![Texas bishops congratulate Democratic winners, reaffirm pro-life and family agenda #Catholic After Democrats won every major statewide office in Tuesday’s midterm elections and gained a majority in the Texas House of Representatives, Texas’ Catholic bishops offered prayers for the winners and continued to emphasize public policy priorities aligned with Catholic social teaching.In a Nov. 5 message, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops congratulated the winners, telling them that the bishops are praying “that God grants them wisdom as they take on the responsibilities of public office.”The bishops reiterated their legislative priorities in a previously finalized agenda: “As we look ahead to the 90th Texas Legislative Session, the principles of Catholic social and moral teaching that guide our work remain unchanged,” the bishops wrote. They said they will continue to advocate for policies that “uphold human dignity, strengthen families, care for the vulnerable and creation, and promote the common good.”In the agenda, the bishops stated: “Human life is intrinsically valuable and should be protected by law from conception, which happens at fertilization, to natural death. Moreover, the natural family is the sanctuary of life in which parents teach children how they ought to live.”Specific policy positions the bishops took in their legislative agenda include supporting funding for abortion alternatives and assistance for parents (including kinship, foster, and adoptive families); opposing euthanasia, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy; and opposing “the advancement of gender ideology, especially in places where young people are affected.” They also promoted safeguards for “the inviolable dignity of the human person through the ethical development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” and reasonable steps to address gun-related violence.The bishops stated they continue to oppose “efforts to weaken the protection of unborn human life.”Newly elected attorney general says he won’t enforce Texas abortion lawsThese stances come as the incoming Democratic administration is expected to pursue pro-abortion measures. Attorney general-elect and pro-abortion Democrat Nathan Johnson has already said he will not continue outgoing Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuits against out-of-state providers who have illegally mailed abortion pills into Texas, saying he will respect other states’ shield laws but will not enforce Texas’ pro-life laws.John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, a Christian pro-life advocacy group, called Johnson’s position “absolutely ridiculous.”“His new job as attorney general is to enforce the laws of Texas, regardless of his personal feelings about them,” Seago told EWTN News.“The abortion pill trafficking enables abusive men that are ordering pills from other states and sneaking them into the drinks of Texas mothers,” he said. “Nathan Johnson is taking a position that he will defend an industry that enables this type of assault on Texas’ pregnant women.”Johnson did not respond to a request for comment from EWTN News by the time of publication.‘Remain engaged in civic life’Separately, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio issued his own postelection statement. He recalled the U.S. bishops’ preelection call for Catholics to place faith before politics and noted that Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot from the Vatican.The archbishop highlighted issues the Holy Father has emphasized: “protecting human life; protecting religious freedom and human rights; promoting the family; upholding the human dignity of all, including migrants and prisoners; and also promoting political dialogue and building consensus, so that we may find common ground among our diversity.”“Following [Tuesday’s] election results, I strongly encourage all to remain actively engaged in civic life,” García-Siller wrote. “Let us further the Biblical values of the Kingdom. We do not need more division after a particularly bruising campaign season, but rather, we need unity to be fostered in order to move forward in freedom to discuss difficult topics more deeply in light of the Gospel.”He ended his statement with prayers for peace and for all officeholders to receive “wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit,” invoking Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and of the archdiocese, to help “build up a civilization of love.”Republicans retained control of the Texas Senate, a fact noted by some pro-life advocates as a potential check on legislative changes.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/texas-bishops-congratulate-democratic-winners-reaffirm-pro-life-and-family-agenda-catholic-after-democrats-won-every-major-statewide-office-in-tuesdays-midterm-elections-and-gained-a-majori.jpg "Texas bishops congratulate Democratic winners, reaffirm pro-life and family agenda #Catholic After Democrats won every major statewide office in Tuesday’s midterm elections and gained a majority in the Texas House of Representatives, Texas’ Catholic bishops offered prayers for the winners and continued to emphasize public policy priorities aligned with Catholic social teaching.In a Nov. 5 message, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops congratulated the winners, telling them that the bishops are praying “that God grants them wisdom as they take on the responsibilities of public office.”The bishops reiterated their legislative priorities in a previously finalized agenda: “As we look ahead to the 90th Texas Legislative Session, the principles of Catholic social and moral teaching that guide our work remain unchanged,” the bishops wrote. They said they will continue to advocate for policies that “uphold human dignity, strengthen families, care for the vulnerable and creation, and promote the common good.”In the agenda, the bishops stated: “Human life is intrinsically valuable and should be protected by law from conception, which happens at fertilization, to natural death. Moreover, the natural family is the sanctuary of life in which parents teach children how they ought to live.”Specific policy positions the bishops took in their legislative agenda include supporting funding for abortion alternatives and assistance for parents (including kinship, foster, and adoptive families); opposing euthanasia, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy; and opposing “the advancement of gender ideology, especially in places where young people are affected.” They also promoted safeguards for “the inviolable dignity of the human person through the ethical development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” and reasonable steps to address gun-related violence.The bishops stated they continue to oppose “efforts to weaken the protection of unborn human life.”Newly elected attorney general says he won’t enforce Texas abortion lawsThese stances come as the incoming Democratic administration is expected to pursue pro-abortion measures. Attorney general-elect and pro-abortion Democrat Nathan Johnson has already said he will not continue outgoing Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuits against out-of-state providers who have illegally mailed abortion pills into Texas, saying he will respect other states’ shield laws but will not enforce Texas’ pro-life laws.John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, a Christian pro-life advocacy group, called Johnson’s position “absolutely ridiculous.”“His new job as attorney general is to enforce the laws of Texas, regardless of his personal feelings about them,” Seago told EWTN News.“The abortion pill trafficking enables abusive men that are ordering pills from other states and sneaking them into the drinks of Texas mothers,” he said. “Nathan Johnson is taking a position that he will defend an industry that enables this type of assault on Texas’ pregnant women.”Johnson did not respond to a request for comment from EWTN News by the time of publication.‘Remain engaged in civic life’Separately, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio issued his own postelection statement. He recalled the U.S. bishops’ preelection call for Catholics to place faith before politics and noted that Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot from the Vatican.The archbishop highlighted issues the Holy Father has emphasized: “protecting human life; protecting religious freedom and human rights; promoting the family; upholding the human dignity of all, including migrants and prisoners; and also promoting political dialogue and building consensus, so that we may find common ground among our diversity.”“Following [Tuesday’s] election results, I strongly encourage all to remain actively engaged in civic life,” García-Siller wrote. “Let us further the Biblical values of the Kingdom. We do not need more division after a particularly bruising campaign season, but rather, we need unity to be fostered in order to move forward in freedom to discuss difficult topics more deeply in light of the Gospel.”He ended his statement with prayers for peace and for all officeholders to receive “wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit,” invoking Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and of the archdiocese, to help “build up a civilization of love.”Republicans retained control of the Texas Senate, a fact noted by some pro-life advocates as a potential check on legislative changes.")
Texas’ Catholic bishops congratulated Democratic winners, who won every top office statewide, and prayed for their wisdom while reaffirming that Catholic principles remain unchanged.
