For vocations to the priesthood and religious life
Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ's mission in the priesthood and religious life.
Feastday: February 1
Patron: of Ireland, dairymaids, cattle, midwives, Irish nuns, and newborn babies
Birth: 451
Death: 525
Saint Brigid was born Brigit, and shares a name with a Celtic goddess from whom many legends and folk customs are associated.
There is much debate over her birthparents, but it is widely believed her mother was Brocca, a Christian baptized by Saint Patrick, and her father was Dubthach, a Leinster chieftain. Brocca was a slave, therefore Brigid was born into slavery.
When Dubthach's wife discovered Brocca was pregnant, she was sold to a Druid landowner. It is not clear if Brocca was unable to produce milk or was not present to care for Brigid, but legend states Brigid vomited any food the druid attempted to feed her, as he was impure, so a white cow with red ears sustained her instead.
Many stories of Brigid's purity followed her childhood. She was unable to keep from feeding the poor and healing them.
One story says Brigid once gave her mother's entire store of butter, that was later replenished after Brigid prayed.
When she was about ten-years-old, Brigid was returned to her father's home, as he was her legal master. Her charity did not end when she left her mother, and she donated his possessions to anyone who asked.
Eventually, Dubthach became tired of her charitably nature and took her to the king of Leinster, with the intention of selling her. As he spoke to the king, Brigid gave his jeweled sword to a beggar so he could barter it for food for his family. When the king, who was a Christian, saw this, he recognized her heart and convinced Dubthach to grant her freedom by saying, "Her merit before God is greater than ours."
After being freed, Brigid returned to the Druid and her mother, who was in charge of the Druid's dairy. Brigid took over and often gave away milk, but the dairy prospered despite the charitable practice, and the Druid eventually freed Brocca.
Brigid then returned to Dubthach, who had arranged for her to marry a bard. She refused and made a vow to always be chaste.
Legend has it Brigid prayed that her beauty be taken so no one would want to marry her, and the prayer was granted. It was not until after she made her final vows that her beauty was restored.
Another tale says that when Saint Patrick heard her final vows, he accidentally used the form for ordaining priests. When the error was brought to his attention, he simply replied, "So be it, my son, she is destined for great things."
Little is known about Saint Brigid's life after she entered the Church, but in 40 she founded a monastery in Kildare, called the Church of the Oak. It was built above a pagan shrine to the Celtic goddess Brigid, which was beneath a large oak tree.
Brigid and seven friends organized communal consecrated religious life for women in Ireland and she founded two monastic institutions, one for men and one for women. Brigid invited a hermit called Conleth to help her in Kildare as a spiritual pastor.
Her biographer reported that Brigid chose Saint Conleth "to govern the church along with herself."
She later founded a school of art that included metalwork and illumination, which Conleth led as well. It was at this school that the Book of Kildare, which the Gerald of Wales praised as "the work of angelic, and not human skill," was beautifully illuminated, but was lost three centuries ago.
There is evidence that Brigid was a good friend of Saint Patrick's and that the Trias Thaumaturga claimed, "Between St. Patrick and Brigid, the pillars of the Irish people, there was so great a friendship of charity that they had but one heart and one mind. Through him and through her Christ performed many great works."
Saint Brigid helped many people in her lifetime, but on February 1 525, she passed away of natural causes. Her body was initially kept to the right of the high altar of Kildare Cathedral, with a tomb "adorned with gems and precious stones and crowns of gold and silver," but in 878, during the Scandinavian raids, her relics were moved to the tomb of Patrick and Columba.
In 1185, John de Courcy had her remains relocated in Down Cathedral. Today, Saint Brigid's skull can be found in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Lumiar, Portugal. The tomb in which it is kept bears the inscription, "Here in these three tombs lie the three Irish knights who brought the head of St. Brigid, Virgin, a native of Ireland, whose relic is preserved in this chapel. In memory of which, the officials of the Altar of the same Saint caused this to be done in January AD 1283."
