A grassroots movement to celebrate faithfulness to God is being recognized by state leaders during the month of June.
Several elected officials are recognizing “Fidelity Month,” including the governors of Arkansas and Utah.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas recently announced her recognition of the month along with Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, the Kentucky Senate, and Mayor Jerry Weiers of Glendale, Arizona.
Fidelity Month was founded in 2023 by Professor Robert P. George, an American legal scholar and professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.
“He was inspired by a WSJ [Wall Street Journal] poll that showed declining rates of commitment to patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement among Americans,” Christopher Parr, a spokesman for the movement, told EWTN News.
“We believe that faith in God, our spouses and families, and our country and communities are the sources of America’s unity and strength,” Parr said. “Professor George thought that it would be fitting for Americans to take one month of the year to rededicate themselves to these basic values.”
Parr described Fidelity Month as “a grassroots movement, not a top-down organization.”
“We grow as individuals, congregations, and organizations find our mission compelling and join it each June,” Parr said. “That’s why we list numerous ways that people can celebrate Fidelity Month on our website and organize programs such as our webinars and high school essay contest.”
“We give some direction on the website, but our emphasis is on Americans taking initiative to celebrate and promote Fidelity Month in their communities,” Parr explained.
Parr said Fidelity Month has seen “steady growth in our social media and website engagement, event attendance, and the number of organizations and elected officials partnering with us” since its inception three years ago.
Those involved “seem to be from many different backgrounds and across the country,” Parr added. “Our hopes are that each year, more and more Americans will come to celebrate June as Fidelity Month.”
Sanders formally recognized June as Fidelity Month on May 29, saying that “Fidelity Month provides an opportunity for residents to reflect on and renew commitments to these shared values and institutions.”
"The United States of America was founded on the values of faith, liberty, and patriotism as acknowledged in its founding documents and in the statements of its Founding Fathers,” the proclamation reads.
“The commitment of Arkansas to spiritual and civic institutions is at the core of the state’s collective identity,” the proclamation continued. “Cultivating fidelity to God, family, community, and country contributes to human flourishing and supports a healthy, stable, well-ordered society.”
“We are honored whenever elected officials choose to recognize June as Fidelity Month,” Parr said. “We hope that people will recognize Fidelity Month as an opportunity to unify all Americans around what matters most.”
A Christian motorcycle ride-hailing driver is battling for his life after allegedly being shot nine times by members of a police anti-crime patrol, renewing concerns over police conduct and the use of force in Pakistanʼs Punjab province.
Alyan Johnson, 22, was critically injured in a shooting involving personnel of the Dolphin Force in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjoining Islamabad, on the night of May 26.
According to his family, Johnson had just dropped off a passenger when police arrived in pursuit of a suspected armed man. The suspect allegedly fired into the air and attempted to flee, after which officers opened fire.
Johnson, who joined a ride-hailing company six months ago to help support his family, remains hospitalized.
His family has filed a complaint at Sadiqabad police station, demanding an impartial investigation, strict action against those responsible, and compensation for the injuries and losses suffered.
Four Dolphin Force personnel allegedly involved in the shooting have been suspended and charged on the orders of the Rawalpindi city police officer.
Joseph Michael, Johnsonʼs uncle, said the family was dissatisfied with what he described as a limited official response.
“We demand justice and imprisonment for the shooters who misused their authority,” Michael told EWTN News. “Johnson raised his hands and identified himself as a rider in a loud voice, but the shooting continued. He had no weapon and no criminal record. He only wanted to help his father, who works as a sanitary worker.”
Michael said Johnson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and two fractures in his right leg.
“Anything could have happened. We are grateful he survived,” he added.
Raja Abdul Hanif, chairman of the Punjab chief ministerʼs inspection team, visited Johnson in the hospital on May 29 and assured the family of justice. He directed authorities to ensure all medicines and treatment costs were provided by the hospital.
“The law is equal for everyone and action will be taken against those involved in the incident following a transparent investigation,” Hanif said.
Police have yet to issue a detailed public explanation of the shooting.
The incident has triggered strong reactions among Christian activists and rights advocates.
A delegation led by Tariq Mehmood Ghouri, coordinator of the Catholic bishops' National Commission for Justice and Peace in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi Diocese, visited the hospital and pledged legal and moral support to the family.
