![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.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/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-expl.jpg "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.”")
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.
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.
On July 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden, a mystic of the Middle Ages who was a wife and mother of eight children.
Once known as a sinful woman, Mary Magdalene became the Apostle to the Apostles and the first witness to the Resurrection.
![Catholic, Orthodox bishops join in dialogue and prayer at Washington, D.C., conference #Catholic Catholic and Eastern Orthodox bishops exchanged dialogue and joined together in prayer at an ecumenical conference in Washington, D.C., this week with a hope that one day the Eastern and Western churches will be reunited.The conference, held at the retreat house for the St. John Paul II National Shrine on July 13–15, was organized by the Orientale Lumen Foundation. Jack Figel, an Eastern Catholic who founded the group, named it after St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter expressing hope for reunification.Speakers included the secretary for the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Archbishop Flavio Pace; the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Tikhon Mollard; Cardinal Seán Patrick OʼMalley; Greek Orthodox Bishop Anthony Vrame; and Romanian Catholic Bishop John Michael Botean.“I grew up with — I lived with — the tension between East and West my whole life,” Figel told EWTN News.A reunification, Figel said, “all depends on the Holy Spirit.” He said: “It is going to be a miracle and it’s going to be on God’s time.”The conference included speeches by both Catholic and Orthodox bishops and joint panels. Prayer services were held in the Eastern form in which bishops from both traditions participated: a moleben to the Holy Spirit on Monday, daily vespers on Tuesday, and the Akathist to the Mother of God on Wednesday.Theological hurdlesRecent popes have had friendly relations with Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, and ongoing study by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is seeking to resolve theological disputes.In 2024, the commission set up two subcommittees to analyze two major points of contention: one for papal infallibility and the other for the Filioque.Papal infallibility refers to Vatican I’s teaching that the pope can infallibly define doctrines. The Filioque — Latin for “and the Son” — refers to the West adding the phrase in the Nicene Creed “the Holy Spirit … who proceeds from the Father ‘and the Son.’” Catholics argue this clarifies the Latin translation of the Creed, which was originally in Greek; but many Orthodox see it as changing the understanding of the Trinity.Vrame told EWTN News these theological issues continue to be a hurdle toward Catholic and Orthodox communion.The No. 1 issueSpeaking from the Orthodox perspective, he said papal infallibility and supremacy is the No. 1 issue. Although Orthodox acknowledge Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as “first among equals” among patriarchs, “our governance structure allows for each national Church to govern itself,” he said.Dialogue with Rome, Vrame said, must address questions of “how do we begin to understand any claims of universal jurisdiction of the papacy” and “how do we understand any form of papal infallibility.” He said the Catholic embrace of synodality could improve dialogue on this issue.He said a major question is what unity would look like and pointed toward Rome’s relationship with Eastern Catholics as a possible example, saying they are “in communion with Rome,” but “Rome allowed them to retain their distinctive rites and practices.” However, he noted historical complications with Rome’s past attempts to Latinize Eastern Catholics and a major question to settle is: “What would unity do?”Mollard also told EWTN News “the whole question of primacy and synodality” remains a major issue, along with “centuries of separation,” which he said “doesn’t help either.”Pace told EWTN News that the subcommittee addressing infallibility has to “prepare a very good draft” on the matter that the full committee made up of Catholic and Orthodox leaders “can discuss and approve.”Steps toward unityAs the hierarchy tries to work out millennium-old theological disputes, Mollard said another step is “trying to get from the theological [dialogue] to the implementation” of a stronger relationship but warned “everyone’s afraid to do anything.”“We do have to practice these things,” he said in his speech. “Let’s work together and see if we can find our unity in Christ … [and] work on the structures that could bring that about more formally.”“Prayer and humility are always good,” Mollard said.He told EWTN News that some steps could be jointly “caring for the poor” or “feeding the hungry,” which is “the most direct way that collaboration can take place” at this time. In his speech, O’Malley called for joint prayer and study sessions, joint pastoral letters and statements, and joint works of mercy.Figel suggested Catholic and Orthodox parishes should “pray once a month for unity for at least 10 or 15 minutes.”Ultimately, Vrame said full unity and communion would be expressed “in the Eucharist” if all issues are resolved.“We don’t share the Eucharist,” he said. “That would be the culminating moment.”Dialogue and the laityMany bishops said dialogue and bonds should take place among laity too, with Botean saying in his speech that ecumenism cannot just be “at the level of academics.”“Without the face-to-face stuff, … we’re going to get nowhere,” he said. “And if our competition is the internet, we have more driving us apart than together.”Botean warned against hostile and uncharitable exchanges, many of which occur on social media, saying: “When we become unloving because of our faith, we’re on the wrong track.”Lizbeth Moncada, a senior at Florida Atlantic University who attended the conference, told EWTN News that she has “a lot of friends who are Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox” but agreed that online dialogue can often be “polarizing.”She said exchanges online can be “very disheartening” and she has “wanted to stop engaging in these conversations” at times. Yet, she said discussions like what occurred at the conference are “encouraging.”Andrew Likoudis of the ecumenical Likoudis Legacy Foundation, told EWTN News: “I try not to even engage in online discourse because of how toxic it is.” Yet, he said “the discourse here is much healthier” and allows Catholics and Orthodox Christians to “cross theological boundaries and retain the integrity of our own traditions without compromise.”Vrame, commenting on dialogue, said “beating up on somebody else is not very Christian … no matter what you think of their position.” He said people can have “respectful disagreements … without having to beat up on somebody,” saying that’s “no way to show love for your neighbor.”He said it’s good that people are passionate about their faith but posed the question: “Are we passionate in a way that reflects Christ and Christianity?”