Catholic News

Russia's "true goal" is "a war on Christianity in Ukraine," Steven Moore, founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, told "EWTN News Nightly" after the bombing of the 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

"This is certainly deliberate," Moore said, noting that Russia has destroyed 750 churches in Ukraine and killed as many as 80 pastors and priests.

The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, caught fire June 14 after Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones into several Ukrainian cities, which killed four people and injured 28 others, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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"This is one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture to date," Ukraine's leader said about the damaged to the Eastern Orthodox cathedral, historically tied to the monastic life of the Lavra.

'Putin is not making mistakes'

Russia's Ministry of Defense issued a statement on June 15 claiming that the cathedral "was hit by a missile from an American Patriotic air defense system" and that "one possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries had supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired."

"The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or conduct strikes against civilian infrastructure facilities," the Kremlin said.

"The Kremlin is talking about it being an accident," Moore said. "But there's a lot of accidents — every week there's an accidental church bombing."

"Putin is not making mistakes," Moore said.

"Putin is not going to stop this until someone makes him stop," Moore said, describing efforts to bring the war to an end as "a lot of talk."

Combating Russian propaganda

Moore is visiting Washington, D.C., from Kyiv and said he has plans to advocate on Capitol Hill and launch several films, including one on Ukrainian children who have been trafficked into Russia. Moore is set to meet with Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, on June 16.

Moore told EWTN News in a separate interview that he plans to "focus primarily on Republicans because Republicans are in charge, and the Russians spend $2 billion annually on propaganda worldwide. Much of that goes into the conservative ecosphere."

"The Russians target these conservative believers with misinformation," he said, citing online figures such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson. "So we're trying to push back on that, and we're pushing back on Capitol Hill."

The role of the international community

Foreign leaders took to social media to condemn the strikes, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said the strike on the Dormition Cathedral is the equivalent of bombing Notre-Dame in Paris.

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"The French are really good at talking," Moore said.

"But I have yet to see a Leclerc tank in Donbas," he said, speaking of French-made battle tanks.

"On an average day in April, the French bought enough petroleum products, liquid natural gas, primarily from Russia, to pay for about 220 Shahed drones every day," he said about Iranian-made munitions, noting that Russia sends about 600 drones every time they attack Ukraine.

"A lot of this is paid for by European purchases of Russian fossil fuel," Moore said. "So, you know, while I always like to hear what the French have to say, I would like to see them stop fueling the Russian war machine. And I would like to see them do more, send more aid to Ukraine."

Ultimately, Moore called for the international community to cut off all financial ties with Russia. "Nothing else works because Putin only understands strength."

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Catholic church bells in Mexico will be rung on June 20 "as a call to build peace" and in memory of victims of violence in the country, marking the fourth anniversary of the murders of Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar.

In a statement released on June 14, the National Dialogue for Peace called for placing a "white ribbon or small flag" on the doors of homes, schools, and workplaces on June 20 to make "visible the commitment to peace, dialogue, reconciliation, or hope."

The group also called for "ringing church bells on June 20 at 3 p.m. as a call to all sectors of society to build peace and to renew our commitment to forming the community that Mexico needs today."

Campos Morales and Mora Salazar were killed on June 20, 2022, inside their parish church in the town of Cerocahui in the Mexican state of Chihuahua while attempting to protect a man who was being pursued by a criminal.

The organization also asked Mexicans to "place photographs of missing persons at church altars during the celebrations on Sunday, June 21," as well as to "offer a special prayer for families searching [for their loved ones] and invite adolescents and young people to present the offerings as a sign of a Church that recognizes their place and accompanies them in building hope."

The National Dialogue for Peace was started following the murder of the Jesuits as an initiative of the Catholic Church in Mexico formed by the Mexican Bishops' Conference, the Bishops' Commission for the Laity, the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Mexico, and the Society of Jesus in Mexico.

In its statement, the National Dialogue for Peace stated that on June 20, "we remember the murdered religious leaders, the thousands of missing persons, the families living amid violence, the merchants suffering extortion, and the forests illegally logged."

