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Great Pond and Turkish Bath pavilion, Catherine Park, Pushkin town, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Crepuscular rays over parc de Noisiel (park of Noisiel) at sunrise. Taken from above the gardens of Champs-sur-Marne castle, Seine-et-Marne, France
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During the Diocese of Litoměřice’s Year of Reconciliation, Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl led a pilgrimage and Mass honoring hundreds killed in Czechoslovakia in 1945.
The president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon emphasized that peace must remain a national priority, particularly in Cameroon’s conflict-ridden regions.
The gathering will function as “a space for mutual listening, discernment, and shared exploration of certain issue,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said.
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Hyacinth macaw couple with a Pink Ipê tree in the background in Mato Grosso, Brazil
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Coakley spoke at a virtual panel held by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life that explored what the encyclical is asking.
![Pope’s AI warnings come as Americans grapple with data center expansions – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV issued stark warnings against building “a new Tower of Babel” when developing artificial intelligence (AI) in his recently released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, at a time when many people are growing concerned with the impact of the new technology and the rapid data center expansion that supports it.His encyclical, the title of which means "magnificent humanity,” pleads for AI development that safeguards Earth’s natural resources, preserves the dignity of work, builds up human solidarity, and does not concentrate power in the hands of a few but rather ensures all people benefit from the innovation.As American companies move fast to expand AI data centers — with over 4,000 operating and thousands more under construction — projects face local protests and critics cite environmental concerns, noise pollution, lack of long-term employment, and broader skepticism of AI’s impact on society.Although a March Gallup poll of 1,000 Americans found 71% oppose local AI data centers and only 27% support them, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum promoted data center expansion on Fox Business on May 26, citing productivity benefits across many sectors of the economy.The protests, he claimed, are “foreign-directed propaganda” campaigns from nations competing with the United States. He dismissed Leo’s guidance while laughing and said: "I didnʼt know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope.”Yet AI skepticism is quite prominent among the American public. A June 2025 Pew survey of 5,000 people found 50% are more concerned than excited about AI, 38% are equally excited and concerned, and just 10% are more excited than concerned. An NBC poll of 1,000 people in March found that 57% believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits and 34% said the opposite.David Cloutier, a Notre Dame theology professor and academic director of the Business Ethics and Society Program, told EWTN News: “I think the resistance to data centers is rooted in a larger suspicion of the technology itself.”“They are a really tempting symbolic target,” he said, adding that data centers “symbolize a future that is all computer and machine and no people.”“I think people experience the arrival of this technology as something that they did not ask for and seems overwhelming to them,” Cloutier added.Dignity of work and power concentrationData centers often receive significant state and local tax incentives. At least 28 states offer tax incentives specific to data centers: Each waives certain sales tax, 14 offer energy subsidies, and 11 provide property tax reductions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.In a small number of states with significant data center growth — such as Texas and Virginia — data centers are receiving more than $1 billion annually in tax incentives. Apart from temporary construction jobs, smaller data centers often employ fewer than 150 permanent workers, while larger ones may employ a few hundred.Father Philip Larrey, a philosophy professor at Boston College, told EWTN News “it doesn’t make sense to me” to offer those incentives because “you don’t need many people to actually run these things.”“What advantage is there for the local people to have a data center in their city?” he questioned. “Probably none.”Cloutier noted the difference between incentives given to data centers and to factories, saying “the factory can only work if workers come to the factory,” but “data centers don’t employ people like factories do.”“The question is a question about power and who controls these very important entities and whether they share the wealth that is generated by these entities,” he said, pointing to Leo’s concern about the centralization of power and dignity of work.In the encyclical, Leo contrasted the Tower of Babel with the Book of Nehemiah, which details the construction of new walls for Jerusalem. The Holy Father said AI development should mirror the priorities outlined in that text: “Safeguarding humanity and the common good.”Cloutier encouraged local government officials to question “Who’s truly being benefited by these developments?” and “Is this really benefiting my local community?” when considering projects.“Listen to the community and ask questions of the company in ways that attempt to make the project more like Nehemiah building the wall,” he said.The backlash to data centers also fuels concerns about AI replacing people in the workforce, with Cloutier noting “they’re enormous but empty of people.”As the technology improves, Larrey expressed concern about the long-term impact on the labor force, saying it will be hard to convince a company to hire a person if it can achieve “the same result from an AI that you get from a human being and they cost almost nothing.” Yet, he urged employers to consider the human impact and encouraged employees to incorporate AI into their work if it can help prevent replacement.“Just because you can replace a person with AI doesn’t mean that you should,” he said.Judith McGill, marketing and content specialist for DataBank — a data center developer — and a practicing Catholic, told EWTN News that she believes critics' objections about employment are misleading, because although the centers themselves do not employ “a lot of people,” the services benefit “all of the employees of our customers” who use AI.She said governments would not offer incentives if investments were not “a net economic benefit to those communities.” Despite incentives, she said: “We pay taxes and, in fact, contribute to schools and roads.”For example, McGill said DataBank aligns itself with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises, which prioritizes issues like labor rights and the environment.“Our focus is on those organizations which are building technical skills for students entering the workforce and for teachers,” she said.Environment and resourcesIn his encyclical, Leo warned of a “tendency to overlook the environmental impact” of AI and the “enormous amounts of energy and water” needed for data centers, which puts “heavy demands on natural resources” and influences carbon dioxide emissions.A report from the Electric Power Research Institute found 4%-5% of national energy is consumed by data centers, but that will rise to somewhere between 9% and 17% by 2030, mostly because of AI. It could exceed 20% in seven states and be somewhere between 39% and 57% in Virginia. Many data centers use water to cool machines.Cloutier said environmental concerns are “a very important point that is very easy to miss,” adding that “the amount of computer work that has to go on in order for the AI company to answer [a] question is very, very large.”“The environmental impact is downstream from the way we use that technology,” he said, noting that if AI progresses to be “completely embedded in our lives,” it will exacerbate the concerns.Larrey said water and energy are two concerns people have as data centers continue to be built: “They need huge data centers in order to run the servers that give us these large AI models that are only going to get larger and larger as time goes on.”Larrey said innovation can ease concerns and cited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s investments in small nuclear reactors that could increase opportunities to employ clean energy. He referenced Nobel-Prize winning AlphaFold as well, developed by DeepMind, which significantly reduced the time and energy needed for AI protein structure prediction.“You need massive data centers in order to keep up with the competition,” he said. “Now the companies have to come up with a way of making these more efficient and using less electricity. … It’s becoming a real problem for the companies because people are protesting, actually in the street.”McGill, speaking for DataBank, said Leo’s environmental concerns and broader concerns are “well taken” and even though data center developers are not religious organizations, it “doesn’t absolve us from behaving responsibly.”She said DataBank is experimenting with hydrogenated vegetable oil for power. The company also designs the data centers with a closed-loop water cooling system, which means the water is continuously recycled through the system rather than consuming additional water.McGill added that “data centers pay for their power.” She acknowledged power consumption as a "legitimate concern” but criticized the narrative of the data center industry as “one big scary monster,” making them “the scapegoat” for higher consumption and rate hikes. She noted that inflation and foreign policy in the Middle East have a major effect on energy costs.“What we are doing toward responsible behavior, toward human beings, and toward the environment is absolutely in line with the pope’s encyclical,” she said.Amid growing protests and guidelines coming down from the Vatican, McGill said a parishioner at the parish she attends asked her how a Catholic could work for a data center company, but she said this incorrectly “implied there was a disconnection.”“My conscience is clear,” she said. “This is an industry that is not just avoiding doing bad things but actively seeking out ways to do the right thing.