Catholic News
- Archbishop Gallagher begins visit to Ukraine; Cardinal Zuppi concludes mission there (CWN)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, began a four-day visit to Ukraine on July 17. Archbishop Gallagher is Pope Leo’s special envoy for the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the renewal of the structures of the Latin-rite Church in Ukraine. - Vatican newspaper recalls Israeli attack on parish, highlights Gaza's suffering; Catholic school to reopen (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
In the most prominent article in its July 17 edition, L’Osservatore Romano recalled the first anniversary of the Israeli attack on Gaza’s sole Catholic parish. Beatrice Guarrera reported that a year later, “fighting has not ceased, nor has the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.” A year after he was injured in the attack, Father Gabriel Romanelli, I.V.E., the parish’s pastor, said that “Gaza’s roads are destroyed,” that diesel costs $13 per liter, and that gasoline costs $27 per liter. “80% of the infrastructure remains destroyed; this involves not just buildings, but also water and electricity networks,” added Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem. “Many schools and universities no longer exist.” This fall, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem plans to reopen the Gaza parish school for 1,000 students. Bishop Shomali said that “the children will at least not be left on the streets. It is important that they return to their studies, to try to slowly bring them back to normality and attempt to overcome the trauma of war.” - Archbishop asks India's Supreme Court to address violence against Christians (Catholic Connect)
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bengaluru petitioned the Supreme Court of India to address violence against Christians. “According to the petition, more than 800 incidents of violence against Christians were documented in 2025, while 285 incidents were reported during the first six months of 2026,” Catholic Connect, a website of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, reported. The prelate’s petition called for “preventive policing through practical and enforceable court directions, strict accountability for vigilante violence, fair application of criminal law so that victims are not criminalized, and enhanced protection for Christian communities.” - Reject violence, Zambia's bishops urge in election statement (ACI Africa)
As Zambia prepares for its general election on August 13, the nation’s bishops called for the rejection of violence. “No political office, no electoral victory, and no grievance, political or otherwise, can ever justify aggression, intimidation, or the shedding of blood,” they said in their July 16 statement, amid election-related violence. “Let this election be conducted honestly, let its results be announced transparently, and let the verdict of the Zambian people, once fairly given, be honored by all.” Located in southern Africa, the nation of 21.4 million (map) is 87% Christian (44% Catholic), 10% ethnic religionist, and 2% Baháʼí. - Bishop hopes for compromise in Jerusalem property tax dispute (Aid to the Church in Need)
Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem expressed hope that the Church and municipal authorities can reach a compromise in a long-standing property tax dispute. “A distinction must be made between for-profit activities, such as certain guesthouses for pilgrims and institutions with a strictly religious, educational or social purpose,” Bishop Shomali said in an interview. “If an agreement were reached regarding for-profit activities, it is likely that the Churches would only be required to pay the tax in the future, without retroactive effect,” he continued. “As for schools, hospitals, social centers and purely religious institutions, the Churches hope that they will continue to benefit from [the] traditional exemption.” - Omaha man arrested for allegedly threatening to blow up Catholic school, kill nuns (WOWT-TV)
A 32-year-old man was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska, after he was linked to a threatening Facebook post. “I’m going to shoot up this school and kill [the governor’s] children and a few nuns,” the post stated. - Missouri enacts Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (Missouri independent)
Gov. Bill Kehoe of Missouri signed into law the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. The law establishes that “any licensed, registered, or certified health care provider present in the provider’s professional capacity at the time a child is born alive during or after an abortion or attempted abortion shall exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life, health, and comfort of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious provider would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.” In addition, the law provides that “any person who knowingly performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive shall be guilty of first-degree murder.” The legislation passed the state house in a 102-46 vote and the state senate in an 18-14 vote. - Religious sisters meet with Queen Camilla (International Union of Superiors General)
A delegation from the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) traveled to Clarence House, the royal residence in London, to meet with Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom. According to a UISG statement, Sister Roxanne Schares, S.S.N.D., the group’s executive secretary, “emphasized the daily contribution of Catholic sisters in some of the most fragile contexts around the world, acting as a prophetic presence and voice and accompanying migrants, refugees, trafficked persons, and communities affected by violent conflict, poverty, and discrimination.” - Ontario police investigating $450,000 in missing parish funds (Pillar)
Father David Collins, O.F.M. Conv., has been removed from ministry in the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario, as police investigate missing parish funds. “A review of all parish accounts extending back to 2019 has determined that over $630,000.00 [449,118 U.S. dollars] has been taken from the parish accounts through the issuing of irregular cheques,” Archbishop Michael Mulhall said in a letter to local Franciscans. - The Camillian order: a numerical overview (CWN)
Today marks the liturgical memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis (1550-1641) in the United States; the saint is commemorated on July 14 on the General Roman Calendar. - French bishops lament legalization of euthanasia, assisted suicide (Église catholique en France)
