Catholic News

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced that Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission.

"No member of the commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue," said Patrick, who serves as chair of the commission, in a post on X. "This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America."

"This was my decision," he added.

Boller, a Catholic who is former Miss California USA, sparked a debate Feb. 9 among fellow commissioners and panelists at a hearing focused on the topic of on antisemitism when she said her Catholic faith prevents her from embracing Zionism and repeatedly pressed Jewish panelists on whether her views made her an antisemite.

The Church recognizes Israel's fundamental right to exist and universally condemns antisemitism. Catholic teaching does not explicitly oppose Zionism, the movement supporting Jewish self-determination in a homeland in Israel. Israel is seen as God's chosen people through whom God revealed himself and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Tweet

Patrick praised the work of the commission, which has held five hearings and has two more scheduled. He described testimonies that have been shared with the commission as "both illuminating and heartbreaking."

He said: "This spring, the commission will deliver one of the most important reports in American history directly to the president."

The commission is a federal advisory panel created in May 2025 under the Trump administration to provide guidance to the White House on protecting religious freedom in the United States. Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, are members.

Boller told EWTN News after the hearing that members of the commission asked her to resign a few months ago but that she refused. She also said several members asked to meet with her before the Feb. 9 hearing to discourage her from making her planned remarks. "They were seeing what I was going to say in the hearing, trying to silence me," she said. "I told them I won't be silenced."

Boller did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her removal from the panel.

Full Article

On Feb. 11, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In Lourdes, France, in 1858, 13-year-old Bernadette Soubirous was collecting pieces of wood as part of her daily chores when she noticed a startling wind and rustling sound. The noise came from a nearby grotto. When Bernadette looked toward it, she saw it filled with a golden light and a beautiful lady.

It was at this grotto that the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette 18 times and where millions of Catholic pilgrims visit the healing waters at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Records have been kept from the exchanges between Bernadette and the Blessed Mother. Here are five of the most fascinating facts about the apparitions that took place at the grotto:

1. Paralysis

When Bernadette first saw the beautiful lady in the grotto during the first apparition, on Feb. 11, 1858, it is said she immediately smiled at Bernadette and signaled to her to come closer, in the same way a mother motions to her child. Bernadette took out her rosary and knelt before the lady, who also had a rosary on her right arm. When Bernadette tried to begin saying the rosary by making the sign of the cross, her arm was paralyzed. It was only after the lady made the sign of the cross herself that Bernadette was able to do the same. The lady remained silent as Bernadette prayed the rosary, but the beads of her rosary passed between her fingers.

2. The secret prayer

During the fifth apparition, which took place on Feb. 20, 1858, the Lady taught Bernadette a prayer, which she recited every day for the rest of her life. She never revealed the prayer to anyone, but she did say she was told to always bring a blessed candle with her. This is why candles perpetually burn at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.

3. The lady shares her name

At the 16th apparition, on March 25, 1858, the feast of the Annunciation, the lady revealed her identity to Bernadette, calling herself the "Immaculate Conception."

4. The burn of fire

Bernadette never forgot to bring a lighted candle to the grotto since she was told to do so by the lady. During the 17th apparition, on April 7, 1858, Bernadette unconsciously placed one of her hands over the burning flame. Witnesses saw the flame burning through her fingers, and yet she was able to pray for 15 minutes with the flame burning her hand. As she emerged from her prayer, she was unscathed and didn't even notice cries of horror from the people in the crowd. Dr. Pierre Romaine Dozous, a well-known physician from Lourdes, took another lit candle and, without warning, placed the flame to her hand. Bernadette immediately cried out in pain.

5. The miracle of Bernadette's body

After the apparitions ended, Bernadette went on to become a Sister of Charity. She died at age 34 on April 16, 1879. She was buried on the convent grounds in Nevers, France. Thirty years later, on Sept. 22, 1909, her body was exhumed and found completely intact. A second exhumation took place on April 3, 1919. The body was found in the exact same state as it had been 10 years earlier. Bernadette was canonized a saint on Dec. 8, 1933, by Pope Pius XI.

