Catholic – United Yam

unitedyam August 3, 2026August 3, 2026

Bishop Sweeney announces relocation of Diocese of Paterson Chancery #Catholic –

For nearly 50 years, 777 Valley Road has served the Diocese of Paterson well as the location of our Diocesan Center and chancery offices. Time and constant use, however, have taken their toll. The aging infrastructure of the building, along with our needs to reexamine our resources for the future, make it impractical as our continuing home. In the Spring of 2025, we entered into a long-term lease agreement with the Clifton Board of Education for 775 Valley Road, the former home of Paul VI High School and Pope John Paul II Academy. In the lease agreement, there was an understanding that, eventually, the building at 777 would be included, which will now become effective as of Aug. 31, 2026.

Entrusted with the mission to be prudent stewards of the generosity of God’s people, careful planning for the present and future is required. After much prayer and consultation, I believe this is the best time for a change of our chancery’s location. In making this change, we will ensure that our temporal resources advance our spiritual mission of evangelization, pastoral ministry, and service to our parishes, enabling us to proclaim the Gospel more effectively for generations to come.

Therefore, many of our diocesan offices will now be housed at our Evangelization Center, St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison. The Bishop’s Office, the Offices of the Vicar General, Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, the Diocesan Tribunal, and some other offices will now be located at 321 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne. Hopefully, both moves will be completed by the end of September 2026.

The new mailing address of the Diocese of Paterson, effective Aug. 24, 2026, is 205 Madison Avenue, Madison, New Jersey 07940. Our diocesan telephone numbers will remain the same. Email addresses, of course, are unchanged as well. Please know that I will continue to provide you with information and that our diocesan departments will function as they always have, with attention to whatever helps you to carry out your ministry with confidence and joy.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– For nearly 50 years, 777 Valley Road has served the Diocese of Paterson well as the location of our Diocesan Center and chancery offices. Time and constant use, however, have taken their toll. The aging infrastructure of the building, along with our needs to reexamine our resources for the future, make it impractical as our continuing home. In the Spring of 2025, we entered into a long-term lease agreement with the Clifton Board of Education for 775 Valley Road, the former home of Paul VI High School and Pope John Paul II Academy. In the lease agreement, there was an

unitedyam August 2, 2026August 3, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
28:1-17

In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah,
in the fifth month of the fourth year,
the prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, from Gibeon,
said to me in the house of the LORD
in the presence of the priests and all the people:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two years I will restore to this place
all the vessels of the temple of the LORD which Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon.
And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah,
son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD,
‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

The prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah
in the presence of the priests and all the people assembled
in the house of the LORD, and said:
Amen! thus may the LORD do!
May he fulfill the things you have prophesied
by bringing the vessels of the house of the LORD
and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place!
But now, listen to what I am about to state in your hearing
and the hearing of all the people.
From of old, the prophets who were before you and me prophesied
war, woe, and pestilence against many lands and mighty kingdoms.
But the prophet who prophesies peace
is recognized as truly sent by the LORD
only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled.

Thereupon the prophet Hananiah took the yoke
from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it,
and said in the presence of all the people:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so, within two years
I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
from off the neck of all the nations.’” At that, the prophet Jeremiah went away.

Some time after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke
from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah,
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
Go tell Hananiah this:
Thus says the LORD:
By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke!
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
A yoke of iron I will place on the necks
of all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
and they shall serve him; even the beasts of the field I give him.

To the prophet Hananiah the prophet Jeremiah said:
Hear this, Hananiah!
The LORD has not sent you,
and you have raised false confidence in this people.
For this, says the LORD, I will dispatch you from the face of the earth;
this very year you shall die,
because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.
That same year, in the seventh month, Hananiah the prophet died.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
14:22-36

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side of the sea,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.
When the men of that place recognized him,
they sent word to all the surrounding country.
People brought to him all those who were sick
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak,
and as many as touched it were healed.

St Augustine, imagining that he was addressing the Apostle, commented: the Lord “leaned down and took you by the hand. With your strength alone you cannot rise. Hold tight to the hand of the One who reaches down to you” (En. in Ps. 95, 7: PL 36, 1233), and he did not say this to Peter alone but also to us.

Peter walks on the water, not by his own effort but rather through divine grace in which he believes. And when he was smitten by doubt, when he no longer fixed his gaze on Jesus but was frightened by the gale, when he failed to put full trust in the Teacher’s words, it means that he was interiorly distancing himself from the Teacher and so risked sinking in the sea of life.

So it is also for us: if we look only at ourselves we become dependent on the winds and can no longer pass through storms on the waters of life. The great thinker Romano Guardini wrote that the Lord “is always close, being at the root of our being. Yet we must experience our relationship with God between the poles of distance and closeness. By closeness we are strengthened, by distance we are put to the test” (Accettare se stessi, Brescia 1992, 71). (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 7 August 2011)

Egypt executes convicted killer of Coptic Orthodox priest #Catholic A crime that deeply shocked Egypt’s Coptic community and broader public has reached its legal conclusion after the family of Father Arsanios Wadid confirmed that Egyptian authorities have executed the man convicted of murdering him.The sentence was carried out after all stages of litigation were completed and the defendant had exhausted his available legal appeals, bringing to an end a case that lasted more than four years from the killing to the execution of the final judgment.According to the attorney representing the priest’s family, Egyptian authorities carried out the death sentence, the most severe punishment under the country’s law, after investigators and the courts found the defendant responsible for intentional murder.The execution followed the Egyptian Court of Cassation’s rejection of the defendant’s final appeal and its affirmation of an earlier ruling by the Alexandria Criminal Court, making the sentence final and enforceable.The case dates back to April 7, 2022, when Wadid, a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Paul the Apostle in Alexandria’s Karmouz-Moharam Bek district, was participating in a weekly parish gathering at one of the city’s beaches. As participants were boarding buses following the gathering, Wadid, who was wearing clerical attire and helping organize their departure, was attacked from behind and fatally stabbed. Those present restrained the assailant and handed him over to security forces. Wadid was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.Although the legal proceedings initially moved quickly, with the defendant referred to the criminal court within weeks of the killing and sentenced to death by hanging, the ruling was not final at the time and remained pending while the Court of Cassation considered his appeals.In January 2025, the Court of Cassation rejected the defendant’s appeal and upheld the death sentence, making the judgment final. The sentence, however, was not carried out until approximately a year and a half later, making it more than four years from the killing to the execution and leaving a profound mark on the Coptic Orthodox Church and the people of Alexandria.This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam August 2, 2026August 3, 2026

The family of Father Arsanios Wadid, who was murdered in April 2022, confirmed that the man found guilty of the crime has been put to death.

5 tips for being a better godparent or confirmation sponsor #Catholic Being chosen as a godparent or confirmation sponsor entails a commitment to providing spiritual accompaniment to the godchild or candidate, helping that person to grow in his or her faith.This responsibility holds special significance in the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation, which, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “lay the foundations of every Christian life.”In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, Mexican priest Father Luis Fernando Valdés, who holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Navarra in Spain, explained that the role of the godparent or sponsor corresponds to a human reality, since “we all need help to achieve life’s lofty goals.”Just as a person receives support to reach academic or professional goals, the priest noted, “the Church, with its centuries-old tradition, establishes this great custom of godparents for the spiritual life as well, because we all require this help.”Based on this reflection, he shared some recommendations for those wishing to better fulfill this mission and strengthen the bond with their godchild or candidate. (Editor’s note: For simplicity’s sake, both will now be referred to as godchild or godparent but includes adults receiving these sacraments.)1. Know that the godparent’s mission is to help the godchild grow in the faith.Valdés said the first step is to understand that being a godparent means “helping one’s godchild receive and cultivate a new life,” a life that is born solely “from the encounter with Christ.”“This new life consists in that we are now another Christ, because Jesus has conformed us to his life through the action of the Holy Spirit among us. Like Christ, we are children of God the Father,” he added. Therefore, he continued, the godparent’s goal is to help the godchild grow in that Christian identity.2. You can’t give what you don’t have.The priest pointed out that “no one gives what he doesnʼt have,” emphasizing that “the first task of the one who agrees to be a godparent is his or her own self.”Godparents need to build their lives on the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “doctrine, sacraments, moral life, and life of prayer.”“That is the great task of the godparents: to form themselves and then help their godchildren know these four pillars, which are what will configure them with Christ in the Church,” he stated.Furthermore, he clarified that this formation does not take place solely in a classroom or during catechesis. Often, it is passed on “through ordinary life, get-togethers, conversations, and visits between godparents and their godchildren.”3. Make the sacraments and prayer part of life.Another piece of advice from the priest is that godparents should strive to be people of the sacraments; that is, they should attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, go to confession frequently, and “live in a state of grace, leading a Christian life.”He also encouraged godparents to “strive to grow in charity,” seeking to “care for others, attend to the poor, and share their goods.”He added that they need to be “prayerful souls” who entrust their godchildren to God and learn “the Church’s beautiful vocal prayers,” such as the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Creed, and the rosary.However, he noted that spiritual life should not be limited to traditional formulas but also entails “engaging in personal prayer, knowing how to converse personally with Christ.”4. Review how you’re living the faith.Valdés acknowledged that being a godparent requires constant commitment; he therefore invited godparents to periodically examine their own spiritual lives and ask themselves whether they are living in accordance with the four pillars of the Christian life.And if the answer is not what was hoped for, he suggested asking these questions: “What must I do? How should I start over? Where should I personally go to receive formation?”5. Choose godparents who will “share parenthood.”His final piece of advice is addressed to parents. Valdés noted that choosing a godparent “is not simply about making it look like the other person is my closest friend”; rather, it is a commitment in which a person “shares their parenthood with a specific purpose.”“When someone chooses a godparent, they are saying to him or her ‘I have such love for you, and such trust in you, that I am sharing my parenthood with you so that you can help ensure that my child lives out the Christian life,’” Valdés explained.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.

unitedyam August 2, 2026August 3, 2026

The first and ongoing requisite for being a good godparent or sponsor is to be a good example oneself by faithfully living the Christian life.

unitedyam August 1, 2026August 2, 2026

A reading from the Book of Isaiah
55:1-3

Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
8:35, 37-39

Brothers and sisters:
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me,”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.

Precisely when the day is ending and hunger sets in, as the Apostles themselves ask him to dismiss the crowds, Christ surprises us with his mercy. He feels compassion for those who are hungry and he invites his disciples to provide for them. Hunger is not foreign to the preaching of the Kingdom and the message of salvation. On the contrary, it speaks to us of our relationship with God. At the same time, five loaves and two fish seem completely inadequate to feed the people. The disciples’ calculations, apparently so reasonable, reveal their lack of faith. For where the Lord is present, we find all that we need to give strength and meaning to our lives.

Jesus responds to the appeal of hunger with the sign of sharing: he raises his eyes, recites the blessing, breaks the bread, and feeds all present (…)

The Lord’s example is a yardstick that should guide our actions and our service: we are called to share our bread, to multiply hope and to proclaim the coming of God’s Kingdom. (Pope Leo XIV, Homily, 22 June 2025)

March for Life president steps down to become ‘full-time mom’ #Catholic March for Life president steps down to focus on familyJennie Bradley Lichter, the president of the March for Life, is stepping down to devote more time to her family as a “full-time mom,” the leader said this week.“I have been humbled and inspired by the stories — so many stories, everywhere I go — of how the March for Life has changed people’s minds and hearts, how for so many Marchers it has sparked a lifetime of action and advocacy on behalf of the unborn, and in some cases, how it has changed the entire trajectory of their lives,” Bradley Lichter wrote in a farewell statement.She and her husband “are raising two tweens and a rising kindergartner, and it has become very clear that my family needs more of my time and my active presence than I’m able to give while leading the March for Life,” she said in the statement “My most important titles of all are not ‘President’ — but ‘wife’ and ‘Mom,’” she said.Bradley Lichter said that her role has been “the highlight of my professional life.”The resignation is effective July 31. The March for Life Board is actively searching for a new president.The annual demonstration draws tens of thousands to the nation’s capital yearly to advocate for the rights of unborn babies.Abortion drug present in municipal water, study findsA study published on July 20 in the Journal of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine highlighted the need for “significant additional investigation into the levels of various hormones and [endocrine-disrupting chemicals], including mifepristone, in water sources,” with researchers finding high levels of the abortion drug in municipal water supplies.Mifepristone is used in chemical abortions, as well as in treatment for miscarriages, and works by blocking progesterone, a hormone necessary for pregnancy. The investigation found “significant levels of mifepristone (up to 0.041 μgram/l) in the water of all but one of the nine sampling classes,” the study read. Water samples “were collected from sites upstream and downstream of water treatment facilities, and from municipal tap water,” from multiple American cities.“Because of the plethora of effects of progesterone, this contaminant could affect the physiology of aquatic animals; and human health, including fertility, pregnancy and fetal development,” the researchers said. Justice Department settles with pro-life father after FBI raidThe U.S. Department of Justice reached a seven-figure settlement with pro-life father Paul Vaughn after his home was raided by the FBI in connection with his pro-life work.The settlement affirmed that under the Biden administration, the government’s actions “were an abuse of government power,” according to a July 28 press release by the Thomas More Society, the legal nonprofit that defended Vaughn.Vaughn, a Catholic father of 11, was arrested at gunpoint after the FBI raided his house in connection with his protest at an abortion clinic. He is one of several pro-life advocates prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act during the Biden administration.“My family has been through a traumatic ordeal that never should have happened. But today brings an end to this portion of the story,” Vaughn said in a statement.“This chapter is finally closed, and our family looks forward with gratitude and hope, as we continue to serve God, advocating for the most vulnerable among us without fear.”Catholic bishops of Massachusetts speak out against late-term abortion billThe Catholic bishops of Massachusetts spoke out this week against a bill that will legalize late-term abortion in the state.“As Catholic bishops we have a moral responsibility to present and uphold Catholic teaching and the sacred God-given dignity of every human life from conception to the natural death,” the bishops said in July 29 statement signed by Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston, Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, and Bishop Edgar da Cunha of Fall River.The state legislature passed the bill in July, with the Massachusetts Senate voting in favor of it on July 31. The measure, if signed into law, will remove the stateʼs 24-week limit on abortion.“The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ statement read. The advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is also strongly opposing the bill; the group’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser called for nationwide protections for unborn children.“If Gov. [Maura] Healey signs this bill into law, Massachusetts will join 10 states and Washington, D.C. with an all-trimester abortion policy where babies are killed after the point they can survive outside of the womb,” Dannenfelser told EWTN News. “These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she said.

unitedyam August 1, 2026August 2, 2026

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill removing all restrictions from abortion throughout pregnancy #Catholic The Massachusetts government this week moved to strip all restrictions from abortion and allow the procedure up until birth so long as a doctor approves of it.The state Senate passed Bill H.5595 on July 31, a little over a week after the state House passed the same measure. The bill now awaits Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s signature. The legislation removes all of the state’s current restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks, instead dictating that a late-term abortion may be done based upon “the professional judgment of the physician” performing it. Current state law, which H.5595 would change, only allows late-term abortions if they are necessary to preserve the life or “physical or mental health” of the mother, or if the baby has been diagnosed with a fatal condition. Abortions are also allowed to be performed in the state if a baby would require “extraordinary medical interventions” to survive after birth. If signed into law, the bill would make Massachusetts the 11th state to impose no limits whatsoever on abortion. Healey, who has served as the state’s governor since 2023, is an outspoken supporter of abortion. The passage of the bill drew rebuke from SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who said in a July 31 statement that the state’s already-generous abortion policy “isn’t enough for Democrats whose party holds the position of no limits on abortion whatsoever.”“These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she argued. “The GOP must abandon the failed ‘leave it to the states’ position and move the country toward a national protection for unborn children across this nation,” she said. Ahead of the July 31 vote, the state’s Catholic bishops had also criticized the measure. “The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ July 29 statement read. The bishops urged Catholics “to pray for a renewal of reverence for all human life.”

unitedyam August 1, 2026August 2, 2026

The measure, if signed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, will remove the last few restrictions on abortion in the state and replace them with “the professional judgment of the physician.”

This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of August #Catholic Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of August is for evangelization in the city.“Roughly half of us live in cities. Jesus himself walked city streets, in Cana, in Jericho, in Jerusalem, and just as in those cities Christ is present in ours — teaching, praying, celebrating, but also suffering among the poor, the forgotten, the imprisoned," the Holy Father said in a video released July 31 on X.He added: “This month, let us pray for the courage to recognize him [Jesus] there and through our work and witness to bring the Gospel to the streets and homes of our metropolises.”In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:“Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd,You walk through our streets and squares,enter tall buildings and humble neighborhoods,and silently accompany millionswho seek meaning amid noise and haste.You know, Lord, the heart of the city:its lights and shadows, its noise and loneliness.We know that cities are called to be places of freedom and opportunity,but they can also become spaces of anonymity and isolation.That’s why today we ask you for a renewed gaze,able to discover in urban lifefertile ground for proclaiming your Gospel.Give us a creative and deep faith,that doesn’t remain in words,but becomes flesh through simple and loving gestures.Make us a Church that goes forth,able to reach out to the peripheries,to console those who are lonely,and to sow fraternity and connection instead of giving in to indifference.Lord, may our urban communitiesbe open and welcoming homes,places where hope is shared,where no one feels invisible,and where the joy of your Gospel shinesin the hidden lives of so many brothers and sisters.Make us your witnesses in the city,bold and creative missionaries,who proclaim your love with their lives—a love capable of overcoming haste, noise, and anonymity.Amen.”“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.

unitedyam August 1, 2026August 1, 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of August is for evangelization in the city.

