Bishops urge passage of Religious Workers Protection Act

July 8, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Brooklyn Diocesan Bishop Robert J. Brennan pictured when he first launched his podcast, “Big City Catholics,” in October 2022. File Photo courtesy of DeSales Media

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PROSPECT HEIGHTS AND CAPITOL HILL — BROOKLYN DIOCESAN BISHOP ROBERT BRENNAN AND THE BISHOP OF COLUMBUS are urging the passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which has bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, and which the Brooklyn Eagle covered on June 26.

Bishop Brennan and the prelate who succeeded him as leader of the Diocese of Columbus discussed the legislation in an episode of their podcast “Big City Catholics,” released on July 3, according to a Tablet article. The bill would allow foreign priests and persons from religious orders to continue ministering in the United States and would prevent the backlog in the immigration system from disrupting their service to communities.

The Tablet pointed out that there are about 6,600 foreign-born priests and 4,000 religious sisters in the U.S. Bishop Brennan said about 136 of the foreign-born priests serve the diocese of Brooklyn. The podcast aired in advance of the ordination last Saturday of seven men, five of whom are from other nations: France, Nigeria, Colombia and Mexico.

Jesuit-educated Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) is the bill’s main sponsor; co-sponsors include GOP sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Lindsay Graham. The House’s version of the RWPA has Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH) as main sponsor, with three other Republican and two Democratic representatives as co-sponsors.

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