Cubans are coming to parishes saying they haven’t eaten in days, bishop laments
The president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Marcelo González Amador, said people are coming to parishes in Cuba saying "they’ve gone days without eating.”
In a conversation this week with Aid to the Church in Need/Spain, the 70-year-old prelate expressed his anguish over the crisis afflicting the country, saying that “Cuba is hurting.”
González, the bishop of Santa Clara, recounted that “there are people showing up [at the parishes] saying they’ve gone days without eating and don’t know where to turn. Food can’t be kept fresh due to the lack of electricity, and recently people have been frequently fainting in church because many of them haven’t eaten.”
"Everything is a struggle to survive. The present is precarious; the future, totally uncertain.” It’s “the most difficult and saddest moment in the history of my people that I have ever witnessed,” he said.
Furthermore, the crisis is also impacting the healthcare system, as “in some major hospitals, surgeries are not being performed due to a lack of water” and surgical supplies. “I know of more than one case where someone had to seek out every necessary resource — even suture thread — from family or friends abroad in order to undergo surgery,” he noted.
González also addressed the fear of a possible conflict with the United States. “The fear of war is tremendous; it’s part of the daily concern of many people. People are talking about it all the time, which is very stressful, especially for the children and elderly,” he noted. “On the street, you can hear people saying: ‘We can no longer bear such suffering, and we have nowhere to turn.’”
In conversations, you can sense “sadness, hopelessness, and uncertainty” among the people. “Those who are able to emigrate are doing so. What’s left is an increasingly aging country, just with old people devoid of resources and with meager pensions,” he stated.
González noted that the lack of electricity put an end to overnight Eucharistic adoration and led to an increase in robberies on the streets as well as in homes.
Despite this, he pointed out, the Church strives to “keep the spirit alive, offer hope where there is none, listen, and provide accompaniment.”
Among the faithful, “initiatives are springing up to aid those living in destitution, the poorest and most needy; among these are small soup kitchens and meal delivery services for the physically impaired and the bedridden sick. They’re coming up with food and resources out of nowhere,” he said.
The bishop recounted that at one soup kitchen serving over 300 people, the religious sisters had to improvise by mixing “cans of black and white beans in order to provide more servings. People see that; they see that the Church is sharing, that it gives whatever it has.”
The bishop said this action “is evident proof of what God’s providence and Christian charity are capable of doing.” He said “the day a nun or a priest dies of hunger or for lack of medication is the day no one is left alive, because everyone shares the little they have.”
“It’s truly beautiful that this aid, this charity, is carried out without manipulation by any party, simply thanks to people who wish to help. And you can also see the gratitude of those who receive it,” he remarked.
However, rising prices and fuel shortages have pushed the Church into a “pastoral maintenance mode,” as priests are often unable to celebrate Mass in rural villages and hamlets due to a lack of resources.
“There are places where people are much more isolated and vulnerable. Religious congregations, too, are in a precarious state, and many lack sufficient resources to sustain their presence on the island,” he explained.
“Although many people are leaving the island, the Church remains; the people recognize and appreciate this choice,” González said, asking that Cuba not be forgotten. In addition to prayer, the bishop stated that, while “not everything can be solved, any help counts. The people of Cuba are suffering, and the Church is part of that people.”
Amid this situation, Caritas Cuba continues its work of distributing humanitarian aid sent from the United States to those affected by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.
This assistance, consisting of food and hygiene supplies, is being distributed in the dioceses of Holguín-Las Tunas, Bayamo-Manzanillo, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo-Baracoa, areas affected by the natural disaster.
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.
Young Catholics drive record crowds for Chartres Pilgrimage in France
The traditional Pentecost pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres in France once again drew a record crowd for its 44th edition, with nearly 20,000 people taking part in the three-day walk, compared with 19,000 in 2025.
The event organized by lay association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté concluded Monday, May 25, with a closing Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres. Organized under the theme “You Will Be My Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth,” the pilgrimage drew participants from 22 countries.
The growing numbers have posed recurring logistical and safety challenges in recent years, forcing organizers to turn away applicants once capacity limits were reached. Organizers said they are working to accommodate a greater number of pilgrims for 2027.
