Why does one side of the Moon have a lot of craters, while the other does not?

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Why does one side of the Moon have a lot of craters, while the other side does not? Stephen LogesBrooksville, Florida When the first photos of the Moon’s farside were obtained, people usually expressed the difference between the back and the front in terms of “more craters on the back.” It might be better toContinue reading “Why does one side of the Moon have a lot of craters, while the other does not?”

The post Why does one side of the Moon have a lot of craters, while the other does not? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Pope Leo XIV tells Spain’s parliament every human life must be protected #Catholic MADRID — Pope Leo XIV made history Monday by becoming the first pope to address Spain’s Congress of Deputies, delivering a forceful appeal to the country’s political class to defend human dignity and protect life “from conception to its natural end.”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.
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Pope Leo XIV tells Spain’s parliament every human life must be protected #Catholic MADRID — Pope Leo XIV made history Monday by becoming the first pope to address Spain’s Congress of Deputies, delivering a forceful appeal to the country’s political class to defend human dignity and protect life “from conception to its natural end.”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.

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The pontiff warned against subordinating human dignity to shifting majorities and called for stronger protections for life, migrants, families, peace and religious freedom.

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

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

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 08 June 2026 – A reading from the First Book of Kings 17:1-6 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” The LORD then said to Elijah: “Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. You shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.” So he left and did as the LORD had commanded. He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the stream.From the Gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.  He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”On the mountain, Christ gives his disciples the new law, no longer written on stone. It is a law that renews our lives and makes them good, even when the world seems to have failed us and is full of misery. Only God can truly call the poor and afflicted blessed (cf. vv. 3-4), because he is the highest good who gives himself to all with infinite love. Only God can satisfy those who seek peace and justice (cf. vv. 6.9), because he is the just judge of the world and the author of eternal peace. Only in God do the meek, the merciful and the pure of heart find joy (vv. 5.7-8), because he is the fulfilment of their expectations. In persecution, God is the source of redemption; in falsehood, he is the anchor of truth. Therefore, Jesus proclaims: “Rejoice and be glad!” (v. 12). These Beatitudes remain a paradox only for those who believe that God is other than how Christ reveals him. Those who expect the arrogant to always rule the earth are surprised by the Lord’s words. Those who are accustomed to thinking that happiness belongs to the rich may believe that Jesus is deluded. However, the delusion lies precisely in the lack of faith in Christ. He is the poor man who shares his life with everyone, the meek man who perseveres in suffering, the peacemaker persecuted to death on the cross. In this way, Jesus illuminates the meaning of history. It is no longer written by conquerors, but rather by God, who is able to accomplish it by saving the oppressed. (Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, 1st February 2026)

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A reading from the First Book of Kings
17:1-6

Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab:
“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,
during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”
The LORD then said to Elijah:
“Leave here, go east
and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
You shall drink of the stream,
and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”
So he left and did as the LORD had commanded.
He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,
and bread and meat in the evening,
and he drank from the stream.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

On the mountain, Christ gives his disciples the new law, no longer written on stone. It is a law that renews our lives and makes them good, even when the world seems to have failed us and is full of misery. Only God can truly call the poor and afflicted blessed (cf. vv. 3-4), because he is the highest good who gives himself to all with infinite love. Only God can satisfy those who seek peace and justice (cf. vv. 6.9), because he is the just judge of the world and the author of eternal peace. Only in God do the meek, the merciful and the pure of heart find joy (vv. 5.7-8), because he is the fulfilment of their expectations. In persecution, God is the source of redemption; in falsehood, he is the anchor of truth. Therefore, Jesus proclaims: “Rejoice and be glad!” (v. 12).

These Beatitudes remain a paradox only for those who believe that God is other than how Christ reveals him. Those who expect the arrogant to always rule the earth are surprised by the Lord’s words. Those who are accustomed to thinking that happiness belongs to the rich may believe that Jesus is deluded. However, the delusion lies precisely in the lack of faith in Christ. He is the poor man who shares his life with everyone, the meek man who perseveres in suffering, the peacemaker persecuted to death on the cross. In this way, Jesus illuminates the meaning of history. It is no longer written by conquerors, but rather by God, who is able to accomplish it by saving the oppressed. (Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, 1st February 2026)

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Over 1,000 people process with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist through Washington, D.C. – #Catholic – More than 1,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning as the third annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage made its way through the nation’s capital.“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. The Blessed Sacrament is elevated in a monstrance during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., just outside of the White House, June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Religious sisters pray during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Pilgrims follow the Blessed Sacrament during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, our 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. Trullos 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,” Trullos said.He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it. Acolytes stand by during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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 our creator.“Our moral authority does not come from the State,” she said. “It comes from God.”
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Over 1,000 people process with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist through Washington, D.C. – #Catholic – More than 1,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning as the third annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage made its way through the nation’s capital.“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. The Blessed Sacrament is elevated in a monstrance during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., just outside of the White House, June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Religious sisters pray during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Pilgrims follow the Blessed Sacrament during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, our 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. Trullos 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,” Trullos said.He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it. Acolytes stand by during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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 our creator.“Our moral authority does not come from the State,” she said. “It comes from God.”

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Many hundreds of Catholics joined the Eucharistic procession in D.C., which is part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage traveling the country.

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Antonio Banderas tells Pope Leo XIV: ‘I am a victim of God’s spell’ – #Catholic – MADRID — This cityʼs Movistar Arena became a kind of modern “Court of the Gentiles” on Sunday, where faith and contemporary art met to explore the mystery of the human person under the guidance of Pope Leo XIV.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’s “longing” to remain in dialogue with the contemporary world“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, 2025, 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.
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Antonio Banderas tells Pope Leo XIV: ‘I am a victim of God’s spell’ – #Catholic – MADRID — This cityʼs Movistar Arena became a kind of modern “Court of the Gentiles” on Sunday, where faith and contemporary art met to explore the mystery of the human person under the guidance of Pope Leo XIV.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’s “longing” to remain in dialogue with the contemporary world“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, 2025, 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.

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Actor joins Pope Leo XIV at Madrid gathering on culture, art, economics, and sports during the pope’s apostolic visit to Spain.

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Ed Martin on the Evil Forces Running the Deep State and American Left: “They Want Us Dead” – In May 2025, President Trump tapped Ed Martin to be the US Pardon Attorney after dirty RINO Senator Tillis derailed his nomination for DC US Attorney. The post Ed Martin on the Evil Forces Running the Deep State and American Left: “They Want Us Dead” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Ed Martin on the Evil Forces Running the Deep State and American Left: “They Want Us Dead” – In May 2025, President Trump tapped Ed Martin to be the US Pardon Attorney after dirty RINO Senator Tillis derailed his nomination for DC US Attorney. The post Ed Martin on the Evil Forces Running the Deep State and American Left: “They Want Us Dead” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Man in a suit with a red tie smiling at the camera in a professional setting, showcasing a friendly demeanor.

Man in a suit with a red tie smiling at the camera in a professional setting, showcasing a friendly demeanor.

In May 2025, President Trump tapped Ed Martin to be the US Pardon Attorney after dirty RINO Senator Tillis derailed his nomination for DC US Attorney.

The post Ed Martin on the Evil Forces Running the Deep State and American Left: “They Want Us Dead” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Watch the Exact Moment Trump TORCHES Kristen Welker as She MELTS DOWN Defending California Election Fraud Before Trump Walks Out of Hostile Interview – In an explosive, must-watch interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, a visibly rattled Kristen Welker attempted to run cover for the notoriously broken, days-long ballot counting process in California. The post Watch the Exact Moment Trump TORCHES Kristen Welker as She MELTS DOWN Defending California Election Fraud Before Trump Walks Out of Hostile Interview appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Watch the Exact Moment Trump TORCHES Kristen Welker as She MELTS DOWN Defending California Election Fraud Before Trump Walks Out of Hostile Interview – In an explosive, must-watch interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, a visibly rattled Kristen Welker attempted to run cover for the notoriously broken, days-long ballot counting process in California. The post Watch the Exact Moment Trump TORCHES Kristen Welker as She MELTS DOWN Defending California Election Fraud Before Trump Walks Out of Hostile Interview appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Donald Trump and a female interviewer engage in a heated discussion, showcasing contrasting expressions during a televised interview.

Donald Trump and a female interviewer engage in a heated discussion, showcasing contrasting expressions during a televised interview.

In an explosive, must-watch interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, a visibly rattled Kristen Welker attempted to run cover for the notoriously broken, days-long ballot counting process in California.

The post Watch the Exact Moment Trump TORCHES Kristen Welker as She MELTS DOWN Defending California Election Fraud Before Trump Walks Out of Hostile Interview appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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EXPLOSIVE: Bill O’Reilly Demands Criminal Prosecution of E. Jean Carroll After Bombshell Revelation She Pocketed MILLION in Secret Democrat Dark Money to Smear President Trump – Lied Under Oath in Deposition! – In a no-holds-barred takedown that has left the left-wing media scrambling, Fox News legend and bestselling author Bill O’Reilly has called for the immediate criminal prosecution of E. The post EXPLOSIVE: Bill O’Reilly Demands Criminal Prosecution of E. Jean Carroll After Bombshell Revelation She Pocketed MILLION in Secret Democrat Dark Money to Smear President Trump – Lied Under Oath in Deposition! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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EXPLOSIVE: Bill O’Reilly Demands Criminal Prosecution of E. Jean Carroll After Bombshell Revelation She Pocketed $7 MILLION in Secret Democrat Dark Money to Smear President Trump – Lied Under Oath in Deposition! – In a no-holds-barred takedown that has left the left-wing media scrambling, Fox News legend and bestselling author Bill O’Reilly has called for the immediate criminal prosecution of E. The post EXPLOSIVE: Bill O’Reilly Demands Criminal Prosecution of E. Jean Carroll After Bombshell Revelation She Pocketed $7 MILLION in Secret Democrat Dark Money to Smear President Trump – Lied Under Oath in Deposition! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam

Smiling older woman with short curly hair wearing an orange jacket and black scarf, against a black background with glowing text above her.

Smiling older woman with short curly hair wearing an orange jacket and black scarf, against a black background with glowing text above her.

In a no-holds-barred takedown that has left the left-wing media scrambling, Fox News legend and bestselling author Bill O’Reilly has called for the immediate criminal prosecution of E.

