reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Sixteen Carmelites caught up in the French Revolution and martyred. When the revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary government, and the nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious community in 1794. They were arrested on June 22 and imprisoned in a Visitation convent in Compiegne There they openly resumed their religious life. On July 12, 1794, the Carmelites were taken to Paris and five days later were sentenced to death. They went to the guillotine singing the Salve Regina. They were beatified in 1906 by Pope St. Pius X. The Carmelites were: Marie Claude Brard; Madeleine Brideau, the subprior; Maire Croissy, grandniece of Colbert Marie Dufour; Marie Hanisset; Marie Meunier, a novice; Rose de Neufville Annette Pebras; Anne Piedcourt: Madeleine Lidoine, the prioress; Angelique Roussel; Catherine Soiron and Therese Soiron, both extern sisters, natives of Compiegne and blood sisters: Anne Mary Thouret; Marie Trezelle; and Eliza beth Verolot. The martyrdom of the nuns was immortalized by the composer Francois Poulenc in his famous opera Dialogues des Carmelites.
Meet 4 religious sisters dedicating their lives to God in 2026
Sr. Catherine Lucia Phoebe Addington of the Daughters of St. Paul in Alexandria, Virginia, is pictured kneeling in prayer during her profession of vows in Boston Feb. 14, 2026. (OSV News/Courtesy of Daughters of St. Paul)
Katie Yoder
July 16, 2026
Sr. Catherine Lucia Phoebe Addington of the Daughters of St. Paul still remembers when she first walked into a convent chapel as a fourth grader.
"I saw the sanctuary lamp lit, and that was absolutely mind-blowing to me," she said of visiting the home of the religious sisters who taught at her school. "I said, 'Wait, nuns get to live with Jesus? I didn't know that — sign me up!' "
Sister Phoebe is among four religious sisters professing vows in 2026 who spoke to OSV News about their vocation stories and what led them to dedicate their lives to God. Their journeys are different: Some grew up regularly attending Mass, and others did not. Some knew they were called to religious life, and others walked a more complicated path. One sister temporarily left the church before joining her community. Another wanted to be a sister as a toddler.
Their stories also feature similarities. Prayer, the sacraments and adoration played pivotal roles. Many were drawn to God's unconditional love.
All of them wanted to give themselves totally to God.
Sr. Maria Trinity joined the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee, after growing up in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her parents came to the U.S. during the Lebanese Civil War and raised their three daughters in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
"I remember when I was younger just having this sense that I was made for something greater than what this world had to offer," the 30-year-old sister said.
As she grew up, her family stopped attending Mass as regularly. She knew something was missing, and she reconnected with her faith in eighth grade after joining a service project at a local Catholic church.
Around that time, she also attended a March for Life youth rally where people considering religious life were asked to stand up. Her heart pounded.
"I had not been thinking about religious life at all," she said. "Interiorly I was like, 'No, no, no.' "
She embraced her faith while studying mechanical engineering and computer science at the University of Maryland. Her friends at the Catholic student center pointed her to the sacraments. She attended Mass, adoration, confession, Bible studies and spiritual direction. She encountered women religious and prayed with Dominican friars.
A pivotal moment came during adoration at a silent retreat. She heard God calling her to be totally his. That moment came after she also attended Steubenville Youth Conferences and FOCUS mission trips.
"I started having this radical desire to just proclaim the truth of God's love, and how this world is passing away, but God's love never, never fades," she said. "I realized the Lord didn't need what I could do for him; he just wanted who I was."
When she visited the Dominican sisters her senior year, she felt at peace. She entered in 2018 at 23, and she currently teaches middle school at a Catholic school in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She will profess perpetual vows July 25.
When Sr. Concepción Medina of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity was around 2, she confided to her aunt that she wanted to be a religious sister.
Born in and raised in New Mexico, she grew up culturally Catholic with her five siblings. She received the sacraments but did not attend church frequently. She experienced a big moment amid a series of little moments along her path to religious life.