"It's a day to remember the suffering that we are standing against throughout Mexico and to call upon all sectors of society to redouble their efforts to sow peace. Amid the pain this country is experiencing, Jesus continues to call us to build peace," the statement explained.

Reflecting on the efforts made since 2022, the organization noted that "over these four years, we have learned that the great challenge is to build a responsible and participatory community capable of deciding its own destiny."

While "violence isolates people and stifles social participation, paving the way for the imposition of criminal projects and ideas," the National Dialogue for Peace said, noting that "the process of building peace entails reaching out to others to heal, participate, and form one's own judgment."

"Building peace today entails healing the wound caused by the forced disappearance of loved ones, having concern for abandoned youth, and envisioning the institutional framework Mexico needs. That wound is healed through truth, political will, and reparation for the harm done," the National Dialogue for Peace stated.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Church leaders in Bangladesh have welcomed Anna Minj, the country's first Catholic Indigenous woman lawmaker, for using her first budget-session speech to press for the development of long-neglected Indigenous communities.

On June 14, given the floor in the National Parliament during the budget session, Minj first thanked Almighty God. "Today I am representing the ethnic minority groups of the plain land of Bangladesh in this Parliament," she said.

Welcoming the proposed budget, she said: "This budget is a people-oriented and inclusive budget."

"I would like to specifically mention that the budget has increased the special allocation for ethnic minority groups in the prime minister's office," Minj said. "Similarly, the allocation for ethnic minority groups in the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has been increased in this budget. In the National Parliament I highly appreciate and I firmly believe that these two projects will play a special role in the development of the ethnic groups of the plain land."

At the same time, she drew attention to several concerns, noting that development allocations had been increased across various ministries. Those allocations, she said, should reach the marginalized and those who are truly in need among ethnic minority groups so they can genuinely develop.

"We all know that the socioeconomic condition of the people of the ethnic groups of the plain land is very fragile. Ninety percent of them are daily wage laborers; many times they sell their agricultural labor in advance. In that case, we ask everyone to involve them in various developmental activities such as education, technical education, and provide them with work opportunities," Minj told Parliament.

Praise from deputy speaker

After her speech, Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal thanked Minj and acknowledged that the country's Indigenous people have remained disadvantaged.

"When martyred President Ziaur Rahman formed the BDR [Bangladesh Rifles], many Indigenous people were involved, many were involved in primary education, but their participation has decreased with the passage of time," he said. "Thank you very much for addressing this issue."

Mixed reaction in the Church

Holy Cross Father Liton Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Integral Human Development Commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh, welcomed Minj's speech. He told EWTN News that her statement on Indigenous rights was sound and that the increased government allocation was a positive step, but he said other problems still needed to be addressed.

"She has created a mixed reaction among the Indigenous people because she didn't address them as Indigenous but as a small ethnic group. Again, she is not only an MP [member of Parliament] for the Indigenous people, she is also an MP for the Christian community," Gomes said.

The voices of both Indigenous people and Christians should be heard in Parliament, the priest said, because Catholics and other Christians contribute heavily to the country, especially in education, health, and social development, yet that contribution is not recognized by the state.

Gomes said he was hopeful, adding: "Anna Minj will work for our society and work to achieve the rights of Indigenous people and will highlight the contribution of Christians to the nation so that others can use our good teachings for the development of the nation."

A historic first

Minj is a leader from the Oraon Indigenous community and has served for over three decades in leadership roles at BRAC International, an entrepreneurial and solutions-focused nonprofit development organization.

Of the 350 seats in Bangladesh's National Parliament, 300 are filled by direct election, which was held on Feb. 12, and 50 are reserved for women. Minj was elected to one of those reserved women's seats as a nominee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which formed the government.

In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, only 1% of the 180 million people belong to various ethnic minorities, while 99% are ethnic Bengalis.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV defended the importance of rigorous journalism against "the drug of fake news" and "artificial polarizations" in a message to the Italian newspaper L'Adige on the occasion of its 80th anniversary, celebrated Tuesday.

