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unitedyam June 23, 2026June 24, 2026

The MLB commissioner said in a letter that the Giants did not adequately inform the players that gay pride caps were optional, Hawley said.

Cambodia’s Buddhist leaders honor Catholic bishop for decades of cooperation #Catholic Cambodia’s Buddhist leadership has conferred a high honorary title on the Catholic bishop of Phnom Penh, recognizing decades of cooperation between Buddhist and Christian communities in a country where the Catholic Church remains a small minority.Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, received the title “Akka Mahāupāsakabuddhasāsanūpatthambhakr,” roughly translated as “Elder Great Lay Supporter and Upholder of the Buddha’s Dispensation,” during a ceremony on June 13, 2026, at Wat Botum Vatey in the Cambodian capital.

Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler meets with Venerable Khim Sorn, third deputy supreme patriarch of Cambodiaʼs Mohanikaya Buddhist order, during a ceremony at Wat Botum Vatey in Phnom Penh on June 13, 2026. | Credit: Ly Sovanna/Catholic National Office for Social Communications in Cambodia

The title was conferred by Supreme Patriarch Nun Nget of Cambodia’s Mohanikaya Buddhist order and presented at a ceremony presided over by Venerable Khim Sorn, the order’s third deputy supreme patriarch.The honor builds on a distinction Schmitthaeusler received in 2022, when Cambodia’s Buddhist leadership named him a “Maha Upasaka,” recognizing his support for Buddhist communities and his role in promoting dialogue and cooperation between Cambodia’s Buddhist majority and its small Catholic minority.At the time, Buddhist leaders cited joint development projects, educational initiatives, and efforts to strengthen social cohesion. The new title represents a higher level of recognition from the country’s Buddhist establishment.Speaking at the ceremony, Khim Sorn pointed to Cambodia’s constitutional framework, which recognizes Buddhism as the state religion while protecting religious freedom.He said the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia clearly stipulates that Buddhism is the state religion, but “it also guarantees complete freedom of religious belief without coercion” and promotes religious harmony, peaceful coexistence, and mutual respect among the different religions.Buddhist leaders said the recognition reflected Schmitthaeusler’s long involvement in educational, humanitarian, and community-development initiatives carried out in cooperation with Buddhist institutions.For Schmitthaeusler, the award marked another chapter in a relationship that began more than two decades ago. “This is a profoundly meaningful event for me as a Catholic bishop,” he said.The French-born missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society traced that relationship to his years as a parish priest in Takeo province, where Catholics and Buddhists worked together on local development projects.Among them was the construction of a road linking a Catholic community and a nearby pagoda, an initiative he said helped lay the groundwork for deeper cooperation.Over the years, that collaboration expanded into education and social services. Schmitthaeusler noted that he supported the establishment of a primary school at Wat Ang Montrey, where students study Pali, Sanskrit, and other academic subjects.The prelate also highlighted joint humanitarian efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and assistance provided to displaced families during recent tensions along the Cambodia-Thailand border.“Receiving the status of Akka Mahāupāsakabuddhasāsanūpatthambhakr today is a moment of profound recognition of how the Catholic Church and Buddhism walk hand-in-hand for the common good of our people and our country,” he said.

Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler poses with community members outside Wat Botum Vatey in Phnom Penh on June 13, 2026, after receiving a high honorary title from Cambodiaʼs Buddhist leadership in recognition of his work promoting Buddhist-Christian cooperation. | Credit: Ly Sovanna/Catholic National Office for Social Communications in Cambodia

Schmitthaeusler also cited recent dialogue initiatives involving Buddhist and Christian leaders from Cambodia and across Asia focused on peacebuilding and reconciliation.“We know that when Cambodia is full of peace, it radiates a positive influence to the rest of the world,” he said. “This is a powerful signal: when religions journey together, the world will witness true peace,” he added.A small Church rebuilt after the Khmer RougeTheravada Buddhism is practiced by the vast majority of Cambodia’s roughly 18 million people. The Catholic Church numbers about 20,000 faithful across one apostolic vicariate and two apostolic prefectures.The Catholic Church was nearly wiped out during the Khmer Rouge era, when religious communities were persecuted and most church buildings were destroyed.Since public religious life resumed in the early 1990s, the Catholic Church has gradually rebuilt through education, health care, social services, and pastoral ministry, becoming a small but visible presence in Cambodian society.

unitedyam June 23, 2026June 23, 2026

The recognition for Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler is a rare gesture from the Buddhist establishment of a country where Catholics number barely 20,000.

‘Chant GPT’: How Catholics are responding to AI-generated Gregorian chant #Catholic In the early morning and late at night, monks still rise to sing the divine office, their voices low and hoarse from sleep. With every breath they are keeping alive a centuries-old tradition in monasteries around the world.But in a small corner of the internet, and on music providers like Spotify, another form of chant has taken hold. The text is often a hodgepodge of Latin-sounding words; a mechanical simulation not sung by human voices but generated by artificial intelligence (AI).How should Catholics navigate the new phenomenon of AI-generated chant, or, in the term hymnist Alan Hommerding coined, “Chant GPT”?What is Gregorian chant?Chant isn’t something that is consumed, like social media or food. Instead, it is a way to worship and pray, according to Catholic theologians and musicians.“Chant is not meant to be performed for artistic consumption but meant to attune our hearts to the Lord over the course of time,” Father Phillip Alcon Ganir, a Jesuit priest who teaches sacred music classes at Boston College, told EWTN News.

Father Phillip Alcon Ganir, a Jesuit priest who researches and teaches about music, catechetics, and liturgy at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry, encourages Catholics to “develop a more nuanced appreciation” of Gregorian chant by engaging more deeply with it. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Phillip Alcon Ganir

Composer and liturgist Father Ricky Manalo, a Paulist priest, agreed, adding: “Gregorian chant is not merely an aesthetic; it is part of the Church’s living tradition of sung prayer, as much as Gospel music is a living tradition for many African American Catholics, or pentatonic melodies are a living tradition for many East Asian Catholics.”“Its beauty is tied not only to its sound but to its liturgical, scriptural, and cultural roots,” he said.Named for St. Gregory the Great, Gregorian chant is a “musical synthesis” of Roman and Gallican chant, according to Father Basil Nixen, a monk of the Abbey of San Benedetto in Monte, Norcia, Italy, where the monks chant daily together. These chanted psalms continue to be prayed as part of the Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours — a daily practice for Catholic priests, religious, and laypeople.

The Monks of Norcia. | Credit: Christopher McLallen, courtesy of Benedicta, de Montfort Music

“Many might assume that Gregorian chant is really a product of the medieval or dark ages from Western Christianity,” noted Giorgio Navarini, founder and director of the Catholic chant group Floriani Sacred Music. “However, Gregorian chant derives its existence from the Hebrew Temple. Sung psalmody, lamentations, and hymns were a significant part of the Hebraic liturgical life in both the synagogue and Temple.”In the Middle Ages came the “unprecedented notation” of the chant, which helped Gregorian chant spread, Nixen explained.“The sacred melodies of the chant were written by men and women inspired by the Holy Spirit, and every time we sing them, we allow the Holy Spirit to possess our hearts too so as to enter more fully into communion with God in prayer,” Nixen said.“Through the Divine Office the voice of Christ praying to his Father mingles with our own, allowing us to unite our voice with his and to participate in his priestly intercession for the salvation of the world,” Nixen said.How do we pray through Gregorian chant?Because Gregorian chant is more than just an aesthetic, questions about Gregorian chant are, at their root, questions about the connection between prayer and song.“Christian worship involves the whole human being — body and soul,” Nixen said. “Chanting is fundamental for Christian worship precisely for this purpose, because it allows us to pray not only with our minds but also with our bodies, our heart, our sentiments.”“Worship is the natural expression of the highest love, the love which most engages and engrosses us, which is why we owe it to God alone, whom we must love with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength — i.e., with body, heart, mind, and soul,” Nixen said. “And we do this most perfectly when we sing.”

The Benedictine Monks of Norcia give their lives to pray for the world. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Monks of Norcia

Music, Navarini said, is “an art form that directly reflects the inner workings of the soul, unlike other art forms, which gives it a unique power of being united to prayer.”“Chant has the power to raise the soul to the divine,” Navarini said. “It is unlike any music in this world and truly provides a doorway and glimpse into the life to come.”Can machines pray?Human chant is meant to be just that — human, in every imperfection, hoarse voice, or flat note.“Even with AI aside, one of the dangers of chant recordings is that singers often aim to present pristine, errorless, and sublime sounds — which are good and holy in and of themselves,” Ganir said. “But such perfection is not often reflective of a life that worships regularly with chant.”The monks who chant daily in monasteries often sing with “tired” voices, Ganir observed.

The monks of Norcia chant the Divine Office seven times during the day and once during the night. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Monks of Norcia

“Sung prayer early in the morning or in the evening is often a different, usually 'tired,’ sound than prayers chanted during the day,” Ganir said.This isn’t a bad thing; in fact, it’s part of the deeper meaning behind chant.“Prayer is meant to span and intersect through all of life,” Ganir continued. “And music, especially our chant tradition, can be such a worthy and life-giving companion.”“AI-generated sacred-sounding music may have a place as a tool for study, preparation, or even private reflection, but it should not replace the living voice of the Church, the trained pastoral musician, the human composer, or the sung participation of the assembly,” Manalo said.

Father Ricky Manalo, a distinguished liturgical composer who also gives lectures on artificial intelligence, defines liturgical music as “sung prayer” that “belongs to the embodied worship of a community gathered before God.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Ricky Manalo

“AI can generate chant-like sounds or contemporary songs, but it cannot replace the faith, breath, body, and communal participation during a liturgy,” Manalo continued.“Sacred music requires theological depth, pastoral sensitivity, scriptural grounding, ritual awareness, and a sense of the actual community that will sing or hear it,” Manalo said.“Every true prayer is an authentic and personal encounter of trust between a creature with its Creator, a recognition of our dependence on the one who is infinitely good,” Father Ezra Sullivan, a Dominican priest and director of the Spirituality Institute at the Angelicum, told EWTN News.“There is an old saying: ‘You cannot give what you do not have,’” Sullivan continued. “Because an algorithm does not have a knowledge and love of God, no person to have a relationship with him, it cannot make prayers or music that authentically express the raising up of the soul to the hands of our loving Father — even if it makes imitations that are somewhat pleasing, the soul would be missing.”“One of the reasons why we like to know the biography of composers or authors is because when we read their works or listen to their music, we can commune with them across the ages and join our souls with theirs in coming closer to God,” Sullivan continued. “Artificial intelligence might be able to fool us into thinking that it facilitates these horizontal and vertical relationships, and thatʼs precisely how it can be dangerous in the spiritual realm.”

Giorgio Navarini, right, sings with his chant group Floriani Sacred Music, a group founded to bring about a revival of Catholic sacred chant. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Floriani Sacred Music

In Pope Leoʼs recent encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas, the Holy Father wrote: “No computational system, however sophisticated, can create a heart that gives itself, or a conscience that discerns good from evil.”“Gregorian chant is what the soul sings to God; it is what a bride sings to her Divine Bridegroom,” Nixen said. “If an AI-generated thing can love and get married, then it can sing chant. If it can get baptized, then it can sing chant. But if it cannot love, get married, get baptized, or be united to God, then it cannot chant.”

unitedyam June 22, 2026June 22, 2026

As AI encroaches on sacred music, Catholics still hold true to Gregorian chant, a historical form of sacred music that is still alive today.

unitedyam June 21, 2026June 21, 2026

The pair spoke with EWTN News about how their faith inspires them to be men who make it their mission to love as Jesus loves, and about how they hope to inspire others to do the same.

‘The Church needs her sons’: Catholic podcast hosts call men to embrace fatherhood and faith #Catholic Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are two of the five hosts of “The Point Man Podcast,” a podcast for Catholic men. Together, alongside Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson, they are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experience about navigating life today as Catholic men and as leaders of their families.Blair, a father of four, and Angelette, a widowed father of five, explained that the podcast is aimed at fathers and focuses on how masculinity and the sacramental life can be integrated. Describing themselves as a “mic’d up men’s group,” they try to foster a community to help men realize they’re not alone and encourage one another in their walk with the Lord.Ahead of Father’s Day, EWTN News spoke to the two men about how masculinity is perceived in today’s culture, what authentic masculinity looks like, and why fatherhood is such an important vocation in the life of the Church.(Editorʼs note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.)EWTN News: “Toxic masculinity” is a term used a lot in todayʼs culture. How would you each define authentic Catholic masculinity?Angelette: Jesus Christ. Thatʼs authentic masculinity. Jesus Christ fully reveals man to himself in his most high calling … the more that we model, imitate, and walk in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will radiate a loving walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ in showing what real masculinity looks like.He tells the story of the prodigal son, which is the greatest short story ever told of what happens when, in the face of a father who is humiliated by his son, his son abandoned him, took the money, squandered the inheritance, and just left this complete stain on the family name, and how does he respond to it? Or when you see the compassion and the mercy that he shows the woman who is literally caught in the very act of adultery. Or you see when he embraces Peter after heʼs denied him three times and he gives him three chances to redeem himself and to show that mercy and that kindness and that humility and that gentleness.The heart of a man is a heart that has been set on fire by the Lord Jesus and he loves with gentleness and humility, not weakness in a sense of [being passive], but meekness in the sense of responding to the will of the Father.Blair: At the end of the day, when we die, the Lord doesnʼt ask us, “All right, well let me see your bank account, let me see the titles.” Itʼs “How well did you love?” And you cannot love if you donʼt receive love, which is to Jasonʼs point, he said it very succinctly, is Jesus Christ — he is the way, the truth, and life. So, modeling our lives after him and in that offering not only our wife, our children, our community, stability, offering our strength, warmth, validation because weʼve received that validation and love from the Father.Angelette: Toxic masculinity is men who are fighting the wrong fight. Men who have embraced the wrong identity, men who have abused the gifts and talents that theyʼve been given for themselves and not for others and for the kingdom.

Samuel Blair, Jason Angelette, Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson film an episode of “The Point Man Podcast.” | Credit: Studio 7 at The Reminding

Why is fatherhood such an important vocation in the life of the Church?Angelette: John Paul II, who wrote a play — he wrote five plays — and his last one was called “Radiation of Fatherhood.” And I feel like part of the gift of fatherhood is to radiate the fatherhood of God into the world and to our children.That is this beautiful gift that weʼve been given to participate in this way that God wants to reveal himself through us. Heʼs allowing us to participate — and not act like him, but to love like him, to love with a love like his.So as men, as husbands, as fathers, thereʼs this ability that through this masculine heart, this male heart, through this fatherhood, that we can love and reveal the love of God, the love of the father into the world.Satan hates that. I mean, the thing that destroys families is when fathers have abandoned their post and they leave. Look at the statistics of what happens when a father is not embracing his responsibility as the first herald of the faith, to lead their family in faith, and how hard it is for the faith to be passed on to the next generation.For Fatherʼs Day, what message would you like to share with fathers?Blair: Fathers, know that you’re unconditionally loved by God the Father and that the prodigal son points to that. And whether youʼre the younger son or the older son, he has this great inheritance for his boys, his sons.Not only should we enter into a relationship with Jesus for our own sake but for our wives, for our children, and ultimately the Church. The Church needs her sons fully engaged. Gone are the days you can just be on the sidelines.Angelette: You hear all the time that God loves you and unless youʼre drawing near to the Father, that just sounds like words. So, just avail yourself to really draw into prayer, to the sacraments, to connect with other men in Christ to not walk this road alone.If you want your heart on fire, draw near to the Sacred Heart and let his fire, let the heart of Christ, ignite your heart to the love that weʼre called to so we can truly love our families, truly love our children, and love our wives, and be the man that we know in our heart we want to be and that weʼre being called to be.

unitedyam June 21, 2026June 21, 2026

Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experiences on navigating life as Catholic men and leaders of their families on “The Point Man Podcast.”

