Stories for July 2025

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Thursday, Jul. 31

 Vatican, Italy to cooperate on agrivoltaic plant
 New director named for Vatican Observatory
 Immigration conflicts damage Los Angeles’ identity: Archbishop Gomez
 St. John Henry Newman to be declared a doctor of the Church
 Tehran’s cardinal assesses international situation
 US bishops back Kids Online Safety Act
 Jesuit spokesman contrasts Pope Francis’s closeness, actions of previous popes
 Holy See reiterates position on Israel-Hamas war, renews call for 2-state solution
 Italian bishops have given $49M to Holy Land projects
 Ecumenical Patriarch: Counter secular materialism through ‘global alliance of conscience’
 Papal prayer for Congo parish massacre victims, persecuted Christians
 As Jubilee of Youth begins, Pope, youth call for peace in the world

Released Wednesday, Jul. 30

 France, Australia, and UK no longer majority Christian
 Pontiff notes 50th anniversary of Helsinki Accords
 Use communications to heal, Pope urges audience
 Let us be ‘influenced’ and changed by the love of Christ, Cardinal Tagle preaches to influencers
 USCCB migration chairman welcomes bipartisan Dignity Act
 Talitha Kum leader calls for increased prayer, advocacy for human trafficking victims
 DR Congo priest recounts massacre at parish
 Vatican authorizes private devotion to alleged Italian Marian apparitions
 Pope meets with new French Catholics, stresses importance of Baptism
 Let Christ be the compass that guides your work, Pope tells Catholic universities
 Jerusalem’s Christian leaders condemn Israeli settlers’ attack on Palestinian Christian town
 Federal judge bars defunding of Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion activities
 Cardinal Parolin reiterates call for Palestinian state, decries hunger in Gaza

Released Tuesday, Jul. 29

 Cardinal Pell ordered probe of ‘potentially illegal’ bank transactions
 Quebec Catholic churches sold, put to new secular uses
 Build a culture of peace, Pope urges ‘digital missionaries’
 USCCB files brief in suit challenging Washington Confession law
 Holy See, Azerbaijan sign agreement on interreligious dialogue
 Flood Peru with the Good News of Christ, Pope asks young people
 Pope mourns Congo church attack
 Pontiff renews call for peace negotiations
 Economists worry about ‘depopulation bomb’
 Wounded Gaza Catholic, a Vatican newspaper contributor, writes about Israeli strike on parish
 Vatican News director: In the face of Gaza horror, we cannot look away
 New Holy Land custos makes solemn entrance into Cenacle, Holy Sepulchre, Bethlehem
 Vatican ‘foreign minister,’ in Mexico, notes Pope’s commitment to multilateralism, pays tribute to martyrs
 Use social media with faith and love, Cardinal Parolin tells Catholic influencers
 Russian Orthodox official meets with Pope Leo

Released Monday, Jul. 28

 Terrorist massacre at Congo Catholic church
 New assault on besieged Christian village on West Bank
 Protect environment, Pontiff urges French scouts
 Warsaw archdiocese seeks laicization of priest charged with brutal murder
 APSA reports healthy profits on Vatican investments
 Indiana church opens ‘sensory room’ for autistic parishioners
 Vatican spokesman renews call for recognition of Palestinian state
 Vatican newspaper criticizes Israeli claim of no famine in Gaza
 US bishops issue nationwide invitation to prayer to end taxpayer funding of abortion
 As jihadists advance, 30% of Niger’s Catholics have fled their villages
 Cardinal Sarah: ‘Do not profane France, for it is holy ground’
 Italian cardinal, Jewish leader issue joint peace appeal
 Gaza Catholic teen recounts Israeli strike on parish
 Pontiff offers formators, Xaverians suggestions for building their house on rock
 Pope upholds Vietnamese protomartyr as model for nation’s catechists
 Papal encouragement for Pax Christi USA in efforts to promote nonviolence, peace
 God the Father ‘never turns his back on us when we come to him,’ Pope tells pilgrims

