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Picture of the day Parasols, Evening on the beach, Rincón de la Victoria, Andalusia, Spain. #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

Picture of the day

Parasols, Evening on the beach, Rincón de la Victoria, Andalusia, Spain.

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

Salesian Sister makes final vows as ‘joyful witness to youth’ #Catholic –

Sister Janna San Juan made her final profession as a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians on Aug. 5. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist of the Mass in St. Joseph Chapel at the Salesians’ motherhouse of the Province of St. Joseph in North Haledon, N.J.

“Congratulations to Sister Janna San Juan who made her perpetual vows today. She made the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience forever, consecrating her life to Christ,” the Salesian Sisters posted on social media after Sister San Juan’s final profession. “We rejoice with you today, Sister Janna, and pray that your life continues to be a joyful witness to the young and a sign of the special love Christ Jesus has for them!” they posted.

Sister San Juan has been active in youth and campus ministry, having served in roles such as campus ministry coordination. She has regularly participated in community formation and vocations events for the Salesian family.

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Sister Janna earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering in 2013. While working as an engineer, she found joy in teaching faith formation classes to the young at her parish, leading her to explore religious life. Sister Janna entered the Salesians in 2016 and professed her first vows in 2020.

Currently, more than 11,000 Salesian Sisters around the world are dedicated to educating the young and being a “sign and expression of God’s foreseeing love among young people.” Places they serve in the Paterson Diocese, N.J. include Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, where they run a novitiate, St. Anthony School in Hawthorne, and Sacred Heart Retreat Center and Camp Auxilium, both in Newton.

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– Sister Janna San Juan made her final profession as a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians on Aug. 5. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist of the Mass in St. Joseph Chapel at the Salesians’ motherhouse of the Province of St. Joseph in North Haledon, N.J. “Congratulations to Sister Janna San Juan who made her perpetual vows today. She made the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience forever, consecrating her life to Christ,” the Salesian Sisters posted on social media after Sister San Juan’s final profession. “We rejoice with you today,

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

A pioneer mission in astrometry – the measurement of the position, distance, motion, brightness, and color of stars – the European Space Agency’s (ESA) High Precision Parallax Collecting Satellite, or Hipparcos, launched on Aug. 8, 1989. There were immediately problems when a rocket-engine failure kept Hipparcos from reaching its planned orbit. However, the satellite wasContinue reading “Aug. 8, 1989: The Hipparcos satellite launches”

The post Aug. 8, 1989: The Hipparcos satellite launches appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Beatification process begins for American missionary Juan Tomis – #Catholic – Chiclayo, Peru, Bishop Edinson Farfán Córdova announced that in the coming months his diocese will begin the cause for the beatification and canonization of Monsignor Juan Tomis Stack.Tomis, an American missionary priest who was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, dedicated more than two decades of his life to northern Peru and has been cited by Pope Leo XIV on various occasions as a major inspiration for his own missionary vocation.The announcement was made on Aug. 4 during Farfán’s homily for the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. At the Mass, Farfán highlighted the witness of the man who founded Chiclayo’s St. John Vianney Parish and asked the faithful to entrust the upcoming process to God.“Everyone in our diocesan Church of Chiclayo knew Father Juan Tomis. I want to ask that we learn from him. If all goes well and the Lord accompanies and blesses us, the process for his beatification and canonization will begin before long,” the prelate stated.The bishop also highlighted that Tomis left his home country to dedicate his life to the most needy in Peru.“How beautiful that he was born in those lands. He came from the United States to serve these communities in Santa Cruz — in the highlands — and later in our beloved Chiclayo, which holds him so dear. I pray, through the intercession of St. John Vianney, that we may begin this process with joy, gratitude, and hope,” Farfán added.The news comes just days after the presentation of the Spanish edition of the book “Bridgeport to Peru,” originally written in English in 1989 by Monsignor Stephen M. DiGiovanni under the title “Bridgeportʼs Peru.”

The Spanish-language edition of the book “Bridgeport to Peru.” | Credit: Jesús Ángeles

During the book’s presentation, organized by the Friends of Father Juan Tomis group, journalist and researcher Larcery Díaz explained that the translation “was born as a tribute of gratitude to mark the centennial of the birth of the man who was the guide and spiritual father to all the inhabitants of this area: Monsignor Juan Tomis Stack,” he stated.Díaz recalled that it all began in 1963, when Bridgeport Bishop Walter Curtis, inspired by the Second Vatican Council, decided to send missionary priests to Latin America.“The book tells us a story that began with a courageous ‘yes,’” Díaz noted. Among those first volunteers was “a young, enthusiastic priest of Slovak descent, filled with faith: Father Juan Tomis.”The researcher recounted that the priestʼs early years were marked by enormous challenges in the province of Santa Cruz, Cajamarca.The missionaries encountered a population lacking electricity and potable water, nearly impassable roads, high rates of childhood malnutrition, and strong resistance to any pastoral or social change.In the face of these challenges, Tomis spearheaded road construction, fostered priestly vocations, helped build a clinic to care for the poorest, and worked to recover Church property that had been illegally occupied.“Upon arriving during a cold winter, the missionaries faced a reality very different from what they had envisioned. Yet, it was their perseverance that allowed the seed of the Gospel to bear fruit on Peruvian soil,” Díaz noted.In 1967, the mission relocated to Chiclayo, where Tomis founded St. John Vianney Parish, a community that, as Díaz recalled, he never wanted to turn into merely an institution.“He did not want just an institution, but a ‘parish family.’ His tools were active charity and human kindness,” he explained.From there, he spearheaded initiatives that remain etched in the memories of thousands of Chiclayo residents: the Useful Vacations program for children, the establishment of Scout troops, medical clinics, libraries, religious song festivals, and fondly remembered televised Masses.“Father Juanʼs work transformed Chiclayo. That is undeniable,” the journalist affirmed.His dedication was also recognized by the Holy See: In 1979, Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of monsignor.

Presentation of the book “Bridgeport to Peru” in Chiclayo, Peru. | Credit: Jesús Ángeles

Tomis passed away on June 29, 1986. His funeral drew a crowd of some 20,000 people who accompanied the procession through the streets of Chiclayo, one of the largest outpourings of affection the city has ever seen.“The outpouring of people from the entire community was spontaneous,” Díaz recalled, reading from an article he wrote 10 years after the priestʼs death.“I can still see the thousands upon thousands of white handkerchiefs fluttering in the wind, bidding him a final farewell, Díaz recalled. “He was a priest who came to fulfill his duty, always bringing a delicate touch of tenderness, a warm spirit of love for his neighbor, and an unwavering devotion to the needy and the downtrodden,” he continued.The journalist noted that Tomis “sowed love because he loved love, the hallmark of Christianity” and affirmed that his legacy lives on through the pastoral, social, and educational initiatives he spearheaded in Chiclayo.At the conclusion of the book’s presentation, Díaz summarized the priestʼs impact in a sentence that takes on special significance today, following the announcement of his future cause for beatification.“Today, as we open these pages, we do not merely read a historical chronicle; we reconnect with the friend, the teacher, and the guide. This book stands as a testament to how the love of God, when translated into service, can change the history of a community.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

On various occasions, Pope Leo XIV has referenced the Bridgeport, Connecticut, native as a major inspiration for his own vocation.

Homeless outreach must go beyond housing, Catholic leader says – #Catholic – The Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rescue Mission’s leader said the nation must confront mental‑health drivers of homelessness after a Vatican call for action.“What we’ve come to understand is that mental illness has really come to the forefront as a very big factor in those who are experiencing homelessness,” , told “EWTN News Nightly” on Aug. 7. “Over the years itʼs been addiction, both alcohol and narcotic kind, and then just traumatic family events, death of a loved one, things like that,” he said. “But the largest number in recent years is really dealing with mental health.”The Atlantic City Rescue Mission is one of the nationʼs oldest homeless outreach centers, providing shelter, meals, addiction recovery, job training, mental health services, and long-term support for individuals experiencing homelessness.“Weʼre the largest shelter in southern new Jersey,” Brown said. “An interesting note, during COVID, we were the only shelter that actually remained open during the whole time of COVID. So we really have seen it all.”The Vatican released a message July 30 urging the United Nations to include the homeless in efforts to create sustainable cities, stating that the “persistence of homelessness should trouble the conscience of the international community.”According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s annual Point-In-Time (PIT) report, 745,652 people were homeless in the U.S. in 2025, including 266,320 people living on the street on a single night in January 2025. While the total number of homeless people in the U.S. has increased by 27% since 2013, the number decreased by 3% from 2024 to 2025.Ultimately, when addressing the underlying causes of homelessness, Brown emphasized the need to provide hope to those who arrive at the mission.“When someone steps through the doorway into the mission, itʼs their worst day,” he said. “Our job is to serve them as weʼve been called to be servants to the poor and servants to the homeless, which is to really provide them with hope.”“If we just feed and house and donʼt share the Gospel, weʼve really done an injustice to that individual. So thatʼs paramount,” Brown said.

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

“What we’ve come to understand is that mental illness has really come to the forefront as a very big factor in those who are experiencing homelessness,” Dan Brown told “EWTN News Nightly.”

Australian bishops warn against rising antisemitism in message on social division – #Catholic – The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference raised concern over rising antisemitism in its second 2026 Social Justice Statement, “Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division,” released Aug. 7.“In Australia, the strain on social cohesion has been made painfully visible by a disturbing rise in antisemitism,” the statement said, citing the Bondi Beach shooting attack and other forms of targeting that have “left many to feel unsafe in places that should be secure, such as schools, synagogues, streets, and public events.”“Such hatred is an affront to God,” the bishops said, calling on Catholics to live the Gospel by remaining close to Christ through prayer and the sacraments, encountering other cultures with openness, and “exercising restraint in what we say — especially online — rejecting gossip, slander, dehumanizing labels, and sharing unverified claims.” Canadian military bishop says prayer restrictions came after insufficient consultationBishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada said members of the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy were not included in the drafting of new policies that restrict prayer at official ceremonies.McCaig said the Department of National Defence drafted the policy without consulting members and that they were asked to assist only with “word-crafting” and “final touches,” according to a report from the Catholic Register on Aug. 6. “There are a number of us who are very concerned about the lack of consultation,” the bishop said. Under the new policy, faith leaders are not allowed to include faith-specific language in spiritual reflections at public events, the report said.Syrian authorities release Kurdish evangelical pastor Syrian authorities have released the Rev. Nihad Hassan, pastor of the Kurdish Evangelical Church in Beirut, following two weeks in detention.His attorney said Hassan’s vehicle and personal belongings were also returned, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported. The pastor had traveled through official crossings to his hometown in the Afrin region before security personnel detained him the following day. A criminal investigation reportedly accused him of publishing online material offensive to a religion or its sacred rites and of provoking sectarian tensions. The Kurdish Lawyers Union welcomed his release while calling for the protection of civil liberties, due process, and the rule of law.Franciscan youth in Egypt make a ‘Passage to Life’Egypt’s 33rd Franciscan youth journey marked the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s death with 10 days of retreat, prayer, and service held July 25 through Aug. 3.For the first time, participants began their spiritual exercises in the Siwa Oasis, where silence and reflection offered space to consider their vocations and relationship with God, ACI MENA reported Aug. 6. Returning to Cairo, they visited Melkite, Maronite, and Chaldean Catholic churches; learned about the Dominican mission of Christian-Muslim dialogue; and served in shelters, elder-care homes, and medical institutions. Father Mokhles Masri, who leads the initiative, said the theme “Passage to Life” presented St. Francis’ death as an entry into eternal life, while the accompanying motto, “Enlighten the darkness of my heart,” invited participants to encounter God’s light amid struggles with faith, hope, and love.Swiss defense minister apologizes for draft law change affecting clergySwiss Defense Minister Martin Pfister has issued an apology for removing exemptions from military service for clergy members without consulting church leaders.Pfister said in a July 21 letter that the Federal Council’s decision to end exemptions for clergy was “an oversight” and that church leaders should “unquestionably” have been consulted prior to the change going into effect on June 1. “We ask your forgiveness,” he wrote. The Federal Council had defended the reform by arguing that the exemption had become obsolete. It said the provision was originally intended to ensure civilians would continue receiving spiritual care during wars and national emergencies.In its reasoning, the government stated that “the increasing secularization of society means that fewer and fewer people feel connected to the Church’s offerings,” concluding that pastoral ministry can no longer be regarded as “an activity essential to maintaining social life.”Saidnaya churches in Syria cancel feast celebrationsChristian parish committees in Saidnaya, Syria, have canceled public celebrations for several upcoming feasts in protest of the continued detention of local residents, ACI MENA reported.Representatives of the Melkite Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox communities said churches would hold prayers indoors but suspend festivities for the Transfiguration, Our Lady, the Cross, and Hagia Sophia until detainees are released, abducted residents return, and security concerns are addressed. Their joint statement also cited prolonged scrutiny of Saidnaya residents at the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing, online threats, and a rise in thefts and kidnappings.The decision follows the cancellation of the Christian village of Marmarita’s annual carnival for a second consecutive year amid concerns about public safety.Indonesian Catholics mourn last foreign missionary priestCatholics on the eastern Indonesian island of Lembata bid farewell to their last foreign missionary priest, Father Nicholas Strawn, an American, who died on Aug. 4, according to UCA News. “We remember him as a priest who was very close to the people, willing to visit remote areas and greet us warmly, while reminding us to study well,” Anselmus Deri, a Catholic and journalist from Lembata, said in the report. Strawn, 92, had served parishes in the Diocese of Larantuka since 1963, helping to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life, according to the report, which noted the diocese has about 50 priests and dozens of nuns.Historical society to record interiors of more than 3,000 Irish churchesThe Catholic Historical Society of Ireland is launching an initiative to digitally record the interiors of Catholic churches across Ireland.The project will be carried out by Maynooth University and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, according to a report from the Catholic Herald on Aug. 4. The team of researchers will compile an online database of photos and other historical records that will be freely accessible for research purposes, the report said.British historian to walk ‘In the Footsteps of the Martyrs’ for charityThe walk “In the Footsteps of the Martyrs” will take place in London on Sept. 13 in support of Aid to the Church in Need, the charitable organization announced on Aug. 6.Historian and journalist Joanna Bogle will lead the walk along the Thames River retracing the path of Catholic martyrs in the Reformation era in solidarity with those suffering persecution today.“Our Catholic story is richer than just the Catholic martyrs of the Reformation era, but we’re focusing on that to link with the millions of people globally who are being persecuted today,” Bogle said. “On the way we will pray and unite ourselves with people who suffered in the past and we are praying for people who are suffering for their faith today.”