The post EXPLOSIVE: Bill O’Reilly Demands Criminal Prosecution of E. Jean Carroll After Bombshell Revelation She Pocketed $7 MILLION in Secret Democrat Dark Money to Smear President Trump – Lied Under Oath in Deposition! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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6 things to know about the Sacred Heart devotion #Catholic – (OSV News) — As the U.S. bishop prepare to consecrate the United States to Jesus’ Sacred Heart June 11 during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, here are six things to know about devotion to the Sacred Heart. 1. The devotion has ancient roots. When the Roman soldier struck the crucified Jesus with his sword, blood and water flowed from his side. That blood and water have long been understood to symbolize an outpouring of God’s grace. Over the centuries, saints and theologians produced writings reflecting on the Sacred Heart, but it remained a personal devotion. 2. The devotion spread due to the visions of a young French nun. Beginning in 1673, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation order at Paray-le-Monial, France, experienced a series of visions of Jesus over the span of 18 months. In those visions, Jesus displayed his Sacred Heart as a symbol of his love, and he told her to work to universalize devotion to his heart. These visions are the basis for the First Friday devotions and the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we have today. The image of the Sacred Heart as a wounded heart afire, encircled by a crown of thorns and surmounted by a cross, also came from those revelations. St. Margaret Mary was canonized in 1920. 3. The devotion is rooted in prayer, liturgy and acts of reparation. St. Margaret Mary said Jesus told her that despite loving mankind so much that he gave his life for them, he was being treated with irreverence, coldness and ingratitude. He wanted the world to recognize the love he continually poured out for them symbolized by his Sacred Heart and for mankind to make amends for their ingratitude. Jesus urged St. Margaret Mary to begin a personal devotion to his divine heart by receiving holy Communion every first Friday and spending an hour in prayer the night before, both focused on seeking his pardon and making prayerful reparations for mankind’s desertion of his love. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. 4. The devotion includes 12 promises. Jesus shared with St. Margaret Mary 12 promises he pledged to those who developed and shared a devotion to his Sacred Heart. They are: I (Jesus) I will give them the graces necessary for their state of life; I will establish peace in their homes; I will comfort them in all their afflictions; I will be their strength in life and especially in death; I will bless their undertakings; sinners shall find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy; tepid souls shall grow fervent; fervent souls shall quickly advance toward perfection; I will bless every place where an image of my heart is honored; I will give priests the gift of reaching even the most hardened hearts; those who promote this devotion will have their names written in my heart; those who receive Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays will receive the grace of final perseverance.” 5. Jesuits helped the devotion gain official approval. When St. Margaret Mary first attempted to explain the visions, many around her were skeptical. It was St. Claude de la Colombiere, her Jesuit spiritual adviser, who recognized her holiness, fervor and sincerity. However, even when she was believed, as a cloistered nun there was little she could do to foster her visions outside of her order. The devotion was also promoted by the non-Jesuit priest St. John Eudes, a former Oratorian who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and Sisters of Charity of the Refuge. Universal approval eventually came from the Vatican in August 1856 during the reign of Pope Pius IX. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII, encouraged by Catholics around the world, consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart. The Jesuit order officially decreed in 1883 that its members had a particular role in promoting Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and in 1915, it linked this work to the Apostleship of Prayer, now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which is entrusted to the order. 6. The annual feast of the Sacred Heart occurs in June. The solemnity of the Sacred Heart falls on the third Friday following the feast of Pentecost, this year June 12. In one vision, Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary to establish a Church feast day to honor his Sacred Heart. On that day, those faithful to Jesus would attend Mass, receive holy Communion, profess their love and offer reparations for the way he had been insulted by mankind. A solemnity is the highest ranking feast on the Church calendar. The Church also dedicates First Fridays and the month of June to the Sacred Heart. This story draws from “How Jesus’ visits to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque spread love of his Sacred Heart” by D.D. Emmons and “How to conform to the love of Jesus with the Sacred Heart” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo.  
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6 things to know about the Sacred Heart devotion #Catholic – (OSV News) — As the U.S. bishop prepare to consecrate the United States to Jesus’ Sacred Heart June 11 during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, here are six things to know about devotion to the Sacred Heart. 1. The devotion has ancient roots. When the Roman soldier struck the crucified Jesus with his sword, blood and water flowed from his side. That blood and water have long been understood to symbolize an outpouring of God’s grace. Over the centuries, saints and theologians produced writings reflecting on the Sacred Heart, but it remained a personal devotion. 2. The devotion spread due to the visions of a young French nun. Beginning in 1673, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation order at Paray-le-Monial, France, experienced a series of visions of Jesus over the span of 18 months. In those visions, Jesus displayed his Sacred Heart as a symbol of his love, and he told her to work to universalize devotion to his heart. These visions are the basis for the First Friday devotions and the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we have today. The image of the Sacred Heart as a wounded heart afire, encircled by a crown of thorns and surmounted by a cross, also came from those revelations. St. Margaret Mary was canonized in 1920. 3. The devotion is rooted in prayer, liturgy and acts of reparation. St. Margaret Mary said Jesus told her that despite loving mankind so much that he gave his life for them, he was being treated with irreverence, coldness and ingratitude. He wanted the world to recognize the love he continually poured out for them symbolized by his Sacred Heart and for mankind to make amends for their ingratitude. Jesus urged St. Margaret Mary to begin a personal devotion to his divine heart by receiving holy Communion every first Friday and spending an hour in prayer the night before, both focused on seeking his pardon and making prayerful reparations for mankind’s desertion of his love. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. 4. The devotion includes 12 promises. Jesus shared with St. Margaret Mary 12 promises he pledged to those who developed and shared a devotion to his Sacred Heart. They are: I (Jesus) I will give them the graces necessary for their state of life; I will establish peace in their homes; I will comfort them in all their afflictions; I will be their strength in life and especially in death; I will bless their undertakings; sinners shall find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy; tepid souls shall grow fervent; fervent souls shall quickly advance toward perfection; I will bless every place where an image of my heart is honored; I will give priests the gift of reaching even the most hardened hearts; those who promote this devotion will have their names written in my heart; those who receive Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays will receive the grace of final perseverance.” 5. Jesuits helped the devotion gain official approval. When St. Margaret Mary first attempted to explain the visions, many around her were skeptical. It was St. Claude de la Colombiere, her Jesuit spiritual adviser, who recognized her holiness, fervor and sincerity. However, even when she was believed, as a cloistered nun there was little she could do to foster her visions outside of her order. The devotion was also promoted by the non-Jesuit priest St. John Eudes, a former Oratorian who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and Sisters of Charity of the Refuge. Universal approval eventually came from the Vatican in August 1856 during the reign of Pope Pius IX. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII, encouraged by Catholics around the world, consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart. The Jesuit order officially decreed in 1883 that its members had a particular role in promoting Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and in 1915, it linked this work to the Apostleship of Prayer, now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which is entrusted to the order. 6. The annual feast of the Sacred Heart occurs in June. The solemnity of the Sacred Heart falls on the third Friday following the feast of Pentecost, this year June 12. In one vision, Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary to establish a Church feast day to honor his Sacred Heart. On that day, those faithful to Jesus would attend Mass, receive holy Communion, profess their love and offer reparations for the way he had been insulted by mankind. A solemnity is the highest ranking feast on the Church calendar. The Church also dedicates First Fridays and the month of June to the Sacred Heart. This story draws from “How Jesus’ visits to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque spread love of his Sacred Heart” by D.D. Emmons and “How to conform to the love of Jesus with the Sacred Heart” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo.  

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6 things to know about the Sacred Heart devotion #Catholic –

(OSV News) — As the U.S. bishop prepare to consecrate the United States to Jesus’ Sacred Heart June 11 during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, here are six things to know about devotion to the Sacred Heart.

1. The devotion has ancient roots. When the Roman soldier struck the crucified Jesus with his sword, blood and water flowed from his side. That blood and water have long been understood to symbolize an outpouring of God’s grace. Over the centuries, saints and theologians produced writings reflecting on the Sacred Heart, but it remained a personal devotion.

2. The devotion spread due to the visions of a young French nun. Beginning in 1673, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation order at Paray-le-Monial, France, experienced a series of visions of Jesus over the span of 18 months. In those visions, Jesus displayed his Sacred Heart as a symbol of his love, and he told her to work to universalize devotion to his heart. These visions are the basis for the First Friday devotions and the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we have today. The image of the Sacred Heart as a wounded heart afire, encircled by a crown of thorns and surmounted by a cross, also came from those revelations. St. Margaret Mary was canonized in 1920.

3. The devotion is rooted in prayer, liturgy and acts of reparation. St. Margaret Mary said Jesus told her that despite loving mankind so much that he gave his life for them, he was being treated with irreverence, coldness and ingratitude. He wanted the world to recognize the love he continually poured out for them symbolized by his Sacred Heart and for mankind to make amends for their ingratitude. Jesus urged St. Margaret Mary to begin a personal devotion to his divine heart by receiving holy Communion every first Friday and spending an hour in prayer the night before, both focused on seeking his pardon and making prayerful reparations for mankind’s desertion of his love.

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4. The devotion includes 12 promises. Jesus shared with St. Margaret Mary 12 promises he pledged to those who developed and shared a devotion to his Sacred Heart. They are: I (Jesus) I will give them the graces necessary for their state of life; I will establish peace in their homes; I will comfort them in all their afflictions; I will be their strength in life and especially in death; I will bless their undertakings; sinners shall find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy; tepid souls shall grow fervent; fervent souls shall quickly advance toward perfection; I will bless every place where an image of my heart is honored; I will give priests the gift of reaching even the most hardened hearts; those who promote this devotion will have their names written in my heart; those who receive Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays will receive the grace of final perseverance.”

5. Jesuits helped the devotion gain official approval. When St. Margaret Mary first attempted to explain the visions, many around her were skeptical. It was St. Claude de la Colombiere, her Jesuit spiritual adviser, who recognized her holiness, fervor and sincerity. However, even when she was believed, as a cloistered nun there was little she could do to foster her visions outside of her order. The devotion was also promoted by the non-Jesuit priest St. John Eudes, a former Oratorian who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and Sisters of Charity of the Refuge. Universal approval eventually came from the Vatican in August 1856 during the reign of Pope Pius IX. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII, encouraged by Catholics around the world, consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart. The Jesuit order officially decreed in 1883 that its members had a particular role in promoting Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and in 1915, it linked this work to the Apostleship of Prayer, now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which is entrusted to the order.

6. The annual feast of the Sacred Heart occurs in June. The solemnity of the Sacred Heart falls on the third Friday following the feast of Pentecost, this year June 12. In one vision, Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary to establish a Church feast day to honor his Sacred Heart. On that day, those faithful to Jesus would attend Mass, receive holy Communion, profess their love and offer reparations for the way he had been insulted by mankind. A solemnity is the highest ranking feast on the Church calendar. The Church also dedicates First Fridays and the month of June to the Sacred Heart.

This story draws from “How Jesus’ visits to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque spread love of his Sacred Heart” by D.D. Emmons and “How to conform to the love of Jesus with the Sacred Heart” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo.

 

– (OSV News) — As the U.S. bishop prepare to consecrate the United States to Jesus’ Sacred Heart June 11 during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, here are six things to know about devotion to the Sacred Heart. 1. The devotion has ancient roots. When the Roman soldier struck the crucified Jesus with his sword, blood and water flowed from his side. That blood and water have long been understood to symbolize an outpouring of God’s grace. Over the centuries, saints and theologians produced writings reflecting on the Sacred Heart, but it remained a personal devotion. 2. The devotion spread

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June 7, 1992: The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer launches

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NASA launched the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite, or EUVE, on June 7, 1992, to conduct an all-sky survey at wavelengths inaccessible from the ground. The first satellite designed to operate in the short-wave ultraviolet range, its “objectives included discovering and studying UV sources radiating in this spectral region, and analyzing effects of the interstellar mediumContinue reading “June 7, 1992: The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer launches”

The post June 7, 1992: The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer launches appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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

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

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‘You are so loved’: New film reveals enduring power of the Sacred Heart #Catholic A new movie called “Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End” will be hitting theaters across the United States this month after experiencing tremendous success in France and other countries.Directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film-Makers, “Sacred Heart” was released in Europe in October 2025 and became a box office success selling nearly 1 million tickets.The docudrama retells Christ’s apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the 17th-century French nun who received the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Through testimonies, accounts of Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis, and reenactments, the film explores the moment when Christ revealed his heart to the world and its burning love for humanity.The film will be in U.S. theaters June 9–11 and June 14.The Gunnells spoke to EWTN News and shared that the inspiration for the film came from personal testimonies they heard from two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart while at Notre-Dame du Laus (Our Lady of Laus), a Marian sanctuary located in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. That same evening, the married couple, along with their extended families, discovered the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time and consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart.The French filmmakers began to think about the possibility of making a documentary about the Sacred Heart. They began seeing the image of the Sacred Heart appear everywhere around them in their daily lives, which they took as a sign from God to make the film.“In the moment where we said yes [to Jesus], in an instant, we had the story of the movie. We knew exactly what we would make for the movie,” Steven said.Steven, 51, had his own powerful conversion story — thanks in part to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — when he was in his 20s.Born in Annecy in southern France, he was raised solely by his mother — his father was in a rock band that toured most of the year. Despite the fact that his mother had been baptized a Catholic, she fell away from the faith and became part of a demonic sect, which she was a part of for roughly 25 years. This caused Steven to have a strained relationship with his mom, and at the age of 21, he left his home and moved to Paris in hopes of becoming an actor.When he arrived in Paris he started to audition for roles, and during one he was asked if he could sing. It was this audition that landed Steven in the popular French boy band Alliage for three years. He soon became wealthy and famous with many fans. But eventually a shift in musical trends left boy bands as an outdated fad and life as he knew it came to an end — no more concerts, no more albums, and he was out of a job.Steven went to London to escape his problems but became depressed, began to drink excessively, and started thinking about suicide.One day, after years of not speaking, he called his mother from a phone booth. He told her he was going to do something bad because he couldn’t handle life anymore. Much to his surprise, his mother told him to go into a church and just take a moment before he did anything else. So he did. He went into the first church he saw, sat down, and ended up falling asleep. About four hours later, he woke up and was no longer suicidal.Looking back on it now, he said he knows this was thanks to “resting in the Holy Spirit.” He recalled waking up and feeling “light, restored, and peaceful.” Steven and Sabrina Gunnell. | Credit: KREA Film-Makers Steven went back to this church every day for weeks. He ended up finding a job, and after about five months he called his mother again and asked her if could move back home.“My mom said, ‘Your bedroom is waiting for you,’” he shared.Once he arrived home, his mom took him to a small chapel dedicated to St. Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes. He was shocked to see his mother join about 400 other people in praying a rosary held in the chapel. Steven began to walk around the chapel and came face to face with a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.“I’m kneeling at this moment, and I begin to cry with all my soul, all my blood, all my everything,” he said. “I met Jesus that day.”Moments later a priest walked up to him from behind, put his hand on his shoulder, and asked him if he was Steven Gunnell.“I said, ‘Yes. How do you know me, Father?’”The priest responded: “Your mother has come here for one year now, every single day, because she has been praying for you … She prayed the rosary for you every day at 4 o’clock. And now you’re here — first miracle. Second miracle, you are here in the Chapel of St. Rita, the saint of impossible causes — welcome to the club.”The priest went on to remind Steven of the sacraments he received as a child.“‘You may have forgotten everything, but you are Catholic and God didnʼt forget you,’” the priest told him.At that moment, Steven made his confession with the priest and after the rosary ended, he attended the Mass. The reading for that day? The story of the prodigal son.“This story happened 26 years ago now and itʼs changed my life,” he said.From there, Steven went on to meet his wife and together they began to create films “for the kingdom,” he said.Now, he said he hopes this movie on the Sacred Heart will inspire others to realize how short their lives are and the importance of returning to Christ.“Today we are here; tomorrow weʼre gone. Itʼs ridiculous when you think about it. You have no time to lose ... Go to church and just take a moment to give a few minutes in front of the tabernacle, the presence of the holy Eucharist, and take a few moments with him to say to him you love him and just hear in the silence, inside, the love he has for you.”Sabrina added that she hopes viewers will leave knowing “that the love of God is more powerful than every evil thing in the world.”“We have this heart, this God, who came as a human being and he has a heart of a human being and he can understand all our moods, all our difficulties, and we are so loved. You are so loved,” she said. “Everyone is so loved by God and we just want the people who come out of the cinema to feel full of love, burn about this love, and go out into the world to spread that.”
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‘You are so loved’: New film reveals enduring power of the Sacred Heart #Catholic A new movie called “Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End” will be hitting theaters across the United States this month after experiencing tremendous success in France and other countries.Directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film-Makers, “Sacred Heart” was released in Europe in October 2025 and became a box office success selling nearly 1 million tickets.The docudrama retells Christ’s apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the 17th-century French nun who received the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Through testimonies, accounts of Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis, and reenactments, the film explores the moment when Christ revealed his heart to the world and its burning love for humanity.The film will be in U.S. theaters June 9–11 and June 14.The Gunnells spoke to EWTN News and shared that the inspiration for the film came from personal testimonies they heard from two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart while at Notre-Dame du Laus (Our Lady of Laus), a Marian sanctuary located in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. That same evening, the married couple, along with their extended families, discovered the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time and consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart.The French filmmakers began to think about the possibility of making a documentary about the Sacred Heart. They began seeing the image of the Sacred Heart appear everywhere around them in their daily lives, which they took as a sign from God to make the film.“In the moment where we said yes [to Jesus], in an instant, we had the story of the movie. We knew exactly what we would make for the movie,” Steven said.Steven, 51, had his own powerful conversion story — thanks in part to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — when he was in his 20s.Born in Annecy in southern France, he was raised solely by his mother — his father was in a rock band that toured most of the year. Despite the fact that his mother had been baptized a Catholic, she fell away from the faith and became part of a demonic sect, which she was a part of for roughly 25 years. This caused Steven to have a strained relationship with his mom, and at the age of 21, he left his home and moved to Paris in hopes of becoming an actor.When he arrived in Paris he started to audition for roles, and during one he was asked if he could sing. It was this audition that landed Steven in the popular French boy band Alliage for three years. He soon became wealthy and famous with many fans. But eventually a shift in musical trends left boy bands as an outdated fad and life as he knew it came to an end — no more concerts, no more albums, and he was out of a job.Steven went to London to escape his problems but became depressed, began to drink excessively, and started thinking about suicide.One day, after years of not speaking, he called his mother from a phone booth. He told her he was going to do something bad because he couldn’t handle life anymore. Much to his surprise, his mother told him to go into a church and just take a moment before he did anything else. So he did. He went into the first church he saw, sat down, and ended up falling asleep. About four hours later, he woke up and was no longer suicidal.Looking back on it now, he said he knows this was thanks to “resting in the Holy Spirit.” He recalled waking up and feeling “light, restored, and peaceful.” Steven and Sabrina Gunnell. | Credit: KREA Film-Makers Steven went back to this church every day for weeks. He ended up finding a job, and after about five months he called his mother again and asked her if could move back home.“My mom said, ‘Your bedroom is waiting for you,’” he shared.Once he arrived home, his mom took him to a small chapel dedicated to St. Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes. He was shocked to see his mother join about 400 other people in praying a rosary held in the chapel. Steven began to walk around the chapel and came face to face with a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.“I’m kneeling at this moment, and I begin to cry with all my soul, all my blood, all my everything,” he said. “I met Jesus that day.”Moments later a priest walked up to him from behind, put his hand on his shoulder, and asked him if he was Steven Gunnell.“I said, ‘Yes. How do you know me, Father?’”The priest responded: “Your mother has come here for one year now, every single day, because she has been praying for you … She prayed the rosary for you every day at 4 o’clock. And now you’re here — first miracle. Second miracle, you are here in the Chapel of St. Rita, the saint of impossible causes — welcome to the club.”The priest went on to remind Steven of the sacraments he received as a child.“‘You may have forgotten everything, but you are Catholic and God didnʼt forget you,’” the priest told him.At that moment, Steven made his confession with the priest and after the rosary ended, he attended the Mass. The reading for that day? The story of the prodigal son.“This story happened 26 years ago now and itʼs changed my life,” he said.From there, Steven went on to meet his wife and together they began to create films “for the kingdom,” he said.Now, he said he hopes this movie on the Sacred Heart will inspire others to realize how short their lives are and the importance of returning to Christ.“Today we are here; tomorrow weʼre gone. Itʼs ridiculous when you think about it. You have no time to lose … Go to church and just take a moment to give a few minutes in front of the tabernacle, the presence of the holy Eucharist, and take a few moments with him to say to him you love him and just hear in the silence, inside, the love he has for you.”Sabrina added that she hopes viewers will leave knowing “that the love of God is more powerful than every evil thing in the world.”“We have this heart, this God, who came as a human being and he has a heart of a human being and he can understand all our moods, all our difficulties, and we are so loved. You are so loved,” she said. “Everyone is so loved by God and we just want the people who come out of the cinema to feel full of love, burn about this love, and go out into the world to spread that.”

