The plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gets underway on Nov. 11, 2025, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. First row, left to right: Father Michael J.K. Fuller, general secretary; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president, and Archbishop William E. Lori, vice president. / Credit: Jack Haskins/EWTN News

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Nov 18, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said immigrants must be treated with dignity, and he encouraged all people in the United States to heed the bishops’ message on immigration.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” Pope Leo XIV said Nov. 18 outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to Rome after a daylong stay there.

“But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least — and there’s been some violence, unfortunately — I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said. I think that I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them.” 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Nov. 12 overwhelmingly opposed the indiscriminate mass deportation of immigrants who lack legal status and urged the government to uphold the dignity of migrants.

Speaking in English, the first U.S.-born pope responded to a journalist’s question asking whether the pope could take credit for the bishops’ statement on immigration because U.S. bishops believe the pope has “got their back” on immigration. The pope replied that immigrants must be treated with dignity even if they lack legal status.

“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice. I think there are a lot of problems in the system,” the pope said.

In October, the pope used the word “inhuman” to refer to the immigration crackdown in the United States.

When journalists asked about a Chicago-area immigration facility where detainees have been barred from receiving Communion, Pope Leo said: “I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people.” 

U.S. bishops met in Baltimore on Nov. 12 to approve a special message on immigration.

“I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of will to listen carefully to what they said,” the pope said.

A Eucharistic procession sponsored by the Napa Institute passes by Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Oct. 15, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Nov 18, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

A rising number of New Yorkers are reportedly converting to the Catholic Church, with the spike in converts coming as the U.S. bishops say increasing numbers of men and women are coming into the faith in this country. 

The New York Post found that multiple New York City Catholic churches have year-over-year double or even triple the number of adults signing up to become Catholic through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). 

At one parish, St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, interest in OCIA tripled since last year, with about 130 people signing up, according to the paper. At St. Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side, numbers have doubled to nearly 90 participants.

Sign-ups at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral also doubled to about 100, according to the report.

Many converts reportedly cited the Sept. 10 assassination of Charlie Kirk as a motivator for their conversions. In addition to his political activism, Kirk, an evangelical Protestant, often spoke about the importance of faith in God.

This report follows a trend of rising OCIA numbers throughout the U.S.

The National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, reported in April on rising conversions across dioceses. Many new Catholics cited immigration, evangelization, and the National Eucharistic Revival as reasons they found their way into the Catholic Church last Easter.   

The U.S. bishops last week during their annual fall assembly in Baltimore also noted these rising numbers in a discussion about the National Eucharistic Revival as they approved the next National Eucharistic Congress for 2029.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who spearheaded the most recent congress, said during a session on Nov. 12 that the revival was “a time of great grace for the Church in the United States.”

His diocese, he said, had its largest OCIA class in 20 years.

During the session, the bishops offered a show of hands of those who had large numbers of OCIA participants in their dioceses, with many bishops indicating rising numbers of converts. 

“Praise God. Let’s hope that this trend continues,” Cozzens said at the time.

Auxiliary Bishop Jose María García-Maldonado and spiritual leaders attempt to bring Communion to detainees at the Broadview, Illinois, facility and were not admitted Nov. 1, 2025. / Credit: Bryan Sebastian, courtesy of Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 18, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) encouraged clergy and religious volunteers to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure detainees have access to holy Communion and religious services.

In an exclusive statement to EWTN, federal authorities affirmed that ICE facilitates religious services at all locations designed to hold detainees for more than 72 hours. Processing facilities that hold detainees for shorter periods may not qualify, according to DHS, although the constitutional right of access to pastoral care is at issue in a lawsuit involving people detained at an Illinois facility.

Although federal authorities said the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago was designed to hold people for 12 hours, detainees have testified in court that this is not always the reality in practice. A detainee said he was there for six days.

DHS alleged that “widespread misinformation and the news media” stoked confusion about the pastoral care policy and “turned religious services at ICE facilities into a political prop, threatening the safety of volunteers and detainees alike.”

Earlier this month, CNA and other outlets reported that Catholic clergy were denied access to the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago despite repeated attempts to get approval through the agency’s processes to provide detainees with Communion.

