Society of St. Pius X names priests to be consecrated bishops July 1
The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) announced the names of four priests to be consecrated as bishops on July 1 without the permission of Pope Leo XIV.
The general house of the society published the announcement on May 26 after being warned by the Vatican on May 13 that its plan to consecrate bishops without a papal mandate would constitute “a schismatic act” and carry the penalty of excommunication. The consecrations will take place at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland.
The four priests announced are Fathers Pascal Schreiber (Switzerland), Michael Goldade (United States), Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (France), and Marc Hanappier (France).
The statement from the SSPX general house declared that the decision to move on with the consecrations was made “in a spirit of respect toward the supreme authority of the universal Church” and would be “a service rendered to souls and to the Church amid this unprecedented crisis of the faith.”
The SSPX, which exclusively celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, maintains doctrinal differences with certain teachings and reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly regarding religious freedom and the Church’s approach to other faiths.
The decision to proceed with the consecrations without papal approval was confirmed in a Feb. 18 letter from SSPX superior general Father Davide Pagliarani, following talks with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that had broken down earlier that month.
The Holy See Press Office did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
St. Philip Neri, the ‘Apostle of Rome,’ is an example of Christian charity and zeal
On the via Appia Antica, beyond the Aurelian walls, sits the ancient basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le Mura. It is one of the most important churches in Rome, not only because it is one of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome, but also because it is where the remains of Sts. Peter and Paul were taken (it was known as “Basilica Apostolorum” before it was dedicated to St. Sebastian) during the Christian persecution.
It is also here, deep in the catacombs that lie beneath the extant basilica, where St. Philip Neri had his spiritual epiphany on the eve of Pentecost in 1544. It is here where the beloved Second Apostle of Rome committed himself to a life of charity.
Early life, arrival in Rome, and the catacombs
Born in 1515 to a wealthy Florentine family, the young Filippo Neri was brought up with a classical education by the Dominicans of the Monastery of San Marco. While displaying great promise, intelligence, and business acumen he ultimately rejected his familial inheritance to follow a spiritual vocation of service. After a brief sojourn in San Germano, he arrived in Rome in 1534, which unknown to him at the time would be his final destination.
Upon his arrival, he witnessed an ecclesiastical climate that was characterized by corruption, vice, and decadence. However, it was in the Catacombs of San Sebastiano (St. Sebastian) where Neri spent hours in quiet contemplation and intense prayer.
There was perhaps no better place. After all, the silence of the catacombs (the burial site of Christians who died for their faith, among them once the remains of Sts. Peter and Paul, as well as St. Sebastian) provided a stark contrast to the squalor and vice of the streets above.
The catacombs, in a sense, were representative of the evolution of the Church’s life in Rome — persecution and dominance, faith and apostasy, splendor and squalor. Neri’s spiritual exercises stood at the intersection between the ancient and the old — a return to the earliest traditions of the paleo-Christian age, for it was this martyr’s unwavering faith, persistence, and death that paved the way for a Christian Rome.
It is fitting, then, that his spiritual epiphany happened there at Pentecost. Asking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, it came down as a great ball of fire, entering through his mouth and settling into his heart (this experience was so intense it caused an enlarged heart and lifelong palpitations when engaging in his spiritual exercises). It is (just as it was for the Lord’s disciples in the upper room) representative of spiritual zeal — the burning fire of God’s love that animated both the apostles and, later, Neri, to go out and evangelize.
Founding of the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity
In 1540, Neri, while he was still a layman — it wasn’t until 1551, at the age of 36, that he was ordained a priest — established the Confraternita della Santissima Trinità (the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity), given canonical status by Pope Paul III.
It was in the jubilee of 1550 that Neri invoked what is now an archconfraternity to care for the many pilgrims who traveled from afar, especially those who were the most needy.
The archconfraternity is still active today in the Church of Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini (built in 1614 over the site of an older church dedicated to St. Benedict), a personal parish of the Fraternity of St. Peter (an Ecclesia Dei community dedicated to the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass). Through their numerous activities for Rome’s poor, they continue to embody Neri’s example by providing a living example of faith and charity.