"I found that along the way in life, God was always stirring in my heart to be his alone," the 32-year-old sister said.
In her early 20s, she remembered experiencing "this deep sense of knowing" while singing the Kyrie at Mass.
"I knew with every ounce of my being that God was calling me to religious life and asking me to be exclusively his. ... I was devastated," she said. "This devastation, of course, transformed over time and really was caused by my own selfishness."
God made it obvious that she should join the Franciscan sisters.
"After I had come to visit, the Lord sent St. Francis to shove me in the right direction," she said, adding that she saw images and statues of the saint everywhere. "It wasn't until I gave in and came to visit again that I experienced a deep sense of peace about everything."
She entered at the age of 24. She is currently in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, at the sisters' motherhouse. She is a nurse and cares for the sisters in their infirmary. She will profess perpetual vows Aug. 2 during the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi.
Sr. Joseph Lucia with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, spoke from her order's motherhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As one of seven children, she was raised Catholic in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The 28-year-old sister said the first time she seriously considered a religious vocation came during her confirmation in eighth grade. The bishop gave a talk about vocations and said he was praying her confirmation class would follow the Holy Spirit.
"I remember thinking and praying, 'Jesus, if you want me to be a sister, I'll do it, you'll just have to let me know,' " she said.
She thought about religious life more at the end of her freshman year at Clemson University while studying nursing and Spanish. She began discerning when her older sister entered the Dominican sisters.
"That really inspired me to start thinking again, like, 'Jesus, is this something you're really calling me to?' " she said, remembering her sister's joy.
Her devotion to the Eucharist and Mary drew her to the Dominican sisters. She grew in her love for both at her university, where she attended daily Mass and made time for prayer and adoration. She also realized she was drawn to Dominican spirituality after Dominicans visited her school.
She left college to enter the convent at 21. Today, she teaches at a Catholic school in Findlay, Ohio. She will make her final profession July 28.
"I get to give my whole self to Jesus in response to the totality of love that he's shown to me," she said about being a bride of Christ. "I get to be a visible sign of how much Jesus loves his church; how much Jesus loves each individual soul."
Sister Phoebe grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she now lives as a Daughter of St. Paul. As a girl, she went to their bookstore in that city. Now, she serves there as a sister.
She was raised Catholic with her two sisters and attended her parish's school. The 32-year-old sister experienced "this total instinctive sense of belonging to God" her entire life. At the same time, there were certain lights along the way to religious life. She loved learning about the saints while preparing for confirmation and noticed many were nuns.
Her path was not straightforward: She left the church when she was 18 because she was scandalized by the abuse crisis. During that time, Orthodox Christian friends invited her to their church.
"I am challenged every day by that witness of my Orthodox friends who saw someone who was hurting and said, 'No pressure, you don't have to enter our church, we just want you to know that you're welcome to pray here if that's going to help you stay close to Jesus,' " she said.
She returned to the Roman Catholic Church three years later when, among other things, Pope Francis visited the United States in 2015. His message about reaching out to those on the margins moved her personally.
The Daughters of St. Paul, who seek to communicate Christ, taught her how to pray during their discernment program. Through prayer, she fell in love with Christ. She entered in 2021 when she was 27 after completing a doctorate in Spanish literature and translation at the University of Virginia. She made her first profession Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.
"There are a lot of people who will tell themselves for this or that reason, 'I can't be happy,' " she said. "God loves you exactly the way you are, and he has a plan, and it's better than you can imagine."
All four sisters offered their advice for young women discerning. They recommended letting God lead and spending time with religious women. They suggested praying, reading the Bible and seeking the sacraments. They encouraged women to trust in God.
"Above all," Sr. Concepción Medina said, "fall undeniably in love with God and everything will fall into place."
