Victim of dictatorship, Nicaraguan Indigenous leader and political prisoner dies
Brooklyn Rivera, a political prisoner and Indigenous leader whom the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, held in detention and incommunicado for more than 970 days, passed away in Nicaragua at the age of 73, the regime announced following several statements regarding his grave state of health.
“Despite the enormous and intense medical efforts undertaken to restore the health of our Brother [akin to ‘comrade’] Brooklyn whose physical and neurological deterioration was the result of a bacterial infection triggered by the COVID-19 virus, we regret to confirm that unfortunately he has departed this plane of existence,” states a communiqué from Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health dated May 31.
The Ministry of Health and the Directorate of Forensic Medicine “are carrying out the procedures corresponding to the certification of his death,” adds the text published in El 19 Digital, a media outlet aligned with the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
‘To be a Christian is to speak out and not remain silent’
“What exists in our country is not a government; it is a regime of repression, a cruel dictatorship that has turned Nicaragua into a police state,” Father Edwing Román, a Nicaraguan priest serving as vicar at St. Agatha Parish in Miami, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, on May 31.
The priest denounced various “crimes against humanity” committed by the dictatorship, such as “arbitrary detentions based on fabricated charges, political prisoners dying in jails from torture, persecution of the Church, closing universities, stripping people of their citizenship, confiscations, disappearances, and murders.”
Román also warned that “thinking differently is now a crime in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan people deserve freedom, justice, and dignity, which are today being trampled upon by these criminals in power.”
All of this “is already known to the international community, and they must act in the face of these systematic violations. To be a Christian is to speak out, not to remain silent in the face of this injustice,” the priest emphasized.
Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which chronicles the dictatorship’s attacks against the Catholic Church since 2018, said that what happened to the late political prisoner is “repugnant, reprehensible, and inhumane.”
“With the Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera, the total number of people murdered by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship now stands at nine. There are more than 45 political prisoners who could still meet the same fate. These are crimes that must not go unpunished,” Molina told ACI Prensa on May 31.
UN reports more cases
On May 1, a group of U.N. experts gathered in Geneva expressed their “deep concern” regarding missing persons in Nicaragua who reportedly died while in the dictatorship’s custody after having been tortured.
In addition to Rivera, the experts referred to the case of another missing person who reportedly died “in February 2026 while in detention, and whose body was returned to their relatives without a death certificate.”
In total, there are reportedly more than 112 victims of enforced disappearance, cases regarding which the Nicaraguan regime has been notified yet has provided no response to date.
Rivera’s case
The case of Rivera, who was detained by the dictatorship on Sept. 29, 2023, has recently drawn a number of reactions from both the international and domestic communities, including that of his daughter, Tininiska Rivera, who refuted the regime’s statements regarding her father’s health.
On Wednesday, May 27, the Nicaraguan regime published a statement in El 19 Digital reporting on Brooklyn’s “delicate” health condition, following his hospitalization on March 7. At that time, the news outlet reported that the political prisoner was on “invasive mechanical ventilation” due to a respiratory issue.
“As the daughter of Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, I categorically reject the recent statement issued by the Ortega-Murillo Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, which contains false information regarding the condition of my father’s health and the conditions of his detention,” Tininiska stated in a communiqué sent to the media, as reported by the newspaper La Prensa.
After noting that her father was in “optimal health” at the time of his detention, Tininiska emphasized that “since his abduction and forced disappearance, no visits by any family members have been permitted. Our family has gone through this period in a state of uncertainty, anguish, and zero response from the government, without independent access or verifiable information regarding his actual condition.”
Rivera ‘didn’t simply die; he was murdered’
Arturo McFields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States, stated on X that “Brooklyn Rivera Bryan didn’t [simply] die; he was murdered. It was a state crime. It is the same playbook used in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua: They enter [prison] alive and leave dead.”
Rivera was one of the most influential Indigenous leaders on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast and founded the Yatama movement, an organization dedicated to the defense of the Miskito people and other Indigenous communities. He served as a representative in the National Assembly.
Born on Sept. 24, 1952, in Nicaragua, he led an armed Indigenous resistance in the 1980s against the first Sandinista government and later participated in peace negotiations and the process for autonomy for the Indigenous peoples of Nicaragua’s Caribbean region.