Released Saturday, Jul. 26

 Background: World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly

Released Friday, Jul. 25

 US envoy protested Israeli scrutiny of Evangelical visitors
 NY archdiocese reports strong response to priest-recruitment program
 Father Arrupe, former Jesuit head, was aware of priest’s abuse record
 US envoy protested Israeli scrutiny of Evangelical visitors
 Migrants are models of hope, Pope writes in message for World Day of Migrants
 Federal judge halts defunding of Planned Parenthood clinics that do not provide abortions
 ‘We are living in a nightmare,’ prelate says of Cambodia-Thailand conflict
 US bishops call for repeal of ‘severely problematic’ FACE Act
 Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis’s heart will be in Rome for Jubilee of Youth
 Haiti’s bishops deplore ‘barbarism’ into which nation has fallen
 Vatican City announces plastic bottle recycling initiative
 Mexican government invites Pontiff to visit nation
 Pope Leo pays tribute to Italian president for work on behalf of peace
 Papal encouragement for Dominican order
 Leading Anglican prelate expresses solidarity with Gaza’s Catholics
 ‘Hunger like bombs’: Vatican newspaper article decries hunger in Gaza
 Caritas, other agencies plead: let aid into Gaza

Released Thursday, Jul. 24

 Detroit archbishop fires seminary professors
 Los Angeles archdiocese sets up new fund for immigrants
 Driver crashes truck into sanctuary of Texas church
 Algerian president meets with Pontiff
 Vatican court rejects appeal by ousted auditor general
 Israel report: shelling of Gaza church was accidental
 Fire set to historic French chapel
 US commission assesses religious freedom in Nigeria
 Church desecrated in DR Congo
 Diocese of Rochester’s abuse settlement reaches $246M
 Federal judge halts enforcement of part of Tennessee’s abortion-trafficking law
 Following peace deal, USCCB committee chairman expresses solidarity with African region’s bishops
 500,000 young people expected in Rome next week for Jubilee of Youth
 Franciscan official, in Vatican newspaper, deplores ‘unjust and unjustifiable’ starvation in Gaza
 New Holy Land custos arrives in Jerusalem
 The Church will never abandon Gaza, Patriarchs say following visit

Released Wednesday, Jul. 23

 HHS investigation demands ‘transparency’ in organ transplantation
 Indian bishop blasts parishioners’ discrimination against lower castes
 FBI investigated priest who refused to disclose conversations with convert
 French archbishop raps colleague for appointed convicted rapist
 Pope returns from Castel Gandolfo to Vatican
 Vatican diplomat calls for renewed commitment to multilateralism
 3,500 US youth expected in Rome for jubilee
 Papal prayer after Bangladeshi jet crashes into school
 Pope remembers Cardinal Vingt-Trois as ‘good and zealous shepherd’
 Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church publishes synodal resolutions
 In DR Congo, Church and state clash over pregnant girls in schools
 Ecumenical Patriarch renews call for Christian unity, condemns attack on Gaza parish
 Pakistani court orders investigation into misuse of nation’s blasphemy laws
 Injured Gaza priest recounts strike on parish
 Cardinal Parolin issues renewed call for end to Holy Land violence
 Caritas rips Israeli actions in Gaza

Released Tuesday, Jul. 22

 Kidnapped Nigerian priest who served in Alaska is released unharmed
 Swiss political leader faces charges after shooting image of Virgin and Child
 Israeli ambassador to Vatican: Blame Hamas for continued fighting
 Pope Leo will continue reform of Roman Curia, English cardinal predicts
 Vatican diplomat calls for ‘immediate debt relief’ for poor island nations
 US bishops call for ceasefire, dialogue in Holy Land
 Israel’s actions in Gaza are unjustifiable, Jerusalem cardinal says
 Journalists pay tribute to Pope Francis
 Sit at the feet of Jesus, listen, and pray, Pope says at home for elderly
 The world can no longer tolerate war, Pope tells journalists
 Papal gift of chausable to Albano bishop
 ‘You are in the heart of the Pope,’ Leo XIV tells Middle East’s Christians
 The Church in the EU stands with the Church and people of Ukraine, prelate says
 Palestinian president condemns attack on Gaza parish
 Cardinal Parolin laments destruction of Gaza, starvation of its population
 Cardinal Vingt-Trois, retired Paris archbishop, dies at 82

