Catholic peace group to honor victims of nuclear weapons with lantern ceremonies
A Catholic group is honoring victims of nuclear weapons by helping to organize lantern floating ceremonies throughout the world.
Pax Christi International, a Catholic peace movement, is working with the Hiroshima Coventry Club (Touro Project) to organize the “Lanterns for Peace: from Hiroshima to the World” campaign around the world.
“Inspired by the lantern ceremonies held each year in Hiroshima, the campaign invites communities around the world to organize local commemorative events using traditional lanterns as symbols of remembrance, peace, hope, and nuclear disarmament,” the Lanterns for Peace June 15 announcement read.
The lantern ceremonies will mark the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9 in 1945.
“In an increasingly fragile world, where the nuclear threat has once again become a tangible reality, this commemoration is not only a moment of mourning, but a genuine call to conscience,” the statement continued.
The lanterns represent remembrance for lives lost, “hope for reconciliation and peace,” and “a collective commitment to abolish nuclear weapons,” according to the statement.
Lanterns for Peace is working with local groups to honor the anniversaries.
“Each participating city or community is encouraged to adapt the ceremony to its own local context while remaining united through shared symbols, messages, and commitments,” according to a booklet the group issued.
The booklet contains more details about the event along with instructions on how to build a lantern.
Each event includes a lantern floating ceremony, where safe and permitted, a moment of silence or prayer, and the reading of survivors’ testimonies.
Pope Leo XIV closes consistory with appeal to help world find God’s paths to peace
Pope Leo XIV on June 27 thanked the College of Cardinals for their work during their two-day extraordinary consistory, highlighting their reflections on war, poverty, and social fragmentation as well as deeper wounds such as loneliness and loss of meaning.
The pope said in his closing address that he was “particularly struck by the way [the cardinals] spoke about young people,” especially in their suffering that can at times lead “to the extreme despair of taking their own lives.”
“You have recognized one of the deepest wounds of our time,” he said, “yet you have also been able to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit [in their] search for authenticity, for genuine relationships, and for meaning.”
Addressing another of the world’s wounds — war — Leo XIV reiterated themes from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas , warning that war stems from a broader “culture of power” affecting politics, economics, and even religion.
“War is born within us,” he said, but it is “precisely in the heart that peace is also decided.” It is in that same heart, he said, where Christ “continues to meet us, speak to us, and to convert us,” and he called for renewed commitment to dialogue, multilateral cooperation, and nonviolent responses rooted in the Gospel.
Although the cardinals discussed “just war,” the pope did not specifically mention the tradition in his address, noting instead the theme of self-defense in light of “profound transformations” in contemporary conflicts.
Reflection on this topic needs to be “further developed,” he said, “with necessary theological and pastoral rigor.”
Issuing a global appeal, Leo XIV declared: “God desires peace for every nation and every people,” urging the Church to help the world reject violence and rediscover the Lord’s paths of reconciliation.
Pope Leo also underscored the importance of the family, the Church’s social doctrine, and the formation of consciences, while reaffirming the role of ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue in promoting peace.
He urged the cardinals to deepen the Church’s synodal path as a “spiritual style” rooted in listening, discernment, and fidelity to the Gospel. Synodality, he said, is not primarily about structures or decision-making, but about safeguarding the Church’s mission through shared discernment.
“The question is not ‘who decides,’” he said, “but how we together safeguard the gift entrusted to the Church.”
Leo XIV encouraged the cardinals to promote active participation across local Churches, saying that authentic synodality arises from encounter and openness to the Holy Spirit.
He likened this two-day gathering — which had a distinctly synodal format of working group discussions — to the Gospel account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus in which Christ renews hope and clarifies mission.
Referring to a meeting of bishops in October to mark the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, the pope said the gathering will be part of the implementation of the Synod on Synodality — a chance to “foster spaces where the People of God can listen to one another, pray, discern and walk together.”