The president and two vice presidents of the French bishops’ conference lamented the legalization of euthanasia in France. The National Assembly (the French Parliament’s lower house) voted three times in favor of the legislation, and the Senate voted three times against it. The French Constitution grants the government the authority to allow the National Assembly to make the final decision on legislation in case of a stalemate; after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu invoked the Constitution, the National Assembly passed the bill for a fourth and final time in a 291-241 vote on July 15. “This July 15, 2026, marks a serious break in the history of our country,” said the bishops. “By choosing to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, the deputies have enshrined in French law the possibility of causing death.” They added: The Catholics of France will continue, with many other men and women of good will, believers or not, to serve life. They will do it animated by the firm hope that the Gospel gives them, without a spirit of resignation or confrontation, convinced that the greatness of a society never lies in the fact of giving death to the most fragile, or allowing them to do so, but on the contrary of accompanying them, through real fraternity, to the end. For Christ, in whom they believe, came that the world might have life. - Hindu mob vandalizes Catholic school in India's Madhya Pradesh (UCANews)
A Hindu mob attacked a Catholic school in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (map) after a former employee claimed he was fired for refusing to convert to Christianity. “They broke many glass windowpanes, but timely police intervention helped stop further damage,” said Father Thankachan Jose, a priest of the Diocese of Jabalpur, following the attack on St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School on the city’s outskirts. - Nobel laureates, Catholic prelates adopt Rome Declaration, warn against AI in nuclear weapons (Vatican News)
At the conclusion of a three-day conference, most of which was held at Castel Gandolfo, some 200 Nobel laureates, AI experts, former heads of state, and Catholic prelates adopted the Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear and Autonomous Weapons, New Digital Protocols, and Emerging Models of Digital Development (full text). The Rome Declaration warned that “AI built into nuclear systems leaves little time for, or even replaces, human judgement in a crisis” and called for “disarming the next arms race.” “The Declaration presented today reminds us with great clarity that no machine, no algorithm, and no autonomous system can be placed at the center of decisions upon which the survival of humanity depends,” said Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome and archpriest of the Lateran Basilica. The Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, with the assistance of Domus Communis Foundation and a dozen other institutions, organized the gathering. The president of the Domus Communis (Common Home) Foundation is Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, C.S., a retired Vatican diplomat. - Cardinal You Heung-sik: 1st vocation ministry is a happy priest (Vatican News (Spanish))
Addressing a gathering of priests in Paraguay, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy said that “the first vocation ministry is the witness of a happy priest.” “A young Paraguayan who sees his parish priest praying deeply, administering the sacraments with joy, proclaiming the Word with passion, living out fraternity with enthusiasm, and bearing witness to charity in daily life, will more readily hear the voice of the Master, who never ceases to call men to the beautiful life of the ministerial priesthood,” Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik said in an address at the major seminary in Asunción, the nation’s capital, during the National Day of the Clergy. - SSPX claims Pope Francis's authorizations on confessions, marriages still in force (CWN)
In a statement published on July 16, the Society of Saint Pius X asserted that “Pope Francis’s grants of confessional faculties and for the ability of the SSPX priests to obtain marriage delegation remain in force”—two weeks after the Vatican stated they were no longer in force. - Amnesty International UK pulls report that called English bishops 'anti-rights' (EWTN News)
Amnesty International UK pulled a report that designated 117 organizations as “anti-rights,” including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and organizations that defend the rights to life and religious freedom. “Because these groups challenge core human rights principles, Amnesty International UK uses the term ‘anti-rights’ to describe their aims and impact,” the organization stated. It later stated that the report’s “use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK, which is why it was promptly removed.” “The Catholic Church works to uphold the God-given rights of all humanity, without exception,” the bishops’ conference responded. “This includes the rights of those unjustly imprisoned, of refugees and migrants, of those who have been trafficked, and the right to life of all people from conception to natural death.” - Iranian Catholic woman beaten in prison (AsiaNews)
Ghazal Marzban, an Iranian woman who converted from Islam to Catholicism, suffered a broken hand during a recent beating in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, according to AsiaNews, the agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. The agency cited a report from Article 18, a London-based organization that promotes human rights in Iran. - Albano diocese organizes concert in Pope's honor (Vatican News)
The Diocese of Albano, in which Castel Gandolfo is located, has organized a concert in honor of Pope Leo. The July 18 concert will include works by Niccolò Paganini and Vincenzo Bellini. “The renewed presence of the Holy Father in our diocesan territory has filled our local Church and its people with joy,” said Bishop Vincenzo Viva. Since 1626, many popes have spent time at the papal summer residence. Pope Francis did not do so after 2013; Pope Leo resumed the custom last year. Likewise, in 2013, Pope Francis skipped a classical musical concert at which he was scheduled to appear, reportedly saying, “I am not a Renaissance prince who listens to music instead of working.” - Irish government backs statutory abortion leave (Catholic Herald)
The Irish government lent its support to legislation that would grant paid leave to mothers who abort their children. The bill would also grant paid leave to mothers who are grieving the loss of a child through miscarriage. “The measure is insulting to women, who know the difference between abortion and miscarriage,” said Sandra Parda of the Life Institute. “The State is increasingly setting itself up to promote abortion, which is very different from the tragedy of miscarriage.” - Vatican newspaper highlights resistance to medical workers as Ebola spreads in DR Congo (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent article in its July 16 edition to the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to the resistance—violent at times—that health care workers face. Dr. Mapendo Ndaliko Augustin, medical advisor for the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, told L’Osservatore Romano that “both rural and urban populations continued to oppose response teams, and some groups of youths threatened to burn down hospitals involved in the epidemic response. Fortunately, a lull has been observed since the beginning of July. But it is precarious.” - More...