Why Catholics celebrate Mary as ‘mother of the Church’ the day after Pentecost
In 2018, Pope Francis added the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, to the Roman calendar. This memorial is celebrated each year on the Monday after Pentecost. This year it will be celebrated on May 25.
In the decree on the celebration, the then-head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, wrote that the intention for the memorial was to help the faithful “remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the mystery of the cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic banquet, and to the mother of the redeemer and mother of the redeemed, the virgin who makes her offering to God.”
While this memorial honoring the Blessed Mother as the mother of the Church is relatively new, Mary’s title as mother of the Church has been associated with her for centuries.
The theological foundation for the title is often traced to the Gospel of John. As Jesus hangs on the cross, he says to his mother: “Woman, behold your son,” and to the apostle John: “Behold your mother.” Catholic tradition has long interpreted that moment as John representing all disciples, making Mary the spiritual mother of the entire Christian community.
The 2018 decree highlights this moment as well. It reads: “Indeed, the mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25) accepted her son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender mother of the Church, which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit. Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.”
Over the centuries, Marian devotion expanded through prayers, feast days, art, and theology, but the specific title “mother of the Church” gained wider prominence during the 20th century.
During the Second Vatican Council, bishops debated how Mary should be presented within modern Church teaching. Some argued for a separate document dedicated entirely to Mary, while others believed she should be discussed within the Church’s broader mission and identity.
In 1964, Pope Paul VI formally proclaimed Mary as “mater Ecclesiae” — “mother of the Church” — calling her “mother of all the faithful and pastors.”
It was also added to the Roman Missal after the holy year of reconciliation in 1975. Subsequently, some countries, dioceses, and religious families were granted permission by the Holy See to add this celebration to their particular calendars. With its addition to the General Roman Calendar, it is now celebrated by the whole Roman Catholic Church.
Pope John Paul II strongly championed this Marian title and had a deep devotion to “mater Ecclesiae.” The pope’s papal motto was “Totus tuus” (“Totally yours”) and signified his total consecration to Jesus through Mary.
During his papacy he also had a mosaic commissioned facing St. Peter’s Square titled “Mater Ecclesiae.” This mosaic was done after the pope’s survival of a 1981 assassination attempt in which John Paul II credited Mary with saving his life, and he dedicated his pontificate to her protection.
John Paul II also wrote extensively about the Blessed Mother’s role in guiding the faithful, most notably in his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater, which explores Mary’s participation in the plan of salvation, the mother of God being at the center of the pilgrim Church, and examines Mary’s role as intercessor and spiritual mother.
With this in mind, the memorial aims to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious, and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.”
Catholics turn to May rosary to draw youth back to faith in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Catholic communities across Bangladesh are praying the rosary throughout May in homes, student hostels, and at outdoor grottos, marking the traditional Marian month with a renewed effort to draw young people back to active faith.
Youth organizations, womenʼs groups, and lay associations — working with religious sisters and priests — are leading rosary devotions in villages and cities. The Diocese of Mymensinghʼs Youth Commission has launched a monthlong initiative aimed at students living in city hostels, while parishes from Dhaka to Natore are continuing long-standing community devotions.
In Mymensingh, the diocesan Youth Commission inaugurated the program at the Surasree-Panthanivas Mess, a student hostel in the Kachizhuli area, where young men and women joined the rosary and Mass together, according to Charchil Mrong, secretary of the Youth Commission of the Diocese of Mymensingh.
“Many said that they were able to connect with each other and be optimistic about their faith and goals,” Mrong told EWTN News. “Our aim is to bring disconnected youth from religious places back to the path of Jesus and we took this initiative with that aim in mind.”
Mrong said the May rosary is also being prayed in homes across the city, where families gather as they do each year for the devotion.
“It is not just in the hostels where students stay, but like every year, this rosary prayer starts in May in different families in the city, and through this prayer, families come together. This is not just a prayer but also strengthens unity, harmony, and family ties in the entire area,” Mrong said. “This prayer will reach all the young men and women in Mymensingh, bringing them together to a new light of hope. Hopefully, this prayer will bring positive changes in our youth society.”
Weekly devotions in the capital
In Dhaka, the rosary and Mass are offered every Tuesday and Wednesday during May at Tejgaon Holy Rosary Church. People from all walks of life take part, with many remaining after the prayers to pray privately at the Marian grotto and light candles.
“Mother Mary is the best means of reaching Jesus; we can reach Jesus through praying to Mother Mary,” said Father Jyanto S. Gomes, parish priest of Holy Rosary Church.
