Catholic News
- Vatican cardinal, newspaper react to Minneapolis church shooting (CWN)
The prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education sent a telegram to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis following the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, which claimed the lives of two innocent victims and left 18 injured (CWN coverage). - Jerusalem Christians: 'A genocide is taking place in Gaza' (Society of Jesus)
A Jersualem Voice for Justice, an organization of Christians in Jerusalem, strongly condemned Israeli actions in Gaza. The organization’s most prominent members are Patriarch Michel Sabbah (the retired Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) and Archbishop Attallah Hanna (the current Greek Orthodox archbishop). “A genocide is taking place in Gaza and risks spreading to other parts of Palestine too,” said the signatories of the organization’s most recent statement. “Ethnic cleansing in Gaza, through the systematic destruction of houses, hospitals and educational institutions, advances from day to day.” “Similar practices are applied in the West Bank, through the violent attacks by Israeli settlers with the complicity of the Israeli army,” they continued, adding: Houses are demolished, whole villages destroyed and their inhabitants made homeless; thousands of prisoners are under administrative detention without any legal protection; people are killed and wounded, olive trees are burnt, harvests destroyed, herds of sheep and cattle killed or stolen, private property looted. - Cardinal Parolin reiterates papal Gaza appeals, says Vatican in contact with Trump administration (Vatican News)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, spoke with journalists about Gaza on August 27, reiterating Pope Leo XIV’s calls for a ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid, and opposition to the forced displacement of the population. Cardinal Parolin also said that the Holy See is in regular contact with the Trump administration about Gaza and expressed hope that the visit of the Israeli foreign minister to Washington will produce concrete results. - Pope pays tribute to St. Augustine (@Pontifex)
Pope Leo XIV, a member of the Order of Saint Augustine, paid tribute to the saint on August 28, his feast day. “The life of Saint Augustine, and his call to servant leadership, reminds us that we all have God given gifts and talents,” Pope Leo tweeted. “Our purpose, fulfilment, and joy comes from offering them back in loving service to God and our neighbor.” - Religions should promote peace, not violence, Vatican cardinal says at Muslim interreligious summit (CWN)
Cardinal George Koovakad, the prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, took part in the Second International Summit of Religious Leaders, an August 28 gathering in Malaysia organized by the nation’s prime minister and the Muslim World League. - Sweeping reorganization of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Vatican Press Office)
Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil of Ernakulam-Angamaly, India, the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church since 2024, enacted a sweeping reorganization of the Eastern Catholic church. The Major Archbishop erected four new ecclesiastical provinces and assigned an eparchy (diocese) to a preexisting province, all with the consent of the church’s Synod of Bishops, and following consultation with the Apostolic See. The reorganization of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (CNEWA profile) follows a recent agreement that sought to bring an end to an acrimonious liturgical dispute within the church. - USCCB publishes brief document on nuclear weapons, environmental health (USCCB)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a two-page text, “The Perilous and Lasting Impacts of Nuclear Weapons on Environmental Health.” The document, released on August 26 and described as a backgrounder, has four sections: “Effects of Nuclear Weapons in the United States,” “Policy Efforts to Restore Right Relationships,” “Nuclear Power,” and “Church Teaching.” It concludes with a prayer for the end of nuclear weaopns. - Doctor describes dire situation at Gaza's only Christian hospital (CWN)
A doctor at Gaza’s sole Christian hospital spoke with Vatican media about the dire conditions there. - Pope, US bishops lament Minneapolis church shooting (Vatican Press Office)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a telegram in the Holy Father’s name following the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in Minneapolis (CWN coverage). The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also issued a statement, as did Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who said, “My heart is broken as I think about students, teachers, clergy and parishioners and the horror they witnessed in a Church, a place where we should feel safe.” - Ecumenical Patriarch: Only another ecumenical council can modify the calculation of the date of Easter (CWN)
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, said in an interview that only another ecumenical council is able to modify the calculation of the date of Easter. - Only Christ can change the world, Pope tells French political leaders (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV encouraged a group of French political leaders to base their work on Catholic social teaching and on natural law, at a private audience on August 28. The Pontiff cautioned that “the promotion of ‘values,’ however evangelical they may be,” is not enough to solve the world’s needs. Abstract principles, not anchored to faith in Christ, are “powerless,” he insisted. He said: The salvation that Jesus obtained through His death and resurrection encompasses all dimensions of human life, such as culture, the economy and work, family and marriage, respect for human dignity and life, health, as well as communication, education, and politics. - UN report seeks worldwide ban on surrogacy (UN)