![U.S. Supreme Court leans toward Catholic schools in clash over pre-K funding #Catholic A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices sounded ready to require that Colorado provide Catholic schools government funding for preschool even if the schools refuse to guarantee admission for children of same-sex couples, during oral arguments Tuesday in a case involving a school in the Archdiocese of Denver.The case, St. Mary School v. Roy, centers on a preschool-through-grade-8 Catholic school in Littleton that wants to participate in the state’s universal preschool program.Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a member of the court’s conservative majority, described the case as a clash between the free exercise of religion and the right to same-sex marriage the court found in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. But he suggested the clash is unnecessary because parents in Colorado have so many options for prekindergarten, since there are more than 2,000 providers in the state, while the Archdiocese of Denver has only 34 schools that provide the service.“Why has this been provoked when there’s an ability for everyone to go to the school, a good school, that’s a fit for them, and to respect religious rights?” he asked.Helen Norton, deputy solicitor general for the state of Colorado, said parents often choose prekindergarten programs based on their location and their hours rather than their curriculum.“Colorado has an interest in ensuring that its public funds go to schools that ensure equal opportunity — not some opportunity, that ensure equal opportunity to public-funded options, regardless of protected-class status,” Norton said, replying to Kavanaugh’s question. “Families are harmed when they’re turned away from the publicly funded school that makes their lives work because of their protected-class status.”‘Creating a Catholic community’In 2020, Colorado voters approved a state-funded universal prekindergarten program, using increases in tobacco-related taxes to pay for it. The state government is planning to spend about $360 million for the program during the 2026-2027 school year. The state pays preschool providers about $6,100 per year for 15 hours a week of instruction for 4-year-olds during the 2026-2027 school year, according to state standards.Catholic schools want to participate in the program, but the Archdiocese of Denver objects to a state mandate concerning admissions.A Colorado state statute requires that preschools participating in the funding program provide children “an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services” regardless of eight protected classes — including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” — “as such characteristics and circumstances apply to the child or the child’s family.”A lawyer for the Catholic schools told justices Tuesday that Church and school officials want to make admissions decisions on a case-by-case basis in alignment with Catholic teachings instead of simply allowing all comers because of a state mandate.“I think it’s their thoughtful attempt to say, ‘We’re creating a Catholic community,’” said Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel for the Becket law group, which is representing the Catholic schools.Reaves got hostile questions from the court’s three liberals (Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson) and either friendly or neutral questions from the court’s five conservatives (Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett), which suggests how the decision might ultimately go. (The chief justice, John Roberts, often seen as a swing vote, mostly moderated the discussion.)Sarah Harris, principal deputy solicitor general in the Trump administration, also argued on the Catholic schools’ side during oral presentations Tuesday.Many optionsThe history of Catholic schools in the 19th century came up during oral arguments, including their origin in concerns among Catholic clerics and parents that government-run public schools were providing a Protestant point of view to the exclusion of Catholicism. Kavanaugh, a Catholic, at one point asked the lawyer for the state of Colorado about a moment in the trial record when the administrator of the state’s universal prekindergarten program was asked about Catholic history.“The director of the program, by all accounts a dutiful public servant, … was asked at the trial, ‘Are you aware that Catholics have historically been discriminated against?’ And she answered, ‘No,’” Kavanaugh said. “I was surprised by that answer and curious if that’s Colorado’s position.”“Not at all, Your Honor,” Norton replied. “And it’s Colorado’s position that the equal-opportunity requirements help religious families. They ensure that Catholic families are not turned away from the UPK [universal prekindergarten] school that best meets their needs because of their faith or because of any other protected characteristic. And a history of discrimination against Catholics is among the reasons that requirement is so important.”Some legal observers have suggested that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court may use the Colorado case as a vehicle to overturn the Smith decision in 1990, which, although written by the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, is disliked by many religious-liberty advocates who argue it doesn’t respect free-exercise rights enough.Yet the lawyer representing the Catholic schools on Tuesday offered narrower grounds for the justices to overturn Colorado’s admissions requirements, noting that for every Catholic preschool program in the Archdiocese of Denver, there are two universal prekindergarten programs already in the state’s program within three miles of it.Said Reaves: “This is just not really a problem in real life.”This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/u-s-supreme-court-leans-toward-catholic-schools-in-clash-over-pre-k-funding-catholic-a-majority-of-u-s-supreme-court-justices-sounded-ready-to-require-that-colorado-provide-catholic-schools-governm-scaled.jpg "U.S. Supreme Court leans toward Catholic schools in clash over pre-K funding #Catholic A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices sounded ready to require that Colorado provide Catholic schools government funding for preschool even if the schools refuse to guarantee admission for children of same-sex couples, during oral arguments Tuesday in a case involving a school in the Archdiocese of Denver.The case, St. Mary School v. Roy, centers on a preschool-through-grade-8 Catholic school in Littleton that wants to participate in the state’s universal preschool program.Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a member of the court’s conservative majority, described the case as a clash between the free exercise of religion and the right to same-sex marriage the court found in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. But he suggested the clash is unnecessary because parents in Colorado have so many options for prekindergarten, since there are more than 2,000 providers in the state, while the Archdiocese of Denver has only 34 schools that provide the service.“Why has this been provoked when there’s an ability for everyone to go to the school, a good school, that’s a fit for them, and to respect religious rights?” he asked.Helen Norton, deputy solicitor general for the state of Colorado, said parents often choose prekindergarten programs based on their location and their hours rather than their curriculum.“Colorado has an interest in ensuring that its public funds go to schools that ensure equal opportunity — not some opportunity, that ensure equal opportunity to public-funded options, regardless of protected-class status,” Norton said, replying to Kavanaugh’s question. “Families are harmed when they’re turned away from the publicly funded school that makes their lives work because of their protected-class status.”‘Creating a Catholic community’In 2020, Colorado voters approved a state-funded universal prekindergarten program, using increases in tobacco-related taxes to pay for it. The state government is planning to spend about $360 million for the program during the 2026-2027 school year. The state pays preschool providers about $6,100 per year for 15 hours a week of instruction for 4-year-olds during the 2026-2027 school year, according to state standards.Catholic schools want to participate in the program, but the Archdiocese of Denver objects to a state mandate concerning admissions.A Colorado state statute requires that preschools participating in the funding program provide children “an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services” regardless of eight protected classes — including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” — “as such characteristics and circumstances apply to the child or the child’s family.”A lawyer for the Catholic schools told justices Tuesday that Church and school officials want to make admissions decisions on a case-by-case basis in alignment with Catholic teachings instead of simply allowing all comers because of a state mandate.“I think it’s their thoughtful attempt to say, ‘We’re creating a Catholic community,’” said Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel for the Becket law group, which is representing the Catholic schools.Reaves got hostile questions from the court’s three liberals (Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson) and either friendly or neutral questions from the court’s five conservatives (Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett), which suggests how the decision might ultimately go. (The chief justice, John Roberts, often seen as a swing vote, mostly moderated the discussion.)Sarah Harris, principal deputy solicitor general in the Trump administration, also argued on the Catholic schools’ side during oral presentations Tuesday.Many optionsThe history of Catholic schools in the 19th century came up during oral arguments, including their origin in concerns among Catholic clerics and parents that government-run public schools were providing a Protestant point of view to the exclusion of Catholicism. Kavanaugh, a Catholic, at one point asked the lawyer for the state of Colorado about a moment in the trial record when the administrator of the state’s universal prekindergarten program was asked about Catholic history.“The director of the program, by all accounts a dutiful public servant, … was asked at the trial, ‘Are you aware that Catholics have historically been discriminated against?’ And she answered, ‘No,’” Kavanaugh said. “I was surprised by that answer and curious if that’s Colorado’s position.”“Not at all, Your Honor,” Norton replied. “And it’s Colorado’s position that the equal-opportunity requirements help religious families. They ensure that Catholic families are not turned away from the UPK [universal prekindergarten] school that best meets their needs because of their faith or because of any other protected characteristic. And a history of discrimination against Catholics is among the reasons that requirement is so important.”Some legal observers have suggested that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court may use the Colorado case as a vehicle to overturn the Smith decision in 1990, which, although written by the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, is disliked by many religious-liberty advocates who argue it doesn’t respect free-exercise rights enough.Yet the lawyer representing the Catholic schools on Tuesday offered narrower grounds for the justices to overturn Colorado’s admissions requirements, noting that for every Catholic preschool program in the Archdiocese of Denver, there are two universal prekindergarten programs already in the state’s program within three miles of it.Said Reaves: “This is just not really a problem in real life.”This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.")
A Colorado case pits sexual orientation and gender-identity protections against religious standards for school admissions.
![Wisconsin pilgrims visit Belgium to explore roots of Our Lady of Champion visionary #Catholic A group of 50 people from the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently walked in the footsteps of Servant of God Adele Brice during a 10-day pilgrimage to Belgium where they visited locations associated with the Marian visionary at the center of the story behind the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States.Led by Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, the group visited the cities of Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Dion-le-Val, and Leuven from Oct. 10–20 on the first-of-its-kind pilgrimage.Among the stops were the Church of Our Lady, home to The Madonna of Bruges sculpture created by Michelangelo; the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, Belgium’s most visited Marian shrine; the tomb of St. Damien of Molokai, a Belgian priest known for his service to the leper community on the island of Molokai in Hawaii; the Catholic University of Leuven, the oldest Catholic university in the world; and several locations associated with Brice, including her hometown of Dion-le-Val, her home parish, the site of her confirmation, and the port where Brice and her family embarked for New York in 1855.
A pilgrim from the Diocese of Green Bay prays at the tomb of St. Damien of Molokai, which is located in the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel in Leuven, Belgium. | Credit: On Mission Media
In an interview with EWTN News, Ricken described the pilgrimage for those who took part as a “discovering of roots.”He explained that most of the pilgrims were from Door County in Wisconsin, which is one of the largest Belgian communities in the United States.“Thereʼs a Belgian heritage center here and lots of deep connections, and they havenʼt forgotten those,” he shared. “And they just loved Adele from the time she came.”With this in mind, and since Brice’s cause for canonization was officially opened in February, Ricken and others involved with the pilgrimage thought it could serve as a “moment of connecting with her [Brice’s] roots so that we can understand her better” as well as give the pilgrims in attendance “a chance to reconnect” with their Belgian roots.Ricken recalled that one of the most impactful stops on the pilgrimage was the Mass celebrated at Brice’s home parish, the Church of St. Martin in Dion-le-Val. This small parish typically has roughly 20 people in attendance — as Catholicism in Belgium is currently at a low point, Ricken explained — but for this Mass, 250 people crammed into the space to celebrate the special occasion.
Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay celebrates Mass at St. Martin Parish in Dion-le-Val, Belgium, the home parish of Servant of God Adele Brice. | Credit: Amy Kawula
“I think it gave them a whole new sense of pride in their own history over there. So it was a renewal for them. You could see that. The people were so thrilled to have us,” he shared.After the Mass — which was concelebrated by Ricken, several other priests from the Diocese of Green Bay who were on the pilgrimage, and local Belgian priests — a reception was held. Despite having a language barrier, Ricken said everyone was still able to communicate and many of the local Belgians recognized the family last names of the American pilgrims and found family connections. He shared that one of his priests from the diocese found a relative of his that he “never knew existed before.”“It was just beautiful and itʼs going to take quite a while to unpack all of that and understand exactly what happened, but it was deeply enriching for everybody, including me,” he said.The Church of St. Martin was also the recipient of the Our Lady of Champion Adele Brice icon done by Father Paul Czerwonka from the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin. The icon depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to Brice and has two angels holding a banner with the message the Blessed Mother gave Brice: “I am the Queen of Heaven … Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the cross, and how to approach the sacraments. That is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”The icon is 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide and took two months to complete.