Dictators far from God ‘multiply human victims’
Although he did not refer directly to Rivera, the exiled auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Báez, stated May 31 that “in contemplating the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, a mystery of love, unity, and freedom, we grasp just how far removed from God are the cruelty and cynicism of dictators who, no matter how much they invoke his name, exude hatred, multiply human victims, and seek to deify themselves by means of violence and repression.”
“They are aging people in power, blinded by their ambition, destined for destruction,” the prelate stated in his homily for the Mass he celebrated Sunday, May 31, at St. Agatha Parish in Miami.
Those who believe in the one and triune God, the bishop continued, “don’t impose ourselves by force; we know how to listen, and we donʼt offend.”
“Faith in the Trinity,” he emphasized, “compels us to reject the logic of division, polarization, contempt for diversity, and the exclusion of minorities.”
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.
More than 50 children celebrate first Communion amid ongoing missile attacks in southern Lebanon
Amid a rocket attack launched by Hezbollah on residential homes in the village of Rmeish in southern Lebanon, more than 50 children celebrated their first Communion in a testament to faith, resilience, and hope in the midst of war.
In comments to local media, Rmeish Municipality Head Hanna Al-Amil said a missile fell between inhabited homes on Sunday morning and “narrowly avoided causing a major disaster.”
Al-Amil stressed that the village contains no military forces, armed groups, or weapons, emphasizing that residents “simply want to live safely on their land, away from confrontation and escalation.”
The people of Rmeish remain attached to their land and continue their lives “despite difficult circumstances,” he said, calling for the protection of civilians and for the village and its residents not to be placed at risk.
The incident is not an isolated one. It comes amid a series of missile launches affecting Christian villages in the south, increasing fears among local residents. On Friday, several Hezbollah rockets fired toward Israeli forces operating in the town of Dibbin landed in residential and civilian areas of Marjayoun, causing significant property damage.
According to local reports, one rocket struck the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, damaging parts of the church, while another landed within the grounds of the Sacred Hearts Secondary School, leaving extensive destruction to the building and its surroundings.
Speaking to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Rizkallah Alam, a resident of Rmeish whose daughter received her first Communion, said villagers have effectively been living in a state of war since Oct. 8, 2023.
“We have been living the reality of war since then,” he said, adding that the village has not experienced a genuine ceasefire at any point. “The children and their parents live in constant anxiety. We asked to postpone the first Communion to another time, but our parish priest refused and insisted that it take place.”
Alam described the daily reality facing children in the village, saying they live without a sense of security or psychological stability. “My children pray and sing hymns all the time, and they live according to the news cycle. Some days schools are open, and other days they are not. Today the situation has become even worse because of the siege.”
He said the restrictions affecting the village have impacted even the most basic aspects of daily life. “Everything has become unavailable. We wait for the aid convoy and hope it will be allowed to reach the village.”
In previous years, families would hold large celebrations for first Communion. This year, however, circumstances forced them to scale back their plans. “This year the celebration was limited to family homes, with no large festivities,” he said. “The number of children was also lower than in previous years because families are scattered. Some are in Beirut, while others have left the country.”
Alam described the immense uncertainty facing both parents and children. “The situation is extremely difficult. We cannot even plan for tomorrow,” he said. “As we speak, rockets have fallen in Rmeish again, one person has been injured, and a car has caught fire.”
Between missiles and first Communion, Rmeish embodies one of southern Lebanonʼs most painful paradoxes: a village that wants to live, families determined to remain, and children learning faith in a time of fear.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated for and adapted by EWTN News English.
This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of June
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of June is for the value of sports.
“In times of war and extreme polarization, sport is one of the few things that bring us closer together,” the pope said in a video released on X on June 2.
He added: “Let us pray this June that sport may be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, and that it may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”
In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord of life,
we thank you for the gift of sport,
for those who glorify God through the exercise of their bodies,
for the friendships born on the field
and the joy of playing as a team.
You teach us that in life, as in the game,
no one is saved alone.
We need others to grow,
to learn respect, to overcome our limits,
and to celebrate together the victories we achieve.
We ask that sport may always be
a school of fraternity, not of empty rivalry,
a space of encounter, not exclusion,
a path of peace, not violence.
May those who play, train, or cheer
discover in sport a universal language
that brings cultures together, unites peoples,
and sows respect, solidarity, and personal growth.
Lord Jesus,
may every sport become a parable of life lived with you,
working with joy and effort,
living with humility in defeat
and with gratitude in the victory you offer in your resurrection.
