Suspect arrested after Nebraska deacon found murdered, police say
Local police have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of a Catholic deacon in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, this week.
The Omaha Police Officers Association said in a March 13 Facebook post that a “person of interest” was taken into custody on March 12 after Deacon John Zak was reportedly murdered the previous night.
Zak “was an active member of the community and a deacon at St. Peter’s Catholic Church” in the city’s Leavenworth neighborhood, the police association said.
Father John Broheimer, the pastor of St. Peter’s, said in a statement on the parish website that Zak had been a member of the parish for more than 30 years and served as a deacon there for 25 years.
“Through his ministry he touched countless lives, especially the young people of our parish, whom he served with generosity and sincere faith,” the pastor said.
The priest urged parishioners to pray for Zak’s family and to “support them with your charity in the days ahead.”
Police had not publicly identified a motive in the killing as of March 13, but local news reports said a “family member” named Martin Zak had been booked in local jail on homicide and felony theft charges.
Jail records showed that an individual named Martin Zak was being held without bond.
The Archdiocese of Omaha did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the tragedy.
Cuban government to release 51 prisoners following Vatican talks
The Cuban government announced that it will release 51 people from prison because of its “smooth” relations with the Vatican — a move that coincides with the upcoming observance of Holy Week.
“In the spirit of goodwill, and of the close and smooth relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican — with which communication regarding processes for the review and release of persons deprived of liberty has historically been maintained — the government of Cuba has decided to release, in the coming days, 51 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty [prison],” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a March 12 statement.
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on March 13 that “conversations regarding the release of prisoners have recently taken place.”
The statement from the Cuban ministry notes that all these individuals “have served a significant portion of their sentences and have maintained good conduct in prison”; however, it does not indicate whether the group includes political prisoners.
The communist regime states that since 2010, it “has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates, while — over the last three years, as part of Cuban practice and pursuant to the provisions of our legislation — another 10,000 individuals sentenced to deprivation of liberty were released based on certain conditions.”
This announcement comes amid renewed tensions between Cuba and the United States, which began in January, and the recent meetings that representatives from both countries have held with Vatican officials.
On Feb. 20, the U.S. chief of mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, held a meeting at the Vatican with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on March 9 that the Holy See has taken “the necessary steps” regarding the situation in Cuba, “always with a view to a solution to the existing problems through dialogue.”
In January 2025, the Cuban regime also announced the release of 553 prisoners following mediation by Pope Francis and “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”
Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News correspondent in Rome, contributed to this report.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Notre Dame and the Vatican launch new initiative at papal gardens
In Castel Gandolfo, Italy, this week, academics and representatives gathered to launch the Global Alliance, a new initiative by the University of Notre Dame and the Laudato Si’ Centre of Higher Education dedicated to promoting integral ecology through fostering environmental collaboration.
As reported by the official Vatican News outlet, the initiative, which took place March 9–10 at the Borgo Laudato Si’, part of the Pontifical Villa Gardens at Castel Gandolfo established by Pope Leo XIV last year, featured discussions on integral ecology, climate change, and ecological leadership.
Cardinal Fabio Baggio, general director of the Laudato Si’ Center and undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke of the Global Alliance as a fruit of more universities expressing interest in studying the teachings of Laudato Si’.
“We started by looking around the world at all the universities that have begun deepening their studies on Laudato Si’ — we found more than 400,” Baggio said. “One of the outputs we envisioned from the very beginning was the creation of a Global Alliance. The people here are going to commit to producing more research and disseminating awareness about ecological conversion.”
The Borgo Laudato Si’ complex features a circular greenhouse, centuries-old trees, and agricultural land; it is dedicated to Pope Francis’ teachings on caring for creation in his encyclical Laudato Si’.
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke of event as a source of excitement and a gathering of “people from different corners of the world, different universities, but with one aim, which is that we want to share ideas and good practices to live according to Laudato Si’ principles.”