DHS said Broadview is not a detention facility but rather a field office and ICE cannot accommodate those requests. It said: “Illegal aliens are only briefly held there for processing before being transferred to a detention facility.”

Pastoral care at detention facilities

The DHS statement said religious volunteers are “highly encouraged” to contact any detention facilities meant to hold migrants for more than 72 hours “to provide services to detainees.”

“[ICE] welcomes religious and pastoral visits at its regular detention facilities and encourages religious volunteers to reach out to those facilities,” the statement said.

DHS provided a link to about 120 detention facilities for religious leaders to contact. Volunteers must meet the standard visitation requirements for approval, which includes advanced notice, identification, and a background check.

Every over-72-hour detention facility has chaplains and religious service coordinators, according to the statement, and detainees of all faiths “should be provided reasonable and equitable opportunities to practice their religious faith.” Access may be limited if there is a documented threat to safety, security, or orderly control of facility operations.

“We are diligent in making sure that those who we have in detention have access to that pastoral care [and] those religious services that they need, within reason, under the First Amendment,” Nate Madden, principal deputy assistant secretary for communications at DHS, told CNA.

“We welcome religious sisters, religious brothers, and friars and priests and everybody who can to go through those proper channels, fill out the appropriate paperwork, provide the proper notice, and work with us to make sure that these detainees have their religious needs met,” he said.

Ongoing concerns with Broadview

The DHS statement said it was “not within standard operating procedure” for religious services to be held at Broadview because it is not designed to hold detainees for long periods. Threats to safety have also made accommodation difficult, it said.

“ICE staff has repeatedly informed religious organizations that due to these ongoing threats and Broadview’s status as a field office, they are unable to accommodate requests for religious services,” the statement read.

According to DHS, rioters have assaulted and opened fire at law enforcement, destroyed vehicles, and thrown tear gas cans in Chicago. Protests at the ICE facility have become commonplace, and an alliance of more than 100 faith leaders of various denominations have come to the Broadview facility to push back on “Operation Midway Blitz,” a federal effort in Illinois to round up hundreds of immigrants lacking legal status since September. Among them was unarmed pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church in the Woodlawn neighborhood who was hit in the head with ICE pepper balls.

DHS’ Madden said: “Our ICE officers are facing a thousand-percent increase in assaults on the job and an 8,000% increase in death threats. And law enforcement is a dangerous business.” 

Even if pastoral workers were given access to Broadview in the past, Madden said law enforcement is “dealing with danger on the inside” and “dealing with danger on the outside. He said: “As part of our Catholic faith, we understand that we have to make prudential decisions when it comes to protecting safety and human life and dignity and everything else.”

Madden, who wears a Benedictine ring, urged people to “fulfill your Christian duty to come visit those in prison, visit those who are in detention.”

“Take Communion, take what you need,” he said. “Just go through the process, work with us, not against us. And we’ll figure out a way to do this so that everybody’s dignity is respected and that everybody gets what they need.”

In court filings, detainees have not only alleged that they are being kept at Broadview much longer than 12 hours but have also alleged unsanitary conditions, inadequate food and water, and a lack of personal hygiene products. They also alleged overcrowding, although the number of detainees at the facility has drastically declined in recent weeks, according to WTTW.

A judge issued a temporary restraining order to require the government to address the concerns, and a status hearing in the case is set for Nov. 19. Madden said the allegations about overcrowding and poor conditions are false.

“ICE runs these facilities to the highest standards possible and they respect the dignity of the human person for every single detainee that comes into their area of responsibility,” he said. “And they maintain that throughout the entire time that they are in ICE custody, all the way through from entrance to exit.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a special pastoral message on immigration Nov. 12 expressing concerns about mass deportations and the government’s treatment of migrants.

“We feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,” the statement said, in part.

Blessed Carmelo De Palma. / Credit: Dicastery for the Causes of Saints

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Father Carmelo De Palma, a priest known as the “hero of the confessional,” was beatified Nov. 15 in Bari, Italy.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While "creation is crying out" and millions of people suffer the effects of climate change and pollution, politicians are failing to act, Pope Leo XIV said.