May your Spirit never be lacking in us,
making us one team, united with you
to build communion and fraternity in history.
Amen.
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.
Parishes in Buffalo Diocese will undergo ‘rapid’ bankruptcy as part of Chapter 11 process
Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful.
A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”
The Buffalo Diocese has been moving through the bankruptcy process for a notable length of time. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has been working to finalize a major settlement since April 2025.
The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.”
The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”
“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”
Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement.
In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan.
Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.
In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.
In April the Vatican also said that multiple parishes would not have to contribute disputed amounts of cash into the diocesan abuse settlement plan.
Pakistan police shooting of Christian driver renews ‘encounter’ concerns
A Christian motorcycle ride-hailing driver is battling for his life after allegedly being shot nine times by members of a police anti-crime patrol, renewing concerns over police conduct and the use of force in Pakistanʼs Punjab province.
Alyan Johnson, 22, was critically injured in a shooting involving personnel of the Dolphin Force in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjoining Islamabad, on the night of May 26.
According to his family, Johnson had just dropped off a passenger when police arrived in pursuit of a suspected armed man. The suspect allegedly fired into the air and attempted to flee, after which officers opened fire.
Johnson, who joined a ride-hailing company six months ago to help support his family, remains hospitalized.
His family has filed a complaint at Sadiqabad police station, demanding an impartial investigation, strict action against those responsible, and compensation for the injuries and losses suffered.
Four Dolphin Force personnel allegedly involved in the shooting have been suspended and charged on the orders of the Rawalpindi city police officer.
Joseph Michael, Johnsonʼs uncle, said the family was dissatisfied with what he described as a limited official response.
“We demand justice and imprisonment for the shooters who misused their authority,” Michael told EWTN News. “Johnson raised his hands and identified himself as a rider in a loud voice, but the shooting continued. He had no weapon and no criminal record. He only wanted to help his father, who works as a sanitary worker.”
Michael said Johnson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and two fractures in his right leg.
“Anything could have happened. We are grateful he survived,” he added.
Raja Abdul Hanif, chairman of the Punjab chief ministerʼs inspection team, visited Johnson in the hospital on May 29 and assured the family of justice. He directed authorities to ensure all medicines and treatment costs were provided by the hospital.
“The law is equal for everyone and action will be taken against those involved in the incident following a transparent investigation,” Hanif said.
Police have yet to issue a detailed public explanation of the shooting.
The incident has triggered strong reactions among Christian activists and rights advocates.
A delegation led by Tariq Mehmood Ghouri, coordinator of the Catholic bishops' National Commission for Justice and Peace in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi Diocese, visited the hospital and pledged legal and moral support to the family.
“The situation was mishandled. Doctors are still uncertain whether the young laborer will ever walk normally again,” Ghouri said.
“For many poor families, motorcycle ride-hailing is one of the few ways to earn a living amid soaring inflation and fuel prices. The state must recognize these realities and act with compassion.”
Ghouri said the shooting raised serious questions about police training and operational procedures.
“The incident is an eye-opener for those who claim that religious minorities enjoy equal rights and protection in Pakistan,” he said.
A pattern of police ‘encounters’ in Punjab
The shooting comes amid growing scrutiny of police encounter practices in Punjab.
A fact-finding report released in February by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) concluded that Punjabʼs Crime Control Department has pursued a policy of staged police encounters, often resulting in extrajudicial killings and undermining constitutional safeguards and the rule of law.
Based on media reports, the commission documented at least 670 Crime Control Department-led encounters during the first eight months of 2025, resulting in the deaths of 924 suspects, while only two police officers were reported killed.
“In genuine armed confrontations, such a ratio appears to be statistically implausible,” the report states. “This imbalance suggests deliberate executions and reckless disregard for the sanctity of life.”
The report also documented allegations of intimidation against victims' families, including pressure to bury relatives quickly, obstacles to independent medical examinations, and threats against those seeking justice.
Concerns over Dolphin Force operations are not new. In 2022, members of the unit shot dead a dismissed police constable and injured two others in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, after allegedly mistaking them for robbers.
Magnifica Humanitas seen deepening Church-tech ties, former Silicon Valley exec says
Magnifica Humanitas has opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.
McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.
The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.
In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.
McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.
The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.
‘Engaged in deeper conversations’
“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.
These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.