Pakistani Catholics react to Vatican’s bishop reassignments
LAHORE, Pakistan — Catholics in Pakistan have reacted with mixed emotions after Pope Leo XIV reshuffled two senior Church leaders, appointing Sebastian Francis Shaw to lead the Quetta Apostolic Vicariate more than a year after he was removed as archbishop of Lahore amid controversy.
The Holy See Press Office announced March 10 that Bishop Khalid Rehmat, OFM Cap, until now vicar apostolic of Quetta, has been appointed metropolitan archbishop of Lahore.
Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, welcomed both appointments.
“Capuchins have a long history of serving in the country’s most populous Catholic diocese. Installation of a bishop of their own will be a source of blessing,” Shukardin told EWTN News on March 11, referring to Archbishop-designate Rehmat, a member of the Capuchin Franciscans.
“Good things will come, as he has served in Lahore, including as editor of the bimonthly diocesan magazine Catholic Naqeeb for three years.”
He described Shaw’s appointment to Quetta as equally positive.
“The confusion regarding Shaw has been cleared with his reinstatement in a Catholic jurisdiction. Accountability is very important for the Church in Pakistan right now, as it guides pastoral vision. We cannot fully understand the Church if we do not accompany Rome,” Shukardin said.
Allegations and background
Shaw had been stationed at the Franciscan Friars Minor Custos house in Karachi since his removal and the appointment of an apostolic administrator in August 2024 following allegations of sexual misconduct and financial impropriety.
In 2017, Shaw drew widespread criticism for allowing Maryam Nawaz — Punjab’s current chief minister and daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — to deliver a political speech at Lahore Cathedral during an election campaign.
Church officials said Shaw’s removal followed two separate investigations whose findings were submitted to the Vatican.
Shaw’s absence created uncertainty among clergy and laity alike, with his name omitted from the Eucharistic Prayer even as his images remained in parishes and diocesan media.
An official from the Lahore Archdiocese, speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned the delay in Shaw’s status following 2024.
“If the bishop was innocent, why the gap, the delay, the propaganda, and the transfer?” the official asked. “The Vatican intervenes after much damage has been done. Nobody knows the financial losses. There was no statement or justification; the confusion continues.”
The official said that had Shaw been reinstated in Lahore, it might have helped restore the trust of the faithful; instead, his transfer to Quetta appears largely face-saving.
Archbishop-designate Rehmat
Archbishop-designate Rehmat was born in 1968 in Mianwali, within the Islamabad-Rawalpindi Diocese. He made his solemn vows for the Capuchin Franciscans in 2007 and was ordained a priest for the order in 2008. In 2021, he was named vicar apostolic of Quetta and received episcopal ordination the same year.
He chairs the bishops’ conference commissions for Consecrated Life, Evangelization, and the Pontifical Mission Societies, and served as a delegate to the Synod on Synodality.
Archbishop Shaw
Shaw, 68, was born in Padri-Jo-Goth village in Sindh province, within the Hyderabad Diocese. He was ordained a priest in 1991, appointed titular bishop of Tino and auxiliary bishop of Lahore in 2009, became apostolic administrator in 2010, and became metropolitan archbishop in 2013.
He has chaired commissions for Interreligious Dialogue, Family, Education, and Caritas within the bishops’ conference.
Rojar Randhawa, a former Caritas Pakistan Lahore official and prominent critic of the archdiocese, described the latest developments as “a simple change of faces” and urged Church leaders to pair administrative changes with meaningful reflection and accountability.
“Transparency is not a threat to the Church; it is a path to truth and credibility,” he said. “Rebuilding confidence requires dialogue, listening, and pastoral closeness, especially for marginalized and suffering communities.”
Belgian Capuchins led the then-Lahore Diocese from its founding in 1886 until 1975. Today, the archdiocese counts 577,000 Catholics.
The Quetta Apostolic Vicariate, mostly served by Oblates, is Pakistan’s largest geographically but poorest diocese, with 33,388 Catholics.
Nicaraguan dictator Ortega bans ordinations in dioceses of 4 exiled bishops
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, have banned the ordination of priests and deacons in four dioceses in Nicaragua whose bishops remain in exile.
