CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News

Pope encourages Jesuit college presidents to help students encounter God through the Spiritual Exercises (CWN)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:06:19 GMT

Pope Leo XIV encouraged the presidents of Jesuit colleges and universities in North America to turn to the Society of Jesus’ four universal apostolic preferences to help confront the challenges of our time—and to begin by helping students encounter God.

Sports are an opportunity for spiritual growth, Pope Leo tells swimmers (CWN)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

Pope Leo XIV described sports as a “medicine for both body and spirit, when it is practiced well” and an “opportunity for spiritual growth.”

Earthquakes cause serious damage to Venezuelan seminary, churches (CWN)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:06:56 GMT

Violent earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, causing extensive loss of human life and damage to Catholic institutions.

Pope offers support, encouragement to Synod continental leaders (General Secretariat of the Synod)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:06:53 GMT

Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said that Pope Leo XIV offered “powerful” support and encouragement to leading prelates from around the world during a June 25 private audience.

“The meeting with the Holy Father was for all the participants a powerful sign of support and encouragement as they continue their work for the Church’s synodal conversion,” said Cardinal Mario Grech.

The papal audience came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting of Synod staff with leaders of continental bishops’ assemblies, in preparation for the synodal assemblies of 2027-2028.

The implementation phase of the 2021-2024 Synod on synodality culminates in an ecclesial assembly in Rome in October 2028. Prior to that, diocesan assemblies are scheduled to take place during the first half of 2027; national assemblies, during the second half of 2027; and continental assemblies, during the first four months of 2028 (Towards the Assemblies 2027-2028, p. 5).

Prelate laments plight of Haitian mothers present illegally in Dominican Republic (CWN)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:06:26 GMT

The vice president of the Haitian Episcopal Conference lamented the plight of Haitian mothers who have fled the conflict there for the neighboring Dominican Republic (map).

US nuns' Alliance to End Human Trafficking warns of loopholes in bill (CWN)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:06:04 GMT

The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, whose members include over 200 congregations of religious sisters, warned that legislation under consideration in the U.S. Senate “could weaken safeguards against illicit finance and create vulnerabilities that traffickers and transnational criminal organizations may exploit.”

Chicago archdiocese countersuit against alleged abuse settlement fraud ring gets green light (OSV News)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:06:18 GMT

A county court in Illinois ruled that the Archdiocese of Chicago may proceed with its countersuit against persons who the archdiocese alleges made false sexual abuse claims.

By examining prison phone records, the archdiocese uncovered a “network of at least 30 people including convicted murderers, drug dealers, gang members and their family members involved in [abuse] filings or trying to be included in them,” OSV News reported.

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage reaches Maine before turning toward Philadelphia (OSV News)

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:06:43 GMT

The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, whose theme is “One Nation Under God,” arrived in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, its northernmost point, on June 23.

The pilgrimage, which began in St. Augustine, Florida, on May 24, will turn back to the south today, before concluding in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on July 5.

Italian philosopher-politician Mazzarella praises Pope's encyclical (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

The Vatican newspaper published a reflection by Eugenio Mazzarella on Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.

Mazzarella, a philosophy professor, Heidegger scholar, and former member of the lower house of the Italian Parliament, wrote:

The Church is not only depositum fidei [deposit of faith], but also depositum humanitatis [deposit of humanity]. For reasons intrinsic to his faith in an incarnation of the divine which is both a historical and meta-historical event, it always has been.

But today, in the world of globalization and technology held together in a mutual reinforcement of unprecedented possibilities and problems, this depositum humanitatis, in which to make the faith it has received bear fruit, is called to safeguard it in an eminent way, and with full awareness. Magnifica humanitas is the title of this awareness ... Magnificent humanity, one in which the Church places its trust to “illuminate” even the age of AI.

This holds true provided that humanity remains true to its own innate greatness and does not escape itself by retreating into algorithmic constructs.

English bishop charged with rape of girl (CWN)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:06:53 GMT

Police in Staffordshire, England, announced that Bishop David Oakley of Northampton has been charged with two counts of rape of a girl under 16.