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

Bishops in Australia sound alarm over antisemitism, Canada’s military bishop expresses concern over latest prayer restrictions, and more in this week’s roundup of Catholic world news.

NASA’s IXPE Studies Magnetar – A first of its kind measurement of a magnetar may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed. The results published Wednesday in Nature.

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

A first of its kind measurement of a magnetar may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed. The results published Wednesday in Nature.

Why the feast of St. Dominic is not actually the Dominicans’ biggest feast day #Catholic Aug. 8 marks the feast day of St. Dominic, the 13th-century priest known for founding the Order of Preachers, commonly called the Dominicans, and for spreading devotion to the rosary.Surprisingly, though, the Dominicans don’t usually do much to celebrate the saint’s Aug. 8 feast day.While the August feast “is for us certainly always a feast,” Dominican Father Angelo Giuseppe Urru told EWTN News in 2018, it’s not the primary one.Instead, the order celebrates “more solemnly” May 24, which is the solemnity of the Translation of St. Dominic.This unusual feast day commemorates the day St. Dominic’s remains were moved, or “translated,” from their original burial spot behind an altar of the church of San Nicolo della Vigne in Bologna, Italy, to a more prominent place in the church in 1233.For many Dominican provinces, this day is the big celebration, Urru said.The move of St. Dominic’s body was carried out at the request of Pope Gregory IX about one year before the saint’s canonization on July 13, 1234, only 13 years after his death.As recorded in a letter by Blessed Jordan of Saxony, one of the first leaders of the Dominicans, the brothers were very anxious before the move of the body, because they were worried that when the wooden coffin was un-interred from the stone sepulcher, the body would give off a foul odor, since it had been buried in a poorly constructed tomb, exposed to water and heat.But they received a great surprise, because when the tomb was opened, a wonderful and sweet perfume emanated from the coffin instead.“Its sweetness astonished those present, and they were filled with wonder at this strange occurrence. Everyone shed tears of joy, and fear and hope rose in all hearts,” Blessed Jordan wrote.He reported that the odor remained and if anyone touched a hand or some object to the body, the odor immediately attached itself and lingered for a long time.“The body was carried to the marble sepulcher where it would rest — it and the perfume that it poured forth. This marvelous aroma which the holy body emitted was evidence to all how much the saint had truly been the good odor of Christ,” he wrote.By 1240, the church containing St. Dominic’s remains had been expanded into a basilica and renamed for the saint.Now, every year Dominican friars, sisters, and laity all over the world celebrate St. Dominic on May 24.Mass is celebrated at the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the mother church of the Dominicans in Rome, for this feast.The tradition is for a priest of the Order of Friars Minor, commonly called the Franciscans, to say the Mass and preach. After Mass, the procession of friars stops at the first side chapel, where the Blessed Sacrament is kept, to sing the “O Lumen,” the Dominican antiphon to St. Dominic.Besides the tomb with the saint’s body, which is in the basilica in Bologna, there are few relics of St. Dominic in existence.One relic, a piece of his skull, can be found in Rome. It is at the church of Santa Maria del Rosario, part of a Dominican monastery located on Monte Mario, the tallest hill of Rome.Urru said he was not sure how it came to be kept in the monastery but that it originated when some students in Bologna stole it to have in their chapel.“There is also the breviary of St. Dominic, a small breviary,” he said.In 2016, the Dominicans celebrated the 800th anniversary of their founding with a jubilee year, culminating in an International Congress for the Mission of the Order, which took place Jan. 17–21 in Rome.Urru voiced gratitude for the blessing of vocations, which allow the order’s work to continue.Thankfully, though there are some provinces that are very small, many are growing and are very strong, he noted, such as those in Vietnam and Africa. The United States as well has seen a good number of new vocations, he said.Around the world, “there are many initiatives of the order,” and they are working hard still, just as they have the last 800 years.Ultimately, though, he said, the future of the order is “in the hands of God.”This story was first published on Aug. 8, 2017, and has been updated.

unitedyam August 8, 2026August 8, 2026

While the August feast is “always a feast” for Dominicans, it’s not the primary one.

This Remote Midwestern National Park Has Mirror-like Lakes and 500 Islands—and It’s Best Explored by Boat #Travel You can even stay on a houseboat in Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 8, 2026

You can even stay on a houseboat in Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.

Catholic legal group criticizes Trump’s birthright-citizenship order as bishops plan to monitor #Catholic A Catholic legal group criticized President Donald Trump’s executive orders to restrict birthright citizenship, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is reviewing and monitoring them.The executive orders issued Aug. 6 direct the government to stop allowing foreign visitors to enter the United States on short‑term visas for the purpose of giving birth and impose a narrower limit on birthright citizenship after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a broader attempt to end citizenship for children born to people in the country temporarily or unlawfully.One executive order would end automatic birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are not U.S. citizens and engage in a commercial transaction or fraudulent activity to ensure the mother is inside U.S. territory to give birth. It also would end birthright citizenship for a child born of a parent considered an “alien enemy,” including members of terrorist organizations.A second executive order titled “Ending Birth Tourism” authorizes federal departments to implement rules that prevent the entry of pregnant foreign women seeking to give birth in the United States and allow removal if they enter the country. The order refers to noncitizens entering the U.S. for the purpose of giving birth on American soil and efforts from a foreign national to coordinate such entries.Under existing State Department guidance, consular officers can deny a B‑1/B‑2 visitor visa if they believe the applicant’s primary purpose is to give birth in the U.S. to obtain citizenship for the child.Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), criticized the birthright citizenship executive order in a statement to EWTN News.“The Supreme Court has already spoken: birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution,” Gallagher said.“This latest attempt by the Trump administration to circumvent settled law only creates needless fear and uncertainty for immigrant families,” she added. “Catholic social teaching calls us to uphold the dignity of every person and welcome the stranger — not seek new ways to exclude them.”The USCCB has not taken a clear position on the executive orders yet, but it is monitoring how they are enforced and potential judicial proceedings.“The USCCB supports the application of constitutional principles and the rule of law in a manner consistent with the God-given dignity of every human person,” USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi told EWTN News.“We’re reviewing the executive orders and will continue to monitor for administrative actions taken and possible judicial proceedings concerning their implementation,” she said.In June, the Supreme Court ruled the 14th Amendment of the Constitution protects automatic birthright citizenship with few exceptions. The protection extends to children who are born to people who are in the country unlawfully.Although the majority opinion did not directly address “birth tourism,” it did clearly say birthright citizenship applies to the children of parents who are “unlawfully or temporarily present” in the country.The “birth tourism” concern appeared in the dissents authored by both Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas.Alito, in his dissent, wrote that he believed the majority’s opinion protects birthright citizenship to “the children of ‘birth tourists,’” though saying he does not not agree with the ruling.Thomas wrote in his dissent that people have taken advantage of birthright citizenship through “birth tourism” and said there are companies that “collect large fees from wealthy foreigners to facilitate their trips to give birth in the United States.”However, in the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that words like “temporary” and “lawful” do not appear in the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment: “For a simple reason: they did not matter.”Ashley Feasley, a legal expert for the Immigration Law and Policy Initiative at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News she believes the executive orders are “an attempt to undermine” the Supreme Court.“Although they will almost certainly face legal challenge, in the interim they will place a profound burden on some of the most vulnerable migrants, pregnant women, and on the officers who work diligently to defend our borders,” she said.“Requiring Department of Homeland Security officials to interrogate women, many of whom have legal visas, about their pregnancies, even turning them away from ports of entry without clearly defined criteria for doing so, risks harming both woman and unborn child and diverts DHS officers' attention from the vital missions of border security and trade facilitation,” Feasley said. Legal challenges have not yet been filed.

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 8, 2026

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) criticized an executive order targeting birthright citizenship. The U.S. Catholic bishops are reviewing and monitoring the order.

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 8, 2026

A reading from the Book of Habakkuk
1:12?2:4

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
?Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.?
Jesus said in reply,
?O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.?
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
?Why could we not drive it out??
He said to them, ?Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
?Move from here to there,? and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.?

A mustard seed is tiny, yet Jesus says that faith this size, small but true and sincere, suffices to achieve what is humanly impossible, unthinkable. And it is true! We all know people who are simple, humble, but whose faith is so strong it can move mountains! Let us think, for example, of some mothers and fathers who face very difficult situations; or of some sick, and even gravely ill, people who transmit serenity to those who come to visit them. These people, because of their faith, do not boast about what they do. (?) How many people among us have such strong, humble faith, and what good they do! (?)

Each one of us in our own daily lives can testify to Christ by the power of God, the power of faith. The faith we have is miniscule, but it is strong! With this power to testify to Jesus Christ, to be Christians with our life, with our witness!

And how do we draw from this strength? We draw it from God in prayer. Prayer is the breath of faith: in a relationship of trust, in a relationship of love, dialogue cannot be left out, and prayer is the dialogue of the soul with God. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 6 October 2013)

Picture of the day

The Raising of Lazarus at the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece of the Catholic parish- and pilgrimage church St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Upper Austria. Michael Pacher, 1471–79, set up in 1481. Today is the feast day of St. Lazarus in Western Christianity.
#ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 7, 2026

Picture of the day

The Raising of Lazarus at the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece of the Catholic parish- and pilgrimage church St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Upper Austria. Michael Pacher, 1471–79, set up in 1481. Today is the feast day of St. Lazarus in Western Christianity.

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 7, 2026

Camp Auxilium children smile as bishop makes inaugural visit #Catholic –

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made history on July 24, visiting Camp Auxilium, a summer day camp for boys and girls in Newton, N.J., for the first time and celebrating Mass for enthusiastic staff, campers, and their families during the camp’s Family Day.

That day, Bishop Sweeney delighted in meeting and talking with members of the Camp Auxilium family and receiving a tour of the facility and the various activity areas. The Salesian Sisters of St. Don Bosco, also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, run the camp, which is located in rural Sussex County.

Activities at Camp Auxilium include swimming and swim instruction, archery, boating and kayaking, mini-golf, low- and mid-ropes courses, arts and crafts, sports, and drama. The Salesian Sisters are assisted by Red Cross-certified lifeguards, counselors, and activity specialists.