The measure exacerbates a pastoral crisis already marked by years of religious persecution, although vocations continue.
The four dioceses without a bishop present in the country are Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa, and Estelí. Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, president of the bishops’ conference, was expelled in November 2024 after criticizing a mayor aligned with the regime who had interfered with a Mass Herrera was celebrating by blasting loud music outside.
Months earlier, in July of that year, Herrera had ordained a priest and seven deacons in the neighboring Diocese of Matagalpa, whose bishop, Rolando Álvarez, after spending 18 months in detention, was deported to Rome by the regime in January 2024.
This ordination represented a “liturgical oasis” for the Church, in the words of Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church.” “It occurred six months after Álvarez, who is also apostolic administrator of Estelí, and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna were deported by the dictatorship.”
The dictatorship’s ‘hatred’ of Álvarez prevents ordinations
ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, spoke with three Nicaraguan priests in exile who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from the regime.
“The government is the one affecting the ordinations. And besides the ordinations, there are many other things, like a little more surveillance” of the priests, said one of the clergy.
He pointed out that “the police are the ones enforcing all of this” and attributed the ban in Matagalpa to “the dictatorship’s hatred of Bishop Rolando.”
The same priest charged that the regime seeks to “supplant the bishops” and that some clergy “don’t put up a fight to avoid making their lives more difficult, with the idea of saving their dioceses, but in the end they are surrendering their mandate to whatever the government says.”
The priest noted that Matagalpa is probably the most affected diocese, with at least 32 of its priests outside the country.
‘More extreme surveillance’ where there is no bishop
“Especially in dioceses without a bishop, surveillance is even more extreme to prevent a bishop from another diocese from coming” for some liturgical event, the second priest contacted by ACI Prensa stated.
According to this priest, there are currently about seven candidates for the priesthood in Siuna who completed their studies in 2025, plus another group that finished in 2024, and both groups are still waiting to be ordained. Despite this situation, the phenomenon “does not seem to have affected new admissions” to the seminary.
Why can some dioceses perform ordinations while others cannot?
The third priest explained that “León, Granada, Juigalpa, and Bluefields are dioceses that have their diocesan bishop there and maintain a very prudent approach, even though some media outlets have labeled one of [the bishops] as an ally of the regime. That’s not true; they are simply more practical for the good of their pastors and their flock.”
He also explained that to carry out an ordination, a letter of authorization from the bishop is required, which “can be easily obtained because it can be sent by email, and they can allow candidates to be ordained in other dioceses.”
However, the obstacle is political. “The problem is that the government interprets that permission, those letters, as an intrusion into their sovereignty and sees as a threat a bishop who is away but continues to govern his diocese,” he explained.
Problems caused by the lack of ordinations
For Molina, the ban on ordinations has an “alarming” impact since, for example, “Matagalpa is currently operating with barely 30% of its active clergy. Seven out of 10 priests have been forced into exile or banishment,” while “Estelí and Jinotega have experienced reductions of up to 50% in their pastoral capacity, leaving entire communities without the regular celebration of the Eucharist.”
“The human drama is concentrated in the seminaries. Dozens of young men who have successfully completed their studies in philosophy, theology, and pastoral training find themselves in a legal and spiritual limbo. They possess the aptitude and the calling, but they cannot receive the sacrament [of holy orders],” the researcher told ACI Prensa.
“Without replacements for the priests who have been banished, expelled, or who have died, the Catholic Church in Nicaragua faces the real possibility of a gradual closure of parishes,” she warned, adding that “the absence of a priest means” for the faithful “the end of social support and the loss of [the graces of] the sacraments.”
ACI Prensa contacted the five dioceses where priestly and diaconal ordinations are permitted to inquire why they are allowed there but not in the other four but has not yet received a response.
The dioceses where ordinations are permitted are the Archdiocese of Managua along with the dioceses of León, Juigalpa, Granada, and Bluefields. In December 2025, three deacons were ordained in Juigalpa, and in January of this year, two were ordained in Bluefields.
