In a June 7 editorial, the archdiocese stressed that “the emotions of these days will remain in our memories but our children will still be there waiting for our attention, our parents needing a call, our grandparents longing for a visit, our spouse waiting for some time together, and our daily responsibilities demanding our presence.”

The Archdiocese of Mexico stated that “the world once again comes to a halt before the playing field. Millions of people will gather in front of a screen to celebrate, suffer disappointment, feel the excitement, and share the passion that soccer brings out.”

“Mexico, like many other participating nations, is undergoing challenges that call for unity; the entire world, caught up in scenarios of war and inequality, is in urgent need of reconciliation,” the editorial noted.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the worldʼs premier soccer championship, will have three host countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The opening match, between Mexico and South Africa, will take place on June 11 in Mexico City. Thirteen matches total will be played in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.

After acknowledging the frequent divisions caused by “politics, social media, economic disparities, or the wounds we carry in our personal and community relationships,” the archdiocese noted that during the World Cup weeks, “we will see entire families sitting together in front of the television, neighbors gathering to watch a match, and people who don’t usually agree on things celebrating the same goal.”

The archdiocese recalled that Pope Leo XIV, in his prayer intention for June, “reminds us that ‘in life, as in the game, no one is saved alone. We need others to grow, to learn respect, to overcome our limits, and to celebrate together the victories we achieve.'"

The archdiocese acknowledged that “the World Cup can be a great celebration” yet noted that “any celebration has meaning when it strengthens the bonds that sustain our lives.”

In this spirit, it extended an invitation to Mexican society, urging that “these weeks help us sit down together at the table as a family more often, reconcile with those from whom we have drifted apart, pick up conversations we had put on hold, and rediscover the joy of sharing.”

“Sport need not be a reason to distance ourselves from those we love, to isolate ourselves, or to shut ourselves away for hours in front of the television, shunning human contact or neglecting what requires our attention,” the editorial pointed out.

Both while the World Cup is underway as well as after it ends, “the people who are with us on the journey today remain essential.”

“We still need peace in our communities. We still need to be close to those who suffer. We still need to value and defend human life and dignity. We still urgently need reconciliation in our country. And the love we build each day in our homes remains irreplaceable,” the archdiocese emphasized.

The archdiocese encouraged people to both enjoy the soccer matches and celebrate “the fraternity it can inspire,” without forgetting “that trophies are fleeting and that the most valuable things in our lives are built day by day in family, friendship, honest work, and everyone’s commitment to building a more united society.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

During the vigil held at the cityʼs Olympic Stadium — on the fourth day of his apostolic journey to Spain — the pontiff answered direct, profound, and heart-wrenching questions with the voice of a shepherd, human sensitivity, and moments of stirring intensity.

Discovering one’s vocation in a selfish society

Ferrán — baptized this past Easter — asked Pope Leo XIV for guidance on how to keep his gaze lifted in order to discover his vocation, “when society pushes us to look constantly at the ground or only at ourselves.”

Leo XIV highlighted the fact that “many young people and adults are rediscovering the Christian faith” and noted that “our desire for truth and happiness requires a broader horizon. And this restlessness is a gift that God himself has given us: We are made for the infinite.”

Leo XIV offered two ideas: It is necessary to cultivate that healthy restlessness, and to do so within one’s own specific circumstances.

Regarding the first point, he warned that “the idolatry of profit and performance, the drive to constantly produce and come out on top, as well as the cult of one’s own image, are nothing more than anesthetics” that numb the conscience.

For this reason, he added that those who allow themselves to be enlightened by the Gospel “also develop a critical perspective regarding a social system that does not place the person at the center and gives rise to situations of injustice and existential poverty on various levels.” This critical capacity means that “restlessness — as well as the discovery of one’s inner self, of spirituality, and even more so of the Gospel — can be frightening,” he added.

Secondly, the pope urged everyone to “cultivate this restlessness and make room for it” in their own concrete realities — by creating moments of silence, reading the Gospel daily, speaking with God, and “trying to walk this inner path alongside others, allowing ourselves to be accompanied on ecclesial journeys and engaging in dialogue with priests, religious, and people who, like us, have embarked on this path.”

God neither abandons nor desires human suffering

The second question came from Carmina, a secondary school teacher who described how depression led her to view “the idea of ​​disappearing” as her only way out: “One Friday night, I lost the battle and tried to take my own life.” Yet, she continued, “God gave me a second chance.”

Drawing on this lived experience, she asked — amid the profound silence of those present: “Where can we see God when the darkness is absolute and we can go on no longer? How can we trust in God when it seems that nothing — not even oneself — is worth anything?”

After a pause, Leo XIV responded by expressing gratitude for the effort involved in sharing an experience of such magnitude: “You have risen and resumed your journey, and this is a wonderful miracle that we see in many figures in the Gospel.”

The pontiff highlighted the need to “become aware of how mental health is increasingly threatened within societies considered advanced” — a fact that signals “something deeply amiss” in them, subjecting people “to pressures, expectations, and tensions that compromise fundamental forms of balance.”

Leo XIV then turned his attention to the “hours of darkness, anguish, and pain that Jesus experienced as the hour of his death drew near,” affirming that “this is not merely a matter of personal suffering”; rather, the Son of God takes upon himself, in his own flesh, all the anguish, pain, and suffering of humanity.

“The cross of Jesus tells us that God does not abandon us,” the Holy Father continued, noting that “he remains crucified with us in moments of pain and extreme loneliness.”

“When God seems absent, we must once again entrust to him the burdens we carry in our hearts — even crying out to him,” he added.

He also recommended “opening ourselves to someone who can help us offer a simple prayer, who can accompany us discreetly — without rushing to explain that pain — and who can take us by the hand and help us move beyond that cry.”

Regarding this experience, he warned against the temptation to “spiritualize pain” by superficially reducing it to the “will of God,” as this risks minimizing and silencing suffering. “God does not desire suffering; he bears it with us and invites us to trust in him perseveringly,” he declared.

How can I forgive my father and reconcile with God?

The third young person to address Pope Leo XIV was Desirée, who recounted how her father had tried to kill her mother — an event that drove her mother into drug addiction and landed Desirée in a juvenile detention center, where she gradually opened herself to faith and was baptized.

Her story moved those present to tears; they interrupted her account several times with applause expressing affection and support.

During her adolescence, she had rebelled against God. Now, with a faith renewed following a retreat, she asks God: “Where were you when I was a child?” She posed two questions to the pope: How can I forgive my father? How can I truly reconcile with God?

The pope reframed the first question, encouraging us to ask ourselves how we — as human beings — become “prisoners of evil, to the point of being violent toward others” and “fail to cultivate love” while respecting the dignity and freedom of others.

After condemning “a poisoned atmosphere in family relationships — characterized by abuse, oppression, and, in particular, violence against women” — the pope emphasized that “we cannot attribute to God what has been entrusted to our own responsibility.”

He thus recalled that human beings have been endowed by God with intelligence, will, conscience, and dignity, and noted that God has, above all, “come to meet us to show us — in his Son, Jesus Christ — the path to follow,” in addition to gifting us the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, he affirmed, these questions must be directed “at ourselves, at the dynamics of our society, at the culture of individualism, and at the temptation to violence — not at God.”

Regarding forgiveness, the pontiff emphasized that it is part of a journey. He warned that if one reads the Gospel “as a book of instructions, commandments, and duties,” one runs the risk of “causing ourselves great discouragement and frustration” upon discovering that we are incapable of the forgiveness to which the Lord invites us.

He added that “we must, above all, ask the Lord for forgiveness” so that he may “expand the space for love within us precisely where we have been wounded” and thus, gradually, “transform resentment into mercy and compassion.”

“We must not lose heart: In forgiveness, we advance in small steps,” for it is a gradual process that does not always mean returning to the previous situation “or living in a full relationship with those who have hurt us, especially when the incident involved violence.”

Nevertheless, he noted, it is possible “to maintain a good disposition of the heart toward the person, reject all forms of hatred or vengeance, strive to mend the relationship as much as possible, and perhaps pray for him or her.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The Holy Father will continue the apostolic visit through June 12. His events so far in the European country have also included a massive gathering with young people in Madrid and a visit to the historic Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia in Barcelona.

See below for photos of Pope Leo XIVʼs activities in Spain.

About 130 scientists gathered for this yearʼs conference for talks that touched on the deeply Catholic history of science, the moral dilemma of identical twins, how science and faith are one in their pursuit of truth, how AI fits into the grand scheme of things, and how key mathematical discoveries reveal God’s beauty and infinity.

The Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS) exists to correct the false characterization of faith and science as opposed, and how to combat this myth was a constant topic in both formal presentations and informal conversations. All presentations can be seen on the recorded livestream.

Castel-Branco told the story in his Saturday morning talk of St. Nicolas Steno, a revolutionary scientist who is considered the father of geology and comparative anatomy. This brilliant researcher converted to Catholicism after witnessing a Corpus Christi procession in Italy, going on to become a bishop and then a saint.

The same research skills Steno used to understand the natural world, Castel-Branco said, became his path to heaven as he turned his intellect toward studying the Church fathers and theology.

Later on Saturday afternoon, Maureen Condic, neurobiology professor and bioethicist at The Catholic University of America, presented her solution to the “twin problem.” Identical twins pose a moral dilemma: If one embryo can divide into two distinct persons, how does that square with the belief that personhood begins at conception? 

Condic pulled from the newest research in molecular developmental biology and the ancient wisdom of Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics to present a sophisticated answer that affirms the dignity of human life at all stages, arguing that the splitting of an embryo to become identical twins is an act of biological regeneration, comparable to asexual reproduction. Thus an embryo becoming identical twins is not the division of one human person but the spawning of a second individual from a first.

Ignasi Rosell, a particle physicist and one of several visitors from the society’s Spain chapter, explained how scientists can understand their work in light of St. John Henry Newman’s vision of the university, saying: “Truth is one. Newman was not defending theology against science: He was defending the unity of knowledge. The university remains the privileged place where that unity is sought.”

Two talks addressed artificial intelligence, one addressing trustworthy scientific inference given the scope of AI and the other attempting to place machine intelligence on Aristotle’s “Great Chain of Being” that classified all living and nonliving things into a hierarchical scale based on the complexity of their souls.

The conference also turned to the philosophy of mathematics in a presentation that revealed how religious faith brings new understanding to every field of scientific inquiry. Gregory F. Johnson, principal software engineer at Zap Surgical Systems, a spin-off of the Stanford Medical School, discussed “The Mathematical and Philosophical Revolution Launched by Gödelʼs Incompleteness Theorem,” a theorem published in 1931 that fundamentally altered the philosophy of mathematics.

“The key thing Gödel showed was that mathematics has sort of infinite realms where weʼre being asked to explore more and more deeply,” Johnson told EWTN News. “Gödel thought — he was a man of faith, a man of religious belief — that, in a way, God created an abstract realm to go with the material physical realm, where he was just opening doors for us to explore more and more deeply into his truth and his presence."

Participants called the conference “joyful,” “refreshing,” and “genuinely interdisciplinary.”

“Itʼs just a joyful sharing of the intersection of faith and science,” Alexander Webber, a research fellow at the Food and Drug Administration, told EWTN News. It was Webber’s fifth year attending the conference, and he said he frequently encourages friends and colleagues to come too.

“Itʼs just an incredible experience every year, gathering with highly qualified scientists who are also believers,” he said. “We always have wonderful conversations — not only on how our faith informs our work but also how our work reveals more about our faith. I always leave feeling edified. It’s very much unlike other conferences. Nobody here is really putting on any pretenses.”

Other attendees said they enjoy being with other serious scientists who are devout Catholics and who share their understanding that faith and science go hand in hand.

Robert Scherrer, a physics professor at Vanderbilt University, said: “Thereʼs this myth that science and religion are opposed to each other. A lot of atheists have a very simplistic view of religion: The religion they donʼt believe in is not the religion I do believe in. But young people see this myth and think, ‘I have to pick which team Iʼm going to be on.’”

Chris Clemens, an astrophysicist and former provost of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was one of the first members of the SCS. He said it was hard to find other Catholic scientists at first, but now it has grown and draws more members every year.

The organization has seen enormous development in its international chapters. The president of the Spain chapter, the second-largest chapter after the U.S., gave a presentation about its growth and success at the conference.

Scherrer, another founding member of the SCS, said he greatly enjoys the event’s interdisciplinary nature. “All the other conferences I go to are in my specialty, and itʼs fun, but it’s the same topics every time,” he said. “Whereas here, Iʼve heard talks about bees, and the Great Lakes, and lobster brains, and all sorts of things that you just donʼt get in your normal run of your life, so itʼs much more interesting. It reminds me of when I was a kid and was interested in science. I didnʼt just do physics; I was interested in all science. It feels like a chance to get back to that.”

SCS members have initiated a number of projects to share more broadly the compatibility of faith and science, from a “Faith, Science, and Reason” high-school textbook written by Chris Baglow, who directs the Science & Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, to a new training this year that prepares scientists to give lectures on the unity of faith and science.

The prelate made the announcement via his official X account, noting also that the pontiffʼs presence would be “a source of comfort and encouragement for many.”

The confirmation coincides with an announcement from the French Bishops' Conference, which stated via social media that the pope will participate in five major gatherings during the visit.

On Sept. 25, the pope will preside over vespers at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and take part in an evening event with young people; on the 26th, he will celebrate an open-air Mass in Paris; on the 27th, he will celebrate the Eucharist at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes; and on the 28th, he will preside over Mass at Metz Cathedral.

“We can now give free rein to our joy, as we are able to publicly confirm that Paris will welcome the Holy Father on Sept. 25 and 26 as part of his apostolic journey to France!” Ulrich wrote.

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The archbishop noted that the announcement follows several weeks of preparation in his archdiocese and highlighted the importance of the Holy Fatherʼs “pastoral and fatherly care” for French Catholics.

Ulrich expressed pride in the choice of Paris as one of the key stops on the journey: “We know that Paris is just one of the dioceses in France and that each particular Church reflects the face of Christ in its own way.”

He added that the Church in Paris must prepare itself and “work wholeheartedly to create the conditions for a true encounter that transcends our own boundaries.”

Encounters with young people and a large-scale Mass

As the archbishop explained, on Friday, Sept. 25 — prior to vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with priests, deacons, consecrated religious, and seminarians from across France — the pope will have an encounter with the faithful.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, the pope “will preside over an open-air Mass in the heart of Paris, to which I invite you to join — either by attending in person, if you are able, or through prayer,” Ulrich stated.

Call for volunteers and prayer

The archbishop noted that many logistical details are still being finalized, but he invited the faithful to get involved in organizing the visit.

He also asked for financial support to help welcome the many pilgrims expected to attend the events. Finally, he urged Catholics to support the preparations through prayer.

"Above all, I ask you to join in this preparation through prayer: prayer for the Holy Father ... and prayer for all those ... who will be involved in organizing this visit,” he wrote.

Ulrich concluded by asking for prayers for the Church in France, that it may remain “united behind the bishops in full communion with the successor of Peter” and preserve, “amid all the storms of our time, its faithful joy in the Lord’s Gospel.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The vice president told Fox News host Jesse Watters on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on June 8 that he attended Christian churches while growing up but that he “wasnʼt properly formed in my faith” and that he eventually fell away from Christianity.

“I had a lot of people who just did not, I think, properly support me in my own faith journey. And so I kind of just lost it,” he told Watters.

Vance said he experienced considerable career success as he grew older and became a lawyer. “I was professionally very successful. I was making a lot of money. Iʼd gone to all the right schools,” he said.

But “I realized that American elite culture was forming me to be kind of a bad person.”

When his wife, Usha, gave birth to their first baby, Vance said he began thinking about “how to be a good person, how to be virtuous, how to be a good and supportive husband, how to raise [their] son to be a good man himself.”

These questions led him to consider returning to the faith, he said; he ultimately converted to Catholicism in 2019.

“It felt like the world was changing so fast,” he said. “And what I loved about Catholicism is that you had this beautiful ancient Church, and you had all of these traditions that were very firmly rooted, some of which went back literally thousands of years. And I just really loved that sense of tradition.”

He admitted that itʼs “possible sometimes to think too much about this stuff” and that ultimately he joined the Catholic faith because “when I went to a Catholic church, I felt at home.”

“[A]fter a lot of soul searching, thatʼs just what felt like home to me,” he said.

Vance added he enjoys the “dynamism” that comes from the religiously pluralistic culture of the United States.

“Certainly it has been true for me that while I made my home in the Catholic Church, some of my best friends and some of the most influential people Iʼve met ... have been Protestants. So I think thatʼs going to continue to be true,” he said.

Vanceʼs wife, Usha, is Hindu, which Vance said “brings a lot” to their marriage.

“Itʼs definitely dynamic to have a Hindu [mother], a Catholic father, two Catholic kids, and one 4-year-old girl who hasnʼt figured it out yet,” he said. “But I wouldnʼt take it any other way.”

Watters noted that he himself is Protestant but that his wife is “kind of trying to get me to convert to Catholicism.” He joked with Vance: “Iʼm not there yet. Maybe Iʼll get there one day.”

“Weʼll talk,” Vance replied with a laugh.

Vanceʼs upcoming book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” will be released on June 16. Vance said earlier this year that the book will explore the “story of how I regained my faith.”

"I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true,” Vance said when the book was announced. “But I didn’t always think that, and by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

The court’s June 4 decision to issue a temporary stay for Nigerian priest Father Martin Umeatuegbu’s student visa comes after the Trump administration issued proclamations placing a hold on all visa adjustment of status applications and restricting entry for all foreign nationals from “high-risk” countries, including Nigeria.

The 14‑day stay, granted in response to the archdiocese’s May 22 emergency request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, gives the Archdiocese of Santa Fe time to petition the U.S. government to upgrade Umeatuegbu’s student visa to an R‑1 religious worker visa, a five-year visa typically held by foreign-born priests while serving in the U.S. and applying for green card status.

The outcome of Umeatuegbu’s case could set a precedent for other foreign-born priests from countries designated by the U.S. as “high risk.”

Umeatuegbu’s visa was set to expire on June 4. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe had filed its petition to upgrade his visa to R-1 status on Dec. 31, 2025. Umeatuegbu was ordained to the priesthood on May 23 and has been assigned to St. Anne Parish in Santa Fe.

