"There's a huge influx in younger people," said Brian Phelan. Specifically, guys in their 20s and 30s, who are taking a leap of faith and coming to church, like Carson Schmidt. "I feel like I've seen more of my friends be more curious about faith, and that's cool," Schmidt said.
On Ash Wednesday, 2026, two Roman Catholic priests and a religious sister entered an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, to celebrate Mass with detainees inside. It might seem like a simple, routine event: a religious service to mark the start of Lent. But the Mass represented a legal win for the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, based in Chicago.
The building, designed by Walter Ratcliff, Jr. was declared one of the most beautiful and chaste buildings in the Bay region according to the Berkeley Daily Gazette. Heavenward pointing in its Gothic lines, the architecture, said Dr. Swartz (President of the PSR) was of the most inspiring character. Final plans call for a central tower as the crowning feature of the architectural scheme.
I wasn't able to make that event, but I do look forward to sitting down with the cardinal, and I'm so excited, frankly, at his leadership in this city. We see so often, frankly, that New Yorkers do not actually turn to elected officials in moments of need. They are turning to their faith leaders, he said, adding that he hopes to collaborate closely with Hicks moving forward.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, 76, is one of the leading voices of the progressive sector of the U.S. Catholic Church at a time when the conservative arm, emboldened by the Donald Trump administration, is rapidly gaining ground in a heavily politicized country. Except he doesn't see himself in that way, nor the church. I always try to be faithful to what the doctrine of the Church is on social issues, and that is my guide.
The Chicago-born new archbishop of 2.8 million Catholics in New York was greeted with fanfare and applause both inside and outside the renowned house of worship in Midtown often called by Hicks' predecessor, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, as America's parish church. Midtown was swarmed with members of clergy as nuns and other people of faith passed by yellow cabs and commuters rushing to work to attend the history-making commemoration.
Matthew Marrero witnessed the emotional detainment inside of 26 Federal Plaza on Nov. 24. The pair had been attending what they thought would be a joyous Green Card appointment that would cement their life together; instead, it turned into a nightmare when the Marreros were separated by ICE, and Allan was transferred from facility to facility. After months of fighting for his husband's freedom, Matthew Marrero flew to the Magnolia State on Jan. 27 for Allan's bond hearing.
I'm really excited about the mayor's affordability agenda and what it means for our city, and I know that Jewish New Yorkers are and deserve to be a part of that agenda. And our safety and belonging in this city is extremely important to the mayor and extremely important to me. I know that there are challenges and that antisemitic hate crimes and bias incidents are on the rise, and I am a Jewish New Yorker, too, who feels and experiences that,