The Boys Camp accepts campers who were 4 years old by October of last year through those who have completed 6th grade. Girls Camp accepts campers who were 4 years old by October of last year through those who have completed 8th grade. This year, Camp Auxilium welcomed 225 campers over its five weeks in operation.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

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– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made history on July 24, visiting Camp Auxilium, a summer day camp for boys and girls in Newton, N.J., for the first time and celebrating Mass for enthusiastic staff, campers, and their families during the camp’s Family Day. That day, Bishop Sweeney delighted in meeting and talking with members of the Camp Auxilium family and receiving a tour of the facility and the various activity areas. The Salesian Sisters of St. Don Bosco, also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, run the camp, which is located in rural Sussex County. Activities at Camp

Aug. 7 marks 90th anniversary of Spanish ‘execution’ of Sacred Heart of Jesus statue – #Catholic – Aug. 7 marks the 90th anniversary of the day when militiamen from the Popular Front, one of the factions in the Spanish Civil War, fired upon the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, before which King Alfonso XIII in 1919 had consecrated Spain.The original monument, the work of architect Carlos Maura and sculptor Aniceto Marinas, was built on the Cerro de los Ángeles, the geographical center of Spain, and was funded through public subscription, although the statue itself was donated by the count of Guaqui, Juan Marino de Goyeneche.The monumental complex, standing 92 feet tall, consisted not only of the central figure of Jesus Christ but also of two sculptural groups representing, respectively, sanctified humanity and humanity journeying toward holiness.The first group featured St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Jesus, Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos, and St. John the Evangelist, among others. The second group comprised figures representing the path of charity, virtue, and the love essential for conversion and sanctification.Its inauguration, originally scheduled for 1918, was postponed due to the Spanish flu pandemic until May 30, 1919. It was then that, in the presence of the government, the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Francesco Ragonesi, and a large group of bishops and cardinals, Alfonso XIII pronounced the formula for the consecration of Spain to the Sacred Heart: “Spain, the people of your heritage and predilection, bows reverently today before that throne of goodness raised for you in the heart of the peninsula. Reign in the hearts of men, in the bosom of our homes, in the minds of the wise, in the halls of science and letters, and in our laws and national institutions.”

At the foot of the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue, in 1919 King Alfonso XIII pronounces the formula of consecration of Spain to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. | Credit: Public domain

Tried, shot by firing squad, and blown up with dynamiteThe Spanish Civil War broke out on July 18, 1936. Just five days later, five young men who had remained near the monument to defend it against potential desecration were killed.On Aug. 7, the first Friday of the month, Popular Front militiamen staged a mock summary trial of Jesus; after passing sentence, they fired upon the monument while shouting, “Aim with hatred! Fire with rage!”They subsequently attempted to topple and demolish the monument using various tools, including cables and sledgehammers, but failed. They then decided to blow it up with dynamite. They subsequently dragged the head of the Christ figure behind a horse to further humiliate the image.The site, renamed Cerro Rojo (Red Hill), was retaken by Nationalist forces on Nov. 6, 1936, which was another first Friday of the month. Troops under the command of Gen. José Enrique Varela attended a Mass of reparation officiated by a military chaplain.New monumentFollowing the end of the Civil War in 1939, reconstruction of the site began in 1944. This coincided with the 25th anniversary of the consecration of Spain, an occasion for which the Holy See had granted a jubilee year.The sculptor of the original work was engaged for the 38-foot-tall statue of the Sacred Heart, which stands atop an 85-foot pedestal.

The inscriptions that appear on the foundation of the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Getafe

Four sculptural groups by Fernando Cruz were placed around the base. The first group, representing “Missionary Spain,” features Isabella the Catholic, Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, and St. Junípero Serra. The second group, representing “Spain: Defender of the Faith,” includes Bishop Osio of Córdoba, Don Pelayo, Diego Laínez, John of Austria, and Blessed Anselmo Polanco, a bishop martyred during the war.The third group, dedicated to the Church militant, consists of figures representing charity, virtue, and love. The final sculptural ensemble, representing the Church triumphant, reproduces the saints from the original monument.The new monument, inaugurated in 1965, is located on the site of the original, the ruins of which are preserved on the other side of the complexʼs large esplanade. Ten years later, a sanctuary was inaugurated featuring a temple carved into the rock.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The site was subsequently retaken by Nationalist forces on November 6, 1936. Troops under the command of General José Enrique Varela attended a Mass of reparation officiated by a military chaplain.

Baltimore Archdiocese suspends deacon from ministry after arrest over solicitation of a minor – #Catholic – A deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore has been removed from ministry after he was arrested by law enforcement on charges of sexually soliciting a minor. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office said Deacon Kenneth Goedeke was arrested after arranging a meeting with what he believed was a 15-year-old boy. Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said in an official statement on Aug. 6 that the 45-year-old Goedeke had been communicating with an undercover detective rather than an underage boy. He was charged with two counts of soliciting a minor. Gahler in the statement said he was “angry” and “disgusted” but added that he was “deeply thankful” to detectives for “intervening before a child was harmed.”In a separate statement on Aug. 6, the Archdiocese of Baltimore confirmed Goedeke’s arrest and said it had “removed Goedeke’s faculties to function as a deacon and suspended him from ministry and employment” pending the results of the investigation. The archdiocese said the charges were “not related to anyone at the parishes or schools” where Goedeke served. He was ordained as a deacon in 2023, the archdiocese said, and he passed a “thorough employment screening” including background checks and a fingerprint criminal history check. In his statement, Gahler expressed “anger and resolve, and an unwavering commitment to the safety of our children.”He urged parents to talk to their children not only about Goedeke’s arrest but “about the broader dangers posed by trusted adults who misuse their positions and by online predators who target our youth.”Under Maryland law, Goedeke faces up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to ,000.

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Deputies arrested Deacon Kenneth Goedeke after he reportedly arranged a meeting with what he believed was a 15-year-old boy.

Poland prepares for possible papal visit – #Catholic – Polish government and Church officials have begun preparations for a possible visit by Pope Leo XIV, although no date has yet been announced.Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski met with Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdańsk, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, to begin coordinating preparations for what would be Leo’s first pilgrimage to Poland as pope.The papal visit would be organized jointly by the Polish government and the Catholic Church.Formal invitations have already been extended to Pope Leo XIV by both the Polish state and the Church, Vatican News reported. On behalf of the Republic of Poland, invitations have come from Presidents Andrzej Duda and Karol Nawrocki as well as Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The presidium of the Polish Bishops’ Conference has also invited the pope.Because of the international nature of the visit, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate preparations on the government’s side.A date for the pilgrimage has not yet been determined. Once it is established, a working group composed of representatives of the relevant Church and state authorities will be created to organize the visit.Three popes have visited Poland a total of 11 times.St. John Paul II, a native of Poland, made nine papal visits to the country. Benedict XVI visited in 2006, while Pope Francis traveled to Poland in 2016 for World Youth Day in Kraków.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English

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No date has been set, but the Polish government and bishops’ conference are jointly preparing for what would be Leo XIV’s first visit to the country as pope.

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On August 12, the New Moon’s shadow will fall over a portion of Earth’s surface. When that happens, the Sun will temporarily disappear from the sky in a total solar eclipse. These breathtaking events are spectacular and ethereal, as the sky falls dark during the day, leaving only the soft glow of our star’s outerContinue reading “How to see the August 12 total solar eclipse”

The post How to see the August 12 total solar eclipse appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Chipotle Cashier Tells Customer There’s An Extra Charge For No Salmonella #BabylonBee – CHICAGO, IL — One local customer was caught off guard by a new policy at his favorite restaurant chain, as the Chipotle cashier told the man that there would be an extra charge for no Salmonella.

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CHICAGO, IL — One local customer was caught off guard by a new policy at his favorite restaurant chain, as the Chipotle cashier told the man that there would be an extra charge for no Salmonella.

7 Hacks To Obtain A Burrito For Less Than #BabylonBee – Burritos are really, really expensive these days, apparently. But fear not — there are still ways to get them without having to shell out a pop. You just have to know the right tricks.

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Burritos are really, really expensive these days, apparently. But fear not — there are still ways to get them without having to shell out $20 a pop. You just have to know the right tricks.

Taking Flight to Prepare for Space – NASA astronaut candidate Adam Fuhrmann prepares for a training flight aboard NASA’s WB-57 aircraft.

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NASA astronaut candidate Adam Fuhrmann prepares for a training flight aboard NASA’s WB-57 aircraft.

SICK! Red Cross DELETES Documentary Pushing Afghan Migrant “Success Story” After He is Arrested for STUFFING British Aid Worker in a Suitcase – The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is pulling a film that presents the harrowing journey of an Afghan teenager to Europe after the man featured in it was accused of the killing of a Scottish aid worker whose body was found inside a suitcase.
The post SICK! Red Cross DELETES Documentary Pushing Afghan Migrant “Success Story” After He is Arrested for STUFFING British Aid Worker in a Suitcase appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam August 6, 2026August 6, 2026

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is pulling a film that presents the harrowing journey of an Afghan teenager to Europe after the man featured in it was accused of the killing of a Scottish aid worker whose body was found inside a suitcase.

The post SICK! Red Cross DELETES Documentary Pushing Afghan Migrant “Success Story” After He is Arrested for STUFFING British Aid Worker in a Suitcase appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

JUST IN: Court Orders Meta to Pay 7 Million Over Child Harm – A court on Thursday ordered Meta to pay 7 million into a fund over child harm.
The post JUST IN: Court Orders Meta to Pay 7 Million Over Child Harm appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Illustration of a man's face alongside a smartphone displaying the Meta logo, representing technology and social media innovation.

A court on Thursday ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund over child harm.

The post JUST IN: Court Orders Meta to Pay $567 Million Over Child Harm appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

(VIDEO) Trump Says “Very big Crackdowns” on Birth Tourism “in a Much More Forceful Manner” Incoming After Executive Orders on Birthright Citizenship – President Trump vowed “big crackdowns” on birth tourism on Thursday after he signed two executive orders placing new restrictions on birthright citizenship and banning birth tourism. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled last month to strike down President Trump’s January 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of temporary tourists and people who are in the country illegally.
The post (VIDEO) Trump Says “Very big Crackdowns” on Birth Tourism “in a Much More Forceful Manner” Incoming After Executive Orders on Birthright Citizenship appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam August 6, 2026August 6, 2026

President Trump vowed “big crackdowns” on birth tourism on Thursday after he signed two executive orders placing new restrictions on birthright citizenship and banning birth tourism. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled last month to strike down President Trump’s January 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of temporary tourists and people who are in the country illegally.

The post (VIDEO) Trump Says “Very big Crackdowns” on Birth Tourism “in a Much More Forceful Manner” Incoming After Executive Orders on Birthright Citizenship appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam August 6, 2026August 7, 2026

A reading from the Book of Nahum
2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7

See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel,
Though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined the tendrils.Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
full of plunder, whose looting never stops!
The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
?Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her??

From the Gospel according to Matthew
16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples,
?Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father?s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.?

If we think that success, power, or material things suffice to satisfy the thirst in our lives, then we are thinking as the world does. That kind of worldliness leads nowhere; indeed, it leaves us thirstier than before. Jesus instead shows us the way: ?If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it? (Mt 16:24-25).

This, dear brothers and sisters, is surely the best way: to embrace the cross of Christ. At the heart of Christianity is an amazing and extraordinary message. If you lose your life, if you make it a generous offering in service, if you risk it by choosing to love, if you make it a free gift for others, then it will return to you in abundance, and you will be overwhelmed by endless joy, peace of heart, and inner strength and support; and we need inner peace.