“Mother Mary is a symbol of obedience and humility. By praying to her, we make ourselves obedient and humble to Jesus,” Gomes said. “This prayer should be a constant part of our family life in May and we should maintain the practice of prayer.”
Village devotion in the north
In Natore district to the north, parishioners of Gopalpur Catholic Church gather each Wednesday in May to pray the rosary at the parish cemetery. In surrounding villages, women travel from house to house leading the rosary.
“The devotion to Mother Mary is strengthened in this month of May,” said Mary Rozario, a member of Gopalpur Church. “Although we should always pray this prayer, we cannot do it much due to lack of time, but in May we try to pray to Mother Mary.”
“People are now very busy with worldly matters, and their attention to prayer is very low,” Rozario said. “Therefore, the Church should take timely steps to make them prayer-oriented. We should move away from traditional prayer and determine the time for prayer considering the time of people.”
Pope Leo XIV discusses major challenges of EU and its future with European bishops
Pope Leo XIV met on May 21 with the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), with whom he discussed the future of the EU and reflected on current global challenges.
This marks the second official meeting between the Holy Father and the institution, which is the official association of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of all European Union member states. The organization views the encounter as an opportunity to reflect in particular on the process of European integration and to discuss the bishops’ role in promoting peace and integral human development.
Essential issues on the Church’s agenda in Europe
In a statement issued prior to its audience with the pontiff, COMECE outlined some of the topics the group wished to bring to the table, such as migration and the rise of populism in Europe; the fight against poverty; data protection within the Church; artificial intelligence; efforts to facilitate unrestricted access to abortion across the EU; and the mental health of Europeans, among others.
The bishops also discussed a potential visit by Pope Leo XIV to the European Parliament, the appointment of a new special envoy for freedom of religion, and the political shifts currently taking place within the European Parliament.
The COMECE presidency also presented to the Holy Father a proposal to hold a new gathering of “Rethinking Europe” in the autumn of 2027, marking 10 years since the first meeting, which gathered some 300 people at the Vatican, including political representatives from the European Union and its member states, academics, and Church representatives.
The event aimed to reflect on the challenges facing the European Union and to explore ways to strengthen and renew the European project.
Peace: A paramount issue
In a statement to EWTN News, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio to the European Union, highlighted regarding the meeting with the pontiff the need to revitalize Europeʼs capacity to promote dialogue and peace. He recounted that members of COMECE asked the pope what their priorities should be, to which the pontiff responded with clarity: the issue of peace.
Auza also noted that the Holy Father encouraged the bishops to delve deeper into “how the Church should relate to political bodies and how it must remain faithful to its prophetic role” as well as into the issue of migration “within the context of certain movements we call populist in the European Union.”
Auza underscored that Leo XIV upholds “the right of states to define their own migration policies” and emphasized that the Church does not question this. Rather, it maintains that, once migrants have reached their new destination, they cannot be denied the services they need, nor can their human dignity fail to be fully respected.
The bishops also encouraged the pontiff to visit European institutions, recalling the official invitation extended to him by Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, during a private audience on March 5.
According to the nuncio, this visit “would be of great assistance to us, as it would lend significant momentum and great authority, we might say, to the work we constantly carry out in Brussels and Strasbourg.”
Excellent atmosphere, calm dialogue
For his part, Bishop Mariano Crociata, president of COMECE, highlighted in a conversation with EWTN News the “calm, serene, and welcoming” presence of Pope Leo XIV.
“The meeting unfolded in an atmosphere of great naturalness, spontaneity, and cordiality, and at the same time, of clarity regarding the issues discussed,” he emphasized.
Crociata stated that it was “a calm dialogue” between people who know one another “and who hold the same task and the same mission in their hearts ... there was an excellent atmosphere and a desire to continue working in unity and together.”
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.
Washington sues hospitals over treatment of pregnant, nursing employees
A state of Washington lawsuit alleges that Providence, a nonprofit hospital system that operates 51 hospitals across five western states, failed to accommodate pregnant and nursing employees for years.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown’s office alleged in a complaint that Providence regularly refused accommodations or failed to implement accommodations such as limited lifting or more frequent sitting for pregnant and nursing mothers.
The complaint also alleges that some superiors retaliated against employees after they requested accommodations.
The lawsuit said this violates the state’s Healthy Starts Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
Pennsylvania attorney general appeals lower court ruling
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday is looking to overturn a court ruling that struck down a law preventing the state from funding abortion.
