Stories for July 2025

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Tuesday, Jul. 15

 Pope celebrates Mass for carabinieri at Castel Gandolfo
 Church leaders protest Israeli settlers’ violence against Christian community
 Nigerian bishop confirms contact with kidnappers of seminarians
 Guam archbishop tells Pope: ‘we are sinking!’
 US dioceses vary widely on baptism rates
 Detroit archbishop joins clergy, laity in procession to ICE office
 NY Supreme Court halts payments to Buffalo abuse fund amid parish merger dispute
 USCCB committee chairman expresses ‘profound solidarity’ with DR Congo
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ embarks upon visit to India
 Pope gives paten, chalice to Castel Gandolfo priest
 Spanish bishop laments violent clashes with migrants
 Renewed papal appeal for peace
 Gaza parish priest speaks of dwindling food supplies
 Leading Italian prelate reflects on Pope’s invitation to make parishes ‘homes of peace’
 Polish cardinal denounces anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial
 Ukrainian synod concludes in Rome
 Vatican newspaper draws attention to Haiti, ‘the forgotten crisis’

Released Monday, Jul. 14

 Cardinal Turkson questions Ghana’s political leadership
 Castel Gandolfo welcomes Pontiff after years of absence
 New Syrian regime hostile to Christians, archbishop says
 Peruvian cardinal under fire for handling of abuse cases
 Pope signs jersey for former White Sox slugger
 Jailed Anglican prelate faces new abuse allegations
 European human rights court upholds right to private religious meetings
 Philippine bishops lament online gambling
 Jesus shows us the meaning of the love necessary for eternal life, Pontiff tells pilgrims
 Imitate Christ and show compassion to others, Pope Leo preaches in homily on the Good Samaritan
 Think of God’s plan of salvation, Pope tells 8 religious institutes
 USCCB rues FCC delay in implementing prisoner phone-rate reductions
 Vatican touts astrophysics discovery
 Colombia’s bishops seek to be ‘prophets of hope’ amid fragmentation, polarization
 Sarajevo archbishop laments Srebrenica genocide on 30th anniversary
 Canonist, in L’Osservatore Romano, calls for wholesale ‘synodal’ revision of canon law
 Vatican newspaper deplores killing of children in Gaza
 Martyred Marist brother beatified in Barcelona

Released Friday, Jul. 11

 Attack on seminary in Nigeria
 Myanmar bishops encourage faithful to persevere despite war, disasters
 Nigerian bishop: ‘It is genocide’
 12 new accusations lodged against Abbé Pierre
 New Missouri law forbids public colleges from discriminating against religious groups
 US commission assesses religious freedom in post-Assad Syria
 Philippine bishops’ conference calls for fair wages, political accountability
 Papal message calls for local and global governance of AI
 USCCB summarizes migration provisions of new federal budget legislation
 Pope receives 220 pounds of mail every day
 For 1st time in his pontificate, Pope Leo establishes new diocese
 Vatican newspaper warns of ‘blood and chaos’ in Kenya

Released Thursday, Jul. 10

 California bishop offers dispensation from Sunday obligation for fear of immigration raids
 Pope sees elderly as ‘first witnesses of hope’
 Facing 153 abuse claims, California diocese files for bankruptcy
 Federal judge temporarily blocks 1-year defunding of Planned Parenthood
 Vatican diplomat raises concern about AI’s threat to intellectual property rights
 Cardinal McElroy, USCCB committee chairman call for increased federal funding for DC opportunity scholarships
 Pope encourages Latin American catechists to evangelize
 Vatican approves public devotion to alleged 1990s Slovak Marian apparitions
 ‘Children have the right to an authentic, just, and lasting peace,’ Pope writes in letter
 Jewish settlers attack Palestinian Christian village

Released Wednesday, Jul. 9

 French archbishop names convicted rapist as chancellor
 Pope celebrates ‘Mass for the Care of Creation,’ cites urgency
 Pope meets with Ukraine’s Zelensky
 Australian bishop steps aside while denying abuse claim
 Virginia court halts enforcement of state’s ban on ‘conversion therapy’
 Following factory explosion, Indian bishops call for protection of workers
 ‘Take action against Christianophobia,’ Vatican diplomat urges UN Security Council
 Reacting to new IRS stance, USCCB emphasizes that Church does not endorse, oppose candidates
 New superior general for Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions
 Bombs, machine gun fire draw closer to Gaza’s Catholic parish
 French-Iranian author pens front-page Gospel commentary for L’Osservatore Romano
 Look at world from children’s perspective, Vatican spokesman counsels
 Nickel mining threatens Philippine island’s ecosystem, Vatican newspaper warns