This is the truth that Jesus wants us to discover, the truth he wants to reveal to all of you (?). You need not be famous, rich or powerful to be happy. No! Only love satisfies our hearts? thirst, only love heals our wounds, only love brings us true joy. This is the way that Jesus taught us; this is the path that he opened up before us. (Pope Francis, Homily, ?Steppe Arena, Ulaanbaatar, 3 September 2023)

Federal court hears arguments on Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools #Catholic A federal court heard oral arguments on Aug. 5 about whether an Oklahoma law banning religious charter schools violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.Oklahoma established a charter school system in 1999, which provides public funds for privately run K–12 schools to which parents can send their children instead of a public school operated by a school district. The law only allows “nonsectarian” applicants, which prevents any participation from schools that have a religious identity.In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board (SCSB) approved an application from a proposed Catholic charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — which led to a legal challenge from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who opposed religious charter schools.The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided against the school, finding that charter schools are public schools and that public schools must be secular. St. Isidore appealed this to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that resulted in a 4-4 deadlock with no majority opinion because Justice Amy Coney Barrett had a conflict of interest and recused herself.Amid no clear guidance from the federal courts, a Jewish organization — National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation — filed an application to set up a charter school, which was denied. The group, represented by lawyers at the Becket Fund, filed a new lawsuit and asked a federal district court to require the SCSB to consider religious applicants.“Oklahoma makes room in its charter program for schools of all shapes and sizes, from those focused on science and fine arts to language immersion and classical education,” Daniel Chen, a Becket attorney representing the Jewish foundation, said in a statement.“The one it refuses to make room for is a faith-based school,” Chen added. “That is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and the state deserves a failing grade for it.”Chen told EWTN News that Becket is asking the federal court to immediately allow National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to set up a charter school, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent that requires government programs to allow religious institutions the same access as secular institutions.“They’re private actors,” he said. “And because they’re private actors, they cannot be excluded from participating in a public benefits program.”Chen said the federal district court is not bound by the precedent of the Oklahoma Supreme Court because that is a state court, so it could rule in favor of the school. He also said if the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, he hopes Barrett can weigh in to break the 4-4 deadlock.“We’re hoping that [for] our case, there wouldn’t have to be any recusals,” he said.School board’s hands are tiedAlthough the charter school board denied the application from the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, one of its lawyers at First Liberty Institute explained to EWTN News that its hands are tied by the statute and the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision.“They’re following that order,” said Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty and the lawyer representing SCSB. “But [they] would be happy if the federal court didn’t [require the school board] to engage in that kind of discrimination.”Sasser said the SCSB does not want to exclude an applicant “simply because it’s religious” and would rather evaluate applicants “just based on the merits.” But he said the order “makes them exclude religious schools just because they’re religious.”“They want to maximize all of the various choices and opportunities for parents,” he added.Sasser said he hopes the question goes to the U.S. Supreme Court again so “we’ll get an answer — a real answer.” He said it would provide more clarity for the school board, which “needs an answer.”John Meiser, director of the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic at the University of Notre Dame and the lawyer who represented St. Isidore at the Supreme Court, told EWTN News that the question ultimately comes down to whether charter schools are private or public institutions.In Oklahoma, he said charter schools “are called public schools” and that label “introduces a confusion that I don’t think would be present if they chose any other word.”He said Supreme Court precedent is clear that religious institutions must have equal access to government programs available to private institutions, but if a charter school is a “government school,” that “doesn’t apply” because the government “doesn’t and can’t run religious schools.”In spite of the label, Meiser said charter schools in Oklahoma are “formed and designed and run by private groups” and people who work there “are private employees.” He said the structure “looks just like a government contract” and funding from the government “doesn’t turn all those private contractors into the government itself.”“The dispute is really just about, ‘Well is a charter school in some way different?’” he said.Although Meiser said he is not aware of any ongoing Catholic efforts to recreate a charter school, he said that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s constitutional arguments for equal access “would presumably apply to all religious operators of schools, and so it would open the door to a Catholic charter school or other religiously based charter school.”Attorney general stands firmDrummond, who remains Oklahoma’s attorney general, is standing firm in opposing the creation of religious charter schools and is fighting against National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s efforts."This matter was resolved when the state Supreme Courtʼs ruling to prevent taxpayer funded religious charter schools was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year,” Leslie Berger, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, told EWTN News.Drummond has also criticized the charter school board in public statements surrounding this legal battle in March, accusing the SCSB of “playing politics with the taxpayers' money” and alleged it “manipulated the record [about why National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s application was rejected] to make that lawsuit easier to lose — not win.”"A state agency that deliberately hobbles its own legal position is not doing its job — it is betraying Oklahoma taxpayers,” he said. “I will not allow that.”Drummond has garnered support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for opposing the creation of religious charter schools.Attorneys for FFRF are representing seven Oklahomans who oppose their tax money being used to support religious charter schools.“The federal court should rule according to constitutional principles,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “A religious public charter school has no place in our secular public education system.”It’s unclear when the federal court will issue its ruling, but National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation has asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the state so it can begin operating a school while the litigation plays out.

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Oklahoma’s Statewide Charter School Board wants to approve religious charter schools, but a ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court and efforts by the state attorney general prevent it from doing so.

Family learns hospice bed opened as father faced scheduled assisted suicide #Catholic As New Yorkʼs Medical Aid in Dying Act takes effect amid legal challenges, one Canadian woman is sharing her familyʼs experience with physician-assisted suicide, saying it convinced her that vulnerable patients need greater access to hospice and palliative care — not assisted death.Speaking with “EWTN News Nightly” in an Aug. 5 interview with anchor Veronica Dudo, Colleen De Vos recounted the final months of her father’s life. He died through Canadaʼs medical assistance in dying (MAID) program in 2023 at age 85 after being diagnosed with terminal chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).“My father wasnʼt very forthcoming with his intentions, unfortunately,” De Vos said. “We did see some very fragile moments during the course of his illness.”As his condition worsened, De Vos said her family worked to arrange hospice or in-home palliative care, believing those services would provide the compassionate support he needed.“We were advocating very strongly for hospice care or at-home palliative program,” she said. “He seemed to agree with that.”But the familyʼs efforts were unsuccessful.“He was turned down on two occasions, deeming that his diagnosis wasnʼt enough to warrant hospice care,” De Vos said. “That was a surprise to us because we could see he was deteriorating very quickly.”Instead, she said, a nurse practitioner overseeing his care at home spoke privately with her father about pursuing MAID as his symptoms worsened.De Vos said the contrast between accessing hospice and obtaining assisted suicide was striking.“The irony of the availability of MAID that could be arranged very quickly … sidelined us very much,” she said.She recalled receiving “literally the cardboard box in the mail” containing the drugs and supplies needed for the procedure.“Obtaining [hospice care] was very difficult,” she said. “And this was very simple.”On the day her father was scheduled to die, De Vos said the family finally learned that a hospice bed had become available.She called it “very heartbreaking” that he declined the hospice bed.“I think he proceeded because of his loss of hope,” she said. “We absolutely were prepared to provide him with round-the-clock care.”Religious freedom challenge in New YorkDe Vos' story comes as Catholic ministries in New York are challenging the stateʼs new assisted suicide law in federal court.Speaking on Aug. 5 with “EWTN News Nightly,” Adele Keim, senior counsel at Becket Fund, said New Yorkʼs law differs significantly from those in states such as Oregon and Washington.“New York has created an opt-out law,” Keim said. “The presumption is youʼre in unless you opt out.”While some providers may decline to prescribe or administer the lethal drugs, Keim argued that Catholic ministries are still required to participate in other aspects of the process.“You canʼt opt out of your obligations to counsel patients about assisted suicide and the ‘benefits’ it would provide,” she said. Nor can Catholic providers refuse to refer patients elsewhere if they object to assisted suicide on religious grounds, she said.Keim said those requirements prompted the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and other Catholic ministries to seek relief in federal court.Hope, dignity, and the court’s decisionShe also spoke with hope in a federal judgeʼs decision to temporarily block New York from enforcing the law against the Catholic plaintiffs while the case proceeds.“The right to assisted suicide is not a fundamental right,” Keim said, noting that both the U.S. Supreme Court and New Yorkʼs highest court have ruled there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide. “But… there is a fundamental right to religious freedom.”According to Keim, the injunction ensures the state cannot enforce the law against the Catholic ministries while their constitutional claims are considered.The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide and euthanasia are gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person while encouraging compassionate palliative and hospice care that accompanies patients through natural death.De Vos said she hopes lawmakers instead “think about the sacred gift of life that we are given by God,” adding: “I donʼt believe that itʼs up to the lawmakers… to give someone the autonomy to end their life.”

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A Canadian woman said her father’s assisted suicide came after failed efforts to secure hospice care, as Catholic ministries challenge New York’s assisted suicide law in court.

The Best Destinations to View the Rare Multiyear Eclipse Streak Starting in 2026—Including the ‘Eclipse of the Century’ #Travel A trio of upcoming total solar eclipses pairs thrilling places with the longest period of totality until 2114.

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A trio of upcoming total solar eclipses pairs thrilling places with the longest period of totality until 2114.

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Picture of the day

View of Buiba Valley in Ergaki Range. Metamorphic schists and granites of ancient glaciation in mountain tundra. Western Sayan Mountains, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.

Chiclayo, Peru, prepares for papal visit – #Catholic – The Diocese of Chiclayo has confirmed the principal locations Pope Leo XIV will visit in the city during his Nov. 11–17 apostolic visit to Peru. The Holy Father’s visit will mark his return to the diocese where he exercised his episcopal ministry for several years.According to a diocesan press release, the pontiff will visit Chiclayo Cathedral, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace, Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University, the districts of Santa Cruz and Zaña, and the open grounds of the Reque Industrial Park, where the main gatherings and celebrations of his visit to the region will take place.The diocese noted that the return of Leo XIV will represent a moment of great significance for the people, “who will welcome the successor of Peter with faith, hope, and a spirit of unity.” The visit to Chiclayo will be part of his overall apostolic journey to Peru, which will also include the cities of Lima, Cusco, and Pucallpa.The Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym) has expressed its “immense joy” at the official confirmation of the apostolic visit and is inviting the faithful to prepare themselves spiritually for it.

Then-Bishop Robert Prevost leads the Chiclayo, Peru, Corpus Christi procession in 2019. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Chiclayo

“His presence among us will be a true gift for our people and an opportunity to renew our faith, strengthen hope, and walk united as a Church in the service of the Gospel,” conference president Bishop Carlos García Camader stated.The country’s bishops specifically called upon all the faithful and people of goodwill to join in prayer as a form of preparation.In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Carlos Castillo, archbishop of Lima and primate of Peru, said the pontiff’s upcoming trip is generating “enormous anticipation” among Peruvians.“We receive this news not only with great pleasure but also with a vital surge of encouragement that prepares us to commit ourselves generously to our faith, so that we may welcome him and better invigorate our Christian and Catholic experience,” Castillo remarked.The president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori, wrote on her X account that she received “the confirmation with profound joy,” adding that it is “news that fills millions of Peruvians with excitement.”Fujimori added that the pontiff’s arrival “will be a moment of encounter for our faith and a message of hope for our country.” “Holy Father, we await you with open hearts to welcome you back to your home, Peru,” she said.Castillo also noted that the papal visit is taking place during a time marked by challenges such as insecurity, violence, and social difficulties, and that the Holy Fatherʼs presence could foster a necessary reflection.“May the Holy Father disarm us and make it possible for a peace that is both unarmed and disarming to unfold with full clarity,” Castillo concluded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The Diocese of Chiclayo noted that Pope Leo XIV’s return to Peru will represent a moment of great significance for the people.

OAS council may seek emergency foreign‑ministers session over Nicaragua crackdown - #Catholic - The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) may summon hemispheric foreign ministers for an emergency session on Nicaragua after President Daniel Ortega’s vow to end elections and deepening concerns over crackdowns against the Catholic Church.At a special meeting on Aug. 5, the formal U.S. representation at the OAS presented the draft resolution, titled “Convocation of a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to Consider the Situation in Nicaragua.” The Permanent Mission of the United States’ resolution was cosponsored by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay.The Permanent Mission of the United States called for the meeting to take place before Sept. 1, when the Ortega regime is set to codify its latest policy reforms. The move would invoke one of the OAS’ highest‑level diplomatic tools, signaling that member states view Nicaragua’s political rupture as a regional concern with direct human rights implications. Ortega’s announcement, paired with constitutional changes aimed at blocking opposition figures from power, prompted the United States and Paraguay to request the extraordinary meeting.Commissioner Rosa María Payá, rapporteur for Nicaragua at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, expressed concern at the OAS Permanent Council meeting over ongoing human rights abuses against Nicaraguans, including arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances.She noted that about 838,363 Nicaraguans have fled the country since 2018 and that many face transnational repression. Representatives for several member states said during the meeting that the forced migration of Nicaraguans constitutes a migration crisis and a threat to national security.Payá, a Catholic of Cuban descent, also highlighted persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, citing the disappearance of Bishop Emeritus Juan Abelardo Mata Guevara of Estelí, Nicaragua. Mata was detained by police on two occasions in late June after praying for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua during a Mass he celebrated on Sunday, June 28.

Bishop Abelardo Mata. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference

“We are very concerned about the situation of the persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and the persecution of the faith in general, and the practice and the exercise of the faith,” Payá told EWTN News. “We have been very vocal about our concerns and alarm about the disappearance of Monsignor Abelardo Mata Guevara.”In October 2023, the Permanent Council unanimously approved the resolution “Rejection of the Repressive Measures of the Government of Nicaragua Against Educational Institutions and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.” Nicaragua withdrew from the OAS in November 2023.“When we talk about the Nicaraguan regime, we actually see a systematic continued behavior in the direction of violating freedom of religion, from the situation that took place with Monsignor [Rolando] Alvarez years ago — heʼs now forced to live in exile — to the situation of Monsignor Mata and many other priests and members of the Catholic communities that are afraid to practice their faith,” she said.Payá said the Ortega regime’s suspension of elections has prompted a “collapse of democracy,” which she said “creates an environment of fear that impacts people of faith.”

