US & Canada

Pax Christi USA has called for the closure of the Guantánamo Bay prison since it was established decades ago. Now on the 24th anniversary of the prison's opening, we are proud to be one of 115 organizations that have signed this statement led by the Center for Victims of Torture and the Center for Constitutional Rights which reaffirms that it must be closed, without repurposing it for any future ... Read More

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, has called for prayers and calm following the fatal shooting at point blank range by a masked ICE officer, of Rene Nicole Good, a 37 year old mother of three children in Minneapolis. She had just dropped her six year old child at school. Rene was a US citizen born in Colorado and appears to never have been charged with anything involving law... Read More

The first Muslim mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, was inaugurated as the 112th mayor on January 1, 2026. While some religious leaders joined multi-faith coalitions to support his vision, others expressed concern regarding his 'socialist ideology'. Mamdani did meet with Cardinal Timothy Dolan in late 2025 to discuss shared concerns regarding immigration policies but has not met his successor... Read More

The Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Earl Fernandes, has granted a dispensation from Mass attendance to parishioners "who reasonably fear being detained" due to increased immigration enforcement activities in the area. Bishop Fernandes made the announcement in response to the recent increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities (ICE) in the Diocese of Columbus, causing... Read More

A new blog on Eminens Doctrina states today: For the first time in history, the coat of arms (or shield) of a major American prelate will contain an element allusive to St Oscar Romero when Bishop Ronald A Hicks is named Archbishop of New York, as exclusively reported earlier in the week by Religión Digital, the influential Spanish language religion portal. If Bishop Hicks follows protocol, when ... Read More

Several Catholic organisations held a prayer vigil outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington DC on Friday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pax Christi USA wrote on social media: "We prayed outside ICE's DC headquarters in frigid weather this morning, calling on the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe on this her feast day, and repeating our plea to ICE... Read More

Last week a parish in Massachusetts, St Susanna Parish in Dedham, changed their outdoor Nativity scene - replacing the figures of Mary and Joseph with a sign saying 'ICE was here' in protest at the 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement' raids often targeting churchgoers. Many thousands of people have been arrested across the USA, separated from their families and often taken to unknown locations. B... Read More

The Most Reverend Timothy P Broglio, JCD, archbishop for the Military Services, USA, and former president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has condemned the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on alleged drug traffickers on boats, that it claims come from Venezuela. Archbishop Brogio said on Wednesday: "I call on our Nation's leaders, legislators, and those specifically charged to dire... Read More

Saint Susanna's in Dedham, Massachusetts, USA, is an active Pax Christi parish. For this year's outdoor Nativity scene, the figurines of the Holy Family are not displayed - instead, the parish placed a sign: "ICE was here." When contacted by a Boston Globe reporter who asked if the photo was authentic and if ICE actually had visited the church, St Susanna's pastor Fr Steve Josomo confirmed the ve... Read More

In the spirit of relationship and healing, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have transferred the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center property on Trout Lake in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin, to the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, the original caretakers of the land. The transfer was completed on Friday, October 31, and is the first known return of Catholic-owned la... Read More

The remarkable story of Pablo Tac, a 19th-century native Californian seminarian and scholar, is reaching more people than ever. Native American Heritage Month offers an ideal opportunity to discoverthis extraordinary figure. Christian Clifford, veteran Catholic school educator, has been on a quest to set the record straight when it comes to the founder of the California missions, Saint Junípero ... Read More

As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, today, 12 November, they issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. This marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops. The last one iss... Read More

In a week when Immigrant and Custom Enforcement agent (ICE) refused to allow delegations to offer Holy Communion to migrants being held in detention centres on more than one occasion, Pope Leo appeal for their rights to be respected. Speaking to journalists in Castel Gandolfo, yesterday evening, the Pope said that "many people who have lived for years and years" in the US, "never causing problems... Read More

Up to 2,000 worshippers and 50 priests, women religious and deacons came to ask Immigrants and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow a delegation to offer Communion to detainees inside Broadview detention centre in Illinois on Saturday. "The answer was no." A Roman Catholic Mass led by the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL) held on Saturday morning outside the ICE detention centre i... Read More