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/popes-ai-warnings-come-as-americans-grapple-with-data-center-expansions-catholic-pope-leo-xiv-issued-stark-warnings-against-building-a-new-tower-of-babel-when-developin.jpg "Pope’s AI warnings come as Americans grapple with data center expansions – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV issued stark warnings against building “a new Tower of Babel” when developing artificial intelligence (AI) in his recently released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, at a time when many people are growing concerned with the impact of the new technology and the rapid data center expansion that supports it.His encyclical, the title of which means \"magnificent humanity,” pleads for AI development that safeguards Earth’s natural resources, preserves the dignity of work, builds up human solidarity, and does not concentrate power in the hands of a few but rather ensures all people benefit from the innovation.As American companies move fast to expand AI data centers — with over 4,000 operating and thousands more under construction — projects face local protests and critics cite environmental concerns, noise pollution, lack of long-term employment, and broader skepticism of AI’s impact on society.Although a March Gallup poll of 1,000 Americans found 71% oppose local AI data centers and only 27% support them, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum promoted data center expansion on Fox Business on May 26, citing productivity benefits across many sectors of the economy.The protests, he claimed, are “foreign-directed propaganda” campaigns from nations competing with the United States. He dismissed Leo’s guidance while laughing and said: \"I didnʼt know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope.”Yet AI skepticism is quite prominent among the American public. A June 2025 Pew survey of 5,000 people found 50% are more concerned than excited about AI, 38% are equally excited and concerned, and just 10% are more excited than concerned. An NBC poll of 1,000 people in March found that 57% believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits and 34% said the opposite.David Cloutier, a Notre Dame theology professor and academic director of the Business Ethics and Society Program, told EWTN News: “I think the resistance to data centers is rooted in a larger suspicion of the technology itself.”“They are a really tempting symbolic target,” he said, adding that data centers “symbolize a future that is all computer and machine and no people.”“I think people experience the arrival of this technology as something that they did not ask for and seems overwhelming to them,” Cloutier added.Dignity of work and power concentrationData centers often receive significant state and local tax incentives. At least 28 states offer tax incentives specific to data centers: Each waives certain sales tax, 14 offer energy subsidies, and 11 provide property tax reductions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.In a small number of states with significant data center growth — such as Texas and Virginia — data centers are receiving more than $1 billion annually in tax incentives. Apart from temporary construction jobs, smaller data centers often employ fewer than 150 permanent workers, while larger ones may employ a few hundred.Father Philip Larrey, a philosophy professor at Boston College, told EWTN News “it doesn’t make sense to me” to offer those incentives because “you don’t need many people to actually run these things.”“What advantage is there for the local people to have a data center in their city?” he questioned. “Probably none.”Cloutier noted the difference between incentives given to data centers and to factories, saying “the factory can only work if workers come to the factory,” but “data centers don’t employ people like factories do.”“The question is a question about power and who controls these very important entities and whether they share the wealth that is generated by these entities,” he said, pointing to Leo’s concern about the centralization of power and dignity of work.In the encyclical, Leo contrasted the Tower of Babel with the Book of Nehemiah, which details the construction of new walls for Jerusalem. The Holy Father said AI development should mirror the priorities outlined in that text: “Safeguarding humanity and the common good.”Cloutier encouraged local government officials to question “Who’s truly being benefited by these developments?” and “Is this really benefiting my local community?” when considering projects.“Listen to the community and ask questions of the company in ways that attempt to make the project more like Nehemiah building the wall,” he said.The backlash to data centers also fuels concerns about AI replacing people in the workforce, with Cloutier noting “they’re enormous but empty of people.”As the technology improves, Larrey expressed concern about the long-term impact on the labor force, saying it will be hard to convince a company to hire a person if it can achieve “the same result from an AI that you get from a human being and they cost almost nothing.” Yet, he urged employers to consider the human impact and encouraged employees to incorporate AI into their work if it can help prevent replacement.“Just because you can replace a person with AI doesn’t mean that you should,” he said.Judith McGill, marketing and content specialist for DataBank — a data center developer — and a practicing Catholic, told EWTN News that she believes critics' objections about employment are misleading, because although the centers themselves do not employ “a lot of people,” the services benefit “all of the employees of our customers” who use AI.She said governments would not offer incentives if investments were not “a net economic benefit to those communities.” Despite incentives, she said: “We pay taxes and, in fact, contribute to schools and roads.”For example, McGill said DataBank aligns itself with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises, which prioritizes issues like labor rights and the environment.“Our focus is on those organizations which are building technical skills for students entering the workforce and for teachers,” she said.Environment and resourcesIn his encyclical, Leo warned of a “tendency to overlook the environmental impact” of AI and the “enormous amounts of energy and water” needed for data centers, which puts “heavy demands on natural resources” and influences carbon dioxide emissions.A report from the Electric Power Research Institute found 4%-5% of national energy is consumed by data centers, but that will rise to somewhere between 9% and 17% by 2030, mostly because of AI. It could exceed 20% in seven states and be somewhere between 39% and 57% in Virginia. Many data centers use water to cool machines.Cloutier said environmental concerns are “a very important point that is very easy to miss,” adding that “the amount of computer work that has to go on in order for the AI company to answer [a] question is very, very large.”“The environmental impact is downstream from the way we use that technology,” he said, noting that if AI progresses to be “completely embedded in our lives,” it will exacerbate the concerns.Larrey said water and energy are two concerns people have as data centers continue to be built: “They need huge data centers in order to run the servers that give us these large AI models that are only going to get larger and larger as time goes on.”Larrey said innovation can ease concerns and cited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s investments in small nuclear reactors that could increase opportunities to employ clean energy. He referenced Nobel-Prize winning AlphaFold as well, developed by DeepMind, which significantly reduced the time and energy needed for AI protein structure prediction.“You need massive data centers in order to keep up with the competition,” he said. “Now the companies have to come up with a way of making these more efficient and using less electricity. … It’s becoming a real problem for the companies because people are protesting, actually in the street.”McGill, speaking for DataBank, said Leo’s environmental concerns and broader concerns are “well taken” and even though data center developers are not religious organizations, it “doesn’t absolve us from behaving responsibly.”She said DataBank is experimenting with hydrogenated vegetable oil for power. The company also designs the data centers with a closed-loop water cooling system, which means the water is continuously recycled through the system rather than consuming additional water.McGill added that “data centers pay for their power.” She acknowledged power consumption as a \"legitimate concern” but criticized the narrative of the data center industry as “one big scary monster,” making them “the scapegoat” for higher consumption and rate hikes. She noted that inflation and foreign policy in the Middle East have a major effect on energy costs.“What we are doing toward responsible behavior, toward human beings, and toward the environment is absolutely in line with the pope’s encyclical,” she said.Amid growing protests and guidelines coming down from the Vatican, McGill said a parishioner at the parish she attends asked her how a Catholic could work for a data center company, but she said this incorrectly “implied there was a disconnection.”“My conscience is clear,” she said. “This is an industry that is not just avoiding doing bad things but actively seeking out ways to do the right thing.”")
Catholic scholars echo Leo’s focus on the dignity of work, the environment, and avoiding power concentration as one data center spokesperson says her work is consistent with Leo’s vision.
A French children’s rights group has filed formal observations with the U.N. Human Rights Council ahead of November reviews of Greece and Ireland.
![Parishes in Buffalo Diocese will undergo ‘rapid’ bankruptcy as part of Chapter 11 process – #Catholic – Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful. A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”The Buffalo Diocese has been moving through the bankruptcy process for a notable length of time. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has been working to finalize a major settlement since April 2025. The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.” The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement. In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan. Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.In April the Vatican also said that multiple parishes would not have to contribute disputed amounts of cash into the diocesan abuse settlement plan.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/parishes-in-buffalo-diocese-will-undergo-rapid-bankruptcy-as-part-of-chapter-11-process-catholic-parishes-in-the-diocese-of-buffalo-new-york-will-undergo-rapid-scaled.jpg "Parishes in Buffalo Diocese will undergo ‘rapid’ bankruptcy as part of Chapter 11 process – #Catholic – Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful. A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”The Buffalo Diocese has been moving through the bankruptcy process for a notable length of time. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has been working to finalize a major settlement since April 2025. The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.” The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement. In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan. Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.In April the Vatican also said that multiple parishes would not have to contribute disputed amounts of cash into the diocesan abuse settlement plan.")