In his message to the newspaper, the pope urged journalists to "safeguard voices and faces, cultivate seriousness in every report and every analysis, preserve the beauty of cultures and territories."

He also called on them to "strengthen communities in the truth that unites us all, govern technology without surrendering to the rhetoric of uniform thought, respect differing opinions, never yield to the temptation to make greater profits by resorting to the drug of fake news and artificial polarizations."

"In the time of great changes that we are experiencing, I wish your newspaper always to be an instrument of truth, a guardian of history and memory, a source of knowledge and a leaven of humanity," the pope wrote, calling on the newspaper to meet the challenge of information with "quality."

In his letter, Leo also recalled the origins of the newspaper and the figure of its founder, Flaminio Piccoli, who chose for the publication the name of a river, the Adige, which runs through Trento, the city where the newspaper is published.

"Flowing water," the pope said, "is indeed a symbol of continuous regeneration, possible only if one drinks from a pure spring. What more beautiful metaphor for good journalism? To be water that deeply satisfies the thirst for knowledge of people of different generations; to nourish consciences with news and not gossip; to offer a correct and transparent interpretation of reality; to unite, in good fortune and bad, the community in which one is rooted, protecting its history and memory."

The pope also highlighted the contribution of Christian thought to the development of journalism and the defense of freedom of expression.

"Its roots testify to the richness of Christian thought as a leaven of journalism, not only Catholic journalism, a bulwark of the freedom to express one's thoughts," he wrote.

Leo also recalled Alcide De Gasperi, who, he said, before becoming a leading political figure in Italy's democratic reconstruction after fascism, "was an editor and then director of La Voce Cattolica of Trento, and later founder of the daily Il Trentino."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV said those who believe God created the world are called to take on a greater responsibility for caring for creation, describing it as a requirement of faith.

In a video message to participants in the 10th Austrian World Summit — an annual international event on climate, sustainability, and the environment taking place Tuesday at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna — the Holy Father recalled that "the Church has always been aware that the ecological question has a moral dimension."

Reflecting on climate change and environmental protection in light of the theological virtues, the pope said the religious dimension "is in fact essential to address these issues adequately."

"Those who believe that our world was created by God and is inherently good are compelled to assume an even greater responsibility to care for creation, since this is the requirement of their faith," Pope Leo XIV said.

He also quoted Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', saying: "Living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience."

The pope stressed that "religious faith reinforces the overall desire to protect life and care for nature." He said the climate crisis is "one manifestation — and a critical one — of the wider socioeconomic crisis," adding that special attention must be given to "the poorest and those most vulnerable to environmental degradation."

Pope Leo XIV acknowledged widespread concern over the challenges caused by "a lack of respect for creation, the plundering of natural resources, and a progressive decline in the quality of life due to climate change."

"These challenges require international cooperation, together with cohesive and forward-looking multilateralism in order to find effective solutions," he said.

At the same time, the pope sought to offer a message of hope, urging participants to overcome fear and work together toward appropriate solutions.

"Despite the naysayers or cynics, hope can be a powerful driving force," he said.

The Holy Father also emphasized the contribution religious leaders and communities can make to ambitious social and environmental efforts, noting that the Bible offers many examples of how fear can be overcome by hope, "which ultimately is a gift from God himself."

Pope Leo XIV called on wealthier countries to "meet their obligations to support poorer countries financially." He also said the world needs "the development of a new person-centered international financial framework" so that all countries, "especially the poorest and those most vulnerable to climate disasters, can reach their full potential, with the dignity of their citizens respected."

Turning to the virtue of love, the pope invited participants to cultivate "a genuine culture of care for our environment," including what Pope Francis described as "civic and political love."

"Such love is the key to authentic development," Pope Leo XIV said, adding that "social love moves us to devise larger strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a 'culture of care' which permeates all of society."

The pope concluded by expressing his hope that the summit's deliberations would promote this culture of care and "thus contribute to the civilization of love."

He also prayed that the summit would help promote "the much-needed dialogue for seeking effective solutions to protect the wonderful gift of creation."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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During his apostolic journey to Spain from June 6–12, Pope Leo XIV became the first pontiff in history to address the Spanish Parliament, using the occasion to urge the country's political class to defend human dignity and protect life "from conception to its natural end."

