Catholic News

• Pope recalls atomic bombings, appeals for justice and dialogue (CWN)
  Recalling the “devastation caused by wars and, in particular, by nuclear weapons,” Pope Leo XIV concluded his August 6 general audience with an appeal for justice and dialogue.
• Pope encourages African Catholics to build 'networks of support' (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV sent a video message to participants in a conference organized by the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network and encouraged them in their reflections on the conference theme, “Journeying together in hope as Church Family of God in Africa.” “Perhaps at times more prominence is given to the virtues of faith and charity; yet, hope has a vital role on our earthly pilgrimage,” Pope Leo said. The Pontiff also encouraged participants to “keep building up the family of the local Churches in your various countries and areas, so that there are networks of support available to all our brothers and sisters in Christ, and also to the wider society, especially those on the peripheries.”
• Vatican prefect hopes for eased restrictions on Traditional Mass (Catholic Herald)
  Cardinal Kurt Koch, the prefect of the Dicastery for Christian Unity, said that he hopes for an easing of restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, in an interview with the Austrian Kath.net site. “Pope Francis has chosen a very restrictive path in this regard,” the cardinal said. “It would certainly be desirable to open the now-closed door more again.” He remarked: Pope Benedict XVI has shown a helpful way by believing that something that has been practiced for centuries cannot simply be banned.
• Pope challenges Arabic-speaking Christians to be missionaries (CWN)
  At the conclusion of his August 6 general audience, Pope Leo XIV challenged Arabic-speaking Christians to be missionaries.
• Women religious call for day of prayer, fasting for peace on August 14 (UISG)
  The International Union of Superiors General called for the observance of August 14, the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, as a day of prayer and fasting for peace. The women religious said that “in a world torn apart by war and inhumanity—in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Haiti, Democratic Republic of the Congo and in so many other countries wounded by both visible and invisible conflicts—we cannot remain silent spectators.” “We invite you, in a spirit of communion and Gospel co-responsibility, to join in a collective act of prayer, discernment and witness, so that peace may not only be hoped for, but built,” they continued. “In particular, we propose that 14 August be lived as a day of fasting and prayer, seeking the intercession of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Peace, whose feast we celebrate on 15 August.”
• Cardinal Cupich, in Hiroshima, contrasts light of Transfiguration and light of atomic bomb (Archdiocese of Chicago)
  Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago traveled to Hiroshima, Japan, to celebrate Mass on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. “On Tabor, light revealed our calling to share eternally in divine glory as sons and daughters of the Father; in Hiroshima, light brought unimaginable destruction, darkness and death and created an unprecedented threat to the survival of the planet and our future,” he preached. “On Tabor, God spoke from the heavens words of love and affirmation; in Hiroshima, the bomb falling from the skies announced human suffering and despair on an unimaginable scale.” He concluded: On this day, 80 years ago, the world witnessed the alarming misuse of human ingenuity that brought about inconceivable destruction. So this morning, we are called to sustain and make our own the vision God has always had for us. We do that by remembering our stories and praying for all those who perished and suffered on that tragic day. We do that by taking up the journey together, and by tapping into the deep resources of human ingenuity, this time to protect one another by creating new paths towards a lasting peace. This Feast of the Transfiguration was forever changed 80 years ago today. May we remain steadfast in telling the world why.
• 'The power to transform Ukraine is in our hands,' Major Archbishop preaches (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  In his homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the head of the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church recalled the words of Venerable Andrey Sheptytsky and preached, “The power to transform Ukraine is in our hands—in our Christian upbringing, in our ability to distinguish between good and evil.” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk described front-line soldiers as “the teachers of true love for Ukraine. Today, we wish to especially envelop with our love all those who bear the wounds of this war on their bodies and in their hearts.” “As we celebrate this feast, we ask that we may become at least a little better, a little brighter, and see more clearly where to find the strength of an entire nation to defeat this wicked and powerful enemy,” the prelate added. “But we must believe in this victory—then its power and glory will be revealed, even through our pains, sufferings, and infirmities.”
• Archbishop Wester sees rising threat of nuclear war (Our Sunday Visitor)
  Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said that the threat of nuclear war “seems more ominous these days,” in an interview with Our Sunday Visitor. The archbishop, reflecting on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, said that today’s nuclear threat is aggravated by conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, by the acquisition of nuclear arms by new nations, and “particularly with the artificial intelligence, with hypersonic delivery systems...” Nuclear deterrence is a risky strategy, Archbishop Wester said. “So it’s really clear that we’re playing with fire. And if we keep playing with fire long enough, we’re going to get burnt.”
• Holy Land Franciscan condemns proposed Israeli occupation of Gaza (ANSA)
  Father Ibrahim Faltas, OFM, until recently the vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, condemned a proposed Israeli plan to occupy all of Gaza. “Palestinians have the right to remain in Gaza, the West Bank, and the territories attributed to them by international agreements and conventions,” he told the ANSA news agency. “They have the right to live, they have the right to exist as a people and as a recognized state.” “Those who can, and should, stop the shocking plan to dominate Gaza are watching in silence without feeling the duty to intervene to stop a crime and to affirm and guarantee the right to dignity and respect for the life of every human being,” he added. The ANSA report misidentified Father Faltas as the custodian, or custos, of the Holy Land; the current custodian is Father Francesco Ielpo.
