Wenski’s meetings with lawmakers came one day after the expiration of the automatic work‑permit extension under temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration has the authority to terminate TPS, which ended their work authorization and could subject them to deportation orders.

“Haiti is a house on fire,” Wenski told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales before entering the office of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia.

The archbishop said TPS expiration and possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians is bad for the migrants — who would be sent back to an unstable country — and for the American communities in which the migrants live and work. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“To think that we can send 350,000 people back to Haiti without that having very bad consequences in Haiti — but also here because these people are working, they’re not on the dole, they’re working, and if they’re removed from their jobs, if they lose their work permits, that’s going to have a negative economic impact on the communities in which they live,” Wenski said.

As Haitian TPS status ends, some lawmakers have introduced bills to compel the DHS to extend the status. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has advocated strongly on behalf of Haitian migrants, asking the Trump administration and lawmakers to extend TPS. About two-thirds of Haiti is Catholic.

Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the USCCB, told EWTN News that Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, USCCB Committee on Migration chair, “has encouraged his brother bishops across the country to engage with their elected officials” on Haitian TPS status and broader immigration reform efforts.

“As pastors committed to upholding the common good, the bishops are actively engaging in this dialogue and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to do so, which they acknowledged in their special message last November,” she said.

In November 2025, the USCCB adopted a message in a 216-5 vote that opposed the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and policies that revoke the legal status of migrants, such as the terminations of TPS for various groups of migrants.

Kaine, an advocate for extending TPS, told EWTN News after meeting with Wenski that he was glad “to discuss the critical need for Congress to do what is right and protect TPS holders who have been in the U.S. legally for years” and looks forward to working with the USCCB to advocate for TPS holders.

TPS holders “have made countless contributions in important sectors such as healthcare and construction, and developed deep roots in our communities through their U.S. citizen families and businesses,” he added. “Many TPS holders, such as those from Haiti, should not be forced to return to the extremely dangerous conditions that made them seek safety in the United States.”

Status of Haitian migrants

On July 27, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reposted a DHS post on X, which said “temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY” and urged anyone whose TPS has expired to self-deport out of the U.S.

“For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time,” the post read. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

When asked whether DHS intends to specifically target Haitians for deportation amid the TPS expiration, a spokesperson told EWTN News that the department “does not discuss ongoing or future operations” but is conducting law enforcement activities daily.

“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told EWTN News that TPS was initially approved for Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake.

Although Haiti continues to face serious safety and political stability concerns, he said the effects of the earthquake no longer impact the country. He noted that Haitians can apply for permanent status under other programs, such as if they are eligible for asylum, but that TPS is not a permanent resettlement program.

Arthur said Haitians who are in the U.S. under temporary legal status “had the opportunity to work in the United States and make money” and learn skills, which they can take back “to Haiti and [it can] help them make Haiti a better country.”

The former judge said he expects immigration enforcement toward Haitians to be part of “the larger enforcement efforts” rather than a targeted campaign against Haitians, with a priority toward people who have been convicted of crimes.

“The response [now] is foreign aid on the part of the United States and aid from the Catholic Church toward making Haiti a better place,” Arthur said.

TPS status for Syrian migrants also ended on July 27. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.

The Texas bishop, who also serves as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), released a statement following Ugboaja’s July 28 ICE check-in, at which she was informed third-country removal was not off the table.

“We are grateful to God for Tuesday’s news that Sister Leticia ‘Letty’ Ugboaja will be able remain in our community while her case is allowed to move forward,” Flores said. While the Church feels “some relief” at the moment, he added, “we also remember that it is important to continue praying for and accompanying the many individuals and families who live in fear and anxiety as they seek a way to resolve their immigration status.”

“The prospect of deportation to a third country frightens many persons who, like Sister Letty, have violated no laws, and who have been granted permission to stay while conditions in their country of origin remain life-threatening,” Flores said.

Flores recalled the special message the USCCB issued in November 2025 in which the bishops urged meaningful immigration reform. “We can be a nation of both respect for law and of well-considered compassion for persons at risk in their own countries,” Flores pointed out, calling for political consensus that “defends the common good, protects the vulnerable, and treats all persons whose immigration status is being reviewed with humanity.”

“May God guide us in building a society reflecting both justice and mercy,” he emphasized.

Status of Sister Letty

On July 28, Ugboaja’s attorney, Carlos Garcia, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office where her check-in took place that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us ... That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.

She was released the same day after the intervention of several political leaders.

At a press conference last week, Garcia said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.

After Ugboaja’s July 28 check-in, her attorney expressed gratitude that the nun, who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has never missed an immigration appointment, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he had discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.

"Personally, I think thereʼs something that needs to happen first, and thatʼs the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care,” Burnham said on July 29. "I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care.”

Burnham spoke with reporters after outlining his social‑care reform plans at Jewish Care in Golders Green, a northwest London suburb. Burnham, a Catholic, praised the facility for its “model of community” and the Jewish values that shape its care in a July 29 op-ed following the speech.

“They understand that care means treating people not as the sum of their different ailments, but as a human being with history and character, deserving of all the dignity and respect that comes with that,” he wrote. “Building a stronger care system and building a stronger country begin with the same belief: that every person belongs, that every community matters, and that no one should ever be made to feel like a stranger in the place they call home.”

Burnham said England must urgently fix social care, which supports people with daily living needs. The U.K.’s publicly funded national health system cannot recover without it, Burnham said.

Burnham’s speech came after the House of Commons passed the end-of-life bill, but the measure did not advance in the House of Lords. The bill will be debated again in the next parliamentary session.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has distributed 97 grants, including the bicycle project, totaling more than $3 million in 2025 through its Africa Solidarity Fund, according to a July 21 press release. The fund also supports programs in Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and throughout the Horn of Africa.

Archbishop Thomas Zinkula, chair of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Church in Africa, said in a statement: “The gifts of Catholics in the United States to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa underwrite projects that build foundations for peace, as well as projects directed toward evangelization, vocations, environmental stewardship, leadership formation, and other facets of our faith.”

Bicycle ministry opens access to rural areas

One grant enabled the Marianist sisters to train “Gospel volunteers” and equip them with bicycles to distribute Bibles and rosaries, the USCCB statement said. Sister Amala Francis of the Society of Daughters of Mary Immaculate in the Central African Republic said the bicycle project proved highly valuable for young people, especially in rural communities where travel had previously been impossible.

“We crossed the river and preached the Word of God to the unreached places,” she said.

The sisters’ ministry includes the villages of Beagua, Cattin, and Samba, along with St. Philomena School, St. Abraham Parish, and St. Matthew Parish, all located in the rural southwest of the Central African Republic near the border with Cameroon and along the Lobaye River.

Francis described the bicycle project as a “very fruitful time,” noting that 30 sisters were provided with bicycles and carried out their ministry by “going out and distributing Mass pamphlet reflections and then going into schools and ministering.”

Francis said the sisters did not seek to teach merely the catechism in schools but to “bring peace” through the teachings of Jesus through “simple songs” and activities. They also visited families and communities on their bicycles.

Francis shared that another sister told her: “When I drive the bicycle, I see something different, I feel that Christ is coming with me. I feel that I drive this bicycle not just for reaching the place, but I am bringing Christ to the families.”

Confronting wounds of abuse 

Francis said she encountered many troubling trends among young people throughout the project, with 400 to 600 children who have not gone to school because they lacked basic services and spent much of their time idle, since neither nongovernmental organizations nor church workers could reach the area because of the river and dense forest.

“I observed during this project,” she said, “the youth are not knowing about Christ because young girls are carrying [children from] sexual abuse and early pregnancy.”

“Many girls are traumatized with their life. They are traumatized because I see that they are youth not formed in the right path,” she said. “So, we have many programs to help guide the youth on the right path.”

Women as ‘messengers’

The sisters have continued to follow up on their efforts funded through the USCCB’s grant and have continued to find ways to boost education and evangelization in the region.

“Since education is very poor in Central African Republic,” Francis said, “and we wanted to give more, we started our English school [and] we get a lot of books for that for the children and are teaching English, so now the children are also learning different languages.”

In addition to young people, Francis emphasized the sisters’ efforts to reach women in remote communities, whom she described as “messengers” who “change the mind of the family.”

“Mothers are also important,” she said. “So we are touching the heart of the youth, women, and the children.”

Fujimori — elected in a tight race that required a runoff — took office during a formal session of the country’s Congress, where she received the presidential sash for the 2026–2031 term. She is the first woman elected by popular vote to lead the country.

The ceremony was attended by officials from various countries, including King Felipe VI of Spain and Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia, José Antonio Kast of Chile, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Santiago Peña of Paraguay, Yamandú Orsi of Uruguay, José Raúl Mulino of Panama, and Nasry Asfura of Honduras.

“I, Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi, swear by God, the homeland, and the holy Gospels to faithfully discharge the office of president of the republic that the nation has entrusted to me for the 2026–2031 term,” she said upon taking her oath of office.

The leader then swore to defend “this land, national sovereignty, liberty, democracy, and the independence of the branches of government” as well as to uphold and enforce the constitution and laws of Peru.

“I swear that I will safeguard the physical and moral well-being of all Peruvians, especially those who have been historically marginalized,” she continued.

Upon concluding her oath, Fujimori made specific reference to the Church: “I swear that, while respecting freedom of worship, I will recognize the importance of the Catholic Church in the cultural and moral formation of Peru, and I will work tirelessly for a safe, prosperous, and united country.”

The Peruvian constitution in Article 116 requires the president to take an oath of office but does not specify a particular formula, although some wording is traditional.

At the beginning of her first address to the nation, Fujimori said she was taking office with “profound humility” and “with a heart full of faith in the destiny of our homeland.”

“I thank God and place in his hands the work we begin today in the service of Peru,” she stated.

The new president asked God for “wisdom in making decisions, strength to persevere,” and for help “never to forget that power only finds meaning when exercised to serve.”

Fujimori noted that she had sworn before God, “before history, and before all of you,” “the most sacred oath a citizen can take”: to defend the constitution, protect freedoms, and dedicate every day to the well-being of the country.

Improving life ‘from womb to tomb’

In presenting her administrationʼs priorities, Fujimori announced that one of her goals for the nation will be “to improve the quality of life for all Peruvians, from womb to tomb.”

To this end, she pledged to adopt “a policy of comprehensive protection for early childhood, childhood, adolescence, and the family.”

“We will reorganize the social programs and public services that are currently fragmented in order to build a genuinely comprehensive protection system with universal coverage and continuous care at every stage of life,” she stated.

“Protecting our children and strengthening their families means protecting Peru’s future,” she noted.

Poverty, security, and freedom of expression

The leader described the state in which she is inheriting the country as “complex and painful,” marked by corruption, insecurity, healthcare deficiencies, and deep social divides.

Fujimori noted that three out of every 10 Peruvians lack the certainty of having necessary food on a daily basis and that 35% of children between the ages of 6 months and 35 months suffer from anemia, a situation she called “truly immoral.”

Regarding security, she announced the strengthening of the police force, the temporary deployment of the armed forces during states of emergency, and prison reform to ensure that jails “return to being centers of confinement rather than operational hubs for organized crime.”

Her plans for the economy include raising the minimum living wage — the monthly minimum wage — to 1,300 soles (approximately $382).

Fujimori also reaffirmed her commitment to “absolute respect for the independence of the branches of government and for individual liberties, particularly freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

In closing, she called on opposition political forces to build bridges of dialogue and urged them to think “of future generations, not the next elections.”

“There are not two different Perus; there is but one Peru — vibrant, multicultural, strong, and ancient — ready to stand tall,” she declared.

Cardinal Castillo calls for reconciliation with justice

Hours before the inauguration ceremony, the archbishop of Lima and primate of Peru, Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, celebrated the traditional Mass and Te Deum at the Lima Cathedral marking the 205th anniversary of the nation’s independence.

During his homily, as reported by the ANDINA news agency, the cardinal urged the nation to overcome divisions through justice, solidarity, and the pursuit of the common good.

“Our God wants us to be in solidarity and to be just, not with a reconciliation that covers up the wrongs we have committed but rather a reconciliation that, clearly recognizing the injustices we have perpetrated, knows how to enact justice and make restitution to all those who have been harmed,” he stated.

Castillo warned that Peru is facing a “catastrophic” situation, not primarily due to economic indicators but because “the human condition and human dignity are in grave danger.”

In light of this reality, he called for the promotion of initiatives for reconciliation, peacemaking, and dialogue as well as a process of conversion aimed at rebuilding the country on the foundations of justice, solidarity, and the common good.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Specifically, according to the bill’s legislative summary, the measure would modify the country’s health code “to establish the duty of the doctor to inform the woman about the embryonic or fetal heart activity and to offer her the opportunity to hear it prior to the interruption of the pregnancy.”

Speaking with the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, the cardinal sought to shift the focus of the discussion to the healthcare professionals involved. “It pains me that there are doctors who agree to perform an abortion,” he lamented.

Chomali also expressed regret over a tweet in which he stated that every mother should rejoice at hearing a heartbeat. “It pains me to have been a source of division in that regard,” he emphasized.

He explained that he is opposed to abortion under any circumstances. “I believe those three grounds should not exist,” he stated, drawing on his experience of accompanying women who are enduring a “horrific ordeal” such as rape, a fetus with serious medical issues, or whose life is at risk.

In such cases, he called for a “renewed recognition of what it means to care for another person,” noting that “when there is medical, psychological, spiritual, and financial support, women feel more supported and decide against [abortion].”

Regarding doctors who perform abortions, he remarked: “I find that terrible; I think that instead of showing the heartbeat to a woman facing a very difficult, complex situation, it would be very good for that heartbeat to be heard by a doctor who is committed to healing, curing, and caring for life.”

In this regard, he noted that doctors take an oath that entails “doing everything possible to heal and never to cause harm and here, objectively, someone is being harmed: a human being.”

He thus called for a review of current regulations: “It’s always the right time to examine all laws, because laws can be improved.”

“If you look at the bigger picture, a human life is being eliminated,” he summarized.

“Someone told me that with this attitude of mine, I mean, opposing the three grounds for abortion, I would turn half the world against me and end up all alone. I would rather stand alone than betray something as fundamental as the truth: that there is an innocent human being who deserves every possible care that could be given to it, and that’s that,” he declared.

I would rather stand alone than betray something as fundamental as the truth: that there is an innocent human being who deserves every possible care that could be given to it.”

Cardinal Fernando Chomali

Speaking to Radio Duna, the cardinal noted that this is simply “one bill among many” and expressed the view that “it must be addressed where it belongs: in the Legislature. They will have to decide whether or not they agree with it.”

Chomali added that “it is a matter that must be handled with great prudence, tact, and good judgment.” He expressed the view that “a woman could always have the option to hear the heartbeat,” but clarified: “Making it mandatory would be a matter for discussion.”

The archbishop further advised against confrontation: “What does not seem right to me is the use of language that serves only to polarize, when what matters is the truth,” he insisted.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

University of Notre Dame theology professor Joseph Capizzi will deliver the keynote address at the Nov. 9–11 event under the theme “Living and Serving Justly,” according to a July 28 archdiocese press release. The conference will be held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.

The U.S.-Iran conflict has entered its fifth month, and Catholic theologians have expressed concern over the impact of U.S. military force on civilian infrastructure in Iran. 

“The position of the Church,” Capizzi said in the release, “is that the use of force, including lethal force, is bound by the moral law, and even when countries resort to the use of force in conflict, it’s not anything goes. In fact, both sides remain bound to the requirements of moral international law regarding the treatment of civilian populations, the treatment of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers, among others, and this has been spelled out for a long time in Western tradition.”

Capizzi is the McGrath-Cavadini director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame and is the author of “Politics, Justice, and War: Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare.” His remarks will include reflections on the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and how they apply to modern warfare.

“Even when it’s resorted to, the use of force must be discriminatory or ‘distinct’ — the principle of distinction is what it’s called in international law, which means it has to distinguish between legitimate targets and illegitimate targets,” he said. “Civilian populations, civilian structures like schools, hospitals, desalinization plants and so on — they are not legitimately targeted. You must abide by this principle of distinction, and any uses of force must be proportional to the ends sought.”

Other speakers at the three-day event include Catholic radio host Katie McGrady, who will serve as emcee. The conference will feature additional keynote addresses and breakout sessions geared toward fostering “synodal” connections within the archdiocese, according to the release.

Individually, each of the three siblings has important lessons to teach. Martha, the oldest sibling, has a heart for service but is also anxious and worried about many things; Jesus encourages her to focus on the contemplation of Jesus himself, as her sister Mary has done. And Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead provides a powerful witness to the eventual resurrection of the body. Together, the siblings display admirable qualities of unity and love.

For one Catholic parish, Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Parish on the South Side of Chicago, the patronage of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus serves as a symbol of the unity that has come about through the merging of three previously distinct parishes into one new and diverse community.

Father Mark Thomas Ameh, the pastor when the parishes merged and a native of Nigeria, arrived at the parish in July 2023 after previously ministering in Las Vegas. He told EWTN News at the time that the church was built originally as St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, but amid an ongoing archdiocese-wide consolidation process, “Renew My Church,” the parish was merged in 2022 with two others and renamed to reflect the new community.

Ameh was not in Chicago when the renaming of the merged parish took place, but he said a person who was there told him the name was chosen to reflect the fact that the new parish was made of three former ones coming together.

Parish office manager Alfreda Rogers told EWTN News that it is the only parish in Illinois named for the sibling saints.

Despite its triple patronage, the church still has a statue of St. Margaret of Scotland on the high altar and is also known as “St. Margaret of Scotland Church.” In 2026, the church celebrates 150 years and the parish will hold a gala after a Mass on Aug. 2 to mark the occasion.

Abeh, a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, described the parish as a “vibrant” church of about 500 registered parishioners when it began. Today, according Rogers, the parish serves about 200 families and offers two Masses on Sundays. There is also a Catholic school associated with the church.

Rogers said in a recent interview with Fox 32 Chicago that the parish is focused on bringing youth back to the Church and continuing to serve the community.

Father Donatus C. Mgbeajuo, also a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, took over as pastor in July 2024, and Deacon Herbert D. Johnson just became parish pastoral director on July 1.

Chicago’s South Side has a reputation for being dangerous but perhaps now is even more famous for being near the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope.

A 2021 decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said Pope Francis had included Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in the General Roman Calendar “considering the important evangelical witness they offered in welcoming the Lord Jesus into their home, in listening to him attentively, in believing that he is the resurrection and the life.”

The memorial of St. Martha was already included on July 29 in the General Roman Calendar before the Second Vatican Council, but St. Lazarus and St. Mary had been originally left off due to uncertainty about the identity of Mary Magdalene.

So, why change the memorial to all three siblings instead of Martha alone?

The decree explained that these uncertainties “have been resolved in recent studies and times” and pointed out that Mary and Lazarus are already commemorated on July 29 in the “Roman Martyrology,” the Church’s official catalog of martyrs and saints.

This story was first published on July 29, 2023, and has been updated.

Police in Newport, Rhode Island, said in a July 24 press release that Tyquan Johnson was facing arrest for felony assault with a firearm in connection with a double shooting in Newport on July 19.

The police dispatch, which said Johnson was considered “armed and dangerous,” identified the suspect’s birthday as Jan. 14, 2007. That date is the same birthday as the Rhode Island-born “Tyquan” noted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in its information page on Blessed Salvador Valera Parra.