Sunday appealed the lower court’s ruling, which struck down the state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion in an ongoing case that began in 2019 when abortion providers brought a suit against the state’s abortion funding ban.
The attorney general said he had a “statutory obligation to defend the commonwealthʼs laws.”
“My responsibility as attorney general is to defend the rule of law and defend statutes without interference of personal opinion or political posturing,” Sunday said in a statement to EWTN News.
Maine senator absent from abortion-related committee meetings, records show
Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, has not attended abortion-related Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee meetings since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to committee hearing reports.
Collins confirmed the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, saying at the time that she thought he wouldn’t be a part of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Her office did not respond to a request for comment from EWTN News.
Leo XIV authorizes beatification of 80 civil war martyrs ahead of his trip to Spain
On May 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the promulgation of six decrees from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, following an audience granted to its prefect, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.
With the pontiffʼs authorization, 80 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and the Lebanese Patriarch Elias Hoyek will be beatified. In addition, Salesian missionary Constantino Vendrame; discalced Carmelite from Cameroon Brother Jean Thierry; Spanish religious María Ana Alberdi Echezarreta; and Brother Nazareno da Pula, a Capuchin lay brother, will be declared venerable.
The 80 ‘Martyrs of Santander’ to be beatified
Just days before the start of his apostolic journey to Spain, Pope Leo XIV authorized the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Francisco González de Córdova and 79 companions — consisting of 67 priests, three Carmelites, three seminarians, and seven laypeople — who were killed during the Spanish Civil War in Santander in northern Spain.
According to the Diocese of Santander, the martyrs, soon to be beatified, died without renouncing their faith and while forgiving their attackers, even praying for them. Some of them were thrown into the Cantabrian Sea with their hands and feet bound; others were executed and burned, or disappeared aboard the ship “Alfonso Pérez,” which had been converted into a prison by the Popular Front of the Second Spanish Republic.
The priest Francisco González de Córdova refused to cease celebrating Mass and administering the sacraments, which he continued to impart clandestinely until his arrest. During his captivity, he continued to hear the confessions of his companions and blessed them before their execution. He was murdered in the hold of the prison ship.
Elias Hoyek, ‘Father of Greater Lebanon’
The patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Venerable Elias Hoyek, will be declared blessed as the pontiff has approved a miracle attributed to his intercession.
Born on Dec. 4, 1843, in Helta, he founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family in Ebrine, northern Lebanon, the first female religious institute of apostolic life in the Maronite Church.
He was elected patriarch of Antioch and of All the East for the Maronites in 1899, a position he held for more than 30 years “with great dedication and pastoral sensitivity, constantly attending to the formation of the clergy and the catechesis of the faithful,” the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints notes.
The future blessed aided the Lebanese people during the First World War, placing convents and monasteries at their disposal, a gesture for which he was sentenced to deportation, though he was ultimately able to remain in Lebanon thanks to the intervention of Pope Benedict XV.
At the Congress of Versailles, he advocated for the independence of his homeland, which had been part of the Ottoman Empire during the war, achieving the proclamation of the new State of Greater Lebanon on Sept. 1, 1920; for this reason, he is known as the “Father of Greater Lebanon.”
He used his influence to humbly assist those in need, regardless of their social standing.
4 new venerables
The Holy Father also approved the heroic virtues of Servant of God Constantine Vendrame (1893–1957). Also known as the “Apostle of Shillong,” he was a Salesian missionary from Italy who evangelized in India.
The Servant of God Nazareno da Pula (1911–1992), a Capuchin lay brother, will also be declared venerable.
Leo XIV likewise authorized the recognition of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God María Ana Alberdi Echezarreta (1912–1998), baptized as María de la Concepción Cruz, abbess of the monastery of the Franciscan Conceptionist Sisters.
Finally, the pope authorized the recognition of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Jean-Thierry of Jesus the Child and of the Passion (1982–2006), a professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
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.
Washington state settles foster care suit, stops imposing gender ideology on Christians
The state of Washington has settled a federal lawsuit brought by a Christian couple, agreeing to a permanent injunction that will again allow religious families to serve as foster parents without having to support beliefs that counter their religious faith and violate their constitutional rights.
Shane and Jennifer DeGross, a Christian couple who served as licensed foster parents in Washington state for nine years, sued the state in 2024 for religious discrimination. The state had declined to renew their foster license in 2022 because of their sincerely held Christian beliefs that God created the human body as either male or female, and that this biological sex is immutable.
