.

Guerra asserted that at the ceremony held in the Vatican Gardens on Oct. 4, 2019, “there was no act of worship of ‘Pachamama’” but rather “gifts brought from the Amazon were displayed, although it was difficult to interpret for the observer accustomed to a Eurocentric perspective.”

Regarding the figure of the pregnant woman, which was associated with the Pachamama, Guerra said that it was not “an effigy of the Andean ‘Pachamama’ but a simple sign of fertility, and that many of us appreciate because it invites us to ‘save both lives,’ that is, to respect the inalienable dignity of the unborn and the woman who carries [the baby] in her womb.”

“The Amazon Synod is now beginning to bear visible fruit, for example, through CEAMA, the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon. This unprecedented experience is undoubtedly promising. Affection and patience will help it mature. The men and women who participate in it are well aware of the importance of their evangelizing mission, strongly embedded in the context of and guided by the Church’s teaching on integral ecology,” he stated.

Migration

During Francis’ pontificate, mass migration continued to rise from Latin America, particularly from Venezuela, with millions leaving that country. Hundreds of thousands of people crossed the dangerous Darien jungle in migrant caravans that traveled through Central America to reach the United States.

Panama reported that nearly 300,000 people crossed that jungle in 2024. However, following measures taken by President Donald Trump, the flow has been reduced by 98%.

The Argentine pope repeatedly opposed anti-immigrant policies and advocated for “welcoming migrants.”

In the case of the United States, he rejected the mass deportations carried out by the Trump administration. The pope’s stance caused a clash with Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism and one of the last people to meet with Francis before his death.

Abortion

Despite the pope’s vociferous opposition to abortion, during his pontificate the practice gained ground in the region. It was decriminalized in Chile in 2017, legalized in Argentina in 2020, liberalized in Colombia in 2022, and is currently permitted in most states of Mexico.

Abuse cases

During his pontificate, Francis strengthened the zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy.

Among the most high-profile cases was the episode in Chile, following accusations against the bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, for alleged cover-up.

Following his apostolic visit to the country in January 2018, the pope sent a special mission whose report led the Chilean bishops to offer their resignations which the pope then used to begin the renewal of the country’s episcopate.

He also laicized Fernando Karadima, the Chilean priest who was convicted by the Vatican in 2011 of sexual abuse.

During his pontificate, he continued working to reform the Legionaries of Christ, following the abuse scandals committed by its founder and several members.

Likewise, an investigation was conducted into the Sodality of Christian Life for sexual abuse and the abuse of power, which culminated in the dissolution of that apostolic society founded in Peru.

Finally, in January, he approved the appointment of two papal delegates to the Institute of the Incarnate Word — which was founded in Argentina — to help it “bring about effective change,” given that its founder, who died in 2023, continued to be presented as an exemplary priest, despite being found guilty “of the crimes of which he was accused.”

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

German Bishops at Mass in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls during their visit in Rome, Nov. 17, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 25, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:

German group slams bishops’ same-sex blessing guide issued after Pope Francis’ death

A small but influential Catholic group in Germany called “New Beginning” has issued a blistering statement protesting the release of a new handout, “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other,” by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). 

The new instructions on the blessing of same-sex couples came just 48 hours after the death of Pope Francis. “Obviously, this document was ready in the drawer,” the group stated in its “Protest Note,” adding: “They probably only waited for the death of the pope and the interregnum to create facts in the time of weakened ecclesiastical legal power and to introduce exactly what was expressly prohibited in Fiducia Supplicans [the 2023 Vatican directive on nonliturgical blessings for couples in ‘irregular’ situations].”

The handout states that divorced couples and “couples of all sexual orientations and gender identities are a natural part of our society” and that “couples who do not wish to enter into a Church sacramental marriage or who are not eligible for one should be allowed to have blessing ceremonies.”

Diocese of Zambia declares period of mourning, suspends Easter celebrations

The Archdiocese of Ndola in Zambia has declared a period of mourning following the passing of Pope Francis and suspended major activities it had lined up before the Easter Monday news was made public, reported ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

The archdiocese’s pastoral director, Father Ephraim Mulenda Mapulanga, said the decision to suspend all activities and enter a period of mourning was a way of “showing respect to our late Holy Father.” He further noted that the pastoral office had seen fit that “all programs of entertainment be suspended in all our parishes and institutions.”

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemns terror attack in Kashmir 

The Indian Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a statement on Wednesday condemning a terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people and injured 17 others, according to a UCA News report. According to reports, a terrorist group known as the Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

“We strongly condemn this heinous crime against humanity, which has targeted innocent lives, causing immense pain and suffering to families and loved ones,” the bishops said in an April 23 statement. “Violence only breeds more violence, and it is high time for us to choose the path of love, compassion, and understanding,” they added. The bishops further urged the militant group to lay down their arms.