“The situation was mishandled. Doctors are still uncertain whether the young laborer will ever walk normally again,” Ghouri said.
“For many poor families, motorcycle ride-hailing is one of the few ways to earn a living amid soaring inflation and fuel prices. The state must recognize these realities and act with compassion.”
Ghouri said the shooting raised serious questions about police training and operational procedures.
“The incident is an eye-opener for those who claim that religious minorities enjoy equal rights and protection in Pakistan,” he said.
A pattern of police ‘encounters’ in Punjab
The shooting comes amid growing scrutiny of police encounter practices in Punjab.
A fact-finding report released in February by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) concluded that Punjabʼs Crime Control Department has pursued a policy of staged police encounters, often resulting in extrajudicial killings and undermining constitutional safeguards and the rule of law.
Based on media reports, the commission documented at least 670 Crime Control Department-led encounters during the first eight months of 2025, resulting in the deaths of 924 suspects, while only two police officers were reported killed.
“In genuine armed confrontations, such a ratio appears to be statistically implausible,” the report states. “This imbalance suggests deliberate executions and reckless disregard for the sanctity of life.”
The report also documented allegations of intimidation against victims' families, including pressure to bury relatives quickly, obstacles to independent medical examinations, and threats against those seeking justice.
Concerns over Dolphin Force operations are not new. In 2022, members of the unit shot dead a dismissed police constable and injured two others in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, after allegedly mistaking them for robbers.
Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful.
A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”
The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.”
The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”
“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”
Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement.
In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan.
Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of June is for the value of sports.
“In times of war and extreme polarization, sport is one of the few things that bring us closer together,” the pope said in a video released on X on June 2.
He added: “Let us pray this June that sport may be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, and that it may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”
In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord of life,
we thank you for the gift of sport,
for those who glorify God through the exercise of their bodies,
for the friendships born on the field
and the joy of playing as a team.
You teach us that in life, as in the game,
no one is saved alone.
We need others to grow,
to learn respect, to overcome our limits,
and to celebrate together the victories we achieve.
We ask that sport may always be
a school of fraternity, not of empty rivalry,
a space of encounter, not exclusion,
a path of peace, not violence.
May those who play, train, or cheer
discover in sport a universal language
that brings cultures together, unites peoples,
and sows respect, solidarity, and personal growth.
Lord Jesus,
may every sport become a parable of life lived with you,
working with joy and effort,
living with humility in defeat
and with gratitude in the victory you offer in your resurrection.
May your Spirit never be lacking in us,
making us one team, united with you
to build communion and fraternity in history.
Amen.
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.
Amid a rocket attack launched by Hezbollah on residential homes in the village of Rmeish in southern Lebanon, more than 50 children celebrated their first Communion in a testament to faith, resilience, and hope in the midst of war.
In comments to local media, Rmeish Municipality Head Hanna Al-Amil said a missile fell between inhabited homes on Sunday morning and “narrowly avoided causing a major disaster.”
Al-Amil stressed that the village contains no military forces, armed groups, or weapons, emphasizing that residents “simply want to live safely on their land, away from confrontation and escalation.”
The people of Rmeish remain attached to their land and continue their lives “despite difficult circumstances,” he said, calling for the protection of civilians and for the village and its residents not to be placed at risk.
The incident is not an isolated one. It comes amid a series of missile launches affecting Christian villages in the south, increasing fears among local residents. On Friday, several Hezbollah rockets fired toward Israeli forces operating in the town of Dibbin landed in residential and civilian areas of Marjayoun, causing significant property damage.
According to local reports, one rocket struck the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, damaging parts of the church, while another landed within the grounds of the Sacred Hearts Secondary School, leaving extensive destruction to the building and its surroundings.
Speaking to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Rizkallah Alam, a resident of Rmeish whose daughter received her first Communion, said villagers have effectively been living in a state of war since Oct. 8, 2023.
“We have been living the reality of war since then,” he said, adding that the village has not experienced a genuine ceasefire at any point. “The children and their parents live in constant anxiety. We asked to postpone the first Communion to another time, but our parish priest refused and insisted that it take place.”
Alam described the daily reality facing children in the village, saying they live without a sense of security or psychological stability. “My children pray and sing hymns all the time, and they live according to the news cycle. Some days schools are open, and other days they are not. Today the situation has become even worse because of the siege.”