This story was first published on Feb. 11, 2022, and has been updated.

Full Article

Pope Leo XIV wants to travel to Jerusalem in 2033 to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Jubilee of Redemption is an event that is shaping up to be a historic opportunity to advance toward the full and visible unity of Christians.

However, the main obstacle to this goal remains the rift between the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, an expert told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Father Frans Bouwen, a missionary of the Society of Missionaries of Africa — known as the White Fathers — and an expert in ecumenical dialogue, explained the complexity of the situation: "Moscow currently refuses to participate in ecumenical meetings where Constantinople is present, which also conditions its participation and that of the local churches aligned with it."

The future ecumenical event, framed within the bimillennial Jubilee of the Redemption, was announced by the Vatican after the ecumenical meeting in which the pontiff participated during his trip to Turkey held at Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul.

That meeting was also attended by representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and other Christian communions and ecumenical organizations. Among the participants were also envoys from the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the Baptist World Alliance, the World Evangelical Alliance, and the World Council of Churches.

However, the Russian Orthodox were absent. As revealed by Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, in an interview with Crux, the patriarchate of Constantinople did not invite the Russian Orthodox Church.

The decision, he explained, was to invite the oldest Orthodox churches, which include the patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

"Catholics invite Catholics, and Orthodox invite Orthodox," he said. "The decision not to invite the largest Orthodox church in the world was theirs to make, and I respect the decision of the Orthodox."

There are still seven years until 2033, and many things can change, both in the ecumenical and geopolitical spheres. In any case, for Bouwen, for the 2033 pilgrimage to fulfill its objective and leave no one behind, the authentic participation of all the churches will be essential.

"The specific paths of preparation must be studied and decided together, ecumenically, following a synodal approach, seeking to actively involve as many churches as possible. It is essential that contacts be established between the churches as soon as possible, creating working groups at both the local and global levels. Perhaps a preparation in different stages, as the Catholic Church did for the Jubilee of the Year 2000, would be advisable," explained the priest, who has been in Jerusalem for over 40 years.

Ecumenical dialogue with Rome has progressed in recent years, but the situation within Orthodoxy is complicated.

New rift over Ukraine

The turning point came in 2018 when Bartholomew I granted autocephaly (self-governance) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, separating it from being under the Moscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Kirill considered the move meddling and broke off Eucharistic communion with Constantinople, opening a rift that persists to this day.

The conflict has intensified, in part, due to Kirill's support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prompting Russian warnings of potentially even more drastic measures.

For Bouwen, this rupture is not theological in nature but rather canonical and geopolitical, linked above all to the status of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. "Russia considers Kyiv to be the place of its baptism and its birthplace, [with the baptism of Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kyivan Rus' and his subjects in 988] and does not accept that it should come under another jurisdiction without its consent. Moreover, the Russian position reflects a more general distrust of the West and its values, and a growing reluctance toward ecumenism itself," he noted.

"The interruption of communion has caused a major schism within the Orthodox communion and has repercussions for ecumenical relations worldwide," he explained when addressing the complications arising from the break in communion between Moscow and Constantinople, which currently condition the potential participation of Russian Orthodox Christians in the Jubilee of 2033.

'Let us have faith in the Spirit'

The missionary clarified that, from a Catholic perspective, the path is one of hope and patience. "Let us have faith in the Spirit who will accompany this pilgrimage and help us discern what is possible at each stage," he added.

"Perhaps opportunities will arise to collaborate in teaching, pastoral work, or even in the shared participation in certain sacraments. That in itself would constitute a powerful shared witness," he noted.

Furthermore, he said that given that the final destination of this pilgrimage is Jerusalem, "it is important to establish contact with the patriarchs and heads of the Churches there without delay." In this regard, he maintained that since the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem is generally recognized as first among his brethren, "he must be involved from the very beginning."