A model of contemporary Christian life
This year St. Philip Neri’s feast day (May 26) falls on the Tuesday after Pentecost. He holds a special place in the city of Rome’s heritage and made an indelible mark upon the spiritual life of the city and the universal Church through his founding of the Congregation of Oratorians, his popularization of the 40-hour devotion, and the Roman pilgrimage of the Seven Churches. Underscoring all of his deeds was love and charity.
In 2015, the Church celebrated the fifth centenary of Neri’s birth. On this occasion Pope Francis remarked: “St. Philip Neri also remains a luminous model of the Church’s ongoing mission in the world. The perspective of his approach to neighbor in witnessing to all to the love and mercy of the Lord can serve as a valuable example to bishops, priests, consecrated people, and lay faithful.”
This story was first published on May 26, 2023, and has been updated.
Supreme Court declines to intervene in federal lawsuit over Peter’s Pence papal collection
The U.S. bishops will continue to face a lawsuit over millions of dollars in contested papal donations after the U.S. Supreme Court on May 26 refused to weigh in on the case.
The decision represents a blow for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which was seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed on religious liberty grounds.
The high court did not explain its reason for rejecting the petition from the U.S. bishops, issuing the decision as part of a larger order list.
Rhode Island resident David OʼConnell filed the class action suit against the bishops in January 2020, alleging that the prelates had misled Catholics about the nature of the annual Peterʼs Pence papal collection.
OʼConnell claimed he had been led to believe that the offering — which dates back centuries and which is used to help fund the popeʼs charitable initiatives — was strictly for emergency assistance to victims of war and poverty; OʼConnell said he subsequently found out it was used in part to “defray Vatican administrative expenses.”
The U.S. bishops argued in court that the suit should be dismissed on the grounds of the “church autonomy doctrine,” a long-standing principle in U.S. case law that bars the government from exercising control over internal church decisions. Both a federal district court and an appeals court ruled against the bishops.
The Supreme Courtʼs refusal to consider the case means it will continue to work its way through the lower courts.
In a statement on May 26, Daniel Blomberg — a senior attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the bishops — said the decision was “disappointing.” But he said the USCCB is “evaluating all of its options moving forward” and “remains committed to protecting the Church from unconstitutional government entanglement.”
Multiple religious advocates have come out in favor of the bishops in the dispute.
A coalition of organizations including the Thomas More Society, the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, and several other groups filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in January arguing that their respective religious beliefs involve “matters of internal governance that must be protected from government entwinement.”
In their petition to the Supreme Court, meanwhile, the bishops alleged that OʼConnell was "leveraging civil power for religious ends," claiming the plaintiff was “essentially seek[ing] the structural reform of a religious institution."
Such disputes “are beyond the ken of civil courts,” the bishops argued, claiming that the suit includes “demands for lists of papal donors, accounting for the pope’s use of Peter’s Pence, and disclosure of the bishops’ internal communications with the Holy See about Peter’s Pence.”
The suit threatens to “thrust civil courts into church pulpits and pews ... pit millions of parishioners against their Church, and second-guess the meaning of an offering given to the head of a foreign religious sovereign for over 1,000 years,” the bishops said.
Priest charged with theft of $160,000 from Kansas parish
A priest turned himself in to police after being accused of stealing about $160,000 from a parish, according to officials with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
Father Richard Storey “voluntarily surrendered to the Leawood Police Department ... on a level 5 felony charge involving theft of funds valued at approximately $160,000,” the archdiocese said in a May 23 statement.
The alleged theft occurred at the Curé of Ars Catholic Church in Leawood just outside of Kansas City, Kansas. Storey had resigned from that parish in September 2025 amid “a criminal investigation involving [Storey] concerning another adult,” according to the archdiocese.
Kansas City Archbishop Shawn McKnight said on May 23 that the theft allegations were “deeply painful for all of us in the Catholic community, particularly given the nature of the allegations involving resources entrusted to the Church through the sacrifice and generosity of the faithful.”
The archdiocese said a recent financial review identified discrepancies in the parishʼs finances that “warranted referral to law enforcement.” The parish will be filing an insurance claim to cover the losses, the archdiocese added.
