Stories for week of August 16, 2026

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Saturday, Aug. 22

 Lourdes bishop says all Rupnik mosaics will be covered up before papal visit
 NY diocese announces laicization of priest
 Maine diocese reaches ‘7-figure’ abuse settlement with more than 100 people
 Abuse survivors launch ProtestantAccountability.org database
 FBI: 84 victims of anti-Catholic hate crimes in 2025
 German police protect pro-life gathering from protestors; 12 injured
 Nigerian bishop laments political manipulation of religion

Released Friday, Aug. 21

 Pope offers guidance to Catholic lawmakers as they address AI
 SSPX Masses, sacraments barred at Lourdes shrine
 Court prevents Massachusetts city from installing statues of Saints Michael and Florian
 Apostolic nuncio to Ukraine calls for prayer for the conversion of Russia
 Paris archbishop says assisted suicide law is ‘not the end of the fight’
 Pope sees Mediterranean Games as opportunity to build bridges
 Kenyan man arrested for pretending to be a priest
 Imam’s daughter becomes nun
 USCCB publishes liturgical resource for National Mental Health Sunday
 Lebanon’s president calls on Pope Leo to press for Israeli withdrawal

Released Thursday, Aug. 20

 ‘Seek peace and care for creation,’ Pope urges in message for upcoming world day of prayer
 Canadian military chaplains instructed not to refer to God in spiritual reflections; bishops respond
 San Francisco parishes hit with large assessments for abuse settlement
 Swiss bishop calls for broader access to traditional Latin Mass to prevent SSPX growth
 Juries should have 12 members, USCCB argues in Supreme Court brief
 USCCB publishes clergy notes, Q&A on abortion pills
 Brazilian bishops issue report on violence against indigenous peoples
 Pope prays for Polish pilgrims killed in bus accident
 Citing recurrent depression, German bishop resigns at 66
 Pope encourages faithful to cultivate a commitment to peace
 Pope Leo recalls victims of Stalinism, Nazism; pays tribute to Blessed Władysław Findysz

Released Wednesday, Aug. 19

 Pope, in audience on Vatican II, reflects on sacred music
 USCCB announces initiative against abortion pills
 St. Bernadette’s relics to tour the United States
 Cologne cardinal says defining synodality a ‘major challenge’ for Church
 Australian state’s inquiry raps Catholic schools over ‘bullying and discrimination faced by LGBTIQA+ students’
 Baptisms in Ireland fall 30% over 10 years
 Cardinal Parolin recalls St. Agatha, prays for persecuted Christians
 Vatican vegetable garden goes 100% organic
 American CEO, 2 Notre Dame professors named consultors to Vatican dicastery
 Pope mourns victims of Zimbabwe ferry accident

Released Tuesday, Aug. 18

 Florida bishops push back against AG over vaccine mandates
 Ukrainian Catholic priest charged with over $740K in thefts in Pennsylvania
 Catholic schools shouldn’t mimic secular schools, Columbus bishop says
 Sydney archbishop complains to ombudsman over media coverage of assisted suicide
 Los Angeles archbishop leads Eucharistic procession through Skid Row
 Leading English prelate laments international religious freedom violations
 Parish vandalized in Tel Aviv
 Cardinal Parolin pays tribute to St. Agatha
 Cardinal Pizzaballa visits beleaguered Palestinian Christian village
 Vatican News emphasizes longstanding papal support for 2-state solution
 Pope offers prayers, condolences for Indonesian earthquake victims

Released Monday, Aug. 17

 Germany sees increase in adult baptisms amid overall baptism decline
 San Antonio priest found guilty of schism, excommunicated, laicized
 160,000 Vietnamese faithful take part in Marian pilgrimage
 Russian missile strike damages Ukrainian Catholic cathedral
 Florida bishops ask governor to stay execution
 Zambia’s bishops decry suspension of vote counting in presidential election
 Vandals damage AC at San Antonio parish
 Dutch bishop, in open letter to Pope, argues against synodality
 Analysts link persecution of Church in Nicaragua to regime’s succession strategy
 Finnish MP, convicted for remarks on homosexuality, files appeal to European court
 Ukrainian Catholic leader hails 20th-century nationalist leader as remains repatriated
 Priest performs exorcism at ranch formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein
 Europe’s tallest statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is blessed in Poland
 Severe earthquake strikes Flores, the ‘promised land for vocations’

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Sat22 August
Ordinary Time

Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Image for Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church celebrates the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. The faithful, under the guidance of an unerring Catholic instinct, have ever recognized the queenly dignity of the Mother of "The King of kings and Lord of lords": the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, Popes, down through the centuries, have…

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