Catholic News

• Pope Leo decries 'iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war' (Dicastery for Communication)
  In a message to a conference of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Pope Leo lamented the “continuing tragedy of widespread hunger and malnutrition,” even though “the earth is capable of producing enough food for all human beings.” “We are currently witnessing with despair the iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war,” the Pope wrote in his June 30 message. “Starving people to death is a very cheap way of waging war.” “That is why today, when most conflicts are not fought by regular armies but by groups of armed civilians with few resources, burning land and stealing livestock, blocking aid are tactics increasingly used by those who seek to control entire unarmed populations,” he continued.
• Fidelity to the Gospel is 'the best way forward,' Pope tells women religious (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV told participants in the general chapters of four women’s religious institutes that “fidelity to the ancient wisdom of the Gospel is the best way forward for those who, led by the Holy Spirit, undertake new paths of self-giving, dedicated to loving God and neighbor and listening attentively to the signs of the times.” “Rootedness in Christ is what led those who went before us—men and women like us, with gifts and limitations like ours—to do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve,” the Pope added. “This rootedness enabled them to sow seeds of goodness that, enduring throughout the centuries and across continents, have now reached practically the entire world, as your presence here demonstrates.” The four institutes that took part in the June 30 audience were the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, the Augustinian Sisters of Amparo, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
• Pope accepts resignation of accused Swiss abbot; 29-year-old prior assumes governance (CWN)
  Pope Leo has accepted the resignation of Abbot Jean César Scarcella, 73, from the office of ordinary abbot of the Territorial Abbey of Saint-Maurice, Switzerland. The abbot is a member of the Congregation of St. Maurice of Agaune, part of the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.
• New US archbishops reflect on the importance of fostering unity (CNS)
  On June 29, Pope Leo blessed and imposed pallia on 54 metropolitan archbishops appointed during the last year; eight of them are from the United States. Catholic News Service spoke with seven of them, and fostering unity was a common theme of their comments. “I’m everybody’s bishop,” said Archbishop Michael McGovern of Omaha. “I’m not just the bishop for some people.” “One Sunday I’m going to go to the traditional Latin Mass community, and I’ll wear my choir robes and I’ll sit on the side,” he continued. “I don’t say the Latin Mass, but I just, I’m there to be present to the people because they’re part of the Church.”
• Vatican cardinal, in Sea Sunday message, encourages seafarers to be prophets of peace (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)
  Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has issued a message for Sea Sunday, commemorated on the second Sunday in July. “I thank Christian seafarers and all their colleagues of other religious and cultural affiliations: you are pilgrims of hope every time you work with care and love; every time you keep alive the bonds with your families and your communities; every time that in the face of social and environmental injustice you organize yourselves to react and respond courageously and constructively,” Cardinal Czerny wrote. “We ask you to be bridges even between enemy countries, prophets of peace,” he added.
• Weighing in on federal budget, bishops' pro-life chairman welcomes defunding of abortion, laments IVF (USCCB)
  In a recent letter to leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees, the chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities weighed in on budgetary priorities. “We are profoundly grateful to the House of Representatives for working together to defund the abortion industry in the reconciliation bill,” said Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio. “Though the USCCB has serious concerns about other parts of that legislation, the provision addressing taxpayer funding for abortion providers is a tremendous stride forward.” The prelate strongly encouraged Congress “to complement and enhance the Administration’s ongoing efforts to rectify the overreaches of the prior Administration that aggressively promoted elective abortion.” After calling for “improvements and investments” in federal programs for families, and acknowledging the pain of infertile couples, Bishop Thomas spoke out against IVF, which “represents an underregulated industry that creates hundreds of thousands or even millions of preborn children who will be lost in attempts to implant them within a mother, interminably frozen, or discarded and killed (often in a selective, eugenic manner).”
• São Tomé and Príncipe's president meets with Pontiff (Vatican Press Office)
  The president of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, met with Pope Leo XIV on June 30. Following the audience, Vila Nova met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties discussed Church-state relations, “several aspects of the country’s political and socio-economic situation,” and “matters of a regional and international nature,” according to the Holy See Press Office. The Central African nation of 224,000 (map) is 96% Christian (74% Catholic) and 2% Baháʼí.
• Vatican newspaper analyzes American efforts at regime change (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  The Vatican newspaper has published a lengthy article by one of its journalists, Roberto Paglialonga, analyzing US efforts at regime change over the past quarter century. Written in Italian, Paglialonga’s article has three sections: “Afghanistan: after the Taliban, still the Taliban”; “Iraq: from the false evidence of the USA to the self-styled Islamic State”; and “After Gaddafi, Libya in chaos from tribal fighting and civil war.” (The false evidence is a reference to President George W. Bush’s claim in 2003 that Saddam Hussein’s regime had weapons of mass destruction.) Amid discussion of a similar effort at regime change in Iran, “we should also ask ourselves whether there are means other than the use of force to obtain a change of system and power, and whether (and to what extent) these are actually capable of leading to significant results,” said Paglialonga.
• Vietnam's VP meets with Pope (Rome Reports)
  The vice president of Vietnam, Võ Thị Ánh Xuân, met with Pope Leo XIV on June 30. Following the audience, Xuân met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. “Warm appreciation was expressed for the positive developments in the relations between the Holy See and Vietnam ... while underscoring the contribution of the Catholic Church to Vietnamese society,” according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office. The Communist Southeast Asian nation of 105.8 million (map) is 48% Buddhist and 10% Christian, with 12% adhering to ethnic religions.
