Pope Leo: Accept God's invitation of friendship!
A look at Pope Leo's general audience Jan. 14, 2026. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)
Posted on 01/15/2026 22:10 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
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Jan 15, 2026 / 17:10 pm (CNA).
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its review of the abortion pill mifepristone, Republican lawmakers are repeating calls for stronger federal regulations of the drug.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, held a hearing about the drugs Jan. 14. Republican lawmakers called for stricter rules, while Democratic lawmakers advocated for easy access to the drugs.
Cassidy, who is a medical doctor, urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to complete the safety review of mifepristone promised during their confirmation hearings.
“Republican members of this committee and many other senators expect an answer,” Cassidy said. “At an absolute minimum, the previous in-person safeguards must be restored immediately.”
Cassidy expressed concern about the deregulation of mifepristone under former President Barack Obama in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2023 and said they have made women less safe.
In 2016, the FDA lowered the number of mandatory in-person doctor visits needed to obtain mifepristone from three to one and then fully eliminated required in-person visits in 2023. In 2016, the FDA stopped requiring doctors to report adverse events and ended rules requiring mifepristone to be dispensed by a physician and taken in a doctor’s office. Another 2016 rule change ended the mandatory follow-up visit and another 2023 rule change authorized delivery of the drug through the mail.
“It’s only through a proper medical examination that a doctor can determine a baby’s gestational age, ensure a woman does not have an ectopic pregnancy, and be sure the abortion will not jeopardize future fertility,” Cassidy said. “I’m a doctor, and if the first rule is do no harm, the way things work today has the potential to do a lot of harm.”
Speaking to “EWTN News Nightly” prior to the hearing, Cassidy said: “There’s some women at higher risk for complications … and the doctor interviewing her would be able to see that.”
He said President Donald Trump’s administration should suspend the use of mifepristone or at least reimpose previous safeguards.
An HHS spokesperson said the department “is conducting a study of reported adverse events associated with mifepristone to assess whether the FDA’s risk mitigation program continues to provide appropriate protections for women.”
“The FDA’s scientific review process is thorough and takes the time necessary to ensure decisions are grounded in gold-standard science,” the spokesperson said. “Dr. Makary is upholding that standard as part of the Department’s commitment to rigorous, evidence-based review.”
Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a practicing OB-GYN and research assistant for Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, testified to the committee about potential harms of mifepristone and the added risks caused by the deregulation.
“The different risks that are associated with abortion are bleeding, infection, hemorrhage, [and a] need for transfusion,” she said, adding that taking abortion drugs while having an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening.
Apart from the medical risks, Wubbenhorst also said the lack of oversight exacerbates problems with human trafficking, child sex abuse, and domestic violence: “Abusers have been known to force abortion pills down women’s throats, put them in their drinks, and insert them into their bodies,” she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told senators the deregulation of the Biden administration was a “purely political” decision, as opposed to a medical one, and she spoke about women in her state being coerced into taking mifepristone and cases of adverse events that she blames on the deregulation.
“A few examples from Louisiana include a woman who was coerced to abort her wanted baby, multiple [examples] of that, by partners or parents, a pregnant woman who took pills … mailed to her at 20 weeks’ gestation and ended up in the emergency room while her baby was left in a dumpster, [and regarding] another 20-week-old pregnancy, the baby was found recovered in a toilet,” she said.
Last year, Murrill sued the FDA over the deregulation after a resident, Rosalie Markezich, said her boyfriend forced her to take an abortion pill that was obtained through the mail.
Democratic lawmakers rejected calls for stricter regulations, with ranking member Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, saying the meeting is “not about the safety of a drug” and pointed to medical groups like the American Medical Association vouching for its safety.
“It is about the ongoing effort of my friends in the Republican Party to deny the women of this country the basic right to control their own bodies,” Sanders said. “That is what this hearing is about.”
Nisha Verma, an OB-GYN and fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, testified that the drugs are safe for women and can help women recovering from a miscarriage. She said her patients who suffer from miscarriages “are at risk” because of restrictions in certain states.
“My patients are at risk because of restrictions on abortion and cuts to Medicaid,” she said. “They are at risk because of decreased funding to clinics that provide preventative care and cancer screenings and fears about whether they can safely go to the hospital based on their immigration status.”
Kennedy ordered a review of mifepristone last year, and the federal government has yet to reestablish any safeguards on the drug. Rather, the FDA approved a generic version of mifepristone in October, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and pro-life organizations.
