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Zapornia pusilla (Baillon’s Crake) in Baruipur, West Bengal, India.
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![Church bells in Mexico to toll for peace and in memory of victims of violence #Catholic Catholic church bells in Mexico will be rung on June 20 “as a call to build peace” and in memory of victims of violence in the country, marking the fourth anniversary of the murders of Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar.In a statement released on June 14, the National Dialogue for Peace called for placing a “white ribbon or small flag” on the doors of homes, schools, and workplaces on June 20 to make “visible the commitment to peace, dialogue, reconciliation, or hope.”The group also called for “ringing church bells on June 20 at 3 p.m. as a call to all sectors of society to build peace and to renew our commitment to forming the community that Mexico needs today.”Campos Morales and Mora Salazar were killed on June 20, 2022, inside their parish church in the town of Cerocahui in the Mexican state of Chihuahua while attempting to protect a man who was being pursued by a criminal. The organization also asked Mexicans to “place photographs of missing persons at church altars during the celebrations on Sunday, June 21,” as well as to “offer a special prayer for families searching [for their loved ones] and invite adolescents and young people to present the offerings as a sign of a Church that recognizes their place and accompanies them in building hope.”The National Dialogue for Peace was started following the murder of the Jesuits as an initiative of the Catholic Church in Mexico formed by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, the Bishops’ Commission for the Laity, the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Mexico, and the Society of Jesus in Mexico.In its statement, the National Dialogue for Peace stated that on June 20, “we remember the murdered religious leaders, the thousands of missing persons, the families living amid violence, the merchants suffering extortion, and the forests illegally logged.”“It’s a day to remember the suffering that we are standing against throughout Mexico and to call upon all sectors of society to redouble their efforts to sow peace. Amid the pain this country is experiencing, Jesus continues to call us to build peace,” the statement explained.Reflecting on the efforts made since 2022, the organization noted that “over these four years, we have learned that the great challenge is to build a responsible and participatory community capable of deciding its own destiny.”While “violence isolates people and stifles social participation, paving the way for the imposition of criminal projects and ideas,” the National Dialogue for Peace said, noting that “the process of building peace entails reaching out to others to heal, participate, and form one’s own judgment.”“Building peace today entails healing the wound caused by the forced disappearance of loved ones, having concern for abandoned youth, and envisioning the institutional framework Mexico needs. That wound is healed through truth, political will, and reparation for the harm done,” the National Dialogue for Peace stated.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.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/church-bells-in-mexico-to-toll-for-peace-and-in-memory-of-victims-of-violence-catholic-catholic-church-bells-in-mexico-will-be-rung-on-june-20-as-a-call-to-build-peace-and-in-memory.webp "Church bells in Mexico to toll for peace and in memory of victims of violence #Catholic Catholic church bells in Mexico will be rung on June 20 “as a call to build peace” and in memory of victims of violence in the country, marking the fourth anniversary of the murders of Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar.In a statement released on June 14, the National Dialogue for Peace called for placing a “white ribbon or small flag” on the doors of homes, schools, and workplaces on June 20 to make “visible the commitment to peace, dialogue, reconciliation, or hope.”The group also called for “ringing church bells on June 20 at 3 p.m. as a call to all sectors of society to build peace and to renew our commitment to forming the community that Mexico needs today.”Campos Morales and Mora Salazar were killed on June 20, 2022, inside their parish church in the town of Cerocahui in the Mexican state of Chihuahua while attempting to protect a man who was being pursued by a criminal. The organization also asked Mexicans to “place photographs of missing persons at church altars during the celebrations on Sunday, June 21,” as well as to “offer a special prayer for families searching [for their loved ones] and invite adolescents and young people to present the offerings as a sign of a Church that recognizes their place and accompanies them in building hope.”The National Dialogue for Peace was started following the murder of the Jesuits as an initiative of the Catholic Church in Mexico formed by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, the Bishops’ Commission for the Laity, the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Mexico, and the Society of Jesus in Mexico.In its statement, the National Dialogue for Peace stated that on June 20, “we remember the murdered religious leaders, the thousands of missing persons, the families living amid violence, the merchants suffering extortion, and the forests illegally logged.”“It’s a day to remember the suffering that we are standing against throughout Mexico and to call upon all sectors of society to redouble their efforts to sow peace. Amid the pain this country is experiencing, Jesus continues to call us to build peace,” the statement explained.Reflecting on the efforts made since 2022, the organization noted that “over these four years, we have learned that the great challenge is to build a responsible and participatory community capable of deciding its own destiny.”While “violence isolates people and stifles social participation, paving the way for the imposition of criminal projects and ideas,” the National Dialogue for Peace said, noting that “the process of building peace entails reaching out to others to heal, participate, and form one’s own judgment.”“Building peace today entails healing the wound caused by the forced disappearance of loved ones, having concern for abandoned youth, and envisioning the institutional framework Mexico needs. That wound is healed through truth, political will, and reparation for the harm done,” the National Dialogue for Peace stated.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.")
The National Dialogue for Peace, a Church-led organization in Mexico, is calling a day of remembrance for the victims of violence.
“This is certainly deliberate,” Ukraine Freedom Project Founder Steven Moore said of the attack on the historic 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Homeschool families used to be easy to spot, as twenty years ago the kids were all giant dorks. These days, it’s a lot more difficult to figure out. Take a close look at this picture and see if you can spot all seven clues that this is a homeschool family:
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U.S. — The U.S. Men’s National Team surged into contention as a World Cup betting favorite after bringing in LeBron James to help the team flop around on the grass and act like he’s hurt.
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American Singer Oliver Tree was killed in a midair helicopter collision over Brazil on Sunday, as police are still working to identify the bodies of others on board. The 32-year-old “Alien Boy” singer was reportedly on tour in South America this month.
The post Horrifying Footage Shows Helicopter Plunging to Ground in Brazil During Crash That Killed Singer Oliver Tree (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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An Indiana mother was fatally shot in the head while protecting her son amid a deadly ambush during a Facebook Market exchange last week.
The post HORROR: Indiana Mother Fatally Shot While Protecting Her Son Amid Deadly Ambush During Facebook Marketplace Exchange appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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President Trump’s newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is green again.
The post Mainstream Meltdown Over Stinchfield’s Claim of Reflecting Pool Sabotage (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreA reading from the First Book of Kings
21:17-29
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite:
"Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,
who rules in Samaria.
He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,
of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him,
‘The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?
For this, the LORD says:
In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,
the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.’"
Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD’s sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab’s line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah,
because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
"When one of Ahab’s line dies in the city,
dogs will devour him;
when one of them dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel.
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."
From the Gospel according to Matthew
5:43-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
“You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
But who could become perfect? Our perfection is living humbly as children of God, doing his will in practice. St Cyprian wrote: “that the godly discipline might respond to God, the Father, that in the honour and praise of living, God may be glorified in man (De zelo et livore [On jealousy and envy], 15: CCL 3a, 83).
How can we imitate Jesus? He said: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). Anyone who welcomes the Lord into his life and loves him with all his heart is capable of a new beginning. He succeeds in doing God’s will: to bring about a new form of existence enlivened by love and destined for eternity. (…)
A medieval author wrote: “When the whole of man’s being is, so to speak, mingled with God’s love, the splendour of his soul is also reflected in his external aspect” (John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, XXX: PG 88, 1157 B), in the totality of life. “Love is an excellent thing”, we read in the book the Imitation of Christ. “It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity…. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low… love is born of God and cannot rest except in God” (III, V, 3). (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 20 February 2011)
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More than academics: What families are really seeking in education today #Catholic – 
In conversations with parents today, one theme comes up again and again.
Yes, they care about academics. Yes, they want their children to succeed. But increasingly, families are asking a deeper question:
Who is helping my child become a saint?
It is a question that sits at the heart of Catholic education — and one that we encounter every day in both the school and parish communities we serve.
At a time when so much of the educational landscape is focused on outcomes that can be measured — test scores, rankings, college placements — Catholic education continues to hold fast to a broader vision: the formation of the whole child.
That formation is rooted in something very concrete: a relationship with Jesus Christ, who calls each of us to live with purpose, compassion, and integrity.
This formation is not abstract. It takes shape in daily habits, relationships, and experiences. It is present in classrooms where faith and reason are not separate, but integrated – where students are invited to see the world through the lens of the Gospel. It is nurtured in parish life, where students encounter the rhythms of prayer, sacrament, and service and come to know not just about God, but God’s presence in their lives. It is strengthened in a community where families, educators, and clergy walk together with a shared purpose.
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For many families, this is what sets Catholic education apart.
They are not simply looking for the “best” school in a conventional sense. They are looking for a place where their children will be guided — not only intellectually, but morally and spiritually. A place where success is not defined solely by achievement, but by character. A place where their children are known, loved, and called to grow in the example of Christ.
This is especially true in the earliest years of education.
