Deacon John Zak was “an active member of the community” before he was killed on March 11, police said.
![Cuban government to release 51 prisoners following Vatican talks #Catholic The Cuban government announced that it will release 51 people from prison because of its “smooth” relations with the Vatican — a move that coincides with the upcoming observance of Holy Week.“In the spirit of goodwill, and of the close and smooth relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican — with which communication regarding processes for the review and release of persons deprived of liberty has historically been maintained — the government of Cuba has decided to release, in the coming days, 51 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty [prison],” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a March 12 statement.The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on March 13 that “conversations regarding the release of prisoners have recently taken place.”The statement from the Cuban ministry notes that all these individuals “have served a significant portion of their sentences and have maintained good conduct in prison”; however, it does not indicate whether the group includes political prisoners.The communist regime states that since 2010, it “has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates, while — over the last three years, as part of Cuban practice and pursuant to the provisions of our legislation — another 10,000 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty were released based on certain conditions.”This announcement comes amid renewed tensions between Cuba and the United States, which began in January, and the recent meetings that representatives from both countries have held with Vatican officials.On Feb. 20, the U.S. chief of mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, held a meeting at the Vatican with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on March 9 that the Holy See has taken “the necessary steps” regarding the situation in Cuba, “always with a view to a solution to the existing problems through dialogue.”In January 2025, the Cuban regime also announced the release of 553 prisoners following mediation by Pope Francis and “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News correspondent in Rome, contributed to this report.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/2026/03/cuban-government-to-release-51-prisoners-following-vatican-talks-catholic-the-cuban-government-announced-that-it-will-release-51-people-from-prison-because-of-its-smooth-relations-w.webp "Cuban government to release 51 prisoners following Vatican talks #Catholic The Cuban government announced that it will release 51 people from prison because of its “smooth” relations with the Vatican — a move that coincides with the upcoming observance of Holy Week.“In the spirit of goodwill, and of the close and smooth relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican — with which communication regarding processes for the review and release of persons deprived of liberty has historically been maintained — the government of Cuba has decided to release, in the coming days, 51 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty [prison],” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a March 12 statement.The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on March 13 that “conversations regarding the release of prisoners have recently taken place.”The statement from the Cuban ministry notes that all these individuals “have served a significant portion of their sentences and have maintained good conduct in prison”; however, it does not indicate whether the group includes political prisoners.The communist regime states that since 2010, it “has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates, while — over the last three years, as part of Cuban practice and pursuant to the provisions of our legislation — another 10,000 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty were released based on certain conditions.”This announcement comes amid renewed tensions between Cuba and the United States, which began in January, and the recent meetings that representatives from both countries have held with Vatican officials.On Feb. 20, the U.S. chief of mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, held a meeting at the Vatican with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on March 9 that the Holy See has taken “the necessary steps” regarding the situation in Cuba, “always with a view to a solution to the existing problems through dialogue.”In January 2025, the Cuban regime also announced the release of 553 prisoners following mediation by Pope Francis and “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News correspondent in Rome, contributed to this report.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 regime stated the decision was made in a “spirit of goodwill” and because of its good relations with the Holy See, but did not indicate if any of those to be released are political prisoners.
Renovación Carismática Católica de la Diócesis de Paterson presenta su nueva coordinación y plan pastoral 2026 #Catholic – 
En un ambiente de oración, comunión fraterna y presencia del Espíritu Santo, el comité de la Renovación Carismática Católica (RCC) de la Diócesis de Paterson sostuvo un significativo encuentro el jueves 5 de marzo con el Padre Duberney Villamizar, Vicario para Asuntos Hispanos de la diócesis.
Durante la reunión, el comité diocesano presentó formalmente la nueva coordinación de la Renovación y el plan pastoral que guiará las actividades y proyectos para el año 2026. También se compartieron los primeros frutos y avances alcanzados desde el inicio de esta nueva etapa pastoral, comenzada en diciembre de 2025.
Uno de los puntos centrales del encuentro fue la presentación del lema pastoral del año: “Alma Sana, Corazón Libre”, una invitación a vivir una vida interior sanada, renovada por la gracia del Espíritu Santo y abierta a una experiencia más profunda del amor del Padre Celestial.
Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.
El Padre Duberney recibió con entusiasmo las iniciativas presentadas y ofreció valiosos aportes pastorales, ideas y orientaciones que fortalecerán el desarrollo de las actividades programadas en la diócesis.
La RCC Paterson cuenta además con el acompañamiento pastoral del Padre Yasid Salas como Director Espiritual y con la misión de intercesión confiada a Yamily Rosario, Coordinadora del Ministerio de Intercesión.
