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Arhbalou village nestled in the foothills of the barren north face of the Western High Atlas, Al Haouz, Morocco.
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This composite of images taken by NASA’s Psyche mission shows the crescent of Mars grow as the spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist from May 2 to May 15, 2026. Because Psyche approached Mars from a high phase angle, the planet appeared as a thin crescent in the days running up to the close approach, lit by sunlight reflecting off its surface.
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Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will deliver kits of prepackaged food and hygiene kits for up to 700 Cuban families.
![Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel sees a resurgence with new shrine in Mexico City - #Catholic - As of this year, devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a new site in Mexico City. On July 15, the old non-parochial church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was dedicated as an archdiocesan shrine, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the historic church.In recent days, the church, located in the traditional San Ángel neighborhood on the city’s south side, has begun to welcome more visitors than usual. Every year on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, celebrated on July 16, hundreds of pilgrims are drawn to the shrine.
Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in San Ángel, Mexico City. | Credit: EWTN News
However, interest has gained new momentum since Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, primatial archbishop of Mexico, announced in May that the historic church would be elevated to a shrine.Among those drawn by curiosity was Mariana Ledesma. Although she acknowledged that she is only just beginning to learn about this devotion to Our Lady under this title, she wanted to be part of a moment she considers historic.“The shrine is beautiful and full of symbolism; seeing the devotion of the entire community, being able to share in that faith, is something truly beautiful. That is precisely the purpose of the shrine: to make it known to others as well,” she told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.4 centuries of historyThe relationship between Mexico City and Our Lady of Mount Carmel dates back to 1585, when the first missionaries of the Discalced Carmelite order arrived in New Spain to assist in the work of evangelization.In the early 17th century, they established one of their most important convents in San Ángel, from which they fostered contemplative life, spiritual formation, and devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a devotion that took deep root among the capitalʼs inhabitants.
Carmelite friars. | Credit: Discalced Carmelites of Central America
For centuries, the church and convent served as an important religious and cultural center. However, following the Reform Laws of 1876, the old convent was nationalized and became state property.Today, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church remains a place of Catholic worship while the former convent, after serving various purposes over the years, houses a museum. After more than 400 years of tending to the church, this year the Discalced Carmelites handed over its administration to the Archdiocese of Mexico due to a decline in vocations within the order.Mary, ‘strengthen my heart’During the Mass of canonical dedication as a shrine, Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal, auxiliary bishop of Mexico, explained that the decision to elevate the church to a shrine reflects the fact that the faithful have long been making pilgrimages there to “seek solace and to come seeking the nourishment of the sacraments and the mercy of confession.”
Mass of dedication of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as a shrine, July 15, 2026. | Credit: Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico
“Let us hope that this [act] serves as an encouragement for many more people to return here to renew the consolation offered by the Virgin of Mount Carmel and their love for Jesus Christ,” he stated.He also invited the faithful to turn to Mary during times of difficulty. He noted that when faith or hope “begin to fade,” it is necessary to turn one’s gaze toward Mary and say: “Most Holy Mother, you who were able to remain faithful even [standing] before your Son’s cross, strengthen my heart.”
Mass of Dedication of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as a shrine on July 15, 2026. | Credit: Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico
Petitions to Our Lady of Mount CarmelThe aisles of the shrine were filled with people holding scapulars, flowers, or photographs of their family members. Some came to give thanks for favors received; others sought to place their concerns in Maryʼs hands.Among them was Claudio de la Paz, a devotee who traveled from the state of Campeche, over 500 miles away, to take part in the celebration. In addition to hoping the faithful will draw closer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, he asked that young people be specially commended to her care, as he said they are currently going through “times of great vulnerability.”
Mass of Dedication of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as a shrine on July 15, 2026. | Credit: Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico
For Rafael Estrada, devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel “represents a quest for peace, serenity, and harmony.” Estrada urged Catholics to ask for Mary’s protection amid the tribulations Mexico is going through.Sister Nina Ramos, a religious of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, invited the faithful to visit the new shrine and noted that those who fulfill the conditions established by the Church may obtain a plenary indulgence.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/devotion-to-our-lady-of-mount-carmel-sees-a-resurgence-with-new-shrine-in-mexico-city-catholic-as-of-this-year-devotion-to-our-lady-of-mount-carmel-has-a-new-site-in-mexico-city-on-july-15-the.png)
Formerly served by the Discalced Carmelites, the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been elevated to an archdiocesan shrine and has seen an increase in the number of pilgrims.
The Catholic Church’s social services arm in the country reports that its operations are in a transitional phase, as it shifts from immediate assistance to the recovery of those who lost everything.
Lebanon’s cardinal urges prayer, guidance as its president visits the White House #Catholic – 
(OSV News) — Lebanon’s Cardinal Bechara Rai, the patriarch of the country’s Maronite Catholic Church, has urged for prayer and guidance as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun makes a critical visit to the White House July 21 to present President Donald Trump with a plan on how to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
“However severe the crises facing Lebanon may become, this country is not lost as long as God accompanies it. This hope drives us to look toward the future,” Cardinal Rai urged during a Sunday Mass commemorating the feast day of Lebanon’s patron saint, St. Charbel Makhlouf, on July 19.
“We pray for Lebanon and its officials, asking God to guide them in working for national unity, preserving the dignity of the people and safeguarding sovereignty. Peace is our choice, and Lebanon must choose the paths of truth, not illusions, because truth is what builds the state and brings the Lebanese together,” Cardinal Rai said at the St. Maron Monastery in Annaya.
The Maronite Catholic Church is the largest and most powerful Christian denomination in Lebanon. Cardinal Rai is considered by many Lebanese to be the Church’s most influential leader. By convention, the country’s president is always a Maronite.
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Aoun, a Maronite Christian, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House, where he will meet President Trump face-to-face for the first time.
Cardinal Rai called for the preservation of his beleaguered nation’s sovereignty, caught up in a destructive conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel. The latest round of fighting between the two sides began March 2 as Iran came under U.S. and Israeli attack.
More than 4,300 people have been killed so far, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, including nearly 800 children, women and medics and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced from southern Lebanon.
The Catholic Church in Lebanon has played a key role in assisting the displaced and providing spiritual sustenance both to those who lost their homes and livelihoods and other Lebanese who refused to leave their villages despite Israeli aerial and ground bombardment.
Aoun is seeking Trump’s help to press Israel to implement a U.S.-brokered June 26 “Framework Agreement” between Lebanon and Israel that works on disarming Hezbollah, sees Israeli troops withdraw from large swathes of Lebanese territory it occupies, and sets the possibility for peaceful ties between Lebanon and Israel.
After the war began, Aoun quickly called for direct talks with Israel, a historic departure for a state repeatedly invaded by Israel since 1978. It led to the highest-level face-to-face negotiations in decades between the two countries.
Yet, Hezbollah has firmly rejected the Lebanese government’s direct talks with Israel — and efforts by the state to decommission its massive weapons arsenal held since the time of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war and supplemented by Iran.
Cardinal Rai said that “any agreement that preserves Lebanon’s sovereignty, safeguards its national rights and strengthens the authority of the state deserves support.” He renewed his call for the implementation of the “Framework Agreement,” saying it establishes a gateway to consolidating state sovereignty and safeguarding Lebanon’s national rights.
All parties must commit to implementing the “Framework Agreement,” he said, stressing that “active neutrality” remains the national choice that protects Lebanon from the conflict between rival countries or groups and strengthens its internal unity.
“Lebanon is called upon today more than ever to adhere to this historical message that has made it a homeland of coexistence, dialogue and openness,” Cardinal Rai said at another venue in Bqaa Kafra, the birthplace of St. Charbel.
He referred to the 18 different religious sects that comprise the rich cultural diversity of the tiny Mediterranean nation.
