Catholic News

• Pope ordains 32, urges all priests to frequent the sacraments (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV ordained 32 men to the priesthood on June 27, the feast of the Sacred Heart, in a ceremony at St. Peter’s basilica. In his homily the Pope said that all priests are called to conform themselves to Christ, “above all by putting the Eucharist at the center of our lives,” and also by “fruitful reception of the sacraments, especially by the frequent practice of sacramental penance.” Speaking more specifically to the newly ordained priests, the Holy Father said: Love God and your brothers and sisters, and give yourselves to them generously. Be fervent in your celebration of the sacraments, in prayer, especially in adoration before the Eucharist, and in your ministry. Keep close to your flock, give freely of your time and energy to everyone, without reserve and without partiality, as the pierced side of the crucified Jesus and the example of the saints teach us to do. Remember that the Church, in the two thousand years of her history, has had—and today continues to have—wonderful examples of priestly holiness.
• Synodality is a 'style' and an 'attitude,' Pope tells Synod's leadership team (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod on June 26 and told them, “I am happy to take this opportunity to share an idea that I consider central, and then to listen to you.” “Pope Francis has given a new impetus to the Synod of Bishops, referring, as he has repeatedly stated, to St. Paul VI,” the Pope explained. “And the legacy he left us seems to me to be above all this: that synodality is a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church, promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion.” Pope Leo referred twice in his address to the “Synod of Bishops.” Since the 2022 reform of the Roman Curia, the “General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops” has typically been referred to simply as the “General Secretariat of the Synod,” perhaps to reflect the inclusion of laity as full members of the synod on synodality—even though the synod assembly itself was officially called the “16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.”
• Bishops' pro-life chairman welcomes Supreme Court decision on Planned Parenthood and Medicaid (USCCB)
  The chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities welcomed Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a 6-3 Supreme Court decision, issued June 26, that recognized the right of South Carolina to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. “South Carolina was right to deny Planned Parenthood taxpayer dollars,” said Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio. “A group dedicated to ending children’s lives deserves no public support.”
• Pope, in meeting with priests, emphasizes friendship with Christ (Vatican News)
  Pope Leo XIV met with priests during the Jubilee of Priests on June 26 and emphasized in his address that “the words of Jesus ‘I have called you friends’” (Jn 15:15) are “a true key to understanding the priestly ministry.” “The priest, in fact, is a friend of the Lord, called to live with Him a personal and trusting relationship, nourished by the Word, by the celebration of the Sacraments, by daily prayer,” the Pope continued. “This friendship with Christ is the spiritual foundation of the ordained ministry, the meaning of our celibacy and the energy of the ecclesial service to which we dedicate our lives.” Pope Leo then drew three implications for priestly formation: “Formation is a journey of relationship. Becoming friends of Christ means being formed in the relationship, not only in skills.” “Fraternity is an essential style of priestly life. Becoming friends of Christ involves living as brothers among priests and bishops, not as competitors or individualists.” “Forming priests who are friends of Christ means forming men capable of loving, listening, praying and serving together.” Note: An earlier version of the editor’s note mistakenly referred to Pope Leo as Pope Francis. CWN regrets the error.
• US bishops critique Senate version of 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (USCCB)
  In a six-page joint letter to US senators, six chairmen of committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops critiqued the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “We are grateful for provisions that promote the dignity of human life and support parental choice in education,” the bishops wrote in their June 26 letter. “However, we must also urge you to make drastic changes to the provisions that will harm the poor and vulnerable.” They explained: This bill raises taxes on the working poor while simultaneously giving large tax cuts to the wealthiest. Because of this, millions of poor families will not be able to afford life-saving healthcare and will struggle to buy food for their children. Some rural hospitals will likely close. Cuts will also result in harming our environment.
• Pope Leo encourages Redemptorist, Scalabrinian bishops in their ministry (Vatican Press Office)
  In a June 26 address, Pope Leo XIV encouraged Redemptorist and Scalabrinian bishops in their ministry and recalled the institutes’ founders. “You in particular, Scalabrinian and Redemptorist religious, chosen and consecrated for service to the Episcopate and also to the Cardinals, bring into your ministry the legacy of two important charisms, especially in our days: service to migrants and the evangelization of the poor and the distant,” the Pope said, adding: Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, entering into contact with the poverty of the most neglected neighbourhoods of Naples in the eighteenth century, renounced a wealthy life and a lucrative career, embracing the mission of bringing the Gospel to the last. Saint John Baptist Scalabrini, a century later, was able to feel and understand the hopes and sufferings of the many people who left, leaving everything behind, in search of a better future for themselves and their families in faraway lands.
• World Council of Churches voices concern about St. Catherine's monastery (AsiaNews)
  The World Council of Churches (WCC) has issued a statement of concern about the fate of St. Catherine’s monastery in Egypt, calling upon the Egyptian government to provide “a clear and binding agreement recognizing the holy monastery’s right and title to the site in perpetuity.” The legal status of the ancient monastery—founded more than 1,500 years ago—has been in question since an Egyptian court ruled that the property belonged to the government. Egyptian political leaders have said that the monks of St. Catherine’s will have full freedom at the monastery, but Christian leaders have questioned the state’s claim of control.