“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”
While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”
Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”
“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.
Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’
The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.
“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.
The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said.
The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”
“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”
The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”
The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.
Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”
Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.
He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”
“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.
U.S. Catholic charismatic leaders announce ecumenically-oriented evangelization initiative
Members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service (CHARIS) in the United States have announced the launch of a new, ecumenically-oriented organization, Evangelize America, that aims to reignite the Catholic charismatic renewal from the grassroots.
The initiative was announced May 30 following an audience Pope Leo XIV held with members of CHARIS in which he expressed encouragement for their apostolate.
Deacon Darrell Wentworth, who serves as a deacon in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, and will serve as the inaugural president and CEO of Evangelize America, explained to EWTN News that the charismatic renewal has always been tied to ecumenism.
“Our fight is not with flesh and blood. It is not with our Protestant brothers and sisters or Christians of other traditions. Our fight is with the enemy — the powers and principalities causing the divisions,” he observed.
Wentworth described initiatives such as Evangelize America as a response to the call from recent popes to encourage the new evangelization.
“We are responding to John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and specifically Pope Francis, when he told the Catholic fraternity communities to baptize everyone in the Holy Spirit and to devise strategies to bring Christians together,” Wentworth said.
As to the name Evangelize America, Wentworth said it is inspired by John Paul IIʼs apostolic exhortations to the continents of the world. John Paul II wrote Ecclesia in America, Ecclesia in Asia, Ecclesia in Africa, and Ecclesia in Europe.
The strategy of the Twelve
According to Wentworth, Evangelize America will consist of setting up intentional small groups modeled after the Twelve Apostles.
“A group of 12 will consist of a priest, a deacon and his wife, seven lay members taking on the seven tasks that influence culture, one charismatic Catholic focused on pursuing full communion and healing animosity between local Christian denominations, and one Pentecostal,” Wentworth said.
Encouragement from Pope Leo
Leo XIV held an audience at the Vaticanʼs Paul VI Hall with members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on May 30. This was his first meeting with them since his election as pope, and, like Wentworth, he referred to previous popes in the development of the charismatic movement.
“My venerable predecessors recognized this development as a great gift to the Church,” Leo said in his remarks. “I, too, wish to foster the relationship of mutual respect, closeness, and support between the See of Peter and the great family of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.”
Wentworth praised the popeʼs remarks as confirmation to continue their work.
“It is not a new vision. It is the vision of the Holy Spirit that dates back to the year 33,” Wentworth noted. “Pope Leo shows us that this is what the charismatic movement is all about: help everyone to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and fall in love with God the Father instead of all the material things present in society.”
Carlos Campo, a Protestant who serves as president and CEO of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., was also part of the U.S. delegation that was present at the audience. He expressed hope that Evangelize America would help mobilize the Catholic Church in the U.S. to proclaim the Gospel in new ways.
“I believe this is something that will change marriages, families, and communities and has the opportunity to change our nation,” Campo said.
Pope Leo XIV appoints EWTN News president to lead Vatican communications department
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. The appointment will take effect Nov. 1.
Since 2023, Alvarado has overseen EWTN News’ global and multilingual news operations across television, radio, print, digital, and social media platforms. During her tenure, she helped expand the network’s international news presence and deepen collaboration across its multilingual platforms.
“Montse’s background in international media, public affairs, and Church engagement has helped shape EWTN’s outreach at a critical moment in the history of our apostolate: the pivot into a deeper engagement with the digital space,” said Michael P. Warsaw, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of EWTN. “Just as importantly, she has remained deeply committed to the mission that defines EWTN: proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ and the teachings of his Church with clarity, fidelity, and charity.”
Before joining EWTN, Alvarado spent 14 years in leadership roles at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where she worked extensively on issues related to religious freedom and human dignity.
In a statement released following the appointment, Alvarado said she received the news “with deep gratitude, humility, and trust in the Lord,” adding that the faithful witness of the EWTN family strengthened her faith.
The Dicastery for Communication was established by Pope Francis in 2015 as part of his reform of the Roman Curia, bringing together the Holy See’s various communications entities, including Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media, the Vatican Publishing house and printing press, Filmoteca Vaticana, and the Holy See Press Office. Appointed for a five-year term, the prefect is responsible for overseeing the entire media network of the Holy See.