The archbishop urged parishioners at the Leawood parish to "treat one another with greater sensitivity, patience, charity, and respect as we move through this together, trusting that with faith in Christ, our community can emerge stronger and more united.”
The prelate further thanked archdiocesan vicar general Father John Riley, the temporary administrator of the Leawood parish, for his “steady leadership and care for this community during this difficult time.”
Arrest records show that Storey was booked on May 23 and posted $250,000 bond. The priest could face up to four years in prison on the charges.
Pope decries ‘drastic sterility,’ discrimination against motherhood in Europe
Pope Leo XIV decried a rejection of Christian values in European institutions, leading to what he characterized as “a time of drastic sterility” and “purportedly family-friendly policies” that also support abortion.
In a May 25 audience with members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Demography, the pope underscored the central place of the family — founded on marriage between a man and a woman — as a pillar for avoiding both excessive state intervention and the advance of individualism.
The Holy Father denounced what he described as a “rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions,” which in his view has led “to a time of drastic sterility, not only because too many have been deprived of the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future.”
“As a result, we are not infrequently faced with the contradictory claims of purportedly family-friendly policies, which simultaneously promote discrimination against motherhood, exalt abortion as a right, and undermine the very foundation of the desire to start a family,” Leo warned.
He insisted on the need to study these issues within academic, political, and social bodies, affirming that the demographic challenge “stands as a crucial juncture for the anthropological, social, and economic future of Europe."
'Pandemic of loneliness’
In his speech the pope also described Europe’s demographic decline as “an urgent challenge,” one that encompasses not only the problems arising from an aging population but also what he called “the pandemic of loneliness.”
According to Eurostat’s latest report on demographics in Europe, all European Union countries have recorded declining birth rates since 2004. In 2024, the rate stood at 7.9 live births per 1,000 inhabitants, and in 2025 the EU’s median age reached 44.9 years.
The pontiff emphasized that demographic data “are not merely statistics but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children. And children are the future!” He also stressed that “solidarity between generations,” currently lacking in Europe, is essential for achieving integral and sustainable development.
The vital role of the family in society
According to the Holy Father, the key to finding solutions to demographic challenges lies in “the fundamental dignity of all persons” and in the role of the family in society. He recalled that the family is “the first and irreplaceable school of social life” and is “founded on marriage between a man and a woman.”
For this reason, he urged the parliamentarians to promote shared responsibility and the active role of families in social, political, and cultural life, because, he said, “only by respecting and promoting this central place of the family, and applying the principle of subsidiarity, is it possible to avoid the two extremes of excessive state intervention and individualism.”
This approach, he noted, provides the “unchanging principles that can surely guide” society in answering fundamental questions: “What is the meaning and value of human life; what is an authentic human society; and what kind of world do we want to hand on to future generations.”
‘A fresh springtide for the family’
On this basis, he emphasized that national and European Union policies “need to be developed and formulated in partnership with civil society” so that “policies look to human persons in their entirety and always promote the dignity of human beings.”
“In this way, a genuinely human path can be opened for resolving the demographic crisis, oriented toward the common good and the well-being of future generations,” he said.
In conclusion, the pope stressed that “only a fresh springtide for the family can transform the winter chill of our aging populations!”
The meeting at the Vatican took place on the occasion of the Conference on the Family and Demography held in Rome, which was also attended by the European commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica; Italy’s minister for family, natality, and equal opportunities, Eugenia Roccella; and the OSCE special representative on demographic change and security, Gudrun Kugler.
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.
Pedro Ballester’s sainthood cause advances after life of faith and suffering
Excitement is growing in the United Kingdom after an English diocese announced that a young man with “enormous faith” is officially on the way to possibly being named a saint, following in the footsteps of Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Pedro Ballester, who was born in Manchester, died on Jan. 13, 2018, at the age of 21 of bone cancer after a life of prayer, sacrifice, and virtue. In a May 13 statement, the Diocese of Salford announced: “We are pleased to announce the opening of the cause for the beatification and canonization of Pedro Ballester, a young Manchester man whose life of faith and witness continues to inspire many.