Bouwen situated the significance of the 2033 Jubilee not only in the anniversary itself — 2,000 years since the Redemption — but also in the context in which it was announced: the ecumenical celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325), held first in Iznik and then in Istanbul.

"While we celebrate in the Nicene Creed, the foundations of the Christian faith common to all the churches, the call to a shared pilgrimage toward 2033 turns our gaze toward the saving events at the heart of this faith: the incarnation, life, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ," he noted.

From this perspective, Jerusalem emerges as the natural destination of this shared journey. "Jerusalem is the place where these events took place," the missionary reminded, insisting that the jubilee can only bear fruit if it is lived as a genuine ecumenical process.

Bouwen also linked this perspective to a key historical precedent: the pilgrimage of St. Paul VI to Jerusalem in January 1964. "His ardent desire was to firmly root the Second Vatican Council, and the Church itself, in the mysteries that lie at the origin of its foundation and mission," he explained.

During that journey, the historic meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras took place, sealed with a kiss of peace that, in the words of this priest, "became an icon and a promise of the shared rediscovery and joint journey of our churches toward full communion."

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.

Full Article

Urban planning has become a primary tool for restricting Christian institutions in Turkey, with authorities using zoning regulations, building codes, and administrative procedures to prevent church construction and limit religious communities, according to a new report.

The 88-page study, released by the Ayhan Sahenk Foundation in December 2024, documents how Turkish municipalities employ urban development plans to systematically disadvantage Christian institutions across the country. The report examines cases in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and other major cities where zoning decisions have blocked or severely restricted Christian presence.

"Urban planning is being weaponized as a form of soft persecution," said Laki Vingas, a minority rights advocate and former representative of Greek Orthodox foundations in Turkey, who contributed to the report. "What you cannot achieve through direct prohibition, you achieve through procedural obstruction."

The report identifies several mechanisms through which planning regulations disadvantage Christian communities. In Istanbul's Beyoglu district, home to the historic Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, repeated zoning changes have prevented Armenian Catholic and Greek Orthodox institutions from carrying out basic maintenance and expansion projects. Properties owned by minority foundations for decades have been redesignated in ways that make their current religious use technically nonconforming with new land-use categories.

In one documented case, the Armenian Catholic Church of the Assumption in Samatya, Istanbul, sought permission for structural repairs in 2018. The application was denied on grounds that the 1902 building did not conform to the current zoning designation for the area, despite the church having occupied the site for more than a century. Municipal authorities suggested the community could reapply if it changed the building's use to a nonreligious function.

Similar patterns emerge in Ankara, where Chaldean Catholic and Syriac Orthodox communities have faced repeated denials of building permits. Applications submitted by the Chaldean Catholic community in Ankara's Çankaya district in 2015, 2017, and 2019 were all rejected on technical grounds related to building height restrictions, setback requirements, and parking ratios that the report argues are selectively enforced against religious minorities.

"The regulations themselves may appear neutral," said Turgut Tatlilioglu, an urban planning expert who co-authored the study. "But when you examine their application, you find a clear pattern of discrimination. Churches are held to standards that are not applied to mosques or commercial buildings in the same zones."

The report notes that while Turkish law technically allows for construction of Christian places of worship, no new church building has received final approval and been completed in Turkey since the 1960s. Protestant communities, which have grown significantly in Turkey over the past two decades, face particular difficulties as they lack historical buildings and foundation status.

Istanbul's Asian side provides another case study. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's 2023 revision of the Kadiköy district plan redesignated several plots owned by Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic foundations. Properties that had been zoned for "religious and educational use" were changed to "residential" or "commercial" designations, effectively preventing their use for church purposes and potentially allowing for future expropriation if the communities cannot demonstrate conforming use.