To better understand the profile of these pilgrims, Notre-Dame de Chrétienté conducted an internal study this year, surveying 4,610 participants — close to a quarter of all pilgrims — on their faith, practice, and motivations.
Young, practicing, and doctrinally formed
The picture that emerges challenges the standard portrait of French Catholicism.
The average age of respondents was 22 — against an average of 57 for practicing Catholics in France more broadly, according to IFOP (French Institute of Public Opinion) data cited in the study. More than half are under 25, and a third are attending for the first time, suggesting the pilgrimage is increasingly attracting a generation with no lived memory of the preconciliar Church.
Nearly 90% of them identify as practicing Catholics, with many attending Mass both on weekdays and Sundays, and nearly 40% going to confession at least once a month.
The vast majority also report a solid doctrinal foundation, with more than 90% affirming their full belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, the resurrection of the body, the Holy Trinity, and the existence of hell — dogmas that, according to several surveys, the majority of French Catholics no longer adhere to.
Beyond the pilgrimage itself, 77% report active engagement in parishes, scouting, or charitable work — a figure the study estimates at roughly seven times the national average for French Catholics. In this light, this year’s missionary theme appears to align with the realities on the ground.
The liturgical question
The study also addressed the controversial topic of liturgy.
Its organizers state that the majority of respondents (63%) expressed a strong attachment to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, citing primarily spiritual and doctrinal reasons: a sense of the sacred, the liturgical expression of the Real Presence, as well as the emphasis placed on silence and interior prayer.
This runs counter to the idea that young participants are primarily motivated by the physical challenge of this demanding trail or by the fraternal atmosphere rather than by a liturgical preference.
Since Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes significantly restricted the use of the traditional rite, the pilgrimage has found itself at the center of recurring tensions with ecclesial authorities.
This year, as in 2025, the opening Mass — a Traditional Latin Mass — was held at Saint-Sulpice in Paris rather than at the recently restored Notre-Dame Cathedral, where the pilgrimage had historically begun prior to the 2019 fire. The Archdiocese of Paris attributed this decision to logistical considerations, but the pilgrimage’s president publicly stated that Archbishop Laurent Ulrich had informed him that he did not wish for a Latin Mass to be celebrated at Notre-Dame.
Pope Leo XIV’s recent appeal to French bishops to generously welcome the faithful attached to the vetus ordo could, however, encourage a different approach in the future.
Transmission and renewal
The issue of religious transmission is another key theme of this study. Sociologists of religion have long highlighted the decline in the intergenerational transmission of Catholicism in France, with traditional Catholic communities often cited as one of the exceptions to the rule. The data collected in Chartres appear to confirm this trend. Six out of 10 pilgrims discovered this pilgrimage through their family or friends, and 18% through their parish or religious community.
At the same time, the fact that one-third were attending for the first time suggests the pilgrimage is not sustained solely by inherited religious networks. This finding fits into the broader religious revival currently underway in France, where the number of adult catechumens baptized at Easter has increased significantly over the past decade, according to the French Bishops’ Conference. A large proportion of them come from secular or non-Christian backgrounds.
The Regional Episcopal Council of Île-de-France is set to meet beginning May 31 to address the sudden influx of catechumens in the Paris region — a meeting that comes less than a week after the largest pilgrimage to Chartres ever recorded.
2 brothers ordained priests on same day in Brazil, fulfilling ‘God’s dream,’ bishop says
Two brothers in Brazil were ordained priests together on the same day.
The brothers, Anderson Carlos Ramos, 35, and Emerson Luiz Ramos, 38, were ordained priests in Guarapuava in the Brazilian state of Paraná on Saturday, May 23 — Emerson’s birthday.
The ordination took place at Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, where both men grew up; received the sacraments of baptism, first Communion, and confirmation; served as altar boys; and sang in the choir.
After their ordination, the brothers will follow different paths in their priestly ministry. Emerson will serve as a priest of the Diocese of Guarapuava, while Anderson belongs to the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, the Passionists.
The ordination was conferred by the bishop of Guarapuava, Amilton Manoel da Silva. In his homily, the bishop noted that both brothers had also been baptized together at Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish and that Anderson and Emerson were fulfilling “God’s dream.”