Castel Gandolfo to host concert in honor of Pope Leo XIV
The Diocese of Albano offers a concert for Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, featuring works by Paganini and Bellini, that will take place, with Pope Leo in attendance, on 18 July at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV will attend a concert offered in his honor by the Diocese of Albano on Saturday, 18 July, at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
The evening, beginning at 9:00 p.m. in the Palace courtyard, is intended as a gesture of affection and communion with the Holy Father.
The concert, for which all tickets have already been allocated, will open with Niccolò Paganini’s La Polacca from the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 3 in E major, performed by internationally renowned violinist Marco Rogliano.
The program will continue with pianist Rossana Tomassi Golkar performing Norma: An Immense Love Story – Free Fantasy and Variations for Piano and Orchestra, a new reworking of Vincenzo Bellini’s masterpiece written exclusively for her by Oscar-winning composer Luis Bacalov.
The soloists will be accompanied by the 55-member orchestra I Musici di Parma, conducted by Pier Carlo Orizio, artistic director of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo since 2006 and professor of orchestral conducting at the Luca Marenzio Conservatory in Brescia.
The Bellini-inspired composition will be accompanied by a visual production highlighting key moments of the opera’s drama. The concert will feature a Bechstein grand piano from the Fabbrini Collection.
“The renewed presence of the Holy Father in our diocesan territory has filled our local Church and its people with joy,” said Bishop Vincenzo Viva of Albano.
Bishop Viva also expressed his gratitude to the benefactors and supporters who made the initiative possible, including the Banca di Credito Cooperativo dei Castelli Romani e del Tuscolo and numerous local businesses. He likewise thanked the artists, the diocesan Office for Sacred Music, the staff of the Pontifical Villas and the Prefecture of the Papal Household for their dedication in preparing the event.
Sacred Scripture celebrated the beauty of Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel's faith in the living God. In the twelfth century, hermits withdrew to that mountain and later founded the Carmelite order devoted to the contemplative life under the patronage of Mary, the holy Mother of God.
Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is worldwide, and most Catholics are familiar with the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted for the Carmelites in 1332 and extended to the whole Church by Benedict XIII in 1726.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Today is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the year 1150. Oppressed by the Saracens, the monks slowly emigrated to Europe. During the night preceding the sixteenth of July, 1225, the Blessed Virgin is said to have commanded Pope Honorius III to approve the foundation. Since the Carmelites were still under constant harassment, the sixth General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, pleaded with the Blessed Virgin for some special sign of her protection. On July 16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her maternal love. That is why the present feast is also known as the feast of the Scapular. The scapular, as part of the habit, is common to many religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites. A smaller form of the scapular is given to lay persons in order that they may share in the great graces associated with it. —Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Highlights and Things to Do:
If you have not already done so, have a priest enroll you in the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or popularly known as the "Brown Scapular" and begin wearing it as a sign of your love for Our Lady. A priest enrolls people in the Brown Scapular only once. The Scapular can then be replaced afterwards by other scapulars or the scapular medal, which has on one side the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and on the other, the image of Mary. The medal needs to be blessed by a priest, but the cloth scapulars do not require a blessing (separate from enrollment).
Wearing the Brown Scapular is not an automatic guarantee of salvation. It is not a magical charm, nor is it an excuse to live in a way contrary to the teachings of the Church. It is a sacramental which has been approved by the Church for over seven centuries and is a sign of one's decision to follow Jesus as did Mary, the perfect model of all the disciples of Christ. In addition to being an introduction into the Family of Carmel, the Brown Scapular is an expression of our belief that we will meet God in eternal life, aided by the intercession and prayer of Mary. While sacramentals prepare us to receive grace if we are in the right disposition, the Church emphasizes that only sacraments can confer sanctifying grace. (See Catechism, no. 1670.)