5 powerful moments of faith at the 2026 FIFA World Cup #Catholic The 2026 FIFA World Cup began on June 11 — making history as the first World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events with roughly 5 billion people tuning in to the tournament that brings together soccer’s best athletes from around the world.Despite only being a little over a week into the soccer tournament, the name of Jesus has already been made known many times from several of the athletes and teams as they compete on this global stage.Here are five powerful moments of faith we’ve seen at the World Cup so far:1. Croatian team shares the importance of their Catholic faithAhead of Croatia’s first match against England, two members of the team took part in a press conference where they discussed the role their Catholic faith plays in their lives.EWTN News correspondent Mark Irons was in attendance and asked Kristijan Jakić and Igor Matanović what Catholicism means to the team and if prayer and faith is important to them in their own lives.“I think faith is very important in my life. When you pray to God, it’s like a feeling that someone is listening to you, and that gives me a lot of strength,” Matanović said.Jakić added: “We are a country in which we are Catholics and in which faith means the path in our lives. I think faith represents the entire national team. Faith simply means everything in our lives.”Instagram post2. Players from Curaçao and Germany join in prayer after competing against one anotherThe national team from the country of Curaçao — which is a Caribbean island with a population of 150,000 — made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time. By qualifying, the island nation set a Guinness World Record as the smallest country by population to ever reach the global menʼs tournament.Despite losing to Germany in their first match 7-1, the players and coaches were visibly emotional realizing the achievement the team had accomplished. In a moment of gratitude, several of the athletes joined on the pitch for a moment of prayer. They were then joined by German players Jonathan Tah and Felix Nmecha — both outspoken Christians.In a postgame interview, Nmecha said: “During the game, we are opponents, but after the game we are all Christians and we are brothers… In our faith, we all believe that Jesus is glorified through the game and that’s why we came together and simply prayed together.”Instagram post3. Lionel Messi thanks God after making historyArgentina went up against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City, Kansas, where over 69,000 fans watched history unfold at the feet of the famous Argentinian player Lionel Messi.During the 3-0 victory against Algeria, Messi recorded the first FIFA World Cup hat trick — when a single player scores three goals during one game — of his career. Additionally, Messi made history by tying former German soccer player Miroslav Klose’s record for most men’s World Cup goals scored at 16.After the game, Messi, a devout Catholic, said: “I can’t ask for more than what I received. As I’ve said many times, thank God that he has given me so much and everything that comes now is a blessing.”Instagram post4. Team USA shares a moment of prayer after historic win against ParaguayOn June 12, the men from the United States started their World Cup journey on a positive note with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay. After the game, defender Mark McKenzie led the team in a moment of prayer on the field.Leading into the tournament, several of the U.S. players were vocal about their faith. Star winger Christian Pulisic is known for leading several of his teammates in a Bible study he calls “Bible Time” and has discussed the important role reading Scripture plays in his daily life.Goalkeeper Matt Freese recently spoke to Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast and discussed how his faith and career are intertwined.“Godʼs given me so many opportunities within this game and within my career. I still have a role to play in that. I still have to do my part and take that opportunity and do something with it,” Freese said.He also shared that he’s a listener of Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast.“Right now I’m listening to ‘Bible in a Year’ by Father Mike Schmitz. It’s been fantastic and it kind of makes me able to — even when I’m on the road or even if itʼs a busy stretch — make sure I’m spending some time every day, hopefully every day, [with Scripture],” he said.Instagram post5. Felix Nmecha honors Jesus in post-goal celebrationGerman midfielder Felix Nmecha honored Jesus by making a powerful gesture after scoring the first goal in Germany’s 7-1 victory against Curaçao on June 14.After scoring the goal, Nmecha knelt down on one knee and made the gesture of taking off a crown from his head, placed it on the ground, and then pointed up to the sky. This “crown down” gesture, as it has been called, symbolizes that every gift, every victory, and every moment of glory belongs to Christ.In a postgame interview, Nmecha said: “It was an incredible blessing to score my first goal for Germany and for it to be so fast. All the glory I give to God, because he is the one who has given me this talent and the opportunity to be here living this dream.”Instagram post

unitedyam June 20, 2026June 20, 2026

Christian athletes are making the name of Jesus known at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Here are five powerful moments of faith at the international tournament so far.

Pope Leo XIV declares American religious founder Mary Teresa Tallon venerable #Catholic Pope Leo XIV has declared American religious sister Mary Teresa Tallon venerable.The pontiff signed a decree on Thursday recognizing the heroic virtue of the foundress of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate in New York. He also recognized the heroic virtue of several others, bringing them closer to sainthood. Just before signing the decree, he met with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.Mary Teresa Tallon: Making every soul countTallon was born on May 6, 1867, in Hanover, New York, as the daughter of Irish immigrants.In 1887, at the age of 19, Tallon joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross, despite her family’s disapproval. She remained part of the congregation for the next 33 years, teaching in Catholic schools in South Bend, Indiana.During this time, Tallon was inspired to establish a new congregation dedicated to contemplation and to preaching the Gospel to the neglected. In 1920, she left the Sisters of the Holy Cross and, on Aug. 15, established the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate (PVMI). She gave it the motto “Make every soul count.”Considered a gifted scholar, Tallon authored a report documenting the first decade of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in New York for the National Catechetical Congress in 1936.Tallon died on Feb. 10, 1954, after a prolonged illness. In 2013, she was declared a servant of God in recognition of her holiness.Others declared venerablePope Leo XIV on June 18 also moved several other servants of God along the path to sainthood.Two Italians were declared venerable: Maria Agnese Tribbioli, a religious sister who founded the Pie Operaie di San Giuseppe congregation, and Maria Petra Giordano, a Dominican nun.Others included Spanish nun Clara Andreu y Malferit and Belgian missionary Júlio Maria de Lombaerde.Leo also recognized the martyrdom of Juan Torres Torres and 19 companions, all Catholic priests, for having been killed “in odium fidei” (“in hatred of the faith”) in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

unitedyam June 18, 2026June 18, 2026

On June 18, the pope issued a decree recognizing the heroic virtue of the foundress of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate in New York, among several others.

Pope Leo XIV urges universities to promote peace in a divided world #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Thursday highlighted the role of universities in an increasingly polarized world, describing them as “privileged places for dialogue.”During a private audience at the Vatican with the board of governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on June 18, Leo said the universities can be promoters of peace at a time “often characterized by violence and pointed rhetoric.”“While not always easy, universities must constantly work to ensure that opportunities for meaningful encounters remain available,” Leo said in his remarks. “In an atmosphere where respectful dialogue is possible, everyone can grow in knowledge through learning from the points of view and living testimonies of others, even those with whom they might disagree.”The pope also highlighted the role of the university amid a rise in armed conflicts worldwide. Citing his message for the 59th World Day of Peace in January, Leo encouraged higher education leaders to work for peace within and beyond their academic communities, even if peace seemed impossible.“Rather than believing peace to be impossible and beyond our reach, we must seek to promote it in our communities and to welcome and recognize it in our own lives,” Leo said. “I pray that through forming artisans of peace, the university community may continue to be a beacon of hope and unity in a world that is increasingly divided.”

unitedyam June 18, 2026June 18, 2026

The pontiff met with the board of governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on June 18.

Pope Leo XIV prays for parents who have suffered the loss of a baby #Catholic Pope Leo XIV assured his prayers “for all parents who suffer the loss of a child, especially a baby,” on the occasion of the upcoming Day for Life, which will be celebrated in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland this coming Sunday, June 21.In a message signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope said he is praying that these parents “find consolation and peace in the knowledge of God’s love for them” and for the child they have lost. “This divine love gives meaning to the life of every person and, far from ending with death, invites us to a new fullness in eternity,” the pontiff affirmed.According to a statement from the Irish Bishops’ Conference, Pope Leo XIV also sent his best wishes and prayers to all those participating in this day of prayer, which is centered on “wonder at the full humanity of the child in the mother’s womb” as well as the efforts made to support mothers and fathers who have suffered the loss of a baby.He also urged parents to find the support they need in the Church community, “especially in a life nourished by prayer and the sacraments.”‘Wonder at the child in the mother’s womb’Organized under the title “Wonder at the Child in the Mother’s Womb,” the Day for Life, which always falls on Father’s Day, recalls that every human being is endowed with infinite dignity from the very moment of conception, “simply by existing, by having been wanted, created, and loved by God,” as the pope recalled in his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.The Bishops’ Conferences of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland recalled in their statement that fatherhood “is a vocation full of joys and hopes, but also of sorrows and concerns.”The bishops wished to specially acknowledge the pain of parents who have lost a child before birth or during infancy and to offer them a message of hope and consolation: that of fullness in eternity.The Church wants to be especially close to these parents, according to the bishops, who emphasized the need for spiritual and pastoral accompaniment as parents face physical and psychological consequences, as well as the feeling of powerlessness in not knowing how to support their family or how to express their own grief. The bishops also recalled that “God has created, wanted, and deeply loved from all eternity every child, including those who lose their lives before birth or shortly afterward.”The prelates emphasized that the word of God “reveals the sacred humanity of the unborn child” and that parents therefore understand how precious and unique the child they have lost is: “They know that no other child will ever be able to replace him,” they affirmed.From this perspective, the bishops denounced the inconsistency of describing life in the mother’s womb as a mere cluster of cells. “How can that life be someone so loved and valuable to their parents and, at the same time, be considered something worthless and disposable?” they asked.The prelates insisted that science is clear in stating that life begins at the moment of fertilization. “The more we learn from science, the more we understand the Church’s teaching on the unique value of the unborn child,” they highlighted.They further recalled that every human being is not only a body “but also an immortal soul, with a unique and eternal relationship with God, our Creator,” which is why the unborn child “deserves full protection under the law.”They emphasized that the Church “has always rejected voluntary abortion” and committed themselves to “work and pray so that our society values the life of every child,” especially in the earliest stages of human existence.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam June 17, 2026June 17, 2026

God’s “divine love gives meaning to the life of every person and, far from ending with death, invites us to a new fullness in eternity,” the pope said.

Ukraine advocate says cathedral bombing reflects broader campaign against Christianity #Catholic Russia’s “true goal” is “a war on Christianity in Ukraine,” Steven Moore, founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, told “EWTN News Nightly” after the bombing of the 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.“This is certainly deliberate,” Moore said, noting that Russia has destroyed 750 churches in Ukraine and killed as many as 80 pastors and priests.The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, caught fire June 14 after Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones into several Ukrainian cities, which killed four people and injured 28 others, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Tweet“This is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date,” Ukraine’s leader said about the damaged to the Eastern Orthodox cathedral, historically tied to the monastic life of the Lavra.‘Putin is not making mistakes’Russia’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement on June 15 claiming that the cathedral “was hit by a missile from an American Patriotic air defense system” and that “one possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries had supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired.”“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or conduct strikes against civilian infrastructure facilities,” the Kremlin said.“The Kremlin is talking about it being an accident,” Moore said. “But there’s a lot of accidents — every week there’s an accidental church bombing.”“Putin is not making mistakes,” Moore said.“Putin is not going to stop this until someone makes him stop,” Moore said, describing efforts to bring the war to an end as “a lot of talk.”Combating Russian propaganda Moore is visiting Washington, D.C., from Kyiv and said he has plans to advocate on Capitol Hill and launch several films, including one on Ukrainian children who have been trafficked into Russia. Moore is set to meet with Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, on June 16.Moore told EWTN News in a separate interview that he plans to “focus primarily on Republicans because Republicans are in charge, and the Russians spend billion annually on propaganda worldwide. Much of that goes into the conservative ecosphere.”“The Russians target these conservative believers with misinformation,” he said, citing online figures such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson. “So weʼre trying to push back on that, and weʼre pushing back on Capitol Hill.”The role of the international communityForeign leaders took to social media to condemn the strikes, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said the strike on the Dormition Cathedral is the equivalent of bombing Notre-Dame in Paris.Tweet“The French are really good at talking,” Moore said. “But I have yet to see a Leclerc tank in Donbas,” he said, speaking of French-made battle tanks.“On an average day in April, the French bought enough petroleum products, liquid natural gas, primarily from Russia, to pay for about 220 Shahed drones every day,” he said about Iranian-made munitions, noting that Russia sends about 600 drones every time they attack Ukraine.“A lot of this is paid for by European purchases of Russian fossil fuel,” Moore said. “So, you know, while I always like to hear what the French have to say, I would like to see them stop fueling the Russian war machine. And I would like to see them do more, send more aid to Ukraine.”Ultimately, Moore called for the international community to cut off all financial ties with Russia. “Nothing else works because Putin only understands strength.”

unitedyam June 16, 2026June 16, 2026

“This is certainly deliberate,” Ukraine Freedom Project Founder Steven Moore said of the attack on the historic 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

Michigan diocese celebrates new priests after ordinations moved out of cathedral #Catholic ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, ordained four men to the priesthood on June 6 at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing after the crowd was too big for St. Mary’s Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese. In the packed church, Boyea told the ordinands: “You have been spending years being with Jesus. He’s calling you as he called those 12 so many centuries ago. Today, as you are consecrated by the Church for a sacred ministry, consecrate yourselves to drink the cup which the Lord gives and take in the word which the Spirit is providing. Though weak vessels that we are, we will not let that prevent us from following the calling we have received.”Now 75 and due to retire from his duties in Lansing, Boyea has ordained 45 priests during his 18 years of leadership of the diocese in Michigan’s capital. The diocese, one of seven Latin-rite dioceses in Michigan, is currently sponsoring 29 seminarians, and last year’s ordination class was the largest in nearly 50 years.Fathers Joshua Bauer, Jacob Derry, Ryan Ferrigan, and Peter Randolph, ordained by Boyea, all attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Detroit Archdiocese.

Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, washes the feet of one of the four men he ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

Before their ordination, the men were interviewed on video, displaying the chalices they will use as priests.Ferrigan, 28, said his antique sacred vessel had been left behind at the now-shuttered St. Michael Parish church in Flint, Michigan, established more than 170 years ago. Inscribed on its base are the words of an anonymous donor: “In reparation from a friend of the Sacred Heart.”“You know, it’s a paradox because this chalice has a long history, and I don’t know who the priests are who used it in the past,” he said. “They offered the Holy Sacrifice using this vessel for over 100 years, and I get to continue faithfully offering the Mass and praying for the salvation of the world every day.”In his thanksgiving address to the congregation, Ferrigan said of his priesthood: “It’s all about the glory of God and the salvation of souls!”In an interview with EWTN News, the new priest said: “In being ordained, the palpable joy they could see in me was there because in ordination, I am seeing the purpose for which God created me coming to fruition. I have become what the Lord created me to be.”“The day of my ordination was the best day of my life. Lots of friends and family were there to support me. The Lord has blessed me and is very good to me. I’m still adjusting and realizing that I’m really a priest now and have the privilege of offering the Mass every day. This is my commission and what the Lord wants me to do for his praise and the salvation of the world. It is still sinking in,” he told EWTN News.

From left to right: Fathers Peter Randolph, Ryan Ferrigan, Jacob Derry, and Joshua Bauer at their ordaination on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

Ferrigan celebrated his first solo Mass that same day at St. Martha Parish in Okemos, near Lansing. He was able to distribute the Eucharist for the first time in both instances to his mother. He will serve at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, which is close to the University of Michigan campus and known for its music and solemn liturgies.“I’m excited to be going there, and I expect to serve about three years at St. Thomas,” he said, adding: “I’m excited about learning to be a parish priest and diving into ministry. This is how the Lord wants me to feed his sheep.”Randolph, 27, reflected in the video about his journey to the altar, which has included profound loss. “The emphasis of this chalice upon the humanity of Christ and about receiving the chalice, and then living it out to the fullest extent, both in pain and suffering, and full self-abandonment and full self-emptying and glory, means a lot to me, because my [18-year-old] brother Xavier died less than a year ago. And the Lord has really promised me that he’s going to meet me in the place of my pain,” he said, adding: “He’s not going to leave me alone. But it’s going to come in my very broken humanity. In my humanity that is now broken in a particular way in grief.”

Peter Randolph prepares for his ordination to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

Randolph’s father and grandfather serve as deacons in the Lansing Diocese. At the July 2025 funeral for Xavier, hundreds of friends and parishioners of the close-knit Christ the King Parish in Ann Arbor were on hand to support the Randolph family with the same solidarity shown at Randolph’s ordination. He has been assigned to St. Patrick Parish in Brighton, Michigan, which is known for its healing services and charismatic liturgies.As Boyea consecrated Randolph, the newly ordained young man openly sobbed in the presence of his many friends and family members. “I want every day of my priesthood and every time that I offer Mass in this chalice, to be able to say, like, ‘Accipiam calicem,’ right, I accept the chalice,” Randolph vowed. Paraphrasing Matthew 26:42, Randolph said: “Father, I accept this chalice, and I will drink it to the dregs with your Son.”

unitedyam June 14, 2026June 14, 2026

Bishop Earl Boyea ordained four new priests at a local Lansing parish, urging them to “drink the cup which the Lord gives” as they begin their ministry.

Irish bishops call for calm in Belfast following racially motivated civil unrest #Catholic Following its summer 2026 general meeting, the Irish Bishops’ Conference voiced its deep concern about the attack on human life and the wider violence and social disorder that has taken place in Belfast and across Northern Ireland this past week.The civil unrest followed a brutal knife attack in Belfast carried out by a Sudanese national. Footage of the incident has been widely circulated globally and on social media. Bishop Alan McGuckian, SJ, of Down and Connor said: “My thoughts and prayers are firstly with Stephen Ogilvie, who sustained life-changing devastating injuries in a brutal and horrific attack.”Referring to the rioting, intimidation, and vandalism toward immigrant people that followed, he said: “So many newcomers make an outstanding contribution to our communities, including our parishes. They are our friends. Shame on all those who have sought to mobilize, agitate, weaponize, and politicize the fear and concerns of others over the last few days. All of us have a responsibility to de-escalate societal tension rather than stoke the flames of racism.”Lebanese priest says ‘situation drastically deteriorating’ for ChristiansFather Youssef Semaan, parish priest of Kfour, Nabatieh District, in Lebanon, said the situation for Christians remaining in the country is continuing to worsen.“Every week is more dangerous than the last. The situation has become unbearable,” Semaan said, according to a press release from Aid to the Church in Need on Thursday. The priest, who was forced to leave Kfour due to safety reasons, said he has managed to return on two occasions. He said many Christians have been faced with the difficult decision to “stay and risk their lives or abandon our land without any guarantee that we will ever get our houses or our goods back.” In Kfour, the Christian population has dropped from 120 to around 12, ACN noted. “We still have hope,” Semaan said. “But hope itself is not enough. It has to be based on solid foundations that allow us to rebuild and go on living. We are human after all.”Zimbabwe bishops consecrate nation to Mary, a ‘model of courage’ in difficult timesMembers of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) have consecrated the Southern African nation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, entrusting the country to her maternal protection and presenting her as a model of faith, hope, courage, and love amid ongoing challenges.The consecration took place during a Mass marking the conclusion of the bishops’ 2026 plenary assembly at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Harare on June 10, ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, reported Thursday. In his homily, ZCBC president Bishop Raymond Tapiwa Mupandasekwa said the bishops identified Mary as a fitting patroness for Zimbabwe, saying: “The act of surrender to God is indeed an imitation of this Holy Virgin. She is the woman who not only shows her total surrender to God in faith, but she is also a woman of great hope. At the foot of the cross she stands. A great sign of courage in a very difficult moment.”Legislation threatening the seal of confession in France failsA provision in a bill proposed to the French National Assembly that would have compelled priests to violate the seal of confession to report instances of abuse against minors has failed.The bill, aimed at preventing and combating violence in schools in the wake of a sex abuse scandal at a Catholic boarding school in southern France, was adopted on June 1 without the proposed clause that would have removed exemptions for priests from mandatory reporting of information regarding sexual abuse heard during the sacrament of confession. The French Bishops’ Conference expressed “grave concern” ahead of a debate on the bill, noting several articles in the bill that “call into question several fundamental freedoms,” including the right to secrecy under the seal of confession.Christians in Tyre face new wave of uncertaintyThe Christian community in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre is watching recent developments with growing concern after the area was included in an Israeli evacuation warning for the first time, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Thursday.Church leaders fear that any military escalation could have lasting consequences for one of Lebanon’s oldest Christian communities, which has already endured years of economic hardship and emigration. Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Iskandar called for urgent efforts to protect civilians and preserve the city’s historic and religious character, warning that further instability could accelerate the decline of the local Christian presence.Victims of clergy abuse in Australia clash with diocese over memorialA group representing victim survivors of clergy abuse has announced its agreement with the Diocese of Ballarat in Australia to build a memorial for victims “null and void” after an alleged communication breakdown with the diocese.“Throughout the memorial process, we have sought to engage with Church representatives in a respectful, transparent, and constructive manner. We have acted in good faith and demonstrated a genuine willingness to work collaboratively towards memorials at both sites: St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Alipius Old Boys School,” the Ballarat and District Survivors Memorial Committee said in a June 6 Facebook post. “Regrettably, we do not believe the same level of transparency and good faith has been demonstrated by the Church during these negotiations.”British National Trust reopens 420-year-old Catholic lodgeLyveden, a three-story Tudor lodge in Northamptonshire, England, known for its Catholic symbolism, has been reopened following conservation work.“Weʼre very excited to open Lyveden Lodge after 18 months and welcome visitors back inside this remarkable building,” Matthew Glasgow, senior building surveyor, said in a BBC News report on Friday. “While further conservation work will be needed in the coming years, the completed repairs mean visitors can once again enjoy this extraordinary unfinished vision of Sir Thomas Tresham.” Conservationists conducted repairs to the lodge’s stonework, replaced timber, and restored its Elizabethan garden. Constructed in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Tresham, a practicing Catholic who faced persecution for refusing to attend Anglican church services during the late 1500s and early 1600s, Lyveden is built in the shape of a Greek cross and features references to Christian numerology, according to the National Trust’s website.Rebaptisms raise questions in Syria’s Maronite communityReports that several Maronites in the Latakia countryside of Syria joined Protestant groups and underwent “rebaptism” have sparked discussion within the local Church about the challenges facing parish life in the region.The situation came to light in the village of Ain Halaqim, where community members pointed to years of pastoral difficulties, including the absence of a resident priest and limited opportunities for ongoing catechesis, ACI MENA reported Friday. Rather than focusing solely on the individuals who left, many local voices are asking broader questions about how the Church can better accompany the faithful, especially in communities affected by economic struggles and migration.