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

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Bears Forced To Leave Chicago After Every Player, Coach, Fan Killed In Drive-Bys #BabylonBee – CHICAGO, IL — The Chicago Bears organization announced today that it will be relocating out of the city due to all of its players and fans having been killed in drive-bys.
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Bears Forced To Leave Chicago After Every Player, Coach, Fan Killed In Drive-Bys #BabylonBee – CHICAGO, IL — The Chicago Bears organization announced today that it will be relocating out of the city due to all of its players and fans having been killed in drive-bys.

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CHICAGO, IL — The Chicago Bears organization announced today that it will be relocating out of the city due to all of its players and fans having been killed in drive-bys.

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Parents Choose Abortion After Devastating News That Their Baby Would Be Among Happiest Demographic On Earth #BabylonBee – SALEM, OR – Local parents Terry and Jessica Pritchard decided to abort their baby after receiving the devastating news that he would be among the happiest demographic on the planet.
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Parents Choose Abortion After Devastating News That Their Baby Would Be Among Happiest Demographic On Earth #BabylonBee – SALEM, OR – Local parents Terry and Jessica Pritchard decided to abort their baby after receiving the devastating news that he would be among the happiest demographic on the planet.

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SALEM, OR – Local parents Terry and Jessica Pritchard decided to abort their baby after receiving the devastating news that he would be among the happiest demographic on the planet.

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PHOTOS: Pope Leo XIV meets royalty, civic leaders, hundreds of thousands of youth in Spain – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV launched his six-day trip to Spain on June 6 by meeting with the countryʼs royalty before holding gatherings with civic leaders and huge crowds of young people in the capital city of Madrid. 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. Pope Leo XIV waves as he prepares to board an ITA Airways flight to Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard the papal plane from Rome to Madrid on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV disembarks from an ITA Airways flight from Rome to Madrid, Spain, on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV is welcomed to Spain by King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and their daughters Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, in a welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace in Madrid. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV addresses the king and queen of Spain, authorities, and the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace in Madrid on June 6, 2026, the first day of his apostolic journey to Spain. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV greets a girl in a wheelchair during a meeting with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV hugs a boy during a meeting with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV meets with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities who are cared for by charities in the Archdiocese of Madrid on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV meets staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets a woman from Cuba and her twin babies during an encounter with staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV greets young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV speaks with young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV looks upon the Blessed Sacrament after a meeting with young people in Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
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PHOTOS: Pope Leo XIV meets royalty, civic leaders, hundreds of thousands of youth in Spain – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV launched his six-day trip to Spain on June 6 by meeting with the countryʼs royalty before holding gatherings with civic leaders and huge crowds of young people in the capital city of Madrid. 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. Pope Leo XIV waves as he prepares to board an ITA Airways flight to Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard the papal plane from Rome to Madrid on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV disembarks from an ITA Airways flight from Rome to Madrid, Spain, on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV is welcomed to Spain by King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and their daughters Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, in a welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace in Madrid. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV addresses the king and queen of Spain, authorities, and the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace in Madrid on June 6, 2026, the first day of his apostolic journey to Spain. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV greets a girl in a wheelchair during a meeting with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV hugs a boy during a meeting with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV meets with a group of around 40 people with longterm illnesses or disabilities who are cared for by charities in the Archdiocese of Madrid on June 6, 2026, at the nunciature in Madrid, Spain. | Credit: Vatican Media. Pope Leo XIV meets staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets a woman from Cuba and her twin babies during an encounter with staff and beneficiaries, including migrants, of the CEDIA 24 Horas center, part of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain on June 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV greets young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV speaks with young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV looks upon the Blessed Sacrament after a meeting with young people in Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

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The Holy Father launched his six-day trip to the European country with a whirlwind first day of diplomatic visits and meetings with societal leaders.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 07 June 2026 – A reading from the Book of Hosea 6:3-6 Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming. He will come to us like the rain,like spring rain that waters the earth.” What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like morning mist, like the dew that disappears early. For this reason I struck them down through the prophets, I killed them by the words of my mouth; my judgment shines forth like the light. For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.   A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 4:18-25 He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “Thus shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body as [already] dead (for he was almost a hundred years old) and the dead womb of Sarah. He did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do. That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” But it was not for him alone that it was written that “it was credited to him”; it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.From the Gospel according to Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”At the centre of the liturgy of the Word for this Sunday there is a saying of the Prophet Hosea to which Jesus refers in the Gospel: "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings" (Hos 6: 6). It is a key word, one of those that bring us into the heart of Sacred Scripture. The context in which Jesus makes it his own is the calling of Matthew, a "publican" by profession, in other words a tax collector for the Roman imperial authority: for this reason the Jews considered him a public sinner. Having called Matthew precisely when he was sitting at his tax counter – this scene is vividly depicted in a very famous painting by Caravaggio -, Jesus took his disciples to Matthew’s home and sat at the table together with other publicans. To the scandalized Pharisees he answered: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mt 9: 12-13). Here, the Evangelist Matthew, ever attentive to the link between the Old and New Testaments, puts Hosea’s prophecy on Jesus’ lips: "Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’". (…) God’s words have come down to us, through the Gospels, as a synthesis of the entire Christian message: true religion consists in love of God and neighbour. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 8 June 2008)

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A reading from the Book of Hosea
6:3-6

Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming.
He will come to us like the rain,like spring rain that waters the earth.”
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your loyalty is like morning mist,
like the dew that disappears early.
For this reason I struck them down through the prophets,
I killed them by the words of my mouth;
my judgment shines forth like the light.
For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

 

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
4:18-25

He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become “the father of many nations,”
according to what was said,
“Thus shall your descendants be.”
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body
as [already] dead (for he was almost a hundred years old)
and the dead womb of Sarah.
He did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;
rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what he had promised
he was also able to do.
That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
But it was not for him alone
that it was written that “it was credited to him”;
it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,
who believe in the one who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
9:9-13

As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

At the centre of the liturgy of the Word for this Sunday there is a saying of the Prophet Hosea to which Jesus refers in the Gospel: "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings" (Hos 6: 6). It is a key word, one of those that bring us into the heart of Sacred Scripture. The context in which Jesus makes it his own is the calling of Matthew, a "publican" by profession, in other words a tax collector for the Roman imperial authority: for this reason the Jews considered him a public sinner. Having called Matthew precisely when he was sitting at his tax counter – this scene is vividly depicted in a very famous painting by Caravaggio -, Jesus took his disciples to Matthew’s home and sat at the table together with other publicans. To the scandalized Pharisees he answered: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mt 9: 12-13). Here, the Evangelist Matthew, ever attentive to the link between the Old and New Testaments, puts Hosea’s prophecy on Jesus’ lips: "Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’". (…) God’s words have come down to us, through the Gospels, as a synthesis of the entire Christian message: true religion consists in love of God and neighbour. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 8 June 2008)

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In Spain, Pope Leo XIV tells young people: ‘You can change history, do it with love’ – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV was greeted by a spirit of youthful eagerness in Madridʼs Plaza de Lima on the evening of June 6, with many youth crying with emotion and others chanting: “This is the popeʼs youth!”The event brought together more than 600,000 young people, according to the authorities. Pope Leo XIV greets young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News 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.
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In Spain, Pope Leo XIV tells young people: ‘You can change history, do it with love’ – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV was greeted by a spirit of youthful eagerness in Madridʼs Plaza de Lima on the evening of June 6, with many youth crying with emotion and others chanting: “This is the popeʼs youth!”The event brought together more than 600,000 young people, according to the authorities. Pope Leo XIV greets young people at Madridʼs Plaza de Lima, June 6, 2026. The Holy Father began his six-day apostolic visit to Spain meeting with the countryʼs royalty and civil leaders along with hundreds of thousands of youth. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News 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.

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The pope spoke with hundreds of thousands of young people in Madrid on the first day of his six-day apostolic visit to Spain.

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Over 1,000 people process with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist through Washington, D.C. – #Catholic – More than 1,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning as the third annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage made its way through the nation’s capital.“Today we are going to bring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the streets of Washington, D.C.,” Father Charles Trullols, the 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 went past Lafayette Square, which faces the White House. It also passed Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and the Veterans Affairs building. The Blessed Sacrament is elevated in a monstrance during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., just outside of the White House, June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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 lay people.“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. Religious sisters pray during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Pilgrims follow the Blessed Sacrament during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, our 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. Trullos told EWTN News that the pilgrimage reached out to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., which then reached out to 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,” Trullos said.He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it. Acolytes stand by during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, Pennsylvania 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 our creator.“Our moral authority does not come from the State,” she said. “It comes from God.”
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Over 1,000 people process with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist through Washington, D.C. – #Catholic – More than 1,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning as the third annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage made its way through the nation’s capital.“Today we are going to bring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the streets of Washington, D.C.,” Father Charles Trullols, the 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 went past Lafayette Square, which faces the White House. It also passed Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and the Veterans Affairs building. The Blessed Sacrament is elevated in a monstrance during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., just outside of the White House, June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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 lay people.“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. Religious sisters pray during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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. Pilgrims follow the Blessed Sacrament during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, our 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. Trullos told EWTN News that the pilgrimage reached out to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., which then reached out to 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,” Trullos said.He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it. Acolytes stand by during a Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2026. Approximately 1,000 pilgrims processed through downtown Washington carrying the Blessed Sacrament. | Credit: Jeff Bruno / EWTN News 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, Pennsylvania 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 our creator.“Our moral authority does not come from the State,” she said. “It comes from God.”

