The Chimayó village in northern New Mexico may be small, but its influence is anything but.

Every year during Holy Week, an average of 300,000 people make their way to El Sanctuario de Chimayó. The church is known to have healing properties and bring blessings to those that seek them.

"It was always just to get back to God," Nina Steffen, from Rio Rancho, said.

The annual tradition involves a pilgrimage to the small Catholic church from people around the world.

The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and health concerns.

"It feels good. We need to see the people walking again. It was so sad for two whole years. It was really, like depressing not to see any of the people walking," Sylvia Montoya, an early trekker, said.

Montoya added the pilgrimage is an annual tradition for her family.

Despite driving this year, she said she made the walk several years ago, along with her mother, sister, and brother.

"My mom did it two years ago, and she did it from Galisteo," Montoya said. "Her and my sister and my brother."

A similar experience for Steffen.

She said she's been visiting the holy sanctuary for the past 22 years, joined by a group of local military moms.

"What really started it was our sons. I'm [with] a group of Blue Star Moms that have sons and daughters in the military," Steffen said. "We've just done it every year to ask God to protect our kids."

Steffen added she often spends her time praying for her son, Howard.

He's currently stationed in Jerusalem.

"I got my dirt from the hole. I got the holy water," Steffen said. "They talk about God's country. This is the ultimate God's country, right here. It's just so peaceful."

Some people, like Nicole Guzman, started their trek a day before Good Friday, in order to beat the crowds.

"This is the first time in like the past three years that I have done it. I would normally do it every year," she said.

Guzman started around 11 a.m. in Truchas, an almost three-hour walking journey to Chimayó.

Like many, she embarks on the journey for a special reason.

From praying for good health to fulfilling religious promises.

"A lot of people pray. A lot of people meditate. We met a lady back there that was meditating on her way this way carrying the cross," Guzman said. "This year, I kind of just did it for my family. I have my stepmother's mom, that was really sick. And in the process, we found out that she had passed, so this was for her more than anything."

Despite her personal loss, Guzman continued to walk on.

Not just for her own family, but for others in need of prayer and guidance.

"I know a lot of us carry a lot of burdens, and this gives us time to meditate and to think about it. At the end of the day, God has us and he's going to push us the rest of the way," Guzman said.

The pilgrimage dates back hundreds of years.

El Sanctuario de Chimayó is one of the most-visited holy sites in the United States. The sanctuary sees the most visitors during Holy Week but is open year-round.

CINCINNATI — Beechwood scored on the first drive and never looked back, beating Covington Catholic 27-7 in WCPO's "Game of the Week".

It's the first time Beechwood has beaten Covington Catholic since 2014.

In another Northern Kentucky matchup, two coaches who spent 15 years on the same coaching staff were on opposite sidelines. Mike Engler got the best of his mentor, Bob Sphire, as Ryle beat Highlands 27-13.

In a GCL South showdown, St. Xavier crushed Moeller 49-16. St. Xavier running back, Charles Kellom rushed for 216 yards, becoming the first Bomber to rush for 200+ yards in the last eight seasons.

Elsewhere in the GCL South, La Salle won at home against DuPont Manual, a team from Louisville, Ky.

Elder made the trip to St. Xavier (Louisville), but lost 31-21.

In a battle of unbeaten teams, Wyoming beat Reading 24-14 for Aaron Hancock's 100th win at Wyoming.

In ECC action, Winton Woods cruised to a decisive win over West Clermont.

Turpin held off Little Miami for a 41-23 win.

Watch highlights and analysis from Friday night's high school football action in the videos on this page.

RELATED: Sign for our new high school sports newsletter

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy.

Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict relaxed in 2007, and went further to limit its use. The pontiff said he was taking action because Benedict’s reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

Critics said they had never before witnessed a pope so thoroughly reversing his predecessor. That the reversal concerned something so fundamental as the liturgy, while Benedict is still alive and living in the Vatican as a retired pope, only amplified the extraordinary nature of Francis’ move, which will surely result in more right-wing hostility directed at him.

Francis, 84, issued a new law requiring individual bishops to approve celebrations of the old Mass, also called the Tridentine Mass, and requiring newly ordained priests to receive explicit permission to celebrate it from their bishops, in consultation with the Vatican.