In early childhood, the foundation is laid not just for academic learning, but for identity, belonging, and confidence. Children begin to understand how they relate to others, how they navigate challenges, and how they see themselves in the world.
When that foundation is rooted in faith — and in the love and example of Jesus — it carries forward in powerful ways.
Students who experience this kind of formation are often marked by a sense of purpose that extends beyond themselves. They come to see their gifts not simply as tools for personal advancement, but as opportunities to serve others, just as Christ calls us to do.
This is the enduring promise of Catholic education.
It is not a rejection of academic excellence — far from it. Rather, it is a commitment to ensuring that excellence is grounded in something deeper. That knowledge is paired with wisdom. That achievement is accompanied by humility. That success is understood in the context of a life of faith.
In a world that can often feel uncertain and fragmented, this kind of formation matters.
It is why, even today, families continue to seek out Catholic schools — not only for what their children will learn, but for who they will become.
Leanne Gonzalez is principal of All Saints Academy and Father Nico Quintos is pastor of St. Ann Parish, both in Parsippany, N.J.
– In conversations with parents today, one theme comes up again and again. Yes, they care about academics. Yes, they want their children to succeed. But increasingly, families are asking a deeper question: Who is helping my child become a saint? It is a question that sits at the heart of Catholic education — and one that we encounter every day in both the school and parish communities we serve. At a time when so much of the educational landscape is focused on outcomes that can be measured — test scores, rankings, college placements — Catholic education continues to hold fast
![U.S. vice president, second lady share family Mass attendance practices – #Catholic – Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance discussed their family’s Mass attendance practices ahead of the release of Vance’s memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which is available June 16.JD Vance is the second Catholic to serve as U.S. vice president, following President Joe Biden, who held the office from 2009 to 2017. Vance has discussed his Catholic faith and shared about his conversion but is not seen or reported by the media attending Mass in the Washington, D.C., area.Vance said in a June 14 interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that Mass is sometimes said in his home or he attends small churches.Having priests come to celebrate Mass at home is “one of the rare privileges of this life,” Vance said. “I try not to do it too much” because “I try to … have a little bit more of a ritual to it,” he said. “So we do try to leave the house and actually go to church. And thatʼs important.”“But sometimes … you have a late day at work, or somethingʼs going on at the White House, or somethingʼs going on in the world and you say, ‘Could a priest just come by and say Mass at our house?’” Vance said.“It makes it very easy, but itʼs one of those creature comforts of being vice president I try not to use too much because I think it makes us a little lazy,” he said.“Itʼs a perk,” Usha Vance added. “But I think itʼs also important to say that itʼs sometimes a necessity, because a motorcade just shuts down streets.”“It means sometimes people canʼt get into Mass when they arrive,” she said. “It means that you have people trickling in after the start because theyʼre being put through magnetometers.”The second lady, who practices Hinduism, said they try to adjust the “timing of Mass and location” in order “to mitigate all of these discomforts for all the other people who are just trying to live their lives.” “We try to go to smaller churches and we try to get there exactly on time, because if we get there 10 minutes earlier,” security becomes “a nightmare for everybody else,” JD Vance said.“So you try to obviously take your kids to church, but you also try to do it in a way that doesnʼt inconvenience everybody. Thatʼs very important to us,” he said.Vance has attended some highly publicized liturgies. The vice president attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass on May 18, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square. He led the U.S. delegation for the ceremony and was joined by Usha Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.He also attended a private Mass celebrated by Franciscan monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem during a three-day diplomatic trip to Israel in October 2025.Vance met with a group of bishops and went to confession prior to Mass, according to the White House press pool report.Memoir on Vance’s Catholic conversionVance’s memoir discusses why he left his faith and describes his conversion to Catholicism. The book has been published by HarperCollins Publishers, which also produced Vance’s 2016 bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” The book addresses the “story of how I regained my faith,” which “only happened because I had lost it to begin with,” Vance wrote in a HarperCollins press release. “The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root.”In the “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, Vance explained some of what the book uncovers about finding his “home” in the Catholic Church.“I was raised in evangelical tradition that in a lot of ways I really loved,” he said.The evangelical faith offered an “incredible generosity of spirit” and an “incredible spirit of ‘welcomingness,’” Vance said. While he said he still tries to “apply” these aspects to his life, he “drift[ed] away from that faith.”“I donʼt think that I was properly rooted,” Vance said. “I started to see myself as too smart, maybe too high-minded. I was going to make decisions based on rationality and science and not on this religious mumbo jumbo.”Then, he said, “as I started to think to myself, ‘Maybe there is some real truth to these Christian ideas that I grew up with‘ … I was just incredibly attracted to the tradition of the church that I ultimately selected.”“Things are constantly changing. Social media is changing how we communicate with each other,” he said. “You go to one church and itʼs … one thing. You go to another church and itʼs something different.”Catholicism “felt rooted” and “if I went to a foreign country and I didnʼt understand the language, I kind of knew what was going on. And I liked that feeling of rootedness.”“Fundamentally, when I started thinking to myself, ‘Maybe I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Maybe I do believe in the core tenets of the Christian faith.’ A lot of the people who [were] encouraging me on that journey … were Catholic, and they took me to Catholic churches, and I felt at home there, and eventually I converted,” Vance said.“God put a lot of people in my path who were very good Christians and ended up being Catholics. And thatʼs where … I found a home,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/u-s-vice-president-second-lady-share-family-mass-attendance-practices-catholic-vice-president-jd-vance-and-second-lady-usha-vance-discussed-their-familys-mass-attendance-practices-ahea.webp "U.S. vice president, second lady share family Mass attendance practices – #Catholic – Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance discussed their family’s Mass attendance practices ahead of the release of Vance’s memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which is available June 16.JD Vance is the second Catholic to serve as U.S. vice president, following President Joe Biden, who held the office from 2009 to 2017. Vance has discussed his Catholic faith and shared about his conversion but is not seen or reported by the media attending Mass in the Washington, D.C., area.Vance said in a June 14 interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that Mass is sometimes said in his home or he attends small churches.Having priests come to celebrate Mass at home is “one of the rare privileges of this life,” Vance said. “I try not to do it too much” because “I try to … have a little bit more of a ritual to it,” he said. “So we do try to leave the house and actually go to church. And thatʼs important.”“But sometimes … you have a late day at work, or somethingʼs going on at the White House, or somethingʼs going on in the world and you say, ‘Could a priest just come by and say Mass at our house?’” Vance said.“It makes it very easy, but itʼs one of those creature comforts of being vice president I try not to use too much because I think it makes us a little lazy,” he said.“Itʼs a perk,” Usha Vance added. “But I think itʼs also important to say that itʼs sometimes a necessity, because a motorcade just shuts down streets.”“It means sometimes people canʼt get into Mass when they arrive,” she said. “It means that you have people trickling in after the start because theyʼre being put through magnetometers.”The second lady, who practices Hinduism, said they try to adjust the “timing of Mass and location” in order “to mitigate all of these discomforts for all the other people who are just trying to live their lives.” “We try to go to smaller churches and we try to get there exactly on time, because if we get there 10 minutes earlier,” security becomes “a nightmare for everybody else,” JD Vance said.“So you try to obviously take your kids to church, but you also try to do it in a way that doesnʼt inconvenience everybody. Thatʼs very important to us,” he said.Vance has attended some highly publicized liturgies. The vice president attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass on May 18, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square. He led the U.S. delegation for the ceremony and was joined by Usha Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.He also attended a private Mass celebrated by Franciscan monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem during a three-day diplomatic trip to Israel in October 2025.Vance met with a group of bishops and went to confession prior to Mass, according to the White House press pool report.Memoir on Vance’s Catholic conversionVance’s memoir discusses why he left his faith and describes his conversion to Catholicism. The book has been published by HarperCollins Publishers, which also produced Vance’s 2016 bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” The book addresses the “story of how I regained my faith,” which “only happened because I had lost it to begin with,” Vance wrote in a HarperCollins press release. “The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root.”In the “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, Vance explained some of what the book uncovers about finding his “home” in the Catholic Church.“I was raised in evangelical tradition that in a lot of ways I really loved,” he said.The evangelical faith offered an “incredible generosity of spirit” and an “incredible spirit of ‘welcomingness,’” Vance said. While he said he still tries to “apply” these aspects to his life, he “drift[ed] away from that faith.”“I donʼt think that I was properly rooted,” Vance said. “I started to see myself as too smart, maybe too high-minded. I was going to make decisions based on rationality and science and not on this religious mumbo jumbo.”Then, he said, “as I started to think to myself, ‘Maybe there is some real truth to these Christian ideas that I grew up with‘ … I was just incredibly attracted to the tradition of the church that I ultimately selected.”“Things are constantly changing. Social media is changing how we communicate with each other,” he said. “You go to one church and itʼs … one thing. You go to another church and itʼs something different.”Catholicism “felt rooted” and “if I went to a foreign country and I didnʼt understand the language, I kind of knew what was going on. And I liked that feeling of rootedness.”“Fundamentally, when I started thinking to myself, ‘Maybe I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Maybe I do believe in the core tenets of the Christian faith.’ A lot of the people who [were] encouraging me on that journey … were Catholic, and they took me to Catholic churches, and I felt at home there, and eventually I converted,” Vance said.“God put a lot of people in my path who were very good Christians and ended up being Catholics. And thatʼs where … I found a home,” he said.")