“In God’s dream, he had already thought of you and had already anointed you for life and for holiness. And that beautiful plan, throughout your lives, gradually became clearer until the moment arrived for you to give your ‘yes,’” he said.
Da Silva emphasized that “nothing is a coincidence” but rather “providence.”
“It was God’s will that you would be here today as brothers by blood, and now also brothers in the sacrament of holy orders, as priests to serve him, to love him, and to bring him into peopleʼs hearts in order to save humanity,” he stated.
According to the Diocese of Guarapuava, during his period of formation, Emerson left the seminary after five years. However, he continued to participate in the community as a catechist and nurture his faith until he once again felt Godʼs call to return to the seminary. Anderson, for his part, decided to enter religious life after completing his military service.
At the conclusion of the ordination and Mass, Anderson declared that this was a “great day, a historic day” for Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, “our home.”
“Today, as we stand before the altar, we cannot fail to acknowledge the path that brought us here. It was neither an idealized journey nor one made solely of certainties,” he said.
He emphasized that “there were struggles, silence, difficult nights, and many unanswered questions; yet it was precisely in life as it is — sometimes hard, sometimes in periods of dryness — that God chose to encounter us.”
Anderson emphasized that “being a priest is not a position of honor but of self-giving.”
“It means being in the midst of the people, recognizing their sorrows as our own, and never losing sight of where we come from, for that is precisely what keeps us from losing our way along the journey,” he said.
He offered words of gratitude to God, “the source and origin of all things, who gave us life as well as this undeserved grace of the priesthood.” He also thanked the bishop, the priests, formators, seminarians, and family members.
He addressed his mother, Lindacir de Fátima Santos Ramos, telling her that “not even in his wildest dreams” would he have imagined that her children “would be in this place today.”
“In those moments of suffering and pain which only we know, and which we would wish upon no one, we never dreamed that God would write this story. But he writes straight with crooked lines. Thank you so much, simply for being who you are,” he said.
In a statement to the Diocese of Guarapuava, the mother of the new priests said she felt very happy.
“I have no words to thank God for this great victory he has granted me, for seeing my sons ordained today. It’s a great grace. I will be grateful to God until my very last breath for the sons I have,” she said.
This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by ACI Prensa and EWTN News English.
Charles Zech, professor who launched papal-approved church management program, dies at 79
Charles Zech, a long-serving economics professor at Villanova University who founded and led the schoolʼs pioneering Church management institute, died on May 17. He was 79 years old.
His death was announced in an obituary that described him as a “doting father and husband” who “prioritized spending time with his family” even as he spearheaded a major ecclesial management initiative that has quickly become a significant component of the U.S. Church.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Zech attended the University of St. Thomas and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Notre Dame. He began teaching at Villanova Universityʼs School of Business in 1974 and would remain there until his retirement in 2018.
Villanova launched the Center for Church Management in 2004 with Zech at the helm. On its website the center says it offers “education programs and scholarly insight contextualized for congregational leaders, addressing the areas of administration, professional financial management, human resource management, and more.”
Among its programs includes a master of science in Church management as well as a webinar series and administrative education programs.
The program received the endorsement of Pope Leo XIV in 2025; the pope, born Robert Prevost, is a Villanova graduate himself.
Wen Mao, the dean of the Villanova School of Business, said in a statement that Zechʼs scholarly contributions were “world-renowned.”
“During [his time at the university], he had a tremendous impact on his students, with many crediting him for their reason to study economics,” Mao said, describing the school as “deeply indebted” to him for his contributions.
Zechʼs obituary said he authored or co-authored a dozen books and often appeared in the media as a “voice of authority on Church management.”
In a widely-circulated white paper on Church parish management, Zech affirmed that the Church “is not a business,” but it “does have a stewardship responsibility to use the scarce resources that are available to it as effectively as possible to carry out God’s work on Earth.”
Citing shifting demographic trends and low Church attendance numbers, Zech argued that “the old model of operating a Catholic parish won’t work in the 21st century.”
A shift in parish management “does not necessitate a watering
down of Church teachings,” he wrote, but it does require “a recognition that some business management practices can be applied to a faith-based organization while allowing it to remain committed to its core values.”