He said the Lebanese are weary of conflict and divisions and hope to enter a new period of stability and security — for peace and not war.
“Peace is the only path that preserves life, protects human dignity, and lays the foundation for future generations,” he argued.
“Nations are not built through disputes or hate speech, but through reconciliation, solidarity and cooperation among all their people,” Cardinal Rai affirmed.
Dale Gavlak writes for OSV News from Amman, Jordan.
– (OSV News) — Lebanon’s Cardinal Bechara Rai, the patriarch of the country’s Maronite Catholic Church, has urged for prayer and guidance as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun makes a critical visit to the White House July 21 to present President Donald Trump with a plan on how to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. “However severe the crises facing Lebanon may become, this country is not lost as long as God accompanies it. This hope drives us to look toward the future,” Cardinal Rai urged during a Sunday Mass commemorating the feast day of Lebanon’s
Women religious sue New York over law they say would force them to assist in patient suicides #Catholic – 
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Four orders of women religious and Catholic healthcare ministries sued the state of New York July 17 over a new law allowing physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide.
In a lawsuit filed by Becket, a religious liberty law firm, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict and the Little Sisters of the Poor argued the law would require them to facilitate such deaths in violation of their faith.
Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said in a July 20 statement, “At our homes, we bring Christ’s unbounded love to elderly New Yorkers of every background and walk of life.”
“We strive to bring His compassion to those entrusted to our care, ensuring that no resident ever has to die alone,” she said. “This law strikes at the heart of that vocation.”
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New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Supporters of physician-assisted suicide argue the practice protects the autonomy of suffering individuals in their final days, but opponents argue the practice disregards the dignity of human life and leaves those who are ill or dying vulnerable to coercion, among other concerns.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly condemns the practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as “morally unacceptable” and a violation of the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not kill.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., signed the law in February, arguing she had “secured” guardrails during the legislative process that ensured the “integrity of patient decision and preparedness of medical institutions.” The state’s Catholic bishops were among those who objected to the law.
But Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and the lead attorney for the healthcare ministries, said in a July 20 statement, “New York is forcing sick and dying people to consider suicide at their lowest moment, regardless of whether they ask for it or not.”
“Worse, it’s conscripting the nuns who care for them into its suicide cult on pain of crushing fines and professional ruin,” Rienzi said. “That is both unconscionable and unconstitutional. We’re confident the federal courts will put a stop to it.”
Becket, which is representing the religious orders and Bishop John O. Barres of Rockville Centre, New York, said the religious ministries plan to seek a preliminary injunction against the law in the coming days.
In a statement, Bishop Barres added, “We will never submit to New York’s culture of death.”
“Assisted suicide is a grave moral failure that puts the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from mental and emotional illness at risk of abuse and manipulation,” said the bishop, whose diocese is also a plaintiff. “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”
The lawsuit is another in a series of lawsuits from Catholic nuns against recent Empire State laws. Earlier this year, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed palliative care program for the dying poor, challenged a law implementing requirements on gender identity accommodations for nursing home residents.
New York is one of 13 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that have legalized assisted suicide.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Four orders of women religious and Catholic healthcare ministries sued the state of New York July 17 over a new law allowing physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide. In a lawsuit filed by Becket, a religious liberty law firm, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict and the Little Sisters of the Poor argued the law would require them to facilitate such deaths in violation of their faith. Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the
When massive stars die, they explode, leaving behind supernova remnants. Given how common binary star systems are — more than half the stars in our galaxy have a companion — it stands to reason that paired supernova remnants would also be common. But astronomers have never found one. Now, hiding in the bright shine ofContinue reading “Is this the first known binary system to produce two supernova remnants?”
The post Is this the first known binary system to produce two supernova remnants? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Tongass National Forest encompasses 17 million acres and is home to bears and bald eagles.
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On the morning of July 20, 1976, roughly 40 minutes after mission controllers received word that the Viking 1 lander had successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, this photo gave us our first view from the surface of another planet.
Read More![Bishop Barres, Catholic sisters sue New York over assisted suicide mandates – #Catholic – Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and four communities of religious sisters have filed a lawsuit against New York’s attorney general and commissioner of health over a law they say would force them to participate in the process of physician-assisted suicide.The Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and the religious communities — the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor — provide care for elderly and terminally ill people and say their Catholic faith prohibits them from participation in the process in any way.Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide in February, and the law goes into effect in August. Although some facilities can opt out of parts of the physician‑assisted suicide process, the exemptions are limited, and the law imposes additional requirements on the diocese and religious communities.“We will never submit to New York’s culture of death,” Barres said in a statement through his attorneys at the Becket Fund.“Assisted suicide is a grave moral failure that puts the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from mental and emotional illness at risk of abuse and manipulation,” the bishop said. “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”The New York’s attorney general’s office and Department of Health did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Requirements in the lawMore than a dozen states have legalized physician-assisted suicide over the past two decades, but New York’s opt out policy “is among the narrowest in the nation,” according to the lawsuit, and it affects some of the religious communities differently.While most of the Catholic-run facilities qualify for the narrow “opt outs,” those that qualify must still follow existing laws to offer counseling to terminally ill patients that explains various options for end-of-life care, along with the “risks and benefits” of their options, or refer them to someone who will.According to the lawsuit, this will now apply to the “option” of physician-assisted suicide, which means nurse practitioners or physicians “must either counsel terminal patients about the availability and benefits of [physician-assisted suicide], or else help the patient find a provider who is willing do so.”Physicians covered by the opt outs must also assist in determining whether patients qualify for assisted suicide through actions such as referring them for mental health evaluations. Facilities covered by the opt outs — if they refuse to directly participate in the suicide itself — must refer the patient to a facility that will administer it, according to the lawsuit.The lawsuit further states that providers must sign a death certificate that says the patient died from his or her underlying condition, rather than the drugs that ended his or her life. It states that facilities may also not be able to take adverse employment actions against employees who act in accordance with New York’s physician-assisted suicide law, even if the facility prohibits it.At least one facility — the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict — is not covered by the opt outs, which means it must also allow the prescription and the ingestion of the suicide drugs on its property. Those that qualify for the opt out are exempted from this requirement.Adele Keim, senior counsel at Becket, told EWTN News the law essentially requires all the facilities to “take [the patients] through the process” and “allow that very involved process to take place in their facilities.”“[They] will not do that,” she said, explaining that it violates their religious beliefs.First Amendment objectionsKeim said Catholic sisters have offered end-of-life care to New Yorkers for more than 100 years, “providing that personal accompaniment, which in Catholic teaching, is rooted in the example of Mary sitting at the foot of the cross as Jesus died.”“That’s what they believe they’re called to do,” she said. “… [They are] bearing witness to the distinctly Catholic response to the suffering people experience in their final days."Sister Justyna Owsiejko, O.S.B., of the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, said in a statement through Becket that “we are simple nuns whose mission is to serve God — and we do that by offering the aged a home in which to live their final days in peace, tranquility, and comfort, cared for by sisters who see the face of Christ in each person they serve.”“New York is trying to force us to abandon that vocation and help our residents commit suicide,” she said. “That is something we will never do. Our foundress overcame war and exile to serve those in need — we will overcome this law to do the same.”Mother Alice Marie Monica of the Little Sisters of the Poor said in a statement that “we have served God by welcoming the elderly poor and dying into our homes for nearly 200 years.”“Our calling is to protect and care for needy seniors, not steer them toward suicide,” she said. “We will remain true to that mission, whatever the cost.”The lawsuit argues that forcing Catholic-run facilities to participate in physician-assisted suicide violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The Church teaches that life must be protected from conception until natural death.The suit also argues that the law violates their freedom of speech by compelling them to counsel their patients about physician-assisted suicide.