Commissioner Rosa María Payá, rapporteur for Nicaragua at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on Aug. 5, 2026, converses at a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. | Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/EWTN News

“Iʼm Catholic myself and I also come from a society that has suffered the violation of human rights,” she said. “So I deeply understand what it is to to be afraid to speak your mind, what it is to be afraid of practicing and voicing your faith, which is a very primary human exercise.”Payá is the daughter of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, a Catholic dissident who founded the Christian Liberation Movement (CLM), a peaceful democratic movement inspired by Catholic social teaching in 1988. He was killed during the Cuban Spring in 2012.“All of my solidarity is with the Nicaraguan people,” Payá said. “And I believe that also all the solidarity of the commission is too, and we will keep following the issue and we will keep engaging in the political dialogue with the member states.”

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The move would invoke one of the highest‑level diplomatic tools by the hemisphere’s principal political body, a 35-nation consortium coordinating regional action on democracy and human rights.

Pope Leo XIV’s face featured on new set of Vatican coins - #Catholic - Pope Leo XIV’s image features for the first time in a new set of commemorative euro coins for Vatican City.As announced by the Vatican City State Governorate on July 30, these coins are part of a new Vatican euro collector coin set honoring the new pontificate. This also marks the first time since 2014 that the papal image has appeared on the coins, following Pope Francis’ personal request that his face not be used.Except for the 5-euro coin, the Vatican coins can be used to buy things in the 21 European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency.A unique design in the history of Vatican coin-makingAlthough these new coins with Leo are not the first to feature the pope’s face, they are part of an entirely unique design.Leo’s coat of arms appears on the 1-cent, 2-cent, and 5-cent euro coins, while his face appears on the larger denominations.The pope’s image has appeared on minted coins since the Middle Ages, when pontiffs held temporal power over the Papal States. Shortly after the establishment of Vatican City in 1929, the sovereign state issued lira coins (the Italian currency before the euro) bearing the papal image. The Vatican stopped making lira coins after it adopted the euro in 2001.

A Vatican collector coin set to honor the new pontificate of Leo XIV. | Credit: Governatorato SCV

According to the European Central Bank, the first Vatican coins for the euro were issued in 2002 with the face of St. John Paul II. From 2006–2013, another set of coins was issued with the face of Pope Benedict XVI. The coins featuring Francis in 2014 were the last until Leo to feature the pope’s face.Francis’ refusal to be depicted on Vatican coinsFor the 2017 issue of Vatican coins, Francis personally requested that his face not be used. Instead, they featured his coat of arms.In a 2017 interview for Radio Vaticana, Mauro Olivieri, the then-director of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office for Vatican City State, explained the difficulties in accommodating his request.“[Francis] asked that he no longer appear on coins, medals in general — and especially on those issued by his state — and we did everything we could to accommodate him,” Olivieri said. “We succeeded, despite some difficulties with the EU authorities, which were later resolved, and so the 2017 coinage features the popeʼs coat of arms.”The newest Vatican coins can be purchased for 59 euros through the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office, responsible for its coins and stamps.

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This marks the first time since 2014 that the papal image has been printed on the coins.

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Young men embrace faith while serving others on retreat together #Catholic –

Jean-Baptiste Mollet, a seminarian of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., struck up an engaging conversation on the streets of Paterson, N.J., with Mohamed, a homeless man, one day late last month. The man was drawn to a small cross around Mollet’s neck, part of an exchange that included prayer and a discussion of spirituality.

Mollet’s self-described “prayer encounter” with Mohamed and other homeless people that day was among many activities that occurred from July 27 to 30 during the second annual Service Retreat, held by the diocesan Vocations Office.

Rather than relaxing that summer week, nine seminarians and nine other young men discerning the priesthood united for a retreat that brought them deeper into Jesus’ call to every priest and Catholic. They engaged in worship, prayer, faith sharing, service to local people in need, and fellowship, while encouraging each other’s vocations. Their home base was Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, N.J.

Mollet and the rest of the retreatants, from their teens to their 30s, shared Christ’s presence with homeless people in the neighborhood around the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson during an outreach called Jesus Run. They also distributed sandwiches they made the night before to the homeless people.

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“The homeless seemed joyful even in the midst of poverty. The Lord even works in people who are suffering,” said Mollet, 27, a second-year philosophy student at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange. “Seeing people in need lets us see things differently — a simplicity in life —because we have so much,” he said.

During the week, these men traveled to various locations throughout the diocese to perform a variety of service projects.

At one location, they volunteered at the Father English Food Pantry in Paterson, part of diocesan Catholic Charities. Alongside staff and volunteers, the men stocked shelves and sorted food at the pantry, reopening after a major renovation.

Then, the men set up for two lunch periods in the kitchen at Eva’s Village, also in Paterson, which serves about 1,000 meals to community members and residents of its shelters and halfway houses. Unlike the typical buffet style, they brought meals and drinks to the seated clients like a restaurant, showing them greater dignity.

On another day, the retreatants traveled to St. Ann Parish in Parsippany, N.J., to paint three religious education classrooms. Later, they cooked and served a barbecue. There, they spoke with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and other seminarians and priests in attendance. Bishop Sweeney joined the retreatants on other activities throughout the week.

Mollet said the Service Retreat fostered an “attitude of prayer.”

“This week, I’m in good company with people who are hearing God calling them to the priesthood. They are on fire for the Lord. We shared our faith journeys, made friends and played together,” Mollet said.

Perhaps the men had the most fun volunteering at a Mary Help of Christians summer day camp for children 4 to 13 years old in North Haledon, N.J. Operated by the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, the camp offers an array of activities such as boating, fishing, swimming and playing sports such as soccer.

Andrian Murrugarra, 18, a discerning parishioner of St. Therese in Paterson, said, “The kids lit up when talking about Jesus. It reminded me of Christ’s teaching that we need a childlike faith.”

Murrugarra called the retreat “a blessing of fraternity and friends.”

“The retreat is a week to give back to the community — putting others first and not worrying about ourselves. This has strengthened my call for the priesthood,” Murrugarra said.

At Loyola, the men prayed like priests, uniting for daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharistic adoration. After dinner, they shared their experiences of Christian service that day and socialized. One retreatant was Carlos Vargas, a seminarian, whom Bishop Sweeney ordained as transitional deacon on Aug. 1 — his last step before being ordained a priest next year.

Bishop Sweeney celebrated a closing Mass on July 30.
In his homily, Bishop Sweeney told the participating young men, “Thank you for serving those in need in parishes and our communities.” He also urged them to continue discerning.

“When one person opens his heart to the Lord — saying, ‘Here I am; take it all’— what God can do!” Bishop Sweeney said.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

– Jean-Baptiste Mollet, a seminarian of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., struck up an engaging conversation on the streets of Paterson, N.J., with Mohamed, a homeless man, one day late last month. The man was drawn to a small cross around Mollet’s neck, part of an exchange that included prayer and a discussion of spirituality. Mollet’s self-described “prayer encounter” with Mohamed and other homeless people that day was among many activities that occurred from July 27 to 30 during the second annual Service Retreat, held by the diocesan Vocations Office. Rather than relaxing that summer week, nine seminarians and nine other young

unitedyam August 6, 2026August 6, 2026

Nazareth Village priests honored during St. John Vianney Mass #Catholic –

Priests living in Nazareth Village, the Paterson Diocesan priest retirement residence in Chester, N.J., on Aug. 4 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated a Mass for the Feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, in Our Lady, Mother of Priests Chapel.

Concelebrating the Mass were Father Brian Quinn, Nazareth Village director and pastor of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in Randolph; Father Nico Quintos, diocesan minister to senior priests and pastor of St. Ann Parish in Parsippany, N.J.; the following priest residents: Father Brendan Murray, Father Lancelot Reis, Father Joseph Anginoli, Father John Andrew Connell, and Father Stanley Barron; and Father Stephen Sniscak, a retired priest who will move in soon.

Nazareth Village recently welcomed three new residents: Father Anginoli, Father Barron, and Father Zig Peplowski, who was unable to attend the Mass.

“Bishop Sweeney celebrates an annual St. John Vianney Mass with the Nazareth Village residents to thank the retired priests for their years of service and for continuing to edify us with their ministry and presence,” Father Quintos said.

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Following the Mass, Bishop Sweeney and participating priests enjoyed a brunch prepared by the staff at Nazareth Village.

Saint John Vianney (St. Jean Vianney), also known as the Curé d’Ars, is considered the patron saint of parish priests. This French saint is known for his deep devotion to the Church and his dedication to the sacrament of confession. His life inspires all priests, as he exemplified a genuinely holy priest through his humility, selflessness, and unwavering faith, according to Franciscan Media.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]

– Priests living in Nazareth Village, the Paterson Diocesan priest retirement residence in Chester, N.J., on Aug. 4 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated a Mass for the Feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, in Our Lady, Mother of Priests Chapel. Concelebrating the Mass were Father Brian Quinn, Nazareth Village director and pastor of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in Randolph; Father Nico Quintos, diocesan minister to senior priests and pastor of St. Ann Parish in Parsippany, N.J.; the following priest residents: Father Brendan Murray, Father Lancelot Reis, Father Joseph Anginoli, Father John Andrew Connell, and

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NASA launched its Mars rover Curiosity inside the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) on Nov. 26, 2011. Complete with 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the robot can analyze mineral types, search for signs of microbial life, and take color panoramas of the Red Planet’s surface. Curiosity’s landing on Mars was a new process, nicknamed theContinue reading “Aug. 6, 2012: Curiosity lands on Mars”

The post Aug. 6, 2012: Curiosity lands on Mars appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Engineers connect the Orion crew and service modules for the Artemis III mission inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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A reading from the Book of Daniel
7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched:

Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.

As the visions during the night continued, I saw:

One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Peter
1:16-19

Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
?This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.?
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
?Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.?
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
?This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.?
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
?Rise, and do not be afraid.?
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
?Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.?

Just as on the day of his baptism in the Jordan, so too today on the mountain we hear the voice of the Father proclaiming, ?This is my beloved Son,? while the Holy Spirit envelops Jesus in a ?bright cloud? (Mt 17:5). The Gospel uses this unique expression to describe how God reveals himself. When he manifests himself, the Lord makes his abundance visible to our gaze: standing before Jesus, whose face shines ?like the sun? and whose clothes become ?as white as light? (cf. v. 2), the disciples behold the human splendor of God. Peter, James and John contemplate a humble glory, which is not displayed as a spectacle for the crowds to see, but in solemn intimacy. (?)

The Father?s reply to the despair of atheism is the gift of his Son, the Savior; the Holy Spirit redeems us from the loneliness of agnosticism by offering us an everlasting communion of life and grace; and in response to our weak faith, the promise of the future resurrection is announced. This is what the disciples saw in Christ?s splendor, but it took time for them to understand (cf. Mt 17:9), time in silence to listen to the word, time for conversion in order to enjoy the Lord?s company. (Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, 1st March 2026)

U.S. Catholic bishops urge ‘fair representation’ on Voting Rights Act anniversary #Catholic A subcommittee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) urged policymakers to protect “fair representation” in elections ahead of the 61st anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 emerged from the sacrifices and perseverance of countless individuals who worked to secure the fundamental right to vote, particularly for communities of color that had long faced discrimination and exclusion,” said Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, chair of the USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation.The USCCB issued the statement on Aug. 5, one day before the anniversary. The Voting Rights Act was enacted to combat Jim Crow laws that were designed to disenfranchise Black Americans.“For decades, the U.S. bishops have advocated for the right of eligible citizens to participate fully in public life, including the protection of voting rights,” said Garcia, bishop of Austin, Texas. “We encourage all citizens to exercise their right to vote and urge policymakers to safeguard voting rights and promote fair representation for all.”“Today is also an occasion to remember the hard-won history of voting rights in our country, and to recommit to the work which remains,” he added.Garcia also said in his statement that “today, many communities of color worry about how recent developments will impact their fair representation and future participation in the democratic process.”Recent developments could affect fair district maps, equal representation, and long‑term participation in elections. One development includes a 2013 Supreme Court decision, which ruled unconstitutional a provision of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states to obtain federal approval to change voting laws if that state had a history of disenfranchising voters.Another development included a 2020 ruling that upheld Arizona election laws that required voters to cast ballots in their assigned precincts and banned people from submitting another person’s ballot (unless that person is a family or household member).Rulings in 2023 and 2026 addressed racial gerrymandering, which is illegal under the Voting Rights Act. The 2023 ruling found a 2023 Alabama congressional district map to be illegal for not having any Black-majority districts and the 2026 ruling struck down Louisiana maps for relying too much on race in crafting districts.Although racial gerrymandering is illegal, federal law does not prohibit partisan gerrymandering.Garcia quoted Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, saying the bishops “affirm the value of democracy ‘insofar as it guarantees the effective participation of citizens’ as a reflection of their dignity.”“May we continue to work together for the common good and for a society in which all citizens are able to participate fully and faithfully in our democracy,” Garcia said.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 6, 2026

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia said the Voting Rights Act was born from the sacrifice of those who fought to secure equal access to the ballot, especially for communities of color long denied that right.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

Faithful around US craft World Mission Rosaries for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification #Catholic –

JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. (OSV News) — A parish-based rosary-making ministry in Kentucky is on a mission to create 1,000 World Mission Rosaries for the beatification of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen.

