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The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers), were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages. It was founded in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096, to ensure the safety of the many Europeans who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem after its conquest. Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1129, the Order became a favored charity across Europe and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights in their distinctive white mantles with red cross were among the best fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, inventing or adapting many financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.
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Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and a prominent figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was a successor to Michelangelo as the architect of Saint Peter's Basilica; his design of the Piazza San Pietro in front of the Basilica is one of his most innovative and successful architectural designs.

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William Edington (d. October 6, 1366) was an English bishop and administrator. He served as bishop of Winchester from 1346 until his death, keeper of the wardrobe from 1341 to 1344, treasurer from 1344 to 1356, and finally as chancellor from 1356 until he retired from royal administration in 1363. Edington’s reforms of the administration — in particular of royal finances — had wide-ranging consequences, and contributed to the English military efficiency in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. As bishop of Winchester he was responsible for starting an extensive rebuilding of Winchester Cathedral, and for founding Edington Priory, the church of which still stands today.His parents were Roger and Amice of Edington near Westbury, Wiltshire. Though it has been claimed that he was educated at Oxford, there seems to be no support for this.
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• ... that the Most Rev. S. Arulappa (pictured), Archbishop of Hyderabad, was the youngest priest to be consecrated as a Roman Catholic Archbishop in India?
• ... that Father Nelson Baker, founder of the Basilica of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna, New York, is buried in the basilica's transept in a grotto hewn from Vesuvian black lava?
• ... that Saint Vigilius of Trent, stoned to death for overturning a statue of Saturn, was the first martyr canonized by a pope?

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John of Sahagún, OESA (Spanish: Juan de Sahagún), (c. 1430 – 11 June 1479) was a Spanish Augustinian friar and priest. He was a leading preacher of his day, and was known as a peacemaker and reconciler of enemies among the nobles and factions of Salamanca. He was declared a saint by the Catholic Church in 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII. (Full article...)

Attributes: holding a Chalice and the Holy Host surrounded by rays of light
Patronage: Candon City, Toledo, Cebu
See also: Gaspare Bertoni

...More patrons

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“

I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity.

”

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23 May 2024 –

Pope Francis and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints approves the canonization of Carlo Acutis, who will become the first millennial saint. (Holy See) (BBC News)

12 May 2024 –

Forty-nine Vatican Museums employees start an unprecedented labor dispute over unfair and poor working conditions against the Vatican's Pontifical Commission. (Reuters)

10 May 2024 – Demographics of Italy

Amid record low birth rates and an aging population, Pope Francis urges Italians to have more children. The Italian government also expands a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033. (AP)

21 March 2024 –

Pope Francis laicizes Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe due to allegations of abuse. (NOS)