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/catholic-orthodox-bishops-join-in-dialogue-and-prayer-at-washington-d-c-conference-catholic-catholic-and-eastern-orthodox-bishops-exchanged-dialogue-and-joined-together-in-prayer-at-an-ecumenical-scaled.jpg "Catholic, Orthodox bishops join in dialogue and prayer at Washington, D.C., conference #Catholic Catholic and Eastern Orthodox bishops exchanged dialogue and joined together in prayer at an ecumenical conference in Washington, D.C., this week with a hope that one day the Eastern and Western churches will be reunited.The conference, held at the retreat house for the St. John Paul II National Shrine on July 13–15, was organized by the Orientale Lumen Foundation. Jack Figel, an Eastern Catholic who founded the group, named it after St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter expressing hope for reunification.Speakers included the secretary for the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Archbishop Flavio Pace; the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Tikhon Mollard; Cardinal Seán Patrick OʼMalley; Greek Orthodox Bishop Anthony Vrame; and Romanian Catholic Bishop John Michael Botean.“I grew up with — I lived with — the tension between East and West my whole life,” Figel told EWTN News.A reunification, Figel said, “all depends on the Holy Spirit.” He said: “It is going to be a miracle and it’s going to be on God’s time.”The conference included speeches by both Catholic and Orthodox bishops and joint panels. Prayer services were held in the Eastern form in which bishops from both traditions participated: a moleben to the Holy Spirit on Monday, daily vespers on Tuesday, and the Akathist to the Mother of God on Wednesday.Theological hurdlesRecent popes have had friendly relations with Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, and ongoing study by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is seeking to resolve theological disputes.In 2024, the commission set up two subcommittees to analyze two major points of contention: one for papal infallibility and the other for the Filioque.Papal infallibility refers to Vatican I’s teaching that the pope can infallibly define doctrines. The Filioque — Latin for “and the Son” — refers to the West adding the phrase in the Nicene Creed “the Holy Spirit … who proceeds from the Father ‘and the Son.’” Catholics argue this clarifies the Latin translation of the Creed, which was originally in Greek; but many Orthodox see it as changing the understanding of the Trinity.Vrame told EWTN News these theological issues continue to be a hurdle toward Catholic and Orthodox communion.The No. 1 issueSpeaking from the Orthodox perspective, he said papal infallibility and supremacy is the No. 1 issue. Although Orthodox acknowledge Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as “first among equals” among patriarchs, “our governance structure allows for each national Church to govern itself,” he said.Dialogue with Rome, Vrame said, must address questions of “how do we begin to understand any claims of universal jurisdiction of the papacy” and “how do we understand any form of papal infallibility.” He said the Catholic embrace of synodality could improve dialogue on this issue.He said a major question is what unity would look like and pointed toward Rome’s relationship with Eastern Catholics as a possible example, saying they are “in communion with Rome,” but “Rome allowed them to retain their distinctive rites and practices.” However, he noted historical complications with Rome’s past attempts to Latinize Eastern Catholics and a major question to settle is: “What would unity do?”Mollard also told EWTN News “the whole question of primacy and synodality” remains a major issue, along with “centuries of separation,” which he said “doesn’t help either.”Pace told EWTN News that the subcommittee addressing infallibility has to “prepare a very good draft” on the matter that the full committee made up of Catholic and Orthodox leaders “can discuss and approve.”Steps toward unityAs the hierarchy tries to work out millennium-old theological disputes, Mollard said another step is “trying to get from the theological [dialogue] to the implementation” of a stronger relationship but warned “everyone’s afraid to do anything.”“We do have to practice these things,” he said in his speech. “Let’s work together and see if we can find our unity in Christ … [and] work on the structures that could bring that about more formally.”“Prayer and humility are always good,” Mollard said.He told EWTN News that some steps could be jointly “caring for the poor” or “feeding the hungry,” which is “the most direct way that collaboration can take place” at this time. In his speech, O’Malley called for joint prayer and study sessions, joint pastoral letters and statements, and joint works of mercy.Figel suggested Catholic and Orthodox parishes should “pray once a month for unity for at least 10 or 15 minutes.”Ultimately, Vrame said full unity and communion would be expressed “in the Eucharist” if all issues are resolved.“We don’t share the Eucharist,” he said. “That would be the culminating moment.”Dialogue and the laityMany bishops said dialogue and bonds should take place among laity too, with Botean saying in his speech that ecumenism cannot just be “at the level of academics.”“Without the face-to-face stuff, … we’re going to get nowhere,” he said. “And if our competition is the internet, we have more driving us apart than together.”Botean warned against hostile and uncharitable exchanges, many of which occur on social media, saying: “When we become unloving because of our faith, we’re on the wrong track.”Lizbeth Moncada, a senior at Florida Atlantic University who attended the conference, told EWTN News that she has “a lot of friends who are Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox” but agreed that online dialogue can often be “polarizing.”She said exchanges online can be “very disheartening” and she has “wanted to stop engaging in these conversations” at times. Yet, she said discussions like what occurred at the conference are “encouraging.”Andrew Likoudis of the ecumenical Likoudis Legacy Foundation, told EWTN News: “I try not to even engage in online discourse because of how toxic it is.” Yet, he said “the discourse here is much healthier” and allows Catholics and Orthodox Christians to “cross theological boundaries and retain the integrity of our own traditions without compromise.”Vrame, commenting on dialogue, said “beating up on somebody else is not very Christian … no matter what you think of their position.” He said people can have “respectful disagreements … without having to beat up on somebody,” saying that’s “no way to show love for your neighbor.”He said it’s good that people are passionate about their faith but posed the question: “Are we passionate in a way that reflects Christ and Christianity?”")
Catholic and Orthodox bishops discussed steps toward unity and the importance of cooperation and friendly dialogue.
