Catholic News
- Israeli settlers' outpost threatens Palestinian Christian village, West Bank priest warns (Vatican News)
A priest in Taybeh, a Palestinian Christian village in the West Bank, warned of the threat posed by the illegal construction of an Israeli settlers’ outpost. Over the past year, settlers have repeatedly attacked Taybeh. Amid the reported beginning of the outpost’s construction, Father Bashar Fawadleh warned that Christian families “fear living under constant intimidation, while farmers worry they may no longer be able to reach their fields and poultry farms in the eastern part of the village,” according to Vatican News. “The Holy Land cannot be preserved through words alone,” he said. “It must be protected through concrete action ... Do not wait until yet another irreversible reality is imposed. The time to act is now.” - Pope appoints Diocese of Rome's 1st moderator of the curia (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Pier Luigi Stolfi as the Diocese of Rome’s first moderator of the curia. Father Stolfi, born in 1970 and ordained in 1996, is now parish priest of San Lino, a parish with weekly Eucharistic adoration. Confessions are scheduled at the parish for over four hours each weekday, as well as during every Sunday Mass. The July 7 appointment followed the creation of the position in a June 24 apostolic letter. Article 19 of Confirma Fratres Tuos provides that the moderator of the curia, appointed upon the recommendation of the cardinal vicar for a five-year term, coordinates the activities of the diocesan curia. - Transalpine Redemptorists are distinct from Redemptorists, superior general clarifies (Scala News)
The superior general of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori, clarified that the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as the Transalpine Redemptorists, are not part of the Redemptorist order. Father Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R., issued his statement prior to the scheduled illicit episcopal consecration of a Transalpine Redemptorist priest. The Transalpine Redemptorists, a traditionalist community founded in 1988, reconciled with the Holy See in 2008 but adopted a sedevacantist position in May. Father Michael Mary is scheduled to be ordained a bishop on July 25 by Bishop Pierre Roy, a former priest of the Society of Saint Pius X who traces his episcopal lineage to a bishop ordained by Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục. - Cardinal Cupich: Synodality is like dancing (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
In an article published in the Vatican newspaper, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago compared synodality to the kolo, a Slavic dance that he encountered at his childhood parish. In “La sinodalità è come ballare” (Synodality is like dancing), an article published on July 7, Cardinal Cupich wrote that “both dance and synodality require a shift from individual performance to collective harmony, transforming a group of distinct individuals into a single, moving body.” “Synodality is the Church learning to dance,” he continued. “It is a constant practice of listening to the divine melody, honoring each participant’s unique steps, and moving forward in a beautifully coordinated witness to the world. It reminds us that the goal is not to reach the end of the song as quickly as possible, but to offer praise to the Creator through grace, unity, and the love shown in every single step along the way.” - Thousands of errors found in British Columbia assisted-suicide cases, internal report shows (The Catholic Register)
Citing an internal government document, a Canadian Catholic newspaper reported that medical professionals in the province of British Columbia made 2,807 errors as they managed 4,169 MAiD (medical aid in dying) cases in 2024. “The staggering level of errors surrounding the practice of euthanasia in Canada betrays a level of indifference and callousness toward Canadian patients at end of life,” said Amanda Achtman, ethics director of Canadian Physicians for Life. “At the same time, every euthanasia death is a medical ‘error’ because it is an aberration of sound medical practice rooted in the Hippocratic oath to ‘do no harm.’” - Campania's bishops appeal for respect for dignity of the person (Ottopagine.it )
The bishops of the Italian region of Campania (map) issued a wide-ranging appeal, “Per la dignità della persona e il bene in Campania” (For the dignity of the person and the good in Campania). During a recent visit to Campania, Pope Leo XIV “called everyone to a leap of dignity and responsibility, inviting them to serve life, to choose justice and to place the common good above partisan interests,” the bishops said in their July 6 statement. “We care about our communities, families, young people, the elderly, the sick, workers, migrants, prisoners, those who live in inland areas, urban and social peripheries, lands wounded by pollution, illegality and abandonment,” the bishops continued, as they asked for “a serious, shared and non-ideological discernment” about a range of concerns, including abortion, the Mafia, pollution, and prisons. - Murdered priest was tireless peacemaker, says bishop in Central African Republic (Aid to the Church in Need)