Valera was a 19th-century-born Spanish priest who carried out “many works of a spiritual and social nature,” particularly during cholera epidemics and earthquakes, according to the dicastery.

In considering his beatification, the dicastery said it reviewed the Rhode Island case, in which a pregnant mother was hospitalized after her amniotic sac ruptured. The baby was ultimately delivered via cesarean section, after which doctors “did not perceive any heartbeat.”

The attending physician at that point “invoked Salvador Valera Parra,” the dicastery said, after which the baby recovered his heartbeat without any external assistance and made a full recovery.

Pope Leo XIV approved the dicastery’s promulgation of the miracle on June 20, 2025. In a July 18, 2025, statement, Diocese of Providence Chancellor Father Timothy Reilly said the miracle was “a reminder of the power of prayer and the intercession of holy men and women.”

“God is indeed close to us. We are thrilled that this recognition will move the cause of beatification and canonization forward for Venerable Servant of God Salvador Valera Parra,” the priest said at the time. Reilly did not respond to requests for comment on the crime incident this month.

Rhode Island police said another individual was wanted in connection with the shooting, though it did not identify that suspect in its press release.

In the years following the miracle birth the Johnson family moved to Hampton, Virginia. Tyquan Johnson subsequently told local media that the promulgation of the miracle “changed my faith a lot because I’m destined to be in this world.”

“If God didn’t want me in this world, he would just let me die on that table. But he wanted to give me a second chance,” he said.

Justice Flavia Nabakooza of the High Court in Entebbe handed down the sentences on July 23 after Father Dominic Alinga admitted to the murder of John Bosco Ngorok and the attempted murder of Moses Abigaba, who was riding a boda boda (a bicycle or motorcycle used as a taxi to carry passengers or goods) and tried to intervene.

The court sentenced Alinga to 21 years in prison for murder and 10 years for attempted murder. The sentences are to run concurrently. The court also ordered that compensation be paid to Abigaba, who survived the attack.

According to Ugandaʼs Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Alinga admitted responsibility for both offenses during court proceedings.

“The conviction demonstrates that criminal responsibility applies equally to all persons regardless of their social or religious status,” the ODPP said following the judgment.

Alinga is a priest of the Diocese of Moroto in Ugandaʼs Karamoja region. He was ordained to the priesthood in July 2020 and served at Iriiri Catholic Parish in Napak District before his suspension from ministry.

He was suspended effective July 17, 2024, by Bishop Damiano Guzzetti of the Moroto Diocese, who prohibited Alinga from celebrating Mass, administering the sacraments, and exercising priestly ministry anywhere in the diocese or elsewhere in the Church.

While confirming the authenticity of the suspension decree, Guzzetti reportedly declined to disclose the reasons for the disciplinary measure, saying the matter was not public. Instead he urged the faithful to pray for the priest “so that he may deeply receive the grace of conversion and amendment of life.”

The suspension reportedly came about two weeks before the killing of Ngorok. According to prosecutors, Alinga believed the URA officer had shared information that contributed to his suspension from priestly ministry.

Court records indicate that on Aug. 2, 2024, Alinga arranged to meet Ngorok in Entebbe. While traveling together, he allegedly attacked the tax official with a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds.

As Ngorok attempted to escape and seek help, Abigaba came to his assistance. Prosecutors said Alinga then drove his vehicle into both men before fleeing the scene.

Ngorok later succumbed to his injuries, while Abigaba survived.

Investigators said Alinga fled to eastern Uganda following the incident, where he reportedly sought out another Catholic priest and confessed to the killing before surrendering himself to police.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He remained in custody as investigations and court proceedings continued until he entered guilty pleas before the High Court in Entebbe.

Under the Churchʼs Code of Canon Law, the suspension imposed on Alinga prohibited him from exercising priestly ministry but did not remove him from the clerical state.

As of the time of his sentencing, there has been no public announcement that Alinga has been dismissed from the clerical state, a canonical penalty commonly referred to as laicization. Such a penalty requires a separate canonical process and, in many cases, the approval of the Holy See.

The Diocese of Moroto has not publicly commented on the High Courtʼs judgment.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

The Albuquerque Islamic Center received approval for the new mosque in North Valley in a 5-1 vote by the Bernalillo County Planning Commission on July 1. The hearing was about five hours long with comments from the community, and the commission ultimately approved the mosque but not the proposed school, to keep the project smaller and the expected traffic lighter.

Wester issued a six-paragraph statement on July 27 in support of the project, saying Muslims have a right to access worship services and religious freedom extends beyond Christians.

In his statement, the archbishop said he has heard “concerns from residents” about the planned mosque and felt “compelled to speak clearly and pastorally” about the tension.

“Our Muslim neighbors have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own,” he said and cited the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae.

Our Muslim neighbors have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own.”

Archbishop John Charles Wester

Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico

“[The document] taught that every person ‘must be free from coercion’ in matters of faith,” he said. “This principle applies universally. It is not limited to Catholics or Christians; it extends fully to Muslims, Jews, and all people who seek to worship according to their conscience. Supporting the construction of a mosque is therefore entirely consistent with our own tradition and moral commitments.”

Wester encouraged “respect, dialogue, and peaceful coexistence” among people of different religious beliefs. He added: “We do not need to share the same beliefs to share the same neighborhood. What we do need is a willingness to listen, to learn, and to recognize the face of a neighbor rather than a stranger.”

The archbishop said interfaith relationships “enrich our civic life and strengthen the social fabric we all depend on” and criticized “anti-Muslim sentiment.”

“Any hostility toward Muslims — whether expressed through rhetoric, suspicion, or opposition to their places of worship — is incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our neighbor without exception,” Wester said.

“Fear of the other is not a Christian virtue,” he added. “Hospitality is. Our Muslim brothers and sisters have faced discrimination and hostility in many parts of the country. When such prejudice arises, Catholics are called to stand beside them, not apart from them. Supporting their right to build a mosque is one concrete way to affirm their dignity and to reject the forces that seek to marginalize them.”

Yahuza Siba, director of outreach for the Albuquerque Islamic Center, told EWTN News that “religious tolerance is not about agreeing with every belief; it is about respecting the dignity and freedom of every human being.”

“We can disagree without hatred, criticize ideas without attacking people, and build bridges through understanding rather than fear,” he said. “Islamophobia, like prejudice against any faith, harms individuals and divides communities.”

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, welcomed the archbishop’s support in a statement.

“We welcome Archbishop Wester’s principled statement defending religious freedom and thank him for speaking out,” Hooper said. “The freedom to worship is a fundamental and inalienable right of every American and every human being,” he added.

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. ET on July 29, 2026, to include comments by Yahuza Siba, director of outreach for the Albuquerque Islamic Center.

From the battlefields of the Civil War to the prison camps of Korea, generations of Catholic chaplains risked their lives to celebrate the sacraments, comfort the wounded, and strengthen the faith of those serving far from home.

Early Catholic chaplains in the Revolutionary era

Catholic priests were serving American troops long before the Civil War. During the Revolutionary War, Jesuit priest Father John Carroll — later the first Catholic bishop in the United States — accompanied American forces on the failed 1775 expedition to Canada, ministering to Catholic soldiers and seeking support from French Canadians.

In the decades that followed, as the nation’s Catholic population steadily grew, priests increasingly served military communities, laying the foundation for the larger and more organized Catholic chaplaincy that emerged during the Civil War.

Shepherds amid the carnage of the Civil War

The role of Catholic chaplains took a significant turn during the Civil War.

As Irish and German Catholic immigration dramatically increased the nation’s Catholic population, thousands of Catholic soldiers filled the ranks of both Union and Confederate armies. They needed priests who could celebrate Mass, hear confessions, administer the anointing of the sick, and offer hope in the midst of unimaginable suffering.

More than 100 Catholic priests served officially as military chaplains during the conflict, while many others ministered informally in hospitals and camps.

Among the best known was Father William Corby of the Congregation of Holy Cross, chaplain of the famed Irish Brigade.

Just before the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, Corby climbed onto a large boulder overlooking the brigade and offered general absolution to thousands of Catholic soldiers preparing for battle. Knowing many would soon die, he urged them to entrust themselves to God’s mercy before raising his hand in blessing.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, with casualties exceeding 57,000. Corby’s absolution of the troops stayed deeply in the minds and hearts of the survivors, becoming one of the most enduring images of Catholic military history.

Col. St. Clair Mulholland later recalled the extraordinary silence that fell over the brigade.

“While there was profound silence in the ranks,” Mulholland wrote, “over to the left, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and reechoed through the woods … I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt there in their grave-clothes.”

The witness of Corby established a model of Catholic chaplaincy that would be repeated in Americaʼs wars for generations.

Bringing Christ into the trenches of World War I

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, hundreds of Catholic priests once again offered their services. One Catholic chaplain, serving in New York’s famed 69th Infantry Regiment, came to embody the courage and compassion of those who ministered on the front lines: Father Francis P. Duffy.

Not long after the war began, Duffy’s regiment was redesignated as the 165th Infantry and sent to fight in France. It was there on the front lines that he gained his reputation as the “fighting chaplain.”

The trenches of France were places of constant shellfire, mud, disease, and uncertainty. Amid those harsh conditions, Duffy celebrated Mass wherever he could. He heard confessions from soldiers who faced certain death. He encouraged weary soldiers by reminding them that God does not abandon his children, even in the darkest moments of war.

Rather than remaining behind the lines, Duffy was regularly seen bringing the sacraments to the wounded and comforting the dying on the battlefield.

Over time, Duffy earned such widespread respect as a leader that he was considered a potential candidate for regimental commander. Because chaplains typically do not hold command authority, even being considered for such a position was unheard of.

By warʼs end, Duffy was widely respected by soldiers and civilians alike. He received numerous military decorations for his service and is remembered as one of the most decorated chaplains in U.S. Army history.

After the war, Duffy continued serving faithfully at Holy Cross Church until his passing in 1932. He was so beloved that his funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was attended by approximately 25,000 people.

Courage under fire in World War II

Millions of Americans served overseas during World War II, requiring the largest military chaplaincy in the nationʼs history.

Among the heroic men was Father Joseph T. O’Callahan, a Jesuit priest and Navy chaplain aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin.

On March 19, 1945, after the ship was devastated by Japanese air attacks, O’Callahan ignored exploding ammunition and raging fires to administer the sacraments, rescue wounded sailors, and encourage exhausted crew members.

For hours, OʼCallahan continued to organize firefighting and rescue efforts that ultimately saved the crippled carrier. Because of OʼCallahanʼs courage, leadership, and compassion, he became the first U.S. Navy chaplain to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Another heroic chaplain of WWII was Father John P. Washington. Washington was an Army chaplain and one of the legendary Four Chaplains.

When the troop transport ship USS Dorchester was torpedoed and sank in the North Atlantic on Feb. 3, 1943, Washington and three other chaplains (representing Jewish, Methodist, and Reformed faiths) worked to calm the frightened, tend the wounded, and guide the disoriented toward safety.

When there were no lifejackets left, the chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men. “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” said John Ladd, a survivor who saw the chaplains’ selfless act.

As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains — arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers.

Faith in captivity: Father Emil Kapaun

Another enduring witness came from Father Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain who served during the Korean War.

Although ordained before World War II, Kapaun’s greatest witness came after volunteering for service in Korea. During fierce fighting, he repeatedly ran onto battlefields to rescue wounded soldiers, anointing the dying, carrying them to safety under enemy fire, and remaining behind to care for those unable to retreat.

After the Battle of Unsan in November 1950, Kapaun was captured by Communist forces. Forced to march 60 to 100 miles to a prison camp at Pyoktong, he tirelessly encouraged fellow prisoners to carry the weak and wounded.

Once inside the dismal prison camp, Kapaun risked his life by sneaking through the camp after dark. He foraged for food, cared for the sick, and encouraged his fellow soldiers to hold fast to their faith and their humanity.

When the Chinese instituted a mandatory reeducation program, Kapaun patiently and politely rejected every theory put forth. One officer, Lt. Walter Mayo, later recalled the Communists taunting Kapaun. They argued that God must not exist since he was doing nothing to save them. Kapaun’s calm response: “God is as real as the air you breathe but cannot see; as the sounds you hear but cannot see; as the thoughts and ideas you have but cannot see or feel.”

Later, Kapaun openly flouted his captors by conducting a sunrise service on Easter morning, 1951.

Shortly after the service, Kapaun fell fatally ill. As he was being carried to the hospital, he asked Godʼs forgiveness for his captors, and to his fellow men he said, “I’m going where I always wanted to go, and when I get there, I’ll say a prayer for all of you.” He died in captivity on May 23, 1951, at the age of 35.

In 2013, Kapaun was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He is also being considered for sainthood; in early 2025, Pope Francis officially declared him venerable. 

Still serving those who serve

The work of Catholic military chaplains continues today. Priests celebrate Mass aboard ships, in hangars, at remote outposts, and in combat zones. They baptize children, prepare couples for marriage, hear confessions before deployments, and comfort grieving families when loved ones do not return home. Their mission remains what it has been since the Revolution: to bring Christʼs presence to those who serve.

In the central area of ​​Spain alone, 12 towns have been evacuated and another three are under a shelter-in-place order due to the wave of forest fires that in recent days have devastated thousands of acres. At least 50,000 people have been affected in the area.

Faced with this human tragedy, the Catholic Church has set to work providing material aid, shelter, a listening ear, and the sacraments in efforts overseen by the auxiliary bishop of Getafe, José María Avendaño.

Father Álvaro Piñero is the vicar of the parish in Villaviciosa de Odón, one of the towns serving as a place of refuge for those fleeing the fires who had nowhere else to go. Throughout the weekend, he has been coordinating the aid provided by the parish to the more than 300 displaced people arriving from Chapinería, Pelayos de la Presa, Navas del Rey, and other towns.

Along with the residents, the parish priests from those towns are also being sheltered because as Piñero explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, “even when displaced, one remains a priest and continues to minister to the people of oneʼs town.”

“Many of the volunteers helping at the sports center are from Caritas or local confraternities from the town; they have ties to the parish,” noted Piñero, who is from Valdemoro, a nearby town where he has gone to pick up hosts for Mass.

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In addition to providing food and meeting material needs, the Church offers the treasure of the faith and the sacraments: “At the sports center, we have been attending to people, listening to them, hearing their confessions and above all, listening to so many suffering people. At the end of the day, the people here are extremely vulnerable.”

The authorities specifically entrusted the care of the children to the parish. The youngsters are kept entertained with games and activities, so much so that when asked if they want to return home, some say no, “because it feels like camp.”

Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, heart-wrenching from a purely human perspective, a supernatural outlook and a shepherd’s heart keep hope alive.

“As St. Paul said in the reading: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels so that not only death but the glory of the Lord may be manifested in our lives. That is somewhat what we are experiencing; while we are keenly feeling the drama of so many very difficult situations, Providence is also taking super good care of us,” Piñero emphasized.

“If God is looking after us now in this situation, why would he fail me tomorrow? If he is doing so now, then I believe trust is what sustains us in these moments, and not blind trust, but a trust we can tangibly feel here and now,” he explained, referring to the help provided by so many volunteers and donors.

‘The Lord is going through this evacuation with us’

One of the areas hardest hit by the fire is the Tiétar Valley, home to the town of Rozas de Puerto Real and the minor seminary of the Diocese of Getafe, where 130 students, 35 of whom are seminarians, normally study.

The facility, currently spared by the flames, is in grave danger. A summer camp was taking place there until participants had to be evacuated on July 25, the feast of St. James the Apostle.

“We were already surrounded by smoke and had to evacuate all the young people; it was done very quickly. In less than 25 minutes, the entire seminary had been cleared, and although there was great fear, everyoneʼs efforts made it possible,” Father Eliert Jerez, rector of the minor seminary, told ACI Prensa.

In addition to the people, they removed the statues of the Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph, the archives, and the tabernacles containing the Blessed Sacrament from the site; these were taken to Villaviciosa de Odón, where Jerez is currently taking shelter.

The moment the Body of Christ was being moved was captured on video. “I canʼt get that moment out of my head, and I donʼt want to let it go from my heart either,” the priest shared.

“When you hold the Blessed Sacrament in your hand, when you can’t wear a cope or liturgical vestments — you realize the Lord’s closeness in those moments. You realize that the Lord was going through this evacuation with us, and I imagine he was also in this prayer and this plea for it to end,” he added.

It’s precisely in prayer that they are finding great comfort: “Prayer is working real miracles such as the fact that the seminary has not yet been engulfed by the flames,” explained the rector, even as the burden of responsibility weighs heavily on him: “Many of our seminarians are going to be left homeless. Many of our seminarians will face immense difficulties in continuing their formation.”

It’s not just for their sake that Jerez is aware of how this situation will transform life in the region for years to come: “So many towns have been affected. Many people will not get their jobs back because they make their living from the land, and that is very difficult to recover from. Many people have lost not only their homes but also their prospects for the future, and this is a reality that will stay with us in the years ahead.”

Indeed, he admitted to his deep unease: “I have had trouble sleeping ever since the first flames appeared.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“Today, Melania and I join with American Catholics and people of faith all across the world in honoring the towering legacy of Father Stanley Rother — an Oklahoma farm boy, the first American-born martyr beatified by the Catholic Church, and a champion of human dignity who heroically laid down his life to bring the light of Jesus Christ to a people plagued by horrific darkness,” President Donald Trump, who is not Catholic, said in the July 28 message.

Rother was an Oklahoma native who became a missionary priest in 1968, serving in “the war-torn highlands of Guatemala, then ravaged by conflict,” the message said.

“Though thousands of Catholics were forcibly disappeared and viciously murdered during the Guatemalan Civil War, Father Rother nonetheless spent 13 years bringing the Gospel to those devastated by poverty and violence — translating sacred Scripture and helping to build a school, a hospital, and the region’s first Catholic radio station — fearlessly embodying Christ’s commission to ‘make disciples of all nations,’” the message said.

In the late 1970s, Guatemalaʼs civil war intensified. Rother was surrounded by extreme poverty and saw parishioners murdered for their faith.

Amid the conflict, Rother’s name appeared on a hit list, which prompted him to seek refuge in Oklahoma. Despite the dangers, he insisted on returning to Guatemala, “refusing to abandon his flock in their hour of need.”

On July 28, 1981, three men entered Rother’s rectory and fatally shot him. He was 46 years old.

Rother was declared blessed by Pope Francis, and in 2017 a beatification Mass was said in Oklahoma City, which houses the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said in a homily July 28 at the Rother Shrine that he was surprised “to wake up to an email that contained a special message from the White House. I don’t know if you’ve seen it or heard about it, but the White House acknowledged this day in honoring the 45th anniversary of the death of Father Stanley Rother. I didn’t know we were on their radar screen.”

“But what a … tremendous honor it is for the Church, for Oklahoma, for our nation, to have this distinction and this recognition of this ordinary martyr, this parish priest, this missionary martyr: Blessed Stanley Rother,” said Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

A story of religious liberty

The presidential statement highlighted that Rother’s story is a reminder of “America’s rich tradition of religious liberty.”