The Our Lady of Champion-Adele Brice icon by Father Paul Czerwonka from the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin. | Credit: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion
Ricken said one moment that was very personal for him during the pilgrimage was when the group visited the Catholic University of Leuven. The bishop received his graduate degree in sacred theology and completed his seminary formation at this university in 1980. While the seminary building is now used for student housing, the chapel from the seminary is still in use.“We were able to arrange for an anointing service of the pilgrims … there in the seminary chapel where I attended Mass every day as a student and loved it so much,” he shared. “And I was able to lead the anointing service. And many people took advantage of that … not everybody, but many did, and it was so beautiful that right there in the former seminary chapel to be able to take care of my own people from here who went on that pilgrimage. That was very touching.”
The faithful gather for a reception after the Mass celebrated at St. Martin Parish in Dion-le-Val, Belgium, the home parish of Servant of God Adele Brice. | Credit: Amy Kawula
Reflecting on the pilgrimage as a whole, Ricken said he believes “there will be a lot of answered prayers” through Brice’s intercession.Ricken said he hopes those who went “see all of their instincts and their love of their culture and language as something thatʼs still alive, still vibrant in certain places, and that the shrine is their connection with home.”“Theyʼve always felt that, but now they actually saw it themselves. They were able to go to her hometown and experience that connection,” he added. “And my hope is that theyʼll continue to volunteer and do all the beautiful things they do and have even more commitment to it and be able to identify the work of grace and the Holy Spirit in everything thatʼs happening today in and around the shrine through Adele [Brice] and through the Blessed Mother.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/wisconsin-pilgrims-visit-belgium-to-explore-roots-of-our-lady-of-champion-visionary-catholic-a-group-of-50-people-from-the-diocese-of-green-bay-wisconsin-recently-walked-in-the-footsteps-of-servant.png "Wisconsin pilgrims visit Belgium to explore roots of Our Lady of Champion visionary #Catholic A group of 50 people from the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently walked in the footsteps of Servant of God Adele Brice during a 10-day pilgrimage to Belgium where they visited locations associated with the Marian visionary at the center of the story behind the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States.Led by Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, the group visited the cities of Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Dion-le-Val, and Leuven from Oct. 10–20 on the first-of-its-kind pilgrimage.Among the stops were the Church of Our Lady, home to The Madonna of Bruges sculpture created by Michelangelo; the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, Belgium’s most visited Marian shrine; the tomb of St. Damien of Molokai, a Belgian priest known for his service to the leper community on the island of Molokai in Hawaii; the Catholic University of Leuven, the oldest Catholic university in the world; and several locations associated with Brice, including her hometown of Dion-le-Val, her home parish, the site of her confirmation, and the port where Brice and her family embarked for New York in 1855.
A pilgrim from the Diocese of Green Bay prays at the tomb of St. Damien of Molokai, which is located in the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel in Leuven, Belgium. | Credit: On Mission Media
In an interview with EWTN News, Ricken described the pilgrimage for those who took part as a “discovering of roots.”He explained that most of the pilgrims were from Door County in Wisconsin, which is one of the largest Belgian communities in the United States.“Thereʼs a Belgian heritage center here and lots of deep connections, and they havenʼt forgotten those,” he shared. “And they just loved Adele from the time she came.”With this in mind, and since Brice’s cause for canonization was officially opened in February, Ricken and others involved with the pilgrimage thought it could serve as a “moment of connecting with her [Brice’s] roots so that we can understand her better” as well as give the pilgrims in attendance “a chance to reconnect” with their Belgian roots.Ricken recalled that one of the most impactful stops on the pilgrimage was the Mass celebrated at Brice’s home parish, the Church of St. Martin in Dion-le-Val. This small parish typically has roughly 20 people in attendance — as Catholicism in Belgium is currently at a low point, Ricken explained — but for this Mass, 250 people crammed into the space to celebrate the special occasion.
Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay celebrates Mass at St. Martin Parish in Dion-le-Val, Belgium, the home parish of Servant of God Adele Brice. | Credit: Amy Kawula
“I think it gave them a whole new sense of pride in their own history over there. So it was a renewal for them. You could see that. The people were so thrilled to have us,” he shared.After the Mass — which was concelebrated by Ricken, several other priests from the Diocese of Green Bay who were on the pilgrimage, and local Belgian priests — a reception was held. Despite having a language barrier, Ricken said everyone was still able to communicate and many of the local Belgians recognized the family last names of the American pilgrims and found family connections. He shared that one of his priests from the diocese found a relative of his that he “never knew existed before.”“It was just beautiful and itʼs going to take quite a while to unpack all of that and understand exactly what happened, but it was deeply enriching for everybody, including me,” he said.The Church of St. Martin was also the recipient of the Our Lady of Champion Adele Brice icon done by Father Paul Czerwonka from the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin. The icon depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to Brice and has two angels holding a banner with the message the Blessed Mother gave Brice: “I am the Queen of Heaven … Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the cross, and how to approach the sacraments. That is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”The icon is 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide and took two months to complete.
The Our Lady of Champion-Adele Brice icon by Father Paul Czerwonka from the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin. | Credit: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion
Ricken said one moment that was very personal for him during the pilgrimage was when the group visited the Catholic University of Leuven. The bishop received his graduate degree in sacred theology and completed his seminary formation at this university in 1980. While the seminary building is now used for student housing, the chapel from the seminary is still in use.“We were able to arrange for an anointing service of the pilgrims … there in the seminary chapel where I attended Mass every day as a student and loved it so much,” he shared. “And I was able to lead the anointing service. And many people took advantage of that … not everybody, but many did, and it was so beautiful that right there in the former seminary chapel to be able to take care of my own people from here who went on that pilgrimage. That was very touching.”
The faithful gather for a reception after the Mass celebrated at St. Martin Parish in Dion-le-Val, Belgium, the home parish of Servant of God Adele Brice. | Credit: Amy Kawula
Reflecting on the pilgrimage as a whole, Ricken said he believes “there will be a lot of answered prayers” through Brice’s intercession.Ricken said he hopes those who went “see all of their instincts and their love of their culture and language as something thatʼs still alive, still vibrant in certain places, and that the shrine is their connection with home.”“Theyʼve always felt that, but now they actually saw it themselves. They were able to go to her hometown and experience that connection,” he added. “And my hope is that theyʼll continue to volunteer and do all the beautiful things they do and have even more commitment to it and be able to identify the work of grace and the Holy Spirit in everything thatʼs happening today in and around the shrine through Adele [Brice] and through the Blessed Mother.”")
Bishop David Ricken led 50 pilgrims from Wisconsin to Belgium to retrace Adele Brice’s footsteps and deepen their connection to the visionary behind the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
![Here’s how Catholics can get 8 plenary indulgences during the first week of November #Catholic Many Catholics may be unaware that they can obtain not one but eight plenary indulgences for departed souls in the first week of November.For centuries, the Catholic Church widely observed All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) as an octave, extending the holy celebration to eight days.The observance was established by Pope Sixtus IV in the 15th century and demoted in the liturgical calendar around the middle of the 20th century, although some Catholics still mark the eight-day observance.Notably, the Church itself still indirectly acknowledges the ancient eight-day octave in its granting of plenary indulgences for the first week of November.What is a plenary indulgence?A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.It is not a forgiveness of sin but the remission of punishment for sins already forgiven. It may apply either to oneself or to souls already in purgatory.In order to obtain a plenary indulgence the faithful must — in addition to being in the state of grace — both have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin (even venial sin), have sacramentally confessed their sins and received the Eucharist (either within or outside of Mass), and must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.What about the All Saints’ octave?The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, in its “Enchiridion Indulgentiarum” (“Handbook of Indulgences”), states that the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed “every day, from the 1st to the 8th of November,” if, in addition to fulfilling the normal terms of a plenary indulgence, one “devoutly visit[s] a cemetery and at least mentally pray[s] for the dead.”The conditions for a plenary indulgence can be fulfilled a few days before or after performing the works to gain the indulgence, but it is appropriate that Communion and the prayer take place on the same day that the work is completed.The All Saints’ octave was notably extended throughout the entire month of November in both 2020 and 2021 amid concerns about avoiding large gatherings of people in churches or cemeteries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.This article was updated on Oct. 31, 2026.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/heres-how-catholics-can-get-8-plenary-indulgences-during-the-first-week-of-november-catholic-many-catholics-may-be-unaware-that-they-can-obtain-not-one-but-eight-plenary-indulgences-for-depa-scaled.jpg "Here’s how Catholics can get 8 plenary indulgences during the first week of November #Catholic Many Catholics may be unaware that they can obtain not one but eight plenary indulgences for departed souls in the first week of November.For centuries, the Catholic Church widely observed All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) as an octave, extending the holy celebration to eight days.The observance was established by Pope Sixtus IV in the 15th century and demoted in the liturgical calendar around the middle of the 20th century, although some Catholics still mark the eight-day observance.Notably, the Church itself still indirectly acknowledges the ancient eight-day octave in its granting of plenary indulgences for the first week of November.What is a plenary indulgence?A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.It is not a forgiveness of sin but the remission of punishment for sins already forgiven. It may apply either to oneself or to souls already in purgatory.In order to obtain a plenary indulgence the faithful must — in addition to being in the state of grace — both have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin (even venial sin), have sacramentally confessed their sins and received the Eucharist (either within or outside of Mass), and must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.What about the All Saints’ octave?The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, in its “Enchiridion Indulgentiarum” (“Handbook of Indulgences”), states that the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed “every day, from the 1st to the 8th of November,” if, in addition to fulfilling the normal terms of a plenary indulgence, one “devoutly visit[s] a cemetery and at least mentally pray[s] for the dead.”The conditions for a plenary indulgence can be fulfilled a few days before or after performing the works to gain the indulgence, but it is appropriate that Communion and the prayer take place on the same day that the work is completed.The All Saints’ octave was notably extended throughout the entire month of November in both 2020 and 2021 amid concerns about avoiding large gatherings of people in churches or cemeteries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.This article was updated on Oct. 31, 2026.")