“The opening of this cause marks an important step in recognizing the life and witness of a young man whose example of faith, especially in the face of suffering, continues to resonate with many people today.”
The announcement marks the first step on the path to sainthood, with the diocese calling for “accounts, memories, writings attributed to Pedro, including diaries, letters,” which “may help establish Pedro’s reputation for holiness.” Over 60 people who knew Ballester, including family and friends, have already been interviewed by Church authorities.
Speaking to EWTN News, Father Joseph Evans, chaplain of Greygarth Hall, Manchester, who accompanied Ballester during the last year of his life, welcomed the announcement, saying: “This is great news. Many young people today, particularly young men, are showing a renewed interest in faith and theyʼre looking for authentic models. Theyʼre tired of a society based on softness and falsehood where comfort and ease are presented as the ultimate goals.”
Ballester was born into a Catholic family and his Spanish parents, who moved to England for professional reasons, are married members of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church founded in Spain by St. Josemaría Escrivá in 1928. Ballester himself joined Opus Dei in 2013 as a “numerary” member — meaning he made a commitment to celibacy for life and living out the charism of Opus Dei in the world.
After winning a place at Imperial College in London to study chemical engineering in 2014, Ballester experienced intense back pain during his first semester, after which he was diagnosed with advanced cancer of the pelvis. He then went to Christie’s Hospital, Manchester, for cancer treatment, where his faith and kindness were noticed as he sought to bring his frequent visitors closer to God.
Evans underlined how Ballester’s life can empower people to follow Christ in the midst of suffering, saying: “Pedroʼs three years of suffering were very far from comfort and ease. He suffered enormously but also with enormous faith.”
Ballester’s suffering worsened after his cancer diagnosis and he regularly experienced acute pain leading up to his death, yet Evans pointed out that the young man “found happiness in deep self-giving and deep suffering.”
He said: “He truly found Christ along the hard way, but he followed him with great joy.”
The Diocese of Salford is now in the process of reviewing Ballester’s life, acknowledging that “over the years since his death, his reputation for holiness has grown significantly.” This information-gathering exercise is the first step to canonization, prior to an extensive investigation by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, who will explore whether Ballester lived a life of “heroic virtue and holiness” and should become a saint.
Jack Valero from Opus Dei, which is promoting Ballester’s cause for sainthood, told EWTN News he is “delighted” at the announcement, adding that young people are “very inspired” by Ballester’s life.
“We have had reports from many different countries of people who obtain favors from God after praying through Pedro’s intercession,” Valero said. “Many young people are very inspired by Pedro, a man who was always happy and thinking of others even in the midst of terrible suffering.”
Valero also commented that some of these reports can be found on the website dedicated to Ballesterʼs life and cause. In one account, Blanca, 15, from Asturias, Spain, was in a life-threatening condition after she suffered a serious stroke in November 2023. Following major brain surgery, family and friends called for Ballester’s intercession. Blanca made a significant recovery, which doctors called “a miracle,” and she left hospital on Dec. 11, 2023.
The Diocese of Salford paid tribute to Ballester’s “remarkable serenity and faith,” and Evans said he is hopeful that this first step will lead to his canonization and inspire young people in their “search for Christ.”
“Pedro offers young people today a model of an authentic search for Christ, knowing that this also has to mean embracing the cross. Yet if we do so, this brings joy,” he said.
Bishop urges Christians in Nigeria to speak ‘the language of Pentecost’ amid insecurity
OYO, Nigeria — Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Oyo has called on Christians to invoke the Holy Spirit against violence, kidnapping, and hatred in the West African nation, urging believers to reject what he described as “unchristian rhetoric of vengeance” and instead embrace “the language of Pentecost: unity and love.”
In his Pentecost 2026 message shared with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on Sunday, Badejo reflected on the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and linked the solemnity to Nigeria’s present security and social challenges — including banditry, insurgency, kidnappings, and growing hostility on digital media.
“We must ask for the Holy Spirit that rescued Paul and Silas from unjust imprisonment,” the bishop said, adding: “Pray that the same Spirit, that same divine force, shake down the enclaves that hold God’s children captive in Nigeria and set them free, rendering powerless all their captors and torturers.”
