Through a new short film commissioned by the Embassy of Ireland to the Holy See, four Irish religious sisters of different congregations share powerful stories of faith, courage and service to communities in some of the world's most challenging regions. Their experiences reveal how missionary life goes beyond borders, transforming lives through education, healthcare, empowerment, and a commitment to human dignity.

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St. Martin of Tours was born around the year 316, in modern-day Hungary. His father, a military official of the Roman Empire, moved the family to Italy to serve the army there. Although his parents were pagans, Martin felt called to the Catholic faith. He received religious instruction when he was 10, and considered becoming a hermit. 

However, by the time he was 15, Martin found himself forced to join the Roman army. At the time, he was unable to receive baptism. Martin lived humbly in the military, giving away most of his pay to the poor. 

One day, Martin encountered a man freezing, without warm clothes, near a gate at the city of Amiens in Gaul. As the soldiers passed by, Martin stopped at cut his cloak in two pieces with his sword. He gave one half to the beggar. That night, Martin saw Christ in a dream, wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man. Christ said, “Martin, a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.” 

Martin knew it was time to join the Church, and was baptized. He remained in the army for two more years, but finally asked permission to leave so he could dedicate his life to God. 

His officers accused him of cowardice, so Martin offered to stand before the enemy forces unarmed. “In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler, but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear,” he said. However, the enemy Germans sought peace, and Martin was free to leave. 

After leaving the army and living as a civilian, Martin met Bishop Hilary of Poitiers. The bishop was impressed by Martin’s faith, and asked him to return to Poitiers after a trip home to see his parents. During this trip, Martin was able to convince his mother to join the Church. 

While Martin was away, Hilary provoked the Arians, and was banished, so Martin could not return to his diocese. Instead, Martin spent some time living in severe asceticism. He and Hilary were reunited in 360, when the banishment period had ended. 

Hilary gave Martin a piece of land to build what may have been the first monastery in Gaul. Martin lived as a monk for a decade, and was known for raising two people from the dead through his prayers. He was eventually appointed as the third bishop of Tours, despite not wanting the position. 

As bishop, Martin lived simply, dressing plainly and owning nothing. He traveled throughout his diocese, driving out pagan practices. He helped all his parishioners with their moral, intellectual, and spiritual problems, and helped many lay people discover their callings to consecrated life. 

Martin foresaw his own death, but when he fell ill for the last time, he was uncertain about leaving his people. He prayed, “Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labor. Thy holy will be done.” For many nights, he did not sleep, simply praying throughout the night. 

Shortly before he died in November 397, Martin told his followers, “Allow me, my brethren, to look rather towards heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going.” 

St. Martin de Tours is one of the most beloved saints in the history of Europe.

A young woman I know has decided she does not want to bring children into the world because of school shootings. It is easy to understand her concern. Press coverage of such events stokes fear and suggests such events are common.

Yet her concern is misplaced. Out of the roughly 45,000 gun deaths that occur annually in the United States (dwarfing the rates of any other developed country), only 1-2% are due to mass shootings (defined as four or more victims) of any kind.

What is much less discussed is that the majority of gun deaths year in and year out are the result of suicide, and the majority of these victims are white males and veterans. Guns are the most effective way to kill oneself, succeeding 90% of the time.

In 2024, nearly 28,000 Americans shot themselves. That is almost double the total for those involved in shootouts with police, domestic violence, and random acts of carnage. The people most vulnerable to gun violence are gun owners and their families.

For organizations dedicated to preventing suicides, the obvious conclusion is to limit access to guns, particularly for those people who might be most prone to self-harm. Red flag laws have been one proposed solution, allowing judges or the police to remove access to weapons in cases where there is a danger to the gun owner or others. But when it comes to suicide, the challenge is that there is no easy way to predict who is likely to commit it.

Gun advocates often oppose red flag laws, arguing that suicide is a mental health issue, not a gun issue. In either case, the problem for state or local authorities is funding the resources to identify and provide help for a person contemplating suicide. Researchers say that the moment a person decides to take his life is often an impulse. Barriers on bridges, a gun lock or a locked gun cabinet, even a posted suicide help line may be enough to save a life.

Preventing suicide is one challenge. Dealing with the psychological and spiritual fallout from a suicide is something else. How the Catholic Church responds to suicide has evolved significantly over recent decades.

For many centuries, suicide victims were not allowed a Catholic funeral or burial. The soul of the suicide was considered damned. The 1908 “Catholic Encyclopedia” entry lumped suicides in with all others denied a Catholic burial: “pagans, Jews, infidels, heretics, and their adherents,” and persons killed in a duel.

Church teaching has become much more nuanced in recent decades. The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” still condemns suicide. “We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us,” it says. “It is not ours to dispose of.” (2280)

At the same time, it acknowledges that “grave psychological disturbances” and other factors “can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.” (2282) “We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives,” and we should pray for them. (2283)

There has often been a stigma attached not just to the person who killed himself, but to his family as well. Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix knows firsthand this stigma. Three of his siblings and a brother-in-law have committed suicide. In a video on the Phoenix website, Dolan recounts the challenges for those who lose a family member, and the prejudices that follow them.

