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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.

Students, father killed in southern Lebanon as Tyre’s Christian quarter faces new threat #Catholic A new tragedy struck southern Lebanon after an Israeli strike killed Dr. James George Karam and his two university-aged children, Tony and Theodosia, as they returned from university exams, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Wednesday. The family, from the Christian town of Qlayaa, were traveling back from Sidon when their car was reportedly targeted, deepening fears among Christians in Lebanon’s border villages. In a statement, Qlayaa’s municipality said the road linking the southern villages to Lebanon’s capital and educational centers has become a place of danger for civilians. The killing has intensified anger among students and families who say safer arrangements are needed for exams in border areas. On the same day, an Israeli warning concerning the Christian quarter of Tyre added to the anxiety, leaving civilians feeling caught between Hezbollah’s presence and Israeli military action.French lawmakers remove bill provision requiring priests to break seal of confessionLawmakers in France voted to removed a controversial provision in a bill that would have required clergy to report information learned while administering the sacrament of confession. According to Zenit, the proposal, which engendered heated debate in French Parliament, was drafted in the aftermath of a sexual abuse scandal involving hundreds of allegations linked to a Catholic school.Canon law dictates that priests may never reveal the contents of a penitentʼs confession under pain of the Church’s most severe penalties. 9 Salesians to be beatified in Poland on June 6Nine Salesians who were killed during World War II by the German Nazis will be beatified on June 6 at the Shrine of St. John Paul II in Kraków, Poland, according to Vatican News. “Despite hunger, humiliation, and torture, they continued to support their fellow prisoners, pray, and bear witness to their faith,” the report said. Karol Wojtyła, before he became Pope John Paul II, witnessed the arrest of six of the nine men in Krakow. Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, archbishop of Kraków, said of the connection between the former saint-pope and the soon-to-be new blesseds: "I firmly believe that the priestly vocation of St. John Paul II was also born from their martyrdom.” Kenyan bioethicist-priest issues warning about Ebola facilityA priest and bioethics scholar in Kenya has raised suspicions over a controversial proposal for a U.S.-linked Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya, arguing that “the initiative raises profound ethical questions that require broader scrutiny beyond political and diplomatic considerations.”According to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, Father Pascal Mwakio is concerned that the 50-bed Ebola quarantine and treatment center at the Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya may involve "ethical dumping," a term used when developed nations "unethically conduct research in low-setting resource countries or third-world countries.” Patriarch Hoyek remembered as ‘pastor who helped shape modern Lebanon’The announcement of the beatification of Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyek has renewed attention to one of the defining Church figures in Lebanon’s modern history, according to ACI MENA. Hoyek’s legacy is closely tied to the emergence of Greater Lebanon, especially through his advocacy at the Paris Peace Conference after World War I, where he defended the right of his people to a homeland rooted in dignity, freedom, and pluralism.More than a political figure, Hoyek is remembered as a pastor who saw faith as a force for building both the human person and the nation. His life joined ecclesial service with national responsibility, leaving a witness that still speaks to Lebanon’s search for hope amid crisis.First Chaldean synod under new patriarch looks to renewal Patriarch Paul III Nona presided over the first synod of Chaldean bishops since his installation, gathering 14 bishops at the patriarchal residence in Baghdad while travel difficulties prevented the participation of bishops from the United States, ACI MENA reported. Opening the meeting with a reflection on his patriarchal motto, “Do not be afraid; only believe,” Nona called the Chaldean Church to face present challenges with hope, unity, and confidence in God’s care. The bishops discussed pastoral, administrative, and institutional priorities for the coming stage, including clergy formation, the role of the patriarchal seminary, synodal structures, the selection of bishops, and the relationship between the Church in Iraq and its diaspora communities.The synod also announced that Rome will host its next gathering following the Mass of ecclesial communion presided over by Pope Leo on Oct. 14.5 bishops forced to leave dioceses in Myanmar due to violenceA civil war has been raging in Myanmar, previously called Burma, since 2021 and five bishops from the countryʼs 17 dioceses have now had to leave their dioceses to take up residences in safer areas away from the violence. According to Fides news agency, the bishops are from the dioceses ofPekhon, Loikaw, Banmaw, Mindat, and Lashio. Bishop Felice Ba Htoo of Pekhon, in Shan state, told Fides that pastors there have endured hardship as clashes between the army and rebel groups continue to wreak havoc in the country. “We bishops have not been immune to this reality either," Ba Htoo told Fides. "Many of our parishes have been closed because they have been damaged, attacked, or because they have lost their faithful."Syrian Christian villages celebrate return after 14 years The people of Hallouz and Qastal al-Burj in Syria’s Idlib countryside marked a long-awaited return after 14 years of war and displacement, gathering with Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Athanasius Fahd of Latakia for a recent celebration that carried deep symbolic weight.Amid damaged homes and ruined churches, residents sang, danced, prayed, and raised crosses, icons, and the Syrian flag, expressing hope that permanent return will become possible once reconstruction support is available, according to ACI MENA.In his remarks, Fahd said the villages are not merely places of residence but part of a centuries-old history rooted in the land, comparing the people’s attachment to their villages to the olive and oak trees planted by generations before them.

unitedyam June 6, 2026June 6, 2026

Family members killed in southern Lebanon, French lawmakers protect the seal of confession, Salesian martyrs to be beatified in Poland, and more in this week’s roundup of Catholic world news.

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.