Umeatuegbu obtained a master of arts degree in theology from Mount Angel Abbey Seminary and was ordained to the diaconate on June 5, 2025, according to the seminary’s website.

The archdiocese did not return EWTN News’ request for comment.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales wrote that “the archdiocese is likely to succeed on merits under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act” and said the policy of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “infringes on the archdiocese’s right to select its minister of choice.”

Gonzales said the U.S. government “is unlikely to demonstrate that the policy is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest,” especially since it has already lifted adjudicative holds on other categories of petitions.

At this significant site of the Neocatechumenal Way on the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee in the Holy Land, the cardinal conferred priestly ordination upon Francisco Hurtado Cárdenas (Colombia), José Pablo Morera Mesén (Costa Rica), Adolfo René De León Salguero (Guatemala), and David Sotgiu (Italy).

In his homily, Pizzaballa highlighted the providential nature of the date — the eve of Corpus Christi — and emphasized that “there is no Eucharist without a priest, nor a priest without the Eucharist.” The Italian cardinal also stressed that “love cannot be locked within itself; it must be communicated, it must become a gift,” according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The cardinal also emphasized that the priesthood is not a personal possession but a received gift that must be safeguarded. “If you keep it for yourselves, it will be stifled; it must always become a gift,” he warned the new priests.

Pizzaballa also encouraged the new priests to remember “what the Lord has done for you,” so that they do not forget the journey they have traveled or the people who have supported and accompanied them.

He also emphasized that a priest must lead people to an encounter with Christ through his witness and by helping communities live out the faith as something vibrant within the Church.

At the end of the homily, the patriarch highlighted both the beauty and the demanding nature of serving the Church in Jerusalem — a small, complex reality wounded by many situations. “Here, it is necessary to go to the very depths, to live the life of God to the fullest, right where the Word became incarnate and became tangible and real,” he emphasized.

In June of last year, in the same church, Pizzaballa conferred priestly ordination upon John Oscar Nuñez (Philippines), Giacomo Pagliariccia (Italy), and Lucas Solbach (France), who were also trained at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Galilee.

In a press release issued June 8, the experts said the situation is “deeply troubling,” particularly in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt region, where a “deteriorating security situation” and an “inadequate” response from civil authorities has allowed armed extremist groups — which include Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, along with radicalized Muslim herdsmen — to operate with relative impunity.

The experts pointed to the role of local interpretations of Sharia law in 12 northern states, blasphemy codes, and systemic failures in access to civil justice as contributing factors.

“These reports are deeply troubling,” the experts stated. “Violence targeting Christians and other religious minorities continues to be rampant.”

“The testimonies we have received paint a horrifying picture of fear, trauma, coercion, and abandonment. Victims and survivors must not be left without protection, justice, [and] reparations, including rehabilitation and meaningful support,” the experts wrote.

In a formal communication sent to the Nigerian government, the U.N. experts cited specific incidents such as the abduction of girls taken from a church in Borno state; the forced conversion and marriage of a 13-year-old girl in Bauchi state; and a gruesome attack on a 16-year-old Christian girl, whose hand was reportedly cut off by militants after her family rejected a forced marriage proposal.

These cases form part of a “broader pattern of violence” against Christian communities, according to the U.N. experts, “including killings, attacks on churches and villages, mass displacement, mob violence linked to accusations of blasphemy, and severe insecurity affecting women and children in internally displaced persons camps.”

Women and girls in displaced persons camps face particular vulnerability to sexual exploitation, they said, with some coerced into sexual acts in exchange for food or aid. Many reportedly hide their Christian identity or wear hijabs for survival.

“If confirmed, these allegations may amount to serious violations of international human rights law, including violations of the rights to life, safety, liberty, security, freedom of religion or belief, freedom from torture, enforced disappearance, slavery and trafficking, and the rights of women and children,” the experts said.

In a statement June 8 responding to the U.N. report, Giorgio Mazzoli, the director of U.N. advocacy at the religious freedom organization ADF International, said: “Christians, particularly women and girls, among other religious minorities, have faced grave and systematic atrocities at the hands of armed militant groups operating with impunity in parts of Nigeria.”

ADF International was one of several human rights organizations that pushed the U.S. State Department to redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in the fall of 2025.

Mazzoli continued: “For too long, the international community has remained largely silent as this crisis has deepened. The joint communication from five U.N. mechanisms is a significant and welcome step towards ensuring that these violations receive international attention, and that their root causes — including discriminatory legal frameworks — are fully addressed.”

The U.N.'s June 8 statement was issued by a team of experts made up of U.N. special rapporteurs and a working group. The special rapporteurs include Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; Nicolas Levrat, special rapporteur on minority issues; and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture.

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is composed of Gabriella Citroni, Grażyna Baranowska , Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, and Mohamed Al Obaidi.

The experts urged Nigerian authorities to take urgent action to protect at-risk populations, secure the release of abducted persons, conduct independent investigations, prosecute perpetrators, and provide justice, reparations, and support to victims.

“Impunity for these crimes only fuels further violence,” they warned. “Nigerian authorities must act urgently to prevent further irreparable harm and ensure accountability for all violations.”

For a few minutes, the pontiff and the Puerto Rican singer — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and who has performed 10 concerts in the Spanish capital (one of which coincided with the popeʼs Saturday vigil with young people in Madrid) — were able to greet each other and converse, taking advantage of the fact that both were in the city at the time.

So far, no images of the meeting have emerged.

The archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, had previously spoken to EWTN News about the possibility of a meeting between the pope and the Puerto Rican musician, stating that “the pope is never closed to speaking with anyone who wishes to enter into dialogue with him.”

“If that were to happen at some point, we certainly wouldnʼt rule it out, but it depends on the two of them. What is true is that Madrid is a very large city and can host various events on the same day,” the cardinal observed.

Earlier this year, Bad Bunny was featured in the Super Bowl halftime show. His reggaeton repertoire has been sharply criticized for its vulgarity and degradation of human behavior.

Following the artistʼs Super Bowl performance, Puerto Rico Bishops' Conference President Eusebio Ramos addressed the matter. Ramos said that, while he would not express support for the artistʼs musical genre, he welcomes the words of the singer that “have reminded us of Christian values, such as fraternity and the primacy of love.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. ET on June 9, 2026, to include the information in the last two paragraphs.

When Leo first appeared on the balcony of St. Peterʼs Basilica to the thousands of faithful gathered in the square after his election, many noticed the return of the mozzetta as reestablishing a papal tradition.

The mozzetta, which fell out of use under Pope Francis, is a short red cape worn over the shoulders. Leo has worn it often when meeting heads of state, delivering his “urbi et orbi” addresses at Christmas and Easter, and at special prayer services.

By wearing the mozzetta, Leo has chosen to revive a long-standing custom. But why does he wear it, and what does it symbolize?

History of the mozzetta

The mozzetta is a nonliturgical garment worn by the pope, cardinals, bishops, abbots, and certain priests, including canons of a cathedral chapter. It is normally worn over the cassock.

The history of this garment dates back to at least the 14th century, shortly after the papacy returned to Rome from Avignon. Initially, it was worn by the popes in Avignon to adapt to the colder French climate. Eventually, it became part of the popeʼs ceremonial dress around 1400, initially reserved for the pope but later extended to all cardinals and bishops.

The mozzetta also has roots from the earliest centuries of the papacy, when popes began to wear red mantles over white vestments in imitation of the Roman emperors, asserting both temporal and spiritual authority.

The mozzetta traditionally also had a hood attached to it to symbolize penance, but this was discontinued by St. Paul VI in 1969.

Symbolism, use, and differences

The mozzetta, in the case of a prelate, symbolizes his spiritual authority and rank within the Church hierarchy. For a pope, it is normally worn with the papal stole as a sign of his universal jurisdiction over all Catholics.

As a nonliturgical vestment, the mozzetta is normally not used to administer the sacraments. Instead, it is used by the clergy as a choir dress at certain services, e.g., the Divine Office, and by the pope for certain occasions, including audiences, prayer services, and “urbi et orbi” addresses. It is customary for the pontiff to wear it when he first presents himself to the crowd after his election.

The mozzetta a pope wears is different from those worn by cardinals and other clerics.

While the mozzetta for cardinals is red and for bishops purple, the pope has five versions of the mozzetta.

The one most commonly worn by the pontiffs is the red satin mozzetta, usually with an embroidered stole.

Pope Benedict XVI revived the use of other styles of the papal mozzetta, including the winter mozzetta (made of red velvet trimmed with white ermine fur) and the white silk mozzetta, worn during the Easter season.

Discontinuity under Francis and a reviving under Leo

When Pope Francis stepped out on the balcony of St. Peterʼs Basilica after his election to greet the faithful, he did not wear the papal mozzetta, preferring a simple white cassock. He chose not to wear the vestment during his 12-year pontificate, becoming the first pontiff in living memory not to do so.

Leo XIV has instead chosen to revive the use of the papal mozzetta, in line with his predecessors, who favored wearing certain vestments as a visible reminder of papal tradition.

Antonio Tyson will serve two life sentences and a 40-year sentence for the murder of Father Otis Young and Ruth Prats, according to a June 8 press release from the office of Judicial District Attorney J. Collin Sims.

Young and Prats were found murdered in Covington, Louisiana, in November 2022; the bodies of both victims were burned after the victims themselves had been stabbed and beaten.

Young, 71, had retired in July of that year after serving as pastor for approximately 10 years at St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington. Prats had been a parish employee at that church.

Tyson was arrested shortly after the murders. Sims' office said in its release that he pleaded guilty to the murders on May 5. Part of the plea deal included Tyson waiving “all present and future rights to pursue sentence reductions, administrative corrections, judicial reviews, or release mechanisms.”

Tyson will also “be incarcerated within specialized state facilities under conditions identical to capital inmates awaiting execution,” the prosecutorʼs office said.

The severe imprisonment conditions and the appeal waiver “fulfill the explicit desire of the Prats and Young families that Tyson experience the maximal physical restrictions warranted by his heinous offenses, while simultaneously shielding the families from years of appellate delays and litigation associated with a capital trial,” the office said.

Sims in a statement said the sentencing “brings a permanent closure to a deeply painful chapter in our community’s history.”

The prosecutorʼs office was initially prepared to seek the death penalty, Sims said, but “recent disclosures regarding historical childhood IQ testing, [along with] a traumatic brain injury discovered in MRI scans,” meant such a sentence would likely have been subject to “meaningful challenges” at appeal.

“Rather than exposing these grieving families to potentially decades of litigation and the meaningful possibility that an execution could never legally be carried out, this negotiated resolution guarantees that Tyson will remain removed from society for the rest of his natural life under maximum-security, death-row conditions,” the prosecutor said.

Tyson had reportedly been released from prison just a few months prior to committing the murders. His latest sentences will run consecutively to each other, the prosecutorʼs office said.

In early March, two priests of the Diocese of Pinsk in southern Belarus were refused permission to continue their ministry. In May, three priests of the northern Diocese of Vitebsk lost their permits, followed later that month by five priests and a monk of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev. All were Polish citizens who had ministered in Belarusian parishes for years, several of them for decades.

A number of the affected priests held parish leadership and deanery-level roles in the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, the metropolitan see that includes the capital, Minsk.

The move follows a pattern in which the Belarusian government has steadily increased pressure on the Catholic Church in Belarus, a community with long-held Polish ties.

Administrative pressure on foreign priests

Belarus operates one of the most restrictive frameworks for foreign clergy in the region. Priests may serve only with explicit approval from the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, a state office in Minsk headed by Aleksandr Rumak. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized Rumak for refusing residency permits without explanation and for declining to engage with the foreign clergy affected.

Permits are tied to a specific parish and are typically granted for just three to six months, though some are issued for a year. Regulations forbid individual parishes from applying for permits on their own; requests must instead pass through registered national religious bodies, a slow and bureaucratic process.

Foreign clergy must also demonstrate proficiency in Belarusian or Russian and are forbidden to carry out religious activities outside the specific localities where their inviting parish is registered. If a priest wishes to celebrate Mass in another parish, further government permission is required.

State security services also closely monitor the sermons, websites, and social media activity of foreign priests, while authorities in Minsk can deny, revoke, or refuse to renew residency permits without giving an official reason.

A notable example is Polish priest Father Józef Geza, who in 2022 was forced to leave Belarus after 25 years of ministry when authorities declined to renew his permit without publicly explaining the decision.

Growing clergy shortages

Metropolitan Archbishop Iosif Staneuski of Minsk-Mohilev acknowledged the impact of these restrictions in a May 28 interview with Vatican News, warning that the number of priests serving in Belarus is steadily declining, particularly in the countryʼs eastern regions.

He said some priests are now required to travel hundreds of kilometers to serve multiple parishes because of the growing shortages.

The archbishop also noted that foreign priests — especially Poles who have ministered in Belarus for decades — are increasingly unable to remain in the country because of residency-permit restrictions, placing additional strain on already limited pastoral resources.

Staneuski said the Church remains open to priests from around the world, stressing that the Catholic Church has no borders and that differences in language, nationality, or skin color are no obstacle to Christian ministry. Yet he explained that the most sustainable solution to Belarus' shrinking number of priests is the development of local vocations, as restrictions on foreign clergy increasingly leave parishes understaffed.

Political roots of the crackdown

Relations between the Belarusian state and the Catholic Church deteriorated sharply after President Alexander Lukashenkoʼs disputed reelection in 2020, which triggered the largest wave of anti-government protests in the countryʼs history.

During the crackdown that followed, Catholic churches sheltered protesters and human rights activists fleeing security forces, while senior clergy publicly condemned the violence. Since then, dozens of priests have faced threats, deportation, administrative penalties, or imprisonment on charges of espionage and treason that the Church and rights groups say were fabricated.

The rift widened after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which Belarus helped facilitate by allowing its territory to be used by Russian forces. In line with the Vatican, Belarus' Catholic hierarchy repeatedly called for peace and urged Minsk not to deepen its involvement in the war, placing the Church at odds with a government closely aligned with the Kremlin.

Prominent critics of Lukashenko have also emerged from Belarus' Catholic community. Among them is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, a practicing Catholic and one of the countryʼs most prominent human rights advocates. During a meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on May 27, Bialiatski raised concerns about ongoing human rights violations in Belarus.

Polish ties and geopolitical tensions

In September 2020, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Chief Sergey Naryshkin accused the United States of using Belarus' Catholic communities to foment unrest and sow domestic divisions. Although no evidence was presented, the claims reinforced a narrative promoted by Moscow and Minsk that portrays the Catholic Church as a vehicle for foreign influence.

Those suspicions are amplified by the Belarusian Churchʼs long-standing ties to Poland. Many Belarusian Catholics are concentrated in the western regions of Grodno and Brest near the Polish border, while a significant number of priests either have Polish roots or were educated in Polish seminaries.

At the same time, Warsaw has remained one of the most outspoken critics of both Lukashenko and the Kremlin, frequently condemning repression in Belarus and raising concerns about the treatment of the countryʼs Polish minority.

Against this backdrop, Belarusian authorities have increasingly viewed the Catholic Churchʼs cross-border links as a political liability rather than a religious or cultural connection, making it a recurring target in the governmentʼs broader campaign against independent institutions and civil society.

Pilgrims arrived from more than 50 countries around the world, including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Wallis and Futuna, Guam, Chile, Argentina, the United States, Spain, Italy, and Poland.

The congress opened with public Mass in Vilnius Cathedral Square at 12:30 p.m., which was followed by a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Vilnius Old Town at 2 p.m.

A procession through Lithuania’s wounded past

During his homily, Archbishop Gintaras Grušas told pilgrims that the procession route had been deliberately chosen to pass sites that reflect both the suffering and resilience of the Church in Lithuania.

“As we walk through the city, we will stop to pray at the stations that remind us of the city’s wounds and at the same time testify to healing,” he explained.

He referenced the Church of St. Casimir, once converted into a museum of atheism by the Soviets, and the Gate of Dawn, a Marian shrine that communist authorities had planned to demolish. He highlighted their continued existence as a testament to God’s mercy and the endurance of faith despite decades of Soviet attempts to suppress it.

Among those attending the opening Mass were Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda; Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the apostolic nuncio to the Baltic States; Fra' John Timothy Dunlap, grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; and Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius. They were joined by Lithuanian Ambassador to the Holy See Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė, bishops from across Lithuania, and diplomats from neighboring countries.

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims

Later in the evening at 6 p.m., the congress officially opened on the Hill of the Savior, beside the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the former Visitation Monastery, both of which suffered under Soviet persecution. The venue is located just steps away from the former convent where St. Faustina received many of her visions and where artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski painted the first divine mercy image.

Pope Leo XIV addressed participants by video message, stressing the relevance of divine mercy in a world marked by war, violence, and growing anxiety. “Amid the vortex of violence that poisons relationships and destroys lives, the mercy of God asks to be allowed into our hearts with its amazing power of renewal,” the Holy Father said.

The pope also urged the faithful to welcome God’s mercy as a force of personal renewal, saying it has the power to transform lives through love and forgiveness. “The peace that we so deeply desire cannot be attained without mercy,” the pope said.

He concluded by encouraging pilgrims to unite their trust in God’s infinite mercy with a commitment to building a more compassionate and welcoming society, beginning within their own families.

In his message, Pope Leo XIV offered special greetings to Grušas, Nausėda, and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The orthodox leader’s participation highlighted the congress’ international and ecumenical significance.

Building a city of mercy

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nausėda said the event’s message was particularly relevant at a time of growing global uncertainty, conflict, and anxiety about the future. He presented the gathering in Vilnius as a source of hope and spiritual renewal, expressing confidence that its message of mercy would resonate far beyond Lithuania and reach people searching for peace in troubled times.

Meanwhile the grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta highlighted the enduring significance of the original image of the merciful Jesus, painted in Vilnius, describing it as a continuing call for believers to carry the message of divine mercy into the modern world.

Grušas likewise stressed that the congress theme, “Building a City of Mercy,” was intended as a practical challenge rather than a symbolic slogan. He said a truly merciful society is built through forgiveness, solidarity with the vulnerable, care for those who suffer, and a commitment to unite truth with charity, with Christians called to serve as witnesses of hope in public life.