For centuries, the Catholic Church widely observed All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) as an octave, extending the holy celebration to eight days.
![Christian persecution worsened in 55% of countries assessed, report finds #Catholic LONDON — Oppression of Christians has worsened in 55% of countries assessed according to the latest report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) UK, without any country showing an improvement.“Persecuted and Forgotten?” outlines how Christians are being forced from their homes through conflict, extremism, and religiously motivated violence in 18 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America between August 2024 and June 2026.
“Persecuted and Forgotten?” is Aid to the Church in Need UK’s latest report outlining the persecution of Christians in 18 selected countries, Oct. 27, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley
According to research by ACN, 220 million Christians are directly exposed to persecution worldwide. The latest data from Pew Research Center indicates that anti-Christian harassment, ranging from verbal abuse to killings, occurred in 165 countries in 2023, up from 160 in 2021.At the launch of the report in Portcullis House, London, John Pontifex, head of press for ACN UK, told EWTN News: “By virtue of our shared faith, we identify, inevitably, particularly strongly, with those of our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith, and we recognize that itʼs an accident of birth that sees them in that situation of persecution and us in a situation of much greater liberty.”He added: “There are Christians that suffer persecution in more countries than is the case with any other faith group. Up to 165 countries are those where Christians suffer from discrimination, oppression, or persecution. Thatʼs far more than any other religious group, so we need to share their story, and to tell people, our friends, our family, our parish, our [politicians].”The report outlines how the persecution of Christians by authoritarian regimes has grown to unprecedented levels in countries where there is an anti-West sentiment. Chinese authorities have intensified their oppression of Christians, as they aim to align religious doctrine more closely with communist principles. This has led to mass detentions, clergy being jailed on legal technicalities, churches closing, and online religious content being controlled.The report tells of the persecution in Nicaragua, where the regime increased its crackdown on Christians, arresting and exiling clergy, preventing ordinations, seizing Church institutions, and preventing people entering the country with Bibles. The report also outlines how the arrests of Christians doubled within 12 months in Iran, as crackdowns have intensified.“Weʼre calling on all countries around the world and the U.N. to fully implement Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines religious freedom,” Pontifex said. “Weʼre not calling for special treatment but simply calling for people to band together, to stop acts of oppression — be it people being kidnapped for their faith, be it people being forced from their jobs for reasons to do with their faith … And indeed, for those who are unfairly tried and sentenced to life imprisonment, for crimes theyʼve not committed,” he said. “Like blasphemy laws, which are arbitrarily enforced. And then recognizing there are people who are often asked to pay the ultimate price. This should stop.”Sub-Saharan Africa was one particular area of focus, listing Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger as territories with the worst extremist attacks since the height of the Daesh (ISIS) violence in the Middle East.The report outlines how jihadist violence in the Sahel region has led to militant groups now controlling 40% of the country. “They often coerce villagers to follow Islamic customs, making women veil their faces in public and men grow beards. Those who refuse are expelled or even publicly executed. Where insurgents allow Christians to practice their faith, this is restricted to inside churches, and it cannot be taught to children,” Pontifex explained.
Attendees at the launch of the Aid to the Church UK’s report “Persecuted and Forgotten?” in Portcullis House, London, Oct. 27, 2026.| Credit: Elliot Hartley
Speaking to the conference about the Christians suffering from this oppression, Caroline Hull, national director of ACN UK, said: “These are people just like you and me. If someone said, ‘Will you give up your faith or I will take your children?’
what would you do? If someone said, ‘Iʼll let you get out of prison if you turn your back on Jesus Christ’? These are fair questions to ask ourselves, and we need to remember that these are people just like us.”In October 2025, receiving an ACN delegation, Pope Leo XIV declared that religious freedom is “a cornerstone of any just society for it safeguards the moral space in which conscience may be informed and exercised… Religious freedom, therefore, is not merely a legal right or a privilege to us granted by governments; it is a foundational condition that makes reconciliation possible.”ACN is a Catholic charity founded to help Christians in need where they are persecuted, oppressed, or in pastoral need through support, charitable work, and generating awareness.On Nov. 18, ACN will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its #RedWednesday campaign, which raises awareness about the persecution of Christians worldwide.The full report is available to read here.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/christian-persecution-worsened-in-55-of-countries-assessed-report-finds-catholic-london-oppression-of-christians-has-worsened-in-55-of-countries-assessed-according-to-the-latest-report-fro-scaled.jpg "Christian persecution worsened in 55% of countries assessed, report finds #Catholic LONDON — Oppression of Christians has worsened in 55% of countries assessed according to the latest report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) UK, without any country showing an improvement.“Persecuted and Forgotten?” outlines how Christians are being forced from their homes through conflict, extremism, and religiously motivated violence in 18 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America between August 2024 and June 2026.
“Persecuted and Forgotten?” is Aid to the Church in Need UK’s latest report outlining the persecution of Christians in 18 selected countries, Oct. 27, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley
According to research by ACN, 220 million Christians are directly exposed to persecution worldwide. The latest data from Pew Research Center indicates that anti-Christian harassment, ranging from verbal abuse to killings, occurred in 165 countries in 2023, up from 160 in 2021.At the launch of the report in Portcullis House, London, John Pontifex, head of press for ACN UK, told EWTN News: “By virtue of our shared faith, we identify, inevitably, particularly strongly, with those of our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith, and we recognize that itʼs an accident of birth that sees them in that situation of persecution and us in a situation of much greater liberty.”He added: “There are Christians that suffer persecution in more countries than is the case with any other faith group. Up to 165 countries are those where Christians suffer from discrimination, oppression, or persecution. Thatʼs far more than any other religious group, so we need to share their story, and to tell people, our friends, our family, our parish, our [politicians].”The report outlines how the persecution of Christians by authoritarian regimes has grown to unprecedented levels in countries where there is an anti-West sentiment. Chinese authorities have intensified their oppression of Christians, as they aim to align religious doctrine more closely with communist principles. This has led to mass detentions, clergy being jailed on legal technicalities, churches closing, and online religious content being controlled.The report tells of the persecution in Nicaragua, where the regime increased its crackdown on Christians, arresting and exiling clergy, preventing ordinations, seizing Church institutions, and preventing people entering the country with Bibles. The report also outlines how the arrests of Christians doubled within 12 months in Iran, as crackdowns have intensified.“Weʼre calling on all countries around the world and the U.N. to fully implement Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines religious freedom,” Pontifex said. “Weʼre not calling for special treatment but simply calling for people to band together, to stop acts of oppression — be it people being kidnapped for their faith, be it people being forced from their jobs for reasons to do with their faith … And indeed, for those who are unfairly tried and sentenced to life imprisonment, for crimes theyʼve not committed,” he said. “Like blasphemy laws, which are arbitrarily enforced. And then recognizing there are people who are often asked to pay the ultimate price. This should stop.”Sub-Saharan Africa was one particular area of focus, listing Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger as territories with the worst extremist attacks since the height of the Daesh (ISIS) violence in the Middle East.The report outlines how jihadist violence in the Sahel region has led to militant groups now controlling 40% of the country. “They often coerce villagers to follow Islamic customs, making women veil their faces in public and men grow beards. Those who refuse are expelled or even publicly executed. Where insurgents allow Christians to practice their faith, this is restricted to inside churches, and it cannot be taught to children,” Pontifex explained.
Attendees at the launch of the Aid to the Church UK’s report “Persecuted and Forgotten?” in Portcullis House, London, Oct. 27, 2026.| Credit: Elliot Hartley
Speaking to the conference about the Christians suffering from this oppression, Caroline Hull, national director of ACN UK, said: “These are people just like you and me. If someone said, ‘Will you give up your faith or I will take your children?’
what would you do? If someone said, ‘Iʼll let you get out of prison if you turn your back on Jesus Christ’? These are fair questions to ask ourselves, and we need to remember that these are people just like us.”In October 2025, receiving an ACN delegation, Pope Leo XIV declared that religious freedom is “a cornerstone of any just society for it safeguards the moral space in which conscience may be informed and exercised… Religious freedom, therefore, is not merely a legal right or a privilege to us granted by governments; it is a foundational condition that makes reconciliation possible.”ACN is a Catholic charity founded to help Christians in need where they are persecuted, oppressed, or in pastoral need through support, charitable work, and generating awareness.On Nov. 18, ACN will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its #RedWednesday campaign, which raises awareness about the persecution of Christians worldwide.The full report is available to read here.")
