Cleveland father and son live out sacrificial faith after mother’s near-death illness
In a time when the meaning of masculinity is often misunderstood and undervalued, Joe Soltis and his 15-year-old son, Jake, are a father/son pair from Cleveland, Ohio, who have made service to others the focus of their lives.
After his mother’s serious illness, Jake, almost entirely by himself, built her a sauna and exercise room in the family’s basement in order to help her recover.
Joe, the CEO of a marketing company, serves on the board of an ecumenical project that unites Catholics and Protestants called Prayer At The Heart, with the aim of igniting “a great spiritual awakening out of a national movement of unified, humble, desperate prayer, unity and evangelism.”
The pair spoke with EWTN News about how their Catholic faith inspires them to be men who make it their mission to love as Jesus loves, and about how they hope to inspire others to do the same.
‘There’s a good chance Mom won’t be coming home’
In 2020, Joe’s wife and Jake’s mom, Becky, almost died after multiple medical issues led doctors to estimate she had only a 10% chance of survival. Joe said she was diagnosed with lupus, Lyme disease, a burst gall bladder, sepsis, and pancreatitis.
“We weren’t allowed to see her in the hospital because it was during Covid,” said Joe, the father of five boys and one daughter, who had to tell his kids “there’s a good chance Mom won’t be coming home.”
After weeks in the hospital, Becky began to recover, Joe said, and “by the grace of God, she pulled through.”
“Out of that hardship, I have found a woman who is incredibly holy,” Joe said of his wife, who, though mostly recovered, still suffers ongoing symptoms from lupus. “She is an incredible mom and an incredible wife. I couldn’t ask for anyone better. She is a blessing to all of us.”
Joe said that time “brought our family tremendously closer together.”
A plan to ‘mobilize Christians’
As Becky recovered from her health crisis, Joe watched the race riots that erupted all over the country that summer, leading him to conclude that “there are evil forces” at work leading to such division between Americans.
“That’s not what Christ wants,” he said, and he wondered whether such division was “manufactured and intentional.” He read Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, which he called “diabolically brilliant.”
On July 4, 2020, between his work, family, and other responsibilities, Joe “happened to be free to sit down and think.” He felt inspired to write out a plan that would address how to “mobilize Christians” in a “Catholic, Christian, biblical manner.”
Becky helped him fine tune the plan, which Joe then sent to various Christian leaders. Tom Phillips, vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, called him back and put him in touch with Doug Small, a Pentecostal leader with a similar vision who also lives in Ohio.
Together, the men came up with Prayer at the Heart, an evangelistic endeavor with the goal of “one million Christians praying for one million friends to know Christ.”
Of the ecumenical nature of their ministry, he said there is “great unity among” the team. “We can all unite around Christ.”
“Each congregation-denomination-ministry would brand the effort calling their constituents to prayer, evangelism-mission in their own way,” reads the website, on which Christians can sign up to pray for unbelievers.
“The early apostles didn’t just stay in their church and pray,” Joe said. “They went out and evangelized. It’s time for Christians to get out of their homes and churches and bring Jesus to people.”
The ministry’s strategy also involves other practical initiatives, such as the organization of local gatherings and outdoor prayer meetings, as well as a prayer request line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In addition, the ministry is organizing neighborhood prayer walks, weekly groups of Christians praying for coworkers, and a new missionary and mentorship program to train young adults in prayer and evangelism.
“There’s no person or political party that’s going to save us. The only thing that’s going to save us is the love of Jesus Christ and the love of others,” Joe said.
A message to fathers: ‘Love your wife’
This Father’s Day, Joe has encouraging words for fathers: “Love your wife and kids the way Christ loved the Church.”
“Sacrifice, be willing to lay your life down. Strive to love like Christ, knowing you will sometimes fall short,” he said. “Go to church every Sunday. Your kids wonʼt know faith is important if you don’t show it. Pray every day with your kids.”
“Every night we say the Seven Sorrows of Mary, the St. Michael prayer, and the Angel of God prayer,” he said. “Then we say what we’re thankful for, and this is what we’d like God to help us with.”
The Soltis’ also say a rosary once a week as a family, as well as in the car on long trips.
“If your family is going through a difficult time, strongly follow the lead of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and consecrate your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Joe said.
“One of the promises of that consecration is peace within your family. Ours didn’t have peace for a while but it does now, thank the Lord.”
‘If I start, God will help me and guide me through it’
Jake told EWTN News that “my dad and mom have always shown what love is. It’s a choice, You choose to love others, to love your enemy. Love is a choice and not an emotional feeling.”
When he decided to build the sauna and exercise room for his mother in the family’s basement, he said he had “no idea what I was getting into.”
Before beginning the basement renovation, Jake said he only “knew how to build a sub par table.” During the work, he said he “was just inspired. I just wanted to help my mom.”
Joe said his son “put a lot of pressure on himself because his mom’s health was at stake.” Becky had a grand mal seizure in 2025, which Joe called “scary.”
“I have based the majority of my life on the saying ‘I will figure it out,’” Jake said. "I know that if I start something, and use the gifts I was given from God, I will be able to figure it out. I’m not wasting my ability, and I trust that if I start, God will help me and guide me through it.”
His father said Jake “looked at two Google images” before starting the project. “He has the knack and ability to do this stuff. He would come home from school and work for thousands of hours.”
“The only thing I did was I loaded the stuff in the back of the Chevy Tahoe at the hardware store. Every now and then I helped him out,” Joe laughed.
“As an 8th grader, he took an unfinished basement, and now we have a fitness center, sauna, theater room, and theyʼre beautiful! They look professional. He did it all himself, for his mother,” Joe said proudly.