Bishop Aurelio Gazzera of Bangassou paid tribute to Father Crépin Martial Monga, a priest who was killed outside his parish residence in Zemio on June 29. “At some points he and the parish cared for more than 3,000 refugees at the mission,” said Bishop Gazzera. “He maintained many contacts with various rebel leaders and the authorities, always striving to mediate and find resolutions for the conflicts.” The Central African Republic Civil War began in 2012; Father Monga coordinated the Local Committee for Peace and Reconciliation. - Pastor, family arrested under Indian state's anti-conversion law (Catholic Connect)
Christians in a village in Uttar Pradesh (map) appealed for prayers after a Protestant pastor, his wife, and an area resident were arrested under the state’s anti-conversion law. Catholic Connect, a website of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, reported that the arrest took place on July 5 in Pipardeurwa, before Pastor Saroj Kumar’s Sunday service. The northern Indian state is 80% Hindu and 19% Muslim; only 0.2% of its population is Christian. - Louisiana bishop warns against Mass attendance at SSPX chapel (Diocese of Baton Rouge)
Stating that “it is our duty to support the Magisterium of the Church and the authority of the Roman Pontiff,” the bishop of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, encouraged the faithful not to attend Mass at the local chapel of the Society of Saint Pius X. “I know, for some, these words are difficult to hear, especially for those who have worshiped, whether regularly or on occasion, at liturgies celebrated by priests of the Society for spiritual reasons and who never affirmed or professed the Society’s contradictory theology,” Bishop Michael Duca said in his July 7 statement. Bishop Duca encouraged attendance at a diocesan parish where the traditional Latin Mass is celebrated on Sundays. - Arson, vandalism at German parish (OIDAC Europe)
Unknown perpetrators vandalized a German parish and set fire to a bench, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reported. The incident took place on June 29 at St. Mary’s Church in Freudenberg, a small city in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. - Vatican newspaper highlights 'note of hope' in Gaza refugee camp (CWN)
L’Osservatore Romano devoted the most prominent front-page article in its July 7 edition to Suhail Abu Shawish, a Palestinian craftsman who repairs ouds in a Gaza refugee camp. - Cardinal Radcliffe discusses London Mass featuring blessing of same-sex couple (AdVaticanum)
Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., discussed a recent Mass marking the 50th anniversary of a same-sex couple. During the Mass, at which Cardinal Radcliffe preached the homily, Father Jim O’Keefe led “the assembled clergy in blessing” the couple, according to New Ways Ministry. “I gave no blessing to anyone and had not been aware that any blessings would be given,” said Cardinal Radcliffe. The Mass, described as a Mass of Thanksgiving for 50 Years of Friendship, Partnership, and Commitment in the Pursuit of Justice, “was not designed to celebrate gay relationships as such,” he continued. “To promote it as such would be to misrepresent it. To do so for the purposes of exciting scandal would be morally wrong.” Cardinal Radcliffe added: The guidelines given by the Church are that any such occasion should be private so as not to cause misunderstanding. It was agreed that this occasion should be private. Why the privacy was not respected I do not know. So making it more public by writing articles about it would be against the will of the Church as I understand it. - Pope appoints proponent of same-sex blessings as bishop of German diocese (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today appointed Auxiliary Bishop Christian Würtz of Freiburg im Breisgau as the new bishop of Eichstätt. The diocese, though relatively small (nearly 400,000 Catholics), has been viewed as a bellwether because the Pontiff has a free hand in appointing the bishop there—unlike in those German dioceses whether the cathedral chapter chooses the bishop. - Vatican releases preparatory document for extraordinary meeting on Amoris Laetitia (CWN)
The Holy See Press Office, General Secretariat of the Synod, and Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life released the preparatory document for the upcoming Vatican meeting on the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia. - 4 attacks reported on Christians in West Bengal (Matters India)