unitedyam June 13, 2026June 13, 2026

Bishops in Northern Ireland call for peace, abuse victims in Australia clash with diocese, anti-Catholic legislation in France fails, Zimbabwe, and more in this week’s Catholic world news roundup.

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage brings Christ through rainy streets of historic Baltimore #Catholic BALTIMORE, Maryland — About 300 Catholics gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Wednesday, June 10, for Mass and a Eucharistic procession through downtown Baltimore as the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route continued through the nation’s first Catholic diocese.

The congregation participates in Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

A member of the congregation kneels in prayer during Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

Following the morning Mass, pilgrims processed several blocks in the rain from the basilica to Baltimore’s Washington Monument, one of the city’s most recognizable civic landmarks, praying and singing as they accompanied the Blessed Sacrament through the city’s historic streets.

The Blessed Sacrament is carried beneath a canopy near Baltimore’s Washington Monument during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. |.Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

The Baltimore stop is part of the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which is traveling under the theme “One Nation Under God” as the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Monsignor Jay OʼConnor delivers the homily during Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

In his homily, Monsignor Jay O’Connor reflected on the meaning of pilgrimage and the public witness of carrying the Eucharist through cities, towns, highways and waterways across the country. “This National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which is of Jesus through the streets and the highways and the plains and the waterways of our country, brings the blessing of the Real Presence of Jesus into the heart and soul of our fellow citizens and our country,” he said.The basilica, completed in 1821, is the first cathedral constructed in the United States. It was built under the leadership of Bishop John Carroll, the first bishop of the United States, making the Baltimore stop a significant moment for a pilgrimage moving through many of the original 13 colonies during the nation’s semiquincentennial year.

Members of the Knights of Columbus participate in a Eucharistic procession at Washington Monument Place in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

O’Connor said pilgrimage is not meant to be easy, citing St. John Paul II’s teaching that God uses the challenges of the journey to form his people.“Through the challenges of the journey, God forms us into the people he calls us to be — a community of missionary disciples,” he said.The celebrant also recalled a previous Eucharistic procession in Baltimore, when a man came out of his home and asked what was happening as the procession passed through his neighborhood.“One pilgrim responded, ‘Jesus is walking through your neighborhood,’” he said. “The man asked, ‘Can I join you?’ And he was invited to walk the rest of the way with the pilgrims. That’s what a pilgrimage is.”For the perpetual pilgrims accompanying the Eucharist along the Cabrini route, the journey has included long days of travel, prayer, public witness and constant movement.“It’s been very busy,” said John Paul Flynn, one of the perpetual pilgrims. “But it’s through that busyness, I think, that you start to lean more into it and lean more into the graces that are there.”He said the experience of traveling with the Blessed Sacrament has been unlike anything else.“Getting to be with Jesus all the time is a really unique experience,” he said, noting that the pilgrims even have adoration in the van as they travel.The pilgrimage was scheduled to continue through Maryland with stops in Severna Park and Annapolis before crossing the Chesapeake Bay by boat to Kent Island and the Diocese of Wilmington.

Members of the Knights of Columbus depart the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary before a Eucharistic procession in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN News

The Cabrini route is named for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the Italian-born missionary sister who became the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint. Cabrini dedicated her life to serving immigrants, orphans, the sick and the poor, founding schools, hospitals and orphanages across the United States and beyond. The route began over Memorial Day weekend in St. Augustine, Florida, and is traveling north along the Eastern Seaboard before concluding in Philadelphia over Independence Day weekend.

unitedyam June 11, 2026June 11, 2026

Thousands gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 10 for Mass and a Eucharistic procession through downtown Baltimore.

Pope Leo XIV honors Our Lady of Almudena with Golden Rose, reflects on Spain’s Christian heritage #Catholic For more than a thousand years, generations of Catholics in Madrid have turned to Our Lady of Almudena in times of celebration, hardship, and prayer. On June 8, that enduring devotion received one of the Church’s highest marks of recognition when Pope Leo XIV bestowed a Golden Rose upon the historic statue.“As a symbol of the pope’s filial love for the Virgin Mary, I will place a Golden Rose at her feet,” Leo said during a ceremony at Madrid’s Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena.The papal honor — one of the highest distinctions a pope can bestow upon a Marian image or shrine — recognizes the deep devotion generations of Spanish Catholics have shown to the Blessed Virgin under the title of Almudena.The exact origin of the gifting of a Golden Rose is unknown, although it is considered one of the oldest papal traditions. The earliest reliable record dates to 1096, when Pope Urban II sent one to Fulcone d’Angers. Hidden in the citadel wallAddressing the faithful gathered in the cathedral, Leo reflected on the image’s unique place in Madrid’s history.“For centuries, countless generations of Madrileños have venerated this image of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding her divine Son in her arms and presenting him to us,” the pope said.According to long-standing tradition, the devotion dates to the early centuries of Christianity in Spain. When Muslim forces conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in A.D. 712, Christians in Madrid reportedly concealed the statue within the city’s defensive walls to protect it from destruction. The image remained hidden for centuries as Christian kingdoms gradually sought to reclaim territories across the peninsula during the Reconquista.The wall that fell In 1083, after King Alfonso VI of Castile recaptured Madrid, Christians searched for the long-lost statue. Tradition holds that after days of prayer, a section of the city wall suddenly collapsed, revealing the image preserved within. Witnesses reported seeing lights near the site, and the statue was discovered largely intact despite centuries of concealment.Recalling the story, Leo noted that “during challenging periods for the Christian community, the statue of the Virgin Mary was hidden in a niche of the citadel wall for protection. It remained concealed for some time, until parts of the wall collapsed and it was miraculously discovered intact.”The title “Almudena” derives from the Arabic word “al-mudayna,” meaning “citadel” or “fortress,” a reference to the location where the image was found.A message for today In his homily, the pope used the collapse of the wall as a spiritual lesson for modern society.“It was thanks to a collapsed wall that the Mother was reunited with her people,” Leo said. “This event is providential, because it points to the path that Jesus, through his most holy mother, invites us to follow.”Leo connected that image to challenges facing the modern world, observing that “there are still many walls that do not protect but rather divide, separate, and isolate.”The ceremony also highlighted the popeʼs connection to Spain, a nation whose Catholic heritage has profoundly shaped the history of the Church. By honoring one of Spain’s most beloved Marian images, the pontiff underscored the enduring importance of popular Marian devotion and the Christian roots that continue to influence Spanish culture.Renewing faith and hope Beyond its historical significance, the story of Our Lady of Almudena continues to resonate with Catholics today. The devotion recalls themes of perseverance, hope, and trust in God’s providence, themes Pope Leo himself highlighted as he encouraged the faithful to remain steadfast in faith, charity, and hope.Calling the devotion a source of hope, Leo described it as “a sign of the Christian roots that characterize you and give you life, but also of the great hope which continues to motivate you to move forward.”He concluded by encouraging Catholics to remain steadfast in faith, charity, and hope, asking that the intercession of Our Lady of Almudena strengthen believers in their love for Christ and help them “form bonds and restore the universal language of communion, fraternal love, and harmony.”

unitedyam June 10, 2026June 10, 2026

The origin of the gifting of a golden rose is unknown, but it is considered one of the oldest papal traditions dating back to 1096.

Pope Leo XIV in Barcelona calls Catholics to be martyrs of unity #Catholic BARCELONA, Spain — Pope Leo XIV dedicated Tuesday morning to thanking the thousands of volunteers who helped organize his apostolic journey to Spain before heading to Barcelona to touch the ancient traces of the country’s deeply rooted Christian faith.At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, whose construction began at the end of the 13th century on the site of early Christian and Romanesque churches and which became, a century later, one of the most important jewels of European Gothic architecture, the pope prayed Midday Prayer with about 500 faithful.Hundreds more waited outside the cathedral to show their affection, many waving Vatican flags.The crowd erupted with excitement at his arrival. The pontiff was accompanied by Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, who gestured with his hands to indicate to the people waiting outside that the pope had to leave. The plane carrying Leo XIV had landed in the Catalan capital 40 minutes late.During the ceremony, the pope sat in the oldest chair — the cathedra, or bishop’s seat — in the city that is still in use, dating at least to the cathedral’s consecration in 1058, according to recent research.In his homily, Leo XIV called Catholics to be builders of communion.“Dear brothers and sisters: it is in this spirit that we too, in a world torn apart by wars and divisions, in a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualistic, wish to be ‘martyrs’ — that is, witnesses and prophets of unity, of welcome, of harmony and of peace, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation,” the pope said.It was the first time during the trip that Leo XIV pronounced several phrases in Catalan, the language proper to Catalonia, co-official with Spanish and the main language of the regional administration.A symbol of Catalan cultural identity, the language to be used by the pontiff during the events scheduled in Barcelona had become the subject of public debate in Catalonia in recent days.The controversy intensified after it emerged that the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia — one of the central moments of the visit — would be conducted mainly in Spanish.In the Congress of Deputies, where the pope delivered an unprecedented address Monday, Junts per Catalunya lawmaker Miriam Nogueras asked him to speak Catalan.“It is important for each of us not to allow anything to destroy the unity in which God has established us and toward whose fullness he leads us day by day,” the pontiff said, alternating Catalan and Spanish in the homily.Leo XIV cited two addresses by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who never visited Spain but often expressed affection for the country.On the occasion of the inauguration of the Tower of the Virgin Mary at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia on Dec. 8, 2021, Francis sent a message recalling that the Church “is the fruit of an act of love that precedes her and comes from God. Above all, she grows by allowing herself to be loved by him, united, with a humble and grateful heart, because only those who allow themselves to be loved by God can build, together with others, the works of love.”One year later, the Argentine pope told seminarians of the Archdiocese of Barcelona during a pilgrimage to Rome: “Never cease to savor and remember this love of predilection which pours and will pour itself abundantly into your heart.”Leo XIV structured his homily around the image of the Catholic Church as both beloved bride and body, with all believers as members of a single organism.The Spirit, he said, “impels us, as parts of a single living structure, not only to give ourselves unreservedly wherever Providence calls us, but to do so according to God’s designs, in obedience and trust.”Just as in a body, he continued, “so too among us there are members who are stronger and others who are weaker; some are visible, performing functions that are evident to the outside world, while others are hidden, working from within — in some cases without ceasing and carrying out vital functions without anyone taking notice.”The pope said there are many possible images to “illustrate the variety and importance of the roles and missions we find among ourselves,” but the message is always the same.“In the richness of the gifts we have received, we are strong because we are united, and we are united because we are animated by the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of communion for the salvation of all,” he said.Upon arriving, Leo XIV was received by Omella. After the greeting, the cardinal led him to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament for a brief moment of personal prayer.On his way to the altar, the pope passed by the baptismal font, built in 1433. It was in that baptistery that the first six Indigenous people brought from the Americas by Christopher Columbus received the sacrament of entrance into the Church, as a plaque in the chapel recalls.All of this forms part of the cathedral’s history, which inherits a tradition of worship in this part of Barcelona dating back to the fourth century.Leo XIV’s final act inside the cathedral was to descend to the crypt, where the tomb of the Roman martyr St. Eulalia, co-patroness of Barcelona, is located.Before her martyrdom, the young saint was said to have tended geese. For this reason, 13 geese are kept today in the cathedral cloister in her honor, recalling both her 13 tortures and the age at which she died for the Lord.The pontiff also spoke of “so many other martyrs” and called the faithful to respond with “our ‘yes,’ ready if necessary to die to ourselves, to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again, to renounce the superfluous in order to build upon what is essential and lasts forever.”“This is what the crucified One teaches us,” the pope said. “This is what the Apostle Paul and the examples of the saints invite us to do.”The pope ended his homily by invoking Mary in Catalan: “Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres” — “Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, EWTN News’ Spanish-language sister service. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam June 9, 2026June 9, 2026

After an exuberant welcome in the Catalan capital, the pope prayed Midday Prayer in Barcelona’s cathedral and urged the faithful to be “witnesses and prophets of unity.”

unitedyam June 9, 2026June 9, 2026

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft completed its first supersonic flight Friday, June 5, 2026, marking the first time the aircraft exceeded the speed of sound in support of NASA’s Quesst mission. The milestone represents a major step in flight testing as the aircraft expands into the supersonic portion of its flight envelope.

A quarter of Irish Gen Z will have no children, new report says #Catholic One in 4 members of Ireland’s Gen Z demographic are expected to be childless by age 45, according to a new report from Dublin’s Iona Institute, which promotes marriage, freedom of conscience, and religion in society. Gen Z generally refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.Drawing on cohort-level data from the Human Fertility Database (HFD), as well as using demographic modeling, the instituteʼs "Choice or Circumstance? Rising Childlessness in Ireland" report, released in May, charts a huge increase in the number of Irish women who are childless.Among those born in the late 1950s, only 30.9% were childless by age 30, rising to 63.6% for those born in the early 1990s. This trend suggests 25% of women born in the late 1990s will be childless when they reach age 45.Breda OʼBrien of the Iona Institute told EWTN News that “a huge question is whether this will be by choice or circumstance.""Much will be unplanned and forced by circumstance, such as the cost of living," she said. "It’s worrying and weʼre sliding into it without too much discussion. Before the 1930s, we had similar rates of childlessness in Ireland, but that was because of extreme poverty, late marriage, and low marriage rates. Weʼre supposed to be in an era where women have every possible choice.”She continued: “The choice to have children, which is fundamental, is being taken away from young women. Itʼs being painted as a kind of freedom. I donʼt think young women themselves consider it to be a type of freedom, and I think a lot of them are worried about it."According to Central Statistics Office data, the average man’s age at marriage is now nearing 38 and the average womanʼs age is almost 36. A 2022 Amarach Research poll for Iona showed that 85% of people want to have at least two children and only 2% expressed a wish for no children. Births in Ireland have fallen by almost 18% in the last decade, according to Central Statistics Office.With clear indications that the longer a person delays having children, the less likely he or she will have any, O’Brien said “itʼs part of the whole growth of individualism and this idea for kids, from the time theyʼre tiny, [that] you get your education, you travel, you have your career in order, you have fun, you donʼt tie yourself down, and then sometimes in your 30s, you think about settling down. But a lot of women in their mid-30s realize that it is increasingly difficult to conceive.”She added: “The fertility industry is booming, which does show us that people are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to have children, but the life script theyʼve been presented with is actually working against their best interests. Nature has no knowledge of this life script that young people are being presented with.”“The longer you leave it, the more chances there are of miscarriage, of complications in labor, and of medical intervention during birth, if you get that far. So itʼs not consequence-free,” she said.O’Brien told EWTN News that there needs to be debate about why this is happening as a society. "It is a phenomenon we should discuss far more widely if our aim is to help people achieve their eventual life goals. I think among people of faith, they are still prioritizing children and family, and marriage. The Catholic Church needs to support those young families in every way possible.”She pointed out that having fewer children “has very significant social and economic consequences because of the effects of an aging population and growing loneliness.”The report highlights a series of demographic issues related to childlessness and to Ireland’s already-aging population. Lower fertility rates, combined with rising childlessness, mean that the ratio of working-age adults to elderly dependents is set to worsen. Fewer births today mean fewer workers in 20 to 30 years.O’Brien said: “In Ireland, thereʼs still a degree of respect for older people, but one of the awful possible consequences is that younger people will start to resent older people.” The Iona report highlights the situation where a smaller working-age population will be asked to support a larger elderly population, putting pension sustainability, healthcare, and long-term care provision under growing financial pressure.The instituteʼs findings also highlight the effect on housing and household-formation patterns. A rise in the proportion of adults who never have children increases demand for smaller dwellings and single-person households. Additionally, in recent decades, inward migration to Ireland has been an effective and economically rational response in periods of strong demand. However, it is not a response to childlessness.O’Brien pointed to other countries and the demographic shifts they are facing with an increasing aging population. “Other countries are further along the road than we are. South Korea, or even Japan, where theyʼre repurposing childcare facilities for eldercare facilities, moving from baby formula to fortified drinks from the elderly, and from producing diapers for children, to producing incontinence products for the elderly — this is not a good road that weʼre on,” she said.

unitedyam June 8, 2026June 8, 2026

While current trends show that 1 in 4 young women today will remain childless, Iona Institute’s Breda O’Brien said the huge question is “whether this will be by choice or circumstance.”

