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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV Newscast for Wednesday, May 6th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. A new poll shows Americans broadly disapprove of President Donald Trump's recent series of verbal and social media attacks on Pope Leo XIV. The data came out a day after Trump renewed his barbs against the Pope. According to a Washington Post, ABC News Ipsos poll published today, most Americans disapprove of the President's comments about the Pope. The poll was conducted April 24th through the 28th, and it found that Pope Leo has a 25-point net favorable margin among Americans overall, with 41% rating favorably, 16% as unfavorable, and 43% saying they have no opinion of the pontiff. Meanwhile, Trump's approval rating has dropped to 37%, down from 45% in February of 2025. Two-thirds of Americans, or 66%, said they had a positive reaction to Pope Leo asking Americans back on April 7th to contact their congressional lawmakers to work for peace and to reject war. 57% reacted negatively to Trump's post saying, I don't want a Pope who thinks it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, supports Iran having nuclear weapons. However, the Pope has never made any such statement and has consistently called for the rejection of nuclear weapons. The Catholic Church is the guardian of hope, whose members are called to speak clearly against all evil and in defense of human life. That's what Pope Leo XIV said today during his general audience in St. Peter's Square. The Pope said the Church, as the pilgrim people of God on earth, reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms, and proclaiming in word and deed the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and his kingdom of justice, love, and peace. And the Pope added, as the guardian of a hope that enlightens the path, the church is invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development, and to take a position in favor of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit. The Pope said, The Church is God's people journeying through history, which has the kingdom of God as the purpose of all her action. We are therefore called to consider the community and cosmic dimension of salvation in Christ, and to turn our eyes to this final horizon to measure and evaluate everything from this perspective. Pope Leo said the Catholic Church lives in human history at the service of the coming kingdom of God in the world, and he said she proclaims the words of this promise to all and always. Since late April, armed mobs have targeted migrants in cities including Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, looting property and demanding foreigners' leave. Church leaders stressed that such actions undermine African solidarity and the spirit of Ubuntu, or I am because we are. The Cardinals said, the credibility of Africa, which aspires to become a key player on the international stage, is at stake. The South African bishops reaffirmed that all people, regardless of legal status, have basic rights to safety, health care, and education. The African Union, through its Commission on Human and People's Rights, called on the South African government to take decisive measures to dismantle and prevent the operation of vigilante groups engaging in unlawful enforcement activities. Several Catholic aid organizations said they remain united in hope for Ukraine as Russia's war on that nation relentlessly rages on. Such commitment to support Ukraine reflects an awareness that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, said Jennifer Healy. She's the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Director of Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which holds an annual collection among U.S. dioceses. Healy joined representatives of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and the Knights of Columbus for a briefing on May 4th regarding Catholic aid to Ukraine. The gathering featured an update on the situation in Ukraine by Metropolitan Archbishop Uris Gutziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archieparchy of Philadelphia. The Archbishop divides his time between the U.S. and Ukraine as part of his multiple leadership roles in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and at Ukrainian Catholic University. Speakers at the gathering noted the millions in aid are sustaining both humanitarian and pastoral relief efforts in Ukraine. That's as Russia's war, which began in 2014 and which was accelerated with a 2022 full-scale invasion, enters its 13th year. The aggression has been classified as a genocide in multiple human rights reports from the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights. Archbishop Gutziak described Catholic aid to Ukraine as steadfast, and he added that the support provided has been heart to heart, person to person, community to community, and church to church. And finally, new research shows the number of undocumented immigrants reached an estimated 14.6 million in 2024, an increasingly settled population that reflects shifts in migration patterns. The data analysis defined undocumented immigrants as those without long-term authorization to reside in the U.S., and it included those granted short-term legal status. A large portion of the group, about 37%, have what's called liminal legal status, such as temporary authorization for humanitarian reasons. An accurate analysis of the data is essential in formulating effective immigration policies. That's according to experts at a May 5th online panel hosted by the Center for Migration Studies of New York. Ruth Wassom, a senior fellow at Cleveland State University's Levin School of Urban Affairs, was one of the experts on hand, and she said, the unauthorized population has long been misunderstood, mischaracterized, and often maligned. The results are poor policy decisions. Data for the analysis was drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, and the panelists said that although the 2024 data doesn't necessarily account for the 2026 landscape, given the rapid immigration policy shifts under the Trump administration, the findings ultimately provide a more nuanced portrait of so-called undocumented immigrants. And ultimately, as Wassom said, the need for immigration reform. She said the research under discussion during the CMS webinar, which can be accessed at data.cmsny.org, provides solid analysis of empirical data to enable policymakers to have a meaningful discussion about the options to address unauthorized migration to the United States. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. As always, make sure to subscribe to this podcast, never miss an episode. Follow us on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. We see you out there checking in from all over the world. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

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