The pope closed by entrusting the fruits of the consistory to the intercession of Our Lady. “May she teach us to preserve unity in diversity and to serve the Gospel of peace with humility, courage, and hope,” he said.
He reiterated that these extraordinary consistories will take place annually, and said he will be announcing next year’s meeting at the end of the year.
Vatican synthesis
As the consistory took place behind closed doors, it was not possible to know exactly what the cardinals discussed during the two-day meeting.
Instead, media had to rely on syntheses provided by the Holy See Press Office which omitted some key interventions such as Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s call on the Vatican to issue a formal response to the Society of St. Pius X’s latest challenge to Rome, as reported on Saturday by Il Giornale’s Nico Spuntoni.
The syntheses also did not cover any topics raised in the free discussion at the end of the consistory. The Vatican did, however, provide full texts of four cardinals’ reflections.
Opening Friday afternoon’s session on “The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love” was Cardinal Victor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who reflected on the theme and Chapter V of Magnifica Humanitas.
Drawing on the social encyclical, he argued that a deep cultural shift had been enabling the outbreak and normalization of new wars, often sustained by AI-driven media and political manipulation.
Magnifica Humanitas, he said, marked a significant development by declaring “just war” theory outdated in practice. It insisted instead on a far stricter understanding of legitimate defense and condemning pre-emptive and disproportionate warfare as incompatible with Catholic teaching and the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes and its rejection of indiscriminate destruction.
As examples, he highlighted military interventions in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Relativism, cynicism, “spiteful verbal attacks by political leaders,” and geopolitical inconsistency favored violent powers, the cardinal said, adding that the Church’s social doctrine was the answer.
Alluding to a consistent life ethic, he said the teaching is coherent in its defense of life, migrants, peace, and the vulnerable, and that it is capable of resisting the culture of power and fostering a culture of fraternity and the common good.
The Vatican reported that in their working groups during the session, presided over by Filipino Cardinal Siongco David, the cardinals similarly voiced concern about a pervasive “culture of power” marked by polarization, normalization of war, and diminished sensitivity to violence.
In response, they stressed the Church’s urgent duty to witness credibly to peace through a transformed language of encounter, rooted in listening, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and through visible Christian unity.
They also urged dialogue with other religions, especially Islam, and engagement with international institutions. The Vatican said “numerous groups” called for moving beyond classical “just war” frameworks toward proportionate self-defense, while reaffirming the Gospel as the true source of peace.
The Vatican said strong support was expressed for Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical and his moral leadership, alongside renewed reflection on the Petrine ministry as a safeguard of the Church’s independence and a sign of unity.
Building the common good
Saturday morning’s session shifted focus to “Building for the Common Good,” examining the deep fractures affecting societies, families, and individuals.
Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg presented Magnifica Humanitas as a theologically coherent vision of human “building” in an age of technological power, reading the whole encyclical through the opening contrast between Babel’s self-enclosed self-sufficiency and Jerusalem’s God-oriented rebuilding.
He noted that the introduction offered a “grammar of building” structured around desire, limitation, shared responsibility, and discernment, asking whether technological expansion, including AI, actually produced more just relationships and institutions attentive to the person.
In his reading, the conclusion showed how this grammar found its fulfilment in the theological virtues: faith reading history in the light of God’s merciful plan, charity rooted in the Eucharist grounding synodal communion, and hope directing concrete responsibility toward a “civilization of love,” all sustained by prayer exemplified in Mary’s contemplative gaze.
In the Vatican-summarized discussions that followed, presided by Tanzanian Cardinal Protase Rugambwa, the cardinals highlighted the anthropological crisis underlying these divisions, including loss of meaning, identity, and relationships, exacerbated by extreme individualism and emerging challenges such as artificial intelligence.
AI was discussed not only technologically but as a force reshaping human self-understanding, raising concerns about dignity, limitation, and the reduction of persons to data. The common good was presented as both elusive and essential, requiring a rediscovery of solidarity grounded in faith and expressed through concrete care for the poor.