Aid to the Church in Need’s new report ““Persecuted and Forgotten?” outlines how Christians were persecuted in 18 countries across the globe between August 2024 and June 2026.
The archbishop of Los Angeles will receive the award at the fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Emmanuel Bishay of Egypt’s Coptic Catholic Eparchy of Luxor said that relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches are good.
Montse Alvarado will make history Nov. 1 as the first laywoman to serve as prefect of a dicastery of the Holy See.
A Lilly Endowment grant is open to Catholic campus ministries, St. Carlo Acutis’ mother gifts Franciscan University with a relic of her son, and more in this week’s Catholic education new roundup.
![Trump signs bill to reopen SSocial Security, Medicare opt-ins for priests, clergy #Catholic President Donald Trump signed into law a measure that allows clergy — including Catholic priests and bishops — to opt back in to Social Security and Medicare if they had previously opted out of the program.Under the tax code, clergy may opt out of Social Security and Medicare taxes for ministerial work but cannot receive the benefits if they do. A person who opts out typically cannot reverse that decision, but the law, supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), opens a two-year window for members of clergy to opt back in if they have changed their minds.The law, signed on Oct. 20, allows clergy members to opt back in during the 2029 or 2030 tax years, but they must still meet the standard contribution requirements to receive benefits. The House of Representatives passed the bill 350-5 on April 27, and the Senate cleared it by unanimous consent on Sept. 30.According to a news release from the House Ways and Means Committee, about 2,000 people take the opt-out. This is the third time Congress offered a temporary window for clergy to reverse their opt-outs, with the last time being 1999.“America’s pastors and faith leaders spend their lives caring for others,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement.“Many chose to opt out of Social Security when they were young and just starting their ministry,” he said. “A single, sometimes ill-advised, decision made decades ago should not stand between them and a secure retirement.”Support from Catholic bishopsWhen reached for comment, the USCCB referred EWTN News to an April 14 letter supportive of the bill, signed by Archbishop Shelton Fabre, chair of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Archbishop Ronald Hicks, chair of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.The letter states that the bill offers “much needed relief and support for priests and religious who previously opted out of Social Security and Medicare to opt back into the programs.”“For one reason or another, many clergy members, often decades prior and due to inaccurate financial advice, opted out of contributing,” the letter states.It adds that the bill helps clergy “move toward a more complete retirement” and offers a “more comprehensive financial and physical wellbeing as they transition into the next phase of their lives and ministries.”“Priests and religious have spent their lives in service to Christ by ministering to the faithful and those in need,” the letter adds. “[The legislation helps] enable them to obtain better financial and physical health in their retirement.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/trump-signs-bill-to-reopen-ssocial-security-medicare-opt-ins-for-priests-clergy-catholic-president-donald-trump-signed-into-law-a-measure-that-allows-clergy-including-catholic-priests-and.jpg "Trump signs bill to reopen SSocial Security, Medicare opt-ins for priests, clergy #Catholic President Donald Trump signed into law a measure that allows clergy — including Catholic priests and bishops — to opt back in to Social Security and Medicare if they had previously opted out of the program.Under the tax code, clergy may opt out of Social Security and Medicare taxes for ministerial work but cannot receive the benefits if they do. A person who opts out typically cannot reverse that decision, but the law, supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), opens a two-year window for members of clergy to opt back in if they have changed their minds.The law, signed on Oct. 20, allows clergy members to opt back in during the 2029 or 2030 tax years, but they must still meet the standard contribution requirements to receive benefits. The House of Representatives passed the bill 350-5 on April 27, and the Senate cleared it by unanimous consent on Sept. 30.According to a news release from the House Ways and Means Committee, about 2,000 people take the opt-out. This is the third time Congress offered a temporary window for clergy to reverse their opt-outs, with the last time being 1999.“America’s pastors and faith leaders spend their lives caring for others,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement.“Many chose to opt out of Social Security when they were young and just starting their ministry,” he said. “A single, sometimes ill-advised, decision made decades ago should not stand between them and a secure retirement.”Support from Catholic bishopsWhen reached for comment, the USCCB referred EWTN News to an April 14 letter supportive of the bill, signed by Archbishop Shelton Fabre, chair of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Archbishop Ronald Hicks, chair of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.The letter states that the bill offers “much needed relief and support for priests and religious who previously opted out of Social Security and Medicare to opt back into the programs.”“For one reason or another, many clergy members, often decades prior and due to inaccurate financial advice, opted out of contributing,” the letter states.It adds that the bill helps clergy “move toward a more complete retirement” and offers a “more comprehensive financial and physical wellbeing as they transition into the next phase of their lives and ministries.”“Priests and religious have spent their lives in service to Christ by ministering to the faithful and those in need,” the letter adds. “[The legislation helps] enable them to obtain better financial and physical health in their retirement.”")
The measure, supported by Catholic bishops, allows clergy to reverse their decision to opt out of Social Security and Medicare.
![Conference encourages Black Catholic men to lead families, parishes, and communities #Catholic Twenty-four years ago three priests from the Society of the Divine Word and founders of the Bowman Francis Ministry had the idea to bring Black Catholic men together for fellowship, workshops, discussions, and prayer — with the hope that the men would then take what they learned back to their communities and ministries. That dream eventually became an annual conference, and its 24th gathering just took place in Birmingham, Alabama, Oct. 15–18.The Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference was created by Father Chester P. Smith, Father Charles Smith, and Father Kenneth Hamilton and invites Black Catholic men from across the United States for a weekend of faith, leadership, brotherhood, and cultural reflection.This year’s conference — hosted by the Bowman Francis Ministry, the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries, and the Office of Black Catholic Ministry of the Diocese of Birmingham — had the theme of “The Rock I Stand On,” which aimed to equip participants with the spiritual and life skills needed to take on their roles as protectors and providers.Attendees were able to experience a guided, firsthand look at Birmingham’s role in the Civil Rights movement and engage in meaningful dialogue that connects faith, justice, and social responsibility. The Civil Rights Immersion Tour also included a Harambe Town Hall, which featured notable Birmingham community leaders debating todayʼs social and political climate.Cameron Beatty serves as the conference’s program chair. For him, the conference holds a special place in his heart — Father Chester P. Smith was his godfather.
Participants at the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference, which took place Oct. 15–18, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama. | Credit: Brent Patterson
Beatty told EWTN News in an interview that he has been attending the conferences since they first started 24 years ago.“I was in high school during the first one and I would be like a reader or an altar server … then I would start leading workshops or doing the youth workshops,” Beatty recalled. “Then it kind of evolved once he [Smith] passed away. [It was] like, ‘Hey, we need somebody to step up and take on some more leadership roles,’ because he would do a lot of the planning and the executing and thatʼs how I got involved in more of a leadership role once he passed.”He added: “We want to make sure that his legacy lives on and his commitment to the ministry lives on, and I am very busy but this is something that Iʼm committed to because I believe in it strongly.”Smith grew up in Chicago’s inner city and made history when he and his identical twin — Father Charles Smith — were ordained priests in 1988, becoming the first pair of African American twins to become priests in the United States. As a priest, he rose to become an international leader in African American ministry and youth outreach.He founded Ambassadors of the Word, a peer group ministry program that fosters youth rites of passage and cross-cultural experiences. And he and his brother developed Boyhood to Manhood, a parish-based program to help young Black men realize their value, get in touch with their spirituality, and train future Church leaders. And he was a co-founder of the Bowman Francis Ministry, which is an outreach organization that evangelizes and ministers to Black Catholics.Smith died on April 8, 2020, at the age of 60. Father Charles Smith is still alive.Beatty called his godfather “an amazing, amazing person.”“We would say they’re [the Smith brothers] the Ying and the Yang,” he shared. “Father Chester was the outgoing one, the boisterous one. He was the one that would go out and do revivals in Black Catholic communities, he would go out and do the Lent services. People from all over the country knew him because they would invite him to their parish as a guest priest or a guest homilist … Father Charles, heʼs a little — and Iʼll say this to his face — heʼs a little bit more reserved. He likes to keep to himself. He can still preach, he can still minister. But, them together were just a powerful force.”Beatty explained that Smith’s great contribution to the Black Catholic community was that he remained “unapologetic” about the cultural aspect found in the identity of being a Black Catholic.A couple of years before Smith passed away, Beatty recalled an instance where Smith gave a powerful message at the men’s conference. While Smith typically never chose to include himself in the list of speakers — he preferred remaining as the planner behind the scenes — that year he decided to preach.“He preached that year and I just had never — Iʼve grown up with him, Iʼve known him my entire life — and Iʼve just never seen him preach that way,” Beatty shared. “He talked about the Promised Land, what does it mean to get to the Promised Land, and you canʼt just show up at the Promised Land, you have to work to get there … You hear it all the time, you hear the Scripture, you hear the reading, but I just had never heard it framed that way so passionately that it just resonated with me.”He added: “I could see after he had preached, he was so drained and exhausted because he put everything, his whole body, his whole spirit, into that message. And I just had never felt that or seen that from him as many times as Iʼve seen him preach. And to me that was just transformative for me, and thatʼs why I commit to this and hope to see the conference go on for many, many years.”