Periodically the Church reexamines devotions and popular piety to make sure they are "not at odds with the centrality of the Sacred Liturgy. Rather, in promoting the faith of the people, who regard popular piety as a natural religious expression, they predispose the people for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries" (John Paul II, September 2001). In accordance with Vatican II, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the Directory on Popular Piety in 2001 to reevaluate different devotions and popular piety. Though the Brown Scapular is included in the document as a wonderful pious practice, the Directory does not mention the Sabbatine Privilege, which continues to present historical difficulties. The Directory rather emphasizes the beautiful sign of the "filial relationship" with the faithful and Mary:
205. The history of Marian piety also includes "devotion" to various scapulars, the most common of which is devotion to the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Its use is truly universal and, undoubtedly, it is one of those pious practices which the Council described as "recommended by the Magisterium throughout the centuries."
The Scapular of Mount Carmel is a reduced form of the religious habit of the Order of the Friars of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. Its use is very diffuse and often independent of the life and spirituality of the Carmelite family.
The Scapular is an external sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel, and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer.
The Scapular is imposed by a special rite of the Church which describes it as "a reminder that in Baptism we have been clothed in Christ, with the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, solicitous for our conformation to the Word Incarnate, to the praise of the Trinity, we may come to our heavenly home wearing our nuptial garb."
The imposition of the Scapular should be celebrated with "the seriousness of its origins. It should not be improvised. The Scapular should be imposed following a period of preparation during which the faithful are made aware of the nature and ends of the association they are about to join and of the obligations they assume."
Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular: on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life's journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other, the awareness that devotion to her cannot be limited to prayers and tributes in her honor on certain occasions, but must become a "habit", that is, a permanent orientation of one's own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life, through frequent reception of the sacraments and the concrete practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In this way the Scapular becomes a sign of the "covenant" and reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful: indeed, it concretely translates the gift of his Mother, which Jesus gave on the Cross to John and, through him, to all of us, and the entrustment of the beloved Apostle and of us to her, who became our spiritual Mother.
U.S. bishops urge Labor Department to reject expanding IVF insurance coverage
U.S. Catholic bishops and other Catholic organizations warned that IVF destroys human embryonic life and encouraged the department to support life-affirming fertility treatments instead.
A scientist looks at an embryology image touchpad at a laboratory. | Credit: Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and other Catholic organizations submitted public comments urging the Labor Department to reject a proposed regulation that would expand insurance coverage opportunities for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Regulators will consider a rule change that would create a category of limited excepted benefits that covers IVF and other fertility-related treatments. It does not impose mandates but rather creates more opportunities for employers to offer the coverage.
In a 17-page letter submitted by the USCCB’s legal counsel, the bishops expressed support for expanding fertility-related coverage that respects unborn embryonic human life and the natural procreation process — but strongly discouraged any inclusion of IVF.
“IVF, especially as practiced in the U.S., kills or freezes at least as many preborn children as abortion — at a magnitude of hundreds of thousands or perhaps over a million per year,” the bishops’ comment noted.
When a person receives an IVF treatment, “multiple fertilized eggs or zygotes — human beings — are produced” for every cycle, at which stage most die, according to the bishops’ comment. For embryos that survive, some are implanted but “others [are] destroyed or put in inhumane cryopreservation.”
The process for selecting which embryos are implanted and which ones are destroyed includes genetic screening, which the bishops’ comment called a “dystopian form of modern eugenics that kills those children deemed genetically inferior.” At times, when more than one embryo is implanted but the parents only want one child, the others are aborted through a process called “selective reduction,” they explained.
“Promoting IVF,” the statement said, “... stands in glaring contrast to this administration’s other pro-life statements and actions.”
The bishops said indefinitely freezing surviving embryos “is also a profound and terrible violation of their dignity and rights,” adding: “Hundreds of thousands of our smallest brothers and sisters in the U.S. are experiencing this fate right now.”
Additionally, the bishops warned IVF “commodifies our fellow human beings and treats them like products and property.” They warned the technology violates “the exclusivity of the marriage bond in its most unique context and unnaturally [separates] the procreative aspect from the unitive aspect (that is, regarding the unity of the spouses) of the marital act.”