3 Catholic churches desecrated in a single French archdiocese #Catholic The Archdiocese of Tours in France reported that three Catholic churches within its jurisdiction have been desecrated and announced that Masses of reparation will be held at the affected churches.“In recent days, three churches in our diocese in Chambray-lès-Tours, Luynes, and Tours (St.Joan of Arc Church) have been targeted by malicious individuals,” the archdiocese said in a July 28 statement.The text specifies that “offering boxes were looted and damaged, doors forced open, sacred vessels damaged, a tabernacle forced open, and the Blessed Sacrament desecrated.”“These painful and hurtful events for the Catholic community unfortunately reveal the extent to which our society is permeated by disturbing forms of violence, a lack of culture, and a lack of civility,” the statement laments.Finally, the text notes without specifying dates that “Masses of reparation will be celebrated in the desecrated churches.”Michel Lamy, the mayor of Chambray-lès-Tours, condemned the desecration of the church in his town, stating: “These acts fill me with deep indignation and are simply unacceptable.”“Nothing can justify an attack on a place of worship, our heritage, and what it represents for many residents of Chambray,” the mayor stated on his Facebook page.The mayor posted photos of the desecration, showing Communion hosts scattered on the ground and excrement on the floor.Facebook post“I condemn this desecration in the strongest possible terms and offer my full support to the parish community, Father François Xavier Olayemy Oniossou, and all those deeply shocked by these events,” the mayor added.“In Chambray-lès-Tours, as elsewhere, respect for places of worship, regardless of one’s convictions, is a fundamental value,” he stated.In November 2024, similar acts of desecration occurred at four churches in the Archdiocese of Tours. Archbishop Vincent Jordy stated at the time that “there may be people who wish to express at times hatred toward the Church, or toward what she represents.” Facebook post“There is this type of phenomenon that unfortunately exists — we say it in the communique — and which manifests a lack of culture and a form of contempt for peopleʼs [way of] life and faith,” the prelate lamented at the time.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.

unitedyam July 31, 2026August 1, 2026

For the seventh time in two years, churches in the Archdiocese of Tours have been desecrated.

unitedyam July 31, 2026August 1, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
26:11-16, 24

The priests and prophets said
to the princes and to all the people,
“This man deserves death;
he has prophesied against this city,
as you have heard with your own ears.”
Jeremiah gave this answer
to the princes and all the people:
“It was the LORD who sent me to
prophesy against this house and city
all that you have heard.
Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds;
listen to the voice of the LORD your God,
so that the LORD will repent
of the evil with which he threatens you.
As for me, I am in your hands;
do with me what you think good and right.
But mark well: if you put me to death,
it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves,
on this city and its citizens.
For in truth it was the LORD who sent me to you,
to speak all these things for you to hear.”
Thereupon the princes and all the people
said to the priests and the prophets,
“This man does not deserve death;
it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us.”
So Ahikam, son of Shaphan, protected Jeremiah,
so that he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

I would simply advise you not to dwell on this too much, but to remember the image, the four characters: the corrupt king, the woman who knew only how to hate, the vain young woman who is oblivious to everything, and the beheaded prophet alone in his cell. Look at that, and let each of you open your heart so that the Lord may speak to you about this. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 8 February 2019)

unitedyam July 31, 2026July 31, 2026

Chester Police chaplain retires after 47 years of service #Catholic –

On July 29, members of the Chester Police Department, law enforcement leaders from across Morris County and New Jersey, and friends gathered to honor Msgr. Raymond Lopatesky, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., upon his retirement as chaplain to the Chester Police Department after 47 years of faithful service. The celebration was held in Hoffman Hall at the Chester Fire House.

Msgr. Lopatesky’s ministry became an integral part of both his life and the lives of those he served.

For nearly five decades, Msgr. Lopatesky ministered to police officers and their families through every season of life — whether comforting families after the loss of a loved one, celebrating weddings and the baptisms of their children, or simply being available to listen. His ministry extended far beyond the walls of the Church. As he described it, “They became my unique parish, my family.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Serving under 13 chiefs of the Chester Police Department, Msgr. Lopatesky remained a constant source of encouragement, compassion, and hope for countless officers and their families. In addition to his role as chaplain, he mentored new police officers and police academy recruits, helping to instill the values of integrity, service, and compassion in future generations of law enforcement professionals.

Msgr. Lopatesky is also the founder and director of the Morris County Police Critical Incident Debriefing Team. His service also extended beyond Chester as a chaplain to the Washington Township Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Secret Service.

Among those attending Msgr. Lopatesky’s retirement celebration were Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Chester Police Chief Ryan T. McNamee, retired N.J. State Police Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, active and retired members of the Chester Police Department, members of the N.J. State Police, and many law enforcement chiefs and officers from throughout the region.

Msgr. Ray Lopatesky’s legacy will continue to be felt throughout the Chester Police Department and the broader law enforcement community. He touched countless lives through his presence in joyful and difficult moments. He stood beside those who wear the badge, becoming not only their chaplain but also a trusted friend.

Although he is retiring from his official duties, Msgr. Lopatesky will continue to remember them in his daily prayers.

– On July 29, members of the Chester Police Department, law enforcement leaders from across Morris County and New Jersey, and friends gathered to honor Msgr. Raymond Lopatesky, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., upon his retirement as chaplain to the Chester Police Department after 47 years of faithful service. The celebration was held in Hoffman Hall at the Chester Fire House. Msgr. Lopatesky’s ministry became an integral part of both his life and the lives of those he served. For nearly five decades, Msgr. Lopatesky ministered to police officers and their families through every season of life —

unitedyam July 31, 2026July 31, 2026

Obituary: Sister of Charity Dolores Lew, 84 #Catholic –

A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 29 at Holy Family Chapel in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J., for Sister Dolores Lew, a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth, who died on July 24 at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. She was 84.

Sister Lew was a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth for 46 years.

Born in Bayonne, N.J., in 1941, Sister Lew was the daughter of Robert Lew and Nellie Pang Lai. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1979 in response to a call she felt to serve God’s people in a medical setting.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Sister Lew began her ministry of service as a Dominican Sister of Caldwell in Caldwell, N.J. She graduated from Caldwell College, now Caldwell University, with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She earned a master’s degree in biology from Villanova University in Villanova, Penn.

In addition, Sister Lew earned a certification in medical technology from the School of Medical Technology at St. Joseph Hospital in Paterson, and she received a blood bank certificate from the American Red Cross in Baltimore, Md.

Sister Lew also received licensing as a physician assistant. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in that profession from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Rutgers. She was the first Sister of Charity to become a physician assistant.

Sister Lew was a laboratory technologist and chief of the Blood Bank at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (Trinitas) in Elizabeth, N.J. She was the first physician assistant to join the staff of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. Sister Dolores was a physician assistant in the Emergency Department at St. Joseph’s for 24 years until her retirement in 2019.

Sister Dolores enjoyed cooking for family and friends, gardening, and sharing the vegetables from her garden. She received the Best Age Strong Garden award in the 2024 Greenest Place in Paterson Garden Contest.

During the final years of her life, Sister Dolores lived with a serious illness, which she faced with courage and resolve.

Sister Lew was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Shirley Calderone. Her Sisters of Charity community survives her; her friend, Sister Edna Francis Hersinger; her nieces, Christine Velarde, Michele Cavallaro and Toni Anne Caracappa; her nephew, Joseph Calderone; her brothers, Robert, John, David, Peter, and Joseph; her sisters, Kammoy King and Joanne Chin; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

Burial took place in Holy Family Cemetery in Convent Station.

Please make donations in memory of Sister Dolores Lew to the Sisters of Charity Office of Legacy and Mission Advancement, P. O. Box 476, Convent Station, N.J., 07961.

– A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 29 at Holy Family Chapel in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J., for Sister Dolores Lew, a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth, who died on July 24 at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. She was 84. Sister Lew was a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth for 46 years. Born in Bayonne, N.J., in 1941, Sister Lew was the daughter of Robert Lew and Nellie Pang Lai. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1979 in response to a call she felt

unitedyam July 30, 2026July 30, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
26:1-9

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,
son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this message came from the LORD:
Thus says the LORD:
Stand in the court of the house of the LORD
and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah
who come to worship in the house of the LORD;
whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing.
Perhaps they will listen and turn back,
each from his evil way,
so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them
for their evil deeds.
Say to them: Thus says the LORD:
If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
“You must be put to death!
Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD:
‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and
‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?”
And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

In today’s liturgy, the Gospel recounts Jesus’ first sermon in his home town, Nazareth. The outcome is bitter: instead of receiving approval, Jesus finds incomprehension and even hostility. His fellow villagers wanted miracles and prodigious signs rather than a word of truth. The Lord does not perform them and they reject him, because they say they already knew him as a child: he is Joseph’s son, and so on. Jesus therefore utters a phrase that has become proverbial: “No prophet is acceptable in his own country”. These words reveal that Jesus’ failure was not entirely unexpected. He knew his people, he knew the heart of his people, he knew the risk he was running. He took rejection into account. And, so, we may ask ourselves: but if it was like this, if he foresaw a failure, why did he go to his home town all the same? Why do good to people who are not willing to accept you? It is a question that we too often ask ourselves. But it is a question that helps us understand God better. Faced with our closures, he does not withdraw: he does not put brakes on his love. Faced with our closures, he goes forward. We see a reflection of this in parents who are aware of the ingratitude of their children, but do not stop loving them and doing good to them, because of this. God is the same, but at a much higher level. And today he invites us too to believe in good, to leave no stone unturned in doing good. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 30 January 2022)

Israeli strike damages Christian-run hospital in Gaza, Catholic aid group says #Catholic Israeli airstrikes on an apartment building adjacent to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City damaged the hospital on the evening of July 29, blowing out windows and doors, and frightening patients and medical staff, according to a report by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA).“The repeated explosions create confusion among medical staff and place additional psychological pressure on patients,” Mousa Ayad, manager at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, told CNEWA’s Diaa Ostaz.Ayad told CNEWA he could not rule out another airstrike: “This is war, and no one knows where the next danger will be. But given the hospital’s humanitarian and medical role, we do not believe that the hospital is the intended target.”According to CNEWA, Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense, said emergency response crews were not able to immediately reach the struck building, which is beside the hospital and a shelter for displaced people, because responders feared a second strike.“The fire burned for more than 15 minutes before our crews could move in,” he said, according to CNEWA. “We continue to work with severe shortages of firefighting vehicles, water tankers and fuel, making every emergency response more difficult.”CNEWA reported that, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, nearly 1,200 Palestinians have been killed and another 3,900 injured since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025.Ayad told CNEWA that despite the ceasefire, Gaza’s health sector is still in dire circumstances.“The situation has not improved significantly. Hospitals continue to face shortages of medical supplies, equipment and essential consumables,” he said. “Thousands of patients remain on waiting lists for surgery, while many others still need to travel outside Gaza for specialized treatment.”Last year, he told CNEWA that the hospital was operating at 350% capacity and a total evacuation would be “a major humanitarian challenge.”This is not the first time the hospital has been struck.On Oct. 17, 2023, an airstrike on the hospital killed 500 people and injured many others. More than 5,000 people were sheltering at the hospital at the time, reported Joseph Hazboun, regional director for CNEWA’s Jerusalem office.Then, in June 2025 airstrikes, six people, including four journalists, were killed and 30 others were injured.Three months later, Israel Defense Forces killed one person and injured several others after it launched a missile that landed in the hospital’s courtyard, according to CNEWA.The Catholic aid group has long supported Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, and since January 2025, it has partnered with the hospital to provide urgent medical services.Pope Pius XI founded CNEWA in 1926 as “an instrument of love and a sign of hope for those in need scattered throughout the historic but unstable lands of the ancient Eastern churches — the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe,” according to the group’s website.

unitedyam July 30, 2026July 31, 2026

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) reported emergency response crews were not able to immediately reach the struck building because responders feared a second strike.

Church in Venezuela to ‘remain at the side of the suffering’ following earthquakes #Catholic One month after the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, the Catholic Church is focused on “remaining at the side of the suffering,” according to Father Ricardo Guillén, episcopal vicar for pastoral ministry of the Archdiocese of Caracas.In an interview with the archdiocesan press office, the priest explained how “physical presence, active listening, and organized charity” have been the cornerstones of the Church’s response to the tragedy, which claimed the lives of thousands of people and severely affected tens of thousands more.“Our immediate priority was to be present where the suffering was most acute; we showed up and shared close up with the vulnerability of our people,” he said.From the very first hours following the earthquakes, he continued, the Church understood that this accompaniment “could not take place from a distance” but rather “required being physically present in the places of greatest uncertainty to support those who had lost everything.”“For this reason, we deployed directly to the areas most critical to the emergency,” he added. Consecrated personnel and lay volunteers assessed the scale of the disaster, offering special support to people at the morgues “to embrace and share in the families’ painful silence” and bringing the comfort of the sacraments.“In each of those places, our mission was simply to be present, to listen, and not to leave anyone alone,” Guillén added.‘God never abandons us’After highlighting “the profound vocation of service and solidarity,” which he said especially characterizes the new generations of Venezuelans and which enabled the enormous logistical response to the emergency, the episcopal vicar noted that it is precisely “in closeness and compassion” that God’s presence is revealed amid so much pain.Beyond providing material aid, the Catholic Church’s “fundamental mission” was to “be a living presence of the Lord and sustain the faith where suffering was the greatest,” regardless of the difficulties posed by the earthquakes. Thus, the Church “had to take to the streets,” transforming plazas, parks, and sports fields into “open-air altars” for religious services and encouraging the most popular devotions in Caracas and La Guaira.“One of the most moving services was accompanying people in their grief,” he said. “We priests were present in morgues, hospitals, and cemeteries in Caracas and La Guaira, supporting those who were suffering, often offering nothing more than a hug, weeping with those who wept, praying together, or maintaining a respectful silence in the face of such immense pain.”“Bringing grace and comfort to places where suffering reigned was living proof that God never abandons us,” he added.What are lessons the earthquakes taught the Church?Guillén emphasized that “the earthquake left deep scars, but it also revealed the immense spiritual and solidarity reserves of our people.”“Far from plunging us into despair, this tragedy becomes an urgent call to make fraternity a permanent way of life, oriented toward the common good and the recognition of every person’s dignity,” he said.He remarked that “true consolation requires neither explanations nor grand speeches,” but rather manifests itself “in quiet presence, in an outstretched hand, in attentive listening that takes in the pain, and in respectful silence that helps heal the wounds of the soul.”The earthquakes “leave us with profound lessons” for the Church in Venezuela and have confronted the entire country with “the urgent need to organize ourselves better in the face of contingencies of this magnitude,” he said. In that sense, he continued, Cáritas must strengthen itself and become “a true network of solidarity capable of reaching even the most remote areas” of Venezuela. “Ultimately, this time confirms for us that the faith lived out is authenticated through charity and tangible dedication to the most vulnerable,” Guillén said.“For this reason, the Church in Caracas reaffirms its unwavering commitment to continue accompanying those affected. We are not pulling out now that the immediate phase of the emergency has ended; we will be there for the long road of rebuilding society and the integral healing of our people’s lives,” he pledged.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.

unitedyam July 30, 2026July 31, 2026

While the Church’s response to the earthquakes in Venezuela certainly involved material aid, a major part was simply being present to minister to survivors, offering consolation and the sacraments.

unitedyam July 30, 2026July 30, 2026

Beyond The Beacon podcast 115: Opportunities of faith during triennial pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. #Catholic –

This October, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will lead a Marian pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. On this episode, Bishop Sweeney and co-host Communications Director Jai Agnish are joined by Father Michael Rodak, diocesan pilgrimage director and pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston, to discuss this triennial event hosted by the Diocese of Paterson. In this episode, Father Rodak also interviews Bobby Duke, curator of the Museum of the Bible, a visit offered for the two-day trip option.

Participants can choose a one-day pilgrimage to the basilica on Saturday, Oct. 17, featuring a catechesis on prayer in English and Spanish, recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Mass with Bishop Sweeney and concelebrating priests, and an opportunity to receive reconciliation. Pilgrims can also choose a two-day trip from Friday, Oct. 16, to Saturday, Oct. 17, which includes a visit to the Museum of the Bible and a banquet dinner with Bishop Sweeney on Oct. 16 before visiting the basilica the next day for the pilgrimage.

Listen to the episode here, or on any major podcast platform, or watch it on Bishop Sweeney’s YouTube channel.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– This October, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will lead a Marian pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. On this episode, Bishop Sweeney and co-host Communications Director Jai Agnish are joined by Father Michael Rodak, diocesan pilgrimage director and pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston, to discuss this triennial event hosted by the Diocese of Paterson. In this episode, Father Rodak also interviews Bobby Duke, curator of the Museum of the Bible, a visit offered for the two-day trip option. Participants can choose a one-day pilgrimage to the basilica on

unitedyam July 30, 2026July 30, 2026

Pope Leo on his ancestry, and how he’s a ‘pope who happens to be American’ #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV spoke with Tom Llamas of NBC News July 29 about being the first American pope, his diverse ancestry and whether he might be coming to the U.S. soon.

“You are the first American pope. It’s something you don’t speak about often,” Llamas noted, asking, “How important is being American to you, and what do you love about America”

“First of all, just to clarify, I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American,” Pope Leo responded, “not to belittle what it means to be American. I was born in the United States, my family is still in the United States. I have great love for America. But I understand my mission, having a very important dimension, which is precisely being pastor of a universal Church and having a voice and opportunity to speak to people throughout the world. So, I will put things in that order.”

“And yet, at the same time,” he added, “I will acknowledge that for myself as well as the people of the United States, judging by the response that we’ve seen since May 8 of last year, that there is great significance in being the first American pope.”

Speaking to Llamas at a July 29 Concert for Peace at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, which featured Andrea Bocelli and an interfaith choir of 200 children from conflict-affected regions around the world, Pope Leo said he loves “so many things” about America: “What America stands for, the sense of freedom, the sense of opportunity, the sense of having invited, for generations, people from around the world to be part of America.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Discussing his ancestry, he noted that, “I come from a family that — my grandparents were immigrants. On my mother’s side, we have people who were both slaves and slave owners. There’s a history of, if you will, growing up in the kind of experience that helps me to recognize, myself, one of the greatest wealths of the United States. And I continue to hold the principles that have been a part of being American for so many years. That will continue.”

Llamas asked if Americans can expect a papal visit soon.

“They will see me there,” Pope Leo replied, “by coincidence, today we were looking at the calendar for the next couple of years. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I certainly hope to be there soon.”

Julio Vaqueiro, anchor of Noticias Telemundo, also spoke with Pope Leo following the pope’s concert.

Pope Leo told Vaqueiro that the concert “featuring children from various countries, of different races, perhaps from different traditions — all singing together to beautiful music,” offered “a beauty that I believe was an invitation to all of us to look beyond, to see the beauty that can be created or in which we can share when we set aside certain differences and recognize the richness of being one — of all being created in the image of God.”

– (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV spoke with Tom Llamas of NBC News July 29 about being the first American pope, his diverse ancestry and whether he might be coming to the U.S. soon. “You are the first American pope. It’s something you don’t speak about often,” Llamas noted, asking, “How important is being American to you, and what do you love about America” “First of all, just to clarify, I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American,” Pope Leo responded, “not to belittle what it means to be American. I was born in the

unitedyam July 30, 2026August 1, 2026

Urban planning must address homelessness to promote human dignity, Vatican’s UN mission says #Catholic –

(Vatican News) — Homelessness must be addressed to create sustainable cities that enable every person to flourish and contribute to the common good, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations said July 28.

“The persistence of homelessness should trouble the conscience of the international community,” the mission said in a message issued for the United Nations’ 2026 high-level meeting on the world body’s New Urban Agenda.