Under the new law, bishops must also determine if the current groups of faithful attached to the old Mass accept Vatican II, which allowed for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin. These groups cannot use regular churches; instead, bishops must find alternate locations for them without creating new parishes.

In addition, Francis said bishops are no longer allowed to authorize the formation of any new pro-Latin Mass groups in their dioceses.

Francis said he was taking action to promote unity and heal divisions within the church that had grown since Benedict’s 2007 document, Summorum Pontificum. He said he based his decision on a 2020 Vatican survey of all the world’s bishops, whose “responses reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene.”

The pope’s rollback immediately created an uproar among traditionalists already opposed to Francis’ more progressive bent and nostalgic for Benedict’s doctrinaire papacy.

“This is an extremely disappointing document which entirely undoes the legal provisions,” of Benedict’s 2007 document, said Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

While Latin celebrations can continue, “the presumption is consistently against them: bishops are being invited to close them down,” Shaw said, adding that the requirement for Latin Masses to be held outside a parish was “unworkable.”

“This is an extraordinary rejection of the hard work for the church and the loyalty to the hierarchy which has characterized the movement for the Traditional Mass for many years, which I fear will foster a sense of alienation among those attached to the church’s ancient liturgy,” he said.

Benedict had issued his document in 2007 to reach out to a breakaway, schismatic group that celebrates the Latin Mass, the Society of St. Pius X, and which had split from Rome over the modernizing reforms of Vatican II.

But Francis said Benedict’s effort to foster unity had essentially backfired.

The opportunity offered by Benedict, the pope said in a letter to bishops accompanying the new law, was instead “exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”

Francis said he was “saddened” that the use of the old Mass was accompanied by a rejection of Vatican II itself “with unfounded and unsustainable assertions that it betrayed the Tradition and the ‘true Church.’”

Christopher Bellitto, professor of church history at Kean University, said Francis was right to intervene, noting that Benedict’s original decision had had a slew of unintended consequences that not only created internal divisions but temporarily roiled relations with Jews.

“Francis hits it right on the head with his observation that Benedict’s 2007 loosening of regulations against the Latin rite allowed others to use it for division,” he said. “The blowback proves his point.”

The blowback was indeed fierce, though it’s also likely that many will simply ignore Francis’ decree and continue on as before with sympathetic bishops. Some of these traditionalists and Catholics already were among Francis’ fiercest critics, with some accusing him of heresy for having opened the door to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion.

Rorate Caeli, a popular traditionalist blog run out of the U.S., said Francis’ “attack” was the strongest rebuke of a pope against his predecessors in living memory.

“Francis HATES US. Francis HATES Tradition. Francis HATES all that is good and beautiful,” the group tweeted. But it concluded: “FRANCIS WILL DIE, THE LATIN MASS WILL LIVE FOREVER.”

Messa in Latino, an Italian traditionalist blog, was also blistering in its criticism.

“Mercy always and only for sinners (who are not asked to repent) but no mercy for those few traditional Catholics,” the blog said Friday.

For years, though, Francis has made known his distaste of the old liturgy, privately labeling its adherents self-referential naval-gazers who are out of touch with the needs of the church. He has cracked down on religious orders that celebrated the old Mass exclusively and frequently decried the “rigidity” of tradition-minded priests who prioritize rules over pastoral accompaniment.

Traditionalists have insisted that the old liturgy was never abrogated and that Benedict’s 2007 reform had allowed it to flourish.

They point to the growth of traditionalist parishes, often frequented by young, large families, as well as new religious orders that celebrate the old liturgy. The Latin Mass Society claims the number of traditional Masses celebrated each Sunday in England and Wales had more than doubled since 2007, from 20 to 46.

But for many, the writing was on the wall as soon as Francis stepped out onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his 2013 election without the ermine-trimmed red velvet cape that was preferred by Benedict and is a symbol of the pre-Vatican II church.

The restrictions went into immediate effect with its publication in Friday’s official Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.

Pope Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital and returned home to the Vatican on Wednesday, 10 days after undergoing surgery to remove half his colon.