The comment also cited practical concerns for the Labor Department, warning the inclusion of IVF could put the entire rule at risk because it may exceed the department’s statutory authority and that it is arbitrary and capricious, which could be a problem in court.
If IVF is ultimately included, the bishops requested guardrails. This includes rules that prevent the destruction of embryos, prohibit genetic screening, and clearly communicate alternatives, such as restorative reproductive medicine (RRM).
Regardless of whether IVF is included, the bishops encouraged flexibility to ensure coverage of RRM is clearly included so employers “can make meaningful use of that flexibility by affording them the opportunity to know of the full range of possible fertility care that can identify and heal a patient’s underlying conditions while safeguarding human life and dignity.”
RRM healthcare focuses on addressing the underlying conditions that cause infertility and works toward helping the couple achieve conception naturally through the marital act.
More Catholics chime in
The bishops’ concerns were echoed by other Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), and the National Association of Catholic Nurses, USA (NACN-USA).
“In the IVF process more babies die than are ever born,” the CMA comment said. “The babies that are eventually terminated, after lengthy periods of cold storage, do not voluntarily sacrifice their freedom, their potential, or their lives.”
The statement promoted RRM, which CMA called “more holistic, gentler, more respectful of human life, more compassionate, more empathetic, and more generous.” It stated RRM is “devoid of violence or neglect or disdain toward viable beings denied access to being ‘in utero.’”
CMA also joined NCBC and NACN-USA in a joint comment, which called the initiative to expand infertility care “a valuable opportunity to advance real solutions to infertility that respects the God-given dignity of parents and of children, born and preborn.”
Yet they jointly encouraged the department “to refocus the rule on therapeutic, restorative treatments and to abandon its inclusion of IVF, which is profoundly flawed both legally, therapeutically, and morally, and does nothing to address the underlying pathology.”
“If IVF is included in the final rule, regulations must limit the number of embryos being engendered by the number of embryos that can safely be implanted and gestated unto birth,” the statement added.
“Engendering embryos with the intent to provide ‘spares’ for eugenic or research purposes is an [affront] to humanity and should be prohibited; and current practices of selective reduction, especially after there has been a deliberate engendering of more embryos than can safely be gestated is an egregious [affront] to human life and should be prohibited,” it stated.
St. Bonaventure,BishopandDoctorof the Church (Feast Day-July 15)
St. Bonaventure, known as "the seraphic doctor," was born at Bagnoregio, in the Lazio region of central Italy, in 1221. He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune!
At the age of twenty-two St. Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order. Having made his vows, he was sent to Paris to complete his studies under the celebrated doctor Alexander of Hales, an Englishman and a Franciscan. After the latter's death he continued his course under his successor, John of Rochelle. In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He received the degree of Doctor, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, ceding to his friend against the latter's inclination, the honor of having it first conferred upon him. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, he enjoyed the friendship of the holy King, St. Louis.
At the age of thirty-five he was chosen General of his Order and restored a perfect calm where peace had been disturbed by internal dissensions. He did much for his Order and composed The Life of St. Francis. He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua. He was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV, but he begged not to be forced to accept that dignity. Gregory X obliged him to take upon himself a greater one, that of Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, one of the six suffragan Sees of Rome. Before his death he abdicated his office of General of the Franciscan Order. He died while he was assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, on July 15, 1274.
Swithun, also spelled Swithin, was born in Wessex, England and was educated at the old monastery, Winchester, where he was ordained. He became chaplain to King Egbert of the West Saxons, who appointed him tutor of his son, Ethelwulf, and was one of the King's counselors. Swithun was named bishop of Winchester in 852 when Ethelwulf succeeded his father as king. Swithun built several churches and was known for his humility and his aid to the poor and needy. He died on July 2. A long-held superstition declares it will rain for forty days if it rains on his feast day of July 15, but the reason for and origin of this belief are unknown.
