“We are called to connect people, bring them closer together, reconcile differences, resolve conflicts, and help build peace in the world,” Cardinal Gracias preached at the opening Mass of the plenary assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC). “This is evangelization. This is building the Kingdom of God.”

Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Gracias, the retired archbishop of Mumbai, as his special envoy for the occasion. The plenary assembly, which is taking place in Jakarta, is the twelfth such gathering of Asia’s bishops since 1970; the assembly’s theme is “The Call to Synodal Conversion and the Mission to Be Bridges and Bridge-Builders in Asia.”

“However severe the crises facing Lebanon may become, this country is not lost as long as God accompanies it,” said Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M. “We pray for Lebanon and its officials, asking God to guide them in working for national unity, preserving the dignity of the people and safeguarding sovereignty.”

Lamenting hatred and violence, Cardinal Zuppi offered prayers for the person who lost his life and called for respect for the law and institutions. He appealed to the faithful “not to tire of building paths of peace, reconciliation and encounter so that the strength of the love that is given to us by Jesus, sower of goodness in the heart of every person, prevails.”

Archbishop Giancarlo Dellagiovanna has begun his mission as apostolic nuncio to El Salvador, the Vatican newspaper reported on July 21.

“Another night spent in shelters, another night interrupted by the sound of sirens and illuminated by the flashes of constant explosions,” staff journalist Francesco Citterich began. “For thousands of Ukrainian children, darkness no longer means rest, but terror. Sleeping peacefully is now a privilege that repeated Russian bombardments continue to deny.”

“While entire cities are once again being struck and devastated, it is the children who pay the highest price for a military invasion that, after more than four years, continues to tear away security, serenity, and a future from an entire generation,” Citterich continued. “Every night without peace serves as a reminder of the burden of a war that continues to consume lives and hopes.”

Writing for LifeSiteNews, Bishop Marian Eleganti, O.S.B., said that “apparently there are all kinds of Catholics: left-wing Catholics; right-wing Catholics; reformist Catholics; progressives; reactionaries; traditionalists; progressivists, and so on. “

“We have grown accustomed to these terms and often use them ourselves without realizing how fundamentally wrong they are,” he continued. “For one is either Catholic or one is not. A third possibility is ruled out ... The authority to define this does not lie with us, but with the Magisterium of the Church.”

The agreement, signed on July 13, seeks to “facilitate access to preventive healthcare and medical treatment through a specific organizational and financial model inspired by the principles of mutual solidarity and sustainability, with the exclusion of any individual profit-making purpose,” the Vatican City State said in a statement.

The Diocese of Waterford and Lismore issued a statement praising the “courage and presence of mind shown by the parishioners who assisted during this frightening incident. We also thank the priests of the parish for their immediate pastoral care and concern.”

The proceeds from the sale will help pay for abuse settlements; the diocese reached a tentative $150-million settlement with abuse victims last year.

“Our employees, who work tirelessly to serve the Brockton community through our food pantry, adult education, and elder outreach, are shaken by this frightening incident,” Catholic Charities said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful to Brockton Police for their immediate response and that our staff and the clients we serve are safe.”

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.

A retired Australian bishop is on trial for 26 counts of sexual abuse allegedly committed against three young males between 2008 and 2017.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

“The dehumanization of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, is one such example of this; the vilification of law enforcement officers is yet another,” Bishops Brendan Cahill (Victoria, Texas) and Daniel Garcia (Austin, Texas) said in their July 20 statement, issued in response to “several recent immigration enforcement encounters resulting in the loss of life.”

“Racial profiling in particular not only violates God-given dignity but also inflicts profound harm on individuals, families, and communities by fostering fear, eroding trust, and increasing the risk of unjust and even tragic outcomes,” the prelates said, adding:

We continue to affirm the legitimate role of civil authorities to implement the law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and due process. The power of the state must always be exercised within the limits of the moral law. To that end, we call for accountability, transparency, and justice, which require that meaningful reforms be made to our immigration system.

“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.

Pope Leo, a Villanova alumnus, will present the first medal during a conference in Castel Gandolfo in October.

The Masses will be offered by two priests who left the Transalpine Redemptorist community . The community adopted a sedevacantist position in May and announced that the illicit episcopal consecration of one of its priests will take place on July 25.

The exhibition features the prizewinning photographs of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award.