“Everybody deserves a place to call home, where they can build relationships, nurture family life, and participate fully in their community,” the message said. “Housing should therefore be viewed not just as a commodity or financial asset, but as a cornerstone of society at the service of the common good.”

The New Urban Agenda is a global roadmap for sustainable inclusive, and resilient urban development, according to the United Nations. Approved at the U.N. Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, on Oct. 20, 2016, and endorsed by the U.N. General Assembly, it provides guiding principles for managing cities through 2036. The high-level meeting celebrated the 10th anniversary of the agenda’s adoption.

“When cities are shaped by solidarity, inclusion and care for those most in need, they become more than mere places of residence and of work; they become places of encounter, fraternity and hope,” the Holy See mission said in its message.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It quoted Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, to underline how “development is truly human when it places people at the center.”

“This principle should guide the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in the decade ahead,” the Holy See mission emphasized.

“Not having a home means more than just lacking shelter; it means being deprived of security, stability, privacy, and a sense of belonging,” it explained in its message. “Homelessness undermines the ability to exercise many fundamental human rights and often traps individuals and families in cycles of exclusion and poverty.”

Homelessness is an “affront to human dignity,” it said.

The Holy See mission encouraged cities and countries to invest more “in affordable and adequate housing, as well as integrated social services,” and address the root causes of homelessness, such “as poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, mental health issues, family breakdown, displacement and conflict.”

This must be done through “meaningful participation of local communities, civil society, faith-based organizations” and those who have experienced homelessness themselves, it said.

The mission also noted the importance of pushing for housing policies that promote an integrated approach that takes into consideration the “strong links between education, employment, housing and health.” “This will also help to prevent exclusion and segregation,” it pointed out.

The Holy See mission also emphasized the importance of “renewed international solidarity” through international cooperation, technology transfer, capacity building and adequate financing, especially to help least developed countries that struggle with rapid urbanization.

“Urban development cannot be measured solely by the height of its buildings or the strength of its economy,” the mission said, “but above all by its ability to enable every person to flourish by participating fully in society and contributing to the common good.”

Every city is a community of people, each endowed with its God given-dignity, it said. “The true measure of a sustainable city lies in how it treats all its members, and, consequently, in its capacity to address multiple forms of poverty, persistent inequalities and environmental degradation.”

Isabella H. de Carvalho writes for Vatican News. This story was originally published by Vatican News and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.

– (Vatican News) — Homelessness must be addressed to create sustainable cities that enable every person to flourish and contribute to the common good, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations said July 28. “The persistence of homelessness should trouble the conscience of the international community,” the mission said in a message issued for the United Nations’ 2026 high-level meeting on the world body’s New Urban Agenda. “Everybody deserves a place to call home, where they can build relationships, nurture family life, and participate fully in their community,” the message said. “Housing should therefore be viewed not just

unitedyam July 30, 2026August 1, 2026

Wildfires in Spain force Augustinian nuns to evacuate monastery #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Wildfires burning through central Spain forced a community of Augustinian nuns to evacuate their monastery as flames threatened the region.

In a statement published July 27, the sisters of the Monastery of the Conversion in Sotillo de la Adrada said they were evacuated July 25 and “had no choice but to leave the monastery.”

The community said they were offered shelter at the Augustinian convent of Saint Ildefonso in Talavera, located roughly 26 miles south of their monastery.

“We are here, sharing as sisters, awaiting a grace that will allow us to return home,” the statement read. “We especially ask for prayers for all the volunteers and security forces who are tirelessly working to extinguish the fires.”

Wildfires across Spain and France have forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Firefighters face an uphill battle in combatting the flames as extreme heatwaves in both countries have made it difficult to extinguish the fires.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s interior minister, said taming the wildfire would be crucial before a major heatwave was forecasted to last until Aug. 2.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“We have to stay positive; we have control of the emergency. We do have to acknowledge that we are moving slowly because the weather conditions are not helping us at all,” Grande-Marlaska told El País.

Over 120,000 acres of land in the province of Ávila alone have been burned and destroyed, making it the largest and most aggressive wildfire in Spain’s recorded history, El País reported.

The Diocese of Ávila said July 26 it was cooperating with authorities to coordinate relief efforts and made the diocesan seminary and retreat house available to accommodate evacuees.

“The parish priests of the affected areas were evacuated along with their parishioners to designated shelters and remain with their neighbors,” the diocese said. “Other priests in the area remain with the families of the affected villages, offering them support and making this difficult time more bearable.”

In an interview with the Spanish Catholic weekly Alfa y Omega, Mother Prado González, superior of the Monastery of the Conversion, said the decision to evacuate was made in cooperation with police and military authorities.

“We wanted a small group of us to stay behind, but ultimately they evacuated all of us,” she said. “The situation was very complicated, and the flames had been approaching for days.”

While praising the orderly evacuation of the monastery and surrounding villages, Mother González said she and her sisters felt “tremendous grief” not just for leaving their home “but for everything that is happening.”

“Seeing that natural heritage destroyed — such a beautiful creation — causes immense pain. It is an ecological tragedy, a human tragedy and a social tragedy,” the superior told Alfa y Omega.

Expressing her gratitude to the sisters of the Convent of Saint Ildefonso for receiving them, Mother González said she and her community were “experiencing true communion with the sisters and feel very supported.”

“Above all, we are praying a lot for all the people who are still working there to control the fire, and for our neighbors who are going through a very hard time,” she said.

Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.

– (OSV News) — Wildfires burning through central Spain forced a community of Augustinian nuns to evacuate their monastery as flames threatened the region. In a statement published July 27, the sisters of the Monastery of the Conversion in Sotillo de la Adrada said they were evacuated July 25 and “had no choice but to leave the monastery.” The community said they were offered shelter at the Augustinian convent of Saint Ildefonso in Talavera, located roughly 26 miles south of their monastery. “We are here, sharing as sisters, awaiting a grace that will allow us to return home,” the statement read.

unitedyam July 30, 2026August 2, 2026

Ignatian retreat campus in the Caribbean serves as hub for medical missions #Catholic –

SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, Dominican Republic (OSV News) — When Benedictine Father James Raber asked last year if he could bring three or four student volunteers along to an annual medical mission in the Caribbean he got a nice surprise.

“I thought it would be great if I could bring several Belmont Abbey (College) students here as part of a mission trip — and they offered me a dozen spots,” said Father Raber, chaplain at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.

“And one thing I absolutely love to do is see the students interact with the patients,” he added.

The priest and his students joined up with a larger U.S, medical volunteer delegation last year operating out of the expansive campus of the Institute for Latin American Concern, or ILAC, in Santiago de los Caballeros.

A four-decades old Catholic-affiliated retreat-style property founded in the 1970s by two Jesuit missionaries originally from Cuba, teams of volunteer medical specialists, surgeons, dentists and support staff integrate with local Mission ILAC staff and medical volunteers in their care for hundreds of patients in the context of Ignatian spirituality.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“It is a wonderful thing to be able to work with people who help with the mission: I am saying Mass for them, leading ecumenical reflections and hearing confessions often in the evening when there is some down time,” Father Raber told OSV News, adding that he enjoys being a priestly presence in the pediatric clinics and interacting with young families who have registered months in advance to see a medic.

“There are also people who are going to be going under for surgery who need anointing of the sick and that is offered as well,” the priest said.

Although the Belmont Abbey delegation only stayed less than a week, Mission ILAC operates year-round as a global gathering point for international medical volunteers and as a resource for often neglected rural northern reaches of the Dominican Republic and its proximity to Haiti’s border.

There are remote mountain villages with communities of Haitians living there without documents and other rural villages throughout the northwestern Dominican Republic. Consequently, Mission ILAC center coordinates medical outreach to those places where no governmental or private organization reaches.

Over the years, volunteer medics and students from Ivy League and other U.S. institutions have utilized the ILAC campus for Spanish-language courses, medical training and enrichment programs, including most notably Jesuit-run Creighton University, which earlier this year opened a 3,000-square-foot, high-tech classroom and communal space.

The Creighton facility will reportedly increase opportunities for its student engagement in research, economic development and environmental sustainability across the Dominican Republic’s communities where Creighton has health partnerships.

Student doctors, nurses and medics on overseas medical mission experiences often work alongside world-class medical professionals and are rewarded with hands-on experiences, cross-cultural patient interaction and career changing inspiration.

Katherine Calvet, a Florida resident and one of the Belmont Abbey College students who has made several mission trips to Santiago de los Caballeros, said ILAC helped her focus her educational decisions early on while still a freshman at Belmont.

“I thought it would be an opportunity to serve the people of the Dominican Republic and share my passion for helping others,” said Calvet, who is now an undergraduate at Florida State University.

Her trips to ILAC were in concert with the Miami-based Cuban Association of the Order of Malta, which makes twice annual ILAC missions providing outpatient surgeries, pediatrics, family medicine, cardiology, dentistry and more.

“I fell in love with medicine very quickly within the first two hours of working with one of the doctors and I definitely have passion for medicine now,” Calvet told OSV News. “In triage we saw very high blood pressures and very high blood glucose levels.”

One of the senior doctors helping staff the Malta-sponsored mission in 2025 was Dr. Grant Phillips, associate director of a residency program at Altoona Family Physicians Residency Program at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“I’ve been coming here for about 10 or 15 years,” said Phillips, who participated in an end-of-day ecumenical debriefing at ILAC’s on-site chapel following a long day. He also trains student volunteers during his consultations.

“I have a lot of gratitude both to the patients — because they carry the burden of the disease — and the people who brought me down here and allowed me to get fulfillment by helping the people here. This is a life changing experience.”

Some of the medics will venture into the nearby mountain communities.

Mission ILAC maintains a network of community leader “cooperadores de salud” (“cooperators of health”), composed of men and women from their own rural communities who promote better healthcare access along with improvement of agricultural techniques as a way of maintaining rural community wellness and reducing mass migration to the cities.

It is now estimated that four-fifths of the Dominican population now live in one of several urban centers, creating a strain on infrastructure. Many others have left the country altogether in recent decades.

Making her 31st trip to ILAC with the Order of Malta was Dr. Jane Cohen, a primary care physician at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach and a veteran volunteer at ILAC who said she comes at her own expense.

“I have met people from all over the U.S. and all over the world who have improved my life and taught me things I couldn’t have learned elsewhere,” Cohen said.

Cohen makes a point of attending ILAC ecumenical sessions where she shares her experiences with colleagues. She expressed gratitude to her husband back home who allows her to take vacation time and even go off the grid into the village communities.

“I decided I wanted to go out into the campos three hours by car up a rickety mountain pathway to see people who either couldn’t get to us or needed our help there and they were so welcoming,” she said.

There were 56 people in that particular community and the medical team saw about half of them as patients. On a second day they stopped at two communities of Haitians, living there without documents.

“I was trying to teach some of the medical students to see the ‘progression of disease’” and not overreach for solutions, she said, noting that many patients in the U.S. are shuffled off to the emergency room or sent out for time-consuming testing.

“For years I was coming here speaking to other internal medicine doctors like myself who realized that our services are better rendered in the office preventing people from getting admitted to the hospital,” Cohen added.

Tom Tracy, who writes for OSV News from Florida, traveled to the Dominican Republic last year with the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta. For more information on Mission ILAC, go to ilac.org.

– SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, Dominican Republic (OSV News) — When Benedictine Father James Raber asked last year if he could bring three or four student volunteers along to an annual medical mission in the Caribbean he got a nice surprise. “I thought it would be great if I could bring several Belmont Abbey (College) students here as part of a mission trip — and they offered me a dozen spots,” said Father Raber, chaplain at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. “And one thing I absolutely love to do is see the students interact with the patients,” he added. The

Organización católica atraviesa dificultades ante la interrupción de fondos federales para representar a menores no acompañados #Catholic – (OSV News) — Un ministerio de asistencia legal de la Diócesis de El Paso, Texas, que atiende a decenas de miles de personas, ha agotado sus reservas tras siete meses sin recibir pagos del gobierno federal por su programa de representación de niños inmigrantes no acompañados.
“Se han agotado por completo debido a la situación actual”, declaró Melissa López el 20 de julio. Ella es la directora ejecutiva de Estrella del Paso, anteriormente conocida como Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (DMRS), una organización que presta servicios legales en el oeste de Texas y Nuevo México a clientes provenientes principalmente de América Latina.
DMRS surgió de una colaboración entre la Diócesis de El Paso y la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB, por sus siglas en inglés) en respuesta al programa de amnistía de 1986 para personas que se encontraban en el país sin autorización. La agencia pasó a trabajar bajo subcontrato gubernamental para brindar representación legal a menores no acompañados, cumpliendo así con un mandato del Congreso. Los pagos solían ser muy regulares, señaló López. La organización se constituyó como una entidad sin fines de lucro independiente en 1990 y adoptó el nombre de Estrella del Paso en 2023.
En marzo de 2025, Estrella del Paso y otras organizaciones que brindan servicios legales a niños migrantes no acompañados demandaron a los Departamentos de Salud y Servicios Humanos e Interior, así como a la Oficina de Reasentamiento de Refugiados, debido a la retirada de fondos para este servicio. Un juez federal emitió una orden judicial temporal que obligó a los departamentos a seguir pagando por los servicios; en el caso de Estrella del Paso, la deuda acumulada hasta la fecha asciende a aproximadamente 900.000 dólares. Esa cifra aumentará después de finales de julio, señaló López.

Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.

La jueza de distrito de EE.UU. Araceli Martínez-Olguín ordenó a los demandantes, el 16 de julio, reunirse con el gobierno federal para llegar a un acuerdo sobre los montos impagos antes de la próxima audiencia, que estaba programada para el 23 de julio.
Más allá del dinero adeudado, se desconoce qué sucederá con la continuidad del contrato con el gobierno. López indicó que el contrato debe renovarse a finales de julio, pero la situación actual hace que el futuro de sus servicios sea aún más incierto. Por este motivo, declaró a OSV News, el equipo de Estrella del Paso tomó la decisión el 17 de julio de no aceptar más casos de niños no acompañados. No obstante, continuarán trabajando en los varios cientos de casos que ya tienen a su cargo.
Al preguntársele si la organización tendría que cerrar sus puertas, López –empleada de la entidad desde hace 19 años– respondió: “Si depende de mí, no. Pero, ciertamente, sería ingenuo por nuestra parte no contemplar esa posibilidad”.
“Nos encontramos en una situación muy precaria en la que corremos el riesgo de incumplir nuestras obligaciones”, afirmó. “Si no podemos pagar a nuestro personal, no habrá nadie para prestar los servicios. Esa es nuestra obligación más importante: los salarios y las prestaciones. Pero también tenemos obligaciones con el arrendador y debemos cubrir nuestros… gastos operativos”.
Si bien hasta hace poco la oficina ayudaba a unos 6.500 menores al año –evaluando si requerían representación legal y proporcionándosela en caso necesario–, también presta asistencia a personas inmersas en procesos de deportación, refugiados que solicitan asilo y migrantes que huyen de la violencia doméstica, entre otros servicios.
Sin embargo, López señaló que el año pasado el gobierno recortó subvenciones por valor de más de 2 millones de dólares destinadas a otros dos programas para menores no acompañados: el servicio de asistencia en los tribunales de inmigración y el programa de orientación sobre el sistema legal.
Los clientes menores de edad de la organización son principalmente adolescentes, indicó.
“Considero que a los niños se les debe tratar con un cuidado y una atención especiales. Y, además, hay que tener en cuenta que estamos hablando de niños que han sufrido traumas”, afirmó López.
El obispo Mark J. Seitz, de El Paso y presidente de la junta directiva de Estrella del Paso, comentó que le han preguntado por qué los padres permiten que sus hijos viajen solos a este país, realizando a menudo peligrosos cruces fronterizos.
“La respuesta que doy es que lo hacen porque los aman profundamente. La gente debe entender que es un sacrificio enorme, un acto de amor, dejar partir a quienes más amas en el mundo”, explicó a OSV News.
“Pero lo permiten” debido a lo que podría suceder si se quedan, señaló. “Porque dicen: ‘Mi hijo probablemente morirá’. O, al menos, si es una niña, será víctima de violación y abusos; si es un niño, será reclutado por pandillas, obligado a matar y a sufrir las consecuencias de ese estilo de vida”, afirmó.
El obispo Seitz también señaló como factores adicionales que impulsan la llegada de niños no acompañados a Estados Unidos son la pobreza extrema y el hecho de que los menores cruzan la frontera con la intención de encontrar trabajo para ayudar a sus familias.
El obispo dijo: “Todo inmigrante que cruce debe ser evaluado. Y se debe determinar si tienen una razón por la cual regresar sería peligroso para ellos, o cuáles son las circunstancias”.
“De eso es de lo que deberían tratar estos procedimientos judiciales. No estamos en contra de los procedimientos judiciales. Estamos en contra de los procedimientos que no dan a los niños la oportunidad de exponer su caso, que no les permiten el debido proceso conforme a nuestras leyes”, explicó el obispo Seitz.
La directora de comunicaciones de Estrella del Paso dijo a OSV News que, “por extrema precaución”, los clientes de la organización no hablan con los medios de comunicación y se muestran reticentes incluso cuando se les ofrece el anonimato.
Bajo las actuales medidas severas de inmigración del presidente Donald Trump, este temor no solo afecta a los migrantes. Incluso los donantes se muestran cautelosos, señaló López, quien comentó que ha estado realizando una campaña de recaudación de fondos este verano.
Aun así, señaló que en el último mes han surgido donantes “increíblemente valientes”.
Asimismo, a Lopez le reconforta la dedicación del personal, a pesar de que hay puestos vacantes y existe la amenaza de posibles despidos.
“Su principal pregunta es: ‘¿Qué pasará con mis clientes? ¿Qué pasará con los niños… si no estamos aquí?’”, comentó. “Creo que lo más extraordinario de toda esta situación es que, a pesar de que esto podría tener consecuencias muy reales para nuestro equipo y sus vidas personales, siguen totalmente centrados en las personas a las que atendemos”.
Simone Orendain es corresponsal de OSV News. Escribe desde Chicago.

unitedyam July 30, 2026August 2, 2026

Organización católica atraviesa dificultades ante la interrupción de fondos federales para representar a menores no acompañados #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Un ministerio de asistencia legal de la Diócesis de El Paso, Texas, que atiende a decenas de miles de personas, ha agotado sus reservas tras siete meses sin recibir pagos del gobierno federal por su programa de representación de niños inmigrantes no acompañados.

“Se han agotado por completo debido a la situación actual”, declaró Melissa López el 20 de julio. Ella es la directora ejecutiva de Estrella del Paso, anteriormente conocida como Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (DMRS), una organización que presta servicios legales en el oeste de Texas y Nuevo México a clientes provenientes principalmente de América Latina.

