Negotiations

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.
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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.

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

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Czech court to weigh clearing cardinal jailed by communists #Catholic A second cardinal and a third senior churchman may be rehabilitated this year for mistreatment under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The District Court in Litoměřice, in what is now the Czech Republic, will consider a proposal for the rehabilitation of Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, the former bishop of Litoměřice, over his internment between 1950 and 1953.The public prosecutor asked the relevant authorities to carry out an investigation into the archives and, based on the outcome, found the initiative reasonable. He has already submitted a proposal for the judicial rehabilitation of Trochta over the illegal deprivation of his personal freedom. A date for consideration of the proposal has not yet been set.“I firmly believe that the name of Štěpán Trochta, my predecessor in Litoměřice, will be cleared through the courts,” said Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, who is also apostolic administrator of Litoměřice.The verdict that sent Trochta to prison, handed down in a political trial for “treason and conspiracy,” was overturned in 1968, but the Czech courts have not dealt with his earlier illegal internment. The initiative for full rehabilitation came from Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian Exile of the 20th Century, and the lawyer Lubomír Müller.It is “important to clean his name in this way as well,” said Kratochvil, whose family was friends with the prelate.Salesian, prisoner, cardinalŠtěpán Trochta (1905–1974) was one of the first Czech members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the so-called Salesians. He studied in Turin, Italy, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. He returned to Czechoslovakia, and when Nazi Germany occupied the country, he was arrested for his contacts with and support for the resistance and was sent to several concentration camps.He was “ready to work, full of energy, enthusiasm, and willing to work hard.” Trochta was also a good organizer and a gifted speaker and writer who “enjoyed being among the boys, even though he gradually had to spend more time in administration,” according to “Life and Legacy,” a booklet published by the Salesians on the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s death.Shortly before the communists took over in Czechoslovakia, he was appointed bishop of Litoměřice. He became the spokesman for the episcopate of Czechoslovakia in difficult negotiations with the new government. In the end, the regime interned him in his residence and later imprisoned him. Although he was released sooner than expected, he was not allowed to continue as a bishop and had to work as a manual laborer.In 1969, when he was already back in the Diocese of Litoměřice, Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal “in pectore” — that is, secretly.When Trochta died five years later, the funeral was attended by many of the faithful, including cardinals from Berlin, Krakow, and Vienna. Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II, reportedly asked to concelebrate but was not permitted to do so. Wojtyła then defied the ban on foreign participants speaking, delivering a short address over the coffin in which he called the deceased prelate a martyr. The funeral Mass was celebrated by the Czech bishop and future Cardinal František Tomášek.A series of Czech rehabilitationsThe case may become one more in a recent series of rehabilitations in the Czech Republic.In February, the District Court of Prague recognized the unjust treatment of Cardinal Josef Beran, the former archbishop of Prague, who was interned in several locations. Last month, the District Court in Olomouc rehabilitated Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha of Olomouc, also over his internment.In 2024, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové rehabilitated Father Josef Toufar, who was illegally arrested and tortured to death.
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Czech court to weigh clearing cardinal jailed by communists #Catholic A second cardinal and a third senior churchman may be rehabilitated this year for mistreatment under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The District Court in Litoměřice, in what is now the Czech Republic, will consider a proposal for the rehabilitation of Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, the former bishop of Litoměřice, over his internment between 1950 and 1953.The public prosecutor asked the relevant authorities to carry out an investigation into the archives and, based on the outcome, found the initiative reasonable. He has already submitted a proposal for the judicial rehabilitation of Trochta over the illegal deprivation of his personal freedom. A date for consideration of the proposal has not yet been set.“I firmly believe that the name of Štěpán Trochta, my predecessor in Litoměřice, will be cleared through the courts,” said Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, who is also apostolic administrator of Litoměřice.The verdict that sent Trochta to prison, handed down in a political trial for “treason and conspiracy,” was overturned in 1968, but the Czech courts have not dealt with his earlier illegal internment. The initiative for full rehabilitation came from Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian Exile of the 20th Century, and the lawyer Lubomír Müller.It is “important to clean his name in this way as well,” said Kratochvil, whose family was friends with the prelate.Salesian, prisoner, cardinalŠtěpán Trochta (1905–1974) was one of the first Czech members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the so-called Salesians. He studied in Turin, Italy, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. He returned to Czechoslovakia, and when Nazi Germany occupied the country, he was arrested for his contacts with and support for the resistance and was sent to several concentration camps.He was “ready to work, full of energy, enthusiasm, and willing to work hard.” Trochta was also a good organizer and a gifted speaker and writer who “enjoyed being among the boys, even though he gradually had to spend more time in administration,” according to “Life and Legacy,” a booklet published by the Salesians on the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s death.Shortly before the communists took over in Czechoslovakia, he was appointed bishop of Litoměřice. He became the spokesman for the episcopate of Czechoslovakia in difficult negotiations with the new government. In the end, the regime interned him in his residence and later imprisoned him. Although he was released sooner than expected, he was not allowed to continue as a bishop and had to work as a manual laborer.In 1969, when he was already back in the Diocese of Litoměřice, Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal “in pectore” — that is, secretly.When Trochta died five years later, the funeral was attended by many of the faithful, including cardinals from Berlin, Krakow, and Vienna. Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II, reportedly asked to concelebrate but was not permitted to do so. Wojtyła then defied the ban on foreign participants speaking, delivering a short address over the coffin in which he called the deceased prelate a martyr. The funeral Mass was celebrated by the Czech bishop and future Cardinal František Tomášek.A series of Czech rehabilitationsThe case may become one more in a recent series of rehabilitations in the Czech Republic.In February, the District Court of Prague recognized the unjust treatment of Cardinal Josef Beran, the former archbishop of Prague, who was interned in several locations. Last month, the District Court in Olomouc rehabilitated Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha of Olomouc, also over his internment.In 2024, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové rehabilitated Father Josef Toufar, who was illegally arrested and tortured to death.

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A district court will weigh whether Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, imprisoned by the Nazis and later by the communists, was unlawfully interned in the 1950s.

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