The Ayhan Sahenk Foundation report also documents administrative delays that function as de facto denials. The Syriac Orthodox community in Mardin submitted applications for a new church in 2012. After 12 years of administrative review, multiple requests for additional documentation, and several revisions to address technical objections, the application remains pending with no indication of when or if it will be resolved.

Vingas pointed to the contrast with mosque construction, where applications typically receive approval within months and benefit from streamlined procedures. "The state actively facilitates mosque construction through the Diyanet," he said, referring to Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs. "Christian communities face the opposite experience — a bureaucratic maze designed to exhaust their resources and patience."

The report makes several recommendations, including establishing transparent and equal procedures for all religious communities, ending the selective application of planning regulations, and creating an independent review mechanism for cases where religious institutions face zoning restrictions.

Turkey's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the country is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the report argues that administrative practices systematically undermine these protections through mechanisms that are difficult to challenge legally because they appear on the surface to be neutral planning decisions.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which has maintained its headquarters in Istanbul for 1,700 years, has repeatedly raised concerns about such restrictions with Turkish authorities and international organizations. Despite its global importance to Orthodox Christianity, the patriarchate faces significant limitations on its property rights and ability to train clergy within Turkey.

Christian communities in Turkey have declined dramatically over the past century. Where Christians constituted approximately 20% of the Ottoman Empire's Anatolian population in 1914, they now represent less than 0.2% of Turkey's 85 million people. The report suggests that discriminatory planning practices contribute to this ongoing decline by making it increasingly difficult for communities to maintain their institutional presence.

Representatives from Turkey's Interior Ministry and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality did not respond to requests for comment on the report's findings.

Full Article

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Wednesday, paving the way for coadjutor Archbishop James Checchio to assume the leadership of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Leo appointed Checchio, 59, coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans in September 2025 to automatically succeed Aymond upon his retirement. After Checchio arrived in mid-November 2025, he has assisted Aymond at the archdiocese of over half a million Catholics in southeastern Louisiana for three months.

Checchio previously served, since 2016, as bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey. He was rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2006 to 2016 and has a doctorate in canon law.

He said in a Feb. 11 statement from the archdiocese his first three months in New Orleans "have gone by very quickly as I learn more about our local Church."

Checchio will celebrate his first Mass as archbishop at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18.

He takes the helm in New Orleans as the archdiocese moves to resolve yearslong bankruptcy negotiations with a settlement for over 600 clergy sexual abuse claimants. In September 2025, the archdiocese announced a $230 million settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants, up from a previous offer of $180 million.

The settlement offer follows five years of negotiations in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where the nation's second-oldest Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in May 2020.

Aymond, a New Orleans native, led the archdiocese since 2009. He turned 75, the age when bishops are required to submit their resignation to the pope, in November 2024.

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1975. His priestly ministry focused on education — including serving as the president-rector of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans from 1986 to 2000 — and missionary work in Mexico and Nicaragua.

In 1996, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese and given oversight over its Catholic schools.

Aymond came under fire in the late 1990s for allowing the coach at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Norco, Brian Matherne, to remain in his role for several months after Aymond received information about alleged abuse of a minor boy by Matherne.

Matherne was later arrested and is now serving a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to the molestation of 17 children over a 15-year period ending in 1999.

Aymond later admitted his mistake in keeping Matherne in his post and called the case a "painful experience — I will never forget it. It helped me to understand the complexity of pedophilia better."

He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Austin, Texas, in June 2000 and succeeded Bishop John E. McCarthy as bishop of Austin in January 2021.

In that position, Aymond strengthened the diocese's sex abuse policies, though clerical abuse activists from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) have criticized the archbishop's record, claiming he only "postures as someone who takes clergy sex crimes seriously."

Full Article

Leaders of the Christian churches in Italy signed a new ecumenical pact during the opening ceremony of the first Symposium of Christian Churches in Italy, which concluded Jan. 24 in the southern city of Bari.