“In his honor, we recommit to remaining vigilant so that our birthright of freedom endures in the face of every trial,” Trump’s statement said. “Above all, we pray that every soul of faith, every lover of freedom, and every seeker of truth will forever remember the name and treasure the story of Father Stanley Rother.”

Since his martyrdom, “Rother has stood as a living testament to the power of courage, sacrificial service, and fidelity to God,” the message said. “He has inspired widespread devotion among Catholics.”

“And every day, countless priests, pastors, chaplains, and spiritual leaders faithfully look to Father Rother as they strive to carry out his immortal legacy of fortitude, charity, humility, service, generosity, and perseverance.”

Marking Catholic observances

Trump has established a pattern of releasing White House statements addressing significant commemorative Catholic days, along with messages marking observances by other faith traditions such as Judaism and Islam.

Since Trump began his second term, the White House has released Catholic-focused celebratory statements on the feast of St. Joseph, the birthday of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and St. Patrick’s Day, acknowledging the saints’ lives and legacies.

It also released a message on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which appeared to be the first time a U.S. president formally recognized the holy day “honoring the faith, humility, and love of Mary, mother of Jesus and one of the greatest figures in the Bible,” the statement said.

The president also released a statement on the anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, calling him “one the fiercest defenders of human dignity to ever live” and encouraging “every American to keep the memory of Pope Saint John Paul II alive for generations to come.”

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the U.S., the president also released a statement regarding the USCCB’s Mass consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which the president called “a powerful moment in our national story.”

While releasing the formal presidential messages on Catholic matters, Trump has also criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” on his social media accounts amid the Iran conflict.

The president gained widespread attention in April when he made the comments.

Despite the online criticism and falsely suggesting that Pope Leo wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the president later told reporters he has “nothing against the pope.”

The accident took place on the night of July 25 while residents were celebrating the feast of St. James the Apostle in front of the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish church. A video circulating on social media shows the moment of the explosion.

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According to the media outlet El Horizonte, the explosion killed three women, including a young woman who was eight months pregnant. Some victims suffered severe burns, including minors who required specialized care.

Speaking to the media on July 26, Francisco Rodríguez Cisneros, Guerrero state’s undersecretary for political and social development, explained that the incident occurred because those responsible for the fireworks display “failed to keep them at a safe distance from where they were being used.”

According to the official, a rocket was propelled toward the area where the fireworks were stored, triggering the explosion. Rodríguez reported that as of Sunday, July 26, there were 12 injuries and four fatalities.

Prayers requested for the victims

In a July 26 statement, González expressed his “deep sorrow and dismay” regarding the incident.

“As a particular Church, we offer our prayers for the eternal rest of those who have been called to the Father’s House. We entrust their souls to the infinite mercy of God, with the firm hope of the Resurrection promised by Our Lord Jesus Christ,” he stated.

The prelate invited priests, deacons, men and women religious, and the lay faithful to offer special prayers during the week for the eternal rest of the deceased, the recovery of the injured, the consolation of their families, and for peace.

He particularly urged that, during the celebration of holy Mass and the recitation of the rosary, prayers be offered for the specific intention of all the victims of the tragedy.

Finally, he entrusted those affected to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. James the Apostle, asking God to pour out “upon them the balm of his love and peace.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

After a July 28 check-in with ICE officials in Harlingen, Texas, Carlos M. Garcia, Ugboaja’s lawyer, told reporters gathered outside the ICE field office that the possibility of third-country removal “is very concerning for us ... That is obviously not what we want. And that’s why we are exploring all our legal alternatives.”

Garcia said he and his client have not yet decided on a specific legal path.

At a July 23 press conference, he said an immigration judge denied Ugboaja’s application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, finding it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though she remains under a final order of removal and could be sent to a third country.

After Ugboaja’s July 28 check-in, her attorney expressed gratitude that the nun, who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has never missed an immigration appointment, was not detained and not required to wear an ankle monitor, possibilities he discussed last week. The nun has another check-in scheduled for Jan. 28, 2027.

“We’re happy that she’s continuing to be able to live her life the way she’s been living it, which is a life of service to the community and to her church family,” Garcia said.

“Today was just a check-in,” he said, and ICE officials “determined that [Ugboaja] was able to continue [living] based on the conditions that they had given her before, which is really released on her own word, her own recognizance.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, was detained by two ICE agents on Sunday, June 28, as she walked to Mass at a church where she serves as a Eucharistic minister.

At a press conference last week, the only time she has spoken publicly, she described weeks of “stress, anxiety, and fear” since the detainment.

Though she has felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus’ admonition to “not be afraid, because I am with you always.”

The nun declined to speak with reporters after her check-in July 28.

Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and a member of the Missionaries of Jesus in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, told EWTN News this process has been very difficult for Ugboaja.

“She’s such a joyful, happy, and beautiful personality,” Pimentel said. “She goes to daily Mass, and receiving the Eucharist is so much a part of her strength and her force within her, but this disruption has scared her tremendously.”

Though Ugboaja was released the same day she was detained, in part through the efforts of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Pimentel said “it was a tough time for her to be in detention … it felt like an eternity for her.”

Pimentel said the nun “just broke down into tears, uncontrollably” upon her release.

Since then, the community has poured out its support, Pimentel said. During this morningʼs check-in at the ICE field office, Father Isaac E. Erondu, a priest in Mission, Texas, and Ugboaja’s first cousin, led a group of people, including the nun, in prayer before she entered the building with her lawyer.

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Supporters then prayed the rosary together as they awaited news of Ugboaja’s fate.

“She’s trying to be strong,” Pimentel said. “She wants to continue just being herself … In seeing the support, the love, and so many people that are here for her, she knows she’s not alone.”

We want her to know “we are here with you, and you’ll be OK,” she said.

We were all thinking this was about picking up criminals, but there’s no criminal sense in all of this.”

Sister Norma Pimentel

In a message to Catholics and other supporters concerned with Ugboaja’s case, as well as the nature of ICE’s recent immigration enforcement measures, Pimentel, who has worked on behalf of immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border for more than 20 years, said: “I think that we must stand together strong, supporting the defense of good people that are here in our community … and not only [Ugboaja], but everybody, so many families who are hurting.”

“We must speak up and ask for … a process that is more respectful to human life and to the goodness of people,” she continued. “So many people are here in the community and are really contributing in a positive, good way. This should not be happening.”

Of ICE’s enforcement measures, Pimentel said: “We were all thinking this was about picking up criminals, but there’s no criminal sense in all of this, you know? And so all of us must truly stand up and defend the right way of who we are as Americans here in the United States.”

Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends elements of rugby, soccer, and basketball.

Legend has it that after winning their last All Ireland in 1951, the victorious Mayo team disrupted a funeral procession during their open-top lorry celebrations. In response, according to lore, a furious priest “cursed” the team, declaring that Mayo would not win another All Ireland title until every member of the 1951 squad had passed away. The last two members, Paddy Prendergast and Mick Loftus, passed away in 2021 and 2023, and this year is the first final the county has played — and won — since.

The historic win also took place on Reek Sunday, a traditional day of pilgrimage in County Mayo when thousands of Catholics climb Croagh Patrick holy mountain — a site forever associated with Ireland’s patron saint. To mark a marvelous day for the Mayo faithful, GAA President Jarlath Burns even mentioned Our Lady of Knock in his presentation speech to Mayo captain Jack Coyne in Croke Park.

The victory attracted acclaim from around the world. Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s family hails from County Mayo and he posted on social media: “Today, the dream becomes reality. Congratulations to my friends in Mayo. You earned this victory. Enjoy every minute. Sam is coming home.”

For the rest of the world the sporting focus this summer has been on the FIFA World Cup, but in Mayo fans agonized over whether this would finally be the year to end the 75-year losing streak.

Every July, the GAA Gaelic Football and Hurling championship finals take center stage, each attended by 82,000 fans in Croke Park Dublin. The finals are the showpiece occasion for the GAA, which is the largest amateur sports organization in the world.

Hurling continues to attract the attention and admiration of a growing international audience. It’s a nonstop, full-contact game played with sticks made from ash and a ball slightly smaller and lighter than a baseball. It traces its origins back to Celtic myth and legend.

Historic connection between the GAA and the Catholic Church

The Catholic connection to Ireland’s Gaelic sports is not coincidental. From its foundation in 1884, the GAA has had an almost symbiotic relationship with the Catholic Church. It is still present but no longer as evident.

There are GAA clubs globally wherever there is an Irish community, but in Ireland clubs are traditionally organized on a parish basis, relying on unpaid volunteers, with the best players selected to represent their county.

“Parish life revolved around the GAA and the Catholic faith — the two real pillars of life in Ireland,” Mickey Harte, who managed (County) Tyrone for three All-Ireland Senior football titles, told EWTN News. "The local priest would have been very heavily involved in the structure of the GAA club in the parish. Itʼs still a very strong connection, although thereʼs more of a secular outlook now.”

In Ireland, the GAA is more than a sporting organization, providing essential social fabric and support.

The GAA’s founding patron was the archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Thomas William Croke, after whom the famous stadium in Dublin is named. It was there that Pope Francis hosted the World Meeting of Families in 2018, and the GAA made Croke Park available for the World Eucharistic Congress in 1932. In years gone by, a bishop threw the ball in ceremonially on All Ireland final day.

Father Derek Ryan, a Redemptorist priest based in Drogheda and a GAA referee, said he sees a lessening of the link between the Catholic faith and the GAA, but “in times of tragedy, you can see how organized, compassionate, and supportive the GAA club can be to a community.”

Ryan pointed to the importance of the parish.

“The traditional loyalty to the parish is still the basis of the GAA. Itʼs about where youʼre living, where youʼre from, and parish boundary lines mark the border lines between local GAA clubs,” he said. “Club identity is woven into parish identity.”

Ryan highlighted the value of GAA clubs that provide a sense of community for the Irish diaspora.

“My own experience of living abroad in Africa and over in the United States is that these clubs become much more than sporting organizations, they become supportive centers,” he said. “If we didnʼt have these GAA clubs and communities throughout the world, we would be very much less well off.”

Before finding his way to the Church in Tucson, Arizona, Martin served in Okinawa, Japan, and in the Philippines; he then spent 27 years as a police officer in Illinois.

Martin’s connection to Catholicism began with his late wife, Ann Marie.

When Deacon Jacinto “Jack” Trevino, a hospice chaplain and parochial associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in the Diocese of Tucson, met with Martin in December 2025, the two bonded over a shared background in law enforcement and spoke about his wife and her faith.

“Ray is an amazing person,” Trevino told EWTN News. “We hit it off from the beginning. We talked about the job a lot — and shared some laughs.”

It wasn’t all laughs, though. As they got to know each other, their conversations grew serious.

“Ray talked about his wife, who passed,” Trevino recalled. “He said she was Catholic and he would attend Mass with her and pray the rosary.”

“One day he mentioned that he was never baptized or had any of the sacraments and he wanted to be Catholic,” Trevino continued. “We began deeper discussions of the faith.”

Martin, it turned out, had a deep faith in Christ and in the Eucharist.

“He expressed true belief in Christ and the teaching of the Catholic Church,” Trevino said. “He expressed his belief in the Eucharist and the importance of baptism and confirmation. Ray said that even though he was not Catholic, he would always pray the act of contrition.”

At the edge of death, life

Trevino, along with Father Edson Elizarraras, pastor of St. Christopher in Marana, Arizona, had a sense of urgency in bringing those sacraments to Martin.

Martin has survived a stroke, multiple falls, and other health concerns in recent years, even bordering on the brink of death in May after he suffered another stroke.

“Remarkably, Ray pulled through,” Elizarraras told EWTN News. “It was after this stroke that he clearly expressed his desire to become Catholic and receive the sacraments of initiation.”

Trevino and Elizarraras approached the bishop about advancing Martin’s sacraments. Usually, would-be converts to Catholicism go through a one- to two-year Order of Christian Initiation of Adults before receiving the sacraments.

“Though he married a Catholic woman and faithfully attended holy Mass with her prior to her passing, Deacon Trevino noted that Ray always felt unworthy to receive the sacraments, despite believing in God,” Elizarraras said.

“Ray came to tears expressing his desire for the Catholic faith, sharing that throughout his life, he would pray the Act of Contrition and the rosary,” Elizarraras said. “The more Deacon Trevino visited him, the more questions Ray asked, showing he was fully convinced and willingly prepared to receive sacramental grace.”

One of the most important days

So the date was set for July 16; the location, the assisted living home where Martin resided. The facility manager had put up banners with crosses to prepare the living room for the celebration, according to Trevino.

On the day of the celebration, Elizarraras gave Martin the short-order form of OCIA, which is written for those in near danger of death.

“The moment I approached to greet him, he began to cry and smile; he knew this was one of the most important days of his life,” Elizarraras said.

Residents, caregivers, and Martin’s family attended the Mass.

“Beautifully, at the start of the liturgy, Mr. Raymond asked to be helped closer to the small, dignified altar we had prepared,” Elizarraras said. “He wanted to hear clearly and see God at work.”

“When I asked him, ‘Dear brother, Raymond, you have asked to be baptized because you wish, as Christians do, to have eternal life … This is the faith of Christians. Do you know this?’ He responded firmly, ‘I do, yes!’ and wept tears of joy,” Elizarraras recalled.

“Throughout the rite, he remained deeply attentive, smiling and occasionally meditating with his eyes closed,” Elizarraras continued. “When the moment came for his baptism, he opened his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, recognizing this supernatural encounter with God.”

Trevino described the day as “powerful.”

“I was so blessed to humbly participate and witness how Christ, the bridegroom, pours out his love and mercy through his bride, the Church, in the sacraments for his people,” Trevino said.

Afterward, they celebrated with cupcakes — and made plans for how Martin would practice his newfound faith from the assisted living home.

“First thing he asked me and my wife, Elena, was how he could receive Communion again since he can’t get around to go to Mass,” Trevino said. “We promised that we would bring him Communion directly and he could watch Mass on EWTN.”

Martin asked for a medal of St. Christopher; he’d “always wanted one,” he told Trevino, and St. Christopher was now, officially, his confirmation saint.

Encountering Christ

Elizarraras left the celebration that day “with immense joy and peace.”

“In Rayʼs response to grace, I saw a soul truly coming alive,” Elizarraras said.

The celebration brought to Elizarraras’ mind a line from Deus Caritas Est, “God Is Love,” an encyclical letter written by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction,” Elizarraras said, quoting Benedict.

“For Ray, at 98 years old, this sacrament was that very encounter, giving his final days a glorious new horizon,” Elizarraras said.

A week later, Trevino’s wife, Elena, a lay ecclesial minister, brought Martin Communion.

“She read the Gospel for the upcoming Mass, the parable of the buried treasure,” Trevino said. “She told Ray that he was the man in the parable who found the great treasure. He was very happy.”

The eight prelates — including Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Palm Beach Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, and several others throughout the state — issued the message amid large numbers of executions in Florida.

The state executed 19 condemned prisoners in 2025, helping drive a rise in capital punishment throughout the United States. Florida has executed 10 inmates thus far in 2026 and is scheduled to perform a rare double execution on July 28.

In their letter, Florida’s Catholic bishops, who regularly advocate on behalf of condemned prisoners there, urged Catholics toward a “renewed consideration” of capital punishment, one informed by “the teaching of the Church and her moral authority.”

“[W]e wish to remind Catholics of the teaching of our Church against the use
of the death penalty in situations — like our own — where bloodless means are sufficient to punish offenders and protect public safety,” the bishops said.

They pointed out that Jesus in his teaching revealed that “God desires to offer mercy to sinners who do not deserve it.”

While the prelates acknowledged that parts of Scripture “condone the death penalty at least in certain circumstances,” they argued that the “fullest development of God’s revelation of his will” points away from capital punishment.

In addition, they cited papal teachings such as Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, in which the now-sainted pope urged that modern secure penal systems have made it “very rare, if not practically nonexistent” for the death penalty to be justified.

At the same time, the bishops also acknowledged the horrific nature of crimes and the need for “deep sympathy and compassion” for family members who have lost loved ones to murder.

“We agree that the perpetrators of such crimes should be brought to justice, but we disagree that justice is best served by yet another act of killing,” they said.

The bishops said they will continue to work to abolish the death penalty; they further urged both Catholics and “fellow citizens of goodwill” to work to end the practice as well.

Though executions in the U.S. were up in 2025, data indicate a growing public opposition to the death penalty, both in poll numbers and in the declining number of prisoners condemned to death in the United States.

Data from the Death Penalty Information Center indicates that new death sentences were down in 2025, declining to 22 from 24, with “only 14 juries nationwide” reaching unanimous death verdicts.

A Gallup poll in 2025, meanwhile, found that public support for the death penalty reached a 50-year low of 52%, while 44% of Americans oppose the death penalty, the highest level recorded since 1966.

“How terrible! To brutally destroy such a joyful and moving celebration. In our prayers we are with all the victims and their relatives and friends, and also with all those whose joy hatred has taken away. Hatred must not win,” Archbishop Heiner Koch told the German Catholic news agency KNA.

The prelate said intercessions would be offered at Sunday Masses throughout the Archdiocese of Berlin for those affected and for peaceful coexistence in society.

What happened in the Tiergarten

According to media reports, a white minivan was driven at high speed into a densely packed crowd at Tiergarten park, the venue of the annual Christopher Street Day (CSD) event, at about 10 p.m. on July 25, roughly 1,300 feet outside the secured festival area, before crashing into a tree.

The driver then attacked bystanders with a machete and fled.

The suspect, identified in German media as Abdul B., was a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese background whom authorities had classified as a potential Islamist attacker.

According to NZZ, the Muslim attacker had previously attempted to join the Islamic State in Syria and was convicted in May of preparing a serious act of violence, receiving a suspended juvenile sentence.

The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported that he had openly sympathized with the terrorist group.

The suspected terrorist was shot dead by police on Sunday evening in Berlin’s Spandau district after attacking officers with his bladed weapon.

Germany’s federal prosecutor has taken over the investigation, and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the incident an “Islamist terrorist attack.”

‘We light a candle and pray’

Hundreds of thousands of people had taken part in the 48th Berlin CSD earlier on Saturday. The event was called off after the attack. On Sunday evening, hundreds attended an ecumenical memorial service at St. Mary’s Church in central Berlin, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz among those present.

The Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ), which took part in the LGBT parade through its Berlin diocesan association, said it was “shocked and saddened.”

“We light a candle and pray for all those affected by this terrible act,” the organization said.

The Catholic Church unequivocally condemns all violence and every form of unjust discrimination against persons living with same-sex attraction. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, they “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (No. 2358).

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The statue of Our Lady on Podbrdo, or Apparition Hill, was doused with black paint across the face, chest, and dress, with the words “Devil in a skirt” scrawled on its pedestal, local media reported. The statue of Our Lady at the nearby Blue Cross was similarly defaced, with “EVIL” written on a nearby stone slab. A banner in Polish naming the six alleged seers was left near the Podbrdo statue.

Police in Čitluk received the first report at 4:30 a.m. and a report of fire at the recently renovated altar behind St. James parish church at 5 a.m., a police spokeswoman said reportedly. Surveillance footage shows a man dousing the altar with flammable liquid and igniting it. Cantonal police later confirmed to local media that a suspect was arrested Tuesday afternoon. His identity has not been released.