The opening ceremony concluded with performances of traditional Lithuanian music and dance, highlighting the host nation’s cultural heritage. The congress will continue throughout the week, ending on June 12, with workshops, testimonies, prayer gatherings, and other events examining the role of divine mercy in the modern world.

The event was broadcast live by EWTN.

At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, whose construction began at the end of the 13th century on the site of early Christian and Romanesque churches and which became, a century later, one of the most important jewels of European Gothic architecture, the pope prayed midday prayer with about 500 faithful.

Hundreds more waited outside the cathedral to show their affection, many waving Vatican flags.

The crowd erupted with excitement at his arrival. The pontiff was accompanied by Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, who gestured with his hands to indicate to the people waiting outside that the pope had to leave. The plane carrying Leo XIV had landed in the Catalan capital 40 minutes late.

During the ceremony, the pope sat in the oldest chair — the cathedra, or bishop’s seat — in the city that is still in use, dating at least to the cathedral’s consecration in 1058, according to recent research.

In his homily, Leo XIV called Catholics to be builders of communion.

“Dear brothers and sisters: It is in this spirit that we too, in a world torn apart by wars and divisions, in a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualistic, wish to be ‘martyrs’ — that is, witnesses and prophets of unity, of welcome, of harmony and of peace, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation,” the pope said.

It was the first time during the trip that Leo XIV pronounced several phrases in Catalan, the language proper to Catalonia, co-official with Spanish and the main language of the regional administration.

A symbol of Catalan cultural identity, the language to be used by the pontiff during the events scheduled in Barcelona had become the subject of public debate in Catalonia in recent days.

The controversy intensified after it emerged that the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia — one of the central moments of the visit — would be conducted mainly in Spanish.

In the Congress of Deputies, where the pope delivered an unprecedented address Monday, Junts per Catalunya lawmaker Miriam Nogueras asked him to speak Catalan.

“It is important for each of us not to allow anything to destroy the unity in which God has established us and toward whose fullness he leads us day by day,” the pontiff said, alternating Catalan and Spanish in the homily.

Leo XIV cited two addresses by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who never visited Spain but often expressed affection for the country.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the Tower of the Virgin Mary at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia on Dec. 8, 2021, Francis sent a message recalling that the Church “is the fruit of an act of love that precedes her and comes from God. Above all, she grows by allowing herself to be loved by him, united, with a humble and grateful heart, because only those who allow themselves to be loved by God can build, together with others, the works of love.”

One year later, the Argentine pope told seminarians of the Archdiocese of Barcelona during a pilgrimage to Rome: “Never cease to savor and remember this love of predilection which pours and will pour itself abundantly into your heart.”

Leo XIV structured his homily around the image of the Catholic Church as both beloved bride and body, with all believers as members of a single organism.

The Spirit, he said, “impels us, as parts of a single living structure, not only to give ourselves unreservedly wherever providence calls us, but to do so according to God’s designs, in obedience and trust.”

Just as in a body, he continued, “so too among us there are members who are stronger and others who are weaker; some are visible, performing functions that are evident to the outside world, while others are hidden, working from within — in some cases without ceasing and carrying out vital functions without anyone taking notice.”

The pope said there are many possible images to “illustrate the variety and importance of the roles and missions we find among ourselves,” but the message is always the same.

“In the richness of the gifts we have received, we are strong because we are united, and we are united because we are animated by the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of communion for the salvation of all,” he said.

Upon arriving, Leo XIV was received by Omella. After the greeting, the cardinal led him to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament for a brief moment of personal prayer.

On his way to the altar, the pope passed by the baptismal font, built in 1433. It was in that baptistery that the first six Indigenous people brought from the Americas by Christopher Columbus received the sacrament of entrance into the Church, as a plaque in the chapel recalls.

All of this forms part of the cathedral’s history, which inherits a tradition of worship in this part of Barcelona dating back to the fourth century.

Leo XIV’s final act inside the cathedral was to descend to the crypt, where the tomb of the Roman martyr St. Eulalia, co-patroness of Barcelona, is located.

Before her martyrdom, the young saint was said to have tended geese. For this reason, 13 geese are kept today in the cathedral cloister in her honor, recalling both her 13 tortures and the age at which she died for the Lord.

The pontiff also spoke of “so many other martyrs” and called the faithful to respond with “our ‘yes,’ ready if necessary to die to ourselves, to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again, to renounce the superfluous in order to build upon what is essential and lasts forever.”

“This is what the crucified One teaches us,” the pope said. “This is what the Apostle Paul and the examples of the saints invite us to do.”

The pope ended his homily by invoking Mary in Catalan: “Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres” — “Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Vaccari, president of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), a papal agency that delivers humanitarian aid, described the realities facing those living amid ongoing regional tensions in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Veronica Dudo, an excerpt of which was broadcast on June 8.

Vaccari said about a visit to Jerusalem: “The day began with the sound of large sirens. Loud sirens going off, letting us know that rockets, drones, and missiles were on their way.” The situation, he said, dramatically altered the day’s plans for residents and aid workers alike.

Despite the challenges, Vaccari continued his journey throughout the region, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a visible Church presence among suffering communities.

CNEWA maintains offices throughout the Middle East, including in Jerusalem, Amman, and Beirut. According to Vaccari, the organization’s local presence enables it to respond quickly to changing circumstances and coordinate assistance directly with Church leaders on the ground.

“The work that we do is on the ground,” Vaccari said, noting that local staff and Church partners remain deeply connected to the communities they serve.

Much of CNEWA’s work focuses on humanitarian relief in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, and Lebanon. The organization provides assistance ranging from food and clean water to medicine, medical equipment, and emergency relief for families displaced by conflict.

Beyond material aid, CNEWA has increasingly emphasized psychosocial and emotional support programs. Vaccari said such healing initiatives have become especially important as communities continue to endure the trauma associated with war and displacement.

“To whatever extent we can work to try to provide clean water, medicine, food, medical relief, medical equipment, weʼre trying to do that,” he said. “Psychosocial healing, which as you can well imagine under the circumstances right now, is [also] a very needed entity.”

Founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926, CNEWA works on behalf of the Holy See to support Eastern Catholic Churches and provide humanitarian assistance throughout the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India, and Eastern Europe. The organization partners closely with local bishops, religious communities, and lay leaders to deliver aid where it is most needed.

“We work with the local Church,” Vaccari said. “We’re working with local bishops, lay leadership, consecrated religious, and the nuncios.”

The organization’s work is funded largely through donations from Catholics and other benefactors around the world.

“Never, in a typical mission, do we work alone,” Vaccari said. He expressed gratitude for local partners and donors whose support makes the organization’s humanitarian and pastoral outreach possible.

“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo XIV wrote of the institution of slavery.

“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” he wrote.

The Holy Father explained that in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Catholic individuals and some ecclesiastical institutions participated in slavery. Though the Church never taught doctrinally that slavery was morally good or neutral, he wrote about popes who “intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation” at the request of political leaders.

Leo XIV wrote that “a formal, absolute, and universal condemnation of slavery” was not issued until Pope Leo XIII’s 1888 encyclical on the abolition of slavery. Leo XIV added that “we [cannot] deny or diminish” the Church’s delay in its denouncement.

“In the development of her doctrine, the Church has gradually come to a deeper awareness of the gravity of these issues,” Leo XIV wrote.

Church’s role in slavery

In a footnote in the encyclical, Leo XIV cited four papal bulls from the 1400s as his examples for when the Holy See sought to “regulate and legitimize” subjugation: Pope Eugenius IV’s Sicut Dudum and Etsi Suscepti, and Pope Nicholas V’s Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex.

“Political and, at times, even economic needs overcame the demands of the Gospel,” the footnote reads. “The need for evangelization was frequently compromised or at least misunderstood with regard to the needs of worldly powers, thus relativizing the problematic incompatibility of slavery with the Christian conscience.”

Nicholas V’s bulls, for example, authorized the Portuguese to impose slavery on specific non-Christians, particularly Muslims and pagans, related to specific conflicts. Eugenius IV condemned the enslavement of converts to Christianity without condemning the institution of slavery as a whole.

Tom Nash, a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, told EWTN News that St. John Paul II apologized for Christian participation in slavery as well and many popes condemned slavery (including when it was ongoing) but did not critique specific papal bulls on the subject in the way Leo XIV does.

Although Leo XIV’s comments on slavery are substantial, the topic only takes up a few paragraphs of the encyclical, which mostly deals with the Church’s social doctrine in the modern world and technological developments such as artificial intelligence.

Nash emphasized that the faithful should not interpret these paragraphs as a change in Church doctrine, however, because in spite of Catholic participation in slavery, “the Church has never definitively taught that chattel slavery was morally just.”

Although Leo XIV cited Sicut Dudum as an example, one of Eugenius IV’s main priorities was to “oppose the mistreatment of all African natives,” according to Nash. He quoted the bull: “They have deprived the natives of the property, or turned it to their own use, and have subjected some of the inhabitants of said islands to perpetual slavery, sold them to other persons, and committed other various illicit and evil deeds against them.”

The bull did not sanction slavery but instead excommunicated anyone who enslaved Christians or those seeking baptism. The punishment could only be lifted if the person freed the slaves and returned their property.

Nicholas V’s bulls were different because they explicitly authorized enslavement in certain cases, but Nash said the directives on slavery in Dum Diversas “are not an attempt to teach definitively,” are not pronouncements on doctrinal matters, and they “are certainly up for questioning and criticism.”

“They are prudential judgments and don’t even attempt to invoke the specific doctrinal criteria of a definitive teaching, let alone an ‘ex cathedra’ pronouncement,” Nash added. “And thus the Church’s teaching on infallibility is not [in] play and therefore not in doubt.”

One condition for infallible doctrinal pronouncements is that they must apply to all people at all times. The bulls from Nicholas V apply only “in a particular geographical situation in a particular time in history,” he said, and emphasized that “we cannot treat every papal statement as if it’s an infallible declaration.”

Papal condemnations of slavery

Although Leo XIII delivered one of the strongest condemnations of slavery in the late 1800s, Nash noted Pope Paul III’s papal bull Sublimis Deus in 1537 strongly rebuked enslavement of Indigenous Americans more than three centuries earlier.

The 16th-century pontiff blamed Satan for chattel slavery and for the mindset that Indigenous Americans “should be treated as dumb brutes created for our service.” He urged evangelization of the people and said they should not be enslaved or deprived of liberty or property.

Paul III’s bull expressly stated that this prohibition on enslavement of the Indigenous Americans applies regardless of anything that has been issued before, effectively superseding Nicholas V’s papal bulls from a century earlier.

Other popes in between Paul III and Leo XIII issued similar antislavery statements, with Pope Gregory XIV issuing an apostolic brief in 1591 demanding an end to the enslavement of people in the Philippines and Pope Urban VIII writing the 1639 papal bull Commissum Nobis, which condemned the enslavement of South Americans.

In the early 1800s, Pope Pius VII wrote to government leaders to urge the abolition of the slave trade and Pope Gregory XVI in 1839 issued the papal brief In Supremo Apostolatus, which was the first to condemn the slave trade in its entirety.

Nash noted that Christian opposition to slavery, however, is rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ, who “reaffirms the inherent dignity of every human person in a Roman-Empire milieu that had chattel slavery as a societal institution.”

“He did so in giving the doctrinal command, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mt 22:39),” he said. “Indeed, ‘neighbor’ includes everyone (see Gn 1:26-27), including the heretical Samaritans and other despised persons (Lk 10:25-36). Similarly, ‘the least of these my brethren’ unmistakably includes chattel slaves within a Roman-Empire milieu (Mt 25:40, 45).”

St. Paul wrote about slavery several times. In Ephesians 6, he told slaves to “obey your human masters” and for masters to “stop bullying,” adding that both have the same Master in heaven, before whom “there is no partiality.” In 1 Corinthians 7, he told slaves to “make the most of it” if they gain freedom but not to be concerned about it because “the slave called in the Lord is a freed person in the Lord, just as the free person who has been called is a slave of Christ.”

In contrast to norms of the time, Paul wrote about the equal human dignity of slave and master in Galatians 3, saying “there is neither slave nor free person” because “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the Epistle to Philemon, Paul writes to St. Philemon on behalf of the runaway slave, St. Onesimus, asking Philemon to receive him “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother.”

At least one pope — St. Callistus I, who reigned from A.D. 218 until he was martyred in A.D. 222 — was a former slave. Nash noted that although slavery existed in the Roman Empire and within Europe under Christendom, the practice was reduced significantly when Christianity replaced paganism.

The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events with roughly 5 billion people tuning in to the tournament that brings together soccer’s best athletes from around the world.

This year’s men’s tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19 and will be held in all three host countries. The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup was in 1994, while Mexico has hosted the event in 1970 and 1986, and this will mark the first time Canada will host the prestigious soccer tournament. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the 23rd edition of the quadrennial international menʼs soccer tournament.

Long before the World Cup became the globe’s most-watched sporting event, its founder, Jules Rimet, was shaped by a vision deeply influenced by his faith and a belief in the dignity and unity of humanity.

Rimet was born on Oct. 14, 1873, in the village of Theuley in France to a devout Catholic family. He was known to have a heart for the poor and was inspired by Catholic social teaching.

In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed the harsh conditions, poverty, and labor exploitation brought on by the Industrial Revolution. This encyclical inspired Rimet to help create an organization that provided social and medical aid to the poor. He was 17 years old.

The Catholic Frenchman also had a love for sports and believed it could unite people from all different races and social classes. At 24 years old he started a sports club called Red Star, which was open to anyone regardless of social class. He also included soccer in the club despite the sport being looked down upon as being only for Englishmen and the lower class.

In 1904, Rimet helped establish the Fédération Internationale de Football Association — International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA. After serving in World War I, he returned to FIFA and became its president in 1921.

Nine years later, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay. He viewed the World Cup as an opportunity to bring nations who may be at war together, promote universal fraternity and solidarity among all people, and prevent future global conflicts. He also worked hard to professionalize soccer so that working-class athletes could earn a living doing what they loved.

Rimet served as the president of FIFA for 33 years. From 1930 to 1970, the championship trophy was named the Jules Rimet Trophy.

He died in 1956 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize due to his part in creating the World Cup tournament.

In the book “A History of Football in 100 Objects,” Rimet’s grandson, Yves, remembered his grandfather as a “humanist and idealist who believed that sport could unite the world. Unlike many others in his time, he realized that, to be truly democratic, to truly engage the masses, international sport must be professional.”

It was a particularly significant moment for the pope at the arena where the team he loves — though, as pontiff, he’s for everyone — has achieved its greatest sporting feats. No match was being played, but the faithful of the Archdiocese of Madrid, together with the suffragan dioceses of Alcalá de Henares and Getafe, welcomed Leo with a euphoria comparable to that of a decisive goal in a World Cup final.

“For a soccer player, scoring a goal in this stadium is a moment that leaves a bit of a mark on your life. Today, the Church in Madrid has scored a spectacular goal for all time," the pope said before beginning his address.

The event brought together representatives from parishes, movements, and consecrated life, as well as priests and pastoral workers, with a special presence from parish pastoral councils. Young people performed a short play for the pope modeled after a soccer match, and David Bustamante, a famous Spanish singer, also performed. There were also deeply moving personal testimonies, such as that of a 33-year-old man who shared with the gathering that he had been baptized last year and is now preparing to get married.

When he addressed the priests, consecrated persons, and bishops of Madrid, the pope told them: “Your joy will be contagious if, moving from being just a fleeting emotion, it becomes a stable way of being, a deep sentiment that renews individuals, groups, and the diocesan community.”

“Baptism truly changes one’s life ... thereʼs no need to fear the fact that it never produces uniformity,” the pontiff stated during his second-to-last gathering in Spainʼs capital city, prior to beginning the second leg of his journey, which will take him to Barcelona on Tuesday, June 9.

To illustrate this idea, he referenced the New Testament as an antidote to uniformity, thanks to the “testimony of the variety of its voices.” He also drew attention to the episode of the Tower of Babel, where, according to the biblical account, people in a "totalitarian and merely human project ended up unable to understand their neighbor.”

In contrast to this, and in line with the proposals in his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, he presented the figure of Nehemiah who involved the entire community in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

The pope used this gathering with some of the faithful of the diocesan community in the Madrid region to outline the keys to effective evangelization in the 21st century. He emphasized the importance of “not scattering or shutting ourselves away in the group or environment where we already feel secure among people who always sing the same tune.”

“To reach the heart of the city, we must cultivate the awareness that truth is symphonic and always transcends us, and cultivate the desire to encounter the Risen One, who always goes ahead of us, preceding us and perhaps already present where we have not yet sought him,” he noted.

Therefore, he continued, “seeking and following him is the condition for proclaiming him; otherwise, there is no evangelization, and today we can understand this better than in the past.”

Quoting St. Teresa of Ávila, he said: “‘Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you!’ Together, as a diocesan Church, you can offer the Gospel witness that unleashes the best strengths of a humanity bombarded by images and words, yet hungry for justice and thirsty for truth,” he added.

He also highlighted the special relationship between the Church and the city, which, as he explained, takes shape “among flesh-and-blood people, in workplaces and close relationships, but also within the different communities, associations, and neighborhood organizations,” and which gains even greater significance “amidst the change of epochs we are currently experiencing.”

“When we reduce ecclesial life to a routine where everyone remains locked within their own habits and roles, what we lack is the Spirit,” he stated.

His words seemed to resonate in the testimony of Sister María San José of the Congregation of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus. She is an educated, independent woman with two careers and two masterʼs degrees who left a comfortable life at Santander Bank to consecrate herself to religious life, demonstrating how God’s call reaches into every walk of life.

“I realized that there was something more that fulfilled me — beyond everything I had and everything I had built — and that was this consecrated life, this total dedication to the Lord,” she explained to EWTN News while on her way to the gathering.

“God knows the hearts of his people individually. He knows them as only he can — that is, in love and, therefore, in freedom,” the pope said, underscoring that God is “infinite mercy and wants everyone to be saved.”

“He desires this to the point of becoming flesh and taking upon himself all the sin, evil, and negativity of the world,” he emphasized.

Among those present at Bernabéu stadium was Father Antonio Sánchez, a priest of the Diocese of Getafe ordained last October. He shared with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the deep emotion he felt participating along with the pope in the Corpus Christi procession following the Mass celebrated in the Plaza de Cibeles on Sunday, June 7.

