A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
-
On a “day of joy” in Poland, the Catholic Church on Sunday for the first time beatified an entire family at once: Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children, who were martyred during World War II for sheltering two Jewish families from the Nazis. Early on March 24, 1944, a Nazi patrol surrounded the home of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma on the outskirts of Markowa. They discovered the Jewish people hiding on the Ulma farm and executed them. The Nazi police then killed 31-year-old Wiktoria, who was pregnant and in premature labor, and 44-year-old Józef outside their home. Beatification in the Catholic Church is one step before canonization, when a person recognized for special holiness is officially declared to be a saint. Those beatified receive the title “Blessed” and may receive public veneration at the local or regional level, usually restricted to those dioceses or religious institutes closely associated with the person’s life.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255332/ulma-family-beatified-on-a-day-of-joy-in-poland
More than 2,000 people have been reported dead after a major earthquake rocked the North African country of Morocco overnight on Friday, the country’s government said Saturday morning. The Moroccan government on Saturday said hundreds more were injured. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 near the resort of Oukaïmedene. The USGS in its early report said “significant casualties” were “likely” while “extensive damage is probable and the disaster is likely widespread.” The Catholic charity Caritas Morocco reported some material damage recorded at the Church of Ouarzazate without any human loss in the community as of Saturday. The Caritas Team said it intends to take emergency actions coordinated with other Caritas networks. Cardinal Cristóbal López, Archbishop of Rabat, planned to be present in Marrakech to preside over the Eucharist yesterday, which he said he would celebrate for all the victims. The Archbishop said he appeals to all communities to pray at all Masses to express their compassion to local authorities and to organize solidarity.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255335/pope-francis-urges-faithful-to-be-close-to-the-people-of-morocco-in-wake-of-devastating-earthquake
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Jean Gabriel Perboyre, a missionary to China who became one of the first victims of the persecutions against Christians, dying in a manner which had a striking resemblance to the passion of our Lord. He was betrayed for a sum of silver, stripped of his garments and dragged from tribunal to tribunal, beaten and tortured continuously until he was sentenced to death with seven criminals. He was crucified and died on a cross. Canonized on June 2, 1996 by Pope John Paul II, Saint Jean Gabriel Perboyre is the first saint of China.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-jean-gabriel-perboyre-591
The Church also celebrates Saint Paphnutius, an Egyptian monk who became a bishop, endured torture for the faith, and participated at the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in its confirmation of Christ's divinity.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-paphnutius-709