The News You May Have Missed: June 2026

The Hercule Poirot of Forensic Science

French pathologist and archeologist Philippe Charlier has applied the tools of modern forensic medicine to analyze the remains of saints such as King Louis IX, Mary Magdalene, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Joan of Arc, clarifying how they lived and died, sometimes challenging popular myths (National Catholic Register, April 21). St. Louis did not die of the plague during the Crusades, as has been repeated for centuries, but from a severe infection linked to advanced scurvy. Analysis of St. Thérèse’s hair suggests she did not die solely from tuberculosis; mercury, then used as a treatment, also played a significant role. An examination of St. Mary Magdalene’s skull, skin fragments, and a lock of hair preserved in Provence determined they are consistent with a Mediterranean woman about 50 years old. The Church requests investigations to verify the authenticity of objects presented for veneration. “Contrary to what Calvin wrote,” Charlier stated, “there aren’t actually that many fake relics.” But Charlier has on occasion shown long-accepted relics to be fakes. Those supposedly of Joan of Arc venerated in a museum in Chinon were actually fragments of Egyptian mummies.

Dancing for Francis

A massive rave in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, paid tribute to Pope Francis on the one-year anniversary of his death. Fr. Guilherme Peixoto — a.k.a. the “DJ Priest” — spun techno music mixed with excerpts from Francis’s speeches as tens of thousands of revelers danced beneath a laser light show, flanked by the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and Casa Rosada, the seat of Argentina’s government. An illuminated cross hung above the stage, and a nearby screen showed a white dove flapping its wings as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Francis was born in Buenos Aires, where he was archbishop before his 2013 election to the papacy. Peixoto is a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Braga, Portugal. His Sunday Masses, he said with a laugh, “are normal. It’s a normal liturgy.” In the early 2000s he organized karaoke nights to raise funds for his parish, then learned how to mix music by watching YouTube videos. During COVID, Peixoto began streaming live sets on Facebook, and the “DJ Priest” moniker stuck (Agence France-Presse, April 19).

Death by Baptism

A Protestant pastor in the United Kingdom was charged with manslaughter after she allegedly drowned a grandfather of seven during a home baptism. Cheryl Bartley, 48, was livestreaming the ceremony on the Facebook page of Life Changing Ministries when the video suddenly cut out as she was baptizing Robert Smith, 61, in a kiddie pool in Birmingham. By the time emergency services arrived, Smith, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, was dead. A postmortem revealed he died from drowning. Bartley later recorded a video saying she saw Smith in Heaven, “dancing with Jesus.” She is being charged with gross negligence manslaughter, which carries a prison sentence of one to 18 years. Smith, originally from Jamaica, had lived in England for 25 years and was already baptized but wanted to become a “born-again believer” (New York Post, April 9).