Catholic News

• Archbishop Broglio, USCCB president, supports immigrants, rips ICE raids (CWN)
  Archbishop Timothy Broglio, speaking in his role as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued a statement of support for immigrants, sharply criticizing the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
• Nearly half of Americans feel connection with Catholicism, but few practice (Pew Forum)
  A new study by Pew Research has found that 47% of all Americans are connected in some way with the Catholic Church. When questioned about religion, 20% of respondents to the Pew survey identified themselves as Catholics. Another 9% described themselves as “cultural Catholics, identifying with the faith because of ethnic background; 9% more said that they were former Catholics; and a final 9% said that they have some relationship with a Catholic so that they sometimes attend Mass. Of the self-identified Catholics, only 28% attend Sunday Mass regularly, half say that they pray daily, and 23% reported a sacramental confession at least once a year. “Altogether,” Pew reported, “only 13% of American Catholic say they do all three of these things. In other findings, Pew reported: less than half (47%) of American Catholics ever go to confession; 62% say that the sex-abuse scandals are “ongoing problems” rather than past occurrences; and While only 2% attend a Traditional Latin Mass regularly, a much larger number—13% report having attended the traditional liturgy during the past five years.
• Pope Leo will resume summer stay at Castel Gandolfo (Vatican News)
  Pope Leo XIV plans to resume the traditional practice of spending a few weeks at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican has announced. The Pope will leave Rome for Castel Gandalfo on July 6, and remain there until July 20. He will celebrate Sunday Mass on July 14 and July 20 at local parish churches near the papal residence. During the month of July, the regular papal audiences on Wednesdays will be cancelled. Pope Leo will return to Castel Gandalfo for a long weekend in August, beginning on Friday, August 15, when he will celebrate Mass there for the feast of the Assumption. Pope Francis had discontinued the traditional papal vacations at Castel Gandalfo, causing a serious setback to the economy of the village, which relies heavily on tourist traffic during the Pope’s summer stays.
• Parliament votes to decriminalize abortion in all circumstances (AP)
  The British Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation that will decriminalize abortion, making the procedure legal at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason. The bill would also allow women to take medications to produce abortion, if they are less than 10 weeks pregnant and have a doctor’s prescription. The legislation came in the form of an amendment to an 1861 act that outlawed abortion. Members of Parliament ignored a statement by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who said that the amendment was “extreme,” unnecessary, and dangerous to pregnant women. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children described the law change as “barbaric.” Archbishop John Sherrington, the bishops’ spokesman for pro-life affairs, said that the bishops were “deeply alarmed” by the vote. “Our alarm rises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies,” he said.
• Place Christ at the center, Pope urges Italian bishops (Vatican Press Office)
  At a June 17 audience with the members of the Italian bishops’ conference, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the “common and particular” relationship between the Pope and the Italian hierarchy, encouraging them to promote “colleagiality among yourselves and collegiality with the successor of Peter.” The Pope observed that “the Christian community in this country has been facing new challenges for some time, linked to secularism, a certain dissatisfaction with the faith, and the demographic crisis.” To counter those problems, he encouraged them to emphasize evangelization, which is “a question of placing Jesus Christ at the center.” The Holy Father also encouraged work to promote peace. “I hope,” he said, “that every diocese may promote pathways of education in non-violence, mediation initiatives in local conflicts, and welcoming projects that transform fear of the other into an opportunity for encounter.”
• Supreme Court supports challenge of New York abortion-coverage mandate (CNA)
  The US Supreme Court has ordered New York courts to revisit a case in which a group of religious organizations challenged the state’s mandate requiring abortion coverage in health-insurance plans. The state law had been challenged by two Catholic dioceses (Albany and Ogedensburg), Catholic Charities, the First Bible Baptist Church, and the Sisterhood of St. Mary, an organizations of Episcopalian religious. The state court had rejected the challenge. The Supreme Court has now directed the New York appeals court to review the case, in light of the high court’s June 5 ruling on a Wisconsin case involving First Amendment protections for religious institutions.