Ecumenical Mass in Egypt for the soul of Pope Francis

In a solemn ecumenical gathering, Bishop Claudio Lurati of Alexandria, Egypt, presided over a memorial Mass for Pope Francis at St. Catherine Latin Cathedral in Alexandria, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

He was joined by bishops from the Maronite, Melkite, and Coptic Catholic Churches along with government officials, foreign diplomats, and representatives from Al-Azhar. Lurati praised Pope Francis as a man of deep love and service who brought hope and unity to a divided world.

Nigerian bishop laments exodus in episcopal see amid insecurity

Bishop Michael Gobal Gokum of the Diocese of Pankshin in Nigeria has expressed sorrow over the mass displacement of residents in his episcopal see as a result of insecurity. In an interview with ACI Africa on Tuesday, Gokum said violence in Bokkos and other parts of Nigeria’s Plateau state has left thousands of people homeless, with many now living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

“I feel very sad seeing my flock always on the road, carrying their belongings, crying and wailing because of the insecurity in their communities,” he lamented. “I cannot be an effective shepherd when the people are unhappy, when they are unsafe, and when they are forced to live in IDP camps.”

South Sudan’s president remembers day Pope Francis kissed his feet 

In wake of Pope Francis’ death, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan recalled an extraordinary moment when the Holy Father knelt and kissed his feet while begging him and other political leaders to end the country’s civil war. 

“It goes without saying that South Sudan had a special spot in the heart of His Holiness Pope Francis,” Kiir said. “His act of kindness and humility demonstrated during our visit to Rome in 2019, when he knelt down to kiss our feet, was a turning point for us, the peace partners.”

Religious sisters gather to pray the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Monday, April 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Throughout his papacy, Francis took steps to appoint and integrate women into leadership roles in the Vatican. From the time he took office in 2013, the number of female employees working in the Vatican increased from about 850 at the beginning of Francis’ papacy to nearly 1,200 in 2023, according to a report by Vatican News. 

As of 2023, more than 1 in 4 employees of the Roman Curia — the group of bureaus that support the pope in governing the Church — are women.

While increasing the opportunities for women in the Church, Pope Francis consistently maintained the Catholic teaching that the priesthood is reserved for men. Francis said the Church needed to preserve its masculine “Petrine principle” in regards to ministry as well as its feminine, spousal nature, which he called the “Marian principle.” Notably, Francis believed women were highly capable of participating directly in the Church, especially in an “administrative way.” He said women make better managers than men and “have been running things since the Garden of Eden.”

In a 2022 interview, Francis spoke of the dignity of women as reflecting the spousal, feminine nature of the Church.

“A Church with only the Petrine principle would be a Church that one would think is reduced to its ministerial dimension, nothing else,” he said. “But the Church is more than a ministry. It is the whole people of God. The Church is woman. The Church is a spouse. Therefore, the dignity of women is mirrored in this way.” 

In March 2022, the pope established in Praedicate Evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”) that any member of the faithful could be eligible to lead a Vatican dicastery. 

Women became voting members in a 2023 synod for the first time in the Church’s history. The pope also opened to women “full membership” roles in the Vatican dicasteries — previously reserved for cardinals and bishops. In January, Pope Francis marked another milestone in his pontificate by appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, the first-ever woman to head a Vatican dicastery — the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.  

As the Church reflects on Francis’ legacy and the confidence he placed in women to help lead the Church, CNA took a closer look at four religious sisters appointed to some of the highest-ranking leadership roles in the Vatican. 

First-ever woman to lead a dicastery 

In January, Sister Simona Brambilla became the first woman to head a Vatican dicastery. 

As prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, she  oversees about 700,000 religious men and women throughout the world.

Brambilla, 60, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and served as superior general of the order for more than a decade. She was a missionary sister in Mozambique in the late 1990s and as a professional nurse taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in its Institute of Psychology.

Pope Francis appointed Brambilla in December 2024 as a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, which helps prepare the ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In July 2019, she — alongside six other women — became the first female members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. She later became secretary of the dicastery. 

When asked about her appointment as secretary in a 2024 interview, Brambilla said that for peace to grow, it “needs the fertility of a primordial soil: the healthy, good, trusting, respectful, reverent, tender, and vital relationship between man and woman.”

“A bit as it must have been at the beginning of time, in that garden in which God loved to walk in the breeze of the day, looking for the man and the woman, his blessed image,” Brambilla said. 

Brambilla works with a cardinal who serves as pro-prefect, an unprecedented structure in the Holy See. Church law calls for ordination to carry out certain governing powers. 