Pope Leo XIV in Madrid: Corpus Christi must not become museum of the past #Catholic Madrid, Spain, June 7, 2026 — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called on Spain to renew its historic Eucharistic faith, warning that the country’s centuries-old religious traditions must not become “a museum of the past to be visited” but remain “a school of faith from which to draw even today.”The pope made the appeal while presiding over Mass, a procession, and Eucharistic blessing for the solemnity of Corpus Christi in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, one of the Spanish capital’s most emblematic sites.“As I begin my visit to Spain, it is with a heart filled with joy that I preside over this celebration on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi,” the pope said in his homily.Corpus Christi has deep roots in Spain and throughout the Catholic world. The feast originated after the efforts of St. Juliana of Cornillon, a Belgian religious sister who promoted a liturgical celebration dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Pope Urban IV confirmed the feast for the universal Church in 1264, and within decades it had reached the Iberian Peninsula. King Alfonso X, known as “the Wise,” took part in a Corpus Christi celebration in Toledo in 1280.Over the centuries, the tradition became firmly established in Spain, making the country one of the great centers of Eucharistic devotion. During the period of the Council of Trent, when the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was contested in parts of Europe, Spanish popular piety continued to exalt it through processions, music, art, and public expressions of faith.In Madrid, Pope Leo said Corpus Christi is “more than just another celebration on the liturgical calendar.”“It is a way of returning to the heart of the faith to renew our love and fidelity to God,” he said.“The solemn processions held on this day have for centuries shaped the piety, art, music, architecture and life of the Spanish people,” the pope continued. “Even today, they still express and manifest the spiritual sentiments of this country through the beauty and elegance of the floral carpets, the altars erected in the streets, the carefully crafted monstrances and stands, the hymns and the liturgical vestments.”The setting itself added a striking backdrop to the celebration. Plaza de Cibeles, crowned by the statue of the Roman goddess in a chariot drawn by lions, is known internationally as the place where Real Madrid celebrates its titles. On Sunday, however, the square’s focus was Christ in the Eucharist.One participant joked that with Pope Leo XIV in Madrid, the Spanish capital had three lions.The pope said the Corpus Christi procession is not “an exhibition, a remnant of folklore or a simple display of beauty.”“It is a profession of faith in the presence of the risen Lord, who is alive and continues to walk among us, who becomes bread to satiate our hunger for life, and visits the recesses of our hearts and history, even those shrouded in darkness,” he said.The procession route, about 600 meters along Calle de Alcalá, one of Madrid’s central thoroughfares, was adorned with 16 floral carpets — eight on each side — made with more than 30,000 carnations. Numerous faithful joined the pope, including many boys and girls who had recently received their first Communion.Pope Leo said the procession reveals that Christ “is not confined to the church, but comes out to meet us.”“Jesus travels the streets, crosses the squares and visits our neighborhoods, dwelling in the settings of our daily lives,” he said. “He is a God who is close to us, who walks with his people, the Lord of history.”The pope also connected Corpus Christi with charity, noting that the Church in Spain has long associated the solemnity with the Day for Charity.“The Christ who processes through the streets in the monstrance is the same one who identifies with the poor, the downtrodden, those who are alone and forsaken,” he said.“It is not merely a matter of bringing out the monstrance,” Pope Leo emphasized, “but of allowing ourselves to be brought out of our selfishness and indifference, of a comfortable, private faith, so as to respond to his invitation to conversion, to change our perspective, and to welcome his presence which transforms us and makes us builders of a new world.”The pope said the historical memory of Spain’s Corpus Christi processions “is not confined to wistful nostalgia.”“Instead, it stands as an invitation in the present moment, in our daily lives, in our relationships, in society, and in the building of the future,” he said.That, he added, is the task facing Spain today and tomorrow: “to ensure that the religiosity which has shaped and defined this country for centuries is not a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today.”The pope described that school of faith as one that “teaches us to kneel before God and before our neighbor, because no one can kneel before the Lord and despise their brother.”It is also, he said, “a school that teaches us of the gratitude of love that becomes a gift, so that it may flow among us and break the chains of all selfishness.”From the Eucharist, he continued, Catholics learn “that God is a real presence and that we too are called to be present in the realities and challenges of society, not shying away, but personally committing ourselves to the building of the common good.”Pope Leo also recalled St. Manuel González García, the Spanish bishop known as “the bishop of the abandoned tabernacle.”“His life reminds us that the Eucharist should be honored not only during great celebrations or on special occasions, but also through the silent fidelity of those who accompany the Lord with a humble and quiet friendship that is nourished day by day,” the pope said.The pope also cited St. John of the Cross, recalling that while imprisoned in harsh conditions in Toledo around the time of Corpus Christi in 1578, the Spanish mystic recognized the hidden presence of the Lord even in darkness.“The Eucharistic Jesus is ‘that eternal spring that is hidden’ — a spring that flows and quenches thirst, yet without blinding, without imposing itself through outward power, without presenting itself in a spectacular way,” the pope said.Pope Leo closed by urging the faithful to return to Christ in the Eucharist with “sincere love.”“Let us open ourselves to the encounter with him, let us allow him to quench the thirst of our hearts, so that we may then go forth into the paths of life and history, bringing to the people this stream of fresh water, a stream of love, peace, justice and joy,” he said.“Let us drink anew from this Eucharistic spring, which does not enclose us in private devotion, but sends us out to refresh our brothers and sisters, our families, the poor, the suffering, and those who have lost hope,” the pope said. “Eucharistic grace transforms us and makes us protagonists of the transformation of history, a sign of hope for those we meet.”“May the Lord Jesus, present in the Eucharist, transform you into bread that is broken, given, and offered,” he concluded, “so that a life of fullness may spring forth for you, for your families, and for your country.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam June 7, 2026June 7, 2026

At Mass in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, the pope called Spain’s centuries-old Eucharistic devotion “a school of faith” for the present and future.

‘You are so loved’: New film reveals enduring power of the Sacred Heart #Catholic A new movie called “Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End” will be hitting theaters across the United States this month after experiencing tremendous success in France and other countries.Directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film-Makers, “Sacred Heart” was released in Europe in October 2025 and became a box office success selling nearly 1 million tickets.The docudrama retells Christ’s apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the 17th-century French nun who received the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Through testimonies, accounts of Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis, and reenactments, the film explores the moment when Christ revealed his heart to the world and its burning love for humanity.The film will be in U.S. theaters June 9–11 and June 14.The Gunnells spoke to EWTN News and shared that the inspiration for the film came from personal testimonies they heard from two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart while at Notre-Dame du Laus (Our Lady of Laus), a Marian sanctuary located in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. That same evening, the married couple, along with their extended families, discovered the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time and consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart.The French filmmakers began to think about the possibility of making a documentary about the Sacred Heart. They began seeing the image of the Sacred Heart appear everywhere around them in their daily lives, which they took as a sign from God to make the film.“In the moment where we said yes [to Jesus], in an instant, we had the story of the movie. We knew exactly what we would make for the movie,” Steven said.Steven, 51, had his own powerful conversion story — thanks in part to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — when he was in his 20s.Born in Annecy in southern France, he was raised solely by his mother — his father was in a rock band that toured most of the year. Despite the fact that his mother had been baptized a Catholic, she fell away from the faith and became part of a demonic sect, which she was a part of for roughly 25 years. This caused Steven to have a strained relationship with his mom, and at the age of 21, he left his home and moved to Paris in hopes of becoming an actor.When he arrived in Paris he started to audition for roles, and during one he was asked if he could sing. It was this audition that landed Steven in the popular French boy band Alliage for three years. He soon became wealthy and famous with many fans. But eventually a shift in musical trends left boy bands as an outdated fad and life as he knew it came to an end — no more concerts, no more albums, and he was out of a job.Steven went to London to escape his problems but became depressed, began to drink excessively, and started thinking about suicide.One day, after years of not speaking, he called his mother from a phone booth. He told her he was going to do something bad because he couldn’t handle life anymore. Much to his surprise, his mother told him to go into a church and just take a moment before he did anything else. So he did. He went into the first church he saw, sat down, and ended up falling asleep. About four hours later, he woke up and was no longer suicidal.Looking back on it now, he said he knows this was thanks to “resting in the Holy Spirit.” He recalled waking up and feeling “light, restored, and peaceful.”

Steven and Sabrina Gunnell. | Credit: KREA Film-Makers

Steven went back to this church every day for weeks. He ended up finding a job, and after about five months he called his mother again and asked her if could move back home.“My mom said, ‘Your bedroom is waiting for you,’” he shared.Once he arrived home, his mom took him to a small chapel dedicated to St. Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes. He was shocked to see his mother join about 400 other people in praying a rosary held in the chapel. Steven began to walk around the chapel and came face to face with a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.“I’m kneeling at this moment, and I begin to cry with all my soul, all my blood, all my everything,” he said. “I met Jesus that day.”Moments later a priest walked up to him from behind, put his hand on his shoulder, and asked him if he was Steven Gunnell.“I said, ‘Yes. How do you know me, Father?’”The priest responded: “Your mother has come here for one year now, every single day, because she has been praying for you … She prayed the rosary for you every day at 4 o’clock. And now you’re here — first miracle. Second miracle, you are here in the Chapel of St. Rita, the saint of impossible causes — welcome to the club.”The priest went on to remind Steven of the sacraments he received as a child.“‘You may have forgotten everything, but you are Catholic and God didnʼt forget you,’” the priest told him.At that moment, Steven made his confession with the priest and after the rosary ended, he attended the Mass. The reading for that day? The story of the prodigal son.“This story happened 26 years ago now and itʼs changed my life,” he said.From there, Steven went on to meet his wife and together they began to create films “for the kingdom,” he said.Now, he said he hopes this movie on the Sacred Heart will inspire others to realize how short their lives are and the importance of returning to Christ.“Today we are here; tomorrow weʼre gone. Itʼs ridiculous when you think about it. You have no time to lose ... Go to church and just take a moment to give a few minutes in front of the tabernacle, the presence of the holy Eucharist, and take a few moments with him to say to him you love him and just hear in the silence, inside, the love he has for you.”Sabrina added that she hopes viewers will leave knowing “that the love of God is more powerful than every evil thing in the world.”“We have this heart, this God, who came as a human being and he has a heart of a human being and he can understand all our moods, all our difficulties, and we are so loved. You are so loved,” she said. “Everyone is so loved by God and we just want the people who come out of the cinema to feel full of love, burn about this love, and go out into the world to spread that.”

unitedyam June 7, 2026June 7, 2026

“Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End” will be in theaters June 9–11 and on June 14.

Cardinal Koovakad to lead Sanremo meeting on interreligious dialogue #Catholic Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will lead a meeting in Sanremo on Oct. 9 dedicated to the theme “Interreligious Dialogue Today in the Social and Cultural Context of Our Diocese.”The event is part of a broader diocesan initiative launched by Bishop Antonio Suetta, who published a pastoral letter on Pentecost Sunday outlining guidelines for charity, dialogue, and the proclamation of God’s love to Muslims “who live in our territory,” according to the diocesan website.The pastoral letter, titled “No One Has Greater Love Than This,” takes its inspiration from two significant anniversaries: the special Year of St. Francis, proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV for the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death, and the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council declaration Nostra Aetate.

Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-San Remo, Italy. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Diocese of Ventimiglia-San Remo

In the document, Suetta emphasizes esteem, welcome, and missionary courage. He recalls the example of St. Francis of Assisi and his historic 1219 encounter with the sultan of Egypt, presenting evangelization first as a witness offered through deeds and the coherence of Christian life, and only afterward through words.The letter also stresses dialogue and collaboration, beginning from the teaching of Nostra Aetate and the recognition that Christians and Muslims are creatures of the one God. This shared foundation, the bishop writes, calls believers to work together in defense of human dignity and moral values in an increasingly secularized society.At the same time, Suetta underlines what he describes as the Christian duty of proclamation. Charity and welcome, he writes, must never lead Christians to conceal their spiritual identity. To share the joy of the Gospel and to make known the true face of Jesus Christ — who for Christians is “the way, the truth, and the life” and the revelation of God who is love — is presented in the letter as the highest act of charity Christians can offer.The pastoral initiative includes concrete proposals, such as specific formation programs and opportunities for encounter promoted by the diocesan Office for Catechetical Pastoral Ministry in collaboration with Caritas.“Welcoming others with selfless charity, bearing witness to a coherent Christian life, and proclaiming the love of God in Jesus Christ with freedom and sincere respect are the human means that the Lord asks of us in order to evangelize,” the letter states.The events will take place during the Church’s missionary month of October. In addition to the Oct. 9 meeting in Sanremo with Cardinal Koovakad, the diocese will hold a missionary vigil on Oct. 17 at the Oratory of the Immaculate in Piazza San Siro.The presence of the prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue is seen as a sign of support from the Holy See for the diocesan initiative.

unitedyam June 4, 2026June 5, 2026

The October gathering follows a pastoral letter by Bishop Antonio Suetta on charity, Christian witness, and the proclamation of the Gospel to Muslims living in the diocese.

Pope calls on Catholic universities to be authentic, instill ‘passion for the truth’ #Catholic Catholic universities should reflect “authenticity as true disciples of Christ” as they guide students’ desire for knowledge into a passion for the truth, Pope Leo XIV told university presidents from the United States on Wednesday.“As young men and women come to your colleges and universities looking to study a specific degree, oftentimes motivated by future job perspectives, yours is the noble task of guiding that desire for knowledge so that they may also ‘learn to seek and love the truth, to reflect on the meaning of life, and to recognize the dignity of every person,’” the pope said June 3, quoting from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published in May.Instilling a love for the truth “is not an easy feat,” he continued. “As you are well aware, seeking the truth requires not only learning and mentorship but also great effort. Unless Catholic education instills in students a true passion for the truth — and not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself (cf. John 14:6) — we can hardly expect people to be willing to put forth the effort required to recognize truth and adapt one’s life accordingly.”Leo addressed presidents, senior administrators, and faculty leaders from Catholic institutions of higher education belonging to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. During the Rome Seminar, June 1–5, university leaders are meeting with senior Vatican officials and others to reflect on the opportunities and challenges faced by higher education today.In his speech, the pope acknowledged the challenge of “the increasing fragmentation of knowledge.”“While it is easy to find people who are experts in a particular field of study, many of these individuals ‘struggle to find direction in their lives, partly due to an inability to connect information with deeper knowledge or maintain a sense of purpose,’” he said, quoting from Magnifica Humanitas.Specialized experts “often lack a global vision of reality that is capable of uniting not only the various fields of knowledge but also the multiple aspects of life and the inner longings of the human heart,” he said.He invited Catholic educational institutions to be a “living environment in which the Christian vision permeates every discipline and every interaction,” as Leo wrote in his 2025 apostolic letter Drawing New Maps of Hope.“Your authenticity as true disciples of Christ,” he said, “will certainly assist you in transmitting the living Gospel in such a way that those entrusted to you can truly encounter the Lord and discover in the Catholic faith the unifying vision that truth alone can provide.”On the challenges of technological advances, the pope reflected on the prolific use of artificial intelligence, making it “increasingly difficult to evaluate the work of students, requiring educators to adapt their methods creatively to ensure the integral human formation of those in their care.”“We must be willing to invest generously in the education of future generations,” he said. “It is crucial that young men and women learn to engage positively with new technologies, while at the same time truly developing their God-given skills and capacities to reason, to think critically and commit knowledge to memory, thus preparing them to shape responsibly the world to come.”

unitedyam June 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday addressed presidents and senior administrators from Catholic institutions belonging to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

More than 50 children celebrate first Communion amid ongoing missile attacks in southern Lebanon #Catholic Amid a rocket attack launched by Hezbollah on residential homes in the village of Rmeish in southern Lebanon, more than 50 children celebrated their first Communion in a testament to faith, resilience, and hope in the midst of war.In comments to local media, Rmeish Municipality Head Hanna Al-Amil said a missile fell between inhabited homes on Sunday morning and “narrowly avoided causing a major disaster.”Al-Amil stressed that the village contains no military forces, armed groups, or weapons, emphasizing that residents “simply want to live safely on their land, away from confrontation and escalation.”The people of Rmeish remain attached to their land and continue their lives “despite difficult circumstances,” he said, calling for the protection of civilians and for the village and its residents not to be placed at risk. The incident is not an isolated one. It comes amid a series of missile launches affecting Christian villages in the south, increasing fears among local residents. On Friday, several Hezbollah rockets fired toward Israeli forces operating in the town of Dibbin landed in residential and civilian areas of Marjayoun, causing significant property damage. According to local reports, one rocket struck the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, damaging parts of the church, while another landed within the grounds of the Sacred Hearts Secondary School, leaving extensive destruction to the building and its surroundings.Speaking to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Rizkallah Alam, a resident of Rmeish whose daughter received her first Communion, said villagers have effectively been living in a state of war since Oct. 8, 2023. “We have been living the reality of war since then,” he said, adding that the village has not experienced a genuine ceasefire at any point. “The children and their parents live in constant anxiety. We asked to postpone the first Communion to another time, but our parish priest refused and insisted that it take place.”Alam described the daily reality facing children in the village, saying they live without a sense of security or psychological stability. “My children pray and sing hymns all the time, and they live according to the news cycle. Some days schools are open, and other days they are not. Today the situation has become even worse because of the siege.”He said the restrictions affecting the village have impacted even the most basic aspects of daily life. “Everything has become unavailable. We wait for the aid convoy and hope it will be allowed to reach the village.”In previous years, families would hold large celebrations for first Communion. This year, however, circumstances forced them to scale back their plans. “This year the celebration was limited to family homes, with no large festivities,” he said. “The number of children was also lower than in previous years because families are scattered. Some are in Beirut, while others have left the country.”Alam described the immense uncertainty facing both parents and children. “The situation is extremely difficult. We cannot even plan for tomorrow,” he said. “As we speak, rockets have fallen in Rmeish again, one person has been injured, and a car has caught fire.”Between missiles and first Communion, Rmeish embodies one of southern Lebanonʼs most painful paradoxes: a village that wants to live, families determined to remain, and children learning faith in a time of fear. This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated for and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam June 2, 2026June 2, 2026

A resident of Rmeish whose daughter received her first Communion said villagers there have effectively been living in a state of war since Oct. 8, 2023.