‘The Church needs her sons’: Catholic podcast hosts call men to embrace fatherhood and faith
Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are two of the five hosts of “The Point Man Podcast,” a podcast for Catholic men. Together, alongside Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson, they are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experience about navigating life today as Catholic men and as leaders of their families.
Blair, a father of four, and Angelette, a widowed father of five, explained that the podcast is aimed at fathers and focuses on how masculinity and the sacramental life can be integrated. Describing themselves as a “mic’d up men’s group,” they try to foster a community to help men realize they’re not alone and encourage one another in their walk with the Lord.
Ahead of Father’s Day, EWTN News spoke to the two men about how masculinity is perceived in today’s culture, what authentic masculinity looks like, and why fatherhood is such an important vocation in the life of the Church.
(Editorʼs note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.)
EWTN News: “Toxic masculinity” is a term used a lot in todayʼs culture. How would you each define authentic Catholic masculinity?
Angelette: Jesus Christ. Thatʼs authentic masculinity. Jesus Christ fully reveals man to himself in his most high calling … the more that we model, imitate, and walk in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will radiate a loving walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ in showing what real masculinity looks like.
He tells the story of the prodigal son, which is the greatest short story ever told of what happens when, in the face of a father who is humiliated by his son, his son abandoned him, took the money, squandered the inheritance, and just left this complete stain on the family name, and how does he respond to it? Or when you see the compassion and the mercy that he shows the woman who is literally caught in the very act of adultery. Or you see when he embraces Peter after heʼs denied him three times and he gives him three chances to redeem himself and to show that mercy and that kindness and that humility and that gentleness.
The heart of a man is a heart that has been set on fire by the Lord Jesus and he loves with gentleness and humility, not weakness in a sense of [being passive], but meekness in the sense of responding to the will of the Father.
Blair: At the end of the day, when we die, the Lord doesnʼt ask us, “All right, well let me see your bank account, let me see the titles.” Itʼs “How well did you love?” And you cannot love if you donʼt receive love, which is to Jasonʼs point, he said it very succinctly, is Jesus Christ — he is the way, the truth, and life. So, modeling our lives after him and in that offering not only our wife, our children, our community, stability, offering our strength, warmth, validation because weʼve received that validation and love from the Father.
Angelette: Toxic masculinity is men who are fighting the wrong fight. Men who have embraced the wrong identity, men who have abused the gifts and talents that theyʼve been given for themselves and not for others and for the kingdom.
Why is fatherhood such an important vocation in the life of the Church?
Angelette: John Paul II, who wrote a play — he wrote five plays — and his last one was called “Radiation of Fatherhood.” And I feel like part of the gift of fatherhood is to radiate the fatherhood of God into the world and to our children.
That is this beautiful gift that weʼve been given to participate in this way that God wants to reveal himself through us. Heʼs allowing us to participate — and not act like him, but to love like him, to love with a love like his.
So as men, as husbands, as fathers, thereʼs this ability that through this masculine heart, this male heart, through this fatherhood, that we can love and reveal the love of God, the love of the father into the world.
Satan hates that. I mean, the thing that destroys families is when fathers have abandoned their post and they leave. Look at the statistics of what happens when a father is not embracing his responsibility as the first herald of the faith, to lead their family in faith, and how hard it is for the faith to be passed on to the next generation.
For Fatherʼs Day, what message would you like to share with fathers?
Blair: Fathers, know that you’re unconditionally loved by God the Father and that the prodigal son points to that. And whether youʼre the younger son or the older son, he has this great inheritance for his boys, his sons.
Not only should we enter into a relationship with Jesus for our own sake but for our wives, for our children, and ultimately the Church. The Church needs her sons fully engaged. Gone are the days you can just be on the sidelines.
Angelette: You hear all the time that God loves you and unless youʼre drawing near to the Father, that just sounds like words. So, just avail yourself to really draw into prayer, to the sacraments, to connect with other men in Christ to not walk this road alone.
If you want your heart on fire, draw near to the Sacred Heart and let his fire, let the heart of Christ, ignite your heart to the love that weʼre called to so we can truly love our families, truly love our children, and love our wives, and be the man that we know in our heart we want to be and that weʼre being called to be.
Pope Leo XIV: Contemplation makes Christians credible witnesses
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that contemplation is not reserved for saints, monks, or hermits but is a necessary part of Christian life that helps make believers credible witnesses to the Gospel.
“We must not think that contemplation is an exclusive experience, reserved only for a few saints or for monks and hermits,” the pope said June 21 before leading the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.
Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew, Leo said Jesus’ sending of the disciples on mission shows that proclaiming the Gospel is “first and foremost a sharing of a personal encounter with him, which is unique to each of us.”
“The strength of any apostolate, in fact — beyond techniques and tools — comes from the work of the Holy Spirit within us and from the authenticity of our response,” the pope said.
Citing St. Thomas Aquinas, Leo described preaching as “passing on to others what we have contemplated,” using the Latin phrase “contemplata aliis tradere.”
“We can all do it,” he said, “by striving to set aside, amidst the commitments of our daily lives, quiet moments in which to enter into silence before God, to listen to his voice, to entrust our joys and concerns to him and to review our lives with him.”
This, the pope continued, “helps us to have a more firm and conscious faith, and consequently to be credible and free disciples, men and women capable of reflecting the light of the Gospel in every setting and every situation of life, and of bearing witness to it even where its value is not understood or accepted.”
Pope Leo recalled that St. Matthew wrote for communities facing hostility and persecution, “as so many Christians still do today in various parts of the world.” In such circumstances, he said, “the temptation to become discouraged and to let weariness or fear get the better of them was great.”
“Now, just as then, it is a challenge to remain faithful to Jesus’ teachings and to proclaim his word: to respond to hatred with love, to arrogance with meekness, and to discouragement with perseverance,” he said.