Pope Francis made it possible for laypeople including women to lead a dicastery — a role previously reserved for cardinals and archbishops — in the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium in 2022.

Vatican City’s first female governor 

At the beginning of 2025, Pope Francis appointed Franciscan religious sister Raffaella Petrini as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and governor of Vatican City State, making her the first woman to ever hold the position.

Petrini served as secretary of both institutions since November 2021 — a second-ranking role in which she oversaw administrative offices, the police department, museums, and other services in Vatican City.

In her new role, Petrini reports directly to the pope and manages the Vatican budget and finance. As president of the Governorate of Vatican City, she runs the executive body of the papal city and leads the pontifical commission. She is the legislative authority of the city state. The governorate encompasses security and public order, health, economic issues, and infrastructure as well as the Vatican Museums and the Pontifical Swiss Guard. 

Petrini, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, replaced Cardinal Fernando Vérgez in the role beginning on March 1.

Petrini, 56, is a professor with both academic and administrative experience. She was born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, and graduated with a degree in political science from the Guido Carli International University of Studies. She has a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in social sciences, where she has taught economics and the sociology of economic processes.  

From 2005 to 2021, Petrini worked at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which was responsible for missionary work. 

Pope Francis announced Petrini’s appointment in January during an interview, where he said: “Women know how to manage things better than us” and shared how “we now have many women” in leadership roles in the Vatican.  

Pioneering woman in key social development role

In August 2021, Pope Francis appointed Italian economist and Catholic religious sister Alessandra Smerilli to a second-ranking position in the Vatican’s social development office — one of the highest posts ever held by a woman at the Holy See. 

Smerilli, a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, was appointed “ad interim” secretary of the Vatican’s social development office, the dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. 

The office helps promote Catholic social teaching around the world by addressing various social justice issues including human rights, the safeguarding of creation, human trafficking, and other charitable works.  

The 50-year-old Salesian sister is an economist and professor. She has been an undersecretary at the human development dicastery since March 24, 2021, and was one of the principal organizers of the 2020 Economy of Francesco event. 

When asked in 2024 by Angelus News about women in leadership in the Church, Smerilli said: “We need both men and women in order to have a more complete picture and a different perspective on the reality we face.”

Since 2019, Smerilli has also served as a councilor of the Vatican City State and a consultant to the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. In spring 2020, she was asked to coordinate the economic task force of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission.

Forbes’ ‘most influential religious sister’ 

French religious sister Nathalie Becquart became the highest-ranking woman to ever work in the Synod of Bishops after Pope Francis appointed her to the second-ranking position in February 2021. 

Becquart became the first woman undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, the advisory body to the pope himself. She went on to become the first woman to be a voting member in a Catholic synod, which is usually made up of bishops, priests, and some religious men, and Becquart was among many women who actively participated in the 2023 and 2024 Synod on Synodality.

Becquart holds a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the HEC business school in Paris. Before she joined the Xavière Sisters at age 26 in 1995, she worked as a marketing consultant. 

In 2024, the magazine featured Becquart in its Forbes Most Influential Women “50 over 50” list, calling her “the highest-ranking woman in the Vatican.”

Because of her extensive background in youth ministry, Becquart was involved in the preparation for the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment in 2018 and was general coordinator of a pre-synod meeting, taking part as an auditor. 

Before her 2021 appointment, Becquart worked in the Synod of Bishops as a consultant to the general secretariat beginning in 2019. From 2012 to 2018, she oversaw the French bishops’ National Service for the Evangelization of Youth and for Vocations, a program designed to evangelize young people and cultivate a culture of vocations.

The tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ tomb is made of Ligurian (Italian) marble with the sole inscription “FRANCISCUS” and a reproduction of his pectoral cross, according to new details released by the Vatican.

The burial place is located in the niche of the side aisle, between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Health of the Roman People) and the Sforza Chapel in St. Mary Major Basilica. It is also located near the altar dedicated to St. Francis. 

Work to receive Pope Francis’ coffin began a few days ago, fulfilling the pontiff’s wish for a simple burial in this church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In his autobiography, “Hope,” published earlier this year, Pope Francis made it clear that his burial place upon his death would be St. Mary Major Basilica.

“The Vatican is the home of my final service, not that of eternity. I will be in the room where the candelabras are now kept, close to that Queen of Peace, whose help I have always asked and by whom I have let myself be embraced during my pontificate more than a hundred times,” he stated.

“I thought they were going to bury him inside the crypt of the basilica, but it’s here,” said Valentina, one of the members of the faithful who visited the church.

