Founder of the Minor Clerks Regular with St. John Augustine Adorno. He was born in 1563, a member of a noble Neapolitan family. Though he had a rare skin disease, much like leprosy, Francis became a priest, at which time his skin disease disappeared. In 1588, he co-founded the Minor Clerks Regular and spent the rest of his life as the superior. He was canonized in 1807. His cult is now confined to local calendars.

The young Senegalese man survived a shipwreck in 2020 during which he witnessed the death of his brother and many others. After arriving at the port of Arguineguín on Gran Canaria, he was welcomed by a local family and now works as a chef. In 2023, he wrote a letter to Pope Francis inviting him to visit the archipelago. On 11 June, he will welcome Pope Leo XIV instead, “I would like to ask him to help us do more for migrants who die along the journey.”

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For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day. The Society of Missionaries of Africa (known as the White Fathers) had only been in Uganda for 6 years and yet they had built up a community of converts whose faith would outshine their own. The earliest converts were soon ...

WASHINGTON - Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), welcomed the news that Ms. Maria Montserrat Alvarado has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV as the new prefect for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. 

“It was with gratitude that I learned of Montse’s appointment as the next prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication,” said Archbishop Coakley. “We are grateful for her work as a Catholic journalist, faithfully covering the work of the bishops, and also for her advocacy and dedication to upholding religious freedom and human dignity at the Becket Fund. On behalf of the Conference, I assure her of our prayers as she continues to serve the universal Church with her unique talents.” 

Ms. Alvarado has overseen the news operations for Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) since 2023, and previous to that, at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty – at both entities, she has had interactions with the USCCB and its member bishops.

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Though we know very little about these two martyrs under Diocletian, there is no question that the early church venerated them. Evidence of the respect in which they were held are the basilica Constantine built over their tombs and the presence of their names in the first eucharistic prayer. Pope St. Damasus says that he heard the story of these two martyrs from their executioner who became a Christian after their deaths. Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, died in the year 304. ...

Christian apologist, born at Flavia Neapolis, about A.D. 100, converted to Christianity about A.D. 130, taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two "Apologies" bearing his name and his "Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon" have come down to us. Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed in his honour and set his feast for 14 April. Life Among the Fathers of the second century his life is the best known, and from ...

St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class in the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she was said to have heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. At first the messages were personal and general, but when she was 13-years-old, she was in her father's garden and had visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint ...

Bishop of Trier, Germany, from 332, and a miracle worker. He was probably born at Silly, France, and succeeded St. Agritus as bishop of Trier, giving refuge to St. Athanasius in 336. St. Paul, the patriarch of Constantinople, was also given Maximinus� protection. Maximinus was an ardent enemy of the Arian heretics, opposing them in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne. He was a known miracle worker and apologist for orthodox Catholicism and was called �one of the most courageous ...

WASHINGTON - On May 27, an Emergency Presidential Determination (PD) on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 was published in the Federal Register, based on the President’s finding of “an unforeseen emergency refugee situation.” This new rule will allow 10,000 individuals, exclusively Afrikaners from South Africa, to be admitted to the United States as refugees. 

Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, issued the following statement:  

“Offering refuge to the world’s vulnerable and persecuted is a founding principle of our country and it is uniquely what makes this country great. For decades, the United States was known for offering this opportunity, not favoring one particular group, but granting relief in accordance with our laws, our shared values, and the national interest. Today, however, that is sadly not the case. We appreciate the Administration’s acknowledgement that our country can continue to resettle refugees, and we renew our call for resettlement to be extended further to others in need, including those persecuted on the basis of their faith, the likes of whom have no access to refuge in our country at this time.” 

Last October, Bishop Cahill’s predecessor also addressed the disparate treatment of refugees taking place. In January 2025, the president placed an indefinite suspension to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and set the PD for FY 2026 at 7,500 refugees. Virtually all the refugees resettled were Afrikaners granted individualized exceptions to the suspension. At the time the refugee admissions program was suspended, over 100,000 people from a range of countries had been conditionally approved for refugee status in the United States and were awaiting resettlement through the program, some after being in the process for several years.

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Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and Rich�­ard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Hemy VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain. She opposed Henryâ��s mar�­riage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from court, although he called her â��the holiest woman in England.â�� When her ...