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Many hundreds of Catholics joined the Eucharistic procession in D.C., which is part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage traveling the country.

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'Witness to the whole world': Families gather for Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C. - #Catholic - Along K Street in Washington, D.C., amid a humid morning on June 6, Catholics from across the area gathered to adore the Eucharist as it processed through the nationʼs capital. 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.  Families participate in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage as it makes its way through downtown Washington, D.C., on June 6, 2026. The pilgrimage began in Florida and will finish in Philadelphia later in the summer. | Credit: Gemma Flores/EWTN News “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.”
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‘Witness to the whole world’: Families gather for Eucharistic procession in Washington, D.C. – #Catholic – Along K Street in Washington, D.C., amid a humid morning on June 6, Catholics from across the area gathered to adore the Eucharist as it processed through the nationʼs capital. 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.  Families participate in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage as it makes its way through downtown Washington, D.C., on June 6, 2026. The pilgrimage began in Florida and will finish in Philadelphia later in the summer. | Credit: Gemma Flores/EWTN News “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.”

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Amid heat and humidity, parents and grandparents packed their little ones into strollers and carriers and brought them out to view the Eucharistic pilgrimage as it made its way through the capital.

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FAFO: Leftist Rioter Receives Instant Karma After Jumping in Front of Fast-Moving Vehicle Outside ICE Detention Facility in New Jersey (VIDEO) – An anti-ICE agitator learned the meaning of the word karma after deciding to mess around with a fast-moving car exiting Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. The post FAFO: Leftist Rioter Receives Instant Karma After Jumping in Front of Fast-Moving Vehicle Outside ICE Detention Facility in New Jersey (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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FAFO: Leftist Rioter Receives Instant Karma After Jumping in Front of Fast-Moving Vehicle Outside ICE Detention Facility in New Jersey (VIDEO) – An anti-ICE agitator learned the meaning of the word karma after deciding to mess around with a fast-moving car exiting Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. The post FAFO: Leftist Rioter Receives Instant Karma After Jumping in Front of Fast-Moving Vehicle Outside ICE Detention Facility in New Jersey (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Crowd surrounding a car at night, with individuals visibly engaged in a tense situation, reflecting a moment of protest or unrest.

Crowd surrounding a car at night, with individuals visibly engaged in a tense situation, reflecting a moment of protest or unrest.

An anti-ICE agitator learned the meaning of the word karma after deciding to mess around with a fast-moving car exiting Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey.

The post FAFO: Leftist Rioter Receives Instant Karma After Jumping in Front of Fast-Moving Vehicle Outside ICE Detention Facility in New Jersey (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Conditioning Billions in SNAP on Stopping Gender Ideology, Benefits for Illegal Aliens, and Attacks on Girls’ Sports – 20 Democrat States Celebrate Win for Woke Agendas – In yet another blatant example of judicial activism and lawfare against the will of the American people, U.S. The post Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Conditioning Billions in SNAP on Stopping Gender Ideology, Benefits for Illegal Aliens, and Attacks on Girls’ Sports – 20 Democrat States Celebrate Win for Woke Agendas appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Conditioning Billions in SNAP on Stopping Gender Ideology, Benefits for Illegal Aliens, and Attacks on Girls’ Sports – 20 Democrat States Celebrate Win for Woke Agendas – In yet another blatant example of judicial activism and lawfare against the will of the American people, U.S. The post Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Conditioning Billions in SNAP on Stopping Gender Ideology, Benefits for Illegal Aliens, and Attacks on Girls’ Sports – 20 Democrat States Celebrate Win for Woke Agendas appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Myong J. Joun testifying at a Senate hearing, seated at a table with a nameplate and water bottle, surrounded by audience members.

Myong J. Joun testifying at a Senate hearing, seated at a table with a nameplate and water bottle, surrounded by audience members.

In yet another blatant example of judicial activism and lawfare against the will of the American people, U.S.

The post Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Conditioning Billions in SNAP on Stopping Gender Ideology, Benefits for Illegal Aliens, and Attacks on Girls’ Sports – 20 Democrat States Celebrate Win for Woke Agendas appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WATCH: Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito Drops Another Bombshell ‘Fraud Friday’ – Michigan Rapper Jailed in Million Scheme, Maryland DOL Contractor Gets 42 Months for .5M UI Heist, Illinois Woman Sentenced in Multi-State COVID Fraud – The Trump administration’s war on fraud is showing no signs of slowing down. The post WATCH: Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito Drops Another Bombshell ‘Fraud Friday’ – Michigan Rapper Jailed in Million Scheme, Maryland DOL Contractor Gets 42 Months for .5M UI Heist, Illinois Woman Sentenced in Multi-State COVID Fraud appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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WATCH: Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito Drops Another Bombshell ‘Fraud Friday’ – Michigan Rapper Jailed in $63 Million Scheme, Maryland DOL Contractor Gets 42 Months for $3.5M UI Heist, Illinois Woman Sentenced in Multi-State COVID Fraud – The Trump administration’s war on fraud is showing no signs of slowing down. The post WATCH: Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito Drops Another Bombshell ‘Fraud Friday’ – Michigan Rapper Jailed in $63 Million Scheme, Maryland DOL Contractor Gets 42 Months for $3.5M UI Heist, Illinois Woman Sentenced in Multi-State COVID Fraud appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Official speaker from the U.S. Department of Labor addressing an audience, with American flags in the background.

Official speaker from the U.S. Department of Labor addressing an audience, with American flags in the background.

The Trump administration’s war on fraud is showing no signs of slowing down.

The post WATCH: Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito Drops Another Bombshell ‘Fraud Friday’ – Michigan Rapper Jailed in $63 Million Scheme, Maryland DOL Contractor Gets 42 Months for $3.5M UI Heist, Illinois Woman Sentenced in Multi-State COVID Fraud appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Benedictine monk finds priestly inspiration within Paterson Diocese community #Catholic – In his youth, Benedictine Brother Finnbar McEvoy prayed at Mass with the rest of the congregation for a much-needed increase in priestly and religious vocations. But as he prayed, the boy was actually thinking, “No, I’m not going to be a priest. I’m going to college and live a different life.” As God would have it, Brother McEvoy, 34, graduated from college — several of them, in fact — on his way to a teaching career. But the path did not end there: this former member of Sussex County parishes of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., is now on track to be ordained as a Benedictine priest next year — a life he could not have imagined earlier. BENEDICTINE BROTHER FINNBAR MCEVOY Brother McEvoy, a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Penn., was ordained a transitional deacon — the last step before priesthood — on May 23 in the archabbey’s basilica. Seven men were ordained that morning, either as priests or transitional deacons. Brother McEvoy anticipates being ordained a priest at the archabbey on May 29, 2027. “As a transitional deacon, I am configuring myself to Christ, the servant. I will do whatever he tells me to do — with alacrity, holding nothing back,” said Brother McEvoy, who has five siblings. “On my last stop before the priesthood, I am embracing the diaconal ministry. I am assisting the priests, including at Mass, and serving my brother Benedictines,” he said. Brother McEvoy’s faith took root while he was a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Parish in Branchville, N.J., and later St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Sandyston, N.J. Years after, his vocation blossomed, in part, with the Benedictine monastic community in Morristown, N.J., located within the Paterson Diocese. In 1991, Brother McEvoy was born as Tim McEvoy in 1991 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Doreen Anne Binns of Hardyston, N.J., and the late Timothy Patrick McEvoy. The Benedictine-to-be started his early years in New York before moving with his family to Lafayette, N.J. He first attended OLQP, where he received his First Holy Communion. Later, Brother McEvoy became associated with St. Thomas through Tom Costello, a St. Thomas parishioner and teacher at High Point Regional High School in Wantage, N.J., where the future priest graduated in 2009. Brother McEvoy received his confirmation after completing the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. Then, Brother McEvoy went to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in math and physics in 2013. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and served as the university council’s grand knight for a year. He is also belongs to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma and received the President’s Award of Catholic University. At Catholic University, Brother McEvoy was inspired to discern his vocation by several priests and other male friends, some of whom entered the seminary. In 2015, Brother McEvoy earned a master’s degree in high school math education from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind. From 2013 to 2017, he taught at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Then, from 2017 to 2019, he taught at Delbarton School, an all-boys Catholic college-prep school run by the Benedictines in Morristown. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “I connected with the Benedictines because of their greater emphasis on common prayer, work, and community,” said Brother McEvoy, who lives with his fellow monks by the Rule of St. Benedict, which emphasizes mutual obedience, humility, and hospitality. Brother McEvoy professed simple vows in 2021 as a monk of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown. He assumed the religious name Brother Finnbar, inspired by a 6th-century Irish monk who founded the city of Cork and was a famous teacher, especially of monks. In 2022, Brother McEvoy began studies at Saint Vincent Seminary, where he earned a master’s in Catholic philosophical studies, summa cum laude in 2023, the year his father died. After transferring his vows in 2024, he made solemn profession in 2025 as a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey. Brother McEvoy’s appointments include assistant to the director of vocations and assistant to the prior, starting in 2024. He was named to the Archabbey Formation Committee in 2024. He has tutored Saint Vincent College students in physics and has assisted with retreats through College Campus Ministry and the Archabbey Vocations Office. Brother McEvoy advises young men discerning a vocation to “talk to someone about it, particularly a priest. It will be a step in the right direction.” PHOTO GALLERY
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Benedictine monk finds priestly inspiration within Paterson Diocese community #Catholic – In his youth, Benedictine Brother Finnbar McEvoy prayed at Mass with the rest of the congregation for a much-needed increase in priestly and religious vocations. But as he prayed, the boy was actually thinking, “No, I’m not going to be a priest. I’m going to college and live a different life.” As God would have it, Brother McEvoy, 34, graduated from college — several of them, in fact — on his way to a teaching career. But the path did not end there: this former member of Sussex County parishes of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., is now on track to be ordained as a Benedictine priest next year — a life he could not have imagined earlier. BENEDICTINE BROTHER FINNBAR MCEVOY Brother McEvoy, a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Penn., was ordained a transitional deacon — the last step before priesthood — on May 23 in the archabbey’s basilica. Seven men were ordained that morning, either as priests or transitional deacons. Brother McEvoy anticipates being ordained a priest at the archabbey on May 29, 2027. “As a transitional deacon, I am configuring myself to Christ, the servant. I will do whatever he tells me to do — with alacrity, holding nothing back,” said Brother McEvoy, who has five siblings. “On my last stop before the priesthood, I am embracing the diaconal ministry. I am assisting the priests, including at Mass, and serving my brother Benedictines,” he said. Brother McEvoy’s faith took root while he was a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Parish in Branchville, N.J., and later St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Sandyston, N.J. Years after, his vocation blossomed, in part, with the Benedictine monastic community in Morristown, N.J., located within the Paterson Diocese. In 1991, Brother McEvoy was born as Tim McEvoy in 1991 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Doreen Anne Binns of Hardyston, N.J., and the late Timothy Patrick McEvoy. The Benedictine-to-be started his early years in New York before moving with his family to Lafayette, N.J. He first attended OLQP, where he received his First Holy Communion. Later, Brother McEvoy became associated with St. Thomas through Tom Costello, a St. Thomas parishioner and teacher at High Point Regional High School in Wantage, N.J., where the future priest graduated in 2009. Brother McEvoy received his confirmation after completing the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. Then, Brother McEvoy went to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in math and physics in 2013. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and served as the university council’s grand knight for a year. He is also belongs to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma and received the President’s Award of Catholic University. At Catholic University, Brother McEvoy was inspired to discern his vocation by several priests and other male friends, some of whom entered the seminary. In 2015, Brother McEvoy earned a master’s degree in high school math education from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind. From 2013 to 2017, he taught at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Then, from 2017 to 2019, he taught at Delbarton School, an all-boys Catholic college-prep school run by the Benedictines in Morristown. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “I connected with the Benedictines because of their greater emphasis on common prayer, work, and community,” said Brother McEvoy, who lives with his fellow monks by the Rule of St. Benedict, which emphasizes mutual obedience, humility, and hospitality. Brother McEvoy professed simple vows in 2021 as a monk of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown. He assumed the religious name Brother Finnbar, inspired by a 6th-century Irish monk who founded the city of Cork and was a famous teacher, especially of monks. In 2022, Brother McEvoy began studies at Saint Vincent Seminary, where he earned a master’s in Catholic philosophical studies, summa cum laude in 2023, the year his father died. After transferring his vows in 2024, he made solemn profession in 2025 as a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey. Brother McEvoy’s appointments include assistant to the director of vocations and assistant to the prior, starting in 2024. He was named to the Archabbey Formation Committee in 2024. He has tutored Saint Vincent College students in physics and has assisted with retreats through College Campus Ministry and the Archabbey Vocations Office. Brother McEvoy advises young men discerning a vocation to “talk to someone about it, particularly a priest. It will be a step in the right direction.” PHOTO GALLERY

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Benedictine monk finds priestly inspiration within Paterson Diocese community #Catholic –

In his youth, Benedictine Brother Finnbar McEvoy prayed at Mass with the rest of the congregation for a much-needed increase in priestly and religious vocations. But as he prayed, the boy was actually thinking, “No, I’m not going to be a priest. I’m going to college and live a different life.”