• Pope denounces massacre of Nigerian Christians; hundreds dead (Vatican News)
  Pope Leo XIV denounced the massacre of hundreds of Christians in a village in Benue State, Nigeria. “During the night between 13 and 14 June, a terrible massacre took place in the city of Yelwata, located in the local administrative area of Gouman, in the state of Benue, Nigeria,” the Pontiff said on June 15, at the conclusion of his Angelus address. “Around two hundred people were killed with extreme cruelty.” “The majority of those killed were internally displaced people who were being housed at a local Catholic mission,” he continued. “I pray that security, justice and peace prevail in Nigeria, a beloved country that has suffered various forms of violence. I pray in particular for the rural Christian communities in the state of Benue, who have unceasingly been victims of violence.” Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, said that the Church there is a “Church under Islamist extermination.” Nigeria, a nation of 237 million, is the most populous in Africa and sixth most populous in the world; it is 47% Christian (11% Catholic), 46% Muslim, and 7% ethnic religionist.
• Holy Land Custos on Israel-Iran conflict: 'We have fallen into a new nightmare' (L'Osservatore Romano)
  In an interview with the Vatican newspaper, the superior of the Francisan province of the Holy Land discussed Iranian missile attacks on Jerusalem, in retaliation for the Israeli strikes in Iran. “We have fallen into a new nightmare,” said Father Francesco Patton, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land. “First we saw the destruction caused by the war in the surrounding territories; now we see it in the heart of the Holy Land.” “Christians, like the rest of the population, are scared,” he continued. “I have already seen firsthand the terror of children during the war in Syria, I have heard it told from Gaza, now it is here too: children who tremble when they hear the sirens of the alarm and then the explosions of the missiles. These are traumas that they will carry with them for their entire lives.” “Then there is a surreal silence in the streets, no longer only due to the absence of pilgrims, but also of the local faithful who in many cases are prevented from even going to church,” he added. “The militarization of the streets is shocking.”
• Do not 'take your eyes off the poor,' Pope tells Madagascar's bishops (Vatican News)
  Pope Leo received the bishops of Madagascar, who were in Rome for their ad limina visit, and resumed the custom—discontinued under Pope Francis—of delivering an address. “Your closeness to the people of God is a living sign of the Gospel,” the Pope said. “I encourage each one of you, in your episcopal ministry, to take particular care of the priests, who are your first collaborators and your closest brothers, as well as the religious brothers and sisters who spend themselves in service.” Pope Leo also gave “thanks for the missionary vitality of your particular Churches” and added: I urge you not to take your eyes off the poor: they are at the center of the Gospel and are the privileged recipients of the proclamation of the Good News. May you recognize in them the face of Christ, and may your pastoral action always be inspired by a concrete concern for the little ones. May your ministry in this Jubilee, beyond its trials, help them to ignite the ever-new horizons of the hope offered by Christ. Madagascar, an island nation of 29.5 million off the African coast, is 60% Christian (23% Catholic), 37% ethnic religionist, and 2% Muslim.
• 'Learn the humble and silent style of the Virgin Mother,' Pope tells Italian Marian pilgrims (L'Osservatore Romano)
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message in the Holy Father’s name to participants in the 47th annual walking pilgrims from Macerata, Italy, to the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto. Pontiff encouraged participants to “learn the humble and silent style of the Virgin Mother, who invites us to gaze with trust on her son Jesus in every circumstance of life.” He also expressed his hope that their prayer “would inspire in each one new enthusiasm on the journey of faith to become joyful and authentic witnesses of the Gospel.” An estimated 70,000 pilgrims took part in this year’s pilgrimage, whose theme—“Where do you live? The house of hope”—was proposed by the Communion and Liberation movement.
• Oppose all violence, Pontiff tells pilgrims, as he reflects on sports, pleads for peace (Vatican News)
  As the Jubilee of Sport came to a close, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the value of sports, called for opposition to “all forms of violence and bullying,” and pleaded for an end to violent conflicts around the world. “I think it is important to emphasize that sport is a means of building peace, since, as a training-ground of fairness and respect for others, it fosters a culture of encounter and fraternity,” the Pope said during the Angelus address, delivered in St. Peter’s Square. “Sisters and brothers, I encourage you always to keep this in mind, opposing all forms of violence and bullying.” “The world today is in need of this message,” Pope Leo continued. “There is currently so much armed conflict. In Myanmar, fighting persists despite the ceasefire, causing damage also to civilian infrastructures. I invite all parties to engage in inclusive dialogue, the only path that can lead to a peaceful and enduring solution.” “Let us continue to pray for peace in the Middle East, in Ukraine and throughout the world,” the Pope added later in his address, which concluded with this invocation: “May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede for us.”