In an effort to bring its bankruptcy proceedings to a successful conclusion, the Diocese of Buffalo announced all its parishes will file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases.
Catholic justice officials and rights advocates say the shooting of a Christian driver in Rawalpindi reflects a broader pattern of deadly police “encounters” in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
![Magnifica Humanitas seen deepening Church-tech ties, former Silicon Valley exec says – #Catholic – Magnifica Humanitas has opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education. Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.‘Engaged in deeper conversations’“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said. The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/magnifica-humanitas-seen-deepening-church-tech-ties-former-silicon-valley-exec-says-catholic-magnifica-humanitas-has-opened-the-doors-for-deeper-conversations-between-the-church-and-the-tech-ind.jpg "Magnifica Humanitas seen deepening Church-tech ties, former Silicon Valley exec says – #Catholic – Magnifica Humanitas has opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education. Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.‘Engaged in deeper conversations’“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said. The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.")
Relationships between tech companies and the Church will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” Father Brendan McGuire said.
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome was founded in 1701 as a training ground for the pope’s ambassadors.
The 2026 Conference of the Society of Catholic Scientists will take place June 5–7 at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, whose family fled communism, will preside as two executed priests become the first martyrs of communism beatified in the Czech Republic.
While the main role of port chaplains with Stella Maris is to celebrate Mass and the sacraments aboard ships, their work includes providing counsel and aid to sailors, Bishop Frank Schuster said.
![12 things to know and share about the Holy Trinity – #Catholic – The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. But how much do we know about this mystery? What is its history? What does it mean? And how can it be proved?Here are 12 things to know and to share.1. Where does the word “Trinity” come from?It comes from the Latin word “trinitas,” which means “three” or “triad.” The Greek equivalent is “triados.”2. When was the word first used?The first surviving use of the term (there may have been earlier uses that are now lost) was about 170 A.D. by Theophilus of Antioch, who wrote: “In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries are types of the Trinity [Τριάδος], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man” (“To Autolycus,” 2:15).3. What is the Trinity?The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way: “The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature. They are really distinct from each other by reason of the relations which place them in correspondence to each other. The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son” (No. 48).4. Is the Trinity the central mystery of the Christian faith?Yes. The compendium explains: “The central mystery of Christian faith and life is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity. Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (No. 44).5. When did the Church infallibly define the Trinity?The dogma of the Trinity was defined in two stages, at the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and the First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.).First Nicaea defined the divinity of the Son and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Son.This council was called to deal with the heresy known as Arianism, which claimed that the Son was a supernatural being but not God.First Constantinople defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Spirit.This council dealt with a heresy known as Macedonianism (because its advocates were from Macedonia), which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This heresy was also called Pneumatomachianism (from a Greek phrase meaning “fighting the Spirit”).6. How can the Trinity be proved?The Trinity can only be proved through the divine revelation that Jesus brought us. It cannot be proved by natural reason or from the Old Testament alone. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the incarnation of the Son of God and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it is the source of all the other mysteries” (No. 45).Although the vocabulary used to express the doctrine of the Trinity took time to develop, we can demonstrate the different aspects of the doctrine from Scripture.7. How can we show from Scripture that there is only one God?The fact that there is only one God was already made clear in the Old Testament. For example, the book of Isaiah proclaims: “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” (Is 43:10).It continues: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Is 44:6).8. How can we show that the Father is God?The Father is proclaimed as God numerous times in the New Testament. For example, St. Paul declares: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3).And: “There is … one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:4-6).9. How can we show that the Son is God?This is proclaimed in a variety of places in the New Testament, including at the beginning of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (Jn 1:1, 14).And later: “Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (Jn 20:27-28).10. How can we show that the Holy Spirit is God?In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a divine Person who speaks and who can be lied to: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).And: “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? … You have not lied to men but to God’” (Acts 5:3-4).11. How can we show that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct Persons?The distinction of the persons can be shown, for example, in the fact that Jesus speaks to his Father. This would make no sense if they were one and the same person.“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will’” (Mt 11:25-26).The fact that Jesus is not the same Person as the Holy Spirit is revealed when Jesus — who has been functioning as the Counselor (Greek, “Parakletos”) of the disciples — says he will pray to the Father and the Father will give them “another Counselor,” who is the Holy Spirit. This shows the distinction of all three Persons: Jesus who prays; the Father who sends; and the Spirit who comes: “And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you” (Jn 14:16-17).12. How can we show that the Son is generated by the Father and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son?The fact that the Son is generated by the Father is indicated by the names of these Persons. Sons are generated by fathers. The second Person of the Trinity would not be a Son if he were not generated by the first Person as his Father.The fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son is reflected in another statement of Jesus:“But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me” (Jn 15:26).This depicts the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son (“whom I shall send”). Here the outward operations of the Persons of the Trinity reflect their mutual relations with each other. It may also be said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.For more on the procession of the Holy Spirit, click here.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, on June 7, 2020, and has been updated and adapted by EWTN News.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/12-things-to-know-and-share-about-the-holy-trinity-catholic-the-catholic-church-teaches-that-the-holy-trinity-is-the-central-mystery-of-the-christian-faith-but-how-much-do-we-know-about-this-mys.jpg "12 things to know and share about the Holy Trinity – #Catholic – The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. But how much do we know about this mystery? What is its history? What does it mean? And how can it be proved?Here are 12 things to know and to share.1. Where does the word “Trinity” come from?It comes from the Latin word “trinitas,” which means “three” or “triad.” The Greek equivalent is “triados.”2. When was the word first used?The first surviving use of the term (there may have been earlier uses that are now lost) was about 170 A.D. by Theophilus of Antioch, who wrote: “In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries are types of the Trinity [Τριάδος], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man” (“To Autolycus,” 2:15).3. What is the Trinity?The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way: “The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature. They are really distinct from each other by reason of the relations which place them in correspondence to each other. The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son” (No. 48).4. Is the Trinity the central mystery of the Christian faith?Yes. The compendium explains: “The central mystery of Christian faith and life is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity. Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (No. 44).5. When did the Church infallibly define the Trinity?The dogma of the Trinity was defined in two stages, at the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and the First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.).First Nicaea defined the divinity of the Son and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Son.This council was called to deal with the heresy known as Arianism, which claimed that the Son was a supernatural being but not God.First Constantinople defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Spirit.This council dealt with a heresy known as Macedonianism (because its advocates were from Macedonia), which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This heresy was also called Pneumatomachianism (from a Greek phrase meaning “fighting the Spirit”).6. How can the Trinity be proved?The Trinity can only be proved through the divine revelation that Jesus brought us. It cannot be proved by natural reason or from the Old Testament alone. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the incarnation of the Son of God and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it is the source of all the other mysteries” (No. 45).Although the vocabulary used to express the doctrine of the Trinity took time to develop, we can demonstrate the different aspects of the doctrine from Scripture.7. How can we show from Scripture that there is only one God?The fact that there is only one God was already made clear in the Old Testament. For example, the book of Isaiah proclaims: “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” (Is 43:10).It continues: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Is 44:6).8. How can we show that the Father is God?The Father is proclaimed as God numerous times in the New Testament. For example, St. Paul declares: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3).And: “There is … one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:4-6).9. How can we show that the Son is God?This is proclaimed in a variety of places in the New Testament, including at the beginning of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (Jn 1:1, 14).And later: “Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (Jn 20:27-28).10. How can we show that the Holy Spirit is God?In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a divine Person who speaks and who can be lied to: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).And: “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? … You have not lied to men but to God’” (Acts 5:3-4).11. How can we show that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct Persons?The distinction of the persons can be shown, for example, in the fact that Jesus speaks to his Father. This would make no sense if they were one and the same person.“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will’” (Mt 11:25-26).The fact that Jesus is not the same Person as the Holy Spirit is revealed when Jesus — who has been functioning as the Counselor (Greek, “Parakletos”) of the disciples — says he will pray to the Father and the Father will give them “another Counselor,” who is the Holy Spirit. This shows the distinction of all three Persons: Jesus who prays; the Father who sends; and the Spirit who comes: “And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you” (Jn 14:16-17).12. How can we show that the Son is generated by the Father and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son?The fact that the Son is generated by the Father is indicated by the names of these Persons. Sons are generated by fathers. The second Person of the Trinity would not be a Son if he were not generated by the first Person as his Father.The fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son is reflected in another statement of Jesus:“But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me” (Jn 15:26).This depicts the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son (“whom I shall send”). Here the outward operations of the Persons of the Trinity reflect their mutual relations with each other. It may also be said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.For more on the procession of the Holy Spirit, click here.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, on June 7, 2020, and has been updated and adapted by EWTN News.")
The Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. Here are 12 things to know and share.
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The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Tuesday, May 22, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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![Catholic Charities Boston sees surging need at city-wide food pantries – #Catholic – Catholic Charities Boston has seen a surge in the numbers of families who need food pantry assistance, offering nearly 3 million pounds of food over the past year. Over the past three months, Catholic Charities Boston has “seen over 2,000 new households register who have never come to our food pantries before,” said Jonathan Tetrault, the vice president of economic empowerment at Catholic Charities Boston.Tetrault told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 29 that these families “are seeking help with food assistance because of the many pressures that are … colliding to put pressure on their family budgets.” “So theyʼre reaching out to us for help,” he said.The organization operates "four food pantries across the cities of Brockton, Dorchester, Lowell, and Lynn. This past year, weʼve served nearly 70,000 people through these four food pantries – almost 3 million pounds of food through these four locations,” Tetrault said.“We offer fresh fruits and veggies, frozen lean proteins, shelf-stable dry goods,” he said. “[W]hat weʼre hearing from [families] when theyʼre coming in to get these critical groceries is that itʼs … a number of factors" that are causing the need, he said.Following federal cuts to programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Catholic Charities is experiencing an “elevated need in our communities, and weʼre seeing fewer dollars to meet that need with,” he said.“For some folks, the SNAP work requirements are going into effect. Most of our other clients are being impacted by the high cost of gas” and “utility prices soaring,” he said.“This is all coming together to strain their family budgets over the past several months,” he said.“It is becoming harder to stand in the gap, but that is our commitment [to] those families, those individuals who are coming to us for support. And so weʼre figuring out ways to do that,” he said.The organization is adapting to meet the urgent needs and acquire the necessary food, he said.“Most recently, we had to double the credit limit on our fuel cards" to ensure delivery trucks and vans could continue to get fueled up, he said.Call for community involvementAs Catholic Charities Boston’s food pantries operate with small numbers of staff members, they rely on volunteers and are calling for community support.“We recognize that it takes each one of us to meet the needs of our neighbors in our communities. So we would love for … our community to support us with their time, their talent, their treasure,” Tetrault said.To help, Tetrault called on the community to “find out where your local food pantry is” and “show up to volunteer.”“You can bring donations of dry goods there as well. And then supporting us financially … is critical because oftentimes weʼre able to purchase food at a better scale, better price points, when we pull those funds together," he said.The “food pantries operate with two staff each,” he said. “So we rely heavily on our volunteer support” which is “critical for us to be able to serve the hundreds and hundreds of families that we see each and every day throughout the week.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/catholic-charities-boston-sees-surging-need-at-city-wide-food-pantries-catholic-catholic-charities-boston-has-seen-a-surge-in-the-numbers-of-families-who-need-food-pantry-assistance-offering-nea-scaled.jpg "Catholic Charities Boston sees surging need at city-wide food pantries – #Catholic – Catholic Charities Boston has seen a surge in the numbers of families who need food pantry assistance, offering nearly 3 million pounds of food over the past year. Over the past three months, Catholic Charities Boston has “seen over 2,000 new households register who have never come to our food pantries before,” said Jonathan Tetrault, the vice president of economic empowerment at Catholic Charities Boston.Tetrault told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 29 that these families “are seeking help with food assistance because of the many pressures that are … colliding to put pressure on their family budgets.” “So theyʼre reaching out to us for help,” he said.The organization operates \"four food pantries across the cities of Brockton, Dorchester, Lowell, and Lynn. This past year, weʼve served nearly 70,000 people through these four food pantries – almost 3 million pounds of food through these four locations,” Tetrault said.“We offer fresh fruits and veggies, frozen lean proteins, shelf-stable dry goods,” he said. “[W]hat weʼre hearing from [families] when theyʼre coming in to get these critical groceries is that itʼs … a number of factors\" that are causing the need, he said.Following federal cuts to programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Catholic Charities is experiencing an “elevated need in our communities, and weʼre seeing fewer dollars to meet that need with,” he said.“For some folks, the SNAP work requirements are going into effect. Most of our other clients are being impacted by the high cost of gas” and “utility prices soaring,” he said.“This is all coming together to strain their family budgets over the past several months,” he said.“It is becoming harder to stand in the gap, but that is our commitment [to] those families, those individuals who are coming to us for support. And so weʼre figuring out ways to do that,” he said.The organization is adapting to meet the urgent needs and acquire the necessary food, he said.“Most recently, we had to double the credit limit on our fuel cards\" to ensure delivery trucks and vans could continue to get fueled up, he said.Call for community involvementAs Catholic Charities Boston’s food pantries operate with small numbers of staff members, they rely on volunteers and are calling for community support.“We recognize that it takes each one of us to meet the needs of our neighbors in our communities. So we would love for … our community to support us with their time, their talent, their treasure,” Tetrault said.To help, Tetrault called on the community to “find out where your local food pantry is” and “show up to volunteer.”“You can bring donations of dry goods there as well. And then supporting us financially … is critical because oftentimes weʼre able to purchase food at a better scale, better price points, when we pull those funds together,\" he said.The “food pantries operate with two staff each,” he said. “So we rely heavily on our volunteer support” which is “critical for us to be able to serve the hundreds and hundreds of families that we see each and every day throughout the week.”")
Following federal cuts, Catholic Charities is experiencing an “elevated need in our communities, and we’re seeing fewer dollars to meet that need with,” said Jonathan Tetrault.
