Swimmer Katie Ledecky, the most decorated American female Olympian ever, and gold medalist rower Nick Mead will serve as flag bearers leading Team USA at the Olympic closing ceremonies Aug. 11 in the Stade de France.
Nation
Just one day ahead of the grand opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda hosted its own celebration — a pep rally to showcase the community’s love, support and pride for three alumnae Olympians.
A native of Minneapolis and priest of 30 years with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis — Father Kevin T. Kenney — has been named an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese by Pope Francis.
A Eucharistic pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles is being planned for spring 2025, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, announced July 21 at the end of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress’ closing Mass.
Even before the July 21 announcement that National Eucharistic Congress organizers are considering holding another congress in just a few years, 9-year-old Thomas Gangestad had prayed for it.
Having heard this was the first time a national Eucharistic congress had been held in 83 years, he was afraid this was the only chance in his lifetime to experience what he did over five days in Indianapolis.
Absolute silence filled Lucas Oil Stadium as tens of thousands of people dropped to their knees to adore Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as the long-anticipated National Eucharistic Congress officially got underway on the evening of July 17 in Indianapolis. More than 100 spotlights trained on a large, golden monstrance on an altar in the center of the stadium as a powerful holy hour — which took place before any talks, music or greeting by the evening’s three emcees — began the congress’s first revival night filled with prayer, powerful speakers and praise-and-worship music.
The monstrance holding the Eucharist gleamed in the midday sun July 16 as pilgrims on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s northern Marian Route turned a downtown corner and came into view of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the pilgrimage’s final destination.
Political discourse in the United States has devolved into people shouting at and not listening to each other, showing a need to promote respectful dialogue despite political differences, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Catholic aid organizations in the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese confirmed they cannot get to work just yet because of the power outage that left about 2.5 million people in the dark following Hurricane Beryl’s landfall July 8 that cut a damaging path through eastern Texas and left at least eight people dead.
Marina Frattaroli describes herself as the National Eucharistic Revival’s “first convert,” after a related social media post led her to a website describing the church’s teaching on Jesus’ true presence in the Eucharist. Now she’s spending most of her waking hours with the Eucharist as one of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s 30 perpetual pilgrims, who set out from points in California, Connecticut, Texas and Minnesota to meet at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21.