The Vatican said the Church’s social doctrine and the formation of responsible political leaders were seen as vital responses to systemic inequality and fragmentation. Across interventions, the Gospel emerged as the antidote to division, calling the Church to embody a “Samaritan” presence, foster belonging, and promote synodality as a lived practice of listening and shared responsibility.
Final session
The final session of the consistory turned to the practical implementation of synodality, emphasizing spiritual elements and institutional challenges.
In his reflection, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod Secretariat, described the Synod on Synodality as a profound experience “in the Spirit” and declared that it had already awakened in the Church a broad desire for participation, mutual listening, and shared discernment among bishops, clergy, religious, and laity.
He asserted that the current implementation phase was not a matter of mechanically applying decisions but of receiving, testing, and integrating synodal insights into the ordinary life of local Churches, culminating in the 2028 ecclesial assembly.
That phase, he said, depended on bishops as primary stewards of the synodal journey, adding that they needed to hold together synodality and collegiality as complementary expressions of one communion ordered to mission in a world marked by war, inequality, migration, and technological upheaval.
In their discussions that followed, presided by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, the Vatican said the cardinals agreed on the need to integrate the “ascetical and historical” dimensions of synodality while ensuring that its processes do not become overly burdensome or distract from the Church’s evangelical mission.
Particular attention was given to priestly formation, with calls for a vision of the priesthood that is dynamic, attractive, and authentically evangelical without reinforcing clericalism.
Discussion also clarified the complementary roles of hierarchy and laity in discerning the voice of “the Spirit,” highlighting synodality as a shared but differentiated responsibility within the People of God. The contribution of Eastern Catholic Churches, with their longstanding synodal traditions, was said to be especially valuable.
The Vatican synthesis noted that cardinals discussed “the risk that the complexity of the consultation process might weigh down the Church at a time when she is called to bear witness.”
Catholic Charities sues Michigan in federal court, says state targeted charity over Catholic beliefs
A federal lawsuit filed in U.S. district court this week claims leaders in the state of Michigan targeted a Catholic charity for following the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, alleges that state Attorney General Dana Nessel, state Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel, and other government officials engaged in a “pattern of religious targeting” against the charity in order to pressure it to “abandon its beliefs.”
The suit says government officials met with the charity in March 2026 and “raised concerns” about the organization’s core values, including the requirement that staff sign a pledge related to matters on abortion and adoption, among other issues.
After that meeting, a state-contracted insurance distributor “adopted a brand-new policy specifically targeting Catholic Charities’ religious beliefs and practices.” Part of the new policy included a disclosure requirement regarding “service limitations” related in part to abortion and gay marriage, the suit says.
The state health department subsequently discontinued its designation of the charity’s Cristo Rey Community Center as a women’s specialty service provider, the suit says, with the government stipulating that the charity must make “policy and procedural changes” in order to have that designation reinstated.
The suit says the government has “completely ignored” the charity’s efforts to obtain clarification about the alleged policy violations. The state-contracted insurance facilitator, meanwhile, has stopped referring clients to the charity for women’s services, according to the filing.
The decisions by the state government violates religious discrimination protections in the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says, while women in the region have been “left without access to the faith-based, relationship-centered treatment that Catholic Charities’ ministry uniquely provides.”
The suit, which was filed by attorneys with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, asks the court to reverse the state government’s decisions and further prevent it from withholding federal grant funding from the charity.
The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit. But this is not the first time the state government has tangled with a Catholic charity.
In 2019 St. Vincent Catholic Charities filed a suit against the state over its requirement that adoption agencies must match children with same-sex couples in order to receive state funding.
The charity ultimately won a settlement with the government in 2022 allowing it to continue its adoption services without violating its Catholic identity.