DMRS surgió de una colaboración entre la Diócesis de El Paso y la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB, por sus siglas en inglés) en respuesta al programa de amnistía de 1986 para personas que se encontraban en el país sin autorización. La agencia pasó a trabajar bajo subcontrato gubernamental para brindar representación legal a menores no acompañados, cumpliendo así con un mandato del Congreso. Los pagos solían ser muy regulares, señaló López. La organización se constituyó como una entidad sin fines de lucro independiente en 1990 y adoptó el nombre de Estrella del Paso en 2023.

En marzo de 2025, Estrella del Paso y otras organizaciones que brindan servicios legales a niños migrantes no acompañados demandaron a los Departamentos de Salud y Servicios Humanos e Interior, así como a la Oficina de Reasentamiento de Refugiados, debido a la retirada de fondos para este servicio. Un juez federal emitió una orden judicial temporal que obligó a los departamentos a seguir pagando por los servicios; en el caso de Estrella del Paso, la deuda acumulada hasta la fecha asciende a aproximadamente 900.000 dólares. Esa cifra aumentará después de finales de julio, señaló López.

Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.

La jueza de distrito de EE.UU. Araceli Martínez-Olguín ordenó a los demandantes, el 16 de julio, reunirse con el gobierno federal para llegar a un acuerdo sobre los montos impagos antes de la próxima audiencia, que estaba programada para el 23 de julio.

Más allá del dinero adeudado, se desconoce qué sucederá con la continuidad del contrato con el gobierno. López indicó que el contrato debe renovarse a finales de julio, pero la situación actual hace que el futuro de sus servicios sea aún más incierto. Por este motivo, declaró a OSV News, el equipo de Estrella del Paso tomó la decisión el 17 de julio de no aceptar más casos de niños no acompañados. No obstante, continuarán trabajando en los varios cientos de casos que ya tienen a su cargo.

Al preguntársele si la organización tendría que cerrar sus puertas, López –empleada de la entidad desde hace 19 años– respondió: “Si depende de mí, no. Pero, ciertamente, sería ingenuo por nuestra parte no contemplar esa posibilidad”.

“Nos encontramos en una situación muy precaria en la que corremos el riesgo de incumplir nuestras obligaciones”, afirmó. “Si no podemos pagar a nuestro personal, no habrá nadie para prestar los servicios. Esa es nuestra obligación más importante: los salarios y las prestaciones. Pero también tenemos obligaciones con el arrendador y debemos cubrir nuestros… gastos operativos”.

Si bien hasta hace poco la oficina ayudaba a unos 6.500 menores al año –evaluando si requerían representación legal y proporcionándosela en caso necesario–, también presta asistencia a personas inmersas en procesos de deportación, refugiados que solicitan asilo y migrantes que huyen de la violencia doméstica, entre otros servicios.

Sin embargo, López señaló que el año pasado el gobierno recortó subvenciones por valor de más de 2 millones de dólares destinadas a otros dos programas para menores no acompañados: el servicio de asistencia en los tribunales de inmigración y el programa de orientación sobre el sistema legal.

Los clientes menores de edad de la organización son principalmente adolescentes, indicó.

“Considero que a los niños se les debe tratar con un cuidado y una atención especiales. Y, además, hay que tener en cuenta que estamos hablando de niños que han sufrido traumas”, afirmó López.

El obispo Mark J. Seitz, de El Paso y presidente de la junta directiva de Estrella del Paso, comentó que le han preguntado por qué los padres permiten que sus hijos viajen solos a este país, realizando a menudo peligrosos cruces fronterizos.

“La respuesta que doy es que lo hacen porque los aman profundamente. La gente debe entender que es un sacrificio enorme, un acto de amor, dejar partir a quienes más amas en el mundo”, explicó a OSV News.

“Pero lo permiten” debido a lo que podría suceder si se quedan, señaló. “Porque dicen: ‘Mi hijo probablemente morirá’. O, al menos, si es una niña, será víctima de violación y abusos; si es un niño, será reclutado por pandillas, obligado a matar y a sufrir las consecuencias de ese estilo de vida”, afirmó.

El obispo Seitz también señaló como factores adicionales que impulsan la llegada de niños no acompañados a Estados Unidos son la pobreza extrema y el hecho de que los menores cruzan la frontera con la intención de encontrar trabajo para ayudar a sus familias.

El obispo dijo: “Todo inmigrante que cruce debe ser evaluado. Y se debe determinar si tienen una razón por la cual regresar sería peligroso para ellos, o cuáles son las circunstancias”.

“De eso es de lo que deberían tratar estos procedimientos judiciales. No estamos en contra de los procedimientos judiciales. Estamos en contra de los procedimientos que no dan a los niños la oportunidad de exponer su caso, que no les permiten el debido proceso conforme a nuestras leyes”, explicó el obispo Seitz.

La directora de comunicaciones de Estrella del Paso dijo a OSV News que, “por extrema precaución”, los clientes de la organización no hablan con los medios de comunicación y se muestran reticentes incluso cuando se les ofrece el anonimato.

Bajo las actuales medidas severas de inmigración del presidente Donald Trump, este temor no solo afecta a los migrantes. Incluso los donantes se muestran cautelosos, señaló López, quien comentó que ha estado realizando una campaña de recaudación de fondos este verano.

Aun así, señaló que en el último mes han surgido donantes “increíblemente valientes”.

Asimismo, a Lopez le reconforta la dedicación del personal, a pesar de que hay puestos vacantes y existe la amenaza de posibles despidos.

“Su principal pregunta es: ‘¿Qué pasará con mis clientes? ¿Qué pasará con los niños… si no estamos aquí?’”, comentó. “Creo que lo más extraordinario de toda esta situación es que, a pesar de que esto podría tener consecuencias muy reales para nuestro equipo y sus vidas personales, siguen totalmente centrados en las personas a las que atendemos”.

Simone Orendain es corresponsal de OSV News. Escribe desde Chicago.

– (OSV News) — Un ministerio de asistencia legal de la Diócesis de El Paso, Texas, que atiende a decenas de miles de personas, ha agotado sus reservas tras siete meses sin recibir pagos del gobierno federal por su programa de representación de niños inmigrantes no acompañados. “Se han agotado por completo debido a la situación actual”, declaró Melissa López el 20 de julio. Ella es la directora ejecutiva de Estrella del Paso, anteriormente conocida como Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (DMRS), una organización que presta servicios legales en el oeste de Texas y Nuevo México a clientes provenientes principalmente de

El mensaje del Papa León a la juventud: Jesús no quiere que sean ‘jóvenes de sillón’ #Catholic – ROMA (OSV News) — El Papa León XIV instó a los jóvenes a no ser “jóvenes de sillón” en un mensaje en video del 25 de julio, añadiendo que la Iglesia necesita su energía misionera y su “rebeldía santa”.
“Jesús no los quiere ‘jóvenes de sillón’, adormecidos o instalados en la comodidad del ‘siempre se ha hecho así’”, dijo el Papa León, citando la frase en español que el Papa Francisco utilizó durante su discurso en la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud de 2016 en Cracovia.
En un mensaje de video en español dirigido a los jóvenes de la Prelatura de Chota y Cutervo, Perú, con motivo de la celebración de su II Jornada Diocesana de la Juventud, el Papa los animó a que “sientan el llamado a ser misioneros en sus colegios, en sus universidades, en sus calles y en sus campos”.
La Iglesia “necesita de su rebeldía santa, de su energía limpia, de sus ganas de transformar las realidades de dolor en espacios de esperanza”, afirmó el Papa. “Sirvan con alegría, especialmente a los más olvidados, porque ahí es donde se encuentra el rostro sufriente de Jesús”.

Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.

Este fue uno de los tres mensajes de video que el Santo Padre envió durante el fin de semana a encuentros de jóvenes en todo el mundo.
En un mensaje de video del 26 de julio para el ‘Festival Halleluya’ en Fortaleza, Brasil, el Papa León XIV señaló el ejemplo de San Carlo Acutis, animando a los jóvenes a no perder jamás el “vigor misionero indispensable para transformar este mundo, que necesita tan desesperadamente el Evangelio”.
“En nuestros días, aún son muchas las personas que necesitan saber que es Jesús quien responde a sus deseos más profundos, revelando a la humanidad la verdad sobre sí misma”, dijo en portugués. “¡Proclamen, pues, con valentía que una vida sin Cristo es una vida sin gracia! Él es el Camino, la Verdad y la Vida; es Él quien da sentido a la existencia y a todas las cosas”.
“Dejémonos inspirar por el ejemplo de San Carlos Acutis: él nos muestra cómo mantener siempre a Cristo en el centro, incluso al utilizar la tecnología”, dijo el Papa León a los jóvenes brasileños, según la traducción oficial del Vaticano.
El Santo Padre también los exhortó a usar las redes sociales y la inteligencia artificial “con moderación y disciplina”, y advirtiendo que estas herramientas pueden arrastrar a las personas a “un mundo irreal, en el que lo efímero, las meras apariencias y el engaño terminan por ocupar el lugar de los verdaderos valores y de lo que realmente importa”.
El Papa reconoció que el entusiasmo que se siente en una festividad como el ‘Festival Halleluya’ puede desvanecerse con el tiempo, y dijo que para mantenerlo es necesario permanecer en la presencia de Dios a través de la oración, con “constancia, perseverancia y la firme certeza de que el Padre Celestial nunca nos abandona”.
Citando al Papa Benedicto XVI, añadió: “¡No tengan, pues, miedo de Cristo! Él no quita nada, lo da todo”.
En un tercer mensaje en video, dirigido a los jóvenes reunidos en Lamego, Portugal, para la segunda Jornada Nacional de la Juventud “Rejoice” (Alégrate), el Papa León reflexionó sobre sus recientes encuentros con jóvenes católicos –desde el Jubileo de los Jóvenes en Roma hasta una vigilia juvenil durante su viaje apostólico a España– y expresó su entusiasmo ante la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud que se celebrará en Seúl, Corea del Sur, en agosto de 2027.
“Siempre es especial estar con los jóvenes, ¡porque el entusiasmo de su fe es contagioso!”, dijo el Papa.
El Papa León animó a los jóvenes a “aprovechar lo que les inquieta para –en momentos de oración y silencio, en diálogo con Dios– preguntarle: Señor, ¿qué quieres que haga en la Iglesia y en el mundo? ¿Cuál es mi vocación? ¿Me llamas a formar una familia a través del matrimonio? ¿O me llama a la vida sacerdotal? ¿O a la vida religiosa’”.
“¡No tengan miedo de la inquietud que llevan dentro! Aprovechen ese impulso para acercarse aún más a Cristo y para dar testimonio de los valores del Evangelio”, dijo el Papa.
Courtney Mares es editora de temas del Vaticano para OSV News. Sígala en X en @catholicourtney.

unitedyam July 30, 2026August 3, 2026

El mensaje del Papa León a la juventud: Jesús no quiere que sean ‘jóvenes de sillón’ #Catholic –

ROMA (OSV News) — El Papa León XIV instó a los jóvenes a no ser “jóvenes de sillón” en un mensaje en video del 25 de julio, añadiendo que la Iglesia necesita su energía misionera y su “rebeldía santa”.

“Jesús no los quiere ‘jóvenes de sillón’, adormecidos o instalados en la comodidad del ‘siempre se ha hecho así’”, dijo el Papa León, citando la frase en español que el Papa Francisco utilizó durante su discurso en la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud de 2016 en Cracovia.

En un mensaje de video en español dirigido a los jóvenes de la Prelatura de Chota y Cutervo, Perú, con motivo de la celebración de su II Jornada Diocesana de la Juventud, el Papa los animó a que “sientan el llamado a ser misioneros en sus colegios, en sus universidades, en sus calles y en sus campos”.

La Iglesia “necesita de su rebeldía santa, de su energía limpia, de sus ganas de transformar las realidades de dolor en espacios de esperanza”, afirmó el Papa. “Sirvan con alegría, especialmente a los más olvidados, porque ahí es donde se encuentra el rostro sufriente de Jesús”.

Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.

Este fue uno de los tres mensajes de video que el Santo Padre envió durante el fin de semana a encuentros de jóvenes en todo el mundo.

En un mensaje de video del 26 de julio para el ‘Festival Halleluya’ en Fortaleza, Brasil, el Papa León XIV señaló el ejemplo de San Carlo Acutis, animando a los jóvenes a no perder jamás el “vigor misionero indispensable para transformar este mundo, que necesita tan desesperadamente el Evangelio”.

“En nuestros días, aún son muchas las personas que necesitan saber que es Jesús quien responde a sus deseos más profundos, revelando a la humanidad la verdad sobre sí misma”, dijo en portugués. “¡Proclamen, pues, con valentía que una vida sin Cristo es una vida sin gracia! Él es el Camino, la Verdad y la Vida; es Él quien da sentido a la existencia y a todas las cosas”.

“Dejémonos inspirar por el ejemplo de San Carlos Acutis: él nos muestra cómo mantener siempre a Cristo en el centro, incluso al utilizar la tecnología”, dijo el Papa León a los jóvenes brasileños, según la traducción oficial del Vaticano.

El Santo Padre también los exhortó a usar las redes sociales y la inteligencia artificial “con moderación y disciplina”, y advirtiendo que estas herramientas pueden arrastrar a las personas a “un mundo irreal, en el que lo efímero, las meras apariencias y el engaño terminan por ocupar el lugar de los verdaderos valores y de lo que realmente importa”.

El Papa reconoció que el entusiasmo que se siente en una festividad como el ‘Festival Halleluya’ puede desvanecerse con el tiempo, y dijo que para mantenerlo es necesario permanecer en la presencia de Dios a través de la oración, con “constancia, perseverancia y la firme certeza de que el Padre Celestial nunca nos abandona”.

Citando al Papa Benedicto XVI, añadió: “¡No tengan, pues, miedo de Cristo! Él no quita nada, lo da todo”.

En un tercer mensaje en video, dirigido a los jóvenes reunidos en Lamego, Portugal, para la segunda Jornada Nacional de la Juventud “Rejoice” (Alégrate), el Papa León reflexionó sobre sus recientes encuentros con jóvenes católicos –desde el Jubileo de los Jóvenes en Roma hasta una vigilia juvenil durante su viaje apostólico a España– y expresó su entusiasmo ante la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud que se celebrará en Seúl, Corea del Sur, en agosto de 2027.

“Siempre es especial estar con los jóvenes, ¡porque el entusiasmo de su fe es contagioso!”, dijo el Papa.

El Papa León animó a los jóvenes a “aprovechar lo que les inquieta para –en momentos de oración y silencio, en diálogo con Dios– preguntarle: Señor, ¿qué quieres que haga en la Iglesia y en el mundo? ¿Cuál es mi vocación? ¿Me llamas a formar una familia a través del matrimonio? ¿O me llama a la vida sacerdotal? ¿O a la vida religiosa’”.

“¡No tengan miedo de la inquietud que llevan dentro! Aprovechen ese impulso para acercarse aún más a Cristo y para dar testimonio de los valores del Evangelio”, dijo el Papa.

Courtney Mares es editora de temas del Vaticano para OSV News. Sígala en X en @catholicourtney.

– ROMA (OSV News) — El Papa León XIV instó a los jóvenes a no ser “jóvenes de sillón” en un mensaje en video del 25 de julio, añadiendo que la Iglesia necesita su energía misionera y su “rebeldía santa”. “Jesús no los quiere ‘jóvenes de sillón’, adormecidos o instalados en la comodidad del ‘siempre se ha hecho así’”, dijo el Papa León, citando la frase en español que el Papa Francisco utilizó durante su discurso en la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud de 2016 en Cracovia. En un mensaje de video en español dirigido a los jóvenes de la Prelatura

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 29, 2026

Heavenly Father,
Bless (name) and keep him (her) in Your love.
Grant him (her) a good rest tonight,
And send Your angels to protect him (her).
In the Name of the Father,
And the + Son,
And of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

‘Canticle of Peace’: Leo XIV presents the beauty of music as a path to God #Catholic Pope Leo XIV stated Wednesday that “the beauty of music invites us to encounter the One who is beauty itself,” during the “Canticle of Peace” prayer and fraternal gathering held at Castel Gandolfo’s Borgo Laudato Si’ gardens.Leo XIV also prayed for peace to reign “in all those places in the world that continue to suffer from violenceThe gathering, organized by the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF), took place as part of the celebrations marking the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.Addressing the young members of the ABF Voices choir who came from Uganda, the Holy Land, and Italy, Leo XIV assured them: “Know also that the Holy Father loves you and prays for you, for your families, and for your countries.”After listening to the performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli and the choir, the pope thanked them for the effort put into preparing the recital and congratulated their conductors, noting that “music has the extraordinary capacity to bring different voices together in unison, where each contributes something unique to the whole.”“In this sense, the choir becomes an ideal symbol of harmony and cooperation,” he added.

Andrea Bocelli during his performance at the “Canticle of Peace” before Pope Leo XIV and the young people gathered at the Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo on July 29, 2026 | Credit: Vatican Media.

In his message, Leo XIV noted the significance of the fact that Sacred Scripture and the Church’s liturgy speak of “choirs of angels and saints” when describing the joy of heaven.This does not mean, he explained, that they are “literally singing all the time,” but rather that, “united in love, they contemplate God together and find the fullness of happiness in him.”The Holy Father then invited the young people to reflect on what had taken place during their performance: “As you sang, did you notice how music drew all of us into a new experience — something greater than anything any one of us could have created alone?”“This is the experience of beauty. It opens up a new horizon before us and awakens within us the desire to move towards it,” he continued.The pope explained that “when we journey toward that horizon, we do not simply discover something, but Someone. We encounter God, our Creator.”

Pope Leo XIV speaking to the young participants in the “Canticle of Peace,” held at the Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo on July 29, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Leo XIV encouraged the young people to continue cultivating the gifts God has bestowed upon them and to allow those talents to lead them to him, for “He is all we seek in life, the only one who can calm our restless hearts.”The pontiff also reminded them that “you were made for great things and that the whole world is not enough to satisfy your thirst for meaning and happiness.”Before concluding, Leo XIV thanked the Andrea Bocelli Foundation for its work on behalf of young people facing educational and social disadvantages, and highlighted that “through the power of music, you are contributing to the Church’s mission of promoting the integral development of every human person in service of the common good. May God bless your efforts.”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.

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 30, 2026

The Holy Father made his remarks at an event organized by the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.