The pontiff also joined the list of other pontiffs since St. Paul VI who have been invited to speak to government assemblies during their journeys.

While it is expected that the pope will address civil leaders during an apostolic journey, invitations to address a country's legislature or national assembly are rare and considered a high honor, even for a pope. These addresses have often been opportunities for the pope to challenge civil leaders on critical issues, including human rights, war, and the treatment of migrants.

But what do these speeches reveal about the pope's priorities regarding global issues?

St. Paul VI: A call for an end to war

As the first pope in centuries to undertake extensive international travel, Paul VI was known for his forceful calls to denounce war and promote peace.

He became the first pontiff to address the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly during his historic one-day visit to the United States on Oct. 4, 1965. He addressed the assembly in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Indo-Pakistani War, which had occurred mere weeks before his visit.

Amid these and other conflicts, Paul VI made a passionate appeal for peace, famously declaring: "Never again war, never again war! It is peace, peace, that has to guide the destiny of the nations of all mankind!"

With this speech and similar ones, including a little-known one delivered to the Ugandan Parliament in 1969, the pope would forever alter the Holy See's role in international affairs, establishing it as an important actor in international diplomacy. He also helped establish the Church's anti-war stance early in the modern period, a stance adopted by every pope since.

St. John Paul II: Papal presence in the public sphere

Whereas Paul VI would pioneer the pope's presence in the public sphere, St. John Paul II would make it the norm.

The Polish pontiff delivered at least five addresses to secular parliaments, including those of the European Union, Poland, and Italy.

He also addressed the U.N. General Assembly twice during his papacy. The first, in 1979, challenged the U.N. to denounce the arms trade, ensure religious freedom, and protect religious minorities in the Middle East.

Though noted for his stance on life issues, including opposition to abortion, he did not address abortion in any of his addresses to parliaments, instead focusing more broadly on human rights.

Benedict XVI: Religion cannot be set aside in the West

Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to address both houses of the British Parliament during his visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010.

Referring to St. Thomas More and the country's Christian heritage, Benedict denounced the tendency toward the marginalization of religion in the West, particularly Catholicism.

"I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance," Benedict said. "These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square."

Such sentiments would be reflected in his address to the Federal Parliament of Germany during his 2011 visit. Already famous for his advocacy of the relationship between faith and reason, Benedict gave a speech highlighting the role of natural law and the limits of democracy.

"For most of the matters that need to be regulated by law, the support of the majority can serve as a sufficient criterion. Yet it is evident that for the fundamental issues of law, in which the dignity of man and of humanity is at stake, the majority principle is not enough."

Francis: Environmental justice, migrant care, and the abolition of the death penalty

When Pope Francis became the first pope to address a joint session of the United States Congress in 2015 during his visit to the country, he offered a candid assessment of issues in the national debate, especially immigration.

Referring to the 2015 refugee crisis, in which Syrians fled the civil war in Syria for the U.S., Francis advocated greater care for those coming to the U.S. to find a better life.

"Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions," Francis said. "We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation."

He would also, like several of his predecessors, oppose the death penalty. Unlike them, however, he would call for its abolition, support the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' initiative for abolition that year, and criticize the resumption of executions by lethal injection.

"This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes."

He would use these ideas presented to Congress to finally amend the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018, declaring that the death penalty is "inadmissible."

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Canada's government-sanctioned assisted suicide program — known as medical assistance in dying, or MAID — turns 10 years old this month, and in the decade since it was launched assisted dying has become a leading cause of death in the country.

Yet Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, says there is a grim upside to that trend: Other countries increasingly don't want anything to do with assisted suicide.

"The only good thing about Canada is the effect Canada is having on other countries," he said.

Assisted suicide measures have recently suffered notable defeats in numerous other national legislatures. But the procedure remains immensely popular in Canada.

Government data show that suicide uptake grew at an annual rate of more than 30% from 2019 to 2022; it has decreased in the years since, though it has continued to grow, with a total number of 16,499 Canadians dying by suicide in 2024.