– En un ambiente de oración, comunión fraterna y presencia del Espíritu Santo, el comité de la Renovación Carismática Católica (RCC) de la Diócesis de Paterson sostuvo un significativo encuentro el jueves 5 de marzo con el Padre Duberney Villamizar, Vicario para Asuntos Hispanos de la diócesis. Durante la reunión, el comité diocesano presentó formalmente la nueva coordinación de la Renovación y el plan pastoral que guiará las actividades y proyectos para el año 2026. También se compartieron los primeros frutos y avances alcanzados desde el inicio de esta nueva etapa pastoral, comenzada en diciembre de 2025. Uno de los puntos
Two powerful instruments of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope joined forces to create this scenic galaxy view. This spiral galaxy is named NGC 5134, and it’s located 65 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
Read More![Nicaraguan dictator Ortega bans ordinations in dioceses of 4 exiled bishops – #Catholic – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, have banned the ordination of priests and deacons in four dioceses in Nicaragua whose bishops remain in exile. The measure exacerbates a pastoral crisis already marked by years of religious persecution, although vocations continue.The four dioceses without a bishop present in the country are Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa, and Estelí. Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, president of the bishops’ conference, was expelled in November 2024 after criticizing a mayor aligned with the regime who had interfered with a Mass Herrera was celebrating by blasting loud music outside.Months earlier, in July of that year, Herrera had ordained a priest and seven deacons in the neighboring Diocese of Matagalpa, whose bishop, Rolando Álvarez, after spending 18 months in detention, was deported to Rome by the regime in January 2024.This ordination represented a “liturgical oasis” for the Church, in the words of Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church.” “It occurred six months after Álvarez, who is also apostolic administrator of Estelí, and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna were deported by the dictatorship.”The dictatorship’s ‘hatred’ of Álvarez prevents ordinationsACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, spoke with three Nicaraguan priests in exile who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from the regime.“The government is the one affecting the ordinations. And besides the ordinations, there are many other things, like a little more surveillance” of the priests, said one of the clergy.He pointed out that “the police are the ones enforcing all of this” and attributed the ban in Matagalpa to “the dictatorship’s hatred of Bishop Rolando.”The same priest charged that the regime seeks to “supplant the bishops” and that some clergy “don’t put up a fight to avoid making their lives more difficult, with the idea of saving their dioceses, but in the end they are surrendering their mandate to whatever the government says.”The priest noted that Matagalpa is probably the most affected diocese, with at least 32 of its priests outside the country.‘More extreme surveillance’ where there is no bishop“Especially in dioceses without a bishop, surveillance is even more extreme to prevent a bishop from another diocese from coming” for some liturgical event, the second priest contacted by ACI Prensa stated.According to this priest, there are currently about seven candidates for the priesthood in Siuna who completed their studies in 2025, plus another group that finished in 2024, and both groups are still waiting to be ordained. Despite this situation, the phenomenon “does not seem to have affected new admissions” to the seminary.Why can some dioceses perform ordinations while others cannot?The third priest explained that “León, Granada, Juigalpa, and Bluefields are dioceses that have their diocesan bishop there and maintain a very prudent approach, even though some media outlets have labeled one of [the bishops] as an ally of the regime. That’s not true; they are simply more practical for the good of their pastors and their flock.”He also explained that to carry out an ordination, a letter of authorization from the bishop is required, which “can be easily obtained because it can be sent by email, and they can allow candidates to be ordained in other dioceses.”However, the obstacle is political. “The problem is that the government interprets that permission, those letters, as an intrusion into their sovereignty and sees as a threat a bishop who is away but continues to govern his diocese,” he explained.Problems caused by the lack of ordinationsFor Molina, the ban on ordinations has an “alarming” impact since, for example, “Matagalpa is currently operating with barely 30% of its active clergy. Seven out of 10 priests have been forced into exile or banishment,” while “Estelí and Jinotega have experienced reductions of up to 50% in their pastoral capacity, leaving entire communities without the regular celebration of the Eucharist.”“The human drama is concentrated in the seminaries. Dozens of young men who have successfully completed their studies in philosophy, theology, and pastoral training find themselves in a legal and spiritual limbo. They possess the aptitude and the calling, but they cannot receive the sacrament [of holy orders],” the researcher told ACI Prensa.“Without replacements for the priests who have been banished, expelled, or who have died, the Catholic Church in Nicaragua faces the real possibility of a gradual closure of parishes,” she warned, adding that “the absence of a priest means” for the faithful “the end of social support and the loss of [the graces of] the sacraments.” ACI Prensa contacted the five dioceses where priestly and diaconal ordinations are permitted to inquire why they are allowed there but not in the other four but has not yet received a response.The dioceses where ordinations are permitted are the Archdiocese of Managua along with the dioceses of León, Juigalpa, Granada, and Bluefields. In December 2025, three deacons were ordained in Juigalpa, and in January of this year, two were ordained in Bluefields.In June 2025, eight deacons were ordained in Managua, and in November they were ordained priests. Six of them were assigned their pastoral missions in February, while in León a deacon was ordained on Feb. 28.ACI Prensa also contacted the dioceses where ordinations are prohibited to inquire about the issue but has not yet received a response.Vocations continue to flourishOne point on which the three exiled priests agree is that vocations continue to flourish in Nicaragua and “the Lord continues to raise up courageous young men who listen to him and enter into the process of vocational discernment.”The third priest contacted by ACI Prensa emphasized that “even though the government wants to prevent priestly ordinations, there have been ways in which the Church, the bishops, have managed and sought to make them happen without the government noticing. This demonstrates the Church’s resourcefulness in the face of adversity, how it reinvents itself, how it continues to evangelize.”Mosaico CSI reported in February that “two Nicaraguans were ordained priests in the Diocese of Limón, Costa Rica, in a secretly held ceremony” to avoid reprisals from the Nicaraguan regime.The third priest emphasized that “obstacles are not a problem for the Church, but rather a cross that the Church bravely embraces, as Our Lord taught us, and that propels it on this path to resurrection.”The Church is ‘crucified but not immobilized’This last priest offered a reflection on the dictatorship’s persecution of the Catholic Church, which has intensified since the anti-regime protests of 2018.“One day, those people who ordered us not to celebrate these ordination rites will also find that glorious cross in the Church and will realize the harm they are doing, but in the meantime, the Church has continued working,” he emphasized.