In June 2025, eight deacons were ordained in Managua, and in November they were ordained priests. Six of them were assigned their pastoral missions in February, while in León a deacon was ordained on Feb. 28.
ACI Prensa also contacted the dioceses where ordinations are prohibited to inquire about the issue but has not yet received a response.
Vocations continue to flourish
One point on which the three exiled priests agree is that vocations continue to flourish in Nicaragua and “the Lord continues to raise up courageous young men who listen to him and enter into the process of vocational discernment.”
The third priest contacted by ACI Prensa emphasized that “even though the government wants to prevent priestly ordinations, there have been ways in which the Church, the bishops, have managed and sought to make them happen without the government noticing. This demonstrates the Church’s resourcefulness in the face of adversity, how it reinvents itself, how it continues to evangelize.”
Mosaico CSI reported in February that “two Nicaraguans were ordained priests in the Diocese of Limón, Costa Rica, in a secretly held ceremony” to avoid reprisals from the Nicaraguan regime.
The third priest emphasized that “obstacles are not a problem for the Church, but rather a cross that the Church bravely embraces, as Our Lord taught us, and that propels it on this path to resurrection.”
The Church is ‘crucified but not immobilized’
This last priest offered a reflection on the dictatorship’s persecution of the Catholic Church, which has intensified since the anti-regime protests of 2018.
“One day, those people who ordered us not to celebrate these ordination rites will also find that glorious cross in the Church and will realize the harm they are doing, but in the meantime, the Church has continued working,” he emphasized.
“The Church in Nicaragua is crucified, but it’s not immobilized; that is to say, the cross continues to bear even more fruit because the Church is not complacent, it’s not static. It’s on the move,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Miami archbishop warns on ending Haiti temporary protective status and deepening crisis in Cuba
Ending temporary residency protections for Haitians would be “sending people into a burning building,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said.
This week the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strip legal protections from Haitians living in the United States with temporary protected status (TPS).
TPS provides hundreds of thousands of eligible Haitians in the U.S. with protection from deportation and work authorization, due to ongoing safety concerns in Haiti. The Justice Department requested the court to lift a judge’s Feb. 2 decision that blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS that was granted in 2010.
“I would hope that the court does not support the Trump initiative at this time because this would create tremendous pain ... both with the Haitians affected by the end of TPS, but also of the local community here, which today benefits from these people’s participation in our labor force,” Wenski said in an interview March 12 with “EWTN News Nightly.”
It is not only relevant to “the humanitarian aspects” but also “the business aspects,” Wenski said. “And the president is a businessman; he should understand that this would hurt business in a very, very real way.”
Working Haitians in the Miami Archdiocese “pay millions of dollars in taxes,” Wenski said. The city would lose workers benefiting the “full labor market” Miami has within the agriculture business, construction business, hospitality business, and health care.
Ending TPS would ultimately be “sending people into a burning building,” he said. “Haiti is a country that is in free fall.”
“It has not had an elected official, it has not had a real government, in over six years. There’s no end in sight to the violence that is affecting about a third of the country, especially the capital area, where gangs control many parts of the neighborhoods, which make schooling impossible,” Wenski said.
“And that’s the exact opposite of what the TPS provisions when passed by Congress in the ’90s was designed to prevent,” Wenski said. “Of course, TPS means temporary protective status, but there’s no way for us to determine what temporary means because it’s beyond our control, because the situation in Haiti obviously hasn’t improved for a very long time.”
“That’s true as well as Nicaragua to a great degree, still true of Venezuela, and it’s certainly true of Cuba,” as “a lot of people came here during the Biden administration on a special humanitarian visa,” he said.
“Over 500,000 people came to this country in that way. That means that they never spent a day illegal in this country because they came here legally, invited by the U.S. government, if you will, given a humanitarian visa, and then all of a sudden, in one fell swoop, they become without legal status and are told to go home,” Wenski said.
Situation in Cuba
Wenski also discussed how “Cubans in Miami are very hopeful that there will be some type of a regime change,” following the Trump administration suggesting a possible “friendly takeover” of the island nation.
