Starting Seven: June 20, 2025
Welcome to Starting Seven, The Pillar’s daily newsletter.
I’m Luke Coppen and I seek to guide you each weekday morning to the most interesting Catholic news and comment.
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😇 Today’s saint: St. Methodius of Olympus (Roman Martyrology).
📜 Today’s readings: Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 2 Cor 11:18, 21-30 ▪ Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 ▪ Mt 6:19-23.
🗞 Starting seven
1: Catholics in Nigeria’s Benue State held a prayer walk June 19, following the massacre of an estimated 200 people by suspected herders (aciafrica.org, acninternational.org, bbc.co.uk, punchng.com, Wikipedia).
2: Yaron Sideman, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, has said that the conflict with Iran is “preventing a World War III” (video interview, Wikipedia, caritasjr.org, catholicnewsagency.com).
3: Austrian police are reportedly investigating the area around Heiligenkreuz Abbey after receiving anonymous letters containing allegations against the Cistercian foundation, which is facing an apostolic visitation (German report, heute.at, kurier.at, Wikipedia, cathcon.blogspot.com).
4: An independent working group issued a report June 20 identifying 67 alleged “instances of sexual violence” between 1960 and 2024 linked to the ancient Swiss Abbey of Saint-Maurice (German report, French press release, full text, action plan, Wikipedia).
5: Chicago City Council approved June 18 the designation of the historic St. Adalbert Church as an official city landmark, amid a years-long preservation battle (cbsnews.com, chicago.suntimes.com [archive.is], Wikipedia).
6: Bishop Robert Barron, Fr. Joseph Evans, JD Flynn, Scott Powell, & Kate Olivera, Bishop James Golka, Fr. Terrance Klein [archive.is], Sr. Eilis McCulloh, H.M., Fr. Tim Peters, Fr. Joseph Vu, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Fr. Joseph Vu look forward to Corpus Christi.
7: And Daniel Esparza explains how a meeting in a Rome church paved the way for the Nicene Creed (Wikipedia).
🇻🇦 Today’s Bollettino
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
Jesuit Father General Fr. Arturo Sosa.
Outgoing French bishops’ conference president Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, with vice-presidents Bishop Dominique Blanchet and Archbishop Vincent Jordy, and secretary general Msgr. Hugues de Woillemont.
Priests of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy returning from their missionary year (Italian full text, photos, vaticannews.va).
Participants in the general chapters of the Conventual Franciscans and the Trinitarians (Italian full text, photos).
Resignations and appointments:
🇦🇺 Resignation accepted of 76-year-old Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart, Australia. He is succeeded by Melbourne auxiliary Bishop Anthony Ireland, 68 (hobart.catholic.org.au, mediablog.catholic.org.au, melbournecatholic.org).
🇲🇽 Msgr. José Luis Cerra Luna, vicar general of the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa, is named Bishop of Nogales, Mexico (cem.org.mx).
🇨🇴 Fr. Germán Humberto Barbosa Mora, of the clergy of the Diocese of Engativá, is named an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Bogotá, Colombia, with the titular see of Uzalis (cec.org.co).
Pope Leo authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decrees recognizing:
🇪🇸 A miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Salvador Valera Parra (1816-1889).
🇪🇸 The martyrdom of the Servants of God Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo (1853-1936) and 58 companions of the Diocese of Jaén, Spain, killed between 1936 and 1938, in hatred of the faith (diocesisdejaen.es).
🇪🇸 The martyrdom of the Servants of God Antonio Montañés Chiquero (1870-1936) and 64 companions of the Diocese of Jaén Spain, killed between 1936 and 1937, in hatred of the faith.
🇫🇷 The martyrdom of the Servants of God Raimond Cayré (1915-1944), Gerard Martin Cendrier, Roger Vallée, Jean Mestre, and 46 companions, killed between 1944 and 1945 in hatred of the faith.
🇮🇹 The heroic virtues of the Servant of God Raffaele Mennella (1877-1898).
🇧🇷 The heroic virtues of the Servant of God João Luiz Pozzobon, permanent deacon (1904-1985).
🇮🇹 The heroic virtues of the Servant of God Teresa Tambelli (1884-1964).
🇮🇹 The heroic virtues of the Servant of God Anna Fulgida Bartolacelli (1928-1993).
Papal message to participants in the Second Annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Corporate Governance, held June 19-20 in Rome (vaticannews.va).
+ During his June 19 trip to Santa Maria di Galeria, a town outside of Rome, Pope Leo XIV gave a brief interview to Italy’s TG1 — the first television interview since his election — and visited the potential site of a Vatican solar farm (silerenonpossum.com).
+ Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has sent a video message to the June 23-24 International Symposium on Global Justice and Solidarity in Cape Town, South Africa.
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🏛️ Pillar catch-up
🤔 Friday quiz
This week, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Palestrina, on the 500th anniversary of his birth. How much do you know about the Italian composer? (Answers below).
1. Where was Palestrina born in 1525?
A) Ancona; B) Rome; C) Palestrina.