“The sisters’ Catholic faith leads them to accept death as the natural end to a life well-lived: neither artificially prolonging it through burdensome technological and medical interventions that provide no reasonable benefit, nor artificially hastening it,” the lawsuit states.“Above all,” the lawsuit adds, “it means that the sisters seek to personally provide a loving human presence alongside each person — bearing witness to the ending of a uniquely beautiful and unrepeatable life.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/bishop-barres-catholic-sisters-sue-new-york-over-assisted-suicide-mandates-catholic-bishop-john-o-barres-of-the-diocese-of-rockville-centre-and-four-communities-of-religious-sisters-have-filed.jpg "Bishop Barres, Catholic sisters sue New York over assisted suicide mandates – #Catholic – Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and four communities of religious sisters have filed a lawsuit against New York’s attorney general and commissioner of health over a law they say would force them to participate in the process of physician-assisted suicide.The Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and the religious communities — the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor — provide care for elderly and terminally ill people and say their Catholic faith prohibits them from participation in the process in any way.Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide in February, and the law goes into effect in August. Although some facilities can opt out of parts of the physician‑assisted suicide process, the exemptions are limited, and the law imposes additional requirements on the diocese and religious communities.“We will never submit to New York’s culture of death,” Barres said in a statement through his attorneys at the Becket Fund.“Assisted suicide is a grave moral failure that puts the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from mental and emotional illness at risk of abuse and manipulation,” the bishop said. “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”The New York’s attorney general’s office and Department of Health did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Requirements in the lawMore than a dozen states have legalized physician-assisted suicide over the past two decades, but New York’s opt out policy “is among the narrowest in the nation,” according to the lawsuit, and it affects some of the religious communities differently.While most of the Catholic-run facilities qualify for the narrow “opt outs,” those that qualify must still follow existing laws to offer counseling to terminally ill patients that explains various options for end-of-life care, along with the “risks and benefits” of their options, or refer them to someone who will.According to the lawsuit, this will now apply to the “option” of physician-assisted suicide, which means nurse practitioners or physicians “must either counsel terminal patients about the availability and benefits of [physician-assisted suicide], or else help the patient find a provider who is willing do so.”Physicians covered by the opt outs must also assist in determining whether patients qualify for assisted suicide through actions such as referring them for mental health evaluations. Facilities covered by the opt outs — if they refuse to directly participate in the suicide itself — must refer the patient to a facility that will administer it, according to the lawsuit.The lawsuit further states that providers must sign a death certificate that says the patient died from his or her underlying condition, rather than the drugs that ended his or her life. It states that facilities may also not be able to take adverse employment actions against employees who act in accordance with New York’s physician-assisted suicide law, even if the facility prohibits it.At least one facility — the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict — is not covered by the opt outs, which means it must also allow the prescription and the ingestion of the suicide drugs on its property. Those that qualify for the opt out are exempted from this requirement.Adele Keim, senior counsel at Becket, told EWTN News the law essentially requires all the facilities to “take [the patients] through the process” and “allow that very involved process to take place in their facilities.”“[They] will not do that,” she said, explaining that it violates their religious beliefs.First Amendment objectionsKeim said Catholic sisters have offered end-of-life care to New Yorkers for more than 100 years, “providing that personal accompaniment, which in Catholic teaching, is rooted in the example of Mary sitting at the foot of the cross as Jesus died.”“That’s what they believe they’re called to do,” she said. “… [They are] bearing witness to the distinctly Catholic response to the suffering people experience in their final days.\"Sister Justyna Owsiejko, O.S.B., of the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, said in a statement through Becket that “we are simple nuns whose mission is to serve God — and we do that by offering the aged a home in which to live their final days in peace, tranquility, and comfort, cared for by sisters who see the face of Christ in each person they serve.”“New York is trying to force us to abandon that vocation and help our residents commit suicide,” she said. “That is something we will never do. Our foundress overcame war and exile to serve those in need — we will overcome this law to do the same.”Mother Alice Marie Monica of the Little Sisters of the Poor said in a statement that “we have served God by welcoming the elderly poor and dying into our homes for nearly 200 years.”“Our calling is to protect and care for needy seniors, not steer them toward suicide,” she said. “We will remain true to that mission, whatever the cost.”The lawsuit argues that forcing Catholic-run facilities to participate in physician-assisted suicide violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The Church teaches that life must be protected from conception until natural death.The suit also argues that the law violates their freedom of speech by compelling them to counsel their patients about physician-assisted suicide.“The sisters’ Catholic faith leads them to accept death as the natural end to a life well-lived: neither artificially prolonging it through burdensome technological and medical interventions that provide no reasonable benefit, nor artificially hastening it,” the lawsuit states.“Above all,” the lawsuit adds, “it means that the sisters seek to personally provide a loving human presence alongside each person — bearing witness to the ending of a uniquely beautiful and unrepeatable life.”")
The bishop said “we will never submit” to “the culture of death” as the Catholic diocese and religious sisters argue that their faith prevents them from participating in physician-assisted suicide.
A reading from the Book of Micah
7:14-15, 18-20
Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
That dwells apart in a woodland,
in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old;
As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,
show us wonderful signs.Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea
all our sins;
You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and grace to Abraham,
As you have sworn to our fathers
from days of old.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
12:46-50
While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers
are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
This word of Jesus, if we think about it carefully, generates a new way of understanding the family.
Do you see? At the beginning I addressed you by calling you “brothers and sisters”. It is not merely a formula, a conventional turn of phrase. No. It is a reality, a new reality generated by Jesus Christ. And as I was saying, this word of Jesus radically renewed the family, so that the strongest, most important bond for us Christians is no longer that of blood, but of the love of Christ. His love transforms the family, freeing it from the dynamics of selfishness, which derive from the human condition and from sin; he frees it and enriches it with a new bond, even stronger but free, not dominated by the interests and conventions of kinship, but animated by gratitude, recognition, and reciprocal service. (…) Roots are important! And let us give thanks to God for the gift of life and for those who have transmitted it. But above all, let us give thanks because Jesus Christ has called us to be part of his family, in which what counts is doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven. (Pope Francis, Address to the pilgrimage of the diocese of Asti, 5 May 2023)
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In a joint statement, Bishops Daniel García and Brendan Cahill called for the application of immigration law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights.
Rocket launches this week On Tuesday, July 21, SpaceX opens the week with the Starlink Group 17-39 mission, lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 10 a.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 booster is expected to land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch it here. Later thatContinue reading “A robotic satellite servicer and Starship’s return headline this week’s launches”
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The walls of the colonial era church are still standing, but the roof collapsed into the nave. The parish priest estimated restoring the church will cost $2 million.
Faith joins football as Spain and Argentina face off for World Cup title #Catholic – 
(OSV News) — As the July 19 World Cup final approaches, players from two historically Catholic nations can count not only on the prayers of their fans, but also on a rich web of Catholic threads surrounding the showdown between Spain and Argentina.
From the tournament’s origins to the faith openly lived by players and coaches on both sides, this final carries a distinctly Catholic dimension.
The match at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium brings together two football giants whose paths to the final have been marked not only by sporting excellence, but also by visible expressions of Catholic faith.
Spanish coach is a magician of footballing who loves Christ
If anyone wondered where the precision combined with clearly having fun on the pitch comes from in the Spanish team, striker Ferran Torres gave a sense of the answer when he spoke publicly about his Catholic faith.
“I have a cross and an image of the Virgin,” he said in a video shared by the Spanish national soccer team. “In the end, I think it’s something that gives me a lot of support. It gives me great strength in my faith, and for me it’s something very important.”
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Spain — a country deeply rooted in Catholic tradition and recently visited by Pope Leo XIV — arrives under the wings of coach Luis de la Fuente — known as much for his personal faith as for his magic tactical skill. After Spain’s record fourth European Championship title in July 2024, the country’s bishops publicly praised his witness.
Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses of Seville described de la Fuente at the time as “a deeply religious man” unafraid of “publicly expressing his faith,” noting his devotion to the Holy Christ of the Expiration in Seville. An image of the coach praying before the famed crucifix went viral at the time, and certainly Spanish soccer fans are turning their eyes heavenward before the July 19 final.
“He has been able to transmit faith, humility, the value of the team above individualities, the spirit of sacrifice, effort, confidence” the archbishop of Seville said of de la Fuente after Spain’s 2024 victory.
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla Aguirre of Orihuela-Alicante also highlighted “the testimony of faith of the coach,” comparing it to that of Argentina’s Lionel Messi and citing the Gospel of Matthew: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”
Argentina, meanwhile, has carried its own strong Catholic identity throughout the tournament — both in the locker room and on the pitch.
Our Lady of Lujan hidden in a shin guard
Before every match, kit man Mario Di Stéfano sets up a small prayer altar in the team’s locker room. (A kit man is a vital member of a sports team’s backroom staff who manages all equipment and uniforms.)
The prayer altar is centered on a statue of Our Lady of Luján, Argentina’s patroness, alongside images of Our Lady Undoer of Knots and St. Expedite — considered the patron saint of urgent causes.
The tradition dates back decades, echoing practices from the team’s 1986 World Cup run.
Players’ personal devotions have also drawn attention. Lautaro Martínez was seen with a holy card of Our Lady of Luján tucked into his shin guard, while before the tournament began, Lionel Messi’s boots were blessed at the basilica dedicated to the same Marian title.
It was sports journalist Walter Queijeiro who brought the soccer boots of Messi — Argentina’s legendary captain, and the player most credited with the team’s 2022 title, which the Albiceleste are now defending — to the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján.
The boots, a limited Adidas edition called “El Último Tango” (“The Last Tango”), a nod both to Argentina’s musical heritage and to what is expected to be Messi’s last dance in the national jersey, were blessed by the basilica’s rector, Father Lucas García, in a small ceremony before pilgrims and children. Messi wore them on June 16 in Kansas City when he scored his first World Cup hat trick, against Algeria, tying Miroslav Klose’s record for most goals in men’s World Cup history — a milestone in what is Messi’s sixth World Cup.
Messi: ‘Grateful for everything God has given me’
Messi and his teammates have also welcomed religious gifts from fans in public. After Argentina’s win over Cape Verde, content creator Julián Pérez Regio approached the six-time FIFA player of the match outside the stadium and handed him a rosary blessed at the Vatican, telling him it was meant for him, his wife, Antonela, and their their children, and for his parents, in gratitude for two decades of joy he has given Argentine fans. Messi stopped, visibly moved, and accepted it.
Messi has also spoken openly about his faith. After Argentina secured its place in the final, he said: “God is great, and he always has something else. But honestly, I cannot ask God for anything else. I am grateful for everything he has given me.”
Even the World Cup itself has Catholic roots.
Jules Rimet: French Catholic founder of World Cup
“The World Cup was founded in 1928 at the initiative of Jules Rimet, a French Catholic who was then president of the International Federation of Association Football,” Isabelle de Chatellus, program director for sports at the French bishops’ conference, told OSV News.
Chatellus emphasized that Rimet’s vision of the tournament was shaped by Catholic social teaching and a desire to promote human dignity and social cohesion through sport, particularly among the working classes.
“He was inspired by the social doctrine developed by Leo XIII in his encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum,’ and was committed to defending human dignity, social justice, and collective responsibility toward the most vulnerable,” she said.
“His parents were grocers in Paris,” she said of Rimet. “He immediately saw sports as a popular activity. For him, soccer was the quintessential popular sport and a prime vehicle for promoting attention to the most disadvantaged communities and social justice. He wanted to foster social cohesion through soccer, transcending class distinctions.”
“Rimet was therefore in favor of professionalization and the payment of soccer players, which he saw as a way to make the sport accessible to workers,” Chatellus said. “He recognized that the working classes did not have the luxury of playing sports at the expense of their livelihoods.”
Sports: a school of conflict resolution
For Chatellus, sport remains a place where competition and conflict can be lived out within rules, respect and shared values — even at the highest level.
“The soccer field remains a place of conflict. But it is a place where conflict must take place with respect, within the rules and guided by team values that are very constructive. There is a unique path to holiness that can be experienced through sports,” she told OSV News.
Chatellus is the director of the Holy Games, the Catholic association supported by the Archdiocese of Paris that provided pastoral care during the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It has since become a permanent structure within the French bishops’ conference.
A soccer fan herself, she expressed her disappointment following the French national team’s defeat in the semifinals on July 14, Bastille Day — France’s biggest national holiday. “It was truly a huge disappointment, and one that took us by surprise, because it was a great team. But the Spanish team played very well,” she said.
As Spain and Argentina prepare to meet on football’s biggest stage, it remains to be seen at the final game which Spanish-speaking team that the patron saint of urgent causes, St. Expedite, will cheer on.
Caroline de Sury writes for OSV News from Paris. Ines San Martin writes for OSV News from Rosario, Argentina. Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News.
– (OSV News) — As the July 19 World Cup final approaches, players from two historically Catholic nations can count not only on the prayers of their fans, but also on a rich web of Catholic threads surrounding the showdown between Spain and Argentina. From the tournament’s origins to the faith openly lived by players and coaches on both sides, this final carries a distinctly Catholic dimension. The match at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium brings together two football giants whose paths to the final have been marked not only by sporting excellence, but also by visible expressions of Catholic faith. Spanish
Torres stands out for his Catholic faith within the Spanish national team, alongside coach Luis de la Fuente.
A reading from the Book of Micah
6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, present your plea before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice!
Hear, O mountains, the plea of the LORD,
pay attention, O foundations of the earth!
For the LORD has a plea against his people,
and he enters into trial with Israel.
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
12:38-42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
The doctors of the law did not understand the signs of the times and invoked an extraordinary sign. And he proposed several answers: the first was “because they were closed. They were closed within their system, they had organized the law very well”. It was “a masterpiece. (…) It was all organized”. They did not understand that God is always new; (…) He always surprises. And they did not understand and they closed themselves within that system created with much good will; and they asked” that Jesus give them “a sign”, failing to understand, however, “the many signs that Jesus made” and maintaining a completely “closed” attitude. Second, they had forgotten that they were a people on a journey. And when one is on a journey one always finds new things, things one does not know. And this must make us think: “Am I attached to my things, to my ideas, closed? Or am I open to the God of surprises?”. And also: “Am I a stationary person or a person on a journey?”. And finally, “do I believe in Jesus Christ and in what he has done?”, that is, “he died, rose again… do I believe that the journey goes forth toward maturity, toward the manifestation of the glory of the Lord? Am I capable of understanding the signs of the times and of being faithful to the voice of the Lord that is manifest in them?”. We can ask ourselves these questions today and ask the Lord for, “A heart that loves the law, for the law is God’s”, but “which also loves God’s surprises”, for his “holy law is not an end in itself”. (Pope Francis, Homily, Mass at Santa Marta, 13 October 2014)
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Cacomantis sonneratii (Banded Bay Cuckoo) in Ajodhya Hills, West Bengal, India.
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“We express our spiritual closeness to all those affected, to those who have lost their homes, and to those generously participating in rescue, care, and relief efforts,” Bishop Carlos García said.