Having priests come to celebrate Mass at home is “one of the rare privileges of this life,” Vice President JD Vance said.
Pope Leo XIV addressed a delegation of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, encouraging them to preserve and promote “the inestimable treasures incarnated by all the Eastern Churches.”
![Catholic-backed religious liberty lawsuit asks Supreme Court to address ‘finality’ rule – #Catholic – A long-running legal dispute against a city in Ohio has received the backing of the U.S. Catholic bishops as it seeks to both assert a religious liberty claim and challenge a long-standing U.S. rule over when a lawsuit can be brought before a court. Daniel Grand filed a lawsuit against the city of University Heights, Ohio, in September 2022 after the city blocked his efforts to convene a minyan, or Jewish prayer group, of about a dozen friends at his home. The city directed that he would have to acquire a special-use permit to host the group. “They said if I got the permit, I could have the prayer group,” he told EWTN News. “But halfway into this ordeal, I learned that if anybody qualifies for this permit, there is no residence allowed [where the permit is granted].” His family would have to move in the event the permit was granted, he said. The federal district court dismissed his case on the grounds of a legal concept known as “finality,” a rule that holds that a lawsuit can only be brought if a plaintiff has exhausted all other relevant options first. Jonathan Gross, an attorney who is representing Grand in the ongoing dispute, said governments will sometimes use this rule in order to thwart a lawsuit attempt. “Certain jurisdictions recognize that the government controls everything and that if they want they can 'jerk you around’ and table your case indefinitely to prevent you from ever getting finality that allows you to sue,” he said. “If local government can do whatever they want with your application and make it so you never get a final decision, then you’re ultimately blocked from ever suing them, and they know that,” he said. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio dismissed the case on finality grounds; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld that dismissal. Grand and his attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to review the case and rule on the finality question so that the religious liberty suit can proceed.“We obviously assert that Daniel was harmed,” Gross said. “But we didn’t even go to court because we didn’t get the final decision.”Decision would ‘open up the Hoover Dam’ for some lawsuitsGrand and his attorneys are hoping to resolve the finality question at the Supreme Court for the sake of both themselves and plaintiffs in other lawsuits. A favorable decision from the high court would “open up the Hoover Dam for everyone who wants to get into federal court but is being denied because you didn’t complete some sort of process,” Grand told EWTN News. Yet Grand himself is still focused on resolving the religious liberty dispute as well. Among other supporters, the lawsuit has received backing from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which filed an amicus brief in appeals court arguing that Grandʼs religious liberty claims should be considered without being subject to “finality.” Religious plaintiffs have standing to sue “as soon as a credible threat arises,” the bishops said in their filing, arguing that court processes that play out over “months or years” due to finality rules serve as a “constitutional harm” in and of themselves. In his filing with the Supreme Court, Grand argued that the case is “a playbook for government-sponsored religious discrimination.” Speaking to EWTN News, Grand disputed the implicit contention that “10 Jews in a room makes it a synagogue.” He said his aim was simply to host a small group to speak to God. “It was on my heart to have a prayer gathering, and I thought nothing more than that,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/catholic-backed-religious-liberty-lawsuit-asks-supreme-court-to-address-finality-rule-catholic-a-long-running-legal-dispute-against-a-city-in-ohio-has-received-the-backing-of-th.png "Catholic-backed religious liberty lawsuit asks Supreme Court to address ‘finality’ rule – #Catholic – A long-running legal dispute against a city in Ohio has received the backing of the U.S. Catholic bishops as it seeks to both assert a religious liberty claim and challenge a long-standing U.S. rule over when a lawsuit can be brought before a court. Daniel Grand filed a lawsuit against the city of University Heights, Ohio, in September 2022 after the city blocked his efforts to convene a minyan, or Jewish prayer group, of about a dozen friends at his home. The city directed that he would have to acquire a special-use permit to host the group. “They said if I got the permit, I could have the prayer group,” he told EWTN News. “But halfway into this ordeal, I learned that if anybody qualifies for this permit, there is no residence allowed [where the permit is granted].” His family would have to move in the event the permit was granted, he said. The federal district court dismissed his case on the grounds of a legal concept known as “finality,” a rule that holds that a lawsuit can only be brought if a plaintiff has exhausted all other relevant options first. Jonathan Gross, an attorney who is representing Grand in the ongoing dispute, said governments will sometimes use this rule in order to thwart a lawsuit attempt. “Certain jurisdictions recognize that the government controls everything and that if they want they can 'jerk you around’ and table your case indefinitely to prevent you from ever getting finality that allows you to sue,” he said. “If local government can do whatever they want with your application and make it so you never get a final decision, then you’re ultimately blocked from ever suing them, and they know that,” he said. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio dismissed the case on finality grounds; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld that dismissal. Grand and his attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to review the case and rule on the finality question so that the religious liberty suit can proceed.“We obviously assert that Daniel was harmed,” Gross said. “But we didn’t even go to court because we didn’t get the final decision.”Decision would ‘open up the Hoover Dam’ for some lawsuitsGrand and his attorneys are hoping to resolve the finality question at the Supreme Court for the sake of both themselves and plaintiffs in other lawsuits. A favorable decision from the high court would “open up the Hoover Dam for everyone who wants to get into federal court but is being denied because you didn’t complete some sort of process,” Grand told EWTN News. Yet Grand himself is still focused on resolving the religious liberty dispute as well. Among other supporters, the lawsuit has received backing from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which filed an amicus brief in appeals court arguing that Grandʼs religious liberty claims should be considered without being subject to “finality.” Religious plaintiffs have standing to sue “as soon as a credible threat arises,” the bishops said in their filing, arguing that court processes that play out over “months or years” due to finality rules serve as a “constitutional harm” in and of themselves. In his filing with the Supreme Court, Grand argued that the case is “a playbook for government-sponsored religious discrimination.” Speaking to EWTN News, Grand disputed the implicit contention that “10 Jews in a room makes it a synagogue.” He said his aim was simply to host a small group to speak to God. “It was on my heart to have a prayer gathering, and I thought nothing more than that,” he said.")
The U.S. Catholic bishops have backed the lawsuit brought by Jewish resident Daniel Grand against the city of University Heights, Ohio, in a dispute over a planned prayer group.
![Making history: St. Paul Inside the Walls honors archivist #Catholic - On June 6, Msgr. Raymond J. Kupke, Ph.D., a retired priest with 53 years actively serving the Paterson Diocese, N.J., and respected Church historian, delighted in receiving the 2026 Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli Evangelization Award from St. Paul Inside the Walls Catholic Center for Evangelization in Madison, N.J. Msgr. Kupke received the award for his fruitful years in the priesthood and evangelization.
That Friday evening, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presented Msgr. Kupke received the award during St. Paul’s Fifth Annual Garden Party, its largest annual fundraiser, which was held on the center’s front lawn. Msgr. Kupke has been the diocesan archivist since 1976 and is the co-host of “Coffee with Kupke,” a popular podcast that delves into the history of Catholicism in the Church of Paterson. He hosts the podcast with his friend, Father Paul Manning, diocesan vicar for evangelization and education.
Msgr. Kupke is an adjunct professor of Church history at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology in South Orange, N.J. He has also taught many courses at St. Paul’s, notably helping form candidates for the permanent diaconate. He also authored the book, “Living Stones: A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Paterson.”
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Over the years, Msgr. Kupke has held numerous pastoral assignments. Most recently, he served as pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, N.J., from 2011 until his retirement last year.
During the Garden Party, Father Manning also welcomed Father Pawel Tomczyk back to St. Paul’s. For years, Father Tomczyk has assisted St. Paul’s evangelization efforts.
Father Tomczyk, who has served as pastoral formation director and assistant moral theology professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, will assume Father Manning’s role as diocesan vicar for evangelization while living at St. Paul’s, effective July 1.
On that date, Father Manning will become pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Mendham, N.J., while continuing as vicar for education. Father Manning will celebrate his final Mass at St. Paul’s, the young adult Mass, on Sunday, June 21, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception.
Founded by Bishop Serratelli, St. Paul’s is a leader, catalyst, and model for the new evangelization. Through both traditional and innovative programs, the center has inspired people of all ages, beliefs, cultures, perspectives, and professions to fully experience the Catholic faith. The Garden Party celebrated St. Paul’s lasting impact and growth around the diocese and beyond.