It was, in his words, “a privilege to be selected without any merit; all they said was that the priests of the ecclesiastical province should be at the procession,” he explained.

“With an attitude of adoration, seeing the pope who was a great witness, because being close to the procession during such a unique moment was truly special. We were on the same [ground] level as the pope, and seeing him in the procession, adoring and focused on Christ ... it was a moment of realization: Amidst all the commotion, we were focused on Christ, to whom we have consecrated our lives,” he told ACI Prensa shortly before the pontiff entered the stadium, where he was welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm.

Prior to this gathering, the pope visited Santa María la Real de la Almudena Cathedral, which became the setting for one of his most touching moments in Madrid.

The Holy Father placed the Golden Rose at the feet of the image of the Virgin of Almudena as a symbol of his filial love, a gesture reflecting the pope’s deep Marian devotion. This marks the fourth Spanish image of the Virgin to receive this gift; the other three are the Virgin of Hope Macarena, the Virgin of La Cabeza, and the Virgin of Montserrat.

This pontifical distinction is a recognition of the popular piety and Marian devotion of Madrid. It has ancient roots and symbolizes the papal blessing.

The tradition dates back to Pope Leo IX, who established it in 1049. Over the centuries, it has been bestowed upon monasteries, shrines, sovereigns, and prominent figures in recognition of their commitment to the faith and the common good. In the past, the Golden Rose was also awarded to queens, including Isabella the Catholic monarch, who was the first queen to receive it in 1493, granted by Innocent VIII.

In the solemn act, Pope Leo climbed the steps leading to the base of the image to lay the floral offering and pray.

His most notable previous visit to the Almudena Cathedral took place on the occasion of the 2002 canonization of Alonso de Orozco, an Augustinian who died in Madrid, in the convent that occupied the site of the current Senate building. The saint’s remains now rest in the chapel of the Contemplative Augustinian Nuns’ convent on La Granja street.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“Today the Trump administration took decisive steps to impose additional visa restrictions on more than 100 dictatorship officials and their family members,” Rubio said in a June 8 statement.

“With this new set of restrictions, the U.S. government has now taken steps to impose visa restrictions on over 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members for their complicit role in Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship,” Rubio said.

Since 2007, Ortega and Murillo, his wife and co-president, have established an authoritarian regime in the country, repressing opposition through arrests, exile, and violence, suppressing civil rights, canceling elections, and persecuting the Church.

The move comes in response to the dictatorship’s "responsibility for the horrific death of political prisoner Brooklyn Rivera,” according to the statement.

Rivera, an Indigenous leader and political prisoner, died at 73 after being held incommunicado by the Murillo-Ortega regime for more than 970 days.

“Despite the enormous and intense medical efforts undertaken to restore the health of our Brother Brooklyn, whose physical and neurological deterioration was the result of a bacterial infection triggered by the COVID-19 virus, we regret to confirm that unfortunately he has departed this plane of existence,” asserted a communiqué dated May 31 from Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health.

Rubio alleged the direct involvement of U.S.-sanctioned Lumberto Ignacio Campbell Hooker, a loyal member of the oppressive regime, in denying medical care to Rivera and with preventing Rivera’s family from burying his remains.

The visa restrictions place increased pressure on the dictatorship, which has carried out systematic persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua for years.

Religious persecution at the hands of the dictatorship has included restrictions on the sacraments and the celebration of the Mass; heightened surveillance; forced disappearances and detentions; exile for bishops, priests, and religious; and the forced closure of Catholic institutions. The regime has also banned the ordination of priests and deacons in dioceses with exiled bishops.

In a social media post, Rubio further described the Murillo-Ortega regime as “an enemy of humanity,” noting that “the Trump administration will not ignore their crimes and brutality.”

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At least six of Riveraʼs relatives remain in detention, according to the U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Peytonʼs tomb was moved from the Holy Cross Community Cemetery in North Easton, Massachusetts, to the chapel at the Father Peyton Center, also in North Easton.

Now on the path to sainthood, Peyton (1909–1992) was hospitalized with tuberculosis in 1939 and on the brink of death when he felt like he was losing his faith. His priest friend encouraged him to seek out the Virgin Mary’s intercession.

Inspired by memories of growing up praying the rosary with his family, Peyton asked all of his friends and family members to ask for Maryʼs intercession for him. He promised that if he was healed, he would dedicate his life to encouraging devotion to Mary through the family rosary.

After a miraculous recovery, Peyton followed through on his promise. Two years after his recovery, he was ordained a Holy Cross priest and went on to lead a widespread campaign to encourage families to pray the rosary through billboards, radio shows, television, and rosary rallies that drew millions worldwide.

Peyton has since taken an important step in the canonization process. In December 2017, Pope Francis declared him venerable, recognizing him for his heroic virtue.

President of Holy Cross Family Ministries Father Fred Jenga said at a press conference of Peyton’s devotion to Mary through the family rosary: “We need it at this time more than even in the past. Family life has been going through some kind of crisis. There [are] a lot of divisions and hurts.”

At the reopening of the center, five families took turns leading decades of the rosary as part of the opening ceremony at the center’s grotto. The grotto is a replica of the grotto at Lourdes, France, which was one of Peyton’s favorite religious sites.

In addition to Peyton’s tomb, the revamped pilgrimage site now has an immersive rosary exhibit, a rosary walk, and a museum of Peyton’s life. The priests of the Holy Cross congregation, Peyton’s order, run the center.

“When we pray together as a family regularly, we invite God to become the center of our lives,” Jenga said. "As we know, God is love, God is patience, God is kindness, God is generosity — those are the kinds of blessings that we pray upon our families when we give ourselves that opportunity to pray together.”

Father David Marcham, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston who serves as vice postulator and guild director of the canonization cause, encouraged people to pray for Peyton’s sainthood cause.

“Weʼre at the point now where weʼre asking people to pray through his intercession for a miracle in their lives,” Marcham said. “And if one were to be declared a medical miracle by the Vatican, then he would reach the next level, which would be blessed.”

“There’s this great synergy between the life of a holy person and their ongoing effect even after theyʼve gone home to God,” Marcham said. “So we want to invite people to join us, and hopefully through that, in Godʼs grace, itʼll strengthen their families.”

The Father Peyton Center currently draws about 2,500 visitors per year, but organizers anticipate a growth to 7,500.

“When we have role models that lead us to grow in virtue and holiness ourselves and bring that to our families, then we start to pray more intentionally for our needs and pray together,” Marcham said.

Father Charles McCoy, vice president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, said having Peyton’s remains at the center transforms it into a place of pilgrimage.

“To have his own physical presence with us here now with the transfer of his body to our center, itʼs just an opportunity for us to really see this as a place, not just of education or prayer, but even pilgrimage in support of the legacy of prayer that he gave on to us in Holy Cross and in the Church,” McCoy said.

The grant to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) marks “the first of a series of global State Department awards to trusted and vetted implementing organizations,” according to a June 5 press release. The $240 million awarded to Catholic Relief Services comes from U.S. State Department humanitarian assistance funds appropriated by Congress and administered through the department’s disaster‑response bureau.

“These awards will focus on the rapid deployment of time-bound, lifesaving assistance in response to crises around the world, with implementers able to respond within 24 hours,” the State Department said, noting that its staff is “working closely” with CRS and other aid implementers to ensure the aid is delivered in a timely manner “while reducing administrative overhead and duplicative efforts.”

CRS will use the aid to provide assistance in countries “with significant levels of humanitarian need,” the State Department said, citing Ethiopia, Haiti, Nigeria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where CRS is working to stop the latest Ebola outbreak.

State Department Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response Senior Bureau Official Ryan Shrum announced the grant in Rome alongside U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, CRS Vice President for Humanitarian Response Jennifer Poidatz, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Agencies in Rome Lynda Blanchard, and Caritas Internationalis Secretary-General Alistair Dutton.

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See posted several images of the event on social media, writing: “This grant will allow CRS to address urgent humanitarian needs arising from disasters and complex emergencies around the world. CRS’ expertise, its deep roots in disaster response, and its network of local partners will help us deliver a fast, flexible, and efficient model of global humanitarian assistance.”

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“CRS is grateful for the opportunity to reach more people affected by crisis at a time when humanitarian needs far exceed available resources,” Poidatz said in a June 5 statement following the announcement. “We appreciate the leadership of the United States and of national governments committed to responding to new and enduring crises."

News of the foreign aid grant comes more than a year after the Trump administration effectively shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2025 following an executive order by President Donald Trump during the first month of his administration. USAID, formerly the government’s lead foreign‑aid and development agency, focused on long‑term development such as health systems, agriculture, education, and economic growth.

Catholic Relief Services did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

At Columbia University, researchers have now edited the DNA of human embryos with “unprecedented accuracy,” according to a recent report by the New York Times.

Dieter Egli, a professor of developmental cell biology in the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia, led the research, using a technique called base editing to replace individual genetic letters in sequences of DNA, according to the report.

Egli’s work did not cause the damage that the gene editing technique “CRISPR,” or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, usually causes. Potential side effects are still unknown, according to the researcher, and the technique is not ready to be implemented clinically.

The developing technology comes with its own ethical implications, as it could be used to help cure disease-causing mutations in the early stages of life, but it could also be used in a eugenic way to select traits of unborn children.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a neuroscientist and senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, drew attention to ethical concerns with these experiments.

“Trying to make genetic modifications in a more efficient manner than had been previously achieved is precisely the kind of experiment that should have been carried out in animal embryos, not human embryos,” he told EWTN News.

“The same basic biological information reported in these studies could readily have been obtained that way,” Pacholczyk said.

Ethical concerns with embryo experimentation

In addition to the unethical nature of the experiments themselves, Pacholczyk considered the way researchers obtained the unborn children to be unethical as well.

“Parents were asked to hand over their extremely young ‘leftover children’ in fertility clinics to allow scientists to carry out experiments on them, while other subjects of experimentation were created via IVF to be used as ‘research fodder,’” Pacholczyk said.

Scientists either got the embryos from parents who had “leftover children” or created the human embryos for experimentation — both of which Pacholczyk said the Church calls unethical.

“Researchers sought out eggs from women for the purpose of fertilizing those eggs to create embryonic humans in glassware, so they could then serve as raw materials for research and experimentation,” Pacholczyk said. “From the get-go, these experiments at Columbia University were unethical.”

“Also of note, the human embryos produced in these experiments were oftentimes intentionally sacrificed to obtain their embryonic stem cells, which were used for additional research,” Pacholczyk continued.

“Creating humans for the purpose of destroying them is invariably unethical and should be illegal,” he continued.

Some embryos were obtained from parents who created children through in vitro fertilization (IVF), which Pacholczyk said neglects the consent of the unborn human being.

Parents could not give consent for their unborn children to be experimented on, he said, because “ethical consent by definition focuses on the improvement of health and excludes any approval of directly causing their death or otherwise using subjects as mere means to an end.”

“Informed consent is particularly important when dealing with very vulnerable research subjects, and human embryos are among the most vulnerable of God’s creatures,” Pacholczyk said. “Human embryos are a special class of individuals deserving of special protections.”

Looking to the future: Ethical concerns of gene editing

Pacholczyk noted that the Catholic Church would support gene editing as medical therapy but not at the risk of the unborn child.

“It is important to note that the Church would allow for gene editing to fix genetic abnormalities, as long as the risks were very low for the embryonic patient, and heritable changes to the DNA of our species were not made,” Pacholczyk said. “Such repair is simply a form of direct medical therapy for the individual.”

He noted, however, that at this point, gene editing still poses huge risks to the unborn.

“The complex science of genetic modification at this point in time still involves enormous risks to the embryo,” he said.

Pacholczyk also raised concerns about Catholics' acceptance of genetic enhancement, warning that their widespread acceptance of IVF is a harbinger of things to come.

“Catholics need to be concerned about the prospects of genetically modifying future generations,” Pacholczyk said.

“In the past, Catholics seem to have largely missed the boat when it came to recognizing and articulating the moral unacceptability of creating children in test tubes and glassware via IVF, and now Catholics participate in such technologies at rates that probably donʼt differ much from the general population,” he continued.

“Similarly, when genetic enhancement of children takes place in the future, considering the widespread lack of understanding and serious reflection on the moral and ethical issues involved, Catholics are likely to end up being swayed by the technological temptation and may end up, once again, ‘going along to get along,’” he said.

The study, “Passing the Torch: How Faith Moves Across Generations,” released in June by the Institute for Family Studies and Communio, examined data from four national studies involving tens of thousands of Americans raised in Christian households.

Researchers sought to identify which behaviors most strongly influence whether children retain their faith into adulthood. The study found that the family home is the single-most critical factor in determining whether faith is successfully passed on from one generation to the next.

The power of parental example

According to the report, children whose parents regularly attended church, prayed consistently in front of them, spoke openly about their faith, and fostered strong family relationships were significantly more likely to remain active Christians as adults. The results showed that adults whose parents attended church weekly were more than twice as likely to attend church regularly themselves decades later (26% versus 12%). The effect was even stronger when both parents participated in religious life together.

The study also highlighted the importance of simple spiritual practices within family life. Saying grace before meals, evening or morning prayers together, and having frequent conversations about faith all corresponded with higher levels of religious belief and practice in adulthood. Children raised in homes where religion was discussed several times a week were substantially more likely to identify as Christian, pray daily, and consider faith an important part of their lives as they went through adulthood.

The domestic church

For Catholics, the findings reflect what the Church has always taught regarding the role of parents as the primary educators of their children in the faith. The Church has often referred to the family as the “domestic church,” emphasizing that parents are called not only to teach religious truths but also to model a life of discipleship through daily prayer, sacramental participation, and Christian witness.

The study further found that the quality of family relationships had a tremendous impact on children as well. Adults who reported having strong and loving relationships with both parents were more likely to remain religious than those who experienced distant or conflict-ridden family environments. About 41%of children who attend church weekly with both parents go on to attend church weekly as an adult, the study said. This percentage drops to 29% if children attend with only one parent. In particular, researchers noted the significant role fathers play in shaping the spiritual lives of their children.

Marriage stability also emerged as an important factor. Children raised in homes characterized by strong and happy marriages showed higher rates of adult religious practice. When their lived experience corresponds with what they learned in Sunday school and the Bible, they are more likely to accept those truths in adulthood. Also, compared with non-married individuals, married individuals have significantly more faith conversations with their children, suggesting more frequent and intentional engagement within the home.

While cultural forces may be difficult to control, many of the factors most closely associated with transmitting faith remain within the reach of families themselves, the study showed.

“In a culture where religion is no longer reinforced by broader society,” the study’s authors, Jesse Smith and Jane Lankes Smith, wrote, “parents cannot assume faith will simply rub off on their children.” Instead, faith is most effectively passed on when it is lived openly, discussed regularly, and woven into the ordinary rhythms of family life.

“Parents cannot assume their children will carry on the faith they were raised with. Passing on faith requires intentional effort from both mothers and fathers. Parents serve as their childrenʼs most influential teachers, role models, and guides in matters of faith. What they do will make a difference long after their children grow up and leave home,” Jesse Smith said in an email.

“For churches, that means youth programming alone is not enough. Congregations should invest not only in children but also in parents, equipping them to fulfill their central role in shaping the next generationʼs religious lives,” Smith said.

The study draws on four longitudinal datasets: the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), Communio’s 2024-25 congregational survey, Add Health, and the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), using descriptive statistics and logistic regression with demographic controls. Analyses using GFS, Add Health, and NSYR are weighted. Everything reported in the study is a statistically significant finding based on 95% confidence intervals, Smith said.

“This golden anniversary is a blessed occasion to offer gratitude for the abundant graces God has bestowed upon you throughout the past 50 years,” Bishop Elias Zaidan, bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, wrote in a letter to Pacwa.

Pacwa is celebrating decades as a Jesuit priest following his ordination on June 12, 1976, in his native Chicago and entrance into the Society of Jesus on Aug. 21, 1968.

Pacwa has also had a successful media career after he began his work with EWTN under its foundress, Mother Angelica, in 1984.

After working in numerous cities, Pacwa relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2001 to work full time with EWTN, where he has hosted several radio and television shows, series, and documentaries that teach and discuss the Catholic faith.

To honor his work, the Alabama Legislature enacted a resolution in April that recognizes his decades of service, theological contributions, and media work.

Gov. Kay Ivey, R-Alabama, presented a certificate to Pacwa recognizing his anniversary. The certificate dated May 27, embossed with the governor’s seal, said, “Father Pacwa has certainly become one of the most recognized faces of EWTN after the late Mother Angelica, its inspirational foundress. I have also been made aware of Father Pacwa’s tremendous community and social contributions, which deserve high commendation.”

The priest earned a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in philosophy and theology from the University of Detroit, a master of divinity and a sacred theology baccalaureate magna cum laude from the Jesuit School of Theology at Loyola University, and a master’s and doctorate in Old Testament studies from Vanderbilt University.

Pacwa has taught high school, college, and seminary courses, including teaching Hebrew at Loyola University in Chicago for nine years. He is the author of more than 20 books, the founder of Ignatius Productions, a media production company, and is a senior fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

Pacwa engages in prison ministry by evangelizing and serving the spiritual needs of prisoners. He has also led thousands of pilgrims to the Holy Land and other Christian sites in Europe and the Middle East.

Republican Rep. Chris Pringle introduced Alabamaʼs resolution, which honors Pacwaʼs vocation and “career that has touched the lives of innumerable people, many of them residents of Alabama, but also worldwide through his efforts in theological education, service to others, and ministry,” according to the measure.

The legislation acknowledges Pacwaʼs “tremendous contributions … to Alabamians and those that he has trained throughout the country, and through his worldwide impact through Alabama-based EWTN, with hopes that he may continue his exceptional ministry and continue to serve others in a way that reflects well on this state and nation, and on his Church.”

50 years of priestly ministry

In addition to his publications and media presence, Pacwa also serves his community through celebrating the Maronite Catholic Mass at St. Elias Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic church in Birmingham.

During a June 7 Mass at the church, a letter from Zaidan was read to Pacwa.

“This is a wonderful milestone in your ministry and life,” Zaidan said. “We give sincere thanks to Almighty God for calling you and for your disposition to follow him in the religious and priestly life.”

The anniversary is “an opportunity for us to express our heartfelt appreciation for your steadfast dedication and faithful service to the people of God,” Zaidan said.

