The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is entering its final days as the pilgrims approach Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress which starts July 17. Next week we’ll have a sizable team present to share this inspiring and informative weeklong event with you. (We also have a list of live broadcasting options here.)
This week’s stories include a profile on a “perpetual pilgrim” on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage who converted to Catholicism because of the National Eucharistic Revival. I encourage you to look at what’s coming out of the revival, with not only an eye to personal revival of faith, but also a call to engage more in your parish life and to bring the Good News of Jesus to your neighbor in the following “Year of Mission.”
Our news this week tells the story of many efforts to spread the Good News: ‘Mission-driven’ Catholic credit unions giving their members a critical financial lifeline; the work of Radio Maria Nicaragua, which the Nicaraguan government recently closed down as the Sandinista regime continues to persecute the church and increasingly infringes on religious freedom; the Knights of Columbus, and Catholic Charities’ work all featured in OSV News reporting.
Below is a selection of stories, columns and reviews to inform and inspire you as the weekend begins — enjoy!
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
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EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL: Shayla Elm told The Record, the Louisville Archdiocese’s newspaper, that her experiences as a perpetual pilgrim on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage have convinced her that “the church is alive and hungry.” The pilgrimage and National Eucharistic Congress are highlights of the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival launched in 2022 to inspire greater understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist.
The Knights of Columbus announced July 11 the organization will cover mosaics by ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. Father Rupnik, whose distinctive mosaics are known for their oversized black, almond-shaped eyes, was expelled from the Society of Jesus in 2023 after refusing to obey their measures imposed in response to credible accusations that he spiritually, psychologically or sexually abused some two dozen women and at least one man.
Mexico’s Interior Ministry has requested the participation of priests in courses promoting “civic values” in the aftermath of the ruling Morena party’s massive electoral victory and disquiet from the country’s episcopal country over social peace in the deeply divided country.
Hurricane Beryl brought close to a foot of rain to Greater Houston in under 12 hours when it made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, July 8. The storm caused transformers to explode, leaving over 3 million homes and businesses without power by 12 p.m. It forced cancellations and closures, including a significant youth event with Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo.
QUESTION CORNER: Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.
In separate rulings, the Kansas Supreme Court July 5 overturned a ban on a second-trimester surgical abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation, or D&E, and struck down a series of abortion clinic regulations long opposed by abortion providers.
A July 8 attack by Russia on a children’s hospital and other civilian targets throughout Ukraine is “a sin that cries out to heaven for revenge,” said the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Gov. Jeff Landry, R-La., vetoed $1 million in state funds June 24 for emergency homeless shelter services run by Catholic Charities of Acadiana. Landry later cited the wider work of Catholic Charities, the domestic charitable arm of the Catholic Church in the U.S., in serving migrants as his reason; however, the line item veto financially gutted homeless services by Catholic Charities overwhelmingly serving native Louisianans.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a strong condemnation after the Israeli military targeted a Catholic school in Gaza that killed four people, including a senior Hamas official.
As Minnesota ramps up its legalized cannabis industry, the state’s Catholic bishops have issued a pastoral letter warning of the dangers of marijuana and urging Catholics “not to engage in, support or profit from the recreational use of marijuana.”
MOVIE REVIEW: Snappy romantic comedy, set during the space race of the 1960s, in which a shadowy government official (Woody Harrelson) hires an advertising agent (Scarlett Johansson) who has a talent for conning people into doing what she wants to revive NASA’s flagging image and improve its prospects of continued congressional funding. OSV News classification is A-III — adults.
