Catholic moms plead with their bishops to speak out on migrant detention

Katie Holler has watched with horror as migrants in the United States have been violently detained, some separated from their families and children. The case of a Cuban mother deported without her still-nursing baby especially anguished Holler, a Catholic and the mom of two young children herself.

A few months into the new administration, she decided to do something. With a few social media posts, Holler gathered a group of a dozen or so like-minded Catholic moms to meet online, and in July the Dorothea Project took their first action: a letter-writing campaign to U.S. bishops, urging them to speak out publicly and advocate politically for mercy in the treatment of migrants.

Religion, Politics & Culture

Photos of the Week: Druze communities; Alligator Alcatraz

Druze clerics take part in a gathering of minority religious leaders in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 18, 2025, as they speak about sectarian clashes between Druze factions, Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and government forces in Syria (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

In Opinion

And finally, 'She is the future of our church.' Winnie Varghese named first woman dean of St. John the Divine.

When the Rev. Winnie Varghese, 53, took a seat on the broad steps of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, as the late afternoon sun beat down across New York City, there were tears apparent in her eyes.

“What a beautiful responsibility it is to have to think about how to care for people and how to care for community,” Varghese told RNS outside the cathedral on Monday (July 14), on the heels of being named the church’s new dean. “How do you get your head around it, you know?

“St. John the Divine was so in my imagination as a young person, a place where really magical things happened,” Varghese said. “In my growing-up mind, it was kind of a big statement of what the church was supposed to be about.”

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