“I would say Cubans in Cuba are also very hopeful, but everybody’s a bit nervous too,” he said. Based on conversation with members of the Cuban Church, “they’ve always been advocating a soft landing for when necessary changes come to Cuba.”
“They need a soft landing, not a landing that would be harsh, that would cause more violence,” Wenski said. “Whether the Trump administration has the ability to engineer such a soft landing still remains to be seen.”
“But right now, Cuba is being choked. There’s no food, there’s no fuel, there’s no freedom, and for many people, no hope,” he said. “And so even with some changes coming to Cuba, it’ll be a long time before the economy can be rebooted to provide for the needs of the population on an island.”
Church’s role
The Church has been a source to promote “dialogue” and “reconciliation,” Wenski said. “Right now, the Church in Cuba is cooperating with the United States because after Hurricane Melissa that affected Cuba several months ago, the first aid that reached Cuba was from the Archdiocese of Miami.”
Then, Secretary of State Marco Rubio “approved $3 million from the U.S. government, and for the first time in history, the Cuban government accepted money coming from the U.S. government. It was going to be distributed through Cáritas, which is … the charity agency of the Church in Cuba.”
“After that first $3 million was distributed, the Trump administration also granted another $6 million for that hurricane,” he explained. “But it’s the Catholic Church that is leading the aid and distributing it on the island, cooperating with the United States, and at the same time, cooperating with the Cuban authorities, because the Cuban authorities have to step back and allow the Church to distribute the aid, and things are happening.”
“So the Church is a very important player in Cuba and beyond,” he said.
Who was Father Pierre al-Rahi, the Maronite priest who died helping the wounded in Lebanon?
Thousands of people gathered March 11 in the border town of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon to bid farewell to Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Maronite priest who died after being wounded in an Israeli attack during the recent offensive in the region.
The funeral was held at St. George’s Church and drew crowds of local families, displaced people who had sought refuge in the area, Maronite priests from across the country, and civil authorities, according to The Eastern Church.
Many of those present felt “as if they were burying their own father,” a reflection of the close relationship the priest had forged with the community over the years.
Al-Rahi was the parish priest of St. George’s Church in Qlayaa, a predominantly Christian village of about 8,000 inhabitants, near the border with Israel.
The parish became the center of his ministry within the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the pope and the Maronite patriarchate in Bkerke.
A shepherd who chose to stay with his flock
Amid the escalating violence in southern Lebanon, the priest reiterated his decision to remain with his community, even as many residents of the region were forced to flee their homes.
In one of his last television interviews, according to the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, he stated that he would stay there “until death.”
Southern Lebanon’s Christian communities have refused to comply with Israeli evacuation orders fearing that if they left they would never get their land back, as it would be occupied by some group — whether it be Israelis or other local groups.
In his last public statement, reported by France24 on March 8 from the steps of his parish, the priest explained the spirit with which the Christian community was facing the crisis.
“We are obliged to stay despite the danger, when we defend our land, and we do so peacefully. None of us carry weapons. We all bring peace, kindness, and love. All the churches are gathered, all the religions together … it can only be for peace.”
On March 9, hours before he died, al-Rahi addressed his community again with words that today resonate with many as a spiritual testament: “You know that we are walking the path of the Passion; there is death, and after it, resurrection with Our Lord Jesus Christ … I am ready to die in my house, because this is my house.”
He died while helping the wounded
The priest died in Marjayoun Hospital after suffering shrapnel wounds during a shelling of a house in Qlayaa.
According to María Lozano, project director for the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) foundation, the priest died while trying to help victims of the first strike.
“Father Pierre went to see how he could help the wounded … and that’s when a second projectile hit and killed him,” she explained.
“He was a very dedicated person, very dedicated to his people,” Lozano added in an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
The ACN project director explained that the Christian communities in southern Lebanon “had decided to stay despite the war, saying: ‘We are a Christian population and we have nothing to do with this war and we don’t want to leave.’”