The bishop, who is former president of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications, an entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, appealed for prayers for the conversion of perpetrators of violence in Africa’s most populous nation.
“We pray that that same force will bend the hearts of the agents of evil to conversion and to God,” he said.
In his message titled “Come Holy Spirit, Dispel Our Fears,” Badejo described Pentecost as the moment that transformed fearful disciples into courageous witnesses of Christ after receiving the Holy Spirit.
“The apostles and the mother of Jesus gathered together in prayer, in anxiety or out of fear,” he said. “However, the Bible teaches that after the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles a change came over them.”
Quoting Acts 2:4, he said: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.” Pentecost, he said, “repaired the damage caused by human self-centeredness at the Tower of Babel when human beings were scattered and no longer understood one another.”
“The Holy Spirit united the world in one language of love,” said Badejo, a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication since December 2021.
He urged Christians not to surrender to fear despite Nigeria’s ongoing difficulties.
“The Holy Spirit will give us courage to do Jesus’ will in spite of our troubles like it did to the apostles on the first day,” Badejo said. “After the Holy Spirit descended on them those few disciples lost all fear and witnessed to Christ.”
“No longer were they closed in one room for whatever reason; they burst out to the entire territory, refusing to allow fear or their concerns to paralyze them,” he added.
The Catholic leader, who started his episcopal ministry in October 2007 as coadjutor bishop of the Oyo Diocese, also called on public officials and citizens to allow the Holy Spirit to guide their responsibilities toward the common good.
“Pray that he inspire those in governance to use their position and power to secure lives and property,” he said, and further appealed: “Pray that those who are equipped to make life better for all be made to do their duties.”
Addressing young people in particular, Badejo challenged them to transform social media into a space for evangelization and peace-building.
“I ask all youths to ‘evangelize and catechize the social media’ not just by being present on them but by transforming them with good news,” he said, warning against “the spread of violent, degrading, and manipulative online content.”
“Much news and videos of pornography, exploitation, calumny, abuse, torture, violence, and inhumanity are on the internet around today,” he noted, lamenting: “Many are fake and malicious.”
Badejo cautioned that such content “provide a dark kind of pleasure but they offend human dignity and do not make anything better.”
“Those who have the Holy Spirit must choose to share only content that add value to others,” he said, describing this approach as the “Pentecost Outreach.”
Badejo further urged young people “touched by the Holy Spirit to fight extremism on the social media because all violence, evil, and war in this world begin from a thought and an idea.”
The Nigerian Church leader strongly criticized prayer expressions that invoke destruction against perceived enemies.
“People who are praying like this are pagans and are telling us that there is no spirit of God in our churches or in the world," he said, urging Christians to abandon such practices. “Stop these nonsense prayers and begin to speak the language of the Pentecost: unity and love.”
Referencing St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, the bishop said the fruits of the Holy Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
He also pointed believers to the example of Jesus on the cross.
“Remember how Jesus Christ forgave the world on the cross,” Badejo said, adding: “This is what it means to be born again and to create a better world.”
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
From the Vatican to Australia: Sistine Chapel exhibit debuts in Sydney
The Vatican Museums and the Archdiocese of Sydney have launched an immersive experience of the Sistine Chapel in Sydney, Australia.
The exhibit will enable visitors to experience Michelangeloʼs world-famous Renaissance frescoes beyond the Vatican ahead of the International Eucharistic Congress in Sydney in 2028.
A conference was held in Rome on May 22 to celebrate the initiative “Sistine Chapel Revelations: An Immersive Exhibition.”
Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums; Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP, of Sydney; and Australian Ambassador to the Holy See Keith Pitt, among others, attended the conference.
Human capability at its best
Fisher called the Sydney exhibit a valuable chance for visitors to see one of the Churchʼs masterpieces of art without traveling to Rome. He praised the exhibitʼs evangelizing power and ability to help visitors understand the artʼs mysteries in ways “even the most devoted pilgrim to the Vatican Museums may not always manage.”