As the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30, began its final week of meetings Nov. 17, the pope sent a video message to Christian representatives and activists from the global south who were holding a side event to the conference in Belem, Brazil.

The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 at COP21 "has driven real progress and remains our strongest tool for protecting people and the planet," Pope Leo said in the video.

"But we must be honest: it is not the agreement that is failing, we are failing in our response," he said. "What is failing is the political will of some." 

While Pope Leo did not specify which nations were at fault, the U.S. government was not represented at COP30 because U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement.

"True leadership means service, and support at a scale that will truly make a difference," the pope said. "Stronger climate actions will create stronger and fairer economic systems. Strong climate actions and policies -- both are an investment in a more just and stable world."

"Creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat," Pope Leo said.

"One in three people live in great vulnerability because of these climate changes," he added. "To them, climate change is not a distant threat, and to ignore these people is to deny our shared humanity."

As government representatives from most of the world's countries -- more than 190 nations registered delegations -- struggled to finalize agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing reliance on fossil fuels, Pope Leo told the Christian activists he believed "there is still time to keep the rise in global temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius, but the window is closing."

"As stewards of God's creation, we are called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift he entrusted to us," the pope said.

In safeguarding creation as a gift of God, he said, "we walk alongside scientists, leaders and pastors of every nation and creed."

"We are guardians of creation, not rivals for its spoils," the pope said. "Let us send a clear global signal together: nations standing in unwavering solidarity behind the Paris Agreement and behind climate cooperation."

Despite the challenges, Pope Leo told the activists, "you chose hope and action over despair, building a global community that works together."

The efforts have made a difference, he said, "but not enough. Hope and determination must be renewed, not only in words and aspirations, but also in concrete actions."
 

Pope Leo: "Creation is crying out"

In video message to Catholic activists at COP30, Pope Leo decries lack of "political will" to address climate change.

Children play as procession participants wait to enter the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne for adoration. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 18, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Nov. 18 the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, a French religious sister who came to the United States as a missionary in the 1800s. 

Rose was born on Aug. 29, 1769, in Grenoble, France. On the day of her baptism, she received the names Philip, honoring the apostle, and Rose, honoring St. Rose of Lima. She was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Ste. Marie d’en Haut and became drawn to contemplative life. At the age of 18, she became a novice at the convent. 

During the revolution in France, Rose’s community was dispersed and she ended up returning to her family home. After the Concordat of 1801, she tried to rebuild her community’s monastery but was unable to do so. 

In 1804, Rose heard of a new congregation — the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She became a novice in the society that same year. 

Despite her great desire for contemplative life, Rose also felt a calling for missionary work. 

In a letter she wrote to Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat, the foundress of the society, Rose described an experience she had during adoration: “I spent the entire night in the New World ... carrying the Blessed Sacrament to all parts of the land ... I had all my sacrifices to offer: a mother, sisters, family, my mountain! When you say to me ‘now I send you,’ I will respond quickly, ‘I go.’”

In 1818, Rose was finally sent to do missionary work. Bishop Louis William Valentine DuBourg, the St. Louis area’s first bishop, was looking for a congregation of educators to help him evangelize the children of the diocese. At St. Charles, near St. Louis, Rose founded the first house of the society outside of France.

That same year, Rose and four other sisters opened the first free school for Native American children in the United States. By 1828 Rose had founded six schools.

The saint once said: “You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed of before; yet, if you have not developed in the soul of the pupil strong habits of virtue, which will sustain her in the struggle of life, you have not educated her.”

Rose always carried a desire to serve Native Americans. In 1841, at the age of 71, she established a school for Potawatomi girls in Sugar Creek, Kansas. She spent a year with the Potawatomi, spending much of her time in prayer because she was unable to help with much of the physical work. They gave her the name “Quah-kah-ka-num-ad,” which means “woman who is always praying.”

In 1842, Rose returned to St. Charles and died there on Nov. 18, 1852, at the age of 83. She was declared a saint by Pope John Paul II on July 3, 1988, and is buried at the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in St. Charles, Missouri.

This story was first published on Nov. 18, 2024, and has been updated.

Jessica Williams and her 3-year-old daughter were helped by First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America

CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

When Jessica Williams became pregnant with another man’s child while she and her husband were separated, her husband pressured her to abort the child.