“For this reason, we must deepen the roots of our faith and our mission in an intimate relationship with him,” the pope added. “This gives us the strength not to despair, but to continue to share with everyone, in every circumstance, his message of hope, love and peace. The world greatly needs it!”
After the Marian prayer, Pope Leo turned his attention to refugees, noting that World Refugee Day, established by the United Nations, was celebrated the previous day on the 75th anniversary of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
The convention, the pope said, “was adopted to protect those who are persecuted and forced to leave their homeland, homes and families.”
“I hope that the spirit that inspired the drafting of this important international instrument may also continue to enlighten the consciences of national leaders today,” he said. “No one can turn a blind eye to those who are seeking protection and safety.”
“I also urge everyone to welcome those who are victims of persecution so that they may live in peace, with dignity, and look to the future with hope,” Leo added.
The pope also greeted members of the Catholic Pentecostal International Dialogue.
“The Church believes as she prays,” he said, “and reflecting together on the principle ‘lex orandi, lex credendi’ is particularly relevant nowadays.”
Turning to Brazil, Pope Leo assured pilgrims from the country of his prayers “for the young people who died a few days ago in a road accident in the State of Ceará.”
He also greeted confirmation candidates from two parishes in Ozieri, Sardinia, and wished all those gathered a happy Sunday.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Rare Holy Sepulchre treasures bring Jerusalem’s history to Fort Worth, Texas
A relic of the true cross and a decorative silver panel that hung in Christ’s tomb will remain on display until July 12 at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
The exhibit also includes vestments, candlesticks, metal flowers, and numerous liturgical objects used in Jerusalem hundreds of years ago.
Catholic kings sent these items to Franciscan friars in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Mass over the course of many years. Similar metalwork was common in Europe but was often melted down for wars or lost due to natural disasters. In Jerusalem, however, the items were preserved despite many wars and being ruled by Ottomans, the British, and eventually the state of Israel.
“We are so honored to present these works of art to our audiences — and delighted, too, that so many people have come to see the exhibition so far,“ George T.M. Shackelford, Kimbell curator and deputy director, told EWTN News. ”People from all over are making the trip to the Kimbell and telling their friends about the experience. That rewards all the work the many members of our team have put into it.”
One reason for the survival of these sacred objects is that few people knew about them. Europeans forgot about them for centuries and local attempts to control the Church of the Holy Sepulchre resulted in damage and destruction of some of the objects. The Ottomans eventually codified the arrangement and damaged items were repaired by artisans.
The Franciscan friars also reclaimed many items and purchased some from the Orthodox. Some items were irreparably damaged but sent to Venice, Italy, where they were melted down, remade, and sent back to Jerusalem.
Similar efforts were needed to repair metal flowers used to decorate altars. During Jerusalem’s dry summers, there is little rain from May to September and it is difficult to grow flowers. Adorning altars with metal flowers saves money and scarce water.
The history of the Venetian artists who melted down broken silver objects and made two torchères for the monks can be seen in the exhibit alongside one of the torchères, or lamps, that was damaged and then remade in 1762.
Stephen Marshall, who works as a concierge at a nearby hotel, has been to the exhibit twice with his family.
“I was impressed learning how all these adornments got switched around after they were made and how mercury was used to embellish gold onto silver,” he said. "The processes and gifts from kings and queens in the exhibit, that one torchère that was leaning I can see the constant effort of maintenance. These items were given so much effort beyond the actual cost of the material used.”
Monarchs in previous eras rarely visited the Holy Land, so they sent these objects to the Franciscans. Anything created by the French had French symbolism like the fleur-de-lis. The Portuguese used emblems depicting five shields. One Portuguese prince donated a silver bowl for foot washing for the liturgy of the Last Supper.
King John V paid to have a sanctuary lamp made in the 1740s; however, it didn’t arrive in Jerusalem until the 1750s when Joseph I was king of Portugal. An earthquake hit Lisbon in 1755, and most similar metalwork was destroyed.
Gazing at the Spanish sanctuary lamp, Elizabeth Felderhoff of Krum, Texas, told EWTN News: ”It is a blessing to have the opportunity to have all of these pieces so easily available to the public to appreciate.” She said she felt that artists who create good, quality work help others dwell on God during worship.
A humeral veil on display in the exhibit was originally used for secular purposes by a now-unknown Muslim. Somehow it became property of a Christian and was transformed into the veil used by priests during Eucharistic adoration to keep the priest from having to touch the monstrance.
One of the chasubles displayed in the exhibit has images of instruments of Christ’s crucifixion. This chasuble would have been especially used during Lent.
Another visitor, Joann Cox, said: ”The dream of going to the Holy Land is a bit remote. This is just an incredible opportunity to see the aspect of our Catholic Christian faith, the symbolism and history of every piece on display, and we are grateful that itʼs here.”
Her sentiments were echoed by another attendee, Cintia Vera, who, reflecting on the exhibit, said: "Itʼs beautiful. Iʼm Catholic and thankful the Kimbell was able to host this exhibit.”
Andrew Eubank, marketing and communications manager at the Kimbell, said: “The exhibition has had visitors from international locations including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea, South America, and Europe.”
Along with the Holy Sepulchre exhibit, visitors can see sacred and secular art of the same and earlier time periods in Kimbellʼs permanent exhibit, which is free for viewing.
‘Europe needs missionaries’: New program forms lay leaders for the Church
ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Thirty-three-year-old Niclas Eichmuller has always felt called to mission work, but he also wanted to have a family. “European Mission Campus has shown me how to do it,” he told EWTN News.
