attention

European soccer body says Red Star fine was for profanity, not Orthodox icon #Catholic BRUSSELS, Belgium — The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) told EWTN News that a 40,000-euro (about ,000) fine on Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade was for a banner containing offensive language directed at the organization, not for a massive display featuring an Orthodox Christian icon, which drew international attention.The case follows a Europa League match between Red Star Belgrade and LOSC Lille (Lille Olympique Sporting Club) on Feb. 26, when UEFA’s Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body imposed multiple fines on the Serbian club totaling 95,500 euros (about 0,000). These included a 40,000-euro penalty for transmitting a message deemed not fit for a sports event and bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.The sanction drew political attention after reports suggested it may have been connected to a stadium display featuring an Orthodox Christian icon alongside a religious message invoking faith and victory.In response to an inquiry from EWTN News, UEFA said the fine was linked to a banner containing the phrase “F*** UEFA” and not to the religious display. It added that there is no sanction related to the choreography itself.MEP raises concernsGreek member of European Parliament (MEP) Emmanouil Fragkos said the case raised broader concerns about the application of rules governing religious expression in European football.“UEFA and all UEFAs must learn to be accountable to the football fans and all the real people,” Fragkos told EWTN News, adding that he supports religion, tradition, and the right of people to speak freely. He also emphasized the need for greater awareness among supporters of their “collective power” in shaping how such decisions are received.In a letter to Glenn Micallef, the European commissioner for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture, and sport, Fragkos said the case “raises serious concerns” about UEFA’s approach, questioning how “a peaceful expression of faith and identity” could be deemed inappropriate and calling for “consistent and transparent application” of the rules governing messages displayed at matches.Christian symbolism debateReports had also pointed to a separate sanction involving LOSC Lille following its Europa League match against Aston Villa on March 12, where a banner depicting St. Joan of Arc was displayed. UEFA told EWTN News those claims were inaccurate, stating that any sanction in that case was related to insulting chants directed at an opposing goalkeeper and not to the imagery.The episode comes amid ongoing debates in Europe over the place of religious symbols in public life, including a case before the European Court of Human Rights, Union of Atheists v. Greece, concerning the display of Orthodox Christian icons in Greek courtrooms. The applicants argue that such imagery may affect perceptions of judicial neutrality and religious freedom.
Read More

European soccer body says Red Star fine was for profanity, not Orthodox icon #Catholic BRUSSELS, Belgium — The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) told EWTN News that a 40,000-euro (about $46,000) fine on Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade was for a banner containing offensive language directed at the organization, not for a massive display featuring an Orthodox Christian icon, which drew international attention.The case follows a Europa League match between Red Star Belgrade and LOSC Lille (Lille Olympique Sporting Club) on Feb. 26, when UEFA’s Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body imposed multiple fines on the Serbian club totaling 95,500 euros (about $110,000). These included a 40,000-euro penalty for transmitting a message deemed not fit for a sports event and bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.The sanction drew political attention after reports suggested it may have been connected to a stadium display featuring an Orthodox Christian icon alongside a religious message invoking faith and victory.In response to an inquiry from EWTN News, UEFA said the fine was linked to a banner containing the phrase “F*** UEFA” and not to the religious display. It added that there is no sanction related to the choreography itself.MEP raises concernsGreek member of European Parliament (MEP) Emmanouil Fragkos said the case raised broader concerns about the application of rules governing religious expression in European football.“UEFA and all UEFAs must learn to be accountable to the football fans and all the real people,” Fragkos told EWTN News, adding that he supports religion, tradition, and the right of people to speak freely. He also emphasized the need for greater awareness among supporters of their “collective power” in shaping how such decisions are received.In a letter to Glenn Micallef, the European commissioner for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture, and sport, Fragkos said the case “raises serious concerns” about UEFA’s approach, questioning how “a peaceful expression of faith and identity” could be deemed inappropriate and calling for “consistent and transparent application” of the rules governing messages displayed at matches.Christian symbolism debateReports had also pointed to a separate sanction involving LOSC Lille following its Europa League match against Aston Villa on March 12, where a banner depicting St. Joan of Arc was displayed. UEFA told EWTN News those claims were inaccurate, stating that any sanction in that case was related to insulting chants directed at an opposing goalkeeper and not to the imagery.The episode comes amid ongoing debates in Europe over the place of religious symbols in public life, including a case before the European Court of Human Rights, Union of Atheists v. Greece, concerning the display of Orthodox Christian icons in Greek courtrooms. The applicants argue that such imagery may affect perceptions of judicial neutrality and religious freedom.

unitedyam

UEFA told EWTN News its fine on a Serbian soccer club was for offensive language, not a massive Orthodox Christian display — contradicting widespread reports the sanction targeted religious imagery.

Read More
Bishops’ commission considers social, cultural, and pastoral factors behind polygamy in Africa #Catholic NAIROBI, Kenya — In addition to theological reflections on marriage and the sacraments, the final report addressing the pastoral challenge of polygamy in Africa, which members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) issued on March 24, draws attention to a wide range of social, cultural, and pastoral realities shaping the practice across the continent.While reaffirming the Christian ideal of monogamous marriage, the 25-page report compiled by the SECAM commission — made up of selected theologians and professionals from relevant ecclesiastical disciplines — emphasizes that understanding the persistence of polygamy requires careful analysis of social change, legal frameworks, gender relations, and pastoral strategies within African societies. SECAM president Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo. | Credit: ACI Africa The report is a direct response to the mandate that the multiyear XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — known as the Synod on Synodality — gave Catholic bishops in Africa: “to promote theological and pastoral discernment on the issue of polygamy.”Polygamy in a changing African social landscapeIn the report, the SECAM commission members note that polygamy cannot be understood solely through the lens of traditional culture. African societies have undergone profound transformation in recent decades.“The traditional environment has crumbled,” they said, leading to a climate in which many long-standing institutions and values are increasingly questioned. This transformation has also affected the dynamics of marriage and family life. Sociological studies cited in the report identify infertility as one of the principal motivations behind contemporary polygamy, though the report emphasizes that the reasons are complex.Despite modernization and evangelization, it notes that the practice of polygamy has not disappeared. Instead, “it remains alive and well” and, in some contexts, has even regained popularity.One notable development the SECAM commission members highlight in the report is the changing role of women in African societies. They observe that women increasingly occupy key economic roles, particularly within the informal sector.Legal frameworks across AfricaIn the report, commission members also highlight the legal status of polygamy across the continent.They note that roughly 30 African countries have legal frameworks that permit polygamy — either through civil law, customary law, or religious legislation. The list includes countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Morocco, and South Africa.However, the report points out that legal recognition of polygamy does not necessarily indicate broad societal consensus. In many countries, women’s movements have increasingly challenged these laws.“More and more women are speaking out against legislation in favor of polygamy, which is considered unfair and disrespectful of gender equality,” the report says. Members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) meet at the 20th Plenary Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 30 to Aug. 4, 2025, under the theme “Christ, Source of Hope, Reconciliation, and Peace.” | Credit: ACI Africa This tension between cultural tradition, legal frameworks, and evolving social values forms a significant part of the pastoral context in which the Catholic bishops in Africa must address the issue of polygamy, the SECAM commission says in the report.The question of women’s dignityA central theme in the report is the dignity of women within both cultural and ecclesial contexts.Pastoral responses to polygamy must explicitly seek “to enhance the dignity of women,” the report says. The report acknowledges that women sometimes choose polygamous arrangements for practical or cultural reasons — however, it raises theological questions about whether such choices correspond to God’s plan for human relationships.From a biblical perspective, polygamy “does not promote the development of women as intended by God,” according to the report. Therefore, pastoral strategies that help Christian communities reflect critically on cultural assumptions about gender roles and marriage are important.Economic vulnerability and the practice of polygamyThe report also links polygamy to economic vulnerability, particularly among widows.One example the SECAM commission members highlight is the traditional practice of levirate marriage, in which a widow marries a relative of her deceased husband in order to secure protection and support for herself and her children.While acknowledging the social security function of this practice, the report questions whether it can also lead to forms of exploitation and whether such arrangements risk reducing women to objects of exchange within family structures.For this reason, the commission members highlight the importance of pastoral care directed specifically toward widows. Ensuring their “material and moral security” can help prevent situations in which women feel compelled to enter polygamous relationships for survival, the report states.Hidden or ‘veiled’ forms of polygamyAnother issue raised in the report is what the SECAM commission members call “veiled polygamy.”This term refers to situations in which individuals maintain multiple sexual relationships outside formal marriage, resulting in families in which children are born to parents who are not married to one another.Although such situations do not present the same doctrinal challenges as formal polygamy, the commission members say they consider this harmful both to society and to the Church.One difficulty, they note, is that social stigma often falls disproportionately on women raising children outside marriage. The absence of fathers also raises concerns about the well-being of children.In response, the report calls for stronger pastoral formation within Christian communities so that believers can accompany families facing these realities with maturity and responsibility. Members of the SECAM in 2025 | Credit: ACI Africa Preparing couples for Christian marriageThe commission members in the report repeatedly emphasize that prevention is as important as pastoral accompaniment.Many cases of polygamy among baptized Christians arise from cultural expectations about fertility. In many African contexts, the inability to bear children can place intense pressure on a marriage, the report notes.Therefore, the report calls for rigorous marriage preparation programs that help couples understand the Christian meaning of marriage. While the desire for children is recognized as a legitimate cultural value, the reports stresses that biological fertility is not essential to the sacramental reality of marriage.Christian marriage, the SECAM commission members state, must be understood primarily as a covenant of love and fidelity rather than simply a means of producing offspring.A broader question of inculturationThroughout the report, commission members frame the issue of polygamy as part of a broader challenge of inculturation — the process of expressing Christian faith within diverse cultural contexts.They acknowledge that the Church’s engagement with African cultures has evolved significantly since the missionary era.While earlier pastoral approaches often treated polygamy primarily as a moral problem to be eliminated, today the Church must combine fidelity to the Gospel with attentive listening to cultural realities.In their concluding reflections, SECAM commission members call for continued dialogue among Catholic bishops in Africa, theologians, and pastoral workers to evaluate existing pastoral models and, where necessary, “propose other paths, with the aim of offering to all the possibility of an encounter with Christ and his Gospel.”In this way, the issue of polygamy is not simply a disciplinary question but part of the broader task of shaping an authentically African expression of Christian family life.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Read More