Mass is celebrated during the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference, which took place Oct. 15–18, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama. | Credit: Brent Patterson
Beatty said he believes a conference like the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference is needed “for folks to feel like they have a strong community.”“Sometimes folks might be going to an African-American parish in their respective city or sometimes theyʼre the only Black family in their parish, given on where they live or practice their Catholicism,” he explained. “So, I think a conference like this gives folks an opportunity to come together with like-minded men … and itʼs an opportunity to have conversations that sometimes they canʼt have in their respective parishes.”Beatty said he hopes that those who attended the conference took away “some energy to go back to their respective communities and still evangelize about what it means to be Catholic, about what it means to be Black and Catholic, about what it means to be a man that is Black and Catholic in terms of the leaders of their family, the leaders in their community, the leaders within their parishes, their churches, and take away some tools in order to enact those types of things of ministering to folks that might not have any idea of what it means to be Christian and to be Catholic.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/conference-encourages-black-catholic-men-to-lead-families-parishes-and-communities-catholic-twenty-four-years-ago-three-priests-from-the-society-of-the-divine-word-and-founders-of-the-bowman-franci.png "Conference encourages Black Catholic men to lead families, parishes, and communities #Catholic Twenty-four years ago three priests from the Society of the Divine Word and founders of the Bowman Francis Ministry had the idea to bring Black Catholic men together for fellowship, workshops, discussions, and prayer — with the hope that the men would then take what they learned back to their communities and ministries. That dream eventually became an annual conference, and its 24th gathering just took place in Birmingham, Alabama, Oct. 15–18.The Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference was created by Father Chester P. Smith, Father Charles Smith, and Father Kenneth Hamilton and invites Black Catholic men from across the United States for a weekend of faith, leadership, brotherhood, and cultural reflection.This year’s conference — hosted by the Bowman Francis Ministry, the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries, and the Office of Black Catholic Ministry of the Diocese of Birmingham — had the theme of “The Rock I Stand On,” which aimed to equip participants with the spiritual and life skills needed to take on their roles as protectors and providers.Attendees were able to experience a guided, firsthand look at Birmingham’s role in the Civil Rights movement and engage in meaningful dialogue that connects faith, justice, and social responsibility. The Civil Rights Immersion Tour also included a Harambe Town Hall, which featured notable Birmingham community leaders debating todayʼs social and political climate.Cameron Beatty serves as the conference’s program chair. For him, the conference holds a special place in his heart — Father Chester P. Smith was his godfather.
Participants at the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference, which took place Oct. 15–18, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama. | Credit: Brent Patterson
Beatty told EWTN News in an interview that he has been attending the conferences since they first started 24 years ago.“I was in high school during the first one and I would be like a reader or an altar server … then I would start leading workshops or doing the youth workshops,” Beatty recalled. “Then it kind of evolved once he [Smith] passed away. [It was] like, ‘Hey, we need somebody to step up and take on some more leadership roles,’ because he would do a lot of the planning and the executing and thatʼs how I got involved in more of a leadership role once he passed.”He added: “We want to make sure that his legacy lives on and his commitment to the ministry lives on, and I am very busy but this is something that Iʼm committed to because I believe in it strongly.”Smith grew up in Chicago’s inner city and made history when he and his identical twin — Father Charles Smith — were ordained priests in 1988, becoming the first pair of African American twins to become priests in the United States. As a priest, he rose to become an international leader in African American ministry and youth outreach.He founded Ambassadors of the Word, a peer group ministry program that fosters youth rites of passage and cross-cultural experiences. And he and his brother developed Boyhood to Manhood, a parish-based program to help young Black men realize their value, get in touch with their spirituality, and train future Church leaders. And he was a co-founder of the Bowman Francis Ministry, which is an outreach organization that evangelizes and ministers to Black Catholics.Smith died on April 8, 2020, at the age of 60. Father Charles Smith is still alive.Beatty called his godfather “an amazing, amazing person.”“We would say they’re [the Smith brothers] the Ying and the Yang,” he shared. “Father Chester was the outgoing one, the boisterous one. He was the one that would go out and do revivals in Black Catholic communities, he would go out and do the Lent services. People from all over the country knew him because they would invite him to their parish as a guest priest or a guest homilist … Father Charles, heʼs a little — and Iʼll say this to his face — heʼs a little bit more reserved. He likes to keep to himself. He can still preach, he can still minister. But, them together were just a powerful force.”Beatty explained that Smith’s great contribution to the Black Catholic community was that he remained “unapologetic” about the cultural aspect found in the identity of being a Black Catholic.A couple of years before Smith passed away, Beatty recalled an instance where Smith gave a powerful message at the men’s conference. While Smith typically never chose to include himself in the list of speakers — he preferred remaining as the planner behind the scenes — that year he decided to preach.“He preached that year and I just had never — Iʼve grown up with him, Iʼve known him my entire life — and Iʼve just never seen him preach that way,” Beatty shared. “He talked about the Promised Land, what does it mean to get to the Promised Land, and you canʼt just show up at the Promised Land, you have to work to get there … You hear it all the time, you hear the Scripture, you hear the reading, but I just had never heard it framed that way so passionately that it just resonated with me.”He added: “I could see after he had preached, he was so drained and exhausted because he put everything, his whole body, his whole spirit, into that message. And I just had never felt that or seen that from him as many times as Iʼve seen him preach. And to me that was just transformative for me, and thatʼs why I commit to this and hope to see the conference go on for many, many years.”
Mass is celebrated during the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference, which took place Oct. 15–18, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama. | Credit: Brent Patterson
Beatty said he believes a conference like the Fr. Chester P. Smith National Black Catholic Men’s Conference is needed “for folks to feel like they have a strong community.”“Sometimes folks might be going to an African-American parish in their respective city or sometimes theyʼre the only Black family in their parish, given on where they live or practice their Catholicism,” he explained. “So, I think a conference like this gives folks an opportunity to come together with like-minded men … and itʼs an opportunity to have conversations that sometimes they canʼt have in their respective parishes.”Beatty said he hopes that those who attended the conference took away “some energy to go back to their respective communities and still evangelize about what it means to be Catholic, about what it means to be Black and Catholic, about what it means to be a man that is Black and Catholic in terms of the leaders of their family, the leaders in their community, the leaders within their parishes, their churches, and take away some tools in order to enact those types of things of ministering to folks that might not have any idea of what it means to be Christian and to be Catholic.”")
The national Black Catholic men’s conference took place in Birmingham, Alabama, Oct. 15–18, carrying on the legacy of Father Chester P. Smith.
U.S. bishops formed the task force after meeting with AI experts and executives in September to identify how the Church could help shape the moral foundations of AI.
![International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/international-rosary-in-rome-held-in-advance-of-100th-world-mission-sunday-catholic-an-international-rosary-in-rome-united-clergy-religious-and-lay-faithful-to-mark-the-100th-anniversary-of-world-m-scaled.jpg "International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.")
The rosary, recited in 13 languages, also marked the 75th anniversary of the World Mission Rosary by Blessed Fulton Sheen.
The Department of Homeland Security insisted ICE officers are “heroes,” enforcing the law.
The platform and name are new, but the mission is the same: report the truth and bring the faith to the Spanish-speaking world.
“Nobody wants a return to the past,” MP Chris Bryant said in ruling against the planned march down Garvaghy Road.
The Chicago Bears icon, who died on Friday, gave to charities, lectored at Mass, and belonged to the Knights of Columbus.
“Circumstances of a person’s birth should not determine the respect for one’s inherent God-given dignity or the opportunities an individual is able to access,” Archbishop Christophe El-Kassis said.
Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy was the principal celebrant of the Mass, and Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, offered the homily.
At a Mass honoring their patron, St. Michael the Archangel, the pontiff called on gendarmes to exercise authority with humility and compassion.
The beloved Carmelite nun, patron saint of the missions, and youngest doctor of the Church is celebrated in the universal Church on Oct. 1.