![Florida judge rules against Planned Parenthood in false advertisement case – #Catholic – Florida judge rules against Planned Parenthood in false advertisement caseA circuit court judge in Florida said the state can continue legal action against Planned Parenthood over the abortion giantʼs claims that the abortion pill is safer than Tylenol.In a May 27 ruling, First Circuit Court Judge J. Scott Duncan of Santa Rosa County struck down Planned Parenthood’s attempt to dismiss a Florida lawsuit that accused the company of false advertising. In November 2025, state Attorney General James Uthmeier sued Planned Parenthood for $350 million, alleging that the abortion provider spread information that was deceptive and misleading by claiming abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol, Viagra, and penicillin. Planned Parenthood then asked for the suit to be dismissed, but the judge refused, allowing the legal action to continue.Colorado governor signs bill requiring college health centers to provide abortion pillsColorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill requiring college student health centers to provide chemical abortion pills on-site.The law includes exemptions, however. Colleges are exempt from providing abortion pills “if doing so would jeopardize an institutionʼs federal grant participation, require the institution to deviate from generally accepted billing practices, [or] modify the generally accepted standards of medical practice."Colleges are also allowed to opt out of the mandate if the rule would “conflict with the institutionʼs sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.”Babies lost to abortion at a record high in ScotlandScotland saw a record high in the number of babies lost to abortion in 2025, with recent statistics showing that 18,783 babies died from abortion last year.The count is the highest on record, according to statistics released May 26 by Public Health Scotland.Scotland currently protects unborn children after 24 weeks of pregnancy.Report details Planned Parenthood transgender ideology and servicesA recent report by the organization Biological Integrity, a project of the American College of Pediatricians, details Planned Parenthood’s transgender, or “sex-rejecting,” procedures.The report notes that Planned Parenthood provides free chest binders for minors and distributes hormones to patients as young as 16 years old.According to the report, Planned Parenthood provides birth control to halt periods of minor girls without parental consent as a “loophole.”Planned Parenthood is a “primary distributor” of sexual education, spending more than $70 million on training participants in fiscal year 2025 and providing resources about transgenderism for children as young as three years old.The report highlights malpractice lawsuits filed against Planned Parenthood by people who detransition after receiving hormones and surgery.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/florida-judge-rules-against-planned-parenthood-in-false-advertisement-case-catholic-florida-judge-rules-against-planned-parenthood-in-false-advertisement-casea-circuit-court-judge-in-florida-said-scaled.jpg "Florida judge rules against Planned Parenthood in false advertisement case – #Catholic – Florida judge rules against Planned Parenthood in false advertisement caseA circuit court judge in Florida said the state can continue legal action against Planned Parenthood over the abortion giantʼs claims that the abortion pill is safer than Tylenol.In a May 27 ruling, First Circuit Court Judge J. Scott Duncan of Santa Rosa County struck down Planned Parenthood’s attempt to dismiss a Florida lawsuit that accused the company of false advertising. In November 2025, state Attorney General James Uthmeier sued Planned Parenthood for $350 million, alleging that the abortion provider spread information that was deceptive and misleading by claiming abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol, Viagra, and penicillin. Planned Parenthood then asked for the suit to be dismissed, but the judge refused, allowing the legal action to continue.Colorado governor signs bill requiring college health centers to provide abortion pillsColorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill requiring college student health centers to provide chemical abortion pills on-site.The law includes exemptions, however. Colleges are exempt from providing abortion pills “if doing so would jeopardize an institutionʼs federal grant participation, require the institution to deviate from generally accepted billing practices, [or] modify the generally accepted standards of medical practice.\"Colleges are also allowed to opt out of the mandate if the rule would “conflict with the institutionʼs sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.”Babies lost to abortion at a record high in ScotlandScotland saw a record high in the number of babies lost to abortion in 2025, with recent statistics showing that 18,783 babies died from abortion last year.The count is the highest on record, according to statistics released May 26 by Public Health Scotland.Scotland currently protects unborn children after 24 weeks of pregnancy.Report details Planned Parenthood transgender ideology and servicesA recent report by the organization Biological Integrity, a project of the American College of Pediatricians, details Planned Parenthood’s transgender, or “sex-rejecting,” procedures.The report notes that Planned Parenthood provides free chest binders for minors and distributes hormones to patients as young as 16 years old.According to the report, Planned Parenthood provides birth control to halt periods of minor girls without parental consent as a “loophole.”Planned Parenthood is a “primary distributor” of sexual education, spending more than $70 million on training participants in fiscal year 2025 and providing resources about transgenderism for children as young as three years old.The report highlights malpractice lawsuits filed against Planned Parenthood by people who detransition after receiving hormones and surgery.")
Father Julio Ampuero’s ministry in a poor area of Lima, Peru, is experiencing good fruit through retreats, confessions and an outreach at a men’s shelter.
![Remembering Alex: Benedictine College grieves a ‘faith-filled’ student - #Catholic - Outside the packed school chapel, Benedictine College students continued to gather, kneeling on the ground to pray for Alex Lynch.On the night of May 8, the news had spread across the campus that Lynch, a Benedictine student suffering from cancer, had died.A college senior, Lynch had just had his graduation ceremony. He didn’t walk the stage, however; instead, the college president went to him.On May 7, Benedictine College President Stephen Minnis traveled from the school in Atchison, Kansas, to Lynch’s family home in Indianola, Iowa, along with 30 Benedictine students for Lynch’s personal baccalaureate Mass and graduation ceremony.“Graduation is a powerful moment for these students,” Minnis told EWTN News. “They have worked so hard for it, including their whole primary and secondary education.”“I want to make that moment special for every student,” he said. “It’s a moment that is powerful for me too — I pray a Hail Mary for every student by name when they come and when they graduate, but I have prayed especially for Alex.”“It just took an extra step in his case, but I didn’t want to miss his big moment,” Minnis said.Father Ryan Richardson, Benedictine Collegeʼs chaplain, told EWTN News he spoke “directly to Alex” in his homily, detailing how Lynch lived out the fruits of the Holy Spirit while at school.“He radiated the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ,” Richardson said. “Alex often said that his desire was that others see Christ in him. He definitely accomplished that.”
Benedictine College chaplain Father Ryan Richardson speaks “directly” to Alex Lynch at his personal baccalaureate Mass on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Ryan Richardson
Finnegan Ritchie, a close friend of Lynch’s, was among the 30 students who attended the ceremony.“We were both worried that it was going to be unreasonably long,” Ritchie said in an interview with EWTN News. “Entertaining people is exhausting. But Alex was able to sit and stand at will; he had a lot of grit.”“After the ceremony, he had a little graduation party and greeted his family and friends,” Ritchie said. “It was wonderful to see how everyone came together to bring food, drinks, and tables for the occasion. People were catching up with each other and treating it like any other grad party.”
Alex Lynch and Benedictine College President Stephen Minnis with diploma at Lynch’s at-home commencement ceremony on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Finnegan Ritchie
Ritchie said goodbye to Lynch in the evening, “around 5:30 p.m.”“It was very difficult to leave him,” Ritchie said.On May 8, less than a day after his home graduation ceremony, Lynch died. It was late in the evening on a Friday night. Off-campus parties stopped. Students gathered in the chapel, again, this time to pray for a friend who had passed away.“Students left parties and gathered spontaneously in our adoration chapel,” Minnis said. “It was filled until late that night. It was an overwhelming response.”The following day, Benedictine held a Mass on campus in his memory.Students traveled from all over the country for Lynch’s funeral at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianola, Iowa, on May 14, nearly filling the pews in the church.“He made such an impact,” Minnis said. “The way he lived and the way he died will change these students for years.”Yellow pins and applauseOn Saturday, May 16, just over a week after Lynch died, Benedictine’s official graduation took place. The crowd was peppered with students wearing yellow pins, which they wore, Richardson said, “to remember Alex.”While at Benedictine, Lynch was a resident adviser (RA) on campus. He played intramural sports, was active with FOCUS, and sang in the choir at Mass.“The best way I can describe Alex is that he was faith-filled,” Richardson said. “Faith in Christ was the foundation of his life and his faith in Christ spilled over into all his relationships."“[Lynch] had a friendship with the Holy Spirit that was alive and active,” the chaplain continued.“He loved people sincerely and intensely,” he said. “Even in the midst of his illness he would often look me in the eye and intentionally ask how I was doing and how he could pray for me.”
Alex Lynch and Father Ryan Richardson at Lynch’s graduation celebration on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Ryan Richardson
“We have grieved as a community,” Richardson said.“Since Alex’s passing, though, I think many of us have transitioned from sadness to peace,” he continued. “In his death Alex showed us what it means to truly live and what it means to live the faith to the end.”Lynchʼs friend Jack Figge, a recent Benedictine graduate and a Catholic journalist, wrote a tribute to Lynch in Benedictineʼs school publication.“I spent three days with Alex at the beginning of the week he passed away. It’s a series of days I will never forget because Alex lived out what it meant to be a suffering servant,” Figge told EWTN News.“He never complained about the pain he was in; he was so generous with his time making sure that everybody who wanted to see him could,” Figge recalled. “Whenever you walked in, the first question he asked was ‘How are you?’”“Even in the midst of being close to death, he remained joyful, laughing, and cracking jokes,” Figge continued. “On the day of his graduation, so many people wanted to say goodbye and he was clearly tired. But he sat and talked with everybody for hours, making sure he had a moment with everybody.”In the last week of his life, Lynch visited his parish to pray a Holy Hour.He died reciting his baptismal promises — promises made by Catholics at baptism and renewed at the Easter Vigil.Benedictine students and faculty remembered Lynch at the schoolʼs graduation ceremony, where Lynch’s parents walked the stage in his place.