“As you reflect upon 50 years of priestly ministry, you can look back with gratitude on the countless lives you have touched, how you captivated so many people through your programs on EWTN, as well as providing care and guidance through the mission retreats you held over the years,” he said.

“May God continue to bless you abundantly and grant you many more years of faithful and fruitful ministry. I hope and pray you will have many more years filled with Godʼs grace,” the bishop said.

This story was updated at noon ET June 9, 2026, to include information about a certificate from Gov. Kay Ivey, R-Alabama, recognizing Father Mitch Pacwa.

Of the championship, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller said in a video posted on social media on June 3 that “when the Spurs win," New Yorkʼs Archbishop Ronald Hicks will send him a box of bagels, cream cheese, and lox.

San Antonioʼs chief pastor continued: "If by some slight possibility, hard to think, the Spurs arenʼt victorious, I will send him Texas gift boxes with items from HEB,” a favorite Texas grocery store based in San Antonio.

“I am really looking forward to enjoying those bagels,” García-Siller teased.

The San Antonio archbishop said that he and “thousands” of Salesian sisters, some of whom have attended games for years and have been seeing cheering on the Spurs during the playoffs, are also praying for the Spurs’ victory.

He also said both he and Hicks are “united in prayer for the safety of the players.”

According to the Archdiocese of San Antonio, García-Siller will be watching Game 3 on Monday, June 8. Asked for additional thoughts by EWTN News, the archbishop replied only: “Go Spurs go!”

For his part, Hicks said in a video on social media that he has “caught Knicks fever.”

He mentioned Knicks players Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart, who all attended Villanova University, “the alma mater of our Holy Father, who reminds us that he praises the Lord for the gift of sport, for those who glorify God through the exercise of their bodies, for the friendship born on the field, and for the joy of playing as a team."

Hicks said he is “looking forward to this friendly wager with my friend, Archbishop Gustavo,” confirming he will send bagels if the Knicks lose, and said he looks “forward to whatever he’s going to … send my way from San Antonio."

“I’ve lit my candles, I’ve said my prayers … Go Knicks!” New York’s archbishop concluded.

The Spurs and Knicks are the last two teams standing in the 2026 NBA season. The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3 in the Western Conference Finals.

They are now in a best-of-seven series for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, with the Knicks currently leading 2-0 after winning both Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio.

Entering Game 3 of the Finals on Monday night, the Knicks have won 13 consecutive playoff games — the second-longest single-postseason winning streak ever, trailing only the 15-game run by the Golden State Warriors in 2017.

After sweeping the 76ers and Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference playoffs and winning the first two games of the Finals in San Antonio, New York has outscored opponents by 273 points, the best 13-game margin in playoff history.

It has been 53 years since the Knicks' last championship, the longest drought for any NBA franchise.

The last time the Knicks were in the NBA Finals was 1999, when they faced the Spurs.

A Knicks victory in Game 3 would put them on the brink at 3-0, while a Spurs win could spark a comeback and extend the series.

As a longtime Knicks fan, President Donald Trump, who was invited by team owner James Dolan, will attend Game 3. This will mark the first time a sitting president attends an NBA Finals game.

In Game 1 on Wednesday, June 3, the Knicks rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat the Spurs 105-95, with Brunson leading the way with 30 points.

Game 2 on Friday, June 5, proved even tighter: New York built a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter only for San Antonio to storm back, but the Knicks held on for a thrilling 105-104 victory after Victor Wembanyama, age 22, the tallest player in the NBA at 7 feet 4 inches and a record-setting rookie, missed a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer following a late turnover.

“Wemby,” as he is called, made NBA history in his 2023-24 rookie season with the Spurs, becoming the first player ever to record at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks, and 100 three-pointers in a single season. He was the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie First Team selection in 2024.

In 2025-26, he captured NBA Defensive Player of the Year, making him the youngest and first unanimous winner ever.

The series now shifts to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Monday, June 8, at 8:30 p.m. ET, with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, at the same time and venue. Subsequent games, if necessary, return to San Antonio for Game 5 on June 13, followed by Game 6 in New York on June 16 and a potential Game 7 back in San Antonio on June 19.

The winner earns their franchise’s next title. If they win, the Knicks will earn their first since 1973, while the title will be the Spurs’ first since 2014.

The Holy See Press Office confirmed the meeting, noting that it took place in the afternoon at the apostolic nunciature in Madrid.

The victims, the Vatican stated, were “accompanied by Church personnel engaged in supporting and accompanying victims.”

The meeting lasted nearly an hour, during which the victims shared their “painful personal experiences” with the Holy Father, and each person presented him with “proposals to make the Church’s response to such tragic cases more effective.”

The pope, the Holy See Press Office noted, “listened with affection and attention and assured them of his closeness” as well as that of “the entire ecclesial community.”

In addition, he pledged his commitment to ensuring that the proposals offered by the victims “serve as a foundation for future efforts, so that the Church may truly be a safe and spiritually healthy place where [those wounded] can find comfort and healing.”

A call to address the ‘scourge’ of abuse

Shortly before meeting with victims, during his encounter with the Spanish bishops, the Holy Father urged them to respond to the “scourge” of abuse in the Church “with listening, truth, justice, reparation, and an ever-more-determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care.”

“Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection, and real paths to healing,” Pope Leo said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The procession is an established Cork tradition, and it made its way through the city from the North Cathedral to the Grand Parade, the vibrant heart of the city, even if — in the words of Cork Bishop Fintan Gavin — “the weather couldn’t have been much worse.”

Speaking just before the procession set off, Gavin told EWTN News: “Today we have the unique opportunity to participate in the 100th anniversary of the first Eucharistic procession here in our city. Of course, it really is unique to Cork.”

“Thereʼll be people of all ages, from parishes all over the diocese, from our new Irish — someone described them recently as the ‘new Corconians’ — from all over the world, from the different communities, will join us as we walk with Jesus and the Blessed Sacrament down to Grand Parade.”

Organizers estimated the 2026 procession attracted approximately 5,000 people as the Eucharist was carried along the route by Gavin followed by a throng of faithful under a canopy of umbrellas as they braved the unseasonable wind and heavy rain.

In his words to the large gathering, the bishop said of the procession: “It was born in a time when people longed for unity after division, for peace after conflict, and for healing after wounds that were still very raw. The people of Cork wanted Jesus in the Eucharist to be brought through the streets of the city. They wanted to say, in faith, ‘Lord, walk with us. Bless our homes. Heal our divisions. Stay with us.’”

He added: “One hundred years later, that prayer has lost none of its urgency. Today our city streets become an aisle. The concrete beneath our feet is blessed by the One who once walked the roads of Galilee and who now walks the streets of Cork.”

The bishop said the procession is "the fruit of much prayer, preparation, and mission across our diocese in these past two weeks. Today the procession ends here, but the mission does not. May we go from here with hearts burning too, not simply proud of a tradition we have inherited but with a love for Christ who is with us now and ready to hand on a living faith; not only carrying Christ through Cork today but allowing Christ to carry Cork into tomorrow.”

Sheila Kelleher, coordinator of youth ministry in the Cork and Ross Diocese, told EWTN News the event is "a great opportunity for us to come together and show our faith in a very public way, walking through the streets of our city with the Eucharist and bringing Jesus to the people of the city.”

“I think to give hope to people and to be able to continue that tradition even today, showing that the Catholic faith is very much still alive, and people of all ages are willing to get involved, from young and old, no matter what your background, whether youʼre Irish or you are new Irish and all the different faith communities coming together.”

In the weeks leading up to the anniversary procession, a series of faith events took place across the Diocese of Cork and Ross to mark the occasion — including the presentation of the relics of the first millennial saint, St. Carlo Acutis.

There were 100 hours of adoration for the 100th anniversary and a two-week diocesan mission led by young people from the Diocese of Cork and Ross as well as a mission from Canadaʼs Catholic Christian Outreach.

The celebration also included special blessings for individuals competing in the Cork City Marathon and for students taking their state exams this summer.

The Eucharistic procession is now one of the longest-running traditions in Cork.

On the evening of Saturday, June 6, at the 53rd annual Old West End Festival, 12 people were wounded in an apparent dispute between two shooters who have yet to be identified, according to local police.

Police said all 12 injured were in "stable condition” as of Sunday afternoon. Organizers canceled the festival, which was to continue through Sunday.

The shooting took place just a few blocks from Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral during the vigil Mass on the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Thomas issued a statement on June 7, saying: “For those of us who live in the Old West End, this tragedy is literally close to home.”

Despite the “eerie quiet” in the neighborhood Sunday morning following the festival’s cancellation, Thomas said the faithful gathered and “carried Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the Old West End in the annual Eucharistic procession.”

“The Lord of Life was borne through the very neighborhood that had witnessed violence only hours before,” he said. “In that sacred procession, we proclaimed a message radically opposed to hatred and violence: a message of peace, unity, love, and respect for every person.”

The bishop said he remembers in prayer “the hundreds of innocent festival attendees whose sense of security was violated.”

“While these tragic acts have shaken our neighborhood, they have not shaken our faith in humanity, nor have they shaken our faith in the Lord of Life,” he said. “We remain committed to building a culture in which every person is valued, protected, and treated with dignity: a culture not of death but of life.”

Thomas also referenced Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, in which the pontiff states that “human rights are inviolable, since they are ‘inherent in the human person and in human dignity.’"

Thomas said: “Every act of violence is a failure to recognize the God-given dignity of the human person.”

“Together with the people of the Old West End and our 19-county diocese, I lament and decry the indiscriminate violence that has so deeply affected this neighborhood,” the bishop wrote, saying: “Gun violence has taken center stage in our community, leaving suffering and fear in its wake.”

Investigative Lt. Dan Gerken said at a news conference Saturday that local police, who have not identified the shooters or made any arrests, are reviewing video footage and interviewing witnesses and victims.

"Iʼm feeling good about where we are right now, but weʼll need the communityʼs help. Weʼll take all the information we can,” he said.

“As far as violence, this is over the top,” Gerken said. “Twelve people is a lot. This is way over the top.”

When asked — while in the northern city of Chiclayo — about the date of the Holy Fatherʼs arrival in Peru, the president replied that the trip “is scheduled to begin on Nov. 10,” according to RPP.

However, the Vatican has not yet made an official announcement regarding the apostolic visit, which could also include Uruguay and Argentina.

In April, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, stated that the Holy Father might visit Uruguay between "late November and early December."

Pope Leo XIV in Peru

Then-Father Robert Prevost arrived as a missionary in Chulucanas, in the Piura department of northern Peru, in 1985. He remained there until 1986.

He returned to the country in 1988 — specifically to Trujillo, also in northern Peru — where he remained until 1999. He served as a formator and superior for the Augustinians as well as director of studies and rector of the San Carlos y San Marcelo Seminary.

After serving two terms as superior general of the Augustinians in Rome, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of Chiclayo in November 2014; he became the bishop of that diocese in September 2015. That same year, he acquired Peruvian citizenship.

In April 2020, he was appointed apostolic administrator of Callao and served in that role for one year. Prevost remained in Peru until January 2023, when he was called to work at the Vatican to head the Dicastery for Bishops.

Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected successor of St. Peter on May 8, 2025. In his first words to the world, he included a special greeting to his “beloved Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Converts to Catholicism account for 1.5% of U.S. adults. Converts make up 8% of the nation’s Catholics, and the remaining 92% of Catholics are “cradle Catholics,” who were raised in the faith and still identify with it today.

Pew detailed “key facts about converts to and from Catholicism” in the U.S. drawn from the center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) and previous pew reports.

The RLS is a study intended to provide estimates of the U.S. population’s religious composition, beliefs, and practices. It was conducted from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 36,908 respondents.

The survey’s margin of error for results for the full sample is plus or minus 0.8 percentage points and had a 20% response rate.

While Catholic converts account for a small share of the country’s adult population, the number of converts to Catholicism is on par with, or larger, than the number of Americans who identify with some Protestant groups, including Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Reformed Christians.

The research found that the most common reason converts joined the faith was due to a Catholic spouse or a desire to get married in the Church. In the U.S., 1 in 4 married Catholics are married to a non-Catholic, including 1% who are married to someone from a non-Christian religious background.

The RLS found that about two-thirds of Catholic converts were of a different Christian tradition before converting.

More than half (59%) of converts told Pew that they were raised Protestant, and 9% were raised in another Christian tradition, such as Orthodox Christianity or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

About 1 in 5 Catholic converts (22%) did not have any religious affiliation as a child.

Characteristics and practices of cradle Catholics versus converts

Pew noted differences between converts and cradle Catholics, including that converts are more likely than those raised in the faith to be Republican.

Among Catholic registered voters, 60% of converts identified as Republican or leaned toward the Republican Party as of Pew’s 2023-24 study. Of lifelong Catholics, 52% said they identify the same.

Of cradle Catholics, 43% identified as Democratic or Democratic leaning, compared with 35% of Catholic converts who reported the same.

Most Catholic converts who responded are white (67%), compared with 20% who are Hispanic, 3% who are Black, and 4% who are Asian.

In contrast, 53% of cradle Catholics are white and 37% are Hispanic.

The research also found that 79% of converts were born in the U.S. and 18% were born outside of the country, compared with 67% of cradle catholics who were born in the U.S. and 30% who were born outside the nation.

Pew also found that Catholic converts attend Mass more regularly than cradle Catholics.

Of adults, 38% of converts attend Mass at least weekly and 58% receive Communion every time they go to Mass, compared with 28% of cradle Catholics who attend at least weekly and 34% who receive Communion every time.

Converts also go to confession slightly more, with 29% reporting they go at least once a year compared with 23% of cradle Catholics.

The offshore earthquake severely impacting General Santos City on Mindanao, the Philippines' main southern island. The tremor caused casualties and structural damage and triggered tsunami warnings.

As of this writing, at least 32 people have been killed, 12 are missing, and 200 others have been injured due to building damage and a 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami hitting nearby coasts.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos suspended school classes in affected areas of Mindanao and urged people in coastal areas to evacuate immediately. He also assured citizens that the government will provide necessary aid to people in need.

Bishops call for immediate assistance

Expressing his solidarity with victims and all those impacted, Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila said: “With deep sorrow, I join our brothers and sisters in General Santos City and the surrounding communities who have been affected by the recent earthquake.”

He appealed for help for survivors. "In these difficult moments, may we draw strength from our faith and from the solidarity of one another,” he said. “I also encourage all people of goodwill to extend whatever assistance they can to those in need.”

In addition, Bishop Leo Dalmao of the Prelature of Isabela de Basilan issued a pastoral letter calling for a second collection during Masses on Sunday, June 14. The collection will be sent to Caritas Philippines for relief assistance.

“The prelature joins the nation in prayer for the victims, the injured citizens, displaced families, and those people on the front line,” the prelate said.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States, is coordinating with its partners to assess humanitarian aid in Mindanao.

Churches damaged

At least three parishes in the Diocese of Marbel, which comprises the civil provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, and parts of Sultan Kudarat, reported damage following the earthquake.

An outdoor statue of Jesus at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, was also partially damaged. The pilgrimage site was temporarily closed due to the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks, shrine authorities said.

At Holy Cross Parish in Calumpang, General Santos City, parts of the church ceiling fell during the tremor, said Brother Jerson Nunez, a member of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Damage was also reported in some parts of the exterior structure and ceiling of Santa Teresita del Niño Jesus Parish in Tupi, South Cotabato, in Davao Occidental.

Civil authorities are still assessing the impact of the earthquake that was felt in several provinces in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, officials of the Church and local authorities have yet to give a full assessment of the damage in the areas affected.

Calls for prayer

In a separate social media post, Archbishop Alberto S. Uy of Cebu said: “An earthquake reminds us how small, fragile, and vulnerable we truly are.”

“Our lives can be taken away in an instant. That is why there is no reason for us to be proud, arrogant, or abusive towards others,” he added.

The Archdiocese of Cebu also issued a prayer petition for all to recite in families and churches since June 8. Prayers were also included for authorities, rescuers, and volunteers that they may be guided and given strength, safety, and understanding to help those in need.

“In the aftermath of an earthquake, we all are called to remain strong in faith and express solidarity, support, and compassion to every family affected in Mindanao,” Michael Vildal, a Catholic from the Diocese of Marbel, told EWTN News.

“We all unite in prayer for those who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods in compassion, offering comfort and hope to those who are suffering,” he added. “It is time to unite in generosity, sharing our blessings with those who have lost so much.”

Meanwhile, in a social media post, the Dominican Province of Philippines, the Order of the Preachers, said: “We stand helpless against earthquakes, and we call upon the mighty name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to save us. Please protect our families, our homes, the cities and towns we live in, as well as all the infrastructure within them.”

The Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines also made an appeal.

“In this difficult time, let us come together in prayer for the safety, protection, and healing of all those affected,” a statement released on June 8 said. “May the Lord strengthen rescue workers, comfort displaced families, and grant wisdom to leaders and responders as they provide aid and assistance. Let us stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Mindanao — not only through our prayers but also through acts of compassion and support,” the press note added.

The beatification Mass of two priests killed by the communist regime in Czechoslovakia was not “the Church moralizing” but “an offer of forgiveness and hope,” as the martyrs showed that “conscience is not luxury.”

That is what Cardinal Michael Czerny said in a homily on June 6 in his hometown of Brno, where, as papal legate for Pope Leo XIV, he declared Jan Bula and Václav Drbola the first beatified of the diocese and the first martyrs of the past totalitarian regimes on the territory of todayʼs Czech Republic. The two will be commemorated annually on June 17 in the Churchʼs liturgical calendar.

“Blessed Jan and Václav call us not to sell truth for comfort or to avoid conflict, not to exchange faith for the approval of others, not to choose silence where witness should be given, not to sacrifice conscience for comfort, career, or conformism,” the cardinal stressed.

“These all look like good sense,” the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development admitted, yet they “are really foolish betrayals of human dignity, freedom, and integrity.”

The priests Jan Bula (1920–1952) and Václav Drbola (1912–1951) were popular with their parishioners, active in community life, and loyal to the bishops. They were imprisoned without cause and accused of complicity in the killing of three communists, although they were already in prison at the time. They were executed after a staged trial in the early 1950s.