The event’s attendees included staff from St. Paul’s, members of the Young Adult Ministry, benefactors, and friends and family of community members. The event included a dinner.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/making-history-st-paul-inside-the-walls-honors-archivist-catholic-on-june-6-msgr-raymond-j-kupke-ph-d-a-retired-priest-with-53-years-actively-serving-the-paterson-diocese-n-j-and-respect.jpg)
Making history: St. Paul Inside the Walls honors archivist #Catholic – 
On June 6, Msgr. Raymond J. Kupke, Ph.D., a retired priest with 53 years actively serving the Paterson Diocese, N.J., and respected Church historian, delighted in receiving the 2026 Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli Evangelization Award from St. Paul Inside the Walls Catholic Center for Evangelization in Madison, N.J. Msgr. Kupke received the award for his fruitful years in the priesthood and evangelization.
That Friday evening, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presented Msgr. Kupke received the award during St. Paul’s Fifth Annual Garden Party, its largest annual fundraiser, which was held on the center’s front lawn. Msgr. Kupke has been the diocesan archivist since 1976 and is the co-host of “Coffee with Kupke,” a popular podcast that delves into the history of Catholicism in the Church of Paterson. He hosts the podcast with his friend, Father Paul Manning, diocesan vicar for evangelization and education.
Msgr. Kupke is an adjunct professor of Church history at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology in South Orange, N.J. He has also taught many courses at St. Paul’s, notably helping form candidates for the permanent diaconate. He also authored the book, “Living Stones: A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Paterson.”
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Over the years, Msgr. Kupke has held numerous pastoral assignments. Most recently, he served as pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, N.J., from 2011 until his retirement last year.
During the Garden Party, Father Manning also welcomed Father Pawel Tomczyk back to St. Paul’s. For years, Father Tomczyk has assisted St. Paul’s evangelization efforts.
Father Tomczyk, who has served as pastoral formation director and assistant moral theology professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, will assume Father Manning’s role as diocesan vicar for evangelization while living at St. Paul’s, effective July 1.
On that date, Father Manning will become pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Mendham, N.J., while continuing as vicar for education. Father Manning will celebrate his final Mass at St. Paul’s, the young adult Mass, on Sunday, June 21, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception.
Founded by Bishop Serratelli, St. Paul’s is a leader, catalyst, and model for the new evangelization. Through both traditional and innovative programs, the center has inspired people of all ages, beliefs, cultures, perspectives, and professions to fully experience the Catholic faith. The Garden Party celebrated St. Paul’s lasting impact and growth around the diocese and beyond.
The event’s attendees included staff from St. Paul’s, members of the Young Adult Ministry, benefactors, and friends and family of community members. The event included a dinner.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
– On June 6, Msgr. Raymond J. Kupke, Ph.D., a retired priest with 53 years actively serving the Paterson Diocese, N.J., and respected Church historian, delighted in receiving the 2026 Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli Evangelization Award from St. Paul Inside the Walls Catholic Center for Evangelization in Madison, N.J. Msgr. Kupke received the award for his fruitful years in the priesthood and evangelization. That Friday evening, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presented Msgr. Kupke received the award during St. Paul’s Fifth Annual Garden Party, its largest annual fundraiser, which was held on the center’s front lawn. Msgr. Kupke has been the diocesan
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Photographic art based on the multicolored columns in the portal hall in Freiburg Minster, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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A period of unsettled weather brought scattered showers and thunderstorms to California’s Bay Area on May 27, 2026. That afternoon, a break in the clouds left downtown San Francisco and nearby communities beneath mostly cloud-free skies, allowing an astronaut aboard the International Space Station to take this photograph.
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Astronomers have created a comprehensive census of active galactic nuclei (AGN) — galaxies powered by a feeding central black hole. The new census, led by data pipeline developer Mugdha Polimera at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, began while she was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,Continue reading “Active black holes are more common than we thought”
The post Active black holes are more common than we thought appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More![Pope Leo XIV: Catholics and Jews must work together to fight antisemtism #Catholic Pope Leo XIV affirmed on June 15 the shared heritage of Jews and Catholics, emphasizing that they must be united against antisemitism and in serving those in need.In an address at the Vatican to representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, the pontiff praised their organization as “an instrument of global Jewish philanthropy, providing essential humanitarian aid and social services to vulnerable populations.” He also drew parallels between their work and the Catholic Churchʼs commitment to human development.“These efforts reflect a clear recognition of human dignity and fraternity, resonating with the Church’s own commitment to integral human development and the call to love our neighbor,” Leo said in his remarks.The pope also reflected on the progress of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the 1965 publication of Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the Second Vatican Council that condemned all forms of antisemitism. Reaffirming the Churchʼs stance against antisemitism, Leo emphasized the need for Catholics and Jews to work together to combat all forms of discrimination."[Nostra Aetate] affirmed, among other things, the truth that we belong to one human family,“ Leo said. ”Recognizing the inherent dignity of all men and women, Nostra Aetate took a firm stand against antisemitism and declared that the Church rejects all forms of discrimination or harassment because of race, color, condition of life, or religion. In a world still wounded by division and conflict, it called us to move beyond past misunderstandings toward collaboration for the common good."](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pope-leo-xiv-catholics-and-jews-must-work-together-to-fight-antisemtism-catholic-pope-leo-xiv-affirmed-on-june-15-the-shared-heritage-of-jews-and-catholics-emphasizing-that-they-must-be-united-agai.jpg "Pope Leo XIV: Catholics and Jews must work together to fight antisemtism #Catholic Pope Leo XIV affirmed on June 15 the shared heritage of Jews and Catholics, emphasizing that they must be united against antisemitism and in serving those in need.In an address at the Vatican to representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, the pontiff praised their organization as “an instrument of global Jewish philanthropy, providing essential humanitarian aid and social services to vulnerable populations.” He also drew parallels between their work and the Catholic Churchʼs commitment to human development.“These efforts reflect a clear recognition of human dignity and fraternity, resonating with the Church’s own commitment to integral human development and the call to love our neighbor,” Leo said in his remarks.The pope also reflected on the progress of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the 1965 publication of Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the Second Vatican Council that condemned all forms of antisemitism. Reaffirming the Churchʼs stance against antisemitism, Leo emphasized the need for Catholics and Jews to work together to combat all forms of discrimination.\"[Nostra Aetate] affirmed, among other things, the truth that we belong to one human family,“ Leo said. ”Recognizing the inherent dignity of all men and women, Nostra Aetate took a firm stand against antisemitism and declared that the Church rejects all forms of discrimination or harassment because of race, color, condition of life, or religion. In a world still wounded by division and conflict, it called us to move beyond past misunderstandings toward collaboration for the common good.\"")
The pontiff addressed representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York on June 15.
More than six decades after Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha died under communist internment, a Czech court has formally recognized his imprisonment as unlawful.
U.S. – Leading scholars believe that the angel who saved Daniel in the lion’s den used a red laser pointer to distract the vicious cats.
Read MoreA reading from the First Book of Kings
21:1-16
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
“I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.
His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up.
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
having sealed them with his seal,
sent them to the elders and to the nobles
who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
“Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
“Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.
When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
she said to Ahab,
“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."
Jesus quotes the ancient law: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt 5:38; Ex 21:24). We know what that law meant: when someone takes something from you, you are to take the same thing from him. This law of retaliation was actually a sign of progress, since it prevented excessive retaliation. If someone harms you, then you can repay him or her in the same degree; you cannot do something worse. Ending the matter there, in a fair exchange, was a step forward. But Jesus goes far beyond this: “But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil” (Mt 5:39). But how, Lord? If someone thinks badly of me, if someone hurts me, why can I not repay him with the same currency? “No”, says Jesus. Nonviolence. No act of violence.
We might think that Jesus’ teaching is a part of a plan; in the end, the wicked will desist. But that is not why Jesus asks us to love even those who do us harm. What, then, is the reason? It is that the Father, our Father, continues to love everyone, even when his love is not reciprocated. (…) If we want to be disciples of Christ, if we want to call ourselves Christians, this is the only way; there is no other. Having been loved by God, we are called to love in return; having been forgiven, we are called to forgive; having been touched by love, we are called to love without waiting for others to love first; having been saved graciously, we are called to seek no benefit from the good we do. (Pope Francis, Homily, 23 February 2020)
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In the latest in waste of money on courses at American schools according to Campus Reform, “Rice University, a private research university in Houston, Texas, is offering multiple courses centered on pop star Taylor Swift, including one class examining far-left themes such as “American nationalism and whiteness” through Swift’s lyrics and public image.” “Rice will offer “COLL 118 Mastermind: The Taylor Swift Eras” this fall, in which students will analyze Swift’s albums as “primary texts” and examine “how a single artist can shape global culture and shift industry standards.” If you find this absurd you are not alone.
