CNA—Katie Ledecky, Olympic swimmer, devout Catholic, and winner of 10 Olympic medals, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday. “Thank you Mr. President for this honor, and thank you to everyone at the White House for an incredibly special day!” Ledecky wrote in a post on X. Olympic career began at age 15 Since…
The motto of the modern Olympic Games, “Faster, Higher, Stronger,” was coined by French Dominican friar Louis Henri Didon, who became friends with the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, five years before the 1896 Athens Games. The motto, originally formulated in Latin as “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” was used before the modern Olympic…
July 21, 2024 BOOK Review of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance (Author)—Author J.D. Vance in his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, provides a first-hand account of growing up and then escaping a small town in Appalachia where the manufacturing jobs have been disappearing, wages have been stagnant, and opiate addiction has become rampant.…
CNA—More than 50,000 people gather in Indianapolis this week for the National Eucharistic Congress, which bishops hope will be a culminating moment in the U.S. Catholic Church’s three-year revival to inspire people to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. Not since World War II… The five-day congress in the NFL’s Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana…
CNA—Bob Newhart, a cultural giant who is credited with pioneering modern stand-up comedy and spoke openly of his lifelong Catholic faith, died this week. He was 94. The native Illinoisan passed away at his Los Angeles home on Thursday, his publicist said. The actor had suffered from several brief illnesses prior to his death. Growing…
CNA—Elon Musk, the CEO of X and SpaceX and one of the richest men in the world, announced that he will move both multibillion-dollar companies out of California because he opposes a new law that hides information from parents about their child’s gender identity. The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, prohibits school…
VN—At an event held at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, the Vatican Secretary of State says Pope John XXIII’ Encyclical Letter ‘Pacem in Terris’ is a testament, and affirms that the concept of ‘just war’ needs to be reviewed. Even if sometimes diplomatic efforts seem to produce small results, “we must…
VN—The Vatican Secretary of State is in Ukraine from 19 – 24 July. The cardinal is to preside over Mass at the Marian Shrine of Berdychiv for the concluding celebration of the pilgrimage of Ukrainian Latin Rite Catholics. The visit of the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to Ukraine, starting on Friday, July 19,…
CNA—The NFL’s Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis are host to more than 50,000 Catholics to the National Eucharistic Congress taking place July 17–21. The five-day congress is bringing the faithful together to inspire people to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. The congress has opportunities for attendees to take part in…
CNA—“We are being sent forth on mission to make Christ known to others and to be Christ to others,” Christina Wheatley of Jeffersonsville, Indiana, told CNA on the eve of the National Eucharistic Congress this week. Wheatley was among the first pilgrims to arrive in Indianapolis for the five-day event, which kicked off Tuesday with…
July 17, 2024—Today the National Eucharistic Congress comes together at Lucas Oil stadium, Indianapolis, where the pilgrimage from the four corners across the United States of America converge! There are crowds of pilgrims lining up to enter the stadium to witness a Eucharistic revival, a historic moment in the life of the Church that took…
Let me introduce you to Carlos Polo. Carlos, who heads the Latin American office of the Population Research Institute and who has dedicated his life to the pro-life cause. As a consequence, he has been viciously attacked, continually persecuted, and even subjected to lawsuits by allies of Planned Parenthood. The Blessing of the beatitude of…
July 13 marks the feast day of a dynamic, enthusiastic Catholic layman from the Caribbean who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Known as “Charlie” — abbreviated to just “Chali” in his most intimate circle — from childhood Carlos Manuel “Charlie” Rodríguez exuded a gift and zeal for communicating the tremendous value…
CNA, Shannon Mullen, Matthew McDonald, Peter Laffin—Catholic ecclesial and political leaders across the United States offered their prayers for Donald Trump after an attempted assassination of the former president Saturday evening at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Among them was Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, where the shooting took place. “We are…
CNA—Relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. Juan Diego, and five other saints will be available for veneration each day of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis next week. Catholics attending the congress will have the rare opportunity to pray with the relics of Sts. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Manuel González García, Paschal Baylon, Junípero Serra, Juan…
CNA—For 70 years, Kathleen Anderson’s congenital heart disease had eroded her health and brought her to her knees in prayer. As she finally prepared to undergo a heart transplant, she paused to pray and hoped to find healing and respite when she emerged from surgery. Although she awoke with a healthy new heart in her…
VNA—Dentist, Social Media Producer and Religious Sister. All these titles could be included in the job description of Sr. M. Paula Blum, Schoenstatt Sister of Mary, ISSM, from Ecuador. The 34-year-old is in her final year of studies to become a dentist and has a passion for spreading the “Good News” via Instagram. Gratitude “It’s…
CNA—Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop emeritus of Lima, Peru, is celebrating 36 years as a bishop and on the occasion has expressed his special gratitude to St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. The cardinal addressed the subject in a July 4 video message from Rome posted…
If there is one message that Jesus wants us to get as we read the Gospels, it is this: I am here for you always, in your presence, offering you my love. Your relationship with me is the one thing necessary (see Lk 10:42). We see this when Jesus called Peter. Jesus said to him,…
According to reports in Yahoo!, CNN, Fox News, AP and more, the radical, Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center recently slashed more than 60 employees. In addition, union officials related to the organization say it stashed cash. Long known for its fierce and radical labeling of so-called “hate groups” that included Catholic and evangelical entities,…