“The Church in Nicaragua is crucified, but it’s not immobilized; that is to say, the cross continues to bear even more fruit because the Church is not complacent, it’s not static. It’s on the move,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/nicaraguan-dictator-ortega-bans-ordinations-in-dioceses-of-4-exiled-bishops-catholic-nicaraguan-president-daniel-ortega-and-his-wife-and-co-president-rosario-murillo-have-banned-the-ordination.webp "Nicaraguan dictator Ortega bans ordinations in dioceses of 4 exiled bishops – #Catholic – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, have banned the ordination of priests and deacons in four dioceses in Nicaragua whose bishops remain in exile. The measure exacerbates a pastoral crisis already marked by years of religious persecution, although vocations continue.The four dioceses without a bishop present in the country are Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa, and Estelí. Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, president of the bishops’ conference, was expelled in November 2024 after criticizing a mayor aligned with the regime who had interfered with a Mass Herrera was celebrating by blasting loud music outside.Months earlier, in July of that year, Herrera had ordained a priest and seven deacons in the neighboring Diocese of Matagalpa, whose bishop, Rolando Álvarez, after spending 18 months in detention, was deported to Rome by the regime in January 2024.This ordination represented a “liturgical oasis” for the Church, in the words of Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church.” “It occurred six months after Álvarez, who is also apostolic administrator of Estelí, and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna were deported by the dictatorship.”The dictatorship’s ‘hatred’ of Álvarez prevents ordinationsACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, spoke with three Nicaraguan priests in exile who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from the regime.“The government is the one affecting the ordinations. And besides the ordinations, there are many other things, like a little more surveillance” of the priests, said one of the clergy.He pointed out that “the police are the ones enforcing all of this” and attributed the ban in Matagalpa to “the dictatorship’s hatred of Bishop Rolando.”The same priest charged that the regime seeks to “supplant the bishops” and that some clergy “don’t put up a fight to avoid making their lives more difficult, with the idea of saving their dioceses, but in the end they are surrendering their mandate to whatever the government says.”The priest noted that Matagalpa is probably the most affected diocese, with at least 32 of its priests outside the country.‘More extreme surveillance’ where there is no bishop“Especially in dioceses without a bishop, surveillance is even more extreme to prevent a bishop from another diocese from coming” for some liturgical event, the second priest contacted by ACI Prensa stated.According to this priest, there are currently about seven candidates for the priesthood in Siuna who completed their studies in 2025, plus another group that finished in 2024, and both groups are still waiting to be ordained. Despite this situation, the phenomenon “does not seem to have affected new admissions” to the seminary.Why can some dioceses perform ordinations while others cannot?The third priest explained that “León, Granada, Juigalpa, and Bluefields are dioceses that have their diocesan bishop there and maintain a very prudent approach, even though some media outlets have labeled one of [the bishops] as an ally of the regime. That’s not true; they are simply more practical for the good of their pastors and their flock.”He also explained that to carry out an ordination, a letter of authorization from the bishop is required, which “can be easily obtained because it can be sent by email, and they can allow candidates to be ordained in other dioceses.”However, the obstacle is political. “The problem is that the government interprets that permission, those letters, as an intrusion into their sovereignty and sees as a threat a bishop who is away but continues to govern his diocese,” he explained.Problems caused by the lack of ordinationsFor Molina, the ban on ordinations has an “alarming” impact since, for example, “Matagalpa is currently operating with barely 30% of its active clergy. Seven out of 10 priests have been forced into exile or banishment,” while “Estelí and Jinotega have experienced reductions of up to 50% in their pastoral capacity, leaving entire communities without the regular celebration of the Eucharist.”“The human drama is concentrated in the seminaries. Dozens of young men who have successfully completed their studies in philosophy, theology, and pastoral training find themselves in a legal and spiritual limbo. They possess the aptitude and the calling, but they cannot receive the sacrament [of holy orders],” the researcher told ACI Prensa.“Without replacements for the priests who have been banished, expelled, or who have died, the Catholic Church in Nicaragua faces the real possibility of a gradual closure of parishes,” she warned, adding that “the absence of a priest means” for the faithful “the end of social support and the loss of [the graces of] the sacraments.” ACI Prensa contacted the five dioceses where priestly and diaconal ordinations are permitted to inquire why they are allowed there but not in the other four but has not yet received a response.The dioceses where ordinations are permitted are the Archdiocese of Managua along with the dioceses of León, Juigalpa, Granada, and Bluefields. In December 2025, three deacons were ordained in Juigalpa, and in January of this year, two were ordained in Bluefields.In June 2025, eight deacons were ordained in Managua, and in November they were ordained priests. Six of them were assigned their pastoral missions in February, while in León a deacon was ordained on Feb. 28.ACI Prensa also contacted the dioceses where ordinations are prohibited to inquire about the issue but has not yet received a response.Vocations continue to flourishOne point on which the three exiled priests agree is that vocations continue to flourish in Nicaragua and “the Lord continues to raise up courageous young men who listen to him and enter into the process of vocational discernment.”The third priest contacted by ACI Prensa emphasized that “even though the government wants to prevent priestly ordinations, there have been ways in which the Church, the bishops, have managed and sought to make them happen without the government noticing. This demonstrates the Church’s resourcefulness in the face of adversity, how it reinvents itself, how it continues to evangelize.”Mosaico CSI reported in February that “two Nicaraguans were ordained priests in the Diocese of Limón, Costa Rica, in a secretly held ceremony” to avoid reprisals from the Nicaraguan regime.The third priest emphasized that “obstacles are not a problem for the Church, but rather a cross that the Church bravely embraces, as Our Lord taught us, and that propels it on this path to resurrection.”The Church is ‘crucified but not immobilized’This last priest offered a reflection on the dictatorship’s persecution of the Catholic Church, which has intensified since the anti-regime protests of 2018.“One day, those people who ordered us not to celebrate these ordination rites will also find that glorious cross in the Church and will realize the harm they are doing, but in the meantime, the Church has continued working,” he emphasized.“The Church in Nicaragua is crucified, but it’s not immobilized; that is to say, the cross continues to bear even more fruit because the Church is not complacent, it’s not static. It’s on the move,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.")
Having deported four bishops for their criticism of the regime, the Nicaraguan dictator seeks to punish them further by not allowing any ordinations in their dioceses.
In March of 1989, a highly active sunspot region released multiple extreme solar flares, including an X4.5 flare on March 10 and a M7.3 flare on March 12. Solar flares are ranked as B, C, M, and X class, with B being the weakest and X the strongest. Within B, C, and M classes, flareContinue reading “March 13, 1989: Quebec goes dark”
The post March 13, 1989: Quebec goes dark appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Ending temporary protected status would be “sending people into a burning building,” he said. “Haiti is a country that is in free fall.”
Amid a new Israeli military incursion into southern Lebanon, a local parish priest embodied Christ in the way he lived and died.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An uncharacteristically rotund Pete Hegseth held a press conference to deny having any knowledge of what happened to all the leftover lobster that had been procured for the troops.