Released Tuesday, Jul. 8

 Vatican Museums reopen Raphael Rooms after major restoration
 Florida bishop denounces ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
 Nigerian governor orders demolition of memorial to church attack victims
 Holy See emphasizes link between poverty, climate change
 Signaling end of Syro-Malabar liturgical dispute, Leo XIV concludes pontifical delegate’s mandate
 Papal gratitude for Vatican monthly newspaper of the poor
 Syriac Catholic hierarchy again meets with Pontiff
 In unusual move, Pope transfers Kenyan bishop to far smaller diocese
 Harvard professor who traced Leo XIV’s genealogy meets with Pope
 Reporting on Texas floods, L’Osservatore Romano chides Trump administration over climate policies
 Vatican newspaper editor sees listening as major theme of Leo’s pontificate

Released Monday, Jul. 7

 French prelate named new president for papal abuse commission
 Illinois town buys Pope’s boyhood home
 Vicar of Opus Dei added to human-trafficking complaint in Argentina
 Vatican issues new guide for implementation of Synod on Synodality
 Ukraine revokes citizenship of Orthodox leader
 Imitate your foundress and read St. Augustine’s On the Teacher, Pope advises Augustinian sisters
 Strengthen your relationship with Christ, Pope tells young pilgrims, teachers
 Papal prayer for those affected by gas explosion in Rome
 Vatican newspaper series examines ‘challenges and hopes’ facing the USA
 Cardinal McElroy: Trump administration’s immigrant deportations are ‘morally repugnant’
 New archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore
 Taizé prior, Pontiff discuss Christian unity
 Archbishop Lori, Supreme Knight discuss Knights of Columbus with Pope Leo
 Montenegro’s PM meets with Pontiff
 Castel Gandolfo welcomes Pope Leo as he resumes custom of summer residence there
 Papal condolences for Texas flood victims, encouragement to pray for peace
 Pope Leo: ‘Become joyful laborers in God’s Kingdom’ by prioritizing prayer

Released Friday, Jul. 4

 Video released for July papal prayer intention
 USCCB president condemns ‘devastating effects’ of One Big Beautiful Bill Act
 Pope Leo to resume custom of public celebration of Mass on feast of the Assumption
 Vatican diplomat deplores violence against women, says differences between men and women must be recognized
 Cardinal Fernández: Rupnik judges selected; excommunications are ‘often’ declared and lifted
 Pope welcomes Taiwan’s new ambassador
 Poland’s President Duda meets with Pontiff
 Jerusalem Christians mourn victims of attack on Syrian church
 Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarchy discusses pastoral care of families in wartime
 Vatican officials present new Mass formulary: Mass for the Care of Creation
 600 children meet with Pope Leo
 ‘Europe suffocates’: Vatican newspaper laments heat wave

Released Thursday, Jul. 3

 Debate over traditional Latin Mass heats up after apparent leak of Vatican documents that undermine Pope Francis
 USCCB, in court filing, backs counselor challenging Colorado law on transgender counseling
 Synod study group reports postponed until December; implementation phase document to be released July 7
 Address the trafficking of migrant domestic workers, Vatican diplomat urges
 Vatican announces ‘Manifesto of Young Christians of Europe’
 Turkey’s first lady meets with Pope, calls for ‘more assertive’ Christian support for Gaza ceasefire
 Papal condolences following death of Cardinal Dri, who spent 7 hours daily in confessional
 Italian PM Meloni meets with Pontiff
 Franciscan official rues plight of children in the Holy Land
 Pope issues ‘Seeds of Peace and Hope,’ message for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
 Papal encouragement for Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarchy in serving Christ in the wounded, distressed

Released Wednesday, Jul. 2

 Leading African, Asian, Latin American prelates issue joint call for climate justice
 Ecumenical Patriarch hails Pope Leo’s Augustinian commitment to Christian unity
 Argentine Cardinal Dri dies at 98
 Syriac Catholic hierarchy meets with Pope
 Where ‘human blood is shed too easily,’ the Precious Blood offers hope, Holy Land custos preaches
 Vatican newspaper highlights overcrowding, suicides in Italian prisons
 USCCB, in action alerts, urges opposition to environmental, SNAP, Medicaid budget cuts
 Vatican cardinal warns of ‘danger of extinction’ of Christianity in the Middle East
 Amid Cameroon conflict, situation improves for civilians—but torture continues, prelate says
 Bishop decries renewed violence in South Sudan, calls for peace

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Wed16 July
Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Opt Mem of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Image for Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Opt Mem of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Today is the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Sacred Scripture celebrated the beauty of Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel's faith in the living God. In the twelfth century, hermits withdrew to that mountain and later founded the Carmelite order devoted to the…

Learn more about this day.

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