She’s from Rome and pointed out that, with this gesture, Pope Francis wanted to seal his relationship with the Eternal City of which he was bishop.

Beside her, her husband, Francesco, said that during the Mass they attended a few minutes ago, they heard “the sounds of the workers at work.”

“The pope wanted to be buried at ground level and without ornamentation. It’s another example of the humility he has demonstrated throughout his 12 years of pontificate,” she noted.

The tomb is very close to the chapel of the “Salus Populi Romani” (“Health of the Roman People”), the Marian devotion where the pope regularly went to pray.

Antonieta, who said she was the same age as Pope Francis at 88, also came to the church to pray for the pontiff before a copy of the image of their shared, favorite Marian devotion.

The Holy Father entrusted all his apostolic journeys to Mary under this title every time he left from or returned to the Vatican.

He confided his concerns to her but also his physical pain. During the four times he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he wanted to offer his suffering to the Virgin Mary. He also did so at other difficult times, such as the pandemic.

“He had a great devotion to this church, and it wasn’t unusual to see him praying before its icon. His devotion is contagious and now, although I live near the Vatican and used to go to St. Peter’s, I often come to Mass here,” Antonieta said.

For Antonieta, also an octogenarian, the three kilometers (close to two miles) separating the Vatican basilica from St. Mary Major are no problem. The cortege accompanying the pope’s coffin will travel that same route after the funeral on Saturday, April 26.

But in addition to housing the Byzantine icon “Salus Populi Romani,” few know, for example, that St. Ignatius of Loyola also chose St. Mary Major to celebrate his first Mass as a priest. He later founded the Society of Jesus, for which this basilica was very important. In the aftermath of the Protestant revolt, the Marian image became a symbol of identity that clearly demonstrated adherence to the pope.

St. Mary Major Basilica also houses the remains of the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of the greatest exponents of Baroque art, and Pauline, the sister of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Starting Saturday, they will share their final resting place with Pope Francis.

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

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence in the film “Conclave.” / Credit: Focus Features

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).

“Conclave” was a surprise hit upon its theatrical release last October. And following the April 21 death of Pope Francis, the film, now on streaming platforms, has attracted a new wave of interest from viewers, with streaming rates of the film reportedly tripling in the days since the pope’s death was announced. 

Directed by Edward Berger and based on a 2016 novel, the film is a character-driven story focusing on several of the Church’s cardinals as they elect a new pope — with plenty of political jockeying and intrigue, ideological clashes, and dramatic turns throughout. The film garnered eight Academy Award nominations this spring, winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Even before its release, “Conclave” garnered heavy criticism from Catholics who decried the film’s twist ending — which, spoiler alert, sees a biological woman inadvertently elected pope — as well as the film’s depiction of the various ideologies of the cardinals, especially the obvious lionization of characters who espouse views contrary to the Church’s teaching. 

Beyond those criticisms, anyone using the film to educate themselves on how the actual conclave process will work in the coming weeks will find that the film contains a couple of key inaccuracies — but not everything in the film is fiction.

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) look at what “Conclave” gets wrong — and gets right — about the process of electing a new pope. 

FICTION: Cardinal caricatures; spiritual wasteland

One of the most widely-cited “inaccuracies” of the film, at least according to prominent Catholics, is its depiction of the College of Cardinals as deeply divided among ideological factions and the papacy as a highly political rather than a spiritual office. 

The film paints an inaccurate picture of the Church’s cardinals as cliquey, petty, ambitious, and “drably ideological,” said Matthew Bunson, a Church expert and editorial director for EWTN News (CNA’s parent company). 

“The banter among the cardinals is banal. It’s uninteresting, it’s political, it’s drably ideological on both sides. Every one of the major characters, unfortunately — despite the brilliance of the actors themselves — is uninteresting, incurious, and lacks a serious theological or philosophical spiritual depth,” Bunson told CNA. 

“They are cartoon characters of what cardinals — and I know many — actually talk about, and the types of issues they’re likely to discuss in a conclave,” he said. 

Over the course of the movie, the cardinals split into factions to try to get their “man” elected pope, with one coalition led by Stanley Tucci’s progressive-minded Cardinal Bellini seeking to reform the Church by rejecting many of the Church’s orthodox teachings; while the brash, rude, and openly racist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) advocates, ultimately unsuccessfully, for more traditionalist views.

Sparks fly onscreen as the factions clash with each other, skeletons tumble from closets, and the cardinals scheme to try to “win” the papacy for their ideological side. Any characters appearing to stand for an orthodox view of the Church’s teaching, Bunson noted, are “pushed out of the way” or outright “destroyed” within the narrative — such as a morally stern Nigerian cardinal who loses any hope he had for the papacy after it is revealed he hypocritically fathered a secret child.