He said the restrictions affecting the village have impacted even the most basic aspects of daily life. “Everything has become unavailable. We wait for the aid convoy and hope it will be allowed to reach the village.”
In previous years, families would hold large celebrations for first Communion. This year, however, circumstances forced them to scale back their plans. “This year the celebration was limited to family homes, with no large festivities,” he said. “The number of children was also lower than in previous years because families are scattered. Some are in Beirut, while others have left the country.”
Alam described the immense uncertainty facing both parents and children. “The situation is extremely difficult. We cannot even plan for tomorrow,” he said. “As we speak, rockets have fallen in Rmeish again, one person has been injured, and a car has caught fire.”
Between missiles and first Communion, Rmeish embodies one of southern Lebanonʼs most painful paradoxes: a village that wants to live, families determined to remain, and children learning faith in a time of fear.
This storywas first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated for and adapted by EWTN News English.
This year the Church marks 800 years since St. Francis of Assisiʼs death at the age of 44 — his “Transitus,” as Franciscans call it. Pope Leo declared a special Franciscan Jubilee Year from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, inviting Catholics to visit churches and places linked to Francis’ spirituality, love of animals, and devotion to the poor.
“The jubilee year provides us the opportunity to be more than a tourist … to be a pilgrim, joining the millions of pilgrims expected in Assisi for the jubilee, with even more pilgrims who will travel to Franciscan churches throughout the world,“ explained Father John Puodziunas, OFM , the new Franciscan commissary of the Holy Land USA based in Washington, D.C. “The pilgrim returns changed … they see themselves, their world, God differently.”
Vista of Assisi, Italy. | Credit: Stephanie Green
A must-see is the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, a vast church overlooking his Umbrian hometown. In the crypt, pilgrims rest their hands on the saint’s neo-Romanesque tomb, where a votive lamp softly illuminates the dim space and only the shuffle of footsteps breaks the silence.
In February and March, many viewed his skeletal remains in the basilica, displayed for the first time in honor of the jubilee year. Vatican News estimates that 400,000 people came to pay their respects and venerate the relics of this extraordinary Christian saint.
His epic life is told through the artistic genius of Giotto in frescoes painted above the crypt in the upper basilica: Francis hears the voice of Christ while praying to the San Damiano cross; his surrender of all his clothes and worldly goods back to his wealthy father; his meeting with Pope Innocent III; his creation of the first Christian manger scene at Greccio; Francis preaching the Gospel to the birds; Francis receives the stigmata.
Franciscan Father David Wathen at the Vatican Gardens in Rome. | Credit: Stephanie Green
Father David Wathen, OFM, also of the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., is a veteran guide who has led more than 200 pilgrimages to the Holy Land but took a detour to Italy this year in honor of the jubilee.
Wathen celebrated Mass with 10 pilgrims from all over the country in April in the Portiuncula, the small chapel where St. Francis acted on Christ’s call: “Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruins…” Francis responded by giving up his family’s wealth and status and embracing a life of chastity, poverty, and obedience with his small band of brothers. Today there are 35,000 Franciscan friars worldwide spread across 100 countries.
Pilgrims outside the Basilica of St. Mary of Angels, which houses the Portiuncula, in Assisi, Italy. | Credit: Stephanie Green
The Portiuncula became the spiritual center of the new Franciscan community and the place where Francis welcomed the young woman who would become St. Clare of Assisi, founder of the Poor Clares.
Today the Portiuncula, housed inside the Papal Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, is another major pilgrimage site, right outside Assisi. A bronze statue of Francis in the basilica’s rose garden commemorates his conversations with turtle doves, inviting them to join him in worshipping the Lord. Today doves still nest in the hands of the statue while birdsong creates a symphony of praise.
It was also in this garden that St. Francis, in an act of penance, rolled through the brambles, which mysteriously turned into dog roses on contact with his body. This hybrid of rose is still flourishing centuries later.
“A pilgrim experiences the spirituality of space, where the location … a chapel, a cave, a town square, a garden … speaks to the inner yearnings of the individual. In Assisi, we not only encounter Francis, but we step into his personal encounter with God formed on medieval streets or on the side of a mountain,” Puodziunas said.