'It's coming fast': Arlington Diocese sits at center of ‘Data Center Alley’
Data centers continue popping up across the country to fuel the growth of artificial intelligence in everyday life, and the Catholic Diocese of Arlington is home to the densest concentration of these facilities in the world, known as “Data Center Alley.”
“Itʼs absolutely in people’s minds to be thinking how to pastor and shepherd the flock,” Anna Knier, coordinator for the office of the peace and justice commission for the diocese, told Mark Irons on “EWTN News In Depth” on June 26.
"Itʼs coming fast and quickly, and itʼs kind of [like] weʼre building the plane as we fly a little bit in terms of all sorts of considerations, including infrastructure,” Knier said.
The hub, dubbed “Data Center Alley,” is located in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., just west of the city. There are more than 300 data centers in Northern Virginia and more than 100 in development.
Data centers have become a focal point of the broader AI debate. They often receive government tax subsidies while employing few people compared to other facilities that often get similar incentives, like factories.
Data centers also consume an enormous amount of energy. According to a report by the Electric Power Research Institute, about 4-5% of national energy is consumed by data centers, but that will increase to between 9-17% by 2030.
Virginia is the only state in which more than 20% of energy is consumed by data centers, but that could increase to 39-57% by 2030.
In Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the Holy Father warned about a “tendency to overlook the environmental impact” of AI, mostly caused by the energy and water consumption of data centers.
Leo discussed broader concerns about AI development as well, such as preserving the dignity of work, building up human solidarity, and not concentrating power in the hands of a few, but instead ensuring all people benefit from the innovation.
"We need to be with those who are on the margins,” Knier said.
Meet Fio: the Catholic alternative to Spotify aiming to bring faith to your playlists
For many Catholics, faith formation often competes with busy schedules and endless digital distractions. Fio, a Catholic audio streaming platform, hopes to change that by putting faith-filled content at listeners’ fingertips.
Dubbed “the Catholic alternative to Spotify,” the platform offers a growing library of podcasts, audiobooks, and music, giving users a way to stay connected to their faith wherever life takes them.
Currently, Fio is being used in over 100 countries, is host to over 100,000 hours of Catholic content, and has over 1,000 Catholic creators putting their work onto the platform.
Will Hickl, co-founder of Fio, has been in the music industry for 15 years as a musician and founder of the Catholic record label Novum Records. During his career, he realized that secular platforms were not built for faith-based work — it was difficult to stand out, there was no fair compensation, and there was no community around it.
With this in mind, Hickl, and co-founder Peter Buonincontro, launched Fio in 2023. The first version of the app hosted podcasts alone. The following year music was added, and the following year — thanks to a generous investor — the platform was able to host audiobooks and grow their collection of content.
In an interview with EWTN News, Hickl shared that the platform’s “North Star” is the fact that he cares deeply about the artists and content creators.
“We are a platform who, because we care, weʼre paying a penny per stream, which is already three to four times what Spotify pays,” he explained. “We want to offer better exposure and tooling. In fact, we already offer better exposure because a musician doesnʼt have to compete with 10 million other musicians. Thereʼs only maybe like 100, maybe 200 artists on the platform right now…thereʼs greater discoverability.”
For creators, he hopes they would know that Fio “is the one that genuinely cares about them more than Apple or Spotify ever will.”
Currently, Fio offers three subscription levels for listeners — free, premium, and audiobooks +. While users who subscribe to the platform for free will have to listen to advertisements, Hickl pointed out that these ads “are reserved and curated for Catholic businesses, Catholic ministries, and then Catholic artists on the platform.”
He also emphasized that these faith-based advertisements can also serve as a “cultural safeguard” so that parents who may be listening with children present don’t have to worry about inappropriate advertisements being played, as is the case with many secular platforms.
Hickl explained that Fio aims to serve three different cohorts: Catholic creators, consumers, and businesses.
“We are an artist first platform. We want to give you the best exposure, the best economics than any other platform,” he said. “For consumers, we want to give you greater choice, a better experience in terms of what you find, what your kids are exposed to. The third would be Catholic businesses who canʼt target based on religion on Facebook or Google or YouTube or anything like that. So weʼre offering a greater targeting mechanism, greater value in that regard.”
