Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Bishops of the United States will consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Read all

 

Cardinal Sebastian Francis, Archbishop of Penang in Malaysia, speaks to Vatican News about the "vibrant" Church in the region, and warns against adopting a ‘minority complex’.

Read all

 

As he meets with Armenian Catholicos Aram I, Pope Leo XIV says Nerses Shnorhali, a 12th-century Catholicos of the Armenian Church, has been inserted in the Roman Martyrology, calling it an example of "ecumenism of the saints."

Read all

 

Dr Peter Meehan, President of St Jerome’s University in Ontario, Canada, speaks to Vatican News about the new Pope Francis Institute, which aims to keep the pastoral and intellectual legacy of the late Pope alive.

Read all

 

WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather for the 2026 Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Florida, June 10-12. The public sessions on June 10 and 11 will be livestreamed on the USCCB website.

The public portion of the assembly will begin with an address by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, who will deliver his first remarks as president of the Conference. Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, the Papal Nuncio to the United States, is also expected to deliver an address to the body of bishops.

The plenary agenda has not yet been finalized and is therefore subject to change but is expected to include votes on a number of action items:

• Two items pertain to a consultation on causes of beatification and canonization: Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh and John Rick Miller. 
• The Committee on Divine Worship will also present elements of a new edition of the Lectionary for Mass and the 2025 Roman Missal-Liturgy of the Hours Supplement for approval by the body of bishops. 
• A revision to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which was first discussed by bishops in regional meetings in November 2022. The action item addresses elements of the Charter that the bishops have determined are in need of improvement or further development. The proposed revisions align with the Charter’s original intention of safeguarding minors and underscores the bishops’ continued commitment to addressing the prevention of abuse and ensuring the structures continue to be in place to respond to allegations. The Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People has emphasized that the revision attempts to balance its care of and sensitivity to victim-survivors, with an awareness of due-process, the rights of the accused, pertinent aspects of the revised Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, Vos estis lux mundi, and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Vademecum.

Also expected to be addressed at the plenary are updates on the following: 

• Synod implementation and evaluation
• The feedback received during the bishops’ fraternal dialogues at the November 2025 plenary about Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship
• Catholic prison ministry
• The USCCB’s engagement with the Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena
• World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea
• The 25th anniversary of the implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae in the United States. The presentation is expected to provide a reflection on Pope John Paul II’s apostolic constitution to guide Catholic colleges and universities on theological and pastoral principles.

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Thursday, June 11. To prepare for this occasion, the bishops will have time to hear reflections on the Sacred Heart from several of their brother bishops before the special Mass of consecration, which will be livestreamed on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. The bishops’ livestream event is intended to be a catalyst to encourage parishes and individuals to participate in the America 250 commemoration by contributing to 250 Hours of Adoration and/or 250 Works of Mercy.

The livestream of the public portions of the plenary on June 10 and 11, and the bishops’ Mass consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be available at www.usccb.org/meetings. Those wishing to follow the meeting on social media may use the hashtag #USCCB26 and follow on Instagram (@USCCB), Facebook (@USCCB), TikTok (@USBishops), Threads (@USCCB), Bluesky (@usccbofficial.bsky.social) and X (@USCCB).

###

St. John I, Pope and Martyr (Feast day - May 18) A native of Tuscany in Italy, John was elected Pope while he was still an archdeacon upon the death of Pope Hormisdas in 523. At that time, the ruler of Italy was Theodoric the Goth who subscribed to the Arian brand of Christianity, but had tolerated and even favored his Catholic subjects during the early part of his reign. However, about the time of St. John's accession to the Papacy, Theodoric's policy underwent a drastic change as a result of ...

Franciscan lay brother and mystic. Born to a peasant family at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon, on Whitsunday, he was christened Pascua in honor of the feast. According to accounts of his early life, Paschal labored as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished for his austerity. He also taught himself to read. Receiving a vision which told him to enter a nearby Franciscan community, he became a Franciscan lay brother of the Alcantrine reform in 1564, and spent most of his ...

Although little is known about Simon Stock's early life, legend has it that the name Stock, meaning "tree trunk," derives from the fact that, beginning at age twelve, he lived as a hermit in a hollow tree trunk of an oak tree. It is also believed that, as a young man, he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he joined a group of Carmelites with whom he later returned to Europe. Simon Stock founded many Carmelite Communities, especially in University towns such as Cambridge, ...

ROME (CNS) -- Catholic exorcists and occultism experts warned that artificial intelligence is increasingly being used for rituals, divination and even forms of worship, raising concerns that some people are replacing God with technology.

At a five-day conference in mid-May on the ministry of exorcism and deliverance prayer hosted by the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, some speakers said the rapid rise of AI chatbots and online occult communities has created new pathways for spiritual confusion, isolation and what some described as demonic influence.

Auxiliary Bishop Cesare Di Pietro of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela in Italy said social media and artificial intelligence can foster the illusion that freedom comes from distancing oneself from God.