A portion of the skull was relocated to St. Bridget's Church and another was sent to the Bishop of Lisbon in St. Brigid's church in Killester.
Saint Brigid's likeness is often depicted holding a reed cross, a crozier, or a lamp.
Upstate NY site honoring St. Kateri, Jesuit martyrs named a national shrine
(OSV News) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, New York, as a national shrine for pilgrims, the sanctuary announced Jan. 30.
A spokesperson for the U.S. bishop conference did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
The site, once known as the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs, encompasses the former Ossernenon village where Jesuit priests Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil and Jean de Lalande were martyred in the 1640s. It is also where convert St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656.
It opened in 1885 and was administered for most of its history by a succession of Jesuit U.S. provinces, it said in the announcement. In 2017, the nonprofit Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs Inc. transferred ownership of the shrine to Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, a nonprofit corporation chaired by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, New York.
“We are delighted that the bishops have confirmed what the faithful have long instinctually known: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs is our home for the cultivation of holiness here in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico,” Bishop Scharfenberger said in a statement.
“The inspiration of the martyrs in my upstate New York backyard was foundational to my own early calling to the priesthood,” he added. “To this day, I go to the Shrine as a pilgrim to refuel in prayer for God’s outpouring of graces in my daily decisions and the lives of the faithful people the Church has entrusted to me.”
Julie Baaki, executive director of Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, said, “Pope Francis has said that there are more Christian martyrs in the world today than in the early Church.
“Our National Shrine is a haven where pilgrims come to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world as well as for growth in courage for any trials we face as we try to live lives of virtue, grow in faith and try to pass it along,” Baaki said.
“As a wife and mother,” she added, “I see the fruits of my prayers to the Martyrs in everyday family life, and a superabundance of graces in the testimonies of faithful who visit. Even before this new designation, our Shrine has drawn multitudes from across the country to upstate New York to learn from the faith of the martyrs and Saint Kateri.”
Msgr. Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA and a board member of Friends of Our Lady of the Martyrs, underscored the shrine’s emphasis on mission and encouraged people to visit the shine to “experience its enormous spiritual riches.”
The shrine is, he said, “because of its association with four great saints and heroes of our faith, probably is, after the tabernacles that adorn our Churches and the souls of newly baptized babies, the holiest place for Catholics in the country.”
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs will begin its 2025 season May 3 and remain open until the feast day of the North American martyrs Oct. 19, the announcement said. 2025 is the centenary of the North American martyrs’ beatification.
CNA Staff, Jan 30, 2025 / 18:25 pm
Since last week, Catholic bishops across the country have publicly responded to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration, with many calling for a more comprehensive and humane approach to immigration policy that respects the dignity of migrants and refugees.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, newly empowered to make arrests at places like churches and schools without needing to seek a superior’s approval, have reportedly already begun ramping up arrests in some major cities after Trump promised “the largest deportation operation in American history” focusing primarily on “the most dangerous criminals.”
Trump’s other first-day orders, following through on numerous campaign promises, included a declaration of a national emergency at the southern U.S.-Mexico border, a reinstatement of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” border policy from his previous term, and a designation of drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Another Trump-signed order set in motion a process to end birthright citizenship for individuals born within U.S. territory irrespective of the legal status of their parents, though a judge has already blocked that order amid a significant legal challenge led by a coalition of states
The Catholic Church teaches that countries, especially wealthier ones, should try to welcome migrants “to the extent they are able” but that nations also have the right to regulate migration.
Trump’s immigration plans, many now coming to fruition, have attracted criticism from Catholic leaders at the national level, with U.S. bishops’ conference president Archbishop Timothy Broglio saying Jan. 22 that “some provisions” of the immigration orders are “deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.”
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on migration, on Jan. 23 decried “sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders’ to deprive them of protection under the law.” Doing so, he wrote, “is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image.”
Many individual bishops’ statements have been addressed directly to immigrants, seeking to offer words of encouragement and support and assurances that the Church welcomes them.