As soon as she took the first abortion pill, mifepristone, she regretted it. 

“As a nurse, the reality of what I had done had hit me hard,” said Williams, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. “Here I was working to save lives and about to take one of my own child’s lives.” 

But as a nurse, Williams knew that in spite of the pill cutting off the progesterone supply to her child, the baby might still be alive. She hadn’t yet taken the second pill, misoprostol, which would expel the child from her body.  

When she found a pregnancy center, First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas, staff immediately brought her in for an ultrasound.

“They provided a free ultrasound, and that moment changed everything,” she said. 

Her baby was still alive.

First Choice helped her through the abortion pill reversal process, a practice to reverse the effects of mifepristone soon after the woman takes the first abortion pill. 

Now, her daughter is a “healthy” and “thriving” 3-year-old, Williams said when she shared her story at a Nov. 17 online press conference.

Williams is one of many women who have received help from pregnancy resource centers. 

Pregnancy centers across the U.S. “provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in 2024,” according to a Nov. 17 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. 

Pregnancy centers saw a total of 1 million new patients last year, “which is the equivalent of each center serving a new client every day in 2024,” Karen Czarnecki, the head of Charlotte Lozier Institute, said during the press conference. 

During the press conference, Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called pregnancy centers the “beating heart” of pro-life movement.  

Pregnancy centers, Dannenfelser said, “are going to the roots of the problem” by providing support for mothers across the board, whether they are struggling with addiction, domestic abuse, homelessness, completing school, or any other challenge. 

Report debunks false claims about pregnancy centers 

Dannenfelser noted there are some claims “often unchecked in the media” that call pregnancy centers “fake clinics” or say they “don’t have licensed medical staff.”

“This is flat-out false,” Dannenfelser said. “Eight in 10 centers are providing free or low-cost medical services, staffed by over 10,000 medical professionals.” 

More than 80% of these centers provide ultrasound services, according to the report. Many of the centers also provide STD and STI testing and treatment, as well as abortion pill reversal, like in Williams’ experience. 

The report also found a 98% satisfaction rate among their clients — something Williams attested to.

“They greeted me gently and were nonjudgmental,” Williams said of the staff and volunteers at the pregnancy clinic she went to. “They provided a safe, calm space for me, emotionally, spiritually.”

“They gave me information and education without pushing me in any direction,” she continued. “They simply supported me in whatever path I chose.”

More than three years later, Williams still keeps up with the women at the clinic.

“I’m meeting with these ladies every month still,” Williams said. “They’re just a phone call, a text away, anything I need. I mean, we’re just almost becoming a family now.” 

Pregnancy centers also provide material, educational, and emotional support. For instance, 92% of centers offer material items to women in need. On average, each pregnancy center distributed six-packs of diapers and five baby outfits every day, according to the report. 

First Choice “provided diapers, material support, emotional and spiritual support groups, parenting resources, community connections, and just so much practical help in general,” Williams said. “It was a level of compassion that carried me through my entire pregnancy.” 

Offering material support is a growing effort in the pro-life movement. At pregnancy centers, material support has grown by more than 300% from 2019 to 2024.

Many pregnancy centers also offer a variety of other resources, including childbirth classes, breastfeeding consultations, and outreach to victims of human trafficking. 

“Even right now, they’re doing a monthly get-together — we get to network with other mamas,” Williams said. “We’re [able] to access any resources.”  

The majority of pregnancy centers also help support women who are recovering from abortions.

Williams said the women at the clinic “understood the pressure and fear” she was under to abort. Even after the reversal, her husband drove her to an abortion clinic when she was 16 weeks pregnant “to finish the job,” she said. 

“The clinic was on the same exact street [where] I saved my baby,” she said. “I couldn’t do it and demanded he take me home. I now know that the strategic location has also saved many other babies.” 

“They created a safe place for me to heal and feel supported,” she said of the clinic.

Professor Robert P. George speaks at Heritage Foundation event commemorating the 100th anniversary of Pierce v. Society of Sisters on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Ronald Walters

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 17, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA).

