Spanish bishops celebrated the success of the country’s soccer team July 14 as the iconic players won their record fourth European Championship title by handing England an agonizing loss.

Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with Father Burke Masters of the Diocese of Joliet about his book, “Grand Slam for God.” Father Masters talks about his conversion to Catholicism in high school, and his journey through the College World Series and pro baseball along the way to discerning the call to the priesthood. Learn about his struggles and joys.

The testimony of two of the brightest young stars in Baltimore sports today can be inspiration for how all of us can be an MVP in our lives of living the Catholic faith. For that, I alter the acronym to stand for “Meaning, Value and Purpose”: MVP in our relationship with God and one another.

Sisters, track stars and Mount de Sales alumnae Juliette and Bella Whittaker are headed to the Paris Olympics after qualifying for Team USA late last month.

Graduates of Baltimore-area Catholic schools are at the top of their games when it comes to grabbing national attention in the professional ranks and on the pre-Olympic stage this summer.

John Calipari, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was the keynote speaker at the Baltimore Catholic League Hall of Fame ceremony at Turf Valley Resort. The BCL honored 10 of its standouts at the ceremony and banquet.

– In the run-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, opening on July 26, the “Holy Games” project, launched for the occasion by the French bishops and the Archdioceses of Paris, is gaining momentum with a growing number of events on the theme of “sport and faith.”

Dylan Beard says his Olympic dreams “start with God and stay with God.” Those Olympic dreams, which started in the Archdiocese of Baltimore at Archbishop Spalding High School, are just a couple races away from fruition.

The archbishop of Madrid received unusual guests June 2 as Europe’s best soccer team, Real Madrid, came to the Spanish capital’s St. Mary the Royal of the Almudena Cathedral to offer its championship trophy to Mary.

Several Catholic professional women, as well as an order of women religious, have challenged a controversial graduation speech by NFL player Harrison Butker, during which the Kansas City Chiefs placekicker and devout Catholic opined on (among other topics) the role of women in society, and the church’s teaching on natural family planning.