The European Mission Campus (EMC), based in Vienna, Austria, draws inspiration from St. John Paul II’s “vision of lay vocation, mission, and holiness,” said Father Mark Thelen, a Michigan native who leads the effort in Europe.
In an interview, Thelen said he brought Eichmuller, 33, and two other EMC students to the United States in December 2025 to expose them to American models of evangelization and lay ministry. They visited Renewal Ministries, Legatus, Encounter Ministries, and Christ the King Parish in Michigan as well as Damascus Summer Camp in Ohio.
“They were inspired to see so much involvement and leadership by lay missionaries. In Europe, there are a lot more clergy involved, which isn’t bad, but they are not accustomed to lay leadership,” Thelen said.
EMC, which is managed by Abby Randolph, also based in Michigan, is part of Regnum Christi, a clerical religious institute dedicated to emulating the early Church and forming mission-driven individuals and being a “living fraternity” to renew the Church through spiritual and human support to missionaries.
“Europe needs missionaries,” Thelen told a 2025 retreat. “We will not change Europe without community, and we will not experience relationships that are worthwhile without true community,” he said.
EMC was founded in 2024 but saw its first class of students in September 2025. Five students are expected to join later this year. Instruction is given online and in person by Legion of Christ clergy and consecrated laity, shared with the Legion’s Johannes Paul II Center in Vienna.
EMC students receive three years of formation for missionary service, which Thelen described as a “pastoral MBA” to equip them for full-time lay ministry. EMC students are university graduates, mostly under the age of 30.
Anna Romero, 24, from Spain, told EWTN News that at the age of 8, she joined her family on a Neocatechumenal Way mission to Papua New Guinea. At 18, she experienced a “personal call from Christ to conversion.”
“I realized that I wanted to do more with my life,” she recalled. “Life is more than about studying and working.”
After graduating from university, Romero discerned a call. “I decided to give my life to sharing the Gospel and what God has done for me,” she said.
Last year, she entered EMC’s first class, which has a curriculum ranging from Scripture to faith-based time management. One key component is “Renewal of the Mind,” which draws on the teachings of St. John Paul II.
Romero said EMC formation emphasizes “hearing God’s voice,” discerning his plan, and living out the Christian vocation as “king, priest, and prophet,” even outside ordained or religious life.
EMC participants seek support through “mission partnership development,” which builds teams of cooperators committed to prayer and financial backing. Fundraising and group dynamics are part of EMC formation. In European countries, the Church often receives government funding. Therefore, lay missionaries must generally raise their own support.
Romero and the others were impressed by how much American Catholics give to their parishes and missionaries. She said of the trip: “I learned so many useful things. There is a sense of confidence and clarity about evangelization in the U.S.,” she said. She saw “a more lively faith” there than in Spain, where “if there aren’t professed religious, Opus Dei, or Neocatechumenal Way, there isn’t much parish life.”
“I would love to start a program in Spain to train young people for missions ... I want to awaken a mission spirit among young people and all the baptized,” she said.
EMC student Nina Sole-Martino, 23, first received missionary formation as a camper and staffer at Damascus Summer Camp in Centerburg, Ohio.
“I am open to the Lord’s plans for me, and EMC will help to discern my path,” she said. She said she wants to “reconfigure my thinking and others’ to the mind of God. This means, for example, “changing how we speak to others and even how we speak to ourselves.”
Quoting Proverbs 18:21, she said: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.”
Romero said religious vocation is a gift to the Church, but the Church also needs the laity.
“Laypeople in the world are called to collaborate with the Church,” she said. “Laypeople are also a light to the world, as families and single people. Some laypeople, but not all laity, are called to be full-time missionaries. We also need saints who are doctors, teachers, and workers. Priests and the religious want and need their support.”
Nigerian activists rally for persecuted Christians near White House
Nigerian advocates called on the Trump administration to take increased actions to end terrorism and Christian persecution in the West African country at a rally near the White House on June 20.
The Save Nigeria Rally included speakers such as Alveda King, the niece of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., along with representatives from all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
“We are here to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the persecuted Christians of Nigeria,” Save Nigeria Group USA President Stephen Osemwegie said during his rally speech, in which he thanked the U.S. President Donald Trump for his efforts to redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” and to carry out strategic strikes on terrorist groups there.
“This is the Juneteenth holiday weekend,” Osemwegie said. “As our American brothers and sisters celebrate the historic victory over the evils of slavery and chattel oppression, we see an unbreakable spiritual connection between the American civil rights struggle and our fight against religious persecution and terrorism today.”
“The shackles may look different, but the demonic spirit of oppression is exactly the same,” he said.
Osemwegie told EWTN News that ending radical terrorism and persecution in Nigeria is “in the vital national security interest of the United States.”
As a country of 240 million people with 70% under the age of 45 years old, Osemwegie emphasized the critical need for the U.S. to prevent Nigeria from falling “into the hands of radical Islamic terror.”
“Nigeria sits at the epicenter today of global jihad,” he said. “If Boko Haram and ISIS reconstitute like they did in Syria, Nigeria could be another Syria, another Afghanistan. And that means that their core goal … [would be] to reconstitute and come after the United States.”
“They are really planning to regroup using the awesome resources in Africa and Nigeria, which has lithium, rare earths, gold, you name it, and two million barrels per day oil production,” he said. “You cannot allow such a country to become a terror hub. It will threaten the global community.”
Osemwegie further emphasized that escalating terrorism could spark a migration crisis. “We are 240 million [citizens], we could overrun many neighboring countries and Europe. We want America and the world to help us stay there by fighting the terrorism.”
“What Nigeria needs is not U.S. troops fighting on the ground,” Osemwegie said. “We need support — the platform, the drones, the advisors who will be behind our very gallant Nigerian troops that are giving their lives every day. As a matter of fact, weʼve lost senior officers, generals, soldiers fighting without the right equipment.”
