OSV News photo/Fernando Gómez, courtesy of CRSArchbishop Luigi Roberto Cona, apostolic nuncio to El Salvador, visits El Nance hamlet in Metalío canton, which is part of the Diocese of Sonsonate, on March 13 to talk to community members benefiting from a safe water project launched by the papal nun cio to that nation and by Catholic Relief Services, the official humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Providing clean, drinkable water to El Nance was one of the first phases of the Agua Segura (Safe Water) project, which will continue to expand thanks to a $100,000 personal donation from Pope Leo XIV. The gift was announced in an April 20 news release issued by CRS and the apostolic nunciature in El Salvador. “Clean water is life,” said CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan, noting he and the agency were “deeply honored” by Pope Leo’s donation. “This gift demonstrates the Holy Father’s personal experience with families and communities struggling to keep themselves healthy,” Callahan added. Vatican Ends Canonization Cause for Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (OSV News) — The canonization cause for Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek — a Polish American priest who ministered amid years in Soviet captivity — has been terminated, although Vatican’s decision does not “diminish the enduring spiritual value” of his witness, said a leading advocate for the cause. In an April 9 letter, Monsignor Ronald C. Bocian, board president of the former Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, advised fellow league members that the Diocese of Allentown had been informed the cause’s documentation “does not support” advancing the case for beatification or sainthood. Monsignor Bocian’s letter replicated a statement from the diocese, provided to OSV News on Friday, April 17, saying the prayer league will now become the Father Walter J. Ciszek Society and “remain committed to honoring his memory, sharing his message, and encouraging devotion to the profound spiritual insights he left to the Church.” In 1963, President John F. Kennedy secured the priest’s release from the Soviet Union, with Father Ciszek recounting his experiences of faith and ministry despite imprisonment in the books “He Leadeth Me” and “With God in Russia,” co-written with fellow Jesuit Father Daniel Flaherty. Until his death in 1984, Father Ciszek worked at the John XXIII Center at Fordham University, which is now the Center for Eastern Christian Studies at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. Trump Administration Ends Contract with Miami Catholic Charities MIAMI (OSV News) — The Trump administration has canceled an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, ending its work sheltering unaccompanied migrant children and giving the agency just three months to relocate those in its care. The decision, reported on Wednesday, April 15, came from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement amid a broader immigration crackdown. The move follows the administration’s earlier decision to end a decades-long refugee resettlement partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami warned the cuts will force the program to shut down, despite what he described as a nationally recognized model of care. He emphasized the Church’s long-standing role in serving vulnerable children, calling the termination abrupt and unprecedented. Just War Not ‘a Blank Check for Violence,’ USCCB Chair Says WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) — The Catholic Church’s just war doctrine is not “a blank check for violence,” and the pope is the “guardian of conscience,” said Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine. Bishop Massa spoke at length with OSV News following his April 15 statement clarifying the Catholic Church’s teaching on just war, which came as President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials have publicly challenged Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and other conflicts. War should always be a last resort, with peace as primary, said Bishop Massa, adding that the U.S.-Israel war on Iran does not meet the criteria for a just war. The bishop stressed that while “each of us must take a position based on conscience,” we must “make sure that our consciences are well informed by the Church’s wisdom” — with the pope, as the successor of St. Peter, the “guardian of conscience.” Time Magazine Counts Pope Leo Among ‘Most Influential People of 2026’ NEW YORK (OSV News) — Time magazine has named Pope Leo XIV to its “100 Most Influential People of 2026” list. The accolade was announced on Wednesday, April 15, with the first U.S.-born pope joining a diverse group of individuals distinguished by their contributions as leaders, innovators, icons, artists and pioneers. Each list member was feted on Time’s website with a short reflection from a prominent figure, with filmmaker Martin Scorsese saying in his commentary about Pope Leo that he was “struck by his bravery and his common touch.” He noted that Pope Francis, whom he knew and loved as a friend, “always stressed that the Church was not a building or a symbol but the actual teachings of Jesus,” adding, “I believe that Pope Leo shares that view.” The filmmaker also pointed to Pope Leo’s endorsement of the Christian classic “The Practice of the Presence of God,” which Scorsese said, “offers a model for finding God in daily life, and for taking the Church out of buildings, no matter how majestic, and into everyday existence.” Leaders Concerned About Costa Rica’s Deal with U.S. to Receive Deportees SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (OSV News) — The Catholic Church in Costa Rica is raising concerns about a new migration agreement the Central American nation has with the United States that allows up to 25 deported migrants per week to be sent to the country. The first group arrived on Saturday, April 11, in San José, including people from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Under the deal, signed by outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves and U.S. envoy Kristi Noem, migrants will stay in a hotel for a week under the International Organization for Migration. What happens next remains unclear. Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Blanco of San José said the Church was not consulted when it has much to contribute to the government when it comes to immigration, helping meet material and spiritual needs of migrants, and he warned the country may lack the capacity to assist such a diverse group, especially given language barriers. Church leaders also pointed to a troubled 2025 case, when migrants were held in poor conditions until a court intervened. Catholic officials called for policies that prioritize human dignity while expressing hope for dialogue with incoming President Laura Fernández Delgado. Court Hears Lawsuit on Illinois Law Mandating Abortion Referrals CHICAGO (OSV News) — The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard oral arguments on Friday, April 10, in a challenge to an Illinois law that compels pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers to give patients who ask for it a referral to an abortion provider. Erin Hawley, counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest firm dedicated to religious freedom, went before a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to argue against the law on behalf of pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers. The case is Shroeder et al v. Treto Jr. and concerns a provision left in place by U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston in a split decision handed down April 4, 2025. Johnston, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, struck down the part of the state’s 2016 Health Care Right of Conscience Act that required pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers to share the “benefits of abortion” after giving a pregnant woman an ultrasound — or lose their conscience protection rights. But he upheld a separate amendment to the act that lawyers for pro-life plaintiffs argued also “gutted conscience protections for pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers and required them to refer for abortion.” Hawley told OSV News outside the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago that, based on the day’s proceedings, the 7th Circuit seemed to agree with ADF’s position “that referrals are, in fact … protected by the First Amendment.” The post News Briefs: April 26, 2026 appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less