The Catholic bishops of Michigan in a recent statement expressed concern over “mass deportations and harmful rhetoric that broadly demeans our immigrant brothers and sisters.” They pledged “unyielding support and respect for the human dignity of all migrant people” and urged elected officials to support policies that keep immigrant families safe and united.
The Michigan bishops clarified, however, that Catholic teaching on immigration rejects the idea of completely “open borders” in favor of a balanced approach that prioritizes both border security and compassionate welcome. They called for a “humane immigration system that welcomes refugees and immigrants by providing a fair pathway to citizenship.”
The bishops of Maryland released a joint statement Jan. 27 to express their solidarity with immigrants and recommitting to advocating for policies that protect rights and uphold their dignity. Quoting Pope Francis, they called for people to see in every migrant “not ‘a problem to be solved but ... brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected, and loved.’”
“The Church has always been a home for those in search of refuge and peace, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to welcome the stranger and embrace the vulnerable,” the Maryland bishops wrote.
Texas is at the epicenter of the immigration debate due to its lengthy and highly contested border with Mexico. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, criticizing the use of sweeping generalizations to refer to immigrants, stated that the bishops of Texas “will continue to work with governmental officials and other people of goodwill to implement policies that recognize the dignity of every person, prioritize family unity, and address the root causes of forced migration while respecting the right and responsibility of our country to secure its borders.”
The Texas bishops said they “urge President Trump to pivot from these enforcement-only policies to just and merciful solutions.”
The bishops of Colorado, another state with a large Latino population, said the rhetoric of mass deportations has “created genuine fear for many we shepherd.” The bishops committed “to walking in solidarity with you, our migrant brothers, sisters, and families” and advocated for “comprehensive immigration reform... that respects human dignity, protects the vulnerable, and ensures safety and security for all people.”
The bishops of New Mexico had in December articulated a strongly worded statement against a policy of mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants, saying such a policy “will not fix the broken immigration system but, rather, create chaos, family separation, and the traumatization of children.” They called for Trump to instead “return to bipartisan negotiations to repair the U.S. immigration system.”
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, building on the New Mexico bishops’ earlier statement, said on Jan. 21 that “overly simplistic solutions” to the immigration issue don’t tend to work and that comprehensive reform is needed.
He further stated that as Catholics, “we firmly believe that all human beings are children of God, brothers and sisters created in God’s image.”
“We must not treat [migrants] as mere pawns in a game of chess nor politicize them. Instead, we must place their needs and concerns at the forefront of our debates, considering both the citizens of our nation and those seeking refuge at our borders. Our Christian faith urges us to care for the resident and the stranger,” Wester said.
“The truth is that immigrants are a benefit to our country. They help the economy by increasing the labor force, creating jobs, and boosting productivity. It is a fact that immigrants are often among the most law-abiding, religious, hardworking, and community-minded individuals in our country. They have a lower incarceration rate than the native-born population, and research shows that as the immigration population grows, the crime rate declines.”
Archbishop Jose Gómez of Los Angeles invoked the maternal protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe, expressing in a statement his solidarity with undocumented migrants facing potential deportation. Emphasizing the Gospel’s message of human dignity, he criticized fear-based policies and said any enforcement actions should be “matched by immediate action in Congress to fix our immigration system, which has been broken for decades now.”
“For Catholics, immigration is not a political issue. It is a matter of our deeply held religious beliefs. Jesus Christ commanded us to love God as our Father and to love our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable, and regardless of what country they came from or how they got here. Our love for Jesus compels us to continue our works of love and service in our parishes, schools, and other ministries,” Gomez said.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, prior to Trump’s inauguration, condemned reports of planned mass deportations, saying they are “not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.” He stated that “if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents.”
He affirmed that while the government has a responsibility to secure borders, it is also “committed to defending the rights of all people and protecting their human dignity.”
Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph urged members of his diocese to “embody the Gospel values of love, mercy, and justice” in light of the recent executive orders. He also called on people to “understand the teachings of the Church on migration and the rights of individuals, articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2241, and as outlined by the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services.”
