Catholic News

• Vatican officials present new Mass formulary: Mass for the Care of Creation (CWN)
  Two Vatican officials presented a new Mass formulary, the Missa pro custodia creationis (Mass for the Care of Creation), at a July 3 press conference (video). The press conference followed a decree (Latin, English) of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
• 600 children meet with Pope Leo (Vatican News)
  Some 600 children—half from Ukraine, and half from a Vatican summer camp—met with Pope Leo XIV in Paul VI Audience Hall on July 3. In his conversation with the children, Pope Leo recalled attending Mass as a child; there, he encountered “the best friend of all: Jesus.” “It is important to build bridges, to create friendship,” the Pope told the children. “Do not enter into war or conflict ... Jesus calls us all to be friends.”
• Cardinal Fernández: Rupnik judges selected; excommunications are 'often' declared and lifted (Our Sunday Visitor)
  Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said on July 3 that judges have been selected for the canonical trial of Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian priest and artist accused of abusing more than two dozen women. In May 2020, Father Rupnik was declared excommunicated for the canonical offense of absolving an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment; the excommunication was lifted that same month. Asked about the excommunication, Cardinal Fernández replied, “It happens much more often than one might imagine, sometimes even in the same day.”
• USCCB president condemns 'devastating effects' of One Big Beautiful Bill Act (USCCB)
  Reacting to the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said that “the final version of the bill includes unconscionable cuts to healthcare and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.” Archbishop Timothy Broglio said that “the bill, as passed, will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society. As its provisions go into effect, people will lose access to healthcare and struggle to buy groceries, family members will be separated, and vulnerable communities will be less prepared to cope with environmental impacts of pollution and extreme weather. More must be done to prevent these devastating effects.” The bishops’ conference also criticized changes that were made to the bill before it was passed: While the bishops had commended the positive aspects of an earlier version of the bill, the restriction on federal funds to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood was reduced to one year, the parental choice in education provision was greatly weakened, and the restriction on federally funding “gender transition” procedures was removed.
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarchy discusses pastoral care of families in wartime (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is meeting in Rome to discuss the pastoral care of families in wartime. Bishop Arkadiusz Trochanowski of Olsztyn-Gdańsk, Poland, presented a report on the challenges that families face, including women and children without a father present, soldiers on the front lines apart from their families, and families separated by emigration. Bishop Trochanowski also spoke about Ukraine’s demographic crisis: According to data for the first half of 2024, there were 286 deaths per 100 births, while in 2023 there were 265 deaths per 100 births in Ukraine. Ukraine is entering a critical phase of demographic decline, and solving this problem must become a national priority.
• Poland's President Duda meets with Pontiff (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV received Polish President Andrzej Duda in a July 3 audience. Following the audience, President Duda met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties, according to the Holy See Press Office, discussed the “sound” relations between the Holy See and Poland, the nation’s sociopolitical situation, and the war in Ukraine. Poland, a Central European nation of 38.8 million (map), is 95% Christian (93% Catholic).
• Vatican diplomat deplores violence against women, says differences between men and women must be recognized (Holy See Mission)
  Addressing a session of the UN Human Rights Council, a Vatican diplomat said recently that the Holy See is “concerned by the increasing exploitation and violence against women and girls.” “This includes femicide and rape, female genital mutilation, and prenatal sex selection, as well as practices that commodify the female body, such as surrogacy, prostitution, and pornography,” said Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. “These issues cannot be satisfactorily resolved or ended, without clearly defining and recognizing the specific vulnerabilities that women face due to their innate biological differences from men,” Archbishop Balestrero added. “When these objective realities are ignored, and sexual difference is obscured or deprioritized in law and culture, it is often women and girls who suffer the most, sometimes facing traumatic lifelong consequences.”
• Pope welcomes Taiwan's new ambassador (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  Pope Leo XIV received the credentials of Anthony Chung-Yi Ho, Taiwan’s new ambassador to the Holy See, on July 3. The act was significant, as only 11 nations, in addition to the Holy See, maintain formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Most nations instead maintain diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, the Communist nation whose capital is Beijing. Taiwan, an East Asian nation of 23.6 million (map), is 43% Chinese folk religionist, 26% Buddhist, 13% Daoist, and 7% Christian.
• Pope Leo to resume custom of public celebration of Mass on feast of the Assumption (Vatican Press Office)
  The Vatican on July 3 announced the schedule of public liturgical celebrations at which Pope Leo XIV will preside in August and September. Among them is the Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which Pope Leo is scheduled to celebrate on August 15 at the Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova at Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass at Castel Gandolfo’s parish on every August 15 of his pontificate. Pope Francis celebrated and preached the homily at an outdoor Assumption Mass in 2013 at Castel Gandolfo, and in 2014 during his apostolic journey in South Korea, but never again did so during the remainder of his pontificate.
• Jerusalem Christians mourn victims of attack on Syrian church (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
  Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem participated in a Divine Liturgy for the repose of the souls of the victims of a recent terrorist attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Syria. Addressing other mourners during the July 4 liturgy at an Orthodox church in Jerusalem, Bishop Shomali, according to the Latin Patriarchate, “emphasized that the blood of martyrs is never shed in vain; rather, it stands as a cry for truth in the face of injustice and a living testimony to the perseverance and steadfast faith of Christians amid tribulation.”
• Video released for July papal prayer intention (Vatican News (YouTube))
  The Vatican has released a video for the July 2025 papal prayer intention (for training in discernment). The video includes a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
• 'Europe suffocates': Vatican newspaper laments heat wave (CWN)
  L’Osservatore Romano devoted the most prominent front-page coverage in its July 3 edition to the current European heatwaves.