The post Outrageous: Rice University Offers Course on Taylor Swift Analyzing “Whiteness” and “Nationalism” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Target is facing scrutiny over the safety of its baby products after two separate recalls this week, one for baby wipes containing bacteria and one for baby formula, leaving babies hospitalized with botulism.
The post Target Hit With Double Baby Product Recalls: Nara Formula Linked to Infant Botulism, Up & Up Wipes Pulled Over Dangerous Bacterial Contamination appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Senator Mitch McConnell was hospitalized on Sunday morning, according to his spokesperson.
The post Mitch McConnell Rushed to Hospital appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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At the Angelus, the pontiff said Christ sees the wounds of war, broken families, and young people misled by false ideals.
‘Super Bowl on steroids’: Webinar highlights trafficking around World Cup #Catholic – 
While “all eyes are on us” in the coming weeks with FIFA World Cup activity, the issue of human trafficking will persist even after visitors have returned home, said Detective Sgt. Ehtasham “Izzy” Chaudhry of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“We are not going to stop when FIFA is over, we are going to continue,” he said. “Even though right now we are being hyper vigilant, we will and we have to continue combatting human trafficking.”
The World Cup begins June 11, and matches are being hosted in the region, beginning with Brazil v. Morocco June 11 in East Rutherford, and Côte d’Ivoire vs Ecuador June 14 in Philadelphia. The July 19 final will also be in East Rutherford.
In preparation, on June 9 the New Jersey Catholic Conference, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference hosted a webinar, “Human Trafficking and Major Sporting Events.” It featured faith leaders, law enforcement representatives, an elected official and an advocate working to fight sexual and labor exploitation.
Kathleen Friess, program and training coordinator for the Human Trafficking Unit in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Justice, emphasized that “anyone can be a lifesaver,” when it comes to human trafficking.
Friess coordinates training for agencies across New Jersey, including law enforcement as well as prosecutors, paramedics, code enforcement officials, the faith community, casinos, and any other organizations that might encounter human trafficking victims. She noted the particular concerns around labor exploitation surrounding the World Cup matches and the fanfare they will bring with them.
“These events are expected to bring more than 1 million visitors to the region,” she said. “Although we have the experience of preparing for the Super Bowl, someone said this is the Super Bowl on steroids. We cannot fathom the type of impact this is going to have, in many ways.”
She noted that outreach efforts have also included posting flyers raising awareness and sharing information about resources in every restroom stall at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium to try to reach those in need.
Catholic Social Teaching
Felicitas Brugo Onetti, anti-trafficking education and outreach coordinator with USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, told webinar participants, “Large-scale sporting events bring influxes of visitors, temporary workers and cash flow, which can increase vulnerabilities to human trafficking.
“Trafficking does not occur because of the event itself, but events can intensify existing trafficking patterns already present in host communities,” she said. “Risk factors include increased demand for commercial sex, informal labor markets, crowded transportation hubs and limited community awareness.”
Onetti emphasized that fighting human trafficking and the commitment to end slavery in all forms are deeply entrenched in Catholic social teaching. She also noted the estimated 49.6 million people who – at any time – live in conditions of slavery and human trafficking globally.
Part of Chaudhry’s work involves leading his office’s Interfaith Advisory Council, and he emphasized the key role that faith leaders and communities can play in raising awareness about trafficking.
“The Catholic Church is the largest faith-based community here in the State of New Jersey,” he said. “I truly believe that faith leaders are community leaders and have a lot of influence in the community. They are able to get out messages that are important.”
Identifying victims
Theresa Flores, a social worker and a human trafficking survivor, launched the SOAP Project – “Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution” – after she, at the age of 40, realized that she had been a victim herself as a teenager. She emphasized that victims can be anywhere and may be hard to identify.
“I also went to church, I also went to school,” she said of the two-year period when she was being trafficked. Flores said a waitress at a hotel restaurant noticed she was in distress and asked her if she was alright – and ended up saving her.
Today, her organization works to raise awareness of the prevalence of human trafficking, in part through distributing soap in packages labeled with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number to hotels and motels to offer victims a discrete way to find out how to seek help. Her organization recently received a boost from students at Donovan Catholic High School, Toms River, who labeled some 2,000 bars of soaps that will be distributed to shore motels in the days and weeks to come.
“We do this around big sporting events a lot of times, because we know demand for sex for sale is going to quadruple during that event,” she said, noting that her organization has worked in the host cities for 15 Super Bowls. “If traffickers are going to be there, and bring victims, we want to be there, too.”
Friess joined others on the webinar in encouraging anyone who suspects they have observed a form of human trafficking to contact authorities – even if they cannot prove what is happening.
“You are never going to be 100 percent sure,” she said. “The people who claim to be experts can never be 100 percent sure at the get go. It takes time.”
Tips or leads regarding possible human trafficking can be shared by calling (855) End-NJ-HT. You can also access Department of Labor resources at www.NJ.gov/labor/worldcup, and resources for victims by contacting Covenant House New Jersey at (862) 240-2453.
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, you can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 or by visiting https://humantraffickinghotline.org/.
– While “all eyes are on us” in the coming weeks with FIFA World Cup activity, the issue of human trafficking will persist even after visitors have returned home, said Detective Sgt. Ehtasham “Izzy” Chaudhry of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “We are not going to stop when FIFA is over, we are going to continue,” he said. “Even though right now we are being hyper vigilant, we will and we have to continue combatting human trafficking.” The World Cup begins June 11, and matches are being hosted in the region, beginning with Brazil v. Morocco June
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A view of the choir of St. Bonifatius Church (Wiesbaden, Germany). Today is the feast of St. Boniface.
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On June 14, 1949, a rhesus monkey named Albert II was launched into space aboard a V-2 rocket from White Sands, New Mexico. Prior to Albert II, animals including fruit flies, mice, and another monkey (Albert I) had been launched in rocket and balloon flights as part of American space biology research, but Albert II’sContinue reading “June 14, 1949: The first mammal in space”
The post June 14, 1949: The first mammal in space appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More![Michigan diocese celebrates new priests after ordinations moved out of cathedral #Catholic ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, ordained four men to the priesthood on June 6 at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing after the crowd was too big for St. Mary’s Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese. In the packed church, Boyea told the ordinands: “You have been spending years being with Jesus. He’s calling you as he called those 12 so many centuries ago. Today, as you are consecrated by the Church for a sacred ministry, consecrate yourselves to drink the cup which the Lord gives and take in the word which the Spirit is providing. Though weak vessels that we are, we will not let that prevent us from following the calling we have received.”Now 75 and due to retire from his duties in Lansing, Boyea has ordained 45 priests during his 18 years of leadership of the diocese in Michigan’s capital. The diocese, one of seven Latin-rite dioceses in Michigan, is currently sponsoring 29 seminarians, and last year’s ordination class was the largest in nearly 50 years.Fathers Joshua Bauer, Jacob Derry, Ryan Ferrigan, and Peter Randolph, ordained by Boyea, all attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Detroit Archdiocese.
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, washes the feet of one of the four men he ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Before their ordination, the men were interviewed on video, displaying the chalices they will use as priests.Ferrigan, 28, said his antique sacred vessel had been left behind at the now-shuttered St. Michael Parish church in Flint, Michigan, established more than 170 years ago. Inscribed on its base are the words of an anonymous donor: “In reparation from a friend of the Sacred Heart.”“You know, it’s a paradox because this chalice has a long history, and I don’t know who the priests are who used it in the past,” he said. “They offered the Holy Sacrifice using this vessel for over 100 years, and I get to continue faithfully offering the Mass and praying for the salvation of the world every day.”In his thanksgiving address to the congregation, Ferrigan said of his priesthood: “It’s all about the glory of God and the salvation of souls!”In an interview with EWTN News, the new priest said: “In being ordained, the palpable joy they could see in me was there because in ordination, I am seeing the purpose for which God created me coming to fruition. I have become what the Lord created me to be.”“The day of my ordination was the best day of my life. Lots of friends and family were there to support me. The Lord has blessed me and is very good to me. I’m still adjusting and realizing that I’m really a priest now and have the privilege of offering the Mass every day. This is my commission and what the Lord wants me to do for his praise and the salvation of the world. It is still sinking in,” he told EWTN News.
From left to right: Fathers Peter Randolph, Ryan Ferrigan, Jacob Derry, and Joshua Bauer at their ordaination on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Ferrigan celebrated his first solo Mass that same day at St. Martha Parish in Okemos, near Lansing. He was able to distribute the Eucharist for the first time in both instances to his mother. He will serve at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, which is close to the University of Michigan campus and known for its music and solemn liturgies.“I’m excited to be going there, and I expect to serve about three years at St. Thomas,” he said, adding: “I’m excited about learning to be a parish priest and diving into ministry. This is how the Lord wants me to feed his sheep.”Randolph, 27, reflected in the video about his journey to the altar, which has included profound loss. “The emphasis of this chalice upon the humanity of Christ and about receiving the chalice, and then living it out to the fullest extent, both in pain and suffering, and full self-abandonment and full self-emptying and glory, means a lot to me, because my [18-year-old] brother Xavier died less than a year ago. And the Lord has really promised me that he’s going to meet me in the place of my pain,” he said, adding: “He’s not going to leave me alone. But it’s going to come in my very broken humanity. In my humanity that is now broken in a particular way in grief.”