Though a casual observer might be drawn in by the ideological clashes depicted on screen, Bunson said the film suffers from a “lack of intellectual and spiritual dimensions to almost any one of the characters.” Even Ralph Fiennes’ central character, Cardinal Lawrence, “stands down morally on multiple fronts” throughout the film, he said. 

Characters invoke God’s name many times throughout the film, but Jesus is barely mentioned; none of the cardinals, despite being priests, are ever shown celebrating Mass; and the Holy Spirit — who is meant to be the “protagonist” of any conclave, in the words of (real-life) Cardinal Kurt Koch — is not mentioned once (apart from when characters make the sign of the cross). 

The one fundamentally spiritual character, Cardinal Vincent Benítez (more on him later) is the sole character that “fundamentally couldn’t even be elected pope,” Bunson noted. 

Ultimately, the lack of true spiritual depth in the writing of the characters makes their conversations, arguments, and speeches “rather drab,” Bunson continued.

In reality, Bunson said that despite some real ideological differences among the College of Cardinals’ more than 250 members from every corner of the globe, “the cardinals from around the world, even though they don’t know each other, have [a] remarkable fraternity and collegiality as members of the College of Cardinals.”

“If this had been a genuine film on an authentic, Catholic conclave, that might have been truly historic and superb,” Bunson added.

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, expressed a similar criticism about the film’s ideological presentation on social media last year, quipping: “If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie.”

In the world of the movie, Barron continued, “the hierarchy of the Church is a hotbed of ambition, corruption, and desperate egotism … Conservatives are xenophobic extremists and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation.”

FACT: The process immediately after the pope’s death

The film, unsurprisingly, commences with the death of the (previous) pope. Bunson said the film’s depiction of the process that takes place immediately after the pope dies is reasonably accurate. 

The key figure in any papal transition is the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who is a cardinal given the key role of organizing the process during the papal vacancy. Cardinal Tremblay, the camerlengo in the film, breaks the dead pope’s ring of the fisherman — a real and famous process symbolizing the breaking of the seal of the late pope’s pontificate.  

The film skips the certification of the pope’s death, which under new papal funeral norms does not take place in the room where he dies but in his private chapel. As part of this process, the camerlengo calls the deceased pope three times by his baptismal name, confirming there is no response.

And later on, the film conflates some aspects of the role of the dean of the College of Cardinals with the role of the camerlengo, giving some of the camerlengo’s duties in arranging the conclave to Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence. (Bunson said he is willing to let slide those small details, which were likely changed slightly to make the scenes more impactful for Fiennes’ character.)

FICTION: ‘In pectore’ cardinal

Cardinal Benítez, who is strongly telegraphed as a papal candidate from the moment his character is introduced, says he was made a cardinal by the late pope “in pectore” — that is, in secret. He offers no documentation and no proof that he is who he says he is, and yet the other cardinals embrace him almost immediately. 

In reality, Bunson said, a cardinal created “in pectore” cannot take part in a conclave unless the pope makes the cardinal’s name public prior to his passing. 

“So right from the start, this character is ineligible to be a participant in this conclave, because he should not be a cardinal to begin with,” he said. 

FACT: The setting and voting process

The fictional conclave takes place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel — though the filmmakers had to recreate the priceless chapel for the film — as does the real conclave. 

The conclave system was formalized in 1274, and its procedures are minutely governed today by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of Pope John Paul II, as amended by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and allows for no innovations on the part of the cardinals. 

By tradition and law, the conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel, and votes are taken once or twice in a morning session and once or twice in an afternoon session. During the vote, cardinals individually approach Michelangelo’s painting of the Last Judgment, say a prayer in Latin, and drop their ballot into a large urn. Three designated cardinals then read each ballot aloud. A Catholic man needs two-thirds of the votes to be elected the next pope. 

When a session concludes without a man reaching the required majority, the ballots are burned, causing black smoke to emanate from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. However, if a pope is elected they are burned with the addition of a chemical agent, producing the characteristic white smoke signaling the election of a pope. (All of this is pretty well depicted in the movie, though Bunson said some things were “a little truncated for the sake of the audience” and for the sake of dramatic tension.)

Just as the movie depicts, once the doors of the Sistine Chapel close, it does indeed normally fall to the dean of the College of Cardinals to move the process along. (Though perhaps with fewer speeches as are depicted in the film, as those would have been done during the preceding general congregations). 

In the case of the imminent real-life conclave, however, things will look a little different because of the advanced ages of some of the key figures. 