"We commit ourselves to assuming a public presence of the church that respects secularity and is in dialogue with society," the churches declared in one of the key commitments of the document, born out of the Bari symposium dedicated to ecumenism.

The pact emphasizes mutual respect, social cohesion, common witness, prayer, and shared work, in the certainty of prayer to the Holy Spirit "that he may renew us in our hearts and lead us toward that full communion which only he can bring about: 'that they may all be one' (Jn 17:21)."

The signatures of leaders of all the Christian confessions present in Italy accompanied remarks by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who raised the question: "What does it mean to face together the great challenges of a secularized culture that no longer believes in evangelical humanism, that no longer knows how to speak of peace, that is suspicious of humanitarianism, permeated by the idolatry of personal and group individualism that fills people with fear and justifies force and closure?"

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Polykarpos of Italy, exarch of Southern Europe, underlined that "in the wake of the patristic tradition, we recall that true unity does not cancel differences but transfigures them in communion. Just as the many strings of a lyre produce a single harmony, so the churches, in fidelity to their own identity, are called to make visible the one body of Christ."

"This ecclesial symphony," Polykarpos continued, "does not arise from the silencing of differences but from their transfiguration in love, according to the living experience of the undivided church of the first millennium."

For his part, Pastor Daniele Garrone, president of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, explained that "the signing of a 'pact for a common journey of witness' will be both the seal of what we have built in recent years, but above all a prelude to continuing along the path we have taken, which we have defined as the 'Italian way to dialogue.' The hope is therefore to be strengthened and motivated to continue walking together."

In his greeting, Archbishop Giuseppe Satriano of Bari-Bitonto said that "in these days the prophecy of Nicaea is renewed: the unity of faith in the God of Jesus Christ, lived not in a single-tone melody but in the harmonious polyphony of our traditions. 'There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling' (Eph 4:4), the Apostle Paul reminds us."

The symposium marked a significant step in ecumenical cooperation in Italy, with church leaders expressing their shared desire to deepen communion while respecting the diversity of their traditions.

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

Full Article

Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, Bishop Kevin Rhoades on Feb. 11 expressed "dismay" and "strong opposition" to the University of Notre Dame's appointment of a pro-abortion professor to a leadership position at the school, with the bishop urging the university to "make things right" and rescind the appointment.

Notre Dame has been at the center of controversy since early January when it named global affairs Professor Susan Ostermann as director of the school's Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

Ostermann is an outspoken pro-abortion advocate who has regularly criticized the pro-life movement, up to and including linking it to white supremacy and misogyny. The university has come under fire for the appointment, including from Catholic advocates and pro-life students at Notre Dame.

Bishop urges school to retract appointment

In his Feb. 11 statement, Rhoades — whose diocesan territory includes the university — said that since the controversy began he has read many of Ostermann's pro-abortion op-eds and was moved to "express my dismay and my strong opposition to this appointment," which he said is "causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond."

Ostermann's public support of abortion and her "disparaging and inflammatory" criticism of the pro-life movement "go against a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame's Catholic identity and mission," the prelate said.

The professor's pro-abortion advocacy and her remarks about pro-life advocates "should disqualify her from an administrative and leadership role at a Catholic university," Rhoades said.

While expressing hope that Ostermann would "explicitly retract" her pro-abortion advocacy and change her mind on abortion, the bishop said that the appointment "understandably creates confusion" regarding Notre Dame's Catholic mission and identity.

Leadership appointments "have [a] profound impact on the integrity of Notre Dame's public witness as a Catholic university," Rhoades said.

The bishop in issuing the letter cited the apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which directs in part that bishops "have a particular responsibility to promote Catholic universities, and especially to promote and assist in the preservation and strengthening of their Catholic identity."

"I call upon the leadership of Notre Dame to rectify this situation," Rhoades said. Noting that Ostermann's appointment is not scheduled to go into effect until July 1, the prelate wrote: "There is still time to make things right."