He is survived by his wife, Ann — to whom he was married for 53 years — along with six children and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, Tom.
Friends and family shared reflections of Zechʼs life in his obituary. One family friend said he led a “beautiful and fruitful life filled with all of the important things,” while another praised his “great work for the Church.”
His brother Ed said a few years ago the two were sharing a beer together when Zech remarked: “We had a good run, didnʼt we?”
“We did have a good run; maybe a great one,” Ed said, describing him as a “great big brother” and writing: “I loved him dearly and I will miss him forever.”
One of Zechʼs fellow economics professors at Villanova, Alan Donziger, described him as both academically accomplished and “a wonderful professional colleague.” Donziger said the two shared family celebrations including weddings and the birth of children and grandchildren.
“Although I wasn’t able to discuss it with him, I hope he was able to get some joy from seeing his beloved Villanova produce a pope,” he said.
His daughter Patty — who said her father always referred to her as “Trish” — told EWTN News that Zech had a “remarkable career” and that his founding of the Church management initiative was “truly a labor of love.”
Yet she said his most cherished role in life was “that of a loving husband, father, and grandfather.”
“His joy was being with his family,” she said. “And we loved being with him. He made us all feel so loved and cared for. He was fun to be around.”
Patty said that as an undergrad at Villanova she would often stop by his office between classes “just to hang out with him” and would invite him “to nights out to get wings” with her friends.
The mother of triplets, Patty said that Zech would regularly come over to help her and her husband with the children when they were infants, including “feeding them, diapering them, getting them down to sleep.”
“He loved watching all his grandkids grow up and participate in activities,” she said. “No matter how busy he got at Villanova or with the center, he was always there for moments big and small in my life and my brothers’ lives.”
“He just enjoyed spending time being a dad and grandpa,” she added. “To me, that is his real legacy.”
A funeral Mass for Zech is planned for May 28 at 11 a.m. at St. John Chrysostom Parish in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
Churchgoers hear about political, social issues in U.S. from pulpit, Pew survey says
A Pew Research Center report found that most Americans who regularly attend religious services hear about political or social issues from their clergy.
The May 27 report, “What Political Issues Do Americans Hear About in Church?” found two-thirds of U.S. adults who regularly attend religious services have heard their clergy speak about at least one political or social issue in the past few months.
The analysis includes findings from a survey of 3,592 U.S. adults who are part of Pewʼs American Trends Panel, with information from 1,391 respondents attending religious services at least monthly. The survey was conducted April 6–12, and the overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Of the 1,391 respondents who regularly attend services, 300 respondents were Catholic, with a margin or error of plus or minus 7.7 percentage points.
The data was based on Catholic, white evangelical Protestant, white non-evangelical Protestant, and Black Protestant U.S. adults who reported attending religious services at least once or twice a month.
The survey was open to all religions, but there were not enough respondents from other religious groups such as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus who regularly attend religious services to analyze their responses separately, according to Pew.
Among U.S. adults, 66% who regularly attend religious services said they have heard about political or social issues from their clergy. Of the topics Pew asked about, abortion was the most commonly cited issue with 35% reporting they have head about it in the past few months.
The other most common topics included Israel (34%), homosexuality (31%), and immigration (27%), the survey found.
Adults also reported they heard clergy speak about U.S. military action in Iran (25%), the environment (24%), and transgender people (23%).
Pew found that Americans heard more about the need to welcome and support immigrants (15%) than the need for stricter immigration enforcement (3%).
Respondents noted they have heard more about protecting the environment (15%) than opposing environmental regulations (3%) and more about “opposing transgender identity” (15%) than “accepting people who are transgender” (3%).
Half of Catholic Mass attendees said clergy recently spoke about abortion
Among U.S. adults who attend religious services at least monthly, Catholics were the most likely to report that their clergy recently spoke about abortion (49%).
Similarly, 43% of white evangelical Protestants said they heard about abortion. By comparison, 18% of white non-evangelical Protestants and 20% of Black Protestants reported the same.
Along with abortion, Catholics also reported they have recently heard about immigration (41%), U.S. military action in Iran (30%), and the environment (28%) from clergy. Fewer respondents had heard about Israel (25%), homosexuality (16%), and transgender people (15%).