Robert P. George, a Catholic academic focused on philosophy and law, resigned from his board position at the conservative Heritage Foundation on Nov. 17 after the think tank’s leader Kevin Roberts posted a video defending Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes.

In the interview, Carlson and Fuentes bonded over criticism of Israel, and Carlson pushed back on Fuentes for tying his criticisms of Israel to Jewish identity and blaming “organized Jewry” for the American support of Israel. Jewish organizations and some conservative and other political commentators argued that Carlson platformed Fuentes’ views and kept a friendly tone without adequately pushing back against antisemitic claims. Carlson allowed Fuentes to speak uninterrupted and challenged general blame levied against Jewish people but did not address each specific claim Fuentes made.

Roberts, who has since apologized, said in his initial video that he abhors “things that Nick Fuentes says” but urged debate instead of “canceling him.” He said Heritage would stay friends with Carlson and criticized the “venomous coalition” attacking Carlson.

In the video, Roberts said: “Christians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic.” Roberts issued an apology for using the term “venomous coalition” amid accusations that it was an antisemitic trope and said Heritage would continue to fight antisemitism. 

George said in a Facebook post that he would resign from the board because Roberts did not fully retract his initial video when he issued an apology.  

“Kevin is a good man,” George said. “He made what he acknowledged was a serious mistake. Being human myself, I have plenty of experience in making mistakes. What divided us was a difference of opinion about what was required to rectify the mistake.”

George said he was saddened to leave Heritage and prays the think tank “will be guided by the conviction that each and every member of the human family, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, or anything else, as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, is ‘created equal’ and ‘endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.’”

“The anchor for the Heritage Foundation, and for our nation, and for every patriotic American is that creed,” he said. “It must always be that creed. If we hold fast to it even when expediency counsels compromising it, we cannot go wrong. If we abandon it, we sign the death certificate of republican government and ordered liberty.”

A spokesperson for Heritage said in a statement to CNA that George is “a good man,” thanked him for his time at Heritage, and looks forward to “opportunities to work together in the future.”

“Under the leadership of Dr. Roberts, Heritage remains resolute in building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish,” the statement read. “We are strong, growing, and more determined than ever to fight for our republic.”

Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the conservative Family Institute of Connecticut, said in response to George on Facebook that he disagrees with George’s decision to resign “when Heritage is trying to make amends and needs support of the adults in the room, lest it be tempted by the ancient evil about whose promotion Kevin Roberts was initially too sanguine.”

Wolfgang said the “continuing beatdown” on Roberts appears to be a proxy for the pre-Trump Republicans seeking to “take back the reins of the party from the Trumpers.” Though he told George, “I’m not saying that’s you,” he added that the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party and the “MAGA” wing should be unified in opposition to antisemitism.

The Oct. 27 interview of Fuentes by Carlson has more than 6.2 million views on YouTube. In the interview, Fuentes discussed Republican efforts to “cancel” him starting when he was 18 years old. Those efforts often focused on his criticism of Israel and derogatory comments toward Jewish people and other ethnic minorities.

Fuentes and Carlson agreed in criticism of Israeli military action in Gaza, opposition to American financial and logistic support to Israel, and objections to politicians receiving political donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Carlson objected when Fuentes said neoconservatism and advocacy for Israel was rooted in Jewish identity and blamed “organized Jewry” for wars. Carlson retorted that many supporters of Israel are Christian Zionists, like Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee, and many Jewish Americans, such as Dave Smith, are critical of Israel.

In the interview, Carlson said collectively blaming Jewish people is “against my Christian faith” and “I just don’t believe that and I never will.”

The interview has fractured American conservatives. Some denounced Carlson for his friendly tone throughout the interview. Others noted his pushback against some of Fuentes’ views and the political relevance of Fuentes, who has a large fanbase among young conservative men.

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. / Credit: Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Detroit has announced a restructuring process that will lead to church closures and parish mergers as a result of declining church attendance, its archbishop said.

Archbishop Edward Weisenburger announced in a letter over the weekend that due to a shrinking Catholic population in the archdiocese, a two-year restructuring process will see some parishes close while others will be collected into groupings called “pastorates,” led by one pastor and his team.

He said the “struggle to care for buildings and parish structures where there are very few people” is preventing the Church there to focus on “areas where the Church is growing.” 