Archbishop Wenski meets lawmakers to gain support for Haitian migrants amid deportation fears #Catholic Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski traveled to Washington, D.C., on July 28 to advocate on behalf of Haitian migrants who fear they will soon be targets of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.Wenski’s meetings with lawmakers came one day after the expiration of the automatic work‑permit extension under temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration has the authority to terminate TPS, which ended their work authorization and could subject them to deportation orders. “Haiti is a house on fire,” Wenski told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales before entering the office of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia.The archbishop said TPS expiration and possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians is bad for the migrants — who would be sent back to an unstable country — and for the American communities in which the migrants live and work. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).“To think that we can send 350,000 people back to Haiti without that having very bad consequences in Haiti — but also here because these people are working, they’re not on the dole, they’re working, and if they’re removed from their jobs, if they lose their work permits, that’s going to have a negative economic impact on the communities in which they live,” Wenski said.As Haitian TPS status ends, some lawmakers have introduced bills to compel the DHS to extend the status. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has advocated strongly on behalf of Haitian migrants, asking the Trump administration and lawmakers to extend TPS. About two-thirds of Haiti is Catholic.Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the USCCB, told EWTN News that Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, USCCB Committee on Migration chair, “has encouraged his brother bishops across the country to engage with their elected officials” on Haitian TPS status and broader immigration reform efforts.“As pastors committed to upholding the common good, the bishops are actively engaging in this dialogue and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to do so, which they acknowledged in their special message last November,” she said.In November 2025, the USCCB adopted a message in a 216-5 vote that opposed the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and policies that revoke the legal status of migrants, such as the terminations of TPS for various groups of migrants.Kaine, an advocate for extending TPS, told EWTN News after meeting with Wenski that he was glad “to discuss the critical need for Congress to do what is right and protect TPS holders who have been in the U.S. legally for years” and looks forward to working with the USCCB to advocate for TPS holders.TPS holders “have made countless contributions in important sectors such as healthcare and construction, and developed deep roots in our communities through their U.S. citizen families and businesses,” he added. “Many TPS holders, such as those from Haiti, should not be forced to return to the extremely dangerous conditions that made them seek safety in the United States.”Status of Haitian migrantsOn July 27, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reposted a DHS post on X, which said “temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY” and urged anyone whose TPS has expired to self-deport out of the U.S.“For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time,” the post read. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”When asked whether DHS intends to specifically target Haitians for deportation amid the TPS expiration, a spokesperson told EWTN News that the department “does not discuss ongoing or future operations” but is conducting law enforcement activities daily.“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told EWTN News that TPS was initially approved for Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake.Although Haiti continues to face serious safety and political stability concerns, he said the effects of the earthquake no longer impact the country. He noted that Haitians can apply for permanent status under other programs, such as if they are eligible for asylum, but that TPS is not a permanent resettlement program.Arthur said Haitians who are in the U.S. under temporary legal status “had the opportunity to work in the United States and make money” and learn skills, which they can take back “to Haiti and [it can] help them make Haiti a better country.”The former judge said he expects immigration enforcement toward Haitians to be part of “the larger enforcement efforts” rather than a targeted campaign against Haitians, with a priority toward people who have been convicted of crimes.“The response [now] is foreign aid on the part of the United States and aid from the Catholic Church toward making Haiti a better place,” Arthur said.TPS status for Syrian migrants also ended on July 27. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 30, 2026

The Department of Homeland Security defended its policy, saying temporary protected status was not meant to be permanent.

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 29, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
18:1-6

This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Rise up, be off to the potter’s house;
there I will give you my message.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the LORD.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of discernment with images taken from ordinary life; for example, he describes the fishers who select the good fish and discard the bad ones. (…) It takes intelligence, skill, and also will to make a good choice. And there is also a price required for discernment to become effective. To perform his trade to the best of his ability, the fisherman reckons with hard work, long nights spent at sea, and then the fact of discarding some of the catch, accepting a loss of profit for the sake of those for whom it is intended. (…) Everyone has to make decisions; there is no one to make them for us. At a certain point, adults can freely ask for advice, reflect, but the decision is our own. We can’t say, ‘I lost this, because my husband decided, my wife decided, my brother decided’. No. You have to decide, each of us has to decide. (…) In the final judgement God will exercise discernment — the great discernment — with regard to us. (…) And in a good decision, correct, there is an encounter between God’s will and our will. (…) Discernment is demanding but indispensable for living. It requires that I know myself, that I know what is good for me here and now. Above all, it requires a filial relationship with God. God is Father and He does not leave us alone, He is always willing to advise us, to encourage us, to welcome us. But He never imposes His will. Why? Because He wants to be loved and not feared. And also, God wants children, not slaves: free children. And love can only be lived in freedom. (…) Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide us! Let us invoke Him every day, especially when we have choices to make. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 31 agosto 2022)

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 29, 2026

Obituary: Salesian Sister Nivia Arias, 65 #Catholic –

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10:30 p.m. at Mary Help of Christians Academy, St. Joseph Chapel, in North Haledon, N.J., for Salesian Sister Nivia Arias, who died on July 24 at Chilton Memorial Hospital in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J. She was 65.

She was a Salesian Sister for 42 years.

Sister Arias was born in Tampa, Florida, to Cuban immigrants Alberto and Maria Luisa Arias. She graduated from Villa Madonna School there in 1975. In Villa’s 90-year history, she was the only student to become a Salesian Sister.

Sister Arias entered the Salesian Sisters after helping at Camp Auxilium in Newton, N.J., a summer camp run by the religious order. In 1984, she made her first religious profession.

She taught in elementary schools in Paterson and Tampa and taught archery at summer camps in New Jersey and Florida. For many years, Sister Arias was dedicated to retreat ministry at Sacred Heart Center in Newton.

Sister Arias is survived by her brother, Carlos, and a large extended family.
“Please join us in praying for the eternal repose of Sr. She was a loving Sister who naturally lived ‘Laudato Si’ and had a heart for the least,” the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, Daughters Mary Help of Christians, posted on social media. “She had so many creative gifts and loved her Salesian vocation, with a special eye toward catechizing the young. Her prayer was often for peace and reconciliation, especially in people’s hearts. We will miss you, Sister Nivia,” they posted.
A wake for Sister Arias will be held on Friday, July 31, at the Salesians’ Provincial House in Haledon, N.J. It will consist of a 4:30 to 6 p.m. wake, 4:30 p.m. rosary, and 5:30 p.m. reading of her biography and evening prayer.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10:30 p.m. at Mary Help of Christians Academy, St. Joseph Chapel, in North Haledon, N.J. Her burial and repast will follow it in the academy’s cafeteria.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10:30 p.m. at Mary Help of Christians Academy, St. Joseph Chapel, in North Haledon, N.J., for Salesian Sister Nivia Arias, who died on July 24 at Chilton Memorial Hospital in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J. She was 65. She was a Salesian Sister for 42 years. Sister Arias was born in Tampa, Florida, to Cuban immigrants Alberto and Maria Luisa Arias. She graduated from Villa Madonna School there in 1975. In Villa’s 90-year history, she was the only student to become a Salesian Sister. Sister

unitedyam July 29, 2026July 29, 2026

Obituary: Deacon Stephen Marabeti, 86 #Catholic –

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Lincoln Park, N.J., for Deacon Stephen Marabeti, who died on July 24. He was 86.

In 1974, Bishop Lawrence Casey, the fifth bishop of Paterson, ordained Deacon Marabeti as a member of the first class of men to of the Permanent Diaconate for the diocese, N.J. He served St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park from the date of his ordination until his death.

On July 6, 2024, Deacon Marabeti celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination at a Mass for which Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the principal celebrant.

“Deacon Steve faithfully served God and the people of St. Joseph Parish with dedication, kindness, and a generous heart.,” St. Joseph’s posted on social media. “His unwavering faith, compassion, and commitment to our parish community touched countless lives His passing is a tremendous loss for our parish family, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him,” the parish posted.

Deacon Marabeti belonged to the steering committee that helped start the diocesan diaconate program with Msgr. Kenneth Lasch, now retired, directed by Bishop Lawrence Casey. Through his work with the U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops on the Permanent Diaconate, he traveled around the country to encourage other dioceses to start diaconate programs.

Deacon Marabeti pursued a career in education. He taught history at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J. from 1964 to 1969. Afterward, he taught history and other subjects at Parsippany Hills High School for 32 years before retiring.
A wake for Deacon Marabeti will be held on Friday, July 31, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Keri-Lozito Funeral Home in Lincoln Park.

Deacons are invited to vest and process in alb and diocesan stole at the Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Church. Repast will be held after at the parish.

Please keep Deacon Marabeti and his family in your prayers.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Lincoln Park, N.J., for Deacon Stephen Marabeti, who died on July 24. He was 86. In 1974, Bishop Lawrence Casey, the fifth bishop of Paterson, ordained Deacon Marabeti as a member of the first class of men to of the Permanent Diaconate for the diocese, N.J. He served St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park from the date of his ordination until his death. On July 6, 2024, Deacon Marabeti celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination at a Mass for

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney’s Schedule: August, 2026 #Catholic –

8/1
Sat., 8 a.m. Mass for Life & Procession – St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Morristown; 10:30 a.m. Transitional Diaconate ordination of seminarian Carlos Vargas – St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Passaic; 2:30 p.m. Mass for the closing of ECCADS, annual Diocesan Catholic Charismatic Encounter for Servants (Servidores de la Renovación Carismática) – St. Gerard Majella Parish gymnasium, Paterson.

8/4
Tues., 10 a.m. Mass – Nazareth Village, Chester; 1:30 p.m. Priest meeting – St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison.

8/5
Wed., 3 p.m. Final profession – Mary Help of Christians, North Haledon.

8/12
Wed., 8:30 a.m. Opening Mass for principals and presidents – the Oratory, Clifton.

8/14
Fri., All Day Vocations Media Day – St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison; 7 p.m. Mass – St. Clare Parish, Clifton.

8/15
Sat., 10:30 a.m. Final profession – the Sisters of Christian Charity, Mendham.

8/22
Sat.,10 a.m. Polo fundraiser – Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Sparta.

8/27
Thu., 7 p.m. Memorial Mass for Father Rafael Ciro on the first anniversary of his passing – St. Stephen Parish, Paterson.

8/29
Sat.,11 a.m. Jubilee of St. Francis Mass – St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Haskell.

unitedyam July 28, 2026July 28, 2026

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney’s Schedule: August, 2026 #Catholic –

8/1	Sat., 8 a.m. Mass for Life & Procession – St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Morristown; 10:30 a.m. Transitional Diaconate ordination of seminarian Carlos Vargas – St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Passaic; 2:30 p.m. Mass for the closing of ECCADS, annual Diocesan Catholic Charismatic Encounter for Servants (Servidores de la Renovación Carismática) – St. Gerard Majella Parish gymnasium, Paterson.
8/4	Tues., 10 a.m. Mass – Nazareth Village, Chester; 1:30 p.m. Priest meeting – St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison.
8/5	Wed., 3 p.m. Final profession – Mary Help of Christians, North Haledon.
8/12	Wed., 8:30 a.m. Opening Mass for principals and presidents – the Oratory, Clifton.
8/14	Fri., All Day Vocations Media Day – St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison; 7 p.m. Mass – St. Clare Parish, Clifton.
8/15	Sat., 10:30 a.m. Final profession – the Sisters of Christian Charity, Mendham.
8/22	Sat.,10 a.m. Polo fundraiser – Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Sparta.
8/27	Thu., 7 p.m. Memorial Mass for Father Rafael Ciro on the first anniversary of his passing – St. Stephen Parish, Paterson.
8/29	Sat.,11 a.m. Jubilee of St. Francis Mass – St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Haskell.

– 8/1 Sat., 8 a.m. Mass for Life & Procession – St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Morristown; 10:30 a.m. Transitional Diaconate ordination of seminarian Carlos Vargas – St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Passaic; 2:30 p.m. Mass for the closing of ECCADS, annual Diocesan Catholic Charismatic Encounter for Servants (Servidores de la Renovación Carismática) – St. Gerard Majella Parish gymnasium, Paterson. 8/4 Tues., 10 a.m. Mass – Nazareth Village, Chester; 1:30 p.m. Priest meeting – St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison. 8/5 Wed., 3 p.m. Final profession – Mary Help of Christians, North Haledon. 8/12 Wed., 8:30 a.m. Opening Mass for principals

Forest fires in Spain: ‘Providence is taking super good care of us,’ priest says #Catholic The territory of the Diocese of Getafe, south of Madrid, Spain, is being especially hard hit by wildfires that have forced thousands of people to shelter in place or evacuate. The natural disaster finds the diocese’s priests on the front lines, welcoming, accompanying, consoling, and praying.In the central area of Spain alone, 12 towns have been evacuated and another three are under a shelter-in-place order due to the wave of forest fires that in recent days have devastated thousands of acres. At least 50,000 people have been affected in the area.Faced with this human tragedy, the Catholic Church has set to work providing material aid, shelter, a listening ear, and the sacraments in efforts overseen by the auxiliary bishop of Getafe, José María Avendaño.Father Álvaro Piñero is the vicar of the parish in Villaviciosa de Odón, one of the towns serving as a place of refuge for those fleeing the fires who had nowhere else to go. Throughout the weekend, he has been coordinating the aid provided by the parish to the more than 300 displaced people arriving from Chapinería, Pelayos de la Presa, Navas del Rey, and other towns.Along with the residents, the parish priests from those towns are also being sheltered because as Piñero explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, “even when displaced, one remains a priest and continues to minister to the people of oneʼs town.”“Many of the volunteers helping at the sports center are from Caritas or local confraternities from the town; they have ties to the parish,” noted Piñero, who is from Valdemoro, a nearby town where he has gone to pick up hosts for Mass.Instagram postIn addition to providing food and meeting material needs, the Church offers the treasure of the faith and the sacraments: “At the sports center, we have been attending to people, listening to them, hearing their confessions and above all, listening to so many suffering people. At the end of the day, the people here are extremely vulnerable.”The authorities specifically entrusted the care of the children to the parish. The youngsters are kept entertained with games and activities, so much so that when asked if they want to return home, some say no, “because it feels like camp.”Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, heart-wrenching from a purely human perspective, a supernatural outlook and a shepherd’s heart keep hope alive.“As St. Paul said in the reading: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels so that not only death but the glory of the Lord may be manifested in our lives. That is somewhat what we are experiencing; while we are keenly feeling the drama of so many very difficult situations, Providence is also taking super good care of us,” Piñero emphasized.“If God is looking after us now in this situation, why would he fail me tomorrow? If he is doing so now, then I believe trust is what sustains us in these moments, and not blind trust, but a trust we can tangibly feel here and now,” he explained, referring to the help provided by so many volunteers and donors.‘The Lord is going through this evacuation with us’One of the areas hardest hit by the fire is the Tiétar Valley, home to the town of Rozas de Puerto Real and the minor seminary of the Diocese of Getafe, where 130 students, 35 of whom are seminarians, normally study.The facility, currently spared by the flames, is in grave danger. A summer camp was taking place there until participants had to be evacuated on July 25, the feast of St. James the Apostle. “We were already surrounded by smoke and had to evacuate all the young people; it was done very quickly. In less than 25 minutes, the entire seminary had been cleared, and although there was great fear, everyoneʼs efforts made it possible,” Father Eliert Jerez, rector of the minor seminary, told ACI Prensa.In addition to the people, they removed the statues of the Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph, the archives, and the tabernacles containing the Blessed Sacrament from the site; these were taken to Villaviciosa de Odón, where Jerez is currently taking shelter.

Father Eliert Jerez, rector of the minor seminary of the Diocese of Getafe in Spain | Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

The moment the Body of Christ was being moved was captured on video. “I canʼt get that moment out of my head, and I donʼt want to let it go from my heart either,” the priest shared.“When you hold the Blessed Sacrament in your hand, when you can’t wear a cope or liturgical vestments — you realize the Lord’s closeness in those moments. You realize that the Lord was going through this evacuation with us, and I imagine he was also in this prayer and this plea for it to end,” he added.It’s precisely in prayer that they are finding great comfort: “Prayer is working real miracles such as the fact that the seminary has not yet been engulfed by the flames,” explained the rector, even as the burden of responsibility weighs heavily on him: “Many of our seminarians are going to be left homeless. Many of our seminarians will face immense difficulties in continuing their formation.”It’s not just for their sake that Jerez is aware of how this situation will transform life in the region for years to come: “So many towns have been affected. Many people will not get their jobs back because they make their living from the land, and that is very difficult to recover from. Many people have lost not only their homes but also their prospects for the future, and this is a reality that will stay with us in the years ahead.”Indeed, he admitted to his deep unease: “I have had trouble sleeping ever since the first flames appeared.”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.

unitedyam July 28, 2026July 29, 2026

Amid the destructive forest fires in central Spain, the Catholic Church is ministering to the evacuees, providing material aid, shelter, a listening ear, and the sacraments.

