Catholic News
- Be a peacemaker, Pope pleads in anthology of his writings on peace (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV pleaded with readers of a new anthology of his writings on peace to become peacemakers in their spheres of influence. “Above all, peace is a responsibility,” Pope Leo wrote in a newly published text at the beginning of Disarmata e disarmante: La pace è un dono, which was released today by the Vatican Publishing House. “If our first instinct when we encounter a problem, experience tension or are insulted is to judge others, accuse and even condemn them, then, inevitably, first indifference and then hatred will grow around us.” Pope Leo emphasized that “peace is built with truth,” “peace seeks witnesses,” and “peace requires hope,” as he cited St. Augustine, Pope Pius XI, and Pope Francis. The Pontiff also warned that “it is not atomic weapons that generate peace, but disarmament.” “This truth, which seemed clear in past decades when we witnessed a nuclear de-escalation, has been obscured by a race to armament that today frightens and terrifies,” he said. “Must the human species continue to inhabit the Earth? The combination of the cyber domain and global rearmament impels one to seriously ask this question.” The anthology, edited by Alessandro Banfi, will be published in English as Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift. - Archbishop Gallagher meets with Ukraine's President Zelensky, who hopes for papal visit (President of Ukraine)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 20, a day after Russian missiles and drones struck the Kyiv neighborhood where the prelate was spending the night. President Zelensky thanked the Vatican for its support for the Ukrainian people and “expressed his special gratitude to the Vatican for its assistance in returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia,” according to a statement from the president’s office. Archbishop Gallagher, in turn, “reaffirmed the Vatican’s support for Ukraine’s path toward membership in the European Union” and thanked the president for allowing Catholics to use a church that had been confiscated by the Soviet Union. President Zelensky added that a papal visit to Ukraine “could be a truly historic moment—above all, a moment of support.” As his visit to Ukraine drew to a close, Archbishop Gallagher also met with acting Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha and visited the Maidan Museum. - Australia's Bishop Saunders on trial for 26 counts of abuse (CWN)
A retired Australian bishop is on trial for 26 counts of sexual abuse allegedly committed against three young males between 2008 and 2017. - Bishop Barres, religious sisters sue New York over assisted suicide mandates (EWTN News)
Bishop John Barres of Rockville Centre, New York, and four women’s religious institutes filed suit against the State of New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act. “Beginning August 5, medical providers caring for terminally ill New Yorkers will have to proactively inform and counsel their patients about their ‘option’ to kill themselves,” the plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit. “This ‘Suicide Counseling Mandate’ is far broader than anything required by states like California, Oregon, and Washington.” The plaintiffs stated that the new law also created a Suicide Qualification Mandate, Suicide Drug Prescription and Ingestion Mandate, Suicide Referral Mandate, False Death Certificate Mandate, and Unfaithful Employee Retention Mandate. “We will never submit to New York’s culture of death,” Bishop Barres said in a statement. “Assisted suicide is a grave moral failure that puts the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from mental and emotional illness at risk of abuse and manipulation. Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.” The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and Little Sisters of the Poor joined in the lawsuit, as did the Catholic Health System of Long Island. - Westminster archbishop congratulates new Prime Minster Andy Burnham (CBCEW)
Archbishop Richard Moth, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, extended congratulations to the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham. “We are living in challenging times,” said Archbishop Moth. “As Christians we have a duty to be bridgebuilders and peacemakers. Where there are tensions, hostility and injustice, we are called to respond with real concern and respect for the dignity of the person, for the needs of families, the marginalized, and the vulnerable.” “I look forward to working with the new Prime Minister to build on our long record of constructive partnership with the UK Government, and to further our shared endeavor to serve the common good,” the prelate added. Burnham, a Catholic born in 1970, attended Catholic primary and secondary schools. In 2015, Burnham called upon the Church to support same-sex marriage and described Pope Francis as “the right man to seize this moment” and “bring the Church into the 21st century.” - Pontiff to present alma mater's 1st Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal (Villanova University)
Villanova University announced the establishment of the Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal, which will honor individuals “whose leadership has advanced sustainability, ecological responsibility, and integral human development.” Pope Leo, a Villanova alumnus, will present the first medal during a conference in Castel Gandolfo in October. - Dalit man given burial in Catholic cemetery after civil authorities intervene (News Today (Chennai))
A Dalit man was buried in a Catholic cemetery in a village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (map) after civil authorities intervened. News Today, a newspaper based in Chennai, reported that the cemetery “had long been treated as an exclusive preserve by members of a dominant caste, with no Dalit Christian previously allowed burial there. Despite the cemetery being designated for all Catholics, the Church hierarchy had failed to enforce equal access, prompting Dalit residents to seek legal intervention.” - Reject constitutional convention proposal, Michigan Catholic Conference urges (Detroit Catholic)
The Michigan Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, called on voters to reject a ballot proposal that would convene a state constitutional convention. “With the nationalization of state-based politics becoming more the norm than the exception, a constitutional convention would likely open Michigan’s governing document to extraordinary out-of-state influence and engagement,” said Paul Long, the conference’s president. With the unanimous approval of the state’s bishops and other conference board members, the conference joined the Protect MI Constitution coalition, whose varied members include the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Citizens for Traditional Values. - Premonstratensian Rite Mass celebrated in ruins of English abbey (Catholic Herald)
A Norbertine priest celebrated a traditional Premonstratensian Rite Mass at the ruins of Bayham Old Abbey on July 11. “Celebrating the Holy Mass in the ruined sanctuary of Bayham was a reminder that out of the ruins of past tribulations, God continues to raise up new growth in the Church for His glory and for our salvation,” said Father Stephen Morrison, O.Praem. It was only the second Mass celebrated at the abbey since its suppression in the sixteenth century. - Vatican newspaper laments death of 33 stranded Sudanese refugees (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