![Cardinal O’Malley at Catholic-Orthodox conference: ‘Come together and pray for unity’ #Catholic WASHINGTON — Cardinal Seán Patrick OʼMalley, retired archbishop of Boston, encouraged Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians to pray together for reunification at a joint conference focused on healing the nearly 1,000-year schism between the churches.“Come together and pray for unity,” O’Malley said at the conference, hosted by the Orientale Lumen Foundation at the retreat house for the St. John Paul II National Shrine on July 13–15.Speakers included Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox bishops, and a few dozen laity and clergy focused on ecumenism attended. Along with O’Malley, speakers included Archbishop Flavio Pace — secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity — and Metropolitan Tikhon Mollard, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).O’Malley encouraged concrete steps to integrate Catholic and Orthodox communities, one of the most important of which was “praying together.” Just prior to his speech, the Catholic and Orthodox clergy — including O’Malley, Pace, and Mollard — prayed daily vespers together in the form used in Eastern churches.The cardinal, speaking to those gathered, said unity will ultimately be achieved as a gift to the faithful granted by Christ and will come about “how he wills [it].” He said he considers joint prayer to be crucial because it is the Holy Spirit who will “illuminate the way” toward East-West communion.‘Work for unity’In his address, O’Malley discussed his concern with the disunity of Christianity, which he said “weakens our ability [as Christians] to proclaim the Gospel with coherence and authority.”He recalled his early work in the 1970s with the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. The order was deeply involved in missionary work in Papua New Guinea. Although O’Malley himself was not a missionary there, he spoke about conversations with colleagues who were working with people accepting Christianity in large numbers.O’Malley noted that when new converts had learned about the various Christian denominations, many felt “sad and embarrassed.” Although many Christians view the disunity as “normative,” he said, the people of Papua New Guinea correctly recognized it as “scandalous.”“All disciples of Jesus Christ must feel an impulse to work for unity among Christians,” O’Malley said.O’Malley said Catholics should see Orthodoxy as the “greatest possibility of success in this task in fulfilling Christ’s wish so that we all become one so the world may believe.” He noted that the two share “so many saints and devotions” and are more similar to Catholics in theology than any other Christian community.He expressed joy that many Orthodox churches send representatives to meetings held by the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and that the Catholic Church also sent representatives to the Orthodox Council of Crete in 2016. Yet, he encouraged a stronger bond.O’Malley urged the bodies to “consider the possibility of joint pastoral letters or statements” on issues of mutual agreement like world hunger, euthanasia, and abortion. He said they should establish committees together to organize joint prayer, study sessions, and works of mercy.His idea of unity, he explained, would be “communion without absorption” and said there is a difference between “unity and uniformity.” He said people should look to the Eastern Catholic Churches as a model, saying “they are bridges for reconciliation and laboratories for synodal communion.”Although Rome’s relationship with the Eastern Catholics was not always perfect (O’Malley noted historical attempts at forced Latinization), the cardinal said there is an opportunity to work more closely with Eastern Catholics as part of ecumenical efforts, focused on “greater respect for their uniqueness.”Mollard, speaking from the Orthodox position, echoed O’Malley’s desire for unity and the feeling of pain over continued separation.“It affects the faithful in the parishes and how they live their lives,” the metropolitan said. “And perhaps encourage[s] us all to not just reach out and educate but really inspire in people that faith in Christ and love for the Church can drive … [the path toward] unity.”O’Malley told EWTN News that ecumenism requires “different groups that would be Catholic and Orthodox, working together,” and Church leaders should be “letting people know the progress that has been made in the dialogue.”He said Eastern Orthodox Christians “have the sacraments,” they have apostolic succession, and “the differences are not great.” Although theological disputes remain a division between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, he said he believes the causes of the schism were more political and cultural.“Most Catholics and Orthodox in the pews are not focused on those fine points of theology,” O’Malley said.Ongoing Vatican ecumenical workMany theological disputes, however, are being hashed out at the highest levels of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Some of the biggest include questions of papal supremacy, primacy, and jurisdiction as well as the language of the Nicene Creed and subsequently certain details about the Holy Trinity.Pace, who flew in from Rome, discussed some of the history and recent progress on ecumenism related to these subjects during his speech, noting that the end goal is “full unity” between the East and the West.
Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, speaks at the Orientale Lumen Foundation conference at the retreat house for the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2026. | Credit: Tyler Arnold/EWTN News
The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, formed in 1980, created two subcommittees in 2024. One focuses on infallibility, which is the current priority. The other is about the dispute about the Nicene Creed."We have to prepare a very good draft,” Pace told EWTN News.He said once the subcommittee completes its draft on infallibility, the body will consider a call for a full meeting for approval. He said the subcommittee must “arrive to a good document that the [full committee] can discuss and approve.”The First Vatican Council teaches that the pope speaks infallibly on matters of faith and morals when defining matters of doctrine and invoking his papal authority, binding the declaration on the entire Church.Bishop Anthony Vrame, a Greek Orthodox bishop and director of Holy Cross Orthodox Press, said in a panel discussion that Orthodoxy recognizes the indefectibility of councils: “When the Church gathers together in council, … no error is possible.” Yet, papal infallibility is different, as it is “designated to one person.”Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, offered a prerecorded video message for the conference, stating that he hopes the eventual documents will be received by the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches.Koch emphasized the importance of clergy informing the laity when there are developments, so the progress is “not to be remained known only by experts.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cardinal-omalley-at-catholic-orthodox-conference-come-together-and-pray-for-unity-catholic-washington-cardinal-sean-patrick-ocabcmalley-retired-archbishop-of-scaled.jpg)
Cardinal Seán O’Malley discussed ways in which Catholics and Orthodox Christians can build closer bonds. Archbishop Flavio Pace discussed ongoing Vatican efforts to help bring about unity.
The society filed its appeal with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 11, arguing that under canon law the move suspends the recent excommunication decree.
A district court will weigh whether Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, imprisoned by the Nazis and later by the communists, was unlawfully interned in the 1950s.
More U.S. bishops are instructing Catholics to avoid attending Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) events in light of the recent excommunications of SSPX leadership.
The dispute stems from a 2011 federal rule requiring employers to include contraception coverage in employee health plans under the Affordable Care Act.
![Netanyahu claims unnamed Lebanese Christian villages sought annexation #Catholic Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said unidentified Lebanese Christian villages asked Israel to annex them.“Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah, Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them, and we do the same things with Christians everywhere,” Netanyahu said during an appearance on Fox News’ show “The Sunday Briefing” on July 5.“It’s ridiculous that [Netanyahu] would say such a thing,” said Alberto Fernández, a former U.S. ambassador and contributor to EWTN News on Middle East topics. “It’s something that only makes sense within the context of him trying to look good to his own Israeli audience. Within the context of Lebanon, it’s ridiculous.”Fernández noted Netanyahu’s claims have been repeatedly denied in the Arab and Lebanese press. Lebanese officials have rejected Netanyahu’s claims, including senior members of the Kataeb party, and Hanna al-Amil, the mayor of Rmeich, a Christian village in southern Lebanon, according to several Arab news outlets.“We canʼt forget that itʼs Hezbollah that keeps plunging Lebanon into war with Israel,” he said. “And one thing that Christian villagers do not want is, they may not want to be part of Israel.”They donʼt want to be at war with Israel either, Fernández said.“They want peace. They want to be left alone. They want to be able to live their lives and their villages and farm their land and be left alone,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/netanyahu-claims-unnamed-lebanese-christian-villages-sought-annexation-catholic-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-said-unidentified-lebanese-christian-villages-asked-israel-to-annex-them.jpg "Netanyahu claims unnamed Lebanese Christian villages sought annexation #Catholic Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said unidentified Lebanese Christian villages asked Israel to annex them.“Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah, Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them, and we do the same things with Christians everywhere,” Netanyahu said during an appearance on Fox News’ show “The Sunday Briefing” on July 5.“It’s ridiculous that [Netanyahu] would say such a thing,” said Alberto Fernández, a former U.S. ambassador and contributor to EWTN News on Middle East topics. “It’s something that only makes sense within the context of him trying to look good to his own Israeli audience. Within the context of Lebanon, it’s ridiculous.”Fernández noted Netanyahu’s claims have been repeatedly denied in the Arab and Lebanese press. Lebanese officials have rejected Netanyahu’s claims, including senior members of the Kataeb party, and Hanna al-Amil, the mayor of Rmeich, a Christian village in southern Lebanon, according to several Arab news outlets.“We canʼt forget that itʼs Hezbollah that keeps plunging Lebanon into war with Israel,” he said. “And one thing that Christian villagers do not want is, they may not want to be part of Israel.”They donʼt want to be at war with Israel either, Fernández said.“They want peace. They want to be left alone. They want to be able to live their lives and their villages and farm their land and be left alone,” he said.")