The apostolate, called the Brothers and Sisters of St. Edward, is among many U.S. groups whose rosaries will be donated to people attending the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Sheen in St. Louis.

The Pontifical Mission Societies issued a call for rosaries on May 1, asking individuals and groups to donate 1,000 or more rosaries to the cause as a collective effort. The society’s goal is to have more than 70,000 rosaries by Sept. 15 so they can be distributed to all those present on the day of the beatification.

“The challenge is real. More than 75,000 rosaries are needed. There is no supply at that scale, and even limited inventory quickly becomes cost prohibitive,” according to the society’s website. “Whether you make 100 or 1,000, every rosary becomes part of something larger. Each one will be blessed before the Beatification. Each one will continue to be prayed long after that day is over.”

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The World Mission Rosary was designed by Archbishop Sheen, who served as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. The renowned communicator announced during his “Catholic Hour” radio broadcast on Feb. 11, 1951, “Peace will come only when the hearts of the world have changed. To do this, we must pray, and not for ourselves, but for the world!” according to materials provided in the World Mission Rosary kits.

The idea to put a call out for tens of thousands of rosaries began with Sister Jude Andrew Link, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist who lives in Peoria, Illinois — the city where Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest and where a chapel in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception houses his tomb. Sister Jude Andrew proposed the idea to Msgr. Roger Landry, Pontifical Mission Societies’ national director since January 2025, who brought the idea to fruition.

In response, rosary-making groups across the United States — from members of Divine Mercy Parish in Kenner, Louisiana, to the Franciscan Sisters of Dillingen in Hankinson, North Dakota — have invited local Catholics to make rosaries for the beatification. In Royal Oak, Michigan, the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica will offer its second two-hour rosary-making workshop Aug. 13 to help the Pontifical Mission Societies meet its goal. In Lufkin, Texas, the the Cloistered Dominican Nuns Monastery of the Infant Jesus completed 1,000 rosaries.

In the Louisville suburb of Jeffersontown, 14 St. Edward rosary makers gathered for a crafting session the morning of July 6 at St. Edward Church to work toward their 1,000-rosary goal.

As they gathered, Debbie Grisanti, a member of St. Edward Church, explained the significance of the World Mission Rosary. Archbishop Sheen asked his radio listeners to “make a tour of the world on your World Mission Rosary.”

“Each of the decades is a different color,” she said, noting that each color represents a different continent. The first decade is green, which represents the grasslands of Africa. Blue represents the oceans of the Pacific Islands. The third decade is white and represents Europe and the seat of the Holy Father. Red recalls the fire of faith that brought missionaries to the Americas. Finally, yellow represents Asia’s morning light of the East.

Dotty Pate brought the idea to a group of fellow parishioners who were already crafting rosaries through Our Lady of the Rosary Makers, a nonprofit organization in Louisville.

During the July session, Rita McCubbin sat beside Pate, who taught her — and other first-timers — the proper way to make corded rosaries. McCubbin plans to attend the beatification this fall.

A similar gathering of rosary makers is taking place 750 miles northwest of Jeffersontown in Watertown, Minnesota, where volunteers meet every Thursday in the basement of the local parish church, Immaculate Conception, to progress in their goal of producing 10,000 World Mission rosaries by September.

They are organized under Spike Ministries, an industrious and committed nonprofit organization that hopes to share its enthusiasm for the rosary with an ambitious goal of involving as many people and parish groups as possible in making and distributing rosaries to missions around the globe.

Since the group began making five rosaries a week in a member’s basement about 12 years ago, the Watertown group has reached an ongoing tally of over 225,000 rosaries, according to organizer and Spike Ministries founder Mike Miller.

Across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the St. Mary of the Lake Rosary Makers group has also been meeting regularly to create rosaries and share in the social and spiritual camaraderie of friends united in a cause. Their cause now is creating 2,000 World Mission rosaries by September.

In Clyde, Missouri, the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have committed to contributing 500 rosaries to the cause.

“Having learned of the project only in May, time has been tight,” said Benedictine Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza, according to a story posted July 24 on the community’s website,” but several of us have been steadily working on the effort ever since.”

Mary-Catherine Kinslow is a staff reporter for The Record, news outlet of the Archdiocese of Louisville. This story also drew from a report by Tim Montgomery for The Catholic Spirit, news outlet for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. OSV News contributed to this story. Reporting included in this article was separately published by The Record and The Catholic Spirit and distributed in partnership with OSV News.

– JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. (OSV News) — A parish-based rosary-making ministry in Kentucky is on a mission to create 1,000 World Mission Rosaries for the beatification of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. The apostolate, called the Brothers and Sisters of St. Edward, is among many U.S. groups whose rosaries will be donated to people attending the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Sheen in St. Louis. The Pontifical Mission Societies issued a call for rosaries on May 1, asking individuals and groups to donate 1,000 or more rosaries to the cause as a collective effort. The society’s goal is to have more than 70,000

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

Florida AG’s threat to Catholic schools ‘clear violation’ of the First Amendment, law scholar says #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the Catholic bishops of Florida demanding that Catholic schools in the Sunshine State adopt religious exemptions to vaccine requirements or risk their ability to participate in the state’s school voucher program.

But Rick Garnett, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, told OSV News that the letter “reflects a misunderstanding of Americans’ fundamental right to religious freedom and is a glaring and dangerous government overreach.”

In the letter, dated July 31, Uthmeier argued that Florida law “requires public and private schools to exempt students from the vaccination requirements” if “a parent has a religious objection,” demanding that Catholic schools “comply with Florida law and grant religious exemptions to school vaccine policies.”

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Identifying himself as a Catholic, Uthmeier argued that while Florida law permits a religious school “to claim an exemption from the requirement to grant religious exemptions if granting such an exemption would violate the religious tenets of the school,” Catholic schools have no “legitimate religious reason to refuse.”

“Failure to comply could jeopardize eligibility for state educational scholarship programs,” he wrote. “If the Conference nevertheless refuses to comply with Florida law, then please state clearly the religious grounds on which Catholic schools may force persons to take vaccines derived from abortions against their deeply held moral and religious objections.”

But Garnett said, “the attorney general presumes, ‘as a Catholic,’ to second-guess the orthodoxy of the Catholic bishops’ determination regarding policies for Catholic schools and the morality of certain childhood vaccines.”

“However, it is not remotely the role of a government official, even a Catholic one, to tell the bishops what to teach or how to run the Church’s apostolates,” Garnett said. “It is certainly not up to him to decide whether the Catholic bishops’ reasons are ‘legitimate.’”

Garnett said Uthmeier “should withdraw the letter and apologize publicly for creating confusion on such important matters.”

“For a government official to threaten official punishments — and to jeopardize the ability of parents in Florida to choose Catholic schools for their children — on the basis of his own — in this case, mistaken — interpretation of Catholic teaching is a clear violation of the First Amendment and other legal religious-freedom protections,” Garnett said.

“If a parent objects to these vaccines, which the Church teaches are morally permissible and which clearly serve the common good of the community, they may move their children to state-run schools,” Garnett continued. “No one has a ‘right,’ however, to require a Catholic school to conform with his or her own private judgments.”

Uthmeier’s letter to the bishops was addressed to Michael Sheedy, executive director of The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. A spokesperson for FCCB told OSV News that the conference was reviewing Uthmeier’s letter and planned to respond by Aug. 7, the date he requested.

Uthmeier referenced a diocesan document on National Catholic Bioethics Center letterhead stating that Catholic schools cannot grant a religious exception since the Church does not view these vaccines as intrinsically evil.

However, that 2011 document also suggested that parents who objected to a vaccine requirement could consider seeking to “obtain a conscience exemption rather than a religious one.”

That document states that “school superintendents and other officials must also act in accord with their consciences.”

“If they rely on the judgment of local public health authorities that non-immunized children pose a threat in the schools to other children or to teachers and parents, then the school officials must follow their consciences and insist that the children be immunized. And parents would have to respect their consciences!” it said.

NCBC states on its own website the Church’s position that Catholics may undergo vaccination despite a remote connection to those cell lines originating in fetal tissue obtained decades ago via abortion, where no alternatives exist. However, they argue Catholics should do so “under protest,” and encourage the development of ethical cell lines.

OSV News asked a spokesperson for the National Catholic Bioethics Center for comment, but had not yet received comment as of publication.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, shortly before vaccines first became available to the general American public, the Holy See’s Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith, Catholic bishops and theologians including NCBC all released statements that the COVID-19 vaccines were morally permissible for Catholics to receive.

Those statements varied only slightly, as the U.S. bishops encouraged Catholics, where they had such a choice, to seek some brands of vaccines over others due to the varying degrees of remote connection to such cell lines.

Neither the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines used those cell lines for producing their mRNA vaccines; however, they did involve testing using the HEK-293 cell line, which is believed to have been derived from aborted fetal cells in the 1970s. However, that line has been commonly used in testing a vast array of modern drugs, such as Advil and Tums. Novavax did not use fetal cell lines in either the production or testing of its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine.

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.

– (OSV News) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the Catholic bishops of Florida demanding that Catholic schools in the Sunshine State adopt religious exemptions to vaccine requirements or risk their ability to participate in the state’s school voucher program. But Rick Garnett, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, told OSV News that the letter “reflects a misunderstanding of Americans’ fundamental right to religious freedom and is a glaring and dangerous government overreach.” In the letter, dated July 31, Uthmeier argued that Florida law “requires public and private schools to exempt

Pope to World SIGNIS Congress: Embrace digital communication that promotes human dignity #Catholic KIGALI, Rwanda — Pope Leo XIV called on Catholic communicators gathered this week in Kigali, Rwanda, to use digital communication platforms available to them to promote the common good, human dignity, truth, and environmental stewardship.The pope’s message was delivered by the apostolic nuncio in Rwanda, Archbishop Arnaldo Sánchez Catalán, during the opening ceremony of the first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held in Africa, taking place in Kigali under the theme “Digital Communication for Cultural Harmony and Environmental Well-Being.”In the message, sent through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV expressed his spiritual closeness to participants and said he hoped their deliberations would provide “a new impetus” for ensuring that communication platforms serve the common good of the human family.The pope warned against a communication culture increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than genuine human encounter.He noted that the digital age has transformed everyday life, emphasizing that online communication goes beyond the transmission of information.In his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV observes that digital communication contributes to the creation of culture because it shapes how people perceive the world and consequently influences the collective conscience.Against this background, the Holy Father encouraged participants to explore communication strategies and tools inspired by the pursuit of truth and respect for human dignity. He said such efforts should contribute to a culture rooted in Gospel values, particularly communion, peace, and environmental stewardship.Addressing participants through a recorded message, Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, warned that technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), must not come at the expense of human relationships and responsibility.Ruffini acknowledged the transformative potential of AI but said the central question confronting society is not technological but human: what kind of people humanity chooses to become while using these technologies.AI, he said, can calculate, organize information, and emulate language, but it cannot replace wisdom born from freedom, personal experience, responsibility, and love.“We must never allow algorithms to write our story,” Ruffini cautioned, stressing that human beings must remain in control of the technologies they create.He called on communicators to safeguard human voices and faces in an increasingly digital environment, emphasizing that doing so requires cultivating critical thinking, preserving spaces for dialogue, and ensuring that technology remains at the service of the human person.Ruffini also challenged SIGNIS to strengthen its role as a global network connecting professionals working in journalism, cinema, and communication.He described communication as a public good that needs to be protected, urging the organization to build alliances with professionals, entrepreneurs, and information engineers committed to creating a better digital communication ecosystem.According to the prefect, SIGNIS should remain a network of people united by faith rather than becoming merely an ecclesiastical bureaucracy.He envisioned the organization as a space where relationships of trust can flourish, reliable information can be shared, and projects can be developed to promote a different model of communication.Such a network, he said, should create room for dialogue amid diversity and disagreement while ensuring that differences do not destroy fraternity.Ruffini further challenged Catholic communicators to resist a communication model driven primarily by profit or the pursuit of consensus, insisting that the ultimate purpose of communication must remain at the service of truth.“The future of communication will not ultimately depend on the power of our technologies. It will depend on the strength of our commitment and on the nature of our relationship,” he said.He urged participants to use their faith-based network to build bridges and create meaningful encounters in a world increasingly mediated by digital platforms.Ruffini called for greater space for human voices and faces in digital communication, encouraging SIGNIS members to help shape a communication ecosystem that places human dignity and relationships at its center.“The greatest innovation we can still offer our society is not as much a machine but a more human way of communicating,” he said.Participants in the Aug. 3–8 congress are exploring a wide range of topics, including digital communication for communion, religious and cultural praxis in the digital age, artificial intelligence in contemporary media, media literacy, youth engagement, environmental communication, and the role of Catholic communicators in promoting reconciliation and cultural harmony.Among the African countries represented at the congress are Rwanda (the host country), Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Benin, South Africa, and Mozambique.This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 6, 2026

The pope’s message was delivered by the apostolic nuncio in Rwanda during the opening ceremony of the first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held in Africa, taking place in Rwanda this week.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 7, 2026

Pope Leo XIV to visit 10 cities in South America in November #Catholic –

ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV will make the first apostolic journey to South America of his pontificate Nov. 6-17, visiting 10 cities in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the Vatican has announced.