The "vast majority" of people who died by assisted suicide had a "reasonably foreseeable death," the government said, while around 4.5% of victims' deaths did not meet that criteria.

The government said that the decreasing rate of growth "seem[s] to suggest that the number of annual [suicides] is beginning to stabilize," though it said that "long-term trends" would only be identifiable after "several more years."

Data indicate that the country has the highest numbers of assisted suicide deaths in the world.

Some restrictions, proposed expansions

The Canadian Supreme Court ruled in February 2015 that the country's ban on assisted suicide was illegal. That decision technically legalized the practice in Canada, though the court delayed implementation of the decision for a year.

Assisted suicide became fully available in the country the following summer, on June 16, 2016. In April of this year the country officially passed 100,000 "provisions" of MAID.

David Cooke, the campaigns manager for the Ontario-based Campaign Life Coalition, told EWTN News that the 10-year mark for the MAID program is "an anniversary to mourn."

"With 10 years of legalized medical homicide, Canada has the blood of over 100,000 victims on its hands — blood that cries out to God for justice," he said. "Canada's euthanasia program is on a killing spree."

Cooke argued that while the program was touted as an "answer" to "human suffering," the program has "unleashed enormous suffering on Canadian society and on the family and friends of victims."

"Even the victims themselves suffer — by being subjected to medical and societal abandonment, prejudice, being denied timely access to life-affirming treatment and support, plus they must face the horrendous and indescribable experience of being poisoned to death," he said.

The euthanasia regime "has also utterly destroyed the integrity and lifesaving purpose of our healthcare system, dispensing with sick and disabled Canadians as a cost-saving measure," he argued.

Advocates have argued that the government program has built-in safeguards, including stipulations that patients must be at least 18 years old and suffering from a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" before they are allowed to partake in it.

Yet critics have argued that the system is rife with both abuse and safety failures, allowing Canadians to access assisted suicide when they shouldn't qualify for it.

The reported safety failures are so acute that in 2024 the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association — which helped get MAID legalized a decade ago — warned of the need for more safeguards in the program.

Among the concerns raised by pro-life advocates has been the push to expand suicide to those suffering solely from mental illnesses. That expansion has been delayed until 2027, though the group Cardus Health said in 2025 that patients with mental illnesses were dying at disproportionately high rates in the country.

A 2024 report, meanwhile, claimed that from 2018 "euthanasia regulators" in Ontario had identified over 400 "issues with compliance" with MAID laws — including failures of the eligibility process and mishandled reporting — but that  none of those violations were prosecuted.

Catholic advocates in the country have regularly protested against the program over the past decade, including in February when the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the government to pass a measure prohibiting citizens from accessing MAID if their sole condition is a mental illness.

Schadenberg said the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is active in combatting efforts to expand MAID, including in the case of Claire Brosseau, a Canadian actress who is suing to access euthanasia due to ongoing mental illness.

Brosseau has argued that she suffers from "a severe form of bipolar I disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other mental disorders," and that the country's MAID laws "discriminate" against individuals like her.

Yet concerns about allowing mental illness patients to access assisted suicide are so prevalent that in 2025 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Canada to halt the planned expansion of MAID for those suffering solely from mental health issues. 

Cooke said such a plan would allow euthanasia for those struggling with depression, addiction, autism, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and "a multitude of other difficulties which impair one's thinking and judgment."

"Offering euthanasia to those 'not in their right mind' is a horror that recalls the Nazi T4 program," he said. "These hurting souls are better served through counseling, therapy, and medication — not murder."

Schadenberg pointed to modestly encouraging proposed euthanasia safeguards in Alberta that would offer protections to underage citizens and those suffering from mental illnesses. He said the proposals were "minor restrictions" but he described them as "positive outcomes compared to the rest of Canada."

Cooke also cited the Alberta safeguards, which also include affirming the rights of medical patients to not receive care from doctors who perform euthanasia and upholding the rights of doctors themselves to not kill their patients.