‘Prayer, fasting, and forgiveness’

“We received with great sadness the news of the act of vandalism that damaged the places of prayer in our parish,” the Medjugorje parish office said in a statement, calling on the faithful to respond “as Our Lady has been teaching us in Medjugorje for more than 40 years: with prayer, fasting, and forgiveness.”

Cleanup began immediately, the parish said, and “the shrine remains open to all pilgrims.”

Bishop Petar Palić of Mostar-Duvno expressed deep sorrow, urging the faithful not to let evil “infect us with its own logic,” while the Interreligious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned the attack.

The Vatican granted a “nihil obstat” to devotion at Medjugorje in September 2024. Mladifest opens Aug. 1 and is expected to draw 50,000 to 60,000 pilgrims.

A college representative said the idea took shape after Jacob Imam, president and founder, began praying a novena and walking around the building each workday, often returning on weekends with his family “like the Israelites circling Jericho.” Spokesperson Wes Cimmarrusti said Imam’s daily prayer‑walks preceded an unexpected call from the Freemasons within a month, asking whether he would consider buying the property.

“We totally credit the favor and the opportunity to the intercession of St. Joseph and the power of prayer,” Cimmarrusti said.

The Catholic trade school has raised $1 million and signed a purchase agreement with the Freemasons of Steubenville to buy the property in January 2027. While no date has been set for the project’s completion, the college seeks to raise an additional $3 million to fully renovate the space.

The renovated building will include a 500-seat auditorium that will be open to the public for artistic performances, academic lectures, and civic ceremonies. The building will also feature a restaurant and shrine that will display a replica of the Shroud of Turin.

Franciscan University to host conference in Austria on Christian healing

Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, will host its sixth annual Truth of Love Conference in Gaming, Austria.

The Sept. 4–6 conference, “Toward a Theology of Healing,” will center on “wounds that touch the whole human person, including loneliness, mortality, physical suffering, and abuse and other sins.” Speakers will draw from Scripture to “explore how healing is found through encounters with others and ultimately with Jesus Christ,” according to a press release from the university.

“In the Gospel, Our Lord Jesus described himself as a physician and us, whom he saves, as the sick, whom he has come to heal (Matt. 9:12). And St. Ignatius of Antioch presented the Eucharist as the ‘medicine of immortality,’” said Stephen Hildebrand, provost and professor of theology at Franciscan University. “These are more than metaphors, for our ultimate salvation consists in the healing, the making whole, of the human person, body and soul, and the human community.”

“The Truth of Love Conference promises to be a rich exploration of this theme at the heart of the Christian message: Even in the midst of suffering and death, God will restore us and make us whole,” he said.

Catholic campus ministry group names centers for inaugural service and justice grants

The Catholic Campus Ministry Association has awarded three ministries its first‑ever Service and Justice Innovation Grant, created to “transform how Catholic campus ministries approach service and justice as expressions of evangelization, not just programming.”

The inaugural 2026-2027 grants will go to the Catholic Student Center at Washington University in St. Louis; the St. Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana; and to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Service and justice aren’t add-ons to the Catholic mission, they’re at its heart,” said Rosie Chinea Shawver, executive director of the association. “What they build this year will shape how campus ministers across the country form the next generation of Catholic leaders.”

Each recipient will receive a one-year $5,000 grant “to design, implement, and evaluate a new or revitalized service and justice initiative.” The grant stipulates that each recipient will “function as a national think tank, learning together, pressure-testing ideas, and building a shared body of knowledge that extends far beyond their own programs.”

The program will begin with a conference at the University of San Diego, where each campus will send two student leaders and one campus minister for formation and training.

As “widespread violence, political instability, economic collapse, and humanitarian suffering” continue in Haiti, Wenski said July 24 that the Caribbean nation remains unsafe as a place for migrants to return. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Miami’s archbishop said local ministries are “preparing for the consequences” of policy changes, including the termination of work authorizations for diocesan employees. Employment authorization documents (EADs) reached a court-extended expiration July 27.

TPS is an immigration status granted to eligible foreign nationals from designated countries that are unsafe to return to due to ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 ruled that DHS could end TPS for Haitians and Syrians. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 1689) in April that would add three more years of TPS for Haitian nationals. The legislation has stalled in the Senate.

Catholic Health Services (CHS), one of the Archdiocese of Miamiʼs largest ministries, which employs a significant number of Haitian workers who hold TPS, “is currently evaluating the effects of the recent federal changes affecting TPS work authorization, Wenski said.

“At this time, an estimated 40 to 50 valued employees may be affected, although the final number remains under review as the organization works individually with each employee based on his or her unique circumstances,” he said.

Haitian CHS workers “are more than employees — they are members of our Church and our community,” Wenski said. “They care for the sick, comfort the elderly, and serve some of the most vulnerable among us with compassion and dedication.”

Ahead of the deadline, Wenski said “our hearts are with our Haitian brothers and sisters who are living with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety about what the future may hold for themselves and their families.”

“The Church recognizes the right of nations to secure their borders and to establish just immigration laws. At the same time, our Catholic faith calls us to uphold the dignity of every human person and to accompany those who are vulnerable,” he said.

As “Haiti continues to endure profound hardship,” Wenski urged “elected leaders to pursue compassionate and humane solutions that protect family unity and recognize the extraordinary circumstances facing the Haitian people.”

“To our Haitian brothers and sisters: You are not alone. The Catholic Church walks with you,” he said.

Haitian workers in Ohio face uncertain future

Ohio bishops also have called for continued TPS protections for Haitians, especially as Springfield, Ohio, is home to a large Haitian population. The Catholic Conference of Ohio released a June statement urging action and continued TPS.

As the Supreme Court decision has left many families worried about losing their jobs, Ohio-based organizations are also preparing to aid those facing loss of TPS.

In an interview July 24 with “EWTN News Nightly,” Casey Rollins, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in Springfield, Ohio, said the organizationʼs team helps immigrants and nonimmigrants “while theyʼre enduring, or while theyʼre navigating … a crisis or a situation.”

“That would be, in this case, once they lost their jobs, we will help them take care of their rent and utilities if they now canʼt pay that,” she said.

For “over 60 years, weʼve helped Americans with rent and utilities and those kinds of necessities for independent living. Now weʼre doing that with Haitians and other immigrants whoʼve recently lost jobs,” she explained.

“We also are helping the families who, many of them, are certain to be deported,” she said.

Following the loss of workers in the Ohio community, “weʼre going to be in trouble,” she said.

For years, the area needed “more workers here,” and the Haitian community was “taking a lot of these jobs.”

“We have not forgotten Father Jacques Hamel. Ten years ago today, he was cowardly murdered by two Islamist terrorists — targeted because he embodied the rejection of hatred, as well as fraternity and hope,” the French leader wrote on his X account on July 26.

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“To his loved ones, his parishioners, all the inhabitants of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and the Catholics of France, I extend the nation’s faithful, fraternal greetings,” Macron emphasized.

“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president continued, concluding: “In the face of Islamist terrorism, France remains united. True to its foundational values. Resolute not to yield anything to those who seek to divide us.”

Hamel’s murder

On July 26, 2016, two young Islamic State terrorists stormed the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, France, and murdered 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel while he was celebrating Mass.

Shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”), the killers entered the church and began destroying religious images. The priest tried to stop them but was unable to do so. The terrorists attempted to force him to his knees, but he refused.

One of the killers stabbed him, and Hamel cried out, “Begone, Satan!” These were his last words, and they slit his throat.

The cause for Hamel’s beatification

The cause was announced on April 13, 2017, and officially opened on May 20 of that year.

The diocesan phase of the cause concluded on March 9, 2019, at Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel of the Archdiocese of Rouen.

During that stage, 66 hearings were held, with testimony from the five witnesses to the murder, 51 summoned witnesses including siblings, friends, parishioners, and priests as well as five witnesses the tribunal called “ex officio” to ensure the process was not one-sided.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

According to U.S. authorities, Urbano Vázquez Ortega, 53, obtained U.S. citizenship in 2017.

“Vázquez Ortega was convicted of multiple counts of second-degree child sexual abuse while employed as a priest at a Washington, D.C., church,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a press release.

“In 2019, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The United States filed a five-count complaint seeking to revoke his citizenship, alleging he committed these crimes before, during, and after his naturalization,” the text indicates.

Vázquez Ortega is one of 10 individuals facing the revocation of their citizenship after being convicted of various serious crimes, including the sexual abuse of minors, fraud, and drug trafficking.

4 charges of abuse in 2019

In August 2019, a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia found Vázquez Ortega guilty of four counts of child sexual abuse involving two minors at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in northwest Washington, D.C., where he had been serving since 2014.

According to evidence presented during the trial, between April and May 2015, he molested a 13-year-old girl in a parish office.

Additionally, between June 2016 and August 2017, he abused another minor aged between 9 and 10 in various places on church grounds, according to the evidence.

A third adolescent also testified during the legal proceedings, stating that Vázquez Ortega kissed her in a church conference room.

Removed from ministry after first allegation

When the allegations came to light in 2018, the Archdiocese of Washington stated that this was the first allegation of sexual abuse received against Vázquez Ortega and that, “immediately upon learning of this serious allegation, the archdiocese immediately removed Father Vazquez from ministry and suspended his priestly faculties.”

In the same statement, the archdiocese reported that after reviewing the case, it determined that the then-pastor of the Sacred Heart Shrine, Friar Moisés Villalta, “failed to follow appropriate protocols related to reporting allegations of abuse to civil authorities and the Archdiocese of Washington” and for this reason, “has been removed as pastor.”

Additionally, the parish’s child protection coordinator was placed on administrative leave, according to the statement issued at the time.

In addition, a complaint was filed against Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz, 47, former Roman Catholic priest from Poland convicted of wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign country, crimes he committed as a priest and hid during the naturalization process.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The trailer offers viewers a glimpse into the scourging at the pillar, Jesus’ arrest and trials, the walk to Calvary, and his final, powerful words on the cross.

Season 6 of “The Chosen” will include six episodes — the first three of which will debut on Nov. 15 on Prime Video, followed by the release of a weekly episode through Dec. 6.

The season finale will be a stand-alone theatrical release on March 12, 2027.

The show’s star, actor Jonathan Roumie, has spoken about his experience portraying Jesus’ passion and crucifixion.

In an interview with EWTN News at ChosenCon on Feb. 20 he said: “For the first few months afterwards going to Mass — and even thinking about it now — I just get weepy. I get emotional. It’s hard. It’s left an indelible impression on me — mentally and emotionally sharing even just a percentage, a micron of a percentage, of the Lord’s passion; playing it and reenacting it has left me absolutely humbled and moved.”

The show’s cast spent three weeks filming the crucifixion in Matera, Italy, in June 2025. In a press conference held at the Vatican at the end of that time, the show’s creator, writer, and director, Dallas Jenkins, called the three weeks “the most challenging and difficult we had in filming,” requiring him to surrender everything to Christ.

Ahead of the release of Season 6, 5&2 Studios — the production company behind “The Chosen” — alongside Capitol Christian Music Group will release a new album this fall with original songs inspired by “The Chosen.” The first single, titled “All I Need Is You,” is performed by country star Tyler Hubbard and will be released on Aug. 7. The full artist lineup will be revealed in the weeks ahead.

“My wife, my three kids, and I have a nightly ritual of watching ‘The Chosen.’ We really got into it! Itʼs a show that I love and am connected to, so I was really excited to personally be a part of the show and part of the music,” Hubbard said in a press release.

“‘All I Need Is You’ is a song thatʼs out of my normal country music box. Itʼs a song that hits close to home. I think a lot of people can relate to the need for Jesus. To write a song about something that really matters is extra special,” he said.

Watch the full trailer for Season 6 below.

Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, the Maronite patriarch, presided over the official liturgical celebration. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, attended as the representative of Pope Leo XIV alongside patriarchs, bishops, and Lebanese officials, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The ceremony began with a formal petition presented to the pope’s representative by Bishop Mounir Khairallah, Maronite bishop of Batroun and petitioner for the beatification cause, requesting that Hoyek be declared blessed.

Bishop Hanna Alwan, patriarchal vicar general and postulator of the cause before the Holy See, then read the official biography of the new blessed, recounting the principal stages of his life.

Semeraro subsequently read the apostolic letter issued by Pope Leo XIV formally enrolling Patriarch Elias Peter Hoyek among the blessed. The decree granted the petition of the Maronite Church, its bishops, and its faithful and designated June 5 as the date of his annual liturgical memorial.

The pope’s representative also presented the Maronite Church with five original copies of the decree as official documentation of the occasion.

A large official icon of the new blessed was then unveiled. His relics were brought forward in a solemn procession accompanied by 32 lit candles, symbolizing the 32 years Hoyek served as Maronite patriarch, from 1899 to 1931.

In his homily, Rai said: “Hoyek entrusted himself completely to divine providence until he became a radiant sign in the history of the Church and of Lebanon.”

“The Church today is not raising a man to earthly glory,” he continued, “but bearing witness to the glory God brought about in him. Holiness is not an honor bestowed by the earth but a divine gift granted to those who live the Gospel faithfully to the end.”

Addressing Semeraro, Rai said the cardinal’s presence embodied the depth of communion between the Maronite Church and the Church of Rome. He added that it carried a message of love and appreciation from Pope Leo XIV to a Church that has remained faithful to the faith and to its witness to Christ in the Middle East.

Rai emphasized that “the new blessed lived by his famous motto, ‘My God, may your will be done.’ He was a man of divine providence, combining in his person the vigilance of a shepherd, the wisdom of a leader, the heart of a father, and the faith of a saint.”

“He never sought personal glory,” Rai added, “but rather the glory of God and the good of the human person, believing that Lebanon is a message and that the human person is its greatest treasure.”

At the conclusion of the Mass, Aoun was presented with a cedar tree carved from Lebanese stone bearing the likeness of the new blessed and containing one of his relics.

Following the final blessing, Hoyek’s relics were carried in procession through the aisles among the faithful.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The 800-seat cathedral will rise on Barbadoes Street in central Christchurch, the site of the 1905 original that was demolished in 2020 after suffering irreparable damage in the earthquakes that struck the Canterbury region in 2010 and 2011, killing 185 people and damaging more than half of the diocese’s 68 churches.

Bishop Michael Gielen announced the launch in a pastoral letter read at Masses across the diocese on Sunday, July 26. The 11th bishop of Christchurch said today’s Catholic faithful carry the “responsibility” and “privilege” first shouldered by Bishop John Grimes, who built the original cathedral.

“Our Catholic communities have changed in the decades since Bishop Grimes led our diocese, but our desire for beauty, for welcome, and for honoring God has not,” Gielen said.

Following public consultation, Gielen announced in 2024 that the cathedral would return to the diocese’s traditional home on Barbadoes Street and retain its historic name, alongside a Māori name: Te Hāhi Matua o te Hākarameta Tapu Rawa. The design, developed over two years with architects Warren and Mahoney, also includes a perpetual adoration chapel and the Te Rangimarie community center, with space for 300 people.

“When I arrived in the diocese four years ago, one of the questions I was most often asked was, ‘What is happening with the cathedral?’ That question revealed something profound: the deep love our people have for their mother church,” Gielen said.

‘It’s now our turn’

Tony Brazier, who is leading the cathedral campaign, said about 45 million New Zealand dollars (about $26 million) will come from insurance proceeds and the sale of diocesan assets. Of the 35 million New Zealand dollars (about $20 million) to be raised, more than 19 million New Zealand dollars (about $11 million) has already been pledged.

“Bishop Michael is emulating what Bishop Grimes did — inviting every Catholic family to make a sacrificial offering to build our new cathedral,” Brazier said.

Gielen and many of the diocese’s priests have committed to making weekly contributions over the next five years. No construction date has been announced; the diocese says it will move toward final preparations once half of the remaining 16 million New Zealand dollars (about $9 million) has been raised.

“It’s now our turn to answer the ancient call to build something that will last for generations, and about which those who follow us will also say ‘Those people were generous, those people were courageous, they trusted in God,’” the bishop said.

Three stained-glass windows created in 1912 by the Zettler Studio of Munich for the original cathedral will take pride of place at the entrance of its successor.

Initiatives such as the Betania Club de Lectura Católico (Bethany Catholic Book Club) and El Carmelo Descalzo (The Discalced Carmelite) shared their experience with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, and offered some recommendations for those who want to start a similar project in their parish, university, or community.

Entrust it to God

For José Jorge Domínguez, who started the Bethany Catholic Book Club, the first step is to begin with prayer and “entrust the project to God.”

“He always sees the intention of the heart,” he added.

He also recommended presenting the initiative to the parish priest so that he is aware of the project and, if possible, can offer spiritual guidance and support.

Common thread

Another fundamental element for keeping a book club going is having a defined goal.

Sara Gisela Sánchez Ureña, a member of The Discalced Carmelite, explained that it’s “easier to keep up attendance when the book club has a common thread.”

Their project originated within a group of single adults with a Carmelite spirituality who seek to purify “their own life experience in order to better determine whether their vocation is single life or marriage, approaching this through the lens of spiritual growth and with the maturity of the adults that we are.”

To that end, this year they organized a program based on the works of St. John of the Cross, alternating with authors who address themes related to the experience of the “Dark Night of the Soul.”

Meeting dynamics

For Sánchez, a key factor is ensuring that the meetings do not become merely forums for literary analysis but rather occasions for connection and personal reflection.

He explained that the Discalced Carmelite meetings begin with a conversation about the general impressions left by the book. Afterward, participants answer questions designed to relate the reading to their own experiences.

He also recommended taking the time to learn a bit more about the author. “It’s not just a matter of choosing an author but also of getting to know him better,” he noted.

Domínguez highlighted that one of the main objectives is to create a forum where participants can share their experiences and hear the perspectives of others.

The intention, he explained, is for people “to be able to share their point of view and life experience, and to create a space where God is at the center of everything.”

Virtual or in person?

Regarding the format of the gatherings, both organizers agree that it depends on the specific circumstances of each community and the participants' availability.

The Bethany group opted for in-person meetings at various locations across Mexico City. Domínguez explained that the group “goes like pilgrims from place to place in the city, visiting different venues such as cafés or designated meeting points.”

Meanwhile, the Discalced Carmelite group found that virtual meetings offered a way to accommodate their members' schedules. For Sánchez, the format matters less than the goal of “getting to know one another and building a sense of fellowship.”

Fostering dialogue

Although each initiative operates differently, both share the view that a book club should not limit itself to the act of reading; instead, it should help members apply those reflections to their daily lives.

Domínguez said each endeavor should have a concrete spiritual impact, noting that it is not merely a matter of reading for the sake of reading but rather of “making each reading one’s own, discerning it in light of one’s own life, and allowing it to bear fruit.”

He said one of the great riches of those times together is the ability to proclaim to new generations “that there is a God who loves them, understands them, and listens to them.” In his view, “reading in community is an excellent means to achieve that goal.”

Some book recommendations

For those wishing to start a Catholic book club, Domínguez recommended beginning with works that help deepen oneʼs spiritual life, such as “The Book of My Life” by St. Teresa of Ávila.

Sánchez suggested turning to authors like St. John of the Cross while also combining spiritual reading with other writers such as C.S. Lewis, who inspire reflection on the human experience from a Christian perspective.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The study found that younger generations of ministry leaders are serving in increasingly complex roles and often balancing multiple ministries. They are also facing concerns about pay, role clarity, and long-term sustainability.