According to Osemwegie, Nigeria needs the United States to intervene in cutting off funding to terrorist groups in the country such as Boko Haram and ISIS, which he said receive the bulk of their funding from the Middle East and other “nefarious parts of the world.”
The activist further called attention to the “humanitarian crisis that Nigeria faces,” with those who have been forced to flee their homes after facing persecution from armed militant groups, particularly the Fulani militant groups that have carried out most of the Christian persecution in the country.
“An estimated 11 million people have been driven from their homes since 2009,” he said. “These people now live in makeshift camps. They want for everything, but the world is not aware that they need food, shelter, and most importantly, they need to be safely returned to their communities.”
‘Nigeria, we hear you, we love you’
“I encourage President Trump, and I am continually praying for him, to care about the people of Nigeria," Alveda King said during her rally speech.
Reflecting on the message of her late uncle, King called for people of all faiths to consider each other as brothers and sisters.
“We have to learn to live together. Same thing for Israel and the Palestinians and the Jews. Theyʼre brothers. Theyʼre not neighbors and cousins. They are actually brothers,” she said, alluding to ongoing conflicts in Israel and the broader Middle East.
At different points in her remarks, King sang verses of the gospel songs “This Little Light of Mine” and “How Great Thou Art.”
She emphasized the need for Christians to support humanitarian causes. “When little children are hungry, I don’t say ‘Are you a Muslim or a Jew?’ ‘Are you from Nigeria or America?’ A little child is hungry, so we’re going to feed that child.”
In an interview with EWTN News, King encouraged the Nigerian people to maintain hope.
“Be encouraged,” she said. “Of one blood, God made all people to live together on the face of the earth. My uncle, Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr, said: ‘We must learn to live together as brothers … and not to perish together as fools’”
“Nigeria, we hear you, we love you, be encouraged and have faith in God,” she said.
Survivor of Boko Haram kidnapping calls for ‘open doors’
Rebecca Samuel Dali, who was kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and survived sexual assault as a young child, told EWTN News at the rally that she came to express her gratitude for Trumpʼs efforts to end persecution in Nigeria, and to ask that he “open doors” to those fleeing persecution.
Dali was taken by Boko Haram July 30, 2014. She said the group released her after three hours when its leader realized his family had benefitted from the services provided by her organization, the Center for Compassion, Empowerment, and Peace Initiative.
“If America was locked, I could not have been here now,” she said. “So to open doors for people to come and stay in this peaceful country, this is why I’m here.”
Dali is also a minister of the Church of the Brethren and a 2017 recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.
Pope Leo XIV honors Mother Cabrini as model for Church on migration
SANT’ANGELO LODIGIANO, Italy — Pope Leo XIV paid tribute Saturday to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen ever canonized as a Catholic saint, holding her up as a model for how the Church should respond to migrants today.
Before returning to the Vatican after a daylong visit to the northern Italian city of Pavia, the pope traveled to Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, in the Diocese of Lodi, the birthplace of Cabrini, the Italian-born missionary who became a tireless defender of migrants in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.
Cabrini died in Chicago in 1917 — the same city where Pope Leo was born. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1938 and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
Welcomed by about 5,000 faithful, Pope Leo visited the Parish of Santi Antonio Abate e Francesca Cabrini for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to venerate the heart of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.
“When I learned that Sant’Angelo Lodigiano is only a few kilometers from Pavia,” Pope Leo said, “I thought I would take the opportunity, and here I am.”
The pope said Mother Cabrini, following the guidance of Pope Leo XIII and St. John Baptist Scalabrini, “interpreted the signs of the times” and understood that her dream of going to China, in imitation of St. Francis Xavier, had to be fulfilled where the need was greatest.
“Today that sign, that is, the phenomenon of migration, has entered a different phase, certainly more complex, yet no less capable of challenging the Church,” he said.
Pope Leo asked what Cabrini’s missionary soul would say if she were alive today.
“For my part, I inherited and carried forward the magisterium of Pope Francis with the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te on love for the poor,” he said. “And there, where it speaks of charity in the form of accompanying migrants, the figure of St. Frances Cabrini appears right alongside St. John Baptist Scalabrini. What could be more timely than a missionary charism placed at the service of migrants?”
The pope also urged young people to learn more about Mother Cabrini, saying that those who come to know her “are captivated by her.”
“Her soul was at once contemplative and active,” Pope Leo said. “She was immersed in the love of the heart of Christ, and this gave her an extraordinary capacity for work and strength of spirit.”
In his greeting to the pope, Bishop Maurizio Malvestiti of Lodi praised what he called Mother Cabrini’s “original and highly fruitful” union of contemplation and social charity.
Both dimensions, he said, were “overwhelming and farsighted in an evangelical reading of the times and of new realities,” marked by “ecumenical and interreligious intuitions” that testify that “no one is a stranger in history: We are all called to fraternity in justice and peace.”
The stop in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano was the final leg of Pope Leo’s brief but intense visit to Lombardy.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
At St. Augustine’s tomb, Pope Leo XIV urges Pavia to honor every human life
PAVIA, Italy — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited the Basilica of St. Peter in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia, where the relics of St. Augustine are kept, in what amounted to a kind of homecoming for the Augustinian pope.
The basilica, whose construction began in the eighth century, has housed the mortal remains of St. Augustine since around the year 722, when they arrived in Pavia from Cagliari. The relics had previously been brought to Sardinia from Hippo in 504.
The June 20 stop continued Pope Leo’s Augustinian itinerary. In April, during his apostolic journey to Algeria, the pope visited Annaba, the ancient Hippo, where Augustine served as bishop.