Alvarado succeeds Paolo Ruffini, whom Pope Francis appointed in 2018 as the first lay prefect of a dicastery in the Roman Curia. Ruffini said he had come to know Alvarado “over the last couple of years” and will work closely with her in the coming months “in the spirit of communion that unites us in the Church.”
In recent years, Pope Francis entrusted a growing number of leadership roles in the Vatican to laymen and laywomen, including several senior appointments for women religious. Alvarado’s appointment continues that development and marks the first time a woman who has not taken religious vows as a nun or a sister has been appointed to lead a dicastery of the Holy See.
Born in Mexico City, Alvarado earned academic degrees from Florida International University and George Washington University. She has received several national recognitions for her commitment to religious freedom and service to the Church, and her writings and commentary have appeared in a range of international media outlets.
While noting that EWTN would miss Alvarado’s leadership, Warsaw said the network rejoices in her new mission of service to the universal Church.
“We offer her our prayers, our encouragement, and the full support of the EWTN family as she begins this important mission in service to Pope Leo XIV and his pontificate.”
Franciscan Jubilee Year invites pilgrims to walk in St. Francis of Assisi’s footsteps
This year the Church marks 800 years since St. Francis of Assisiʼs death at the age of 44 — his “Transitus,” as Franciscans call it. Pope Leo declared a special Franciscan Jubilee Year from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, inviting Catholics to visit churches and places linked to Francis’ spirituality, love of animals, and devotion to the poor.
“The jubilee year provides us the opportunity to be more than a tourist … to be a pilgrim, joining the millions of pilgrims expected in Assisi for the jubilee, with even more pilgrims who will travel to Franciscan churches throughout the world,“ explained Father John Puodziunas, OFM , the new Franciscan commissary of the Holy Land USA based in Washington, D.C. “The pilgrim returns changed … they see themselves, their world, God differently.”
A must-see is the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, a vast church overlooking his Umbrian hometown. In the crypt, pilgrims rest their hands on the saint’s neo-Romanesque tomb, where a votive lamp softly illuminates the dim space and only the shuffle of footsteps breaks the silence.
In February and March, many viewed his skeletal remains in the basilica, displayed for the first time in honor of the jubilee year. Vatican News estimates that 400,000 people came to pay their respects and venerate the relics of this extraordinary Christian saint.
His epic life is told through the artistic genius of Giotto in frescoes painted above the crypt in the upper basilica: Francis hears the voice of Christ while praying to the San Damiano cross; his surrender of all his clothes and worldly goods back to his wealthy father; his meeting with Pope Innocent III; his creation of the first Christian manger scene at Greccio; Francis preaching the Gospel to the birds; Francis receives the stigmata.
Father David Wathen, OFM, also of the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., is a veteran guide who has led more than 200 pilgrimages to the Holy Land but took a detour to Italy this year in honor of the jubilee.
Wathen celebrated Mass with 10 pilgrims from all over the country in April in the Portiuncula, the small chapel where St. Francis acted on Christ’s call: “Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruins…” Francis responded by giving up his family’s wealth and status and embracing a life of chastity, poverty, and obedience with his small band of brothers. Today there are 35,000 Franciscan friars worldwide spread across 100 countries.
The Portiuncula became the spiritual center of the new Franciscan community and the place where Francis welcomed the young woman who would become St. Clare of Assisi, founder of the Poor Clares.
Today the Portiuncula, housed inside the Papal Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, is another major pilgrimage site, right outside Assisi. A bronze statue of Francis in the basilica’s rose garden commemorates his conversations with turtle doves, inviting them to join him in worshipping the Lord. Today doves still nest in the hands of the statue while birdsong creates a symphony of praise.
It was also in this garden that St. Francis, in an act of penance, rolled through the brambles, which mysteriously turned into dog roses on contact with his body. This hybrid of rose is still flourishing centuries later.
“A pilgrim experiences the spirituality of space, where the location … a chapel, a cave, a town square, a garden ... speaks to the inner yearnings of the individual. In Assisi, we not only encounter Francis, but we step into his personal encounter with God formed on medieval streets or on the side of a mountain,” Puodziunas said.
Asceticism, bodily mortification, and fasting were constant reminders to St. Francis of Christ’s suffering. At the Carceri hermitage, a favorite retreat of St. Francis, pilgrims can see the small stone alcoves where he slept, often using a wooden board as a pillow.
Being close to sites strongly associated with St. Francis and St. Clare has inspired pilgrims to deepen their faith and to serve others.