The DeGrosses objected to the state’s policy requiring foster parents to affirm a child’s gender identity, including using pronouns that do not align with the child’s sex and supporting social or medical transitioning.
The state decided to settle this week after a key federal court ruling in April denied Washington’s motion to dismiss the case with respect to the DeGrosses’ First Amendment claims to the free exercise of religion and free speech, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
During the nine years they served as foster parents, the couple cared for multiple children and were described by their licensing agency as exemplary foster parents, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the religious freedom law group representing the couple.
As part of the settlement reached on May 20, Washington’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) will change its licensing policies to respect all religious families’ deeply held convictions and won’t “attach any conditions or restrictions to the license solely because of their religious beliefs, including speech and actions pertaining to marriage, gender, or sexual relationships.” State officials also agreed to pay $250,000 in attorneys’ fees.
“When children are sleeping on cots in child-welfare offices for lack of loving homes, states like Washington should be doing everything they can to bring in more qualified foster parents,” said Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, ADF senior counsel, when the federal court issued its decision in April.
The federal district court cited another ADF case in its April opinion, Bates v. Pakseresht, where ADF had successfully challenged a similar law in Oregon on behalf of a Christian mother, Jessica Bates.
In 2023, Bates challenged the department rule that required those seeking to become adoptive or foster parents must agree to “respect, accept, and support the … sexual orientation, gender identity, [and] gender expression … of a child or young adult” who is placed in the home.
In 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordered that the Oregon Department of Human Services must allow Bates to begin the process of adopting two children without first making her comply with the stateʼs gender identity affirmation policy.
According to a statement from ADF, the appeals court ruled that Oregon’s policy “engaged in viewpoint discrimination and violated Bates’ free speech and free exercise of religion. The Washington district court saw the same issues in how the state’s policy violated the DeGrosses’ constitutional rights.”
The settlement permanently resolves the dispute and requires DCYF to stop imposing viewpoint-based restrictions on religious foster parents.
Eucharistic pilgrimage set to kick off in St. Augustine, Florida
The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, “One Nation Under God,” will kick off on May 24 in St. Augustine, Florida.
In honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the pilgrimage will begin in Florida, where the first recorded Catholic Mass within the future continental United States was celebrated, highlighting the country’s Catholic roots.
“We have to return to one nation under God, and I think that by beginning this pilgrimage at St. Augustine, weʼre returning to one of the major start points for Catholicism,” Jeffrey Bruno, a photojournalist and contributor to the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, said in an interview with Register Radio.
“If we do return to that as a nation, we really will be a nation filled with hope and with promise,” he said.
The launch of the pilgrimage will include remarks from Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress. He will also be joined by Bishop Erik Pohlmeier of St. Augustine and the nine perpetual pilgrims who will travel the entirety of the pilgrimage, which spans more than 2,000 miles.
The 250th anniversary coinciding with the pilgrimage is “perfect,” said Bruno, who has photographed past Eucharistic pilgrimages and the Eucharistic congress. “Hopefully itʼs going to be a new start, a fresh start“ and ”the next 250 will be really happy and holy, I pray.”
The pilgrimage will pass through most of the original 13 colonies. Pilgrims will travel the Eastern Seaboard along the Cabrini Route in honor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized.
The group will stop in Baltimore, which is the U.S. Catholic Church’s “foundation,” as it houses “the first cathedral” and “was the first diocese" in the nation, Bruno said.
Pilgrims also will travel through Colonial Williamsburg, the immersive restoration of Virginia’s 18th‑century capital, where “American culture ... meets Catholic culture,” he said.
“American Catholic culture has had such an incredible impact on this country,” he said. “Catholicism is so interwoven into the fabric of the United States. Mother Cabrini is the perfect example of that too, with all the accomplishments, all the hospitals and institutions that she founded over all the years.”
“Healthcare, education, all these different things, itʼs like they can all find their roots back in … Catholicism” and its “contributions to this country,” he said.
“I just hope [and] I pray that the contributions moving forward will be even more intense," Bruno said.
The pilgrimage will conclude on July 5 in Philadelphia.
Graces of the Blessed Sacrament
As the Eucharist travels from state to state, it will offer needed “grace” to believers and nonbelievers alike, Bruno said.
In his past experience on the pilgrimages, he said “seeing the impact of the Blessed Sacrament” and “passing through the highways and the byways has been the privilege of a lifetime.”
“The grace that comes from these pilgrimages, from these processions, from the processions with the Blessed Sacrament, and the witness of the pilgrims and the people that turn out to join in the local parishes … itʼs breathtaking. Itʼs incredible,” he said.