• Los Angeles parishes say attendance down because of ICE fears (Angelus News)
  Catholic priests in sections of Los Angeles are reporting a decline in attendance at Sunday Mass after immigration officials began raids on other locations in early June. One parish reported closing the church doors after Mass begins, so that anyone who arrives after that point has to knock, “and if they’re not ICE, we let them in.”
• Papal telegram for British, Irish pro-life day (Vatican Press Office)
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, has sent a telegram in the Holy Father’s name on the occasion of the celebrations for the Day of Life of the Episcopal Conferences of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Pontiff prayed that “through your common witness to the God-given dignity of every person, without exception, and to the tender Christ-like accompaniment of the seriously ill, all in society will be encouraged to defend rather than undermine a civilization founded on authentic love and genuine compassion.”
• International effort launched to curb surrogacy (CNA)
  Activists from more than 80 different countries have joined in an initiative called the Casablanca Declaration, aiming at a worldwide ban on surrogate motherhood. The Casablanca Declaration—named for a conference on the topic that was held in Morocco in 2023—argues that surrogacy means “the exploitation of poor women and the sale of children.” The group points to the toll that the practice takes on women, primarily in impoverished regions, while reaping financial rewards for those who organize the process. The surrogacy industry is estimated to bring in over $22 billion annually worldwide.
• Soccer photo from war-torn DR Congo wins Vatican contest (L'Osservatore Romano)
  The Dicastery for Culture and Education has announced that a photograph of children playing soccer in Goma, a city in war-torn North Kiviu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has won its youth sports photo contest. Agha Isaac Burjiwa entitled his photo “Bloom—Where the War Fails.” “The joy of these children turns into hope,” said Burjiwa. “Through their simple gestures, these children remind us that, in the midst of chaos, something still grows: an invisible, but very real light. Where war fails, childhood blossoms in peace, unity and humanity.”
• 'Open up your hearts to God,' Pope tells youth gathered at White Sox ballpark (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV delivered a video message to the young people of Chicago and the world as Chicago residents gathered in the White Sox ballpark to celebrate the election of the Chicago native as Pontiff.
• Pontiff appeals for 'responsibility and reason' following Israeli strikes on Iran (CWN)
  Following Israeli strikes on Iran and the Islamic republic’s military response, Pope Leo XIV issued an appeal for peace.
• 'Building bridges, not walls': Pope Leo reflects on St. Irenaeus and hope (CWN)
  Resuming Pope Francis’s practice of monthly Saturday audiences during the Jubilee year, Pope Francis reflected on the virtue of hope and the life of St. Irenaeus, the second-century bishop, martyr, and doctor of the Church.
• Priest killed in Sudan (Independent Catholic News)
  Father Luka Jomo, the pastor of a Catholic parish in El Fasher, Sudan, was killed on June during an attack on the town by an armed militia group. The priest was reportedly killed by a stray bullet during a gunfight. He is believed to be the first Catholic priest killed in the fighting in Sudan’s Darfur state. The town where he served remains under siege by rebels.
• Religion is the soul of politics and diplomacy, Vatican 'foreign minister' tells global security forum (Vatican News)
  Speaking at a global security forum, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, said that religion is the soul of politics and diplomacy, in the sense that it can effect a needed transformation of hearts. “The war in Ukraine has shattered the illusion that peace in Europe is permanent,” he said at GLOBSEC Forum 2025. “The Holy Land is bleeding. Syria, Yemen, the Sahel: too many places remain trapped in cycles of violence and despair.” “Peace requires more than governance; it requires a moral vision and the transformation of hearts,” he continued. “The world desires not only the cessation of violence, but also the healing of memories, the mending of relationships and the restoration of hope. And this is where religion must step in, not as a competitor of diplomacy, politics or the structures of society, but as their soul.” The prelate told forum participants that the Holy See’s approach to peace rests on four pillars: “human dignity: every human life is sacred. No peace is possible if even one life is considered expendable.” “the common good: peace must be at the service of all, not only of the strong but above all of the poor, the displaced, the forgotten.” “solidarity: we are not isolated individuals but a human family. Peace grows through interdependence.” “integral human development: as Pope Paul VI stated, ‘Development is the new name for peace.’ But not just any development: it must be integral, to look at every dimension of the human person and of all the peoples of the earth.”
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