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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSD Newscast for Thursday, May 21st, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day. Here we go. A Ukrainian nun serving in a city on the front lines met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience with members of a papal society, and she handed him images of two Ukrainian soldiers in captivity and pleaded with the Pope to end the war. Basilian sister Lukia Moroshko was among those in a delegation of board members from the Catholic Extension Society. The group, led by the organization's chancellor, Cardinal Blaise Supic of Chicago, met with the Pope on May 18th. The society was founded in 1905, and the Chicago-based nonprofit organizes support for some one in five U.S. faithful in the nation's most impoverished regions, including its offshore territories. The Society had bestowed upon the Brazilian Order, which also has a U.S. province, its 2023-2024 Lumen Christi Award for humanitarian work with Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons. Along with the photos of the captured soldiers, Sister Lukia gave Pope Leo an icon of the crucified Christ and sorrowful Mary, as well as the prayers and pleas of those she serves in Ukraine. Sister Lukia said the petitioners wanted her to let the Pope know about their life, how we struggle here, and how we need his help. And she added they also affirmed they would not surrender to Russian occupation, which has seen the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church banned and brutalized by Russian forces. Russia's war on Ukraine continues attacks launched in 2014, and it's been classified as a genocide in multiple joint reports by the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights. Ugandan President Yoeri Museveni said the decision followed consultations with health officials and religious leaders, warning that large crowds could accelerate the spread of the virus. Church leaders asked pilgrims already traveling to return home and instead mark the feast in local parishes. The outbreak is linked to the rare Bundebujo strain of Ebola, and it's reportedly killed at least 139 people in Congo. Catholic leaders and aid agencies, including Catholic Relief Services, are expanding their education and emergency response efforts as fears and misinformation continue to spread. Of the 600 suspected cases in Congo, the World Health Organization said 51 had been confirmed in the country's northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. An American doctor who contracted Ebola in Congo has been flown to Germany for treatment, along with his wife and four children. Pope Leo's first pastoral stop will be a Caritas Homeless Shelter, a move the Cardinal called an evangelical gesture that puts the vulnerable first. The itinerary also features a Corpus Christi Mass and a Eucharistic procession in Madrid's Plaza de Cebeles. While not on the official schedule, Cardinal Cobo confirmed a meeting with sexual abuse survivors has been proposed. The visit comes shortly after the scheduled May 25th release of the Pope's first encyclical, which will discuss artificial intelligence, and the Cardinal expects the text to frame the trip, offering a higher perspective focused on human dignity amid Spain's deeply polarized political climate. The Cardinal said, Let us not forget the grand horizons. Then we can be more or less in agreement on the small judgments, on the specifics. But let us not forget that above the polarizations, there are broad outlines, and that the Christian tradition has something to say to society if it wants to listen to us. A Princeton professor and two Catholic Archbishops are promoting Fidelity Month as a response to what they see as America's declining commitment to core values. Catholic legal scholar Robert P. George and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops teamed up for a May 15th webinar called Living Faithfully at America's 250th. George said he launched Fidelity Month as a response to declining public support for patriotism, religion, raising children, and community involvement. Since its start in 2023, the initiative has grown into a multi-faith, bipartisan effort focused on renewing civic and spiritual responsibility ahead of America's 250th anniversary. Joining George for the webinar discussion were Archbishop Salvatore Corleone of San Francisco and Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon. They discussed the meaning of fidelity to country or patriotism, and they shared a number of ways to celebrate Fidelity Month on social media by praying the Fidelity Month prayer, engaging the media politicians and their parishes, and even taking part in a high school essay contest. And finally, the Ascend Eucharistic Revival on May 16th was one of the largest gatherings of Catholics in the Pacific Northwest in over a century, according to the events organizers. More than 3,000 people of all ages participated, from infants to the elderly, and they represented the many different ethnic communities that make up the Archdiocese of Seattle. They joined together in prayer, led by Father Nicholas Weichert at the Meidenbauer Center in Bellevue. Father Weichert, who is the ecclesiastical advisor for Ascend, said, Our deepest desire is that you would fall deeply in love with Jesus, especially in the Eucharist. Author and podcaster Chris Stefanick was one of the event's keynote speakers, and he compared the conference to a slingshot, where people are ready to be shot out with a renewed sense of love and appreciation for the Lord. But he said that should be the case each time someone goes to Mass. Archbishop Paul Achen of Seattle consolated Mass with Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Frank Schuster, and in his homily, Archbishop Aitchen said, We do not go on mission alone. We go on mission from the altar. We receive Christ, we become like Christ so that we can bring Christ to others. Not power, not strategies, but a heart like Christ is our mission. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, give us a follow on social media, and as always, bookmark osvnews.com. We do see you out there checking in from around the world. The number of countries is growing, and we're grateful. Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.

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