U.S. bishops unveil prayer service for America’s 250th anniversary centered on migrants #Catholic The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released a national prayer service for the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary that places immigration, justice, and the dignity of migrants at the center of America’s semiquincentennial observance.Titled “A National Prayer Service Honoring the Many Journeys that Shaped America,” the resource was developed by the Committee on Migration and the Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation.Designed as a template for dioceses and parishes across the country, the prayer service invites Catholics to reflect on the nation’s history through the lens of migration, displacement, slavery, and faith while encouraging advocacy for vulnerable migrant populations.“In observance of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026, and rooted in the Church’s pastoral mission of welcome, accompaniment, and solidarity,” the instructions state, the service seeks “to acknowledge and honor the many diverse communities that have journeyed to the United States in search of hope, safety, and opportunity.”The document also highlights “the voices, sufferings, and enduring contributions of those who were forcibly brought to this land.”A prayer service rooted in hospitalityThe proposed service combines hymns, Scripture readings, intercessory prayers, testimonies, and guided reflections focused heavily on migrants, refugees, victims of trafficking, and immigrant communities.Organizers are encouraged to adapt the service to local needs and cultures by incorporating music and devotional practices that reflect “the lived experiences of migration, displacement, resilience, and faith.”The service opens with the hymn “All Are Welcome” by Marty Haugen and includes prayers asking Catholics to “walk in deeper solidarity with immigrant communities” and to advocate for “greater protection, justice, and accompaniment for vulnerable and at-risk migrant populations.”A prayer to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini — patroness of immigrants and herself an immigrant to the United States — asks for protection for migrant families separated from one another and for the grace to “welcome every stranger as Christ in our midst.”The document also includes a “call to action” encouraging Catholics to reflect on “concrete and compassionate ways to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate migrants, immigrants, and refugees” while advocating for “just and humane immigration reform that upholds the dignity of every human person created in the image of God.”The service concludes with a “Prayer for Migrants” asking God to help the Church “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate those who knock at our doors.”Scripture and civil rights themes woven throughoutThe Scripture passages selected for the service strongly emphasize hospitality toward foreigners and care for society’s most vulnerable.A reading from Deuteronomy 10:12-22 exhorts believers: “So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.” The Gospel reading from Matthew 25:31-46 centers on Christ’s words, “I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.”The template also incorporates themes of racial justice and historical memory. Intercessions address slavery and modern human trafficking, praying both for victims of exploitation and for “perpetrators of slavery” to repent.The service further recommends “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black national anthem and rooted in Black church worship and civic life in the U.S., as an intermediate hymn. It also includes optional excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream" speech for use in a homily or guided reflection, alongside passages from the bishops’ 2025 special pastoral message on immigration.Dignity of migrantsIn recent years, U.S. bishops have consistently advocated for immigration reform while emphasizing the dignity of migrants, opposition to family separation, and support for refugees and trafficking victims.The prayer service places those concerns within the broader context of the nation’s identity ahead of America’s 250th anniversary observances.“This prayer service seeks to provide a sacred space for reflection, remembrance, lament, and hope,” the document states, inviting participants to encounter one another “as members of the one human family and the one body of Christ.”EWTN News reached out to the USCCB for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

unitedyam June 1, 2026June 1, 2026

The prayer service invites Catholics to reflect on the nation’s history through the lens of migration, displacement, slavery, and faith while encouraging advocacy for vulnerable migrant populations.

Human dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ U.S. bishops say amid Trump ‘aliens’ campaign #Catholic The U.S. bishops are reiterating their calls for immigrants in the U.S. to be treated with dignity as the Trump administration launched a campaign that likens immigrants living in the country illegally to extraterrestrials.The White House on May 28 launched a government website “Aliens.gov,” a retro sci-fi-styled site that claims the government has “kept a closely guarded secret” about “aliens” and an “invasion” for decades. The site mimics sci‑fi aesthetics, with a bold, geometric sans‑serif typeface in neon green and black, like 1950s movie posters used to advertise Cold‑War‑era sci‑fi films featuring monstrous extraterrestrials.“Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives,” the site claims, alleging that “aliens” have “shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences.”Promoting an “alien arrest map” of immigrant detentions around the country, the site states bluntly that people without legal status “do not belong here.”The website urges visitors to “report suspicious aliens” to an “ICE tip line.” In U.S. law, the word alien is a formal legal classification meaning a person who is not a U.S. citizen or national, a definition that appears in the Immigration and Nationality Act and is used in statutes, regulations, and court decisions.Dignity, national security ‘not in conflict,’ bishops saysImmigrants have long been portrayed through metaphors in U.S. culture, from 19th‑century political cartoons that depicted Irish, Italian, and Chinese newcomers as monsters or subhuman creatures to modern rhetoric framing migrant groups as “invaders,” “infestations,” or something other than fully human.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lamented “the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants” in a special message in November 2025. In February, the bishops condemned a plan from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase the capacity of migrant detention centers around the U.S. The government earlier this year indicated it would spend about $38 billion to bolster detention space. Victoria, Texas Bishop Brendan Cahill, chair of the bishops' immigration committee, called the plans “deeply troubling” at the time.“The thought of holding thousands of families in massive warehouses should challenge the conscience of every American," the bishop said. Asked about the governmentʼs new “aliens” campaign on May 29, USCCB spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi told EWTN News that the bishops have “continuously condemned vilification of immigrants and dehumanizing rhetoric and consistently advocated for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.” “They’ve also repeatedly asserted that human dignity and national security are not in conflict,” she said, pointing to the bishops' special message. The bishops at that time said they “oppose[d] the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” with the prelates praying “for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”The bishops in February urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the U.S. constitutional policy of “birthright citizenship” wherein any individual born on U.S. soil is counted as an American citizen. The dispute before the court was launched after Trump in January 2025 signed an order directing that children born to parents in the country illegally were not entitled to U.S. citizenship. Pope Leo XIV — the first pope in history from the United States — has also weighed in, affirming in November 2025 that while nations have “a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” countries “have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”“When people are living good lives — and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years — to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least,” is not acceptable, the pope said on Nov. 18, 2025.Regarding the bishops' Nov. 12, 2025 message on immigration, the pope remarked: “I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of goodwill to listen carefully to what they said."In a statement to EWTN News, meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on May 29 argued that news reports “too often” ignore “the victims [of illegal immigration] and their stories.” "These victims and their families are why we work around the clock to arrest and deport illegal aliens from our communities," the department said, describing crimes committed by undocumented immigrants as "completely preventable.”“What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are in the U.S. illegally,” the statement continued, arguing that “nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges.”ICE data shows most people arrested and booked into ICE custody do not have criminal convictions, and some analyses show the 70% figure comes from redefining “criminal” to include pending charges, foreign allegations untested in a U.S. court, and people who have never been found guilty of a crime. Roughly 25–30% of people arrested by ICE have a prior conviction, according to analyses of ICE arrest and detention data, including work by the Cato Institute and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse based on ICE data.

unitedyam May 30, 2026May 30, 2026

The Trump administration launched an “alien arrest map” with images and rhetoric that likens immigrants living illegally in the country to extraterrestrials.

Pope Leo XIV meets with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson #Catholic Pope Leo met with the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, at the Vatican on May 28.Johnson, who has served as mayor since 2023, met with the pontiff for the first time since his election. He also used the occasion to formally invite the pontiff to visit his native city, Chicago.In a press briefing to journalists after the audience, Johnson explained that the two discussed the policies of the United States government under President Donald Trump, including immigration and the Iran conflict.Johnson: Trumpʼs actions in Iran are tyrannicalThe Democratic mayor sharply criticized Trump in remarks to journalists, calling him a “tyrant” as well as a “disgrace” for involving the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict. He also said he discussed his concerns about the administration with Pope Leo and described his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, as a “call to action” to work to avoid wars. “I think the popeʼs encyclical is a call to action for the entire planet,” Johnson told journalists at the briefing. “Illegal wars do not leave just a trail of tears and trauma, but it also harms and brutalize our humanity. The economic drive with which [Trump] is moving is selfish.”Leo XIV has regularly criticized the U.S.-Israel war in Iran as unjust. Johnson, reflecting on his discussions with the pope, stated that “his position around Trump was more about disagreement with his approach.”“In the midst of a brutal, horrific, and ignorant tyrant that is currently occupying the White House, it is imperative that we really walk in the true essence of our faith. The impact of his failures on our global economy is quite severe. It is a disgrace to the sensibility of our humanity,” Johnson said.

Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson holds a press briefing at The American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

The Chicago mayor also said the two spoke about the Trump administrationʼs immigration enforcement, specifically raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “We did discuss ICE. The pope wanted to know how ICE impacted our city and whether there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city. I talked about how our rapid response team came together to support families. And then I talked about my executive orders, for which he was very gracious and encouraging, especially those I signed to protect the people of Chicago.”Praise for Leoʼs apology for slaveryLeo XIV presented his first encyclical on May 25 at the Vatican, offering moral guidance amid widespread concern about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence.In the text, Leo issued an apology for the Churchʼs role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Johnson praised the pope for his courage and explained that he had discussed the legacy of slavery with him.“We talked about the conditions that the long legacy of slavery and disinvestment has had on Black Americans and Black people around the world,” Johnson said. “I engaged in a conversation with him around reparations and why it is important to work to repair the harm caused by the brutal legacy of slavery.”Yusef Jackson, the son of renowned civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., was also part of the mayorʼs delegation that visited the pope. He praised Leo for his apology on behalf of the Church for slavery.“The pope is a powerful man. The color of his title commands respect around the world. For him to use the color of that title, coming from Chicago, a very segregated and class-divided city, with the bona fides to be a freedom fighter, meant a lot to me. He is a pope that I agree with,” Jackson said.An invitation to come to ChicagoJohnson also presented the pope with an official letter inviting him to visit Chicago and offer Mass at Grant Park. He wrote the letter after being advised by the Catholic archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich.Speaking about the possibility of a future visit by Leo, he described his feelings and those of the city as hopeful.

Official invitation by the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, to Pope Leo XIV, at the American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

“We are going to remain hopeful. We have an open invitation for the pope to come to the city of Chicago. Ultimately, it will be his decision whether his schedule allows him to come. Some of the greatest voices for justice come from the city of Chicago. And that beloved city, of course, birthed Pope Leo XIV.”Along with the official invitation letter, the pontiff was presented with a ceremonial key to the city of Chicago.Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the first name of Cardinal Blase Cupich. (Published May 29, 2026)

unitedyam May 28, 2026May 29, 2026

The pontiff met with Johnson at the Vatican on May 28 and was formally invited to visit his native city next year.

Leo XIV: Don’t water down Christianity #Catholic Pope Leo XIV warned Thursday against the temptation to make Christianity more attractive by diluting its content or softening its demands, telling Vatican evangelization officials that the faith is transmitted above all through credible Christian witness.“It is certainly not by watering down the content or softening the demands that Christianity can be made attractive but by bearing witness with humility and courage to ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ that has converted and sanctified so many people,” the pope said May 28.The pope made the remarks during a meeting in the Consistory Hall with members of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for Fundamental Questions Regarding Evangelization in the World at the conclusion of its plenary assembly.According to the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the section is responsible for studying fundamental questions of evangelization and promoting an effective proclamation of the Gospel, identifying appropriate forms, tools, and language.Leo said the crisis of faith, especially in the West, has contributed to “widespread religious indifference.”“To many, faith no longer appears relevant to their lives,” he said. “The underlying danger, the gravity of which is not always perceived, is that the very essence of what is most human — namely, the search for meaning — may be lost. The great existential questions remain unanswered, whilst a technological culture that is supposed to meet every need is spreading.”The pope said that even in such a context, “the encounter with Christ is able to restore full meaning and value to people’s lives,” adding that the Church’s missionary mandate remains urgent.“No one can take her place in this mission, which is as urgent as it is necessary to ensure a reliable foundation for the future of humanity, so that it may be a future of peace, justice, freedom, and fraternity,” he said.Leo also pointed to the continuing relevance of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which he said “continues to be a significant point of reference.”He invited the dicastery to revisit the document in its work “to promote a mission that is ‘Christ-centered and kerygmatic … born of an encounter with Christ that is capable of transforming lives.’”The pope said the Church should pay close attention to a growing demand for spirituality, especially among young people, something he said was “clearly evident during the Youth Jubilee.”“The new generation is not closed to the Gospel; on the contrary, many, when they rediscover it, wish to know it better, because they sense that within it lies the secret to being truly happy,” he said.At the same time, Leo said evangelization must confront changed conditions in the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next.“In some parts of the world, this transmission has all but ceased, and this requires the ability to take on new challenges,” he said.The result, he continued, is “a spiritual ‘poverty’ among the younger generations, a lack of motivation and of the means to develop, in full freedom, that commitment to the faith which gives meaning to life.”The pope said the cultural climate of “media-saturated and consumerist societies” weakens the ability to pursue truth with patience, perseverance, and critical judgment.“Every message risks being perceived as just one opinion among many,” he said.In response, he stressed that transmitting the faith “necessarily involves encountering people and communities who express the joy of the Christian faith and the coherence of a Gospel-inspired way of life.”Quoting Benedict XVI, Leo said: “What we need at this moment in history are men who, through an enlightened and lived faith, make God credible in this world.”“We need people who keep their gaze fixed on God, learning true humanity from him,” the pope continued, quoting Benedict. “We need people whose intellect is enlightened by the light of God and whose hearts God opens, so that their intellect may speak to the intellect of others and their hearts may open the hearts of others. Only through men who are touched by God can God return to men.”Leo also thanked the dicastery for its work during last year’s jubilee, which he said brought more than 33 million pilgrims to Rome.“The world thirsts for hope more than ever,” he said. “It longs to live in peace and in the certainty that the commitment to building a city worthy of God’s children is not only possible but real, because it is imbued with a hope that offers true, not illusory, objectives.”The pope said evangelization must remain “the fundamental motivation behind every action of the universal Church and of local communities.”“The proclamation of the Gospel, which instils hope, is not a utopian proposal: It is a witness that draws people in because it reveals the call to love and truth,” he said.Leo concluded by emphasizing the importance of catechesis, which he said “plays a decisive role in the life of the Church through its commitment to formation and the transmission of the faith.”He called for special attention to catechumens, “who are requesting baptism in ever-increasing numbers,” and said Christian communities must accompany them beyond the celebration of the sacrament.“Similar care must be accorded to the boys and girls who receive the sacrament of confirmation,” he said. “I encourage the many initiatives that accompany them as they continue on their journey of faith for their human and Christian growth.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam May 28, 2026May 28, 2026

The pontiff said the Church must respond to religious indifference not by softening the Gospel’s demands but by offering credible witness to Christ.

2 years after Pakistan mob lynching, Christian family still seeks justice #Catholic LAHORE, Pakistan — As Muslims across Pakistan celebrate Eid al-Adha, Sultan Gill is quietly preparing for the death anniversary of his father, who died after a violent mob attack over allegations of blasphemy in 2024.Nearly 2,000 people attacked Gillʼs family in Sargodha, in northern Punjab province, on May 25, 2024, after allegations emerged that his father, Nazir (Lazar) Masih, had desecrated pages of the Quran. EWTN News covered the attack at the time.The mob ransacked the familyʼs home and shoe factory in Mujahid Colony and later set the business on fire after a mosque announcement reportedly amplified the accusations.Police managed to evacuate nine members of the family, but Masih was caught by the crowd and beaten with stones, bricks, and sticks. The 74-year-old succumbed to his injuries on the night of June 2–3, 2024.The killing sparked protests by Christian groups across the country, while politicians and Catholic bishops visited the family and held meetings with police officials.Yet nearly two years later, the family says it is still waiting for justice and compensation for the destruction of their property, which remains abandoned after they fled Sargodha.“Our wounds became fresh during Eid. The cruelty cannot be described in words,” Gill told EWTN News.“The confidence is gone. We cannot move around or talk freely. Two of my children had to discontinue their education and start working to support the family in a new city and help pay house rent,” he said.“The police assured us of 1.2 million rupees [about $4,300] as compensation for damage to the factory, which was actually worth millions. But despite repeated visits to the district administration and Punjabʼs minority affairs minister, we received nothing.”Arrests but no accountabilitySargodha police registered cases against about 450 unidentified suspects under anti-terrorism laws, and 25 people were arrested over the attack on Masih.However, all of the accused were released within weeks, according to Sunil Kaleem, director of the Organization for Legal Aid, which has provided legal support to the family.“We challenged the bails granted to the accused, but without success. The biased judges of lower courts often rely on consistency and benefit-of-doubt principles in such cases,” Kaleem said.“There are no independent eyewitnesses apart from police officials, and there is little interest in pursuing accountability. The chances of punishment in mob attacks linked to blasphemy allegations remain very low.”Church leaders and rights groups have long argued that Pakistanʼs blasphemy laws disproportionately affect religious minorities and often fail to uphold principles of justice, including due process and the presumption of innocence.At least 26 Christians were killed extrajudicially in Pakistan between 1994 and 2024 following blasphemy allegations, according to the Center for Social Justice, a Lahore-based advocacy group.Church responseFather David John, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier Church in Sargodha, said Masihʼs family received financial assistance and shelter from the National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Catholic bishops' rights body, for 20 months.“Psychological support was crucial for frightened Christians in the area, and it was important to stand with them,” he said.“We did what we could. There was a long struggle to restore normalcy in the city with the support of district peace committees and Muslim friends.”“Religious minorities in Pakistan deserve to live in peace and harmony. People of goodwill stand with us. There is tremendous scope for interfaith dialogue, and efforts toward acceptance must continue.”Catholic activist Ashiknaz Khokhar criticized delays in the justice process and warned of wider consequences.“It weakens public trust and leaves vulnerable communities exposed to further harm. When cases remain unresolved, fear and instability increase,” he said, adding that Masihʼs family now plans to sell its two homes after losing its business in Sargodha.He called for stronger preventive measures, including proactive law enforcement to manage crowds before violence escalates.“The state should use digital monitoring systems to address online hate speech, provide administrative and security safeguards to ensure judicial independence, discourage misuse of laws through consistent accountability, and introduce educational reforms promoting religious tolerance and civic responsibility,” he said.

unitedyam May 27, 2026May 27, 2026

As Pakistan marks Eid al-Adha, the son of a Christian man killed by a mob over blasphemy allegations says his family has received no compensation and no one has been punished.

unitedyam May 27, 2026May 27, 2026

Chennai, on India’s southern coast along the Bay of Bengal and with a metropolitan population of about 8.7 million, shines with white LED streetlights in this photograph taken at approximately 9:13 p.m. local time on May 2, 2026, from the International Space Station.