Bruno said “the efficacy of grace” is just like a quotation attributed to the inspiration of St. Carlo Acutis: “People who put themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints."
“I think that bringing the Blessed Sacrament” and “crossing all these different towns and places and exposing people — believers, nonbelievers, people that are hurt, people that are broken — to his grace ... [has] an efficacy that can’t be understated,” he said.
“Itʼs something that I think the country has missed for a long period of time. And Iʼm super glad that this is happening now,” Bruno said. “You see the hunger is out there.”
“Everybody needs him” and “heʼs present, heʼs available,” Bruno said. “The grace is there.”
Peace, unity, and AI: What Pope Leo’s messages reveal about his thought
During his papacy and before, Pope Leo XIV has revealed his thought on a myriad of issues in his speeches, homilies, and writings, and several clear themes have emerged.
He has made artificial intelligence a priority and has also not hesitated to speak out against war, calling for, as he has often repeated, a “disarmed and disarming peace.” In his first homily as pope, he also underlined his desire for “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion.”
What do Leoʼs writings, both before and after his election, reveal about his priorities for the Church and the world?
Augustinian ideal of authority: His doctoral thesis
The then-Father Robert Prevost successfully defended his doctoral thesis in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 1987. His thesis, titled “The Office and Authority of the Local Prior in the Order of St. Augustine,” discussed the role of local priors in the Augustinian order based on Augustine’s monastic rule.
Considered by many to be his major literary work before he became pope, Prevost argued that the authority of priors within the Augustinian order must serve the common good of the entire community. The thesis also clarified the juridical power of priors and stated that they must find joy in serving before exercising authority.
‘Liberi Sotto la Grazia’: A collection of Prevostʼs writings as Augustinian prior general
Earlier this month, the Vatican published a book of the previously unpublished writing, homilies, and speeches of Prevost when he was the Augustinian prior general from 2001–2013.
The book, currently in Italian but expected to be published in English as well, reveals several general themes from addresses he gave as he traveled extensively to support Augustinian communities around the world. These themes include a stress on unity, servant leadership, social justice, and constant spiritual renewal.
Peace, unity, and ethical use of technology: Writings as pope
Since his election as the successor of Peter, Leoʼs writings and public addresses have revealed key aspects of his pastoral and theological vision for the Church.
- Homily for papal installation Mass: Inaugurating his ministry as universal pastor on May 18, 2025, Leo preached on the twofold dimension of his new ministry: love and unity. He urged Catholics to recommit their efforts to building a united Church as “a leaven for a reconciled world.”
- Dilexi Te: Finishing an uncompleted apostolic exhortation from his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo built upon Francis' legacy of advocating for the poor and marginalized. Underscoring this point, he wrote that “one cannot love God without extending one’s love to the poor.”
- Homily to the 2025 general chapter of Augustinians: Offering Mass to open the Augustinian general chapter meetings, Leo emphasized the need to promote unity, a key characteristic of Augustinian spirituality. The pope encouraged his confreres to “promote unity, within the order and throughout the order, throughout the Church and the world.”
- 2026 address to the diplomatic corps: Considered the “state of the world” address of a pope, Leo denounced the tendencies of war, abortion, religious discrimination, and the mistreatment of migrants.
- Palm Sunday 2026 homily: Starting his first Holy Week as pontiff, Leo spoke vociferously against the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He famously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war but rejects them.”
- 60th World Day of Social Communications: The pope, having made artificial intelligence a priority early on in his pontificate, stressed the need to preserve human voices and faces at a time when they are threatened by AI. Regarding AI technologies, he said it is “important to educate ourselves and others about how to use AI intentionally” to “prevent them from being used in the creation of harmful content and behaviors such as digital fraud, cyberbullying, and deepfakes.”
Pope Leo XIVʼs first encyclical is expected to be released on Monday, May 25. The Vatican has confirmed that the full title of the encyclical is Magnifica Humanitas: “On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” Leo signed the letter, which is expected to provide moral guidance on the digital revolution and emerging technologies such as AI, on May 15.
Czech cardinal reflects on martyrs under communism ahead of priest beatifications
Cardinal Michael Czerny this week reflected on the martyrdom of Catholics who gave witness to Jesus Christ under communist rule in eastern and central Europe during the “Blessed Martyrs Under Communism” conference in Rome hosted by the Czech Republic’s embassy to the Holy See.