Peter Randolph prepares for his ordination to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Randolph’s father and grandfather serve as deacons in the Lansing Diocese. At the July 2025 funeral for Xavier, hundreds of friends and parishioners of the close-knit Christ the King Parish in Ann Arbor were on hand to support the Randolph family with the same solidarity shown at Randolph’s ordination. He has been assigned to St. Patrick Parish in Brighton, Michigan, which is known for its healing services and charismatic liturgies.As Boyea consecrated Randolph, the newly ordained young man openly sobbed in the presence of his many friends and family members. “I want every day of my priesthood and every time that I offer Mass in this chalice, to be able to say, like, ‘Accipiam calicem,’ right, I accept the chalice,” Randolph vowed. Paraphrasing Matthew 26:42, Randolph said: “Father, I accept this chalice, and I will drink it to the dregs with your Son.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/michigan-diocese-celebrates-new-priests-after-ordinations-moved-out-of-cathedral-catholic-ann-arbor-michigan-bishop-earl-boyea-of-lansing-michigan-ordained-four-men-to-the-priesthood-on-scaled.jpg)
Bishop Earl Boyea ordained four new priests at a local Lansing parish, urging them to “drink the cup which the Lord gives” as they begin their ministry.
![A ministry born from loss: One woman’s mission to comfort families after miscarriage - #Catholic - One year ago, Sarah-Elizabeth Pilato, a Catholic mother of three from New York, found out she was pregnant at the age of 40. It was a surprise to her and her husband but the couple were excited to bring another life into the world. Then, suddenly, their excitement ended when Pilato went into her doctor’s office and was told that her baby no longer had a heartbeat. She had undergone a miscarriage. It was this experience that inspired her to write a book called “H.U.G” — an acronym for “Here, Understood, and Gently held.”“It was a very quick emotional roller-coaster ride,” Pilato told EWTN News. “And when I had the miscarriage, my doctor, she looked at me and she basically said, ‘Iʼm so sorry. Miscarriage is really not talked about. I donʼt know why women donʼt talk about it, but itʼs very common.’ And in that moment, as she looked at me, I thought to myself, ‘OK, Iʼm going to talk about it.’”She recalled sitting in the doctor’s office, alone, looking for anything that would help her with her grief — a pamphlet, a picture on the wall, anything — and there was nothing. Instead, all she was handed as she walked out the door was her bill for the office visit.“There was just nothing for me to make me feel that I was going to be OK and that I wasnʼt alone. I felt completely isolated and I felt like I was the only person in the world that was feeling this,” she recalled.Once she got home, she felt lost, not knowing what to think or do. After some time alone at home, she heard God tell her to sit down and write.“Iʼm like, ‘Well thatʼs a really weird thing to do right now. Thatʼs like the last thing that I want to do is open my laptop,’” she said. “But, when God gives you directions itʼs always best to follow. And so I sat down and I opened my laptop. Iʼve got the tissues out, Iʼm still a mess, and I just started writing what I was feeling.”Her writing went up on her blog and after several hours, Pilato returned to the blog post where she saw hundreds of women commenting and sending her messages of their own similar experiences.
Catholic author Sarah-Elizabeth Pilato with her book, “H.U.G.” | Credit: Tatiana Ariola Photography
“Thatʼs when I knew that we needed to share these stories and that I wasnʼt the only one that had ever felt like this,” she shared. “And it became so important to me, in that moment, that no one ever felt like we felt again — if we can make that feeling go away for as many women as possible, it would be worth it.”This is when Pilato was inspired to write her book, “H.U.G.,” which is made up of over 30 testimonies from women who have walked through pregnancy loss as well as men who share their perspectives as husbands and fathers walking alongside their wives. After each story, there are several reflection questions.“This book is meant to be for the woman thatʼs experiencing it at any stage,” Pilato explained. “And itʼs really the kind of book that you can open, look at the table of contents, and theyʼre all labeled — a hug for when you just want to scream or a hug for when you feel alone, a hug for when you donʼt have the words to pray … So, you can pick it up, put it down, pick it up, put it down whenever you need it, wherever youʼre grieving.”She added: “I wish Iʼd had a book to just hug when I was laying there on my couch that would just make me feel seen.”Speaking to the men in the book, Pilato realized through her own miscarriage that her husband “had no idea what to do with me or how to respond or what to do with his own emotions.”“[Men are] kind of forgotten and theyʼre processing in a very different way. And I realized that he didnʼt know what to do and so I realized that he needed to have a story as well,” she said.Pilato explained that the book was entirely funded by donations from individuals, and with the donations she is now working to get the book available “in any place that a woman might be grieving.”“We have them in hospitals, in urgent cares, in churches, therapy offices — Iʼve had requests come in from all different places. And our goal is to get the book into every state,” she said.Books are available for purchase or, if an organization is unable to pay for them, they can request free books to be donated to them.“I do always say if your organization has the budget and you would like to pay, absolutely, it helps, it all goes back into the book, but if not, if we have inventory, we make it happen,” she said. “So, it is all God filling our inventory, bringing us to the people. And so far, weʼve been able to get books to women as soon as two hours after theyʼve heard that theyʼre experiencing a loss.”The author shared that her main hope for women who come across her book is that “she feels seen and loved and finds hope in her future. I think Itʼs so hard to feel seen and loved and hopeful in the moment, but by reading these stories, I believe that she can feel that and get closer to it in her healing.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/a-ministry-born-from-loss-one-womans-mission-to-comfort-families-after-miscarriage-catholic-one-year-ago-sarah-elizabeth-pilato-a-catholic-mother-of-three-from-new-york-found-out-she.jpg)
“H.U.G.” — which stands for “Here, Understood, and Gently held” — is a book made up of over 30 testimonies from women who have walked through miscarriage and pregnancy loss.
U.S. — After making history by becoming the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk credited his enormous wealth to carefully following the Dave Ramsey envelope system.
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U.S. — The citizens of the United States have overwhelmingly voted to legally adopt the World Cup tourist known only as "Freddy the German."
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Exodus
19:2-6a
In those days, the Israelites came to the desert of Sinai and pitched camp.
While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,
Moses went up the mountain to God.
Then the LORD called to him and said,
“Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob;
tell the Israelites:
You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians
and how I bore you up on eagle wings
and brought you here to myself.
Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant,
you shall be my special possession,
dearer to me than all other people,
though all the earth is mine.
You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
5:6-11
Brothers and sisters:
Christ, while we were still helpless,
yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath.
Indeed, if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (v. 2).
On the one hand, God, like a sower, has generously gone out into the world, throughout history, and sowed in people’s hearts a desire for the infinite, for a fulfilled life and for salvation that sets us free. The harvest, then, is plentiful. The Kingdom of God grows like a seed in the ground, and the women and men of today, even when seemingly overwhelmed by so many other things, still yearn for a greater truth; they search for a fuller meaning for their lives, desire justice, and carry within themselves a longing for eternal life.
On the other hand, however, there are few laborers to go out into the field sown by the Lord; few who are able to distinguish, with the eyes of Jesus, the good grain that is ripe for harvesting (…).
To do this, we do not need too many theoretical ideas about pastoral plans. Instead, we need to pray to the Lord of the harvest. Priority must be given, then, to our relationship with the Lord and to cultivating our dialogue with him. In this way, he will make us his laborers and send us into the field of the world to bear witness to his Kingdom. (Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, 6 July 2025)
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Switzerland’s Grand Resort Bad Ragaz has mineral waters, saunas, and myriad treatments—all in one place.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/TAL-header-tamina-therme-grand-resort-bad-ragaz-FAVORITESPA0626-b4d7d5f47f824f09b1e649b06be8e484.jpg)
The Washington Post has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the newspaper secretly used readers’ personal data to charge different subscription prices.