Despite the challenges, most continue to report that the ministry brings them joy.

Of the leaders MTS examined in the 2024 research study, 87% said their ministry “often” or “always” brings them joy, 80% said the ministry they do is “always” or “often” effective, and 65% said they “always” or “often” have community support and networking available.

The research was conducted by Charlotte McCorquodale, the president of MTS, a nonprofit that serves pastoral ministry organizations in the Catholic Church.

The group’s latest report, “Illuminating Trends: A Study of Pastoral Leaders Serving Catholic Youth and Young Adults 2000-2025,” synthesizes findings from five national studies. It includes interviews and surveys from a 2022-2023 qualitative study of 127 ministry leaders and a 2024 survey of 757 current ministry leaders and 49 former leaders.

In the report, the findings are also compared with previous studies conducted in 2000, 2008, and 2016.

‘Pressure points’ of pastoral leaders serving young Catholics

The research names three “pressure points” of pastoral ministers serving youth and young adults.

According to McCorquodale, these pressure points accumulate from the workload the leaders have and the challenges they face. The hope is that communities will use the research to analyze their ministries, pinpoint their own pressure points, and then improve them.

McCorquodale labeled the first point “More, More, More,” which was findings that demonstrate how leaders are doing more, explaining more, and carrying more with fewer volunteers and youth and young adults to engage.

When examining the overload of more work, the report found that today, ministers' roles include recruiting volunteers, sacramental preparation, running youth programs, hosting young adult gatherings, and aiding young people in crisis — all while trying to balance a personal life.

McCorquodale said the expanding scope of the position became clear during the research process.

“Identifying who this person is, who they serve, how they serve, and what their titles are … became a real challenge," McCorquodale told EWTN News. "A lot of people are doing multiple ministries."

“We asked: ‘What are the issues? What are the challenges that young people are facing right now that are coming into your ministry experience?’” she said.

In many parishes, youth and young adult ministers have become the Churchʼs primary source for young Catholics and “sometimes they are the only frontline leader that the Church has for ministry,” she said.

“I think their roles have expanded as the Churchʼs resources have shrunk in different places,” she said.

The second pressure point, “Shifting Realities,” comes from ministry changes. Leaders are responding to cultural changes and challenges, causing a call for innovation in the ministry.

“I think as culture has gotten more extreme, as our lives have experienced more challenges, that is part of the burden or the pressure that leaders are carrying in a lot of different fronts,” McCorquodale said.

Lastly, the pressure point McCorquodale calls “Testing Fit,” was findings that showed younger leaders are expecting more than ministers generations ago. They are weighing the time, pay, and work-life balance as they discern whether to stay or leave the ministry.

Other growing concerns

The report found that almost a quarter of the leaders reported that a lack of training has a significant impact on their job.

Since 2016, the share who said it is “not significant” has dropped by 10%, indicating a growing need for training and support.

Recruiting adult volunteers has also become “a major issue,” according to the report. “Finding adult leaders” was labeled as some level of a sufficient issue for most ministers, with only 6% saying it is “not significant at all.”

“Finding youth and young adults to participate” was also cited as some level of a concern among respondents (89%). Of the leaders, 62% reported they find it “significantly” or “very significantly" challenging to engage with youth.

Nearly all respondents (79%) said an “insufficient budget” for youth and young adults ministries is some level of a sufficient issue, with 20% detailing it is a “very significant” issue for them.

Many also cited personal challenges that come with the leadership role.

Nearly all ministry leaders said time demands are a sufficient burden, with only 12% reporting it is “not significant."

Many also said role ambiguity is an issue. Nearly 3 in 4 (72.5%) said they must “justify or explain their role at least sometimes,” including 32.5% who do so “often” or “almost all the time.”

The report noted that this pattern points to "ongoing issues of role clarity and recognition and may be a red flag for ministry identity, onboarding, and integration within parish or diocesan structures.”

Similarly, diocesan support is also perceived as inconsistent with only 30% reporting their diocese offers effective support “almost all the time” or “all the time.”

Concerns by generation

The study found notable differences between generations of ministry leaders. The report found that, overall, younger leaders have greater concerns about ministry demands than older generations.

In 2024, 17% of respondents were Baby Boomers, ages 60 and older; 30% were Generation X, ages 44 to 59; 41% were millennials, ages 28 to 43; and 12% were Generation Z, ages 21 to 27.

Almost all of Generation Z respondents (70%) said it is true "often" or "all the time” that ministry with youth and young adults needs to be “reinvented.”

The group showed the shortest expected tenure, with 72% anticipating they will remain in youth ministry for five years or less.

Among Generation Z respondents, the most common reasons for leaving were poor work-life balance (48%), inadequate pay (47%), and time demands (36%).

Millennials also showed signs of declining long-term commitment. While 57% expect to stay in the role for more than five years, the report noted their intentions have shifted from long-term careers toward mid-range.

Of millennials, 32% reported they expect to be in the position for more than 10 years, which is down 8% from the 2016 research.

Millennials cited inadequate pay and benefits (37%), time demands (29%), desire for greater work-life balance or family life (26%), and lack of support from pastors or supervisors (23%) as their primary reasons for leaving.

In contrast, 41% of Generation X and 75% of Baby Boomer respondents identified retirement as their primary reason for stepping away.

A much smaller number of Generation X ministers labels time required (24%) and inadequate pay and benefits (21%) as reasons for leaving the ministry, compared with younger generations.

Next steps

In order to address the pressure points that the research examines, McCorquodale offered three actions to combat them.

The report suggests communities “address the leadership gap, reimagine formation and effectiveness, and create leadership role clarity and sustainability.”

To help leaders in dioceses, parishes, and ministry teams, MTS created a resource package that includes the research and a conversation series that walks groups through the data and discusses what burdens leaders are experiencing.

“I want this to be just like how stained glass reflects sun and clouds,” McCorquodale said. “I want it to be a way for people to look through this research … and say: ‘Does this fit in our experience or does it not? What does fit? What are the pressure points?’”

Communities should use it as “a lens to examine the pressure points that theyʼre experiencing in youth and young adult ministry leadership,” McCorquodale said.

“There isnʼt a one size fits all. Thatʼs why conversation is central to change.”

“We have [start] to talk about these things that are important, and not just with the pastor and the ministry leader but with a group of people that will help ground that conversation for the future of the community, parish, diocese, movement, organization,” she said.

Rather, you must spray the figures with a “specialized conservation material” that subsequently dries into a “latex-like layer,” which is then “carefully peeled away,” thus preserving the statue’s original finish.

The process “is labor intensive and takes significant time,” according to staff at the Basilica of Saint Mary, a towering and historic minor basilica in downtown Minneapolis.

The massive church, which was dedicated in 1915 and became the first basilica in the United States when it was designated as such by Pope Pius XI in 1926, has been undergoing a major restoration project since 2025.

Built in the Beaux-Arts style — what was at the time a popular architectural form in the United States — the co-cathedral boasts a towering flèche-topped central dome and an 82-foot-high barrel vault.

Among its many adornments include the statues of the apostles, which were carved in Italy as half-scale replicas of statues at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the pope in Rome.

Church’s roots stretch back to 1860s

On its website, the basilica says its roots can be traced to 1868, when a simple “shed church” was constructed in Minneapolis. Years later another, more substantial Gothic Revival edifice was built, but burgeoning development in the neighborhood eventually pushed the parish to relocate to its present location on Hennepin Avenue. The cornerstone of the current structure was laid in 1908.

The church, designated a pro-cathedral, celebrated its first Mass in 1914; it was dedicated the following year. It was still being worked on when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

In 1926, Pius XI raised the pro-cathedral to the rank of minor basilica, after which it took on its present name. It would enjoy a vibrant parish life in the following decades, though the construction of adjacent freeways in the 1960s “took a heavy toll” on the building.

The 1980s and 1990s saw parishioners spearheading efforts at ongoing restoration. The latest restoration campaign, titled “Restoring Beauty, Inspiring Hope,” has aimed to raise a total of about $50 million in funding.

Among the project’s goals are masonry repairs, roof repairs, pew restorations with new kneelers, plaster restoration, and numerous other projects.

Johan van Parys, who has served as the basilica’s director of liturgy and the sacred arts since 1995, told EWTN News that the basilica has needed repairs almost from its inception.

“Even from the beginning, the building had issues with moisture intrusion,” he said. The architect who designed the church, Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, was French, and he “didn’t completely understand the challenges of Minnesota summers and winters.”

“He designed flat roofs over part of the building,” van Parys said. He jokingly described flat roofs as “the bane of our existence” due to their tendency to hold water. In existing photographs of the church taken in 1914, van Parys said, water damage is already visible.

“We’ve had to do work on the building ever since,” he said.

The church underwent a “somewhat major” restoration in the 1950s, van Parys said, during which for unknown reasons workers painted over intricate stenciling within coffers and other parts of the structure.

Along with those details, van Parys said, the restoration effort is “bringing back the original look of the basilica.”

The effort was formally launched in 2019 with a master plan for the entire church campus, but the COVID-19 pandemic the next year set the project back. The process resumed after a few years, and the restoration work itself formally began in 2025.

Van Parys said the basilica is being restored both inside and out from top to the bottom, including the plaster ceiling, which has suffered damage over the years and has to be replastered in parts.

Work is also being done on the church’s extensive stained-glass window arrangements. Such windows are generally held in place with a lead matrix, but over time the weight of the glass can weaken the metal frame, leading the glass to bulge outward.

A stained-glass specialist, however, told the restoration crew that the window fixtures were in “great condition,” meaning considerable amounts of work could be avoided. Some of the windows were still in need of repair, however, and were sent to a specialist in Newark, New Jersey.

Limestone throughout the building is also being restored, van Parys said. The visible stone throughout the building is bolstered by several inches of reinforced concrete and bricks; moisture often makes its way through this sandwiching of materials, leading to a buildup of salt crystals on the stone, what is known as “efflorescence.”

Removing this blemish beautifies the facade of the stone and also protects it from degradation. Crews use a spray-and-peel chemical similar to the process used on the statues of the apostles.

The restoration crews also removed the basilica’s pews in order to have them restored with cleaning, sanding, and shellac finishing.

“We opted to restore the original 1914 pews,” van Parys said. “One of our principles in terms of restoration is that we don’t want to over-restore. We didn’t want it to be a new church. People have worshipped in here since 1914. We want this presence of prayer and generations before us to remain.”

“So rather than have new pews we decided to restore the old ones,” he said. “In doing so we discovered that the people who built the pews in 1914 signed them. So we have the names of all the people who worked on the pews.”

Upon removing the pews, the work crews discovered that the flooring of the nave was not level. “One option was to put shims under all the pews,” van Parys said. “But that would have been a huge operation.”

Since crews were already removing the wood flooring to restore it, they also removed part of the old concrete subfloor and re-leveled it.

Numerous other restoration projects are ongoing, van Parys said, including restoring the church’s bronze doors, which were installed after it was designated a basilica. The church’s rector at the time, Monsignor James Reardon, had traveled to Rome and observed that the basilicas there had bronze doors. “He decided we needed bronze doors as well,” van Parys said.

Crews are aiming to be done with the massive project by Palm Sunday 2027. At the moment the parish holds Masses in the building’s undercroft beneath the structure.

“Every week at Mass, I tell people, for instance, ‘Last Sunday was Week 35, which means we have 34 weeks to go,’” van Parys said with a laugh.

He said the work is “quite expedited” and progressing quickly. Ultimately the effort is meant not just to restore the church but to develop a “manual of preservation” for future generations to help protect it.

“Our goal is to restore and to also make sure that everything is cared for in the best possible way, to extend the lifespan of the basilica as long as possible before another restoration is necessary,” he said.

He said the entire project is being conducted “not only with liturgical principles but also historical preservation principles.”

“It is really comprehensive,” he said. “Every square inch of the basilica will be restored.”

The church, formally named the Church of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, has yielded a discovery that is both archaeological and religious.

It reveals an almost untouched vision of Catholic worship from the 18th century and offers new evidence that Lithuania was an important center of Europe’s shared Christian artistic tradition.

Researchers have confirmed that more than 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet) of original Baroque murals remain preserved beneath later paint layers, making it one of the most authentic surviving Baroque church interiors in the Baltic region.

Baroque architecture was heavily promoted by the Catholic Church in the early 1600s to counter the austere architectural style present in Lutheran churches following the Reformation.

Starting in Rome, the style spread across Italy, Spain, and Portugal before gaining popularity in Austria, Poland, and Lithuania. Vilnius is today known as the “Rome of the North” because it boasts the largest collection of Baroque architecture in Eastern and Central Europe.

A rare moment of discovery

For lead conservator Indrė Valkiūnienė, the first glimpse of the hidden paintings immediately signaled that the team had uncovered something extraordinary.

“Uncovering the first painted figures brought a wonderful sense of discovery,” she told EWTN News. “It immediately became clear that they had been executed with great skill.” The paintings’ refined technique and vivid colors, she said, point to “highly accomplished painters active in 18th-century Vilnius.”

“An even greater sense of satisfaction came when we realized that the paintings had escaped later alterations and overpainting until the third decade of the 19th century,” Valkiūnienė said. “They were not overpainted because they could no longer be conserved, but because there was an intention to fundamentally change the decoration of the church interior.”

For Valkiūnienė, the paintings are important as works of art but also as expressions of Christian faith and culture in Vilnius and broader Lithuania.

“The character of Vilnius Baroque is expressed not only through architecture but also through the artistic conception of church interiors,” she explained. Churches were designed as unified sacred spaces where marble, stucco sculpture, gilding, and monumental paintings together proclaimed the Christian message.

The newly investigated vault paintings formed part of that unified program.

Historically across Europe, many Baroque church interiors have been repeatedly restored or repainted, leaving scholars to distinguish original artwork from later interventions. At St. John’s Church, the paintings were simply concealed.

Researchers have now identified the arrangement of scenes depicting the lives of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist while also establishing the original color scheme and assessing the condition of the concealed paintings. This information will guide any future restoration.

For visitors today, Valkiūnienė believes the discovery places Lithuania firmly within Europe’s Christian artistic heritage.

A Jesuit church at the heart of Lithuania

The discovery carries added significance because St. John’s Church stands at the heart of Vilnius University, one of Eastern Europe’s oldest universities.

Founded by the Jesuits in 1579, it was one of just 23 Jesuit universities in Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries and, for nearly 200 years, the easternmost university on the continent. From there, it served as a leading center of Catholic learning during the Counter-Reformation, shaping the intellectual and spiritual life of the region.

The university also has close ties to one of the Church’s best-known modern devotions. Among its professors was Blessed Michał Sopoćko, the confessor and spiritual director of St. Faustina Kowalska, who encouraged the Polish nun to record her mystical experiences and helped spread the message of divine mercy throughout the Church.

For centuries, St. John’s Church also hosted royal ceremonies and gatherings of nobles, reflecting its central place in the religious and civic life of Lithuania.

More than restoring art

For Jesuit Father Aldonas Gudaitis, the chaplain of Vilnius University, the discovery is about far more than recovering historical paintings.

“The beauty of Baroque inspires young people to admire art,” he said. That fascination, he explained, often encourages them not only to explore Christian artistic traditions more deeply but also awakens an interest in the Christian faith itself. He believes the restoration also carries a powerful message for Lithuania, whose churches suffered greatly during decades of Soviet occupation.

Under the USSR, St. John’s Church was closed to worshippers, damaged while being stripped of its religious functions, and later repurposed as a warehouse.

Across the country, Gudaitis explained, restoring what was damaged or hidden has become a source of hope for many people. Comparing the process to the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation, Gudaitis said that just as forgiveness frees a person to live without the burden of guilt, restoring sacred art brings a similar spiritual renewal to communities.

“The restoration of art in churches enriches people spiritually,” he said. “It strengthens the hope that even a violent occupation cannot destroy what is beautiful and cherished.”

That message may ultimately become the discovery’s greatest legacy.

Beyond revealing one of the Baltic region’s largest surviving Baroque painting programs, the hidden murals of St. John’s Church remind Catholics that beauty created for the glory of God can endure through wars, occupations, and changing fashions, all while waiting patiently to inspire a new generation.

The Transalpine Redemptorists, or the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, livestreamed the counterfeit ceremony from their monastery on Papa Stronsay, an island that forms part of the Orkney archipelago in Scotland.

Aberdeen Bishop Hugh Gilbert had warned in a pastoral letter on July 18 that the consecration would constitute an “act of schism” that would “place those engaged in it outside the Catholic Church.”

The ceremony was performed by Bishops Rodrigo Ribeiro da Silva, Fernando Altamira, and Pierre Roy. Gilbert referred to the three as “unauthorized bishops from the Americas.” The ersatz consecration was done on Father Michael Mary, a priest of the order and its rector.

The Transalpine Redemptorists earlier in 2026 publicly denied the legitimacy of the modern papacy. In May they released a sedevacantist statement declaring that they would give “no juridical recognition” to Pope Leo XIV and other popes who have “departed” from the faith in the decades since the Second Vatican Council.

The three bishops that performed the nominal consecration are reportedly sedevacantist as well.

Gilbert had previously warned of the consecration ceremony in June, noting that the event “would be celebrated without a papal mandate” and would be “unlawful and a grave act of disobedience.”

Even before the several controversies in 2026, the Transalpine Redemptorists had been involved in disputes regarding canonical violations.

In August 2025 the Vatican allowed the Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand, to ban the order from public ministry in that diocese amid allegations of unauthorized exorcisms.

Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen had said in July 2024 that the community had been subject to an apostolic visitation by Australian Bishop Robert McGuckin.

The bishop had removed the ministry faculties of the members after the Vatican’s recommendation and also asked the group “to leave the Christchurch Diocese.”

The Vatican is not a full member of the United Nations, but it enjoys permanent observer status. The international organization says permanent observers “have free access to most meetings and relevant documentation.”

Born in Beruit, El-Kassis previously served as apostolic nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. He also served as apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula.

He was ordained a priest in 1994 and consecrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in 2019. He is fluent in Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German.

In his role at the United Nations, El-Kassis will join Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, who serves as the Holy See’s permanent observer at the organization in Geneva.

The Vatican first joined the United Nations as a non-member observer in 1964. Palestine is the only other polity that enjoys permanent observer status at the international body.

The Preventing Forced Abortions Act of 2026 would prevent federal courts from forcing a woman to have an abortion because of a surrogate contract; the act also requires that surrogate mothers still be compensated.

“No woman should ever be forced to murder a child because of a provision buried in a contract,” Ogles said in announcing the measure. “The Preventing Forced Abortions Act ensures that federal courts cannot enforce these coercive clauses or allow intended parents to withhold promised compensation when a surrogate mother chooses life.”

The pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America expressed support for the bill. Spokeswoman Marilyn Musgrave voiced support for the bill, saying: “Women should never be forced or coerced into having an abortion.”

Hawley calls for investigation of abortion group ‘Plan C’

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is calling on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice to investigate Plan C, a group that has shipped abortion pills in the mail allegedly in violation of state and federal law.

In a July 17 letter, Hawley alleged that Plan C is “a left-wing dark-money operation that styles itself a ‘public health information campaign’ but functions, in practice, as the referral and logistics hub for shipping abortion drugs into states whose laws prohibit it.”