Catholics who regularly attend Mass were more likely to have said clergy have spoken in support of immigrants and protecting the environment than to have reported hearing the alternative.
In comparison, white evangelicals were just as likely to report their clergy called for stricter immigration enforcement (4%) as to have heard their clergy talk about needing to welcome and support immigrants (4%).
The survey also asked regular attendees whether the clergy or religious leaders at their place of worship are mostly Republicans, mostly Democrats, or a mix of both.
Catholics were the most likely to report they are unsure of clergyʼs political affiliation, with 59% reporting so. Another 29% of Catholics reported they believe the clergy is a mix of both.
Vatican announces global rosary for peace with Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV is inviting Catholics around the world to join him in praying a rosary for peace on May 30.
The Holy Father is set to pray the rosary live from the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens at 7 p.m. Rome time. Monsignor Walter R. Rossi, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., will join Pope Leo in praying the rosary with a simultaneous livestream at 1 p.m. ET, according to a May 22 press release.
Shrines that have joined the initiative, coordinated by the Dicastery for Evangelization, include: the Shrine of the Mother of God (Zarvanytsia, Ukraine); the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo, Philippines); the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary (Fátima, Portugal); the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace (Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina); the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes (Lourdes, France); the Shrine of St. Charbel Annaya (Byblos, Lebanon); and the Pontifical Shrine of the Holy House (Loreto, Italy).
“As the preeminent Marian shrine and patronal church of the United States, the basilica joins shrines throughout the world in this worldwide rosary with the Holy Father,” according to a statement from the basilica in Washington, D.C. “All are invited to participate in this special moment of unity and prayer for peace throughout the world.”
During his homily at Pentecost, Leo called Catholics to pray to the Holy Spirit to “save us from the evil of war, which is overcome not by a superpower but by the omnipotence of love.”
Leo has issued repeated calls for peace around the world, including the Middle East, Africa, and Ukraine, since the start of his pontificate.
2 years after Pakistan mob lynching, Christian family still seeks justice
LAHORE, Pakistan — As Muslims across Pakistan celebrate Eid al-Adha, Sultan Gill is quietly preparing for the death anniversary of his father, who died after a violent mob attack over allegations of blasphemy in 2024.
Nearly 2,000 people attacked Gillʼs family in Sargodha, in northern Punjab province, on May 25, 2024, after allegations emerged that his father, Nazir (Lazar) Masih, had desecrated pages of the Quran. EWTN News covered the attack at the time.
The mob ransacked the familyʼs home and shoe factory in Mujahid Colony and later set the business on fire after a mosque announcement reportedly amplified the accusations.
Police managed to evacuate nine members of the family, but Masih was caught by the crowd and beaten with stones, bricks, and sticks. The 74-year-old succumbed to his injuries on the night of June 2–3, 2024.
The killing sparked protests by Christian groups across the country, while politicians and Catholic bishops visited the family and held meetings with police officials.
Yet nearly two years later, the family says it is still waiting for justice and compensation for the destruction of their property, which remains abandoned after they fled Sargodha.
“Our wounds became fresh during Eid. The cruelty cannot be described in words,” Gill told EWTN News.
“The confidence is gone. We cannot move around or talk freely. Two of my children had to discontinue their education and start working to support the family in a new city and help pay house rent,” he said.
“The police assured us of 1.2 million rupees [about $4,300] as compensation for damage to the factory, which was actually worth millions. But despite repeated visits to the district administration and Punjabʼs minority affairs minister, we received nothing.”
Arrests but no accountability
Sargodha police registered cases against about 450 unidentified suspects under anti-terrorism laws, and 25 people were arrested over the attack on Masih.
However, all of the accused were released within weeks, according to Sunil Kaleem, director of the Organization for Legal Aid, which has provided legal support to the family.
“We challenged the bails granted to the accused, but without success. The biased judges of lower courts often rely on consistency and benefit-of-doubt principles in such cases,” Kaleem said.
“There are no independent eyewitnesses apart from police officials, and there is little interest in pursuing accountability. The chances of punishment in mob attacks linked to blasphemy allegations remain very low.”