Posted on 01/15/2026 11:00 AM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
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Jan 15, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The attorney general of Ohio is moving to shut down a nursing home after a congregation of Catholic nuns sold it, amid reports that the facility’s “shockingly poor care” is placing elderly residents in “clear and present danger.”
House of Loreto, a nursing facility formerly run by the sisters of the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, has allegedly committed “widespread care failures,” Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said in a Jan. 13 press release.
The sisters were involved with the home from 1957, when then-Youngstown Bishop Emmet Walsh asked for the religious to run the facility. The current facility opened in 1963.
The Youngstown Diocese said in March 2025 that the home had been acquired by Hari Group LLC, a company based out of Ohio. In its press release announcing the sale the diocese did not note any troubles experienced by House of Loreto at the time. A diocesan spokesman said on Jan. 15 that the home was no longer under Catholic control after the sale.
In a court order request filed on Jan. 12, Yost’s office said that state inspectors have observed a “rapid deterioration of care” at the facility, with the filing claiming that “shockingly poor care” was putting residents in “real and present danger.”
Among the problems alleged by inspectors include the lack of a director of nursing, leaving the facility “spinning out of control” with repeated resident falls, improper medicine administration, denial of pain medication, and other alleged mismanagement issues.
The facility is “so dysfunctional” that the government “lacks any confidence that the current leadership ... will be able to right the ship,” the court filing says.
The attorney general’s office said it is trying to get the facility shut down and “relocate residents to safer facilities.”
In a statement to EWTN News, the Youngstown Diocese said it was “deeply saddened” at the imminent closure of the facility.
Youngstown Bishop David Bonnar in the statement said the sisters “poured their lives into creating a home where the elderly were cherished and protected.”
“Their ministry at the House of Loreto was a profound witness to the Gospel,” the prelate said. “It is painful to see their legacy overshadowed by the serious concerns that have emerged under the new ownership.”
The facility said it takes its name from the Holy House of Loreto in Italy, said to be the home at which the Annunciation occurred and the Word was made flesh.
The nursing home said it seeks to foster “an environment where seniors can experience the same love and respect they would find in their own homes —truly standing on the threshold of heaven as they navigate life’s later chapters.”
Correction: This story originally identified the House of Loreto as a "Catholic-run" facility based on information from the facility's website. The home is actually no longer under Catholic ownership. This story was updated on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Posted on 01/15/2026 01:46 AM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services headquarters building in Washington, D.C. | Credit: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jan 14, 2026 / 20:46 pm (CNA).
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied knowledge of reports that his administration has restored millions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood.
According to Jan. 13 report in Politico, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month restored Title X funding to Planned Parenthood. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday dropped a lawsuit against the administration related to this funding.
Planned Parenthood and some other clinics will be able to submit reimbursement receipts to the government for low-income patients who received birth control and other non-abortion services, according to the Politico report.
While the funding won’t directly cover abortion — the Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from doing so — the funding will subsidize an organization that performs hundreds of thousands of abortions yearly.
When asked about the report on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “I don’t know anything about that.”
“I have not heard that,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. added.
The issue immediately stirred controversy in the pro-life movement. Many pro-lifers have spoken out against the move, calling on the administration to fully defund Planned Parenthood. Others have defended the Trump administration, saying it was their best legal option.
Live Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), two organizations that advocate for legal protections for unborn children, have been urging the Trump administration to completely defund Planned Parenthood.
“The Trump administration has quietly restored millions of dollars in Title X grants to Planned Parenthood that it had withheld since March of 2025,” said Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, in a statement shared with EWTN News. “PP kills 1,102 babies daily with your taxpaying dollars. We must fully defund abortion corporation Planned Parenthood!”
While the first Trump administration enacted a “Protect Life Rule” that stopped abortions from using Title X funding, the second administration has not yet done so.
SBA urged the administration to “immediately reinstate” this rule.
“The Protect Life Rule from the 1st Trump admin stopped Big Abortion businesses from using Title X taxpayer $$ as a slush fund. Biden canceled it,” read a statement shared with EWTN News. “The Trump admin must immediately reinstate it.”
Members of the country’s pro-life movement are set to rally at the annual March for Life on Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C. Leading voices in the movement have been calling for the complete defunding of Planned Parenthood and renewed safety restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone. Though the administration ordered a review of the pill months ago, the review has not been completed. In fact, the administration recently approved a generic form of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Posted on 01/14/2026 22:55 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
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Jan 14, 2026 / 17:55 pm (CNA).
Twelve states filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 13, seeking to block what they call unlawful “gender conditions" imposed on billions of dollars in federal health, education, and research grants.