As God would have it, Brother McEvoy, 34, graduated from college — several of them, in fact — on his way to a teaching career. But the path did not end there: this former member of Sussex County parishes of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., is now on track to be ordained as a Benedictine priest next year — a life he could not have imagined earlier.

BENEDICTINE BROTHER FINNBAR MCEVOY

Brother McEvoy, a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Penn., was ordained a transitional deacon — the last step before priesthood — on May 23 in the archabbey’s basilica. Seven men were ordained that morning, either as priests or transitional deacons. Brother McEvoy anticipates being ordained a priest at the archabbey on May 29, 2027.

“As a transitional deacon, I am configuring myself to Christ, the servant. I will do whatever he tells me to do — with alacrity, holding nothing back,” said Brother McEvoy, who has five siblings. “On my last stop before the priesthood, I am embracing the diaconal ministry. I am assisting the priests, including at Mass, and serving my brother Benedictines,” he said.

Brother McEvoy’s faith took root while he was a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Parish in Branchville, N.J., and later St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Sandyston, N.J. Years after, his vocation blossomed, in part, with the Benedictine monastic community in Morristown, N.J., located within the Paterson Diocese.

In 1991, Brother McEvoy was born as Tim McEvoy in 1991 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Doreen Anne Binns of Hardyston, N.J., and the late Timothy Patrick McEvoy. The Benedictine-to-be started his early years in New York before moving with his family to Lafayette, N.J. He first attended OLQP, where he received his First Holy Communion.

Later, Brother McEvoy became associated with St. Thomas through Tom Costello, a St. Thomas parishioner and teacher at High Point Regional High School in Wantage, N.J., where the future priest graduated in 2009. Brother McEvoy received his confirmation after completing the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.

Then, Brother McEvoy went to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in math and physics in 2013. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and served as the university council’s grand knight for a year. He is also belongs to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma and received the President’s Award of Catholic University.

At Catholic University, Brother McEvoy was inspired to discern his vocation by several priests and other male friends, some of whom entered the seminary.

In 2015, Brother McEvoy earned a master’s degree in high school math education from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind. From 2013 to 2017, he taught at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Then, from 2017 to 2019, he taught at Delbarton School, an all-boys Catholic college-prep school run by the Benedictines in Morristown.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“I connected with the Benedictines because of their greater emphasis on common prayer, work, and community,” said Brother McEvoy, who lives with his fellow monks by the Rule of St. Benedict, which emphasizes mutual obedience, humility, and hospitality.

Brother McEvoy professed simple vows in 2021 as a monk of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown. He assumed the religious name Brother Finnbar, inspired by a 6th-century Irish monk who founded the city of Cork and was a famous teacher, especially of monks.

In 2022, Brother McEvoy began studies at Saint Vincent Seminary, where he earned a master’s in Catholic philosophical studies, summa cum laude in 2023, the year his father died. After transferring his vows in 2024, he made solemn profession in 2025 as a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey.

Brother McEvoy’s appointments include assistant to the director of vocations and assistant to the prior, starting in 2024. He was named to the Archabbey Formation Committee in 2024. He has tutored Saint Vincent College students in physics and has assisted with retreats through College Campus Ministry and the Archabbey Vocations Office.

Brother McEvoy advises young men discerning a vocation to “talk to someone about it, particularly a priest. It will be a step in the right direction.”

PHOTO GALLERY

– In his youth, Benedictine Brother Finnbar McEvoy prayed at Mass with the rest of the congregation for a much-needed increase in priestly and religious vocations. But as he prayed, the boy was actually thinking, “No, I’m not going to be a priest. I’m going to college and live a different life.” As God would have it, Brother McEvoy, 34, graduated from college — several of them, in fact — on his way to a teaching career. But the path did not end there: this former member of Sussex County parishes of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., is now on track to

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

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

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Vatican elevates Philippine Padre Pio shrine to international status #Catholic The Vatican has elevated the National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Batangas, Philippines, to the rank of an international shrine, making it only the second shrine in the Philippines to receive the designation from the Holy See.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 ChurchFather 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. The interior of the National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, Philippines. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Oscar Andal, National Shrine of St. Padre Pio 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 destinationThe 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 significanceThe 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.
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Vatican elevates Philippine Padre Pio shrine to international status #Catholic The Vatican has elevated the National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Batangas, Philippines, to the rank of an international shrine, making it only the second shrine in the Philippines to receive the designation from the Holy See.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 ChurchFather 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. The interior of the National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, Philippines. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Oscar Andal, National Shrine of St. Padre Pio 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 destinationThe 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 significanceThe 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.

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Only the second International Shrine in the Philippines, the Batangas sanctuary will mark its new status with a formal declaration on the saint’s Sept. 23 memorial.

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Educators weigh benefits and challenges of AI in the classroom – #Catholic – Educators are weighing the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence (AI) and exploring how to successfully integrate the technology into the classroom.As Pope Leo XIV laid out in Magnifica Humanitas, AI must be used in a way that furthers human development, especially in the formational years of education.Educators are using AI tools to help them grade papers and offer extensive research capabilities, but they are simultaneously noting the need for community and connections that no technology can provide.Fernanda Psihas, a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said the technology tools have not replaced human instructors and human connection is still the key to success in the classroom.Concerned about the ethical use of AI, Psihas said it is necessary to preserve the “human element” to enhance the future of education.“We obviously need to prepare the students for a world with AI,” she told EWTN News. “That means learning tools, but that also means practicing proper discernment.”The data science and physics professor said it would be “dangerous” for teachers to keep teaching as if nothing had changed.“If instructors are not AI-literate, then classrooms are going to run the risk of drifting into having students faking competence and avoiding the actual learning,” she said.Taking a “values-first approach” to AI, Psihas said she tries to keep herself and her students accountable when it comes to its use.“Use it to increase efficiency so you can focus on the learning, but if you do any more than that, youʼre actually destroying the learning process,” she said.Protecting academic integrityAware that “cognitive offloading” to AI tools could disrupt the learning process of students, Psihas said certain AI tools can be useful to protect academic integrity.“I even use AI to AI-proof my own assignments,” she said. “Iʼll run my assignments through AI to see an example of an AI response … if something in my classroom is AI-generated, my students know about it, and I kind of expect the same for my students.”While AI helps Psihas accurately grade multiple-choice tests and produce datasets, she said it cannot replace her ability to engage with students through mentorship.“Education is a lot more than just skills and information-transfer, but itʼs actually the formation of the whole person,” she said. “There’s guidance. You guide and nurture the students’ curiosity and their skills.”It “is about turning knowledge into wisdom and turning skills into virtue and character,” she said.Similarly, Notre Dame Law School professor and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences member Paolo Carozza said we must ensure technology “is orienting us towards the fundamental understanding of reality, including the reality of ourselves and what weʼre made for or not,” Carozza told EWTN News.Pope Leo makes this clear in Magnifica Humanitas, that at the root it is “an integrated problem of cooperating with one another to rebuild our city that we want to live in, in the future together.”Education “plays a central role in this cooperative enterprise because weʼre forming the individuals that are then going to be putting the bricks together in the future,” he said.Advantages and disadvantages are ‘well mapped’AI’s “advantages and disadvantages are pretty well mapped,” Carozza said. AI can “positively enhance the reach of peopleʼs research and the knowledge that they can draw.”In contrast, “every educator, at every level, is seeing the really potentially drastic negative consequences of cognitive offloading and de-skilling of students' basic capacities to write and to think critically.”The “deeper challenge” for educators is “providing our students with a fundamental human formation that allows them to really think about what their personal relationship to technology is in their lives and how it affects it.”The positive and negative impacts of AI in education also differ based on age and must be addressed accordingly, said An Chih Cheng, professor at DePaul Universityʼs College of Education.“The pope warned about the danger of early exposure to digital technology,” Cheng told EWTN News.Children spending time watching screens “is not particularly conducive” for their “mental and cognitive development.”A lot of screen time for children “is passive learning” and is “devoid of social aspects that are critical for communal development,” he said.“Communality is a critical part of the pope’s idea that we are not by ourselves” and “we are all interconnected as one,” he said. Going “to the screen and being isolated” is “harmful for your own internality, your own individual growth, and also bad for communal development.”There are also risks of “digital harm” for teenagers, especially with social media use, which has “caused harm to individual teenagers in particular, even suicide,” Cheng said.Then in higher education, new technologies are often being used with “little guidance.”“For example, California [State University] signed a $13 million contract with Open AI to allow students and teachers to use ChatGPT,” he said. “But … if you just have the chatbot open there, it is absolutely not helpful for meaningful learning.”The universities are “kind of just buying these tools, convinced or led by the tech industry, thinking that they could deliver some kind of learning.”“But learning, as the pope has always said, is an inquiry, a truth-seeking endeavor that requires patience. You cannot just have an immediate answer like the prompt that gives an immediate answer,” he said.“You need to put in all the effort to seek out the truth. Thatʼs how we mentally develop — acquiring the truth.”Reimagining education in the age of AITo help students understand both the risks and benefits of AI, Carozza and Cheng are incorporating AI into their students' studies.In his seminar on law and technology, Carozza had his students take a new approach when studying their weekly scholarly works.“In addition to reading it directly and engaging in their own critical analysis of it, I actually required them to upload those papers into an AI tool and use the tool to analyze it,” he said.Then “they had to write … an essay comparing their analysis to the AI analysis, reflecting on what the use of AI was doing to their own cognitive abilities and processes.”This allowed the students “to reflect every week” and ask: “Is this displacing my ability to think? Is it helping it? How can I make it more the latter than the former?”“It was great because by the end of the semester they really had thought very deeply, in a continuous way, about their relationship to technology, what the appropriate limits were for themselves, and what to be cautious about,” he said.“That sort of reflection on who we are as knowing subjects, as free people — thatʼs exactly what the encyclical is asking us to do,” Carozza said.Cheng is also incorporating the technology into studies in his research method class where “AI can be used to help brainstorm some research questions,” he said.“More importantly,” AI “can help make things more accessible, because some of the statistical software is very expensive to purchase,” he aid. “I incorporate … statistical analysis that they can do at home. These tools are much [more] affordable than the super-expensive commercial software."Cheng also utilizes visual AI simulations so students “can see these virtually enriched environments,” which is “beneficial for preservice teachers [student teachers] to understand child development."The pope’s call is correct, that it is “not about using AI to replace teachers or professors but rather to incorporate AI in a way that can further human development and in a way that delivers … spiritual attainment,” Cheng said.
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Educators weigh benefits and challenges of AI in the classroom – #Catholic – Educators are weighing the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence (AI) and exploring how to successfully integrate the technology into the classroom.As Pope Leo XIV laid out in Magnifica Humanitas, AI must be used in a way that furthers human development, especially in the formational years of education.Educators are using AI tools to help them grade papers and offer extensive research capabilities, but they are simultaneously noting the need for community and connections that no technology can provide.Fernanda Psihas, a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said the technology tools have not replaced human instructors and human connection is still the key to success in the classroom.Concerned about the ethical use of AI, Psihas said it is necessary to preserve the “human element” to enhance the future of education.“We obviously need to prepare the students for a world with AI,” she told EWTN News. “That means learning tools, but that also means practicing proper discernment.”The data science and physics professor said it would be “dangerous” for teachers to keep teaching as if nothing had changed.“If instructors are not AI-literate, then classrooms are going to run the risk of drifting into having students faking competence and avoiding the actual learning,” she said.Taking a “values-first approach” to AI, Psihas said she tries to keep herself and her students accountable when it comes to its use.“Use it to increase efficiency so you can focus on the learning, but if you do any more than that, youʼre actually destroying the learning process,” she said.Protecting academic integrityAware that “cognitive offloading” to AI tools could disrupt the learning process of students, Psihas said certain AI tools can be useful to protect academic integrity.“I even use AI to AI-proof my own assignments,” she said. “Iʼll run my assignments through AI to see an example of an AI response … if something in my classroom is AI-generated, my students know about it, and I kind of expect the same for my students.”While AI helps Psihas accurately grade multiple-choice tests and produce datasets, she said it cannot replace her ability to engage with students through mentorship.“Education is a lot more than just skills and information-transfer, but itʼs actually the formation of the whole person,” she said. “There’s guidance. You guide and nurture the students’ curiosity and their skills.”It “is about turning knowledge into wisdom and turning skills into virtue and character,” she said.Similarly, Notre Dame Law School professor and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences member Paolo Carozza said we must ensure technology “is orienting us towards the fundamental understanding of reality, including the reality of ourselves and what weʼre made for or not,” Carozza told EWTN News.Pope Leo makes this clear in Magnifica Humanitas, that at the root it is “an integrated problem of cooperating with one another to rebuild our city that we want to live in, in the future together.”Education “plays a central role in this cooperative enterprise because weʼre forming the individuals that are then going to be putting the bricks together in the future,” he said.Advantages and disadvantages are ‘well mapped’AI’s “advantages and disadvantages are pretty well mapped,” Carozza said. AI can “positively enhance the reach of peopleʼs research and the knowledge that they can draw.”In contrast, “every educator, at every level, is seeing the really potentially drastic negative consequences of cognitive offloading and de-skilling of students' basic capacities to write and to think critically.”The “deeper challenge” for educators is “providing our students with a fundamental human formation that allows them to really think about what their personal relationship to technology is in their lives and how it affects it.”The positive and negative impacts of AI in education also differ based on age and must be addressed accordingly, said An Chih Cheng, professor at DePaul Universityʼs College of Education.“The pope warned about the danger of early exposure to digital technology,” Cheng told EWTN News.Children spending time watching screens “is not particularly conducive” for their “mental and cognitive development.”A lot of screen time for children “is passive learning” and is “devoid of social aspects that are critical for communal development,” he said.“Communality is a critical part of the pope’s idea that we are not by ourselves” and “we are all interconnected as one,” he said. Going “to the screen and being isolated” is “harmful for your own internality, your own individual growth, and also bad for communal development.”There are also risks of “digital harm” for teenagers, especially with social media use, which has “caused harm to individual teenagers in particular, even suicide,” Cheng said.Then in higher education, new technologies are often being used with “little guidance.”“For example, California [State University] signed a $13 million contract with Open AI to allow students and teachers to use ChatGPT,” he said. “But … if you just have the chatbot open there, it is absolutely not helpful for meaningful learning.”The universities are “kind of just buying these tools, convinced or led by the tech industry, thinking that they could deliver some kind of learning.”“But learning, as the pope has always said, is an inquiry, a truth-seeking endeavor that requires patience. You cannot just have an immediate answer like the prompt that gives an immediate answer,” he said.“You need to put in all the effort to seek out the truth. Thatʼs how we mentally develop — acquiring the truth.”Reimagining education in the age of AITo help students understand both the risks and benefits of AI, Carozza and Cheng are incorporating AI into their students' studies.In his seminar on law and technology, Carozza had his students take a new approach when studying their weekly scholarly works.“In addition to reading it directly and engaging in their own critical analysis of it, I actually required them to upload those papers into an AI tool and use the tool to analyze it,” he said.Then “they had to write … an essay comparing their analysis to the AI analysis, reflecting on what the use of AI was doing to their own cognitive abilities and processes.”This allowed the students “to reflect every week” and ask: “Is this displacing my ability to think? Is it helping it? How can I make it more the latter than the former?”“It was great because by the end of the semester they really had thought very deeply, in a continuous way, about their relationship to technology, what the appropriate limits were for themselves, and what to be cautious about,” he said.“That sort of reflection on who we are as knowing subjects, as free people — thatʼs exactly what the encyclical is asking us to do,” Carozza said.Cheng is also incorporating the technology into studies in his research method class where “AI can be used to help brainstorm some research questions,” he said.“More importantly,” AI “can help make things more accessible, because some of the statistical software is very expensive to purchase,” he aid. “I incorporate … statistical analysis that they can do at home. These tools are much [more] affordable than the super-expensive commercial software."Cheng also utilizes visual AI simulations so students “can see these virtually enriched environments,” which is “beneficial for preservice teachers [student teachers] to understand child development."The pope’s call is correct, that it is “not about using AI to replace teachers or professors but rather to incorporate AI in a way that can further human development and in a way that delivers … spiritual attainment,” Cheng said.