Bishops’ commission considers social, cultural, and pastoral factors behind polygamy in Africa #Catholic NAIROBI, Kenya — In addition to theological reflections on marriage and the sacraments, the final report addressing the pastoral challenge of polygamy in Africa, which members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) issued on March 24, draws attention to a wide range of social, cultural, and pastoral realities shaping the practice across the continent.While reaffirming the Christian ideal of monogamous marriage, the 25-page report compiled by the SECAM commission — made up of selected theologians and professionals from relevant ecclesiastical disciplines — emphasizes that understanding the persistence of polygamy requires careful analysis of social change, legal frameworks, gender relations, and pastoral strategies within African societies. SECAM president Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo. | Credit: ACI Africa The report is a direct response to the mandate that the multiyear XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — known as the Synod on Synodality — gave Catholic bishops in Africa: “to promote theological and pastoral discernment on the issue of polygamy.”Polygamy in a changing African social landscapeIn the report, the SECAM commission members note that polygamy cannot be understood solely through the lens of traditional culture. African societies have undergone profound transformation in recent decades.“The traditional environment has crumbled,” they said, leading to a climate in which many long-standing institutions and values are increasingly questioned. This transformation has also affected the dynamics of marriage and family life. Sociological studies cited in the report identify infertility as one of the principal motivations behind contemporary polygamy, though the report emphasizes that the reasons are complex.Despite modernization and evangelization, it notes that the practice of polygamy has not disappeared. Instead, “it remains alive and well” and, in some contexts, has even regained popularity.One notable development the SECAM commission members highlight in the report is the changing role of women in African societies. They observe that women increasingly occupy key economic roles, particularly within the informal sector.Legal frameworks across AfricaIn the report, commission members also highlight the legal status of polygamy across the continent.They note that roughly 30 African countries have legal frameworks that permit polygamy — either through civil law, customary law, or religious legislation. The list includes countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Morocco, and South Africa.However, the report points out that legal recognition of polygamy does not necessarily indicate broad societal consensus. In many countries, women’s movements have increasingly challenged these laws.“More and more women are speaking out against legislation in favor of polygamy, which is considered unfair and disrespectful of gender equality,” the report says. Members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) meet at the 20th Plenary Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 30 to Aug. 4, 2025, under the theme “Christ, Source of Hope, Reconciliation, and Peace.” | Credit: ACI Africa This tension between cultural tradition, legal frameworks, and evolving social values forms a significant part of the pastoral context in which the Catholic bishops in Africa must address the issue of polygamy, the SECAM commission says in the report.The question of women’s dignityA central theme in the report is the dignity of women within both cultural and ecclesial contexts.Pastoral responses to polygamy must explicitly seek “to enhance the dignity of women,” the report says. The report acknowledges that women sometimes choose polygamous arrangements for practical or cultural reasons — however, it raises theological questions about whether such choices correspond to God’s plan for human relationships.From a biblical perspective, polygamy “does not promote the development of women as intended by God,” according to the report. Therefore, pastoral strategies that help Christian communities reflect critically on cultural assumptions about gender roles and marriage are important.Economic vulnerability and the practice of polygamyThe report also links polygamy to economic vulnerability, particularly among widows.One example the SECAM commission members highlight is the traditional practice of levirate marriage, in which a widow marries a relative of her deceased husband in order to secure protection and support for herself and her children.While acknowledging the social security function of this practice, the report questions whether it can also lead to forms of exploitation and whether such arrangements risk reducing women to objects of exchange within family structures.For this reason, the commission members highlight the importance of pastoral care directed specifically toward widows. Ensuring their “material and moral security” can help prevent situations in which women feel compelled to enter polygamous relationships for survival, the report states.Hidden or ‘veiled’ forms of polygamyAnother issue raised in the report is what the SECAM commission members call “veiled polygamy.”This term refers to situations in which individuals maintain multiple sexual relationships outside formal marriage, resulting in families in which children are born to parents who are not married to one another.Although such situations do not present the same doctrinal challenges as formal polygamy, the commission members say they consider this harmful both to society and to the Church.One difficulty, they note, is that social stigma often falls disproportionately on women raising children outside marriage. The absence of fathers also raises concerns about the well-being of children.In response, the report calls for stronger pastoral formation within Christian communities so that believers can accompany families facing these realities with maturity and responsibility. Members of the SECAM in 2025 | Credit: ACI Africa Preparing couples for Christian marriageThe commission members in the report repeatedly emphasize that prevention is as important as pastoral accompaniment.Many cases of polygamy among baptized Christians arise from cultural expectations about fertility. In many African contexts, the inability to bear children can place intense pressure on a marriage, the report notes.Therefore, the report calls for rigorous marriage preparation programs that help couples understand the Christian meaning of marriage. While the desire for children is recognized as a legitimate cultural value, the reports stresses that biological fertility is not essential to the sacramental reality of marriage.Christian marriage, the SECAM commission members state, must be understood primarily as a covenant of love and fidelity rather than simply a means of producing offspring.A broader question of inculturationThroughout the report, commission members frame the issue of polygamy as part of a broader challenge of inculturation — the process of expressing Christian faith within diverse cultural contexts.They acknowledge that the Church’s engagement with African cultures has evolved significantly since the missionary era.While earlier pastoral approaches often treated polygamy primarily as a moral problem to be eliminated, today the Church must combine fidelity to the Gospel with attentive listening to cultural realities.In their concluding reflections, SECAM commission members call for continued dialogue among Catholic bishops in Africa, theologians, and pastoral workers to evaluate existing pastoral models and, where necessary, “propose other paths, with the aim of offering to all the possibility of an encounter with Christ and his Gospel.”In this way, the issue of polygamy is not simply a disciplinary question but part of the broader task of shaping an authentically African expression of Christian family life.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam

The final report addressing the pastoral challenge of polygamy in Africa draws attention to a wide range of social, cultural, and pastoral realities shaping the practice across the continent.

Read More
Pope Leo XIV says God ‘does not listen’ to prayers of those who wage war #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Palm Sunday sharply condemned war and the use of religion to justify violence, saying during Mass in St. Peter’s Square that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”At the start of Holy Week, the pope tied the Church’s contemplation of Christ’s Passion to the suffering of people caught in today’s conflicts, especially Christians in the Middle East.In his Palm Sunday homily, Leo repeatedly presented Christ as the “King of Peace,” contrasting Jesus’ meekness with the violence surrounding him as he entered into his Passion.“We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him,” the pope said. “He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence.”Leo said Christ “did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war” but instead “revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”“Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history,” the pope said.The pope then issued one of the strongest lines of his homily, rejecting any attempt to invoke God in support of armed conflict.“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”The Palm Sunday liturgy, which opened Holy Week, began with the traditional procession in St. Peter’s Square with cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and thousands of faithful carrying palms and olive branches.In his homily, Leo reflected on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a war horse, saying the moment fulfilled the prophecy of a king who would “command peace to the nations.”Recalling the Gospel account of Peter drawing a sword to defend Jesus, Leo cited Christ’s rebuke: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”The pope said that in the crucified Christ “we can see a crucified humanity.”“In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today,” he said. “Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.”“Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”Following the Mass, Leo returned to the theme of war during the Angelus, praying in particular for Christians in the Middle East who have been prevented in some places from fully taking part in Holy Week rites.“At the beginning of Holy Week, our prayers are more than ever with the Christians of the Middle East, who are suffering the consequences of a brutal conflict and, in many cases, are unable to observe fully the liturgies of these holy days,” he said.“Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering. Their ordeal challenges all our consciences.”The pope added: “Let us raise our prayer to the Prince of Peace that he may sustain the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths to reconciliation and peace.”Leo also remembered “the maritime workers who have fallen victim to the conflict,” adding: “I pray for the deceased, the wounded and their families. Land, sky and sea were all created for life and peace!”He further called attention to migrants who died in the Mediterranean, saying: “Let us also pray for all the migrants who have died at sea, especially those who lost their lives in recent days off the coast of Crete.”Near the end of his homily, the pope entrusted his plea for peace to the intercession of Mary, quoting the Servant of God Bishop Tonino Bello and praying that “the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up.”He concluded the Angelus by asking the Virgin Mary to accompany the faithful through the days ahead.“May she guide us during these holy days, so that we may follow Jesus, our Savior, with faith and love,” he said.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, EWTN News’ Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Read More

Pope Leo XIV says God ‘does not listen’ to prayers of those who wage war #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Palm Sunday sharply condemned war and the use of religion to justify violence, saying during Mass in St. Peter’s Square that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”At the start of Holy Week, the pope tied the Church’s contemplation of Christ’s Passion to the suffering of people caught in today’s conflicts, especially Christians in the Middle East.In his Palm Sunday homily, Leo repeatedly presented Christ as the “King of Peace,” contrasting Jesus’ meekness with the violence surrounding him as he entered into his Passion.“We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him,” the pope said. “He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence.”Leo said Christ “did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war” but instead “revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”“Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history,” the pope said.The pope then issued one of the strongest lines of his homily, rejecting any attempt to invoke God in support of armed conflict.“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”The Palm Sunday liturgy, which opened Holy Week, began with the traditional procession in St. Peter’s Square with cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and thousands of faithful carrying palms and olive branches.In his homily, Leo reflected on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a war horse, saying the moment fulfilled the prophecy of a king who would “command peace to the nations.”Recalling the Gospel account of Peter drawing a sword to defend Jesus, Leo cited Christ’s rebuke: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”The pope said that in the crucified Christ “we can see a crucified humanity.”“In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today,” he said. “Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.”“Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”Following the Mass, Leo returned to the theme of war during the Angelus, praying in particular for Christians in the Middle East who have been prevented in some places from fully taking part in Holy Week rites.“At the beginning of Holy Week, our prayers are more than ever with the Christians of the Middle East, who are suffering the consequences of a brutal conflict and, in many cases, are unable to observe fully the liturgies of these holy days,” he said.“Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering. Their ordeal challenges all our consciences.”The pope added: “Let us raise our prayer to the Prince of Peace that he may sustain the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths to reconciliation and peace.”Leo also remembered “the maritime workers who have fallen victim to the conflict,” adding: “I pray for the deceased, the wounded and their families. Land, sky and sea were all created for life and peace!”He further called attention to migrants who died in the Mediterranean, saying: “Let us also pray for all the migrants who have died at sea, especially those who lost their lives in recent days off the coast of Crete.”Near the end of his homily, the pope entrusted his plea for peace to the intercession of Mary, quoting the Servant of God Bishop Tonino Bello and praying that “the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up.”He concluded the Angelus by asking the Virgin Mary to accompany the faithful through the days ahead.“May she guide us during these holy days, so that we may follow Jesus, our Savior, with faith and love,” he said.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, EWTN News’ Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam

At Palm Sunday Mass and the Angelus following it, the pope prayed for Middle East Christians, victims of war, and migrants who died at sea off Crete.

Read More
Pope Leo XIV reunites with his eighth grade classmates #Catholic On the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Leo XIV met last week with some of his eighth grade classmates from St. Mary of the Assumption lower school in south Chicago, where he grew up.Of the 82 eighth graders with whom he attended St. Mary’s in 1969, 10 greeted him after the general audience on March 18, exchanging laughs, gifts, and warm handshakes.During the meeting, his former classmates gave him a photograph of the class of 1969, which he held up as he posed for another group shot more than 50 years later.Jerome Clemens pointed out the young Robert Prevost standing among his classmates to the L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper: “Here he is, our friend, the pope,” showing the back of the photo with Prevost’s old autograph and his new one, which he signed, “Leo XIV.”Another former classmate, Sherry Stone (née Blue), dropped a sign she held that read “God bless you Pope Leo” when the pope approached her.“Sorry! I’m nervous!” she said, laughing, as he shook her hand.Instagram postLast spring, Stone told the Lansing Journal: “When he was in the conclave, I thought, ‘Could it be him? Could Bob be the new pope? No, probably not.’ When I saw that it was him, I was just amazed. I was crying tears of joy.”“He was a super nice guy, but not nerdy,” she said.After finishing eighth grade at St. Mary’s, Prevost attended boarding school at St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan, graduating in 1973. He then attended another Augustinian school, Villanova University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1977 before entering the Augustinian novitiate that September. He was ordained a priest in 1982, earning a master of divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago that same year. He earned a licentiate in canon law (JCL) in 1984 and completed a doctorate in canon law (JCD) in 1987, both from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.St. Mary’s church and school on Chicago’s ‘most endangered list’St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School, where a young Prevost served as an altar boy and his mother, Mildred Prevost, worked as a librarian, was at the center of a vibrant Catholic community in the Riverdale neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side in the 1960s.The property, which has been vacant since 2011 and is now privately owned, is located just a few blocks from the pope’s childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, but within Chicago city limits.The neighborhood has seen significant decline since then. Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago told EWTN News that St. Mary’s, which has a hole in the roof of the church building, broken windows, graffiti, and many other issues, was listed on Preservation Chicago’s 2026 “7 Most Endangered List" as of March 4. Broken windows and graffiti on St. Mary of the Assumption School, where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, attended eighth grade in 1969. | Credit: Matthew Kaplan “We at Preservation Chicago are of the opinion that the church and school buildings of St. Mary’s are in need of immediate attention in order to secure temporary repairs, with a long-term goal of a full restoration of the campus of buildings, before everything is lost to deterioration,” Miller said.The property’s current owner, Joel Hall, said last year he is open to a landmark designation by the city, according to Miller. Preservation Chicago, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving historic sites in Chicago and encouraging landmark designations in the city, presented its case to designate it as such at a meeting in May 2025 of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks.No decision has been made yet regarding the landmark designation, but Preservation Chicago has created an online petition to the city of Chicago to “Save the Pope’s Church!”“This complex should become a visitors site, an oratory or shrine, as this is our first American pope — a world leader, and from Chicago!” Miller told EWTN News. The interior of the dilapidated St. Mary of the Assumption Church, showing water damage to the floor and graffiti behind where the altar once stood. Pope Leo XIV served as an altar boy there during his childhood. | Credit: Ward Miller/Preservation Chicago “We would very much like to see a partnership form to save these buildings and tell the story of this world leader,” reads an article on Preservation Chicago’s website. “An initial step in this process would be to consider a Chicago landmark designation of the buildings of this campus, with a plan to methodically restore and repurpose each of the buildings.” Close-up of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Riverdale, Chicago, Pope Leo XIV’s childhood parish, which was recently added to Preservation Chicagoʼs “7 Most Endangered” list of historic structures in the city. | Credit: Cristen Brown Miller told EWTN News he would like to see the property “prepared [in time] for the pope’s return visits to Chicago!”The pope does not yet have plans to visit the United States.
Read More

