Pope Leo XIV prayed the Angelus with hundreds of pilgrims who had come to the Pontifical Villa of Castelgandolfo Photo: Vatican Media

New Freedoms, Old Cautions: U.S. Churches Now Free to Endorse Political Candidates—But Catholic Church Won’t

The ruling, emerging from a legal battle initiated in 2024 by Texas-based churches and the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), effectively softens the enforcement of the so-called Johnson Amendment of 1954. That provision had barred 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, including religious groups, from supporting or opposing candidates for public office