Priest charged with theft of $160,000 from Kansas parish #Catholic A priest turned himself in to police after being accused of stealing about $160,000 from a parish, according to officials with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Father Richard Storey “voluntarily surrendered to the Leawood Police Department … on a level 5 felony charge involving theft of funds valued at approximately $160,000,” the archdiocese said in a May 23 statement.The alleged theft occurred at the Curé of Ars Catholic Church in Leawood just outside of Kansas City, Kansas. Storey had resigned from that parish in September 2025 amid “a criminal investigation involving [Storey] concerning another adult,” according to the archdiocese. Kansas City Archbishop Shawn McKnight said on May 23 that the theft allegations were “deeply painful for all of us in the Catholic community, particularly given the nature of the allegations involving resources entrusted to the Church through the sacrifice and generosity of the faithful.”The archdiocese said a recent financial review identified discrepancies in the parishʼs finances that “warranted referral to law enforcement.” The parish will be filing an insurance claim to cover the losses, the archdiocese added. The archbishop urged parishioners at the Leawood parish to "treat one another with greater sensitivity, patience, charity, and respect as we move through this together, trusting that with faith in Christ, our community can emerge stronger and more united.”The prelate further thanked archdiocesan vicar general Father John Riley, the temporary administrator of the Leawood parish, for his “steady leadership and care for this community during this difficult time.”Arrest records show that Storey was booked on May 23 and posted $250,000 bond. The priest could face up to four years in prison on the charges.

unitedyam May 26, 2026May 26, 2026

Father Richard Storey turned himself in after being charged with theft from a Kansas City, Kansas, parish, according to the Archdiocese of Kansas City.

Pope Leo unveils his encyclical: AI has ‘even greater consequences’ than Industrial Revolution #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Monday personally attended the presentation of his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in an uncustomary gesture. Upon his arrival at the event, held in the Vaticanʼs Synod Hall, he was greeted with sustained applause from an audience made up of members of the Roman Curia, representatives of academia, and the diplomatic corps.Among the speakers was Canadian Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, one of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The firm has recently had tensions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after prohibiting the U.S. Department of Defense from using its software for military purposes.Some observers had raised concerns about including a representative of a major tech company like Anthropic in an event of this kind. The Holy Father himself dispelled any hesitation by thanking Olah for his presence: “What a great sign of hope it is that with our differences we can listen to one another,” he said in his remarks.“This interchange clearly bespeaks the gravity of the moment, as well as confidence that together we can discern the major questions of our time, and so the future of humanity,” he added.In his remarks prior to the pope’s address, Olah echoed the same idea: "That is why, if we want this technology to go well, it is enormously important that there be people outside those incentives — people who care about things going well and insist on safety, who are paying close attention, who are willing to say hard things, who are willing to be our earnest, thoughtful, critics. It is through dialogue and mutual effort, through the push and pull, that humanity will achieve great things. That is what I see in Magnifica Humanitas, and it is why I am grateful to His Holiness and the Church for taking up this work of discernment.”

Christopher Olah, co-founder of AI company Anthropic, says he is grateful to Pope Leo XIV and the Church for “taking up this work of discernment” on artificial intelligence, during his address at the presentation of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, in the Synod Hall of the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Vatican Pool

Olah, who is not a believer, also issued a call to various sectors — religious communities, civil society, academics, and governments — to follow the pope’s example with this document: “to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction. We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing. We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”It is no coincidence that Leo XIV signed his first encyclical on May 15, the same date on which his predecessor Leo XIII promulgated Rerum Novarum (“On New Things”) in 1891 in response to the dehumanization brought about by the Industrial Revolution. As the pope explained, the world today faces a transformation of perhaps even greater scope.“Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences. Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence,” he said.The pope expressed particular concern about the impact of new technologies on the conduct of war, which, he warned, is changing dramatically.“Like the earlier Leo, I feel entrusted to look upon another huge transformation with eyes of faith, with lucidity of reason, with openness to mystery, and with cries of the poor and the earth resounding in my heart,” he said.The Holy Father also described the method behind the drafting of this magisterial document, which began in July 2025 at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. In it, he seeks to reaffirm what makes us human in a society shaped by technology.He emphasized that Magnifica Humanitas was born from listening: “I have listened to scientists and engineers who work with sincere enthusiasm on technologies capable of alleviating immense suffering, to political leaders and public officials who have perseveringly sought just rules, to parents and teachers who are deeply concerned for the future of younger generations,” he said, without naming individuals.At the same time, he acknowledged hearing “Other very troubling voices have also reached me about increasingly autonomous weapons systems practically beyond any human reach to govern them effectively.”“I hear very troubling accounts of algorithms that can block access to healthcare, employment, and security on the basis of data tainted by prejudice and injustice. And Iʼve heard the silence of those who have no voice when decisions are made — decisions likely to generate new forms of exclusion and suffering,” he lamented.In line with the document — which states that artificial intelligence is not morally neutral — the pope called for AI to be “disarmed.”“The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and indicating paths forward for humanity,” he warned.“The Church has long been working for nuclear disarmament, aware that every great technical power can affect peopleʼs lives, and so must be accompanied by adequate moral discernment and public control. Nuclear disarmament remains a service to peace and the dignity of the human family,” he added.Also speaking at the presentation were three cardinals of the Roman Curia: Secretary of State Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.Two theologians also took the floor: Anna Rowlands, a specialist in Catholic social teaching and migration ethics at Durham University, and Leocadie Lushombo, an expert in political theology and Catholic social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in California.This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, EWTN News' Spanish-language news service. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam May 25, 2026May 25, 2026

The pope thanked Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah for his presence at the presentation: “What a great sign of hope it is that with our differences we can listen to one another.”

Madrid archbishop says Catholics feel ‘incredible expectation’ at pope’s upcoming trip to Spain #Catholic Madrid Archbishop Cardinal José Cobo Cano said that the imminent visit of Pope Leo XIV to Spain has generated “incredible expectations” and that the main challenge will not only be organizational, but pastoral.“The challenge is that it is not an event. We are used to concerts, which are prepared, closed and thatʼs it," he said in an interview with EWTN News about the preparations for the trip of Pope Leo XIV, who will visit Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands from June 6 to 12. He expressed hope that the visit will be “a moment of experience and … a moment also that will be slow, that it helps us to look up and take a step forward.”Preparations in record timeCardinal Cobo explained that the visit has been organized in “record time,” with just three months of work, and with a much greater social and ecclesial response than expected.“We have had three scarce months to prepare a trip, during which we have also found that there is a great desire and an incredible expectation. I think we thought it was going to be something [for which] we had to motivate [Catholics] a lot, but nothing was needed,” he said.As he highlighted, the popeʼs program in Madrid has been designed as a “pastoral triptych” with three major components: the celebration of the Eucharist on the feast of Corpus Christi, the great meeting with the Church of Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, and a space for dialogue with leaders of culture, economy and sport.“The celebration of the Eucharist, [especially on] Corpus Christi — which is a very important holiday for us — and celebrating it with the successor of Peter, is a gift for the whole Church of Madrid and for the whole Church of Spain, because they will come from all places. This is the most celebratory central moment,” said the cardinal.The pope and “politics with capital letters”In Coboʼs opinion, one of the most delicate moments will be the appearance of the Holy Father in the Cortes, or the Spanish parliament, before a joint session of both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.Cobo warned that he is concerned that a message about “politics with capital letters” may be reduced to a partisan reading.“In a society where we are used to talking about political parties, that moment is important,” he said. “Of course the intention is that the pope will come, that he will support politicians, that he will support politics and that he will thus be able to reinforce democracy from the experience and tradition of the Church,” he said.Asked if the recent accusation of alleged corruption of the former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero could have any impact on the visit, Cobo indicated it was unlikely. “We are used to working with many events in political life. Thatʼs already part of life and the headlines are moving,” he said. “I think the good thing about a papal visit is that … it can help us look up and see that despite the political situation that is painful … there is a higher level.”“There is another level, a level that speaks to us of hope, it is a level that speaks to us of responsibility, that speaks to us of ethics,” he said. “I believe that we are not going to contradict one thing with another, but we are going to get used to being also in another space, which is that of non-confrontation and welcoming wounds and difficulties and putting them in front of the space of meaning that life gives and that faith tells us.”The hope of the young, and not so youngThe cardinal also noted that for young people the visit could represent a response to a climate of “disorientation”, “uprooting” and “hopelessness.” He maintained that many are looking for “anchors” and answers about the meaning of life, something that, in his opinion, explains the renewed interest in the figure of the pope among new generations.“I think it is a response to a longing that young people have … and not only young people, I think it is from a very broad generation, I believe that there is an experience of a certain discomfort, a disorientation … a certain de-rooting. People need anchors that they donʼt have.”A meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Bad Bunny?Regarding the coincidence of the popeʼs presence in Madrid occurring at the same time as the rapper Bad Bunnyʼs concerts, Cobo did not close the door to a possible meeting, although he left it in the hands of both parties. “The pope is never closed to talking to anyone who wants to enter into dialogue with him,” he said.“If at some point that can happen, we wouldnʼt rule it out of course, but that depends on the two of them. What is certain is that indeed Madrid is very big and can have different events on the same day,” he said.

unitedyam May 23, 2026May 23, 2026

Archbishop José Cobo Cano hopes Pope Leo XIV’s visit will help Catholics “look up and take a step forward.”

Bishop Barron speaks on U.S. religious roots ahead of nation’s 250th anniversary #Catholic While there has been a tendency in the United Sates "to hyper-stress separation of church and state," Bishop Robert Barron said "the roots of our country are deeply religious" and "the basic principles of the country are inescapably religious.” On May 17, thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the White House event celebrating “one nation under God” and "the connection between religion and our American democracy,” Barron said.In an interview with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn ahead of the event, Barron discussed the “hugely important” phrase "one nation under God.”“In the written versions of the Gettysburg Address that [Abraham Lincoln] prepared before giving it, the phrase ‘under God’ is not there,” Barron explained.“But then when he was delivering it he added ... ‘under God,’“ Barron said. ”I think it represented a deep intuition that Lincoln had that you canʼt really understand our democracy without it.” The phrase “under God” is “meant to hold off tyranny,” he said. It is clear that “all kings and all rulers are under God, meaning under the judgment and authority of God. Our founders understood that.”“And that little phrase is meant to hold off that tendency to deify any political establishment, political party, political ruler. Weʼre a nation, yes indeed, but weʼre under God. Our laws are determined by God,” he said.“I love the First Amendment to our Constitution, which in its opening lines expresses very eloquently … the right balance,“ he said. ”Namely, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.’”“But then thereʼs a second part, the second clause of that: ‘Congress shall make no law limiting the free exercise of religion,’” he said.“Thatʼs an eloquent balance. So thereʼs no officially state-sanctioned religion, but that does not mean that religion has no role in public life. On the contrary, because there should be no law restricting the free exercise of religion,” Barron said. Catholics’ role in public life and public officeCatholics in public office should bring “moral sensibility into their public decisions,” Barron said.“Weʼre not here to impose Catholicism on anybody,” he said. “But I think to bring a moral and spiritual sensibility into the decisions that you make at these high levels is altogether valid.”As a member of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, Barron said he met “lots of Catholics in the present administration” and told them to “bring Thomas Aquinas into your public life.”“By which I mean bring these great moral and spiritual principles that indeed undergird our democracy, but make them a lively presence in the work that you do,” he said.Barron further spoke about his time on the White House commission, where he received both criticism and praise.When asked to be a commissioner, “my first reaction was very positive,” Barron said. “I thought … ‘Theyʼre inviting a Catholic bishop to be a voice around the table in the formulation of this policy. Why would I say no?’”To say no would be “taking a Catholic voice away from that process,” he said.“I’m not implementing the policy. Iʼm making suggestions regarding the formulation of policy,” Barron explained. “The president could take or leave what we say … So Iʼm not implementing the presidentʼs policies. Iʼm helping to shape public policy.”“The commission was great. I spoke my mind in every setting. No one censored me,” said Barron, who was present at a White House Holy Week event when Pentecostal pastor Paula Cain White compared the president’s suffering to Jesus Christ’s.Barron said he was able to address issues within the administration, specifically about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “detainees in Chicago having access to sacraments and pastoral care.”The bishop took the matter to Homeland Security and “no one questioned” him. It was “a religious liberty issue,” because “people have a right to their sacraments and pastoral care,” he said.Barron also spoke out in regard to the president’s “critical remarks about the pope.”“I said in an X post that I have deep admiration for the president in regard to religion. Heʼs done wonderful things. But I said I think that was a disrespectful way to talk to the pope,” Barron said.“In regards to prudential judgment,” a president can “disagree with the pope,” Barron said. “But the pope is not ... just an ordinary hack politician that you can sort of talk in that flippant way to.”

Bishop Robert Barron speaks with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn ahead of the May 17, 2026, White House event on “one nation under God” in Washington, D.C. | Credit: EWTN News

“Heʼs the vicar of Christ, successor of Peter. Heʼs our Holy Father. And I just felt that was disrespectful, and I thought it was not a constructive contribution to the conversation,” he said.“Heʼs the Holy Father, so we have a filial relationship to him. Heʼs a father, weʼre like children … we have a family relationship to the pope. So itʼs different than just our relationship to a political leader.”“At the level of principle and the moral values that ought to be informing our life … we abide by what the pope is saying, but I think there can be disagreement at the prudential level,” Barron said.Dividing issues in the nation todayAmid numerous wars right now, Barron said “we should study” the just war tradition.It offers “very useful criteria, and I think the Churchʼs job is to bring these to consciousness and urge political leaders to apply them,” he said.“The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that when it comes to the evaluation and application of the criteria, that belongs to the civil authorities. And I think thereʼs great wisdom there too.”Barron also spoke to the ongoing matters with U.S. immigration enforcement.“A completely open border invites a lot of moral chaos, and a lot of catastrophe happens because of an open border. So the Church recognizes the legitimacy of that,” Barron said. “At the same time, the Church wants us to welcome the stranger and to be open to those who are in great need and those who are seeking refuge.”ICE “is a very legitimate expression of the governmentʼs authority, but … I think ICE is way too blunt a tool to use to solve the general issue of people in the country illegally,” Barron said.“I think a political solution has to be found. I donʼt think ICE is the right instrument to do that,” he said. “Iʼd invite people who are intimately involved in these things to have a good, morally informed conversation about it and come to good prudential judgments.”“Iʼm not an expert in immigration policy, and Iʼm not an expert in the economics that are prevailing on the ground in various situations,” he said. “I think we have to inform all those who are making those decisions, make sure they have a keen moral sensibility, [and] know what the principles are.”“But I think people of goodwill can, and obviously do, disagree about how they are applied … concretely,” he said.

unitedyam May 22, 2026May 22, 2026

“There’s no officially state-sanctioned religion, but that does not mean that religion has no role in public life,” Bishop Robert Barron said.

EWTN News explains: What is a papal encylical? #Catholic With the announcement of Pope Leo XIVʼs first papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: “On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," there is much anticipation as to what guidance the pope will provide on the digital revolution and emerging technologies such as AI.But what are papal encyclicals, and what can they reveal about the popeʼs priorities on the world stage and for the Church?The pope’s pastoral letterA papal encyclical is a pastoral letter written by the pope, primarily addressed to bishops but also to Catholics and all people, typically reflecting on Church teachings and suggesting ways to apply them to modern issues.According to the 1917 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, encyclicals were “letters sent to all the bishops of Christendom, or at least to all those in one particular country, and intended to guide them in their relations with their flocks.”Encyclicals are part of the pope’s everyday teaching authority, known as his “ordinary magisterium.” They are among the most common ways he presents Church doctrine and serve as authoritative and valuable sources of Catholic teaching and guidance on contemporary topics, including sexuality, Catholic social teaching, and stewardship of the earth.Since Pope Leo XIII, encyclicals have become one of the most common means by which popes are heard across the globe on the most pressing issues of our time.Are Catholics required to believe them?A pope does not normally use an encyclical to make an "ex cathedra" declaration — a solemn, and rare, statement on faith or morals, normally promulgated in an apostolic constitution. Modern examples of "ex cathedra" proclamations include the popes' definitions of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the Assumption (1950).Encyclicals, however, are not merely letters or expressions of the popeʼs opinion. They carry significant doctrinal weight and are frequently cited as important sources of Catholic teaching.According to canon law, Catholics are required to give “a religious submission of the intellect and will” to these letters and to “take care to avoid those things which do not agree with it.”Simply put, Catholics are to presume that the pope teaches the truth in these letters and to sincerely respect the teachings they contain.Recent encyclical trendsInitially addressed exclusively to bishops, papal encyclicals began reaching broader audiences in the modern period, beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. It marked the first time in many years that the bishop of Rome had written a pastoral letter on matters other than doctrine or internal affairs of the Church, instead addressing workers’ rights, the right to private property, and the dangers of socialism.With St. John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris in 1963, pontiffs increasingly addressed their letters to “all men of goodwill,” shifting from a mainly Catholic audience to the global stage.

