December 13, 2022

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis presided December 10 at the solemn ceremony of beatification for Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos, a young martyr known as “the Maria Goretti of Brazil.” The Archdiocese of Mariana in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais reported the Mass was held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy in Barbacena before thousands of faithful present. The newly beatified Brazilian was 20 years old when she was brutally murdered in 1982 by a man who unsuccessfully tried to rape her, as also happened with Saint Maria Goretti, the Italian girl who died defending her virtue and who before dying forgave her murderer. Isabel’s tomb is located in Barbacena, where she was beatified. She also was baptized and received her first Communion there. The church is now a place of pilgrimage for many faithful in Brazil, who pray before her remains asking for her intercession. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253059/young-martyr-known-as-the-maria-goretti-of-brazil-beatified The EWTN Global Catholic Network on Monday night presented the 2022 Mother Angelica Award to former NFL star and coach Danny Abramowicz in honor of his lifetime of service to the new evangelization. While the world remembers the former New Orleans Saint wide receiver as a football legend, the award was given to him for his work evangelizing young men aged 25 to 40. Abramowicz’s effort started with a small prayer group decades ago and eventually led him to create a widely-known national men’s ministry with men’s conferences, speaking, and other evangelization efforts, including the popular EWTN television series “Crossing the Goal.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253058/ewtn-honors-former-nfl-star-danny-abramowicz-with-2022-mother-angelica-award An independent review board in the Archdiocese of Chicago has said there is