Upon his arrival at the basilica, Pope Leo was welcomed by Father Joseph L. Farrell, prior general of the Order of St. Augustine; Father Gabriele Pedicino, provincial prior; and Father Gianfranco Casagrande, prior of the convent. The pope then met with the Augustinian community and, later in the cloister, with bishops of the Lombardy Episcopal Conference.
The last papal visit to the Basilica of St. Peter in Ciel d’Oro took place in 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI came to Pavia and was welcomed by Father Robert Francis Prevost, then prior general of the Order of St. Augustine.
Greeting those present in the cloister, where about 1,800 faithful were gathered inside and outside the basilica, Pope Leo spoke briefly off the cuff.
“I know many of you,” he said. “St. Augustine teaches us to live and to love God and our brothers and sisters. Fraternal love and charity toward all are important; this is the message of Jesus and of St. Augustine. We are signs of love and charity, and we know how to live forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.”
In his greeting to the Augustinian community, Leo said that “St. Augustine is not ours; he belongs to the Church, and our mission is to make him known in the Church,” because Augustine “has so much to offer in this time.”
The pope said it is necessary “to offer the message of love for Christ and love for the Church,” adding: “May St. Augustine always help us to live this mission.”
In his address in the basilica, Pope Leo praised the Church in Pavia as “a community of ancient tradition that remains alive and present in the city and territory, attentive to the signs of this time and to its challenges, without allowing itself to be discouraged by fatigue, by the secularized context, and by the difficulties in transmitting the faith.”
To avoid discouragement, he said, Christians need “a gaze animated by the spirit of faith” that helps them read reality more deeply and resist “a negative and pessimistic attitude, incapable of generating new life.”
“The gaze that is required of us is instead that of Jesus,” he said.
The pope asked what it means to be “a living Church,” answering that it requires remaining united to Christ, “the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God.”
“Christ is the foundation of the spiritual building,” Leo said. “He is the cornerstone placed as the basis of our ecclesial journey, of pastoral action, and of evangelization.”
Being built in Christ, he said, protects the Church from the risk of becoming scattered or exhausted by “secondary things” that may be good but do not reach what is essential.
“Since the center is Christ, we all draw from this one source and submit our efforts to the discernment that comes from his light and his word,” the pope said. “Then we help grow a Church in which people walk together, capable of renewing itself without division, in which all recognize one another as brothers and sisters and work joyfully in service of the kingdom of God.”
Leo urged Christian communities to be centered on what is essential, “even if this should involve giving up some structures and some securities of the past.”
“The essential thing is to live with Christ, and spreading his Gospel is what must be close to our hearts,” he said.
The pope addressed that appeal first to priests, calling them to “always return to the center” and to unify everything in their relationship with the Lord. He also encouraged men and women religious, who he said often know the fatigue of updating the charism to which they belong, to begin again from Christ and share their gifts with the whole diocesan Church.
In a secularized world, Leo said, Christians are called above all to bring “the joyful and liberating proclamation of Jesus Christ” and to help people discover or rediscover the faith.
The pope then pointed again to Augustine, saying that “his thought, the story of his conversion, and his spirituality remind us of the value and primacy of interiority.”
“As living stones, we are called to be a Church well rooted in the territory,” Pope Leo said, “a Church that walks amid the struggles and hopes of the people, expert in the art of listening and accompanying.”
He emphasized the importance in Pavia of university pastoral ministry and dialogue with culture, saying that study and scientific work challenge believers to offer a faith capable of illuminating the human search for truth, justice, and beauty.
Before the pope’s address, Bishop Corrado Sanguineti of Pavia described the local Church as “a Church on the journey,” marked by growing communion among religious communities, associations, movements, and pastoral efforts to reach people in the concrete circumstances of their lives.
Farrell, the Augustinian prior general and Prevost’s successor, also addressed the pope. He said Pope Leo’s presence among the Augustinians had “inestimable meaning,” because they are “historically and spiritually, sons of the Church and sons of St. Augustine.”
“We have St. Augustine for a father and the Church for a mother,” Farrell said, noting that the words would sound familiar to Leo because they were the same words then-Father Prevost had addressed to Pope Benedict XVI during his 2007 visit to Pavia.
After leaving the basilica, Pope Leo went to Piazza Duomo, where he prayed before the Blessed Sacrament and venerated the relics of St. Syrus, the first bishop of Pavia.
On the steps of the cathedral, the pope blessed a heated cradle intended for abandoned newborns and prayed before the image of Our Lady of Colombina. The then-Cardinal Prevost had been expected to visit the shrine of Colombina last year, but his election to the papacy made the visit impossible.
Speaking off the cuff on the cathedral steps, Pope Leo greeted young people and the large Peruvian community present in the city.
“We all want to live in peace,” he said. “It is very important that we never lose hope. But, as St. Augustine told us, if we want to change the times, if we want the world to live in peace, we must begin with ourselves.”
“That means no more words of hatred, no more insults, no more bullying, no more all those things that create war between people, between communities, between countries,” the pope said. “We must all learn to be builders of peace and promoters of reconciliation.”
After the visit to the cathedral, Pope Leo walked despite the intense heat to Piazza Vittoria for a meeting with the city’s residents.
The beauty of Pavia, Leo said, is demanding because it represents “the precious inheritance of a past that becomes a commitment for the present.”
“The city is in fact a gift and a task for those who live there,” he said.
Referring to schools, universities, hospitals, and parishes, the pope said they are “significant places” that testify to welcome, education, and culture. In different ways, he said, they attest to “the same care for the person-in-community, with his dignity and his values,” which unite citizens as one people and also underlie the Italian Constitution.
