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US bishops consecrate nation to Sacred Heart of Jesus (USCCB)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:06:24 GMT

The bishops of the United States consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart on June 11, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The consecration, offered during the nation’s 250th anniversary year, took place during a Mass in Orlando, at the Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe (video).

“In a culture that prizes independence and self-reliance, we gather publicly to acknowledge that our deepest identity and our truest hope come, not from ourselves but from the Lord,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore preached. “Today we place the Church in the United States, and this nation we love, into the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

In preparation for the consecration, three archbishops offered reflections on the Sacred Heart.

Be transformed by the love of the Sacred Heart, Pope preaches on Canary Islands (CWN)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 02:06:42 GMT

Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Gran Canaria Stadium last evening (video 1, video 2) and encouraged his hearers to be transformed by the humble love of the Sacred Heart.

Embrace the cross and cultivate a Eucharistic spirituality, Pope tells priests, religious of Canary Islands (CWN)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 02:06:52 GMT

Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Canary Islands’ bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and pastoral workers to embrace the cross and to cultivate a Eucharistic spirituality.

Pope leaves Barcelona for Canary Islands, highlights plight of migrants (CWN)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:06:25 GMT

Pope Leo XIV departed from Barcelona on June 11, the penultimate day of his apostolic journey to Spain, and arrived in the Canary Islands (video 1, video 2).

Vatican message for World Tourism Day focuses on AI (Vatican Press Office)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 02:06:57 GMT

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, issued a message for World Tourism Day entitled “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.”

“We are called to rediscover the profound meaning of travel: not as an escape from reality, but as a journey towards creation, towards others, and towards God,” Archbishop Fisichella wrote. “It is indeed necessary to preserve the vision of the person as a relational being, free, capable of wonder, and the bearer of an inalienable dignity that no algorithm will ever be able to fully capture.”

The prelate’s message, dated May 26, was released on June 11; World Tourism Day is commemorated on September 27.

Since 2023, the Dicastery for Evangelization has issued the Vatican’s message for World Tourism Day; previously, the message was issued by the Pope (until 2004), the Secretary of State (2007), the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples (2006, 2008-2016), or the Dicastery for Promoting Human Development (2017-2022).

US bishops approve revisions to Dallas charter (Pillar)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 02:06:52 GMT

The US bishops, in a 176-22 vote, approved revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, originally adopted in Dallas in 2002 and revised in 2005, 2011, and 2018.

Under the revisions, the Charter will remain focused on the sexual abuse of minors, amid calls for a revised charter to address the sexual abuse of adults. A motion by Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, to delay a vote on the proposed revisions failed by a 126-73 margin.

Canadian bishops decry euthanasia on 10th anniversary of legalization (Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:06:51 GMT

The Standing Committee for Family and Life of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on June 10 marking the tenth anniversary of the legalization of assisted suicide in Canada.

“Canada now has the world’s largest and fastest-growing euthanasia program,” the bishops wrote. “The percentage of ‘MAID’ [medical assistance in dying] deaths is increasing annually and accounts for 5.1% of all deaths in 2024 (or 16,499 Canadians). Since its legalization, an estimated 100,000 Canadians have died by euthanasia or assisted suicide.”

The bishops added:

As disciples of Christ, we affirm that every human life is a gift, holds profound dignity and value, and is part of a human community. In contrast, euthanasia and assisted suicide, whatever their motives or means, consist in intentionally causing or hastening the death of a person who is sick, suffering, disabled, or dying in order to eliminate suffering. Such acts can never be morally acceptable, for they are gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to God, the Creator and Lord of life.

True compassion does not answer suffering with death, but accompanies those who suffer with hope, presence, palliative care, and relief of pain. Together with healthcare professionals, patients, and families, our faith teaches that we must strive for proportionate treatment options that neither unduly prolong nor intentionally hasten death, but instead offer life-affirming and compassionate care.

Arson, vandalism at churches in Irish town (OIDAC Europe)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:06:45 GMT

Two churches in Drogheda, Ireland, have been attacked in recent weeks.

First, a fire was set inside the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Tinure, which is part of Drogheda. Two weeks later, St. Augustine’s Priory in Drogheda was vandalized.

President Trump welcomes consecration of United States to the Sacred Heart (White House)

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:06:21 GMT

President Donald Trump issued a message welcoming the consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart.

President Trump characterized the consecration as “a powerful moment in our national story and a poignant reminder that America has always been guided by the loving hand of God” and described the Feast of the Sacred Heart as “a joyful celebration of God’s boundless love for all His creation.”