• Vatican economics prefect acknowledges deficits cannot continue (SIR)
  Commenting on years of Vatican budget deficits, Maximino Caballero Leo, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, says: “We are aware that this imbalance cannot continue indefinitely.” He argues that the Vatican has tightened controls on the use of funds donated to the Peter’s Pence collection, and emphasizes the importance of that collection in supporting the charitable work of the Holy See.
• Report: Shooting outside of Greek Orthodox church in Syria (Aid to the Church in Need)
  In an article devoted to violence against Christians in Syria, Aid to the Church in Need reported that “according to local social media, another aggression happened today, June 26, when individuals on motorbikes reportedly opened fire in front of the church in Latakia, and tragically, one person was killed.” “The Greek Orthodox Diocese in Latakia denied news of the church guard’s death, confirming that the victim has no relations to the church and that the attack took place outside of the church,” the report continued. The reported shooting came four days after a terrorist attack on a Greek Orthodox church in a Damascus suburb.
• Notre Dame student paper wins judgment against sociology professor (CatholicVote)
  The Irish Rover, a conservative student newspaper, has won a final victory in a defamation suit brought by sociology professor Tamara Kay. Professor Kay had sued the Rover for reporting her support for legal abortion. Indiana courts dismissed the suit, finding the coverage had been accurate. Appeals upheld that verdict. Now the state’s top court has declined to hear a further appeal, upholding the judgment that requires Kay to pay the paper’s legal fees.
• Texts released for 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity)
  The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity has released the texts for the next Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which will take place from June 18-25. The theme of the week is “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). This year’s texts were prepared with the assistance of Armenian Christians.
• Vatican spokesman pays tribute to UN as 'fragile miracle' (Vatican News)
  Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, paid tribute to the United Nations on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. “Today, more than ever, we are in need of this fragile miracle,” said Tornielli. “We must make it less fragile, believe in it—as the Successors of Peter have believed, visiting the UN Headquarters from 1965 to 2015, recognizing the United Nations as the appropriate legal and political response for the times in which we live.” “Humanity must choose the path of multilateralism and negotiation, which began 80 years ago,” he concluded. “It is the only alternative for a world teetering so dangerously on the edge of self-destruction.”
• Justice Department intervenes on bishops' behalf in challenge to Washington Confession law (Religion Clause)
  The US Department of Justice has filed a motion on behalf of the State of Washington’s bishops following the enactment of a law that requires priests to report child abuse about which they learn in the confessional. Describing the law as “anti-Catholic,” the Justice Department said in a statement that the law “violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics, and requires Catholic priests to violate the confidentiality seal of Confession.” “Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
• Arlington (VA) diocese profiled as success story (AP)
  “While neighboring dioceses have shuttered parishes and face dire budget shortfalls, the Diocese of Arlington is opening new churches. Its finances are solid.” An AP story on the Virginia diocese highlights the ordination of 12 new priests—a new record for Arlington. But the diocese has for years been a conspicuous exception to the negative trends—in priestly and religious vocations, Mass attendance, and finances—among American dioceses.
• Pope decries suffering of Christians in Middle East (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV lamented the suffering of Christians in the Middle East—but also called attention to “the seeds of the Gospel taking root in the desert”—during a June 26 audience with members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO). The Pope thanked the group for helping to plant “seeds of hope in the lands of the Christian East, which today, as never before, are devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic.” While the region has historically been troubled by conflict, he said, today the violence “seems to be raging in the Christian East with a diabolical intensity previously unknown.”
• Fight together against drug trafficking and addiction, Pope urges (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV told a June 26 audience that the struggle against drug trafficking is a “battle that cannot be abandoned as long as, around us, anyone is still imprisoned in the various forms of addiction.” The Pope was speaking to participants in in the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. He remarked that the occasion “brings us to the heart of the Jubilee” year, which emphasized the hope brought by Christ and the dignity of every human life. “Our fight is against those who make their immense business out of drugs and every other addiction—think of alcohol or gambling,” the Pope said.
• Pope, at general audience, encourages June devotion to Sacred Heart of Jesus (CWN)
  Addressing pilgrims at his June 25 general audience, Pope Leo XIV encouraged devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in June, the month traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart.
• Syrian prelate expresses hope for Christians, but says 90% wish to leave country (Vatican News (Italian))
  Following the attack on a Greek Orthodox church in a suburb of Damascus, the Latin-rite vicar apostolic of Aleppo, Syria, said that “if before the terrorist attack only 20% of the population thought of leaving the country, now the percentage has risen to 90: people are increasingly afraid.” “The authorities have told all Christians to stay calm because their lives and property will be defended and protected,” said Bishop Hanna Jallouf, OFM. “They have also assured the possibility of being able to practice their faith in complete freedom. We truly have great hope.” The prelate told the faithful of his vicariate, “Do not be afraid, certainly the future will be better than the past. But it takes time, we must be patient.”
• Vatican security rattled by unruly crowd at papal audience (CWN)
  Vatican security officials may be forced to reevaluate their plans after an unruly crowd at a June 26 papal audience threatened to topple a security barrier, and Pope Leo XIV was hit on the head by a soft object tossed to him from the throng.
• Vatican prefect calls for Korean reunification (CWN)
  At the conclusion of an interview devoted primarily to the Jubilee of Priests, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy called for Korean reunification.
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