Alex Lynchʼs parents and brother accept Lynch’s framed diploma at graduation on May 16, 2026. | Credit: Isabella Wilcox/Benedictine College
“It was truly fitting to have Alex’s family with us at graduation,” Richardson said. “The resounding applause they received was a tribute to the impact that Alex had on each of us and the legacy he has left at Benedictine College.”Shaved heads and a walk down the aisleWhen Lynch discovered he would lose his hair from chemotherapy, 30 of his friends at Benedictine shaved their heads, Ritchie recalled.“We did it to be funny, but we also wanted to present ourselves as Alexʼs friends,” Ritchie said. “He and I, along with many others, had spiritual conversations often — we wanted to do college well. We wanted to know what our purpose in life was and how to go about getting it.”
Benedictine College students shaved their heads in solidarity with Alex Lynch, center, as he went through chemotherapy. Also pictured: Finnegan Ritchie, back row, left, and Jack Figge, third row, third from left. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Finnegan Ritchie
“At the end of the day, we wanted to be virtuous; it was the way to a happier life on earth and an even more perfect one in the next life,” Ritchie said.“Alex sought to see God in everyone he met in order to love them well. We rarely talked about his disease; I figured he wanted to let go of it while he was with people,” he said.“He loved the quiet; he enjoyed eating breakfast at the door to St. Joseph Hall and seeing people he loved walk by,” Ritchie continued. “I was always struck by his take on things, since death was a real threat for him; it put my life in perspective. He taught me that I have a lot to be grateful for, and that it is best to take action now than wait until later.”In one of their last conversations, Lynch told his friend he had learned from him as well. “Iʼm honored to have been taught by him,“ Ritchie said. ”Iʼm even more honored to have taught him something. I think we just wanted to seek God together.”Earlier this year, Lynch walked down the aisle as a groomsman at the wedding of one of his best friends, Ben Shonka, who recently served as a pallbearer at Lynchʼs funeral.“Alex was a goofy man; he loved his faith and loved to have fun,” Shonka, also a Benedictine graduate, told EWTN News. “He made every moment count whether he was with friends or whoever.”
Alex Lynch, right, was among the groomsman at Ben Shonka’s wedding. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ben Shonka
“He was one of the groomsmen in my wedding because he was one of the best men in my life,” Shonka said. “He really showed me what masculinity could look like at our age.”“He was so intentional in everything he did,” Shonka recalled. “He knew everyone’s name and would always greet them accordingly. He would always be down to talk whenever. He lived a life of prayer, often going to Mass and adoration.”
Alex Lynch, center, with friends, including Ben Shonka, right. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ben Shonka
After Lynch’s death, Shonka’s wife observed that Lynch had walked down the aisle as a groomsman at their wedding and now her husband had carried Lynch “down the aisle as a pallbearer to his final resting place.”The college president noted the impact Lynch had on both students and himself.“I think the students saw him as a representative of the best of what they are and a model to aspire to,” Minnis said. “I see him that way, too.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/remembering-alex-benedictine-college-grieves-a-faith-filled-student-catholic-outside-the-packed-school-chapel-benedictine-college-students-continued-to-gather-kneeling-on-the.jpg)
When a Benedictine College senior was dying from cancer, the college’s president, along with 30 students, traveled to his home to give him a graduation ceremony.
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Sveti Đorđe Island, off the coast of Perast, Montenegro. Today is Montenegro’s Independence Day.
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A delegation from the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer met Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo on May 26.
The Holy Father will spend half a day in the microstate in north-central Italy before traveling around 14 miles northeast to the city of Rimini, Italy.
![Pope Leo will visit a polarized Spain in political turmoil but where all sides want to hear him - #Catholic - Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visit to Spain will take place against a political and social backdrop marked by intense polarization.The divided political climate coincides with an unprecedented event in Spanish democracy: the indictment on charges of alleged corruption by a former prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, who held the office when Pope Benedict XVI visited the country 15 years ago.Zapatero’s scheduled court appearance in connection with his alleged involvement in a scheme linked to the 2021 public bailout of the airline Plus Ultra, originally set for June 2, has been postponed by the judge to June 17–18.The cardinal archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, downplayed the impact the case will have on the popeʼs June 6–12 visit. “We are accustomed to operating amid many events in political life. That is simply part of life, and the headlines keep shifting,” he stated in an interview with EWTN News.
The archbishop of Madrid, Spain, Cardinal José Cobo Cano. | Credit: EWTN News
The stability of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchezʼs government is also being called into question by some of its coalition partners, such as the Basque Nationalist Party, which has labeled the decision not to call general elections before the end of the year “irresponsible.”Polarization is not limited to the political sphere, however. According to the Atlas of Polarization by More in Common (2025), nearly 5 million Spaniards have broken off a personal relationship in the past year due to ideological differences, a figure equivalent to 14% of the population. Furthermore, three out of every five citizens say they avoid discussing politics to avoid creating conflict.According to jurist Rafael Domingo Oslé, professor at the University of Navarra in Spain, this phenomenon reflects a grave deterioration of society at large. “Spain is experiencing a moment of profound social fragmentation, exacerbated by a political class incapable of lowering the tone,” he said in an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. In his view, the volume of personal breakups “is a symptom that we are losing the respect necessary to prevent a society from fragmenting.”A shared languageIn this context, the pope’s visit takes on a particular significance as the emergence of a voice capable of introducing a different language into the public debate.“A papal visit does not, in and of itself, resolve a crisis of this nature. But it can accomplish something that politics, by its very logic, is no longer able to achieve: offering a common framework and a shared language,” Domingo explained. The key, he added, lies in the pontiff’s unique position: “The pope arrives not as an arbiter of an ideological debate but as a shepherd reminding a weary society that every person, regardless of whom they vote for, possesses a dignity that precedes their opinions.”