“Their guilt, in the eyes of the regime, did not consist in violence but in the fact that they refused to betray their priestly conscience. They did not wish to become instruments of ideology and repression,” the cardinal clarified.

“Each of us is invited to identify with them, with their time and place,” he suggested, adding that “when they were martyred, I was a 5-year-old boy with my family who had fled [communist Czechoslovakia] in 1948 and taken refuge in Montreal, Canada.”

Czerny was born in Brno 80 years ago and was naturalized in Canada. As he told EWTN News, celebrating Mass for the occasion in his hometown was “very moving.”

He even practiced Czech in recent months to read the homily in the Slavic language. The Mass drew 13,000 people and was widely covered by national media in one of the most secular countries in Europe.

Asked by a local outlet whether other Czech priests killed by communists might be beatified, the cardinal responded that “you can assume that it will happen, but we cannot comment,” referring to the strict criteria for beatification, which fall to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Yago de la Cierva, who is overseeing the organization of the pope’s trip to Spain, said Leo broke the ice before blessing the meal with a comment that drew laughter from those present.

“He said that before leaving for the trip, he had contacted artificial intelligence to ask: What should the pope say to the Spanish bishops? And artificial intelligence told him: Pope Francis would say ... So he stopped it and said: ‘I think there is another pope.’ And then artificial intelligence said: ‘Ah, that’s right, now it’s Pope Leo,’” de la Cierva recounted with a smile.

Leo XIV was elected the successor of Peter on May 8, 2025, though artificial intelligence has at times appeared slow to register the change. National Catholic Register journalist Jonah McKeown saw this firsthand when, like many users, he asked ChatGPT, OpenAI’s widely used artificial intelligence tool, about Pope Leo XIV.

“There seems to be some confusion with the name, since there has never been a Pope Leo XIV. However, there have been several popes named Leo throughout history,” the chatbot responded in one test.

After the joke, the pope — who is no technophobe and has repeatedly encouraged the proper use of artificial intelligence, including in his May 25 encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on the human person in the age of AI — turned to a technological image to deliver a deeper message to the bishops.

“Then he told the bishops that we have another algorithm, and that other algorithm leads us to love people, to accompany them, and to become servants of the word,” de la Cierva said.

Shortly after addressing Spain’s Parliament in the Congress of Deputies, Pope Leo XIV met with the country’s bishops at the headquarters of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, where he called on the Church, “in this time of increasingly drastic polarizations and oppositions,” to offer “a witness to unity in diversity.”

That communion, the pope said, comes from the awareness that the Church walks with the Lord, “as members of one body.” He added that such communion also has “missionary vitality.”

“A Church that is interiorly at peace can speak more freely to brothers and sisters of other Christian denominations and other religions, to those who do not believe, to civil authorities, and to all people of goodwill who work for the common good,” Leo said.

The pope told the Spanish bishops that their ministry carries a particular responsibility in this work of communion.

“We are called to be a visible sign of communion,” he said, first with Christ, then with “the successor of Peter and with the universal Church,” as well as with priests, diocesan communities, consecrated life, movements, associations, and every authentic charism given by the Holy Spirit for the common good.

“Your mission calls you to safeguard unity, foster dialogue, heal divisions, and accompany the journey of the people entrusted to your care,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The June 8 address, given before about 700 guests amid tight security, drew a standing ovation that lasted nearly seven minutes, with shouts of “Long live the pope!” echoing through the chamber.

In his speech, Pope Leo warned lawmakers not to subordinate human dignity to “shifting social consensus or the whims of the majority at any given moment,” insisting that “every truly just society is built upon the recognition of the inviolable dignity of the human person.”

“In this sense, if life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?” the pope asked. “Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?”

“The defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization,” he said.

The pope’s remarks came as Spain’s socialist-led government has been advancing efforts to enshrine abortion protections in the country’s Constitution. Such a reform would require broad parliamentary consensus, including support from the center-right People’s Party.

“Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence,” Pope Leo said. “When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person.”

“For this reason,” he added, “the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile.”

The pope also defended the family as “the primary human reality and the natural foundation of the community,” saying that “where the family is upheld, the spiritual and social stability of nations is also strengthened.”

“The family will always be the first school of humanity, where one learns, before anywhere else, the basic grammar of living together: welcoming life, caring for others, forgiving, serving and belonging,” he said.

Pope Leo drew on Spain’s intellectual and Catholic heritage, citing Cervantes, St. Teresa of Ávila, Miguel de Unamuno and the School of Salamanca, especially the 16th-century Dominican friar Francisco de Vitoria.

From that tradition, he said, Spain helped shape “a legal and moral consciousness capable of remembering that authority always entails responsibility and that every human being must be recognized as a subject of rights and duties.”

The pope said that legacy remains alive whenever lawmakers ask “how to ensure that what is possible is just, that what is legal is truly humane, and that the will of the majority safeguards those goods that belong to all and respects that which no majority can legitimately violate.”

He also cited his recent encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” published May 25, saying that in an age of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and rapid technological change, political discernment must focus on “the place of the human person in our decision making.”

The pope devoted part of his address to migrants and refugees, a major theme of his trip to Spain, which will conclude with visits to Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a key entry point to Europe for migrants.

“The situation of migrants and refugees calls for a response that focuses on people, addresses the root causes that force them to leave, and goes beyond the mere management of migration flows,” he said.

He called for “safe and legal pathways, a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration,” while also promoting “the right to remain in one’s own land,” so that no one is forced to leave home because of war, insecurity, poverty or the effects of the climate crisis.

Pope Leo also warned that many migrants remain “prey to traffickers and smugglers who take advantage of their desperation,” calling for stronger prevention, rescue and assistance efforts.

“No nation can face a challenge of this magnitude on its own,” he said.

Turning to global conflict, Pope Leo said the world is undergoing “a profound spiritual and cultural crisis” marked by violence, polarization and mistrust.

“Every war constitutes, ultimately, a painful defeat of the capacity to negotiate and also of that common human consciousness that recognizes bonds of justice among nations,” he said.

“Weapons may impose a temporary silence; but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace,” the pope said, warning that “in various parts of the world — and in Europe as well — rearmament is once again being presented as an almost inevitable response to the fragility of the international situation.”

The pope also warned against the use of artificial intelligence in warfare, saying new technologies in the military sphere require “rigorous ethical oversight, so that decisions regarding life and death are never left to automated systems nor removed from the moral responsibility of the human person.”

Addressing Spain’s polarized political climate, the pope urged lawmakers to resist contempt for political opponents.

“Political pluralism should not degenerate into the constant disparagement of one’s adversary,” he said. “In a mature society, even conflict can become a path to peace, when differences are softened by listening and directed toward recognizing the needs, aspirations and capabilities of all.”

“Firmness does not require contempt; disagreement does not entail humiliation,” he added.

Only two left-wing parties, Podemos and the BNG, which together account for six lawmakers out of more than 600 parliamentarians, chose not to attend the pope’s address.

Pope Leo also made a strong appeal for religious freedom, calling freedom of thought, conscience and religion “a fundamental right that protects the most intimate sphere of the person.”

“The freedom upon which the contemporary state is built, if it is authentic, recognizes the religious dimension of the human person, respects it and protects it legally,” he said. Authentic freedom, the pope added, “ensures that faith is not a reason for which a person has to forfeit his or her contribution to society.”

“Faith does not seek to impose itself through privileges or coercion; yet neither can it be silenced as if it were irrelevant to public life,” he said.

The pope also defended the sacramental seal of confession, saying it “holds special importance for the Catholic Church” and forms part of the broader sphere of religious freedom.

“To protect it legally, as is done in a similar way in some professions, means preserving a sacred space of inner freedom, where the believer can open his or her soul to God without fear of external pressures,” Pope Leo said.

The remarks came shortly after French bishops criticized a June 1 proposal in France’s National Assembly that they said could have endangered the seal of confession. The proposal was later withdrawn.

Near the end of his address, the pope invited Spanish lawmakers to “lift your gaze to the world around you,” not to escape reality, but to remember that every public decision “affects real people, especially those who have less power to make their voices heard.”

“A law does not attain its true greatness merely by having been formally enacted,” he said. “It attains it when, in addition to being valid in form, it can stand before the dignity of the person and pass that test without shame.”

The pope concluded with a blessing for Spain, praying that the nation “never lose sight of its roots nor the courage to look to the future.”

“May Spain continue to be a land of encounter, of culture, of solidarity and of hope,” he said. “And may its public life always know how to unite the firmness of convictions with the nobility of dialogue and the greatness of service.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Gen Z generally refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.

Drawing on cohort-level data from the Human Fertility Database (HFD), as well as using demographic modeling, the instituteʼs "Choice or Circumstance? Rising Childlessness in Ireland" report, released in May, charts a huge increase in the number of Irish women who are childless.

Among those born in the late 1950s, only 30.9% were childless by age 30, rising to 63.6% for those born in the early 1990s. This trend suggests 25% of women born in the late 1990s will be childless when they reach age 45.

Breda OʼBrien of the Iona Institute told EWTN News that “a huge question is whether this will be by choice or circumstance."

"Much will be unplanned and forced by circumstance, such as the cost of living," she said. "It’s worrying and weʼre sliding into it without too much discussion. Before the 1930s, we had similar rates of childlessness in Ireland, but that was because of extreme poverty, late marriage, and low marriage rates. Weʼre supposed to be in an era where women have every possible choice.”

She continued: “The choice to have children, which is fundamental, is being taken away from young women. Itʼs being painted as a kind of freedom. I donʼt think young women themselves consider it to be a type of freedom, and I think a lot of them are worried about it."

According to Central Statistics Office data, the average man’s age at marriage is now nearing 38 and the average womanʼs age is almost 36.

A 2022 Amarach Research poll for Iona showed that 85% of people want to have at least two children and only 2% expressed a wish for no children.

Births in Ireland have fallen by almost 18% in the last decade, according to Central Statistics Office.

With clear indications that the longer a person delays having children, the less likely he or she will have any, O’Brien said “itʼs part of the whole growth of individualism and this idea for kids, from the time theyʼre tiny, [that] you get your education, you travel, you have your career in order, you have fun, you donʼt tie yourself down, and then sometimes in your 30s, you think about settling down. But a lot of women in their mid-30s realize that it is increasingly difficult to conceive.”

She added: “The fertility industry is booming, which does show us that people are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to have children, but the life script theyʼve been presented with is actually working against their best interests. Nature has no knowledge of this life script that young people are being presented with.”

“The longer you leave it, the more chances there are of miscarriage, of complications in labor, and of medical intervention during birth, if you get that far. So itʼs not consequence-free,” she said.

O’Brien told EWTN News that there needs to be debate about why this is happening as a society. "It is a phenomenon we should discuss far more widely if our aim is to help people achieve their eventual life goals. I think among people of faith, they are still prioritizing children and family, and marriage. The Catholic Church needs to support those young families in every way possible.”

She pointed out that having fewer children “has very significant social and economic consequences because of the effects of an aging population and growing loneliness.”

The report highlights a series of demographic issues related to childlessness and to Ireland’s already-aging population. Lower fertility rates, combined with rising childlessness, mean that the ratio of working-age adults to elderly dependents is set to worsen. Fewer births today mean fewer workers in 20 to 30 years.

O’Brien said: “In Ireland, thereʼs still a degree of respect for older people, but one of the awful possible consequences is that younger people will start to resent older people.”

The Iona report highlights the situation where a smaller working-age population will be asked to support a larger elderly population, putting pension sustainability, healthcare, and long-term care provision under growing financial pressure.

The instituteʼs findings also highlight the effect on housing and household-formation patterns. A rise in the proportion of adults who never have children increases demand for smaller dwellings and single-person households.

Additionally, in recent decades, inward migration to Ireland has been an effective and economically rational response in periods of strong demand. However, it is not a response to childlessness.

O’Brien pointed to other countries and the demographic shifts they are facing with an increasing aging population.

“Other countries are further along the road than we are. South Korea, or even Japan, where theyʼre repurposing childcare facilities for eldercare facilities, moving from baby formula to fortified drinks from the elderly, and from producing diapers for children, to producing incontinence products for the elderly — this is not a good road that weʼre on,” she said.

“Today we are going to bring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the streets of Washington, D.C.,” Father Charles Trullols, director of the Catholic Information Center, said in a homily during the June 6 morning Mass before the procession began.

The procession offers “public witness to our faith,” Trullols said, displaying “the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity,” to each person the procession passes by. Dozens of onlookers stopped to watch the procession, with many taking photos and videos.

The route began outside the Catholic Information Centerʼs K Street headquarters and walked past Lafayette Square, which faces the White House. It also passed Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and the Veterans Affairs building.

Children who had recently received their first holy Communion laid flower petals on the ground and the procession was led by cross and candle bearers, followed by religious sisters, the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, the priests, the choir, and the rest of the pilgrims.

“I think it’s just a great opportunity to be a witness for Christ to a city that is so lost, and while we were out there I was praying that someone who was out there would see it and come back to the Lord and find peace in the Lord and Christ,” Katie, from Jacksonville, Florida, told EWTN News.

“It’s just a beautiful witness out here today and Iʼm so grateful this was available especially to those who need it,” she said.

John, from Maryland, highlighted the significance of processing with the Eucharist in the nation’s capital less than one month before the country celebrates the Fourth of July.

“I think it’s very cool that this being the 250th anniversary of America we can do something like this,” he said. “It shows the freedom of religion in this country and that it’s a great country to be in.”

The procession was one stop in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a project of the National Eucharistic Congress that is bringing processions to dioceses across the country. This year’s route focuses mostly on visiting the original 13 colonies of the United States to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Trullols noted in his homily that the pilgrimage theme is “One Nation Under God,” which he said is “not merely a patriotic slogan” but an invitation to place our lives, families, and communities under Christ.

A nation under God “does not sustain itself automatically,” Trullols said. Rather, it can only be sustained “if its people choose to place God first.”

The Catholic Information Center has held a Eucharistic procession in downtown Washington for four straight years, initially independent of the broader pilgrimage. Trullols told EWTN News that the pilgrimage reached out to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., which then reached out to the center to partner this year on the procession.

“This procession is an expression in our capital for the love of our country and the desire to pray for our people and our nation,” Trullols said.

He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it.

There are nine perpetual pilgrims traveling with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage for the entire journey, which began in St. Augustine, Florida, less than two weeks ago and will conclude in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July weekend.

Mary Carmen Zakrajsek, a perpetual pilgrim originally from Carmel, Indiana, said in a news conference after the procession that bringing the Eucharist into the streets has captivated people who encounter it: “Jesus walked this earth and he’s walking it again. He has not abandoned us.”

Zakrajsek called the pilgrimage a “unifying moment” and echoed the language in the Declaration of Independence that rights are endowed by the Creator.

“Our moral authority does not come from the state,” she said. “It comes from God.”

The gathering brought together leading figures from Spanish culture with an international profile, including actor Antonio Banderas. Sports were represented by legendary badminton player Carolina Marín, a three-time world champion, while academia was represented by José María Coello de Portugal, vice rector for planning, coordination, and institutional relations at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Representatives of labor unions and employers’ organizations also presented the pope with their concerns and challenges, with the aim of working together to build a society oriented toward the common good and capable of overcoming fragmentation and polarization.

Their presence was itself a sign that encounter remains possible even in a divided society.

The historic meeting reflected the theme of the first papal trip to Spain in 15 years — “Lift Up Your Gaze” — and Pope Leo XIV’s call to weave networks among different social actors, showing that beyond legitimate differences there is a firm desire to build strong, cross-sector alliances to face the challenges of the future.

One of the highlights of the event was Banderas’ address, in which he recited a text on the bond between faith and culture.

“I confess that I am a victim of God’s spell,” the actor said, looking directly at the pope.

Banderas, who the previous day had directed the cast of the musical “Godspell” in a special performance during a prayer vigil with young people in Madrid’s Plaza de Lima, also evoked the popular piety of his native Málaga and the Holy Week processions that marked his childhood.

In his remarks, Banderas stressed art’s ability to raise deep questions.

“In a world that at times is overly simplified, art helps us recover the depth and the soul that is trying to be stolen by artificial intelligence,” he said.

Earlier, Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid, presented Pope Leo XIV as a reference point in the fight against extremism. Along those lines, the pope made clear that the Church has stood, from its earliest days, on the side of culture and art, fostering the encounter of different sensibilities in a shared search for transcendence.

“The Church, conscious both of her successes and her failures throughout history, longs to remain in dialogue with the contemporary world,” Pope Leo said.

In his address, the pope invited the world today not to dismiss the Church’s “centuries-old experience,” which he said has always “proposed paths for a dignified life and the common good.” In that context, he recalled St. Paul VI, who before the United Nations noted that, whatever one’s opinion of the Roman pontiff, his mission is well known.

Pope Leo also cited his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published May 25, to return to a central question: “What does it mean to be truly human?”

To that question, he offered a clear answer: “The Church shares with humility but also with firmness what she has discovered through the experience of faith: that Jesus Christ responds to the great questions about human life and its fullness, already in this world and unto its fulfillment in eternity.”

To face these questions, the pope proposed a form of social dialogue that he compared to the art of weaving networks, based on “encounter, listening, dialogue, and respect.” The approach is not new to his visit to Spain. It was already present in his episcopal coat of arms and has been confirmed since his election as Roman pontiff — a word meaning “bridge-builder” — as one who builds a bridge first with God and then with people, societies, and cultures.

In concrete terms, he explained that “weaving networks” means that “the university does not live with its back turned to the world of work or renounce the truth; that business activity does not see the employee as just another factor in the equation of its interests; that art does not have only the elites as its goal; that sport is not reduced to spectacle or turned into mere business; that technological progress takes into account the elderly, the poor, and those who have no voice.”

In that context, the pope — a mathematician by training — recalled with admiration the great classics of Spanish literature, citing Lope de Vega, St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, and Calderón de la Barca. He also recalled the serenity of the prose of St. Thomas Aquinas, from whom the Church has inherited the beautiful hymns of Corpus Christi, the solemnity celebrated Sunday.

For the pope, weaving networks also means “serving in a disinterested way,” as men and women moved by faith have done throughout the centuries by founding hospitals, schools, and charitable initiatives. He therefore invited participants to ask honestly whether Europe could have forged its identity “without the spiritual imprint that has marked its history.”