Read More
NEW YORK, NY — Heaven rejoiced today after a Jewish man accepted Jesus and converted to Christianity. Sources confirmed that the man was converted thanks to the powerful witness of an X user who proclaimed, "Christ is King, you filthy money-grubbin’ Jew."
Read More
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Two children playing with colours on the Hindu festival of Holi in Bangladesh. Today is Holi.
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When a shooter attacked at Old Dominion University today, he managed to kill at least one person and injure others, but he didn’t last long.
The post UPDATE: ROTC Students at Old Dominion Beat Shooter to Death With Their Bare Hands (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More
Prior to getting into politics, Texas Democrat James Talarico was a middle school teacher in San Antonio.
The post REPORT: As a Public School Teacher, Texas Democrat James Talarico Had Students Write ‘Obama Memoirs’ and Encouraged Them to Watch the DNC appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More
The recent non-troversy now known as Lobstergate is a fake outrage, ginned up by the usual Trump haters in our liberal media and embraced by various Democrats and late night propagandists.
The post BACKFIRE: How Lobstergate Makes Our Liberal Elites Look Even More Out of Touch appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreGod Our Heavenly Father,
You created the world to serve humanity’s needs
and to lead them to You.
By our own fault
we have lost the beautiful relationship
which we once had with all Your creation.
Help us to see that by restoring our relationship with You
we will also restore it with all Your creation.
Give us the grace to see all animals as gifts from You
and to treat them with respect
for they are Your creation.
We pray for all animals
who are suffering as a result of …
A reading from the Book of Hosea
14:2-10
Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion."
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
From the Gospel according to Mark
12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
We can ask ourselves, in giving his assent, why did that scribe feel the need to repeat Jesus’ same words? (…) This repetition is a teaching for all of us who are listening. For the Word of the Lord cannot be received as any other type of news. The Word of the Lord should be repeated, made one’s own, safeguarded. (…) We could say that it is so nutritious that it must reach every aspect of life: to involve, as Jesus says today, the entire heart, the entire soul, the entire mind, all of our strength (cf. v. 30). (…) Let us take for example today’s Gospel: it is not enough to read it and understand that we should love God and our neighbour. It is necessary that this commandment, which is the “great commandment”, resound in us, that it be assimilated, that it become the voice of our conscience. This way, it does not remain a dead letter, in the drawer of the heart, because the Holy Spirit makes the seed of that Word germinate in us. (…) Today, therefore, let us take the example of this scribe. Let us repeat Jesus’ words, making them resound in us: “To love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength and my neighbour as myself”. And let us ask ourselves: does this commandment truly orient my life? Does this commandment resonate in my daily life? It would be good this evening, before going to sleep, to make an examination of conscience on this Word, to see if we have loved the Lord today and if we have done a little good to those we happened to meet. May every encounter bring about a little bit of good, a little bit of love that comes from this Word. (Francis – Angelus, 31 October 2021)
Read More![Pompton Lakes workshop sparks deeper conversations about mental health #Catholic - About 40 people attended “Mental Health Matters,” an interactive workshop held March 5 at St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes, N.J. They discussed common mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma.
The Paterson Diocese in New Jersey hosted the Mental Health Association of New Jersey (MHA-NJ) for a workshop. Presenters clearly explained mental health to attendees, including those who support others. The workshop aimed to build audience confidence in supporting people experiencing these challenges.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney opened the workshop with a prayer. Lynette Sheard, director of the MHA-NJ’s New Jersey Mental Health Players, led a skit with her team about a person experiencing a mental health crisis, then discussed the situation in character with the audience.
John Cammarata, executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls Evangelization Center in Madison, N.J., and director of diocesan Youth Ministry, coordinated the event with Salesian Sister Theresa Lee, the diocesan chancellor and delegate for religious.
“Experiencing the N.J. Mental Health Players opened the door to deeper conversations about mental illness and the role faith can play in comfort and healing. The evening was an important first step toward understanding, compassion, and hope for those who need it most,” Cammarata said.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pompton-lakes-workshop-sparks-deeper-conversations-about-mental-health-catholic-about-40-people-attended-mental-health-matters-an-interactive-workshop-held-march-5-at-st-mary.jpg)
Pompton Lakes workshop sparks deeper conversations about mental health #Catholic – 
About 40 people attended “Mental Health Matters,” an interactive workshop held March 5 at St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes, N.J. They discussed common mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma.
The Paterson Diocese in New Jersey hosted the Mental Health Association of New Jersey (MHA-NJ) for a workshop. Presenters clearly explained mental health to attendees, including those who support others. The workshop aimed to build audience confidence in supporting people experiencing these challenges.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney opened the workshop with a prayer. Lynette Sheard, director of the MHA-NJ’s New Jersey Mental Health Players, led a skit with her team about a person experiencing a mental health crisis, then discussed the situation in character with the audience.
John Cammarata, executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls Evangelization Center in Madison, N.J., and director of diocesan Youth Ministry, coordinated the event with Salesian Sister Theresa Lee, the diocesan chancellor and delegate for religious.
“Experiencing the N.J. Mental Health Players opened the door to deeper conversations about mental illness and the role faith can play in comfort and healing. The evening was an important first step toward understanding, compassion, and hope for those who need it most,” Cammarata said.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
– About 40 people attended “Mental Health Matters,” an interactive workshop held March 5 at St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes, N.J. They discussed common mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma. The Paterson Diocese in New Jersey hosted the Mental Health Association of New Jersey (MHA-NJ) for a workshop. Presenters clearly explained mental health to attendees, including those who support others. The workshop aimed to build audience confidence in supporting people experiencing these challenges. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney opened the workshop with a prayer. Lynette Sheard, director of the
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In the courtyard of St. George Church, in a scene marked by tears, prayer, and hope, mourners bid farewell to a beloved priest who was killed after shelling struck his town.
Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín will succeed Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who has been appointed metropolitan archbishop of Łódź, Poland.
US Maronite bishops mourn priest killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon village #Catholic – 
(OSV News) — Two Maronite bishops in the U.S. are calling for prayer, dialogue and solidarity after a Maronite priest was killed in Lebanon amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Father Pierre al-Rahi succumbed to injuries sustained March 9 when an Israeli artillery tank fired on a house in the southern Lebanon village of Qlayaa.