The trip will take him from one of Latin America’s least religious countries to the homeland of the late Pope Francis before culminating in Pope Leo’s return to Peru, where he served as an Augustinian missionary and later bishop of Chiclayo. It will be his first return to the continent since his election as pope.

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The Holy See Press Office confirmed Aug. 5 that the pope will visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida in Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján in Argentina; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa in Peru. Here is a look at the cities that Pope Leo will visit:

Uruguay (Nov. 6-8)

The pope’s first stop will be Uruguay, where Christians only make up 44% of the population, the lowest percentage in Latin America, according to the Pew Research Center.

Montevideo

Montevideo is Uruguay’s capital and largest city. It is home to the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the historic Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral.

Paysandú

Paysandú, a cultural and economic hub on Uruguay’s western border with Argentina, was founded in 1772 by a priest, Policarpo Sandú, and Christianized Indigenous families. The city is home to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, known for its large pipe organ.

Florida

The Uruguay visit will likely conclude in Florida, home to the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, the patroness of Uruguay. A yearly pilgrimage is held every second Sunday of November, which falls this year on Nov. 8. The basilica preserves an 18th-century Guaraní image of the Virgin Mary before which 33 of Uruguayans prayed before fighting for independence.

St. John Paul II consecrated the shrine during his 1988 visit, the last papal trip to Uruguay. “Almost 40 years ago, we experienced the unforgettable visit of St. John Paul II. Now we welcome Pope Leo with enormous anticipation. It is a joy for the Church, but also for all of Uruguay,” Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo said.

Argentina (Nov. 8-11)

The second leg of the trip will be Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis, who served as archbishop of Buenos Aires before becoming pope, but never returned during his pontificate. About 58% of adults in Argentina identify as Catholic, according to Pew.

Buenos Aires

In Buenos Aires, the pope will likely meet President Javier Milei, who welcomed the announced visit as “an event of enormous spiritual and institutional significance for our country and for all Argentines.”

The capital is also home to the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, where the tomb of Argentina’s first female saint, known as Mama Antula, is located.

Córdoba

Córdoba, Argentina’s second-largest city, is known for its Spanish colonial architecture. Its historic Manzana Jesuítica, “Jesuit Block,” includes one of South America’s oldest universities and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Luján

Luján is home to the Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina and one of the country’s leading pilgrimage sites. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis led pilgrimages there, while St. John Paul celebrated Mass at the shrine during his 1982 visit and consecrated Argentina to Our Lady of Luján.

Peru (Nov. 11-17)

The final and longest portion of the trip will bring Pope Leo back to Peru, where he first arrived as an Augustinian missionary in 1985. He was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in 2014 before becoming its bishop. He obtained Peruvian citizenship in 2015 before being transferred to the Vatican in 2023.

Lima

Lima is Peru’s capital and largest city. The city is home to the Basilica and Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as the Convent of Santo Domingo, where St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres are buried. Keiko Fujimori, whose victory in Peru’s presidential election was declared July 4, is expected to welcome the pope to the country.

Chiclayo

Chiclayo is expected to be one of the most closely watched stops of the trip because of the pope’s ties to the local church. Pope Leo served as bishop of the diocese from 2015 to 2023.

Cusco

Pope Leo will also visit Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Western Hemisphere, Cusco remains one of Peru’s foremost cultural centers in the Andes with an average elevation of 11,150 feet.

Pucallpa

The pope will not leave Peru without stopping in Pucallpa, a city on the Ucayali River in the Amazonian rainforest that has long served as a center for Catholic missionary outreach in Peru’s rainforest.

The Diocese of Chiclayo celebrated the Vatican’s announcement saying that the pope’s visit will bring “a message of faith, hope, and closeness to millions of Peruvians.”

“It will be a historic visit that will unite us as a people and as a Church,” the diocese said in a social media post.

“With joy and hope, we prepare to welcome the Successor of Peter and to experience this time of grace together.”

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.

– ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV will make the first apostolic journey to South America of his pontificate Nov. 6-17, visiting 10 cities in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the Vatican has announced. The trip will take him from one of Latin America’s least religious countries to the homeland of the late Pope Francis before culminating in Pope Leo’s return to Peru, where he served as an Augustinian missionary and later bishop of Chiclayo. It will be his first return to the continent since his election as pope. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The Holy See Press

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 8, 2026

Hidden for centuries: How newly identified St. Augustine sermons were found #Catholic –

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Two previously unknown sermons by St. Augustine have been identified in a 12th-century manuscript preserved in Poland, giving scholars a rare new window into the mind of one of Christianity’s greatest theologians more than 1,600 years after he preached them.

The discovery was made in a 12th-century manuscript preserved at the diocesan library in Pelplin in northern Poland after nearly two years of research by scholars from Germany and Austria. The sermons, to be published in a critical edition by the end of 2026, address Saul’s encounter with the Medium of Endor in the Book of Samuel.

The manuscript had long been catalogued in the library’s collection, but no one had studied it in depth before the recent collaboration with scholars from Germany and Austria, Father Jan Walkusz, director of the diocesan library in Pelplin, told OSV News.

“Only the recent research by scholars from Bad Doberan, Würzburg and Vienna showed that the manuscript contains two previously unknown sermons by the Bishop of Hippo,” the priest said.

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How the careful academic research started

The story began with a phone call.

“In 2024 I was approached by Paul Nebauer from Bad Doberan … who had found a medieval manuscript with sermons attributed to Augustine in the diocesan library of Pelplin,” Christian Tornau, a Latin scholar and professor at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, told OSV News.

“He asked me for help with the identification and translation of the texts,” the professor said.

Nebauer, a member of the Bad Doberan Monastery Association, has spent years tracing medieval manuscripts from the former Cistercian abbey. Its library was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War in the 17th century.

During research visits to Pelplin in 2024 and 2025, Nebauer identified six manuscripts that clearly originated from Bad Doberan. One volume immediately drew his attention.

“At first, the brief table of contents offered little insight into the content,” Nebauer told OSV News. “It was only the keywords ‘Phytonissa’ and ‘Resuscitatio Samuelis’ that drew my attention to the biblical story of the Witch (Medium) of Endor.”

In the first Book of Samuel, chapter 28, King Saul consults a medium who summons the prophet Samuel before his final battle with the Philistines. The episode has long challenged Christian interpreters because it appears to show a medium exercising power over one of God’s prophets.

Nebauer “found the text very unusual — words like that from St. Augustine?” he recalled. Recognizing that the manuscript required expert analysis, he contacted Tornau. The 12th-century manuscript was copied at Bad Doberan, possibly from a now-lost manuscript at Amelungsborn Abbey.

Two new sermons never before identified

Father Walkusz said the manuscript reached Pelplin through the Cistercian monks. When monks from Bad Doberan established a daughter abbey in Pelplin in the 13th century, “it was customary for Cistercians to equip the new community with the necessary liturgical and theological books,” he told OSV News. “That is how this volume containing St. Augustine’s sermons, together with other manuscripts from Bad Doberan, came to Pelplin.”

Of the six sermons preserved in the manuscript, four were already known to scholars, while two had never been identified.

“We were fascinated, of course, by the idea of having found new sermons of Augustine,” Tornau told OSV News, “but soon turned skeptical because at some places the sermons did not seem to read like Augustine.” The team, joined by scholars Dorothea Weber and Clemens Weidmann of Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum — Corpus of Latin Ecclesiastical Writings in English, or CSEL, in Vienna — spent nearly two years transcribing and analyzing the texts, including during a 2025 summer school with about 20 specialists.

“Our final verdict that they are indeed authentic is the result of continuous philological work over almost two years,” Tornau said.

The scholars based their conclusion on liturgical, linguistic and theological evidence pointing consistently to St. Augustine’s authorship. Clemens Weidmann of CSEL, who also worked on the edition, said the manuscript’s attribution to St. Augustine was only the starting point. “This alone, however, is not enough to prove Augustine’s authorship because many inauthentic sermons are attributed in manuscripts to him falsely,” he told OSV News.

“As the preacher is thus indistinguishable from Augustine, we found it methodically safe to accept Augustine’s authorship rather than to invent an anonymous ‘pupil’ or ‘follower,’” Tornau told OSV News. “No disciple, no author of later times would have been so familiar with Augustine’s style and thinking to compile an ‘Augustinian sermon’ by putting together so many stylistic features found across his writings,” Weidmann told OSV News.

Cultural and religious riches of the Pelplin collection

Father Walkusz said that the discovery also highlights the significance of the Pelplin collection itself. “The discovery of these sermons proves beyond doubt that the carefully preserved collections in Pelplin conceal enormous cultural and religious riches, accessible to researchers from around the world,” he told OSV News.

“New discoveries of works from Late Antiquity are always a sensation,” Weber, a retired professor and longtime Augustine scholar with CSEL, told OSV News. The newly identified sermons also offer an unusually personal glimpse of St. Augustine as a preacher, she emphasized.

“It is extremely fascinating to see how Augustine explained to the congregation why he did not have a chance to prepare for the Bible passage he was supposed to preach on,” Weber told OSV News. “He initially tried to buy some time to organize his thoughts, and yet, despite improvising, he achieved his typical stylistic brilliance and a clear structure in his complex argumentation,” she said.

The sermons focus on one of the most debated episodes in the Old Testament. According to Tornau, ancient Christian interpreters generally proposed two explanations for Saul’s encounter with Samuel. Either God permitted the prophet to appear despite the medium’s actions, or Saul was deceived by an evil spirit impersonating Samuel. Rather than insisting that only one interpretation is correct, St. Augustine carefully considers both.

What St. Augustine discusses in the sermons

“In the new sermons, Augustine discusses both options with pros and cons and concludes that they are both acceptable because neither is against Christian faith,” Tornau told OSV News.

“This openness for divergent interpretations of scripture is characteristic of Augustine in general.”

Weber said that approach distinguishes St. Augustine from many other early Christian writers.

“Augustine aims not at prescribing a single ‘correct’ interpretation, but rather at exploring the range of possible interpretations that remain within the framework of the doctrine of the Church,” she said. “There are not many of Augustine’s sermons that take such a systematic approach to an exegetical problem and thus demand a high level of intellectual engagement from the audience.”

Nebauer believes that openness is precisely what makes the newly discovered sermons relevant today. “The subject of the ‘Witch of Endor’ poses a challenge for belief in God,” he told OSV News. “However, St. Augustine resolves the issue very elegantly.”

“He presents several possible interpretations, refrains from making a final judgment, and allows his listeners to draw their own conclusions.” The researchers say the most surprising theological insight appears near the end of the newly identified texts. “The most remarkable element of the new sermons is the idea that Saul after hearing Samuel’s prophecy may have repented and been redeemed,” Tornau told OSV News.