Doctors and other medical officials in Alberta are now also forbidden from proposing euthanasia as a medical option, instead being required to wait until a patient brings it up.

Though assisted suicide uptake remains high in Canada, Schadenberg claimed that the country's runaway suicide rate was driving backlash in other nations.

"Scotland defeated their assisted suicide bill, the U.K. bill died in the House of Lords, [and] Slovenia overturned their assisted suicide law," he said, arguing that "all of this is related to how crazy Canada has become."

Cooke said the Campaign Life Coalition is urging other provinces to develop their own safeguards while raising awareness of "the horrors of euthanasia" through lobbying and public demonstrations.

Schadenberg told "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly" in March, meanwhile, that the fight against euthanasia in Canada is "a long-term situation that we have to be involved in."

"Most people are dying by euthanasia not because they're in extreme pain ... Usually it's because they feel their life lacks meaning, purpose, or value," he said.

"The most important thing we can do is recognize the importance of caring for people, being with people," he argued.

He urged advocates to ensure that "family members [and] friends ... when they're going through illness, that they're not feeling alone, they're not feeling lonely, they're not feeling that their life lacks meaning or purpose of value, and that someone actually cares about them."

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The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) in cooperation with the Caritas in Veritate Foundation organized a conference titled "Outer Space: A New Frontier of the Common Good."

Representatives from the Catholic Church and European Union, as well as diplomats, academics, and experts, gathered at the event in Brussels on June 9 to reflect on the ethical, political, and strategic implications of outer space governance and sustainability in an increasingly interconnected world.

As COMECE noted in a statement, the conference took place against the backdrop of "a rapidly evolving global space sector. In recent years, outer space has become an increasingly prominent area of strategic, economic, and scientific interest."

"Alongside the growing ambitions of established space powers," COMECE stated, "an increasing number of countries are seeking to develop or expand their presence in space."

At the same time, the sector has also seen a significant rise in private actors, "whose expanding role in satellites, deployment, space exploration, and commercial activities is reshaping the governance landscape."

The developments highlight the urgent need to foster international dialogue and cooperation to ensure that outer space continues to serve the common good and that its exploration and use remain the "province of humankind," accessible for peaceful and sustainable purposes, "for the benefit and in the interest of all countries in accordance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty."

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and president of the Caritas in Veritate Foundation, opened the event together with Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary-general of COMECE.

Both men stressed the profound moral dimension of these issues, since "they concern peace, justice, and the dignity of present and future generations."

Balestrero stated that "we must not turn space into a jungle," as it is not "a lawless frontier" governed by the principle of "first come, first served."

The prelate emphasized that it offers humanity "an invitation to avoid repeating many of the mistakes made on Earth. Space therefore must be explored with responsibility, solidarity, and respect for subsidiarity, for the benefit of present and future generations."

Barrios noted that, in an increasingly polarized world, "the European Union and its institutions have a significant role to play in guiding humanity in navigating such questions wisely."

He also highlighted several initiatives such as the proposal for an EU Space Act, the development of a European Space Shield, and investments in various programs that, in his view, "reflect the EU's growing responsibility in shaping the governance of space activities."

During the conference, the Caritas in Veritate Foundation presented its publication "Outer Space and Humanity at a Crossroads: Reflections on a New Frontier of the Common Good." It offers interdisciplinary, ethical reflections and recommendations regarding the opportunities and responsibilities associated with humanity's growing presence in outer space.

Conference participants also reflected on the increasing importance of outer space for communications, security, environmental monitoring, and technological development while addressing emerging challenges such as "space debris, the congestion of low-Earth orbit and the risk of the militarization of space."

Furthermore, special attention was paid to "the ethical dimensions of space activities and the need for governance frameworks capable of balancing technological innovation, security considerations, and the responsibility to safeguard the common good for present and future generations."

The conference "reaffirmed the importance of promoting a human-centered approach to scientific and technological progress, guided by ethical responsibility, international cooperation, and a commitment to peace," COMECE noted.