A statue of St. Francis features icons of other world religions celebrating the universality of his spiritual appeal. | Credit: Stephanie Green
Asceticism, bodily mortification, and fasting were constant reminders to St. Francis of Christ’s suffering. At the Carceri hermitage, a favorite retreat of St. Francis, pilgrims can see the small stone alcoves where he slept, often using a wooden board as a pillow.
Being close to sites strongly associated with St. Francis and St. Clare has inspired pilgrims to deepen their faith and to serve others.
“Some of my neighbors in the Florida retirement community where I now live are dying,” said Regina Brown, one of Wathen’s pilgrims who volunteers with St. Timothy Catholic Church Ministry to the Sick and Homebound in Florida. Brown explained that the Franciscan pilgrimage has fortified her practice of taking Communion to her bedridden friends.
“Itʼs the closest I can get to keeping in mind and expressing my (our) hope in Christ, the promise of eternal life, the Mass, our glimpse into heaven,” she said.
Wathen’s pilgrimage concluded in Rome, where everything his group had learned about St. Francis came into focus. At a papal audience in St. Peter’s Square, they witnessed its grandeur as Pope Leo reflected on the living mystical body of Christ, the Church.
Throughout the jubilee year, pilgrims are granted plenary indulgences by making a visit to any Franciscan church — including the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. — or to any site dedicated to St. Francis, receiving holy Communion on the day of the visit, reciting the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Creed, and the Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father, and making a confession within eight days.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. The appointment will take effect Nov. 1.
Since 2023, Alvarado has overseen EWTN News’ global and multilingual news operations across television, radio, print, digital, and social media platforms. During her tenure, she helped expand the network’s international news presence and deepen collaboration across its multilingual platforms.
Montserrat Alvarado with Matthew Bunson, center, and Monsignor Roger Landry at the Vatican on April 24, 2025. | Credit: EWTN News
“Montse’s background in international media, public affairs, and Church engagement has helped shape EWTN’s outreach at a critical moment in the history of our apostolate: the pivot into a deeper engagement with the digital space,” said Michael P. Warsaw, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of EWTN. “Just as importantly, she has remained deeply committed to the mission that defines EWTN: proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ and the teachings of his Church with clarity, fidelity, and charity.”
Before joining EWTN, Alvarado spent 14 years in leadership roles at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where she worked extensively on issues related to religious freedom and human dignity.
In a statement released following the appointment, Alvarado said she received the news “with deep gratitude, humility, and trust in the Lord,” adding that the faithful witness of the EWTN family strengthened her faith.
The Dicastery for Communication was established by Pope Francis in 2015 as part of his reform of the Roman Curia, bringing together the Holy See’s various communications entities, including Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media, the Vatican Publishing house and printing press, Filmoteca Vaticana, and the Holy See Press Office. Appointed for a five-year term, the prefect is responsible for overseeing the entire media network of the Holy See.
Alvarado succeeds Paolo Ruffini, whom Pope Francis appointed in 2018 as the first lay prefect of a dicastery in the Roman Curia. Ruffini said he had come to know Alvarado “over the last couple of years” and will work closely with her in the coming months “in the spirit of communion that unites us in the Church.”
In recent years, Pope Francis entrusted a growing number of leadership roles in the Vatican to laymen and laywomen, including several senior appointments for women religious. Alvarado’s appointment continues that development and marks the first time a woman who has not taken religious vows as a nun or a sister has been appointed to lead a dicastery of the Holy See.
Montserrat Alvarado. | Credit: EWTN News
Born in Mexico City, Alvarado earned academic degrees from Florida International University and George Washington University. She has received several national recognitions for her commitment to religious freedom and service to the Church, and her writings and commentary have appeared in a range of international media outlets.
While noting that EWTN would miss Alvarado’s leadership, Warsaw said the network rejoices in her new mission of service to the universal Church.
“We offer her our prayers, our encouragement, and the full support of the EWTN family as she begins this important mission in service to Pope Leo XIV and his pontificate.”
Members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service (CHARIS) in the United States have announced the launch of a new, ecumenically-oriented organization, Evangelize America, that aims to reignitethe Catholic charismatic renewal from the grassroots.
The initiative was announced May 30 following an audience Pope Leo XIV held with members of CHARIS in which he expressed encouragement for their apostolate.
Deacon Darrell Wentworth, who serves as a deacon in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, and will serve as the inaugural president and CEO of Evangelize America, explained to EWTN News that the charismatic renewal has always been tied to ecumenism.