The post Washington Post Slapped with Class Action Over Secret ‘Surveillance Pricing’ Scheme That Charged Readers Different Rates appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More![Archdiocese of Philadelphia opens new Sacred Heart adoration chapel to ‘bring people to the Lord’ – #Catholic – The Archdiocese of Philadelphia this week opened a new perpetual adoration chapel, one that Archbishop Nelson Pérez said is meant to draw “Catholics and non-Catholics for prayer before Christ” 24 hours a day. The Sacre Coeur Perpetual Adoration Chapel was opened on the property of St. Denis Church in Havertown on the western edge of the city. Pérez was the principal celebrant at the Mass during which the site was dedicated an archdiocesan shrine. In his homily the archbishop called attention to the liturgyʼs first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, in which Moses tells the Israelites that God “set his heart on you and chose you.” Pérez said the description of “the heart of God” grants “a very human attribute to a divine being.” Christ himself “is the very incarnation, the visible being, the manifestation of the very heart of God,” Pérez said. The prelate also noted the example of the 17th century nun St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who was responsible for spreading the devotion of the Sacred Heart through the Western Church. “She had an incredible heart for the Lord from a very, very, very young age,” the archbishop said. “And at a young age, she promised Our Lady that she would consecrate her life to the heart of Christ.” “She had a big heart,” Pérez continued. “Big hearts feel deeply. The biggest heart of them all is actually the heart of Christ, the heart of all hearts right from which all our hearts flow.”The archbishop predicted that the faithful “will come from all over the place” to the Sacre Coeur chapel, where they will “speak to the heart of Christ so beautifully present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.” “And at that moment — watch out,” he said. “Watch out. Because God will do what God will do.”Sacred space will ‘hopefully bring people to the Lord’The chapel came about in large part because of the work of Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald, two Philadelphia residents who several years ago identified the need for such a site in the city. Ward, the CEO of the I Am the Vine Foundation — a capital charity initiative — told “EWTN News Nightly” on June 12 that his wife Kathy had realized that “there were 12 parishes in Philadelphia within about a three mile radius that did not have perpetual adoration.”“The vision was to make a place that was beautiful and comfortable,” he said. “[W]e not only want people to be at peace when theyʼre talking to the Lord because of the beauty around them, [but] we also want to attract people that arenʼt [part of] the Church today.”“We felt that an adoration chapel was a way to bring meditation [and] conversation with the Lord without technically participating in the sacraments,” he said. “And many people that are either members of the Church and donʼt participate in the sacraments, or theyʼre not members of any church … still their hearts are restless.”At the dedication on June 12, Archbishop Pérez commended Ward and Kathy for their “big hearts” after their work to bring the chapel to life. “What a gift,” he said. “God will do what God will do, and only God knows right in his big, enormous heart what will happen in that chapel — how people will be touched, conversations will be had, [and] hearts will be healed.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/archdiocese-of-philadelphia-opens-new-sacred-heart-adoration-chapel-to-bring-people-to-the-lord-catholic-the-archdiocese-of-philadelphia-this-week-opened-a-new-perpetual-adoration-chapel-one.jpg "Archdiocese of Philadelphia opens new Sacred Heart adoration chapel to ‘bring people to the Lord’ – #Catholic – The Archdiocese of Philadelphia this week opened a new perpetual adoration chapel, one that Archbishop Nelson Pérez said is meant to draw “Catholics and non-Catholics for prayer before Christ” 24 hours a day. The Sacre Coeur Perpetual Adoration Chapel was opened on the property of St. Denis Church in Havertown on the western edge of the city. Pérez was the principal celebrant at the Mass during which the site was dedicated an archdiocesan shrine. In his homily the archbishop called attention to the liturgyʼs first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, in which Moses tells the Israelites that God “set his heart on you and chose you.” Pérez said the description of “the heart of God” grants “a very human attribute to a divine being.” Christ himself “is the very incarnation, the visible being, the manifestation of the very heart of God,” Pérez said. The prelate also noted the example of the 17th century nun St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who was responsible for spreading the devotion of the Sacred Heart through the Western Church. “She had an incredible heart for the Lord from a very, very, very young age,” the archbishop said. “And at a young age, she promised Our Lady that she would consecrate her life to the heart of Christ.” “She had a big heart,” Pérez continued. “Big hearts feel deeply. The biggest heart of them all is actually the heart of Christ, the heart of all hearts right from which all our hearts flow.”The archbishop predicted that the faithful “will come from all over the place” to the Sacre Coeur chapel, where they will “speak to the heart of Christ so beautifully present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.” “And at that moment — watch out,” he said. “Watch out. Because God will do what God will do.”Sacred space will ‘hopefully bring people to the Lord’The chapel came about in large part because of the work of Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald, two Philadelphia residents who several years ago identified the need for such a site in the city. Ward, the CEO of the I Am the Vine Foundation — a capital charity initiative — told “EWTN News Nightly” on June 12 that his wife Kathy had realized that “there were 12 parishes in Philadelphia within about a three mile radius that did not have perpetual adoration.”“The vision was to make a place that was beautiful and comfortable,” he said. “[W]e not only want people to be at peace when theyʼre talking to the Lord because of the beauty around them, [but] we also want to attract people that arenʼt [part of] the Church today.”“We felt that an adoration chapel was a way to bring meditation [and] conversation with the Lord without technically participating in the sacraments,” he said. “And many people that are either members of the Church and donʼt participate in the sacraments, or theyʼre not members of any church … still their hearts are restless.”At the dedication on June 12, Archbishop Pérez commended Ward and Kathy for their “big hearts” after their work to bring the chapel to life. “What a gift,” he said. “God will do what God will do, and only God knows right in his big, enormous heart what will happen in that chapel — how people will be touched, conversations will be had, [and] hearts will be healed.”")
Archbishop Nelson Pérez dedicated the perpetual adoration chapel an archdiocesan shrine during an opening event at the site on June 12.
Killer children are the new frontier in European organized crime.
The post ‘INDUSTRIAL SCALE’: Europol Issues Warning as Recruiting of Children for Criminal Acts Surges appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More![Catholics reaffirm human life’s value at Morristown procession, Mass #Catholic - Faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., proclaimed in English and Spanish, “Jesus Protects and Saves the Unborn,” as they walked the streets of Morristown in prayer on June 6 during the Monthly Mass and Procession for Life with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, also in Morristown. Participants reasserted their commitment to the dignity of all human life, from birth to natural death.
Before the procession, Bishop Sweeney celebrated Mass at St. Margaret’s. Father Duberney Villamizar, pastor of St. Margaret’s, concelebrated, and Deacon Tim Holden of the parish assisted.
Afterward, Bishop Sweeney led the faithful in a rosary procession down Speedwell Avenue to Planned Parenthood, where they prayed in front of the facility for an end to abortion.
Many carried signs with pro-life messages in English and Spanish, such as “Jesus Protects and Saves the Unborn.” The marchers then returned to St. Margaret’s, where they prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.
Everyone is welcome to join the Mass and Procession for Life with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, which takes place on the first Saturday of each month at 8 a.m. at St. Margaret’s.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
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Catholics reaffirm human life’s value at Morristown procession, Mass #Catholic – 
Faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., proclaimed in English and Spanish, “Jesus Protects and Saves the Unborn,” as they walked the streets of Morristown in prayer on June 6 during the Monthly Mass and Procession for Life with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, also in Morristown. Participants reasserted their commitment to the dignity of all human life, from birth to natural death.
Before the procession, Bishop Sweeney celebrated Mass at St. Margaret’s. Father Duberney Villamizar, pastor of St. Margaret’s, concelebrated, and Deacon Tim Holden of the parish assisted.
Afterward, Bishop Sweeney led the faithful in a rosary procession down Speedwell Avenue to Planned Parenthood, where they prayed in front of the facility for an end to abortion.
Many carried signs with pro-life messages in English and Spanish, such as “Jesus Protects and Saves the Unborn.” The marchers then returned to St. Margaret’s, where they prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.
Everyone is welcome to join the Mass and Procession for Life with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, which takes place on the first Saturday of each month at 8 a.m. at St. Margaret’s.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
– Faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., proclaimed in English and Spanish, “Jesus Protects and Saves the Unborn,” as they walked the streets of Morristown in prayer on June 6 during the Monthly Mass and Procession for Life with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, also in Morristown. Participants reasserted their commitment to the dignity of all human life, from birth to natural death. Before the procession, Bishop Sweeney celebrated Mass at St. Margaret’s. Father Duberney Villamizar, pastor of St. Margaret’s, concelebrated, and Deacon Tim Holden of the parish assisted. Afterward, Bishop Sweeney led the faithful in
The name of a young German model who vanished without a trace in 2015 has appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files, raising fresh and disturbing questions about whether she was targeted by the convicted sex offender’s network.
The post Missing German Model’s Name Surfaces in Epstein Files 11 Years After Disappearance, Family Fears She Was Killed by Sex Traffickers appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MorePioneer 10 holds the titles for many “firsts”: It was NASA’s first mission to the outer planets, the first spacecraft to fly beyond Mars, the first to traverse the asteroid belt, and the first to fly past Jupiter. It was also the first spacecraft placed on a trajectory to escape the solar system into interstellarContinue reading “June 13, 1983: Pioneer 10 leaves solar system”
The post June 13, 1983: Pioneer 10 leaves solar system appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Easily identified by the spectacular band of dark dust that partially obscures its bright core, Messier 64, or the Black Eye Galaxy, is characterized by its bizarre internal motion.