In a prominent front-page article in its July 20 edition, the Vatican newspaper lamented the death of 33 Sudanese refugees in the desert. As the refugees fled their nation’s civil war, their bus broke down in a remote desert area, and they died of thirst. “The deaths of the 33 passengers in the desert represent more than just a humanitarian tragedy,” Francesco Citterich wrote in his L’Osservatore Romano article. “A bus stranded in the middle of nowhere, unnoticed for weeks, has become the symbol of a crisis that continues to unfold day after day, far from the international spotlight, while defenseless civilians continue to pay the ultimate price.” - 'Man and Nature: Fragile Balances' on display in Pontifical Gardens (Vatican News)
A photography exhibition, “Man and Nature: Fragile Balances” (image), is on display at Borgo Laudato Si’ in the Pontifical Gardens at Castel Gandolfo. The exhibition features the prizewinning photographs of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award. - Archbishop Gallagher preaches on prayer's power at anniversary of restoration of Ukraine's Latin-rite hierarchy (CWN)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher marked the 35th anniversary of the restoration of the Latin-rite hierarchy in Ukraine at a solemn Mass on July 19 at the National Shrine of the Mother of God of the Scapular in Berdychiv. - Russia attacks Kyiv neighborhood during Vatican archbishop's stay (Vatican News)
The Russian military launched heavy missile strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, from 1:25 to 2:45 AM on July 19. Some of its missiles and drones struck the neighborhood of the apostolic nunciature, where Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, and members of his delegation were spending the night. “The blasts caused the building’s glass doors to shake and forced much of its staff—as well as the author of this report—to spend the night in a designated shelter,” Roberto Paglialonga of Vatican News reported. Archbishop Gallagher began a four-day visit to Ukraine on July 17. While in Kyiv on July 18, Archbishop Gallagher visited bombed sites and encouraged prayer for peace. - Pope visits Monte Cassino, prays for peace (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV visited the Abbey of Monte Cassino today and had lunch with Benedictine monks there. Prior to lunch, the Pontiff “paused to pray at the tomb of St. Benedict, entrusting to him his plea for peace in those regions of the world marked by bloodshed and conflict,” according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office. - Combat the dysfunctions that have attended economic growth, Vatican diplomat urges (Holy See Mission)
Addressing a recent forum on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a Vatican diplomat acknowledged that “economic growth has been real and has lifted billions out of extreme poverty,” but said that such growth “is marred by serious dysfunctions such as increasing inequalities (both between and within countries) and new forms of poverty.” Msgr. Marco Formica, interim chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on July 13 that “for the international community to deliver on the sustainable development, it must combat these disfunctions. In this regard, my Delegation wishes to reiterate that every truly just society is built upon the recognition of the inviolable dignity of the human person.” “Such dignity precedes any concession by the State and cannot be subordinated to shifting social consensus,” he continued, as he quoted from a recent address by Pope Leo. “This conviction must underpin every urgent and transformative action.” - SSPX leader decries 'wholly unjust' Vatican response to episcopal consecrations (Society of Saint Pius X)
In a July 19 letter addressed to the faithful of the Society of Saint Pius X, Father Davide Pagliarani decried the Vatican response to the consecration of four bishops without a pontifical mandate. “Right up until the last day, I hoped for a gesture of goodwill, or at least of simple understanding, on the part of the Holy See,” said Father Pagliarani, the Society’s superior general. “But the consecrations were condemned, and the harshness of the sanctions imposed is unprecedented.” “This condemnation, wholly unjust, represents an immense humiliation for people who have no other aim than to defend the true Faith and to work for the salvation of souls,” he continued, adding: The sanctions are intended to strike you too, in a rather cruel way. This is certainly painful, but do not be too surprised by it. Ultimately, it is Tradition itself, which we cherish above all else, that is excommunicated in all those who embody it. It is evident that, before God, such a condemnation cannot be valid. - Music, art, beauty help us look to God, Pope says after concert (CWN)
At the conclusion of a concert held in his honor, Pope Leo XIV said that “music, art, and beauty are means that help us look upward, moving toward God.” - Be leaven that transforms society, Cardinal Czerny tells African Catholic youth (ACI Africa)
At the opening Mass of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., called on African Catholic youth to build “authentic bridges of communion.” “That does not mean indiscriminately imitating or assimilating the ways of the world, diluting our Christian identity or watering down the demands of the Gospel,” Cardinal Czerny preached at the Mass, celebrated on July 19 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. “It is, rather, to be in the world as a transforming vitality like yeast.” “It is not a matter of making a flashy show of ourselves, but rather of living daily lives, quietly transforming the world from within in deep communion with God and with others,” Cardinal Czerny added. “A prudent and patient approach, characteristic of God’s Kingdom, should lead us, disciples of Jesus, to develop an everyday diplomacy, building bridges among ourselves and with everyone, both within the Church and in society.” - As US nuns age, more congregations turn to pontifical commissaries (National Catholic Reporter)
Because of declining vocations, at least 20 women’s religious institutes in the United States are now led by Vatican-appointed commissaries who belong to other communities. Sister Dawn Tomaszewski, superior of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, is also commissary for the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters. She “said one of the great joys of the commissary process is that the receiving congregation gets to retain its identity until the last member dies,” according to the Global Sisters Project of the National Catholic Reporter. “This avoids the pain of being subsumed in a merger or the complexities of a covenant relationship.” - French government: 843 anti-Christian incidents in 2025 (OIDAC Europe)
A French government report found that there were 843 anti-Christian incidents in France in 2025, up 9% from the previous year. The report, issued by the minister of the interior, found 734 attacks on property and 109 attacks on individuals. “Physical violence targeting members of the Christian community doubled,” according to the report. - More...