Church leaders and rights groups have long argued that Pakistanʼs blasphemy laws disproportionately affect religious minorities and often fail to uphold principles of justice, including due process and the presumption of innocence.
At least 26 Christians were killed extrajudicially in Pakistan between 1994 and 2024 following blasphemy allegations, according to the Center for Social Justice, a Lahore-based advocacy group.
Church response
Father David John, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier Church in Sargodha, said Masihʼs family received financial assistance and shelter from the National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Catholic bishops' rights body, for 20 months.
“Psychological support was crucial for frightened Christians in the area, and it was important to stand with them,” he said.
“We did what we could. There was a long struggle to restore normalcy in the city with the support of district peace committees and Muslim friends.”
“Religious minorities in Pakistan deserve to live in peace and harmony. People of goodwill stand with us. There is tremendous scope for interfaith dialogue, and efforts toward acceptance must continue.”
Catholic activist Ashiknaz Khokhar criticized delays in the justice process and warned of wider consequences.
“It weakens public trust and leaves vulnerable communities exposed to further harm. When cases remain unresolved, fear and instability increase,” he said, adding that Masihʼs family now plans to sell its two homes after losing its business in Sargodha.
He called for stronger preventive measures, including proactive law enforcement to manage crowds before violence escalates.
“The state should use digital monitoring systems to address online hate speech, provide administrative and security safeguards to ensure judicial independence, discourage misuse of laws through consistent accountability, and introduce educational reforms promoting religious tolerance and civic responsibility,” he said.
Pope sets up commission to tackle $290 million debt at Padre Pio’s hospital
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday created a commission to identify solutions for long-term sustainability at the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, a major hospital complex founded by St. Pio of Pietrelcina and directly overseen by the Vatican Secretariat of State.
The Catholic hospital — which is located in the southern Italian region of Puglia — is facing a debt crisis from which “we will emerge together,” Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said during a May 5 visit to the facility.
The hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, where the saint known as Padre Pio lived for most of his life, has debts estimated to run between 250 million to 300 million euros (about $290 million to $350 million).
The hospital is currently in a dispute with officials from the Puglia region over reimbursements — the regional authority claims it is owed 32 million euros ($37 million) — and is also involved in a conflict over new labor contracts.
The new commission now aims to resolve what is a highly complex situation.
The papal chirograph (a kind of decree) establishing the commission states that the pope’s decision arises from the Apostolic See’s love for works of charity and from the awareness that large institutions, in order to remain faithful to their mission, must be capable of facing the challenges of change.
“The evolution of the times, technology, law, and economics places the mission of the Church before the challenge of continuous renewal,” particularly in sectors such as healthcare that require vision, investment, and prudent management, the chirograph says.
Among these institutions is Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, founded “with the aim of providing hospitality, assistance, and care to the sick, pilgrims, and their families, inspired by the spirituality and the figure of its saintly founder.”
The guidance and oversight commission has the task of analyzing the hospital foundation’s “current situation, identifying the best solutions for ever-greater efficiency, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability of its work and mission, and ensuring the concrete implementation of those solutions.”
The commission will operate on all fronts — financial, patrimonial, and operational — with full authority to carry out the necessary acts of both ordinary and extraordinary administration. It will report directly to the pope before any decision of particular significance and before adopting measures of special importance or those that would have a decisive and substantial impact on the foundation’s assets or modify its statutes.
The commission represents a combined effort by Vatican economic bodies and the Secretariat of State. Maximino Caballero Ledo, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, will serve as president. The coordinator is Fabio Gasperini, secretary-general of the Governorate. Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, is a member together with Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, undersecretary for general affairs of the Secretariat of State. The technical committee includes Benjamín Estévez de Cominges, Gino Gumirato, and attorney Alessandro Ela Oyana.
Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza was born from Padre Pio’s concrete faith, rooted in the conviction that caring for the body is an integral part of the Christian mission.
The decision to establish an ad hoc commission is a sign of Leo’s interest in the hospital but also unusual, given that Pope Francis already established a Vatican commission for Catholic healthcare.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage honors Georgia Martyrs ahead of historic beatification
Day 3 of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage began in Georgia on Tuesday — the second day of a 142-mile pilgrimage through the Diocese of Savannah, a day devoted to walking in the footsteps of the Georgia Martyrs, scheduled for beatification in Savannah on Oct. 31, the first beatification in the southern U.S.