Pope Leo XIV reunites with his eighth grade classmates #Catholic On the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Leo XIV met last week with some of his eighth grade classmates from St. Mary of the Assumption lower school in south Chicago, where he grew up.Of the 82 eighth graders with whom he attended St. Mary’s in 1969, 10 greeted him after the general audience on March 18, exchanging laughs, gifts, and warm handshakes.During the meeting, his former classmates gave him a photograph of the class of 1969, which he held up as he posed for another group shot more than 50 years later.Jerome Clemens pointed out the young Robert Prevost standing among his classmates to the L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper: “Here he is, our friend, the pope,” showing the back of the photo with Prevost’s old autograph and his new one, which he signed, “Leo XIV.”Another former classmate, Sherry Stone (née Blue), dropped a sign she held that read “God bless you Pope Leo” when the pope approached her.“Sorry! I’m nervous!” she said, laughing, as he shook her hand.Instagram postLast spring, Stone told the Lansing Journal: “When he was in the conclave, I thought, ‘Could it be him? Could Bob be the new pope? No, probably not.’ When I saw that it was him, I was just amazed. I was crying tears of joy.”“He was a super nice guy, but not nerdy,” she said.After finishing eighth grade at St. Mary’s, Prevost attended boarding school at St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan, graduating in 1973. He then attended another Augustinian school, Villanova University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1977 before entering the Augustinian novitiate that September. He was ordained a priest in 1982, earning a master of divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago that same year. He earned a licentiate in canon law (JCL) in 1984 and completed a doctorate in canon law (JCD) in 1987, both from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.St. Mary’s church and school on Chicago’s ‘most endangered list’St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School, where a young Prevost served as an altar boy and his mother, Mildred Prevost, worked as a librarian, was at the center of a vibrant Catholic community in the Riverdale neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side in the 1960s.The property, which has been vacant since 2011 and is now privately owned, is located just a few blocks from the pope’s childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, but within Chicago city limits.The neighborhood has seen significant decline since then. Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago told EWTN News that St. Mary’s, which has a hole in the roof of the church building, broken windows, graffiti, and many other issues, was listed on Preservation Chicago’s 2026 “7 Most Endangered List" as of March 4. Broken windows and graffiti on St. Mary of the Assumption School, where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, attended eighth grade in 1969. | Credit: Matthew Kaplan “We at Preservation Chicago are of the opinion that the church and school buildings of St. Mary’s are in need of immediate attention in order to secure temporary repairs, with a long-term goal of a full restoration of the campus of buildings, before everything is lost to deterioration,” Miller said.The property’s current owner, Joel Hall, said last year he is open to a landmark designation by the city, according to Miller. Preservation Chicago, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving historic sites in Chicago and encouraging landmark designations in the city, presented its case to designate it as such at a meeting in May 2025 of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks.No decision has been made yet regarding the landmark designation, but Preservation Chicago has created an online petition to the city of Chicago to “Save the Pope’s Church!”“This complex should become a visitors site, an oratory or shrine, as this is our first American pope — a world leader, and from Chicago!” Miller told EWTN News. The interior of the dilapidated St. Mary of the Assumption Church, showing water damage to the floor and graffiti behind where the altar once stood. Pope Leo XIV served as an altar boy there during his childhood. | Credit: Ward Miller/Preservation Chicago “We would very much like to see a partnership form to save these buildings and tell the story of this world leader,” reads an article on Preservation Chicago’s website. “An initial step in this process would be to consider a Chicago landmark designation of the buildings of this campus, with a plan to methodically restore and repurpose each of the buildings.” Close-up of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Riverdale, Chicago, Pope Leo XIV’s childhood parish, which was recently added to Preservation Chicagoʼs “7 Most Endangered” list of historic structures in the city. | Credit: Cristen Brown Miller told EWTN News he would like to see the property “prepared [in time] for the pope’s return visits to Chicago!”The pope does not yet have plans to visit the United States.

unitedyam

Pope Leo XIV met with 10 of his eighth grade classmates in St. Peter’s Square at a recent general audience.

Read More
Ireland sees modest revival in faith, especially among youth and young adults #Catholic An increase in spirituality and religious practice among young adults in Ireland aged 18 to 30 and confirmation that Ireland is in the “middle range” of religious countries in Europe are among the trends identified in a new report published by the Irish Catholic bishops titled “Turning the Tide.”Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, primate of all Ireland, told EWTN News: “There has been a lot of talk recently about the so-called quiet revival in religious practice in recent years. The [report] looks at some of the research studies that have been carried out north and south of the island of Ireland into religious practice, religious awareness and spirituality, and interest in religion, and asks a question by comparing this with European social studies: Is there actually any uptake [in] religious practice and awareness and interest in Ireland?”Drawing on research from the European Social Survey, the Iona Institute’s two recent surveys conducted by Amárach Research, and a variety of relevant academic studies, the report seeks to provide an integrated, relevant, and current look at religious practice in Ireland.“The report very interestingly points to some type of uptick, as they call it, particularly among young people around the ages of 16 to 30 and the fact that they are taking a new interest in religion and in spirituality.”Encouraged by the positive trends emerging across different studies, Martin sounded a note of caution, highlighting the challenges that these findings pose for the Catholic Church in Ireland.“I don’t think we should get ourselves too enthusiastic thinking this is a complete reversal of the very obvious decline and religious practice over the last 10 or 20 years,” he said. “However, it is saying something on the turning tide.”The archbishop pointed to the implications for the Irish Church: “It’s asking us to reflect on this phenomenon in the light of research, and for instance what does this mean for us as Church, as parishes, as dioceses? How are we responding to this growing body of young people who want to know more more about God, about church, and about religion?”The report, co-authored by Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, and Emily Nelson, a doctoral student of sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, examined the overall religious profile of the island of Ireland, including areas of convergence and divergence between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.The authors drew together research studies on patterns in belief, practice, and religious identification between generations, with particular attention to differences within young adult cohorts. The work also provided insight on  dimensions of religiosity, religious transmission, and attitudes toward Church teaching and institutions among both men and women.Ireland remains among the more religious countries in Europe, on measures of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and frequency of prayer. Among western European countries, it is one of few outliers with a relatively high level of overall religiosity. It also ranks toward the higher end of (especially western) European countries on measures of weekly Mass attendance and daily prayer.While key measures of Irish religiosity have declined significantly since the European Social Survey began in 2002-2003, the most recent round in 2023-2024 shows a strong uptick in religious affiliation and religious practice.This effect is most strongly evident among those aged 16–29 years, across both Catholics and Protestants.Northern Ireland is both the most religious region of the United Kingdom, by a large margin, and the most religious part of the island of Ireland, in terms of both affiliation and religious practice.Although women in the Republic of Ireland are equally as likely as men to be religious, they continue to play an influential role in transmitting faith, even as they express higher levels of moral dissent and institutional dissatisfaction. The report revealed that 74% of Irish Catholic women were found to believe that the Church did not treat them with “a lot of respect.”According to the report, 51% of Irish adults — and 27% of Irish young adults —pray at least once a week, and 31% say they attend Mass at least once a week, placing them fourth overall, alongside Italy (32%) but well behind Poland (49%) and Slovakia (46%).There is a significant drop-off among young adults, whose reported religious practice is roughly half that of older adults. Irish 16- to 29-year-olds rank sixth overall compared with other countries, at 17%, though that is at least double the rates of the same age group in Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium, at 5%, and in Austria with less than 1%.The Irish report also pointed to a 2023 Barna study that found in certain respects, Irish teens are more religious than their global peers. Just over 3 in 5 (62%) Irish teens identify as Christian with nearly a third identify as atheist, agnostic, or of no faith.On average, 18- to 24-year-olds in the Republic of Ireland aren’t particularly positive about both Christianity and the Catholic Church in Ireland, but they are more positive than those in the 25–34 age range, and fewer have a negative attitude toward priests and nuns.In 2023, EWTN News’ Colm Flynn traveled to Ireland with the question “Is Ireland still Catholic?” He explored the various reasons for the decline of the faith in Ireland and the challenges the Church faces there today. In the three years since, and after many emails and messages pointing to signs of a “quiet revival” of faith in Ireland, Flynn recently returned to the country to explore those signs of renewal. In his report, he refers to the “Turning the Tide” report:
Read More

Ireland sees modest revival in faith, especially among youth and young adults #Catholic An increase in spirituality and religious practice among young adults in Ireland aged 18 to 30 and confirmation that Ireland is in the “middle range” of religious countries in Europe are among the trends identified in a new report published by the Irish Catholic bishops titled “Turning the Tide.”Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, primate of all Ireland, told EWTN News: “There has been a lot of talk recently about the so-called quiet revival in religious practice in recent years. The [report] looks at some of the research studies that have been carried out north and south of the island of Ireland into religious practice, religious awareness and spirituality, and interest in religion, and asks a question by comparing this with European social studies: Is there actually any uptake [in] religious practice and awareness and interest in Ireland?”Drawing on research from the European Social Survey, the Iona Institute’s two recent surveys conducted by Amárach Research, and a variety of relevant academic studies, the report seeks to provide an integrated, relevant, and current look at religious practice in Ireland.“The report very interestingly points to some type of uptick, as they call it, particularly among young people around the ages of 16 to 30 and the fact that they are taking a new interest in religion and in spirituality.”Encouraged by the positive trends emerging across different studies, Martin sounded a note of caution, highlighting the challenges that these findings pose for the Catholic Church in Ireland.“I don’t think we should get ourselves too enthusiastic thinking this is a complete reversal of the very obvious decline and religious practice over the last 10 or 20 years,” he said. “However, it is saying something on the turning tide.”The archbishop pointed to the implications for the Irish Church: “It’s asking us to reflect on this phenomenon in the light of research, and for instance what does this mean for us as Church, as parishes, as dioceses? How are we responding to this growing body of young people who want to know more more about God, about church, and about religion?”The report, co-authored by Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, and Emily Nelson, a doctoral student of sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, examined the overall religious profile of the island of Ireland, including areas of convergence and divergence between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.The authors drew together research studies on patterns in belief, practice, and religious identification between generations, with particular attention to differences within young adult cohorts. The work also provided insight on  dimensions of religiosity, religious transmission, and attitudes toward Church teaching and institutions among both men and women.Ireland remains among the more religious countries in Europe, on measures of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and frequency of prayer. Among western European countries, it is one of few outliers with a relatively high level of overall religiosity. It also ranks toward the higher end of (especially western) European countries on measures of weekly Mass attendance and daily prayer.While key measures of Irish religiosity have declined significantly since the European Social Survey began in 2002-2003, the most recent round in 2023-2024 shows a strong uptick in religious affiliation and religious practice.This effect is most strongly evident among those aged 16–29 years, across both Catholics and Protestants.Northern Ireland is both the most religious region of the United Kingdom, by a large margin, and the most religious part of the island of Ireland, in terms of both affiliation and religious practice.Although women in the Republic of Ireland are equally as likely as men to be religious, they continue to play an influential role in transmitting faith, even as they express higher levels of moral dissent and institutional dissatisfaction. The report revealed that 74% of Irish Catholic women were found to believe that the Church did not treat them with “a lot of respect.”According to the report, 51% of Irish adults — and 27% of Irish young adults —pray at least once a week, and 31% say they attend Mass at least once a week, placing them fourth overall, alongside Italy (32%) but well behind Poland (49%) and Slovakia (46%).There is a significant drop-off among young adults, whose reported religious practice is roughly half that of older adults. Irish 16- to 29-year-olds rank sixth overall compared with other countries, at 17%, though that is at least double the rates of the same age group in Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium, at 5%, and in Austria with less than 1%.The Irish report also pointed to a 2023 Barna study that found in certain respects, Irish teens are more religious than their global peers. Just over 3 in 5 (62%) Irish teens identify as Christian with nearly a third identify as atheist, agnostic, or of no faith.On average, 18- to 24-year-olds in the Republic of Ireland aren’t particularly positive about both Christianity and the Catholic Church in Ireland, but they are more positive than those in the 25–34 age range, and fewer have a negative attitude toward priests and nuns.In 2023, EWTN News’ Colm Flynn traveled to Ireland with the question “Is Ireland still Catholic?” He explored the various reasons for the decline of the faith in Ireland and the challenges the Church faces there today. In the three years since, and after many emails and messages pointing to signs of a “quiet revival” of faith in Ireland, Flynn recently returned to the country to explore those signs of renewal. In his report, he refers to the “Turning the Tide” report:

unitedyam

A new report examining surveys and research on the practice of the Catholic faith in Ireland shows an uptick in religious practice and spirituality among younger people.

Read More
Angola parish prepares to host historic meeting of pope and Church leaders #Catholic LUANDA, Angola — Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda is at the center of preparations for a historic moment in Angola as it prepares to host Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with bishops, priests, women and men religious, and catechists during his planned April 18–21 apostolic visit.The encounter, scheduled for April 20, places the parish — run by members of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) — in the spotlight, drawing attention from across the country and around the world.For Father Diogo Messias, pastor of the parish, the choice of Our Lady of Fátima as host is both an honor and a profound spiritual moment for the local Church.“The visit of the Holy Father to our community is a moment of great significance, joy, and pride for all the faithful,” he said in an interview with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on March 18.“The pope’s presence is a blessing for our parish and for all of Angola,” he said. “The visit marks a historic moment, and seeing our parish chosen for this meeting is a cause of joy and renewal for our community.” Father Diogo Messias is pastor of Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda in Angola. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa As the largest Capuchin fraternity in Angola, the parish has become a hive of activity, with preparations focused on ensuring that the venue is ready to welcome hundreds of Church leaders and participants expected for the encounter.“The preparations are focused both inside and outside the church,” Messias explained, adding: “Visible work includes improving the courtyard, pavement, and chairs. The essential part, however, is the interior, where the meeting with the Holy Father will take place.”The parish’s infrastructure is old, but efforts are underway to enhance the space and ensure it reflects the dignity of the occasion.“It is not a case of serious deterioration, but we want to give dignity to the Capuchin house and the place of prayer for the faithful. Every touch and detail matters,” the priest said. Preparations are being made both inside and outside of Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda, Angola, to prepare for Pope Leo XIV’s historic apostolic visit April 18–21, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa Renovation works include painting, structural repairs, and adapting the church to accommodate the expected influx of participants. At the same time, improvements are ongoing in surrounding areas, particularly at Largo Rainha Ginga, where access routes and walkways are being upgraded.“These works aim to improve access and movement for everyone and enhance the appearance of the church that will receive the pope on April 20,” Messias said.Beyond logistics, Messias underscored the significance of the gathering, describing it as a moment that brings together the entire Church in Angola and beyond.“The meeting with the Holy Father involves the entire Church in Angola, including religious sisters, catechists, and members from other dioceses and neighboring countries, such as São Tomé,” he said. “The event will have national and international impact, showing the unity of the Church and the richness of Angolan culture.”While the parish prepares physically, the emphasis remains on spiritual renewal for those who will take part in the encounter.“Despite the great mobilization, the most important thing is the experience of renewal for all those present. Those who participate will leave strengthened in spirit, committed to the community, and motivated to live values of fraternity and respect,” Messias said.The April 20 meeting is expected to be one of the defining moments of the pope’s visit to Angola, offering a unique opportunity for direct engagement with Church leaders and pastoral agents.“Bishops, women and men religious, and catechists in Angola expect Pope Leo XIV to bring a message centered above all on unity, hope, and community commitment,” Messias said.He said the visit is widely seen as an opportunity for deeper reflection and renewal within the Church. Our Lady of Fátima Parish in Angola’s Archdiocese of Luanda will host Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with Church leaders during the pope’s planned apostolic visit April 18–21, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa “The visit of the Holy Father is seen as a moment that goes beyond a simple meeting, being understood as an opportunity for inner renewal,” he said, adding: “It is expected that the Holy Father’s message will help consecrated persons renew their vocation, strengthen their dedication to service, and assume with greater responsibility the role they play in the life of the Church and the country.”Meanwhile, members of the local community are playing an active role in the preparations. Among them is David Afonso, a young carpenter overseeing the restoration of church benches.“Working to receive the Holy Father is a great responsibility, and we are doing our best to ensure everything is in good condition,” he said.Although not a Catholic, Afonso expressed pride in contributing to the preparations.“It is a pleasure to take part in an event of this magnitude. Every detail matters, and we want the space to be worthy and memorable for all the faithful and visitors,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Read More

Angola parish prepares to host historic meeting of pope and Church leaders #Catholic LUANDA, Angola — Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda is at the center of preparations for a historic moment in Angola as it prepares to host Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with bishops, priests, women and men religious, and catechists during his planned April 18–21 apostolic visit.The encounter, scheduled for April 20, places the parish — run by members of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) — in the spotlight, drawing attention from across the country and around the world.For Father Diogo Messias, pastor of the parish, the choice of Our Lady of Fátima as host is both an honor and a profound spiritual moment for the local Church.“The visit of the Holy Father to our community is a moment of great significance, joy, and pride for all the faithful,” he said in an interview with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on March 18.“The pope’s presence is a blessing for our parish and for all of Angola,” he said. “The visit marks a historic moment, and seeing our parish chosen for this meeting is a cause of joy and renewal for our community.” Father Diogo Messias is pastor of Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda in Angola. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa As the largest Capuchin fraternity in Angola, the parish has become a hive of activity, with preparations focused on ensuring that the venue is ready to welcome hundreds of Church leaders and participants expected for the encounter.“The preparations are focused both inside and outside the church,” Messias explained, adding: “Visible work includes improving the courtyard, pavement, and chairs. The essential part, however, is the interior, where the meeting with the Holy Father will take place.”The parish’s infrastructure is old, but efforts are underway to enhance the space and ensure it reflects the dignity of the occasion.“It is not a case of serious deterioration, but we want to give dignity to the Capuchin house and the place of prayer for the faithful. Every touch and detail matters,” the priest said. Preparations are being made both inside and outside of Our Lady of Fátima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda, Angola, to prepare for Pope Leo XIV’s historic apostolic visit April 18–21, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa Renovation works include painting, structural repairs, and adapting the church to accommodate the expected influx of participants. At the same time, improvements are ongoing in surrounding areas, particularly at Largo Rainha Ginga, where access routes and walkways are being upgraded.“These works aim to improve access and movement for everyone and enhance the appearance of the church that will receive the pope on April 20,” Messias said.Beyond logistics, Messias underscored the significance of the gathering, describing it as a moment that brings together the entire Church in Angola and beyond.“The meeting with the Holy Father involves the entire Church in Angola, including religious sisters, catechists, and members from other dioceses and neighboring countries, such as São Tomé,” he said. “The event will have national and international impact, showing the unity of the Church and the richness of Angolan culture.”While the parish prepares physically, the emphasis remains on spiritual renewal for those who will take part in the encounter.“Despite the great mobilization, the most important thing is the experience of renewal for all those present. Those who participate will leave strengthened in spirit, committed to the community, and motivated to live values of fraternity and respect,” Messias said.The April 20 meeting is expected to be one of the defining moments of the pope’s visit to Angola, offering a unique opportunity for direct engagement with Church leaders and pastoral agents.“Bishops, women and men religious, and catechists in Angola expect Pope Leo XIV to bring a message centered above all on unity, hope, and community commitment,” Messias said.He said the visit is widely seen as an opportunity for deeper reflection and renewal within the Church. Our Lady of Fátima Parish in Angola’s Archdiocese of Luanda will host Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with Church leaders during the pope’s planned apostolic visit April 18–21, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of ACI Africa “The visit of the Holy Father is seen as a moment that goes beyond a simple meeting, being understood as an opportunity for inner renewal,” he said, adding: “It is expected that the Holy Father’s message will help consecrated persons renew their vocation, strengthen their dedication to service, and assume with greater responsibility the role they play in the life of the Church and the country.”Meanwhile, members of the local community are playing an active role in the preparations. Among them is David Afonso, a young carpenter overseeing the restoration of church benches.“Working to receive the Holy Father is a great responsibility, and we are doing our best to ensure everything is in good condition,” he said.Although not a Catholic, Afonso expressed pride in contributing to the preparations.“It is a pleasure to take part in an event of this magnitude. Every detail matters, and we want the space to be worthy and memorable for all the faithful and visitors,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam

Our Lady of Fatima Parish in the Archdiocese of Luanda is preparing to host Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with bishops, priests, women and men religious, and catechists during his April 18–21 visit.

