CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News

Pope celebrates Mass in Sagrada Família, 100 years after Gaudí's death (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:06:12 GMT

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the famed Basilica of Sagrada Família in Barcelona on June 10, the 100th anniversary of the death of its architect, Venerable Antoni Gaudí (video).

Pope encourages Barcelona Catholic charity workers (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:11 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited the Church of St. Augustine in Barcelona on June 10 (video) and offered encouragement to archdiocesan charity workers.

Let us lay down our armor, as St. Ignatius of Loyola did, Pope says at Montserrat (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:24 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited the historic Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat and encouraged the faithful to imitate St. Ignatius of Loyola’s gesture of laying down their armor.

'The Lord allows us all to start anew,' Pope tells prisoners (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:06:00 GMT

Pope Leo XIV visited a prison in Barcelona (video) and told the prisoners that “God loves you just as you are, but he dreams of you being even better.”

Cardinal Parolin, in papal letter, reflects on the elderly's 'magisterium of frailty' (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:06:15 GMT

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, wrote a letter in Pope Leo’s name to participants in a Vatican study day on pastoral care of the elderly.

US bishops discuss sexual abuse, sainthood causes; new nuncio 'a study in contrast' (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:46 GMT

On the first day of their June 2026 meeting in Orlando, the U.S. bishops offered a message to the Holy Father, heard from the new apostolic nuncio, voiced support for two sainthood causes, and discussed the revision of the Dallas Charter on the sexual abuse of minors.

Liberia's bishops distance themselves from interreligious council's support for abortion (Live Action)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:32 GMT

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Liberia distanced itself from the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia’s support for a bill that would legalize abortion.

“While the Catholic Church shared some important values like justice, peace, reconciliation, human dignity, etc with our Brothers and Sisters of other faiths, we want to categorically state that we are not in agreement with the Inter-Religious Council in endorsing and requesting the passage of the New Public Health Bill of Liberia in its entirety,” the bishops said in a statement.

The Inter-Religious Council of Liberia then withdrew its support for the legislation, Live Action reported.

Irish bishops decry civil unrest in Belfast (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:17 GMT

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference lamented riots in Northern Ireland.

The bishops “expressed concern at the attack on human life and the wider violence and social disorder that has taken place in Belfast and in some other places across Northern Ireland over the last 48-hours,” the bishops’ conference said in a June 10 statement. “Reports that the focus of these violent attacks was family homes and businesses of migrants, is all the more disconcerting.”

“The true measure of a just society is one which effectively welcomes newcomers, combats racism and rejects divisive political rhetoric,” the statement continued. The bishops called for “support for the police and for community leaders across [Northern Ireland] throughout the summer months.”

178 abuse allegations lodged in Ireland in 9-month period (National Board for Safeguarding Children)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:08 GMT

Between April and December 2025, the Irish bishops’ National Board for Safeguarding Children received 178 allegations of sexual and physical abuse against clergy and religious, according to a newly released report.

The vast majority of allegations date from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s; only four date from the 2000s, 2010s, or 2020s (p. 10). In the majority of cases, the alleged abuser is deceased (p. 12).

US bishops voice support for sainthood causes of Msgr. Joseph Buh, John Rick Miller (CWN)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

On the opening day of their June meeting, the bishops of the United States expressed their support for the sainthood causes of the Servants of God Msgr. Joseph Buh (1833-1922) and John Rick Miller (1948-2015).

Colorado bishops criticize candidate's use of Pope in ad (Colorado Catholic Conference)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:48 GMT

The Colorado Catholic Conference responded to a candidate’s use of a video of Pope Leo in a political advertisement.

“The Colorado Catholic Conference, as the united voice of the Catholic Bishops of Colorado, objects to the use of Pope Leo XIV’s image and words to imply endorsement of [Manny] Rutinel,” the conference stated. “Furthermore, the position of Rutinel on abortion, especially Rutinel’s recent co-sponsorship HB26-1335 and HB25-129, is direct participation in the grave evil of abortion and violates Catholic Church teaching.”