His message is simple: “The Church is here to accompany those who are survivors of suicide loss.” Dolan has become an advocate for pastoral sensitivity and for mental health ministry toward those contemplating suicide and their families.

This is a change from the Church’s historic hostility, and it seems to be gathering steam. Most recently, the Archdiocese of Chicago created a first-of-its-kind memorial to those who have committed suicide and to their families. It is dedicated to Father Charles Rubey, a priest of the archdiocese who almost 50 years ago founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide Program.

The memorial includes a bronze sculpture of an angel “whose wings cradle a granite bench,” The Chicago Catholic reported. “The sculpture is intended to offer a sense of comfort and support to anyone who sits within the angel’s embrace.”

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More than a decade ago, a priest I knew and admired committed suicide. To this day, I still feel the pain and the shock of this loss.

I do not know why he did it. I can only imagine his pain and his suffering, and I continue to pray for him, comforted at least in the fact that the Church entrusts him and all those who loved him to God’s mercy.

Meanwhile, efforts to prevent suicide and to help survivors are needed more than ever. Deterring suicides among our young, our veterans, and, increasingly, our elderly is a pro-life cause we must embrace.

(ZENIT News / Sofia, 11.10.2026).- An elderly man, deeply cherished by the faithful in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, died in 2018 at the age of 103. He left a legacy of US$5 million to the Church — funds he had gathered through begging.

Every day, Dobri Dobrev would walk 20 kilometers from his native village of Baylovo to the Cathedral in Sofia. He would ask for money near the Cathedral entrance. Known for his long white beard and black cloak, he would sit by the wall near the main door. Over the decades, he donated the money he collected to the Church and to the poor.

Many Bulgarians regard him as a saint for dedicating his life to raising funds for the restoration of churches. Several monasteries and religious sites across the country have confirmed receiving sums ranging from US$3,000 to US$12,000 each. It is estimated that, over the years, he contributed approximately US$5 million in donations.

His father, Dimitar, died in World War I, and he was raised by his mother, Katerina. During a World War II bombing, a projectile landed near him, causing him to lose almost all of his hearing. He married in 1940 and had four children, two of whom survived him. He lived on a pension of US$95 a month. Around the year 2000, he donated all his possessions to the Church and dedicated himself entirely to the spiritual realm and to begging, a choice driven by his faith rather than by misfortune, as many had believed. His mission was to raise funds for the restoration of orphanages, churches, and monasteries.

He became an inseparable fixture at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, part of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Sofia, to which he donated more than US$25,000. He would spend long hours there, receiving small coins. In 2013, he was named «Personality of the Year» by the Sofia News Agency, which, in presenting the award, stated: «There is still room for charity and good deeds.»

Children loved him, and animals would approach him with trust. Those who gave him alms would also ask for his blessing. After his death, his few belongings — a bed, a table, and a meager supply of food consisting of a piece of bread and half a tomato — were found in the room where he lived, next to a church in Baylovo.

Years after his death, a massive, ten-story-high mural in Sofia commemorates his virtuous life. Meanwhile, the call for his canonization continues. For many Bulgarians, this old man, who appeared to have nothing, possessed a spiritual wealth inherited from his family and from those who inspired him to dedicate his life to kindness.

The post Dobri Dobrev: The Beggar Who Lived on Alms and Bequeathed Nearly US$5 Million to the Church appeared first on ZENIT - English.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (OSV News) — Nearly four decades after young Argentines filled the streets of Buenos Aires for a historic World Youth Day with St. John Paul II, over 1 million gathered in the same city Nov. 10 for an outdoor prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV.

The atmosphere recalled that 1987 gathering: a celebration of faith drawing young people who came with Catholic movements, parishes and families, while others arrived alone. Some carried flags or wore matching shirts identifying their communities; others brought little more than backpacks, water and the determination to secure a place near the evening’s centerpiece, the Monumento de los Españoles.

The energy as they waited for Pope Leo could only be described as electrifying, and once the popemobile tour began, dozens of babies got their parents’ wish: a papal blessing from a man who was visibly enjoying the evening despite the marathonic day he had.

Some pilgrims began arriving around midnight Nov. 9, although access to the avenue surrounding the monument did not open until noon the following day. At that hour, Pope Leo was still some 430 miles away in Córdoba, where he celebrated Mass before approximately 650,000 people, according to local authorities.

Pope Leo: Do not lose hope

Before delivering his prepared reflection, Pope Leo listened to two young Argentines describe very different experiences of falling, searching and beginning again. A 25-year-old recovering addict recounted how bullying, loneliness and cocaine use beginning at 15 eventually left him homeless. He said an Hogar de Cristo community welcomed him with food, a bed and an embrace; after relapses and a difficult recovery, he now accompanies other young people struggling with addiction.

A 31-year-old postulant to religious life described resisting a vocation she had sensed since childhood until a spiritual director asked her, “Who told you it was too late?” She said the question restored her hope and helped her recognize “a God who knows how to wait.”