Alberto Fernández, a former U.S. ambassador and contributor to EWTN News, said the prime minister’s claim “only makes sense within the context of him trying to look good to his own Israeli audience.”
![Various U.S. bishops ‘invite home’ SSPX attendees after excommunications of leadership #Catholic A growing number of Catholic bishops are instructing the faithful to avoid illicit sacraments celebrated by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) after the traditionalist group’s bishops incurred the penalty of excommunication last week.The Vatican declared July 2 that six prelates involved in the SSPX’s unauthorized July 1 episcopal consecrations incurred automatic excommunication. Despite repeated warnings, SSPX bishops consecrated four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.The SSPX is a fraternity of priests known for its celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.Various Catholic bishops with SSPX locations in their areas are explicitly forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX services while also urging frequent attendees or SSPX priests to seek spiritual guidance and return to the Catholic Church.Invited ‘home’Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis urged SSPX families in his community to stay with the Catholic Church.“In the 10 years that I have led this local Church, I have met many sincere people who worship regularly or occasionally at the chapels of the SSPX within the territory of our archdiocese,” Hebda said. “I have been impressed by the strength of their families and their commitment to traditional Catholic values.”“It is my hope they will not follow the above-mentioned bishops in separating themselves from the successor of Peter, Pope Leo XIV, and from the Church that he humbly leads,” Hebda continued. “Throughout the centuries, our Catholic Church has consistently echoed the teaching of St. Ambrose: Ubi Petrus ibi ecclesia (Where there is Peter, there is the Church).”“At this difficult moment, we are blessed that the same traditional Eucharistic liturgy beloved by those who have worshipped with the SSPX in the past continues to be celebrated in six locations throughout the archdiocese,” Hebda said. “I am confident that those who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass could find a home here."Bishop Terry LaValley of Ogdensburg, New York, noted that in light of the “formal schism,” the disobedience “gravely harms the unity of the Church for which Christ so fervently prayed the night before he died.”LaValley said in a statement that Catholics are “forbidden” to participate in SSPX sacraments, the only exception being “when there is danger of death.” He noted that the schism “is not simply about the celebration of the Mass.”“The SSPX repudiates and denounces the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, in particular, ecumenism, religious liberty, collegiality of the bishops with the pope, and the Church’s understanding of and relationship with Judaism,” LaValley noted.LaValley instructed the faithful to avoid participation with SSPX and invited SSPX priests to remain with the Church.In a similar vein, Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, invited anyone who previously worshipped with SSPX to come “home.”“The Holy See has made clear that the clergy of the society are now to be regarded as schismatic,” Caggiano said in a statement. “This means that, from this day forward, the sacraments they celebrate are illicit and, most significantly for the faithful, the confessions they hear and the marriages at which they preside are considered invalid by the Church.”“I know these words are difficult to hear, especially for those among us who have worshipped, whether regularly or on occasion, at liturgies celebrated by priests of the society,” Caggiano said. “Over the years I have come to know some of these families. I have been moved by their love for the beauty of the sacred liturgy, their devotion to our Catholic tradition, and the seriousness with which they seek to raise their children in the faith.”“My heart goes out to them at this painful moment, and I want them to know that they remain very much a part of our diocesan family,” Caggiano said.“I also wish to offer a word of reassurance. This excommunication does not fall upon those who have simply attended these liturgies out of a sincere desire to worship and who have never intended to reject the authority of the Holy Father or the teaching of the Church,” Caggiano said. “What the Church now asks is straightforward: Knowing the situation as it now stands, the faithful of the Catholic Church can no longer take part in the liturgies of the society, for to do so knowingly would be to share in a separation from the successor of Peter.”Caggiano noted that the “vetus ordo,” also known as the Traditional Latin Mass, is still celebrated in his diocese at several parishes throughout the diocese.He emphasized that the diocese also welcomes any SSPX priest who wants to return to full communion “with open arms and great tenderness.”Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, said he will “be preparing guidance to assist our clergy, lay faithful, and especially any of the lay faithful who have worshipped locally with the SSPX at St. Vincent de Paul Kansas City.”“While it is imperative to not abandon future efforts toward full communion and to fervently pray for such, those who wish to maintain communion with the Catholic Church, including valid reception of the sacraments of matrimony and penance (confession), will no longer find that possible within the SSPX,” Johnston said in the statement.“In this moment, I wish to reassure the members of the SSPX within this diocese of my pastoral concern as a shepherd with a desire to assist you in this time of crisis,” Johnston said.Schism ‘wounds’ the body of ChristBishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, emphasized that the announcement “forbids Roman Catholics of good standing to participate in and to receive the sacraments from bishops and priests associated with the Society of St. Pius X.”“[F]ormal adherence to schism is a grave offense against God and carries the penalty of excommunication decreed by the Churchʼs law,” Lucia wrote July 2.“I grieve over the wound that has been inflicted on Christʼs body, the Church, and its effect on the spiritual good of the faithful,” Lucia said. “Although todayʼs action relates to a specific event, I would caution that such wounds occur in the Church, when peopleʼs pain and concerns are ignored and the universal call to holiness is subjugated to personal agenda.”“I regret that the communion and trust that has been built in my seven years as bishop here in Syracuse is now so imperiled, but there cannot be accord when discord has been sown,” Lucia said.Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, instructed Catholics “to refrain from attending Mass at any SSPX chapels.”“The Catholic faithful should attend Mass at a Catholic church with a Catholic priest where they can receive licit and valid sacraments,” Hying said.
Bishop Donald Hying instructed Catholics “to refrain from attending Mass at any SSPX chapels.” | Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot
“For many years, the Church has been in dialogue with the leadership of SSPX in the hope that the group would return to full communion with the Catholic Church,” Hying said. “Their continued rejection of papal authority and decision to undertake blatantly schismatic acts have harmed these discussions and wounded the path to unity.”Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, called the bishopʼs consecrations "a source of profound sorrow for the whole Church because it wounds the visible unity that Christ desires for his body.” He noted that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI took several steps toward communion and acceptance of the society.“Fidelity to sacred tradition is never opposed to fidelity to the successor of Peter,” McKnight said in his letter. “Rather, both are gifts entrusted by Christ to his Church and serve together to safeguard the deposit of faith and promote the salvation of souls.”“The Church’s living tradition is preserved by remaining close to the successor of Peter, by adhering to the apostolic faith handed down through the centuries and safeguarded within the communion of the Church,” McKnight said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/various-u-s-bishops-invite-home-sspx-attendees-after-excommunications-of-leadership-catholic-a-growing-number-of-catholic-bishops-are-instructing-the-faithful-to-avoid-illicit-sacr-scaled.jpg)
Catholic bishops with Society of St. Pius X locations in their areas are forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX services and urging attendees and SSPX priests to return to the Catholic Church.