January 30, 2025
by Brian Fraga
Pope Francis and several Catholic bishops offered their prayers and condolences Thursday (Jan. 30) for the victims of a midair collision Wednesday night in Washington D.C. that killed dozens of passengers and crew members.
Around 9 p.m Jan. 29, a regional jet flying from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a U.S. Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River, and more than 60 passengers and crew members on board American Airlines Flight 5342 were feared dead, the Associated Press reported.
Pope Francis, in a telegram sent Jan. 30 to President Donald Trump, expressed his "spiritual closeness" to all those affected, including his prayers for the first responders who have been retrieving the victims' bodies.
"In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who are now mourning the loss of a loved one," the pope said.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington said in a Jan. 30 statement that "Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Washington today join men and women of good will here and around the world in praying for those who perished in last night's heartbreaking accident" and will also be praying for their "grieving families and loved ones."
"We praise God for the generous assistance of our courageous first responders," he said, and prayed that the disaster would "serve as an impetus to strengthen our unity and collaboration."
In a statement posted on X, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said: "Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives in the tragic collision at Reagan National Airport. Let us pray for them and for their loved ones who mourn them. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the first responders during this very difficult time."
Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas, offered his prayers in a Facebook post.
"The airplane originated from Wichita," Kemme wrote. "It is sobering to think that I and two other priests were on this very flight one week ago on our way to DC for [the] March for Life. May God bring divine assistance to everyone involved."
On Jan. 30, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, celebrated Mass livestreamed from the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. In his opening words, he spoke of a "tendency to feel helpless" in light "of the horrific tragedy last night claiming so many lives."
"But we're not," Burbidge said. "We are able to gather here today in faith, and to entrust all those who have died to God's loving embrace, to ask the Lord to bless and console family members and friends, and to watch over all the first responders."
In his homily, Burbidge said that Wednesday night’s tragedy was a reminder of how "fragile life really is."
Said Burbidge: "Each new day is a gift. Each moment we have with loved ones is a gift. Each day we have to do good for others is a gift. So perhaps the most powerful way we can honor those who lost their lives last night is to make sure we never take these gifts for granted."
By Lisa Zengarini
Pope Francis reiterated Friday the critical importance of simplifying processes of annulment of marriages and of making them more accessible while upholding the Church’s teachings on the indissolubility of marriage.
“We are called by the pain and hope of many faithful who seek clarity regarding the truth of their personal condition and, consequently, their possibility of fully participating in sacramental life,” the Pope said as he addressed the officials of the Roman Rota, the Vatican’s highest judicial tribunal, at the beginning of their Judicial Year.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of his two Moti Propria ‘Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus’ and ‘Mitis et Misericors Iesus’, which reformed the process for annulments, empowering diocesan bishops to act as judges to nullify marriages, eliminating the requirement that the Roman Rota sign off with its own sentence. That measure also pushed for making the procedure free.
In his remarks, Pope Francis reminded the audience that his move was inspired by the deliberations of the Synodal Fathers in 2014, who emphasized the urgent need for more accessible and streamlined procedures, moved by a pastoral concern to ensure that Church structures remain close to the faithful and serve their spiritual needs effectively.
A crucial point of the reform was the central role of the diocesan bishop. Giving the bishop the power to grant annulments through the shorter process (processus brevior) in cases where nullity is manifest, the Pope explained, is an expression of the Church’s concern for the salvation of souls (salus animarum).
Noting that many faithful are often unaware of this possibility, the Pope stressed the need to inform them and reaffirmed that the procedures should be free of charge to reflect the gratuitous love of Christ.
Pope Francis also underscored the importance of ensuring that diocesan tribunals are well-structured, with adequately trained clerics and laypeople so “they can carry out their work with justice and diligence.”
The quality of formation—both intellectual and spiritual—is therefore crucial in guaranteeing that faithful receive a just and careful examination of their cases, he said, reiterating that the reform must continue to be guided by the concern for the salvation of souls as stated in “Mitis Iudex”.