"As humanity's presence beyond Earth continues to expand, participants emphasized the need to ensure that outer space remains a shared heritage whose exploration and use should contribute to the flourishing of the entire human family," the statement reads.

The event forms part of COMECE's "ongoing efforts to foster dialogue between the Catholic Church, the EU institutions, and civil society on emerging policy challenges affecting the future of humanity and the common good."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance discussed their family's Mass attendance practices ahead of the release of Vance's memoir, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith," which is available June 16.

JD Vance is the second Catholic to serve as U.S. vice president, following President Joe Biden, who held the office from 2009 to 2017. Vance has discussed his Catholic faith and shared about his conversion but is not seen or reported by the media attending Mass in the Washington, D.C., area.

Vance said in a June 14 interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" that Mass is sometimes said in his home or he attends small churches.

Having priests come to celebrate Mass at home is "one of the rare privileges of this life," Vance said.

"I try not to do it too much" because "I try to … have a little bit more of a ritual to it," he said. "So we do try to leave the house and actually go to church. And that's important."

"But sometimes … you have a late day at work, or something's going on at the White House, or something's going on in the world and you say, 'Could a priest just come by and say Mass at our house?'" Vance said.

"It makes it very easy, but it's one of those creature comforts of being vice president I try not to use too much because I think it makes us a little lazy," he said.

"It's a perk," Usha Vance added. "But I think it's also important to say that it's sometimes a necessity, because a motorcade just shuts down streets."

"It means sometimes people can't get into Mass when they arrive," she said. "It means that you have people trickling in after the start because they're being put through magnetometers."

The second lady, who practices Hinduism, said they try to adjust the "timing of Mass and location" in order "to mitigate all of these discomforts for all the other people who are just trying to live their lives."

"We try to go to smaller churches and we try to get there exactly on time, because if we get there 10 minutes earlier," security becomes "a nightmare for everybody else," JD Vance said.

"So you try to obviously take your kids to church, but you also try to do it in a way that doesn't inconvenience everybody. That's very important to us," he said.

Vance has attended some highly publicized liturgies. The vice president attended Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass on May 18, 2025, in St. Peter's Square. He led the U.S. delegation for the ceremony and was joined by Usha Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He also attended a private Mass celebrated by Franciscan monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem during a three-day diplomatic trip to Israel in October 2025.

Vance met with a group of bishops and went to confession prior to Mass, according to the White House press pool report.

Memoir on Vance's Catholic conversion

Vance's memoir discusses why he left his faith and describes his conversion to Catholicism.

The book has been published by HarperCollins Publishers, which also produced Vance's 2016 bestselling book "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis."

The book addresses the "story of how I regained my faith," which "only happened because I had lost it to begin with," Vance wrote in a HarperCollins press release. "The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root."

In the "CBS Sunday Morning" interview, Vance explained some of what the book uncovers about finding his "home" in the Catholic Church.

"I was raised in evangelical tradition that in a lot of ways I really loved," he said.

The evangelical faith offered an "incredible generosity of spirit" and an "incredible spirit of 'welcomingness,'" Vance said.

While he said he still tries to "apply" these aspects to his life, he "drift[ed] away from that faith."

"I don't think that I was properly rooted," Vance said. "I started to see myself as too smart, maybe too high-minded. I was going to make decisions based on rationality and science and not on this religious mumbo jumbo."

Then, he said, "as I started to think to myself, 'Maybe there is some real truth to these Christian ideas that I grew up with' … I was just incredibly attracted to the tradition of the church that I ultimately selected."

"Things are constantly changing. Social media is changing how we communicate with each other," he said. "You go to one church and it's … one thing. You go to another church and it's something different."

Catholicism "felt rooted" and "if I went to a foreign country and I didn't understand the language, I kind of knew what was going on. And I liked that feeling of rootedness."

"Fundamentally, when I started thinking to myself, 'Maybe I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Maybe I do believe in the core tenets of the Christian faith.' A lot of the people who [were] encouraging me on that journey … were Catholic, and they took me to Catholic churches, and I felt at home there, and eventually I converted," Vance said.

"God put a lot of people in my path who were very good Christians and ended up being Catholics. And that's where … I found a home," he said.