Only cardinals who are younger than age 80 are eligible to take part in the conclave; these are the “cardinal electors.” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, is the current (again, real-life) dean — i.e., the most senior member of the College of Cardinals, elected from among the ranks of the cardinal bishops and confirmed by the pope. 

Re is too old to take part in the conclave, as is his vice dean, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. So, the upcoming conclave will be directed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the next eligible most senior cardinal bishop and the Vatican’s secretary of state. 

FICTION: The big twist

At the film’s climax, the cardinals inadvertently elect to the papacy a person who they believed to be a man — but in reality, the cardinal they elect, Benítez, is a biological woman who was raised as a male by her parents because she was born with an intersex condition.

CNA covered this aspect of the film in detail last October, with seminary rector Father Carter Griffin telling CNA that the Church’s constant teaching on this question, reiterated strongly by recent popes including Francis, is that the Church won’t — and in fact, can’t — ordain women.

In the case of the scenario depicted in the movie, Griffin explained that “a stable, secure, and well-ordered sexual identity is a necessary condition for priestly formation and ordination.” A biological female identifying as a male would not, in fact, be a male — and thus would be ineligible for the priesthood.

“It is our individual and unique creation as either male or female that identifies us as man or woman, not our subjective feelings or choices,” he said.

In priestly ordination, Griffin explained, a man is conformed to Christ in such a way that Jesus truly becomes present through him. Throughout his priestly ministry, but especially at Mass, the priest stands in the place of Christ who, as a bridegroom, lays down his life for his bride, the Church.

The priesthood, then, is a visible sign meant to point to the invisible reality of Christ’s presence as the “spouse” of his bride, the Church, which has always been understood to be female.

“Priests are conformed and united to Christ in such a way that they exercise their spiritual fatherhood in union with the feminine Church. Ordaining women would obscure that priestly paternity as well as the femininity of the bride of Christ,” Griffin said. 

While the Church is unable to ordain them, there are countless ways that women have long served and continue to serve the Catholic Church, such as through religious orders, in parish life, education, health care, in other Catholic ministries, and within Catholic families.

“God created us differently in part so that we could exercise different roles and complement one another as mothers and fathers. This is true in the natural sphere but also in the order of grace,” Griffin said.

Pope Francis' body is blessed in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 10:13 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ coffin will be sealed in a liturgical rite this evening ahead of his solemn funeral, set to take place the next morning on Saturday, April 26. 

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin beginning at 8 p.m. Rome time April 25, the Vatican announced. After his death on April 21, the pope’s body — dressed in red liturgical vestments with the miter and pallium — had been placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining. 

Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Roger Mahony, Domenique Mamberti, Mauro Gambetti, Baldassare Reina, and Konrad Krajewski have been invited to attend the ceremony, according to Vatican News. Other Holy See officials will be present to assist with the ceremony. 

The liturgy closing the coffin will end the three days of Pope Francis’ lying in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, during which a massive number of Catholics from around the world have come to pay their respects. As of Thursday evening, an estimated 90,000 people have entered St. Peter’s Basilica — many waiting hours in line — to catch a glimpse of the late pope. 

According to a booklet provided by the Holy See that lays out the liturgy, the master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will read what is known as the “rogito,” or deed, a document summarizing the life and works of the pope that “recalls [Francis’] life and his most important works, for which we give thanks to God the Father.”

After the reading of the deed, the Canticle of Zechariah will be sung. Then Ravelli will offer prayers as a preface to covering Pope Francis’ face with a white silk veil. 

“May his face, which has lost the light of this world, be forever illuminated by the true light whose inexhaustible source is in you,” the prayers include. 

After covering Pope Francis’ face, the celebrant — Farrell — will sprinkle the pope’s body with holy water. Then Ravelli will place in the coffin a bag containing coins and medals minted during Francis’ pontificate, and a metal tube with a copy of the rogito, after having affixed the seal of the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

The zinc lid will be placed on Francis’ coffin. On the lid is a cross, Pope Francis’ coat of arms, and a plaque bearing the name of the pontiff, the length of his life, and the length of his ministry as pope.

The zinc lining will then be soldered and the seals of the Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, of the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and of the Chapter of St. Peter will be pressed in. The wooden coffin will also then be closed; on the wooden lid are a cross and Francis’ coat of arms. 

An antiphon, several psalms, and the Regina Coeli (for the Easter season) are then prayed. 

The fact that Francis will have only a single coffin represents a departure from previous tradition — prior to reforms put in place by Pope Francis in 2024, popes had three nested coffins: one of cypress, one of lead, and one of oak, each with its own symbolism and function. 

The new papal funeral process instituted only months ago by Pope Francis stemmed from a desire “to simplify and adapt some rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome better expresses the Church’s faith in the risen Christ, eternal Shepherd,” Ravelli has previously said.