For those seeking to have their content on Fio, they must go through a submission and review process. Before their content is accepted, creators must affirm that they are practicing Catholics who accept the teachings of the Church. They must also verify that their work was not primarily created by artificial intelligence. Lastly, each creator goes through a manual review process by the Fio team before their work is allowed to be on the platform.
Looking to the future, the team at Fio is working on creating original content for the platform as well as being able to host video podcasts and music videos. Additionally, they are working to give Fio a more “liturgical feel.” For example, if there’s an important saint’s feast day, Fio would make suggestions to listeners of a podcast that talks about the saint or a song inspired by the saint.
Hickl hopes that one day more artists will “be more excited about sharing their Fio link than the Spotify link.”
He added that he hopes Catholics “would know I can trust this platform, it can and should be a part of my every day, because thereʼs so much treasure to discover.”
“Thatʼs something I say a lot, which is that the Church has an immense amount of treasure and we just donʼt know about it. And so I want people to know the treasure is here and Fio is a place where itʼs aggregated,” he said.
Court ruling leaves Haitian migrants’ future uncertain as Archbishop Wenski urges Senate action
The future of hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants living legally in the United States remains uncertain after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with changes to temporary protected status (TPS), shifting the issue back to Congress.
In response to the decision, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami called on Congress to protect TPS holders, arguing that ending the humanitarian program would have serious consequences for migrants, their families, and communities across the country.
In an interview with Veronica Dudo of “EWTN News Nightly” on June 26, Wenski said the court’s ruling was “not unexpected,” adding that the justices ultimately returned the issue to lawmakers.
“The decision was not unexpected, because a conservative court doesn’t want to rule from the bench, as it were. And so what has been done is kick the ball back into the Congress, which is the body of the government that is supposed to be making the laws,” he said.
Push for Senate vote
The Miami archbishop said the U.S. Senate should send the president legislation passed in the House that would extend TPS protections for Haitians for three additional years. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians until 2029. Senate consideration is next.
“We’re asking the senators of the United States to approve that proposition, so that it could be passed into law,” he said, and he also urged its passage in a column for the Archdiocese of Miami.
TPS allows nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to remain and work legally in the United States temporarily. Haiti was first designated for TPS following the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Wenski warned that ending those protections could have severe humanitarian consequences.
“Haiti could be described very correctly as a house on fire,” he said. “It would be hard to see how you could send back 350,000 people, many of whom have been here since the earthquake of 2010, and have built lives here in this country … and it’s unconscionable to think that that could be done without creating a tremendous humanitarian disaster.”
The archbishop also highlighted the economic role many Haitian immigrants play, particularly in healthcare.
“The Haitians are working; they’re not on the public dole. They’re not public charges. They’re working, and many of them are working in the healthcare sector,” he said.
Within the Archdiocese of Miami, he said, many TPS holders serve in Catholic nursing homes and other healthcare ministries.
“To have their work permits revoked and taken away from them would have not only a terrible effect on them, but it would have an economic impact on the entire community,” he said.
The archdiocese is also preparing to assist migrants facing legal uncertainty.
“The Archdiocese of Miami has Catholic Legal Services … we’re trying to accompany them and to see if there are any other pathways or solutions,” he said.
Even so, Wenski emphasized that lasting immigration reform must come from Congress.
“The ball is in the court of the Senate.”
Major abortion group calls for abortion until birth
The National Abortion Federation, a professional association of abortion providers, publicly updated their policy to support abortion throughout all stages of pregnancy earlier this week.
The group updated the policy to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs decision that returned abortion legislation to the states — the decision that enabled more states to enact laws that protect unborn children.