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Bishops in Northern Ireland call for peace, abuse victims in Australia clash with diocese, anti-Catholic legislation in France fails, Zimbabwe, and more in this week’s Catholic world news roundup.
Kenyan police have arrested a suspect in the May 2025 murder of Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett, who was shot while returning from a Eucharistic celebration in Kenya’s troubled Kerio Valley region.
| Picture of the day |
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Malabar pied hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) female in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. Like all hornbills, the bird has a large casque; the male’s casque is even larger.
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The Holy Father’s visit from June 6–12 took him to Madrid, Barcelona, the Canary Islands, and Tenerife.
![St. Anthony of Padua considered ‘all the world as his home’ – #Catholic – The widespread popularity of St. Anthony of Padua, whose feast is celebrated in the Catholic Church on June 13, can be traced to his efforts of reaching out as a neighbor to all peoples, according to the rector of the basilica where the saint’s body rests.“The devotion to the ‘Saint of the Peoples’ is truly universal perhaps because he himself desired to consider all the world his as his home,” Father Oliviero Svanera, rector of the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua, Italy, told EWTN News.“He was Portuguese by birth, he went to Morocco to spread the faith, he landed in Sicily by shipwreck, then he went back up the Italian peninsula all the way to Assisi and joined the friars of St. Francis, who sent him all the way to France.”Once St. Anthony returned to Italy he was appointed provincial superior and served in Padua, where he died in 1231.“It is told that he would speak one language made of a thousand accents but which was understandable to all,” Svanera said. “As such, he was a neighbor to all: to the poor, to people in difficulty, to the sick. In this, his being ‘brother of all’ is perhaps his universality, something that renders him a friend of all the peoples of the world, beyond nationality, culture, and even religions, given that St. Anthony is respected even by those who do not profess the Catholic faith.”St. Anthony was born as Fernando Martins in Lisbon around 1195, and when he was 15 he entered the Abbey of St. Vincent with the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and was ordained a priest.In 1220 he was deeply moved when he encountered the relics of five Franciscan missionaries who had been martyred in Morocco. He was allowed to leave the Augustinians to join the Order of Friars Minor, where he took the name Anthony. He worked as a preacher and laid the foundations of Franciscan theology.He was canonized in 1232, only a year after his death, by Gregory IX, who had heard him preach and called him the “Ark of the Testament.”It was also in 1232 that construction of the basilica that houses St. Anthony’s body was begun. It was finished at the beginning of the 14th century.Svanera explained the famous “Tredicina” that takes place before St. Anthony’s feast day.“The word ‘Tredicina’ [refers to] the 13 days of meditation and spiritual preparation for the solemnity of the saint — that is, from May 31 to June 13. Every day those devoted to St. Anthony invoke the intercession of the saint through a particular prayer … to entrust themselves to the mercy of God the Father. These are the days in which the basilica becomes the goal of pilgrims, both individuals and those organized in groups, and our sanctuary becomes truly universal, as in these days of veneration and prayer there are tens of thousands of pilgrims who come here from every country of the world.”The priest also explained the story behind another popular tradition related to the famous saint called the “Bread of St. Anthony.”“The birth of this tradition of charity has its roots in one of the ‘miracles’ of the saint, that of Tommasino, a baby of 20 months who drowned in a washtub,” Svanera said. “The desperate mother invoked the help of the saint and vowed that if she would obtain this grace, she would give to the poor the child’s weight in bread. And the little one returned miraculously to life.”This gave rise, he said, to two Antonian works faithful to the spirit of St. Anthony: the Bread Work of the Poor (“l’Opera Pane dei Poveri”) — an organization in Padua that works to bring bread and other necessities to people in difficulty; and also Caritas Sant’Antonio, which supports many development projects in dozens of countries around the world.Svanera also highlighted the key lessons of St. Anthony’s life.“St. Anthony’s preaching was always capable of provoking the hearts of everyone,” he said. “And this too is thanks to his exemplary life and his humility, which he learned from Most Holy Mary, to whom he was profoundly devoted.”He continued: “St. Anthony proclaimed the Gospel which conquers the temptation of power, the temptation of pride, the temptation … of worldliness … Through his love, St. Anthony knew to stoop for the other (refugee, migrant, unemployed, alone, sick, imprisoned, marginalized, poor) and to take care of him. We will thus be effective Christians of a Church which goes forth if, like St. Anthony, we manage to go forth from ourselves to preach Christ crucified, following him with a style of humility, of true humility, a humility full of love.”This story was first published on June 13, 2017, and has been updated.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/st-anthony-of-padua-considered-all-the-world-as-his-home-catholic-the-widespread-popularity-of-st-anthony-of-padua-whose-feast-is-celebrated-in-the-catholic-church-on-june-13.jpg "St. Anthony of Padua considered ‘all the world as his home’ – #Catholic – The widespread popularity of St. Anthony of Padua, whose feast is celebrated in the Catholic Church on June 13, can be traced to his efforts of reaching out as a neighbor to all peoples, according to the rector of the basilica where the saint’s body rests.“The devotion to the ‘Saint of the Peoples’ is truly universal perhaps because he himself desired to consider all the world his as his home,” Father Oliviero Svanera, rector of the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua, Italy, told EWTN News.“He was Portuguese by birth, he went to Morocco to spread the faith, he landed in Sicily by shipwreck, then he went back up the Italian peninsula all the way to Assisi and joined the friars of St. Francis, who sent him all the way to France.”Once St. Anthony returned to Italy he was appointed provincial superior and served in Padua, where he died in 1231.“It is told that he would speak one language made of a thousand accents but which was understandable to all,” Svanera said. “As such, he was a neighbor to all: to the poor, to people in difficulty, to the sick. In this, his being ‘brother of all’ is perhaps his universality, something that renders him a friend of all the peoples of the world, beyond nationality, culture, and even religions, given that St. Anthony is respected even by those who do not profess the Catholic faith.”St. Anthony was born as Fernando Martins in Lisbon around 1195, and when he was 15 he entered the Abbey of St. Vincent with the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and was ordained a priest.In 1220 he was deeply moved when he encountered the relics of five Franciscan missionaries who had been martyred in Morocco. He was allowed to leave the Augustinians to join the Order of Friars Minor, where he took the name Anthony. He worked as a preacher and laid the foundations of Franciscan theology.He was canonized in 1232, only a year after his death, by Gregory IX, who had heard him preach and called him the “Ark of the Testament.”It was also in 1232 that construction of the basilica that houses St. Anthony’s body was begun. It was finished at the beginning of the 14th century.Svanera explained the famous “Tredicina” that takes place before St. Anthony’s feast day.“The word ‘Tredicina’ [refers to] the 13 days of meditation and spiritual preparation for the solemnity of the saint — that is, from May 31 to June 13. Every day those devoted to St. Anthony invoke the intercession of the saint through a particular prayer … to entrust themselves to the mercy of God the Father. These are the days in which the basilica becomes the goal of pilgrims, both individuals and those organized in groups, and our sanctuary becomes truly universal, as in these days of veneration and prayer there are tens of thousands of pilgrims who come here from every country of the world.”The priest also explained the story behind another popular tradition related to the famous saint called the “Bread of St. Anthony.”“The birth of this tradition of charity has its roots in one of the ‘miracles’ of the saint, that of Tommasino, a baby of 20 months who drowned in a washtub,” Svanera said. “The desperate mother invoked the help of the saint and vowed that if she would obtain this grace, she would give to the poor the child’s weight in bread. And the little one returned miraculously to life.”This gave rise, he said, to two Antonian works faithful to the spirit of St. Anthony: the Bread Work of the Poor (“l’Opera Pane dei Poveri”) — an organization in Padua that works to bring bread and other necessities to people in difficulty; and also Caritas Sant’Antonio, which supports many development projects in dozens of countries around the world.Svanera also highlighted the key lessons of St. Anthony’s life.“St. Anthony’s preaching was always capable of provoking the hearts of everyone,” he said. “And this too is thanks to his exemplary life and his humility, which he learned from Most Holy Mary, to whom he was profoundly devoted.”He continued: “St. Anthony proclaimed the Gospel which conquers the temptation of power, the temptation of pride, the temptation … of worldliness … Through his love, St. Anthony knew to stoop for the other (refugee, migrant, unemployed, alone, sick, imprisoned, marginalized, poor) and to take care of him. We will thus be effective Christians of a Church which goes forth if, like St. Anthony, we manage to go forth from ourselves to preach Christ crucified, following him with a style of humility, of true humility, a humility full of love.”This story was first published on June 13, 2017, and has been updated.")
On June 13 the Church celebrates St. Anthony of Padua, whose widespread popularity can be traced to his efforts at reaching out as a neighbor to all.