Released Monday, Jul. 21

 Rector proclaims ‘golden age’ of American seminaries
 Irish diocese confirms removal of disgraced bishop’s remains from cathedral
 Pope calls US astronaut on anniversary of moon landing
 German archdiocese sees complaints against cardinal as ‘baseless’
 Sri Lanka archdiocese seeks prosecution of top official for Easter church bombings
 Palestinian President Abbas talks with Pontiff
 Pope Leo reflects on hospitality offered by Abraham, Mary, and Martha
 Naming Cardinal Sarah as envoy, Pope recalls French apparition of St. Anne
 Papal encouragement for America’s Ruthenian Catholics
 Papal condolences for Iraqi fire victims
 ‘Environmental justice is closely linked to social justice,’ Vatican cardinal tells Latin American bishops
 Vatican dicastery publishes document on food security
 Vatican consultor pays tribute to Blessed Carlo Acutis
 Church in South Africa advocates for miners
 ‘You are not forgotten,’ Jerusalem cardinal preaches at Gaza parish
 ‘The cross remained,’ Franciscan official says after attack on Gaza parish
 Vatican spokesman: Hamas attack on Israel cannot justify mass killing of Gaza’s civilians

Released Friday, Jul. 18

 Mexico City projects anti-Catholic images on cathedral facade
 James Hitchcock, Catholic historian and commentator, dead at 87
 Vatican slow to authorize use of papal image
 Two convicted of money-laundering in Caritas Luxembourg scandal
 Pope and Netanyahu talk after attack on Gaza church
 Benedictine abbey in Belgium temporarily dissolved following abuse allegations
 Memo calls for ‘generous’ religious accommodations in US executive branch
 9 people sentenced for murder of Myanmar priest
 Historian examines wartime record of Vatican radio, newspaper under Pius XII
 Vatican diplomat calls for immediate debt relief, says poverty is ‘central’ international priority
 EU, US bishops lament attack on Gaza parish
 Catholic parish, Christian homes set aflame in Syria
 Jerusalem’s Christian leaders deplore ‘heinous’ Israeli attack on Gaza’s Catholic parish

Released Thursday, Jul. 17

 Pope welcomes ecumenical pilgrims
 Venerable Belgian Catholic university discontinues Mass to open academic year
 Israeli forces hit Catholic parish in Gaza; two killed
 Vatican official jailed for child pornography returns to work in Secretariat of State
 Peruvian cardinal pushes back against critics as accused priest seeks laicization
 Recently ordained US priest sentenced to 7 years for abuse
 Chilean cardinal calls on presidential candidates to respect human dignity, eschew violence
 Federal appeals court upholds West Virginia law against abortion
 Gaza crisis has reached breaking point, Caritas warns
 USCCB issues 25-page report on Laudato Si’ activities
 Papal prayer for Taiwanese typhoon victims
 Support pro-family policies along with gender equality, Vatican diplomat says at UN
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ hails new Syro-Malankara theological institute as ‘beacon of hope’
 Vatican newspaper laments plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya community
 ‘It is always possible to come together’: papal message to charity soccer match

Released Wednesday, Jul. 16

 Pope sends food aid to stricken Ukrainian communities
 Venezuelan bishops urge government respect for human rights
 Miami’s Archbishop Wenski: Congress must fix immigration legislation
 Poland asks Vatican to rebuke bishops for anti-immigrant statements
 Google shuts down Italian Catholic blog
 Notre-Dame Cathedral welcomes more than 6 million visitors since reopening
 Cardinal Tobin, Greek Orthodox archbishop lead joint pilgrimage to Rome, Turkey
 Dig for children’s remains begins at Irish home for unwed mothers
 Organization assesses religious liberty by state; Florida ranks #1
 Chinese archbishop calls for end of wedding dowries
 ‘Every human life is sacred,’ Vatican diplomat says during UN forum on health care
 USCCB, other Catholic organizations urge FDA: Protect women from mifepristone
 Philippine cardinal criticizes government for fueling online gambling addiction
 Vietnamese prelate welcomes nation’s abolition of death penalty for 8 crimes
 Vatican ‘foreign minister,’ in India, lauds pioneer Syro-Malankara prelate
 European Parliament calls for protection of Syria’s Christians, other religious minorities

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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Fri15 August
Ordinary Time

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Image for Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption. Thus he solemnly proclaimed that the belief whereby the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the close of her earthly life, was taken up,…

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