“Some of my neighbors in the Florida retirement community where I now live are dying,” said Regina Brown, one of Wathen’s pilgrims who volunteers with St. Timothy Catholic Church Ministry to the Sick and Homebound in Florida. Brown explained that the Franciscan pilgrimage has fortified her practice of taking Communion to her bedridden friends.
“Itʼs the closest I can get to keeping in mind and expressing my (our) hope in Christ, the promise of eternal life, the Mass, our glimpse into heaven,” she said.
Wathen’s pilgrimage concluded in Rome, where everything his group had learned about St. Francis came into focus. At a papal audience in St. Peter’s Square, they witnessed its grandeur as Pope Leo reflected on the living mystical body of Christ, the Church.
Throughout the jubilee year, pilgrims are granted plenary indulgences by making a visit to any Franciscan church — including the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. — or to any site dedicated to St. Francis, receiving holy Communion on the day of the visit, reciting the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Creed, and the Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father, and making a confession within eight days.
How Christian women are shaping South Asian soccer
Christian women from tribal and minority communities are increasingly visible at the top of South Asian soccer — and none more so than Maria Manda, a Catholic from Bangladeshʼs Garo Indigenous community who has been named captain of her countryʼs womenʼs national team for the regionʼs premier championship.
Manda, 23, a member of Bhalukapara Parish in the Diocese of Mymensingh, was appointed to lead her nationʼs squad for the 2026 South Asian Football Federation Womenʼs Championship by English head coach Peter James Butler.
The tournament is being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, India, from May 25 to June 7.
In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where Christians make up a tiny minority, Mariaʼs appointment has been a source of widespread pride among the countryʼs Christian community, particularly its young people.
A member of the Garo Indigenous community, she is known for her ability to carry the ball from defensive lines to the opponentʼs box, earning a reputation as one of the teamʼs most decisive players.
‘A fighting leader’
Butler expressed strong confidence in the new captain.
“Maria is a player with a very fighting mentality, and she is highly respected in the entire squad,” he said.
“She will lead the team with her performance. I know she will earn that respect from others too. A fighting leader like her can earn everyoneʼs respect in the dressing room.”
Speaking at the tournamentʼs official press conference in Goa, Maria declared: “We have been champions in the last two editions. We want to play our natural game and keep moving forward.”
Under her captaincy, Bangladesh opened the tournament with a 4-2 victory over the Maldives on May 28. After the match, Manda told Bangladeshi broadcaster T Sports: “We always aim to play well and give a good game to our countrymen. We won the first match with everyoneʼs prayers and blessings. It feels great. I want more such support in the future.”
Bangladesh fell 3-0 to host nation India on May 31 but advances to the semifinal round, where the team faces Nepal on June 3.
From U-15 glory to senior captain
Manda first became involved in organized football through the Bangamata School Football Tournament in 2011. She went on to captain Bangladeshʼs U-15 team, which won the inaugural SAFF U-15 Womenʼs Championship in 2017 — a campaign in which Bangladesh went unbeaten and did not concede a single goal. She became a fixture in the senior squad that won back-to-back SAFF Womenʼs Championship titles in 2022 and 2024.
This is her first time captaining the senior national team.
Father Bikash James Rebeiro, CSC, secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Youth and national youth coordinator for the Catholic Church in Bangladesh, told EWTN News: “Today, Christian youth and the youth of the country are very happy and proud to see the national team armband in your hand. Maria, the fighter on the field, is leading the entire country — this is a huge achievement for us.”
“You have proven that with concentration and dreams, it is possible to overcome any obstacle,” he added.
“Your leadership, hard work, and dedication are a great inspiration for millions.”
Christian women rising in South Asian soccer
Manda is not alone in representing Christian communities on the South Asian soccer stage.
In Pakistan, Catholic defender Joyann Geraldine Thomas became the first Christian woman to represent her country when she debuted at the 2014 SAFF Womenʼs Championship in Islamabad, having developed her skills through a parish-based soccer club in Karachi.
India forward Grace Dangmei — a Christian from Manipurʼs Rongmei Naga tribe who faced Mandaʼs Bangladesh in Goa on May 31 — has helped India win multiple SAFF titles and is among the few Indian women to have played professionally overseas.
For now, Manda remains focused on the semifinal ahead. “We will be careful not to make the same mistakes we made in the first match,” she said.