Before Bishop’s Award recipient Alex Sagcal became an almost ubiquitous figure in his parish, the Mary Immaculate Catholic Church parishioner was a self-described “back pew Catholic.”
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Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
In Pope Leo XIV’s first greeting after being introduced as pope May 8, he described himself as a “son of St. Augustine.”
Full text of the first public homily of Pope Leo XIV, given at a Mass for the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel May 9, 2025.
Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Catholic groups are welcoming Pope Leo XIV — the second pope from the Americas, and the first U.S.-born pontiff — who was elected May 8, the second day of the papal conclave.
Together, Vizcarra and Dávila, originally from Mexico, found the doors open to cultivate their path of service to the Church 15 years ago when they arrived at Blessed Sacrament Parish and met the Missionary Sisters of Charity, who were then serving at that parish in East Dallas.
As expected, the 133 cardinals who entered the Sistine Chapel May 7 failed to elect the next pope on their first ballot.
At a Mass before the conclave that will elect the next pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals urged his brothers to choose the shepherd the Church and all of humanity need “at this difficult and complex and tormented” turning point in history.
Brodrick-Tehan said her early life was Catholic through and through, and she has taken that faith formation with her through her whole life.