• Pope issues 'Seeds of Peace and Hope,' message for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV has issued “Seeds of Peace and Hope,” his message for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, commemorated on September 1 (background). “Environmental justice—implicitly proclaimed by the prophets—can no longer be regarded as an abstract concept or a distant goal,” Pope Leo wrote in his message, dated June 30 and released July 2. “It is an urgent need that involves much more than simply protecting the environment.” The Pope explained: For it is a matter of justice—social, economic and human. For believers it is also a duty born of faith, since the universe reflects the face of Jesus Christ, in whom all things were created and redeemed. In a world where the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation and pollution, care for creation becomes an expression of our faith and humanity.
• Papal encouragement for Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarchy in serving Christ in the wounded, distressed (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV received the members of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on July 2 and encouraged them in their ministry. “It is not easy to find words of consolation for the families who have lost their loved ones in this senseless war,” Pope Leo said. “I imagine that it is the same for you too, who are in contact every day with people wounded in their heart and in their flesh.” “You are called to serve Christ in every wounded and distressed person who turns to your communities asking for concrete help,” the Pope continued, as he expressed his closeness to the bishops and their faithful and prayed for peace. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (CNEWA profile), an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See, has eparchies (dioceses) in Ukraine, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Poland, and the United States, and other jurisdictions elsewhere.
• Debate over traditional Latin Mass heats up after apparent leak of Vatican documents that undermine Pope Francis (AP)
  Diane Montagna, an American journalist accredited to the Holy See Press Office, reported that she has obtained the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s overall assessment (PDF) of its 2020 questionnaire to bishops on the traditional Latin Mass, as well as the congregation’s collection of quotations drawn from the responses received from the dioceses (PDF). “The documents suggest that the majority of Catholic bishops who responded to a 2020 Vatican survey about the Latin Mass had expressed general satisfaction with it, and warned that restricting it would ‘do more harm than good,’” the Associated Press noted. In a July 2021 letter to the world’s bishops, Pope Francis linked his decision to impose drastic limits on the traditional Latin Mass to the bishops’ responses to the questionnaire. The documents published by Montagna, if genuine, call into question the veracity of Pope Francis’s claim.
• Turkey's first lady meets with Pope, calls for 'more assertive' Christian support for Gaza ceasefire (Hürriyet Daily News)
  Pope Leo XIV received Emine Erdoğan, the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a July 2 audience. The Istanbul-based Hürriyet Daily News reported that the two discussed “the human tragedy in Gaza, efforts to combat climate change, the fight against Islamophobia and racism, and the importance of the family’s existence in society.” “We discussed the crucial need for the Christian community to adopt a more assertive position in order to secure a lasting ceasefire and guarantee the full provision of humanitarian aid,” the first lady said after the meeting. “We are in agreement that the climate crisis is a shared concern for all of humanity, irrespective of their faith or region,” she added. “In this context, I have observed that there is significant potential for collaboration between Türkiye and the Vatican in addressing climate change.” The Pope reportedly told the first lady that he wishes to visit Turkey in November—a visit already announced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, but not officially confirmed by the Vatican. The nation of 84.1 million (map) is 98% Muslim. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2014.
• Address the trafficking of migrant domestic workers, Vatican diplomat urges (Holy See Mission)
  At a recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, a Vatican diplomat spoke about “the urgent need to address the underlying limits of current legal and policy frameworks that facilitate conditions for the trafficking of migrant domestic workers.” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said that these workers “should be guaranteed fair wages, just labor conditions, and the protection of their fundamental rights.” “My Delegation would like to draw attention to the typically hidden nature of domestic work, which leaves migrant workers more vulnerable to abuse, debt bondage, and trafficking, with limited access to justice and effective remedies,” he added.
• USCCB, in court filing, backs counselor challenging Colorado law on transgender counseling (USCCB)
  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the Colorado Catholic Conference and the Catholic University of America, has a brief in support of Kaley Chiles, the plaintiff in Chiles v. Salazar, a case under consideration by the Supreme Court. Chiles, a counselor who is a Christian, is challenging a 2019 Colorado law that forbids counselors from encouraging minors to change their “sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions.” Her legal counsel states that “many of Chiles’s clients are also Christian and specifically seek her help because of their shared faith-based convictions and biblical worldview.” In its brief, the USCCB argues that the Colorado law violates the right to freedom of speech recognized by the First Amendment. The argument has three parts: “seeking counsel to live virtuously is a profound human concern,” “sexual morality and virtue are matters of intense contemporary discussion,” and “the First Amendment must certainly protect the ability to seek and give counsel on such fundamental matters.”
• Synod study group reports postponed until December; implementation phase document to be released July 7 (General Secretariat of the Synod)
  The General Secretariat of the Synod announced that “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod” will be published on July 7. The four-chapter document will offer guidance for the implementation phase (2025-28) of the synod on synodality (2021-24). In February 2024, Pope Francis created ten study groups to examine some of the issues raised in the October 2023 synod session, including “shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues.” The groups were scheduled to submit their reports by June 2025; the General Secretariat, citing the death of Pope Francis and election of Pope Leo, announced the extension of the deadline to December 31.
• Italian PM Meloni meets with Pontiff (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV received Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a July 2 audience (video). Meloni subsequently described the meeting as “a pleasure and an honor.” Following the audience, Meloni met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties, according to the Holy See Press Office, discussed “the good existing relations between the Holy See and Italy,” as well as “the joint commitment to peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, and humanitarian aid in Gaza.” Italy, a Southern European nation of 61.0 million (map), is 75% Christian (71% Catholic) and 6% Muslim.
• More...