The funeral itself, called the “Missa poenitentialis,” will be celebrated at 10 a.m. local time April 26 in St. Peter’s Square and marks the first day of the “Novendiales” — nine consecutive days of mourning for the pope.

Following the funeral, Pope Francis will be interred in the Basilica of St. Mary Major at his request, because of his strong devotion to Mary.

A dire wolf puppy bred by Colossal Biosciences. / Credit: Colossal Biosciences

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A Texas-based bioengineering company sparked headlines across the world earlier this month when it announced it had done the seemingly impossible: brought a long-extinct species, the dire wolf, back from the dead. 

Here’s what Catholics should know about the dire wolves and what the Church might have to say about “resurrecting” extinct species of animals. 

A Colossal claim

Colossal Biosciences, a private company based in Dallas, announced April 7 the births of three genetically-modified puppies they say are not merely wolves but dire wolves — a species that roamed the Americas as a top predator for tens of thousands of years but which went extinct naturally around 12,500 years ago. 

The company was cofounded by the famed Harvard geneticist George Church, who has been active in the field of species “de-extinction” for decades. (Its investors include George R. R. Martin, author of the “Game of Thrones” fantasy series; dire wolves feature prominently in those stories.)

To create the puppies, scientists extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils, compared the ancient genomes to those of several living relatives including present-day wolves, and identified gene variants specific to dire wolves. They then edited a donor genome from a gray wolf and cloned those cells into dog eggs before finally transferring the embryo into a surrogate dog.

Colossal says the puppies were born in October 2024 and are currently “thriving” on a vast, secure ecological preserve in an undisclosed location. (Comparisons to “Jurassic Park” were swift and inevitable.) 

Long term, Colossal says it plans to restore the species “in secure and expansive ecological preserves, potentially on Indigenous land.”

Scientists, journalists, and critics were quick to scrutinize Colossal’s claims that the creature they had created was truly a dire wolf — i.e. the first truly “de-extincted” species. National Geographic said the puppies are “better understood as slightly-modified gray wolves rather than true dire wolves.”

Nevertheless, some scientists have hailed the announcement as a major breakthrough and have expressed hope that the technology Colossal is perfecting could be used to help existing endangered species come back from the brink.

The Church’s response to gene editing

“Gene editing” is not in itself a new technology, and the Church has addressed its use several times in recent decades, noting that the practice holds promise for curing and preventing diseases, alleviating suffering, and promoting the common good, even among human beings. 

Recent technological advances, such as CRISPR, have made gene editing simpler, cheaper, and more effective — but also has brought with it serious new ethical concerns. 

In 2018, for example, a Chinese scientist announced the birth of CRISPR-modified babies whose genes had been edited while they were still embryos. The announcement was widely criticized in the scientific community as unethical and the scientist, He Jiankui, later faced punitive measures from the Chinese government for violating regulations surrounding gene editing. 

From a Catholic perspective, the technology is addressed chiefly in the Church’s 2008 instruction Dignitas Personae. 

In a section on gene therapy, Dignitas Personae notes that gene editing procedures used on somatic (body) cells “for strictly therapeutic purposes are in principle morally licit,” while at the same time firmly rejecting the editing of human “germ line” cells such as sperm and eggs, since such alterations could be heritable and harm the resulting babies. The instruction also warned against a “eugenic mentality” that aims to improve the human gene pool. 

So the Church has said that the use of gene editing in humans can be beneficial within certain ethical parameters, but what about a Catholic view of its use in animals?

Taking a broad view, the Church teaches that mankind was granted dominion over the “mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2456) but that this dominion is “not absolute” and comes with important moral obligations, particularly a view to “the quality of life of [one’s] neighbor, including generations to come,” as well as “a religious respect for the integrity of creation” (CCC, 2415). 

Pope Francis in his expansive 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ further addresses a Catholic view of ecology as it relates to the natural world. In his encyclical, Francis notes that humans are called to respect creation and its inherent laws, recognizing that God founded the earth “by wisdom” (Prv 3:19). Creatures are not to be “completely subordinated to the good of human beings, as if they have no worth in themselves” (Laudato Si’, 69). 

Father Tad Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, commented to CNA that while Colossal’s claims are, from a biotechnology standpoint, very impressive, he has “lingering questions about the basic motivation behind the endeavor.”

“Biodiversity is a feature of the planet that has waxed and waned over eons. During the history of the earth we have had, by some estimates, 5 billion different species. The majority of these species have been wiped out by a range of forces, whether volcanic eruptions, habitat destruction, disease, asteroid impacts, etc. Why presume we have a duty to bring any of them back?” Pacholczyk said in emailed comments to CNA. 