‘The father of the community’
French journalist Nathalie Duplan, who specializes in the Middle East, described the priest as a figure deeply beloved by the villagers.
“He truly was the father of the community, a symbol,” she stated in an interview with ACI Prensa. “He used to say something incredible: ‘Yes, there is death, but I am not afraid, because after death there is resurrection.’”
According to The Eastern Church, testimonies gathered after his death consistently describe al-Rahi as a man who was approachable, present, and deeply committed to his people.
He was frequently seen on the streets of Qlayaa, visiting the sick, accompanying families at births and funerals, and knowing children by name.
Al-Rahi was born in 1975 in the village of Dibeh in northern Lebanon and was ordained a Maronite priest in the early 2000s.
His most significant pastoral assignment was at St. George’s Parish in Qlayaa, where he served for many years.
For many villagers, his death symbolizes the determination of southern Lebanese Christians to remain in their land despite the violence. As he himself said in one of his last public statements: “We are here, in our land.”
His name in Arabic, al-Rahi, means “the shepherd,” an interesting fact that Pope Leo XIV highlighted this week: “Father Pierre was a true shepherd who always remained with his people with the love and sacrifice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.”
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.
Catholics celebrate after Alabama governor commutes death sentence of man convicted in 1991 murder
Catholic leaders and advocates are celebrating after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the imminent execution of a man convicted in a 1991 murder during a robbery.
Charles “Sonny” Burton was due to be executed by the state on March 12 over his conviction in the slaying of Doug Battle in Talladega on Aug. 16, 1991.
The killing had actually been carried out by Burton’s accomplice, Derrick DeBruce, who had also been sentenced to death in the killing but who was later resentenced to life in prison.
Alabama law allows a criminal to be found “legally accountable” of murder in some circumstances even if he did not commit the killing himself. But Ivey said it would be “unjust” to put Burton to death given that the actual murderer avoided execution.
“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances,” the governor said in a March 10 statement, pointing out that Burton would be put to death “while the participant who pulled the trigger was not.”
The decision was hailed by Catholic leaders. Mobile Archbishop Mark Rivituso said in a statement that he was grateful for Ivey’s decision.
“In choosing mercy, Gov. Ivey has affirmed the dignity of human life and helped foster a greater culture of life in our society,” the archbishop said, adding that the faithful still remember “the life of Mr. Doug Battle and the deep suffering his death brought to his family and loved ones.”
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network, thanked Ivey for “bearing witness to the injustice in Mr. Burton’s case” and “using [her] executive authority to take lifesaving action.”
“There is no place for the death penalty in that vision of a consistent ethic of life,” Vaillancourt Murphy said.
She also acknowledged “the experience of Mr. Battle’s family” as well as recent remarks from Battle’s daughter Tori, who had come out in opposition to Burton’s execution.
“Executing a man who did not commit the killing does not heal wounds or strengthen public trust. It weakens it,” Tori Battle said in a December 2025 op-ed.
Though long tolerant of capital punishment in limited cases, the Vatican in 2018 revised its teaching on the death penalty, stating that the Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”
The Holy See noted that though capital punishment was “long considered an appropriate response” to some crimes, evolving standards and more effective methods of imprisonment and detention mean the death penalty is now “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
Lebanon mourns Father Pierre al-Rahi as calls for peace echo at his funeral
Amid a war weighing heavily on southern Lebanon with fear and destruction, a prayer of farewell rose from the town of Qlayaa for a priest who chose to remain beside his people until the very end.
In the courtyard of St. George Church in a scene marked by tears, prayer, and hope, mourners bid farewell to Father Pierre al-Rahi, who was killed after shelling struck his town.
The funeral and burial rites were held with the participation of Bishop Elias Nassar, representing Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, and Maronite Archbishop of Tyre Charbel Abdallah, along with Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, members of the clergy, and a large crowd of townspeople and loved ones who came to bid farewell to their pastor.
In a message read on his behalf by Nassar, Cardinal al-Rahi expressed his “deep pain and sorrow” at the news of the priest’s martyrdom. He described him as a “zealous and courageous pastor” and a man marked by “priestly virtues filled with divine grace.”