Local Georgians and visitors from as far away as California knelt in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament as the day began in adoration in Brunswick in south Georgia. An hour later, the doors to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church flew open and Parochial Vicar Father Juan Carlos Castillo-Mayorga emerged. Holding the monstrance high, he led a Eucharistic procession around Brunswick’s historic Hanover Square.
Undeterred by pounding heat, faithful of all ages followed. One in a wheelchair, another aided by a walker, a skipping child, Black, white, Spanish — a microcosm of God’s universal Church.
The pilgrimage, whose 2026 theme is “One Nation Under God,” kicked off in St. Augustine, Florida, on Sunday and is traveling the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route up the Eastern Seaboard before concluding July 5 in Philadelphia.
Despite the core principles upon which the nation was founded, 250 years ago Catholic religious observances were against the law in Georgia. From the founding of the colony in 1733 until adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1789, Catholicism was banned.
John Paul Flynn, one of nine Perpetual Pilgrims, didn’t know that. But he saw the golden lining. Looking at those knelt in prayer, he said: “That’s beautiful to see how far we have come.”
In the late 16th century, Catholic missionaries sailed from Spain to St. Augustine, establishing missions along the coasts of present-day Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Six Franciscan friars served thousands of Indigenous Guale Indians living in the marshlands and barrier islands of south Georgia. Friars and natives lived harmoniously, learning each other’s language and blending respective cultures. Juanillo, heir apparent to the Guale chief, was among the many baptized converts.
But in 1597, when Friar Pedro de Corpa refused him permission to take a second wife, Juanilloʼs recruits decapitated and clubbed five of the friars to death.
They not only gave their lives defending the faith but are the first American martyrs for marriage.
Raymond Martinez II, a Texas seminarian and one of the perpetual pilgrims, first learned about the Georgia Martyrs in fourth grade during home schooling.
“As a priest, I want to be able to defend marriage as they did,” he said. “Live my life defending holy marriage for the way Our Lord planned from the beginning.” By walking in their footsteps, he said he feels his life has “come full circle,” arriving at “one of the places I’ve always wanted to go.”
After a mass of thanksgiving, worshippers gathered for a fellowship luncheon. More than a dozen educational posters about the martyrs spanned the width of the school gym, which also served as the forum for two bilingual presentations about the Georgia Martyrs. The first, given by local ranger Michael Putnam, focused on the Guale people, territory, and the area’s archeological discoveries.
Father Pablo Migone, a Savannah diocesan priest and vicar for mission advancement, shared the story of the friars’ martyrdom and steps to beatification. He first heard about the martyrs in college and later became involved in their cause for beatification, which officially opened in 1950.
Later in the afternoon, those in the procession reconvened 20 miles north at Fort King George, where historians believe Talaje, a principal Gaule town, was located. Friar Francisco de Veráscola, the last to die, had served the area before being killed in the uprising.
Father Liam Hosty, a chaplain en route with the perpetual pilgrims, led a second, 1.4-mile procession, accompanied by three sheriff escorts, winding their way through a community of modest, mostly one-story homes, shaded in places by Georgia’s hallmark live oaks with their Spanish moss. Pilgrims sang, but so did the birds, identified by the Merlin app as northern cardinal, blue jay, mourning dove, Carolina wren, red-winged blackbird, summer tanager, and northern mockingbird.
The journey ended at Nativity of Our Lady Church in Darien where, in 2021, a life-size bronze sculpture of the martyrs by renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz was permanently installed. Father Pedro, the first friar to die, had been stationed nearby at Tolomato Mission.
Katie Burchfield, a retired schoolteacher who lives on the Georgia/Alabama border, is following the procession by wheelchair at least through Savannah. She described her conversion to Catholicism from the Baptist faith as being “hit by lightning,” a sentiment echoed by others in attendance — the Eucharist changes you.
Angelina Marconi, another perpetual pilgrim who shared her testimony earlier in the day, said that meeting Our Lord in the Eucharist had given her “peace I haven’t felt in a long time.”