Pope Leo XIII in 1898. | Credit: Francesco De Federicis/Wikimedia Commons

Since the Second Vatican Council, papal encyclicals have increasingly focused on threats to the dignity of the human person and authentic human development. St. Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae in 1968, reiterating and applying Church teaching to the question of artificial birth control. St. John Paul II dedicated four encyclicals to promoting Catholic social teaching, building on Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. Pope Francis’ four encyclicals largely addressed the preservation of ecology and universal fraternity.Despite the importance given to these letters in the modern period, the average number of encyclicals per pope is relatively small. Francis wrote only four, while Benedict XVI, his immediate predecessor, wrote just three. John Paul II wrote 14, but the average number of encyclicals per pope since the Second Vatican Council has been just seven.Leo XIII has the most encyclicals of any pope, with 88, 11 of which are dedicated to the rosary.Pope Leo XIVʼs first encyclical builds on othersPope Leo XIV indicated at the beginning of his pontificate that he intended to follow in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII, his predecessor, by responding to todayʼs industrial revolution: “developments in the field of artificial intelligence.” May 15 marked the 135th anniversary of the publication of Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on capital and labor, Rerum Novarum: “Of New Things” — the first in a long line of social encyclicals produced in the modern era of the Catholic Church.Addressing the College of Cardinals on May 10, 2025, Leo said: “In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”Magnifica Humanitas is expected to be released on May 25 at 11:30 a.m. Rome time in the Vaticanʼs Synod Hall.

unitedyam May 20, 2026May 20, 2026

Papal encyclicals are a powerful way the pope shapes global debates and articulates Church doctrine, but how should Catholics understand them?

New York Diocese of Ogdensburg will pay million to sex abuse victims #Catholic The Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, will pay out million to abuse victims, part of a yearslong bankruptcy process that began after dozens of sex abuse cases were filed against it. The diocese said in a May 19 statement that the diocesan administration, along with “parishes, schools, and other Catholic entities,” would contribute into the settlement, which would be organized as a “survivor trust.” “Once the plan is confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court, the million contributed to the survivor trust … will be available for distribution to survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated against them by clergy, religious, lay employees, and volunteers,” the diocese said. Ogdensburg Bishop Terry LaValley prayed that the settlement “will bring peace and healing to all survivors and to all the faithful whose hearts were broken by the gravely sinful conduct of Church leaders.”“The great harm that has been caused by this sinful behavior must never be allowed to happen again,“ he said. ”It is my sincere hope that this process has brought the survivors some comfort and peace.”The diocese "is committed to ensuring the safety of all persons entrusted to our care,” the bishop said. The New York-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates said in a May 19 press release that the diocese and abuse victims “will continue negotiations regarding significant nonmonetary provisions,” including “enhancements to child protection policies and the public disclosure of information related to clergy and other personnel accused of sexual abuse.”The Ogdensburg Diocese filed for bankruptcy in July 2023, the sixth diocese in New York state to do so. The bankruptcy filing came as the diocese was facing dozens of abuse lawsuits filed under the stateʼs 2019 Child Victims Act, which significantly expanded the window in which abuse victims could file lawsuits against abusers and institutions. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, LaValley said dealing with the lawsuits on a case-by-case basis would be “slow” and “unpredictable.” “Reorganization ensures that each survivor receives just compensation," the bishop said at the time. "It eliminates a race to the courthouse in which the earliest cases settled or brought to judgment could exhaust the resources available to pay claims, leaving nothing for victims whose cases are resolved later."Earlier this month it was announced that the Archdiocese of New York would pay 0 million into an abuse settlement there, with the amount covering around 1,300 victims who also filed under the state Child Victims Act.

unitedyam May 20, 2026May 20, 2026

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after nearly 150 sex abuse lawsuits were filed against it.

Leo XIV laments that after receiving confirmation, many young people ‘disappear from the parish’ #Catholic Pope Leo XIV lamented that after being confirmed, many young people no longer attend church. He asked those awaiting confirmation to “pay special attention” to one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, perseverance.The pope met on Saturday, May 16, with those awaiting confirmation from the Archdiocese of Genoa, Italy. In an impromptu message, the Holy Father said that “one of the greatest joys of a bishop is celebrating confirmations, because it is truly a gift of the Holy Spirit.”“It is truly beautiful to receive this sacrament, for the fullness of the Holy Spirit gives us this enthusiasm, this strength, this ability to follow Jesus Christ, to always say ‘yes’ to the Lord, to have no fear of following him with courage, and to live out our faith in a world that so often seeks to draw us away from Jesus,” he told them.After recalling the significance of the solemnity of Pentecost — to be celebrated on Sunday, May 24 — the pope lamented a sad reality: “At times, when the bishop administers confirmation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the children are never seen again! They disappear from the parish.”“Don’t forget what you have experienced during this time, including the joy of coming to Rome to celebrate together, to pray together. And may this joy live on in your hearts as you continue to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ,” Pope Leo urged.He also invited young people to “persevere in the faith, to return to the parish — there are so many activities, so many opportunities — but above all in the life of faith, because Jesus Christ wants to walk with you, with each one of you, and with all of you in community, which is so important.”“We do not live out our faith alone; we live it together. And forming these relationships of friendship and community is a way of living with perseverance as disciples of Jesus,” he added.Finally, he called upon those to be confirmed to make a promise to the Lord: “that you truly desire to continue being his friends, his disciples, and his missionaries, and that you desire to persevere in the faith. So, I leave you with these words,” he concluded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam May 19, 2026May 19, 2026

Speaking to a group of young people soon to be confirmed, Pope Leo XIV encouraged perseverance in the faith and emphasized that faith is lived in community, not in isolation.

Indian Catholics denied bail after confronting mob that disrupted Mass #Catholic UDAIPUR, India — Nine Catholics have been behind bars for more than two weeks after parishioners chased out more than a dozen people who barged into a village church during Mass, shouting accusations of conversion, in a remote village in Indiaʼs desert state of Rajasthan.“We feel frustrated that our people were denied bail a second time today on the false allegation of conversion,” Bishop Devprasad John Ganawa of Udaipur, a Divine Word missionary, told EWTN News on May 12.“When the hooligans disrupted the Mass on May 1 shouting ‘conversion,’ our people forced them out. Instead of registering a criminal case against the intruders, the police have charged our people with ‘conversion and attempt to murder’ and arrested nine Catholics of Bandaria Parish,” Ganawa explained.‘They took out a knife’“I was saying the evening Mass at the substation of my parish at Kalinjara village when the incident happened,” Father Arvind Amliyar recounted to EWTN News.“During the Communion time over a dozen people stormed into the church, shouted ‘conversion,’ and started filming with cameras. When one of them took out a knife, our people snatched it and chased them out,” Amliyar said.“Soon police came and what happened then shocked me. Instead of finding out what had happened, they arrested four Catholics the same night,” the priest said.A Hindu mob then staged a protest outside the police station and demanded action against the parishioners, according to Amliyar. Police turned away Catholics who went to them twice, including at midnight the same day and the next day, refusing to register their complaint.Police came knocking on May 4 at 2:30 a.m. and arrested five more parishioners, including Anil Rawat, 70, a retired headmaster of a government school who now runs a private school in the village.Bail denied twiceThe local magistrate court rejected the parishioners' bail application the next day, as they were charged with “serious crimes”: conversion and attempted murder. Church lawyers then moved the case to the Banswara district court, which denied bail again on May 12.“Now, we have to go to the High Court with senior lawyers,” Amliyar said of the challenging situation facing the village church, which serves about 70 Catholic families. About 70 people were attending Mass when the intruders stormed in.“I cannot understand what is going on. The police bluntly refused to register the complaint of our people and have filed a serious charge of conversion against our people and imprisoned them,” Ganawa said of the first case of alleged conversion in Udaipur Diocese, where he has served as bishop for 13 years.Anti-conversion laws ‘reduced to a tool to harass minorities’“This is another typical case of the widespread abuse of anti-conversion laws against Christians in several states, most of them ruled by the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party],” A.C. Michael, a Catholic and national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, which monitors atrocities against Christians, told EWTN News from New Delhi.Under the Indian criminal system, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. However, under recently enacted or amended anti-conversion laws, Michael said, the burden of disproving the charge of conversion is shifted to the accused, making it difficult for defendants to secure bail from trial courts quickly, even in fraudulent cases.Under the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, enacted in 2025, the burden of disproving the allegation of conversion falls on the accused.As a result, Michael said, hundreds of Christians are languishing in jails in BJP-ruled states while protracted legal challenges drag on in higher courts.“The shocking reality is that there has been hardly any conviction in so-called conversion cases. That is why the churches and Christian groups have moved the Supreme Court for abolishing the anti-conversion laws that have been reduced to a tool to harass minorities,” Michael said.He noted that the Supreme Court in May 2024 observed that certain provisions in anti-conversion laws may be in violation of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate oneʼs religion.The Feb. 4–10 biennial assembly of more than 200 bishops in India in Bangalore also reiterated this concern in its final statement: “As many innocent individuals are incarcerated based on unfounded allegations of forceful religious conversions, we strongly demand the repealing of legislations which are inconsistent with religious freedom and right to privacy.”

unitedyam May 18, 2026May 18, 2026

Nine parishioners face conversion and attempted murder charges after forcing out intruders who stormed a village church during Mass in Rajasthan.

From Budapest to Princeton, Catholic scholars mobilize to reconnect faith and political life #Catholic Catholic political and social thought, one of the foundational intellectual traditions of Western civilization, is poised for renewal as a new international initiative seeks to bring it back into conversation with new generations and decision-makers of tomorrow.CatholicPOST, the Association for the Renewal of Catholic Political and Social Thought, was born from the conviction — shared by a group of European scholars during the COVID-19 lockdowns — that the health crisis had exposed not only the fragility of modern Western societies but also a deeper anthropological confusion threatening their social foundations.That vision took concrete form at the inaugural conference of the association, titled “The Renaissance of Catholic Social Teaching,” held March 9–10 at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest and attended by international academics and Vatican and Hungarian Catholic Church officials.“COVID was a tragic moment in contemporary history, and it required thinking back again on the basics of social life,” Professor Ferenc Hörcher — a Hungarian professor of political philosophy, historian of ideas, and the association’s president — told EWTN News. “And that is something you can do best on the grounds of the Catholic tradition, pointing back to Aristotle and forward to the social teaching of the Church.”For Hörcher — also director of the Research Institute for Politics and Government at Ludovika — the timing has only gained relevance with the election of Pope Leo XIV, whose choice of name evokes Pope Leo XIII, author of the landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, widely regarded as the founding text of modern Catholic social teaching.Neglected intellectual inheritanceOne of CatholicPOST’s most urgent tasks is to restore Catholic social doctrine to its rightful place in intellectual life and academic discussion — a place it has progressively lost over the past century.Secularization, according to the association’s founders, has pushed Catholic intellectual traditions to the margins of public discourse. Even conservative academic circles, in their view, have often drawn more from Anglo-Saxon traditions with Protestant roots than from Catholic social thought.“Catholicism finds itself in the second row,” Hörcher said, “despite the fact that our modern and postmodern civilization is essentially built on it.”The association presents itself as a scholarly, nonpartisan platform, open not only to Catholics but also to thinkers willing to engage seriously with the tradition.“The Church cannot enter directly into political debate — that is not its mission,” Hörcher said. “But we, as Catholic intellectuals and practitioners in our own professions, can take that on.”Deeper stakesThe initiative of the group, consisting of, among others, American, Swedish, Maltese, and Hungarian scholars, emerges at a moment of mounting polarization across Western societies, as clashes over gender identity, family, bioethics, and the very understanding of the human person grow increasingly confrontational — and, at times, violent.For Hörcher, this is precisely why a recovery of serious Catholic political and social thought matters. CatholicPOST, he said, aims to reconnect contemporary debates with an intellectual tradition capable of addressing questions of philosophical anthropology that go far beyond basic politics.That ambition also helps explain the caliber of thinkers already orbiting the initiative, from French political philosopher Pierre Manent, a leading contemporary thinker on natural law and the moral foundations of political life, to scholars at the University of Notre Dame, home to the natural law tradition developed by John Finnis, and Princeton’s James Madison Program, led by natural law theorist Robert George — a circle Hörcher is set to join for a year as a visiting scholar to Princeton’s Department of Politics.The initiative has also attracted attention in Rome. In his keynote speech at the Budapest conference, Father Avelino Chico, head of office at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented Catholic social teaching as a living intellectual tradition still evolving in response to the “new things” of each age — from industrial modernity in the time of Rerum Novarum to contemporary social challenges such as artificial intelligence, migration, ecological crisis, and widening inequality.Chico portrayed Pope Leo XIV as continuing that trajectory, seeking to integrate the legacy of Leo XIII and Pope Francis through the lens of integral human development — an approach that takes seriously not only economic realities but also the spiritual, cultural, and political dimensions of human life.Supporting new generationsThe association is already planning a second conference in Kraków, a deliberate choice honoring Poland’s enduring Catholic intellectual tradition and the legacy of St. John Paul II.Registration in the U.S. is also underway, as CatholicPOST has roots in American educational institutions like Christendom College, as a result of its aim to strengthen its international footprint and deepen transatlantic academic ties.For Hörcher, however, the deeper hope is not merely institutional growth but helping provide intellectual substance to what he sees as a broader spiritual movement among younger Westerners rediscovering Christianity. “We hope to give munition,” he said, “intellectual support for those young people.”He sees CatholicPOST as part of a recurring pattern in Catholic history. “Each century brought a revival of Catholic political thought,” he said, citing the neo-scholastic revival of 16th- to 17th-century Spain, the Holy Alliance of the post-Napoleonic Age, the social teaching inaugurated by Leo XIII, and the contribution of Catholic thinkers such as Jacques Maritain to the postwar rise of the human rights framework.“These historical precedents help us envision what a new renaissance might look like — and why it is needed now."

unitedyam May 18, 2026May 18, 2026

CatholicPOST seeks to restore Catholic social doctrine to its rightful place in intellectual life and academic discussion.

Seminarians medal at Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon #Catholic On Sunday, May 5, 21 men in formation for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology in Cincinnati participated in the 28th annual Flying Pig Marathon. The men of the Mount held their own among the approximately 45,000 other racers. Emerson Wells, studying for the Archdiocese of Louisville, placed second overall with a personal best marathon time of 2:23:52, averaging 5 minutes, 30 seconds per mile for the entire 26.2 mile race. It’s a time that would have won him first place nine out of the last 10 years of the race. The seminarian-led Verso l’Alto Track Club team won first place in the 4-person relay, clocking a finish time of 2:30:39 and outstripping the second place relay team by nearly 20 minutes. Seminarian Chatham Anderson, studying for the Diocese of Columbus, started the team off, followed by Nick Merk, then Kevin Bonfield, and finally Cincinnati seminarian David Adamitis brought the team over the finish line. These five men each donned the Verso l’Alto Track Club jersey, signalling to all who passed by that they ran for a reason. St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7, 2025, made the Italian phrase Verso l’Alto known around the world. It translates to “To the heights.” The Verso l’Alto Track Club, open to all local Catholic men (with a qualifying 5k time of 18 minutes) combines the pursuit of excellence in running and virtuous brotherhood — all ordered toward the glorification of GodWells, a lifelong runner, said this was the most systematic training he’s used to prepare for a marathon thus far.“I had a few weeks where I got up to 80 miles a week, which was workable, but it was definitely tough with the schedule and I had to use my breaks to take advantage of that,” he said.