The plaintiff states — New York, Oregon, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington — challenge HHS’ requirement that grant recipients certify compliance with Title IX “including the requirements set forth in Presidential Executive Order 14168” effective Oct. 1, 2025.
The executive order, issued by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, and titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” defines sex as binary and immutable, grounded in reproductive biology, and directs agencies to reject interpretations recognizing gender identity.
The complaint alleges the conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), exceed statutory authority, and infringe on constitutional protections.
The complaint states: “The Gender Conditions acknowledge, and require recipients to acknowledge, ‘that [the Title IX] certification reflects a change in the government’s position.’”
It argues this imposes a “novel and ambiguous funding condition” on over $300 billion in annual grants, making funding contingent on adopting the EO’s definitions, which plaintiffs say exclude transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-diverse individuals.
Recipients must certify compliance, according to the complaint, with violations risking funding termination and liability under the False Claims Act or criminal statutes.
The complaint alleges HHS bypassed notice-and-comment rulemaking, treating the conditions as a legislative rule altering Title IX. They claim this reverses prior policy recognizing gender identity protections consistent with existing case law and earlier HHS guidance.
The plaintiffs are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against enforcement and argue the conditions are arbitrary, exceed authority, lack unambiguous notice, and risk irreparable harm to state programs and transgender communities.
Posted on 01/14/2026 21:19 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
Republicans say they are crafting a bill to permanently defund Planned Parenthood Jan. 13, 2026. | Credit: usarmyband, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jan 14, 2026 / 16:19 pm (CNA).
House Republican lawmakers unveiled a framework that outlines their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes permanently defunding large abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.
The Republican Study Committee, which is the largest Republican-aligned caucus in the House, published the framework on Jan. 13. The document is a starting point for crafting the budget but does not include any of the specific language that will ultimately be included in the bill.
According to the framework, House Republican leaders intend to “extend and make permanent” the temporary freeze on federal funds for abortion providers, which was included in the tax overhaul that President Donald Trump signed into law last July.
That bill included a one-year freeze on Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide abortions on a large scale. Although existing law had already blocked direct taxpayer funds for elective abortions, the change in law expanded the ban to include non-abortive services that are offered by organizations that perform abortions on a large scale.
If that provision is not extended or made permanent in the next fiscal year, Planned Parenthood would again be eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for its non-abortive services.
Many Republicans had initially hoped to implement a more long-term freeze on reimbursements for Planned Parenthood in last year’s bill, but that effort failed. The original House proposal last year planned a 10-year freeze, but it was reduced to only one year following negotiations and compromise.
A spokesperson for National Right to Life said the organization is “excited” by the framework, adding that “this proposal would benefit countless American families while also protecting unborn Americans by extending the current defunding of major abortion providers.”
“Taxpayer dollars should not be used to subsidize abortion providers, and we are encouraged to see this principle reflected in the reconciliation framework,” the spokesperson said.
The ongoing one-year freeze already had a major impact on Planned Parenthood. Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood facilities closed last year, caused in part by the revenue stemming from those provisions in the tax overhaul.
Republicans hold a narrow five-seat majority in the House and a six-seat majority in the Senate, which means a small number of Republicans defecting could ultimately sink certain provisions.
The framework for the budget proposal also suggests an extension on the long-standing ban on direct federal funding for elective abortions, which has been included in federal budgets since 1976.
It also extends a ban on funds for “gender transition/mutilation procedures,” which was included in the tax overhaul.
According to the framework, both of these rules would apply to Medicaid reimbursements and tax credits provided through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. According to the Republican Study Committee, the rules would save taxpayers about $2.9 billion in federal spending costs.
The framework for the budget priorities comes about one week after President Donald Trump asked Republicans to be “flexible” on language related to taxpayer-funded abortion in relation to negotiations surrounding extensions to health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act.
Trump’s comments prompted criticism from some pro-life leaders, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
In an Oval Office press conference Jan. 14, Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said they didn’t know anything about HHS funds being released to Planned Parenthood in December.
Posted on 01/14/2026 15:25 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
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Jan 14, 2026 / 10:25 am (CNA).
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is addressing a religious worker visa backlog with rules that will reduce wait times and disruptions in ministry for faith-based communities.
“Under the leadership of Secretary [Kristi] Noem, DHS is committed to protecting and preserving freedom and expression of religion. We are taking the necessary steps to ensure religious organizations can continue delivering the services that Americans depend on,” a DHS spokesperson said in a press release Wednesday. “Pastors, priests, nuns, and rabbis are essential to the social and moral fabric of this country. We remain committed to finding ways to support and empower these organizations in their critical work.”