Weisenburger said that currently there are 900,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, and fewer than half of those attend Mass regularly. Many parish buildings were constructed at a time when there were 1.5 million Catholics in the archdiocese.

Because of this, the archbishop said there are too many buildings to maintain and it has been “stretched too thinly to serve as well as we want.”

According to the archdiocese, there has been a “dramatic decline in baptisms, first Communions and confirmations, and a steady decline in marriages” since 2000. 

In 2010, 252 priests served the archdiocese. There are 224 today, and that number is expected to shrink by 40% in the next decade. In addition, the majority of active priests are over the age of 50. 

Three-quarters of parishes are also projected to shrink in the next five years, and currently 67% of parishes have fewer than 600 weekly Mass attendees. 

The archbishop encouraged his flock not to give in to “anxiety or despair” but said he believes “the situation we are facing is one that holds real and blessed opportunities. I believe with all my heart that God is inviting us to reimagine parish life, priestly ministry, and our mission.”

He said the restructuring will be guided by three pillars: “vibrant parishes,” “flourishing priests,” and “mission ready.”

The timeline for the restructuring began in March, when Weisenburger — who had just been installed as the sixth archbishop of Detroit — held 17 listening sessions across the archdiocese over several months. After data from the sessions was analyzed and he consulted with priests and other parish leaders, Weisenburger announced the restructuring on Nov. 16. Priests will meet in January 2026 to develop the pastorate models, and additional listening sessions in parishes will then take place.

The plan will be implemented beginning July 2027 through July of the following year.

In his letter, the archbishop told Detroit Catholics they can follow each step in the restructuring process in the Detroit Catholic, the archdiocese’s free online news source.

The archdiocese said 30 other dioceses across the United States are currently restructuring due to declines in numbers and participation. This month, the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, also announced a restructuring plan.

Dubuque Archbishop Thomas Zinkula said the restructuring was necessary due to “dramatic shifts in population, culture, and finances within our archdiocese. We are using only 37% of our church capacities each weekend. Since 2006, Mass attendance is down 46% throughout the archdiocese.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 17, 2025 / 13:03 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Detroit plans to welcome Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa for a pastoral visit in December to help fundraise for efforts in the Holy Land.

“It is a blessing for the faithful of Detroit to welcome Cardinal Pizzaballa, whose courageous witness in the Holy Land strengthens the entire Church,” said Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit in an announcement.

Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, is set to visit Detroit Dec. 4–7. He will celebrate Mass and take part in events to fundraise for “the dire situation and enduring hopes of the Church in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” the archdiocese reported.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has roots dating back to 1099 but was reestablished in 1847 by Pope Pius IX. It encompasses Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus. 

Members of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem work to preserve the holy sites visited by Jesus and the saints of the early Church. 

“The Christian presence in the very places Jesus lived and taught is under threat,” the Detroit Archdiocese said. Christians make up a small minority of the population and are facing personal and financial struggles, including employment discrimination and social pressures.

Despite the persecution, Christians in the Holy Land “heroically maintain and protect the holy sites sacred to us all,” the archdiocese’s statement said.

Fundraising efforts

Pizzaballa’s visit is scheduled to begin with “An Evening of Hope” on Dec. 4. The fundraiser dinner will be hosted by the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, an Eastern-rite diocese based in Southfield, Michigan.

On Dec. 5, Pizzaballa is set to be the keynote speaker at the “United in Faith: Bridging Hearts from the Motor City to the Holy Land” fundraiser in Plymouth, hosted by the Archdiocese of Detroit. Pizzaballa will share firsthand insights into the situation of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the next steps for the Church.

Christians in the Holy Land are counting on the faithful’s “solidarity to keep their ancient faith alive in its homeland,” the archdiocese reported. “Through the generosity of the faithful, we will help sustain their critical mission through pastoral care, education, and humanitarian outreach.”

On Dec. 7, Pizzaballa is set to end his trip by celebrating Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

Pizzaballa’s “visit reminds us that the Church is one body, united across every border and culture,” Weisenburger said. “It is also an occasion to renew our solidarity with the Christian community of the Holy Land and to bring greater attention to the humanitarian challenges they continue to face.”