White House marks 45th anniversary of martyrdom of Blessed Stanley Rother #Catholic The White House issued a presidential message commemorating the 45th anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Stanley Rother, continuing the administrationʼs pattern of recognizing prominent Catholic feast days and observances.“Today, Melania and I join with American Catholics and people of faith all across the world in honoring the towering legacy of Father Stanley Rother — an Oklahoma farm boy, the first American-born martyr beatified by the Catholic Church, and a champion of human dignity who heroically laid down his life to bring the light of Jesus Christ to a people plagued by horrific darkness,” President Donald Trump, who is not Catholic, said in the July 28 message.Rother was an Oklahoma native who became a missionary priest in 1968, serving in “the war-torn highlands of Guatemala, then ravaged by conflict,” the message said.“Though thousands of Catholics were forcibly disappeared and viciously murdered during the Guatemalan Civil War, Father Rother nonetheless spent 13 years bringing the Gospel to those devastated by poverty and violence — translating sacred Scripture and helping to build a school, a hospital, and the region’s first Catholic radio station — fearlessly embodying Christ’s commission to ‘make disciples of all nations,’” the message said.In the late 1970s, Guatemalaʼs civil war intensified. Rother was surrounded by extreme poverty and saw parishioners murdered for their faith.Amid the conflict, Rother’s name appeared on a hit list, which prompted him to seek refuge in Oklahoma. Despite the dangers, he insisted on returning to Guatemala, “refusing to abandon his flock in their hour of need.”On July 28, 1981, three men entered Rother’s rectory and fatally shot him. He was 46 years old.Rother was declared blessed by Pope Francis, and in 2017 a beatification Mass was said in Oklahoma City, which houses the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said in a homily July 28 at the Rother Shrine that he was surprised “to wake up to an email that contained a special message from the White House. I don’t know if you’ve seen it or heard about it, but the White House acknowledged this day in honoring the 45th anniversary of the death of Father Stanley Rother. I didn’t know we were on their radar screen.”“But what a … tremendous honor it is for the Church, for Oklahoma, for our nation, to have this distinction and this recognition of this ordinary martyr, this parish priest, this missionary martyr: Blessed Stanley Rother,” said Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).A story of religious libertyThe presidential statement highlighted that Rother’s story is a reminder of “America’s rich tradition of religious liberty.”“In his honor, we recommit to remaining vigilant so that our birthright of freedom endures in the face of every trial,” Trump’s statement said. “Above all, we pray that every soul of faith, every lover of freedom, and every seeker of truth will forever remember the name and treasure the story of Father Stanley Rother.”Since his martyrdom, “Rother has stood as a living testament to the power of courage, sacrificial service, and fidelity to God,” the message said. “He has inspired widespread devotion among Catholics.”“And every day, countless priests, pastors, chaplains, and spiritual leaders faithfully look to Father Rother as they strive to carry out his immortal legacy of fortitude, charity, humility, service, generosity, and perseverance.”Marking Catholic observancesTrump has established a pattern of releasing White House statements addressing significant commemorative Catholic days, along with messages marking observances by other faith traditions such as Judaism and Islam.Since Trump began his second term, the White House has released Catholic-focused celebratory statements on the feast of St. Joseph, the birthday of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and St. Patrick’s Day, acknowledging the saints’ lives and legacies.It also released a message on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which appeared to be the first time a U.S. president formally recognized the holy day “honoring the faith, humility, and love of Mary, mother of Jesus and one of the greatest figures in the Bible,” the statement said.The president also released a statement on the anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, calling him “one the fiercest defenders of human dignity to ever live” and encouraging “every American to keep the memory of Pope Saint John Paul II alive for generations to come.”Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the U.S., the president also released a statement regarding the USCCB’s Mass consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which the president called “a powerful moment in our national story.”While releasing the formal presidential messages on Catholic matters, Trump has also criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” on his social media accounts amid the Iran conflict.The president gained widespread attention in April when he made the comments.Despite the online criticism and falsely suggesting that Pope Leo wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the president later told reporters he has “nothing against the pope.”

unitedyam July 28, 2026July 29, 2026

The White House has issued a string of statements acknowledging prominent Catholic feast days and observances.

unitedyam July 28, 2026July 28, 2026

The ‘Education Freedom Tax Credit’ — We hope and pray that New Jersey will ‘opt in’ #Catholic –

“A new federal program could bring direct educational support to New Jersey families at no cost to the state or taxpayers — if the state opts in to participate…”

Education Tax Credit Overview

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

I hope that many readers of this column are already aware of the potential impact of the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit to expand educational opportunities for students and families across the State of New Jersey. I hope that you read the article in the Beacon last week, “Why NJ parents should promote federal education tax credits.”

I am happy to share with you, if you are not already aware, that the New Jersey Catholic Conference (NJCC) has launched a new website to provide education and resources about this potentially “game changing” opportunity. The website is designed to serve as a “one-stop shop” for parents, schools, potential donors, and legislators to learn about the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, to learn how they can support this effort (including sharing the website within their networks), and sign up for updates as the process develops. The website will serve as the central location for action alerts issued by NJCC and their partners in the nonpublic school community encouraging Gov. Mikie Sherrill to opt in to the program.

In early June, James J. King, executive director of the NJCC wrote a letter to Sherrill on behalf of Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., and all the Catholic bishops of the state, respectfully urging the governor and her administration to “opt in” so that New Jesey children, families, schools and communities of all faiths (and of no faith) can benefit from the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit program. King enumerated the many ways in which the Tax Credit program would benefit, not only Catholic Schools, but private and public schools, without any reduction in the state’s support of public education.

At the newly launched NJCC website, you can learn a great deal about the potential benefits and details of this Federal Tax Credit program. One important aspect of the program is the role that will be played by “Scholarship Granting Organizations” (SGOs):

“… This program allows individuals to donate up to $1,700 per year to authorized Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. Eligible families and students can receive funds from these organizations as scholarships for school-related expenses, benefiting the taxpayer and also the students.” — Education Tax Credit Overview

Here in our diocese, we will be well prepared to benefit from the Tax Credits because we have a “Scholarship Granting Organization,” the Tri-County Scholarship Fund, with which I hope readers are already very familiar. The Tri-County Scholarship Fund was founded 45 years ago by Bishop Frank Rodimer and Ed Henessey. “Since 1981, Tri-County Scholarship Fund has provided partial K-12th grade scholarships to financially disadvantaged children from Northern New Jersey so they can attend safe, values-based, quality independent schools which allow them to thrive.” — Tri-County Scholarship Fund

The Board of “Tri-County,” led by President Prudence A. Pigott, has been working diligently to educate and inform their donors, school partners, and families about the potential benefits of the Federal Tax Credit program, as well as the importance of encouraging Sherrill to “opt in” so that children, families, teachers, schools, and communities across our state can receive these benefits.

I encourage you to go to the Tri-County website where you will find:

Ways you can contact Gov. Sherrill’s Office and encourage her to “opt in”
The Text of the New Law (creating the Tax Credit program), related articles, and review “Frequently Asked Questions”
How this Tax Credit program could “transform educational opportunity in New Jersey”
WHY this Tax Credit program “Matters”: “The new federal tax credit will help close the education gap for low-income children and those living in economically depressed zip codes. It will provide scholarship funds not only for tuition, but for all types of education enrichment including tutoring, SAT prep, extended school day, autism, special ed, language, art, dance, music classes, and more…” — New Jersey Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Guide

I will conclude with one additional or, hopefully, complementary “argument” as to why this Federal Tax Credit program is such an important opportunity for us, our families, parishes and schools. This past Sunday, July 26, was the Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, patron saints of grandparents and World Day of Prayer for grandparents and the elderly. During the coming week, we will celebrate, on July 29, the Feast of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and on July 31 and Aug. 1, the Feasts of St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. The first two Feast Days remind us of the value and sanctity of life, especially family life. The Feasts of St. Ignatius and St. Alphonsus remind us of the importance of education, especially Catholic Education and Catholic Schools.

It may not be obvious to all that there is an important “connection” between a Federal Tax Credit program and support for Family Life and Catholic Education. Yet, if we pause and reflect (and if you have read this far), I believe that Catholics and all the citizens, residents, and families of New Jersey should be able to see the benefits of our state and our governor “opting in.” Let us all do our part, as we pray and hope that New Jersey will “opt in.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– “A new federal program could bring direct educational support to New Jersey families at no cost to the state or taxpayers — if the state opts in to participate…” Education Tax Credit Overview BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY I hope that many readers of this column are already aware of the potential impact of the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit to expand educational opportunities for students and families across the State of New Jersey. I hope that you read the article in the Beacon last week, “Why NJ parents should promote federal education tax credits.” I am happy to share with

unitedyam July 27, 2026July 28, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
14:17-22

Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.
If I walk out into the field,
look! those slain by the sword;
If I enter the city,
look! those consumed by hunger.
Even the prophet and the priest
forage in a land they know not.

Have you cast Judah off completely?
Is Zion loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us a blow
that cannot be healed?
We wait for peace, to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.
We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.
For your name’s sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.
Among the nations’ idols is there any that gives rain?
Or can the mere heavens send showers?
Is it not you alone, O LORD,
our God, to whom we look?
You alone have done all these things.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and 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."

The servants’ intention is to eliminate evil immediately, that is, evil people. But the master is wiser, he sees farther. They must learn to wait because enduring persecution and hostility is part of the Christian vocation. Certainly, evil must be rejected, but those who do evil are people with whom it is necessary to be patient. This does not mean that type of hypocritical tolerance that hides ambiguity; but rather, justice tempered by mercy. If Jesus came to seek sinners more than the righteous, to cure the sick first before the healthy (cf. Mt 9:12-13), then our actions too as his disciples should be focused not on suppressing the wicked, but on saving them. Patience lies here. Today’s Gospel presents two ways of acting and of experiencing history: on the one hand, the vision of the master who sees far; on the other, the perspective of the servants who see the problem. The servants care about a field without weeds; the master cares about good wheat. The Lord invites us to adopt his vision, one that is focused on good wheat, that knows how to protect it even amid the weeds. It is not those who are always searching for others’ limitations and flaws who cooperate well with God but, rather, those who know how to recognize the good that silently grows in the field of the Church and history, cultivating it until it becomes mature. And then, God, and he alone, will reward the good and punish the wicked. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 19 July 2020)

Miami archbishop calls for ‘compassionate’ protections for Haitians ahead of TPS deadline #Catholic Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski urged “compassionate” immigration protections for Haitians with temporary protected status (TPS) upon expiration of their automatic work‑permit extension.As “widespread violence, political instability, economic collapse, and humanitarian suffering” continue in Haiti, Wenski said July 24 that the Caribbean nation remains unsafe as a place for migrants to return. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Miami’s archbishop said local ministries are “preparing for the consequences” of policy changes, including the termination of work authorizations for diocesan employees. Employment authorization documents (EADs) reached a court-extended expiration July 27.TPS is an immigration status granted to eligible foreign nationals from designated countries that are unsafe to return to due to ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions.The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 ruled that DHS could end TPS for Haitians and Syrians. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 1689) in April that would add three more years of TPS for Haitian nationals. The legislation has stalled in the Senate.Catholic Health Services (CHS), one of the Archdiocese of Miamiʼs largest ministries, which employs a significant number of Haitian workers who hold TPS, “is currently evaluating the effects of the recent federal changes affecting TPS work authorization, Wenski said.“At this time, an estimated 40 to 50 valued employees may be affected, although the final number remains under review as the organization works individually with each employee based on his or her unique circumstances,” he said.Haitian CHS workers “are more than employees — they are members of our Church and our community,” Wenski said. “They care for the sick, comfort the elderly, and serve some of the most vulnerable among us with compassion and dedication.”Ahead of the deadline, Wenski said “our hearts are with our Haitian brothers and sisters who are living with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety about what the future may hold for themselves and their families.”“The Church recognizes the right of nations to secure their borders and to establish just immigration laws. At the same time, our Catholic faith calls us to uphold the dignity of every human person and to accompany those who are vulnerable,” he said. As “Haiti continues to endure profound hardship,” Wenski urged “elected leaders to pursue compassionate and humane solutions that protect family unity and recognize the extraordinary circumstances facing the Haitian people.”“To our Haitian brothers and sisters: You are not alone. The Catholic Church walks with you,” he said.Haitian workers in Ohio face uncertain futureOhio bishops also have called for continued TPS protections for Haitians, especially as Springfield, Ohio, is home to a large Haitian population. The Catholic Conference of Ohio released a June statement urging action and continued TPS.As the Supreme Court decision has left many families worried about losing their jobs, Ohio-based organizations are also preparing to aid those facing loss of TPS.In an interview July 24 with “EWTN News Nightly,” Casey Rollins, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in Springfield, Ohio, said the organizationʼs team helps immigrants and nonimmigrants “while theyʼre enduring, or while theyʼre navigating … a crisis or a situation.”“That would be, in this case, once they lost their jobs, we will help them take care of their rent and utilities if they now canʼt pay that,” she said.For “over 60 years, weʼve helped Americans with rent and utilities and those kinds of necessities for independent living. Now weʼre doing that with Haitians and other immigrants whoʼve recently lost jobs,” she explained.“We also are helping the families who, many of them, are certain to be deported,” she said.Following the loss of workers in the Ohio community, “weʼre going to be in trouble,” she said. For years, the area needed “more workers here,” and the Haitian community was “taking a lot of these jobs.”

unitedyam July 27, 2026July 28, 2026

Catholic Health Services, one of the Archdiocese of Miami’s largest ministries, faces losing an estimated 40 to 50 employees, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said.

Macron commemorates French priest killed by Islamic extremists 10 years ago #Catholic French President Emmanuel Macron commemorated Father Jacques Hamel, an elderly priest murdered 10 years ago in his church during Mass by two Islamist terrorists on July 26, 2016, and whose cause for beatification is currently underway.“We have not forgotten Father Jacques Hamel. Ten years ago today, he was cowardly murdered by two Islamist terrorists — targeted because he embodied the rejection of hatred, as well as fraternity and hope,” the French leader wrote on his X account on July 26.Tweet“To his loved ones, his parishioners, all the inhabitants of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and the Catholics of France, I extend the nation’s faithful, fraternal greetings,” Macron emphasized.“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president continued, concluding: “In the face of Islamist terrorism, France remains united. True to its foundational values. Resolute not to yield anything to those who seek to divide us.”Hamel’s murderOn July 26, 2016, two young Islamic State terrorists stormed the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, France, and murdered 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel while he was celebrating Mass.Shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”), the killers entered the church and began destroying religious images. The priest tried to stop them but was unable to do so. The terrorists attempted to force him to his knees, but he refused.One of the killers stabbed him, and Hamel cried out, “Begone, Satan!” These were his last words, and they slit his throat.The cause for Hamel’s beatificationThe cause was announced on April 13, 2017, and officially opened on May 20 of that year.The diocesan phase of the cause concluded on March 9, 2019, at Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel of the Archdiocese of Rouen.During that stage, 66 hearings were held, with testimony from the five witnesses to the murder, 51 summoned witnesses including siblings, friends, parishioners, and priests as well as five witnesses the tribunal called “ex officio” to ensure the process was not one-sided.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.

unitedyam July 27, 2026July 28, 2026

“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president said.

unitedyam July 26, 2026July 27, 2026

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
13:1-11

The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;
wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water.
I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on.
A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus:
Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,
and go now to the Parath;
there hide it in a cleft of the rock.
Obedient to the LORD’s command, I went to the Parath
and buried the loincloth.
After a long interval, the LORD said to me:
Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth
which I told you to hide there.
Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth
from the place where I had hid it.
But it was rotted, good for nothing!
Then the message came to me from the LORD:
Thus says the LORD:
So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot,
the great pride of Jerusalem.
This wicked people who refuse to obey my words,
who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts,
and follow strange gods to serve and adore them,
shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing.
For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins,
so had I made the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;
to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.
But they did not listen.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“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.

Talking about God means first of all expressing clearly what God we must bring to the men and women of our time: not an abstract God, a hypothesis, but a real God, a God who exists, who has entered history and is present in history; the God of Jesus Christ as an answer to the fundamental question of the meaning of life and of how we should live. Consequently speaking of God demands familiarity with Jesus and his Gospel, it implies that we have a real, personal knowledge of God and a strong passion for his plan of salvation without succumbing to the temptation of success, but following God’s own method. God’s method is that of humility — God makes himself one of us — his method is brought about through the Incarnation in the simple house of Nazareth; through the Grotto of Bethlehem; through the Parable of the Mustard Seed. We must not fear the humility of taking little steps, but trust in the leaven that penetrates the dough and slowly causes it to rise (cf. Mt 13:33). In talking about God, in the work of evangelization, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must recover simplicity, we must return to the essence of the proclamation: the Good News of a God who is real and effective, a God who is concerned about us, a God-Love who makes himself close to us in Jesus Christ, until the Cross, and who in the Resurrection gives us hope and opens us to a life that has no end, eternal life, true life. (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 28 November 2012)

unitedyam July 26, 2026July 26, 2026

Bishop blesses 2 new greenhouses, generator at Morristown monastery #Catholic –

On July 16, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney paid a pastoral visit to the Discalced Carmelite nuns at the Monastery of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Morristown, N.J. There the bishop celebrated a Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the chapel. He also went outside on the monastery grounds to bless two new greenhouses and a concrete pad that will soon accommodate a new generator.

Through its “We Care, We Share” outreach ministry, the Church of Christ the King in the New Vernon neighborhood of Harding Township, N.J., donated funds for the greenhouses. With them, the nuns hope to grow spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, and cabbage, as well as flowers to decorate the monastery chapel, said Mother Therese Katulski, prioress of the monastery.

The Knights of Columbus of Assumption Parish in Morristown donated funds for the generator — this after a major power outage at the monastery. A contractor will donate the labor to install the generator.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Salesian Sister Theresa Lee, chancellor and delegate for religious of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., assisted Bishop Sweeney with the blessing.