Hawley maintained that Plan C operates with abortion pill manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro.

“Plan C coaches its users on how to evade the law. Its website instructs users to protect their ‘digital footprint’ against investigations, recommending privacy-enabled browsers, virtual private networks, and encrypted email,” Hawley wrote.

Advocacy groups go to court over sidewalk chalk free speech violation

Groups that advocate for unborn babies are going to court because their free speech rights were allegedly violated in 2020 in the nation’s capital.

The Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America brought forward an opening brief July 16 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The federal free speech lawsuit was brought in a dispute over the right to chalk messages on the city sidewalk, as police in Washington, D.C., prevented advocates from writing messages in chalk in 2020.

Other protesters associated with the Black Lives Matter movement spray-painted messages outside the city’s Chamber of Commerce but were not apprehended, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit free speech law firm that is taking on the case.

“Washington officials can’t censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone,” attorney John Bursch said.

Advocacy group offers legal resources for abortion pill reversals

Amid an ongoing lawsuit over abortion pill reversals, the Thomas More Society is launching an online hub on abortion pill reversal litigation.

The Catholic legal group is currently litigating the case People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, in which California is demanding $20 million from the two pro-life groups because they offered abortion pill reversals.

The organization said its online hub “brings together everything supporters, pregnancy centers, movement partners, and the press need to follow this fight in one place.”

Judge blocks South Dakota abortion advertising ban

A U.S. district judge is temporarily blocking a South Dakota law prohibiting abortion groups from advertising abortion pills, which are largely illegal in the state.

U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking its enforcement, saying it is likely unconstitutional after New York-based abortion group Mayday Health filed a lawsuit.

Maryann Cusimano Love, chair of the politics department at The Catholic University of America and scholar of international relations and peace-building, discussed the Holy Father’s focus on the subject in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro.

She also discussed a new book published by the Vatican on July 21, which compiles Leo’s writings and speeches on peace. The pontiff authored his own forward for the book, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons globally.

Peace-building is “a theme that Pope Leo has been consistent with since the beginning of his papacy, and it really fits with the times that weʼre in right now,” Love said.

“Weʼre seeing expansion of war, weʼre seeing the expansion in the number of conflicts, the deadliness of these conflicts, and weʼre also seeing new ways in which new technologies are being used — AI drones, lethal autonomous weapons systems — that are very concerning,” she said.

“So heʼs being a voice of really the practical, and a voice of the people, saying: Look, peace is possible. Peace is practical and peace is our calling, as Catholics and people of goodwill. This is something we can do. Weʼve done it before and we can do it again,” she said.

Love was one of more than 200 academics who participated in the Vatican-hosted Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War from July 14–16. The assembly adopted the "Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” which laid out concerns about how technological advancement affects warfare.

“The Church has been advocating for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as long as there have been nuclear weapons, and whatʼs added to this in this last weekʼs activities and the Rome Declaration is the layer of artificial intelligence that increases the urgency with which we need to proceed to disarm nuclear weapons,” Love said.

“And it increases the ways in which we need to look at this interaction between AI and our and our military ecosystems,” she said. “So the call is specifically for the responsible use of AI, for there to be a slowing down in the integration of these systems, particularly into military systems, until we can be sure that theyʼre safe for the sharing of information between tech companies and the public about the vulnerabilities of these systems and the problem areas — the blind spots — these systems have.”

The summit was inspired by Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which offers guidance on how society should approach AI. The encyclical specifically raises concerns about AI making decisions about life and death in warfare.

Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state on July 4, 2025.

“I would say after a year, itʼs almost more difficult than it has been," RJ Harber said in an interview with host Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” alongside his wife, Annie Harber.

“The depth of the grief does not go away. It actually enhances, because this is your reality now, and you understand your children are actually gone,” he said.

“Now there is comfort knowing that they are in heaven, and we did our job as parents to prepare them to get them there. But our love for them was so deep that the grief that we have is just tremendous,” he said.

The family was vacationing with RJ Harber’s parents, Mike and Charlene Harber, on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, when the floods occurred.

The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away the sisters’ cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.

Harbers have ‘leaned heavily’ on Catholic faith

Annie and RJ Harber detailed the challenges of navigating such a profound loss. They shared how it tested their faith, while also relying on that same faith to carry them through the past year.

It was “really important to us to instill the Catholic faith and values in our girls,” Annie Harber said. “But … after all of this, I definitely questioned God and was angry at God” and “didnʼt understand why, or how, this could happen to us.”

“We have leaned on each other and our faith to get us up every morning,” she said. “I think for me, truly, when I wake up, I tell myself Iʼm one day closer to seeing the girls, because we know theyʼre in heaven and our goal is to ultimately get there. So we have to continue to live by the Catholic faith and our values that we taught the girls.”

“I think weʼre still alive because of our faith,” RJ Harber said. “God can accept anger, but he can also help us carry this cross. And the Church has rallied around us.”

“We found the girls on Saturday, July 5, and we went to Mass Sunday, July 6. It was probably the most difficult thing Iʼve ever done. But thatʼs because we want to follow the commandments,” he said, citing the Third Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath.

“So weʼve leaned heavily … on our Catholic faith,” he said.

RJ Harber, who also lost his parents in the disaster, said his “daughters were their greatest joy.” His parents attended “every single sporting event” of their granddaughters.

The girls “were their only grandchildren, so they just doted on them,” he said. “My father was suffering from Parkinsonʼs disease, but he would just want me to drive him to Brooke’s softball game and watch her pitch, or ask to watch Blair play soccer.”

“We find solace in the fact that theyʼre watching over our girls in heaven and are just thankful that theyʼre there with them now,” he said.

‘The faith was very important to our girls’

As Annie and RJ Harber have relied on their faith through their grief, they detailed the importance the Catholic faith played in their daughters’ lives as well.

“Not only did they go to Catholic school, but we would go to Mass every Sunday,” RJ Harber said. “It was instrumental in our lives.”

RJ reflected on his daughter Blair’s faith, sharing that she prayed the rosary “every single night.” Two weeks before the tragedy, “her rosary beads broke and she asked to borrow mine, which I received when I converted to the Catholic faith, and took those down to the river with her.”

“So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments,” he said.

So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments.”

RJ Harber

“We prayed every single night. And we still pray with them every single night,” RJ said.

“Prayer has been instrumental. We get messages from all over the world about people praying for us. And I think thatʼs helping us share the girls with the world. And honestly I think God, through the Holy Spirit, is using our daughters to bring people closer to the faith,” he said.

The couple said they have heard from several people who have returned to Mass and confession since hearing the sisters’ story.

“Weʼve received … messages about people converting to the Catholic faith because of Brooke and Blair. So their work is not done in this world — itʼs only beginning.”

The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund

Since losing their daughters, Annie and RJ have started a fund to continue to honor their daughters through The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund.

The fund, set up through The Catholic Foundation of Texas, supports flood and disaster relief efforts and aids Catholic after-school activities, including after-school education and Catholic sports.

Blair and Brooke “played lacrosse and there is a large barrier to entry into lacrosse,” RJ Harber said. “So weʼve been able to get hundreds of sticks donated, hundreds of goggles donated, and have allowed girls to come and try lacrosse for the first time who would otherwise never try it.”

“This February, we hosted an event. Over 200 girls came out and tried the sport for the first time. So these kindergartners, first graders, second graders are looking up to our girls and carrying their life forward. And I just think thatʼs a beautiful thing to see,” he said.

These are some of the findings of "The German-Austrian Cloister Study" conducted by Marc Luy of the Vienna Institute of Demography at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The research project to study health, aging, and life expectancy investigated the factors of health and longevity that revealed the so-called "successful aging" — that is, a long and healthy life.

The research has drawn fresh attention in Europe this month after Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast marked his 100th birthday on July 12, as CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, reported.

It started in 1997 with a focus on the members of menʼs and womenʼs religious orders, as they have a very similar life and are easy to study. They resemble one another in daily regime, nutrition, living conditions, faith, and many other aspects that influence health and longevity, the study explains.

Around 16,600 order members participated (more than 9,000 nuns, with the rest monks) in Germany and Austria — with a few members living in Switzerland and Italy. The investigation included anonymous self-conducted questionnaires sent to more than 1,100 of the religious but went back as far as 1890 to consult the archives of numerous religious communities, which are helpful in providing data. Somewhat surprising results emerged.

About one year of difference in life expectancy between the two sexes is attributed to biological factors, according to the study. The bigger sex differences in life expectancy in the population are caused by non-biologically caused mortality of men and not by the low mortality of women, as is often believed.

The research also questioned the well-known saying that “women are sicker, but men die quicker.”

Luy set out two hypotheses at the start of the project. The first is that “the overall reversal in sex morbidity and sex mortality differentials occurs because conditions that figure importantly in morbidity are not very important in mortality, and vice versa.” The second is that it is “very likely that longevity is directly related to the absolute number of life years in ill health,” which means that “women show higher morbidity rates not because they are female but because they are the sex with higher life expectancy.”

Men in religious orders live on average about five years longer than men outside the cloister, and monastic life seems to reduce some of the risks that shorten life. Such communities provide an ordered daily routine and a structured schedule for work, eating, and prayer, long-term relationships, shared purpose, and the like. Therefore, one has ideal conditions for well-being both mentally and physically.

What is more, in a monastic community, people take care of one another, and physical or mental decline is usually recognized sooner. Likewise, chronic stress is reduced and prayer helps with emotional stability.

The main person behind the project, German social scientist Luy, who has been working in Austria since 2008, told EWTN News that it would be “interesting” to include religious orders from other countries. However, “this is a matter of resources,” he said.

“Nonetheless, I would not expect different results than those we have obtained from several orders in Germany and Austria,” he added.

Yet “being a monk or a nun does not necessarily mean living an easy and peaceful life,” Slovak religious Sister Cecília Kasanová told EWTN News.

The Dominican sister has been living for six years in the Monastery of St. Dominic and Sixtus of Our Lady of the Rosary in Rome, which safeguards the ancient Marian icon known as the "Advocata," carried across Rome by St. Dominic.

Although she admitted that a balanced lifestyle can influence longevity, “famous long-lived monks or nuns went through suffering, war, persecution because of their religious beliefs, or imprisonment.” Sister Cecília said she thinks it is “amazing” that those monks and nuns “had the strength to persevere and not give up.”

She acknowledged the good of a day proportionally divided into moments of silence: personal prayer, study, work, daily Mass, regular confession, and common meals. There are moments, too, when they talk, such as community meetings and celebrations, as well as time to relax and to receive visitors at the entrance.

Furthermore, consecrated life in a community of nuns may improve the life of visitors, Sister Cecília observed. It is “a great gift for me personally, for the Church and for the world,” as “we live exclusively for the Lord” and pray for those who come. Those faithful “often feel better because they are listened to, accepted, knowing that they are not alone in what they are experiencing, because we accompany them with prayer,” she stressed.

A monastic life thus shows that we should “put God first,” as he “gives meaning to everything we do and to who we are. He is our God and at the same time a faithful friend,” the Slovak nun said.

In a letter dated July 16 and published by the Vatican on July 22, Pope Leo XIV wrote to mark the 70th anniversary of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the United States. He encouraged them to consider community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate.”

According to the pontiff, who is a member of the Augustinian order himself, “it is precisely through sharing everything in common, including material goods, spiritual experiences, apostolic ideals, and charitable service that the hidden presence of the risen Lord is made manifest among you.”

Celebrations will include the screening of the film “Patriarch Elias, God Provides,” a solemn beatification Mass on Saturday in Diman, the transfer of the new blessed’s relics to his tomb in Ibrine, a concert by the Lebanese National Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Mass of thanksgiving on Aug. 1, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported on Sunday.

The Maronite Patriarchate called on the faithful in Lebanon and the diaspora to prepare spiritually for what it described as “a historic moment for the Church” ahead of the beatification. The patriarchate invited Catholics to unite in prayer and light candles Friday evening as a sign of faith, hope, and ecclesial communion, and asked churches across Lebanon to ring their bells as the beatification Mass begins.

Egypt moves against alleged discrimination toward young Christian athlete

Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has intervened in what has been described as an unprecedented case involving alleged discrimination against a young Christian soccer player, ACI MENA reported Thursday.

The case began after the mother of 13-year-old Makary Younan said her son was excluded from the youth team at Alexandria’s Al Ittihad Club after a coach learned his name and allegedly said, “This name does not work here.” The club later said Makary had passed the tryouts and would be signed, but the ministry opened an investigation.

After hearing witnesses and reviewing the incident, officials said the violation had been established, ordered the club to investigate the coach within 48 hours, and referred the file to the public prosecutor. The ministry said it would not tolerate discrimination inside sports institutions and promised transparency in announcing the final penalty.

Finish parliamentarian appeals ‘hate speech’ conviction to European Court of Human Rights

Päivi Räsänen is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the Finnish Supreme Court’s ruling in March that found her guilty of hate speech over a pamphlet she wrote more than 20 years ago.

“Appealing my conviction is about much more than a fine or a decades-old church booklet,” Räsänen said after filing an appeal this week, according to an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International press release Friday. “My case stands to determine whether the fundamental rights of religious freedom and free speech are still protected in Finland and across Europe, and whether these societies are still willing to stand up for the rights of all — even those they disagree with.”

Irish priests press Dublin for stronger action on Gaza

Irish Catholic priests have called on their government to take a firmer position on Gaza, urging a permanent ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, and stronger accountability under international law, ACI MENA recently reported.

Priests Against Genocide, a network of more than 2,400 priests — including 26 bishops and cardinals across 62 countries — called on members of Parliament in Ireland to advocate for accountability through the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice regarding Gaza.

The group also urged the government to advocate for humanitarian aid and increased diplomatic efforts to bring lasting peace to the region. The letter further underscored a growing moral concern within parts of the Irish Church over the humanitarian toll of the war and the need for political action that goes beyond statements of concern.

Improved security enables pastoral growth in South Sudan

Bishop Matthew Remijio Adam Gbitiku of the Diocese of Wau in South Sudan praised improved security in the country, which he said has allowed the Catholic Church to expand its pastoral ministry.

“I thank the government because you can move day and night freely. There is no insecurity. So in the diocese, there is security that allows the bishop to do his pastoral work freely,” Adam told ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, at the 21st plenary assembly of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. “There is a good understanding between the Church and the state, and we are collaborating very well.”

Lebanese woman claims healing through St. Rafqa’s intercession

Samar al-Maarrawi, a Lebanese widow, mother, grandmother, theology student, catechist, and longtime member of the Focolare Movement, shared with ACI MENA that she has been healed from cancer through the intercession of St. Rafqa, a Lebanese Maronite nun who was known for her mysticism, holiness, and devotion to the Eucharist.

First diagnosed in 2017, al-Maarrawi said the illness returned in 2022 in her glands and bones. Doctors said her time was limited.

Al-Maarrawi said she turned to St. Rafqa, took soil from the saint’s tomb, and later received medical results showing no trace of the disease. She also recounted a dream in which St. Rafqa told her she had been healed not from one cancer but from seven. According to al-Maarrawi, her doctor later confirmed that there had been seven affected areas, though she had only been told of three. She said she continues to live in gratitude, entrusting her life to God and asking the Virgin Mary to accompany her.

Japanese cardinal urges Church to stand up against violence

Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo called on the Catholic Church not to be passive while fighting against violent threats to human life.

“We must not merely stand by and watch helplessly in the face of a raging storm of violence but strive to continue sowing good wheat even more widely,” Kikuchi said in a reflection on July 19, according to Licas News.

“The dominance of violence and the tragic reality of life, a precious gift, being in peril, are so glaringly obvious that one cannot help but wonder if God condones the existence of evil,” he continued. “It is the Church’s duty to look at events in the realities of society that are hindering the realization of the world God desires, to read the signs revealed therein from an evangelical perspective rather than being swayed by what is happening, and to speak with the common good in mind.”

Catholic school group in Australia says it will participate in abuse payouts

The Catholic school group Edmund Rice Education Australia has agreed to allow the large property holdings it received from Christian Brothers to be liquidated for abuse payouts.

The Trustees of the Christian Brothers announced the news in a Friday press release, noting that funds from the sale of the properties will go to a scheme fund that will in turn be used to pay creditors and abuse survivors.

The Christian Brothers transferred millions of dollars’ worth of property to the school group over the course of a decade in a series of $1 exchanges. Abuse victims had argued that the properties should be subject to the overall settlement scheme.

The Christian Brothers announced in June that its organization would come to an end in Australia amid the pending abuse settlement.

Patriarch Rai urges Lebanon to fully implement framework agreement

Speaking from the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya on the feast of St. Charbel, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai said holiness does not need noise to be known but rather fidelity in order to bear fruit.

Reflecting on St. Charbel’s hidden life and worldwide spiritual influence, Rai connected Lebanon’s survival to truth, peace, and the intercession of its saints, ACI MENA reported Sunday. He also renewed his call for the full and precise implementation of Lebanon’s framework agreement, saying it is essential for strengthening state sovereignty, extending legitimate authority across the country, preserving stability, and protecting Lebanon’s national rights.

“Atlantic City exists at the edge of the world. In many ways it is a forgotten- about place on the periphery,” Jim Dessicino, who founded Cappella Studio, told EWTN News. “People go there to gamble away their fortunes or to disappear into vice, and with that comes desperation, homelessness, and poverty.”

“It is in places such as this that Christ is most needed,” he continued.

The abandoned convent there was going to be sold — and likely razed to the ground. But Dessicino saw that it could be something more.

“When I entered that chapel for the first time, I knew I had the opportunity to emulate St. Francis during his special jubilee year called by Pope Leo XIV,” Dessicino said.

“In 1205, kneeling in prayer and searching for his purpose in the crumbling Church of San Damiano, St. Francis heard the voice of God say: ‘Francis, go rebuild my church, which you see has fallen into ruin!’” he recounted.

“The chapel in the convent was literally crumbling,” Dessicino recalled. “There were holes in the walls and floor. The windows were broken, and the sanctuary lamp had been extinguished 10 years prior.”

Time for renewal

Cappella’s art program is a way to train artists, to bring beauty to the city, and even to evangelize artists.

“This city has always been about hospitality and welcoming people; it has just been dominated by the vice industry for so long that it is time for a renewal,” Dessicino continued.

“It is often difficult to see the beauty of the city through the poverty and corruption, but if you enter our churches … you are instantaneously transported and uplifted out of the mess and towards the heavenly realm,” Dessicino said.

The program is an invitation to artists of all faiths to meet Jesus.

“Weʼre inviting artists and the community into a third space; those who might not initially feel comfortable coming into a church are not dissuaded by coming to an art studio,” Dessicino said. “Because we have an adoration chapel at the studio, people are confronted with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, even if they donʼt know it. Amazing things come from these encounters.”

“We are set apart from other art studio experiences because we have the option to invite people to meet Jesus face-to-face in the Eucharist,” Dessicino said.

“As a catechetical leader, my experience is that I think itʼs easier to bring good artists who are not yet Catholic into the fold than it is to train an entire generation of artists,” Dessicino explained. “It is simpler in my experience to help a person who is sympathetic to Catholicism to convert than it is to spend 10 years training an artist to become proficient enough at their craft to create artworks for the Church.”

Cappella offers lodging for visiting artists as well as private studios for local artists. It also offers art classes and even space for communal activities like book clubs.

