Daily Readings

Several U.S. bishops in recent months have tightened diocesan funeral policies, emphasizing stricter adherence to the Order of Christian Funerals (OCF) amid evolving popular practices at funerals that depart from Church norms and concern visitations, eulogies, and cremated remains, among others.‘Liturgical anomalies’In a video message and accompanying letter, Bishop Thomas Paprocki’s new rules for the ... read more

In Pittsburgh’s suburban neighborhood of Beechview sits a unique Catholic spiritual center focused on a saint known for miracles whose feast is celebrated July 24 in the Latin rite and the third Sunday of July in the Maronite rite.The Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center is “the only one of its kind in the world,” Maronite ... read more

The Optional Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhlūf (1828-1868) is celebrated today. He was a Lebanese monk, born in a small mountain village and ordained in 1858. Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spent the last twenty-three years of his life as a hermit. Despite temptations to wealth and comfort, Saint Sharbel taught the value ... read more

Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Spain last month made a profound impact on the Spanish people, according to a survey commissioned by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference.Conducted online by GAD3 with more than 5,000 of registered participants and volunteers involved in the apostolic journey, 97% held a positive or very positive view of the pontiff’s visit ... read more

Vance Boelter was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years for shooting one Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and killing another and her husband last year.Boelter, 58, was sentenced after pleading guilty to stalking and murdering former Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home on June ... read more

On July 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden, a mystic of the Middle Ages who was a wife, mother to a large family, lady-in-waiting to a queen, and founder of a religious order that still exists today.1. St. Bridget experienced her first vision at age 10.Bridget, or “Birgitta,” ... read more

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Bridget (1302-1373), patron saint of Sweden. She married a young prince and lived happily with him for 28 years, bearing him eight children. St. Catherine of Sweden was their daughter. After her husband died, Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, erecting at Vadstena ... read more

In response to a question about summer advice, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of remembering those most in need during the holidays.The question and answer were both published in the July/August 2026 issue of Piazza San Pietro, the official magazine of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. As reported by Vatican News on July ... read more

The French Parliament on July 21 definitively passed a law banning children under the age of 15 from accessing social media, making France the first country in Europe to enshrine such a restriction in its national legislation. The measure is the culmination of a campaign led by President Emmanuel Macron since 2017 in which he ... read more

A Marianist retreat house on the Jersey Shore will pay out $3 million to a woman who said she was abused at the center in the 1970s. Ken Fulginiti, who represented the plaintiff identified as Jane Doe in the suit, told EWTN News on July 22 that a jury in Cape May County returned the ... read more

A Catholic parish in Frederick, Maryland, is putting the Churchʼs call to care for the poor into action by eliminating school lunch debt for students across the county, building on years of providing weekend meals to children in need.Since 2014, St. Katharine Drexel Parish has partnered with Yellow Springs Elementary School to provide weekend meals ... read more

Pope Leo XIV this week urged U.S. religious superiors to prioritize community life, describing it as a place of “witness and strength.” The Vatican published the letter on July 22 addressed to the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the United States, to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, from July 20-23. The letter also ... read more

Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. On June 10, 2016, the liturgical celebration honoring St. Mary Magdalene was raised from a memorial to a feast, commemorating the "Apostle to the Apostles" with a liturgical feast, the same celebration as most of the apostles (except for Peter and Paul). Beginning in 2020 there is ... read more

The United States and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) sent the first flight with humanitarian aid to Cuba under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s $100 million assistance plan.In partnership with the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba, the kits of prepackaged food and hygiene kits for up to 700 Cuban families will be delivered by CRS — ... read more

As of this year, devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a new site in Mexico City. On July 15, the old non-parochial church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was dedicated as an archdiocesan shrine, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the historic church.In recent days, the church, located in the ... read more