In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, released on July 3, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, justified the episcopal consecrations that prompted the Vatican’s decree.
The pope delivered livestreamed remarks, praising the values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A bright orange sunburst illuminates Earth’s atmosphere during an orbital sunrise in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 264 miles above the Caucasus Mountains.
Read More![Seton Hall president ‘not implicated’ in internal sex allegation report, Newark Archdiocese says #Catholic Seton Hall University President Monsignor Joseph Reilly was “not implicated” in an internal report examining the school’s response to sex abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Newark said this week.The archdiocese on July 1 announced the release of its own report into whether an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall — the latter known as the “Latham report” — revealed that Reilly knew about abuse allegations at the university and yet failed to report them. Reilly was appointed president of the school in 2024. Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in the July 1 announcement that the archdiocese’s report, which was launched in February 2025 and performed by the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, revealed that Reilly “was not implicated in the Latham report.”The archdiocesan report reveals that Reilly “responded promptly to allegations of sexual harassment involving seminarians at [Seton Hall’s] Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2012,” though Reilly “did not follow the university’s Title IX reporting requirements” because he had not been trained on them, Tobin said. The Latham report, which has never been made public, was expected to examine whether Reilly, then-rector of Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary, knew about sexual misconduct allegations against now-deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and failed to report them.The Ropes & Gray inquiry, however, states that the Latham report “contains no findings or allegations that Monsignor Reilly … witnessed or received reports of any sexual misconduct by McCarrick (or any other individuals) at any time,” including during a stint as McCarrick’s secretary in the early 1990s. Among its findings, the Ropes & Gray report said Reilly in 2012 removed a seminarian from the school’s seminary after the younger man was found to have engaged in sexual harassment. Reilly was “not involved” in a separate 2014 dispute over inappropriate conduct involving two adults, meanwhile. In his announcement on July 1, Tobin said that “nothing in [the] thorough report changes my firm view that Monsignor Reilly is a good priest with formidable experience and a deep commitment to a Catholic institution serving the Church and the world.” “He is highly regarded across the Seton Hall community and has my full respect and confidence,” the archbishop said. The Latham report was commissioned by Seton Hall in 2019 and produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins; the school ordered it after bombshell allegations involving McCarrick, who died in 2025. A New Jersey appeals court ruled in June that Seton Hall would not have to fully disclose the report as part of ongoing clergy abuse lawsuits. The appeals court did rule that one section of the report regarding the university’s sexual harassment policies could be disclosed in court, though parts of that section could be subject to redactions depending on the contents.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/seton-hall-president-not-implicated-in-internal-sex-allegation-report-newark-archdiocese-says-catholic-seton-hall-university-president-monsignor-joseph-reilly-was-not-impl.jpg "Seton Hall president ‘not implicated’ in internal sex allegation report, Newark Archdiocese says #Catholic Seton Hall University President Monsignor Joseph Reilly was “not implicated” in an internal report examining the school’s response to sex abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Newark said this week.The archdiocese on July 1 announced the release of its own report into whether an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall — the latter known as the “Latham report” — revealed that Reilly knew about abuse allegations at the university and yet failed to report them. Reilly was appointed president of the school in 2024. Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in the July 1 announcement that the archdiocese’s report, which was launched in February 2025 and performed by the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, revealed that Reilly “was not implicated in the Latham report.”The archdiocesan report reveals that Reilly “responded promptly to allegations of sexual harassment involving seminarians at [Seton Hall’s] Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2012,” though Reilly “did not follow the university’s Title IX reporting requirements” because he had not been trained on them, Tobin said. The Latham report, which has never been made public, was expected to examine whether Reilly, then-rector of Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary, knew about sexual misconduct allegations against now-deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and failed to report them.The Ropes & Gray inquiry, however, states that the Latham report “contains no findings or allegations that Monsignor Reilly … witnessed or received reports of any sexual misconduct by McCarrick (or any other individuals) at any time,” including during a stint as McCarrick’s secretary in the early 1990s. Among its findings, the Ropes & Gray report said Reilly in 2012 removed a seminarian from the school’s seminary after the younger man was found to have engaged in sexual harassment. Reilly was “not involved” in a separate 2014 dispute over inappropriate conduct involving two adults, meanwhile. In his announcement on July 1, Tobin said that “nothing in [the] thorough report changes my firm view that Monsignor Reilly is a good priest with formidable experience and a deep commitment to a Catholic institution serving the Church and the world.” “He is highly regarded across the Seton Hall community and has my full respect and confidence,” the archbishop said. The Latham report was commissioned by Seton Hall in 2019 and produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins; the school ordered it after bombshell allegations involving McCarrick, who died in 2025. A New Jersey appeals court ruled in June that Seton Hall would not have to fully disclose the report as part of ongoing clergy abuse lawsuits. The appeals court did rule that one section of the report regarding the university’s sexual harassment policies could be disclosed in court, though parts of that section could be subject to redactions depending on the contents.")
Cardinal Joseph Tobin said Monsignor Joseph Reilly “responded promptly” to sexual harassment allegations, though he failed to follow Title IX requirements due to a lack of training.