The Discalced Carmelites are a cloistered order with a daily schedule of eight hours of prayer, manual labor, some recreation, and contemplation. They are always striving to make themselves more pleasing to God. The nuns adhere to strict silence so their prayers may be more continuous.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

– On July 16, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney paid a pastoral visit to the Discalced Carmelite nuns at the Monastery of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Morristown, N.J. There the bishop celebrated a Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the chapel. He also went outside on the monastery grounds to bless two new greenhouses and a concrete pad that will soon accommodate a new generator. Through its “We Care, We Share” outreach ministry, the Church of Christ the King in the New Vernon neighborhood of Harding Township, N.J., donated funds for the

Pope Leo XIV urges halt to Mideast attacks, return to diplomacy #Catholic Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged parties across the Middle East to suspend their attacks and reopen diplomatic negotiations, warning that escalating military operations were endangering civilians and worsening shortages of drinking water and electricity.“I continue to follow with deep concern the ongoing and escalating violence in the Holy Land, where, in recent days, many civilians, both in the West Bank and in Gaza, have once again fallen victim,” the pope said July 26 after leading the Angelus from the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo.His remarks followed one of the most tense days in the West Bank in recent months. A shooting in Tell, southwest of Nablus, reportedly killed at least four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers and was followed by attacks by Israeli settlers against several Palestinian communities.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz subsequently announced that military operations would be intensified in areas Israel considers centers of terrorism.“I make a heartfelt appeal for a return to negotiations to achieve a just political solution, founded on the equal dignity and equal rights of every human person,” Pope Leo said.“At the same time, I urge the rejection of further military actions and unilateral decisions, especially those that violate the respect for and the status quo of the holy places of every religion.”The pope also renewed his appeal concerning the wider Middle East, where he said intensified military operations had “again wreaked violence and destruction, endangering the lives of countless civilians and further aggravating the shortages of drinking water and electricity.”“From the depths of my heart, I exhort all parties involved to suspend the attacks and urgently reopen paths of dialogue and diplomacy, so that the longed-for peace for the entire region may be achieved without delay,” he said.Pope Leo invited the faithful to continue praying for people throughout the world who are suffering because of war.“May the Lord touch the hearts and enlighten the minds of those in power, so that reconciliation and peace may soon prevail,” he said.Prayers for wildfire victimsThe pope also expressed his closeness to people affected by devastating wildfires in France and Spain and called for prayers for both the victims and emergency workers involved in relief efforts.The fires have forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes, while forecasts of temperatures reaching approximately 108 degrees Fahrenheit were expected to increase the danger in the affected areas.Beatification of Elias HoayekPope Leo recalled the July 25 beatification in Lebanon of Elias Hoayek, who served as Maronite patriarch of Antioch from 1899 to 1931 and founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family.“For more than thirty years, he led the Maronite Church with great dedication and pastoral sensitivity,” the pope said.“A man of dialogue and hope, he was an outstanding ecclesial, social and political leader, so much so that he came to be known as the ‘Father of Greater Lebanon.’”The pope prayed that the new blessed’s intercession would accompany Maronite Catholics throughout the world and obtain peace for Lebanon, “a country dear to my heart.”World Day for Grandparents and the ElderlyPope Leo also marked the sixth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, whose theme was drawn from the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I will never forget you.”“Together, let us give thanks to the Lord for the gift that the elderly are to the Church and society,” he said.“Let us also commit ourselves to respecting and valuing the precious role they play, and to ensuring that they always receive the care, attention and assistance they deserve.”The kingdom of God enlarges lifeDuring his Angelus reflection, Pope Leo focused on the Gospel’s images of the kingdom of God as a hidden treasure and a pearl of great price.“The parables convey the surprise of those who find something far beyond what they could have hoped for, so much so that selling or leaving everything behind no longer seems a sacrifice, but a gain,” he said.The pope said the evangelists present Christ’s call to discipleship as irresistible.“It is a free choice, yet also urgent and capable of eliciting a ready and wholehearted response,” he said. “Encountering his Kingdom marks a turning point that does not limit life but enlarges it.”“If anything must change on our part, it is only so that our lives may be opened to greater possibilities, not fewer.”Pope Leo noted that the figures appearing in Christ’s parables include peasants, merchants, travelers, fishermen, scribes, shepherds, farmers and women carrying out ordinary household tasks.“In short, the Kingdom of God reveals its inestimable beauty in different ways, but calls everyone — men and women, young and old, rich and poor — to a profound renewal,” he said. “Everyone is capable of understanding it and is drawn to it.”The pope said that the Church likewise brings together people with different backgrounds, cultures, abilities and responsibilities.“Yet all are called to recognize themselves as ‘one’ in Jesus Christ: he is the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, the net that gathers those who are scattered,” he said.“From the beginning, Jesus called and gathered around himself people who would otherwise never have come to know one another. In this way, he demonstrated that God has no favorites, but instead offers his love freely, especially to the little ones or those cast aside.”Pope Leo concluded by urging Catholics to ask for the wisdom sought by the young King Solomon: the ability to recognize what is truly valuable.“While the consumer culture influences our tastes, constantly creating new needs only to sell us solutions that never satisfy, and that sometimes even poison the heart, we must learn to grasp what truly matters,” he said.That treasure, the pope continued, is “a relationship with God that opens us to joy and helps us to live our relationships with one another more fully.”The July 26 Angelus was Pope Leo’s final Sunday appearance during his summer stay at the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo. He was scheduled to return to the Vatican on Monday, July 27.The pope was expected to return to Castel Gandolfo on Wednesday, July 29, to meet young choristers participating in the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s Voices of Global Gathering at the Borgo Laudato Si’. Bocelli was scheduled to perform a musical work titled “Cantico di Pace.”This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam July 26, 2026July 27, 2026

The pontiff also reflected on the kingdom of God as a treasure that enlarges life and unites people of different backgrounds in Christ.

Major restoration in Minneapolis aims to renew ‘every square inch’ of country’s oldest basilica #Catholic If you want to clean more-than-century-old marble statues of the apostles, you don’t simply use soap and water. Rather, you must spray the figures with a “specialized conservation material” that subsequently dries into a “latex-like layer,” which is then “carefully peeled away,” thus preserving the statue’s original finish. The process “is labor intensive and takes significant time,” according to staff at the Basilica of Saint Mary, a towering and historic minor basilica in downtown Minneapolis. The massive church, which was dedicated in 1915 and became the first basilica in the United States when it was designated as such by Pope Pius XI in 1926, has been undergoing a major restoration project since 2025.

A specialty cleaning material is sprayed on a statue of St. Peter at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis in an undated photo. | Credit: Ken Fournelle/Courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Built in the Beaux-Arts style — what was at the time a popular architectural form in the United States — the co-cathedral boasts a towering flèche-topped central dome and an 82-foot-high barrel vault. Among its many adornments include the statues of the apostles, which were carved in Italy as half-scale replicas of statues at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the pope in Rome. Church’s roots stretch back to 1860sOn its website, the basilica says its roots can be traced to 1868, when a simple “shed church” was constructed in Minneapolis. Years later another, more substantial Gothic Revival edifice was built, but burgeoning development in the neighborhood eventually pushed the parish to relocate to its present location on Hennepin Avenue. The cornerstone of the current structure was laid in 1908. The church, designated a pro-cathedral, celebrated its first Mass in 1914; it was dedicated the following year. It was still being worked on when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

An original print of the basilica, drafted by architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, hangs in the church’s undercroft. | Credit: Courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

In 1926, Pius XI raised the pro-cathedral to the rank of minor basilica, after which it took on its present name. It would enjoy a vibrant parish life in the following decades, though the construction of adjacent freeways in the 1960s “took a heavy toll” on the building. The 1980s and 1990s saw parishioners spearheading efforts at ongoing restoration. The latest restoration campaign, titled “Restoring Beauty, Inspiring Hope,” has aimed to raise a total of about million in funding. Among the project’s goals are masonry repairs, roof repairs, pew restorations with new kneelers, plaster restoration, and numerous other projects.

Workers in an undated photograph clean a limestone surface in an ambulatory of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Johan van Parys, who has served as the basilica’s director of liturgy and the sacred arts since 1995, told EWTN News that the basilica has needed repairs almost from its inception. “Even from the beginning, the building had issues with moisture intrusion,” he said. The architect who designed the church, Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, was French, and he “didn’t completely understand the challenges of Minnesota summers and winters.” “He designed flat roofs over part of the building,” van Parys said. He jokingly described flat roofs as “the bane of our existence” due to their tendency to hold water. In existing photographs of the church taken in 1914, van Parys said, water damage is already visible. “We’ve had to do work on the building ever since,” he said. The church underwent a “somewhat major” restoration in the 1950s, van Parys said, during which for unknown reasons workers painted over intricate stenciling within coffers and other parts of the structure. Along with those details, van Parys said, the restoration effort is “bringing back the original look of the basilica.” The effort was formally launched in 2019 with a master plan for the entire church campus, but the COVID-19 pandemic the next year set the project back. The process resumed after a few years, and the restoration work itself formally began in 2025.

Scaffolding towers above the nave of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis in an undated photograph. | Credit: Ken Fournelle/Courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Van Parys said the basilica is being restored both inside and out from top to the bottom, including the plaster ceiling, which has suffered damage over the years and has to be replastered in parts. Work is also being done on the church’s extensive stained-glass window arrangements. Such windows are generally held in place with a lead matrix, but over time the weight of the glass can weaken the metal frame, leading the glass to bulge outward. A stained-glass specialist, however, told the restoration crew that the window fixtures were in “great condition,” meaning considerable amounts of work could be avoided. Some of the windows were still in need of repair, however, and were sent to a specialist in Newark, New Jersey. Limestone throughout the building is also being restored, van Parys said. The visible stone throughout the building is bolstered by several inches of reinforced concrete and bricks; moisture often makes its way through this sandwiching of materials, leading to a buildup of salt crystals on the stone, what is known as “efflorescence.” Removing this blemish beautifies the facade of the stone and also protects it from degradation. Crews use a spray-and-peel chemical similar to the process used on the statues of the apostles.

A century’s worth of visible soot and grime contrasts with a restored limestone surface in an undated photograph in the Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

The restoration crews also removed the basilica’s pews in order to have them restored with cleaning, sanding, and shellac finishing.“We opted to restore the original 1914 pews,” van Parys said. “One of our principles in terms of restoration is that we don’t want to over-restore. We didn’t want it to be a new church. People have worshipped in here since 1914. We want this presence of prayer and generations before us to remain.”“So rather than have new pews we decided to restore the old ones,” he said. “In doing so we discovered that the people who built the pews in 1914 signed them. So we have the names of all the people who worked on the pews.”

Workmen in an undated photo remove pews from the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis as part of the restoration of the church. | Credit: Ken Fournelle/Courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Upon removing the pews, the work crews discovered that the flooring of the nave was not level. “One option was to put shims under all the pews,” van Parys said. “But that would have been a huge operation.” Since crews were already removing the wood flooring to restore it, they also removed part of the old concrete subfloor and re-leveled it.

A worker at Fresh Air Finishers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, restores a pew from the Basilica of Saint Mary in an undated photograph. | Credit: Ken Fournelle/Courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Numerous other restoration projects are ongoing, van Parys said, including restoring the church’s bronze doors, which were installed after it was designated a basilica. The church’s rector at the time, Monsignor James Reardon, had traveled to Rome and observed that the basilicas there had bronze doors. “He decided we needed bronze doors as well,” van Parys said.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda blesses and seals bronze doors at the Basilica of Saint Mary ahead of restoration of the century-old features of the historic church, April 5, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Basilica of Saint Mary

Crews are aiming to be done with the massive project by Palm Sunday 2027. At the moment the parish holds Masses in the building’s undercroft beneath the structure. “Every week at Mass, I tell people, for instance, ‘Last Sunday was Week 35, which means we have 34 weeks to go,’” van Parys said with a laugh. He said the work is “quite expedited” and progressing quickly. Ultimately the effort is meant not just to restore the church but to develop a “manual of preservation” for future generations to help protect it. “Our goal is to restore and to also make sure that everything is cared for in the best possible way, to extend the lifespan of the basilica as long as possible before another restoration is necessary,” he said. He said the entire project is being conducted “not only with liturgical principles but also historical preservation principles.”“It is really comprehensive,” he said. “Every square inch of the basilica will be restored.”

unitedyam July 26, 2026July 27, 2026

The massive church was dedicated in 1915 and became the first basilica in the United States when it was designated as such by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

unitedyam July 25, 2026July 26, 2026

A reading from the First Book of Kings
3:5,7-12

The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.
God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
Solomon answered:
"O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king
to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"

The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him:
"Because you have asked for this—
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right—
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you."

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
8:28-30

Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
13:44-52

Jesus said to his disciples:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

"Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

Faced with the unexpected discovery, both the farmer and the merchant realize that they are facing a unique opportunity which should not be missed; hence, they sell all that they own. Assessing the inestimable value of the treasure leads to a decision that also implies sacrifice, detachment and renunciation. When the treasure and the pearl are discovered, that is, when we have found the Lord, we must not let this discovery become barren, but rather sacrifice everything else in order to acquire it. It is not a question of disdaining the rest but of subordinating them to Jesus, putting him in first place; grace in first place. The disciple of Christ is not one who has deprived himself of something essential; he is one who has found much more: he has found the complete joy that only the Lord can give. It is the evangelical joy of the sick who have been healed; of the pardoned sinners, of the thief for whom the doors of heaven open. (…) Today we are called to contemplate the joy of the farmer and the merchant in the parables. It is the joy of each of us when we discover the closeness and the comforting presence of Jesus in our lives. A presence which transforms the heart and opens us to the needs and the welcoming of our brothers, especially the weakest. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 30 July 2017)

unitedyam July 25, 2026July 25, 2026

Reliquary containing relics of six priests visits Chester parish #Catholic –

Blessed Mother Seton Council 5410, a Knights of Columbus chapter in the Flanders neighborhood of Mount Olive Township, N.J., recently arranged for a reliquary containing relics of six priests to visit St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester, N.J. The priests, who were also Knights of Columbus, were martyred for their Catholic faith in Mexico during the Cristero War in the 1920s. The relics were venerated at six Masses on July 19 and 20, during which the faithful were able to have their religious items turned into third-degree relics by touching them to the first-degree relics in the reliquary.

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– Blessed Mother Seton Council 5410, a Knights of Columbus chapter in the Flanders neighborhood of Mount Olive Township, N.J., recently arranged for a reliquary containing relics of six priests to visit St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester, N.J. The priests, who were also Knights of Columbus, were martyred for their Catholic faith in Mexico during the Cristero War in the 1920s. The relics were venerated at six Masses on July 19 and 20, during which the faithful were able to have their religious items turned into third-degree relics by touching them to the first-degree relics in the reliquary. Click

Catholic professor discusses Pope Leo’s peace efforts after Vatican’s nuclear weapon, AI conference #Catholic A Vatican-hosted summit on nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence (AI) highlighted Pope Leo XIV’s continued focus on peace-building efforts, according to a Catholic professor who participated in the event.Maryann Cusimano Love, chair of the politics department at The Catholic University of America and scholar of international relations and peace-building, discussed the Holy Father’s focus on the subject in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro.She also discussed a new book published by the Vatican on July 21, which compiles Leo’s writings and speeches on peace. The pontiff authored his own forward for the book, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons globally.Peace-building is “a theme that Pope Leo has been consistent with since the beginning of his papacy, and it really fits with the times that weʼre in right now,” Love said.“Weʼre seeing expansion of war, weʼre seeing the expansion in the number of conflicts, the deadliness of these conflicts, and weʼre also seeing new ways in which new technologies are being used — AI drones, lethal autonomous weapons systems — that are very concerning,” she said.“So heʼs being a voice of really the practical, and a voice of the people, saying: Look, peace is possible. Peace is practical and peace is our calling, as Catholics and people of goodwill. This is something we can do. Weʼve done it before and we can do it again,” she said.Love was one of more than 200 academics who participated in the Vatican-hosted Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War from July 14–16. The assembly adopted the "Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” which laid out concerns about how technological advancement affects warfare.“The Church has been advocating for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as long as there have been nuclear weapons, and whatʼs added to this in this last weekʼs activities and the Rome Declaration is the layer of artificial intelligence that increases the urgency with which we need to proceed to disarm nuclear weapons,” Love said.“And it increases the ways in which we need to look at this interaction between AI and our and our military ecosystems,” she said. “So the call is specifically for the responsible use of AI, for there to be a slowing down in the integration of these systems, particularly into military systems, until we can be sure that theyʼre safe for the sharing of information between tech companies and the public about the vulnerabilities of these systems and the problem areas — the blind spots — these systems have.”The summit was inspired by Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which offers guidance on how society should approach AI. The encyclical specifically raises concerns about AI making decisions about life and death in warfare.

unitedyam July 25, 2026July 26, 2026

The pope has continued to advocate for peace-building and has warned against nuclear weapons and AI being integrated into the military.

Catholic parents of Texas flood victims share witness to faith amid grief #Catholic The parents of Blair and Brooke Harber, the Catholic sisters who died in the 2025 Texas Hill Country flash floods, shared how their faith has sustained them through the tremendous grief and how they are honoring their daughters' legacy.Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state on July 4, 2025.“I would say after a year, itʼs almost more difficult than it has been," RJ Harber said in an interview with host Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” alongside his wife, Annie Harber.“The depth of the grief does not go away. It actually enhances, because this is your reality now, and you understand your children are actually gone,” he said.“Now there is comfort knowing that they are in heaven, and we did our job as parents to prepare them to get them there. But our love for them was so deep that the grief that we have is just tremendous,” he said.The family was vacationing with RJ Harber’s parents, Mike and Charlene Harber, on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, when the floods occurred.The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away the sisters’ cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.Harbers have ‘leaned heavily’ on Catholic faithAnnie and RJ Harber detailed the challenges of navigating such a profound loss. They shared how it tested their faith, while also relying on that same faith to carry them through the past year.It was “really important to us to instill the Catholic faith and values in our girls,” Annie Harber said. “But … after all of this, I definitely questioned God and was angry at God” and “didnʼt understand why, or how, this could happen to us.”“We have leaned on each other and our faith to get us up every morning,” she said. “I think for me, truly, when I wake up, I tell myself Iʼm one day closer to seeing the girls, because we know theyʼre in heaven and our goal is to ultimately get there. So we have to continue to live by the Catholic faith and our values that we taught the girls.”“I think weʼre still alive because of our faith,” RJ Harber said. “God can accept anger, but he can also help us carry this cross. And the Church has rallied around us.”“We found the girls on Saturday, July 5, and we went to Mass Sunday, July 6. It was probably the most difficult thing Iʼve ever done. But thatʼs because we want to follow the commandments,” he said, citing the Third Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath. “So weʼve leaned heavily … on our Catholic faith,” he said.RJ Harber, who also lost his parents in the disaster, said his “daughters were their greatest joy.” His parents attended “every single sporting event” of their granddaughters.The girls “were their only grandchildren, so they just doted on them,” he said. “My father was suffering from Parkinsonʼs disease, but he would just want me to drive him to Brooke’s softball game and watch her pitch, or ask to watch Blair play soccer.”“We find solace in the fact that theyʼre watching over our girls in heaven and are just thankful that theyʼre there with them now,” he said.‘The faith was very important to our girls’As Annie and RJ Harber have relied on their faith through their grief, they detailed the importance the Catholic faith played in their daughters’ lives as well.“Not only did they go to Catholic school, but we would go to Mass every Sunday,” RJ Harber said. “It was instrumental in our lives.”RJ reflected on his daughter Blair’s faith, sharing that she prayed the rosary “every single night.” Two weeks before the tragedy, “her rosary beads broke and she asked to borrow mine, which I received when I converted to the Catholic faith, and took those down to the river with her.”“So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments,” he said.

So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments.”