“This moment demands a new era of abortion advocacy, one that understands viability and gestational limits are common and equally harmful forms of abortion bans,” read a joint statement from the National Abortion Federation and Physicians for Reproductive Health. “When laws regulating abortion care include arbitrary legal limits, politicians and police are invited into exam rooms, advancing control over pregnant people — forcing them to stay pregnant and finding ways to punish them when they don’t.”
The policy opposes laws that are common in pro-life states, like viability-based and gestation-based laws.
The group’s policy “supports abortion care and access throughout pregnancy and opposes legislation and policies that interfere with that care, including viability limits and gestation-based bans.”
Live Action spokesman Noah Brandt condemned the policy for dehumanizing unborn babies.
“The National Abortion Federation is a radical organization dedicated solely to dehumanizing every child in the womb, pushing for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, and advocating for the destruction of children nationwide,” Brandt told EWTN News.
“By formally rejecting any legal limits on abortion at any stage of pregnancy for any reason, the NAF only further exposes their intent, justifying the violent killing of viable babies which can include excruciating dismemberment or a lethal injection into the baby’s heart,” he indicated.
“Opposing any limit to abortion denies basic biology and the humanity of preborn children from the moment of conception,” Brandt added. “As pro-life Americans, we must focus on life-affirming policies that protect both mother and child by rejecting abortion at any stage and offering true help through sacrifice, service, and prayer,” he emphasized.
“The National Abortion Federation’s agenda for abortion with no limits has become the de facto position of the Democratic Party,” Kelsey Pritchard, communications director for SBA Pro-Life America told EWTN News. “The U.S. is 1 of 8 countries in the world that allows all-trimester abortion and we’re on that list with Communist China and Vietnam. Fifteen states allow abortion at any point, including in the seventh, eighth and ninth months of pregnancy.”
Pritchard noted that “several abortion businesses openly advertise third-trimester abortions,” including ones in Colorado, Maryland, and Illinois. “This isn’t just hypothetical: second and third trimester abortions are happening in the blue states,” Pritchard said. “Babies who can feel pain and survive outside of the womb are being killed.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Christina Francis, head of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, observed: “There is never a need to intentionally end the life of our preborn patient at any point in pregnancy.”
“Claims that induced abortion is ‘necessary’ later in pregnancy (at a point when a baby can survive outside of the mother) are not only ignorant of medical facts, but theyʼre also dangerous,” Francis said. “Abortions later in pregnancy are dangerous for women, increasing their risk of immediate complications, adverse mental health outcomes, preterm birth in future pregnancies, and even death.”
“If a mother is facing a serious pregnancy complication, she can be delivered, and both patients can receive the care they need and deserve,” Francis said.
Pritchard called for action, noting that “only 10% of voters support abortion up until birth.”
“This week, we celebrated the overturn of Roe v. Wade, which ended a dark period in our nation’s history, saving innocent lives by allowing the people and their elected representatives to protect precious preborn children,” Brandt said.
“In America’s 250th year, the pro-life movement and the GOP must take bold new steps to make progress toward a national minimum standard to protect unborn children in every state,” Pritchard said.
This type of law, she said, would “be the ‘floor’ that establishes a limit for the whole country – including in blue states – and allows pro-life states to continue to aggressively protect life even further.”
Andy Burnham’s Catholic identity in spotlight in UK prime minister race
LONDON - Following the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer on June 22, Andy Burnham, the main contender to replace him, could become the United Kingdom’s first prime minister (PM) to enter office publicly identifying as a Catholic.
Previous PMs have had connections to the Catholic faith, although none have begun their terms in office as practicing Catholics. Tony Blair, PM from 1997 to 2007, converted to Catholicism after leaving office. Boris Johnson, PM from 2019 to 2022, though baptized a Catholic as an infant, entered Downing Street as an Anglican.
Burnham, who was sworn in on a Bible as a new Member of Parliament on June 22, has described his Catholic faith as “unshowy”, telling The Guardian in 2009: “Three things are important in my life apart from family: Everton [Football Club], the Labour Party, and the Catholic Church - in that order.”