![Argentinians join in prayer for earthquake-shattered Venezuelans #Catholic With thousands dead, injured, and missing in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, Argentinians gathered in prayer for the Venezuelan people on June 28 at the basilica and national shrine of Our Lady of Luján. There, the archbishop of Mercedes-Luján, Jorge Eduardo Scheinig, offered Mass for the Venezuelan people.“Let us think of those who have died and their families,” Scheinig said in his homily. “In a single minute, so many people were left with nothing, absolutely nothing,” he noted.“Let us pray for the rescue workers and for all those who are working [on the ground]. Let us stand in solidarity with them through prayer,” said Scheinig, who proceeded to lead a moment of silence to pray to God and the Virgin for the people of Venezuela.The archbishop dedicated the rest of his homily to examining priorities, those things that “carry more weight than others” and “have the power to bring order to our lives.”“If you have the right priorities, you are at peace. But if you choose your priorities poorly, it causes confusion and anguish for you; it doesn’t help you live well. So, from time to time, we need to have the courage to reexamine our priorities,” he noted.In this regard, he said that “Jesus helps us order our priorities,” and elaborated: “What is Jesus’ priority? God. What comes first for Jesus? God. And what does he advise us? Put God first, and you won’t regret it,” he explained.He therefore urged people to ask themselves: “What place does God hold? What place does Mass hold?” he continued. “If you put God’s love first, if you love God in your life — that love is so good, so pure, and so radiant that it brings order to your entire life and helps you understand your whole life. Because God takes nothing away from you; he fills your life with love,” he pointed out. “Putting God first means taking a stand, taking a risk, and filling your heart with love; that helps you love everyone and everything in a different way, to love better,” he emphasized.Referring to the situation in Venezuela, Scheinig reflected: “Just look at how strange the world is. Today, television shows harrowing scenes. I was watching the news and saw a little boy crying — he had been left all alone after the earthquake, and it breaks your heart. Yet, a short while later, we’re watching the Argentina [World Cup] match.”“And notice, too, that we see scenes of war, of migrants who have nothing and live in a small tent. That’s the world. It happens to us in a family as well: You might be celebrating the 15th birthday of one of your children and then a close relative dies or someone comes down with an illness. That’s life. Life is that strange mix of very beautiful things and deeply painful things,” he noted.“But when your heart has priorities, you don’t get confused. And so, yes, we can cheer for the national team, but my priority isn’t soccer; my priority is life, it’s what happens to other people. I don’t let the things of life desensitize me,” he cautioned.That is why, “if God is your priority, you are able to not get desensitized to pain. You have your life on track. You can watch the World Cup, but you realize that it isn’t the priority. Your life is in order. You know where you stand, what you want, and what you don’t want,” he continued.In that context, he added, the need arises to stand with Venezuelans in prayer: “God, strengthen so many people whose lives changed in an instant.”“We also feel moved to show solidarity, to give money and goods, and to share what we have with those in need because your heart is rightly ordered; it is with God.”“Life presents us with complex, difficult moments in the world,” Scheinig acknowledged, while expressing the hope that “God holds first place on our list of priorities, so that we may remain good people.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/argentinians-join-in-prayer-for-earthquake-shattered-venezuelans-catholic-with-thousands-dead-injured-and-missing-in-the-wake-of-last-weeks-devastating-earthquakes-in-venezuela-argentinia-scaled.jpg "Argentinians join in prayer for earthquake-shattered Venezuelans #Catholic With thousands dead, injured, and missing in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, Argentinians gathered in prayer for the Venezuelan people on June 28 at the basilica and national shrine of Our Lady of Luján. There, the archbishop of Mercedes-Luján, Jorge Eduardo Scheinig, offered Mass for the Venezuelan people.“Let us think of those who have died and their families,” Scheinig said in his homily. “In a single minute, so many people were left with nothing, absolutely nothing,” he noted.“Let us pray for the rescue workers and for all those who are working [on the ground]. Let us stand in solidarity with them through prayer,” said Scheinig, who proceeded to lead a moment of silence to pray to God and the Virgin for the people of Venezuela.The archbishop dedicated the rest of his homily to examining priorities, those things that “carry more weight than others” and “have the power to bring order to our lives.”“If you have the right priorities, you are at peace. But if you choose your priorities poorly, it causes confusion and anguish for you; it doesn’t help you live well. So, from time to time, we need to have the courage to reexamine our priorities,” he noted.In this regard, he said that “Jesus helps us order our priorities,” and elaborated: “What is Jesus’ priority? God. What comes first for Jesus? God. And what does he advise us? Put God first, and you won’t regret it,” he explained.He therefore urged people to ask themselves: “What place does God hold? What place does Mass hold?” he continued. “If you put God’s love first, if you love God in your life — that love is so good, so pure, and so radiant that it brings order to your entire life and helps you understand your whole life. Because God takes nothing away from you; he fills your life with love,” he pointed out. “Putting God first means taking a stand, taking a risk, and filling your heart with love; that helps you love everyone and everything in a different way, to love better,” he emphasized.Referring to the situation in Venezuela, Scheinig reflected: “Just look at how strange the world is. Today, television shows harrowing scenes. I was watching the news and saw a little boy crying — he had been left all alone after the earthquake, and it breaks your heart. Yet, a short while later, we’re watching the Argentina [World Cup] match.”“And notice, too, that we see scenes of war, of migrants who have nothing and live in a small tent. That’s the world. It happens to us in a family as well: You might be celebrating the 15th birthday of one of your children and then a close relative dies or someone comes down with an illness. That’s life. Life is that strange mix of very beautiful things and deeply painful things,” he noted.“But when your heart has priorities, you don’t get confused. And so, yes, we can cheer for the national team, but my priority isn’t soccer; my priority is life, it’s what happens to other people. I don’t let the things of life desensitize me,” he cautioned.That is why, “if God is your priority, you are able to not get desensitized to pain. You have your life on track. You can watch the World Cup, but you realize that it isn’t the priority. Your life is in order. You know where you stand, what you want, and what you don’t want,” he continued.In that context, he added, the need arises to stand with Venezuelans in prayer: “God, strengthen so many people whose lives changed in an instant.”“We also feel moved to show solidarity, to give money and goods, and to share what we have with those in need because your heart is rightly ordered; it is with God.”“Life presents us with complex, difficult moments in the world,” Scheinig acknowledged, while expressing the hope that “God holds first place on our list of priorities, so that we may remain good people.”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.")
In his homily during a Mass offered for the earthquake’s victims, Archbishop Jorge Scheinig urged the faithful to reexamine their priorities in life, realizing one can lose everything in an instant.