A key theme of the speech was the balance between justice and pastoral sensitivity.
The reform, the Pope explained, was not designed to increase the number of annulments but to prevent prolonged uncertainty that could burden the faithful in line with the previous reform introduced by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1975. By abolishing the requirement for double-conforming sentences, the 2015 reform aimed to prevent unnecessary legal complexities from obstructing access to truth and justice.
Warning against the danger of an excessively legalistic approach, Pope Francis, therefore, called upon the judges to exercise prudence, justice, and charity, ensuring that their work serves the real needs of the people rather than being an abstract legal exercise. “There is an intimate connection between prudence and justice, as the exercise of prudentia iuris aims at knowing what is just in a concrete case,” he said.
The judges’ work in discerning the validity of marriage, therefore, is not merely a legal duty but a pastoral service to the salvation of souls, “as it enables the faithful to know and accept the truth of their personal reality”, thus contributing to strengthening the culture of indissolubility, affirmed by the Church’s teaching on the sacredness of marriage.
Concluding Pope Francis encouraged the officials of the Roman Rota in their mission, reminding them that their work is ultimately one of hope: “helping individuals to purify and restore interpersonal relationships.”
Feastday: January 31
Patron: of apprentices, editors and publishers, schoolchildren, magicians, and juvenile delinquents
Birth: August 16, 1815
Death: January 31, 1888
Beatified: June 2, 1929 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized: April 1, 1934 by Pope Pius XI
John Bosco, also known as Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco and Don Bosco, was born in Becchi, Italy, on August 16, 1815. His birth came just after the end of the Napoleonic Wars which ravaged the area. Compounding the problems on his birthday, there was also a drought and a famine at the time of his birth.
At the age of two, John lost his father, leaving him and his two older brothers to be raised by his mother, Margherita. His "Mama Margherita Occhiena" would herself be declared venerable by the Church in 2006.
Raised primarily by his mother, John attended church and became very devout. When he was not in church, he helped his family grow food and raise sheep. They were very poor, but despite their poverty his mother also found enough to share with the homeless who sometimes came to the door seeking food, shelter or clothing.
When John was nine years old, he had the first of several vivid dreams that would influence his life. In his dream, he encountered a multitude of boys who swore as they played. Among these boys, he encountered a great, majestic man and woman. The man told him that in meekness and charity, he would "conquer these your friends." Then a lady, also majestic said, "Be strong, humble and robust. When the time comes, you will understand everything." This dream influenced John the rest of his life.
Not long afterwards, John witnessed a traveling troupe of circus performers. He was enthralled by their magic tricks and acrobatics. He realized if he learned their tricks, he could use them to attract others and hold their attention. He studied their tricks and learned how to perform some himself.
One Sunday evening, John staged a show for the kids he played with and was heartily applauded. At the end of the show, he recited the homily he heard earlier in the day. He ended by inviting his neighbors to pray with him. His shows and games were repeated and during this time, John discerned the call to become a priest.
To be a priest, John required an education, something he lacked because of poverty. However, he found a priest willing to provide him with some teaching and a few books. John's older brother became angry at this apparent disloyalty, and he reportedly whipped John saying he's "a farmer like us!"
John was undeterred, and as soon as he could he left home to look for work as a hired farm laborer. He was only 12 when he departed, a decision hastened by his brother's hostility.
John had difficulty finding work, but managed to find a job at a vineyard. He labored for two more years before he met Jospeh Cafasso, a priest who was willing to help him. Cafasso himself would later be recognized as a saint for his work, particularly ministering to prisoners and the condemned.
In 1835, John entered the seminary and following six years of study and preparation, he was ordained a priest in 1841.
His first assignment was to the city of Turin. The city was in the throes of industrialization so it had slums and widespread poverty. It was into these poor neighborhoods that John, now known as Fr. Bosco, went to work with the children of the poor.