During a papal audience at the Vatican June 24, 2026, former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski presents Pope Leo XIV with “the Ball” -- from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)
(OSV News) — About two weeks after what he calls the most surreal moment of his life, Kevin Workman remains in awe.
That’s no embellishment. After all, imagine being a humble noncelebrity living a quiet life as a devoted family man and suddenly realizing that Pope Leo XIV actually knows your name and possesses something you created just for him.
“It’s just amazing,” Workman told OSV News. “Absolutely blown away.”
Sports rosaries
Workman, a 65-year-old human resources manager who resides in New Haven, Indiana, became a Catholic in 1981. He married his wife, Julie, in 1982, and together they have raised eight children and welcomed 19 grandchildren, with No. 20 due in March.
Seven years ago, Workman began making rosaries as a hobby, giving them away at his parish, St. Peter’s, on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. He later expanded his craft by learning to make wire rosaries and eventually began selling them online, where Notre Dame fans became some of his most devoted customers.
“They’ve been sold to every state in the country,” Workman said.
Earning some spending money was never the main objective.
“I feel that the state of the world today needs many, many prayers, and the rosary is the most powerful prayer,” Workman said. “I feel it has become a mission of mine that has developed through opportunities and grace.”
A special commission
Then, on April 18, came the request of his life.
“Catholic Athletes for Christ” commissioned Workman to create a Chicago White Sox-themed rosary intended specifically for the pope. After a few arm pinches to assure himself that he wasn’t dreaming, Workman immediately and emphatically embraced the assignment.
On June 24, Workman’s meticulously completed work reached the Vatican through a visit by former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Along with presenting Workman’s rosary, Pierzynski gifted the pope — an ardent White Sox fan — the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.
Then known simply as Father Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo had attended the White Sox’s 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros in person. Four days later, on Oct. 26, 2005, he celebrated his beloved White Sox’s first World Series championship since 1917.
Workman said he was “in tears” when he first learned the rosary had reached the pope.
“This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened in my little world,” Workman said.
White Sox fan and pope
After his meeting with the pope, Pierzynski spoke with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and recounted the experience. “I know he was at the game. It was just sitting on my wall,” said Pierzynski, a colleague of Rosenthal’s at Fox Sports and the Foul Territory Network. “I was like, ‘It’s better at the Vatican with him than sitting on my wall.’ I figured it was the perfect thing.”
Pope Leo reacted with visible excitement after receiving the baseball from Pierzynski.
“Oh my gosh,” Pierzynski said. “He was like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ He was like, ‘No way, this is the ball?’ And he literally said, ‘I was at Game 2, too. But nobody knows that. They didn’t find me.'”
Before leaving, Pierzynski reminded the pope that the White Sox have enjoyed quite a resurgence after several disappointing seasons.
“It was kind of as I was walking away, I said, ‘Hey, White Sox are in first place,'” Pierzynski said. “He just looked at me and goes, ‘Oh, I’m watching and paying attention, don’t worry.’ And he just kind of smiled at me.”
Workman hopes to receive a photo of Pope Leo receiving the rosary. If not, the unfathomable course of events will suffice.
“To think the pope is going to be using my rosary to pray,” Workman said, “just boggles my mind.”
John Knebels writes for OSV News from suburban Philadelphia.
Vatican-backed priest tours US to visit immigrant advocates, community organizers
(RNS) — 'This is completely terrible, and we cannot be silent in front of this,' the Rev. Mattia Ferrari, the coordinator of World Meeting of Popular Movements, told RNS about the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
The Rev. Mattia Ferrari, center right, visits local farm workers and anoints the sick in California's Coachella Valley on June 21, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Catholics in Communion)
(RNS) — When the news broke that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had been shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent as he drove his construction crew to work in Houston last week, a Vatican representative was meeting with immigrant families at a Houston Catholic parish. The families were sharing about the intense levels of fear their community has been experiencing.