Main façade of the Congress of Deputies (lower house) in Madrid. | Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa
This circumstance has prompted an unusual gesture in recent Spanish politics: a unanimous invitation to the pope extended by both the House and the Senate.“In a country where parliamentary consensus is nearly impossible, all political forces have agreed to listen to the same voice. That, in itself, is already a healthy gesture,” Domingo emphasized.Leo XIV will address a joint session of the Legislature on June 8, marking the first time a pontiff has spoken before both Spanish legislative chambers. The motto of the trip, “Lift Up Your Eyes,” encapsulates the spirit of the visit, according to Domingo, who said he hopes Spaniards will "cease focusing solely on immediate conflict and look toward what truly matters.” Concurrently, the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas has met with a remarkable reception in the Spanish political world.In a message posted on X, Sánchez emphasized: “Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas challenges us all. AI is not neutral, and digital power could lead us to new atrocities if it is not directed toward the common good. The text is also a defense of peace, human dignity, and multilateralism. Spain is clear on this: In this moment of change, we cannot be resigned spectators. Everything that makes us human is at stake.”Along the same lines, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told the press, following his audience with the pope on May 4: “There is a great convergence between the Vatican’s positions and Spain’s humanist foreign policy at this time.”Despite these points of convergence, tensions between the Church and the political realm remain. One of the most visible flashpoints is the re-signification of the Valley of the Fallen (Cuelgamuros), a monument to the victims from both sides of the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War comprising a basilica, a cemetery, and a guesthouse. For 44 years, the mortal remains of dictator Francisco Franco lay buried there until their exhumation in 2019. Franco was the general who led the victorious right-wing Nationalist side against the leftist Republican side in the conflict. The current government has led the drive to transform the site into a political memorial, while the Church has advocated for the preservation of the monumentʼs religious dimension.Italian constitutional scholar Marco Olivetti warned during a press conference at LUMSA University in Rome that “historical memory has been used as a divisive element that shapes public perception of the Church.”Added to this are legislative clashes such as the attempt to enshrine abortion rights in the Spanish Constitution or proposals to eliminate military chaplains, efforts in direct confrontation with Church doctrine.However, criticism of the Church does not stem solely from the left. The bishops' defense of immigrants, including their support for the government’s plan to give legal status to undocumented immigrants, which would benefit nearly half a million people already residing in Spain, has also drawn reproaches from conservative quarters.Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Vox party, which declares itself Catholic, lashed out at the secretary-general of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Francisco César García Magán: “This character never dares to criticize the mafioso government. Because the government provides him with his business through the invasion [the influx of illegal immigrants]. And that’s his priority: the business. And a profound contempt for the Spaniards who wish to defend their homeland.”The risk of instrumentalizing the pope’s wordsThe papal visit is not without risks in a climate of high polarization, Domingo warns. “One party will highlight whatever suits its agenda while remaining silent on the rest; another will try to do the opposite. It’s inevitable.” Nevertheless, he underscored the Holy See’s experience in “writing speeches that stand as a cohesive whole.”“Taking the pope out of context is relatively easy; refuting him is much more difficult,” he said.Cobo shared this concern regarding the pontiffʼs address before the joint session. “I believe this is a gesture that is also very characteristic of the Church, for it entails listening to the Christian tradition speaking about politics, but ‘Politics with a capital P’ [the noble art or statesmanship]. In a society where we are accustomed to talking about political parties, that moment is significant. The fear, indeed, is that we might attempt to make a discourse on ‘Politics with a capital P’ to fit into a partisan narrative, effectively pitting one against the other,” he noted in his interview with EWTN News.Moreover, the context is exacerbated by the rise of identity-based discourses that conflate politics and faith.Sociologist Rafael Ruiz Andrés, a professor at Complutense University in Madrid, warned in an interview with ACI Prensa that “there is a whole range of sectors, located primarily within the far-right spectrum, and specifically in Spain within the Vox party, that seek to portray the defense of Christian culture as a central tenet of their platforms.” However, he qualified this by noting that “it’s not necessarily a defense based on religion” but is rather linked to “identity-based culture, and in many instances, positioned in opposition to Islam.”In his view, one of Pope Leo XIV’s concerns is precisely “that there be this sort of hijacking of Christianity by politics.” In line with this, reports published following a meeting of the executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference with the pope pointed to the Vatican’s unease regarding attempts to “instrumentalize the Church,” although the bishops subsequently clarified that the pontiff spoke in general terms about “the risks of subjecting faith to ideologies,” without referring to any specific group.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pope-leo-will-visit-a-polarized-spain-in-political-turmoil-but-where-all-sides-want-to-hear-him-catholic-pope-leo-xivs-upcoming-visit-to-spain-will-take-place-against-a-political-and-soc.webp)
In the divisive political climate in Spain, some say there is the risk that political factions will try to use the pope’s words to their advantage.
The latest attack occurred on May 21 in the outstation of Kurmin Bongo, in the Dangana District of Kaduna State,.
Before Pope Leo’s visit to Barcelona, an architect and a priest discuss Antoni Gaudí’s holiness and skill, which enabled him to envision Sagrada Família Basilica and transcend deep divisions in Spain.
![Salesian sisters go viral after attending San Antonio Spurs playoff game – #Catholic – Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco have drawn national attention as “diehard” San Antonio Spurs fans after a group of sisters attended a recent NBA playoff game.The sisters went viral on social media following the Texas teamʼs May 24 home-court matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The superfans wore Spurs jerseys, cheered on the team, and prayed over Catholic Spurs player Luke Kornet before the game. The prayer was seemingly answered as the Spurs scored their biggest victory in the 2026 NBA Western Conference finals so far.TweetSalesian Sister Cherilly Galley said the response the order has received since the game has been “really beautiful.”There has been a “response of people who are interested in Catholicism and people who would like to get involved, cheer on the Spurs, and also see how they can support our sisters here in San Antonio, which is really a huge blessing and a wonderful surprise from the Lord,” Galley said in an interview May 27 with “EWTN News Nightly.”While many first noticed the group of sisters at the recent game, the fans have been attending Spurs games “for over 20 years,” said Sister Bernadette Mota, a Salesian sister who prayed with Kornet at the game. “We have some sisters who were really diehard Spurs fans throughout the years, and theyʼre the ones who made that initial connection with the Spurs,” she said. “They would write to Coach [Gregg] Popovich, and he would actually write back.”Popovich, president of the San Antonio Spurs and former coach, and his wife “came to visit the sisters a few times,” Mota said.The sisters “would watch the games” and over the years the connection has “just kept up,” Mota said. “But a few years back, it had kind of died down a little bit, and then COVID happened, and we kind of lost that connection.”“But just this past year, and more recently in these past weeks, it really has built up in a very strong way. And so weʼre back praying with the Spurs and being there to support the community and the San Antonio people who love the Spurs,” she said.Itʼs “wonderful” to “have a lot of family and friends come together and watch the games,” Galley said.The sisters host watch parties with “parents and students from our school at St. John Bosco here in San Antonio,” she said. It’s “a lot of fun and a wonderful way to share the joy of faith and family.”Keep God ‘first’Mota and Galley said their favorite Spurs players are Kornet and Victor Wembanyama — widely known as "Wemby.”“Wemby by far is the best player,” but the sisters “really like Luke [Kornet] because of the way he lives his Catholic faith on and off the court,” Mota said.While “sports and things like that are great,” players must remember that “God has to be first in your life,” Mota said.“Keep him first. Play strong, play your best, and work as a team because a team thatʼs united is very hard to pull down. So play together and have faith in God,” Mota said.“Trust one another as your team members — that is very valuable,” Galley added. Also, “have fun, enjoy it. Thatʼs always a wonderful thing: to have fun on the court.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/salesian-sisters-go-viral-after-attending-san-antonio-spurs-playoff-game-catholic-salesian-sisters-of-st-john-bosco-have-drawn-national-attention-as-diehard-san-antonio-spurs-f.jpg "Salesian sisters go viral after attending San Antonio Spurs playoff game – #Catholic – Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco have drawn national attention as “diehard” San Antonio Spurs fans after a group of sisters attended a recent NBA playoff game.The sisters went viral on social media following the Texas teamʼs May 24 home-court matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The superfans wore Spurs jerseys, cheered on the team, and prayed over Catholic Spurs player Luke Kornet before the game. The prayer was seemingly answered as the Spurs scored their biggest victory in the 2026 NBA Western Conference finals so far.TweetSalesian Sister Cherilly Galley said the response the order has received since the game has been “really beautiful.”There has been a “response of people who are interested in Catholicism and people who would like to get involved, cheer on the Spurs, and also see how they can support our sisters here in San Antonio, which is really a huge blessing and a wonderful surprise from the Lord,” Galley said in an interview May 27 with “EWTN News Nightly.”While many first noticed the group of sisters at the recent game, the fans have been attending Spurs games “for over 20 years,” said Sister Bernadette Mota, a Salesian sister who prayed with Kornet at the game. “We have some sisters who were really diehard Spurs fans throughout the years, and theyʼre the ones who made that initial connection with the Spurs,” she said. “They would write to Coach [Gregg] Popovich, and he would actually write back.”Popovich, president of the San Antonio Spurs and former coach, and his wife “came to visit the sisters a few times,” Mota said.The sisters “would watch the games” and over the years the connection has “just kept up,” Mota said. “But a few years back, it had kind of died down a little bit, and then COVID happened, and we kind of lost that connection.”“But just this past year, and more recently in these past weeks, it really has built up in a very strong way. And so weʼre back praying with the Spurs and being there to support the community and the San Antonio people who love the Spurs,” she said.Itʼs “wonderful” to “have a lot of family and friends come together and watch the games,” Galley said.The sisters host watch parties with “parents and students from our school at St. John Bosco here in San Antonio,” she said. It’s “a lot of fun and a wonderful way to share the joy of faith and family.”Keep God ‘first’Mota and Galley said their favorite Spurs players are Kornet and Victor Wembanyama — widely known as \"Wemby.”“Wemby by far is the best player,” but the sisters “really like Luke [Kornet] because of the way he lives his Catholic faith on and off the court,” Mota said.While “sports and things like that are great,” players must remember that “God has to be first in your life,” Mota said.“Keep him first. Play strong, play your best, and work as a team because a team thatʼs united is very hard to pull down. So play together and have faith in God,” Mota said.“Trust one another as your team members — that is very valuable,” Galley added. Also, “have fun, enjoy it. Thatʼs always a wonderful thing: to have fun on the court.”")