Under the rule expected to be issued Jan. 16, religious workers in the country on R-1 visas would no longer be required to reside outside of the U.S. for a full year if they reach their statutory five-year maximum period of stay before completing their green card applications.
“While R-1 religious workers are still required to depart the U.S., the rule establishes that there is no longer a minimum period of time they must reside and be physically present outside the U.S. before they seek readmission in R-1 status,” DHS said.
The rule is set to be published Jan. 16 in the Federal Register, which posted an unpublished version of the interim rule.
DHS acknowledged the significant demand for visas within the EB-4 category “has exceeded the supply for many years,” citing 2023 changes implemented by President Joe Biden’s State Department. “By eliminating the one-year foreign residency requirement, USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] is reducing the time religious organizations are left without their trusted clergy and non-ministerial religious workers,” according to a DHS statement.
The interim rule is effective immediately upon publication Jan. 16, DHS said.
“We are tremendously grateful for the administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve. The value of the Religious Worker Visa Program and our appreciation for the efforts undertaken to support it cannot be overstated,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) President Archbishop Paul Coakley and Bishop Brendan Cahill, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, said in a statement.
“This targeted change is a truly significant step that will help facilitate essential religious services for Catholics and other people of faith throughout the United States by minimizing disruptions to cherished ministries,” the bishops said, adding that they are still continuing to urge Congress to enact the Religious Workforce Protection Act “in order to provide the full extent of the relief needed.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press conference in December 2025 that the government would reveal its plan “early next month” for religious worker visas that would avoid giving preference to one denomination over another. Rubio noted that the plan would not favor one religion over another and that there would be “country-specific requirements depending on the country they’re coming from.”
“I think we’re going to get to a good place,” Rubio said at the time. “We don’t have it ready yet. All this takes time to put together, but we’re moving quickly. I think we’ll have something positive about that at some point next month, hopefully in the early part of next month.”
Visas for religious workers allow foreign nationals to work for a U.S. religious organization, through the temporary R-1 visa or a Green Card EB-4 visa, which requires at least two years of membership in the same denomination and a job offer from a qualifying nonprofit religious group.
Rubio had also said in August the administration was working to create a “standalone process” for religious workers, separate from other competing applicants to the employment-based fourth preference (EB-4) category of visas that became severely backlogged after an unprecedented influx in unaccompanied minor applicants — most of which the USCIS has since alleged were fraudulent — who were added to the already-tight category under the Biden administration.
In November 2025, a Catholic diocese in New Jersey dropped a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration’s State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and USCIS, citing knowledge of a solution with national implications.
Since the issue of the backlogged visas started, multiple U.S. dioceses have called for a solution. Priests in the Archdiocese of Boston who are in the U.S. on visas were urged to avoid international travel amid the Trump administration’s immigration policies and deportations.
Priests and other Church leaders have expressed fear of having to leave their ministries and return to their home countries, then endure lengthy wait times before coming back. Church officials have warned that a continuing backlog could lead to significant priest shortages in the United States.
“We are grateful for the administration’s attention to this important issue for the Church and value the opportunity for ongoing dialogue to address these challenges so the faithful can have access to the sacraments and other essential ministries,” a spokesperson for the USCCB told CNA.
This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, 2026, with a statement from the USCCB.
Posted on 01/14/2026 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If Christians are to speak about God, then they must dedicate time each day and week to listening to God's word in prayer and the liturgy, Pope Leo XIV said.
"We are called to live and cultivate friendship with the Lord" through prayer, he said Jan. 14 during his weekly general audience.
"This is achieved first of all in liturgical and community prayer, in which we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but it is he himself who speaks to us through the Church," he said. "It is then achieved in personal prayer, which takes place in the interiority of the heart and mind."
"Time dedicated to prayer, meditation and reflection cannot be lacking in the Christian's day and week," he said. "Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him."
Speaking to visitors gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall for the general audience, the pope continued a new series of talks dedicated to the Second Vatican Council, which "rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children," Pope Leo said in his first talk introducing the series Jan. 7.
He dedicated his Jan. 14 catechesis to the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, "Dei Verbum," calling it "one of the most beautiful and important" documents of the council.
The document, published in 1965, affirms "a fundamental point of Christian faith," that "Jesus Christ radically transforms man's relationship with God," who is no longer invisible or distant, but has been made flesh, he said.
Out of the abundance of his love, the Lord "speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that he may invite and take them into fellowship with himself," he said. "The only condition of the New Covenant is love."
