RIDGELAND, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 10, 2026--
C Spire today announced it has been named Arctic Wolf’s 2026 Southeast Partner of the Year. The award recognizes the company’s leadership in helping organizations strengthen security operations and defend against modern, AI‑driven threats by delivering trusted security outcomes through Arctic Wolf solutions.
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“Being named Arctic Wolf’s 2026 Southeast Partner of the Year is a tremendous honor and a direct reflection of the talent, dedication, and customer-inspired mindset of our business technology team,” said Brad Carpenter, C Spire’s Chief Operating Officer and EVP of Business Technology. “At C Spire, we pair world-class technology solutions with the people who truly understand our customers and the challenges they face every day. This award reinforces our commitment to helping businesses stay protected and better serve their customers and communities.”
As attackers increasingly leverage AI to move faster, scale attacks, and exploit gaps across the attack surface, organizations are under pressure to adopt AI in security operations—without adding complexity or risk. C Spire was recognized for its ability to help joint customers operationalize security in a way that is designed to be reliable, validated, and aligned to today’s security needs.
C Spire’s Business Technology unit has been recognized by industry leaders for excellence in cybersecurity, customer experience, and technology innovation. Its certified IT experts serve customers in 49 states, delivering solutions ranging from business internet and fiber to cloud connectivity, voice systems, managed Wi-Fi, and data protection — giving organizations the infrastructure and expertise they need to grow with confidence.
“These partners represent the best of the Arctic Wolf ecosystem,” said Will Briggs, Senior Vice President, Global Channels, Arctic Wolf. “They share our commitment to delivering security outcomes customers rely on. Together, we’re helping organizations defend at machine speed—while ensuring AI is applied in a way that is validated, governed, and effective in real-world environments.”
The Arctic Wolf Partner of the Year Awards recognize top-performing partners that demonstrate excellence in security expertise, customer outcomes, and strategic alignment. Award recipients are selected based on their ability to help organizations navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape, reduce operational burden on security teams, and achieve stronger, more resilient security outcomes.
As organizations worldwide face accelerated threats and an ongoing cybersecurity talent shortage, more than 10,000 organizations globally rely on Arctic Wolf to help end cyber risk. Arctic Wolf solutions are powered by the Aurora® Superintelligence Platform, a cybersecurity platform built for the AI era. The platform combines agentic AI, security expertise, and rigorous validation to deliver trustworthy outcomes across security operations. Each week, the platform processes more than nine trillion security events, transforming massive volumes of telemetry into prioritized, actionable outcomes that help organizations respond faster and operate with greater confidence.
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About C Spire
C Spire is a privately held advanced technology company that delivers customer-inspired solutions, transforming how people and businesses connect, live and work. Based in Ridgeland, the company is the largest privately held wireless carrier in the United States, a leading fiber internet provider across Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, and a technology solutions partner serving businesses across 49 states. Additional company news and announcements are available at C Spire Newsroom.
C Spire Named 2026 Southeast Partner of the Year by Arctic Wolf
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Pope Leo XIV honored Barcelona’s most sacred and beautiful monuments Wednesday by leading a noontime prayer at a mountain-top abbey before he was due to celebrate an evening Mass at the famed Sagrada Familia Basilica on the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí.
The celebration of Barcelona's Christian traditions, past and present, marked the highlight of Leo's weeklong visit to Spain. It's the first by a pope in 15 years to a once staunchly Catholic European country that like many others has experienced secularizing trends.
The trip, though, has underscored how the country of 50 million people, which experienced a religious crisis after its 20th century dictatorship ended, still has plenty of faithful Catholics who have turned out in droves to welcome the American pope.
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets around Sagrada Familia awaiting Leo's arrival, with streets closed to traffic and a heavy police presence, given that the country's royal family was due to attend. After the Mass, Leo was also to consecrate the final Tower of Jesus Christ atop the basilica that has made it the world's tallest church.
“The entire structure of the Sagrada Familia is striking,” said Laura Rincón, who was waiting along with two friends for the pope, after she finished work in a nearby shop. She said that she was sure the pope would be impressed by the church she marvels at every time she passes by.
“If you look at it just for its architecture, it is amazing,” she said. “Inside, its columns make you feel like you are inside a forest."
Earlier Wednesday, Leo celebrated the centuries-old Catalan tradition of popular piety by praying at Montserrat, a mountain complex outside the city that is dear to many Catalans. The complex, which includes an 11th-century Benedictine abbey and a 16th-century basilica, is revered for its Black Madonna statue and is home to a boy's choir that has existed since the 13th century and is Europe's oldest.