Lebanon and several other Middle East nations have come under attack since U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, launched Feb. 28 and met with counterattacks by that nation, have plunged the region — as well as global relations and markets — into uncertainty.
Father al-Rahi, also known by his French name Pierre el-Raï, had along with other priests refused Israeli orders to evacuate the Maronite village, located a few miles from the border with Israel and home to some 8,000.
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When the strike took place, Father al-Rahi “didn’t wait” but “went to jump in right away” after hearing “one of the homes in his town was bombarded,” Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, who heads the St. Louis-based Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, told OSV News.
But, said Bishop Zaidan, the priest was injured in a second strike that took place “right away” after the first, and then “died in the hospital.”
In a message shared with OSV News, Maronite Bishop Gregory J. Mansour of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York, reflected on Father al-Rahi’s death by quoting John 15:13: “No greater love has any man than to give his life for his friends.”
“May God’s good servant, Father Pierre Al Rahi, rest in peace,” said Bishop Mansour. “May his patriarch, bishop, brother priests, parishioners and family be consoled by the Holy Spirit.”
Bishop Zaidan called the priest’s death a “sad story and unfortunate situation.”
With roots in Syria and Lebanon, the global Maronite Catholic Church — one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that, along with the Roman Catholic Church, comprise the universal Catholic Church — mourns to see Lebanon ravaged again by war, said Bishop Zaidan.
“It’s definitely a sadness and a sorrow, because Lebanon is a spiritual home for Maronites, like the Vatican is for all Catholics,” he said. “And we feel that attachment.”
Yet in the midst of death, the hope of new life through Christ is present, said Bishop Zaidan.
“The blood of martyrs helps to build the Church in that way, and gives us the determination to keep going despite everything, and to witness to the love of Christ in that perspective,” he said.
Bishop Zaidan offered a message for the faithful following the priest’s death.
“I would say, as Pope Leo XIV has, enough violence; let’s dialogue, let’s talk,” he said.
In addition, “keep praying and praying and praying,” Bishop Zaidan urged.
And, he said, “stand in solidarity” with those suffering in the war by thinking about and reflecting on what they are experiencing.
“I think we go a long way from that perspective, because ‘whatever you have done to the least of my brothers and sisters, you’ve done it to me,’” said Bishop Zaidan, quoting Matthew 25:40. “This gesture of support that says, ‘We’re praying for you, we’re thinking about you, we’re feeling for you’ — I think this beautiful support can help our brothers and sisters.”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
– (OSV News) — Two Maronite bishops in the U.S. are calling for prayer, dialogue and solidarity after a Maronite priest was killed in Lebanon amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Father Pierre al-Rahi succumbed to injuries sustained March 9 when an Israeli artillery tank fired on a house in the southern Lebanon village of Qlayaa. Lebanon and several other Middle East nations have come under attack since U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, launched Feb. 28 and met with counterattacks by that nation, have plunged the region — as well as global relations and markets — into uncertainty. Father al-Rahi, also known
US peacebuilding a ‘strategic and moral imperative,’ advocates say at Notre Dame event #Catholic – 
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — With American peacebuilding at a “crossroads,” amid global conflict and changes in U.S. foreign policy, a Notre Dame conference March 10 in the nation’s capital examined how to meet new challenges facing international conflict resolution and fostering peace.
The conference, titled “American Peacebuilding at a Crossroads: Lessons, Risks and the Road Ahead,” and hosted by University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and its Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, in partnership with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, came as the U.S. engaged in new military actions in Iran.
The evening before the conference, in remarks at the House GOP policy retreat, President Donald Trump was unclear about how long the combat operations against Iran in concert with Israel that killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would last.
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“We could call it a tremendous success right now, as we leave here, I could call it, or we could go further, and we’re going to go further,” Trump said.
In remarks at the conference, retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former U.S. Navy chief of naval operations, referenced that conflict, among others, telling the audience, “I could use my time offering thoughts on the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf, which are indeed the future of warfare.”
“But,” the former admiral continued, “we have to be more strategic and forward looking. For the past few years, we’ve known that we were at a geopolitical and security inflection point.”
“I’ve spent my career in uniform, and believe deeply in maintaining a strong defense and deterrence, but I’ve also unclenched the hard fist of military power and extended that hand to relieve suffering and disasters and to help weave the fabric of peace,” Roughead said. “That is not weakness or woke. It conveys the moral strength of a nation. Both hard and soft power, and the uses of that power, demand intention, investment, and collaboration among institutions committed to preventing conflict.”
Roughead, who commanded fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during his time in active service, argued that the U.S. “faces a strategic and moral imperative to invest deliberately in peacebuilding.”
He further argued that peacebuilding is “essential, not peripheral to national security.”
“To meet this moment, American peacebuilding must evolve, building broader coalitions, forging new partnerships and preparing a new generation of leaders and peacebuilders to collaboratively, comfortably and confidently operate across military and civilian domains, employing public and private initiatives,” he said.
In a panel discussion, former Ambassador Mark Green, who was also previously administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and is a former Republican member of Congress from Wisconsin, and former Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., also a former U.S. special envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, urged participants to find a bipartisan path forward.
“We have to recognize that there is no monopoly on wisdom,” Green said, citing cooperation by the late Sen. John McCain, a Republican, and late Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat.
“They disagreed on damn near everything, but it’s the way they disagreed,” he said.
Feingold urged ways to emphasize the “congressional role in warmaking,” over “unilateral military intervention.”
“It’s up to Congress to assert the authority, and it’s up to the people of the states to demand that they do that,” he said. “They’re not going to do it on their own.”
Green concurred.
“Whether it be the Millennium Challenge Corporation, President (Barack) Obama’s Feed the Future or President (George W.) Bush’s PEPFAR AIDS initiative, they’ve lasted and been successful because Congress took it upon themselves to seriously debate and discuss and hone and sharpen and authorize those important tools,” he said. “And that seems gone.”