July 19, 418 C.E., marks the first total solar eclipse (of which we have a record) during which a comet was seen. Turkish-born Church historian Philostorgius wrote in Book XII of the Epitome Historiae Ecclesiasticae: “When Theodosius had reached adolescence, on the nineteenth of July at about the eighth hour, the sun was so completelyContinue reading “July 19, 418: A solar eclipse/comet combo”
The post July 19, 418: A solar eclipse/comet combo appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Carlos Márquez, auxiliary bishop of Caracas, Venezuela, explained that God’s promise is not to eliminate suffering but that amid pain, he will not abandon us.
At the Sunday Angelus in Castel Gandolfo, the pontiff said God’s kingdom grows quietly through smallness, patience, and service rather than spectacle or power.
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Through her own spiritual journey seeking God, Mother María Elena Martínez founded a community and a retreat movement that is touching the lives of thousands of young people in Latin America.
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FORTIFY me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit
and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety,
solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always
that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
A reading from the Book of Wisdom
12:13, 16-19
There is no god besides you who have the care of all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
8:26-27
Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:24-43
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him,
‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn."’"
He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’"
He spoke to them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.
Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sows them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a field of wheat to enable us to understand that something small and hidden has been sown within us which, nevertheless, has an irrepressible vital force. In spite of all obstacles, the seed will develop and the fruit will ripen. This fruit will only be good if the terrain of life is cultivated in accordance with the divine will. For this reason in the Parable of the Weeds [tares] among the good Wheat (Mt 13:24-30). Jesus warns us that, after the owner had scattered the seed, “while men were sleeping, his enemy” intervened and sowed weeds among the wheat. This means that we must be ready to preserve the grace received from the day of our Baptism, continuing to nourish faith in the Lord that prevents evil from taking root. St Augustine commenting on the parable noted “many are at first tares but then become good grain”, and he added: “if these, when they are wicked, are not endured with patience they would not attain their praiseworthy transformation” (Quaest. septend. in Ev. sec. Matth., 12, 4: PL 35, 1371). (…) Hence if we are children of such a great and good Father, let us seek to be like him! This was the aim Jesus set himself with his preaching; indeed, he said to those who were listening to him: “You… must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 17 July 2011)
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Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) directly measured the magnetic fields of PSR J1101−6101, a pulsar located within what is often referred to as the “Lighthouse” Nebula, for the first time.
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St. Jude’s Church, Chinnathurai, built on sandy soil near the beach, cemetery to the left. Thoothoor, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India.
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![Nebraska man arrested over threat to shoot up Catholic school, kill Catholic governor’s family, nuns – #Catholic – A Nebraska man is in police custody after officials say he made threats against Catholic schools and nuns as well as the children of the state’s Catholic governor. The Nebraska State Patrol said they initially arrested 32-year-old Ean Halstead on June 29. The patrol said in a press release that police were investigating a threatening online message against Columbus Catholic Schools and the family of state Gov. Jim Pillen. The investigation led police to Halstead, who was arrested on June 29 after a standoff at his apartment in Omaha. He was charged with obstructing a police officer and failing to obey a lawful order. A search at his residence revealed “evidence linking [Halstead] to the threatening message sent to Columbus Catholic Schools,” the patrol said. He was subsequently re-arrested on July 17 and charged with “terroristic threats and destruction of evidence.” Local news reported that the message, posted to the Facebook page of Columbus Catholic Schools, had declared: “I’m going to shoot up this school and kill Jim Pillen’s children and a few nuns for (expletive) funsies.”A spokesman for Pillen said the governor’s office was “extremely grateful” for law enforcement’s “quick and thorough work to track down this individual and ensure the security of the First Family.” “We have zero tolerance for political violence here in Nebraska, including threats to carry it out. If you threaten violence against a public official or their family in this state, you will be found and held accountable,” the governor’s office said.Pillen has four children with his wife Suzanne. He has been governor of the state since 2023. Earlier in 2026 he told EWTN News that there was “no way I could possibly be governor without my faith.” His faith life includes the regular praying of the rosary; describing his average day, he said: “I get up and I pray to do God’s will.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/nebraska-man-arrested-over-threat-to-shoot-up-catholic-school-kill-catholic-governors-family-nuns-catholic-a-nebraska-man-is-in-police-custody-after-officials-say-he-made-threats-against-cath-scaled.jpg "Nebraska man arrested over threat to shoot up Catholic school, kill Catholic governor’s family, nuns – #Catholic – A Nebraska man is in police custody after officials say he made threats against Catholic schools and nuns as well as the children of the state’s Catholic governor. The Nebraska State Patrol said they initially arrested 32-year-old Ean Halstead on June 29. The patrol said in a press release that police were investigating a threatening online message against Columbus Catholic Schools and the family of state Gov. Jim Pillen. The investigation led police to Halstead, who was arrested on June 29 after a standoff at his apartment in Omaha. He was charged with obstructing a police officer and failing to obey a lawful order. A search at his residence revealed “evidence linking [Halstead] to the threatening message sent to Columbus Catholic Schools,” the patrol said. He was subsequently re-arrested on July 17 and charged with “terroristic threats and destruction of evidence.” Local news reported that the message, posted to the Facebook page of Columbus Catholic Schools, had declared: “I’m going to shoot up this school and kill Jim Pillen’s children and a few nuns for (expletive) funsies.”A spokesman for Pillen said the governor’s office was “extremely grateful” for law enforcement’s “quick and thorough work to track down this individual and ensure the security of the First Family.” “We have zero tolerance for political violence here in Nebraska, including threats to carry it out. If you threaten violence against a public official or their family in this state, you will be found and held accountable,” the governor’s office said.Pillen has four children with his wife Suzanne. He has been governor of the state since 2023. Earlier in 2026 he told EWTN News that there was “no way I could possibly be governor without my faith.” His faith life includes the regular praying of the rosary; describing his average day, he said: “I get up and I pray to do God’s will.”")
Authorities originally detained the suspect in June after he resisted arrest in connection with the investigation.
Obituary: Deacon Charles Mallory, formerly of Pompton Plains parish #Catholic – 
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 17 at St. John of the Cross Parish in Vero Beach, Fla., for retired Deacon Charles (“Charlie”) Mallory, who died on July 13. He was 91.
In 1978, Deacon Mallory was ordained a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J. He served Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for 30 years before moving to Florida in 2009 for family reasons. There, he served St. John of the Cross Parish in Vero Beach.
Born March 28, 1935, in Union City, N.J., Deacon Mallory was the son of the late Charles Benjamin Mallory and Ann Frieda Soehren Mallory. He attended St. Anastasia Catholic School in Teaneck, N.J., and Teaneck High School prior to graduating from Farleigh Dickinson University in 1957.
In 1962, Deacon Mallory married Felicia Princiotta, and together they had five sons: Charles, William, Patrick, Joseph, and Philip Mallory.
Charles worked in sales for ADP in New York City.
In 2008, Deacon Mallory and his wife moved to Vero Beach and attended St. John of the Cross, where he served as a permanent deacon. He worked in hospital ministry and belonged to the Knights of Columbus.
Deacon Mallory is survived by his wife; his five sons; his 15 grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; his sister, Ann Kryzwick; his brother and sister-in-law, George and Maria Sayre; and other loving family and friends.
Please send condolences to Deacon Mallory’s wife, Felicia, at: Mrs. Felicia Mallory, 8775 20th St, #167, Vero Beach, Fla.32966
Please keep Felicia, the Mallory family, and all who mourn Deacon Mallory’s death in your prayers.
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– A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 17 at St. John of the Cross Parish in Vero Beach, Fla., for retired Deacon Charles (“Charlie”) Mallory, who died on July 13. He was 91. In 1978, Deacon Mallory was ordained a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese, N.J. He served Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for 30 years before moving to Florida in 2009 for family reasons. There, he served St. John of the Cross Parish in Vero Beach. Born March 28, 1935, in Union City, N.J., Deacon Mallory was
After noting the benefits of sports for athletes and fans, Bishop José Munilla of Spain pointed out the pitfalls of exaggerating their value and turning the game and star players into idols.