“This is completely terrible, and we cannot be silent in front of this,” the Rev. Mattia Ferrari, coordinator of World Meeting of Popular Movements, told RNS about the killing of Salgado Araujo.
On his multi-city tour of the U.S., Ferrari has heard from many immigrants experiencing fear, family separation and even detention. “They are suffering something that is completely unfair, completely unjust,” Ferrari said, calling Salgado Araujo’s death “the top of the sufferings.”
The World Meeting of Popular Movements was first convened at the Vatican with Pope Francis in 2014, and since then the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development has “accompanied” the initiative, which emphasizes poor and marginalized people as “protagonists” in the fight for justice.
“We are here to serve, not to lead,” said Ferrari of the church’s role, highlighting grassroots leadership.
Last fall, Pope Leo XIV told the convening, which has historically called for land, housing and work for poor people, “The Church must be with you: a poor Church for the poor, a Church that reaches out, a Church that takes risks, a Church that is courageous, prophetic and joyful!”
Leo also emphasized that the poor are at the center of the gospel. “Therefore, marginalized communities…must be involved in a collective and united effort aimed at reversing the dehumanizing trend of social injustices and promoting integral human development,” he said.
Ferrari’s tour was planned after Ferrari expressed “curiosity” at last fall’s convening to see and hear from people on the ground who are confronting the “cost of living and immigration tension” in the U.S., said Cecilia Flores, who coordinated the tour in her volunteer role with a coalition called Catholics in Communion, which was founded late last year to respond to the “pastoral emergency” of mass deportations.
Ferrari is now halfway through a nearly six-week tour to 21 cities and regions across California, Washington state, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Louisiana, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York, carrying the Catholic church’s message of support to faith-based community organizing groups throughout the U.S.
He and his fellow delegation members “sit and listen and ask just such deep questions, but in such a gentle and pastoral and loving way,” said Flores.
Ferrari is traveling with Luca Casarini, the founder of Mediterranea Saving Humans, which has reacted to the deaths of thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean by crewing a ship for sea rescues. Ferrari is the group’s chaplain. Leo spent July 4, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. adoption of the Declaration of Independence, at Lampedusa, a common destination for those crossings.
The Rev. Mattia Ferrari, right, greets parishioners after celebrating a Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, on June 21, 2026, in Mecca, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Catholics in Communion)
The third member of the delegation for the U.S. tour is César Piscoya, an adviser to the Latin American bishops’ conference’s (CELAM) Center for Pastoral Action Programs and Networks. Piscoya, a lay theologian and longtime friend of Leo’s, was a missionary with the Augustinians, Leo’s order, and then worked with then-Bishop Robert Prevost when he led the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru.
“Something they keep saying is, they’ve seen a suffering they didn’t really know existed in the United States,” said Flores, who is the executive director of the Catholic Volunteer Network when she isn’t volunteering with Catholics in Communion. “A lot of people share that the image that they have learned of the U.S., whether that’s through media or how they were told growing up, they get here and they see it’s really not as easy as people might think it is.”
But the delegation is also seeing “a church that is uniting to take care of one another and to embody what it means to be the body of Christ, to move in defense of the dignity of each person on this earth and in this country,” said Flores.
Across the U.S., immigration has been a core focus of the trip. “This is a matter of love, a matter of human dignity, a matter of the gospel. Because what these people are suffering — this pain — is also our pain because we are brothers and sisters,” said Ferrari.
But immigration has not been the only issue raised by the tour. In Houston, the delegation visited a dialysis center for people without insurance that The Metropolitan Organization of Houston advocated for, and in Pittsburgh, Ferrari heard from local labor and environmental leaders about the challenges of abandoned gas wells and the transformation of the energy economy.