The city, Pope Leo said, points to “a human condition: The city is one for all; it is singular and plural.”
“To be social means to be solidary, behaving as authentic partners, motivated by the common good and not by partisan interests,” he said. “Citizens are always fellow citizens.”
Speaking before about 3,500 people gathered between the cathedral and Piazza Vittoria, the pope warned against indifference and called for renewed participation in civic life.
“When indifference seems to break apart our community, it is necessary to renew the active participation of all in city life,” he said. “Faced with forms of degradation and civic illiteracy, we are called to share languages of dedication and service, which safeguard squares, parks, and streets as places of encounter par excellence.”
Good citizenship, he said, “knows how to cultivate concord through dialogue and constructive encounter among the people and cultures that animate Pavia.”
“Today I invite each of you to repeat within yourselves: I care about our city,” the pope said. “I care about the health of the person next to me. I care about the beauty of the place where I live. I care about the quality of life in the environments where I work and where I spend my free time.”
Leo also highlighted the University of Pavia, saying its students experience not “an agglomeration of knowledge” but a system capable of forming the person “without speculating on his labor.”
“To promote the sciences, in fact, means to promote man, who must always remain the protagonist of his own research,” the pope said. “To every form of knowledge there corresponds a form of care.”
Returning to Augustine, Leo said “one cannot believe without thinking, nor is it possible to illuminate the highest questions of reason without faith.”
“With this trusting openness, human reason asks and plans,” he said. “It does not close itself within the logic of profit or domination but discovers new ways to care for itself and for the world.”
Faith, he added, reminds people that they are not “subjects of an anonymous fate” but are sustained by the certainty that God is “creator and savior of life.”
“Thanks to your commitment, Pavia is prosperous not only in goods but also in virtues: Always honor the dignity of every human life!” he said.
Earlier in the day, Pope Leo began his brief but intense visit to Pavia at the National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, known by its Italian acronym CNAO.
The papal helicopter landed in Pavia shortly before 2:40 p.m. on a day of particularly high temperatures. The pope was welcomed by local authorities and Sanguineti.
“Great emotion, an atmosphere of joy, a hot day because of the heat — we think it is a beautiful moment for everyone and an experience of faith for many,” the bishop told accredited journalists gathered in the press room inside the bishop’s residence.
The cancer center, inaugurated Feb. 15, 2010, treats patients with solid tumors that cannot be cured surgically or with traditional radiotherapy, using hadrontherapy: irradiation with beams of protons and carbon ions.
CNAO was the first center dedicated to hadrontherapy in Italy and remains the only one in the country able to offer carbon ion therapy.
Inside the facility, the pope greeted administrators, medical staff, and several children undergoing treatment at the center, together with their parents.
“Help the whole world understand how, when there are difficult moments, if there is not the presence and love of the family, everything is more difficult,” the pope said off the cuff. “God does not want anyone to suffer. What God promises us is that he will always be present, even when we are too weak; he sends us angels.”
The pope thanked CNAO, “which works miracles,” and its staff, saying “God works in our lives also through doctors, nurses, and so many people.”
“When things are difficult,” he said, “let us place all our trust in God.”
After leaving Pavia, Pope Leo was scheduled to stop in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano to venerate the relics of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini before returning to the Vatican.
This story was first published in three parts by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Faith sustains a pediatric palliative care nurse: ‘God’s hand is always there’
The Child Jesus Children’s Hospital in Madrid is unlike most hospitals. Its waiting room is reminiscent of a theater; in its long corridors, decorated with bright colors, there is a fruit shop, a school, game rooms, an ice cream parlor, and even some bird houses that adorn the main staircase.
At this hospital, which looks like something out of a storybook, medical professionals work to ensure that children can keep smiling despite their illnesses.
This is the case for Carmen Molina, a nurse in the hospital’s pediatric comprehensive palliative care unit, who recently shared her testimony at a gathering organized for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Movistar Arena in Madrid.
Sitting near one of the play areas in the hospital, Molina shared with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, her experience accompanying seriously ill children and their families through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
‘God’s hand is always there’
The vocation Molina chose is not an easy one. “There are things that are painful for you, too, when accompanying the patient through this process, knowing there is no option for a cure. But it changes your perspective and the way you care for them,” she said.
Since she first came to the hospital three years ago, she has had to face tough challenges marked “not only by physical exhaustion, but also by the emotional and spiritual pain” of sick children and their families.
Despite the hardships, she said faith sustains her every day and helps her to be aware of her own limitations and fragility. “You find meaning in many of the situations you experience, and you realize that, thank God, a lot of things don’t depend on you personally; that gives you peace of mind.”
“The hand of God is always there — always,” Molina said, convinced that his presence becomes visible in sick children and their loved ones. “Of course, everyone goes through it as best they can, but I see it in the way they face so many things in their day-to-day lives, in the way they look toward the future and ‘normalize’ so many aspects of their situation.”
With extensive experience in palliative care, the nurse pointed out certain recurring patterns among people in the final stage of life. “They want to feel loved and don’t want to be a burden to others. They wish to heal old wounds, ask for forgiveness, be forgiven, or find reconciliation.”
As they find themselves in the final stretch of their lives, Molina noted that many people “seek the meaning of their life” without concerning themselves with material things. Ultimately, she emphasized, “what counts is the love given or not given; that’s what matters at the end of life.”
Recognizing the person as someone unique
She emphasized that palliative care “is necessary for living with peace and dignity” and clarified that “we don’t focus on death, but on life,” so that patients live as well as possible. “What matters is how they live; it’s not so much about how long they will live, but rather how they will live.”
In her view, this is closely linked to the dignity of each person, which “depends neither on the time lived — whether long or short — nor on the health one enjoys or the illness one suffers.”