A UN report has called for a worldwide ban on surrogacy. “The practice of surrogacy is characterized by exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls,” writes Reem Alsalem, a UN special rapporteur on violence against women. The report, based on consultations with dozens of experts and medical practitioners involved in surrogacy, uncovers patterns of violence and coercion, exploitation of needy women, and harms to the children born of surrogacy. The UN report finds that the business of surrogacy—mostly unregulated—brought in nearly $15 billion in 2023, and could reach $100 billion within a decade. The bulk of that money goes to intermediaries, with the surrogate mothers receiving only 10% to 25% of the fees paid. - Brazilian bishops' conference publishes manifesto ahead of UN climate change conference (CWN)
The Brazilian bishops’ Commission for Integral Ecology and Mining published a 30-page manifesto ahead of COP30, the upcoming UN climate change conference in Brazil. - Mass shooting during Mass at Catholic school in Minneapolis (AP)
At least two children were killed, and another 17 people wounded, when a shooter opened fire on the congregation at a Mass being celebrated for Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on August 27. The shooter was identified as Robin Westman, a young man who had chosen to live as a woman, and who posted a disturbing hate-laced manifesto online before the massacre, in which he announced “I am not well.” After shooting through the windows of the church, he shot himself, and died of the wound. Pope Leo XIV sent a message to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis expressing “his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child.” - Myanmar bishop: churches destroyed by bombs, but faith is strong (Fides)
“They destroyed the walls of the church, but not the faith. Our faith remains strong,” said Bishop Lucius Hre Kung of Hakha, Myanmar, as he viewed the ruins of a church that had been the target of bombing by the military government. The church of Christ the King, which had been dedicated in 2023, was leveled in April during an air strike on the town of Falam, as the military struck against a rebel militia force there. More than 100 religious buildings have reportedly been destroyed in fighting in the local area. - Priests, religious are committed to remaining in Gaza, pastor says (Vatican News)
Father Gabriel Romanelli, IVE, the Argentine priest who serves as pastor of Gaza’s sole Catholic parish, said that he and the other priests and religious there are committed to remaining in Gaza. “We all share the same feelings,” he said. “Seeing the needs of the elderly, of those who are anxious, of those who are sad and anguished, of people with disabilities, we understand that the Lord is calling us to continue serving them—because otherwise, how will those people survive, how will they manage?” “We, with great simplicity and humility, will carry on here,” he added, as he asked for prayers for peace. - Holy Land bishops lament destruction of Gaza's schools (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
In a letter for the opening of the school year, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land said that the joy of the opening of the school year “does not extend to our children in Gaza, who for the third consecutive year are deprived of their right to education because of the war.” “Their schools have been destroyed, their classrooms have closed,” the bishops stated in their August 28 letter, signed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. “We carry them in our prayers, imploring that peace may soon prevail so that they may return to their desks and reclaim their childhood.” - Vatican cardinal mourns passing of Peter Cruchley, British Protestant minister (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity)
Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, mourned the passing of Peter Cruchley, director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and a pastor of the United Reformed Church in Great Britain. “Dr. Cruchley’s ministry was marked by a deep commitment to mission and justice, especially on behalf of the neglected, the poor, and vulnerable,” Cardinal Koch said in a letter to the WCC’s secretary general. “With clarity and conviction, he devoted himself to confronting the enduring legacies of slavery, racism, and colonialism, giving voice to those too often left unheard.” Over 300 Protestant and Orthodox communities are members of the World Council of Churches, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. - Pope splits up massive archdiocese in Dominican Republic (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV has split up the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, a massive diocese in the Dominican Republic with 3.48 million Catholics—more than the Archdiocese of New York (3.26 million) or the Archdiocese of Chicago (2.08 million). On August 27, Pope Leo established the Diocese of Stella Maris, Dominican Republic, carving it from the territory of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo. The new diocese has 944,000 Catholics, 64 parishes, and 95 priests; the Santo Domingo archdiocese, following the loss of territory to the new diocese, now has 2.54 million Catholics, 156 parishes, and 316 priests. It is the second such action taken by Pope Leo XIV; in July, he established a new diocese in Kenya. - Vietnamese Catholics from California meet with Pope (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Pope Leo met on August 27 with over 160 members of the Vietnamese Catholic community in San Jose, California. The Vietnamese Catholics made a pilgrimage commemorating the 50th anniversary of their arrival in the United States, which followed the Communist North Vietnam’s conquest of South Vietnam in April 1975. There are “over 14,000 Vietnamese in this community, which represents 14% of the city’s total population,” said Father Justin Le, diocesan vicar of Vietnamese ministry. “Our pilgrimage to Rome is intended as a profound act of thanksgiving to God for protecting and assisting our people fleeing the ravages of war and granting them the grace to rise from the ashes.” “Today,” he added, “we brought the Pope a gift of a copy of the statue of Our Lady of La Vang, patroness of Vietnam.” - More...