Pope Leo XIV titled this year’s observance of World Day of Migrants and Refugees “Even Just One of These Children,” citing Matthew 18:5: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
![Pope Leo meets French abuse victims in Lourdes #Catholic LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV met seven French victims of clerical sexual abuse on Sunday, making a gesture of solidarity and reconciliation at a shrine world-famous for its healing waters.The nearly two-hour encounter took place at the residence of the local bishop, where Leo is staying for his two nights at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.Speaking to journalists after the meeting, one of the victims, Jérôme Guillement, said, “There was something sincere about [Pope Leo]. With him, every word was carefully chosen; every word had meaning. … There were a lot of emotions.”According to the Holy See Press Office, Leo spent an hour and a half speaking to the four men and three women individually, before addressing them as a group for about 20 minutes and “thanking them for their painful testimony and reaffirming his commitment to ensuring that the harm they experienced is not repeated for others.”He “expressed his solidarity with them and, through them, with all those who have suffered and continue to suffer from the wounds of abuse,” the statement said.Leo also prayed with some of the victims.“I sensed that he was a man of commitment and also a man of resolve,” Olivier Mardi, one of the participants, said after the meeting. “He’s not fooled and knows that these events will continue and that we must remain vigilant… There was an emotional side to it, and at the same time something very powerful when he speaks.”Five of the seven involved in the meeting revealed their identities ahead of the pope’s trip. Among them was Bertrand Virieux, a victim of ex-priest Bernard Preynat, who in 2020 was sentenced to five years in prison for assaults on young scouts in the Archdiocese of Lyon. Preynat died in 2024.The Church in France has been grappling with the repercussions of abuse in the wake of an independent commission’s report that hundreds of thousands of children had been abused by clergy and religious over the past 70 years.The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report in October 2021, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.It added that when abuse by lay Church workers was also taken into account, “the estimated number of child victims rises to 330,000 for the whole of the period.”The victims were accompanied by Bishop Gérard Le Stang of Amiens, president of the Council for the Prevention and Combating of Pedophilia within the French bishops’ conference.Guillement said Leo “felt that the Church in France still had a great deal of work to do” to prevent abuse.“We talked about prevention as part of a cultural shift at all levels … There are different opinions, but from his perspective, there’s still a systemic dimension at play,” the man added.According to Mardi, the pontiff “responded well to our very concrete proposals; he knows he has to work with us… He said we need to rekindle hope, and it takes serious commitment to make that happen.”Pope Leo spoke about the clerical sexual abuse of minors in his address to the French bishops on the morning of Sept. 27.“In recent years, you have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse committed against minors by members of the clergy or in an ecclesial context,” he said.The pontiff praised them for their courageous measures to listen, search for truth, justice, forgiveness, and making amends, as well as “a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes.”“You must continue along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance,” he said.Before addressing the bishops, Leo stopped in front of a memorial for victims of child sexual abuse, featuring the brief reflection of an anonymous victim.“[The victim] will come to understand that it was the entire culture of a system that sought to protect itself rather than protect him,” an inscription on the memorial reads. “And his turmoil continues to deepen around this question: Why can’t justice be done for him? It is so vital to him that he may finally find peace and that the tears of his childhood may cease to flow.”At an open-air Mass later on Sunday morning, the pope seemed to allude to the clerical abuse crisis, saying in his homily that “In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within [the Church], we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth.”The pope’s plans for a private conversation with victims ignited controversy among several abuse support groups in France who criticized the format of the meeting and the exclusion of victims’ organizations.Asked about the criticism, Bishop Pierre-Antoine Bozo, the spokesman of the French bishops’ conference, told journalists that “there are many survivor groups … If all of them had been included or brought together, it would have been a very large format, and it would not have had the same impact.”“What helps us most in accompanying victims is listening to them. And to do that, you cannot have 50 people sitting in front of you. That is really what the pope wanted,” Bozo said.The Lourdes shrine was an evocative backdrop for the meeting with abuse victims, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.Mosaics by Rupnik on the façade of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain indefinitely hidden.“It had come to carry such a symbolic burden for victims that, even though many of the people who come to Lourdes are not abuse victims, for those who are, something had to be done,” Bishop Bozo said.“If it becomes so difficult for people to come to Lourdes, people who should have a privileged place there because they are suffering, then the situation is no longer acceptable,” the spokesman added. “So I think covering the mosaics is a first step. Afterward, something new will have to be proposed, perhaps a new work of art.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pope-leo-meets-french-abuse-victims-in-lourdes-catholic-lourdes-france-pope-leo-xiv-met-seven-french-victims-of-clerical-sexual-abuse-on-sunday-making-a-gesture-of-solidarity-and-reconcil-scaled.jpg "Pope Leo meets French abuse victims in Lourdes #Catholic LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV met seven French victims of clerical sexual abuse on Sunday, making a gesture of solidarity and reconciliation at a shrine world-famous for its healing waters.The nearly two-hour encounter took place at the residence of the local bishop, where Leo is staying for his two nights at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.Speaking to journalists after the meeting, one of the victims, Jérôme Guillement, said, “There was something sincere about [Pope Leo]. With him, every word was carefully chosen; every word had meaning. … There were a lot of emotions.”According to the Holy See Press Office, Leo spent an hour and a half speaking to the four men and three women individually, before addressing them as a group for about 20 minutes and “thanking them for their painful testimony and reaffirming his commitment to ensuring that the harm they experienced is not repeated for others.”He “expressed his solidarity with them and, through them, with all those who have suffered and continue to suffer from the wounds of abuse,” the statement said.Leo also prayed with some of the victims.“I sensed that he was a man of commitment and also a man of resolve,” Olivier Mardi, one of the participants, said after the meeting. “He’s not fooled and knows that these events will continue and that we must remain vigilant… There was an emotional side to it, and at the same time something very powerful when he speaks.”Five of the seven involved in the meeting revealed their identities ahead of the pope’s trip. Among them was Bertrand Virieux, a victim of ex-priest Bernard Preynat, who in 2020 was sentenced to five years in prison for assaults on young scouts in the Archdiocese of Lyon. Preynat died in 2024.The Church in France has been grappling with the repercussions of abuse in the wake of an independent commission’s report that hundreds of thousands of children had been abused by clergy and religious over the past 70 years.The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report in October 2021, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.It added that when abuse by lay Church workers was also taken into account, “the estimated number of child victims rises to 330,000 for the whole of the period.”The victims were accompanied by Bishop Gérard Le Stang of Amiens, president of the Council for the Prevention and Combating of Pedophilia within the French bishops’ conference.Guillement said Leo “felt that the Church in France still had a great deal of work to do” to prevent abuse.“We talked about prevention as part of a cultural shift at all levels … There are different opinions, but from his perspective, there’s still a systemic dimension at play,” the man added.According to Mardi, the pontiff “responded well to our very concrete proposals; he knows he has to work with us… He said we need to rekindle hope, and it takes serious commitment to make that happen.”Pope Leo spoke about the clerical sexual abuse of minors in his address to the French bishops on the morning of Sept. 27.“In recent years, you have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse committed against minors by members of the clergy or in an ecclesial context,” he said.The pontiff praised them for their courageous measures to listen, search for truth, justice, forgiveness, and making amends, as well as “a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes.”“You must continue along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance,” he said.Before addressing the bishops, Leo stopped in front of a memorial for victims of child sexual abuse, featuring the brief reflection of an anonymous victim.“[The victim] will come to understand that it was the entire culture of a system that sought to protect itself rather than protect him,” an inscription on the memorial reads. “And his turmoil continues to deepen around this question: Why can’t justice be done for him? It is so vital to him that he may finally find peace and that the tears of his childhood may cease to flow.”At an open-air Mass later on Sunday morning, the pope seemed to allude to the clerical abuse crisis, saying in his homily that “In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within [the Church], we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth.”The pope’s plans for a private conversation with victims ignited controversy among several abuse support groups in France who criticized the format of the meeting and the exclusion of victims’ organizations.Asked about the criticism, Bishop Pierre-Antoine Bozo, the spokesman of the French bishops’ conference, told journalists that “there are many survivor groups … If all of them had been included or brought together, it would have been a very large format, and it would not have had the same impact.”“What helps us most in accompanying victims is listening to them. And to do that, you cannot have 50 people sitting in front of you. That is really what the pope wanted,” Bozo said.The Lourdes shrine was an evocative backdrop for the meeting with abuse victims, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.Mosaics by Rupnik on the façade of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain indefinitely hidden.“It had come to carry such a symbolic burden for victims that, even though many of the people who come to Lourdes are not abuse victims, for those who are, something had to be done,” Bishop Bozo said.“If it becomes so difficult for people to come to Lourdes, people who should have a privileged place there because they are suffering, then the situation is no longer acceptable,” the spokesman added. “So I think covering the mosaics is a first step. Afterward, something new will have to be proposed, perhaps a new work of art.”")
The pontiff “expressed his solidarity with them and, through them, with all those who have suffered and continue to suffer from the wounds of abuse,” the Vatican said.