"Until you have seen the Sistine Chapel, you can have no adequate conception of what man is capable of,” Fisher said, referring to a famous quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. "Not that any virtual reality experience can substitute for visiting the Sistine itself! [But] in Sydney ... we have seen how beauty and transcendence can mesmerize the senses and speak to the heart, as the painted stories have revealed themselves anew."
The Sistine Chapel is widely regarded as the site of some of the greatest artworks of the High Renaissance. It is the main chapel of the Apostolic Palace, the popeʼs official residence in Vatican City. It was built from 1473 to 1481 under Pope Sixtus IV and has hosted papal conclaves since 1492.
Its famous artworks are by some of the periodʼs most celebrated artists, such as Michelangelo Buonarotti, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli.
Michelangeloʼs frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, including the ceiling and the “Last Judgment” behind the high altar, are among the most renowned in art history.
Australia hopeful for a papal visit in 2028
There is hope that the Sydney exhibition will be a precursor to a future visit by Pope Leo XIV to Australia. The last pope to visit the country was Pope Benedict XVI, for World Youth Day, in 2008.
Pitt praised the immersive Sistine Chapel project as an “extraordinary opportunity for Australia” and expressed his hope that it would lead to Leoʼs future visit to the country for the 54th International Eucharistic Congress in 2028.
The International Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of Catholics from around the world to celebrate the central doctrine of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
Held about once every four years, the congress is often attended by a papal representative and, at times, the pope himself goes to celebrate the closing Mass. The last time a pope attended the Eucharistic congress was in 2021, when Pope Francis celebrated the closing Mass in Budapest, Hungary.
“We are very hopeful that the pope will attend. He has been invited by the government, the prime minister, and, of course, the embassy. We are working closely with the Holy See,” Pitt said. “It would be almost exactly 20 years since the last papal visit to Australia, and he would be very warmly received.”
The Sistine Chapel exhibition will run from May 15 to July 19 at St. Maryʼs Cathedral in Sydney.
Rubio pays homage at Mother Teresa’s tomb, bringing ‘joy’ to her nuns
KOLKATA, India — The unprecedented visit of Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, to the mother house of the Missionaries of Charity (MC), commencing his May 23–26 trip to India, has brought joy to the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, canonized as St. Teresa of Kolkata in 2016.
After landing at Kolkata airport in the early hours of May 23, Rubio headed straight to the mother house. Accompanied by his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes, he attended a special Mass at the tomb of the nun, known as the “saint of the gutters,” on the ground floor of the mother house and placed a wreath of flowers on it.
“With Respect and Tribute from the People of The United States of America” read the card pinned to the wreath Rubio placed on the tomb of Mother Teresa, which is thronged by hundreds of pilgrims daily.
After the nearly hourlong Mass, Rubio spent another half hour with the Missionaries of Charity sisters at the mother house as dozens of excited novices looked on from the upper verandah.
“It was beautiful. His respect for the mother is amazing. We thank God for this visit,” Sister Concettina, the congregationʼs secretary-general, told EWTN News after Rubio left, briefing the media, who had waited patiently outside for a couple of hours.
From the mother house, Rubio and his entourage moved to Shishu Bhavan (a childrenʼs home), 650 feet away on the same A.J.C. Bose Road, where Rubio handed out teddy bears to destitute children with disabilities.
“Mother Teresa left a tremendous legacy of compassion and service. I was honored to visit the Missionaries of Charity today to pay homage to her legacy,” Rubio said on X before flying from Kolkata to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Telegraph, an English-language daily based in Kolkata, also hinted at the significance of Rubioʼs mother house visit, titling its report “U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits mother house in Kolkata on first leg of India trip.”
A long-scheduled day of double joy
Later that afternoon, it proved a long-scheduled day of double joy for the Missionaries of Charity, with 25 novices of different nationalities taking their final professions at Auxilium Parish Church in a solemn service led by Archbishop Elias Frank of Kolkata in the presence of hundreds of sisters.
“It is a day of double joy for us,” Sister Marie Juan, one of the senior Missionaries of Charity councilors who formally “accepted” the vows during the two-hour service — with Superior General Sister Mary Joseph away in Australia — told EWTN News while coming out of the church.