Deacon Darrell Wentworth, president and CEO of Evangelize America Inc. stands outside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on May 30, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
“Our fight is not with flesh and blood. It is not with our Protestant brothers and sisters or Christians of other traditions. Our fight is with the enemy — the powers and principalities causing the divisions,” he observed.
Wentworth described initiatives such as Evangelize America as a response to the call from recent popes to encourage the new evangelization.
“We are responding to John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and specifically Pope Francis, when he told the Catholic fraternity communities to baptize everyone in the Holy Spirit and to devise strategies to bring Christians together,” Wentworth said.
As to the name Evangelize America, Wentworth said it is inspired by John Paul IIʼs apostolic exhortations to the continents of the world. John Paul II wrote Ecclesia in America, Ecclesia in Asia, Ecclesia in Africa, and Ecclesia in Europe.
The strategy of the Twelve
According to Wentworth, Evangelize America will consist of setting up intentional small groups modeled after the Twelve Apostles.
“A group of 12 will consist of a priest, a deacon and his wife, seven lay members taking on the seven tasks that influence culture, one charismatic Catholic focused on pursuing full communion and healing animosity between local Christian denominations, and one Pentecostal,” Wentworth said.
Encouragement from Pope Leo
Leo XIV held an audience at the Vaticanʼs Paul VI Hall with members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on May 30. This was his first meeting with them since his election as pope, and, like Wentworth, he referred to previous popes in the development of the charismatic movement.
“My venerable predecessors recognized this development as a great gift to the Church,” Leo said in his remarks. “I, too, wish to foster the relationship of mutual respect, closeness, and support between the See of Peter and the great family of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.”
Wentworth praised the popeʼs remarks as confirmation to continue their work.
“It is not a new vision. It is the vision of the Holy Spirit that dates back to the year 33,” Wentworth noted. “Pope Leo shows us that this is what the charismatic movement is all about: help everyone to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and fall in love with God the Father instead of all the material things present in society.”
Carlos Campo, president and CEO of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., stands outside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on May 30, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
Carlos Campo, a Protestant who serves as president and CEO of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., was also part of the U.S. delegation that was present at the audience. He expressed hope that Evangelize America would help mobilize the Catholic Church in the U.S. to proclaim the Gospel in new ways.
“I believe this is something that will change marriages, families, and communities and has the opportunity to change our nation,” Campo said.
Magnifica Humanitashas opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.
McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.
The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.
In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.
McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.
The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.
‘Engaged in deeper conversations’
“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.
These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.
“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”
While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”
Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”
“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.
Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’
The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.
“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.
The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said.
The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”
“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”
The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”
The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.
Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”
Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.
He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”
“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.
Patriarch Paul III Nona did not hide the weight of responsibility he felt after the fathers of the synod announced his election as patriarch of the Chaldean Church. He said that moment was difficult to describe, marked by a mixture of awe, fear, and reverence before the responsibility entrusted to him, together with deep respect for the confidence placed in him by his brother bishops.
In an exclusive interview with EWTN News, the new Chaldean patriarch described his return to serve as patriarch in his homeland more than a decade after leaving it as part of the Church’s mission of service.
“The Church sends us wherever there is a need,” he said. “We served in Mosul during difficult years, when the Church needed us there. We do the same whenever the Church sees a need for our service in another place. The purpose of our service is to fulfill our mission: to be wherever the Church sends us and to do the will of Our Lord in that place.”
Nona served as bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of Mosul in extremely difficult circumstances for nearly four years, before the city fell to terrorist groups in 2014. He accompanied the displaced faithful of his eparchy and continued serving them in the villages and towns where they took refuge after their displacement. In 2015, the Chaldean Synod appointed him to serve the Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand, where he remained until his election as patriarch this past April.
Speaking about his experience in Mosul, Nona said the years before ISIS as well as the period marked by the terrorist group’s advance shaped him deeply.
“I think the experience of Mosul before ISIS, and also the experience with ISIS, enriched my personality and made me more mature as a person and as a Christian,” he said.
He recalled living with the faithful in Mosul during a very difficult period, saying their faith was “very strong.” He also described the displacement of Christians to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as a painful but spiritually powerful experience.
