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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSC Newscast for Tuesday, June 30th, 2026, the Feast of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church. Yesterday we honored Saints Peter and Paul, and today we remember the early Christians martyred under the Roman Emperor Nero in the year 64. May they continue to pray for us. Now let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws in West Virginia and Idaho, requiring student athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. In a majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, The question before the court is, under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women's and girls' sports for biological females? In other words, may schools determine eligibility for women's and girls' sports based on biological sex? The answer is yes. Kavanaugh was joined in his opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch and Thomas also filed concurring opinions. Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson joined. Jackson also filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part. In her opinion, concurring in part and dissenting in part, Sotomayor wrote that this litigation implies deeply sensitive, contentious, and evolving issues, and she argued the circumstances demand exercising judicial restraint, not rushing to answer conclusively difficult questions without sufficient evidentiary development. In a friend of the court brief filed in the case, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed to the fundamental Catholic teachings regarding the immutable, God-given differences between the sexes, and argued that if Catholic schools were forced to allow males to compete on or against their female-only teams, they would need to abandon athletics programs or stop accepting federal funding. And in a separate ruling today, the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, with the court finding it violated the 14th Amendment. Limiting birthright citizenship has been a cornerstone of Trump's efforts to restrict immigration, and the ruling comes as a loss for Trump, who even attended oral arguments in the case in person. That's the first time a sitting president has done so, according to records from the High Court and the nonprofit Supreme Court Historical Society. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, citizenship, then, as now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community. Roberts cited comments made by Senator Lyman Trumbull, a proponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which led to the Fourteenth Amendment, and Roberts said, the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to every free-born person in this land. We keep that promise today. Previously, the Supreme Court limited the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions against the order while litigation over it proceeded, but they didn't directly address the merits of the order itself. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network earlier submitted a friend of the court brief in the case, saying that ending birthright citizenship would weaken families and risk leaving children stateless, making them targets for violence, trafficking, and exploitation. Anna Gallagher, Executive Director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said in a statement on the Supreme Court decision: We are relieved and grateful that the Supreme Court has upheld this right that is so important for our identity as a nation and for safeguarding justice and human dignity. Sister Leticia Ugboaja is a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, a congregation founded in Nigeria. She's a registered nurse who's been working in the McAllen area for more than a decade. She was wearing her religious habit and she just emerged from her residence near the church when she was detained by ICE agents. She was held for several hours. Republican Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz of Texas's 15th Congressional District said on Facebook she spoke directly with Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen regarding Sister Leticia's release. The Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, in which the sister is based, issued a statement yesterday quoting Bishop Daniel Flores, who described the sister as a well-known source of goodness and hope in our community. Bishop Flores said, It is clear that Homeland Security Enforcement Procols that make it possible for a religious sister or anyone to be detained and handcuffed while peacefully walking to church on a Sunday morning are wildly disturbing and need to be reformed. Pope Leo XIV has issued a final heartfelt appeal to the traditionalist society of St. Pius X, urging its leader to halt the unauthorized consecration of new bishops planned for tomorrow. In a letter to Father Davide Paliorani, Superior General of the Society, the Pope warned that proceeding without a papal mandate constitutes a schismatic act that would incur excommunication and deprive followers of lawful sacraments. The Pope's letter was signed yesterday, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and published today. Pope Leo pleaded with the Society to please turn back, calling the potential split a sin of extreme gravity that would tear the seamless garment of Christ. The Society announced the consecrations after a breakdown in Vatican communications and issued a 28-page profession of faith to justify its decision based on church tradition. Despite decades of reconciliation efforts by previous popes, Vatican Doctrinal Chief Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez confirmed that dialogue remains conditioned on the society suspending the ordinations. In a public response to Pope Leo shared today, Father Pagliarani appeared undeterred from proceeding with the consecrations, pressing Pope Leo to consider the authenticity of this intention before making a decision concerning the Society of St. Pius X. And finally, Pope Leo XIV is urging Christians around the world to prepare together for 2033. That's when the Catholic Church will celebrate an extraordinary Jubilee year marking 2,000 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Speaking today to an Orthodox delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Pope thanked them for their commitment to Christian unity and looked ahead to the anniversary as a shared milestone. The Pope said, May the journey towards the celebration of the second millennium of the redemption in 2033 be undertaken together by all the Christian denominations of the world, rediscovering the gift and the call to be witnesses to the risen one. Pope Leo pointed to last year's 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea as a model of ecumenical cooperation. He also stressed that Christians must work together to confront war, polarization, and other global challenges. Pope Leo said Christians' shared responsibility for the life and dignity of every human being, beginning with the youngest and most needy, is the criterion that will determine our present and eternal destiny. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website. That's where you can find the stories in this episode. Make sure, as always, to subscribe to this podcast. Follow us on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. As always, a shout out to our listeners in the US, Canada, and all over the world. And hello there, Ireland, El Salvador, Brazil, Denmark, and Malaysia. Trinidad and Tobago, I see you checking in very regularly as well. Thanks so much for listening and God bless. This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.com.