Francis, 84, sat in the passenger seat of the Ford car, which left Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic around 10:45 a.m. (4:45 a.m. EDT). He made a stop to pray at Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, which has a beloved icon of the Virgin Mary which Francis always visits after returning home from a foreign trip.

After the brief stop, Francis' small motorcade approached a side entrance to the Vatican. The Ford stopped before reaching the gate and Francis got out with the help of a bodyguard. He greeted some Italian security guards — two army soldiers standing guard and a handful of Italian police motorcycle escorts — and got back in the car, which then entered the Vatican through the Perugino gate.

Francis had half of his colon removed for a severe narrowing of his large intestine on July 4, his first major surgery since he became pope in 2013. It was a planned procedure, scheduled for early July when the pope’s audiences are suspended anyway and Francis would normally take some time off.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, confirmed Francis' return from the hospital and visit to the Rome basilica. Praying before the icon, Francis “expressed his gratitude for the success of his surgery and offered a prayer for all the sick, especially those he had met during his stay in hospital," Bruni said in the statement.

Francis will have several more weeks to recover before beginning to travel again in September. There are plans for him to visit Hungary and Slovakia in a Sept. 12-15 trip, and then make a quick stop in Glasgow, Scotland, in November to participate in the COP26 climate conference. Other possible trips are also under review.

The Vatican had originally said Francis could be discharged last weekend, but later said he would stay a few days extra for further recovery and rehabilitation therapy.

The pope appeared for the first time in public since the surgery on Sunday, looking in good form as he delivered his weekly prayer from the 10th floor hospital balcony, surrounded by young cancer patients. He used the occasion to call for free health care for all.

On Tuesday afternoon, the eve of his release, he visited the pediatric cancer ward, which is located on the same floor as the papal hospital suite.

The Argentine pope had part of one lung removed when he was a young man but has otherwise enjoyed relatively robust health.

WASHINGTON — Every spring the Supreme Court seems to find itself in the headlines with consequential rulings on the horizon.

This spring is no different.

Over the coming weeks, major cases impacting various aspects of American life are poised for rulings.

HEALTH CARE CHALLENGE

One of the biggest outstanding cases involves the Affordable Care Act.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it was constitutional, but this is a new challenge.

This challenge was brought by conservatives who believe the last ruling was only ruled constitutional because the Supreme Court interpreted the law as a tax.

Congress has since removed tax penalties from the law and therefore critics believe justices now have grounds to strike down the entire law.

Constitutional experts have argued this stands little chance of taking place, however the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett has left some wondering: "just how conservative has the Court become?"

LGBTQ RIGHTS

A big case involving LGBTQ rights and religious rights will get a ruling, too.

This case is out of Philadelphia where the city suspended its relationship with Catholic Social Services over the organization's policy of not allowing LGBTQ parents to adopt.

The organization has cited the Catholic Church's teachings on gay marriage, while the city says it violates anti-discrimination laws.

This case will impact religious rights and LGBTQ rights.

VOTING RIGHTS

Justices are expected to rule on two voting laws out of Arizona involving in-person voting and whether votes cast in different precincts can count. Additionally, justices are looking into who can return an absentee ballot.

This case will potentially impact voting rules and regulations across the country.

The case could also set the tone for future voting challenges.

A number of liberal organizations have filed lawsuits in recent weeks against new voting laws signed by conservative governors.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

The Supreme Court just heard oral arguments in a case involving a Pennsylvania cheerleader and vulgar comments she made on social media.

After not making the varsity cheerleading squad, the teenager took to social media where her language got her suspended from the team.

This case looks at whether after school, online comments by students can warrant in-school suspensions or discipline.

Since this case was just heard, it will likely be several weeks before a ruling.

POSSIBLE RETIREMENT?

It's also possible President Joe Biden gets his first Supreme Court pick in the coming weeks.

That is because many progressives are calling on Justice Stephen Breyer, a liberal justice who is 82 years old, to step down.

The calls are not based on rulings, but rather on his age and the desire by Democrats to replace Breyer with another liberal justice while Biden is in the White House and Democrats control the Senate.

Breyer has so far made no indication he plans to step down.