The seminarian-led Verso l’Alto Track Club team won 1st place in the Marathon 4-man Relay with a time of 2:30:39 on May 5, 2026 in Cincinnati. | Photo courtesy of Chatham Anderson, Nick Merk, Kevin Bonfield and David Adamitis

The seminarians stick to a strict schedule of prayer, worship, instruction, and study each day. Wells trained with a goal of running the race in 2 hours, 25 minutes or less. “I knew I had to really focus on the hills if I was going to be successful.”In conjunction with his rigorous training, Wells had a few other tools to keep him going toward his goal.“There was a group of sisters from the Children of Mary that came down to my home parish in Louisville. One of them — Sister Imelda Joy — told me that she and two of her other sisters were going to be making perpetual vows soon.”On May 3, to be exact, the same day as the Flying Pig Marathon.“When she told me that, I was like, full stop. Thatʼs what Iʼm going to be offering this race for.”At moments when the race became tough, Wells remembered those sisters and asked for our Lady’s intercession for them.Wells’ devotion to Mary is made visible by the brown scapular he wore during the race. “I wear the scapular every day; itʼs part of my devotional life.” The scapular didn’t stay in place as he ran through the streets of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. “I actually like having it on during runs because you can kind of see itʼll fly around quite a bit, and I’m reminded that Mary is the way and sheʼs the perfect exemplar of what it means to be truly devoted to God and contemplation,” Wells said.The men of the Verso l’Alto Track Club share a common goal: physical excellence ordered toward spiritual growth.“You can be excellent in a given activity and excellent in your faith. Theyʼre not exclusive to each other, but actually mutually affirming,” Adamitis said. “I think that thereʼs a real good among Christians to have ambitious goals according to their talents and to ask the Lord for enlightenment about what their abilities are and how they can use those abilities to glorify His name to bring others into His kingdom.”The message as these men ran “to the heights” was clear: the pursuit of excellence is the pursuit of God.“When we strive to have perfection in those areas of physical health and strength, it should really encourage us to have greater care for what matters the most, and thatʼs our soul and our union with God,” said Adamitis.Both Wells and Adamitis plan to continue running. Through the Verso l’Alto Track Club, they aim to amplify their mission throughout Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and the Archdiocese at large.Catholic high school students and adults are invited to compete in the club’s summer cross country challenge on Aug. 7, 2026. Adamitis explained the main motivation is to bring Catholic high school students together so that they can have a sense of a greater community. “So that these high school students can see, ‘As I get older and I eventually graduate high school, I can still pursue running at a high level and stay Catholic.’ Thereʼs an element of excellence to both of those things that continue beyond high school.” “Our athletic pursuits are ultimately ordered for the glorification of God,” Adamitis said. “Cincinnati is a wonderful running city, and we can shift the idea to where itʼs not just running, but itʼs running for the glorification of God.”This article was originally published by The Catholic Telegraph, of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and is reprinted here, with adaptations, with permission.

unitedyam May 16, 2026May 16, 2026

On May 5, 21 men in formation for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology in Cincinnati participated in the 28th annual Flying Pig Marathon.

unitedyam May 16, 2026May 16, 2026

Picture of the day

Small waterfall on Gunung Lambak, one of several along the stream that flows next to the main path up the mountain. This is a focus stack of 2 photographs, and a neutral density filter was used to allow a long exposure time of 2 seconds.

SSPX responds to Vatican warning about excommunication with ‘declaration of Catholic faith’ #Catholic The traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) addressed Pope Leo XIV this week with a statement of faith it called “the minimum necessary to be in communion with the Church.”In an introduction to the “Declaration of Catholic Faith” — published May 14 on the society’s website — the SSPX said that for more than 50 years it has raised the issue of what it believes are “errors that are destroying Catholic faith and morals” but that the group has never received “any truly satisfactory response” from the Holy See.The statement, signed by SSPX superior general Father Davide Pagliarani, said it "places this simple Declaration of Faith” into the hands of Pope Leo: “It seems to us to correspond to the minimum necessary to be in communion with the Church, to call ourselves truly Catholic and, consequently, Your children.”The Vatican’s prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, issued a brief statement on May 13, warning that if the SSPX carried out the “schismatic act” of consecrating new bishops without papal mandate — as the group has announced it plans to do on July 1 — it will result in excommunications as established by canon law.Fernández also said Pope Leo XIV is praying that the leaders of the SSPX “may reconsider the very grave decision they have made.”In the society’s declaration following Fernández’s statement, it reiterates the teachings of the Catholic faith about the existence of only one faith and one Church, and that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and men.The declaration appears to reject a document issued by the DDF last year stating that “Co-Redemptrix” is not an appropriate way to describe the Virgin Mary’s participation in salvation because “it carries the risk of eclipsing the exclusive role of Jesus Christ.”The SSPX said, “By divine decree, the Most Holy Virgin Mary has been directly and intimately associated with the entire work of Redemption; to deny this association — in the terms received from Tradition — is therefore to alter the very notion of Redemption as willed by divine Providence.”The “declaration of Catholic faith” also appears to make oblique references to some of the theological questions contested by the SSPX, which are mostly tied to the interpretation of post–Second Vatican Council teaching, including God’s will regarding the plurality of religions; and the differing levels of assent required by various Vatican II texts and their interpretation.For example, the society’s statement says the necessity to be a part of the Catholic Church to save one’s soul “concerns the whole of humanity without exception and embraces without distinction Christians, Jews, Muslims, pagans, and atheists” and that the mandate “to convert every man to the Catholic Faith, remains binding until the end of time and responds to the most absolute and most pressing necessity in the world.”The declaration also says a couple living a “lifestyle” that includes “sins of impurity” should be helped to free themselves from sin and that the couple “can in no way be blessed — formally or informally — by ministers of the Church” — an apparent reference to Pope Francis’ 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which allows priests to offer private, nonliturgical blessings to same-sex couples.

unitedyam May 15, 2026May 15, 2026

The Vatican said on May 13 that the Society of St. Pius X’s plan to consecrate new bishops without papal mandate will be a schismatic act resulting in excommunication.

unitedyam May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Church leaders in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu call the election of actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay a source of pride in a country where Christians face growing persecution.

From seminarian in Nicaragua to priest in Miami: ‘I carry my people and my homeland in my heart’ #Catholic As a seminarian, Cristhian David Mendieta Hernández had to flee Nicaragua, persecuted by the very dictatorship that had recently exiled his bishop. The regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, ramped up its persecution of the Catholic Church in 2018.After the dictatorship exiled Silvio Báez, the auxiliary bishop of Managua, from Nicaragua in April 2019, Mendieta, who as a seminarian often accompanied the bishop, was forced to flee the country as well, traveling first to Guatemala and then to Costa Rica. His journey concluded in Miami in January 2022, where, with the assistance of Báez and Father Marco Somarriba, pastor of St. Agatha Parish in Miami, he was able to continue his priestly formation.On May 9 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, he knelt before Archbishop Thomas Wenski and received the priestly ordination that the Nicaraguan dictatorship had attempted to deny him.“I carry my people and my homeland in my heart, and I will offer my first Mass for them,” the newly ordained Nicaraguan priest, who will serve as parochial vicar at St. Thomas the Apostle in Miami, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on May 10.“This priesthood is a blessing for me, for my family, for the Church, and for the people of Nicaragua,” added Mendieta, who was born in La Concepción township in the Masaya district of Nicaragua. He celebrated his first Mass on May 10 at St. Agatha, accompanied by Báez and other Nicaraguan priests who attended the ordination.“I am grateful to the Archdiocese of Miami for welcoming me and giving me the opportunity to serve the people of God. Here we have a broader perspective that our ministry is for all of God’s people and that our people, especially those from Latin America, share the same aspirations for freedom, peace, and stability,” he emphasized. Father Edwing Román, parochial vicar at St. Agatha, told ACI Prensa that “it’s a source of great joy to have Father Cristhian as another brother in the priesthood. He is a young man of many virtues and a dedicated scholar.”“I admire his piety and humility as well as his ease in forming friendships with the faithful. May God bless him abundantly, and may he be a shepherd modeled after Jesus Christ, the eternal high priest,” Román said.In a video posted by the Archdiocese of Miami on May 6, Mendieta recalled that when he was 6 years old and attending a concert, he announced that he was thinking of becoming a priest, which surprised his family.Years later, while involved in his parishʼs youth ministry, the example of his hardworking parish priest, Father José Antonio, who strove to reach every community, no matter how remote, encouraged him to pursue his vocation and change his plans to become a doctor.The young priest also shared that he enjoys classical music and Frank Sinatra, and that when he is driving, he entertains himself by listening to the British band Queen.Along with Mendieta, the following men were ordained: Adam Cahill, Henry Cárdenas Afanador, Tomasz Kaziel, Arístides Lima, Carlos Luzardo, Saint-Clos Papouloute, Pietro Pironato, and Michele Sega.In his homily, Wenski highlighted the diverse origins of the new priests — Nicaragua, Italy, Poland, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. — and noted that “in an increasingly secularized world, where many have lost the sense of the transcendent, the priest is an enigma, a symbol of great contradiction.”"Nowadays, many view religious faith with hostility or at best, with indifference. In such a world, the Church will always appear out of step and irrelevant. Often, such a Church will be viewed if not with contempt and mockery, with total incomprehension. As Jesus said: ‘If the world hates you, know that it hated me first,’” the archbishop said.“Face the challenges of your ministry without anxiety or mediocrity, and do not allow yourselves to be intimidated or influenced by those who make power, wealth, or pleasure the primary criteria of their lives,” he exhorted.After encouraging the new priests to lay down their lives for their faithful, Wenski urged them to be “generous with their time and available to hear the confessions of the faithful.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam May 13, 2026May 13, 2026

The Ortega regime’s repression of the Catholic Church could not silence God’s call to Cristhian Mendieta. Having fled Nicaragua as a seminarian, the young man was ordained to the priesthood in Miami.

Haitian prime minister meets Pope Leo, inaugurates new Vatican embassy #Catholic Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé discussed peace and strengthening relations with the Holy See in Rome over the weekend. The head of the transitional government was received by Pope Leo XIV on Saturday and then spoke with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.In a brief conversation with EWTN News, Parolin revealed that “we also talked about concrete initiatives regarding peace” with the prime minister, such as a conference on peace in Haiti, but “there is nothing in particular at the moment.” The secretary of state acknowledged that the local Church “is certainly active, helps, and contributes” on the ground.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state (center); Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé (right); and Cypriot Ambassador to the Holy See Georges Poulides, dean of the Diplomatic Corps (left), after the Mass for peace in Haiti at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on Saturday, May 9, 2026. | Credit: Bohumil Petrík/EWTN News

“During the cordial talks,” the Holy See Press Office said in a release, both sides appreciated “good relations,” stressing the “valuable contribution that the Church offers to the country at this particular time.”They touched upon “the socio-political situation and problems in the humanitarian field, migration, and security fields” while mentioning “the necessary contribution of the international community to face current difficulties,” the communiqué concluded.Haiti is experiencing a multidimensional crisis. The country was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010 and a subsequent cholera outbreak. In 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, and the security and political situation deteriorated. Armed gangs control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and there have not been general elections for a decade. The next general elections are scheduled for Aug. 30.“We want to organize elections, ensure security, and move from receiving humanitarian aid to entering the commerce and market,” the prime minister said after the Mass for peace in Haiti, presided over by Parolin in the Basilica of St. Mary Major following the audience at the Vatican.Fils-Aimé added that the audience with Pope Leo “was very emotional.” He appreciated “the exceptional relation with the Holy See,” highlighting that “the morale of the Catholic Church” is a “positive” factor in Haitian society.“Looking at the current international situation,” Parolin said in his homily, “we can all recognize how much our world needs Godʼs presence and, therefore, the gift of peace.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin gives the homily at the Mass for peace in Haiti at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on Saturday, May 9, 2026. | Credit: Bohumil Petrík/EWTN News

The Vaticanʼs secretary of state said that “peace is the first gift of the Resurrected” and so “we are called to bring Christʼs peace to the world.” Quoting St. Augustine, the prelate underscored that “peace is not a mere absence of war, as it has a profound significance and challenges all of us.”He ended his homily with the hope that “peace may reign in Haiti forever.”New embassy inaugurated near the Vatican wallsOn Sunday, May 10, the prime minister and Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs Minister Raina Forbin inaugurated the new seat of the embassy of Haiti to the Holy See, located just off the Vatican walls.“It is not just a simple change of address,” said the embassyʼs chargé dʼaffaires, Marie Guerline Janvier, adding that it shows “a political will to strengthen traditional and privileged relations with the Holy See.”In this way, Haiti hopes to increase its visibility at the Holy See and to facilitate dialogue and collaboration.

unitedyam May 11, 2026May 11, 2026

The new embassy of Haiti to the Holy See, inaugurated Sunday near the Vatican walls, marks a deepening of diplomatic ties amid ongoing political crisis in the Caribbean nation.

Historic parish in Toronto Archdiocese to finally break ground on new church #Catholic After well over a decade of prayer, planning, and perseverance, a historic parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto, St. Patrick’s Parish in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, will officially break ground on its new church May 24.For many, the project’s next — and most important — step marks a joyous continuation of a dream long held by generations of parishioners and clergy alike.Celebrations will take place on Pentecost Sunday with Mass at the current St. Patrick’s Church, followed by a procession to the new site located at 150 Martin Byrne Dr. for the formal blessing and groundbreaking ceremony. There, Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Ivan Camilleri will preside, joined by parishioners, major donors, local mayors, and councillors. The day will conclude with a festive barbecue, live music, games, and family activities back at St. Patrick’s.Monsignor Owen Keenan, pastor of St. Patrick’s, the archdiocese’s second-oldest parish, said the long-awaited moment is deeply meaningful for all. He spoke to Canadaʼs The Catholic Register about the parish communityʼs vision for a larger church, dating back to the 1980s, with planning truly intensifying in 2015 under the late Father Vito Marziliano. Unfortunately, misfortune befell the project even in its earliest stages.“ First, our architect Renzo Pianon died at 47, and then COVID hit us hard with the drop in attendance and various fundraising challenges before Father Vito left us far too young,” Keenan said. “There were moments of asking what is next? How much more can the community endure?”Still, the community persisted through Marziliano’s Loaves and Fishes Campaign — a project solely dedicated to St. Patrick’s mission of building a new, larger church property to serve a growing local population.

A rendering of the front of the new St. Patrick’s Parish in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Construction on the new church is scheduled to begin May 24, 2026. | Credit: Screenshot from St. Patrick promo video

Speaking to The Catholic Register in October 2025, Keenan revealed that the City of Brampton, Region of Peel, and the City of Caledon anticipated an increase of between 50,000 to 60,000 people within the confines of the parish in the next 15 to 20 years. He also shared the growing interest from parishioners — and pledges of million to be paid upon the start of construction and an additional million in bequests from an anonymous parishioner and an area business, respectively.While the community has continued to rally behind the cause — including a promising showing and fundraising efforts at last year’s gala in October —Keenan concedes that a sense of restlessness has been creeping in.“ Weʼve managed to maintain and reestablish a good level of fundraising after COVID, but weʼve run out of runway — people are only going to throw money at a question mark for so long. Thus far, we have around 0,000 worth of new donations already, with more expected as we go and as we break ground,” he said.In total, the project has amassed several million dollars for the project.Despite the impressive figures, Keenan reiterated that rising prices have played a role in the project’s delay. Even as the market shows itʼs a good time to build, a 32,000-square-foot project in 2018 was estimated to cost .9 million, but by 2024, a reduced 28,000-square-foot building was estimated to cost as much as .5 million, leading the parish to scale its operation back from wants to needs.Still, the new church itself is set to be Marziliano’s swan song and become something truly unique as his original vision promised.“He was quite an artist, and so the design for the new church will be based on a 19th-century reconstruction of a sixth-century church in the Holy Land, specifically the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish in Tabgha, Israel,” Keenan said.The extensive project involves building a bigger version that remains faithful to the original design, complete with a traditional Romanesque style, rounded apse, cruciform shape, and pillars up the aisles.Now, the project that required a true test of the communityʼs resiliency, patience, and faith will reach its most defining moment with May 24’s first dig.Looking back on the multigenerational effort, Keenan is grateful for the patience and steadfast support of parishioners who have sacrificed for this new church over a decade.“ We are all very excited, and I canʼt say enough about the good people of this parish who have been wanting this for so long. There are lots of good people for whom weʼre enormously grateful,” he said.“We want a place for families who are stressed to be able to come together to appeal to the Lord. Letʼs find our identity in Christ, as St. Paul says, and letʼs truly rejoice together.”This story was first published in Canadaʼs The Catholic Register and has been adapted by EWTN News. It is reprinted here with permission.

unitedyam May 11, 2026May 11, 2026

St. Patrick’s Parish in Brampton, Ontario, is bursting at the seams. Now, on May 24, it will break ground on its long-awaited new church.

unitedyam April 25, 2026

This image that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured of the Crab Nebula, paired with its past observations and those of other telescopes, allows astronomers to study how the supernova remnant is expanding and evolving over time.

The Day of the Trifid Nebula – NASA celebrates Hubble’s 36th anniversary with a new image of the Trifid Nebula, a star-forming region it first captured in 1997. The telescope leveraged almost its full operational lifetime to show us changes in the nebula on human time scales with an improved camera.

unitedyam April 24, 2026

NASA celebrates Hubble’s 36th anniversary with a new image of the Trifid Nebula, a star-forming region it first captured in 1997. The telescope leveraged almost its full operational lifetime to show us changes in the nebula on human time scales with an improved camera.

unitedyam April 12, 2026

A stunning snapshot in time. The Artemis II crew captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

unitedyam April 1, 2026

Picture of the day

A previously unpublished illustration intended for the Saturday Evening Post’s 1943 New Year’s edition. It was never used due to publisher demands that the illustrator, J.C. Leyendecker, create a more optimistic and patriotic cover that was sensitive to the families of American soldiers. It was publicly shown for the first time in 2020 as part of an auction.

Picture of the day

Tower Clock manufacturer in Morez, France – Louis-Delphin Odobey Cadet. Daylight saving time begins today in much of the Western Hemisphere.
#ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam March 17, 2026

Picture of the day

Tower Clock manufacturer in Morez, France – Louis-Delphin Odobey Cadet. Daylight saving time begins today in much of the Western Hemisphere.

Blowing Stellar Bubbles – For the first time, a much younger version of the Sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in the galaxy, by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

unitedyam March 4, 2026

For the first time, a much younger version of the Sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in the galaxy, by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Older Posts

Chennai City Lights – Chennai, on India’s southern coast along the Bay of Bengal and with a metropolitan population of about 8.7 million, shines with white LED streetlights in this photograph taken at approximately 9:13 p.m. local time on May 2, 2026, from the International Space Station.

Picture of the day Small waterfall on Gunung Lambak, one of several along the stream that flows next to the main path up the mountain. This is a focus stack of 2 photographs, and a neutral density filter was used to allow a long exposure time of 2 seconds. #ImageOfTheDay

A Fresh Look at the Crab Nebula – This image that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured of the Crab Nebula, paired with its past observations and those of other telescopes, allows astronomers to study how the supernova remnant is expanding and evolving over time.

Starstruck – A stunning snapshot in time. The Artemis II crew captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Picture of the day Tower Clock manufacturer in Morez, France – Louis-Delphin Odobey Cadet. Daylight saving time begins today in much of the Western Hemisphere. #ImageOfTheDay

Blowing Stellar Bubbles – For the first time, a much younger version of the Sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in the galaxy, by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.