Read More
Scottish bishops say ‘prayer moved hearts’ after Scottish Parliament rejects assisted suicide #Catholic In a final vote, members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have rejected a bill that would have made assisted suicide legal — a dramatic turn of events that Scotland’s Catholic bishops are attributing to the power of prayer.Reacting to the result immediately after its announcement on March 17, Scotland’s bishops told EWTN News: “Prayer is what moved hearts on this important issue. We are over the moon. Glory be to God that life has triumphed tonight!”Bill sponsor Liam McArthur and his supporters were confident of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill becoming law. In the first vote in May 2025, Parliament voted 70 to 56 in favor of the bill progressing to Stage 2. The bill was then amended at Stage 2 before moving to Stage 3 for a decisive vote. in the end, however, MSPs rejected it, voting 69 to 57 against the bill. Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said the vote against the assisted suicide bill would “protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland After an emotional debate, 12 MSPs changed sides, moving from supporting the Bill at Stage 1 to opposing it. Notable MSPs who swapped sides included Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party), Daniel Johnson (Labour), and Brian Whittle (Conservative), who publicly announced their decisions during the debate. This followed other notable announcements in the buildup to the vote by Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and Scottish National Party MSPs Audrey Nicoll and Collette Stevenson, who had initially supported the bill and then shared their decisions to vote against it.Commending MSPs for voting against the legislation, Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said after the vote: “I would like to express my gratitude to all MSPs for their serious engagement with this issue and for the thoughtful and considered attention they have given to the bill. I am especially grateful to those who upheld the principle of human dignity and advocated on behalf of the vulnerable.”The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide is inherently immoral. In advance of the final vote, Keenan commented that a vote against the bill would “protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.”“Every human life possesses inherent value,” he said. “Genuine compassion is not expressed through ending a life but through accompanying those who suffer and ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual support that recognizes their dignity.” Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of pro-life charity Right To Life UK, called the result “a great and deeply significant victory for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Right To Life UK Pro-life groups opposing the bill also highlighted the importance of the vote for the vulnerable. In a message to EWTN News, Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of pro-life charity Right To Life UK, called the result “a great and deeply significant victory for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.”Hungerford-Morgan told EWTN News: “People nearing the end of their lives, no matter what their condition, need love and support, not a pathway to suicide, which is exactly what the Scottish assisted suicide bill would have done."The vote followed an intense and long debate over five sessions, culminating in the final debate and vote on March 17.Hungerford-Morgan said: “If this bill had passed in the Scottish Parliament and gone on to become law, it would have ushered in an irrevocable change that would have put the vulnerable at risk and seen the ending of thousands of lives through assisted suicide in Scotland.”He added: “After two years of debate, and the most intense scrutiny that the question of assisted suicide has ever received in Scotland, Holyrood, which is widely regarded as one of the world’s most socially and politically progressive legislatures, has come to the conclusion that introducing assisted suicide is unsafe and dangerous.”Paul Atkin, pro-life officer at the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, highlighted “the strength of engagement across our archdiocese” due to the fact that, from the 12 MSPs who changed their votes to opposing the bill, eight represent constituencies within the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.Atkin told EWTN News: “The defeat of this bill is a welcome result, reflecting the strength of engagement across our archdiocese. From the archbishop’s leadership to parishes who organized hundreds of letters, this was a united effort which made the difference.”Praising the “remarkable contribution” of the archdiocese, Atkin paid tribute to the “polite, persistent engagement from the Catholic community,” which helped “shape outcomes and protect the most vulnerable.”Opponents of the bill called for attention to now move away from assisted suicide toward investment in palliative care. “Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it,” Keenan said. Echoing this viewpoint, Hungerford-Morgan urged MSPs to “unite to focus on renewed efforts to promote and improve palliative care.”Following the defeat of the bill, Hungerford-Morgan turned his attention to a separate bill currently being debated in the House of Lords in London that would legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales, initiated by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.Calling on the Leadbeater Bill’s sponsors to “reject assisted suicide,” he said: “This victory will have an impact far beyond Holyrood as the Leadbeater Bill is being debated in the House of Lords. Instead of pushing ahead with this dangerous bill, its sponsors should follow Scotland’s example and reject assisted suicide.”
Read More

Scottish bishops say ‘prayer moved hearts’ after Scottish Parliament rejects assisted suicide #Catholic In a final vote, members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have rejected a bill that would have made assisted suicide legal — a dramatic turn of events that Scotland’s Catholic bishops are attributing to the power of prayer.Reacting to the result immediately after its announcement on March 17, Scotland’s bishops told EWTN News: “Prayer is what moved hearts on this important issue. We are over the moon. Glory be to God that life has triumphed tonight!”Bill sponsor Liam McArthur and his supporters were confident of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill becoming law. In the first vote in May 2025, Parliament voted 70 to 56 in favor of the bill progressing to Stage 2. The bill was then amended at Stage 2 before moving to Stage 3 for a decisive vote. in the end, however, MSPs rejected it, voting 69 to 57 against the bill. Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said the vote against the assisted suicide bill would “protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland After an emotional debate, 12 MSPs changed sides, moving from supporting the Bill at Stage 1 to opposing it. Notable MSPs who swapped sides included Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party), Daniel Johnson (Labour), and Brian Whittle (Conservative), who publicly announced their decisions during the debate. This followed other notable announcements in the buildup to the vote by Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and Scottish National Party MSPs Audrey Nicoll and Collette Stevenson, who had initially supported the bill and then shared their decisions to vote against it.Commending MSPs for voting against the legislation, Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said after the vote: “I would like to express my gratitude to all MSPs for their serious engagement with this issue and for the thoughtful and considered attention they have given to the bill. I am especially grateful to those who upheld the principle of human dignity and advocated on behalf of the vulnerable.”The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide is inherently immoral. In advance of the final vote, Keenan commented that a vote against the bill would “protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.”“Every human life possesses inherent value,” he said. “Genuine compassion is not expressed through ending a life but through accompanying those who suffer and ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual support that recognizes their dignity.” Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of pro-life charity Right To Life UK, called the result “a great and deeply significant victory for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Right To Life UK Pro-life groups opposing the bill also highlighted the importance of the vote for the vulnerable. In a message to EWTN News, Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of pro-life charity Right To Life UK, called the result “a great and deeply significant victory for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.”Hungerford-Morgan told EWTN News: “People nearing the end of their lives, no matter what their condition, need love and support, not a pathway to suicide, which is exactly what the Scottish assisted suicide bill would have done."The vote followed an intense and long debate over five sessions, culminating in the final debate and vote on March 17.Hungerford-Morgan said: “If this bill had passed in the Scottish Parliament and gone on to become law, it would have ushered in an irrevocable change that would have put the vulnerable at risk and seen the ending of thousands of lives through assisted suicide in Scotland.”He added: “After two years of debate, and the most intense scrutiny that the question of assisted suicide has ever received in Scotland, Holyrood, which is widely regarded as one of the world’s most socially and politically progressive legislatures, has come to the conclusion that introducing assisted suicide is unsafe and dangerous.”Paul Atkin, pro-life officer at the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, highlighted “the strength of engagement across our archdiocese” due to the fact that, from the 12 MSPs who changed their votes to opposing the bill, eight represent constituencies within the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.Atkin told EWTN News: “The defeat of this bill is a welcome result, reflecting the strength of engagement across our archdiocese. From the archbishop’s leadership to parishes who organized hundreds of letters, this was a united effort which made the difference.”Praising the “remarkable contribution” of the archdiocese, Atkin paid tribute to the “polite, persistent engagement from the Catholic community,” which helped “shape outcomes and protect the most vulnerable.”Opponents of the bill called for attention to now move away from assisted suicide toward investment in palliative care. “Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it,” Keenan said. Echoing this viewpoint, Hungerford-Morgan urged MSPs to “unite to focus on renewed efforts to promote and improve palliative care.”Following the defeat of the bill, Hungerford-Morgan turned his attention to a separate bill currently being debated in the House of Lords in London that would legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales, initiated by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.Calling on the Leadbeater Bill’s sponsors to “reject assisted suicide,” he said: “This victory will have an impact far beyond Holyrood as the Leadbeater Bill is being debated in the House of Lords. Instead of pushing ahead with this dangerous bill, its sponsors should follow Scotland’s example and reject assisted suicide.”

unitedyam

In a decisive vote, Scottish members of Parliament have rejected the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, a victory the bishops in Scotland are praising.

Read More
Before he was killed, priest in Lebanon declared: ‘We will remain until death’ #Catholic In recent days, Christian villages in southern Lebanon have drawn widespread attention across media and social networks, praised for their resilience and peaceful resistance as many residents chose to remain in their homes despite the dangers of ongoing hostilities. But on Monday, that resilience took a tragic turn. What had become a symbol of persistence turned into a scene of martyrdom, when a Catholic parish priest was killed in an Israeli strike that hit the border village of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon. Father Pierre Al Rahi, who had chosen to remain with his parishioners, died alongside the community he refused to abandon.According to local media reports, Hezbollah militants infiltrated the Christian town, turning it into a target for Israeli airstrikes. Residents alerted Rahi, who reportedly went to confront them and ask them to leave the village. The strike that killed him occurred around the same time.In one of his last television interviews before the strike, Rahi said: “We will remain here until death.”It was not the first time he had expressed such determination. During a previous round of the war in 2024, speaking from the same village of Qlayaa, he said: “We will not leave. We are projects of martyrdom, and we will not abandon our land.”His death sparked strong reactions among Lebanon’s Christian community, particularly from political and religious leaders. Fingers were pointed at both Israel and Hezbollah. In a statement, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea confirmed that Hezbollah fighters had infiltrated the village of Qlayaa, triggering Israeli strikes that led to Rahi’s death.Father Dani Dergham, known for his political activism, wrote on X that during both the current war and previous rounds of fighting, Rahi had repeatedly warned about the presence of armed men among the peaceful residents of his town.Meanwhile, a video also circulated online showing Father Hanna Khoury, another priest from Qlayaa, saying that anyone whose presence or activities in the village are unknown should be considered a threat to the community, reflecting fears among residents about the infiltration of Hezbollah militants into the town.Rahi was not the only victim of the strikes. Several residents were injured, and earlier, community pages from Christian villages in southern Lebanon also announced the death of a Christian farmer, Sami Youssef Al-Ghafri — from the nearby town of Alma Al-Shaab — who was killed in the shelling.Christian residents of southern Lebanon have also been calling for the deployment of the Lebanese Army in their towns. They say they wish to remain on their land, fearing that if they evacuate, Hezbollah could use their villages to launch rockets, exposing them to destruction. Some also express concern that if Israel launches a ground operation, displacement could lead to the loss of their land.
Read More

Before he was killed, priest in Lebanon declared: ‘We will remain until death’ #Catholic In recent days, Christian villages in southern Lebanon have drawn widespread attention across media and social networks, praised for their resilience and peaceful resistance as many residents chose to remain in their homes despite the dangers of ongoing hostilities. But on Monday, that resilience took a tragic turn. What had become a symbol of persistence turned into a scene of martyrdom, when a Catholic parish priest was killed in an Israeli strike that hit the border village of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon. Father Pierre Al Rahi, who had chosen to remain with his parishioners, died alongside the community he refused to abandon.According to local media reports, Hezbollah militants infiltrated the Christian town, turning it into a target for Israeli airstrikes. Residents alerted Rahi, who reportedly went to confront them and ask them to leave the village. The strike that killed him occurred around the same time.In one of his last television interviews before the strike, Rahi said: “We will remain here until death.”It was not the first time he had expressed such determination. During a previous round of the war in 2024, speaking from the same village of Qlayaa, he said: “We will not leave. We are projects of martyrdom, and we will not abandon our land.”His death sparked strong reactions among Lebanon’s Christian community, particularly from political and religious leaders. Fingers were pointed at both Israel and Hezbollah. In a statement, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea confirmed that Hezbollah fighters had infiltrated the village of Qlayaa, triggering Israeli strikes that led to Rahi’s death.Father Dani Dergham, known for his political activism, wrote on X that during both the current war and previous rounds of fighting, Rahi had repeatedly warned about the presence of armed men among the peaceful residents of his town.Meanwhile, a video also circulated online showing Father Hanna Khoury, another priest from Qlayaa, saying that anyone whose presence or activities in the village are unknown should be considered a threat to the community, reflecting fears among residents about the infiltration of Hezbollah militants into the town.Rahi was not the only victim of the strikes. Several residents were injured, and earlier, community pages from Christian villages in southern Lebanon also announced the death of a Christian farmer, Sami Youssef Al-Ghafri — from the nearby town of Alma Al-Shaab — who was killed in the shelling.Christian residents of southern Lebanon have also been calling for the deployment of the Lebanese Army in their towns. They say they wish to remain on their land, fearing that if they evacuate, Hezbollah could use their villages to launch rockets, exposing them to destruction. Some also express concern that if Israel launches a ground operation, displacement could lead to the loss of their land.

unitedyam

Father Pierre Rahi, a shepherd who refused to leave Southern Lebanon, was killed in Israeli strike.