“It is indicative of Augustine’s independence of mind and his willingness to think of everyone, even those who appear most evil, as capable of salvation through the grace of God,” Tornau told OSV News. “This combines intellectual honesty and episcopal humility in a remarkable and very Augustinian way.”

Katarzyna Szalajko writes for OSV News from Warsaw, Poland.

– WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Two previously unknown sermons by St. Augustine have been identified in a 12th-century manuscript preserved in Poland, giving scholars a rare new window into the mind of one of Christianity’s greatest theologians more than 1,600 years after he preached them. The discovery was made in a 12th-century manuscript preserved at the diocesan library in Pelplin in northern Poland after nearly two years of research by scholars from Germany and Austria. The sermons, to be published in a critical edition by the end of 2026, address Saul’s encounter with the Medium of Endor in the Book

Picture of the day

Haigerloch, Germany: view of Haigerloch Castle and the castle church with the surrounding valley.
#ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

Picture of the day

Haigerloch, Germany: view of Haigerloch Castle and the castle church with the surrounding valley.

Pilgrims returning from Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico robbed at gunpoint – #Catholic – While traveling by bus on the way back from a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo was robbed along a Mexican highway.Bishop Luis Carlos Lerma Martínez of Nuevo Laredo announced that the pilgrims were heading toward the state of Jalisco when the bus they were traveling in was intercepted in the early hours of Saturday, Aug. 1.“While it is true that, thank God, there were no serious injuries — let alone any loss of life — the lack of security on the highways of our country is deeply concerning,” Lerma lamented.Lerma likewise urged the pertinent authorities to “redouble their efforts to strengthen security on our roads and thus prevent these types of incidents that cause such harm to our society.”How did the robbery occur?During an Aug. 4 press conference, Anahí Zamora, the pilgrimage organizer, provided details about the robbery. She explained that the group consisted of 47 pilgrims — including seniors, children, and several families — along with the driver and the co-driver.She explained that around 3:45 a.m., while they were traveling along a highway in the state of Guanajuato, two men dressed in uniforms resembling those of the National Guard — a federal police force that, among other duties, patrols Mexico’s highways — signaled them to stop using a flashlight.The driver assumed it was a checkpoint, so he stopped the bus and got out along with the co-driver. That was when the men “forced them to kneel alongside the road, held them at gunpoint, and began boarding” the vehicle.Once inside the bus, the men began threatening the passengers with their weapons. “They took everything we had with us: suitcases, bags, cellphones,” Zamora recalled.Following the incident, those affected managed to contact the authorities as well as representatives of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo, who provided support to the group to continue their journey and subsequently return home.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

“While it is true that, thank God, there were no serious injuries, let alone any loss of life, the lack of security on the highways of our country is deeply concerning,” Bishop Luis Lerma lamented.

Cash for baptisms: German diocese questions Catholic millionaire’s 0 offer – #Catholic – A Bavaria, Germany-based investor is offering families 500 euros (5) for every child they have baptized in a group of Catholic parishes near Munich.The local diocese has acknowledged the donorʼs intentions but stressed that, from the Churchʼs point of view, there is no financial barrier to baptism in the first place.Peter Löw, a Starnberg-based investor and practicing Catholic, has set aside 20,000 euros (,800) for the initiative, which he calls “Starnberger Schutzengelchen” (“Little Starnberg Guardian Angel”).The amount is enough to cover up to 40 baptisms this year. Support for families in expensive regionTo qualify, a child must be no older than 3 and registered in the Catholic parish community of Starnberg, a lakeside area about 17 miles south of Munich.

The town of Starnberg on Lake Starnberg, south of Munich. | Credit: Frank Lambert/Shutterstock

Prized for its scenery and its short commute to the city, Starnberg has drawn an influx of wealthy newcomers that has made it one of the richest districts in Germany, with among the countryʼs highest incomes and property prices. The same pressure has driven up housing costs for local families, some of whom, the parish priest said, find even the cost of a baptism celebration hard to meet.Löw, a father of eight who ranks among Germanyʼs wealthier businessmen, started the effort after a conversation with the Starnberg parish priest, Father Andreas Jall.The priest had told him about families who were holding back from baptizing their children because of the cost of the celebration.Löw told the newspaper Bild that if a modest sum nudged parents toward baptism, that was “a good thing,” adding that families were free to spend the money however they wished. He also framed the gift as an incentive to bring children into the life of the parish, telling Bild: “My eight children are all baptized.” He said he would assess at the end of the year whether the initiative had been worthwhile.Four families had already received the money by late July, Jall told the German Press Agency (dpa), noting that all four baptisms had been registered roughly six months in advance and that the offer had not triggered a sudden rush of new bookings.The Diocese of Augsburg gave a mixed assessment in a statement to the official news portal of the German bishops' media arm. Catholic parents are already obliged to have their children baptized as soon as possible and to raise them in the faith, a diocesan spokesman said, and because the Church charges nothing for a baptism, the financial element the initiative puts front and center is unlikely to be decisive in a familyʼs decision. Every believer who meets the conditions has a right to receive the sacraments, the spokesman added.Theology and intentionThe Bavarian diocese called Löwʼs generosity “a likeable expression of charity” but said that wherever “the reception of a sacrament and financial considerations, however well meant, move too close together,” an “uneasy feeling” remains from the Churchʼs point of view.The diocese also questioned the theology behind the offer. Baptism presupposes a conscious decision of faith and is far more than a simple blessing, the spokesman said; if no faith is thereby awakened or strengthened, the purpose of even a “surely well-intentioned initiative” is called into question.Jall, the local parish priest, has defended the measure. Some parishioners had objected that it risked cheapening the Churchʼs reputation, he told the German Press Agency, but he said his own view started from the families' side. “We want to help families in this high-priced area,” he said, adding that the aim clearly was not to “buy” believers but to help Catholic families.The initiative comes as the Catholic Church in Germany keeps shrinking. It recorded a net loss of about 321,659 members in 2025, leaving roughly 19.2 million Catholics, or 23% of the population — a decline driven partly by Germans formally quitting the Church to escape its state-collected tax on members.This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

A wealthy Catholic investor near Munich is paying 500 euros for every baptism, and the Diocese of Augsburg is not entirely comfortable with it.

Study finds many young men feel lonely, disconnected, shut out of the American dream – #Catholic – More than half of U.S. young men report feeling lonely or isolated at least some of the time, nearly half lack a sense of community, and many say the American dream feels increasingly out of reach, according to a report from the Institute for Family Studies.The second installment of the institute’s “America’s Demoralized Men” study, based on a nationally representative YouGov survey of 2,000 men ages 18 to 29, examined young men’s social lives, mental health, civic engagement, and online habits. Researchers said the findings revealed a generation that still desires marriage, fatherhood, and meaningful work but often struggles to achieve those goals.“We really tried to allow young men to speak for themselves,” said Michael Toscano, co-author of the report and director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. “They still have these honorable aspirations to be responsible men, to marry, to have children, and to contribute to society.”A generation searching for connectionResearchers described many respondents as “demoralized” — not because they have abandoned hope entirely, but because many feel powerless to reach the lives they desire.The survey found that 61% of young men often feel they have little control over what happens to them, while 54% said they never seem to do enough to please others. More than 4 in 10 (43%) agreed with the statement “I am inclined to think that I am a failure.”Loneliness also emerged as a defining theme.While roughly 45% of respondents said they rarely or never feel lonely, 55% reported feeling lonely at least some of the time. Similarly, 54% said they feel isolated at least occasionally, and nearly half (48%) said they lack a sense of community. About 1 in 5 respondents said they seldom or never feel loved or wanted by others.Toscano cautioned against attributing the crisis to a single cause.“We strive in the report not to think in a monocausal way,” he said. “The loneliness crisis is something that is visiting everyone.”Still, he argued that the breakdown of family life has played a significant role.“An honest assessment of where young men are today would have to begin with the breakdown of the family,” Toscano said, noting that many respondents still desire marriage and fatherhood but increasingly feel those milestones are beyond reach.Fewer friendships, less communityThe survey also found many young men have few close relationships.About 4 in 10 respondents reported having two or fewer close friends, including 34% who have just one or two close friends and 9% who said they have none at all.Researchers found that strong institutional ties often made a difference. Young men connected to marriage, education, or religious communities were more likely to report having three or more close friends. Participation in all-male organizations during adolescence, such as sports teams or the Boy Scouts, was also associated with stronger friendships later in life.Overall civic participation remained relatively low. Although 57% participate in at least one community activity, only 31% volunteer regularly, while fewer than one-third belong to a faith-based group, social club, or civic organization. Just one-quarter attend religious services at least monthly.Financial worries Economic concerns also weighed heavily on respondents.About half agreed with the statement “No matter how hard I work, people like me will never achieve the American dream,” while nearly three-quarters (72%) said personal connections matter more than ability or hard work when it comes to getting ahead.Toscano said rising living costs were one of the clearest explanations offered by respondents.“The main expression of doubt in the American dream was the sense that the money they earned was simply not enough to keep up with the rising costs of life,” he said.Despite those concerns, optimism has not disappeared entirely. An overwhelming 84% of respondents said having ambitious plans for the future describes them at least somewhat well.Digital habits often deepen distressThe report also points to widespread use of electronic media, with researchers warning that many young men appear to be using technology as a substitute for genuine relationships.Nearly half (44%) play video games many times each day, while another 42% play at least several times a week.Pornography use was also common. About 42% reported viewing pornography daily or several times each week, including 24% of regular religious service attendees.Online gambling likewise proved widespread, with 23% gambling daily and another 12% doing so several times a week.Toscano said these behaviors appear to function as what the report calls “maladaptive coping.”“If the world around you is increasingly closing off your opportunity to be a successful man, what you might do is look for it in a synthetic environment,” he said.Researchers found strong links between frequent online activity and emotional distress. Among men who watch pornography many times a day, 43% reported loneliness, 36% depression, and 29% anxiety. Two-thirds of daily online gamblers reported emotional distress, while 66% of daily gamblers and 63% of daily pornography users described themselves as failures, compared with 42% of young men overall.Toscano emphasized that the survey cannot establish cause and effect but suggests a troubling cycle in which loneliness and unhealthy digital habits reinforce one another.A call for the ChurchAlthough church attendance was associated with stronger social connections, Toscano noted that loneliness remains common even among churchgoers.“The lonely might be sitting in the pew right next to them,” he said.He encouraged pastors and parish leaders to listen carefully to young men’s experiences, affirm their aspirations, and create opportunities for authentic friendships and mentorship between younger and older men.“There still remains a desire for them to get married and have kids and have good jobs,” Toscano said. “We need to encourage those desires.”He also said the Church should respond to the broader loneliness crisis affecting every generation. Referencing Pope Leo’s call for “digital sobriety,” Toscano said Catholics of all ages — not only young people — must intentionally rebuild face-to-face relationships.“It’s time for everyone to be called out of their shell,” he said.Despite significant obstacles, he said, many young men continue to desire family, responsibility, meaningful work, and lives of service.“Men have value as men,” Toscano said. “It’s important to allow them to contribute to society as men. That’s not something we should be afraid of, but something we should encourage.”

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

More than 4 in 10 respondents agreed with the statement “I am inclined to think that I am a failure,” according to the Institute for Family Studies.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

Neil Alden Armstrong was born on Aug. 5, 1930, in Ohio. A naval pilot from 1949 to 1952, Armstrong flew 78 missions in Korea. After leaving active duty, he enrolled at Purdue University and earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955, and then joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). During hisContinue reading “Aug 5, 1930: The birth of Neil Armstrong”

The post Aug 5, 1930: The birth of Neil Armstrong appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

This 71,000-acre State Park in South Dakota Boasts Scenic Drives, Dramatic Rock Formations, and a Massive Bison Herd #Travel Use these expert tips to plan a trip to Custer State Park.

unitedyam August 5, 2026August 6, 2026

Use these expert tips to plan a trip to Custer State Park.

Roman Space Telescope Plaque Install – Technicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center complete installation of a commemorative plaque on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, as photographed on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.

unitedyam August 4, 2026August 4, 2026

Technicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center complete installation of a commemorative plaque on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, as photographed on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.

unitedyam August 4, 2026August 4, 2026

O almighty and most merciful God, I give You thanks with all the powers of my soul for this and all other mercies, graces, and blessings bestowed on me, and prostrating myself at Your sacred feet, I offer myself to be henceforth forever Yours. Let nothing in life or death ever separate me from You! I renounce with my whole soul all my treasons against You, and all the abominations and sins of my past life. I renew my promises made in Baptism, and from this moment I dedicate myself eternally to …

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