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Magnifica Humanitas offers educators guidelines and tools on how to approach AI while prioritizing human dignity.

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New 30-day Catholic summer challenge helps families grow in faith at home – #Catholic – Parents and their children are being encouraged to stay rooted in the faith during the summer months by taking part in the 30 Days to an Intentional Catholic Summer program from Spirit Juice Kids.Spirit Juice Kids is best known for its YouTube Channel, Juice Box, where it creates faith-based content for children, specifically targeting 3- to 6-year-olds. With the mission to “make kids fall in love with Jesus,” the team at Spirit Juice was inspired to create a simple program that could be implemented into a family’s daily routine and foster intentional time spent with God.The free version of the summer program includes a daily reflection, a simple prayer, a family activity, and a Juice Box video. The theme for the program is focused on the domestic life of Jesus — which include topics such as holiness in ordinary days, trusting God in uncertainty, obedience, and hiddenness, and building a domestic church.If families want to dive deeper, they can sign up for the paid version where they will receive daily reflection videos with Father Tim Anastos, the chaplain at the University of Illinois-Chicago and spiritual director for Spirit Juice Studios, and Julia Jacks, director at Spirit Juice Studios, as well as activity sheets — in addition to the items included in the free version.“We wanted to create something really simple that could be implemented into every day because the work that parents do at home, the work that we do here in the cleaning and the taking care of kids is holy, sacred work,” Jacks told EWTN News in an interview. “And itʼs not that we have to go out and find Jesus somewhere else or we need to go somewhere to have God with us. He is right here in this moment. We just have to be more intentional about it.” Julia Jacks and Father Tim Anastos record a video for the 30 Days to an Intentional Catholic Summer program from Spirit Juice Kids. | Credit: Spirit Juice Kids + Juice Box Jacks explained that the theme was chosen because those hidden years can be seen as the time that “forms Jesus' life — he was holy from the beginning but he continued being formed in that domestic holy life, the type of life that weʼre all leading at home, too.”She added that the activities in the challenge are “little, simple activities that you can do as youʼre putting the dishes away from breakfast or as youʼre folding up a basket of laundry, and itʼs supposed to fit naturally into your day — whether it may be bedtime or bath time.”“So itʼs not meant to do more. Itʼs not meant to add more to your plate. Itʼs meant to naturally integrate into your everyday life and just find God where you are and in what youʼre doing,” Jacks said.While the 30-day challenge officially launches June 8, participants can begin anytime. It can also be completed at their own pace.“Weʼre trying to help parents not necessarily be perfect but strive for consistency and participation,” Jacks said.The mother of three shared that there’s great importance behind parents taking part in these faith-based activities with their children.“Our kids really look to us for their faith formation. It could be hard for them to maybe conceptualize exactly who God is, who Jesus is, and they look to us to guide them,” she explained.“I can tell you my boys, they repeat everything I do and say to a fault sometimes. So what a great opportunity for us to have them mimic our faith habits, our prayers, reading our Scripture, being grateful, things like that, and they’ll learn that through mimicking us, through learning from us,” Jacks added.She said she hopes families who participate in the summer challenge will “build small, meaningful rhythms of faith during a season — particularly with the summer faith challenge — that could otherwise be a little bit challenging.”"Weʼre just hoping to inspire parents and families to participate in these daily rhythms that hopefully they could take on into the school year, into the fall and winter and spring months,” she said. “So, itʼs not meant just to be 30 days and done; itʼs supposed to help put you on a track of thinking and participating in your faith every single day in small meaningful ways.”
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New 30-day Catholic summer challenge helps families grow in faith at home – #Catholic – Parents and their children are being encouraged to stay rooted in the faith during the summer months by taking part in the 30 Days to an Intentional Catholic Summer program from Spirit Juice Kids.Spirit Juice Kids is best known for its YouTube Channel, Juice Box, where it creates faith-based content for children, specifically targeting 3- to 6-year-olds. With the mission to “make kids fall in love with Jesus,” the team at Spirit Juice was inspired to create a simple program that could be implemented into a family’s daily routine and foster intentional time spent with God.The free version of the summer program includes a daily reflection, a simple prayer, a family activity, and a Juice Box video. The theme for the program is focused on the domestic life of Jesus — which include topics such as holiness in ordinary days, trusting God in uncertainty, obedience, and hiddenness, and building a domestic church.If families want to dive deeper, they can sign up for the paid version where they will receive daily reflection videos with Father Tim Anastos, the chaplain at the University of Illinois-Chicago and spiritual director for Spirit Juice Studios, and Julia Jacks, director at Spirit Juice Studios, as well as activity sheets — in addition to the items included in the free version.“We wanted to create something really simple that could be implemented into every day because the work that parents do at home, the work that we do here in the cleaning and the taking care of kids is holy, sacred work,” Jacks told EWTN News in an interview. “And itʼs not that we have to go out and find Jesus somewhere else or we need to go somewhere to have God with us. He is right here in this moment. We just have to be more intentional about it.” Julia Jacks and Father Tim Anastos record a video for the 30 Days to an Intentional Catholic Summer program from Spirit Juice Kids. | Credit: Spirit Juice Kids + Juice Box Jacks explained that the theme was chosen because those hidden years can be seen as the time that “forms Jesus' life — he was holy from the beginning but he continued being formed in that domestic holy life, the type of life that weʼre all leading at home, too.”She added that the activities in the challenge are “little, simple activities that you can do as youʼre putting the dishes away from breakfast or as youʼre folding up a basket of laundry, and itʼs supposed to fit naturally into your day — whether it may be bedtime or bath time.”“So itʼs not meant to do more. Itʼs not meant to add more to your plate. Itʼs meant to naturally integrate into your everyday life and just find God where you are and in what youʼre doing,” Jacks said.While the 30-day challenge officially launches June 8, participants can begin anytime. It can also be completed at their own pace.“Weʼre trying to help parents not necessarily be perfect but strive for consistency and participation,” Jacks said.The mother of three shared that there’s great importance behind parents taking part in these faith-based activities with their children.“Our kids really look to us for their faith formation. It could be hard for them to maybe conceptualize exactly who God is, who Jesus is, and they look to us to guide them,” she explained.“I can tell you my boys, they repeat everything I do and say to a fault sometimes. So what a great opportunity for us to have them mimic our faith habits, our prayers, reading our Scripture, being grateful, things like that, and they’ll learn that through mimicking us, through learning from us,” Jacks added.She said she hopes families who participate in the summer challenge will “build small, meaningful rhythms of faith during a season — particularly with the summer faith challenge — that could otherwise be a little bit challenging.”"Weʼre just hoping to inspire parents and families to participate in these daily rhythms that hopefully they could take on into the school year, into the fall and winter and spring months,” she said. “So, itʼs not meant just to be 30 days and done; itʼs supposed to help put you on a track of thinking and participating in your faith every single day in small meaningful ways.”

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Spirit Juice Kids is best known for its YouTube Channel, Juice Box, where it creates faith-based content for children, specifically targeting 3- to 6-year-olds.

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The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 5: Check in on Mars Look east around 11 P.M. local daylight time, and you’ll see three bright stars forming a triangle — this is the famous Summer Triangle asterism, which flies high overhead in the middle of short summer nights.Continue reading “The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns”

The post The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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After Mail-In Ballots Tallied, Joe Biden Wins L.A. Mayor Race With 81 Million Votes #BabylonBee – LOS ANGELES, CA — After multiple days of late-night mail-in ballot drops finally being tallied, it was discovered that Joe Biden had won the Los Angeles mayoral race with an astonishing 81 million votes.
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After Mail-In Ballots Tallied, Joe Biden Wins L.A. Mayor Race With 81 Million Votes #BabylonBee – LOS ANGELES, CA — After multiple days of late-night mail-in ballot drops finally being tallied, it was discovered that Joe Biden had won the Los Angeles mayoral race with an astonishing 81 million votes.

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LOS ANGELES, CA — After multiple days of late-night mail-in ballot drops finally being tallied, it was discovered that Joe Biden had won the Los Angeles mayoral race with an astonishing 81 million votes.

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First Steps: America’s Grueling Second Spacewalk – A year after America’s first spacewalk, Gemini IX-A Eugene Cernan stepped outside his spacecraft for an ambitious extravehicular activity scheduled for 167 minutes. The challenges he faced led NASA to reevaluate plans, equipment, and training for future spacewalks.
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First Steps: America’s Grueling Second Spacewalk – A year after America’s first spacewalk, Gemini IX-A Eugene Cernan stepped outside his spacecraft for an ambitious extravehicular activity scheduled for 167 minutes. The challenges he faced led NASA to reevaluate plans, equipment, and training for future spacewalks.

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A year after America’s first spacewalk, Gemini IX-A Eugene Cernan stepped outside his spacecraft for an ambitious extravehicular activity scheduled for 167 minutes. The challenges he faced led NASA to reevaluate plans, equipment, and training for future spacewalks.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 06 June 2026 – A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy 4:1-8 Beloved: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.From the Gospel according to Mark 12:38-44 In the course of his teaching Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.  Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”The scene is set in the temple of Jerusalem, precisely in the place where people are tossing coins as offerings. There are many rich people putting in large sums, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who contributes only two bits, two small coins. Jesus observes the woman carefully and calls the disciples’ attention to the sharp contrast of the scene. The wealthy contributed with great ostentation what for them was superfluous, while the widow, Jesus says, “put in everything she had, her whole living” (v. 44). For this reason, Jesus says, she gave the most of all. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have offered a single coin to the temple and kept the other for herself. But she did not want to give just half to God; she divested herself of everything. In her poverty she understood that in having God, she had everything; she felt completely loved by him and in turn loved him completely. What a beautiful example this little old woman offers us! Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 November 2015)

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A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy
4:1-8

Beloved:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,
will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth
and will be diverted to myths.
But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances;
put up with hardship;
perform the work of an evangelist;
fulfill your ministry.For I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well;
I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

From the Gospel according to Mark
12:38-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

The scene is set in the temple of Jerusalem, precisely in the place where people are tossing coins as offerings. There are many rich people putting in large sums, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who contributes only two bits, two small coins. Jesus observes the woman carefully and calls the disciples’ attention to the sharp contrast of the scene. The wealthy contributed with great ostentation what for them was superfluous, while the widow, Jesus says, “put in everything she had, her whole living” (v. 44). For this reason, Jesus says, she gave the most of all. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have offered a single coin to the temple and kept the other for herself. But she did not want to give just half to God; she divested herself of everything. In her poverty she understood that in having God, she had everything; she felt completely loved by him and in turn loved him completely. What a beautiful example this little old woman offers us! Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 November 2015)