Recalling Father Pierre al-Rahi’s priestly journey and pastoral service, the patriarch noted that the late priest was a son of the town of Debel and had lived his priesthood, since his ordination in 2014, with unconditional love, remaining close to children, youth, and families. As a result, St. George Parish in Qlayaa, which he had served for about five years, became “a model of a vibrant parish of Christ.”
Cardinal al-Rahi noted that the martyred priest’s role was not limited to pastoral work. He also held ecclesial, canonical, and social responsibilities in the Archdiocese of Tyre, while serving those who were suffering, the poor, and prisoners.
The patriarch also stressed Father Pierre al-Rahi’s “courageous” decision to remain with the steadfast people of Qlayaa while the region bears the cost of the ongoing war. He added in his message: “We pray that his martyrdom may be an act of redemption for the people of Qlayaa and for all Lebanon and the Lebanese who reject this war and long for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace.”
Pope Leo XIV mourned the martyred priest at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday. He said al-Rahi embodied the meaning of his family name, becoming “a true shepherd,” always close to his flock and filled with the love and sacrifice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. He added that the priest rushed without hesitation to help members of his parish as soon as he heard they had been wounded in the shelling. The pope concluded with a prayer for peace in the Middle East, saying: “We ask God to make his shed blood a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Pope names Spanish Augustinian as papal almoner
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Spanish Augustinian Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín as papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who has led the office since 2022, will return to his native Poland as the new metropolitan archbishop of Łódź.
Marín de San Martín, titular bishop of Suliana, became a more prominent figure in the Vatican during the Synod on Synodality, when Pope Francis named him undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops in 2021.
He and Leo XIV, both Augustinians, have known each other for years. In 2008, when the current pontiff was serving as prior general of the Augustinian order, he asked Marín de San Martín to take charge of the order’s archive in Rome, where he has now served for 18 years.
Born in Madrid in 1961, Marín de San Martín holds degrees in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid and in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also earned a doctorate in theology from Comillas with a dissertation on the ecclesiology of St. John XXIII and holds a diploma in archival studies.
He served as provincial councilor of the Augustinian Province of Spain from 1999 to 2002 and was pastor of the parish of Santa Ana y la Esperanza in Madrid. Until 2008, he was prior of the Monastery of Santa María de la Vid in Burgos. He has also taught at the San Agustín Theological Center in El Escorial and at the Augustinian Theological Study Center in Valladolid.
With extensive experience in lay pastoral ministry, he has served since 2008 as general archivist of the Order of St. Augustine and since 2013 as assistant general to the prior general of the order, as well as president of the Augustinian Spirituality Institute.
The Apostolic Almonry, formally renamed the Dicastery for the Service of Charity under Pope Francis’ 2022 reform of the Roman Curia, is the Vatican office responsible for carrying out charitable works for the poor in the name of the Holy Father, especially in Rome and in conflict zones.
The papal almoner is also delegated by the pope to grant apostolic blessings through parchment certificates. The office carries the dignity of archbishop and membership in the pontifical family, allowing participation in papal liturgies and official audiences.
Krajewski, born in Łódź in 1963, entered the diocesan seminary there in 1982 and earned a theology degree from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin before being ordained a priest on June 11, 1988.
He later earned a licentiate in liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’Anselmo in Rome and a doctorate in theology with a specialization in liturgy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also in Rome. He also worked with the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
Over the years, he served as master of ceremonies to the metropolitan archbishop of Łódź, taught at the diocesan seminary and at Franciscan and Salesian seminaries in the archdiocese, and was a professor at the Warsaw academy.
He also served as pontifical master of ceremonies in the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. In 2013, he was named papal almoner and titular archbishop, receiving episcopal ordination on Sept. 17 of that year.
Pope Francis made him a cardinal in the June 28, 2018, consistory, assigning him the deaconry of Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino. Since 2022, he has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
This story was first published by EWTN’s Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.