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment from EWTN News. Yet the school has defended Ostermann's appointment since the controversy erupted, telling media that she is "a highly regarded political scientist and legal scholar" who is qualified to lead the Liu Institute.

"Those who serve in leadership positions at Notre Dame do so with the clear understanding that their decision-making as leaders must be guided by and consistent with the university's Catholic mission," the school said.

Among criticism from both within and without the school, at least two scholars have resigned their position at the Asian studies institute in response to the appointment.

Robert Gimello, a research professor emeritus of theology who is an expert on Buddhism, told the National Catholic Register that his "continued formal association with a unit of the university led by such a person is, for me, simply unconscionable."

Diane Desierto, a professor of law and of global affairs, also told the Register that she had cut ties with the institute over the appointment.

Full Article

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the permanent closure of seven churches, effective March 12.

The decision was formally communicated to parishioners during Masses on Feb. 8 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, where a letter from Bishop Mark A. Eckman was read aloud.

In the letter, Eckman explained that St. Joseph the Worker Parish was established on July 1, 2020, through the merger of seven parishes serving communities in Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, and surrounding areas.

Since the merger, all eight church buildings initially remained open for worship. However, due to persistent declining Mass attendance and ongoing financial constraints, the parish has gradually reduced the number of active worship sites.

After a yearlong review in 2025, including consultations with clergy, advisory councils, the facilities mission team, and parish senate sessions, it became clear that sustaining all current buildings was not feasible. Parishioner feedback was gathered through emails, phone messages, and meetings, with many acknowledging the challenges and the necessity for change.

Father Michael Stumpf, the current pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, along with parish leadership, petitioned the bishop to close the church buildings of Good Shepherd, Madonna del Castello, Sacred Heart, St. Anselm, St. Colman, St. John Fisher, and St. Jude the Apostle.

Eckman consulted diocesan officials in November 2025, who supported the rationale. He subsequently issued decrees approving the closures.

St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills will remain the sole open worship site for the parish.

Eckman acknowledged the emotional impact of the decision, noting that parishioners have invested years of faith, prayer, and service into the churches.

"I recognize that this news brings a time of significant change and a sense of loss," Eckman said in the letter. "For many years, you have poured your lives into these sacred buildings, strengthening your communities with holy faith, fervent prayer, and tireless service."

"We are a people of the Resurrection," he said. "And even in seasons of pruning, there is promise for new life. This decision is made with prayerful intent to better resource your parish, ensuring that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy may continue to reach the hearts of Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissville, Turtle Creek, and Wilmerding for generations to come."

This announcement comes amid broader trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including previous mergers and consolidations aimed at addressing similar demographic and financial pressures.

Full Article

Those who visit the chapel of the Our Lady of Lourdes shrine in the city of Alta Gracia in Córdoba province, Argentina, witness a phenomenon that has no explanation: In the niche that is part of the altarpiece above the altar, an image of the Virgin Mary can be seen although the space is empty — there is nothing there.

According to the Argentine news agency AICA, what can be seen is not a flat image but rather a relief, a three-dimensional image with folds in the garment. It is also not a psychological illusion resulting from the exaggerated devotion of some pilgrims. Everyone — believers or not — sees it.

The image also appears in photos and while clearly seen from the front door of the church, it fades as one slowly approaches the altar.

Sources from Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Alta Gracia told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that although there is no official statement from the Archdiocese of Córdoba, where the shrine is located, "everything is still the same. The image can be seen just as on the first day or more, a little more."

Pilgrimage, Masses on Feb. 11

Since it was built at the beginning of the 20th century, the shrine has been an important pilgrimage site. In 2023, about 30,000 pilgrims came from the city of Córdoba, 22 miles away.

In a Mass he offered there on Feb. 11, 2024, for the World Day of the Sick, Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, the archbishop of Córdoba, pointed out that "the experience of weakness and illness are part of our path; they don't exclude us from the people of God, but they take us to the center of the attention of the Lord, who is Father and does not want to lose any of his children along the way."