Bishop Robert Barron urged Catholics to follow Sheen’s example of faithful evangelization as thousands are expected in St. Louis for Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification.
Born on July 18, 1921, John Glenn grew up in Ohio and joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He flew 59 combat missions in World War II and 63 in the Korean War before being selected by NASA for the Mercury program. In 1962, he spent five hours orbiting the Earth in the Friendship 7Continue reading “July 18, 1915: The birth of John Glenn”
The post July 18, 1915: The birth of John Glenn appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More![How papal prayer intentions are chosen, according to head of Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network #Catholic More than 22 million Catholics across the globe make up a network dedicated to praying daily for the challenges facing humanity and the Church, uniting their prayers with Pope Leo XIV’s monthly intentions.The Popeʼs Worldwide Prayer Network is a pontifical foundation known for its Pray with the Pope campaign through which the Holy Father announces his monthʼs intention in a video message.While the pope “has an endless list” of prayer intentions, he chooses 12 to offer for each month of the year, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, the international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, explained in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth.”In order to do so, the network will “help the pope to discern the intentions a year ahead,” Fones explained. “So we ask many people — all the dicasteries and our national directors — to give us some proposals, and we offer to him lots of them … about 20 of them.”The Holy Father “takes some time to pray on these proposals” and then chooses the 12 intentions for the upcoming year in advance.“So we published, for instance, the 2027 monthly intentions last February. So you can already know what we are about to pray for next year too, so that we can have some time to make the translations, to create the materials in Indonesian, Hindi, Swahili, Guarani, and so on.”Pope Leo has continued the tradition of Pope Francis, who recorded the first video of the monthly intentions in 2016, but the current pontiff has put his own take on it.Pope Leo is “not only asking us to pray but praying himself for the monthly intention and inviting us to join him in prayer,” Fones said. “Thatʼs why we call this campaign ‘Pray with the Pope,’ because heʼs the first one interceding for the needs of humanity, and he is inviting us through this campaign to do it with him.”“Some people may watch the video and participate with him by praying. Others can do it [on] their own. But the important thing is to be united in this network of hearts — compassionate hearts for the needs of the world.”Pope Leo is also “constantly asking us to pray for contextual … prayer intentions, like a flood or an earthquake in Venezuela, for instance,” Fones said.All these prayer intentions are then updated “in what we call the popeʼs prayer profile,” Fones said. It consists of “all the requests for prayer that he normally does, whether on Sunday in the Angelus or on Wednesdays during the general audience.”In order to aid the Holy Father, the network is run by a team of an administrative council appointed by the Holy See, international coordinators, formation leaders, and communications teams. The network “is a participation in the mission of the Church by offering ourselves through prayer, service, and spiritual formation,” Fones said. Made up of Catholics in more than 90 countries, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is “a very old pontifical work with more than 180 years.” The network started in 1844 and was first called the Apostleship of Prayer. It was later renamed and established as a formal Vatican foundation in 2020 to support Christ’s mission of compassion for the world across continents and cultures.Call for prayers to respect lifePope Leo’s prayer intention for the month of July is for respect for human life in all circumstances.The Holy Father drew attention to the importance of the intention when he dined with 200 vulnerable people on July 11.“Having a lunch is just to show a sign [of] what we actually have to do with one another, to sit at the same table, to recognize our common dignity, because we are all sons and daughters of the same God. And when you understand that, you treat others as equal in dignity,” Fones said.“We may think differently. We may have different positions in life — opinions, backgrounds, stories — but we are all sons and daughters of God. So when you recognize that you can treat others as brothers and sisters, even if you disagree with them,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/how-papal-prayer-intentions-are-chosen-according-to-head-of-popes-worldwide-prayer-network-catholic-more-than-22-million-catholics-across-the-globe-make-up-a-network-dedicated-to-praying-da-scaled.jpg "How papal prayer intentions are chosen, according to head of Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network #Catholic More than 22 million Catholics across the globe make up a network dedicated to praying daily for the challenges facing humanity and the Church, uniting their prayers with Pope Leo XIV’s monthly intentions.The Popeʼs Worldwide Prayer Network is a pontifical foundation known for its Pray with the Pope campaign through which the Holy Father announces his monthʼs intention in a video message.While the pope “has an endless list” of prayer intentions, he chooses 12 to offer for each month of the year, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, the international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, explained in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth.”In order to do so, the network will “help the pope to discern the intentions a year ahead,” Fones explained. “So we ask many people — all the dicasteries and our national directors — to give us some proposals, and we offer to him lots of them … about 20 of them.”The Holy Father “takes some time to pray on these proposals” and then chooses the 12 intentions for the upcoming year in advance.“So we published, for instance, the 2027 monthly intentions last February. So you can already know what we are about to pray for next year too, so that we can have some time to make the translations, to create the materials in Indonesian, Hindi, Swahili, Guarani, and so on.”Pope Leo has continued the tradition of Pope Francis, who recorded the first video of the monthly intentions in 2016, but the current pontiff has put his own take on it.Pope Leo is “not only asking us to pray but praying himself for the monthly intention and inviting us to join him in prayer,” Fones said. “Thatʼs why we call this campaign ‘Pray with the Pope,’ because heʼs the first one interceding for the needs of humanity, and he is inviting us through this campaign to do it with him.”“Some people may watch the video and participate with him by praying. Others can do it [on] their own. But the important thing is to be united in this network of hearts — compassionate hearts for the needs of the world.”Pope Leo is also “constantly asking us to pray for contextual … prayer intentions, like a flood or an earthquake in Venezuela, for instance,” Fones said.All these prayer intentions are then updated “in what we call the popeʼs prayer profile,” Fones said. It consists of “all the requests for prayer that he normally does, whether on Sunday in the Angelus or on Wednesdays during the general audience.”In order to aid the Holy Father, the network is run by a team of an administrative council appointed by the Holy See, international coordinators, formation leaders, and communications teams. The network “is a participation in the mission of the Church by offering ourselves through prayer, service, and spiritual formation,” Fones said. Made up of Catholics in more than 90 countries, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is “a very old pontifical work with more than 180 years.” The network started in 1844 and was first called the Apostleship of Prayer. It was later renamed and established as a formal Vatican foundation in 2020 to support Christ’s mission of compassion for the world across continents and cultures.Call for prayers to respect lifePope Leo’s prayer intention for the month of July is for respect for human life in all circumstances.The Holy Father drew attention to the importance of the intention when he dined with 200 vulnerable people on July 11.“Having a lunch is just to show a sign [of] what we actually have to do with one another, to sit at the same table, to recognize our common dignity, because we are all sons and daughters of the same God. And when you understand that, you treat others as equal in dignity,” Fones said.“We may think differently. We may have different positions in life — opinions, backgrounds, stories — but we are all sons and daughters of God. So when you recognize that you can treat others as brothers and sisters, even if you disagree with them,” he said.")
While Pope Leo “has an endless list” of prayer intentions, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network helps him choose 12 to offer each month of the year, according to Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ.
![Parishioners in western New York ask Vatican to let them save 160-year-old church #Catholic “[We] will not receive an extension or any second chances.” That’s the urgent message Catholics in western New York are telling the local faithful in their bid to preserve a Civil War-era parish in the small town of Auburn. The Diocese of Rochester is moving to permanently close and potentially sell Holy Family Church due to structural issues that officials say make it unsafe to use as a parish.
Interior details of Holy Family Catholic Church in Auburn, New York. | Credit: Photo courtesy of H.O.P.E.