RJ Harber

“We prayed every single night. And we still pray with them every single night,” RJ said.“Prayer has been instrumental. We get messages from all over the world about people praying for us. And I think thatʼs helping us share the girls with the world. And honestly I think God, through the Holy Spirit, is using our daughters to bring people closer to the faith,” he said.The couple said they have heard from several people who have returned to Mass and confession since hearing the sisters’ story.“Weʼve received … messages about people converting to the Catholic faith because of Brooke and Blair. So their work is not done in this world — itʼs only beginning.”The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters FundSince losing their daughters, Annie and RJ have started a fund to continue to honor their daughters through The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund.The fund, set up through The Catholic Foundation of Texas, supports flood and disaster relief efforts and aids Catholic after-school activities, including after-school education and Catholic sports.Blair and Brooke “played lacrosse and there is a large barrier to entry into lacrosse,” RJ Harber said. “So weʼve been able to get hundreds of sticks donated, hundreds of goggles donated, and have allowed girls to come and try lacrosse for the first time who would otherwise never try it.”“This February, we hosted an event. Over 200 girls came out and tried the sport for the first time. So these kindergartners, first graders, second graders are looking up to our girls and carrying their life forward. And I just think thatʼs a beautiful thing to see,” he said.

unitedyam July 25, 2026July 26, 2026

Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state last year.

unitedyam July 24, 2026July 24, 2026

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians
4:7-15

Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore speak,
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
20:20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her,
"What do you wish?"
She answered him,
"Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom."
Jesus said in reply,
"You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"
They said to him, "We can."
He replied,
"My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Saint James was the brother of John the Evangelist. They were the two disciples to whom – in one of the most striking dialogues recorded in the Gospel – Jesus posed the famous question: “‘Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?’ They said to Him: ‘We are able’” (Mt 20:22). They were words of willingness and courage; an attitude typical of young people, though not exclusive to them, but shared by all Christians, and in particular by those who accept the call to be apostles of the Gospel. The two disciples’ generous response was accepted by Jesus. He said to them: “You will drink my cup” (Mt 20:23). These words were fulfilled in James, son of Zebedee, who bore witness to Christ’s resurrection in Jerusalem with his own blood. Jesus had asked the question about the cup that the two brothers were to drink when their mother, as we have read in the Gospel, approached the Master to ask Him for a place of special honour for both of them in the Kingdom. However, after ascertaining their willingness to drink the cup, Christ said to them: “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Mt 20:23). […] Jesus then took the opportunity to explain to everyone that the calling to his Kingdom is not a calling to power but to service, “even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). (John Paul II, Homily of 9 November 1982)

Catholic moral theologians concerned by claims U.S., Iran struck civilian infrastructure #Catholic Iran and the United States have faced accusations of strikes on civilian infrastructure and have explicitly threatened attacks on civilian infrastructure going forward, prompting concerns from Catholic moral theologians.“I have deep concerns that the war will widen and the greatest impact will be on the civilian populations of Middle East nations,” Joseph Capizzi, director of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, told EWTN News.Charles Camosy, a moral theologian at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News that threats to civilian infrastructure are “absolutely not” consistent with moral conduct during war or Catholic just war doctrine.“The dignity of the human person — including a commitment to Christʼs command to love oneʼs enemies — must be paramount,” he said. “Not winning a war. Not gaining political advantage. … Catholics are not consequentialists.”A Pakistan‑mediated ceasefire that began April 8 ended on July 8. Last week, Iranian state media alleged that the U.S. struck a water desalination plant in the Hormozgan Province that supplies water to 30 villages, impacting thousands of people. U.S. officials confirmed military strikes in the province but have not confirmed a strike on the plant.The U.S. has confirmed strikes in southern Iran that destroyed port infrastructure. Pro-regime media in Iran in Iran reported commercial and fishing piers were among the targets, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society. That report also alleged strikes on a wheat storage facility, roads, and bridges.U.S. Central Command denied strikes on the wheat facility but has not addressed every specific allegation. U.S. military officials have repeatedly said they only target Iran’s military capabilities.When reached for comment about the other specific allegations, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command told EWTN News "we refer you to our published releases" and "we have nothing further to add."In response to these alleged attacks, Iran has repeatedly struck power plants and water facilities throughout Kuwait and Bahrain. Officials in Kuwait, which relies on water desalination plants for 90% of its drinking water, are urging people to conserve energy and water. Bahrain’s supply of drinking water is 100% reliant on water desalination plants.On July 22, Trump escalated threats to civilian infrastructure, saying he would strike “one bridge or power plant” for every ship Iran strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in response that Iran’s doctrine is “an eye for an eye” and “those who contribute” to aggression “will also be considered as legitimate targets.”When a reporter asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 23 whether he would rule out strikes on civilian infrastructure, he did not say. Rather, he pointed to Araghchi’s statement and said: “The president’s policy is a head for an eye — I mean, honestly, that’s what it’s going to be.”Just conduct in warThree Catholic moral theologians who provided comments to EWTN News — Capizzi; Camosy; and Taylor Patrick O’Neill, a theology professor at Thomas Aquinas College — all said it is not moral to intentionally target civilian populations in war.“The prohibition against targeting civilian infrastructure is absolute in moral and international law,” Capizzi said. “States are prohibited from targeting civilian infrastructure.”He urged caution about purported justifications for striking “dual use” infrastructure targets that may be used for both military and civilian purposes. He said “no party is allowed merely to claim targets are ‘dual use.’”“When there is doubt as to the dual or single use of a target, international [law] stipulates the presumption begins with single use, and therefore the target is inadmissible to be targeted, unless proven to the contrary,” Capizzi said.Camosy also said this is a moral absolute and there is no circumstance in which it is moral to target civilians. He said that “even in war, even when the stakes are highest,” Catholics do not adhere to the consequentialist moral philosophy of the ends justifying the means.The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains a person can never engage in intrinsically evil acts — such as targeting innocent people for harm — regardless of the reason because “the end does not justify the means.” Acts also require “good intention,” so while “good intention” is not sufficient and does not justify evil acts, bad intention — such as intending to harm innocent people — always “makes an act evil,” it explains.Camosy said: “Protection against the targeting of civilians is an absolute value in war. Catholics are called to be prepared to lose a war rather than violate exceptionless moral norms or commit intrinsically evil acts in this area.”Sometimes an act, in war or elsewhere, can also have several effects. St. Thomas Aquinas explains in the “Summa Theologica” that it can be proper to engage in an act that is morally neutral in and of itself but has both good and bad consequences, so long as only the good consequence is the one that is intended. This is the principle of “double effect.”The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that proportionality is required in war. The evil inflicted through war cannot be more severe than the evil one is aiming to defeat.“We need to ask if civilian harm is the intention and/or the mechanism of action in the military strike or [if] it is a merely foreseen side effect,” Camosy explained.“If the rationale for hitting the electric grid or desalination plant is that widespread darkness, spoiled food, rampant disease, failed hospitals, and more will generate political pressure on the Iranian regime, then the suffering of peaceful civilians becomes the causal pathway to the advantage sought,” he said. “This then becomes the object of the act itself and not a merely foreseen side effect.”Alternatively, Camosy added: “Attacking a generator dedicated to a command bunker, however, would likely not suffer the same kind of critique, however, even if one foresaw but did not intend that it would also have bad impacts on civilians.”Similarly, O’Neill said the moral analysis of striking a facility that results in civilian harm is about intention and proportionality. It is never moral to intend the suffering of innocents or target them.“You cannot intend or rely upon civilian death or fear to aid in your military effort,” O’Neill said. “In other words, the foreseen evil cannot itself be the means by which you attempt to achieve some good.”A specific bridge that is “dual use,” such as one used by civilians but also used “to transport tanks from factory to battlefield,” he said could possibly be justified under double effect. The moral analysis would have to consider intention and proportionality and “you must also try to minimize the negative.”“Will blowing up the bridge make civilian life uncomfortable or will it result in the loss of life, access to basic necessities, etc.? All of these things have to be taken into account just for double effect,” O’Neill said.“Under double effect, itʼs theoretically possible to strike a dual-use target,” he added. “But any strike on merely civilian infrastructure (or even [a target] with indirect ties to the war effort) would be intrinsically unjust.”“At that point, the attack would have more in common with an act of terrorism,” O’Neill said.‘Blessed are the peacemakers’St. Augustine, in a letter to the Roman general Boniface, emphasized that the intention of war must be to ultimately establish a just peace — not to simply to unleash destruction: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace.”The fifth-century bishop and theologian cited the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”O’Neill explained that in the context of a just war, “the Christian always seeks war for the sake of peace and that of both his own people and the people of the enemy nation.”“To consider the civilians of an enemy nation as the enemy is already to lose the necessary distinction of combatant from innocent,” he said.Camosy noted that Trump, in his 2024 campaign, promised “to be deeply skeptical of war” and encouraged him to move back in that direction.“Trump himself was aggressively pursuing the Nobel Peace Prize on this basis,” he said. “It would be much better to go back to this way of thinking about war. Think about becoming a peacemaker again.”Trump told Axios on July 23 that he is “considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before” but did not say whether this includes the civilian infrastructure he has threatened. He said that Iranians want to negotiate, but “they havenʼt received enough pain yet.”

unitedyam July 24, 2026July 25, 2026

A battle over the Strait of Hormuz rekindled the war in the Middle East after a ceasefire ended. Intent to harm civilians, including attacks on civilian infrastructure, is immoral, theologians said.

Abortion count rises as women turn to chemical abortions, per new data #Catholic The U.S. abortion count continues to rise even as travel abortions decrease, a recent study found.The Guttmacher Institute, a data group that openly supports abortion access, documented a decrease in people leaving their own state to get abortions in other states. Instead, abortion seekers turn toward mail-order abortions, which have seen a surge in recent years.The group tracks abortions monthly, following trends “in the post-Dobbs era” since 2023, according to Guttmacher data scientist and study lead Isaac Maddow-Zimet. The data indicated an overall increase in abortions from 2025 to 2026. “In the first three months of 2026, there were 296,130 abortions as compared to 292,590 in the first three months of 2025,” data scholar Michael New told EWTN News. “This is an increase of just over 1%.”New said this fact has gone underreported.“Most media outlets that are reporting on the Guttmacher data have not reported on this, but the number of abortions continues to rise,” said New, who is a senior associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a group that studies data relating to the pro-life cause.“These rising abortion numbers are an important reason why pro-lifers are frustrated with the Trump administration’s lack of action on telehealth abortions,” continued New, who also works as a professor at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.The Trump administration has neglected to enforce various regulations — such as the Comstock Act or in-person prescription requirements — that could be groundbreaking for protecting unborn children from chemical abortions.From 2024 to 2025, travel abortions declined by nearly 8%. Scholars agree that mail-order abortion is the reason for the decline in abortion travel.“Currently, we are seeing a major shift in where and how people access abortion,” Maddow-Zimet said. “While travel remains a critical pathway to care, we have seen a decrease in people leaving their state of residence, likely due to both the growth of telehealth access and fewer options for in-person care in the South and Southeast.”New also cited chemical abortions as the draw away from travel abortions. “The main reason for this decline in out-of-state travel is because of the rising number of telehealth abortions,” New said. “The most recent data from the Society for Family Planning shows that approximately 27% of all abortions are done by telehealth.”In Florida, the study also found a near tripling of abortion travel by Floridians after the state passed a heartbeat law to protect unborn babies; at the same time, fewer people traveled to Florida to obtain abortions due to this law.“The national decline [in travel abortions] might have been even larger had Florida not started enforcing a Heartbeat Act in 2024,” New said. “Because of this strong pro-life law, far fewer women residing in southern states traveled to Florida for abortions.”Texas has also seen a decline in Texans traveling to get abortions. “This trend is seen at the state level,” New continued. “Between 2024 and 2025 the number of Texas women obtaining abortions in other states fell by 19%.”Mail-order abortion is pro-life priorityAdvocates for unborn children highlighted the importance of opposing chemical abortions and protecting unborn children across state lines. Abortion continues to rise with the increase in mail-order abortions.Kelsey Pritchard, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America spokeswoman, called for protections of unborn children across state lines.“We need a national minimum standard to ensure children across America have basic human rights and the chance at life, regardless of their zip code,” Pritchard told EWTN News.“Nine states and the District of Columbia still have no gestational limits whatsoever on abortion, allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, with late-term abortion centers purposely located within range of pro-life state borders,” Pritchard said. “This is barbaric and extreme, and it places the United States in the same category as communist countries like China and Vietnam on abortion.”“While stopping the ‘Wild West’ of unregulated abortion by mail is our immediate priority, both issues underscore the urgent need for national action to protect unborn children and their mothers,” Pritchard said. “Abortion travel is down overall, but mail-order abortions are surging and driving the national total up to an estimated 1.1 million abortions per year — more than the day Roe was reversed,” Pritchard said. “Every single month, approximately 15,000 babies in the womb die from mail-order abortion drugs in states with pro-life laws, while women and girls are poisoned and coerced by abusers who obtain these drugs online without so much as an ID check.”Kristi Hamrick, Students for Life spokeswoman, questioned the data, noting that there is no reporting requirement for abortion.“I find it extraordinary that the abortion industry reports so much data that is accepted as gospel, despite the fact that we canʼt verify it,” Hamrick said. “We have no national abortion reporting law, and while this data will be broadly reported, every point of data from pro-life sources is treated as suspect.”Guttmacher collects monthly data from brick-and-mortar facilities and telehealth providers, according to the study methodology.The nature of mail-order abortion pills makes it harder to accurately track the number of the abortions in the U.S. as the pills are highly unregulated and some companies operate outside of the U.S. healthcare system.“The landscape of abortion is shifting, from brick-and-mortar abortion vendor to online pill pushers, so less driving, if that is true, does not mean less abortion,” Hamrick said.For Students for Life, “fighting chemical abortion pills” is a priority.Through pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and other programs, the pro-life movement continues to encourage women to choose life.“But what is happening in real time is that many are reaching out to women online and in their communities to encourage and support them in choosing life, while we also have to confront a new abortion cartel,” Hamrick said.

unitedyam July 24, 2026July 25, 2026

The abortion count is rising as women rely more on mail-order chemical abortions, according to the most recent data.

unitedyam July 24, 2026July 24, 2026

Knights Council 588 launches 2026-27 fraternal year #Catholic –

The Marquette Council 588 of the Knights of Columbus launched its 2026–2027 fraternal year on July 16, with its installation of officers ceremony at Our Lady of the Lake (OLL) Parish in Sparta, N.J. The ceremony entrusted a new slate of officers — led by Chaplain Father Richard Carton, pastor of OLL, and Grand Knight Jeff Dickinson — with guiding one of the world’s oldest Knights of Columbus councils into another year of faith, leadership, and service supporting the faith communities of OLL, St. Thomas Aquin Parish in Ogdensburg, N.J., and Immaculate Conception Parish in Franklin, N.J.

Through charitable works, faith formation, family programs, and civic engagement, Council 588 remains committed to building disciples of Jesus Christ through the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism.

The new fraternal year is especially significant as Council 588 continues celebrating its 125th anniversary while joining the nation in commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the United States. The Council also begins the year with strong momentum after earning back-to-back Star Council Awards, the Knights of Columbus’ highest recognition for excellence in membership, charitable service, faith formation, and council operations.

Founded in 1901, Marquette Council 588 has spent 125 years living the vision of Blessed Michael McGivney by serving its parish communities and the people of Sussex County, New Jersey, and the nation through faith in action.

For more information, visit ourladyofthelake.org/knights-of-columbus Facebook/Instagram: @marquettecouncil588

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

– The Marquette Council 588 of the Knights of Columbus launched its 2026–2027 fraternal year on July 16, with its installation of officers ceremony at Our Lady of the Lake (OLL) Parish in Sparta, N.J. The ceremony entrusted a new slate of officers — led by Chaplain Father Richard Carton, pastor of OLL, and Grand Knight Jeff Dickinson — with guiding one of the world’s oldest Knights of Columbus councils into another year of faith, leadership, and service supporting the faith communities of OLL, St. Thomas Aquin Parish in Ogdensburg, N.J., and Immaculate Conception Parish in Franklin, N.J. Through charitable works,

unitedyam July 23, 2026July 24, 2026

O God, Who did cause the children of Israel
to traverse the Red Sea dryshod;
Thou Who did point out by a star to the Magi
the road that led them to Thee;
grant us we beseech Thee,
a prosperous journey and propitious weather;
so that, under the guidance of Thy holy angels
we may safely reach that journey’s end,
and later the haven of eternal salvation.

Hear, O Lord,
the prayers of Thy servants.
Bless their journeyings.
Thou Who art everywhere present,
shower …

unitedyam July 23, 2026July 24, 2026

The priest said “the human heart is made to worship” and warned that if it “does not worship God, it will worship something else: success, the body, money, or a soccer team.”

Ann Teresa O’Neill, healed in Seton canonization miracle, dies at 78 #Catholic Ann Teresa O’Neill, whose confirmed miracle led to the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, died on July 17 at age 78.O’Neill, of Easton, Maryland, had leukemia as a child, and her cure was accepted for Seton’s path to sainthood in 1975.Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore will serve as the principal celebrant for O’Neill’s funeral Mass on July 25 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Interment will follow on the grounds of the shrine.“Ann O’Neill spent more than seventy years answering questions about a miracle,” Rob Judge, executive director of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, said in a statement following her death. “Yet, if you talked with her for any length of time, you discovered she wasn’t really interested in talking about miracles.”“She wanted to talk about her mother’s faith. She wanted to talk about Mother Seton. Mostly, she wanted to talk about Jesus,” he said.

She wanted to talk about her mother’s faith. She wanted to talk about Mother Seton. Mostly, she wanted to talk about Jesus. That may be the clearest evidence of why God chose her life to become part of one of the most important stories in American Catholic history.”

Rob JudgeExecutive director of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

“That may be the clearest evidence of why God chose her life to become part of one of the most important stories in American Catholic history,” he said.“The saints are like our friends,” O’Neill said in an interview with the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Catholic Review in 2025. “Mother Seton was my mother’s friend. She’s my friend. And because we’re Catholic, we have a lot of friends in heaven.”Born on Oct. 7, 1947, O’Neill was the daughter of the late Felixena OʼNeill and the late William Richard OʼNeill.She is survived by her children, Joseph Hooe, Gerard Hooe, and Mary Alice Zawodny, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a funeral notice said. She was preceded in death by her son Robert Eugene Hooe Jr. The miracle that helped Mother Seton become a saintBorn in Baltimore, O’Neill developed advanced leukemia as a young girl in 1952. Despite doctors trying every treatment, she grew more sick and her case was considered hopeless.During Holy Week, it was expected that the 4-year-old girl would pass within a few weeks.While her family prepared for her loss, Sister Mary Alice Fowler, supervisor of the children’s ward at St. Agnes Hospital, gave O’Neill’s mother prayers for Seton’s intercession and had her give them to relatives and friends.She pinned a cloth that had touched Seton’s remains to O’Neill’s hospital gown. Family members, friends, and other religious leaders began a novena for O’Neill.On Good Friday in 1952, with her daughter’s condition deteriorating, O’Neill’s mother took her to Mother Seton’s resting place in Emmitsburg — where Seton started the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, the first community for religious women established in the U.S., and the first Catholic school for girls.Against doctors’ wishes, O’Neill’s parents drove her to Emmitsburg, laid her on Seton’s tomb in the cemetery, and took her inside Mother Seton’s house where the saint had died of tuberculosis in 1821.Once her mother returned O’Neill to the hospital, doctors performed blood work and testing. On Easter Monday her blood count was normal. Constant tests over the following years showed her health to be normal.O’Neillʼs cure was accepted for Seton’s path to sainthood. Pope Paul VI officially canonized Mother Seton on Sept. 14, 1975, the ceremony for which O’Neill attended in Rome.

unitedyam July 23, 2026July 24, 2026

As a young girl, Ann Teresa O’Neill’s miraculous cure from leukemia was accepted as a miracle to advance St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s path to sainthood.

Older Posts