“It was sad to see all these people in that situation,” he said. “But on the other hand, it was very good to see that their faith was the first and most important thing for them.”
Fear and faith
Asked about his patriarchal motto, “Do not be afraid, just believe,” Nona said fear is not limited to the Middle East but is present throughout the world.
“I believe that fear is the most common aspect in all the world, not just in the Middle East,” he said. “I lived in Australia, in what we can call the Western world, and the fear there is the same as here — of course, with different challenges. But there is always fear. So we have to face our fear with faith.”
Safeguarding rights and dignity
Asked about the expected relationship between the new patriarch and Iraq’s new government, whose formation coincided with his installation, Nona said the Church has historically defended the rights of its faithful and remains committed to participating in building the country on sound and legal foundations that respect the dignity of all people and freedom of religion.
He highlighted the Church’s essential role in society wherever it is present, through educational, healthcare, and other institutions, as well as through serving its people and working to secure their rights and protect their dignity.
Challenges of being rooted in faith
Regarding the challenges facing members of the Chaldean Church in diaspora countries — whether in terms of being rooted in the faith and preserving identity or in facing moral challenges — Nona drew on his experience of service in Australia. He stressed that confronting these challenges, and succeeding in doing so, is possible by deepening the meaning of faith in the lives of believers, especially among new generations born and raised in diaspora countries.
He said the challenges facing young people have pushed their families to return to the Church. When these young people come to know their faith properly and hear meaningful answers to their complex and important questions, he said, they give the Church strength and support and become the strongest defenders of its faith and identity.
On strengthening dialogue among the three Churches that share the heritage of the Church of the East today, and on efforts toward the desired unity, the Chaldean patriarch said that a true relationship of human fraternity is the foundation of unity and common action.
While stressing respect for the different traditions and distinct heritage of each Church, he said the shared heritage and tradition of the three Churches open doors to joint work in cultural and liturgical fields while respecting the particular identity of each.
Magnifica Humanitas
Nona also addressed the issue of artificial intelligence and its threat to human dignity, citing Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. He stressed the need for technology to remain at the service of the human person and human dignity, and to be used properly to promote a sound humanity built on upright values and principles — not one that demeans human beings and their dignity or encourages violence.
He encouraged people to read and study the pope’s teaching, saying its timely importance led Leo to choose it as the subject of his first encyclical.
Peoples longing for peace
Nona assumes his responsibilities amid the current challenges facing the Middle East, which he described as complex and painful. Wishing peace and stability for the countries and peoples of the region, he said: “I believe and think that all the peoples of the Middle East want to live in peace and security. Years of wars, divisions, and violence have exhausted them.”
Asked where he sees the future of the region heading amid ongoing conflict, Nona said major changes appear to be underway in the Middle East.
“Something is happening now that will change the Middle East a lot,” he said. “We hope it will be for the good, not for the bad. So we pray that everything will be good.”
He said taking on any responsibility in such a complex situation is a serious matter that requires responsible discipline in words and actions, directing them toward achieving peace and stability and defending the rights and dignity of peoples.
On the possibility of Christians returning to the Middle East, Nona said their return and continued presence depend on peace, stability, and a genuine sense of citizenship.
“When there is peace in this region, when there is stability, when they feel that they are citizens of this land and of these countries, they will come back, and they will stay here,” he said. Asked whether he hoped Christians would one day return, he replied: “I hope that. Of course, we pray for that also.”
A message to Catholics in the West
Nona also addressed Catholics in the West, asking them first to pray for the Chaldean Church.
“We need them to pray, because we are all Christians and Catholics,” he said. He also asked them to learn more about the Chaldean Church and the reality of Christians in the Middle East, and to help support efforts that allow Christians to remain in the region.
He emphasized the role of Chaldean youth, and Christian youth in general, as the foundation of the Church and a firm pillar of its mission. He stressed the need to give young people the place they deserve in the Church.
Nona concluded with a message to Christian youth, based on his personal experience: “Our Christian faith is our foundation, our strength, and our life. In the Chaldean Church, we live it through our Chaldean identity, distinct in language, liturgy, and tradition. The closer young people come to knowing their identity of faith in its proper form, the more they will become a tremendous force of faith and humanity, capable of defending faith and humanity.”
In a final message to Catholic youth around the world, Nona said: “Prayer is the most important thing. And also try always to live your faith with joy.”