![Pope Leo in Lourdes: The Church must heal her ‘wounds, infidelities, and painful errors’ #Catholic LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV issued a firm call to conversion from sin and error in the Church, and invited all to repent and do penance, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday.Mary’s call to conversion in her message to St. Bernadette “also concerns the Church herself as she makes her earthly journey. She must have the courage to begin with herself,” he said at Mass on Sept. 27.“In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within her, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth,” the pontiff said.In 2021, the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.TweetLeo is scheduled to meet later on Sunday with seven victims of clerical sexual abuse in France.Lourdes is an evocative backdrop to the private meeting, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.Rupnik’s mosaics decorating the front of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain covered indefinitely, according to the local bishop.The pope celebrated Mass on a prairie across the river Gave de Pau from the grotto of the apparitions on the third day of his Sept. 25-28 visit to France.Pilgrims from France and around the world gathered on the grassy hill and along the streets of the shrine. Some waved flags or held banners of sacred images. A number of pilgrims arrived in wheelchairs. Around 150,000 people attended the Mass, according to the Vatican.Claire Banks, a nurse from the UK, said she has traveled over 100 times to Lourdes.“It was too good of an opportunity to miss coming here and seeing the pope. I think he’s wonderful,” she told EWTN News. She described an “electric atmosphere” at the shrine since Leo’s arrival.Libby Frank, another Mass attendee, is also from the UK, but has lived in Lourdes for 40 years. She recently retired after working for a charity that brings sick people to the shrine.“I worked for three papal visits and now I’ve come to one papal visit to enjoy it with my family and friends and just be part of the community,” she said, referencing two visits by St. Pope John Paul II in 1983 and 2004, and one by Pope Benedict in 2008.“There’s been a phenomenal amount of excitement locally waiting for Leo to come visit. The town [of Lourdes] has really gotten behind everything that’s happening,” she said.TweetThe Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is among the most popular Catholic shrines in the world, built on the site of Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette in 1858. It is particularly visited by the sick, who come to bathe in or drink its healing spring water.In his homily, Pope Leo noted that a “call to conversion, both tender and urgent,” was a central part of the message the Virgin Mary entrusted to Bernadette, and that “it is today, not tomorrow, that we must repent.”He said Jesus is quite direct about the call to repentance: “As St. Luke tells us, ‘Unless you repent, you will all perish.’ But he also extends our horizon beyond this earthly life to the horizon of eternal life.”“Did not the Virgin Mary say to St. Bernadette, ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next’?” Leo said.The pope noted that we can often forget this in an age and society focused on progress and material wellbeing.Eternal life is already won for us by Jesus’ sacrifice, he continued, but “the obstacle to grace and eternal life — the only obstacle to this love — is sin.”The Holy Father called everyone to do penance, an act of love for God and for our brothers and sisters, “who do not heed this call to conversion, and whose sins lead them towards death.”“We want to make amends for the wounds our sins have dealt to [God’s] heart,” he said.Addressing the many sick, elderly, and disabled people present at the Mass, Leo said their suffering, if lived in a “spirit of offering,” can take part “in the redemptive work that the world so greatly needs.”“In this way, you are truly at the heart of the Church, and your role is irreplaceable,” he said.“In the face of current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age, the grotto of Massabielle stands as a place of Christian hope,” he said. “Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty.”Earlier in the morning, Leo met with France’s bishops at the shrine, where he praised their courage in opposing the recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the country.“I encourage you to persevere, together with all people of good will who uphold the same values,” he told the bishops’ conference.At the end of Mass, before praying the Angelus, the pope invited those present to pray the rosary for peace, and to offer concrete acts of penance and mercy.“It was here that the Immaculate Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette with the rosary and, as it were, guided her in prayer,” he said. “For this reason, today I invite all the faithful and all Christian communities to pray the holy rosary throughout the coming month of October, with the particular intention that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict.”Elliot Hartley contributed to this report.This story was updated at 7:14 a.m. ET with more information about the Mass and the pope’s meeting with bishops.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pope-leo-in-lourdes-the-church-must-heal-her-wounds-infidelities-and-painful-errors-catholic-lourdes-france-pope-leo-xiv-issued-a-firm-call-to-conversion-from-sin-and.jpg "Pope Leo in Lourdes: The Church must heal her ‘wounds, infidelities, and painful errors’ #Catholic LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV issued a firm call to conversion from sin and error in the Church, and invited all to repent and do penance, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday.Mary’s call to conversion in her message to St. Bernadette “also concerns the Church herself as she makes her earthly journey. She must have the courage to begin with herself,” he said at Mass on Sept. 27.“In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within her, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth,” the pontiff said.In 2021, the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.TweetLeo is scheduled to meet later on Sunday with seven victims of clerical sexual abuse in France.Lourdes is an evocative backdrop to the private meeting, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.Rupnik’s mosaics decorating the front of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain covered indefinitely, according to the local bishop.The pope celebrated Mass on a prairie across the river Gave de Pau from the grotto of the apparitions on the third day of his Sept. 25-28 visit to France.Pilgrims from France and around the world gathered on the grassy hill and along the streets of the shrine. Some waved flags or held banners of sacred images. A number of pilgrims arrived in wheelchairs. Around 150,000 people attended the Mass, according to the Vatican.Claire Banks, a nurse from the UK, said she has traveled over 100 times to Lourdes.“It was too good of an opportunity to miss coming here and seeing the pope. I think he’s wonderful,” she told EWTN News. She described an “electric atmosphere” at the shrine since Leo’s arrival.Libby Frank, another Mass attendee, is also from the UK, but has lived in Lourdes for 40 years. She recently retired after working for a charity that brings sick people to the shrine.“I worked for three papal visits and now I’ve come to one papal visit to enjoy it with my family and friends and just be part of the community,” she said, referencing two visits by St. Pope John Paul II in 1983 and 2004, and one by Pope Benedict in 2008.“There’s been a phenomenal amount of excitement locally waiting for Leo to come visit. The town [of Lourdes] has really gotten behind everything that’s happening,” she said.TweetThe Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is among the most popular Catholic shrines in the world, built on the site of Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette in 1858. It is particularly visited by the sick, who come to bathe in or drink its healing spring water.In his homily, Pope Leo noted that a “call to conversion, both tender and urgent,” was a central part of the message the Virgin Mary entrusted to Bernadette, and that “it is today, not tomorrow, that we must repent.”He said Jesus is quite direct about the call to repentance: “As St. Luke tells us, ‘Unless you repent, you will all perish.’ But he also extends our horizon beyond this earthly life to the horizon of eternal life.”“Did not the Virgin Mary say to St. Bernadette, ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next’?” Leo said.The pope noted that we can often forget this in an age and society focused on progress and material wellbeing.Eternal life is already won for us by Jesus’ sacrifice, he continued, but “the obstacle to grace and eternal life — the only obstacle to this love — is sin.”The Holy Father called everyone to do penance, an act of love for God and for our brothers and sisters, “who do not heed this call to conversion, and whose sins lead them towards death.”“We want to make amends for the wounds our sins have dealt to [God’s] heart,” he said.Addressing the many sick, elderly, and disabled people present at the Mass, Leo said their suffering, if lived in a “spirit of offering,” can take part “in the redemptive work that the world so greatly needs.”“In this way, you are truly at the heart of the Church, and your role is irreplaceable,” he said.“In the face of current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age, the grotto of Massabielle stands as a place of Christian hope,” he said. “Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty.”Earlier in the morning, Leo met with France’s bishops at the shrine, where he praised their courage in opposing the recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the country.“I encourage you to persevere, together with all people of good will who uphold the same values,” he told the bishops’ conference.At the end of Mass, before praying the Angelus, the pope invited those present to pray the rosary for peace, and to offer concrete acts of penance and mercy.“It was here that the Immaculate Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette with the rosary and, as it were, guided her in prayer,” he said. “For this reason, today I invite all the faithful and all Christian communities to pray the holy rosary throughout the coming month of October, with the particular intention that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict.”Elliot Hartley contributed to this report.This story was updated at 7:14 a.m. ET with more information about the Mass and the pope’s meeting with bishops.")
The pontiff spoke about the urgency of repentance and conversion at a Mass on the third day of his visit to France.
France’s Catholic culture and the energy of the country’s young people stole the show at a prayer vigil at the national stadium in Saint-Denis, France.
Addressing the scourge of sexual abuse, the archbishop of Panama requested the services of the Transparency Commission, a project sponsored by Notre Dame Law School and Madrid’s Villanueva University.
The Sept. 15 murder of Father Román de la Cruz Hernández was likely perpetrated by organized crime and is not an isolated incident but forms part of a pattern of fear and intimidation.
The discussion focuses on the question “What are we building, for whom, and who will inherit it?”
Technicians prepare to transfer the #2 RS-25 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket engine (front) to the work stand with the #3 engine (back) for integration with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During Artemis III, the four RS‑25 engines will launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew of four into low Earth orbit, generating more than two million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
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From left, Expedition 75 flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA (partially obscured and wearing the spacesuit with a red stripe on the legs) and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) work together during a six‑hour and 23‑minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
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Ceiling of Sala della Stufa, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The room, created between 1627 and 1641, was originally an open gallery, but it was closed off later in the 17th century and restructured as a “stove” room, a bathroom heated using the same techniques as the Roman baths and intended for private use by the Grand Duke, whose bedroom is believed to be next door. The decoration, specially the frescos and stuccos, commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinand II de’ Medici, are a work of Michelangelo Cinganelli (1558-1635) Matteo Rosselli (1578-1650) and Ottavio Vannini (1585–1643).
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NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, during testing focused on lower-speed and altitude flight conditions in support of NASA’s Quesst mission. NASA continues to include two-flight days in its envelope expansion as teams work to better understand how the aircraft responds throughout its operating range.
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Expedition 74 flight engineers Chris Williams of NASA and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency work together in the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox.
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Off the coast of California, NASA’s Artemis Landing and Recovery team and the Department of War that will work together to retrieve the Artemis II crew and Orion spacecraft following their return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean are performing a final simulation of their activities, called a just-in-time training, at sea on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. During the training, teams use the Crew Module Test Article, a full-scale mockup of the Orion spacecraft, to simulate as close as possible the conditions they can expect to encounter during splashdown of the Artemis II mission.
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Basilica, Xavier, Navarre, Spain. The basilica belongs to the ensemble of the Castle of Xavier, built in the 10th century, although the basilica was not built until end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Of eclectic style, the interior has a unique neogothic nave built with grey stone and white marble. The stained glass is a work of painter Marcelino Santamaría from Burgos. The main altar is an artistic decorative work, carved in stone inlaid with mosaics, bronzes and enamels by the Biais house in Paris. The tabernacle is located on a high relief that represents San Francisco baptizing and preaching.
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