When did the phenomenon begin?

The chapel of the Virgin of Alta Gracia is located on a large property where in 1916 a replica was dedicated of the Massabielle grotto in Lourdes, France, where the Virgin appeared in 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous.

In 1922 a commission was formed to build a chapel near the grotto. The first stone was laid in 1924, and in 1927 the bishop of Córdoba blessed the chapel. For many years there was a statue of Our Lady Lourdes of Córdoba in the center of the church's altarpiece.

In mid-2011 it was removed from its niche or base to be restored and is currently located at the foot of the niche that was left empty.

One day one of the priests in charge of the shrine was going to close the chapel and from the main door he saw an image in the empty space that looked like it was made of plaster.

He approached several times, and each time he did he noticed that the image he saw from a certain distance faded. The truth was that there was actually no image, but he saw it.

Because of the phenomenon, visible to anyone, the Discalced Carmelite friars of the shrine issued a statement in 2011 noting that "the manifestation of the image of the most holy Virgin Mary has no explanation at the moment."

"It must be interpreted by the people of God as a sign to increase and deepen the Christian faith and to inspire in the hearts of men conversion to the love of God and their participation in the life of the Church," they said.

"The only message of the Virgin is none other than that which she has manifested in her life among men and is recorded in the Gospel as a divine revelation and kept in the deposit of the Catholic faith," the priests stated.

First published in 2015 by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, this story was updated by ACI Prensa with new information in 2025 and has been translated, adapted, and updated by EWTN News English.

Full Article

On March 15, a Catholic digital assets company known as Crescite Innovation Corporation will mint its first stablecoin, called Catholic USD.

Stablecoins such as Catholic USD are a type of digital asset that is backed by and will have a 1-to-1 value equivalence with the U.S. dollar (and are not to be confused with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin).

Catholic USDs can be used to make purchases from or donations to Catholic organizations the same way they would with any other payment method stored in smartphone wallets.

Donations and other financial transactions can take place all over the world and will be nearly instantaneous, fee-free, and secure, thanks to blockchain technology, Eddie Cullen, co-founder of Crescite, told EWTN News.

With blockchain technology, which has enabled the development of unregulated cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and regulated digital assets such as stablecoins, traditional banks are no longer required to transfer or store money because all transactions are transparent and verifiable through the blockchain, which securely links together "blocks" of digital records.

"Traditional banks are like Blockbuster video, and digital assets are like the streaming services we all use today," Cullen said.

"People will no longer need traditional banks, thanks to this new technology," he continued.

Cullen and his co-founder, Karl Kilb III, started Crescite "because we love the Church," Cullen said. "We want Catholics to be at the forefront of this new technology, and we're using it to enable greater access to resources for people and to do good."

"The only difference between us and banks is that they take your money and leverage it to make a profit," Cullen said. "What we're doing is we're taking that leverage, and we're giving it away to Catholic institutions and causes."

"We created Crescite to be at the intersection of faith and technology, using innovation to help those in need, and society as a whole," Kilb said. "The Catholic community is global, with numerous organizations, projects, and causes that need sustainable, transparent funding, and we are leveraging blockchain technology to build such an ecosystem."

When a person buys Catholic USD, Crescite will invest that money in vehicles including U.S. Treasury bonds and will put 100% of that yield into a charity fund known as the Catholic Global Mercy Trust.

The trust will fund Catholic poverty relief efforts, hospitals, schools, and other causes all over the world.

"When we look at our work, it's really a Catholic digital asset ecosystem," Cullen said. "We have our stablecoin, and we are going to build upon that."

The money Crescite takes in through the sale of Catholic USD will be custodied, or held, in a digital wallet by a financial technology company known as BitGo, which in January completed its initial public offering (IPO) and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. It is also chartered under U.S. law and authorized by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

BitGo is "the platform that's issuing the stablecoin," Cullen said. It and Crescite will have no intermingled investments.