While visiting the prisons, Fr. Bosco noticed a large number of boys, between the ages of 12 and 18, inside. The conditions were deplorable, and he felt moved to do more to help other boys from ending up there.
He went into the streets and started to meet young men and boys where they worked and played. He used his talents as a performer, doing tricks to capture attention, then sharing with the children his message for the day.
When he was not preaching, Fr. Bosco worked tirelessly seeking work for boys who needed it, and searching for lodgings for others. His mother began to help him, and she became known as "Mamma Margherita." By the 1860s, Fr. Bosco and his mother were responsible for lodging 800 boys.
Fr. Bosco also negotiated new rights for boys who were employed as apprentices. A common problem was the abuse of apprentices, with their employers using them to perform manual labor and menial work unrelated to their apprenticeship. Fr. Bosco negotiated contracts which forbade such abuse, a sweeping reform for that time. The boys he hired out were also given feast days off and could no longer be beaten.
Fr. Bosco also identified boys he thought would make good priests and encouraged them to consider a vocation to the priesthood. Then, he helped to prepare those who responded favorably in their path to ordination.
Fr. Bosco was not without some controversy. Some parish priests accused him of stealing boys from their parishes. The Chief of Police of Turin was opposed to his catechizing of boys in the streets, which he claimed was political subversion.
In 1859, Fr. Bosco established the Society of St. Francis de Sales. He organized 15 seminarians and one teenage boy into the group. Their purpose was to carry on his charitable work, helping boys with their faith formation and to stay out of trouble. The organization still exists today and continues to help people, especially children around the world.
In the years that followed, Fr. Bosco expanded his mission, which had, and still has, much work to do.
Fr. Bosco died on January 31, 1888. The call for his canonization was immediate. Pope Pius XI knew Fr. Bosco personally and agreed, declaring him blessed in 1929. St. John Bosco was canonized on Easter Sunday, 1934 and he was given the title, "Father and Teacher of Youth."
In 2002, Pope John Paul II was petitioned to declare St. John Bosco the Patron of Stage Magicians. St. Bosco had pioneered the art of what is today called "Gospel Magic," using magic and other feats to attract attention and engage the youth.
Saint John Bosco is the patron saint of apprentices, editors and publishers, schoolchildren, magicians, and juvenile delinquents. His feast day is on January 31.
NEW YORK – Applauding an executive order that prohibits the federal government from promoting or funding transgender procedures for children, Bishop Robert Barron highlighted that “helping young people accept their bodies and their vocation as women and men is the true path to freedom and happiness.”
President Donald Trump signed the executive order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” on Jan. 28, which declares that “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” transgender surgeries for children, “and it will vigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” these procedures.
“I welcome the President’s Executive Order prohibiting the promotion of federal funding of procedures that, based on a false understanding of human nature, attempt to change a child’s sex,” Barron, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, said in a Jan. 29 statement.
“So many young people who have been victims of this ideological crusade have profound regrets over its life altering consequences, such as infertility and lifelong dependence on costly hormone therapies that have significant side effects,” Barron, the bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester continued.
“It is unacceptable that our children are encouraged to undergo destructive medical interventions instead of receiving access to authentic and bodily-unitive care,” he said.
Explaining the executive order, Trump called the ability of adults to change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions a “radical and false claim,” adding that “this dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
The president also said that countless children regret the transgender surgeries they receive.
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the executive order states. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.”
The executive order classifies “child” or “children” as an individual under the age of 19.
The executive order instructs federal agencies to rescind or amend all policies that rely on guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). It also instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish a review of the existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or “other identity-based confusion.”
Barron said this aspect of the order is also important.
“I also applaud the Executive Order’s aim to identify and develop research-based therapies to aid young people struggling with gender dysphoria,” Barron said. “These individuals are loved by God and possess the same inherent dignity that all persons do.”
“They deserve care that heals rather than harms,” Barron added, also highlighting Pope Francis’s message in Dignitas Infinita that “we are called to accept the gift of our bodies created in God’s image and likeness as male and female.”