2. Which musical style did Palestrina develop?
A) Baroque oratorio style; B) Medieval Gregorian chant; C) Renaissance polyphonic style.
3. How many Masses did he compose?
A) 105; B) 205; C) 305.
4. Which work did Pope Leo XIV highlight in his June 18 address as an example of Palestrina’s genius?
A) Missa Aeterna Christi Munera; B) Missa Brevis; C) Missa Papae Marcelli.
5. Which quotation from St. Augustine did Pope Leo cite in his address on Palestrina?
A) “The one who sings, prays twice”; B) “Sing, but walk!”; C) “Singing belongs to one who loves.”
🔍 Stories to watch
🇺🇸 The number of ordinations to the permanent diaconate in the U.S. fell from 587 in 2023 to 393 in 2024, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in Washington, D.C. (full text, cara.georgetown.edu).
🇯🇵 Japan’s bishops renewed their appeal for a global ban on nuclear weapons in a June 17 message (full texts 1 & 2).
🇫🇷 French Bishop Jacques Habert said in a June 16 message that the Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux “is experiencing events of a ‘mystical order’ which require discernment,” expressing fears they could lead to “sectarian aberrations” (French full text, report [archive.is], catholic-hierarchy.org, Wikipedia).
🇻🇦🇩🇪 Fr. Peter Klasvogt, 68, is the new rector of the Campo Santo Teutonico, a German priests’ college in Vatican City, succeeding Fr. Konrad Bestle, 41, who stood down in 2024 after a year in the post (German report, press release, dbk.de, klasvogt.de, Wikipedia).
🇵🇱 Poland’s Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś said June 18 that a national independent abuse commission “must be established now,” not in two or three years’ time (Polish report, audio, English background, biography).
🇷🇸 Cardinal Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade, Serbia, said in a June 19 interview that “there are no signs” that Pope Leo XIV will officially recognize Kosovo (Serbian full text, biography, Wikipedia).
🇧🇾 Thousands of people took part in a Corpus Christi procession June 19 in Grodno, Belarus (Wikipedia, oursundayvisitor.com).
🗓 Today’s anniversaries
St. Adalbert of Magdeburg died in 981; Bl. Margareta Ebner died in 1351; The Synod of Diamper began in 1599; Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Libertas in 1888; The future Pope John Paul II was baptized in 1920.
📅 Today’s events
The Jubilee of Governments begins; Inauguration of the Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Persecuted, at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Astana, Kazakhstan; Vatican Media releases the documentary “León de Perú” (“Leo of Peru”) in English, Italian, and Spanish, at 5 p.m. Rome time; U.K. Parliament votes on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill; Italy’s Cardinal Matteo Zuppi begins a visit to Mapanda, Tanzania, marking the dedication of a new parish church.
📅 Coming soon
June 21 55th anniversary of St. Óscar Romero’s episcopal ordination; Baltimore’s Archbishop William Lori ordains five new priests — Deacon Bienvenu Ilanga, Deacon James Lancelotta, Deacon Shiadrik Mokum, Deacon Alex Mwebaze, and one other — at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, at 10 a.m. local time; Cardinal Robert McElroy ordains five new priests — Deacon Marco Cerritelli, Deacon Gerard Gayou, Deacon Louis McHale, Deacon Daniel Morrison, and Deacon Chukwuma Odigwe — for the Archdiocese of Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, at 10 a.m. (adw.org); The International Academy of Catholic Leaders hosts the “Discerning the Present, Building the Future” virtual conference at 11 a.m. ET.
June 22 Corpus Christi; Angelus; Pope Leo XIV presides at Mass in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran at 5 p.m. local time and takes part in a Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major (booklet); Cardinal Mykola Bychok, C.Ss.R., takes possession of his Rome titular church Santa Sofia a Via Boccea, at 5 p.m. local time; The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage ends in Los Angeles; Start of the 2025 Religious Freedom Week; Bishop Peter Brignall of Wrexham, Wales, leads a national pilgrimage of thanksgiving at the Shrine of St. Winefride, Holywell; Annual Walk with Christ, organized by Australia’s Sydney archdiocese; More than 20,000 pilgrims expected to attend a Corpus Christi procession in Angola’s Luanda archdiocese.
June 23 The Jubilee of Seminarians begins.
June 24 Third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision.
June 25 The Jubilee of Bishops; Start of the Jubilee of Priests; Actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen,” due to meet with Leo XIV at the Wednesday general audience.
June 27 The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; Pope Leo celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square, at 9 a.m. Rome time; Concluding celebrations of the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, at the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, France; Annual global rosary relay for the sanctification of priests.
June 28 Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk celebrates a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in Rome, at the start of a Jubilee pilgrimage of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to the tomb of St. Peter; Bishop David Zubik ordains two men to the priesthood for the Diocese of Pittsburgh at St. Paul Cathedral, at 10 a.m. local time; Bishop Edward Lohse ordains two men to the transitional diaconate at Holy Rosary Church in Steubenville, Ohio, at 9 a.m. local time; Archbishop Laurent Ulrich ordains 16 priests at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France; Cardinal Vincent Nichols ordains two men to the priesthood for the Diocese of Westminster, England.