The funds Crescite holds are also insured.

"Crescite" means to increase or grow in Latin. Cullen said he and Kilb, who co-own the company and founded it together in 2021, chose the name after reflecting on the effects of God's touch on man-made things, as portrayed in the image of God's hand touching Adam's in Michaelangelo's famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Cullen said the name also refers to Genesis 1:28, when God tells Adam to "Be fruitful (increase) and multiply."

Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency

The first cryptocurrency, which is very different from the stablecoin Crescite is issuing, was bitcoin, which came out in 2009 and whose inventor or inventors, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, is/are still unknown.

Bitcoin emerged as "pushback" to the 2008 financial crisis, according to The Catholic University of America Busch School of Business Professor Kevin May, who told EWTN News that consumers wanted something more "sound and reliable" than our current financial system after the crisis.

Bitcoin is decentralized and is the only true "open source" cryptocurrency, according to May.

Bitcoin's inventors no longer had "trust in the current financial system," where "the banks and bankers took bets; when they were right they privatized all the gains, and when they were wrong, they got bailed out and rebought their own shares," May said. "Hardly any of them got in trouble" while the financial markets and consumers paid for their actions.

The value of bitcoin has gone from several pennies at its initial launch to a high of $126,000 in October 2025. Currently, one bitcoin is valued at about $70,000.

Exchanges now exist where people can buy and sell bitcoin. There are even bitcoin-linked credit cards.

Bitcoin, however, is a true cryptocurrency in that it is not insured or backed by any currency, and it is not regulated by the federal government, meaning it could collapse at any moment and investors could lose their money.

A benefit of a cryptocurrency like bitcoin, according to May, is that it can "bank the unbanked, especially in societies where you cannot trust the leadership."

He used the example of a coffee farmer in Uganda who could trade in bitcoin and essentially have "his own bank on his cellphone," without having to deal with a corrupt or inefficient system.

The difference between 'cryptocurrency' and 'digital assets'

Digital assets like Catholic USD and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are alternatives to traditional financial institutions and government-backed currency made possible by blockchain technology.

However, the terms "digital assets" and "cryptocurrency" mean different things: Digital assets refer to stablecoins as well as tokenized securities, commodities, and other digital representations of real-world assets that do not imply the unregulated, speculative trading or volatility inherent with bitcoin.

Cullen explained that this is a major difference between bitcoin and stablecoins such as Catholic USD, which is actually backed by the U.S. dollar and will be regulated by the recently passed GENIUS Act, which is expected to increase the growth of and trust in stablecoins through clear regulatory rules.

Other existing stablecoins include USD1, which, like Catholic USD, is also a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin (designed to maintain a 1-to-1 value with the U.S. dollar).

USD1 was launched in March 2025 by World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform and cryptocurrency venture closely associated with President Donald Trump and his family, though disclaimers emphasize that the Trump family are not officers or directors and that the cryptocurrency is not politically affiliated or endorsed.

A company called Tether Unlimited issued a stablecoin, USDT, which is the longest-running and largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, launched in 2014 and with a market cap around $184 billion (as of early 2026). It holds roughly 60%-70% of the total stablecoin market share with 534 million users as of early this year.

The GENIUS Act

Passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by Trump in July 2025, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act establishes a clear, regulatory framework that legitimizes payment stablecoins and digital asset infrastructure.

It aims to preserve U.S. dollar leadership globally while allowing responsible private-sector innovation under defined guardrails.

Under the act, qualified nonbank entities may issue payment stablecoins under federal or state supervision, while banks and affiliates may also participate. This dual pathway is intended to foster competition, reduce concentration risk, and avoid stifling innovation.

Critics note the GENIUS Act does not fully address illicit finance risks in decentralized systems such as bitcoin, however.

Full Article