Catholic News
- Archbishop Gallagher begins 3-day visit to Russia (@TerzaLoggia)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, began a three-day visit to Russia today. Archbishop Gallagher is scheduled to meet with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs; Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; and Yuri Ushakov, the Assistant to the President of Russia for Foreign Policy. On the final day of his visit, Archbishop Gallagher will meet with clergy and religious, celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow, and meet with the nation’s bishops. Last month, Archbishop Gallagher visited Ukraine and hailed Ukrainians’ faith and courage. During the visit, the Russian military launched a missile and drone attack that struck the neighborhood of the apostolic nunciature, where the prelate was staying. - Pope Leo hails 'noble mission' of military, law enforcement personnel (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the “noble mission” of members of the military and security agencies. - Pope Leo: In persons with intellectual disabilities, we see Christ's gaze (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV praised the work of Marsodeto, an organization based in Toledo, Spain, that assists persons with intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy. - Papal message to Waldensians calls for witness to human dignity in AI era (Vatican News)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message in Pope Leo’s name to Bishop Derio Olivero of Pinerolo, Italy, as the Synod of the Waldensian Evangelical Church met in the area. “Faced with the digital revolution, which seems to suggest the overcoming of the human, the Pope urges us to recognize that Christians are called to bear witness together to the freedom of human beings created in the image and likeness of God,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. The Waldenses originated in 12th-century France. - Ukrainian Catholic leader urges defense of nation's independence (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
In an independence day message, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that “each of us bears responsibility for our present and our future, especially now that we must defend this independence, taking up arms if necessary.” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said on August 24 that Ukraine’s government has the “responsibility to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land. It is the responsibility to rid ourselves of everything that destroys us from within, such as corruption.” “Today we are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our heroes of the present, who—both on the front lines and in the rear—are ensuring that our homeland remains free, united, and independent,” the prelate added. “Let us pray, remember, give thanks, and continue our work.” - Bishop Barron sees unregulated border as 'morally very dangerous' (Bill O'Reilly)
The bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said that the Church has a nuanced position that calls for compassion treatment of immigrants while upholding a country’s right to defend its borders. Bishop Robert Barron spoke with commentator Bill O’Reilly about “something I’ve seen very clearly, the chaos caused by an open border, and I mean the moral chaos, just the issue of child sex trafficking, which is staggering, and the more we read about that, and more that becomes clear to us, the more we see that an unregulated border is a morally very dangerous proposition.” Bishop Barron also weighed in on preemptive war: In classical just war teaching, let’s say Augustine and Aquinas, there was a legitimacy to a preemptive war, even to correct a moral evil Aquinas says, but in the more recent teaching, let’s say the last 75 years, the popes have really moved against preemptive war just given the destructive capacity of modern warfare, and they’ve said that’s only in case of clear unjust aggression that war can be fought. - Singapore cardinal distinguishes Sacred Tradition from traditions (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore)
In a reflection on today’s Scripture readings at Mass, Cardinal William Goh of Singapore distinguished Sacred Tradition from “lesser traditions that are not strictly essential for the faith of the Church.” Citing particular devotions to saints and apparitions, Cardinal Goh said that “unfortunately, some fail to differentiate between Tradition and traditions, regarding the latter as equally important as the former.” “In other words, they fail to distinguish between the essential doctrines of the faith and the cultural practices developed in different societies,” he continued. “Worse still, they often attempt to impose these cultural and personal traditions on others, treating them as the absolute norm for how faith and life should be lived.” Cardinal Goh concluded, “Let us be faithful to the Sacred Tradition of the Church—the deposit of faith handed down since the time of the Apostles—and cherish the traditions the Church has developed over the centuries to make the faith concrete and real in our lives.” - Detroit archbishop assigns auxiliary bishops to parish ministry (Detroit Catholic)
Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit assigned two of his three auxiliary bishops to parish ministry yesterday, in addition to their other responsibilities. Auxiliary Bishop Robert Fisher will administer a Vietnamese parish. Auxiliary Bishop Jeffrey Monforton, the former bishop of Steubenville, was appointed moderator of two families of parishes, as well as a member of the team of priests who minister in the parishes. Detroit’s third auxiliary bishop, the former nuncio Archbishop Paul Russell, was accused in 2022 of sexually abusing a minor decades earlier. - Father Hamel's sister, killer's mother spread message of peace (Vatican News)
The sister of the Servant of God Jacques Hamel (1930-2016) and the mother of one of his Islamist terrorists who killed him spoke in an interview of the friendship that has developed between them. After she prayed, “My God, tell me who could be suffering more than I am,” Roseline Hamel sought out Nassera Kermiche. “When she arrived at my door and I opened it, I was so emotional and so happy that no words would come out of my mouth except: ‘Forgive me, forgive me,’” said Kermiche. “That was all I could say, because I needed her forgiveness.” - 'Jesus calls us to give a personal response,' Pope tells pilgrims (CWN)
Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the day (Matthew 16:13-20), Pope Leo XIV encouraged pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address (video) to ponder Christ’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” - Pope calls for aid for DR Congo amid Ebola epidemic (CWN)
At the conclusion of his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV called for aid for the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid the Ebola epidemic there. - Pope, at Mass in Rimini, reflects on service of binding and loosing (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV concluded his brief pastoral visit to the Italian city of Rimini on August 22 by celebrating an outdoor evening Mass at the city’s port (video). - Pope, in Rimini, pays tribute to Communion and Liberation's heritage, calls it to embrace synodal renewal (CWN)
Following his visit to the nation of San Marino on August 22, Pope Leo XIV made a pastoral visit to the Italian city of Rimini, where he addressed the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, an annual conference organized by the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. - Follow Christ and be active in the Church's life, Pope tells poor, disabled in Rimini (CWN)
In a brief address in Rimini Cathedral, Pope Leo XIV encouraged people who are disabled, poor, or sick to encounter Jesus Christ and take an active part in the life of the Church. - Christ is the greatest gift we can offer others, Pope tells Church in San Marino (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV concluded his brief visit to the nation of San Marino by calling on the Church there to emphasize the centrality of Christ. - Pope visits San Marino, calls for respect for primacy of conscience (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV visited the nation of San Marino earlier today and, in an extended reflection on liberty, invoked the example of St. Thomas More as he called for a respect for the primacy of conscience. - Head of Armenian Apostolic Church on trial for refusing to reinstate bishop (Forum 18)
In a sign of extraordinary Church-state tensions in Armenia, the head of Armenian Apostolic Church (CNEWA profile) and six other bishops are on trial for defying a court order to reinstate a deposed bishop. Patriarch Garegin (Karekin) II has led the Church since 1999. The Armenian Apostolic Church is among the Oriental Orthodox churches that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). - Vatican approves English, Spanish translations of Mass for the Care of Creation (USCCB)
The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the English and Spanish translations of the Mass for the Care of Creation, promulgated in Latin last year. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the translations on its website. - Report: Vatican revokes Buffalo bishop's imposition of abuse assessment on parish (Jamestown Post-Journal)
The Dicastery for the Clergy reportedly revoked the bishop of Buffalo’s imposition of an assessment on a parish’s assets to help fund a $150-million diocesan abuse settlement. “The Dicastery holds that there is no licit means by which the Diocesan Bishop can involuntarily require the alienation of such a large percentage of the patrimony of the juridic person of a parish,” the dicastery reportedly stated. The dicastery’s decision was announced on the Facebook page of the group Save Holy Apostles Parish. - Debate about sex ed guidelines for schools in German archdiocese continues after Vatican letter (EWTN News)
A group of German parents called on the Archdiocese of Hamburg to withdraw its sex education framework following correspondence with a Vatican dicastery. In response to a query from the Parents’ Network for Child Protection and Prevention, the Dicastery for Culture and Education affirmed the continued authority of “Male and Female He Created Them,” a 2019 document on gender theory. The parents believe there are 20 contradictions between the archdiocesan framework and the Vatican document. - More...