Vandalism of statue of Christ sparks uproar in India's Mumbai (UCANews)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:06:46 GMT

The Archdiocese of Bombay condemned the vandalism of a statue of Christ in India’s largest city.

“The Archdiocese of Bombay wishes to place on record its deep concern and unequivocal condemnation of the recent acts of deliberate vandalism against sacred Christian sites within the city of Mumbai,” said archdiocesan spokesman Father Nigel Barrett. “Targeted attacks on the religious sentiments of an entire community [are] a direct assault on the spirit of peaceful coexistence that has long defined this great city.”

In Barcelona, Pope addresses questions from young people about depression, family violence (CWN)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:06:57 GMT

Pope Leo XIV addressed questions from three young people in Barcelona last evening and preached that the nights we experience “can be an opportunity to receive new life, to change and be renewed, to be ‘born again from above,’ as Jesus tells Nicodemus.”

Cases of anti-Christian harassment on the rise in Israel (OSV News)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:42 GMT

Harassment against Christians in Israel is on the rise, according to a new report from the Israeli-based Religious Freedom Data Center.

Yisca Harani, the center’s founder, described harassment as “an everyday occurrence.”

“Most of the incidents, which include spitting and verbal insults, vandalism and desecration of graves, tombstones, statues and crosses, and defacement of signs and graffiti, have taken place in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Mount Zion and near the Armenian Patriarchate,” OSV News reported. “However, there have also been cases of harassment, vandalism and arson at Christian holy sites in northern Israel.”

Nigerian bishop: 'At last, killers have been held to account' (Aid to the Church in Need)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:12 GMT

A Nigerian bishop welcomed the conviction of four members of the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab for perpetrating the Owo church attack in 2022.

The four were sentenced to death, and “the Church does not accept the death penalty,” said the local bishop, Bishop Jude Arogundade. “But it is important that those responsible are held accountable.”

“We are pleased that, at last, the families and victims in general can move towards a kind of closure, although we realize that they will never fully reach closure, as they will carry the scars of what happened that day for the rest of their lives,” he added.

Vatican diplomat says platform economy raises ethical concerns (Holy See Mission)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:40 GMT

In an address to a recent session of the International Labour Conference, a Vatican diplomat said that the platform economy raises “many ethical concerns.”

“The Holy See has repeatedly questioned the fact that power over mainstream AI models is concentrated in the hands of a few companies,” said Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The power to grant or limit access to work may rest entirely with the platform operator,” he continued. “This means that workers may have to pay to access work opportunities. This reversal of the principle that no worker should ever have to pay to get a job has consequences on the dignity of work and the very foundational assumption that labor is not a commodity.”

Police arrest man for threat against Philadelphia-area parish (WPVI-TV)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

Police in Marple Township, Pennsylvania, arrested a man who posted an online threat against a parish there. The parish is part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“I firmly believe we stopped a tragedy before it happened. He had no weapons on him, but you don’t need weapons to commit violence,” said Marple Township Police Chief Brandon Graeff.

Historic church near Milan vandalized (OIDAC Europe)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:06:31 GMT

A small historic church, constructed at the suggestion of St. Charles Borromeo and consecrated in 1580, was vandalized recently, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reported.

The Church of St. Bernardine is located in Legnano, a city of 60,000 near Milan.

Bad Bunny, Pope Leo meet briefly in Madrid (OSV News)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:20 GMT

The popular rapper Bad Bunny, whose performances in Madrid coincided with the papal visit, met briefly with the Pontiff on June 8.

Bad Bunny “comes from a Catholic family, and he wanted to meet the Pope,” said Yago de la Cierva, the Spanish bishops’ general coordinator of the papal visit. “The deal was—meeting, yes, but no pictures—and Bad Bunny respected it.”

What the June consistory reveals about Pope Leo's style of governance [New Analysis] (CWN)

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:06:43 GMT

The program for consistory of cardinals scheduled for June 26-27 reveals several things about how Pope Leo XIV intends to govern the Church.