Read More
Pope Leo XIV warns of wider Middle East conflict #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Sunday appealed for peace as violence and fear continue to spread in Iran and across the Middle East, praying in particular for Lebanon and warning that the conflict could widen.Speaking after the Angelus on March 8, the pope said “deeply disturbing news continues to arrive from Iran and the entire Middle East.”“In addition to the episodes of violence and devastation as well as the widespread climate of hatred and fear, there is also the concern that the conflict will spread and that other countries in the region, including beloved Lebanon, may again sink back into instability,” he said.“We lift up our humble prayer to the Lord, so that the thunderous sound of bombs may cease, weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open up in which the voice of the people can be heard,” the pope said. He added that he was entrusting that intention to the Virgin Mary, “that she may intercede for those who suffer because of war and lead hearts along the paths of reconciliation and hope.”Before the Marian prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel and said that “since the first centuries of the Church’s history, the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind and the resurrection of Lazarus illuminate the path of those who, at Easter, will receive Baptism and begin a new life.”“These great Gospel passages, which we read beginning this Sunday, are intended for the catechumens to help them on their journey to become Christians,” he said. “At the same time, these passages are heard once again by the entire community of believers to help them to be more authentic and joyful Christians.”Referring to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, the pope said: “Indeed, Jesus is the response to our thirst. As he suggested to the Samaritan woman, the encounter with him stirs in the depths of each person ‘a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”“How many people in the entire world are searching even today for this spiritual spring!” he said.Quoting the diary of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish writer who died in Auschwitz during World War II, Leo said: “‘Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then he must be dug out again.’”“Dear friends, there is no energy better spent than that dedicated to freeing our heart,” the pope said. “For this reason, Lent is a gift: we are starting the third week and now we are able to intensify the journey!”He went on to reflect on the disciples’ reaction in the Gospel: “His disciples came [and] they were astonished that he was speaking with a woman.” The Master, he said, had to prompt them: “‘Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.’”“The Lord still says to his Church: ‘Lift up your eyes and recognize God’s surprises!’” Leo said. “In the fields, four months prior to the harvest, one sees practically nothing. But there, where we see nothing, grace is already at work and its fruits are ready to be gathered.”“The harvest is great: perhaps the workers are few because they are distracted by other activities,” he continued. “Jesus, on the other hand, is attentive. According to custom, he ought to have simply ignored that Samaritan woman; instead, Jesus speaks with her, listens to her, and shows her respect — without a hidden agenda and without disdain.”“How many people seek in the Church this same sensitivity, this availability!” the pope said.“And how beautiful it is when we lose track of time in order to give attention to the person we are encountering, as we see in this passage,” he added. “Jesus was so spiritually nourished by God’s desire to reach people on the deepest levels that he even forgot to eat.”Leo said that “the Samaritan woman becomes the first of many female evangelizers.” Because of her testimony, “many from her village of despised and rejected people came to meet Jesus, and also in them faith bubbled forth like pure water.”The pope also marked International Women’s Day, observed March 8, saying: “We renew our commitment, which for us Christians is based on the Gospel, to recognize the equal dignity of man and woman.”“Unfortunately many women, from childhood onwards, are still discriminated against and suffer various forms of violence,” he said. “In a special way, I offer to them my solidarity and my prayers.”This article was originally published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.
Read More

Pope Leo XIV warns of wider Middle East conflict #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Sunday appealed for peace as violence and fear continue to spread in Iran and across the Middle East, praying in particular for Lebanon and warning that the conflict could widen.Speaking after the Angelus on March 8, the pope said “deeply disturbing news continues to arrive from Iran and the entire Middle East.”“In addition to the episodes of violence and devastation as well as the widespread climate of hatred and fear, there is also the concern that the conflict will spread and that other countries in the region, including beloved Lebanon, may again sink back into instability,” he said.“We lift up our humble prayer to the Lord, so that the thunderous sound of bombs may cease, weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open up in which the voice of the people can be heard,” the pope said. He added that he was entrusting that intention to the Virgin Mary, “that she may intercede for those who suffer because of war and lead hearts along the paths of reconciliation and hope.”Before the Marian prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel and said that “since the first centuries of the Church’s history, the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind and the resurrection of Lazarus illuminate the path of those who, at Easter, will receive Baptism and begin a new life.”“These great Gospel passages, which we read beginning this Sunday, are intended for the catechumens to help them on their journey to become Christians,” he said. “At the same time, these passages are heard once again by the entire community of believers to help them to be more authentic and joyful Christians.”Referring to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, the pope said: “Indeed, Jesus is the response to our thirst. As he suggested to the Samaritan woman, the encounter with him stirs in the depths of each person ‘a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”“How many people in the entire world are searching even today for this spiritual spring!” he said.Quoting the diary of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish writer who died in Auschwitz during World War II, Leo said: “‘Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then he must be dug out again.’”“Dear friends, there is no energy better spent than that dedicated to freeing our heart,” the pope said. “For this reason, Lent is a gift: we are starting the third week and now we are able to intensify the journey!”He went on to reflect on the disciples’ reaction in the Gospel: “His disciples came [and] they were astonished that he was speaking with a woman.” The Master, he said, had to prompt them: “‘Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.’”“The Lord still says to his Church: ‘Lift up your eyes and recognize God’s surprises!’” Leo said. “In the fields, four months prior to the harvest, one sees practically nothing. But there, where we see nothing, grace is already at work and its fruits are ready to be gathered.”“The harvest is great: perhaps the workers are few because they are distracted by other activities,” he continued. “Jesus, on the other hand, is attentive. According to custom, he ought to have simply ignored that Samaritan woman; instead, Jesus speaks with her, listens to her, and shows her respect — without a hidden agenda and without disdain.”“How many people seek in the Church this same sensitivity, this availability!” the pope said.“And how beautiful it is when we lose track of time in order to give attention to the person we are encountering, as we see in this passage,” he added. “Jesus was so spiritually nourished by God’s desire to reach people on the deepest levels that he even forgot to eat.”Leo said that “the Samaritan woman becomes the first of many female evangelizers.” Because of her testimony, “many from her village of despised and rejected people came to meet Jesus, and also in them faith bubbled forth like pure water.”The pope also marked International Women’s Day, observed March 8, saying: “We renew our commitment, which for us Christians is based on the Gospel, to recognize the equal dignity of man and woman.”“Unfortunately many women, from childhood onwards, are still discriminated against and suffer various forms of violence,” he said. “In a special way, I offer to them my solidarity and my prayers.”This article was originally published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam

At his Sunday Angelus, the pope voiced alarm over violence and fear spreading from Iran across the region.

Read More
From heiress to saint: The radical life of St. Katharine Drexel #Catholic St. Katharine Drexel was born in 1858 to a wealthy family in Philadelphia. Five weeks after her birth, her mother died. She and her two sisters were reared by their father, Frank, a successful international banker, and stepmother, Emma — whom Katharine always considered her mother. Both were devout Catholics and loving parents. The family was generous with the poor — three times a week they opened their lavish home to those in need, offering them food, clothing, medicine, and other necessities.From the earliest ages, the Drexel children were taught to pursue personal holiness through daily Mass, meditation, the rosary, and other devotions as well as by acts of penance and sacrifice. Katharine kept notes on her efforts to grow in virtue. In 1878, she wrote: “I am resolved during this year to try to overcome impatience and give attention to lessons. I, Katie, put these resolutions at the feet of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph hoping that they will find acceptance there. May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph help me to bear much fruit in the year 1878.”When she was in her 20s, Katharine lost both of her parents and inherited a portion of the family’s vast wealth. At this time, she became aware of the plight of the Native Americans, many of whom suffered from dire poverty and a lack of education. She would devote the remainder of her life to assisting them.In two private audiences with Pope Leo XIII, she begged him to send more missionaries to the Native Americans. During one of these meetings, the Holy Father suggested to an astonished Katharine that she herself become such a missionary.Although Katharine enjoyed an opulent lifestyle, she became disillusioned with the things of the world. She wrote a longtime friend, Bishop James O’Connor, of her desire to enter religious life.“Like the little girl who wept when she found that her doll was stuffed with sawdust and her drum was hollow, I, too, have made a horrifying discovery and my discovery, like hers, is true. I have ripped both the doll and the drum open and the fact lies plainly and in all its glaring reality before me: All, all, all (there is no exception) is passing away and will pass away,” she wrote.The bishop thought Katharine could do more for the Church in her position in society and worried she might have difficulty in renouncing her wealth. She responded: “The question alone important, the solution of which depends upon how I have spent my life, is the state of my soul at the moment of death. Infinite misery or infinite happiness! There is no half and half, either one or the other.”The bishop eventually relented and advised her to found a community to work among Native Americans and African Americans, declaring: “God has put in your heart a great love for the Indian and the Negroes.” In 1891, joined by 13 others, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.Mother Drexel went to work opening mission churches and boarding schools for Black and Native American children throughout the U.S.At times, prejudice and racism hindered her work. She would often buy buildings to create schools through third parties — otherwise, when sellers learned Mother Drexel was buying them to educate Black or Native children, they wouldn’t sell to her.Once, when members of the Nashville, Tennessee, city council wondered if Blacks were capable of higher education, she responded: “I cannot share these views with regard to the education of the race. I feel that if among our colored people we find individuals gifted with capabilities, with those sterling qualities which constitute character, our holy mother the Church who fosters and develops the intellect only that it may give God more glory and be of benefit to others, should also concede to the Negro the privilege of higher education.”In 1915, Katharine founded a teachers’ college in Louisiana, which would eventually become Xavier University of New Orleans and one of the first American colleges to admit Black students.Throughout her life, Mother Drexel’s chief motivation in addition to her missionary outreach was to help more souls know and love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She believed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was key to the success to her community’s missionary work.She died in 1955 at the age of 96 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Her community’s motherhouse for decades was located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, which included a shrine — elements of which included Mother Drexel’s remains and a museum dedicated to her memory. However, due to a lack of vocations, the motherhouse closed and the property sold at the end of 2017. The St. Katharine Drexel Shrine is now part of the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.St. Katharine Drexel is honored in the Church on March 3.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, a sister news service of EWTN News, on March 3, 2021, and has been updated and adapted by EWTN News.
Read More

From heiress to saint: The radical life of St. Katharine Drexel #Catholic St. Katharine Drexel was born in 1858 to a wealthy family in Philadelphia. Five weeks after her birth, her mother died. She and her two sisters were reared by their father, Frank, a successful international banker, and stepmother, Emma — whom Katharine always considered her mother. Both were devout Catholics and loving parents. The family was generous with the poor — three times a week they opened their lavish home to those in need, offering them food, clothing, medicine, and other necessities.From the earliest ages, the Drexel children were taught to pursue personal holiness through daily Mass, meditation, the rosary, and other devotions as well as by acts of penance and sacrifice. Katharine kept notes on her efforts to grow in virtue. In 1878, she wrote: “I am resolved during this year to try to overcome impatience and give attention to lessons. I, Katie, put these resolutions at the feet of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph hoping that they will find acceptance there. May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph help me to bear much fruit in the year 1878.”When she was in her 20s, Katharine lost both of her parents and inherited a portion of the family’s vast wealth. At this time, she became aware of the plight of the Native Americans, many of whom suffered from dire poverty and a lack of education. She would devote the remainder of her life to assisting them.In two private audiences with Pope Leo XIII, she begged him to send more missionaries to the Native Americans. During one of these meetings, the Holy Father suggested to an astonished Katharine that she herself become such a missionary.Although Katharine enjoyed an opulent lifestyle, she became disillusioned with the things of the world. She wrote a longtime friend, Bishop James O’Connor, of her desire to enter religious life.“Like the little girl who wept when she found that her doll was stuffed with sawdust and her drum was hollow, I, too, have made a horrifying discovery and my discovery, like hers, is true. I have ripped both the doll and the drum open and the fact lies plainly and in all its glaring reality before me: All, all, all (there is no exception) is passing away and will pass away,” she wrote.The bishop thought Katharine could do more for the Church in her position in society and worried she might have difficulty in renouncing her wealth. She responded: “The question alone important, the solution of which depends upon how I have spent my life, is the state of my soul at the moment of death. Infinite misery or infinite happiness! There is no half and half, either one or the other.”The bishop eventually relented and advised her to found a community to work among Native Americans and African Americans, declaring: “God has put in your heart a great love for the Indian and the Negroes.” In 1891, joined by 13 others, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.Mother Drexel went to work opening mission churches and boarding schools for Black and Native American children throughout the U.S.At times, prejudice and racism hindered her work. She would often buy buildings to create schools through third parties — otherwise, when sellers learned Mother Drexel was buying them to educate Black or Native children, they wouldn’t sell to her.Once, when members of the Nashville, Tennessee, city council wondered if Blacks were capable of higher education, she responded: “I cannot share these views with regard to the education of the race. I feel that if among our colored people we find individuals gifted with capabilities, with those sterling qualities which constitute character, our holy mother the Church who fosters and develops the intellect only that it may give God more glory and be of benefit to others, should also concede to the Negro the privilege of higher education.”In 1915, Katharine founded a teachers’ college in Louisiana, which would eventually become Xavier University of New Orleans and one of the first American colleges to admit Black students.Throughout her life, Mother Drexel’s chief motivation in addition to her missionary outreach was to help more souls know and love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She believed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was key to the success to her community’s missionary work.She died in 1955 at the age of 96 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Her community’s motherhouse for decades was located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, which included a shrine — elements of which included Mother Drexel’s remains and a museum dedicated to her memory. However, due to a lack of vocations, the motherhouse closed and the property sold at the end of 2017. The St. Katharine Drexel Shrine is now part of the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.St. Katharine Drexel is honored in the Church on March 3.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, a sister news service of EWTN News, on March 3, 2021, and has been updated and adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam

Throughout her life, St. Katharine Drexel’s chief motivation was to help more people know and love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Read More
Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s voice needed ‘more than ever’ #Catholic African American Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s ability to bridge divides shines as a witness needed today, according to those who knew her, and her cause for canonization may create a pathway for other African Americans on their ways to sainthood.More than three decades after her death, Bowman should be remembered for “her charism, gifts, prophetic voice, charismatic personality, and real strong commitment to the Church — truly being Catholic,” Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, told EWTN News.Bowman, the granddaughter of a slave, challenged the Church in the 20th century to confront its history of racial exclusion and to embrace Black Catholics through her work as a scholar, teacher, and speaker.The Diocese of Jackson officially closed its proceedings regarding her potential sainthood on Feb. 9 after Kopacz opened her cause in November 2018. The records are now being sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.“People around the world will be very excited and will celebrate what we hope will be the occasion of her canonization. And that’s because people, Catholic and non-Catholics alike, are drawn to her story,” Veryl Miles, law professor and leader of the Sister Thea Bowman Committee at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News.Sister Thea’s life and legacyBowman was born Dec. 29, 1937, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and was given the name Bertha Elizabeth Bowman. While her family was Methodist, Bowman was called to the Catholic faith at a young age.“At 9 years old, she told her parents she wanted to be Catholic. The sisters who were teaching at the school, the parish where she was, had such an impact on her. Then six years later, she joined their religious community,” Kopacz said.She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at age 15 and enrolled in Viterbo University, which was run by the Franciscan sisters. Three years into formation, she took the religious name Thea, which means “of God” and is a version of her father’s name, Theon.“She was so focused on serving the Lord as a religious, and in this community, because they loved her as a young child,” Kopaz said. Bowman knew: “This is who I know. This is who I love. This is where I want to be.”She was the first and only African American woman in her religious community, often facing racism both within and beyond the Church, leading her to become an advocate for the dignity of Black people, their culture, and Black Catholic spirituality.Bowman went on to study at The Catholic University of America, earning a doctorate in English in 1972. Bowman helped found the National Black Sisters’ Conference and taught the university’s first Black literature course.Bowman, who taught for many years, was “a master teacher,” Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Charlene Smith, a close friend of Bowman’s and co-author of her biography “Thea’s Song,” told EWTN News.Smith and Bowman met in 1954 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, at St. Rose Convent. “She was just like me. We both wanted to be Franciscans, we both wanted to teach, and we both wanted to major in English in college, and we did all three of those things,” Smith said.After having moved away for graduate school, Bowman returned to La Crosse to teach in the English Department at Viterbo University. Smith also returned to serve as the school’s dean of students.“When I got back to La Crosse, they told me that I should beware of Sister Thea Bowman because she was ‘the most powerful woman on campus.’ They didn’t know that we were really good friends,” Smith said.“Being the dean, I was able to go to any classroom. I would go to Thea’s classrooms, and she would always come bounding in with a song, and she would get everybody into a really good mood,” Smith said.Bowman would also teach at parishes about Black liturgy and music. Eventually she starting to speak at a national level, becoming the first African American woman to address the U.S. bishops’ conference.She often used music to help evangelize and bridge interracial divides, and became a major contributor to the development of “Lead Me, Guide Me,” the Black Catholic hymnal published in 1987.Smith reflected on Bowman’s “marvelous” and “magnetic” personality. “We were invited to a dinner at a hotel, and she was going to give a speech. We got there early, so we went to sit down in the lobby … a pianist from Argentina was playing songs from ‘Porgy and Bess,’ and Thea got up and started singing ‘Summertime.’”“She got a standing ovation and an encore,” Smith said. “I think one of the greatest gifts, graces, in my life was my friendship with her. She was very kind to me, and she was very kind to all the people that she met.”At age 54, on March 30, 1990, Bowman died of breast cancer. She was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside her parents.Impact of Bowman’s causeBowman’s journey toward sainthood could have an especially effective impact today with the present division in the nation, as she would preach how we are “all human beings, and we should love everybody,” Smith said.“She was not interested in the melting pot at all,” Smith said. “She was more interested in a salad bowl because she said: ‘In a salad, people keep their identity, whereas in a melting pot, they’re all mushed together.’”Bowman “welcomed all in the universal body of Christ” Kopacz said. “She said the Church needs to truly be actively universal, and embrace different cultures and all the gifts that people bring.”“So today, more than ever, that voice is needed in our society as we can get more divisive,” Kopacz said. “I just think it’s perfect for our time and our Church.”“Her message is so universal,” Miles said. Especially “understanding the relationship between faith and identity among its members.”“She really understood and articulated so beautifully that we are people of faith and we are people of identities. The Church is a global church. There’s so many different people who are part of this Church  — people of different races, different ethnicities, and nationalities.”‘An impetus’ for other African Americans on their way to sainthoodCurrently, there are no canonized African American saints, but the Church honors Black saints from other nations, including St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Martin de Porres, St. Monica of Hippo, and St. Augustine of Hippo, among others.Bowman is among seven African American Catholics with active canonization causes — dubbed the “Saintly Seven.” The group also includes Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Mother Henriette Delille, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Servant of God Friar Martin de Porres Maria Ward.Even before her potential canonization, Bowman will “draw attention” to the group, Kopacz said. If she becomes venerable, which the bishop expects she will, he believes Bowman “will be an impetus” for the causes of other African Americans to move forward. “She’s going to be an important part, and she’ll move the other causes along,” he said.Since people “can relate” to Bowman’s story as it “is so contemporary and so special,” Miles said she also hopes the other stories of the seven Catholics “will become highlighted” by her cause.“People will be more interested in finding out about the other African Americans who are in the process of canonization, because their stories are very special and very unique, too,” Miles said.
Read More

Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s voice needed ‘more than ever’ #Catholic African American Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s ability to bridge divides shines as a witness needed today, according to those who knew her, and her cause for canonization may create a pathway for other African Americans on their ways to sainthood.More than three decades after her death, Bowman should be remembered for “her charism, gifts, prophetic voice, charismatic personality, and real strong commitment to the Church — truly being Catholic,” Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, told EWTN News.Bowman, the granddaughter of a slave, challenged the Church in the 20th century to confront its history of racial exclusion and to embrace Black Catholics through her work as a scholar, teacher, and speaker.The Diocese of Jackson officially closed its proceedings regarding her potential sainthood on Feb. 9 after Kopacz opened her cause in November 2018. The records are now being sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.“People around the world will be very excited and will celebrate what we hope will be the occasion of her canonization. And that’s because people, Catholic and non-Catholics alike, are drawn to her story,” Veryl Miles, law professor and leader of the Sister Thea Bowman Committee at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News.Sister Thea’s life and legacyBowman was born Dec. 29, 1937, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and was given the name Bertha Elizabeth Bowman. While her family was Methodist, Bowman was called to the Catholic faith at a young age.“At 9 years old, she told her parents she wanted to be Catholic. The sisters who were teaching at the school, the parish where she was, had such an impact on her. Then six years later, she joined their religious community,” Kopacz said.She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at age 15 and enrolled in Viterbo University, which was run by the Franciscan sisters. Three years into formation, she took the religious name Thea, which means “of God” and is a version of her father’s name, Theon.“She was so focused on serving the Lord as a religious, and in this community, because they loved her as a young child,” Kopaz said. Bowman knew: “This is who I know. This is who I love. This is where I want to be.”She was the first and only African American woman in her religious community, often facing racism both within and beyond the Church, leading her to become an advocate for the dignity of Black people, their culture, and Black Catholic spirituality.Bowman went on to study at The Catholic University of America, earning a doctorate in English in 1972. Bowman helped found the National Black Sisters’ Conference and taught the university’s first Black literature course.Bowman, who taught for many years, was “a master teacher,” Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Charlene Smith, a close friend of Bowman’s and co-author of her biography “Thea’s Song,” told EWTN News.Smith and Bowman met in 1954 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, at St. Rose Convent. “She was just like me. We both wanted to be Franciscans, we both wanted to teach, and we both wanted to major in English in college, and we did all three of those things,” Smith said.After having moved away for graduate school, Bowman returned to La Crosse to teach in the English Department at Viterbo University. Smith also returned to serve as the school’s dean of students.“When I got back to La Crosse, they told me that I should beware of Sister Thea Bowman because she was ‘the most powerful woman on campus.’ They didn’t know that we were really good friends,” Smith said.“Being the dean, I was able to go to any classroom. I would go to Thea’s classrooms, and she would always come bounding in with a song, and she would get everybody into a really good mood,” Smith said.Bowman would also teach at parishes about Black liturgy and music. Eventually she starting to speak at a national level, becoming the first African American woman to address the U.S. bishops’ conference.She often used music to help evangelize and bridge interracial divides, and became a major contributor to the development of “Lead Me, Guide Me,” the Black Catholic hymnal published in 1987.Smith reflected on Bowman’s “marvelous” and “magnetic” personality. “We were invited to a dinner at a hotel, and she was going to give a speech. We got there early, so we went to sit down in the lobby … a pianist from Argentina was playing songs from ‘Porgy and Bess,’ and Thea got up and started singing ‘Summertime.’”“She got a standing ovation and an encore,” Smith said. “I think one of the greatest gifts, graces, in my life was my friendship with her. She was very kind to me, and she was very kind to all the people that she met.”At age 54, on March 30, 1990, Bowman died of breast cancer. She was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside her parents.Impact of Bowman’s causeBowman’s journey toward sainthood could have an especially effective impact today with the present division in the nation, as she would preach how we are “all human beings, and we should love everybody,” Smith said.“She was not interested in the melting pot at all,” Smith said. “She was more interested in a salad bowl because she said: ‘In a salad, people keep their identity, whereas in a melting pot, they’re all mushed together.’”Bowman “welcomed all in the universal body of Christ” Kopacz said. “She said the Church needs to truly be actively universal, and embrace different cultures and all the gifts that people bring.”“So today, more than ever, that voice is needed in our society as we can get more divisive,” Kopacz said. “I just think it’s perfect for our time and our Church.”“Her message is so universal,” Miles said. Especially “understanding the relationship between faith and identity among its members.”“She really understood and articulated so beautifully that we are people of faith and we are people of identities. The Church is a global church. There’s so many different people who are part of this Church  — people of different races, different ethnicities, and nationalities.”‘An impetus’ for other African Americans on their way to sainthoodCurrently, there are no canonized African American saints, but the Church honors Black saints from other nations, including St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Martin de Porres, St. Monica of Hippo, and St. Augustine of Hippo, among others.Bowman is among seven African American Catholics with active canonization causes — dubbed the “Saintly Seven.” The group also includes Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Mother Henriette Delille, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Servant of God Friar Martin de Porres Maria Ward.Even before her potential canonization, Bowman will “draw attention” to the group, Kopacz said. If she becomes venerable, which the bishop expects she will, he believes Bowman “will be an impetus” for the causes of other African Americans to move forward. “She’s going to be an important part, and she’ll move the other causes along,” he said.Since people “can relate” to Bowman’s story as it “is so contemporary and so special,” Miles said she also hopes the other stories of the seven Catholics “will become highlighted” by her cause.“People will be more interested in finding out about the other African Americans who are in the process of canonization, because their stories are very special and very unique, too,” Miles said.