SSPX issues profession of faith, open letter to Pope Leo (SSPX Information Service)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:06:19 GMT

The Society of St. Pius X issued an open letter to Pope Leo and the Church’s cardinals, along with a “Profession of Catholic Faith of the Society of Saint Pius X to Enlighten Souls in the Face of Modern Errors.”

Referring to the scheduled ordinations of bishops without a papal mandate, the Society’s leaders said that “just days before the episcopal consecrations scheduled for 1 July in Écône, it seems to us that the time has come for the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to make a full profession of Catholic Faith.”

“We hope that one day this doctrinal text may serve as a basis for an honest discussion with the Holy See, in a spirit of peace, brotherhood, and charity,” they added.

“I acknowledge in particular that modern errors represent a dreadful threat to the whole of the Catholic order, and that their penetration into the life of the Church, under the influence of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar reforms, has provoked a crisis of exceptional gravity,” they stated in their profession.

Cardinal Parolin, in papal message, reflects on relation between healing, salvation (CWN)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:46 GMT

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message in Pope Leo’s name to the Caritas Internationalis Health Conference, which is taking place at Castel Gandolfo.

Pontiff marks centenary of Lithuanian ecclesiastical province (CWN)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:06:53 GMT

Pope Leo XIV marked the centenary of the establishment of the Lithuanian ecclesiastical province with a Latin-language letter to his special envoy to the Mass commemorating the occasion.

Philippine court dismisses charges against bishop, other anti-mining advocates (CBCP News)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:06:34 GMT

A Philippine court dismissed a case against Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao of Bayombong and other anti-mining advocates.

The prelate and the other advocates had been charged with forcible entry and maintaining illegal barricades.

Bishop Mangalinao described the dismissal of charges as a “victory for truth, justice, and the collective efforts of communities who courageously stand to protect our land, water and future generations.”

Vatican issues message: 'Beyond Cargo and Commerce: The Human Face of the Sea' (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:13 GMT

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development issued “Beyond Cargo and Commerce: The Human Face of the Sea,” a message for Sea Sunday, commemorated this year on July 12.

The Church “cannot remain distant from the lived experience of maritime workers,” said Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., the dicastery’s prefect. “The Lord who entered the boat with his disciples continues to draw near to those who navigate the seas and inland waterways of our time, and the Church is called to make that closeness visible through her presence and ministry.”

Kenya's bishops lament violence (Vatican News)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:20 GMT

In a statement on the state of the nation, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops lamented political and social violence, including unrest in schools and a disrupting of the gathering at the Anglican cathedral in Nairobi, the nation’s capital.

“The lives of all Kenyans matter, not only the lives of the high and mighty,” the bishops said in their June 23 statement. “These tragedies reveal a deeper crisis of human and moral formation.”

Unpublished homilies of Pope Benedict XVI released in English (Vatican News)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:06:19 GMT

The Vatican publishing house announced the release, in English, of The Lord Holds Us by the Hand, a collection of previously unpublished homilies that Pope Benedict delivered between 2005 and 2017.

Last month, the homilies were released in Italian.

Vatican newspaper highlights suffering of DR Congo miners (CWN)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:34 GMT

L’Osservatore Romano devoted a prominent front-page article in its June 24 edition to the plight of miners in the epicenter of the Ebola crisis.

Vatican hosts conference on building interreligious brotherhood in Europe (Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:24 GMT

The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue organized “Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in Europe: Building Fraternity through Dialogue and Collaboration,” a two-day conference that concluded on June 24.

Participants “reflected on the challenges facing contemporary societies and reaffirmed the importance of dialogue and collaboration as means of fostering understanding, solidarity and hope,” according to the dicastery. “In this context, they acknowledged the foundational role of fraternity for building cohesive and peaceful communities.”

Laity are not permitted to deliver homilies at Mass, Vatican affirms (CWN)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:06:59 GMT

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments affirmed that only clergy are permitted to preach homilies during Mass.