“This is not a provocation but an invitation to consider whether eternity, which broke into time and space through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, can once again be reconciled with everyday life,” he said. “Is it really possible to believe that Europe — which we love so much — would be itself without the imprint of faith? Why fear that eternity might permeate daily life?”

Finally, the pope said Christ restores the common good to its central place as an arbiter that “calms the greed of some and nourishes the hope of others, while desiring to save them all.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The pope made the appeal while presiding over Mass, a procession, and Eucharistic blessing for the solemnity of Corpus Christi in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, one of the Spanish capital’s most emblematic sites.

“As I begin my visit to Spain, it is with a heart filled with joy that I preside over this celebration on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi,” the pope said in his homily.

Corpus Christi has deep roots in Spain and throughout the Catholic world. The feast originated after the efforts of St. Juliana of Cornillon, a Belgian religious sister who promoted a liturgical celebration dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Pope Urban IV confirmed the feast for the universal Church in 1264, and within decades it had reached the Iberian Peninsula. King Alfonso X, known as “the Wise,” took part in a Corpus Christi celebration in Toledo in 1280.

Over the centuries, the tradition became firmly established in Spain, making the country one of the great centers of Eucharistic devotion. During the period of the Council of Trent, when the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was contested in parts of Europe, Spanish popular piety continued to exalt it through processions, music, art, and public expressions of faith.

In Madrid, Pope Leo said Corpus Christi is “more than just another celebration on the liturgical calendar.”

“It is a way of returning to the heart of the faith to renew our love and fidelity to God,” he said.

“The solemn processions held on this day have for centuries shaped the piety, art, music, architecture and life of the Spanish people,” the pope continued. “Even today, they still express and manifest the spiritual sentiments of this country through the beauty and elegance of the floral carpets, the altars erected in the streets, the carefully crafted monstrances and stands, the hymns and the liturgical vestments.”

The setting itself added a striking backdrop to the celebration. Plaza de Cibeles, crowned by the statue of the Roman goddess in a chariot drawn by lions, is known internationally as the place where Real Madrid celebrates its titles. On Sunday, however, the square’s focus was Christ in the Eucharist.

One participant joked that with Pope Leo XIV in Madrid, the Spanish capital had three lions.

The pope said the Corpus Christi procession is not “an exhibition, a remnant of folklore or a simple display of beauty.”

“It is a profession of faith in the presence of the risen Lord, who is alive and continues to walk among us, who becomes bread to satiate our hunger for life, and visits the recesses of our hearts and history, even those shrouded in darkness,” he said.

The procession route, about 600 meters along Calle de Alcalá, one of Madrid’s central thoroughfares, was adorned with 16 floral carpets — eight on each side — made with more than 30,000 carnations. Numerous faithful joined the pope, including many boys and girls who had recently received their first Communion.

Pope Leo said the procession reveals that Christ “is not confined to the church, but comes out to meet us.”

“Jesus travels the streets, crosses the squares and visits our neighborhoods, dwelling in the settings of our daily lives,” he said. “He is a God who is close to us, who walks with his people, the Lord of history.”

The pope also connected Corpus Christi with charity, noting that the Church in Spain has long associated the solemnity with the Day for Charity.

“The Christ who processes through the streets in the monstrance is the same one who identifies with the poor, the downtrodden, those who are alone and forsaken,” he said.

“It is not merely a matter of bringing out the monstrance,” Pope Leo emphasized, “but of allowing ourselves to be brought out of our selfishness and indifference, of a comfortable, private faith, so as to respond to his invitation to conversion, to change our perspective, and to welcome his presence which transforms us and makes us builders of a new world.”

Among the faithful who took part in the celebration was Sister Maribel, a member of the Monastic Family of Bethlehem, whose community is opening a convent in Huelva.

Speaking with emotion, she summed up her experience to ACI Prensa: “I loved everything. It was extraordinary. I need to read and reread and pray with the Holy Father’s homily. It was very intense. Above all, I leave with the motto ‘Lift up your gaze.’ I don’t know — it is a phrase that encompasses life and every detail.”

The pope said the historical memory of Spain’s Corpus Christi processions “is not confined to wistful nostalgia.”

“Instead, it stands as an invitation in the present moment, in our daily lives, in our relationships, in society, and in the building of the future,” he said.

That, he added, is the task facing Spain today and tomorrow: “to ensure that the religiosity which has shaped and defined this country for centuries is not a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today.”

The pope described that school of faith as one that “teaches us to kneel before God and before our neighbor, because no one can kneel before the Lord and despise their brother.”

It is also, he said, “a school that teaches us of the gratitude of love that becomes a gift, so that it may flow among us and break the chains of all selfishness.”

From the Eucharist, he continued, Catholics learn “that God is a real presence and that we too are called to be present in the realities and challenges of society, not shying away, but personally committing ourselves to the building of the common good.”

Pope Leo also recalled St. Manuel González García, the Spanish bishop known as “the bishop of the abandoned tabernacle.”

“His life reminds us that the Eucharist should be honored not only during great celebrations or on special occasions, but also through the silent fidelity of those who accompany the Lord with a humble and quiet friendship that is nourished day by day,” the pope said.

The pope also cited St. John of the Cross, recalling that while imprisoned in harsh conditions in Toledo around the time of Corpus Christi in 1578, the Spanish mystic recognized the hidden presence of the Lord even in darkness.

“The Eucharistic Jesus is ‘that eternal spring that is hidden’ — a spring that flows and quenches thirst, yet without blinding, without imposing itself through outward power, without presenting itself in a spectacular way,” the pope said.

Pope Leo closed by urging the faithful to return to Christ in the Eucharist with “sincere love.”

“Let us open ourselves to the encounter with him, let us allow him to quench the thirst of our hearts, so that we may then go forth into the paths of life and history, bringing to the people this stream of fresh water, a stream of love, peace, justice and joy,” he said.

“Let us drink anew from this Eucharistic spring, which does not enclose us in private devotion, but sends us out to refresh our brothers and sisters, our families, the poor, the suffering, and those who have lost hope,” the pope said. “Eucharistic grace transforms us and makes us protagonists of the transformation of history, a sign of hope for those we meet.”

“May the Lord Jesus, present in the Eucharist, transform you into bread that is broken, given, and offered,” he concluded, “so that a life of fullness may spring forth for you, for your families, and for your country.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film-Makers, “Sacred Heart” was released in Europe in October 2025 and became a box office success selling nearly 1 million tickets.

The docudrama retells Christ’s apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the 17th-century French nun who received the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Through testimonies, accounts of Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis, and reenactments, the film explores the moment when Christ revealed his heart to the world and its burning love for humanity.

The film will be in U.S. theaters June 9–11 and June 14.

The Gunnells spoke to EWTN News and shared that the inspiration for the film came from personal testimonies they heard from two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart while at Notre-Dame du Laus (Our Lady of Laus), a Marian sanctuary located in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. That same evening, the married couple, along with their extended families, discovered the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time and consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart.

The French filmmakers began to think about the possibility of making a documentary about the Sacred Heart. They began seeing the image of the Sacred Heart appear everywhere around them in their daily lives, which they took as a sign from God to make the film.

“In the moment where we said yes [to Jesus], in an instant, we had the story of the movie. We knew exactly what we would make for the movie,” Steven said.

Steven, 51, had his own powerful conversion story — thanks in part to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — when he was in his 20s.

Born in Annecy in southern France, he was raised solely by his mother — his father was in a rock band that toured most of the year. Despite the fact that his mother had been baptized a Catholic, she fell away from the faith and became part of a demonic sect, which she was a part of for roughly 25 years. This caused Steven to have a strained relationship with his mom, and at the age of 21, he left his home and moved to Paris in hopes of becoming an actor.

When he arrived in Paris he started to audition for roles, and during one he was asked if he could sing. It was this audition that landed Steven in the popular French boy band Alliage for three years. He soon became wealthy and famous with many fans. But eventually a shift in musical trends left boy bands as an outdated fad and life as he knew it came to an end — no more concerts, no more albums, and he was out of a job.

Steven went to London to escape his problems but became depressed, began to drink excessively, and started thinking about suicide.

One day, after years of not speaking, he called his mother from a phone booth. He told her he was going to do something bad because he couldn’t handle life anymore. Much to his surprise, his mother told him to go into a church and just take a moment before he did anything else. So he did. He went into the first church he saw, sat down, and ended up falling asleep. About four hours later, he woke up and was no longer suicidal.

Looking back on it now, he said he knows this was thanks to “resting in the Holy Spirit.” He recalled waking up and feeling “light, restored, and peaceful.”

Steven went back to this church every day for weeks. He ended up finding a job, and after about five months he called his mother again and asked her if could move back home.

“My mom said, ‘Your bedroom is waiting for you,’” he shared.

Once he arrived home, his mom took him to a small chapel dedicated to St. Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes. He was shocked to see his mother join about 400 other people in praying a rosary held in the chapel. Steven began to walk around the chapel and came face to face with a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“I’m kneeling at this moment, and I begin to cry with all my soul, all my blood, all my everything,” he said. “I met Jesus that day.”

Moments later a priest walked up to him from behind, put his hand on his shoulder, and asked him if he was Steven Gunnell.

“I said, ‘Yes. How do you know me, Father?’”

The priest responded: “Your mother has come here for one year now, every single day, because she has been praying for you … She prayed the rosary for you every day at 4 o’clock. And now you’re here — first miracle. Second miracle, you are here in the Chapel of St. Rita, the saint of impossible causes — welcome to the club.”

The priest went on to remind Steven of the sacraments he received as a child.

“‘You may have forgotten everything, but you are Catholic and God didnʼt forget you,’” the priest told him.

At that moment, Steven made his confession with the priest and after the rosary ended, he attended the Mass. The reading for that day? The story of the prodigal son.

“This story happened 26 years ago now and itʼs changed my life,” he said.

From there, Steven went on to meet his wife and together they began to create films “for the kingdom,” he said.

Now, he said he hopes this movie on the Sacred Heart will inspire others to realize how short their lives are and the importance of returning to Christ.

“Today we are here; tomorrow weʼre gone. Itʼs ridiculous when you think about it. You have no time to lose ... Go to church and just take a moment to give a few minutes in front of the tabernacle, the presence of the holy Eucharist, and take a few moments with him to say to him you love him and just hear in the silence, inside, the love he has for you.”

Sabrina added that she hopes viewers will leave knowing “that the love of God is more powerful than every evil thing in the world.”

“We have this heart, this God, who came as a human being and he has a heart of a human being and he can understand all our moods, all our difficulties, and we are so loved. You are so loved,” she said. “Everyone is so loved by God and we just want the people who come out of the cinema to feel full of love, burn about this love, and go out into the world to spread that.”

The Holy Father met with the countryʼs King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia before paying a visit to a social services project in Madrid and then finishing the day with a massive gathering of hundreds of thousands of young Spanish citizens in the cityʼs Plaza de Lima.

See photos of Pope Leo XIVʼs first day in Spain below.

The event brought together more than 600,000 young people, according to the authorities.

The pope was especially comfortable in Spanish, a language in which he spoke on several occasions. At one point he told the crowd of hundreds of thousands of youth: “You can change history, do it with love.”

At another time, he unambiguously encouraged young people not to fear vocational commitment: “Never be afraid of having a vocation for priestly life or religious life.”

And he added: “You donʼt have to be afraid to get married and start a family.”

Addressing questions from young people, the pope said at one point: “The disciples of Jesus are always contemporaries, but never prisoners of the passing time. We are free in Christ!"

The pontiff stressed that Christ frees “with his love,” a love that leaves the person “always free in the face of all coercion and deception.”

“We are free from fashions, because we are disciples of the truth; we are open to the future, because we know that death does not await us,” he said.

Likewise, he entrusted young people with a great “mission,” namely: “Be human! Men and women of flesh and blood. Not appearances, but reliable faces. People who seek justice because they are hungry for it, as for the daily bread.”

“You are human as Christ is, the perfect man, the Risen One who shares history with us at all times. Cultivating this commitment, look at the Apostles, the first Christians, inhabitants of a pagan world,” he added.

Before his speech, the Pope heard several testimonies. Among them was that of Niurka, a young 33-year-old Cuban lawyer who arrived in Spain a little over a year ago, pushed by the serious economic and political crisis of her country. “I was very scared. But the Church welcomed me,” he said.

Khadry also spoke of his experience coming from Senegal. He arrived in Spain in 2020 after surviving the dangerous Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. In a gesture full of symbolism, he gave the pope his residence card, reflecting the importance of regularization in starting a new life.

In his remarks, Leo XIV also issued a warning to Christians against the risk of being dragged by currents outside the Gospel.

He pointed out that, frequently, Christians “allow themselves to be infected by attitudes marked by worldly ideologies or by political and economic positions that lead to unfair generalizations and misleading conclusions.”

“The fact that the exercise of charity is despised or ridiculed, as if it were the fixation of some and not the incandescent core of the ecclesial mission, makes me think that it is always necessary to read the Gospel again, so as not to run the risk of replacing it with the worldly mentality,” he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Despite the heat and humidity, many parents and grandparents packed their little ones into strollers or baby carriers and brought them out to view the Eucharistic pilgrimage as it made its way through D.C. The local procession was a partnership between the Catholic Information Center and the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. 

“I really like taking my kids to the Eucharistic processions for Corpus Christi,” Theresa Cambell said while pushing Augustine, three years old, and Rowena, nine months, in a stroller in the procession. “I think practical things really help them understand the significance of what is going on.” 

Campbell, who lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, took her children to the Catholic Information Center procession last year. Though she wasn’t raised going to processions or adoration regularly with her family, Campbell said the tradition was important to her as she raises her own children so that they can better come to understand the Church. 

A big part of this, she said, was her own active participation.

“Children have a very natural orientation towards liturgy, and I think that the reverence that everyone has in the tradition actually does most of the teaching,” Cambell said. “And then, you know, we do explain that it is the body and blood of Christ and that the procession is for Corpus Christi, and we try to tie that into the liturgical year.”

Maria and Pedro Estrada of Reston, Virginia, practice similar worship habits with their four children. The couple moved to the United States from Argentina six years ago and grew up attending similar events with their families.

Estrada said she and her husband take their children to adoration regularly and practice family prayer to get them interested in Jesus and the Church.

“At home, we pray a lot,” Estrada explained. “We pray the rosary in front of our kids, and they see us and they try to imitate us. They’re very interested in Jesus and His love for us, and we explain that all the things we have, and the way we are, is because of Jesus, and because He loves us. And it’s nice to Him that we, you know, give Him some of the love He gave us.”

Julie Enzler of Alexandria, Virginia, helped take her 15-month-old granddaughter through the procession while her daughter volunteered with the Catholic Information Center.

“What I appreciate about the procession through the city is the witness that we can give to the whole world of our Eucharistic Lord present in the midst of us, and to bring the power of his love to the streets,” Enzler said. “It’s something we try to do in person every day, hopefully, but just to make Him present in the lives of people who wouldn’t necessarily find Him.”

Enzler said that all her grandchildren are being raised in the Catholic Church and attending Corpus Christi processions, even though she herself did not growing up. This, she hopes, will help them to orient their lives toward God.

Enzler said she knows how valuable it is to bring Christ with you wherever you go, whether that be spiritually or in actuality.

“Because the Church is the body of Christ, we all need each other,” Enzler explained. “We all need the witness of new life in the body. And the children need the witness of adults doing things that might be uncomfortable.” 

“For old people, it’s uncomfortable on your knees,” she continued. “And for other ages, maybe it’s uncomfortable to be seen practicing your faith or witnessing to your faith in the Eucharist, which is something that’s not obvious without faith.”

Enzler said that she feels the United States is poised to accept Christ at this moment, and that showing the next generation of Catholics what faithful adoration looks like can help spread this.

“I’m really grateful to the [Catholic Information Center] for offering this opportunity and for the word of hope that this event brings to the streets of Washington, D.C. at a time where the country seems particularly open to the practice of faith and the witness of faith,” she said. 

“I know there’s a lot of prayers begging more and more graces, so I’m grateful,” she said. “There’s always the grace that we can count on, but we can’t see or quantify.”

Government officials earlier in the day said Afonso was killed by gunshot when assailants invade his home. The prelate, who was appointed to lead the diocese in July 2025, had warned repeatedly of violence in the region prior to his death.

A press release from the Holy See said Pope Leo XIV had “learned with sorrow of the grave act of violence” that took Afonsoʼs life. The bishop led the Quelimane Diocese and also served as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Beira.

The pope “joins in prayer with the people of the Dioceses and of Mozambique in this hour of bewilderment, so that the Lord may give them consolation, so that he may guard in his love every man and woman and stop the hand of violence,” the statement said.

Earlier in the day Episcopal Conference of Mozambique President Archbishop Inácio Saúre said in a statement that he “appeal[ed] for serenity in faith and fraternal solidarity, in the hope that we will be able, in due course, to provide accurate and detailed information regarding this sad event.”

‘Dark clouds’ over southern African nation

The papal charity Aid to the Church in Need also mourned Afonsoʼs passing on June 6. The charity said the murder “adds yet another dark cloud over the Church in Mozambique.”

The Church there “is already grappling with terrorist violence in the north of the country, particularly in Cabo Delgado Province,” the organization said. Afonso had warned several times prior to his murder of the threat of violence in that province.

Mozambique “remains a priority country for ACN, which has supported the local Church at many levels, not only through humanitarian aid, but also by promoting psychosocial support and the reconstruction of infrastructure,” the charity said.

A Mass was planned for the repose of Afonsoʼs soul on June 6, with funeral arrangements to be announced later.

The choice of these holy men and women is related to the venues of the pontifical visit and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, given that the Holy Father will celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 7, in Madrid.

The project presents 10 people who “searched for God in the world” and “found the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

Representing Madrid, St. Isidore the Laborer (or Farmer) and St. Mary of the Head have been selected as “examples of holiness in marriage, at work, and in ordinary life,” as well as St. Soledad Torres Acosta, founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Mary Ministers of the Sick.

Representing Barcelona are Venerable Antonio Gaudí, architect of Sagrada Família Basilica, and St. Eulalia, a martyr and co-patroness of the city.

The saints selected from the Canary Islands are St. Peter of St. Joseph Betancourt, the first native of the islands to be canonized, and St. Joseph of Anchieta, a Jesuit missionary born in Tenerife who is known as the “Apostle of Brazil.”