unitedyam

Bowman’s ability to see the dignity of each individual, and embrace all gifts and cultures, is an essential message for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Read More
Replica of Manila’s famed ‘Black Nazarene’ arrives in Los Angeles Archdiocese #Catholic The centuries-old devotion to Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno of Quiapo, Manila, in the Philippines has formally reached the U.S. West Coast as an official replica of the revered image was turned over to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and entrusted to Holy Family Parish in Artesia and the archdiocese’s Filipino ministry.The replica, gifted by the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, will be enthroned at Holy Family Parish and serve as a pilgrim image, visiting parishes across the archdiocese’s five pastoral regions as part of a broader evangelization initiative. Father John Cordero displays the official replica of the Jesús Nazareno from Manila’s Quiapo Church in 2025. | Credit: Holy Family Catholic Church Artesia The arrival of the image marks the fruit of an evangelization effort spearheaded by then-rector of Quiapo Church, now Bishop Rufino Sescon of Balanga, Bataan. According to Father John Cordero of the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross, pastor of Holy Family Parish, the development unfolded providentially.“The real starting point of this development was the evangelization initiative of the National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, spearheaded by then-rector and now bishop of Balanga, Rufino ‘Jun’ Sescon,” Cordero told EWTN News.The replica was initially offered to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles through Father Rodel Balagtas, priest liaison to the Filipino Ministry. Although another parish had first expressed willingness to host the image, no final arrangements had been made.Months later, Sescon personally contacted Cordero — a former graduate school classmate — to reestablish communication between Quiapo Church and a receiving parish. What seemed at first a closed matter reopened, and Cordero discerned that the parish could accommodate the image by converting a religious goods store in the vestibule into a shrine.“I noticed something that had slipped my attention: We have space,” Cordero said. After consultation with Filipino Ministry leaders, including its president and parishioner Noel Motus, the parish agreed to receive the image. “It is a gift from the national shrine, and our parish was merely chosen to be the caretakers.”Formal reception and MassSescon will celebrate the Mass marking the official arrival and reception of the replica in Los Angeles on Feb. 14. Later this year, the image will also be brought to the annual Religious Education Congress, further expanding its exposure to thousands of catechists and ministry leaders.Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City — the first Filipino-born bishop to lead a diocese in the United States — is also scheduled to celebrate a Mass in connection with the image’s visit.While there was no prior organized clamor among parishioners for a Nazareno image, Cordero said the parishioners’ response after learning that their parish will be the home of the replica has been one of “sheer joy,” with Filipino and Hispanic faithful alike rallying around the new shrine.“As a pastor explaining this new devotion to my multicultural parish, I would like to point to our mutual interconnectedness with this image,” he said. “This is primarily an image of Jesus, the focal point of our Christian unity.”Historical connectionsThe original image of the Jesús Nazareno, which arrived in Manila from Mexico in 1606, bears deep historical ties to both the Philippines and the Americas. California itself was once part of Mexico, and devotion to Jesús Nazareno has long-standing roots throughout Latin America.“The image, touched by hundreds of millions of pilgrims throughout its four centuries of devotional history, connects us with the everyday faith stories of all who identify with the suffering of Our Lord,” Cordero said.In a gesture underscoring that spiritual continuity, “like the Galileans who were content with touching the tassels of the cloak of Jesus for their healing,” Cordero requested Father Jade Licuanan, the current Quiapo Basilica rector, to have the replica be touched to the original image in Quiapo before being shipped to the United States. Cordero described this as an “intimate act of blessing and sending.”Mass devotion in ManilaThe devotion to the image once known as the “Black Nazarene” is among the largest Catholic expressions of popular piety in the world. Each January, millions of barefoot devotees join the Traslación procession in Manila, accompanying the dark wooden image of Christ carrying the cross through the streets of Quiapo. Manila’s feast of the Black Nazarene draws 9.6 million devotees Cordero, who recently visited the basilica, described the scale of devotion as “mind-boggling,” noting that even hourly Masses draw thousands of worshippers.Now, he believes, the image comes to Los Angeles at a providential moment.“Amid a sociopolitical climate marked by fear and division, this symbol of our connection in the Lord and with one another, embodied in this rustic image of Jesus carrying the cross, offers us consolation and mission,” he said.Citing the U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter “A Treasured Presence,” which describes Filipino Catholics as a vital but often unseen minority in the United States, Cordero said the Nazareno highlights the “prophetic resiliency and joy” they bring to the Church.“The Jesús Nazareno reassures us that we are not alone in bearing our crosses,” he said. “In this strange new world, our Catholic faith has been our familiar refuge of connection, support, and strength.”Revitalizing faithBalagtas said he hopes the popular Filipino icon that has a rich tradition in Latin America will help revitalize the faith of the people of the largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States, thanks to the vibrant devotion of Filipino Catholics. Father John Cordero, MMHC, signs the “Memorandum of Agreement” formalizing Holy Family Parish’s reception of the official replica of the Jesús Nazareno on behalf of the Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as Father Jade Licuanan, rector of the Basilica and National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, looks on in 2025. | Credit: Holy Family Catholic Church Artesia “The people who are filling the pews of the churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as in other dioceses, are Filipino Catholics.”From Quiapo, Manila’s narrow streets, where millions gather each year for the Traslación, to the sprawling parishes of Southern California, the cross-bearing Christ now stands in a new land — inviting the faithful not only to venerate but also to follow him.
Read More

Replica of Manila’s famed ‘Black Nazarene’ arrives in Los Angeles Archdiocese #Catholic The centuries-old devotion to Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno of Quiapo, Manila, in the Philippines has formally reached the U.S. West Coast as an official replica of the revered image was turned over to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and entrusted to Holy Family Parish in Artesia and the archdiocese’s Filipino ministry.The replica, gifted by the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, will be enthroned at Holy Family Parish and serve as a pilgrim image, visiting parishes across the archdiocese’s five pastoral regions as part of a broader evangelization initiative. Father John Cordero displays the official replica of the Jesús Nazareno from Manila’s Quiapo Church in 2025. | Credit: Holy Family Catholic Church Artesia The arrival of the image marks the fruit of an evangelization effort spearheaded by then-rector of Quiapo Church, now Bishop Rufino Sescon of Balanga, Bataan. According to Father John Cordero of the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross, pastor of Holy Family Parish, the development unfolded providentially.“The real starting point of this development was the evangelization initiative of the National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, spearheaded by then-rector and now bishop of Balanga, Rufino ‘Jun’ Sescon,” Cordero told EWTN News.The replica was initially offered to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles through Father Rodel Balagtas, priest liaison to the Filipino Ministry. Although another parish had first expressed willingness to host the image, no final arrangements had been made.Months later, Sescon personally contacted Cordero — a former graduate school classmate — to reestablish communication between Quiapo Church and a receiving parish. What seemed at first a closed matter reopened, and Cordero discerned that the parish could accommodate the image by converting a religious goods store in the vestibule into a shrine.“I noticed something that had slipped my attention: We have space,” Cordero said. After consultation with Filipino Ministry leaders, including its president and parishioner Noel Motus, the parish agreed to receive the image. “It is a gift from the national shrine, and our parish was merely chosen to be the caretakers.”Formal reception and MassSescon will celebrate the Mass marking the official arrival and reception of the replica in Los Angeles on Feb. 14. Later this year, the image will also be brought to the annual Religious Education Congress, further expanding its exposure to thousands of catechists and ministry leaders.Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City — the first Filipino-born bishop to lead a diocese in the United States — is also scheduled to celebrate a Mass in connection with the image’s visit.While there was no prior organized clamor among parishioners for a Nazareno image, Cordero said the parishioners’ response after learning that their parish will be the home of the replica has been one of “sheer joy,” with Filipino and Hispanic faithful alike rallying around the new shrine.“As a pastor explaining this new devotion to my multicultural parish, I would like to point to our mutual interconnectedness with this image,” he said. “This is primarily an image of Jesus, the focal point of our Christian unity.”Historical connectionsThe original image of the Jesús Nazareno, which arrived in Manila from Mexico in 1606, bears deep historical ties to both the Philippines and the Americas. California itself was once part of Mexico, and devotion to Jesús Nazareno has long-standing roots throughout Latin America.“The image, touched by hundreds of millions of pilgrims throughout its four centuries of devotional history, connects us with the everyday faith stories of all who identify with the suffering of Our Lord,” Cordero said.In a gesture underscoring that spiritual continuity, “like the Galileans who were content with touching the tassels of the cloak of Jesus for their healing,” Cordero requested Father Jade Licuanan, the current Quiapo Basilica rector, to have the replica be touched to the original image in Quiapo before being shipped to the United States. Cordero described this as an “intimate act of blessing and sending.”Mass devotion in ManilaThe devotion to the image once known as the “Black Nazarene” is among the largest Catholic expressions of popular piety in the world. Each January, millions of barefoot devotees join the Traslación procession in Manila, accompanying the dark wooden image of Christ carrying the cross through the streets of Quiapo. Manila’s feast of the Black Nazarene draws 9.6 million devotees Cordero, who recently visited the basilica, described the scale of devotion as “mind-boggling,” noting that even hourly Masses draw thousands of worshippers.Now, he believes, the image comes to Los Angeles at a providential moment.“Amid a sociopolitical climate marked by fear and division, this symbol of our connection in the Lord and with one another, embodied in this rustic image of Jesus carrying the cross, offers us consolation and mission,” he said.Citing the U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter “A Treasured Presence,” which describes Filipino Catholics as a vital but often unseen minority in the United States, Cordero said the Nazareno highlights the “prophetic resiliency and joy” they bring to the Church.“The Jesús Nazareno reassures us that we are not alone in bearing our crosses,” he said. “In this strange new world, our Catholic faith has been our familiar refuge of connection, support, and strength.”Revitalizing faithBalagtas said he hopes the popular Filipino icon that has a rich tradition in Latin America will help revitalize the faith of the people of the largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States, thanks to the vibrant devotion of Filipino Catholics. Father John Cordero, MMHC, signs the “Memorandum of Agreement” formalizing Holy Family Parish’s reception of the official replica of the Jesús Nazareno on behalf of the Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as Father Jade Licuanan, rector of the Basilica and National Shrine of Jesús Nazareno in Manila, looks on in 2025. | Credit: Holy Family Catholic Church Artesia “The people who are filling the pews of the churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as in other dioceses, are Filipino Catholics.”From Quiapo, Manila’s narrow streets, where millions gather each year for the Traslación, to the sprawling parishes of Southern California, the cross-bearing Christ now stands in a new land — inviting the faithful not only to venerate but also to follow him.

unitedyam

An official replica of Manila’s centuries-old Jesús Nazareno image has been entrusted to Holy Family Parish in Artesia, California, bringing one of the world’s largest Catholic devotions to the U.S.

Read More