“Nor does it depend on success,” she added, “nor on the abilities one may possess; rather, it is something so intrinsic and so infinite that we are called to protect, care for, appreciate, and attend to the person in a holistic way.”
The nurse explained that palliative care aims to address every dimension of the person, focusing not only on the physical dimension but also on the emotional, social, and spiritual ones.
“We try not to reduce the person to their illness,” she said, “but rather to recognize that person as a unique individual with a story that deserves respect, someone who has value right up to the very last moment of their life.”
She further noted that hope is indispensable at this stage: “As long as there is hope, there is life and expectation."
She clarified that it’s not about “the hope of a cure, but the hope of living each day with meaning, being at peace, and saying goodbye properly.”
“If you are at peace with yourself and with others, I believe going to heaven is a joy.”
The cross: A companion in suffering
Molina also pointed out that accepting the illness is a key element: “When you take a step toward transcendence, toward peace, it is palpable, even if it isnʼt fully understood. I have been fortunate enough to witness how the sick person and their family, despite the hardships, experience moments of serenity, peace, intimacy, and inner healing. I believe that hope does not vanish; rather, it changes form.”
Throughout her journey as a palliative care nurse, she has witnessed how many patients and their loved ones have found “strength in faith, in prayer, and in the cross, understood as a companion in suffering.”
Ultimately, she emphasized that what helps the patient most “is knowing that their life matters to others and feeling accompanied by God.”
Drawing on her own experience, she encourages people “not to wait until they are sick to ask themselves about what is truly important and essential: loving and letting yourself be loved. It’s about living a life of integrity and caring for your family, friends, and those around you. Ultimately, life is not measured by success or productivity but by authenticity and love.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
5 powerful moments of faith at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup began on June 11 — making history as the first World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events with roughly 5 billion people tuning in to the tournament that brings together soccer’s best athletes from around the world.
Despite only being a little over a week into the soccer tournament, the name of Jesus has already been made known many times from several of the athletes and teams as they compete on this global stage.
Here are five powerful moments of faith we’ve seen at the World Cup so far:
1. Croatian team shares the importance of their Catholic faith
Ahead of Croatia’s first match against England, two members of the team took part in a press conference where they discussed the role their Catholic faith plays in their lives.
EWTN News correspondent Mark Irons was in attendance and asked Kristijan Jakić and Igor Matanović what Catholicism means to the team and if prayer and faith is important to them in their own lives.
“I think faith is very important in my life. When you pray to God, it’s like a feeling that someone is listening to you, and that gives me a lot of strength,” Matanović said.
Jakić added: “We are a country in which we are Catholics and in which faith means the path in our lives. I think faith represents the entire national team. Faith simply means everything in our lives.”
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2. Players from Curaçao and Germany join in prayer after competing against one another
The national team from the country of Curaçao — which is a Caribbean island with a population of 150,000 — made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time. By qualifying, the island nation set a Guinness World Record as the smallest country by population to ever reach the global menʼs tournament.
Despite losing to Germany in their first match 7-1, the players and coaches were visibly emotional realizing the achievement the team had accomplished. In a moment of gratitude, several of the athletes joined on the pitch for a moment of prayer. They were then joined by German players Jonathan Tah and Felix Nmecha — both outspoken Christians.
In a postgame interview, Nmecha said: “During the game, we are opponents, but after the game we are all Christians and we are brothers… In our faith, we all believe that Jesus is glorified through the game and that’s why we came together and simply prayed together.”
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3. Lionel Messi thanks God after making history
Argentina went up against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City, Kansas, where over 69,000 fans watched history unfold at the feet of the famous Argentinian player Lionel Messi.
During the 3-0 victory against Algeria, Messi recorded the first FIFA World Cup hat trick — when a single player scores three goals during one game — of his career. Additionally, Messi made history by tying former German soccer player Miroslav Klose’s record for most men’s World Cup goals scored at 16.
After the game, Messi, a devout Catholic, said: “I can’t ask for more than what I received. As I’ve said many times, thank God that he has given me so much and everything that comes now is a blessing.”
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4. Team USA shares a moment of prayer after historic win against Paraguay
On June 12, the men from the United States started their World Cup journey on a positive note with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay. After the game, defender Mark McKenzie led the team in a moment of prayer on the field.
Leading into the tournament, several of the U.S. players were vocal about their faith. Star winger Christian Pulisic is known for leading several of his teammates in a Bible study he calls “Bible Time” and has discussed the important role reading Scripture plays in his daily life.
Goalkeeper Matt Freese recently spoke to Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast and discussed how his faith and career are intertwined.
“Godʼs given me so many opportunities within this game and within my career. I still have a role to play in that. I still have to do my part and take that opportunity and do something with it,” Freese said.
He also shared that he’s a listener of Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast.
“Right now I’m listening to ‘Bible in a Year’ by Father Mike Schmitz. It’s been fantastic and it kind of makes me able to — even when I’m on the road or even if itʼs a busy stretch — make sure I’m spending some time every day, hopefully every day, [with Scripture],” he said.
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5. Felix Nmecha honors Jesus in post-goal celebration
German midfielder Felix Nmecha honored Jesus by making a powerful gesture after scoring the first goal in Germany’s 7-1 victory against Curaçao on June 14.
After scoring the goal, Nmecha knelt down on one knee and made the gesture of taking off a crown from his head, placed it on the ground, and then pointed up to the sky. This “crown down” gesture, as it has been called, symbolizes that every gift, every victory, and every moment of glory belongs to Christ.
In a postgame interview, Nmecha said: “It was an incredible blessing to score my first goal for Germany and for it to be so fast. All the glory I give to God, because he is the one who has given me this talent and the opportunity to be here living this dream.”
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