• 'Beauty is an antidote to cynicism,' Cardinal Parolin says at world's fair (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, traveled to Osaka, Japan, to speak at the world’s fair, Expo 2025. In an address delivered on the national day of the Holy See, which has an exhibition there, the prelate said that beauty “becomes an antidote to cynicism, a universal language that unites individuals and promotes solidarity between peoples.” Cardinal Parolin also discussed the “common efforts” of Japan and the Holy See “to limit the uncontrolled proliferation of armaments.”
• Vatican prefect thanks Ukranian Greek Catholic Church for remaining source of hope (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Catholic Churches, thanked the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church for “remaining a source of hope for its people.” “The main message is gratitude, for what you do, for who you are, for the courage you instill in people, in priests, their families, and in all the faithful,” the prelate said on June 30. “Thank you for always being with the people and for remaining their only source of hope.” “We are ready to make every effort to assist you in all your needs, with the limited means at our disposal,” he added.
• Papal prayer for Central African school tragedy victims (Vatican News)
  At the conclusion of his June 29 Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV offered prayers following the death of dozens of students in a stampede in the Central African Republic. “I offer the assurance of my prayers for the Barthélémy Boganda High School community in Bangui, Central African Republic, which is in mourning following the tragic accident that caused numerous deaths and injuries among the students,” the Pontiff said. “May the Lord comfort the families and the entire community!”
• July papal prayer intention: for formation in discernment (Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network)
  The July papal prayer intention, disseminated by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer), is “let us pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.” Papal prayer intentions are customarily announced a year in advance and are retained by the new Pontiff following his predecessor’s death.
• Peter's Pence had $20.4M deficit in 2024 (CWN)
  Peter’s Pence has released its annual report for 2024, the last full year of Pope Francis’s pontificate.
• Pope, in Angelus address, reflects on 'ecumenism of blood' of persecuted Christians (Vatican Press Office)
  In his Angelus address on June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Leo spoke about persecuted Christians and the papacy’s service to unity. “Today is the great feast of the Church of Rome, which was born of the witness of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and made fruitful by the outpouring of their blood and that of many martyrs,” Pope Leo told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Even today, throughout the world, there continue to be Christians whom the Gospel inspires to be generous and courageous even to the sacrifice of their lives.” “We can speak of an ecumenism of blood, an unseen yet profound unity among Christian Churches that are not yet in full and visible communion,” Pope Leo continued. “I would like to confirm on this solemn feast that my episcopal ministry is at the service of unity, and that the Church of Rome is committed by the blood shed by Saints Peter and Paul to serving in love the communion of all Churches.”
• Pope Leo says he is open to Ecumenical Patriarchate's suggestions toward restoring full communion (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV received a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on June 28 and said that he is open to suggestions toward the restoration of full communion.
• Papal homily for Saints Peter and Paul emphasizes ecclesial communion, vitality of faith (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, and emphasized two aspects of the apostles’ faith: ecclesial communion and vitality of faith. “The communion of the two Apostles in the one confession of faith was the conclusion of a long journey on which each embraced the faith and lived out his apostolate in his own particular way,” Pope Leo preached. “The history of Peter and Paul shows us that the communion to which the Lord calls us is a unison of voices and personalities that does not eliminate anyone’s freedom.” Pope Leo continued: Our patron saints followed different paths, had different ideas and at times argued with one another with evangelical frankness. Yet this did not prevent them from living the concordia apostolorum [concord of the apostles], that is, a living communion in the Spirit, a fruitful harmony in diversity. “It is important that we learn to experience communion in this way—as unity within diversity—so that the various gifts, united in the one confession of faith, may advance the preaching of the Gospel,” the Pope added. “Let us make an effort, then, to turn our differences into a workshop of unity and communion, of fraternity and reconciliation, so that everyone in the Church, each with his or her personal history, may learn to walk side by side.” During the Mass, Pope Leo also blessed and imposed pallia on 54 metropolitan archbishops appointed during the last year (booklet, pp. 3-7).
• Papal message to priests: In the Heart of Christ, 'we discover the true nature of our ministry' (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV wrote a message to his brothers in the priesthood on the World Day for the Sanctification of Priests, commemorated annually on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Addressing each of the world’s priests “with gratitude and great confidence,” the Pontiff wrote that “the Heart of Christ, pierced for love, is the living and life-giving flesh that embraces each of us and conforms us to the image of the Good Shepherd.” “There we discover the true nature of our ministry,” the Pope continued. “Consumed by God’s mercy, we become joyful witnesses of his love that heals, accompanies and redeems.”
• Monastic life recalls primacy of God, Pope tells Vallombrosians (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV received participants in the general chapter of the Vallombrosian Benedictines, a monastic reform begun by St. John Gualbert (c. 985-1073). “I thank all of you for the gift that your monastic life represents, recalling the entire Church to the primacy of God as the source of joy and the basis of personal and social transformation,” the Pope said on June 28. “We are often less strong than in the past, less young, less numerous, at times harmed by human limitations and mistakes, but the Gospel welcomed sine glossa [without a gloss] will never cease to spread the fragrance of its beauty,” the Pope continued. “Let nothing hold you back from the original need to reform, renew and simplify, to the benefit of everyone, that Christian life that is still able to broaden the horizons and the breath of every human existence.”
• Pope expresses closeness to Ukraine, pays tribute to Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's heritage (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV addressed 5,000 pilgrims from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on June 28, the day of the Eastern-rite church’s 2025 jubilee event in Rome (video).
• More...