The celebration continues in downtown Savannah on May 27, where pilgrims will walk in the footsteps of British general James Oglethorpe, who once banned Catholicism in the city. The procession will end at the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, mother church of the Savannah Diocese. Decreed a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2020, the French Gothic cathedral is colloquially known as the “Sistine of the South.”
Father Mark Van Alstine, pastor of both St. Francis Xavier and Nativity of Our Lady Church, emphasized the importance of the procession through the path of the Georgia Martyrs, “reinforcing they gave their lives for the dignity and defense of marriage.”
Pope urges priests to respect ‘norms of the liturgy’ to avoid confusion at Mass
At the general audience on May 27, Pope Leo XIV urged priests to respect the “norms of the liturgy” and not to make changes to the Mass “on their own initiative,” in order to avoid confusing the faithful.
“I encourage all priests to respect the texts and norms of the liturgy with openness, humility, trust in God’s greatness, and with sincere fidelity to ecclesial communion,” the pope said in remarks in St. Peterʼs Square.
The Second Vatican Council “affirmed that legitimate progress in the liturgy must also preserve sound tradition and that certain elements of the liturgy can never change because they are divinely instituted,” he said.
Vatican II’s reform of the Mass
Leo’s catechesis on Wednesday continued his reflections on the magisterium of the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, promulgated by St. Paul VI on Dec. 4, 1963. It is one of the most important documents to emerge from the council, since it transformed the way Catholics celebrate the Mass.
The pope offered a historical overview of the context in which Vatican II was convened, noting: “At that moment in history, there was a strong sense of the need for a renewal of the ritual forms through which, for centuries, the Church had glorified God and sanctified the Christian people.”
He also underscored that, thanks to the liturgical movement, the conviction had developed — later expressed by St. John Paul II — that “‘a very close and organic bond exists between the renewal of the liturgy and the renewal of the whole life of the Church. The Church not only acts but also expresses herself in the liturgy, lives by the liturgy, and draws from the liturgy the strength for her life’ (Letter Dominicae Cenae, 13).”
The pontiff reflected on Sacrosanctum Concilium, which he said sought “to encourage the access of the faithful to the richness of the gifts of grace dispensed by the sacred liturgy.” The pope highlighted the formula adopted by the council fathers: “That sound tradition may be retained, and yet the way remain open to legitimate progress.”
To deepen this idea, the pope quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who explained that the council fathers’ “reform program” sought “a balance between the great liturgical tradition of the past and that of the future."
Benedict XVI said that “tradition and progress are often clumsily opposed,” but the late pope noted that “actually, the two concepts merge: Tradition is a living reality, which therefore includes in itself the principle of development, of progress.”
Leo XIV said the progress referred to by Sacrosanctum Concilium “in no way compromises ecclesial communion; rather, it seeks to confirm and foster it.”
He emphasized that “changes of this type have taken place constantly over the centuries in order to enable the faithful to participate fruitfully, through ritual actions, in the paschal mystery of Christ, the foundation of the Christian faith.”
“For the good of the entire Church, every reform must always be preceded by careful ‘theological, historical, and pastoral’ investigation,” the Holy Father said. “The council magisterium, in this way, thus calls for the avoidance of confusion amongst the faithful, discouraging anyone from adding, removing, or altering anything in liturgical matters on their own initiative.”
The Church’s worship, he added, has been “embodied” in the cultural forms of each age and has been able to influence them and even transform them.
“The liturgy has thus been, for centuries, a driving force for evangelization. Today, this energy must be renewed in continuity with the authentic and living Catholic tradition, that is, in accordance with a dynamic aimed at introducing believers to the fullness of the truth,” he said.
War in Ukraine
In an appeal at the end of the audience, Leo expressed his concern over a recent intensification of the war in Ukraine. The Holy Father said he was entrusting everyone affected by war to the protection of Mary, Queen of Peace.
“I wish to express my solidarity with all those suffering as a result of the recent attacks, which have also targeted civilians,” he said.
“War does not solve problems; it exacerbates them,“ he said. ”It does not build security; it multiplies suffering and hatred. Where missiles and drones fall, hopes are crushed, homes and places of worship are destroyed, and innocent lives are cut short.”
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.