Three other saints are highlighted for their Eucharistic devotion: St. Teresa of Ávila, reformer of the Carmelite order; St. Paschal Baylon, patron of Eucharistic congresses; and St. Manuel González, bishop of Palencia and founder of the Eucharistic Reparation Union, an apostolate that includes both lay and consecrated persons.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“On behalf of the Women in the Vatican Association (DIVA), I would like to extend our warmest wishes to you on your new appointment as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, entrusted to you by the Holy Father,” wrote association President Margarita Romanelli, who recently retired after working for 31 years at the Vatican in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Pope Leo XIV named Alvarado, the president and chief operating officer of EWTN News since 2023, as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication on June 2. The appointment will take effect Nov. 1. She is the first laywoman who is neither consecrated nor a religious sister to hold such a post.

“Our association is composed, as the name suggests, of lay, religious, and consecrated women who work or have worked in the Holy See, the Roman Curia, and its affiliated institutions,” Romanelli’s statement said.

“Our purpose is to create an increasingly constructive and fruitful network of knowledge, friendship, and solidarity among all members, to promote their professional, human, and spiritual growth.”

“To respond to our vocation as women, our model is Mary, Mother of the Church, who urges us to make the most of all that femininity encompasses and signifies, striving to be witnesses of sisterhood as daughters of the one Father, and looking to the future as women of authentic Christian hope,” the statement continued.

“With renewed wishes for fruitful service, we earnestly invoke the Lord’s blessing upon your ecclesial mission, entrusting you [Alvarado] to the protection and intercession of the Most Holy Virgin.”

There are many women working in the Vatican who collaborate with the association, including many from the communication dicastery.

Alvarado will be 40 when she takes up her post in November. Like the pope, she has connections both to Latin America and the United States: She was born in Mexico City and educated in the U.S.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, an Italian language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The Holy Father landed at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport after which he moved directly to the royal residence. There he was received with honors by King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and their daughters Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía.

The pope warned that his message of reconciliation “resonates for some as naive and for others as provocative,” but he said it is “welcomed in those who do not close themselves in prefabricated ideologies, but who open up to the truth.”

“The truth is always greater than us and that is why it surprises us and attracts us to paths of purification and reconciliation, in which dialogue with others — and with the Other with capital letters — becomes fundamental,” he added.

In his speech, the pope cited two great Spanish mystics of the sixteenth century, Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus, both of whom he said are united by their “passion for the divine Mystery.”

He presented them as examples of “mystics with open eyes,” that is, “not alien to history, but, on the contrary, [getting at] the root of the questions, to the heart of reality.”

The pontiff also alluded to contemporary fears caused by “the darkness of reason and the violence of emotions,” and proposed as an antidote the need for men and women capable of “intuiting, in the darkness, the light.”

To illustrate this idea, he evoked the image of the “inner castle” developed by Saint Teresa of Jesus.

Far from proposing an evasive spirituality, the pope stressed that it is not “an intimate flight, but a radical opening” to the totus Alius et semper Novus, a theological expression that refers to the transcendence of God and that “is carried out when we return to ourselves.”

Protecting religious freedom and conscience

“This dimension of the human being is the reason why religious freedom and conscience must be protected,” he said.

He also quoted St. Ignatius of Loyola, who “preferred peace to weapons and saints to the powerful,” and he recalled the work of the School of Translators of Alfonso X the Wise, where specialists from the three religions collaborated in the transmission of classical and medieval knowledge.

He mentioned thinkers such as Averroes (1126-1198) and Maimonides (1138-1204) as examples of the possibility of cooperation between religious traditions for the common good.

“Our era, which apparently is shaken by terrible imbalances and conflicts, cries out in the deepest for peace, for a new knowledge of the human person and his inviolable dignity, for the civilization of love,” he said, alluding to his encyclical Magnifica humanitas, published on May 25.

The pope did not avoid addressing one of the most accentuated features of the current political context in Spain: polarization.

“Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the fire of polarization seems to grow, instead of decreasing; human dignity does not stop being violated,” he lamented.

Aware of the social and political tension, the pontiff urged leaders to “abandon the divisive and polarizing narratives of your social reality and its history, to move from sterile simplifications to the fruitful appreciation of complexity.”

A visit with international implications

Although Leo XIV has already made other trips, this is his first major visit to a major European country. The pope briefly visited the city-state of Monaco in March.

The Holy Fatherʼs visit to Spain — the ninth that a pope has made to the country — transcends the national scope, by constituting a significant step in the pontiffʼs dialogue with the contemporary Western world in which the Catholic Church has a fundamental role.

This was also pointed out by Felipe VI, who took the floor before the pope and underlined his voice as a universal moral beacon, not only for Catholics: “[His voice] is today a source of inspiration for more than 1.4 billion faithful; but it resonates, by its ethical content, far beyond, in all consciences.”

“The Catholic Church is at the service of this thirst of the human heart. Not in an imposing way, but with the evangelical testimony backed by a multitude of martyrs and saints, and today she is willing to put herself at the service of the future of a people who seek reconciliation and peace,” he said.

“Catholic faith is rooted in our country and without it — you well know — our history and our culture would not be understood.”

The pope also had words of recognition towards Spain for its international role: he highlighted “fidelity to international law and multilateralism,” as well as its commitment to peace and solidarity. At the same time, he urged leaders to strengthen internal dialogue, attend to the most vulnerable and “harmonize the demands for autonomy and unity.”

This has not been the first meeting between the Spanish royal family and the pope.

On March 20, Felipe VI and Letizia traveled to Rome, where the monarch was invested in the proto-canon of the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor in a ceremony that highlighted the historical links between the Spanish monarchy and this temple.

Likewise, both the king and queen attended the opening Mass of the pontificate on May 18 of last year.

The National Criminal Investigation Service in Mozambique’s Zambézia Province has confirmed that the fourth bishop of the Quelimane Diocese succumbed to gunshot wounds at his official residence.

According to spokesperson Maximino Amílcar, an undetermined number of assailants gained entrance to the bishop’s residence and opened fire, striking Afonso in the chest.

“The Service has already initiated investigative procedures to clarify the case and identify the perpetrators,” the spokesperson said.

President of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique Archbishop Inácio Saúre reported that Afonso “was found dead under unusual circumstances that are still to be clarified.”

“At this very troubled moment, I appeal for serenity in faith and fraternal solidarity, in the hope that we will be able, in due course, to provide accurate and detailed information regarding this sad event,” Saúre said in a June 6 statement.

Members of the college of consultors of the Quelimane Diocese announced that the first Holy Mass for the repose of the soul of Afonso would be held on June 6 at the Parish of Our Lady of Deliverance Cathedral of Quelimane.

The consultors said that additional information regarding funeral arrangements and memorial celebrations of the late bishop — who started his episcopal ministry in January 2024 — would be communicated at a later date.

Afonso was ordained a priest in November 2002 after completing his theological studies at St. Eugene Mazenod Theological Seminary in the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As a priest he served in various capacities, including parish vicar and bursar of St. Hilaire Parish in Kinshasa Archdiocese, formator and bursar of the Theological Seminary of Kinshasa, and collaborator at the apostolic nunciature in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other priestly services.

In 2017 Afonso was appointed as an official at the Dicastery for Evangelization in the section for the first evangelization and new particular churches.

In September 2023 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Maputo and was consecrated a bishop by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on January 28, 2024.

He was appointed the bishop of the Quelimane Diocese in July 2025.

Since April 10, he has been serving as the apostolic administrator of the Catholic Archdiocese of Beira following the resignation of Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna.

Reacting to the passing of Afonso, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said that the death constitutes an “irreparable loss for Mozambican society in general, and for the Christian community in particular, considering that the deceased distinguished himself, in life, by his devotion to humility, pastoral dedication, and preaching of the values ​​of peace and reconciliation.”

Afonso had recently been vocal about violence in Mozambique’s Northern Cabo Delgado Province.

On May 12 he raised alarm over escalating violence in Cabo Delgado, where renewed Islamist insurgent attacks continue to kill civilians, destroy communities, and displace thousands of people.

Speaking to Agenzia Fides, Afonso described a worsening situation marked by repeated attacks and growing fear among local populations.

“The situation seems out of control. The attacks continue, always in the same areas, and the population is terrified,” Afonso said in the May 12 Agenzia Fides report.

Days later, on May 23, Afonso called for urgent action to end the violence in Cabo Delgado Province, warning that innocent people, including Christians, continue to suffer and die amid ongoing insurgent attacks in northern Mozambique.

“It is necessary to stop the violence so that our brothers do not continue dying like chickens. We do not want this,” the bishop said during a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Fatima Parish of the Quelimane Diocese.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

In a statement, Qlayaa’s municipality said the road linking the southern villages to Lebanon’s capital and educational centers has become a place of danger for civilians. The killing has intensified anger among students and families who say safer arrangements are needed for exams in border areas.

On the same day, an Israeli warning concerning the Christian quarter of Tyre added to the anxiety, leaving civilians feeling caught between Hezbollah’s presence and Israeli military action.

French lawmakers remove bill provision requiring priests to break seal of confession

Lawmakers in France voted to removed a controversial provision in a bill that would have required clergy to report information learned while administering the sacrament of confession. According to Zenit, the proposal, which engendered heated debate in French Parliament, was drafted in the aftermath of a sexual abuse scandal involving hundreds of allegations linked to a Catholic school.

Canon law dictates that priests may never reveal the contents of a penitentʼs confession under pain of the Church’s most severe penalties.

9 Salesians to be beatified in Poland on June 6

Nine Salesians who were killed during World War II by the German Nazis will be beatified on June 6 at the Shrine of St. John Paul II in Kraków, Poland, according to Vatican News.

“Despite hunger, humiliation, and torture, they continued to support their fellow prisoners, pray, and bear witness to their faith,” the report said. 

Karol Wojtyła, before he became Pope John Paul II, witnessed the arrest of six of the nine men in Krakow. Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, archbishop of Kraków, said of the connection between the former saint-pope and the soon-to-be new blesseds: "I firmly believe that the priestly vocation of St. John Paul II was also born from their martyrdom.”

Kenyan bioethicist-priest issues warning about Ebola facility

A priest and bioethics scholar in Kenya has raised suspicions over a controversial proposal for a U.S.-linked Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya, arguing that “the initiative raises profound ethical questions that require broader scrutiny beyond political and diplomatic considerations.”

According to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, Father Pascal Mwakio is concerned that the 50-bed Ebola quarantine and treatment center at the Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya may involve "ethical dumping," a term used when developed nations "unethically conduct research in low-setting resource countries or third-world countries.” 

Patriarch Hoyek remembered as ‘pastor who helped shape modern Lebanon’

The announcement of the beatification of Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyek has renewed attention to one of the defining Church figures in Lebanon’s modern history, according to ACI MENA. Hoyek’s legacy is closely tied to the emergence of Greater Lebanon, especially through his advocacy at the Paris Peace Conference after World War I, where he defended the right of his people to a homeland rooted in dignity, freedom, and pluralism.

More than a political figure, Hoyek is remembered as a pastor who saw faith as a force for building both the human person and the nation. His life joined ecclesial service with national responsibility, leaving a witness that still speaks to Lebanon’s search for hope amid crisis.

First Chaldean synod under new patriarch looks to renewal

Patriarch Paul III Nona presided over the first synod of Chaldean bishops since his installation, gathering 14 bishops at the patriarchal residence in Baghdad while travel difficulties prevented the participation of bishops from the United States, ACI MENA reported.

Opening the meeting with a reflection on his patriarchal motto, “Do not be afraid; only believe,” Nona called the Chaldean Church to face present challenges with hope, unity, and confidence in God’s care. The bishops discussed pastoral, administrative, and institutional priorities for the coming stage, including clergy formation, the role of the patriarchal seminary, synodal structures, the selection of bishops, and the relationship between the Church in Iraq and its diaspora communities.

The synod also announced that Rome will host its next gathering following the Mass of ecclesial communion presided over by Pope Leo on Oct. 14.

5 bishops forced to leave dioceses in Myanmar due to violence

A civil war has been raging in Myanmar, previously called Burma, since 2021 and five bishops from the countryʼs 17 dioceses have now had to leave their dioceses to take up residences in safer areas away from the violence.

According to Fides news agency, the bishops are from the dioceses of
Pekhon, Loikaw, Banmaw, Mindat, and Lashio.

Bishop Felice Ba Htoo of Pekhon, in Shan state, told Fides that pastors there have endured hardship as clashes between the army and rebel groups continue to wreak havoc in the country.

“We bishops have not been immune to this reality either," Ba Htoo told Fides. "Many of our parishes have been closed because they have been damaged, attacked, or because they have lost their faithful."

Syrian Christian villages celebrate return after 14 years

The people of Hallouz and Qastal al-Burj in Syria’s Idlib countryside marked a long-awaited return after 14 years of war and displacement, gathering with Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Athanasius Fahd of Latakia for a recent celebration that carried deep symbolic weight.

Amid damaged homes and ruined churches, residents sang, danced, prayed, and raised crosses, icons, and the Syrian flag, expressing hope that permanent return will become possible once reconstruction support is available, according to ACI MENA.

In his remarks, Fahd said the villages are not merely places of residence but part of a centuries-old history rooted in the land, comparing the people’s attachment to their villages to the olive and oak trees planted by generations before them.

The decree was issued by the Dicastery for Evangelization on May 25, coinciding with the 139th anniversary of the birth of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (also known as Padre Pio), the Capuchin saint whose spirituality continues to attract millions of devotees worldwide.

The recognition places the shrine among a select group of Catholic pilgrimage sites acknowledged by the universal Church for their exceptional spiritual significance and their capacity to welcome pilgrims from around the world.

Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), announced the news in a video message posted on the shrineʼs official social media page.

The archbishop said he personally received the official communication from Archbishop Charles John Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

“This recognition marks a historic milestone not only for the shrine and the Archdiocese of Lipa but also for the Church in the Philippines, as it becomes a place of pilgrimage and devotion with international significance,” Garcera said in a separate statement.

The elevation follows the unanimous approval by the CBCP during its plenary assembly in July 2024, when the bishops endorsed the shrineʼs application and recommended it to the Holy See for international recognition.

For Father Oscar L. Andal, rector and parish priest of the shrine, the designation represents both an honor and a mission.

“This distinguished recognition is both a blessing and a responsibility,” Andal told EWTN News. “As an international shrine, we are called to welcome pilgrims from every corner of the world and continue sharing Padre Pioʼs message of prayer, trust in God, and love for humanity. We receive this honor with gratitude and humility, recognizing that it strengthens our commitment to serve the faithful and bring them closer to Christ,” he said.

The priest also noted that the recognition deepens the spiritual bond between the Batangas shrine and the Sanctuary of St. Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, where the saint spent much of his priestly ministry.

A historic moment for the Philippine Church

Father Reynante Tolentino, president of the Association of Catholic Shrines and Pilgrimages of the Philippines, described the declaration as a historic milestone not only for the Church in the Philippines but also for the entire nation.

“The declaration of the National Shrine of St. Padre Pio in Batangas as an international shrine is a historic and tremendous blessing,” Tolentino said.

He noted that the shrine becomes the second international shrine in the Philippines and Southeast Asia after the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo. Tolentino was the rector of the Cathedral and National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo, Rizal province, when it became the first national shrine in the Philippines and Southeast Asia to be elevated to international shrine status.

For Tolentino, the Holy Seeʼs decision affirms the enduring devotion of Filipinos to the saint known for bearing the stigmata and for his ministry of spiritual and physical healing.

“This is a clear affirmation and validation of the strong devotion of Batangueños and Filipinos in general to Padre Pio,” he said.

“People continue to come because everyone seeks healing — not only physical healing but spiritual healing as well.”

He emphasized that while the shrineʼs administrators and devotees supported the initiative from the beginning, the formal recommendation to Rome came through the collective discernment and approval of the CBCP.

Tolentino also expressed hope that all shrines in the country — whether diocesan, national, or international — would continue to serve as centers of evangelization and places of refuge for those in need.

From local devotion to international pilgrimage destination

The history of the shrine is closely linked to the rapid growth of devotion to Padre Pio following his canonization by St. John Paul II in 2002.

What began as a small chapel in Santo Tomas in 2003 gradually developed into a major pilgrimage center. It was declared an archdiocesan shrine in 2008 and elevated to national shrine status in 2015.

Today, the shrine welcomes hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually who seek healing, spiritual renewal, and a deeper encounter with Christ through the intercession of Padre Pio.

The shrine houses first-class relics of the saint and has become known for its vibrant sacramental life, particularly the celebration of the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation, healing Masses, and devotional activities.

Every 23rd day of the month, commemorating the saintʼs death on Sept. 23, thousands gather for healing Masses and pastoral activities.

The shrineʼs ministry has also extended beyond Philippine shores through pilgrimages and devotional missions in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

According to Andal, the growth of the shrine has been made possible through the dedication of clergy, religious communities, benefactors, volunteers, and countless devotees whose support has enabled the expansion of its ministries while remaining faithful to its spiritual mission.

Occupying more than 17 hectares (about 42 acres), the shrine continues to implement a long-term development plan aimed at creating a more prayerful and pilgrim-centered environment.

A recognition of universal significance

The title of international shrine is reserved for a church or other sacred place that possesses particular importance for the life of the universal Church.

The designation recognizes the Batangas shrine not only as a center of local devotion but also as a destination capable of serving pilgrims from across Asia and the wider world.

Church leaders say the recognition highlights the universal appeal of Padre Pioʼs spirituality — a spirituality rooted in prayer, repentance, trust in divine providence, and devotion to Godʼs mercy.

As an international shrine, the sanctuary is expected to strengthen its pilgrim programs, expand opportunities for spiritual formation, and foster greater collaboration with Catholic communities in promoting the life and teachings of the Capuchin saint.

“As we celebrate this momentous recognition,” Andal said, “we entrust ourselves to the intercession of St. Padre Pio and renew our commitment to being a beacon of faith, hope, and charity.”

“May all who visit this sacred space encounter Godʼs mercy, experience spiritual renewal, and find inspiration in the example of Padre Pioʼs holy life.”

The formal declaration and presentation of the Holy Seeʼs decree will take place on Sept. 23, the liturgical memorial of St. Padre Pio, marking a new chapter in the history of one of the Philippines' most beloved pilgrimage destinations.