The appointment could also raise a constitutional question concerning his role in episcopal appointments.
At play if Burnham becomes PM will be a landmark UK law known as the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (also called the Catholic Emancipation Act). It grants Roman Catholics the right to sit in Parliament and hold most public offices, but does not allow them to advise the Crown on Church of England episcopal appointments. How this provision may operate in modern constitutional practice remains contested.
Jon Tonge, a politics professor at the University of Liverpool, told EWTN News: “Legally, Burnham would be prohibited from advising the Monarch on [Church of England] bishops. The law has not been repealed. The Lord Chancellor will provide the advice.”
An ‘a la carte’ Catholicism
Tonge continued, “Even though heʼs not a regular at Mass, [Burnham] sent his children to Catholic schools … It is an ‘a la carte’ Catholicism, which ignores the social conservatism (opposition to same-sex marriage or to abortion, as examples) and attempts to apply Catholic social teaching principles to policy. Equality, fairness, justice, and help for those with least are at its heart — hence Burnhamʼs commitment to tackle homelessness in Greater Manchester and donate some of his salary to the issue.”
Burnham has said he was raised with a "live and let live" approach, something that has shaped his stance on policy. He supports abortion and same-sex marriage and is in favor of assisted suicide for terminally ill adults, positions that are not in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told EWTN News: “I canʼt actually see anything thatʼs obviously Christian in his [Burnham’s] policies. A person that professes and confesses faith will always uphold marriage between one man and one woman, will not champion trans ideology into law and into policy … Heʼs pro-assisted suicide, heʼs pro-liberalization of abortion. So that doesnʼt actually match with his faith.”
In 2023, Burnham delighted Pope Francis at the Vatican when he gifted the pontiff a shirt signed by fellow Argentinian Lisandro Martinez, a player for Manchester United. Following Francis’ death, Burnham described the meeting as the “most moving” experience of his life — despite having previously pressured the pope to bring the Catholic Church “into the 21st century” on issues including LGBT rights.
Growing up in 1980s in Warrington, Burnham attended St Aelredʼs Catholic High School and was raised in his Irish mother Eileen’s Catholic faith. She said in a 2015 interview: “You should have seen the fights he and his brothers had on Sundays. They were all altar boys, but Andy had to be the one at the front holding the Communion plate.”
Burnham married Marie-France van Heel in 2000 after meeting at Cambridge Universityʼs Fitzwilliam College in 1989, and they have three grown children.
After 20 years in religious life, social media influencer priest leaves ministry
“After nearly three years of questions, searching, silences, and a profound inner struggle, I have decided to permanently withdraw from priestly ministry,” confirmed Damián María Montes, a former missionary priest who rose to fame after competing on the Spanish version of “The Voice,” a singing competition show.
In a message shared across his active social media channels, where he has amassed thousands of followers, the former religious said that he made the decision “with immense gratitude for everything I have experienced.”
Montes acknowledged that the journey leading to this decision “has been very difficult at times,” though he said that he made it “at peace and with a clear conscience, having truly loved every mission entrusted to me, having blazed new trails, and having built necessary bridges of dialogue.”
“There are compelling reasons, which I am keeping to myself, that underpin this decision and made my missionary service enormously difficult,” Montes explained, adding that he views the future as being “in deep continuity with what I have lived.”
In that future, “education, literature, poetry, theater, and cultural creations will be the realms through which I try to bring some beauty, thought, and humanity to the world,” he added.
“I thank those who have walked with me throughout these twenty years of religious life. Thank you for your trust, your affection, and your presence especially during the hardest times. Wherever I make my home, its doors will always be open to you. I hope you will also want to accompany me in this new chapter of my life,” he concluded.
In a video, Montes reflected on his life as a missionary priest in various locations and acknowledged that the final years of his ministry were a “very sad and very difficult” time. He said he hopes for new opportunities in the future, including the possibility of starting a family.