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In Derry City, Northern Ireland, on June 13, to mark the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Fátima, and the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, 6,000 people took part in a Eucharistic procession that completed its route in the shadow of the city's famous walls.

The prayer event kicked off a worldwide Eucharistic procession honoring the Blessed Mother including more than 550 parishes and 15 prominent shrines across six continents in what organizers say is the first-ever united and coordinated global Marian Eucharistic procession.

Participating Marian shrines included Knock, Fátima, Lourdes, La Salette and Pontmain Shrine in France, Garabandal in Spain, Beauraing Shrine in Belgium, and the Coimbra convent in Portugal, where Our Lady is believed to have appeared to Sister Lucia, one of the Fátima seers.

Barry Mallett from the Guardians of the Faith group, who organized the Derry procession, spent over a year contacting parishes, dioceses, and Marian shrines around the world to bring them together for this remarkable global outpouring of Eucharistic adoration, held in unison at the same time in each area of the world.

"Fruits from the last Eucharistic processions [held in February and November 2025 in Derry] are an increase in Mass attendance and vocations, with a real hunger and desire to see these continue to help lead our youth back to God," Mallett told EWTN News. "We have seen an increase in conversions and an uplift in faith amongst the Gen Z population locally."

He added: "There isn't any coincidence that this is all taking place so shortly after Archbishop Eamon Martin, a Derry man, reconsecrated Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June 2025 and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Rosary Rally in Knock on the 6th of June."

Mallett said he has been getting messages from around the world from participants in the procession who say "they were overwhelmed and that it was such an honor to be part of this synchronized event to honor the holy mother of God."

"Locally here in Derry the buzz is incredible; people were saying it's absolutely beautiful. As the procession wound its way through the city, devotional items were handed out to passersby, and people came out of shops, restaurants, and public houses to watch the very significant event," Millet explained.

"There's a very famous prophecy by St. Patrick in 433 about a light rising and shining from the north of Ireland, spreading throughout the whole of Ireland, on to Britain, Europe, and the whole world."

The city of Derry is remembered for some of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

During the opening Mass before the procession, Father Roland Colhoun, curate in the Derry Diocese, Parish of Ardstraw East, said: "A procession visually and spiritually transforms streets and sanctuaries into places of contemplative peace. The exercise of communal prayer elevates the district into a place of holiness. We walk under banners with messages of faith, carrying our rosary beads as instruments of prayer. We venerate the image of Our Lady, adore the Eucharist, and meditate on the mysteries of the faith as we process. By taking part in the worldwide Marian procession today, you and I are making our contribution to world peace. May the Prince of Peace reign in our hearts and in the hearts of our brothers and sisters across the world."

After Mass, celebrated in the Creggan estate, a well-known housing development built for working-class Catholics, where the 1972 Bloody Sunday civil rights march started, the route of the procession followed that of the march, culminating at the Long Tower church — the site of the last Penal mass in the city in 1784 and now known as the home parish church of Servant of God Sister Clare Crockett, an Irish sister who died in an earthquake in Ecuador at the age of 33. The church is also close to the site of St. Columba's original church in Derry.

Sister Clare Crockett's uncle, Danny Doyle, said: "Clare would have loved today and been thrilled to have this on her own patch where she was born and reared."

Sisters from the Letterkenny convent of Sister Claire Crockett's congregation, Home of the Mother, were present in Derry, and other sisters participated from their convent in Spain.

Among the procession participants was Father Patrick Desmond, OP, from the Dominican congregation in Newry, who told EWTN News: "It's great to be here. It was so well organized, and everyone played their part. So many young people. So many young families. It would just give you confidence and encourage you to remember that the Lord is in control and it's his Church!"

Desmond said he believes the Lord "is going to renew the Church in the world in his way and in his time, and it's happening. It's very exciting to be at the heart of it. I'm very encouraged, and I'm going to go back to my congregation, and I'm going to try to encourage them with some of the joy that I've experienced here and remind them that God will have the victory ultimately! This needs to be multiplied and magnified!"

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