![San Francisco Archdiocese will pay $395 million to abuse victims, Archbishop Cordileone says #Catholic The Archdiocese of San Francisco will offer abuse victims nearly $400 million as part of a broad settlement of the substantial number of sex abuse lawsuits brought against it. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said on June 29 that the proposed $395 million settlement would “resolve all lawsuits related to child sexual abuse” brought against the archdiocese under California’s expanded statute of limitations. Cordileone said the archdiocese in the past has helped parishes, schools, and other archdiocesan entities absorb the cost of sex-abuse lawsuits, but he said the “current environment” of abuse lawsuits is “much more challenging.” Schools and parishes “will need to contribute funds” to the settlement both in order to ensure their own legal safeguards and to “share in the work of making amends for the harm of the past,” he said.The archdiocese announced it was filing for bankruptcy in August 2023 in response to more than 500 civil lawsuits filed against it. The voluminous lawsuits were brought against the archdiocese under California’s 2019 Assembly Bill 218, which significantly expanded the statute of limitations in the state regarding civil sex abuse lawsuits. In a separate release, the archdiocese said it would seek to “preserve the vital ministries of Catholic education and parish life” even as it moves to pay out the major nine-figure settlement. The archdiocese has “no current plans to close schools or parishes to reach the proposed settlement,” it said. The settlement has yet to be finalized in federal bankruptcy court. The archdiocese said that all litigation involving the lawsuits has been paused while the parties “work in good faith on the details of a consensual Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.”The settlement represents one of the larger abuse payout amounts in U.S. Catholic history, though a few others have been considerably larger. In October 2024 the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced an $880 million clergy abuse settlement, while the New York Archdiocese in May said it would pay out $800 million to abuse victims. Cordileone on June 29 acknowledged that “no financial settlement can erase the painful legacy of these past actions.” But “we believe this proposal offers a path toward fair compensation for survivors who have carried the burden of this abuse for a lifetime,” he said. The archdiocese “remain[s] committed to fostering healing and reconciliation and to accompanying all who deserve our unwavering respect, attention, and prayers,” he said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/san-francisco-archdiocese-will-pay-395-million-to-abuse-victims-archbishop-cordileone-says-catholic-the-archdiocese-of-san-francisco-will-offer-abuse-victims-nearly-400-million-as-part-of-a-broad.jpg "San Francisco Archdiocese will pay $395 million to abuse victims, Archbishop Cordileone says #Catholic The Archdiocese of San Francisco will offer abuse victims nearly $400 million as part of a broad settlement of the substantial number of sex abuse lawsuits brought against it. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said on June 29 that the proposed $395 million settlement would “resolve all lawsuits related to child sexual abuse” brought against the archdiocese under California’s expanded statute of limitations. Cordileone said the archdiocese in the past has helped parishes, schools, and other archdiocesan entities absorb the cost of sex-abuse lawsuits, but he said the “current environment” of abuse lawsuits is “much more challenging.” Schools and parishes “will need to contribute funds” to the settlement both in order to ensure their own legal safeguards and to “share in the work of making amends for the harm of the past,” he said.The archdiocese announced it was filing for bankruptcy in August 2023 in response to more than 500 civil lawsuits filed against it. The voluminous lawsuits were brought against the archdiocese under California’s 2019 Assembly Bill 218, which significantly expanded the statute of limitations in the state regarding civil sex abuse lawsuits. In a separate release, the archdiocese said it would seek to “preserve the vital ministries of Catholic education and parish life” even as it moves to pay out the major nine-figure settlement. The archdiocese has “no current plans to close schools or parishes to reach the proposed settlement,” it said. The settlement has yet to be finalized in federal bankruptcy court. The archdiocese said that all litigation involving the lawsuits has been paused while the parties “work in good faith on the details of a consensual Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.”The settlement represents one of the larger abuse payout amounts in U.S. Catholic history, though a few others have been considerably larger. In October 2024 the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced an $880 million clergy abuse settlement, while the New York Archdiocese in May said it would pay out $800 million to abuse victims. Cordileone on June 29 acknowledged that “no financial settlement can erase the painful legacy of these past actions.” But “we believe this proposal offers a path toward fair compensation for survivors who have carried the burden of this abuse for a lifetime,” he said. The archdiocese “remain[s] committed to fostering healing and reconciliation and to accompanying all who deserve our unwavering respect, attention, and prayers,” he said.")
The proposed settlement will “resolve all lawsuits” regarding child sex abuse involving archdiocesan officials, the prelate said in a press release.
Author and professor calls on Catholics to revive American culture through faith and classical learning.
The pope reflected on the Jesuits’ four Universal Apostolic Preferences to address today’s challenges: the Spiritual Exercises, walking with the poor, a hope-filled future, and the care of creation.
Euthanasia is on the rise in Spain, and as its destructive effects become more apparent, ethics professionals are offering recommendations to prevent and ultimately eliminate the practice.
The recognition for Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler is a rare gesture from the Buddhist establishment of a country where Catholics number barely 20,000.
As AI encroaches on sacred music, Catholics still hold true to Gregorian chant, a historical form of sacred music that is still alive today.
The pair spoke with EWTN News about how their faith inspires them to be men who make it their mission to love as Jesus loves, and about how they hope to inspire others to do the same.
“This is certainly deliberate,” Ukraine Freedom Project Founder Steven Moore said of the attack on the historic 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
![Pope Leo XIV: Catholics and Jews must work together to fight antisemtism #Catholic Pope Leo XIV affirmed on June 15 the shared heritage of Jews and Catholics, emphasizing that they must be united against antisemitism and in serving those in need.In an address at the Vatican to representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, the pontiff praised their organization as “an instrument of global Jewish philanthropy, providing essential humanitarian aid and social services to vulnerable populations.” He also drew parallels between their work and the Catholic Churchʼs commitment to human development.“These efforts reflect a clear recognition of human dignity and fraternity, resonating with the Church’s own commitment to integral human development and the call to love our neighbor,” Leo said in his remarks.The pope also reflected on the progress of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the 1965 publication of Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the Second Vatican Council that condemned all forms of antisemitism. Reaffirming the Churchʼs stance against antisemitism, Leo emphasized the need for Catholics and Jews to work together to combat all forms of discrimination."[Nostra Aetate] affirmed, among other things, the truth that we belong to one human family,“ Leo said. ”Recognizing the inherent dignity of all men and women, Nostra Aetate took a firm stand against antisemitism and declared that the Church rejects all forms of discrimination or harassment because of race, color, condition of life, or religion. In a world still wounded by division and conflict, it called us to move beyond past misunderstandings toward collaboration for the common good."](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pope-leo-xiv-catholics-and-jews-must-work-together-to-fight-antisemtism-catholic-pope-leo-xiv-affirmed-on-june-15-the-shared-heritage-of-jews-and-catholics-emphasizing-that-they-must-be-united-agai.jpg "Pope Leo XIV: Catholics and Jews must work together to fight antisemtism #Catholic Pope Leo XIV affirmed on June 15 the shared heritage of Jews and Catholics, emphasizing that they must be united against antisemitism and in serving those in need.In an address at the Vatican to representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, the pontiff praised their organization as “an instrument of global Jewish philanthropy, providing essential humanitarian aid and social services to vulnerable populations.” He also drew parallels between their work and the Catholic Churchʼs commitment to human development.“These efforts reflect a clear recognition of human dignity and fraternity, resonating with the Church’s own commitment to integral human development and the call to love our neighbor,” Leo said in his remarks.The pope also reflected on the progress of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the 1965 publication of Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the Second Vatican Council that condemned all forms of antisemitism. Reaffirming the Churchʼs stance against antisemitism, Leo emphasized the need for Catholics and Jews to work together to combat all forms of discrimination.\"[Nostra Aetate] affirmed, among other things, the truth that we belong to one human family,“ Leo said. ”Recognizing the inherent dignity of all men and women, Nostra Aetate took a firm stand against antisemitism and declared that the Church rejects all forms of discrimination or harassment because of race, color, condition of life, or religion. In a world still wounded by division and conflict, it called us to move beyond past misunderstandings toward collaboration for the common good.\"")
The pontiff addressed representatives of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York on June 15.