In San Diego, the delegation joined diocesan-backed teams to accompany immigrants to court hearings and ICE check-ins. Ferrari said that he was moved by witnessing immigrants’ initial tears of fear and pain become tears of solidarity when they knew they would be joined by the volunteers.
In Monterey Bay, California, the delegation toured rural farm-working communities and attended an event at a Catholic parish to enroll immigrants without legal status in public healthcare, an initiative that the local Industrial Areas Foundation Affiliate Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action had fought for.
Liz Hall, who is the supervising organizer for the IAF in Monterey Bay, recalled Ferrari’s comments that the healthcare initiative showed “the miracle of solidarity.”
“I don’t think he realized how much that meant to the people in the room to hear someone who came from the Vatican to this very rural, kind of forgotten part of the state” say those words, Hall said.
In Los Angeles, Ferrari’s delegation attended a public hearing hosted by local IAF affiliate One LA where immigrants shared their experiences of the mass deportation campaign, including witnessing violent detentions.
Emily, a 21-year-old college student studying civil engineering who asked to be identified by her first name because she does not have legal immigration status, said if she had not already enrolled in university, fear of sharing her information would have prevented her from studying.
“I fear that I might just be studying in class, and because universities are public spaces, they could just come in and unfortunately just get us,” she told RNS.
Testifying to that experience publicly for the first time at the parish she has attended since she arrived from Mexico as a baby was “vulnerable” but empowering, she said. “I just felt so much better, so much, for me to know there were more people (experiencing this) and that the church actually cared about us,” she said.
Robert Hoo, the lead organizer for One LA, said that the impact is widespread. “It’s recognizing that the Vatican is watching, that the world is watching, that their stories are important not just to themselves and their communities, but that everybody is aware about the injustices that are happening.”
Ortencia Ramirez, a One LA leader who co-chaired the hearing, fought to hold back tears at hearing the experiences of her community. But she too felt hope because of the connection to Leo. “We asked them to take what they observed with the IAF back to the pope, and they agreed that they would,” she said.
The delegation also participated in a panel of organizers hosted at Dolores Mission, an organizing base for another interfaith group working on immigration, LA Voice, part of the Faith in Action network. Angel Mortel, a lead organizer for the group, said they shared about their efforts to pass California bills imposing high taxes on private immigration detention companies and remove state financial benefits from companies involved in or investing in detention.
For Mortel, the collaboration between LA Voice, One LA and the archdiocese of LA to plan the trip also brought hope for the future. “This was the first time in my eight years with LA Voice that we’ve done something together,” she said. “Without that collaboration, it’s just too big a task to take on — to take on the forces that are coming down on us,” she said.
Flores said that connections, resource-sharing and opportunities for formation will be some of the long-lasting impacts of Ferrari’s tour, especially because of the presence of Piscoya, a representative of the Latin American bishops’ conference.
In the majority of cities, Ferrari also met with the local Catholic bishop, and in the few cities where the bishop was unavailable, a staff member.
In Houston, Elizabeth Valdez, director of the IAF in Texas, said that Ferrari and his team were impressed by the key roles that clergy play in forming lay people to be leaders in organizing. “They had not seen or experienced that anywhere before, even in the visits that they’ve done in other parts of the country,” she said.
But even visiting 21 different cities and regions, Ferrari regretted the parts of the U.S. that he and his delegation were unable to visit. “We have so much work to do worldwide, so we will be back surely,” he said.
Today is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the year 1150. Oppressed by the Saracens, the monks slowly emigrated to Europe. During the night preceding the sixteenth of July, 1225, the Blessed Virgin is said to have commanded Pope Honorius III to approve the foundation. Since the Carmelites were still under constant harassment, the sixth General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, pleaded with the Blessed Virgin for some special sign of her protection. On July 16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her maternal love. That is why the present feast is also known as the feast of the Scapular. The scapular, as part of the habit, is common to many religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites. A smaller form of the scapular is given to lay persons in order that they may share in the great graces associated with it.
