Pope Leo's Spanish Success, Concentration Camp Martyrs Beatified, and Homeboy's $100 Million Vision

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think. God bless!Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for June 16, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.Read the stories in this episode:Organizers declared Pope Leo XIV's weeklong Spain visit an overwhelming success, drawing 2.5 million participants and generating an expected economic impact of over $174 million — capped by a dramatic final-day mechanical failure that prompted King Felipe VI to fly the pope back to Rome on his royal jet.Pope Leo XIV reflected Saturday on the June 6th beatification of nine Polish Salesian priests killed at Auschwitz and Dachau during World War II, honoring their enduring legacy as educators, mentors and witnesses of hope who were targeted by the Nazis precisely for forming young people in faith and freedom.A new Pew Research Center report released Sunday found that religious hostility spiked in more countries in 2023 and that governments have been steadily cracking down on religious belief and expression since 2007, with China, Iran and Russia among the highest restrictors and Nigeria and India recording the worst social hostilities.Catholics in downtown Chicago expressed sorrow and shock this week after a burning cross was discovered at Grant Park on June 9th, prompting Cardinal Blase Cupich to condemn what he called "the sickness of spirit" behind such acts and to pledge renewed efforts to proclaim the Gospel dignity of every human person.Homeboy Industries, the acclaimed Los Angeles gang-intervention program founded by Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, and Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy have launched a $100 million fundraising campaign to expand the organization and build a new Father Gregory Boyle Center for Radical Kinship at the heart of a visionary reentry initiative called Hope Village.