The president also noted that June 12 marks the 39th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech and St. John Paul II’s homily at the Westerplatte Peninsula in Gdansk, Poland. The president concluded:

As Catholic Bishops consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in this 250th year of our Independence, we recommit ourselves, like President Reagan and Pope Saint John Paul II, to defending our spiritual identity and great civilizational inheritance. Above all, we pray that America will continue for the next 250 years, and beyond, to be a land of faith, a country of miracles, and a light and glory to all nations.

Pope celebrates Mass in Sagrada Família, 100 years after Gaudí's death (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:06:12 GMT

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the famed Basilica of Sagrada Família in Barcelona on June 10, the 100th anniversary of the death of its architect, Venerable Antoni Gaudí (video).

Pope encourages Barcelona Catholic charity workers (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:11 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited the Church of St. Augustine in Barcelona on June 10 (video) and offered encouragement to archdiocesan charity workers.

Let us lay down our armor, as St. Ignatius of Loyola did, Pope says at Montserrat (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:24 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited the historic Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat and encouraged the faithful to imitate St. Ignatius of Loyola’s gesture of laying down their armor.

'The Lord allows us all to start anew,' Pope tells prisoners (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:00 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited a prison in Barcelona (video) and told the prisoners that “God loves you just as you are, but he dreams of you being even better.”

Cardinal Parolin, in papal letter, reflects on the elderly's 'magisterium of frailty' (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:06:15 GMT

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, wrote a letter in Pope Leo’s name to participants in a Vatican study day on pastoral care of the elderly.

US bishops discuss sexual abuse, sainthood causes; new nuncio 'a study in contrast' (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:46 GMT

On the first day of their June 2026 meeting in Orlando, the U.S. bishops offered a message to the Holy Father, heard from the new apostolic nuncio, voiced support for two sainthood causes, and discussed the revision of the Dallas Charter on the sexual abuse of minors.

Liberia's bishops distance themselves from interreligious council's support for abortion (Live Action)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:32 GMT

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Liberia distanced itself from the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia’s support for a bill that would legalize abortion.

“While the Catholic Church shared some important values like justice, peace, reconciliation, human dignity, etc with our Brothers and Sisters of other faiths, we want to categorically state that we are not in agreement with the Inter-Religious Council in endorsing and requesting the passage of the New Public Health Bill of Liberia in its entirety,” the bishops said in a statement.

The Inter-Religious Council of Liberia then withdrew its support for the legislation, Live Action reported.

Irish bishops decry civil unrest in Belfast (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:17 GMT

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference lamented riots in Northern Ireland.

The bishops “expressed concern at the attack on human life and the wider violence and social disorder that has taken place in Belfast and in some other places across Northern Ireland over the last 48-hours,” the bishops’ conference said in a June 10 statement. “Reports that the focus of these violent attacks was family homes and businesses of migrants, is all the more disconcerting.”

“The true measure of a just society is one which effectively welcomes newcomers, combats racism and rejects divisive political rhetoric,” the statement continued. The bishops called for “support for the police and for community leaders across [Northern Ireland] throughout the summer months.”

178 abuse allegations lodged in Ireland in 9-month period (National Board for Safeguarding Children)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:08 GMT

Between April and December 2025, the Irish bishops’ National Board for Safeguarding Children received 178 allegations of sexual and physical abuse against clergy and religious, according to a newly released report.

The vast majority of allegations date from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s; only four date from the 2000s, 2010s, or 2020s (p. 10). In the majority of cases, the alleged abuser is deceased (p. 12).

US bishops voice support for sainthood causes of Msgr. Joseph Buh, John Rick Miller (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

On the opening day of their June meeting, the bishops of the United States expressed their support for the sainthood causes of the Servants of God Msgr. Joseph Buh (1833-1922) and John Rick Miller (1948-2015).

Colorado bishops criticize candidate's use of Pope in ad (Colorado Catholic Conference)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:48 GMT

The Colorado Catholic Conference responded to a candidate’s use of a video of Pope Leo in a political advertisement.

“The Colorado Catholic Conference, as the united voice of the Catholic Bishops of Colorado, objects to the use of Pope Leo XIV’s image and words to imply endorsement of [Manny] Rutinel,” the conference stated. “Furthermore, the position of Rutinel on abortion, especially Rutinel’s recent co-sponsorship HB26-1335 and HB25-129, is direct participation in the grave evil of abortion and violates Catholic Church teaching.”