Who is Damián María Montes?
Born in Granada in 1986, Damián María Montes entered the Redemptorist postulancy at the age of 18. He completed his novitiate in Ciorani, Italy, where he professed his temporary vows. After studying at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid, he was sent as a missionary to Kolkata, India, prior to taking his perpetual vows. He was ordained a priest in Granada in 2013.
In February 2024, it was revealed that he along with another Redemptorist religious had attended the irreverent show “La capital del pecado 2.0” (“Sin City 2.0”) hosted by actor Juan Dávila.
Laicization among ‘influencer’ priests and religious
The announcement of Montesʼs laicization is not the first of its kind among priests and religious figures who have risen to fame on social media or television.
This was the case with Cristina Scuccia, who won the Italian edition of “The Voice” in 2014. Despite making her perpetual vows with the Ursulines of the Holy Family in 2019, she requested a dispensation in 2022.
Instagram post
In October 2023, Daniel Pajuelo, then a Spanish priest of the Society of Mary (Marianists), announced that he was seeking a dispensation from his religious vows and priestly ministry, following a career marked by controversy. Along with Montes, Pajuelo was one of the founders of iMission, a platform for Catholic evangelizers.
The following month, Salvadoran Samuel Bonilla, known until then as Father Sam, shared with his followers that he had made the same decision less than eight years after his ordination. The dispensation was granted in December 2024.
Frenchman Matthieu Jasseron, ordained in June 2019 in the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre, announced in October 2024 that he was leaving the priesthood after a period of absence from his social media channels, platforms where he had engaged in controversial activity, including videos in which he pretended to be a disc jockey atop an altar while wearing an alb and chasuble.
In February 2026, the Italian Alberto Ravagnani explained why he decided to leave the priesthood, a decision linked to his inability to live a celibate life: “I really wasn’t able to live up to it,” he stated.
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.
Cardinal Müller calls SSPX consecrations schismatic, defends the Latin Mass
Cardinal Gerhard Müller has called the Society of St. Pius X’s planned consecration of four bishops without papal mandate a schismatic act, while stressing that the dispute turns on authority, not the Traditional Latin Mass, which he affirmed remains valid.
In an interview with “EWTN News In Depth,” the former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said episcopal ordinations carried out “without the pope are absolutely impossible, against the will of God,” marking those who carry them out as “not Catholic or anti-Catholic.” That judgment, he stressed, rests on “objective criteria,” not “subjective judgments.”
The Society plans to consecrate four priests, including American Father Michael Goldade, on July 1 at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland, echoing Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s 1988 consecrations.
Without a papal mandate the consecrations would be valid but illicit, carrying an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication.
Müller likened the society to the Donatists, the schism St. Augustine fought in North Africa.
“They should learn from the way of the Donatists,” he said, adding that St. Pius X, the society’s patron, “will pray against these people who abuse his name.” Pope Leo XIV, he noted, is himself an Augustinian.
The German prelate, a longtime professor of dogmatic theology, called devotion to traditional liturgy and the rejection of papal authority “two absolutely different questions,” and faulted bishops who forbid the TLM as “authoritarian.”
Asked what faithful drawn to SSPX Masses should do if a schism follows, Müller said they “shouldn’t go, and cannot participate in the Masses of schismatic priests and bishops.”
The Vatican’s current doctrine chief, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, warned on May 13 that the consecrations would be “a schismatic act.”
The SSPX rejects the charge, holding that such consecrations do not by themselves break communion; on June 24 it sent Pope Leo and the College of Cardinals a “Declaration of Catholic Faith.”
Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani has cited a “state of necessity,” noting only two aging SSPX bishops remain to ordain its priests.
Müller also discussed the June 26–27 consistory, which he said he expected to take up atheism and artificial intelligence, and renewed his criticism of “synodality,” which he said had been “abused” to push ideas against Church teaching on the priesthood and marriage.