While the Covenant is eternal, and "nothing can separate us from his love," the revelation of God has "the dialogical nature of friendship," which "does not tolerate silence, but is nurtured by the exchange of true words," he said.
Just as human friendships can end with "a dramatic gesture of rupture or because of a series of daily acts of neglect that erode the relationship until it is lost," one's friendship with Jesus must be cultivated and cared for daily, Pope Leo said.
Therefore, the first step is to cultivate an "attitude of listening, so that the divine Word may penetrate our minds and our hearts," he said. "At the same time, we are required to speak with God, not to communicate to him what he already knows, but to reveal ourselves to ourselves."
"If Jesus calls us to be friends, let us not leave this call unheeded," he said.
"Let us take care of this relationship, and we will discover that friendship with God is our salvation," he said.
Posted on 01/14/2026 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON - “We are tremendously grateful for the Administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration.
Today, the Trump Administration issued an Interim Final Rule that will soon be published in the Federal Register, which will impact foreign-born religious workers seeking to continue their ministries in the United States. Catholic priests, religious, and others who hold religious worker (R-1) visas are generally required to depart the United States upon reaching the maximum period of stay for that visa (five years) and then can possibly return to the country on a subsequent R-1 visa. Previously, they were required to spend at least one full year outside of the United States between R-1 visas. The rule announced today amends federal regulations to require no minimum time outside of the country before religious workers can return on a subsequent R-1 visa, provided they meet all other requirements.
This modification gives relief to religious workers and the communities they serve while the religious workers await legal permanent residency (commonly referred to as a “green card”). The wait time for a green card for religious workers has grown to several decades long. For multiple years, the USCCB has been alerting policymakers to the hardship this situation creates for religious organizations and people of faith, especially in more isolated or rural parts of the country. Together with interfaith partners, the bishops have been advocating since 2023 for the specific regulatory change published today.
Archbishop Coakley and Bishop Cahill’s full statement follows:
“We are tremendously grateful for the Administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve. The value of the Religious Worker Visa Program and our appreciation for the efforts undertaken to support it cannot be overstated. This targeted change is a truly significant step that will help facilitate essential religious services for Catholics and other people of faith throughout the United States by minimizing disruptions to cherished ministries.
“In order to provide the full extent of the relief needed and truly promote the free exercise of religion in our country, we continue to urge Congress to enact the bipartisan Religious Workforce Protection Act.”
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Posted on 01/13/2026 22:16 PM (EWTN News - World Catholic News)
Bishop Raimo Goyarrola with a family in Helsinki | Credit: Courtesy of Bishop Raimo Goyarrola
, Jan 13, 2026 / 17:16 pm (CNA).
Bishop Raimo Goyarrola of Helsinki, Finland’s only Catholic bishop, hopes to open the first Catholic school in the country in August with 12 students.
Posted on 01/13/2026 20:36 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
Scott Adams had previously announced his intention to convert to Christianity. | Credit: Art of Charm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jan 13, 2026 / 15:36 pm (CNA).
Scott Adams, the creator of the long-running “Dilbert” comic strip whose art satirized the typical American workplace, died on Jan. 13 at 68 years old after a battle with cancer.
Adams, who became known later in his career for espousing conservative and at times controversial political views, revealed in May 2025 that he was suffering from prostate cancer. The disease spread in the coming months, with Adams passing away after a short stay in hospice.
On Jan. 13, shortly after his death, Adams’ X account posted a “final message” from the renowned cartoonist in which he recalled that many of his Christian friends had urged him to convert to Christianity.
A Final Message From Scott Adams pic.twitter.com/QKX6b0MFZA
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 13, 2026
“I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him,” Adams declared in the message, adding that he hoped he was “still qualified for entry” into heaven upon his death.
“I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had,” he wrote in the statement. “If you got any benefits from my work, I’m asking you to pay it forward as best you can. That is the legacy I want.”
Adams had previously announced his intent to convert on Jan. 1, admitting that “any skepticism I have about reality would certainly be instantly answered if I wake up in heaven.”
Born June 8, 1957, in Windham, New York, Adams began drawing from a young age. His work at the Pacific Bell Telephone Company in the 1980s and 1990s inspired many of the humorous office stereotypes portrayed in “Dilbert.”
A send-up of many of the tropes that continue to define U.S. office work, “Dilbert” became wildly popular into the 2000s and eventually included a brief television series.
Later in his career he launched the video talk series “Real Coffee With Scott Adams,” which he continued until just several days before his death.
In his final message released after his death, Adams told his fans: “Be useful.”
“And please know,” he added, “I loved you all to the end.”