The art classes are taught by both Catholic and non-Catholic artists.

“The beauty of the Catholic tradition in the arts is that there is no official style,” Dessicino said. “The artworks must be instructive and clear. They can have layered meaning, like a Shakespearean drama, but they should be understood by the average parishioner.”

Father Robert Hughes, a parochial priest involved in the project, said refurbishing the adoration chapel was their first step.

“We took a leap of faith — focusing on the need to pray that God’s will be done by calling upon parishioners to pray for our parish, our city, and success of Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “Therefore, our first initiative was to open the Mercy Chapel.”

The daily adoration chapel, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., has been “well attended,” according to Hughes.

“The Eucharist is the source and center of our Christian lives and must be so for our parish life and mission as well as for Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “We hope the artist-in-residency program will give artists an opportunity to integrate prayer and meditation into their work while experiencing the vibrancy of Atlantic City and the beauty of the ocean just two blocks away.”

Water and boat imagery is an important part of Cappella Studio, especially as it’s located in a city on the ocean.

“The convent was built in the late 1930s and was conceived to look like a ship in honor of Our Lady, Star of the Sea — the name of this campus,” Hughes said. “The sisters' chapel is appropriately located in the bow.”

Dessicino sees Cappella Studio as a ship as well.

“Itʼs almost too easy to see how Cappella Studio will be a light for the city of Atlantic City: We’re connected to the church, Our Lady Star of the Sea (who is the lighthouse for this city), our convent building is shaped like a ship and inside that ship, people will be formed to go out and spread the Gospel to the world,” Dessicino said.

“There are precious few places where sacred artists can gather and focus specifically on the sacred. God is, of course, the master artist and he calls sacred artists to cooperate with him in serving the peopleʼs prayer and worship by creating beautiful works worthy of contemplation,” Hughes said. “Through art, we can touch the divine.”

“I am concerned by reports of repression against the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, including the lack of official information regarding the fate, whereabouts, and condition of 80-year-old Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara, who was detained on June 29,” the high commissioner stated on July 22, according to the organizationʼs website.

“I urge the authorities to release immediately all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained and to ensure that all those detained are treated with humanity and dignity in line with Nicaragua’s obligations under international human rights law,” Türk said.

Mata, the bishop emeritus of Estelí, was detained twice by police in late June after praying for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua during a Mass he celebrated on Sunday, June 28.

His whereabouts are unknown, although the dictatorship has stated that he is at home.

The Central American bishops have called on the regime to allow him to be seen by a doctor, and various notable individuals have expressed concern for the 80-year-old bishop, who suffers from diabetes and vision problems and uses a pacemaker for a heart condition.

Ortega announces there will be no elections in Nicaragua

The high commissioner also addressed the announcement made by Daniel Ortega on Sunday, July 19, during a public event commemorating the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua.

“I call on the authorities to reopen civic space and restore the rule of law. People of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office, in line with the stateʼs international human rights obligations,” Türk said.

In addition to the announcement regarding the elections, the office of the high commissioner also reported that earlier this month, the Nicaraguan dictatorship revoked the credentials of several lawyers without legal basis or official explanation at a time when “at least 46 individuals remain arbitrarily detained for political reasons.”

This is compounded by the fact that the ruling party controls the National Assembly, municipalities, and regional councils; that various Indigenous territories “are impacted by mining and extractive concessions”; and that many of these have been granted without genuine consultation or the consent of Indigenous peoples.

Türk noted that all these events “further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law” in Nicaragua.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

More than 5,000 people died in the tragedy, according to official figures from the interim government, while tens of thousands were injured and left homeless. Other estimates place the number of missing persons in the tens of thousands. La Guaira, Caracas, and El Junquito were among the hardest-hit areas; all of them fall within the ecclesiastical province of Caracas.

Biord explained that from the very beginning, the archdiocese “established an emergency response commission” tasked with managing spiritual, psychological, and material care for those affected. The archbishop expressed his gratitude to the “huge number of people” who have stepped up as Caritas volunteers across the country.

The report presented by the Archdiocese of Caracas focused on three main areas of action: pastoral, material, and infrastructure. Representatives responsible for each of these areas provided details regarding the work carried out over the past month.

Pastoral and spiritual care

“From the very beginning, we have been clear that our primary task is ministering to people. It’s about being close to those suffering, identifying with their pain, listening actively, and, above all, ensuring that every affected person experiences the fact that they are not alone; that the Church, as a mother, sustains and accompanies them,” stated Father Ricardo Guillén, the archdiocese’s vicar for pastoral care.

ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, asked Guillén about the missing persons and thousands of bodies left buried in the rubble with no possibility of recovery and, consequently, no possibility of receiving a burial as prescribed by the Catholic Church.

The priest noted that the bodies of the deceased, as God’s creatures, “possess immense dignity” and therefore should receive a Christian burial whenever possible. He explained that the Catholic Church has endeavored through its priests and permanent deacons to provide pastoral ministry with funeral rites for those whose bodies have been recovered from the collapsed buildings.

“Last Sunday, I had to conduct the funeral rites for a person who was sitting in front of their home when a wall collapsed on him, burying him beneath the rubble. There the family made their decision, and we had to hold the funeral service and console that family,” Guillén recounted.

“It is part of the Church’s mission to honor the bodies of the deceased and provide them with a Christian burial and of course to help their loved ones through their grief,” the priest explained, adding that in the days ahead, Christian communities are called to bear witness to this.

Seminarians from various institutions have deployed to temporary shelters to assist with relief efforts, while processions with the Blessed Sacrament have been held in shelters and areas where the buildings have collapsed, along with days of prayer and other religious activities.

Providing aid after the emergency

Father José Manuel León, auxiliary bishop-elect of Caracas and coordinator of the emergency assistance commission, reported that to date approximately 490 tons of essential supplies have been distributed.

The aid distribution network has provided supplies especially to various hospitals in Caracas, shelters in La Guaira, and devastated areas in several cities. One of the primary goals of the aid initiative is to “guarantee the operational sustainability of supplying the resources to affected families.”

León explained that the archdiocese seeks to “strengthen existing parish medicine banks” while working to “expand and coordinate the network of parish dispensaries to provide primary healthcare to those affected who are still suffering.”

The Church will also provide special support to survivors, particularly children, offering psychological care that equips them with tools to cope with grief and post-traumatic stress.

Infrastructure, condition of churches

Father Neptalí Balza, a civil engineer by profession, is responsible for inspecting the churches in the Archdiocese of Caracas that sustained damage. In his remarks, he explained that a “preliminary technical assessment” has been carried out on 27 churches in the Caracas metropolitan area.

With support from the Venezuelan College of Engineers, the churches have been marked with color-coded tags — green, yellow, and red — to indicate the level of damage sustained following the June 24 earthquakes.

In total, six parish churches were marked with the green tag (usable), representing 22% of the total. Another 16 churches were marked with the yellow tag (restricted use/precautionary) after it was determined that they exhibited minor flaws or detached ornamental elements that don’t prevent religious use but require mitigation measures. These measures include the demolition of vulnerable elements as well as filling in and smoothing over surfaces. These buildings account for 59% of the total.

Five parish churches were marked with a red tag (restricted access) due to severe structural damage. They are: St. Joseph of Ñaraulí, Our Lady of Mercy, St. John Mary Vianney, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Rosalía of Palermo. The red-tagged churches account for 19% of the total.

Balza also presented a five-phase recovery plan:

1. Emergency response and active safeguarding: This entails tagging the main entrance of each church with one of the three traffic light colors to indicate its usability, temporarily shoring up critical areas, and centralizing reports online.

2. Assessment and preliminary studies: This phase focuses on documenting the actual condition of the churches and determining a technical roadmap, leveraging external resources such as partnerships with architecture and engineering students and thesis candidates.

3. Earthquake-resistant design and engineering: This involves calculating structural reinforcements using compatible technologies (carbon fiber, mortar injection, tensioning systems) and obtaining validation from authorities responsible for national heritage sites.

4. Execution of reconstruction and interventions: This phase entails the sorting and recovery of reusable collapsed elements (such as coffered ceilings) and the restoration of artistic features (stained glass, ornamentation, and woodwork).

5. Verifying the work done meets specifications and preventive maintenance: This is the application of an ongoing, long-term preservation protocol for historic buildings.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

At a July 23 press conference, she said she is still afraid of what may yet happen to her but is trusting in God.

“I was very much afraid, with cold sweat,” she said of her detainment by ICE officers as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, on June 28. “I did not expect [it]; on an ordinary Sunday morning, when people should be ready to go to Mass to worship the Lord, on the street here, just in front of the school, where I have walked … a countless number of times.”

“I will not pretend it did not hurt and it’s hurting me today,” she said, describing the two ICE agents as “armed, and Iʼm just a small woman, a nun, armless, with just my rosary, my key, and my phone.”

Though she felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus’ admonition to “not be afraid, because I am with you always.”

Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, said it was “heartbreaking” to be told “no” by the ICE agents after she asked them if she could first attend Sunday Mass and receive Communion because “as we know, Sunday Mass is obligatory … it is mandatory.”

During the press conference, Carlos Garcia, her lawyer, gave more information about her immigration status.

He said an immigration judge denied her application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, saying it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.

Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though “as a technical matter,” she remains under a final order of removal.

Nevertheless, he said the religious sister and nurse, who has served in south Texas for more than a decade, is legally authorized to work in the U.S. and “has never missed an immigration appointment.”

Garcia said Ugboaja’s detainment by immigration officials is confusing: “People who’ve been granted this type of relief have generally for many years been under the impression they are OK as long as they complied … So it’s very confusing not only for her but for many others I’ve talked to as to what is going on.”

Of the way immigration enforcement actions are taking place, Garcia said “it’s hard to comprehend, because of the way it’s happening, without [people] being informed of any reasoning” by the government.

Not an isolated case

“I am not the only one,” Ugboaja said of others who are “languishing’ in the same situation in which she finds herself but who do not have the attention of the media on them.

They are “people who have been given some form of protection under our laws, who have followed every rule asked of them … who still live with uncertainty about where they might be sent and whether anyone will tell them before it happens.”

She said she is praying for them and is asking for something simple: “Before anyone is taken into custody, give them … the opportunity to be heard.”

Garcia said she has a check-in appointment with immigration officials on July 28, where Ugboaja could be detained or an ankle monitor could be placed on her.

The attorney said he hopes the appointment will be unnecessary, but if it does take place, “we are asking that she not be detained and that no ankle monitor be placed … she’s broken no rule, posed no danger, and given the country a decade of nursing and a lifetime of ministry.”

He said ICE detained her on June 28 in order to remove the nun to a third country, a practice that he said is “currently the subject of active litigation in federal courts nationwide.”

He suggested she is entitled to “notice and a meaningful opportunity to contest a proposed third country removal before she’s taken into custody and removed.”

The incident occurred amid heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, which has included operations near houses of worship.

The nun’s release June 28 was facilitated by lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who said his office communicated with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan to secure Ugboaja’s immediate release.

By Sunday evening, Ugboaja, who serves as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows, had been released from custody and returned home.

Cuellar told EWTN News at the time that “this is not the way they should have picked her up. If ICE had any questions, there would have been more appropriate ways to deal with her situation.”

“I have deep concerns that the war will widen and the greatest impact will be on the civilian populations of Middle East nations,” Joseph Capizzi, director of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, told EWTN News.

Charles Camosy, a moral theologian at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News that threats to civilian infrastructure are “absolutely not” consistent with moral conduct during war or Catholic just war doctrine.

“The dignity of the human person — including a commitment to Christʼs command to love oneʼs enemies — must be paramount,” he said. “Not winning a war. Not gaining political advantage. … Catholics are not consequentialists.”

A Pakistan‑mediated ceasefire that began April 8 ended on July 8. Last week, Iranian state media alleged that the U.S. struck a water desalination plant in the Hormozgan Province that supplies water to 30 villages, impacting thousands of people. U.S. officials confirmed military strikes in the province but have not confirmed a strike on the plant.

The U.S. has confirmed strikes in southern Iran that destroyed port infrastructure. Pro-regime media in Iran in Iran reported commercial and fishing piers were among the targets, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society. That report also alleged strikes on a wheat storage facility, roads, and bridges.

U.S. Central Command denied strikes on the wheat facility but has not addressed every specific allegation. U.S. military officials have repeatedly said they only target Iran’s military capabilities.

When reached for comment about the other specific allegations, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command told EWTN News "we refer you to our published releases" and "we have nothing further to add."

In response to these alleged attacks, Iran has repeatedly struck power plants and water facilities throughout Kuwait and Bahrain. Officials in Kuwait, which relies on water desalination plants for 90% of its drinking water, are urging people to conserve energy and water. Bahrain’s supply of drinking water is 100% reliant on water desalination plants.

On July 22, Trump escalated threats to civilian infrastructure, saying he would strike “one bridge or power plant” for every ship Iran strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in response that Iran’s doctrine is “an eye for an eye” and “those who contribute” to aggression “will also be considered as legitimate targets.”

When a reporter asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 23 whether he would rule out strikes on civilian infrastructure, he did not say. Rather, he pointed to Araghchi’s statement and said: “The president’s policy is a head for an eye — I mean, honestly, that’s what it’s going to be.”

Just conduct in war

Three Catholic moral theologians who provided comments to EWTN News — Capizzi; Camosy; and Taylor Patrick O’Neill, a theology professor at Thomas Aquinas College — all said it is not moral to intentionally target civilian populations in war.

“The prohibition against targeting civilian infrastructure is absolute in moral and international law,” Capizzi said. “States are prohibited from targeting civilian infrastructure.”

He urged caution about purported justifications for striking “dual use” infrastructure targets that may be used for both military and civilian purposes. He said “no party is allowed merely to claim targets are ‘dual use.’”

“When there is doubt as to the dual or single use of a target, international [law] stipulates the presumption begins with single use, and therefore the target is inadmissible to be targeted, unless proven to the contrary,” Capizzi said.

Camosy also said this is a moral absolute and there is no circumstance in which it is moral to target civilians. He said that “even in war, even when the stakes are highest,” Catholics do not adhere to the consequentialist moral philosophy of the ends justifying the means.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains a person can never engage in intrinsically evil acts — such as targeting innocent people for harm — regardless of the reason because “the end does not justify the means.” Acts also require “good intention,” so while “good intention” is not sufficient and does not justify evil acts, bad intention — such as intending to harm innocent people — always “makes an act evil,” it explains.

Camosy said: “Protection against the targeting of civilians is an absolute value in war. Catholics are called to be prepared to lose a war rather than violate exceptionless moral norms or commit intrinsically evil acts in this area.”

Sometimes an act, in war or elsewhere, can also have several effects. St. Thomas Aquinas explains in the “Summa Theologica” that it can be proper to engage in an act that is morally neutral in and of itself but has both good and bad consequences, so long as only the good consequence is the one that is intended. This is the principle of “double effect.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that proportionality is required in war. The evil inflicted through war cannot be more severe than the evil one is aiming to defeat.

“We need to ask if civilian harm is the intention and/or the mechanism of action in the military strike or [if] it is a merely foreseen side effect,” Camosy explained.

“If the rationale for hitting the electric grid or desalination plant is that widespread darkness, spoiled food, rampant disease, failed hospitals, and more will generate political pressure on the Iranian regime, then the suffering of peaceful civilians becomes the causal pathway to the advantage sought,” he said. “This then becomes the object of the act itself and not a merely foreseen side effect.”

Alternatively, Camosy added: “Attacking a generator dedicated to a command bunker, however, would likely not suffer the same kind of critique, however, even if one foresaw but did not intend that it would also have bad impacts on civilians.”

Similarly, O’Neill said the moral analysis of striking a facility that results in civilian harm is about intention and proportionality. It is never moral to intend the suffering of innocents or target them.

“You cannot intend or rely upon civilian death or fear to aid in your military effort,” O’Neill said. “In other words, the foreseen evil cannot itself be the means by which you attempt to achieve some good.”

A specific bridge that is “dual use,” such as one used by civilians but also used “to transport tanks from factory to battlefield,” he said could possibly be justified under double effect. The moral analysis would have to consider intention and proportionality and “you must also try to minimize the negative.”

“Will blowing up the bridge make civilian life uncomfortable or will it result in the loss of life, access to basic necessities, etc.? All of these things have to be taken into account just for double effect,” O’Neill said.

“Under double effect, itʼs theoretically possible to strike a dual-use target,” he added. “But any strike on merely civilian infrastructure (or even [a target] with indirect ties to the war effort) would be intrinsically unjust.”

“At that point, the attack would have more in common with an act of terrorism,” O’Neill said.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers’

St. Augustine, in a letter to the Roman general Boniface, emphasized that the intention of war must be to ultimately establish a just peace — not to simply to unleash destruction: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace.”

The fifth-century bishop and theologian cited the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

O’Neill explained that in the context of a just war, “the Christian always seeks war for the sake of peace and that of both his own people and the people of the enemy nation.”

“To consider the civilians of an enemy nation as the enemy is already to lose the necessary distinction of combatant from innocent,” he said.

Camosy noted that Trump, in his 2024 campaign, promised “to be deeply skeptical of war” and encouraged him to move back in that direction.

“Trump himself was aggressively pursuing the Nobel Peace Prize on this basis,” he said. “It would be much better to go back to this way of thinking about war. Think about becoming a peacemaker again.”

Trump told Axios on July 23 that he is “considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before” but did not say whether this includes the civilian infrastructure he has threatened. He said that Iranians want to negotiate, but “they havenʼt received enough pain yet.”

The Guttmacher Institute, a data group that openly supports abortion access, documented a decrease in people leaving their own state to get abortions in other states. Instead, abortion seekers turn toward mail-order abortions, which have seen a surge in recent years.

The group tracks abortions monthly, following trends “in the post-Dobbs era” since 2023, according to Guttmacher data scientist and study lead Isaac Maddow-Zimet.

The data indicated an overall increase in abortions from 2025 to 2026.

“In the first three months of 2026, there were 296,130 abortions as compared to 292,590 in the first three months of 2025,” data scholar Michael New told EWTN News. “This is an increase of just over 1%.”

New said this fact has gone underreported.

“Most media outlets that are reporting on the Guttmacher data have not reported on this, but the number of abortions continues to rise,” said New, who is a senior associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a group that studies data relating to the pro-life cause.

“These rising abortion numbers are an important reason why pro-lifers are frustrated with the Trump administration’s lack of action on telehealth abortions,” continued New, who also works as a professor at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.

The Trump administration has neglected to enforce various regulations — such as the Comstock Act or in-person prescription requirements — that could be groundbreaking for protecting unborn children from chemical abortions.

From 2024 to 2025, travel abortions declined by nearly 8%. Scholars agree that mail-order abortion is the reason for the decline in abortion travel.

“Currently, we are seeing a major shift in where and how people access abortion,” Maddow-Zimet said. “While travel remains a critical pathway to care, we have seen a decrease in people leaving their state of residence, likely due to both the growth of telehealth access and fewer options for in-person care in the South and Southeast.”

New also cited chemical abortions as the draw away from travel abortions.

“The main reason for this decline in out-of-state travel is because of the rising number of telehealth abortions,” New said. “The most recent data from the Society for Family Planning shows that approximately 27% of all abortions are done by telehealth.”