Czerny, the Czech-born prefect for the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, discussed the canonization causes of two Czech priests — Father Jan Bula and Father Václav Drbola — who will be beatified June 6.
"The witness of Father Jan and Father Václav addresses each of us individually in our daily struggles, big and small,” Czerny said at the May 20 conference, according to the Vatican-run Vatican News.
“Their martyrdom teaches us that there is no human situation — however degrading or unjust — in which Christ cannot be witnessed,” he said.
According to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, both priests were imprisoned and killed between 1951 and 1952 amid the Czechoslovak communist regime’s persecution of the Catholic Church following World War II. They were in the Diocese of Brno.
Both priests worked extensively with the Catholic youth and were eventually imprisoned. According to the dicastery, both priests were falsely accused in prison of plotting to assassinate communist officials and were subsequently executed.
The dicastery states they were persecuted and killed for their pastoral work and the regime’s hatred of the Catholic faith.
"For Jan and Václav, God’s hands were their support behind the bars of the Jihlava prison, their defense during long interrogations, and the safeguard of their dignity, which remained intact even amid the most degrading humiliations,” Czerny said at the conference.
“The communist regime did not merely want to kill them; it wanted to annihilate their priestly identity,” he said. “It wanted them to betray, to deny, to renounce their faith.”
Czerny said Bula and Václav “were able to transform the darkness of hatred and the cold of the gallows into the place of their living encounter with the Lord.“ He said they “testified with their very lives that light can pierce the dark clouds in history.”
"We admire the splendor of the grain of wheat that, after remaining hidden for decades in the furrow of Bohemian and Moravian soil — nurtured despite a difficult history and fertilized by sacrifice — now springs forth before our eyes,” Czerny said.
This sprout, which broke through the frozen ground of atheism and oppression, is proof that no violence can stifle the life of God in those who entrust themselves to him.”
Cardinal Michael Czernyprefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
"This sprout, which broke through the frozen ground of atheism and oppression, is proof that no violence can stifle the life of God in those who entrust themselves to him,” he added.
Czerny said the beatification of the two martyrs shows the reality of Christ’s promise in Matthew 28:20 that “I am with you always,” with the prefect saying the promise “shines forth fulfilled and written in the blood and joy of these two priests."
“May their sacrificial offering help us to be Christians, citizens, men and women who know how to ‘lose’ our lives in service, forgiveness, and truth,” he said, “that beyond the veil of trial and death, awaiting us is the bright light of God’s loving smile and a joy that no one will ever be able to take from us.”
Pope Leo XIV approved the beatification of the two priests in October 2025 along with nine servants of God who were martyred by the Nazi regime because of its hatred of the Catholic faith.
U.S. bishops urge Congress to boost housing funds as homelessness surges
U.S. Catholic bishops are calling on Congress to allocate the maximum possible funding for housing programs in the 2027 appropriations bill, citing “an alarming rise in homelessness.”
“Current federal investments in housing programs do not meet the great need we see in our country,” Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky; Catholic Charities USA CEO Kerry Alys Robinson; and National Council of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul President John Berry said in a May 21 joint letter to Congress. “Ultimately, we urge you to provide the highest level of funding possible for housing and community development programs serving families and individuals who are poor and vulnerable.”
Fabre serves as chair of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.
The letter comes amid proposed cuts to federal funding for housing programs from $84.2 billion to $73.5 billion for fiscal 2027.
Citing the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 2024, the letter pointed out that homelessness is at its “highest recorded levels for both individuals and also families with children.”
HUD has yet to release legally-required data for 2025.
The letter also cited data from 2025 showing that more families and individuals than ever before are spending more than 30% of their income on housing and that “only 1 out of every 4 income-eligible households receives housing assistance.”
The letter specifically called for “robust funding” for a wide range of programs, including Section 8 housing, housing programs for the elderly, the HOME Investment Partnership Program, homelessness assistance grants through the Continuum of Care Program, and housing counseling centers.
The letter called for protections for faith-based shelters and organizations, “to enable these groups to continue to serve people in need without forcing them to violate their beliefs or compromise the safety of their clients.”
“The Catholic Church, through all its ministries, is one of the largest private providers of housing services for poor and vulnerable people in the country,” the letter said. “We serve as many as we can; however, we lack the resources to assist all our brothers and sisters in need.”
The letter noted that in 2025 despite providing over 196,000 people access to housing and offering homeless-related services to over 719,000 individuals, the Catholic Charities network has 73,000 families on waiting lists for housing.
“Considering such widespread, unmet need, it is clear that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) needs more resources,” the letter said.