The diocese shut down the church in June 2024, but parishioners of the parish in Auburn — located about 40 minutes outside of Syracuse — are petitioning the Vatican to keep the church an active holy site rather than allow it to be sold off to potential developers. On its website, Holy Family Organization to Preserve and Endure says the Vatican has requested that the group “demonstrate funding for the purchase, repair, and maintenance of the church.”The organizers say they are working to raise pledges to support the parish but there is a “narrow time window” and numbers “must be provided to the Vatican by mid-late summer 2026.”“If H.O.P.E. fails to demonstrate sufficient evidence to the Vatican by mid-late summer, then Holy Family Church could be sold to a secular buyer and could be destroyed,” the group said.Parish’s roots stretch back to early 1800sThe Auburn-based Roblee Historic Preservation said in a “statement of significance” report that Auburn was the site of the first Catholic Mass in the Western New York region in the early 1800s. The Roblee report was drafted in order to assist the city’s historic review board in potentially awarding a landmark designation to the parish. The New York Historic Preservation Office had previously said the property was eligible for listing on both the state and national historic registers.
Holy Family Church hosts the wedding of Joseph Paul Staehr Sr. and Jean Marie Hayes Staehr on Nov. 29, 1958. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Richard Staehr
The Church of the Holy Family was initially dedicated in 1830 in a chapel previously used by local Methodists. The current building was built in 1861 by local Dutch-born master builder John Vanderbosch.The report described the parish as the “mother church” of Auburn and “an iconic part of its downtown skyline.” On its website, the Catholic preservation group says it hopes to retain the parish for “Catholic religious activity,” including rosary groups and private prayer groups, “occasional worship,” sacred music concerts, sacred art displays, and architecture tours.Karen Odrzywolski, the president of the parish preservation group, said the church is also meant to preserve the memory and legacy of Bishop Patrick Byrne, an apostolic delegate to Korea who was martyred in 1950 during a four-month-long forced march while in the captivity of communist forces in North Korea. Born in Washington, D.C., Byrne spent his formative years in Auburn, living just a few blocks from the parish. His family attended Mass there and he attended the parochial school; he was confirmed at the parish in 1900.
A record from Holy Family Church shows the Sept. 2, 1900, date of Bishop Patrick Byrne’s confirmation. | Credit: Courtesy of H.O.P.E.
Odrzywolski told EWTN News the preservation group formed in July 2024, a month after the parish was officially shuttered by the diocese. “We initially put together a preservation plan, which we shared with our pastor and with the Diocese of Rochester,” she said. “We’ve also shared it with the Vatican.” “We’ve also worked on educating the community as to the significance of the church,” she said. “We’ve had events in honor of Bishop Byrne and of his family, and on the 75th anniversary of his martyrdom we had a prayer vigil.”In addition to the link with Byrne, Odrzywolski said the parish was also once host to another famous Catholic bishop, now-Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen. The prelate, at the time the bishop of the Diocese of Rochester, officiated the funeral Mass of Father William Davie at the parish in 1968. The Vatican has requested that the group demonstration its ability to fund the church’s upkeep, she said. “We’re very appreciative of this opportunity. We’re hopeful if we can demonstrate the funding they’ll allow us to proceed with preserving the church.”Thus far, Odrzywolski said, the group isn’t accepting cash donations; instead, it is collecting pledges “so we can demonstrate our ability to fund the maintenance, repair, and preservation of the church.” “We’ve received over 300 pledges,” she continued. “We’re extremely grateful to every single person who has pledged. Many people have pledged as much as they possibly can. Many who pledge in general may be of limited or fixed income.”Odrzywolski said the needed repairs are limited to the exterior facade. The interior, she said, has been well maintained over more than a century and a half. The Vatican, meanwhile, is expecting the group’s proof of viability by August. “We’re trying our best to aim for an Aug. 1 deadline in order to allow enough time to prepare the documents in a timely manner,” she said.“The truth is, we need the entire community to come together,” she said. “The closure of the church impacts the entire community, and we need individuals, families, and businesses to come together.” “It’s about the future of Auburn,” she continued. “but it’s also about honoring Bishop Byrne, and ultimately honoring God.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/parishioners-in-western-new-york-ask-vatican-to-let-them-save-160-year-old-church-catholic-we-will-not-receive-an-extension-or-any-second-chances-thats-the-urgent-messag-scaled.jpg)
Holy Family Church in Auburn, New York, is facing a possible sale to developers if local Catholics cannot provide a financial plan to the Holy See.
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AUSTIN, TX — Governor Greg Abbott signed into law this morning a new measure that would impose the death penalty on anyone who begins an email with "Happy Monday, Team!"
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Read More![Scottish teacher takes legal action after dismissal over pro-life views – #Catholic – A Catholic teacher based in Arbroath, Scotland, is filing suit after she was fired over her pro-life views.Supported by pro-life group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Sarah Morse, 66, is taking Arbroath High School, run by Angus Council, to court on grounds of discrimination. The move comes after Morse was fired after telling a student, “I am a faithful Roman Catholic and I am against it,” when asked her opinion on abortion during a history lesson in November 2025. “At no time did I attempt to persuade any student to adopt my position. To be ‘canceled’ and lose my livelihood because of my religious identity is a terrifying precedent for the teaching profession in Scotland,” Morse said.“As a faithful Roman Catholic, Sarah Morse respectfully said she opposes [abortion]. Hours later she was sacked on the spot,” SPUC said. “We must all have the right to express our pro-life views without fear of losing our jobs.”Attack on Christians in Egypt raises questions about hate speechA new attack on Christians in Egypt’s Minya Governorate has renewed scrutiny of sectarian incitement and the deeper roots of anti-Christian hostility.According to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Bishop Macarius, Coptic Orthodox bishop of Minya, said extremists attacked Copts in the village of al-Tal al-Qibliya, damaged a priest’s car, prevented worshippers from leaving a church, and cut off electricity. Security forces later arrived, arrested those accused of incitement and rioting, and began documenting the damage.Egyptian senator Bassem Kamel said repeated incidents in Minya point to failures that cannot be addressed by security responses alone, calling for renewed religious discourse, educational reform, media policies that promote acceptance, and faster action on an independent antidiscrimination commission. Apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia describes pastoral visits amid warApostolic Vicar Aldo Berardi, OSST, of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia revealed that he was able to carry out 11 pastoral visits throughout the region despite airport closures and ongoing conflicts.“Despite the difficulties caused by the attacks and the closure of airports, we were able to carry out the program as planned,” Berardi said in a Fides News article, emphasizing the need to visit his flock “especially at a time marked by tension and fear.” The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. “We gathered to pray for peace and organized special moments of encounter and fraternity,” he said. “No priest requested to return to his home country, a source of great consolation for the entire community.”Vatican diplomat highlights HIV crisis among childrenMonsignor Marco Formica, counselor of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, called for increased attention to HIV cases among children.“My delegation would like to draw special attention to children, who remain particularly vulnerable to HIV. Gaps in both diagnosis and treatment mean that the 3% of HIV patients that are children account for 12% of deaths due to HIV,” Formica said in a statement following a U.N. meeting on HIV and AIDS. “Quality antenatal as well as perinatal and postpartum care protects both mothers and their children. It is vital to ensure early testing and consistent access to treatment for children with HIV in child-friendly formulations,” he said.Syriac lawmaker says Christians not sufficiently representedGabriel Moshe Kourieh, the only Syriac member of Syria’s Parliament and a leading figure in the Assyrian Democratic Organization, told ACI MENA that Christian representation in the new People’s Assembly remains below the community’s aspirations.Christians currently hold about 3% of the seats, a figure Kourieh said does not properly reflect their historic role in Syrian public life or their place in the country’s national consensus. He argued that a future fair electoral law could allow broader Christian participation from different provinces while stressing that Syria’s transition must be judged by actions: the building of institutions, separation of powers, judicial independence, and equal citizenship. Kourieh also placed constitutional recognition of the Syriac-Assyrian identity, language, and culture among his top parliamentary priorities while warning that economic hardship, poor services, and fading hope continue to push many Syrians toward emigration.Catholic Social Services in Australia urges government to address housing crisisCatholic Social Services Australia (CCSA) has asked the Australian government to conduct an audit of the country’s regulations on buying and building housing.