At the Angelus, the pontiff said Christ sees the wounds of war, broken families, and young people misled by false ideals.
![Michigan diocese celebrates new priests after ordinations moved out of cathedral #Catholic ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, ordained four men to the priesthood on June 6 at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing after the crowd was too big for St. Mary’s Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese. In the packed church, Boyea told the ordinands: “You have been spending years being with Jesus. He’s calling you as he called those 12 so many centuries ago. Today, as you are consecrated by the Church for a sacred ministry, consecrate yourselves to drink the cup which the Lord gives and take in the word which the Spirit is providing. Though weak vessels that we are, we will not let that prevent us from following the calling we have received.”Now 75 and due to retire from his duties in Lansing, Boyea has ordained 45 priests during his 18 years of leadership of the diocese in Michigan’s capital. The diocese, one of seven Latin-rite dioceses in Michigan, is currently sponsoring 29 seminarians, and last year’s ordination class was the largest in nearly 50 years.Fathers Joshua Bauer, Jacob Derry, Ryan Ferrigan, and Peter Randolph, ordained by Boyea, all attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Detroit Archdiocese.
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, washes the feet of one of the four men he ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Before their ordination, the men were interviewed on video, displaying the chalices they will use as priests.Ferrigan, 28, said his antique sacred vessel had been left behind at the now-shuttered St. Michael Parish church in Flint, Michigan, established more than 170 years ago. Inscribed on its base are the words of an anonymous donor: “In reparation from a friend of the Sacred Heart.”“You know, it’s a paradox because this chalice has a long history, and I don’t know who the priests are who used it in the past,” he said. “They offered the Holy Sacrifice using this vessel for over 100 years, and I get to continue faithfully offering the Mass and praying for the salvation of the world every day.”In his thanksgiving address to the congregation, Ferrigan said of his priesthood: “It’s all about the glory of God and the salvation of souls!”In an interview with EWTN News, the new priest said: “In being ordained, the palpable joy they could see in me was there because in ordination, I am seeing the purpose for which God created me coming to fruition. I have become what the Lord created me to be.”“The day of my ordination was the best day of my life. Lots of friends and family were there to support me. The Lord has blessed me and is very good to me. I’m still adjusting and realizing that I’m really a priest now and have the privilege of offering the Mass every day. This is my commission and what the Lord wants me to do for his praise and the salvation of the world. It is still sinking in,” he told EWTN News.
From left to right: Fathers Peter Randolph, Ryan Ferrigan, Jacob Derry, and Joshua Bauer at their ordaination on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Ferrigan celebrated his first solo Mass that same day at St. Martha Parish in Okemos, near Lansing. He was able to distribute the Eucharist for the first time in both instances to his mother. He will serve at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, which is close to the University of Michigan campus and known for its music and solemn liturgies.“I’m excited to be going there, and I expect to serve about three years at St. Thomas,” he said, adding: “I’m excited about learning to be a parish priest and diving into ministry. This is how the Lord wants me to feed his sheep.”Randolph, 27, reflected in the video about his journey to the altar, which has included profound loss. “The emphasis of this chalice upon the humanity of Christ and about receiving the chalice, and then living it out to the fullest extent, both in pain and suffering, and full self-abandonment and full self-emptying and glory, means a lot to me, because my [18-year-old] brother Xavier died less than a year ago. And the Lord has really promised me that he’s going to meet me in the place of my pain,” he said, adding: “He’s not going to leave me alone. But it’s going to come in my very broken humanity. In my humanity that is now broken in a particular way in grief.”
Peter Randolph prepares for his ordination to the priesthood on June 6, 2026, in East Lansing, Michigan. | Credit: Valerie Hendrickson
Randolph’s father and grandfather serve as deacons in the Lansing Diocese. At the July 2025 funeral for Xavier, hundreds of friends and parishioners of the close-knit Christ the King Parish in Ann Arbor were on hand to support the Randolph family with the same solidarity shown at Randolph’s ordination. He has been assigned to St. Patrick Parish in Brighton, Michigan, which is known for its healing services and charismatic liturgies.As Boyea consecrated Randolph, the newly ordained young man openly sobbed in the presence of his many friends and family members. “I want every day of my priesthood and every time that I offer Mass in this chalice, to be able to say, like, ‘Accipiam calicem,’ right, I accept the chalice,” Randolph vowed. Paraphrasing Matthew 26:42, Randolph said: “Father, I accept this chalice, and I will drink it to the dregs with your Son.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/michigan-diocese-celebrates-new-priests-after-ordinations-moved-out-of-cathedral-catholic-ann-arbor-michigan-bishop-earl-boyea-of-lansing-michigan-ordained-four-men-to-the-priesthood-on-scaled.jpg)
Bishop Earl Boyea ordained four new priests at a local Lansing parish, urging them to “drink the cup which the Lord gives” as they begin their ministry.
Bishops in Northern Ireland call for peace, abuse victims in Australia clash with diocese, anti-Catholic legislation in France fails, Zimbabwe, and more in this week’s Catholic world news roundup.
At Las Raíces reception center in Spain’s Canary Islands, the pope heard testimonies from migrants who risked their lives crossing the Atlantic and urged a more humane response rooted in dignity.
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Coro delle Monache, fresco of Deposition by Paolo Caylina the Younger in the Museo di Santa Giulia in Brescia. Today is Good Friday in Western Christianity.
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Early morning sunlight illuminates the western wall of this unnamed crater, leaving deep shadows on the ground and in the interior. The image was taken on August 30, 2023, by LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera).
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Mountaineers descending into Chola Valley, 5,200 metres (17,100 ft) a. s. l., in good weather conditions, with a panoramic view over snow-capped Himalayan peaks to the south of the Great Himalayan Range in Mahalangur Himal, Nepal, Himalayas. Today is International Mountain Day.
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A circa 1660–70 Pahari painting from Basohli, Jammu, India, depicting the Hindu goddess Bhadrakali being worshipped by the three supreme gods of Hinduism: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, to pacify her after she killed the demon Mahishasura, who could not be killed by them, the men or other gods. Her victory over the demon is celebrated by Hindus as the victory of good over evil on the day of Vijayadashami, which is today.
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