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Thankful new Rockaway deacon preaches at first Mass #Catholic - In the afternoon of May 30, Deacon Elmer Lopez Maximo preached for the first time at a Thanksgiving Mass at his home parish, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rockaway, N.J. in gratitude for his ordination as a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J.“ He preached that Saturday Mass and three Sunday Masses the following day for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. On the morning of May 30, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Deacon Maximo and seven other men as permanent deacons of the diocese during a Mass steeped in traditions of the Church at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J. Deacon Maximo, 58, was born and raised in the Philippines. A Sacred Heart parishioner for 28 years, he has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a lector, a liturgical coordinator, and a parish leader, and he has also served on the Rosary Society, the Pro-Life ministry, the Finance Board, and the Pastoral Council. At the diocesan level, Maximo serves as president of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries, which supports the faith formation and community life of Filipinos in the diocese. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Father Cerilo Javinez, administrator of Sacred Heart and a native of the Philippines, celebrated the Mass. Deacon Maximo and Deacon Richard Van Glahn, also of Sacred Heart, assisted. In his homily, Deacon Maximo said, “On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and on this sacred day of my ordination, I give thanks to God for calling me, sustaining me, and forming me through this beautiful village of faith.” “My prayer is that my ministry may reflect the life of the Trinity and the meaning of the cross: a heart lifted to God in prayer and holiness, and arms stretched out to others in charity and service,” Deacon Maximo said, adding a few words in Tagalog. “This is the love I desire to live. This is the love I pray to serve, a love that comes from God and reaches out to all,” he said. During the Mass, Deacon Maximo offered flowers in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary as part of the “Flores de Maria” tradition in the Philippines, celebrated in May. Deacon Maximo also credited Sacred Heart’s former pastor, Father Pawel Bala, as “a tremendous source of support and encouragement throughout my diaconate journey.” In his homily, Deacon Maximo also told the Sacred Heart community that, as their servant-deacon, he offers “his life in service to this mystery of love: to proclaim the Gospel, to serve at the altar, and to reach out especially to those who feel forgotten, lonely, or unseen.” BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  
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Thankful new Rockaway deacon preaches at first Mass #Catholic – In the afternoon of May 30, Deacon Elmer Lopez Maximo preached for the first time at a Thanksgiving Mass at his home parish, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rockaway, N.J. in gratitude for his ordination as a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J.“ He preached that Saturday Mass and three Sunday Masses the following day for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. On the morning of May 30, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Deacon Maximo and seven other men as permanent deacons of the diocese during a Mass steeped in traditions of the Church at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J. Deacon Maximo, 58, was born and raised in the Philippines. A Sacred Heart parishioner for 28 years, he has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a lector, a liturgical coordinator, and a parish leader, and he has also served on the Rosary Society, the Pro-Life ministry, the Finance Board, and the Pastoral Council. At the diocesan level, Maximo serves as president of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries, which supports the faith formation and community life of Filipinos in the diocese. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Father Cerilo Javinez, administrator of Sacred Heart and a native of the Philippines, celebrated the Mass. Deacon Maximo and Deacon Richard Van Glahn, also of Sacred Heart, assisted. In his homily, Deacon Maximo said, “On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and on this sacred day of my ordination, I give thanks to God for calling me, sustaining me, and forming me through this beautiful village of faith.” “My prayer is that my ministry may reflect the life of the Trinity and the meaning of the cross: a heart lifted to God in prayer and holiness, and arms stretched out to others in charity and service,” Deacon Maximo said, adding a few words in Tagalog. “This is the love I desire to live. This is the love I pray to serve, a love that comes from God and reaches out to all,” he said. During the Mass, Deacon Maximo offered flowers in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary as part of the “Flores de Maria” tradition in the Philippines, celebrated in May. Deacon Maximo also credited Sacred Heart’s former pastor, Father Pawel Bala, as “a tremendous source of support and encouragement throughout my diaconate journey.” In his homily, Deacon Maximo also told the Sacred Heart community that, as their servant-deacon, he offers “his life in service to this mystery of love: to proclaim the Gospel, to serve at the altar, and to reach out especially to those who feel forgotten, lonely, or unseen.” BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  

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Thankful new Rockaway deacon preaches at first Mass #Catholic –

In the afternoon of May 30, Deacon Elmer Lopez Maximo preached for the first time at a Thanksgiving Mass at his home parish, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rockaway, N.J. in gratitude for his ordination as a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J.“ He preached that Saturday Mass and three Sunday Masses the following day for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

On the morning of May 30, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Deacon Maximo and seven other men as permanent deacons of the diocese during a Mass steeped in traditions of the Church at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J.

Deacon Maximo, 58, was born and raised in the Philippines. A Sacred Heart parishioner for 28 years, he has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a lector, a liturgical coordinator, and a parish leader, and he has also served on the Rosary Society, the Pro-Life ministry, the Finance Board, and the Pastoral Council.

At the diocesan level, Maximo serves as president of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries, which supports the faith formation and community life of Filipinos in the diocese.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Father Cerilo Javinez, administrator of Sacred Heart and a native of the Philippines, celebrated the Mass. Deacon Maximo and Deacon Richard Van Glahn, also of Sacred Heart, assisted.

In his homily, Deacon Maximo said, “On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and on this sacred day of my ordination, I give thanks to God for calling me, sustaining me, and forming me through this beautiful village of faith.”

“My prayer is that my ministry may reflect the life of the Trinity and the meaning of the cross: a heart lifted to God in prayer and holiness, and arms stretched out to others in charity and service,” Deacon Maximo said, adding a few words in Tagalog. “This is the love I desire to live. This is the love I pray to serve, a love that comes from God and reaches out to all,” he said.

During the Mass, Deacon Maximo offered flowers in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary as part of the “Flores de Maria” tradition in the Philippines, celebrated in May.

Deacon Maximo also credited Sacred Heart’s former pastor, Father Pawel Bala, as “a tremendous source of support and encouragement throughout my diaconate journey.”

In his homily, Deacon Maximo also told the Sacred Heart community that, as their servant-deacon, he offers “his life in service to this mystery of love: to proclaim the Gospel, to serve at the altar, and to reach out especially to those who feel forgotten, lonely, or unseen.”

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

– In the afternoon of May 30, Deacon Elmer Lopez Maximo preached for the first time at a Thanksgiving Mass at his home parish, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rockaway, N.J. in gratitude for his ordination as a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J.“ He preached that Saturday Mass and three Sunday Masses the following day for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. On the morning of May 30, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Deacon Maximo and seven other men as permanent deacons of the diocese during a Mass steeped in traditions of the Church at the Cathedral of

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Well-traveled Pope Leo knows Spain better than many Spaniards, author says – #Catholic – Juan Vicente Boo, the Vatican correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC for 23 years, says the current pontiff is, among the popes of the last five centuries, the one who “knows Spain best,” as it is a country he visited on nearly 50 occasions before becoming pope.The first of his trips to Spain dates back to July 1982. Robert Prevost was 26 years old at the time and had been a priest for just over a month and a half. Together with several companions from St. Monica International College run by the Augustinians in Rome, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in a van, a journey not without its adventures. They ended up sleeping in tents and enjoying the Spanish landscape and cuisine.“It was a holy year, and he traveled as a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela with four other Augustinians in a van. They spent a month and a half traveling, taking the opportunity to visit Ávila and see the sites associated with St. Teresa. In Galicia, after gaining the jubilee indulgence, they traveled on to Pontevedra, Vigo, Ourense, and Lugo. And then they headed south to Madrid,” Boo told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.That very same year — months later, in October — Spain would receive a visit from St. John Paul II. Since then, Father Robert Prevost has cultivated his relationship with Spain, to the point of having visited at least 34 cities.“His knowledge of Spain is quite extensive and not merely because of what he has witnessed firsthand, but because during his time as a missionary in Peru, first in Chulucanas and later in Trujillo, and subsequently as a bishop in Chiclayo, he saw directly what the Spanish had built in terms of culture and evangelization,” explained the veteran correspondent, who just published the book “Leo XIV: The Pope of the New Era” (Espasa Publishing, currently available only in Spanish).Boo described the pope’s personality, which entirely shapes his style of governance, through what he terms “the triads”: the convergence of three cultures, three educational backgrounds, and three dimensions related to his life experiences. “He has the best of three cultures: the American culture of Chicago and the Midwest, the most humane, serene, and European in the United States; the Latin American culture of Peru, which expands the heart especially if you’re serving people with problems, as was the case for Father Robert there in the different stages of service during 22 years; and the best of Roman culture, because he came to the Italian capital as a student in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and lived at the Augustinian General House near the Vatican.Added to those cultural roots are three distinct educational backgrounds: a degree in mathematics from Villanova University, a background in theology from the Chicago Theological Union, and legal training, specifically a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, the Angelicum.The third triad is his life journey: a strong missionary spirit, extensive experience as an international traveler, and a profound understanding of the inner workings of the Holy See. “For 12 years, as prior general of the Augustinians, he resided directly across from the Vatican and was a firsthand witness to its inner life. Subsequently, Pope Francis progressively appointed him to various bodies of the Curia, until he eventually served in as many as nine dicasteries including the Commission for Vatican City State, a level of involvement rarely seen in the career of a single prelate,” Boo noted.Visits to Spain during his time as prior of the AugustiniansFrom 2001 to 2013, during his time as prior general, Prevost traveled across Spain from north to south. Visits taking place from 2002 to 2011, in addition to later trips, are documented. These journeys took him from Navarre to Andalusia (north to south), with stops in cities such as Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Madrid, and Valladolid.“My impression is that he knows Spain much better than the vast majority of Spaniards, because he has visited more than 30 cities, whereas many Spaniards havenʼt even visited half that number,” Boo explained.Many of these journeys were undertaken for pastoral, educational, and community visits for the Order of St. Augustine. In 2002, he visited Oropesa in Toledo province for the canonization of Alonso de Orozco, as well as the city of Talavera de la Reina and León, the city where the centenary of the Augustinian school was being celebrated. From then on, Valladolid became one of his bases of operations; he stayed at the Royal Seminary of the Philippine Augustinians and traveled from there to monasteries such as the one in Madrigal de las Altas Torres in Ávila province.In 2003 he traveled to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where he stayed in the Augustinian community in the town of Puerto de la Cruz. That same year he also visited the Sant Roc neighborhood in the town of Badalona, ​​one of the most disadvantaged areas of metro Barcelona, to which he would later return. In 2011 he also made a private visit to the Montserrat monastery.In 2004 he traveled to Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Aldaz in Navarra province, and the Augustinian school in Calahorra in La Rioja province. Years later, in 2015, he returned to Pamplona as bishop of Chiclayo.His visits continued in 2005 with stays in Zaragoza and Valencia, where he visited the Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken and the cathedral. Two years later, in 2007, he toured the Balearic Islands and several Andalusian cities: Seville, Huelva, Cádiz, and Málaga, maintaining a particularly strong presence within the educational and community spheres of his order.Finally, in 2010, he returned to Madrid for the 50th anniversary of St. Augustine School, an institution with which he maintained a close relationship, and in 2011, he returned to the capital for World Youth Day.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.
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Well-traveled Pope Leo knows Spain better than many Spaniards, author says – #Catholic – Juan Vicente Boo, the Vatican correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC for 23 years, says the current pontiff is, among the popes of the last five centuries, the one who “knows Spain best,” as it is a country he visited on nearly 50 occasions before becoming pope.The first of his trips to Spain dates back to July 1982. Robert Prevost was 26 years old at the time and had been a priest for just over a month and a half. Together with several companions from St. Monica International College run by the Augustinians in Rome, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in a van, a journey not without its adventures. They ended up sleeping in tents and enjoying the Spanish landscape and cuisine.“It was a holy year, and he traveled as a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela with four other Augustinians in a van. They spent a month and a half traveling, taking the opportunity to visit Ávila and see the sites associated with St. Teresa. In Galicia, after gaining the jubilee indulgence, they traveled on to Pontevedra, Vigo, Ourense, and Lugo. And then they headed south to Madrid,” Boo told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.That very same year — months later, in October — Spain would receive a visit from St. John Paul II. Since then, Father Robert Prevost has cultivated his relationship with Spain, to the point of having visited at least 34 cities.“His knowledge of Spain is quite extensive and not merely because of what he has witnessed firsthand, but because during his time as a missionary in Peru, first in Chulucanas and later in Trujillo, and subsequently as a bishop in Chiclayo, he saw directly what the Spanish had built in terms of culture and evangelization,” explained the veteran correspondent, who just published the book “Leo XIV: The Pope of the New Era” (Espasa Publishing, currently available only in Spanish).Boo described the pope’s personality, which entirely shapes his style of governance, through what he terms “the triads”: the convergence of three cultures, three educational backgrounds, and three dimensions related to his life experiences. “He has the best of three cultures: the American culture of Chicago and the Midwest, the most humane, serene, and European in the United States; the Latin American culture of Peru, which expands the heart especially if you’re serving people with problems, as was the case for Father Robert there in the different stages of service during 22 years; and the best of Roman culture, because he came to the Italian capital as a student in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and lived at the Augustinian General House near the Vatican.Added to those cultural roots are three distinct educational backgrounds: a degree in mathematics from Villanova University, a background in theology from the Chicago Theological Union, and legal training, specifically a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, the Angelicum.The third triad is his life journey: a strong missionary spirit, extensive experience as an international traveler, and a profound understanding of the inner workings of the Holy See. “For 12 years, as prior general of the Augustinians, he resided directly across from the Vatican and was a firsthand witness to its inner life. Subsequently, Pope Francis progressively appointed him to various bodies of the Curia, until he eventually served in as many as nine dicasteries including the Commission for Vatican City State, a level of involvement rarely seen in the career of a single prelate,” Boo noted.Visits to Spain during his time as prior of the AugustiniansFrom 2001 to 2013, during his time as prior general, Prevost traveled across Spain from north to south. Visits taking place from 2002 to 2011, in addition to later trips, are documented. These journeys took him from Navarre to Andalusia (north to south), with stops in cities such as Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Madrid, and Valladolid.“My impression is that he knows Spain much better than the vast majority of Spaniards, because he has visited more than 30 cities, whereas many Spaniards havenʼt even visited half that number,” Boo explained.Many of these journeys were undertaken for pastoral, educational, and community visits for the Order of St. Augustine. In 2002, he visited Oropesa in Toledo province for the canonization of Alonso de Orozco, as well as the city of Talavera de la Reina and León, the city where the centenary of the Augustinian school was being celebrated. From then on, Valladolid became one of his bases of operations; he stayed at the Royal Seminary of the Philippine Augustinians and traveled from there to monasteries such as the one in Madrigal de las Altas Torres in Ávila province.In 2003 he traveled to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where he stayed in the Augustinian community in the town of Puerto de la Cruz. That same year he also visited the Sant Roc neighborhood in the town of Badalona, ​​one of the most disadvantaged areas of metro Barcelona, to which he would later return. In 2011 he also made a private visit to the Montserrat monastery.In 2004 he traveled to Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Aldaz in Navarra province, and the Augustinian school in Calahorra in La Rioja province. Years later, in 2015, he returned to Pamplona as bishop of Chiclayo.His visits continued in 2005 with stays in Zaragoza and Valencia, where he visited the Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken and the cathedral. Two years later, in 2007, he toured the Balearic Islands and several Andalusian cities: Seville, Huelva, Cádiz, and Málaga, maintaining a particularly strong presence within the educational and community spheres of his order.Finally, in 2010, he returned to Madrid for the 50th anniversary of St. Augustine School, an institution with which he maintained a close relationship, and in 2011, he returned to the capital for World Youth Day.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.