The senior Missionary of Charity official was responding to an EWTN News question on how she felt about the U.S. secretary of state visiting the Mother House at the start of his four-day visit to India.
An act of solidarity amid recent strains
The congregation had previously undergone a stressful period when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Modi canceled its FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) license to receive foreign donations on Christmas Day 2021 — alongside thousands of Indian church and secular advocacy and charity groups, including Bread for the World and Compassion International.
Following widespread Indian and international outcry, the Modi government restored the Missionaries of Charityʼs FCRA license within a fortnight, after peers in the U.K. House of Lords slammed the decision in a Jan. 6, 2022, debate.
“This unique visit is reassuring for us,” Alexander Anthony, secretary-general of the All India Catholic Union — the official national lay network for Catholics in India — told EWTN News on May 26.
The Rubio visit, said Kolkata-based Anthony, “is an act of solidarity with the MCs and Christian community in India. It gives out a clear message to the rulers as the community is distressed.”
India has reported steadily increasing incidents of anti-Christian violence, rising from 127 in 2014, when Modi assumed power, to 834 by 2024.
The Christian community has been on edge recently after the BJP, for the first time, took power in West Bengal state — of which Kolkata is the capital — in the April elections, amid widespread criticism of the deletion of more than 9 million voters from the rolls, equivalent to 12% of the voter list.
Even the Missionaries of Charity sisters in Kolkata had to appeal to get their voting rights restored, The Times of India reported.
Polish initiative aims to ensure every euro reaches Lebanese families in need
As Lebanon continues to struggle under the weight of overlapping crises, from war and economic collapse to poverty and displacement, humanitarian initiatives aimed at supporting the Lebanese people are intensifying.
Within this context, Polish Catholics have launched an international initiative to assist Lebanon’s most vulnerable families. “Lebanon in Need” was launched by the Maronite Missionary Foundation in Poland in partnership with 4fund.com, one of Poland’s largest licensed financial institutions specializing in humanitarian fundraising, as part of the broader international campaign “Europe for Lebanon.”
The initiative operates as a voluntary crisis committee that combines pastoral mission with regulated European financial infrastructure, with the aim of ensuring that every euro donated in Europe reaches Lebanon safely, transparently, and in full.
Addressing gaps in humanitarian aid to Lebanon
“Lebanon in Need” was launched at the beginning of March to address a specific challenge: how to transfer European generosity to Lebanese families without the complications, losses, and regulatory ambiguity that often weaken cross-border Catholic humanitarian campaigns.
Having already worked in Lebanon in 2020, the foundation knew that many Catholics in Poland, Italy, Portugal, and other European countries were willing to help. At the same time, it understood that smaller Catholic initiatives often lack the financial and regulatory infrastructure necessary to receive donations on a large scale and transfer them quickly and transparently during times of war.
This led to an unusual partnership between the foundation, through its Church networks and ties with Lebanese Christian institutions, and 4fund.com, the international arm of the Polish crowdfunding platform zrzutka.pl. Together, the two entities launched “Lebanon in Need” as the operational arm of the wider “Europe for Lebanon” campaign, creating a model that combines pastoral mission with organized European financial systems.
While Catholic humanitarian initiatives traditionally rely on parish networks and volunteer work, crowdfunding platforms rely on technology and modern financial systems. This initiative brings both worlds together with the goal of ensuring that aid reaches its beneficiaries with greater transparency and credibility.
Support reaching the most vulnerable families
In Lebanon, field operations rely on a network of trusted institutions that have played a key role throughout the country’s successive crises, including Caritas Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as a wide network of parishes, dioceses, and local Church institutions, where priests and social workers personally know the families most in need.
Aid is directed toward the groups most affected by the crisis, with particular attention given to families displaced by bombardments, elderly people living alone, women and children in vulnerable conditions, sick and disabled persons, as well as families living in extreme poverty and residents of collective shelters, remote villages, and under-resourced host communities.
Although the initiative is rooted in Christian values and gives particular attention to Christian families who have lost everything, assistance is provided to all those in need, regardless of religion, background, or political affiliation.
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.