Pope Leo then answered two questions. A teacher who has volunteered in disadvantaged neighborhoods since she was 16 asked how Christians can persevere when their efforts to accompany people on society’s margins seem insufficient. A sports journalist, catechist and volunteer asked how to integrate faith with work and everyday responsibilities. Pope Leo urged them not to lose hope when their strength reaches its limits, and he said Christians should not live “two separate lives, one for God and another for our daily occupations.” Work, study and friendships, he said, can become prayer and “a path to holiness” when lived with love and offered to God.

Buenos Aires’ massive crowds

The Buenos Aires vigil was held at the site where, one day earlier, Pope Leo had celebrated Mass for approximately 2.5 million people — the largest gathering of his pontificate.

Lucía Sánchez, 22, told OSV News that she had not initially intended to attend either event.

“I hadn’t really planned on coming, as crowds are not necessarily my thing,” she said. “Yet, after following the Mass online on Monday, I knew I had to come. Call it fear of missing out.”

Lucas Baraldi, 29, said his decision to attend reflected a more personal return to the Church.

Baraldi described himself as a “lapsed Catholic” until earlier this year. When Pope Leo’s trip was announced, he said, he immediately thought of his mother, who died last year and “would have dragged me to every event.”

“In the past months, I have reconnected with my faith, and during yesterday’s Mass I went to confession for the first time in over a decade,” he said.

“I grew up Catholic, going to Mass on Sundays because that’s what you did,” Baraldi said. “But today, I can’t avoid thinking I’m choosing to embrace the faith.”

Pope Leo’s remarks during the Nov. 9 Mass about parents transmitting the faith brought memories of his mother to the surface.

“I couldn’t help but think of my mother, who prayed with us every night,” Baraldi said. “How I wish I had treasured those moments more.”

1987 WYD energy

Argentina had not welcomed a pope since St. John Paul’s 1987 visit, which culminated with the second World Youth Day and drew some 900,000 young people to Buenos Aires. St. John Paul had inaugurated the worldwide gatherings in Rome in 1986, with Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio playing a decisive role in their creation and development.

Cardinal Pironio, then president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, became one of the principal architects of the World Youth Days and accompanied St. John Paul to their international celebrations. Pope Leo remembered the cardinal — beatified in 2023 — during his Mass in Córdoba earlier Nov. 10.

During Tuesday’s prayer vigil, tens of thousands of candles handed out by organizers brought back that 1987 feel, with all screens off and the Avenida del Libertador, one of the city’s principal thoroughfares, still lit up.

‘Do not bow down before anything that cannot give you life’

At the Buenos Aires vigil, Pope Leo used the biblical account of the three young men cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue to challenge young people to resist contemporary forms of idolatry.

“Today, too, idols arise and demand our worship: success at any cost, money, an obsession with appearance, popularity or the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure,” he said.

The pope warned that seeking approval can lead people to “lie, betray or humiliate someone on social media,” while pornography and addictive substances promise pleasure but ultimately enslave.

“You, too, are called to stand firm before the idols of our time,” he said. “Do not bow down before anything that cannot give you life. And if you have ever fallen, get back up.”

‘Everyone toward Christ’

Drawing upon Pope Francis’ repeated invitation at World Youth Day in Lisbon — “Everyone, everyone, everyone!” — Pope Leo organized his message around three phrases: “Everyone toward Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ.”

He addressed young people who had grown up close to the Church, those only beginning to seek Christ, and those who had stopped praying, drifted away or been wounded by people who should have accompanied them.

“To each of you I would like to say that there is a place for you in the Church, with your questions, your wounds and your story,” Pope Leo said. “This is your home, too.”

The pope urged those who thought it was too late to return not to wait until they had put their lives in order.

“Whoever you are and whatever you may have done, Jesus Christ knows you, loves you and wants you to be close to him,” he said. “No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up.”

‘Become saints’

Pope Leo also spoke directly about conversion and the sacrament Baraldi had rediscovered the previous day.

“Christ loves us as we are, but his love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of what destroys us,” the pope said. “Do not be afraid to approach the sacrament of reconciliation.”

He then issued the evening’s central challenge: “Become saints.”

That holiness, he said, should become visible through service — sharing bread with the hungry, welcoming those without homes, visiting people who are sick or forgotten, and responding to less visible forms of suffering.

“May your lives become pages of the Gospel, written in the ink of mercy,” Pope Leo said.

‘Go and proclaim!’

Before blessing a cross that will travel among Argentina’s Catholic communities, the pope entrusted the young people with the second part of the Argentine visit’s motto: “Go and proclaim!”

“Go to your cities and towns, to every corner and every periphery,” he said. “May those who feel far from God discover through you that Christ is seeking them.”

Inés San Martín writes for OSV News from Argentina. She is the editor of MISSION Magazine and co-host of the Spanish podcast “Descifrando a León.”

The post Pope Leo tells Argentine youth: Stand firm, become saints, ‘go and proclaim’ first appeared on OSV News.