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As an ordinary priest, prior general of the Augustinans and the bishop of Chiclayo, Pope Leo XIV traveled extensively in Spain, gaining firsthand knowledge of the country and its people.

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The Sky Today on Friday, June 5: Check in on Mars

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 4: Jupiter passes south of Pollux Now that the Red Planet is rising roughly an hour before the Sun, let’s check in on Mars in the predawn sky. The nearby world now has time to climb well above the horizon, leadingContinue reading “The Sky Today on Friday, June 5: Check in on Mars”

The post The Sky Today on Friday, June 5: Check in on Mars appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Rachel Maddow Wants Fired ’60 Minutes’ Journo Scott Pelley to Join MSNOW Because of Course She Does (VIDEO) – Now that Scott Pelley has been fired by 60 Minutes and CBS News, MSNOW star Rachel Maddow wants him to join her network. The post Rachel Maddow Wants Fired ’60 Minutes’ Journo Scott Pelley to Join MSNOW Because of Course She Does (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Rachel Maddow Wants Fired ’60 Minutes’ Journo Scott Pelley to Join MSNOW Because of Course She Does (VIDEO) – Now that Scott Pelley has been fired by 60 Minutes and CBS News, MSNOW star Rachel Maddow wants him to join her network. The post Rachel Maddow Wants Fired ’60 Minutes’ Journo Scott Pelley to Join MSNOW Because of Course She Does (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Now that Scott Pelley has been fired by 60 Minutes and CBS News, MSNOW star Rachel Maddow wants him to join her network.

The post Rachel Maddow Wants Fired ’60 Minutes’ Journo Scott Pelley to Join MSNOW Because of Course She Does (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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John Bolton Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To 5-Year Imprisonment At SeaWorld #BabylonBee – SAN DIEGO, CA — According to breaking news reports, John Bolton agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegally retaining classified national security information in exchange for only serving five years confined to a walrus exhibit at Sea World.
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John Bolton Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To 5-Year Imprisonment At SeaWorld #BabylonBee – SAN DIEGO, CA — According to breaking news reports, John Bolton agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegally retaining classified national security information in exchange for only serving five years confined to a walrus exhibit at Sea World.

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SAN DIEGO, CA — According to breaking news reports, John Bolton agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegally retaining classified national security information in exchange for only serving five years confined to a walrus exhibit at Sea World.

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40-Year Old Man Now Spends Inordinate Amount Of Time Researching Electrolytes #BabylonBee – SAN ANTONIO, TX — Sources confirmed that local 40-year-old Marcus Harper officially entered the developmental stage of adulthood characterized by an intense, borderline-religious obsession with researching electrolytes.
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40-Year Old Man Now Spends Inordinate Amount Of Time Researching Electrolytes #BabylonBee – SAN ANTONIO, TX — Sources confirmed that local 40-year-old Marcus Harper officially entered the developmental stage of adulthood characterized by an intense, borderline-religious obsession with researching electrolytes.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX — Sources confirmed that local 40-year-old Marcus Harper officially entered the developmental stage of adulthood characterized by an intense, borderline-religious obsession with researching electrolytes.

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Liberal Daily Show Mocks Support for Spencer Pratt in LA: ‘How Did This Country Get So Stupid?’ (VIDEO) – A host on the liberal Daily Show recently mocked support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, ultimately asking “How did this country get so stupid?” Supporting Pratt is stupid? The post Liberal Daily Show Mocks Support for Spencer Pratt in LA: ‘How Did This Country Get So Stupid?’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Liberal Daily Show Mocks Support for Spencer Pratt in LA: ‘How Did This Country Get So Stupid?’ (VIDEO) – A host on the liberal Daily Show recently mocked support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, ultimately asking “How did this country get so stupid?” Supporting Pratt is stupid? The post Liberal Daily Show Mocks Support for Spencer Pratt in LA: ‘How Did This Country Get So Stupid?’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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A host on the liberal Daily Show recently mocked support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, ultimately asking “How did this country get so stupid?” Supporting Pratt is stupid?

The post Liberal Daily Show Mocks Support for Spencer Pratt in LA: ‘How Did This Country Get So Stupid?’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Watch Democrat Senators Squirm When Asked About Graham Platner of Maine (VIDEO) – Graham Platner, the scandal plagued Democratic Socialist (communist) running for a U.S. The post Watch Democrat Senators Squirm When Asked About Graham Platner of Maine (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Watch Democrat Senators Squirm When Asked About Graham Platner of Maine (VIDEO) – Graham Platner, the scandal plagued Democratic Socialist (communist) running for a U.S. The post Watch Democrat Senators Squirm When Asked About Graham Platner of Maine (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Graham Platner, the scandal plagued Democratic Socialist (communist) running for a U.S.

The post Watch Democrat Senators Squirm When Asked About Graham Platner of Maine (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Catholic law firm offers guidelines to help school districts uphold parental rights – #Catholic – Thomas More Society attorneys released guidelines and recommendations to assist school districts that are working “to uphold parental rights.”The guidelines follow recent school choice cases by the U.S. Supreme Court, Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta, which “clarify the scope of parental rights in American schools,” according to the Catholic law firm.In the 2025 Mahmoud decision, the Supreme Court struck down a public school board’s policy refusing to provide parental notice and an opt-out when LGBT books were being taught.In the 2026 Mirabelli case, the court ruled that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on claims that California’s gender‑transition secrecy policies violated their constitutional rights, allowing an injunction to take effect for those parents while the case continues.There “are simple steps any school district can take to remain or become compliant with these new Supreme Court cases” and using them “will also help minimize the risk of costly litigation,” the firm reported.The guidelines urge districts to “immediately and expressly adopt a parental notice and opt-out policy,” which provides prominent and regular notice that will reach all parents.The firm said the required notice should inform parents of their constitutional rights to opt their children out of any instruction, electronic applications, materials, or activities that “burden their families’ religious or other closely held beliefs.”The districts should also assign a district employee to be in charge of implementing opt-outs and require all school employees to proactively notify parents of any information that affects or reflects their children’s health, including mental health, under the guidelines.The firm also suggested that districts “immediately and expressly repeal or revoke” any policies that require or permit school employees “to conceal or forgo" sharing information about childrenʼs health with their parents.They should also repeal any policies that “facilitate a child’s social gender transition,” including those in “respect to bathroom and locker room access“ and ”sex-segregated extracurricular activities …. without the consent of the child’s parent,” the firm said.Christendom College launches free course on how to restore Catholic educationChristendom College launched a free online course on how “to restore the great tradition of Catholic education."The course, “Education at the Crossroads,” explores what the college calls “the crisis in modern education” throughout its seven lessons.Students will “trace the progressive revolution — from pragmatism to modern ideological shifts — that reshaped our schools,” the college reported. “By exploring the prophetic warnings of the Church and the wisdom of great traditional thinkers, you will rediscover a spiritual vision of learning as a pilgrimage toward God.”The course is taught by Christendom College professor Jon Kirwan, who serves as director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, director of the Center for Educational Philosophy and Leadership, and an associate professor of theology.The course will discuss how “we can rebuild education in America for our children and generations to come,” Kirwan said in a video announcing the course.Students will “uncover why classrooms stopped forming souls and started managing outcomes,” he said. They will “discover the Catholic answer — education ordered to goodness, truth, and beauty, with teaching understood as a vocation rather than a technique.”The first two lessons of Kirwan’s course are currently available, and the remaining five will be released weekly through July 2.St. Charles Borromeo Seminary launches master’s healthcare program integrating bioethicsSt. Charles Borromeo Seminary’s School of Theological Studies (STS) launched a master of arts in Catholic healthcare ministry in collaboration with the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC).The program is intended to integrate both bioethics and pastoral care, offering “the most up-to-date bioethics information conveyed to its students,” STS reported on its website.The fully online degree also meets graduate education requirements for board certification as a Catholic chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. The program hopes to aid the “great need for Catholic healthcare professionals” and to create “well-formed” chaplains.Students will complete the 36-credit program with 27 credits through STS and nine through the NCBC. The coursework will focus on human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation.
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Catholic law firm offers guidelines to help school districts uphold parental rights – #Catholic – Thomas More Society attorneys released guidelines and recommendations to assist school districts that are working “to uphold parental rights.”The guidelines follow recent school choice cases by the U.S. Supreme Court, Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta, which “clarify the scope of parental rights in American schools,” according to the Catholic law firm.In the 2025 Mahmoud decision, the Supreme Court struck down a public school board’s policy refusing to provide parental notice and an opt-out when LGBT books were being taught.In the 2026 Mirabelli case, the court ruled that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on claims that California’s gender‑transition secrecy policies violated their constitutional rights, allowing an injunction to take effect for those parents while the case continues.There “are simple steps any school district can take to remain or become compliant with these new Supreme Court cases” and using them “will also help minimize the risk of costly litigation,” the firm reported.The guidelines urge districts to “immediately and expressly adopt a parental notice and opt-out policy,” which provides prominent and regular notice that will reach all parents.The firm said the required notice should inform parents of their constitutional rights to opt their children out of any instruction, electronic applications, materials, or activities that “burden their families’ religious or other closely held beliefs.”The districts should also assign a district employee to be in charge of implementing opt-outs and require all school employees to proactively notify parents of any information that affects or reflects their children’s health, including mental health, under the guidelines.The firm also suggested that districts “immediately and expressly repeal or revoke” any policies that require or permit school employees “to conceal or forgo" sharing information about childrenʼs health with their parents.They should also repeal any policies that “facilitate a child’s social gender transition,” including those in “respect to bathroom and locker room access“ and ”sex-segregated extracurricular activities …. without the consent of the child’s parent,” the firm said.Christendom College launches free course on how to restore Catholic educationChristendom College launched a free online course on how “to restore the great tradition of Catholic education."The course, “Education at the Crossroads,” explores what the college calls “the crisis in modern education” throughout its seven lessons.Students will “trace the progressive revolution — from pragmatism to modern ideological shifts — that reshaped our schools,” the college reported. “By exploring the prophetic warnings of the Church and the wisdom of great traditional thinkers, you will rediscover a spiritual vision of learning as a pilgrimage toward God.”The course is taught by Christendom College professor Jon Kirwan, who serves as director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, director of the Center for Educational Philosophy and Leadership, and an associate professor of theology.The course will discuss how “we can rebuild education in America for our children and generations to come,” Kirwan said in a video announcing the course.Students will “uncover why classrooms stopped forming souls and started managing outcomes,” he said. They will “discover the Catholic answer — education ordered to goodness, truth, and beauty, with teaching understood as a vocation rather than a technique.”The first two lessons of Kirwan’s course are currently available, and the remaining five will be released weekly through July 2.St. Charles Borromeo Seminary launches master’s healthcare program integrating bioethicsSt. Charles Borromeo Seminary’s School of Theological Studies (STS) launched a master of arts in Catholic healthcare ministry in collaboration with the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC).The program is intended to integrate both bioethics and pastoral care, offering “the most up-to-date bioethics information conveyed to its students,” STS reported on its website.The fully online degree also meets graduate education requirements for board certification as a Catholic chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. The program hopes to aid the “great need for Catholic healthcare professionals” and to create “well-formed” chaplains.Students will complete the 36-credit program with 27 credits through STS and nine through the NCBC. The coursework will focus on human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation.

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Guidelines urge districts to “immediately and expressly adopt a parental notice and opt-out policy,” which provides prominent and regular notice that will reach all parents.

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