Liz Hume, executive director of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, said in remarks at the conference that the challenges facing their cause also presented opportunity.
“As terrible as this has been,” Hume said in reference to cuts to international development programs, “we have to see that there’s an opportunity to rebuild it in a way that we’re centering and prioritizing conflict prevention in our policies, laws and strategies.”
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — With American peacebuilding at a “crossroads,” amid global conflict and changes in U.S. foreign policy, a Notre Dame conference March 10 in the nation’s capital examined how to meet new challenges facing international conflict resolution and fostering peace. The conference, titled “American Peacebuilding at a Crossroads: Lessons, Risks and the Road Ahead,” and hosted by University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and its Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, in partnership with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, came as the U.S. engaged in new military actions in Iran. The evening before the conference, in
The Pontifical Academy for Life has launched a new initiative appealing to the scientific and academic world to contribute to the pursuit of peace.
In Euclid’s wide, near-infrared, and visible light view, the arcs and filaments of the nebula’s bright central region are situated within a halo of colorful fragments of gas zooming away from the star. This ring was ejected from the star at an earlier stage, before the main nebula at the center formed. Hubble captures the very core of the billowing gas with high-resolution visible-light images, adding extra detail in the center of this image. The whole nebula stands out against a backdrop teeming with distant galaxies, demonstrating how local astrophysical beauty and the farthest reaches of the cosmos can be seen together in modern astronomical surveys. Together, these missions provide a rich and complementary view of NGC 6543 — revealing the delicate interplay between stellar end-of-life processes and the vast cosmic tapestry beyond.
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This train traverses some of America’s most beautiful landscapes on its journey from the East Coast to the Midwest.
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After concluding the first leg of his African apostolic journey in Algeria, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to travel to Cameroon from April 15–18.
A parish in Little Rock, Arkansas, has instituted a program to encourage children to bring a “passport booklet” to Mass each weekend to receive a sticker from priests and deacons.
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. March 11: Time to spot the zodiacal light Europa transits Jupiter this evening, beginning shortly before 10 P.M. EDT. A few hours later, the small moon’s shadow follows it across as a dark blot on the cloud tops. Early in the evening,Continue reading “The Sky Today on Thursday, March 12: Europa and its shadow cross Jupiter”
The post The Sky Today on Thursday, March 12: Europa and its shadow cross Jupiter appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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CNN has been a mainstay of the American media since its inception in 1980. The prestigious network has won several awards covering everything from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to 9/11, making it the most trusted name in news. Aspiring journalists, take note! CNN’s reporting on terrorist attacks is second to none.
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TEHRAN — Rumors of the Ayatollah regime’s nefarious plot to launch an assault on the west coast of the United States hit a snag on Wednesday, as Iran canceled plans to attack California after seeing Gavin Newsom had already destroyed it.
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Doll (musha-ningyo) featuring Takenouchi no Sukune, minister of Emperor Ōjin; end of the Edo period, 19th century, Japan. Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas (Texas) ; the photograph was taken during an exhibition in the Musée des Arts Premiers in Paris
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President Donald Trump has ordered the release of 172 MILLION barrels of oil from the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to combat record-high energy prices triggered by the ongoing war with Iran.
The post President Trump Orders MASSIVE 172 MILLION Barrel Oil Release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Crush Energy Prices appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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On Monday, street videographer JJ Smith captured on camera what appears to be election crimes in San Francisco, California. In broad daylight.
The post Caught in Broad Daylight: Ballot Initiative Signature-Gatherers in California Paying For Signatures – Backed by Billionaire PAC appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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President Trump invited YouTube star and professional boxer Jake Paul on stage at his rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, where the President said Jake Paul should run for office “in the not-too-distant future” with Trump’s “complete and total endorsement.” Trump also sat for a podcast interview with Paul earlier on Wednesday.
The post WATCH: Trump Predicts that Boxer and YouTube Star Jake Paul to Run for Office During Rally in Hebron, KY – “You Have My COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreO Blessed Saint Joseph, faithful guardian and protector of virgins, to whom God entrusted Jesus and Mary, I implore you by the love which you did bear them, to preserve me from every defilement of soul and body, that I may always serve them in holiness and purity of love. Amen.
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Jeremiah
7:23-28
Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
From the Gospel according to Luke
11:14-23
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
“And we can ask ourselves the question: Do I guard myself, my heart, my feelings, my thoughts? Do I guard the treasure of grace? Do I guard the presence of the Holy Spirit in me? Or do I let go, feeling secure, believing that all is going well? But if you do not guard yourself, he who is stronger than you will come. But if someone stronger comes and overcomes, he takes away the weapons in which one trusted, and he shall divide the spoil. Vigilance! Three criteria! Do not confuse the truth. Jesus fights the devil: first criterion. Second criterion: he who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. There are no attitudes in the middle. Third criterion: vigilance over our hearts because the devil is astute. He is never cast out forever. It will only be so on the last day.” (…) “Let us ask the Lord for the grace to take these things seriously. He came to fight for our salvation. He won against the devil! Please, let us not do business with the devil! He seeks to return home, to take possession of us… Do not relativize; be vigilant! And always with Jesus!” (Francis – Santa Marta, 11 October 2013)
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Pro-life students are demonstrating against the “Repro Fund,” a program that uses mandatory student fees to finance abortions.
![The religious sisters in Vatican leadership #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Religious sisters and consecrated women are a formidable presence inside Vatican City State and the Roman Curia, with recent years seeing their number and prominence rise.The increasing presence of women in the Vatican has been well documented. According to the Vatican, the percentage of women grew from 19.2% to 23.4% during the first decade of Pope Francis’ pontificate.According to a study done at the end of 2024, there were 1,318 women in a total workforce of around 6,000. There is no publicly available data on how big a share of the female presence is composed of consecrated women and religious sisters.Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, was one of the first women to be appointed to a major role at the Vatican when she was named undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in 2021. She was also the first woman to vote at a synodal assembly.Becquart told EWTN News that during her five years at the Vatican not only have women been given more key positions, but they are also serving in less visible, though no less important, roles.“At the Vatican now, you have more women as consultors to the different dicasteries or member of the dicasteries, on different commissions,” she said. “We had women in all our commissions as experts, as facilitators, inside the synod.”In August 2025, Pope Leo appointed Sister Iuliana Sarosi, CMD, and Sister Martha Driscoll, OCSO, consultors of the Dicastery for Clergy.
Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, president of the Governorate and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
Sister Raffaella Petrini of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is the first woman in the history of the Church to head the Vatican City State.She was appointed president of the Governorate and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State — the equivalent of a kind of governor — in March 2025 after serving as secretary general of the city state for four years.Petrini is also one of the first women to be a member of the Dicastery for Bishops. Pope Francis appointed Petrini, consecrated virgin María Lía Zervino, and Sister Yvonne Reungoat, FMA, members in July 2022.Since 2023, the undersecretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) is also a religious sister: Sister Silvana Piro, FMGB.Serving at the VaticanBecquart described coming to the Vatican to work as “an adventure.”“For me, being appointed at the Vatican has been a little bit like being sent to be a missionary in Papua New Guinea or in Brazil. It’s arriving in a new context, a new experience, learning a new language, new ways of working. A new culture, I would say, a new environment,” the sister said.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, is an undersecretary for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News
Becquart noted that one of the qualities religious sisters in general bring to their service at the Vatican is “a deep connection with real life.” As well, many “have started at the grassroots [ministering to] the people where they are. So we bring also this experience of being with others, especially with the poor and the most marginalized.”Margherita Romanelli, a non-religious sister who recently retired after working for 31 years in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told EWTN News “the recent appointments of women to top positions have greatly helped other women working [in the Vatican] to feel valued and to commit themselves to working for the common good, alongside men.”Romanelli, who is also president of the Women in the Vatican Association (DIVA), said the association was founded in 2016 because some women “felt the need to come together to respond to the needs of their female colleagues and, above all, to gain greater visibility within the Vatican. Their goal is therefore to create a network of friendship and solidarity.”In the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, where Romanelli worked, economist Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, is the first woman to hold the No. 2 position.Smerilli was named secretary in April 2022 after serving for eight months as interim secretary and, prior to that, almost half a year as undersecretary, starting in March 2021. Before starting in the Roman Curia, Smerilli was also a councilor of the Vatican City State.
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
Religious sisters serving religiousIn one department at the Vatican, there has been a revolution of women religious in leadership over the last year.In 2025, first Pope Francis, and then Pope Leo XIV, put two religious sisters in charge of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, starting with Sister Simona Brambilla of the Consolata Missionaries.Appointed prefect in January 2025, Brambilla is the first woman ever named prefect of a dicastery. She leads together with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, who is pro-prefect of the same dicastery.Brambilla, who served as superior general of the Consolata Missionary Sisters from 2011 to 2023, was secretary of the dicastery for religious and consecrated life since October 2023.The sister, who trained as a nurse before entering religious life, was a missionary in Mozambique in the late 1990s. She then returned to Italy, where, with her advanced degree in psychology, she taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in its Institute of Psychology. She was head of the institute of Consolata Missionary Sisters from 2011 until May 2023.In May 2025, Pope Leo XIV named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a Franciscan Sister of the Poor, secretary of the same dicastery.Merletti, a former superior general of her order, is an expert in canon law who taught at the Pontifical University Antonianum.With Sister Carmen Ros Nortes, NSC, who has been undersecretary of the same dicastery since 2018, three of the department’s top five positions are filled by religious sisters.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/the-religious-sisters-in-vatican-leadership-catholic-vatican-city-religious-sisters-and-consecrated-women-are-a-formidable-presence-inside-vatican-city-state-and-the-roman-curia-with-recen.webp)
The percentage of Vatican employees who are women grew from 19.2% to 23.4% during the first decade of the last pontificate.
“Spiritual intelligence is being attuned to God,” the bishop of San Ignacio de Velasco in Bolivia, Robert Flock, explains.
This impact crater, as seen by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2015, appeared relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta.
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Emil Andronic from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, U.K. Cederblad 51 is a blue reflection nebula embedded within the red emission nebula Sharpless 2–264 in Orion — part of a complex of nebulosity near the hunter’s “head.” This portrait combines 69 hours 15 minutes of HαLRGB data gathered between Sept. 9 and Dec. 19, 2025, using twinContinue reading “Tangled up in red”
The post Tangled up in red appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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While many American Evangelicals often lose sight of it, the reality is that there are still places throughout the world where it is dangerous to live as a Christian. But where are the most dangerous places?
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NEW YORK, NY — As giant mutant spiders attacked the Big Apple, many concerned experts across the country expressed worry that the giant attacking spiders could lead to a substantial increase in hateful arachnophobia.
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The historic Geigersberg vineyard, northeast of the Sachsenheim district of Ochsenbach in Germany, still retains many of its old dry stone walls and is home to rare plant and animal species.
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O My God,
I love you above all things,
with my whole heart and soul,
because you are all-good and worthy of all love.
I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.
I forgive all who have injured me,
and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
Amen.
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Deuteronomy
4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children."
From the Gospel according to Matthew
5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
In the Gospel of today’s liturgy, Jesus says: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Mt 5:17). […] Jesus makes us understand that religious rules are necessary, they are good, but they are only the beginning: to fulfil them, it is necessary to go beyond the letter and live their meaning. The commandments that God gave us should not be locked up in the airless vaults of formal observance; otherwise, we are limited to an exterior, detached religiosity, servants of “God the master” rather than children of “God the Father”. Jesus wants this: not to have the idea of serving a God who is master, but Father; and this is why it is necessary to go beyond the letter. Brothers and sisters, this problem was present not only in Jesus’ time; it is there today too. At times, for example, we hear some say, “Father, I have not killed, I have not stolen, I have not harmed anyone…”, as if to say, “I am fine”. This is formal observance, which is satisfied with the bare minimum, whereas Jesus invites us to aspire to the maximum possible. That is: God does not reason with calculations and tables; he loves us as one who is enamoured: not to the minimum, but to the maximum! He does not say, “I love you up to a certain point”. No, true love is never up to a certain point, and is never satisfied; love always goes beyond, it cannot do otherwise. The Lord showed us this by giving his life on the cross and forgiving his murderers (cf. Lk 23:34). And he entrusted to us the commandment most dear to him: that we love one another like he loved us (cf. Jn 15:12). This is the love that gives fulfilment to the Law, to faith, to true life! (Francis – Angelus, 12 February 2023)
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Caught between Hezbollah and Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s Christian villages in the South seek Vatican support.