Salesian Sisters say their viral appearance at the San Antonio Spurs game has drawn an interest in Catholicism.
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Pope Leo’s catechesis focused on the Second Vatican Council’s constitution, “Sacrosanctum Concilium,” a document that transformed the way Catholics celebrate Mass.
The archbishop of Santiago, Chile, distills 10 important takeaways from the timely document on artificial intelligence.
The cause for canonization began in 2022 with nearly 30,000 pages of documentation. More than 118,000 people have visited her tomb, and favors are continually received through her intercession.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his first India visit at St. Teresa of Kolkata’s tomb, bringing reassurance to her Missionaries of Charity.
Lebanon in Need combines European financial regulation with Church and humanitarian expertise on the ground, seeking to ensure that aid reaches Lebanese families quickly, transparently, and credibly.
Pope Leo XIV issues a broad call to rethink what it means to educate people in the use of artificial intelligence and its implications, especially for young people.
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Partially frozen Gurudongmar Lake, a glacial lake located to the north of the Himalayas in the northeast Indian state of Sikkim at an altitude of over 5,150 metres (16,900 ft). The lake is fed by glaciers of the Khangchengyao massif, forms the headwaters of the Teesta river and is considered sacred by Buddhists and Sikhs. Today is Sikkim Day, which commemorates the formation of Sikkim as a state of India in 1975, following a popular referendum and full merger after decades of being a protectorate since 1947.
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The encyclical sets out the Church’s social teaching for the age of artificial intelligence. Download and read the complete document.
![Hundreds of churches open doors to all as Europe marks ‘night of churches’ - #Catholic - Hundreds of Christian churches and religious sites across central Europe will open their doors on the evening of May 29 for the Night of Churches, an annual ecumenical initiative that draws nearly 1 million visitors in the Czech Republic and Austria combined.The event, now in its 18th year in the Czech Republic, invites believers and nonbelievers alike to explore churches, chapels, and synagogues through concerts, exhibitions, talks, guided tours, and prayer — often until late at night. Some participating sites grant access to towers, crypts, and spaces that are otherwise closed to the public. This yearʼs theme in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia is “Courage.”Last year, more than 460,000 visitors and 25,000 volunteers took part across the Czech Republic, an increase of 40,000 visitors and 5,000 volunteers compared with the year before. In Austria, organizers counted around 300,000 visitors in each of the last two years. In Slovakia, where precise figures were not available for 2025, several cities reported record attendance, according to the press agency of the Slovak Bishops' Conference.‘Sometimes it takes courage’Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, writing in the periodical Kostelní Noviny published for the occasion, acknowledged that “sometimes it takes courage to even cross the threshold of a church.” The prelate invited readers to enter and “get to know each other,” noting that “churches and chapels were created as spaces for people to meet each other and with God.”
Candles spell out the word “hope” (“hoffnung”) on the floor of a church during the Long Night of Churches in the Diocese of St. Pölten, Austria. | Credit: Diocese of St. Pölten/Lange Nacht der Kirchen
Archbishop Josef Grünwidl of Vienna said he appreciated the growing popularity of the Night of Churches in neighboring Czechia, calling it “a challenge for all people to further explore their own religious and spiritual tradition, enter new spaces, and not be afraid to open up to the unknown.”In Vienna, Grünwidl and Bishop Cornelia Richter of the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church invited guests from church, society, business, and politics for dinner and discussion at the archbishopʼs palace. A limited number of seats were available through a public lottery.Organizers in the Austrian capital alone expect more than 100,000 visitors, who will be able to choose from more than 170 participating churches — including a police chapel — and performances ranging from Gregorian chant to a Korean choral concert.In Slovakia, Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, president of the Slovak Bishops' Conference, called on people to come, saying that “open temples will become a place of prayer, meeting, and courage to seek God in silence and in community.” He described the event as an “opportunity to rediscover the beauty of faith and the openness of our churches to everyone.”Several Czech regional governors encouraged residents to enjoy the Night of Churches for its “unique atmosphere” and “openness and sharing,” or simply to pause inside centuries-old buildings and reflect “on how we live and what we can do for us and for others.”A buried villageʼs night of memoryThe initiative has also provided unexpected settings for faith and reconciliation. In 2023, former parishioners of the village of Radovesice in the Czech Republic gathered above the site of their buried village — including its Church of All Saints — on the 40th anniversary of the villageʼs demolition.
A statue recovered from the demolished Church of All Saints stands in a field above the buried village of Radovesice in the Czech Republic during a 2023 gathering of former parishioners. | Credit: Petr Macek
The village was one of several in northwestern Czechoslovakia destroyed during the communist era to make way for mining.“We brought archive documents, paintings, and statues which had belonged to the temple [church],” Robert Kotyšan, caretaker of the Diocese of Litoměřice, explained in Kostelní Noviny.“We commemorated the deceased parishioners and debated our relationship and responsibility to the place in which we live,” Kotyšan told EWTN News.The former parishioners also unlocked a padlock from the church that had been preserved, which Kotyšan described as “a symbolic opening of a better future for this once beautiful country and an effort to return at least part of its memory and dignity to it.”
A man presents a preserved artifact from the demolished Church of All Saints to a priest during a gathering of former parishioners above the buried village of Radovesice in the Czech Republic in 2023. | Credit: Petr Macek
A considerable part of the artifacts brought to the 2023 gathering are now kept in a still-standing church in Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou, which is itself considered a “dead parish” because no parishioners attend.The next gathering is planned for 2028, the 45th anniversary of the demolition.From Frankfurt to 8 countriesThe concept of opening churches at night originated in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1995. It spread to Austria in 2005 and to the Czech Republic in 2009 and has since expanded to Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, South Tyrol in Italy, and Switzerland. The initiative usually takes place at the end of May.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/hundreds-of-churches-open-doors-to-all-as-europe-marks-night-of-churches-catholic-hundreds-of-christian-churches-and-religious-sites-across-central-europe-will-open-their-doors.jpg)
The annual ecumenical initiative invites believers and nonbelievers to explore hundreds of churches, chapels, and synagogues across the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia on May 29.
Published Monday, the pope’s new encyclical warns of a “culture of power” fueled by the digital revolution and artificial intelligence.
Encyclicals, motu proprios, apostolic constitutions, and exhortations — here is a guide to some of the types of documents the pope uses to lead the Catholic Church.
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Australian brushturkey (Alectura lathami) female, Crater Lakes, Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia.
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On the solemnity of Pentecost, St. Augustine reminds us to reflect on the the necessity of a globally unified Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Father on May 23 met with Church leaders and local residents at Acerra in Italy’s “Land of Fires.”
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This stained glass window in the Cathedral of Saint Julian of Le Mans (Le Mans, France) depicts the Virgin Mary and the apostles during the Ascension of Jesus. Today is the Feast of the Ascension in Western Christianity.
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While the bishops proposed many possible topics for the meeting, the pontiff emphasized dialogue and peace as priorities. The pope also said migrants must be respected and needed services not denied.