June 29 Sts. Peter and Paul; Annual Peter’s Pence collection worldwide; Pope Leo presides at Mass with the imposition of the pallium in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:30 a.m. Rome time; Start of the Church in Benin’s national pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
June 30 Special parliamentary commission in Luxembourg due to adopt final report on the Caritas Luxembourg embezzlement scandal.
July 1 The Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit begins in Menlo Park, California.
July 2 No general audience as Wednesday general audiences are suspended in July.
July 4 80th birthday of Poland’s Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko.
July 5 Episcopal ordination of Fr. Beat Grögli, the new Bishop of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
July 6 Pope Leo XIV begins a period of rest at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
July 12 Installation of Bishop Dominique Blanchet as head of the Territorial Prelature of the Mission de France at Pontigny.
July 13 Pope Leo celebrates Mass at Castel Gandolfo’s Church of St. Thomas of Villanova, at 10 a.m. local time, and recites the Angelus in the Piazza della Libertà at noon.
July 14 Bishop Mark Eckman is installed as Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at St. Paul Cathedral.
July 17 Bishop Michael Pham is installed as the Bishop of San Diego, California.
July 19 Diaconate ordinations for the Archdiocese of Chicago at Santa María Del Popolo Church, Mundelein, at 10 a.m.
July 20 Pope Leo celebrates Mass at Albano Cathedral, at 9:30 a.m., and recites the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo’s Piazza della Libertà, at noon, returning to the Vatican in the afternoon.
July 21 80th birthday of Pakistan’s Cardinal Joseph Coutts.
July 25 Cardinal Robert Sarah serves as special envoy at the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to Yvon Nicolazic, at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, France.
July 27 Bishop Robert Barron receives the Josef Pieper Prize in Münster, Germany.
July 28 Jubilee of digital missionaries and Catholic influencers begins; Start of the Jubilee of Youth.
July 29 Episcopal ordination of Fr. Glenn Corsiga, the new Bishop of Ipil, Philippines.
July 30 Pope Leo resumes Wednesday general audiences.
August 2 Diaconate ordination for the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, at Sacred Heart Cathedral, at 10 a.m. local time.
August 4 Mladifest international youth festival begins in Medjugorje.
August 6 The Transfiguration of the Lord.
August 7 High Court of Australia due to hear the case of Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle v AA [2025] NSWCA 72.
August 15 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Pope Leo celebrates Mass at Castel Gandolfo’s Church of St. Thomas of Villanova, at 10 a.m., followed by the Angelus in Piazza della Libertà at noon; Opening of the diocesan phase of the cause of Brazil’s Maria Milza dos Santos Fonseca (1923-1993).
August 17 Pope Leo delivers an Angelus address in Castel Gandolfo’s Piazza della Libertà at noon local time, before returning to the Vatican.
August 21 Start of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales’ Walsingham Walking Pilgrimage 2025.
August 22 80th birthday of Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
September 1 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
September 3 26th International Mariological Marian Congress begins in Rome.
September 5 Start of the Camino of St. Joseph, Australia’s largest annual men’s pilgrimage.
September 6 Christians who identify as LGBT+ take part in a Jubilee pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica, organized by the Tenda di Gionata association.
September 7 Canonization of Bl. Carlo Acutis and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati; Episcopal ordination of Msgr. Jean Pelletier as the Bishop of Mende, France.
September 8 80th birthday of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Cardinal Vinko Puljić.
September 10 35th anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
September 11 Installation of Bishop Shane Mackinlay as the Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia; Composer Arvo Pärt turns 90.
September 13 Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria.
September 14 The Exaltation of the Holy Cross; Pope Leo XIV turns 70.
September 15 Jubilee of Consolation; Swiss bishops begin plenary assembly in Lugano.
September 18 Conference hosted by Belgium’s Mechelen-Brussels archdiocese marks the centenary of the end of the Malines Conversations.
September 20 Jubilee of Justice.
September 26 Jubilee of Catechists begins.
September 28 World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
September 29 175th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales.
Friday quiz answers (sources in links): 1. C; 2. C; 3. A. 4. C; 5. B.
Have a happy feast of St. Methodius of Olympus.
-- Luke
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This week, Starting Seven is free for all Pillar readers courtesy of the Diocese of Gallup. Please support the V8s for Vocations Raffle to help educate seminarians for the poorest diocese in the U.S. — $25 a ticket for a chance to win the finest in American automotive engineering!
Luke, the work you do is phenomenal! Thanks so much for paving the way to get the news that matters and to hear the stories of people living in the situations we hear about. What you've been providing has helped me see that human lives, hearts, and souls are at stake in what we call "current events."
3— wait, no, 4! — 4/5
Memory of a goldfish: I closed the Notepad file I had typed my answers in and immediately defaulted to my regular score.