"When AI or the internet help us access evil, we are not protected, we are exposed," he told Catholic News Service May 11, adding that modern culture often lacks the discernment needed to recognize spiritual dangers.

The conference came just months after the Rome-based International Association of Exorcists reported to Pope Leo XIV a rise in cases linked to occult practices and Satanism, urging dioceses worldwide to appoint trained exorcists to meet growing demand.

Bishop Di Pietro said he has personally seen an increase in requests for exorcisms, which he linked to declining religious practice among young people.

"When prayer is reduced, when fewer people go to church, the sacraments and prayer no longer serve as an umbrella protecting us from evil," he said.

One of the conference’s keynote speakers, Beatrice Ugolini, an adjunct lecturer in "Occultist-Esoteric Languages" at the University of Bologna, warned that some online communities are using artificial intelligence as a tool for magic and spiritual experimentation.

Ugolini described these users as "technomancers" who ask AI chatbots to generate rituals, demonic seals and occult texts, treating the systems as "ritual altars."

"I can even ask them to create a ritual for me through chats," she said in a May 14 interview with CNS.

Drawing on years of research into online occult communities, Ugolini said some users believe AI systems inhabit a hidden spiritual dimension populated by entities or demons.

She said chatbot errors or nonsensical responses are sometimes interpreted by occultists as supernatural communication rather than technical glitches.

"For a computer scientist, it’s an error," she said. "To an occultist, it becomes the moment the demon speaks."

Ugolini also warned that some movements have begun treating artificial intelligence itself as an object of reverence. Some media outlets have reported on internet communities devoted to worshipping AI after frequent, sometimes constant, communication with chatbots. There are online communities, forums and blogs dedicated to this belief. 

These believers give reverence to -- "as if it were a divinity" -- a kind of "superintelligence that will finally relieve all human toil," she said.

While she stressed that AI itself is not inherently evil, Ugolini warned against investing the technology with spiritual or metaphysical meaning.

"Technology must remain a tool at the service of the human person, without transforming into a substitute for the sacred," she said in a follow-up email.

Concerns about artificial intelligence replacing authentic human and spiritual relationships have also surfaced repeatedly in several papal addresses.

Pope Leo XIV warned in his message for the 2026 World Day of Social Communications that artificial intelligence systems "not only interfere with information ecosystems, but also encroach upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relationships."

"Although AI can provide support and assistance in managing tasks related to communication, in the long run, choosing to evade the effort of thinking for ourselves and settling for artificial statistical compilations threatens to diminish our cognitive, emotional and communication skills," he wrote.

While the pope has warned that artificial intelligence systems can weaken human relationships and critical thinking, his predecessor often spoke more directly about the influence of evil in everyday life.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis repeatedly insisted that the devil is not merely symbolic, but active in politics, relationships and personal struggles, exploiting human pride, greed and isolation. He frequently warned against becoming spiritually numb in a culture increasingly shaped by distraction, individualism and dependence on technology.

Bishop Di Pietro said Pope Francis helped legitimize the work of exorcists within the church at a time when some Catholics either dismissed the reality of evil altogether or sensationalized it.

"There are those who deny or minimize it, and others who inflame it with inappropriate preaching," he said.

Pope Francis similarly cautioned against replacing authentic human and spiritual relationships with digital dependence. Speaking to students in Bahrain in 2022, he urged young people not to seek answers first from the internet.

"Before you go to the Internet for advice, always seek out good counselors in life," he said, pointing to parents, grandparents, teachers and spiritual guides.

That concern echoed throughout the conference, where many speakers warned that AI chatbots are increasingly becoming substitutes for prayer, reflection and human connection.

Sean Tobin, a therapist who conducts psychological evaluations before exorcisms in Los Angeles, said the constant affirmation and personalization offered by AI systems can leave users spiritually vulnerable, because they lack true community in this digital era. 

"But I think the biggest danger is not being able to think critically," Tobin told CNS May 11.

He compared society’s growing dependence on AI to the widespread reliance on satellite navigation, which diminished many people’s ability to navigate independently. Over time, he warned, excessive dependence on AI could weaken people's ability to reason, discern and make decisions for themselves.

"Then we’re going to atrophy," he said.

Tobin said social media and digital isolation have already eroded in-person communities, deepening loneliness and division.

"We're under the influence of the devil's own mental illness, his own cognitive dissonance," he said.

Still, despite the concerns raised throughout the conference, Tobin said he remains hopeful, mentioning reports of a recent increase in people joining the Catholic Church.

"I think people are really searching for the sacred again, and for peace," he said.

Dymphna was born in Ireland sometime in the seventh century to a pagan father and devout Christian mother. When she was fourteen, she consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Soon afterward, her mother died and her father - who had loved his wife deeply - began to suffer a rapid deterioration of his mental stability. So unhinged was Dymphna's father, Damon, that the King's counselors suggested he remarry. Though he was still grieving for his wife, he agreed to remarry if a ...