![Several cardinals show grave concern about Iran war; McElroy says it’s not a just war - #Catholic - Several members of the Catholic hierarchy are expressing grave concerns about the American and Israeli military conflict with Iran, and at least one cardinal said the U.S. decision to launch the initial attacks fails to meet the criteria of a “just war” based on Catholic criteria.President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 amid inconclusive U.S.-Iranian negotiations related to uranium enrichment. In response, Iran launched strikes on U.S. bases and forces, Israel, and the Gulf states.“At this present moment, the U.S. decision to go to war against Iran fails to meet the just war threshold for a morally legitimate war in at least three requirements,” Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in an interview with the archdiocesan Catholic Standard.McElroy noted that the Church recognizes six conditions for a war to be just. The war must be waged by a proper authority, it must have a just cause, it must have the right intention, it must have a reasonable chance of success, it must be a last resort, and the damage caused by the war must not be more harmful than the evil it is meant to destroy.“The criterion of just cause is not met because our country was not responding to an existing or imminent and objectively verifiable attack by Iran,” McElroy said.
Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. speaks at the University of Notre Dame Forum event on ‘Healing Our National Dialogue and Political Life’ on Oct. 17, 2025. | Credit: Courtesy of Michael Caterina / University of Notre Dame
Just prior to the attack, Omanʼs Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key mediator in the negotiations between the two countries, told CBS News that Iran was prepared to make major concessions, including a lower level of enrichment, a reduction of its enriched uranium stockpile, and inspections. On March 3, three days after the attack, Trump said “it was my opinion [Iran was] going to attack first.”McElroy said the “right intention” criterion is also not met: “One of the most worrying elements of these first days of the war in Iran is that our goals and intentions are absolutely unclear, ranging from the destruction of Iran’s conventional and nuclear weapons potential to the overthrow of its regime to the establishment of a democratic government to unconditional surrender.”At times, Trump has said he would potentially work with new Iranian leaders but has also urged the Iranian people to overthrow the government at other times. The previous supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in a strike and has been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. Iran has not shown any interest in returning to negotiations or making more concessions since the war began.McElroy also said “it is far from clear that the benefits of this war will outweigh the harm which will be done.” He called the Middle East “the most unstable region in the world, and the most unpredictable.”“Already the war has had unintended consequences,” McElroy said. “Iran’s morally despicable decision to target its neighbors in the region has spread the expanse of destruction. Lebanon may fall into civil war. The world’s oil supply is under great strain. The potential disintegration of Iran could well produce new and dangerous realities. And the possibility of immense casualties on all sides is immense.”More cardinals echo concernsOther cardinals have also publicly conveyed their concerns about the conflict, including Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.Parolin told Vatican News that “this erosion of international law is truly worrying: justice has given way to force; the force of law has been replaced by the law of force.”He said people in the Middle East, including Christians, have been “plunged into the horror of war, which brutally shatters human lives, brings destruction, and drags entire nations into spirals of violence with uncertain outcomes.”“The Holy See prefers to recall the need to use all the instruments offered by diplomacy in order to resolve disputes among states,” Parolin said. “History has already taught us that only politics — through the hard work of negotiation and attention to balancing interests — can increase trust among peoples, promote development, and preserve peace.”Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, criticized the administration’s characterization of the war, especially an X post from the White House that showed videos of American strikes with the caption “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY” in all capitalized letters.In a statement, Cupich said “more than 1,000 Iranian men, women and children lay dead after days of bombardment,” and added: “A real war with real death and real suffering being treated like it’s a video game — it’s sickening.”
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago speaks at a Georgetown University forum Oct. 30, 2025. | Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA
“Hundreds of people are dead, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, including scores of children who made the fatal mistake of going to school that day,” he added. “Six U.S. soldiers have been killed. They are also dishonored by that social media post. Hundreds of thousands displaced, and many millions more are terrified across the Middle East.”Following the publication of the statement, a seventh member of the U.S. armed forces was confirmed dead.Cupich accused the government of “treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store.” He warned that “in the end, we lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military.”Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), raised similar concerns as Cupich, and commented on how technology changes how war is conducted.“From distant command centers, military operators stare at screens where maps, radar signals, and algorithm-generated targets move like icons in a computer game,” he told Vatican News. “A cursor moves. A coordinate is selected. A click is made. And a missile is launched."When asked about who benefits from the war and who does not, David said “industries that manufacture weapons” benefit financially from the conflict.“Certainly not the families who bury their dead,” David said. “Certainly not the workers who suddenly find themselves trapped in a war zone far from home. Certainly not the poor nations that will absorb the economic shock.”Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, archbishop of Naples, wrote a critique of the war in poetic form in Italian, addressed to the “merchants of death.”“I write to you from this trembling land,” he wrote. “It trembles under the footsteps of the poor, under the crying of children, under the silence of the innocent, under the fierce noise of the weapons you have built, sold, blessed by your cynicism.”Battaglia asked those perpetuating the war to “stop,” to “convert,” and to listen to the words of Jesus Christ, as expressed in the Beatitudes.“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” Christ said in Matthew 5:9.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/several-cardinals-show-grave-concern-about-iran-war-mcelroy-says-its-not-a-just-war-catholic-several-members-of-the-catholic-hierarchy-are-expressing-grave-concerns-about-the-american-a.jpg)
Cardinals in the United States and elsewhere are raising concerns about just war and about the death and destruction caused by the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The one mistake America cannot make in Iran is stopping before the mission is finished.
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