In Florida, the study also found a near tripling of abortion travel by Floridians after the state passed a heartbeat law to protect unborn babies; at the same time, fewer people traveled to Florida to obtain abortions due to this law.

“The national decline [in travel abortions] might have been even larger had Florida not started enforcing a Heartbeat Act in 2024,” New said. “Because of this strong pro-life law, far fewer women residing in southern states traveled to Florida for abortions.”

Texas has also seen a decline in Texans traveling to get abortions. 

“This trend is seen at the state level,” New continued. “Between 2024 and 2025 the number of Texas women obtaining abortions in other states fell by 19%.”

Mail-order abortion is pro-life priority

Advocates for unborn children highlighted the importance of opposing chemical abortions and protecting unborn children across state lines.

Abortion continues to rise with the increase in mail-order abortions.

Kelsey Pritchard, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America spokeswoman, called for protections of unborn children across state lines.

“We need a national minimum standard to ensure children across America have basic human rights and the chance at life, regardless of their zip code,” Pritchard told EWTN News.

“Nine states and the District of Columbia still have no gestational limits whatsoever on abortion, allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, with late-term abortion centers purposely located within range of pro-life state borders,” Pritchard said. “This is barbaric and extreme, and it places the United States in the same category as communist countries like China and Vietnam on abortion.”

“While stopping the ‘Wild West’ of unregulated abortion by mail is our immediate priority, both issues underscore the urgent need for national action to protect unborn children and their mothers,” Pritchard said.

“Abortion travel is down overall, but mail-order abortions are surging and driving the national total up to an estimated 1.1 million abortions per year — more than the day Roe was reversed,” Pritchard said. “Every single month, approximately 15,000 babies in the womb die from mail-order abortion drugs in states with pro-life laws, while women and girls are poisoned and coerced by abusers who obtain these drugs online without so much as an ID check.”

Kristi Hamrick, Students for Life spokeswoman, questioned the data, noting that there is no reporting requirement for abortion.

“I find it extraordinary that the abortion industry reports so much data that is accepted as gospel, despite the fact that we canʼt verify it,” Hamrick said. “We have no national abortion reporting law, and while this data will be broadly reported, every point of data from pro-life sources is treated as suspect.”

Guttmacher collects monthly data from brick-and-mortar facilities and telehealth providers, according to the study methodology.

The nature of mail-order abortion pills makes it harder to accurately track the number of the abortions in the U.S. as the pills are highly unregulated and some companies operate outside of the U.S. healthcare system.

“The landscape of abortion is shifting, from brick-and-mortar abortion vendor to online pill pushers, so less driving, if that is true, does not mean less abortion,” Hamrick said.

For Students for Life, “fighting chemical abortion pills” is a priority.

Through pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and other programs, the pro-life movement continues to encourage women to choose life.

“But what is happening in real time is that many are reaching out to women online and in their communities to encourage and support them in choosing life, while we also have to confront a new abortion cartel,” Hamrick said.

“The decision to stop having Sunday Mass at a church is amongst the most difficult decisions that have to be made,” said Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston in a video announcement.

“The parish church, as we know, is the center of life — the center of our faith life for so many people, often for generations,” he said. “Itʼs the place where we most frequently live our relationship with God. Itʼs the place where the Mass is celebrated, especially on Sundays.”

Four parishes in the Northeast Deanery of the diocese, including St. Francis Xavier in Oklee, St. Ann in Goodridge, St. Philip in Falun, and St. Mary in Badger, will celebrate their final Sunday Masses in August and September.

In October, parishes in the Northwest Deanery, including St. Mary in Euclid, St. Joseph in Oslo, and St. Francis of Assisi in Fisher, will hold their final Sunday Masses.

While the parishes will soon halt Masses, Cozzens explained the diocese has “not yet decided the merging of these parishes, nor have we decided anything about the future of the buildings.”

“Demographics” was a deciding factor, because throughout the diocese “the population has been decreasing,” Cozzens said in the video. “There are fewer and fewer family farms” and “schools have been combined.”

“When these churches were built, there were often many large farm families throughout the area. Now itʼs not the case,” he said.

“Some of these parishes have no young people in religious formation, or at least very few. Some have trouble finding volunteers to keep the parish going, relying on only a few dedicated parishioners,” he said.

The lack of priests in the diocese is another factor.

In a letter to the faithful, Cozzens explained the diocese continues “to experience a shortage of priests” and “there are limits to the number and locations of Masses they can celebrate on any given weekend.”

“We must ensure that they can provide sustainable pastoral care and remain true spiritual fathers to the communities entrusted to them,” Cozzens wrote.

“Suffering and death are real parts of our lives as humans and as Christians. And if your parish is going to cease having Sunday Mass, it feels like a death because it is,” Cozzens said.

“The pain is real, and itʼs a sign of how much you love your faith and how much your parish matters to you,” he said.

Discernment process

The bishop explained that the diocese came to the decision after undergoing “an extensive process.”

The diocese created committees made up of “at least three representatives from every parish, totaling more than 20 people” who “worked hard to discern and pray about how we might use our limited resources to fulfill the churchʼs mission,” he said.

Members of the Diocesan Planning Commission also worked to discern the best pathway to advance the mission of the Church.

“When parishes become too small, itʼs impossible to support a mission-centered parish life. We cannot do outreach. We cannot support opportunities for growth and faith and evangelization,” the bishop said.

Due to these reasons, the group made the recommendation to halt Sunday Masses at the parishes, which the bishop accepted.

“And I believe that although we have reached some difficult decisions, the Holy Spirit has guided this process,” he said

The bishop also offered a message to Catholics in the diocese “who are not losing Sunday Mass at your parish.”

“You have a special responsibility to show love to your neighbors. You can honor the sacrifice these others are making for our common faith. You can let them know that they are not alone and walk beside them in their grief,” he said.

“You can be the hands and feet of Christ by reaching out to them, and you can help us to form a new community in your church building as you invite new members to join you,” he said.

Voters in the state will decide on Aug. 4 whether to approve Amendment 5, which would reduce and eventually eliminate Missouri’s income tax.

The measure also would mandate the “[reduction of] personal property and other local taxes when local revenues increase.” The amendment would allow sales taxes to make up the difference in state revenue.

In a statement this month, Missouri’s four Catholic bishops urged voters to consider “the moral principles that should guide us in pondering any tax proposal.”

The Catholic Church, they pointed out, does not mandate that governments adopt “any particular tax model,” but the Church does teach that “every system of taxation must serve the common good” and be guided by justice.

The bishops warned that shifting to sales taxes, which are regressive, places a larger per-income burden on lower-income taxpayers and “should be approached with prudence.”

They acknowledged that supporters of the income tax repeal have “a sincere desire to promote the long-term prosperity” of Missouri. But such aims should be “weighed alongside the potential effects on those who are most vulnerable,” they argued.

The bishops further called on the government to preserve tax-based incentives for charitable giving.

The prelates urged voters to “thoughtfully” discern their vote on the amendment in light of the Church’s teachings. They also urged the government to “ensure the needs of the poor and vulnerable remain at the forefront of public policy.”

Polling has shown that a slight majority of Missouri residents favor eliminating the state income tax. An SLU/YouGov poll from February 2025 said 52% of voters there support eliminating the state income tax.

Just 29% of voters in a February 2026 poll, meanwhile, preferred income taxes to sales taxes.

The calls follow growing concern over reports of the abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of girls from Pakistanʼs Christian and Hindu minority communities. In a resolution passed in the European Parliament on July 9, lawmakers called on Pakistan to investigate and prosecute those responsible, while urging the EU to continue raising the issue in its political dialogue with Islamabad.

Calls for special envoy engagement

Speaking at a conference on forced marriage and religious conversions held at the European Parliament last week, Slovak member of the European Parliament Miriam Lexmann said she had recently met with McGuinness to discuss the issue.

“We urge her to see this as a big priority,” Lexmann said, adding that the envoy “has to make this a key priority for the coming months and coming years.”

Carmen Correas López, legal officer for Europe at ADF International, which is supporting Mariaʼs case, told EWTN News the organization is working to arrange a September meeting with the special envoy to discuss the case and broader concerns about the persecution of Christians.

Mariaʼs appeal

Maria, whose case is unrelated to the separate 2020 case involving Christian activist Maira Shahbaz, was abducted in July 2025 at the age of 12 and was allegedly forced to convert to Islam before being married to a man who was about 30 years old.

Pakistanʼs Federal Constitutional Court is due to hear her review petition on Friday. The petition seeks to overturn an earlier judgment handed down in March that allowed Maria to remain with the man accused of abducting, forcibly converting, and marrying her.

ADF International said Mariaʼs case reflects a broader pattern of forced marriage and religious conversion affecting girls from Pakistanʼs minority communities and could establish an important legal precedent.

According to research published by the Pakistan-based organization Voice for Justice, there were 210 documented cases involving Christian girls between 2019 and 2025. The organization said many victims' ages were falsified in official records and alleges that police, local officials, and religious figures facilitated fraudulent marriage and conversion documents.

Mariaʼs father, Shahbaz Masih, told EWTN News that international support had given the family renewed hope after repeated legal setbacks.

“Repeated failures to obtain justice through the courts had all but extinguished our hope of bringing Maria home,” Masih said. “But the overwhelming outpouring of support and solidarity, not only from Christians in Pakistan but also from Christians around the world, has rekindled our hope that we will one day be reunited with our daughter.”

A test for the special envoy

The increased focus on Mariaʼs case follows the appointment of former European commissioner McGuinness as special envoy in March, ending a vacancy of more than a year that Christian advocacy groups and lawmakers had criticized as undermining the EUʼs engagement on freedom of religion or belief.

Commenting on McGuinness' appointment, Professor Shahid Mobeen of the Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum in Rome and president of the Italian Roundtable on Freedom of Religion or Belief said the move should lead to stronger EU engagement with Pakistan.

“The appointment of the European Unionʼs new special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief makes it necessary that the envoy engages actively with the Pakistani authorities and civil society in support of meaningful reforms,” he said at the conference.

Mobeen also called on the EU to use Pakistanʼs GSP+ status, which grants the country preferential access to the EU market in return for meeting human rights obligations, to press for stronger protections for religious minorities.

“The European Union should, therefore, make full use of the GSP+ monitoring mechanism, paying particular attention to Pakistanʼs commitment to freedom of religion or belief and ensuring that these commitments are effectively implemented and translated into tangible improvements for vulnerable communities,” he said.

EWTN News sought comment from the European Commission, including on whether the special envoy intends to engage with Pakistani authorities following Parliamentʼs resolution, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

“It‘s been 30 months since I had to flee,” the priest told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals against his family living in Nicaragua.

Although he currently carries out his ministry in a Costa Rican parish, he acknowledges that each day is tinged with nostalgia for the land he left behind.

He fled early one morning in 2024 after the authorities had issued an arrest warrant for him. He left Nicaragua without even being able to say goodbye to his family.

“I left Nicaragua without seeing my mother, without telling her: ‘Mom, I’m leaving.’ I couldn’t say goodbye to anyone; that hurts,” he said sadly.

The persecution began in 2018

The “harassment” against him, as he himself describes it, began in 2018 when street protests against President Daniel Ortega’s government erupted. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the crackdown left hundreds dead and injured.

At that time, he was providing pastoral support to youth groups, which led to his involvement. “I supported the young people in the sense of praying for them and, secondly, by looking for food and medicine for university students and the general population whenever they were mistreated, subjected to violence, or beaten.”

He also began preaching about human dignity and social justice during his Masses. He sought “to call for respect and for the freedom of a people crying out for justice and demanding their rights to be valued.”

“That bothered the government; it made them angry,” he lamented.

As the months went by, he began receiving calls and messages on his personal number. He also stated: “Armed military personnel would arrive and enter the church to record the homilies; in short, I felt constantly watched.”

The priest recounted that in late 2023 he was forced to leave his community and go into hiding. “I spent New Year’s on the run, in hiding.” Finally, in January 2024, an arrest warrant was issued for him, and he decided to flee to Costa Rica.

“I had to leave almost at midnight, trying to save my life. I practically had to flee for no reason at all because I hadn’t committed any crime,” he stated.

His case is not an isolated one. He is among the multitude of the faithful suffering the systematic persecution that the Ortega dictatorship has waged against the Catholic Church. Since 2018, more than 1,030 attacks against Catholics have been documented, and over a hundred priests and four bishops have been expelled or forced into exile.

New opportunities in Costa Rica

“The tears were flowing,” the priest recalled, thinking back to the moment he crossed the border and left his country behind. More than two years after that event, he said that “to this day, I feel a longing for the people I love.”

Despite the pain, he said he has found a new opportunity in Costa Rica, thanks to the support received from the country’s bishops and various priests, who “have given me shelter and stability.

That support enabled him to rebuild his life and resume his priestly ministry. Convinced that God does not abandon those who suffer, he affirmed: “Jesus is with me, and Most Holy Mary, my beautiful, beloved Mother, does not forsake me.”

He said he asks God every day to “free Nicaragua from that cruel, indolent, murderous regime.”

“I ask for justice, I ask for peace, I ask the Lord to grant me the grace to return to my beautiful land, to be able to see my mother.”

Migrant priests: A gift for the Church in Costa Rica

Currently, there are around 25 Nicaraguan priests living in Costa Rica, Father Gustavo Meneses, executive secretary of the National Human Mobility Commission of the Costa Rican Bishops’ Conference, told ACI Prensa.

Far from considering them a burden, Meneses maintains that they represent “a gift from God among us,” as they have come to “meet needs within our dioceses,” especially those with fewer priests.

Recently, a private meeting was held that, Meneses explained, was “an opportunity for them to meet, to get to know each other. Because they themselves are beginning to realize who’s here.”

The priest indicated that many shared the pain of having left their families, “but, above all, it hurts them to have abandoned their pastoral mission.”

He thus considers that one of the challenges for the Catholic Church in Costa Rica is to offer them the human and psychological support that enables them to heal from the effects of exile.

He also called on the authorities to expedite international protection processes and prevent those fleeing persecution from remaining for long periods in a “legal limbo” that exposes them to deportation.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

‘Liturgical anomalies’

In a video message and accompanying letter, Bishop Thomas Paprocki’s new rules for the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, which went into effect on July 1, address what he described as “irregular practices” and “liturgical anomalies.”

Paprocki explained that his goal is to “ensure that Catholic funerals in our diocese will conform to the norms of the Catholic Church” and maintain the integrity of the three parts of the OCF: the Vigil for the Deceased (the night before the funeral liturgy), the funeral liturgy itself (Mass or liturgy outside Mass), and the Rite of Committal.

Among the “anomalies” the bishop addressed and prohibited was the practice of visitations in the church on the day of the funeral liturgy, as the vigil by definition must occur the night before. Priests or deacons will lead vigil prayers even without a public gathering, although family members are strongly encouraged to participate.

Families may still gather at the funeral home for the brief prayers of the transfer of the body to the church or to the place of committal, which can be led by a funeral director, parish staff member, or relative if clergy are unavailable. The procession to the church — whether on foot or by motorcade — is important, he said, as it serves as a “reminder of when the deceased person first entered the church” in baptism.

Paprocki said eulogies are not permitted during the funeral rite, but “words of remembrance” are, as long as the words “speak about the faith-life of the one who died and give praise to God.” Eulogies make “the person being praised the main focus of attention,” he wrote, while “the homily and the words of remembrance have God as the primary focus.”

Because those speaking at the end of a funeral Mass sometimes say things “that are very inappropriate” or are too overcome with grief, the bishop said all “words of remembrance must be submitted for approval to the pastor … at least three days prior to the funeral. Only the priest or deacon will then read the words of remembrance” at a time other than during or immediately after the funeral rite.

Families themselves may offer eulogies or remembrances at other gatherings, such as a meal after the Rite of Committal, provided they do not immediately precede or follow the liturgical rites.

On cremation, Paprocki reaffirmed the Church’s preference for burial of the body while permitting cremation when not chosen to deny the resurrection of the body.

All cremated remains must be interred intact following the Rite of Committal and ordinarily within 30 days.

‘The Order of Christian Funerals does not envision a viewing in a church building’

Meanwhile, Bishop David J. Bonnar of Youngstown, Ohio, issued a decree in October 2025 ending funeral visitations in church buildings effective December 2025.

Bonnar said holding a visitation or viewing in a church compromises the sacred space “by noise and activity unbecoming of the reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament.”

His decree created a uniform policy across the diocese, addressing growing requests for in-church visitations driven by convenience and cost.

The only exception the bishop permitted is for the funerals of priests or religious, where public visitation in the church or chapel continues as a long-standing tradition.

Families may still hold visitations at funeral homes or other appropriate locations.

‘It is the body whose hands clothe the poor and embrace the sorrowing’

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, issued a decree in May reinforcing the intact burial of cremated remains while emphasizing the Church’s preference for bodily burial.

“Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body,” the decree states. “The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in those rites.”

“The Churchʼs teaching in regard to the human body as well as the Churchʼs preference for burial of the body should be a regular part of catechesis on all levels,” McManus writes.

All of the cremated remains of a body must be interred following the Rite of Committal in a grave, mausoleum, or columbarium, according to the decree. The remains may not be divided and placed in multiple locations or scattered in any location. Neither may they be kept in private homes or placed into jewelry.

Interment of cremated remains should not be unduly delayed following the funeral rites. If the Churchʼs norms concerning cremation are not respected, the bishop says the celebration of public funeral rites may be denied, at the celebrating pastor’s discretion.

The decree’s pronouncements are “effective immediately.”

Cemeteries are ‘places of Christian hope’

In the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Martin promulgated the decree “Diocesan Norms for the Governance and Stewardship of Cemeteries and Columbaria” on March 19, the solemnity of St. Joseph, patron of the dying.

In a letter accompanying the revisions, Martin said he was “confident” the new norms would “serve the needs of the faithful as they reverently lay to rest the mortal remains of their loved ones.”

The updates set clear eligibility guidelines for interment. While Catholic cemeteries/columbaria are intended primarily for baptized Catholics, the decree states provisions can be made for others, including non-Catholics and even non-Christians.

Catholic cemeteries and columbaria are “extensions of the Church’s ministry … not merely functional places of burial” and are “sacred places set aside by the Church for the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead and for providing a final resting place for the faithful departed as a sign of their hope in the promise of resurrection,” the decree states.

Consequently, such places must be maintained and used in a way that reflects “reverence for the dead and care for nature.”

Burial costs must also remain affordable and accessible.

Parishes within the diocese have six months to align local policies with the new norms, while existing contracts will remain in effect.

‘Prayers after Death’ revised by USCCB

In a March newsletter, the Committee on Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced a revision of the “Prayers after Death,” which occur during the rite of the OCF.

According to the committee, the ritual structure, rubrics, and individual elements of the revised prayer are “nearly identical” to the previous edition, “with the exception of the concluding prayers at no. 314” in the Order of Christian Funerals.

“These prayers have been retranslated after the pattern of the Roman Missal and according to the principles of Liturgiam Authenticam,” the committee wrote.

The Liturgiam Authenticam (“Authentic Liturgy”) is a major Vatican instruction issued in 2001 that established precise norms for translating liturgical texts (and Scripture for liturgical use) from the official Latin editions into modern languages, its core principle being fidelity to the original text.