On July 5, at least four incidents of anti-Christian violence took place in the Indian state of West Bengal (map). Matters India, based in Delhi, reported that a mob attacked the home of a Christian widow in Murshidabad, “demanding she abandon her faith and donate her property for conversion into a [Hindu] temple” activists “seized Bibles and briefly detained worshippers” at a Protestant prayer meeting in Bankura attackers “broke windows, desecrated the altar, and damaged musical instruments” at a Mizo Synod [Presbyterian] church in Suvas Gram a mob attacked Grace Church at Faridpur during a Sunday service, assaulting the pastor and members of the congregation Matters India linked the attacks against Christians—as well as recent intimidation of Muslims—to a new Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal. The state is 71% Hindu, 27% Muslim, and 0.7% Christian. - Pope begins 3-week stay in Castel Gandolfo (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV began a three-week stay at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo on the evening of July 5. “I am very happy to be here among you and to spend the next few weeks with a little rest, a little prayer, a little reading, and, hopefully, a little sport here in Castel Gandolfo,” Pope Leo said to local residents upon his arrival. “Coming together is always an important moment, and I am happy that you are all here. Thank you for your welcome, and thank you for being brothers and sisters.” For centuries, the popes have customarily spent at least part of their summers in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Francis abandoned the custom after 2013; Pope Leo resumed it last year, to the delight of local residents. - Vatican's Archbishop Gallagher has 'frank and illuminating' meeting with Nigerian sultan (The Sun (Lagos))
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, met in Nigeria with Sa’adu Abubakar, the sultan of Sokoto and president of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. “We had a very frank and illuminating conversation,” Archbishop Gallagher told journalists after the July 6 meeting. “It was good to hear that many of our positions regarding the role of religious leaders, both on the Catholic side and the Muslim side, coincide. For me, this is a reason for optimism regarding the religious cohesion of the country and our shared commitment to working for the good of all Nigerians.” Salisu Shehu, the council’s deputy-secretary general, said that “there was a strong call for all religious and faith communities to work together to combat hate speech, especially the growing and unfortunate phenomenon whereby some individuals openly insult religious leaders who are highly respected within their various faith communities.” Nigeria, a nation of 243 million (map)--the most populous in Africa and sixth most populous in the world—is 47% Muslim, 46% Christian (11% Catholic), and 7% ethnic religionist. - New nuncio begins mission in Ecuador (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Archbishop Dagoberto Campos Salas, the new apostolic nuncio to Ecuador, recently began his mission there. During a June 16 meeting with President Daniel Noa, the nuncio “conveyed the greetings of the Holy Father, Leo XIV, to the Ecuadorian people,” the Vatican newspaper reported on July 6. “For his part, the Head of State expressed his willingness to keep channels of collaboration and dialogue open with the Holy See and the local Catholic Church.” Archbishop Campos, a native of Costa Rica, previously served as apostolic nuncio to Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone (2018-2022) and to Panama (2022-2026). Located in South America, Ecuador, a nation of 18.5 million (map), is 95% Christian (83% Catholic). Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2015. - Lebanese Christian villages deny they wish to be annexed by Israel (France 24)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told Fox News that “Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah.” Hanna al-Amil, mayor of the Christian village of Rmaish, responded that “15 Christian towns had issued a statement two days ago denying these allegations.” France 24 reported that most Christian villages in southern Lebanon “have remained inhabited despite Israeli evacuation orders, with residents choosing to stay to protect their homes, churches and farmland.” The prime minister made his remarks four months after the beginning of the Lebanon war, during which Israel has occupied part of southern Lebanon. - US State Department demands release of detained Nicaraguan bishop (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs)
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs called for the release of Bishop Abelardo Mata, 80, following his detention by the Nicaraguan regime. “We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nicaraguan Bishop Abelardo Mata who has been arbitrarily detained by the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship,” the Bureau stated. “80-year old Bishop Mata poses no threat to the regime and his health is fragile.” - More...