Posted on 06/16/2025 00:00 AM (CNA - Saint of the Day)
St. Lutgardis
Feast date: Jun 16
St. Lutgardis is the patron saint of the blind and physically disabled. Born in the 12th century, she came to her vocation in part due to her father’s bad business sense. Her father lost her dowry in a failed business venture and sent her to a Benedictine convent at the age of 12.
A few years later, she received a vision of Christ showing her his wounds, and at age 20 she became a Benedictine nun. Her visions continued and she is said to have levitated and dripped blood from her head when meditating on the Passion.
Seeking a stricter life, she joined the Cistercians and displayed the gifts of healing, prophecy, spiritual wisdom and teaching on the Gospels.
She accepted the blindness that afflicted her for the last 11 years of her life as a gift that helped reduce the distractions of the outside world. In her last vision, Christ told her when she was to die, the day after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, June 16, 1246. She was 64.
Posted on 06/16/2025 00:00 AM (CNA - Saint of the Day)
St. John Francis Regis
Feast date: Jun 16
On June 16 the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of Saint John Francis Regis, a 17th-century French Jesuit known for his zealous missionary efforts and his care for the poor and marginalized.In a 1997 letter to the Bishop of Viviers, Pope St. John Paul II commemorated the fourth centenary of St. John Francis Regis' birth, honoring him as a “lofty figure of holiness” and an example for the Church in the modern world.
“In less than 10 years of ministry, this saintly Frenchman succeeded, with God’s help, in leading back to Christ an immense crowd of men, women and children of all ages and walks of life,” the Pope recalled. He urged the faithful to imitate the saint and “put themselves in God’s hands with total trust.”
Born in 1597, John Francis Regis was the son of a wealthy merchant father and a mother descended from nobility. As a boy he was sensitive, devout, and eager to please his parents and teachers. Educated by Jesuits from the age of 14, he entered the Society of Jesus in December of 1616.
As he followed the traditional Jesuit path of teaching and extensive studies, John also became known as a skilled catechist. He was eager to enter the priesthood, and offered his first Mass in 1631. John spent much of the rest of that year caring for victims of a plague outbreak in the city of Toulouse.
In 1632, John received his assignment as a missionary to the French Protestants – known as Huguenots – as well as the country's lapsed Catholics and others in need of evangelization. The rest of his life would be devoted to this mission, with remarkable success.
John's missionary work spanned both a large geographical distance and a broad social spectrum. In over 50 districts of France, he preached the Gospel to children, the poor, prisoners, and others forgotten or neglected by society. His best-known work involved helping women escape prostitution.
John's labors reaped a harvest of conversions. However, his boldness – perceived as arrogance in some cases – led to a conflict with certain other priests, a period of tension with the local bishop, and even threats of violence from those whose vices he condemned.
Against these obstacles, the priest persevered, sustained by fervent prayer and severe asceticism. His missionary work involved difficult winter journeys, and a witness at his beatification testified to John’s habit of preaching outdoors all day, then hearing confessions throughout the night.
St. John Francis Regis died at age 43, in late December of 1640. Though suffering from a lung ailment, he insisted on preaching a parish mission and hearing confessions. A penitent found him unconscious in the confessional, though he revived long enough to receive the last rites before dying.
Hailed as a confessor of the faith and a model for Jesuit missionaries, St. John Francis Regis was beatified in 1716 and canonized in 1737. Although June 16 was established as his feast day, there are differing local and particular customs, including the Jesuits' celebration of his feast on July 2.
Posted on 06/13/2025 06:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
“Last week, the White House sent a package of cuts to already appropriated aid, called rescissions, to Congress for approval,” according to the action alert, distributed via email on June 12. “This new rescissions package has passed the House and is expected to eliminate even more vital international assistance programs that families and children depend on.”
“Funding for these programs was already approved by both Democrats and Republicans in March,” the bishops’ conference continued. “Millions of vulnerable people worldwide, including women and children, have been impacted by the disruption of international humanitarian and development assistance by the administration.”
Posted on 06/13/2025 06:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
In a recent address to the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar, a Zambian religious sister urged the superiors to address the sexual abuse of nuns by priests or other sisters.
Posted on 06/13/2025 06:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
In a recent Latin-language letter, Pope Leo appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, as his special envoy to the June 14 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Rijeka, Croatia.
Posted on 06/13/2025 05:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
“China is willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China-Vatican relations,” the spokesman said during a June 12 press briefing. “This appointment has enhanced understanding and mutual trust through constructive dialogue.”
Posted on 06/13/2025 05:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi have signed a memorandum of understanding. The Italian bishops’ newspaper reported that the two-year agreement has the “aim of enhancing legal migration, allocating reception and inclusion initiatives to migrants who are entitled to it.”
Posted on 06/13/2025 05:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Pope Leo XIV and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke by telephone on June 11.
Posted on 06/13/2025 04:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
During Pope Leo XIV’s audience with the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina offered an overview of the priests who serve there.
Posted on 06/13/2025 04:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Father David Neuhaus, SJ, superior of the Jesuits in the Holy Land, lamented the suffering there in a front-page article in the June 12 edition of the Vatican newspaper.