• Pope-emeritus Benedict rejected doubts about resignation (New Daily Compass)
  Pope-emeritus Benedict XIV rejected arguments that his resignation was invalid, in a 2014 letter to Msgr. Nicholas Bux, who had worked with the former Pontiff at the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “To say that in my resignation I would have left ‘only the exercise of the ministry and not also the munus’ is contrary to clear dogmatic-canonical doctrine. If some journalists speak of a ‘creeping schism’, they do not deserve any attention,” the former Pope wrote. The full text of the letter will be published in a forthcoming book by Msgr. Bux.
• Federal court: Arkansas law on posting Ten Commandments is 'obviously unconstitutional' (Religion Clause)
  A new Arkansas law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is “plainly unconstitutional” and “obviously unconstitutional,” a federal district court ruled. Judge Timothy Brooks, appointed to the bench by President Obama, halted enforcement of the law in the four school districts that challenged it. He wrote: Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms. These states view the past decade of rulings by the Supreme Court on religious displays in public spaces as a signal that the Court would be open to revisiting its precedent on religious displays in the public school context.
• Gallup poll gives Pope Leo highest favorable rating (Gallup)
  Pope Leo XIV had the highest favorable rating among prominent world leaders in a recent Gallup survey. Gallup reported that the Pontiff’s net favorable rating was 46, with 57% of those polled having a positive opinion and only 11% negative.) That figure easily surpassed the 18% favorable rating of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was followed by Senator Bernie Sanders at 11%. US President Donald Trump rated a—16 rating; former President Joe Biden stood at—11.
• German bishops trim overseas aid donations (Pillar)
  The Catholic Church in Germany donated about €595 million ($692 million) to aid projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe in 2024. That figure represents a decline of 3% over the previous year’s funding. German dioceses and religious orders have been forced to trim their expenditures because of a decline in support, caused by the steady decline in the number of Catholics practicing the faith.
• Buffalo diocese cuts 22% of chancery staff (WKBW-TV)
  The Diocese of Buffalo is eliminating 22% of diocesan office positions, less than four months after reaching a $150-million settlement with abuse victims amid bankruptcy proceedings. The elimination of 18 positions reflects “the extreme sacrifices we have required of our entire Catholic Family in together fulfilling our primary obligations to victim-survivors and concluding the Diocese’s bankruptcy status,” said Bishop Michael Fisher. The upstate New York diocese ranks in the bottom 10% in the nation in its ratio of seminarians to Catholics and its ratio of infant baptisms to Catholics.
• Israel bans top Muslim from Jerusalem mosque (Times of Israel)
  Israeli authorities have barred the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from the Al-Aqsa mosque, the Muslim cleric’s lawyer has disclosed. Muhammad Ahmad Hussein will not be allowed access to the Muslim holy site on the Temple Mount until January of next year. According to his lawyer, Israeli officials imposed the ban as punishment for remarks that the Grand Mufti had made in a sermon last Friday, decrying Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
• Pope, at audience, speaks on preparations for Last Supper (Vatican Press Office)
  At his regular weekly public audience on August 6, Pope Leo XIV spoke about how Jesus instructed his disciples to prepare for the Passover, as described in St. Mark’s Gospel (14:15). “It is as if everything has been arranged in advance,” the Pope remarked. “In fact this is exactly the case. That ‘upstairs room already prepared’ tells us that God always precedes us.” The passage offers a fresh perspective on how the faithful should approach the Eucharist, the Pope continued: Today too, like then, there is a supper to prepare. It is not only a matter of the liturgy, but of our readiness to enter into a gesture that transcends us. The Eucharist is not celebrated only at the altar, but also in daily life, where it is possible to experience everything as an offering and giving of thanks.
• 'Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity,' Pope writes in message for 80th anniversary of atomic bombings (Vatican Press Office)
  Hiroshima and Nagasaki “remain living reminders of the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a message for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. “True peace demands the courageous laying down of weapons—especially those with the power to cause an indescribable catastrophe,” Pope Leo continued. “Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard.” The papal message to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama, PSS, of Hiroshima was dated July 14 and released by the Vatican on August 5.
• 120,000 attend Jubilee of the Neocatechumenal Way (KNA)
  120,000 people attended the Jubilee of the Neocatechumenal Way in Rome on August 4 (video), the day after the conclusion of the Jubilee of Youth. 32 prelates, including Cardinal Baldassare Reina and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, were present at the event. “I invite you to look at this cross: this is the image of freedom,” said Kiko Argüello, who cofounded the movement in 1964. “The cross is the image of freedom. Here is a man who has given himself up for you, who will set you free so that you may give yourselves to others and stop offering yourselves only to yourselves.”
• European Court finds Russia violated religious rights of Catholics, others in its 2014-22 war with Ukraine (Religion Clause)
  The European Court of Human Rights found that Russia violated a human rights treaty during the War in Donbas (2014-22), the war between Russia and Ukraine preceded the 2022 Russian invasion. In its opinion, the court cited “attacks on Protestant, Mormon and Roman Catholic churches,” as well as the “intimidation, harassment and persecution of religious groups aside from the UOC-MP” [the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]. Russia withdrew from the human rights treaty, the European Convention on Human Rights, in 2022.
• USCCB welcomes Trump administration decision to end abortion coverage for veterans (USCCB)
  The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairman of its Committee on Pro-Life Activities welcomed the Trump administration’s announcement that it would end abortion coverage for veterans and curb abortions at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. “We are grateful that the Department of Veterans Affairs is stepping up to protect preborn children and families once again from taxpayer-funded, elective abortion, and look forward to reviewing the new proposed rule in full,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio and Bishop Daniel Thomas. The Biden administration introduced taxpayer-funded abortion coverage for veterans in 2022.
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