“Regulation is not inherently negative. It is introduced to address specific problems or market failures,” CSSA chief executive Jerry Nockles said in a Catholic News report on Thursday following the proposed audit. “Without regular reassessment, well-intentioned regulations can inadvertently constrain housing supply, driving up costs and limiting access — experienced most acutely by low-income households.”Caritas South Korea named official channel for humanitarian aidThe South Korean Caritas will serve as the primary distributor of humanitarian aid from Caritas International for people north of the border, Asia News reported."On behalf of the Caritas Internationalis, we discussed the project of development and cooperation with Kim Seong-il, vice chairman of the National Economic Cooperation Committee of North Korea, who accepted our direct commitment. We also exchanged a letter of intent,” Father Lazzaro You Heung-sik, president of the bishops' aid committee, said following a five-day visit to North Korea in May, according to the report. Under the agreement, Caritas will serve as the “only channel of aid from Catholics from all over the world,” Paul Jeremiah Hwang Yong-yeon, secretary of the South Korean Caritas, also said.Filipino bishop calls for end to stigma around mental healthThe Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines pledged to walk with members of the faithful struggling with mental illness and work toward breaking societal stigmas around mental health.“Mental illness is not a sign of weak faith. It is not a punishment from God. Like any illness, it deserves understanding, appropriate care, and compassionate accompaniment. Every person, whatever his or her condition, is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inalienable dignity that no illness can ever take away,” the bishops said in a pastoral statement released on Monday. “As a Church, we commit to building communities of encounter, breaking the stigma, strengthening collaboration, and walking together in hope so that every person is welcomed, accompanied, and freed from stigma,” the bishops added.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/scottish-teacher-takes-legal-action-after-dismissal-over-pro-life-views-catholic-a-catholic-teacher-based-in-arbroath-scotland-is-filing-suit-after-she-was-fired-over-her-pro-life-views-support.jpg "Scottish teacher takes legal action after dismissal over pro-life views – #Catholic – A Catholic teacher based in Arbroath, Scotland, is filing suit after she was fired over her pro-life views.Supported by pro-life group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Sarah Morse, 66, is taking Arbroath High School, run by Angus Council, to court on grounds of discrimination. The move comes after Morse was fired after telling a student, “I am a faithful Roman Catholic and I am against it,” when asked her opinion on abortion during a history lesson in November 2025. “At no time did I attempt to persuade any student to adopt my position. To be ‘canceled’ and lose my livelihood because of my religious identity is a terrifying precedent for the teaching profession in Scotland,” Morse said.“As a faithful Roman Catholic, Sarah Morse respectfully said she opposes [abortion]. Hours later she was sacked on the spot,” SPUC said. “We must all have the right to express our pro-life views without fear of losing our jobs.”Attack on Christians in Egypt raises questions about hate speechA new attack on Christians in Egypt’s Minya Governorate has renewed scrutiny of sectarian incitement and the deeper roots of anti-Christian hostility.According to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, Bishop Macarius, Coptic Orthodox bishop of Minya, said extremists attacked Copts in the village of al-Tal al-Qibliya, damaged a priest’s car, prevented worshippers from leaving a church, and cut off electricity. Security forces later arrived, arrested those accused of incitement and rioting, and began documenting the damage.Egyptian senator Bassem Kamel said repeated incidents in Minya point to failures that cannot be addressed by security responses alone, calling for renewed religious discourse, educational reform, media policies that promote acceptance, and faster action on an independent antidiscrimination commission. Apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia describes pastoral visits amid warApostolic Vicar Aldo Berardi, OSST, of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia revealed that he was able to carry out 11 pastoral visits throughout the region despite airport closures and ongoing conflicts.“Despite the difficulties caused by the attacks and the closure of airports, we were able to carry out the program as planned,” Berardi said in a Fides News article, emphasizing the need to visit his flock “especially at a time marked by tension and fear.” The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. “We gathered to pray for peace and organized special moments of encounter and fraternity,” he said. “No priest requested to return to his home country, a source of great consolation for the entire community.”Vatican diplomat highlights HIV crisis among childrenMonsignor Marco Formica, counselor of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, called for increased attention to HIV cases among children.“My delegation would like to draw special attention to children, who remain particularly vulnerable to HIV. Gaps in both diagnosis and treatment mean that the 3% of HIV patients that are children account for 12% of deaths due to HIV,” Formica said in a statement following a U.N. meeting on HIV and AIDS. “Quality antenatal as well as perinatal and postpartum care protects both mothers and their children. It is vital to ensure early testing and consistent access to treatment for children with HIV in child-friendly formulations,” he said.Syriac lawmaker says Christians not sufficiently representedGabriel Moshe Kourieh, the only Syriac member of Syria’s Parliament and a leading figure in the Assyrian Democratic Organization, told ACI MENA that Christian representation in the new People’s Assembly remains below the community’s aspirations.Christians currently hold about 3% of the seats, a figure Kourieh said does not properly reflect their historic role in Syrian public life or their place in the country’s national consensus. He argued that a future fair electoral law could allow broader Christian participation from different provinces while stressing that Syria’s transition must be judged by actions: the building of institutions, separation of powers, judicial independence, and equal citizenship. Kourieh also placed constitutional recognition of the Syriac-Assyrian identity, language, and culture among his top parliamentary priorities while warning that economic hardship, poor services, and fading hope continue to push many Syrians toward emigration.Catholic Social Services in Australia urges government to address housing crisisCatholic Social Services Australia (CCSA) has asked the Australian government to conduct an audit of the country’s regulations on buying and building housing.“Regulation is not inherently negative. It is introduced to address specific problems or market failures,” CSSA chief executive Jerry Nockles said in a Catholic News report on Thursday following the proposed audit. “Without regular reassessment, well-intentioned regulations can inadvertently constrain housing supply, driving up costs and limiting access — experienced most acutely by low-income households.”Caritas South Korea named official channel for humanitarian aidThe South Korean Caritas will serve as the primary distributor of humanitarian aid from Caritas International for people north of the border, Asia News reported.\"On behalf of the Caritas Internationalis, we discussed the project of development and cooperation with Kim Seong-il, vice chairman of the National Economic Cooperation Committee of North Korea, who accepted our direct commitment. We also exchanged a letter of intent,” Father Lazzaro You Heung-sik, president of the bishops' aid committee, said following a five-day visit to North Korea in May, according to the report. Under the agreement, Caritas will serve as the “only channel of aid from Catholics from all over the world,” Paul Jeremiah Hwang Yong-yeon, secretary of the South Korean Caritas, also said.Filipino bishop calls for end to stigma around mental healthThe Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines pledged to walk with members of the faithful struggling with mental illness and work toward breaking societal stigmas around mental health.“Mental illness is not a sign of weak faith. It is not a punishment from God. Like any illness, it deserves understanding, appropriate care, and compassionate accompaniment. Every person, whatever his or her condition, is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inalienable dignity that no illness can ever take away,” the bishops said in a pastoral statement released on Monday. “As a Church, we commit to building communities of encounter, breaking the stigma, strengthening collaboration, and walking together in hope so that every person is welcomed, accompanied, and freed from stigma,” the bishops added.")
A Scottish teacher fights discrimination, Christians face heightened attacks in Egypt, Filipino bishops pledge to end mental health stigma, and more in this week’s Catholic world news roundup.
A priest identified as Enrique “N” has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of a minor girl based on a preliminary investigation. The Archdiocese of Mexico has initiated a canonical investigation.