Thousands of faithful arrived early at the monastery, with groups of nuns and schoolchildren singing and waving signs and photographs of the pope outside the basilica. Bells rang out over the spire-like rock formations that top Montserrat and the valley below as Leo arrived in a golf cart.
In his remarks to the faithful in the abbey, Leo said that Montserrat for centuries has been a place of peace and reconciliation in a world marked by violence, “criticism that humiliates, condemnation that destroys and aggression that divides.” He urged Spaniards to follow in the “path of mercy, reconciliation, truth and gentleness.”
In recent years, the Montserrat abbey has faced numerous accusations from survivors of clergy sexual abuse and was included in the Spanish ombudsman’s 800-page report on the crisis in 2023. The report found 15 victims and three alleged perpetrators linked to the abbey.
“It’s very painful because there are members of the church who committed errors,” said the Rev. Cesario Escarda, a Toledo priest, as he waited for Leo at the abbey. “What the pope wants to do is shine a light on the truth and ask forgiveness and bring in the victims and listen to them and accompany them.”
The highlight of Leo’s visit was expected to be his Mass on Wednesday evening in Barcelona at Sagrada Familia. The Mass commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of its designer, Gaudí, who died at age 73, three days after he was hit by a tram.
A century after construction began during the pontificate of Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, the basilica has become one of the world’s most visited but unfinished monuments, annually drawing upward of 5 million visitors a year.
Gaudí, the famed Catalan architect who is on the path to possible sainthood, spent four decades designing and building the temple as the summary of the Christian faith carved in stone. The most important stories of Jesus’ life, the Nativity and Passion, are etched into the basilica’s east and west facades. A third facade facing south, the Glory, will serve as the basilica’s main entrance when finished.
The temple is an architectural and geometrical masterpiece inside and out, an art nouveau celebration in form and symbol of Christianity and God’s creation through stone and light with the structure itself based on the architectural tradition of Byzantine and Gothic churches.
A total of 18 sandcastle spires rise up from the top and pierce Barcelona’s skyline: 12 to symbolize Christ’s 12 apostles, four for each of the four Evangelists who recorded Christ’s life in the Gospels, one topped with a star over the apse honoring the Virgin Mary and, tallest among them, the Tower of Jesus Christ.
When the final Christ tower was finished last year at a height of 172½ meters (564 feet), it made Sagrada Familia the world’s tallest church. Leo will formally consecrate the tower on Wednesday night.
The cross-shaped interior, with the altar at the apse, is an homage to light and nature. Treelike columns soar to the sky, colored by constantly changing light filtered through stained glass windows like the sun poking through leaves in a forest.
“Nature is my teacher,” Gaudí once said. “Everything comes from the great book of nature, always open that we must read.”
The colors of the window glass have meaning: The blues and greens of the eastern portal windows, where the facade depicts Christ’s birth, look more joyful and are most brilliant when the sun rises and light passes through. The coarser shades of red and orange, illuminated by the setting sun on the western portals, color the side of the basilica that depicts Christ’s Passion. Behind the altar and above the cross are yellows and gold that glimmer in the noonday sun.
Historian Mònica Santín, who leads tours of the basilica, said that in designing Sagrada Familia, Gaudí was guided by two books: the Gospels and nature.
“The way he lets in the natural light is also an invitation to the Christian mystery,” she said, citing the three facades depicting Christ’s birth, death and glory.
“And when you enter inside, it is all light,” Santín said. “What is that the symbol of? We can’t see God, but we perceive his light all around us. I think that is how you can read this message, and it is fascinating.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Leo XIV leaves at the end of a meeting with faithful and members of the diocesan charity and welfare organizations in the Church of Sant Agusti in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026 (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV blesses a child as he meets with faithful and members of the diocesan charity and welfare organizations in the Church of Sant Agusti in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026 (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV leads a rosary prayer at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, in Montserrat, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful from the balcony after leading a rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, in Montserrat, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
People wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV to lead a rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, in Montserrat, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
People wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV to lead a rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, in Montserrat, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Antoni Gaudí's Basilica of the Sagrada Família stands at dusk as seen from the Mirador Torre Glòries in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pope Leo XIV looks at the cheering crowd upon arriving to attend a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Visitors take photos inside the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, ahead of Pope Leo XIV's visit to the city in June. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A view of the Basilica of Montserrat at the Monastery of Montserrat near Barcelona, Spain, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A view of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, ahead of Pope Leo XIV's visit to the city in June. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to attend a prayer vigil at Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pope Leo XIV blesses a child before a prayer vigil at Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