Other scientists have pointed out that breeding an animal with many of the same traits as an extinct animal — in the dire wolf’s case, chiefly a white coat and large size — is not the same as “bringing back” a long-gone species. Scientists could breed elephants with hairy brown coats, for example, but those would still be elephants, not wooly mammoths. 

“To bring back the real dire wolf would require synthesizing and manipulating billions of DNA base pairs and arranging them into chromosomes, which current technology is unable to do,” Pacholczyk said. 

Moreover, Pacholczyk opined that Colossal’s decisions to focus their efforts heavily on animals with broad cultural appeal, such as dire wolves and wooly mammoths, may be driven by the need to attract investors, because “the expenses involved in de-extinction efforts are staggering.”

“Ethically speaking, one wonders if such enormous expenditures can really be justified, when far lower financial commitments could safeguard habitats and bio-niches of currently threatened species,” Pacholczyk said. 

(Back) home on the range

OK, so what about Colossal’s plans to someday reintroduce the wolves into the natural environment? After all, there have been success stories when it comes to human-led reintroduction of species previously dislodged from an ecosystem — including, perhaps most famously, the reintroduction of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

Practically speaking, if Colossal’s reintegration does happen, the dire wolves will find themselves in an ecosystem that is dramatically different from the one in which they previously lived — not least because of the fact that almost the entirety of human society has arisen in the time since it went extinct. Also, as the New York Times notes, they would encounter an environment where they would potentially have to compete with existing gray wolves.

The upshot is that despite many advances in recent years, scientists’ grasp of the “intricacies of ecosystems on the planet is quite limited, because these systems involve a plethora of complex variables, and to suppose we can really forecast which ecosystems would benefit from the reintroduction of certain de-extincted animals is highly doubtful,” Pacholczyk said. 

“There also remains the perennially important ‘law of unintended consequences,’ where we could end up reintroducing a de-extincted species only to be caught off guard when it suddenly expanded out of control, ravaged specific habitats and wiped out other species.”

Echoing Pacholczyk, Laura Altfeld, an associate professor of biology and ecology and chair of the Department of Natural Sciences at St. Leo University, a Catholic college in Florida, told CNA in written comments that there could be potential downsides to reintroducing extinct species to existing ecosystems, both for the introduced animals and for the rest of the ecosystem. 

This is because, in part, most ecosystems as they exist today are highly modified and degraded as a result of human activities, which could pose challenges for reintroduced species if they lack the necessary adaptations that modern species have developed to deal with a world dominated by humans.

If done right, however, there is potential that reintroduced species could aid in “restoring ecosystem functions and boosting biodiversity in some of our ecosystems,” Altfeld continued, especially in high latitudes, such as the Arctic, where climate change continues to rapidly alter ecological conditions.

Whatever happens next in terms of a potential reintroduction, a program as ambitious as Colossal’s should be driven by “ecological expert consensus” and not commercialism, she cautioned. 

“This technology is incredibly powerful and should absolutely be used with caution, and with serious forethought into animal welfare considerations and clear connection to purpose (conservation, for example).”

Altfeld did go on to add, however, that Colossal’s technology could be helpful as a means of saving existing species at risk of or on the verge of extinction. 

Among some endangered species which have very small remaining populations, a lack of genetic diversity caused by inbreeding can be a big problem. Scientists are already using a technique called genetic rescue, which involves introducing genetic material from a similar species, through outbreeding, in order to try to save an endangered one. 

“There are endangered animal species whose wild and captive populations are so significantly genetically bottlenecked that they will most certainly go extinct without intervention. Any technology that can be used to reintroduce genetic diversity has the potential to be of extreme benefit,” she wrote.

The potential use of Colossal’s technological advances to aid in the genetic diversity of endangered populations “is the most valuable, in my opinion. And the fact that they are willing to work with conservation researchers globally to aid in species conservation is impressive,” Altfeld said. 

Altfeld said she plans to continue to engage her zoology students in conversations about the ethics of gene editing, with the dire wolf announcement just the latest in a continuing line of “rapid advancement” in the field that she expects will continue. 

“Our students will be moving into careers that may directly engage with the technologies that are being developed by Colossal, so engaging them in conversations about the ethical and scientific issues surrounding genetic engineering are essential for us as educators,” she concluded.  

“I encourage everyone to do the same, whether they are Catholic or not. There is never a downside to becoming knowledgeable and conversant with one another, even about the most challenging and controversial of topics.”

This article was updated on April 25, 2025, at 12:42 p.m. ET to note that the modified wolf genome was cloned into dog eggs and implanted into a surrogate dog, not wolf eggs and a surrogate wolf as originally written.